Britain’s exit from E.U. sends global economies into tailspin

known as Brexit — could prove to be the final straw, experts said. “We think the time has come to consider that a financial market crash today may push a world economy teetering on the verge of a contraction over the edge,” said Carl Weinberg, chief economist at High Frequency Economics. Global markets suffered heavy losses and the British pound took a beating June 24, after Britain voted to leave the European Union. The freefall in financial markets was a testament to the massive uncertainty surrounding the logistics of a separation. Economists said it would make businesses and households nervous about spending and could complicate trade between British companies and their partners in Europe and elsewhere. Prolonged volatility could stress European banks, and fluctuations in markets could test struggling countries such as Italy and Greece. Britain will spend at least two years negotiating the terms of its departure from the 28-member alliance that has dictated the economic and political order in Europe for more than four decades. Britain must elect new leadership, strike new trade deals and craft a dizzying array of new regulations about issues such as immigration and investment. Brexit supporters argued that leaving would boost the country’s economy in the long run, allowing businesses and entrepreneurs to innovate and grow free from the red tape imposed by E.U. bureaucrats in Brussels. But many analysts say that optimistic scenario is unlikely, at least for the foreseeable future. On Friday, Moody’s Investors Service cut its forecast for Britain’s growth this year by half a percentage point and assigned a negative outlook to its debt rating, potentially raising borrowing costs for a country with one of the largest budget deficits among advanced economies. “Moody’s expects heightened uncertainty, diminished confidence and lower spending and investment to result in weaker growth,” the company said. Economic officials around the world had discussed the possibility of Brexit in dire tones before the vote. IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde called it “negative on all fronts.” The Bank of England dubbed it “the biggest domestic risk to financial stability.” Federal Reserve Chair Janet L. Yellen carefully warned it would have “significant economic repercussions.” According to an analysis by Morgan Stanley, Brexit will shave between 0.3 and 0.6 percent from U.S. economic growth next year, draining some of the recovery’s momentum. The forecast for the world economy is more pessimistic. The worst-case scenario is that the rate


Brexit, meet America’s Trexit

Already, other nations are queuing up to join merry old England on the exit ramp. Here are three big ways that Britain leaving the E.U. might affect Americans. The ground has shifted and, with it, global markets. Immediately, the pound plunged along with stock values. Rattled investors tried to regain their equilibrium. The world gaped in breathless wonderment as a new, upside-down landscape took shape. All, that is, except for Donald Trump. Conveniently in Scotland to visit his Turnberry resort, the brand-brandishing baron of bombast opined that Brexit was “a great thing.” Never mind that the “Scotch,” as Trump recently referred to his Scots heritage, voted overwhelmingly to remain in the E.U. and likely will hold a referendum soon to separate from Britain. What matters is that Trump saw in Brexit an opportunity to profit. Because that’s what Trump does. One impoverished fellow’s home foreclosure is Trump’s business opportunity. One nation’s lost cause is his tourist bonanza. You probably thought Brexit was about national independence, didn’t you? Trump thought it was about him. The pound’s decline, he explained, could mean more travelers to his resorts — and what could be better than that? Trump further explained that it was great the British people were taking their country back, just as Trump supporters are hoping to do in November. Indeed, in many respects, Trump is the U.S.’s “Trexit” — a ticket to leave the establishment and entrenched bureaucrats whom Trump’s admirers, and Britain’s leavers, see as responsible for their respective nation’s problems. This message, though we’ve heard it a thousand times, has taken time to penetrate the minds of commentators and analysts who now humbly acknowledge that they didn’t see “it” coming — neither Brexit nor Trump. It was easier to name the manifestations — xenophobia, racism, sexism, “fear of the other” — than it was to recognize the root causes, which, distilled, amount to a looming sense of lost identity. 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. The smartest thing Trump has said during his campaign was in a speech last week. Citing Hillary Clinton’s slogan “I’m with her,” he said his slogan is “I’m with you, the American people.” Brilliant. When Trump frames things this way, he wins. When his critics point to his xenophobia and racism, legitimate though these observations


Brexit: Britain’s welcome revival of nationhood

was an option. Voters were not amused by the Cameron government’s threat of what critics called a Punishment Budget to inflict pain on pensioners (e.g., no more free bus passes) and others because Brexit might cause the gross domestic product to contract 9.5 percent and home prices might plummet 18 percent. Voters did not like being told that they really had no choice. And that it was too late to escape from entanglement in the E.U.’s ever-multiplying tentacles. And that the very viscosity of the E.U.’s statism guarantees its immortality. Voters chose the optimism of Brexit. Sixty years after Britain’s humiliation in the Suez debacle, Britain has a spring in its step, confident that it will flourish when Brussels no longer controls 60 to 70 percent of the British government’s actions. Britain was last conquered by an invading army in 1066. In 2016, it repelled an attempted conquest by the E.U.’s nomenklatura . By breaking the leftward-clicking ratchet that moves steadily, and only, toward more “pooled” sovereignty and centralization of power, Brexit refutes the progressive narrative that history has an inexorable trajectory that “experts” discern and before which all must bow. The E.U.’s contribution to this fable is its vow to pursue “ever-closer union.” Yes, ever . To understand why Brexit could and should be the beginning of an existential crisis for the E.U., look across the English Channel, to France. There, King Clovis recently was invoked 1505 years after his death in 511. Before a particular battle, Clovis promised that if the God to whom his Christian wife prayed would grant him victory, he would become a Christian. He won the battle and converted. Recently, Nicolas Sarkozy, France’s once and perhaps future president, said France was “born of the baptism of Clovis,” it has a Christian tradition and remains “a country of churches, cathedrals, abbeys and shrines.” Actually, 71 percent of the French say religion is unimportant to them and fewer than 4.5 percent attend weekly church services. But Sarkozy was aligning himself with the palpable desire in France and elsewhere in Europe to resist the cultural homogenization that is an intended consequence of the E.U.’s pressure for the “harmonization” of the laws and policies of its 28 disparate member nations. In Paris these days there are marches by a group called Generation Identitaire, described as the “hipster right.” It aims to rally “young French and Europeans who are


Brexit happens. Know your investment plan, and stick to it.

the after-the-fact explanations, reasonable-sounding narratives that play right into your hindsight bias. It is always after the fact that these neat little stories appear. Yet somehow, their authors failed to foresee what was so obviously “going to be” ahead of time. That is why you should distrust them all, the nonsensical rear-view-mirror rationalizations that they are. I keep a short list handy to remind myself of all the things investors must remember when these sorts of macro events cause turmoil: ●Markets surge and sell off. This is the ordinary course of events. ●The future is inherently unknown and unknowable. Those who claim otherwise are trying to sell you something. ●What sounds sexy and looks good in a brochure is not what usually makes you money over the long run. ●The gurus and talking heads have failed you. Once again, their forecasts were wrong. They were selling you a product, not providing any insight. ●Emotional reactions are bad for your portfolios. ●“Nobody knows anything.” The William Goldman quote, written about Hollywood, applies to just about everything in life. Get used to it. ●You need a plan. EOM. ●Your brain has evolved to adapt to keep you alive in changing conditions, not to make risk/reward decisions. ●The world is filled with random outcomes. Even more so when people are involved. ●Boring, steady portfolios can withstand about anything you throw at them. ●“Uncertainty” is a misnomer. The future is always unknown and always uncertain. When you hear people using the word “uncertainty,” it is because they are scared enough to briefly acknowledge their own ignorance. ●Adrenaline, it turns out, is not the basis of sound portfolio management. ●That plan mentioned above? You must have discipline to stay with it. ●Bull and bear markets have their own timelines. They do not care about your retirement, your saving for your kid’s college or the new house you want to buy. ●Investing is hard. ●Sometimes, Brexit happens. If you learn nothing else, at least think about this: It is easy to confuse day-to-day noise with actual and significant signals. If you are merely reacting to the latest market action, then what you have is not a plan — you have an instinctual, fear-driven reaction, and it’s the makings of a disaster. Ritholtz is the chief investment officer of Ritholtz Wealth Management. He is the author of “Bailout Nation” and runs a finance blog, The Big Picture.


D.C.-area thunderstorm pales beside celestial and meteorological wonders

When it rained in the District on Friday evening, when it seemed as if a spigot suddenly opened overhead, it was hard to muster much atmospheric awe. After all, within mere hours this week, the region had already seen a solstice, a full moon and a tornado. Two of those, the solstice and the full moon, occurred within less than 12 hours on Monday. The moon was full at 7:02 a.m, and the solstice occurred at 6:34 p.m. Each year, June’s solstice occurs reliably about the same date, to start astronomical summer. With similar reliability, at least one full moon occurs every June. But for it to fall on the same day as the solstice is rare. According to the EarthSky website, it last occurred in 1967. Not only that, it will not soon recur, not until June 21, 2062, according to the same source. So, given the rarity of that coincidence of celestial events, it seems clear that for a tornado to touch down in the region the next day would be even less likely. But one did. Amid the storms that lashed the region Tuesday, a tree-toppling twister with maximum winds of 80 mph ravaged a relatively rural strip of Howard County, Md. Its path began near a crossroads southwest of Lisbon, and it slashed south and east on a corridor that ran parallel to Interstate 70, brushing the Glenelg area, according to a National Weather Service report. No injuries or fatalities were reported during the 19 minutes in which the twister snapped branches and uprooted or topped trees, littering roads along its 12-mile route. It lifted west of Ellicott City. Howard County authorities said they opened two temporary sites for disposal of brush and branches through 8 p.m. Saturday.


Britain, E.U. are at odds over timing of exit

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. BERLIN — After a tumultuous Friday that saw world financial markets plummet and Cameron announce his intention to resign, British voters and their European peers began on Saturday to digest the full and enormous consequences of the historic decision to break with Europe. In Berlin, foreign ministers from the six original members of the E.U. spoke with one voice, effectively telling the British that now that they have decided, there should be no delay to the exit door. Cameron has sought a looser timetable to give his Conservative Party a chance to choose his successor, whose task it would be to fashion a withdrawal deal over the course of two years. But technically, negotiations can’t start until Britain triggers the bloc’s Article 50 — the never-before-used mechanism to leave it. Cameron has given no indication of pulling that lever fast. But for European officials stung by the vote, patience was wearing thin. In a stunning victory for the "Leave" campaign, Britain has voted to exit the European Union. Here's what happens next. “We start now,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault told reporters in Berlin. “We must be clear. The British people have decided after an initiative that was taken by Mr. Cameron. That was, is his responsibility.” At the same time, deep intrigue reminiscent of ancient European power plays using knights and swords instead of the ballot box swirled over the future of Scotland. Scottish voters, unlike the English or Welsh, voted on Thursday to remain in the E.U. — and Scotland’s cabinet met in Edinburgh to consider its next steps. Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister and leader of the Scottish National Party, confirmed that the party would begin efforts to seek a new vote on independence, a move that eventually could bring another wrenching change to an island nation that is now operating without a clear road map. The “cabinet agreed that we will seek to enter into immediate discussions with the E.U. institutions and with other E.U. member states to explore all possible options to protect Scotland’s place in the E.U.,” Sturgeon said Saturday. During Scotland’s referendum for independence from Britain in 2014 — which failed — E.U. officials were circumspect, saying at the time that Scotland would have to get in line


A sex misconduct case exposes flaws in how the Naval Academy scrutinizes instructors

vetted again before they’re given positions of authority over midshipmen. This means that, as in Pretus’s case, the academy may never learn about serious issues that could arise during the years while officers are earning their degrees. In a statement, Cmdr. John Schofield, a Naval Academy spokesman, called the school’s failure to flag Pretus an “aberration, and not indicative of the normal and historical effectiveness of the system.” But how does the academy know others like Pretus, who also served as a mentor to aspiring Marines, aren’t working with midshipmen right now? “In short, we don’t,” Schofield said. “We believe the vetting process is effective. We work very hard to ensure the men and women of the Naval Academy Brigade of Midshipmen are educated and represented by only the very best faculty and staff.” Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), a longtime critic of how the military deals with sexual assault, called the academy’s defense of its vetting process “another example of an unwillingness to change the status quo.” Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), a former prosecutor who has worked for years to reform the military justice system, was equally critical. “Americans rightfully expect that we should have in place the highest possible standards for vetting the instructors at those academies, and anything short of that is unacceptable,” she told The Post. “I expect the Naval Academy’s leaders to take that responsibility seriously and immediately get to work to close any loopholes in their vetting process.” The pervasiveness of sexual assault among cadets and midshipmen at the Naval Academy, the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and the Air Force Academy — training grounds for the country’s military leaders — has come under intense scrutiny in recent years. But what has received far less public attention is the potential threat of misbehavior posed by staff. In the past decade, at least 14 people who worked for or at the service academies were punished for committing acts of sexual misconduct against students or engaging in inappropriate relationships with them, according to military records and information provided by the three schools. Among the cases from the past three years: A lieutenant commander who taught at the Naval Academy was expelled from the service after he fondled a female midshipman. A captain at the Air Force Academy was pulled from his position in the athletic department after he made sexual advances toward female cadets. A sergeant


Does Brexit portend the end of European unity?

A campaigner for 'Vote Leave' during a rally in Hyde Park in London. (Ben Stansall/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE via Getty Images) Constanze Stelzenmüller is Robert Bosch senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. For me as a German, the Brexit vote is the second great seismic shift of my lifetime. The first was the miraculous gift of the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, which led to a quarter-century of expanded freedom, prosperity, democracy and security in Europe. The question before us now is: Does Brexit mark the beginning of the end for this era of peace? Or can the European project be salvaged? The key thing to understand now is that this referendum was not just about policy questions such as immigration, regulation or defense cooperation. There are sensible debates to be had about these issues; the United Kingdom and the European Union argued about them over four decades. David Cameron’s government successfully negotiated exceptions for the U.K. on almost all the topics it cared about. Today’s E.U. was shaped by British goals, such as enlargement, and Turkey’s candidacy. Tragically, all this made no difference to the “leavers,” and it did nothing for the “remain” camp. The rest of the E.U. supported these concessions, because we were appalled at the prospect of the U.K. leaving Europe. We saw Britain as a force for reason and good — an ancient and resilient democracy, with a history of deep engagement with the continent and the world. It was a power to be reckoned with, even after it had lost its empire. It was a pillar of the West, a guardian of global order, with its supremely capable diplomats and armed forces, and an important voice for free trade and an active foreign and security policy in the E.U. Postwar Germany sought atonement and reconciliation with Israel, with France and with Poland. But the countries we wanted to be like were the United States and Great Britain: open, liberal, outward-looking, defenders of civility and peace. As for me, London was my diplomat father’s first posting, so I had the lucky fortune of an English childhood: roaming the history of the world in the British Museum on rainy Sundays, and endless summers in Cornwall, where nobody ever locked their doors, and the kindly grocer — to the delight of my mother — would not just deliver your shopping, but also put it on the kitchen


East Coast states want to tax drivers’ travel, not their gas

would-be opponents as some of the test subjects if they are awarded the grant. “Whatever it ends up being, at least we’ll have data. We’ll actually have something to show: This is what it will look like if we actually implement it,” she said. Privacy remains a key issue, including how the government can track miles traveled without raising fears of snooping on where people are going. Backers say that they are sensitive to such concerns, particularly after Edward Snowden’s revelations about data collection by the National Security Agency left many spooked about government overreach. At the same time, people readily allow their movements to be charted and their personal details to be broadcast via smartphone apps. Louis Neudorff, an engineer at the firm CH2M Hill, helped manage Oregon’s effort and would play a key role if the I-95 group secures federal funding. He said there are a range of technological tools that allow miles to be tallied without intrusion. Drivers can plug a counting device into a port already found on many cars, he said. Cellphone apps are another option, including one that calls for the driver to take periodic photos of the odometer. One firm promises to pull mileage data from cars through a device hooked to gas pumps at local service stations, Neudorff said. Cheaters seeking to game the system are a challenge as well. Of course, some people have no objections to one of the most straightforward solutions: using GPS to measure distances. Such a method would also help solve one of the big questions the East Coast pilot projects would seek to answer: how to divvy up all the miles (and money) based on which state the car is in. “You can drive three or four hours in our part of the world and go through three or four states,” said Neudorff, who lives on Virginia’s Eastern Shore. Loads of toll data from E-ZPass transponders that are already in many cars could help, he said. “You cannot mandate GPS or, politically, this will never go anywhere. You have to have choices,” Neudorff said. Patricia G. Hendren, executive director of the I-95 coalition, said that people could opt out. Any future approach “will offer the option to simply pay an annual fee,” she said. But setting that fee could be sticky. Backers said such questions, and even basics such as how much to charge per mile,


How Brexit is a win for Putin

a little weaker. That’s a win for Putin. And who knows when the damage will end. The British economy will contract in the short term, and maybe longer. Scotland could split away. Even the future of Northern Ireland is unknown. At a minimum, our special partner will be distracted for years in managing these internal challenges and the negotiations with Brussels over its exit. More dangerously, the United Kingdom could end, as Scotland ponders another referendum. Such a dismantling would dramatically reduce the power and stature of one of our closest allies. Former prime minister Margaret Thatcher correctly observed, “The Anglo-American relationship has done more for the defense and future of freedom than any other alliance in the world.” But the best days of our special relationship might be behind us. In parallel to European fissures, Putin is consolidating strength. He has restored autocratic rule at home, crushing all serious dissent and mobilizing popular support through foreign war. He stopped NATO’s expansion by invading Georgia in 2008 and slowed E.U. expansion by invading Ukraine in 2014. He has increased Russia’s economic hegemony in large parts of the former Soviet Union by building the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU). As a result of his military intervention in Syria, Putin is expanding Russia’s presence in the Middle East, as Europe and the United States pull back. Most amazingly, his model of government and style of leadership now inspire European admirers, both in a handful of governments and in some societies. Will these dual trends of European disintegration and EEU integration continue for another 30 years, just as the opposite two trends endured for three decades? Probably not. In the long run, Russia remains plagued by too many internal challenges and skittish EEU partners, while we in the West will find ways to recalibrate our cooperation. But the short-term shift in the balance of power between a united democratic Europe and an illiberal Russia is obvious, and troubling. Read more about this topic: Constanze Stelzenmüller: Does Brexit portend the end of European unity? George F. Will: Brexit: Britain’s welcome revival of nationhood The Post’s View: Stopping dark forces in our post-Brexit world Anne Applebaum: Britain’s decision to leave the E.U. is a warning to America Daniel W. Drezner: What does Brexit mean for the 2016 election? Danielle Allen: U.S. bears some responsibility for Brexit Sebastian Mallaby: Britain’s awful vote may be a tipping point


Great Britain reckons with possible future as Little England

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. LONDON — But now that Britain has stunned the world with its decision to exit the European Union, experts say it will be focused inward for the foreseeable future. “I don’t think there will be the capacity or the infrastructure to look outward in the next five years,” said Ian Kearns, director of the London-based European Leadership Network. “With all our diplomatic resources focused on extracting concessions from the E.U., we won’t be in anything other than reactive mode on other issues.” That reality could bring a significantly diminished role on the great challenges facing the West, including Russia, the Islamic State, refugees and climate change. In a stunning victory for the "Leave" campaign, Britain has voted to exit the European Union. Here's what happens next. For Washington, Britain’s distraction will be acutely felt. Britain has long been the United States’ closest ally, one that broadly shares American interests and values, and has always formed a crucial bridge across the Atlantic. The United States looked to Britain when it needed to influence European decision-making. The E.U. turned to Britain when it hoped to influence the United States. Now, the loss of Britain’s voice in efforts to present a united European and American front on issues such as sanctions against Russia is particularly worrisome to U.S. officials, said Philip Gordon, a former assistant secretary of state for European affairs in the Obama administration. “That voice will no longer be there when withdrawal is complete,” Gordon said. Instead, Britain will be preoccupied with its “great domestic convulsion.” Thursday’s referendum was the most dramatic blow to Britain’s role in the world, but even before that, a series of events caused Washington to fret that its closest ally was pulling back from its customarily active global role. Parliament’s 2013 vote against airstrikes in Syria, Britain’s absence from Ukrainian peace talks and its delay in joining the air campaign against the Islamic State all contributed to a feeling that Britain was becoming a less-reliable partner in international affairs. A victory for the “remain” camp in the referendum vote was supposed to be a turning point: With Prime Minister David Cameron having put the country’s two great existential dilemmas behind it – Scottish secession and E.U. membership – he would have


An about-face on veterans’ promotion preference

veterans, the United States tries to give them something in return for their service. One such reward is federal hiring preference: Veterans get an advantage over civilian applicants — not just when they are applying for their first government post but also when they move between agencies or seek promotion. The Senate version of a major military policy bill would take away that second bite of the apple. There are plenty of good reasons to give veterans a leg up at the start of their civil service careers, in addition to gratitude. Some veterans have difficulty adjusting to civilian life, and many job-seekers may find themselves at a disadvantage after years away from the workplace. But it is harder to understand why veterans who have already made their way into federal posts should get preference over people who may be performing better in comparable positions. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), chairman of the Armed Services Committee and a longtime advocate for veterans, seems to agree. So do the officials in the Defense Department who encouraged Mr. McCain to change the preference policy in this year’s defense authorization bill, now in conference with the House. Advocates of the change say bumping veterans to the top of hiring lists can discourage the most qualified candidates from taking government jobs at all. Opponents Not only do some qualified candidates not make it to the interview room, but others may also feel discouraged from applying at all. Almost half of new federal hires to full-time positions in 2014 were veterans; it’s not hard to see how non-vets might feel they have little chance of success. The Senate’s changes would not fully solve these problems. Preference policy might need tweaking on a larger scale: Actively recruiting especially qualified veterans instead of relying on online postings, for example, could ensure both that veterans get hired and that they’re the right people for the job. Updating qualification criteria would also make a difference. For now, though, the Senate has struck a smart balance between taking care of veterans and taking care of the federal workforce. Read more on this topic: Lisa Rein: Obama’s push to hire veterans is causing confusion and resentment, officials say Lisa Rein: Why is it so hard to get a federal job? Here’s one reason. Lisa Rein: Record numbers of veterans are getting jobs in the government — but a lot of them quit


In Omaha, U.S. swimming trials have grown into a massive, pyrotechnic spectacle

duty of identifying the nation’s Olympians, you may blame Phelps. Bethesda teen will swim four events in Rio. “The gift of God, Michael Phelps — that’s what he did for us,” USA Swimming chief executive Chuck Wielgus said in 2013. “He brought people who weren’t swimming-family people through the door.” When Phelps first swam in an Olympic trials, in 2000, the meet was held at the Indiana University Natatorium, a humble, 4,400-seat facility in Indianapolis. The next time, in 2004, it moved to a makeshift, outdoor pool constructed in the parking lot of an aquarium in Long Beach, Calif. Finally, in 2008 — the same summer Phelps went on to win an unprecedented eight gold medals in Beijing — the trials moved to Omaha. That same year, following Beijing, USA Swimming reported an 11.3 percent jump in athlete-memberships. “Watching the sport take from 2000 until what it is today — it’s a significant change,” said Phelps, a 22-time Olympic medalist and 18-time gold medalist who turns 31 this week. “But I think for me, there’s still more . . . and I will go down swinging until the day I die to continue to try to change the sport, to take it to a higher level.” This year, for Omaha’s third go-round as the host city, all 14,500 tickets for each of the meet’s 15 sessions sold out weeks in advance — meaning total attendance for the meet should surpass 200,000. According to Wielgus, USA Swimming would like to return to Omaha in 2020, but with the 2020 Tokyo Olympics beginning two weeks earlier than this year’s, the trials could conflict with the College World Series, held here in late June. In setting the time standards for Olympic trials qualifying, USA Swimming actually targets a number closer to 1,200 qualifiers, but this year , a total of 1,737 swimmers are expected to compete. Of those, 157 — or 8.8 percent — have posted Olympic qualifying times. A maximum of 52 swimmers will make the team that competes in the Rio Olympics, beginning Aug. 6. Some elite athletes and coaches grumble about the crowded decks and warmup lanes, with qualifiers as young as 13 years old bumping up against superstars such as Phelps, Missy Franklin and Katie Ledecky. These athletes — photographed at the Olympic media summit in March — will compete to represent the United States at the Rio de


Despite assurances, immigrants in Britain are uncertain of their future

Alejandro Majnoler, a 28-year-old from Italy, has been getting messages from friends back home following the E.U. referendum saying, “Come back, friend.” (Karla Adam/For The Washington Post) LONDON — “Britain is saying, ‘We don’t want to go to the party anymore,’ ” said the 28-year-old Italian immigrant, who moved to the United Kingdom two years ago. Majnoler was working at London’s Borough Market on Saturday, a food lover’s paradise that attracts grazers from around the globe. “Will I need a visa? Will it cost more? Immigrants will be disadvantaged, for sure,” he said, as he served customers raspberry licorice from Sweden and caramel twists from Denmark. “My friends in Italy are messaging me, ‘Come back, friend.’ ” Immigration was one of the key battlegrounds in the E.U. referendum, with those campaigning to leave arguing that it was the only way to slash migration. As a member of the E.U., Britain has to allow free movement of people from 27 other member states. Guillermo Jose, a 39-year-old farmer from Spain, says that many E.U. citizens moved to the U.K. for better paying jobs, but would leave if the economy tanked. (Karla Adam/For The Washington Post) Those campaigning for Brexit, or British exit from the E.U., offered clear assurances that a new immigration system would not affect E.U. citizens already living in Britain: “There will be no change for EU citizens already lawfully resident in the UK,” the campaign noted on its website. But the exact terms of the U.K.’s divorce from the E.U. will not be known for some time. And in the meantime, there is concern among the U.K.’s 7.5 million foreign-born residents about their future in a country where not all of them feel welcome. That nervousness was palpable Saturday at the bustling Borough Market, nestled under railway lines where traders from around the world sell fruits and vegetables and artisanal food. “Immigrants are treated as scum, even though no one wants to do their jobs,” said Lucas, a 32-year-old from Poland running a coffee stall. (He did not want to give his surname but was happy to talk about the implications of the referendum with journalists and customers.) Returning change to a woman who bought a flat white coffee, he said, “Here are your English pounds. Tomorrow, we will have Welsh pounds, Scottish pounds and Irish euros.” Lucas came to the U.K. shortly after the expansion of the


Beer of the Week: Right Proper Brewing Kodachrome Dream(ing)

(Fritz Hahn/The Washington Post) Cycling is hard work. And whether you’re sprinting through Normandy or straining to pedal up the 13th Street hill in Columbia Heights, you welcome a refreshing drink at the end. Germans have long favored a thirst-quenching blend of lager and grapefruit or lemon soda that’s known as a radler, which literally translates as “cyclist.” Radlers came into public consciousness here in 2014, thanks to imports from Stiegel and Schofferhofer, and domestic versions by Boulevard and Sixpoint. The first local radler to catch my eye was Kodachrome Dream(ing), a “farmhouse radler” from the then-new Right Proper Brewing. Of course, because this is Right Proper, it wasn’t a true radler but “a really loose interpretation of radler,” acknowledges brewer Nathan Zeender, who concocted the recipe with his longtime friend and collaborator Michael Tonsmeire, author of the Mad Fermentationist home-brewing blog. Instead of brewing a lager and adding fresh fruit juice, Right Proper brews a farmhouse beer with its house yeast, adding grapefruit, lemon and lime zest, then waiting until the very end of the brewing process to add the hops, dry-hopping with citrusy Galaxy and Citra. The result explodes with grapefruit and tropical flavors and aromas, but it finishes clean and dry, and clocks in at just 4.5 percent alcohol by volume. “I’m a big fan of San Pellegrino grapefruit soda, especially in the summer,” Zeender says. “This is kind of a beer version of that.” In other words, the perfect thing to drink after a Saturday morning bike ride — or in a beer garden, while watching the televised Tour de France. — Fritz Hahn Kodachrome Dreaming by Right Proper Brewing. rightproperbrewing.com. $6 per glass and $14 per growler fill at Right Proper’s Brookland Tasting Room (920 Girard St. NW), at selected beer bars and on Sundays at the Dupont Circle FreshFarm Market. More from Food: Beer Column archive


Why you can’t get a pint in a beer bar anymore

growth in 12-to-14-ounce glasses, particularly Belgian-style footed ones. Serving draft beer in smaller, fancier glasses “enhances the presentation, closer to a winelike level of service,” he says. “If you put a [$10] IPA in a stemmed glass, it’s a little easier to swallow.” If people are paying more for a special beer, Moore says, they don’t want to see it in the same pint glass that a sports bar dumps Miller Lite into. Bartender Ben Brown at Meridian Pint, where about half of the beers are poured into classic pint glasses. ( Lexey Swall/For The Washington Post) ‘A good, robust pour’ The pint glass — with pinkie firmly planted, along with all the other fingers — does still have its supporters. “About half” of the beers at the District’s Meridian Pint, Brookland Pint and Smoke & Barrel are poured into one, says beer director Jace Gonnerman. After all, “pint” is in the name of two of the company’s establishments. “People feel like they’re getting a good, robust pour,” he says, whether it’s an IPA, a double IPA or a Vienna lager. “We’ve always liked the feel of a 16-ounce pint in your hand.” But he agrees that some beers are just too expensive to justify the larger pour: “When you get into $9 or $10 pints, there are people who’d like to pay a little less and get a little less beer.” Travel up and down the East Coast, and you’ll see the issue of size playing out in beer bars from Richmond to New York, but that’s not happening everywhere in America. In his travels around the country, Boulevard Brewing ambassador brewer Jeremy Danner has seen bars turning away from the pint, but back home in Kansas City, most bars still use them for Pilseners, IPAs and wheat beers. Why the discrepancy? Trends take longer to reach the Midwest, he admits in an email, adding, “I think folks in the Midwest expect/appreciate fairness in pricing/portions, so bars are hesitant to reduce pour sizes.” On the West Coast, things may be moving in the opposite direction. As on the East Coast, “the shaker pint is now rapidly losing favor with breweries and good-beer pubs,” says Portland, Ore.-based beer writer Jeff Alworth, author of “The Beer Bible,” in an email. But the difference is in what’s replacing it: The glassware is getting larger, not smaller. More from Food: Beer Column archive


Pound slips again, but markets relatively calm as investors digest Brexit vote

an opinion poll showed a strong majority of Scots want to break with the United Kingdom, while Nicola Sturgeon, leader of the Scottish National Party, even raised the possibility of blocking the legislation needed for Britain to exit the E.U. But the economic uncertainty could drag on for years, with Cameron’s successor facing complex negotiations to leave the world’s largest trading bloc and forge new trade deals around the world. Some economists predict that the British economy could tumble into a recession next year. “A lot of issues in the U.K. are not going to be resolved anytime soon,” said IG’s Weston. “For sterling to rally, you want to see some certainty. Otherwise every rally is just an opportunity to sell.” U.S. Secretary of State John F. Kerry urged Britain and the E.U. on Sunday to manage their divorce responsibly for the sake of global markets and citizens. He is due to meet E.U. foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini in Brussels and British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond in London on Monday. He said he would bring a message of support to both capitals. “The most important thing is that all of us, as leaders, work together to provide as much continuity, as much stability, as much certainty as possible,” Kerry said as he met in Rome with Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni. Although the United States regrets the Brexit decision, he said, there are ways to “minimize disruption” in the marketplace. Globally, the recovery from the 2008 financial crisis has been sluggish and fragile, with recurring crises over government debt in Europe, a collapse in oil prices and rising concern about China’s slowdown buffeting financial markets, investment and economic activity. Prolonged uncertainty over Brexit is not going to help. On Friday, finance ministers and central bank chiefs from the Group of Seven nations acknowledged that the Brexit vote could have “adverse implications for financial and economic stability” but expressed confidence in the health of the banking system and vowed to work together to ensure that markets continued to function smoothly. (G-7 nations include the United States, Canada, Italy, France, Germany, Japan and Britain.) Mark Carney, governor of the Bank of England, said the central bank had taken “all the necessary steps” to prepare for the aftermath of a vote to leave the E.U., adding that British banks have been stress-tested “against scenarios more severe than the country currently faces.” In


Voters in one fading port town wonder whether they were misled on Brexit

More than 70 percent of voters in Tilbury and in Thurrock voted for Britain to leave the European Union. (Shannon Jensen Wedgwood/For the Washington Post) TILBURY, England — Tilbury is one of England’s poorest places — and one of its most Euroskeptic. More than 72 percent of voters here and in surrounding Thurrock voted for Britain to leave the European Union in Thursday’s referendum. Few places voted more decisively. But by Sunday, the initial excitement among some pro-Brexit voters had already started to disappear, making room for worries about what’s next for an increasingly divided Britain. Some in this town of 12,000 have also begun to wonder whether they had been misled by politicians advocating to leave the E.U. amid a campaign marked by negativity on both sides. “I was swayed by the rhetorics, but if I had thought this through, I would have voted to stay in. I would certainly do so now,” said Antony Kerin, 38, who was watching his daughter at a newly refurbished but empty playground. In a stunning victory for the "Leave" campaign, Britain has voted to exit the European Union. Here's what happens next. Concerns about the economic fallout from the vote were on the minds of many here. Many who voted in favor of Brexit work in professions and for companies that could suffer under uncertainty over trade deals, such as car manufacturers. And they predominantly live in poorer regions — those that have received significant subsidies from the E.U. Tilbury was hoping to receive an E.U. grant worth more than $6 million, but those dreams were shattered by the referendum results. Kerin, who moved to Tilbury 10 years ago and is unemployed, said he had been trying to move to public housing in a different city. But he will probably have to remain patient: Out of Thurrock’s 165,000 residents, 6,500 are on a waiting or transfer list for public housing. “They’re making us stay here to rot,” said Kerin, referring to county officials and the British government. For others in Tilbury, the referendum has had deeply personal implications. The news that Britain had voted to leave the E.U. shocked Kate Clarke, 38, but not her husband. 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. “He voted for a Brexit and told me I was blind.


A yellow fever epidemic in Angola could turn into a global crisis

in the United States long ago. The fact that the disease is emerging again as an international threat reflects a lack of preparedness by local and global health institutions, and Africa’s transformation into a more urbanized and interconnected continent. Fourteen years after the end of a brutal civil war, Angola boasts road networks and airlines that allow more people to travel at a faster pace than ever before. Yellow fever — which in recent decades has emerged again in remote, sparsely populated locations — has taken advantage of the same infrastructure to spread. For years, the World Health Organization kept 6 million doses of the vaccine in case of a public health emergency. But, as is apparent, that was not nearly enough for a fast-moving epidemic that crosses porous borders. In Angola, even after a campaign that vaccinated 6 million people in Luanda, millions of people remain unvaccinated. If swaths of rural China had to be immunized, the demand for vaccines would skyrocket. Pepe Jose, shown standing with her son Jose, left, and surviving grandsons Manuel, center, and Shandinho, was the first member of her family to contract yellow fever in February. A month later, the same disease killed her 2-year-old grandson Pedro. Now her son Tata Crestovo, 25, is battling the outbreak. (Nichole Sobecki/For The Washington Post) Crestovo is shown resting on a mattress in his sparse room after returning home from the hospital. (Nichole Sobecki/For The Washington Post) Photographs of loved ones are propped up against beer and condiment bottles in Pepe’s home. (Nichole Sobecki/For The Washington Post) The factories that make the vaccine “are above the capacity of production. They don’t produce more than 2.4 million doses per month. That hampers what we are doing. We need to vaccinate 25 million people” in Angola, said Hernando Agudelo, the WHO representative in this former Portuguese colony. Yellow fever “It is tragic, because we have an intervention that makes the disease entirely preventable,” said Ray Arthur, the director of the Global Disease Detection Operations Center at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In Luanda, the Angolan capital, the disease haunts some of the city’s most desperate communities. Outside of the central hospital one recent morning, a woman whose younger brother had just died of yellow fever wailed uncontrollably. A few miles away, at Hospital dos Cajueiros, several patients — feverish and delirious — said they were sure


Learning from Britain’s unnecessary crisis

away. Instead, he turned a normal electoral challenge into a profound crisis that could lead to the breakup of his country while threatening Europe’s future. The devastating complaint of Martin Schulz, the president of the European Parliament: “A whole continent is taken hostage because of an internal fight in the Tory party.” In a stunning victory for the "Leave" campaign, Britain has voted to exit the European Union. Here's what happens next. For all the Union Jacks hoisted at Leave rallies, the nationalism behind this was English, not British. England voted to get out of the E.U., Scotland overwhelmingly to stay. Northern Ireland also favored Remain, while Wales split narrowly for Leave, its more English parts voting like England. Suddenly, for Scots who want their country to be independent, their nationalism becomes a form of pro-European internationalism. To stay in Europe, they have to escape Britain. After a difficult but successful struggle for peace, Northern Ireland’s status is now also in doubt. Don’t trash democracy or the voters. Where complicated choices are involved — and Brexit defines complexity — leaders in representative democracies need the guts to make hard calls and submit themselves to voters afterward. They should not use referendums purely to evade responsibility. In fact, now that this road has been opened, real democrats should demand a second referendum on the terms of an exit deal. On Thursday, voters bet that the unknown would be better than the known. They should get to vote again on the full implications of what they set in motion. The European idea was killed in part by right-wing Tories who think they can turn their island into a free-trade, low-regulation paradise. But it was also battered in traditionally Labour-voting industrial areas far away from a happy and generally prosperous London that voted overwhelmingly to stay. A partial tally of the discontent: 68 percent Leave in Barnsley, 70 percent in the authority that includes Grimsby , and 62 percent in South Shields’ borough. Emma Lewell-Buck, the Labour parliamentarian who represents South Shields and supported Remain, was right to say that UKIP leader Nigel Farage “whipped everyone up into a frenzy with his hateful language.” Ethno-nationalism is on the rise across Europe, and this vote will only intensify the trend. But in so many nations, including our own, technological change, globalization and financialization force the left-out to stare at prosperity from a great distance.


Russia is harassing U.S. diplomats all over Europe

Putin, Russia has been engaged in an increasingly aggressive gray war across Europe. Now it’s in retaliation for Western sanctions because of Ukraine. The widely reported harassment is another front in the gray war,” said Norm Eisen, U.S. ambassador the Czech Republic from 2011 to 2014. “They are hitting American diplomats literally where they live.” The State Department has taken several measures in response to the increased level of nefarious activity by the Russian government. All U.S. diplomats headed for Europe now receive increased training on how to handle Russian harassment, and the European affairs bureau run by Assistant Secretary Victoria Nuland has set up regular interagency meetings on tracking and responding to the incidents. McFaul told me he and his family were regularly followed and the Russian intelligence services wanted his family to know they were being watched. Other embassy officials also suffered routine harassment that increased significantly after the Ukraine-related sanctions. Those diplomats who were trying to report on Russian activities faced the worst of it. “It was part of a way to put pressure on government officials who were trying to do their reporting jobs. It definitely escalated when I was there. After the invasion of Ukraine, it got much, much worse,” McFaul said. “We were feeling embattled out there in the embassy.” There was a debate inside the Obama administration about how to respond, and ultimately President Obama made the decision not to respond with similar measures against Russian diplomats, McFaul said. A spokesman for the Russian Embassy in Washington sent me a long statement both tacitly admitting to the harassment and defending it as a response to what he called U.S. provocations and mistreatment of Russian diplomats in the United States. “The deterioration of U.S.-Russia relations, which was not caused by us, but rather by the current Administrations’ policy of sanctions and attempts to isolate Russian, had a negative affect on the functioning of diplomatic missions, both in U.S. and Russia,” the spokesman said. “In diplomatic practice there is always the principle of reciprocity and, indeed, for the last couple of years our diplomatic staff in the United States has been facing certain problems. The Russian side has never acted proactively to negatively affect U.S. diplomats in any way.” Evelyn Farkas, who served as deputy assistant secretary of defense for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia until last year, said that there is no equivalence between whatever


U.S., European stocks stumble again amid Brexit vote fallout

while Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase were down 5 percent and 3 percent respectively. “Banks are generally the best proxy for an economy,” said Firdaus Ibrahim, a banking-industry analyst for S&P Global Market Intelligence. And all of this means “the banks’ profitability will be hit hard, in our view,” Ibrahim said. Concerns about European banks were particularly apparent in Italy, where, according to multiple media reports, government officials were weighing the injection of billions into the banking system in the wake of the Brexit vote. Italy’s banks have already endured a high level of bad loans and sluggish economic growth. Brexit could force the country’s central bank to take action to stabilize the sector, analysts said. The markets were relatively calmer in Asia, where policymakers said they stood ready to act if the markets remained unsettled. Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock index gained about 2.4 percent after falling nearly 8 percent on Friday. Financial leaders in Europe and the United States, meanwhile, rushed to assure investors on Monday. “There is no sense of a financial crisis developing,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said in an interview with CNBC on Monday. “Obviously this is a change in policy that has implications which change the decisions investors make, so I’m not saying there’s not an impact in the markets.” Britain faces months of political uncertainty after Prime Minister David Cameron, who called the referendum but campaigned for Britain to stay in the E.U., pledged to step down by early September. Opposition lawmakers from the Labour Party attempted to unseat their leader, Jeremy Corbyn, citing his failure to mount an effective campaign for Britain to stay in the E.U., while more than 3 million Britons signed a petition calling for a second referendum. Adding to the uncertainty, an opinion poll showed a strong majority of Scots want to break with Britain, while Nicola Sturgeon, leader of the Scottish National Party, even raised the possibility of blocking the legislation needed for Britain to exit the E.U. But the economic uncertainty could drag on for years, with Cameron’s successor facing complex negotiations to leave the world’s largest trading bloc and forge new trade deals around the world. “A lot of issues in the U.K. are not going to be resolved anytime soon,” said Chris Weston, chief markets strategist at IG in Melbourne, Australia. “For sterling to rally, you want to see some certainty. Otherwise, every rally is


Two Montgomery County parks to get rid of 300 geese through euthanization

Geese create troubles at Granville Gude Park in Laurel, Md. Residents report the geese cross the road regularly, tying up traffic. (Tom Fedor/© The Gazette 2014) Nearly 300 geese will be removed and euthanized this month from two parks in Montgomery County and then become food for the homeless, authorities said. The effort is being led by Montgomery Parks, which is part of the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission as part of its geese removal project. It comes as officials strain to deal with the overpopulation of geese at area golf courses, parks, lakes and recreational fields. One of the biggest issues is the amount of excrement they leave behind. “The excessive feces they leave, up to one pound daily, is not only unsightly but causes unsanitary conditions around bodies of water, docks, pathways, athletic fields and lawn areas,” said Dave Peterson, a natural resources specialist with Montgomery Parks. The geese will be taken from Martin Luther King Jr. Park in White Oak and Rock Creek Regional Park near Lake Needwood, east of Rockville. Officials said they will be “humanely euthanized” and then processed for “human consumption.” The goose meat will be donated to the Maryland Food Bank. In Maryland, the geese are migratory and resident. Migratory geese typically nest in northern Canada during the summer and come to Maryland in the winter, mainly on the Eastern Shore and around the Chesapeake Bay. Maryland’s “resident population” of geese were first introduced in the 1930s to the area after being transplanted from the Midwest. But the geese create a host of problems, wildlife experts said, including damaging shorelines and turf. Vegetation at Rock Creek Regional Park has been harmed. A buildup of feces along the shoreline, boat dock and lawn areas can be found there, officials said. The geese also been known to tie up traffic. Geese can be spotted frequently trying to cross busy Jackson Road near the Martin Luther King Jr. Park and Beach Drive near Rock Creek Regional. Montgomery County park officials said they’ve tried various methods to rid area parks of geese, including fencing, using repelling devices and banning people from feeding them. Other areas have used border collies to get the geese to move from areas where they’ve became a nuisance. While some of the efforts have had limited success, there has “not been sufficient” change at the two parks where the birds will be


These sisters are surviving a dangerous heart ailment together

find new genes associated with the disease. Having this information may help identify cases early, when medicine might be able to keep the disease in check. Family clusters like the Fearringtons’ can provide important data about the disease’s genetics and progression. MedStar Washington Hospital Center, one of the project study sites, plans to begin enrolling participants soon, and the Fearringtons expect to join. At that point, they would undergo genetic testing for the first time, which will help not only researchers but also their own children. “If they found the genes in us, the children would be tested, too,” Nicole says. First to be diagnosed In 1997, about six months after giving birth to twins, LaWanda, a case manager for a home health agency, felt extremely tired and short of breath, with her legs swollen from fluid retention. All were symptoms of an enlarged heart unable to properly pump blood. She was the first of the sisters diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy, later recognized as familial when her sisters also developed it. Three years after LaWanda’s diagnosis, Nicole got hers. Candice followed in 2011, and Kasi in 2012. Because pregnancy can stress an ailing heart, the four sisters have decided against having more children. LaWanda’s twins are 20, Kasi has a 3-year-old, and Candice has a 13-year-old and a 4-year-old. (Nicole has no children.) The children are healthy, but their mothers recognize they too are at risk and plan to monitor them as they age. Nicole, who is currently job hunting, was grossly overweight when she found out she had cardiomyopathy and was suffering from Type 2 diabetes and hypertension. Her symptoms were similar to LaWanda’s. “I couldn’t lay flat to go to sleep,’’ she says. “Sometimes I had to sit up to sleep; I felt like I was drowning.’’ As her heart deteriorated, doctors told her she needed to lose weight — she reached 325 pounds at one point — before they could consider a heart transplant, she recalls. She had gastric bypass surgery in 2011, and now weighs 145 pounds. It took a while to recover from her transplant on April 19, 2014, she says, but now “I feel great.’’ In LaWanda’s case, her heart had weakened enough by 2006 that she needed to use a cardiac defibrillator that would shock her heart when its rate started to get unsteady. Last August, with her heart function continuing to deteriorate,


In the battle of desert tortoise vs. Marines, the tortoise wins — for now

Rearing Site. (Lauren Kurkimili/U.S. Marine Corps) To protect the tortoises from becoming collateral damage as bombs, mortars and artillery are fired and Humvees rumble around, the Marines were planning to airlift more than 1,100 of them away from the area. But just weeks before the relocation was to begin, the Center for Biological Diversity in Tucson protested that the effort would mean certain death for large numbers of the tortoises, in violation of the Endangered Species Act. The group warned that it would go to court to stop the operation. As a result, the airlift is on hold, the training exercise has been downsized and federal officials not aligned with the Marine Corps are reviewing the tortoise relocation to judge its impact on the creatures. “This proposed translocation is a disaster for the already at-risk desert tortoises in the west Mojave Desert,” said Ileene Anderson, a senior scientist with the diversity center. The desert tortoise is found in the Mojave and Sonoran deserts of California, Nevada, Utah and Arizona. An adult tortoise can reach six inches in height, weigh up to 15 pounds, and live as long as 100 years. The tortoise population in the western Mojave, which includes the Marine base, has declined by 90 percent since the early 1980s, according to the advocacy group Defenders of Wildlife. Among the causes cited by the group and others for the decline are drought, respiratory disease, a population explosion among ravens, suburban development and increased use of the desert by off-roaders and other recreationalists. The tortoises were required to grow at least 4 inches in length before being released, in order to ensure they could fend off predators. (Lauren Kurkimili/U.S. Marine Corps) In response to the environmentalists’ concerns, the Marines say they have carefully monitored the health of tortoises set to be relocated and will continue to do so through small transmitters on the animals’ backs. The Corps has allocated $50 million for the airlift, environmental assessments, fencing, research and health monitoring of the tortoises through the year 2045. “We’re not just going to throw them over a fence,” said Walter Christensen, natural and cultural resources branch manager at the base. Six spots adjacent to the base have been assigned for the relocation, he said. All have sufficient water and food and are far enough away from the tortoises’ current homes that they will not try to walk back, he said.


What the media gets wrong about Brexit

of the leave campaign. "The E.U.'s failing. The E.U.'s dying," said UK Independent Party leader Nigel Farage after Britons voted to leave the European Union. He pinpointed the Netherlands and Denmark as a few of the other countries with growing support to leave the international body. There are other sincere Euroskeptics, people who argue about whether the joint writing of legislation means too great a loss of sovereignty, as well as many, many people who are nostalgic for a different and more English England. I spent Sunday afternoon with some of them. It involved green lawns and clinking glasses, and none of them seemed particularly undernourished either. But here is the trouble: That elite version of Brexit — England as an offshore haven, a deregulated zone, an arcadian haven, a cosmopolitan business center, the Dubai of the North Atlantic — was not what the Daily Mail and the Daily Telegraph sold in the campaign, and it isn’t what the leave campaign put on their billboards. Instead, the papers repeated scare stories about immigration and the campaign bus promised that 350 million pounds a week, a completely invented number, would be paid to the National Health Service. The idealists want pure sovereignty; the hedge funds want deregulation; the voters voted for the welfare state. The result is chaos. The leave campaign does not have a common vision and does not have a common plan because its members wouldn’t be able to agree on one. Iain Duncan-Smith, a pro-Brexit MP and former minister, backpeddaled on the 350 million pounds: “I never said that,” he said — although photographs show he was happy enough to travel on a bus that did. Farage laughed at the number, too. Johnson wrote a column which seemed to suggest that immigration was fine and nothing much would change. In an act of Monty Pythonesque farce, he then temporarily disappeared, refusing to turn up in the House of Commons on the first meeting after his team’s victory. How long will it be before the next revolution — this time against the pro-Brexit elite? Read more from Anne Applebaum’s archive, follow her on Twitter or subscribe to her updates on Facebook. Read more here: Ilya Somin: Brexit, “Regrexit,” and the impact of political ignorance E.J. Dionne Jr.: Learning from Britain’s unnecessary crisis Constanze Stelzenmüller: Does Brexit portend the end of European unity? Robert J. Samuelson: Some possible Brexit consequences


Brexit is not just Europe’s problem. It highlights a crisis in democracies worldwide.

enjoys a particularly stable coalition. Tim Bale, a professor of politics at Queen Mary University in London, argued that as cultural issues — here symbolized by immigration — have risen to the fore, they have put pressure on a party system long organized over economic differences of more or less reliance on free markets rather than government’s hand. Labour saw many of its strong areas outside of London vote strongly in favor of leaving the E.U. Meanwhile, Cameron was relying on the votes of Labour districts in London to help prevent that from happening. “In other words,” Bale said, “there’s possibly a mismatch between the party system we have and the party system we need.” But he added that history and institutional inertia mean there is no prospect of any realignment. It will be left to the leaders of the next government to pick up the pieces after Thursday’s vote. But those who led the “leave” campaign to break with Europe and who are likely to lead the government by this fall will be challenged to live up to the promises they made in the weeks before the referendum. Already they have backed away from some of the more questionable assertions of the campaign. That governing challenge could fall most heavily on Johnson, if he becomes the next prime minister. The normally flamboyant former journalist appears somewhat chastened by what lies ahead. In a column in Monday’s Telegraph newspaper, he sought to present himself as someone who would try to unite a sharply divided country and smooth over some of the issues that were at the heart of the Brexit debate. He argued that the government would be able to take back control of immigration — the issue that above all animated the actions of many supporters of Brexit — while maintaining many of the economic benefits it now enjoys by being a member of the E.U. “Britain is and always will be a great European power,” he wrote, “offering top table opinions and giving leadership on everything from foreign policy to defense to counter-terrorism and intelligence-sharing.” But so far there is no plan for implementing any of this from those who led the campaign to leave. To some outside observers, that is a recipe for more voter disappointment and a further decline in confidence in leaders and institutions. As Bale put it, “The time seems right for another betrayal.”


Brexit shouldn’t be a shock

I see much hand-wringing and teeth-gnashing about the horrible Brexit, the ignorant masses who supported it, the terrible resulting impact on those who have money [“The post-Brexit world,” editorial, June 26]. But there’s the rub. Those of us who were devastated not only by the 2008 crash and by growing wealth inequality, but also by the trickle-down economics that began in the 1980s, haven’t much left to lose. The Post is shocked that presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s odious xenophobia has resonated with so many Americans. It is similarly shocked that many Britons followed the same road in voting to leave the European Union. This is the same newspaper that has spent the better part of the past year alternately ignoring and excoriating Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) for proffering supposedly pie-in-the-sky (a.k.a. New Deal) economic proposals. This is the same newspaper that, since 2008, has been preaching austerity, just as British Prime Minister David Cameron’s government has. Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton tinkers with the margins of the problem, running on a platform of “We can’t do much.” As a former middle-class American, I don’t know anyone among my friends and family who is doing well financially, and this is the crux of the problem. U.S. and global powers-that-be had better rethink some of their economic positions. P.A. Franklin, Stewartstown, Pa. While many who voted for Brexit The European Union will work only if it becomes one sovereign country with the best features of the United States, with its autonomous states, and of India, with language being a determinant of the domain of each state. Kalyan Singhal, Columbia Brexit represents the beginning Mary Daley Yerrick, Bethesda


Brexit is a cautionary tale for Trump supporters

Here are key moments from Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's answers to reporters' questions June 24 at his golf course in Scotland. Here is the real lesson from the stunning Brexit vote: Throwing a tantrum at the polls is not liberating; it is self-defeating. Those tempted to vote for Donald Trump should pay very close attention. Brexit was a big deal, but it is not the end of the world. Reeling financial markets should recover from the shock, which has been nowhere near as serious as the 2008 meltdown. There will be some political turmoil in Europe, but I believe it will abate as everyone sees the extent to which British voters were defrauded. It is already clear that those who chose to leave the European Union will not reap the benefits they were promised. Great Britain, or what’s left of it, will become a little poorer, less dynamic and less important. That’s about it. The working-class Britons who bought the Brexit snake oil likely will not see their incomes rise or their prospects brighten. Nor will they see their multicultural society become monocultural again. The whole thing was a fantasy, cynically concocted by ambitious politicians who apparently never thought the nation would take them seriously. Boris Johnson, the former London mayor and onetime journalist who became the face of the “leave” campaign, had the nerve to write an unctuous newspaper op-ed, published Monday, in which he counseled everyone to remain calm. Britain “is part of Europe, and always will be,” wrote the man who did all he could to divorce his island nation from the continent. 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. Johnson was booed by onlookers as he left his home the morning after the vote. “We who are part of this narrow majority must do everything we can to reassure the Remainers,” he wrote in his op-ed. Translation: Please don’t throw things at me. It turns out that the leave proponents maybe didn’t really want to leave — that they still want the benefits of E.U. membership, but without the responsibilities. Britons will still be able to live and work throughout Europe, Johnson promised, and “there will continue to be free trade, and access to the single market.” This all may turn out to be true — but


The shockingly beeflike veggie burger that’s not aimed at vegetarians

The beyond burger from Beyond Meat aims to replicate the texture, color and taste of a beef burger. In Seth Goldman’s vision of the supermarket meat case of the future, he doesn’t see a meat case at all. He sees a protein case. And only some of the proteins in it will come from animals. “I want to see chicken protein, plant protein, beef protein,” he says. “Just like what has happened in the dairy case.” Goldman, who founded Honest Tea, last year became executive chairman of the board of Beyond Meat, the California company whose high-tech approach to plant-based meat substitutes has attracted such investors as Biz Stone and Bill Gates. And his meat-case vision will get another trial on Wednesday, when the company’s latest product — a strikingly beeflike veggie patty called the Beyond Burger — debuts at the new Pentagon City Whole Foods Market. The burger will not be limited to the meat-substitutes section of the market, but will be the first plant-based patty to be sold right alongside the fresh conventional burgers, Goldman says. “I love vegetarians — my whole family has been vegetarian for 10 years — but if we’re only selling to vegetarians, we’re not really changing anything,” says Goldman. He, Beyond Meat founder Ethan Brown and other company executives are making the case that eating less meat can improve human health as well as environmental and animal welfare. Pentagon City will be just the second place in the country where the burger is sold, although Beyond Meat is planning an eventual national rollout. When the burger debuted at a Whole Foods in Boulder a few weeks ago, the company figured it would sell about three cases (or 192 burgers) a week. Instead, the store sold 33 cases (or 2,112 burgers) in just two days. That’s partly, no doubt, due to the Boulder market’s commitment to showcasing the product, with a special burger bar pop-up dedicated to cooking and selling burgers made with the Beyond Burger patties. But it’s also, no doubt, a testament to the burger’s surprisingly beefy texture and taste. Goldman and his team cooked up some samples for me to try — and then sent me more samples for me to cook on my own — and both times the results lived up to the hype. While the burger didn’t exactly “bleed” vegetable juices as some media reports have promised, it


Brexit voters missed the lesson of 1776

A Union Jack flag, left, and a European Union flag fly above Europe House in London on Tuesday. (Odd Andersen/Agence France-Presse via Getty Images) Danielle Allen is a political theorist at Harvard University and a contributing columnist for The Post. Nigel Farage, leader of the U.K. Independence Party, celebrated his victory in Thursday’s Brexit vote by declaring June 23 to be British “Independence Day,” which, he said, should become a national holiday. Post columnist George F. Will echoed that triumphal proclamation. Brexit promises to reinvigorate self-government, he wrote, and so “June 23, 2016, is now among the most important dates in postwar European history.” But whatever you may think about Brexit, what it really shows is that a certain kind of political wisdom has gone out of the world. For the past 13 years, since the U.S. invasion of Iraq, if not longer, people all over the world have pursued the business of regime change by thinking that the first step is to oust the old regime. Only once you’ve done that do you bother to think about what comes next. You topple the desert dictators Saddam Hussein and Moammar Gaddafi; afterward, as if by afterthought, you develop a reconstruction plan and convert your military strategy to counterinsurgency techniques that require building functional societies. You overthrow Hosni Mubarak and his military government in Egypt, then focus on what the Muslim Brotherhood will do with power. Writing about the Arab Spring in the New York Times in 2013, political scientist Sheri Berman summed up the conventional view: “Establishing a stable democracy is a two-stage process. First you get rid of the old regime; then you build a durable democratic replacement.” Here we are again with Brexit. The Brussels Eurocrats have, so it seems, been tossed out on their ears. Now what? What exactly does it mean? What sort of trade relations will Britain have with Europe? Can Britain even hold as a United Kingdom, or will Scotland, and possibly even Northern Ireland and Wales, peel off? Anxiety levels are skyrocketing. The crazy thing about the invocations of Independence Day, and the rough and ready implicit references to the American Revolution, is that the basic lesson of 1776 has been missed. Figuring out what’s coming next should precede declaring independence. Or put it this way: Constitutions come before revolutions. Even Americans have lost sight of the fact that the American colonists understood


Freight trains collide head-on, explode into flames in Texas Panhandle

Officials say at least one railroad worker was injured after two freight trains collided near Panhandle in northern Texas, Tuesday June 29 and burst into flames. Emergency crews found three other workers trapped on board. A pair of freight trains collided head-on and exploded into flames Tuesday morning in the Texas Panhandle, and there were reports that three crew members were missing. The collision was about five miles from the town of Panhandle, about 30 miles northeast of Amarillo, on tracks that run alongside U.S. Route 60. Both trains were identified as belonging to BNSF, one of the nation’s largest freight railroads, and each had two crew members. The trains’ cargo had not been determined. Deep black smoke was billowing from the wreckage, and witnesses said most of the cars strewn around the crash site appeared to be box cars. “I don’t know how anyone survived,” Billy Brown, a farmer in the area, told the Associated Press. “It’s terrible. I’ve seen a number of train wrecks, but I’ve never seen one like this.” Investigators from the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) arrived at the scene before noon, and the National Transportation Safety Board said it was also dispatching a team. BNSF spokesman Joe Faust said it was unclear how fast the trains were traveling when they collided, but the speed limit on those tracks is 70 mph. Faust said one crew member jumped from the train before they collided. “Rescue efforts are underway at the scene with respect to the three other railroad employees involved in the incident,” he said. “Our preliminary investigation and review of the incident clearly demonstrate this is the type of incident that PTC is intended to prevent,” Faust said. “Safety is the most important thing we do. This is why we have been aggressively deploying PTC across our network.” BNSF has been a leader among freight railroads in embracing a technology intended to prevent just the kind of head-on collision that apparently occurred Tuesday. The system of onboard electronics and wayside towers known as Positive Train Control (PTC) would automatically apply braking systems if two trains were operating on the same set of tracks. BNSF has notified the railroad administration that it intends to have its PTC system fully operational to meet a 2018 federal deadline, but some railroads have been turning their systems on piecemeal as the technology is put in place. It was unclear


Add a gorgeous burst of color to dinner with edible squash blossoms

Female squash blossoms have a thick stem, and males have a thin one. You can cut the flowers into strips and sprinkle them over black bean soup for a pretty contrast. (Barbara Damrosch) These days the sun rises on roses, but the best flower show is in the vegetable garden. Squash blossoms open for business at dawn, their huge, golden trumpets proclaiming a fresh pollen supply for bees. As the morning goes on, the pollen’s quality declines a bit, the bees turn groggy, and the flowers start to close their doors. Around noon, they fold up for the day. A single plant bears both male and female flowers, joined in procreation as bees burrow in the pollen and carry it from boy to girl. Peer into the flowers’ centers to see male or female parts, but a flower’s gender is clear with just a quick glance. A male has a long, slender stem, but a female has a thick base that enlarges to form an ovary. When pollination occurs, the ovary swells to an obvious baby bump and soon grows into a recognizable squash. The flowers are prized in the kitchen, especially by cooks who have access to a garden and can be there when it counts, just like a bee. If picked very early when wide open and then refrigerated, the flowers probably will remain open for the evening meal. The most popular way to cook squash blossoms is to stuff them, and the more open they are, the easier this is to do. It’s hard to open a closed flower without damaging it, and you want to leave it intact to hold the stuffing. Flowers of both sexes are delicious, but it makes sense to choose males because only a few are needed for pollination and females are best left in the garden to bear fruit. The usual stuffing consists of cheese — from soft goat cheese to a semisoft Monterey Jack to a firmer raclette — but it’s fun to sneak in something extra, such as an anchovy, a tiny shrimp, a fat clove of roasted garlic or a bit of jalapeno pepper. After stuffing the blossoms, you batter-fry them and eat them immediately with coarse salt and pepper. I twirl them in a thin slurry of whole-wheat flour and water, twisting them to close the tips, and fry them on both sides in olive oil. It’s


What is attacking side-view mirrors in this suburban Md. neighborhood?

take photos, Chris Duplisea walked over from across the street. He thought I was from an insurance company and had come to catalogue the damage. Chris wanted to testify that he’d seen the birds in action, jackhammering mirrors right above where it reads, “Objects in mirror are closer than they appear.” Chris said that when his brother visited recently, he promised him 20 bucks if he could figure out why there were long john leggings hanging from the neighbor’s minivan mirrors. “He did not come up with woodpecker,” Chris said. The three men laughed and shook their heads. “They’re beautiful,” Rod said of the pileated woodpeckers, which are among a variety of fauna found in the neighborhood and the nearby Northwest Branch’s wooded environs. There are squirrels and chipmunks, black snakes, foxes and rabbits. Rod said he’s seen a fox chase a rabbit in his back yard about a dozen times. “It’s like ‘Wild Kingdom’ around here,” he said. The mirror-smashing woodpeckers’s antics started about a month ago. Kevin and Rod are hoping they will tire of it soon. Until then, vigilance. Oh, rats Our backyard bird feeder is a veritable savannah watering hole. Not only do we get all manner of birds — cardinals, blue jays, goldfinches, nuthatches and, yes, woodpeckers — we also get mammals that are eager to vacuum up spilled seed. The squirrels and chipmunks are especially amusing as they gambol. The other day I spotted a new visitor. “Look,” I said to My Lovely Wife, “there’s something that looks like a big, gray chipmunk without stripes.” “That’s a rat,” she said. This we cannot have. Rats may not technically be all that different from chipmunks and squirrels, but they are. Rats are not cute. So this means war. But I fear it will be a messy, modern war, a war where you can’t always tell the good guys from the bad. My wife pulled out a bunch of invasive ivy near the feeder, hoping to deny the rat terrorist a safe haven. We’ve stopped putting out bird seed, since we can’t guarantee that it won’t end up sustaining the wrong militia. We’d like to put out poison or traps, but we won’t, since we don’t want collateral damage. We’re contemplating dressing my wife in camo and sticking her in a backyard blind, a pellet gun across her lap. Twitter: @johnkelly For previous columns, visit washingtonpost.com/johnkelly.


Bee enthusiasts of all stripes flock to Washington amid pollinator concerns

precipice of extinction. This doesn’t even address the 4,000 species of other native bees, most of them loners and some the size of a pinhead. We don’t really know how they’re doing. Among butterflies, the monarch has become the poster child of lepidoptera in trouble, with the loss of overwintering habitat in Mexico and of sustaining milkweed on herbicide-soaked farms in this country. On June 22, Becky Langer arrived bearing seeds, or the promise of them. She is bee health project manager for Bayer CropScience, a global agrichemical company whose U.S. base is in Durham, N.C. Bayer has launched a number of pollinator protection initiatives, including one named Feed a Bee, in which wildflower seed mixes are distributed to individuals and groups. The company has given away more than 200,000 packets of seeds for the 2016 growing season and has 40,000 left for distribution, she said. In addition, “we’ll plant at least 25 million flowers in the fall,” Langer said as she announced a partnership with the Wildlife Society, a Bethesda-based association of biologists. Bayer is one of the world’s largest producers of neonicotinoids, and for environmental groups the idea of Bayer coming to the rescue of bees is akin to Count Dracula organizing a blood drive. “They talk about every other factor in bee decline but don’t want to admit the role of neonics,” said Tiffany Finck-Haynes, a spokeswoman for Friends of the Earth, the Washington-based environmental group. On Tuesday evening, James Cook of Barrett, Minn., arrived in Washington at the wheel of a silver Dodge flatbed truck carrying 2.64 million honeybees, every last one of them dead. He calculated their number by weight. “We based it off 4,000 bees per pound,” he said. The honeybees were gathered as the winter dead from hives that Cook, a commercial beekeeper, had been keeping in Idaho. Beekeepers used to lose 10 percent of their bees each winter; now the norm is 40 percent, he said. He brought the insect corpses to Washington as part of events organized by environmental groups to press the Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Agriculture and Congress to do more for pollinators. The bees were in plastic containers and display cases shown to the folks he met with. A large sign on the side of his truck announced his Keep the Hives Alive Tour, and during his multi-state odyssey, he discovered just how much the plight of


A 30-year-old Saudi prince could jump-start the kingdom — or drive it off a cliff

prince. MBS reportedly had scheduled a meeting of his economic reform council for the same time as the opening of the memorial. Saud’s close family is said to have rescheduled the opening so that there wouldn’t be a conflict. The Saudi system was built to contain internal dissent. But it’s now facing the greatest test in the kingdom’s history. How did this Saudi political battle begin? Analysts say the family tensions were building during the reign of King Abdullah, who took the throne in 2005. Before Abdullah died on Jan. 23, 2015, some of his close advisers hoped the succession might pass to his son Mutaib, who commands the Saudi National Guard. But Salman, who was then crown prince, moved quickly (with his son’s help) to claim the crown and consolidate power. Less than a week after taking control, Salman issued decrees that altered the balance of power in the kingdom. Two of Abdullah’s sons, Prince Turki and Prince Mishaal, were removed as governors of Riyadh and Mecca, respectively. Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the wily former ambassador to Washington who was sometimes dubbed “Bandar Bush” because of his closeness to the two Bush presidents, was ousted as national security adviser. Salman’s lightning decrees installed Mohammed bin Nayef as deputy crown prince behind then-Crown Prince Muqrin. Perhaps more important, his son was named defense minister and chairman of a new Council for Economic and Development Affairs. MBS had his hands on both the military and economic levers of power. “All this was planned like clockwork,” says one Saudi who watched the maneuvers from Riyadh. “It was a bloodless coup.” Within a week, two very un-Saudi things had happened: The next generation had been put in the line of succession. And the new king and his son had signaled that they were breaking with the traditional consensual politics of the al-Saud family. * MBS is something unusual in modern Saudi Arabia — a throwback to the old, rough-and-tumble politics of the desert. Most senior princes have been educated in the West and speak fluent English. Saud al-Faisal, the longtime foreign minister who died last year, went to Princeton, and his brother Turki, the former intelligence chief, is a Georgetown graduate. MBS’s older half-brothers, Sultan and Faisal, studied at the University of Denver and Oxford, respectively. These Saudis might wear Bedouin robes, but their hearts often seem to be in the West. Perhaps


Russian FSB guard attacked U.S. diplomat outside Moscow embassy

State Department and the CIA declined to comment on the incident or whether or not the diplomat was in fact an undercover U.S. spy. During a question and answer session at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, President Vladimir Putin said Russia did not want a new Cold war with the West and did not like to think it was slipping into one. In 2013, Russian intelligence services arrested U.S. diplomat Ryan C. Fogle, whom they accused of secretly working for the CIA. Fogle, who was working as a third secretary in the political section of the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, was arrested carrying various disguises and other tools of spycraft. Russia accused him of trying to recruit Russian intelligence officers. After interrogating Fogle, the Russian government released him to U.S. officials, but not before humiliating him in the Russian media and chastising the U.S. government for spying inside Russia. Fogle was forced to leave Russia. If the U.S. diplomat attacked on June 6 was not a spy, U.S. officials have no other explanation for why the FSB guard was trying to stop him from entering the embassy. FSB guards are stationed outside the U.S. Embassy regularly, administration officials said. As I reported this week, Russian harassment of U.S. diplomats in Russia and several other European countries has increased significantly since U.S. sanctions were levied on Russian officials and President Vladimir Putin’s associates in 2014. On Tuesday, the Russian foreign ministry’s spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, responded directly to my column at a press conference and on Twitter and accused the U.S. government of deliberately undermining bilateral ties. “Diplomacy is based on reciprocity. The more the US damages relations, the harder it will be for US diplomats to work in Russia,” she said. Either way, the fact that the FSB is willing to attack a U.S. diplomat and beat him up right in front of the American Embassy reflects that the Russian security services are becoming increasingly brash, said Evelyn Farkas, who served as deputy assistant secretary of defense for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia for the Obama administration. “If this is true, it’s another example of the Russian security services demonstrating a willingness to break taboos,” she said. “The fact that they are using these brutal tactics against foreigners is taking things to a whole other level.” Read more about this topic: Josh Rogin: Russia is harassing U.S. diplomats all over Europe


Exiling Britain, Europe’s remaining leaders meet to safeguard fractured union

wishful thinking but it is a time of facing reality," German Chancellor Angela Merkel said. “We can see that a referendum in one country can have so much impact on everyone,” said French President François Hollande, who is facing a rabble-rousing anti-E.U. challenge ahead of elections next year. “You cannot just organize a referendum for your own purposes.” E.U. leaders recognize that Britain may not be the only nation where the electorate is far more Euroskeptic than those in charge. Sentiments in Greece, France and Spain show many are wary of the European Union, according to a poll this month from the Pew Research Center. Even E.U. stalwart Germany is nearly split down the middle, with 48 percent disapproving of the union. And anti-E.U. parties are flourishing from Finland to Austria to Italy. “We all need to wake up and smell the coffee,” Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite said as she entered a breakfast meeting of the 27 leaders. Amid the disagreements, however, there was unity that Britain cannot have it both ways: wriggling loose from requirements on open borders with the rest of Europe while keeping access to Europe’s vast consumer market, the largest in the world. That has been the hope of the British “leave” campaigners, although there appeared to be a growing realization in London that they may be outgunned on the question. 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. “Access to the single market requires acceptance of all four freedoms, including the freedom of movement. There will be no single market a la carte,” said European Council President Donald Tusk. In one measure of expectations for the outcome of the negotiations, French and German banks are increasingly looking at the market turmoil as a golden business opportunity. They are salivating at the possibility that the financial hub of London may dwindle in favor of Paris and Frankfurt, if Britain loses access to the E.U.’s banking market. In an appearance in Britain’s House of Commons on Wednesday, Prime Minister David Cameron seemed to acknowledge that his successor will be hard-pressed to win any meaningful concessions on immigration if the country wants to maintain single-market access. Asked by former defense secretary Liam Fox, a fervent Brexit campaigner, whether retaining the E.U.’s free-movement rules would be a “betrayal of millions of people


Montgomery Animal Watch

This case was received by the Montgomery County Animal Services Division. For information, call 240-773-5900. This number provides recorded information on topics such as the new animal services and adoption center’s hours and location in Derwood, adoption and licensing procedures, and lost-and-found and field services. Dog vs. raccoon: Adoptable cats at no-kill shelter: Gaithersburg Adopt dogs and cats at MCHS no-kill rescue: Rockville Reduced fees for cat adoption: Germantown — Compiled by Lisa M. Bolton


D.C. police arrest suspect in fatal February 2015 shooting

D.C. police arrested a suspect Wednesday in the fatal shooting of a 19-year-old man in February 2015 in Southeast Washington, according to authorities. Andre Herndon Jr., 20, of Southeast was charged with second-degree murder while armed. He was arrested by members of the Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force. The victim was identified as Navontae Howard, 19, of Southeast. The shooting occurred about 4:10 p.m. Feb. 3, 2015, in the unit block of Ridge Road SE. Police said the victim was found in the 3500 block of East Capitol Street NE, about a block away, and taken to a hospital, where he died. Police have not commented on a motive.


Maryland man left maggot-infested dog to die, officials say

Cholula, a dog whose owner was charged with animal cruelty. (Montgomery County Animal Services and Adoption Center) A Maryland man was arrested on animal cruelty charges last week after he left his maggot-infested dog outside to die, Montgomery County animal services said Wednesday. On June 21, an animal services officer responded to the home of Ronald Vaughan, 34, in the 13000 block of Deerwater Drive in Germantown, the Montgomery County Animal Services and Adoption Center said in a statement. In the back yard, the officer could see a small dog lying on its side in a crate, which was covered by a towel and encircled by flies, and could hear the animal’s cries of distress, the statement said. When questioned, Vaughan claimed that he had been out of town and that a friend was caring for the dog, named Cholula, according to the statement. Vaughn said the friend had notified him that Cholula had many flies on her, and Vaughn declared that he had made plans to take her to a veterinarian, but officials later confirmed that no appointments were scheduled, the statement said. In the meantime, Cholula was placed outside the home because of the odor she was emitting, according to the statement. Vaughan surrendered Cholula to the officer, and she was examined by a veterinarian, who noted that her body cavities were infested with maggots, as were wounds of unknown origin, the statement said. It was decided that the opportunity to treat the dog had passed, and she was euthanized at the shelter, according to the statement. Vaughan was arrested June 22 and charged with two counts of misdemeanor animal cruelty, the statement said. Animal control obtained custody of a cat and a 6-month-old puppy in his home. Ronald Vaughan (Montgomery County Animal Services and Adoption Center) “This is an unfortunate case that ended with the euthanasia of an animal that, if properly treated, could have lived a much longer, healthier life,” Tom Koenig, director of the Montgomery County Animal Services and Adoption Center, said in a statement. “The public should be aware of both state and local laws that protect animals, especially with regard to obtaining medical care for those who are injured or are suffering.”


Brexit will weaken Britain, not revive ‘its nationhood’

A demonstrator takes part in an anti-Brexit protest in Trafalgar Square in central London on Tuesday, June 28. (Justin Tallis/Agence France-Presse via Getty Images) With his June 26 op-ed, “A welcome revival of nationhood,” George F. Will joined presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in welcoming Britain’s decision to leave the European Union. Mr. Will mocked the predictions of calamities that would result, but those predictions are coming true with worldwide stock market turmoil and the British pound’s decline . Ironically, the “revival of nationhood” that Mr. Will praised could result in the breakup of the United Kingdom if Scotland and Northern Ireland choose to exit to preserve their E.U. membership. Mr. Will was right about one thing: The vote was one of the most important events in postwar European history, but not in the way he described it. Instead of bringing about the revival of nationhood, Brexit will cause economic and political disruptions that will gravely weaken Britain, the rest of Europe and the United States. Lawrence Walders, Chevy Chase


To treat an injured crocodile, make sure she’s fast asleep

Dr. Katherine Hope, Lauren Augustine, Matt Evans, and Dr. Don Neiffer of the Smithsonian National Zoological Park work to care for the wounded crocodile at the National Zoo on Wednesday. (Matt McClain/The Washington Post) Dorothy the Cuban crocodile has been anesthetized for three hours. National Zoo veterinarians have patched the hole in her jaw that she got in a fight with another croc. And now they’re going to give her a shot that will help wake her up. But caution is in order. Dorothy has a mouthful of jagged teeth, a wicked underbite, and her species is notoriously irritable and athletic. Cuban crocodiles can run on land and leap from the water to grab prey from tree branches. Chief veterinarian Don Neiffer warns his staff that he is about to give the shot. Dorothy’s mouth is being held open by a wooden “bite block.” (Her jaws are so powerful that it had taken several people with ropes and a broom handle to pry them open.) Assistant curator Matt Evans and keeper Lauren Augustine sit astride the crocodile, as if on a log, just in case. “Everybody, I’m giving reversals,” Neiffer calls out, as he administers the shot to reverse the effect of the anesthesia. But Dorothy is quiet. The staff slides her back into the padlocked wooden transportation crate where she can recover safely. And the procedure on the critically endangered reptile is finished. The plan was to treat the crocodile’s wound and find and plug the hole with cement. (Matt McClain/The Washington Post) Over much of Wednesday morning, in an operating room at the zoo’s animal hospital, experts got a chance to work on Dorothy’s injury and get a rare, up-close look at an exotic animal they dare not approach unanesthetized. The room was filled at one point with 16 people, while others watched from an adjacent corridor. “We’ve never had our hands on one of these before in our lives,” said Michael T. Maslanka, head of the zoo’s department of nutrition science. “I’ve been doing this for 20 years. . . . So we’re kind of feeling things for the first time.” The zoo’s experts drew blood, took chest X-rays and treated several wounds. Dorothy, 58, is eight-feet-long and weighs about 165 pounds. She had been in several fights over the past few weeks in her enclosure with another Cuban crocodile named Blanche, the zoo said. Both were