‘Extraordinary heartbreak’: 2 killed, 9 injured in gas explosion at Minneapolis school

it was not worse.” Berg and Carlson were recovered from the same general area, near an exterior door, Fruetel said, but one of the bodies was found deeper in the rubble than the other. At the time of the blast, contractors were working a campus building, Assistant Minneapolis Fire Chief Bryan Tyner told the Associated Press. Those inside the building learned there was a natural gas leak and began evacuating, the Star Tribune reported. Fire officials confirmed reports of the gas leak, but said the cause of the explosion was still under investigation. Minnehaha Academy is a private Christian school for students in prekindergarten through grade 12. The explosion took place at the academy’s upper school, which enrolls about 825 students grades nine through 12. At the time of the blast, year-round staff members were in the building along with student basketball players. Other students were outside at cross-country practice and playing soccer. School president Donna Harris hugs ninth-grader Alexis Stanley as she arrives at a prayer service at the Minnehaha Academy Lower School Aug. 2 in Minneapolis. (Renee Jones Schneider/Star Tribune/AP) Kylee Kassebaum, a sophomore cross-country runner, had left the building to get lunch just seconds before the blast. She told a Star Tribune reporter she saw the windows “just burst out.” The explosion, she said, “kind of shook your insides.” Chimali Day, a senior at Minnehaha Academy, told the Star Tribune she was in her counselor’s office with her parents when she heard an employee yell, “Get out, there’s a gas leak!” “As soon as I was getting out it just happened,” Day said. The blast knocked her to the floor. “My mom jumped on top of me,” she said. Residents who live near the school could hear the explosion from blocks away. One nearby neighbor, Anne Dussol, told the Star Tribune “there were flames shooting from the parking lot.” Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton (D) said in a statement he would provide response teams with all necessary support and resources. In a news conference, Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges said it was “a day of extraordinary heartbreak in Minneapolis.” “The school is at the heart of a neighborhood and at the heart of a community,” Hodges said. Hundreds of people packed into a school chapel at the academy’s lower and middle campus for a prayer service Wednesday night. In honor of Carlson, an alumnus handed out Dilly Bars, the


Many D.C.-area homeowners are guilty of this financial no-no — financing renovations on credit cards

Studies of Harvard University, national spending on home improvements and repairs by homeowners is projected to reach $324 billion over the next year. A May study by Hearth, a financial technology start-up that provides support for homeowners making renovation decisions, found that 12 percent of Americans planned to finance their renovation with a credit card, which is one of the most expensive ways to finance the cost. The Hearth Home Renovation Survey, which asked 2,000 homeowners about their remodeling plans for the coming year, found the number of people planning to use a credit card to pay for their renovation is even higher in the Washington region at 16 percent. In this region, 52 percent of homeowners prefer to pay with savings or cash, compared with 62 percent nationally. D.C.-area residents are also more likely to finance their project with a loan — 32 percent — compared with 26 percent nationally. The survey found that both nationally and in the D.C. area, about one-third of homeowners worry they won’t be able to afford their renovations. In the D.C. area, 11 percent of homeowners surveyed said they never borrow money. Twenty seven percent of D.C.-region homeowners who do need to borrow money to pay for repairs and improvements said they usually opt for bank loans; 18 percent prefer to borrow from credit unions; 18 percent take out personal loans; 13 percent use credit cards; 10 percent borrow from family members; and 3 percent opt for peer-lending providers such as Lending Club or Prosper. Typically, credit cards carry the highest interest rates among the various options for paying for home improvements. Home equity loans and lines of credit are common ways to pay for renovations, but if a homeowner cannot repay the loan they run the risk of losing their home in a foreclosure. The Hearth loan calculator available here can help homeowners evaluate various financing options for their renovation projects. Homeowners can also use Web and mobile apps such as Buildshop to plan and organize their renovation projects and budget for them. Buildshop also connects homeowners with contractors. The financial tool helps homeowners budget for a project and then use expense trackers to log and control spending once a project has begun. The full Hearth study results are available by clicking here. To pass on a tip or item, contact us at realestate@washpost.com and put “Town Square” in the subject line.


How Los Angeles can save the Olympic Games — again

Los Angeles hosted the Olympic Games in 1984 when nowhere else wanted them. It turned the Games into a financial juggernaut. (Eric Risberg/AP) On Monday, Los Angeles announced that it was conceding to Paris as host of the 2024 Olympic Games, opting instead to host the 2028 Olympics. When it does, it will mark the third time L.A. has taken on hosting duties, a feat only matched by London (1908, 1948, 2012) and now Paris (1900, 1924, 2024). Both times Los Angeles has hosted the Olympics, the Games were in crisis. And both times, Los Angeles transformed them by creating a viable new financial path. Twice Los Angeles innovated by incorporating private sponsorship to defray costs, in the process helping to create the modern Olympics business model. Now, as the Games’ reputation is tarred by massive costs and hulking venues that often have no use once the Olympic flame is extinguished, Los Angeles can save the Olympics for a third time — by creating a sustainable business model other cities can follow. Los Angeles first hosted the Olympics during the Great Depression. The lack of available public funding forced the organizers to raise private funds to stage the Games. Faced with concerns from other countries about the cost of sending athletes, Los Angeles developed the idea of an Olympic Village to host the male athletes (women stayed in private lodgings with their chaperons). The Olympic Village helped lower the costs countries incurred for sending a team to the Games. Los Angeles also became the first Olympics to have official sponsors and licensed suppliers. While the two previous hosts, Paris and Amsterdam, had received some funding from businesses, Los Angeles pioneered the idea of official sponsorship for the entire Olympic Games. Agreements with Helms Bakeries to provide the bread for Olympic Village, for example, saved the organizing committee precious dollars. These innovations have since become staples of the Olympic movement. Every subsequent host (except London in 1948) built an Olympic Village, with most villages still used as rental apartments, condominiums or student dormitories. Many of these urban venues are highly sought after for their convenient locations and public transportation access. By the time the Games returned to Los Angeles in 1984, the Olympics were again in turmoil. The killing of 11 Israeli athletes and coaches by Palestinian terrorists at the 1972 Olympics in Munich sent security costs soaring and revealed the


Oh deer, what should we do? Addressing the suburban deer dilemma.

(Kevin Ambrose) I’ve noticed a few of my friends and neighbors have started feeding deer. Is it okay to feed deer in suburban areas that have reduced natural habitat? I would advise that no one should feed deer for several reasons: First, it artificially congregates them, which increases the chances of disease transmission. Second, deer are attracted by food, but not prevented from browsing other food sources around feed. The result is that the increased number of deer do more damage to the environment around feed sites. Third, feed for deer attracts non-target species, raccoons being one of the most common. Raccoons pose a human health and safety hazard due to rabies and baylisascariasis concerns. Ryan Manchester, a teenager from Frederick, Md., tried calling 911 when a deer entered his home through the front door on Dec. 5. He later shot the deer dead. Bears are also attracted to deer feed. Feeding bears is illegal any time of the year. And, yes, we do have bears in Loudoun, Fairfax and Prince William counties. In addition, it is illegal to feed deer from Sept. 1 until the end of the hunting season in the municipalities in question. For Prince William, Fairfax, Loudoun and Arlington counties, that is Sept. 1 to the end of April. This covers the time of year when people think deer need the food to help them through the winter. A deer eats from a feeder in Oakton, Va. Feeding the deer is discouraged and is sometimes illegal, depending upon the time of year. (Kevin Ambrose) Are suburban deer much more stressed and hungry in winter compared to spring, summer and fall? Winter can be the limiting time of year for deer and other wildlife. However, suburban deer are usually able to find sufficient food during the winter due to landscaping, including evergreen bushes and twigs from leafless plants as well. A starving deer will eat the bark right off a tree. In residential areas, we tend to have plants that keep their leaves longer, or year-round. While many of those plants are not preferred deer browse, deer will eat less preferred food when the preferred food is not available. I have seen cedar trees that look like topiaries from deer browse. Azalea, holly and Leyland cypress will all be consumed by deer. Bear have been found in Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William counties. Feeding the deer can


Senate set to pass resolution calling on China to release Liu Xiaobo’s widow

Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo’s wife, Liu Xia, right, in black, and family members standing next to Liu Xiaobo’s body at a funeral parlor in Shenyang, China, on July 15. (Shenyang Municipal Information Office via Agence France-Presse) As one of its final acts before leaving town, the Senate is set to pass a resolution Thursday calling on China to allow Liu Xia, the widow of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo, to leave China. The nonbinding resolution would also declare the view of the Senate that the U.S. government should give Liu Xia permanent resident status in the United States. The bipartisan resolution was introduced Thursday by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) and Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) and was placed on the Senate hotline. If no senator objects before the end of the day, the resolution will pass by unanimous consent and the Senate will have spoken in a clear voice about Liu’s case for the first time. Liu has been under house arrest in China since 2010 and has publicly declared she is not free. “The Government of the People’s Republic of China should permit Liu Xia the freedom to leave China and travel to a place of her own choosing,” the Senate resolution states. “It is in the national interest of the United States to grant lawful permanent resident status to Liu Xia if she is permitted to travel to the United States.” The Cruz-Leahy resolution does not prevent the Senate from later taking up Cruz’s bill to rename the street in front of the Chinese Embassy “Liu Xiaobo Plaza,” but that bill will require more time to go through the legislative process. The resolution also praises Liu Xiaobo’s long history as a democracy and human rights activist in China, dating back to the Tiananmen Square protests and massacre in 1989 and including his role in co-writing Charter 08, a manifesto calling for freedom and democracy in China. Liu Xiaobo was jailed several times for his activism, most recently in 2009 for “inciting subversion of state power.” He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2010 ‘‘for his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China.” Last month, he died of liver cancer while in Chinese government custody.


Weather by the numbers: A surprise hailstorm destroys an airplane in Turkey

Istanbul, using only his instrumentation for guidance. (Source: The Guardian) Posted by Oleg Lungul on Friday, July 28, 2017 Posted by Oleg Lungul on Friday, July 28, 2017 85.7 degrees The average temperature at Miami International Airport during July, good for the top spot as Miami’s hottest month ever recorded. Miami is certainly no stranger to heat, but this summer (and, by extension, year) has been excessive even by its standards. The main culprit is something with which we in the D.C. area are all too familiar: summer days that don’t cool down at night. (Source: NWS Miami) 80 miles The approximate size of Typhoon Noru’s eye wall on Wednesday morning, nearly three times as big as the typical radius of a hurricane or typhoon’s eye. Noru is slowly chugging along in the North Pacific Ocean in a direction that will take it dangerously close to the southern part of Japan’s main island. Ironically, the dramatic increase in the size of Noru’s eye is an indication that the storm’s maximum winds have leveled out a bit. Regardless of a current stay in intensification, Noru remains a dangerous storm that will likely bring life-threatening conditions to Japan and Korea by this weekend. (Source: Joint Typhoon Warning Center) More eye candy from #Himawari rapid scan of Typhoon #Noru https://t.co/0KFnogMCWV 107 degrees The record high temperature for Portland, Ore., reached three times in the Rose City’s history in 1965 and twice in 1981. That record is in jeopardy today as a massive dome of high pressure builds over the Western United States, pushing the mercury well above the century mark in many locations. Excessive-heat warnings are in place up and down the Pacific Northwest, including in Seattle where, as we noted last week, it hasn’t rained in 47 consecutive days. Record heat and extended periods of drought are not good news for wildfires in a region that is loaded with dense forest. (Source: Oregon Live) 2016 consecutive hours The amount of continuous sunlight in Barrow, Alaska, before the first sunset of the year last week. Sitting about 300 miles north of the Arctic Circle, Barrow is no stranger to extremes. But for the rest of us, let this be a subtle reminder that winter is in fact coming. (Source: Weather.com) See an interesting weather or climate related number? Let us know! Hit us up at the traditional social media outlets, Facebook or Twitter.


A way-too-early solar eclipse weather forecast as of Aug. 3, 2017

Forecast confidence is extremely low at this point, but we plan to publish a cloud forecast every other day leading up to the total solar eclipse on Aug. 21. We can begin to assemble some likelihoods from very generalized upper-air and precipitation patterns. We will endeavor to give our best take on the situation, but please note our confidence levels are low at this point. They will get higher as we approach the big event. Forecast notes as of Aug. 3, 2017: Forecast confidence: Very low - Low pressure potential still exists in the Northern Plains states into the Midwest. The timing and placement of this low pressure is still a major question mark, so things could change as we move closer to the date. - Typical afternoon clouds and scattered thunderstorms may limit the Southeast and the East Coast, as well. - North American monsoon clouds and scattered thunderstorms could be a viewing problem in the Southwest. - Morning fog is likely on the West Coast. The question is whether it will burn off in time for the eclipse. The timing of the eclipse is ideal, at least for the West. It begins just before 11 a.m. local time on the West Coast, which is usually enough time to burn off the fog that can often occur out there. The intermountain areas typically see thunderstorms bubble up in the afternoons during this time of year. These are associated with the Southwest monsoon, a period of increased thunderstorms and rain during the late summer and early fall. But the eclipse passes through this region around noon, so it should beat the worst of that threat. Link: Clouds often pop up along the rest of the path throughout the day simply because of warmth and moisture. Those two things combined lead to rising air, which creates clouds. So the cloud risk gets greater the farther east you go. On top of that, South Carolina will see totality the latest in the day — after 2:30 p.m. Obviously the eclipse is still too far away to get a good forecast. But some of the forecast models we use to predict the weather go out several weeks, and at this point, they cover the day of the eclipse. Capital Weather Gang's Angela Fritz breaks down what will happen when a total solar eclipse crosses the U.S. on Aug. 21.


One soldier killed, several wounded in latest attack on NATO troops in Afghanistan

the casualties’ “nationalities will be confirmed once we complete our notification procedures.” News reports indicated that the ambushed convoy belonged to the U.S. military and it was hit by a Taliban suicide bomber. Qarabagh district is just south of Bagram airfield, the largest U.S. base in Afghanistan. American and NATO troops frequently patrol around the sprawling facility to ensure its perimeter and flight approaches are secure. In December 2015, six Americans were killed by a suicide bomber outside of Bagram during one such mission. On Wednesday, a suicide bomber attacked a convoy in Kandahar province, killing two U.S. soldiers and wounding four others, bringing the total of Americans killed by hostile fire to nine for 2017. In 2016, 10 U.S. troops died from enemy fire. And since the United States invaded in 2001, more than 2,000 Americans have been killed in Afghanistan. The recent attacks come as President Trump weighs sending an additional 4,000 U.S. troops into the country. The majority of the attacks, however, are aimed at Afghan security forces. Last week, 40 Afghan soldiers died in a single insurgent operation in Kandahar. More than 2,000 Afghan soldiers have died and upward of 4,000 have been wounded since the beginning of the year. There are about 8,500 U.S. troops split between advising the Afghan military and conducting counterterrorism missions against such groups as al-Qaeda and the Islamic State. There are also approximately 5,000 NATO troops in Afghanistan who are supporting the struggling Afghan forces. On Wednesday, NBC news reported that Trump said last month that the United States was losing in Afghanistan and that he was considering firing his top commander there, Army Gen. John W. Nicholson. The U.S. mission in Afghanistan also recently broke with decades of precedent when it decided that it would not release casualty notifications until after the families of the dead had been informed. Over the past 15 years of war in Afghanistan, the U.S. military gave an initial notification of an American casualty within hours of an incident before releasing the name or names of the dead about a day or so later. That policy changed, officials said, because of the relatively small number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan and the likelihood that even minimal casualty releases could give away certain unit locations. In Iraq and Syria, where the United States has even fewer troops, commanders still follow the normal casualty notification process.


Pentagon identifies two U.S. troops killed in Afghanistan

a vehicle packed with explosives. The two men were paratroopers and on their first deployment. Four other soldiers were wounded in the attack. Spc. Christopher M. Harris (Army Photo) Spc. Christopher M. Harris, 25, of Jackson Springs, N.C., and Sgt. Jonathon M. Hunter, 23, of Columbus, Ind., were assigned to the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 82nd Airborne Division, an Army release said. They died outside of Kandahar city and mark the eighth and ninth Americans killed by hostile fire in Afghanistan this year. “Chris and Jon lived and died as warriors,” said Col. Toby Magsig, commander of the 82nd Airborne’s 1st Brigade Combat Team in the release. The 82nd Airborne has troops spread across Afghanistan. The paratroopers are stationed at several forward operating bases where U.S and NATO forces are located and are responsible for conducting security patrols in those areas. Harris joined the Army in 2013 and Hunter in 2014, the release said. “Spc. Christopher Harris was an extraordinary young man and a phenomenal Paratrooper,” Magsig added. “Sgt. Jonathon Hunter was the leader we all want to work for — strong, decisive, compassionate, and courageous. He was revered by his Paratroopers and respected throughout his unit.” Sgt. Jonathon M. Hunter (Army Photo) On Thursday, another soldier was killed outside Kabul and six others were wounded. Their nationality was yet to be released but news reports indicated that the troops were Americans. More than 2,000 U.S. troops have died in Afghanistan since the United States invaded the country in 2001. The flurry of attacks on Western troops comes as Washington struggles with formulating a strategy for what has become America’s longest-running war. The Pentagon was set to send up to 4,000 additional troops to help prop up the struggling Afghan army, but President Trump has balked at investing more resources into a war he said the United States was “losing,” according to an NBC News report. There are 8,500 U.S. and 5,000 NATO troops in Afghanistan. Trump, according to the NBC report, also said he was considering firing the commander of U.S. troops in Afghanistan, Army Gen. John Nicholson. Although NATO forces have been attacked in recent days, the majority of Taliban offensives have targeted Afghan forces and civilians. The Afghan security forces have suffered more than 6,000 casualties since the beginning of the year and civilians are dying in record numbers, a recent United Nations report said.


Commercialization brought the Internet to the masses. It also gave us spam.

threatened the core values of openness, freedom of expression and access that were so critical to the Internet’s early pioneers. During the 1990s, public policies dramatically transformed the Internet by encouraging its privatization. As is true today, these changes sparked activism as individuals grappled with the tension between the technology’s commercial potential and its democratic ideals. The net neutrality debate is not just a reiteration of the same debate, however. It has forced Internet companies and users to confront the consequences — both positive and negative — that two decades of privatization have wrought on our digital public sphere. Commercialization has brought the digital world to the masses. But as a result, a handful of companies wield great influence over what we see online, and we are bombarded by spam, ads, and other costs of a profit-driven space. An early battle for the Internet’s soul erupted in spring 1994. Just after midnight on April 12, two immigration attorneys unleashed the world’s first major commercial spam, flooding the early Internet with an unwanted advertisement for their services, incurring the wrath of thousands of members of online communities. Years before streaming video, apps or even Web browsers, there was Usenet, a decentralized system of online discussion groups. Few people had Internet access at home, which meant that, starting in the early 1980s, new users found Usenet at the start of every academic year when freshmen accessed networked computers for the first time on campuses. As newcomers arrived, seasoned users provided guidance and explained “netiquette,” an evolving set of crowdsourced norms that set community standards and managed flows of information. Usenet was designed with discussion groups dedicated to specific subjects in threaded discussions — sort of like public bulletin boards. Users learned to avoid off-topic posting to prevent the squandering of limited resources, since dial-up connections were slow and expensive. By staying on topic, the community ensured that users downloaded only the information they wanted over their slow, pricey connections. In the early 1990s, commercial providers such as CompuServe and America Online began to bring home users online, and the U.S. government decided to shift management of the Internet’s physical architecture to commercial firms. The early structure of the Internet was noncommercial, supported by decades of public investment. The decision to privatize management of the Internet’s backbone, a project undertaken with little debate or opposition and completed in 1995, reflected the Clinton administration’s


Trump talked about sending troops to battle ‘tough hombres’ in Mexico. Can he do that?

Mexican officer liaisons share command space at U.S. installations and units conduct a growing number of joint training missions and intelligence swapping to combat drug trafficking together, Moyano told The Washington Post. “The relationship is closer than ever since World War II,” he said, apparent in far-reaching exercises like Amalgam Eagle, a joint Air Force training operation between the United States and Mexico that has occurred annually since at least 2015. From 2014 to 2016, the two sides have increased joint programs by 20 percent, from cooperating on drug seizure operations on the seas to U.S. military lawyers instructing their Mexican counterparts over human rights and other legal principles, according to data from U.S. Northern Command, which oversees the partnership. About $27 million was dedicated for units to train together at ranges and on tasks like hand-to-hand fighting and simulated beach landings. The command also recently facilitated the sale of 25 UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters and 2,250 Humvees to Mexico as of January. Mexico’s bloody experience Trump insisting on the United States intervening with military force is “not a nuanced approach of solving the problem,” said Duncan Wood, director of the Mexico Institute at the Wilson Center, a Washington think tank. “The military is a blunt instrument solution,” Wood told The Post. “You’re not going to knock out criminal gangs with military force. It has to be institutional reform.” One of Trump’s remarks from the call particularly incensed Wood — that perhaps Mexico’s military is “afraid” of drug traffickers. “It’s extraordinarily disrespectful to a military that has done this job reluctantly,” Wood said. The military has suffered more than 500 deaths in the drug war since 2006, according to a government report through July, many at the hands of weapons trafficked from the United States that feed the conflict in a country where most gun sales are outlawed. The Post has obtained transcripts of President Trump’s January phone conversations with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. While Washington works through fraught relations, military and defense officials at the lower levels are continuing to build on positive experiences, he said, though that does not mean a relationship built from political decisions will necessarily survive political attacks, Wood said. There is “definitely a threat” of security cooperation fraying, he said. “But part of the message on the Mexican side is: there is a lot on the line here.”


Learning from three African presidents

Mbeki’s public relations victories were essential in legitimizing the ANC and the anti-apartheid cause. His leadership and negotiation were equally essential in the post-apartheid effort to rebuild the South African state and society into a more just and equitable system with opportunities for all. Leading largely behind the scenes during Nelson Mandela’s presidency and then winning election in his own right to two terms from 1999 to 2008, like Nyerere, Mbeki’s results were mixed. In building what Adebajo calls the “African Renaissance,” Mbeki was a successful pan-Africanist statesman. He rebranded the Organization of African Unity as the African Union (AU) along with his Nigerian counterpart Olusegun Obasanjo and was a leader in the AU’s creation of a continental peacekeeping capacity. Domestically, however, Mbeki failed to bring the levels of development black South Africans expected from democracy and ANC rule. Mbeki’s refusal to acknowledge the realities of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and provide antiretroviral drugs to infected South Africans resulted in an estimated 365,000 deaths. Adebajo concludes by asking whether Mbeki is likely to be remembered as “a great pan-African, but not a great South African.” A similar question guides Pamela Scully’s “Ellen Johnson Sirleaf,” in which the theme of international and local identities, perceptions and realities arises again and again. Scully grounds the story of the Liberian president’s life in Liberia’s deep history, noting that Sirleaf in some ways bridges the long-standing social divide between the “Americo-Liberian” descendants of the freed enslaved people who settled in Liberia and those who have a tribal affiliation and whose ancestors were in Liberia before the arrival of the settlers. Sirleaf is the granddaughter of a Liberian traditional chief, but her parents were sent to live with wealthy Americo-Liberian families in Monrovia to be educated and have a chance at upward social mobility. As such, Sirleaf grew up visiting her family’s home region and learning some of their language but also had access to the educational and social opportunities life in the capital provided. Sirleaf married and had children young. Later, she was able to travel to the United States with her husband to attend university, and she eventually earned a master’s degree from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Public Policy. This experience and her subsequent work — for Citibank, the World Bank and the United Nations Development Programme, among others — laid the foundation for Sirleaf’s technocratic approach to government. Over the years, she moved


Vendors may be selling ‘fake’ solar eclipse glasses. Here’s how to make sure yours are real.

the Sun itself or something comparably bright, such as the Sun reflected in a mirror, a sunglint off shiny metal, the hot filament of an unfrosted incandescent light bulb, a bright halogen light bulb, a bright-white LED flashlight (including the one on your smartphone), or an arc-welder’s torch,” the AAS wrote in its press release. “All such sources should appear quite dim through a solar viewer.” If you can see anything else through the film, toss the glasses and find a pair that works. To make things easy, the American Astronomical Society has a list of brands and vendors they trust: Brands (Products) - American Paper Optics (Eclipser) / EclipseGlasses.com - APM Telescopes (Sunfilter Glasses) - Baader Planetarium (AstroSolar Silver/Gold Film) - Celestron (EclipSmart Glasses & Viewers) - DayStar (Solar Glasses) - Explore Scientific (Solar Eclipse Sun Catcher Glasses) - Lunt Solar Systems (SUNsafe SUNglasses) - Meade Instruments (EclipseView Glasses & Viewers) - Rainbow Symphony (Eclipse Shades) - Seymour Solar (Helios Glasses) - Thousand Oaks Optical (Silver-Black Polymer & SolarLite) - TSE 17 (Solar Filter Foil) Vendors - Adorama Camera - Agena AstroProducts - Alpine Astronomical - AmericanEclipseUSA.com - American Science & Surplus - AstroBox/EclipseKit.com - Astronomers Without Borders - Astronomical Society of the Pacific - Astronomy Magazine / My Science Shop - B&H Photo Video - Carolina Biological Supply Company - Charlie Bates Solar Astronomy Project - Company Seven - David Chandler Company - Discover Magazine / My Science Shop - EarthSky.org - Eclipse2017.org - EclipseGlasses.co.uk - EclipseStuff.com - Explore One - Flinn Scientific - GreatAmericanEclipse.com - High Point Scientific - Khan Scope Centre - Lire la Nature & Astronomie Plus - MMI Corporation - NationalEclipse.com - Oceanside Photo & Telescope - Online Science Mall - Ontario Telescope & Accessories - Optics Planet - Orange County Telescope - Orion Telescopes & Binoculars - Sky & Telescope Magazine / Shop at Sky - SkyNews Magazine - Space Racers / AugustEclipse.com - Space Update - Starizona - Steve Spangler Science - Woodland Hills Camera & Telescopes Retail “chains” - 7-Eleven - Bi-Mart - Casey’s General Store - Circle K - Hobby Town - Kirklands - Kroger - Love’s Travel Stops - Lowe’s - Menards - Pilot/Flying J - Toys “R” Us - Walmart Online vendors: - 123 Sales - 3Dstereo.com - Educational Innovations - Electronic Analyst - Firefly Buys (FFB) - Fred Meyer - Freedom Hill - Mega-Fun Toys - Off


Toyota and Mazda to build $1.6 billion assembly plant in U.S. and partner on electric cars

The 2017 Toyota Prius Three. (Courtesy of Toyota) Toyota and Mazda corporations announced plans on Friday to build a $1.6 billion assembly plant in the United States and work together to develop electric car and advanced safety technologies. The plant is expected to produce up to 300,000 cars a year and create jobs for 4,000 workers. It is expected to begin operations in 2021, but a location for the plant has not yet been decided. Toyota will produce the Corolla model for the North American market, while Mazda will make cross-over models. As part of the deal, Toyota will gain a 5 percent stake in Mazda. “This is a partnership in which those who are passionate about cars will work together to make ever-better cars,” Toyota's President Akio Toyoda said in a statement. The announcement was greeted with a congratulatory tweet from President Trump, who campaigned on a promise to bring back manufacturing jobs to the United States. In January, Trump warned Toyota — in a tweet — that the company would be hit by a “big border tax” if it went ahead with plans to move operations to Mexico. Toyota & Mazda to build a new $1.6B plant here in the U.S.A. and create 4K new American jobs. A great investment in American manufacturing! Toyota Motor said will build a new plant in Baja, Mexico, to build Corolla cars for U.S. NO WAY! Build plant in U.S. or pay big border tax. With Friday's announcement, Toyota will shelve plans to produce the Corolla in Guanajato, Mexico, and instead use the facility to make its Tacoma truck model. The alliance grew out of a May 2015 agreement between Mazda and Toyota to “mutually benefit the companies in such forms as leveraging the resources of both companies and complementing each other’s products and technologies toward the goal of making more appealing cars,” Toyota said in a statement. In practical terms, it is a way for Mazda to ensure its survival in a competitive market that requires more and more resources, analysts say. “Toyota may benefit from a taste of Mazda’s zoom-zoom flavor and add to its global volume count, but most of the benefit of the linkup goes to Mazda, which desperately needs U.S. production in this protectionist era and help with advanced technology development,” Michelle Krebs said in a statement. Krebs is an analyst for Autotrader, an online marketplace for


‘My sister says I am an alien’: A 9-year-old applies to be NASA’s planetary protection officer

not yet “Men in Black.” (In Jack's defense, the 1997 hit movie with Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones came out more than a decade before he was even born.) Toward the end of his letter, Jack casually mentions that he is great at video games. But his final assertion is perhaps the most persuasive. “I am young, so I can learn to think like an alien,” Jack wrote. He signed off with his name and appended it with “Guardian of the Galaxy” and “Fourth Grade.” 9-year-old Jack Davis applied for the planetary protection officer job at NASA — and NASA responded. (Courtesy of NASA) Jack soon got that simple yet elusive thing every job seeker wants: confirmation that his application had been received. James L. Green, director of NASA's Planetary Science Division, wrote back to him right away. “I hear you are a 'Guardian of the Galaxy' and that you're interested in being a NASA Planetary Protection Officer,” Green wrote. “That's great!” He also took the time to dispel any myths about what the job entailed. “It's about protecting Earth from tiny microbes when we bring back samples from the Moon, asteroids and Mars. It's also about protecting other planets and moons from our germs as we responsibly explore the Solar System.” In short, it's light on the alien encounters. But Green signed off on an encouraging note, telling Jack to “study hard and do well in school” so that they could see him at NASA eventually. As a bonus, Jack also received a phone call from NASA's headquarters in Washington to congratulate him on his interest. “At NASA, we love to teach kids about space and inspire them to be the next generation of explorers,” Green said in a statement. “Think of it as a gravity assist — a boost that may positively and forever change a person's course in life, and our footprint in the universe.” Jack told ABC News that it would be “really cool” to work for NASA. “I feel like — I am the only one who really wants a job at NASA this young,” he told the news station. Read more: These boys thought they’d found ‘a big, fat rotten cow.’ It was a 1 million-year-old fossil. Behold, the Hubble Telescope’s latest close-up photo of Jupiter One small step for criminals: Someone burglarized the Armstrong Air and Space Museum Everything is awesome for


Real tax reform

(Daniel Acker/Bloomberg News) Now that the health-care debate is at least temporarily resolved, the Trump administration and congressional Republicans are pivoting to tax reform. Given that tax policy is far more familiar to Republican policymakers than health care, there’s more confidence in their caucus that they might be able to actually legislate something. That may or may not be true. Thus far, the administration has shown neither skill nor interest in the work of legislating, which requires analysis, organizing stakeholders and close work with your congressional partners. But while much of the focus will be on the process of tax reform, it’s essential to recognize that there is as yet no tax reform. There are only highly regressive, revenue-losing tax cuts. Real tax reform, meaning tax changes responsive to the needs of the majority of the American people now and in the future, would push back on, instead of exacerbate, market-driven inequalities and raise the necessary revenue to meet the many challenges we face. Conservatives have yet to settle on a specific plan, so it’s possible that some genuine reform could be forthcoming. But the plans they’ve surfaced thus far, from which the numbers below are drawn, push hard in the wrong direction. Unless they sharply change course, here’s what we’re likely to see. — Tax cuts that largely accrue to wealthy households. — Tax cuts that lose somewhere between $3 trillion and $5 trillion over 10 years. — Tax cuts that open up a big fat new tax loophole. Once again, this is a giveaway to the rich and an invitation to them to define their income to take advantage of the new, reduced rate. The vast majority of pass-through filers already pay 15 percent or less, such that, according to CC Huang, “68 percent of the tax cut on existing pass-through income would flow to millionaires, including real estate investors, hedge fund managers, investment bankers, and the like.” Moreover, 30 percent of the predicted revenue loss from this change comes from tax avoiders redefining their income to take advantage of the change. The ideas above aren’t anything close to “reform,” which is often described as revenue-neutral tax changes that pay for a few points off marginal tax rates by closing loopholes. But based on our aging population, climate change, the rise of inequality, and geopolitical realities, revenue neutrality is an insufficient goal for true tax reform. Between now


Frustrated with your spouse? These scientists suggest a specific kind of prayer

(Disclosure: The John Templeton Foundation, where I work, has funded some of Fincham’s studies.) The positive effect of prayer was measured both in undergraduate, mostly white students in exclusive relationships, as well as African American couples who have been married for many years. To be confident that their findings would be accurate, researchers carefully designed experiments by randomly assigning their participants to treatment and control groups. Differences between the two groups could thereby be attributed to the effects of partner-focused prayer rather than to other factors. The control groups engaged in other activities that could theoretically improve relationships, such as self-focused prayer, self-help books, marriage enrichment programs and positive social interactions with one’s partner. Compared to these control groups, those who prayed for their partners consistently saw the greatest positive impact on their relationship. In addition to these randomized control trials, Fincham and his collaborators added another feature to strengthen their findings. Social science research often relies on self-reporting, in which participants respond to surveys after engaging in an activity. But what if the participants are mistaken or don’t answer truthfully? To control for these factors, Fincham included third-party observers to watch the behavior of participants before and after testing. The observers found that those who prayed regularly for their spouses experienced better outcomes. Praying for one’s partner is linked to numerous positive qualities. For example, for couples to thrive, both partners must be willing to make occasional sacrifices. If these sacrifices lead to resentment, the relationship erodes. However, partner-focused prayer caused participants to be more satisfied with the sacrifices they made. Another set of five studies indicates that partner-focused prayer shifts people toward greater cooperation and forgiveness amid conflict. Forgiveness is not only essential for one’s relationships, but it associated with better physical health, too, so the benefit is amplified. Fincham’s other studies found that partner-focused prayer was associated with greater overall commitment to one’s marriage. This trait was observed both in the person who was regularly praying and the partner who was being prayed for. The power of petitionary prayer applies not only to romantic partners but to close friends as well. For instance, in experiments with undergraduates, researchers found that those who had been assigned to pray regularly with a close friend showed greater levels of trust, compared to control groups. Multiple studies suggest a causal relationship, not just correlational. Partner-focused prayer apparently causes people to become


Veterans’ health-care gap creates ‘greater risk’ for opioid abuse

shortage and demand for veterans health care outpacing VA’s ability to provide it in-house, better coordination between VA and non-VA providers is absolutely essential,” said VA press secretary Curt Cashour. It’s absolutely essential considering that about 142 Americans die daily from a drug overdose, “a death toll equal to September 11th every three weeks,” said a report by the President’s Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis issued the day before Missal’s. Declaring opioids “a prime contributor to our addiction and overdose crisis,” the commission called on President Trump to declare a national emergency empowering the government to take “bold steps” against drug abuse. In response to the report, VA Secretary David J. Shulkin issued a statement noting that “recent studies and stories have pointed to VA’s success in its approach to pain management and responsible use of opioids with our Veteran patients.” Since launching the Opioid Safety Initiative in 2013, VA says, the number of its patients receiving opioids fell by 27 percent and the number on long-term opioid therapy dropped 33 percent. Shulkin said VA is widely sharing its eight best practices to balance pain management and opioid use under the acronym S.T.O.P. P.A.I.N. Missing from that list is cannabis. It could be an ally in the fight against opioid abuse, as the nation’s largest veterans’ service organization recognizes, except for Uncle Sam’s outdated and repressive view of marijuana. Citing data showing that states permitting medical marijuana have an opioid mortality rate almost 25 percent below that of other states, the American Legion has urged the government to acknowledge the potential medical value of cannabis and to reclassify it to expand research into its use for patients. “We also want to point out that the increased focus on addiction is, in some cases, hurting veterans who suffer with chronic pain and have been on long-term narcotic-based pain relievers,” said Louis J. Celli Jr., veterans’ affairs and rehabilitation division director at the American Legion. “For some patients, lifelong pain management through prescription medications is all they have that allows them to function. For some, removing these medications can lead to depression, decreased ability to care for themselves, and, in some cases, suicide.” While supporting flexibility in care, veterans’ groups are cautious about the department’s Choice program, which funds private-sector health services for vets. On Tuesday, Congress approved $2.1 billion for Choice to help VA build Shulkin’s vision


Do eclipses drive animals wild? Here’s how you can help scientists find out.

from 1984, noted that a group of captive chimpanzees in Georgia all seemed to congregate on a climbing structure during the totality. But a study of rumination and grazing behavior in cattle during Europe’s 1999 eclipse found no effect. Similarly, a group of captive baboons in Chile seemed decidedly meh about the eclipse in 1994. The thing is, the world only gets a total solar eclipse approximately every 18 months, and the path of totality varies depending on where and when the moon crosses the sun’s rays. This makes studying animal behavior during an eclipse rather difficult. The best experiments require scientists to control for variables and repeat the test many times to evaluate its validity. So even if we get some really good observations this time around of, say, moose, the next total solar eclipse won’t be until July 2019, and its path of totality drifts over Chile and Argentina, neither of which is home to moose. The path of this year’s total solar eclipse, which will occur on Aug. 21. All of that said, scientists are well accustomed to making the best out of imperfect study conditions. And this year, technological advances may help us gather data about eclipse-experiencing critters like never before. In fact, scientists are hoping you might donate a little data to the cause. All you have to do, they say, is whip out your smartphone and download the iNaturalist app. Created by the California Academy of Sciences, iNaturalist allows anyone to take a picture of an animal (or plant or fungi or whatever) and make an attempt to identify it. Then others, including experts, weigh in on whether your ID is correct or not. Think of it as a bit like Pokémon Go, only you’re trying to “catch” real creatures instead of Charizards and Vaporeons. On the day of the eclipse, the app will feature a special drawdown menu that allows you to record observations leading up to, during, and after the astronomical event. Simply keep an eye out for any interesting or unusual behavior and snap a few pics while you enjoy the show. “We’re hoping this is a way for people to be curious and make observations and think about how animal behavior is related to the sun,” said Rebecca Johnson, citizen scientist research coordinator for the California Academy of Sciences. A dog is given protective glasses by its owner prior to


the solar eclipse in Regent’s Park in London in 2015. (AP/Kirsty Wigglesworth) What’s more, Johnson said, all of the thousands of notes resulting from this project, which they are calling Life Responds, could allow researchers to establish a baseline of behavior that they can measure future eclipses against. It’s only through this massive aggregation of data — which has never before been possible — that they can start to recognize patterns and draw conclusions. “The whole idea of science, of course, is to turn something from anecdote into real data that you can study,” said Michelle Thaller, deputy director of science for communications at NASA, which is including the Life Responds project as part of its citizen science outreach in conjunction with the eclipse. If you’re looking for places to find animals during the eclipse, here’s a list of more than a dozen wildlife refuges within the path of totality. If getting outdoors isn’t really your thing, you can participate by going to places like the Nashville Zoo, which is encouraging visitors to log observations by using the iNaturalist app or tagging the zoo on social media with the hashtags #NashvilleZoo or #NZooEclipse. While the zoo is home to plenty of big animals like primates and giraffes, it’s the birds that might be the most interesting. “I don’t think anybody knows for sure what the animals will do,” said Jim Bartoo, the zoo’s marketing and public relations director, “but my bet would be to watch the flamingoes and the rhinoceros hornbills.” Capital Weather Gang's Angela Fritz breaks down what will happen when a total solar eclipse crosses the U.S. on Aug. 21. Bartoo said the zoo’s avian staff thinks the birds may be more affected than other animals because they’re used to being brought inside as the sun sets. And while zoo animals obviously aren’t perfect substitutes for understanding the behavior of their wild counterparts, the eclipse offers an opportunity to study animals that have become used to the rhythms of captivity. The zoo’s rhinoceroses, for instance, come outside each day at 9 a.m. and return to their paddock each night at 6 p.m. Who knows how they’ll react to a few minutes of unscheduled darkness? Of course, it’s entirely possible that the squirrel, blue jay, rattlesnake or rhino you’re watching doesn’t do a darn thing when the big moment comes. Don’t worry, but do take notes. After all, logging


An early total solar eclipse weather forecast as of Aug. 7, 2017

Forecast confidence is extremely low at this point, but we plan to publish a cloud forecast every other day leading up to the total solar eclipse on Aug. 21. We can begin to assemble some likelihoods from very generalized upper-air and precipitation patterns. Our confidence will get higher as we approach the big event. Good news! We’re now within 15 days of the solar eclipse, which is in range of some better forecast models. Forecast notes as of Aug. 7, 2017: Forecast confidence: Very low - Early fog on the West Coast could limit visibility, depending on how fast it burns off. - A midday weather system could be a problem for parts of the Midwest and Plains. - There’s a high chance of typical afternoon thunderstorms in the Southeast. Unfortunately, we’re not going to know where these will pop up, even the morning of the eclipse. Average weather conditions for Aug. 21 The timing of the eclipse is ideal, at least for the West. It begins just before 11 a.m. local time on the West Coast, which is usually enough time to burn off the fog that can often occur out there. The intermountain areas typically see thunderstorms bubble up in the afternoons during this time of year. These are associated with the Southwest monsoon, a period of increased thunderstorms and rain during the late summer and early fall. But the eclipse passes through this region around noon, so it should beat the worst of that threat. Link: Clouds often pop up along the rest of the path throughout the day simply because of warmth and moisture. Those two things combined lead to rising air, which creates clouds. So the cloud risk gets greater the farther east you go. On top of that, South Carolina will see totality the latest in the day — after 2:30 p.m. Obviously the eclipse is still too far away to get a good forecast. But some of the forecast models we use to predict the weather go out several weeks, and at this point, they cover the day of the eclipse. Capital Weather Gang's Angela Fritz breaks down what will happen when a total solar eclipse crosses the U.S. on Aug. 21.


Why giving Ukraine lethal weapons would be a massive mistake

Rather than playing to Russia’s principal strength — its military advantage over Ukraine – the United States should continue to play to Russia’s main vulnerability — its economic weakness. On this front, the United States and its European allies, not the Kremlin, hold the cards. The loss of income due to the low price of fossil fuels and the international sanctions imposed in response to its aggression in Ukraine have taken a serious toll on the Russian economy. Keeping sanctions in place and, if necessary, increasing them, is the West’s best source of leverage for pushing Russia to a diplomatic solution. Congress seems to realize as much, having just imposed on the White House legislation tightening U.S. sanctions against Russia. Sending lethal weapons to Ukraine has one further downside — it would cause a rift between the United States and its main European allies. Germany and France have been leading diplomatic efforts to find a diplomatic solution for Donbass — and both have long opposed sending lethal weapons to Ukraine because of its potential to escalate the conflict. The United States and Europe have moved in lock step since the beginning of the conflict, closely coordinating non-lethal military assistance to Ukraine as well as economic sanctions against Russia. Transatlantic solidarity has arguably been the West’s strongest suit, confronting Putin with a united front and keeping Russia in the penalty box despite pressure from parties on both sides of the Atlantic to drop sanctions and reap the accompanying commercial benefits. Europeans are already on edge due to Congress’s recent sanctions legislation, which imposes measures not coordinated with the European Union and that have the potential to cause undue harm to European companies. If Washington decides to head off on its own and send lethal weapons to Ukraine, solidarity on Ukraine may well come to end. Putin has been working hard to achieve just this end. Washington would be making a serious strategic mistake if it hands to the Kremlin the transatlantic bust-up for which Moscow has long been hoping. The conflict in Ukraine promises to poison Russia’s relations with the West until a diplomatic resolution is reached. But sending lethal weapons to Ukraine is a recipe for military escalation and transatlantic discord. The best way to bring peace to Ukraine is through transatlantic unity aimed at maintaining Russia’s political and economic isolation until it makes a deal at the negotiating table.


It’s the last full moon before the solar eclipse. Use it to practice your photography skills.

small in the frame. Use your telephoto lens attachment to enlarge the moon. Play around with your lens and photo zoom settings until you can see some of the moon’s details. If you zoom too much, the photo may turn out blurry. You’ll just have to play around until you find the best balance of settings. —I personally don’t have any experience with them, but there are some third-party apps that claim to enhance your smartphone’s camera abilities. It might be worth exploring some of these to see if they provide better results. Stuff you need A smartphone tripod A telephoto lens attachment A solar filter sheet Steps Pro tip: Practice this on the moon a couple of times before the eclipse. 1. This is the most important rule: Don’t stare at the sun! We all know not to do this, but when an eclipse starts to happen it may be tempting to sneak some peaks without your special glasses. Even a few moments of staring will damage your eyes. 2. Clean your lenses with a soft cloth. 3. Attach the solar filter in front of the telephoto lens. 4. Connect the telephoto lens to the front of the phone per the instructions that came with the lens. 5. Set the phone up with your tripod or beanbag so it’s pointed at the sun. (Remember that the sun is going to move in the sky as the eclipse happens, so be prepared to shift your phone, too. 6. Take your photos with the solar filter during the partial eclipse. When totality happens, you can take the filter off to take pictures since the moon will be blocking out the sun. We recommend snapping a couple of photos at this point, but don’t get caught up in your phone — this may be the only time you get to experience a total eclipse. 7. When the sunlight begins to reemerge, put your solar filter back on the camera if you want to continue taking pictures. Or bag it and enjoy the rest of the event without your phone. More on the solar eclipse: An early look at the forecast as of Aug. 7, 2017 Witnessing the indescribable: Why I’ve chased solar eclipses all over the world Here’s what happened to people who tried to watch a solar eclipse without special glasses Everything The Washington Post has written on the solar eclipse


Drenching rain moves out of the D.C. area

4:25 p.m. update: - Reagan National Airport: 1.55 inches - Washington Post: 1.01 inches - Dulles Airport: 0.77 inches - BWI Airport: 0.63 inches A few strong storms did develop well east and southeast of the D.C. metro area, including one which spawned a tornado near Salisbury. For the forecast for this evening into tomorrow, checkout our PM Update. Original post from 11:34 a.m. An expansive area of rain, some of it quite heavy, has swollen over the Washington metro region. By the time the rain ends this evening, one to two inches are likely across the region, with locally higher amounts. The heaviest rain may focus in the area from roughly Warrenton to Washington to Baltimore and to the southeast, mostly falling between the midday to late afternoon hours. It is in this zone where moisture is forecast to converge and support what’s known as training — where bands of heavy rain and thunderstorms develop and track over the same area. Rainfall rates here could reach 1 to 1.5 inches per hour. National Weather Service rainfall forecast for Monday. (WeatherBell.com) Flooding could develop in the hardest-hit areas, especially along small creeks and streams and poor drainage areas; in other words, the locations that frequently flood during heavy rain events. This will be a relatively short-lived event, which will probably reduce the scope of the flooding threat. Except for Southern Maryland, where rain could linger well into the evening, the rain should start to wind down between 4 and 6 p.m. — good news for Nationals fans. While rainfall totals of one to two inches are most likely, some two- to four-inch amounts are possible in those areas just south of Washington and Baltimore. European model rainfall forecast on Monday. (WeatherBell.com) Here is what the different models are projecting for Washington: - HRRR model: 1.7 inches - NAM model: 1.6 inches - High-resolution NAM model: 2.2 inches - GFS model: 0.9 inches - European model: 1.8 inches HRRR model rainfall forecast on Monday. While the region is likely to witness widespread heavy rainfall, the risk of severe thunderstorms has lessened some. The steady rain deep into the afternoon will limit sunshine, which would otherwise provide fuel for possible storms. Still, especially in areas south and east of the District, some thunderstorms could develop and we can’t rule out some damaging wind gusts or an isolated tornado. The National Weather Service


Why some schools are closing for the solar eclipse — but others are staying open

On Aug. 21, 2017, a spectacular total eclipse of the Sun will be visible, weather permitting, within a roughly 70-mile-wide swath (shown in yellow) of the continental U.S. from Oregon to South Carolina. Outside of this path, the rest of the country will have a deep partial solar eclipse, as noted by the lines showing the percentage of the Sun’s bright face that will be covered by the Moon at maximum eclipse. (By Michael Zeiler / GreatAmericanEclipse.com/PRNewsfoto/American Astronomical Society) To close or not to close? That became the question for school districts across the country that are beginning the 2017-18 school year in early to mid-August but had to decide whether to let students stay home — or come to class — on the day of the Great American Eclipse. Day will become night when the moon passes between the sun and Earth on Aug. 21, casting a shadow on our planet. If you are in what is called the path of totality, the moon will seem to be blotting out the sun for a few minutes with only a halo of burning gases visible — though the moon’s movement will take several hours. In the United States, those who are not in the path of totality will see a partial eclipse (as will people in Canada, Central America and in the northern part of South America). Looking directly at the sun without proper protection can damage eye tissue, and that becomes more of a risk when people are interested in being outside specifically to look in the sky and watch the eclipse. Education officials whose districts start the new school year before the eclipse have had to decide whether it was wiser to stay open — or to close — to best protect children, and different districts came down on different sides. In Illinois, for example, which is about 100 miles from Carbondale, where the total eclipse will last the longest, students in Edwardsville District 7 will start the new school year on Tuesday, Aug. 15, but stay home the following Monday because the eclipse is expected to take place around the time school normally ends. Superintendent Lynda C. Andre issued a statement saying in part: Similar to other environmental hazards such as snow, ice, and dangerously low temperatures that cause the District to use emergency days, the solar eclipse presents a hazard to students if they cannot be


The Finance 202: Wells Fargo mess may make it harder to roll back Dodd-Frank

THE TICKER A Wells Fargo Bank in Charlotte, North Carolina. U.S. (Reuters/Mike Blake) Wells Fargo can’t seem to find the bottom of its scandals. That’s becoming bad news for the entire banking industry. The fake-account mess that originally landed the bank in hot water turns a year old in September and still isn’t resolved. It’s since been joined by a slew of other revelations and accusations. The bank charged more than 800,000 people for auto insurance they didn’t need. It slapped veterans with hidden fees to refinance their mortgages. A group of young immigrants are suing over allegations Wells Fargo denied them student loans and credit cards — a suit Wells tried to have tossed but a federal judge greenlit on Thursday. In a regulatory filing on Friday, the bank signaled it could soon have still more headaches to disclose. And on Monday came the news it's facing regulatory scrutiny from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco for not refunding insurance money to people who paid off car loans early. News of the first auto loans controversy alone prompted fresh calls for hearings into the bank’s practices from congressional Democrats on both sides of the Capitol last week — and one Senate Republican, Jerry Moran of Kansas The cascade of controversies has marred the bank’s once-sterling brand. Wells now ranks as the least-respected company in America, behind even Big Tobacco, according to a June survey of money managers conducted by Barron’s. And it’s share price has suffered, too, lagging further behind its peers than at any time since 2011. Bloomberg’s Kartikay Mehrotra, Laura Keller, and Margaret Cronin Fisk have a good rundown of the bank’s no-good, very bad year. For the rest of the sector, here’s their key insight: Don’t banks get in trouble all the time? Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). (Melina Mara/Washington Post) Although Wall Street is a favorite punching bag of both parties — see the 2016 election — refining campaign-trail animus into relatively inscrutable banking regulation is another matter. So less than a decade after a financial crisis that almost destroyed the economy, the debate over banking rules in Washington these days centers on how much relief to provide the industry from the Dodd-Frank law passed in its wake. That's left Democrats who'd like to impose new restrictions on the biggest financial institutions struggling instead simply to hold the line by defending the rules already on


The Energy 202: Climate change report now in hands of Trump administration

to the west of Cornwallis Island in the Canadian Arctic. (Photo by Alice Li/The Washington Post) -- Time to get out the Taboo buzzer: Staff members at the Agriculture Department have been advised to avoid using the term “climate change," according to emails obtained by The Guardian. “Climate change” appears under a list of terms to avoid, via an email from the director of soil health. Bianca Moebius-Clune suggested some USDA-approved alternative terms to use instead: "Climate change" → "weather extremes" "Climate change adaptation" → "resilience to weather extremes/intense weather events: drought, heavy rain, spring ponding" "Reduce greenhouse gases" → "build soil organic matter, increase nutrient use efficiency" "Sequester carbon" → "build soil organic matter" The Guardian also outlines back-and-forth emails from members of the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service unit attempting to clarify approved language. In one April email, an employee asked whether they were allowed to publish work from outside the USDA that referred to 'climate change.'" If the intended effect was to curtail discussion of climate change, the USDA's decision backfired spectacularly. Here's the front page of The Guardian this morning: Climate change - don't mention it. The Trump effect. Tomorrow's Guardian https://t.co/Db9rDewoBL -- It’s official: Trump notified the United Nations on Monday that the United States will pull out of the Paris climate agreement. In issuing its notice, the State Department left the tiniest crack of a door open to reentry into the global agreement to reduce emissions. Trump “is open to re-engaging in the Paris Agreement if the U.S. can identify terms that are more favorable to the United States, its businesses, its workers, its people, and its taxpayers,” the department said. Under the accord, the United States's participation will only be official in November 2020, the month of the next presidential election. This Great Spangled Fritillary enjoyed some time on a coneflower in the gardens. (Photo by Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post) -- Border wall vs. butterflies: “I said, ‘Hey guys what you’re doing?’ They said, ‘Working.’ I said, ‘On what?’ They said, ‘Clearing the land,” recalled Marianna Trevino Wright. “I said, ‘You mean my land.’ They said, ‘We’re going to have to call our supervisor.’” The Texas Observer also reported Fears reported that the land is currently being cleared and soil is being sampled, though no construction on the wall would begin until Congress approved funding it. The fate for that funding is


Environmentalists are urging the USDA to reject this genetically engineered eucalyptus tree

A man uses a bucket to fight a fire in a field outside the village of Sao Jose das Matas in central Portugal in July. More than 2,300 firefighters with more than 700 vehicles tackled wildfires across steep hillsides of dense pine and eucalyptus forest. (AP Photo/Armando Franca) A genetically engineered, freeze-tolerant eucalyptus tree is moving closer to receiving approval from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, amid concerns about the tree’s possible negative effects on the environment. The USDA has proposed lifting restrictions on commercial production of the trees, based on a draft environmental impact statement that concluded the trees pose few significant environmental risks. Planting the trees would “either not differ or may be slightly worse from those caused by the cultivation of planted plantation pine,” the report said. Brazil approved a genetically modified eucalyptus, created by biotechnology company FuturaGene, for commercial growth two years ago. But this would become the first genetically engineered tree approved for commercial use in the United States. The announcement comes six years after forestry and biotechnology firm ArborGen filed a petition for deregulation with the USDA, and more than a decade after it began field testing the trees in the United States. It’s unclear when the final decision on the trees will be made. The agency is considering public comments and it still needs to confer with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on the tree’s potential impact on wildlife. “If there are no new significant issues or information that’s relevant to the environmental impacts, that would require any substantial changes, then we’ll finalize the environmental impact statement and send it on [to the Environmental Protection Agency] to publish,” said Richard Coker, a legislative and public affairs specialist with the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. If substantial new information about the trees is discovered in the public comments, the agency may reconsider its recommendation to approve the trees. The USDA has projected in its environmental impact statement that about a million acres of pine plantations could be replaced with the eucalyptus trees, if it wins approval. The company suggested that the genetically engineered trees could help feed global demand for biomass energy at a time of growing concern about climate change. But environmental groups say the tree uses excessive amounts of water, increases wildfire risks, and could turn into an invasive species. And scientists argue that biomass energy produces no climate


Norovirus outbreak hits hotel housing track athletes at world championships in London

Allyson Felix competes in the 400-meter semifinals in London, where the athletes’ hotel has been struck by a norovirus outbreak. (Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP/Getty Images) An outbreak of the norovirus has struck about 30 athletes and support staff staying at one of the London hotels housing athletes competing in the track and field world championships. Public Health England confirmed the outbreak of the highly contagious virus, which causes vomiting, diarrhea, a low-grade fever, aches and abdominal pain. The top contender in the 400 meters, Botswana’s Isaac Makwala, was told by International Association of Athletics Federation officials to withdraw from the 200 prelims after vomiting. Because he was given medical dispensation, he will be able to compete in the final. “I could have run. I did my warmup well and I was ready to run,” he told the BBC. “This is bad. Sometimes I feel heartbroken. Yesterday, I was ready for this. I worked hard for this.” The Tower Hotel, where several German and Canadian athletes also became ill, said that an investigation by the IAAF and health officers showed it was not the source of the outbreak and that public areas of the hotel, which is near Tower Bridge, had been sanitized. The team from Ireland confirmed that 400-meter hurdler Thomas Barr had been stricken, as had German triple jumper Neele Eckhardt. “I’m gutted to have to withdraw from the semifinal,” Barr told the Guardian. “My whole year has been focused on the world championships. To not be able to go out and compete for Ireland is beyond disappointing.” The event, billed as the biggest athletic competition in London since the 2012 Olympics, already has seen one big upset. Usain Bolt lost to Justin Gatlin in his signature event, the 100 meters, in his final competition as a professional track star. Read more: Not fake news: Usain Bolt loses back-to-back races in London Cris Carter says an Ezekiel Elliott suspension is about to drop. Roger Goodell says it isn’t. Boomer Esiason says he and ‘probably all’ football players have CTE Nationals’ Max Scherzer looks just fine in first start since his neck injury


The insane $43 billion system that gets food delivered to your door

hiring 10,000 new employees in the first half of 2017. When they’re not dropping off orders -- mostly at lunch -- those drivers return to the mother ship for food prep and cleaning. It’s not a “100-percent efficient” system, Hurst acknowledged. But it has yielded a sales increase, on average, of 10 percent or $5,000 per week at the franchises that have adopted it. Hurst, who helped launch the first national online delivery service at Papa John’s when dial-up was still de rigueur, is confident those numbers will continue to grow. “Delivery is all about convenience -- getting what you want, how and when you want it,” Hurst said. “I think our lives are increasingly busy, and we’re getting increasingly used to that convenience.” Baskin-Robbins is certainly hoping that will be the case. The company has spent the past year working out how to deliver ice cream, said Austin, the marketing executive, and calculating whether there would be enough demand to even support such an ambitious project. After researching and testing the available third-party providers, the company launched a pilot in four test markets earlier this year. On July 6, it expanded to an additional 600 stores in 22 cities, with more planned for the future. A DoorDash driver starts to bag up an order in Daly City, Calif. (Christie Hemm Klok for The Washington Post) Most urban consumers can now order Baskin-Robbins’s full menu on-demand -- minus the whipped cream. The company found, to its “disappointment,” that it deflated during delivery. But customers don’t seem too upset: Baskin-Robbins is finding that people order more toppings when they order online. Ejigu’s Thursday morning order is for a mint ice cream cake and two scoops of ice cream with rainbow sprinkles. The 34-year-old delivery driver orders at the counter, like any other customer. The credit card he pays with is a company card; it charges to DoorDash, which will then charge the Baskin-Robbins orderer. The ice cream goes into a takeout bag, which goes into a silver space blanket, which goes into a cooler bag, which goes into the trunk of Ejigu’s car. Ten minutes later, a woman grimaces at the heat as she opens her front door. “Try to stay cool out there,” she says, after Ejigu hands her the ice cream. He smiles and heads back to his double-parked car, ready for the next in a day of deliveries.


There are 7 million unemployed and 6.2 million job openings. What’s the problem?

Job seekers line up Wednesday at the Amazon.com Fulfillment Center in Fall River, Mass., to apply during "Amazon Jobs Day," a job fair being held at 10 fulfillment centers across the United States aimed at filling more than 50,000 jobs. The United States has a record 6.2 million job openings. It's the highest number since the Labor Department began tracking job postings in 2000. At the same time, there are 7 million unemployed Americans. That's almost one job for every person searching for a role. This should be a no-brainer, right? Get the jobless onto the doorsteps of these employers. Sadly, it's not that easy. There are two fundamental problems with the job market today: Businesses complain they can't find qualified workers to fill the jobs, and workers complain they aren't getting paid enough. The view from a lot of chief executives is that there aren't any good workers left. Over half of small business owners in America say there are "few or no qualified applicants" for the jobs they have open right now, according to the latest NFIB Small Business Survey released hours before the Labor Department said there was a record number of job openings. We have heard for years that there aren't enough computer programmers, but the grumbling goes deeper than that. Too many workers these days show up drunk or high on weed, managers say. Or they refuse to work late or on weekends. As The Washington Post's Chico Harlan reported over the weekend, some companies are bringing in robots because they can't find enough humans willing to do the work anymore. The other obvious solution is to bring in more immigrants, but President Trump wants to do the exact opposite. Last week, he proposed slashing legal immigration by 50 percent over the next decade. "The demand for qualified warm bodies remains healthy, but the supply of them remains stunted," says Peter Boockvar, chief market analyst at the Lindsey Group in Virginia. He points out that over 18 percent of Americans between the ages of 25 and 54 aren't working. That's almost 1 in 5 people in that "prime age" category. It wasn't like that in the boom times of the 1990s and early 2000s. There would be about 2.5 million more prime-age workers employed today if the same percentage of Americans were working now as in the 1990s. But workers also have a message for


A secret, supervised place where users can inject drugs has been operating in the U.S. for three years

in the United States in 2015, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Data released Tuesday by the National Center for Health Statistics show that number may rise sharply, to about 60,000, when final totals are available for 2016. Kral, who has published research on substance use for many years, said he was approached by the organization and asked to collect data on the site's operation. He and co-author Peter J. Davidson, of the University of California at San Diego, did not reveal the site's location in their article. Kral said the peer-reviewed journal did not ask for proof that it existed, and the university's panel that supervised the research did not require that he reveal its location. The article's data, taken from the first two years of the site's operation, provide a sobering glimpse at the hardcore addicts who use the facility. More than 100 users who gave themselves 2,574 injections there were surveyed. Eighty percent are homeless, 91 percent are men and 80 percent are white. The vast majority injected heroin, but some used methamphetamine, cocaine or prescription opioids. On average, they injected drugs about 114 times per month. Four people have been revived at the site with the antidote naloxone after overdoses during the first three years of operation, Kral said. The program, Kral said, is open by invitation only to drug users who are known to the staff members of the nonprofit organization. Many other supervised injection sites around the world are open to anyone who walks in and wants to inject drugs. The clandestine U.S. program operates four to six hours a day, five days a week and is staffed by people trained to respond to overdoses and to provide advice on safe and hygienic injection. It has five small spaces where users can inject drugs and a second room with couches where they can remain afterward. Canadian and U.S. law enforcement groups opposed the opening of the first site in North America, in Vancouver, B.C., in 2003, and many communities have raised objections about the impact that opening such a facility would have on their neighborhoods. Research has shown that supervised injection sites reduce deaths from overdoses, cut the risk of HIV and hepatitis transmission by eliminating needle-sharing and provide users with access to health and social services, Kral and Davidson wrote in their paper. For the surrounding community, they reduce public


D.C.-area forecast: Magnificent midweek; more unsettled toward weekend

A duck enjoys the Tidal Basin on Saturday, a day just about as nice as today. (wolfpackWX via Flickr) TODAY’S DAILY DIGIT 10/10: EXPRESS FORECAST Today: View the current weather conditions at The Washington Post headquarters. FORECAST IN DETAIL Our midweek is a magnificent one today and tomorrow. Too bad it couldn’t wait for the weekend, which looks more humid and potentially unsettled. Today (Wednesday): Tonight: Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for the latest updates. For related traffic news, check out Dr. Gridlock. Keep reading for the forecast through the weekend … Tomorrow (Thursday): Tomorrow night: A LOOK AHEAD As of now, Friday through Sunday is looking at least somewhat unsettled. With a cool front approaching and possibly stalling nearby, each day may feature considerable clouds with the chance of showers and storms. Highs aim for near 80 to the mid-80s, with moderate to high humidity. Confidence: Low-Medium


Facts about our sun and moon that you’re embarrassed to admit you don’t know

Capital Weather Gang’s Angela Fritz explains how math is used to determine the timing and location of the total solar eclipse crossing the U.S. on Aug. 21. Unless you have been hiding under a rock, you know by now that the sun and the moon will be the stars of the Great American Eclipse of 2017. It happens Aug. 21, when the moon will pass between the sun and Earth, and, depending on where you are in the United States and a few other countries, the moon can be seen completely, or partially, blocking the sun. But how much do you really know — or how much do you remember from science class — about the sun and moon, both of which make life on Earth possible? What is the sun made of? How big and hot is it? How old is it, where did it come from, and when will it die? What is the moon made of? How big and hot (or cold) is it? How old is it, where did it come from, and when will it stop orbiting Earth? Here are some basic facts — from NASA, the U.S. Geological Survey, the James Madison University’s John C. Wells Planetarium, the Smithsonian Institution, Space.com and the Stanford Solar Center — to remind yourself of what you probably once learned but can’t quite retrieve from your long-term memory: THE SUN This image depicts NASA’s planned Solar Probe Plus spacecraft approaching the sun. (Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Associated Press) SIZE: So while it is special to us, our sun is an average-size star in the universe. Its diameter is about 864,000 miles. About 1.3 million Earths could fit into the sun. DISTANCE FROM EARTH: How many Earth's can fit inside the Sun? AGE: HOW IT WAS FORMED: Although it may look empty, space is filled with gas and dust. Most of the material was hydrogen and helium, but some of it was made up of leftover remnants from the violent deaths of stars. Waves of energy traveling through space pressed clouds of such particles closer together, and gravity causes them to collapse in on themselves. As the material drew together, gravity caused it to spin. The spin caused the cloud to flatten into a disk like a pancake. In the center, the material clumped together to form a protostar that would eventually become the sun. The young protostar


Can Trump and Putin keep their bromance alive?

tweets, which were in English as well as Russian, as a mafia-style warning from Putin’s consigliere, a 140-character horse’s head in the president’s bed to remind Trump of his obligations, whatever they may be. Trump certainly seemed to respond that way. Twenty-four hours later, he was repeating his “Russia hoax” talking points at a rally in West Virginia. What Trump did not mention, and has yet to acknowledge, is how Putin has responded to the sanctions – by ejecting 755 personnel from American diplomatic service in Russia. This is a huge number, one that includes many local Russian personnel, not just American diplomats and staff. (Remember: President Barack Obama expelled only 35 Russian diplomats when he moved to retaliate against Moscow’s mischief in December 2016.) The first notable result will be severe limitations in the ability of Russians to obtain visas for the United States. As usual, Putin’s idea of sanctions is to punish Russians. When the 2012 Magnitsky Act legislation put pressure on state human rights abusers in Russia, Putin responded by banning the adoption of Russian orphans by U.S. families. When Obama finally levied sanctions on Russia over Putin’s 2014 invasion of Ukraine and annexation of Crimea, Putin responded by banning many imported foodstuffs. His officials even made a show of destroying piles of food in a country where millions struggle to put adequate food on the table. As the Russian joke goes, “If America bombs Syria, Putin will retaliate and bomb Voronezh!” It seems bizarre for a leader to inflict hardship on his own people, especially when Russia is already collapsing after 17½ years of Putin’s kleptocracy and oil prices that have stayed low for nearly three years. But Putin doesn’t care about the welfare of the Russian people and never has. Even so, he has to find excuses for why everything is so bad despite so many years of his unchallenged rule. The method he has chosen is to create enemies, the stronger the better, in order to create a narrative of Russia being on a wartime footing that necessitates sacrifice and, of course, total devotion to the great leader who is fighting so hard to defend the motherland. Some proponents of engagement with Moscow argue that sanctioning Putin merely plays into his hands. Yet this is a myth. No amount of appeasement is going to turn Putin into an ally of the free world, at


Morning links: Baltimore cops held a man in jail more than a year after DNA evidence cleared him

A member of the Baltimore Police Department removes crime-scene tape from a corner where a victim of a shooting was discovered in Baltimore on July 30, 2015. (Patrick Semansky/Associated Press) - In 10 states, prosecutors can withhold evidence from defense attorneys until just before trial, a practice that can prevent suspects from adequately defending themselves. - A civil rights attorney describes Portland’s new police chief as “a progressive thinker about modern day policing” who “understands civil rights issues clearly.” - Sheriff’s deputies who stole drugs from an evidence locker and then tried to sell it get sentenced to … probation. In explaining the sentence, U.S. District Judge Lawrence Joseph O’Neill, a former police officer, cited, among other things, the “unwavering support” of the officers’ wives. - An eclectic group of supporters has lined up behind the Techdirt website, which is under attack by the same predatory lawyer who brought down Gawker. Good to see. Techdirt has long been a destination for insightful and important reporting and analysis of civil liberties issues. - In the age of the plea bargain, innocence is irrelevant. - Colorado man faces felony charges for “sexting” with a teenage girl, even though actually having sex with her would have been legal. - Baltimore police kept a suspect in jail for more than a year after DNA tests cleared him. He was awarded $2.3 million. - The American Civil Liberties Union alleges that a Louisiana judge and a private bail company are extorting defendants. - The Raleigh News & Observer, one of the best investigative newspapers in the country, takes an in-depth look at 51 jailhouse deaths over five years in North Carolina. - Another great investigative series from the outlet you’re reading: The Washington Post on how difficult it can be to fire bad cops. - Tweet/photo of the day: Costco is selling warrior cop children's costumes for the baby paramilitary terrorist in your life https://t.co/1eyGmWD6E0


Parents: The solar eclipse is nothing to fear. Here’s how to watch it with your kids.

on the West Coast and end on the East Coast. Everyone in the continental U.S. will be able to see at least a partial eclipse on this day. We can’t stare at the sun without protective eyewear, though. That means a little bit of preparation is needed before Aug. 21. Capital Weather Gang's Angela Fritz explains what could happen to your eyes if you were to watch the Aug. 21 eclipse without special sunglasses and how to spot the ones that work. (Claritza Jimenez,Daron Taylor,Angela Fritz/The Washington Post) Here’s how to watch it safely with your kids: Locate some solar eclipse glasses. Some libraries and museums are giving them away for free. If you can’t find a free pair, you can buy them online from one of the reputable vendors at the bottom of this email. Make sure your child’s glasses fit his or her face. If they’re too large, you may be able to cut and tape them at the nose to make them smaller. Your child should be able to see through both of the dark lenses. Prior to the eclipse, explain to your child that we shouldn’t stare at the sun because it will damage our eyes. But also let them know that with these special glasses, we CAN look at the sun so we can see this awesome event. It may also be helpful to explain that they have to keep their glasses on because that’s the only way to see the moon moving in front of the sun. Without the glasses, the sunlight is too bright and you won’t be able to see anything! During the eclipse, keep the glasses on while you want to look at the sun. It’s a long event, so it’s okay for your child to take the glasses off if he or she wants to do other things. Just put them back on before you look at the sun again. If you live in the path of totality, your child can safely take the glasses off during the time when the moon is completely obscuring the sun. You’ll want to be able to see that with your bare eyes! When totality ends, put the glasses back on. If you aren’t able to get the special glasses, there are other ways to “watch” and enjoy the solar eclipse: — One way is through a camera obscura. Take a box — a


The eclipse is coming. And companies are looking to cash in with chocolate doughnuts and more.

Twin Falls High science teachers Ashley Moretti, left, and Candace Wright use their eclipse shades to look at the sun as they pose for a portrait at Twin Falls High School in Idaho. The district bought 11,000 pairs of solar glasses, enough for every student and staff member to view the solar eclipse Aug. 21. (Pat Sutphin/Twin Falls Times-News via AP) The rare appearance of a total solar eclipse sweeping across America on Aug. 21 promises to cast millions of people in temporary darkness, practically guaranteeing the event will become a social media phenomena. So no surprise, businesses are looking to cash in ahead of the big day. Krispy Kreme became the latest company to offer a promotional deal tied to the solar spectacle. The company said its trademark glazed doughnut will be doused in a chocolate glaze starting on Aug. 19 and 20 during “Hot Light” hours and on the Monday of the eclipse at participating stores in the U.S. and Canada. The doughnut company joins others such as rental car company Hertz and mattress retailer Casper offering promotions for an astronomical event that hasn’t happened in this country since 1979. A totality occurs when the moon passes between Earth and the sun, blocking our view of the sun. Some Hertz locations encouraged customers to book rental cars for the eclipse so they could travel to sites along its path. Don't miss out on the Total Solar Eclipse on August 21st! Reserve one of our BRAND NEW rentals! #hsv #shoals… https://t.co/yVheTMgIKa The promotion turned out to be so popular that, according to BuzzFeed, Hertz recently started calling customers to say their reservation had been canceled due to overbooking at some locations by the company. Hertz is offering customers rental vouchers, though it is unclear whether they will be valid for the next total eclipse, which apparently is set to occur in 2024. Casper is setting up a sleeping camp in the Wyoming city that shares its name to help eclipse watchers catch some Zs before and after the big event. According to the Casper Star American Paper Optics, a Tennessee-based company that specializes in making 3-D glasses, has already made 40 million eclipse glasses in anticipation of the big event. They plan to manufacture another 10 million by Aug. 21. Many of the eclipse-based campaigns aim to leverage an anticipated surge in social media, as people seek to document


In a new poll, half of Republicans say they would support postponing the 2020 election if Trump proposed it

President Trump made remarks on July 19 at the first meeting of his commission investigating his allegations of voter fraud during the 2016 election. Critics of President Trump have repeatedly warned of his potential to undermine American democracy. Among the concerns are his repeated assertions that he would have won the popular vote had 3 to 5 million “illegals” not voted in the 2016 election, a claim echoed by the head of a White House advisory committee on voter fraud. Claims of large-scale voter fraud are not true, but that has not stopped a substantial number of Republicans from believing them. But how far would Republicans be willing to follow the president to stop what they perceive as rampant fraud? Our recent survey suggests that the answer is quite far: About half of Republicans say they would support postponing the 2020 presidential election until the country can fix this problem. Here’s how we did our research: The survey interviewed a sample of 1,325 Americans from June 5 through 20. Respondents were recruited from the Qualtrics online panel who had previously reported identifying with or leaning toward one of the two major parties. We focus on the 650 respondents who identify with or lean toward the Republican Party. The sample has been weighted to match the population in terms of sex, age, race and education. After a series of initial questions, respondents were asked whether Trump won the popular vote, whether millions of illegal immigrants voted, and how often voter fraud occurs. These questions evoke arguments frequently made by Trump and others about the integrity of the 2016 election. Then the survey asked two questions about postponing the 2020 election. - If Donald Trump were to say that the 2020 presidential election should be postponed until the country can make sure that only eligible American citizens can vote, would you support or oppose postponing the election? - What if both Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress were to say that the 2020 presidential election should be postponed until the country can make sure that only eligible American citizens can vote? Would you support or oppose postponing the election? An American flag is refracted in raindrops on a window on July 4, in Merriam, Kan. (Charlie Riedel/AP) Roughly half of Republicans believe Trump won the popular vote — and would support postponing the 2020 election. Nearly half of Republicans (47 percent) believe


Blackwater’s founder wants Trump to outsource the Afghanistan war. Why that’s so risky.

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, also told CNN this week that he has spoken with people close to the president, including Bannon, national security adviser H.R. McMaster and unidentified members of Congress. The chief executive of another global services company that specializes in armed conflict, DynCorp’s Stephen Feinberg, has been a part of these White House discussions, too. The New York Times reported last month that Feinberg, unlike Prince, has met directly with Trump to discuss Afghanistan. The Pentagon has been frosty toward the idea. Prince’s plan calls for embedding contracted trainers within Afghan army units operating closest to the action. The Pentagon favors a similar strategy, albeit using a mix of conventional troops and Special Forces. Senior military leaders have discussed this for many months. With backing from the Pentagon, the war’s top commander, Gen. John Nicholson, wants to grow his force by around 4,000 American troops, with a match from other NATO countries. They would reinforce the units there now and, it is hoped, help the Afghans claw back gains made by the Taliban and a determined Islamic State faction whose influence is spreading. Such an increase would be modest compared to the surge of forces directed by President Barack Obama in 2009. It was Bannon who approached Defense Secretary Jim Mattis about the idea of converting to a contracted force, as the Times reported in July. “Mr. Mattis listened politely but declined to include the outside strategies in a review of Afghanistan policy” that he’s developing with McMaster, the Times wrote, citing people briefed on the discussions. A spokesman for Mattis’s office declined to comment, calling the secretary’s conversation private. A White House spokesman did not respond to questions seeking clarity on the administration’s discussions about Afghanistan strategy and how the potential use of private contractors has informed those talks. Attempts to speak with Prince were unsuccessful, though a spokesman provided a statement to The Washington Post indicating support for his four former Blackwater employees and his gratitude to the appellate court for recognizing the “unique nature” of their relationship with the U.S. government. Speaking Monday on CNN, Prince said that his proposal for Afghanistan would save the Pentagon $40 billion and “create the off-ramp for U.S. forces to leave.” “For the president,” Prince said, “I think he’s got to say, ‘After 16 years, when do we try something different? … We’re still losing Americans. There were two


One way to prolong the joy of Eclipse 2017: a ticket on a jet plane

Two NASA WB-57F jets will chase this month’s eclipse. (Photo by Amir Caspi, courtesy of NASA) For eclipse lovers hungry for more than just a couple minutes of totality, taking to the air could prolong the experience – by a minute or so. On the morning of Aug. 21, air travelers taking off from Portland, Ore., could be among the first to extend their viewing if their timing and routes hit just right. Cities to the east could do the same as the day rolls on. A Reddit user on Tuesday pointed to Delta flight 2466, which is scheduled to take off from Portland at 8:45 a.m. headed to Atlanta along the path of the eclipse. Southwest is touting its flight 1368, leaving Portland for St. Louis at 9:05 a.m., plus departures from Denver later in the morning. The moon’s shadow will be moving faster than your 737, so don’t make the mistake of thinking you can gaze at the total eclipse all the way across the country. (Back in 1973, researchers flying on a supersonic Concorde across Africa were able to keep up – and had a view of totality that lasted 74 minutes.) On everyday jets this time around, the bonus by being in the air would be about a minute, or a bit more, of total eclipse viewing. Depending on your level of commitment – or disposable income – it could be worth it. “When you’re watching a total eclipse, every second counts,” said Amir Caspi, a senior research scientist at the Southwest Research Institute and principle investigator on a NASA-funded mission to chase the eclipse with a couple of Cold War WB-57F bombers. NASA’s planes will be flying a route over Missouri, Illinois and Tennessee, roughly from St. Louis to Nashville. “The eclipse on the ground in those places is going to be about 2 minutes, 40 seconds,” Caspi said. “We will get almost 4 minutes.” That’s crucial for their work trying to understand the sun’s corona – its outer atmosphere – which will come into brilliant view. Stitching together film using both planes, they’ll end up with about seven and a half minutes of footage of the total eclipse – a thrilling opportunity to ferret out the mysteries of the heavens. “The main scientific question is: Why is the corona so hot, millions of degrees rather than thousands of degrees – because the visible surface