Could a port strike really cripple the U.S. economy?

The fiscal cliff is no longer the only threat facing the U.S. economy. Some 14,500 dockworkers from Baltimore to Texas are threatening to strike this week, a move that could throttle an array of key ports and disrupt commerce across the nation. Apocalypse now, port edition. (AP) For months, negotiations have dragged on between the dockworkers' union and the group that represents shippers and port operators — their disagreements have centered on container royalties, which are used to augment worker wages and benefits. Without a resolution, dockworkers are poised to strike at 14 shipping-container ports starting Sunday, including Boston, New York-New Jersey, Baltimore, Charleston, Savannah, Miami and Houston. "This is truly a ‘container cliff’ in the making," warned Jonathan Gold, the National Retail Federation’s vice president for supply chain policy. So how much economic damage would a port strike cause? Estimates can vary widely. Business groups claim that a comparable 11-day lockout at ports on the West Coast in 2002 cost the economy $1 billion per day, or nearly 4 percent of the nation's output during that period. Yet other economists have argued that these figures are often inflated and that the economy can handle temporary disruptions. There's no question that the 14 threatened ports on the East Coast and Gulf Coast are critical — nearly half of ocean-going shipping containers coming to and from the United States go through these points. The biggest port, New York-New Jersey, handled $208 billion worth of goods last year. And the dock workers, for their part, have enormous control over the loading and unloading of cargo. "Many of them, like the crane operators who transfer containers from ships to the docks, are highly skilled and cannot be easily replaced," writes Steven Greenhouse of the New York Times. Still, calculating how a port shutdown would affect the economy is notoriously tricky, not least because it's difficult to figure out how supply chains will adapt. As Peter V. Hall of the University of Waterloo explained in a 2004 paper, many past studies simply assume that most of the value of the cargo will be lost during a shutdown and that all the jobs that depend on that cargo, from truckers to retailers, will take a hit accordingly. "In other words," Hall writes, "they assume the ships carrying the cargo sank." But, Hall explained, that's too simplistic. Many companies stock up on extra goods ahead of


Transforming the ‘dumping ground’

mighty forces of history, economics and politics, which have conspired to concentrate 70 percent of the District’s industrially zoned land there. In other news: National Park Service threatens to evict Jack’s Boathouse (Post, Georgetowner, Housing Complex, Washingtonian) David Gregory appears to have broken D.C. gun laws after showing a high-capacity magazine on Meet the Press (Post) Jason Emma, 28, murdered near Lincoln Park in what appears to be a “random robbery” (Post) Nathaniel Beasley Jr., 69, and Raymond Harris, 44, killed in Bladensburg Road shooting (Post) Four shot Wednesday (Crime Scene) Lottery whistleblower Eric Payne sticks to his guns as investigations ramp up (NYT) Cathy Lanier: Disbanding specialized MPD drug unit means more cops walking beats (Post) Under Vince Gray, D.C. has made strides in improving its court-supervised social services (Post editorial) The “significance” of Kwame Brown’s wrongdoing “seems to have eluded the disgraced former council member” (Post editorial) Jim Graham’s lawyer: “Sharp-elbowed political behavior is not a violation of any District ethics provision.” (Examiner) At a Georgetown rowhouse, a search for a famous freed slave (Post) D.C.’s first medical marijuana will be grown in Ivy City and sold on North Capitol Street (WaTimes) Moving UDC forward without Allen Sessoms (Post editorial) Jonetta Rose Barras: Not many politicos deserved gifts from Santa this year (Examiner) Tom Sherwood looks back at 2012: “The top story in our city — by far — for 2012 and maybe the foreseeable future begins and ends with ethics.” (WRC-TV) City Paper’s awards (Loose Lips, Housing Complex) Chuck Thies ranks the top 10 D.C. politics stories of the year (WRC-TV) Sewage backups plague Greenleaf Gardens (Post column) Most D.C. charter schools don’t have full-time nurses (Examiner) Most DCPS school salad bars aren’t being used due to contracting dispute (Examiner) Eastern Capitol Hill warms up to its modest commercial strip (GGW) Why not let D.C. residents vote for suburban members of Congress? (Post letter) David Catania brings his old chief of staff back (D.C. Wire) Metro beefs up late-night bus service on 16th Street NW (Post) Ethics board lawyer comes from Inspector General office (Legal Times) Inauguration tour bus riders could be in for a long walk from RFK Stadium (Post) Deborah Simmons notices that Republicans aren’t very popular in D.C. elections (WaTimes) Do you know this gray-haired, cane-wielding bank robber? (Crime Scene) To Glover Park’s chagrin, JP’s lives (WBJ) Behold the State of New Columbia (Post)


Freebies to a Good Home

members around the world. Each group is moderated by local volunteers, and membership is free. On it you’ll find furniture, appliances, electronics, dishes and even holiday decorations. Craigslist is another great place to find used furniture or art for your apartment — on its “Free” page or for sale at low prices, Carter says. She also posts items on Reuseit DC, another site where unwanted items find new homes. Carter’s apartment project started with three free Ikea chairs that a neighbor left on the curb. Over seven months, she’s gradually added two couches, a coffee table, a mirror she found in a Dumpster, a metal coat rack she carried home on three different buses and a traditional painted Chinese credenza from a D.C. resident who was moving and didn’t have room for it — just to name a few of her finds. There are hazards to bringing in used furniture, including bedbugs, so Carter shies away from mattresses. “I was wary about the sofas, but having met the people and seen where they were beforehand, I felt OK about it,” she says. It takes time to find the pieces she wants and then arrange for pickup or delivery, Carter says. Even for “free” pieces, she has to factor in the time spent and the cost of Zipcar rentals for some pickups. “There have been a lot of times when I was just so done and ready to rent a truck and go to Ikea,” she says. But she doesn’t. For her, this is a lifelong mission. “When I leave, I don’t plan to throw anything away,” she says. More Go Green Freecycle’s popularity is on the rise, says Joyce Dowling, 59, who co-moderates the Southern Prince George’s County Freecycle group, which has about 1,300 members. “I started this listserv around 2005,” she says. “It’s grown in leaps and bounds.” For Dowling, freecycling is part of her Unitarian Universalist religious beliefs to take care of the environment. Freecyclers caution that the site isn’t just a place to post wish-lists and wait for them to be fulfilled. The D.C. site limits members to one “wanted” item per week. Freecycle doesn’t set a minimum for how much members can give away, but local group moderators can add their own rules. “It’s not all about getting, it’s about giving,” Dowling says. Gretchen Koitz, a principal at the Koitz Group, part of Keller Williams Capital


The real reason Russia wants to ban adoptions by ‘dangerous’ American families

A protester holds a poster of an orphan outside the Russian Duma in Moscow. (Geny Feldman/AFP/Getty Images) When President Vladimir Putin signed a law this week banning U.S. families from adopting Russian children, it's hard to imagine, as an American, that he was thinking of the 46 pending adoptions he canceled. The nearly four dozen Russians orphans were within sight of a home and family, only to have them taken away as part of the ban that is widely seen as political retaliation against a U.S. law targeting Russian human rights abusers. It's also hard to imagine that he was thinking of the on-average 1,000 Russians adopted annually into American homes, a reprieve both for the children and for Russia's notoriously harsh and over-burdened orphanages. Putin is many things, but he does not appear to be a crazy person. Despite his anti-American leanings, he has seemed shrewd enough to cooperate with the United States when it suits him and to avoid unnecessarily alienating the world's richest and most powerful country. The move is widely seen as political retaliation against the U.S. “How else can we strike [the Americans] where it hurts?” Russian political analyst Alexei Makarkin told the Moscow News. “If they found our soft spot with the Magnitsky Act, we found theirs.” Still, why sign a law that seems so clearly balance-negative for Russia, a law that, as The Post's Will Englund paraphrased internal Russian opposition, "punishes orphans more than it does American politicians and that it looks like a defense of corruption while unavoidably drawing attention to the sorry state of Russian orphanages." Is there something more to the ban than childish foreign policy? Could there be domestic considerations as well? As it turns out, the ban on American adoptions is remarkably popular in Russia. A new Russian survey finds that 56 percent support the ban and 21 percent oppose, a ratio of almost three-to-one. The support seems to stem from a belief that American families are dangerous, cruel, and at times violent to their adoptive Russian children. More than half of respondents who want to ban American adoptions cite either hostile American families or the fact that some adopted Russians have died in the U.S. A much smaller number say that Russian children would be best served by keeping them in their home country. A still-smaller minority, about 10 percent of those who support the ban, say


Massacre message management is new PR task

As 2012 drew to a close, Peter Lanza’s troubled 20-year-old son, Adam, was buried in a secret grave site to avoid desecration. Adam’s remains were claimed from the coroner anonymously, and his funeral was private. He will be mourned by few but remembered by many. The families of unstable, and often, mentally ill young men who without explanation arm themselves and murder innocents, are in a unique public position. Their loved ones have caused indescribable pain and irreparable damage to the lives of numerous blameless bystanders, but their own lives have also been shattered. In 1996, David Kaczynski, suspected his mentally deranged brother, Ted, was behind decades of unsolved bomb killings and reported him to the FBI. David was interviewed on CBS’s 60 Minutes and collected a reward for information leading to the arrest of the Unabomber (he gave most of the money to his brother’s victims). Six years ago at Blacksburg’s Virginia Tech, Seung-Hui Cho, a mentally ill young man, went on a rampage killing 32 people and himself. His sister, Sun-Kyung Cho, released a heartfelt statement of regret and conveyed the family’s sorrow and prayers for each of her brother’s victims who she listed by name. In January 2011, after Jared Loughner killed 6 people at a political event in Tucson and seriously injured 14 others, including congresswoman Gabby Giffords, the public defender’s office handed out a 7-sentence statement to the media signed, “The Loughner Family.” The gunman’s parents, Randy and Amy Loughner, asked for privacy and ended the communication helplessly with the words, “We don’t understand why this happened. It may not make any difference, but we wish that we could change the heinous events of Saturday. We care very deeply about the victims and their families. We are so very sorry for their loss.” When James Holmes was taken into custody outside a movie theater in Aurora, Colo., last summer, after the suspect opened fire on an unsuspecting audience, Lt. Andrea Brown of the San Diego Police Department spoke to media on behalf of his family, asking that reporters respect their privacy. (After a misunderstood telephone reaction, “you have the right person,” by the young man’s mother, when informed by ABC News of the horrific events, an attorney they retained through a member of their church clarified Arlene Holmes 5 word utterance.) The most recent household members to witness their young son and brother wreak havoc


A new Cold War?

or “Dima’s Law.” Both leaders signed with reluctance, but neither president proved willing to defy nearly unanimous legislatures bent on passing unwise legislation. As Russia experts Vladimir Sobell, Edward Lozansky and Cohen warned at TheNation.com, “The ‘Magnitsky Act’ violates the rule of law, contradicts American values and undermines US national security.” Framed by its supporters as a human rights bill that would punish officials implicated in the prison death of a Russian attorney, the law is actually more sweeping, a requirement that the executive branch punish individual Russians based on unproven allegations, without any due process. In response, Russian legislators passed, and Putin signed, a bill banning all adoptions of Russian children by U.S. families. It’s an act of cruelty that will hurt the most innocent of victims: children in need of a home who are languishing in poorly funded institutions. Hopefully, its consequences will be mitigated by increased adoptions from other countries and by Russian families themselves. But given that thousands of Russian children have become available for international adoption only after repeated rejections by potential Russian parents, the new policy will mean more children will remain orphans until they reach 18. This even includes some kids whose legal adoptions by U.S. parents were already well underway but now will be canceled unless Putin moves to delay the implementation of the new law. Following a unanimous U.S. Senate resolution Tuesday condemning the adoption ban, the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute also announced yesterday that it is working with the State Department to appeal for clemency for those 50-some kids. And as Cohen has pointed out, a recently signed U.S.-Russian adoption treaty requires a year’s notice before it can be abrogated by either side, which gives Putin a way to enable at least those 50-some to come to the United States. As of yet, there is no sign he will do this, but some wise public and private U.S. diplomacy might help. It didn’t have to be this way. In fact, even if Putin was determined to retaliate against the Magnitsky Act, there were alternatives. Those included selling off U.S. dollars and transferring much of Russia’s national wealth fund to another currency or slowing NATO weapons shipments to Afghanistan. Adoptions by U.S. parents have long been a charged issue in Russia. A series of tragic cases involving the deaths of Russian children adopted by American parents have received enraged attention


The political cartoons that maybe got their artist shut down on Chinese social media

Political cartoonist Kuang Biao is one of several influential Chinese voices to find his accounts on Sina Weibo, China's ultra-popular micro-blogging service, suddenly terminated without warning. As the Post's Keith B. Richburg reports, the move cuts against "the hopes of many here that the country’s new Communist leaders might begin to relax strict controls over the Internet and free expression." Kuang, who has shared some of his dramatically evocative cartoons with the Post, explained his work for Richburg's story: Another microblogger who uses satire to tackle sensitive topics is the cartoonist Kuang Biao, who said he publishes most of his work online. Kuang also found his weibo account closed, at 7 p.m. Friday. “I guess my political cartoons made them unhappy,” Kuang said. “I just can’t figure out why they are even afraid of cartoons. They lack confidence and don’t have any sense of humor.” Kuang said his cartoons mainly satirized official policy pronouncements and the well-documented misbehavior of some Communist Party officials. Here are a few of the cartoons. Even if the references are not always easy for an outsider like me to understand (I profess to finding most of them puzzling), the nuance and depth are hard to miss, as is the distinctive style. The Post's Wang Juan, in Shanghai, contributed some insights and explanations, which I've paraphrased or expanded here. "Groping for Stones" (Kuang Biao) In a famous 1980 Communist Party meeting, a senior leader named Chen Yun said China should institute reforms slowly and carefully, as if "crossing the river by feeling for the stones." This cartoon seems to suggest that the party has so focused on groping stones that it's forgotten to actually climb out toward reform -- or decided against it. "Mainstream media" (Kuang Biao) The caged bird, with a pen for a beak, is likely meant to symbolize state-run media's relationship to the Chinese government. "Dream" (Kuang Biao) The shadow certainly looks like the Statue of Liberty. It's not clear who the man casting the shadow is meant to symbolize – perhaps, given the context, he is China? "Toilet Paper" (Kuang Biao) The large man sometimes symbolizes the Communist Party in Kuang's drawings. The character on the toilet paper dispenser says "law," which gives you a sense of how Kuang believes the party approaches law. In China, the court system is directly subservient to the party. "Democratized" (Kuang Biao) Everyone gets a vote


Ignore bogus polling on debt limit

and procedural strategies that they wanted to support anyway. And yet that’s exactly what Republicans appear to be doing with regard to the debt limit, as Jennifer Rubin reported this morning. Dave Weigel has the details about a GOP-sponsored Winston Group poll which asked about the debt limit, and which John Boehner apparently used to rally his House Republican conference. Essentially, there are three findings: respondents strongly oppose raising the debt limit; they agree even more strongly that any debt limit increase should be tied to spending cuts; and they opposed raising the debt limit even if not doing it would mean cuts in “Medicare, Education, Defense, and other government programs.” The problem? The poll gives virtually no information at all about public opinion about a debt limit fight — or who would be blamed if the federal government defaults. There’s basically two pieces of information in the poll. One is that raising the debt limit or debt ceiling polls badly. We know that; it’s why, before 2011, debt limit fights were mainly about making one party have to supply the votes for it. The other is that “cut spending” polls well. Yet both of those pieces of information are isolated from the real debt limit battle. As far as the debt ceiling is concerned, hardly anyone has any idea of what it is in the first place. More to the point, that people think “raise the debt limit” is bad tells us nothing about how they would react to an economic crash caused by government default. As for spending, it’s well known that generic calls to “cut spending” are popular, but so is increasing spending on virtually every individual program the government actually spends money on. In any actual battle, Republicans will eventually be identified with specific cuts (even if they resist supporting specific cuts, Democrats will fill in the blanks). In other words, this kind of polling tells us absolutely nothing about how a real debt limit fight, much less a default, would play out in terms of public opinion. What we do know is that it’s hard enough for Congress (which is always unpopular) to win the spin on these kinds of fights with any president. Given that Obama is relatively popular right now while House Republicans are scraping bottom, it’s even less likely that they would win, despite what junk polling like this says about it.


Where senators stand on Hagel

Burr (R-N.C.) on both Hagel and John Brennan, who was nominated to lead the CIA: While I have concerns about the nominations made by the President today there is a process in place to address those concerns, and they will both have the opportunity to answer tough questions before the Senate. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.): The President – like any elected executive – should have the utmost consideration in putting a staff together, and I intend to do that. I haven’t met or spoken with either Senator Hagel or Mr. Brennan, but both of these men have served our country with honor and distinction. I look forward to talking with them, hearing their views and giving their nominations my full consideration. In particular, I am eager for the Senate Armed Services Committee confirmation hearings to take place, because I will have the opportunity to ask West Virginians’ commonsense questions about how we can make our country and our world safer. Sen. Dan Coats (R-Ind.): I am surprised that President Obama decided to nominate Chuck Hagel to serve as Defense Secretary given the many concerns of both Republicans and Democrats. I am particularly concerned about this pick to lead our military because of the possible effects it will have on the U.S. relationship with our trusted ally Israel as well as his support for direct negotiations with Iran and terrorist organizations like Hamas. While former Senator Hagel deserves the opportunity to come before Congress, there is no doubt he will face tough questions regarding his record and past statements. Sen. Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.), SASC member: “There are many important challenges facing the next secretary of defense, chief among them bringing home our servicemen and women from Afghanistan.” Sen. Kay Hagan (D-N.C.), SASC member: “I've got some concerns over issues over one of our most important allies, Israel, and a concern over Iranian sanctions,” she told the News & Observer. “But I look forward to having an opportunity to talk with him, one on one and obviously review the record.'' Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), SASC member: Hagel is a decorated war hero with a strong record of bipartisanship on foreign policy and defense issues. I will do all I can to ensure the confirmation hearing addresses important questions regarding the future of our military, the current budgetary challenges facing the country and other important security issues such as U.S. policy towards Iran.”


Inauguration street closures in and around D.C.

As expected, the presidential inauguration Jan. 21 will shut down a large number of roads and bridges in and around Washington. Drivers heading into the District need to be prepared for several major detours and closures. Traffic will be diverted from the 14th Street and Roosevelt bridges, while the Memorial Bridge will only be accessible for pedestrians and authorized vehicles. The Key, Chain, South Capitol Street and 11th Street bridges will all remain open. Law enforcement and transportation officials announced the street closures Monday afternoon, warning drivers to expect delays all around the area with vehicle restrictions. The following routes into the District will be partially or fully closed: - 14th Street Bridge (traffic heading to 14th Street will be diverted onto the Southeast-Southwest Freeway beginning at 5:30 a.m.) - Roosevelt Bridge (traffic will be diverted onto the northbound Potomac River Expressway to Pennsylvania Avenue or the Whitehurst Freeway/K Street) - Memorial Bridge (pedestrians/authorized vehicles only) - Third Street Tunnel (closed to all vehicular and pedestrian traffic) The following arteries will be open: - Key Bridge - Chain Bridge - South Capitol Street Bridge - Southeast-Southwest Freeway - Rock Creek Parkway (a holiday traffic schedule will be in effect) - Clara Barton Parkway (a holiday traffic schedule will be in effect, which means two-way traffic all day) - 11th Street Bridges - Sousa Bridge (open to all traffic east of the river to the security checkpoint at Capitol Hill) - East Capitol Street (open to all traffic) - Benning Road - New York Avenue - Woodrow Wilson Bridge There will also be a large number of street closures in the District. The following streets will be closed Monday, Jan. 21, from 3 a.m. to 7 p.m.: - Pennsylvania Avenue NW from 18th Street NW to the U.S. Capitol - I Street NW from 18th to 12th streets NW - H Street NW from 18th to 12th streets NW - G Street NW from 18th to 12th streets NW - F Street NW from 18th to 12th streets NW - E Street NW from 18th to Sixth streets NW - D Street NW from 18th to Sixth streets NW - C Street from 18th Street NW to Second Street NE - Constitution Avenue from 17th Street NW to Second Street NE - Madison Drive NW from 15th to Third streets NW - Jefferson Drive SW from 15th to Third streets SW


Here are the top three risks facing the world

governments from working on other, longer-term challenges, such as investment projects or climate change. "This persistent global economic fragility continues to divert our attention from longer-term solutions by...generating greater caution in use of scarce funds for strategic investment projects," the authors write. Meanwhile, "mismanagement of an aging population" is one risk that increased from last year in both likelihood and impact -- a sign of the challenges countless countries will face as their birth rates plummet. Even more depressingly, the Forum said most countries haven't made strides toward mitigating the risks. "There is a feeling that we are not making progress," Lee Howell, the report's editor, said at the launch of the report in London. "We are not seeing the state leadership necessary to tackle these risks." The report also mentions five "game-changers" world leaders should be on the lookout for. They mostly read like the ends of disaster movies, but they're still an interesting look at where we might be headed: Developed in partnership with the editors of Nature, a leading science journal, the chapter on “X Factors” looks beyond the landscape of 50 global risks to alert decision-makers to five emerging game-changers: - Runaway climate change: Is it possible that we have already passed a point of no return and that Earth’s atmosphere is tipping rapidly into an inhospitable state? - Significant cognitive enhancement: Ethical dilemmas akin to doping in sports could start to extend into daily working life; an arms race in the neural “enhancement” of combat troops could also ensue. - Rogue deployment of geoengineering: Technology is now being developed to manipulate the climate; a state or private individual could use it unilaterally. - Costs of living longer: Medical advances are prolonging life, but long-term palliative care is expensive. Covering the costs associated with old age could be a struggle. - Discovery of alien life: Proof of life elsewhere in the universe could have profound psychological implications for human belief systems. The findings show how much the world has changed since pre-recessionary 2007, when the most frequently cited risks were a breakdown of critical information infrastructure, chronic disease in developed countries, an oil price shock, a hard landing in China and an asset price collapse. Here's a matrix of all of the risks, based on how likely they are to occur in the next 10 years and how much impact they would have: World Economic Forum


Reconciliation

-- A link between diet soda and depression. -- "The heavily tattooed artist and professor ... has surprisingly moderate political views." -- New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez, a Republican, says her state will expand Medicaid. -- What it's like to experience new technology after 25 years in jail. -- The guy who used to run security for the U.S. Mint explains how one would guard a $1 trillion coin.


Old soldiers don’t make for good Pentagon chiefs

ongoing crises in the Middle East and a shrinking number of carriers available for duty.” The report goes on to observe, “[M]ilitary budget analyst Winslow T. Wheeler, says the operational tempo [frequency of deployments] has been a problem because [the Navy has] been delaying the maintenance events and doing that to enable longer deployments. That simply means you’re building up a longer bill for the problems that you need to fix when it does get back to port and needs this long-term maintenance.” Well, if Hagel is fervently on the side of the fighting men and women, then he would, certainly, tell the president it is unacceptable to put the burden of longer deployments and the risk of insufficiently maintained equipment on those risking their lives for the country. Right? Putting aside for a moment the “devastating” sequestration cuts, the $487 billion in defense cuts already passed are and will have an adverse impact on the fighting men and women. The Defense Department reported about a year ago: “We will achieve some cost savings by providing more limited pay raises beginning in 2015. This will give troops and their families fair notice and lead time before these proposed changes take effect. We will, therefore, achieve some savings in the later years to invest in force structure and modernization.” In other words, service pay and benefits have to be raided to pay for the minimal modernization allowed under Obama’s already enacted Pentagon cuts. Military benefits are also to be cut. This comes on top of severe cuts in modernization and weaponry. You would think Hagel, the veteran, would object to a hollowing out of the force. And all of that is before we get to defense sequestration, which the White House insisted on and which Hagel purportedly has no trouble with. In fact, Obama and Hagel are up to something that is both insidious and obvious. They are using Hagel’s service as cover for doing real damage to our national security, and giving our volunteer force much less than they need and deserve. Obama says Hagel will be the defense chief the troops “deserve.” In fact, they deserve a whole lot better, including a president and secretary of defense who put national security first, not last, among our priorities and stop hacking away at our national security spending while refusing to check the enormous rise in entitlement and discretionary domestic spending.


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How Cory Booker overcame his hatred of gays

As pastor Louie Giglio bows out of President Obama's inaugural ceremony over his anti-gay comments, the Stanford Daily has republished a college editorial by Newark Mayor Cory Booker in which he reveals his past "disgust and latent hostility" towards gays and how he overcame it. "I was disgusted by gays," Booker wrote in the 1992 editorial, published in the Stanford Daily. "The thought of two men kissing each other was about as appealing as a frontal lobotomy." Then, as a freshman, Booker met Daniel Bao, a gay counselor at Stanford’s peer counseling group The Bridge. Bao "quickly disarmed me with his personal testimony," Booker wrote. "[I]t didn't take me long to realize that the root of my hatred did not lie with gays but with myself." Booker is exploring a campaign for the seat held by Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.). Lautenberg has not yet announced whether or not he plans to retire.


Should more Africans be allowed to move abroad?

On Thursday, Pulitzer Prize winner Paul Salopek announced he would walk from Ethiopia to Patagonia over the course of seven years, filing multimedia reports along the way in the hopes of capturing the "major global stories of our time." (Sipa via AP Images) Salopek's quest may be the first of its kind, but there's a long history of Western journalists trekking to the developing world for a first-hand look at globalization. A new interview with Mark Weston, a British policy adviser who traveled to three of the world's poorest countries for his new book, The Ringtone and the Drum, reveals what these deep dives into war-torn, struggling nations can entail, and the bubbles that are burst along the way. Weston's journey to Sierra Leone, Guinea-Bissau and Burkina Faso was sparked by a 2004 work visit to Ghana, which inspired him to go "have a proper look around." "It occurred to me that a journey to the fringes of Africa could have a more constructive purpose than satisfying my indulgent craving for adventure," he wrote. "What did West Africans talk about? What did they do every day?" Weston traveled to three countries that aren't exactly magnets for tourism, as he describes them: Guinea Bissau -- a very peaceful, quiet country whose tranquility is being shattered by the advent of South American cocaine dealers who are using it as a staging post. Sierra Leone, famous for its civil war and blood diamonds. Burkina Faso -- a dry, dusty country ruled by a dictator. The name of the book comes from cell phones, he explains, which have proliferated in West Africa and increased Africans' exposure to Western culture and ideas. "They're able to communicate with people abroad who tell them how great life is in Europe and America. It's pulling them toward Westernization and modernity. It's a disruptive influence," he says to an interviewer from the Irish blog Slugger O'toole. His two big takeaways? Corruption isn't all that it seems, and Western countries should allow more African workers to immigrate and support their aging populations. Weston argues that many times what seems like corruption is simply the "law of reciprocity," or the idea that if you help somebody, they're supposed to return the favor once they rise up the ladder. "The first thing is to disperse some of the fruits of power among the people closest to them," he says. "It starts with


Practice inauguration parade will close downtown D.C. streets Sunday

The presidential inauguration is going to close quite a few D.C. streets on Jan. 21. But preparations for that day are going to be felt this weekend, when an inaugural practice parade on Sunday will restrict parking and shut down several downtown streets. The following streets will be closed from 6:15 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday: - Constitution Avenue from 1st Street NE to 6th Street NW - Pennsylvania Avenue from 3rd Street NW to 15th Street NW as well as Pennsylvania Avenue from 17th Street NW to 19th Street NW - 15th Street between I (Eye) Street NW and Independence Avenue SW - Streets that cross Pennsylvania Avenue along the parade route will close temporarily between 7 a.m. and noon. Parking also will be severely limited due to the event. The following blocks (which largely overlap with the street closures) will have no parking from 5 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday: - Constitution Avenue from 1st Street NE to 6th Street NW - Pennsylvania Avenue from 3rd Street NW to 15th Street NW as well as Pennsylvania Avenue from 17th Street NW to 19th Street NW - 15th Street between I (Eye) Street NW and Independence Avenue SW


Reconcililation

--A small mountain hamlet in northern Japan claims to be Jesus's burial place. --Ontario plans to be coal-free by the end of 2013, having shut down all 19 of its coal plants. --Are we becoming a banana republic? That's not fair to banana republics. --The latest research (pdf) on whether money brings happiness. --The inventor of the Segway has a new (and disgusting) weight-loss invention.


Military punishes service members involved in Colombia prostitution scandal

The U.S. military’s Southern Command on Friday said it had handed down non-judicial punishments for three of the dozen noncommissioned officers involved in a prostitution scandal during President Obama’s April trip to Cartagena, Colombia. All three service members were reprimanded for relations with prostitutes, and one of the cases involved adultery, according to a command press release. The command said it will dock two months base pay from two of the soldiers, both of whom also received letters of reprimand and 45 days of extra duties. The third service member will lose half of two months base pay on top of receiving a letter of reprimand. Southern Command last year punished nine other service members who admitted involvement in the scandal with forfeiture of pay, extra duty and letters of reprimand. Two sailors suspected of roles in the scandal have claimed innocence and will go through courts-martial proceedings. Southern Command has not yet scheduled their proceedings. If convicted, the two sailors could face any combination of up to two years in jail, fines, reduction in pay and dishonorable discharge. For more federal news from The Washington Post, visit The Federal Eye, The Fed Page,and PostPolitics. Follow Josh Hicks on Twitter or subscribe his Facebook page.


How the world manages to waste half its food

... [In] Pakistan, losses amount to about 16% of production, or 3.2 million tonnes annually, where inadequate storage infrastructure leads to widespread rodent infestation problems." --"Many of the grain stores in the former Soviet Republics were engineered and constructed in the 1930s, and cold-storage warehouses and food processing facilities date back to the 1950s. As a result they are inefficient by modern engineering standards, and frequently both insanitary and unsafe." --"[M]any less-developed nations are located in the warmer, hotter regions of the world, such as India and Africa where post harvest losses of fruit and vegetables can range between 35–50% annually, and these countries lack the engineered infrastructure required to facilitate such post-harvest cooling." And so on. After a few pages of this, it doesn't seem so absurd to think that the world really does squander up to half its food. And all that rubbishing has major consequences. Not only is it a waste of energy and water and land, but it's a tragedy in its own right, given that some 870 million people suffer from chronic malnourishment. On the plus side, this is a problem that can be tackled. For poorer countries, simply building better food-storage buildings could cut down massively on waste in places like Pakistan or Ghana (which lost 50 percent of its stored maize in 2008). Better harvesting technology and techniques could also help, although the report suggests that some nations like India will need more sweeping societal and political changes to cut down on waste. Meanwhile, wealthier regions like the United States and Europe will need to think harder about not throwing out so much perfectly good food — see this old post for more on that. One small step, which Britain has been exploring of late, is to rethink their use of food labels, which often encourage supermarkets to toss out food long before it actually goes bad. That may not seem like a pressing task right this second, but these issues are likely to get more attention in the years ahead. Scientists say it's going to be a challenge feeding the world as the population soars past 7 billion and climate change deals a blow to crop yields in the decades ahead. Apart from advanced farming techniques and better land management, we'll also need to figure out how to tamp down on food waste. See this essay (pdf) by the University of Minnesota's


Aaron Swartz, American hero

libraries program. Swartz used a similar tactic to liberate academic articles from the JSTOR database. He logged onto the network of MIT, which has a JSTOR subscription, and began rapidly downloading articles. When MIT cut off access to its wireless network, Swartz snuck into an MIT network closet and plugged his laptop directly into the campus network. This last stunt led to his indictment on federal computer hacking charges. All told, the charges against him could have led to decades of prison time. Swartz's trial was scheduled to start in the spring. Harvard law professor Larry Lessig was a friend and mentor to Swartz. In a Saturday blog post, Lessig reported that the costs of his defense were close to depleting Swartz's financial resources. Lessig is in a position to know; his wife started a legal defense fund for Swartz last September. Lessig says Swartz was "unable to appeal openly to us for the financial help he needed to fund his defense, at least without risking the ire of a district court judge." As I said at the time of Swartz's arrest, his actions were foolish and some punishment was probably appropriate. But he probably shouldn't have been the subject of a criminal indictment and he certainly shouldn't have faced felony charges. "It is no accident that Silicon Valley is in America, and not France, or Germany, or England, or Japan," Graham wrote. "In those countries, people color inside the lines." The article is accompanied by a picture of Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, prior to the founding of Apple, experimenting with a "blue box," a device that tricks the phone system into allowing free phone calls. Wozniak says he once used a blue box to call the Pope. Graham reports that while working on the Manhattan Project, the physicist Richard Feynman made a hobby of cracking military safes. Graham said that there was something very American about the fact that American officials didn't throw Feynman in jail for his antics. "It's hard to imagine the authorities having a sense of humor about such things over in Germany at that time," he noted wryly. I worry that Swartz's prosecution is a sign that America is gradually losing the sense of humor that has made it the home of the world's innovators and misfits. A generation ago, we hailed Pentagon Papers leaker Daniel Ellsberg as a hero. Today, our government throws


William Morris appointed top chef at Vermilion in Old Town

William Morris inherits the Vermilion dining room from Tony Chittum. (Sean McCormick/For The Washington Post) Ever since Tony Chittum revealed plans to leave Vermilion in Old Town Alexandria so he could reopen the Iron Gate Inn in Dupont Circle, the question in food circles has been: Who will fill the chef's big clogs? Vermilion's owner, the Neighborhood Restaurant Group, announced its decision this week: William Morris, whose previous experience at the San Francisco-based Michael Mina and Brasserie Beck in Washington helped him land the role of executive chef at Vermilion. Under Chittum, the Obama-approved, contemporary American restaurant received three stars, an excellent rating, from this customer in the 2012 fall dining guide. "This is a homecoming for me," says Morris, who grew up in Springfield and served as executive sous chef at Bourbon Steak in Georgetown. In a nod to Chittum, Morris says he wants to "continue what he has started and progress from there." Ultimately, the new hire says, "I want to cook simple food and not 20 ingredients on a plate." Morris, 39, has been on the NRG payroll about two months now, helping out at the company's Columbia Firehouse in Alexandria and the forthcoming Red Apron. He is expected to take over the reins at Vermilion after one last hurrah from Chittum, who wants to leave on a high: Valentine's Day, one of the restaurant industry's busiest dates. Iron Gate Inn is tentatively expected to launch in late March or early April, following some out-of-town research and development trips by Chittum to New York and Philadelphia, says a spokeswoman for NRG.


An inauguration visitor’s guide to D.C. food, drink and sightseeing

sure to have lunch at the National Museum of the American Indian’s excellent Mitsitam Cafe (though it won't be open on Jan. 21). If you’re staying longer than the weekend and would like to explore further afield, we also have a suggested list of day trips for kids, history buffs, and lovers of the outdoors alike. Hungry? View Photo Gallery —More than any other first family in recent memory, Barack and Michelle Obama have embraced the local restaurant scene. We’ve compiled a list of destinations where at least one of them has dined (though what they actually ate is often a state secret), followed by Washington Post food critic Tom Sietsema’s recommendations on places they should try. Click the bold text of each caption to see each restaurant’s full review. You can also eat Obama-inspired meals: the Obama Burger, a creation of Top Chef contestant Spike Mendelsohn, at his Capitol Hill burger and shake restaurant Good Stuff Eatery, pays homage to Obama’s highbrow taste with onion marmalade, roquefort cheese and horseradish mayo. For fancier fare, there’s much more to D.C. dining than Obama-themed dishes — in fact, by coming to inauguration and dining out, you’ll be checking off one item on the New York Times’s list of 46 places to go in 2013. Since the last time Obama was sworn in, many excellent restaurants have arrived. Our critic Tom Sietsema offers up his picks for the best ones here, and if you’re looking for a specific cuisine, check out our best bets lists for a taste of everything from banh mi to gumbo. Thirsty? A bartender pours beers at ChurchKey. (Leah L. Jones/The Washington Post) If you're looking for something a little more highbrow, with better odds for spotting one of the many celebrities that will be in town this weekend, head to the hotel bars, like the lobby of the Ritz-Carlton Georgetown, and the rooftop terrace at the W, which boasts an excellent view of the White House. The main event: Get your ball gown and tux ready for Monday night, if you were able to snag a ticket to the many unofficial balls, or the few official ones (and be sure to check out our guide to road closings and public transit, to prevent delays). If not, there are still plenty of low-key ways to celebrate: Local bars and party planners have put together dozens of alternative inaugural


Not all cancer survivors ‘mesmerized’ by Lance Armstrong

the cancer community.’’ Au contraire, as they say in his favorite country, he played those of us in the “cancer community” for suckers, and not only milked his diagnosis but used it for ill. Because no matter how much good the foundation he founded 15 years ago has done, the truth would have done far more. He rewrote what could have been a cautionary tale as a heroic one, all the while threatening his various enablers to keep his secret and defaming any who dared tell the truth, ruining lives in the process, and never losing sight of what was really important to him, his own image and career. Even when he retired in August and stopped fighting the accusations that he’d spent his career running a big, complicated cheat, he was still blaming everyone but himself, calling the well-documented U.S. Anti-Doping Agency’s case against him “an unconstitutional witch hunt’’ that was “one-sided and unfair’’ and based on “outlandish and heinous claims.” On his Web site still, there is a prominent link to a pre-Oprah story in Forbes magazine that asks, “Was it all a lie? Who cares. Cheater or not, has any athlete done more with their fame than Lance Armstrong to benefit people?” He can keep telling himself that, but won’t find much sympathy among others who’ve fought cancer, I don’t think. Any late-breaking crocodile tears, which will be televised on Thursday and Friday, have been shed in the hope that he can get a reduction in his lifetime ban from the Olympics, reportedly so he can compete in triathlon and running events. But whatever his punishment, I hope he’ll leave his fellow survivors alone from now on; you’ve done quite enough to help us, thanks, and made the world a more cynical place in the process. Maybe now we will discuss the links between cancer and not just steroids but hormones, even if the answers aren’t what we want to hear. But as far as we’ve come in demystifying the many diseases rolled into that one scary word, “cancer,” one of the most persistent myths is that it makes you a better person. It is not necessarily ennobling, though, and if we absorb that harsh truth, it will be the only good that’s come of this long, sad saga. Melinda Henneberger is a Post political writer and anchors She the People. Follow her on Twitter at @MelindaDC.


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Inauguration Day transit, transportation changes

Monday will be an unusual day for travel in the region, because the presidential inauguration and the federal Martin Luther King Jr. holiday both fall on the same day. The inauguration will require multiple road and bridge closures in and around the District, while Metro is planning for extended rail service and preparing for bus service changes. But the holiday means that many transit systems will run limited schedules or offer no service at all. So here’s your guide to getting around on Inauguration Day. [This post has been updated.] Road Closures There will be a lot of road closures and diversions stemming from the inauguration. Many streets surrounding the National Mall and the parade route will be closed, traffic will be diverted from the 14th Street and Roosevelt bridges and the Memorial Bridge will only be accessible for pedestrians and authorized vehicles. Read the full list of inauguration-related road closures and parking restrictions here. Metro Metrorail will open an hour early (at 4 a.m.) and stay open two hours later (until 2 a.m.). Trains will run rush hour service from 4 a.m. tol 9 p.m. Metrobus will operate weekday rush hour service in the morning and early rush hour service in the afternoon, with many bus routes encountering detours around downtown Washington. The Smithsonian, Archives and Mount Vernon Square stops will be closed. Yellow Line trains will only run as far north as Gallery Place-Chinatown station (rather than Fort Totten) before turning around. And there is no Rush Plus service Monday. Head here for a full rundown of Metro’s service plans for Saturday, Sunday and Monday. DC Circulator There will be no DC Circulator service. MARC Maryland Area Regional Commuter If you looked at MARC’s schedule last month when they announced ticket sales, look again. Some trains have been canceled. VRE The Virginia Railway Express will not operate on Monday. Arlington Transit Arlington Transit DASH Alexandria’s DASH buses will run a Saturday schedule. The King Street Trolley will run a regular schedule from 11:30 a.m. to 10:15 p.m. Fairfax Connector Buses will run on a holiday weekday schedule. Fairfax CUE Buses will operate on a modified weekday schedule. Loudoun County Transit Buses will run to the West Falls Church Metro station. There will also be limited bus service running from that station to Loudoun County. Here’s the schedule in place for Monday. OmniRide The Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission


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The vacuum cleaner method of ponytail-tying — only a dad would think of this

Some men make their daughters' ponytails using just their hands and a hair band. Others don't make their daughters' ponytails at all, because they feel their kids are completely capable of accomplishing that themselves. Then there are those who bravely bring vacuum technology into realms never entered before: http://youtu.be/PGOyBWs6IJo Via Videogum.


The weekend and beyond: Few major travel issues, till Monday

night, Saturday and Sunday and end with links to many of the postings and stories we’ve done to guide travelers on Inauguration Day. Inauguration weekend While the inauguration traffic restrictions and transit schedule changes will be widespread on Monday, weekend travelers should encounter little difficulty getting around. The main thing to watch for on Sunday will be the “Emergency No Parking” signs that will start to appear on some downtown streets near Pennsylvania Avenue and the Mall. Metro will be operating its normal weekend service. The only planned change on Sunday will affect Judiciary Square station. The F Street entrance will close at 4 p.m. for the remainder of the day, because of an event at the National Building Museum. The road work schedule for the D.C. region is very light this weekend. In Virginia and Maryland, travelers can get up to date information on travel conditions by phoning 511. While it is a three-day weekend, the holiday getaway traffic should be relatively light. There may be some get-in traffic on local highways as people arrive in the D.C. area for the inauguration. Arlington road work Workers have closed a 150-foot section of South Wakefield street north of the Columbia Pike intersection till 5 a.m. Saturday. A detour takes drivers through Ninth Street South and South Buchanan Street. Emergency repairs to affect I-95 North From 10 p.m. Saturday to 5 a.m. Sunday, the Maryland State Highway Administration plans to close lanes on Interstate 95 North in Howard County for an emergency road repair. At about 1 a.m., drivers will find three of the four northbound lanes closed. The workers will fix a joint in the Middle Patuxent River Bridge. Overnight drivers probably will be better off choosing Route 1, Route 29 or the Baltimore-Washington Parkway. Routes 50/301 on Eastern Shore Traffic heading west on the Route 50 bridge over Route 301 near Queenstown will be switched to the recently finished left lane on Friday night. This marks the halfway point in a Maryland State Highway Administration renovation affecting this important crossroads on the Eastern Shore. Both lanes of the bridge are scheduled to be open by early May, before the heavy traffic of the warm weather months, the SHA said. Immediately after westbound traffic is switched to the left lane, workers will begin demolition of the bridge deck’s right lane. Nighttime closings will be scheduled in late January and early


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Is outsourcing to blame for Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner woes?

It's been a miserable week for Boeing. Federal investigators have grounded all of the U.S. company's new and much-hyped 787 Dreamliner jets after reports that the aircraft's lithium-ion batteries were overheating and catching fire. Two major airlines in Japan grounded all Boeing 787 jets on Jan. 16 after one had to make an emergency landing. (AP) And already, a favorite culprit has emerged: outsourcing. Critics have long charged that Boeing was far too reliant on offshore suppliers for the 787's production. More than 30 percent of the jetliner's components came from overseas, including the Japanese-made lithium-ion battery that is now garnering all the headlines. (By contrast, just 5 percent of the parts of its predecessor, the 747, were foreign-made.) But why should outsourcing matter here? After all, it's not as if Japan is incapable of making decent lithium-ion batteries. And this is where the argument gets a bit fuzzier. One possibility is that Boeing's far-flung network of suppliers made it that much trickier for the U.S.-based manufacturer to spot and evaluate systemic problems. Here's the Globe and Mail's Guy Dixon making that case: But the vast collection of components by hundred of suppliers that go into a 787 makes troubleshooting potentially more difficult. Although outsourcing has always been a part of commercial aviation, the difference now is the complexity and co-dependence of the electronics operating the aircraft. Aerospace consultant Scott Hamilton quotes an engineer who raises similar worries: “There aren’t that many qualified outside experts (except at Airbus). Where are they going to get them from?” he says. “This is where the extreme outsourcing really causes problems. How are they going to get their suppliers to be truthful? That has always been a problem in aeronautics. The 787 organization makes it much, much worse.” These concerns are hardly novel. Back in 2011, Michael Hiltzik published a long piece for the Los Angeles Times questioning Boeing's over-reliance on foreign suppliers for the Dreamliner. That piece, however, was largely focused on delays and cost overruns: "The drawbacks of this approach emerged early," Hiltzik wrote. "Some of the pieces manufactured by far-flung suppliers didn't fit together. Some subcontractors couldn't meet their output quotas, creating huge production logjams when critical parts weren't available in the necessary sequence." And the criticisms go back even further than that. Over at Quartz, Tim Fernholz dredges up a memo (pdf) from aerospace engineer Dr. L. J. Hart-Smith, who


Reconciliation

--Ezra's hosting MSNBC's "The Last Word" tonight at 10 p.m. --The cast of "The Wire," here's where they all are now. --Not good: "A rough calculation of current rates of soil degradation suggests we have about 60 years of topsoil left." --A composer has written a 16-minute opera about Paul Krugman's feud with the president of Estonia. --Everything you've heard about Subway's footlong subs is a lie. --An excellent primer on the ongoing conflict in Mali from our friends over at World Views.


Ireland’s secret for surviving austerity: emigration

go along with austerity measures. Putting aside the economic wisdom of those policies, the politics can be tricky. In a number of those countries, most notably Greece, outrage against austerity measures has exacerbated public protests and even accelerated the rise of political extremism, particularly on the far right. It's bad news for the health of those countries today and for their long-term prospects. One country, though, has been relatively successful in imposing austerity without sparking a damaging backlash: Ireland. The Economist explains that Ireland's history of emigration -- when times are hard, citizens move abroad -- has helped ease the politics. For all the anger, emigration provides an economic and social safety-valve. It had reduced Ireland's unemployment rate and the burden on the state's overstretched finances. And emigration may help to explain a puzzle of Irish politics: why the Irish people, for all their history of political revolt against British rule, have been less rebellious against austerity than, say, the Greeks. This, in part, has allowed the Irish government to negotiate more favorable bail-out terms and to more easily implement economic reforms. The Economist suggests the country could have "a good claim to being a model of adjustment through austerity and structural reform." Again, that's putting aside the economic question of whether those are the right policies, but it seems to have allowed Ireland to more easily navigate the political aspects of austerity. Of course, even if emigration helps in the short term, it could be risky in the long term. Generally speaking, a national population needs to grow, not shrink, for an economy to expand over the long term. In long-time economic powerhouses countries such as Germany and Japan, declining birthrates are seen as a sign of coming economic decline and, as a result, possible political turmoil. Even if emigration helps in the short term -- fewer unemployed, less social unrest, more effective politics -- its demographic effects could undo all that good in the long term. This poses sort of a chicken-and-egg problem for Ireland. Does the emigration "release valve" provide short-term space for the country to solve its long-term problems, hopefully in time for it to renew demographic growth? Or does the population outflow just create yet another long-term issue? It's probably a combination of both, but the Irish example here is one that other E.U. periphery countries might consider -- whether to adopt or to avoid.


Obama’s search for greatness

world stalled almost as soon as the prize was awarded. But the president has indicated that he plans to return to his original agenda, though he has hinted it may be in a different, less overtly ambitious way.” One however does not increase American influence, accomplish international objectives and reset events by bugging out of wars too hastily, appointing cabinet officials still mired in Vietnam Syndrome and hollowing out our armed forces. Apparently Obama wants personal greatness without projecting U.S. power and influence. Good luck with that. What would lift him into the ranks of better presidents? (Right now on the merits he is certainly not as successful as Presidents George H.W. Bush, who presided over the end of the Cold War and won the First Gulf War, or Bill Clinton, who few would argue is in the top ten presidents). It is not going to come from universal background checks on gun sales. (That may be worth doing but it does not confer greatness.) Four things come to mind. First and foremost, destroying Iran’s nuclear weapons capability and/or regime change in Tehran would be huge. It would eliminate the greatest peril to the United States since the Cold War. It would remake the Middle East. Conversely, allowing the mullahs to get the bomb would be a catastrophe for our own national security, for the Middle East and, yes, for Obama’s legacy. Second, as Nixon went to China, Obama refashioning our entitlement programs would be a monumental achievement. Unfortunately, a series of tax hikes on the rich, one continuing resolution after another and trillions more in debt won’t cut it for the history books. A breakthrough on entitlements would require Obama to accept the tax hikes he already pulled out of the House and turn to, if you will, making entitlements as progressive as our income tax. Third, achieving energy independence would be historic. As a bonus, the flourishing of domestic energy development would help jump start the economy. America’s independence from Middle East oil would, in conjunction with decapitating the Iranian nuclear program, transform the region and our national security strategy. And finally, a comprehensive immigration reform plan in which border control, workplace verification and a path to citizenship for the 11 to 12 million illegal immigrants would be a huge accomplishment. This requires, of course, compromise and a desire to make a deal rather than to have the


Can Obama tackle climate change in his second term?

A week after he won the 2008 presidential election, Barack Obama addressed a gathering of governors and other officials in Los Angeles, assuring them that global warming would be a top priority for his first term. "Now is the time to confront this challenge once and for all," he said. "Delay is not an option." Touting some solar farms in Boulder City, Ariz. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais/Associated Press) His goal at the time? An ambitious plan to cut America's heat-trapping greenhouse-gas emissions by 80 percent by 2050 and invest $150 billion in new clean-energy and efficiency technologies over the next 10 years. It was a pledge to completely upend the existing U.S. energy economy. But Obama got only part of the way there, to the chagrin of many of his green supporters. True, U.S. carbon dioxide emissions have fallen 7.7 percent since 2006 — but much of that has been due to the recession and a glut of cheap new natural gas that has displaced dirtier coal, a dip that could just prove temporary. It's also true that the Obama administration made some fairly large moves on energy and climate in the first term. The stimulus contained $90 billion for various green technologies. Fuel-economy standards were ratcheted up to 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025. The EPA began regulating carbon dioxide under the Clean Air Act. But all that was overshadowed by the fact that the Senate declined to pass what was by far the biggest part of Obama's climate agenda — a nationwide cap on carbon emissions. Hence the disappointment. So what happens in the upcoming term? In his second inaugural address Monday, Obama took time to stress that global warming would once again be one of his major priorities: We will respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that the failure to do so would betray our children and future generations. Some may still deny the overwhelming judgment of science, but none can avoid the devastating impact of raging fires, and crippling drought, and more powerful storms. The path towards sustainable energy sources will be long and sometimes difficult. But America cannot resist this transition; we must lead it. We cannot cede to other nations the technology that will power new jobs and new industries – we must claim its promise. That is how we will maintain our economic vitality and our national treasure – our forests and


Shorthand

* President Obama's second inauguration happened. * Lupe Fiasco was escorted off stage at an inaugural party. * Obama called for "collective action," and promised to take on climate change. * Then he paused to take it all in. * And reached out to Republicans at lunch.


Four more years … till we have to do this again

happened when Barack Obama passed the Wilson Building (Loose Lips) Not surprisingly, his speech didn’t mention D.C. statehood (LL) Was it a “cold shoulder” or just business as usual? (Examiner, WaTimes) There’s always the State of the Union (WRC-TV) Mayor Vincent Gray also carried a sign bearing the same clunky slogan as appeared on the Wilson Building reviewing stand (DCist, LL) The Ballou band did D.C. proud (WRC-TV) Monica Hesse and Dan Zak ran the balls on Saturday night (Post) You could have had some inauguration-themed condoms (City Paper) *** In other noninauguration news: Jim Graham’s lawyer asks ethics board to drop investigation: “It’s important that this board recognize the difference between controversy and unethical conduct” (Post) D.C. politicos want Barack Obama to do more for the District than license plates — but will he? (Post) What happened to “Baby Channing” remains a mystery a year later (Post) Ellsworth Colbert convicted of manslaughter, not murder, in Penn Branch stabbing (Post) Empower DC says it will sue over school closures (D.C. Schools Insider, DCist) On expulsions, “Are the charters expelling too many, or the school system too few?” (Post editorial) D.C. Auditor: Oversight of CBE program is lacking (Examiner) Unemployment in the District goes up in December, from 8.3 to 8.5 percent, despite adding jobs (Post, Examiner) D.C. police response to sex assault report with Web site, new investigations (Post) RG3’s knee: The tick-tock (Post) Phil Mendelson’s appointment of Jim Graham to CYITC board is “further testimony of the chairman’s willingness to go along to get along” (Examiner) Keith Anderson tapped for permanent D.C. environment director post (Examiner) Could 1985 loophole save Jack’s Boathouse? (Housing Complex) City’s Corrections Information Council is back in business, though relatively powerless (Post) The Caps may not be back in town yet, but their fans are (Post) New DMV location at some point, at Rhode Island Row (DCist) FishbowlDC sued for libel in Superior Court (Legal Times) Fatal shooting Saturday night near Howard University is D.C.’s third murder of the year (Post, WRC-TV) Spate of robberies marred inauguration weekend (Post, Examiner) Would-be phone thief stabbed on the 92 bus in Capitol Hill (Crime Scene) Pit bulls attack boy in Petworth, are shot to death (Crime Scene) Funding dispute with Montgomery County is holding up 16th Street traffic circle improvements (WTOP) For a Parisian, D.C. can be a tough sell (NYT) Happy 10th anniversary to JD! (JDLand)


The Bank of Japan is coordinating policy with the Japanese government. That is a big deal.

push to create the ECB. The Federal Reserve gained independence in the 1951 Treasury-Fed accord, but sure didn’t act like it in the 1970s, when the Nixon administration used all manner of tools to encourage easy money policies out of the central bank (and resulting high inflation). It was Fed chief Paul Volcker’s willful leadership, serving in the Carter and Reagan administrations, that brought independence to the Fed in practice, if not in law. The argument against independence in the current environment boils down to this: Different times call for different measures. In the 1970s, the real problem was that central banks were tolerating too much inflation amid both analytical mistakes and pressure from short-sighted politicians. But now, the problem is that central banks around the world are near the “zero lower bound,” with short-term interest rates sitting ultra low. Their remaining tools to pump more money into the economy to encourage recovery seem to pack less punch than their usual management of interest rates. That might change, though, if the central banks’ policy of printing money and using it to buy bonds, known as quantitative easing, was matched by coordinated spending or tax cuts by governments. Macroeconomists have long known that in a “liquidity trap,” like that underway in the United States, Western Europe and Japan, it could theoretically be better policy to turn the normal rules of central bank independence on their head. The institutional design that made sense for one era may not be the best for another. But the problem is that institutions can’t turn on a dime. That is true of central banks, led by small-c conservative men and women, more than most. The Bank of Japan has been dealing with a deflationary world for nearly 20 years, and only now, amid new pressure from the government, is it committing to deeper coordination. The forays by the Fed and ECB into this unconventional terrain have been filled with reluctance and hand-wringing. And, indeed, if the policies are successful, and the major economies can get out of their liquidity traps in the next few years, the central banks could be laying the groundwork for a new bout of inflation -- if they aren't able to regain greater independence from political authorities when the world changes again. But for the moment, central bank independence isn’t what it used to be, and that’s not entirely a bad thing.


China’s latest restriction for Tibetans: no passports

Freetibet.org released this October photo of the burning body of a Tibetan man identified as Dhondup at the remote Labrang Monastery in northwestern China. (AP Photo/Freetibet.org, File) The Tibetans of China had a difficult 2012, and so far 2013 is not looking much better. Tibetan self-immolations, in protest against Beijing's increasingly harsh rule over the Himalayan region, are continuing apace. Since the new Communist Party leadership took power, Chinese authorities appear to have tightened their grip on Tibet, sending in security forces to cordon off areas of unrest and even confiscating thousands of satellite dishes. Now China may also be restricting Tibetans' international travel. According to a story from Radio Free Asia, Tibetan rights groups say that Chinese authorities have not issued any new passports to Tibetans living in the Tibetan autonomous region for almost a year. The only exceptions, according to one of the sources, have been "a few Tibetan officials." (Radio Free Asia, it's worth noting, is largely supported by U.S. government grants and tends to be strongly critical of China on human rights.) It turns out that China had just instituted a new, electronic passport. Officials had required all Tibetans in the Tibetan region to surrender their old passports, ostensibly to be replaced by the electronic version. But now many Tibetans don't have their old or new passports and can't travel internationally. This makes it difficult, if not impossible, for them to visit Nepal or India, where some Tibetan political groups are based. And Tibetans' movement within China is, as usual, also restricted. In November, Chinese writer Wang Lixiong published an op-ed in the New York Times explaining what happened recently to his wife, Woeser, a prominent Tibetan poet who lived with him in Beijing. A few weeks ago, China’s political police asked my wife to leave Beijing because “18th Major,” a once-in-a-decade coronation of new party leaders, was on the way. The Communist Party views Tibetans and Uighur Muslims from western China as noxious. They are constantly under suspicion as troublemakers, if not terrorists. My wife, as it happens, is petite, as lacking in guile as a window pane, and about as far from a terrorist as one could get. She has, however, written some words in protest of the fate of her fellow Tibetans. And for this, the party has put her on a blacklist, barred her from publishing, deprived her of her job, and


The most satisfied military employees? Black women. Least satisfied? White men.

on a mission in Ramadi, Iraq, on Oct. 26, 2004. Senior defense officials say Pentagon chief Leon Panetta is removing the military’s ban on women serving in combat. With all the risk and sacrifice, the military does not seem like an institution that would top career satisfaction surveys. But a study of 30,000 active-duty personnel, published in the American Sociological Review, showed that women consistently reported higher job satisfaction in the military than male counterparts of the same ethnicity. This trend held true for African Americans, Hispanics and Whites, and is the exact opposite of what sociologists see in the private sector. University of Massachusetts' Jennifer Hickes Lundquist used five measurements of career satisfaction, metrics like overall quality of life, opportunities for advancement and whether they believe they will soon get promoted. Using that data, she found that African-American women were the most satisfied with their jobs, followed by African-American men. Latinas came next, followed by Latinos, and then white women. White men came in as the least satisfied with their careers, with the lowest rankings by these metrics. Lundquist thinks this has a lot to do with the structure of the military, where the social hierarchy rests on rank rather than class or gender. "For women," Lundquist writes, "pay and job benefits are more equal in the military than in the civilian labor." Separate research has found that male and female promotion rates in the military tend to be similar, erasing a gender gap that exists in the private sector. Women are still, however, "grossly underrepresented" among those promoted to higher military ranks such as captain or lieutenant colonel. A more fair playing field, at least at lower military ranks, would be a boost for minorities and women. It would also be a potential drawback for white males. "It's not that the military environment treats white males less fairly; it's simply that, compared to their peers in civilian society, white males lose many of the advantages that they had," Lundquist said when we spoke about her research. "There's a relative deprivation when you compare to satisfaction of peers outside of the military." Lundquist does not dismiss the impact that other factors could have to mitigate women's job satisfaction in the military, especially sexual harassment. She acknowledges that, while negative factors exist, the more positive influence of a level playing field ultimately results in better job satisfaction for military women.


What it’s like for one Middle East reporter to watch the Benghazi hearings

Have you ever felt like this? (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) Today's congressional hearings with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on the September 2012 attack on a U.S. diplomatic outpost in Benghazi, Libya, are a tense and highly politicized confrontation between skeptical Republican lawmakers and a prominent member of the Obama administration. They also offer an opportunity for a national discussion about some of the most difficult issues facing U.S. policymakers in the Middle East today: post-authoritarian political fragmentation, the rising power of militias, small-arms proliferation, the push-pull between security and diplomacy in conflict zones and even the legacy of the U.S.-backed Libya intervention. But anyone hoping for the latter rather than the former might be disappointed. One of them is Joshua Hersh, a Middle East correspondent for the Huffington Post who is currently reporting on the hearings. As someone more accustomed to Beirut, where he was formerly based, than to the U.S. Congress, Hersh had perhaps not properly calibrated his expectations of the level of political discourse. But the now-lengthy hearings are clearly wearing on him. Hersh's Twitter feed since the hearings began, and his clear slide from bemusement to bafflement, provide something of a microcosm of the way some foreign correspondents, in my anecdotal experience, react when they first hear how the District talks about the foreign policy that so matters for the world. Hersh writes at one point, in obvious frustration, "These hearings are a sorry coda to an actually very important situation: trivial questions abound while substantive ones go unasked."


Big news in China: ‘Mythbusters’ blew up a Chinese popcorn maker

Chinese Central TV, or CCTV, is one of the most-watched news networks in the world, with viewership sometimes in the high hundreds of millions. This week, the network turned to a story that has been generating increasingly wide discussion in China: a popular U.S. TV show, it seems, had investigated China's street vendor-style popcorn maker. And those silly Americans just couldn't figure it out, to the fascination of far-away Chinese viewers. Our story begins in November, when a Discovery Channel show called "Mythbusters," hosted by a couple of special effects veterans, looked into the old-school popcorn makers used by many Chinese street vendors. The metal, teardrop-shaped container is filled with popcorn, sealed, and cooked over a charcoal flame. The popping happens when the street vendor opens a lever on the side that shoots air into the metal cooker, relieving the pressure and shooting out freshly popped popcorn. If that sounds kind of like a miniature bomb, that's because it is, which is why one of the "Mythbusters" hosts decided to put on a giant bomb suit and cook the popper way above normal temperatures. The test went about how you'd expect (watch the original below): when the "Mythbusters" host opened up the release valve, the canister exploded from all the pressure, sending popcorn everywhere. Express Popcorn | MythBusters Chinese viewers seem amused by the fact that an expensive American TV show could so overthink, and somehow make dangerous, a banal popcorn maker that would seem cozily familiar to many urban Chinese. They also seem fascinated, as in often the case when Western media looks at China, by how they are perceived and portrayed. It's a funny reminder of the mutual interest between China and the West, particularly the United States, and of the still-wide cultural gap that we're slowly closing from both ends. Imagine how it would look if Chinese TV featured a wide-eyed segment on the dangerous magic of American hot dog carts. The "Mythbusters" segment, in its two months since airing, has been covered by CCTV, Sina Web, People's Daily, the South China Morning Post, and the ultra-popular 163.com. It's also hit the China blogs: both Beijing Cream and Shanghaiist have picked it up. The South China Morning Post gathered some of the representative Web discussion. Commentary seems split between nostalgia for how much better popcorn tastes from one of the streetside cannons, now rarer than they were


Georgetown Neighborhood Guide, Kafe Leopold

WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 13: Leopold's Schnitzel is pictured. It is veal schnitzel, arugula, mustard lemon dressing and served with a austrian potato salad. $25.00. Kafe Leopold in Cady's Alley in Washington, DC is a off the beaten path cafe with a European twist. (Photo by Sarah L. Voisin/The Washington Post)


Shorthand

* Lawmakers unveiled a new assault weapons ban. * Mark Zuckerberg is raising money for Chris Christie. * Reid made a deal on Senate reform; reformers aren't thrilled. * Biden did a Google hangout. * And Tom Tancredo promised to smoke pot.


rocketship


Hopslam arrives in D.C. this week (Updated)

UPDATE Hopslam Bell's Brewery announced earlier this month that the sought-after double IPA would ship to the East Coast, including Virginia and D.C., "the week of Jan.21." That time has come, and local distributors Hop and Wine expect an unknown number of kegs and cases to arrive in its warehouse at some point next week, at which time the beer will be allocated to local bars. Translation: You might see Hopslam in bars next weekend. Maybe. "Bell's is being really hush-hush about it," says Greg Engert, the beer director for ChurchKey and Rustico, who doesn't know when he'll get his hands on kegs for his bars. Sam Fitz, the beer director for Meridian Pint and Smoke and Barrel, says that he's not guaranteed a supply of Hopslam, but he received some last year, and he's anxious to put it on again. (That will likely be with a few days notice, so keep an eye on Meridian Pint's Twitter account.) Whenever bars do announce that they have Hopslam, expect crowds to be deep, as beer lovers descend for the small-batch double IPA, made with six different hops and a generous amount of honey. It invariably runs out before everyone gets a glass, so arrive early. One place that we know you'll find it for sure: ChurchKey, which will receive the area's only cask-conditioned version of Hopslam, Engert says, and they'll be tapping it on February 18, as part of a special night with "a bunch of other rarities." (Side note: I tried it last year on cask at ChurchKey, and found that version played up the honey more than just the simcoe hops.) A tip: Hopslam is allocated based on sales of Bell's beers, not just to beer bars, so it shows up randomly at places that do good business with Bell's Brown. The Black Cat and Bar Pilar both received Hopslam last year, so keep on eye on those bars, not just the Big Hunt or the Black Squirrel. Then again, some people try to ignore the Hopslam hype. Greg Jasgur, the beer director for the three Pizzeria Paradiso restaurants, got one keg of Hopslam last year, and he put it on tap for happy hour at Georgetown's basement Birreria Paradiso. "We sold it for, like, $4 just to get rid of it," he says. "It's a good beer, sure. But is it worth all this hype? I don't know."


Kim Jong Eun surgery rumors force open a sliver of daylight with China

seems to share concerns about this rumor becoming a source of tension with Pyongyang. Chinese censors have been ordered to suppress the story, according to NKNews. This rumor will probably go no further in the Chinese media. Still, even if this incident is over, it might not be the last time that Chinese media and social media, where the rumor circulated long before appearing on Shenzhen TV, upsets North Korea. The recent scandal over censors restricting Southern Weekend, long relatively free for a Chinese paper, exposed the degree to which the Chinese increasingly consume and even expect news media that serves them. Social media's reach and raucous freedom are expanding as well, all of which threatens to bring Chinese attitudes toward North Korea closer to the surface. North Korea is still seen as an ally by many people in China, where students learn in school about the "Help Korea, Oppose America" war, Beijing-based journalist Helen Gao wrote in The Atlantic last year. But there is also a growing sense that Pyongyang's backward policies are an embarrassment to and burden on China, according to Gao. Those sentiments, as well as the usual interest in juicy rumors about plastic surgery and the sort, could drive more Chinese public interest in stories like this one. And that could translate into Chinese media interest, or at least public pressure for it. This all comes at a time when Beijing had been struggling a bit to keep Pyongyang close. In a post at Johns Hopkins's Korea-focused blog 38 North, analyst Stephanie Kleine-Ahlbrandt argues that the relationship is souring a bit. "Kim Jong Un is determined to set a course for greater political independence from Beijing," she writes. "This has left China in a state that one insider has referred to as ‘desperate’ over its rocky relations with the country since Kim Jong Un came to power." She says she's found no evidence that Beijing is anything less than fully committed to its policy of maintaining regional stability and a reliably pro-Beijing regime in North Korea. Earlier today the Chinese Communist Party-associated Global Times took the remarkable step of publicly chastising Pyongyang. The paper declared, "If North Korea engages in further nuclear tests, China will not hesitate to reduce its assistance to North Korea." That's not the same thing as actual policy and is probably just a threat, but it's surprising nonetheless. So what does all


Time to dish: What are D.C.’s 40 essential eats?

It's been a year since we discussed the Washington area's 40 essential eats, those must-eat dishes for every local, tourist and transient Hill staffer attempting to conquer Washington's dining scene. But the time has come to revisit the entrees, appetizers and the odd milkshake that made the list, with an eye toward the dozens of new restaurants and food trends that defined 2012. So tell us: Where have you found the most addictive pork bun, mind-blowing Brussels sprouts or -- if you absolutely must -- healthiest green juice of the past year? Which new restaurants turned out must-try dishes? Which old favorites continued to wow you? Leave out none of the finger-licking details and we might use your pick in the upcoming list. Make your nomination in the comments, by e-mail, on Twitter at @goingoutguide (#40eats) or Facebook. Just make sure we can reach you if necessary. To spark your inspiration, look over a few of our caloric obsessions from 2012: Forest Gnocchi at Ambar features globules of ‘gnocchi’ formed from chocolate mousse, bitter orange cake, orange gelee and tarragon cream atop a layer of salted ground chocolate, covered in a passion fruit espuma with black tea sauce. (Goran Kosanovic) The Costanza Burger at Kangaroo Boxing Club is made from a blend of Angus beef and smoked pastrami. Too much of a good thing? Naw. (Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post) The tacos de aguacate at Tacos El Chilango are crispy, thanks to cheese crisped on the griddle, yet creamy with cool avocado. (Lavanya Ramanathan/The Washington Post) The fiery Khao Tod (crispy rice with mint and peanuts) at Little Serow has us reaching for another bite, and then the water glass. (Joseph Victor Stefanchik for The Washington Post) The Elote Callejero at El Chucho: Charred to perfection, slathered in a brown butter aioli and sprinkled with cotija cheese and cilantro. (Lavanya Ramanathan/for the Washington Post)


End of women-in-conflict ban inspires some to enlist

up their minds. They’re enlisting ASAP. In the hours after the Pentagon announced that women could soon serve in gender-segregated combat roles, dozens of young women tweeted or Facebooked their plans to followers. Kimberly Munzinger, who left the Marines when she couldn’t become a field artillerist, might join again after she wraps up her degree. Lily Bolourian, who had planned to go to law school, called a reservist friend to meet for coffee and talk about enlisting. “I had never even thought about the military before,” Bolourian said. “But I feel a call to serve now. We finally have equality, and I want to be a part of that history.” Bolourian doesn’t look like your average recruit: She’s petite at 5’2” and giggles often when she speaks. She also doesn’t come from a military family. Her parents avoided Iran’s compulsory service requirement when they emigrated to the United States before the Iranian revolution, and they hoped their daughter would become an astronaut or engineer. But Bolourian, who has organized abortion protests and served as the women’s outreach coordinator for Obama’s D.C. campaign, sees the change as a civil rights issue on par with the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” “Women have fought for this for years,” she said. “I never thought I’d see it by the time I’m 22.” Kimberly Munzinger never thought she’d see the day, either. A senior speech pathology major at Eastern Michigan University, Munzinger spent four years flying drones for the Marines before she abandoned her dream of shooting “big guns.” “WOMEN ARE FINALLY ALLOWED IN COMBAT!!!” She tweeted on Jan. 23, immediately after the Pentagon announcement. “We should have never been [expletive] banned in the 1st place. Give me my enlist papers.” In his statement Thursday, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta did not forecast how the change could impact recruitment, if at all. But a 2012 study on the controversial repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” found no impact on unit recruitment or retention. As many as 230,000 new jobs could open to women, many of them in Army and Marine infantry units. Currently women make up 15 percent of the U.S. military. “My being a female never harmed a flight mission I directed,” Mulzinger said. “I’ve heard people say that women have different hygiene habits, or they’re not strong enough. But there are some men who can’t lift 300 pounds.” Mulzinger herself lifts 325.


The dawn of the hipster Twinkie?

(AP File) “I liked them BEFORE they were mainstream.” Good news! And, other news. The Twinkie, light of my life, fire of my loins, may be on the verge of being rescued: The Los Angeles Times reports the company that owns PBR is “one of the likely stalking horse bidders.” I am not entirely sure what “stalking horse bidders” means, and in my efforts to find out, I have been banned from visiting numerous stables. All I can guess is that if they win, it will be more of a waddling horse. But PBR? Where PBR is, there shall hipsters be also, and I am not sure how I feel about surrendering the iconic brand into their bulky-sweatered clutches. The Twinkie is something to be consumed in sincerity, or desperation, or some mixture of both. I am not sure if I hope or fear that we are about to enter a new age of ironic Twinkie consumption. “Oh yeah,” we’ll hear, as people bump into us in That Aisle of the convenience store, the aisle that gently points out that Perhaps You Should Go Grocery Shopping In An Actual Grocery If You Want To Consume Food That Is Not Unnaturally And Prematurely Orange. “These Twinkies are okay, but I have some back in my apartment from before they sold out.” We’ll be seeing Instagrammed pictures of organic homemade Twinkies all over our news feeds. Twinkies will suddenly be seen in the company of people with mustaches. And the Rest of Us will sneer at them as we sneer at fixed-gear bikes and large-framed glasses. And this assumes the bidding goes well. Maybe no such thing will happen. And perhaps it is not possible to consume a Twinkie ironically. But then again I did not think that about trucker hats and Pabst Blue Ribbon either, and look what happened to them.


Swedish chef bringing luxe menu to the future Capella hotel in Georgetown

Jakob Esko. (ThreeLockhartsPR) With fewer than 50 rooms and suites as well as a rooftop infinity pool, the forthcoming Capella hotel in Georgetown is enticing patrons with a sense of intimacy and indulgence. Adding to the pampering is chef Jakob Esko, a Sweden native who plans to stock his 70-seat dining room, the Grill Room, with a champagne cart and to feature tableside slicing and dicing. Dover sole will be filleted before diners’ eyes. Patrons will watch as their steak tartare is seasoned to their taste. When the Grill Room opens in March, the chef plans to serve truffle polenta gnocchi with warm artichoke cream, and ham consomme with a mushroom emulsion and fried asparagus. His breakfast, lunch and dinner menus will be printed fresh each day to take advantage of the market. Did we mention the restaurant is accompanied by an outdoor patio and a view of the C&O canal? Esko, 40, comes to the property, located at 1050 31st St. NW, from Capella Singapore, where he served for three years as executive chef. (The Robb Report included Capella Singapore one its 2012 list of the world's top 100 resorts.) He launched his career at Sihlhalde, a one-star Michelin recipient in Zurich, and went on to cook elsewhere in Europe, including at restaurants in England and France. In his native country, he was chef de cuisine at Ulriksdals Wardshus outside Stockholm, an historic inn famed for its vast smorgasbord. Another facet of the food and drink strategy at the luxe hotel is the 26-seat Rye Bar, featuring a menu of pedigreed rye whiskeys, a “hand harvested ice program” and related snacks, including marinated fried oysters dappled with rye foam. Esko, currently looking for a sous chef from local ranks, says he’s leaving Singapore for Washington not for the thrill of cooking in the nation’s capital, but for the love of his life. His wife, Jodi Himmelfarb, is a Silver Spring native and has family here. This isn’t the chef’s first taste of the area. The couple met in 1994 at a restaurant in Bethesda that Esko can no longer recall.


Morning links: Not cool [Updated]

Soundtrack: The song you know all the words to by Fun., who perform a sold-out show at DAR Constitution Hall tonight. [Update: Young & Hungry reports the Cool Disco Donut name is no more.] • Cool Disco Donut is taking heavy criticism for its name and logo, which you'll recognize if you're familiar with D.C. graffiti legend Cool 'Disco' Dan. Sample: "I hope you all support my new business venture Ben's Chilly Bowl serving fro yo and paying homage to an unaffiliated DC icon!" [Washingtonian, Facebook] • If you're unfamiliar with Cool 'Disco' Dan, read Paul Hendrickson's 1991 profile, "Mark of the Urban Phantom," now. [WaPo] • Ashok Bajaj has named his new Penn Quarter restaurant and simultaneously given Washingtonians another neighborhood abbreviation to roll their eyes at. [DCist] • Another burger chain is headed for D.C. in the next few months. [Burger Days] • Area fishmongers would like to interest you in some northern snakehead. [WaPo] • D.C. based deals site Living Social lost $650 million in 2012. [City Paper]


Super Bowl 47 in Baltimore: Why watch anywhere else?

all around the bar. Max's Taphouse If you're a football fan and a beer connoisseur, grab a stool at Max's to enjoy the game and some of the 140 draft beers and more than 1,000 bottle selections. Few places offer the chance to sip on a rare Belgian ale while watching the big game, and Max's has more than enough flatscreens to accommodate what surely will be a big beer-loving crowd. For a bit of local flavor, try the brews from local favorites Union Brewing, Brewer's Art and Stillwater Ales, to name a few. Max's occupies prime real estate in Fells Point, so if there's a victory party to be had, you'll have a front-row seat. Mother's Federal Hill Grille Considering the celebrations in Federal Hill after the playoff wins against the Denver Broncos and New England Patriots, the epicenter of any postgame party would be on Charles Street, just outside Mother's Federal Hill Grille. This is one of the best sports bars in the city, and it's become such a popular spot that it's charging a cover, with a portion of the proceeds going to charity. Pay in advance and get there early for a good spot inside or out on the patio. The Mother's menu features 20 varieties of wings and 20 burgers. The Ottobar Feel like watching the game with a mix of metal heads, punks and hipsters? This venerable rock club is the place for you. During the regular season, the couches and pool tables in the upstairs bar are reconfigured to face a large projector screen boasting a razor-sharp high definition picture. And in what is perhaps the bar's most unique feature, after every big Ravens play, a regular performs all sorts of recognizable tunes - movie scores, television themes, pop songs - on a jerry-rigged hornlike instrument. For the Super Bowl, they're turning it to 11, using both levels of the club and showing the game on four screens. Pickles Pub and Dempsey's Brew Pub If you're looking for a quick trip in and out of town, these two bars offer easy access to Interstate 95. Pickles, just across the street from Oriole Park at Camden Yards, has a ton of character and is the quintessential pregame destination during baseball season. When the Ravens are playing out of town, Pickles typically offers specials and a menu of tailgate favorites. Just down the way, in


Army hiring freeze has few soft spots

The Army has released further details on its recently imposed civilian hiring freeze, stressing that there are no specific exceptions even for hiring wounded veterans or for filling positions that have been converted from contractor performance. guidance Army In addition to the hiring freeze, defense agencies already have cut back employee travel and training and have laid off many temporary employees, among other steps. They also have raised the prospect of ordering one unpaid day off per week for virtually all of the department’s roughly 800,000 civilian employees from mid-April through September. In its new guidance, the Army spelled out the exceptions to the hiring freeze allowing for filling vacancies deemed critical to the agency’s mission and for persons with certain job-placement rights, such as those returning from an overseas assignment or an injury. It says, for example, that internal movements of Army employees through promotion or increases of duties may continue, although only within the same commuting area. The document says there is no exception, however, for “in-sourced positions,” meaning work moved from contractors to federal employees – an Obama administration initiative. “There is not an Army-wide exception specific to the hiring of Wounded Warriors; however, Commanders may, in appropriate cases, exercise their authority to approve exceptions to the hiring freeze and Wounded Warriors may be placed in these positions,” it adds. The guidance also raises the possibility of cutting back on incentive payments for recruiting or retaining employees in high-demand positions, which can be worth thousands of dollars to employees. “The use of incentives is not affected by the hiring freeze. However, Commands must fully consider the impact of payment of these incentives on their budget reduction requirements,” it says.


Contractors not fretting as sequestration threat looms

A few items that caught our attention today: Northrop Grumman chairman, CEO and president Wes Bush (Jeffrey MacMillan/For The Washington Post) • Officials at some of the area’s largest defense-contracting firms this week projected a rare bit of confidence that lawmakers will reach a deal to avoid the automatic spending cuts known as sequestration, according to an article in the Washington Post by Marjorie Censer. • President Obama plans to let his jobs council expire this week without renewing its charter, doing away with a source of input from the business community despite unemployment remaining stubbornly high and GDP shrinking, the Associated Press reported. • The Defense Department’s top policy administrator on Thursday assured colleagues that furloughs are not a sure thing for the agency’s civilian workforce and that media reports on the topic have “included many inaccuracies.” • The question of whether U.S. borders are secure enough has become central to the debate over how to overhaul national immigration policy, according to an article from Washington Post White House reporter David Nakamura. • Pentagon reporter Ernesto Londoño covered former Sen. Chuck Hagel’s confirmation hearing on Thursday, explaining how the maverick Republican defended his controversial remarks on Israel and his 2007 Senate vote against the U.S. troop surge in Iraq. E-mail federalworker@washpost.com with news tips and other suggestions. For more federal news, visit The Federal Eye, The Fed Page and Post Politics. Follow Josh Hicks on Twitter or subscribe his Facebook page.