The Hotlist: 13 things to see, eat, drink and do in May 2015

Welcome to the Hotlist, a monthly preview of the happenings you shouldn't miss in the weeks ahead. Here's what's coming up in May. Now: New eats and drinks Looking for a new place to have dinner? These new restaurants are ramping up for May. Bar Civita: Former Liberty Tavern chef Liam LaCivita has struck out on his own with this Italian-focused Woodley Park restaurant with house-made cheeses and pasta, and an ample patio. 2609 24th St. NW (Metro: Woodley Park-Zoo). Brine: This newest Mosaic District restaurant is the brainchild of Rappahannock River Oysters co-owner Travis Croxton. Think farm-to-table plates, meats roasted on a wood-fired grill, and, naturally, bivalves. 2985 District Ave., Suite 120, Fairfax (Metro: Dunn Loring). The Pub & the People: This welcoming neighborhood bar comes to Bloomingdale with an eclectic menu of sandwiches, flatbreads and a killer beer-and-a-shot deal: Coors Banquet and Old Grand-Dad for $6. 1648 N. Capitol St. NW (Metro: NoMa). -- Maura Judkis Gnocchi from Bar Civita (Maura Judkis/TWP) May 3-9: Yoga Week It's the 10th anniversary of Metro DC Yoga Week, so you may know the drill: Studios all over Washington and the nearby suburbs offer free and $5 classes in a range of styles, including hot yoga, beginners classes for total newbies, high-intensity practices and mellow lessons full of restorative poses aimed at undoing your workday stress. It's not all downward dogs, though. There are also meditation classes, zumba and bellydancing, to name a few other options. And the whole week is capped off by Yoga on the Mall on May 9 at 11 a.m. when hundreds will congregate by Sylvan Theatre for an all-levels class in the sun (fingers crossed). -- Stephanie Merry May 9: VinoFest For wine lovers out there, the second annual Vinofest offers a chance to sample wine selections from local Virginia wineries and producers in California, South Africa, Italy, France and other regions. Headlining the musical portion of this year’s festival is the inimitable ?uestlove, who will be joined by local acts Black Masala, Trouble Funk, White Ford Bronco and DJ Adrian Loving. And in case you needed another reason to check out this year’s festivities, a percentage of the proceeds from Vinofest 2015 will benefit DC Central Kitchen, the Make a Wish Foundation of the Mid Atlantic and Network For Teach Entrepreneurship. 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. Storey Park NOMA, 1005 First St. NE. vinofest.co. $59.99-$99.99. --


Accusations against French troops shine a light on a wider problem for the U.N.

purely relies on its member states in enforcing its decisions. This dependence could be part of the problem: In order not to offend and embarrass the nations who send troops for its missions, U.N. officials might have ignored allegations of sexual abuse and exploitation. "Cases have been kept in the shadows partially because few countries would continue to deploy their soldiers to U.N. peacekeeping missions if accusations and internal investigations were automatically made public or if the soldiers' immunity were questioned," Wedgwood explained. Given those restrictions, the authors of the internal report emphasize the need for better training because "sexual objectification of sexual coercion of women may be seen as normal and acceptable," by some soldiers. Those who need to be protected are often the most vulnerable Talking to the Associated Press, the mother of a 9-year-old who was among those allegedly exploited in the Central African Republic, explained: “The children were vulnerable because they were hungry and their parents had nothing to give them, so the children were forced to ask the soldiers for food." French soldiers, of the Sangaris contingent, patrol in central Bangui on May 30, 2014. (MARCO LONGARI/AFP via Getty Images) Similar accusations have been made against other troops in the past. "The blue helmet has become black and blue through self-inflicted wounds... We will not sit still until the luster of that blue helmet is restored," Jane Holl Lute, a senior U.N. peacekeeping official, told a congressional committee in 2005. However, such promises were short-lived. Sexual abuse and exploitation allegations continue to haunt the United Nations. A 2010 U.S. diplomatic cable, released by WikiLeaks one year after it was written, indicated that Beninese U.N. troops in the Ivory Coast had offered food to minors before coercing them to perform sexual acts. Since then, similar allegations have been made in other countries. In 2012, two U.N. peacekeepers were sentenced to one year in prison each by a Pakistani military court. The soldiers had been found guilty of raping a 14-year-old boy during the U.N. mission following a devastating earthquake in Haiti in 2010. Although the prison terms might seem short given the gravity of the charges, the mere fact that the two offenders were sentenced appears to have been an exception. This post has been updated to reflect the latest U.N. statements and to clarify that the U.N. backed but did not operate the French mission.


Five things you should know about the political crisis in Burundi

ensure that the norm of term limits stuck, sufficiently isolating Nkurunziza and his allies. In a country of Burundi’s size, how the international community engages with local issues matters a great deal for the domestic conduct of politics. If Burundi’s neighbors, the Unites States and others focus solely on the president and presidential elections, then that is where power will be concentrated. Diplomats might have better luck in promoting democracy by engaging core state institutions — such as legislatures — in a manner that reinforces the principle of horizontal accountability. - The risk of a coup in Burundi just went up. A military officer holds his position as he guards the venue for the congress of the ruling party in the capital, Bujumbura, on April 25, 2015. (Thomas Mukoya/Reuters) Reuters is reporting that Burundi’s defense minister, Maj. Gen. Pontien Gaciyubwenge, has issued a statement that the army will not support a violation of the country’s constitution. Over the past couple of days, there have been reports of police clashing with military officers (with the latter protecting civilians). One military officer was reportedly killed by an intelligence officer — a clear signal that there is a rift within the country’s security forces. It is also important to note that a quota system in the military has served to limit the influence of the president over this institution, unlike the police. At the beginning of the year, political scientist and forecaster Jay Ulfelder ranked Burundi as having the 26th highest risk of experiencing a coup in 2015 among nations worldwide. Gaciyubwenge’s statement magnifies the risk. - The East African Community will wait this one out. The logo of the East African Community ( Jumuiya ya Africa Mashariki in Swahili), an intergovernmental organization consisting of Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. Among the five members of the East African Community (EAC), only Kenya and Tanzania have solidified the norm of term limits. Uganda’s Yoweri Museveni successfully did away with term limits in 2001. Paul Kagame of neighboring Rwanda also has been equivocal about term limits. Kagame is legally scheduled to leave office in 2017, but he says it is up to the people of Rwanda to decide his fate. This puts the EAC in an awkward position because a push for constitutionalism in Burundi would necessarily mean acknowledging that Museveni (and possibly Kagame) are in the wrong. It is no wonder that the


Baltimore is calm following ‘depraved-heart murder’ charge

A protestor faces police enforcing a curfew on April 28. Baltimore's mayor lifted the curfew on May 3. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke) Baltimore's streets are calm again after the state's attorney charged six police officers in connection with the death of Freddie Gray there last month, which the medical examiner determined to be a homicide. You can be sure, though, that the acrimony and the frustration are still there, and the city's peace will be tested again if the charges do not result in convictions. As The Washington Post's Kimberly Kindy and Kimbriell Kelly reported last month, officers are rarely charged in homicides, and are convicted even more infrequently. Only 54 officers have been charged in fatal shootings since 2005, for example, usually because the victim was shot in the back or there was some other unusual circumstance. Of those, the majority were not convicted. Those accused in these cases may indeed have been innocent under the law, which grants broad discretion to police officers in the use of deadly force. "These officers did nothing wrong," an attorney for the Fraternal Order of Police in Baltimore said. Referring to the Gray case, he called the charges a "rush to judgment." That may well be, but if the charges are dropped or if the officers are acquitted, many in Baltimore will be reluctant to accept the result of the judicial process, given the courts' apparent failure to hold the police accountable for their actions in the past. In Ferguson, Mo., last year, arson and rioting followed the decision of a grand jury not to indict an officer in the death of Michael Brown. Any trial of the case will be long and complicated. The most serious charge is "depraved-heart murder," a form of murder in the second degree under Maryland law that indicates a reckless disregard for another's life. Unrest might return to Baltimore -- and if not to Baltimore, then to some other big American city where decades of racist policies and economic stagnation have sowed mistrust among police and civilians. What's in Wonkbook: Chart of the day: 1. Top story: Six cops charged in Baltimore death The charges in the death of young black man include murder. Officials have lifted the curfew, and the National Guard is leaving. Lead paint might have changed Freddie Gray's life. Yes, families that move to a new place can escape poverty, contrary to previous


Astronauts enjoyed their first space espresso (and celebrated with Star Trek costumes)

first-ever freshly brewed coffee, was supposed to arrive with her months ago. Because a resupply rocket exploded in October, all of the non-essential deliveries got delayed by a few months. [NASA just ‘emailed’ a wrench to space for the first time] We wrote about the ISSpresso, which is the result of a collaboration between the Italian aerospace company Argotec and the Italian coffee company Lavazza, back when it was meant to be delivered in November. Making fresh coffee in space is so complicated that the device is actually considered one of Cristoforetti's scientific experiments: The machine isn't totally unlike the capsule-based, single-cup makers you can buy on Earth. But it has to stand up to a few orbital brewing issues. For starters, the whole thing has to be super leak-proof. Nobody wants floating spheres of boiling water in their face, or misplaced coffee grounds finding their way into electrical equipment. Astronauts can't even have regular bread because crumbs could be devastating -- they eat tortillas instead. So while the tube that carries steaming water only withstands about nine bars of pressure on Earth, the space version can withstand 400 bars. That's about 5,800 pounds of pressure per square inch. And both the water and the final coffee beverage are contained in the Capri Sun-esque pouches that astronauts slurp all their drinks from, designed to keep liquid from bubbling up and away. It turns out that astronauts won't have to slurp their precious brew out of straws, either: Cristoferetti appears to be using one of the zero-g coffee cups recently designed by physicists at Portland State University. [What it’s like to have a birthday in space] NPR reports "Each cup has an individual capsule that has to be packaged separately. So there's a lot of trash and a lot of volume involved in it," Vickie Kloeris, who oversees nutrition requirements for the astronauts, told NPR. Given the cost of bringing materials to and from the ISS, it's not ideal to add more waste to the mix. But coffee. Want more astronauts? Give these a click: NASA releases the ultimate unboxing video: The first objects 3-D printed in space come to Earth How research in space could help treat old age on Earth New timelapse shows six months of views from space in six minutes On Friday, half a pair of twins leaves for a year in space. Here’s why that’s awesome.


Photos: Flower moon adorns Washington, D.C. night sky

The flower moon and Jefferson Memorial Sunday night, May 3, 2015 (Joseph Gruber via Flickr) At 11:42 p.m. Sunday, the May flower moon reached fullness over Washington, D.C. Since late last week, the moon has been at least 90 percent illuminated, shining brightly over the region. The moon will remain almost full the next couple of nights and will be flanked by Saturn about an hour after moonrise. (Moonrise tonight in Washington, D.C. is at 8:41 p.m. ET. and 9:39 p.m. Tuesday night.) Over the last few nights, some of our talented readers captured wonderful images of the May “flower” moon. Here’s a compilation: Flower moon over the Capitol, May 3, 2015 (Jim Havard via Flickr) Flower moon, May 1, 2015 (Jim Havard via Flickr) Flower moon over the Jefferson Memorial, May 3, 2015 (Joseph Gruber via Flickr) Moonrise of the #FlowerMoon over the @uscapitol tonight. @capitalweather @yourtake @popville http://t.co/vFvRLHSJDV Tonight's full moon rise over #Assateague. #NPS @AssateagueNPS @capitalweather @JustinWeather http://t.co/dZx6axK4Tk Great Yellow #moon this morning. @capitalweather @TomKierein @ThatsOurEarth @SPACEdotcom @AccessDNR http://t.co/YNyXK02h2b Flower Power over DC @capitalweather @weatherchannel @JimCantore @PoPville @dcfocused #ItsAmazingOutThere #flowermoon http://t.co/8PB84cVRp4


McDonald’s knows you don’t eat there anymore, and it has a plan to win you back

McDonald's is shaking up its menu with some new options and saying farewell to some unappetizing items as they try to compete with other fast food chains. Post food writer and $20 diner Tim Carman shows you what to expect. McDonald’s knows you’re not lovin’ it anymore, and it thinks it’s got a great new plan to win you back. The world’s biggest burger chain plans to restructure its globe-spanning empire, slash costs and spruce up its menu in hopes of becoming what a turnaround plan released Monday called “a modern, progressive burger company.” The 60-year-old Golden Arches has struggled to regild itself amid competition from “better burger” rivals, global scandals and America’s changing tastes for fresh and healthy. A typical McDonald’s has seen sales crumble for six straight quarters, and even company leaders are admitting the fries have gone cold during its bleakest sales slump in years. “No business or brand has a divine right to succeed, and the reality is our recent performance has been poor,” chief executive Steve Easterbrook said in a 23-minute video Monday morning. “The message is clear. We are not on our game.” Can McDonald’s big new turnaround plan bring the Golden Arches back to earth? (Mary Altaffer/AP) The company-wide “reset” plan will re-organize the company into four parts: the U.S., “international lead markets” like Canada and France, “high-growth markets” like China and Russia, and the rest of the world, a change Easterbrook said would cut down on bureaucracy. The fast-food joint also plans to cut $300 million a year in costs, though it didn’t detail how that would affect jobs. [Why McDonald’s should be afraid of Shake Shack] The company wants to sell 3,500 corporate-run restaurants to independent owners by the end of 2018, a “refranchising” Easterbrook said would bring in more predictable cash flow and thin the support system needed for corporate stores. That would bring the chain’s franchise count from about 80 percent of total stores to 90 percent, reducing the number of workers it plans to pay an increased minimum wage. Besides the internal changes, the time-worn chain also said it wants to return “excitement to our brand,” including by launching on-demand delivery via Postmates today in New York City. Mickey D’s also said it plans to win back spurned diners with “a recommitment to hot, fresh food” and a refocusing on its target clientele; at one point, Easterbrook said


Report: Global emissions goals still aren’t enough to prevent dangerous warming

Steam billowing from the cooling towers of Vattenfall’s Jaenschwalde brown coal power station behind wind turbines near Cottbus, eastern Germany, Dec. 2, 2009. (Pawel Kopczynski/Reuters) When it comes to combating climate change, many scientists and policy makers focus on one major goal: cut carbon emissions enough to keep the planet’s average surface temperature from rising more than 2 degrees Celsius above its pre-industrial level. But a new analysis, published on Monday by the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, said we’re still falling short of the mark. For years, the 2-degree target has been touted by experts as a kind of climate threshold: By staying within its confines, many argue, we can keep the planet in relatively stable condition and avoid the most dire effects of global climate change. Currently, world leaders are developing concrete emissions reduction goals in preparation for this December’s U.N. climate change conference in Paris, where they’ll ultimately draft an international agreement to combat climate change with the goal of staying within the 2-degree mark. By contrast, if world nations were to do nothing — in other words, if we stuck to a “business as usual” trajectory — experts believe our climate could warm more than 4 degrees by the end of the century. Three of the most heavy-hitting emissions reduction targets have already been declared by the United States, the European Union and China. The United States has resolved to reduce its carbon emissions by 26 to 28 percent below its 2005 emissions levels by 2020, and the European Union has vowed that by 2030 it will collectively cut its emissions by 40 percent compared to its 1990 levels. Meanwhile, China has claimed its carbon emissions will peak by 2030. But according to the Grantham report, these resolutions, combined with the rest of the world’s projected future emissions, will probably not be enough to keep Earth within the 2-degree boundary. “In thinking about where we’re going, it’s important to have an assessment now of what the sum total of those commitments might add up to,” said co-author Nicholas Stern, chair of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment and president of the British Academy. Stern and his co-authors Rodney Boyd and Bob Ward, also of the Grantham Research Institute, calculated what global greenhouse gas emissions will be in 2030 based on the announced targets from the United States, the


A horrifying reminder of what life without vaccines was really like

treatment for polio at the time, beyond trying to live through it. The iron lung, devised by Philip Drinker and Louis Agassiz Shaw at Harvard in 1927, was originally powered by an electric motor and vacuum cleaners. A patient would sit with their body inside a sealed-air-tight compartment, in which the air pressure would change to pull air in and out of the patients’ lungs. Polio was one of the most feared diseases of the 20th Century, crippling more than 35,000 people in the U.S. each year on average between the late 1940s and the early 1950s. As polio vaccinations became more common in the 1950s, polio gradually disappeared, and the iron lung went along with it. But these photos are still a startling record of a not-so-distant past -- and a reminder not to take vaccination for granted. It might seem odd that we’re still arguing about vaccination – a quick glance at history shows vaccination's incredible social benefits, and no scientific research has ever supported the primary argument of vaccination opponents, that vaccines cause autism. The one 1998 paper that did support such a connection between the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine and autism was retracted from the public record. Yet myths about the harms of vaccination persist, especially online, and the past year has seen a sudden surge in measles cases as parents, particularly in California, chose not to get their children vaccinated. Iron Lungs in a Polio Ward --- Image by Corbis In April, a new study was published that should end this debate once and for all. The Journal of the American Medical Association published a study of nearly 100,000 children in which researchers found no link between the MMR vaccine and autism spectrum disorders -- even among children who had autistic siblings and thus a higher risk for the disorders. In rare cases, some vaccines can cause adverse effects – such as anaphylaxis, an allergic reaction. But beyond this, vaccines cause very few health problems (and autism is not one of them). The far greater danger is the illnesses that they are designed to protect us against – diseases that ravaged America not so many decades ago. (h/t Lindsey Fitzharris You might also like: A powerful reddit thread reveals what it’s like to have a disability California’s epidemic of vaccine denial, mapped A shocking number of mentally ill Americans end up in prison instead of treatment


William Wan named national correspondent

William Wan. Announcement from Cameron Barr, national editor; Scott Wilson, deputy national editor; and Lori Montgomery, America editor: We’re thrilled to announce that William Wan, after a successful and engaging run as a China correspondent, will join our new America desk this summer as a roving National correspondent. He will approach the homeland much like a foreign posting, tackling breaking news as well as deeply-reported stories about America in the time of Obama. From his base in Beijing during the past three years, William has explained Communist leadership power struggles, delved into the love/hate US-China relationship and explored the intricacies of panda copulation. For his stories on the brutal effects of Chinese policies on parents and children, he won the 2014 Hugo Shong Award, Amnesty International’s Human Rights Press Award and AAJA’s National Award. He spent last year exposing hidden injustices among China’s cops and courts, at one point hiking up a mountain in the dark and convincing villagers to hide him in their homes as he gathered proof that police had killed a man. He also experimented with new forms of storytelling and was a major contributor to our widely read coverage of the vanished Malaysian airplane. William joined The Post in 2005 as a Metro reporter and was part of our Pulitzer-finalist team for coverage of the Fort Hood shootings. He won several awards as our religion reporter, including the ASNE for diversity writing. Before China, he chronicled the diplomacy of then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. He began his career at the LA Times and Baltimore Sun. He will preface his return to National this July with a summertime stint on Josh du Lac’s general-assignment news team. Please join us in welcoming William back to the newsroom as he begins his next adventure.


D.A.R.E. gets duped by anti-pot satire

Kill 9 in Colorado, 12 at Coachella" from topekasnews.com. The only problem is that topekasnews.com is a satire Web site, one of dozens posting fake-but-just-barely-believable stories online. The marijuana story is fake, as are the numbers it cites. The "author" of the story is one Haywood Bynum III, whose other bylines include "Is It Time For America To Invade The Middle East and Rename It New America," "German Soccer Team Uses Nazi Super Soldier Serum To Beat Brazil 7-1, Risks Start of World War III" and "Are Women Even People, Really?" These fake news sites are everywhere, and they're a pox on the Internet as a whole. D.A.R.E. certainly isn't the first outlet to be taken in by one. But the calculus becomes different when you're an organization ostensibly dedicated to educating the public on a given topic. By publishing a satirical piece on the dangers of marijuana, D.A.R.E. risks undermining its message. The organization's heyday was in the 1980s and 1990s, when the anti-drug movement was at its most intense. D.A.R.E. focused a lot of its energies on discouraging drug use by kids, but multiple studies have found that the program does "little or nothing to combat drug use," according to Scientific American. Kids enrolled in the program were just as likely to use drugs as those who weren't, researchers found in 2009. A major reason? The most successful anti-drug programs involved sustained interactions between students and adults. But D.A.R.E. never provided this, focusing instead on brief in-school visits by law enforcement officers. The program has retooled itself in recent years, launching a new curriculum with the name of "Keepin' It Real." The new program is more grounded in research on drug abuse prevention, including the studies above. By applying those lessons, the new approach may yield some fruit. Still, it's clear the program has lost some influence. Every year since 1988, for instance, the president had proclaimed one day in April to be "National Drug Abuse Resistance Education Day." But the Obama administration ended that tradition in 2012. D.A.R.E. still receives funding from the Justice Department, the Department of State and numerous other government agencies and corporations. For the past month, that funding has been used to spread the message that marijuana is a "third world drug" that causes teen pregnancies and leads to "primal aggression," and to promote demonstrably false claims about people killed by marijuana edibles.


It’s becoming increasingly hard to get a loan in the Deep South

It’s been well-documented that America’s banks and financial institutions are no longer the loose-and-easy lenders they were several years ago. But newly released data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York reveals a less explored implication of that credit tightening: A new geographic divide in how easily Americans can borrow money. Those who live in the upper Midwest, particularly Minnesota and the Dakotas, still have the healthy borrowing profiles they did before the Great Recession. Those in many other states have seen only modest declines in the ability to borrow. But those in the Deep South — especially in states hugging the Gulf Coast — have seen their access to credit drop off significantly, even though it was already weak to begin with. The consequences of a credit freeze in the Deep South are daunting. The region is already economically distressed, with disproportionately high poverty levels, and restrictions on credit access limit the ability of those living there to start businesses, make investments, or manage unforeseen expenses. If enough people in an area cannot borrow, the community itself becomes less resilient, said Kausar Hamdani, a senior vice president at the New York Fed. “It’s the ability to access resources,” Hamdani said. “Not just for emergencies, but to grow a dream, to start a business.” The map below provides a snapshot of America’s credit picture in 2007 — the tale end of the credit bubble. At that time, 74.0 percent of Americans with a credit file borrowed on standard, revolving terms, using either a credit card or (for more significant needs) home equity line of credit. By 2014, 67.9 percent of Americans were borrowing in that manner. But at the state level, the differences have become more stark, as seen in the next map. In Utah, 75.2 percent now use revolving credit (compared with 77.1 percent in 2007). In New York, the number is 74.9 (compared with 78.7 in 2007). And in Mississippi? Less than half — 49.3 percent — use revolving credit, compared with 62.5 percent in 2007. No other state saw a sharper decline during that span. “Revolving credit,” as the New York Fed calls it, is just one barometer for credit access. But other data reveals similar geographic divides. The Deep South has a fewer percentage of prime borrowers and on-time bill payers than the rest of America. Mississippi ranks last in both categories. It should be


Woman looking for mystery man she kissed at Boston Marathon hears from his wife instead

In this photo provided by Paige Tatge, her mother, Barbara Tatge, left, kisses an unknown spectator in Wellesley, Mass., as she ran in the Boston Marathon. (Paige Tatge via Associated Press) A woman who reversed a local tradition by stopping during the Boston Marathon to kiss a unknown man then went on a quest for the identity of the man. However, she wound up hearing from another woman, instead — the man’s wife. Rather than being miffed, though, the wife was very cool about it, saying that the entire episode was “hilarious.” Barabara Tatge, who had had taken up running after she survived cancer and turned 50, was participating in her first Boston Marathon, which occurred on April 20. Her daughter dared her to put a different spin on a tradition in which female students line the course near Wellesley College and occasionally kiss participants; Tatge was asked to plant one on a male onlooker. Tatge did just, and she had another person take a photo of the moment to provide proof of the completed dare to her daughter. According to the Wellesley Townsman, Tatge then regretted not getting the man’s phone number, which led to the daughter providing the photo to the Townsman in an effort to track down the mystery smoocher. That photo, and Tatge’s story, then went viral. As it turned out, the mystery man was there to support his wife, who also was running in the marathon. The couple chose to keep their identities anonymous, but in a letter that was publicized on Monday, the wife had this to say to the Townsman: “When this story aired on the news we were pretty surprised. For me, I’m not mad. Believe me, our friends have gotten a lot of mileage out of this story and I have thoroughly enjoyed watching them give my husband grief!” … “We all thought this story was hilarious because it is just like my husband to do that. It was one of many memorable stories from a great weekend in Boston.” Addressing Tatge, the wife wrote: “While this may not be the ending that you had hoped for, that spontaneous, silly moment in Wellesley captured the fun, energy and spirit of the Boston Marathon. I greatly admire your spunk and courage and wish you many happy races in the future. Congratulations on your Boston finish!” For her part, Tatge told the Townsman


Boston marathoner seeks the stranger she kissed mid-race — and finds an awkward surprise

In this April 20, 2015 photo provided by Paige Tatge, her mother, Barbara Tatge, left, kisses an unknown spectator in Wellesley, Mass., as she ran in the Boston Marathon. After an online campaign to track down the “mystery man,” Tatge got a good-natured letter from his wife this weekend. (Paige Tatge via AP) It could have been kismet, or chutzpah, or the sheer nuttiness that sets in around mile 13 of a 26.2-mile race. Whatever it was, it pushed 55-year-old Barbara Tatge to stop midway through the Boston Marathon last month and kiss a good-looking man cheering on the sidelines, something her daughters had jokingly dared her to do. “Call me!” the man yelled out as she jogged away. But Tatge, who lives in Tennessee, didn’t know the man’s number or even his name. All she had was a photo of the kiss and a daughter who believed she could track him down. “I couldn’t find the gift she wanted for her birthday, so I told her I’d find him instead,” Tatge’s daughter Paige told Today.com. “I don’t think she thought I was serious.” Paige sent a photo to the Wellesley Townsman along with a plea for responses from the man or anyone who knew him. Their story soon went viral — who can’t resist a tale of marathon matchmaking? “The best end to this story is that we find out who he is, he’s single, and he would love to meet me,” Tatge told Today.com. “That would be the ultimate happy ending.” This weekend, Tatge finally got a reply. But it wasn’t from the “mystery man.” It was from his wife. “While this may not be the ending that you had hoped for, that spontaneous, silly moment in Wellesley captured the fun, energy and spirit of the Boston Marathon,” the man’s wife said in a letter to Tatge, which was excerpted in the Wellesley Townsman. The man wants to remain anonymous, according to the Townsman, but his wife — who also competed in the April 20 race — said that the attention has been fun. “We all thought this story was hilarious because it is just like my husband to do that,” she wrote in her letter. “… Our friends have gotten a lot of mileage out of this story and I have thoroughly enjoyed watching them give my husband grief!” Tatge, on the other hand, has become suddenly


Dave Goldberg’s death points to rise and risks of treadmills in era of smartphones

(iStock) Details on Dave Goldberg’s death are still murky. The entrepreneur and husband of Facebook’s chief operating officer, Sheryl Sandberg, was found bleeding out in a Mexican hotel gym on Friday. He died shortly afterward at a nearby hospital, but the strange circumstances are only slowly emerging. Despite the darkness surrounding the incident, it is nonetheless shining a spotlight on the contraption at the center of the tech executive’s death: your run-of-the-mill treadmill. Goldberg slipped and fell while using one of the machines during a stay near Puerto Vallarta. He hit his head and died from brain trauma and blood loss, local authorities told CNN. (The Four Seasons Hotel has denied earlier reports from authorities that he was staying at a Four Seasons.) Dave Goldberg, one half of the Silicon Valley power couple with Sheryl Sandberg, is being mourned as a respected tech executive and progressive male feminist. Dave DiMartino, executive editor of Yahoo Music, shares memories of his former boss and friend. But his freakish accident actually isn’t that rare. Every year, tens of thousands of Americans are injured on treadmills. Thousands are taken to the emergency room. A handful die. Data suggest that the problem is getting worse. As high-tech, high-powered treadmills proliferate, so, too, do the digital distractions that make the machines even more dangerous. “We have to weigh the costs and the benefits of these types of activities and just be aware of what some of the risks are,” says Janessa M. Graves, a professor at the College of Nursing at Washington State University who led a 2013 study of exercise machine injuries. [Related: How to safely use a treadmill: It’s not as easy as you think] Treadmills are almost as old as Western civilization. The Romans used them to grind grain. They were later adapted to horses, then prisoners. It wasn’t until after World War II that cardiologists started recommending their use. When the first cheap home treadmill was invented in 1968, the trend was off and running. Today, treadmills are the nation’s most popular type of exercise equipment. More than 50 million Americans now use them, CBS reported. The exercise industry grew by 3.5 percent in 2014 to a total of $84.3 billion, and “treadmills continue to be the largest selling exercise equipment category by a large margin,” according to the Sports & Fitness Industry Association. But exercise equipment — and treadmills in particular


New Logan Circle condos expected to get snatched up fast

(Courtesy of HomeVisit) When the four condos known as Logan Flats at 1516 Q St. NW went on the market last year, they were sold out after the first weekend of sales. Now that condos in Logan Flats II have been listed for sale, expect to move fast if you think you want to buy a unit. The penthouse, one of four units in the converted rowhouse at 1506 Q St. NW, has already gone under contract. The remaining three units, each with two bedrooms and two baths, are priced from $750,000 to $995,000. Each 1,160-square-foot unit has a private deck or patio. The costliest also includes a parking space. JC Development (Courtesy of HomeVisit) Each unit has an open floor plan that includes white Carrara marble counters and stainless steel appliances, including a gas range and a microwave drawer. They also have wide plank hardwood flooring, recessed halogen lighting, solid wood doors and double-hung wood windows. For more information, go to www.KimberlyandDaryl.com or contact associate brokers Kimberly Casey at 202-361-3228 or Daryl Judy at 202-380-7219 with Washington Fine Properties. Michele Lerner is a freelance writer. To pass on a tip or news item, contact us at realestate@washpost.com and put “Town Square” in the subject line.


I grew up in Mexico. But drunk Americans showed me what Cinco de Mayo was.

the “Lemon Capital of the World” was one of the earliest to celebrate Cinco de Mayo in the United States. Mexican workers made up the majority of the labor force working in the 2,000 acres of lemon groves, 11 packing houses and lemon-processing plant in 1930s Corona. Lemons were grown in winter months but harvested in springtime, just in time for Cinco de Mayo. The timing of the lemon harvest meant people would welcome a reason to rest and celebrate and have a little more disposable income than usual, not to mention ideal weather. When May 5 fell on a weekday, employers paid workers early, and students were dismissed from class early to attend the festivities. Corona’s Cinco de Mayo celebration still strives to be local, intimate and inclusive. The morning parade continues to feature local heroes and role models as grand marshals — the mother of a World War II hero killed in action or a Latina superior court judge — rather than outside celebrities. The town limits sponsors to local businesses and nonprofit organizations. Proceeds from the celebration provide college scholarships to local Latino high school students. There is no beer or alcohol sponsorship of Corona’s Cinco de Mayo, though you can’t talk about the popularity of the holiday everywhere else without talking about the other Corona. The corporate marketplace started pushing Cinco de Mayo as a day-long happy hour for downing cervezas and margaritas when it recognized the demographic growth of the Latino population in the 1980s. Corporations thought that advertising, sponsorship and promotion of Cinco de Mayo events would enable them to tap into that young consumer market. Beer and alcohol companies led the charge by spending millions on marketing the holiday. Corona Extra (the beer — no relation to the town) alone spent $91 million in 2013 on advertising around the holiday in both Spanish and English, calling itself “the original party beer of Cinco de Mayo.” I don’t think that means there were kegs on the battlefield in Puebla, but it’s an amusing image. So go have a drink on Cinco de Mayo. But when you do, take a moment to reflect on the evolution of this holiday that commemorates the Americanization of a Mexican diaspora eager to assert its own identity — and, increasingly, the Mexicanization of mainstream U.S. culture as well. ¡Salud! This article was written in partnership with Zocalo Public Square.


Panera’s decision to cut fake ingredients reflects P.R. more than science

harmful in large doses. But in the quantities found in most foods, studies of their reported effects on health are often conflicting. So why cut them? For the same reason that Chipotle, Pepsi and about a dozen other companies have announced similar initiatives in the past six months. People don’t want to eat food they perceive to be fake, or unhealthy, or not fresh. It’s why McDonald’s is “recommitt[ing] to hot, fresh food” and Chipotle is posting record earnings with its “food with integrity,” GMO-free stance. The science on artificial ingredients may not be decisive, but public opinion is. Shaich said as much himself. “I’m not a scientist and I’m not wading into the debate over whether any of these things cause cancer or are otherwise bad for you,” he told the New York Times. “I just think this is where the consumer’s head is right now.” It’s a perfectly valid business decision, and lots of health advocates have applauded the move. [Kraft Mac Cheese just got duller. You can thank (or blame) ‘The Food Babe.’] “Panera is setting a high bar,” said Marion Nestle, professor of nutrition at New York University, told USA Today. “These are all ingredients used in highly processed foods to make them look, taste, and hold together better — for the most part, cosmetics.” Hari, the “Food Babe” blogger, attributed the decision to her and her followers’ efforts. “This is the direct result of the ongoing pressure you and the Food Babe Army have put on companies to serve safer and more healthful ingredients,” she wrote on her site. “Thank you!” But others worry that these kinds of policies mislead consumers. The “if you can’t pronounce it, don’t eat it” policy promoted by Panera and “Food Babe” doesn’t make much sense, Joe Schwarz, director of McGill University’s Office for Science & Society, argued in a blog post — plenty of naturally occurring substances have long, complicated scientific names. Among them? Cyanocobalamin, better known as vitamin B12. Michael Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, questioned Panera’s motives in some of the changes. “I applaud Panera for replacing dyes and certain other questionable additives in its foods,” he told USA Today. “But eliminating many of the ingredients with unfamiliar chemical names, like calcium propionate and sodium erythorbate, is done solely for PR purposes and not to make safer, more healthful foods.”


What Panera’s new salad dressing teaches us about the American food system

of supply chain and really questioning it,” said Sara Burnett, Panera’s senior quality assurance manager. That process alone took about two months, she said. In the end, Panera determined that there were two artificial flavors, including hydrolyzed soy protein that it wanted to eliminate. It also wanted to get rid of of maltodextrin and propylene glycol alginate, which are emulsifiers, or additives that bind the dressing together. Then, members of Panera’s culinary, nutrition, sourcing and quality assurance teams began looking for alternatives that wouldn’t compromise the dressing’s taste. “It isn’t as simple as saying, ‘Take out ingredient A and put in ingredient B.’ I can’t just take out one emulsifier and put in another one,” Burnett said. “We basically rebuild that product. A lot of times it’s really throwing out what we have and starting over again.” Reinventing the recipe took an additional four months. Once the team had an alternative it was comfortable with, testing began at a small number of restaurants. The team then spent six months in test mode, evaluating consumers’ response to the new formula and making tweaks along the way. The new recipe consists largely of lemon juice, garlic, rosemary, oregano and black pepper — ingredients it hopes customers will recognize as the kind of food they’d have in their own pantries at home. Add all that up, and it took Panera a year just to get the additives out of its Greek salad dressing. Burnett said three employees spent “a significant amount of time” just on redoing this salad dressing. Now, consider that Panera is reformulating more than 160 of the 465 ingredients used in its food. Items including croutons, tortilla strips and bacon are to be revamped by 2016. It was a massive undertaking, and it serves as a powerful illustration of the enormous challenges the restaurant industry faces as it tries to appeal to consumers’ desire for local, fresh food after decades of building supply chains that aren’t necessarily conducive to that preference. Panera has only about 1,900 restaurants. But KFC has more than 18,000 restaurants worldwide, while McDonald’s has 36,000. If these restaurants were to make similar pledges, you can imagine how much more complex it could be. It helps that Panera already makes daily deliveries of fresh produce and dough to its restaurants, so it can use that distribution network to get preservative-free (read: more perishable) foods to its restaurants.


Astronomers measure most distant galaxy yet

The galaxy EGS-zs8-1 sets a new distance record. It was discovered in images from the Hubble Space Telescope's CANDELS survey. (NASA, ESA, P. Oesch and I. Momcheva (Yale University), and the 3D-HST and HUDF09/XDF teams) An exceptionally bright galaxy called EGS-zs8-1 is now the most remote object to have its precise distance from Earth measured. According to a paper published Tuesday in Astrophysical Journal Letters, the galaxy is so distant that we see it as it was 13 billion years ago, pushing the boundaries of our view of the early universe. “While we saw the galaxy as it was 13 billion years ago, it had already built more than 15 percent of the mass of our own Milky Way today,” lead study author Pascal Oesch of Yale University said in a statement. “But it had only 670 million years to do so. The universe was still very young then.” [One of the youngest, most distant galaxies ever observed is surprisingly mature (and dusty)] Based on the new measurements, Oesch and his colleagues report, the galaxy was producing new stars at a rate 80 times faster than our own galaxy does today. This adds to growing evidence that young galaxies in the early days of the universe were vigorous star-forming machines, and that they probably behaved a bit differently from the galaxies we can observe near by. These measurements come from the MOSFIRE (Multi-Object Spectrograph for Infrared Exploration) instrument on the Keck I telescope at the W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii. When NASA's James Webb Space Telescope is launched in 2018, the researchers say, they expect it to allow them to observe EGS-zs8-1 -- and even more distant galaxies -- in better detail. Want more space? Give these a click: The Hubble found a galaxy so huge, it acts like a magnifying glass NASA unveils 25th anniversary image for the Hubble: Celestial fireworks in a bed of new stars Nine new dwarf galaxies full of dark matter found just chilling around the Milky Way Still sharp, Hubble Space Telescope turns 25 with a cloudy future


PM Update: Showery, potentially stormy evening; Slightly cooler repeat on Wednesday

2-hour radar loop. Refresh page to update. Highs today were summer-like in the low to mid-80s, and the humidity inched up just enough to spike a mild heat index in the afternoon hours — a sign of things to come as we move into the muggy summer months. High temperatures are expected to be a tad cooler on Wednesday, but again with the chance of showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon and evening. Through Tonight: [T-storm timeline for Tuesday night] Tomorrow (Wednesday): See Matt Rogers’s forecast through the weekend. And if you haven’t already, join us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter Pollen: Weather Day at Nationals Park: Flower moon We’ve seen a few more flower moon photos in our Flickr pool today — thanks to everyone who shared their sky-watching experience! [Photos: Flower moon blooms over Washington, D.C.] Won’t it be great when the Capitol dome renovations are done? (angela n. via Flickr) (Richard Barnhill via Flickr) (Jim Havard via Flickr) (Jim Havard via Flickr)


Stumped for years, astronomers find source of mysterious signals — in their kitchen

the cooking cycle was over. Astrophysics PhD student Emily Petroff sits in front of the Parkes radio telescope in New South Wales, Australia. (Emily Petroff) Did she feel silly that the mysterious signals came from someplace so mundane? “In a way, yes, because to figure out that I’d been spending the last six months looking for microwaves felt kind of disappointing,” she told The Washington Post. “But it was also good, because it was something we can control and test.” Petroff’s research didn’t lead her into the kitchen right way. First, she spent several months poring over data from the telescope, looking for signs of recent perytons. Her best lead came in January, when she detected three perytons in the same week. “So we started hunting around on site to see if anything special was happening that week,” Petroff said. “And the staff said ‘No, nothing special, but just so you know we’ve installed a new interference monitor. .. Why don’t you look at the data?'” Petroff did and found that the signals were occurring at a frequency of about 2.4 GHz — the same frequency at which microwaves and other appliances operate. So she began testing the center’s microwaves for interference. But they still weren’t finding signals that matched the perytons. The real breakthrough came when she and her colleagues realized that the microwaves emitted a brief, lower frequency burst before powering down if someone opened the door before the timer was up. This high-then-low frequency phenomenon mimics the characteristics of the FRBs, though it’s caused by something much more down to Earth: a hungry astronomer impatient for lunch. Petroff’s study of the perytons and their source, which was published last month in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, includes another tip-off that the signals weren’t as mysterious as they seemed: The number of perytons detected by the telescope surges around noon, right when staff are breaking for lunch. And although Petroff may be disappointed to have spent six months chasing after signals from the kitchen rather than outer space, she’s glad she did so. “We don’t have to worry about them anymore,” she said. “Now that we know what’s causing perytons, we’re even more confident that FRBs are coming from real astrophysical sources. We can get back to the bigger mystery.” Read more from Morning Mix: ‘Shawshank’ prison escape ends 56 years later with cinematic stakeout


Watch how SpaceX astronauts would escape if a rocket launch went wrong

SpaceX's Dragon capsule sits on the launch pad at Cape Canaveral ahead of the "launch abort" test on May 6, 2015. (SpaceX) As test flights go, it was quick and apparently easy, over in a few short minutes. The unmanned rocket capsule shot into the air from Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Wednesday morning, then popped off like a cork from a champagne bottle before splashing down in the Atlantic ocean. But as Elon Musk's SpaceX moves toward flying astronauts to the International Space Station by 2017, SpaceX's so-called "launch abort test" was a critical one, allowing the company to demonstrate that should something go wrong during a rocket launch, it has a way to get the crew to safety. It was rocket science's version of a fighter pilot ejection seat. But as SpaceX pointed out in a blog post, "instead of ejecting the pilot out of the spacecraft, the entire spacecraft is 'ejected' away from the launch vehicle." While most escape systems are good only for a few minutes after launch, SpaceX says its system allows the crew to abort "from the launch pad all the way to orbit." In a press conference, Musk, the billionaire entrepreneur who also runs Tesla Motors, told reporters that the successful test "bodes quite well for the future of the program." "Had there been people on board, they would have been in great shape," he said. The capsule zoomed into the sky, going from 0 to 100 m.p.h. in 1.2 seconds. "That's pretty zippy," Musk said. The company will now look at the data collected from the test, including from a nameless dummy on board, which according to SpaceX, "prefers to remain anonymous for the time being." Along with Boeing, SpaceX is working under a NASA contract to fly astronauts to the space station, restoring the United States' ability to fly people from U.S. soil for the first time since the shuttle program was mothballed in 2011. SpaceX currently has a contract to ferry supplies to the station, and is planning another trip next month. Musk said that there should be manned flights by 2017, but did not want to pinpoint a precise date. "When you're in unexplored territory, it's hard to say when you'll arrive at the destination," he said." Watch the video here: A Dragon passenger capsule, designed to eventually carry astronauts into space, made its debut test flight from Cape Canaveral,


Opinion: The Pentagon should drop the ban on women in combat units – no exceptions

Men and women are tested April 21, 2015, at Fort Benning, Ga., during the Army Ranger School’s grueling assessment course. (Photo by Sgt. Paul Sale/ Army) “You go to war with the army you have, not the army you might want or wish to have,” former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld famously told troops during a 2004 town hall appearance. He was correct in theory, but wrong in practice. The U.S. did not go to war in Afghanistan or Iraq with the military it had. The country went to war with the men that it had, while female service members were severely restricted from operating in combat zones. That is now changing. The next time the U.S. goes to war, the country will go to war with the entire army — and entire military — that it has. At least, that’s the plan. [Why physical standards still dog the fight about combat units] In January 2016, Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter will decide whether to open all occupational specialties to women. But there is still a loophole: services have the ability to request that certain combat specialties be excluded from the full integration of female service members. The Defense Department set in motion a major, long-overdue change when it began the process of ending the combat ban in 2013. There should be no exceptions in 2016. The arguments against allowing women to compete for every position in the military are far from new. When President Truman approved the integration of black service members in 1948 and when President Obama signed off in 2010 on ending the ban on gay service members serving openly, naysayers abounded. Yet their predictions of mission disruption and interpersonal discord never came true; members of both groups now anchor a more open and diverse military. Two primary arguments are deployed today to create breathing room for the approval of exceptions. Both were torn apart by a field of qualified academics, veterans and politicians at the April 27 forum “Women in Combat: Where they Stand.” It was hosted by groups including Women In International Security and the No Exceptions campaign, both of which call for all jobs in the military to be opened to women in the future. U.S. Army soldiers run through the Darby Mile and an obstacle course during Ranger School's "RAP Week." First, a common trope is that the addition of women in tight-knit combat


Your favorite organic brand is actually owned by a multinational food company

Ha Lam/AP Photo One of the essential questions of the organic movement is, “What foods are worthy of the USDA ‘organic’ label?” The legal definition of the word is hammered down in semi-annual meetings, one of which was held last week, that involve a federal advisory board and people working in the organic industry. But who, exactly, is that? Increasingly, the answer is representatives of large food companies. The boom in organic food has boosted sales over $32 billion annually and has led some of the nation’s biggest food companies - General Mills, Coca-Cola, Perdue, Kellogg - to acquire or take stakes in smaller organic outfits. People within the industry debate whether the entrance of the big companies could tarnish the ideals of a movement opposed to the conventional foods those firms produce. Moreover, some worry that shoppers may be too easily fooled into thinking that some of the quaintly-named organic labels, now owned by a big conventional company, is still managed by its organic founders. “Some of these big companies go out of their way to hide their ties to the organic labels,” said Phil Howard, an associate professor at Michigan State University, who has tracked the changes, and provided them to the Post. “They know that consumers tend to be skeptical of the corporations, that a person who buys organic is often someone looking for an alternative to conventional food." Howard says the influx of money from conventional food companies has brought good and bad. “It’s easier than ever to access to foods,” he said, “and the prices have come down. On the other hand, there is continual pressure to weaken the national organic standards to increase profits - and the big companies have the clout to do that.” To be sure, attendees at the semi-annual meetings that define organic still include plenty of small farmers. But the large conventional companies have a presence, too, and within the industry, the value of the transformation is debated. Myra Goodman, who with her husband founded the major organic label Earthbound Farm in 1984, argued in a TED talk last year that the growth has benefited everyone. She spoke just a few months after it was announced that Earthbound Farm would be sold to dairy producer WhiteWave Foods for $600 million. "We don’t want organic to be an exclusive club," she told the audience. "The benefits of organic farming are just


D.C. activists host fundraiser for Baltimore organizations

Young men, standing across from an active police line, carry signs on North Avenue near the site of recent riots and several blocks away from where Freddie Gray was arrested. (Allison Shelley/Getty Images) D.C. activists raised more than $4,000 Tuesday night at a fundraiser to benefit community organizations in Baltimore. The event at Impact Hub DC — a co-working and events space in Chinatown — featured speakers from local organizations like Family & Friends of Incarcerated People and DCFerguson, a coalition of groups that has organized rallies in the area calling for an end to police brutality. Attendees donated $10 or $20 at the door. Inside there were cocktails for sale, with an expletive-titled signature vodka drink serving as a rebuke of the curfew that was imposed in Baltimore, along with free food. The money is being donated to the No Boundaries Coalition — a West Baltimore-based organization “dedicated to deconstructing boundaries and reconstructing community”– and Baltimore United for Change — a coalition of citizens working for justice in Baltimore. Baltimore United for Change created a legal fund to support protesters who were arrested in Baltimore. A portion of the money raised Tuesday night will go to that fund. D.C. DJ Ayescold and Baltimore hip-hop artist Comrade also performed at Impact Hub DC. “It was really clear that people were really looking for a way to support the organizing going on in Baltimore,” said Jonathan Williams, a Baltimore native who lives in D.C. and helped to organize the fundraiser. “When people and leaders in the black community ask us to do something amidst a crisis, it’s important that we do something.” Donations to the Baltimore organizations can be made online.


Social media, #Immigration, and political knowledge in #Ukelection2015

UKIP leader Nigel Farage poses for a photo May 6 in Ramsgate, England. (Carl Court/Getty Images) The following is a guest post by New York University political science PhD candidate and graduate student researcher at the NYU Social Media and Political Participation (SMaPP) laboratory ***** When U.K. voters go to the polls May 7, one of the major issues they’ll be thinking about is immigration. A big story in this election is the increased popularity of the U.K. Independence Party (UKIP, whose leader Nigel Farage is pictured above) as they have criticized the government for allowing too many immigrants from other E.U. countries and thus allegedly jeopardizing the job prospects of native Britons and undercutting the National Health Service. Indeed, though UKIP has plenty of detractors, surveys indicate that they are the party most trusted to control immigration. UKIP has also been punching above its weight on social media, and were at one point the most talked-about party on social media. The debate over the effects of social media on politics remains unsettled. While social media is central to how modern campaigns are conducted, and many people use social media to consume political information, there has so far been no evidence produced to show that there has been any increase in voter turnout among young social media users. Another open question is whether social media use makes people more informed, especially about politically contentious information like the number of immigrants to the U.K. To investigate this question, researchers at the Social Media and Political Participation (SMaPP) lab at NYU are conducting a survey of social media users in the U.K. in collaboration with YouGov. We asked detailed questions about social media use, along with a number of factual questions, to see how informed different types of social media users are. It is important to note that this sample differs from a nationally representative sample in several ways. In addition to being younger and more educated, the social media sample has systematically different party preferences. In general, they are less likely to identify with the Conservatives, and more likely to support smaller parties, especially UKIP (see the table* at the end of this post for more details). To find out how much knowledge people have about immigration, we asked them the following question: Over the past 5 years, has the number of immigrants to the United Kingdom from other E.U. countries


How a too-busy doctor trained for a 100-mile race by making every minute count

Even on a busy work trip to Nanjing, China, Dean Lao made time to train for an ultra marathon In our feature, Timehacker, we match readers with coaches to help them find time for their most important goal. THE SUBJECT: [Related: Meet the 77-year-old bodybuilder who was inspired by her sister’s death to break a world record] THE GOAL: THE TIMEHACK: 1. NO EXCUSES: 2. DON’T TRY TO SWALLOW THE ELEPHANT: Monaghan suggested he use time that was already in his schedule to try running to and from work some days and to make sure he had his gear readily available at work or home to fit in smaller runs. She advised him to stand in the operating room instead of sitting. “Conditioning is a product of repetitive, regular activity,” she said. [Related: How a caregiver learned to care for herself – by lowering the bar] 3. SCHEDULE IT: 4. THINK BIGGER: THE PROGNOSIS: DAY 21: On Day 21, I called Dean and he answered breathlessly. He was on mile eight of an 11-mile training run on his day off – even though he was exhausted from being on 24-hour call the day before. He’d found a training plan and had penciled in runs five or six days a week every week on his calendar. That day, he’d run six days in a row for the first time in months. And he was no longer making excuses. “I was spending a lot of time just telling myself why I couldn’t run, instead of just making the time to make it happen,” he said. “It made me realize, if this is something I really want to do, I have to make time for it.” He began, as Monaghan suggested, using time he already had. “There’s at least one to two hours a day I’m not doing anything – I’m reading mindless news articles, or surfing the web,” he said. “I realized I have to give up that kind of downtime, for downtime that’s more fulfilling.” And where he used to think that running three or four miles wasn’t worth it, he also began to realize that it was better than running no miles. “Anytime I spend on my feet is ultimately beneficial.” And he began to see that he had more time than he thought. On a trip to see his family in Chicago, he hadn’t planned on going to church


DeflateGate punishment for Patriots may hinge on repeat offender status; Brady discipline expected ‘soon’

that disciplinary decisions are “coming soon.” Discipline of Brady, fines and the prospective loss of a draft selection by the Patriots are “all under consideration,” according to that person. If the Patriots are treated as repeat offenders under the competitive rules, that potentially would increase the penalties. It also is unclear to what extent the recent league rulings regarding violations of the competitive rules by the Atlanta Falcons and Cleveland Browns will serve as disciplinary precedents for the Patriots. The Falcons, found guilty of using artificial crowd noise at home games, were fined $350,000 and stripped of a fifth-round pick in next year’s NFL draft. Falcons President Rich McKay was suspended from the league’s competition committee even after the NFL concluded that McKay was not aware of the use of fake crowd noise. The league would have suspended the employee responsible for the infraction for eight games if he’d remained with the team, the NFL said. The Browns were fined $250,000 and their general manager, Ray Farmer, was suspended without pay from the first four games of the 2015 season for improper in-game texting. The Browns were not stripped of a draft choice. [Early Lead: NFL needs only circumstantial evidence for punishment] A person on the players’ side of the sport said the disciplinary measures against Brady and the Patriots are expected to be “moderate.” Of the possibility of Brady being suspended, that person said: “Probably not.” Attorney Ted Wells investigated the allegations that the Patriots used under-inflated footballs in the first half of their victory over the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC championship game. Wells wrote in his report, released Wednesday, it is “more probable than not” that the Patriots violated league rules via the actions of John Jastremski, an equipment assistant for the team, and Jim McNally, the team-appointed attendant for the officials’ locker room. Investigators concluded, Wells wrote, that “it is more probable than not that Tom Brady was at least generally aware” of the actions of Jastremski and McNally in improperly deflating footballs. Wells wrote that investigators found no wrongdoing by Belichick, his assistant coaches or Patriots owner Robert Kraft. Brady’s agent, Don Yee, was highly critical of the investigation and Wells’s report in a written statement released Thursday. Yee called the report “a significant and terrible disappointment” and said its “omission of key facts and lines of inquiry suggest the investigators reached a conclusion first,


This cosmic ‘dinosaur egg’ is about to hatch

The Antennae galaxies, shown in visible light in a Hubble image (upper image), were studied with ALMA, revealing extensive clouds of molecular gas (center right). One cloud (bottom image) is incredibly dense and massive, yet apparently star-free, suggesting it is the first example of a prenatal globular cluster ever identified. (NASA/ESA Hubble, B. Whitmore (STScI); K. Johnson, U.Va.; ALMA (NRAO/ESO/NAOJ); B. Saxton (NRAO/AUI/NSF) ) Globular clusters [Breathtaking new image captures birth of countless stars] For the first time, astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) believe they've caught a globular cluster just before its birth some 50 million light years away. Their findings will be published in an upcoming edition of the Astrophysical Journal. ALMA image of dense cores of molecular gas in the Antennae galaxies. The round yellow object near the center may be the first prenatal example of a globular cluster ever identified. It is surrounded by a giant molecular cloud. (K. Johnson, U.Va.; ALMA (NRAO/ESO/NAOJ) ) “We may be witnessing one of the most ancient and extreme modes of star formation in the universe,” lead author Kelsey Johnson of the University of Virginia said in a statement. “This remarkable object looks like it was plucked straight out of the very early universe. To discover something that has all the characteristics of a globular cluster, yet has not begun making stars, is like finding a dinosaur egg that’s about to hatch.” The object (which the researchers are calling the "Firecracker") sits inside two interacting galaxies known collectively as the Antennae. The interaction of these two galaxies spurs lots of star formation, but the party hasn't started for the Firecracker yet. It's still waiting for its spark. [Planetary birth revealed in best image yet from world’s most powerful telescope] Based on readings from ALMA, the pre-cluster has an incredibly dense cloud of the molecular gas that could one day turn into stars. The cloud isn't very big, but it's incredibly dense with star-power: It has 50 million times the mass of our sun. It's also under a lot of pressure to have its big debut — literally. The researchers estimate that it's under 10,000 times more physical pressure than the average bit of interstellar space, which could ultimately help the stars formed there go globular. “Until now, clouds with this potential have only been seen as teenagers, after star formation had begun,” Johnson said. “That meant that the


FDA: Listeria detected in Blue Bell ice cream plants as far back as 2013

Blue Bell ice cream (Orlin Wagner/AP) Blue Bell detected listeria in one of its ice cream plants as far back as 2013 and continued shipping ice cream from three after what inspectors described as inadequate cleanings, according to observation reports released by the Food and Drug Administration Thursday. The reports cover three plants, including one in Broken Arrow, Okla., where listeria tests of non-food contact areas such as floors came back as "presumptive positive," indicating a high likelihood of the potentially-deadly bacteria. Three people in Kansas have died in a listeria outbreak linked to the Texas-based company. The Houston Chronicle [Blue Bell issues nationwide recall of all products, as Listeria outbreak grows] The surfaces and equipment were cleaned and sanitized but it was inadequate, and later samples still came back positive for listeria, the FDA report states. Blue Bell spokesman Joe Robertson acknowledged in a statement that several 2013 swab tests on non-food surfaces in the company's Broken Arrow plant came back positive for listeria. "As is standard procedure for any such positive results, the company would immediately clean the surfaces and swab until the tests were negative," Robertson said. "We thought our cleaning process took care of any problems, but in hindsight, it was not adequate, which is why we are currently conducting such a comprehensive re-evaluation of all our operations." Last month, Blue Bell expanded its first ever recall to cover all of its products across the country. [What recall history tells us about a beloved ice cream brand’s rocky road to recovery] The FDA also released observations from plants in Alabama and Texas, detailing less serious sanitation inadequacies. The Oklahoma plant had 16 positive tests of listeria in food and surfaces between 2013 and 2015, according to the FDA findings. Although listeria can cause symptoms such as headaches and nausea in health people, the bacteria can be fatal for young children and the elderly. It can also cause miscarriages in pregnant women. Bill Marler, a prominent food safety attorney in Seattle, said the Blue Bell inspection reports released by the FDA “are some of the worst that I have seen in 20 years of investigating food outbreaks.” Especially troubling, he said, is the fact Blue Bell was manufacturing a ready-to-eat product in its plants, not food that later would be cooked and eventually kill harmful bacteria. That should have raised even more alarm bells when Listeria began


In leaked report, Army alleges Green Beret confessed to murder

investigation of Green Beret] “In all the interviews conducted during the investigation, no one was able to provide any corroboration to the events as detailed by MAJ Golsteyn,” the Army document said. “One interviewee mentions then-CPT Golsteyn being upset after a previous [improvised explosive device] attack had killed two Marines and told him that he would ‘capture whoever did it,’ and ‘kill them.’ ” Golsteyn’s case has garnered international attention. The Washington Post has reported previously that he was investigated criminally for a violating the military’s rules of engagement in the killing of a known insurgent bombmaker, and that he fell out of favor with the Army after a CIA job interview. But many questions remain. Joe Kasper, a spokesman for Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), who has battled with the Army for months over Golsteyn’s treatment, disputed the allegations in the document, calling it a “subjective Army document that intentionally misrepresents and fails to account for facts.” Hunter has argued the Army wants to drum the officer out of the service without due process. “The words ‘confession’ and ‘murder’ are entirely the Army’s creation,” Kasper said. “In Golsteyn’s statement, which isn’t colored with any context or substantive line of questioning, a conversational exchange [with the CIA] is hardly a confession. And even then, there are clear references to confirmation of the IED maker’s identity and other lawful actions.” Maj. Mathew Golsteyn is shown here in white in Afghanistan, alongside an Afghan soldier. (Photo released by Rep. Duncan D. Hunter’s office) The document notes that a forensic investigation of burn pits in the area around Golsteyn’s base at the time turned up nothing. “Not a single shred of evidence was collected,” Kasper said. “So what if, in a conversational setting, Golsteyn didn’t recall the facts correctly or he misrepresented certain things, and the incident didn’t actually happen, or didn’t happen that way? The Army investigation has to prove the facts one way or the other — and they can’t prove a thing.” The Intercept did not disclose how it obtained the document, but it is authentic, said Lt. Col. Christopher Kasker, a spokesman for Army Secretary John McHugh. Kasker declined additional comment, but said that the secretary is committed to giving Golsteyn a fair and impartial hearing later this month. A panel of Army officers at Fort Bragg, N.C., could decide to throw him out of the Army with an other-than-honorable


Stop judging poor moms. Bad policies hurt their kids — not bad parenting.

to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. The nonpartisan research institute, in a review of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program (established by the 1996 welfare reform law), wrote, “The amount of cash assistance provided to families has eroded in almost every state, leaving families without sufficient funds to meet their most basic needs.” When families cannot meet their most basic needs, kids show up to school looking “neglected,” because they aren’t wearing the proper clothes for the weather. Parents miss school appointments because they can’t afford bus fare. And babies go an entire day or longer without a diaper change because families need to make their diapers last. child-care providers even have developed a phrase — “Monday morning rash” — to describe how babies from low-income families sometimes arrive after a weekend of infrequent diaper changes. These problems are not evidence of bad parenting but of bad public policy. None of this, of course, satisfies those who say that people should not have kids they cannot afford. They don’t acknowledge that poverty often comes after the children are already born. I am struck by how often I encounter families who were financially stable before a catastrophic illness hit. (Medical costs are the most common cause of bankruptcy in the United States.) My organization also talks with families who have been brought down by long-term layoffs and with women who were pulled into poverty when they left abusive relationships. Everybody has a story, and passing judgment based only on what you see a parent buying at the grocery store or picking up at a diaper bank is never a good idea. On Mother’s Day, many moms do not get taken out to brunch or presented with potted plants. For them, Mother’s Day is just like any other day – a struggle to get by. There is one gift we can collectively give them, though: We can stop judging. We can throw away the good mother/bad mother distinction. We can recognize that most mothers genuinely want to do what is best for their children. It is simply much easier for some of us than for others. More from PostEverything: This is what happened when I drove my Mercedes to pick up food stamps The poor are treated like criminals everywhere, even at the grocery store The real reason why poor kids perform worse in school — and in life


Where the wild things aren’t: Olivia Neutron-John crash-lands in Washington

<br />Olivia Neutron-John, a.k.a. Anna Nasty, keeps things simple and somewhat scary onstage, whispering and groaning over the sounds generated by a vintage Casio keyboard. (Photo by Ian Svenonius) Certain eco-thinkers have suggested that we try to rescue our wrecked planet through a technique called rewilding, and it goes a little something like this: When scary alpha-predators are reintroduced to the very lands from which human activity initially drove them away, the rest of the food chain falls into a stronger rhythm and the wilderness thrives. So if you want peace in the valley, you’re gonna need some wolves. How about music scenes? Can they be rewilded? A scene is a cultural ecosystem of sorts — and Washington’s could certainly use some help. Surging rents have exiled too many inventive artists to Baltimore, Brooklyn and beyond. And who’s taking their place? Hordes of young professionals who, speaking broadly, do not appear to be all that interesting or interested. And so our nightlife becomes cluttered with nostalgic ’90s dance parties, tongue-in-cheek tribute bands and uninspired DJs who practice their dark arts with the charisma of a shuffling iPod. Olivia Neutron-John's "Injury Train and I'm Never Getting Off and Vulnerability." This makes Anna Nasty a wolf. After leaving Arizona in 2013 for a solo tour, the enigmatic 20-something finally landed in Washington last spring as the bassist of two separate punk groups: Neonates and Chain and the Gang. But performing solo as Olivia Neutron-John, Nasty makes music that’s especially fraught, frightening and fantastic. During a recent show at the Black Cat, the jumpsuit-clad singer vocalized in fawning whispers and slasher-flick groans, tickled and punched an ancient Casio keyboard and did some sexy tai chi while shooting death stares across the crowd and into the void. Somehow, it almost felt like a party. And in a way, it was. When an artist with this much poise, edge and imagination decides to take up residence in the busy-busy blandness of This Town, their arrival should be widely noted and wildly celebrated. Now run for your life. Olivia Neutron-John (with Timeghost and Ora Iso) performs Monday at Union Arts, 411 New York Ave. NE. Show starts at 8 p.m. www.unionartsdc.com. $7. OLIVIA NEUTRON-JOHN


Whole Foods is learning that millennials aren’t who it thought they are

consumption patterns a few years ago, what you would expect is for them to be dining out more than anyone else, and just spending more money on food," said Darren Seifer, food and beverage analyst at market research firm NPD group. "But the recession changed that." What we've seen from twenty-somethings in wake of the financial crisis is that they are actually more price conscious than anyone had anticipated. "They were the generation that was hit the hardest by this recession in terms of layoffs and difficulty finding jobs, and it really shows in their food purchasing habits," Seifer said . Millennials want fresh food, sure. Organic food, too. But the truth is that they aren't as uppity about it as their parents might have been. Part of that is driven by the fact that they don't have as much money. But it's also because they have more options today, many of which aren't as expensive. As Whole Foods' competition for the organic market has grown to include the likes of Wal-Mart, local bodegas and delis, and even pharmacies, such as Rite Aid, young people have reconciled their simultaneous desire for fresh food and lack of disposable income by shunning pricier options in favor of cheaper ones. Millennials are also getting married later than their parents did, and having children later than their parents did, which is to say that they aren't merely buying groceries on modest budgets but doing it, largely, for households of one. It's possible that a good part of Whole Foods' new strategy might have to do with catering to people who are single — people who want to buy their groceries at Whole Foods, but in smaller and therefore less expensive packages. "My guess is that they're trying to get them now, when they are single and don't have a family, and then graduate them into mainstream Whole Foods stores later," Seifer said. "Which will be interesting, because we haven't really seen it in the food and beverage retail industry." It's unclear how Whole Foods' new stores will mesh with the greater grocery market and their own existing stores. There is the potential that a new chain of cheaper Whole Foods supermarkets will cannibalize sales at the original stores. There is also the possibility that the current crossroads is less of a crossroads than it is a window into the future, where growth is simply


hit the hardest by this recession in terms of layoffs and difficulty finding jobs, and it really shows in their food purchasing habits," Seifer said . Millennials want fresh food, sure. Organic food, too. But the truth is that they aren't as uppity about it as their parents might have been. Part of that is driven by the fact that they don't have as much money. But it's also because they have more options today, many of which aren't as expensive. As Whole Foods' competition for the organic market has grown to include the likes of Wal-Mart, local bodegas and delis, and even pharmacies, such as Rite Aid, young people have reconciled their simultaneous desire for fresh food and lack of disposable income by shunning pricier options in favor of cheaper ones. Millennials are also getting married later than their parents did, and having children later than their parents did, which is to say that they aren't merely buying groceries on modest budgets but doing it, largely, for households of one. It's possible that a good part of Whole Foods' new strategy might have to do with catering to people who are single — people who want to buy their groceries at Whole Foods, but in smaller and therefore less expensive packages. "My guess is that they're trying to get them now, when they are single and don't have a family, and then graduate them into mainstream Whole Foods stores later," Seifer said. "Which will be interesting, because we haven't really seen it in the food and beverage retail industry." It's unclear how Whole Foods' new stores will mesh with the greater grocery market and their own existing stores. There is the potential that a new chain of cheaper Whole Foods supermarkets will cannibalize sales at the original stores. There is also the possibility that the current crossroads is less of a crossroads than it is a window into the future, where growth is simply harder to come by for the company. Then again, it might be foolish to bet against the brand that helped popularize organic food in the United States, whose sales topped $3.65 billion for the past three months and are still growing at a healthy clip of more than 3 percent per quarter. "Any good business changes to address the current landscape," Seifer said. "Whole Foods sees what millennials actually want, and it's working to adjust."


Main Street Morning: Japan’s start-up scene

Humanoid robots named Pepper, developed by SoftBank Corp.’s Aldebaran Robotics unit, stand during a Softbank developer’s workshop for students and robot enthusiasts in Tokyo, Japan (Akio Kon/Bloomberg) Welcome to Main Street Morning, The Washington Post’s daily collection of news affecting entrepreneurs, start-ups and small businesses with a special focus on policy and government. Here’s what’s affecting my small business my clients and other entrepreneurs today. Washington - Pentagon employees used government-issued credit cards to pay for gambling, escorts and other adult activities, according to a Department of Defense audit. - A government watchdog finds that the Internal Revenue Service rewarded more than 100 employees who cheated on their taxes. The Economy - Consumers increased their borrowing in March by the largest amount in nearly a year as borrowing on credit cards rebounded following two months of declines. - An investment bank warns that 2016 could be the year of the “triple taper tantrum”. - Why small businesses may not be the job engine most people think they are. - The U.S. is approaching full employment. The Election - Rick Perry changes his mind on the Export-Import Bank, now calling for its end. - A Hillary Clinton aide floats a potential debt-free college plan. - Why Rick Santorum’s Bruce Jenner remarks are a big deal. - A pig is a popular write-in candidate for Mayor at a Michigan town. Healthcare - A recent survey from the Institute of Management Accountants found that the impact of the Affordable Care Act on business hiring decisions for the coming year is expected to be minimal. Entrepreneurs - A cab driver makes every rider write in this notebook, and the results are life-changing! - An entrepreneurial mom creates a gender-neutral nail polish. Restaurants - Wendy’s plans to sell 640 of its company-owned restaurants in the United States and Canada. Start-up - With their twelfth batch of companies set to demo to investors and the press next week, 500 Startups is announcing the thirteenth batch of companies to go through its accelerator. - A tech start-up that searches for trends and breaking news events on social media, raises $100 million. - A young drone maker nabs $75 million in funding at a $10 billion valuation. - This million-dollar startup provides on-the-go medical care. Management - A manufacturing giant you’ve never heard of steps out of the shadows. - Why you should make it OK for your


Lessons in a trash can: Teaching kids how to manage Earth’s resources

Student Keelan Bell holding a Clarke Middle School chicken (Photo by Debbie Mitchell) How will young people become the leaders that society needs to adapt to environmental change? That’s the question that Wick Pritchard, a VISTA volunteer at Clarke Middle School in Athens, Georgia, asks and answers in the following post. Clarke is a high-needs, high-achieving traditional public school serving a very diverse population in a district committed to equity and opportunity. By Wick Pritchard How will our present middle-school students become the leaders that society needs to adapt to environmental change? At Clarke Middle School in Athens, Georgia,, we are betting on resource management. We believe that schools can cultivate environmental awareness in their students by focusing on managing the resources around them. We have chosen three school settings to pilot this idea: the school vegetable garden, the family and consumer science kitchen, and the cafeteria trash can. You can learn a lot by looking in the cafeteria garbage can, which I have been doing for the past school year. Your perspective of sustainability will change. You will discover that it is difficult for our students to stop for the tiniest moment to separate the recyclable and compostable items on their lunch tray from items that go to the landfill. And you will see waste: one day, 73 Chiquita bananas, bright yellow, entirely unblemished — and untouched by students. As an AmeriCorps VISTA, I fight poverty in the United States. One manner in which I do this is by teaching young people how to manage the planet’s resources. Before my year of service as an AmeriCorps VISTA, I completed a masters’ degree in environmental planning and design while working on the Tybee Island Sea Level Rise Adaptation Plan. Last month I was shocked when a report surfaced that oceans along the U.S. East Coast rose four inches between 2009 and 2010. This rapid spike in sea level rise was described by climate scientists as a “1-in-850-year event” or in other terms “very extreme” and “unprecedented.” Global climate change contributed to this event. Events like the spike in sea level rise, coupled with my trashcan observations, underscore the need to educate our young people in how to handle environmental change. Here’s what we are doing at Clarke Middle School to help achieve this: The garden This garden was our first area of attack in our fight to teach our students


Why Ethiopian Jews are protesting police violence in Israel

cases minorities might suffer from both, eroding their trust of police. For the past three years, we have been using surveys and focus groups to study perceptions of minorities in Israel towards police. Our initial findings help explain the recent surge of protest. Two groups stand out in their perceptions of police and policing: Arab citizens and Ethiopian immigrants. Arab citizens complain of both under-policing and over-policing. Arab towns suffer from high crime rates, violence and reckless driving, attributed by their residents to internal crisis and intentional police neglect. While under-policing is highly important, several incidents in which police officers gunned down Arab citizens have made headlines and generated uproar among the Arab community. Arab citizens, on the one hand, demand that police provide them with a level of service equal to Jewish citizens, but, on the other hand, are often alienated from police and distrust their intentions. Ethiopians, display a different pattern of alienation and distrust related to police violence and abuse. Various reports in recent years raised complaints of Ethiopian young men mistreated by police, often subjected to violence. In both cases, however, it seems that their marginal position in Israeli society explains their mistreatment by police. Our survey includes 2,200 respondents from five different groups: Arab citizens, Ethiopian and Russian immigrants, Ultra-Orthodox Jews and a control group. Among Arab citizens, under-policing is a major concern and seen as related to discrimination. Thus, 43 percent of the respondents believe policing in their neighborhood is of lower quality than in other neighborhoods, compared to only 13 percent of the control group who feel the same way. Ethiopians strongly believe they are discriminated against by police, 26 percent of the respondents believe they will receive worse treatment from police than non-Ethiopians, while only 13 percent of Arab citizens and 5 percent of the control group feel the same way. Ethiopian immigrants, a meager 2 percent of the population, are 30 percent of the population in juvenile jails. Accordingly, 42 percent of Ethiopians believe that the police arrest people for no reason, while only 20 percent of Arab citizens and 15 percent of the control group feel the same way. These perceptions plausibly reflect differences in police behavior, both in Tel Aviv and Baltimore. Police violence against minorities happens not only because these minorities are visible, and hence subject to racial profiling (e.g. negatively stereotyped minorities are likely to be stopped


The key climate and clean energy problem of 2015: Doing a lot isn’t the same as doing enough

reason to fear that Earth itself will soon unveil a new source of added greenhouse gases — the soils of the Arctic region, which could add very substantially to global emissions totals by 2100, partially offsetting any policy progress. When it comes to clean energy, meanwhile, the story is similar — a lot of encouraging steps, but not currently enough to rescue us, if you look at the hard numbers. A report from the International Energy Agency this week, for instance, found that we need three times as much investment in clean energy innovation as we’re currently making, and we need the “decoupling” of carbon emissions from economic growth to proceed twice as fast as is currently occurring — all in order to hit the 2 C target. That’s consistent with another recent report from the United Nations Environment Programme, which found accelerating global investments in clean energy — mainly wind and solar — but also noted that renewables still provide only 9.1 percent of the world’s total power. And that percentage is not growing fast enough. “The chances of the world limiting the increase in average temperatures to less than two degrees Centigrade appear very slim,” it noted. The point of this litany is not to make you depressed. Rather, it’s to make you aware. If you’re an optimist, you may look at all this and think to yourself — yeah, but nobody can forecast all the technologically developments (and surprises) that we’ll see in the next 10 to 20 years. There will probably be a breakthrough — maybe in energy storage technology — that leads to a great leap forward for renewable energy. Meanwhile, countries will continually tighten their emissions targets to remain consistent with the developing science. [Why Tesla’s announcement is such a big deal: The coming revolution in energy storage] But you could also look at that climate system again and think to yourself — I don’t like what I’m seeing. Changes seem to be happening too fast. The Arctic is already transformed — and the Antarctic scares me. What if we’re not pessimistic enough? It isn’t really possible, right now, to choose between these two options. But knowing they’re out there means anyone watching the climate debate should, at minimum, be vigilant, watching the latest science and the latest policy steps to determine whether we’re actually trending toward better or worse news. That’s not fun,


Baklava Couture’s first storefront to open in Kensington

You may have seen, and been tempted by, Baklava Couture's diverse array of sweets at area farmers markets. Now owner and head baker Katerina Georgallas is going to have a permanent location to showcase them. Baklava Couture's Greek desserts, seen here at the FreshFarm Market by the White House, will soon have a storefront of their own. (Becky Krystal/The Washington Post) Right now, Georgallas is aiming to open the doors on her storefront in Kensington in June. "We needed more of our own space," she said. "I was like a nomadic baker. Everything was ready to travel to go bake somewhere." [When in a pickling pickle, how D.C. food businesses get around shortages] Georgallas specializes in the Greek pastry made with flaky phyllo dough that takes top billing in the name of her business. In addition to traditional honey-and-nut, her roster includes other varieties made with hazelnuts, pistachios, chocolate and black currants. She also specializes in Greek cookies such as kourabiedes (powered sugar cookies) and melomakarona (honey walnut cookies). Pastries include the custard-filled bougatsa. [Recipe: Make Katerina Georgallas's Rosemary Dark Chocolate Baklava] The new facility has made it possible for Georgallas to expand her product line into breads, which will be available a la carte or as part of a club that covers three weeks of breads and spreads. Offerings for May are pita, a country-style village loaf and bagel-like sesame koulouri. The shop will serve Zeke's Coffee and local and Greek goods such as olive oil, honey and pistachio butter. Georgallas will share space with Talia's Cuzina catering, which will sell sandwiches, salads and other to-go foods. In the meantime, you can continue to pick up Georgallas's treats at her stands at the White House, Foggy Bottom, Crystal City, Silver Spring and Dupont Circle FreshFarm markets, as well as at the Chicano Sol farm stands in Garrett Park and at the Mount Vernon Triangle and Union Market FreshFarm markets. Baklava Couture, 10560 Metropolitan Ave., Kensington. Opening in June. baklavacouture.com. Related items: When in a pickling pickle, how D.C. food businesses get around shortages Recipe: Rosemary Dark Chocolate Baklava Destination Design: Kensington’s warehouse district Farmers markets in the Washington area


Jamie Leeds will open Hank’s Pasta Bar this fall in Alexandria

Jamie Leeds has announced plans for a new Italian restaurant. (Jacqui DePas) Chef-restaurateur Jamie Leeds is extending her Hank's brand, but this time she'll be focusing on Italian food rather than oysters. Hank's Pasta Bar is scheduled to open in northern Old Town Alexandria at 600 Montgomery St. sometime this fall, Leeds said. She's been thinking about opening an Italian place for a number of years now. "It's going to be a lot of homemade pastas, antipasti, rustic Italian cuisine," she said. To develop the menu, Leeds is teaming up with former Hank's Oyster Bar chef Nicolas Flores, who will take on the role of executive chef at the new venture. "He kind of came up in Italian restaurants," Leeds said. The menu is still a work in progress, but Leeds said diners can expect to see classic dishes such as lasagna and pasta Bolognese, as well as roasts and whole grilled fish. The restaurant will also offer a selection of Italian cheeses and cure its own meats. When it opens, Hank's Pasta Bar will serve brunch and dinner, with plans to eventually expand into lunch. As to quaffs, Leeds said, "We're going to have a really extensive wine list." Expect a predominantly, though not exclusively, Italian roster. There will also be a cocktail and beer program. Maggie O'Neill of SwatchRoom has been brought on to design the 100-seat restaurant. Leeds said the space will feature a lounge, a 14-seat bar and a dining area that includes a 22-seat room that can be used for private meals. An outdoor seating area will hold 10 people. Leeds said plans include a partially open kitchen with a large picture window, printed cement floors and reclaimed wood and iron. The overall vibe is intended to be rustic and casual, she said. She's hoping to capitalize on the fact that Hank's Oyster Bar is about 15 blocks away. (There are two others in Dupont Circle and Capitol Hill.) "We have a well-established clientele" in the neighborhood, Leeds said.