Hamas finds greater support in a changed Middle East

regimes that disdained Hamas’s Islamist politics, the group long relied on two international pariahs — Iran and Syria — for support. But the outbreak of a revolt in Syria shattered ties between Hamas and the government of President Bashar al-Assad and forced a rift between Hamas and Shiite Iran. Hamas has since repositioned itself, gaining a new set of regional partners at a critical time. Newly democratic Egypt and Tunisia, along with regionally influential Qatar and Turkey, have increasingly assumed the roles of Hamas’s new allies. “Hamas’s new regional sponsors and allies — now that they’ve forsaken Damascus and turned their back, for the most part, on Iran — are members in good standing with the international community,” said Michael Wahid Hanna, a Middle East expert at the Century Foundation in Washington. Hamas’s new support has given it stronger backing than it had during a 2008-2009 Israeli military offensive into Gaza, during which the Arab world largely stood aside. The leaders of the new Middle East have promised that this time will be different. On Saturday, Tunisia’s foreign minister is slated to visit Gaza just as Egypt’s Morsi convenes a meeting with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to discuss a solution to the crisis. “The entire regional calculus has changed considerably,” said Shadi Hamid, director of research at the Brookings Doha Center. “And Egypt is at the forefront of that change.” But Hamas’s standing at home has also changed. Palestinians have grown disillusioned with the group’s more moderate rival, Fatah, and its weak Palestinian Authority, which is based in the West Bank. Many Arabs, both in the region and within the Palestinian territories, have come to see Hamas as the only viable challenge to Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and blockade of Gaza. “The choice of resistance is the only choice,” Mahmoud al-Ramahi, a senior Hamas leader, said in the West Bank on Friday. The Palestinian Authority had failed, he said. “They are so weak, nobody cares about them.” Spurred by its departure from its longtime base in Damascus this year, the Hamas leadership has embarked on a series of diplomatic visits throughout the region and has opened an office in Doha, Qatar’s capital. The crown prince of Qatar reciprocated in October, visiting Gaza and signaling a major break in Hamas’s isolation. Arab politicians and protesters said Friday they were confident that there would be more of a


UMBC student reported dead found alive

Reports of Odessa Jones’s death were, in the end, an exaggeration. This week, the University of Maryland Baltimore County sent an e-mail to students and faculty saying that Jones, a student who attends classes at the Shady Grove campus, had died. The funeral was to be held Friday in Silver Spring, it said. A few days later, the university sent another e-mail with the subject line, “Comforting News for the UMBC Community.” Jones was in fact alive, it said. “I am pleased to report that, this morning, the UMBC Police learned from the Montgomery County Police Department that Odessa Jones, the student who reportedly passed away earlier this week, is alive,” the e-mail said. The cause of the mix-up is murky. Elyse Ashburn, a university spokeswoman, said a family member had informed the university that Jones had died. University officials called Christ Congregational Church in Silver Spring, where the relative had said Jones’s funeral would be held Friday. The church confirmed that a funeral was planned for Friday, Ashburn said. But soon after, university officials received an e-mail that caused them to doubt the report of Jones’s death. Ashburn wouldn’t describe the specifics but said the e-mail prompted university officials to ask Montgomery County police to check on Jones. When police arrived at Jones’s home, she greeted them at the door, a police spokesman confirmed. “We called the church back,” Ashburn said. “At that point, they were still planning to have the services.” Jones did not respond to a request for comment Friday. But she told the Baltimore Sun that a family member had invented a story that she had committed suicide. “I may press charges against the family member, but I have not yet decided,” Jones told the Sun.


‘Little Hu’ eyed for the next wave of Chinese leaders

them into contention for one of China’s top leadership positions in coming years. Little Hu is rumored to be transferring soon to lead the important province of Guangdong, which would position him well for the future. Many experts point out that such speculation is premature, given the unpredictable power of competing factions within the party, the secretive nature of such internal decisions and the many years remaining before any selection is made. But that has not dissuaded the Chinese media. During a rare party congress meeting that was open to journalists, camera crews crowded into a small room Nov. 9 to capture footage of Little Hu chairing a relatively inconsequential session. When he got up suddenly, the media scrum dashed to follow him out the door, afraid it might lose its prey. The stampede stopped only when guards and officials pushed the journalists back in place. “Please, everyone, he’s just going to the bathroom!” one official shouted in exasperation. “He’ll be back, I promise.” ‘He’s an exact copy’ The two Hus are not related by blood, but they share strikingly similar backgrounds, career paths, early achievements and strong pragmatic streaks — reasons the elder Hu may have identified the younger Hu more than two decades ago and begun moving him up the ranks. “How do you describe Hu Chunhua? You look at Hu Jintao and imagine him a little younger,” said Cheng Li, a China politics expert at the Brookings Institution. “He’s an exact copy.” Both built their careers from humble beginnings — in sharp contrast with many current officials who were born into prominent Communist families, including China’s new leader, Xi. Both were shaped by long stints in Tibet and a network of allies they cultivated while at the Communist Youth League. Like Hu Jintao, who is renowned for a photographic memory, Little Hu distinguished himself early in academics. He began college at the unusually young age of 16, becoming the first from his home town of Wufeng to be admitted to the prestigious Peking University. After graduation, he turned down a job in Beijing and chose to work in the rougher, more challenging region of Tibet. He became fluent in the Tibetan language and culture, and met and worked with Hu Jintao, who became Tibet’s party secretary in 1988. As a young official, Little Hu moved through a series of important jobs, including governor of Hebei province. “He


Baltimore, not D.C., fights test tampering

What would happen if the D.C. school system were to root out the educators who appear to have tampered with thousands of test answer sheets? No D.C. principal has been fired or disciplined for changing wrong answers to right ones, despite compelling evidence that some of them or their staffs did so. What if D.C. Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson shed her see-no-evil attitude and got tough? Take a short drive up Interstate 95 to Baltimore. There is the answer, messy and incomplete but heartening to many veteran educators and parents in D.C. and Baltimore who think cheating should be taken seriously. Andres Alonso Alonso told me if a school is hit by a rash of wrong-to-right erasures with no innocent explanation, and the resulting high scores plummet when security is tightened, he considers these factors in assessing the school’s leaders. He said he will continue to recommend discipline against such administrators “as any other action is a disservice to our children.” Jimmy Gittings, president of the Baltimore union that represents school administrators, said both principals who retired without challenging their dismissals did nothing wrong. They told him they did not want to risk the union’s finances with expensive appeals. But when the dismissed principal and test coordinator at Abbottston Elementary School said they wanted to fight back, Gittings said, the union board agreed to do it. The legal bill so far is $500,000, he said. Examiners who are part of the appeals process recommended that the city school board overturn Alonso’s actions at Abbottston. The board decided instead to uphold the firing of the test coordinator but let the principal return to work with the loss of two years’ pay and no guarantee she would run a school again. The examiners agreed with the Abbottston administrators that the state analysis of the school’s erasure data — done by an official in her living room — was flawed. But the board said the testimony still showed that the average number of wrong-to-right erasures among the answer sheets examined had ranged from 8 to 18, far above the norm. Abbottston’s 100 percent proficiency rate the year those erasures occurred was not believable, the board said. The school’s proficiency rate dropped nearly 40 percentage points the following year, when Abbottston administrators lost access to completed answer sheets. “The totality of the evidence convinces us that the only plausible explanation is that cheating occurred,”


NSO begins ‘Beyond the Score’ series

The National Symphony Orchestra presented an illuminating multimedia production of Dmitri Shostakovich’s fourth symphony at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall Friday evening, introducing Washingtonians to a didactic performing arts experience that has been cultivating new classical music audiences nationwide. Under the baton of guest conductor Vasily Petrenko, the NSO debuted its new initiative, “Beyond the Score.” The production is the brainchild of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s artistic programming adviser, Gerard McBurney, who has created a musical lecture series focused on 21 composers so far. In concert, it means video montages, live narration and orchestral excerpts from the respective composers’ works. For the first half of the Shostakovich program, the NSO provided morsels of Symphony No. 4 in C Major, Op. 43, as backdrop to biographical sketches engagingly recited by narrator Nigel Boon, NSO’s artistic planning director, and actor Michael Boudewyns, whose portrayals of the shy composer and his oppressed compatriots resonated, despite some microphone glitches. The symphony itself became a ready-made soundtrack for the black-and-white images depicting Soviet industrial growth, Stalin’s rise and the people’s plight. After intermission, the NSO gave the hour-long symphony an authoritative and athletic concert performance. Petrenko emphasized the score’s drama and lyricism in his unique way — his arms hammering like those of a blacksmith, his left hand floating like a butterfly, fingers fluttering in time. The musicians responded in kind, with every note and phrase meticulously crafted. Sometimes it seemed they were leading the young conductor with their brawny sounds, so deliberate, unrelenting and yet free of the emotional frenzy that could have overpowered the score. Judging by the cheers for the orchestra and its soloists during two curtain calls, the production successfully reached the iPad generation and seasoned listeners alike, which bodes well for the NSO’s treatment of Tchaikovsky’s fourth symphony in April. Under the baton of guest conductor Vasily Petrenko, the NSO debuted its new initiative, “Beyond the Score.” (Courtesy of Kennedy Center) Jean is a freelance writer.


Targeting Russia’s offenders

ON FRIDAY, the House of Representatives stepped out of the past and confronted today’s human rights debacle in Russia. By a vote of 365-43, the chamber repealed the 1974 Jackson-Vanik trade restrictions that were a cornerstone of the long struggle to win freedom for Soviet Jews to emigrate. At the same time, the House approved legislation creating new sanctions against human rights abusers, including those who sent corruption-fighting lawyer Sergei Magnitsky to his death in a jail cell three years ago. The Jackson-Vanik amendment was a singularly powerful instrument in the Cold War, a counter-weight to detente that was championed by Sen. Henry M. “Scoop” Jackson (D-Wash.). The original purpose has long been realized. Russia does not prevent emigration, as the Soviet Union once did, and it has now joined the World Trade Organization. The new legislation will create permanent, normal trade relations with Russia, an important and welcome foundation for American firms seeking to do business there. But Mr. Jackson’s goals have not been fulfilled entirely. Respect for human rights in Russia has plunged since President Vladimir Putin returned to office this year, confronted by large street demonstrations against his rule. A string of new laws has restricted freedom of expression, assembly and association. The laws give the state expanded powers to accuse individuals of treason; restrict nongovernmental organizations that receive money from abroad; and attempt to limit participation in public demonstrations. Moreover, Mr. Putin’s enforcers have been eager to set an example for those who would challenge the Kremlin. A band of punk rockers, Pussy Riot, received harsh prison sentences after a performance prank that included criticism of Mr. Putin. An opposition activist was apparently abducted by Russian agents while in Kiev, brought back to Moscow and interrogated. These tactics are intended to create fear and intimidation. The new legislation is named for Mr. Magnitsky, who uncovered an embezzlement scheme by Russian officials, after which he was imprisoned, was mistreated and died. The legislation would allow the United States to deny visas to those involved in human rights abuse, as well as freeze their assets. The measure is an attempt to name and shame the offenders in the Magnitsky case and beyond. Right away, Russia reacted by vowing “tough” retaliation against what it called “unfriendly and provocative” legislation. Obviously, the sanctions are a potent threat, and that’s good. Time is running short for action in the Senate, where


Want to support the troops? Give them good military leaders

saying the president was aware of this, it’s a private matter, and he’s confident that Gen. Petraeus did not compromise national security. We’re in a steady descent into a world in which there is no privacy, in which the FBI is investigating lovers’ quarrels, while, if I understood this correctly, there were 57 American casualties in Afghanistan last week—that is, killed or wounded. That worries me much more than what Gen. Petraeus may have been doing with one woman, between two consenting adults. Military leaders garner more respect from the general public than leaders in many other fields, and the business world—both via corporate training programs and business school academics—tends to lionize the military when it comes to teaching leadership. Yet your book explores why the leadership at the top of the military is really problematic. Why do you think that discrepancy exists? The U.S. Army is a great institution. The rebuilding of the U.S. Army after the Vietnam War was an epic struggle and was enormously successful. Today we have great frontline soldiers. They are well equipped, they are well trained and they are in cohesive units. The problem is at the very top. This magnificent rebuilding of the U.S. military after Vietnam really did recreate the force, but they kept the old head. The one thing they didn’t really change after Vietnam was how they shaped their generals. What we got was a generation of officers who thought tactically and not strategically. It’s the difference between being trained and being educated. You train people for known attacks. You educate people for the unknown, the complex, the ambiguous, the difficult situation. Much of the book refers back to George Marshall, who led the Army during World War II. How would you characterize his style of leadership? George Marshall was a good man and a great man and a decent man. He was not a nice man. He couldn’t afford to be nice. He took advantage of the crisis to get rid of 600 officers he considered “dead wood.” He had a system during World War II under which generals had about 90 days to succeed, to get killed or to be relieved and move into some other job. It’s a system of extreme accountability. Marshall believed that generalship should be extremely difficult, that generalship should be extremely stressful—both physically and intellectually—and that not everybody can do it. So he


New medical marijuana initiatives haven’t convinced insurers

to reclassify the drug, following an evaluation by the Department of Health and Human Services. Proponents of medical marijuana argue that research shows marijuana to be effective or show promise in treating a variety of medical problems, from cancer pain and nausea to spasticity caused by multiple sclerosis. They point to the drug Marinol, which is approved to stimulate appetite in patients with AIDS and contains a synthetic version of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), one of the active ingredients in marijuana. But health insurers remained unconvinced. There are “legal issues in most states,” says Susan Pisano, a spokewoman for America’s Health Insurance Plans, a trade group, since it’s a federal crime to use marijuana, even in states that permit it for medicinal purposes. In addition, she says, employers and health plans want to see stronger scientific evidence that marijuana is as safe and effective as other drugs to treat pain or nausea, for example, before they would cover it. In states that allow medical marijuana, laws vary widely. Some permit people to grow their own supply, others only permit marijuana to be distributed through a state-regulated dispensary. Patients generally must get a recommendation from a physician and then register with the state. States restrict the amount someone can possess for his or her own use, permitting a specified number of ounces or a supply that lasts up to 60 days, for example. A typical patient might purchase an eighth of an ounce — the equivalent of about three joints — from a dispensary at a cost of $20 to $60, says Kris Hermes, a spokesman for Americans for Safe Access. But patients’ needs vary widely. “Some people only need a few hits at a time to experience a therapeutic effect,” he says. “Others need to smoke several marijuana cigarettes a day or ingest it with food, which takes considerably more.” Neither Virginia nor Maryland has legalized medical marijuana. In Maryland, however, if someone who is charged with possession or use meets certain medical criteria, he or she won’t face criminal penalties. Meanwhile, even some patients in states that permit its use for medical purposes scramble to maintain their supply. Steph Sherer is one of them. The District passed a medical marijuana law in 2010 but hasn’t yet set up dispensaries to distribute the drug. (It selected six companies to cultivate the plants last spring.) Sherer, 36, is the executive director of Americans


Banks say they have given $26 billion in homeowner relief so far

banks and the government, finalized in February, represented the largest industry settlement since an agreement with tobacco companies in 1998. Critics have described it as too limited — not able to help more than a fraction of homeowners in need — and as too little punishment for the banks involved, given their widespread foreclosure abuses. State and federal officials who negotiated the deal have argued that the settlement never was intended to be a panacea, but that it will provide quick and much-needed relief to many homeowners throughout the country. While much of the attention surrounding the landmark settlement earlier this year focused on the banks’ agreement to lower loan balances, fast-track short sales and offer more loan modifications, those requirements marked only part of the overall deal. Earlier this fall, more than 300 changes went into effect for how banks service mortgages and interact with troubled homeowners. Those new standards, say government officials, are key to repairing the broken mortgage-servicing system. The changes include forbidding the practice of filing forged and shoddy legal paperwork to speed foreclosure cases — a process known as “robo-signing,” which triggered national outrage in 2010 and led to initial settlement talks. In addition, banks no longer are allowed to foreclose on homeowners while simultaneously working with them on a loan modification, a process known as “dual tracking.” They must give homeowners a single point of contact, rather than routing each call to employees unfamiliar with the case. They also must explore other options to keep borrowers in their homes, only resorting to foreclosure when those efforts fail. Smith said Monday that he is working to ensure that banks have indeed begun to adhere to the new standards. The settlement also set aside $2.5 billion to help states pay for housing counselors, mortgage mediation, legal aid and other efforts aimed at helping homeowners. As recently as last month, less than half that money had been put to such programs, and some states had instead used their funds to plug budget holes. According to a recent report from the Maryland-based nonprofit Enterprise Community Partners, which details each state’s use of settlement funds, only 14 states have committed to putting their entire windfall toward housing programs. A dozen more have dedicated at least three-quarters of their funds toward such efforts. Smith said that banks must submit another detailed update on their relief efforts to him in February.


Astronomers spy a planet untethered to any star; there may be many more

An artist’s impression shows the newly found free-floating planet located about 100 light-years from Earth. Last year, a NASA-funded team estimated that there might be millions of such planetary mass objects, or planemos. (HO/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE VIA GETTY IMAGES) There’s an orphan planet roaming our galactic neighborhood. It’s a globe of gas about the size of Jupiter, astronomers say. And it’s out there by its lonesome, untethered to any star, drifting about 100 light-years from Earth. (In astronomical terms, that’s close.) Astronomers have spied lonely planets before. But this newest object, seen near the southern constellation Dorado, is the closest to Earth yet found. Unobscured by starlight, the new planet — it has no name, just a catalog number — provides a perfect opportunity for astronomers to learn about the mysterious class of “substellar objects.” Such rogue bodies might number in the billions in our galaxy alone. “There could really be a lot of them,” said Christian Veillet, former director of the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope, who studied the lonely planet. “But it’s a big challenge in terms of observing them.” That’s because these drifting bodies are dark. With no home star, they reflect no starlight, nor do they generate any. But, like an iron pulled from a fire, the youngest of these objects still glow with the heat of their creation. In 2009, astronomers in Hawaii spied such a heat signal with an infrared camera. Another team at the Paranal Observatory in Chile then swung a big telescope around to take a peek. They detected a planetlike object, estimated to be as big around as Jupiter but perhaps four to seven times as massive. Instruments sensed ammonia, methane and water vapor in the object’s atmosphere — typical of Saturn, Jupiter, Neptune and Uranus, the gas-giant planets in our own solar system. By watching the object’s motion, astronomer Jonathan Gagne of the University of Montreal concluded that the planet is probably part of the AB Doradus group, a loose collection of 30 stars that formed from the same cloud of galactic gas. That cloud must have broken off a small puff that coalesced into the lonely planet, Gagne and his colleagues surmise. Connecting the planet to the star group was key to determining that it is young, just 50 million to 120 million years old, Gagne said. (Our solar system, in contrast, is 4.5 billion years old.) Its youth, in turn, was crucial


Medical Mystery: A woman endures multiple surgeries when a wound will not heal

clue — an atypical form of bacteria often found in tap water; doctors decided it was a contaminant, not the culprit, and didn’t pursue it. A month later, Ayala sought treatment in a Maryland emergency room for a high fever; doctors determined she had methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, a dangerous form of staph that is often acquired in hospitals. “Don’t come back here,” she said a doctor advised her, suggesting that she seek treatment at a hospital with greater expertise. “We don’t know what to do for you.” Feeling powerless In August 2011, Ayala became a patient at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital’s Center for Wound Healing. At that point, she said, she was wrung out from dealing with an intractable leg wound, two parents with advanced dementia and several doctors whom she characterized as having “the sensitivity of a rock.” Exhausted and in pain, she said, she tearfully confided to her husband, “ ‘I can’t take it anymore. Why don’t they just cut my leg off?’ I couldn’t see clients, I couldn’t paint, I couldn’t go to Minnesota to see my granddaughter who’d just been born.” At Georgetown, her doctors, who included a plastic surgeon, an orthopedic surgeon and an infectious-disease specialist, were baffled by her case. The team called in Shanmugam, a principal investigator for the federally funded research study called WE-HEAL, which involves patients with autoimmune disorders and chronic wounds that won’t heal. Shanmugam said she was struck by the paradoxical nature of Ayala’s case. Often, she said, aggressive treatment of an underlying autoimmune disorder speeds healing. “But her case was the opposite,” Shanmugam noted. “The more aggressive people got with her lupus, the worse she got.” In reviewing Ayala’s records, the rheumatologist noted the earlier test that was regarded as a lab error, possibly caused by tap water. It piqued Shanmugam’s interest. Several years earlier, she had seen a patient whose persistent hand infection was caused by an unusual organism called Mycobacterium kansasii, a cousin of tuberculosis, which is found in soil and water. She wondered whether the same organism had somehow burrowed into the area surrounding Ayala’s knee, where it festered. “I’m sure that case made me more aware of it,” she said. “There really weren’t a lot of other things it could be.” Ayala said that when Shanmugam told her that an uncommon organism might be to blame, her spirits lifted. “For the first


Fighting in Gaza leaves U.S. in difficult position with Turkey, Egypt

As Israel continues its air campaign in the Gaza Strip and militants continue to lob artillery rounds into Israel, civilians on both sides suffer. The Israeli-Hamas conflict is putting the Obama administration at odds with two of its most important partners in the Middle East, threatening to undermine other U.S. objectives in the region at a time of political upheaval. On Monday, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, which has frequently served as a moderate voice in the region, described Israel as a “terrorist state” and condemned the airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, which is run by the Islamist group Hamas. Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi has warned Israel against a ground invasion and thrown his support behind Hamas’s leadership, sending his prime minister to Gaza. The growing outcry has exposed the United States to criticism that it has not done enough to press Israel to agree to a cease-fire. The conflict has also created a wedge in relations with officials in Egypt and Turkey and highlighted the limits of U.S. influence in the aftermath of the revolutions that swept the region last year. Against this backdrop, President Obama on Tuesday escalated U.S. involvement in trying to resolve the conflict, dispatching Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to meet with officials in Israel, the West Bank and Egypt. She leaves for the region from Phnom Penh, where she took part in the East Asia Summit with Obama. Since the United States does not have relations with Hamas, however, Clinton is scheduled to meet in Ramallah with West Bank Palestinian leaders who are on the sidelines of the Gaza crisis, leaving it unclear how much she can hope to achieve. Hours before Clinton was due to arrive in Israel, police and ambulances were called to the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv after a man attacked a guard, witnesses said. Mickey Rosenfeld, a spokesman for the Israel Police said a 40-year-old Tel Aviv man armed with a knife and an ax attacked a guard at the U.S. embassy at approximately 11:30 a.m. The guard, who was “lightly injured,” fired “warning shots,” Rosenfeld said, but no one else was wounded. Neither the new Islamist government in Egypt nor the established one in Turkey has succeeded in persuading Hamas to cease firing rockets from Gaza into Israel. Jordan — like Egypt, a traditional lever of U.S. influence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict — has similarly


Katrina vanden Heuvel: Time to end the war on drugs

where members of both parties might be able to find common ground. Obama can lead across party lines by seeking out libertarian members of the GOP to join him in crafting better drug policies. In fact, in May, Democratic Reps. Sam Farr (Calif.) and Maurice Hinchey (N.Y.) joined with Republican Dana Rohrabacher (Calif.) on a bill that would have cut federal funding for the Justice Department’s marijuana busts. And Senator Rand Paul recently indicated he might work with Democrat Pat Leahy to eliminate mandatory minimum sentences for marijuana possession. Meanwhile, if left free of federal intrusion, Colorado and Washington might become a model for legalizing and taxing marijuana. If successful, the experiment could yield millions in tax revenues and drastically decrease incarceration rates, while giving members of Congress more incentive to change federal law. It could even help improve U.S. relations with Latin America, and help demilitarize our hemispheric policies with our closest neighbors, particularly Mexico. If Congress fails and, four years from now, a new president instructs the DOJ to crack down again, any such reforms would be at risk. But if Colorado and Washington show positive results, the public, which already believes the drug war has failed, might support wider implementation, and perhaps force a federal solution. To be sure, Colorado and Washington are not the final battlefields of the war on drugs. Marijuana is not the sole drug behind our astounding incarceration rate for nonviolent drug-related crimes. We’re a long way from a just system that addresses drug use with treatment rather than punishment. Still, we might be one step closer to ending our failed attempt at marijuana prohibition, much as, in 1933, public opinion finally brought an end to alcohol prohibition. In the first proclamation of Thanksgiving, President Lincoln acknowledged the many gifts bestowed by a god who, “while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.” This holiday, as President Obama pardons the traditional turkey, let’s hope he also considers the millions of Americans trapped in a cruel, senseless system. May he heed Lincoln’s words and offer them forgiveness and, above all, hope. Read more from Opinions: George F. Will: Should the U.S. legalize hard drugs? Eric Schmidt and Jared Cohen: Technology can be harnessed to fight drug cartels in Mexico Jill Harris: Drug policy no longer a third rail Martin Austermuhle: Will the D.C. Council regulate medical marijuana to death?


The JFK 50-Mile Run: Pride cometh after the fall

One of the largest, oldest and most iconic ultramarathons in the United States, and perhaps the world, attracted runners from around the globe for its 50th running Nov. 17. “Visualization” is a common training technique practiced by athletes at all levels. Coaches teach you to imagine, in fine detail, succeeding at the task ahead again and again, ingraining the lesson to help make it reality when the big day arrives. For a basketball player, this might mean picturing a smoothly stroked free throw with the game on the line. For a baseball player, it could be unleashing a perfect swing with the flawless timing and mechanics needed to launch a 95 mph fastball out of the park. For a distance runner, it is holding the perfect pace, form intact at the edge of exhaustion, on a brilliantly sunny, cool, clear autumn day. A day like Saturday. It is hard to imagine a better start to the 50th JFK 50-Mile run than the one I enjoyed as I stepped to the starting line in Boonsboro, Md., with about 150 other runners in the 5 a.m. wave. (Another 900 swifter participants would follow us at 7 a.m.). It was 30 degrees in the pitch blackness, no wind, no rain. I had trained for months and was in good shape. I had even managed to get a few hours of sleep, which usually eludes me on the eve of a race, before rising at 3:15 a.m. to prepare for the longest run of my life. I felt strong and comfortable as we trudged up the long hill that leads out of town to the Appalachian Trail, occasionally chatting with others bound up in the challenge of the nation’s oldest and most famous ultramarathon, but often alone in a bubble of light from my headlamp. Runner John Kippen, 61,of Frederick, Md., snacks on a cookie at the 30.5 aid station during the JFK 50 Mile run. (Richard A. Lipski/FOR THE WASHINGTON POST) I picked my way cautiously but confidently along the trail, running where the terrain allowed, slowing to a walk when I encountered fields of jagged rocks below my feet. I welcomed daybreak high on the spine of South Mountain, where I had to stop for a moment to admire the view. Four and a half hours later — 30 minutes sooner than I’d expected — I was a half-mile from conquering the


Legality of U-Md. regents’ Big Ten vote questioned

As the University of Maryland’s top officials finalized a surprising move to the Big Ten Conference this week, the school’s public governing board went into “emergency” mode and met twice in secret to decide whether it would endorse the change. Those meetings — unannounced and entirely out of public view — appear to have been in violation of the Maryland Open Meetings Act, according to legal experts. The act lays out rules for gatherings of public entities such as the University System of Maryland’s Board of Regents, which the governor appoints to oversee most of the state’s public colleges and universities. University system officials said they were unable to produce documentation related to the closed sessions because such documents weren’t created “due to the emergency nature” of the task at hand. The school’s sparing account of the decision to abandon the Atlantic Coast Conference — an athletic league that Maryland helped create nearly six decades ago — has in part inspired anger and confusion in College Park, as fans, students and even one member of the board expressed dismay that the process was not open and transparent. It appears, from university accounts and a timeline provided Tuesday to The Washington Post, that the board believed it needed to act quickly. On Sunday afternoon, 12 of the 17 regents participated in a telephone conference with school officials to discuss the possibility of the flagship school in College Park joining the Big Ten, according to a university system spokesman. On Monday at 8:30 a.m., 10 regents gathered in the president’s conference room at the University of Maryland at Baltimore, and four others joined via telephone for a two-hour meeting, during which they voted 13 to 1 to endorse the move. Regents are allowed to meet in closed session to discuss some issues, but they are required to first take a public vote to close. That didn’t happen for either meeting, according to spokesman Mike Lurie. Legal experts say that was a violation of the Maryland Open Meetings Act. “The law is unmistakable that you can’t just close the meeting because you feel like it,” said Frank D. LoMonte, executive director of the Student Press Law Center in Arlington County. LoMonte added that the vote could be at risk of being voided. “With the amount of money at stake here, they would be smart to hit the restart button,” LoMonte said. “If I


NIH will share more info about outbreaks, high-profile diseases

In this photo taken Aug. 21, 2012, Dr. Tara Palmore, deputy hospital epidemiologist at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center, left, and Dr. Julie Segre, a geneticist with the National Human Genome Research Institute, pose at the NIH Clinical Center in Bethesda, Md. Last year a deadly superbug spread through the nation's leading research hospital, killing six patients before it could be stopped. (Patrick Semansky/AP) After absorbing criticism for failing to immediately disclose a deadly superbug outbreak, officials at the National Institutes of Health have agreed to notify state and county officials of any potentially high-profile diseases or outbreaks, even those that do not pose an obvious public risk, county officials said this week. The new agreement between NIH, Maryland and Montgomery County is scheduled to be finalized after the Thanksgiving holiday, an NIH spokeswoman said. The pact is designed to prevent the controversy spawned after an antibiotic-resistant strain of the bacterium Klebsiella pneumoniae spread throughout the 234-bed research facility in Bethesda. The germ arrived at the hospital in June 2011 with a New York woman who needed a lung transplant. It infected more patients by August 2011, eventually infecting a total of 18, 12 of whom died. Seven of the deaths were directly attributed to the superbug. In December, as the situation worsened, NIH contacted Maryland’s state epidemiologist, seeking advice. But neither NIH nor the state shared any information with the county about the outbreak, which became public in August 2012, when NIH researchers published a scientific paper about it. At the time, Montgomery County Council President Roger Berliner (D-Potomac-Bethesda) complained that the county hadn’t been notified. Carol Jordan, the county health department’s director of communicable diseases and epidemiology, said recent discussions about the new agreement have clarified all the parties’ public health responsibilities, including informing the public. Under the pact, NIH will notify the county of rare or potentially high-profile diseases or outbreaks that might alarm the public, even if there is no public health risk, Jordan said. “Nobody wanted a repeat of what happened during the Klebsiella outbreak over there,” she said. Jordan said the outbreak “was probably not a risk to the public,” but added, “When a paper is published about it, it will certainly raise questions from the public. . . . And that kind of thing, the county needs to know about.” NIH officials have said they did not alert the public earlier


death in September of a young man from Minnesota. One adult patient who arrived in mid-summer from another health-care facility was found to have a different Klebsiella strain, NIH clinical center spokeswoman Maggie McGuire said. That patient is in a single room at the end of a unit. NIH is using human monitors to ensure that all staff and visitors are scrubbing their hands and following other precautions. The center is also continuing to test all inpatients monthly for Klebsiella and patients on high-risk units every two weeks. Meanwhile, Berliner now says he understands the Klebsiella infection posed no threat to the broader public. He and Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) toured the medical facility with NIH Director Francis Collins and Clinical Center Director John Gallin on Nov. 9. “This was a learning experience that we hadn’t had previously,” Berliner said. “They are very open and willing to share with us at any point in time,” even in situations that pose only a “borderline” risk to public health. Still, he added, it’s important to have a plan in place for communicating to the county and state about potentially worrisome situations at the hospital. Under the agreement, when there is a potential infection cluster at the clinical center, NIH will consult with the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and voluntarily report to the state those cases the state considers public health risks, NIH spokeswoman McGuire said. Instead of relying on the state to inform the county, NIH will now notify the county health department directly, she said. In addition, NIH will notify the county when patients in the hospital have communicable diseases that pose a threat to county residents. For example, if an Ohio resident arrived at NIH and was found to have measles, NIH would tell the county because measles is a highly contagious illness. NIH employees who live in the community and others could be at risk, and the county would need to launch a disease investigation. “Not only has the person exposed everybody else at the hospital, including the staff, we would need to find out where else did that person go, like did they go to lunch at Denny’s,” said Cindy Edwards, administrator for Montgomery County’s disease control program. Other federal facilities, such as Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, report diseases affecting county residents to the county. Brian Vastag contributed to this report.


Probe eyes any Petraeus staff role in Broadwell obtaining sensitive documents

Force headquarters in Kabul questioned Broadwell’s access to certain classified records, she assured them that Petraeus had approved her seeing the material. “Even if he did not directly give her classified information, he was allowing his name to be used,” said the former official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the matter freely. “I would be surprised if anyone would raise a question for anything below ‘top secret.’ ” Those close to Petraeus’s inner circle said Broadwell could have easily collected classified briefing materials distributed during meetings that were not supposed to leave the secure facilities where such conferences take place. Because of her unusual status, she probably would not have been subject to a search when leaving military offices, they said. A former Petraeus associate said Broadwell could have obtained electronic copies of classified material from a little-known internal military research arm that had carte blanche to review and consolidate classified material. The research arm, which was part of Centcom, had a special ability to make electronic copies of sensitive material and transfer it to computer disks. A spokesman at Centcom in Tampa declined to comment. Copying and e-mailing classified material is prohibited except on secure networks. A former colleague of Broadwell’s told The Post last week that he received a disk from Broadwell that contained documents marked “secret,” including schedules for Petraeus and other high-ranking officers and military PowerPoints. The level of sensitivity of the records Broadwell obtained is unclear. President Obama said at a news conference last week that he had seen no evidence that the release of these records “in any way would have had a negative impact on our national security.” But even low-level classified records typically cannot be kept on someone’s personal computer or in their home. “Using Centcom as an example, I can count on one hand the number of people who have clearance to have classified material at their home,” one former Petraeus associate said. “General Petraeus was one.” On Nov. 12, FBI agents searched Broadwell’s Charlotte home while she was with her family in Washington. They removed dozens of boxes of records as well as computer disks and multiple central processing units, which store the deeper memories of desktop computers. Broadwell has been cooperating with the investigation. Two days after the FBI search at her home, the Army suspended Broadwell’s security clearance. Kimberly Kindy contributed to this report.


Alexandria-Arlington Animal Watch

ALEXANDRIA This case was handled by the Animal Welfare League of Alexandria, which operates the city animal shelter and provides animal control services. The shelter is open from 1 to 8 p.m. weekdays, except Wednesdays, and noon to 5 p.m. weekends. For information or to report emergencies involving animals 24 hours a day, call 703-746-4774. The league’s Web site is Attack on rabid raccoon bites back: Black Friday special at shelter: Trap-Neuter-Return Program: ARLINGTON COUNTY These cases were handled by the Animal Welfare League of Arlington, which operates the county animal shelter and provides animal control services to the county. For information or to report emergencies involving animals 24 hours a day, call 703-931-9241. The league’s Web site is www.awla.org. A purr-fect catch: Neighbor has giant incisors: — Compiled by Ria Manglapus


After Lance Armstrong: Why rules against doping matter

Tom Murray is president emeritus of the Hastings Center, a nonpartisan research institute focused on bioethics, and a visiting scholar at Yale. He chairs the ethical issues committee of the World Anti-Doping Agency. Day after day, it seems, more top cyclists who competed in the sport’s peak doping era are admitting they broke the rules. The cult of omerta has at last been broken. Lance Armstrong’s supporters are running out of plausible defenses. His recent photo of himself reclining in front of his seven framed Tour de France jerseys is more sad than defiant: He’s been stripped of the championship titles they once represented. The facts laid out in the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency’s decision and the affidavits by his former teammates cut off just about every avenue of escape. Except one. Some critics say the problem isn’t athletes who break the rules but the rules themselves — specifically, the prohibition on doping. They argue that using performance-enhancing technologies such as the blood-boosting hormone EPO, testosterone and blood transfusions would not be cheating if they were not prohibited. True. And some even celebrate athletes transformed by technology. But these critics don’t understand two essential truths about sport. Statements by cyclists such as Dave Zabriskie or Tyler Hamilton, in his book “The Secret Race,” help clarify the stakes. More than 30 years of conversations with elite athletes have made clear to me what happens: Exceptionally talented young athletes rise through the ranks, eager to reach the top. Some get tantalizingly close, only to discover that success and acceptance mean doing what their competitors are doing. For a sad era in cycling, from the late 1980s to 2008, it meant doping. Hamilton described a grooming process: Once he was offered one of the drug-filled “white bags” that team leaders were given, it was a sign that he’d arrived. Other cyclists have described pressures to conform to the team leader’s demands. For the U.S. Postal Service team, that often meant paying for the services of the notorious Italian physician and doping expert Michele Ferrari. The math is straightforward. The difference between standing on the podium and straggling in with the peloton may be 1 or 2 percent in terms of performance. When drugs and blood transfusions provide a 5 or 10 percent advantage, athletes who refuse to dope when others do are making a choice. It’s an honorable choice, but it diminishes their hope


WSSC considers limits to horse riding, fishing at two reservoirs

The Jug Bay Natural Area on the Patuxent River in Prince George’s County. (Rita Zeidner/FTWP) As suburban Maryland’s water utility considers how to reduce sediment and pollutants in its two Patuxent River reservoirs, an outside expert has concluded that decades-old horse trails should be moved farther from the water and unauthorized shoreline fishing areas should be closed. People who use the reservoirs as lakes for boating also should be required to sign affidavits promising not to use their boats in other waterways, the consultant said in a report to the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission. Doing so, the analysis said, would help ward off invasive species, such as zebra mussels, that can damage intake pipes at water treatment plants. The findings from a one-year study by EA Engineering, Science and Technology, based in Baltimore County, were released this week as WSSC considers how much access horseback riders, fishing enthusiasts, kayakers and picnickers should retain to WSSC’s 5,600 acres of woods and shoreline. “Without question, water safety and water quality are our top priority,” WSSC General Manager Jerry N. Johnson said in an interview. “To the extent we can accommodate recreational uses in the area, then we certainly want to do that.” The Rocky Gorge Reservoir, which straddles eastern Montgomery County and northwestern Prince George’s, and the Triadelphia Reservoir in Montgomery and Howard counties, provide drinking water for about 600,000 people in Montgomery and Prince George’s. Drinking water for the other 1.2 million people served by WSSC in both counties comes from the Potomac River, but the utility does not own or control the land around those reservoirs. WSSC officials have said that the utility has encouraged recreation on its land since the 1970s through permits ranging in price from $5 daily to $60 annually. The utility has issued about 5,600 recreational permits this year, officials said. The issue heated up in May 2011, when the WSSC suddenly forbade riding on equestrian trails at Rocky Gorge and prohibited all riding between Nov. 15 and April 1. Horseback riding has not been permitted at the Triadelphia reservoir since 1960, a WSSC spokesman said. Riding at Rocky Gorge is permitted only on a 10-mile stretch of a perimeter road, but riders have said that the steep, deeply rutted road is dangerous. WSSC officials have said that they had become increasingly concerned that horse waste and sediment running off the equestrian trails made the drinking


Army at crossroads, facing budget cuts and uncertainty about future role

emphasizes air and naval power over ground forces. It also is still fighting a messy war in Afghanistan and dealing with the mental wounds of combat. Ten months into 2012, the number of suspected suicides of active-duty soldiers had exceeded last year’s total of 165. Sgt. Maj. Raymond F. Chandler III, the Army’s top enlisted soldier, has traveled to bases around the world with a raft of new regulations. (Anonymous/AP) Earlier this month, the service suffered another psychological blow when retired Gen. David H. Petraeus, the most lauded Army officer of the post-Vietnam War era, was forced to step down as director of the CIA after admitting to an extramarital affair with his biographer. “We’ve always come down in numbers after conflicts, and our budget has always gone down, too,” said Lt. Gen. John Campbell, a top Army general at the Pentagon. “The difference is that we are doing this while we are still continuing to fight. And that is what is causing a lot more friction.” Officials, however, said that the Army is not facing the crippling problems with discipline and drug abuse that followed the Vietnam War. Although multiple combat tours have strained marriages and contributed to the increasing suicide rate, the Army has been able to retain its combat-tested junior leaders. “Our young leaders learned to run cities in Iraq,” Campbell said. “They are so . . . adaptable and flexible.” One big struggle for the Army will be to keep these junior officers and sergeants interested in a stateside service in which fewer resources are available for tough, realistic training and a greater focus on minutiae such as drill and ceremony. One mid-level sergeant at Fort Bragg, N.C., recently complained that he watched several junior soldiers get yelled at for donning Army-issued fleece hats on a cold morning when they were supposed to be wearing baseball-style patrol caps. “It’s cold. They are cold. Let them wear what they want,” the sergeant said. “But it is not the published standard, so everybody gets a butt-chewing. We have defaulted back to before 9/11.” As the war in Afghanistan draws to a close, more senior officers worry that the Army has not been able to articulate a clear mission that will enable it to hold on to its shrinking share of the Pentagon budget. “I want an Army that is capable of many missions at many speeds, many sizes,


As cyberwarfare heats up, allies turn to U.S. companies for expertise

In the spring of 2010, a sheik in the government of Qatar began talks with the U.S. consulting company Booz Allen Hamilton, aboev, about developing a plan to build a cyber-operations center. (Jeffrey MacMillan/For The Washington Post) In the spring of 2010, a sheik in the government of Qatar began talks with the U.S. consulting company Booz Allen Hamilton about developing a plan to build a cyber-operations center. He feared Iran’s growing ability to attack its regional foes in cyberspace and wanted Qatar to have the means to respond. Several months later, officials from Booz Allen and partner firms met at the company’s sprawling Tysons Corner campus to review the proposed plan. They were scheduled to take it to Doha, the capital of the wealthy Persian Gulf state. That was when J. Michael McConnell, a senior vice president at Booz Allen and former director of national intelligence in the George W. Bush administration, learned that Qatar wanted U.S. personnel at the keyboards of its proposed cyber-center, potentially to carry out attacks on regional adversaries. “Are we talking about actually conducting these operations?” McConnell asked, according to several people at the meeting. When someone said that was the idea, McConnell uttered two words: “Hold it.” Calls were made to U.S. government officials and experts in the elite world of defense consulting. It became clear to McConnell that the notion of conducting attacks was a deal-killer. “We can’t have Americans at the keyboard running offensive operations,” said McConnell, a retired admiral who also ran the top-secret National Security Agency, according to those present. “It could be interpreted as an act of war.” The Qatar incident highlights the reality of a new arms race — the worldwide push to develop offensive and defensive cyber-capabilities. Like many other countries, Qatar wanted to improve its computer defenses in the face of a growing network warfare threat. And like others, Qatar turned to the United States, where technology firms are acknowledged leaders in the field of cyberwarfare and cyberdefense. The potential worldwide market means that U.S. companies must walk a fine line between selling their products and staying within export controls that are struggling to keep pace with the rapid technological advances in the field. After Booz Allen backed off, so did Qatar. But not for long, in the case of Qatar. In August, a cyberattack shut down the Web site and some internal servers at


Our wildlife refuges protect us, too

The Nov. 19 news article “Wildlife refuges among areas dealt a blow by Sandy” highlighted the high cost of repairing the damage done by Hurricane Sandy. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is struggling to manage its refuges on a limited budget in the face of a serious and long-term threat: climate change. It is vital that our national wildlife refuges are sufficiently funded. But preparing for storms and other climate-change impacts and making these special places more resilient is just as important. As our planet warms, glaciers melt and sea levels rise, storms like Sandy could cause even more damage. Our refuges are a haven for our wildlife, but they also help protect human communities from extreme weather. Protecting and restoring our wetlands, barrier islands and other types of wildlife habitat is a sound investment for people and wildlife alike. Noah Matson, Takoma Park The writer is vice president for climate change and natural resources adaptation at Defenders of Wildlife.


China’s manufacturing sector must reinvent itself if it’s to survive

People practice manufacturing shoes at a training center for workers in Dongguan, Guangdong Province, China, in this 2012 file photo. Guangdong, the region that drove China's rise after market barriers started coming down in 1978, is among the nation's slowest-growing as faltering demand cuts exports and workers exit. (Nelson Ching/BLOOMBERG) DONGGUAN But these days, it’s Dongguan that’s losing jobs and eyeing the United States with some envy. “I’m leaving,” said Frank Lin, a Taiwanese businessman who is shutting down his factory in Dongguan. “There’s no future for this place.” Lin, 55, sat in a cavernous dining room at the Haiyatt Garden Hotel where only two tables had diners. This room used to be packed every night, Lin said. Americans are more accustomed to hearing about Rust Belt manufacturing towns in decline — after the jobs left for China. But in China, too, there are places where factories are shuttering and the future is uncertain. From airport terminals to golf resorts, China is home to some record-breaking projects. China’s reliance on cheap labor has powered the country’s economy to unprecedented heights. But China’s manufacturing sector is running into problems these days: squeezed from one end by places with even lower labor costs, such as Laos and Vietnam, and yet struggling to move to higher ground making more advanced products because of competition from developed nations such as Germany and the United States. “China’s manufacturers are in an extremely hard situation and facing what we call ‘a sandwich trap,’ ” said Zhang Monan, a researcher in economics at the State Information Center, a government think tank. For China’s new leadership, which completed its once-in-a-decade turnover this month, the coming years include a big test. Even as China is poised to become the world’s biggest economy, it is still straining to make the transition from “the world’s factory” to becoming an economy on par with the United States. During the transition, the outgoing leader of the Communist Party, Hu Jintao, said that China’s “unbalanced, uncoordinated and unsustainable development” remains a major problem for the country, according to the official Xinhua news agency. In a way, China’s model for its manufacturing sector has become the United States. “China has to change its manufacturing strategy to be more innovative in technology and compete with a ‘reviving’ U.S.,” wrote Zhang, the researcher, this summer in an op-ed for the China Daily titled “Wake-Up Call for Industry.”


Backyard chicken boom produces fowl result: Unwanted roosters

contract to operate the District’s animal shelter, gets about 15 chickens a year — frequent enough for WHS staff to install a coop at the shelter last year, spokesman Scott Giacoppo said. The shelter sent a rooster named Biskwik to UPC in mid-November. Most of the chickens are brought in by people who the staff suspects are sheepish owners. “They come in saying, ‘Oh, I found this chicken or rooster, and he’s a stray,’ knowing full well they own the animal and realized they were illegal to possess,” Giacoppo said. “They are afraid to let us know they are owners.” In September, it took Animal Control officers in Arlington a week to catch a coterie of chickens that had taken up residence in the Roaches Run Waterfowl Sanctuary along George Washington Parkway. Animal Control had netted a rooster that was loose in a residential area a couple of weeks earlier. Residents speculated that the birds might have been wild, but Alice Burton, chief of Animal Control, doubts it. “They had help getting there,” she said. Roosters often turn up in backyard flocks through no fault of the owner. Hatcheries sometimes throw a few into an order to fill out a box, and inexperienced buyers may not realize they have a rooster until the crowing begins. Sanctuaries can take in far fewer roosters than hens for other reasons. In commercial poultry operations, the ratio of roosters to hens is usually 1 to 10, said Nathaniel L. Tablante Jr., a poultry expert at the University of Maryland at College Park. More roosters leads to trouble: The males have a tendency to fight, especially in the spring during mating season. To keep them from killing one another, Cummings houses her 13 resident roosters as far apart as possible and lets them out in the yard at different times. Too many roosters can be problematic for hens, too, said United Poultry’s president, Karen Davis. Female chickens can lose feathers, get sores or refuse to come out of their coop when they get “too much mating attention.” “They don’t want to come eat and drink because they’re worried they’ll get jumped on,” she said. Poplar Spring and UPC do not adopt out, which means vacancies take a while to open up. Chickens live an average of eight years but can survive as long as 15. They aren’t cheap to maintain, either: A coop can cost


What is keeping Mayor Gray quiet?

A FORMER CAMPAIGN worker who says that he alerted D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray (D) to suspicious activity during his 2010 primary campaign is “curious to hear” the mayor’s response to those claims. So, too, are many other people who are troubled by Mr. Gray’s continued silence. As the former aide said, the silence casts “a cloud over the mayor, and this city loses some of its credibility.” If the city is to move on, Mr. Gray needs to be more forthcoming about his knowledge of the events of 2010. Mr. Gray has declined to comment on allegations by David Dzidzienyo, reported by The Post’s Nikita Stewart and Mike DeBonis, that he questioned Mr. Gray in the summer of 2010 about the source of funding for a separate field operation headed by Vernon E. Hawkins, a longtime friend of Mr. Gray’s. He alleged that Mr. Gray’s response to his query about where the money was coming from for all the staff and supplies was to say that he didn’t want to hear about problems. Sources associated with Mr. Gray and his campaign said that the claims should be viewed with skepticism. But there’s no questioning the evidence uncovered by federal authorities of a shadow campaign that used more than $650,000 of secret money, allegedly from a businessmen with significant city contracts, to help elect Mr. Gray. Discovery of that covert campaign resulted from what seemed to many at the time to be preposterous charges from Sulaimon Brown, a fringe mayoral candidate. The mayor has said that he did nothing wrong but has steadfastly refused to address specific allegations or answer questions about his dealings with Mr. Hawkins, who has not been charged, or associates who have been charged, such as public relations executive Jeanne Clarke Harris. Mr. Gray has said that it would be inappropriate to comment as long as the investigation by U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. is ongoing. The problem with that explanation is that Mr. Gray apparently isn’t talking to federal prosecutors, either. Sources told us that he has declined several requests for a meeting; Robert S. Bennett, the mayor’s attorney, declined to comment. Mr. Gray recently said of the probe: “Obviously, we'd like to see it move on.” We agree, but there’s no reason Mr. Gray has to wait for Mr. Machen to complete his work before telling the citizens of Washington what they deserve


National Zoo mourns loss of Soyono, Sumatran tiger

She was powerful, and she possessed a rare beauty. She lived for years in the heart of Washington, and those who were closest to her regarded her as a queen. Now Soyono, the Sumatran tiger, is dead. Soyono was euthanized at the National Zoo last week. She was 19 years old, older than such tigers usually live in the wild. But even with the best of care, she was close to the limits of her life span. Last month, she had begun to walk more slowly, zoo officials said, and seemed to have trouble with her balance. She appeared to be suffering from spondylosis, a degenerative spinal disorder, which afflicts big cats as they age. Despite treatment, it became apparent that her health and quality of life were declining steadily, the zoo said. Kavi, an 11-year-old tiger, at the Great Cats Exhibit in August, 2012 in Washington, D.C. at the National Zoo. Kavi and a young female, Damai, are now the only two tigers at the Zoo following the death of Soyono. (Katherine Frey/THE WASHINGTON POST) But for years, she had been on view, an orange, black and white symbol of predatory power, able to give a ferocious roar. She weighed almost 200 pounds, pounced on unsuspecting ducks and offered a glimpse of a jungle world. “Soyono is not a tame tiger,” zoo staff members who worked with her wrote earlier in an online posting. “She was always quick to understand what we wanted,” they reported. “Sometimes she would work with us to determine exactly what it was that we wanted so she could refuse to do it again. There is a reason that an adult female cat is called a queen. And she has always been regal.” Soyono was born at the zoo on June 14, 1993, and she gave birth to seven cubs in three litters. They were sent on to other zoos to help keep the endangered species alive. Her mate died in 2010. The zoo said there are only about 700 of her sisters and brothers in the world, and only 400 of them are in the Indonesian forests from which they come. Two Sumatran tigers still prowl the zoo’s Great Cats exhibit: a male, Kavi, and a young female, Damai.


Twinkie twilight: Millennials are mourning too

usual, about themselves: If an 82-year-old brand can die, so can we. Is that even legal?” Overlooked in this food drama, however, is the group that matters most: the millennials, that grab-and-go generation, born between 1982 and 2001, who rule the snack-food world. “The college kids have been the ones most definitely in love with Twinkies — they buy boxes full,” said Steve Ettlinger, author of “Twinkie Deconstructed,” a 2007 book about the snack food’s ingredients. “They see it as a pick-me-up. I think baby boomers are more into kale.” But the millennials can also be a fickle bunch. Although brand aware in the extreme — marketers say today’s average10-year-old can recognize at least 400 brand names — brand loyalty is negligible. While shopping and texting, for instance, they might reach for a Twinkie but inadvertently pick up the Little Debbie knockoff next to it. And think nothing of it. Too bad Hostess didn’t do more to woo what snack sellers call “a consumer behemoth.” “Snacking is so integral to the lifestyle of Millennials (adults under the age of 30) that Packaged Facts considers them a driving force that will propel the U.S. snack market to sales of $77 billion by 2015,” declared an August report by the National Association of Convenience Stores. Millennials also frequently indulge in what the report called “the ‘Fourthmeal,’ a dining occasion that is an expansion of the midnight snack and is typically eaten outside the home and with at least one other person” between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. In other words, there was no good reason for Hostess to go out of business, for 18,500 workers to lose their jobs. The market was there. Part of what made the Twinkie so appealing to baby boomers, Ettlinger said, was its appearance: “cute and blonde.” “Based on my research, the American obsession with blondes in the 1950s and ’60s enhanced our response to the Twinkie,” he said. “It’s not the Marilyn Monroe of cakes, more like the blonde you catch a glimpse of as she disappears around the grocery store aisle. You don’t see people responding to Ding Dongs the same way.” Perhaps. But Ding Dongs are not chocolate Twinkies. Hostess never had a bona fide chocolate sponge cream-filled Twinkie. (The chocolate-covered finger it came out with at one point, the Chocodile, didn’t even come close.) You’d think a chocolate Twinkie would be a no-brainer


Marijuana’s foot in the door

SMALL-TIME MARIJUANA use will soon be legal in Colorado and Washington state. Sort of. This month voters in those states approved ballot measures permitting possession of up to an ounce of pot. But the federal government has not changed its policy, which labels the drug an illegal substance. Members of Congress introduced legislation Nov. 16 that would allow state marijuana rules to preempt federal ones. But that, in effect, would resemble federal legalization, and it’s unlikely to pass anytime soon. So the states’ leaders are asking for guidance from President Obama’s Justice Department, which, NPR’s Carrie Johnson reports, has a few options. It could enhance its own anti-marijuana enforcement in the states. It could sue to halt the laws’ application. Or the Justice Department could keep its hands off, perhaps continuing the approach the feds have largely taken for some time — focusing scarce resources on major violators, such as big growers that might serve multi-state markets, cultivators using public lands or dispensaries near schools. The last option is clearly best. There is reason for caution about ditching federal pot restrictions. Marijuana can be harmful, and the Drug Enforcement Administration reports that potency levels are higher than ever. The possibly major effects on public health of more driving under the influence of marijuana is a particular concern. If the federal government removed its restrictions, other states would find it easier to follow Colorado and Washington’s path. Dismantling current federal law, meanwhile, could have a range of effects on the U.S. relationship with Mexico that lawmakers should take time to consider fully, as drug cartels’ involvement in U.S. medical marijuana markets indicates. But it’s unrealistic and unwise to expect federal officials to pick up the slack left by state law- enforcement officers who used to enforce marijuana prohibitions against pot users and small-time growers. Unrealistic, because it would require lots more resources. Unwise, because filling prisons with users, each given a criminal stain on his or her record, has long been irrational. For the latter reason, we favor decriminalizing possession of small amounts of pot, assessing civil fines instead of locking people up. Also, for that reason and others, the Justice Department should hold its fire on a lawsuit challenging Colorado and Washington’s decision to behave more leniently. And state officials involved in good-faith efforts to regulate marijuana production and distribution according to state laws should be explicitly excused from federal


Jackson Diehl: Lessons from Gaza

neighboring Syria. Though the Middle East is more unpredictable than ever, it’s reasonable to forecast that the Islamists will grow still weaker in the next several years. In Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood will be no more able to sustain an autocracy than was Hosni Mubarak, and it will be blamed for its inevitable failure to meet post-revolutionary expectations. Iran’s ability to supply Gaza militants with rockets likely will wane because of economic sanctions and the crumbling of the allied Syrian regime. At the same time, this Gaza episode may finally finish off the stubbornly persistent notion that Israel should negotiate a peace settlement with the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority without Hamas’s involvement. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and his Western-backed security forces are still relevant, as Abbas will probably demonstrate this week by winning a U.N. General Assembly vote recognizing Palestinian statehood. But Abbas has less standing than ever to speak on behalf of Palestinians — and in any case has repeatedly shown himself unwilling to negotiate with Netanyahu or commit to the concessions a peace deal would require. Rather than watch another sterile round of diplomatic maneuvering among Abbas, Netanyahu and Obama, Egypt seems bent on overseeing another attempt to broker a reconciliation between the Palestinian factions. In the short run this would prevent peace negotiations, to the satisfaction of hard-liners on both sides. But in the long run it might make a deal more possible. Palestinian elections — a likely part of any internal accord — could bring in new and stronger leaders. Meanwhile Morsi’s government will have to choose between pushing the Palestinians toward an accord with Israel or tolerating growing instability on Egypt’s border. Even if no comprehensive peace is possible, the new regional alignment may allow Israel and Hamas to work out a modus vivendi that benefits both sides. In exchange for more open borders and an opportunity to develop economically with backing from its new Arab allies, Hamas could agree to a more thorough and reliable truce that leaves southern Israel in peace. That’s a long way from real peace — but it’s better for both sides than going to war every couple of years. diehlj@washpost.com Read more from Opinions: Robert Kagan: U.S. can’t ignore the Middle East Fareed Zakaria: Israel dominates the new Middle East Condoleezza Rice; Syria is central to holding together the Mideast David Ignatius: The never-ending war in the Middle East


Developers buying stakes along Rhode Island Avenue NE

With apartment construction already booming in Columbia Heights and along U Street NW and H Street NE, developers are scooping up land along another urban corridor, Rhode Island Avenue NE. Rhode Island Avenue NE has already seen some recent activity, as Bethesda-based Urban Atlantic and Baltimore-based A&R Development recently built Rhode Island Row, an apartment and retail complex that is pursuing eateries such as Chipotle and Carolina Kitchen. But with public officials encouraging a more lively, urban feel for the corridor — including an arts district on the Prince George’s County side — a number of other developers have jumped in. Acadia Realty Trust, a real estate investment trust based in White Plains, N.Y., bought Brentwood Shopping Center, a seven-acre plaza adjacent to the Red Line Metro station, for $21.7 million in June, according to land records. The property includes 57,529 square feet of retail, including TJ Maxx, Foot Locker, Radio Shack and CitiBank. (The Home Depot next door is separately owned.) Previously, Acadia managed properties in Anne Arundel and Baltimore counties, but nothing in the District and Northern Virginia. Georgetown developer Anthony Lanier In April, EastBanc bought an office and retail building above the U Street Metro station, 1250 U St. NW, for $18.8 million. A month later, it closed on a deal to buy the CVS at the intersection of H Street NE and Bladensburg Road NE for $6.1 million. Lanier’s son, Philippe, declined to say how many years remained on Giant’s lease, how much the company paid or what EastBanc planned to do with the property. “At the moment we’re just happy owning the land,” Philippe Lanier said. He said the company was in no rush to redevelop there. “We got it at a price we were happy with. It’s a very secure lease,” he said. On the Maryland side, the Mount Rainier City Council recently selected Bethesda-based StreetSense and District-based Neighborhood Development to build 210 apartments and 18,000 square feet of retail for a Gateway Arts District project.


Craft brewing reawakens in Japan

(Deb Lindsey/FOR THE WASHINGTON POST) On a recent night at H Street’s Toki Underground, the aromas of braised pork and ramen broth melded with the grapefruit, lemon and pine wafting from my beer glass. Each sip was both familiar and foreign: citrusy like an American India pale ale, yet subdued and mysterious, bringing to mind not a gulp of orange juice but something coaxed from a mountainside fruit tree. The ale contained the elegance that often characterizes ji-biru: Japanese craft beer. Yes, it was an IPA, but it was called Ozeno Yukidoke and came from a region of hills and hot springs known as Gunma Prefecture. Toki is one of many Washington restaurants that feature one of Japan’s least famous but most exciting gastronomic exports. As ramen joints and the small-plate specialists known as izakayas have proliferated — including, in recent months, U Street’s Izakaya Seki and Taan Noodles in Adams Morgan — so, thankfully, has ji-biru. It is now easier than ever to taste how Japanese brewers are reinterpreting American and European beer styles, adding their own aesthetic of balance and refinement, and sometimes local ingredients including rice and sweet potatoes. Beer is Japan’s most popular alcoholic beverage, and three brands dominate the market: Asahi, Kirin and Sapporo, all German-inspired lagers introduced in the late 19th century. But small breweries couldn’t exist in Japan until the mid-1990s, when the government did away with legislation that had prohibited them. Even then, the country lacked its own beer traditions, and home brewing remained illegal. “When ji-biru started, it was at least 50 percent German-style,” says Bryan Baird, an American who founded Japan’s Baird Brewing in 2000 and is one of the country’s most respected craft brewers. Plus, he says, “unlike in the United States, where craft beer was mostly driven by home brewers and people who were in it for the love of it, in Japan it was pretty much corporate from the beginning.” A few artisanal breweries paved the way for a more vibrant scene, including the Kiuchi Brewery, whose Hitachino Nest beers have become the best-known ji-biru in the United States. Riffs on American pale ales and Belgian styles have become common. “There are more and more of these breweries that really add a local twist to it,” says Matthias Neidhart, founder of Connecticut-based B. United International, which imports the Hitachino beers. “Bringing in local ingredients, maybe local aging


How social media can make you a better runner; making the ‘golden years’ less gray

Twitter can help runners train for marathons. (KIMIHIRO HOSHINO/AFP/GETTY IMAGES) Social Media Can Twitter make you a better runner? Runner’s World, December Faster. Stronger. Longer. This triumverate of adjectives is the holy grail of running, and training plans abound to help runners seeking to improve their mile splits, power up a hill and go farther than before. But might the solution lie in something as simple as a hashtag? In the December issue of Runner’s World, writer and avid runner Clare Trageser examines the role that social media and networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook and Dailymile.com play in training. Trageser details her own efforts to break a half marathon personal record through a running group she joined on Meetup.com. The members connect on Facebook, share training plans and pep talks in online forums, and post inspirational photos on Pinterest. All for the good, says James Fowler, a medical genetics and political science professor at the University of California at San Diego, pointing out that the best way to get someone to start running is to make it social. Still, Runner’s World columnist Bart Yasso gave Trageser some advice: “If you’re tweeting while you run, you aren’t running fast enough.” Mental Health Making the ‘golden years’ more golden “Depression and Anxiety in Later Life: What Everyone Needs to Know,” by Mark D. Miller and Charles F. Reynolds III, Johns Hopkins Press Millions of elderly men and women suffer from depression and anxiety, not surprising given the health issues, anxiety about the future and bereavement that often accompany aging. But a new book by geriatric psychiatrists Mark D. Miller and Charles F. Reynolds III argues that mental disorders are not a natural or inevitable part of getting older, no matter how common they may seem. The book delves into the causes, symptoms and treatments of mental illness. According to Miller and Reynolds, the characteristics traditionally associated with “grumpy old men” — irritability, disorganization and social withdrawal — may actually be symptoms of depression caused by such issues as memory loss, physical pain, difficulty sleeping and eating, and end-of-life anxiety. The book aims to help older people, their family members and caregivers identify the symptoms and make positive lifestyle changes to make the so-called “golden years” a little less gray. — Maggie Fazeli Fard


Mexico’s drug war is at a stalemate as Calderon’s presidency ends

to reduce poverty, increase educational opportunities and open the country to free and competitive enterprise. Modest gains were made, but his center-right government was consumed by the drug war. Stemming the flow of illegal narcotics from Mexico was one of the drug fight’s top priorities for Washington, which has backed Calderon with nearly $2 billion in security aid. The U.S. government delivered Black Hawk helicopters, night-vision goggles and crime-fighting computer software, and helped train thousands of Mexican federal police at academies supported with American tax dollars. But six years into the fight, Mexican marijuana, methamphetamine and heroin remain cheap and more plentiful than ever in the United States, according to U.S. government data. U.N. surveys indicate that the per-gram price of cocaine on American streets is roughly the same as it was a decade ago. Calderon was not the first Mexican president to send soldiers against drug traffickers. But the deployment of more than 50,000 heavily armed, masked troops to patrol city streets became his signature security strategy as Mexico’s police floundered in corruption scandals and the dysfunctional criminal justice system was overwhelmed, critics say. Violence by the numbers According to tallies of government homicide data by Mexican media organizations, about 60,000 people have been killed in cartel-related violence since Calderon took office. An unknown number have gone missing — unknown because the government has refused to release its internal tallies. Calculating the drug war dead is a guessing game. This year, the Calderon government announced that it would no longer update its running count of drug killings, saying the true cause of death could not be reliably ascertained in a country where fewer than 10 percent of all crimes are investigated. But Mexico’s raw crime statistics are sobering. All homicides, whether resulting from a barroom brawl or a cartel feud, have gone up every year under Calderon, from fewer than 9,000 in 2007 to more than 27,000 last year, according to Mexico’s national statistics institute. It is likely that there will be more than 100,000 homicides in Mexico during Calderon’s term, far more than in the United States — which has almost three times the population — during the same period. Kidnappings, robberies and extortion have soared as well, symptoms of a broader breakdown in public security unleashed by the cartel violence, analysts say. In one especially grim gauge of the mayhem, Mexican prosecutors revealed this year that more


Four female service members sue over Pentagon’s combat-exclusion policy

military can make.” The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco against Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta, is the latest legal attempt to force the Pentagon to lift its long-standing ban on women serving in most ground combat units. In May, two female Army reservists filed a similar suit in U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia. In both cases, the women are accusing the Pentagon of moving too slowly to recognize the reality of modern war zones, where the military has become dependent on female troops to fight the enemy even though on paper they are barred from doing so in many cases. In addition to Hunt, the plaintiffs are Marine Capt. Zoe Bedell, Marine 1st Lt. Colleen Farrell and Air Force Maj. Mary Jennings Hegar. Take a look at some of the week’s best photographs from around the globe. Responding to pressure from Congress and female veterans, the Pentagon announced in February that it would open about 14,000 combat-related positions to female troops, including tank mechanics and intelligence officers on the front lines. But the Defense Department said it would keep 238,000 other positions — about one-fifth of the regular active-duty military — off-limits to women, pending further review. Virtually all of those jobs are in the Army and Marine Corps. George Little, a Pentagon spokesman, said Tuesday that Panetta has asked each branch of the armed services to continue to explore what other jobs could be opened to women. “His record is very strong on this issue,” Little told reporters. The biggest previous advance for women in uniform came in 1994, when the Clinton administration removed restrictions on more than a quarter-million troop slots. But since then, the Pentagon has kept in place a prohibition on women serving in units whose primary mission is “direct” ground combat, such as artillery, infantry and tank units. In practice, however, many women serve in close support of ground combat units, blurring any distinctions on the battlefield. The suit was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union. The Service Women’s Action Network, which advocates on behalf of women in the military, is also a plaintiff. Since 2001, about 290,000 women have deployed as part of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to Defense Department statistics. Of those, 152 have been killed and 951 have been wounded. Overall, women make up about 14 percent of the active-duty military.


Americans continued paring household debt in third quarter

In March 2009, the Obama administration launched a large housing relief program that has fallen short of its goals. Homeowners in states that were hardest hit by the housing downturn have seen the most help. Americans continued cutting back on household debt in the third quarter of the year as declining mortgage balances outpaced rising student and auto loans, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said Tuesday. The data suggest that households are taking a judicious approach to their finances by whittling down their largest source of debt, while slowly increasing more limited types of borrowing. Household debt fell Although some 242,000 Americans lost their homes to foreclosure in the last quarter, economists at the Fed noted a slight reduction in foreclosures, which are slowly returning to pre-crisis levels. Originations, meanwhile, climbed for the fourth consecutive quarter, to $521 billion. “The increase in mortgage originations, auto loans and credit card balances suggests that consumers are slowly gaining confidence in their financial position,” said Donghoon Lee, senior economist at the New York Fed. Consumers showed a willingness to take on new debt, with borrowing outside of the home climbing 2.3 percent, to $2.7 trillion, in the third quarter. Student loan balances rose 4.6 percent during the quarter, to $956 billion. “People are very interested in investing in education right now, partly because it’s a tough job market,” said Karen Dynan, co-director of the economic studies program at the Brookings Institution. “They can’t find work, and also to get the jobs they’d like to have, they need more skills.” Dynan also said families no longer have the financial wherewithal to send their children to college without taking out loans, adding that “financial conditions are still really tight for a whole lot of households.” Outstanding auto loans grew by $18 billion, to $768 billion, the highest level in nearly four years, according to the Fed. Auto loan originations rose for the third consecutive quarter, to $85.8 billion, an increase of 4.4 percent. “We’re seeing a release of pent-up demand,” Dynan said. “Now that people are willing to take a chance and financial institutions are willing to give them credit, they are finally able to replace their aging autos.” Balances on credit cards grew by $2 billion, though consumer demand for credit continues to decline. The number of credit inquiries, which totaled 167 million at the end of September, fell for the third


Harold Meyerson: Wal-Mart’s strategy of deniability for workers’ safety

Bangladesh is half a world away from Bentonville, the Arkansas city where Wal-Mart is headquartered. This week, Wal-Mart surely wishes it were farther away than that. Over the weekend, a horrific fire swept through a Bangladesh clothing factory, killing more than 100 workers, many of whose bodies were burnt so badly that they could not be identified. In its gruesome particulars — locked doors, no emergency exits, workers leaping to their deaths — the blaze seems a ghastly centennial reenactment of the Triangle Shirtwaist fire of 1911, when 146 workers similarly jumped to their deaths or were incinerated after they found the exit doors were locked. The signal difference between the two fires is location. The Triangle building was located directly off New York’s Washington Square. Thousands watched the appalling spectacle of young workers leaping to the sidewalks 10 stories down; reporters and photographers were quickly on the scene. It’s not likely, however, that the Bangladesh disaster was witnessed by anyone from either the United States or Europe — the two markets for which the clothes made inside that factory were destined. For that, at least, Wal-Mart should consider itself fortunate. The Bangladesh factory supplied clothing to a range of retailers, and officials who have toured the site said they found clothing with a Faded Glory label — a Wal-Mart brand. Wal-Mart says that the factory, which had received at least one bad report for its fire-safety provisions, was no longer authorized to make its clothing but one of the suppliers in the company’s very long supply chain had subcontracted the work there “in direct violation of our policies.” If this were an isolated incident of Wal-Mart denying responsibility for the conditions under which the people who make and move its products labor, then the Bangladeshi disaster wouldn’t reflect quite so badly on the company. But the very essence of the Wal-Mart system is to employ thousands upon thousands of workers through contractors and subcontractors and sub-subcontractors, who are compelled by Wal-Mart’s market power and its demand for low prices to cut corners and skimp on safety. And because Wal-Mart isn’t the employer of record for these workers, the company can disavow responsibility for their conditions of work. This system isn’t reserved just for workers in faraway lands: Tens of thousands of American workers labor under similar arrangements. Many are employed at little more than the minimum wage in the


Arrests made in slaying of store owner, three other homicides

D.C. police on Wednesday announced arrests in four unrelated homicides in the District that took place between October 2007 and June 2012. On Wednesday, police arrested Steven Vondell Williams, 46, of Northwest Washington, charging him with second-degree murder while armed in the death of a Rockville woman at her store in the 700 block of H Street NE. Hae Soon Lim, 64, who was known as “June” in the neighborhood, was found fatally shot shortly after 6 a.m. June 14 inside the Grace Deli. Williams was arrested in August on a warrant in connection with a Virginia parole violation. At the time, police had already been notified that DNA found on a holster recovered during the D.C. homicide probe belonged to him, according to court documents. “Forensic evidence was extremely important in this case,” D.C. Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier said during an afternoon news conference. She declined to provide specifics of the investigation. Police said Williams was brought to the District, where he was charged with Lim’s murder. Officials declined to discuss the prior arrest or his record. Click the links to read stories about these recent convictions and sentencings. “H Street is one of the fastest-developing areas of the city,” Lanier said. “They were devastated when they heard about this case. I know this will bring a lot of relief to the community and the family.” The other arrests announced Wednesday were related to homicides from this year, April 2011 and 2007. Police said they arrested David Tyrone Robinson, 20, of Northeast, on Tuesday, charging him with second-degree murder while armed in the death of Howard Ricardo Sampler, 21. Sampler, of Southeast, was found suffering from multiple gunshot wounds just before 6 p.m. Jan. 3 in the 1500 block of 45th Street NE. He was taken to a hospital, where he died. His death marked the District’s second homicide of the year. Lanier said Wednesday that the city has recorded 78 homicides in 2012. In another case, Dennis Washington, 42, of Southeast, was arrested Wednesday, according to police, and charged with second-degree murder in the death of Thomas Glenn Lipscomb, 49. Lipscomb, of Southeast, was found dead in an apartment in the 3500 block of Minnesota Avenue SE about noon April 26, 2011. After an autopsy, police said, his death was ruled a homicide caused by blunt force trauma. Police said they arrested two men Tuesday in connection


D.C. welcomes its first Costco

other shoppers who arrived en masse Thursday morning simply wanted to catch some bargains and see the big-box behomoth that finally opened after years of delays. The store, flanked by New York and South Dakota avenues, is enormous — 154,000 square feet — and has created dozens of jobs. But that probably isn’t the main reason customers lined up on a cold Thursday morning before Costco had even unlocked its doors. Or why they entered the no-frills warehouse — which smells mostly of cardboard, wood and plastic — with wonderment in their eyes. Costco stores aren’t pretty. They’re big and gray and drafty. People pay a membership fee just to get inside, where they spend more money than they really want to and indulge in way too many food samples. According to Michael J. Silverstein, a senior partner of the Boston Consulting Group and an expert on retailing and consumer behavior, Costco’s rather intense fan base boils down to packaging “technical and functional benefits” — low prices for a wide variety of goods — with emotional appeal. “Costco is a mystery shopping trip,” said Silverstein. “You go in with a list and always buy more. And Costco is a treasure hunt: You’re seeing things you’ve never seen before, tasting things you’ve never tasted before. . . . I say, if Americans are eating spanokopita, it’s because they got it at Costco.” In many ways, it’s the Disneyland of warehouse shopping — with the promise of adventure, whimsy and great deals just around the corner. Now, that corner is much closer to home for D.C. residents. Before this week, Washingtonians would have traveled to Pentagon City, or to Beltsville or Lanham in Maryland to reach the nearest Costco. For five years, the Fort Lincoln project stalled over a debate about protecting nearby wetlands. The new location Sharon Davis, a Capitol Hill resident who came in to buy an armload of chocolate chips to bake cookies, dragged along a reluctant friend. Davis acknowledged that first-time visitors might find the warehouse to be “a bit much.” Karen Watts, a Ward 5 resident who was perusing the electronics department with her husband and daughter, said she decided to come to Costco after seeing the waiting line featured on the morning news. “I’m a piece of Costco woodwork,” said Karen Williams. “I go from store to store, wherever I am, just to see what they


Benefit to help raise funds for orphans with HIV in Ethiopia

When Abezash Tamerat, 31, an Ethiopian American artist, established her nonprofit group, Artists for Charity, in 2002, it was to help save a rape crisis center on the verge of losing funding. But a year later, the focus of her group changed. While visiting Ethiopia to learn more about where she came from, Tamerat met her young cousin, who was homeless and HIV positive. She tried placing him in various facilities, but they all had either reached capacity or turned him away because of his condition. When she eventually found a home for him, she noticed a bigger problem: Numerous children were battling similar struggles, once taken in by relatives only to be abused or abandoned because of their disease. Tamerat returned to the United States with a greater sense of awareness and commitment to help Ethiopia. She continued having art events and, in 2005, Artists for Charity opened the Children’s Home in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. On Saturday, World AIDS Day, the organization will host its sixth annual Holiday Benefit and Art Auction to help raise money for the Children’s Home. The event, at 7 p.m. at the District Architecture Center, 421 Seventh St. NW, will include artwork by local and international artists, live entertainment by Ethiopian-born American R&B singer Wayna and traditional Ethiopian food and drinks. Tickets are $40 in advance, $45 the day of the event. Artists for Charity’s Children’s Home provides housing, meals, medical treatment and counseling to HIV-positive orphans. Children are enrolled in school and are given routine physical examinations, antiretroviral medications and other treatments. “If you water a plant, it will grow. If you give a child the basics, they will thrive,” Tamerat said. “We wanted the kids to feel like they had a home.” Tamerat said her organization’s approach to talking “honestly and openly” with children about HIV distinguishes it from other groups. It has also enabled the children to take better care of themselves and each other, she said. “None of these kids are supposed to be alive,” Tamerat said. “It’s like seeing something come to life. I am so proud of them all. I’ve been able to watch them grow.” Cera Mattingly, 30, assistant to the executive director, said Artists for Charity is unlike any other organization that she has worked with because the group encourages overall success for each child. “AFC is run with an incredible amount of integrity,” Mattingly said.