when a 2-year-old girl was killed by an adult African lion after she slipped through a guardrail. At the time, Dr. Reed defended the zoo’s safety record. But decades later, he called the animal park a “zoological slum” in need of costly upgrades. The philanthropic group FONZ was born in part because of the lion incident. “It wasn’t until that little girl was killed that we got some construction,” Dr. Reed told The Post in 2003. “The zoo has always had a financial problem because we were a federal agency run by the Smithsonian Institution and paid for by the District of Columbia. I had to walk a tightrope between two organizations.” Dr. Reed saw the budget climb to $10 million from $1 million by the time he retired. But more than the financial growth, the former veterinarian spoke piquantly about the animals in his care. He recalled every bite, kick and claw. A bad chomp by a chimp named Jiggs left him with only partial use of two fingers on his right hand. “I don’t blame the chimp,” Dr. Reed told The Post in 1972. “It was all my fault. You’re supposed to keep an eye on the animal closest to you. But I let my attention wander. I was looking at some other chimp, and Jiggs bit hell out of my hand. As I say, I don’t blame the chimp, but I’ll never forgive him for smacking his lips afterwards.” Dr. Reed’s first wife, Mary Elizabeth Crandall, who helped raise some of the zoo’s animals, including tiger cubs, leopards and bear cubs, died in 1978. As he told The Post, they honeymooned at the Kansas City Zoo. “We had a good time, no matter what she says,” he quipped. Survivors include his wife of 33 years, Sandra Foote of Milford; two children from his first marriage, Mark Reed of Wichita, and Maryalyce Jenkins of Wellington, New Zealand; three grandchildren; and one great-granddaughter. “I guess you are specially fond of the animals you were closest to and worked with most; in my case, the white tiger and the pandas,” Dr. Reed said upon his retirement. “You never forget those animals, like your first girl.” “Well, all I can say is I remember vividly my first meeting with the white tiger and with the white pandas, but actually I have no recollection at all of my first girl,” he added.


All the people at the National Zoo

Summertime weekends, you’ll find me at the National Zoo, sometimes writing stories, mostly watching people. Visitors flock here from all over the world, from every country and culture: African diplomats, Amish farm girls, veiled Muslim women, Hasidic rabbis, young day campers, Midwestern newlyweds, skateboard punks, gay couples, evangelical tour groups. Welcome to the grand parade of Homo sapiens, with people making statements through their choice of head covering (burqa, yarmulke, turban, Mennonite prayer cap, wig, baseball cap, rainbow bandanna). And the T-shirt slogans! The body as billboard, as political posture. Everyone’s standing together in zoological harmony, our collective blood pressure sinking as we contemplate the ineffably cute face of the red panda. We’re all here together, hands folded around ice cream, feeling good. Each week at the zoo I’m reminded that there’s no better place for a writer to hear dialogue. My journal in my lap, I soak up priceless overheard comments. Forget the animals; why do human beings do the things we do? “If three days after the wedding you’re wondering why you married me, that’s not a good sign,” one young man tells his partner. “Mama, why is that monkey touching his poo-poo?” shrieks a toddler, loud enough to wake the dead, and we all lean in to hear the mother’s answer. I’m a fixture on that bench, watching, taking notes, and an 11-year-old stops to ask me, “Are you some kind of psychiatrist?” Nope, just a writer from the block. “Is the zoo up this way?” a thousand visitors ask me every summer, and I nod and beckon. I live here; it’s not far; follow me.


At Zimmerman trial, Martin’s mother testifies

showed that Zimmerman acted in self-defense, and he argued that Zimmerman had reasonable grounds to believe he was in danger and acted without the “ill will, hatred and spite” necessary to prove second-degree murder. But prosecutor Richard Mantei countered: “There are two people involved here. One of them is dead, and one of them is a liar.” Mantei told the judge that Zimmerman had changed his story, that his account of how he shot Martin was “a physical impossibility,” and that he exaggerated his wounds. After listening to 90 minutes of arguments from both sides, Judge Debra Nelson refused to throw out the murder charge, saying the prosecution had presented sufficient evidence for the case to go on. Earlier in the day, Sybrina Fulton introduced herself to the jury by describing herself as having two sons, one of whom “is in heaven.” She sat expressionless on the witness stand while prosecutors played the 911 recording. “Who do you recognize that to be?” prosecutor Bernie de la Rionda asked her. “Trayvon Benjamin Martin,” she replied. During cross-examination, O’Mara suggested — haltingly, in apparent recognition of the sensitivity of the questioning — that Fulton may have been influenced by others who listened to the 911 call, including relatives and her former husband. O’Mara asked Fulton hypothetically whether she would have to accept that it was Zimmerman yelling for help if the screams did not come from her son. He also asked Fulton whether she hoped Martin didn’t do anything that led to his death. “I would hope for this to never have happened and he would still be here,” she said. O’Mara asked Jahvaris Fulton why he told a reporter last year that he wasn’t sure whether the voice belonged to Martin. Jahvaris Fulton explained that he was “shocked” when he heard it. “I didn’t want to believe it was him,” he said. The doctor who performed an autopsy on Martin also took the stand. Associate Medical Examiner Shiping Bao started describing Martin as being in pain and suffering after he was shot, but defense attorneys objected and the judge directed Bao away from that line of questioning. He later estimated that Martin lived one to 10 minutes after he was shot and said the bullet went from the front to the back of the teen’s chest, piercing his heart. “There was no chance he could survive,” Bao said. — Associated Press


Man fatally shot Saturday in Southeast DC

A 38-year-old male was fatally shot early Saturday in Southeast D.C., police said. Around 2:14 a.m., police respond to a call reporting multiple gunshots near the intersection of 53rd Street and E Street. When officers arrived, they found the body of Christopher Ballard from Southeast D.C., in the street, D.C. police said. Police spokesman Araz Alali said the suspect remains at large and a reward up to $25,000 is being offered to those who can provide information that leads to an arrest. People are encourage to call Metropolitan Police Department at (202) 727-9099 or text to 50411.


Afghans arrest alleged U.S. Special Operations translator on murder, torture charges

Correction: KABUL — Zakaria Kandahari was captured in a house in southern Kandahar during a raid by agents from the National Directorate of Security nearly six weeks ago and has been transferred to Kabul for interrogations, officials said. Officials did not say why they waited to announce Kandahari’s arrest. The Afghan government issued an order for Kandahari’s arrest after local officials and residents alleged that he kidnapped villagers and executed detainees at a base used by U.S. Special Operations in Wardak province, where Afghan officials say he served as a translator for the forces. The Kandahar governor’s office described Kandahari as holding Afghan-American citizenship. Days of anti-American protests were held in the province at the time, leading to increased tension between Kabul and Washington. Earlier this year, the U.S.-backed NATO command here said past inquiries had found no evidence to support allegations of misconduct by U.S. Special Operations forces in Wardak. Afghan officials at the time said that Special Operations had told them its forces had no hand in the killings and abuses, and that Kandahari had fled. “He had escaped from Wardak, where he worked as a translator for the Special Forces, and Karzai had issued his arrest order because of the reports of killings and torturing of some prisoners,” Javid Faisal, a spokesman for Kandahar’s governor, said Sunday. Gen. Abdul Manan Farahi, head of the Defense Ministry’s intelligence department, confirmed Kandahari’s arrest. “I do not have further details on his arrest, except can confirm that he has been arrested on the accusations of some killing and persecuting the prisoners in Wardak,” he said. Wardak residents and provincial officials said some weeks ago that near the Special Operations base they had found the bodies of some of the 19 villagers who had gone missing in Wardak, where Taliban-led insurgents are active.


HP wins $3.5B Navy deal; Square launches online marketplace

Federal contracting HP wins Navy deal valued at $3.5 billion Hewlett-Packard won a contract valued at as much as $3.5 billion to run the Navy’s communications network, the largest single information-technology project in the federal government. The Navy selected Hewlett-Packard’s team over a group of contractors that included Computer Sciences Corp. and Harris Corp. The agreement calls for managing the Navy’s 800,000-user intranet through 2018. HP has operated the Navy’s network since 2008. It is the company’s biggest federal contract, accounting for almost 40 percent of its $2.6 billion in prime, or direct, contracts for the year ended Sept. 30, according to one analyst’s estimate. HP’s team for the so-called Next Generation Enterprise Network includes Lockheed Martin, International Business Machines, AT&T and Northrop Grumman. — Bloomberg News Retail Square launches online marketplace Square, an e-commerce start-up founded by Twitter Chairman Jack Dorsey, is breaking out of its box, starting an online marketplace where merchants can sell products and services, such as handmade jewelry and yoga lessons. Until now, the start-up has competed primarily with eBay’s PayPal and Intuit with a payment dongle that lets merchants swipe credit cards with their smartphones and other mobile devices. With its new venture, called Square Market, the company is taking on eBay’s Web store and Etsy, which already provide places for retailers to sell goods online. Similarly to those markets, Square will give sellers a virtual storefront and take a commission from each sale, without holding inventory. The model is dependent on merchants who are willing to pack and ship their own products. — Bloomberg News


World Digest: July 7, 2013

AFGHANISTAN Afghan American interpreter arrested Afghanistan authorities have arrested a man who they say was a U.S. Special Operations interpreter who tortured and killed Afghans, accusations that prompted President Hamid Karzai in February to order the expulsion of U.S. forces from a province near Kabul, officials said Sunday. Zakaria Kandahari was captured in a house in southern Kandahar nearly six weeks ago in a raid by Afghan intelligence agents and has been transferred to Kabul for interrogations, officials said. They did not say why they waited to announce his arrest. The Afghan government issued an arrest warrant for Kandahari after local officials and residents alleged that he kidnapped villagers and executed detainees at a base used by U.S. Special Operations forces in Wardak province, where Afghan officials say he served as an interpreter for the forces. The Kandahar governor’s office described Kandahari as holding Afghan and U.S. citizenship. Days of anti-American protests were held in the province in late winter, leading to increased tension between Kabul and Washington. The U.S.-led NATO command here has said that inquiries have found no evidence to support allegations of misconduct by U.S. Special Operations forces in Wardak. Afghan officials have said that U.S. Special Operations officials had told them that its forces had no hand in the killings and abuses and that Kandahari had fled. — Sayed Salahuddin SYRIA Shelling in Aleppo kills 6 prisoners Shells smashed into a central prison in the embattled Syrian city of Aleppo, killing some prisoners, a rights group said Sunday, part of a long battle for control of the ancient city. The explosions killed six prisoners, said the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which communicates with a network of activists on the ground. The explosives hit Friday night, the group said. It was not clear who fired the shells. With government forces stepping up offensives, the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood called on the United States and Europe to send arms. “Providing the Free Syrian Army and the revolutionary rebels with appropriate arms is more urgent now than at any time in the past,” the Brotherhood said on social media sites. “We feel cheated and disappointed because the U.S. and Europe have backed out from arming the FSA,” it said. Last month, the Obama administration decided to provide some weapons to rebel forces, although Western countries are concerned that they could end up in the hands of extremist Sunni


Scientists look to revive the long-extinct passenger pigeon

problems: There is some question as to whether today’s forests can support a restored passenger pigeon population, and its nesting behaviors make the bird particularly susceptible to dying out again. “Much of their breeding and wintering habitat is gone,” says Scott C. Yaich of the conservation group Ducks Unlimited, and the animal’s primary breeding-season food — beech mast, the nuts of a beech tree — is limited. Altered landscape The birds “simply couldn’t be restored to a landscape that is so radically altered from the one to which they were uniquely adapted,” says Yaich, director of conservation for Ducks Unlimited. But Mark Twery, a research forester at the U.S. Forest Service, says that though beech bark disease has reduced beechnut production, “the overall quantity of forested habitat is likely to be ample to support a large enough number of pigeons for a viable population, even should people be able to restore the species.” Other experts say that given the nesting behavior of the passenger pigeon, releasing a handful of birds into the wild would be a losing proposition. The mainstream view of passenger pigeon ecology is that they used a reproductive strategy called predator satiation. The recent cicada invasion is one example of this strategy. Each cicada is individually easy to catch in its slow, bumbling flight. But there are so many millions of cicadas in a spot at one time that they are able to finish mating and laying eggs before predators have had time to eat all of them. If only a few thousand cicadas emerged at once, then most of them would probably be eaten before they were able to reproduce. In this way, the cicada’s survival depends on showing up in hordes. Flimsy nests Passenger pigeons succeeded through a similar sort of mob rule. Individually, their behavior was borderline reckless. They built flimsy nests, often dangerously low to the ground. The nests were built so hastily that when bad weather would slow down construction, a female would sometimes be forced to lay her eggs on the ground. When the young were ready to leave the nest — after only 14 days of development — they would spend their first few days on the ground, vulnerable to any hungry predator. Passenger pigeons could get away with such behavior because of their incredible numbers. When a flock arrived at a nesting area, predators could gorge themselves for weeks.


For patients like me, marijuana is a necessity

My breast cancer diagnosis at age 26 was an unwelcome and at times harrowing experience. What allowed me to endure the darkest days was the hope that my rigorous treatment — chemotherapy, surgeries and radiotherapy among them — would allow me to once again live a full and healthy life. It’s what propelled me to walk back into the hospital for more treatments. But then came A/C: The “A” stands for Adriamycin, a drug neon red in color and injected via large syringes by oncology nurses; its apt nicknames are “red devil” and “red death.” That probably should have been the red flag that I wasn’t going to escape without being slightly worse for wear. After each of my four biweekly infusions, I lay bedridden for four days, debilitated by severe nausea, heartburn and overall discomfort. I also suffered deep bone pain, a consequence of the Neulasta shot given to keep my white blood cell counts up. I acutely felt all of these side effects, despite being given an intravenous anti-nausea medication, taking anti-nausea tablets every few hours and heartburn medicine and a low-dose prescription narcotic for the bone pain. None of this provided me with the relief for which I longed. Eventually, though, I was lucky enough to take a medicine that did alleviate my suffering. Not so fortunate was the fact that it came in the form of a drug illegal under federal law: cannabis. Though cannabis for medical purposes became legal in the District (where I live) in 2010, the city-sanctioned dispensaries that can supply it are only now inching closer to opening their doors. Nevertheless, marijuana is still banned under the Controlled Substances Act — meaning it continues to be a federal crime to possess or grow marijuana, even in the 18 states plus the District that permit it for medicinal purposes. As a Schedule I drug, cannabis is deemed to have no “accepted medical use” and to lack “safety for use under medical supervision.” Yet marijuana was the only thing that truly quelled my stomach, provided for restful sleep and allowed me to eat and drink. I was not a cannabis smoker prior to my diagnosis, and I am not one now. I used it only during my chemotherapy treatments, which ended a few months ago. I am willing to go public with my experience because, while the tide may now be turning, there remains


Cicadas are going, but they’ll be back, like clockwork

A look back at cicada invasions in the metropolitan area. The great cicada story of 2013 is almost at its end. Brood II has emerged from the ground, created quite a bit of noise in some parts of the Northeast, bred and begun to die off. Now is a good time to reflect on the insects’ incredible feat. Imagine being placed in a cave without a clock or calendar and being told to come out after exactly 17 years. Few other insects — or any species, for that matter — have such a long and precise arc of development. Many scientists have speculated about the “why” of the cicada life cycle. Coming out together, in a huge horde, diminishes the possibility that predators could wipe out an entire generation of cicadas. There are simply too many of them. It’s also possible that the life cycles involve prime numbers (17 years, or 13 years for some other broods) — because they might prevent predators, most of which live shorter lives, from synchronizing their own generations around the cicadas. For example, a predator that lived for six years couldn’t rely on a bumper crop of cicadas at the beginning or ending of any generation. Data from ornithologists suggest that birds, which feed on cicadas, suffer dips in population right around the time the cicadas appear. The mass emergence of cicadas may somehow cause a die-off of their predators, although the mechanism is unknown. (Such patterns are common in nature: The snowshoe hare population, for example, rises and falls in a 10-year cycle.) The “how” of cicada time measurement is a much more difficult question. Since a scientist has to wait at least 13 years to observe the cicada emergence, a single researcher may only see two or three generations of a given brood in her entire career. It’s not an easy thing to study. A cacophony of sound can be heard throughout Prince William, Va., as swarms of Brood II cicadas emerge from their 17-year hibernation. Entomologists have, however, learned a great deal about how insects measure smaller units of time, such as days and seasons, and those findings may be relevant to the cicada’s 17-year cycle. “Insects have internal biological clocks,” says Colin Steel, a biologist at York University in Toronto. “They are mostly located in specialized cells in the brain, known as clock cells, used for measuring 24-hour cycles of


New biography of Nikola Tesla; Explore the night sky at Capital Astronomers event

sky-gazing event at Rock Creek Park on July 13, when participants will be able to find the young, first-quarter moon advancing toward Saturn in the south-southwestern sky. Also visible will be the “Summer Triangle,” a three-pronged star pattern, or asterism, that is brightest during the summer months. It is made up of the star Vega in the constellation Lyra, Deneb in the constellation Cygnus, and Altair in the constellation Aquila. “Exploring the Sky,” Science Biography ‘The greatest geek who ever lived’ “Tesla: Inventor of the Electrical Age” by W. Bernard Carlson There’s no shortage of books and Web sites dedicated to the work of inventor Nikola Tesla. Fan pages abound, and Tesla, whose work formed the basis of modern alternating current electricity, was immortalized in an online comic strip that deemed him “the greatest geek who ever lived.” Now, in “Tesla: Inventor of the Electrical Age,” W. Bernard Carlson attempts to shed new light on the eccentric, “idealist” inventor, who was born 157 years ago this week. The biography recounts Tesla’s early life in what is now Croatia, his introduction to physics and electricity, and his technological breakthroughs, chief among them an AC induction motor. The book also examines Tesla’s business acumen and knack for self-promotion — his ability to sell not just his inventions but also himself to the public. “Every scientist knows his work and every foolish person included in . . . New York society knows his face” is how one journalist described him, the book says. Using letters, technical notes, business records, legal testimony, newspaper clippings, scientific artifacts and personal effects, Carlson takes a historian’s approach to piecing together Tesla’s life. He resists the temptation to focus only on Tesla’s persona as an eccentric genius with a flair for drama. (To demonstrate the safety of alternating current, Tesla took 250,000-volt shocks to his body.) Instead, Carlson sets out to answer three questions: “How did Tesla invent? How did his inventions work? And what happened as he introduced his inventions?” “Some readers may be disappointed that their favorite Tesla story is not here and that there may be more technical discussion than they would like,” Carlson warns in the introduction. Carlson also tries to strike a balanced tone, noting that it is easy for biographers to be either excessively enthusiastic about Tesla’s contributions or unfairly critical of his unrealized inventions, including his failed plan for wireless power.


In Cairo, a novelist sorts out his fears and hopes for Egypt’s future

who flooded to the streets around Ittihadiya, the presidential palace, where Morsi had been working before the June 30 deadline that protesters had given the president to leave office. Car horns played a symphony of joy, which mixed with the sounds of the vuvuzela — normally saved for when Egypt wins the African Cup of Nations — as if the departure of Morsi was a closed case. I filmed the army jets flying over, covered with green lasers shining from the hands of the protesters who were carrying Egyptian flags and photos of the not-yet-ousted president underlined with “Go out,” or “No to the Muslim Brotherhood president.” Now you can listen to chants mixed with vuvuzela, smell the grilled corn and the black tea; a festival as if celebrating Hitler’s departure. On July 2, we took pictures of the graffiti on the palace wall and moved to a nearby coffee shop to watch Morsi’s speech. It was directed at his supporters, seeming to ignore millions of Egyptians, threatening massive chaos if he is ousted, and repeating the word legitimacy over and over (I wonder what Freud would say about that?). “Ahmed, can you hear me?” The question brought me to the future, to the darkness, bullets and ambulance sirens. “You will be on air in a few seconds.” I was in another flashback. To Wednesday night. All eyes were glued to the screens, in total silence, with flags swaying slightly in the tender air. The deep voice of al-Sissi announced the temporary halt of the constitution and the appointment of the president of the constitutional court to lead the country in a transitional period. Everyone was cheering; some were praying, thanking God. Civilians joined soldiers and officers in singing the Egyptian national anthem. “Ahmed, you are on air.” I don’t know what I said. Did I say I am against the death of anyone, whether he is with or against me? Did I say it is a win-win or a lose-lose situation? I finished the interview in a few minutes and left the building. In few hundred yards, I melted into the protesters in Tahrir Square. I hoped then — and continue to hope, even as the violence escalates — that the army will not let us down. Ahmed al-Aidy is the author of the novel “Being Abbas el Abd.” This essay was translated from the Arabic by Nermin Abdelrahman.


U.S.-E.U. trade talks open amid new criticism from labor, environmental groups

government procurement restrictions that favor U.S. companies and to weaken U.S. financial rules that impose new restrictions on European banks. “We caution against unwarranted optimism. There are significant risks” in the negotiations, said Celeste Drake, a trade analyst with the AFL-CIO, including demands by Europe for U.S. states and cities to drop “buy America” or other local purchase provisions. Her comments represent a gradual change in tone among traditional free-trade skeptics, who initially said that a transatlantic deal could boost U.S. industry and increase labor and safety rules on both sides. Trade deals between the United States and less-developed countries have paved the way for U.S. industries to relocate to lower-wage places such as Mexico. But the United States and Europe are comparable in terms of wages and living standards, and a deal is not expected to lead to a massive relocation of industry in either direction. As U.S. and European officials laid the groundwork for the talks, some took comfort from the fact that the negotiations did not appear to be attracting the sort of reflexive opposition from labor, environmental and consumer groups that had been directed at recent free-trade agreements with South Korea and at negotiations underway with a collection of Pacific Rim nations. That appears to be changing here and in Europe. Recent revelations about the surveillance activities of the U.S. National Security Agency have stoked concern in the European Union, where any agreement has to be approved not only by the bloc’s 28 member nations, but also by a European Parliament that is likely to take a hard line on privacy, food safety and other issues. In the United States, the AFL-CIO now notes that E.U. members such as Bulgaria and Slovakia — the former Eastern Bloc countries that are part of what is known as “emerging Europe” — could attract companies looking to move production to lower-wage areas, as was the case after some earlier free-trade agreements. Rather than see the United States become more restrictive in the rules governing genetically modified foods, the regulation of chemicals and other safety issues, the activist groups see the nation pressing Europe for looser standards. Environmental groups said in a conference call Monday that they also worried that the terms of an agreement could give Europe unlimited access to U.S. natural gas supplies and thus increase the use of “fracking” to meet the demand for exports. The Obama


Regional digest: D.C.’s CFO search; man shot; power outages

D.C. Council on Wednesday will take up a bill authorizing the mayor to pay the new CFO up to $250,000. That’s a 20 percent raise over the earnings of current CFO Natwar M. Gandhi, who will retire once his replacement is confirmed. — Mike DeBonis Man hurt in shooting just north of Capitol A man was shot and wounded Monday afternoon on a neighborhood street about a mile north of the U.S. Capitol, authorities said. D.C. police were sent about 3:40 p.m. to North Capitol and P streets NW to investigate a shooting, said Officer Paul Metcalf, a spokesman. They found a man with a gunshot wound on a sidewalk. The victim was taken to a hospital with injuries that were not life threatening. Police think he was shot about two blocks away on Bates Street NW. No reason for the shooting was known, though it appeared that the shooting was unrelated to a drive-by shooting on North Capitol Street earlier this year, in which more than 10 people were injured. — Clarence Williams Outages again hit Shaw, Logan Circle More than 2,700 Pepco customers lost power Monday afternoon, the second day in a row that thousands of the utility company’s customers were left without electricity on a hot, humid afternoon. Pepco reported 42 outages in the District and Maryland as of 6:30 p.m. Monday. The main outage, however, was in the Shaw area and near Logan Circle, the same sections affected the day before. Pepco spokesman Marcus Beal said that a feeder adjacent to the one that failed the day before failed about 2:15 p.m. Monday, causing the sudden outage. He did not know whether the breakdown was related to the previous day’s problem or repair. Power was expected to be restored by the evening. — Julie Zauzmer MARYLAND Raccoon attacks seen in Ocean City Public health officials say 18 animals in Worcester County have tested positive for rabies this year and say there are reports of aggressive raccoons attacking people and pets in Ocean City. The Worcester County Health Department said Monday that 15 other animals suspected of having rabies have been in contact with people or pets. Officials are urging that residents immediately report aggressive or threatening wildlife to law enforcement or animal control. Officials reminds residents that state law requires vaccination against rabies for all dogs, cats and ferrets older than 4 months. — Associated Press


Quebec disaster highlights the danger in moving crude oil by rail

BARELY THREE months after a fertilizer-plant explosion in West, Tex., claimed 14 lives, a runaway train bearing crude oil derailed early Saturday morning, igniting a fireball that killed at least five people in a small Quebec town near the Maine border. Some 40 people from Lac-Mégantic are still missing, and much of the town — about 30 buildings — was incinerated. The train, operated by the U.S.-owned Montreal Maine & Atlantic Railway Inc., had stopped for a routine crew change and inspection by an engineer, but then it started moving on its own, traveling nearly seven miles before it careened off the tracks. The crash remains under investigation, but one truth is already clear: There are real and oft-ignored dangers involved in the transfer of crude oil by rail. In the midst of a boom in North American oil production, the amount of crude shipped by rail has skyrocketed. In 2008 9,500 carloads were shipped by rail, the Wall Street Journal reported; by 2012, that had soared to 234,000 carloads. On balance, the exploitation of new oil fields, like the growth in natural-gas production, has been a boon to the U.S. economy and foreign policy. But infrastructure has not kept pace. Particularly as political opposition has slowed pipeline construction, oil transport has had to rely on a network of railways, some of which are outdated and in need of repair. Investigators from Greenpeace found that some oil tank cars used in Canada and the United States were unsafe even 20 years ago. Along the same lines, in a 2009 report, the National Transportation Safety Board, investigating a derailment in Illinois, concluded that the outdated design of the cars was essentially a fuse waiting to be lit. A full report has yet to be released on the Lac-Mégantic disaster, but, as the New York Times has pointed out, it looks as though the cars in question were of that same model. Environmentalists are pressing President Obama to deny TransCanada Corp.’s application to build the Keystone XL pipeline that would move bitumen (a heavy, oil-like substance) from Alberta to the Gulf of Mexico. Their chief objection is to the source of the oil, which they say cannot be extracted without more damage to the environment than occurs in typical oil drilling. But in their zeal to stop the project, they also have focused heavily on the supposed danger of oil pipelines. The


Islamist groups: Egypt’s crackdown vindicates use of violence as political tool

Tensions remain high after the ouster of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi. The deposed Islamist leader was being detained, along with at least seven of his top aides, and his supporters were holding protest rallies in Cairo. BEIRUT — In the days since Egypt’s military toppled the country’s first freely elected government, jihadist groups in the region and elsewhere have rushed to assert the futility of elections and Western-style democracy, in statements and in chat forums on jihadi Web sites. Among them is Afghanistan’s Taliban, which issued a statement Monday condemning the coup against President Mohamed Morsi after Egyptian troops killed at least 51 of his supporters. “It has become clear,” said Taliban spokesman Muhammad Yusuf, that “so-called elections, the demands of the people, and justice, freedom, security and peace are merely hollow chants and slogans used by the West and the secularists to trick the people,” Others had earlier asserted similar sentiments. “When will the Muslim Brotherhood wake up from their deep slumber and realize the futility of their efforts at instituting change?” asked the Somali militant group al-Shabab, an al-Qaeda affiliate, in a comment posted on Twitter after Morsi’s overthrow last week. In Egypt, activists, protesters, journalists, students, and bystanders have all taken to social media to capture and share video of the country’s political events in real-time. “Change comes by the bullet alone; NOT the ballot,” the group said in another tweet. At least two new jihadi groups have been formed in a bid to counter the challenge to the Brotherhood. Within hours of the shootings Monday, a group calling itself the Abdullah Azzam Brigades of Egypt declared that it had been created to counter the “criminality” underway in the country. Another hitherto unknown group, calling itself Ansar al-Sharia in Egypt, issued a similar statement last week. “The truth that is apparent to every reasonable person is that it is a war declared against Islam in Egypt,” it said of the military’s removal of Morsi. Rita Katz, executive director of the SITE Intelligence Group, which has been monitoring these and numerous other responses by jihadi groups to the events in Egypt, said there is no confirmation of the groups’ existence or of any increased jihadist activity linked to the turmoil. But, she added, “this is a great recruitment tool for them. The bottom line is that a lot of incitement is going on.” It is also too early


Mideast journalists allege bias in al-Jazeera’s reports on Morsi, Muslim Brotherhood

and Syria, and of the Qatar-aligned Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, have made many Arab viewers question its veracity,” the Economist wrote earlier this year. “So has its tendency to ignore human-rights abuses by those same rebels. . . . ” The magazine said that several of the network’s journalists, including star correspondents, have quit over political disagreements. Among them was Dave Marash, the former “Nightline” correspondent and WRC-TV anchor who quit in 2008 as an anchor for al-Jazeera English — the global, English-language spinoff of the Arabic channel — because of what he viewed as a “reflexive adversarial editorial stance” against Americans, primarily by the network’s British managers. Several staff members at al-Jazeera Arabic reportedly quit in protest on Monday over the network’s Egyptian coverage. Al-Jazeera has “definitely taken the pro-Morsi side” in its Egyptian coverage, said Steven Stalinsky, executive director of the Washington-based Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), an organization that monitors Arabic media and describes itself as nonpartisan. He said the network’s management and journalists have long-standing ties to the Brotherhood; among others, its former chairman, Wadah Khanfar, was a member. Among its talk-show hosts is Yusuf al-Qaradawi, a Muslim cleric and Brotherhood adviser whom Stalinsky describes as “anti-Western, anti-Semitic and anti-American.” Al-Jazeera’s opinion programs have been dominated by pro-Morsi pundits, and some of its journalists have openly supported the Brotherhood in postings on social media, said Mansour al-Hadj, who directs a MEMRI project on reform in Arab and Muslim countries. But al-Hadj said he expects al-Jazeera America to take a more moderate tone, just as al-Jazeera English has moderated some of the political passions of the Arabic network. “I don’t think they’ll do the same thing” on the American network, he said. “It’s a different audience, and they need a different perspective. They’re not going to make fools of themselves by saying things that are misleading” or strongly partisan. Philip Seib, author of “The Al Jazeera Effect,” a 2008 book about the network’s influence in the Arab world, concurs. Although the Arabic network “is perceived as strongly pro-Brotherhood,” the American version won’t be, he said. “I don’t think you’ll see al-Jazeera America touting the Muslim Brotherhood,” Seib said. “It will be more like CNN. They want [the American channel] to be successful, and they know it can’t be a mirror image” of its Arabic and English-language forebears. All three are ”operating in their own political environments.”


Richard Cohen: The last thing Egypt needs

In addition to all the experts, thinkers, pundits and others who have been cited about the loss of democracy in Egypt, let me quote a certain West Point expellee who, in a different context, uttered words that now fit the situation: “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.” Rhett Butler neatly summarizes my position on democracy in Egypt. I hope not to sound too cynical. I have always had a soft spot for Egypt. The people are gracious and aware that theirs is a storied and wonderful civilization. But the issue is not whether Egypt is a democracy or something else. The issue is whether Egypt provides for its people and keeps out of trouble. After that, if Ramses II returns, it’s okay with me. For 34 years — under three regimes now — Egypt has kept the peace with Israel, which is worth a yearly Nobel Peace Prize. For all but the past two years, this peace was maintained by authoritarian regimes — Anwar Sadat’s and then Hosni Mubarak’s. They had their imperfections, but bellicosity was not one of them. Democracy is nice, but it is not a panacea. The American insistence that the world mimic us — ain’t we pretty close to poifect? — has always struck me as both patronizing and contemptuous of history. The overriding challenge of all incipient democracies is how to handle minority issues. For a very long time, the United States did not do very well in this regard. We disenfranchised African Americans and used all sorts of devices to keep them in penury and politically powerless. Southern states insisted on Jim Crow laws, and their representatives in Congress — many of whom loathed racial segregation — voted to maintain it lest they wind up losing at the polls. It took the often non-elected courts, Supreme or less so, to remedy the situation. The people are not always wise. In many cases, the democracies that emerged in Europe after World War I evolved into intolerant, rightist regimes. Hitler — the überexample — had enormous popular support even though Germans were well aware that he was enamored of violence and a bit unbalanced about Jews. To the east, the popularly elected governments of Poland and other nations treated their various minorities roughly — the Jews roughest of all. All sorts of restrictions were imposed on Jews throughout Eastern Europe, everything from “seating ghettos”


in Polish universities’ lecture halls to a requirement in Romania that Jewish medical students learn their profession only on Jewish cadavers. A collection of Tom Toles cartoons about international news. The Holocaust and the ethnic cleansing that followed World War II reorganized Eastern Europe into neat ethnic enclaves — otherwise who knows what would be happening today. The Middle East is not so well-ordered. The Jews are gone — 75,000 or so booted out of Egypt in the 1950s and ’60s, 120,000 out of Iraq around the same time — but Shiites rub up against Sunnis, and Christians against Muslims. In Egypt, the Coptic Christians felt endangered by a government — elected or not — run by the Muslim Brotherhood. America’s interest is in a stable Middle East. If stability can be combined with democracy, all the better. But it was the authoritarian governments of Egypt and Jordan that signed peace treaties with Israel when, you’d be assured, popularly elected ones would never have done so. (As it was, the treaty cost Sadat his life.) For Mohamed Morsi, sooner or later he might have had to balance the $1.5 billion that Egypt annually gets from the United States — most of it military aid — against a popular clamor to repudiate the peace with Israel. The Israel question, abetted by an appalling amount of anti-Semitism, is just too easy to demagogue. It is what race was in the Jim Crow South or, to wax truly esoteric, what Belorussians were in inter-war Poland. After the collapse of Weimar Germany — a democracy but an extremely messy one — some intellectuals, including Hannah Arendt and Theodor Adorno, questioned whether democracy was always a wonderful thing. The answer, of course, is nothing is always wonderful. The Egyptian democracy was tending back toward authoritarianism and, no matter what had happened, the country might have seen its last real election. In the short run, no government can reverse the population explosion, provide jobs for young people or ameliorate what climate change is doing to the Nile Delta. Egypt’s problems are so daunting that the lack of democracy is not the top priority. First things first. Before Egypt needs a democratic government, it just needs a government. Read more from Richard Cohen’s archive. Read more on this issue: The Post’s View: Egypt’s Islamists must have a place in a restored democracy Muslim Brotherhood candidate wins Egyptian


Lack of cockpit communication recalls 1999 Korean Airlines crash near London

A comment Monday by the head of the National Transportation Safety Board sounded reasonable to the average ear, but for aviation crash experts there was an immediate connection to a remarkable 1999 crash of a Boeing 747 just after takeoff from London. “We are looking at communication between the two crew members,” NTSB Chairman Deborah A.P. Hersman said from the San Francisco scene where a South Korean Boeing 777 crashed Saturday, killing two teenage girls bound from China to a summer camp in the United States. For some aviation experts, examining cockpit communication brought to mind what went wrong on Dec. 22, 1999, when Korean Air Cargo Flight 8509 plunged to the ground in a village near London. The investigation that followed, even when described in the terse terms used in such reports, revealed a remarkable dynamic in the cockpit that has been linked to the hierarchial structure of the Korean culture. When the plane took off after dark, the pilot’s cockpit indicator called an artificial horizon wasn’t working. The copilot’s was, as was an auxiliary artificial horizon dial located on the dashboard between them. When the pilot began to execute a planned banked turn, the horizon instrument in front of him didn’t register that the plane had tilted on an appropriate angle. Unable to see that the plane already had banked, he continued to bank farther, even though a warning buzzer sounded nine times in the cockpit. “There was no audible acknowledgment from any crew member regarding these warnings,” said the final investigative report of the British Air Accidents Investigation Branch, the United Kingdom’s equivalent of the NTSB. The plane’s wing tore into the ground. All four crew members died. The plane’s pilot was Park Duk-kyu, a 57-year-old former fighter pilot in the South Korean air force. The first officer was Yoon Ki-sik, 33, who had far less experience. The investigative report said that Park was irritated by their late departure from London. The report said that though Yoon was communicating correct information to the tower, Park spoke at him in a “derogatory” fashion, saying, “Make sure you understand what ground control is saying before you speak.” Seconds later, he barked: “Answer them! They are asking how long the delay will be.” “By making these comments, it is considered that the commander contributed to setting a tone which discouraged further input from other crew members, especially the first officer,”


Kroger to purchase Harris Teeter for $2.5 billion

Kroger, one of the country’s largest grocery chains, announced Tuesday a $2.5 billion deal to acquire rival Harris Teeter. The move, which must be approved by federal regulators, would extend Kroger’s reach, particularly in Virginia, Maryland and the District, where Harris Teeter has 51 stores. If the deal is approved, Kroger will be able to leverage its bigger size to compete against low-cost grocers such as Wal-Mart, which have moved aggressively into fresh produce, analysts said. Cincinnati-based Kroger said that it does not plan to close any Harris Teeter locations and that the stores will keep their name. But the deal was met with skepticism from some Harris Teeter loyalists. Among the hundreds of posts on the sale that appeared on Harris Teeter’s Facebook page Tuesday, one shopper said: “This is horrible news. I am so disappointed!” The deal delivers to Kroger an expanding market. Harris Teeter stores are generally concentrated in upscale areas near universities and vacation destinations, attracting more affluent clients, analysts said. Harris Teeter also offers another advantage for Kroger: more fresh food. “A lot of traditional grocers are still struggling from the competitive threat of companies like Wal-Mart that have moved aggressively into food,” said Kenneth Perkins, an analyst at Morningstar. “They’ve been struggling from that perspective, and they’re trying to keep people coming through their doors. Kroger, to their credit, has done a good job with that.” Kroger said it expects to achieve annual cost savings of approximately $40 million to $50 million over the next three to four years. It was too early to tell if those savings would be passed onto shoppers, said Kroger spokeswoman Kari Armbruster. “That’s something we’ll have to look into once we actually have the business plan all done,” she said. Investors were upbeat on the deal. Kroger’s stock rose nearly 3 percent on the news, while Harris Teeter was up about 1.5 percent. Kroger will pay $49.38 per share for Harris Teeter stock, a 1.77 percent premium over Monday’s closing price. Kroger also will assume $100 million of Harris Teeter’s outstanding debt. Kroger’s same-store sales, a key measure for retailers, have been improving over the past year, even as grocers across the country are seeing profit margins shrink as they scramble to keep up with low-cost competitors. Even with $96.8 billion in revenue last year, Kroger trails Wal-Mart as the country’s largest supermarket chain. “Strategically, it makes a


The Circuit: Privacy and civil liberties board meets; U.S. Web devices detected in Iran, Sudan

Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board meets: In a panel discussion, former federal district judge James Robertson, who served on the FISA court, rejected the characterization of the FISC as a “rubber stamp” court, but did say that the process may suffer because judges do not hear from those questioning government surveillance actions. U.S. Web monitoring devices detected in Iran, Sudan: In an interview with The Post, Blue Coat’s chief operating officer and president, David Murphy, said the company takes reports about its products appearing in countries under U.S. trade embargoes seriously. “Blue Coat has never permitted the sale of our products to countries embargoed by the U.S.,” he said. “We do not design our products, or condone their use, to suppress human rights.” He added the products are not intended for “surveillance purposes.” Tesla to replace Oracle in Nasdaq 100: Tesla has had a very successful year on the market, as The Washington Post reported, and Nasdaq listed the firm’s market capitalization as an estimated $12.8 billion in its Tuesday release. The stock will become a part of the NASDAQ-100 index before the market opens July 15. Apple sued in Florida over HD sales: According to the report, attorney Scott Weiselberg filed a class action suit against Apple in San Francisco federal court saying that the firm violated consumer protection laws by offering HD movies to those who have older Apple devices even though the iTunes store is technically capable of recognizing when a device will only be able to support standard-definition video. Sign up today to receive #thecircuit, a daily roundup of the latest tech policy news from Washington and how it is shaping business, entertainment and science.


Wal-Mart: In wage-law vote, the D.C. Council has forced our hand

Alex Barron is a regional general manager for Wal-Mart U.S. and is responsible for about 90 stores and 30,000 associates in the D.C. area, including all stores planned for Washington. For almost three years, Wal-Mart has worked on a plan to bring new stores to Washington, and we are close to opening our first location in the city. Unfortunately, the District may soon adopt legislation that discriminates against business and threatens to undo all that we have accomplished together. In November 2010, Wal-Mart announced a plan to bring more jobs, shopping options and fresh food choices to Washington residents. Just 12 months later, we increased our investment — from four stores to six and from 1,200 jobs to 1,800 — in an effort to expand access and opportunity to more underserved communities in the city. During this time, we also engaged in an open dialogue with residents, stakeholders, critics and elected officials. Our goal was to listen, share information about our company, answer questions about our plans and address any concerns. Residents told us that they wanted good jobs and more affordable grocery options in their neighborhood. We also heard about issues such as local hiring, competitive wages, an inclusive construction process, local products and support for community nonprofits. Mark Leibovich’s new book, “This Town,” dishes the dirt on some of Washington’s power players. Here’s a selection, courtesy of The Post’s Carlos Lozada and David Beard. Through these conversations, it became clear that most residents thought Wal-Mart could be part of the solution in Washington, a sentiment supported by our polling, which showed that 73 percent of residents were “in favor” of Wal-Mart. We thought it was important to document what we heard — a Community Partnership Initiative — and share it with the city. At the time, Mayor Vincent C. Gray (D) said that “this agreement represents an unprecedented, citywide commitment from a retailer. . . . Wal-Mart is showing what it means to be a good corporate neighbor, and I encourage other firms interested in doing business in the District of Columbia to show a similar level of commitment to our residents.” The document was particularly unique because it was voluntary — Wal-Mart was not accepting any tax incentives, even though some of our projects qualified for government assistance. Still, our agreement spelled out our plans to stock local products, allow space for local retailers, provide good jobs,


A ‘too big to fail’ crackdown: U.S. regulators hit big banks with tougher standards

A Morgan Stanley building in New York's Times Square. Under a new regulation, the nation’s eight largest banks, including JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley, would have to hold twice as much equity capital to absorb losses. (Mark Lennihan/AP) Regulators told the country’s eight largest banks that they will have to raise billions of dollars to guard against future problems or reduce their size and complexity. In a key step in the “too big to fail” debate, the top three banking regulators approved a proposal Tuesday that would force banks such as JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo to hold far larger cash buffers than required by international standards. The move is the latest effort to limit the threat big banks can pose to the financial system, nearly five years after their risky practices almost crippled the economy. Forcing banks to set aside more money could ensure that they remain solvent in times of financial distress and do not leave the government with the choice of funding a bailout or risking the fallout of a major bank failure. Raising the amount of “equity capital” — stock, cash and other income — that big banks have to set aside has been a central theme in regulatory efforts to make the global banking system more resilient in times of financial upheaval. The United States is taking a harder line on the issue than regulators overseas amid growing sentiment that the nation’s financial regulatory overhaul law has not gone far enough to prevent future taxpayer bailouts. Just last week, regulators laid out higher capital rules for all banks, but the new measure directly targets institutions with the most complex and risky operations. Tuesday’s proposal calls for each of the eight largest banks — those with more than $700 billion of assets — to hold equity capital equal to 6 percent of its total assets. That is double the requirement set in the Basel III accord, an international agreement struck in 2010 by a committee of central bankers and regulators in Basel, Switzerland. “It’s clear that the very largest banks can have an outsized impact on the entire system, so it makes sense to require that they calibrate their capital requirements more precisely and also hold higher levels of capital,” Thomas Curry, comptroller of the U.S. currency, said at a meeting on the proposal held at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Regulators estimated that


With China slowing, talks with the U.S. take on a new tone

A businessman walks with an umbrella in the financial area of Shanghai. China's economic slowdown has made it seem less superhuman — a turn that could change the nature of upcoming U.S.-China talks. (Carlos Barria/Reuters) At the peak of China’s economic expansion, many in the United States worried about how the country’s rapid growth would increase commodity prices, thin out U.S. manufacturing jobs and disrupt the balance of power in the global economy. As officials from the two countries convene their latest high-level economic talks and a new government organizes itself in Beijing, the focus has shifted dramatically amid an economic slowdown that has made China seem suddenly more normal — growing at rates akin to other large developing nations rather than the superhuman pace that touched 14 percent just a few years ago. That rate is now down to below 8 percent and by some accounts still falling; growth of U.S. exports to the country have all but stalled; and trouble in the country’s financial sector rocked world markets a few weeks ago. China reported trade data Wednesday that pointed to weaker growth in the second quarter. Exports fell 3.1 percent in June from a year earlier, the first decline since January 2012, while imports dropped 0.7 percent. The seemingly unthinkable question is now being posed: Is China faltering? “It is a different dynamic from what we have seen. . . . This is more-moderate growth from an economy that has started maturing from the go-go days of before,” said John Frisbie, president of the U.S.-China Business Council. With the new government in Beijing still taking power and heading into a potentially pivotal party congress this fall, “the debate is real. . . . The slowdown matters.” The annual U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue begins Wednesday with Secretary of State John F. Kerry and Treasury Secretary Jack Lew leading the U.S. delegation, and China state counselor Yang Jiechi and vice premier Wang Yang heading the Chinese team. Top-level security, central bank and other officials will also be involved. In an op-ed in The Washington Post ahead of the discussions, Yang pledged a “deepening” of China’s reforms and said that the mood set by President Obama and President Xi Jinping in their “no-necktie” meetings last month would carry through to this week’s talks. The backdrop is predictably complicated, evidence of how central the U.S.-China relationship has become to world political,


Foreign Digest: July 9, 2013

The results “clearly indicate that the ordnance used in Khan al-Assal was not industrially manufactured and was filled with sarin,” Churkin said, adding, “There is every reason to believe that it was armed opposition fighters who used the chemical weapons.” Churkin said he had informed U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon of the findings. Ban is to meet with Ake Sellstrom, the head of a U.N. team probing allegations of chemical weapon use in Syria, in New York this week. — Reuters AFGHANISTAN Taliban, in protest, closes office in Qatar The Afghan Taliban has closed its office in the Persian Gulf state of Qatar, at least temporarily, to protest the removal of a sign identifying the movement as the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, a diplomat and a Taliban official said Tuesday. The office, which opened less than a month ago to facilitate peace talks with the U.S. and Afghan governments, has also come under pressure for using the white flag that was flown during the Taliban’s five-year rule of Afghanistan. Qatar removed the sign and flag last month after Afghan President Hamid Karzai demanded they be taken down. Also Tuesday, a roadside bomb planted by the Taliban hit a motorcycle-drawn cart carrying women and children in the western Afghan province of Herat, killing 17 people, officials said. In the south, an Afghan soldier fired on NATO troops at the Kandahar airport, killing a service member, the alliance said. The facility is guarded by Slovak troops. Kandahar government spokesman Javid Faisal said that the attacker was taken into custody but that a preliminary investigation indicated the shooting was an accident, not an insider attack. — Associated Press CANADA Probe underway in deadly train disaster Investigators seeking the cause of the deadly train crash in the tiny Quebec town of Lac-Megantic were focusing Tuesday on the train’s brakes, the railway company’s regulations and whether Canada needs tougher train-transport standards. Officials from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada said more than a dozen investigators were examining every angle of the accident, in which a runaway train hauling 72 cars of crude oil plowed into the lakeside town and exploded. About 50 people are either confirmed dead or are still missing, making the accident probably North America’s worst rail disaster since 1989. — Reuters Nigerian court jails 4 bombers for life: Colombia sends alleged drug kingpin to U.S.: China frees filmmaker: — From news services


Maryland vigilant for West Nile virus

of health is responsible for discovering and reporting cases and suspected breeding areas of infected mosquitoes. The Department of Agriculture will then spray the area with repellent, supplementing the normally scheduled sprays. The Department of Natural Resources will test the blood of animals that show signs of the disease, Mitchell said. The department of health depends on residents to report cases of West Nile virus. The department records the data, analyzes it to see which areas of the state are more prone to the disease and submits it to the CDC. The analyzed data are used to predict how the disease will spread in coming weeks. Fischer said the CDC uses its aggregated data to make the same type of predictions for a national scale. The annually collected data help provide the health department with information about the pattern and epidemiology of the virus, Mitchell said. There is no cure for the disease; doctors can only prescribe general symptom-reducing medicines. But residents can stop West Nile virus from affecting them with simple habits. West Nile virus “is preventable through behavior,” Mitchell said. Fischer suggests always using insect repellent when participating in outdoor activities and wearing long-sleeve shirts and pants when possible, especially outside at night, which is prime mosquito-biting time. “They tend to bite during evenings and mornings,” Fischer added. Residents also can protect themselves by using screens on their doors and windows, using air conditioning when possible and getting rid of standing water baths, where mosquitoes tend to breed. These precautions are necessary because the severity and number of West Nile virus cases that will occur in Maryland and across the country this year is unpredictable, Fischer said. The department of health began its West Nile virus surveillance program in 2000. Since then, the year with the highest number of human cases was 2003, when 73 were recorded in the state and almost 10,000 across the nation. From 2004 through 2011, the number of state cases never rose above 25. Last year, the count reached 47 cases in Maryland and almost 6,000 nationwide, the second-highest numbers on record.“The number of cases increases and decreases from year to year and place to place,” Fischer said.Once cases are recorded in the state, a weekly report will be available to the public on the department of health’s Web site, http://phpa.dhmh.maryland.gov . Information about reporting a potential West Nile virus case can also


Furry friends hit Charles fairgrounds for weekend DogFest

About 1,200 dogs and their human companions were at the Charles County Fairgrounds recently for a weekend of activities and exhibitions celebrating man’s best friend. The second annual Maryland DogFest attracted 3,500 visitors to the fairgrounds last month, event coordinator Nick Simonds said. The purpose of DogFest is to “celebrate dogs and the humans that love them,” he said. Many dogs took to the dock-jumping activity, Ultimate Air Dogs, which had competitions throughout the weekend. Dogs took turns leaping off a dock into a pool, in a competition to see which could jump the farthest. Between competitions, all dogs, provided that they could swim, could practice the sport with their owners. Fe Nichols of Hollywood held up her Yorkshire terrier Jasper to see the dock-jumping. She said that this was the first DogFest she and Jasper had attended and that she enjoyed having a place to bring her dog. Rodney McGee Jr., 13, and his dog Sassy, a Jack Russell terrier, participated in an American Kennel Club rally course with help from Christina McCauley, owner of Bone-A-Fied Friends Forever Pet Services in White Plains. Sassy and Rodney walked to each station, and Sassy had to execute the command written on a cone. At one station, Rodney had to have Sassy sit. At another station, Sassy had to maneuver through cones. Sassy was encouraged through the process with one of her favorite toys and lots of praise from Rodney and McCauley at the end. McCauley said the rally courses take obedience moves and “put them to motion.” Sassy hit the course with freshly painted toenails to match her pink leash. Rodney said he liked the agility course demonstration, but Sassy was not fond of it. Rodney’s mother, Erin Harrison, said she and Rodney were having fun, along with Sassy. “Anytime you get a lot of dog-minded people together, you can’t help but have a good time,” she said. Richard Burket of Welcome took his Boston terrier Cheyenne to the festival to give Cheyenne an opportunity to socialize with other dogs and people. Cheyenne’s friend Zeppelin, a Great Dane owned by Burket’s daughter Jessica, also came for the socializing. Magnum, a German shepherd owned by Donald and Tia Gilbert of Huntingtown, took a break from the sun and got peanut butter ice cream from one of the many vendors. Donald Gilbert said that now that the Gilberts’ children are grown, Magnum is


U.S., China agree on climate steps to curb emissions

such as boosting building efficiency, to what officials said would be a leading-edge effort to improve the technology for capturing carbon as it is released from power plants. Advocates say carbon capture is important to a long-term solution to global warming, but the cost and unproven nature of the technology are considered to be major hurdles. Under Wednesday’s agreement, China and the United States consented to build “several large-scale” demonstration projects to try to “overcome barriers” to the wider use of carbon-capture technology. Todd Stern, the U.S. special envoy for climate change, said the aim of the working group’s recommendations is not to commit either country to specific carbon reduction targets but to develop practical steps and policies to cut greenhouse pollution — such as the elimination of hydrofluorocarbons that President Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to last month in California. “China and the U.S. are the two most important players. We are the largest emitters of greenhouse gases. . . . Working shoulder to shoulder . . . is only a good thing,” Stern said. “It is not suddenly going to transform the [international] negotiation, but it will project something positive.” Durwood Zaelke, president of the environmental advocacy group Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development, said the working group’s priority list seemed “pragmatic” — particularly the focus on steps such as reducing the sooty emissions from heavy trucks that have become a major problem in China, as well as improving building efficiency. Both are areas, he said, where U.S. technology meshes well with the building and economic boom underway in China. “This is not sexy,” he said. “It is just hard work by technocrats. But it is hard work that has the potential to pay off.” The climate discussions were part of the broader Strategic and Economic Dialogue between the United States and China being held this week in Washington. The sessions are taking place against the backdrop of an economic slowdown in China that U.S. officials hope will spur the new government there to quicken the pace of financial reform. The sessions opened on another major issue between the two nations. U.S. officials, including Vice President Biden and Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, prodded China to crack down on cyberespionage directed at U.S. corporations. Lew said that for economic relations between the two countries to succeed, U.S. firms had to be “preserved and protected from government-sponsored cyber-intrusion.”


Fires? Tornadoes? Asteroids? How we prepare for looming disaster.

other than downed trees, he says. The meteorological record shows eight such no-damage hurricanes hitting the United States prior to 1940, according to Pielke. He says, “There’s no place a hurricane can go now without being a huge disaster.” But he adds, “We’re getting richer faster than the cost of disasters has increased.” Munich Re reports that losses from extreme weather globally have tripled since 1980 — and nearly quintupled in North America, which accounts for 70 percent of insured losses. Peter Hoeppe, head of Geo Risks Research for Munich Re, said the surge in losses is driven primarily by the increase in exposure, but even factoring that in, the United States has seen an unusual spike in damage from “convective events” — thunderstorms and tornadoes. Here’s Chris Field, director of the Department of Global Ecology at the Carnegie Institution for Science, talking about the global economy and the burning of all those fossil fuels: “It’s like a big truck driving down the highway and it’s dropping nails out the back.” We don’t want the truck to stop. But the nails are increasing the likelihood of multi-car pileups in the rear. Maybe it’s not such a problem if you’re rich and can afford really fancy tires. Or a tank. ‘A bad day’ The planet is steadily being reengineered, in haphazard fashion, without an underlying blueprint or much in the way of quality control, by the one species that wields extensive technology (with all due respect to the chimpanzees who use tools to dig up a termite mound). The Holocene has given way to the Anthropocene. We passed 7 billion in population last year, and we’re heading toward 9 billion, maybe 10, before the worldwide decline in fertility in recent years bends the demographic curve back to the horizontal. And so we await The Great Comeuppance. Engineers who deal with risk, such as those at NASA, use a common phrase to refer to a hypothetical disaster: “a bad day.” The Challenger explosion in 1986 was a bad day. The Columbia disaster was a bad day. The term is not an attempt to play down the tragedies; it merely recognizes that complex systems have hidden vulnerabilities. There are secret pathways for gremlins. We have to accept this as a reality of engineering and, thus, as a fact of modern life. There will be bad days ahead. And we’ll try to be ready.


Major U.S. retailers jointly work to improve factory safety in Bangladesh

Fitch and PVH, the owner of the Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger brands. In addition to Wal-Mart and Gap, other North American alliance members include J.C. Penney, Macy’s, Target, Sears, Nordstrom and L.L. Bean. Under their agreement, inspectors will prioritize factory safety risks and report any dangerous conditions to factory owners, independent worker committees, alliance members and Bangladeshi authorities. The alliance limits the financial commitment of its biggest members to $5 million for a five-year period. In total, its members are committing $42 million, an amount they said “is growing,” while promising an additional $100 million in loans to factory owners in Bangladesh to assist with safety improvements. The self-regulatory nature of the initiative has provoked criticism. Members of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, a group of activist investors, found the initiative “lacking in sufficient worker protections and accountability mechanisms.” Labor unions rejected the U.S. retailers’ plan as “weak and worthless.” In a joint statement, Richard Trumka of the AFL-CIO and Joe Hansen of Change to Win said the initiative is yet another “voluntary” scheme with no meaningful enforcement mechanisms. The AFL-CIO and Change to Win said they support the international accord instead, stressing its legally binding nature and the fact that unions and worker-rights organizations negotiated the agreement with employers. The North American alliance also took input from worker-rights organizations. The AFL-CIO and Change to Win, however, “decided not to participate so that we would not be supporting or giving credence to what is considered a sham agreement,” said Change to Win spokesman Paco Fabian. They are calling for Wal-Mart and Gap to join the international accord “rather than trying to undermine those efforts and maintain a system that has a long and bloody record of failure,” their statement said. There were calls from politicians in both the United States and Europe for the two initiatives to coordinate their efforts. Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) said that “North American and European retailers, which often source from the same factories, must now closely coordinate efforts on their various initiatives to ensure that there is a common unified safety standard going forward.” Dutch trade minister Lilianne Ploumen also called for cooperation of the two alliances. Ploumen, who co-chairs a joint donor group to improve working conditions in Bangladesh, said it is important for the North American alliance to work closely with the safety inspector of the European accord “to ensure that


Brewed awakening: D.C.’s beer scene is close to greatness

Montgomery County to be added this summer. Chocolate City has also expanded since opening; 3 Stars, which hasn’t hit its first anniversary, is trying to keep up with demand by purchasing enough equipment to triple its output. Read the rest of the Food Issue, including an article about why the Washington food scene is lacking and food critic Tom Sietsema’s dinner party tips, by visiting WP Magazine. In a city where transplants are increasingly putting down roots, the term “local” has become a cultural signifier, beyond D.C. flag tattoos and menus at popular farm-to-table restaurants. Just notice how many cleverly designed DC Brau T-shirts you see on the streets or in bars. “People lay claim to things in D.C.,” says 3 Stars co-owner Dave Coleman, who moved to the District from Cleveland 10 years ago. “There’s a strong sense of ownership, both people who are from here and people who move here. People who live in this town — and I mean D.C., not [official] Washington — really care about our city. People hear our beer is local, and they want to check it out.” The proof is in the neighborhood bars. Wander into DC Reynolds in Petworth, and the 20-somethings enjoying the sun on the huge back patio are, for the most part, sipping DC Brau, Chocolate City or Lost Rhino. At cozy Boundary Stone Public House, where the Clash and the Band blast from the jukebox and the D.C. flag hangs in glass over the door, every other order seems to include the words “DC Brau” or “Port City.” And 3 Stars’ Coleman says that of his brewery’s 64 bar accounts, one of the best is the Dubliner, an Irish pub near Union Station where you’d expect Guinness and Harp to rule. The Pug Next to capture the hyper-local tag will be a pair of brewpubs, which should open this fall. Bluejacket, the ChurchKey team’s space near the Navy Yard, plans to offer sour ales fermented with wild yeasts, flavorful Belgian-inspired farmhouse ales, and potent barleywines left to age in wooden barrels. Right Proper Brew Pub, moving next to the Howard Theatre, also plans an experimental bent. Co-founder Thor Cheston — late of Brasserie Beck and Birreria Paradiso — says the clincher is how fresh the beer will be. “No marketing firm can compete with context, when you’re enjoying a beer that was made 20 feet from where


20-somethings enjoying the sun on the huge back patio are, for the most part, sipping DC Brau, Chocolate City or Lost Rhino. At cozy Boundary Stone Public House, where the Clash and the Band blast from the jukebox and the D.C. flag hangs in glass over the door, every other order seems to include the words “DC Brau” or “Port City.” And 3 Stars’ Coleman says that of his brewery’s 64 bar accounts, one of the best is the Dubliner, an Irish pub near Union Station where you’d expect Guinness and Harp to rule. The Pug Next to capture the hyper-local tag will be a pair of brewpubs, which should open this fall. Bluejacket, the ChurchKey team’s space near the Navy Yard, plans to offer sour ales fermented with wild yeasts, flavorful Belgian-inspired farmhouse ales, and potent barleywines left to age in wooden barrels. Right Proper Brew Pub, moving next to the Howard Theatre, also plans an experimental bent. Co-founder Thor Cheston — late of Brasserie Beck and Birreria Paradiso — says the clincher is how fresh the beer will be. “No marketing firm can compete with context, when you’re enjoying a beer that was made 20 feet from where you’re standing,” he says. “You can’t get any more local.” Bartender Ben Brown delivers beers at Meridian Pint on a recent Friday night. (Lexey Swall/FOR THE WASHINGTON POST) No 2: Thanks to D.C. liquor laws, we have access to a more diverse selection of beers than just about anywhere in the country. Follow D.C. beer bars and beer geeks on Twitter, and you’ll regularly see “Hyper-Rare Draft Alert” for cult beers or announcements of special tapping parties for beers that aren’t usually available in the region. The availability of so many kinds of beer on such short notice is unique to the District, making the city a hot spot for hops. Suppose a Maryland or Virginia beer bar wants to sell a hot new release. The beer bars have to make sure it’s approved for sale in the state, call a distributor to see if it’s available in the warehouse, then arrange delivery to the bar. (This is what’s known as the three-tier system.) If a D.C. beer bar wants to bring in the same beer, it just calls the brewery or the local beer rep, orders the beer, has it delivered and pays D.C. sales tax on the purchase


What’s missing from D.C.’s food scene? A lot.

a Draeger’s Market, as in the San Francisco Bay area. We don’t have a great cheese store like Murray’s in New York or a captivating specialty food store like Formaggio Kitchen in Cambridge, Mass. Where are our neighborhood grocery stores? San Francisco is dotted with them: Bi-Rite, Rainbow, Canyon Market and dozens of others. Philadelphia has Di Bruno Bros., not to mention the Italian Market, not to mention Metropolitan Bakery. There are exceptions. Broad Branch Market in the District’s Chevy Chase neighborhood is a wonderful store valued by its customers. In the suburbs, there’s the Organic Butcher in McLean, Cheesetique in Alexandria and Arlington, and Praline Bakery & Bistro in Bethesda. There is the new and promising Union Market in Northeast Washington. But by and large, we have Safeway, Giant, Harris Teeter and Whole Foods. The essentially suburban character of our city discourages real shopping for food. Giant used to dominate the area. As customers became more sophisticated, Giant stores could have become so, too. Indeed, Texas’s Central Market was created by H-E-B, a supermarket chain that grasped the burgeoning interest in good food. But in 1998 just as Whole Foods began its invasion, Giant was acquired by a Dutch company that seems unable to grasp the opportunities of food in the new millennium. So if I want Persian ingredients, I must drive from downtown, where I live, to Yekta on Rockville Pike or 17 miles to Assal Bakery and Supermarket in Vienna. If I want Chinese green beans and Thai mint, I must drive 20 miles to Super H Mart, the Asian superstore in Virginia. And if markets are hard to find, so are butchers, bakers, fishmongers and greengrocers. So are chocolate-makers and coffee roasters and other entrepreneurs with a passion for making craft foods. The essentially suburban character of our city discourages real shopping for food. In Washington many people leave their downtown offices and drive to their suburban homes. They confront long drives, and many, if they shop at all on weekdays, want to make a single stop. They go to supermarkets. We used to have small markets such as the French Market, Neam’s of Georgetown, and Larimer’s at Dupont Circle, Magruder’s and Clover Market. All are gone. But our urban population is growing at more than 1,000 people a month. We could use more small stores again. Billy Dalton, Jobie Lay and Darrell Gaston wait for


company that seems unable to grasp the opportunities of food in the new millennium. So if I want Persian ingredients, I must drive from downtown, where I live, to Yekta on Rockville Pike or 17 miles to Assal Bakery and Supermarket in Vienna. If I want Chinese green beans and Thai mint, I must drive 20 miles to Super H Mart, the Asian superstore in Virginia. And if markets are hard to find, so are butchers, bakers, fishmongers and greengrocers. So are chocolate-makers and coffee roasters and other entrepreneurs with a passion for making craft foods. The essentially suburban character of our city discourages real shopping for food. In Washington many people leave their downtown offices and drive to their suburban homes. They confront long drives, and many, if they shop at all on weekdays, want to make a single stop. They go to supermarkets. We used to have small markets such as the French Market, Neam’s of Georgetown, and Larimer’s at Dupont Circle, Magruder’s and Clover Market. All are gone. But our urban population is growing at more than 1,000 people a month. We could use more small stores again. Billy Dalton, Jobie Lay and Darrell Gaston wait for customers at Le Diplomate, which the author calls “a Disney World caricature of a French brasserie.” (Bonnie Jo Mount/WASHINGTON POST) One encouraging development is the Although this is a wonderful development, something seems to happen here that isn’t so great: Chefs open restaurants, and instead of staying in them, devoting themselves to them, they rush to open more restaurants in rapid succession. Geoffrey Tracy opened his first restaurant in 2000 and five more in 12 years. Passion Food Hospitality opened D.C. Coast in 1998. It’s now working on its eighth restaurant in an empire that includes Acadiana, Passionfish and District Commons. The Black Restaurant Group, which includes Black’s Bar & Kitchen and Pearl Dive Oyster Palace, is going to open its eighth, too, in the fall. Neighborhood Restaurant Group has 10, including Vermilion and Birch & Barley. That appears to have become a Washington tradition, proliferation that happens not nearly so much in other cities. It happens here because money is available to restaurateurs who want to expand. Chefs open restaurants, and instead of staying in them, devoting themselves to them, they rush to open more restaurants in rapid succession. That’s why so many chefs-made-for-television come to Washington: for the


Going Out Guide for Montgomery County, July 11-17

British musician Terry Hall, center, of the Specials performs with the band in Hyde Park last summer. They’ll be at the Fillmore on Friday, just one more thing Silver Spring and London have in common. (Joel Ryan/Associated Press) THU 11 Milkshake This Baltimore-based children’s band released its fifth album this year. It’s called “Got a Minute?” and features 33 songs (in about 33 minutes). 9:30 and 11:30 a.m. Strathmore Backyard Theater, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda. 301-581-5100. www.strathmore.org. $8, age 2 and younger free. Mister G Josh Burgess 19th Street Band Wine Down wine and music series Hot Society Orchestra of Washington Baltimore Symphony Orchestra FRI 12 Art Walk in the Park Ozploitation: Australian Genre Classics Mambo Combo “The Birds” One-Act Festival The Specials “Bar Crawl: Art Crawl by Dana Ellyn and Matt Sesow” SAT 13 Olney Classy Crafts and Antiques Market “Bunny Business” U.S. Navy Country Current SUN 14 “Angel Street” MON 15 “No Strings Attached” TUE 16 Billy Finch WED 17 Alma Tropicalia “Men in Black 3” — Compiled by Carrie Donovan from staff reports


Neighborhood profile: Westover

Westover resident and board member of Field to Table. “I warned my friends to buy here before the market opened, because I knew the housing prices would go up after it did.” (The Washington Post) Another selling point, residents say, is that Westover is close enough to Washington to make commuting easy, but far enough away to feel like a true suburb. The neighborhood is characterized by gently hilly streets, tall maples and oaks, and red-brick Colonials with flowers in the front yard. Many of the retail establishments are accessible by foot. Taking a walk after dinner or running around the corner to replace a bulb at the local hardware store is a pleasure many enjoy. “Everybody walks here, said Lisa Diconsiglio, a 12-year resident. “People are generally like-minded and healthy and want to have little impact on where they live.” “We are a mix of everything,” added Orttung. “Rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, and we all seek high-quality living in a comfortable, safe neighborhood.” Shops old and new: Ayers Variety & Hardware is a 65-year-neighborhood institution. “I call us the grandparents of Westover,” said Wilma Kaplan, 73, who owns the store with her soon-to-be-81-year-old husband, Ron. Next door is the Westover Beer Garden & Market, a popular destination for groceries, beer, Sunday brunch and daily meals. This family business struggled to survive a few years ago and came up with the idea of opening an outdoor beer garden, which quickly became a community gathering place, said owner Devin Hicks. The owners repurposed some of the indoor market space as a new bar that complements the outdoor seating area. Local artists painted murals on the walls, and there is live music several nights a week. Trade Roots, specializing in recycled and sustainable products, opened late last year. It adheres to “fair trade” policy, which requires that only items made by artisans who are paid a fair wage can be sold. Orttung says Westover’s most popular restaurant is probably the Lost Dog Cafe, famous for its pizza, sandwiches and root beer. Some of its profits go to a dog and cat rescue fund. “It brings people in from all over,” he said. There is now a sister establishment: the Stray Cat. Living there: It consists of pre-World War II single-family houses, many of them Colonials; two-story garden-apartment complexes; townhouses; and a sprinkling of duplexes. Currently, 26 two-to-five-bedroom homes are for


Russia convicts dead whistleblower

Corporate documents were stolen from Hermitage and used in the tax fraud Magnitsky later uncovered. “The desperation behind this move shows the lengths that Putin is ready to go to to retaliate against anyone who exposes the stealing and corruption he presides over,” Browder said in the statement. “When the Putin regime ultimately falls, future generations of Russians will be naming streets and monuments after Sergei Magnitsky for his heroism and sacrifice.” Although he received no sentence, Magnitsky was denied the opportunity for legal rehabilitation, which his family had been seeking. “The worst part of today’s verdict is the malicious pain that the Russian government is ready to inflict on the grieving family of a man who was killed for standing up to government corruption and police abuse,” Browder said in his statement. Britain appears to have banned a number of officials associated with the Magnitsky case, although on a more informal basis than the United States. The Sergei Magnitsky Accountability and Rule of Law Act, signed into law by President Obama in December, was denounced by Russian officials and may have goaded them into putting Magnitsky on trial posthumously this spring. Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin (D-Md.), sponsor of the Magnitsky Act, said Thursday that the conviction of Magnitsky after his death was “shameful.” The State Department issued a comment saying it was “disappointed” by Magnitsky’s conviction. “The trial was a discredit to the efforts of those who continue to seek justice in his case,” it said. “Despite widely publicized, credible evidence of criminal conduct resulting in Magnitsky’s death, authorities have failed to prosecute those responsible. We continue to call for full accountability for all those responsible for Magnitsky’s wrongful death, and we’ll continue to support the efforts of those in Russia who seek to hold those individuals accountable.” “Sadly, we have come to expect this sort of behavior from the Putin regime,” he said in a statement. “Such a verdict does no further harm to Sergei, though it must be torturous for his family and friends.” Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), House sponsor of the Magnitsky bill, also said he was disappointed but not surprised by the conviction. “It is clear to me and the rest of the international community that the posthumous trial and its verdict have been orchestrated by the Russian authorities in order to shift attention from their own misguided and criminal actions and corruption,” he said.


National Youth Orchestra’s musicians act as ‘ambassadors’ around the world

James Ross, orchestra director, rehearsing with the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America at Purchase College, SUNY, July 2, 2013. (Chris Lee) On Saturday night, an elite orchestra made up of the best young musicians across the country, led by conductor Valery Gergiev, will take the stage at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall. It’s not the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra. Nor is it the orchestra that was just honed at the National Orchestral Institute, held annually at the University of Maryland. It isn’t the New World Symphony. And it isn’t the NSO Summer Music Institute Orchestra, which this summer is bringing young musicians from 28 states and three countries to the Kennedy Center. That orchestra is playing the following night. No, the one-of-a-kind youth orchestra that’s coming here is called the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America; it was founded by Carnegie Hall, and it’s in its maiden season. Our nation hardly lacks youth orchestras. There are six year-round organizations in the Washington area alone. Then there are the ensembles mentioned above, part of a bouquet of festival orchestras that draw students from across the country during the summer. Each has a slightly different mission. But none of them is doing what the National Youth Orchestra (NYO-USA) is doing: taking a bunch of talented kids on tour to some of the leading venues in the world — the Kennedy Center, the Proms in London, the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory and the White Nights Festival in St. Petersburg. “It’s just creating something much bigger than I’ve ever been in before,” says Samuel Matzner, an 18-year-old violist from Arlington. “There’s a great, great culture of youth orchestras in this country,” says Clive Gillinson, the executive and artistic director of Carnegie Hall in New York. “But none of them act, as a central, core part of their mission, as youth ambassadors for America around the world.” Gillinson is looking to a different model: the kind of touring, high-visibility ensemble represented by the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela, or Europe’s Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra, or the European Union Youth Orchestra. Or, more to the point, the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, which Gillinson, a former cellist who played with it for more than two years, still remembers as “one of the most extraordinary experiences of my life.” There’s a certain idealism built into the


The Foreign 500: American brands, built by immigrant entrepreneurs

Google, Goldman and Yahoo — each hails from the United States, but not their founders. Ball Park Franks smothered in Hunt’s Ketchup. Kraft American cheese melting on burgers. Maybe a tall glass of Country Time Lemonade. One week ago, that was the scene around many a cookout as Americans celebrated Independence Day. Indeed, fittingly, each of the three companies behind those beloved foods hails from right here the United States. However, the same cannot be said of their founders. Dozens of iconic companies, including Kraft, ConAgra and Sara Lee, referenced above, were started by entrepreneurs born in other countries who later moved to the United States. The list includes massive technology firms, like Yahoo and Google, as well as some of the world’s largest financial powers, like Capital One and Goldman Sachs. In total, more than 40 percent of the Fortune 500 firms were started by immigrants or children of immigrants, including seven of the 10 most valuable brands in the world, according to a study by The Partnership for a New American Economy, a coalition of governors and business leaders led by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. More recently, a study commissioned by the National Venture Capital Association showed foreign-born entrepreneurs are now responsible for even more initial public offerings and economic growth than they were before the recession. “The findings show even with the onerous process [in place today], there continues to be an uptick, but we think you’d find we’d have more companies, better companies funded by the venture capital community if you gave opportunities to others to stay or come to the country,” Mark Heesen, the association’s outgoing president, told The Post’s Steven Overly. The subject has floated to the forefront in Washington as lawmakers consider a comprehensive immigration reform bill that would create a new class of “startup visa” for non-native entrepreneurs. The bill would offer up to 10,000 new temporary visas to any immigrant that creates at least five jobs and raises at least $500,000 from angel investors, venture capitalists or other investment groups. The proposal was prompted in part by a recent dip in business-formation rates by immigrants as well as mounting competition from other countries. The Senate approved the legislation, but it faces an uphill road in the House. “America has always been a magnet for the world’s most talented and hardest working,” New York City Mayor Bloomberg said following the


If you go, Baltimore

if you go GETTING THERE Take the Baltimore-Washington Parkway to Pratt Street. Turn right on Pratt, then left onto Gay Street. Take the left lane exit onto Interstate 83 north. Take Exit 7 and follow Druid Park Lake Drive until it merges into McCulloh Street. Turn right into Druid Hill Park at Gwynns Falls Parkway (the fifth traffic light). Turn right immediately after entering the park; the conservatory is on the left. STAYING THERE Hotel Monaco Baltimore 2 N. Charles St 888-752-2636 www.monaco-baltimore.com Pet-friendly downtown boutique hotel. Rooms from $159. Blue Door on Baltimore Bed and Breakfast 2023 E. Baltimore St. 410-732-0191 www.bluedoorbaltimore.com Three-room B&B in a Baltimore rowhouse. Rooms from $139. EATING THERE Woodberry Kitchen 2010 Clipper Park Rd., No. 126 410-464-8000 www.woodberrykitchen.com Specializing in locally grown food from the Chesapeake region. Dinner entrees from $22. A Bolton Hill Bistro 1501 Bolton St. 410-383-8600 www.b-bistro.com Neighborhood bistro serving eclectic American fare. Dinner entrees from $18; burgers from $11. PLAYING THERE Rawlings Conservatory and Botanic Gardens 3100 Swann Dr. 410-396-0008 www.rawlingsconservatory.org Wednesday through Sunday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Free, but a $5 donation is encouraged. Also offers free weekly discussions, demonstrations, stories and tours with various themes every Sunday from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. INFORMATION baltimore.org J.F.L. More from Travel: Travel Guide Ski Guide Caribbean Guide


Tougher bank capital requirements are worth the costs

THE NEWS in financial affairs centers on two seemingly unrelated phenomena. First, markets went into a bit of a tailspin over speculation that the Federal Reserve was about to curtail its stimulative monetary policy; Fed officials had to issue reassuring statements to calm everyone down. Second, federal financial regulators proposed stiff new capital requirements that would probably force some of the nation’s top banks to shrink. Actually, though, these events are connected: Some day, once the U.S. economy has returned to self-sustaining growth, the Federal Reserve will have to unwind its massive balance sheet. Interest rates will go up. Markets will react. And financial institutions could come under stress. One way to protect the wider economy against that potential instability is to make sure big banks are abundantly capitalized. Indeed, even if the Fed’s “exit strategy” goes off without a hitch, a key lesson of the financial crisis is that “systemically important” financial institutions need larger, more transparent capital requirements — lest policymakers face a no-win choice between market meltdown and taxpayer bailout. Prior to the crash, institutions such as Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns had liability-to-asset ratios of greater than 30 to 1. Banks generally were given wide latitude to value their own assets, a practice known as “risk-weighting.” The proposed rule announced Tuesday by the Fed, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency requires the eight largest U.S.-based bank holding companies to keep the ratio between liabilities and assets at 20 to 1; for their FDIC-insured commercial bank subsidiaries, the ratio would be closer to 17 to 1. The standard is tough and clear. Though the precise definition of capital remains to be established, it is going to favor plain old shareholder equity and curtail risk-weighting. This is not without costs. Only two of the eight affected companies, Wells Fargo and Bank of America, already meet the standards, and the FDIC estimates that the others will need an additional $89 billion to comply by the 2018 deadline. As the banks argue, that $89 billion would no longer be available to lend to home buyers and job-creating businesses. Big banks’ reliance on debt financing, rather than equity, reflects not only the too-big-to-fail expectation of a government bailout, which gave them cheap access to funding. It also reflects the favored treatment of interest payments under the U.S. tax code. Requiring more equity increases