Feds tell railroads they must meet deadlines for live-saving technology

far behind schedule in meeting a Dec. 31 deadline for installation of PTC, petitioned Congress for relief and were given a three-year extension. Congress, whose members have received more than $24 million in campaign contributions from the powerful railroad industry since 2008, also said railroads could ask for up to two additional years after the 2018 deadline to complete the job. But the legislation that granted the extension came with teeth, and Federal Railroad Administrator Sarah Feinberg has served notice that she intends to use them. “The focus has to remain on getting PTC up and running and implemented as soon as possible,” she said in a speech to a railroad conference last week. “I recognize that the legislation allows 2018 to be the goal and there to be a potential extension beyond 2018 to 2020. But the deadline is 2018. If you need to get to 2020, there are certain boxes that have to be checked in order to get there.” Warning against expecting another deadline extension, Feinberg sent a letter to the railroads outlining the “boxes” that must be checked in the coming months and years. She said each railroad must submit a detailed plan before the end of January for PTC implementation, with justifications for the pace at which the railroad intends to proceed, and annual reports thereafter. Feinberg wrote that extensions beyond the 2018 deadline would be considered only if a railroad had demonstrated a good-faith effort to comply with the mandate. “What Feinberg was saying in her letter was ‘Don’t even send me a plan that says [you will complete installation by] 2020,’ ” said an FRA official who spoke on condition of anonymity in order to comment candidly. “Her main concern right now is that people are focused on 2020 and they’re not focused on 2018. She’s telling them, ‘If you happen to get to 2018 and you have met these criteria and benchmarks to be eligible [for an extension to 2020], then we’ll talk about it at that point.’ ” It was the fear that the FRA might impose hundreds of millions of dollars in fines that sent the railroads to Congress seeking a reprieve from the Dec. 31 deadline that Congress established seven years ago. The railroads long had argued that PTC technology was too complex to allow them to meet the December deadline and that the $14.7 billion cost to equip


When pandas squeak and make other noises, what are they saying?

died in 2007, had a 100-word vocabulary and grasped the concept of zero, while Koko, a gorilla born at the San Francisco Zoo in 1971, has a 1,000-word vocabulary in sign language.) Still, it’s clear that panda vocalizations do have meaning. Many of those sounds feature prominently in the animals’ mating cycle, said Laurie Thompson, the panda biologist at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo, who was not involved with the new research. So just what do pandas sound like? One of the most distinctive sounds they make is a bleat, which sounds like a sheep saying “neeeeh.” The Smithsonian’s adult male panda, Tian Tian, will bleat this as the panda equivalent of “hey, girl!” — a contact call to his next-door neighbor, the adult female panda Mei Xiang. “The closer it gets to estrus, it gets a little bit more high-pitched and a little bit more frantic,” Thompson said. But Tian Tian will also bleat when he’s hungry or wants something from his caregivers, Thompson said. Mei Xiang, for her part, will bleat when she’s calling her cubs or when she’s in heat. The female panda also barks and makes moaning sounds that morph from low, mean and aggressive when she’s far from ovulating (outside the mating season) to high-pitched and squeaky as she approaches her fertile period. Once she’s in estrus, she breaks out the bleat, Thompson said. Panda keeper Juan Rodriguez weighs Mei Xiang's cub Bei Bei. (Smithsonians National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute/AFP/Getty Images) When both pandas bleat, “then you’ll know that they’re both interested,” she said. Pandas have other sounds in their repertoire, such as the honk. “It’s rhythmic, sort of like the hiccups,” and sounds a bit like “unh, unh,” Thompson said. The honk is a sign that the pandas are stressed, typically by some strange or unfamiliar noise. Baby pandas at the zoo, such as Mei Xiang’s cub Bei Bei, make cute squealing sounds but typically don’t bleat, she said. “They can do the honk when they get a little bit older, probably a couple months old or right around where Bei Bei is right now. He’s old enough to be able to honk if something upsets him,” Thompson said. “It’s the only vocalization he makes that’s not kind of cublike.” — Live Science Photos: World’s Cutest Baby Wild Animals In Photos: Giant Panda Mei Xiang Gives Birth The 5 Smartest Non-Primates on the Planet


Defying the Islamic State and other stories of courage from global journalists

An activist from Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently at their office in Gaziantep, Turkey. (Alice Martins/The Washington Post) RECENTLY THE Islamic State in Raqqa sent an ominous message to an exiled Syrian journalist. Tell us who is filing covertly from the occupied city, the terrorists warned, or we will execute your father. The editor refused to name names. His father was shot to death. We heard this story last week from AbdAlaziz Alhamza, who works for the same journalism collective as the grieving editor: Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently. With a dozen reporters still filing from Raqqa, Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently is one of the few sources of independent news from inside its terrorized land of lashings, slavery, beheadings and crucifixions. The collective is one of four 2015 International Press Freedom awardees who will be honored by the Committee to Protect Journalists in New York City on Tuesday. The awards reflect both the lengths dictators will go to silence free speech — and the creativity and almost unimaginable courage that journalists summon in response. The other honorees are a Malaysian cartoonist, Zulkiflee Anwar Ulhaque, whose work under the pen name Zunar appears only online because the government allows no newspaper to carry his work; the Zone 9 bloggers, an Ethiopian collective that came together as its government decimated the independent press; and Cándido Figueredo Ruíz , a Paraguayan journalist who shines a light on drug cartels and the corruption they engender. A reporter for ABC Color, one of his country’s largest newspapers, Mr. Figueredo holds perhaps the most traditional job among the winners. But there is nothing conventional about his bravery: He has been shot at numerous times and lives under police guard, as does his wife. Mr. Zunar, 53, will return to Malaysia to face charges of sedition and a possible sentence of 43 years. The Ethiopian bloggers too have been imprisoned and still have judicial proceedings hanging over them. Why go back, we asked Mr. Zunar? “We do it for reform,” he told us during a visit to The Post. “Corruption is huge. There are so many injustices. . . . I know it is an uphill battle. I’m not sure when it will end, or will I see the change in my lifetime. It’s like an endless marathon, but as long as I’m on the track I’m the winner.” Mr. Zunar showed us his cartoon of


Family holidays are a prime time to collect family medical histories

(Markus Mainka/iStock) A few years ago, a 21-year-old college student came to the office of Orly Avitzur, Consumer Reports’ medical director, because of intermittent pain in his right ankle. He’d had a ski accident 10 months earlier, but the discomfort lingered, and after a Lyme disease test came back negative, his primary care doctor referred him to Avitzur to investigate the possibility of nerve damage. He had also been experiencing increasingly frequent pain and numbness in his hands for several years — and the cause was unknown. Avitzur found no nerve damage. It was not until she asked about family health problems that she determined the possible cause of his concerns. Her patient’s mother and maternal grandmother had rheumatoid arthritis (RA), an autoimmune disorder that tends to attack the joints. Having a parent, sibling or child with RA is one of the strongest risk factors for the disorder. The patient’s subsequent RA test came back positive, which also put him at higher risk for other autoimmune diseases as well as heart attack and stroke. So knowing a bit about the patient’s family’s health history allowed his doctor to glean a great deal of information about his current health and future risks. To get a better picture of your own risks, put together a family history, a record of health data about several generations of relatives. A history will help you gain insight into your likelihood of developing specific conditions. It can also provide your doctors with clues they may need to reach a diagnosis. There is no better time to gather that information than at family get-togethers. So as the holiday season approaches, start the conversation. Choose your tool You can simply write down your family’s information, but some digital tools make it much easier to build, update and share: •The National Society of Genetic Counselors’ page (www.nsgc.org/p/cm/ld/fid=143) shows you how to draw a family tree. •The March of Dimes’ form (www.marchofdimes.org/materials/family-health-history-form.pdf) considers lifestyle as well as family history. •The Office of the Surgeon General’s My Family Health Portrait (familyhistory.hhs.gov) allows you to enter, print and update your family health history. Get the right information Make a list of relatives to talk with. Include parents, siblings, children, aunts and uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews, and grandparents. Ask them about current and past medical and mental health conditions, and their ages at diagnosis. Pay special attention to conditions that developed much


but some digital tools make it much easier to build, update and share: •The National Society of Genetic Counselors’ page (www.nsgc.org/p/cm/ld/fid=143) shows you how to draw a family tree. •The March of Dimes’ form (www.marchofdimes.org/materials/family-health-history-form.pdf) considers lifestyle as well as family history. •The Office of the Surgeon General’s My Family Health Portrait (familyhistory.hhs.gov) allows you to enter, print and update your family health history. Get the right information Make a list of relatives to talk with. Include parents, siblings, children, aunts and uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews, and grandparents. Ask them about current and past medical and mental health conditions, and their ages at diagnosis. Pay special attention to conditions that developed much earlier than typical or affected multiple family members. Include pregnancy complications such as miscarriage and stillbirth, and birth defects. Ask about deceased family members’ cause of death, other health problems and age at death. Ethnicity is important, because some diseases are more common in certain groups. Sickle cell anemia, for example, is more likely to occur in those of African, African American and Mediterranean heritage. Talk with your doctor Share the history with relatives and your primary care doctor, who may use the information to assess your risk of certain conditions and recommend lifestyle changes. If you have a strong family history of heart disease, for example, he may suggest a healthful diet and exercise program or encourage you to stop smoking. Doctors may also use the history to identify other family members’ risks, choose diagnostic and genetic tests, put together a treatment plan or change intervals for screening tests. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, for instance, notes that women with a parent, sibling or child with breast cancer may benefit more than average-risk women from starting screenings between 40 and 49, rather than at age 50. Without some background on your family’s health, your doctor really is at a disadvantage. In fact, Avitzur says, she was startled to learn several years ago that her brother and his son had an autoimmune disease called ankylosing spondylitis. Each went undiagnosed for years by physicians who had not tied together their individual complaints of joint pain. A family history could have meant an earlier diagnosis. Copyright 2015. Consumers Union of United States Inc. For further guidance, go to www.ConsumerReports.org/Health, where more detailed information, including CR’s ratings of prescription drugs, treatments, hospitals and healthy-living products, is available to subscribers.


Thanksgiving meal from Whole Foods still costly

GROCERS A costly Whole Foods Thanksgiving meal Whole Foods Market may lose ground in its effort to shed its “Whole Paycheck” image this Thanksgiving. A group of 20 common items used in the holiday feast was priced at $87.91 at Whole Foods vs. $72.28 at Trader Joe’s, according to a Bloomberg Intelligence study. The 22 percent higher cost at Whole Foods is bigger than the 0.9 percent gap it had with Trader Joe’s on a similar basket of items last year. Still, both chains were less expensive than Fresh Market, where the Thanksgiving meal costs $101.83. The study shows Whole Foods has more work to do if it wants to better compete with mainstream grocers, which are increasingly selling natural and organic goods. Whole Foods said earlier this month that same-store sales fell 0.2 percent in its fourth quarter. “Whole Foods has to remain diligent that they stay within that tolerance level of what people are expecting in terms of value for price,” said Jennifer Bartashus, a Bloomberg Intelligence analyst who led the study. Although Whole Foods hasn’t gotten rid of its image as an expensive market, it’s making progress. Green beans, garlic and cream-of-mushroom soup were cheaper at Whole Foods than at Trader Joe’s. If Whole Foods shoppers opt for an organic turkey, however, the Thanksgiving dinner basket costs $107.52. The study, which included items such as eggs, stuffing, apples and cranberries, was conducted Wednesday at grocery stores in New Jersey. Whole Foods will open a grocery chain aimed at millennials next year. The stores, dubbed 365 by Whole Foods Market, are focused on technology, value and convenience. The company has said the 365 locations will have a “modern, streamlined design with innovative technology and a carefully curated product mix.” — Bloomberg News MERGERS Canada Pension Plan, CVC to acquire Petco Petco Holdings agreed to be acquired by CVC Capital Partners and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) in a $4.6 billion deal, after merger talks with market leader PetSmart stalled last month because of antitrust concerns. Petco, the No.2 U.S. pet-supplies retailer, had been put up for sale by a group of investors led by private-equity firms TPG Capital and Leonard Green & Partners, the company said Monday. TPG Capital and Leonard Green bought Petco for the second time in 2006, when it was a public company, in a $1.7 billion deal. The two buyout firms had


Foods than at Trader Joe’s. If Whole Foods shoppers opt for an organic turkey, however, the Thanksgiving dinner basket costs $107.52. The study, which included items such as eggs, stuffing, apples and cranberries, was conducted Wednesday at grocery stores in New Jersey. Whole Foods will open a grocery chain aimed at millennials next year. The stores, dubbed 365 by Whole Foods Market, are focused on technology, value and convenience. The company has said the 365 locations will have a “modern, streamlined design with innovative technology and a carefully curated product mix.” — Bloomberg News MERGERS Canada Pension Plan, CVC to acquire Petco Petco Holdings agreed to be acquired by CVC Capital Partners and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) in a $4.6 billion deal, after merger talks with market leader PetSmart stalled last month because of antitrust concerns. Petco, the No.2 U.S. pet-supplies retailer, had been put up for sale by a group of investors led by private-equity firms TPG Capital and Leonard Green & Partners, the company said Monday. TPG Capital and Leonard Green bought Petco for the second time in 2006, when it was a public company, in a $1.7 billion deal. The two buyout firms had also taken the company private in 2000 for $600 million, and then took it public again in 2002. TPG and Leonard Green had been hoping to sell the company for more than $5 billion, including debt, sources told Reuters in October. CVC and CPPIB have secured more than $3 billion in debt financing for the acquisition, Reuters reported Sunday, citing people familiar with the matter. — Reuters Also in Business ● Fewer Americans bought homes in October, a sign that rising home prices are pushing more would-be buyers to the sidelines. The National Association of Realtors says sales of existing homes fell 3.4 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.36 million. The decline comes after strong growth in home-buying for much of 2015. Home purchases have advanced 3.9 percent from a year ago, even as the number of listings has dropped 4.5 percent. But the additional sales have spawned sharp price increases that have outpaced wage growth. The median home sales price was $219,600 in October, a 5.8 percent annual increase. ● A euro-zone bailout fund has approved a new loan to Greece worth $2.1 billion after the country agreed to take new austerity measures. The


Police make arrest in seven-year-old murder case in NW D.C.

D.C. Police have arrested a 27-year-old man in connection with a seven-year-old murder case in Northwest Washington. On Monday, detectives arrested Joshua Massaquoi, of no fixed address, and charged him with first-degree murder in the death of Michael Francis Taylor, of Silver Spring, police said. Taylor, 21, was fatally shot in the back of the head June 22, 2008, in an alley behind the 600 block of Farragut Street in Northwest. An arrest affidavit says that Massaquoi voluntarily showed up at the homicide office to talk about the 2008 shooting. He told detectives he had supplied the gun and set up the killing over a botched drug deal involving up to four pounds of marijuana worth about $4,000, according to the affidavit. Police said in the court document that Taylor took money from street dealers and gave it to a drug supplier, but the supplier left the District without providing the marijuana back to Taylor. The affidavit says Massaquoi was an associate of the dealers who said they lost money. When he died, Taylor’s mother — Merida Taylor — said her son was studying criminal justice at Howard Community College. She said he wanted to work in law enforcement. At the time of the incident, his mother said, “My son was a good son.” “He was a good guy.” Peter Hermann contributed to this article.


Presenting . . . a play featuring a sock puppet armed with blue vocabulary

twice. “Pericles” was already in rehearsals at Oregon Shakespeare Festival when Haj finalized a plan to have the play transfer to the Folger Theatre in the District after its summer run in Ashland, Ore. Lucky for him, the play was a hit in Oregon and received equal praise from Post critic Peter Marks. Once “Pericles” closes in Washington, the actors have a mere nine days off before heading to snowy Minnesota for yet another run, in a theater more than four times the size of the Folger. In a move that both surprised and pleased many in the regional theater world, Haj was named the next artistic director of Minneapolis’s Guthrie Theatre in February. Haj replaces the retiring Joe Dowling, who directed many shows at the Shakespeare Theatre earlier in his career. To take the job, Haj had to leave his post at PlayMakers Repertory Company, the professional theater attached to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “I loved my job,” Haj said. “I used to say, I’m not interested in climbing rungs. I’m here until the Guthrie calls.” Baltimore: State of the arts Baltimore’s struggling cultural organizations got a supportive boost last week from an odd trio of arts supporters: a tortoise, a penguin and Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz. Kamenetz and the Hippodrome Theatre hosted a gathering Friday aimed at encouraging suburbanites to go downtown to enjoy cultural attractions. Although ticket sales at the Hippodrome have been strong this fall, other organizations have noticed a downturn in attendance, and they worry that the drop can be attributed to the racial unrest in April and the city’s homicide rate, which is at a per-capita record high. To show a unified front, the Maryland Zoo, the National Aquarium and various arts groups sent emissaries to the Hippodrome event, resulting in an interesting performance. Among those sharing the stage were Winnie the penguin, Baltimore Symphony music director Marin Alsop and Caitlin Cohn, who is starring in “The Secret Garden” at Center Stage. “Winnie was a hit,” said Olive Waxter, director of the Hippodrome Foundation. “She was really cute and also very friendly.” But Joey, the yellow-footed tortoise representing the aquarium, was apparently jealous that only Winnie got a chance to perform. “I told the aquarium folks no.” Waxter said. “If we had to wait for him to crawl across the stage, we were going to be there all day.”


Douglass North, Nobel Prize-winning economic historian, dies at 95

who won the economics Nobel in 1991, Dr. North created the International Society for the New Institutional Economics in 1997. Renamed the Society for Institutional & Organizational Economics, it has held conferences aimed at addressing developing countries’ political and economic hurdles. Douglass Cecil North was born in Cambridge, Mass., on Nov. 5, 1920. He moved around frequently for his father’s managerial job with Metropolitan Life Insurance and completed high school at the private Choate (now Choate Rosemary Hall) in Wallingford, Conn. His main intellectual pursuit as a teenager was photography, and he won several prizes that led to a summer job in 1941 working with Dorothea Lange as part of the Farm Security Administration project, accompanying and photographing migrants in the central valley of California. A look at those who have died. Lange’s husband, Paul Taylor, was an economist at the University of California at Berkeley and ultimately prevailed on Dr. North that there was great value in an economics degree. By the time Dr. North graduated from Berkeley in 1942, he was a triple major in political science, economics and philosophy. In his Nobel autobiographical essay, he played down his academic record, calling it “mediocre to say the best,” because of his increasing devotion to Marxism and left-wing causes. A pacifist, he said he joined the Merchant Marine during World War II because he didn’t want to “kill anyone.” After his discharge, he grew more determined to make his mark in the world through economics with the intention to “improve societies.” “The way to do that,” he wrote in his Nobel essay, “was to find out what made economies work the way they did or fail to work. I believed that once we had an understanding of what determined the performance of economies through time, we could then improve their performance. I have never lost sight of that objective.” He received a doctorate from Berkeley in 1952. As a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research from 1956 to 1957, he was exposed to what he later called the “substantial stirring to try to change and transform economic history.” One of his early books, “Institutional Change and American Economic Growth,” written in 1971 with Lance Davis and Calla Smorodin, analyzed American economic history from 1790 to 1860. In Geneva on a fellowship in 1966, he turned his attention to European economic history and “quickly became convinced that


A small town near the Arctic Circle braces for a historic influx of refugees

kill you,” he says. Maybe he will tell people how he fought during the war, in Najaf and Sadr City, and trained with U.S. forces. Or that he has buried seven members of his family so far, most recently a cousin killed in a bomb blast. Maybe he will tell them that actually, they only buried his cousin’s head, legs and one hand, which was all they could find afterward. Probably someone will ask, “Why Finland?” He will tell them what he heard on Facebook — that Finland is “generous” to Iraqis, and that when he saw the TV images of refugees flooding into Europe, he thought the time to leave is now. He may try to convey how it felt stepping into a smuggler’s boat in Turkey — how wobbly it was under his foot, how powerless he felt. He held hands with other passengers and whispered to children not to be afraid, although “in my heart, I thought we would die.” He might tell them how he made it all the way across Europe, walking, standing on trains, sitting in buses, all the way to Tornio, where he says some police officers laughed at him and said, “‘You will be here for 21 days and then back to Iraq.’” But now he is here, 6,000 miles from Baghdad. He rubs his face. He walks into the hallways of the hospital, and the floors feel thick and solid under his feet. The volunteers are kind, but now he needs to find out how the rest of Siilinjarvi will treat him. Will they throw rocks? Will they smile? Will they be afraid? Will he? “I must go out into the street,” Rubaee says. So he and his friends go, out the front doors and into the cold and bright day. Rubaee pulls up the hood of his sweatshirt. He looks at the statue in front of the hospital, a barefooted boy playing the flute. He looks up at the Finnish flag. He looks across the street at the row of apartments. He heads left, down the little hill. A car passes, and the driver glances at him. Rubaee glances back. He keeps walking down the hill toward town. He starts walking faster, and faster, and because he is elated, and scared, and safe, and sad, and exhausted, he starts running. And now he is running as fast as he can.


Montgomery Animal Watch

This case was received by the Montgomery County Animal Services Division. For information, call 240-773-5900. This number provides recorded information on topics such as the new animal services and adoption center’s hours and location in Derwood, adoption and licensing procedures, and lost-and-found and field services. Pit bull vs. dachshund: Adoptable cats at no-kill shelter: Gaithersburg Adopt dogs and cats at MCHS no-kill rescue: Rockville Reduced fees for cat adoption: Germantown — Compiled by Lisa M. Bolton


Three unsung heroes in the Middle East

modern, despite its present torments. They remind me that the spirit of freedom and change that animated what we once hopefully called the Arab Spring is still alive, no matter how hard the dictators and religious zealots have tried to kill it. Mohannad Sabry, 32, is a freelance journalist from Cairo. Starting in 2006, he became fascinated by the Sinai region. He spoke Bedouin dialects and traveled where few would dare go. He wanted to write a book about what he saw, but in 2008, he was diagnosed with leukemia. Once in remission, he went back to his work with new passion. Sabry was a reporter during the January 2011 uprising in Tahrir Square that toppled Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. As a stringer for McClatchy Newspapers, he wrote an article in June 2011 about the brazen smuggling from the Sinai through tunnels into Gaza. “I had AK-47s shoved in my face everywhere I went,” he tells me. “It was clear that this region was lawless enough to create a disaster.” The Egyptian military and police “turned a blind eye,” he said. Officials were profiting from the corruption that allowed the warlords to flourish and al-Qaeda extremists to take root. As an independent journalist, Sabry saw things that could have saved Egypt from the ticking bomb in the Sinai. He has just published a book, “Sinai: Egypt’s Linchpin, Gaza’s Lifeline, Israel’s Nightmare.” It’s a reminder of what journalists do at their best. Sandra Bitar, 35, is an activist from Homs. In May 2011, when the Syrian conflict was beginning, she co-founded a group called Emissa, which is the ancient Greek name of her city. After she was imprisoned twice, she was forced to leave Syria, and her group is now based in Turkey. I ask what prison was like, and the answer is laced with tears. “In prison, you cannot sleep at night because of the screams of other prisoners who are being tortured. You see their bruised bodies in the corridors, and you smell the burned flesh.” Bitar’s city of Homs is besieged by both the Islamic State and the Assad regime. Her group smuggles money from Turkey to fund relief and development projects. She refuses to take political sides. “We deliver services to everyone. We don’t allow politics into it,” she said. Kadar Sheikhmous, 27, is from the predominantly Kurdish town of Qamishli in northeast Syria. He helped found


The Syrian immigration cul-de-sac

The president, in denial about the collapse of his Syria policy, denounced those demanding a change in course. His secretary of state actually acknowledged a rationale (if not legitimacy) for the machine-gunning of a room full of Charlie Hebdo cartoonists for offending Muslim sensibilities with a drawing. Beyond that is the strategic surrender of the Middle East, for 40 years dominated by the United States, to Russia and Iran, who now dictate the terms. Which is why, for example, we dare not impose a protective no-fly zone. It’s too dangerous. Russia has filled the Obama vacuum. Facing a massive failure of seven years of Democratic foreign policy stewardship, the GOP candidates have instead tried to outbid each other in being tough on Syrian refugees. This descent into xenophobia was led, as usual, by Donald Trump. Amid bushels of word salad, he concurred with registering American Muslims, raised alarms about Arab American treachery (“thousands and thousands” on TV cheering the World Trade Center collapse) and promised not only to deny entry to Syrian refugees, but to send back the ones already here. Can you see it? Packing them into his 757, the one with gold-plated seat belts, then dumping them — orphans, widows, the lot — into a war zone to await the next barrel bomb. A week after the Nov. 13 Paris attacks, Republican presidential candidates are still discussing American Muslims and their stances on Syrian and Iraqi refugees. Other GOP candidates have issued Trumpian echoes. The Muslim registry had no takers. But some have advocated shutting out all the refugees or taking Christians only. They are chasing the polls showing strong anti-refugee sentiment. How deeply shortsighted. It may work in the GOP primaries. But Trump-like anti-immigrant, anti-foreigner, now anti-Muslim, anti-Arab rhetoric — and don’t forget those cunning Chinese stealing our jobs and ruthless Mexicans raping our women — will not play well in a general election. Politically, it will be fatal. John Kasich has forcefully denounced this slide into the swamp. Where are the others? Read more from Charles Krauthammer’s archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook. Read more: Charles Krauthammer: Obama’s phony war Michael Gerson: Obama, speaking from the ruins of his own policy Fred Hiatt: The price of American inaction David Ignatius: Donald Trump undermines our fight against the Islamic State The Post’s View: Republicans need to stand up to Trump’s bullying


Police arrest suspect in homicide along New York Avenue in Northeast D.C.

D.C. police have arrested a suspect in the Oct. 31 killing of a 41-year-old man from Upper Marlboro who was found dead on New York Avenue in Northeast Washington. Nathaniel Bryant, 30, of Southeast, has been charged with second-degree murder. He was arrested Wednesday night by members of the Capitol Area Regional Fugitive Task Force. He was ordered detained until a preliminary hearing in D.C. Superior Court on Dec. 8. The victim, Victor Drummings, was found about 3:15 a.m. in the 1600 block of New York Avenue NE. His death was ruled a homicide, but police have not disclosed the cause and manner of death. Drummings’s wife, Lavita, said earlier this month that her husband had been attending an event at a motel. There is a motel in that block of New York Avenue, but police have not said whether the body was found inside or outside a particular location. “He was a wonderful man,” Lavita Drummings said. “A family man.” She said they were married for five years but had been together for 25 years, and they had three daughters and a son. They met at Suitland High School, she said. Less than three weeks after Drummings was killed, another man was fatally shot in the same 1600 block of New York Avenue NE. Police have a lookout for six “persons of interest” in the shooting, which occurred at or outside a motel about 10:30 a.m. on Nov. 17. Police identified the victim in that case as Kevin DeAndre Wallace, 21, of Northeast. Martin Weil contributed to this report.


Rising temperatures, invisible threats: Climate change spurs disease fears

was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. “So, droughts alternating with rain, forcing the mosquitoes and birds to congregate, then warm temperatures and a hot, early summer — those were perfect conditions.” The county’s intense monitoring and spraying campaign — coupled with a pair of unusually harsh Dallas winters — has helped keep the disease in check since 2012. But as temperatures rise, heightened vigilance is the new normal for Texas cities, Haley said. “Climate change is broadening the tropical latitudes, and Texas is going to be tropical eventually,” Haley said. While the widespread return of major killers such as malaria are unlikely in an advanced Western country, he said, “you can roughly predict that tropical diseases will be part of our future.” Ticks and the ‘kissing bug’ But mosquitoes are not the only pests that thrive in warmer climates. Numerous recent studies have documented shifts in the habitats of other disease carriers. Ticks, notorious for spreading Lyme disease as well as Rocky Mountain spotted fever, are expanding their range into parts of Canada. In the United States, milder winters mean shorter hibernations and booming tick populations in the spring and summer. Southern states are seeing a resurgence of Chagas disease, a sometimes fatal parasitic infection spread by the beetlelike Rhodnius prolixus, or “kissing bug.” Regarded as a tropical disease, Chagas is moving farther north, with a spike in recent cases in Texas and new sightings of the insect carrier as far north as Indiana and Ohio, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported this past week. Behind each new disease occurrence is a multitude of contributing factors. Disease-carrying pests also can be spread through international travel and immigration. And climate change can sometimes limit, rather than expand, the ranges and life spans of certain insects and the microbes they carry, epidemiologists say. But there is little doubt that a warmer climate will introduce new disease threats, said the University of Nebraska’s Brooks, and even a wealthy country with a sophisticated health-care system cannot expect to be entirely immune. “The warmer the planet gets, the more pathogens and vectors from the tropics and sub-tropics are going to move into the temperate zones,” Brooks said. “Countries such as the United States tend to have a false sense of security, but vectors and pathogens don’t understand international boundaries. You can’t just put a fence to keep them out.”


Ever wondered about warm-blooded and cold-blooded animals?

as does their ability to move. That’s why reptiles, butterflies and other ectotherms can be found “sunning themselves” in the morning. Doing this raises their body temperature and allows the chemical activity in their cells to speed up. Muscles work better if they’re warm, so one advantage that endotherms enjoy is the ability to spring into action at a moment’s notice. This is important for animals that forage throughout the day as well as for predators that need stamina, or strength over a long period of time, to catch their prey. Some animals, such as bumblebees, have characteristics of ectotherms and endotherms. (istockphoto) Ectotherms usually feed during the day, when the warmth of the sun enables their muscles to function better. Nocturnal ectotherms and ones that live in colder regions commonly employ “wait and trap” techniques that don’t require much energy. For example, a chameleon uses very little energy while it sits waiting for an insect to get within striking distance of its sticky tongue. One disadvantage of being an endotherm is that it takes a lot of energy to keep your body temperature steady regardless of the environment. That’s why mammals and birds need to eat frequently. Ectotherms, on the other hand, can go for long periods without eating. If there’s no food around, their metabolism can slow down because they don’t need the extra energy to maintain body temperature. (That’s why adult snakes can go months without eating.) Although most endotherms appear “warm-blooded” and most ectotherms appear “cold-blooded,” some animals display characteristics of both groups. They are called heterotherms. Here are a few examples: At rest, a bumblebee’s temperature varies, like that of a traditional ectotherm. However, worker bees can’t fly if their body temperature isn’t high enough. Before takeoff, the bees repeatedly flex their flying muscles. This generates heat in their upper body and enables them to fly. Some species of bat and squirrel slow their metabolism when they’re resting. As a result, their body temperature, which is warm while active, can drop markedly. This is similar to what happens to endotherms that hibernate in cold weather. Scientists recently discovered that the opah, a deep-water predatory fish, keeps its blood warmer than the surrounding water. It does this by rapidly flapping its pectoral fins and “saving” the heat generated by this muscle activity through specially designed blood vessels in its gills. So, my dear endotherm (that means


Another danger of climate change: Giant flying boulders?

in intense North Atlantic storms in the winter of 2013 and 2014, more than 2,000 boulders moved, based on GPS mapping. Many were pretty small, but the biggest was over 400 tons. Cox has not studied the Bahamas, but from her own work infers that Hearty’s ideas are a “valid hypothesis and one that can’t just be thrown out.” Hearty contends that on Eleuthera, smaller boulders have moved within the past 12,000 years and may still be moving today. Not far from the mega-boulders, he shows Hansen a rocky plain strewn with boulders closer to 100 tons than 1,000. Hearty thinks this is the most storms can do in the modern era, which is why he thinks Eemian storms must have been stronger. There is also the Philippine island of Samar, struck in 2013 by the extraordinarily intense super-typhoon Haiyan. Max Engel of the University of Cologne in Germany and his colleagues used satellite imagery to document the transport of numerous onshore boulders after the storm, including one that weighed 180 tons. Storms, Engel says, “can create a boulder pattern that is very similar to what we would expect for tsunamis.” People skeptical that ocean waves can move boulders are not thinking about the physics right, said Robert Weiss, a geophysicist at Texas A&M University. “The density of air is about a thousand times smaller than the density of water,” Weiss said. He added that a simple cubic meter of water, a cube that is a meter long on every side, already weighs a ton. So when you start thinking about waves that are 25 or more feet high, traveling at speeds of over 10 mph, it’s not so odd to think of rocks moving. “That will cause significant damage. That will cause the movement of boulders,” Weiss said. But for storms to fling boulders as big as those in the Bahamas, that would probably require an epic unleashing of energy. Hansen looks at the clues assembled by geologists such as Hearty and thinks that is what is in store for the planet if warming trends continue. That suggests not just a decades-long problem of rising ocean levels but also the potential for massive destruction. “Unfortunately, it’s pretty clear that we are right,” Hansen said. He clearly believes it — and what is so troubling is that even many scientists who are skeptical can remember when he was right before.


Geminid meteors are a highlight of December’s skies

according to the U.S. Naval Observatory, when the sun appears to touch the Tropic of Capricorn along its ecliptic journey. Also, it’s the least amount of daylight we get all year, as Washington sees nine hours and 26 minutes of daylight on Dec. 21 and Dec. 22, but light increases by a minute on Dec. 23. Enjoy lunar luminescence for the holidays: On Christmas Day, Dec. 25, the moon officially becomes full at 6:11 a.m., according to the observatory. But on Christmas Eve, the plump moon (at 99 percent illumination) rises at 4:35 p.m. in the eastern sky, serving as an all-night light source for Santa Claus and his team of eight reindeer. The moon rises at 5:32 p.m. on Christmas night and at 6:31 p.m. on Dec. 26, when the waning gibbous moon will be 98 percent illuminated. Down-to-Earth Events ● Dec. 5: University of Maryland undergraduate students present research on asteroid rotations at the school’s observatory, College Park. 8 p.m. Bask in the night’s heavenly glory through telescopes afterward. www.astro.umd.edu/openhouse. ● Dec. 7: Catch a visual preview of December’s night sky at “Stars Tonight,” at the David M. Brown Planetarium, 1426 N. Quincy St., Arlington. 7:30 p.m. $3. friendsoftheplanetarium.org. ● Dec. 12: Hiroya Yamaguchi, a NASA Goddard Space Flight Center scientist, explains knowledge revealed by X-ray observations of supernova remnants, at the regular gathering of the National Capital Astronomers, which meets at the University of Maryland Observatory, College Park. 7:30 p.m. capitalastronomers.org. ● Dec. 13: “Planetary Atmospheres,” a talk by Sarah Hörst, a planetary scientist at Johns Hopkins University, at the regular meeting of the Northern Virginia Astronomy Club, 163 Research Hall, George Mason University, Fairfax. 7 p.m. novac.com. ● Dec. 15: “Sewing Machines, Balloons and Rocket Fuel: Developing the Next Generation of Mars Landing Technologies,” a talk by Ian Clark, of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., at the Moving Beyond Earth gallery, National Air and Space Museum, National Mall, 1 p.m. airandspace.si.edu. ● Dec. 20: “Dissemination, Education and Research in Brazilian Astronomy,” a lecture by Andre Amarante Luiz, a doctoral student in astronomy, at the University of Maryland’s Observatory, College Park. 8 p.m. Gaze to the stars and planets through telescopes after the talk. www.astro.umd.edu/openhouse. ● Dec. 22: “The Day of the Sun’s Return: The Winter Solstice,” a presentation at the Montgomery College planetarium, Takoma Park, 7 p.m. www2.montgomerycollege.edu/departments/planet/ Blaine Friedlander can be reached at postskywatch@yahoo.com.


The magic number: Holding warming under 2°C is the goal. It may already be too late.

As global temperatures rise, Newtok village is being threatened by the melting of permafrost. (Andrew Burton/Getty Images) Getting the world’s governments to reach a global agreement at the United Nations’ climate conference in Paris is going to require careful politics, but the effort may be up against an even tougher challenge: mathematics. The central goal of the gathering is to forge an agreement that would set the world on a path to ultimately restrict planetary warming to less than two degrees Celsius above preindustrial temperatures. The target was originally proposed by the European Union in the 1990s as a way to avert some of the worst consequences of climate change, such as rising sea levels. But as ambitious as this effort is, time and numbers are working against it. Some scientists and analysts now suggest the two-degree target may be all but out of reach. The world has waited so long to cut emissions, they say, that sticking to two degrees may require extremely harsh cuts that could damage economies, or the assumption of future technologies that have not been invented yet. Kevin Anderson, deputy director of the Tyndall Center for Climate Change Research at the University of Manchester in England, recently hurled a grenade into the two-degree discussion in an essay in Nature Geoscience by charging that many of his scientific colleagues “are ultimately choosing to censor their own research.” Anderson particularly objects that many models now rely on “negative emissions” through technologies that remove carbon dioxide from the air or after combustion processes. These technologies, he objects, are at “little more than a conceptual stage of development.” Oliver Geden, a researcher with the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, leveled similar charges earlier this year and has called for modifying the two-degree target, labeling it “patently unrealistic” and “obviously unattainable.” On the scientific front, meanwhile, a recent analysis by Stanford University earth scientist Rob Jackson and three colleagues found “without immediate and substantial mitigation . . . time has nearly run out for 2°C.” And the goal is beset by other hurdles, too — such as major uncertainties surrounding how much carbon is really safe to emit, and around unexpected factors that can arise as the planet warms. And then there’s the simple, discouraging fact that two degrees may not be a “safe” level of global warming anyway. The ‘carbon budget’ The key problem is the finite


Obama, Bill Gates to lead major effort to spur spending on climate research

developing world. “Given the scale of the challenge, we need to be exploring many different paths, and that means we also need to invent new approaches,” Gates explained in a statement on Monday’s launch of the private initiative, dubbed the “Breakthrough Energy Coalition.” Gates said he was “optimistic that we can invent the tools we need” to battle climate change while providing energy to the world’s poor. The amount of investment planned by the group wasn’t announced. People living in Beijing woke up to another day of hazy skies Nov. 30, as thick smog continued to blanket the city on the same day world leaders met in Paris to discuss climate change. The city's air quality index measured over 500 - the worst this year. The programs will be formally unveiled in the opening hours of a 12-day climate conference attended by diplomats from more than 190 countries. Negotiators at the talks will seek to hammer out an accord on reducing emissions of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping greenhouse gases blamed for global warming. The U.S. State Department said in a statement early Monday that the United States was pledging $51 million to a $248 million effort involving 10 other nations to support the Least Developed Countries Fund to support climate change adaptation. In its statement, the State Department said the fund “plays a key role in addressing urgent and immediate adaptation needs of least developed countries.” In the run-up to the talks, more than 180 countries have already submitted pledges to cut or limit carbon pollution, with the aim of keeping global temperatures from rising by more than 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial averages. But U.S. officials acknowledge that the pledges made so far are not enough to keep the planet from crossing a threshold that scientists say is likely to result in major ecological disruptions, including rising sea levels, mass extinctions and extreme weather events such as mega-droughts and destructive storms. The United States and other industrialized countries have made major strides in deploying wind and solar energy over the past decade. But investment has lagged in the kinds of basic energy research needed to solve the climate challenge, U.S. officials have acknowledged. The Mission Innovation program will seek to close that gap, administration officials said. Over the next five years, the 19 participating countries will increase their annual spending on basic research and development


Appeals court considering means for prosecuting Guantanamo detainees

Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States, are likely to continue — with or without a conspiracy charge. The court sat en banc for the first time since President Obama appointed four judges to the panel. Three of them — Patricia A. Millett, Cornelia T.L. Pillard and Robert L. Wilkins — are likely to play an important role in the outcome, and they dominated much of the oral argument. The fourth, Sri Srinivasan, did not participate — presumably because of his previous work in the office of the solicitor general, which handles all government appeals. Wilkins seemed interested Tuesday in whether the court could uphold the conviction in Bahlul’s case without deciding the broader question of future military commissions. “I don’t know how you can maintain that this is your run-of-the-mill conspiracy,” Wilkins told Bahlul’s attorney. Ian Gershengorn, the principal deputy solicitor general, suggested later that the court could limit its ruling to Bahlul, saying, “This particular conspiracy is one that the court should find troubling.” Bahlul has admitted to helping prepare an al-Qaeda recruitment video, to preparing martyr wills for some of the 9/11 hijackers and to doing research for bin Laden on the economic effect of the attacks on the United States. The U.S. Supreme Court has not ruled on the specific question of whether military commissions are limited to prosecutions of international war crimes. Judges Judith W. Rogers and Pillard expressed skepticism about making an exception for military tribunals to try conspiracy cases when prosecutors could have brought other charges against Bahlul. “I’m puzzled as to why we are here,” Pillard said. Gershengorn said the government needs to be able to use tribunals to prosecute conspiracy cases because that mechanism “offers an important protection” and “reflects the realities of the battlefield.” Several judges, including Thomas B. Griffith, also pressed lawyers about how deferential the appeals court should be to the lower courts — in this case, concerning the conviction by the military tribunal. If the court gives weight to the tribunal’s decision, Bahlul faces a high bar for overturning his conviction. In the appeals court’s divided panel opinion in June, Judge David S. Tatel noted that federal civilian courts already issue thousands of conspiracy convictions each year, including for terrorism. Civilian courts, however, are not an option because Congress has barred bringing any Guantanamo detainees into the United States. Julie Tate contributed to this report.


AirAsia crash result of chronic faulty rudder control system

The chief of Indonesia’s transportation safety committee holds an aircraft model as he speaks to reporters in Jakarta about last year’s AirAsia crash that killed all 162 people on board. (Mast Irham/EPA) Indonesian investigators announced Tuesday that the crash of an AirAsia plane last year was the result of a faulty rudder control system on the jet, which had shown problems with the system almost two dozen times in the year prior to the deadly crash. The National Transportation Safety Committee announced in Jakarta that an analysis of the passenger jet’s data recorder showed that the pilots’ response to the rudder problems led to the plane stalling and crashing into the Java Sea. All 162 people on board the flight were killed. The AirbusA320 crashed less than halfway into a two-hour flight from Indonesia’s second-largest city of Surabaya to Singapore on Dec. 28 last year. Indonesian investigators did not single out one reason as to why flight QZ8501 disappeared from controllers’ radars, but rather set out the sequence of events that preceded the fatal crash. It marked the first public report on the air disaster. Investigators said a system controlling rudder movement had cracked soldering that malfunctioned repeatedly, including four times during the flight alone, and 23 times the previous year, the Reuters news agency reported from the Indonesian capital. “Subsequent flight crew action resulted in inability to control the aircraft...causing the aircraft (to) depart from the normal flight envelope and entering a prolonged stall condition that was beyond the ability of the flight crew to recover,” The National Transportation Safety Committee said in a statement, Reuters reported. Officials said there were indications from the black box data recorder that the plane’s pilots had tried to shut off power to the computer that controls the rudder system by resetting a circuit breaker. “The indication was that it (the circuit breaker) was pulled according to (the flight data recording),” one of the investigators, Nurcahyo Utomo, said, Reuters reported. But, he added there was no concrete proof that such an event occurred, the agency reported. The investigators ruled out bad weather as a cause of the crash. The malfunction with the rudder system led to four warnings, the report showed. On the fourth warning, the plane disengaged from autopilot, causing the crew to lose control of the aircraft. No distress signal was received, though. Investigators examined aircraft maintenance records and found that


Montgomery lawmakers debate who’s best at handling liquor

It’s been a good long time since a room full of union members cheered Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett (D). They’re usually at odds over collective bargaining agreements and other personnel issues. But the peculiar politics of liquor control produced just such a scene at a contentious state legislative hearing that ended shortly before 2 a.m. Tuesday in Rockville. Leggett told members of the Montgomery delegation that the county risked a huge financial hit if the General Assembly passed a bill that placed privatization of the county’s liquor monopoly on the 2016 ballot. Since the end of Prohibition in 1933, the county has been the exclusive wholesaler of beer, wine and spirits. Proponents, led by Del. C. William Frick (D-Montgomery) and five other state lawmakers, contend that the bill only opens the county’s liquor business to private competition. But Leggett called the idea “irresponsible,” arguing that it will effectively scuttle the county’s Department of Liquor Control, costing taxpayers more than $30 million in annual revenue. It would also force the county to find a way of refinancing more than $100 million in bonds leveraged by the liquor revenue. For those who believe that the bill will only foster competition, “then I have some land I want to sell you in the Ninth Ward of New Orleans right now,” Leggett said, as dozens of yellow-shirted members of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1994 (MCGEO) whistled and cheered. The union represents about 5,000 county workers, including 300 or so who work in the liquor control warehouse and the 25 county-operated retail stores whose jobs would be at risk if the monopoly ended. The delegation worked its way through public comments on a laundry list of other bills before getting to the liquor issue around 11 p.m. It heard from more than 40 witnesses, including restaurant owners who repeated their long-standing complaints about poor service from the DLC. Most vexing, they said, was the agency’s inability to supply “special orders” — or increasingly popular fine wines and craft beers — in a timely manner. The lack of variety is driving customers out of the county, they contend. Council member Hans Riemer (D-At Large) spoke for council colleagues in favor of a compromise measure allowing businesses to buy special order products from private wholesalers but keeping the rest of the county system intact. Riemer said it was important that the county improve its


Obama’s push for democracy in Africa runs up against ‘presidents for life’

abuses. Carson kept “analytical score cards.” In economic development, he gave Rwanda a 9 out of 10. But on domestic political issues, he gave the country a 2, in large part because of Kagame’s repression of his opponents. “I think that Kagame’s decision [to stay in office] represents a serious setback to continued democratic progression,” Carson said. But Kagame’s supporters say their nation is being unfairly grouped with countries in much different situations. In Burundi, for example, the president’s remaining in power for a third term is strongly opposed by a coalition of politicians and activists. Hundreds have been killed there in protests since April. “Unlike Burundi and Congo, we’re going through this in a very calm way,” said Jean Philbert Nsengimana, the minister of youth and information and communications technology. Although opposition candidates have won important, hotly contested elections this year in Nigeria and Tanzania, some of Africa’s most prominent leaders have held power for decades. Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, 91, has been in power for 35 years. Sudan’s Omar Hassan al-Bashir, 71, has been president for 22 years. A $5 million prize given by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation to African leaders who govern well and then leave office at the end of their terms has been awarded only four times since it was announced eight years ago. Kagame was seen as part of a new generation of African leaders, and Western diplomats hoped he would take term limits more seriously. For a while, it appeared that he would. He said in 2010 that “it would be my failure” if no one succeeded him at the end of his second term. But now, the parliament has voted to allow him to seek one more seven-year term and two more five-year terms. The United States is among the few Western countries that have publicly opposed the prospect of a third Kagame term. “People feel that he should be cut more slack — that Rwanda is kind of a special deal,” said one senior Western official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the situation publicly. “He has at least stopped people from cutting each other’s heads off for 20 years.” Read more: Obama visits a rising Africa, but one still plagued by economic problems Nigerian opposition candidate wins presidency in historic race 20 years after the genocide, Rwanda looks to a tech revolution


Fossil fuels have helped liberate us from many diseases

A health worker administers a polio vaccine to a child, in the Enjil dictrict of Herat province in Afghanistan. (Jalil Rezayee/European Pressphoto Agency) Regarding the Nov. 28 front-page article “A warming globe brings invisible threat: Disease”: The burning of fossil fuels over the past 150 years has energized a medical revolution that has liberated us from many of the world’s worst diseases. Life expectancy has doubled, and we now have the time, energy and knowledge needed to combat the negative effects of future warming. Maybe we should concentrate on lifting the world’s poorest so they can have a healthier future. We must be very careful what we wish for. Paul C. Quigg, Luray


Bulk of D.C. body camera footage will be available to the public

legislation, resulting from “a robust back and forth,” brings the city “one step closer” to the mayor’s overarching goal of getting the District’s beat cops outfitted with cameras. Council members David Grosso (I-At Large) and Elissa Silverman (I-At Large) said during a council breakfast meeting Tuesday that they remained concerned about the plan’s transparency, including the provision that protects footage shot inside a person’s home from the public. Meanwhile, Charles Allen (D-Ward 6) said he was worried about parts of the legislation that limited the use of body cams at schools, arguing that in some criminal cases police should be able to both record footage and make it available. Under the revised plan, police assigned to District schools will be able to record video footage of “critical” altercations or during emergencies. Footage from incidents inside homes and schools will also be available for use in court proceedings through the normal discovery process, McDuffie said. Bowser’s plan marks a breakthrough nationally in body-camera disclosure law as states from New York to California wrestle with similar concerns. Large police departments have generally opted against releasing video. Also Tuesday, council members Silverman and Grosso each proposed bills aimed at curbing the influence of wealthy donors and companies in District political campaigns. The proposals come in the wake of a recent controversy surrounding a political action committee that allowed Bowser to raise unlimited campaign contributions in a non-election year. FreshPAC, named after Bowser’s “fresh start” campaign slogan, collected $10,000 donations from several individuals, including some who had recently won political appointments or city development deals. The PAC was dissolved last month after mounting criticism from council members and local activists. Grosso said Tuesday that his bill would eliminate the off-year fundraising loophole and would create a system of public campaign financing similar to laws passed in several other states, including Connecticut and Maine. Silverman’s bill would limit campaign donations to those coming from individual donors, rather than major corporations. “This bill will specify that only people can make contributions to a candidate’s political committee,” she said, adding that the provision would “alleviate pressure” on local businesses that currently feel compelled to donate to win city contracts. Both council members said such legislation would boost civic engagement among District voters, who they said have felt disenfranchised by the power of big donors. Bowser’s spokesman Czin said that the mayor’s office had not yet seen the


Montgomery Animal Watch

These cases were received by the Montgomery County Animal Services Division. For information, call 240-773-5900. This number provides recorded information on topics such as the new animal services and adoption center’s hours and location in Derwood, adoption and licensing procedures, and lost-and-found and field services. Unneighborly dog: Wrong coop for chickens Labs unleashed: Pet photos with Santa: Adopt dogs and cats at MCHS no-kill rescue: Rockville Reduced fees for cat adoption: Germantown Adoptable cats at no-kill shelter: Gaithersburg — Compiled by Lisa M. Bolton


Peter Chang review: An empire’s two local outposts continue to deliver

The following review appears in The Washington Post’s 2016 Fall Dining Guide. Peter's Soup Dumpling with straw at Peter Chang restaurant in Rockville. (Deb Lindsey For The Washington Post/For The Washington Post) Peter Chang GOOD/EXCELLENT Chowhounds tend to worry, not without reason, when a brand expands. (See: Five Guys.) So it was with crossed fingers that I returned to Peter Chang in Arlington and Rockville to see if the dining rooms bearing the name of one of the most mysterious and peripatetic chefs in the region were still firing on all cylinders. The former chef of the Chinese Embassy, after all, counts 11 outposts in his empire and plans a fine-dining restaurant, Qijian in Bethesda, next spring. Peter’s Big Bun, a soup dumpling with a well of porky broth, remains a winner, as does the signature dry fried eggplant, crisp-creamy spears that ignite a little fire with their seasoning of chilies and Sichuan peppercorns. Cumin-laced lamb chops still make me sigh, and among the enduring highs are the seasonal specials, in particular tea-smoked duck with Cheetos-orange fried onions. Some of the food is greasier than I remember it, notably the cigar-shaped fish rolls served on a little bamboo raft. Even so, they crackle at the bite. The Changs, I’m pleased to report, still deliver. Previous: 2 1/2 stars Peter Chang (Arlingon): Sound check: Peter Chang (Rockville): Sound check: Prices: -- The following review was originally published Dec. 2, 2015. Peter Chang restaurant review: A master’s cooking, times two A busy Saturday night with a waitress carrying scallion bubble pancakes at Peter Chang restaurant in Rockville. (Deb Lindsey/For The Washington Post) GOOD/EXCELLENT The best neighborhood Chinese restaurant in Washington is just across the Potomac, in Arlington. Or so I thought after my maiden meal at Peter Chang, named for the onetime chef of the Chinese Embassy with a cultlike following. No other competitor comes close to the bar set by Peter Chang, which since opening in March has become home not only to some memorably numbing Sichuan dishes, but to service that’s the equal of the kitchen’s output. Then I ate at an even younger rival for my affection, in Rockville. That’s where Chang introduced his second area restaurant, also called Peter Chang, in April. Few chefs enjoy a more mysterious past. When he bolted from the embassy as his contract was coming to an end in 2003, Chang became one


D.C. news in brief

21 and older can call 800-200-TAXI (8294) for a free ride home worth up to $30. Since 1993, SoberRide has provided 63,185 rides to potentially drunk drivers in the Washington area. For information, go to www.soberride.com. City launches portal for jobs, internships and volunteering The D.C. Department of Energy and Environment recently launched Green Pathways, an online portal for internships, fellowships, employment and volunteer opportunities. The agency anticipates hiring more than 60 full-time and part-time employees during fiscal 2016. New initiatives include Green Fellows, a program for graduate students enrolled in the District to pursue environmental research and policy, writing and editing, and project management. Each Green Fellow term culminates with a final presentation to the department’s director and senior staff members. For information, go to doee.dc.gov/greenpathways. D.C. Public Library publishes oral histories in online portal The D.C. Public Library recently published three oral histories in Dig DC, the online portal to the library’s special collections. “Milepost to Self-Government Oral History” contains first-person accounts of the D.C. home-rule movement from leaders of the struggle for self-government. “South of U Oral History” features video interviews telling the story of the Shaw neighborhood before, during and after the 1968 riots. “The Latino Youth Community History Project,” funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities, shares the experiences of young men and women in the Latino community. The library has digitized nearly 500 cassette tapes from its oral history collection and is working to bring more interviews online for public access and research. For information, go to digdc.dclibrary.org. Local historians to share projects at showcase Local community historians will share their work at the D.C. Community Heritage Project Showcase from 6:30 to 9 p.m. next Thursday at the Richard Wright Public Charter School for Journalism and Media Arts, 770 M St. SE. Neighborhoods and communities explored through this year’s grant include Bloomingdale, River Terrace, Hillsdale, Barracks Row, upper 16th Street NW, Columbia Heights, H Street NE, Douglass/Fort Stanton and Full Gospel Tabernacle Church. The project provides grants for D.C. communities to tell, teach and preserve their local history. The free program will include information on local history best practices, workshops on house history research and a showcase of field work by project grantees. The nonprofit HumanitiesDC and the D.C. government are partners on the project. To register, go to www.eventbrite.com and search for “D.C. Community Heritage Project Showcase.” — Compiled by Terence McArdle


CIA runs shadow war with Afghan militia implicated in civilian killings

And it wouldn’t be the last allegation of wrongdoing. This article is based on interviews with witnesses of six separate attacks by the militia in the past year, as well as court documents in the only known legal case filed against the unit, after one or more of its men shot a 14-year-old boy to death. Three former commanders of the unit, known as the KPF, tribal elders, lawmakers, lawyers, activists and local government officials with direct knowledge of the force and the CIA’s role were also interviewed. A man prays on the roof of a market in central Khost City on Nov. 4. (Andrew Quilty/For The Washington Post) In several attacks, witnesses described hearing English being spoken by armed men who had interpreters with them, suggesting American operatives were present during assaults where extreme force was used. In an e-mailed statement, the agency’s spokesman, Dean Boyd, said that “we’ve taken significant steps to help the Afghan National Directorate of Security address allegations of human rights abuse.” The directorate, known as the NDS, ostensibly oversees the Khost force. Boyd declined to comment on any specific claims of abuse. “We take seriously any allegation of abuse involving foreign liaison services and routinely work with them to rectify such matters,” Boyd said. “Our goal is always to improve the capabilities and professionalism of foreign counterparts.” On Oct. 15, as President Obama announced that 5,500 U.S. troops would remain in Afghanistan past next year, he stressed that they would have just two missions: training Afghan forces and fighting al-Qaeda. Yet, throughout this year, there has been an aggressive American effort to stem Taliban territorial gains. And the CIA, separate from the U.S. military, enjoys looser rules of engagement that have enabled it to expand targets to include the Taliban and its allies, the Haqqani network. Here in this strategic eastern border province, which has long served as a key gateway for militants entering from Pakistan, the KPF fights in conjunction with the CIA out of Forward Operating Base Chapman. The KPF “is one of the most effective elements fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan, and were it not for their constant efforts, Khost would likely be a Haqqani-held province, and Kabul would be under far greater threat than it is,” said a U.S. official speaking on the condition of anonymity. “This is a group made up of thousands of soldiers who come from the


IAEA concludes Iran had active nuclear weapons program until 2003

The State Department has forwarded the report to Congress, spokesman Mark Toner said. He noted that the IAEA assessment was “consistent” with a National Intelligence Estimate in 2007 that Iran had stopped its nuclear program in 2003. The report, which has not been officially released, provided ammunition for all sides in the Iran nuclear debate. Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that it closed the books on the entire issue of what are known as “possible military dimensions” of Iran’s prior nuclear activities. “Therefore, all measures over the past issues have been completely concluded and PMD has been left behind,” Araghchi said, according to the Islamic Republic News Agency, which posted the text of the report on its Web site. The U.S.-based National Council of Resistance of Iran, which uncovered some of the initial information about Iran’s nuclear program more than a decade ago, said that the report “clearly affirms that not all information [the IAEA] was seeking was made available by Tehran.” Since Iran has said that it never pursued nuclear weapons, the council said, the report makes “palpably clear that the Iranian regime has no intention of coming clean regarding the nature of its program, thus proving Tehran’s intent to continue its pursuit of nuclear weapons.” Implementation of the Iran nuclear deal, including the lifting of international sanctions in exchange for Iran’s sharp curtailment of what it says are energy-related nuclear enrichment and other steps, will not begin until the IAEA certifies that Iran has complied with preliminary requirements. The report, which lists outstanding questions and the extent to which they were answered during the past several months of exchanges with Iran, concluded in many cases that no indications of undeclared nuclear activity were discovered. Although it found no evidence of current activities, it said that it could not conclusively answer questions about the past. At the Parchin military installation, where the Iranians allegedly prepared an “explosives firing chamber” in 2000, the IAEA said that a visit to the facility confirmed that the chamber no longer exists. But it said that “extensive activities” undertaken by Iran at the installation in recent years, including destruction of buildings and landscaping, “seriously undermined” the agency’s ability to determine what existed there before. The report also said that Iran “conducted computer modeling of a nuclear explosive devise prior to 2004 and 2009” but added that the calculations were “incomplete and fragmented.”


Couple seemed quiet and withdrawn — until explosion of violence

of the digital visiting cards that homegrown terrorists generally drop along their path, they will find evidence of a life of traumas and successes, loneliness and searching. In an interview with The Washington Post, Judy and Doyle Miller, the landlords for San Bernardino gunman Syed Farook said he seemed like "a gentle person." Malik remains an enigma, a millennial woman with no discernible digital footprint, a Pakistani who lived in Saudi Arabia, a new mother apparently willing to give her life for some reason unknown to those around her. Evidence of a nexus between the couple and Islamic radicals remained fuzzy Thursday night. A senior U.S. law enforcement official said Farook was in contact with person of interests with possible ties to terrorism. Some of the contacts were made through social media. “These were not substantial contacts,” the official said. “Those contacts would not have put him on our radar — you’re allowed to like someone’s Facebook page.” The official said the FBI has not found definitive evidence that the couple had been radicalized. They don’t appear to have been regular readers of jihadist Web sites or terrorist literature such as Inspire magazine. “It’s very odd,” the official said. “It appears they were a happy couple of the Muslim faith.” Syed Rizwan Farook — his family called him Rizwan — was born in Chicago in 1987 and named for his father, a truck driver who went through long bouts of unemployment. His mother, Rafia, works as a biller for Kaiser Permanente, the big managed health-care company. Both parents were born in Pakistan. The home Farook grew up in was troubled and at times apparently violent. In 2002, when both husband and wife were unemployed and had run up credit card and retail debt of about $50,000, the couple filed for bankruptcy protection. And for most of the past decade, right up to early this year, his parents waged war in court against each other. Rafia repeatedly sought — and at least twice won — restraining orders against a husband who she said abused her verbally and physically. In court papers, she described her husband as a “bipolar” alcoholic and told of harrowing incidents: He threw dishes in the kitchen. He pushed and choked her. He dropped a television on her. Rafia wanted the elder Syed out of her house because “we have no other place to live [and] he is


Ozawa: A pioneer who dedicated his life to Western music

but by 1960 he had Tanglewood, studies with Karajan and the New York Philharmonic gig to show for himself. Never without work Asian musicians still face prejudice The festival’s head “came to me after the Tchaikovsky violin concerto and said, We give you this festival,” Ozawa says now. “But he said it in a very fancy way, and I did not understand.” Not until he was in Holland conducting his next gig, he says, did he hear from his manager, the famed conductor-maker Ronald Wilford: “Why didn’t you tell me you got work next summer?” He led the Ravinia Festival for five years. Seiji Ozawa (left), Aaron Copland (center), and Leonard Bernstein (right) talk after a concert in 1980. (Walter H. Scott/New York Philharmonic Leon Levy Digital Archives) Seiji Ozawa during first rehearsal after officially becoming director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. (Frank C. Curtin/AP) After that, Ozawa was never without work. Ravinia led to the Toronto Symphony, where he made some of his first recordings — including a disk of Olivier Messiaen’s “Turangalila” symphony, with Messiaen’s wife Yvonne Loriod as soloist, that remains a benchmark. (Messiaen later chose him to lead the world premiere of his remarkable opera “Saint-Francois d’Assise” in Paris.) The next stop was San Francisco, where Ozawa — by now married a second time, with a child on the way — envisioned putting down roots. “I wanted to build the San Francisco Symphony like George Szell did Cleveland,” he says. “And the town was so good: Japantown, Chinatown.” When the Boston Symphony Orchestra came calling, he resisted. They had to ask a few times before he said yes — and even then he tried to lead both orchestras at the same time, until his health began to suffer. Boston, of course, won. Ozawa’s tenure in Boston has only been equaled, in length, by a handful of conductors. It was probably too long. He oversaw some fine years, led the orchestra on significant tours, and presided over a significant expansion of the Tanglewood campus and the construction of the wonderful chamber-music facility called Ozawa Hall. But in his later years, there was also a sense that he and the orchestra had grown tired of each other, and that standards were declining. Nonetheless, his departure in 2002, when he left to take over the Vienna State Opera, was marked with genuine emotion. Today, says Mark Volpe, the orchestra’s


A secret weapon to fight climate change: dirt

fertilizers. In combination, these efforts have increased soil organic matter by 3 to 4 percent in just three years. Allen also sells some of his cover crops, adding farm income. Allen’s results are not unusual. Studies have shown that cover cropping, crop rotation and no-till farming could restore global soil health while significantly decreasing farms’ carbon footprint. Some scientists project that 75 to 100 parts per million of CO2 could be drawn out of the atmosphere over the next century if existing farms, pastures and forestry systems were managed to maximize carbon sequestration. That’s significant when you consider that CO2 levels passed 400 ppm this spring. Scientists agree that the safe level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is 350 ppm. Regenerative farming would also increase the fertility of the land, making it more productive and better able to absorb and hold water, a critical function especially in times of climate-related floods and droughts. Carbon-rich fields require less synthetic nitrogen fertilizer and generate more productive crops, cutting farmer expenses. So why aren’t we instituting policies to encourage this kind of “carbon farming”? For one thing, the science is new and not yet widely disseminated. Additionally, most of the incentives built into America’s agricultural policies are based on maximizing yield, often at the expense of soil health. Current federal policy, for example, limits the growing season for cover crops on the theory that they waste farmers’ time and resources on products that can’t be sold. Thus, farmers are denied full crop insurance, price supports and subsidies if they grow cover crops beyond a specified period of time. But viewing cover crops as a benefit instead of an impediment to cash crops would be the kind of climate-smart policy we need. And, as farmers such as Allen have learned, some cover crops can also be commercialized. Giving farmers incentives to switch from synthetic nitrogen fertilizers to organic fertilizers could also lead to healthier soil. Scientists at the University of California at Berkeley working with Marin County ranchers have found that applying a single layer of compost, less than an inch thick, to rangelands stimulates a burst of microbial and plant growth that sequesters dramatic amounts of carbon in the soil — more than 1.5 tons per acre. And research has shown that this happens not just once, but year after year. This is a win-win strategy, both for the climate and the


In Baltimore, ‘homegirl’ uses theater to provoke action on racial disparities

her latest work will trigger more than just applause. She wants action. To do that, Smith is experimenting with a new format. She performs for about an hour and 40 minutes and then stops the show to divide the audience into small discussion groups. “I’m really trying to cause people to be active,” she said. “I would never sit here and tell you that art can change the world. I wouldn’t tell you that we are such great humanitarians ourselves that we’re going to change hearts and minds. Sometimes you do, sometimes you don’t. But I’m willing to gamble this might prick someone to think differently out there or cause someone to think differently about a kid on the street they think of as a hoodlum.” Here's what you need to know after a jury failed to reach a verdict in the trial of William G. Porter, one of six police officers charged in the Freddie Gray case. In the show, Smith performs the roles of four people who address Gray’s death and the aftermath. She portrays India Sledge, a teenager from West Baltimore; Allen Bullock, who is an 18-year-old protester accused of throwing a traffic cone through a car windshield and whose bail was set at $500,000; Kevin Moore, the man who filmed the arrest of Freddie Gray; and Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake. “The death of Freddie Gray is emblematic of how punitive our society has become,” she said Thursday during a break from rehearsing. “And, you know, I think the harsh punishment that we’re seeing in schools has something to do with that.” At least 64,000 students were arrested at school in 2011-2012, according to incomplete federal civil rights data, the most recent available. Thirty percent of those arrests involved black students, though black students accounted for 16 percent of the overall student population. School suspensions follow a similar pattern, starting early. Federal data show that of more than 8,000 public preschoolers who were suspended at least once in 2011-2012, about half were black; black students make up about 20 percent of the nation’s preschool population. Suspensions have surged nationally since the 1970s, fueled in part by zero-tolerance policies. Suspended students are less likely to graduate on time and are more likely to repeat a grade and enter the juvenile justice system, data show. More than 3 million of the nation’s 50 million K-12 students are suspended or


America’s dereliction of duty toward the Iraqis who helped our nation

In this 2013 photo, Maj. Mohammed Aman Sabazad, center, of the Afghan National Army, talks through a translator to U.S. Army Capt. Blake Richter, left, at a military base. (Kristin M. Hall/Associated Press) Hurrah for Aaron E. Fleming in his continuing fight to see that our country lives up to its promises to provide asylum to brave Afghans and others who aided our forces despite great danger to themselves and their families [“My mission to Afghanistan is not finished,” op-ed, Nov. 28]. Kudos to The Post for highlighting his fight. It is shameful that both Congress and the administration are being derelict in their duty, bringing justifiable reproach on our nation. This wrong must be publicized until it is rectified. George Rogers, Oakton


Police: Search for pair in three thefts of champagne, wine at Fairfax store

Fairfax County police are searching for two men who stole liquor from a Wegmans on Monument Drive on three occasions. (Fairfax County Police Department) They walked right into a Fairfax County supermarket’s champagne and wine section, filled their grocery cart and walked out. Fairfax County police are searching for two men who stole liquor from a Wegmans three times, beginning in October. Authorities said that each time, the duo left the store without paying for the wine. The champagne thieves used the same ruse to steal from the store on Monument Drive in the Fair Oaks area on Oct. 14 and as recently as Nov. 5 and Nov. 12. One of the two men has worn a fedora and usually has a Bluetooth cell phone headset around his neck, while the other has worn a baseball cap, police said. Authorities ask that anyone with information about the theft may contact Fairfax County police at (703) 691-2131 or Crime Solvers at 1-866-411-TIPS(8477), text tips by messaging “TIP187” plus your message to CRIMES(274637) or visit www.fairfaxcrimesolvers.org.


FBI investigating San Bernardino shooting as an act of terrorism

lawyer David Chesley said. Family and friends remembered the 14 victims of the Dec. 2 shooting attack in San Bernardino, Calif., as "hard-working, family-loving, gentle people." All but one worked for the San Bernardino County Department of Public Health with attacker Syed Rizwan Farook. “Syed didn’t want any fathers or brothers or brothers-in-law in the same room when she would also be there,” said another family lawyer, Mohammad Abuershaid. “The family was not that close to him,” he added. “He was kind of like the lone wolf.” A professor at Bahauddin Zakariya University in Multan, Pakistan, remembered Malik as a student. “She used to wear complete veil and a religious-minded student,” Nisar Ahmad said by phone. “She was not mixing with her male class fellows in the department. ... But no one had the idea that she would act that as she never involved in such activities.” Ghulam Shabir, director of public relations for the university, told The Washington Post that he was unaware of Malik’s attendance. He said a statement would be issued Monday after the university had a chance to check its records. Lawyers emphasized that there are no established links between Farook, Malik and terrorist organizations, and Chesley said it is inappropriate to assign culpability to Muslims broadly when someone who is Muslim is involved in a shooting. Farook and Malik were married in Riverside, Calif., in August 2014, according to the Riverside county clerk’s office. They had a daughter, born May 21 of this year. The baby is in child protective services, the lawyers said. They said they think they won’t be able to get her to family members — the child may be adopted by an aunt — until at least Monday, when there is a court hearing. In one of the more bizarre moments in the case, the landlord for Farook and Malik allowed camera crews to enter the couple’s apartment Friday and film reporters rummaging through the family’s personal belongings, including photographs, toys and stuffed animals in the baby’s crib. The FBI said later that the agency had finished processing the crime scene and no longer had control over the apartment. A friend of Farook, Gasser Shehata, said he used to see Farook two or three times a week for prayer at the Dar Al Uloom Al Islamiyah-Amer mosque in San Bernardino. Shehata, an Egyptian by birth, said he talked with Farook soon


3 reds and a rosé to cozy up to

Italy, $55 Franciacorta is Italy’s answer to champagne, and the prices are beginning to match. This new entrant to the Washington market is ripe with strawberry and melon flavors and full of bubbly energy. Alcohol by volume: 12.5 percent. Winebow: Available in the District at A. Litteri, Cleveland Park Wine and Spirits, Rodman’s. Coriole Redstone Shiraz 2013 ★ ★ 1 / 2 McLaren Vale, Australia, $17 This delightful shiraz from Coriole is another reminder that we should not neglect the wines of Australia. It gives us the spicy fruitiness we came to love before high alcohol and Yellow Tail made Oz a cliché. Welcome back! The distributor just recently changed to the 2013, so there may still be some 2012 — an equally good choice — available locally. ABV: 14.5 percent. Country Vintner: Available in the District at Cork Market, Manhattan Market, Morris Miller Wine & Liquor, Potomac Wine & Spirits, Rodman’s; on the list at Toro Toro. Available in Virginia at Dominion Wine and Beer in Falls Church, Swirl & Sip in Fairfax. Collosorbo Rosso di Montalcino 2012 ★ ★ 1 / 2 Sant’Antimo, Tuscany, Italy, $25 The appellation within Tuscany’s Montalcino region was created to give producers the flexibility to play around with grapes other than the sangiovese grosso of Brunello. This wine blends syrah, cabernet sauvignon, merlot and petit verdot into a savory and unique red that pairs beautifully with just about any red-wine dish. Unfortunately, the wine is not well known, so it is available primarily in restaurants. ABV: 14.5 percent. Elite: On the list in the District at B Too, Boss Shepherd’s. Available in Maryland at Cork & Fork in Bethesda, Wine Bin in Ellicott City. On the list in Virginia at Rosmarino d’Italia in Alexandria, Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse (Fairfax). Bula 2013 ★ ★ Montsant, Spain, $13 Montsant is trying to bill itself as a mini version of Priorat, the more prestigious neighboring region in eastern Spain. That means it offers intense red wines at considerably lower prices than Priorat — and typically lower alcohol and better balance, at least for my taste. This wine is fun, delicious and a terrific value. ABV: 14 percent. Roanoke: Available in the District at Whole Foods Market (various locations). Available in Virginia at Beer Run in Charlottesville, Greenwood Gourmet Grocery in Crozet, Whole Foods Market (various locations). More from Food: The Washington Nationals have hired a manager-vintner Wine


Maryland panel on policing practices cancels meeting

A legislative panel in Maryland that has been conducting a statewide review of how officers are hired and trained and other policing practices has canceled its meeting this month, raising some questions about when the committee will offer its final recommendations to the General Assembly. The panel is one of three that has spent the past several months investigating criminal justice and policing issues as the national debate continues over the use of deadly force by officers, particularly against minorities. A second panel recently made recommendations on the use of body cameras, and a third is exploring ways to reduce recidivism and the state’s prison population by focusing more on community-based programs. Some members of the legislative panel said they were notified late Friday that the planned meeting for Tuesday had been rescheduled for Jan. 11, which is just days before the General Assembly returns for session. “I don’t know why,” Del. Joseline A. Peña-Melnyk (D-Prince George’s) said when asked about the meeting’s postponement. Senate Minority Leader J.B. Jennings (R-Baltimore County) said his staff said they were told that several members on the committee could not attend because of lawmakers’ holiday schedules. Police in Baltimore prepare for riots in the following the death of Freddie Gray. (Patrick Semansky/AP) Del. Curtis S. Anderson and Sen. Catherine E. Pugh, both Democrats from Baltimore who co-chair the panel, could not be reached Friday for comment. Many expected that the panel would begin wrapping up its review and formulating its recommendations for the legislature by now. Instead, its work will continue until next month. Sara Love, the public policy director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland, said she was surprised to learn of the scheduling change. She said that she had hoped the committee would have completed its work in November to give stakeholders a chance to “digest them, discuss them.” “Our hope is that they are hearing the increasing cries for reform and they are taking them seriously and will come back with strong recommendations,” Love said. Pugh recently said that the Public Safety and Policing Workgroup had not reached a consensus on a number of issues. But she said that she was optimistic that the panel would provide recommendations that would hold law enforcement more accountable, make the system more transparent, and, as a result, build trust between officers and the community. One of the areas that the panel has


From pharmacy student to suspected San Bernardino terrorist: The baffling journey of Tashfeen Malik

Layyah district of Pakistan’s southern Punjab province to Saudi Arabia 25 to 30 years ago after a family dispute over property. Malik Anwar, who is Malik’s uncle, said the family was estranged from the rest of the family that still lives in the Layyah area. Some of Anwar’s distant relatives did travel to Saudi Arabia over the years to visit Gulzar Malik, Tashfeen’s father, Anwar said. They reported back over the years that Gulzar Malik had become increasingly religious while in Saudi Arabia. After Malik graduated in 2013, she moved back to Saudi Arabia. It was apparently there that she connected with Farook, who had been searching for a wife on Internet marriage sites. They were legally married in the United States in August 2014 in Riverside, Calif., although a lawyer for Farook’s sister said they were married at an earlier ceremony in Saudi Arabia. Amir Abdul-Jalil, 50, who knew Farook and prayed with him regularly at a San Bernardino mosque, said Farook told him that his family and Malik’s family had arranged the marriage. “After he got married, I didn’t have the same connection with him,” said Abdul-Jalil, who was visibly upset after learning that Farook had been the shooter in San Bernardino. Another friend, Rashid Thompson, said Farook had become more distant recently. “Once he got married, it was just him and his family,” said Thompson, who last saw him at the mosque two months ago. Farook, Malik, the baby and Farook’s mother lived together in a two-story townhouse on a residential street in Redlands. The interior of the rented apartment, which the landlord opened to reporters on Friday, revealed what appeared to be the elements of an ordinary life: baby formula, books, personal documents. A tub of laundry detergent and a partially eaten plate of food sat on top of an appliance in the kitchen. What reporters did not see were the items the FBI said it had already taken away, including 4,500 rounds of ammunition, a dozen pipe bombs and materials to make other bombs. A U.S. official confirmed Saturday that Farook had attempted to reach out to the terrorist groups al-Shabab, which is based in Somalia, and Jabhat al-Nusra, al-Qaeda’s affiliate in Syria. It wasn’t clear when or how Farook made those attempts. The couple had four guns in their arsenal: two assault rifles and two handguns. The two assault rifles were different brands, but


Native plants are much better for your yard

A flower and fruit garden in a Friendship Heights front yard. (Doug Kapustin/For The Washington Post) It is a step in the right direction that many garden designers now advocate using more native plants (although not exclusively) [“The American yard, reinvented,” Local Living, Dec. 3]. Native plants use less water and zero or little fertilizer. Native plants also host native pollinators, such as caterpillars, butterflies, bees, flies and beetles. Non-native species are often popular because insects do not eat them, but if insects are not eating or using a plant, that plant is not contributing to the local ecosystem. Fewer insects equals fewer birds, and so on up the food chain. Native plants tend to be better for the environment. Alice Leaderman, University Park


Make women register for the draft

A female U.S. soldier manning a machine gun on a vehicle during clashes in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul in 2003. (Ramzi Haidar/Agence France-Presse via Getty Images) When Defense Secretary Ashton Carter declared “There will be no exceptions,” he neglected to mention a very important one: the draft [“Combat units are opened to women,” front page, Dec. 4]. Because women, just like men, will now have the opportunity to voluntarily serve in all units in the military, they should now also be required to register for the draft. If Congress does not amend the Selective Service law, which now requires that only men register, then we will continue to have a military that selectively disadvantages one gender: men. Nathan Austin, Falls Church


The 90-year-old deli where old-fashioned meets cutting-edge

service companies including Pillsbury and Mother Tucker’s, the latter a Canada-based chain of restaurants for which he opened and operated outlets in various North American cities. When another job brought him to Washington in 1983, he knew he wanted to settle here. “The town rocks with opportunity. It is a fertile ground where anything can be done if you have the moxie,” he says. Wagshal’s Curried Vegetables. (Deb Lindsey /For The Washington Post) Fuchs heard of Wagshal’s through word of mouth and became a regular, in company with many of Washington’s power elite. (Signed photographs of George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Bob Dole are among the many hanging on the wall behind the cashier.) He eventually approached Ben Wagshal to buy the business. It took a year to persuade Wagshal to sell. Since then, Fuchs has managed — with the help of his 61-year-old sister, Silvia Alexander; his two sons, Aaron, 37, and Brian, 35; and an extended family of employees — to identify trends, diversify and remain current. He took things slowly at first. It was four years, for instance, before he started accepting credit cards. “I was reluctant to make changes, because the customers and staff were so used to the way things had always been done,” he explains. “There was no toaster. They didn’t have bacon. They didn’t sell roast chickens on Sundays. I started doing that, added to the menu, doubled the salad offerings.” The clientele and employees warmed up to him and accepted improvements to the status quo over the next few years, but soon the small space and tiny kitchen proved limiting. In 1995, he opened Wagshal’s Market, with top-quality meat, fish and produce, a few doors down from the deli. It bombed. “I did my due diligence, but the people who told me they’d be interested in that were deli customers who didn’t cook. They had no interest in buying meat,” says Fuchs. Fuchs didn’t give up. He built a customer base from scratch by buying steaks from Safeway and putting them next to his, which were much more expensive. He gave people half of each and told them to take them home and taste them. “They could tell the difference. Chicken, the same way.” After about three years, the market started taking off; it’s now known as the go-to place when only the best will do, especially among professional chefs such