Who had the worst week in Washington? The FDA and the CDC, for freaking us all out.

At left: A hematoxylin and eosin (H&E)-stained tissue sample under 125X magnification reveals some of the changes found in a human skin tissue sample from the site of a smallpox lesion. At right, the smallpox virus shown in a 1975 electronmicrograph. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/Associalted Press) I don’t know about you, but I like my deadly pathogens accounted for by the people who are in charge of that sort of thing. That’s why the news coming out of the Food and Drug Administration this past week was so troubling. (And yes, I have seen “Contagion” too many times.) Turns out that the FDA discovered smallpox, the virus behind dengue fever, a bacteria that causes spotted fever, and something called Q fever (sounds horrible) just sitting in a cold-storage room — okay, they were in vials, but still — at the National Institutes of Health in Maryland. “The reasons why these samples went unnoticed for this long is something that we’re actively trying to understand,” said Peter Marks, the deputy director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research. Um, no duh. Those revelations came in the same week that Thomas Frieden, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, testified on Capitol Hill about the 80 CDC employees who may have been exposed to live anthrax bacteria back in June. He added that there had been a number of incidents of mishandling potentially deadly viruses over the past decade at the organization. “We missed a critical pattern,” Frieden said. “And the pattern is an insufficient culture of safety.” Again, no duh. A reminder: These are the people — and the organizations — we entrust with handling the deadliest viruses in the world because they’re supposedly so careful and diligent about how they do their jobs. Or not. The FDA and the CDC, for ensuring that I will have nightmares for weeks, you had the worst week in Washington. Congrats, or something. Have a candidate for the worst week in Washington? Each week, Chris Cillizza awards the Worst Week in Washington to an inhabitant of Planet Beltway who stands out for all the wrong reasons. You can check out previous winners or e-mail Cillizza with candidates. You can also read more from Outlook and follow our updates on Facebook and Twitter. A look at who’s had tough times in 2014 so far.


Military bands offer musicians great jobs, similar challenges to orchestras

aging audiences and larger questions of purpose. “I’m always trying to compare what we’re doing with the orchestra world,” says Col. Larry H. Lang, the commander and conductor of the Air Force Band, “because I do think there are a lot of similarities. We’re struggling for audience, and relevance.” The President's Own United States Marine Band performs. (Astrid Riecken/For The Washington Post ) ‘Pay my rent and eat?’ What is the point of making music? If orchestras offer an exalted answer, the military offers a pragmatic, functional one. In practice, however, there may not be as much difference between the two as it first appears. Both kit the players out in distinctive uniforms; both have traditions that can be off-putting to first-time audiences; both are focusing on education and outreach. And both see themselves as ambassadors representing the interests of our nation — the military bands explicitly, as part of their mission statements, and symphony orchestras in the name of cultural diplomacy, from the Cleveland Orchestra’s tour of Russia in the 1960s to the New York Philharmonic’s 2008 performance in North Korea. And the world of military bands offers, for musicians who choose to take the plunge into military life and a non-union job, a haven where not only brass and wind players, but also harpists, cellists, percussionists and even singers can support themselves as musicians. “Oh, I can pay my rent and eat?” says the clarinetist Lucia DiSano, a staff sergeant and one of the Marine Band’s newest members. She is an Eastman graduate who auditioned four or five times for the group before she got in. “And I get to do this thing that I love and people will pay me for it?” Barry Hearn, a trombonist with the National Symphony Orchestra, played in the military for nine years, seven of them with the ceremonial branch of the U.S. Army Band, before winning his NSO chair. The ceremonial band is a grueling assignment involving lots of funerals at Arlington National Cemetery, standing for hours in heat or cold, playing a relatively limited repertoire. The NSO offers air conditioning, world-class conductors and the whole symphonic repertoire. Nonetheless, Hearn says of the ceremonial band, “It probably will always be one of the most rewarding jobs I will ever have the opportunity to do.” Emily Leader, a violinist who joined the Army Band at 31, after years as a freelance orchestral


Separatists said to have received antiaircraft training in Russia

to their arsenal. “We certainly knew this was a capability they aspired to have access to,” he said. Kirby said U.S. officials had “very strong evidence” that the Malaysia Airlines flight was struck by an SA-11 missile fired from a spot along the Russia-Ukraine border but that “who pulled the trigger” remained unclear. He noted that Russian military advisers and mercenaries have been helping the rebels on Ukrainian territory. Malaysia Airlines jet carrying 298 people fell in a field in Ukraine. “Whether it was a Russian military unit that did it or a separatist unit that did it, we just don’t know,” he said. Russian officials and the separatists denied responsibility for the disaster. Rebel leaders said they lacked the capability to shoot down a plane flying so high. But in her speech at the United Nations, Power said separatists were “spotted hours before the incident with an SA-11 system at a location close to the site where the plane came down.” She also noted that some separatists had initially posted messages online claiming responsibility for shooting down what they thought was a military transport plane but later deleted those messages. The Ukrainian government has also released transcripts of what it said were intercepted phone conversations between separatist rebels and Russian intelligence officials that implicated them in the shoot-down. In addition, the Ukrainian interior ministry released a video purporting to show rebels moving an SA-11 missile battery out of eastern Ukraine and into Russia. The launcher appeared to be missing one of its missiles. The authenticity of the video could not be independently verified. James O. Poss, a retired Air Force major general, said the SA-11 was a sophisticated antiaircraft system that relies on advanced data links to coordinate its radar and missile launcher. “It would require training and fairly skilled operators to use,” he said. The entire system can be moved from site to site on large vehicles, but its size makes it difficult to conceal. Several amateur videos purporting to show the SA-11 in eastern Ukraine have been posted on the Internet. Poss said the antiaircraft battery would require regular maintenance and a steady supply of replacement parts, a level of servicing that the rebels would be unlikely to provide on their own. “You’re not going to drive that kind of thing around the roads of eastern Ukraine for months without needing spare parts from Russia,” he said.


Will U.S. sanctions against Rosneft work?

$72.4 billion. Rosneft has been planning to raise money through the sale of a 19.5 percent stake now held by the government, according to various Russian news reports. The sale would still leave the government with a slight majority share in Rosneft. “It seems to me that the United States is gradually trying to tighten the screws,” said James C. Langdon, a partner and oil industry expert at Akin Gump who divides his time among Texas, Washington and Moscow. Rosneft issued a statement calling the sanctions “illegitimate and groundless.” It said, “Rosneft has no influence on either political or economic processes ongoing in Ukraine.” The new financial measures come less than three months after the United States slapped restrictions on Rosneft’s chief executive, Igor Sechin, one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s closest and longest-serving advisers. The Obama administration froze Sechin’s assets and barred him from traveling to the United States. Sechin has been aggressively working to bolster Rosneft. It signed the long-term oil supply deal with China. It bought out all the bickering partners of the TNK-BP joint venture; as a result, BP (whose chief executive, Bob Dudley, is an American) owns almost a fifth of Rosneft. Rosneft also signed an Arctic exploration deal with Exxon Mobil; later the Moscow-based company acquired a 30 percent interest in 20 of Exxon Mobil’s deepwater exploration blocks in the Gulf of Mexico. Rosneft is one of the biggest oil producers in the world. It has oil and natural gas output amounting to more than 5 million barrels a day, including 4.2 million barrels a day of oil. As tensions mount in eastern Ukraine, and if the crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 is tied to Russia, the United States and its European allies have other ways to ramp up pressure on Rosneft. Many sanctions advocates have urged the Obama administration to target Rosneft’s Gulf of Mexico interests, though the administration has steered clear of that. Aslund, the economist, said that the Treasury Department could try to block Exxon Mobil’s Arctic exploration joint venture. Under the terms of that venture, Exxon Mobil pays for all the exploration drilling, which will cost hundreds of millions of dollars. Aslund said Treasury could decide that that is a form of long-term financing for Rosneft, which would share in revenue of any eventual production. Exxon Mobil spokesman Alan Jeffers declined to comment, but advisers to the company said


Investment industry wary of expanding the market for its services

of the program, or reduce the standard contribution of 3 percent of wages and salaries, but experience shows that few actually do. This concept goes by the name of “Automatic IRA.” It was first proposed in 2006 by two respected policy wonks, David John, then of the conservative Heritage Foundation (now at AARP), and Mark Iwry, then at the more liberal Brookings Institution (now at the Obama Treasury). It quickly won support from Democrats and Republican sponsors on Capitol Hill. In the 2008 presidential campaign, both John McCain and Barack Obama endorsed it. For a time, Auto IRAs were widely viewed as an effective, bipartisan solution to the problem of inadequate retirement savings in a country where less than half of workers have a serious pension or retirement savings plan by the time they turn 45 — and of those who do, the median savings is less than $25,000. Given that at least 60 million Americans have no access to retirement savings options at work, and given studies that show that automatic enrollment yields participation rates of 85 percent or more, you’d have thought that the financial services industry would have rushed to support it. But you’d be wrong. In fact, the industry that would administer all those tens of millions of new accounts and manage the hundreds of billions of dollars in extra savings is leading the fight against it in Illinois and more than a dozen other states. And therein lies a case study of how dysfunctional our political process has become. Let me acknowledge here that the “retirement savings crisis,” much like the “student loan crisis,” has almost surely been overblown in the recent public conversation. I won’t go into all the eye-glazing disputes over the statistics and the analytical constructs except to say that, in the end, what really matters is the total financial resources, including Social Security and home equity, that middle- and working-class households have available to maintain their standard of living during retirements likely to last 20 years or more. By that criteria, we’re looking at a significant shortfall in what would be required — at least 25 percent, but perhaps as much as 40 percent. Perhaps that’s why the latest Gallup Poll finds that “not having enough money for retirement” is the top financial worry of Americans. So why is the financial services industry opposed to a proposal that would significantly expand


Craft breweries are a hopping business on the Delmarva shore

Dogfish Head and other brewers give tourists something to do besides hitting the beach. BERLIN, Md. — There was a time when Denise Buccheri came to the coast to lie on the beach. “Not anymore,” the 60-year-old said, sipping a beer called Rude Boy at Burley Oak Brewing Co. “Now we go to the breweries.” The Maryland and Delaware coasts, long synonymous with crab houses and beach getaways, have become an unlikely destination for a thriving craft beer industry. The first beer-making operation came nearly two decades ago, when then-26-year-old Sam Calagione opened Dogfish Head Brewings & Eats in Rehoboth Beach. The success of the company, now a multimillion-dollar enterprise that includes multiple alehouses, four production facilities and a new beer-themed inn in Lewes, Del., has given way to a new generation of coastal microbreweries. Growing interest in craft beer is also helping turn the Eastern Seaboard into a year-round tourist destination. “The breweries are going up like crazy,” said Tony Hilligoss, founder of Brews Up, a store in Berlin that sells home-brewing equipment. “Over the past five years, it’s grown and grown and grown.” Pub brewer Ben Potts checks on his work at the Dogfish Head Brewings & Eats in Rehoboth Beach, Del. (Jeffrey MacMillan/For The Washington Post) The latest addition, Ocean City Brewing Co., opened its doors this summer. Others, such as 16 Mile Brewing Co. in Georgetown, Del., and Tall Tales Brewing Co. in Parsonsburg, Md., have expanded in recent years. The local community has created a “toast the coast” Web site and app to help visitors navigate the burgeoning beer and wine scene. Even longtime party haunts Fager’s Island and Seacrets have begun selling personalized brews created by Evolution Craft Brewing Co. in Salisbury, Md. “As breweries and wineries have become more and more popular, it’s really helped the local economy,” said Susan L. Jones, executive director of the Ocean City Hotel-Motel-Restaurant Association. “It’s become a way to expand the tourist season.” ‘Cheers’ on the beach “I don’t really drink beer. I don’t even like it,” Tom Janasek said on a recent afternoon. But there he was, sipping a pint of light ale at Burley Oak Brewing Co., just as he had done the weekend before. The first time he came to the brewery, Janasek says he almost walked right out because “there was no gin.” But in the months since, he’s warmed up to the


Q&A: Dogfish Head’s Sam Calagione

at the new Dogfish Inn three blocks away from his home. Other days, he’s out mowing the lawn, having dinner with his family or driving the SS Dogfish, a 19-foot Boston Whaler, across the bay. Calagione sat down with Capital Business — beer in hand, around the inn’s campfire — to chat about Dogfish Head and the future of the company he founded 19 years ago. What follows are excerpts. An inn for a beer company — why? While we’re probably best known for our brewery, our distillery and our restaurant, we’re equally proud of our home of Coastal Delaware. The idea is to get out, explore coastal Delaware and bring back beer to the hotel. There are bikes at the hotel. You can rent paddleboards, kayaks. If you head in one direction, you get to the restaurant. If you bike or kayak or paddleboard in the other direction, 8 miles northwest, you get to our production brewery in Milton. Dogfish Head is known for its quirky and innovative brews. What are you working on now? We’re as experimental today as we were when we were the smallest brewery in the country. Right now, we are working on vinegar and beer ice cream. I’ve also been researching ideas for a new holiday-themed beer. What’s next for Dogfish Head? We see a great opportunity to grow the distillery the way we’ve been able to grow the brewery. My team has also finally convinced me to do a five-year plan, so we’re going to be working on that this week. I’ve never wanted to do a strategic plan for the company because I feel like if you do them, you begin to lose inspiration. But it’s the right time. The challenge with us is that we’re at a scale now where we don’t turn like a jet ski anymore. We turn like a 19-footer. What is your beer of choice? Our own beer is vastly the majority of what I drink, but there’s also Sierra Nevada pale ale, which is a staple for me. Yesterday, for example, I had our Namaste, then I had a 21st Amendment watermelon beer and a Saison Dupont. I also try to not drink any alcohol two or three nights a week. I drink a lot of water with lime on those days. More on this story: Craft beers are a hopping business on the Delmarva Coast


A self-inflicted danger at NIH, as dangerous pathogens are found

Regarding the July 17 front-page article “FDA found more than smallpox in storage room”: Every time I drive by the National Institutes of Health campus and see the security measures that isolate it from the medical community that used to have easy access, I say to myself, “This is to protect the world from terrorists trying to seize the dangerous pathogens for bioterrorism.” Well, we have met the enemy and it is us. Herbert S. Gross, Rockville


Russia says it will bar entry to Moran, 12 others, to retaliate for U.S. punitive actions

MOSCOW — The Foreign Ministry also reiterated its pledge to counter the most recent round of U.S. economic sanctions with “response measures” of its own. The Obama administration on Wednesday announced tough new measures targeting major Russian banks and energy companies, a significant swath of the Russian defense industry and individuals it said were responsible for the continuing support of separatists battling government forces in eastern Ukraine. The sanctions came before the downing of a civilian Malaysia Airlines jet over rebel-held Ukrainian airspace Thursday, an act that President Obama called “an outrage of unspeakable proportions” and indirectly linked to Russia. “We have repeatedly stated that talking to us in the language of sanctions is useless,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said. “Such steps will not remain without consequences.” Ten of the Americans whom Russia said it will bar were singled out for their connection to the U.S. military prison at Abu Ghraib in Iraq; two were cited for their links to treatment of detainees at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Moran, who is retiring from Congress at the end of the year, was targeted because “he has repeatedly been accused of financial malpractice but avoided responsibility each time,” Lukashevich said. “There is quite a lot of information online about his ‘exploits’ and special attitude toward our country.” The inclusion of Moran appeared to be Russia’s way of retaliating against the United States for placing Adam Delimkhanov, a member of the Russian Duma, on its sanctions list this month. Moran said in a statement that he thinks Russia’s action against him stemmed from his efforts to block U.S. helicopter purchases from Rosoboronexport, a Russian state arms dealer, a principal supplier of arms to the Syrian government. “While this does clarify my overseas travel plans, it seems that the Putin regime would be better served by addressing the consequences of encouraging and enabling Donetsk separatists to perform such a heinous act of cold blooded cruelty or utter incompetence that resulted in the mass murder of nearly 300 innocent civilians,” Moran’s statement said. The blacklisted Americans also include Rear Adm. Richard Butler, the current commander of the Joint Task Force-Guantanamo, and U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler for their roles in forcibly ending a hunger strike among Guantanamo Bay detainees. Kessler, in an anguished three-page ruling issued in May, concluded that the military could legally force-feed prisoners but urged authorities to


In Flight 17 crash aftermath, an agonizing wait for families seeking proper burial

support. “All of them have the same wish, which is to bring back whatever remains of their loved ones so that there will be a proper burial, ritual rites, as well as graves for them to visit,” she told reporters after the meeting. Forty-three Malaysians died in the plane crash in eastern Ukraine on Thursday, including 15 crew members. Among the victims was a family of six who had been on holiday in Europe and were returning to Malaysia after living the past few years in Kazakhstan: wife Ariza Gazalee, husband Tambi Jiee, who worked for Shell, and their four children, Afruz, Afzal, Afif and Azmeena. “We are full of sorrow,” Ariza Gazalee’s uncle, Shakri Anuar, 57, said in a telephone interview from the city of Kuching. Grandfather of American victim on the doomed Flight MH17 recalls the moment he got the bad news. His grandson Quinn was on the Malaysia Airlines flight shot down by a missile over Ukraine. At Azrina Yakob’s house Sunday, her husband sat playing with their two small children, Arissa Raisha, 3, and Aqil Raif, 6, while surrounded by relatives. Her brother-in-law, Zulkifli Abdul Rahman, 54, said the boy was playing with cousins and saw the wreckage of the plane on TV. “He said, ‘Mommy went to work, but the plane exploded,’ ” Rahman said. Azlin Yakob recalled her sister as a “joyful” woman and a star athlete who played net ball, a sport popular with Malaysians, and ran track in high school. Azrina Yakob majored in hotel management in college, but after she got her certificate, her sister encouraged her to go to an open call for flight attendants and apply. She was hired and worked for the airline for 20 years. The sisters had kept in daily contact and had been texting about the family’s planned reunion next week to celebrate the end of Ramadan, Azlin Yakob said, with a feast that included Azrina’s favorite noodle dish, laksa. In their final text, Azrina had also teased her sister by saying she should apply to be a contestant on a cooking show. “It’s my only sister,” Yakob said, weeping. “We were normal sisters — we used to quarrel and then make up. But always we talked.” She sent one last text before her sister boarded the plane. It asked, “When are you going back?” There was no reply. Yvonne Lim contributed to this report.


CoStar: Like fads, retailers come and go

retail market here is following the national trend, but with an average overall vacancy rate of just 4.5 percent, the market has much less vacant space than the national average of 6.4 percent. Another indicator of healthy demand for retail space in the market is rising rents. The D.C. retail property market has seen year-over-year rental rates increase more than 3 percent, putting average retail rates at just over $21.50 per square foot. However, the recent news of the fad-following retailer Crumbs Bake Shop closing over 60 stores nationwide, including its six stores in the D.C. market, has led some to wonder what effect the specialty cupcake bakery and other fad retail stores can have on local and national real estate trends. While there will always be new up-and-coming food trends, the specialty retailer scene today is dominated by cupcakes and frozen yogurt. Even if the new investment group reported to be buying the chain decides not to re-open the D.C.-area stores, the impact will not be noticeable. One thing that is typical of these type of retailers is their small store size. None of the Crumbs Bake Shops in the D.C. area were larger than 2,000 square feet. Additionally, sampling more than 50 frozen yogurt shops among three chains in the D.C. area, the average square footage per store comes to just over 1,400 square feet. This eases the impact if only a small number of shops close down. Of course, should one of the bigger chains decide to close that could really make a dent in the market. Because of the saturation of the market and high number of stores per brand, if even just one of the three larger frozen yogurt businesses in the area go under, the area would see anywhere from 8,000 to almost 60,000 square feet left vacant. We have seen trendy stores rise and fall since before fondue was today’s cupcake, so this is nothing new for the real estate market. With new retail construction well below historical levels for the region and continued healthy demand for retail space, stores closings are an expected part of what most consider to be a strengthening retail market. Kirstie Boatright is a research manager for CoStar Group in the District. Source: CoStar Provided by Washington’sretail market Here is a look at how retail vacancy and rental rates have been faring since the first quarter of 2012.


National Symphony Orchestra shines in quiet moments at Wolf Trap

Pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet. (Decca/Kasskara) The National Symphony Orchestra’s summer season at Wolf Trap includes a lot of fluff, quite appropriately. Friday night’s concert in the Filene Center was an exception, featuring three pieces that the group might perform in subscription concerts at the Kennedy Center. In fact, the last time the NSO played two of these pieces, Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G and Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony, was as recent as the spring of 2013. Little matter, since one does not really expect to be surprised by unusual repertory at an outdoor concert in the summer. The pleasure of this sort of event is in being part of a large listening community, more casual about just about everything than people are in a concert hall. Mosquitoes buzz, sweat is cooled by the errant breeze, babies and children cry and fidget, the occasional tablet screen glows in the dark. As a finale, the Tchaikovsky provided enough bombast for a solid conclusion, with the brass, and especially the trumpets, powering the heraldic fate theme. This is a bold work that requires bold playing, “a phantasmagoric tour through an obsession,” as composer Daniel Felsenfeld put it. The evening’s guest conductor, Andrew Litton, cut his teeth as assistant conductor with the NSO in the 1980s, and each time he returns, the musicians react to his presence on the podium with warmth. Litton expertly paced the crescendos and accelerations of the first movement, and there were fine solos from several quarters, notably the poignant oboe of Nicholas Stovall to open the second movement. In both the third and fourth movements, the orchestra and Litton did not seem to agree immediately on the choice of tempo, a battle the conductor eventually won. Still, it was not the fireworks of the last piece that most impressed, but the quieter moments of the first two works. The overture to Rossini’s “Guillaume Tell” might seem an easy choice for a lighter concert because parts of it are associated with “The Lone Ranger” or, as Litton acknowledged in his off-the-cuff banter during a set change, with Marv Newland’s short film “Bambi Meets Godzilla.” The overture opens with a soft section for cello solo, though, during which the melancholy sound of David Hardy’s instrument set an unexpected and delicious tone for an outdoor concert. Pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet easily tamed the daunting passages in the outer movements of the Ravel concerto, in dialogue


Tech digest: IBM’s sales slip again; IT sector expanding

Cloud computing IBM’s sales fall for ninth quarter in row International Business Machines reported a ninth straight quarter of declining sales as demand fell for hardware and computer services, underscoring the urgency of its plan to get more revenue from newer businesses such as cloud computing. Second-quarter revenue dropped 2 percent from a year earlier, to $24.4 billion. Analysts had, on average, projected $24.1 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Adjusted earnings rose to $4.32 a share. Cloud offerings delivered as a service are at an annual run rate of $2.8 billion, compared with $2.3 billion at the end of the first quarter. “Our performance continues to reflect pricing pressure and client contract renegotiations, as well as a reduction in elective projects,” IBM Chief Financial Officer Martin Schroeter said during the earnings conference call. — Bloomberg News Employment IT jobs slightly up in second quarter IT jobs grew 0.3 percent between May and June to 4,663,800, according to a report from the TechServe Alliance, a trade association for IT and engineering staffing companies. Compared with the same period in 2013, IT employment has grown by 3.2 percent, said the report, which is based on data from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. About 144,200 IT workers have been added to the workforce in that time, according to the report. IT jobs in the computer systems and decision services sector were up 0.4 percent from the same period a year ago, the report said. Data processing, hosting and related services were up 0.6 percent, and management and technical consulting services were up 0.7 percent. — Mohana Ravindranath


Old home’s restoration helps to restore pride in Anacostia

The home on 14th Street SE during the rebuilding effort. (The L'Enfant Trust) When Dewey Sampson moved to a small Victorian on 14th Street SE in 2010, he knew he had moved to a unique stretch of Anacostia. The block between V and U streets was the site of the Old Market Square, a gathering place in the historic community, and the price for his home was impossible to pass on for what he wanted with his wife. But the house next door was an abandoned, dilapidated mess, so much of one that Sampson was intent on doing something about it. “We had some squatter issues, things of that nature,” Sampson said of the house, which was known to serve as a crack den. He added that he once considered buying the house: “I didn’t really feel comfortable with my wife being around those situations. So, I definitely had to call and got the house boarded up.” Then, a stroke of luck. The L’Enfant Trust, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving historic properties, bought the run-down house for $112,000 and fully renovated it. The organization, known for offering tax incentives to owners of historic properties around the city, was looking for a place to start a new rehabilitation program, and 2010 14th St. SE, the source of Sampson’s angst, was a perfect fit. The group will now sell the house at market rate and use the profit to invest in more properties around the city. All the while, it has restored a bit of pride to a neighborhood whose name alone still carries a certain stigma in Washington. On Tuesday, representatives from the organization, D.C. officials and residents will mark the house’s transformation with a ribbon-cutting and ceremony. But by that time, the hardest part will be over. “We’re sort of like the emergency room of historic buildings,” Carol Goldman, the trust’s president, said. She added that the new initiative, known as a revolving fund program, represents a shift in how the Trust identifies preservation projects. For years, the group has largely encouraged property donations and volunteer easements to foster preservation. The new program was initially funded by a $50,000 grant from a Connecticut foundation. The group, which holds the most historic easements in the country, has bought properties to renovate in other places around the United States, but the Anacostia home was its first in the District. To assess


Astronomy Photographer of the Year contest received more than 2,500 entries

(Ivan Eder) The 2014 Astronomy Photographer of the Year contest, which is run by Britain’s Royal Observatory, Greenwich, received more than 2,500 entries. Here are a couple of the finalists: Ivan Eder looked 7,500 light-years away into the constellation Cassiopeia to photograph the Heart Nebula, a vast region of glowing gas energized by a cluster of young stars at its center. Tommy Richardsen captured an image in Steinsvik, Norway, during a strong aurora flare that lasted only a few minutes. The figure on the right side is the photographer’s brother, who was searching for his lost lens cap. The shortlist of the Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2014 contest has been announced. The contest run by the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, received more than 2,500 entries.


Karl Albrecht, co-founder of Aldi discount stores, dies at 94

with an estimated fortune of $20.9 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. With his brother, Theo, he built a business that ranked as the world’s 11th-biggest retailer in 2013, according to London-based research company Planet Retail. The Albrecht brothers split the Essen-based chain into separate companies — Aldi Süd and Aldi Nord — in 1962, following a feud over whether to sell cigarettes in the stores. Karl, who didn’t give interviews and withdrew entirely from public life early in his career, took up management of Aldi Süd, which has outlets in southern Germany and the United States, Britain, Australia and Eastern Europe. Karl Albrecht, co-founder of global discount supermarket chain Aldi. (Aldi Sued/European Pressphoto Agency) Aldi Süd operates more than 4,860 stores, according to its Web site. Its 2013 revenue was about $51 billion, Planet Retail data show. The brothers pioneered a low-cost business strategy that focused on a limited assortment of goods, pared-down supply expenses and a minimal level of advertising. The result was a shopping experience that lacked the refinement of brightly lit supermarket chains. But consumers often paid less than they would have elsewhere. Karl Hans Albrecht was born Feb. 20, 1920, in Essen. His father was a miner and baker, and his mother ran a grocery store. He served in the German army during World War II and was wounded on the Russian front. The Albrecht brothers took over their mother’s store in Essen in 1946 and within seven years developed it into a 30-outlet network of discount supermarkets that served the region. The first Aldi supermarket outside Germany opened in Austria in 1967 and the first U.S. store in 1976. In 1971, Theo was kidnapped by amateur con men, who demanded 7 million deutsche marks from the family. Karl successfully negotiated his brother’s release, and the kidnappers — a convicted burglar and his attorney — were later arrested. Karl stepped down as Aldi Süd chief executive officer in 1994 and as chairman in 2002. Theo Albrecht A look at those who have died this year. Karl Albrecht established the Elisen Foundation to support cultural causes, and his Oertel trust, which controlled a portion of Aldi Süd, also donates to medical research. His hobbies included golf, raising orchids and collecting antique typewriters. With his wife, Maria, Mr. Albrecht had a daughter, Beate, and a son, Karl Jr., all of whom survive him. — Bloomberg News


Instead of starving, Africa could become the world’s next major food source

The July issue of National Geographic magazine features “the biggest story in global agriculture: the unlikely quest to turn sub-Saharan Africa, historically one of the hungriest places on the planet, into a major new breadbasket for the world.” Author Joel K. Bourne Jr. documents the land rush set off by skyrocketing prices for corn, soybeans wheat and rice, with giant agribusinesses eager to lease or buy acreage in places where land is cheap and governments are willing to make deals. Using hand tools and draft animals, a family harvests wheat in Ethiopia. With more than a third of Ethiopians malnourished, the government is courting industrial farms to spur production. (© Robin Hammond/National Geographic) The “green revolution” — the fertilizers, irrigation and high-yield seeds that doubled global grain production between 1960 and 2000 — never really took hold in Africa, Bourne writes. But that seems to be changing dramatically. Bourne describes a Chinese corporation that is building a 50,000-acre farm in the Limpopo River delta, as well as a New York conference for agricultural investors that drew 800 financial leaders looking for places to invest nearly $3 trillion for pension funds, life insurance companies, hedge funds and so on. The good news is that growing investment in sub-Saharan countries could provide more food — as well as jobs and infrastructure that could result a higher standard of living — for Africans. Berbera (left), where these sheep and goats are being led to the ship bound for Saudi Arabia, has been a key port for Arab traders since the second century. Saudi Arabia imports 80 percent of its food, with meat consumption projected to rise this decade - good news for Somaliland’s nomadic herders. (© Robin Hammond/National Geographic) The bad news? So far, little of the bounty is trickling down to average citizens in countries such as Mozambique, where Bourne visited a soybean-growing community called Hoyo Hoyo that leased 25,000 acres to a Portuguese company, hoping to improve the local economy; instead, the company displaced farmers, reneged on promises of schools and a clinic and provided jobs for only about 40 villagers. It’s not clear how climate change or competition from other developing nations might affect Africa’s farming prospects. But the big question, Bourne writes, remains: Who will do the farming in Africa’s future — individual farmers or giant corporations? “The Next Breadbasket” appears in National Geographic’s July issue. (National Geographic)


The case for spider conservation: They keep pests from devouring humans’ food supply.

The truth about spiders: If they don’t eat, we don’t eat. (Cathy Keifer/iStockphoto) Most ecologists talk about saving the world’s wildlife from the animals’ perspective, which is a public relations mistake. Humans — one of the most wildly successful species of the Cenozoic era , which began about 65 million years ago — have trouble empathizing with polar bears, tropical frogs and dolphins as those animals sink toward extinction. A better way is to appeal to a human’s unstoppable desire to forward his own self-interest. This is how Norman Platnick talks about spider conservation. “If spiders disappeared, we would face famine,” says Platnick, who studies arachnids at New York’s American Museum of Natural History, where a live spider exhibit debuted this month. “Spiders are primary controllers of insects. Without spiders, all of our crops would be consumed by those pests.” Using the word “famine” is a good way to get an otherwise indifferent person’s attention. Although the magnitude of the insect apocalypse that would occur without spiders is not clear, the importance of spiders to agriculture certainly is. Predation and chemical control are the only ways to limit herbivorous pests, because there’s so much food available to them in our amber waves of grain. Spiders are excellent at this task. And there are many of them prepared to apply themselves. A 1990 study found 614 species of spiders in U.S. croplands, representing 19 percent of the spider species in North America. Spiders are particularly crucial in organic farming, which relies heavily on biological pest control. There’s more to spider conservation than crop protection, though. How much more? No one really knows. You rarely see former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld quoted in a column about conservation, but one of his more famous lines is relevant here. “There are known knowns; there are things that we know that we know,” Rumsfeld said in 2002. “We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say, we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns, the ones we don’t know we don’t know.” This is why you should care about spiders, in a nutshell. (Go with me on this.) Crop protection is the known known. We know that spiders are important, and we know how and why. Now for the known unknowns: A spider’s venom contains hundreds, or even thousands, of different chemical compounds. We


‘Just a snip,’ I was told. But that was just the beginning of my troubles.

nerves were so small and the process was likely to cause more damage. Left on their own, he continued, the nerves might heal in 12 or 18 months. He suggested I find a neurologist to explore appropriate treatments. Eventually I found one who could see me, but I was dismayed when she handed me a few samples of antidepressants and anti-seizure drugs, both indicated for the treatment of neuropathic pain but both likely to cause unpleasant side effects. It was up to me to select which I’d prefer — neither seemed a good solution. I saw another neurologist, who suggested a trial of Cymbalta, an antidepressant that might lift my mood and relieve my pain. It could take six weeks to kick in. And so, week after week, I continued to see my own oral surgeon, who would dutifully examine my tongue and lament my ongoing need for painkillers. I had told him about my lifelong problems with depression and my ongoing treatment for it, and he was concerned that I might be predisposed to addiction. I assured him that I certainly didn’t feel euphoric, as some people who take opioids apparently do. For me it simply took the edge off the pain long enough to get through the day. Risks and benefits of opioids My oral surgeon and other health-care providers have reason to be concerned about the safety of long-term use of opioid analgesics such as Percocet and OxyContin. First touted as a godsend for the management of severe and chronic pain when the Food and Drug Administration approved it in 1995, OxyContin has since become a widely abused medication that can lead to physical dependence and addiction. There is no denying that such drugs have helped millions of Americans manage their pain. But there has been a cost: Figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicate that in 2010 some 12 million Americans were using prescription painkillers without a prescription. The CDC reported that in 2008 painkillers played a role in as many as 15,000 overdose deaths — more than heroin and cocaine combined. Pain patients like me often feel trapped between the clinical need to treat and manage pain and the social imperative to restrict access to such drugs and promote public safety. Widespread access to opioids for every single ache and pain is clearly not the answer. In a 2011 report, the Institute


Local Digest: News of the Washington region

THE DISTRICT Metrobus driver slashed across face A passenger who did not want pay the fare on a Metrobus slashed the driver across the face Monday afternoon near the Tenleytown Metro station in Northwest Washington, according to Metro Transit Police. A Metro spokeswoman, Morgan Dye, said that a suspect was quickly arrested and that the knife was recovered. He was identified as Ezekiel Conway Jr., 65, who gave police an address for a Northeast homeless shelter. He was charged with assault with a deadly weapon. The attack occurred about 1 p.m. at 40th and Albemarle streets NW, near a Whole Foods and a Starbucks and about 200 feet from Wisconsin Avenue, aboard an H-4 bus headed to Brookland in Northeast. Dan Stessel, another spokesman for Metro, said a man got onto the bus but refused to pay. He said the driver — who is 67 and has 29 years of experience — told the man that he had to pay or get off the bus. Stessel said the man then hit the driver in the face with a closed fist, which was holding a knife. The driver was taken to a hospital for treatment. Stessel said there were passengers aboard the bus at the time of the attack. — Peter Hermann Police identify man who was killed in NE A man who was fatally shot Sunday night in Northeast Washington’s Deanwood neighborhood has been identified as a 22-year-old from Northeast. Delonta Lavale Martin died at a hospital shortly after the shooting, which occurred about 9:40 p.m. in the 4700 block of Minnesota Avenue NE. Investigators are searching for a shooter, who they said fled in a black Chevrolet Impala. — Victoria St. Martin and Peter Hermann VIRGINIA Man is sought in assaults on children Prince William County police are searching for a man in connection with sexual assaults on two girls, ages 4 and 6. Five days ago, police obtained a warrant to arrest Jose Reynaldo Villanueva, 35, of Woodbridge on charges including aggravated sexual battery. The assault on the girls occurred July 13, when they were visiting a residence where Villanueva lived in the basement, according to police. The attack was reported to police the next day. — Julie Zauzmer


E.U. imposes new sanctions on Russian officials, stops short of tougher penalties

“They rely on Western machinery.” But Sutyagin said any outright ban also could do serious damage to the European defense industry. The French, for instance, are preparing to deliver two warships to the Russians — one this year and one next year. A halt to the sale could be devastating for the French shipyard at Saint-Nazaire. The shipyard has 2,500 workers, Sutyagin said. “There are no other orders, so if this one’s canceled, you’d just have to shut it down,” he said. France has strongly resisted pulling out of the $1.7 billion sale. On Monday, President François Hollande said Paris will not terminate the sale of the first craft, which has been paid for, but he left open the option of canceling the second ship if Russia does not change course. Citing mounting evidence, Kiev and Washington have built a case that a Russian-made missile fired by pro-Moscow separatists in Ukraine brought down the Boeing 777 airliner, killing all 298 people aboard, nearly two-thirds of them Dutch citizens. Going into the meeting, European diplomats were divided over the strength of possible sanctions, and several nations — especially those with strong economic ties to Russia — remained cautious. But others signaled a new willingness to press Moscow. In Washington, President Obama visited the Dutch Embassy to sign a condolence book Tuesday morning. “Obviously we are all heartbroken,” he told reporters. He said he wanted to “express our solidarity with the people of the Netherlands,” adding that “we will work with them to make sure their loved ones are recovered” and that justice is done. In a letter to Obama, three senior Democratic senators urged him to use his executive powers to impose “significant” additional penalties on Russia, including “immediate broad sanctions” to prevent Russia from arming or training Ukrainian separatists. The letter, from Sens. Dianne Feinstein (Calif.), Carl Levin (Mich.) and Robert Menendez (N.J.), who respectively chair the Intelligence, Armed Services and Foreign Relations panels, urged consideration of broader sanctions on the Russian economy, including the energy and financial sectors, and designation of the separatists’ self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic in eastern Ukraine as a foreign terrorist organization. “We understand and strongly support your efforts to coordinate the imposition of sanctions with our key European allies,” the Democratic senators wrote. “However, the United States must not limit its own national security strategy when swift action will help fulfill our strategic objectives, support


Florida Avenue Market: Morsels on Morse include kitchen supplies, cheap eats

Best Kitchen Supply owner Lisa Choi, right, talks to a customer in her store, which is packed with cooking implements and tools. (Astrid Riecken/For The Washington Post ) A sign on the door of Best Kitchen Supply on Morse Street NE asks patrons to press a buzzer to get in, but regulars know the truth: The door is rarely locked. Within, they find more insider secrets in the form of kitchen treasures of every kind, their prices as inviting as the open door. From shelves stocked in a no-frills warehouse style, you can score a restaurant-grade 10-inch chef’s knife for $29.19 and a squeeze bottle for 69 cents. And back on Morse, to the left and right of the storefront, stretch other shops similarly crammed with quirky wholesale items and food from almost every continent. Best Kitchen Supply and its neighbors crouch in low brick buildings under most shoppers’ radar. They hum to the beep of trucks in reverse, the smell of produce at varying levels of freshness and the tastiness of good deals. Though Best Supply focuses on commercial kitchen needs, “any individuals are welcome to stop in,” says owner Lisa Choi, 54. And home cooks lucky enough to find the place do come, seeking tools like vegetable peelers, Microplane graters and storage containers. They just know not to expect them laid out like a Williams-Sonoma display. In the stockroom of the store, which she started with her husband 27 years ago, Choi sums up her business simply: “We are unique.” That statement is gaining more truth with every step toward neighborhood redevelopment. Choi’s business sits on a shrinking strip of scrappiness, sometimes called the Florida Avenue Market and sometimes the Capital City Market, at odds with the NoMa residential neighborhood to the south and the new Union Market to the north. In recent years, NoMa has hosted a duet of residential and commercial revitalization, accompanied by the pitter-patter of tiny dog feet and the glimmer of new chain grocery stores. Union Market, on Neal Place between Fifth and Sixth streets NE, opened as a fully renovated upscale market in fall 2012. Now with more than 30 vendors, it has became a local gourmet-shopping destination. I discovered the area that blurs the line between wholesale and retail more than a decade ago. My new co-workers at Gallaudet University were eager to advise a young transplant about favorites from where


Russians have many theories about the MH17 crash. One involves fake dead people.

of approval of either a mainstream media outlet or an influential corner of the Internet. Since Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 crashed last Thursday, killing all 298 people on board, the Russian media has either repeated or originated several theories about what might have brought down the plane — and almost none leaves open the possibility that the plane crash might have been the Russians’ or the pro-Russian rebels’ fault. Each account of Ukrainian “provocation” seems to have found a ready audience. Both Interfax and Russia’s state-owned Channel 1 advanced the theory of a Putin assassination attempt. Russian media reported that Putin’s plane and the Malaysian airliner had crossed the same point on their flight paths near Warsaw about a half hour apart — and that the planes had similar contours. Various television outlets led their broadcasts with another idea: that a Ukrainian flight dispatcher intentionally steered the jet into a war zone to get shot down. Vitaly Trubin, 24, heard one such report on Russia 24. “Why would the dispatcher do that?" Trubin asked. "Because the [Ukrainian] government told him to. Because the SBU [Ukrainian Security Service] told him to.” Meanwhile, tattoo artist Sergey’s preferred explanation — that the downed plane was actually filled with planted corpses — sped around the Russian-language Web after a rebel leader in eastern Ukraine, Igor Girkin, a Russian citizen also known by his nom de guerre Strelkov, was quoted spouting the theory on a VKontakte page dedicated to him Friday. “According to the people who collected the corpses, most of the corpses were ‘not fresh’ — people died several days ago,” Girkin said, according to the page. Many of the corpses, he claimed, showed no sign of blood. Russian media aren’t simply presenting alternate theories; seemingly wherever U.S. or Ukrainian officials offer what they say is evidence that could implicate pro-Russian rebels in shooting down the plane, the Russian media is ready to contest it. When the Ukrainian army said it could show militants had surface-to-air missiles that could have shot down the aircraft, Russian media produced experts to rebut that and rebels to argue that even if they did have such missiles, they were all under repair. As the U.S. government moved to verify the authenticity of recordings of phone calls that indicated rebels had fired at the plane, Russia 24 aired segments featuring sound production experts to demonstrate how those same recordings


The lonely lot of the anti-pot crusader

Dufton, who wrote her recent doctoral thesis at George Washington University on the remarkable shifts in American attitudes on marijuana in recent decades. In the mid-1970s, middle-class parents, alarmed at finding stashes in fake Coke cans and hash pipes under mattresses, started banding together to talk about behavioral changes they saw in their weed-toking kids. In 1977, one Atlanta woman wrote to DuPont, then at the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and invited him to meet with her group. At the time, he supported decriminalization, but he came away a staunch prohibitionist, convinced that heroin was not at the center of America’s drug woes — it affected relatively few users — but marijuana, which affected vastly more families. The parent movement, embraced by the Reagan White House, eventually garnered enough strength to entirely change the debate. In just a few years, they transformed marijuana “from a seemingly benign middle-class drug into the most dangerous drug in the United States,” as Dufton put it. But in the 1980s came a new scourge, crack cocaine, and marijuana became significantly less frightening to people than crack, she says. The parents’ campaign did result in a major drop in teenage marijuana use from the 1980s to the dawn of the ’90s, research shows, but the campaign was ultimately doomed. Professional organizations like the Partnership for a Drug-Free America and D.A.R.E. siphoned funds away from the amateurs. The public grew weary of nonstop, sometimes hyperbolic anti-drug messages. (See: “This is your brain on drugs.”) Promoting a message of compassion for the sick, medical marijuana advocates led the way in the 1990s to a more accepting public view toward recreational pot. The number of pro-pot groups began to surge. “It’s our fault,” Sabet admits, but he cites one mitigating factor. “They have money and we don’t.” Still, other forces explain why reform has caught on now, including supportive baby boomer voters; a lingering recession that dampened government revenue, making the taxation of marijuana tempting; and an overwhelming public view that alcohol prohibition was a “great failed experiment,” St. Pierre says. In addition, the Obama administration decided not to challenge legalization in Washington and Colorado and to allow banks to do business with legal marijuana sellers. “This is like gay marriage,” St. Pierre argues. “Twenty years ago if you voted for it you were a loser; now 20 years later, if you vote against it you’re a


The military’s other band of brothers

Regarding The Post’s July 20 Arts & Style article on military musicians, “ Incubators of finest talent”: There is another side of the story. Originally, the military tried to restrict its musicians from competing with local union professionals because they would work civilian gigs for less than union scale. However, the military players continued to compete. Eventually the problem became so widespread that the local union adopted a “if you can’t stop ’em, let ’em join the union” practice, which many of these accomplished players did. In a way, the military still competes with civilians. Before I retired as a musician, I played many times for different presidents at the White House, but now private musicians have been replaced by military groups at similar events. That said, I strongly agree with the necessity of the military music program and always admired its talented players, many of whom I played with until my retirement. Andy Andrusia, Silver Spring


Malaysia Air black boxes may not reveal much

killed 259 people, and the 1996 crash of a TWA 747 off Long Island in which 230 people died. There were reports that TWA 800 had been taken down by a missile — and conspiracy theorists still argue that case — but the most exhaustive investigation in NTSB history concluded it was a fuel-tank explosion. “On TWA, we didn’t find any holes at all, which is why we concluded it wasn’t a missile,” said Wildey, former chief of the NTSB Materials Laboratory, describing the distinct qualities of a missile explosion. “If they penetrate through the [plane’s] structure, they leave the signature of a high-velocity penetration,” Wildey said. “If you take a baseball bat and hit the hood of your car, you leave a big dent. A high-velocity particle, it penetrates without denting it. “Basically, if you see a pattern of these holes, and they’re from the outside to the inside, there’s no other way for them to be made except for a high-velocity particle,” he said. “You don’t find this kind of damage in any other aircraft accident,” said Benzon, who was deputy director of the TWA crash and the lead U.S. investigator in Lockerbie. “When something explodes, the small bits of shrapnel are going very, very fast — hypersonic speeds — and when they strike metal, they make very tiny punctures in sheet metal,” he said. And the particles hit so fast that they melt the edges around the holes they create. “If you can conclusively show that, it’s pretty strong evidence that it was a missile,” Wildey said. “All the evidence I’ve been hearing from the United States and other people says that it’s a missile, but you really would like to have that backed up with the physical evidence.” Wildey said investigators would need at least two months on the ground in Ukraine to gather the evidence. “It’s not something you can do in a hour or two hours or a couple of days,” he said. “It takes months to do this and to document this, and you don’t want to be sacrificing more lives to try to determine this.” Benzon was adamant about that. “You should worry about why it occurred, not how it occurred,” he said. “The answer isn’t going to be in the recorders, and it’s not going to be in the wreckage. It’s going to be interviewing people who operated the anti-aircraft missiles.”


In Washington region, spirit of Saint Francis is alive and well when it comes to birds

pile of feathers.” John reports that the birds are just as numerous in Alexandria as in my neck of the woods, in Silver Spring. “I asked the lady at One Good Tern, our local bird supply store,” he wrote. “She said we’re currently between natural food supplies. The berries of spring are gone, and the seeds of autumn haven’t arrived. So, keep those feeders stocked.” Of course, attracting little birds can mean attracting big birds. “Mary in Springfield” wrote that “a huge, fearless, B-52-sized hawk” enjoys her bountiful, all-you-can-eat avian display. Wrote Mary: “If he can’t easily carry them off (doves) in one fell swoop, he stuns them by hurling them into our large kitchen window, and then scoops them up. It’s horrifying, but there is nothing we can do because these dudes can efficiently spot prey from 1,000 feet or a neighbor’s roof. Nature can be ugly.” But oh so very cool. And why is it that doves seem to have such a hard time of it? Could it be that mourning doves are mourning for . . . themselves? The bird invasion has caused Dalal Musa to shift gears in Falls Church. She noticed that the avian crowds were scaring off the hummingbirds, so she took down the seed feeder, leaving only those designed for hummingbirds. “The little ones are only around in the summer anyway, so they will get their chance and then I’ll return the seed feeder come September and October,” Dalal wrote. “Hummingbird sightings are quite gratifying.” A veritable menagerie descends on Don and Anna Barbara Wittig’s yard in Olney. It isn’t just the typical songbirds, but creatures you wouldn’t normally expect in the suburbs: turkey and black vultures, red foxes, and white-tailed deer. Wrote Don: “It’s a zoo here at times, and always fascinating.” I think the reader with the biggest unwelcome bird-seed stealer must be Hans Heinz. He lives in Culpeper, Va., and feeds the birds year round. “For the past 10 years I have lost upward of $1,000 worth of feeders to bears,” he wrote. “Not only do they destroy the feeders, but they also bend over the steel poles which supports them. Let me know if you come across any bear-proof feeders.” When Hans first started having bear problems, he contacted the local game warden. “He mentioned that I could get a permit to shoot a bear doing damage,” Hans wrote.


Russia should be punished for destabilizing Ukraine — but not isolated

Russian exploitation. ●Reassure NATO allies vulnerable to Russian pressure that NATO stands by its Article 5 guarantee of their security. ●Deter further Russian action against Ukraine or any other state in violation of the basic principles of the post-Cold War settlement. ●Avoid the redivision of Europe that would follow the exclusion of Russia from Europe at variance with its historical and economic ties to its neighbors to its West. Why this latter point? Putin’s actions have been reprehensible. But the door must be left open to a Russia that returns to the post-Cold War consensus — either because of a change of heart by Putin (however unlikely) or because of efforts by those Russians committed to a more peaceful and democratic future. How to achieve these objectives? The United States working with the European Union needs a comprehensive strategy that takes these actions: ●Reenergizes the historic vision of a Europe whole, free and at peace as an alternative to Putin’s vision of Russian domination of its neighbors and increasing authoritarianism at home. ●Completes the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership binding Europe and the United States in a relationship of economic growth and prosperity, leaving the door open to adding additional participants such as Turkey and, ultimately, a peaceful and democratic Russia. ●Develops a joint transatlantic energy strategy using liquid natural gas shipments from the United States, shale oil and shale gas produced in Europe, creative use of existing pipeline infrastructure and construction of new non-Russian controlled pipelines to reduce the E.U.’s dependence on Russian oil and gas. ●Resumes the E.U.’s “open door” policy of offering association agreements and, ultimately, membership to countries to the east that seek them with arrangements that do not require severing historical and economic ties to Russia. ●Recommits the United States to the security of Europe through additional military deployments and exercises. ●Revitalizes the NATO alliance through additional planning, exercises and military capabilities for the organization’s core mission of European security and with an open door to states seeking membership who meet its criteria. ●Helps nations subject to Russian pressure to strengthen their capacity to defend their territories from either armed attack or subversion and destabilization, including by providing military, paramilitary and police training and equipment. ●Helps the Ukrainian people overcome two decades of failed leadership and build an inclusive, democratic and honest government and market-based economy. How far will Putin go? If history is any


Farm-to-Fork Loudoun will celebrate locally produced food and wines for 11 days

A bounty of freshly harvested produce, locally raised meats and Northern Virginia wines will dominate restaurant menus across Loudoun County for the third Farm-to-Fork Loudoun, an 11-day event that will spotlight locally produced foods and strengthen connections within the area’s rapidly growing culinary scene. The annual celebration, founded by local marketing executive Miriam Nasuti, begins Thursday, with 23 restaurants, 14 farms and eight wineries taking part. Each restaurant will feature a special Farm-to-Fork menu, Nasuti said, with dishes that are 70 percent sourced from participating local farmers. “And by local, we mean right in Loudoun County,” Nasuti said. “We find these wonderful farmers right in our community, and help them build relationships with the restaurants.” The celebration offers a unique opportunity for farmers and winemakers to present their products directly to chefs and restaurant owners, Nasuti said, and also aims to cultivate new “locavores” — foodies who are interested in produce and meats produced nearby. Farm-to-Fork founder Miriam Nasuti. (Lisa Bolton/The washington post) “Why buy food that travels 3,000 miles at a grocery store, when you can buy food that has traveled three miles from a local farmer?” Nasuti said. “These farmers are people right in your own community, your neighbors. Your kids could go to school with their children.” The project, Nasuti said, is as much about relationships as it is about fresh food. She wants restaurants to experience the benefit of cooking with local food, and she wants consumers to feel inspired to seek out those same ingredients, on menus and at home. “I’m so moved by some of the stories and the feedback we hear,” Nasuti said. “Restaurants hear great things from their patrons . . . and the relationships that these farmers develop and sustain with the restaurants, it’s special.” At the Restaurant at Patowmack Farm in Lovettsville, executive chef Tarver King said the restaurant’s three menus have long focused on locally sourced produce and livestock, and the restaurant welcomed a chance to help set an example for others in the culinary marketplace. “It’s a philosophy that we’ve been living by for a long time, but I think what we’re most excited about is the effect for other restaurants,” King said. For restaurants that aren’t accustomed to buying products from local farmers, the transition can be intimidating, King said. Mainstream produce sources “are really convenient; you make a phone call, it’s there the next day. When


D.C. news in brief

Beer consumption and sales now allowed at D.C. breweries Craft beer connoisseurs in the District will soon have more options to quench their thirst. A new permit allows customers to buy and drink beer — full pints, not just samples — while visiting local breweries. The D.C. Council recently signed into law the Manufacturer Tasting Permit Emergency Amendment Act of 2014, a bill that allows breweries to apply for on-site sales and consumption permits. The law, a provision of the 2014 budget amendment, went into effect July 14. The permit allows consumption at licensed breweries from 1 to 9 p.m. seven days a week. The brewers’ annual fee for the permit is $1,000. The Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration is accepting and processing permit applications. Any manufacturer that does not want to apply is not required to do so. Breweries still need to obtain a tasting permit to provide free beer samples even if they have an on-site sales and consumption permit. For information, visit abra.dc.gov. Licensees can contact ABRA with questions at 202-442-4423. Bike repair station and air pumps open in NoMa area The NoMa Business Improvement District recently opened a bike repair station and installed five new, tamper-resistant air pumps to serve bicycle traffic from the Metropolitan Branch Trail and the new cycle track on First Street NE. The bright orange Fix-It Station is right off the Metropolitan Branch Trail ramp on M Street NE, beneath the underpass and across from the M Street entrance to the NoMa/Gallaudet U Metro station. The station includes tools for changing a flat tire and adjusting brakes and derailleurs. Bikes can be hung from hanger arms to allow pedals and wheels to spin while making adjustments. Air pumps have been installed at the following locations: →Northwest corner of First and M streets NE. →M Street NE, right off the Metropolitan Branch Trail ramp next to the new Fix-It Station. →Southeast corner of Third and L streets NE. →First Street NE, just south of K Street NE, adjacent to the Burnham Wall. →North Capitol Street at H Street NE, adjacent to the University of the District of Columbia campus. An additional location is in the works north of Florida Avenue. For information, visit www.nomabid.org. — Compiled by Terence McArdle


IBM’s Watson to help military personnel transition to civilian life

In this photo provided by Jeopardy Productions, Inc., Ken Jennings, left, and Brad Rutter, right, pose after the episode of "Jeopardy!" that aired Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2011, when Watson, the IBM-created megabrain, beat the veteran champs with a total of $77, 147 over two exhibition matches. IBM on Wednesday announced a new application intended to help military personnel transition into civilian life. (AP Photo/Jeopardy Productions, Inc.) Military personnel transitioning into civilian life can now ask a computer program for advice on how to write a resume, or how to interpret the GI Bill, for instance. The United Services Automobile Association, an insurance company that provides financial services to military members and their families, is now using IBM’s Watson technology to guide its customers through career- and finance- related questions. IBM has been aggressively marketing Watson — the software that mines large volumes of data, interprets speech and answers queries — to new industries including healthcare, retail, and financial advising, among other areas. Earlier this month, IBM began a Watson pilot for select Internet users that would create new recipes for home chefs. The partnership with USAA marks the first time Watson is being deployed directly to consumers. In preparation for the USAA application, IBM trained Watson to analyze and learn from more than 3,000 documents on topics related to military transitions, such as retirement benefits, according to IBM. Users can access Watson through the USAA Web site and ask questions in natural language. In January, IBM invested $1 billion into the new Watson Business Group, a division dedicated to promoting the commercial use of Watson technology.


Montgomery County Animal Watch

This case was received recently by the Montgomery County Animal Services Division. For information, call 240-773-5900. This number provides recorded information on such topics 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. Puppy mishap: Free training tips: A “Better” contest Reduced fees: Germantown Adoptable cats at no-kill shelter: Gaithersburg Montgomery County Humane Society: The organization, which operates a private rescue-and-adoption facility, is at 1300 E. Gude Dr., Rockville. Foster dogs and other animals available for adoption can be viewed at www.mchumane.org. The new general phone number is 240-252-2555. The next MCHS adoption events will be held at: Potomac Burtonsville — Compiled by Lisa M. Bolton


Another score for organically grown veggies

. tends to reduce the richness and intensity of flavors.” And a panel of scientists presenting at the 2009 annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science concluded: “In hundreds of studies, scientists have shown that incrementally higher levels of fertilizer negatively impact the density of certain nutrients in harvested foodstuffs, hence the name, the “dilution [of nutrients] effect.” How fruiting crops are ripened can affect flavor, too. Time and sun do a better job than ethylene gas. With leafy crops, those picked and eaten fresh seem more alive, and more life-giving. I know a lot of farmers, especially small-scale ones, who use organic methods and sell mostly to local markets. The better they are at the game, the less they rely even on plant-based pesticides approved for organic use. The more they use succession cropping, season extension and some of the newer tools being developed for small farms, the better their yields, which acre for acre often put conventional farming to shame. These farmers study the natural world like a book and learn what works. They are not saints, but they tend to be humanists in the loose sense of considering humanity as a whole, which means protecting the natural resources of soil, water and air. Go look at one of their farms and then go look at a big commodities farm. Which one has bees in the air and earthworms in the soil? Whose food would you rather eat? “Organic is too expensive,” you so often hear. But no, conventional food is too cheap, propped up by government subsidies and by shortcuts such as herbicides and toxic sprays that cost us all in the long run. Subsidize low-income food-shoppers instead so that they can make an enlightened choice about what to feed themselves and their kids. Is any decision more important than that? Give food systems a level playing field. Then let’s see who wins. Tip of the week: Use hand pruners — mind your fingers — to remove blighted tomato leaves to improve air circulation and curtail the spread of disease. Bag the leaves and clean up any fallen debris. Make a note of badly infected varieties and pick blight-resistant varieties next year. Feed groomed plants with a fertilizer formulated for tomatoes, or apply a liquid fish or kelp emulsion feed. — Adrian Higgins Damrosch’s latest book is “The Four Season Farm Gardener’s Cookbook.”


Gastón Acurio, South America’s super chef

He runs a swelling global operation of 44 restaurants, including three in the United States, with plans to open a new place next year in Washington, D.C., location still undetermined. The Acurio franchise includes food festivals, cookbooks and restaurants spanning a range of themes and price points, making them accessible to a wider clientele. Panchita, specializing in Peruvian anticuchos like grilled cow hearts but also serving burgers and fries, draws a big lunch crowd. Madam Tusan is Acurio’s take on the Chinese-Peruvian cuisine known as “chifa.” Acurio’s original, high-end bistro, Astrid y Gastón, can’t boast of a Michelin star — the prestigious guide doesn’t yet review South American restaurants — but it was recently rated one of the world’s top 50 dining establishments by Restaurant magazine. Its fixed-price menu, Virú, is a 29-course flavor odyssey through oceans, mountains, deserts and jungles, offering a “journey through modern Peru.” Price: $240 with wine. “This is what Peru is all about today: a land of dreams, challenges and battles,” the introduction reads. “The home of young minds that reap their wounds, sheath their swords and embrace themselves to celebrate together and in peace.” If that sounds like a bit much to swallow, patrons quickly move on to bite-size plates whose contents are listed in terse nibbles — “Crab, stinging nettle,” “Quinoa sprouts” and “Toasted pig jowl.” Like any abstract artist, Acurio wants the plates to add up to more than a good-looking meal. He subscribes to the culinary school of thought that views ingredients as a series of political and moral decisions shaped by environmental principles, cultural statements and ethical choices. Students display their northern Peruvian dishes at the Nuevo Pachacutec Cooking School in Lima, Peru. (Dominic Bracco II/Prime) “Cooking allows you to promote a series of values,” he said. “The chef is someone who acts as a bridge between consumers and farmers, fisherman, industry and nutrition and health.” In 2011, Acurio clashed publicly with then-President Alan García over the use of genetically modified crops, and later succeeded in getting them banned from Peru for 10 years. For his seafood restaurants, like the popular cebicheria La Mar, Acurio has developed a customized supply chain of smaller-scale “artisanal” fishermen, sending his trucks up and down the Pacific coast several times a week to retrieve their catch. He instructs his chefs to plan menus around the seasonal availability of ingredients by talking directly to the


BICEP2 experiment’s big-bang controversy highlights challenges for modern science

of (comparatively inexpensive) telescope. But if it is just dust that the BICEP2 scientists detected, it could be an embarrassment for the field. They could have been more cautious when they announced their results. They held the news conference before their scientific paper had been peer-reviewed and published in a journal. “We felt it was imperative for us to report our results, and we did it as faithfully and honestly as we could given the information we had at the time,” said BICEP2 principal investigator John Kovac of Harvard. The team’s initial paper, as submitted to the journal Physical Review Letters, ended with a barely hedged statement of triumph: “The long search for tensor B-modes is apparently over, and a new era of B-mode cosmology has begun.” In the final version published in June, the authors continued to claim that the evidence points to a dawn-of-time signal, but they acknowledged they could not rule out the possibility that this signal may come entirely from galactic dust. Katherine Freese, a University of Michigan cosmologist who has devised one of the models for inflation, was ecstatic about the BICEP2 announcement, particularly when she realized that the value for the gravitational effect was consistent with her own inflation model. But the scientists should have hedged their language, she said. “If this kind of thing happened all the time, it would give us a bad name,” she said. She pointed out, however, that inflation theory makes other predictions that are consistent with observations in recent years. For example, the CMB radiation is not perfectly smooth but rather has slight density fluctuations that are consistent with the inflation theory. “There’s a bunch of generic predictions of inflation. They all came out right. If gravitational waves are there, too — dammit, there’s something right there,” she said. “That’s where the Nobel Prize comes in.” The eureka moment One of the founders of inflation theory, and the man who named it, is Alan Guth of MIT. When he first dreamed up key elements of the theory in December 1979, he jotted in a notebook, “SPECTACULAR REALIZATION.” Inflation theory, at first glance, seems a little bit like cheating: The universe erupts seemingly out of nowhere and nothing. It quickly gets big, simultaneously filling with energy. It’s like a self-filling bucket that grows larger at bewildering speed. How is that possible? “The simple idea that encapsulates inflation,” says Guth,


Petitions filed to force Truland Group affiliates into bankruptcy

A group of pension and trust funds for local electrical workers has filed petitions to force companies affiliated with Truland Group into bankruptcy amid reports that the Reston-based electrical contractor is winding down operations. The petitions were filed in a federal courthouse in Baltimore on Tuesday asking a judge to begin Chapter 7 (liquidation) proceedings against various Truland affiliates. Truland spokeswoman Nancy Gordon-Brooks said Tuesday that she had no comment on the matter. A former Truland manager said he was notified by phone on Sunday night that he and many other employees, both administrative and union electrical workers, were being laid off immediately. The worker spoke on the condition of anonymity because the company so far has not commented publicly on the matter. A spokeswoman for Clark Construction, which subcontracts with Truland, said that Truland Electric employees have not reported for work on Clark Construction job sites this week. “At this time, however, Clark Construction has not received official confirmation from Truland that the company is no longer doing business,” Brian A. Abt, Clark’s president and chief executive, said in a statement. “Currently, Truland has contractual relationships on a number of Clark projects in the region. We will be working with the appropriate sureties as necessary to ensure that all contractual obligations are met and projects continue on schedule.” Truland and Clark were working on at least one project for Inova Health System, a new 12-story tower for the women’s and children’s hospitals in Fairfax County. “All I know is that Clark Construction did inform us that Truland has closed,” said Tracy Connell, media relations manager at Inova. She added that Inova’s contract is with Clark, so the hospital system has no direct dealings with Truland. Truland Group has been run by the Truland family since its founding in 1909. It has provided electrical construction services on major projects such as national parks, Arena Stage, and the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center. It has also worked on projects in the government sector, including for the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI. The company’s Web site says it is the 10th-largest electrical contractor in the United States. Alice Crites contributed to this report.


Plate Lab: A guide to Asian shaved ice desserts halo-halo, bao-bing and bingsoo

Korean bingsoo combines generous helpings of fresh fruit, red beans and ice, among other things. See how the dish gets constructed from start to finish at Shilla Bakery in Northern Virginia. Korean bingsoo combines generous helpings of fresh fruit, red beans and ice, among other things. See how the dish gets constructed from start to finish at Shilla Bakery in Northern Virginia. There is nothing more cooling The Filipino version of shaved ice is called halo-halo, meaning “mix-mix” in Tagalog. It usually includes sweetened kidney and garbanzo beans, palm fruit preserves, nata de coco or coconut juice chews, and purple yam or mango ice cream. The assortment can be mixed together, as the name implies, or layered. “When the hot weather comes, I like to sit down and catch up with friends over a cup of halo-halo,” said Emma Bioc, co-owner of Manila Mart in Beltsville, Md. (Pampanguena Cafe in Derwood and Filipino Market & Cafe in Rockville also serve it.) “It’s just like having a refreshing beer with friends.” Chinese and Taiwanese shaved ice, known as bao-bing or tsua-bing, arrives in a deep saucer and is meant to be shared. The ice, piled high into a conical shape and topped with condensed milk, is ringed with gelatin squares, taro and red azuki beans. “Shaved ice in Taiwan is very famous,” says Ting Chuang, owner of Taipei Cafe in Rockville. “You can find it at the night markets next to the stinky tofu and oily pancakes.” Locally, you can find it at Bob’s Shanghai and Jumbo Jumbo in Rockville, in addition to Taipei Cafe. (Greg Powers/For The Washington Post) At Annandale, Va.’s, Breeze Bakery Cafe, the Korean bingsoo (pictured) includes a generous helping of fresh fruit atop the red beans and ice, with a creamy tower of frozen yogurt or gelato; optional add-ons include corn flakes and mochi squares. “Ice cools the body,” says manager Inhoo Paik, “but eating ice alone is bland and tasteless.” Bingsoo is also available at Shilla Bakery locations in Maryland and Virginia. For stories, features such as Date Lab, Gene Weingarten and more, visit WP Magazine. Follow the Magazine on Twitter. Like us on Facebook. E-mail us at wpmagazine@washpost.com.


Just asking: The National Zoo’s Bill McShea on pandas

to know. But the panda just lives in another league. Do you think the pandas at the zoo are aware of their diva status? No, I think, as with all good divas, they go through life thinking everyone has it like this. [Laughs.] That we’re all superstars. Extensive Wikipedia research tells me that no animal eats more than a panda. They eat somewhere around 19 hours a day. You know, they’re a bear. And a bear in the grand scheme of things is not meant to eat bamboo. So they digest almost none of it. They just have to keep it coming through to get a little bit of nutrient out of everything they eat. These are essentially fat guys sitting on a couch all day long? Yeah, I think that’s why people like pandas. The babies are cute as all sin, but a lot of animals have cute babies. But pandas are just that guy you’d like to invite over for a barbecue or to watch a ballgame. Is it good that we pay so much attention to pandas? Sure. Any attention we can get for animals we should take. We believe in the trickle-down theory of animal conservation. If you love pandas, it will filter down to the rest of the animals. What quality do you think you have most in common with pandas? [Laughs.] You grow to look like the animal you work with, and I think I’m heading in that direction. A little overweight, a little laid-back. I’m a panda type of guy. I try to be a good Buddhist and take life as it comes. If you could only see one animal at the zoo, which would it be? I would go see the naked mole rat. I like animals who you just can’t imagine what their life is like. Blind, naked, crawling around each other all day long, that’s a strange life. My job as animal conservationist is to think like that animal. What does that animal need? What does that animal worry about? And some animals, it’s hard to get inside their brain, and that would be one of them. But panda, I think I’ve got that nailed. I know what they want. More Just Asking For stories, features such as Date Lab, Gene Weingarten and more, visit WP Magazine. Follow the Magazine on Twitter. Like us on Facebook. E-mail us at wpmagazine@washpost.com.


O’Malley seeks action against surge in heroin overdoses in Maryland

Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) announced Thursday that the number of heroin-related deaths in the state has continued to climb despite efforts by his administration to dramatically reduce overdose deaths before he leaves office in January. For years, the state was making progress in cutting the number of fatal overdoses, by increasing access to treatment and cracking down on dealers, O’Malley said. But then cheap heroin, often laced with the painkiller fentanyl, became wildly popular among heroin users across the country — and heroin-related deaths spiked in Maryland and elsewhere. “While I’d like to stand here and tell you that this is getting better, it’s not,” O’Malley said at a news conference at the Annapolis Police Department, one of a series of events examining his progress on 16 strategic goals. “It’s getting worse, which is why we are redoubling our efforts.” During the first three months of 2014, 252 people died from overdoses, according to data released Thursday, a 33 percent increase from the same time period the year before. Officials say 148 of the deaths were the result of heroin. There were 858 drug and alcohol-related overdose deaths in the state in 2013. Of those, 464 involved heroin, an 88 percent increase from 2011. That means more people in Maryland were killed by heroin in 2013 than were murdered. State health officials are treating the opiate overdoses like an epidemic. O’Malley has convened an Overdose Prevention Council to coordinate with state agencies to collect and analyze data and come up with strategies to prevent fatalities. The council met for the first time this month. Many state troopers and other Maryland first responders now carry naloxone, a medication that can reverse the lethal effects of a heroin overdose. Troopers also pass out treatment information, and soon-to-be-released inmates are educated on the dangers of heroin. “Fatality review teams” have begin studying each overdose case file to find commonalities or trends that could help identify heroin sources, at-risk groups and new prevention tactics. While Baltimore has long struggled with drug abuse, O’Malley noted that the heroin epidemic also has had a significant impact on rural and suburban areas of the state, where communities are struggling to respond. Addiction often begins with prescription drugs. Users then switch to heroin, which is usually less expensive. “If we want to save more lives, we’re going to have to change what we’re doing,” O’Malley said. ”We’re


Book review: “I Heard My Country Calling,” by James Webb

James Webb, Platoon command post, Henderson Hill, April 1969 (Courtesy of James Webb) “I Heard My Country Calling” is an embattled book by a man who has long been a fighter — inside the ring and out. Shaped by the peripatetic, turbulent experience of growing up a military brat, trained to box as a teenager by a pair of former amateur champions, James Webb graduated from the Naval Academy and survived combat as a Marine in Vietnam, where he won the Navy Cross for valor. Forced by war wounds to leave the corps prematurely, Webb became a lawyer and continued a career of public service, which included a stint as secretary of the navy during the Reagan administration and a recent term in the U.S. Senate, where his determination helped secure passage of the post-9/11 G.I. Bill. Along the way, Webb, who is now 68, wrote nine books, including “Fields of Fire,” a highly regarded Vietnam novel; “Born Fighting,” a study of the Scots-Irish in America; “A Time to Fight,” an essay collection; and now this memoir, which sustains his combative image. “I had never backed down,” he sums up his senatorial term near the beginning of “I Heard My Country Calling.” “I had never said a word that I did not mean. And I never cut a political deal.” As the sonorous title intimates, Webb conceives this as a big book, deeply personal yet also emblematic. Admiring his own improbability, he relishes the fact that a descendant of poor Appalachian farmers walked the Senate corridors “as the equal of giants.” Liberally peopled with the “legendary” and the “famed,” the book is overwhelmed by its author’s desire to represent those most important to him as outsize. His obvious love for his family cannot rescue their portraits — especially those of powerful women like his mother, aunts and grandmother — from a certain allegorical flatness. Nor do repeated mentions of Scots-Irish ancestry and a “Celtic” restlessness inherited from his father effectively open a window onto Webb’s inner life. Various passages reminded me of Virginia Woolf’s complaint about biographers who assemble “events” but omit “the person to whom things happen.” An early allusion to the Joads of John Steinbeck’s “Grapes of Wrath” is telling , for Webb understands his family history as an archetypal American story in which the modest and hardworking battle a complacent “elite” across the centuries: the rich planters


USA Discounters hooks some service members with credit before springing the debt trap

of the suits it has filed in Norfolk’s and Virginia Beach’s courts since 2006. Dorsey said the high success rate is to be expected — the customers owed money they hadn’t paid. “[I]t is not surprising that they do not appear in collections proceedings in court — in any state in which we file,” he said. As for the federal law protecting active-duty service members, its requirements are easily met by USA Discounters. If a service member can’t be located, the law requires a 90-day delay. Once that passes, the way is clear to obtain a judgment. If a service member doesn’t appear in court, an attorney is appointed to represent the defendant. But the law does not specify what that lawyer must do. A location of USA Discounters is shown in Virginia Beach on June 24. (Matt McClain/The Washington Post) In Virginia courts, the creditor can suggest the attorney to be appointed. USA Discounters appears to request the same lawyer for all its cases involving service members. In each of the 11 cases ProPublica examined, the court appointed Tariq Louka of Virginia Beach. In response to written questions, Louka said that he represents “in the range of 300-400” service members each year. His primary duty, he said, is to inform his clients they have a right to request a delay, which he does by mail. “MY ONLY OBLIGATION IS TO REVIEW YOUR RESPONSE AND REQUEST AN ADDITIONAL STAY OR CONTINUANCE IF I FEEL IT IS APPROPRIATE GIVEN YOUR ANSWERS,” his letters say in capital letters. USA Discounters said that it had no business relationship with Louka or his firm. Armed with judgments, creditors can attempt to garnish borrowers’ wages or bank accounts. As of January 2014, 230 service members were involuntarily paying USA Discounters a portion of their pay, Department of Defense data shows. Altogether, those service members have paid more than $1.4 million to the company. Next on the list of most active creditors were the two other local companies, Military Credit Services and Freedom, which together had seized the pay of 92 service members for a total of $289,000 as of January, according to the data. USA Discounters also aggressively pursues funds in service members’ bank accounts. Mays, the Army private who signed the nearly $3,000 contract for a laptop, said he initially stopped payment after the computer broke in Iraq. But other financial pressures, mainly costs


14 concepts that will be obsolete after catastrophic climate change

capitalism; external costs). Some went so far as to insist that because methane was a commercially valuable gas, it was impossible that corporations would allow it to “escape.” Human adaptive optimism (1) The belief that there are no limits to human adaptability — that we can either adapt to any circumstances or change them to suit ourselves. Belief in geoengineering as a climate “solution” was a subset of HAO. (2) The capacity of humans to remain optimistic and adapt to changed circumstances, even in the face of daunting difficulties, and even if the form of “adaptation” required is suffering. Invisible hand A form of magical thinking, popularized in the 18th century, which held that economic markets in a capitalist system were “balanced” by the actions of an unseen, immaterial power, which ensured both that markets functioned efficiently and that they would address human needs. Market failure The social, personal and environmental costs that market economies imposed on individuals and societies were referred to as “market failures.” The concept of market failure was an early recognition of the limits of capitalist theory. Physical scientists The practitioners in a network of scientific disciplines derived from the 18th-century natural philosophy movement. Overwhelmingly male, they emphasized study of the world’s physical constituents and processes — the elements and compounds; atomic, magnetic and gravitational forces; chemical reactions; flows of air and water — to the neglect of biological and social realms, and focused on reductionist methodologies that impeded understanding of the crucial interactions between the physical, biological and social realms. Sink A place where wastes accumulated, either deliberately or not. Industrial powers of the 20th century treated the atmosphere and oceans as sinks, wrongly believing them capable of absorbing all the wastes humans produced, in perpetuity. Statistical significance The archaic concept that an observed phenomenon could be accepted as true only if the odds of it happening by chance were very small, typically taken to be no more than 1 in 20. Type I error The conceptual mistake of accepting as true something that is false. Type II error The conceptual mistake of rejecting as false something that is true. In the 20th century it was believed that a Type I error was worse than a Type II error. The rejection of climate change proved the fallacy of that belief. Twitter: @NaomiOreskes @ErikMConway Read more from Outlook and follow our updates on Facebook and Twitter.


Need indoor fun? There’s an app for that.

(Motion Math) Mystery Math Museum has players searching museums to rescue dragonflies. But they need math skills to do it. (Artgig) At this point in the summer, you have probably done a lot of fun things: You’ve gone to baseball camp, visited your grandparents and maybe hit the zoo a couple of times. (Bao Bao is so cute!) Whatever you’ve been doing, you are probably tired and soaked in sweat. Today is a good day to take a breather, lounge in the air-conditioned house and check out some educational yet fun apps. KidsPost found a handful that are especially entertaining. They provide a perfect way to rest your body while also feeding your mind. — Moira E. McLaughlin All of these apps can be purchased on the iTunes app store, Google Play, Amazon.com or BN.com. (Always ask a parent before going online.) Math and Computing Mystery Math Museum Artgig Studio. Ages 7 to 13. $2.99 for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. Follow a ghost to find dragonflies that have escaped in the museum. Collect numbers as you move through the museum, then solve equations using those numbers to unlock doors to find more of your little winged buddies. Choose addition, subtraction, multiplication or division problems or a combination. Lifelines allow you to get out of solving three equations. Tap the paintings on the wall just for fun to see what they say. (Lighthouse Learning) Shape Arts Lighthouse Learning Studios. Ages 8 to 13. $2.99 for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. Is this art or is this geometry (a kind of math that deals with shapes)? First, pick one of hundreds of weird shapes, such as something that might look like a bird with a long beak. Your task is to fill in the big shape with smaller, simple shapes such as pink triangles, green rectangles and green squares. If you need to, you can rotate the small shapes to make them fit. Do it correctly, and the shapes make a satisfying popping sound. (Motion Math) Motion Math: Pizza! Motion Math. Ages 9 to 11. $3.99 for iPhone, iPad, iPad mini and iPod Touch. You own a pizzeria! First, pick your avatar, then take $50 to the grocery store to buy ingredients. Name your pizza and figure out how much it should cost. Then start selling! You’ll need to work a cash register and do some math, too. Keep up with


Despite some standout playing, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra struggles at cohesion

Summer is a difficult season for orchestras. The conventional wisdom is that audiences become less interested in listening to symphonic repertoire indoors, so orchestras often go foraging for them, in nontraditional venues and with gimmicks like pops concerts and movie and video-game scoring. The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra has tried with some success to buck that trend, presenting traditional programs at Strathmore throughout the summer; Thursday’s all-Beethoven concert had healthy attendance and a long, enthusiastic ovation at the close. The night was far from an artistic triumph, however. There was little cohesion onstage, with many of the BSO principal players absent and subs in every section. The winds were ill-blended (the horns, sitting right against the back wall, often dominating) and wind-string intonation was problematic all evening. Principal oboist Katherine Needleman’s imperturbable artistry stood out glaringly against the woodwind colleagues she was thrown in with. Guest conductor Josep Caballé-Domenech, making his BSO debut, offered lots of energy but only modest depth. He rides the orchestra more than he leads it. In the “Pastoral” Symphony, the tempo transitions in the scherzo were clumsy, and the finale meandered with little sense of narrative; the climax at the end felt almost like an afterthought. There were some nicely drawn textures in “By The Brook” — the solo cellos audible for a change and the gentle woodwind dissonances toward the end just right. But overall, this was a forgettable performance. Pianist Andrew Staupe, also making his BSO debut, had a good outing in the C minor concerto. He is a fastidious player, whose imagination takes wing when playing alone. He does not yet make a lot of impact when playing within the orchestral texture, as the finest artists do, but he has the keyboard skills to forge a strong career. Battey is a freelance writer.