Fed requires foreign banks in U.S. to hold more money in reserves

Big foreign banks operating in the United States will have to keep far more money in their reserves to reduce risks to the financial system, pulling them in line with their American competitors, the Federal Reserve said Tuesday. (Alex Wong/Getty Images) Big foreign banks operating in the United States will have to keep far more money in their reserves to reduce risks to the financial system, pulling them in line with their American competitors, the Federal Reserve said Tuesday. The board voted 5 to 0 to adopt the stricter regulations meant to limit the risks posed by foreign firms, which have been lending aggressively in the U.S. but setting aside far less to cover losses. “The traditional framework for supervising and regulating major financial institutions and assessing risks contained material weaknesses,” said Fed Chair Janet Yellen, presiding at her first public meeting of the central bank’s board. “The final rule would help address these sources of vulnerability.” Foreign banks have fought hard against the rule since it was first proposed in 2012, warning that it would result in higher costs for the millions of U.S. businesses that rely on their services. Banks based overseas issue about 25 percent of all commercial loans in the nation. Regulators relaxed some elements of the final rule. Instead of banks with $10 billion in assets being required to establish so-called holding companies as originally proposed, regulators raised the threshold to at least $50 billion in assets. The Fed gave those banks more transition time by extending the compliance deadline a year to July 1, 2016. The central bank also decided not to apply a host of tougher capital requirements, including risk-based surcharges — an added layer of money set aside to absorb losses. But it was not enough to satisfy some members of the banking industry. “We continue to have a fundamental disagreement with the Fed about the appropriateness and necessity of applying an extra layer of U.S. bank capital requirements,” said Sally Miller, chief executive of the Institute of International Bankers. While the head of the trade group praised the delay in implementation, she said that “the potential adverse impact of the capital requirements on the U.S. capital markets, as well as other unintended consequences, call for further assessment and consideration.” Fed Governor Daniel Tarullo argued that gains derived from global capital flows are endangered when financial activity contracts rapidly in periods of


D.C. news in brief

Development team announced for historic Franklin School A nonprofit arts organization, Institute for Contemporary Expression (ICE-DC), and the real estate developer EastBanc have been selected to rehabilitate the Franklin School, a historic, vacant building at 925 13th St. NW. The partners will restore the building’s exterior and original interior details and use the structure to exhibit contemporary art and sculpture and to host performances. The plans also include adult and student art education programs, a restaurant and cafe, and an arts bookstore. ICE-DC will also be working with the National Park Service and the D.C. government on art, educational programs and events in the redesigned Franklin Square Park. The Franklin School was built in 1869 as the flagship school in a group of seven modern urban buildings that housed some of the District’s first public schools. Alexander Graham Bell carried out photo-phone experiments there in 1876, and the building housed the city’s first high school in 1880. It headquartered the D.C. school system from 1928 until 1968 and later served, until 1990, as an adult education center. It is listed on the D.C. Inventory of Historic Sites and the National Register of Historic Places. The District government began a selection process for development teams in April and issued a request for proposals in July. Finalists made community presentations in late October. The District will begin negotiations with the selected team in the next several weeks. For information, go to dmped.dc.gov. Committee of 100 seeks nominees for annual awards The Committee of 100 on the Federal City is seeking nominations for its annual Vision Awards. Since 2001, the committee has presented awards for innovations and lifetime achievement in planning and land use by individuals, groups or organizations in the District. A guiding principle is that planners follow the vision of the McMillan Plan and the city’s original planner, Pierre Charles L’Enfant, while responding to modern challenges. To submit a nomination, go to www.committeeof100.net. For questions about the criteria or process, call 202-681-0225 or e-mail badamsc100@verizon.net. The nomination deadline is 5 p.m. March 14. An awards presentation is scheduled for early June; the time and location have not been determined. Tenant Advocate office to host renters’ rights workshop The Office of the Tenant Advocate is holding an educational presentation on landlord-tenant law, “Renters Rights 101,” at 3 p.m. Wednesday at the Reeves Center, 2000 14th St. NW, Suite 300 North. The office’s


Montgomery County Animal Watch

These were among the cases received recently by the Montgomery County Animal Services Division. For information, call 240-773-5054. That number provides recorded information on such topics as the Montgomery County Animal Shelter hours and location, adoption and licensing procedures, rabies clinics and low-cost neutering. There is nothing like a Dane Dogs’ owner schooled on the rules No-kill shelter has adoptable cats: Gaithersburg Montgomery County Humane Society: Dogs, cats and other pets will be available through the Montgomery County Humane Society at the following locations. To confirm the schedule, call 240-793-4201 or visit www.mchumane.org. Potomac Aspen Hill Reduced fees for cat adoption: Germantown — Compiled by Lisa M. Bolton


Going Out Guide for Montgomery County, Feb. 20-26, 2014

THU 20 Robin and Linda Williams The Lomax Project Baltimore Symphony Orchestra: Sci-Fi Spectacular Curren$y “The Yeomen of the Guard” FRI 21 “Superior Donuts” Joe Louis Walker Josh Turner Gordana Gerskovic, Washington Wax Works, William Peirce SAT 22 “Rumpelstiltskin” “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying!” Brian Ganz: Chopin Project LeeSaar the Company The Soul Crackers with Tommy Lepson SUN 23 “A Little Night Music” The Damascus Theatre Company mounts Stephen Sondheim’s romantic musical comedy. Thursday-Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday-Sunday at 2 p.m. Closes Sunday. Arts Barn, 311 Kent Square Rd., Gaithersburg. 301-258-6394. www.gaithersburgmd.gov/artsbarn. $18, Gaithersburg residents $16. Flute Raman The Legendary Count Basie Orchestra featuring New York Voices Fourth annual Excellence in Printmaking exhibition Washington Print Club President Christopher With judges a showcase of prints. Closes Sunday. Washington Printmakers Gallery, 8230 Georgia Ave., Silver Spring. 301-273-3660. www.washingtonprintmakers.com. Free. “Hoi Polloi” “Local Legends: An Exhibit of Greek Mythology and Local Sensibilities” MON 24 “Evidence of Civilization” TUE 25 Silver Spring ice skating WED 26 “I and You” A sick girl and a mysterious boy bond over Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself” in Lauren Gunderson’s play. Opens Wednesday at 7:45 p.m. Through March 23. Olney Theatre Center, 2001 Olney-Sandy Spring Rd., Olney. 301-924-3400. www.olneytheatre.org. $38.50-$63.50. “Spring Awakening” Pilobolus — Compiled by Carrie Donovan from staff reports


Obama warns of ‘consequences’ in Ukraine as U.S. issues visa bans

elsewhere in order to try to create the environment for compromise.” French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius added that he and diplomats from Germany and Poland would travel to Ukraine ahead of an unusual European Union meeting of its 28 member countries on Thursday devoted to Ukraine. E.U. sanctions could ban targeted Ukrainian officials from traveling in Europe and could freeze their assets there. France, Poland, Germany and others appeared to back sanctions to increase pressure on the government in Kiev. European Commission President José Manuel Barroso blamed Ukraine’s “political leadership” and said sanctions are likely. “We therefore expect that targeted measures against those responsible for violence and use of excessive force can be agreed by our member states as a matter of urgency,” Barroso said. U.S. lawmakers of both parties called for additional sanctions on those found culpable. Those could include more individual travel restrictions or financial penalties imposed by the United States or along with the European Union. The Obama administration is not contemplating broad national sanctions against Ukraine, officials said. “We’ve made clear that we would consider taking action against individuals who are responsible for acts of violence within Ukraine, and we have a tool kit for doing that that includes sanctions,” White House deputy chief of staff Ben Rhodes told reporters traveling with Obama. Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, blamed Yanukovych for “state-sponsored violence.” “The actions of President Yanukovych and his government are deplorable, and the time is now to apply sanctions against the Ukrainian government for gross human rights violations,” Menendez said. “I expect the administration, with congressional support, to act swiftly.” Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said they are working together on legislation to impose “targeted sanctions” against those who carried out or supported violence, “or who are complicit in the rollback of Ukraine’s democracy.” The United States has little direct leverage over the Yanukovych government or the protesters, but any sanctions applied by the European Union could have greater bite. Many Ukrainian officials have business or other financial ties in Europe, and they travel there more often than to the United States. “We have also made clear that Ukraine has a future that is a part of the Atlantic community,” Rhodes said, but “it is not a zero-sum game with Russia.” David Nakamura in Toluca, Mexico, and Karla Adam in London contributed to this report.


Philips piloting smart lighting system for grocery stores

Frans van Houten, chief executive of Philips, speaks during the presentation of the 2013 full-year results in Amsterdam, January 28, 2014. Philips is piloting a new smart LED system in grocery stores. (REUTERS/Toussaint Kluiters/United Photos) Philips is piloting an advanced lighting system for grocery stores that would tell shoppers where to find particular items through a smartphone app, the company announced Tuesday. A shopper looking for guacamole ingredients, for instance, would select them on the supermarket’s app, which would then plot a route based on the location of these items in the store. A transmitter in the light fixture can send the app the shopper’s location; the app could also push discounts and offers based on which aisle the shopper is in. “The beauty of the system is that retailers do not have to invest in additional infrastructure to house, power and support location beacons for indoor positioning,’’ said Gerben van der Lugt, a manager at Philips Lighting. “The light fixtures themselves can communicate this information by virtue of their presence everywhere in the store.’’ In October, the Dutch company reported that LED-based sales grew by 33 percent since the same three-month period the previous year. The move could be a challenge to rival Apple’s iBeacon, a location-based service that can alert apps when a user enters or leaves a location using a Bluetooth signal. Qualcomm also began offering a similar service in December of 2013.


Charles Lane: Drug legalization claims are cloudy

more likely to be busted for drugs than whites in 2011 — but that ratio was down nearly 50 percent from the one recorded 20 years earlier. Marijuana arrests account for a bigger share of drug arrests these days, 44.3 percent in 2011 vs. 22.4 percent in 1991. But when you compare marijuana arrests to actual days of marijuana usage — busts per toke, so to speak — the story’s different. By this measure, “enforcement intensity” fell 42 percent between 2007 and 2012, according to drug-policy expert Keith Humphreys of Stanford University. Some “war.” It’s a myth that prisons are full of low-level pot smokers. Less than 1 percent of the state and federal prison population is doing time for pot possession alone; most of these prisoners are dealers who pleaded guilty to possession in return for a lesser sentence, according to the 2012 study “Marijuana Legalization: What Everyone Needs to Know,” published by Oxford University Press. America’s worst new drug-abuse problem involves a legal substance, opioid painkillers, that’s supposedly available only by prescription. OxyContin and other government-approved pills were linked to 15,500 overdose deaths in 2009. Legalizers might say the opioid epidemic proves, once again, the futility — and hypocrisy — of drug control. But then what’s the point of banning underage use of marijuana, as most pot-legalization statutes do? Washington state’s law threatens a 10-year sentence for selling pot to a minor. Talk about filling prisons with nonviolent drug offenders! And if drug abusers so widely misuse scientifically manufactured opioids, how realistic is it to say, as some legalizers do, that legalization would protect heroin addicts from impurities and overdoses? I don’t mean to suggest that there are no good arguments for legalizing any currently illicit substance. The case for decriminalizing pot is strong, as long as accompanying limitations on use by minors and other regulations have real teeth. But let’s discuss the issue on its actual merits — and not pretend that legalization is a panacea for drug abuse, and its related social ills, any more than prohibition was, or is. Read more from Charles Lane’s archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook. Read more on this topic: E.J. Dionne Jr.: Marijuana injustices need to end Kathleen Parker: Let’s give pot smokers a little leeway Ruth Marcus: The perils of legalized pot The Post’s View: Marijuana likely to be decriminalized in D.C.


Lawsuit brings to light secrecy statements required by KBR

largest U.S. contractor operating in Iraq and Afghanistan, winning nearly $40 billion worth of federal work, according to the U.S. Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan. KBR has been the subject of numerous lawsuits and allegations of fraud relating to contracts with the U.S. government, according to the war commission and the Justice Department. Tim McCormack, a lawyer who specializes in whistleblower cases, said that he has seen numerous confidentiality agreements but that the one used by KBR is particularly stark because it threatens employees with termination and possible legal action if they speak out. “This is mostly about trying to scare someone into not talking,” McCormack said. “It’s very effective to say you will be fired or sued. This is a very big company with lots of resources.” The existence of the previously undisclosed statements surfaced two weeks ago during a sworn deposition provided by KBR’s vice president of legal affairs. The deposition was taken as part of a whistleblower lawsuit that accuses Halliburton and KBR of inflating the cost of laundry and other services on U.S. military bases in Iraq. The companies have denied the allegations. The statements prohibit employees who want to report fraud from discussing the “subject matter” of their allegations without “specific authorization” from the company’s general counsel. Employees are warned that “unauthorized disclosure of information” could cause “irreparable harm” to the company. Employees are told that if they violate the terms of the statements, they could face “disciplinary action up to and including termination of employment,” according to a copy of the three-paragraph statement. The statements have been used “for years,” KBR attorney Christopher Heinrich said during the Feb. 5 deposition. He said he thought the statements had been drawn up by an attorney for Halliburton. Heinrich also said under questioning that KBR had fielded nearly 1,000 tips concerning one federal contract alone, LOGCAP III, a multibillion-dollar military service and supply contract in Iraq. Heinrich said the intent of the statement is clear. “It does instruct the individual that if they want to discuss it they have to get KBR general counsel approval,” he said, according to a transcript of the deposition. “They are prohibited from discussing any particulars regarding this interview and the – and the subject matter discussed in the interview.” Attorneys for Harry Barko, the whistleblower suing Halliburton and KBR, came across the statements during the discovery phase of


3 D.C. area nonprofits among 7 recipients of MacArthur awards for creative institutions

The Campaign Legal Center, whose president helped Comedy Central’s Stephen Colbert launch a Super PAC to show how easily campaign financing can be hidden, is among three Washington area nonprofit groups that have received the MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation announced Thursday. The annual awards of up to $1 million are given to nonprofit groups worldwide that the foundation has worked with in the past and that it wants to help increase in scope at a strategic point in their development. This year saw the largest number of Washington area recipients in the awards’ eight-year history. The District-based National Housing Trust, which helps increase the availability and quality of affordable housing nationwide, and the Arlington County-based NatureServe, which studies conservation and nature preservation around the world, each received $1 million. The Campaign Legal Center received $750,000. There were four other recipients this year: ProPublica, a New York-based investigative journalism organization; the Citizen Lab, a Toronto-based group that combats human rights abuses in cyberspace; the University of Chicago Crime Lab, which uses evidence to reduce crime and violence; and the Women’s Rights Advancement and Protection Alternative in Abuja, Nigeria, which protects the rights of Nigerian women. Grantees are selected by the foundation and invited to apply for the award. They are chosen based on their impact and effectiveness as well as good management, said the foundation’s president, Robert L. Gallucci. NatureServe, 2014 MacArthur Award Recipient Campaign Legal Center, 2014 MacArthur Award Recipient National Housing Trust, 2014 MacArthur Award Recipient Gallucci praised the legal center for “improving the functioning of the American democratic process and their focus on the corrosive influence of money in politics.” He lauded NatureServe, which studies and maps biodiversity and makes the information accessible to governments, groups and individuals, as “the one everybody goes to to learn how to preserve species.” And he praised the National Housing Trust for saving more than 25,000 affordable rental homes in 41 states. The $1 million is a significant addition to NatureServe’s $6 million endowment, said its president, Mary Klein. The organization maps species in areas that include Great Falls, where two ecoregions come together, and the Amazon region of the Andes. Development there has threatened unique plant and animal species, such as the Atelopus erythropus, a critically endangered species of toad with a range restricted to a small area within the


Ukrainian Olympic skier skips slalom in protest of government violence in Kiev

SOCHI, Russia — Beyond Sochi, the family ties and geography that bind Ukraine and Russia have set off deep sympathy and sadness among ordinary people listening to daily reports of battles in the streets and a rising death toll. Russian authorities, aligned with Ukrainian officials, express alarm but blame the protesters, whom they see as encouraged by the West. The Ukrainian skier Bogdana Matsotska, who was to compete in the slalom Friday, posted a message on her Facebook page Thursday saying that she and her father-coach, Oleg Matsotskyy, would return home instead. “We, members of the National Olympic Team of Ukraine, are outraged by the latest actions of the President of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych, who drowned the last hopes of Ukrainians in blood instead of solving the conflict through negotiations,” she wrote. “He has violated the eternal rule of the Olympics — peace during the Games.” To show solidarity with the opposition and in protest of what Matsotska, 24, called “the bandit president and his lackey government,” she said she refused to continue competing at the Olympics. She had raced in the Super-G and giant slalom. The Post's Will Englund gives a first-person account of what it's like on the ground for protesters in Kiev. “May the heroes killed for the freedom of Ukraine rest in peace!” she wrote. [Watch live video from Kiev] On Wednesday, as the casualties mounted in Ukraine, a controversy developed here over whether Ukrainian competitors could wear black armbands to mourn the dead. The International Olympic Committee denied it had banned them, but it clearly was discouraging attention to the conflict and said an alternative to armbands should be found. “There are 2,800 athletes here,” Mark Adams, an IOC spokesman, told reporters Thursday, “so you can imagine there are, sadly, a lot of people with personal tragedy in their lives, some with big political tragedy, some with personal tragedy — friends, loved ones, some athletes, some not athletes. The idea is to try to help them find other ways . . .— we understand their grief, but to find other ways — the multi-faith center, individually, to mark those moments.” Televisions around Olympic Park were tuned to competitions, so the events in Ukraine had little presence. Sergei Bubka Bubka, who once served as an adviser to Yanukovych, appealed to both sides to stop the violence. The athletes, he said Wednesday, obviously were suffering because of


Review: ‘Extreme Medicine: How Exploration Transformed Medicine’ by Kevin Fong

before he turned to medicine. Barred from regular employment at NASA because he was not a U.S. citizen, he enrolled in 1997 in an aerospace-medicine course at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. That led to further work and research at NASA on the body’s responses to spaceflight. As associate director of the Centre for Altitude, Space, and Extreme Environment Medicine in London, Fong has flown on the “Vomit Comet,” a modified Airbus used to expose astronauts to brief periods of weightlessness, and has attended NASA planning sessions for a possible future Mars mission. His chapters on how the human organism fares during space travel are particularly detailed and fascinating. For example, orbiting astronauts lose muscle mass and bone strength, and even their hearts quickly get out of condition. On returning to Earth, they often experience faintness or sleep disturbances. “Returning crew members have been known to vomit at celebratory banquets, collapse in showers, or run their vehicles off the road because of transient disorientation,” Fong writes. Every chapter combines personal stories, dramatic medical history and clear, vivid science writing. For example, explaining how scuba diving affects the lungs, heart and circulation, Fong recounts the time he was swept away from his companions by a strong current while reef-diving north of Fiji. Panicked and trying to swim against the current, he used up most of the oxygen in his tank and put himself at risk of decompression illness, popularly known as “the bends.” “The simple fight-or-flight response that I needed to get myself out of immediate danger was adding fizz to the tissues of my body,” he writes, “trading improved performance in this moment for problems I’d have to deal with later.” Fong managed to reach his fellow divers and surface safely before his oxygen ran out, then spent an anxious night on land before he could be sure that he’d escaped decompression sickness. Fong’s book presents daring moments in medicine along with lucid explanations of human physiology and of how medical professionals manage to keep people alive or pull them back from the brink. It should appeal to would-be astronauts, outdoor-lovers, mountain climbers, free-divers, armchair explorers, science enthusiasts, those working in the health professions or wondering about such a career — indeed, just about anyone with a heartbeat. Susan Okie EXTREME MEDICINE How Exploration Transformed Medicine in the Twentieth Century By Kevin Fong Penguin Press. 294 pp. $27.95


Anita L. Monson, music teacher, dies at 65

Anita L. Monson music teacher Anita L. Monson, an Anne Arundel County elementary school music teacher for more than 30 years, died Feb. 6 at Baltimore Washington Medical Center in Glen Burnie, Md. She was 65. The cause was a heart attack, said her sister Virginia Hamilton. Ms. Monson began her teaching career in the Anne Arundel County schools in the 1970s and retired in 2007. On a rotating basis, she taught at Oakwood, Linthicum, Quarterfield, Severna Park, Southgate and Glen Burnie Park schools. Anita Lynn Monson, a longtime resident of Glen Burnie, was born in Arlington County. She graduated in 1966 from Fairfax County’s Thomas A. Edison High School. In 1974, she graduated with a degree in music from the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University. She received a master’s degree in music from Peabody in 1978. Survivors include her parents, Earl and Edith Monson of Springfield, Va.; three sisters, Virginia Hamilton of Augusta, Ga., Patricia Franks of Huntsville, Ala., and Melinda Linderman of Front Royal, Va.; and two brothers, Steve Monson of Bluemont, Va., and Christopher Monson of Martinsburg, W.Va. — Bart Barnes


HP revenue declines 1 percent since last year

Hewlett-Packard ProLiant commercial data servers destined for cloud computing are assembled by workers at a company manufacturing facility in Houston November 19, 2013. HP announced its first quarter financial results on Thursday. (REUTERS/Donna Carson) Hewlett-Packard reported that revenues fell slightly durng the three-month period ending Jan. 31, as the company’s desktop and business server sales dropped. Revenue totaled $28.2 billion for the quarter, down 1 percent from a year earlier. Profits, though, grew by 17 percent, totaling $1.4 billion, or 74 cents a share, up from $1.2 billion, or 63 cents, the previous year. Personal systems revenue was up 4 percent year-over-year, with revenue from commercial clients increasing 8 percent and consumer revenue declining, according to the company. Though desktop unit sales decreased 3 percent, notebook sales grew by 5 percent. Revenue from HP’s enterprise group — which provides servers, storage and other IT services for organizations — grew by 1 percent year over year, though revenue from business critical systems, a select group of servers, declined by 25 percent. In an earnings call, Meg Whitman, HP president and chief executive, noted that “overall the PC market contraction is slowing and we see signs of stabilization,” particularly among businesses. A recent Gartner report found that PC shipments suffered their worst decline in history in the final quarter of 2013. “HP is in a stronger position today than we’ve been in quite some time,” Whitman said in a statement. “The progress we’re making is reflected in growth across several parts of our portfolio, the growing strength of our balance sheet, and the strong support we’re receiving from customers and channel partners. Innovation is igniting our comeback, and at a time when many of our competitors are confronting new challenges, two years of turnaround work is setting us up for an exciting future.”


Loehmann’s closing its last Washington-area store Sunday

slow death. The company filed for bankruptcy in 1999, and again in 2011. The final blow came two months ago, after it failed to find a buyer that could keep the company afloat. In the end, New York-based Loehmann’s was muscled out by its much-larger peers. With 39 stores in the United States, analysts say the retailer had no chance of competing with the TJX Companies, which owns T.J. Maxx, Marshalls and HomeGoods (roughly 3,050 locations), or Ross Stores (1,112 locations). “They had to compete in a game of scale,” said Howard Davidowitz, chairman of Davidowitz & Associates, a retail consultancy based in New York. “Well, that’s impossible. All of the small off-price operators got destroyed.” Two years ago, Filene’s Basement and its parent company, Syms Corp., closed their stores after 103 years, citing increased competition and an ailing economy. Daffy’s, a discounter with locations in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, was next, shutting down all 19 of its stores in 2012. Loehmann’s, which was founded in Brooklyn, N.Y., in 1921, held on a bit longer. But by March, it too will be gone. The company’s demise comes during a shaky period for retailers. Worrisome retail sales figures have raised fears that consumers will keep a tight hold on their wallets in 2014. Those concerns were exacerbated Thursday when Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, reported falling profits and a disappointing outlook for the rest of the year. Like many retailers, Loehmann’s struggled to stay afloat during the recession. But the biggest blow, analysts say, was the rise of T.J. Maxx. The Framingham, Mass.-based company has created a formidable network of 800 buyers and 16,000 vendors, analysts said. The company’s annual revenue — $25.9 billion in fiscal year 2013 — rivals that of McDonald’s, which posted $28.1 billion in sales last year. “TJX is the 800-pound gorilla in the room,” said Richard Jaffe, a retail analyst for Stifel Nicolaus. “They have had tremendous success because in this business, size matters.” There have been other changes, too. Department stores have begun funneling leftover items to spinoffs such as Saks Off 5th, Neiman Marcus Last Call and Nordstrom Rack, making it increasingly difficult for Loehmann’s to secure inventory. The boutique pieces the company had once been known for all but disappeared. “One of the biggest challenges with off-price retail is that you don’t have a great handle on inventory,” said Sucharita Mulpuru,


Why the Army should fire some generals and promote some captains

Correction: Adrian Bonenberger, an infantry officer with the U.S. Army from 2005 to 2012, is a student at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. He is the author of “Afghan Post.” As Army leadership ponders who and what to cut from its budget, the first groups in the crosshairs are the junior and mid-level officers. This is a logical step: To wage counterinsurgencies in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Army expanded its fighting force, and now it’s time to draw down. What isn’t logical is that other ranks will largely get a free pass. The Army, and the military overall, would be better served by retiring some of the generals, colonels and senior lieutenant colonels, and promoting the best captains, majors and junior lieutenant colonels into those roles. When the United States invaded Afghanistan in 2001, the Army stood at 480,000 soldiers. Over the next decade, it ballooned to 565,000 soldiers in 2011 and has since shrunk back to 528,000. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said last summer that the Army needed to reduce its numbers to as few as 380,000, the lowest since before World War II. It seems likely that the Pentagon will adopt this number as its target for 2020. These cuts will overwhelmingly fall where the recent growth occurred: younger soldiers and officers, nearly all of whom joined to fight in Iraq or Afghanistan. On the officer side, this means dismissing captains and majors — the ranks where people entered the force to fight terrorism. No plans have been announced to scale back the numbers of higher-ranking officers such as senior lieutenant colonels and colonels. (The number of generals is assigned by Congress and is constant at 230 in the Army.) Having more experienced, higher-ranking soldiers and officers means that the force will remain strategically flexible and able to expand rapidly if the need arises — even as it loses junior officers. (John W. Tomac for The Washington Post) But cutting personnel who have the most direct experience with contemporary wars — the senior captains, most majors and the junior lieutenant colonels — erodes U.S. military capabilities in precisely the place they’re needed most. Most of the colonels and generals leading the Army were trained to fight World War III against the Soviets; most of the captains and majors have trained and fought against al-Qaeda, Sunni militias and the Taliban. Unfortunately, few colonels and generals have, in


Do the Olympics glorify danger?

Cheshire and the United States’ Arielle Gold were also injured out during practice at Sochi immediately before their events. “Injuries and falls are part of this sport, but the timing is really bad,” Horgmo said in a statement. Some people have defended the courses. They argue that it sorts out the best athletes, who know how to ride in all conditions. After all, these are not indoor sports, and variable conditions are part of the game. Complete coverage from Day 14 of the Winter Games But the athletes are right to speak up. Their lives are at stake. We know that athletes have been seriously injured during Olympic competition. What we hear less about is how many have died or been gravely hurt on the road there. One such athlete, Canada’s beloved Sarah Burke, widely considered to be the driving force behind the inclusion of women’s ski halfpipe in Olympic competition for the first time this year, had dedicated her life to making it to Sochi. She fatally crashed during training in 2012. The IOC banned competitors from wearing stickers honoring her. IOC spokesman Adams said that while Burke needs to be remembered, “the competitions themselves, which are a place of celebration, are probably not the right place to really do that and we like to keep that separate.” Must we suppress the risks and tragedies that athletes face in order to celebrate their achievements? Or does it make their achievements all the more cause for celebration, precisely because they require such sacrifice and courage? What is the responsibility of sport’s governing bodies to their athletes? And to the athletes who are at home watching and being inspired to devote their lives to the dream of coming one day to compete? The conversation about safety needs to keep up with the thrilling pace of the evolution of these new extreme sports that have added so many new disciplines to world-class competition, attracting more and younger viewers. How did I, a filmmaker, come to care so deeply about young injured Olympic hopefuls? I made a movie that was shortlisted this year for the Academy Award for Best Documentary, about what can go very wrong on the path to the Olympics. “The Crash Reel” tells the story of one of the world’s most respected and beloved snowboarders, Kevin Pearce, and how he and his family grappled with a training accident that left


Congrats on that Olympic gold medal. Now what?

isn’t especially useful outside the Olympics. Unless a friend’s car is stuck in the snow. The hangover grabs hold of nearly all Olympic athletes. For those continuing to train, it can make refocusing difficult. Following the 2006 Turin Games, where my sled was expected to medal but finished a disappointing 7th, I needed a good six months until I was ready to really care about training again. Even those who bring home medals find that Olympic glory tends to be fleeting. It may get you on magazine covers or TV commercials. But a few months later, you’re back to a life of relative solitude. And recalling the intensity of the high may deepen the low. Surely, though, the most debilitating hangover comes when athletes retire at the end of the Games, whether on their own terms or because they pushed themselves too far for too long and have no choice. It’s scary to suddenly be out there on your own. In my case, retiring meant detaching myself from the cohesive unit I’d been part of. The guys in my sled were all continuing on — they’ve been competing in Sochi — and I missed our mutually encouraging effort. I also had to learn to find my way without coaches, physical therapists, sled technicians, a bobsled federation and an Olympic committee in my corner — an entire team assembled for the sole goal of my success on the track. It’s equally scary to realize that the physical skills you’ve so carefully crafted don’t transfer to the real world. I think that’s partly why a lot of athletes stay involved as coaches or administrators. It’s tough to give up your expertise in something and start all over again. And it gets tougher the older you get. Intertwined with all this is the fear of losing your identity and sense of purpose. I’d spent my life trying to be a better athlete — in track before bobsled. Retiring left me with a void I desperately needed to fill. For some athletes, the transition can be so disorienting that it leads to, or exacerbates, depression. In the summer of 2011, skier Jaret “Speedy” Peterson, an old friend and teammate, took his life barely more than a year after winning a silver medal in men’s aerials in Vancouver. The 29-year-old called the police as he entered the hills between Salt Lake and Park City, Utah,


Dangers of dogs on the loose

In the Feb. 19 Metro article “Chicken-chasers catch a break,” The Post used the phrase “blood lust” in reference to farmers who kill off-leash dogs that are killing their chickens. The reference should have been applied instead to the dogs. My parents live in a rural area of New England, and their small mongrel dog had grown old and feeble. Since it was almost blind, my mother kept it on a long chain to keep her company while she did her gardening. One day, their neighbor’s German shepherd came bounding over and attacked my mother. Our dog, sensing danger, tried to protect my mother. The shepherd turned its attention on our dog and promptly killed it. This story, along with your report, underscore why I am grateful Maryland has a leash law. Sharon Donahue, Potomac


At Maryland Live Casino, relentless surveillance operation targets cheats, thieves

Every month hundreds of thousands of gamblers stream into Maryland Live Casino, leaving behind more than $50 million in revenue. Protecting that gold mine from thieves, cheats, drunks and other threats are a security force of 200 officers and a state-of-the-art surveillance operation. Behind an unmarked door, the secret surveillance bunker in the bowels of Maryland’s largest casino was humming with activity. A manager on the gambling floor at Maryland Live had called in some suspicious behavior from one of the table-game pits, and the surveillance supervisor was blurting camera numbers like a quarterback calling an audible. Radios were crackling, and automated announcements were piped into the room every time a secured door opened on the massive Arundel Mills property. But the focus was on the bank of 42-inch monitors at the front of the room. The surveillance team was quickly trying to determine whether a customer’s odd behavior indicated cheating or . . . something else. “See that?” a surveillance operative asked. “I don’t know,” another one said, staring at the screens on the wall. The eyes in the sky never blink at Maryland Live, where officials are nearly as obsessive — and surreptitious — about spycraft as their neighbors at the National Security Agency. And for good reason. Every month hundreds of thousands of gamblers stream into the casino, leaving behind more than $50 million in revenue. Protecting that gold mine from thieves, cheats, drunks and other threats: a security force of 200 officers and a separate state-of-the-art surveillance operation. At Maryland Live, they’re always watching, pan-tilt-zooming, searching for wrongdoing in a place where somebody, somewhere is probably doing something they shouldn’t — usually at the expense of the casino’s bottom line. More than 1,200 cameras in and around the casino are monitored from the dimly lit bunker, a room so secret that most of Maryland Live’s 3,150 employees don’t know its location. It’s the nerve center of the self-defense operation at the 2 million-square-foot, 24-hour casino, which is probably one of the most closely watched spaces in the capital of the modern surveillance state. The men and women who work inside are “trained to identify things that don’t make sense,” said Rob Norton, the casino’s president and general manager, as he stood on the edge of the center one recent afternoon. “They watch for unnatural behavior and things that just look suspicious.” Now everyone’s attention was trained


Marijuana’s rising acceptance comes after many failures. Is it now legalization’s time?

plant strains such as Gorilla Glue, Silver Haze and Crystal Coma. All in a state where marijuana is not yet quite legal, and all without a single police officer to be seen. America has been at the edge of marijuana legalization several times during the past half-century, but never as close to mass acceptance of the drug as the nation is today. Since the 1960s, the United States has traveled on a herky-jerky trip from hippies and head shops to grass-roots backlash by suburban parents, from enthusiastic funding of the war on drugs to a gathering consensus that the war had little effect on marijuana use. Now, for the first time, marijuana legalization is winning majority support in public opinion polls and a drug used by about 6 percent of Americans — and one-third of the nation’s high school seniors — is starting to shake off its counterculture reputation. It is winning acceptance even from some police, prosecutors and politicians. But is this time really different? Why is the current campaign for legalization resonating when previous ones did not? Today’s leap toward legality is entwined with the financial desperation of cash-strapped states, an Internet-driven revolution in how Americans learn about marijuana and its medicinal uses, and a rising libertarian sensibility in which many liberals and conservatives alike have grown skeptical of government’s role in telling citizens how to medicate themselves. The skies looked bright for legalization at several other points in recent decades, and those efforts ultimately went nowhere, as campaigns by parents combined with sharp opposition by law enforcement and elected officials to keep marijuana on the list of substances that can land you in jail. But in 20 states and the District, the booming medical marijuana industry (the drug first became legal to treat ailments in California in 1996) has raised expectations of full legalization. In 2012, legalized marijuana outpolled President Obama in Colorado; the votes for pot and Obama in Washington state were almost identical at 56 percent each. Activists in at least six states and the District are working to put legalization initiatives on the ballot this year or in 2016, and legislatures in 13 states are considering bills to legalize a plant that in 80 years has traveled from widely used patent medicine to felony to misdemeanor and now to the cusp of acceptance as one more taxed and regulated mind-altering substance, akin to alcohol


Post-Classical Ensemble, National Cathedral Boy and Girl Choristers perform at Dumbarton

Post-Classical Ensemble (Tom Wolff) The Post-Classical Ensemble’s conductor, Angel Gil-Ordoñez, likes to build his programs around a theme, which is how it came about that Benjamin Britten and Richard Wagner — as unlikely a pair of soulmates as you’re likely to find — ended up sharing the program at Georgetown’s Dumbarton United Methodist Church on Saturday, the sixth event in this year’s Dumbarton Concerts series. The theme was childhood, something that everyone knows was close to Britten’s heart (see “Noah’s Flood,” “St. Nicolas,” etc., among the many works he wrote with children as centerpieces). But Wagner, he of the huge Teutonic epics? Well, there’s the “Siegfried Idyll,” one of Wagner’s most approachable and beloved works, based on the nursery song “Schlafe, Kindchen, Schlafe” and written as a gift to celebrate both the birthday of his wife, Cosima, and the birth of their son, Siegfried. The program was more a sharing than a collaboration. The Washington National Cathedral Boy and Girl Choristers were on their own, with harpist Jacqueline Pollauf, singing Britten’s “Ceremony of Carols,” warming up on an adaptation of the “In Paradisum” from the Faure Requiem and, after intermission, singing a sweet “Good Night” chorus by Wagner admirer Anton Seidl and the “Schlafe” nursery song from the church balcony. The 13-member instrumental group took over to close the evening with a broad, passionate reading of the “Idyll.” With Gil-Ordoñez conducting, the 22 choristers gave well-shaped, intense and incisive readings of the 11 Britten carols. Soloists from the choir did nicely, particularly the girl who sang “That Yonge Child,” but it wasn’t until the choir’s regular conductor, Michael McCarthy, took over to lead the unison nursery song that the group managed the easy, weightless delivery that is one of the glories of young choristers. Reinthaler is a freelance writer.


Five retail trends to watch in 2014

from downtown Alexandria — in November. Simon Property Group, the largest outlet mall developer, is in the process of building an outlet mall in upper Montgomery County. Clarksburg Premium Outlets at Cabin Branch is scheduled to open as early as 2015. 2. More fitness centers as retail anchors Big-box retailers and grocery stores have long been among the most sought-after anchors for shopping centers. But that is quickly changing, as developers look to large gyms and fitness centers to help draw a stream of regular customers. “It used to be that [fitness centers] were thought to be an ugly use of space,” Klug said. But now “fitness is a huge category.” Gyms such as Equinox, which has locations in Tysons Corner and Bethesda, and L.A. Fitness have become coveted mainstays. As more and more consumers shop online for clothing and other household needs, fitness centers are one of the last remaining businesses that can draw regular crowds on a daily — or perhaps, weekly — basis, industry insiders said. 3. Mobile capabilities being used in new ways, not just by retailers, but also by entire shopping centers A number of brands, from Aston Martin to Zara, have their own apps. Now shopping centers and malls are joining the fray. “This is the year of the mobile phone,” said Michael Kercheval, president and chief executive officer of the International Council of Shopping Centers. “It is the new gatekeeper.” A mobile app by Simon Property Group, for example, reminds customers where their cars are parked, provides a mall directory and alerts them to discounts at nearby stores. Westfield’s app, meanwhile, directs shoppers to the closest bathroom or food court. “Shopping center managers now have the opportunity to speak directly to shoppers as they walk in,” Kercheval said, adding that smaller developments should create similar apps to help guide customers. 4. Same-day delivery services Verizon this month announced that it would provide same-day delivery to Washington area residents. A number of other companies, from grocery stores to florists, have taken similar measures, and Kercheval said he expects delivery services to grow steadily this year, even among smaller retailers. Mobile apps such as Deliv, which pairs nearby vetted drivers with stores, have made it possible for mom-and-pop shops to provide same-day deliveries without hiring new staffers. “What this means is that stores now double as distribution centers,” Kercheval said. “It is very likely that


Nicklas Backstrom fails IOC doping test, misses gold medal Olympic hockey game

Complete coverage from Day 15 of the Winter Games. Washington Capitals Backstrom’s test result showed an elevated level of pseudoephedrine, which is prohibited by the International Olympic Committee but not the NHL. The violation of the IOC’s anti-doping policy is not expected to prevent Backstrom from playing with the Capitals when their season resumes on Thursday. While Backstrom’s NHL eligibility isn’t in jeopardy, the timing of his removal and the realization the center was taking the medication with the approval of the Swedish national team doctor raises questions about the IOC’s testing process. “There certainly is no doping in this instance. He is an innocent victim, and we support him strongly,” said Mark Aubry, chief medical officer for the International Ice Hockey Federation. “Doping is certainly not allowed, but this is not a case of doping.” Backstrom has taken Zyrtec-D, a permitted drug although it contains pseudoephedrine, for seven years to treat sinusitis. Pseudoephedrine is allowed by the IOC as long as levels do not exceed 150 micrograms per milliliter and is not tested outside of competition. Backstrom’s level was 190, according to Aubry. “I have absolutely nothing to hide. I have allergy problems,” an emotional Backstrom said at a news conference. “I’ve been there for two weeks now, and it was probably the most fun two weeks I’ve ever had. Great group of guys. I was ready to play probably the biggest game of my career, and two and a half hours before the game I got pulled aside. It’s sad.” Backstrom was tested Wednesday following Sweden’s quarterfinal win over Slovenia, but neither he nor team officials were informed of the positive result until hours before the gold medal game four days later. The IOC said it had too many tests to process to deliver the result sooner. NHL Players Association official Mathieu Schneider didn’t see that as an acceptable explanation. He cited a similar situation during the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, when defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky of Slovakia tested positive for elevated pseudoephedrine levels but was retested two days later and ultimately allowed to play. “The process was flawed,” Schneider told reporters in Sochi. “I think it’s clear that he wasn’t intending to cheat, that he wasn’t doping. Doping’s a very serious allegation, and at some point common sense should have prevailed, and it clearly did not.” Backstrom’s ineligibility left Sweden, already without stars Henrik Zetterberg (herniated disk) and Henrik


A prescription for continued carbon dioxide emissions?

Charles Krauthammer [“The myth of ‘settled science,’ ” op-ed, Feb. 21] is right in that “[no] science is settled, static, impervious to challenge.” However, enough of the science of global warming has been established as fact that those of us who look at the likely implications of these facts are very concerned about the Earth’s future climate. The fact that adding carbon dioxide to the atmosphere will increase the Earth’s temperature was established long ago by looking at basic scientific principles. Although climate scientists will never be able to predict exactly how much the Earth will warm for a specific amount of carbon dioxide, they can provide a range of likely values. Their best estimate at this time is that a doubling of atmospheric carbon dioxide — which will happen this century if we continue burning fossil fuels at the current rate — will very likely raise global average temperatures at least 5.4 degrees in the short run and possibly more than 11 degrees in the long run. The resulting climate could be inhospitable to civilization as we know it, so I do not want my two granddaughters to inherit a significantly warmer world. It is imperative that we start reducing fossil-fuel emissions as soon as possible, and imposing a fee on carbon is the best way to get started. Bruce Parker, Alexandria The writer is a volunteer with the Citizens Climate Lobby. ● I’m not a Democrat or a Republican. I worry about smart people being captured by their ideologies when analyzing important issues such as climate change. Just in case, after reading Charles Krauthammer’s op-ed column, I threw a few stones upward, and they all came back down. I guess that means that some facts can be settled by science. As with polluters, when intelligent people play ideological games with serious issues, we all lose. Armando Morales, Cabin John More Letters to the Editor: Nothing new in selling of ambassadorial posts Nationalism vs. patriotism Reinventing the wheel on education reform Relief for a deal to save the Corcoran The horrors in North Korea Abstract subjects, real art It’s news, not a spoiler Gun violence prevention, not ‘anti-gun’


West Point is placing too much emphasis on football

Dwight S. Mears is an assistant professor of history at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Army, the Defense Department or the U.S. government. On Dec. 15, shortly after Army football’s 12th consecutive loss to the U.S. Naval Academy, the superintendent of West Point, Lt. Gen. Robert Caslen , announced that he was considering institutional changes to build a winning program. “When America puts its sons and daughters in harm’s way, they do not expect us to just ‘do our best’ . . . but to win,” he wrote. “Nothing short of victory is acceptable. . . . Our core values are Duty, Honor, Country. Winning makes them real.” Soon after, Army Athletic Director Boo Corrigan argued that West Point ought to take “an educated risk” by relaxing admission requirements in favor of superior football recruits. The superintendent has said that he does not intend to relax standards, but Corrigan’s views are backed by powerful alumni, including retired Brig. Gen. Pete Dawkins, a Heisman Trophy winner who has participated in three study groups assessing Army football. “I think it’s crucial that West Point stand out as a place of winners,” Dawkins recently said. Thus his view that it’s “entirely fair to accept some risks” in the admission of football recruits. As a West Point graduate and faculty member, I find many of these arguments troubling. Academy leaders and alumni have often asserted that performance on the gridiron has a direct impact on our ability to win our nation’s wars and that we therefore have a moral imperative to win in football. But the facts do not support that assertion. West Point admission standards are already relaxed for recruited athletes. Sixty-one percent of West Point’s current football players matriculated through the U.S. Military Academy Preparatory School, where academic risk thresholds are significantly lower than for standard academy admissions, and virtually everyone who completes the coursework enters the academy. Internal studies conducted in the past decade show that, once at West Point, recruited football players are more than twice as likely to fail courses, more likely to leave the Army early and less likely to be promoted to higher ranks in the Army compared with their non-recruited counterparts. There are exceptions, of course, and I have taught some outstanding football players.


Local Digest: A roundup of news from across the region

MARYLAND Hucker will join field in Montgomery race Del. Tom Hucker, confirming a widely expected move, said he will file Monday as a candidate in the Democratic primary for the District 5 Montgomery County Council seat. “I’m in,” said Hucker, 46, who is serving his second term in the Maryland House of Delegates representing District 20. It includes much of the Silver Spring and Takoma Park area covered by the council seat. The seat is held by Cherri Branson (D-Silver Spring), appointed last month to finish the unexpired term of Valerie Ervin, who resigned. Branson will not be a candidate in the June primary. Hucker joins what could be a crowded field that includes Silver Spring activist Evan Glass and Jeffrey Thames, founder of Hope Restored, a community service nonprofit. Also expected to file before the 9 p.m. Tuesday deadline are Board of Education member Christopher S. Barclay and Takoma Park activist Terrill North. — Bill Turque THE DISTRICT Police find man shot to death in Northeast A shooting Sunday morning in Northeast Washington left one man dead, authorities said. D.C. police answered a call about the sound of gunshots about 3:29 a.m. near the 400 block of Florida Avenue NE, officer John Strader said. The police found a man with wounds in his back. Officials are looking for a gray four-door Chevrolet Impala in connection with the case, Strader said. Four people were in the car, but no information on their ages, gender or race was available. A description of the shooter also was not available. The name and details of the man who was shot have not been released as police worked to notify his family. — Lynh Bui


Five things to watch as another week gets underway in Annapolis

IT defects” and officials are exploring other options for the next enrollment period, which starts on Nov. 15. He largely blamed the problems on off-the-shelf software and Noridian Healthcare Solutions, the North Dakota-based company hired to build the exchange. Since then, one of Sharfstein’s deputies has sharpened the department’s attack on Noridian, saying that the company “severely misrepresented the maturity” of the system it could build using off-the-shelf software. He was also critical of Noridian’s outsourcing of “its leading role to an unauthorized subcontractor under an undisclosed profit-sharing agreement.” Will a court battle over fundraising during the legislative session have any practical implications? A lawsuit filed Dec. 26 by supporters of the gubernatorial campaign of Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler (D) is finally scheduled to land in a courtroom on Wednesday. The Gansler supporters are trying to block Howard County Executive Ken Ulman (D), the running mate of Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown (D), from raising money during the session even though he has the blessing of the State Board of Elections officials to do so. Under Maryland law, legislators and statewide officials are prohibited from soliciting contributions during the 90-day session. The state board said back in December that the ban doesn’t apply to county officials such as Ulman even if they’re on the same ticket as a state official. A judge in Anne Arundel County Circuit Court is scheduled to hear motions Wednesday to dismiss the case filed by lawyers for Brown, Ulman and the state elections administrator. Brown, meanwhile, announced in a recent opinions piece in The Washington Post that his ticket doesn’t plan to raise money during session after all — which could render the entire matter moot. Daniel M. Clements, a lawyer for the Gansler supporters, is now seeking sanctions against Brown and Ulman for not making that clear sooner. Will the state Senate bid of Julius Henson continue? Political consultant Julius Henson, who spent a month in jail as a result of Maryland’s 2010 “robocalls” scandal, is due in a Baltimore court on Thursday for a hearing on whether he has violated the terms of his probation. Henson, who was working for the comeback bid of former governor Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R), masterminded an election-night call that told voters in Baltimore and Prince George’s County that they could “relax,” suggesting Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) had already won the race. Henson, a Democrat, has


Despite wildlife advocates’ concerns, Loudoun to proceed with tick spraying

other wildlife — and said that dressing appropriately and conducting thorough tick checks is a more reliable way to lower the risk of Lyme exposure. Officials with the environmental group said in a statement that they were disappointed to see the board approve the spraying, a measure that they say is “potentially harmful to people, harmful to wildlife and bees in particular, gives citizens a false sense of security and has not been shown to be effective in reducing Lyme disease incidence.” But the group said it was pleased “that some funds, although very limited, are being designated to education and signage.” At the board meeting Wednesday, most supervisors expressed support for the spraying and emphasized that the application of the insecticide is limited and highly targeted. “It is a very controlled environment; they even check the direction of the wind,” Supervisor Suzanne Volpe (R-Algonkian) said, adding that she was present during a previous insecticide application. “I wasn’t more than probably 20 feet away from them when they were spraying, and it was totally fine. . . . It is nothing for folks to be stressed about.” Supervisor Geary Higgins (R-Catoctin) said he had begun to receive e-mails from constituents who were concerned about the spraying; he reiterated that the spraying was carefully targeted. He was assured that the insecticide application was “surgical,” he said. “People are picturing crop dusters,” Higgins said. “It’s not calling in the Air Force.” But not all members of the board were entirely convinced of the need for spraying. Chairman Scott K. York (R-At Large) said he would “reluctantly support” the recommendations, despite his skepticism about the effectiveness of the insecticide. “The most effective process is dressing appropriately,” he said. “When you’re done in the woods or in a park, go home and check yourself for ticks.” York said he would be interested to see the research results regarding infected tick populations at the county parks. “We will see,” he said. “I’m going to look at it a little bit more objectively next time around.” Alyson Mahoney, conservation advocacy chair of the Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy, said in an e-mail that the organization was glad to hear York voice skepticism about the spraying. “We are particularly encouraged by Chairman York’s recognition of the evidence that personal protective measures are most effective,” she said. “We look forward to ongoing dialogue with the board and the Lyme commission.”


An unusual coincidence solved the mystery of the scary nosebleeds and low platelet counts

saw Josephs, who practices in Montgomery County. To test her immune response, he administered a diphtheria and tetanus booster and a shot to prevent pneumococcal pneumonia, a vaccine Stein had never received. Several weeks later, he measured her production of antibodies. “It wasn’t an open-and-shut case,” Josephs said, because Stein’s body did make some antibodies. But overall, her response to both vaccines was weak. Josephs decided that her history and hospitalizations, combined with the vaccine and other results, made her a candidate for continued IVIG therapy to prevent serious infections. Josephs said there is no way to know when or why Stein developed CVID. “My assumption is that people are born with a tendency” to develop it, he said. The immune system weakens over time and an unknown trigger results in the disease. The fact that Stein’s brother has the same disorder has attracted attention from researchers interested in exploring possible genetic underpinnings. Both siblings, as well as their brother, who has a normal immune system, have participated in studies at the National Institutes of Health. So far, neither of Stein’s children shows signs of an immune disorder. Loath to receive infusions for the rest of her life and hoping that the CVID diagnosis was wrong, Stein sought a second opinion in 2007 at the University of Pennsylvania. “I didn’t want to believe I had CVID,” she said. “There is no cure for this and I’m potentially susceptible to lymphoma and all sorts of other nasty things.” An immunologist at Penn retested her, confirmed the diagnosis and echoed Josephs’s recommendations. Since then, Stein has received monthly infusions, which take about six hours and leave her with a headache and fever for several days afterward. She still gets sinus infections and colds, but has had no recurrence of the bleeding or low platelet count. “I don’t want to live in a bubble and I’ve tried really hard to live a regular life,” she said. “It sucks to have this, but there’s power in knowing that I do.” The diagnosis has resulted in an increased closeness with her brother, whom she credits with helping her discover what was wrong far more quickly than many people with CVID. “I know when weird stuff happens I can call him,” she said. “There’s something wonderful about knowing that he’s there and that he understands.” Submit your solved medical mystery to sandra.boodman@washpost.com. Find previous mysteries here.


Ants use their babies as life preservers when forming rafts during floods

build bridges that other ants can walk over. They surround intruders and kill them with their body heat. And when a flood hits, they can link up and form rafts that can float to higher, drier ground. One study found that the invasive fire ant Solenopsis invicta actually traps air pockets to form a protective layer that helps keep them afloat. But researchers at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland wondered if there was even more complex organization to these ant rafts. After all, who were the unlucky ants forced to the bottom of the raft? Was there a reason they were chosen for the job? Were they submerged and thus at higher risk of drowning? The researchers also wondered whether the ants would place the most valuable or vulnerable members, like the queen and the young brood, away from the water. To test their hypothesis, the scientists used Formica selysi ants from colonies along the bank of the Rhone River, putting them in groups of 60 workers with queens and giving some of them 10 young brood ants to care for. Then they started to slowly raise the water level and watched how these mini-colonies reacted. Sure enough, the worker ants placed the queen in the center of the raft, protected from the water on all sides. But, to the researchers’ surprise, the ants took the young, helpless brood — the larval and pupal ants — and lined their bodies along the base of the raft, where they would be most exposed to water. This seemed counterintuitive, but after submerging both adult ants and their brood young in water, the scientists found that the pupae and larvae were actually more buoyant than the adults. This played out in the overall success of the brood-bottomed rafts, which seemed to do better than rafts held together only by adult worker ants. Once the rafts disembarked, the ant rafts with no brood took less time to disassemble, but they had more “nonresponsive” workers that needed reviving, the authors found. The rafts with brood, on the other hand, took a little more time to disassemble, but there were far fewer on their crew who needed CPR. The ant young seemed to suffer no long-term ill effects from being put to work like this, the researchers found: They reached adulthood at the same rate as brood that hadn’t been rafted. — Los Angeles Times


Sequencing genes can pinpoint rare illnesses. Might it also help with other problems?

seem to be spread across a plethora of rare mutations, some of which may even be unique to their carriers. This transforms the process of genetic discovery. To find common disease-causing variants, you might recruit 1,000 people with the condition in question, plus a similar number of controls, and look for variants that seem to be inherited with the disease. But if 1,000 people with the same external symptoms have hundreds of different mutations causing them, finding the gene variants responsible becomes a needle-in-a-haystack problem. That might sound hopeless, given that a typical genome contains several million departures from the reference human DNA sequence. But you can winnow down the list of candidates using algorithms that predict whether a variant is likely to disrupt a gene’s function. A premature “stop” instruction, for instance, which cuts a protein short, is an obvious candidate for further scrutiny. These algorithms work in various ways. Some flag mutations if they occur in DNA sequences that differ little from species to species. The thinking goes that if evolution has preserved a gene’s sequence, then any change in it is likely to be bad. Other algorithms are more sophisticated, for instance assessing how gene variants might change a protein’s shape, which might affect how it works. A mutation may be damaging to a protein without causing disease. This is because many of our metabolic pathways have a degree of redundancy, which means that when individual proteins “break,” there are often others available to take the strain. While sequencing methods and the tools used to sift for damaging mutations have advanced far enough to spot single variants causing rare diseases, the signal-to-noise problem becomes more challenging when the symptoms are common. But as our knowledge of rare variants expands and prediction algorithms become more sophisticated, the genome’s dark matter should come into view. Even at this early stage, there are valuable nuggets to be mined from a typical genome. The most useful information surrounds carrier status for genetic disorders and clues about how commonly used drugs are likely to work. The full benefits of the genomic revolution will come when doctors are routinely able to pick out the rare variants triggering certain symptoms and prescribe drugs that have been specifically designed to correct the biochemical pathways concerned. This may still be decades away. This article is excerpted from a longer story originally published by New Scientist magazine.


Michael Gerson: Physics is enjoying a golden age

Each of the GPS satellites that allow me to navigate to a new restaurant carries an atomic clock that needs to be accurate in order to triangulate the speed and position of my moving car. But there are a couple of problems. Einstein’s Theory of Special Relativity predicts that clocks hurtling through space at satellite speed will appear to tick more slowly than earthbound clocks by about 7,000 nanoseconds each day (a nanosecond is a billionth of a second). His Theory of General Relativity, on the other hand, predicts that clocks farther from a massive object (the Earth), will advance faster than clocks on the ground, in this case by a little more than 45,000 nanoseconds. If the GPS system fails to compensate for the 38,000-nanosecond difference predicted by an eccentric German physicist, errors in global positioning would increase by about 6 miles each day. In 23 days, my restaurant in Washington, D.C., might mistakenly show up in Philadelphia. This is the oddness of modern physics invading the everyday world. Everyone needs a diversion, even from a job they love. My escape from a political world in which Ted Nugent figures prominently (or at all) is to read books on cosmology and quantum theory and then bore my family with scientific trivia. Note that reading is different from understanding. Being mathematically illiterate, I tend to skip the equations, which is like reading music without comprehending the notes. But I understand enough to know that physics, unlike politics, is experiencing a golden age. Microwave receivers detect small variations in the cold, ancient light from the big bang. Vast, underground colliders produce elegantly curved sprays of exotic particles. Revolution has followed revolution. At the macro level, it was only in the late 1990s that astronomers found, against all expectation, that the expansion of the universe is accelerating instead of slowing down. This led to the postulation of an unseen dark energy in the vacuum of space — a force from the void capable of repelling galaxies. Astronomers have also found that stars on the edges of galaxies move faster than gravitational theory would predict, leading to the theory that (so far) undetectable dark matter keeps galaxies from flinging apart. It is estimated that more than 95 percent of the universe — dark energy plus dark matter — is entirely unseen. The micro level is even odder. A century of quantum physics still


Changing course, Japan now sees future for nuclear power

This photo released by Tokyo Electric Power Co. shows radioactive water leaked from a tank at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant Feb. 20, 2014.The operator said it did not reach the Pacific Ocean. A new Japanese government draft report calls for long-term reliance on nuclear power. (AP/AP) SEOUL — The energy plan still must receive cabinet approval before being finalized, a step likely to come next month. But it signals the intent of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to return to an energy source whose risks have divided the country since a series of meltdowns three years ago at the Fukushima Daiichi plant. Japan has made startlingly little progress since that accident in figuring out whether to ditch or reembrace atomic power — in part because of political turnover, in part because the debate is so testy. While activists and many voters warn against operating reactors in an earthquake-prone country, major companies and politicians such as Abe call atomic power an economy-friendly source of cheap power. Since taking office 14 months ago, Abe has indicated his interest in restarting Japan’s reactors once they meet new safety standards. But the new energy plan indicates that those restarts wouldn’t be stopgap measures to manage energy shortages; rather, the reactors could operate for decades, providing what the government plan described as a “superior” kind of stability. A previous ruling party had said in 2012 that Japan would phase out nuclear power by the 2030s. In a 75-page draft of the energy report released Tuesday, Japan described nuclear power as a dependable source that “emits no greenhouse gas.” The plan, which also calls for the accelerated adoption of renewable sources, did not indicate a target for nuclear power’s share of the overall energy mix. Japan has few natural resources of its own and must import fossil fuels — mostly oil and liquefied natural gas — to fill the void of nuclear power. Japan’s 48 operable reactors remain idled, many awaiting safety upgrades. Before the Fukushima accident, Japan relied on nuclear power for 30 percent of its electricity supply, with plans to increase that share to 50 percent by 2030. Some Japanese media have speculated that reactors could restart as early as this summer. But the restart effort could run into trouble if red flags are raised during safety assessments carried out by Japan’s nuclear watchdog. The government push to reestablish atomic power could also reawaken


D.C.’s neighborhood markets offer an ingredient boon, of sorts

Opened in Mount Pleasant by two friends, Each Peach market sells grocery items, plus has an on-site kitchen and a made-to-order sandwich station. (Deb Lindsey/For The Washington Post) A few months ago, I bypassed the corner store in Mount Pleasant where about once a month for seven years I had resorted to buying last-minute, uninspiring staples. I headed two blocks northwest for my first visit to Each Peach Market, which opened in August. There were no sticks of Kirkland brand butter or blocks of Kraft cheddar cheese there. Instead, I found items that roused my creative juices, such as Cured DC charcuterie, Pequa Valley whole-milk yogurt, vibrant leeks, grass-fed strip steaks and good olive oil. In the center of the room, a farm table was graced with bunches of fresh herbs standing in jars, like small floral arrangements. And then I saw Frenchie’s croissants, the best in town, and a basket of fresh everything bagels. A perfect Sunday was in the works. “Do you have smoked salmon?” I asked the young lady behind the counter. “We do,” she said. “But we also cure our own. Would you like to try some?” You bet. If there is any doubt that a food movement is gaining traction in Washington, step into some of the small markets that have opened in the past few years. They aren’t the typical corner stores to duck into just for milk, eggs and mayonnaise. They are micro-grocers that carry squid-ink pasta, vegan faux gras, duck confit, fresh kale, farro and bloomy rind cheese from West Virginia. The eggs are most likely from free-range chickens, the milk is organic and the mayo might be flavored with rosemary or white truffle. Their owners prefer to source locally. They curate the offerings based, in part, on their own tastes and are likely to have bona fide cooking credentials; many of them are chefs who realized their customers were cooking at home more, but in a different way. “They are 50-50 cooks,” says Tracy Stannard, who co-owns Broad Branch Market in Chevy Chase D.C. “They’ll cook half a meal and round it out with prepared foods.” I visited many of these markets with the idea of putting together a meal as a busy cook on the way home from work might, the 50-50 way. The best strategy is to let each place guide your menu. Smucker Farms of Lancaster County, which


food movement is gaining traction in Washington, step into some of the small markets that have opened in the past few years. They aren’t the typical corner stores to duck into just for milk, eggs and mayonnaise. They are micro-grocers that carry squid-ink pasta, vegan faux gras, duck confit, fresh kale, farro and bloomy rind cheese from West Virginia. The eggs are most likely from free-range chickens, the milk is organic and the mayo might be flavored with rosemary or white truffle. Their owners prefer to source locally. They curate the offerings based, in part, on their own tastes and are likely to have bona fide cooking credentials; many of them are chefs who realized their customers were cooking at home more, but in a different way. “They are 50-50 cooks,” says Tracy Stannard, who co-owns Broad Branch Market in Chevy Chase D.C. “They’ll cook half a meal and round it out with prepared foods.” I visited many of these markets with the idea of putting together a meal as a busy cook on the way home from work might, the 50-50 way. The best strategy is to let each place guide your menu. Smucker Farms of Lancaster County, which opened in the trendy 14th Street corridor in late 2011, focuses on Amish and Mennonite products. When I noticed an array of Stachowski sausages and Stoltzfus peppered bacon, a main course of choucroute came to mind. The store sold sauerkraut, of course, a Pennsylvania Dutch staple. To round out the menu in my head, I picked up Soupergirl roasted carrot soup for the first course and Little Barn preserved peaches, Trickling Springs ice cream and Christina Maser raspberry jalapeño jam for a Melba-type dessert. At Stachowski’s Market in Georgetown, where the chef and maker of those sausages and his son work, I zeroed in on duck confit (quite popular at these new markets) and duck eggs. I crisped the former and poached the latter to perch atop a main-course salad with spinach, farro and shiitake mushrooms. These cozy recipes from our Recipe Finder will hit the spot on cold winter days. A can of Urbani cream-and-black-truffle sauce struck my fancy the moment I entered P&C Market, a tiny basement-level store in Lincoln Park that is crammed with delicacies. It was a no-brainer to match that luxuriant sauce with Pastifico d’Apuzzo fettuccine for a main course. For the rest of the


Cooking with Aldi store brands

Store-brand products from Aldi: Mostly hits, a few misses. (Deb Lindsey/For The Washington Post) The January opening of the newest Washington area Aldi, in Beltsville, Md., provided just the impetus I needed to check out the grocery store for the first time. Casual inquiries among friends about Aldi prompted much curiosity and an impressive array of perceptions. I spent about a month in the kitchen with Aldi store brands, none of which I was familiar with because those labels are exclusive to the grocery chain. Items in the “thumbs up” category cost significantly less than the national name brands I was used to buying. I found the Aldi products delivered consistent results. Items in the “meh” category failed to live up to name-brand standards, for the reasons given below. Thumbs up: Meh: Thumbs down: — B.S.B. These cozy recipes from our Recipe Finder will hit the spot on cold winter days. More from Food:


Store brands, the (now) welcome option

the annals of “American Hustle”-era store brands. When people were discoing in printed polyester, cartons of commodity-type foods were wallflowers in plain white, with simple black lettering. Once retailers began to offer options that undercut name-brand prices and emulated the flavor profile and even the look of name brands, cost-conscious shoppers opened up to them. We have guys like Stephens, who now runs a brand-consulting firm based in Toronto, to thank for that. Those pre-Internet mass coupon mailings might have helped as well, enticing us to try lesser-known name brands at significant savings. The result: a public that today is less loyal to name brands overall, and one that increasingly rates store brands in consumer surveys as superior or equal to the products with millions of advertising dollars behind them. Retailers are grabbing their share of the premium-brand pie, too, by creating goods in niche categories such as all-natural and gluten-free. The theory goes something like this: Establish consumer confidence with a good-quality store brand, and shoppers will be more apt to try store brands across the aisles. When we find the 365 Everyday canned beans at Whole Foods next to Eden Foods Organic beans, or HT Traders Prairie Harvest Crunch close to the Grape-Nuts at Harris Teeter, we welcome the options. Brian Sharoff sees the very segmentation of America in play. “Social and economic strata of the past 10 or 15 years drive what retailers put on the shelves,” says the longtime president of the international Private Label Manufacturers Association. Retailers “have the ability to negotiate good prices for their own brands and display them the most efficient way.” Packaging and price of store brands go hand in hand, he says. “If you are an average shopper who likes to go to Giant or Kroger, we know two things about you. You shop there on a regular basis; there’s a degree of familiarity and loyalty. And you have decided what you’re going to buy before you get there. You might choose a different-size bottle of Coca-Cola, but you’re going to buy the Coke.” So retailers sell their store brands for considerably less and try to make them look as appealing as possible, Sharoff says. National name brands used to dominate commercial television time and our consumer awareness. The very nature of how we watch TV shows — often skipping commercials altogether or binge-watching via Netflix — has diminished the


Store brands, the (now) welcome option

reach of brand-name marketing, Sharoff says. There are exceptions, of course. Icons like Cheerios and Heinz ketchup are far from being unseated. But the evolution of private-label brands seems to follow the Loblaws chocolate chip cookie model: better quality, better packaging, better value. These cozy recipes from our Recipe Finder will hit the spot on cold winter days. A maiden visit to any of the Washington area’s dozen Aldi stores proves the point. The German-owned grocery chain established a foothold in the United States more than three decades ago, yet it remains a bit of a mystery even to those who think they know the score. Is it warehouse-like? Not so much. It is clean, ordered and well lighted, with far less square footage than the average grocery chain store. Does it own/is it owned by Trader Joe’s, as is widely rumored? Aldi in the United States and Trader Joe’s have no relationship to each other, according to Aldi management. For a place that rents its carts, won’t take credit cards, charges for bags and offers no loyalty program, Aldi attracts its share of regular, satisfied customers — all the more remarkable because more than 90 percent of its stock is private-label brands that mostly tout “made in the USA.” Chances are good those brand names won’t ring a bell, because they are exclusive to Aldi. However, they are designed to sound like familiar and safe bets: Baker’s Choice, Friendly Farms, Simply Nature, Mama Cozzi’s Pizza Kitchen. “I go to Aldi every week,” says District resident David Maier. “When I lived in upstate New York 15 years ago, there was a stigma about bringing your own box or bag for groceries. (At the time, Aldi did not sell bags.) “It was where the low-income shoppers went, at the first of month.” Maier visited the Northeast D.C. location about three months ago, because he remembered the name and the low prices of Aldi canned goods. He and his husband now shop there every Sunday, picking up meats, dairy products, plantains and lettuce. “Value-wise, it’s always better than the closest Safeway,” he says. “99 cents for a dozen eggs! Isn’t that crazy?” Unlike favorite items that can go AWOL at Trader Joe’s, the 28-ounce cans of Happy Harvest crushed tomatoes are at Aldi every day — and they are the only kind and size of crushed tomatoes in the store. If you’re


Grill Room in the Capella: A new luxury hotel’s restaurant starts to find a groove

After a too-safe start, chef Jakob Esko seems to have relaxed, and the restaurant in Georgetown’s Capella hotel is improving with touches of daring. A grand hotel demands a great restaurant, which is not what the $50 million Capella Washington D.C. served its patrons when it threw open its doors in Georgetown in April. For sure, the 70-seat Grill Room, limned in lavender accents and hugging the C&O Canal, exudes chic. Behold the champagne cart that rolls up to guests as they settle in, the steak tartare prepared tableside (using chopped dry-aged sirloin) and the dessert trolley that sweetens lunch with jewel-like creations presented under glass. Within the Grill Room is a private dining area that rates as one of the area’s most alluring. The 12-seat setting, with shelves displaying crystal, books and oversize wine bottles, suggests an art gallery. But the inaugural menu offered little sense of place and played it extremely safe. While there’s nothing wrong with a good crab cake or steak — and in fairness, upscale hotel restaurants feel obliged to offer such — there wasn’t much to whet the appetite in a city that has in the past decade emerged as one of the country’s most exciting places to eat. Knowing that chef Jakob Esko, a native of Sweden, last cooked at Capella Singapore and counted tenure at Hotel Arts Barcelona, a Ritz-Carlton property, a diner could be forgiven for expecting more adventure on the plate. Time — and three recent taste-tests — have changed my early assessment. Esko seems to have relaxed. The proof is in his veal cheeks, soft pieces of meat swabbed with a glossy barbecue sauce lightened with orange zest and set on a loose mushroom risotto. Adding jazz to the score: broccolini cooked with star anise and coriander. Evidence of a more liberated chef also pops up in his suckling pig, in which the crackle of skin gives way to succulent flesh. Fig sauce and lime foam counter the richness of the porcine pleasure. On the lighter side is moist rainbow trout atop shaved cauliflower and circled with lemon beurre blanc. The Grill Room is one of those infrequent restaurants where I’m tempted to order two entrees instead of an appetizer and a main course. With one exception. Soup bowls tend to return to the kitchen licked clean. Smoked tomato soup arrives with a slender crouton, dappled with a vivid


First lady’s junk food plan redux

I wrote about regulations proposed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture that would ban, for the first time, advertising in public schools that pushes foods high in fat, sugar, salt — otherwise known as junk food. First lady Michelle Obama is behind the initiative, which follows a new law that says foods and beverages sold in schools must meet new nutrition standards. The move Tuesday to control advertising in schools comes about three years after the Obama administration tried but failed to take on a bigger — and arguably more important — target: all food and beverage advertising aimed at kids. At the direction of Congress, the federal government in 2011 proposed voluntary guidelines for the food and beverage industry that would govern the way it markets to children. The guidelines were drafted by officials from Agriculture, the Food and Drug Administration, the Federal Trade Commission and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. First lady Michelle Obama marked the fourth anniversary of her Let's Move Campaign at the White House on Tuesday. They dealt with the $2 billion spent annually on food and beverage advertising aimed at children on television, computers and all media, marketing that the Institute of Medicine called “at best, a missed opportunity, and, at worst, a direct threat to the health of the next generation.” Released in the spring of 2011, the guidelines recommended ceilings on the amounts of sodium, added sugars, and unhealthy fats and proposed minimum amounts of fruit-, vegetable-, or whole-grain-based ingredients in foods advertised to children. The effort, which was supported by a raft of public health and consumer groups, collapsed after serious pushback by companies that make soda, candy, snack foods and other foods with little nutritional value. Food and drink manufacturers fought the volunteer program, saying the guidelines proposed by the federal government were too broadly written and even though voluntary, they feared the impact would be coercion. Industry officials also argued that they were unnecessary because the industry was policing itself. Public health advocates said the industry’s efforts at self-policing weren’t working fast enough and pointed to the fact that in 2009, with the industry’s voluntary measures in place, 86 percent of food advertising seen by children promoted foods high in saturated fat, sugar or sodium. As the 2012 election year approached, the FTC, which was supposed to finalize the voluntary guidelines, failed to release a final version.


Marylanders pack state Senate committee hearing to debate measures to legalize pot

state deciding what they could or could not ingest. And several told of how an arrest for having a small amounts of pot had initiated a lifelong ordeal. Andrea Miller, interim executive director of the Progressive Democrats of America, said her son’s job prospects had been derailed since his arrest for possession of three-tenths of an ounce of marijuana in 2009. “The impact is, he is unemployed,” Miller told the panel. “He gets a lot of interviews. But the moment they do the background check, it’s all over.” David Cosner, 24, a history major at Morgan State University, said he is still paying for an arrest that happened about four years ago. “I still remember the shame of being stripped to my underwear. I still remember the shame of being put in shackles,” Cosner said. He said he was jailed for 22 hours, spent $2,000 on his legal case and ended up with a criminal record that will never entirely go away. But as a white man, he said, he believes the situation is even worse for people of color. “It also saddens me that the city in which I live, Baltimore, arrests black citizens five times more often than white citizens for the same crime — and that that crime doesn’t have a victim,” Cosner said. “It is vital that we refocus our energy in making our streets safer and not imprisoning drug users.” The bill that would legalize marijuana and tax and regulate its distribution and use is sponsored by Sen. Jamie B. Raskin (D-Montgomery). A separate bill, sponsored by Sen. Robert A. Zirkin (D-Baltimore County), would impose a civil fine of $100 for possession of small amounts of marijuana. A Washington Post poll this month found that nearly half of all Marylanders support legalization. Forty-three percent are opposed. Neil Franklin, executive director of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, said Americans still have not applied the lessons of Prohibition — the experiment in banning alcohol by constitutional amendment — to the issue of whether marijuana should be legal. “Understand this is a failed policy. It didn’t work back in the 1920s with alcohol prohibition. And it will not work today,” said Franklin, a former member of the Maryland State Police and Baltimore Police Departments. Outlawing alcohol, and outlawing marijuana, he said, both contributed to the creation of a powerful criminal underground that supplied a drug that people wanted to


U.S. quietly whittles down foreign detainee population at facility in Afghanistan

was sent to a country in the Middle East that officials did not identify. Two other detainees, thought to be Pakistani, were recently determined to be Afghans and turned over to President Hamid Karzai’s government, the officials said. The transfers bring the number of foreign detainees at the Parwan Detention Facility near Bagram air base to 49, down from 54 in November. No easy options U.S. officials expect to continue repatriating or resettling detainees, but they said there are no easy options for a subset of inmates suspected of serious war crimes or regarded as a continuing terrorist threat. The Justice Department and the Pentagon were supposed to make recommendations this month on which detainees to prosecute. Officials said the number of people being looked at for prosecution is in the single digits. Among the best candidates, officials say, is a Russian who was captured several years ago. He is suspected of participating in insurgent attacks in Afghanistan in 2009. Officials say Brig. Gen. Mark Martins, the chief military prosecutor, is eager to prosecute the Russian, whose nom de guerre is Irek Hamidullan. The naval brig in Charleston, S.C., or a recently constructed one in Chesapeake, Va., are possible locations for any trials, said a defense official who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. Officials said most Bagram detainees were captured on the battlefield, making them potentially more suitable for military tribunals than trials in federal court. Congress hasn’t placed any restrictions on the Obama administration moving detainees held in Afghanistan to the United States, as it did with those at the military detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Sen. Saxby Chambliss (Ga.), the ranking Republican on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, said in a statement: “I continue to advocate for the use of Guantanamo Bay as the logical detention location of jihadists who are captured on the battlefield. They should be tried by military commissions at GTMO, and if convicted should be dealt with on a case-by-case basis with the serious offenders kept at GTMO.” Chambliss didn’t say whether he would block an effort to bring any of the Bagram detainees to the United States. Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) said in an interview that he would support an effort to bring Bagram detainees to the United States to face a military commission. Congress needs to be flexible, he said. “I would


for any trials, said a defense official who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. Officials said most Bagram detainees were captured on the battlefield, making them potentially more suitable for military tribunals than trials in federal court. Congress hasn’t placed any restrictions on the Obama administration moving detainees held in Afghanistan to the United States, as it did with those at the military detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Sen. Saxby Chambliss (Ga.), the ranking Republican on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, said in a statement: “I continue to advocate for the use of Guantanamo Bay as the logical detention location of jihadists who are captured on the battlefield. They should be tried by military commissions at GTMO, and if convicted should be dealt with on a case-by-case basis with the serious offenders kept at GTMO.” Chambliss didn’t say whether he would block an effort to bring any of the Bagram detainees to the United States. Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) said in an interview that he would support an effort to bring Bagram detainees to the United States to face a military commission. Congress needs to be flexible, he said. “I would be open-minded to using military commissions within the U.S.,” Graham said. “You’d have to convince me the candidate for trial was a good one and the place you’re picking is secure and what do you do if there’s a conviction. Where are you going to house the person? I don’t mind creating an alternative venue to Gitmo.” Graham said he hasn’t ruled out Charleston, in his home state, as a possible venue. Repatriation concerns Among those being held at Bagram are detainees from a range of countries, including Yemen, Tunisia, Uzbekistan, Jordan and Kuwait. There are also about 35 Pakistanis, most of whom are expected to be repatriated. The latest releases from Bagram, the two Saudis, were in their 20s when they were detained by U.S. forces in 2008. One was picked up by Afghan forces while riding in a car with several Afghans. When the Afghans realized he spoke Arabic, they turned him over to the Americans, who eventually informed the Saudi government. The second detainee said he came to Afghanistan to do volunteer work. The Saudi government was not informed of his detention until last year. The two men were flown out of Bagram on Feb. 1, U.S.