around Day 4 and then gradually resolve over the next few days. It might seem as if it lasts forever, but both parent and child will make it through. Although most of cases of bronchiolitis can be safely managed at home, here are some things for parents to keep in mind: ● An infant younger than 2 months with a temperature of 100.4 degrees or higher requires medical evaluation. While the fever could certainly be caused by RSV or a similar virus, it’s important to rule out other possible life-threatening causes for the fever. ● Any child who stops breathing, turns blue or gray, or doesn’t respond to stimulation needs emergency medical attention. ● Children who are not able to drink enough fluids to stay hydrated should be evaluated for dehydration. ● Any child who is breathing harder or faster than usual or seems to have difficulty breathing should be seen by a doctor. ● In kids who seemed to be recovering, worsening symptoms or a new fever could indicate pneumonia, an ear infection or other complications and should be seen by a doctor. ● Other symptoms that concern you should be brought to the attention of your doctor. If your child needs to be seen, try to get an appointment with the young patient’s regular doctor. It’s much easier to evaluate children at their worst when a doctor has seen them at their best. And if your child’s doctor isn’t available, try to find an urgent-care or emergency facility that sees children frequently or exclusively. It would be great if RSV could be prevented. Unfortunately, there is no vaccine for it, although scientists are working to develop one. At this time, the best thing we have is a monthly injection of antibodies to RSV (called pavilizumab, or Synagis), which is intended to minimize the severity of an infection if it develops. This medication is very expensive (about $2,000 per dose, or $10,000 for the season). Because of the cost, it’s reserved for those at the highest risk for complications: children who were extremely premature and infants with heart defects or chronic lung disease. For the average healthy baby, breast-feeding and standard hygiene practices — such as hand washing and keeping your child away from sick people — are the best preventive medicine. Hayes is a pediatrician and a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics. He blogs at chadhayesmd.com.


Genetic engineering’s new frontier

Valentino Gantz, left, and Ethan Bier are helping develop a mosquito that can rapidly introduce malaria-blocking genes into the overall mosquito population. (Peggy Peattie/San Diego Union-Tribune via Tribune News Service) Humanity’s ability to alter nature, a characteristic of our species for thousands of years, has taken a big step forward. The ability to change the genetics of life to our liking was previously confined to domesticated creatures such as livestock and crops. It now extends throughout much of the biosphere, including ourselves. Genetic engineering on a planetary scale used to be the stuff of science-fiction dreams, and sometimes nightmares. But now the potential has arrived. For the first time, discussions about quickly transforming entire ecosystems are no longer hypothetical. Scientists from University of California at San Diego and the University of California at Irvine announced in November that they had genetically engineered a breed of mosquito that not only blocks infection by malaria parasites but also can quickly spread its antimalarial genes throughout its species. In some areas, a single season might be enough to change the population. Since malaria kills hundreds of thousands of people annually, the potential benefit is obvious. Other mosquito-borne diseases might be controlled in this fashion as well. And apart from fighting disease, there’s a vast potential to easily introduce desirable changes in other wild species. One could imagine disease-resistant cattle or algae that have been engineered to grow more prolifically as a source of biofuel or . . . the list is endless. Unintended havoc But worries about pitfalls and mistakes are also widespread. Lessons from previous ecological disruptions resonate in the minds of scientists and bioethicists. Unintended havoc is sometimes caused when people transplant a species into a non-native environment. Without natural predators, the invasive species can run wild and produce undesired effects. The spread of Africanized bees in North America, snakes in Guam and rabbits in Australia all provide examples of irreparable harm from introduced species. And for humans, there’s no lack of nightmare stories from science fiction about modifying people, whether genetically or through social conditioning. The scientists manipulating mosquito genes say they recognize the potential pitfalls and are keeping their work safeguarded in the laboratory. They’re asking other scientists, governments and nongovernmental organizations to discuss how and whether this technology should be used. In January, the J. Craig Venter Institute in La Jolla, Calif. — named for a genomics pioneer


The war in Afghanistan follows Obama to his vacation in Hawaii

of the reason is because every few months I go to Walter Reed, and I see a 25-year-old kid who’s paralyzed or has lost his limbs, and some of those are people I’ve ordered into battle,” Obama said. “And so I can’t afford to play some of the political games that others may.” The remarks prompted a backlash from some Republicans, who accused Obama of politicizing American troops’ sacrifices. The most recent deaths, coming just before Christmas and just a few months after Obama’s decision to extend the longest war in American history into his successor’s presidency, are likely to stick with the president. He didn’t speak directly about the losses Monday; instead, his press secretary issued a statement. “The United States condemns this cowardly attack on members of the U.S. and Afghan forces, and we remain committed to supporting the Afghan people and their government,” the statement said. The deaths come at a particularly fraught moment in the long and often overshadowed Afghan war. In October, a U.S. warplane launched a barrage of strikes against a Doctors Without Borders hospital in the northern Afghan city of Kunduz, killing as many as 30 people and drawing widespread condemnation. More recently, Taliban forces have made big gains throughout southern Afghanistan’s Helmand province, the site of some of the heaviest American casualties during the height of the U.S. troop presence. Afghan civilian casualties are at an all-time high for the 14-year war, according to the United Nations, and the Afghan government’s internal squabbling has prevented it from filling key positions, such as the Defense Ministry. These were exactly the sort of problems that led Obama to abandon his initial pledge to end the American war in Afghanistan and bring home the vast majority of U.S. troops by the end of his presidency. Under the current plan, Obama will keep about 9,800 troops in Afghanistan through much of 2016 and reduce the size of the American force to about 5,500 before he leaves office in 2017. There could, however, be heavy pressure from his successor to keep forces at the larger level. Obama had hoped to leave office with only about 1,000 U.S. troops based at the U.S. Embassy complex in Kabul. In October, he described the change in plans as a “modest but meaningful extension of our presence” that could make “a real difference” in Afghanistan, and emphasized that U.S. troops would


Life-saving technology has been turned on for Amtrak trains in the northeast. Other places have to wait.

Emergency personnel work at the scene of a deadly train derailment, Wednesday, May 13, 2015, in Philadelphia. The Amtrak train, headed to New York City, derailed and crashed in Philadelphia (Patrick Semansky/AP) Automatic-braking technology that would have prevented a deadly crash in Philadelphia this year has now been activated from Washington to New York, Amtrak said Monday, a significant milestone that also underscores how far the rest of the nation’s rail system lags in installing the lifesaving equipment. Amtrak turned on the safety technology from Philadelphia to New York over the weekend, said D.J. Stadtler, vice president of operations. He said the technological backstop — which can halt trains when their human engineers do not and is known as “positive train control” — is in place and operational on nearly all the Amtrak-owned or maintained track along the Northeast Corridor, which stretches from Washington to Boston. Outside of that corridor, the rails Amtrak runs on are owned by freight-rail companies, which are years away from having similar protections in place. In 2008, Congress set a Dec. 31, 2015, deadline for installing the technology nationwide. But in October, Congress gave the industry a three-to-five-year extension because the freight railroads were not close to meeting the mandate. Safety investigators have still not said what caused Amtrak train No. 188 to speed up and derail in Philadelphia in May, killing eight people. But the National Transportation Safety Board, which has called for installation of positive train control for decades, said the technology would have prevented that crash — and saved 288 lives since 1969. Within days of the crash, Amtrak installed a more rudimentary automatic-braking fix on the northbound tracks at the crash site that would have prevented the disaster. That lesser technology had been installed on the southbound tracks years earlier. “Before Bobby was buried, they had that installed,” said Bob Gildersleeve Sr., whose son was among those killed. “When I found that out, that was just another twist of the knife.” Until freight railroads finish installing the towers that are the backbone of the automated system, Amtrak will not be able to turn on the electronic equipment it has installed in its engines that allows the technology to work. “For all intents and purposes, they’re ready when the host [freight] railroads flip the switch,” Stadtler said, adding that he has regular calls to coordinate with the companies. “Many of them treat


Sex assault and the military

Army Maj. Gen. William H. Gerety addresses soldiers and Army civilian employees during a sexual-assault prevention conference in Orlando in 2013. (Sgt. 1st Class Phillip Eugene/U.S. Army ) Regarding the Dec. 20 front-page article “Scandals undermine Army’s battle against sexual assault”: At an Army sexual assault prevention conference in Orlando in 2013, local authorities received a report that a civilian woman had been sexually assaulted by a soldier attending the conference. The accuser told deputies from the Orange County Sheriff’s Department that she did not want to press charges. The accused soldier told sheriff’s deputies that the encounter was consensual. Orange County did not pursue charges. The incident should have been reported immediately to Army criminal investigators. Investigators did, however, become involved five days later, after a junior officer contacted Army Criminal Investigation Command (CID) investigators. After six months, CID agents concluded that there was “insufficient evidence” to press charges, primarily because the accuser did not want to cooperate. At the outset, Maj. Gen. William Gerety correctly assessed that there was no case, but for political correctness’s sake, the Army spent taxpayer dollars to come to the same conclusion. Following The Post’s logic, there should at least have been a grand jury hearing to determine whether there was enough evidence to indict. The woman could have been forced to testify or be held in contempt. Prosecution is up to the district attorney, not the alleged rape victim. Civilian authorities fail to prosecute many such cases that the military does prosecute. Wayne L. Johnson, Alexandria The writer is retired from the Navy’s Judge Advocate General’s Corps.


Franchot says Montgomery’s alcohol monopoly is ‘bad for small business’

Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot is introduced at the State of the State address to lawmakers in Annapolis on Feb. 4, 2015. (Linda Davidson/The Washington Post) This hasn’t been the best couple of weeks in Montgomery County for Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot. First, his agency acknowledged that it mistakenly sent millions of dollars in local income tax revenue to Montgomery municipalities instead of the county government. Then, in a widely distributed letter, Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. denounced him as a publicity hound who enjoys “basking in the glow of press releases while ignoring your constitutionally mandated duties.” So it’s not surprising that Franchot (D) decided to pivot back to what he believes is a popular issue: ending Montgomery’s monopoly on alcohol sales. On Tuesday, he unveiled a report forecasting that privatization will create more than 1,300 jobs and $50 million in new wages in the county by 2020. The eight-page report was prepared by his office’s Bureau of Revenue Estimates, based on census data, state and county records, as well as research from the beer industry. Franchot called it “empirical confirmation” that Montgomery residents would benefit if the county got out of the liquor business. The current system is “bad for small business, bad for consumers and bad for the local economy,” Franchot said during a news conference at Jackie’s restaurant in Silver Spring. Montgomery officials have dug in to defend the system, which requires bar and restaurant owners to buy beer wine and liquor exclusively from the county. Only county-owned stores sell hard liquor to retail customers. The unusual system, a vestige of the post-prohibition era, produces $30 million to $35 million a year for the county. About two-thirds goes to general government expenses; the other third is leveraged to support revenue bonds that finance roads and other projects. The county, loath to give up that money, promptly scoffed at Franchot’s findings. “It just seems like he cooked up some economic assumptions to support the position he already had,” Patrick Lacefield, spokesman for County Executive Isiah Leggett (D), said Tuesday. Restaurant and bar owners have long complained about shoddy and uneven service from the county’s Department of Liquor Control. They say the agency has been slow to respond to increasing demand for craft beers and fine wines. Del. C. William Frick (D-Montgomery), who joined Franchot at the news briefing, is sponsoring legislation that would place a question


The military continues to fail on combating sexual assault

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) has pushed for moving the authority to prosecute military sexual assault cases out of the chain of command. (Jacquelyn Martin/Associated Press) THE MILITARY’S effort to combat sexual assault in its ranks has been handicapped by the reluctance, even refusal, of victims to come forward and report abuse. Who can blame them given instances in which those who are supposed to be leading the fight against abuse are often themselves guilty of misconduct? If there ever is to be real progress, sexual assault crimes need to be removed from a chain of command that is more inclined to protect than prosecute wrongdoers. A recent investigation by The Post’s Craig Whitlock The cases call into question how seriously the military takes the fight against sexual assaults. Poor judgment was shown in entrusting responsibilities to prevent and fight sexual abuse, and sexual misbehavior was not treated as a serious offense. “I am concerned about the message it sends to the victims and Soldiers in the unit that he is still in a leadership position, not to mention the impact if the media caught wind,” was the pointed warning that went unheeded about letting the Army commander accused of assault maintain command responsibilities. Recent years have seen a host of reforms, some spurred by Congress, to address what the Pentagon has acknowledged is a crisis of sexual harassment and worse. These include new legal resources for victims. Reports of sexual assaults are up,which officials say shows that victims are more willing to trust the system. But many women choose not to pursue the charges all the way to trial. That’s due in large measure to the high number of women who say they faced retaliation for filing complaints. Taking sexual crimes out of the chain of command, as advocated by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), would help fix that problem. Independent units specially trained to deal with these issues would go a long way toward preventing debilitating scandals that undermine the military’s fight against sexual assault and its ability to accomplish its overall mission. Read more on this topic: Ruth Marcus: The military needs to change its approach to sexual assault prosecutions Ruth Marcus: A new voice for sexual assault victims in the military The Post’s View: The military must better serve victims of sexual assault Elizabeth Robbins: Alcohol abuse is fueling military sexual assault


D.C. news in brief

summer program The Library of Congress is seeking applicants for its 2016 Junior Fellows Summer Internship Program, a 10-week paid fellowship for undergraduate and graduate students. From May 31 through Aug. 5, junior fellows will inventory, describe and explore collection holdings and assist with digital preservation outreach activities throughout the library. Interns receive a stipend of $3,000. Last year’s class indexed and rehoused the Harry Houdini collection, conducted archaeological research on Mesoamerican jade, unearthed broadcasts about the launch of Sputnik from the NBC 1950-1970 radio collection, and catalogued World War I sheet music by genre and lyrical content. For information, email juniorfellows2016@loc.gov or go to loc.gov/hr/jrfellows. To apply, go to usajobs.gov and search for “junior fellows” by Jan. 22. DC Water accepts cash payments at retail stores DC Water recently contracted with Global Express Financial Services, a vendor that accepts authorized walk-in cash payments on behalf of utilities at retail stores. Cash payments can be made at more than 150 locations in the District, Maryland and Virginia — with more than a third of the outlets in the District — including many grocery stores, mini-marts, delis and check-cashing centers. Payments post the same day if paid by 2 p.m. The service is free. For authorized payment locations, go to dcwater.com. On Jan. 29, the utility will permanently close its payment office and dropbox at 810 First St. NE. Customers may also pay by check or money order mailed to District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority Customer Service Department, P.O. Box 97200, Washington, D.C. 20090. Telephone and online e-check or credit card payments can be made by setting up an online account. For information, call 202-354-3600 or go to dcwater.com. City to collect wreaths and Christmas trees Beginning Saturday, the Department of Public Works will pick up Christmas trees and wreaths left at the curbside through Jan. 8. Decorations should be removed, and all greenery should be placed in the tree-box space in front of the house. Do not put trees in plastic or cloth bags. Trees collected by Jan. 8 will be recycled. Trees not collected by Jan. 8 should be set out with the trash and will be picked up as space permits by trash trucks in the following weeks. The Fort Totten Transfer Station, 4900 John McCormack Dr. NE, will accept trees for composting through Jan. 31. For information, go to dpw.dc.gov. — Compiled by Terence McArdle


On eight-stop ‘Christmas Carol’ tour, varied takes on Ebenezer Scrooge

Lil’ Tim (JQ, at center) hip hops along with his family, Mrs. Cratchit (Jackson Doran, left) and older sister Martha Cratchit (Postell Pringle, right) in Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s production of “A Q Brothers’ Christmas Carol.” (Michael Brosilow) Bud Miller, the miserly chief executive of Milweiser Brewing, sits in his office on Christmas Eve counting grains of corn. “You would prefer I would empty my coffers to put in a fancy ‘malted barley’?” he bellows. “Beer is meant to be brewed on a mass scale with no objectionable flavors!” But later that night, he’s visited by the Ghosts of Water, Grain, Hops and Yeast and eventually learns the true meaning of craft beer. Such is the tale of “A Beer Carol,” a live radio play by the Chicago theater company Drinking & Writing. Three performers stand at microphones inside the Haymarket Pub and Brewery before an audience of 40, making sound effects by hitting bowls for church bells or blowing bubbles into water. Chicago was one of eight stops in my recent journey from Pasadena, Calif. to Washington, D.C., seeing stage adaptations of “A Christmas Carol,” in an attempt to find the true meaning of the show about finding the true meaning of Christmas. I expected to see the ways this American ritual unites us around the universal themes of giving and forgiving, of lost love and second chances. But what stood out were the variations: the beer and hip-hop versions in Chicago, the one-woman production in Phoenix, the Memphis play “If Scrooge Was a Brother.” Though film, TV and the Internet still rule our daily lives, “A Christmas Carol” is the rare piece of popular culture that’s still experienced through a local lens. Katie McFadzen in Arizona Theatre Company’s “A Christmas Carol.” (John Groseclose) Immediately after Charles Dickens published the original novel in 1843, stage adaptations proliferated, and Dickens eventually did public readings himself. Departures from the story aren’t new: There have been operas and graphic novels, Patrick Stewart’s popular one-man version, and numerous TV episodes, such as “A Keaton Christmas Carol” on “Family Ties.” Many I saw had common elements. Narrators kept assuring me that Marley is “dead as a doornail,” and Scrooge’s line about wanting to meet all three ghosts “at once and get it over with” failed to get a laugh every time. The Ghost of Christmas Past could be a Tim Burton-esque figure in a billowy


Md. officials report first cold-related death this season

MARYLAND Officials report first winter-related death A Maryland man exposed to cold weather died last month, becoming the first cold-related death of this season in Maryland, state officials announced Wednesday. Sara Luell, a spokeswoman for the state health department, said that the man died outdoors in late November when the temperature dropped to about 38 degrees. Health officials, saying that they wanted to protect the man’s family privacy, did not release much information. But officials said that the man had a preexisting medical condition and that he was between the ages of 45 and 64. He died in Kent County on the Eastern Shore. In the last winter season, which lasted from November to March, 41 people in Maryland died because of the cold, health officials said. “Although we’ve recently had unseasonably warm weather, it’s important to Marylanders to be aware of the risks of hypothermia and other cold-related illnesses,” Howard Haft, deputy secretary of public health services, said in a statement. “Most at risk are the homeless population, those with substance use disorders, people with underlying health conditions and the elderly.” — Julie Zauzmer Road hit by landslide in 2014 reopens A Prince George’s County roadway that ruptured in May 2014 following a landslide reopened this week, county officials announced Wednesday. Piscataway Drive in Fort Washington reopened to pedestrian and vehicle traffic late Tuesday, said Paulette Jones, acting public information officer for the county’s Public Works and Transportation Department. The landslide led to the evacuations of 28 homes in the waterfront community of Piscataway Hills, although many of the families later returned after finding alternative means to pick up their mail and travel to the grocery store. The landslide occurred after intense rains — over April and May of that year — that saturated a layer of clay inside a 65-foot-high ridge near the Potomac River. Officials said the slope failure was the county’s most expensive natural disaster to date. The road cost about $15 million to repair, the bulk of which was paid for by the county. — Faiz Siddiqui VIRGINIA Store’s employee is wounded in robbery A robber shot and wounded an employee of a computer store Wednesday morning and then fled on foot, Fairfax County police said. Officers responded to Computer & Cellular, in the 2700 block of Beacon Hill Road in the county section of Alexandria, about 11:30 a.m. for a report of a person


La muerte de un joven hispano en DC llena de desolación a una famila

recuperaba de una inflamación pulmonary, retratos del pequeño en la escuela donde participó en deportes y obras de teatro, una foto de José con su madre y hermanos más pequeños ante un árbol de Navidad en un centro comercial. “Nunca se portaba mal y no le gustaba salir de noche hasta tarde”, comentó la abuela. Martha Ochoa (centro), la abuela de José Ochoa llora rodeada de familiares y amigos en su casa de DC el martes 22 de diciembre. (Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post) Ochoa estudiaba en Paul International High School, una escuela charter, y quería ir a la Universidad. Hubiera sido el primero en su familia que lo iba a hacer. Sus familiares dijeron que había sido aceptado en Garrett College en Western Maryland. “No entiendo por qué nos lo mataron”, dijo Martha Ochoa. La policía de DC no ha dado mucha información sobre la muerte de Ochoa. Después de que el lunes 21 se produjera otro apuñalamiento fatal en el noreste de la ciudad, esta capital contabiliza ya 159 homicidios, un aumento del 64 por ciento desde 2014. Ochoa es el quinto joven entre los 10 y los 17 años que sufre una muerte violenta en el Distrito este año. Las autoridades no han informado sobre los posibles motivos del crimen. Familiares de Ochoa dijeron que quien los apuñaló le robó una cadena de plata, su iPhone 6 y sus zapatos valorados en $250 que eran una de sus posesiones más preciadas. La directora de Paul International High School Kenya Wilson dijo que Ochoa, a quien llamaban Alex en la escuela, tenía unas excelentes relaciones con los profesores y los estudiantes. Practicaba fútbol americano y colaboraba en el montaje de obras de teatro. “Le encantaba aprtender”, dijo Wilson. “No temía comunicarse con los adultos siempre de manera respetuosa. Estaba muy emocionado con su futuro en la Universidad y todos en la escuela queríamos ayudar a que eso sucediera”. A Ochoa lo mataron dos días después de que comenzaran las vacaciones de Navidad en la escuela. “Todos en la escuela sentimos lo mismo: José era un joven excelente con un futuro prometedor”. La última vez que Wilson vio a Ochoa fue el jueves 17 de diciembre cuando el joven preparaba el escenario para la asamblea de invierno. “Me dijo: ‘Tengo un clipboard, siento que tengo mucho poder’”. Ochoa nació en Los Angeles, de padres salvadoreños. Lo criaron entre su madre,


2,000 miles from Syria, ISIS is trying to lure recruits in Somalia

the caliphate in the Mideast, experts say. But this month, Gen. John Campbell, the U.S. and NATO military commander in Afghanistan, said Islamic State fighters from Iraq and Syria were arriving in Nangahar province, where the Afghan branch of the group is most active. Earlier this year, the Islamic State set its sights on Somalia. It released a series of videos that aimed to win recruits, particularly from within al-Shabab. The videos feature heavily armed men who appear to be of Somali ethnicity. One of the videos is titled “From the Land of Ash-Sham to the Mujahideen of Somalia.” (Sham is an old name for the Levant.) The video features a bearded young man who appears to be Somali listing the successes of the Islamic State. “Establishing a caliphate in Somalia will not only benefit you, but it will benefit the Muslims in Somalia and in East Africa,” he says in English. A U.S. intelligence official said that fighters attracted to the Islamic State “probably look to the group as an inspiration to fight for a cause that goes beyond local issues, and we believe that’s the case in Somalia.” The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly on the issue. Uncertain presence So far, Mumin is the most significant of the Islamic State’s recruits in Somalia. A cleric with an international following, he was seen as one of al-Shabab’s most significant religious figures and a leader in his native Puntland province, which is considered to be outside of al-Shabab’s heartland. “He had more heft than other sheiks with al-Shabab in terms of being a properly trained imam,” said Cedric Barnes, the Horn of Africa project director at the International Crisis Group. A radical Kenyan cleric named Hussein Hassan, once aligned with al-Shabab, has also recorded an audio message suggesting that al-Shabab join the Islamic State. But much about the presence of the Islamic State in Somalia is unknown. Several Somali media outlets have reported that a man known only as Duliadueyne, who helped orchestrate the Garissa University attack and has strong ties to northeastern Kenya, switched sides to the Islamic State in the fall. Experts say that would be significant, but it has not been confirmed. “It would give ISIS entry to Kenya without lifting a finger,” Bryden said. Underscoring the risk, Kenya’s police chief told the Associated Press on Thursday


From Rock Creek Park to a homeless person’s plate: Fresh-killed venison

Kory Goodwine, a utility worker at DC Central Kitchen, moves fresh venison into the kitchen Dec. 22, 2015, to be ground and cooked as venison chili. (Tara Bahrampour/The Washington Post) Quick quiz for Washington foodies: What locally sourced, wild-caught meat will appear on thousands of plates around the city this Saturday, free of charge? The answer arrived at DC Central Kitchen by the box load Tuesday: 700 pounds of venison from Rock Creek Park. By Saturday, it will be ground, seasoned and ready to serve in homeless shelters, halfway houses and social-service agencies around the District. “We’re going to grind it up real fine,” proclaimed Central Kitchen cook William Ferrell, 61, standing over an industrial-size Hobart food processor and describing his plans for the meat. “The thing about cooking good venison is the seasoning. Because it’s got so little fat on it,” Ferrell said. “They eat healthy; they don’t eat too much junk.” He meant the deer. William Ferrell, 61, production manager at DC Central Kitchen, describes how he plans to cook the venison chili that will be served to homeless people the day after Christmas 2015. (Tara Bahrampour/The Washington Post) This is the fourth time since 2013 that the National Park Service and the nonprofit Central Kitchen have teamed up to solve two problems at once — controlling a rampant deer population and feeding the hungry. White-tailed deer, once a rarity in Rock Creek Park, which cuts through Northwest Washington, became more common there in the second half of the 20th century, as surrounding wooded areas were replaced by suburban subdivisions. Ideally, Rock Creek Park should have 15 to 20 deer per square mile; with no natural predators to thin their ranks, the deer proliferated, at one point reaching 100 animals per square mile. Now, said National Park Service spokeswoman Jenny Anzelmo-Sarles, the density is back down to 19 per square mile. When there are too many deer, Anzelmo-Sarles said, they devour plants and squeeze out other species, including coyotes, birds and Rock Creek’s own endangered spotted salamander. To help combat the problem, sharpshooters periodically have been sent in to cull the herds, starting in March 2013. This month, the hunters killed 26 deer, which were butchered, packaged and taken to the Central Kitchen, located a few blocks off the Mall on Second Street NW. The organization provides 5,000 meals a day to 80 local homeless shelters and social-service


Man arrested in fatal stabbing in District

THE DISTRICT Man arrested in fatal stabbing D.C. police arrested a man Wednesday in a fatal stabbing that occurred Monday in Northeast Washington. Joseph Barbour, 35, of Northeast was charged with first-degree murder while armed, police said. The stabbing occurred about 8:20 p.m. in the 700 block of 24th Street NE. The victim has been identified as Lenard Wills, 50, of Northwest. Police said three people were stabbed in the incident and that Barbour was one of them. — Peter Hermann Man found dead in river is identified A man who died when he apparently drove a Hummer into the Anacostia River on Monday night has been identified as Lamont Gordon, 51, of Temple Hills, police said. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said they are investigating the circumstances of his death, but autopsy results have not been released. Police said the vehicle went off the end of a boat ramp about 10 p.m. in Anacostia Park in Southeast. Assistant D.C. Police Chief Peter Newsham said the full circumstances of Gordon’s death remain unclear, but it “does not appear to be a homicide.” — Peter Hermann Three cellphones stolen in two days Over two days this week, cellphones were swiped from three people on city streets, two in the daytime and one at night. About 1 p.m. Tuesday, a phone was stolen at knifepoint on I Street NW, just west of North Capitol Street. About an hour later, another was stolen, in the 1200 block of Taylor Street NW. A suspect was arrested, police said. On Wednesday night in the Capitol Hill neighborhood, an iPhone was snatched as the victim listened to music while walking in the 200 block of Eighth Street NE, police said. Authorities advise caution in the use of smartphones in public. — Martin Weil VIRGINIA State lowers inmate telephone costs Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) said the state has reduced the cost for inmates to talk with friends and family by telephone. Under new rates , McAuliffe said, prisoners pay about 4 cents per minute for phone calls, cutting the cost for an average call to about 69 cents, down from $1.48 two months ago. McAuliffe said the state recognizes the value of family support for offenders preparing to reenter the community. — Associated Press Maryland Montgomery shooting on Christmas Eve One person was wounded in gunfire Thursday night at a McDonald’s in Gaithersburg,


Man killed after fight in Falls Church on Christmas morning, police say

A man was killed outside a residence in Falls Church, Va., on Christmas morning, police said. Edgar Armando Serrano, 23, of Annandale, was found on the ground outside a home on the 7600 block of Trail Run Road early Friday, Fairfax County police said, and pronounced dead at the scene. Police had arrived in the area early in the morning after a report of a fight. Officer Tawny Wright, a police spokeswoman, said Serrano had “trauma to his upper body,” apparently caused by some kind of blade. Police said they arrested Santos Narcisco Osorio, 34, of Falls Church, and charged him with homicide. A neighbor who spoke on the condition of anonymity said he heard “some sort of commotion” outside his home around 4 a.m. Friday that included loud voices. Looking outside, he saw a body in a yard across the street. Trail Run Road is a small horseshoe of single-family homes nestled between Holmes Run Stream and Falls Church High School.


The bushy-tailed, nut-loving menace coming after America’s power grid

21 percent of unplanned outages in the region in 2013 and 2014, according to utility reports. “They’re very difficult to protect against because they’re all over everything — in and out and across,” said Rick Landis, a reliability manager for Dominion Virginia Power, which had more than 4,700 animal-related outages this year. “They’re everywhere, and there are so many of them.” By fighting off squirrels, Landis said, “We’re not only protecting animals from being killed. We’re also keeping the lights on.” Utilities are stepping up their wildlife-protection efforts, lining power poles with slippery materials to stop claws and covering as much electrically charged equipment as they can afford. Although animal-related outages have begun to wane, utility officials say, some persistent and unlucky squirrels still get through. Earlier this year, a family of squirrels that chewed through an electrical line in Richmond left a high-rise full of senior citizens in the dark for three days. And 45,000 homes in several cities in the San Francisco Bay area lost power this summer when a squirrel took out a substation. In October, a squirrel caused a transformer in Frederick, Md., to blow, cutting power to nearly 2,000 customers, and last month, a squirrel killed the lights in part of Northwest Washington. Pepco, which supplies electricity to the District and part of Maryland, spent about $50,000 this year on plastic covers to keep squirrels off energized equipment. Even so, about 34,600 Pepco customers lost power because of animals — mostly squirrels — in the first 11 months of this year, amounting to about 10 percent of the utility’s outages. “Sure we try to keep animals from hurting themselves on transmission lines, but I’m not going to sit here and claim that we mourn every squirrel, skunk or raccoon that dies on our equipment,” Pepco spokesman Vince Morris wrote in an email. “It’s a nuisance, and we try to prevent it from impacting customers.” The problem has led to years of research into how to best discourage squirrels and protect against them. “We’ve looked at this fairly extensively, because as cute and little as they are, they can cause major damage,” said Clay C. Perry, a spokesman for the Palo Alto, Calif.-based Electric Power Research Institute. Industry experts say electric utilities have paid closer attention to animals over the past 10 to 20 years as part of trying to improve reliability. Customers’ expectations, they say,


Man slain in Falls Church, Va., on Christmas morning

VIRGINIA Man is killed before dawn on Christmas A man was killed outside a residence in Falls Church on Christmas morning, police said. Edgar Armando Serrano, 23, of Annandale, was found on the ground outside a home on the 7600 block of Trail Run Road early Friday, Fairfax County police said. Officer Tawny Wright, a police spokeswoman, said Serrano had “trauma to his upper body,” apparently caused by some kind of blade. Police said they arrested Santos Narcisco Osorio, 34, of Falls Church, and charged him with homicide. They said the two had fought at a party. Trail Run Road is a small horseshoe of single-family homes nestled between Holmes Run Stream and Falls Church High School. — Rachel Weiner Eleven locations added to landmarks registry Eleven sites have been added to the Virginia Landmarks Register, including the Natural Bridge historic district. The other sites announced by the state Department of Historic Resources include Richmond’s William Byrd Park, which has been called the Central Park of the capital city. The green space encompasses 275 acres and dates to 1874. The Natural Bridge district reflects the commercial development of the resort and tourist area around the iconic rock formation. The original owner of Natural Bridge was Thomas Jefferson. The registry will also include a rural historic district in Rappahannock County. It features farmsteads and residences dating to the mid-18th century. Norfolk’s Talbot Hall is also making its debut on the registry. It was one of several properties in the city owned by the prominent Talbot family. — Associated Press MARYLAND Agency says fracking is a threat to wildlife Hydraulic fracturing is a threat to wildlife, according to a draft plan highlighting climate change that the state has released for public review. State environmental regulators are developing rules for allowing the natural-gas drilling technique in Maryland as early as October 2017. The document, a proposed update of a 2005 plan, also says that the number of Maryland wildlife species in greatest need of conservation has grown by 22 percent. The Department of Natural Resources released the first six chapters of the draft 2015 State Wildlife Action Plan on Tuesday. The chapters are part of an update of the original 10-year plan, called the Maryland Wildlife Diversity Conservation Plan. The agency says it will make the full draft plan available for public comment before March 1. The revised list of 610 species adds


Register, including the Natural Bridge historic district. The other sites announced by the state Department of Historic Resources include Richmond’s William Byrd Park, which has been called the Central Park of the capital city. The green space encompasses 275 acres and dates to 1874. The Natural Bridge district reflects the commercial development of the resort and tourist area around the iconic rock formation. The original owner of Natural Bridge was Thomas Jefferson. The registry will also include a rural historic district in Rappahannock County. It features farmsteads and residences dating to the mid-18th century. Norfolk’s Talbot Hall is also making its debut on the registry. It was one of several properties in the city owned by the prominent Talbot family. — Associated Press MARYLAND Agency says fracking is a threat to wildlife Hydraulic fracturing is a threat to wildlife, according to a draft plan highlighting climate change that the state has released for public review. State environmental regulators are developing rules for allowing the natural-gas drilling technique in Maryland as early as October 2017. The document, a proposed update of a 2005 plan, also says that the number of Maryland wildlife species in greatest need of conservation has grown by 22 percent. The Department of Natural Resources released the first six chapters of the draft 2015 State Wildlife Action Plan on Tuesday. The chapters are part of an update of the original 10-year plan, called the Maryland Wildlife Diversity Conservation Plan. The agency says it will make the full draft plan available for public comment before March 1. The revised list of 610 species adds a net 108 compared with the 2005 plan. Newcomers include the American mink, ruffed grouse and six kinds of bats. Insects are most prevalent, accounting for 45 percent of the total. Nearly a quarter of the listed species are birds. —Associated Press Death on Beltway on Christmas morning A motorist was killed on the Capital Beltway on Christmas morning when his car was struck head on by a vehicle going the wrong way, Maryland state police said. They said Franklin Moreno-Dunn, 25, of Fort Washington, was driving on the Inner Loop, north of Branch Avenue in Prince George’s County, about 3:30 a.m. when his vehicle was struck. Moreno-Dunn died at the scene, state police said. The driver of the car that struck him was taken to a hospital for treatment, they said. — Martin Weil


Scientists worry that the Chesapeake’s natural shoreline is turning into a wall

and the number of fish species.” The recent research papers that focused on hardened shores are among 12 produced by the six-year research project. Magnien said they are a message to government planners and others to give more consideration to the impact of human walls on wildlife. “Living shorelines” which use a mix of structures and organic materials such as wetland plants, submerged aquatic vegetation, oyster reefs, and sand and stone, should get more emphasis, researchers say. An EPA spokeswoman said the agency convened a panel last year that recommended living shores as a way to offset those that are armored. The agency, she said, entered into an agreement with the six bay states to continue reducing pollution to increase “submerged aquatic vegetation and . . . wetlands, which will increase wildlife habitat.” Hard walls come in many varieties: bulkheads that run straight up and down like a fence; clumps of big, round rocks called rip-rap formed along a slope; and sea walls of developments such as the Baltimore Inner Harbor. More are on the way, the researchers said, as people continue to build — and then protect their property as sea-levels rise. Walls stir up sediment that clouds the water, blocking sunlight that keeps vegetation alive. Waves that bounce off them disturb the soil and uproot vegetation. The waves also scoop out soil, deepening the shallow sanctuaries of little fish, such as striped bass, and opening the way for bigger fish to eat them. “We looked at a lot of sub-estuaries in the Chesapeake watershed, and in the ones we looked at with 50 percent hardening, submerged aquatic vegetation was not recovering,” Jordan said. “The hardened shoreline may be putting the brakes on improvements we might be getting from the . . . cleanup,” he said. In the Chesapeake Bay region, submerged vegetation used to cover thousands of acres. It absorbs harmful nutrient pollution — nitrogen and phosphorous — and uses it to provide oxygen. The vegetation would typically die in droves from storms and disease and come back as part of a natural cycle. But in the late 1960s, the vegetation failed to rally. That coincided with the beginning of the region’s population boom. Since 1950, according to the Chesapeake Bay Program, the population of the region has more than doubled. Between 1985 and today, the population increased 33 percent, to about 18 million people. Nearly 70 percent


Techno-skeptics’ objection growing louder

of the Internet and new media. Of the myriad critiques of the computer culture, one of the most common is that companies are getting rich off our personal data. Our thoughts, friendships and basic urges are processed by computer algorithms and sold to advertisers. The machines may soon know more about us than we know about ourselves. That information is valuable. A frequent gibe is that on Facebook, we’re not the customers, we’re the merchandise. Or to put it another way: If the service is free, you’re the product. Some digital dissenters aren’t focused on the economic issues, but simply on the nature of human-machine interactions. This is an issue we all understand intuitively: We’re constantly distracted. We walk around with our eyes cast down upon our devices. We’re rarely fully present anywhere. Other critics are alarmed by the erosion of privacy. The Edward Snowden revelations incited widespread fear of government surveillance. That debate has been complicated by the terrorist attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, because national security officials say terrorists have exploited new types of encrypted social media. Some dissenters think technology is driving economic inequality. There are grave concerns that robots are taking the jobs of humans. And the robot issue leads inevitably to the most apocalyptic fear: that machine intelligence could run away from its human inventors, leaving us enslaved — or worse — by the machines we created. Moving rapidly Technological skepticism isn’t new. Plato told the story of a king who protested the invention of writing, saying it would weaken his people’s memory and “implant forgetfulness in their souls.” But something different is going on now, and it simply has to do with speed. The first commercial Internet browser hit the market in 1994. Google arrived in 1998. Twitter appeared in 2006, and the iPhone in 2007. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is all of 31 years old. Our technology today is so new that we haven’t had time to understand how to use it wisely. We haven’t quite learned how to stop ourselves from texting and driving; many of us are tempted to tap out one more letter even if we’re going 75 on the highway. Some countries are taking aggressive action to regulate new technologies. The South Korean government has decided that gaming is so addictive that it should be treated similarly to a drug or alcohol problem. Meanwhile, the European Union law


Alfred G. Gilman, Nobel Prize-winning scientist, dies at 74

Alfred G. Gilman, Nobel Prize-winning scientist, in 1994. (Ron Heflin/AP) Alfred G. Gilman, a Nobel Prize-winning American scientist who while working at the University of Virginia discovered a protein that is vital in conveying instructions to the individual cells of organs and tissues, a discovery with important medical implications, died Dec. 23 at his home in Dallas. He was 74. His wife, Kathryn Gilman, said the cause was pancreatic cancer. Dr. Gilman shared the 1994 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Martin Rodbell for finding the G protein, a key component of the multistage biochemical signaling process that initiates activity at the cellular level and enables cells to receive messages, transmit them and finally to act on them. In this process, scientists refer to a “first messenger,” which arrives at the cell from outside, often as a hormone. The first messenger’s arrival at the outer wall of the cell eventually causes production within the cell of a “second messenger,” which prompts the cell to act. Dr. Gilman’s discovery, the G protein, functions as what science calls a transducer, essentially a relayer of information. Activated by the arrival of the first messenger, it goes on to activate the production of the second. Alfred G. Gilman in his laboratory in 1994. (Tim Sharp/AP) In a key experiment, Dr. Gilman worked with cells that had undergone mutation. They had the ability to accept external signals. They also had the capacity to produce the internal signals that generate cellular action. But despite possession of these initial and final parts of the messaging process, the cells did not respond to stimuli. In this situation, Dr. Gilman’s “great insight” according to one of his former students, Leonard Schleifer, was to recognize that an intermediary protein “had to exist.” In the 1970s, urged on by that belief, Dr. Gilman and his collaborators at Charlottesville discovered the G protein. Dr. Gilman “didn’t believe in magic,” explained Schleifer, the founder, president and chief executive of Regeneron pharmaceuticals. “He believed in biochemistry.” “Dr. Gilman was a giant in medical research,” said Daniel K. Podolsky, president of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, where Dr. Gilman became the long-serving chairman of pharmacology after leaving Charlottesville. In a statement, Podolsky added that Dr. Gilman’s “discovery of G proteins and their critical functions is a cornerstone of research across virtually every important domain of medicine.” G proteins play a part in


Why we’re losing foods we love, why it matters, and how we can stop it

added fats and sugars that make up the majority of our diets have also become the template diet for the world. This increase in sameness is what conservationist Colin Khoury and co-authors of the most comprehensive study to date on the diversity (and lack thereof) of our food supply call our “global standard diet.” The researchers analyzed 50 years of data on major crops eaten by 98 percent of the population. They found that diets around the world have expanded in terms of amount, calories, fat and protein, and that a greater number of our calories now come from energy-dense foods, such as wheat and potatoes. In areas facing food insecurity, this is a very good thing. The researchers also learned that agrobiodiversity within our dietary staples has increased. Another good thing. In Vietnam, 80 percent of calories from plants used to come from rice; now corn, sugar and wheat have risen in importance, and calories from rice have dropped to 65 percent. In Colombia, palm oil used to be nonexistent. Now nearly half of Colombians’ plant-based fat comes from palm, and the country is the third-largest producer of palm oil in the world. But this availability obscures the more challenging truth that Colin and his colleagues discovered: Globally, foods have become more alike and less diverse. As the amount of food around the world has shrunk to just a handful of crops, regional and local crops have become scarce or disappeared altogether. Wheat, rice and corn, plus palm oil and soybeans, are what we all eat now — the same type and the same amount. Yes, this increase in carbs, fats and proteins has helped feed hungry people, but on a global scale it has also increased our chances of becoming what author Raj Patel calls “stuffed and starved.” The world overconsumes energy-dense foods but eats fewer foods rich in micronutrients (the small but essential amounts of vitamins and minerals we need for healthy metabolism, growth and physical development). While 795 million people go hungry, over 2 billion people are overweight or obese. Both groups suffer from micronutrient malnutrition. The global standard diet is changing the biodiversity of nearly every ecosystem, including the 100 trillion bacteria that live in our gut, part of what’s known as our microbiome. The foods and drinks we consume add to or, increasingly, detract from the diversity of our intestinal flora and have implications


The A.I. anxiety

Nick Bostrom, philosopher at the Future of Humanity institute in Oxford, believes in killer robots. (Tom Pilston for The Washington Post) The world’s spookiest philosopher is Nick Bostrom, a thin, soft-spoken Swede. Of all the people worried about runaway artificial intelligence, and Killer Robots, and the possibility of a technological doomsday, Bostrom conjures the most extreme scenarios. In his mind, human extinction could be just the beginning. Bostrom’s favorite apocalyptic hypothetical involves a machine that has been programmed to make paper clips (although any mundane product will do). This machine keeps getting smarter and more powerful, but never develops human values. It achieves “superintelligence.” It begins to convert all kinds of ordinary materials into paper clips. Eventually it decides to turn everything on Earth — including the human race (!!!) — into paper clips. Then it goes interstellar. “You could have a superintelligence whose only goal is to make as many paper clips as possible, and you get this bubble of paper clips spreading through the universe,” Bostrom calmly told an audience in Santa Fe, N.M., earlier this year. He added, maintaining his tone of understatement, “I think that would be a low-value future.” Max Tegmark, a Physics professor at MIT, stands behind the Schršdinger equation for quantum mechanics (top) and Einstein's general theory of relativity (bottom). (Josh Reynolds for The Washington Post) Bostrom’s underlying concerns about machine intelligence, unintended consequences and potentially malevolent computers have gone mainstream. You can’t attend a technology conference these days without someone bringing up the A.I. anxiety. It hovers over the tech conversation with the high-pitched whine of a 1950s-era Hollywood flying saucer. People will tell you that even Stephen Hawking is worried about it. And Bill Gates. And that Elon Musk gave $10 million for research on how to keep machine intelligence under control. All that is true. How this came about is as much a story about media relations as it is about technological change. The machines are not on the verge of taking over. This is a topic rife with speculation and perhaps a whiff of hysteria. But the discussion reflects a broader truth: We live in an age in which machine intelligence has become a part of daily life. Computers fly planes and soon will drive cars. Computer algorithms anticipate our needs and decide which advertisements to show us. Machines create news stories without human intervention. Machines can recognize your


Don’t cut back the National Zoo’s hours

Animal keeper Stacey Tabellario holds Bei Bei, the National Zoo's newest panda, as he is presented to members of the media on Dec. 14. (Andrew Harnik/Associated Press) Recently, without consulting affected neighbors, the National Zoo announced that beginning Jan. 1 its grounds will be open from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., with a 5 p.m. closing in winter, instead of the current 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. (with a 6 p.m. closing in winter). These changes affect multiple groups: walkers and joggers, for whom the zoo is a safe and beautiful place to exercise; pedestrians crossing between the east and west sides of Rock Creek Park; families who bring their children after school to explore ; and drivers and bicyclists who cross the Harvard Street bridge to swing down onto Rock Creek Parkway or head up to Connecticut Avenue. Why is the zoo changing its hours? According to Director Dennis Kelly, there are two reasons: safety and security. He and his team are concerned about the potential for a collision between zoo vehicles and visitors. But no accidents have been reported, and no data have been collected about the near-misses that Mr. Kelly cited as the basis for his concern. Nor have data been collected about how many people will be affected by this change. Mr. Kelly indicated that, without early-morning visitors, it will be easier for zoo staff members to move around on their morning rounds, which means they’ll be able to get their work done more quickly. Actually, the zoo vehicles won’t be able to move much faster because they will still have to watch out for workers on foot, other vehicles and ever-present deer roaming the zoo’s open spaces. And, in the summer, it’s light well before 8 a.m. (In June, it’s light before 6 a.m.) The explanation for closing off car traffic, which affects only the zoo’s perimeter, is even more vague — essentially, that the zoo is not a public thoroughfare. Yes, but the zoo is an integral part of Rock Creek Park, which includes a commuter route. And the combination of this closure with the upcoming reconstruction of Beach Drive, requiring months-long closures, will significantly affect neighborhoods adjoining the zoo. No sensible explanation has been offered for the change in evening hours. There has been no real explanation of the security issue. There were vague references to potential terrorism, but no cogent discussion. None


A year of Taliban gains shows that ‘we haven’t delivered,’ top Afghan official says

according to Western and Afghan officials, the Taliban now holds more territory than in any year since 2001, when the puritanical Islamists were ousted from power after the 9/11 attacks. For now, the top American and Afghan priority is preventing Helmand, largely secured by U.S. Marines and British forces in 2012, from again falling to the insurgency. As of last month, about 7,000 members of the Afghan security forces had been killed this year, with 12,000 injured, a 26 percent increase over the total number of dead and wounded in all of 2014, said a Western official with access to the most recent NATO statistics. Attrition rates are soaring. Deserters and injured Afghan soldiers say they are fighting a more sophisticated and well-armed insurgency than they have seen in years. As Afghan security forces struggle, U.S. Special Operations troops are increasingly being deployed into harm’s way to assist their Afghan counterparts. Since Nov. 4, four members of the U.S.-led coalition have been wounded in Helmand, said U.S. Army Col. Michael Lawhorn, a military spokesman. Officially, U.S. military personnel have a mandate only “to train, advise and assist” Afghan forces. In the confidential October meeting, Gen. John F. Campbell, the commander of U.S. and allied forces in Afghanistan, told his Afghan counterparts that he was as guilty as they were of “just putting our finger in the dike in Helmand.” But he was highly critical of Afghan security officials for “not managing” their forces in a way that ensured they got enough training, and for allowing “breakdowns in discipline” in the ranks. “The Taliban are not 10 feet tall,” he said. “You have much more equipment than they do. You’re better trained. It’s all about leadership and accountability.” Campbell vowed “to fix Helmand.” An Afghan Local Police personnel during an ongoing battle with Taliban militants in the Marjah district of Helmand Province on December 23. (Noor Mohammad/AFP/Getty Images) “I will use more of my SOF and enablers to buy you more space and time,” he said, referring to Special Operations forces. A senior U.S. defense official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of military rules, said Campbell’s comments represented “an attempt to encourage the Afghans to take action in Helmand province.” Progress unraveling Helmand was a key focus in a major American offensive launched in 2010, after President Obama dispatched a “surge” of 30,000 troops to Afghanistan. Marja was the


Fighting climate change requires more than soothing fantasies

From left, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, French President François Hollande and President Obama at the World Climate Change Conference in France on Nov. 30. (Guillaume Horcajuelo/Agence France-Presse via Getty Images) On climate change, curb your enthusiasm. It’s not that the recent international conference in Paris didn’t take significant steps to check global warming. It did. Nearly 200 countries committed to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. The goal of limiting warming to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) from preindustrial times was reaffirmed. The trouble is that what’s being attempted is so fundamentally difficult that even these measures may be wildly unequal to the task. What’s being attempted, of course, is the wholesale replacement of the world economy’s reliance on fossil fuels (coal, oil, natural gas) for four-fifths of its energy. To be sure, the shift is envisioned to take decades, four or five at a minimum. Still, the vast undertaking may exceed human capability. Hence, a conundrum. Without energy, the world economy shuts down, threatening economic and social chaos. But the consequences of climate change, assuming the scientific consensus is accurate, are also grim — from rising sea levels (threatening coastal cities) to harsher droughts (reducing food supplies). It’s useful to split the discussion into two parts. On the existence of human-driven warming, I accept the dominant scientific view, mainly because I’m not technically qualified to dispute it. But I have doubted that, without major breakthroughs in energy technology, we can do much about warming. The addiction to fossil fuels will triumph. Paris confirms that view. Rather than show how much progress we’ve made, it demonstrates how little maneuvering room we have. Consider some estimates from IHS, a consulting company. In 2012, it reports, the world generated 45 gigatons of greenhouse gases, up 50 percent since 1990. Without new policies, that total would rise to 60 gigatons by 2030, IHS projects. But the national pledges made in Paris would hold the 2030 total to 50 gigatons. That’s good news, right? Well, not exactly. Limiting global warming to 2 degrees Celsius would require that emissions in 2030 drop to 35 gigatons, reckons IHS. So even with the Paris pledges, we’re about 40 percent above the goal. Moreover, IHS thinks that some pledged cuts won’t materialize. They are political gestures or depend on unproven technologies. There are no enforcement mechanisms. Renewable energy — mainly wind and solar power — is


A shield for police misbehavior

departments with unions representing officers. The so-called bill of rights is disliked not only by groups such as the ACLU and the NAACP, but also, often, by police chiefs, who understand it can be (and is) used to impede discipline. In Baltimore, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake (D) explicitly blamed the law for standing in the way of officials’ attempts to get to the bottom of Freddie Gray’s death. A 2013 FBI affidavit cited a similar state law covering corrections officers as blocking management efforts to impose discipline and regain control when, at the Baltimore jail a few years earlier, more than a dozen guards helped a gang of inmates to take charge of the facility and traffic in drugs, cellphones and sex. A state legislative panel soon will make recommendations curtailing the excessive protections afforded police, which undercut efforts to restore public trust and confidence. It is critical that the proposals entail genuine reform, not watered-down half-measures designed to pass muster with the police unions that have long held sway in Annapolis. A sensible package of reforms would eliminate or drastically reduce the so-called cooling-off period, which grants officers 10 days of silence — plenty of time to get their story straight with other officers or forensics — before they must start cooperating with internal affairs investigators. There is no coherent rationale for such a privilege; one or two days, which is time enough to hire a lawyer, would suffice. At a bare minimum, new rules should also allow members of the public at least a year, rather than the 90 days now set by law, to bring brutality complaints; require officers to undergo regular psychological evaluations, which makes sense for a job that can involve episodes of extreme stress; and establish rules under which officers accused of wrongdoing can be questioned not only by trial boards consisting of fellow officers but also by civilian review boards. Police union officials, who oppose significant changes, complain that their members deserve due process protections. They do. But at the moment they enjoy protections that go so far beyond those accorded civilians that they subvert accountability and discipline in the ranks. Read more on this issue: Jennifer Rubin: Baltimore mistrial comes during a new low for race relations Todd Oppenheim: The bad court ruling that let police chase Freddie Gray The Post’s View: A hung jury in Baltimore doesn’t equal a failure of justice


Prince George’s crash leaves one person dead, another critically injured

MARYLAND Pr. George’s ATV crash leaves 1 dead, 1 injured A man was killed and a second person was critically injured Sunday night in a collision between an all-terrain vehicle and an SUV in Prince George’s County, police said. The man and the other person, a juvenile female, were riding the ATV, said Officer Harry Bond, a county police spokesman. He said the crash occurred about 5:45 p..m. at Walker Mill Road and Waterford Drive in the Capitol Heights area. According to Bond, preliminary information indicated that the SUV was trying to turn left onto Waterford when the collision occurred. The man and the juvenile were thrown from the ATV. The man died at a hospital. — Martin Weil Police seek help in restroom shooting In Montgomery County, detectives are trying to piece together evidence concerning a Christmas Eve shooting in the restroom at a McDonald’s and determine how it may relate to a man who showed up at a local hospital with a non-life-threatening gunshot wound. About 8 p.m. Thursday, officers were called to a McDonald’s on North Frederick Avenue, near Montgomery Village Avenue in Gaithersburg, for a reported shooting. They found evidence of a shooting in the men’s restroom, police said. Meanwhile, they learned about the man at the hospital. Police ask anyone who knows anything about the incident to call them. — Dan Morse Woman, 65, dies when car and bus collide A 65-year-old Maryland woman was killed south of Baltimore on Sunday in a crash between a bus and the car she was riding in. State police identified the victim as Miriam Barnshaw of Queen Anne’s County. The driver, her son, Brian Barnshaw, was taken to the Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore. Police said the car left Interstate 695 for the Baltimore-Washington Parkway, skidded and was struck by the bus. — Dan Morse


South Korea, Japan reach settlement on wartime Korean sex slaves

Japan agreed to pay about $8.3 million dollars into a fund to help restore honor and dignity to so-called "comfort women"- women forced into prostitution for Japan's military brothels during World War II. The issue has long plagued ties between South Korea and Japan. TOKYO — In something of a surprise development, the two countries’ foreign ministers met in Seoul to finalize a deal that will see Japan put $8.3 million into a South Korean fund to support the 46 surviving “comfort women” and to help them recover their “honor and dignity” and heal their “psychological wounds.” The move was welcomed in Washington, which has been both concerned and annoyed by the tensions between its two closest allies in Asia. This year marks seven decades since the end of World War II and the end of Japan’s occupation of the Korean Peninsula. Independent historians have concluded that as many as 200,000 women and girls — from occupied countries including Korea, China, the Philippines and other Southeast Asian nations — were coerced by the Japanese Imperial Army to work as sex slaves during the war. “We made a final and irreversible solution at this 70th anniversary milestone,” Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters in Tokyo after speaking to his South Korean counterpart, President Park Geun-hye, on the phone. Earlier, in Seoul, his foreign minister had said Abe “expresses anew his most sincere apologies and remorse to all the women who underwent immeasurable and painful experiences.” “I feel we’ve fulfilled the responsibility of the generation living now,” Abe said after his call with Park. “I’d like this to be a trigger for Japan and South Korea to cooperate and open a new era.” In Seoul, Park said it was “especially meaningful” to reach the agreement before the end of 2015, the 50th anniversary of normalized relations between the two countries. “The most important thing is for Japan to diligently and promptly implement what has been agreed to restore comfort women victims’ honor and dignity and heal their wounded hearts,” Park said, according to the Yonhap News Agency, after meeting with Fumio Kishida, Japan’s foreign minister. Japanese officials do not consider the $8.3 million payment to be compensation. It is based on the amount paid into the Asian women’s fund in 1995, set up to give private donations to each victim, worth about $45,000 each at the time. It is to be


Fire on Metro tracks shuts down Glenmont station for an hour

Maryland Fire on tracks shuts station for an hour The Glenmont Metro station was shut down for a time Monday night after fire broke out on tracks between the station and a rail yard. Smoke was reported in the station shortly before 9 p.m. and firefighters searched for the source, according to Montgomery County fire spokesman Pete Piringer. A train in the station was being evacuated, he said. No injuries were reported. By about 9:30, Piringer said the smoke had been cleared. Metro spokesman Dan Stessel said the shutdown lasted for about an hour. There was no indication that there would be any ill effect on the tracks in the Glenmont Metro area on Tuesday. 2nd trial in Gray case to start Jan. 11 The Baltimore trial for the second of six officers charged in the death of Freddie Gray will begin with jury selection Jan. 11, five days later than scheduled, according to a statement from the Maryland court system. Proceedings in the case against Officer Caesar Goodson, who faces a charge of second-degree murder, among others, will include a Jan. 6 hearing to consider pretrial motions. Those could include a bid by his attorneys to move the high-profile case out of Baltimore. The same judge denied a similar attempt by the first defendant to be tried. Gray died April 19, a week after he was chased down and arrested in West Baltimore. Man found stabbed to death near school A man was found dead in a recreational area of an elementary school in Seabrook on Monday afternoon, Prince George’s County police said. About 4 p.m., a caller contacted authorities about a man in a park in the 6700 block of 97th Avenue, said Officer Michael Owen, a department spokesman. Officers who went to the area, in the vicinity of Gaywood Elementary School and a neighborhood park, found that the man had been stabbed to death. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The school was closed for vacation. Man killed in ATV collision identified Police identified the man who died in an ATV collision in Prince George’s County as Jerome Odom, 29, of Capitol Heights. Odom and a teenage passenger were riding the vehicle, which is not legal on county roads, about 5:45 p.m. Sunday. Police think that Odom was trying to turn left from Walker Mill Road onto Waterford Drive in Capitol Heights when an SUV going


22 things we ate, drank, saw and did that made 2015 a memorable year

former in a glass of alcoholic Not Your Father’s Root Beer and you have a dangerously good float, or order a swirl for an ice cream Old Fashioned. There’s an ounce of alcohol in every serving. The Airedale, 3605 14th St. NW. 202-722-1212. airedaledc.com. — Maura Judkis Best new brewery In a year when breweries opened left and right and Alexandria’s Port City was named the Small Brewing Company of the Year at the Great American Beer Festival, this area’s best and most consistent beers came from a new brewery in Dulles. Ocelot Brewing, led by brewer Mike McCarthy and co-founder Adrien Widman, released a string of stellar IPAs, all beautifully balanced between a dry, West Coast-style malt backbone and rich, tropical hop flavors. The recent See the Light Imperial IPA was a wonderfully nuanced, full-bodied beer, and less than 7 percent ABV. The only knock against Ocelot is that the owners don’t like to brew the same beer more than twice a year. This means your beer is going to be fresh, but it also means your new favorite ale won’t be in stock for long. Ocelot Brewing Company, 23600 Overland Dr., Dulles. 703-665-2146. ocelotbrewing.com. — Fritz Hahn The reopening of Duffy’s Irish pub meant the return of its dry-rubbed Chesapeake wings. (Evy Mages/FOR THE WASHINGTON POST) Best re-emergence Duffy’s Irish Pub Duffy’s Irish Pub, 2106 Vermont Ave. NW. 202-462-9464. dcduffys.com. — Fritz Hahn Best bathroom amusement If you’re waiting for the bathroom at Right Proper Brewing Company’s new Brookland facility, resist the urge to bang on the door and yell “What are you doing in there?” Just listen for the sound of a sonata. Owner Thor Cheston outfitted the bathroom with an upright piano, and customers are free to tickle the ivories before they go — or after they wash their hands. While the idea of performing music in a restroom sounds weird, it’s definitely an improvement on Cheston’s original idea, which included putting bunk beds next to the toilet. His partners talked him out of that one. Right Proper Brewing Company, 920 Girard St. NE. 202-526-5904. rightproperbrewing.com. — Fritz Hahn The ramen burrito at California Tortilla. (Maura Judkis/The Washington Post) Worst food hack For the creation of California Tortilla’s limited-time-only ramen burrito (ramurrito?), it’s almost as if the chain’s creative types got together to concoct the perfect trend-grabbing menu item by asking, “What’s squishy, looks like worms,


What happened to the Chinese meat dog and the orphaned buffalo?

Little Ricky was rescued from a Chinese dog-meat farm this summer and adopted by Chauntell Hawkins of Laurel, Md. (Courtesy of Chauntell Hawkins) On the Chinese zodiac, 2015 was the year of the goat. In my column, it was the year of a bunch of other animals. Squirrels, obviously, but others, too. Here are updates on some of the furry and featured friends we met this year. Rick rolling Some people have a tough time believing Chauntell Hawkins when she tells them the story of the little black-and-white dog that joined her household this summer. “They shake their head,” Chauntell said. “I say, ‘No, really. He came from China. Here’s the link to The Washington Post.’” Chauntell wasn’t planning on getting a dog when she heard of Little Ricky, a 10-pound mutt rescued from a dog-meat farm in Yulin, China. She was still mourning the loss of her miniature dachshund who had just passed away from an autoimmune disease called GME. But her father, Ronald Johnson, suggested they stop at the Washington Animal Rescue League on Oglethorpe Street NW and check out the pooch they’d heard so much about on the news. That was Little Ricky, rescued from China by Humane Society International and named in honor of Ricky Gervais, the English comedian and vocal friend of animals. Steve Gross and Nibbles, the goose he brought home from the Chesapeake Bay. Nibbles now lives near a marina on the Anacostia River, where this photo was taken. (Courtesy of Daira Duric) Chauntell, of Laurel, Md., decided to adopt Little Ricky, whom she now calls “Rick.” “He has so much personality,” she said. There’s been a bit of a transition for a dog that has gone from being destined for a wok to going for a walk. “He’s still very shy when it comes to people,” Chauntell said. “He’s very frightened of other dogs. I know it’s going to be a huge adjustment. But he’s made himself very at home. I think he’s picked up some English, like ‘Dinner’s ready.’ He understands that.” Rick has gone from 10 pounds to 16 pounds. He’ll start obedience training in the new year. Said Chauntell: “I’m surprised how comfortable he’s gotten, given what he’s been through.” A gander at the goose Nibbles “He’s good,” said Steve Gross, the District resident who in May found the gosling alone on the Chesapeake Bay and took him home


Humane Society International and named in honor of Ricky Gervais, the English comedian and vocal friend of animals. Steve Gross and Nibbles, the goose he brought home from the Chesapeake Bay. Nibbles now lives near a marina on the Anacostia River, where this photo was taken. (Courtesy of Daira Duric) Chauntell, of Laurel, Md., decided to adopt Little Ricky, whom she now calls “Rick.” “He has so much personality,” she said. There’s been a bit of a transition for a dog that has gone from being destined for a wok to going for a walk. “He’s still very shy when it comes to people,” Chauntell said. “He’s very frightened of other dogs. I know it’s going to be a huge adjustment. But he’s made himself very at home. I think he’s picked up some English, like ‘Dinner’s ready.’ He understands that.” Rick has gone from 10 pounds to 16 pounds. He’ll start obedience training in the new year. Said Chauntell: “I’m surprised how comfortable he’s gotten, given what he’s been through.” A gander at the goose Nibbles “He’s good,” said Steve Gross, the District resident who in May found the gosling alone on the Chesapeake Bay and took him home to his condo, fearful he’d be eaten by a predator. Dick Wildes raises bison at Summerseat Farm in Mechanicsville, Md. He's been hand-raising an orphan calf, Indy, since his mother died a few days after he was born in June. (John Kelly/The Washington Post) Nibbles now spends most of his time at a marina on the Anacostia. Just across the water is a colony of a few hundred geese that winter in Washington rather than migrate south. “I figure, if 200 geese can live outdoors all winter long, I guess Nibbles can do it, too,” Steve said. “He’s got a lot of bulk on him. He’s certainly not food-deprived.” Though there are geese nearby, Nibbles seems to eschew his own kind — a result, perhaps, of being raised by humans. “He’s hanging out with a couple pair of ducks down there,” Steve said. Steve visits Nibbles at least once a week. “It’s kind of a double-edged sword,” he said. By that Steve means Nibbles likes the company of people, but it’s best if the goose is self-sufficient. Steve thinks he is. “He does follow people around a bit,” Steve said. “If I’m not there — if I don’t show up


Beheadings send a chill through Afghanistan

been copied by the Taliban. The bulk of government fighting has been done by the national army, trained and equipped by the United States and other Western allies. But the specter of civil-war-era atrocities, in which Afghan militia factions and commanders from all ethnic groups were implicated, is still fresh in the nation’s memory. The abuses, documented in reports by Afghan and international human rights groups, included rape and sexual mutilation, nailing victims’ heads, driving tanks over live bodies and suffocation in cargo containers. Despite public demand, no official efforts were made to bring the responsible warlords to justice — they wielded enormous power, helped U.S. forces fight the Taliban and were veterans of the Cold War-era struggle against Soviet forces. Today, many of these former militia bosses hold high positions in government or public life, especially in the national legislature, and many still command the loyalty of sizable numbers of armed men. “For various reasons, including international pressure, no one was held accountable or brought to justice, even at a time when it was possible, with 130,000 foreign troops here,” said Nader Nadery, a former official of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission, which conducted a detailed study of civil-war abuses. “Now the circumstances have changed, and it would be much harder to do.” New security challenges The Ghani administration took office last year with a reformist agenda that included forging a professional and cohesive security establishment. By the time NATO forces pulled out, Afghanistan had about 180,000 soldiers and 150,000 national police officers, as well as a small air force, but they have been stretched thin in the face of an aggressive and mobile enemy and have suffered from desertions, ethnic splits and poor coordination. As a result, the government began to rely on, or at least tolerate, an assortment of revived or reconfigured local militias. Thousands of gunmen were mustered and briefly trained as special local police forces, but some acquired reputations for manhandling and extorting civilians. Others were paid by former commanders as personal guards but also became involved in fighting insurgents, including during the Taliban takeover of the northern city of Kunduz in October. “Many of these commanders and militias have long-standing patterns of abuse, and reviving them now creates a real risk of more atrocities happening,” said Ahmad Shuja, associate researcher in Afghanistan for the New York-based group Human Rights Watch. “Ghani says he


A defeatist stance on climate change

Workers dismantle the venue that hosted the United Nations conference on climate change in Le Bourget, on the outskirts of Paris, on Dec. 14. (Adrien Morlent/Agence France-Presse via Getty Images) In his defeatist op-ed concerning climate change, “Can we set the planet’s temperature?” [Dec. 28], Robert J. Samuelson sold short human abilities for scientific understanding and for creative innovations that change and improve how we live. As the Paris climate accord notes, we have solid scientific understanding of our options for limiting Earth’s rising temperature, and, with this knowledge, we can set a path for achieving these goals. Mr. Samuelson failed to realize that we are already in a second Industrial Revolution, an energy revolution, that will be as unstoppable and positive as the first one. The switch to a largely renewable energy mix is already underway, driven as much by economic opportunity and technological innovation as by a social imperative based on scientific understandings. Mr. Samuelson also failed to note that in order to ensure that our grandchildren have the comfortable life they deserve, this energy revolution is critically needed. We need to embrace and support this revolution, not fight it. Peter Hildebrand, Washington The writer is director emeritus of the Earth Sciences Division of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.


Why the war on drugs should take cues from our battle against smoking

Drug Laws in New York. These set the model for criminalization and increasing penalties for the country as a whole, especially regarding drugs. In the contrast between what has happened since 1964 with tobacco, on the one hand, and marijuana, cocaine, heroin and other banned substances, on the other, we have an instructive lesson in the comparative effects of choosing a public-health or a criminalization paradigm for dealing with addictive substances. The approach to tobacco has worked. Between 1964 and 2014, smoking rates declined by half; between 1996 and 2013, the number of eighth-graders who had smoked within the past 30 days fell from 21 percent to 4.5 percent. The progress against smoking has been steady and impressive. It’s an altogether different tale with banned substances. While levels of illegal drug use have risen and fallen since 1971, current levels are equivalent to those we had in the mid-1970s. According to the Monitoring the Future r eport, daily use of marijuana by 12th- graders was at 6 percent in 1975; in 2014, it was 5.8 percent. The picture with heroin has shown similar stability. In 1975, 1 percent of 12th-graders had used heroin within the year. In 2000 that figure was 1.5 percent. In 2014 it was down to 0.6 percent, but it may be climbing again. And for every year of the past decade, Americans have spent $100 billion to buy banned substances. There is an even starker contrast in how perceptions of the risks of smoking and of illegal drugs have changed. In 1975, 51.3 percent of 12th-graders thought that smoking one or more packs of cigarettes a day posed great risk; by 1991 that number was 69.4 percent, by 2014 it was 78 percent. With illegal drugs, arrows move the opposite direction or stay essentially flat. In 1975, 43.3 percent of 12th-graders thought smoking marijuana regularly involved great risk; by 2014 , that number had declined to 36.1 percent. In 1975, 60.1 percent of 12th-graders thought trying heroin once or twice posed great risk; in 2014, 62.8 percent did. In other words, for all the money spent and lives ruined through violence and criminalization, we have made zero headway against illegal drugs. So what did we do about smoking? Tobacco control has focused on prevention and cessation. Beginning in 1964, public- health campaigns worked toward the “denormalization” of smoking, in the words of the 2014 Report of


A self-propelled Belgium brewery tour through Belgium lets you bike to pints

trip to the “beer mecca of the world.” Over fresh, hoppy ales in the brewery cafe, Webb raved about Belgian beers and told me he’d be paying them homage when he opens National Capital Brewing Co. in the District in 2016. The next day was more about battlefields than beer as we visited two fascinating spots in Diksmuide — the Museum on the Yser and the hauntingly titled Trench of Death. The museum, until recently called the Yser Tower, is a 275-foot-high tower that looks both drab and regal and reigns as Flanders’s most nationalistic symbol in its struggle against the country’s French-speaking Walloon region. Visitors start at the top for an amazing 360-degree view, all the way to the North Sea, then work their way down the 22 floors of the museum, where exhibits detail the fallout from the war and also the Flemish Movement. A mile north of the tower are the famous trenches, along the Yser River, paths and tunnels (now re-created) used by the Allied forces for more than four years of fighting German forces, some of whom were planted only 100 yards away. The perfect antidote to the grim reminders of death and destruction was a visit to the sunny seaside. We headed west through farmland until we reached the coast, where miles and miles of paved walkways and cycle paths were clogged with beachgoers and pop-up markets. The last day of our tour started with a serene ride along a canal that took us directly to the bustle of Bruges, a world-famous and touristy medieval city. We started with a tour at the popular Brouwerij de Halve Maan (Half Moon Brewery), where it took the guide longer to herd our group of 40 than it did to explain the process at this state-of-the-art facility. Interestingly, its hops come from the Czech Republic “because of the price,” the guide said. For the tour-averse, Halve Maan has a lovely cafe with patio for imbibing. From there we hopped over to Cafe Red Rose, where Cohan promised I’d find the until-now elusive De Struise, the one whose brewery we bypassed for a trip to France. Indeed, the cozy cafe had a long list of options from De Struise and many, many others. I couldn’t resist the 2015 Aestatis, a strong, musty saison, while Selina went with a dark beer from Malheur, a family brewery in East Flanders.


5 resolutions health experts hate to hear — and what to do instead

the benefit of moderation and balance.” Run an endurance race in a month Kerri Kramer, a physical therapist and owner of Fast Track Sports Medicine and Performance Center in Merrifield, Va., has seen her share of injuries due to unrealistic goals. “Someone who hasn’t run a mile and plans to do a marathon in a month is going to get injured,” Kramer says. That someone might come to her with one or more of the following issues: tendon injuries, joint tissue injuries and muscle strains in legs and feet. Instead, if you have a goal in mind, join a run group or read up about specific run training, Kramer says. And be realistic: If you’re going from 0 miles to a marathon it could take a half a year; getting ready for an Ironman triathlon might take a year. The training needs to be specific with a keen eye on good form, allowing for some cross-training (to strengthen core and hips among other areas) and enough recovery. Again, if you are unsure, join a group or team. Run (or bike or lift) every day Kramer says that working out every day can work without your getting injured. But you have to mix up the workouts. Don’t work the same muscle groups repeatedly without giving them a chance to heal and recover. If you’re a runner, she says, give yourself a couple of days where you are doing low-impact drills instead of the constant pounding. (Running generates a load to the landing foot and lower leg that is three to five times your body weight.) “If you are going to do it right, do something low-impact once or twice a week. Something that gives the body a chance to recover,” she says. Lift twice your body weight Brandon McCary But, he cautions, don’t attempt to lift twice your body weight or launch right into handstand push-ups because you saw somebody do it on YouTube or Instagram. “Social media can be very inspiring, but it can also promote unrealistic goals,” McCary says. Lifting heavy takes time, McCary says, and there is no safe short cut. For someone who is just starting out but wants eventually to be able to do deadlifts, overhead squats and pull-ups, it may take as much as three months to prepare and get ready safely, McCary says. That foundation involves flexibility drills (it’s important in deadlifts that the


In Baltimore, few home loans for African Americans

aimed at African Americans, and it has a long and unfortunate record of racially restrictive covenants and other abhorrent discriminatory practices. As a result of these and other factors, the city today is afflicted with concentrated poverty and high levels of segregation. And the data show a paucity of lending in majority African American neighborhoods. If you were to take an affluent suburb and close all of the bank branches, and shut off the pipelines to responsible credit and basic banking services, inside of 20 years you would see boarded-up homes, struggling schools, vanishing businesses and economic depression. With banks absent, wealth-extracting institutions such as check cashers, payday lenders and pawn shops swoop in to fill the void. This only worsens matters. In other words, the presence, investment and responsible activity of banks and other depository institutions are essential for the health of a neighborhood. Homeownership is the single most effective mechanism for working people to build wealth and enter the middle class. When responsible homeownership opportunities are closed off for working families, it becomes much harder to climb the economic ladder and build intergenerational wealth. That means that fair access is essential to ending the cycle of poverty. In the United States, we have laws in place to ensure that banks can’t ignore or avoid serving people or neighborhoods based on their race or income. The Community Reinvestment Act places an affirmative obligation on banks to make safe and sound loans in the communities where they are chartered, including low- and moderate-income communities. The law is in place to prevent redlining and the exclusion of certain communities. In Baltimore, it’s pretty clear from the data that most banks are not living up to the obligation placed on them by the act. Until our financial institutions make a genuine and full commitment to serve creditworthy borrowers, regardless of their skin color or where they live, the economies in underserved neighborhoods will continue to deteriorate, and we will continue to have the dire circumstances we see in Baltimore and other parts of the country. The writer is president and chief executive of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition. Read more about this issue: Bethany McLean: Government-backed mortgage lenders are awful — and essential Catherine Rampell: Americans think owning a home is better for them than it is Charles Lane: The diminishing returns of today’s homeownership policies Robert J. Samuelson: The homeownership obsession


Get serious about stopping murder

Mayor Muriel Bowser, left, and Police Chief Cathy Lanier, arrive for a news conference in Washington in May to discuss the slayings of a wealthy Washington family and their housekeeper. (Cliff Owen/Associated Press) The District ended 2015 with more than 160 homicides, a 54 percent increase over 2014. It is of little comfort that cities across the country experienced an increase in homicides in 2015. With each murder victim are a sad tragedy of a life eliminated, unfulfilled potential and grieving loved ones left behind. More than 2,500 people Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) made a commitment at a candidate forum in March 2014 to convene a task force to come up with a plan to end murder in the District. In November, a “Safer, Stronger DC” advisory committee was named. The delay in appointing this body is unfortunate, but it is a step in the right direction. I hope the committee, working with others, will develop a sustained and systematic approach to preventing homicides. It’s long past time to take a bold “Vision Zero” approach and declare a goal of ending murder in the District with a process and plans. It’s long past time to create metrics for accountability for both government and non-government stakeholders. It’s long past time to make the annual New Year’s Day count of homicides a thing of the past. David Bowers, Washington The writer is founder of No Murders DC.


Space: The visionaries take over

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Dec. 21. (Joe Skipper/Reuters) Fractured and divided as we are, on one thing we can agree: 2015 was a miserable year. The only cheer was provided by Lincoln Chafee and the Pluto flyby (two separate phenomena), as well as one seminal aeronautical breakthrough. On Dec. 21, Elon Musk’s SpaceX, after launching 11 satellites into orbit, returned its 15-story booster rocket, upright and intact, to a landing pad at Cape Canaveral. That’s a $60 million mountain of machinery — recovered. (The traditional booster rocket either burns up or disappears into some ocean.) The reusable rocket has arrived. Arguably, it arrived a month earlier when Blue Origin, a privately owned outfit created by Jeffrey P. Bezos (Amazon chief executive and owner of this newspaper) launched and landed its own booster rocket, albeit for a suborbital flight. But whether you attribute priority to Musk or Bezos, the two events together mark the inauguration of a new era in spaceflight. Musk predicts Which both democratizes and commercializes it. Which means space travel has now slipped the surly bonds of government — presidents, Congress, NASA bureaucracies. Its future will now be driven far more by a competitive marketplace with its multiplicity of independent actors, including deeply motivated, financially savvy and visionary entrepreneurs. NASA’s New Horizons has sent back the first in a series of the sharpest views of Pluto it obtained during its July flyby – and the best close-ups of Pluto that humans may see for decades. To be sure, the enterprise is not entirely free of government. After all, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket landed on a Cape Canaveral pad formerly used to launch Air Force Atlas rockets. Moreover, initial financing for these ventures already depends in part on NASA contracts, such as resupplying the space station. That, however, is not much different from the growth of aviation a century ago. It hardly lived off air-show tickets or Channel-crossing prize money. What really propelled the infant industry was government contracts. For useful things like mail — and bomb — delivery. The first and most visible consequence of the new entrepreneurial era will be restoring America as a spacefaring nation. Yes, I know we do spectacular robotic explorations. But our ability to toss humans into space disappeared when NASA retired the space shuttle — without a replacement. To get an


Space: The visionaries take over

be driven far more by a competitive marketplace with its multiplicity of independent actors, including deeply motivated, financially savvy and visionary entrepreneurs. NASA’s New Horizons has sent back the first in a series of the sharpest views of Pluto it obtained during its July flyby – and the best close-ups of Pluto that humans may see for decades. To be sure, the enterprise is not entirely free of government. After all, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket landed on a Cape Canaveral pad formerly used to launch Air Force Atlas rockets. Moreover, initial financing for these ventures already depends in part on NASA contracts, such as resupplying the space station. That, however, is not much different from the growth of aviation a century ago. It hardly lived off air-show tickets or Channel-crossing prize money. What really propelled the infant industry was government contracts. For useful things like mail — and bomb — delivery. The first and most visible consequence of the new entrepreneurial era will be restoring America as a spacefaring nation. Yes, I know we do spectacular robotic explorations. But our ability to toss humans into space disappeared when NASA retired the space shuttle — without a replacement. To get an astronaut into just low Earth orbit, therefore, we have to hitch a ride on Russia’s Soyuz with its 1960s technology. At $82 million a pop. Yet, today, two private companies already have contracts with NASA to send astronauts to the space station as soon as 2017. The real prize, however, lies beyond Earth orbit. By now, everyone realizes that the space station was a colossal mistake, a white elephant in search of a mission. Its main contribution is to study the biological effects of long-term weightlessness. But we could have done that in Skylab, a modest space station that our political betters decided four decades ago to abandon. With increasing privatization, such decisions will no longer be exclusively Washington’s. When President Obama came into office, the plan was to return to the moon by 2020. A year later, he decided we should go to an asteroid instead. Why? Who knows. Today future directions are being set by private companies with growing technical experience and competing visions. Musk is fixated on colonizing Mars, Bezos on seeing millions of people living and working in space, and Richard Branson on space tourism by way of Virgin Galactic (he has already sold 700 tickets