Younger military veterans are angered by budget cuts to their pension benefits

troops who have launched lucrative second careers, often with defense contractors that draw their profits from government coffers. In 2010, as part of a sweeping proposal to rebalance the federal budget, an independent deficit reduction commission appointed by Obama suggested eliminating COLAs for military retirees younger than 62. In the budget deal they hammered out this month, Murray and Ryan took a less drastic approach, proposing to knock one percentage point off annual COLAs for working-age retirees. Under the provision, which takes effect in 2015, pensions will be recalculated at age 62 so retirees thereafter receive the same amount they would have if the reduction had never happened. The provision accounts for a fraction of the $85 billion in savings identified in the budget deal. Ryan has called it a reasonable adjustment to a program that benefits a small portion of military men and women, only 17 percent of whom serve long enough to qualify for a pension. “If a serviceman enlisted at 18 and retired at 38, under this policy his lifetime benefit would be about $1.7 million instead of $1.8 million,” Ryan wrote in USA Today. “For a service member who retired at the average military retirement age of 44, the difference would be smaller, about $30,000 over his or her lifetime.” “And to be clear, the money we save from this reform will go right back to the military,” he wrote. “Veterans aren’t Washington’s piggy bank.” Opponents of the policy do not deny the need to overhaul military pensions, or military compensation in general. But they argue that changes should be made for future enlistees, not for people who have already served and planned their lives around promised benefits. Mike Hayden, director of government relations for the Military Officers Association of America, noted that Congress directed the commission analyzing military compensation to grandfather the current force in its recommendations. The budget deal, Hayden said, “is definitely a change of the contract that we’ve made with the currently serving.” Broader approach sought Just as troubling, opponents say, is the cavalier manner in which budget negotiators cherry-picked savings from the military to cover the cost of a small budget deal that solves none of the nation’s biggest problems. “It’s horrible policy. If we’re going to reform entitlements, let’s do it in a fashion that’s comprehensive,” said Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), an advocate of broad entitlement reform who voted


Todd E. Schroeder: Supplying USDA with data to help vanquish agricultural pests

( Todd E. Schroeder ) Armed with data, Todd Schroeder helps the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) take aim at enemies of the United States—pests and diseases that enter the country in shipments of agricultural products and those that crop up at home. With so many products crisscrossing the globe, the USDA is moving toward a risk-based approach so it can protect as much agriculture as possible with limited resources. “You can’t do everything,” Schroeder said. “But what you can do needs to be grounded in data and information and what provides the most value to the American public.” The U.S. imports more than a billion plant products each year and inspectors can’t possibly comb through them all in their quest to prevent pests from getting a foothold here. Schroeder and his staff help the USDA manage and access critical historical information and new data collected daily by agricultural inspectors. “If it’s the right setting, a pest hitching on a commodity from another country could establish itself here and become very harmful and cause a loss to farmers’ productivity,” said Schroeder, director of Business Systems Management at USDA’s Animal and Plant Inspection Service (APHIS). Non-native pests such as the Asian Longhorned beetle, for example, cause about $136 billion in lost agricultural revenue annually, according to the Government Accountability Office. The data Schroeder maintains support an ever-changing constellation of information about pest biology, climate around the world, distributors’ names and more, allowing inspectors to target shipping containers most likely to contain destructive pests and keeping inspectors current on what the risks are at any given time. For example, guavas only grow certain times of the year in Mexico so the risk of pests or disease associated with containers of Mexican guavas vary by season. “That data and information can be powerful if we can pull the most insight from it and turn that data into information so decisions can be made,” said Schroeder. New technologies also are enhancing the agency’s ability to mine data across disparate systems, allowing data analysts to glean better insights into ever-changing trouble spots. On the export side, the discovery of a new pest can affect the U.S.’s ability to sell its agricultural commodities. By providing pest program staff easy access to the best data, Schroeder helps them learn how extensive the infestation is, establish quarantines and develop a management plan for eradication and control. “If a


Beers: Baltic and imperial porters, strong enough for cold winter nights

Brewing, whose Pandemic Porter is of the imperial variety. The terms refer to distinct but related styles; the differences, like the question of what distinguishes porters from stouts, can be subject to debate. But suffice it to say that Baltic porters tend to be in the high single digits in terms of alcohol by volume, are typically lagers (fermented at cool temperatures) and often contain rich, sweet flavors (raisins and licorice come to mind). Imperial porters are less strictly defined, can be boozier, are usually ales (they’re warm-fermented) and are more prone to variation, regularly featuring more roastiness, hop bitterness and added ingredients such as coffee and chocolate. Yet both styles fill a similar niche, and both seem to be ascendant, a shift that Coleman attributes to the rise of dark beers in general. “We’re finally dispelling the myth of ‘Dark beers are so heavy,’ ” he says. “I think we’re starting to see a more educated consumer who doesn’t think in terms of black and white, so to speak.” Evolving tastes, in fact, are the reason strong porters exist in the first place: Descended from brown beers that emerged in the 1700s, according to the “Oxford Companion to Beer,” they arose when the more restrained British porter “traveled the world, morphing as it went to meet the changing needs of time and place.” Shipped to Sweden, Poland and points east, they gave way to Baltic versions inspired by the region’s history of lager brewing; in America, the “imperial” designation has accompanied ales that are bulked-up but nonetheless somewhat more British. “Think about it like coffee,” says Nathan Zeender, brewer at Right Proper Brewing Company, which opened three weeks ago next to D.C.’s Howard Theatre. “You go to Starbucks, and they have the laid-back blend that isn’t as acrid and acidic and tannic” — akin to the Baltic porter — “and then you have these heavily roasted ones.” Zeender has kept the roast dialed down in Bête Noire, a Baltic porter brewed with DC Brau’s Jeff Hancock that has been on tap at Right Proper. He has also brewed what he calls a “Baltic-leaning porter,” Häxan. It’s lower in body and alcohol but has retained the style’s trademark maltiness, and is named after a Scandinavian silent horror film. Toward the other end of the spectrum is Colossal Two, an imperial porter released in February by Port City Brewing of Alexandria


Bald eagles shot and killed in Montgomery County

Police are looking for information of how two bald eagles were shot and killed in Montgomery County over the past week. One of the eagles was shot with a rifle at about 3 p.m. Christmas Day in a field between Georgia Avenue and Bordley Road in Brookville, according to the Maryland Natural Resources Police. The bird was feeding on a deer carcass when it was shot, police said. Another eagle was found Saturday near a residence on Deakins Lane in Darnestown. The bird was alive when it was discovered, but it died of its injuries. Police said an X-ray showed the eagle had been hit by bird shot. Candy Thomson, a spokeswoman for the natural resource police, said it is possible that the bird in Brookville was shot in a case of “mistaken identity” because the bird had some white feathers but “did not have its full component of white” — the signature white feathers on its head that bald eagles are known for. “You see a bird sitting on a carcass of a deer and somebody might think they’re shooting at a vulture,” she said. In the case in Darnestown, Thomson said, officials were concerned because the bird “came down in a residential area and someone was possibly shooting where they shouldn’t have been.” At this time of year, bald eagles are in their “active courtship,” officials said. They lay eggs inland along the upper Chesapeake Bay in late February or early March. The eggs typically hatch in April. The bald eagle has previously been under protection on the Endangered Species Act but was removed from that list in 2007. It was taken off Maryland’s endangered species list in 2010. In Maryland, officials said, there are more than 500 nesting pairs of bald eagles. It is illegal, however, to shoot eagles without a permit from the U.S. Department of the Interior. A conviction carries a maximum fine of $5,000 and up to one year in prison. Anyone with information is asked to call 800-635-6124. Officials said a reward is possible. Get updates on your area delivered via e-mail


in, then did the same thing for a row of apple trees next to the vegetable garden. Asparagus, grapevines, apples: All these are perennial crops. Fabric is much less useful with annual ones that are there a shorter time and are often replaced by succession cropping. The product’s chief benefit is that it lets in air and moisture (and keeps that moisture in) while blocking light that would promote weed growth. Made from the same polypropylene that’s used for rope, it is super-strong; you can walk on it and it won’t tear. We use the five-ounce woven type, sold by a number of companies such as A.M. Leonard and Johnny’s Selected Seeds, rather than the lighter stuff you find in box stores. It’s like a thin rug. The slightly shiny side is meant to face up, the duller fuzzy side to face down, because that adheres well to the soil. But we go fuzzy-side-up because it is less reflective and better looking that way, and still stays put if well-anchored. That means covering it securely along all the corners and edges, either by burying them or by laying down lengths of rebar. There are also soil staples, like giant hairpins, sold for pinning the fabric to the ground but, if left behind, these can get caught in a rototiller’s tines. A few more tips: Make sure the soil has plenty of organic matter in it before you cover it, to give the soil organisms plenty to work with. Once it’s laid, try to keep the fabric’s surface free of soil, in which small weeds can sprout. In late fall, take up the whole blanket, apply compost or manure to the area, and then leave the soil exposed over the winter to the natural tillage wrought by frost. Since the fabric is quite durable, you could fold it up, store it, and lay it down again the following year. But in my mind it’s something to use in a weed or grass emergency — the quick fix that saves the day. With that accomplished, you can return next year to a graceful mulch of your neighbor’s spoiled hay — or your own strong arm and a hoe. Damrosch’s latest book is “The Four Season Farm Gardener’s Cookbook.” Tip of the week Many fungal disease organisms spend the winter as spores on last year’s leaves. It is important to clean up fallen


As the Redskins look for a new coach, a reader has a divine suggestion

black-and-white uniforms — I don’t think that’s going to happen. “Panda” is too soft, too wimpy. “Bearcat” has a much fiercer ring. Donate now to Children's National There is a type of civet native to Malaysia called a bearcat (or binturong) that is pretty gnarly looking, but Americans were once familiar with the name because of something else: a sports car. The Stutz Bearcat was the Dodge Viper of its day, its day being the 1920s. It was very fast, very cool and a proven winner in competition. Wouldn’t it be nice if Washington’s NFL team were all of those things? Paying it forward for Children’s A reader named Janet from Centreville told me that she’d been meaning to donate to our annual Children’s National campaign when an unusual episode finally inspired her to act. It was a few days before Christmas and Janet was shopping at the Wegmans in Fairfax, picking up a variety of special foods for her family’s holiday meals. “I was waiting for the fellow ahead of me to move his cart, so I could proceed through the checkout, when he suddenly stepped forward and insisted on paying for my groceries!” Janet wrote. “Although I didn’t have a lot in my cart, all of my items were pricey treats, including fresh oysters, deli meats and a spiral-sliced ham. I tried to tell the man that it was a lovely gesture, but unnecessary, and he just smiled and said it was something he liked to do at Christmastime. I was so stunned and humbled by his spontaneous generosity, I didn’t know what to say or do at that moment. So, we exchanged first names, and I gave him a big hug and promised to find a special way to pay it forward — hence my check today to Children’s National pediatric hospital.” Janet sent in a donation of $75 along with a note: “Kindly pass along my very warmest thanks to ‘Shopper John at Wegmans.’ ” Whether you’ve received a sudden, unexpected windfall or have just been meaning to donate but haven’t yet gotten around to it, I hope you’ll think about contributing to Children’s National. The money that Washington Post readers give every year goes to the hospital’s uncompensated care fund. That money is used to help pay the bills of kids whose families don’t have adequate health insurance. To make a tax-deductible gift, visit childrensnational.org/washingtonpost


Folger converts to theater-in-the-round for ‘Richard III’

Flye and his crew are building a trolley track under the stage, which they expect will be up and running long before the H Street streetcar. To quote “Hamlet,” there’s a method to Richmond’s “Richard III” madness, and it stems from the August 2012 exhumation of England’s last Plantagenet king from the foundation of a parking lot in Leicester, England. Richmond, who is Scottish, has paid close attention to subsequent analyses of Richard’s remains, including the curved “hunchback” spine and apparent lack of coffin. “Graves became very important to the story,” Richmond said. “People are disappearing, and are clearly being buried without ceremony. There are no funerals.” Neither will there be blood. Richmond’s plan is to display swords and various devices of torture onstage, but not splatter fake ooze on the theater patrons, who will be sitting much closer than usual. “We can imply the pain, and we can imply the fear,” Richmond said. His goal is to stage a psychological thriller by probing the brain that was inside that cracked skull found under the parking lot. New historical evidence may indicate the king wasn’t the sniveling cripple Laurence Olivier made him out to be in 1955. “I am trying to open the door to relooking at who he was,” Richmond says. So how twisted was Richard III, the paranoid monarch went so far as to murder his own school-age nephews? Richmond says he’s still “on the fence,” and he has four weeks of rehearsals to decide. The gift of theater If you’re a theater marketer, the best holiday gifts came in very flat packages, and it seems Studio Theatre was especially good at playing Secret Santa. The theater launched a holiday ad campaign and reported a solid uptick in gift ticket sales: Nearly 350 people bought its holiday package of three plays for $99, a substantial increase from last year. (The deal began on Black Friday and is available through February.) TheatreWashington took to social media to promote its “TixCertificates,” which can be redeemed at many Washington area theaters. In December, the organization Tweeted promos up to three times a day. (“Buy TODAY w/expedited shipping 2 receive by Christmas!!”) Multiple missives also announced that if you bought five certificates, you got a free “Divas of DC” CD. So how did sales go? TheatreWashington representatives did not respond to a request for comment. A call for original work Playwrights are


Last Stand Quartet and friends present Shakespeare at the Kennedy Center

Shakespeare has enjoyed a rich musical afterlife, yet rarely do the countless works inspired by the Bard enrich our understanding of the plays themselves. On Monday evening at the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater, the Last Stand Quartet and actors Andre Braugher, Rob Clare and Reiko Aylesworth presented a program of Shakespeare in words and music that largely bore out this truism. The evening offered moments of dramatic brilliance, yet only intermittently did words and music come together to deepen our sense of Shakespeare’s art. Braugher, in a virtuoso turn, roared and whispered, meditated and lamented his way through selections from 13 Shakespearean roles. At times, Braugher’s readings seemed more like works in progress than finished interpretations, relying more on the actor’s rich baritone and preternatural verbal intelligence than on individually etched characterizations. Yet Braugher was never less than spellbinding, reaching a high point in his acerbic Benedick, chillingly nihilistic Macbeth and, especially, his tortured and tormented Othello. Clare (who also directed) and Aylesworth contributed sensitive work in support. The quartet — featuring violinists Joel Fuller and Alexandra Osborne, violist Mahoko Eguchi and cellist Rachel Young, all from the National Symphony Orchestra — played a grab bag of Shakespeare-inspired selections from Purcell to Vaughan Williams with consistent refinement and interpretive restraint. Yet the music was rarely in true dialogue with the drama, mostly serving as tastefully elegant interludes between scenes. Lamentably, the most rhetorically adventurous piece, Ned Rorem’s “After Reading Shakespeare” suite for solo cello, was reduced to mere underscoring. Only once did the evening fulfill its true promise. After the emotional wreckage of the murder scene from “Othello” — played to devastating effect by Braugher and Aylesworth – came the brooding slow movement of Beethoven’s String Quartet in F major, Op. 18, No. 1, which itself was inspired by the tomb scene from “Romeo and Juliet.” Beethoven’s searching lines formed the perfect emotional coda to the tragic climax of “Othello,” providing a palpable sense of catharsis. Pity and fear, having been aroused, were purged away by sublime melody. style@washpost.com Chin is a freelance writer.


Mike O’Connor, advocate for journalists, dies at 67

Mike O’Connor, an experienced war correspondent who in recent years worked in defense of journalists in Mexico at a time when it had become one of the most treacherous countries in the world for reporters, died Dec. 29 in Mexico City. He was 67. He had a fatal heart attack while sleeping in his apartment, according to his wife, Tracy Wilkinson, the Los Angeles Times’s Mexico bureau chief. Since January 2009, Mr. O’Connor had worked as the Mexico representative for the Committee to Protect Journalists, a New York-based nonprofit group, traveling to some of the most dangerous parts of the country to investigate the intimidation, murder and disappearance of journalists targeted by drug cartels or corrupt government officials. The reports he produced with his colleagues gave outsiders an unvarnished understanding of the scope and bloody mechanics of Mexican censorship: According to the group, 26 journalists have been murdered in the country since 1992, 23 of them with impunity. Within Mexico, Mr. O’Connor’s reputation among reporters and editors was as a rare trustworthy confidant. He was especially helpful to journalists in the regions beyond the Mexican capital, where intimidation of the press is more common. Reporters from far-flung papers called him regularly to discuss details of threats, updates on the disappearance of colleagues, and advice on how they might go into hiding or exile. Mike O'Connor in Mexico City. (AP) “He was an activist close to the low-level journalists — the ones in the streets of combat, the ones in the struggle — more than those from the journalistic heights,” Javier Valdez Cardenas, a correspondent and founder of Riodoce, a newspaper in the drug- cartel-plagued state of Sinaloa, said in a phone interview. “When other people would run away from dangerous areas, Mike would go to them to figure out what was going on with the journalists there,” he said. “He was a brave, passionate man.” Mr. O’Connor had said that his life’s work was likely rooted in his search for the truth about the mysterious lives of his parents, Jerry and Jess O’Connor. When Mike was a child, they moved back and forth between the United States and small-town Mexico, where their son learned to speak fluent Spanish. The couple, who offered scant explanation for the moves at the time, believed they were being hunted by the U.S. government, in part because of Jess O’Connor’s connections to left-wing political circles.


Family of Warren Weinstein, U.S. citizen held by al-Qaeda, tries to ‘keep hoping’

From left, Alisa Weinstein, 40, her mom Elaine Weinstein, 70, and sister Jennifer Coakley, 42, in Rockville, Maryland. The family are waiting for the safe return of Warren Weinstein, 72, who has been held captive since August 2011 in Pakistan. (Nikki Kahn/The Washington Post) When Elaine Weinstein’s phone rang at 10 p.m. that August night in 2011, she answered automatically, thinking it could only be her husband, who called every night from Pakistan to say good night. “Warren has been kidnapped,” she heard her husband’s boss say. It would be months before Warren Weinstein’s relatives realized the Rockville man had been taken hostage by al-Qaeda, making him the only U.S. citizen known to be held by the terrorist group. The Montgomery County family has since grieved and prayed in silence, worried that raising Weinstein’s profile could put him in greater jeopardy. But after a video and handwritten note from the 72-year-old Weinstein emerged last week, his wife and daughters decided to plead publicly for his release for the first time and discuss the ordeal his relatives have endured for more than two years. The message released on Christmas Day was the third Weinstein video distributed by al-Qaeda. Looking forlorn, sporting a scraggly gray beard and noticeably missing a tooth, Weinstein is recorded pleading with President Obama and Secretary of State John F. Kerry to make “hard choices” to secure his release. In a videotaped plea to the president, secretary of state, the media and his family, U.S. government contractor Warren Weinstein is seen urging the Obama administration to negotiate for his release. He said he feels "totally abandoned and forgotten," and called on all Americans to use social media to mount a campaign to seek his release. Weinstein, then 72, of Rockville, was kidnapped by al-Qaeda militants in Pakistan in 2011. The video was provided to The Washington Post in an anonymous email on Dec. 25, 2013. “It just hurts,” Elaine Weinstein said. “It’s like he’s so close and I can’t get to him.” For the family, each video brings an overwhelming mix of elation and raw terror. “It’s very emotional being able to hear his voice,” the Weinsteins’ daughter Alisa, 40, said Tuesday in an interview, speaking alongside her mother and sister, Jennifer. “But it’s also realizing that we’re in the middle of something much bigger than us.” Soon after getting a doctorate degree from Columbia University in 1970,


South Sudan peace talks to open in Ethiopia

Fighting between loyalists of President Salva Kiir and backers of former vice president Riek Machar has triggered spasms of ethnic bloodletting across South Sudan. Peace talks between representatives of Kiir and Machar began Friday morning in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa, according to the Ethiopian Foreign Ministry. JUBA, South Sudan — A government official said fighting continued in Bor, a gateway city to the capital, Juba. Bor, the capital of Jonglei state and just 75 miles from Juba, is the center of ethnically based violence stemming from the political rivalry between President Salva Kiir and ousted vice president Riek Machar, the rebel leader accused of mounting a coup attempt. The fighting has left more than 1,000 people dead, the United Nations says. Kiir declared a state of emergency Wednesday in Jonglei and Unity, two states where rebel forces have gained the upper hand in recent fighting. Machar said Tuesday that he would send his forces from Bor to Juba, but Hilde Johnson, the U.N. representative in South Sudan, played down the threat. “I think we need to take quotations with pinches of salt at this point of time,” she said. “On January 1 the country is at a fork in the road, but it can still be saved from further major escalation of violence.” Johnson urged Kiir and Machar to use the talks to move toward peace, adding: “They can still pull the country back from the brink.” Pro-Machar forces in Bor seem to be taking defensive positions, Johnson said. The fighting in Bor has displaced about 60,000 people. The International Committee of the Red Cross said the road from Bor to the nearby Awerial area was lined with people waiting for boats so they could cross the Nile River. Two teams of five negotiators each arrived in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and were expected to begin talks later Wednesday, said Getachew Reda, a spokesman for Ethiopia’s prime minister. The United Nations said Tuesday that it is “gravely concerned” about mounting evidence of gross violations of international human rights law, including extrajudicial killings of civilians and captured soldiers. South Sudanese Foreign Minister Barnaba Marial Benjamin labeled Bor a war zone, and one analyst said government troops had pulled out of parts of the city because they were concerned about having to kill the “young boys” who fill the rebel ranks. The military “was told to withdraw,” said Edmund Yakani, executive


Marijuana sales commence in Colorado for recreational use

Long lines accompanied the first day of legal sales of recreational marijuana. Correction: DENVER — Azzariti’s transaction — 3.5 grams of Bubba Kush for $40 and some pot-laced chocolate truffles for an additional $9.28 — was the first in the state’s grand experiment in legalizing marijuana for recreational use. The first-in-the-nation law was greeted with long lines at retailers and a lot of “Rocky Mountain High” jokes. But beyond the buzz, the measure represented the institution of a major new public policy in America — one that opponents fear will turn the state into a dangerous land of debauchery and that backers hope sets a nationwide precedent. If Colorado is able to successfully legalize marijuana without causing a social backlash, the tourism, tax and other considerations are likely to compel several other states to quickly follow suit. Backers say enough signatures have been collected to put legalization before voters this year in Alaska. Oregon would probably come next, and by 2016, they hope to see measures on the ballot in six other states: Arizona, California, Maine, Massachusetts, Montana and Nevada. Supporters are also hopeful that lawmakers will push for legalization in Delaware, Hawaii, Maryland, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont. Washington state has legalized pot, but sales there won’t begin for at least a few months. If problems arise in Colorado — whether that means residents get sick of stoner tourism or there are a rash of marijuana-related accidents or crimes — it could set back a decades-old movement that has gained substantial momentum in recent years. Experts say there really is no way to know which way it will go. “Nobody on Earth has ever done this before,” said Jonathan Caulkins, a drug policy expert and professor at Carnegie Mellon University. Before Wednesday, the pro-marijuana movement’s biggest breakthrough came in 1996, when California became the first state in modern history to allow marijuana use of any kind when it greenlighted medicinal use. Now 20 states and the District allow it. Colorado has approved 136 licenses for retail sales, three-quarters of them in the city and county of Denver and all at sites that have been legally selling marijuana for medical purposes. Eighteen city stores had completed the full process in time to open Wednesday. State officials expect dozens more to open across the state, and some have estimated that pot sales could add more than $200 million to Colorado’s


Marijuana becomes legal in Colorado: Frequently asked questions

Recreational marijuana sales are underway in Colorado, attracting a new type of tourism to the state. Govbeat's Reid Wilson breaks down four things pot tourists should know about the new laws. On Wednesday, Colorado became the first state to allow legal sales of marijuana for recreational use. Washington state will do the same this year, and other states might follow suit. Here are answers to some basic questions about marijuana, its effects on the body and the issues raised by legalization: How does marijuana work? Marijuana’s main active ingredient is delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, found in the leaves, stems, seeds and especially the flowers of the cannabis plant. It binds to the surface of nerve cells in high-density areas of the brain involved in memory, thinking, concentration, feelings of pleasure, coordination and movement, and sensory and time perception. THC stimulates this communication network, resulting in a marijuana “high.” What are its medicinal uses? About 20 states and the District allow the use of marijuana for medical purposes. Most patients seek the drug for controlling pain from medical conditions including cancer, nervous system diseases, glaucoma and migraine. It is also being used to treat nausea and improve appetites of people with HIV or chronic illnesses. Long lines accompanied the first day of legal sales of recreational marijuana. What’s the difference between smoking marijuana and consuming it in food, powders or liquid extracts? When marijuana is smoked, THC moves almost immediately from the lungs to the bloodstream and to the brain. The effects can last one to three hours. If it’s eaten, say in brownies or cookies, it can take 30 minutes to an hour to have an effect, but the high can last up to four hours. What are the health effects of marijuana use? In the short term, it can lead to a rapid heart rate, increased blood pressure, red eyes, dry mouth, increased appetite and slowed reaction time. Long-term use has been linked to impaired thinking, memory problems, panic attacks and other psychological issues. There have also been studies showing a weakened immune system and, for those who smoke the drug, impaired lung function. How much marijuana is safe to use? Can you overdose? There is no recorded case of someone dying from an overdose of marijuana, but it has been a factor in accidents or medical issues that can lead to death. The concentration of THC in seized samples


Wolf Trap beyond the Filene Center

Trail. (Mark Jenkins) The path hiked one cold November morning by Brown and three other birders, Mark Leckert, Jeanne Leckert and Mike Corrigan, is new to the park. Developed in partnership with the Potomac Appalachian Trail club, the 2.5-mile trail was begun in 2010 and is “just about done,” said Phil Goetkin, Wolf Trap’s land manager. The trail, the bird survey and other initiatives are part of a redefined mission for Wolf Trap. “We’re becoming more of a natural history park,” said Park Superintendent Karen Pittleman. “The Filene Center has been our focal point,” Goetkin said. “We are a national park, though, and a lot of people don’t realize that.” “So we really started looking at our natural resources. We started looking at sustainable landscape techniques.” That meant reducing the land that’s mowed — down to 25 acres from 35 — and replacing invasive species with native ones. The most conspicuous example of the change is the “native meadow” in a hollow near the Filene Center entrance. “Nobody ever noticed it was there,” Pittleman said. “Yet we mowed it, and we fertilized it. Now everybody notices it.” “At a time when budgets are being reduced, having less manicured land is really a saving for us,” she added. Another goal in returning formerly mowed land to a natural state, Goetkin said, was to create habitat for native species. “We started to attract a lot of insects, birds and animals, and then we said, ‘Well, we need to know exactly what’s showing up here.’ ” So the Park Service turned to the Audubon Society for the bird survey. It’s also doing studies of bees and butterflies in association with the Smithsonian and the U.S. Geologic Survey. The new trail generally follows the borders of the park, with one switchback through the largest area of uninterrupted woods. The area it traverses is not exactly wilderness. Once the Filene Center is out of sight, the Dulles Access Road comes into view. Farther along, nearby suburban houses can be seen. Also disrupting the pastoral vistas are Trap Road, which bisects the park, and almost 3,000 parking spaces. “We’re very green,” Pittleman said. “Except when it’s time to leave at night.” Despite these intrusions, Wolf Trap abounds with flutters and chirps. “Because the park encompasses a variety of habitat and has remained largely undeveloped, it attracts and shelters a much larger variety of birds than the


NSA seeks to build quantum computer that could crack most types of encryption

numbers. Breaking the encryption involves finding those two numbers. This cannot be done in a reasonable amount of time on a classical computer. In 2009, computer scientists using classical methods were able to discover the primes within a 768-bit number, but it took almost two years and hundreds of computers to factor it. The scientists estimated that it would take 1,000 times longer to break a 1,024-bit encryption key, which is commonly used for online transactions. A large-scale quantum computer, however, could theoretically break a 1,024-bit encryption much faster. Some leading Internet companies are moving to 2,048-bit keys, but even those are thought to be vulnerable to rapid decryption with a quantum computer. Quantum computers have many applications for today’s scientific community, including the creation of artificial intelligence. But the NSA fears the implications for national security. “The application of quantum technologies to encryption algorithms threatens to dramatically impact the US government’s ability to both protect its communications and eavesdrop on the communications of foreign governments,” according to an internal document provided by Snowden. Experts are not sure how soon a quantum computer would be feasible. A decade ago, some experts said that developing a large quantum computer was likely 10 to 100 years in the future. Five years ago, Lloyd said the goal was at least 10 years away. Last year, Jeff Forshaw, a professor at the University of Manchester, told Britain’s Guardian newspaper, “It is probably too soon to speculate on when the first full-scale quantum computer will be built but recent progress indicates that there is every reason to be optimistic.” “I don’t think we’re likely to have the type of quantum computer the NSA wants within at least five years, in the absence of a significant breakthrough maybe much longer,” Lloyd told The Washington Post in a recent interview. Some companies, however, claim to already be producing small quantum computers. A Canadian firm, D-Wave Systems , says it has been making quantum computers since 2009. In 2012, it sold a $10 million version to Google, NASA and the Universities Space Research Association, according to news reports. That quantum computer, however, would never be useful for breaking public key encryption like RSA. “Even if everything they’re claiming is correct, that computer, by its design, cannot run Shor’s algorithm,” said Matthew Green, a research professor at the Johns Hopkins University Information Security Institute, referring to the algorithm that


U.S. relations with Russia face critical tests in 2014 as Putin, Obama fail to fulfill expectations

for reform and downplay its corruption, failures of justice and other unsavory shortcomings. “Obama made a bigger bet on Medvedev than he should have,” said Fyodor Lukyanov, who as editor of a foreign policy magazine has a good sense of Kremlin thinking. Putin, now back in the Kremlin, hasn’t been reluctant to push hard. “What has Russia got? It’s got chutzpah. That’s its greatest strategic reserve,” said Mark Galeotti, an expert on Russian security services at New York University. For too long, the Obama administration wavered between pursuing a moral policy toward Russia or a pragmatic one, he said. “The White House wanted a bit of both, and as a result got neither.” Separate directions Events in Russia finally took control of the agenda. In December 2011, a rigged election brought out tens of thousands of demonstrators and prompted a scolding from Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. It invigorated an effort in Congress to punish Russian officials connected to the case of Sergei Magnitsky, a whistleblower who died after being thrown in jail. The Russian reaction was intense. Both issues reflect directly on the legitimacy of Putin’s political structure, Kremenyuk said, and the Kremlin understands this to be its greatest vulnerability. Anti-American rhetoric soared. Russia expelled USAID, forced Radio Liberty off the AM dial and frustrated U.S. financing of advocacy groups. It began a harassment campaign against U.S. Ambassador Michael A. McFaul. The response to the Magnitsky Act, signed by Obama in December 2012, was a law banning adoptions of Russian children by Americans. Collins described the Magnitsky Act as “the stupidest thing you could do” and the Russian response as “even stupider.” The past year has brought Russia’s refusal to hand over the fugitive Snowden, followed by Obama’s cancellation of a summit meeting with Putin, then unexpected cooperation on Syria’s chemical arms. The latest crisis in Ukraine — rooted in Russia’s insistence on limiting that country’s ties to the West — has stoked old tensions. The United States and Russia, in any case, are heading in separate directions — or wish they could. The coming year brings a slew of challenges that will force the two nations to engage, even if at arm’s length and with a palpable lack of enthusiasm. Putin acknowledged as much in a New Year’s message this week. “But,” Lukyanov said, “there’s no way to have a long-term, interest-based relationship. Americans are too self-centric.”


Ruth Marcus: The perils of legalized pot

those who started in adulthood. “Impairment was concentrated among adolescent-onset cannabis users, with more persistent use associated with greater decline,” the study reported. For those who started as teens, stopping didn’t fully restore functioning. The results, the study concluded, “are suggestive of a neurotoxic effect of cannabis on the adolescent brain.” Please do not argue that Colorado’s law, like those proposed elsewhere, bans sales to those under 21. Ha! I have teenage children. The laws against underage drinking represent more challenge to overcome than barrier to access. Recreational marijuana sales are underway in Colorado, attracting a new type of tourism to the state. Govbeat's Reid Wilson breaks down four things pot tourists should know about the new laws. And although alcohol seems to be the teen drug of choice among the adolescents I know, the more widely available marijuana becomes, the more minors will use it. If seniors in fraternities can legally buy pot, more freshmen and sophomores will be smoking more of it. And it’s not as if the kids need encouragement. By the time they have graduated from high school, nearly half have tried smoking pot; 16.5 percent of eighth-graders have. More alarming, the number who perceive great risk from regular use has been plummeting, from 58 percent to 40 percent among 12th-graders, according to a study funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. And, that study says, for those who trumpet tight controls on sales to minors, a third of 12th-graders who live in states with medical marijuana and who have used the drug in the past year report that one source is another person’s prescription. Another 6 percent have their own Rx. Throwing people in jail for smoking pot is dumb and wasteful. Given changing public attitudes — for the first time last year, a majority of Americans supported legalization — Colorado and Washington are apt to be the vanguard states, not the outliers. If this doesn’t make you nervous, you are smoking something. Maybe even legally. Read more from Ruth Marcus’s archive, follow her on Twitter or subscribe to her updates on Facebook. Read more at PostOpinions: Letters to the editor: The risks and rewards of pot’s new status The Post’s View: Marijuana likely to be decriminalized in D.C. Doug Fine: Five myths about legalizing marijuana Jonathan Rauch: Let’s go down the aisle toward legalized pot The Post’s View: Marijuana’s foot in the door


Crowdfunded venture proposed for city property in D.C.

Shown is the scene on H and 13th streets NE, where the R.L. Christian Library sits. The library will be demolished to make way for a five-story apartment complex. (Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post) The one-story structure at 13th and H streets in Northeast Washington isn’t much to look at. A dim interior, vacant since 2009, sits behind wide plastic windows that stretch around the yellowing building. A few posters from pop-up art events cling to the exterior. Pink, green and purple clouds painted across the facade give it a whimsical dreariness. But for the next few months, city governments across the country will be paying attention to this corner. The shuttered R.L. Christian Library is slated to be replaced by a mixed-use residential building, pending approval by the D.C. Council. It will join H Street’s new apartment complexes and a coming Whole Foods Market. Unlike those other properties, though, the plan for the library property uses a new approach that could change the dynamics of urban development. The company behind the project, Rise Development, seized on the 2012 Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act, or JOBS Act, which aims to help small companies raise money and hire workers by easing federal regulations. One provision of the act allows companies to crowdsource funding. Rather than rely on traditional sources to put up the funds, this approach allows individuals in the community to have a stake in the project. “The library site is like a national test case,” said Benjamin Miller, one of two brothers behind Rise. “I’m talking to governments in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Cleveland and New York, and they’re all watching to see if this D.C. government deal works.” Rise intends to create a design for the 10,800-square-foot site, including a residential building with about 30 units and retail space. The company presented a contract of sale to the D.C. Council on Dec. 17 and is waiting for approval. Miller realizes that the D.C. government will be taking a political risk by embracing a model that relies on individuals to both raise the money and risk a potentially bad investment. Parts of the JOBS Act have yet to be implemented. And until the Securities and Exchange Commission adopts final regulations that will allow companies to raise up to $50 million, Miller and others must limit crowdfunding to $5 million. The company has also faced questions about the risk associated such


Go out and have a good time for charity

Chocolate City Beer's 8th and I Rye, sold at five Capitol Hill bars as well as the Pug on H Street NE, takes its name from the location of the Marine Barracks. $1.50 from every pint sold benefits the Fisher House Foundation, a charity that helps the families of wounded service members. (Fritz Hahn) We’ve just finished the most festive and generous time of the year: Throughout December, it seemed as if every week brought new bar crawls, happy hours and ugly sweater parties to raise money for charity. Going out and having a good time while also giving back sounded like the perfect way to spend the holidays. But the turn of the calendar doesn’t mean an end to goodwill toward men. The Washington area thrives on philanthropy, and many bars sponsor charitable events year-round. This is a guide to some of our favorites, which you can take advantage of in coming weeks. We regularly feature fundraising happy hours, date auctions and other events in the Nightlife Agenda column, which appears every Tuesday in the Style section and on the Going Out Guide. On a Grinchy note, Cause the Philanthropub, a Shaw tavern that pledged to give all of its profits to charity, closed last week. Unfortunately, the restaurant itself never turned a profit. Chocolate City Beer’s 8th and I Rye By now, we’re used to the District’s breweries releasing small-batch beers to local bars; it’s a good way for a brewery to build some buzz and for customers to sip something new. But 8th and I Rye, which Chocolate City Beer unveiled last Friday, is special. It’s a roggenbier, a German style that is heavy on rye, giving the ale a spicy, bready flavor and a full, dry body. It’s also brewed for charity. Head brewer Noah Cowles is a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, and the name of this beer pays tribute to the Marine Barracks in Southeast Washington. Three of the six bars that have 8th and I on tap are on Barracks Row: Molly Malone’s, Lola’s Bar and Grill and Senart’s Oyster and Chop House. (You can also find it at Boxcar Tavern and Tunnicliff’s Tavern across from Eastern Market, and at the Pug on H Street.) The bars will donate $1.50 for each pint sold to the Fisher House Foundation, which offers low-cost housing to the families of military service members receiving treatment


In Viennese waltzes, BSO welcomes new year with promise and joy

Playing Viennese waltzes on or around New Year’s Eve is a curious custom — the music was not written with that event in mind — but has become a reliable seller that most orchestras embrace. So it was that hundreds of music lovers fought the traffic and the brutal weather Thursday to hear the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra at Music Center at Strathmore. (The concert started 20 minutes late, as not all of the musicians had made it to the hall.) And it was worth the effort. Guest conductor Andrew Grams, a Maryland native in his mid-30s, is a real talent who drew, for the most part, finely detailed and idiomatic playing from the orchestra. Soprano Lauren Snouffer (in her BSO debut) has a shimmering instrument and the promise of a major career. Strauss and Lehár waltzes are like empty vessels: Their appeal depends almost entirely on what is put into them. Grams avoided the biggest trap in this repertoire: trying to do too much. The orchestra bought into Grams’s detailed but natural readings with spirit, Noah Chaves leading the viola section in crucial rhythmic underpinning throughout. Oddly, though, it was in the two pieces the orchestra knew best — the “Die Fledermaus” overture and the “Blue Danube” waltz — that Grams was least impressive, the former a little scrappy in the fast parts and the latter comparatively drab. Perhaps routine had embedded itself too deeply. Snouffer boasts a strong, flexible voice that projects clearly throughout its range. She can really sell a song and played to the audience, which loved it. Her German sounds American, and there were a few fleeting pitch problems in Mozart’s “Batti, batti” and in Strauss’s “Frühlingsstimmen,” but she attacked her high D in the “Fledermaus” aria with fearless command. And the high point was Mozart’s “Deh, vieni,”where she dialed back the coquetry and concentrated on pure singing, which was truly lovely. Additional BSO performances of “Viennese Favorites” at 8 p.m. Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday at the Meyerhoff in Baltimore. Battey is a freelance writer.


Five myths about the cloud

didn’t understand what “cloud computing” meant, with 51 percent believing that stormy weather could interfere with it and 54 percent saying they never used it — even though 95 percent actually did. Cloud-computing powers online banking and shopping, e-mail programs such as Gmail and Yahoo, social networks, online photo and music storage, and digital libraries such as Netflix and Kindle. It’s also increasingly what supports American workplaces. The annual North Bridge Future of Cloud Computing Survey found that 75 percent of companies were using cloud services in 2013, up from 67 percent in 2012. The basic concept is that data and applications stored remotely can be delivered over the Internet, turning computing into a utility like electricity and water. “The cloud” is just a metaphor; nothing actually happens in the sky. For individuals, it means we can use our computers, phones or tablets to access our information wherever we are. For businesses, it means they can access computing resources on a scale once available only to companies with enormous amounts of money and technology know-how. The cloud can help them get by without hiring lots of geeks. 2. Cloud computing is a fad. Although “the cloud” became a buzzword in popular culture in the past few years, neither the concept nor the technologies underpinning it are all that new. The idea that computing should be organized like a public utility goes as far back as 1961, when computer scientist John McCarthy talked about it at MIT’s centennial celebration. It wasn’t until the Internet matured, however, that the vision became practical. Salesforce.com began to deliver applications through a Web site in 1999, and Amazon (whose owner also owns The Washington Post) launched its cloud-based services in 2002. What’s changed more recently is the level of investment in the cloud — and that ensures it isn’t going away anytime soon. The research firm Gartner predicts that companies will spend $788 billion on public cloud services in the next four years. And the McKinsey consulting firm forecasts that cloud technology could have an economic impact of $1.7 trillion to $6.2 trillion a year by 2025. 3. The cloud is not secure. Security concerns are the main barrier to cloud adoption, as reflected in the North Bridge survey. When people talk about security threats, they’re usually thinking about hacking, identity theft, malware and phishing schemes. And it isn’t comforting to hear reports like the


Hope amid despair in South Sudan

Darryl “DMC” McDaniels, Emmanuel Jal and Lam Tungwar at the Juba Peace Concert in 2012. Emily Wax-Thibodeaux is a reporter for The Post and served as the paper’s Africa bureau chief from 2002 to 2006. With his soulful songs about injustice, his work as an activist and his penchant for wrap-around sunglasses, Lam Tungwar is South Sudan’s homespun blend of Bono and Bob Marley. Tungwar was a child soldier before he became a hip-hop star, and his lyrics chronicle the despair of his country’s decades of violence but also the determination of South Sudan’s triumphant birth 21 / 2 years ago, when the largely Christian and African South split from the Muslim and Arab North, ending Africa’s longest civil war. In “Call the President,” he urges young South Sudanese to embrace the possibilities of their new nation: “One day, you can be the new president. Show all the youth what our future can represent.” Though he could have fled to an easier life in the United States or Europe, Tungwar committed himself to the gritty and deeply impoverished capital of Juba, opening a community center for artists and launching a televised talent competition in the style of “American Idol.” The show promoted the idea that talent, merit and hard work were what it took to build a new life in the new country — that it was no longer a place where religion, tribe or inherited privilege determined success or failure. Thousands of young people came to try out, often traveling for days from rural villages, sometimes causing stampedes — all for a brief shot at something more. But those ideals have been upended, even for the hopelessly hopeful Tungwar. His three brothers were killed last month in the renewed violence that is threatening the future of South Sudan. According to the United Nations, more than 1,000 lives have been taken, and 180,000 villagers have been forced to flee their homes. Tungwar, who in my mind symbolized everything that was promising about South Sudan, has been emotionally gutted — both by his personal losses and by the prospect of his country coming apart. “How are we back here again? We are a generation that grew up with independence and hope in our hearts,” Tungwar told me over a scratchy Skype line this past week. “Now we are all messed up again. We feel a government we had really trusted has


Government questioned MicroTech about its role in HP fraud allegations

Autonomy a “pure software company” at a time when it was reporting “substantial revenues” from lower-margin sales of hardware products. The memo said that Autonomy sold the hardware at a loss to customers to “fill-in end of quarter revenue gaps,” boosting the firm’s apparent quarterly performance. Up to 19 percent of the company’s revenues per quarter in 2009 to 2011 came from hardware sales, but the company “never disclosed these pure hardware resale activities in public filings, press releases, or earnings calls.” In financial filings, Autonomy treated “certain costs as sale/marketing expenses rather than costs of goods sold. Such treatment allowed Autonomy to inflate artificially its reported gross margins.” Lynch and the five other former Autonomy executives named by the Air Force also “were responsible for falsifying software license transactions” with MicroTech and Capax to “accelerate Autonomy’s revenue recognition,” another way of inflating its end-of-quarter reports, the documents said. Last month, the Air Force asked the SBA to become the government’s lead agency on the assessment of MicroTech’s behavior as a federal contractor after Post articles that examined MicroTech’s extraordinary growth as a small-business contractor. The Air Force and SBA concluded that the SBA could move more quickly on a proposed debarment of MicroTech based on the SBA allegations, the Air Force official said. But the Air Force examination of the HP allegations remains a “live wire,” the official said. Since its formation in 2004, MicroTech has received $1.4 billion in federal contracts, becoming the government’s top contractor for disadvantaged small businesses, records show. About a third of its contracts for technology goods and services have been reserved for small firms owned by disadvantaged entrepreneurs or service-disabled veterans. MicroTech owner Anthony R. Jimenez In its debarment proposal, the SBA has said that MicroTech and Jimenez provided “false and misleading statements,” starting when Jimenez sought certification as a small disadvantaged firm. The agency said the alleged false statements included a “complete fabrication” to hide the extensive role of two investors who worked with Jimenez to launch, bankroll and operate MicroTech, the letter said. David S. Fallis and Sari Horwitz contributed to this report. Related: For MicroTech, small-business status meant big business as a federal contractor VA called it a small-business contract, but a big firm got 90% of the money SBA moves to ban MicroTechnologies LLC from government contracting work Full series: ‘Biggest of the Smalls’: The rise of a federal


D.C. man, 52, arrested and charged with second-degree murder

D.C. police detectives arrested a 52-year-old man Saturday on suspicion of murder in the death of a woman from Northeast Washington. Alphonso Cleveland, also of Northeast, was charged with second-degree murder while armed following an investigation that police said began with the discovery of a body Friday afternoon on the 300 block of 18th Place NE. Claudia Hall, 51, had suffered “apparent trauma to her body,” according to a D.C. police statement. Further details on the cause of death were unavailable, pending an autopsy. Get updates on your area delivered via e-mail


Climate-change response demands urgency

is not urgent. A new paper in the journal Nature suggests they are wrong — that the consequences of climate change are likely to be toward the middle or higher end of the predicted temperature range. “This new research takes away the lower end of climate sensitivity estimates,” said University of New South Wales’s Steven Sherwood, author of the report. “Meaning that global average temperatures will increase by 3 degrees Celsius to 5 degrees Celsius with a doubling of carbon dioxide.” That translates into a rise of 4 degrees Celsius by the year 2100 and perhaps 8 degrees Celsius by 2200, barring a reduction in carbon dioxide output. The research relies on insights into the effects of clouds on climate. In finely tuned climate models, much depends on figuring out how evaporated water behaves. As high-level clouds, some will exert a net warming effect by absorbing heat. As low-level clouds, some will exert a net cooling effect by reflecting sunlight back into space. And even lower to the ground, some may prevent low-level clouds from developing by dehydrating the cloud-forming layer. One way or another, cloud activity will feed back into the climate-change process. The study’s authors compared various models to real-world observations and found that the models that matched the observations predict more upward pressure on temperature. Their results offer one more argument against assuming a relatively benign climate future. That doesn’t mean the future can be forecast, even now, with certainty. It does mean that to take no action, on the hope that nothing too bad is in store, is to place a foolish bet with humanity’s future. It would be much more prudent to spend something now to head off the risks, even if they aren’t known exactly. Next year, international negotiators will gather in Paris in another attempt to create a working international anti-carbon system. It’s important to invest diplomatic capital in that effort. But leaders cannot rely on that forum to produce the action the world needs. The United States needs to lead the way with a smarter climate policy and then encourage a global response. Read more: The Post’s View: How to make a climate change deal Jeffrey D. Sachs: Storms like Typhoon Haiyan may finally make our leaders act on climate change Michael Bloomberg, Hank Paulson, Tom Steyer: We need climate-change risk assessment Michael Gerson: Politics is poorly suited to address global warming


New York poised to allow limited use of medical marijuana

ALBANY, N.Y. Cuomo (D) plans to use administrative powers rather than legislative action to allow a limited number of hospitals to dispense marijuana for certain ailments. He will formally announce his plans in his state of the state speech Wednesday. The New York Times first reported Cuomo’s plan Saturday. It represents an about-face by Cuomo, who previously opposed medical marijuana. Administration officials told the newspaper that the medical marijuana policy will be more restrictive than in states like Colorado and California and subject to New York Health Department standards. In states that permit medical marijuana, it is commonly prescribed for chronic pain, nausea from cancer chemotherapy, glaucoma and some other conditions. Other controlled substances like narcotics are already authorized for medical use in New York. Although marijuana remains illegal in New York, possession of small amounts has been reduced to a low-level violation subject to a fine. The Drug Policy Alliance, which was briefed on the Cuomo plan Saturday, said it would be a huge change but that New York should still enact legislation authorizing a state medical marijuana program that has been blocked so far by the state Senate’s Republicans. “This is a good development as an interim step,” said Gabriel Sayegh, state director of the Drug Policy Alliance. After the briefing, he said the timing was still unclear as well as precisely who will have access to the program. The Cuomo administration did not respond to requests from the Associated Press for comment. Assemblyman Richard Gottfried, a Manhattan Democrat, and Democratic Sen. Diane Savino of Staten Island have recently held hearings on a bill they are sponsoring called the Compassionate Care Act, which would regulate and tax medical marijuana. It has previously passed in the Assembly but failed to get through the Senate. State Sen. Liz Krueger, another Manhattan Democrat, has been pushing legislation to legalize and tax recreational use of marijuana, arguing that state policy outlawing the drug has been costly in terms of law enforcement resources and the futures of people convicted of crimes. — Associated Press


Westphalia in Prince George’s is bracing for a growth spurt

peace of residents in what otherwise was a quiet, rural part the county. “Central Prince George’s has seen its unfair share of less-desirable development,” said Alex Williams, who has lived in Little Washington since 1985. “The residents have been struggling and battling with curtailing a lot of the dumps and mining operations. It has been a battle to have the area developed in a more positive way.” Fewer than 5,500 people live in Westphalia, an area with fewer than a dozen small neighborhoods, including a mobile home park and Little Washington, one of the county’s oldest African American communities. The past decade has seen the addition of a few subdivisions, including Marlboro Ridge, a planned community of townhouses and single-family homes where some houses sell for over $1 million. Although some residents fought the Westphalia sector plan’s details back in 2007, few disagreed with its goals. Residents say they may not want the traffic that will come with the development, but they prefer the cars to the dump trucks and haulers, and they want the new retail, restaurants and public facilities that are planned along with the 10,000 new homes to be built in the next 15 to 20 years. If all goes as predicted, the residential population of Westphalia will grow to 45,000. “Already you have several pieces coming together,” said Prince George’s County Council member Derrick Leon Davis (D-Mitchellville), who represents the area. “The thing that we are doing is building what will ultimately be the sixth-largest city in the state of Maryland.” Commercial development has begun. Ritchie Station Marketplace opened in 2010, bringing a BJ’s Wholesale Club, a car dealership, a few fast-food restaurants and, most recently, a Bed Bath & Beyond store. Before these shops opened, residents had to drive to Bowie, Largo or other parts of the county for restaurants and shopping. The proposed Westphalia Town Center, a massive mixed-use project expected to dramatically alter the community’s landscape, is moving forward with construction of 348 homes, beginning in the spring. The Walton Group, one of North America’s largest developers, purchased the 479-acre site along Pennsylvania Avenue near Andrews out of foreclosure in February 2012. The first phase includes construction of a grocery store and other retail. The town center is viewed as the core of what Westphalia will become — an urban mixed-use development that is expected to include 5,000 housing units, nearly 6 million


Scotland secession could lead to re-Balkanization of Europe

always punched above its weight diplomatically and militarily. A breakup would have a serious effect on its role in the world — all the more so because Britain’s nuclear-deterrent base is in Scotland, and those advocating separation have pledged to expel it. With the United States and other countries viewing a possible British withdrawal from the European Union as negative, how much more disturbing would they find a breakup of the country itself? The ripple effects would not be limited to the United Kingdom. Other separatist movements in Europe are watching the Scottish debate with undisguised interest. In Spain, more than a million Catalans have turned out in the streets calling for independence. In the Basque Country, separatist violence has waned, but the desire for a separate state remains. In Belgium, whose unity hangs on a thread, Flemish nationalists have made it clear that if Scotland has a free pass to the European Union and NATO, they would be next in line. There could be more breakaways to come. The re-Balkanization of Europe should give many pause. In a fragile, unstable world where problems and solutions are going global, going local would benefit no one. Separatism offers little by way of comfort to worried populations. It promises more strife and dissension. Scotland’s nationalists gained control in the country’s devolved Parliament two years ago. Now they like to say that everything will change but also stay the same. This is not convincing. Secession is secession; a separate state is just that. Consider their claim to continuity. It has been promised that Scotland would keep the same queen, the same single market and regulatory regime (this depends on the outcome of difficult and not necessarily favorable negotiations), the same currency (this presumes a euro-like currency, about which the other nations of the United Kingdom are skeptical or outright hostile) and E.U. membership (the decision process on whether to include a new country would be contentious). Separatists pledge the same TV programming (but with a Scottish authority taking over from the BBC) and membership in NATO (even though their strident anti-nuclear stance would effectively bar them from a nuclear alliance). All these assertions were spelled out in a 670-page blueprint published last month by the Scottish government. Already, it’s clear that serious questions about currency, taxation and pensions will not be answered until the breakup vote — and, indeed, cannot be until negotiations


Tiny military pension cut is a good move

decry its purported unfairness to those who have served at great risk in the past, and they assert that it will harm recruitment and retention in the future. The facts suggest otherwise. For one thing, the cut is an exceedingly modest one on a pension plan that is already far more generous than private-sector equivalents. For someone who enlisted at age 18 and retired as an Army sergeant first class at 38, lifetime retirement pay would decline from $1.734 million to $1.626 million, according to House Budget Committee staff. And that $1.626 million would still be filled out with generous military health coverage and earnings for working in the civilian sector, which most military retirees do. This is not “breaking faith with the promise that was made to these folks that have waged war for this nation for the last 12 years,” as the president of the Military Officers Association of America, Vice Adm. Norbert Ryan, said on the PBS NewsHour Thursday. It is a small shift in resources toward training and equipping those who might have to defend us in the future. Rhetoric notwithstanding, many of the war-fighters who bear the biggest combat burdens get no pension at all; only one-eighth of enlisted personnel serve the 20 years necessary to qualify, according to a 2011 report by the Defense Business Board. As these numbers imply, most recruits didn’t join for the pension. “Surveys consistently report that military retirement has little value in recruitment or retention for at least the first 10 years of service,” the board found. It’s impossible to say whether either the Democratic or Republican proposals to undo the pension trim will pass; their respective “pay-fors” seem equally unacceptable to members of the opposing party, while the White House seems disinclined to revisit the issue. It’s sufficiently depressing that the debate sank to this level so quickly. Like civilian entitlements, military retirement — a $50 billion-plus item in the defense budget — is overdue for deeper reforms, such as adjustment to the all-or-nothing 20-year service requirement. And it does the men and women of our armed forces no dishonor to say so. Read more on this issue from Opinions: Letters: An unfair trim to a promise made to our military members The Post’s View: Pension panic over military benefits Dana Milbank: Finding something to complain about in the budget deal Robert Samuelson: The luxury of muddling through


Pay and benefits should match hardships of military life

Regarding the Dec. 27 Associated Press article, “Veterans aren’t giving up the fight over their benefits”: The growth in military personnel costs that supposedly must be “tamed” is in fact a 10-year catch-up effort enacted by Congress to close a pay gap that had grown to 14 percent. Parity has been achieved, and that growth will level off. Pay and benefits must be competitive because almost three of four recruitment-age Americans cannot qualify for military service, and those left have other career options. If military pay and benefits are the same as those of civilians, there is little incentive to join an organization with the inherent risks of military life. One of the world’s richest nations can afford a military compensation and benefits package that matches the dangers and hardships its defense personnel must endure. Gordon R. Sullivan, Arlington The writer, a retired Army general, is president and chief executive of Association of the United States Army. More Letters to the Editor: The risks and rewards of pot’s new status We can just say no to tempting treats Thank you for leading the way Popularity is not the right metric Laptop inspections counter to Fourth Amendment Gay athletes face legal oppression in Russia


Obituary: Kathy A. McGovern, medical researcher and teacher, dies at 55

Kathy A. McGovern medical researcher, teacher Kathy A. McGovern, a longtime Maryland resident who became a medical researcher and teacher in Arizona, died Dec. 1 at Anne Arundel Medical Center in Annapolis. She was 55. The cause was complications from a stroke she had eight years ago, said her brother, Steven J. McGovern. Kathy Ann McGovern was a District native and grew up in Wheaton. She was a 1975 graduate of the Academy of the Holy Names in Silver Spring, received a bachelor’s degree in dance and a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the University of Maryland in 1978, and received a doctorate in medicinal chemistry from the University of Florida in 1983. In 1990, after post-doctoral work in cell research at Johns Hopkins University, Dr. McGovern became a research assistant professor in cancer biology at the University of Arizona College of Medicine, where she worked for more than a decade. She held two patents related to her work on radiation, according to information provided by her brother. Dr. McGovern later taught third grade in Tucson and served as a court-appointed special advocate for children. She also was an international agility judge in dog competitions. Dr. McGovern returned to Maryland after her stroke and lived most recently at the Bay Ridge Health Care Center in Annapolis. Survivors include three brothers, John H. McGovern III of Olney, Md., Steven J. McGovern of Rock Hall, Md., and Mark R. McGovern of Sykesville, Md. — Emily Langer


Bao Bao makes her media debut

growing up fast. Bao Bao made her public debut Monday as the National Zoo’s giant panda cub met the media for a photo shoot. The cub, who was born August 23, climbed on some rocks, rolled on her back and strolled around the two-room indoor enclosure she shares with mom Mei Xiang (pronounced may- SHONG). Two animal keepers picked up the 17-pound cub several times so that photographers could get a better view. Bao Bao (bow-BOW) didn’t seem at all concerned with the flashes of light or the crowd on the other side of the glass. Animal keeper Laurie Thompson confirmed that Bao Bao is pretty easygoing compared with older brother Tai Shan (tie-SHON), who now lives in China. “Tai Shan was a little feisty,” Thompson said. “She hasn’t been really upset with us. Hopefully that personality will continue.” Mei Xiang joined Bao Bao during the event, but after a quick check on the cub and a few minutes playing with a toy, she moved into the other room to eat a bamboo breakfast. “Bao Bao doesn’t seem to mind that Mom isn’t there all the time,” Thompson said. Friends of the National Zoo members can get a look at Bao Bao beginning Saturday, and the general public will be admitted to the indoor den beginning January 18. Bao Bao sleeps a good portion of the day, so visitors will not see her if she retreats into her den for a nap. “We don’t tell them what they can and cannot do,” said Brandie Smith, who oversees the panda habitat. The cub stays inside, but Smith said zookeepers will open the doors to the outside den in the coming weeks. “The most exciting part is to come,” Smith said. Visitors can look forward to seeing Bao Bao climb trees, which is a typical cub activity. Dad Tian Tian (t-YEN t-YEN) has his own enclosure and won’t be spending any time in the same space with Bao Bao. “Male pandas have no direct role in rearing cubs,” said Marty Dearie, an animal keeper at the zoo. But as Bao Bao spends more time outside, she may notice her dad in the enclosure next door, Dearie said. The cub will live at the National Zoo until she is 4 years old. She will then move to a preserve in western China, where about 1,600 pandas live in the wild. — Christina Barron


‘Super-Earths’ and ‘mini-Neptunes’ abound among planets outside our solar system

as if rounded up from an outlet mall. The findings were presented Monday at the annual meeting of the American Astronomical Society, held at National Harbor. Astronomer Geoff Marcy of the University of California at Berkeley presented data showing that about 85 percent of planets found by NASA’s Kepler space telescope are “mini-Neptunes” or “super-Earths.” Marcy noted that these planets orbit close to their parent stars and that it is possible, with advances in instrument sensitivity, that scientists will discover an abundance of small, rocky planets at more distant orbits. But that’s not what we see so far. Instead, there seems to be a distinct cosmic preference for this intermediate range of planet. These planets also seem to follow a pronounced pattern: Up to about twice the diameter of Earth, they are rocky and dense. But beyond that the average density plummets dramatically, suggesting that the bigger worlds are enveloped in gas. This observation matches the theory of planet formation, in which there’s a limit to how large a purely rocky world can get. Shovel more and more dirt onto a big rocky planet and it doesn’t get any bigger but rather compresses because of gravity, Marcy said. The Scientists have been on a roll in the discovery of planets beyond our solar system — hundreds have been found, and billions inferred through statistical extrapolation. Increasingly, it is obvious that this is a universe with a generous amount of planetary real estate. The next great leap is characterizing these places to learn more about their atmospheres, surfaces, density and so on. Could there be life on such planets? “We know very little about how life got started and in what environments it might flourish,” Marcy said. “We’re really in the dark about the biology aspect of these planets.” Here’s a look back at some of the space telescope’s discoveries. Another astronomer, David Kipping of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, announced a newly discovered planet some 200 light-years away — fairly close in the galactic scheme of things — that is a bit of an anomaly. It has the same mass as Earth but is more than half again as large, suggesting that it is fluffy, with an extensive atmosphere. It’s “nothing like the Earth,” Kipping said. A University of Chicago graduate student in astronomy, Laura Kreidberg, presented data about the atmosphere of “everybody’s favorite super-Earth,” officially named GJ 1214b, which


Beer: Brewers find it can be bright in helles

noms de plume as “golden lager,” “blond lager” or simply “lager.” Fordham Helles, for instance, was temporarily pulled from the market for a rebranding. Look for it to return as Gypsy Lager (draft Jan. 16, six-packs Feb. 3). A relaunch party is set for Feb. 6 at Penn Social, says Casey Hollingsworth, vice president for sales and marketing of Fordham & Dominion Brewing in Dover, Del. The recipe remains the same, with Munich and Vienna specialty malts adding an elegant, almost vanilla-like sweetness. Hollingsworth explains the name switch: “New people getting into craft don’t necessarily know what helles means or how to pronounce it. We wanted a better segue into a conversation about the beer itself.” The word “helles,” incidentally, has no connection to the underworld. It’s simply a form of the German word for “bright.” That hasn’t stopped some American brewers from making sinister puns. Cigar City Brewing in Tampa, for instance, does a version called Hotter Than Helles Lager. And Monocacy Brewing in Frederick has teamed with D.C. taphouse Meridian Pint to make Long Road to Helles, brewed with precisely 666 pounds of grain per 15-barrel batch, according to the brewery’s marketing and sales manager Jim Bauckman. Most of that is standard Pilsener malt, but the formula, hashed out by Monocacy brew master Tom Flores and Meridian Pint’s Sam Fitz and Tim Prendergast, also includes a non-traditional ingredient not allowed under Germany’s purity law: a pinch of unmalted barley, added to beef up the body without kicking up the alcohol. “Over the last year or so, Sam and I have become less enamored with over-the-top styles of beer that seem to be a dime a dozen these days,” says Prendergast, Meridian Pint’s cellarman. “Being hit over the head with bitterness, alcohol and flavor is frankly getting old. What really impresses us are the beers that are low alcohol, quaffable, and yet still seem to pack just as much complexity into a far more subtle package.” Long Road to Helles will premiere Jan. 28 at Meridian Pint in Columbia Heights and will be available only there and at Smoke & Barrel in Adams Morgan. A portion will be siphoned into four pins (5.4-gallon casks) and served in an actively fermenting form (what the Germans call “Kellerbier”) with a few extra hops thrown in. Speaking of extra hops, the line between helles and Pilsener can get a bit blurry. Hoppin’


Book review: ‘Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War’ by Robert M. Gates

national security issue over the past four decades,” Gates writes. He accuses the vice president of poisoning Obama’s relationship with his generals: “I thought Biden was subjecting Obama to Chinese water torture, every day saying, ‘the military can’t be trusted.’ ” Gates admires Obama’s decisiveness and smarts, but accuses him of sending troops to fight and die in support of a strategy in Afghanistan that, according to Gates, the president himself believed would fail. “I never doubted Obama’s support for the troops, only his support for their mission,” Gates writes. He recounts his thoughts during a tense 2011 meeting with Obama and Gen. David H. Petraeus, then in charge of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, in the White House Situation Room: “As I sat there I thought: The president doesn’t trust his commander, can’t stand Karzai, doesn’t believe in his own strategy and doesn’t consider the war to be his. For him, it’s all about getting out.” The critique will infuriate the parents and spouses of troops who were killed trying to execute Obama’s Afghan war strategy. But Gates doesn’t prove his damning accusation and can be maddeningly self-contradictory in his criticism of Obama. He describes the president’s decision to send 33,000 more troops to Afghanistan as courageous and politically unpopular. “Obama overruled the policy and domestic political concerns of his vice president and virtually all the senior White House staff,” Gates writes. Why would the president pursue a politically unpopular strategy that he believed would fail? Gates never attempts to explain the contradiction. Though he decries Obama’s White House staff as the “most centralized and controlling” since the Nixon administration, he offers little substantive criticism of the president’s big decisions on Afghanistan. Hawkish Republicans and some in the military slammed Obama for putting firm limits on the number of troops he was willing to send to Afghanistan and for setting a withdrawal date, saying the timelines and troop caps betrayed a lack of resolve and emboldened the enemy. Gates, however, dismisses this argument, writing, “I believe Obama was right in each of these decisions.” Gates’s problem with the president is less about strategy or substance than about heart. “I myself, our commanders, and our troops had expected more commitment to the cause and more passion for it from him,” Gates writes. He compares Obama unfavorably with Bush, who “had no second thoughts about Iraq, including our decision to


Sochi 2014: Without Lindsey Vonn, U.S. Olympic team in search of stars

the resort town of Sochi, host of the next Winter Olympics. Appearances notwithstanding, most of the Olympic venues have been declared ready. Other sports also are undergoing transitions. Short-track speed skater Apolo Anton Ohno, a staple of the past three U.S. winter teams and in Olympic-related advertisements, is retired, so the skating community will look to long-track racer Shani Davis, who has won gold in the 1,000 meters in each of the past two Games. Women’s figure skating won’t provide a medal favorite as it has in so many past Olympics, and Evan Lysacek, the men’s gold medalist in Vancouver, announced in December that he would be unable to defend his title because of a labrum injury. Even the men’s ice hockey team, which took silver after losing a thrilling, overtime gold-medal game to host Canada in Vancouver, will be revamped, with several first-time faces, including Washington Capitals defenseman John Carlson. Olympic-related programming is a major part of NBC’s 2014 plans. Four years ago, more than 190 million people tuned in for at least part of the coverage of the Vancouver Games, and Steve Burke, the network’s CEO, called the Olympics the “soul” of NBC at a news conference Tuesday in New York. The network had spent months incorporating Vonn into their commercials and promotional plans and now will have to adjust. “There’s plenty of stars out there,” said Mark Lazarus, chairman of NBC Sports Group. “Yes, we wish we still had Lindsey there, but we don’t. That’s the nature of sports. . . . Lots of stars unfortunately get injured and hurt.” Lazarus pointed out that Americans brought home 37 medals from Vancouver and Vonn accounted for two, so there will surely be other athletes to focus on when the Games begin in Sochi. “Stars exist, but stars are more often made and born during the course of an Olympic Games,” added Gary Zenkel, president of NBC Olympics. “It’s really not an issue for us. Look, Lindsey gives you great promotional value, and she’s an amazing athlete and an amazing story. But there are amazing athletes that are going to be in Sochi, many of which we know, some of which we haven’t identified yet.” Vonn, 29, broke the news on her Facebook page early Tuesday morning. “I am devastated to announce that I will not be able to compete in Sochi,” she wrote. “I did everything I possibly


Hubble telescope probes cosmic dawn, sees big stars, faint galaxies

Spitzer, which observes in infrared, and another space telescope, the Chandra X-ray Observatory. This long-exposure Hubble Space Telescope image of massive galaxy cluster Abell 2744 is the deepest ever made of any cluster of galaxies. It shows some of the faintest and youngest galaxies ever detected in space. Abell 2744, located in the constellation Sculptor, appears in the foreground of this image. It contains several hundred galaxies as they looked 3.5 billion years ago. (NASA, ESA, and J. Lotz, M. Mountain, A. Koekemoer, and the HFF Team (STScI)) The new campaign exploits a phenomenon known as gravitational lensing. This is an opportunistic maneuver that draws inspiration from Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity, which describes how gravity curves the fabric of space and time. In the foreground of one new image is a galaxy cluster named Abell 2744, containing hundreds of galaxies. “Foreground” is perhaps an imperfect term given that these galaxies are 3.5 billion light-years away — it has taken 3.5 billion years for the light to reach the Hubble. The gravity of the clustered galaxies creates a lensing effect that magnifies thousands of galaxies that are far in the background — some of them more than 12 billion light-years away, having emitted that light in the very earliest era of galaxy formation. “Light following a path around those clusters is bent,” Jennifer Lotz, an astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute, said at a news conference Tuesday. The initial expansion of the universe, known as the Big Bang, happened about 13.7 billion years ago, a measurement that has become more precise in the past few years with new data from space telescopes. Theorists believe it took about 400 million years for the first stars to ignite and the first galaxies to form. The Hubble can’t see quite that deeply in time and space, but the earliest galaxy-forming epoch is a target for NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, scheduled for launch in 2018. The universe in its youth was going through a blue period, because the stars were blue, just like the young, hot stars we see in the constellation Orion, said Garth Illingworth, professor of astronomy at the University of California at Santa Cruz and one of the scientists involved in the new research. In telescopes, these young galaxies look red, because their light has been stretched out — red-shifted — over billions of years. “In reality, if


Sports Digest

Moore was averaging 13.1 points and 4.5 rebounds a game. Soccer Manchester United slumped to a third consecutive loss for the first time in 13 years when Sunderland added to Manager David Moyes’s troubles by winning the first leg of their League Cup semifinal, 2-1, on Tuesday night. The setback against the Premier League’s last-place team completed a hat trick of 2-1 losses at the start of 2014 for Moyes, in his first season as Alex Ferguson’s successor. United, which won the Premier League by 11 points last season, trails first-place Arsenal by 11 points. The Red Devils can still reach the League Cup final if they overturn the deficit in the second leg of the total-goals series at Old Trafford on Jan 22. . . . Lionel Messi Misc. Breanna Stewart The 6-foot-5 Connecticut sophomore also was player of the year in 2011, and has guided the Huskies to a 15-0 mark this season, averaging 18.1 points, 8.0 rebounds and 2.8 blocks. Stewart helped the Huskies win the national title as a freshman and guided the FIBA U19 World Championship team to a gold medal last summer. . . . Nancy Kerrigan The network said that the two-time figure skating medalist will contribute to figure skating coverage, along with the “Today” show and “Access Hollywood.” She will not be doing color commentary on the competitions. . . . Nani Roma Roma, driving a Mini, finished 1 minute 7 seconds ahead of Krzysztof Holowczyc of Poland and 3:19 in front of Leeroy Poulter of South Africa. Roma leads the overall standings by 9:06 over Orlando Terranova of Argentina. . . . A disciplinary panel of Jamaica’s anti-doping agency has started hearings into a positive test for a banned substance by sprinter Sherone Simpson. Testifying before a three-member panel of the Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission, Simpson insisted she was “no cheat.” The Olympic 400 relay gold and silver medalist, along with former 100-meter world-record holder Asafa Powell, tested positive for the stimulant oxilofrone in June. She said a supplement provided by newly-hired trainer Christopher Xuereb was responsible for a positive test. . . . Undefeated welterweight Dusty Hernandez-Harrison of the District will take on “Terrible” Tim Witherspoon Jr. on Jan. 31 in West Orange, N.J. The fight will be televised on ESPN2’s “Friday Night Fights,” making it the national television debut for Hernandez-Harrison (19-0, 11 KOs). — From news servicesand staff reports


Montgomery County Animal Watch

These were among the cases received recently by the Montgomery County Animal Services Division. For information, call 240-773-5054. That number provides recorded information on such topics as the Montgomery County Animal Shelter hours and location, adoption and licensing procedures, rabies clinics and low-cost neutering. Empty shell of a neighbor Dog attacks, kills duck No-kill shelter has adoptable cats: Cats and kittens will be available for adoption through the Animal Welfare League of Montgomery County shelter at the following location. For information, call 301-740-2511 or visit www.awlmc.org. Gaithersburg Animal Welfare League of Montgomery County no-kill shelter12 Park Ave.Noon to 3 p.m. Saturday Montgomery County Humane Society Olney Damascus — Compiled by Lisa M. Bolton


Sebastian L. Suriani, hospital administrator

Sebastian L. Suriani, who served as the executive vice president of the Southern Maryland Hospital Center in Clinton from 1979 until his retirement in 2004, died Dec. 13 at his home in Vienna, Va. He was 82. The cause was cancer, said his granddaughter Annette Suriani. Sebastian Louis Suriani was born in the Bronx. He was a 1952 graduate of Fordham University in New York and in 1970 received a master’s degree of business administration in hospital administration from Wagner College in Staten Island. He settled in the Washington area in 1977. He was an Army veteran of the Korean War. Mr. Suriani served for 35 years on the finance committee of St. Mark Catholic Church in Vienna and was a board of trustees member of the Southern Maryland Hospital Center. He was also a former president of Fordham University’s College of Business Administration Alumni Association and past secretary and executive vice president of the university’s alumni federation. Survivors include his wife of 59 years, Mary Galbo Suriani of Vienna; three children, Peter Suriani of Ortley Beach, N.J., and Annette Suriani and Rosellen DelPrincipe, both of Fairfax County; two brothers; and four grandchildren. — Megan McDonough


IBM creates business unit for Watson to tap supercomputer’s technology

IBM on Thursday announced plans to create a new unit dedicated to Watson, the supercomputer that beat human contestants on Jeopardy! in 2011. Called the IBM Watson Group, the new division will promote commercial use of Watson’s software, which mines large volumes of data to answer questions and improves by learning. It will be based in New York City. IBM, which reported revenue last quarter of $23.7 billion, plans to invest more than $1 billion into the new division, primarily for research and development. The investment also includes about $100 million for venture investments into start-ups and businesses building apps powered by Watson’s technology. IBM has been encouraging outside developers to use Watson in their own apps; in November, the company launched the Watson Developers Cloud, which gives developers access to Watson’s application programming interface, software kits and educational materials. IBM senior vice president Mike Rhodin, who previously led the company’s software solutions division, will lead the IBM Watson Group. “IBM has transformed Watson from a quiz-show winner, into a commercial cognitive computing breakthrough that is helping businesses engage customers, healthcare organizations personalize patient care, and entrepreneurs build businesses,” Rhodin said in a statement. The New York headquarters will serve as an incubator for businesses using Watson’s technology and a client center, according to IBM. The group will eventually employ about 2,000 people. The company is also launching three new Watson-powered services: Watson Discovery Advisor, an aid for industry researchers that sorts through search results and suggests connections in content, Watson Analytics, an analytics service helping those without analytics training process, and visually represent, data trends, and Watson Explorer, a service helping data scientists uncover data patterns.


Prisoner release threatens U.S.-Afghan ties

a pact that would permit U.S. troops to remain in Afghanistan beyond this year. During a visit to Kabul last week, Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) said the release “would have an unbelievably negative impact” on U.S.-Afghan relations and would prompt “a backlash in the U.S. Congress.” U.S. military officials said at the time that the decision would fly in the face of a 12-year effort to bolster the Afghan legal system. Last March, the United States transferred control of the Parwan prison next to Bagram air base — with its roughly 3,000 detainees — to the Afghan government, a move intended to show confidence in the Afghan judiciary. Since then, the Afghans have released at least 560 detainees without trial. “Release of these individuals by the Afghan Review Board undermines Afghan rule of law, because the Afghan people do not get their day in court,” said Col. David Lapan, a spokesman for the U.S.-led International Security Assistance Force. Karzai officials said the Afghan president was not concerned with the Bilateral Security Agreement when he chose to release the 72 prisoners. “They are two separate issues,” Faizi said. “The BSA is one issue. But the Afghans detained illegally is another issue. It’s not something we can allow to happen.” Faizi said the American evidence that Karzai deemed insufficient included fingerprints on Kalashnikov rifles and confessions and accusations by other detainees. “In the countryside, in almost every house you can find a Kalashnikov,” he said. “It’s not enough to keep someone in detention.” The 72 prisoners slated for release were part of a group of 88. The other 16 will face trial in the coming weeks. Collectively, U.S. officials said, those 88 men killed 60 members of the U.S.-led coalition. They added that many detainees previously released by the Afghans have returned to the battlefield. The prisoner release was announced just as news of the war’s most recent civilian casualty began to circulate. A 4-year-old boy was shot and killed by U.S. Marines on an operation in southern Helmand province, according to Omar Zowak, a spokesman for the provincial government. ISAF acknowledged the casualty but declined to provide further details. “We have always stood against civilian casualties and called for an absolute end to U.S. military operation at homes and Afghan villages,” Faizi said. “We condemn the killing of this innocent child.” Sayed Salahuddin and Mohammad Sharif contributed to this report.


Seven game-changers who will transform the Washington scene in 2014

NE. Modeled after Asian night markets, Maketto will provide a rare showcase for a trio of young homegrown entrepreneurs, including Erik Bruner-Yang of renowned Taiwanese-style noodle shop Toki Underground and Chris Vigilante of Vigilante Coffee Co. Curating Maketto’s fashion side falls to someone perhaps less well-known. Will Sharp, 33, is the designer behind the successful D.C.-born streetwear line Durkl. Sharp, who launched Durkl in 2005, was inspired by the clothes he wore growing up in Kensington. “My hand-me-down style was American workwear,” he says, as well as labels such as Levi’s. “For me, that’s what guys wear. We’re taking those cues. It’s the best made, best designed.” That, as well as accessories and shoes from other lines, is what Sharp will bring to Maketto. It also marks a homecoming for Durkl. After establishing the label as one of the District’s most successful fashion enterprises, Sharp decamped for Los Angeles two years ago when the brand’s studios in the Goldleaf industrial space closed. What to watch for in 2014: Off-duty haunts: — L.R. BEHIND THE BAMBOO Bao Bao (Brian Taylor/for The Washington Post) BAO BAO Celebrity-wise, Washington is a three-horse town: the president, whoever is playing quarterback for the Redskins and the pandas at the National Zoo. The first two will inevitably receive criticism from the media, but the pandas are untouchable, cuddly as they are. Panda cubs, especially so. Bao Bao, the National Zoo’s newest black-and-white bundle of bamboo-eating joy, will be introduced to the public, and your child’s “awwwww!” zone, on Jan. 18. Bao Bao has big shoes to fill as the heir to Tai Shan (né Butterstick), as a faith object for young zoogoers and as a cash-cow whose presence could boost the cash-strapped zoo’s finances. What to watch for in 2014: Off-duty haunt: — Alex Baldinger ON THE MALL Lonnie G. Bunch (Brian Taylor/for The Washington Post) LONNIE G. BUNCH With just over a year before the National Museum of African American History and Culture opens in its high-profile spot at 14th Street and Constitution Avenue NW, the museum’s founding director, Lonnie G. Bunch, 61, is feeling the pulse-quickening effect of his looming deadline. He’s crisscrossing the nation, raising the last bits of cash for exhibitions, programming and the film festival he wants the museum to host. Last year, Oprah Winfrey donated $12 million, ensuring that the venue’s 350-seat theater will bear her name. But among Bunch’s


Norman N. Tolkan, furniture merchant

Norman N. Tolkan, who co-owned and operated the Door Store, a chain of low-cost furniture stores, died Dec. 8 at his home in Washington. He was 87. The cause was complications from pneumonia, said a nephew, Peter Greenwald. In 1954, Mr. Tolkan and his wife opened the company’s flagship location on M Street NW in Georgetown. At its peak in the late 1980s, the chain had 60 stores in nine states and generated about $50 million in revenue, according to a Washington Post article about the business. The stores stocked furniture and furniture parts that could be assembled into tables, sofas and counters by the buyer. The Door Store closed in 1996 because of competition from furniture retailers such as Crate & Barrel, Pottery Barn and Ikea, The Post reported. Norman Nathaniel Tolkan was born in Brooklyn. He was a 1954 graduate of Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and spoke a number of languages, among them Italian and Arabic. After World War II, Mr. Tolkan spent time in Europe and the Middle East working for the State Department. For a time, he was an administrator with the Marshall Plan for postwar reconstruction of Europe. His wife of 40 years, Constance Heilbrunn Tolkan, died in 1992. Survivors include a son, Victor Tolkan of Washington; a sister; and three grandchildren. — Megan McDonough