On-demand booze delivery? No way, officials say.

Welcome to CapBiz A.M., your morning primer on business news with a focus on Washington. Bummer for beer buyers: Soccer, soccer everywhere: Lessons from a founder: Taking over: Scandal solver: Filling their slots: Assembling higher pay: NYSE nabs giant: Spending slump: On Wall Street Stocks slid on Thursday after news that consumers were tightening their purse strings. (Get the latest updates here) What’s on tap today Consumer sentiment report (9:55 a.m.) Farm prices report (3:00 p.m.) Changing the Face of Philanthropy Summit (9:00 a.m.) Help: Follow: Extra:


Soccer is a sign of ‘national moral decay,’ says Ann Coulter. Unrelated: teenagers are into drinking rosé

Fans gathered Thursday afternoon at Dupont Circle to watch the U.S. play Germany. (Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images) – Ann Coulter’s latest target is, of course, Americans’ growing love of soccer. In a column Wednesday, she outlined nine reasons why “any growing interest in soccer can only be a sign of the nation’s moral decay.” – A black bear literally crashed a child’s birthday party in Juneau, Ala., last weekend. He crashed through the roof of the house where the party was happening, and then he ate some cupcakes. – In local bear news, you can carry Bao Bao, and some of the other cutest animals at the National Zoo, around in your pocket with you. They’re the stars of Metro’s new commemorative SmarTrip cards, which celebrate the zoo’s 125th anniversary. Did you see this? Goose gave cyclist 'the evil eye' before vicious attack http://t.co/FtrDhyBVfC http://t.co/IAKDaVOkg3 – This woman in Ottawa was attacked by a mother goose while riding her bike earlier this month. Google Cardboard gives you virtual reality-esque interactions with some of its services. – Looking to get a taste of life in virtual reality? Well, thanks to a new app released by Google, you don’t need much more than a large pizza box and an Android phone to do so. – A 12-year-old Florida boy is accused of taking a school bus for a joyride Tuesday morning in Panama City Beach, ending up 14 miles away at a Wal-Mart. – A stern e-mail is probably not going to do much to discourage whomever is going to the bathroom in the hallways at an Environmental Protection Agency office in Denver. – Teenagers looking to drink illegally are turning to something a lot classier than the past few generations: Rosé. Read More It may not be a bad thing that the Wizards are without a first-round pick Extinct birds land at ‘Once There Were Billions’ at the National Museum of Natural History ‘Buying Naked’ on TLC is way more informative than it sounds


This new mapping technology will show whether global warming could drown your town

surges and storm-related flooding. But a few years ago, after the North Carolina Coastal Resources Commission produced the 39-inch forecast, the lidar elevation maps were combined with detailed information on houses and other structures in flood plains to produce a stark forecast of expected property damage from sea-level rise. The entire project was managed by John Dorman, director of the North Carolina office of Geospatial and Technology Management. Dorman did not respond to phone calls and email requests to discuss the program. Dave Maune, the nation's premier lidar expert whose firm has been working with North Carolina, called Dorman a "visionary" who "has been very innovative in letting individual homeowners know the threats to their house." And Dorman's maps are poised to get even more precise, Maune said: North Carolina is now upgrading its lidar maps to quality level 2, the standard recently adopted by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and other federal agencies. "John Dorman is probably in the best position of letting the people of North Carolina see, on a house-by-house basis, what the impact of sea-level rise is going to be," said Maune, a senior project manager at Dewberry in Virginia. "Other states are working on doing things like that, but they don’t have the toolbox that John Dorman has." Other places are catching up, though. Over the past decade, much of the U.S. coast has been mapped with some version of lidar and the results are available on the Digital Coast portal of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). It takes some sophisticated tinkering to overlay those maps with sea-level rise projections. But Climate Central, an independent organization of scientists and journalists, is in the process of performing that task and publicizing the results. Ben Strauss, director of Climate Central's program on sea-level rise, said the organization's Surging Seas Web site lets users look at potential property damage all the way up to six feet of sea-level rise. Climate Central's maps for Maryland, Virginia and the District are due out later this summer. Other maps of sea-level rise "You will probably see a bit more of the conservative backlash as the situation comes clearer and more specifics are proposed," said Duke University marine policy professor Michael Orbach. "That will probably go on for a decade or so. And then people will say, 'Oh, jeez, you're right. We really do have to do something about this.'"


Obama expands use of standardized tests for special-needs and American Indian students

and dormitories. Currently, the BIE directly operates 57 schools and dormitories and tribes operate the remaining 126 schools and dormitories through grants or contracts with the BIE. During the 2013-2014 school year, BIE-funded schools served approximately 48,000 individual K-12 American Indian and Alaska Native students and residential boarders. Approximately 3,800 teachers, professional staff, principals, and school administrators work within the 57 BIE-operated schools. In addition, approximately twice that number work within the 126 tribally-operated schools…. The BIE faces unique and urgent challenges in providing a high-quality education. These challenges include: difficulty attracting effective teachers to BIE-funded schools (which are most often located in remote locations), the current Interior regulatory requirement that BIE-funded schools comply with the (23 different) states’ academic standards in which they are located, resource constraints, and organizational and budgetary fragmentation. A lack of consistent leadership — evidenced by the BIE’s 33 directors since 1979 — and strategic planning have also limited the BIE’s ability to improve its services. Furthermore, over the years, federal American Indian education has been contracted or granted to tribes in approximately two-thirds of the BIE school system, but the BIE’s management structure and budget have not evolved to match the BIE’s long-term trajectory of increased tribal control over the daily operation of schools. Currently, the Department is funding approximately 67 percent of the need for contract support costs for tribally-controlled schools. Each of these challenges has contributed to poor outcomes for BIE students. But will grant competitions and standardized test-based evaluations of teachers actually help? That’s what the administration said it wants to do: Initiate efforts that are very similar to the Race to the Top contest for federal K-12 education funding that required state competitors to promise to make specific Duncan-approved reforms, including linking teacher evaluation to test scores. Does the administration really think that controversial evaluations will entice more teachers to schools that are already facing teacher shortages? For years assessment experts have been warning about misusing standardized tests. They have said that a popular way of linking student test scores to teacher evaluations, known as “value-added measures” or VAM, is not valid or reliable. In fact, the American Statistical Association, the largest organization in the United States representing statisticians and related professionals, said in an April report that value-added scores “do not directly measure potential teacher contributions toward other student outcomes” and that they “typically measure correlation, not causation,” noting


Invasion of the celebrity chefs: where do Emeril, Robert Irvine dine in DC?

Hey, isn’t that… Superchef Emeril Lagasse , dining out at Brabo Tasting Room in Old Town Thursday night? Lagasse (though he’s one of those first-name-only guys, so let’s just drop the formalities and go with Emeril) visited the Marine Corps Exchange in Quantico Thursday and is visiting Fort Belvoir on Friday, his rep said, as part of the New Orleans restaurateur’s longstanding work with troops. And Mr. Bam! wasn’t the only foodie star sampling our area’s fine establishments that evening: a tipster tells us Food Network’s “Restaurant Impossible” host Robert Irvine and “Rewrapped” head judge Marc Summers chowed down on the steak frites (what else?), along with some members of the Food Network crew, at the Medium Rare outpost on Barracks Row. We’re told that Restaurant Impossible, which features Irvine helping to save eateries that are in dire need of a helping hand, is filming at a Falls Church establishment. Though we can imagine it might be a little nerve-wracking to serve patrons who critique restaurants for a living (sometimes savagely!), Summers and Irvine put the Medium Rare staff at ease, gabbing and posing for pics. Honored to have Robert and Marc with us tonight .. http://t.co/oB6vghozV6


The banking industry wants to be just like Amazon

of your car loan payments...and then present you the opportunity to get a cheaper rate," Consumers--whether they are buying a Kindle or opening a checking account--want companies to make products relevant to their individual needs, Nguyen said. There is something to be said for getting an email of feminist reading suggestions from Amazon, after you've finished a Bell Hooks book on your Kindle. The banking industry is betting that the same sort of tailor-made approach could work for mortgages and credit cards too. The trick will be to do it without appearing creepy or intrusive. "We’re chasing after the Amazon experience," Nguyen said. "Amazon keeps moving to improve customer service. And we're going to invest more" to replicate that kind of service. Nguyen said for banks to be successful at data-driven customer service, they would need to drill down into each client profile. The financial needs of a 28 year-old customer making $100,000 a year is not the same as a 63 year old with the same salary. Sure, they're both prime candidates for investment products, but would require a different mix of stocks and bonds. Or they may need different types of home loans. "The things that we offer you won't change--credit cards, home loans, investments and what not--the way I engage you, make it relevant for you will," Nguyen said. This sort of individualized approach runs counter to the traditional banking model that relies heavily on a high volume of transactions. Who has the time to figure out what each customer needs when dealing with millions of accounts? But the entrance of Google, Wal-Mart and even Amazon into the payments space is putting pressure on banks to find new ways to reach and keep customers. Yet if banks use customer data solely for the purpose of selling more products, they may miss an opportunity to develop meaningful relationships, said Jennifer Tescher, president and chief executive of the Center for Financial Services Innovation. "Banks could make a huge impact by using data to help consumers optimize their cash flow in real time," she said. "Using data to predict a life event that's going to require a high-margin banking product is not the place to start." She noted that PNC Bank and KeyBank track their customers' transactions and create a financial calendar that lists when bills are due or money scheduled for deposit, helping people manage their finances. "Technology should


Why World Cup soccer players hit, kick and bite each other

dirty tackles. Players who perceived that their coach encouraged this behavior and favored the best players also reported cheating. Interestingly, these players also thought it was right to do so: that is, they did not have reservations about the acceptability of diving or dirty tackling. Repeat offenders We observe the same players cheating over and over again – Suarez, for example, is on a third charge of biting an opponent and he’s trying to play down its significance. Many are shocked at the apparent lack of guilt or shame on his part, which are the emotions that typically deter people from immoral behavior. How do these villains on the pitch act the way they do without feeling bad? Behavior is justified through moral disengagement, which is a set of mechanisms people use to justify cheating or other forms of inappropriate behavior. For example, players may displace responsibility for their actions to their coach, by saying that the coach told them to do it; they may blame players of the other team by claiming that they provoked them; they may say that they did it to help their team; they could downplay the consequences of their actions for others; or they could say that “everybody does it.” These justifications enable soccer players to minimize negative emotions that are normally experienced when one cheats. In several studies we have found that players who report high moral disengagement also report high antisocial behavior. Changing behavior The answer to better on-field morals lies on the players’ immediate social environment – that is, their teammates and manager. Coaches especially play a pivotal role in player behavior. The way they respond when a player cheats sends a message to the player of whether this behavior is acceptable. Suarez received strong backing from his coach, teammates and much of the Uruguayan press. FIFA’s decision to give Suarez a four month ban, curtailing his involvement in Uruguay’s World Cup campaign, sends the message that this behavior is unacceptable. But this is not the first time Suarez has acted this way and been punished. Given that this behavior is recurring, a more severe punishment would have been more likely to act as a deterrent for future antisocial behavior. Clearly though he would also benefit from a social environment that doesn’t encourage this kind of behavior as well. This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.


There’s something strange going on in Britain’s pub scene

A traditional West London pub. (Photo by Carrie Barbash) British pub culture is legendary. But there’s something unusual going on in Britain’s bar scene. Two things actually: Pubs continue to disappear and a new nightlife trend has emerged: booze-free bars. In Britain. One in five British pubs has shut its doors since the 2008 financial crisis, “leaving some small communities confronting unthinkable: life without a ‘local,’” as the New York Times put it. Times are so desperate that a new law was passed to rescue the remaining pubs from real estate developers eager build properties on their hallowed ground. To save pubs from demolition, the law lets community groups petition to have them designated an “asset of community value” — and band together to buy the pubs themselves. Fallout from the financial crisis and spiking real estate prices aren’t the only reasons the British pub requires protected species status. Patrons are turned off by anti-smoking laws and tempted by cheaper supermarket prices to drink at home. There’s also the fact that Brits are drinking about 23 percent less beer than a decade ago, according to the British Beer and Pub Association, and are generally more “abstemious,” as the Economist put it in an essay entitled “Booze-free bars: Shaken not slurred”: In 2001 the average household consumed 1.5 litres of alcoholic drinks a week; by 2011, the latest year for which figures are available, that had fallen to 1.1 litres. The young in particular seem to be giving up boozing: over the same period, the number of 18- to 24-year-old men admitting to drinking heavily at least once a week fell from 37% to 22%; women became less sozzled, too. It seems an unlikely trend for a country whose hard-drinking vacationers earned an entry in Urban Dictionary, which defines a “distressed British national” as a “completely drunk British tourist who has lost his passport and or his keys to his hotel while on holiday.” Coined by the government’s British Foreign Office, the term has become synonymous with Brits behaving badly abroad, mostly in cities such as Prague and Bratislava, popular binge-drinking destinations for stag and hen parties. At one point, Parliament even considered imposing an £84.50 (about $143.00) “call-out charge” on drunken Brits needing late-night rescue by the British embassy. Still, “alcohol is omnipresent,” Catherine Salway, who runs a “gastrobar” in West London, told the Guardian in March. “You can’t even


There’s a Hyundai that outsmarts speed cameras — but you can’t buy it

Before the dew was dry on the dawn of a new century, the speed cameras came. At first, the insidious rise of these unfeeling machines was barely perceptible. They were few and far between, They blended in with lampposts. But streetwise D.C. natives knew where the cameras lurked. They hissed warnings at one another. “Don’t you dare blow through a yellow light on Connecticut Ave. north of Chevy Chase Circle!” “Slow your roll at the intersection of New York Ave. and Bladensburg Rd.!” Then, without warning — like bedbugs or bacteria — speed cameras were everywhere. In the first eight months of the last fiscal year, D.C.’s ten most profitable cameras generated $29.5 million. Today, there is one three blocks from the president’s house. Now there is a new weapon in the war against the speed camera. That weapon: The new Hyundai Genesis. “It knows there is a speed camera there, it knows where the speed camera is and it will adopt the correct speed,” said Hyundai spokesman Guido Schenken at a preview event, according to drive.com.au. More: “It will beep 800 meters before a camera and show the legal speed, and it will beep at you if your speed is over that,” Schenken said. Eight hundred meters? That’s 2624.67 feet — more than enough runway to go from 50 mph to 25 mph and avoid a $100 ticket. “This is a serious product,” said Edward Lee, former Hyundai Australia chief executive and now head of international sales, drive.com.au reported. The problem: The version of the car that will be available for sale in the United States doesn’t have the anti-speed-camera feature. “There is no plan to introduce a Genesis, or any other model with a speed camera detection feature in the U.S.,” said Bill Thomas, the general manager of public relations for Hyundai stateside, wrote in an e-mail to The Washington Post. Well — why not? Thomas wouldn’t say. According to Schenken — who denied rumors that the model would be available in Australia — “We believe this feature is only available for Korea domestic market.” E-mails sent to company representatives in South Korea seeking confirmation were not returned. The Web site caradvice.com.au, which reviewed the car on a test drive in Seoul, gave the feature a largely positive review while pointing out that “there are basically no mobile speed cameras in South Korea.” Other GPS products alert to


Is this the summer of bears? A Washington Post special investigation

that the bear took the hive into the grass to eat the honey and the bees,” she explained. Oh, bother. 6. JUNE 10: PRESIDENT OBAMA SHOUTS, ‘THE BEAR IS LOOSE!’ President Obama has made a habit in recent weeks of breaking "out of the cage" of the White House. And Twitter loves it. Here are some of the reactions. He gets it 5. JUNE 19: BEAR VISITS NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH, GIVEN MEDICAL CARE BY WHICH WE MEAN GIVEN A BEAR TRANQUILIZER This bear, which you might remember from that time everyone talked about it on Twitter, was taken away to live a happy and fulfilling life at McKee-Beshers Wildlife Management Area in Montgomery County, according to us. 4. MAY 8: AMAZING BACK-SCRATCHING BEAR IS JUST OUT THERE, EATING DOUGHNUTS, LIVING LIFE Raw: Sneaky Bear Gets Back Rub, Snags Doughnut We have nothing to add. Thanks, AP. (And also Post intern Jessica Contrera, who brought this to our attention.) 3. JUNE 19: CHICAGO BEARS RELEASE TRAINING CAMP SCHEDULE Oops, sorry. Our bad. Wrong bears. 2. MAY 31: WORLD’S CHILLEST BEAR FINDS HAMMOCK IN FLORIDA, TAKES A LITTLE ME TIME So this happened in late May, which is technically late spring, but we’ve already broken our “summers only” rule, and this was super. Again, via CNN: 1. JUNE 25: BEAR LITERALLY CRASHES ALASKA BIRTHDAY PARTY, HAS A LOVELY TIME (UNTIL HE IS POSSIBLY SHOT. WE DON’T KNOW. IT’S HARD TO SAY) We would encourage you to read this Juneau Empire story in full. Here’s a teaser: The dazed bear quickly recovered from its fall. It then calmly wandered over to the living room table, replete with a spread of birthday treats, and helped itself to some lemon blueberry and peanut butter cupcakes. “The bear walks over and puts its paws up on the table and starts licking his birthday cupcakes, and I’m just like, you’ve got to be kidding me,” said Bishop, 33, who was watching the spectacle from the kitchen behind closed glass doors. The bear enjoyed the red and green cupcake frosting while Bishop opened a door on the other side of the room that led to the backyard. The couple then yelled and “shooed” at the bear until it casually ambled out the door. We can’t wait to find out what our bear friends have in store for us next. Time to step up your game, Bao Bao.


The fine line between sugar-coating and panic on climate change

brought under control tomorrow) to as much as two meters. Better forecasts are in the works, said Rear Adm. Kevin R. Slates, chief of the Navy's energy and environmental readiness division. For example, a multitude of federal agencies are putting together predictions for the North Atlantic Coast for 2018, 2068, 2100 and 2118. The report, called the North Atlantic Comprehensive Study, arose as part of the federal response to Hurricane Sandy. It is due to be delivered to Congress in January. While the study will provide a specific estimate for sea-level rise as far south as Virginia, it will not look at storm frequency and severity, landfall trends and other climate matters, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Web site, because the "the state of science precludes detailed evaluations." In the meantime, a top Pentagon official on the panel offered what he called a common-sense approach to planning amid the uncertainty: Do what North Carolina did and just look at the forecast for 30 years out. Because through about 2050, he said, there's not a lot of disagreement among scientists about how much the waters will rise. “The forecast for 30 years out is about a foot. So if you’re building buildings, you’re thinking of that near-term thing,” said John Conger, acting deputy undersecretary for installations and environment for the Department of Defense. Of course, “if you want your building to last longer than 30 years,” Conger added, then you need to look at the longer-term forecasts. Such forecasts promise to become increasingly important in the distribution of federal funds. Conger, who is also in charge of base closings, noted that sea-level rise -- and other effects of climate change -- are already affecting mission readiness. As the Pentagon considers whether to close facilities, he said, "there are a couple of bases that run out of water in the West in 20 years. What do you do when a base runs out of water? Truck it in like you do in Afghanistan?" And Kaine raised the prospect of requiring recipients of federal highway funds to take climate change into account in their planning. "Does it make you nervous if we put that in as a factor?" Kaine asked the second panel, composed mainly of state and local officials. "We want to be honest and not sugar-coat the challenge, but we don’t want to create a sense of panic."


Poll shows mixed response to military health care as scrutiny mounts

the scandals the Department of Veterans Affairs system was experiencing. “It’s clearly within the context of what he’s watching at the VA,” Rear Adm. John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary, said at the time. “He wants to know what we don’t know. He doesn’t want to wait for similar allegations to appear with the active military healthcare system.” The Pentagon already was facing a variety of troubling allegations, however. Hagel’s announcement came as the chief of the main military hospital at Fort Bragg, N.C., Army Col. Steven J. Brewster, was relieved of command and three other hospital administrators were suspended due to a loss of “trust and confidence.” Two patients — a 24-year-old service member and a 29-year-old woman — died there at Womack Army Medical Center within days, and the hospital had just received a bad inspection report. An investigative report in The New York Times further outlined the problems in the Pentagon’s hospitals over the weekend. The Times reports that from 2011 to 2013, medical personnel recorded 239 unexpected deaths in Pentagon hospitals, but forwarded information on only 100 of them to the Pentagon’s patient-safety center for additional scrutiny. The reports raise the question: Are veterans happy with the medical care they receive? A poll conducted by The Washington Post and the Kaiser Family Foundation examined the issue. A key chart: The veterans poll, featured extensively in The Post’s “After the Wars” series, used a random sampling of 819 active-duty, reserve, National Guard and retired service members who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. It was conducted from Aug. 1, 2013, to Dec. 15, 2013. The poll shows that the vast majority of veterans believe their physical health care needs are being met at least “somewhat well” — on par with the general public in separate surveys. But while 56 percent of all Americans report that their physical health care needs are being met “very well,” only 41 percent of those who served in Iraq or Afghanistan say they are. Similarly, a high percentage of both Iraq and Afghanistan veterans and the general public believe their mental health needs are being met at least “somewhat well.” The numbers are more striking when people were asked if their mental health-care needs were being met “very well.” Service members were 18 percentage points less likely to say yes than the overall general public, with a 61 percent to 43 percent difference.


The coywolf, a coyote-wolf hybrid prowling the region, is on today’s cover

Residents say they’ve spotted coyote-wolf hybrids in Rock Creek Park. Experts on the subject confirm that’s no tall tale, with sightings as close as Quantico, Va., and Montgomery County, Md. Park officials, however, deny any evidence of the animal in Rock Creek Park. Read the story.


Reports reveal ongoing cyberattacks on U.S. and European energy sector

Both the New York Times and the Financial Times quoted experts saying that Russia was the likely origin. The attacks include phishing scams in which malicious links were sent via mass e-mails. In others, the hackers infected Web sites their targets visited often, tricking them into downloading malware that gave hackers access to their computers. The attacks are hard to detect because the hackers used encryption to cover their tracks. Symantec did not identify the companies that were attacked, but said they were located in the United States, Spain, France, Italy, Germany, Turkey and Poland. According to Symantec: The Dragonfly group is well resourced, with a range of malware tools at its disposal and is capable of launching attacks through a number of different vectors. Its most ambitious attack campaign saw it compromise a number of industrial control system (ICS) equipment providers, infecting their software with a remote access-type Trojan. This caused companies to install the malware when downloading software updates for computers running ICS equipment. These infections not only gave the attackers a beachhead in the targeted organizations’ networks, but also gave them the means to mount sabotage operations against infected ICS computers. Finnish security firm F-Secure revealed the group has stepped up their game in the past six months, breaking into the networks of oil and energy firms. When these companies updated software that, for example, manages wind turbines and natural gas plants, they downloaded infected versions, letting hackers access their systems remotely. The infected software was downloaded at least 250 times. Symantec compared the attacks to Stuxnet, a computer worm designed by the United States and Israel designed to sabotage Iran’s nuclear program. “Dragonfly appears to have a much broader focus with espionage and persistent access as its current objective with sabotage as an optional capability if required,” the firm wrote. There was no evidence the Russian group intended to inflict damage such as blowing up an oil rig or power facility, Kevin Haley, the director of security response at Symantec, told the New York Times. The motive, he suggested, was to learn more about energy companies’ operations, strategic plans and technology. “But the potential for sabotage is there,” he said. Adam Meyers, head of threat intelligence for the security firm CrowdStrike, told the Times that recently the hackers have been targeting companies in the financial sector, especially the Web sites of firms that invest in energy.


A call to get military officers with Iraq experience more involved now

Then-Army Brig. Gen. H.R. McMaster addresses cadets at the National Military Academy of Afghanistan, in Kabul, on Dec. 7, 2011. He is one of the U.S. military’s general officers credited with affecting positive change in Iraq during the U.S. war there. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Tamika Dillard) The U.S. military last week selected Army Maj. Gen. Dana Pittard to lead U.S. operations in Iraq as security there continues to deteriorate. As the deputy commanding general of the Army’s force based in nearby Kuwait, he was seen as a logical choice; Pittard had previously deployed to Iraq both as a brigade commander in the early part of the war and as a brigadier general who oversaw U.S. adviser teams there in 2006 and 2007. There’s a call for more involvement by some of the Iraq War’s most famous U.S. generals, though. U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter (R.-Calif.) sent a letter to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Monday, saying he should bring up for re-assignment a number of officers who had key roles in Iraq in 2007 and 2008, as the effects of the U.S. surge and the Anbar Awakening began to take hold and violence there waned. Hunter’s suggestion followed a fiery call Sen. John McCain (R.-Ariz.) made June 13 for President Obama to fire his entire national security team and consult with retired Gen. David Petraeus, the architect of the surge. Hunter says Petraeus should serve as a liaison to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. But he also focuses on lower levels of command, highlighting individuals who aren’t nearly as famous as Petraeus or Marine Gen. James Mattis, who retired last year as perhaps the most popular general of his generation. The others he named include: Marine Gen. John Kelly Army Maj. Gen. H.R. McMaster Army Maj. Gen. Sean MacFarland Marine Col. Dale Alford — Marine Col. William Jurney Other officers that Hunter named, like Col. Mike Shupp and Col. Joseph L’Etoile, have since retired. Nevertheless, Hunter includes them on a list of “old hands” that should be called back to help. He also leaves off some strong options, like Marine Maj. Gen. David Berger, who was a regimental commander in Iraq in 2005 and has since served as a division commander in Afghanistan. He was nominated to pin on his third star and lead I Marine Expeditionary Force, of Camp Pendleton, Calif., in May.


Meet Kenyan runners Henry Wanyoike and Joseph Kibunja at the Folklife Festival

at their speed to motivate them,” says Wanyoike, who is happy to answer every question thrown at him, whether it’s about his training strategies, his choice of footwear or what it’s like to run blind. Kenya has produced an endless list of running champions, but Wanyoike stands out: He lost his vision overnight after suffering a stroke in 1995 at the age of 20. He’d been a runner since childhood, when he had to dash 3 miles barefoot each way to school, and went on to win local competitions. After the stroke, however, Wanyoike abandoned his athletic ambitions. Three years later, a rehabilitation center introduced him to the idea of running with a sighted partner, and Wanyoike began to get back on track. He persuaded his longtime pal Kibunja to serve as his guide, and the two started to learn how to train while holding a short string between them and to communicate even when out of breath. Kibunja, who wasn’t a runner, worried he wouldn’t be able to keep up with the demands of the job: “If I’m not comfortable, I can’t guide.” But their teamwork paid off. Soon, they were bringing home gold medals from the Paralympics and championships all over the world with their impressive times — close to 15 minutes in the 5,000 meter, 30 minutes in the 10,000 meter and 2½ hours in the marathon. That’s even speedier than it sounds, Wanyoike notes, because they have to slow down at turns and water stops so they don’t crash and fall down, and overtaking other runners is a much trickier proposition as a duo. They motivate each other to meet up at 6 a.m. every day for practice in their hometown in Kenya 20 kilometers from Nairobi and 2,000 meters above sea level. Depending on which event they’re preparing for, they exercise as many as three times a day, not only running, but also lifting weights at the gym and cross-training. (“We use a tandem bicycle,” Wanyoike says.) The rest of the time, they’re working through the Henry Wanyoike Foundation (henrywanyoikefoundation.org) to speak at schools to inspire a new generation of athletes and change perceptions of disability in Kenya. “To help that community, we go the extra mile,” Kibunja says. Hearing about all of these accomplishments was enough to help Kaufman go another mile as well — the fun run group he joined set out that


How today’s technology is rapidly catching up to Star Trek

that can identify, within minutes, a range of illnesses, including AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, and cancer. Such devices will also be ubiquitous and immediately identify a broad range of disease markers. Unlike the Star Trek tricorder, which is used occasionally, they will constantly be monitoring our bodies. When you look at the advances that have already happened in 3D printing, you begin to realize that this is the making of the Star Trek replicator. 3D printers can create objects in plastic, metal, glass, titanium, human cells, and yes, even chocolate from a design. Today’s 3D printers are painfully slow, and it takes many hours to print a breadbox-sized object; but in a decade, they will become as common, fast, and inexpensive as our laser document printers. In about two decades, we will be 3D printing our dinner as well as our electronics. We already have Star Trek– and Jetsons-like video-chat capabilities. Rather than require the large, clunky monitors that we saw George Jetson and Captain Kathryn Janeway use, ours use free Facetime and Skype apps that run on smartphones and laptops. Holodeck-type video conferences have also been possible for several years. I spoke via hologram, in 2011, to a bunch of entrepreneurs in Uruguay using technology that a small company there, Holograam, had developed. Remember the holographic message from Princess Leia to Obi-Wan Kenobi, in Star Wars? That’s how my beamed image looked. Start-ups such as Oculus, which Facebook recently purchased, are developing virtual-reality goggles that simulate the real world. Others companies are developing three-dimensional projectors that beam images onto screens that make a person look as though physically present. These technologies are in their infancy, but watch them grow and add touch and smell capabilities. We will be meeting each other through virtual reality, and it will feel as if we are really there. The universal translator that Captain Kirk used to talk to alien species is also in development. Google Translate already does a great job of translating pages of text from one human language to another. And earlier this year, Microsoft demonstrated a real-time, voice-based, language interpreter that works on Skype. I don’t expect any progress on alien languages until we encounter some alien species, but a commercially available virtual real-time translator (a virtual interpreter) for human languages isn’t so far away. Scientists recently announced that they had made breakthroughs in quantum teleportation. They were able to show


be meeting each other through virtual reality, and it will feel as if we are really there. The universal translator that Captain Kirk used to talk to alien species is also in development. Google Translate already does a great job of translating pages of text from one human language to another. And earlier this year, Microsoft demonstrated a real-time, voice-based, language interpreter that works on Skype. I don’t expect any progress on alien languages until we encounter some alien species, but a commercially available virtual real-time translator (a virtual interpreter) for human languages isn’t so far away. Scientists recently announced that they had made breakthroughs in quantum teleportation. They were able to show a promise of quantum information transmission — showing the duplication in the spin state of an electron between one place and another, through quantum tunneling — without transmitting matter or energy through the space intervening. This led to hopes that we might one day see a Star Trek-like transporter that can beam our atoms from one place to another. I am not waiting for this one, however, as there is no way that I will willingly allow my atoms to be disintegrated in one location and reassembled in another. I would worry about a software bug or a hardware crash. We saw these too in Star Trek. I’ll just stick to the self-driving cars that will become commercially available by the end of this decade. The most exciting Star Trek marvel of all — the Starship Enterprise — may also be on its way. In discussion at Fox Studios in March 2012, Elon Musk told me that he planned to retire on Mars. He said he was inspired by Star Trek and planned to build a spacecraft like the Starship Enterprise to take him there. I really thought he was joking — or had had too much to drink. But after that, his company Space Exploration Technologies Corp., or SpaceX, successfully docked a spacecraft it had built, called the Dragon, with the International Space Station and returned with cargo. On Dec. 3, 2013, SpaceX launched a commercial geostationary satellite using Falcon rockets. SpaceX says it is planning a Dragon/Falcon 9 flight in 2015, which will have a fully certified, human-rated, escape system useable during launch. I’ll bet that Musk does develop a version 1 of the Enterprise. And he may well be our first real-life Captain Kirk.


Morning Links: Legal pot likely to be rare, expensive in Washington state

- In Washington state, you can expect legal pot to be expensive and hard to find. - In Philadelphia, there’s another asset forfeiture outrage, as a widow loses her home and vehicle because of her son’s low-level drug dealing. - Justice Department lawyers are already hard at work coming up with strategies police can use to get around the recent Supreme Court ruling on cell phone searches. - A Texas father reports to prison for falling behind on child support, even though his employer admits it was due to a clerical error beyond the man’s control, and he promptly made up the payments, plus extra. It’s hard to see how his kids are better off for putting their dad in a box. - The firm the San Diego Police Department has hired to investigate allegations of misconduct has ties to the former San Diego police chiefs the firm is being hired to investigate. - An interesting case in which DNA was apparently transferred by paramedics, falsely implicating an innocent man.


Daniel Boulud: On fine dining and why he left Washington

at the first meeting. He treated me, like, ‘Who is this guy?’ I’m like, ‘Okay, thank you very much. This is it. I’m not staying with you here.’” That’s when Boulud turned to his mentor, Jean-Louis Palladin, for help. Palladin was already a legend among his peers and the dining public. As a Michelin-starred chef back in Condom, France, and creator of Washington’s destination restaurant, Jean-Louis at the Waterate, Palladin was plugged into a network of chefs and general managers across the country. Palladin helped place Boulud as executive sous-chef at the Polo Lounge in New York’s Westbury Hotel. “I told Jean-Louis . . .’I didn’t mind [being] a sous chef somewhere, but it had to be the right place,'” Boulud said. “I didn’t see any opportunity coming in Washington.” The anecdote was no doubt the most concussive bomb that Boulud dropped during the 90-minute interview at The Washington Post. Could the chef have been as successful in Washington as he is New York, where he operates eight restaurants, including the three-star Daniel (not to mention dining outposts in such cities as Miami, Las Vegas, Toronto, London and Singapore)? Who knows, but Boulud he said his intention was to remain in Washington after his Embassy Row gig was finished. He apparently liked it here during the days of Palladin, Yannick Cam, Gerard Cabrol and other talented French chefs in the city. Below are edited excerpts from the interview with Boulud. On D.C. dining during Boulud’s day “I remember when I was here in D.C., there were a lot of French restaurants. I think D.C. has always been very, very vibrant for food. Like Boston in a way. Boston and D.C. were really the two cities that were the most active with their local chefs and their local food scene. Obviously in D.C., there’s been a little bit more corporate approach to dining for a long time, and now it’s kind of like growing a little bit more personalized in a way.” On why it took him so long to open a restaurant in Washington: “I had on many occasions over the years the opportunity to open something here, and I never felt right about it. Then CityCenter came, and because we have a restaurant in New York with [AvalonBay Communities, briefly a partner in the downtown D.C. development]. AvalonBay is the real estate developer, and our restaurant in New York,


Some of the thousands of state laws taking effect today, part two

More new state laws taking effect Tuesday: — Iowa: Residents diagnosed with epilepsy will be able to seek treatment with cannabidiol, a non-psychoactive medicine derived from marijuana. E-cigarette regulations take effect today, and state and local officials can no longer use drones to enforce traffic laws. Another new law allows gift certificates to be used indefinitely, and protective orders can now extend to household pets. One more requires the Iowa National Guard to begin filing annual reports with the governor and the legislature detailing incidents of sexual assault. — Kansas: Any local measures placing new restrictions on guns are void as of Tuesday, under a new law that makes state rules supersede local ordinances. Gun owners will be able to openly carry in a number of public places. Meanwhile, pharmacists will be allowed to work in conjunction with physicians to improve patient access to care. — Kentucky: Kentucky residents have to wait an extra two weeks for about 100 new state laws to take effect. As of July 15, anyone who receives an emergency protective order will be able to receive a temporary concealed-carry permit without normal safety training. Businesses that collect personal information about their consumers will be required to let those consumers know if their data has been breached. And nurses with advanced licenses will be able to prescribe low-level medications without a physician’s help. General Electric is a big winner in Kentucky, too: The company is getting a $15 million tax break in exchange for a plant in Louisville. — Maryland: Sales of 190-proof grain alcohol are prohibited starting Tuesday, a measure lawmakers hope will stem sexual assaults on college campuses. The earned income tax credit will increase by half a percentage point, saving about 250,000 Marylanders money on their state taxes. And the first step toward a $10.10 minimum wage takes effect Tuesday, though most businesses won’t have to begin paying higher wages until January. — Minnesota: E-cigarettes will be banned in day care centers, hospitals and other health care facilities. Dealers who sell used cell phones must keep detailed records of their sales. Anyone who seeks help for a heroin user will be immune from drug possession charges, and the University of Minnesota will get more than $1.1 million to study bees and pesticides that impact them. — Mississippi: Abortions after 20 weeks are illegal under a new law taking effect Tuesday, with exceptions for


Updates: D.C. region watches the U.S. vs. Belgium World Cup game

http://t.co/PDeMz2q4rm “I just felt like I wanted to show my true colors for the USA. I figured, why not just put it on my skin rather than wear a shirt?” Saadat said. With the game scoreless at halftime, Saadat predicted a 2-1 victory for the U.S. “My shower will be patriotic colors as well. I’m killing two birds with one stone,” he said. 4:43 p.m. Where to watch A big screen and air-conditioning? The Newseum and the National Portrait Gallery seem like good choices right now. @Newseum on the big screen #WhereAreYouWatching http://t.co/RInHutn2Bo Whoa! It's PACKED in the air-conditioned atrium of the Portrait Gallery in DC for the #USAvsBEL game. http://t.co/S6mSfORjXj Outside of DC, there are big crowds at National Harbor and One Loudoun too. Come watch the World Cup at the National Harbor!! #GreatView http://t.co/cRAcidBqGi 4:31 p.m. Selling to the crowd Wesley Robinson reports that at least 15 vendors have set up shop at Freedom Plaza, offering t-shirts, hats, American flags, food, and water bottles to the hot, thirsty crowd. Jessie Watkings, 49, sells US T-shirts at 20 dollars, shades at 10 #FreedomPlaza http://t.co/tryVKzjIU9 4:15 p.m. View from the Wilson Building Mike DeBonis snapped a neat photo from the home of the District’s government, which sponsored today’s outdoor screening of the game. Here's what Freedom Plaza looks like from the Wilson Building #worldcup #usa http://t.co/PGY7wATlqk 4:12 p.m. Feels like 100 degrees out there Capital Weather Gang reports that it’s 93 degrees in D.C. right now, and a nicer 78 degrees in Salvador, Brazil. 93 in DC at 4pm, feels like 100. Similar humidity in Salvador, Brazil, but air temp much more agreeable 78. Go USA! But the heat hasn’t stopped fans from crowding into Freedom Plaza. Patriotism overflows, even in the heat and in a suit #USAvsBEL http://t.co/LJeeZctr4J These people in Freedom Plaza are DEDICATED. #belvsusa http://t.co/2472oO9T9R 4:05 p.m. One brave Belgium fan in Freedom Plaza The game is underway! Kiratiana Freelon met one Belgium fan amid the hordes of American supporters in Freedom Plaza. VIDEO: Will we prove this Belgium fan wrong? According to him, Belgium is the best in the world. #USAvsBEL ... https://t.co/ISU8qiUgjj 3:52 p.m.: Preparing for the game World Cup fans around the region have assembled in front of screens large and small, ready to watch the U.S. men’s team take on Belgium at 4 p.m. While dozens of bars, restaurants, and businesses are luring


Japan flexes its muscles, shifts its defense policy with Pentagon support

allow for the defense of Japanese allies in a concept known as “collective self-defense,” a move away from the internal self-defense model Tokyo has embraced for decades. One man even set himself on fire in protest. The move by Abe isn’t a surprise, however. The Japanese military has gradually been expanding its capabilities for years, training with U.S.troops in a variety of disciplines. In March, Japanese officials even indicated they wanted to establish a new 3,000-man amphibious force modeled after the U.S. Marine Corps to defend its far-flung islands. Abe has stressed that the policy change is not designed to draw Japan into unnecessary wars. Rather, he said, it is necessary to protect Japan’s interests. A policeman, right, observes as anti-war protesters hold placards and shout slogans against the government of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during a rally in front of Abe’s official residence in Tokyo on Tuesday. The Japanese government will press ahead with divisive plans to loosen restrictions on its military despite widespread public anger. (AFP PHOTO/Yoshikazu TSUNOYOSHIKAZU TSUNO/AFP/Getty Images) Japan’s military growth has been fueled by their concerns over the even broader expansion of China’s military. China announced in March that its 2014 military budget would be boosted 12.2 percent to $131.6 billion, stoking fears again about Beijing’s long-term plans. As noted in this Checkpoint post, China also is locked in a long-time argument with Japan over who owns a string of islands in the East China Sea. In November, China unexpectedly and unilaterally established an air defense identification zone in the region, a show of strength that rattled Japan and other countries in the region. More recently, Japanese and Chinese leaders traded barbs about an incident in which aircraft from the two countries flew uncomfortably close in the ADIZ area. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said in a statement Tuesday that he welcomes Japan’s new defense policy. It will enable their military to engage in a wider range of operations, making the U.S.-Japanese alliance more effective, he said. “This decision is an important step for Japan as it seeks to make a greater contribution to regional and global peace and security,” he said. “The new policy also complements our ongoing efforts to modernize our alliance through the revision of our bilateral guidelines for defense cooperation.” Japan’s defense minister, Itsunori Onodera, will be visiting Washington next week, Hagel said. The issue is certain to come up then.


Reston permits a deer hunt in a residential neighborhood, update on Fairfax City project

the broader perspective of overall deer management.” He also felt that a wider discussion about deer had yet to occur in Reston, originally designed as an ecologically friendly community. With a population of 60,000 though, it is the second most populous area in Northern Virginia, after Alexandria, and may have a harder taking the approach begun by Fairfax City. Anthony DeNicola returns Deer 10 to Van Dyck Park in Fairfax City after it had been sterilized and tagged. (Tom Jackman/The Washington Post) In Fairfax City, population 23,000, the city council banned hunting. But they became concerned about a seemingly growing deer population, so last winter they hired White Buffalo Inc., run by wildlife biologist Anthony J. DeNicola, to capture and sterilize does, and also to do a “deer census,” both by observation and the use of 12 fixed cameras in the trees around the 2.2-square-mile city. DeNicola rode through the city in late January and early February, shooting tranquilizer darts into does, hauling them up to the police garage and then having them surgically sterilized by local veterinarians. They were tagged and returned to where they were found. DeNicola prepared a report in May, which is below, outlining his findings. Between the cameras and the darting, DeNicola estimated there were 91 deer in Fairfax City, about 60 of which are female. The density would be 5.6 deer per square kilometer. (By comparison, a similar set of cameras in Vienna found about 149 deer, or 13.1 per square kilometer.) DeNicola sterilized 18, or about 30 percent of the does. The cost of the project was subsidized by private donors from Humane Deer Management and Enid Feinberg’s Wildlife Rescue in Maryland, where a similar program is showing great success at reducing the deer population. DeNicola said his efforts were hampered because he couldn’t use searchlights on private property and he was prohibited from using bait to attract deer. Both of those hurdles have been removed and DeNicola hopes that when he returns next winter, he will be able to sterilize 90 percent of the female deer population. A more detailed look at deer sterilization programs and their overall impact on deer population, by the Humane Society of the United States, is here. DeNicola was also approved this week to conduct the same program in East Hampton, N.Y., on Long Island. And here is DeNicola’s first report on deer sterilization in Fairfax City:


The United States of painkillers: Which states prescribe the most?

Painkiller prescription map. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) The South, it seems, has a painkiller problem. Or maybe it’s just a pain problem. Whatever it is, the region leads the nation in per capita prescriptions, according to a new CDC report. Alabama, Tennessee, West Virginia, Kentucky and Oklahoma were home to the highest per capita painkiller prescriptions, according to 2012 data. New Jersey, Minnesota, New York, California and Hawaii had the lowest rates. But the South wasn’t alone its regional superiority. Not to be left out, the Northeast claims the states, especially Maine and New Hampshire, with the most per person prescriptions for long-acting, high-dosage painkillers. Health-care providers prescribed the equivalent of a bottle per adult in 2012—a total of 259 million painkiller prescriptions. An average of 46 people die every day due to prescription overdose. Higher prescription rates are associated with higher overdose rates, the CDC found. And the data suggest that geography influences how health-care providers prescribe. Painkiller prescription infographic. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) Part of the problem is that providers have differing approaches to writing prescriptions, according to the report. Another cause may be so-called “pill mills,” for-profit clinics that prescribe lots of painkillers, often in large amounts to individuals who don’t need them. Policy can play a role in addressing the problem, though. The federal government can help states implement their own overdose prevention programs, boost access to mental health and substance abuse treatment and give health-care providers better data and guidance. States can improve prescription monitoring, implement policies to cut back on oversubscribing pain clinics, better evaluate their own data and programs, and boost substance abuse treatment programs. Some states have already seen big decreases in kinds of painkiller abuse and deaths thanks to such policies, including New York, Florida and Tennessee, which the CDC highlighted below. Painkiller reduction successes. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)


Wonkbook: America is having transportation headaches — just in time for your travels

supply, more generally. Other health care reads: Health-care exchanges are not properly ensuring applicants’ eligibility, probe finds. Amy Goldstein in The Washington Post. The crazy way our government buys billions of dollars in drugs. John Tozzi in Bloomberg Businessweek. Painkiller prescription rates vary widely among states. Kim Painter in USA Today. NIH expands action on "medical mystery" diseases. Lauran Neergaard in the Associated Press. Graduation interlude: 4. How the U.S. is cracking down on financial violations abroad Is the BNP fine a sign of tougher U.S. action abroad? IRS to shine light on citizens' foreign accounts, investments. The policy implications of the wave of 'tax inversions.' Good luck getting Congress to agree on tax fixes for inversions. Other economic/financial reads: U.S. factory, auto sales drive growth outlook. Lucia Mutikani in Reuters. The re-explosion of U.S. house prices is over. Peter Coy in Bloomberg Businessweek. Housing: Small economic sector with big economic impact. Neil Irwin in The New York Times. Animals interlude: Wonkblog roundup Oklahoma is winning its Medicaid standoff with the feds — for now. Jason Millman. Conservatives say the U.S. has done enough to create equality for blacks. Young liberals agree. Emily Badger. First ladies of finance Yellen and Lagarde are set to face off on economic policy. Ylan Q. Mui. 60 years of growing polarization at the Supreme Court. Christopher Ingraham. The great American Hispanic wealth gap. Roberto A. Ferdman. Benjamin Button counties: Where the median age is getting younger. Christopher Ingraham. The data on America’s annual tradition: injuring ourselves with fireworks. Steven Overly. These are the companies with the most to lose from the Ex-Im Bank battle. Rebecca Robbins. How bad policy is making the Great Recession’s damage permanent. Matt O'Brien. Why Harris v. Quinn isn’t as bad for workers as it sounds. Lydia DePillis. Et Cetera Male-female pay gap remains entrenched at the White House. Zachary A. Goldfarb in The Washington Post. Kerry warns U.S. will deport undocumented Central American children. Patricia Zengerle in Reuters. Independent panel: NSA surveillance program's targeting of foreigners is lawful. Ellen Nakashima in The Washington Post. More executive actions on the way. Reuters. Congress quietly deletes key disclosure of free trips by lawmakers, sparking outrage. Shane Goldmacher in National Journal. Sex offense statistics show U.S. college reports are rising. Nick Anderson in The Washington Post. Got tips, additions, or comments? Wonkbook is produced with help from Michelle Williams and Ryan McCarthy


I escaped Venezuela for North America. Here’s how.

Artes in Caracas, Venezuela. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd) Almost a month into my Floridian interlude, on April 15, at 3 a.m., I walked outside my sister´s condo to see the total lunar eclipse. The moon, passing through the Earth’s shadow, was an astonishing salmon circle, and a red Mars shone very close. I was alone with all that beauty and my own constellation of questions: Had Canada forgotten about us? Could I find a job in Miami, or would I have to return to the battlefield that we still call Venezuela? The idea of returning made my heart race. In just the short time I had been away, dozens more journalists had been forced to quit or pushed to virtual bankruptcy because they didn’t want to be controlled by the regime. And everyday life was getting worse, too: My mother in Valencia has had to close her eyes when she takes a shower because the water is so polluted that it makes her cry. The eclipse turned out to be a good omen. That very afternoon, Canada’s immigration agency sent a brief e-mail. Our skilled immigrant visas were ready. On May 8, we landed in Montreal. I am no longer a relatively well-known journalist, but an immigrant. As a resident of Canada, I feel like Princess Leia watching her home planet Alderaan explode from a window of the Death Star. I wish I could send some Millenium Falcon to rescue all my people. But I have my own family and future to worry about, too; the challenge of finding a decent job, for starters. For most of us, exile is an opportunity, not a guarantee. I am no longer a relatively well-known journalist, but an immigrant. I have to reinvent myself; nobody here cares that I was a writer in another country, in another language, in another saga. It’s up to us to fit into this old, welcoming city and connect to its narratives, even as we keep an eye out the window, on Alderaan’s remains. My wife and I take our baby to the parks and streets of Montreal every afternoon. French-speaking grandmas grab her cheeks and applaud when she pays them with a smile. Our daughter is enjoying the gulls of the St. Lawrence River, the summer green on the maple trees, the slow sunsets. She’s learning to walk. This piece was written in partnership with Zocalo Public Square.


Can there be an ethical Middle East political science?

A Syrian refugee boy sits outside his tent at a small Syrian refugee camp in Ketermaya southeast of Beirut, Lebanon, on March 14. (Hussein Malla/AP) What are the ethical obligations of an academic studying today’s Middle East? Have the Arab uprisings changed how scholars must weigh ethical and moral concerns in their research? How should academics incorporate their ethical commitments into their social scientific research agendas or policy advice? How should they respond when faced with severe moral atrocities such as the human costs of the war in Syria? Is there an obligation to take sides? These are not the usual questions that are supposed to occupy the professional life of political scientists, who spend more time contemplating research design, replicability and statistical significance. But of course, they do. Ethical decisions underlie virtually everything we do. The challenge of incorporating ethics into academic political science was a major theme of this May’s annual conference of the Project on Middle East Political Science. The thoughts of 10 first-rate scholars on the subject have now been published as a symposium in the POMEPS Studies series (available for free download here). It’s easy to see why many academics would prefer to avoid engaging with ethics. It isn’t just the ethos of dispassionate science which pervades today’s political science, although that certainly does create professional disincentives. A lot of what passes as “ethical” discourse in the foreign policy debate, and especially about the Middle East, is more like political grandstanding or glorified identity politics. The first 73,000 op-eds and political speeches thundering on about moral clarity are enough to turn anyone off of the language of morality. So is the all-too-frequent tendency to use ethical language as thinly veiled identity politics, in which one side is right and the other side is evil, and all who disagree must be shamed and condemned. Many political scientists are simply turned off by the misuse and abuse of the language of morality in public discourse. The popular misuse of ethical language doesn’t allow us to turn away from the ethical questions, though. Virtually everything which political scientists study, from Islamist politics to democracy promotion to interventions in Iraq or Syria to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, is deeply saturated with ethical dilemmas and moral commitments. As Jillian Schwedler notes, “It is hard to find an issue related to the Middle East or Islamic world that isn’t saturated in tense


Hating on big banks and big business could be the next big thing in Washington

into the Democratic tent. George W. Bush bailed out the banks. Obama surrounded himself with advisers trusting of Wall Street and avoided any efforts to radically reshape the industry, though he did sign legislation into law aimed at making the financial system better regulated, and thus safer. The meager economic recovery for average Americans -- in contrast to record corporate profits and the booming stock market -- has left many Americans deeply skeptical of, and angry at, those political choices. Skepticism of big banks and corporations fueled support for David Brat, who ousted House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) in the GOP primary last month, and it has propelled the career of Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). Seventy-eight percent of Americans — including 71 percent of “steadfast conservatives” and 88 percent of conservative-leaning young Americans — say too much power is concentrated in the hands of a few large companies, according to a major new poll by the Pew Research Center last month. If lawmakers were to move on legislation targeting banks or big companies, the details would still most likely divide them. But a few issues could bring both sides together. New limits on the biggest Wall Street banks certainly could be in the offing. And it sure seems like companies that depend on Ex-Im should expect a radically different future. Thinking bigger, perhaps animus toward big business will unify lawmaker enough to craft a deal to overhaul the corporate tax code, which is full of deductions and loopholes won by corporations employing lobbyists. Or it could spur new action to loosen the current patent system, which arguably stifles innovation. Banks and big companies would have a long list of arguments against measures like these. Hit Wall Street too hard, and the United States could lose an important competitive advantage: the most versatile capital markets in the world. Kill Ex-Im, and hundreds of small businesses could lose out. Ending loopholes sounds great in the abstract, but there are workers at every company who benefit from a tax break. And if you do reduce patent protections, you can be sure that some companies won’t invest as much in research and development. Some of these are good arguments against the economic populism building in Washington today. But corporate America and Wall Street should be on notice: They are facing a newly emerging threat -- from the White House to the tea party.


On the ethics of Facebook experiments

This January 30, 2014 file photo taken in Washington,DC, shows the splash page for the social media internet site Facebook. AFP PHOTO / Karen BLEIERKAREN BLEIER/AFP/Getty Images Joshua Tucker: The following is a guest post from University of North Carolina political scientist Timothy J. Ryan. ***** Facebook found itself in the hot seat once again this week following the publication of a study that experimentally manipulated the content of more than 600,000 users’ newsfeeds. The study finds that increasing positive content in users’ newsfeeds makes them post more positive content themselves. Likewise, increasing the amount of negative content a user sees increases the number of negative posts. The new study raised ethical concerns. (See here, here, here, and here.) In particular, commentators have objected that: - Facebook did not, except perhaps via an oblique reference in its terms of service, obtain informed consent from the users who were in the study - Its experiment might have caused users to feel emotional distress. Some of the commentary has been alarmist. Writing in the New York Times, for instance, Jaron Lanier suggests that the Facebook study might have put someone’s suicidal leanings over the brink. He also equates the research to a pharmaceutical firm sneaking a drug into consumers’ drinks—a misleading analogy, as I explain below. These are important concerns. With more and more tools to conduct experiments on a mass scale, it is worth having a conversation about how to protect subjects’ welfare. However, because the backlash has the potential to raise new obstacles to human subjects research, I wish to highlight three considerations that have been overlooked in the conversation about what Facebook did. First, businesses conduct randomized tests similar to Facebook’s all the time. In the industry, it’s called A/B testing and is done with an eye toward increasing traffic, customer satisfaction or some other outcome. Google makes a popular application that lets almost anyone with a Web site do it. Facebook’s test is receiving scrutiny because of a seemingly noble additional step: It made the results of its proprietary research public. As University of Michigan economist Justin Wolfers tweeted Wednesday, this heightened scrutiny for academic, compared to purely commercial research, creates a perverse incentive that pushes against publishing results for public benefit. Second, there is a perception that all human subjects research requires informed consent, and that the university boards that approved the study were remiss not to


A hotter, drier Middle East climate could threaten stability

Syrian refugees collect water at the Zaatari refugee camp in the Jordanian city of Mafraq, near the border with Syria, last month. (Muhammad Hamed/Reuters) In the United States, the question of whether the Earth’s climate is changing continues to be hotly debated in mainstream and popular media. However, a growing body of scientific research demonstrates that certain areas of the globe are experiencing significantly lower levels of precipitation, higher temperatures and more frequent droughts than in centuries past. One of these regions is the Middle East. According to a recent study by scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) the Mediterranean basin has been experiencing significantly drier conditions since the 1970s. Moreover, current climatological research predicts that the Levant region of the Middle East will be one of the areas most negatively affected by rising air temperatures and shifting precipitation patterns during the 21st century. What implications does a drier and hotter Middle East hold for politics in the region? Does climate change have the potential to transform political dynamics in this geo-strategic area of the world? To find answers to these questions, I have spent the past several years exploring the political implications of increasing water scarcity in the Middle East and have recently published a set of preliminary findings in the journal Middle East Policy. In short, Arab countries face three key challenges in a world of more volatile precipitation events and higher temperatures: enforcing the sustainable use of groundwater, satisfying growing urban demand for water and an increased potential for social and political instability. Arab governments have manipulated water resources for political ends since the achievement of independence. For example, Jordan’s government actively promoted rural development during the 1950s and 1960s to secure political loyalty and support from rural residents, particularly tribal leaders. A key part of this strategy was providing subsidized diesel fuel to power pumps extracting water from wells. Low energy costs, along with official efforts to promote local demand for domestically grown crops, led Jordanian farmers to maximize crop yields by pumping huge amounts of water from the ground. By the 1980s, growing demand for and dwindling supplies of water led the Jordanian government to impose rationing on urban residents, limiting the delivery of water to one or two days a week. Despite these efforts to promote conservation, the extraction of groundwater for both agricultural and municipal use continued to grow. In


How Obama can rein in Wall Street without going through Congress

requires banks to spin off their trading arms and prevents them from trading for their own benefit. It took three years for regulators to complete the rule as government infighting and intense lobbying by banks slowed the process. But it got done. Now, it's a matter of enforcement. This is where the president could insist that regulators follow the rule to the letter of the law, without concessions to investment banks. In anticipation of the rule, many large banks, such as JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs, have shuttered or spun off their proprietary trading desks, as well as their private-equity arms and hedge funds. Trading revenue declined 16 percent in the first quarter compared to the same time a year ago, according to a recent report from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Banks have generally reduced their exposure to derivatives, but don't let that fool you, said Dennis Kelleher, who heads the watchdog group Better Markets. "Wall Street took down the proprietary trading sign and just moved the business into different parts of the bank," he said. "They are trying to get away with prop trading by calling it something else and hoping the regulators won't enforce the law." Resolution authority Dodd-Frank gave the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. the authority to wind down failed firms and instituted so-called living wills, a blueprint for how banks could be resolved. Regulators can require banks to restructure or streamline their operations if their wills aren't up to snuff. "There hasn't been very much transparency into that process," Stanley said. "It seems regulators are focusing on ways to try to finance the banks during a resolution, but we haven't seen, at least in a publicly transparent way, much focus on simplifying the banks activities so that they're less complex and easier to manage if they fail." Reform advocates say now is the time for regulators to take steps to reduce the complexity of banks, with moves such as simplifying the labyrinth of subsidiaries. On Wednesday, Obama said one of his key focuses over the last couple of years has been "to make sure that we've got a circuit breaker so that if certain banks are making bad decisions, they are less likely to bring down the entire system." It seems like we've got that circuit breaker in place -- but need regulators to make sure Wall Street doesn't fiddle with it.


California: Land of infectious disease?

A boy with measles circa 1963. It was his third day suffering from the rash. (Courtesy of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) California, land of sun and surf, also is unfortunately having a terrible run of infectious disease. After a difficult flu season that resulted in more than 300 deaths of people under 65, the state is now grappling with a huge whooping cough epidemic, a large measles outbreak and, most recently, a localized outbreak of tuberculosis in Sacramento. There appears to be no connection between the four public health threats, but that must be little solace to officials working to contain them. The most widespread is the outbreak of whooping cough (also known as pertussis), a bacterial infection that has spread to 4,558 people and killed three infants, according to this June 27 report in the San Jose Mercury News. The disease is preventable via vaccine given to infants. Pregnant women can protect themselves and convey some immunity to their babies by getting immunized during the third trimester of pregnancy, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The last epidemic in California was in 2010, and officials say the disease has a three- to five-year cycle. But a contributing factor is people who refuse to vaccinate themselves or their children. That is also an issue in the state's measles outbreak, which, the CDC reported in May, had grown to include 60 people. State officials say 25 of them were unvaccinated, 19 by choice, and there were 18 more whose vaccination status was unknown. Measles was declared eradicated in the United States in 2000, but the CDC said in May that the outbreak had set a record nationwide for any year since then, with 288 cases. Public health officials admit they are alarmed and are urging U.S. residents to make sure they are immunized, especially if they are traveling to places such as the Philippines, where measles is widespread. On Tuesday, health officials in Sacramento, California's capital, reported that four more students at a high school had tested positive for the active type of tuberculosis, bringing the total to five since a student tested positive in February. Authorities have screened about 500 people, turning up another four with active TB and about 120 with the latent type. Only one of the five students was contagious, said Olivia Kasirye, the Sacramento County public health officer. Kasirye said


Town Square | New apartments to rise on D.C.’s 14th Street NW

U Street Metro station, will have 12,500 square feet of retail space. Residents should be able to move into the building in the fall of 2015. For more information and a timeline for the project, visit www.madisoninvestments.net/our_projects_elysium14.php. D.C. ranks as a ‘Top 10 Foodie City’ Given the volume of new restaurants that open each week and the number of eateries in the city and its suburbs developed by “Top Chef” participants, it’s no surprise that D.C. made it onto the “Top 10 Foodie City” list by Livability.com. What is surprising is that cities like New York, San Francisco and Chicago didn’t make the list. In fact, the No. 1 city is New Haven, Conn., while D.C. is No. 10. In order to generate the list, the editors of the site looked at: • • • • • • • • D.C.’s presence on the list results from its support of local farmers, regional cuisine and opportunities for residents to try new food experiences. West Coast developer of homes for 55 and older to enter Virginia market Shea Homes Trilogy at Lake Frederick The homes at Trilogy at Lake Frederick will be built in two collections and each model will have a first-floor master bedroom suite. The Piedmont Collection homes have 1,678 to 2,057 square feet with two or three bedrooms, two baths and a two-car garage, while the Blue Ridge Collection homes have 2,151 to 2,628 square feet with two to five bedrooms, 2.5 to three baths and a three-car garage. Prices have yet to be determined. The “Living Vision” Studio at Trilogy at Lake Frederick is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Visit www.trilogylife.com/communities/virginia/lakefrederick/ or call 800-685-6494 for more information. Bid on property from your couch Auction.com While homebuyers are already accustomed to searching for property on their mobile devices, the Auction.com app includes both residential and commercial properties and lets users complete the entire transaction from a tablet. Users tap on an interactive map of North America and then search based on criteria such as location, property type, opening bid, size, age and financing options. They can set up a personal dashboard for immediate auction updates and bidding. The free app is available at Apple’s app store or at www.auction.com/ipad. Michele Lerner is a freelance writer. To pass on a tip or news item, contact us at realestate@washpost.com and put “Town Square” in the subject line.


How college remediation rates are distorted — and why (update)

Burris: Valerie Strauss’ recent posting of Carol Burris’ piece in, “How college remediation rates are distorted — and why” is another example of a Common Core critic who would rather use logical fallacies to defend the status quo than confront real issues. There are serious problems in the American system of education. No Common Core supporter I know believes or has stated that the standards are the silver bullet to fix the problems, as Burris simplistically implies. We do know, however, that the skills and knowledge gap between what old state standards required and what employers and postsecondary institutions need was very much a part of the problem. The Common Core State Standards were developed to close that gap. It is a fact that year after year, colleges, both two-year and four-year, find themselves with far too many students who are unable to enter into entry-level, credit-bearing courses. Yet Dr. Burris wants to split hairs over the exact percentage. Nothing could be less helpful. There is a range, depending on how a state defines remediation, of the precise percentage of students that need it. Don’t take my word for it. Here is what a small sample of states report: INDIANA Of Indiana’s 2012 high school graduates, 28 percent of the 33,712 who enrolled in Indiana Public Colleges required remediation in at least one subject. COLORADO Of the 22,413 2012 high school graduates who matriculated into college in Colorado, 8,299 students (37 percent) were not college ready and required at least one remedial course. OHIO Of the 51,627 first-time Ohio high school graduates going directly to a University System of Ohio College, 40 percent had to take developmental math or English. NEW MEXICO The average statewide remedial rate of recent high school graduates remained at 51 percent in 2012; remedial rates are even higher for Native American students (59 percent), Hispanic students (68 percent), and low-income students (79 percent). For students matriculating into a two-year college, the average rate is 57 percent. NEW YORK Currently, approximately one of every two traditional age, first‐time, full‐time matriculated students at SUNY’s community colleges is reported to be taking a remedial course.ibbling over how many thousands of students need remediation doesn’t help the thousands of students who need it. Those students care about the fact that remediation will cost them money, that they won’t get credit, and that this extra course time means they are


READ IN: Monday, July 7, 2014: Deportations of minors down, Senate deciding on Approps approach, Washington marijuana sales to begin tomorrow, and the Iowa GOP lost all its passwords

hopelessly outdated White House: The president's staff was still using the telegraph for overseas communications in the early 1990s, and under George W. Bush, the cutting-edge way they screened potential job applicants was by checking out their MySpace pages. -- Front Pages: WaPo and NYT lead with turmoil in Israel after six men were arrested in connection with the death of a Palestinian teenager. WSJ reports on government gains against pro-Russia separatists in Ukraine. L.A. Times fronts a Michael Memoli look at the GOP's split on foreign policy. And USA Today looks at fraud in health records. National Roundup: -- Senate Landscape: Libertarian candidates are poised to draw votes in at least 11 competitive Senate elections this fall, from Alaska to Oregon to Arkansas and North Carolina. Libertarian candidates are working to get on the ballots in Kentucky and New Hampshire, too. (Washington Post) Republicans say they're not concerned about Libertarians drawing votes from their candidates. But in extremely tight races, those candidates can matter. Just ask Sen. Jon Tester (D), who has won twice by smaller margins than the Libertarian candidate scored. -- Washington: Almost two years after voting to legalize marijuana for recreational use, Washington State will begin issuing licenses to vendors today, with the first sales expected to begin later this week. About 20 of the eventual 334 authorized licenses will be issued this week by the state Liquor Control Board. (Seattle Times, New York Times) -- North Carolina: Opponents of a 2013 law that changed dozens of voting rules will ask U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Schroeder to delay its implementation until after the November elections today. Democrats opposed the bill, signed by Gov. Pat McCrory (R), which cut early voting days and added new identification restrictions. (Charlotte Observer) Background on the election law here, from our story last September. -- Massachusetts: Attorney General Martha Coakley (D) leads the Democratic race for governor with 52 percent of the vote, compared with 18 percent for state Treasurer Steve Grossman (D). Coakley leads 2010 nominee Charlie Baker (R) by a 40 percent to 31 percent margin. The Boston Globe poll found 4 percent of Bay Staters admit to using marijuana on a regular basis. (Boston Globe) -- Iowa: The transition to a new leadership team at the state Republican Party has been rocky, and apparently one of the former staffers who lost his or her job changed all


Oslo, Almaty and Beijing are three finalists for 2022 Winter Olympics

voted against hosting the Games. The three remaining cities have issues of their own. A majority of Oslo voters supported hosting the games in a referendum last fall, but a nationwide poll taken in January found that 58 percent of respondents were opposed to using taxpayer money to pay for the Games. The Norwegian government has not yet said whether it will fund the Games, and won’t make any decision until the fall. The staggering cost of this year’s Winter Games in Sochi, Russia — many estimates peg that total at $50 billion, though the amount spent on the actual Olympics probably wasn’t that much — seems to have had a chilling effect on potential bids for future Games. “Some people feel that that kind of money should be spent for hospitals, roads and so on and so forth,” Gerhard Heiberg, the Norwegian IOC member who was the head of the organizing committee for the widely acclaimed 1994 Winter Games in Lillehammer, Norway, and is a driving force behind Oslo’s faltering bid, told the New York Times in May. “There is a reaction to what people felt was too gigantic in Russia about the Games, and that we need to go back to the roots, if I can use that word, which should mean that Norway should absolutely be in the race. But some people say no, that it’s too late, and we should pull out like other Western European countries have done.” Bach has proposed changes to the bidding process and has pushed for efforts to reduce the costs associated with hosting the Games. The IOC will vote on those measures in December. Beijing hosted the 2008 Summer Olympics and is bidding to become the first city to host both Olympic Games. But the IOC could be reluctant to put the Olympics in an Asian city for three consecutive Games. Pyeongchang, South Korea, will host the 2018 Winter Olympics and Tokyo will host the 2020 Summer Games. That leaves Almaty in Kazakhstan, “a nation with an autocratic government and a dubious human rights record that has hosted an Asian Winter Games but never an event of Olympic magnitude,” the New York Times reported in May. The three finalists must submit their final bids to the IOC by January. The host of the 2022 Olympics will be determined on July 31, 2015, at an IOC convention in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.


As Washington state begins selling legal cannabis, is Pot Nation on the way?

Washington state marijuana dispensaries will open their doors for recreational pot sales on Tuesday's, but shop owners worry they will run out of product in just hours. Sales of recreational marijuana begin today in Washington state, bringing to two the number of states where adults are allowed to legally buy pot whether or not they have a medical condition (real or feigned) for which it might be helpful. The experience of Washington and Colorado is going to accelerate the acceptance of legalization, and make it more likely to pass elsewhere. Don’t be surprised if within a decade we saw legal pot in half the states. That’s true even though even though there have been problems in Colorado and there will be problems in Washington as well. Indeed, an accelerating trend in legalization may take place partly because of those problems. We’re getting two different case studies in how to go about legalizing, and every state that considers it from this point forward will be able to learn from what they did right and what they did wrong. Meanwhile, those who oppose legalization are going to continue to be undermined by the hyperbole in their own arguments, a problem that has existed as long as there has been a debate about illegal drugs. When the head of the DEA can’t bring herself to admit that crack and heroin might be worse for a person to use than pot, it makes it harder for the millions of Americans who have been exposed to the latter to take seriously the case being made by anti-legalization advocates. As the years pass and more and more of the older generations who had little exposure to pot die off, the proportion of Americans who view it as something evil and terrifying will grow smaller and smaller. In Colorado, the sky has not fallen since people started buying recreational cannabis six months ago. The predicted increase in crime didn’t materialize, and there is no evidence that Coloradans are dropping out of school and leaving their jobs en masse to get high and play video games all day. While tax revenues from the new recreational system haven’t been as high as some predicted (in part because the state still has lots of medical marijuana stores operating), thousands of new jobs have been created in the nascent industry. However, we’re already learning things that can and should be applied


6 questions and answers about Washington’s new legal pot sales

Cloned marijuana plants at the Sea of Green Farms growing facility in Seattle, Wash. (Jason Redmond/Reuters) Two years after voters approved the sale of marijuana for recreational use and after overcoming regulatory hurdles, the drug is poised to go on sale in Washington state. The state’s Liquor Control Board, which oversees the legal pot program, issued the first batch of licenses to retailers Monday, meaning shops can begin selling marijuana as soon as Tuesday morning, just seven months after sales began in Colorado. (Voters in both states approved the nation’s first recreational marijuana laws in 2012.) Here’s a look at a few basic questions and answers about Washington’s new legal pot program and legal pot in general. Where can you get it? Washington state’s legal marijuana program will be off to a slow start. Just 79 growers have been granted licenses, all but ensuring shortages, a state official told the Associated Press. And while the state plans to issue 334 retail licenses, with the most populous cities in each county getting a proportionate number of the licenses, its first batch went out to just 24 businesses. And, even among those, not all of them have plans to open shop Tuesday, according to local reports. How much does the state stand to make? A one-gram packet of a variety of recreational marijuana named “Space Needle” is shown during packaging operations at Sea of Green Farms in Seattle. (Ted S. Warren/AP) The state will impose a 25 percent excise tax at three different levels of the process, according to the Liquor Board. Marijuana will be taxed when producers sell to processors, processors sell to retailers and retailers sell to customers. While the Liquor Board cautiously notes that “estimates range anywhere between $0 and $2 billion dollars during the first five years,” a February state forecast predicted that the state will get $51 million in marijuana-related revenues from 2015 to 2017 and $139 million over the following two years. The money collected through taxes, fees and penalties will be distributed throughout the government every quarter. Here’s how: - The state Liquor Control Board will get $1.25 million to administer the recreational pot program. - $125,000 will go towards collecting data and producing reports on youth health. - The State Institute for Public Policy gets $50,000 to conduct a cost-benefit analysis and produce several reports over the next couple decades. - And $5,000 will


to grow their own limited supply of pot, while it remains illegal in Washington. - Both limit sales to one ounce of pot, though Colorado further limits purchases by non-residents to a quarter ounce. - Both ban sales to anyone younger than 21 years old. - Washington taxes three levels of sale at 25 percent each. Colorado imposes a 15 percent excise tax from cultivation to processing or retail and a 10 percent tax at the point of sale. What about the downsides of pot? Washington marijuana billboard. (Washington Department of Social and Health Services) The state isn’t launching its legal marijuana without its fair share of warnings. Washington has made billboard ads, such as the one above, and the Department of Health is running a $400,000 statewide education campaign featuring digital media and radio ads, including one warning parents of the dangers of youth use. Earlier this year, the state also launched three humorous ads warning residents not to drive under the influence. PSA: Marijuana Impaired Driving/BBQ Tired of saying marijuana? Her are some other things to call it. As part of the launch, the state is referring residents to find out more about marijuana through a comprehensive educational site maintained by the University of Washington. The materials include information for parents and adults unfamiliar with cannabis or the policies Washington is implementing. Among the materials on the site, you can find the follow list of synonyms for marijuana: grass, pot, dope, Mary Jane, hooch, weed, hash, joints, brew, reefers, cones, smoke, mull, buddha, ganga, hydro, yarndi, heads and green. Which state will be next? There’s no certain answer to that question, but at least one state has definite plans to consider legalization. Alaskan voters will have the opportunity to join their peers in Colorado and Washington this November, thanks to a measure placed on the ballot a few months ago. There, the legalization of medical marijuana passed by a 59 percent to 41 percent vote in 1998, though an initiative to do the same for recreational pot failed two years later by the exact same margin. Still, changing attitudes may translate to a different outcome later this year. Earlier this year, activists said they were setting their sights on Oregon, Arizona, California, Maine, Massachusetts, Montana and Nevada. Supporters also said they hoped lawmakers would propose and approve legalization in Delaware, Hawaii, Maryland, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont.


American Psychologial Association study links abusive coaches with cheating athletes

The College of Charleston suspended men’s basketball coach Doug Wojcik for a month after finding he verbally abused his players. (Associated Press) A study The study also found that “men’s teams were much more willing to cheat than women’s teams,” and that “men’s football, basketball and baseball teams reported the highest willingness to cheat at large universities in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, where players are often under intense pressure to win.” Almost 20,000 student-athletes from more than 600 colleges took part in the survey, which found that 31 percent of men’s basketball players and 25 percent of women’s basketball players at Division I schools “said their head coaches put them down in front of others.” The study, titles “The Relationship Between Ethical and Abusive Coaching Behaviors and Student-Athlete Well-Being,” only asked about verbal abuse from coaches and did not ask whether coaches actively encouraged or permitted cheating. But it still found a correlation between abusive coaches and cheating by players. “Players who said they had abusive coaches also were more likely to report that their coaches didn’t create an inclusive team environment and that both their coaches and teammates were less respectful of people from other racial or ethnic groups and less accepting of differing viewpoints and cultures, according to the study,” the APA wrote in a summary of the survey Abusive coaches again are in the news, more than a year after Rutgers fired men’s basketball coach Mike Rice after video surfaced of him verbally and physically abusing his players. The College of Charleston suspended men’s basketball coach Doug Wojcik without pay for the entire month of August after an in-house investigation found that he “verbally abused players, using threatening, degrading and profane language in dealing with the team — including using a homophobic slur against one player,” the Associated Press reports.


Light beer heading toward 10-year low in sales

Coors Light beer bottles are arranged inside the Subway Inn bar in New York in this 2007 file photo. (Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg) American consumers are starting to turn their back on light beers in favor of frou-frou drinks. This change in taste buds will send domestic light beers sales toward a 10-year low in 2015, according to a recent report by Shanken News Daily. Since its peak in 2008, domestic light beer sales have fallen by 8.3 million barrels in the United States, a decline of 8 percent, according to the Impact Databank. In fact, Americans have been drinking less beer overall. Americans’ per capita beer consumption has decreased 20 percent since the early 1990s, according to the Gallup survey in 2012. Craft beer taking over: Light beers slowly fading out The share of light beer in the U.S. beer market has fallen from 51.4 percent in 2012 to 50.3 percent in 2013, according to the Shanken News Daily reports. Large beer manufacturers, including Budweiser and Coors, are not giving up. They are jumping on consumers’ shift in taste by adding more flavors to their products. Coors Light came up with Coors Light Summer Brew this spring, which was infused with citrus flavors and was the brand’s first-ever seasonal extension. Bud Light launched its Lime-a-Rita product in 2012, and has so far generated more than $500 million in sales in two years. “I don’t see the era of big brands being over, but more that there’ll be a bigger mix of beers,” Lawrence Hutter, chief executive of Alvarez & Marsal Corporate Solutions, told Bloomberg. “Don’t forget people still like those lighter, lager-style beers; they’re very drinkable.” However, light beer’s taste and low calories may also contributed to its decline in market share. Another low-calorie alcoholic drink, Beam Suntory’s Skinnygirl line of diet wines and vodka dived 26 percent in 2013. Could diet alcoholic drinks be losing appeal? “People don’t drink alcohol for health and wellness reasons,” Spiros Malandrakis, a senior alcoholic drinks analyst with Euromonitor, told The Washington Post. “Sometimes with marketers, navel gazing can become so much of a problem that you forget about how people go out and drink.”


The craziest, costliest political races are the ones you’ve never heard of

or names every once in awhile. During the 2014 Texas primary, four Republicans were competing to be the agriculture nominee. The Democratic primary featured musician and eternal name on Texas ballots Kinky Friedman, a rancher and cattle farmer Jim Hogan, who won. Sid Miller, a former state rep (he authored a 2011 bill that required women to obtain a sonogram before getting an abortion) and lobbyist, became the Republican nominee. He also won the contest for most entertaining campaign ads in the race. Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and Good Luck! Ted Nugent Endorses Sid Miller for Texas Agriculture Commissioner However, his ads aren't that special, truth be told. Texas commissioner races tend to be a magnet for amusing campaign ads. Here's one from Roland Sledge, a potential Charles Dickens character and former railroad commissioner candidate. Roland Sledge for TX RRC - Electric Fences 1990 agriculture commissioner candidate Rick Perry's ads seem to have provided the inspiration for 2008 presidential candidate Rick Perry. Campaign Ads: Rick Perry Agriculture Commissioner Race Prothonotary This elected position sounds like something paleontologists dig out of the ground, but really, it's just Pennsylvanian for "first officer." The Web site of the Philadelphia Office of the Prothonotary declares, In a society as litigious as ours, where the issues brought before our Civil Courts range from action in divorce to a personal injury for serious bodily harm, the need for accurate, efficient record keeping is paramount; for in the law, if it is not proper and timely filed, it doesn't exist. It is the goal of the Prothonotary to improve through innovation and technology the art of record keeping. In other words, being prothonotary is an art. But it on occasion inspires dramatic elections, too. In the 2013 prothonotary race in Bucks County, one candidate gave the Patriot News a few "West Wing"-worthy quotes about the race. “Let me tell you, I work in the county court house and I part the seas when I walk in there." “I know who's on my side and who's not on my side. And everyone has made that very, very clear to me.” We don't even know what she's talking about, but it sounds exciting, no? Soil and Water Conservation Board What a cast of characters: The embattled incumbent who defied his party, now fighting for his political life. The young turk aiming for bigger targets. The college student who got