As Olympic track competition begins, achievements precede suspicions

credibility of Olympic sport,” former sprinter Michael Johnson, a four-time gold medalist, said earlier this week. With the doping cloud growing only murkier over track and field, results here are potentially stained both by those who win medals and those who weren’t allowed to even show up. “As an athlete, you always want to compete against the best,” American hurdler Devon Allen explained. “But that’s just the nature of the beast this year,” U.S. pole vaulter Sam Kendricks said. On Friday, the 24-year-old Ayana moved around the track like a machine, maintaining a blistering pace and racing in a gear the running world had never seen before. She finished in 29:17.45, a full 15 seconds ahead of silver medalist Vivian Jepkemoi Cheruiyot from Kenya, a rub-your-eyes time that was ripe for celebration and skepticism. Ayana topped a record set in 1993 by China’s Wang Junxia, an admitted doper. The previous best 10,000-meter time not linked to doping is a full 36 seconds slower than what Ayana posted Friday. Ayana, who had been competing in the 3,000-meter steeplechase before recently embarking on longer distances, defended her performance and insisted she was clean “My doping is my training,” she said through an interpreter. “My doping is Jesus. Otherwise, I’m crystal clear.” Here are some of the best photos of the day. The United States’ best hope in the race was 31-year-old Molly Huddle. She came to the Rio Games thinking a time of 30:20 would be good enough for the medals podium. Huddle finished in 30:13.17 and set an American record. That time easily would have won gold four years ago at the London Games. On Friday, it was good only for sixth place. “These places might be a bit mobile,” she said of the top finishers. “Who knows? That’s a very, very fast time.” Friday’s race, in fact, produced four of the top five 10,000-meter times ever – and the fifth is Wang’s dubious former record. Finishing ahead of Huddle were two Ethiopians and three Kenyans, runners from countries that have been competing under a doping cloud this season. An Ethiopian coach of a world champion was arrested during a police raid two months ago in Spain after investigators found 60 syringes of banned substances in his hotel. Several runners have been suspended or investigated for doping violations. The country’s Olympic committee has drawn the ire of the World Anti-Doping Agency


Olympic athletes are gorging themselves on free McDonald’s

was not allowed to give his name. “The Chinese eat Big Macs at 9 a.m. It’s crazy.” So many people have been coming to McDonald’s that the restaurant decided this week to limit to 20 the number of items that one person could order. An athlete can ask for more, but then the order drops in priority, adding extra minutes to the already hefty wait. While in line, Schuster, 18, and his fellow Samoan swimmer Evelina Afoa, 17, were debating whether to order 10 or 12 Big Macs, knowing that whatever they picked up would be shared with others. The day they finished their competition, they went straight to McDonald’s. “The last time we came, the girl was just looking at us like, ‘Whoa.’ But then we were like, ‘We’re ordering for other people as well,’ ” Afoa said. “They should have two McDonald’s,” Schuster said. Counterintuitive to training? The weightlifting coach from the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius, Jimmy Monien, allowed his two weightlifters one visit to McDonald’s before they competed and unlimited visits afterward. “Athletes are not expected to eat this,” he acknowledged, sitting at a picnic table while picking at a McDonald’s salad and fries. “But as long as they stay in their weight category, it’s fine for me.” Some athletes have always flouted the tenets of healthy living. At the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, U.S. swimmer Ryan Lochte ate nearly every meal at McDonald’s and won four medals. But many others pay strict attention to nutrition, avoiding processed foods and sugar. U.S. wrestler Jordan Burroughs, 28, usually has fresh juice or a salad for lunch when he is preparing for an event, he told NBC News. Gymnast Aly Raisman, 22, has said that during training, she typically eats chicken or fish, small amounts of brown rice or whole-wheat pasta and lots of veggies. Monien expected some athletes would avoid fast food, particularly before competition. “Believe me, before the competition, I don’t think Usain Bolt will come here to eat McDonald’s,” he said. History would dispute this. The Jamaican sprinter reportedly ate 100 chicken nuggets a day during the Beijing Olympics. Four years later, before he won gold in the 100-meter sprint in London, he admitted to having “a few nuggets.” In past Games, the media center also had a McDonald’s to feed the hordes of scribes, but organizers scrapped it this year for economic reasons. The


Man fatally shot in Northeast Washington is identified

D.C. police on Friday said they had identified a man who was fatally shot on Wednesday in Ivy City near New York Avenue in Northeast Washington. William Lassiter, 52, was pronounced dead on the scene in the 900 block of Mount Olivet Road. Police did not provide an address for the victim. The shooting occurred about 1:45 a.m.


Organizers cancel diving training session after failing to fix pool’s green water

Committee on Friday said that canceling training sessions was necessary because “the water must be still so the pool can return to its blue color as soon as possible.” Denied access to the pool, athletes would be doing “dry training,” the statement said, and the competition would resume in the afternoon. When the problem first surfaced earlier this week, Rio Organizing Committee spokesman Mario Andrada blamed a “sudden change in alkalinity.” “We treated both pools in the night and the alkalinity levels have improved,” he said on Wednesday. “We expect the color to be back to blue soon.” Olympic staff pumped in chlorine to kill algae, but some athletes felt too much was added. On Wednesday, the captain of the U.S. men’s water polo team, Tony Azevedo, told reporters that the water stung and he had trouble seeing because of the high chlorine content. “What’s ridiculous is not the green water. I’ve played in plenty of pools with green water. The problem is they put way too much chlorine in,” he said. “I could barely open my eyes for the final quarter.” Another athelete, Hungarian water polo player Gergo Zalanki, said he wasn’t sure chlorine was the only problem. “My eyes hurt from the water, it’s not good,” he said. “It feels like they added more chlorine to the water but I’m not sure. I’m used to it because we have a lot of water like this in Hungary, but I think there might be something else wrong, too.” On Friday morning, the diving boards were empty and a pool cleaner was sweeping the emerald pool. The water polo match, in a slightly less green pool, was proceeding uninterrupted. Some fans were not too upset by the situation. Adam Beebe, 35, who works for the Peace Corps and lives in Washington, had an American flag draped around his shoulders as he cheered for the water polo game. He felt Brazil was getting too much flak for how the Games were proceeding, but that such hiccups don’t “spoil the fun.” If green water “is one of the most notable things that has happened, then that’s a good thing,” he said. Looking at the green water, Nick Teichen, an attorney from Minneapolis, said, “you would think that they would have figured that out by now.” “The world’s watching,” he added. “So someone didn’t do their job.” Sally Jenkins contributed to this report.


10 steps to a more genuine D.C. experience

Collection and the Hillwood Estate, Museum and Gardens are among the best of their kind and retain the feeling of entering someone’s grand home (which reflects how each of these private collections came together). 5. Head to a library. Every jurisdiction in the D.C. area has vibrant library facilities while one of the most impressive libraries in the world — the Library of Congress — is situated in the heart of the District. Not surprisingly, Washington has been home to many of the country’s leading authors, as is revealed on the fascinating D.C. Writers’ Homes website. 6. Engage in Washington sports. True, the professional teams can be maddeningly frustrating to follow, but amateur and community sports opportunities abound. If you think you’ve got game, try out your hoop skills in a game of pickup at the legendary Rose Park court in Georgetown. 7. Ride the bus. Metrobuses are the workhorses of local transportation — throughout the city and beyond. 8. Find a locally owned restaurant. Ethnic restaurants and tiny neighborhood eateries abound here. In the 1980s, the truism seemed to hold that Washington diners benefited from lost revolutions abroad as excellent Ethiopian, Vietnamese, Salvadoran and Afghan restaurants opened up. By the 2010s, cuisines from all over the world had proliferated in the region. For some of the best Uzbek food anywhere, for example, check out Rus-Uz, a restaurant in Arlington’s Ballston area. 9. Explore beyond the Capital Beltway. Visit a small town on the Eastern Shore such as Chestertown, Md., less than an hour from the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. Or go for a hike in the Blue Ridge Mountains; better yet, visit one of the many Civil War battlefields within 100 miles or so of the Beltway. Head from Hagerstown, Md., to historic and natural touring opportunities including Antietam National Battlefield to the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park. 10. When in doubt, make an excursion to Baltimore. Washington’s neighbor is nothing if not real. Visit Lexington Market, one of the oldest continuously operating markets in the United States. A more down-home scene is difficult to imagine than Lexington Market on a Saturday afternoon. Discovering a Washington beyond politics requires effort, but it’s worth it and will make your life here far more agreeable. Welcome! The writer is vice president for programs at the Woodrow Wilson Center. Read more: Holley Simmons: Anacostia neighborhood guide: Explore the thriving historic district


Religion events from around the Washington area

Clergy news: On July 1, The Rev. Kermit Clifton Charles Moore took the helm as pastor of Providence-Fort Washington United Methodist Church in Fort Washington. Moore was named incoming pastor in April by the Baltimore-Washington Conference of the United Methodist Church. Moore also has served as chaplin for the Henry E. Lacey High School football team in Indian Head and assistant superintendent of the Cheltenham Youth Facility. He is retired from the Department of Juvenile Service. He is married to Paulette Moore. They have three adult children and three grandchildren. The church is at 10610 Old Fort Rd., Fort Washington. 301-292-2323. Vacation Bible School Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to noon or 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.: Aug. 22 to 26, 9:30 to 11 a.m.: * * * Saturdays, Wednesdays and Fridays: Saturday, 7 to 9 a.m.: Saturdays, 8 a.m. to noon: Saturday, 9 a.m. to noon: Saturdays and weekdays, opening at 10 a.m.; Sundays, opening at 1 p.m.: Saturday, 10:30 am: The Rt. Rev. Susan E. Goff, bishop suffragan of Virginia, will ordain Randi Hicks Rowe to the Sacred Order of Priests at Church of the Resurrection, 2280 N. Beauregard St., Alexandria. All are welcome. Rowe will celebrate the Holy Eucharist and preach at the Sunday morning service on Aug. 28. 703-998-0888. Saturday, 12:30 p.m.: Edward M. Nassor will perform sacred and classical music on the cathedral’s 53-bell carillon. The concert is best heard in the Bishop’s Garden. Washington National Cathedral, Wisconsin and Massachusetts avenues NW. Free. 202-537-6200. nationalcathedral.org. Sundays, summer schedule, 7:45 and 10 a.m.: Sunday, 8 and 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.: Sunday, 8:30 a.m.: Sundays through Aug. 21, 8:30 to 9 a.m.: Sundays, 8:45 a.m., and Wednesdays, 6 p.m.: Sundays, 9 a.m.: Sunday, 10 a.m.: Educational offerings throughout the summer months. The programming is intended to complement efforts to integrate the Christian faith with our daily lives. This week’s subject: “History of Christ Church and the Episcopal Church in Washington, Part 1.” Drop-ins are welcome. Christ Church, Georgetown, Keith Hall, 31st and O streets NW. 202-333-6677. christchurchgeorgetown.org. Sundays, 10 a.m., through Labor Day: Sundays, 11 a.m. to noon: Sunday, noon: Sundays, 5 p.m.: Sunday, 6 p.m.: Mondays, 9 to 9:45 a.m., and Wednesdays, 4 to 4:45 p.m.: Mondays, 10 to 11 a.m., and Thursdays, 11 a.m. to noon: Most weekdays, 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.: Mondays, 2 to 3 p.m.: Mondays, 7 p.m.: Mondays, 7 p.m.:


Fourth death this year at Va. Goodyear plant

An employee sorts bread at a bakery in Kiev, Ukraine. Ukrainian First Deputy Prime Minister Stepan Kubiv said the country’s food exports to the European Union have increased by 68 percent since the beginning of the year. (Roman Pilipey/EPA) LABOR Fourth death in a year at Va. Goodyear plant A worker died at a Goodyear Tire and Rubber plant in Danville, Va., on Friday, the fourth fatality in a year at the site, state officials said. Goodyear said it reported the death to the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration. “Our hearts go out to the family, friends and co-workers of the employee during this very difficult time,” the company said. The employee’s identity and the circumstances of the death at the plant were not announced. It was the fourth death to occur at the plant since August 2015, a spokeswoman for the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry said. A team has been sent to the site, she said. Investigations into the previous three deaths have not been concluded, said Ron Graham, health director of the Virginia Occupational Safety and Health Program. — Reuters RETAIL Americans’ spending stays flat in July report U.S. retail sales were unchanged in July from the previous month, a sign that consumers were cautious after three months of solid gains. Americans spent less at clothing shops, sporting goods stores, and electronics and appliance outlets, the Commerce Department said Friday. Spending at grocery stores fell by the most in more than five years. Those declines were offset by big increases in auto sales and online and catalogue sales. Much of the overall weakness also reflected a steep fall in gas station sales, which largely reflects lower prices rather than lower demand. Excluding gasoline, retail sales rose 0.2 percent. July’s flat reading on retail sales followed an increase of 0.8 percent in June. — Associated Press Also in Business ● U.S. producer prices last month registered the biggest drop since September, pulled down by tumbling energy, clothing and food prices. The Labor Department said Friday that its producer price index, which measures cost pressures before they reach the consumer, slid 0.4 percent in July. Energy prices fell 1 percent and food prices 1.1 percent. Producer prices of clothing, jewelry, shoes and accessories dropped a record 6 percent. Excluding food and energy categories, core producer prices dropped 0.3 percent. ● J.C. Penney reported a smaller loss in


America’s complicity in Ethiopia’s horrors

Women carry water back to their makeshift homes in Aydora, Ethiopia, in February. (Aida Muluneh /For The Washington Post) Regarding the Aug. 10 editorial “Ethiopia’s violent silencing”: It is true that, as the editorial board put it, “the United States has long relied on Ethiopia as a partner in the fight against al-Shabab’s terrorism in Somalia and sends the country tens of millions of dollars in development assistance.” But this characterization, which substantially underestimates the amount of aid we devote to propping up this tyranny, implies that we’re at least getting something in return for turning a blind eye to its crimes against humanity. In fact, when one considers that the regime’s leaders are faking their claims of economic success, covering up the extent of the biggest famine in the country’s history, secretly trading with al-Shabab, embezzling $2 billion every year, enforcing policies that have killed millions of their citizens through neglect and malfeasance, and have perpetrated outright genocide, it becomes clear that we’ve gained nothing that could justify our shameful complicity in this holocaust. Our policy is a strategic failure and a moral stain that history will judge harshly. David Steinman, New York The writer is an adviser to Ethiopia’s democracy movement.


The Olympics are a test that Brazil has yet to pass

Tony Azevedo, the captain of the U.S. water polo team, told reporters after a game this week. “I could barely open my eyes for the final quarter.” When the problem still wasn’t fixed, Olympics officials canceled a diving practice session Friday morning so the pool could be “still” enough for the chlorine to work. Athletes and coaches, most of them staying in a cluster of high-rise apartment towers in western Rio, have complained about a smell of sewage, sporadic hot water, lackluster cafeteria food and spartan bedrooms. “A lot of people said it is not [as] good as London, as Beijing,” said Jozef Repcik, 30, an 800-meter runner from Slovakia who competed in the Beijing Olympics in 2008. Argentine handball player Matias Schulz said members of his team had suffered two or three petty thefts from their rooms in the Olympic Village, which is in a desolate area about an hour from Rio’s main attractions. The training facilities available to the Argentine team lack showers, he said. And the food in the athletes’ cafeteria paled in comparison with that from the facilities at the 2012 Games in London, where he also competed, he said. “It’s okay for three or four days, but not for 20,” Schulz said. Not everyone is unhappy about their Olympic experience. Athletes and visitors have praised the warmth of Brazilians and the exuberance of the fans. “Before you came, you heard many stories, which is unfortunate, because the Brazilians have put on a good show,” said Ikechukwu Diogu, 32, a Nigerian basketball player. And he singled out Brazilian spectators for praise. “It’s been unbelievable, especially for us, the Nigerians. They’ve been supporting us. The Brazilians have been our sixth man on the court.” Perhaps the most talked-about threat before the Olympics, the Zika virus, has almost disappeared as a concern. Some of the world’s top athletes, including several golfers, skipped the Games, citing worries about Brazil’s Zika epidemic. But during the sometimes-chilly Rio winter, the mosquitoes that transmit the virus have been scarce. The rooms in the Olympic Village came with wall plug-in repellent dispensers, and athletes have anti-insect sprays and creams. But some have dropped more extreme precautionary measures. When the U.S. women’s rugby team came to Brazil in February for a competition, they wore full-body “compression gear,” a type of thick tights that mosquitoes couldn’t penetrate. The uniforms proved so suffocatingly hot that the


Amid deal with Anheuser-Busch, craft brewery gets kicked out of its own festival

hypocrisy of Budweiser Super Bowl ads that paint craft beer as an effete hipster affectation while its parent company spends millions to buy independent breweries such as Elysian, Four Peaks and Devils Backbone. “When a small brewer sells to a large company, they choose to willingly, and should expect their position in the brewing community to change and customer relationships to change,” says Julia Herz, the Brewers Association’s craft beer program director. “These companies no longer face the same issues of access to market, access to money or access to ingredients. As we have seen the number of former small brewers sell to the large brewers, that is a matter of concern to guilds in the state where these sales have occurred.” Herz says that it’s not impossible for craft and no-longer-craft breweries to get along: Everyone from Anheuser-Busch to a local brewpub can compete for awards at the annual Great American Beer Festival, though booth space at the festival is limited to full and associate members. Top beer bars across the country still pour beers by breweries that are no longer considered craft, including Founders, which sold a 30 percent stake to Spanish brewer Mahou San Miguel in 2014, and Lagunitas, which sold half of its brewery to Heineken last year. And brewers of all sizes lobbied Congress for the passage of the Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act of 2015. At the same time, “When it comes to the localization-of-beer movement, there is an absolute desire and value to helping small and indie craft brewers thrive,” Herz says, pointing to surveys that show a majority of beer drinkers believe it’s important that the beers they order are local and independent. “In the spirit of that, the big global conglomerates are not always invited to the party. Just like at a farm-to-table dinner you are not serving Hormel, Kraft or Heinz.” The Virginia Craft Brewers Fest and the Beer Cup will go on, and Devils Backbone is planning a new event to take its place on the brewery’s busy calendar of festivals and parties. But out of respect for the guild, Humphreys says, it will be held on a different weekend. “We’ll support Virginia craft beer any way we can,” he says. Virginia Craft Brewers Fest: Saturday, Aug. 20, at Devils Backbone Basecamp Brewpub Meadows. 200 Mosby’s Run, Roseland, Va. vacraftbrewersfest.com. $35. More from Food: Beer Column archive


Olympic sailors are tired of all the trash talk about Rio’s Guanabara Bay

The men's Laser class sails during Friday’s competition. (Clive Mason/Getty Images) RIO DE JANEIRO — Then came the questions about all the crap in the water. The location of the 2016 Games not only forced Olympic sailors to compete at great apparent risk to their health, but also to sail with a cloud overhead. Months of Associated Press reporting and scientific testing revealed grossly unsanitary conditions in Guanabara Bay, the product of sewage and garbage draining from the city into the water. The effects on the athletes’ health will be determined, but already the condition of the bay distracted from the competition itself, to the frustration of some competitors. “People have worked so hard to get here, and then all the attention is on the water rather than the amazing achievements people have had to get here and what people’s stories,” said 49er racer Joe Morris, an Annapolis native. “Otherwise, for us, it’s really like sailing anywhere else.” The sailors have been training for months, if not years, in and around Guanabara Bay, and for them the water safety and precautions necessary had become old news. The issue resurfaced Friday when Belgian sailor Evi Van Acker, a 2012 bronze medalist in the radial event, reported losing energy during an event Wednesday owing to symptoms from an illness, which her coach, Wil van Bladel, attributed to training in the water in July. Other sailors, though, said they had not encountered effects from pollution and that the water quality had improved since their training camps over the summer. Many seemed to resent questions about the conditions, feeling they overshadowed their event. When one reporter mentioned Van Acker’s name, fellow Belgian Yannick Lefebvre huffed, “Questions about her, ask her.” “I don’t see any problem,” Chinese sailor Lijia Xu said. “Of course everybody gets ill. I’ve gotten ill during the three-month total training period here. It’s common illness. I got diarrhea or cold and fever. I wouldn’t say it’s related to the water. It’s just normal illness everybody will get once or twice a year. Evi, she’s just a bit unlucky to have that during the regatta. So I wouldn’t blame the water. I would say it’s quite normal.” The water may not be normal, but the sailors have grown accustomed to taking appropriate measures. Irish sailor Matt McGovern said he drinks Coke and Pepto Bismol and takes a regular does of anti-bacterial tablets.


Michel Richard, innovative chef who made D.C. a capital of dining, dies at 68

Chef Michel Richard, left, develops a menu for Open Skies, a division of British Airways, with chef Michael Mason in 2010. (James M. Thresher/For The Washington Post) Michel Richard, whose innovative and whimsical fusions of French and American foods made him one of the country’s most influential chefs, and whose Citronelle and Central restaurants helped transform Washington into a dining destination, died Aug. 13 at a Washington hospital. He was 68. He had complications from a stroke, said Mel Davis, a longtime associate and spokeswoman. Mr. Richard (pronounced ree-SHAR) began his career at 14 as an apprentice pastry chef in his native France before coming to the United States in his 20s. He had his first major success in Los Angeles, but he had made Washington his home since the 1990s, when he opened Citronelle in Georgetown. In a city long belittled as a stodgy outpost of steakhouses and uninspired cuisine, Mr. Richard brought a Gallic flair and imagination to his kitchens. At Citronelle, which opened in 1993 and closed in 2012, he transformed classic French dishes into original and distinctive creations. Citronelle was among the first restaurants on the East Coast with an open kitchen, in which Mr. Richard and his staff prepared meals as if on a stage in full view of their customers. For him, a meal was a dramatic event, seasoned with humor, irony and the faith that food could impart a deeper appreciation of life. Chef Michel Richard. (Mel Davis) “This is my religion,” he told The Washington Post in 2007. “I’m a priest of food. I just love to cook. I love to please in the kitchen.” He found inspiration in unlikely places, borrowing elements from Kentucky Fried Chicken, potato chips and candy bars for his daring style of cooking. Diners came from all over the world, and in 2007 Mr. Richard received the James Beard Award, the food world’s Oscar, as the country’s outstanding chef. His empire grew to include restaurants in California, Las Vegas, New York and Tokyo, and he designed menus for airlines and Amtrak. But for nearly 20 years, Mr. Richard’s primary theater — and culinary laboratory — was Citronelle, in the now-shuttered Latham Hotel on M Street NW in Georgetown. “Michel was a master of restaurant technique, like nobody else, but I don’t think that was his greatest contribution,” Mark Furstenberg, a baker and Washington restaurateur, said. “Michel became


Aleppo’s humanitarian crisis worsens while Islamic State loses key Syrian city

Democratic Forces, or SDF, according to Reuters. About 500 vehicles carrying Islamic State militants fled Manbij on Friday, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitoring group. And images posted on social media that evening purport to show residents of the city celebrating the militant retreat. The pictures, which could not be independently verified, show veiled women dancing and smoking — activities that are banned by the Islamic State. SDF fighters launched the campaign to oust the militants from Manbij in June. They have dealt successive blows to the Islamic State in northern Syria, and Friday’s victory could be a prelude to an assault on the Islamic State’s self-declared capital of Raqqa, a city in the country’s northeast. Seizing all of Aleppo — the largest city in Syria and an important industrial hub before the civil war — has long been a key objective for government and rebel forces. Despite attempted offensives by both sides over the years, the city has only suffered in a bloody stalemate. In apparent response to recent rebel assaults, pro-government warplanes on Wednesday targeted the city’s opposition areas with at least one bomb suspected of being filled with chlorine gas. Syrian American Medical Society doctors said that at least three people died in the incident, which the United Nations says it will investigate. Amnesty International said 60 people received medical treatment for symptoms associated with chlorine gas, which rights groups say has been routinely used as a weapon by Assad’s government. Syria’s government declared that it formally destroyed its chemical weapons under an agreement sponsored by the United States and Russia, but arms inspectors suspect it of harboring — and using — illicit stockpiles. One eyewitness contacted by telephone, Abdulkafi al-Hamdo, said Wednesday’s suspected chlorine gas attack lit up the evening sky. It was followed by a foul smell that made it difficult for his infant daughter to breathe, he said. Residents also say that airplanes either from Syria’s government or Russia — a key ally of Assad — have increasingly targeted medical facilities in the city’s rebel areas. On Friday, suspected government airstrikes on a maternity hospital and market in the city killed least 18 people. Some 300,000 people are living in eastern Aleppo, which rebels have controlled since 2012, and they have long faced bombings by Assad’s warplanes and acute shortages of food and basic medicines. The shortages intensified after


In Hoboken, a glimpse of cities’ future fights over rising seas

exposed, about where barriers should and shouldn’t go. Those tensions foreshadow the tough choices an increasing number of cities will face in an age of climate change, rising seas and more frequent and powerful natural disasters. In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, a resident walks through floodwaters in Hoboken. (Emile Wamsteker/Bloomberg News) Nearly 1.9 million U.S. homes could be rendered uninhabitable if sea levels rise six feet by the end of the century, as many scientists expect, according to a report from the real estate data firm Zillow. Nearly half could be in Florida, but New York, New Jersey, South Carolina and Louisiana each could have tens of thousands of inundated homes. “The places that are struggling with this early, like South Florida or Hoboken, are just harbingers of the future for almost any coastal city,” said Benjamin Strauss, director of the program on sea-level rise at Climate Central, an independent organization of scientists based in New Jersey. “Every place is going to have to make decisions about what they can protect and what they can’t.” Most will not start with the advantage that Hoboken has, in the form of a $230 million federal grant awarded in 2014 to keep the river at bay and protect low-lying areas here and in nearby Jersey City and Weehawken. Early conceptual ideas included barriers along parts of Hoboken’s cherished waterfront — and, in one case, down a leafy residential street lined with brownstones. The backlash came quickly. “When people heard the word ‘walls,’ they just thought, ‘Hoboken can’t have walls,’ ” said Brian Battaglia, owner of a home-furnishings store who supports the flood-protection efforts. “They went ballistic. . . . There was a lot of yelling in the early days.” Although Sandy might be a hundred-year storm, encroaching waters already are threatening some cities. The East Coast, from Massachusetts south, is particularly at risk. Norfolk, for one, has debated many strategies, from building floodgates to abandoning the most vulnerable parts of town. Miami Beach is spending $400 million to install pumps and raise sea walls and roads in a bid to stave off encroaching water. Many others are sure to face a similar reckoning in coming decades, scientists say. “There will be a bitter awakening,” said Klaus Jacob, a Columbia University climate scientist and disaster expert who predicted much of the damage a storm like Sandy would do to New York City. “Right


After persistent fraud, District is readying reform of disabled parking

year per cheating motorist — to commit fraud. With fewer people leaving their vehicles all day at red-top and regular meters, officials said, more people will have a chance to use the meters. Fines would be $250 for unauthorized parking at a red-top meter and $500 for vendors who use the spaces, according to the draft rules. “These are not currently offenses since we do not have a red top meter program now,” DDOT said in a statement. A broad public outreach campaign, including postcards being sent to placard holders, would come before any enforcement, said city officials, who are sensitive to the fact that poor communication helped to sink earlier reform efforts. About 500 red-top meters elsewhere in the city, including along major thoroughfares such as Connecticut and Georgia avenues, would be converted into general-purpose meters, city officials said. At those as well as general-purpose meters away from downtown, holders of disability placards would still be able to park free, according to the draft rules. The city could redeploy some red-tops if a demonstrated need emerged. Arlington County, Va., and Philadelphia are among the jurisdictions that slashed abuse by making all parkers pay. Within months of the change, disability-placard usage dropped from 30 percent of all metered spaces in Philadelphia to about 7 percent, indicating either a health “miracle” or a reduction in fraud, officials there said. But D.C. resident Kelly Buckland, who is quadriplegic, said he fears the new rules will limit his access to the city. The red-top spaces will still be attractive to other drivers, he said. “There will still be incentives to park in those, because they are going to be reserved; they’re going to be open,” he said. “The problem is there are just too damn many placards out there. A lot of people have them who, frankly, shouldn’t,” Buckland added, and he does not think the city is focusing enough on reducing those numbers. Many of the placard holders are from Virginia and Maryland, complicating the District’s efforts to control the numbers. Buckland also is worried that not enough of the reserved spaces are van-accessible, with room for a wheelchair to roll down a ramp at the back of a van. DDOT says nearly two-thirds of reserved spaces are van-accessible, but Buckland expects heavy competition for them. Such spaces in private garages are also limited. The mechanics of paying also pose a problem,


Chef Michel Richard was happy in the kitchen. And you could taste it.

Chef Michel Richard in 2006. He died Saturday at 68. (Susan Biddle/The Washington Post) If you’ve ever had anything resembling a Kit Kat bar in a restaurant, thank Michel Richard. A lot of chefs see something fun in the world and make convincing copies. Richard — born in France but long a cheerleader for America — not only improved on the original candy bar, he turned it into something diners experienced as fine art and countless competitors tried to emulate. To eat the commercial confection reimagined by Richard, a pastry chef trained by the legendary Gaston Lenotre in Paris, was to surrender to the glory of hazelnut chocolate enrobing chocolate mousse on a base of dried, crumbled crepes. No one-trick pony, Richard dazzled patrons over the years with creations that fused beauty and good taste. The tricks in his seemingly bottomless bag included “pasta” coaxed from onion and “caviar” created with Israeli couscous and squid ink. December brought tiny snowmen shaped from balls of meringue and filled with vanilla ice cream, and “Breakfast for Dinner” yielded a fetching tray of everything you expected — save for the fact the “toast” was poundcake and the “egg” was a dot of pureed papaya in shimmering almond custard. One of Michel Richard’s signature dishes at Citronelle was “caviar” created from Israeli couscous and squid ink. (Citronelle) The common bond: pure deliciousness. Richard died on Saturday in Washington, following complications from a stroke. He was 68. He leaves behind a single restaurant, Central in downtown Washington, and legions of admiring peers and diners grateful to have tasted his signature magic. His flagship restaurant for many years was the now-closed Michel Richard Citronelle in Georgetown. After a genius meal there in 2002 that included escargots sheathed in spiky shredded wheat and a lemon meringue tart circled in a piercing basil sauce, one of my dining companions whispered, “Michel took the place of God there for five minutes.” Lots of us had such divine moments. Four years later, wine guru Robert Parker told The Washington Post that the chef was “cooking at a level that far exceeds any Michelin three-stars in France.” Richard started his career as a maker of sweets but always yearned for more. Judging by his food alone, the nonstop tinkerer could have been an architect, a poet or another Thomas Edison. From his kitchen table at Citronelle, he sketched both recipe presentations


Alleged Russian involvement in DNC hack gives U.S. a taste of Kremlin meddling

its economy is stagnant and its long-term prospects look weak. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said the United States gets "no respect" from Russian President Vladimir Putin during a town hall event in Scranton, Pa., July 27. “It’s a tool for Russia to maintain its influence when it’s much more difficult to do it via ordinary economic tools,” Kreko said. The efforts to pull Europe toward Russia go far beyond courting individual political parties, officials and analysts say, although those tools remain important. In Eastern Europe, leaders suspect the Kremlin of funding environmental groups that oppose measures that would make their countries less dependent on Russian energy. Across Europe, Kremlin-backed media outlets Russia Today and Sputnik News have made aggressive expansions into local-language European media markets in the past two years, pushing an aggressively pro-Russian line that sometimes has only a loose relationship to the truth. In January, for example, Russia’s state-run First Channel reported that a 13-year-old Russian-German girl had been gang-raped by migrants in Berlin. German police found that the allegations were false, but the story — amplified by the German-language arm of Kremlin-run Sputnik News — sparked large protests by Germany’s Russian community, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused Germany of a coverup. “The strength of Russia’s push, of its political engagement, its approach to the E.U., is that it doesn’t rely too heavily on a single instrument or a single tool to achieve its goals. Instead what it does is use different approaches at different times in different countries,” said Andrew Foxall, the director of the Russia Studies Center at the Henry Jackson Society, a London-based think tank. That propensity to cause mischief in other nations’ political systems may be behind the hacking of the Democratic National Committee’s computer systems, officials say. The hack caused an embarrassment for the party when leaked emails showed the party’s chairwoman, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (Fla.), and others favoring Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders in the primaries. Wasserman Schultz stepped down after the leak last month. Officials say it remains unclear whether the hacking was performed as part of routine foreign espionage or whether the DNC was specifically targeted to sway the election. Trump, who told CNBC on Thursday that “during his administration, Trump will be friendly with Putin,” also invited the Kremlin to employ its tactics against Clinton. “ In Europe, the Kremlin has at times taken a


Why Bowe Bergdahl’s ‘Serial’ interviews should be off limits in his court martial

Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl arrives for a pretrial hearing in his court martial at Fort Bragg, N.C., in January. (Ted Richardson/Associated Press) When Mark Boal spent 25 hours interviewing accused U.S. Army deserter Bowe Bergdahl, he didn’t plan on those hours of recorded interviews becoming part of a hugely popular podcast. He was just reporting, as he had many times before — whether for his magazine articles or his filmmaking. But in collaboration with the producers of “Serial,” he and journalist Sarah Koenig teamed up. As a result, the story of the Army sergeant, who left his Afghanistan base in 2009 and was held captive by the Taliban for five years, became the basis of Season 2 of the spinoff of public radio’s “This American Life.” Nor did Boal plan on his interviews becoming part of the prosecution’s case in Bergdahl’s court-martial at Fort Bragg in North Carolina next February. That’s what a military prosecutor has in mind, according to court papers. The former soldier faces life in prison if he is found guilty of the charges of desertion and misbehavior before the enemy. Bergdahl was freed in 2014 in exchange for five Taliban fighters being held at Guantanamo Bay. Boal is trying to prevent the subpoena by asking a civilian federal court in Los Angeles to intervene on First Amendment grounds. After all, unaired recordings are not unlike a reporter’s notes, which news organizations have long objected to being used in court. The prosecutor, Army Maj. Justin Oshana, in a court filing, called Boal’s interviews “relevant and necessary” to the case; he said he shared a draft subpoena with Boal’s attorney. (The Justice Department, which is objecting to Boal’s request and backing the military prosecutor, would not comment for this column.) The good news for journalists and citizens is that Boal has his own army behind him: a long list of news organizations, including National Public Radio, the Associated Press, The Washington Post, Fox and the other major network news companies. “This is a dream team of media — from across the political spectrum,” Boal said when the friend-of-the-court brief was filed late last month. Boal’s films include “The Hurt Locker” (for which he won the screenwriting Oscar) and “Zero Dark Thirty” (which he also wrote). It wasn’t hard to find supporters, according to Katie Townsend, the litigation director for the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, who


Justin Rose wins gold in golf’s Olympic return that left players ‘inspired’

is how Rose typically prepares for a major championship. The golfers spent a great deal of time visiting other sports, and they drew on them. Between two holes of a practice round, Mark Futcher, Rose’s caddie, showed Rose a photo — now somewhat famous — of Michael Phelps charging ahead in the 200-meter butterfly, eyes only forward. To Phelps’s right swam South African Chad le Clos, stealing a peek at his competition. It reminded him to, as he said, “stay in my lane.” The golfers, too, visited compatriots in the Athletes’ Village, where Watson and fellow American Rickie Fowler stayed. They dined with them, learned about their sports, the training involved — what it means to be an Olympian. Golf is assured of being in the Olympics only through 2020. Those who played this week badly want it to stay. “It’s just amazing when you sit back and think about who I am,” Watson said. “I’m just a golfer, right? And now I’m in the Olympics. And these are great American champions that have medals — like Matt Kuchar.” Rose, too, met up with other athletes from Britain. “We left the village,” said Futcher, “feeling like we owed them our best performance.” They just about delivered. Stenson made birdie at the drivable par-4 16th to pull even with Rose at 15 under, and that’s where they stood on the tee of the par-5 18th. They had waded through odd assessments to get there, namely: Were they in medal position? “It’s an amazing thing, this tournament compared to other tournaments,” Kuchar said. “Fifth place doesn’t really exist. Fifth place means a very nice tournament and a nice paycheck on the PGA Tour. Here it’s a nice finish, but you got nothing to take home.” Both Stenson and Rose were slightly short of the green in two, but Rose had a better angle. Stenson’s pitch couldn’t quite get over a ridge to the pin near the back of the green, and he was left with 25 feet for birdie. Rose bumped his chip up nicely. Stenson three-putted. Rose birdied. And after a century’s absence, three golfers stood on a podium. Stenson has held the claret jug. Rose has won the U.S. Open. Kuchar has won more than $37 million in his career. Yet they had never experienced anything like this, medals around their neck as Rose belted out, “God Save the Queen.”


Baltimore Metro resumes operations after 23-day closure for track maintenance

The Baltimore Metro Subway resumed full operation over the weekend after a partial closure for track maintenance that lasted more than three weeks, officials said. The nearly 33-year-old subway system closed for 23 days between the Milford Mill and Mondawmin stations for what the Maryland Transit Administration dubbed “critical maintenance work.” The project involved restructuring three interlockings, the devices that allow trains to cross from one track to another, the MTA said. “We are pleased to report that this critical maintenance work was completed ahead of schedule and under budget,” said Paul Comfort, the MTA administrator and chief executive. “I’d like to thank our customers for their patience during this important safety project. We are pleased they will have an enhanced experience as a result of this essential rail work.” The MTA did not respond to a request Sunday for the final cost. Repairs had been expected to cost $16 million. Roughly 45,000 people ride the subway each day. The MTA provided shuttle buses to transport riders between the closed subway stops during the repair work, but officials warned riders to plan for an extra two hours of travel time for a round trip. The closure also came amid Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake’s plan to cut back the free Charm City Circulator bus and the MTA’s proposal to restructure its bus system so fewer buses go all the way downtown as a means to reduce traffic congestion. — Baltimore Sun


Man fatally shot earlier this month in Northwest Washington is identified

A man who was fatally shot on Aug. 5 in Northwest Washington has been identified as a 59-year-old, D.C. police said Monday. Chijioke C. Agbakahi was shot about 7 p.m. in the 5100 block of Georgia Avenue NW, between the neighborhoods of 16th Street Heights and Brightwood Park. Police did not provide an address for Agbakahi. No arrests have been made in the shooting, and police said they did not know of a possible motive. On July 30, a man was shot and wounded about 2:40 a.m. in the 5300 block of Georgia Avenue NW. And about 7:10 p.m. on Aug. 8, police said a 45-year-old man was fatally shot in a parking lot behind a recreation center in the 5700 block of Georgia Avenue NW. Police have not said if they believe any of these shootings were related.


More than $12 million earmarked for Trump’s campaign manager in Ukraine

assets that involved Manafort and a Russian oligarch who is close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, though the Times reported that Manafort is not a target in the Ukrainian investigation of offshore companies. Manafort is no stranger to controversy, controversial figures or global dealmaking. His friends have labeled him “the Count of Monte Cristo,” the hero of a 19th century novel. Manafort once tried to build a high-rise in Manhattan with money from a billionaire ally of Yanukovych; the project failed. In his lobbying work, Manafort took on clients few others would touch, including the corrupt dictators Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire and Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines, both of whom stole billions of dollars from their countries. The cable deal ended up in court in the Cayman Islands and Virginia. The Russian tycoon, Oleg Deripaska, accused Manafort of taking $19 million and of failing to account for the money, return it or respond to questions about where it went. Attorneys for Deripaska at one point said they could not locate Manafort or his partner, Richard Gates, according to a petition filed in a Cayman Islands court. “It appears that Paul Manafort and Rick Gates have simply disappeared,” the petition stated. According to court records filed in August 2015, seven years after Deripaska asked for his money back, the businessman still had not received it. The Times reported that Manafort’s lawyer denied his client received management fees from the partnership making the investments in the Cayman Islands, but Gates, who is also now working for Trump, received a “nominal” sum. Manafort’s ties to Russia and Ukraine are now receiving more scrutiny after Trump called on Russia to meddle in the presidential election by finding and releasing thousands of emails from Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. U.S. officials said there is strong evidence that Russia was involved in a hack of emails and voice mails at the Democratic National Committee. “Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing,” Trump said during a news conference in July. He added later: “They probably have them. I’d like to have them released.” When asked if he was concerned about Russia spying on Clinton’s correspondence, Trump said: “No, it gives me no pause. If they have them, they have them.” Trump has offered words of praise for Putin. In December, Putin said Trump was a “colorful and talented”


How an apple grown in the U.S.A. becomes a status symbol overseas

Forget the Brioni suit. Forget the wine collection, the Maserati and the second home in St. Tropez. The latest status symbol in some parts of the developing world is a Washington State apple, a frozen steak in the freezer or some U.S. red cherries filling a bowl. Chalk it up to a worldwide surge in industrial cold storage capacity, allowing more perishable food, particularly dairy and meat, to make its way from farm to people’s plates around the globe. A recent Wall Street Journal story took note of the trend. The cold food chain, as it is known, is increasing in China, most of all, but also in India, Chile, Mexico, Costa Rica, Turkey, Indonesia and the Philippines. “People are now expecting to go into the store and get high quality, safe products, and willing to pay a premium price in that grocery as opposed to open air markets,” said Richard Tracy, vice president of international programs for the Global Cold Chain Alliance, which represents temperature-controlled logistics companies. Cold storage, in other words, is one of those indispensible cogs in the wheel of becoming upwardly mobile. “Take Washington State apples. Those are exotic import items in many countries, and are highly valued for their. . .celebration of wealth,” Tracy said. “In many emerging markets, you are putting it on your table and saying, ‘Look at this.’” That’s also good for U.S. agribusiness. “More cold storage in China allows for more mass market imports from America,” said Jeremy Haft of SafeSource Trading, which exports pork, cherries and cattle hides to China. Haft also authored a book about American exports to China called, “Unmade in China: The Hidden Truth about China’s Economic Miracle” “Cold storage in China means that America can move beyond the crops to higher value products like pork. Smithfield slaughters their hogs here in the U.S. and ships them cold to China in six-piece carcasses. They are going over refrigerated. China’s increase in cold storage capacity allows those exports to happen.” American consumers have been buying distantly-produced beef, pork and dairy for 150 years, ever since Gustavus Swift launched the ice-cooled railroad car in the 19th century, enabling the meatpacker to ship inexpensive beef to all corners of the United States. Philip Armour followed and the rest is history. The cold chain essentially is a thread of cold storage capacity that starts right at the harvest location, whether it’s


So you just won a gold medal? Welcome to the rest of your life.

attention during the Games. Moreover, after 120 years, the modern Olympic movement has grown vast. The Summer Games feature more than 40 sports, including “athletics,” commonly known as track and field, which comprises almost 50 areas of competition. More than 800 gold medals will be awarded at these Games — not all of them to Phelps. The elite community of living Olympians, past and current, continues to grow, composed largely of people who reap few financial rewards, publicity or spots on reality shows. Many athletes, especially in less popular sports such as canoe slalom or handball, finish college and launch careers out of the spotlight. But even that can be difficult. “I tried to channel the same energy I had trying to be an Olympian into the business world,” says three-time gold medalist Rowdy Gaines, an NBC Olympics swimming analyst. “But I can tell you it was not easy and there were many days I thought I was a complete failure.” For every Michael Phelps, who’s worth about $55 million in endorsement deals. . . (Martin Bureau/AFP/Getty Images) . . .there are many more medalists like shooter Ginny Thrasher, who will go quietly back to college or day jobs. (Harry How/Getty Images) And those who stay in the spotlight often find that it turns into a tabloid glare. Phelps, with more than two dozen medals, more than most nations at the Olympics have earned, is worth an estimated $55 million from multiple endorsement deals. But during a brief retirement from his sport, he also earned boldface ink from two DUIs, a six-month suspension and a stint in rehab before straightening himself out to compete in Rio. “There are some cases that, because they have such tunnel vision throughout their competitive career, it’s sometimes difficult to come out of that when they retire,” says Gaines, who did okay himself, having enjoyed a lengthy career as a television sports commentator. But, he notes, “I think that as long as you can fall back on the qualities that got you to the Olympics, and use them in your post-Olympic life, in the long run you will be okay.” The Olympics definitely are rewarding, Etzel contends, just not necessarily financially. Most athletes will never compete at the Olympic Games, he cautions, and “most people at the Olympics don’t win medals.” They won’t earn Phelpsian gold. But that’s okay. “The path,” he says, “is the


Meadows-in-a-can are a myth. Real ones take a lot of planning and patience.

a garden border. As Weaner points out, pretty much every traditional horticultural practice is antithetical to his approach to making landscapes. Don’t pull weeds; you’ll create more as you bring weed seeds to the surface. Instead, cut them. Don’t fertilize, irrigate or enrich the soil; meadow plants like it lean, and you’ll just encourage more weeds. He notes that the conventional wisdom among landscape designers (and moreover, I would add, their clients) is that a new garden is a creation that must not change, whereas an ecologically driven landscape is all about change, as species ebb and flow over the years. In traditional landscape design, you might well find a small, hidden garden room that presents itself as a surprise. “If you walk it 100 times, there is no surprise,” he said. “But if the landscape is changing constantly all the time, there is mystery.” One of the assets of a naturalistic garden is its seasonal changes. By leaving some but not all wildling shrubs in place, Weaner creates a natural layering effect that comes to the fore as leaves turn. (Karen Bussolini/Timber Press) Weaner and Christopher write that “a traditional garden is like a beautiful car with no engine. The body is sleek, the interior is plush, and the stereo sounds great, but the owner will always need to push it up the hills with bags of fertilizer, weeding forks, and watering wands.” It’s worth noting that there isn’t just one model of a meadow; its nature depends on the prevailing local conditions. And they write, too, about shrublands and woodlands — different environments with shared principles of shepherding desirable plant communities while keeping weeds and invasives at bay. If I had a 20-acre spread in the country, one of my first jobs would be to convert a lawn or an old hayfield into the type of seeded-grass-dominant meadow that Weaner espouses. Such a place would be especially rich in wildlife. (Note to voles, coyotes and groundhogs: Try the next county.) But what of the suburban or city garden? Weaner is unfazed by downscaling. “There was a 40-acre meadow I planted, and we made a path that created a little patch, probably four by four feet. It was a meadow. There is no minimum size.” Weaner says meadow plants work in small, structured urban and suburban gardens as well as in the country. This project required plants that would


The first players in Maryland’s medical marijuana industry have political ties

George F. Johnson IV, former Anne Arundel County Sheriff and Maryland Superintendent of the Department of Natural Resources, has changed his mind about the benefits of medical marijuana. He is now the director of security for Forward Gro Inc, which on Monday received state approval to grow marijuana. (Linda Davidson/The Washington Post) Correction: Thirty businesses have won approval to grow and process medical marijuana in Maryland, regulators announced Monday, putting life into the industry more than three years after lawmakers legalized the drug for medical use. Several of the winning applicants have political ties — with major donors or high-ranking officials on their teams — including a company that hired the Maryland lawmaker who was the driving force behind the tightly regulated program. State officials received an unexpectedly large number of applications from entrepreneurs who want to jump into the legal marijuana business. Maryland, which along with 24 states and the District has legalized the medical use of the drug, is considered a lucrative area of opportunity because it has few restrictions on who can buy the drug and limits how many businesses can participate. Patients probably will not be able to obtain medical marijuana until summer 2017 because dispensaries have not yet been approved. Some of the cultivation and processing winners have high-ranking law enforcement officials on their teams, including two previous heads of the state Natural Resources Police, which is tasked with eradicating illegal marijuana cultivation in state forests. The head of the state police union also is involved with one of the approved applicants. The Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission chose 15 growers from nearly 150 applicants, and it chose 15 of 124 processors who applied to turn the marijuana plants into pills, oils and other medical products. Seven organizations received approval to both grow and process the drug. The businesses must pass another round of background checks and a facility inspection before they are formally licensed to operate. Regulators have not yet awarded licenses to dispensaries where patients could get marijuana, and state officials are considering more than 800 applications for as many as 94 licenses, limited at two per state Senate district. The field of applicants to grow and process marijuana included companies that recruited former law enforcement officials to guard their operations, growers from other states, and some with political ties. The identities of individuals involved with the companies were redacted from application materials in


Hints From Heloise: Mosquito management

Dear Readers: The American Mosquito Control Association (mosquito.org) suggests the Three D’s: ● Drain standing water from roof gutters, tires and tarps. Change birdbath water often. Water is necessary for mosquitoes to breed. ● Dress in baggy white or light-colored clothing. Even though it’s hot out, covering arms and legs is best. ● Defend your skin by using a repellent. Here are the suggestions from the Environmental Protection Agency: ● Deet (diethyltoluamide). Read the label carefully, and adhere to all precautions regarding deet. Ask your physician if you have concerns about using it for children. ● Picaridin. ● Oil of lemon eucalyptus or paramenthane-diol. ● IR3535. The EPA (epa.gov) also recommends avoiding outdoor activities early in the morning and at dusk, when there can be lots of mosquito activity. Play it safe when outdoors! Buzz, buzz, buzz! Dear Readers: To see Licorice, visit Heloise.com and click on “Pet of the Week.” Dear Heloise: Thank you for your helpful hints. Having one of my hints published is on my bucket list! Under sink: I use a large tray to hold items. This makes it easier to clear a storage area when plumbing work is needed. Recipes: Use a small, plastic snack bag to hold and protect a favorite recipe on an index card. A clothespin will hold the card in place as you work. Household: Plastic aerosol caps can be reused to hold small objects around the house. Thank you again for helping homemakers become more organized and for being a credit to the great state of Texas! Alice H., DeWalt, Tex. P.S.: We lost our post office. If this is printed, please use DeWalt as my location. Alice H.: Dear Readers: From the files of Heloise Central, here are foods to avoid feeding your feathered friend: ● Dairy (although a tiny bit of cheese may be fine) ● Sugary and salty snacks ● Undercooked eggs ● Alcohol ● Raw onion or raw potato ● Raw red meat, poultry and fish. Check with your veterinarian or avian specialist for more information. Dear Heloise: Instead of store-bought croutons, I crumble spicy tortilla chips on my lettuce salad for a delicious zingy flavor. Mary J. in Los Angeles Heloise’s column appears six days a week at washingtonpost.com/advice. Send a hint to Heloise , P.O. Box 795000, San Antonio, Tex. 78279-5000, or email it to Heloise@Heloise.com. 2016, King Features Syndicate


Don’t reclassify marijuana yet — research it

Cultivated marijuana is seen in this 1999 photo at the University of Mississippi, which is currently the only place federally licensed to grow marijuana for research purposes. (Robert Jordan/Associated Press) THE DRUG Enforcement Administration made headlines last week for sticking to the status quo: The agency declined to change marijuana’s classification under the Controlled Substances Act to a lower, less strictly regulated schedule. Marijuana sits alongside heroin and LSD in the DEA’s Schedule I category, reserved for the most dangerous substances. Schedule II drugs include narcotics such as methadone and oxycodone that are medically useful but have a high potential for harm. Advocates say the current classification of marijuana makes little sense: They cite studies that show pot can help patients manage pain without any serious risk of abuse. The only problem? The Food and Drug Administration has done studies of its own, and its experts do not agree. There’s one way to resolve the debate: more research. Until there is substantial evidence that marijuana does more to help than to hurt, the DEA is right not to reschedule the drug. The agency took a step in the right direction by allowing more places to grow marijuana for research on how the drug could treat chronic pain and diseases such as epilepsy. But even with the rule change, most scientists who want to learn more about marijuana’s effects will find themselves hamstrung. Schedule I drugs are not supposed to have medical benefits, so the rules governing them do not easily allow for clinical trials. That means researchers and the DEA are stuck: The DEA can’t reclassify marijuana unless research proves its effectiveness, but scientists have a hard time doing research unless the DEA reclassifies marijuana. There may be a way. In the House, Reps. Andy Harris (R-Md.) and Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) recently introduced a bill that would carve out a special space in the country’s drug code for marijuana. The law would make it easier for marijuana to be produced for research purposes, and researchers would have to jump through fewer hoops to get approval for their studies. There’s a reason Mr. Harris, a longtime pot skeptic, and Mr. Blumenauer, one of the drug’s more ardent advocates, have teamed up on the bill: It’s a smart idea. The country is clamoring for change on marijuana. But change should be based on evidence, and scientists cannot provide evidence until they are


Burnout can happen to any athlete. Here’s how two of the world’s best got over it.

Jax Mariash Koudele, an endurance runner from Jackson Hole, Wyo., is on pace to become the first woman to complete the Grand Slam Plus, a series of 155-mile running events in extreme climates. (Koudele Photography) Anthony Ervin and Jax Mariash Koudele are both high-performance athletes. At age 35, Ervin is the oldest male swimmer on the U.S. team at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, competing in his third Olympics. He has racked up two gold medals at Rio, one in the 50-meter freestyle and one as part of the 4x100 freestyle relay team, racing in the prelims. Koudele, 36, an endurance runner from Jackson Hole, Wyo., is on pace to become the first woman to complete the Grand Slam Plus, a series of seven-day, 155-mile running events in extreme climates. Koudele was the female champion in Namibia and China and the second-place female racer in Sri Lanka. She heads to the Atacama Desert in Chile in early October and is on track to finish the series in Antarctica this November. Both are competing at the highest levels in their respective sports, but both have burned out and quit their sport in the past. Yet they found their way back. How? What is burnout? What most people think of as burnout — complete physical and emotional exhaustion — is really just the last and worst phase of burnout, says Keith Kaufman, a sports psychologist who teaches at Catholic University. Anthony Ervin holds up his gold medal after the men’s 50-meter freestyle at the 2016 Olympic Games. Ervin, at age 35, is the oldest male swimmer on the U.S. team. (Odd Andersen/Agence France-Presse via Getty Images) The first stage is a sense of staleness, where performance lacks crispness and energy. The second stage, overtraining, is where performance begins to plateau. Kaufman said there’s a fine line between being at peak performance and overtraining because it’s so easy for athletes to overdo it. The final stage of exhaustion and withdrawal is what Kaufman said is the endgame for burned-out athletes. And once you start going down that road, it can be hard to stop. “You may see staleness, you might see overtraining, but you feel like you can’t stop. That’s where you see burnout really taking hold,” Kaufman said. And it can affect anyone who specializes in one activity — even kids on sports teams. Studies in youth sports are


showing that burnout increasingly can be found among younger athletes who compete in a high-intensity environment, already specialized in a single sport, without an offseason. Types of motivation Motivation is key to understanding — and fighting — burnout. Kaufman describes motivation in two forms: intrinsic, where your motivation comes from within your own sense of doing well, and extrinsic, where outside incentives drive you. Kaufman said today’s culture of sports drives intrinsic motivation out of athletes because instead of something being fun, it becomes a job. As they get more specialized, athletes think, “ ‘Now, I’m going to get serious. . . . I have to get this scholarship or get this medal,’ and it becomes stress,” Kaufman said. “It becomes an obligatory task and chore, and that changes everything.” Ervin won gold in the 50-meter freestyle at Sydney in 2000, then retired three years later at age 22. He had dreamed of the Olympics since his youth, and when he reached the top of his game, it forced him to question his reasons for continuing an all-consuming endeavor. “Once I reached the summit . . . and after taking it in, I didn’t feel compelled to stay there ,” he said. Ervin climbed out of the pool and stayed out for years, taking on what he called a rock-and-roll lifestyle and falling out of shape. He said he spent years looking for a sense of self outside of being a swimmer. Koudele was a track star in high school but turned to triathlons after feeling burned out on running. Koudele came back to running years later because “I just missed running. It was so simple.” She took to road racing, but after tiring of roads, she pivoted toward trails, which led her to the Grand Slam Plus. Koudele said she’s struggling with motivation in the midst of her quest to win the series. She runs two businesses and also is raising money for the LymeLight Foundation, which funds research to combat Lyme disease. She said she feels worn out, working to find the balance between competition and recovery. “Somebody asked me what’s the hardest part about the Grand Slam Plus series, and I really do think that one of the hardest challenges — especially when you’re trying to win them all — is staying at that level of training, mentally, and staying at that level of fitness for a


Homeless art, lost jobs and low enrollment: Two years later, Corcoran’s breakup still stings

of Art’s Board of Trustees voted in May 2014 — a month before it signed the agreement — to accession 703 works, pending the court’s approval of the deal. And the day before the court hearing, the judge disclosed that his wife was a GWU employee. He offered to recuse himself, but both sides agreed to proceed. “It seemed as if there were things that had been agreed to, that had taken place behind the scenes before they were announced,” Simmons said. “It’s a betrayal of the public trust.” Peggy Loar, who was interim director in 2014, said the board was faced with a difficult situation. “I know what this board went through,” she said. “It was an excruciating decision. I think they made the only call they could.” A windfall of art The National Gallery of Art is the biggest winner. The museum has added 8,300 works — at no cost — to its permanent collection, including pieces by John Singer Sargent, Mary Cassatt, Frederic Remington and Ed Ruscha. The accessions have dramatically transformed its holdings of contemporary art, sculpture, American paintings and works on paper. The National Gallery’s board is expected to vote on the last group of accessions when it meets Sept. 28 and 29. The museum also received $5 million in endowment funds. “It was certainly like opening up presents at Christmas,” modern art curator Harry Cooper said last year when the first accessions were announced. The museum has 164 of the works on display in its galleries, including 63 pieces in the temporary exhibition, “Intersections: Photographs and Video from the National Gallery of Art and the Corcoran Gallery of Art,” running through Jan. 2. Museum officials expect that about 40 more will be on view when the East Building, home to its modern and contemporary exhibitions, reopens Sept. 30. After GWU finishes renovating the Flagg building, the National Gallery will lease gallery space and curate exhibitions, thus returning art to the academic environment, a key piece of the Corcoran tradition. The public will be able to view the art, too, without paying admission fees. Before any art is displayed, the renovation must meet the National Gallery’s standards. With the National Gallery’s accessioning almost complete, Hopper and the skeleton board of the Corcoran have begun soliciting proposals from local institutions interested in the remaining 9,000 pieces of art. The Smithsonian and several universities are among the


They were strangers at the starting line. Less than 20 minutes later, they were eternally linked.

It was instinct, a natural act and something that doesn’t usually earn medals or recognition. “Everyone wants to win, and everyone wants a medal. But as disappointing as this experience is for myself and for Abbey, there’s so much more to this than a medal,” Hamblin said immediately after the race when her hopes of advancing in the Olympics appeared to be dashed. Both runners staggered their way through the remaining laps, each step drawing them closer to the finish. With no hopes of posting a time fast enough to qualify, D’Agostino was compelled, putting one foot in front of the other until she’d completed the remaining 4 1/2 laps. Hamblin was well ahead of her and crossed the line in 16:43.61. She was exhausted, in pain and about to experience a touch of shock. She turned around and was surprised to see that D’Agostino had not given up, that the young American was still trudging down the track. “Wow,” she thought. “I’m so impressed and inspired that she did that,” Hamblin said. D’Agostino finally crossed the line with a time of 17:10.02, last place, more than two minutes slower than her personal best and more than two minutes after the race’s winner, Almaz Ayana of Ethiopia. Both runners’ faces expressed utter relief. D’Agostino’s knee was clearly a problem. Still, in that quick moment at the finish line, there was no disappointment in not winning — just relief, gratitude and admiration. “When you’re at this level, you know how hard it is to get here, so there’s just a mutual understanding of how much everyone puts into it,” Hamblin said. “You might finish last in your heat or something like what just happened, but you should still be proud that you’re here.” D’Agostino told officials at the finish line that she was having trouble putting weight on her leg, Hamblin said. The American needed a wheelchair to leave the track. Meanwhile, both countries filed a protest on behalf of the runners, contending that the unintentional mishap impacted their result. Race officials agreed. D’Agostino and Hamblin found out after the race that despite being the last two competitors across the finish line, they had advanced and would be allowed to compete in the 5,000-meter final Friday. The extent of D’Agostino’s injury wasn’t immediately known. She was treated by medical staff on-site after the race but was not made available to reporters.


GM labeled faulty ignition switch a ‘customer satisfaction issue,’ not a safety concern

AUTO INDUSTRY GM didn’t label faulty switch as safety issue General Motors failed to designate a flawed ignition switch linked to multiple deaths as a safety concern, chief executive Mary Barra told jurors at a Texas trial. GM engineers in 2004 and 2005 “misdiagnosed it as a customer satisfaction issue and not a safety issue,” Barra said in a video deposition taken last year and played at trial Monday by attorneys for the plaintiff. “A series of mistakes were made over a period of time that caused the ignition-switch defect,’’ Barra testified. “This had tragic consequences.’’ Barra’s testimony, from a previously unseen deposition taken for multiple lawsuits, is the CEO’s first to jurors weighing the company’s liability to accident victims allegedly harmed by faulty ignition switches GM knowingly put in cars for years. GM recalled 2.6 million vehicles with the flawed switches, which, if jostled, can unexpectedly shift into the off position, stalling engines. The defect has been linked to at least 124 deaths and 275 injuries. The video was shown in a case brought by a Houston family that claims a defective switch caused a fatal car crash in 2011, which resulted in Zachary Stevens, then 19, being charged with manslaughter. That charge was dismissed because the accident involved a recalled car. Stevens is seeking compensation for brain injuries and the cost of defending his criminal case. When pressed on whether GM intentionally hid a deadly flaw from regulators and customers, Barra said the defect “could cause frontal air bag non-deployment, and certainly if the air bag doesn’t work, it could cause a problem that could cause a fatality.” — Bloomberg News EARNINGS Home Depot’s profit up in second quarter Home Depot, the world’s largest home-improvement retailer, posted second-quarter profit that rose 9.3 percent and boosted its earnings forecast for the year as Americans continued spending on their houses. Net income rose to $1.97 a share in the quarter, which ended July 31, the company said Tuesday in a statement. That matched analysts’ average estimate. The results showed that consumers are still willing to splurge to fix up their homes, spurred by rising home values. “We are fortunate in that we are in a space where the customer is willing to spend,” Home Depot chief executive Craig Menear said in a conference call with analysts. “That’s clearly being driven by the dynamics that exist in the housing market.” Home


Powerful NSA hacking tools have been revealed online

Strings of code were released to the Internet by a group calling themselves "the Shadow Brokers". They claim the code is a tool that can be used to hack into any computer. Some of the most powerful espionage tools created by the National Security Agency’s elite group of hackers have been revealed in recent days, a development that could pose severe consequences for the spy agency’s operations and the security of government and corporate computers. A cache of hacking tools with code names such as Epicbanana, Buzzdirection and Egregiousblunder appeared mysteriously online over the weekend, setting the security world abuzz with speculation over whether the material was legitimate. The file appeared to be real, according to former NSA personnel who worked in the agency’s hacking division, known as Tailored Access Operations (TAO). “Without a doubt, they’re the keys to the kingdom,” said one former TAO employee, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive internal operations. “The stuff you’re talking about would undermine the security of a lot of major government and corporate networks both here and abroad.” Said a second former TAO hacker who saw the file: “From what I saw, there was no doubt in my mind that it was legitimate.” The file contained 300 megabytes of information, including several “exploits,” or tools for taking control of firewalls in order to control a network, and a number of implants that might, for instance, exfiltrate or modify information. The exploits are not run-of-the-mill tools to target everyday individuals. They are expensive software used to take over firewalls, such as Cisco and Fortinet, that are used “in the largest and most critical commercial, educational and government agencies around the world,” said Blake Darche, another former TAO operator and now head of security research at Area 1 Security. The software apparently dates back to 2013 and appears to have been taken then, experts said, citing file creation dates, among other things. “What’s clear is that these are highly sophisticated and authentic hacking tools,” said Oren Falkowitz, chief executive of Area 1 Security and another former TAO employee. Several of the exploits were pieces of computer code that took advantage of “zero-day” or previously unknown flaws or vulnerabilities in firewalls, which appear to be unfixed to this day, said one of the former hackers. The disclosure of the file means that at least one other party — possibly another country’s


Loudoun County Animal Watch


Montgomery Animal Watch

This case was received by the Montgomery County Animal Services Division. For information, call 240-773-5900. This number provides recorded information on topics such as the new animal services and adoption center’s hours and location in Derwood, adoption and licensing procedures, and lost-and-found and field services. Aggressive Akita: Free rabies shots: Adoptable cats at no-kill shelter: Gaithersburg Adopt dogs and cats at MCHS no-kill rescue: The Montgomery County Humane Society’s private rescue shelter has dogs, puppies, cats and kittens available for adoption. Call 240-252-2555 or visit mchumane.org. Rockville Reduced fees for cat adoption: Germantown — Compiled by Lisa M. Bolton


Whispers in Rio: Is a female runner gaining an unfair edge from naturally high testosterone?

she steps on the track. Here are some of the best photos of the day. “When you line up against someone like that, it’s going to be a completely different ball game,” said Justine Fedronic, a Stanford-educated runner competing for France at the Olympics. “If you’re just watching the splits they’re running, it’s not the way a woman’s 800 usually unfolds. It’s definitely changed the racing game this year.” On Wednesday, Semenya and 64 other women arrived at Olympic Stadium for their first-round heats. Semenya looked at ease in her two trips around the track, winning her heat with a time of 1:59.31 and easily advancing to Thursday’s semifinals. She has said little publicly about her condition, which has fueled plenty of speculation. The controversy dates to 2009, when Semenya won the world championships and was forced to submit to a gender test. Ever since then, her mere entry in a race has made her a lightning rod of sorts, especially in the months leading up to the Olympics. Before last year, the IAAF could monitor testosterone levels and require athletes to take hormone-suppressing drugs to compete. Semenya benefited from a Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling in July 2015 that suspended the rule and eliminated any ceilings on acceptable testosterone levels in female competitors. The court said that testosterone level alone is not sufficient cause for preventing women from competing against women. The court’s ruling, though, is provisional, giving track’s governing body two years in which to study the science and possibly revisit the matter. (The IAAF has indicated it might challenge the ruling.) Semenya has been on a tear since then and has posted three of the four fastest times in the world this season. It’s created an uncomfortable situation for many other runners. As Fedronic explained, they feel for Semenya, whose body has become a subject for public dissection. But they also compete in a sport that has struggled for years to create a level playing field for runners. “We have doping issues, but this is not on that level. It’s a completely different issue,” Fedronic said. “It’s not anybody’s fault. “It’s probably not something she was aware of most of her life. She’s just trying to be out there training and compete just like the rest of us. It’s really not fair to her. But it’s not fair to others, too.” After the court ruling, there


think we just got to focus on what we have to do and my race plan and not focus on anyone else,” she said Wednesday, shortly after posting the top first-round time, a 1:58.38 finish. Many runners feel the debate surrounding Semenya’s eligibility only will gain steam following the Olympics. Competing on such a big stage could spur on the detractors who question her eligibility and feel she competes with an unfair advantage. But her supporters might become more vocal, as well, people who are concerned about Semenya’s privacy and her right to compete. They say her condition is no different than genetic gifts bestowed on other athletes: Kevin Durant’s height, for example, or Usain Bolt’s long legs. Ireland’s Ciara Everard acknowledged that it’s a sensitive, complicated subject, but “people are complaining about it.” “It’s probably something that needs to be revised after this,” she said. Ajee Wilson was in Semenya’s heat Wednesday, and chasing Semenya pushed the American runner to post her fastest time of the year, a 1:59.44 second-place finish. She, too, feels the IAAF should try to revisit its rules that concern Semenya’s eligibility. “I think at this point, what I think doesn’t really matter. We’re all on the track,” she said. “Whoever’s on there is racing.” Semenya knows a bit about competing against a stacked deck. She won silver at the 2012 Olympics. The gold medalist there was Russia’s Mariya Savinova, who was embroiled in her country’s doping scandal, faces a possible lifetime ban from running and likely will lose her Olympic title. Savinova is also the one who first cast skepticism on Semenya, losing to her at the 2009 world championships and saying, by way of explanation, “Just look at her.” Seven years later, the sport is still looking closely at the speedy South African, watching her do amazing things on the track and sorting out whether the controversy is unfair to Semenya, her competitors — or both. “I don’t know what the solution is,” Fedronic said. “There definitely isn’t a clear one.” More Olympic coverage from The Washington Post American Evan Jager earns best American steeplechase finish since 1952 Russia stripped of 4x100 gold medal from 2008 Olympics for doping Ryan Lochte back in U.S. as Brazilian judge orders his passport seized Wearing her five Olympic medals, Katie Ledecky comes home to a hero’s welcome Boxing officials sent home from Rio after controversial decisions


The latest Brexit buzz is about the fate of England’s honeybees

Tim Lovett, former president of the British Beekeeping Association and current director of public affairs, dons a bee suit and veil at the Kingston Division Apiary of the Surrey Beekeepers Association. The “Brexit” leaves questions about how beekeeping will be affected in Britain when the country is free from European Union regulations. (Joshua Bright/for The Washington Post) SURBITON, England — Few have bothered to consider what the country’s historic decision to end its four-decade alliance with the continent will mean for the humble arthropod. Gaining far more attention have been the passionate debates over the merits of immigration and the limits of globalization that fueled the nation’s desire to quit the E.U. But unraveling any marriage is a complicated affair, and the fate of Apis mellifera highlights how entangled Britain has become with the 27 E.U. countries beyond the English Channel. At stake are the future of European regulations of pesticides that could threaten the 250,000 hives on this island nation; medicines that can be used to treat honeybee ailments; and funding for inspectors responsible for ensuring the health of Britain’s bees. “The E.U. treaty is a finely balanced, huge political compromise between national governments,” said Jacob Funk Kirkegaard, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. “People think, ‘Oh, it’s just a free-trade agreement,’ but it’s not. It’s much, much bigger than that.” Britain’s vote to leave the E.U., popularly known as Brexit, was a repudiation of the belief in the free movement of goods and people that is at the heart of the alliance with Europe. Implementing those principles has generated reams of regulations and legislation that trace their origin to the E.U.’s seat of power in Brussels and touch even the most obscure corners of the economy. There are carefully worded communiques on climate change, mandates for medical devices, prescriptions for pension administration and standards for safety procedures. No one knows how many rules will remain intact and how many will be renegotiated — or abandoned altogether. No one is even certain how much legislation emanates from Brussels. Attempts to count are often politicized, according to Annette Elisabeth Toeller, a public policy professor at the University of Hagen in Germany. “We don’t have the capacity within Parliament, within our civil service, to do all that — to basically start from scratch again,” said Jeff Ollerton, a professor of biodiversity at the University of Northampton. “There’s not


enough time in the next 100 years.” Tim Lovett uses a smoker to calm the forager bees on the supers in an opened hive at the Kingston Division Apiary of the Surrey Beekeepers Association. (Joshua Bright /for The Washington Post) Pesticide ban’s uncertain fate The honeybee falls under the jurisdiction of the European Food Safety Authority. The E.U. produces more than 200,000 tons of honey for human consumption each year, but officials’ interest is not merely culinary. Bees are a critical pollinator of Europe’s farm crops, and their indirect impact on agriculture is estimated to be 22 billion euros, dwarfing the sales of honey. Beekeepers hope that means their interests would not be ignored in any future discussions. “Beekeeping is a little bit like — well, I wouldn’t say religion,” said Tim Lovett, spokesman for the British Beekeepers Association. “If you’re against bees, you’re in serious trouble.” E.U. officials published an assessment last year of the 1,965 species of bees native to Europe and found that 9.2 percent are threatened with extinction. There is a working group on apiculture and bee health within the European Parliament, the alliance’s legislative arm. And this summer, the fifth annual “Bee Week” took place in Brussels. The theme: “Bees caring for Europeans. Europeans caring for bees?” The brood box of an opened hive at the Kingston Division Apiary of the Surrey Beekeepers Association. (Joshua Bright/for The Washington Post) A blackboard lists the hives at the Kingston Division Apiary of the Surrey Beekeepers Association. (Joshua Bright/for The Washington Post) Beekeepers are divided over what Britain’s departure from the E.U. will mean for their hives. Generating the most buzz is a temporary ban on pesticides, known as neonicotinoids, used by farmers. Environmentalists and bee enthusiasts had lobbied for the moratorium after noticing that bees exposed to the chemical appeared to act drunk — becoming disoriented and getting lost. Now the question is whether Britain will keep the ban or roll it back. “Environmental issues cross political boundaries. In order to tackle them, you have to work together,” said Norman Carreck, science director at the International Bee Research Association. “If the U.K. leaves, everything is open to negotiation.” To those who supported remaining in the E.U., the moratorium is exactly the type of regulatory minutiae that the alliance is supposed to alleviate. A centralized bureaucracy helps Britain compete in an increasingly interconnected world. Rather than negotiate with


Maryland’s cruel crackdown on family affection

bars, including one who wrote a moving piece in The Post’s Outlook section this month, pleading for more time to hold her baby granddaughter. The challenge posed by Suboxone Prison administrators are right that Suboxone poses a real problem. Although it provides a milder high than heroin, its presence in penal institutions, like that of any banned substance, can spur drug dealing and violence. The trouble is that the policy they have devised is overkill, and there is little indication it works. It forbids inmates from physical contact with their loved ones until the end of a visit, and then permits only a brief embrace. That may make some sense for adult visitors; for small children, who need physical affection from parents and grandparents, it is callous. There is also little indication it is effective. Prison authorities have no data — none — showing that children have been frequently used to convey contraband. What’s more, seizures of Suboxone and other illicit drugs conveyed by visitors dropped just 16 percent in the first seven months of this year compared with the same period last year. That suggests the impact of the restrictions, imposed Nov. 30, is marginal at best. In large part, the policy was driven by a scandal at the Baltimore city jail three years ago, in which inmates had effectively taken charge of the facility, procuring all manner of contraband, including drugs and cellphones, in copious quantities. But in that case, the contraband was conveyed not by visitors but by jail guards, including women who were having sex with prisoners. Societies are fairly judged by how they treat those they have condemned. Correctional institutions are not, and should not be, summer camps, but they are wise to strike a balance between the need for effective security and control, and the value of compassion and humanity in promoting rehabilitation. In Maryland, officials have gotten the balance wrong by denying small children and inmates, including mothers, the opportunity of engaging in more than fleeting moments of physical affection. Read more: Kimberly Hricko: I’m the inmate. Why is my granddaughter being punished, too? Keramet Reiter, Lori Sexton and Jennifer Sumner: Denmark doesn’t treat its prisoners like prisoners — and it’s good for everyone The Post’s View: Recommendations on Baltimore jail scandal merely a start The Post’s View: A disgrace in Baltimore, discontinued Charles Lane: A Baltimore jail scandal aided by union politics


Despite Trump’s wishes, America can’t turn its back on Japan and South Korea

presence in Asia would not only undermine regional security; it would also ultimately weaken the United States at home and abroad. While Trump is right to question whether many U.S. allies are essentially free-riders, this can’t be said of either Japan or South Korea. As the world’s third- and 11th-largest economies, respectively, Japan and South Korea assume a significant portion of the cost of stationing U.S. forces within their borders. Japan pays about $4.5 billion a year in base-related expenses, while South Korea contributes about $870 million — 75 percent and 40 percent of the total costs, respectively. For the United States, it is cheaper to station troops in these Asian nations than it would be to house them at home. Equally important, these two allies are major markets for U.S. arms exports. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, from 2014 to 2015, Japan imported $741 million and South Korea $470 million worth of arms from the United States. So how do Japan and South Korea make the United States strong? First and foremost, through alliances that demonstrate the importance of shared democratic values, interoperable military capabilities and deep economic linkages. Absent partnerships with Japan and South Korea, not to mention Australia, the United States would have no real presence across the Asia-Pacific. In such an instance, China would quickly move to fill the vacuum and establish its own Sino-centric order. Second, both Japan and South Korea have been exemplary partners in the fight against nuclear proliferation. Indeed, while Trump has suggested that Tokyo and Seoul should consider their own nuclear options in the face of a nuclearized North Korea, the best way to counter Pyongyang is through robust alliances with the United States, including an ironclad nuclear umbrella. Enticing as it may seem, a nuclear South Korea and Japan would trigger a regional nuclear arms race, cripple their alliances with the United States and lead to a much more aggressive China and Russia. Third, Japan and South Korea are both committed to fostering free trade and the rules-based liberal international order that the United States created and benefits from the most. Political candidates from both the Republican and Democratic parties have convinced the public that the Trans-Pacific Partnership would hurt the U.S. economy, when in reality the United States would gain the most from the agreement, with analysts estimating that real incomes would increase by $131 billion


How Trump adviser Manafort revived his career — and business fortunes — in Ukraine

history of legal trouble. U.S. prosecutors charged Firtash in 2013 with money-laundering and bribery as part of a broad international corruption investigation and have sought his extradition, although Firtash’s attorneys have called the effort politically motivated. Manafort’s alleged role in the deal was detailed in documents submitted as part of a 2011 New York lawsuit that accused Firtash of working with Manafort and others to invest ill-gotten profits from energy transactions in Ukraine. Manafort denied wrongdoing, and the case against Manafort and Firtash’s energy company ultimately was dismissed. In another business venture, Oleg Deripaska, a Russian aluminum magnate, accused Manafort in a court in the Cayman Islands of taking nearly $19 million intended for investments, then not accounting for the money, returning it or responding to numerous inquiries about exactly how the money was used. In his legal filing, Deripaska said he expected that the money would be used to make acquisitions in Russia, Ukraine and other countries in eastern and southern Europe. Instead, the petition argues, the partnership made only one purchase: buying a stake in Ukrainian cable television and Internet ventures. Deripaska, squeezed by the 2008 credit crunch, asked for the partnership to be liquidated and his money returned, according to Deripaska’s petition. But the filing said it was unclear who was controlling the Ukrainian cable TV and Internet assets and what happened to the money Deripaska initially provided. Richard Hibey, Manafort’s attorney, did not respond to repeated Washington Post requests for comment on the current status of the dispute. Manafort’s financial connections to the region, along with those of other top Trump advisers, have fueled concerns among U.S. national security experts about Trump’s foreign policy positions, which included praising Russian President Vladimir Putin and expressing some doubt about the U.S. commitment to NATO countries that have not paid their share of defense costs. As the controversy regarding Manafort and Ukraine swelled this week, Manafort said he had cut his ties with his Ukrainian client in 2014. But colleagues in Kiev and Moscow said he continued to work for the Party of Regions, now called the Opposition Bloc, led by Yanukovych’s former chief of staff, and was seen in the country as recently as last year. “He was with the Opposition Bloc,” said one colleague who said he saw him in Kiev in October, adding that Manafort said he was in Kiev to negotiate for money he was