In Baltimore, not even Santa on a Harley can ease tensions from Freddie Gray case

Charm City, the tensions surrounding the Freddie Gray case are impossible to forget, no matter how many twinkling lights are strung from roof to roof. Gray, 25, died in April, a week after his spinal cord was partially severed while he was in police custody. The city erupted in protests, then riots. The trial of William G. Porter A cabdriver cranks up the sports radio in his taxi when passengers ask about the unrest and whether Baltimore is okay now. “Look at the city. Most of the bad parts you see were there before all that happened,” he says he tells them. “The city hasn’t been okay in a long time.” That holiday shine isn’t spackling the city so well this time. Santa, on his Harley, wants nothing to do with the Freddie Gray business. “On Monday. You can talk about it on Monday,” he says on Sunday evening. “Right now, enjoy the spirit here.” Others — black and white — had the same reaction when I tried to ask them about the city’s mood amid the Gray testimony. “I don’t want to talk about that now,” said one woman, then a man, then another woman. People gasped, grabbed their chests and shook their heads. Not now. Not again. There is some giddy avoidance in all the lights and delightfully cheesy geegaws. But deep down, most people making their Miracle pilgrimages know that all is not sparkly and bright. “Look, I know there are problems in the city. And in the country,” says Jim Pollock, the white artist who is the genius behind the hubcap Christmas tree. “The cops?” he asks. “I got harassed by the cops, too — I know that goes on.” But he maintains that Baltimore’s racial divide is less stark than many people imagine, aided by the city’s common economic, cultural and artistic heritage. “We go to festivals together, we listen to music together, we celebrate together,” he says, nodding at the diverse crowd of blacks and whites shuffling through his living-room-turned-art-gallery. Nevertheless, much of white Baltimore is acutely aware that things are not good for black Baltimore. “It’s been hard,” says Stacy L. Hurley, who still proudly wears her title of Bawlmer’s Best Hon 2013. Hurley, who grew up in Baltimore, is a social worker. And a cop’s daughter. And the last one of her family still rooted in the city she passionately defends, refusing


‘Star Wars’ vs. ‘Star Trek’: Which has better science?

“May the Force be with you” vs. “Live long and prosper,” lightsabers vs. phasers, warp drive vs. hyperdrive? The fan debate over which story, technology, spaceships and characters are superior started a long time ago. To casual moviegoers, there is not much difference between “Star Trek,” the sci-fi franchise that launched on television in 1966, and “Star Wars,” which debuted on movie screens in 1977. Yet to hard-core fans, the differences are as significant as those between tribbles and droids. “Star Trek” fans think “Trek” is better because it portrays a complex, science-based technological future where diverse species unite for the betterment of all. “Star Wars,” many believe, is a simple adventure with ray guns and walking carpets, where the good guy wears white and the bad guy wears black, and there’s a magic Force. “Star Wars” fans think “Star Wars” and “The Empire Strikes Back” are “The Godfather” and “The Godfather: Part II” of science fiction films: a perfect original followed by an equally great sequel. They can tell you exactly where they were when they first heard “No, I am your father.” “Trek,” for many, is boring techno-babble; everything gets talked to death over tea, Earl Grey, hot, whereas a Jedi with a lightsaber and a rascal with a ship that can make the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs will always save the day. YouTube videos debating and lampooning the rivalry abound. Fan polls from the past few years indicate a fairly even split, and for many Hollywood stars the choice is far from unanimous. Josh Hutcherson of “The Hunger Games” picks “Star Wars,” as does “Captain America” star Chris Evans. Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Reynolds pick “Star Trek,” according to a 2012 IGN Entertainment video. Top: An impersonator poses as the character Mr. Spock from "Star Trek" at the London Film and Comic-Con. Bottom: A cosplayer dresses as "Star Wars" character Yoda at a Star Wars Day fan event in Tokyo. (Reuters) Is there anyone who can settle this debate? Someone who has attained kolinahr, someone with the wisdom of a Jedi master, who can unemotionally yet boldly make this decision? Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson is perhaps the closest geeks have to a rock-star-type hero. Here’s his verdict from an October Rolling Stone interview: “I’m ‘Star Wars’ fluent, but I’m a bigger ‘Trek’ fan. There’s a promise of actual science going on in ‘Star Trek,’


San Bernardino shooters had been radicalized for ‘some time,’ FBI says

Inland Regional Center that left 14 dead. As the probe expands to sites where Malik lived overseas, friends and family in the United States struggled to piece together clues about what may have led the couple to the violence. The Illinois-born Farook was described as a bright student during his childhood in California. As an adult, those who knew him said, he was a devout Muslim, quiet and private. Farook brought Malik to the United States on a fiancee visa in July 2014. But friends said they knew little about Farook’s wife. Many weren’t even aware that the couple had welcomed their first child in May 2015, a baby daughter who was placed in the custody of child protective services after the attack. “At this time I feel like he had a double life,” Saira Khan, Farook’s sister, said in an interview with ABC News. “I feel like he was very good at concealing everything from all of us. The guy that we know, all his co-workers, everybody that knew him at the mosque, they’re all commenting just like we [are]. . . . Nobody knew him any different than how we knew him.” Much less is known about Malik, who was born in Pakistan but spent at least some time in Saudi Arabia, where her father relocated more than two decades ago. It remains unclear how much time she spent in Saudi Arabia, but she is known to have studied in Pakistan to become a pharmacist. After arriving in the United States, Malik appeared to have interacted with very few people. Even male relatives said they had never seen her face, which was typically covered by a niqab, or face veil, used by some Muslim women. Around the time of the attacks, Malik went on Facebook to post a pledge of loyalty to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State. The Islamic State is urging followers to launch attacks wherever they may be as the group seeks to expand its reach beyond Iraq and Syria. The group has called Syed and Malik followers. But it has not linked itself as clearly to the shooting as it has to a recent series of attacks in Paris. Five days after the shooting, San Bernardino was slowly returning to normal life. Early Monday, county officials announced that business would resume in most county offices, which had been shuttered since the


Vultures may be hard to love, but without love the birds may disappear

Rueppell's vultures are one of the species of the bird that are dropping because of poaching and poisoning in Africa. The bird doesn’t get much attention because it’s seen as a symbol of death and decay. (Shiv Kapila/Kenye Bird of Prey Trust via AP) These are tough times for African vultures. Already seen as ugly and saddled with being a symbol of death and decay in many cultures, their numbers are dropping because of poaching, poisonings and collisions with electricity pylons and wind turbines. Four of Africa’s 11 vulture species were listed as critically endangered this year on an international “red list” of species under threat. The population of seven of those species declined by at least 80 percent in the past 50 years, according to a study published this year in the journal Conservation Letters. But how many people really care about such a creature? Vultures are overshadowed by photogenic threatened creatures such as the lion, rhinoceros and elephant, said Masumi Gudka, Kenya-based vulture conservation manager for BirdLife International, a group with branches in 120 countries. “You have to be creative” in the hunt for an “innovative way to sell the species that people think are ugly,” Gudka said. Vultures, for example, get positive spin from Birdorable, a website that sells clothing and other items with soft, rounded images of birds, she said. On a recent day, Gudka was walking with an Associated Press reporter toward a 1.2-mile-wide cliff in Kenya’s Rift Valley that is home to the critically endangered Rueppell’s species of vulture. About 200 Rueppell’s vultures were in the sky or in the cliff overlooking the dry bed of Lake Kwenia in southern Kenya. Researchers believe the species may have been there for centuries. The birds, circling high overhead, were black dots. There is hope for this species, named for a 19th-century German naturalist. While the refuge is on private land, conservationists want to raise funds to buy it and create a conservancy backed by Maasai livestock herders who could benefit from any ecotourism while keeping a protective eye on the vultures. “This area has so much potential beyond just vultures,” said Darcy Ogada of the Peregrine Fund, a group based in Boise, Idaho, that seeks to protect birds of prey. Birds in this stark landscape include the eastern pale chanting goshawk, the brown snake eagle, the laughing dove, the African mourning dove, the augur buzzard, the


The search for America’s best food cities: Washington, D.C.

Ashok Bajaj, the courtly, highly industrious owner of eight good-to-great restaurants, all of which he visits to greet guests every day, setting a sterling example for hosts across the nation. Johnny Monis is the lone chef of my acquaintance to ace both contemporary Greek and northeastern Thai with Komi and Little Serow, respectively. Worlds and price ranges apart, both restaurants enjoy four-star recognition. And in the District’s back yard, no less an authority than British wine maven Jancis Robinson has sipped Virginia wines and dubbed some “thrillingly good,” comparing the output of RdV Vineyards in Delaplane to the nectars of Bordeaux. I’m including Washington on my list despite its singular disadvantage compared with the other cities I visited: Because I cover the District and its environs on a weekly basis, I’m as familiar with its weaknesses as its strengths. But this exercise has me more convinced than ever that many of those frailties — including our expense-account-steakhouse and “power lunch” obsessions — have more to do with an obsolete reputation and myopic reviews from national media than with reality. Some argue the city has no culinary identity; 15 years ago, the closest thing Washington had to a signature dish, according to The Post Magazine, was a half-smoke, famously featured at Ben’s Chili Bowl on U Street NW. I counter that Washington, a mighty global metropolis, is a melting pot of well-seasoned ideas, and has been for a long time. (The finest Chinese restaurant ever in this country: arguably Sichuan Garden, the ’80s-era showpiece staffed by Chinese master chefs.) Washington will forever be linked to power and status, but the days when where you sat was more important than what you ate are blessedly long gone. Ahead of his time The chef credited with having put a fusty Washington on the food map, Jean-Louis Palladin, died too young at age 55 in 2001. He’d left France in 1979 — the youngest chef ever to win two Michelin stars — to helm a restaurant in the Watergate hotel. Right from the start, the rangy Gascon native had observers on the edge of their seats. In a novel move at the time, when the chef of Jean-Louis couldn’t find ingredients he liked, he introduced himself to conscientious farmers and growers, going on to sing their praises to his peers and having servers announce them as the sources of his delicacies. A Frenchman was


Parents lie to their kids. What’s the line between okay and damaging?

to go ice skating, but you don’t feel like going or can’t make it work with everyone’s schedule. In a moment of weakness, you say the ice rink is closed. The next day your daughter hears from a friend who went skating. She catches you in a lie. “That deception is not for the child’s betterment, it’s a parent coming up with a lazy answer. It’s a parent saying, ‘I don’t feel like getting pushback from my kid,’” said Alyson Schafer, a parent educator and author who lives in Canada. Those little lies can cause big harm, she said. “Kids globalize and say, ‘My parent is a liar. Are they also lying about loving me?’ The security system of the child is undermined. Kids need a lot of stability,” Schafer said. “We’re modeling that lying is acceptable.” That’s when parents are supposed to come clean. Schafer said we need to tell our kids that we’re human and we made a mistake, we took the less courageous path and we will do better next time. But to make it work, we have to actually do better next time. “Making a mistake gracefully is a really important parenting skill,” she said. The uncomfortable truths When it comes to the birds and the bees, experts say answer your kids’ questions directly and honestly as soon as they ask. It might be hard for you, but if you start when they’re very young, it won’t be uncomfortable for them unless you make it that way. Hoefle said it’s important to use correct terms for body parts and explain how the body works, both to educate and to protect children. Children who understand their bodies are more confident, which is a defense against predators, she said. Predators carefully select and groom their victims, and they don’t tend to choose kids who are assertive and self-assured. “Kids who talk about these things at home are safer than their peers who learn from friends and the Internet,” Hoefle said. “They are less likely to be approached by a predator, more likely to say no quickly, not as easily influenced by people on the Internet. Knowledge is power.” The same goes for other hard topics, such as the death of a pet. Experts say you’re not doing your kids any favors by saying kitty is sleeping or went to the vet when she actually died. Kids can handle


Fairfax County news in brief

Interfaith memorial service to honor victims of gun violence An interfaith memorial memorial service for victims of gun violence will be at 7:30 p.m. Monday at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Fairfax, 2709 Hunter Mill Rd., Oakton. The service of music and reflections is being held on the third anniversary of the Sandy Hook school shootings in Newtown, Conn. Led by UUCF’s senior minister, the Rev. David A. Miller, it will include Del. Kathleen Murphy (D-Fairfax); the Rev. David K. North, director of the Mosaic Harmony choir and pastor at Holy Redeemer Metropolitan Church in College Park; the Rev. Kate Walker, minister at Mount Vernon Unitarian Church; Imam Ali Siddiqui, Islamic Center of Northern Virginia; and Senior Rabbi Amy Schwartzman, Temple Rodaf Shalom in Falls Church. Wreaths Across America event scheduled in Herndon In honor of National Wreaths Across America Day, a remembrance and wreath-laying ceremony will be at noon Saturday at Chestnut Grove Cemetery, 831 Dranesville Rd., Herndon. Volunteers will place balsam wreaths on military graves at nearly 1,000 locations worldwide. For the second year, the town of Herndon, in partnership with the Herndon Woman’s Club, will sponsor the local event. For information, call 703-787-7300 or visit herndon-va.gov. Public forums address concerns about Metro services The Northern Virginia Transportation Commission will host two regional forums to address concerns about Metro, including affordability, service reliability and safety, with officials from the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. The first forum will be 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday at Wakefield High School, 1325 S. Dinwiddie St., Arlington. The second will be 6 to 8 p.m. Dec. 17 at the Wiehle-Reston East Metrorail Station, 11389 Reston Station Blvd., Plaza Level, Reston. After brief presentations by the Virginia members of the WMATA board of directors and WMATA General Manager/Chief Executive Paul Wiedefeld, attendees will be invited to participate in roundtable discussions to prioritize issues and identify solutions. Toll calculator is available on Dulles Toll Road website A new feature on dullestollroad.com allows drivers to calculate their toll and visualize their planned route along the Dulles Toll Road. The device is designed for desktop, tablet and mobile devices. Depending on entry and exit points, one-way rates for two-axle vehicles range from $1 to $3.50. Tolls are the same whether paid by cash or E-ZPass. The Dulles Toll Road is operated and maintained by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority under a permit from the state. —


Montgomery Animal Watch

These cases were 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. Abandonment concerns resolved: Free workshop for dog owners: Reduced fees for cat adoption: Germantown Adoptable cats at no-kill shelter: Gaithersburg Adopt dogs and cats at MCHS no-kill rescue: Rockville — Compiled by Lisa M. Bolton


D.C. news in brief

DDOT public meeting on Seventh Street improvements The D.C. Department of Transportation is having a public meeting on the rehabilitation of the Howard Theatre area streetscape on Seventh Street from N Street to Florida Avenue NW. The meeting is from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday at the Watha T. Daniel/Shaw Neighborhood Library, lower level, 1630 Seventh St. NW. The work, expected to begin this month, will include pedestrian, bicyclist and motorist safety improvements; sidewalk and catch basin replacements; centralized parking meter installations; landscaping; and upgrades to street lights. The agency expects the project to be complete by November. DDOT staff members will present the initial plans and take questions. For information, go to ddot.dc.gov or call 202-671-2700. Information fair for D.C. public schools is set for Saturday D.C. public schools and public charter schools are having Ed FEST, a showcase of academic programs, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at the D.C. Armory, 2001 E. Capitol St. SE. School representatives will take questions from parents and students about services and programs, including special education and programs for English-language learners. Flu shots for adults, immunizations and dental services for children and teens, free health screenings and family recreation activities will also be offered. The event is being held in conjunction with the launch Monday of the My School DC application to help parents and students make informed school selections for the 2015-2016 school year common lottery. Admission is free. For information, go to osse.dc.gov. Bread for the City seeks donations for meals Bread for the City, a nonprofit group that provides food, clothing, medical care and legal services to low-income families in the District, is seeking cash donations for its Holiday Helpings campaign. The group hopes to give meals — including a 13-pound turkey, vegetables, fruits, stuffing mix and brown rice — to 9,500 families during the holidays. A $29 donation will feed a family of four. To donate, go to breadforthecity.org. Source Festival is seeking short plays for program The nonprofit CulturalDC is seeking submissions of 10-minute plays for the Source Festival, a program of theatrical works with local actors and artists. Eighteen short works will be chosen to run with one of three full-length plays. The pieces should reflect a major theme of one of the longer works. The themes are: →Dreams and discord: the juxtaposition between the lives we lead and the lives we wish for, and


D.C. police investigate homicide in Southeast Washington

A 23-year-old man from Southeast Washington was fatally shot Wednesday afternoon, according to D.C. Police. The incident happened around 1:37 p.m. in the 3500 block of East Capitol Street SE. Police received a call for a shooting and when they arrived, they found a man suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. Michael Tyrone Jones Jr. was pronounced dead on the scene. Police said they are investigating the case and a reward of up to $25,000 is being offered for any information. Anyone with information is asked to call 202-727-9099. The death comes as the city’s homicide number is over 150 for the year so far, according to by the Washington Post. That’s compared to 105 by this time in 2014.


New style of police training aims to produce ‘guardians,’ not ‘warriors’

Defensive Tactics Instructor Sean Hendrickson demonstrates handcuffing techniques on recruit Cody McCoy from the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office in Burien, Wash., on Nov. 5. (Karen Ducey/for The Washington Post) BURIEN, WASH. — The feces was actually oatmeal and chocolate pudding, the man was another recruit, and the goal of this mock training exercise was to peacefully bring him into custody. The first recruits approached gingerly, trying to engage the man in conversation. When that failed, they moved in and wrestled him to the ground. “We needed to find a way to help him. He obviously had a screw loose,” said Aaron Scott, a cadet from Bellevue, Wash. Scott briefly considered using his baton, he said. “But I thought that might be too much.” For the past three years, every police recruit in the state has undergone this style of training at the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission, where officials are determined to produce “guardians of democracy” who serve and protect instead of “warriors” who conquer and control. Gone is the military-boot-camp atmosphere. Gone are the field exercises focused on using fists and weapons to batter suspects into submission. Gone, too, is a classroom poster that once warned recruits that “officers killed in the line of duty use less force than their peers.” “If your overarching identity is ‘I’m a warrior,’ then you will approach every situation like you must conquer and win,” said Sue Rahr, the commission’s executive director. “You may have a conflict where it is necessary for an officer to puff up and quickly take control. But in most situations, it’s better if officers know how to de-escalate, calm things down, slow down the action.” Training is at the heart of the national debate over police use of force. So far this year, police have fatally shot over 900 people — according to a Washington Post database tracking such shootings — more than twice the number recorded in any previous year by federal officials. Anti-brutality activists and some law enforcement leaders argue that if police were better trained to de-escalate conflict, some of those people might still be alive. Rahr, the former sheriff of King County, is one of the nation’s foremost authorities on this type of training. In April, the Harvard Kennedy School published a report she co-wrote, “From Warriors to Guardians: Recommitting American Police Culture to Democratic Ideals,” which warns that too many academies are


Don’t forget about vaccinations, even if you think you’re too old for them

vaccine-preventable diseases while traveling internationally each year, in part because diseases such as hep A have weeks-long incubation periods and can also be acquired at home. (Martin Tognola for The Washington Post) But anecdotal evidence suggests that Zimmerman’s experience is common, says Greg Poland, director of the Mayo Clinic’s Vaccine Research Group in Rochester, Minn. He sees patients every week who come home from trips with illnesses they could have avoided, including hep A, which often comes from consuming contaminated food or water. “Hepatitis A is the poster child for what happens in Mexico,” Poland says, adding that it’s one of numerous diseases that are frequently picked up abroad. “Most people will tell you they weren’t aware they were going to some place that had a larger risk,” adds Andrew Pekosz, a virologist at Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health. “Or that they hadn’t gotten the vaccine or taken the appropriate antimicrobial drug that would have minimized the risk.” Retirement is a popular time to hit the road and see the world, but travelers face new health concerns once they hit their 60s. Because immunity tends to drop over time, symptoms are often more severe and complications become more common as people age, especially if they have heart disease, diabetes or other conditions. Vaccines also become less effective after about age 65, but because recovery is tougher, immunizations become especially important. “For most of these vaccines, the side effects and adverse effects are minimal compared to the diseases,” Pekosz says. “You’re better off getting the vaccine.” It’s worth visiting a travel clinic at least two or three months before a trip to find out which vaccines are recommended for where you’re traveling and whether there are any contraindications with medications you might be taking, experts advise. Planning ahead is important because some vaccines, including hep A, involve more than one dose, spaced months apart, and it may take weeks before a shot starts offering protection. Other immunizations require boosters every few years. That makes it easy to be delinquent, even if you think you’re protected. About a dozen vaccines might show up on your to-do list. The five most common are hep A, diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTaP), which protects against bacteria that can enter through open wounds and requires a booster every 10 years; measles-mumps-rubella (MMR); chickenpox (varicella); polio; and an annual flu shot. Vaccines that may be warranted depending


Censor or die: The death of Mexican news in the age of drug cartels

their reporters from crossing to report because it’s too dangerous, according to the editors at the newspapers. Pervasive corruption abets the violence. The local police forces have been disbanded and replaced by the army and federal police in the northern Mexican state of Tamaulipas, which includes Matamoros, Nuevo Laredo and Reynosa. A car bomb killed the Nuevo Laredo mayor one week after he was sworn in. The new Matamoros mayor survived an ambush in March. Cartels install surveillance cameras throughout their cities and employ lookouts with cellphones to keep watch. U.S. Border Patrol officers are regularly indicted for cooperating with organized crime. “Tamaulipas is a black hole when it comes to information,” said Aaron Nelsen, a reporter based in McAllen for the San Antonio Express-News. “It’s so hard to get anyone to talk about it,” even elected U.S. officials. Hildebrando Deandar Ayala, editor in chief of El Mañana, sits in the newspaper’s office in McAllen, Tex., in October. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post) Ildefonso “Poncho” Ortiz, a reporter with Breitbart News Network, lives in the United States but regularly reports on cartel activities along the Mexico border. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post) A cartel media director El Mañana’s circulation area includes major U.S. border cities; its online editions are read as far north as San Antonio and Houston. It is a third-generation family enterprise, founded in 1924 as an anti-establishment voice. Over most of its 91 years, its formidable enemies were corrupt politicians and their hand-picked prosecutors. The newspaper now maintains a working relationship with the local governments, as evidenced by the government advertising it receives. Withholding state advertising dollars is a common and effective economic hammer used against media outlets whose investigations upset the status quo. “When it’s not the politicians against us, it’s the drug dealers,” said Heriberto Deandar, 78, who co-owns El Mañana with his brother, Brando’s father. “He who is not afraid has no courage.” Brando was raised in Reynosa but moved to McAllen in 2007 for safety reasons. He commutes to work. Asked why he doesn’t find a safer job, he said simply, “It’s in my blood. I cannot leave.” During a recent visit to the town, the eerie atmosphere was inescapable. Reynosa’s wide boulevards were nearly empty. Heavily armed soldiers patrolled in black masks to protect their identities from cartels resentful of the army’s two-year occupation. Military helicopters whooped periodically overhead, racing to shootouts or hunting


Women in combat units will prove the naysayers wrong

mission. Did my intellect make me an asset to the team? I know a few guys who would say it did. As with every team, some members need to be smarter while others need to be stronger. But no one can be a physical liability. I keep hearing that the change means politicians will force military training schools to graduate women. Some think that if allowances are not made, no women will successfully graduate from some schools or be able to join certain units. But that’s okay — no one wants those allowances. Secretary Carter said there would be no quotas, and there shouldn’t be. Elite training courses such as Basic Underwater Demolition ensure that only individuals with extremely high levels of mental and physical prowess can serve in these niche capacities. That should not change. Just as the military gets tested on tactical tasks, everyone in the ranks should get tested on job-specific physical requirements. For example, if you want to be in an armor or field artillery unit, you must prove that you are capable of lifting and moving the heaviest round in the arsenal. Consideration should be given to the addition of job-specific physical testing, which could solve a problem in many of our combat units and may quell concerns around the integration of women. Many comments I have seen about this topic allude to “female issues.” Look, women have been running around the woods for hundreds of years without anyone having to tell them how to deal with bodily functions. Trust me, we got this. Countless people also question how units will maintain the mystical alchemy of the bro-bond once women join the ranks, but unit cohesion doesn’t develop because men act like teenagers in a locker room. Overcoming adversity builds that bond. Ask a cop after a shootout or a firefighter who ran into a burning building. The man or woman to his left or right becomes his “brother” regardless of gender, religion or politics. None of these arguments is new. And all of them ignore the fundamental fact that brute strength is not the only, or even the most important, factor in a successful combat mission. Courage, ingenuity, strategic thinking, levelheadedness, marksmanship and an ability to read people all factor into whether a unit succeeds or a mission goes south. Yes, we will maintain physical standards, and some women will fail, but the ones


D.C. woman seeking conviction-rate data isn’t deterred by cost of request

District police officers make an arrest in September in the Park View neighborhood in Northwest Washington. (Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post) Frustrated by a surge of robberies on Capitol Hill and other crime, Denise Rucker Krepp posed what she thought would be a simple question: What happens to the thousands of people D.C. police arrest each year? Turns out it’s anything but a simple question. And it could be an expensive answer. The Justice Department told Krepp, an advisory neighborhood commissioner for Hill East, that the government doesn’t keep a readily available list of conviction rates. And to compile the five years of data that she requested for all eight wards of the District, along with a breakdown from her neighborhood, it would cost $40 an hour, plus an additional 5 cents a copy. Authorities also advised Krepp to not expect her information anytime soon. A request judged to be “simple” can take 30 days, officials wrote her. “At this time, your request has been assigned to the Complex track,” the letter said. Krepp, who has lived on Capitol Hill for 14 years, agreed to pay up to $1,000 of her own money for the information, which she requested under the Freedom of Information Act. The law is designed to help citizens get data and documents from the government. People in her community agreed to help defray the cost — Krepp has gotten about $200 so far — and she’s holding a “FOIA Cakes Bake Sale” at Eastern Market on Sunday to raise more. Events DC is providing tickets to a Georgetown University basketball game for a raffle, and Dangerously Delicious Pies is donating proceeds from its Sunday sales. Krepp is a bit of a rabble-rouser — her history of complaints targeting agencies such as Metro and the District’s housing regulatory office has made hers a name officials remember, often with a roll of their eyes. But with the crime issue, Krepp has found a cause that resonates not only with residents fed up about crime, but also with the police chief and the mayor. City leaders facing a nearly 60 percent increase in homicides and a robbery surge in some neighborhoods have put the blame on repeat violent offenders. Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier has said that more than 10 homicides this year involved offenders released from prison on charges related to previous slayings. Both Lanier and Mayor Muriel E.


China’s plan to ‘liberate’ a cradle of Tibetan culture

streets, there are questions about what is gained and what is lost in rapid, state-led development. “All construction, all the roads, the majority of the benefit goes to migrants,” said Yangdon Dhondup, a research associate at the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies. “Of course, the streets are better, but the big money is not really made by most Tibetans. “I think Rebkong will follow the same path as Lhasa,” she said. “Thanks to migration, it will soon look like any other Chinese town — and that’s the aim: Dilute Tibetan identity as much as possible.” That fear is turning the city’s vast public squares and smooth roads into sites of resistance. In 2010, several thousand students took to the streets to protest plans to change the language of instruction from Tibetan to Chinese. Their slogan: “Equality of people, freedom of language.” The area around Rebkong has also seen several self-immolations, part of a wave of fiery protests that have claimed more than 140 lives. In the early winter of 2012, six people set themselves on fire in a single month, prompting the police to put SWAT vehicles and fire extinguishers in Dolma Square. In the demonstrations that followed, high school students reportedly ripped Chinese flags from public buildings. A government memo that leaked after the suicides urged officials to withhold state support to the families of the dead — and their home towns. “All projects running on state funds in self-immolators’ villages must be stopped,” it read. This year’s notice takes things a step further, prohibiting people from “making incense offerings, reciting prayers, sparing the lives of animals or lighting butter lamps for self-immolators, or greeting their family members.” The goal of such rules is to scare would-be “separatists” into submission. Given the range of acts that are now considered threats to China’s stability, some wonder if the 20-point notice could have the opposite effect, widening the distance between the local government and local Tibetans, most of whom want to be able to pray, speak and study as they please. Mark Stevenson, a senior lecturer at Australia’s Victoria University who studies Tibetan art and regularly visits Rebkong, said the gap is only growing as the “new” Rebkong grows. “These days, you have the government end of town and the monastery end of town,” he said. “Instead of communities coming together, the divisions are getting sharper still.”


Meet the woman coming to D.C. again for a first glimpse of the new panda

Lisa Washam is seen during Bao Bao’s debut in January 2014 at the National Zoo. (Courtesy Lisa Washam) When Lisa Washam was working on her PhD in behavioral science, she needed something to relax her. Midday masseuses and drinks were out of the question, so naturally she turned on the National Zoo’s real-time giant-panda cam whenever she could. She was hooked, and she wanted to see those big-eyed creatures with oversize heads and cuddly-looking bodies in person. In May 2013, Washam traveled from her home in Lima, Ohio, to see the National Zoo’s female giant panda, Mei Xiang. When Mei Xiang’s daughter, Bao Bao, made her public debut in January 2014, Washam flew back to the District decked in panda-themed clothing, arriving at the zoo onthat freezing winter morning to be one of the first to see the cub. Nearly two years later, Washam, 37, is making the panda pilgrimage again — this time to see Mei Xiang’s newest cub, Bei Bei, make his public debut Jan. 16. “It’s hard to really explain,” Washam said. “They have always fascinated me, and it really kicked into high gear when I was working on my dissertation. It’s calming.” Washam likens it to the “baby schema” effect — the science explaining that plump, oversize heads with round eyes remind people of babies, making them “ooh” and “aah” and eliciting warm parental instincts. She sometimes tunes into the panda cam when she’s at work as a behavior specialist in a group home for teenage girls, even showing it to her students at times. “Obviously I’m not going to take a drink on the job, but sometimes I’ll pop into my office for a few minutes and watch the panda,” she said. Whatever the effect is, Americans seem to be fascinated by pandas. About 80 percent of visitors to the National Zoo visit the panda habitat. The zoo had about 2 million visitors in 2013 and 2.3 million the following year, when Bao Bao made her debut. When Bei Bei and his twin, who died soon after birth, were born in August, the panda cam saw an 849 percent increase in viewership, maxing out its bandwidth with 868,000 people tuning in over three days. Washam plans to arrive at the zoo with a friend to see Bei Bei about 6 a.m. on Jan. 16 — and she’ll be dressed the part again. She plans to


Loudoun news in brief

Pilot Malt House comes to Loudoun Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) announced Virginia’s first dedicated malting operation at a ceremony Dec. 10 at Black Hops Farm in Lucketts. Pilot Malt House will invest about $1 million to construct and operate the facility and create seven jobs. The company will purchase more than 2 million pounds of Virginia-grown barley, wheat and rye over the next three years. Pilot is an artisan malt house that uses locally grown grains and a mix of traditional and modern processing techniques to produce a variety of base, specialty and custom malts. “Pilot Malt House is a welcome resource for our farms and businesses,” said Loudoun County Board of Supervisors Chairman Scott K. York in a statement. “Pilot Malt House will allow more investment to stay in Loudoun and will ensure that Virginia’s craft beer industry is rooted in Loudoun’s rural economy,” said Loudoun Economic Development Director Buddy Rizer in a statement. For information, go to governor.virginia.gov. Hospital opening comes with address adjustments Thirty-nine Arcola-area property owners are getting new addresses this month. After a vote by the Loudoun Board of Supervisors, those residents will no longer live on Gum Spring Road. They will have Stone Springs Boulevard or Medical Drive addresses. The road name changes follow the opening of StoneSprings Hospital Center, and recognize new traffic patterns in the area. The changes affect the former Gum Spring Road between Route 50 and Evergreen Road. The portion of Gum Spring Road south of Route 50 is unchanged. Project Elf to provide assistance to needy families The Loudoun Department of Mental Health, Substance Abuse and Developmental Services Prevention/Intervention team is partnering with local Girl Scouts and the sheriff’s office to provide gifts and other resources to 100 families throughout the county. The Girl Scouts of Loudoun Service Unit 70 have adopted families that are receiving case management services. More than 100 troops are participating to provide gifts and clothing.. Prevention/Intervention Program staff members will deliver the gifts, clothing and food to families before the holidays. Sheriff’s deputies will assist staff delivering the gifts donated by the scouts. For information about Project Elf or the Loudoun Prevention/Intervention Program, call 703-777-0176. — Compiled by Sandy Mauck


Is the sale of a Hong Kong newspaper China’s latest power play?

to whose censorship and other strictures he readily submits his various Web retail, messaging and other enterprises, and whose protectionist policies shield Alibaba from competitors such as Amazon, Google and Facebook. (Amazon founder and chief executive Jeffrey P. Bezos owns The Post.) Mr. Ma’s second-in-command, Joseph Tsai, did nothing to contradict such concerns by simultaneously promising editorial independence and offering his strong view of how news about China should be reported: “mainstream Western news organisations cover China . . . through the lens that China is a communist state and everything kind of follows from that. . . . We see things differently, we believe things should be presented as they are.” Of course, “the way things are” is that China is a communist state. A key Alibaba financial adviser, Eric X. Li — known for his pro-Communist Party political commentary — observed that “media coverage of China in the West has been too ideological and biased,” and that the Morning Post under Alibaba’s ownership would “give the paper a unique and powerful vantage point to offer global readers a more pluralistic and realistic view of China.” Under the circumstances, the Hong Kong Journalists Association was right to declare itself “concerned that a control of South China Morning Post by Alibaba Group will further compromise press freedom in Hong Kong.” Perhaps it’s true that Mr. Ma really does intend to risk annoying his home country’s authorities, who have not hesitated to arrest and imprison mightier personages than he. Perhaps he does intend to produce untrammeled reportage about government and business in China, the better to draw attention to his e-commerce business and, perhaps, stir the cause of reform in China. On the other hand, it may well be that the South China Morning Post is about to be molded into a pseudo-private instrument of the Chinese state’s “soft power,” much as Alibaba itself has helped launder Beijing’s image and co-opt potential foes through a splashy stock offering in the United States. This would represent another step in China’s march not only to control the news that people in China can see but also, through media ownership, visa denials and other methods, to limit free debate about China throughout the world. Read more on this issue: The Post’s View: Miss Kowtow 2015 Jerome A. Cohen: The insecurity underpinning Xi Jinping’s repression The Post’s View: China’s international efforts to silence free speech


The new nuclear arms race

originally. And it began when I was secretary.” During the George W. Bush administration, there were more missteps, especially the U.S. walking away from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, causing irreparable harm to the countries’ fragile relationship. And during the Obama administration, the president seems to have gone out of his way to denigrate Russian President Vladimir Putin, publicly describing him as “like a bored child in the back of the classroom.” The Obama administration sent arms into Ukraine, reminiscent of Cold War proxy wars that the United States fought on nearly every continent. This time, the game is even more dangerous, playing out on Russia’s border instead of thousands of miles away. And though we are more than a quarter century removed from the fall of the Berlin Wall, the United States still has nuclear weapons pointed at Russia on hair-trigger alert, sending a daily signal of aggression. As Perry noted, one of the great dangers of nuclear proliferation is accidental war. This is not paranoia. In May 2013, the Air Force suspended 17 officers from controlling nuclear weapons after an inspection found a “breakdown in overall discipline.” Seven months later, an Air Force general who oversaw bases with 450 ICBM missiles was fired for what The Washington Post described as a “drunken Moscow bender.” The next month, 34 nuclear officers were caught cheating on their proficiency exams. According to ABC News, investigators learned about the scandal during “another investigation that has already implicated 11 junior officers in using illegal recreational drugs.” But the increased tension between the U.S. and Russia will have dire global consequences even if neither side launches a weapon. Defeating the Islamic State is likely impossible without Russia as part of a broad coalition. Not only does Russia bring advanced military capabilities and general resources to the fight, it also brings intelligence, diplomatic and political ties in the Middle East that the United States simply does not have. And beyond the fight against the Islamic State, there are a number of vital geopolitical issues where a partnership with Russia can be profoundly powerful. Without Russia, the United States would never have reached a nuclear deal with Iran. Without Russia, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad would still have chemical weapons. “In a strange turn of history,” Obama said during a 2009 speech in Prague, “the threat of global nuclear war has gone down, but the risk of a


Freddie Gray case: Jurors say they’re deadlocked, judge tells them to keep talking

at “ground zero,” the intersection of Pennsylvania and North avenues where a CVS burned in April, once a verdict is announced. Here's what you need to know after a jury failed to reach a verdict in the trial of William G. Porter, one of six police officers charged in the Freddie Gray case. “You’re frustrated, so are we. You want justice, so do we,” Núñez said. “You may want to destroy something, but we’re not going to let you do that.” The Baltimore Police Department banned officers from taking leave this week, and area schools postponed or canceled field trips. School officials sent letters to parents warning that students will be punished if they walk out of class or participate in “vandalism, civil disorder, and any form of violence,” and city officials opened emergency operations centers. Staci Pipkin, a criminal defense lawyer and former prosecutor, said Porter’s case could be headed for a mistrial if jurors cannot make a unanimous decision, but a partial verdict is also a possibility. Pipkin said partial verdicts are rare and would be highly unlikely in this case, given its high-profile nature and how it could impact the remaining five trials. “It’s just too much of gamble,” Pipkin said. Pipkin said she is not surprised that the jury is deadlocked, although she cautioned that it does not mean they won’t ultimately come to an agreement. “It is a very highly charged case,” Pipkin said. “It is a very odd case legally. I’ve seen many juries be deadlocked and the next day have a verdict. People get frustrated and they go home and they think about things and they change their minds.” Maryland lawyer Keith Parris said the jury’s indecision bodes well for Porter. “A deadlocked jury basically means no conviction, and that is a good thing for the defense,” said Parris, who is not involved in the case. “They haven’t been totally vindicated, but at least there’s no conviction, and the state would have to consider whether they want to retry the case.” Porter’s case was handed to the jury Monday afternoon after four hours of closing arguments. The jury has deliberated for 11 hours over two days. The jury appears to be made up of seven African Americans and five whites. Porter’s attorneys again renewed a request for a change of venue as the jury entered its second day of deliberations Tuesday morning. Gary


After losing 200 pounds, app creator aims to turn monotonous exercise into fun

of Heat Running’s big fans is Lauren Pierce, a 24-year-old graduate student at the University of Arizona. A former cross-country athlete in high school and current coach of high school distance runners, she enjoys marathons and triathlons, and she credits the app with helping her “become a faster runner.” “It puts you in that [competitive] mind-set, which is really neat,” Pierce said. She likes the app so much that she has taken an uncompensated position in which she provides feedback to its developers and tests new features. As an educational psychology student focusing on motivation during goal-attainment scenarios, she said, she had an academic’s analysis of how Heat Running can be effective. “It’s kind of focused on this whole idea of ‘small wins,’ which is really powerful,” Pierce said. “So when you’re looking at a regular running pattern, you don’t have all of these different motivational encouragements and positive reinforcers that you’re getting when you’re using this app. . . . There are kind of small ways that you’re achieving your goals while you’re on this major running path.” When I tried Heat Running, I found it enjoyable, although not without some drawbacks. Not every runner is going to want to glance at their phone a lot. An armband helps, but I found it sometimes difficult to discern the dots or my pace amid the glare of sunlight. Pierce told me that instead of looking at her phone, she listens to the app’s audio cues. While some other running apps offer a lot of information, including heart rate and the number of calories burned, Heat Running provides only your overall times and race splits, as well as where you finished. (Pierce said she also runs with a Garmin device.) Farzin told me that he and his business partner, Joseph Phillips, also a personal trainer, “wanted to make it as simple as possible.” They plan to add more features in future versions. The next one of those is set to launch this month. “Eventually, we want to be that app [that provides all the information runners want], but right now, I think we’re a complement to those apps,” Farzin said, adding that he and Phillips are seeking investors. But even if he is in the initial stages of a lengthy, challenging project, his history says that it would be foolish to bet against Farzin emerging in great shape. Also at washingtonpost.com


Man fatally shot in Southwest Washington

A man who was shot Tuesday afternoon in Southwest Washington has died, according to D.C. police. Few details were immediately available. Police said the shooting occurred about 2:50 p.m. in the 4700 block of First Street SW, along the border of Belleview and Washington Highlands. near I-295 and Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling. Police said they were looking for three men but provided no description. The victim’s name has not yet been made public. There have been at least 154 homicides in the District this year, up from 97 at this time in 2014, nearly a 60 percent increase. There have been eight homicides in Belleview and Washington Highlands this year, up from three in 2014.


Bei Bei, the zoo’s giant panda cub, snoozes during his media debut

by fast movements,” she said. Thompson said the keepers wanted to wait until he can walk well before they let him go out. She said Bei Bei will probably be allowed out in January or February, depending on the weather. The keepers said he is big for his age, putting on about a pound a week. “He is bigger than all of our other cubs,” Thompson said. His hearing is good, and he knows the voices of his keepers. “The most important thing we can do for these animals is make sure that they know when we call, we are the safe place to come to,” said Brandie Smith, the zoo’s associate director for animal care sciences. The birth of Bei Bei, whose name is pronounced “bay bay” and means “precious treasure,” was only the third time that giant panda twins had been born in the United States. The zoo initially said Bei Bei was the second cub born, but now officials say they are uncertain. The zoo’s adult male giant panda, Tian Tian, fathered both cubs, after the mother, Mei Xiang, was artificially inseminated in the spring with his semen and that of a panda in China. Bei Bei has an older sister, Bao Bao, who was born at the zoo Aug. 23, 2013, and still lives there. He also has an older brother, Tai Shan, who was born in 2005 and lives in a panda conservation center in China. The birth of Bei Bei and his twin, who was never named, posed a delicate problem for the zoo. Panda mothers often have a hard time caring for two cubs, and usually only one survives. So the zoo tried switching the cubs — leaving one with Mei Xiang while keepers cared for the other. After a time, the keepers would switch the cubs back, so each one got time with Mei Xiang. But after several days, it suddenly appeared that the smaller twin was seriously sick. During one of the switches, keepers saw that it was lethargic and was having trouble breathing. The cub, which weighed only three ounces, had contracted pneumonia after inhaling formula it was being fed by keepers, the zoo said later. Zoo veterinarians placed the cub in an incubator, pumped in oxygen and administered antibiotics, fluids and nutrition. Nothing worked. The cub went into cardiac and respiratory arrest. The veterinarians tried gentle CPR, but at


In seeking to limit athletes’ voices, Missouri lawmakers echo ugly history

who over the past couple of years began to flex their collective strength and find fresh air. Last December, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder signed into law a legislative proposal prohibiting college athletes at his state’s public universities from unionizing. The law blocked college players from the ability to collectively bargain by stating they aren’t employees. In the summer of 2014, Republican Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who has since announced his candidacy for the presidency, signed Ohio HB 483 that included among several provisions language that prohibited the state’s college athletes from organizing into unions. It all came in direct response to a ruling in March 2014 from an NLRB regional director that football players at Northwestern could form a union (making this alum particularly proud). The national NLRB eventually denied that petition to unionize, but did not rule directly on whether college players are university employees, despite surveys that show they can log upward of 40 hours a week honing and exercising their skills to earn tens of millions in revenues for their schools. Full disclosure: Early this year, I joined a national faculty group as a signatory from my visiting professorship at Maryland. The College Athletes Rights & Empowerment Faculty Coalition, or CARE-FC, believes “there will be no genuine reform in the college sport industry until college football and basketball players are accorded status as employees with the attendant legal and civil rights that accrue.” There is as long a history of retribution to athletes’ protesting as there is of athletes’ protesting. Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf was suspended by the NBA for choosing silent prayer instead of standing for the national anthem because of his religious belief. John Carlos and Tommie Smith were suspended from the U.S. Olympic team in 1968, and vilified for life, for their famous protest for human rights. Muhammad Ali was stripped of his title for refusing inscription into the Vietnam War as a constitutionally protected conscientious objector. Paul Robeson was removed from the college football all-America teams of the World War I era after becoming an uncompromising voice against prejudice that got him labeled a Communist. But it is a particularly sad chapter when lawmakers would muster the temerity to attempt an abridgement of athletes’, or anyone’s, freedom of speech. Kevin B. Blackistone, ESPN panelist and visiting professor at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland, writes sports commentary for the Post.


Centrolina review: Where restraint can be fabulous

The following review appears in The Washington Post’s 2016 Fall Dining Guide. Mediterranean sea bass, sweet pepper, greek yogurt & calabrian chile, lemon. (Dixie D. Vereen/For The Washington Post) Centrolina GOOD/EXCELLENT Forgive me for the generalization, but I think female chefs tend to be better editors of their food than their male counterparts. Guys are inclined to show off; women tend to show more restraint. That’s one reason I love breaking bread at Centrolina, the light-filled dining room in CityCenterDC that does triple duty as a food market (stocked with vegetables and house-made pasta) and a coffee bar (spring for a pistachio coin with your espresso). Chef Amy Brandwein, keeper of the wood-fired oven, sends out dishes that nevertheless tickle all the senses. Witness an appetizer of pretend “meatballs” (actually shiitakes, parsley and caramelized onion) lined up on a stripe of corn-y polenta ringed in basil oil, or chicken paillard that’s pounded so thin it looks like grill-striped pita on its plate. Rising from the flattened breast, rich with herbs, is an elevation of frisee and arugula fluffed up with quinoa. Bottom line: Simple is sublime. Previous: 2 1/2 stars Centrolina: 974 Palmer Alley NW. 202-898-2426. centrolinadc.com . Prices: Sound check: Waiting in line for a great meal has become common in D.C. where diners can wait hours before being seated at Bad Saint, Rose's Luxury or Little Serow. Washington's dining scene has gained national attention because of these restaurants and places like Pineapple & Pearls. -- The following review was originally published Dec. 16, 2015. Centrolina review: Without bells and whistles, it’s simply good Chef Amy Brandwein. (Dixie D. Vereen/For The Washington Post) S pend some time eating the food of good chefs, and it doesn’t take long to identify their calling cards. With my eyes closed, I think I could discern a dish made by Cedric Maupillier from that of a competitor, given the clever joust between soft and crisp textures at his new Convivial. Eyes open, I bet I could tag a dish by Fabio Trabocchi even if I weren’t sitting in his flagship Fiola, home of some of the most ornate (and certainly richest) food around. Few chefs season their dishes like Vikram Sunderam, the master of spicing at Rasika and Rasika West End. His Indian food is a balancing act every bit as compelling as a scene from “The Walk.” Consider now the work of


Loudoun County and Fauquier County home sales

Loudoun County These sales data, recorded by the Loudoun Office of the Commissioner of the Revenue, were provided by Black Knight Financial Services. For home sales elsewhere in the Washington area, go to washingtonpost.com/homesales. ALDIE-BRADDOCK ROAD AREA Black Rock Terr., Diligence Ct., John Mosby Hwy., Misty Vale Cir., Onyx Terr., Terrazzo Terr., ALGONKIAN REGIONAL PARK AREA Birchfield Pl., Brinks Ct., Cliftons Point St., Cutwater Pl., Dulany Ct., Haven Terr., Island View Ct., Longwood Ct., Paulsen Sq., Ramshead Terr., Sandstone Sq., Shoreline Terr., Terrie Dr., Woolcott Sq., ASHBURN AREA Alderleaf Terr., Bar Harbor Terr., Beechwood Terr., Brookford Sq., Chokeberry Sq., Cornstalk Terr., Downington Ct., Forest Farm Lane, Greenwich Sq., Hedgeapple Ct., Ivymount Terr., Kirkland St., Livonia Terr., Maltese Falcon Sq., Morven Sq., Nashua St., Oakencroft Ct., Plantation Terr., Quiet Walk Terr., Shadyside Terr., Stillforest Terr., Timber Ridge Terr., Tioga Terr., Verlaine Ct., BLUEMONT-FRAZER HILL AREA Yellow Schoolhouse Rd., BROADLANDS-ARCOLA AREA Cardinal Trace Terr., Edson Terr., Fairweather Ct., Glebe View Dr., Hidden Pond Pl., Houseman Terr., Lost Branch Cir., Norwalk Sq., Prosperity Ridge Pl., Royal Fern Terr., Twinleaf Dr., DULLES AREA Baggett Terr., Fontwell Sq., Oakgrove Rd., Winding Branch Terr., HAMILTON AREA Bettis Dr., Taylor Rd., LEESBURG-LUCKETTS-LANSDOWNE AREA Birdwood Ct., Cattail Lane NE, Church St. NE, Coton Farm Ct., Cypress Ridge Terr., Cypress Ridge Terr., Edmonton Terr. NE, Fleur Dr., Huntmaster Terr. NE, Magnolia Grove Sq., Marshall Dr. NE, Mill Race Terr., Riverpoint Dr., Sandpiper Pl., Silverwood Terr., Sweig Terr., Tuliptree Sq. NE, Woodfield Terr. NE, LEESBURG-WATSON AREA Connery Terr. SW, Davis Ave. SW, Diskin Pl. SW, Evergreen Mills Rd., Foxridge Dr. SW, Harrison St. SE, Hooded Crow Dr., Marlow St. SW, Smythe Way, Sunset View Terr. SE, Trenton Cir., Wild Onion Terr., LOVETTSVILLE AREA Harpers Mill Way, MIDDLEBURG AREA Chestnut St., PURCELLVILLE AREA Chappelle Hill Rd., Crosman Ct., F St. W., Gatepost Ct., Hillsboro Rd., K St. W., Lost Lane, Misty Pond Terr., Poplar Stand Pl., Telegraph Springs Rd., ROUND HILL AREA Arrowwood Pl., Clover Terr., Harry Byrd Hwy., Montrose Ct., SOUTH RIDING AREA Alumni Terr., Beachall St., Center St., Commons Sq., Edgewater St., Fretton Sq., Golf View Dr., Holtby Sq., Justice Dr., Lands End Dr., Mountcastle Dr., Shipley Terr., Whippoorwill Terr., STERLING AREA Alder Ave. N., Aspen Ave. N., Birch Ct. N., Circle Dr., Cottage Rd. N., Joshua Ct. N., Lee Rd. E., Margate Ct., Monarch Dr., Park Hill Ct., Sherwood Ct., Stablehouse Dr., Vernon St. N., Wedgedale Dr., York


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. Tied up: Group needs volunteers: Reduced fees for cat adoption: Germantown Adoptable cats at no-kill shelter: Gaithersburg Adopt dogs and cats at MCHS no-kill rescue: Rockville — Compiled by Lisa M. Bolton


Oracle results drop as it shifts business to cloud; Calif. drafts rules for self-driving cars

would begin rolling out a new service that enable users to rent computing power by the hour or month — taking direct aim at Amazon.com’s cloud-computing service that is now a multibillion-dollar business. Revenue rose 26 percent in the cloud-based businesses in the quarter to $649 million, contributing 7 percent of total sales compared with 5 percent a year earlier. Separately, Oracle said it appointed Renee James, outgoing president of Intel, as a director, increasing the size of the board to 13 members. — Bloomberg News TECHNOLOGY Calif. drafts rules for self-driving cars California unveiled precedent-setting draft rules that would slow the public’s access to self-driving cars of the future until regulators are confident the technology is safe. That cautious approach requires that the cars have a steering wheel and that a licensed driver must be ready to take over if the machine fails. The draft sets the framework for how the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles wants to move from the current small-scale testing of prototypes on roads and highways to giving consumers access to the fast-evolving technology. The DMV can change the rules over the coming months before they are finalized, and the industry is likely to contest them as overly burdensome. Though no manufacturer has said it thinks the cars are ready yet, at least a dozen are developing the technology. The most aggressive suggest a model could be ready within a few years. Silicon Valley giant Google is already building a prototype without a wheel or pedals but rigging the hardware back into the cars pending the long-anticipated regulations. On Wednesday, a company spokesman said Google was “gravely disappointed” by the draft rules. California is the largest domestic auto market, and its rules will be a landmark in development of self-driving technology. — Associated Press Also in Business ● U.S. industrial output fell for the third straight month in November, another sign that U.S. manufacturers are under stress. Industrial production dropped 0.6 percent last month, the Federal Reserve said. It was the biggest drop since March 2012. Manufacturing output was flat after expanding 0.3 percent in October. Utility output plunged 4.3 percent as unusually warm weather reduced demand for heat. Mining production slid 1.1 percent amid continued cutbacks in the oil and gas industry and a big drop in coal mining. Output at manufacturers of cars and auto parts dropped 1 percent last month. Aircraft manufacturing


Japan has a thing for toilets, and now a dedicated museum

The Toto toilet company recently opened a $60 million museum for toilets in Kitakyushu. Everything from giant sumo wrestler toilets to Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s humble washroom to high-tech electric thrones are on display. KITAKYUSHU, Japan — So much so that Toto, the maker of the beloved Washlet, has built a $60 million museum devoted to it here on the southernmost of Japan’s four main islands. Designed to celebrate the company’s 100th anniversary in 2017, the museum has already welcomed 30,000 visitors in the three months that it’s been open. On a recent day, large groups of men in suits were being shown through the galleries, listening attentively to their guide. The museum has thousands of items on display, charting the evolution of the Japanese toilet from the ceramic squatters of the 19th century to Toto’s renowned Washlet, a toilet seat with a built-in bidet. It’s the convergence point for Japan’s attention to personal hygiene, its commitment to providing good hospitality (going to a bathroom with a Washlet helps people relax, Toto says) and its technological expertise. This month, Toto shipped its 40 millionth Washlet. The new $60 million Toto toilet museum in Kitakyushu, Japan, is shown this month. It displays toilets throughout the ages. (Anna Fifield/The Washington Post) “The Washlet is so popular in Japan, but unfortunately we don’t see it in Canada,” said Mami Yoshida, who visited the museum during a trip home with her husband after a decade living in Montreal. “I think that [Western] people are missing out on such an innovative product, such a cool gadget. And I wanted to impress my husband, so we decided to come here.” In the museum, Toto is displaying multiple generations of the Washlet, from the first rudimentary model with cords and dials, launched in 1980, to the top-of-the-line Neorest. The core of the Washlet is the bidet system that’s built into the seat, which sprays every — ahem — nook and cranny. These are standard in Japanese homes but also in many restaurants and public buildings, from subway stations to government offices. But the newest models don’t stop at washing. They have seat warmers. They let the user control water temperature and pressure. Some have a water massage function and a warm air dryer. In public restrooms, there’s often a “power deodorizer” function, and many play a flushing music — called “otohime,” literally “sound of a princess” — to


Why running for time, not distance, can help in endurance training

breathing or your sense of burn as cues to know how fast you’re going. If you’re doing 800-meter repeats at an 8-minute-mile pace, you get a sense of what an 8-minute pace feels like and can begin to develop different gears as you run. Elite runners use these “gears” to calibrate their runs, Horowitz said. From your timed runs, you will have built up a library of speed sensation. For example, as you run, you can tell yourself, “In my experience this is probably a 7-minute mile pace.” There are multiple ways to do repeats — running a certain distance in repeat sets. A beginner runner can do eight 400-meter repeats at a 2:15 pace with a two-minute recovery period between them. The idea is that repeated high-intensity sessions of training with short recovery periods trigger an adaptation response to train the body to run at higher speeds. Everyone has to do speed work to improve, Horowitz said. “It’s not that you shouldn’t run faster in a race than usual,” Horowitz said. “You can take a calculated risk as long as it’s purposeful. If you know what it feels like to run at a particular pace, you can say to yourself, ‘I’m going to take a risk because I feel good today.’ ” And timed runs teach you how to surge, Rodriguez said. “I’m good at holding my marathon pace at the beginning of the race, but as I get deeper, I tend to slow down.” During the NYC Marathon, Rodriguez used a two-minute surge to get himself back to his marathon pace as he slowed down around mile 18. “The timed workouts help me get comfortable with pushing myself hard and with that feeling where you push your pace beyond your normal capacity. The timed runs get me to use different muscles, too, which seems to minimize cramping.” And while timed runs physiologically improve the explosiveness of muscle fibers without all the damage of running as far as you can as fast as you can, Horowitz said, they also keep running interesting. Rodriguez looks for every opportunity to improve as a runner so that he can continue to do marathons. “It would get boring doing the same workouts, and my timed runs change it up,” he said. Carolee Belkin Walker is a federal bureaucrat, blogger and freelancer. She shares her fitness adventures on her blog, www.bethedog.ninja. The views expressed


I ate only unprocessed foods for a year.

hold hundreds of thousands of pounds of produce in a time-halting 43-degree chill. I talked to one produce broker who moves 150,000 melons every day during the high season. The survival of the watermelon that winds its way through this system depends on pesticides, artificial refrigeration and semi trucks — not to mention cheap migrant labor on both sides of the border. Compare that odyssey to the journey a watermelon takes from the Tucson CSA’s Crooked Sky Farms to my kitchen. That melon grows on a diversified field, adjacent to rows of squash and eggplant and tomatoes. It’s harvested by two women earning a living wage, and it spends a day in transit before it lands in my kitchen. It is grown organically, so it’s not covered in pesticide residue, as is 65 percent of conventionally grown produce, according to a study by the Environmental Working Group. As with all foods, what makes one piece of produce more processed than another is how much is required to get it from field to table. On average, 91 cents of every dollar American consumers spend on food goes to middlemen: suppliers, marketers, retailers. That means that the people who grow the food we eat — and even the corn in cheddar-flavor Chex Mix begins as a plant grown by someone — receive only nine cents of every dollar we spend. A new World Health Organization study found that processed meat like bacon and hot dogs cause cancer. It is the most prominent group to declare it a cause of the disease, and the U.S. beef industry isn't happy about it. According to a study by Civic Economics, if a community the size of Tucson (population: 526,000) shifted 10 percent of its spending to local businesses — a 10 percent shift, not an increase — within one year, we would create almost $140 million in new revenue for people in the city. What that also means, I realized, is that we would withhold millions from the balance sheets of large food and agribusiness corporations that are using our money to grow, process and sell foods that aren’t good for us or the environment. If we stop buying from companies that sell cheap, processed foods, those companies will stop selling processed foods. Indeed, many people have — major packaged-food companies lost $4 billion in market share in 2014 as shoppers sought less-processed alternatives. For


Prescription for resuscitating Japan

Ali Wyne is a contributing analyst at Wikistrat, a global fellow at the Project for the Study of the 21st Century, and a graduate student at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government at Harvard. He is a coauthor of “Lee Kuan Yew: The Grand Master’s Insights on China, the United States, and the World.” Clyde Prestowitz’s new book is one of the more thought-provoking forays into Asian-Pacific geopolitics to have been published in recent years — at least as noteworthy for its messenger as for its message. Nearly three decades ago, after stepping down as a counselor to Commerce Secretary Malcom Baldridge, Prestowitz wrote “Trading Places: How We Are Giving Our Future to Japan and How to Reclaim It” as a warning to U.S. policymakers. Scrutinizing Japan’s postwar industrial strategies that had made the country into an (apparent) economic juggernaut, he found that the United States assumed — or, worse, had persuaded itself to believe — that Japan was simply emulating America’s market-driven, consumer-oriented growth path. But, Prestowitz discovered, Japan had decided to make the government the driver of its economic recovery through the subsidization of its core industries. The “real challenge to American power is not the sinister one” from the Soviet Union, he declared, “but the friendly one from the Far East.” Today the United States indeed faces a challenge from the Far East — not from an amicable Japan but from an increasingly capable and incrementally revisionist China. It is no longer attempting to outcompete Japan in manufacturing; if anything, it fears that protracted economic stagnation there will gradually limit Japan’s ability to buttress a stable Asian-Pacific balance of power. A recent New York Times analysis captured the depth of Japan’s long slump: “Japan’s economy has contracted so many times in the last few years that the meaning of recession has started to blur.” In “Trading Places,” Prestowitz explored postwar history to understand how Japan had come to achieve such dramatic economic gains. In “Japan Restored,” he works backward from an imagined future to deduce how Japan can reestablish and bolster its position as a central player in the world’s strategic balance. That future would require a series of transformations that would reverse long-standing — and in some cases seemingly immutable — trends. The first set of transformations is internal. Prestowitz envisions a revitalized Japan in 2050 where women will have an average of 2.3 children in their


D.C.’s bar czar on what makes him still want to raise a glass

There’s probably nobody I’d ban. I like a good argument, a good bar discussion. Anybody’s welcome. Come on, man. I like conflict, and I like people to get into it. If I don’t agree with you I probably like you more. What was one of the bad ideas you had for a bar? Probably Planet Fred. It was space-themed, with world music dancing. It was not exactly what we pictured it was going to be. And then people aren’t that adventurous. We thought people would like eclectic music: a little bit of salsa, a little bit of Nigerian high life, a little bit world music. But it appealed to no one — at least at that time. Describe your perfect bar. I’m an old man, so I love a really good jukebox, booths, a pool table. I think also just some surprisingly good food. A place where the bartender is really proud that this food is coming out of the kitchen. Just straight drinks, not cocktails. And I just really like to go to a place where the crowd is totally mixed. I love it when you walk in and you’ve got old people and young locals and just 10 or 15 different groups, but you’re all there doing something together. What’s your favorite place in town that you don’t have a stake in? Bardo is so fun and atmospheric. The Dew Drop Inn in Brookland, right on the tracks. I still love to go and look at the bar at the Irish Times. I still love the crazy scene at Martin’s. People with ascots and monocles eating crabcakes. Tune Inn is still fun to go and get a Cheez Whiz burger. Do you miss anything about the D.C. of old? I’m not nostalgic. Nothing really. I think D.C.’s better than it used to be. I guess maybe a Redskins football Sunday and the sort of atmosphere of Capitol Hill, when everybody liked the Redskins. That was the melting pot. That was when you saw everybody, all the different races, all the socioeconomic classes together just walking and laughing. And the way the whole stadium bounced when people all got together and jumped up and down. That was really fun. More Just Asking For stories, features such as Date Lab, Gene Weingarten and more, visit WP Magazine. Follow the Magazine on Twitter. Like us on Facebook. Email us at wpmagazine@washpost.com.


Where ‘Star Wars’ falls a parsec short

Stormtroopers march down the red carpet at the premiere of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" on Monday in Hollywood. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images) The Dec. 8 Science News item “ ‘Trek’ or ‘Wars’? Stars are up in the air.” [Health & Science] debated whether “Star Wars” or “Star Trek” contains more real science. The item said “Star Wars” has a “rascal with a ship that can make the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs.” I was struck by something an astronomy professor told me long ago: A parsec is a measure of distance, not time. Score zero for real science in “Star Wars”! And for the record, a parsec is a distance that is approximately 3.26 light-years long. Timothy E. Parker, Centreville


The booming industry that veterans are tapping into

more existential question. One day, while working on a construction job he hated, Wilder asked himself, “‘Who are Neil and I? Who do we hope to represent?’ Well, we’re young veterans.” Despite their adoption of the name, Wilder and McCanon, both of whom completed tours in Iraq, say they’re conscious that they walk a fine line. When you use the word “veterans,” McCanon says, “you represent a wide spectrum of people. In our labeling and our choice of names, we try not to overrepresent our military or our patriotism.” “We try very hard not to wave flags or use red, white and blue on the labels,” Wilder adds. Instead, they use olive drab and labels styled as World War II propaganda posters to evoke what Wilder calls “the Greatest Generation feeling. It’s military, but it’s also nostalgic.” At Fair Winds Brewing in Lorton, brew master Charlie Buettner and brewer Jill Yoffe clean a tank. (Andre Chung/For The Washington Post) Others agree: Ian Schuster says he heard from some veterans at the CBC roundtable who are concerned that breweries with overly militaristic names looked as if they were cashing in on their military service. Arroyo, of Heritage, served in Iraq but says that he and his brother initially discussed whether to tell anyone that they were veterans. “We’re happy with the exposure, but the much more important thing is making good beer. We want you to come out and have a great craft beer and say, ‘Oh, hey, these guys are veterans,’ not come out because we’re veterans.” Whether or not they advertise their service, a tie that binds veteran-owned breweries is support for charitable causes. “One of the things that’s hard to root out of a military guy is that drive and that love of service to their country and community,” says Heritage’s Arroyo. “Any way that we can give back, whether that’s donating or doing an event, we’re happy to do it.” Many specifically help organizations that help veterans. Every quarter, Service Brewing picks a different such charity to support. The brewery hosts a launch party for a new beer and donates a percentage of ticket and beer sales to its designated charity. Earlier this year, the beneficiary was Homes for Our Troops, which builds adapted homes for disabled veterans. After the fundraising, Service founder Kevin Ryan, who led two companies in Iraq, learned that “one of my soldiers


In rapidly aging Japan, dying is big business

Japan's population is rapidly aging, giving a boost to the business of dying. Post Tokyo bureau chief Anna Fifield tries out one of the coffins for sale at a recent expo devoted to end-of-life planning. TOKYO — In a country with many more deaths than births each year, Japanese companies are looking to maximize the amount of money people spend on shuffling off their mortal coil, from preparing “ending notes” and choosing coffins to arranging to have their ashes blasted into space or turned into diamonds. “I want to promote our products because we have almost 1.2 million people dying each year but we sell only 60,000 of these mats,” said Koichi Fujita, a representative of a company selling tatami liners and pillows for coffins. He was using slightly outdated death figures: Japan said goodbye to 1.3 million citizens last year but hello to only 1 million new babies. Fujita’s was one of the scores of companies touting their wares at Endex, an expo devoted to planning for the end of one’s life, held at a huge exhibition center in Tokyo. “Japanese people spend their lives on tatami mats,” Fujita said, referring to the straw flooring in traditional Japanese rooms. “And there’s a saying that they want to die on a tatami mat, meaning die at home. But so many people die in the hospital, so at least they can have a tatami mat in their coffin when they are sent off.” Japan has the fastest-aging population in the world. Slightly more than one-quarter of the population is 65 or older, and the Health Ministry forecasts that the proportion will hit 40 percent by 2060. Many aspects of Japanese life are now geared toward senior citizens. Go into any drugstore and you will find shelves of diapers and sippy cups — for the elderly. Banks and post offices have reading glasses on the counters for customers with failing eyesight, while big pedestrian crossings have buttons to push for those who need extra time to get across the road. Panasonic has a line of easier-to-use household appliances — including washing machines, microwaves and rice cookers — targeted at the elderly, while convenience stores sell packaged food in smaller portions for seniors. But the business of actually dying is a whole other opportunity. There is even a term for it here: “shukatsu,” or preparing for death. It is a play on a


Kurt Masur, conductor who was a unifying force in a divided Germany, dies at 88

Bach. In 1991, Mr. Masur took over as music director of the New York Philharmonic. He brought a Germanic sense of discipline to the orchestra, which had given years of lackluster performances under his predecessor, Zubin Mehta. Mr. Masur conducted without a baton, but he left no one in doubt of his authority. He specialized in the repertoire of the 19th century, but he also commissioned dozens of new works by American composers. He brought a new clarity to the orchestra’s sound, embarked on ambitious recording projects and a series of worldwide tours. “Once again,” critic Tim Page wrote in Newsday, “our cultural capital has an orchestra worthy of comparison with the finest in the world.” Much of Mr. Masur’s 11-year tenure at the Philharmonic was marred by a power struggle with the orchestra’s board and its executive director, Deborah Borda. In 1998, the board announced that Mr. Masur would leave the podium after four more years. He was furious about the decision, saying his prickly dealings with the Philharmonic reminded him of his earlier experiences with the East German secret police. When Mr. Masur left the Philharmonic in 2002, he had conducted about 860 concerts for the orchestra. He later served as principal conductor of the London Philharmonic and the Orchestre de National de France. In 2011, he led Washington’s National Symphony Orchestra in a concert of German music, including Brahms’s First Symphony. “Masur is not a conductor of big or graphic gestures,” Post music critic Anne Midgette wrote. “He keeps his hands close to and in front of his body, and lets the music talk.” Certain details about Mr. Masur’s early life are difficult to gather. His first marriage ended in divorce. His second wife was killed in a 1972 car accident in East Germany, in which Mr. Masur was the driver. He was seriously injured, and two passengers in the other car were killed. Survivors include his third wife, Japanese-born musician Tomoko Sakurai; four children from his earlier marriages; and a son from his third marriage, Ken-David Masur, associate conductor of the San Diego Symphony. For Mr. Masur, music was a form of idealism, a way to inspire people to reach for transcendence and truth. “The message of Beethoven brings us back to what we should do,” he said in 2004. “Fear can never unite people. Pain cannot unite people. Joy unites people. Beethoven is always fresh.”


Dave Barry’s Year in Review: The sad thing is, we’re not making this up!

to its traditional Native American name, Elvis. Speaking of rock stars, in ... September ... the popular Pope Francis becomes the first pope ever to address the U.S. Congress, issuing a powerful challenge to the lawmakers to work together toward solving pressing world problems including hatred, poverty and pollution. Congress, inspired to take rare bipartisan action but apparently confused by Francis’s thick accent, votes unanimously to declare war on Greenland. In political news, the New York Times runs the following actual headline: “Hillary Clinton to Show More Humor and Heart, Aides Say.” Clinton reportedly will display 17 percent more humor and 23 percent more heart, according to anonymous Clinton aides who were briefed by anonymous Clinton strategists who had direct access to what one source, who asked not to be named, described as “a high-level Clinton confidante.” The source said the Clinton team is also considering having Clinton “directly engage selected voters in banter.” On the Republican side, Rick Perry and Scott Walker drop out of the presidential race after polls show them both trailing the late Warren G. Harding. Meanwhile, Donald Trump continues to present his vision for America’s future in the form of a steady stream of hastily composed tweets insulting people who have offended him. This strategy has Trump easily leading the GOP field, to the consternation of knowledgeable Washington-based insiders with vast knowledge pertaining to the inside of Washington. Excited Apple fans line up to purchase the new iPhone 6s, which is identical to the iPhone 6 except it has a special alarm that will alert Apple fans exactly when to line up to purchase the next new iPhone, due out in approximately three months. In business news, the Environmental Protection Agency accuses Volkswagen of cheating on emissions testing, precipitating an international scandal that ultimately forces VW’s Martin Winterkorn to resign and take a job as equipment manager for the New England Patriots. Speaking of scandals, in … (Illustration by Vasava) October ... Hillary Clinton testifies for 127 straight hours before the House Committee on Investigating Benghazi Until the Earth Crashes Into the Sun. There are many testy exchanges between Clinton and Republican congressmen, but in the end the American public has a much clearer picture of the extremely high level of mutual loathing that makes our government work the way it does. In other political news, a person calling himself “Lincoln Chafee” manages to get


These neighbors spent $2 million to block a McMansion. Will their bet pay off?

Neighbors bought this Bethesda home in an effort to keep it from being torn down. They fixed it up and enlarged it and are now selling it. (Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post) They had seen home after home in Bethesda, Md., torn down, replaced by behemoths boasting high ceilings, multiple gables and soaring porticoes. So when a small 1940s Cape Colonial on Oldchester Road was about to go on the market last year — and already attracting the attention of a well-known McMansion developer — three neighbors designed a custom-built approach to save it. They pooled $2 million to buy, modernize and resell the old house. They hope the updated brick Colonial, which they expanded from three to six bedrooms, will preserve the charm of their neighborhood and maybe even make them a modest profit. But the group’s attempt to flip the house — on a street where a 1999 Harrison Ford movie was filmed — has yet to pay off. The now-renovated home at 7812 Oldchester Road in the Bradley Woods neighborhood of Bethesda has been on the market since late August, its price having dropped from nearly $2.4 million to $2.175 million. The developer they blocked from tearing down the house isn’t surprised. “I think they’ve learned their lesson. The home’s not selling,” said Carole Sherman, owner of Bethesda Too. “We’re building what people want.” Bethesda neighbors Brad Creer, Sheila Lieber and Laura Creer look out the back window of the house they bought and renovated to prevent it from being torn down. They can see a huge McMansion under construction behind the home . (Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post) But the Bradley Woods triumvirate — a senior Justice Department official, a real estate lawyer and a high-end home designer — remain confident they made the right decision, despite the property lingering on the market for 3 1/ 2 months, longer than the two-month average for a Bethesda home. “I knew the only way we were going to look out the window and have a home we want to look at is if we did something about it,” said Diane Rosenberg, who owns a real estate law firm and is one of the three sellers. “Looking at what we did with this house versus what you’d get with a McMansion, our quality is unsurpassable. If you’re showy, and you want people to say, ‘Look at this humongous house,’


The Islamic State creates a new type of jihadist: Part terrorist, part gangster

was linked to at least three of the network’s members, according to intelligence documents, court records, police reports and more than a dozen interviews. He was convicted in absentia this year in the same trial as Zerkani, though authorities stopped short of saying that the men worked together. But a text authorities found on one of Zerkani’s cellphones appears to reference Abaaoud by his nom de guerre in Syria, Abu Omar Soussi. One of Abaaoud’s younger brothers — Yassine Abaaoud — told authorities that his mother had once begged him to avoid Zerkani and his entourage. “She was scared of them because of all the problems,” Yassine said, according to court records. “She called them ‘the bearded guys.’ ” A different angle to jihad The newer jihadist groups mark a shift, experts say, from older organizations like al-Qaeda that were far more strict in interpreting theology and used recruiting videos that were often rambling 45-minute sermons from bin Laden, the scion of a wealthy Saudi industrialist family. The Islamic State uses showy Internet propaganda to advertise the allure of a paradise where disenfranchised youths can feel a rush of adrenaline and enjoy the spoils of war. “These are lower quality terrorists,” said another senior European security official. That hardly means they are less dangerous. Criminal links may be allowing the newer groups’ members to more easily source weapons and cash in Europe, experts say. And the men’s ties to petty criminality could have led authorities to underestimate how much of a threat they posed. One of Zerkani’s disciples, a recruit named Yoni Mayne who had had run-ins with the law, left for Syria in early 2013, according to his 68-year-old mother, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because she feared reprisal. After a few weeks, he briefly came home. His mother said that she asked authorities to stop her son from returning to the Middle East, and that they assured her they were following him. “But then he left again and they did nothing,” she said. Authorities blame the limited legal tools they had available at the time. But critics say some authorities in Belgium actually saw such departures as a plus — a way to export the problem of young Muslim men who had engaged in crime. Authorities now say when Mayne returned to Syria in January 2014, he did so in the company of Abaaoud and his


E.U. extends sanctions against Russia amid a growing split over their future

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi leaves a European Union meeting in Brussels on Dec. 18. (Thierry Charlier/AFP/Getty Images) BRUSSELS The decision, given preliminary approval by E.U. leaders last week and due to take effect Tuesday, lengthens until next year a laundry list of economic measures against Russia. In tandem with U.S. sanctions, the effort has contributed to a painful economic slowdown in Russia. But amid growing grumbling from some European countries about the sanctions, the future of the punitive measures beyond this renewal remains unclear. The decision to extend the sanctions comes at the end of a difficult year for the E.U., which has had to contend with terrorist attacks in Paris, the near-exit of Greece from the euro zone in July and a refugee influx that is forcing nations to make difficult choices about their values. None of the problems seems likely to abate next year, leaving open the question of whether European nations will continue to hold together on the sanctions. The measures were imposed after Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in March 2014. They were strengthened after separatists in eastern Ukraine, backed by Russian firepower, downed Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in July 2014 as it was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, killing all 298 people aboard. The United States and the European Union have linked any rollback of the sanctions to the implementation of a peace plan reached in Minsk, Belarus, that would hand full control of Ukraine’s border with Russia back to Kiev, a step that has not been taken. “Since the Minsk agreements will not be fully implemented by 31 December 2015, the duration of the sanctions has been prolonged whilst the Council continues its assessment of progress in implementation,” the European Council announced in a statement Monday. The sanctions will now be in place until the end of July . But there is growing fatigue with the sanctions campaign among some E.U. countries, including Italy and France, which have long-standing trade ties to Russia in the energy sector. Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi last week delayed the extension of the sanctions until he could confront German Chancellor Angela Merkel about what he sees as a double standard. Germany and Russia this year announced plans to build a natural gas pipeline between them through the Baltic Sea, bypassing Eastern Europe. Renzi has complained that Merkel has forced other E.U. nations to agree to


Sale of medical marijuana in Maryland probably won’t commence until 2017

Cannabis plants (Alessandro Bianchi / Reuters) People who want to buy marijuana in Maryland for medicinal purposes are probably going to have to wait until 2017, nearly four years after the state made it legal. The Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission announced Monday that it will not award licenses to grow and process the drug until sometime in the summer — and industry officials say it will take an additional four to six months after that for the product to be ready to sell. The commission said it has no target date for allowing retail dispensaries to begin operating and cannot say when marijuana will be available to patients. Maryland’s medical cannabis program was approved by lawmakers in 2013, but it had to be adjusted multiple times before applications could be sought and submitted. Drying marijuana plants before they are processed for shipping (Blair Gable/Reuters) The commission said this year that it would start issuing licenses in January but backed off that timetable last month after receiving more than 1,000 applications from would-be pot producers and dispensers. The unexpectedly high interest and the need to vet prospective businesses carefully is driving the delay, the commission said. Several interested growers have started buying land and leasing buildings for operations in Maryland so they can launch quickly if they are given licenses. Darrell Carrington, executive director of the Maryland Cannabis Industry Association, said that some prospective businesses may not be able to afford the waiting period but that those that are well planned and well funded should not be threatened. “Obviously our members are concerned about the length of the time,” Carrington said. “However, we do understand we have to get this right and not just done quickly.” Those waiting to purchase medical marijuana in Maryland say they are upset about the latest delay. Sarah Vogeley and her 10-year-old son, who has epilepsy, moved this summer from Virginia to Colorado, where medical marijuana is legally available for children. She said the treatments reduced the youth’s seizures, which seven conventional medications had failed to do. In October, Vogeley and her son rejoined her husband and two older children in Charlottesville, Va., believing they would soon be able to legally access medical marijuana through Maryland’s out-of-state patient provisions. Vogeley said Monday that she now plans to take her son back to Colorado, leaving behind her ailing father and splitting up her family. “We just simply


It’s winter, and snotty babies can spread this nasty illness

(iStock ) It’s that time of year again. No, not for last-minute Christmas shopping, but for a particularly nasty virus that in children can cause everything from mild common-cold symptoms to breathing problems bad enough to hospitalize a child — or, rarely, even death. Respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, is very common, with infections occurring in 90 percent of children before their second birthday. Fortunately, the majority of these infections cause relatively mild congestion and runny nose. But for about 20 to 30 percent of those younger than 2, the virus travels deep inside the lungs, resulting in bronchiolitis, a disease that causes the small airways (or bronchioles) in the lungs to fill up with thick mucus and dead cells from the lining of the airway. This makes the airways narrower, forcing the child to work harder to move air through a smaller tube — like breathing through a soda straw instead of a snorkel. RSV is transmitted in the same way as many other respiratory viruses: by germs from a child’s respiratory secretions being passed to another child either by coughing or sneezing, or through direct contact between people or with a contaminated surface. As you can imagine, it can spread pretty quickly in a room full of kids. Most children with bronchiolitis can be diagnosed with just a physical exam. We doctors often hear the cough from outside the examination room and see the snotty nose when we enter. When we listen to the lungs, it sounds as if the airways are full of mucus — because they are. All the areas of the lungs sound about the same; that helps to rule out bacterial pneumonia, which is often localized in one spot. Wheezing — which doesn’t always mean asthma — is common. And many children with RSV need to breathe harder or faster than normal. Some doctors will order a chest X-ray or a test to look for the RSV virus, but that’s usually not necessary. Chest X-rays that reveal bronchiolitis are sometimes difficult to distinguish from those that show pneumonia, and that can mean unnecessary treatment with antibiotics. Once the diagnosis is made, the question is what to do about it. For the majority of kids, with relatively mild symptoms and without significant distress, the best treatment is symptomatic care. That means staying home, using saline drops and nasal suction for a small child (or tissues