New study affirms ice-sheet-loss estimates in Greenland, Antarctica

estimates in studies used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to compile its most recent report in 2007, Shepherd said. The new findings concerning Greenland’s and Antarctica’s ice- sheet loss fall within the range of the IPCC report, but the intergovernmental panel’s estimates — based on widely ranging information — were so broad that the IPCC failed to make a crucial assessment: whether Antarctica was growing or shrinking. Melting in Greenland, which last July had its biggest thaw since 1973, was well known. NASA’s rover has found evidence of an ancient lake — with water that could plausibly be described as drinkable — that was part of a long-standing, wet environment that could have supported simple forms of life on Mars. “Without these efforts, we would not be in a position to tell people with confidence how the Earth’s ice sheets have changed and to end the uncertainty that has existed for many years,” Shepherd said. “This will give the wider climate science community greater confidence in ice losses and lead to improved mode predictions of future sea-level rise.” As Hurricane Sandy showed, an understanding of sea-level rise is critical, said Julie Brigham Grette, a professor of glacial geology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. And that understanding hinges on the fates of the Greenland and Antarctica glaciers, the main reservoirs capable of affecting sea-level rise, according to the IPCC. Although ice-sheet loss contributes to sea-level rise, the main culprit is global warming. A rise in temperature because of greenhouse gases is transferred to the oceans, causing them to expand. Sea level is expected to creep up by about 40 inches in the next 90 years, Grette said. “It’s not like it’s going to happen in the future, it’s happening now,” she said. “People don’t understand why we’re talking about a few millimeters. A half-foot of rise on the Eastern Seaboard makes it easier for a storm coming up the East Coast to cause flooding.” It was the concern over sea-level rise that led to the idea of combining the findings of previous studies to get a clearer view of ice-sheet loss. After the 2007 IPCC report, scientists realized that disagreements in the estimates based on different satellite measuring techniques were muddying the picture. Three years later, at an IPCC sponsored workshop in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, “there was a specific recommendation that this ought to be tackled,” Shepherd said.


Apps for kids: Check out the best new apps for your mobile device

Android, iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad: free; ad-free version that includes more levels: 99 cents; Nook: $1.99. Meet the Insects: Forest Edition December isn’t prime time for nature walks. But if you love bugs, you don’t have to wait until spring to see butterflies, cicadas and stink bugs, thanks to this app. Check out a video of two male Japanese beetles fighting over a female or a brown cicada turning into an adult. You can read about insects’ life cycles, their colors and patterns and their habits. The app features no games, but there are two types of quizzes to test your knowledge. An observation journal for when the weather cooperates helps you investigate what insects are in your back yard or neighborhood park. You can even upload pictures to your virtual journal. Developer NC Soft, which worked on this app with the National Science Museum in South Korea, promises that more insects are on the way. NC Soft. iPad only: $3.99. Toca Tailor If you’re particular about what you wear and enjoy mixing and matching clothes, Toca Tailor is a good fit for you. Four characters — a boy, a girl and two animals — come simply dressed in a shirt and pants. A slide of the finger turns the pants into shorts. A tap changes the style to puffy or cutoffs or a miniskirt. Tap on the box with the thread to change patterns — and you can pick more than one. (How about shorts that have polka dots on one leg and leopard spots on the other?) You can also add pockets, buttons and zippers to your colorful creations. Complete your outfit with hats, scarves, shoes and other items from an accessories box. When you’re done, click on the mountain symbol to take a picture of your model in whatever setting you choose. Photos will save to your device’s camera roll so you can e-mail them to friends. Toca Boca. iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad. $2.99. Half Team Collaborating, or working together, isn’t common among painters. It’s hard to imagine Pablo Picasso saying to his friend Henri Matisse, “I’ll do the left side of the canvas, and you do the right.” But that’s the idea of the Half Team app. You can use e-mail to work with a drawing partner far away or use “pass and play” to draw with someone in the same room. Choose the top or


Mexico’s crime wave has left about 25,000 missing, government documents show

MEXICO CITY — The data sets, submitted by state prosecutors and vetted by the federal government but never released to the public, chronicle the disappearance of tens of thousands of people in the chaos and violence that have enveloped Mexico during its fight against drug mafias and crime gangs. Families have been left wondering whether their loved ones are alive or among the more than 100,000 victims of homicides recorded during the presidency of Felipe Calderon, who leaves office Saturday. The names on the list — many more than in previous, nongovernment estimates — are recorded in Microsoft Excel columns, along with the dates they disappeared, their ages, the clothes they were wearing, their jobs and a few brief, often chilling, details: “His wife went to buy medicine and disappeared,” reads one typical entry. “The son was addicted to drugs.” “Her daughter was forced into a car.” “The father was arrested by men wearing uniforms and never seen again.” The documents were provided by government bureaucrats frustrated by what they describe as a lack of official transparency and the failure of government agencies to investigate the cases. The leaked list is not complete — or, probably, precise. Some of the missing may have returned to their homes, and some families may never have reported disappearances. But the list offers a rare glimpse of the running tally the Mexican government has been keeping, and it confirms what human rights activists and families of the missing have been saying: that Mexico has seen an explosion in the number of such cases and that the government appears overwhelmed. “What does the government do? Nothing or almost nothing. Why? There is a paralysis,” said Juan Lopez Villanueva of the group United Forces for Our Missing in Mexico. “The state has failed us.” According to the National Commission on Human Rights, more than 7,000 people killed in Mexico in the past six years lie unidentified in morgue freezers or common graves. The commission’s numbers suggest the government count might be accurate. From 2006 to mid-2011, the commission reports that more than 18,000 Mexicans were reported missing. Calderon’s spokesman declined to offer a reason why the numbers have not been made public during his tenure, and the attorney general’s office did not respond to questions about the list that its staff members compiled. Critics say the outgoing government has been slow to collect data on those


In Gaza, surge of support for Hamas starts to fade

Young boys pick through the ruins of a recently bombed building, gathering books from the wreckage, in Jabaliya Refugee Camp in Gaza on Nov. 28, 2012. (Nikki Kahn/THE WASHINGTON POST) JABALYA REFUGEE CAMP, Gaza Strip — Here in the streets where Hamas was born a quarter-century ago, the public trappings of ascendant Islamist power are impossible to miss. After prayers, men old enough to remember the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, which began a decades-long occupation of Gaza, say Hamas has finally won a fight with Israel and should march on Tel Aviv. But as the nervous ecstasy of conflict gives way to a grim status quo, there are signs, even here, that any power Hamas has derived from its recent confrontation with Israel is fading. The change in popular sentiment is occurring gradually, along generational and gender lines, and suggests a limit to any political benefits for Hamas gained through armed conflict. As older men speak of an imminent return to lost family land inside Israel, many younger men, who grew up in the bitter decades after the first Palestinian uprising, ask what precisely Hamas accomplished during the eight-day confrontation last month. Beyond the frequent images of violence and destruction, here are scenes from the West Bank and Gaza Strip. So, too, do some of this refugee camp’s women. “What kind of victory?” asked Um Ram Abu Rokba, covered in traditional Islamic attire as she walked home from afternoon prayer. “They are lying to the people. It is a kind of blackmail.” As groups of children gathered around her, Abu Rokba, who would give only her nickname, said, “The Jews are hurt, we are hurt. If they lose a child, they cry. If we lose a child, we cry. It is the same. My own wish is only peace and security.” It is not the message of the Hamas leadership, as it prepares for an expansive celebration in December to mark the 25th anniversary of a movement classified as a terrorist organization by the United States and Israel. Facing an increasingly restless population in Gaza before the recent conflict, Hamas has emerged more popular after it, but whether the support will endure remains to be seen. Since taking full control of the enclave after a brief but brutal fight with the secular Fatah movement five years ago, Hamas has imposed, bit by bit, a form of Islamist rule at which many


DIVINE VINTAGE Following the wine trail from Genesis to the Modern Age By Joel Butler and Randall Heskett and INVENTING WINE A new history of one of the World’s most ancient pleasures By Paul Lukacs

that some lands along the Nile produced better wines than others, and the Romans favored the wines of Falernum and Sorrento. Pliny the Elder, best known to wine lovers for the phrase “In vino veritas” (In wine is truth), chronicled the top 87 wines of his era. The second half of the book forms a kind of travelogue through the modern wine crescent of the eastern Mediterranean as the authors visit wineries along the route of the apostle Paul’s second missionary journey. It’s an interesting itinerary, though less compelling except to readers who travel in the region. While “Divine Vintage” describes similarities throughout the ages, Paul Lukacs’s “Inventing Wine” focuses on how the perception of wine has changed over time, through wars, revolution, prosperity and deprivation. A former wine columnist for the Washington Times and Washingtonian magazine and an English professor at Loyola University in Baltimore, Lukacs is the award-winning author of “American Vintage” and “The Great Wines of America.” “Inventing Wine” is broader and more ambitious in scope than his previous books, looking at how wine and Western civilization grew up together. He emphasizes disruption and change rather than continuity. In Lukacs’s meticulously researched history, wine was reinvented as a secular drink in the Middle Ages, then later as a symbol of the good life or even works of art. After a brief golden era in the early 1800s, wine suffered a century of decline at the hands of nature — the advent of vine diseases and the devastation caused by phylloxera — as well as its makers, who cheapened its reputation through fraud and poor quality. The temperance movement linked it to winos on Skid Row, and drinkers turned to cheaper beer and more potent spirits. Lukacs is most compelling when he describes wine’s modern evolution into what he calls the “international style.” This style is “flamboyant” — fruity and lush, with potent alcohol — and global, as a revolution in viticultural techniques and winemaking technology has made it possible to produce high-quality wine throughout the world, not just in Europe. The emphasis on technique and technology has made celebrities of both winemakers and wine writers, most notably Robert M. Parker Jr., who championed specific vintners and told consumers which wines to buy. Ratings such as Parker’s 100-point system became a popular way of distinguishing good wines from the merely ordinary; for while the modern era may have


A modern ‘village’ helping a traditional one

Susan Svrluga’s profile of African immigrant Jean Kabre [“First, a friend. Then, a cause,” front page, Nov. 27] was a revealing tale of humanity and solidarity at their best. What Mr. Kabre and the generous folks at 101 Constitution Ave. in Washington are doing to help Mr. Kabre’s impoverished village in Burkina Faso is quite remarkable. Their acts of kindness testify to the fact that as long as there is goodwill, there is always hope for those who live in the most forgotten corners of the world, desperate and yearning for a better life. As one who witnessed the plights of many in rural Ethiopia, where clean drinking water and other basic necessities are lacking, I truly appreciate the small-scale water and development projects that Mr. Kabre’s friends are funding. Their initiatives will alleviate some of the hardships that the villagers encounter in their daily lives. May the compassion and generosity practiced at Mr. Kabre’s workplace inspire others to extend a helping hand to the needy at home and abroad. Tewodros Abebe, Accokeek ●


December brings with it some heavenly gifts

On the night of Dec. 25, much like the night of Nov. 28, Jupiter, the gibbous moon and Aldebaran form a tight pact. As if Jupiter weren’t enough celestial entertainment, look to the south-southeast before dawn now. Like grade-school kids lining up for the lunch march to the cafeteria, Saturn, Venus and Mercury form a morning line. Saturn (zero magnitude) is discernible at the top of the line, Venus (negative third magnitude) is very bright in the middle and Mercury holds at zero magnitude, visible above the horizon. Each morning between now and Dec. 10, watch Saturn and Venus rapidly appear to grow apart. Before dawn Dec. 10, the waning crescent moon picks Saturn as a dance partner. And before dawn Dec. 11, the vivacious Venus slow dances with the old, skinny moon. Meteors will catch sky-gazing attention, according to the International Meteor Organization. The Geminid meteors, seen from Dec. 4-17, peak on the night of Dec. 13-14, with possibly up to 120 meteors per hour at its best. How do you watch? Just look up. These shooting stars appear to emanate from the constellation Gemini. With no moon to worry about, watch late in the evening and into the morning hours. Still, meteor showers can be tricky, and you could see but a few each hour. A far less impressive Ursid meteor shower, derived from the cosmic dust of periodic Comet Tuttle, peaks Dec. 21-22. Expect maybe 10-15 meteors an hour. The fat moon sets after 2 a.m., so trotting outside after that time gives gazers a better chance. Grab your scarf and mittens, as the winter solstice occurs Dec. 21 at 6:12 a.m., according to the U.S. Naval Observatory. Although the sun is always still, the Earth’s motion gives the appearance of the sun moving back toward the Northern Hemisphere. From Dec. 1 through Dec. 11, Washingtonians enjoy the earliest sunsets of the year. For all 11 days, the sun officially sets at 4:46 p.m., says the observatory. On Dec. 12, sunset starts creeping back (4:47 p.m.) the other way. The latest sunrise for Washington this year is 7:27 a.m. on Dec. 31 – and we’re stuck at that time through Jan. 9. Washington gets 9 hours and 26 minutes of daylight from Dec. 20-22 — which is the least amount of daylight all year, says the observatory. Down to Earth events: ●Dec. 3 — ●Dec. 5 —


Afghan peace council sees signs of progress with Pakistan and Taliban

Qalamuddin, who lives in a modest home off a steep dirt alley in the capital, expressed contempt for the present-day insurgents, saying they have “no will” for peace and no respect for law. “They are revolutionaries and thieves. They are not the real Taliban,” he said. “We were a government, and we followed Islamic law.” There has been widespread criticism of the council’s pursuit of immunity or amnesty for Taliban who want to negotiate. Human rights activists said it would be a mistake to extend broad amnesty to individuals who have committed war crimes or violently suppressed the populace. “No blanket amnesty will facilitate a lasting peace,” said Nader Nadery, an activist for human rights and good governance. “People are angry at the crimes and the bombings, and there is a great demand for punishment.” Although fighting has decreased as cold weather sets in, the Taliban has continued to stage deadly attacks. In the past month, the group has claimed responsibility for a bombing that killed two guards in a high-security zone of Kabul and a truck bomb that decimated a public square in the capital of Wardak province, killing three people and wounding at least 90. Taliban spokesmen have continued to denounce the Afghan government and the peace process, insisting they will never negotiate as long as Western forces remain in the country. They reacted violently to the recent executions of several Taliban prisoners in Kabul, all of whom were convicted of murder under Afghan law. Taliban spokesmen said the Wardak bombing was in retaliation for the hangings, which were condemned by international human rights groups but welcomed by many Afghans. But some council officials said they see potential signs of change in the Taliban. Fawzi, who serves as a spokesman for the council, said he believed circumstances in Afghanistan — including the coming withdrawal of foreign troops — are shifting in favor of those on both sides who prefer negotiation to conflict. “From the beginning, there have always been some Taliban who wanted peace, but the world and the government insisted on war,” he said. “Now the world has agreed that war is not the solution, the Afghan people are tired of it, and it seems like Pakistan is, too. So now, there is a way open for the Taliban. If this process continues sincerely, I think in another year or two, they will sit down and talk.”


Recklessly commercializing pot

Regarding the Nov. 26 editorial “What should the feds do about pot?”: The new laws of Colorado and Washington state do not simply decriminalize marijuana; they commercialize its production and sale, thus creating a major commercialized drug industry. These laws are explicitly modeled on the tobacco and alcohol industries — industries that make the bulk of their profits from substance abusers. Marijuana has 60 percent more cancer-causing agents than tobacco and stays in the body and brain 20 times longer than alcohol. There are overwhelming public health reasons to oppose legalization of marijuana. The state laws fly in the face of established federal law and U.S. treaty obligations. The Justice Department, an ardent defender of federal preemption of conflicting state laws in other issues including immigration, has an obligation to stop this reckless “experiment” that violates federal and international law and threatens both public health and public safety. Robert L. DuPont, Rockville Peter Bensinger, Chicago Robert L. DuPont was director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse from 1973 to 1978. Peter Bensinger was head of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration from 1976 to 1981.


U.S. climate aid reaches across globe

which now make up a third of the agency’s budget, vary widely. One involves sending a Peruvian engineer with expertise in glacial lake outbursts to Nepal to advise officials on managing the same phenomenon there. Another involves advising Jamaica on a national climate-adaptation plan. The agency has funded research for a new program in Kenya and Ethiopia: Herders insure their livestock and are compensated when a certain percentage of local vegetation dries up. Christopher B. Barrett, an economics and international agriculture professor at Cornell University who helped develop the herders’ insurance, said this financial backup is crucial as higher temperatures take their toll on African livestock. “If the intervals between droughts are shorter, it means you can still rebuild herds and remain viable,” he said. One of USAID’s most successful programs is the SERVIR satellite-mapping program it has spearheaded with NASA. As precipitation patterns shift, glaciers melt and fires become more intense, the program allows policymakers in Central America, eastern and southern Africa and the Hindu Kush Himalaya region to predict these changes with better accuracy. Dan Irwin, who directs the program from his base at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., describes the initiative as a “space to village” collaboration of the United States and developing nations. In the flood-prediction mapping, “We’re providing the data, and our African colleagues are doing all the work,” he said. In many ways, poor countries have more robust policies than affluent ones on coping with global warming, because they recognized their vulnerability several years ago. For example, Bangladesh has developed an early-warning system for cyclones and built more shelters to reduce the loss of life that accompanies such extreme weather, noted Saleemul Huq, director of the International Center for Climate Change and Development. “It’s about being a society that’s getting its act together,” Huq said. “We are doing that, and the rest of the world needs to do it, too.” Princeton University geosciences and international affairs professor Michael Oppenheimer said that while adaptation can never be completely effective, storms such as Sandy have underscored the need for immediate action. “At least there’s a realization that climate change is not tomorrow’s problem, it’s today’s problem, and we need to deal with it now,” he said. Geoff Dabelko “There’s a recognition that we’re not going to solve this problem quickly or easily,” he said. “On a large scale, you could say no one


Arundel police shoot, fatally wound 2 dogs after attack

Two dogs were shot and fatally wounded by an Anne Arundel County police officer over the weekend after they severely injured a 7-year-old boy. The dogs, which apparently lived at the house where the incident occurred, were later euthanized by the county animal control department, police said. Officers were sent about 5:30 p.m. Saturday to the 3400 block of Barnsley Court in Pasadena, where they were told that a woman and her nephew were being mauled, police said. An officer saw the two under attack on a back porch. The dogs were described as American bulldogs. References characterize them as stocky and muscular, sometimes territorial, but usually not aggressive. In a statement, police said the officer “was forced to shoot” one dog “to prevent further injury to the woman or the child.” As the officer began to examine their wounds, the second dog lunged at all three, police said. The officer shot the second dog to protect himself and the two other people, police said. Police said the dogs began attacking the boy in the house. His aunt grabbed him and fled. But, police said, the dogs followed and continued attacking. The child was taken to a hospital in critical condition, police said, but news media accounts indicated that he was improving. Police said the woman suffered minor injuries but refused treatment. It was not clear whether the child lived at the house. Neighbors said they understood that he was visiting.


Differing Afghan, U.S. priorities could sabotage proposed security agreement

stake.” For the U.S. government, which has lost more than 2,000 troops in an increasingly unpopular war, the key will be addressing the Afghans’ demand for sovereignty without conceding the right to protect all American forces stationed here in supporting roles from potentially abusive treatment by Afghan authorities or courts. Photos of everyday life in Afghanistan as coalition forces attempt to transfer responsibilities to Afghan troops. “As much as I want to get it right in Afghanistan and believe losing would be a national security disaster for the ages, if the Afghans insist on keeping American soldiers in Afghanistan without legal protections . . . I will not vote for one penny, and this war will come to an end,” Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said at a hearing in Washington last month. Last year, during similar negotiations about the role and status of U.S. troops in postwar Iraq, the Iraqi government refused to grant legal immunity for any troops. Despite months of efforts to reach a compromise, the issue ultimately killed the agreement, resulting in the hasty departure of all remaining American forces. In Afghanistan, the issue was starkly dramatized in March, when Robert Bales, a U.S. Army staff sergeant, was detained after a late-night shooting rampage that killed 16 villagers. Afghan leaders argued that Bales should face justice in Afghan courts, but U.S. military officials swiftly returned him to the United States for prosecution. While the international command headed by Gen. John R. Allen here is working on recommendations for President Obama on the rate of withdrawal for American combat troops, the U.S. negotiating position for the follow-on force is being formulated in Washington. Officials there said that options currently under discussion call for 5,000 to 10,000 troops, including training and logistics experts as well as counterterrorism units. Although the rules governing the future activities and status of American troops are being negotiated in private by senior Afghan and U.S. officials — a process that is expected to take up to a year — the public atmosphere surrounding the talks has already been roiled by a string of criticisms and demands from Afghan President Hamid Karzai. In the past several months, Karzai has declared that NATO members should not count on immunity after 2014. He has also lambasted the United States for not responding more aggressively to cross-border rocket attacks


National Zoo carousel features armadillos, naked mole-rats and other creatures

Solar-powered ride features 58 animals including a cuttlefish, an armadillo or a yellow jacket. There’s a new spot at the National Zoo where you can see 58 animals — including a panda, a tiger, a Komodo dragon and a kangaroo — peacefully existing inches away from one another. Okay, they’re not real animals. They are the brightly painted creatures on the zoo’s new Speedwell Foundation Conservation Carousel, which opened last week near the entrance to Great Cats Circle. This is an unusual carousel for two reasons. The first is the types of animals on the ride. You’ve seen horses, tigers and zebras on other carousels. This one includes a grasshopper, a naked mole-rat and an armadillo. Some of the animals represent endangered species and species that were once endangered and are being bred at places including the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in Front Royal, Virginia. Others are animals you might see in your back yard. (So you can tell your friends that you’ve ridden a yellow jacket or a blue crab.) The other unusual feature is what makes the carousel turn: the sun. Solar panels, which are tricky to spot on the carousel’s roof, convert sunlight into energy that powers the ride. The zoo’s carousel is one of the few in the world to use solar power. So the Conservation Carousel is about conserving two things: animals and energy. The ride is also a nice way to regain your energy after walking the many paths to visit the zoo’s real animals. — Christina Barron The Speedwell Foundation Conservation Carousel is open during regular zoo hours and evenings during ZooLights. Tickets are $3.


Fed governor Daniel Tarullo pushing for policy to rein in on bank size

to speak publicly. Regulators can do this without additional legislation because of new powers granted through Dodd-Frank. Tarullo said the new capital requirement could lend greater confidence that investors and creditors, not taxpayers, would bear all losses at a failed bank. Most banks are healthy enough to meet this standard, though they may face additional costs. Tarullo also reiterated an idea that he has been pitching for months: restricting the expansion of big banks by limiting their non-deposit liabilities — funding that comes from sources other than consumer deposits in savings or other accounts. The plan targets behemoths such as JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup who rely heavily on such funds, Tarullo said, which makes banks more vulnerable in crises. Tarullo has yet to offer details on the size of the cap but is calling for more analysis of the potential impact of the proposal. The Fed governor is the highest-ranking regulatory official to call for capping the size of banks in some fashion, but not the only one. Thomas Hoenig, vice chairman of the FDIC, is promoting a plan to break up the largest banks by separating their traditional commercial banking divisions from their riskier investment activities. “Right now, if you’re a broker dealer and you don’t have a commercial bank, you’re at a competitive disadvantage because you don’t have a safety net. It’s driving them out or into a bank, and that’s consolidation, concentration that we don’t need,” Hoenig said in an interview. Lawmakers, including Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), introduced legislation addressing bank size during the Dodd-Frank debates that failed to garner enough support. Since then, the tenor of the debate has changed. With liberals such as Elizabeth Warren entering the Senate and too-big-too-fail opponent Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Tex.) taking the helm of the House Financial Services Committee, some analysts say the issue is likely to resurface in 2013. Industry watchers remain skeptical about lawmakers’ proposals to break up big banks, but some are encouraged by Tarullo’s call for more analysis. “To the extent that Tarullo takes a leadership role in getting the evidence to back up any conclusions is much more productive than just having members of Congress introduce legislation or create dynamics that force regulators to do things without merit,” a representative from the financial industry said. Related: From the archives: Fed’s Tarullo emerges as banks’ key federal foe on regulating risk Who is Daniel K. Tarullo?


Body found after blaze in Northwest D.C. rowhouse

One person was killed in a blaze that broke out in a rowhouse Tuesday night in the Bloomingdale area of Northwest Washington, authorities said. The victim was discovered on the first floor of a building in the 1800 block of First Street NW after firefighters had subdued the flames, said Lon Walls, chief spokesman for the D.C. fire department. No information was immediately available about the victim’s age or sex. The blaze broke out about 7:15 p.m. in a building north of S Street NW that apparently had been converted into apartments. Firefighters reported intense flames coming from the first floor. The cause of the fire was unknown, Walls said. The house, on a block that has been gentrifying rapidly, is south of the intersection of First Street and Rhode Island Avenue NW, and near the area that has been severely affected in recent months by flooding during rainstorms. “Our prayers are with the family,” Kenyan R. McDuffie (D-Ward 5), who represents the area on the D.C. Council, wrote in a Twitter message.


Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra: All grown up on the Kennedy Center stage

Gustavo Dudamel, musical director of Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela, conducts the orchestra. (Courtesy of WPAS) Every child prodigy is faced with a point at which it’s time to figure out how to navigate adulthood. But you don’t often see this phenomenon happen to an entire orchestra. The Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra has been playing under conductor Gustavo Dudamel for 17 years. Note, carefully, the name of the ensemble. It used to be the Bolivar Youth Orchestra, the flagship calling-card of the Venezuelan music-training program known as El Sistema, devoted to saving kids from questionable backgrounds by teaching them to play in orchestras. The thing was, the orchestra got really famous, and the kids got really good, and it seemed kind of mean to shove them out when they hit a certain age. So the administrators took away the orchestra’s “youth” appellation instead. The resulting orchestra, now without the special protection afforded by tender years, amassed on the stage of the Kennedy Center Concert Hall on Tuesday night at the midpoint of a five-city American tour. “Amassed” is the right word for this huge ensemble: fourteen basses, eight flutes and a thicket of strings that threatened to spill over the stage. And under Dudamel — now the music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and one of the best-known conductors in the world — the musicians set out to demonstrate that they are, in fact, all grown up. Gustavo Dudamel directs. (Courtesy of WPAS) The Bolivar Orchestra is one of classical music’s favorite stories. It’s so very politically correct. It is supposed to demonstrate the civilizing power of classical music: At-risk children find joy, happiness and whole, healed lives through playing Beethoven. The kids are exuberant, talented and free of preconceptions; they’ve learned to do something hard, and they exult in it. This has led to a distinctive concert experience that has sat just to one side of gimmickry: an extra-big orchestra playing with elan and finishing its concerts by dancing on stage to Bernstein’s “Mambo,” sporting jackets in the colors of Venezuela. (“Mambo! Mambo!” audience members called out Tuesday.) Classical music tolerated this rowdiness because these kids represented a future it could agree with, but there has always been a hint of a trained-seal aspect, young people taught to do something an audience will like. So what happens when these kids come of age? Not surprisingly, Tuesday’s concert


Arena Stage’s ‘Pullman Porter Blues’ rolls uncertainly down the tracks

travails of the porters on the segregated rail lines could be supple fodder for theater, even if sidestepping the cliches of a story of quiet workplace joys amid detestable racial barriers is no easy task. West’s play, first performed at Seattle Repertory Theatre, doesn’t avoid the pitfalls. She stacks the emotional deck with a sentimental plot that suggests audiences can’t abide nuance. If it’s not enough that the train’s staff members have to remind us again and again how ungrateful the unseen white passengers are, West supplies a drunk, racist, sexually violent white conductor (Richard Ziman) so cartoonishly evil he should be twirling a mustache while lashing a damsel to the railroad tracks. (A second Caucasian character, a stowaway played by Emily Chisholm, is a tad more sympathetic, if you don’t count the vile epithet she throws in the face of Butler’s Sister Juba.) You wait out the rather haphazard plot entanglements, the jokes and solemn pronouncements by the broadly sketched characters to get to the songs, all of which are handled with an assured showmanship, owing in part to Sonia Dawkins’s polished musical staging. Marshall, as an elder porter and head of a family of Pullman employees, moves with debonair grace. And Butler, the flinty Aunt Eller in Arena’s smash revival of “Oklahoma!” as well as the veteran actress of last year’s backstage drama “Trouble in Mind,” here brings a crowd-pleasing carnality to the role of a brassy singer of the blues. A quarter of a century ago, Derricks won a Tony for his portrayal of a washed-up legend of soul in the original production of “Dreamgirls” (which happens to be playing in a terrific revival across the river at Signature Theatre). It’s a pleasure seeing him onstage again, this time imbuing a character with far more magnetism than it might otherwise radiate. Derricks’s Sylvester is the son of Marshall’s Monroe and the father of Warner Miller’s Cephas, three generations who, in the summer of 1937, find themselves working side by side on a Panama Limited from Chicago to New Orleans. To the chagrin of Monroe, a kindly company man, and Sylvester, an organizer for the porters’ union, Cephas wavers over whether to return for a sophomore year at the University of Chicago. The generational struggle might be a sleek and elegant vehicle for the songs. But the story is weighted down with time-sucking subplots. Although it’s set on


U.S. reducing plans for large civilian force in post-2014 Afghanistan

with the Afghan government over how many troops the U.S. military will leave behind when combat ends in 2014. A key sticking point is whether remaining troops will be subject to Afghan law, which doomed similar talks with Iraq last year. Even if the negotiations succeed and a sizable American force remains, the U.S. military is certain to curtail or stop the security and other services it provides U.S. government civilians in Afghanistan. “How do you do security? How do you do mobility? These are expensive propositions when State has to do it all itself,” Ryan Crocker, who served as U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan until last summer, said in an interview. Those concerns were echoed by Sarah Chayes, who has spent years in Afghanistan and was an adviser to the U.S. military command there. “There is a significant risk that the conditions in Afghanistan are going to be too hostile for an influx of civilians to be able to function,” she said. The mega-embassy problem The mega-embassy concept was born in Iraq as the State Department tried to hold its own with a U.S. military whose counterinsurgency strategy included development and governance tasks once reserved for diplomats and civilians. When the military withdrew, the diplomats tried to continue the noncombat work without the military’s massive budget or the protection provided by up to 150,000 troops. As the State Department assumed many of the military’s tasks, including training Iraq’s national police, the diplomatic mission grew to nearly 20 support personnel for each official, including more than 6,000 contract security guards. With a $6 billion budget, the department set up its own domestic Iraqi air service and staffed three hospital facilities. The rolls of civilians and contractors topped 20,000. Today, the world’s biggest diplomatic mission employs about 13,000 government and contract workers, but the goal is to reach fewer than 8,000, officials said. The police program, originally planned with 350 U.S. trainers at 22 sites, has been reduced to about 40 trainers at two sites. Plans to build seven consulates have shrunk to two. As hard as Iraq has been, Afghanistan poses far more difficult security and logistical problems. There is little optimism that the war against the Taliban will be over before U.S. combat troops leave or that Afghan security forces will prove an able substitute. “The problem with Afghanistan is, it’s not going to look like success,” James F. Jeffrey,


Montgomery County Animal Watch

These were among the cases received recently by the Montgomery County Animal Services Division. For information, call 240-773-5054. That number provides recorded information on topics such as the Montgomery County Animal Shelter hours and location, adoption and licensing procedures, rabies clinics and low-cost neutering. Dog intensifies the aggravation: 13th Pl., 7200 block, Takoma Park, Nov. 20. A resident reported having been bitten by a dog. He had been working in his yard and attempted to quiet a neighbor’s constantly barking Boston terrier mix by trying to pet it over the fence. The dog bit him in the hand. Animal services placed the dog under a standard 10-day home quarantine. Chickens find temporary Shelter has adoptable cats Gaithersburg Gaithersburg Humane Society has adoptable animals: Montgomery Village Cats available for adoption with reduced fees Germantown — Compiled by Lisa M. Bolton


Tom Perriello won’t run for Va. governor

am genuinely touched by the outpouring of support,” he said. “I do not feel called to serve in elected office at this time, but I do not need to have my name on the ballot to be part of the fight.” Tom Perriello. (Melina Mara/THE WASHINGTON POST) Perriello, who has a strong relationship with President Obama and was part of several campaign events in battleground states this year, said he will continue in his role with the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank, to fight for progressive causes and against Republican ideas he considers extreme. “No one has worked harder to prevent this extreme agenda from reaching the Governor’s mansion than Terry McAuliffe,” Perriello said in the statement. “I hope that progressives and moderates can unite as Virginians choose between the worst of our past and the best of our future.” In a statement released shortly after Perriello’s, McAuliffe praised him as “a courageous and principled fighter for progressive values and one of our party’s best spokesmen on issues of economic fairness.” Even before Perriello’s announcement, McAuliffe sought to convey the idea that Virginia Democrats were rallying around him. His campaign has released the names of several current and former elected officials who will serve as co-chairs of his bid. The list did not include Warner, Sen. James Webb (D) or Sen.-elect Timothy M. Kaine (D), although they are likely to rally around McAuliffe now that he does not appear to have any primary opposition. On Wednesday, McAuliffe filed the official paperwork to create the Terry McAuliffe for Governor Committee, and he toured Richmond’s Corrugated Box Building, which was renovated to become a business incubator. McAuliffe chatted with the founders of several high-tech start-ups sharing space there. “I think we all know with the economy, with cuts to defense coming, we need to diversify this economy,” he said. “And I think one good way to diversify the economy is to bring in the folks like we have here — to welcome new, creative ideas, create jobs.” In a brief interview with reporters after the tour, McAuliffe was asked how he would energize Democrats, who rejected him in a primary four years ago. “I think we do what I’ve done the last several years — we’ve done over 2,400 events, traveling throughout the commonwealth,” he said. “I’ve spent my time listening to folks.” McAuliffe said the economic challenges Virginia


Prince George’s and So. Maryland Going Out Guide

A wedding is depicted in the "Garden in Lights" at Annmarie Garden. ( Annmarie Garden) THU 06 National Ballet Company The dance troupe performs “The Nutcracker.” Thursday-Friday at 10:30 a.m., Saturday at 2:30 and 7:30 p.m., Sunday at 2:30 p.m. Prince George’s Community College, Hallam Theater, 301 Largo Rd., Largo. 301-218-9822. www.nationalballet.com. $25-$30. Gingerbread House Contest and Show View the creativity and talent of local bakers and vote for favorite adult and child entries in the Viewer’s Choice Award competition. Thursday-Sunday noon-5 p.m., closes Sunday. Darnall’s Chance House Museum, 14800 Gov. Oden Bowie Dr., Upper Marlboro. 301-952-8010. www.pgparks.com/places/eleganthistoric/darnalls_visitor.html. $1, age 4 and younger free. Multicultural world holiday celebration “Claudie Hukill” CSM Chorale holiday concert “A Christmas Story” FRI 07 “Christmas Comes to St. Mary’s” National Harbor Family Night and Fireworks Colonial Madrigal Dinner “Garden in Lights” Montpelier Mansion Holiday Candlelight Tours Solomons Christmas Walk “A Christmas Carol” Kappa Danielson and Paul Larson “Holiday With the Sons” Active Cultures Theatre Kaleidoscope of Bands Stone Pleasure Band Tantallon Community Players SAT 08 Family Plantation Christmas Holly Trolleyfest “Oklahoma!” “Love in the Time of Cholera” Chesapeake Choral Arts Society and COSMIC Symphony Not So Modern Jazz Latin Ensemble concert University of Maryland Symphony Orchestra SUN 09 “The Festive Baroque” Students and faculty from the School of Music and Chamber Singers perform Bach’s “Magnificat,” also known as the “Song of Mary” or “Canticle of Mary.” Proceeds benefit the School of Music’s undergraduate scholarship fund. 3 p.m. Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, Dekelboum Concert Hall, University of Maryland, Route 193 and Stadium Drive, College Park. 301-405-2787. www.claricesmithcenter.umd.edu. $10-$25. Chesapeake Chorale Christmas gospel concert MON 10 Dance Exchange TUE 11 “One Appalachian Christmas” U-Md. Korean Percussion Ensemble Director Sebastian Wang leads this Korean drumming concert with special guest musicians. 7:30 p.m. Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, Dekelboum Concert Hall, University of Maryland, Route 193 and Stadium Drive, College Park. 301-405-2787. www.claricesmithcenter.umd.edu. Free. WED 12 Ornament Show and Sale — Compiled by Jillian S. Sowah from staff reports National Harbor Family Night and Fireworks 3Live music, children’s activities and an 8p.m. fireworks show over the Potomac River. Fridays 5-9 p.m., through Dec. 21. National Harbor, 150 National Plaza, National Harbor. 877-628-5427. www.nationalharbor.com. Free.


Today in D.C.: Four things to watch for

The 90th annual lighting of the National Christmas Tree is tonight. Coming up today in the D.C. region: National Christmas Tree: Silver Line: Gay marriage: Weekend plans:


Golden Spike space-tourism company: ‘To the moon!’

The Suomi NPP satellite has used its Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite instrument to record city lights in the United States and elsewhere around the globe. It had to happen: A start-up company is offering rides to the moon. Book your seat now — though it’s going to set you back $750 million (it’s unclear if that includes baggage fees). Led by heavy-hitter former NASA executives, the Golden Spike Co. would boldly go where humankind went 40 years ago, this time commercially, hawking tickets to foreign governments or space tourists. “Two seats, 750 each,” former NASA associate administrator Alan Stern said on Thursday, shortly before he appeared at the National Press Club in Washington to announce the formation of the company. “The trick is 40 years old. We know how to do this.” You won’t have to joystick the lunar lander yourself, so don’t worry about dodging killer craters and boulders on the way down. Everything will be automated and controlled from Earth. It’ll be like taking a train, the company said. “We realize this is the stuff of science fiction. We intend to make it science fact,” Stern said at the news conference. He added: “We believe in the price points that we’re talking about.” The company has assembled some credible advisers, with a board chaired by former NASA Johnson Space Center director Gerry Griffin. The business model requires economies of scale — lots of customers and lots of missions to the moon to offset the very high start-up cost. The company sees 2020 as a plausible date for that initial trip. Golden Spike would need to commission a lunar lander and moonwalking suits, but most of its mission architecture would rely on commercial rockets and capsules already flying or under development. For example, the company could use a rocket and capsule developed by Elon Musk’s commercial start-up SpaceX, which has successfully flown cargo to the international space station under a NASA contract. The primary targets for Golden Spike are foreign countries that want to do lunar science or attain the prestige of putting their own astronauts on the moon. Because of political sensitivities, the company would not sell a moon trip to China, which has been expanding its space program, Stern said. Nor would the company sell rides to any country restricted by law from access to U.S. technology that could be used for military purposes. Stern said


Russia fumes as U.S. Senate passes measure aimed at human rights

A tombstone on the grave of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who died in jail, at a cemetery in Moscow. A new law blacklists Russians connected to the death of Magnitsky in police custody. (Misha Japaridze/AP) MOSCOW — The old law, one of the last vestiges of the Cold War, was called the Jackson-Vanik Amendment, named after a U.S. senator and a representative. The new law, passed 92 to 4, grants Russia and Moldova permanent normal trade relations, but it is coupled with the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act, which honors a dead Russian. The law blacklists Russians connected to the death of Magnitsky in police custody and to other gross human rights violations, prohibiting entrance to the United States and use of its banking system. “Today, we close a chapter in U.S. history,” Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin (D-Md.), one of the prime movers of the Magnitsky bill, said during the debate on Jackson-Vanik. “It served its purpose. Today, we open a new chapter in U.S. leadership for human rights.” How the United States can best promote democracy and human rights in Russia — and elsewhere — became a matter of agonizing and often bitter debate as pressure grew to repeal Jackson-Vanik. Not only was it widely considered a relic with the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 and freedom to emigrate from Russia, but, under the regulations of the World Trade Organization, which Russia joined this year, it also penalized American exporters. The House approved the measure last month Since taking the office in 2000, Vladimir Putin expanded the powers of Russia's presidency. “My administration will continue to work with Congress and our partners to support those seeking a free and democratic future for Russia and promote the rule of law and respect for human rights around the world,” Obama said in a statement. “We need the Magnitsky act to fill the gaps in President Obama’s policy,” said Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah), criticizing Obama for what he called unseemly efforts to avoid offending Russian President Vladimir Putin. Russia, as expected, was infuriated. Speaking in Brussels on Thursday, Moscow’s special representative on human rights and democracy predicted a tough response, Interfax reported. “We regard it as unjust and unfounded,” Konstantin Dolgov said. “This is an attempt to interfere in our internal affairs.” Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz) said the bill should have applied to all countries. The House, however,


D.C. offers new plan to divert storm runoff before it floods Bloomingdale, LeDroit Park

DC Department of Transportation worker, Daniel Ellis, scrapes the sewer overflow from T Street NW near the intersection of Rhode Island Ave. NW. (Sarah L. Voisin/The Washington Post) D.C. Water and city government officials are proposing to divert runoff from severe storms into holding facilities before it threatens to inundate the Bloomingdale and LeDroit Park neighborhoods of Northwest Washington in response to flash floods last summer. The work, estimated to cost as much as $40 million more than previous flood-relief plans, would involve converting facilities on the former McMillan sand filtration site into storage tanks capable of holding 3 million gallons of runoff each. Meanwhile, D.C. Water crews would immediately begin digging a six-block-long, Metro-size tunnel under First Street, which could store 6 million gallons of stormwater and sewage. The McMillan storage tanks could be finished as soon as spring 2014, said George S. Hawkins, the D.C. Water and Sewer Authority’s general manager, and the First Street tunnel could be completed two years later. Engineers estimate the projects could reduce flooding depths by 20 inches. Under previous time lines, the affected neighborhoods would not have seen significant relief until 2025. Hawkins presented an outline of the plans to D.C. Water’s board of directors during a Thursday morning meeting. More details were discussed at an afternoon meeting of a flooding task force appointed by Mayor Vincent C. Gray (D). “It looks like we’re getting there, like we’re almost there,” City Administrator Allen Y. Lew said before briefing task force members. “Not 100 percent, but a substantial, significant portion of the problem this area has experienced going back years.” The area affected by the flash floods is an anomaly of geography and infrastructure. Low-lying to begin with, it is also a place where three major storm sewers’ draining points to the north and west converge into a single line that runs south under First Street to a trunk sewer running along Florida Avenue. Floods have plagued the area intermittently for generations, but this year’s deluges were unprecedented. Four times, brief but intense storms caused significant flooding in the blocks surrounding Rhode Island Avenue and First Street. Sewage backed up into the basements or flowed from street level into about 200 households. Standing water approached two feet deep on some streets. Storing runoff at the McMillan site, where much of the city’s drinking water was filtered and treated until 1985, is expected to


A world of Christmases in America

hotels and restaurants snuggle inside chalet-style buildings with gabled roofs, painted floral ornamentation and balconies that hold flower boxes in sunnier weather. Retail signs lasso people indoors with promises of cheese, chocolate, raclette and fondue. Whimsical painted statues of Swiss cows add an agrarian accent to the town, without the mess. For more than 15 years, the Swiss United Church of Christ has honored calories and Christmas with a holiday bake sale. You don’t want to sleep in on this day. I arrived 10 minutes before noon and the pickings were slim: a few bags of bratzeli; a loaf of zopf, Swiss braided bread; two zueri bieter, small logs stuffed with minced dried fruit. The New Glarus Bakery, however, can fill any holes in your holiday cookie tray. Owner Angela Neff, who’s continuing a baking legacy from 1910, stuffs the cases with jewel-like cookies of Swiss granny provenance. Her recipe for stollen comes from Lucerne, as does the labor-intensive birnbrot, Swiss pear bread (price tag: $14.50) that you might want to squirrel away in your own stocking. Esther Zgraggen, the Swiss-born owner of Esther’s European Imports, covers the gift-giving category. She sells raclette and fondue sets, Swiss Army knives, straw ornaments and wood-carved cows, a popular toy in Swiss children’s playrooms. To be completely authentic, however, Esther would have to stock peanuts, apples and tangerines, the presents she often found in the shoes she left outside as a child for St. Nick’s delivery drops. Puempel’s Olde Tavern, built by new arrivals Joe and Berta Puempel, has celebrated nearly 120 Christmases. The couple ran a boardinghouse, providing room and board for 60 cents at the turn of the 20th century. One guest, Albert Struebin, couldn’t gin up the change and painted four murals as payment. Though bar smoke and general life have darkened the paint, the images are still vivid enough to crawl into. Today, pocket change still goes far. The ceiling is covered in crumpled dollar bills that resemble a swarm of origami birds with bad navigational skills. The party trick is to pierce a dollar with a thumbtack, fold in a half-dollar (for ballast), then toss it 18 feet up, hoping that it sticks. I watched pro dollar tosser and tavern owner Chuck Bigler chuck the buck up. He nailed it on his third try. When it was my turn, I lofted it once and missed. On the second


Northwest funeral homes struggle to survive

a funeral home that were so crucial in the past. “Traditionally, families use funeral homes that loved ones used in the past, but their parents are in different states,” explained Horton. “There’s no heritage here.” Some businesses have shifted strategy and begun catering to Latino populations, hiring Spanish-speaking funeral directors to take advantage of the relationships there. Others, like the longtime Johnson and Jenkins Funeral Home in Brightwood, have added a Prince George’s County branch that, in part, subsidizes the historic DC location. But perhaps the biggest challenge facing DC funeral directors is the imperative to change. For many years, tradition was king; these days due to the pressures of an unforgiving economy or the frenetic pace of technological change, owners have to be ready to innovate. Gregory Burrell, president of the National Funeral Directors and Morticians Association, which represents African American funeral homes, says his members commonly forget about responding to the changing needs of the market. “What we’ve seen over the years is that a lot of these people have inherited these businesses, and they run them more like mom and pop operations,” he said. “I believe we’ll see a lot of smaller firms not make it.” That’s a topic Horton is passionate about. “It’s about vision,” he said. Horton says he sees himself as more of an event planner nowadays than anything else, and regularly attends conventions to learn about the latest trends and technologies. His is one of the few historic funeral homes with a Web site, and he has plans to modernize the establishment in order to, ideally, bring in white customers. “If you don’t think about these things, you’re going to perish.” Lots of changes It’s too late for Frazier’s. The 5,500-square-foot property was bought last year by Thomas Swarm, a white developer and general contractor, for $850,000. It seems to be a done deal, but Timothy Adkins is fighting for his father’s estate, arguing that its conservators lacked the approvals to sell the D.C. properties. That would make the building’s sale illegal, but the battle could be a long shot. A few blocks west, Ables finally finished his own court fight in August and is ready to focus on the business again. He’s got plans: to buy a new awning, take the paint off the impressive edifice so that it really stands out, bring in new customers. Of course, it’s a different era


Obama pushes ahead with high speed rail plan

Undaunted by the looming fiscal crisis, the Obama administration said Thursday that it plans to forge ahead with its signature transportation project, investing billions of dollars in a long-term effort to build a high-speed rail network. “We’re not giving up on high-speed rail,” Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood testified before a congressional committee. “The president will include funding in his budget. I think we’ll get there with public money, but in the absence of that we’ll get there with private money.” LaHood’s testimony was welcomed by a majority of members who attended the House Transportation Committee hearing, including a number of Republicans who have expressed varying degrees of skepticism about high-speed rail in the past. Rep. John L. Mica (R.-Fla.), who will step down as committee chair next month, cautioned that money is tight. “I have been one of the strongest proponents in Congress of transportation and passenger rail, but in these days of trillion-dollar deficits, we have a responsibility to ensure that the taxpayers’ money is wisely invested and that we move forward responsibly with any transportation improvements,” Mica said. GOP support fell short of unanimous, however, with two California Republicans whose districts would be criss-crossed with the first proposed line speaking out against it. “Maybe it’s time to cut our losses and pay down our debt,” Rep. Kevin McCarthy told the committee. “I have real doubts about the viability and the cost. Just because we’ve [already] invested money doesn’t mean we have to invest more.” Rep. Jeff Denham, who in June pushed through the House legislation to ban federal spending on high-speed rail in California, questioned the price tag for the concept, in his state and nationwide. “It would be a fun thing to have,” he said, “but can we afford something that would be a fun thing?” The Obama administration launched the high-speed rail program using about $8 billion in economic stimulus funding. The first project — a $68 billion link between San Francisco and Los Angeles — has yet to break ground. It is projected to take 15 years to complete the 520-mile line. More than 150 proposals related to the creation of a high-speed rail system have been funded, most of them to link major population areas on the two coasts and in the Midwest. Concern over whether their states would be left holding the bag if federal funding dried up, Republican governors in Florida, Ohio


Graf and the NSO get the most of out two little-known works

This week’s National Symphony Orchestra program offers a fine guest conductor, a marquee soloist and two almost-unknown pieces that deserve more exposure. Hans Graf Graf’s podium manner is “workmanlike” in the best sense: Eschewing sexiness and grandstanding, he confines his gestures to those that help the musicians play with confidence. His sense of security transmits to the musicians, and the NSO responded to the guest conductor with relaxed but committed playing. At Thursday evening’s performance, I didn’t notice a single bobbled note from the winds — and ensemble, particularly at tempo transitions, was impressive. Lutoslawski’s work, for strings only, from the mid-1950s, is a homage to Bartok that, like most homages, falls a little short of its honoree. The highly developed technique was similar — using serialism, free counterpoint and isorhythmic devices (out-of-phase repetitions of rhythms and pitch-groups) — but the results lacked the emotional force of Bartok. Still, “Musique funèbre” offers a kind of sere beauty, an unquiet elegy for one of the century’s great masters. The intonation among the low strings was not flawless in the beginning, but Graf gave the piece shape and urgency. Too many string orchestras ignore this fine addition to the repertoire. Pianist Yuja Wang then delivered the Chopin Concerto in E-minor with cool, nonchalant perfection. Dispatching the ferociously difficult passage-work as you or I might drum our fingers idly on a table, she gave little hint of what the piece meant to her, or what corner of the universe it revealed. Her tone either whispered or roared, but it rarely sang. The bouncy theme of the Rondo came off as impatient; it carried no reference to anything ethnic or bumptious. (In contrast to some of her concert outfits that have drawn notoriety, she performed in a flaming-red but relatively demure gown.) One cannot but be amazed at the clarity of her finger-work, but I know nothing more about her than I did before this performance. She needs to find a way to connect herself more to the music. The shorthand knock on Tchaikovsky’s symphonies is the same as for Dvorak’s and Bruckner’s: The last three are the only ones worth hearing. That is unfair, of course, particularly for Tchaikovsky, whose first two symphonies were later extensively revised. But it is true that his Fourth Symphony did represent a newfound mastery of length and form that he was still developing in its predecessor. The


Strong earthquake shakes northeastern Japan, small tsunami strikes coast

People use mobile phones as they are stranded at Sendai railway station in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture on Dec. 7, 2012 after trains were halted following a strong earthquake that struck off the coast of northeastern Japan. (AP/AP) SEOUL — NHK, the national public broadcaster, reported at least 10 injuries, and social media users snapped pictures of fallen grocery store shelves. But the damage didn’t begin to compare to that of March 11, 2011, when a 9.0-magnitude earthquake led to a deadly tsunami with 40-foot waves and a series of meltdowns at a nuclear plant. In this case, the earthquake hit at 5:18 p.m. local time, roughly 180 miles off Japan’s Pacific coast. Two aftershocks, 6.2- and 5.5-magnitude quakes, followed within 30 minutes. And Japan, an island nation stretching across some of the world’s most seismically active fault lines, experienced a rerun of post-quake trauma, with trains halting, cell phone networks tying up, and with broadcasters on NHK urging coastal residents to flee for their lives. Waves between 3 feet and several inches hit the coasts, with no major signs of damage, based on initial media reports. But thousands had to evacuate their homes — mostly in the fishing towns whose low-lying areas were flattened 21 months ago. Even outside of Fukushima, the prefecture (or state) from which more than 100,000 evacuated last year because of radiation, the reconstruction process has been slow. Towns remain divided whether to rebuild on low or high land. The central government has burned billions from its reconstruction budget on unrelated projects, according to a recent national audit board report. And the coastal infrastructure is still prone to subsequent earthquakes, with tectonic plates off the northeastern coast still potentially under strain. With strong building codes and world-class tsunami alert systems, though, Japan is well-prepared for most natural disasters. The March 11, 2011 quake, one of the strongest of the last century, was 355 times more powerful than Friday’s, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. And in between those two earthquakes, Japan had experienced 87 tremblers of magnitude 6.0 or higher. Because of public opposition to atomic energy following the meltdowns in Fukushima, Japan has now shuttered all but two of its 50 viable nuclear reactors. And no nuclear plant reported irregularities Friday. The two operating reactors are on the western side of Japan’s main Honshu island. Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda canceled an afternoon speech because


Coming up in D.C.: Four things to watch for

Happening up in the D.C. region on Friday and this weekend: Gay marriage: Handel’s “Messiah”: Metro delays: Metro plans to close the Takoma, Silver Spring, Forest Glen, Wheaton and Glenmont stations for weekend work, starting at 10 p.m. and continuing through Sunday. U-Va. student memorial service:


India’s plan to allow Wal-Mart, Tesco, other foreign supermarkets wins Parliament backing

Indian Minister of Urban Development Kamal Nath (center) talks to media after coming out of the Indian parliament in New Delhi on Dec. 7, 2012. (STR/EPA) NEW DELHI — The vote will boost morale within the government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as it strives to push through reforms to reinvigorate India’s flagging economy and reduce a bloated fiscal deficit. It also makes it more likely the fragile coalition will survive its full term, until 2014. It was a two-stage victory for the government, winning votes in the lower house Wednesday and in the upper house Friday, after four days of acrimonious debate and considerable behind-the-scenes horse-trading. “This is a victory for more reforms,” Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath told reporters shortly after the vote, adding that it clears the way for bills to allow more foreign investment in financial services to be introduced in Parliament. Although the votes were nonbinding, defeat would have raised pressure on the government to roll back its decision to allow foreign direct investment in department stores and supermarkets, a move that has attracted significant opposition from small shopkeepers, who dominate retailing here. Take a look at some of the week’s best photographs from around the globe. The government’s hand is strengthened as it seeks to allow more foreign investment in pensions and insurance sectors, but it will need to do more cajoling of reluctant coalition partners and other fence sitters to get either bill passed. Time is also running out in this session of Parliament; only nine business days remain, and not a single bill has passed. The retail debate ate up a large chunk of the proceedings. During the debate, opposition parties said the entry of Wal-Mart and other big retailers would put India’s vast network of neighborhood stores out of business, raise unemployment and lead to a flood of cheap imports from China. Some speakers asked whether the reforms instituted in India since 1991 had benefited the nation, while others asked whether the entry of companies such as McDonald’s and Pepsi had helped or harmed farmers in India. Parallels were drawn with the British East India Co. and the exploitation of Indian workers under colonial rule. “You would eventually have stores owned by the Americans, the French and the British selling Chinese products,” said Arun Jaitley, leader of the Hindu nationalist opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the upper house. “Our children


Agencies set up plans to manage cuts if Congress, Obama fail to reach deficit deal

hours of security guards. The system would face a $555 million loss next year under an 8.2 percent cut to domestic agencies. If a series of automatic federal budgets cuts were to go into effect through a process known as sequestration, it would drastically alter the business landscape for many of the region’s prominent defense contractors. Here’s a primer on what the companies have said and done so far when it comes to sequestration. “We’ve all developed this master plan that nobody hopes we’ll have to enact,” said David Sellers, spokesman for the administrative office of the federal courts. A judicial committee began meeting shortly after the Budget Control Act was enacted in 2011 to decide where to cut, balancing furloughs with delayed trials. “They’ve taken it very seriously and methodically,” Sellers said. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission assured employees in November that no furloughs or layoffs are planned. Instead, to save money, outside contracts would be stretched out or stopped. The National Park Service has slowed some hiring for the tourist season, a strategy that advocates and former park officials said would have to continue in January. The Defense Department is likely to impose an immediate hiring freeze on its civilian workforce, said a spokeswoman, Army Lt. Col. Elizabeth Robbins. Some furlough notices, rather than layoffs, would begin within a few weeks, she said. And public employee unions are dusting off their manuals on when to call for bargaining with management over unpaid furloughs, which would probably be forced on thousands of employees. “Nobody knows what’s going to happen with the fiscal cliff,” said Danette Woo, special park uses coordinator at the Mojave National Preserve in San Bernardino County, Calif. “What happens is totally out of our control, but it affects our ability to get our job done.” Park managers have prepared a “budget constraint” plan that calls for layoffs of seasonal employees and program cuts, Woo said. Like other agencies, the Park Service in recent months has slowed hiring, travel and training. At the NRC, “the agency has certainly worked under the assumption that sequestration is a very real possibility,” spokesman Scott Burnell said. A sequester was made real in a 394-page report the White House provided to Congress in September, listing more than 1,200 agencies and programs that would lose 8.2 percent (domestic) and 9.4 percent (military) of their budgets. About $2.5 billion would be excised from the


The natural gas revolution reversing LNG tanker trade

surged, U.S. prices have slumped. Suddenly, producing companies are looking for ways to sell gas abroad, where prices are three to five times as high. And customers are lining up. Japan’s Sumitomo and another Asian buyer have signed long-term agreements to buy LNG from Cove Point; those contracts include guarantees that enable Dominion to line up financing. In Japan, gas prices have run as high as $16 for a thousand cubic feet; in the United States, prices are currently about $3.70. Even after adjusting for the costs of liquefaction and shipping, it’s a good deal for customers like Japan. “This is a win-win for many people,” said Donald R. Raikes, vice president of marketing for Dominion. “The gas industry is in search of markets, and the price has been pushed down for lack of markets.” “We have so much gas we don’t know what to do with it, and it’s unlikely that we can create enough demand for all the gas coming on stream,” said Cherif Souki, chief executive of Cheniere Energy, which is spending $10 billion to add LNG export capability to an idle import facility in Sabine Pass, La. Cheniere has its permit, but Dominion is one of 15 companies that have applications pending at the Energy Department to build export facilities. Not so fast, Wyden says. He wants to be sure gas exports don’t raise prices and hurt U.S. consumers and manufacturers. Under current law, the Energy Department must decide whether an LNG gas export operation safeguards domestic needs and meets the public interest, especially for gas going to countries with which the United States does not have a free-trade agreement. Japan is one of those countries. On Wednesday, the Energy Department released a long-awaited study, carried out by NERA Economic Consulting, that acknowledged exports would raise U.S. gas prices. But it said that in all of the scenarios it modeled, “LNG exports have net economic benefits in spite of higher domestic natural gas prices. This is exactly the outcome that economic theory describes when barriers to trade are removed.” Costly undertaking Natural gas liquefaction dates to the 19th century, and the first commercial plant was built in Cleveland in 1941. Natural gas becomes a liquid at minus 260 degrees Fahrenheit. Storing it as a liquid has great advantages; natural gas in its gaseous state takes up 600 times as much space as it does when a


Magnitsky law sets off human rights fight between Russia and U.S. politicians

for income taxes Hermitage had paid in 2006. The return used documents stolen from Hermitage companies to establish losses that would justify a huge refund, according to Senate testimony. Magnitsky was arrested in November 2008 after turning over evidence of the fraud to police. At first, he was charged with helping Hermitage find ways to underpay taxes a few years earlier. Later, he was accused of masterminding the $230 million theft. Finally, in June 2009, Browder was able to testify before the U.S. Helsinki Commission, co-chaired by Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin (D-Md.), which was examining human rights in Russia under the title, “The Medvedev Thaw: Is it Real? Will it Last?” Magnitsky was still alive that day, lingering in pretrial detention. He died in jail the following November. The official cause was variously given as a heart attack or pancreatic disease. Independent investigators found evidence of torture and beatings. Magnitsky’s death launched Browder on a mission to ensure punishment for those who had harmed him and galvanized Cardin and other U.S. politicians — including Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.) — into action. On the Senate floor this week, Cardin recalled the impression that the plight of Soviet Jews had made on him years ago as they fought an earlier battle for human rights. In 1987, he joined a march on Washington in their support. He wore wristbands bearing the names of refuseniks, those once refused permission to emigrate by Soviet authorities. The result of Browder’s effort and Cardin’s response was the Magnitsky law, imposing U.S. visa and financial sanctions on officials connected to Magnitsky’s death. Canada and Europe are considering similar laws. By Friday, the Magnitsky affair had grown into a major diplomatic issue. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said he had told Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in Dublin that Americans guilty of human rights violations will be barred from Russia. Meanwhile, other Russian officials issued a report criticizing Europe for human rights violations, and the Foreign Ministry also released a strong statement condemning the United States. “It is strange and savage to hear human rights claims from politicians of the state that officially legalized torture and kidnappings all over the world in the 21st century,” the statement said, apparently referring to the U.S. practice of sending terrorism suspects to third countries for interrogation and to the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.


Writer pours her heart into sharing Ethiopians’ coffee-drinking custom

For the millions of Americans who drink coffee every day, grabbing a cup is usually a simple affair. Hoping to explain to Americans how important the coffee-drinking experience is for Ethiopians, local writer Metasebia Yoseph is working on a book titled “From Ethiopia with Love,” which will introduce the warm, family-oriented ceremony that traditionally goes into making, serving and enjoying of coffee in that country. Yoseph, who is a director for the Ethiopian Cultural Development Corp., a nonprofit organization, is embarking on a three-month journey through Ethiopia to research its coffee-producing regions. She is the creator of cultureofcoffee.com, part blog, part funding engine for her research. In her eyes, coffee is a cultural good, and as Ethiopia becomes more westernized, and the habit of rushing to get and drink coffee becomes more prevalent, the ceremony becomes more special, more sacred. In her words, here’s why: Ethiopia [is] really culturally diverse . . . and coffee is the one cultural tradition that everyone shares. It’s the one thing that unites us all. Children start drinking coffee as young as 7 in some places. So you’re constantly surrounded by the coffee ceremony and the coffee tradition. Metasebia Yoseph, founder of A Culture of Coffee" (Delece Smith-Barrow) We’re all familiar [in America] with that kind of instant, on-the-go coffee. Taking it on the go, and ‘Get my fix.’ That’s kind of the western side of the coffee. In Ethiopia, it’s a slow coffee ceremony. It’s slow coffee theater. The host will consecrate an area. Sprinkle it with, like, flowers and leaves and foliage. Incense is lighted. Frankincense is lighted. So it’s very sensory. The beans are washed. They’re roasted right in front of you. And the sound. So when you hear a crackle, you know ‘Okay, that’s a start.’ Set up a little, small table and the mini cups. Pour it into the brewer, which is a traditional coffeepot. And the fire. Everything is right there in front of you. It’s not like some machine. It seems primitive, but there’s an elegance to it as well. She’ll grind it, pour it, brew it. She serves everybody. The eldest first, and then the youngest last. The young and well-to-do want to be out and about at cafes and get their coffee to go, because that’s the kind of fashionable thing. But now the coffee ceremony has moved into this kind of . . .


Obama committee to accept corporate cash for January inauguration in Washington

Construction is underway on Nov. 28 on the viewing stand for President Obama's inauguration. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP) President Obama’s inaugural committee will accept corporate donations this time around, reversing a policy from four years ago banning such contributions, a spokeswoman said Friday. The 2013 Presidential Inaugural Committee will accept unlimited money from corporate and individual sources but will not accept contributions from political action committees or lobbyists, according to spokeswoman Addie Whisenant. The committee also will not allow sponsorship agreements, she said. “Our goal is to make sure that we will meet the fundraising requirements for this civic event after the most expensive presidential campaign in history,” Whisenant said. “To ensure continued transparency, all names of donors will be posted to a regularly updated Web site.” Critics quickly pounced on the announcement as another example of the unseemly role that money plays in politics and said the decision was disappointing from a president who has cast himself as a campaign finance reformer. Robert Weissman, president of Public Citizen, said the practice gives the appearance that corporate donors will get something in return for their money. “It’s not a bribe,” Weissman said. “There’s no deal cut. But they’re going to expect access and the ability to have their views heard more favorably than they otherwise would be. And that’s not how the system should work.” Officials with the committee said the events and activities surrounding the inaugural festivities in January will be smaller in scope than four years ago, when nearly 2 million people flocked to the Mall for the swearing-in of the nation’s first African American president. The festivities will kick off with a national day of service, as they did four years ago, and will feature some of the traditional activities of past inaugurations such as a ceremony and a parade. But there will be no concert and fewer balls than in 2009, officials say. The committee said all donors would be vetted, and those not meeting guidelines would be rejected — including recipients of financial bailout funds who have not repaid the loans. In 2008, the Obama inaugural committee limited individual contributions to $50,000 and prohibited corporate contributions altogether. The president’s campaign committee also initially refused corporate contributions for the 2012 Democratic National Convention but eventually allowed such contributions for certain activities to make up for poor fundraising efforts. The Republican National Committee — which places no limits


One raid, two stories: Were insurgents killed? Or just a man’s family?

This is a story of an Afghan wedding gone badly wrong. Or perhaps of “an operation in search of an insurgent leader,” as the official report later said. It is hard to tell which. Probably both. Meet Abdulrashid, a man with no last name, no profession, no literacy skills and no exact date of birth. He might be in his 30s. I first encounter him as I am interviewing internally displaced people in Afghanistan to highlight their fate, lest the world forget about them after foreign troops withdraw in 2014. Other refugees point him out, ask me to listen to his story: “Tell the world, please.” Abdulrashid starts by describing to me an idyllic scene from this past March: As the last snows were melting in his village in northern Afghanistan, friends and family gathered in his three-room house to celebrate his sister’s wedding. This was in Faryab province, considered to be among the more peaceful areas in Afghanistan. While the war has raged in the south and the east, Faryab has escaped relatively unharmed. In Afghan tradition, the wedding guests were dressed in their best and dining on an expansive buffet. At about 8 p.m., Abdulrashid’s wife stepped away to a quiet spot near the window to breast-feed their 2 1/2-year-old son. And the idyll was suddenly shattered. Helicopters were heard overhead, and then a voice shouted in Dari that everyone should come outside, walking backward. But before the guests could get out the door — I learn now to my utter surprise that the bride was 12 years old and the groom, the brother of Abdulrashid’s wife, was 14 — the house was full of soldiers, women and men. Abdulrashid could not tell their nationalities; some were Afghan and “some not,” he said, but they were “heavy with equipment.” Then two explosions ripped through the house. Abdulrashid can’t say what caused them — bombs fired from a drone (prevalent in the area at the time) or an aircraft, or grenades tossed from the ground — but he is clear that “they destroyed two rooms” and wounded his youngest sister as well as the bride. The explosions, he says, were followed by shots fired from the outside, through the window. Abdulrashid’s wife, Jamila, was hit. The child at her breast, Naquibullah, was struck in the neck and the abdomen and killed instantly. Jamila had a wound in her arm


Marwan Bishara: Egypt’s revolution is far from over

The writer is the senior political analyst at al-Jazeera English and the author of “The Invisible Arab, the Promise and Peril of the Arab Revolution.” The views here are his own and do not represent the network. Twitter: @marwanbishara CAIRO There’s nothing’s like walking alongside the Nile to give one a historical perspective on the momentous changes sweeping through Egypt and the Arab region. Watching this ancient nation react to the dramatic developments since the downfall of Hosni Mubarak is sobering. The latest drama was caused by the recently elected president, Mohamed Morsi, who granted himself broad new powers under the pretext of protecting the revolution from counterrevolutionary forces and of breaking the deadlock over writing a new constitution. The move set off a political storm. The opposition condemned Morsi as “dictatorial,” and Egypt’s Supreme Judicial Council denounced him for putting the presidency above the law. Public pressure forced Morsi to rescind the controversial decree over the weekend. From gun control to the New Year. The escalation reinforced the long-held belief among observers of the Arab world that success always carries with it the seeds of failure, and good news is just a precursor to bad. But realism shouldn’t be confused with cynicism. Needless to say, Egypt faces countless political, social and economic challenges. The Arab revolution has just started. Like Cairo’s traffic, it is chaotic, boisterous and frequently congested, and yet it continues to flow. And like traffic, it will ultimately be measured by how effectively it allows people to reach their desired destinations. Beyond general demands for regime change, a unifying political agenda or revolutionary philosophy has so far been absent. Bringing down Mubarak was swift; but building democracy and modern nationhood is a generational challenge. However, Egypt, along with Tunisia, has paved the way for a revolution of consciousness. This has produced new realities with long-term consequences. First, the revolution fomented the notion of an Arab “public opinion,” which will slowly but surely replace the so-called “Arab street.” Long denied access to the corridors of power, people have historically voiced their pent-up political frustrations through intermittent outbursts. Today, elected leaders are wary of public criticism and try hard to win support in an effort to secure renewed mandates. Citizens now realize their political weight and will vote for those who best represent their aspirations. Second, Egyptians have underlined an overwhelmingly popular wish to embrace the civil state,


The right to petition the White House prompts grievances, gags online

public excitement about White House beer fermenting such a buzz, we decided we better hop right to it,” White House assistant chef Sam Kass wrote in a playful response titled “Ale to the Chief.” Not every request achieves such immediate results. Stephen Bassett of Bethesda had high hopes when he petitioned the White House last year to disclose knowledge of human contact with extraterrestrial life and acknowledge government efforts to cover it up. His initiative attracted 12,000 signatures. Bassett is still waiting for E.T. to phone his home. Phil Larson, a policy and communications specialist in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, wrote in response that there is “no credible evidence of extraterrestrial presence here on Earth.” Still, Bassett, executive director of the Paradigm Research Group, which is dedicated to uncovering what it says is suppressed information about UFOs, feels he accomplished his goal of bringing attention to a subject some might consider fringe. “You always hear people say Social Security is the ‘third rail’ of American politics, that no one is going to touch it,” Bassett said. “But no one considers Social Security a fringe issue. The E.T. issue is the most highly charged third rail there is.” Phillips acknowledged that during internal deliberations before the program was launched, some administration officials expressed concern that awkward topics would draw attention. But in the end, they agreed that the program would inform the populace and help set the record straight. Many petitioners complain that, even with the more serious petitions, the administration has issued boilerplate responses with little opportunity for follow-up. One petition asked the White House to take the petitions more seriously; that one garnered 37,000 signatures. Andrew Rasiej, founder of Personal Democracy Media, which examines the nexus between politics and technology, said it’s not surprising that petitioners holding unorthodox points of view often dominate the site. “The organized minority is always more effective than the disorganized majority,” he said. Last month, Rasiej’s organization suggested in an online essay that the administration hold more conference calls with petitioners and find ways to allow them to talk to one another to help bridge partisan and ideological divides. Those divides are on full display on the site. Seven secession petitions are currently among the top three dozen on the list, including one from Texas with 120,000 signatures. The second most popular — one of many petitions seeking to


Research on stricken bats may help AIDS fight

development of treatments for AIDS. The devastating immune-system attack, called IRIS for immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome, plays out differently in humans and bats, according to an article by Meteyer and two colleagues that recently appeared in the journal Virulence. When bats hibernate in winter, their heart rates slow and their immune systems all but shut down, making them vulnerable to the cave-dwelling fungus Geomyces destructans that causes white-nose and eats away skin, connective tissue and muscle. When bats wake up in late March, their immune systems react like startled homeowners who realize prowlers are inside the house. They launch a wild search-and-destroy mission that annihilates the disease, but also healthy cells and tissue. “It’s not natural. It’s cellular suicide. It comes out in a huge wave, going out to those areas of infection and kills everything,” said Meteyer, who was a veterinary pathologist for the USGS in Madison, Wis., at the time of her discovery but now is the deputy coordinator for contaminant biology for the agency in Reston. For AIDS patients, the immune-system syndrome plays out differently. After antiretroviral treatment improves patients’ health, their restored immune systems can launch an exaggerated attack against any previously acquired opportunistic infection the treatment didn’t catch, causing extensive damage. Scientists now hope to study the immunology of bats to try to uncover findings that can assist the development of treatments for AIDS. Meteyer said she envisions a day when “we can look closely at the mechanism driving this intense response in bats and potentially get insight into this phenomenon in humans.” Her co-author, Judith Mandl, a research fellow for the National Institutes of Health involved in AIDS research, was also intrigued by the similarities between bat and human reactions. “When you release immune suppression, you get a response that’s a lot more damaging than helpful,” she said. The third co-author is Daniel Barber, who also works at NIH. Eleftherios Mylonakis, Virulence’s editor-in-chief, said he included the research in the Nov. 15 edition because it represents the “out of the box” thinking the journal seeks to capture. “We want to support scientists thinking in novel ways,” he said. “Very often what we see in our patients is already seen in some form or another in nature and we want to understand these connections in order to facilitate new discoveries.” The remote possibility that an AIDS treatment can arise from the study of white-nose is


about the only positive development since the bat disease was first discovered in a cave near Albany, N.Y., in 2008. Between 5 million and 7 million bats of various species have died from the disease since that year. In Pennsylvania alone, 95 percent of little brown bats have died. Bats have an ugly reputation as villains in books and movies, but in reality are as important as birds and bees. They pollinate plants, and a single reproductive female consumes her weight in bugs each night. A colony of 150 brown bats can eat enough adult cucumber beetles to prevent the laying of eggs that results in 33 million rootworm larvae in summer, according to a study cited by Bat Conservation International. A 2009 study estimated that 1,320 metric tons of insect pests were not eaten because of the decline in bat numbers, requiring farmers to buy and apply more pesticides. Meteyer started studying diseased bats in Madison when they first flew out of caves with white-nose and plopped into the yards of homeowners. Dead bats were boxed and shipped to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for study. They soon ended up in the brightly lit Necropsy Suite at the USGS National Wildlife Health Center, where Meteyer walked through two vacuum-sealed air locks, slipped on a gown, mask and surgical gloves and dissected them with razor-sharp cutting tools. “It’s like [the television show] “Quincy” and some of the “CSI” programs where we’re taking samples to find out what’s going on, if it puts people at risk, if it’s new and emerging,” she said. Scientists at the lab have studied the bird flu and other diseases so deadly that carcasses and are tossed down a drain “into an intense pressure cooker” so that they are instantly denatured and any virus is killed “before it goes anywhere,” Meteyer said. The air is also filtered before it leaves the building. Meteyer has looked at more than 500 bats. At first, she checked to verify that the disease rabies was not throwing off their coordination and causing them to tear themselves apart. Peering deeper, she noticed that their white blood cells tried to wall off the fungus. In February 2011, she read about fungal infections in animals and made the connection to IRIS while reading AIDS research that summer. Unknown to Meteyer, Mandl had a similar revelation across the country at NIH in Bethesda.


Fog blankets D.C., cuts visibility

In the early hours of Monday, in a city already facing uncertainty as it approached the looming fiscal cliff, things became decidedly more obscure and less clear cut. It was the fog. Fog was settling over much of the Washington region. Fog was making things difficult to see very far or very high. It became a challenge to navigate, to be certain of one’s bearings, to spot landmarks and obstacles. Just before 2 a.m., Monday visibility at Reagan National Airport had been cut to about 220 yards. That was even lower than the mile-and-a-half that was reported about 11 p.m. Sunday. At Dulles International Airport, visibility was about a half mile. In Baltimore it was about a quarter mile. In traffic camera video, automobile headlights appeared to be indistinct patches of light as they loomed out of the mist on the Capital Beltway’s inner loop near the George Washington parkway. Fog was reported over a large part of Virginia, from Richmond to Roanoke to Leesburg. The National Weather Service issued a dense fog advisory shortly before 11 p.m. Sunday. The District of Columbia and much of the surrounding area came under the advisory. The weather service said the advisory would continue until about 9 a.m. on Monday. The advisory meant that visibilities would frequently be reduced to less than one quarter mile, the weather service said. It said that motorists should slow down, use low-beam headlights and “leave plenty of distance ahead of you.” In an explanation of what was happening, the weather service said that cool air was trapped near the ground. This is an inversion from what’s normal, in which air becomes cooler as elevations increase. However, the weather service said some atmospheric developments could prevent the inversion from persisting long into Monday.


Russia set to retaliate on U.S. Magnitsky law

A tombstone on the grave of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky who died in jail, at a cemetery in Moscow. (Misha Japaridze/AP) MOSCOW — Viktor Bout, arrested in Thailand, was convicted in New York this year for arms trafficking despite Russian protests, and many Russians consider his arrest a kidnapping. The Magnitsky Act imposes a visa ban and financial sanctions on Russians who violate human rights. It was named in honor of Sergei Magnitsky, a Russian tax adviser who died in 2009 in pretrial detention in Moscow at age 37. His body bore signs of beating and torture, according to independent investigators, and no one has been held accountable for his death. In this tit for tat, however, the Russian side finds itself at a disadvantage. Last year, about 159,000 Russians traveled to the United States, according to the U.S. State Department, but only about 75,000 Americans traveled to Russia. Russia has other possible weapons. Over the weekend, officials said that U.S. pork and beef exported to Russia would have to be certified free of ractopamine, an animal feed additive. U.S. trade officials called the requirement a violation of World Trade Organization rules. Take a look at some of the week’s best photographs from around the globe. Russia’s chief sanitary doctor said the measure was a food safety issue, but he has periodically made rulings that enhance political ends, banning Georgian wine as unhealthy as the two countries grew unfriendly.


Rising number of soldiers being dismissed for failing fitness tests

that reason in 2007, the peak of wartime deployment cycles. Under a mandate to reduce the force by tens of thousands in coming years, the Army has instructed commanders to make few exceptions when it comes to fitness, a strategy it also employed during the period after the 1991 Persian Gulf War. “During a war period, when we were ramping up, the physical standards didn’t have a lot of teeth because we needed bodies to go overseas, to fill platoons and brigades,” said Stew Smith, a former Navy SEAL and fitness expert who has designed workout routines for service members and law enforcement personnel struggling to meet workplace fitness standards. “During a period of drawdown, everything starts getting teeth, and that’s kind of where we are again.” The Army dismissed thousands of soldiers for being overweight after Desert Storm ended in 1991. The following year, it discharged more than 3,000, the highest number removed on those grounds since 1984. The practice dropped dramatically as the Iraq war raged. In 2007, the most violent year of the war, 112 soldiers were let go for being overweight. Retired Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling said he was floored by what he found in 2009 when he was assigned to overhaul the Army’s training system. Seventy-five percent of civilians who wanted to join the force were ineligible, he said. Obesity was the leading cause. “Of the 25 percent that could join, what we found was 65 percent could not pass the [physical training] test on the first day,” he said in a recent speech. “Young people joining our service could not run, jump, tumble or roll — the kind of things you would expect soldiers to do if you’re in combat.” As the Iraq and Afghanistan wars strained the military, the Army granted waivers to recruits who would normally not be eligible — for example, people who were overweight or who had criminal records. But now, under orders to reduce the active-duty force from 570,000 to 490,000 by 2017, the Army has ordered commanders to weed out substandard troops. “We will use the drawdown as an opportunity to shape our Army by ensuring that we retain only the very best soldiers,” Army Secretary John M. McHugh wrote in a Feb. 2 memo on retention initiatives. The Navy, Marines and Air Force did not provide data on dismissals for failing to meet fitness standards. Those services,