Fear and anxiety can be impediments to medical care; taking action may help

has also been commonly associated with postponing medical care. And a fear of needles — which may affect about 20 percent of us — has been suspected of playing a significant part in people’s failure to obtain recommended tests, dental care and vaccinations. Homing in on your fear is often the first step in conquering it. ●Don’t keep it to yourself. Share your fears with your doctors. They can help. Avitzur says that patients are at times referred to her for a type of nerve and muscle testing that involves electric shocks and needles. Many are anxious about the tests, which can be somewhat uncomfortable. So she goes over the testing procedure in advance, sometimes even demonstrating the electric shocks on herself. Doctors can lessen your apprehension by letting you know what to expect through diagrams, photographs or videos. For uncomfortable procedures, a sedative or painkiller can be prescribed. ●Try therapy. Cognitive behavioral therapy — a type of treatment that is designed to help people replace negative thoughts, behaviors and emotional responses with more positive ones — has been found to help with anxiety, among other disorders. Sessions are often short-term and focus on working to resolve present-day problems. CBT can help you develop a more adaptive response to a fear. To find a specialist in your area, contact the National Association of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapists at www.nacbt.org. ●Bring your spouse or a friend. If you think you’d feel better bringing someone along, ask your doctor if that would be permissible. Someone to hold your hand or chat with you might distract you from a scary test or procedure. One of Avitzur’s particularly anxious patients recently brought a friend to sit with her through nerve testing. They chatted as if the doctor wasn’t there, which was fine with her. If having someone in the room isn’t possible (during an invasive test, for example), sometimes simply knowing that the person is in the waiting room can be a source of comfort. That’s what the piano teacher decided to do. When her husband scheduled his colonoscopy, she booked hers for the same morning. His support before and after the procedure helped get her through. And her worst fear never materialized. Copyright 2013. Consumers Union of United States Inc. For further guidance, go to www.ConsumerReports.org/Health, where more detailed information, including CR’s ratings of prescription drugs, treatments, hospitals and healthy-living products, is available to subscribers.


Fox News reporter struggled with painful eye condition for more than a year

started to make sense. Classic symptoms “I couldn’t imagine living another 40 years like this,” she remembered thinking. Perpetually exhausted — it had been nearly a year since she had slept through the night — and in constant pain, she tearfully confided to her husband one night in September 2011 that she couldn’t imagine continuing. He urged her to find another doctor. “The fact that suicide didn’t sound crazy and irrational to me was a wake-up call,” she said. She remembered seeing favorable mentions of Washington corneal specialist Thomas Clinch on several postings and decided to call him. During her initial visit, Clinch recalls that he was struck by Bream’s description of her pain — particularly that it was worst when she awoke. She had been taking Restasis for months, long enough to achieve the maximum response, which indicated that dry eye was not her chief problem. “Her symptoms were fairly classic,” said Clinch, adding that what he saw when he examined her eyes made him certain he knew what her problem was. Bream’s cornea was blanketed by tiny, superficial scratches and signs of a disorder called map-dot-fingerprint dystrophy. It features clusters of dots and areas that look like fingerprints that form on the layers of the cornea. The condition, which usually arises between ages 40 and 70, results in cellular abnormalities that cause the epithelium, the outermost layer of the cornea, to weakly adhere to the underlying membrane. As a consequence, the epithelium is easily sloughed off, often during REM sleep, a stage in which the eyelids repeatedly come into contact with the moving corneas. That exposes the underlying nerves, which can be excruciatingly painful. Patients with the disorder are predisposed to developing recurrent corneal erosion syndrome, which causes painful scratches on the surface of the cornea. “Think of the epithelial cells as grass that has to grow on a field. If you lay sod and then play soccer on the field, you’ll immediately tear it up,” Clinch said. In Bream’s case, her corneas never healed because “she kept re-traumatizing the surface.” Restasis and the rewetting eyedrops, while helpful, were not sufficient to repair the damage. Clinch said he isn’t sure why the previous ophthalmologist missed the corneal erosion, a condition that is both common — he sees it weekly — and “pretty clinically apparent. . . . I think the focus [got stuck] on dry eye.” Bream said


Gansler says ‘independent’ probe needed of troubled Baltimore jail

Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler attends a charity event in September 2012. (Photo by Rebecca D'Angelo For the Washington Post) Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler (D) suggested Monday that Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) appoint a special counsel to conduct an investigation into the scandal at a Baltimore jail, arguing that other inquiries underway are not sufficient. “Public confidence in the prison system can only be restored after a full, transparent and independent review with an eye toward holding accountable the responsible public officials,” Gansler said in a letter to O’Malley. O’Malley dismissed the advice in a letter to Gansler later in the day, noting that prosecutors are continuing to look into activities at the Baltimore City Detention Center. According to a federal indictment unsealed in April, members of the Black Guerilla Family gang colluded with 13 corrections officers to launder money and smuggle drugs and cellphones into the state-run jail. Four guards had children with one incarcerated gang member, according to prosecutors. “We are already beyond the question of whether special counsel should be appointed to conduct an investigation, as the United States Attorney and Baltimore City State’s Attorney, with full subpoena and criminal investigative powers, have open and active cases against those accused of corruption,” O’Malley said. “We will continue to be supportive of their efforts.” O’Malley also mentioned that last week the General Assembly launched what leaders say will be a months-long review of ways to strengthen Maryland’s correctional system. In his letter, Gansler, who is gearing up to run for governor, called such steps “gratifying.” But he said “more needs to be done.” “Specifically, Marylanders have a right to know who within the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services knew what, and when,” Gansler said. Among the questions Gansler said should be answered: “How could (the department) have allowed a culture of corruption to flourish for years within state prisons? What efforts were made to act on information the department possessed in late 2006 that correctional officers were affiliated with gangs? How far up the chain of command was this information communicated?” Gansler spokesman David Paulson stressed that the primary benefit of a special counsel would be his “independence.” “This office has been inundated with calls for an independent review of the detention center issues,” Paulson said. O’Malley took a similar step in 2008, appointing former attorney general Stephen H. Sachs (D) to conduct


Details of Down syndrome death still being withheld by Frederick authorities

you either have to be really transparent to give the family and the public assurance everything has been done, or you need to turn it over to outside authorities,” said David Tolleson, executive director of the National Down Syndrome Congress. “If we don’t recognize what happened here, what went wrong here, how can we keep it from happening again?” His organization was among several to meet with the U.S. Department of Justice about the case and to call on Maryland officials to conduct an independent investigation. “At the end of the day, we, and in particular the family, want to know what happened and why,” Tolleson said. “And we don’t have those answers.” Frederick authorities said that on Jan. 12, the three deputies — Lt. Scott Jewell, Sgt. Rich Rochford and Deputy 1st Class James Harris — were working off-duty security jobs at the Westview Promenade shopping center when they were called to the theater. There, they encountered Saylor, a 26-year-old who was known for his fascination with police. He had just watched “Zero Dark Thirty” and wanted to watch it again. Authorities said that an aide who had gone to the movie with Saylor was getting the car when a theater employee told the deputies that Saylor needed to buy another ticket or leave. Frederick County State’s Attorney J. Charles Smith gave this account in March of what happened next: The deputies confronted Saylor, and he verbally and physically resisted their attempts to remove him. At one point, they restrained him with handcuffs and placed him on his stomach for “one to two minutes.” He began showing signs of distress. The deputies removed the handcuffs, called for help and administered CPR. The Chief Medical Examiner’s Office in Baltimore ruled Saylor’s death a homicide as a result of asphyxia. An autopsy found that Saylor “was already compromised by his Down’s syndrome, obesity, body habitus, and heart disease, making him more susceptible to sudden death in stressful conditions which would compromise his breathing.” Smith said that his office presented the grand jury with 17 witness statements and testimony from the deputies. An attorney for Saylor’s family, Joseph Espo, said he has not seen any of that evidence. Meanwhile, the deputies have returned to their full duties, a spokeswoman for the sheriff’s department said. “We don’t understand what there is left to do if the deputies are back to work,” Espo said.


Investigators looking at how Snowden gained access at NSA

past three months in an office in Hawaii. He flew to Hong Kong after telling his supervisor in Hawaii that he needed medical treatment for epilepsy. One administration official said it is too early to determine how United States will attempt to take custody of Snowden. Officials may simply attempt to see if the authorities in Hong Kong will deport him and avoid the need for a full extradition procedure. “Ultimately, a lot of these cases get resolved through something other than formal extradition,” said Shane Kadidal, a lawyer at the Center of Constitutional Rights in New York. In Hong Kong, Snowden checked out of a hotel Monday where he was thought to be staying. Some in Hong Kong said the semi-autonomous jurisdiction may not offer Snowden the protection he hopes for. “Hong Kong is definitely not a safe harbor for him,” said Regina Ip, a lawmaker and chairman of the New People’s Party. Hong Kong has its own legislative and legal systems but ultimately answers to Beijing, under the “one country, two systems” arrangement, established when oversight of Hong Kong was transferred from the British to the Chinese in 1997. The extradition treaty between Hong Kong and the United States was established at the time of the British-Chinese handover, because the treaty needed the blessing of Hong Kong’s new sovereign ruler, the Chinese government. The treaty says that Hong Kong can refuse to transfer a suspected criminal to the United States if giving up the person “implicates” the “defense, foreign affairs or essential public interest or policy” of the People’s Republic of China. Given the touchy nature of China’s relationship with the United States and Hong Kong, however, experts said the Chinese government is likely to stay in the background with Snowden’s case. Ip noted that the United States and Hong Kong have a strong record of cooperation on the extradition of fugitives. Top officials from the Justice Department, the FBI and the National Security Agency will appear Tuesday in front of House members to discuss the NSA’s surveillance efforts and the fallout from the leaks. The Senate will hold a similar closed hearing on Thursday. Administration officials stressed Monday that they have briefed Congress repeatedly on surveillance programs Jia Lynn Yang in Hong Kong, Liu Liu in Beijing, Sari Horwitz, Julie Tate, Barton Gellman, Jenna Johnson, Peter Hermann, Marc Fisher and Carol D. Leonnig contributed to this report.


Taliban surge expected to continue

elusive organization is difficult, however. Afghan and coalition military officials acknowledge that they do not know how large the Taliban’s fighting force is, but analysts say it is easily able to recruit foot soldiers and fund itself through extortion. And although Afghan security forces have been able to combat Taliban attacks in urban areas, they are far more vulnerable in rural regions, where they are losing air backup and other international support. As the Afghan military attempts to prove its own strength without American combat support, the Tangi Valley appeared to be the perfect mission — a chance to do what the U.S. military could not. In a valley that has claimed more American lives than any other swath of land in Afghanistan, The Post’s Kevin Sieff embedded with the Afghan army and witnessed one of the most ambitious missions in its short history. Several Afghan officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, agree that the insurgents probably cannot defeat the much larger government forces. But the officials said that the greatest threat to Afghanistan’s future is not the strength of the insurgency but the weakness and corruption of the government, which has caused some Afghans to turn to the Taliban for security and justice. “We don’t fear the enemy. We don’t need better equipment and technology, because those are things they don’t have. What we need is a stronger and better government,” one Afghan military official said. “People are dissatisfied with all the corruption, and there are splits even among our officers. We can’t afford to split into factions. This is very worrisome.” ‘Fighting to free our country’ In recent weeks, unusually ambitious insurgent attacks have stunned residents and international workers in Afghanistan. One assault team occupied a building in downtown Kabul used by an international refugee agency, setting off a five-hour gun battle. Another breached a government compound in Panjshir province, considered one of the safest areas in the country. In an especially surprising incident, a suicide and commando squad attacked a provincial office of the International Committee of the Red Cross, a group that observes a strict neutrality in conflicts, visits detainees on both sides and has helped maintain communication between imprisoned Afghan insurgents and their families. No group asserted responsibility for that attack, but Afghan security sources said the tactics were similar to those often used by the Taliban.


Rules to curb overdraft has mixed results, says CFPB

could limit financial options for consumers. “CFPB ought not adopt any policy that drives America’s families to unregulated industries with riskier and costlier alternatives,” said Richard Hunt, president and chief executive of the Consumer Bankers Association, an industry trade group. “Consumers have the right to choose the products and features which best provide for their family’s daily financial needs.” The report comes three years after the Federal Reserve banned banks from allowing customers to automatically overdraft their checking accounts and charging them high fees in the process. As advocates noted at the time, the ban aimed to put an end to customers unwittingly incurring a $35 overdraft fee for a $3 latte. As the economy sputtered, some banks raised a variety of fees charged to consumers. Overdraft revenue peaked at $37 billion in 2009, according to research firm Moebs Services. Lawmakers and advocacy groups bemoaned institutions raising fees and pinching consumers while receiving taxpayer bailouts. The backlash set the stage for changes in the way banks handle overdrafts. Banks must now give consumers the option of signing up for the service or having their debit cards declined. But consumer groups say banks are doing a poor job of explaining the rules. In some cases, consumers with overdraft protection are more vulnerable to high fees and having their accounts involuntarily closed, according to the report. Account holders with overdraft protection incurred $196 in overdraft fees on average in 2011 and had their accounts closed at a rate 2.5 times higher than those without the service. The consumer bureau also found that annual overdraft charges ranged from an average of $147 at some banks to as much as $298 at others. The CFPB noted that overdraft and insufficient-funds charges account for 60 percent or more of the fee income on consumer checking accounts. But Hunt, the bankers association chief executive, said overdraft is not exactly a windfall for banks. “The marketplace for checking accounts is extremely competitive, and banks make every effort to educate their customers about the options available to them,” he said. Overdraft revenue slipped 2.8 percent, to $31.1 billion, in the first three months of the year, after a steady climb in the fourth quarter of 2012, according to Moebs Services. Consumer groups say banks only pay cents on the dollar to cover an overdraft charge. But other researchers, such as those at Moebs, say megabanks might spend on


U.S. disrupts al-Qaeda’s online magazine

the case of Inspire, the debate stretches back three years. The first issue contained a recipe for making a bomb using common materials, such as nails and a pressure cooker like the ones used in Boston. The title of the article was “Make a Bomb in the Kitchen of Your Mom.” There was also a threat to Molly Norris, a Seattle cartoonist who published a satirical cartoon about the prophet Muhammad. “She should be taken as a prime target of assassination,” wrote Anwar al-Awlaki, the American-born cleric who was later killed in a U.S. drone strike. “It’s obvious if people are calling for crazies to murder a U.S. citizen, why wouldn’t you stop it?” said one former official, recalling the debate in which Gen. Keith B. Alexander, director of the National Security Agency, argued on behalf of disruption. In that case, the administration decided against action, in part because the CIA preferred to use the site to gather intelligence. In subsequent debates, the danger of an imminent threat “really made the difference” in terms of whether to disrupt issues of the magazine, according to a former administration official. Attacks on production Although techniques are carefully guarded, officials said U.S. intelligence operatives have monitored the magazine during its production process through overseas computer networks. Each time an issue is about to hit the Internet, officials from the NSA, the CIA, the Pentagon, the State Department and the Justice Department debate whether to sabotage it. In cases where threats appear imminent, steps might be taken to disrupt publication. In some cases, cyberspies sabotage files so that they come up blank when a user clicks on them, according to the former official. In one case, the official said, the sabotage was not corrected for months. Sometimes, the disruption occurs when the magazine is being put together, intelligence officials said. An U.S. operator might alter a technical point in a set of bomb-making instructions so the device will not work. The sabotage could go unnoticed for a long time, an official said. Still, the disruptions are temporary, and the content usually makes its way online. The quality of Inspire’s writing diminished after Awlaki and Samir Khan, the American-born editor of the magazine, were killed in a drone strike in Yemen in September 2011. Despite intelligence assessments that Inspire might disappear after the deaths, it has continued to publish. Karen DeYoung contributed to this report.


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Washington Post Food calendar

JUNE 13 CHEESE CLASS: WINE CLASS: WINE DINNER: JUNE 14 COOKING CLASS: GLUTEN-FREE DINNER: JUNE 15 BARBECUE, BEER AND BOURBON EVENT: BEER AND BARBECUE FESTIVAL: COFFEE CUPPING: CRAWFISH BOIL: ESCAPE TO MARYLAND’S WINE COUNTRY: PIG ROAST: WINE AND COCKTAIL CLASSES: JUNE 17 COOKING CLASS: WINE DINNER: JUNE 18 BOOK TALK: WHISKY TASTING: JUNE 19 COOKING CLASS: JUNE 20 FOOD IN THE CITY: WASHINGTON POST COOKBOOK PANEL: — Becky Krystal SEND NOTICES to: To Do, Food, The Washington Post, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071, or e-mail food@washpost.com, 14 days in advance. To find more calendar items, go to www.washingtonpost.com/gog/dc-events.html and click on "Food Events."


Bankers, business owners offer starkly different takes on loan availability

market” for commercial loans. “I think it’s a bit of a myth that banks aren’t lending,” she said during the event. “Most companies who want credit and are creditworthy are having their capital needs met, to the extent it’s through a bank loan.” Mooney pointed to new data released by the National Federation of Independent Business, which showed that the number of employers reporting difficulty securing a loan dropped to 6 percent in May, continuing a slow decline from a high of 11 percent in 2010. Credit woes were listed as the top challenge for only one in every 50 small business owners. Any dearth in small business lending stems not from a supply shortage, she said, but from a scarcity in demand. In the past couple years, KeyBank has been aggressively pursuing local business prospects, but continued economic uncertainty has made many business owners think twice about taking out a loan. “The tone of American business tends to be very cautious right now,” she said. “There is still a reluctance to borrow unless it’s absolutely the right thing to do or it’s against a very defined expansion, acquisition or new product line.” Consequently, interest from banks is outpacing loan demand, often leaving employers with more negotiating power as banks compete for their business, Mooney said. Jeanne Hulit, associate administrator for capital access at the U.S. Small Business Administration, offerred a more nuanced assessment. She said the“very frothy” credit market that existed prior to the recession “has not yet recovered” evenly for all businesses. Hulit noted that outstanding small business loans have declined 17 percent since 2008. In total, that means banks have about $123 billion less in small-dollar loans (those of less than $1 million) on their books than they did before the recession. Even as the economy showed signs of progress this past year, that micro-lending gap has remained. “The larger, more-established businesses seeking larger loans are definitely getting access to credit,” she said. “It is the smaller start-up businesses, the ones with under $1 million dollars in revenue, that are still significantly challenged.” While small business loan demand may not have fully recovered, she argued, neither has the supply from lenders, especially for loans under $150,000. “When you go to community roundtables,and you got out into underserved communities and the urban centers, you’re going to hear small businesses that are start-ups or very small that are not


Find your Washington-area pool

Find Your Pool Penthouse Pool Club May 1-Sept. 30 $159 a month for 12 months (includes membership to all Vida Fitness locations) 1612 U St. NW www.penthousepoolclub.com Capitol Skyline Hotel Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day $325 per person for the season, $475 per family; day passes $15 (Monday-Saturday) or $20 (Sunday) 10 I St. SW 202-488-7500 www.capitolskyline.com L’Enfant Plaza Hotel Memorial Day weekend through the end of September $20 for day pass (including Saturday party) 480 L’Enfant Plaza SW 202-484-1000 www.lenfantplazahotel.com Capitol Hill Splash Park at the Yards Park Open all year Free 355 Water St. SE 202-465-7080 www.yardspark.org Banneker Pool Memorial Day weekend through mid-August/September Free to D.C. residents with ID; nonresidents $7 per day, $52 for 30-day pass, $149 for 90-day pass 2500 Georgia Ave. NW 202-673-2121 www.dpr.dc.gov Wilson Aquatic Center Open all year Free to D.C. residents with ID; nonresidents $7 per day, $52 for 30-day pass, $149 for 90-day pass 4551 Fort Dr. NW 202-730-0583 www.dpr.dc.gov Takoma Aquatic Center Open all year Free to D.C. residents with ID; nonresidents $7 per day, $52 for 30-day pass, $149 for 90-day pass 300 Van Buren St. NW 202-576-9284 www.dpr.dc.gov East Potomac Park Pool Memorial Day weekend through mid-August/September Free to D.C. residents with ID; nonresidents $7 per day, $52 for 30-day pass, $149 for 90-day pass 972 Ohio Dr. SW 202-727-6523 www.dpr.dc.gov Harry Thomas Sr. Pool Memorial Day weekend through mid-August/September Free to D.C. residents with ID; nonresidents $7 per day, $52 for 30-day pass, $149 for 90-day pass 1743 Lincoln Rd. NE 202-541-7499 www.dpr.dc.gov Rosedale Pool Memorial Day weekend through mid-August/September Free to D.C. residents with ID; non-residents $7 per day, $52 for 30-day pass, $149 for 90-day pass 1701 Gales St. NE 202-727-6521 www.dpr.dc.gov Washington Hilton May 1-Oct. 31 $1,249 per person for the season 1919 Connecticut Ave. NW 202-483-3000 www.hilton.com Liaison Capitol Hotel Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day $40 day pass, $50 “Weekend Refresher” (includes yoga, breakfast, and pool day pass) 415 New Jersey Ave. NW 202-638-1616 www.affinia.com/liaison Lee Graham Pool Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day Share purchase price varies, plus $500 in yearly dues 7319 Lee Highway, Falls Church 703-560-1430 www.leegrahampool.org Woodley Pool Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day $450 per family for the summer 7421 Camp Alger Ave., Falls Church 703-573-9852 www.woodleypool.org Great Waves Waterpark Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day $12-$15 weekend days, $11.50-$14.50 weekdays 4001 Eisenhower Ave., Alexandria


McLean man seeks more grueling races

Everyone knows life can get a little dull sometimes. The doldrums of routine often threaten to ensnare us: Wake up, go to work, attend meetings, drive home, sleep, repeat. That’s why, every once in a while, you just have to go lose yourself in the woods, scale a steep grade, chop down a tree, drag the stump through two miles of mud, traverse a single rope hung over a fast-moving river and, well, repeat. Or at least that would be your mindset if you were Gary Duncan, a 31-year-old McLean resident with a thirst for unusual challenges. When not working his day job as a foreign service officer in the District, Duncan usually can be found at the Regency Sport & Health Club on Old Meadow Road, where he has spent the last six months training for the Spartan Death Race, which begins at 5 a.m. June 21. The Spartan Death Race is a competition involving hazards that would make even the most ambitious outdoors people quake at the knees. Held annually in Pittsfield, Vt., the event puts athletes through a 40-mile-plus course that winds through a grueling series of challenges. Participants aren’t told what they’ll encounter until they encounter it, but they might be expected to chop wood for two hours, lift boulders for five hours, build a fire or crawl up a muddy slope beneath low-hanging barbed wire. Races last from 24 to 48 hours. Officials typically don’t end the race until about 90 percent of the participants have dropped out, mainly from exhaustion, leaving 10 percent to finish. Duncan found out about the race the way many others have: by seeing it mentioned on a computer screen. “I just Googled, ‘What’s the hardest race in the world?’” he said. “I was looking for something similar to Tough Mudder, but something that was not nearly as, I would say, open to the general population. So I came across the Death Race, and it just sounded kind of interesting and like an extremely difficult challenge, definitely the hardest thing that I would ever do physically.” Duncan — a University of California, Berkeley, graduate who moved to McLean in 2006 — has followed a path similar to more and more recreational endurance athletes today. He played soccer and ran cross-country in high school before entering college at 6-foot-2, 150 pounds. A growing obsession with physical fitness led him to pack


The geranium, revived

heat of a Washington summer, and the blooms appear all season long to attract butterflies and hummingbirds. If you are not convinced, there is a new reason to like this plant urchin: The breeders who work on annuals have made a major breakthrough in recent years with a new class of geranium (or pelargonium, if you are a purist) that will provide new forms, new colors and better performance by crossing ivy-leafed geraniums with zonal types. These novel “interspecific” geraniums “perform spectacularly well in all sorts of terrible weather stress,” said Allan Armitage, a floriculture expert at the the University of Georgia. Zonal geraniums are the classic stubby, large-leafed plants with darker zone markings on the foliage and large flower clusters on long stalks. Ivy-leafed varieties are compact trailers that smother themselves in blooms, making them a favorite for hanging baskets and window boxes. Interspecifics combine the heat tolerance of zonal geraniums with the superior performance (and in some varieties, the look) of ivy-leafed geraniums. The “ivies” preen and strut in places like California and Switzerland, but the heat and humidity of the Mid-Atlantic region is not kind to them. Once night temperatures rise to the low 70s, they flower grudgingly if at all and generally go downhill. The new hybrids overcome this problem, giving gardeners healthier-looking geraniums with as many as a third more blooms than zonals. Since a company named Goldsmith Seeds introduced the first seven years ago, other hybridizers have been scrambling to produce their own. The company, based in Gilroy, Calif., was later acquired by Syngenta Flowers. The hybrids are now widely available at garden centers and mass merchandisers — look for “interspecific” on the label — and more are on the way. The inventor is a hybridizer named Mitch Hanes, who has been breeding new geraniums since 1987. Others had crossed zonal and ivy-leafed geraniums before, but the resulting seedlings were inherently feeble. His introductions were the product of a lot of genetic refining through additional cross-breeding, he said. His Caliente line was introduced to consumers in 2006, the Calliope series of varieties in 2010. “The dilemma is that we are in a commodity market,” he told me. “How do you differentiate so people at the garden center instantly see that it is different?” He thinks he has achieved that “especially with Calliope Dark Red. It’s a variety you can recognize from a quite a


Poll: Americans concerned about sex assaults in military

has been reeling from an epidemic of sexual assaults and an embarrassing string of sex-crime scandals. Lawmakers and the White House have demanded action, but agreement on what to do has been elusive. Last month, the Pentagon released a report estimating that the number of military personnel victimized by sexual assault and related crimes had surged by about 35 percent in the past two years. According to the Post-Pew poll, nearly four in 10 people say recent allegations of sexual misconduct in the military would be sufficient reason to try to talk women out of joining the service. Among those who said they are paying the most attention to the issue, 51 percent said the concerns were sufficient. Fifty-four percent see the reports of widespread sexual assault in the armed forces as representing a series of individual acts of misconduct. But a sizable number, 40 percent, perceive an underlying problem in military culture. Still, 63 percent say the issue is as much a problem outside as it is inside the military. This, too, is a partisan issue: Democrats are about twice as likely as Republicans to blame broad problems within military culture for the reports of sexual assaults. Most Republicans, 69 percent, see an unconnected string of individual acts; that number drops to 44 percent among Democrats. Partisans also differ on the route to reducing sexual violence. Republicans split in favor of an internal military solution, 57 to 32 percent; Democrats favor congressional action by a similar 58 to 33 percent margin. Neither Democrats nor Republicans have a great deal of confidence in either the Congress or military leaders to handle the situation. There are no significant differences between men and women when it comes to whether the sexual assaults are emblematic of cultural issues in the military. Majorities of both sexes say the issue of sexual assaults is similar inside and outside the military. But 51 percent of women see those that happen inside the armed services as an extremely important issue, compared with 37 percent of men. The poll was conducted June 6 to 9 among a random national sample of 1,004 adults, using conventional and cellular phones. The margin of sampling error for the full poll is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. Cohen is polling director for Capital Insight, Washington Post Media’s independent polling group. Capital Insight pollsters Peyton M. Craighill and Scott Clement contributed to


Report urges different role for future military

group also sees in the coming decade “a time of relatively low direct threats to the United States, but a wider range of potential threats.” At the same time, it sees Asia, North Africa and the Middle East facing disruptive transitions “that will take far more than a decade to play out.” Growing out of this turmoil will be cyber-militias, non-government activist groups and terrorist networks with “influence drastically out of proportion to their size or resources.” To meet the new threats, the group proposes that the United States must remain “first among equals but use its power and influence to spur the actions of networks, coalitions, emerging powers and the international community generally.” That sounds a lot like what the Obama administration is trying to do. This is a risky strategy that “will demand more listening and less talking, even as America continues to lead — a delicate and trickly balance to strike.” It also means patience rather than taking “costly, risky and urgent action” against provocative regimes such as those of North Korea and Iran. On the military side, this means removing heavy footprints, such as bases, around the world and increasing training of host nations’ forces while maintaining infrastructure for surging in a crisis. It also means placing more emphasis on providing allies’ missile defenses and special forces training with rotational deployments to maintain a local presence. Large-deck aircraft carriers and costly aircraft such as the F-35, along with the new generation of nuclear delivery systems, should be reconsidered. Instead, the study proposes more current-generation aircraft and nuclear submarines with conventional strike missiles for a majority of the future force. Better intelligence and collective action seem more appropriate for the future. When threats emerge, they call for increasing balanced and overlapping stand-off strike systems as a threat for deterrent purposes or to actually allow a reaction in a timely fashion. In summation, the group emphasized that “we know that the military instrument of power is over-emphasized” in today’s budget and that it is difficult to summon the “political will necessary to make the hard choices that are now fairly apparent.” Perhaps that’s why the study includes the disclaimer that its views “do not represent the opinions or conclusions of any element of the U.S. government.” They are worth considering, but try selling any of these ideas on Capitol Hill. For previous Fine Print columns, go to washingtonpost.com/fedpage.


Japan’s volatile Nikkei plummets 6.4 percent

A woman walks by an electronic stock board flashing the day's stock update in Tokyo June 13, 2013. Investor investors are showing growing concern about Japan’s dramatic strategy to end a two-decade economic stagnation. (Junji Kurokawa/AP) SEOUL — In the past three weeks, Japanese stocks have lost more than 20 percent of their value, starting with a 7.3 percent plunge on May 23. Since then, the Nikkei has transformed from the world’s best-performing stock market into its most volatile, as investors show growing concern about Japan’s dramatic strategy to end a two-decade-long economic stagnation. That strategy, designed late last year by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, calls for a mix of government spending and monetary easing, along with some economic reforms. The markets initially welcomed Abe’s plan, but they now seem preoccupied with the risk it carries. This also holds true for Japan’s normally sleepy bond market, which has fluctuated heavily in recent weeks. One of the biggest fears is that Abe, in his attempt to spur inflation, could leave the government in even greater debt and pressured by rising interest rates. Some critical economists and investors also say that Abe’s reform targets — improving opportunities for women, creating special economic zones, liberalizing trade — sound similar to failed ideas from earlier Japanese leaders. Some investors are worried that the yen — which had weakened for eight straight months entering June — could reverse course, eating into the profits of Japan’s export-dependent giants. Stocks across Asia fell Thursday, but the losses were most significant in Japan, as the yen strengthened more than 1.5 percent against the dollar. As of early evening in Tokyo, the yen stood at 94.4 to the dollar, compared with 103 to the dollar in late May. The fortunes of Japanese stocks are heavily tied to the yen, which, when it weakens, lowers the cost of Japanese products sold overseas. During trading Thursday, Japanese officials asked for calm, adding that the nation’s economy showed clear signs of recovery. Even with the latest stock losses, the Nikkei is up nearly 40 percent since November, when it became clear that Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party would win parliamentary elections. “There has been a steady recovery in the economy of Japan,” a government spokesman, Yoshihide Suga, said. “So regarding the stock market situation, we believe we need to stay calm in observing this state.” Government data released last month indicated that Japanese


Supreme Court rules human genes may not be patented

today, because they have some certainty,” said Kevin Noonan, a leading biotechnology and intellectual-property lawyer. “The synthetic DNA is patentable. . . . This [particular issue] is off the table. It’s not going to be challenged.” Matthew J. Dowd “The cDNA has the same genetic information as our natural gene, but it’s in a user-friendly form,” Dowd said. “If you think of a human gene as gold still in a gold mine, then cDNA is the gold after it’s been mined and polished.” But not all were happy. Jim Greenwood, president and chief executive of the Biotechnology Industry Organization, said the decision will put U.S. companies at a disadvantage. “The United States is now the only developed country to take such a restrictive view of patent eligibility, signaling an unjustified indifference towards our global economic and scientific leadership in the life sciences,” Greenwood said in a statement. Those who challenged the patents said the ruling will spur research and competition. “The cost of genetic testing should come down considerably,” said Harry Ostrer of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Yeshiva University in New York. Ostrer noted that there were about 4,000 gene-related patents that can now be challenged, and he predicted that additional tests for heart conditions and neuromuscular diseases will become available. Companies already are announcing plans to offer genetic screening similar to Myriad’s test. But Ostrer and others said the company, which won the race to locate and isolate the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes in the early 1990s, remains far ahead of the rest of the field. Even though Noonan noted that Myriad’s patent is scheduled to expire in 2015, he added: “Myriad has a 15-year head start on everybody. They started this. They have all the relationships with everybody. They are still going to be the gold standard.” The court’s opinion does not settle all questions about the issue. For instance, Timothy McCaffrey, director of the division of genomic medicine at George Washington University Faculty Associates, said the emerging practice in his field is to patent a method or process of working with a gene, rather than trying to isolate and patent the gene itself. Thomas’s opinion held out that option. “Had Myriad created an innovative method of manipulating genes while searching for the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, it could possibly have sought a method patent,” Thomas wrote. “But the processes used by Myriad to isolate


The $20 Diner finds chef-driven restaurants that pass the bar exam

my favorite bar snacks. Scott Drewno is author to an ever-evolving izakaya menu for the downstairs lounge at the Source, and I am hopelessly infatuated with his pork belly bao buns. Nestled into a pillowy, slightly sweet steamed bun made by pastry chef Duane Copeland, the pork belly assumes an untamed quality, mostly because it’s braised in a stock built from the bones of three species (chicken, duck, pig) and then lacquered with house-made hoisin sauce. The cooling cucumber, scallion and cilantro garnishes practically serve as animal feed to that slab of belly. If you pair the pork belly buns ($9 for two) with a serving of tempura green beans ($8), you have (almost) cobbled together dinner without breaking the bank. The battered beans, fried in peanut oil, are no simple side, either: They’re tossed in curry salt and served with pickled-ginger-and-cilantro vinaigrette. Vegetarians take note: The beans are garnished with bonito flakes and finished with a drizzle of eel sauce, an umami booster composed from fish bones. For value and sheer carnality, however, you need to check out the “steak salad” ($18.99) at Ray’s the Classics in Silver Spring. I put the dish in quotes because if your goal is to eat light at this suburban steakhouse, you’re in for a shock to the system — the digestive system. Ray’s layers on no less than 12 ounces of sliced strip steak over mixed greens. To compound the caloric intake, the salad comes with sauteed mushrooms, grilled red onions, blue cheese crumbles and Parmesan toast points. If you care at this point, the dressing is a balsamic vinaigrette. It’s a salad for people who really want steak. It’s also a salad served at a bar where no one gives two licks about what you’re eating. Everyone’s too busy knocking back glasses of high-alcohol wine and sharing jokes old enough to make the dead laugh. We laugh anyway because . . . well, refer back to the beginning of this column. Mintwood Place 1813 Columbia Rd. NW. 202-234-6732. Dishes: suckling pig croquettes ($12), deviled pickled eggs ($5) Fiola 601 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. 202-628-2888. Dish: La Piadina ($16) Green Pig Bistro 1025 N. Fillmore St., Arlington. 703-888-1920. Dish: kung pao sweetbreads ($14) The Source 575 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. 202-637-6100. Dishes: pork belly bao bun ($9), tempura green beans ($8) Ray’s the Classics 8606 Colesville Rd., Silver Spring. 301-588-7297. Dish: steak salad ($18.99)


Robert W. Fogel, an innovative and Nobel Prize-winning economic historian, dies at 86

Robert W. Fogel drew on historical documents such as medical records, census data and pension documentation. One of his most controversial books disputed longheld assumptions about why slavery collapsed in the United States. (University of Chicago via Bloomberg) Robert W. Fogel, a Nobel Prize-winning economic historian who used empirical data in innovative and iconoclastic ways, most notably to dispute long-held assumptions about why slavery in the United States collapsed as an institution, died June 11 at a rehabilitation facility in Oak Lawn, Ill. He was 86. The cause was pneumonia, said his daughter-in-law Suzanne Fogel. Dr. Fogel, a Chicago resident, spent much of his career at the University of Chicago and directed its Center for Population Economics. Dr. Fogel shared the 1993 Nobel Prize for Economic Sciences with Douglass North, then of Washington University in St. Louis. Both winners were on the 1960s vanguard of a field known as cliometrics, which merges economic theory with statistical analysis of hard numbers raked from the past; Clio is the muse of history in Greek mythology. Dr. Fogel drew on historical documents such as medical records, census data and pension documentation, and then used modern computing systems to process the information. The Nobel citation credited him with “having renewed research in economic history by applying economic theory and quantitative methods in order to explain economic and institutional change.” “Fogel was one of the intellectual pioneers and certainly the most visible member of a generation of economic historians who transformed the discipline from what had been narrative history into history informed by economic theory and statistical methods,” said Barry Eichengreen, an economics and political science professor at the University of California at Berkeley. The son of Russian immigrants, Dr. Fogel grew up in New York during the Great Depression and became a Communist Party activist while an undergraduate at Cornell University in the 1940s. He eventually left the party, but a radical streak persisted in his professional life. Innovation, controversy Dr. Fogel studied history before turning to economics in the 1950s, and his doctoral thesis at Johns Hopkins University informed his first major work, “Railroads and American Economic Growth” (1964). The book was a riposte to railroad historians and other economists such as Joseph Schumpeter and Walt W. Rostow who trumpeted the vital role of railroads in U.S. economic and territorial expansion during the 19th century. The book argued that in the absence of


World Digest: June 13, 2013

ETHIOPIA Nile accord is ratified in defiance of Egypt The Ethiopian Parliament on Thursday unanimously ratified an accord that replaces colonial-era deals under which Egypt and Sudan were awarded the majority of the world’s longest river. The vote took place amid a dispute between Ethiopia and Egypt after Ethiopia last month started to divert Nile waters for a massive hydroelectric dam. Ethiopia’s growing economy requires expanded electrical capacity, but Egypt fears that the dam will mean a diminished share of the Nile, which provides almost all of the desert nation’s water needs. The new Nile River Cooperative Framework Agreement — already signed by Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya and Burundi — was conceived to replace the 1929 treaty written by Britain that gave Egypt veto power over upstream countries’ Nile projects. Sudan and Egypt signed a deal in 1959 splitting the Nile waters between them without giving other nations consideration. — Associated Press CHINA Detained journalist had reported abuses Chinese state security officials have detained a journalist who recently disappeared after completing a documentary on labor camp abuses, the photographer’s sister and a close friend said Thursday. The detention of Beijing-based video- and photojournalist Du Bin, 41, is probably related to his work, said democracy activist Hu Jia, who said he has been a close friend of Du’s for more than a decade. Du had recently completed a documentary exposing torture allegedly inflicted on detainees at a labor camp in northeastern China as well as a 600-page book about the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown on protesters in Beijing, published in Hong Kong. The detention comes amid a broader crackdown on China’s small community of rights activists and dissidents launched under new Communist Party chief Xi Jinping. The campaign has dashed hopes that the new leadership might ease controls on civil society. — Associated Press AFGHANISTAN 6 policemen found slain at checkpoint Six Afghan policemen were found fatally shot at their checkpoint in the country’s south and two other policemen were missing, along with vehicles and weapons, raising suspicions they killed their comrades, an official said Thursday. District chief Nayamatullah Samim said the policemen’s bodies were discovered Wednesday night in Helmand province’s Musa Qala district after they did not check in with their superiors. “Insider attacks,” in which Afghan forces open fire on their comrades or international forces, threaten to shake the confidence of the two sides as the 2014 withdrawal of most


Piqued by suggestions of a possible decline, Usain Bolt responded with a blistering season debut at 200 meters and a track record on Thursday at the Bislett Games in Oslo. Bolt, whose conditioning was questioned after losing the 100 by 0.01 of a second to American Justin Gatlin in Rome last week, finished in 19.79 seconds. “I’m not in as bad shape as I thought I was,” Bolt, 26, said after his emphatic victory. The Jamaican, who holds the world record of 19.19, topped the Bislett record set by Frank Fredericks of Namibia in 1996 by 0.03 of a second. Colleges Virginia Tech running back Michael Holmes was found guilty of a reduced misdemeanor charge of assault and battery on Tuesday, according to the Montgomery County (Va.) General District Court clerk’s office. Holmes was sentenced to a 12-month suspended jail sentence and placed on one year of probation. He was also ordered to pay $13,403 in restitution and to not have contact with any victims involved in the case. Holmes, 20, was originally charged with felony malicious wounding and two counts of simple assault after a fight involving four other people in a parking lot on College Avenue near campus in Blacksburg, Va., around 2 a.m. on April 21. The reduced misdemeanor charge could allow Holmes to be reinstated to the football team after being suspended. One of the victims in the case, Kierra Barnes, filed a $25,000 civil suit against Holmes in conjunction with the incident. A court document lists “surgery for the nose” as a reason for her suit. — Mark Giannotto Arizona approved a one-year contract extension for basketball Coach Sean Miller through the 2017-18 season. He is entering his fifth season. . . . Rick Greenspan is resigning as Rice University’s athletic director after three years. tennis Denis Kudla Kudla, 20, who trained at the Junior Tennis Champions Center in College Park, reached the quarterfinals with a 6-1. 6-3 victory over Kenny de Schepper. Kudla is expected to reach a career-high ranking just outside the top 100 as a result. All four top seeds reached the quarterfinals—Andy Murray, Tomas Berdych, Juan Martin del Potro and Tsonga. — Liz Clarke In Halle, Germany, defending champion Tommy Haas advanced to the quarterfinals of the Gerry Weber Open by outlasting Ernests Gulbis, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4. Also advancing were second-seeded Richard Gasquet and Philipp Kohlschreiber. Misc. The Pittsburgh Penguins and


To avoid crime, Venezuelans unite — in jogging

A running group finds safety in numbers as hundreds jog together to avoid crime in the violent capital, Caracas. Andrea Pereira just shakes her head at how carefree she used to be when she’d strap on her running shoes and jog alone at night in the streets of this gritty capital. Then came the “express kidnapping” plague — ordinary people snatched off the street, sometimes in broad daylight. Homicides skyrocketed, with Caracas recording nearly 4,000 slayings last year, more than any other city in the world. Stories of robberies — and worse, robberies gone horribly, fatally wrong — became standard workplace chatter. Pereira still jogs at night. But she goes with friends, plenty of friends — as many as 300 of them, a huffing, heaving mass of people who chug in unison along darkened streets three nights a week. Their club, Runners Venezuela, underscores a central reality here: Despite the mayhem, the people of this city are willing to go to extraordinary lengths to have as normal a life as possible. “My family, they were really worried because I was, you know, going alone running in the street,” said Pereira, 23. “So I said, ‘Mom, I am going with a big group.’ She said, ‘A big group running at night, here in Caracas? You have to be kidding me.’ ” (The Washington Post) There are many other violent metropolises in Latin America: Rio de Janeiro, with its heavily armed drug gangs ensconced in hillside slums, and Cali in Colombia, where the heirs to the old cocaine cartels battle it out. But Caracas is far worse, with homicides rising nearly threefold since 1998 to 3,973 last year, for a murder rate of 122 per 100,000 people, said Active Peace, a group that studies crime trends here. That is more than 30 times the homicide rate in New York, a far larger city. The problem partly explains why the late President HugoChávez’s handpicked successor, Nicolás Maduro, almost lost an April presidential vote that he had been polled to easily win, analysts say. Facing an outcry over crime, among many other deep-seated problems, Maduro has responded by sending troops into the street to bring order to a city populated with heavily armed pro-government militias, drug gangs, common thugs and corrupt police. Crime experts say the tactics will have little lasting impact. And nationwide, most Venezuelans fear for their lives. A Gallup poll released


World Digest: June 14, 2013

EUROPE Records: Leader of Nazi-led unit in U.S. A top commander of a Nazi SS-led unit accused of burning villages filled with women and children lied to American immigration officials to get into the United States and has been living in Minnesota since shortly after World War II, according to evidence uncovered by the Associated Press. Michael Karkoc, 94, told American authorities in 1949 that he had performed no military service during World War II, concealing his work as an officer and founding member of the SS-led Ukrainian Self Defense Legion and later as an officer in the SS Galician Division, according to records obtained by the AP. The Galician Division and a Ukrainian nationalist organization he served in were both on a secret blacklist of groups whose members were forbidden from entering the United States. Though records do not show that Karkoc had a direct hand in war crimes, statements from men in his unit and other documentation confirm that the Ukrainian company he commanded massacred civilians and suggest that Karkoc was at the scene of these atrocities as the company leader. Nazi SS files say he and his unit were also involved in the 1944 Warsaw Uprising, in which the Nazis suppressed a Polish rebellion. Polish prosecutors announced Friday that they will investigate Karkoc and provide “every possible assistance” to the U.S. Department of Justice. The AP evidence of Karkoc’s wartime activities has also prompted German authorities to express interest in exploring whether there is enough to prosecute. Karkoc refused to discuss his wartime past at his home in Minneapolis, and repeated efforts to set up an interview, using his son as an intermediary, were unsuccessful. — Associated Press BURMA U.N. aid reaches troubled region A United Nations-led convoy of trucks in Burma has for the first time in nearly a year been allowed to deliver food and household supplies to areas beyond government control in the country’s northernmost region. The U.N. humanitarian office said Friday that a 10-truck convoy was delivering food, special nutrients for children, household and hygiene kits and water purification tablets to 5,100 of the estimated 100,000 people driven from their homes due to fighting between the government and rebels in Kachin state. The region in Burma, also known as Myanmar, borders China. Jens Laerke, a spokesman for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Geneva, said it was the first


‘Marathon Man: My 26.2-Mile Journey from Unknown Grad Student to the Top of the Running World’

Sports MARATHON MAN My 26.2-Mile Journey From Unknown Grad Student to the Top of the Running World By Bill Rodgers and Matthew Shepatin Thomas Dunne/St. Martin’s. 322 pp. $26.99 Today, with your choice of running clubs, running shoes, running fashions, running drinks, bars and gels, the sport has become not only ubiquitous but even cool and chic. Not so when Bill Rodgers started running around Jamaica Pond in Boston in 1972. Rodgers’s new book, “Marathon Man,” chronicles his life from runner to barfly and back to runner, and on to his first Boston Marathon victory in 1975. “I needed to move,” he writes. “I was meant to move. Even at my lowest point as an athlete, the magnetic pull was still there. The pull was weakened in the presence of life’s overwhelming burdens, but it hadn’t disappeared altogether.” The book vividly depicts its author as an aimless conscientious objector to the Vietnam War with a “goofy stride” who once ran a half-marathon in a blizzard wearing only sweatpants and his grandfather’s wool sweater.Even more interesting is the portrayal of a very different era for runners, when they were likely to get heckled. “You’d hear stuff like, ‘Who are you running from?’ or ‘Where’s the fire?’ . . . Football was a real sport; running was for freaks and fairies.” Rodgers was not on a quest to change the running world, even though that’s what he helped to do. He ran because he had to. “Running wasn’t an escape from life,” he writes; “rather, it was an embrace of it.” He ran without the comforts afforded today’s runners: water stations, mile markers and spectators on race courses, dry-weave shirts and appropriate shoes. For his 1975 Boston Marathon, however, he ran blister-free in a pair of Nikes sent him by Olympic runner Steve Prefontaine. It was unheard of at that time to finish a marathon without blisters. ‘Marathon Man, My 26.2-mile Journey from Unknown Grad Student to the Top of the Running World’ By Bill Rodgers and Matthew Shepatin (Thomas Dunne) Rodgers meticulously weaves an account of his young adult life into chapters devoted to his record-breaking win of that ’75 Boston Marathon — a victory that helped change the course of his life and increase the popularity of running as a sport. “I’ve always believed running can be one of the most powerful ways to promote goodwill and tolerance throughout the


‘Cool War: The Future of Global Competitionn’ by Noah Feldman

political differences across the world, Feldman does us a favor at the outset by knocking down the false choice that too often undergirds the conversation on China. It is not a matter of either standing up to Beijing autocrats on principle and bracing for war, as one side would have it, or surrendering our values and accommodating the new economic hegemon, as the other might. Rather, Feldman writes, “a classic struggle for power is unfolding at the same time as economic cooperation is becoming deeper and more fundamental.” That was evident last weekend, when President Obama and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, held a summit in California that produced an agreement on climate but surfaced differences on myriad other subjects. That outcome fits with Feldman’s central premise: The world’s two biggest economies are fated to remain geopolitical frenemies, locked in a chilly embrace necessitated by economic interdependence but made tense by constant military and political rivalry in Asia and, increasingly, the rest of the world. If that sounds rather obvious or status quo, Feldman makes clear he thinks we’ve seen only the start of tensions that are likely to sharpen. “China’s long-term geopolitical interest lies in removing the United States from the position of sole global superpower,” he writes.Power, after all, brings economic benefit to the citizenry and credibility to the state. ‘Cool War: The Future of Global Competition’ by Noah Feldman Feldman’s assertion sounds right in the long term, but the path ahead is far from clear. He argues that China can offer the world a rival model: “In the same way that the United States is proud of democracy and its global spread, China has its own rich civilizational ideal, Confucianism.” Even if you believe that China wants to be the world’s dominant power — and who can doubt many in Beijing do want that? — there’s no way that the hierarchies and supposed deference to authority characteristic of Confucianism represent a plausible regional, let alone global, alternative to democracy. Indeed, however global its trade, or deep its bank accounts, or imposing its military, China has a weakness in “soft power,” the culture and ideas that inspire admiration and emulation. Money may win friends, and force may coerce enemies, but deeper ideals truly shape history. Feldman suggests that the United States consider embracing an idea John McCain proposed in his failed 2008 presidential campaign: to create a “league


The bad example set by winking at Putin’s abuses

Hannah Thoburn is a Eurasia analyst based in Washington and is one of the Foreign Policy Initiative’s 2012-2013 future leaders. Anything Russia can do, you can do, too. That is the message Washington is sending to repressive, power-hungry governments around the world. With each step that President Vladimir Putin takes to restrict the freedoms of the Russian people, like-minded leaders watch U.S. (and European) reactions and, seeing weak responses, are emboldened to abuse human rights in a similar manner. Putin’s crackdown on human rights is motivated by his desire to quell the protest movement that arose in December 2011, when hundreds of thousands of Russians took to the streets to demonstrate against unfair parliamentary elections. In March 2012, protesters were further incensed by the unfair elections that returned Putin to the presidency. In response, the Russian government has developed new repressive tools and technologies — most notably, using the law as a weapon — that Putin eagerly uses as he attempts to reassert and consolidate his power and position. And U.S. objections to his abuses are plaintive, feeble and ignored. To Russia’s south, Azerbaijan is taking note. President Ilham Aliyev is standing for reelection in October and hopes to avoid the unrest that has dogged Putin. With Russia’s actions seeming to effectively enfeeble the opposition, Aliyev has preemptively followed that oppressive model. To discourage protests, Russia a year ago increased the fine for participating in unsanctioned rallies from a maximum of 1,000 rubles ($31.50) to a ceiling of 300,000 rubles ($9,450). Last month, Human Rights Watch reported that Azerbaijan’s “maximum jail sentence for violating rules for organizing, holding, and attending unauthorized assemblies increased from 15 days to two months.” In July, in a move designed to stifle free speech, Russia once again made libel a criminal offense. Predictably, Azerbaijan is in the process of expanding the definitions of “insult” and “slander” and plans to include online statements in the scope of its libel laws. The effect on free speech would be chilling. Similarly, Ukraine’s leaders have watched the West’s reaction to Russia’s human rights violations and have logically concluded that there will be no true price for their misdeeds. President Viktor Yanukovych seems as intent on consolidating power as Putin was 10 years ago, and he has begun taking Putin-esque steps in that direction. Most notably, Ukraine’s continued — and politically motivated — detention of former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko


D.C. man shot in Pr. George’s dies

A 21-year-old District man shot two weeks ago in Largo, Md., succumbed to his wounds Friday, police said. Joshua M. Barnes of Sherman Circle in Northwest Washington was sitting with an acquaintance in a vehicle near Prince George’s Community College before 1 a.m. on June 2 when an unknown suspect fired several shots at the car, according to Prince George’s County Police. Police said they are searching for a motive in the attack, and offer a cash reward for information that leads to an arrest and indictment. Anyone with information is urged to contact the department’s homicide unit at 301-772-4925.


Tracking Edward Snowden, from a Maryland classroom to a Hong Kong hotel

officer who retired and moved to Pennsylvania a few years ago; he has remarried. His mother, Elizabeth, chief deputy clerk for administration and information technology at Baltimore’s federal court, has lived in a condo in Ellicott City since 2002. Neither parent responded to requests for comment. Snowden dipped in and out of course work over the next dozen years, taking classes at Anne Arundel Community College, the University of Maryland’s University College, the University of Liverpool and the Computer Career Institute, a for-profit college then affiliated with Johns Hopkins University. He became a Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert — a status the computer giant offers as a gateway to tech jobs — but Snowden felt stuck in those first years of adulthood, describing himself on the Ars Technica site as someone “without a degree or clearance who lives in Maryland. Read that as ‘unemployed.’ ” In 2004, he enlisted in the Army Reserve as a Special Forces recruit. His religion, he wrote on his Army application form, was Buddhist. “Agnostic is strangely absent” from the form, he wrote in an online post, dismissing religion as “blindly making someone else’s beliefs your own.” A few months earlier, a poster using the pseudonym “Chishinken,” a name Snowden adopted in some technical online discussions, had written about beginning basic training and buying a rifle for someone who “has not fired a rifle since he was seven years old.” But Snowden’s military career ended almost before it began. Less than four months after he reported to Fort Benning in Georgia for the Army’s Advanced Individual Training program, Snowden was discharged. In a message on Ars Technica, where he used the handle TheTrueHOOHA, Snowden said he broke both of his legs during training and was discharged as a result, though he complained that “after being cleared, they held onto me for another month just for s--ts and giggles.” Snowden “attempted to qualify to become a Special Forces soldier but did not complete the requisite training and was administratively discharged,” said Col. David H. Patterson Jr., an Army spokesman at the Pentagon. The Army made no mention of any accident or injury. Snowden struggled through a period of joblessness, spending long nights playing computer games and chatting online. (His fascination with games continued even as he rose to more responsible positions. “I woke this morning with a new name,” he announced excitedly in 2010, referring to his


Howard University garden project gives D.C. kids a chance to grow good food

lumber to fence in the garden, a few plants, soil, a sign with the kids’ names, gardening advice and a recipe for a tomato and cucumber salad. The goal is to promote sustainability and healthy eating. And with childhood obesity on the rise in the United States, it’s important to show children where vegetables come from, said Mark Johnson, dean of Howard’s medical school. “If people eat right, they can maintain their health and prevent deleterious effects,” Johnson said. Johnson said he was “intimately involved” in his grandmother’s garden as a child, particularly with the production of her strawberry-rhubarb pie. My Garden Project connects children with sustainability and the environment “in a way that we hope will be lasting,” said Brandon Wallace, an Environmental Protection Agency contractor who facilitates an EPA partnership with Howard. For Alex and Chlöe McCants, 5 and2, respectively, the garden is a new way to enjoy the outdoors, said their mother, Khalilah McCants of Northwest Washington, after an afternoon of planting. The patch will teach Alex and Chlöe not only about weeding and watering but also about responsibility, cause and effect, and science, McCants said. “Eating the fruits of their labor is exciting for them,” she said, adding that her children are most enthusiastic about the tomatoes. The gardeners are tasked with keeping a diary — where they’ll record insect invasions and plant growth — in a composition notebook. Back at the Harrison house, Anthony, dubbed “Mr. Scientist” by his family, is up to the challenge — after a brief scuffle with his sister over who will be in charge of the notebook. In Kimberly Harrison’s gardens — mom’s territory — the kids are in charge of looking up caterpillar photos online, to see whether they’ll help or hurt the plants. Saturday morning, they found one crawling on a grape vine and proclaimed it poisonous. Into a plastic container it went, joining another caterpillar deemed bad news. The family is well versed in fighting pesky intruders. Birds, insects and rodents have been bugging the strawberries for a while. To deal with the problem, the family placed fake snakes on top of the soil. It’s worked well so far, Harrison said, as her daughter admonished her for speaking too loudly.She didn’t want the birds to hear the secret. But it fell to Johnson to reveal the mystery of manure to an unsuspecting Kennedy. “That’s disgusting,” Kennedy said.


OSHA expected to investigate Louisiana plant explosion

DONALDSONVILLE, La. State Police Trooper Jared Sandifer said Saturday that officials from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration would visit the CF Industries facility as soon as the site was safe. Sandifer said the state police’s hazardous materials unit was at the plant overnight. “Once they deem it safe, they will pull out and let OSHA and company officials do their work,” Sandifer said. Police said Ronald “Rocky” Morris Jr., 55, of Belle Rose, La., was killed in the blast Friday. He had worked at the plant for 34 years, company officials said. CF Industries identified its injured employees as Courtney Julien, Melvin Singleton, Jeramy Worsham and Kade Yarbrough. Three contractor employees also were hurt. The company said in a statement Saturday that one of its employees remained hospitalized in stable condition and that all the other workers were released from Baton Rouge-area hospitals. CF Industries manufactures ammonia and other nitrogen fertilizers at the Donaldsonville facility. Officials said there were no hazardous materials at the site. The company said that the blast occurred about 6 p.m. Friday in a section of the plant that had been shut down for maintenance and that there was no fire, chemical release or threat to the community. Lou Frey, vice president and general manager of the Donaldsonville Nitrogen Complex, said the incident involved a rupture in a small vessel or “header” as nitrogen was being offloaded from a tank truck. CF officials said everything was secure at the plant. “Our focus is on our number one priority — the health and safety of our employees and the community,” Frey said in a statement. “We are deeply saddened by the loss of one of our employees.” At a Friday night news conference at the plant site, Louisiana State Police Superintendent Col. Mike Edmonson described the incident as a “catastrophic failure” of a manifold that is used to distribute gas to the facility. He said authorities are investigating whether it was a result of over-pressurization or something else. “We don’t know if it was mechanical; we don’t know if it was caused by over-pressurization. We’ll find that out as we work with plant and as we talk to the personnel,” Edmondson said. CF Industries’ Web site says the plant can produce roughly 5 million tons of nitrogen for agricultural and industrial uses annually. Just miles away Thursday, two people were killed and dozens were injured in


In face of increased competition, Safeway plans expansion

Safeway is at the center of a battle among grocers to cash in on the Washington area’s boom. (Ben Nelms/Bloomberg) In the District’s less prosperous days, Safeway — the city’s top grocery chain for decades — was often competing only with itself. After years of population declines, swaths of D.C. neighborhoods did not have any grocery stores at all, much less competitors on the same street. Now that the city is undergoing an economic and demographic resurgence, Safeway is at the center of a battle among grocers to cash in on the Washington area’s boom. The company, based in Pleasanton, Calif., is moving aggressively to keep its footing. At the moment, Safeway is building two new local stores, both with hundreds of apartments on top, and is planning to build or rebuild four stores beginning this year or the next in Alexandria, Rockville, Upper Marlboro and Hyattsville. Another four stores are in the pre-planning stages for redevelopment, and the chain has already made clear to D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray (D) that it would like to build a new store at the former site of the Walter Reed hospital, which the District is planning to redevelop. Much of this course was plotted in 2005, when Safeway — acknowledging that it had allowed some stores to flag — decided that it would do one of three things with each of its Washington area locations to address new competition: close the store, upgrade it with more offerings or rebuild it altogether. “There’s a lot more choices than there were seven years ago, and the quality has certainly improved with the Harris Teeters and Whole Foods and the Wegmans,” said Tim Baker, vice president of real estate at Safeway. “A lot of them, if you go back seven years, there were a lot fewer or none [in the area] back then.” Safeway has closed stores that were either underperforming or too small to remodel into the chain’s new format, such as the one located in the Watergate offices and the one near Dupont Circle that had so little visibility that people called it the “Secret Safeway.” But for some older stores in prime locations, the company and its real estate arm, Property Development Centers, tested the waters with local real estate developers about their interest in building housing above the stores. With Washington’s red-hot apartment market, the response was massive. A new Safeway


National Orchestral Institute’s presentation of young musicians displays talent, haste

The best way to learn is to do. That is the goal of the National Orchestral Institute, the summer apprenticeship program for young classical musicians at the University of Maryland. Its National Festival Orchestra prepares weekly programs of symphonic repertoire with different conductors in a short turnaround time. The latest one was presented Saturday night at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center. The performance, which centered on two of Richard Strauss’s virtuosic tone poems, might have been construed as biting off more than a less-experienced group could chew. That it was not was a credit to these talented musicians and to the savvy of this week’s conductor, Rossen Milanov. The closing work, Strauss’s mammoth autobiographical tone poem “Ein Heldenleben,” had a vast scope of sound, from the carping woodwinds evoking music critics to a violin’s conjuring of the soothing and laughing voice of Strauss’s wife, Pauline de Ahna, and the clarion off-stage trumpets heralding the composer’s artistic battles. The opening work, Strauss’s “Don Juan,” was often robust and fiery, but many finer details, particularly in fast string passages, were missing. Results varied from section to section — tuning issues in the oboe, for example, but puissance in the horns. For the first time, the NOI held a competition to feature one of its players in a concerto. This makes sense in that, for those musicians who find a spot playing in an orchestra, accompanying concertos will take up a large portion of their time, as some orchestral musicians have been heard to complain. It was, however, a misstep to put a soloist who was not quite ready for prime time in front of the orchestra for the first movement of Tchaikovsky’s violin concerto. It is far too easy to fall short in such a challenging and overheard work, and far too difficult to score a great achievement. Downey is a freelance writer. Conductor Rossen Milanov (Photo courtesy of Amanda Stevenson)


The Download: KoolSpan finds a marketing opportunity in NSA surveillance controversy

The revelation of an National Security Agency program that may be collecting information about individuals’ communications from telephone and Internet companies has created a marketing opportunity for Bethesda-based KoolSpan. The firm’s main technology called TrustChip fits into smartphones, tablets, laptops and desktop phones, and encrypts phone calls and digital messages so they cannot be monitored or intercepted, chief executive Gregg Smith said. The company has sold the chip primarily to businesses and government entities to date, but the NSA controversy has generated interest from average consumers, Smith said. “We haven’t spent a lot of marketing dollars in pursuit of the consumer to date,” Smith said. “But this news really proved to me that there really is an opportunity for us to pursue the consumer market.” But couldn’t the technology fall in the wrong hands? Smith said KoolSpan must screen the prospective buyers of its chips against government databases before making a sale and is prohibited from doing business with certain countries. Digital revolution Founding Fathers Historical documents once held by George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison are now available on a searchable Web site called Founders Online. The project, which debuted last week, is the result of a multi-year partnership between the National Archives and the University of Virginia Press. In all, creators expect the Web site will host roughly 175,000 documents. That includes 242 volumes of published print documents that have already been transcribed and annotated, as well as about 55,000 documents that are currently unpublished. MarkLogic Shelly said the company doesn’t shy away from “unstructured” or “semi-structured” data that may not be ideally formatted for searchable computer databases — such as, say, documents written more than 200 years ago. The software “turns data into real, usable information,” Shelly said. “Harnessing all of that information is improving outcomes in all areas of business, health care, education, private sector and government.”


From salad shop to music festival, Sweetgreen branches out

of the restaurant’s opening couldn’t have been better. The country was about to enter a deep recession, and consumers were looking for affordable, healthy dining options. Even as higher-end establishments floundered, quick-service eateries seemed to be doing okay. “Ever since the recession started in 2007, the restaurant industry has not been doing very well,” said Bonnie Riggs, a restaurant analyst for the research firm NPD Group. “We’ve never seen weakness of this magnitude, but the real bright spot in the industry has been fast-casual.” For a few months, Sweetgreen was the only salad-centric fast-casual restaurant in town. That is, until November 2007, when New York City-based Chop’t opened up shop in Penn Quarter. “We’d always tried to distinguish ourselves from [Chop’t],” Neman said. “But with them coming to the market so early on, we really had to focus on what made us different.” The company began offering more locally grown ingredients, such as kale, and began Sweetgreen in Schools, a volunteer program that focuses on nutrition and sustainability education at nearby schools. Today, Sweetgreen has annual revenue of more than $25 million, with sales rising about 50 percent every year. Little surprises “Random acts of sweetness,” as the company calls them, come in all shapes and sizes. On rainy days, employees have been known to cover nearby bicycle seats with shower caps, and attach cheeky notes (“We’ve got your butt covered.”) with gift cards. They also dole out freebies to loyal customers, Twitter followers and increasingly, to hybrid vehicles that have received parking tickets. In February, Sweetgreen introduced a rewards app that allows customers to pay for their orders using a smartphone. More than 20,000 people have downloaded the app, which now accounts for about one-fifth of all transactions. Eventually, the founders say they hope the program will allow them to offer digital perks such as recipes, giftcards and play lists to frequent customers. “We can look at our data and say, ‘We noticed you really love avocados, so we’re sending you a case of avocados,’” Neman said. “Or, ‘You always get the same dressing. Here’s the recipe for it.’ ” The company continues to evolve, its three founders say. But they’re not quite sure what’s next. “The thing is, each of our ideas has grown out of our core business,” Jammet said. “We want anything else we do to be just as connected to our community and our customers.”


Climate change needs a rational response

THE INTERNATIONAL Energy Agency (IEA) last week warned that global carbon dioxide emissions in 2012 were the highest ever. Yet international climate negotiations have floundered. Many Americans and their representatives in Congress still doubt climate change is a problem worth addressing. And as the developing world advances, its peoples are polluting more to obtain higher standards of living. Forget for a moment the ideal or rational response; what’s the bare minimum global leaders could do? The IEA had some useful, if modest, suggestions. An energy-gobbling world emitted 31.6 gigatons of carbon dioxide in 2012, the result of extracting and burning vast amounts of coal, oil and natural gas. Last month, the world reached another milestone that scientists and policymakers said they wanted to avoid — CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere that exceeded 400 parts per million. Scientists reckon that the last time concentrations were that high, the Earth was far warmer. Though the planet’s sensitivity to carbon emissions is still a matter of intense study, the IEA figures that, under policies in place now, the planet could warm between 3.6 and 5.3 degrees Celsius, mostly over the next hundred years. By contrast, world leaders have committed to limiting warming to no more than 2 degrees Celsius, the point past which the consequences could be very negative. The IEA argues there are things that governments can do between now and 2020, at no net economic cost, at least to try to “keep the door open” to 2 degrees Celsius. Retrofitting buildings and constructing better ones could reduce emissions. More-efficient cars would help, too. These sorts of investments would also save consumers money over time. Phasing out the dirtiest coal-burning power plants would cut greenhouse emissions and other pollutants. So, too, would inexpensively reducing emissions of methane — itself a greenhouse gas — during oil and natural gas production. And, of course, countries should stop encouraging fossil fuel use by artificially lowering prices for the stuff, a problem here that’s much worse in other countries. In the United States at least, those policies seem achievable, even without agreement among politicians on the scale of the climate problem. Bipartisan groups of senators have sought to pass an efficiency bill for years. The Environmental Protection Agency has been using its powers under the Clean Air Act to crack down on coal plants. Other federal regulations are addressing methane emissions. Washington’s policymakers should immediately follow


On Europe trip, Obama will face a continent frustrated by his actions and inaction

surrounding his presidency in Europe has faded as he arrives Monday to speak in Belfast, a seaside city once known as a cauldron of sectarian conflict that is now prospering under a U.S.-brokered peace agreement. Obama — who will also return to address the German capital, which received him rapturously as a candidate — once counted on his popular luster abroad to help drive his policy ambitions. But that shine has dimmed in Europe because of what analysts say is a perception of tepid leadership and a troubling counterterrorism approach that recalls the excesses of the previous administration. A Gallup poll published in March showed that the public approval of U.S. leadership in Europe has dropped 11 percentage points since Obama’s first year in office, to 36 percent, although it is still far higher than it was during the Bush administration’s final year. The poll showed that half the decline occurred over the past year, when Obama, preoccupied with his reelection campaign, focused far more on domestic politics and the European economy deteriorated. In such countries as France and Spain, less than half the public approves of U.S. leadership in Europe. His visit is designed in part to address that sense of neglect. The centerpiece of his three-day swing is the Group of Eight meeting, to be held at a resort in Northern Ireland, where the ailing European economy will shape much of the discussion. The tourist destination at Lough Erne, not far from this Irish city where the White House press corps is staying, was chosen in part to showcase the progress Northern Ireland has made in the past 15 years of peace. Obama is scheduled to travel there Monday after his morning speech along Belfast’s waterfront, a few hours’ drive to the east. An enduring recession Europe’s economic recovery has been uneven. Much of the continent remains in recession, something Obama has frequently cited to explain the slow U.S. climb back from the most severe economic crisis in decades. Austerity measures, driven by German concerns about inflation and rising deficit spending by a number of European nations in recent years, have restrained economic growth while failing to resolve the heavy public debt dragging economies in France, Italy and other G-8 powers, which together account for roughly half of the world’s economic activity. But Merkel’s push for fiscal austerity now has a response in Asia, where Japanese Prime Minister


State photo-ID databases become troves for police

The ability to identify a suspect by facial-recognition technology is transforming law enforcement but it is also raising privacy concerns as giant databases of driver’s-license photos are being used in these searches. The ability to identify a suspect by facial-recognition technology is transforming law enforcement but it is also raising privacy concerns as giant databases of driver’s-license photos are being used in these searches. The faces of more than 120 million people are in searchable photo databases that state officials assembled to prevent driver’s-license fraud but that increasingly are used by police to identify suspects, accomplices and even innocent bystanders in a wide range of criminal investigations. The facial databases have grown rapidly in recent years and generally operate with few legal safeguards beyond the requirement that searches are conducted for “law enforcement purposes.” Amid rising concern about the National Security Agency’s high-tech surveillance aimed at foreigners, it is these state-level facial-recognition programs that more typically involve American citizens. The most widely used systems were honed on the battlefields of Afghanistan and Iraq as soldiers sought to identify insurgents. The increasingly widespread deployment of the technology in the United States has helped police find murderers, bank robbers and drug dealers, many of whom leave behind images on surveillance videos or social-media sites that can be compared against official photo databases. But law enforcement use of such facial searches is blurring the traditional boundaries between criminal and non-criminal databases, putting images of people never arrested in what amount to perpetual digital lineups. The most advanced systems allow police to run searches from laptop computers in their patrol cars and offer access to the FBI and other federal authorities. Such open access has caused a backlash in some of the few states where there has been a public debate. As the databases grow larger and increasingly connected across jurisdictional boundaries, critics warn that authorities are developing what amounts to a national identification system — based on the distinct geography of each human face. “Where is government going to go with that years from now?” said Louisiana state Rep. Brett Geymann, a conservative Republican who has fought the creation of such systems there. “Here your driver’s license essentially becomes a national ID card.” Facial-recognition technology is part of a new generation of biometric tools that once were the stuff of science fiction but are increasingly used by authorities around the nation and the


Neaby shores are hunting ground for shark teeth

who also goes to Hartland. Katherine Druiett holds small shark teeth she found at Westmoreland State Park in Montross, Virginia. (Rita Zeidner/For The Washington Post) ‘Big tooth’ Between 5 million and 25 million years ago — a time scientists call the Miocene Epoch — much of the farmland in Virginia and Maryland was covered by water. The megalodon, the largest shark that ever lived, was among the shark species that made this area its home. A relative of the great white shark (have you seen the movie “Jaws”?), the megalodon could grow to 60 feet long — about the distance between a pitcher and a batter on a baseball field. (The name megalodon means “big-tooth.” in Greek. That’s a good name for this shark, since some of its teeth could grow to seven inches.) Many smaller sharks also lived nearby. They are distant cousins of common modern-day species such as the mako shark and the hammerhead shark. Paleontologists — scientists who study prehistoric life — usually have to dig deep into the ground for information about the plants and animals that lived millions of years ago. But at Westmoreland and at least one other park in Maryland, you might find the teeth just lying on the sand or an inch or two below the surface. So many teeth Unlike humans, sharks constantly grow and then lose their teeth for as long as they live. One shark can grow as many as 35,000 teeth during its lifetime. Multiply that by millions of sharks over millions of years, and that’s a lot of business for the shark tooth fairy. Don’t bother looking for other parts of a shark’s body. Only the teeth remain because, just like your teeth, they are protected by a super-hard coating called enamel. The best places to find shark teeth are near certain riverbeds and on beaches with tall cliffs. That’s because teeth that have long been buried beneath the sand become exposed by the river’s running water, or by erosion. (Erosion is the process of wind and rain eating away at the rock wall.) So if you take a day trip to Westmoreland or to Calvert Cliffs State Park in Southern Maryland, you might find hard evidence of “big-tooth,” but you’re likely to come away with souvenirs from his smaller prehistoric pals. — Rita Zeidner WHERE TO FIND SHARK TEETH Westmoreland State Park Calvert Cliffs State Park


Mosquitoes, ticks and bees are summer hazards, as are sunshine and poison ivy

Ah, summer. The season of shorts and shirt sleeves, barbecues and vacations . . . but also sunburn, rashes and bugs determined to get a piece of you. Fortunately, most of summer’s dangers can be prevented. Here is a guide to common seasonal problems and how to treat them. Mosquito bites The peril: The protection: Tick bites The peril: The protection: Bee stings and spider bites The peril: The protection: Poisonous plants The peril: The protection: The sun The peril: The protection: Fungal infections The peril: The protection: Copyright 2013. Consumers Union of the United States Inc. For further guidance, go to www.ConsumerReports.org/Health, where more detailed information, including CR’s ratings of prescription drugs, treatments, hospitals and healthy-living products, is available to subscribers.


Mehdi Khalaji: Did sanctions shape the Iranian election?

and economic institutions run by Khamenei. Rouhani is solidly in the conservative camp, but he ran a campaign positioning himself as the most moderate person allowed to run. The main theme of Rouhani’s campaign was his critique of the Islamic Republic’s nuclear policy during the last eight years, which led to a series of U.N, E.U. and U.S. sanctions against Iran. Not only were the business community and private sector deeply damaged by sanctions, but the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’s companies and government businesses also came under unprecedented pressure. The current policy left little hope for peaceful resolution of the nuclear crisis and, because of sanctions, made the impasse the first concern of many Iranian citizens, both urban and rural. In the televised debates and his campaign, Rouhani has defended the pre-Ahmadinejad nuclear policy, which he ran from 2003 to 2005. He argued that he succeeded in keeping the nuclear program off the U.N. Security Council’s agenda while also preventing a significant interruption to the program. He said that Iran should change its negotiation pattern, assure the West that it is not after a nuclear bomb and save the economy from sanctions, while letting Iran’s peaceful nuclear program proceed. He described the 2003-04 decision to suspend uranium enrichment for a few months as a way for Iran to prove that the nuclear program is for peaceful purposes while at the same time make progress on the enrichment program during the suspension. A collection of Tom Toles cartoons about international news. Rouhani’s victory can be interpreted as the success of the West’s policy toward Iran’s nuclear program. Since the start of sanctions, many have doubted whether sanctions are useful, and whether they would change Iran’s nuclear policy, but the 2013 election proved that sanctions deeply affected people’s opinions of the government’s policy of resistance rather than compromise. During the campaign, many of the candidates criticized the resistance approach, which was defended only by current nuclear negotiator Jalili. Even Velayati — who has been regarded as an influential advisor to the supreme leader— criticized Jalili in the televised debate,saying Jalili’s policy harmed Iran and produced zero benefit. To be sure, sanctions weren’t the only reason Rouhani won. Unlike many classic dictatorships such as Iraq under Saddam Hussein, the political power in Iran is not monopolized by one group and person. Tiny holes that open in the election season sometimes provide a chance