Beer meets gin: in the barrel, garden or both

have spread throughout the country, so have barrel-aged gins — and the beers that follow. Darek Bell, co-owner of the Tennessee- and Kentucky-based Corsair Distillery, whose gin barrels have been used by Half Acre Beer of Chicago, points out that brewers’ and distillers’ camaraderie, and a mutual desire to push the limits of their crafts, drive the phenomenon. Corsair’s founders “started off as home-brewers, and so we became interested in making ancient beers and then distilling them and tasting what ancient whiskeys might have tasted like,” Bell says. “A lot of craft brewers and craft distillers are sort of brothers in arms, and a lot of people became interested: people wanting to not just barrel-age with a typical barrel.” In the District, this spirit of mingled historical inquiry and experimentation has found a home at Right Proper Brewing, whose head brewer, Nathan Zeender, recently teamed up with New Columbia Distillers to age his flagship farmhouse ale in barrels that previously held “ginavit,” a hybrid of gin and aquavit. (The beer debuted in March; a second version, fermented in the same barrels with souring bacteria and Brettanomyces yeast, is forthcoming.) Zeender has also collaborated with Megan Parisi, the former head brewer at the Navy Yard brewery Bluejacket, on Gotland, a riff on the mostly forgotten Swedish Gotlandsdricka style, brewed with cherry- and mesquite-smoked malt and fresh juniper branches. “With a gin barrel, you’re referencing, maybe, some of these old beers, because the gin would have that strong juniper flavor,” Zeender says. With future Right Proper beers, he adds, “I’ll work my way through the whole botany textbook.” There’s a good chance that other D.C. breweries will eventually put out gin-influenced beers: Will Durgin dabbled in gin-barrel-aged beers prior to co-founding Atlas Brew Works, and Greg Engert, who oversees the brewing team at Bluejacket, says he hopes to obtain gin barrels from Smooth Ambler Spirits, in West Virginia. “But that’s the thing about gin-barrel beers: 99.99 percent of gins aren’t barrel-aged, so it’s very hard to find those kinds of barrels,” Engert says. In the meantime, Bluejacket is putting out beers that, while not explicitly gin-related, contain similar notes of citrus, herbs and spice: a strong Belgian-style witbier perfumed with lavender, lemon zest and basil, and a Belgian-style tripel brewed with a whole lemon bergamot bush. And if the barrels finally arrive? Maybe Engert will concoct something as inspirational as the Bitter


Four lion cubs pass swim test at National Zoo

Zoo keepers evaluated the four cubs, who had been born March 2, to see if they could safely navigate the moat in their enclosure. Four African lion cubs passed their first swim test Tuesday at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo — a move that puts them a step closer to making their public debut. The three males and one female, now 10 weeks old, kept their heads above water, navigated to the shallow end of the moat and climbed onto dry land, zoo officials said. The cubs were born March 2 to 9-year-old lioness Shera. Zoo officials said the “swim reliability test” is an important milestone for the cubs. “It’s possible that a cub could be playing around and get knocked into the moat by a parent or sibling,” said Kristen Clark, an animal keeper at the Great Cats exhibit. “We want to make sure that if they find themselves in that situation, they know how to pull themselves out of the water and onto shore.” Clark herself was in the water helping to guide the cubs to stay in the 2 1/2-foot-deep shallow area of the moat and out of the deeper, 9-foot end of the moat that is closest to the public viewing area. The Smithsonian's National Zoo's four African lion cubs took a swim test Tuesday. The cubs must prove that they can swim to land and pull themselves out of the water before going on exhibit. All of the cubs passed. Zoo officials said they wanted to keep the cubs toward the shallow end because that’s “where they can actually get out of the water.” There’s no ledge for them to climb out of the moat in the deeper end, according to zoo spokeswoman Jen Zoon. The four cubs are scheduled to go on view to the public in mid-June after they’ve received all their vaccinations. Two other lion cubs at the zoo were born to mother Naba on Jan. 24. The two 15-week-old cubs passed their swim test in April will make their public debut Friday. Zookeepers will decide on a day-to-day basis how much time Naba’s two cubs will spend in the yard, depending on the weather and how they adjust to being outdoors. Luke, the zoo’s 8-year-old male, sired all six cubs. Washingtonians seem to have a special place for wild animals. Zoo officials said they are hoping to have all the lion cubs


Volunteering can count as a workout, too

whole experience to working at a beer festival: “Everyone is looking for something to drink.” Only she gets more buzzed being at an event like this. “I’m going to cry,” she warned me. “It’s 15,000 women of so many shapes and sizes doing what I love.” Amernick had a different kind of prediction. “The storm is coming,” he said. “There are only 10 runners in those first 15 minutes. Then it’s another 15 minutes until you see anybody else.” After that, expect chaos, which is why Amernick thinks it’s important for members of the Capital Striders to be there. “We know how hard these runners are working, and we want to give, not just take,” he added. As promised, the beginning wasn’t so demanding. With our pristine tables ready to go, dozens of us got into a chorus-line formation with one arm extended and fingers pinching the side of a cup. Most of the speedsters dashed on by without grabbing anything. And when one of them did, the group of us cheered as loudly as we had for the woman leading the pack. All I remember next is a blur. For at least two hours, I felt like I didn’t have enough hands. As quickly as I could grab water from our Jenga-esque display, runners were knocking the cups back or dumping them over their heads. We needed to dodge the folks who cut a path too close to the tables, and jump to avoid the splashes when cups were inadvertently chucked straight at us. What I couldn’t miss, however, were the thank-yous. So many of the athletes — who were nine miles into a race! — took the time to give the volunteers compliments. One woman, as I refilled her water bottle, proclaimed, “You’re literally my lifesaver.” So we were still pumped up as the crowd began thinning, and we channeled that energy into cheering on the stragglers. There was hollering and jumping. And then, as soon as the last person passed on by, there was cleaning. Volunteers armed with rakes had kept the path passable. Now we scooped the flattened cups into trash bags, dumped the extra water and collapsed the tables. By 10:30 a.m., we’d reached our finish line. It was an educational experience, said McCarthy, who developed some strategies for the next time she runs a race. She now knows to make a beeline for the


States and cities must act now on climate change

influence. But the trends are scary. The country has warmed, and will continue to heat up, by between 3 and 10 degrees Fahrenheit by the end of the century, depending in part on how much the world does to slash emissions. The country is seeing more hot weather, more torrential rain and higher sea levels. The Northeast and mid-Atlantic regions have been hit with heat waves, severe rain and coastal flooding. Areas around the District are seeing rapid sea-level rise. Other regions, such as the Southwest, are dealing with pressing water scarcity. Not every effect is negative. Farmers in the Midwest benefit from longer growing seasons, and their crops gobble up added CO2. But those effects, the assessment warns, can be offset by weather-related crop failures, not to mention climate-related costs outside the agricultural sector. The country has a lot of threatened infrastructure: Seaports, airports, roads and rails are at increased risk of flooding. The nation will probably need more electricity to reduce the impact of hotter days. Climate change could also encourage the spread of various diseases. The bottom line is that every region of the country must both do its part to reduce carbon emissions and plan to adapt to the effects it is unlikely to avoid. The best way to cut greenhouse gases would be through a national policy that puts a price on carbon dioxide emissions. Experts are all but unanimous on this point, but Congress has yet to respond. Local governments can enforce stronger building codes and various other measures, particularly in the absence of robust federal action. All levels of government, meanwhile, must plan for coming changes. Last week the journal Science published an analysis on the cost-effectiveness of various ideas to harden New York City against flooding. A group of experts found that retrofitting existing buildings to better withstand floods and storms would help in all sorts of future conditions. In middle-of-the-road warming scenarios, they also figured, it would make economic sense to enhance waterside flood barriers around major infrastructure. This is the sort of analysis that communities large and small should be conducting now. Read more on this topic: The Post’s View: A backup plan for climate change The Post’s View: The new IPCC report shows that work to limit climate change must begin now Charles Krauthammer: The myth of ‘settled science’ Kofi Annan: A united call for action on climate change


Dana Milbank: The contradiction of Obama’s climate policy

strategy “accelerates development of fuel sources that can negate the important progress you’ve already made on lowering U.S. carbon pollution, and it undermines U.S. credibility in the international community.” Similar contradictions can be seen in other policy areas. Obama set out to rein in Bush administration overreach but has presided over a record number of drone strikes. He advocates for a more humane immigration system but has deported a record number of illegal immigrants. Often, Obama has been more pragmatic than his conservative critics give him credit for; he has, for example, taken into account the economic and national security benefits of more domestic oil production. But his pragmatism also means he hasn’t advanced his own policies as forcefully as he could, even though he is maligned by conservatives as if he had. Podesta, articulating Obama’s all-of-the-above strategy, told reporters Monday that the administration is “firing on all cylinders when it comes to producing more energy, cleaner energy, and more energy efficiency, as well as combating climate change.” After Podesta’s presentation, a reporter observed that it seemed like “a wholehearted endorsement of fracking” (an increasingly popular method of producing natural gas) and that Obama had similarly lauded the technique. Podesta responded by endorsing natural-gas fracking “as a bridge, if you will, from a world in which there’s still a need for fossil fuels to power our economy.” But Romm, the climate-change expert, says industry has been using the “bridge” argument for three decades. There’s now some evidence that methane leaked in the transport and production of “clean” natural gas could erase the carbon advantage it has over coal. “The science says you’re going to need to leave most of the carbon, the fossil fuels, in the ground if you don’t want to render large parts of the planet uninhabitable,” he argues. Yet the Obama administration proceeds with fracking, new coal production leases and export terminals and drilling in the Arctic — an all-of-the-above strategy that “used to be the Republican mantra.” Now it’s not a mantra. It’s a contradiction. Twitter: @Milbank Read more from Dana Milbank’s archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook. Read more about this topic: The Post’s View: A backup plan for climate change The Post’s View: Climate-change response demands urgency The Post’s View: Methane, friend and foe for climate change The Post’s View: Humans’ complicity in climate change can’t be ignored


Russia’s actions in Ukraine clearly violate the rules of war

Security Agency, NATO intelligence services and the Ukrainian government have also intercepted communications indicating that senior officers from Russia’s Southern Military District control Moscow’s operations in eastern Ukraine, as Secretary of State John F. Kerry discussed in meetings last week. Moscow-led forces have also engaged in an intimidation campaign of assassination and torture against Ukrainian civilians, among the most serious Geneva offenses. Examples include Vladimir Rybak, a local government official in the Donetsk region and a strong supporter of the Ukrainian government, who was kidnapped, tortured and killed. His body was thrown into a river on the outskirts of Slovyansk. In another palpable violation of the Geneva Conventions, which require military operations to be waged in ways designed to minimize collateral damage to noncombatants, Russian forces have staged assaults on police stations and government buildings in ways designed to maximize civilian casualties. This was done to discredit the Ukrainian government and provide a “humanitarian” justification for further Russian intervention. Russian forces in eastern Ukraine have seized hostages, including Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe observers. They have also violated the Geneva Conventions and the customary laws of war by recruiting Ukrainian civilians and police personnel. In two regions of eastern Ukraine, Luhansk and Donetsk, about 50 percent of local police personnel have reportedly switched sides. The Ukrainian Security Service says Russian banks have been transferring funds to make daily payments to pro-Russian Ukrainians. . While the responsibility for Russia’s actions in Ukraine begins with President Vladimir Putin and other Moscow leaders, the Geneva Conventions require that the Russian military be held accountable for its violations of the laws of war. The first step should be for the United States, NATO and the Ukrainian government to release all of the available information about the Russian offenses, including the names of all individuals involved. The second step should be sanctions that would prevent Russian military officers from traveling to any Western countries regardless of the purpose. No equipment sales or technology transfers to the Russian armed forces should be approved, and no Western military should buy Russian weapon systems or equipment. Because military establishments, by their nature, value respect and esprit de corps, ostracizing Russia’s armed forces could have a significant impact on Moscow’s behavior, getting its attention in real and immediate ways. They would also underscore the strong Western commitment to upholding the laws of war in general and the


Russian-backed referendum in Ukraine’s east would trigger fresh sanctions, U.S. says

about the sanctions. Nuland said that the administration was watching the situation in the east “intensely” but that U.S. actions would be more effective if they were coordinated with the still-skittish European Union, whose 28 members are not agreed on the sanctions. “Keeping the cats herded is a challenge for the Europeans,” Nuland said. In a separate news conference, Secretary of State John F. Kerry called the referendum effort “contrived” and “bogus.” “We flatly reject this illegal effort to further divide Ukraine,” Kerry said at a news conference with visiting EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton. Although some committee Democrats were gentler in their questions, senators across the board expressed frustration with the administration’s response to events in eastern Ukraine, where armed, pro-Russian militants have seized dozens of government buildings and engaged in pitched battles with Ukrainian security forces. Nuland repeated what she called the “four pillars” of administration policy that she outlined in a hearing last month — “supporting Ukraine, reassuring NATO allies” in eastern Europe, “creating costs for Russian behavior, and keeping the door open to de-escalation.” So far, the administration has imposed asset freezes and visa bans on 45 Russian individuals close to President Vladimir Putin and 19 companies they control. It has temporarily sent air and naval assets, along with small numbers of troops, to fearful NATO allies close to Russia’s borders and said it would extend previously scheduled military exercises in the region. Europe has imposed its own targeted sanctions and agreed to participate in NATO reinforcements but has been slow to agree to the sectoral sanctions the administration has said are its next step. It was uncertain whether Nuland’s “trigger” comments on the referendum referred to further sanctions against individuals or against economic sectors. “Our resolve must be clear,” said Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), the committee chairman. In addition to steps already taken, he said, “NATO should begin preparations to station forces in Central and Eastern Europe . . . and should consider additional targeted sanctions” against Russia’s giant energy companies, Rosneft and Gazprom. Several committee Republicans compared the administration’s response in Ukraine to its actions in Syria, where they charged it has waited too long to forcefully intervene. “If we continue as we are, it’s going to be just like Syria,” said Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker, the senior Republican on the panel. “We let it get out of hand.” “I don’t understand the


Air Force to award ‘Space Fence’ contract to track orbital debris

pieces of debris, which can whip around the globe as fast as 17,000 miles per hour. At that velocity, even something just a half-inch around would pack a punch like a bowling ball traveling at 300 mph, according to NASA. “It’s absolutely essential,” said Todd Harrison, a defense analyst at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. “It’s the most basic level of defense: You can’t defend against it, if you don’t know what’s there. . . . And we don’t want to be playing Russian roulette with our military space systems.” After an intense competition that has gone on for several years and has already resulted in the awards of millions of dollars for prototypes, the high-stakes bidding has been whittled down to two competitors: defense giants Lockheed Martin and Raytheon. “We believe the space fence is very critical to not only our country but to the world,” said Steve Bruce, a Lockheed vice president. “We do rely on space for almost everything. And without us being able to safely maintain equipment in space it would affect our worldwide economy pretty significantly . . . not to mention national security.” Mike Nachshen, a Raytheon spokesman, said the company “is confident of our solution and looks forward to the Air Force’s decision.” The Air Force plans to build at least one radar system, to be located in the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean. (A possible second system could be located in western Australia). Now, the Defense Department tracks about 20,000 items with other sensors and radars. But the new fence would be able to track as much as 10 times that. It would also be able to identify smaller items, some the size of a golf ball. Armed with the catalogue of items, analysts forecast possible collisions, like the ones dramatized in the film “Gravity.” (But the objects are moving so fast that scientists say there’s no way astronauts could see what’s coming.) And for the approximately 1,100 working satellites — and also the international space station and the Hubble telescope — to get out of the way, the warnings often have to come well in advance. In 2012, the United States issued more than 10,000 warnings of close calls, to U.S. and international satellite owners, helping with 75 “avoidance maneuvers” — satellites expending precious energy to move out of the way. “It’s all predictive,” said Brian Weeden, a


former Air Force officer and a technical adviser for the Secure World Foundation. “They’re predicting where things are going to be three, four days or a week into the future and looking for close approaches.” But there is so much debris whizzing through space that some collisions are inevitable. Knowing that the international space station is going to be pelted by all sorts of garbage — nuts, bolts, even flecks of paint can cause damage — it was designed to be the “most heavily shielded spacecraft ever,” NASA says, that “can survive impact with smaller pieces of debris.” NASA outfits its astronauts with spacesuits that are lined with a layer of material used in bulletproof vests to help protect them from flying projectiles. The space shuttle was also designed to withstand the onslaught, and often returned to Earth with tiny pocks and even cracks in the windows, which were layered three deep for protection. Crashes spawn more junk Space wasn’t always so polluted. But since Sputnik was launched in 1957, the debris has grown. Spent rocket boosters, laden with fuel, have exploded. Defunct satellites left in orbit have decomposed. And the junk begets more junk, as crashes create more debris, which can then cause even more collisions. Much of the debris is attributed to two events, which added thousands of new pieces of garbage to space, severely exacerbating the problem but also raising awareness about the growing clutter. In 2007, China blew up one of its dead weather satellites, and then two years later, an active U.S. communications satellite crashed into a defunct Russian satellite. One answer is to find ways to limit the amount of potential debris that enters space. Some rocket boosters are now being designed to fall back to Earth more quickly, so that within 25 years, they hit the atmosphere and disintegrate. The boosters, which carry excess fuel, now are built with vents, allowing the fuel to escape, which can help prevent the boosters from exploding. Even satellite cameras are now designed in a way to prevent space pollution. “In the old days you’d blow the lens cap away, and some debris would always result from that,” said Dave Baiocchi, a senior engineer at the Rand Corp. “Now they tether the lens cap.” The ultimate answer, of course, is to clean things up. But that’s far more difficult than it might seem, said Johnson-Freese, the Naval


D.C. news in brief

DDOT plans public meeting on South Capitol Street Corridor The D.C. Department of Transportation will have a public meeting on the South Capitol Street Corridor Project from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. next Thursday at Matthews Memorial Baptist Church, Fellowship Hall, 2616 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave. SE. The project focuses on the redevelopment of the city’s southernmost entrance and includes replacement of the Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge. For information, go to www.anacostiawaterfront.org/southcapitolstreetcorridor. To join the project e-mail list, call 202-741-8528 or e-mail ddot.awi@dc.gov. Arts commission seeks works for public art bank The D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities is seeking two- and three-dimensional artwork including prints, drawings, mixed-media compositions, paintings, photographs, ceramics and movable sculptures for its Art Bank 2014, a collection of movable public art. The commission will give equal consideration to representational, conceptual and abstract styles. Video artists and other technological innovators are also encouraged to submit works. Works must be created with archival materials, no larger than 96 inches in any direction and no more than 100 pounds. Submissions are open to all artists who live in or maintain studio space in the Washington region. Preference will be given to District residents. A separate application is available for District galleries to submit on behalf of local artists. To apply, go to dcarts.slideroom.com. The deadline to apply is May 23. Semifinalists will be selected and notified in the middle of next month. For information, e-mail zoma.wallace@dc.gov or ron.humbertson@dc.gov, call 202-724-5613 or go to dcarts@dc.gov. $30,000 grant for District youths’ summer meals The D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation recently received a $30,000 grant to increase access to free meals for District youths through its DC Free Summer Meals Program. The District government estimates that the number of food hardships in the city accounts for 20.8 percent of the population. The grant will be used to increase participation and subsidize meal costs. This is the third year that DPR has been awarded the grant. As a grantee, the department will also receive nutritional education materials from the USDA and in-kind training materials worth $10,000. The gift comes from a larger $2.3 million grant that the National Recreation and Park Association received from the Walmart Foundation to support out-of-school programs in 50 parks and recreation agencies nationwide. For information, go to dpr.dc.gov. — Compiled by Terence McArdle


D.C. Animal Watch

These cases were handled by the Washington Humane Society, which operates its shelter at 7319 Georgia Ave. NW, and the District’s, at 1201 New York Ave. NE. For information or assistance, call 202-723-5730 or go to www.washhumane.org. Cat’s injuries investigated Raccoon makes it own way: Feral cat treated: Bird rescued: Dead poodle exhumed: Dog impounded: Adoptable cat: These cases were handled by the Washington Animal Rescue League, 71 Oglethorpe St. NW. For information, call 202-726-2556 or go to www.warl.org. Surgery recommended: More than meets the eye: Pet restriction: WARL Centennial Gala: — Compiled by Ria Manglapus


Some news sites cracking down on over-the-top comments

development. The Post’s site also has an “Ignore” button that enables a reader to opt not to see comments from a particular user. When things threaten to get stormy, the newspaper simply shuts off comments, as it has with articles about Michelle Obama and convicted spy Chelsea Manning and with news stories involving deaths or serious injuries, such as the Washington Navy Yard shootings in September. Few news organizations can match the comments “curation” resources of the New York Times, which devotes 14 people, including seven full-time staffers, to screen comments on Times articles. The moderators read every comment submitted and approve or reject them based on criteria developed over the past seven years, said Sasha Koren, deputy editor of interactive news. Unlike many news sites, which open comments on dozens of articles each day, the Times limits comments to an average of 18 articles a day. The idea, Koren said, is to “minimize incivility and elevate comments that include commentary and personal observations of some substance. . . . We’re fortunate to have a large number of articulate readers who regularly share their views, their expertise and their experiences with us and with others.” The 30 daily newspapers owned by the McClatchy Co. have approached the problem from a different angle. Last year, 29 of the newspapers — which include the Miami Herald, Kansas City Star and Charlotte Observer — began requiring commenters to register through their Facebook accounts. (The flagship Sacramento Bee is experimenting with a different system). Now, much like traditional letters to the editor, comments come with names, hometowns and even faces and professional affiliations attached. “The wide-open, anonymous comment was the source of a huge amount of complaints from every one of our papers,” said Anders Gyllenhaal, McClatchy’s Washington editor. But since the Facebook registration requirement began, “the worst offenders, those commenters who go from one site to the next, posting strings of over-the-top messages, largely moved on to other sites. . . . It both elevated the conversation and gave a more personal feel to the commenting.” A similar system imposed by the Huffington Post in December proved controversial: A news article announcing the change from anonymous posting to Facebook-verified posts was met with nearly 6,000 comments — many of them taking exception in unpleasant terms. “Some people felt we were limiting their right to free speech,” said Tim McDonald, HuffPost’s director of community.


Sikorsky wins bid to build six presidential helicopters

haul Bakken crude through communities. A separate advisory discourages carriers from using an older tank car known as the DOT-111 tied to some accidents, although the order doesn’t ban their use. ● The former manager of a Georgia peanut-processing plant linked to a 2009 salmonella outbreak that killed nine people plans to enter a new plea, according to a court filing. Samuel Lightsey was to appear in federal court in Albany, Ga., for a change of plea hearing. Lightsey was the manager of Peanut Corporation of America’s plant in Blakely and is accused of scheming to manufacture and ship salmonella-tainted peanuts. The outbreak caused one of the largest recalls in history. The company’s dirty processing plants were blamed for the outbreak that killed nine people and sickened hundreds. ● There’s no need to tell owners of recalled General Motors small cars to stop driving them, according to Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. In a written response to two senators who asked for such an order, Foxx said engineers with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have determined it is not necessary. GM is recalling 2.6 million cars worldwide to fix an ignition-switch problem. ● Productivity declined at a 1.7 percent annual rate, the biggest drop since the first quarter of 2013, the Labor Department said, as harsh winter weather restrained output. The drop in productivity is temporary and Federal Reserve officials are likely to shrug off the spike in labor costs, analysts said. ● AOL said its quarterly profit declined, with its stock price falling 20 percent as it missed earnings expectations because of the cost of restructuring its digital and media entertainment businesses. Net income dropped 64 percent to $9.3 million because of costs related to workforce reduction and a $10 million impairment charge for software at the division that operates its legacy subscription dial-up services. ● Electric car maker Tesla Motors lost $49.8 million in the first quarter as development costs grew compared with a year ago. Tesla’s loss of 40 cents per share contrasts with a profit of 10 cents per share in the January-March period last year. Revenue grew 10 percent to $620.5 million. Tesla produced a record 7,535 Model S sedans and delivered 6,457 to customers. — From news services Coming Today ● All day: Chain store sales. ● 8:30 a.m.: Weekly jobless claims. ● 10 a.m.: Weekly mortgage rates. ● Earnings: CBS, News Corp, Wendy’s.


How soil scientists can top up a wine

and Bonny Doon in California. “This is huge, having them come here,” said Ed Boyce, who with his wife, Sarah O’Herron, owns Black Ankle, near Mount Airy, Md. “I’ve followed their work for years, and if we can get them to work on the East Coast, they could have a big impact.” The Bourguignons worked for the French National Institute for Agricultural Research in the 1980s but went independent in 1990 out of concern that official science cared for Big Agriculture more than for small farmers. The couple say overuse of herbicides and pesticides fostered unhealthy soils and weakened plants against disease, creating a vicious circle of increasing reliance on chemicals. From their private laboratory in Burgundy, called Laboratoire Analyses Microbiologiques Sols, the Bourguignons analyzed soils from around the world to identify common characteristics of healthy soils as well as features unique to each site. Claude estimated that in the 24 years since they started their lab, he and Lydia had examined 12,000 soil pits — holes dug specifically for analysis — in locations around the world. Yet this was their first visit to the Eastern United States, made at the behest of vineyard consultant Lucie Morton, who works with Black Ankle. Their itinerary included stops at other Morton clients, including Sugarloaf Mountain Vineyard in Maryland and Boxwood Winery and Ankida Ridge Vineyards in Virginia. Claude was particularly interested in seeing the ancient soils of the Appalachian and Blue Ridge foothills, among the world’s oldest soils in geological terms. Not too many years ago, East Coast viticulture was known more for its challenging climate, disease pressure and reliance on chemical sprays and less for the quality of its wines. That is changing, and it’s no coincidence that the wines are getting better as growers move toward more environmentally friendly farming techniques. Boxwood and Black Ankle, for example, do not use herbicides. Black Ankle and Ankida Ridge employ biodynamic techniques to promote healthy vines and ward off pests and disease. There was no time for a soil pit at Black Ankle. Boyce welcomed the Bourguignons, Morton and two other Morton clients: Howard Wilson, who grows grapes near Newmarket, Md., and Tom Croghan and Polly Pittman, who own the Vineyards at Dodon in Davidsonville, south of Annapolis. Claude gave a brief tutorial on the importance of cover crops between vine rows to guard against erosion and promote vitality in the soil. Lydia


Further sanctions against Russia are outlined, tied to Ukraine’s presidential election

Cities across eastern Ukraine have been overtaken by pro-Russian protesters in recent weeks, leading the Ukrainian military to respond with force in some areas. The Obama administration said Thursday it is ready to target broad sectors of the Russian economy if Moscow continues what Washington calls a campaign to sow violence and disrupt Ukraine’s presidential election this month. Drawing the clearest picture yet of what the next phase of economic sanctions would entail, administration officials outlined possible penalties on Russia’s defense, high technology, engineering and energy sectors. These sectoral sanctions would be tailored to address particular areas of Russian trade vulnerability, Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland told the House Foreign Affairs Committee. “The idea here is to use a scalpel rather than a hammer,” Nuland said, by focusing on trade and investment categories “where Russia needs us far more than we need Russia.” She emphasized that the United States and Europe are united on the need for a new round of sanctions if the Ukrainian presidential election is undermined by Russia. Europe does far more business with Russia than does the United States, and some countries are very dependent on Russian natural gas, so economic sanctions could have far greater repercussions there. If Russian President Vladimir Putin “disrupts these elections, sectoral sanctions will be triggered,” Nuland said. A month ago, she added, it would have taken a full-scale Russian invasion of eastern Ukraine to trigger such a move. “We now see that he doesn’t need to come over the border to upset” the presidential election to replace former president Viktor Yanukovich, who fled to Russia after he was ousted by parliament in February following violent clashes in Kiev, Nuland said. Putin said Wednesday Nuland and Assistant Treasury Secretary Daniel L. Glaser left little doubt that more sanctions are likely. If approved, the new penalties would be the fifth round in a step-by-step attempt to increase economic pressure on Moscow. Putin has shrugged off the sanctions imposed so far despite some measurable effects on the Russian economy. Glaser told the committee that the Russian stock market has declined more than 13 percent and the ruble has fallen nearly 8 percent since the beginning of the year. The next phase of sanctions would be far tougher, however, even though it would not go as far as some of Putin’s critics want. Instead of blacklisting most Russian banks or banning the purchase


Barrel rolls out the bourbon on Capitol Hill

Barrel, which replaced the 18th Amendment on Capitol Hll in April, offers more than 100 different whiskeys. (Fritz Hahn/The Washington Post) Capitol Hill’s bar scene is changing rapidly. With some barflies still reeling from the 2013 “revamp” of the Hawk & Dove, this year the Lil Pub, Remington’s and the Pour House have vanished from Pennsylvania Avenue SE. Then, in April, a “Southern bourbon bar” called Barrel replaced the shuttered 18th Amendment on the same strip. Those who remember the dark, divey 18th Amendment — a hangout for LSU alumni and Hill sports teams that closed last summer — won’t recognize the place. Where 18th Amendment sported huge mirrors and chrome, Barrel is stripped down to brick walls and exposed boards. Tables are arranged in the new bay windows, and a wide wooden bar snakes the length of the building. Cheap domestic drafts have been swapped for a mix of 16 local and big-name American craft beers, which start at $6. Bottles of flavored vodka have been replaced by shelves holding 50 bourbons, 20 ryes and about 20 Scotches and Tennessee whiskeys. Some sell for $8; rarer pours fetch $70 to $80. Matt Weiss, a partner in Barrel and the owner of the Hill’s Union Pub and 201 Bar, says the inspiration for his new venture came from places he visited with friends in Charleston, S.C. “I fell in love with what they’re doing there,” he explains, pointing to “inventive cocktails, bars making their own ingredients, the great food . . . but also the laidback nature of the places. They’re very welcoming.” Last year, Weiss approached 18th Amendment owners Mike Schuster and Mark Mernard about bringing the bourbon bar concept to the building that held their bar, which needed a reboot. (As Weiss politely says, 18th Amendment “had run its course.”) New bars on this stretch of Pennsylvania Avenue were going after a more upscale crowd — see Beuchert’s Saloon, Hank’s on the Hill, the new Sona Creamery and Wine Bar — and Weiss thought it would be a prime location for his spot, “but more Capitol Hill and neighborhoody.” Weiss and partners have created a comfortable space with plenty of good drinks, even if Barrel’s focus on whiskey and craft beer doesn’t put much daylight between itself and such competitors as Southern Efficiency (Shaw), Bourbon (Glover Park and Adams Morgan) and Dry 85 (Annapolis). Barrel’s prices are typical:


Conservatives should hedge their bets in their approach to climate change

The May 7 front-page article “Study: Climate risks growing” concerned a thorough, multifaceted and conclusive study that provides undeniable evidence of the risks and damage resulting from climate change. But, the article noted, “conservative critics . . . called it a political document aimed at . . . regulating major polluters. . . . In their opinion, regulation costs jobs.” Conservatives have effectively sold their constituents on the idea that there is a choice between spending to meet stringent regulatory requirements and spending on workers’ wages. While it may be true that regulation will cost jobs in certain sectors, regulation also can create substantial challenges. Those challenges require innovation, and innovation means job growth. The conservative critics continue to defend the status quo while thumbing their noses at new investment opportunities. Ultimately, the losers will be their descendants, who may be stuck with the catastrophic costs — including job loss — associated with extreme weather events, rising sea levels and climate-change-linked food shortages. John M. Schwab, Bethesda ● That conservatives should criticize a federal assessment of the extent and existence of climate change fits in with their traditional skepticism of all new ideas. With long-term effects such as climate change, however, they may do better by hedging their skepticism with positive actions that may help avert a possible disaster. Hedging is an acknowledgment that skepticism may be misplaced. Dealing with climate change requires sustained efforts over long periods of time, and that effort also could necessitate sacrifices and inconveniences. The conservative wait-and-see approach leaves little room for meaningful response that could change outcomes. Prakash C. Rao, Fairfax


What’s behind the WHO’s emergency declaration on the spread of wild polio

THE WORD “emergency” was emphasized in the headlines about the World Health Organization’s May 5 declaration on the spread of wild poliovirus, and rightly so. The high season for the spread of the virus is approaching, and the WHO emergency measures are aimed at deterring transmission of the virus and protecting the hard-won gains of recent years. Actually, the polio situation this year has been promising in some places. In Nigeria, where the virus has been endemic, only two cases have been reported this year, following declines last year; in Afghanistan there has been some spillover from Pakistan but only one case of the endemic virus in more than a year. Dr. Bruce Aylward, assistant director-general of WHO for polio, said that in both countries “we’re at a level of control there that we’ve never seen” before. In Syria, where a civil war has raised concerns about the difficulty of carrying out vaccination campaigns, the last case was in January. The dark heart of the polio scourge lies in Pakistan. According to Dr. Aylward, of the 74 cases of polio due to the wild poliovirus this year, 59 have been reported from Pakistan and within Pakistan; 46 of those 59 were from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas; and 40 of those from just one agency or semi-autonomous administrative unit. By contrast, no other country this year has reported more than Afghanistan’s four cases, and three of those came from Pakistan. What caused the WHO to sound the alarm — this is only the second such emergency declared; the first was for the H1N1 influenza pandemic in 2011 — is the fear that travelers are spreading the wild poliovirus, threatening to export it to nations where it does not now exist. Many populations are at high risk of infection due to fragile states, war and broken immunization systems. The WHO estimates that about 60 percent of the cases last year were due to international travel. Although the virus mainly strikes young people, there was evidence that adult travelers were contributing to the spread. The target of the global polio eradication program has been to stop transmission by this year, but Dr. Aylward said Pakistan is the one country that is really “off track.” Attacks on polio vaccination workers there have stymied vaccination campaigns, opening a door to the highly contagious disease. The government has made some efforts in Peshawar to beef


Snapchat, in settlement with FTC, agrees to increased privacy controls

its court filings highlighted links between rocket-engine maker NPO Energomash and Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, who heads the country’s defense and space industries and is subject to U.S. sanctions. Braden, who brought up the sanctions issue, asked for the opinions of the Treasury, State and Commerce departments regarding the rocket sales. The Treasury Department’s sanctions unit said transactions with NPO Energomash “currently do not directly or indirectly contravene” sanctions against Rogozin. The Justice Department and the Boeing-Lockheed Martin Corp. joint venture, called United Launch Alliance, asked Braden to lift the injunction. The information Braden received makes clear that the relationship “complies with the sanctions against Russia,” Jessica Rye, a spokeswoman for ULA, said in an e-mailed statement. Emily Shanklin, a SpaceX spokeswoman, didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment. — Bloomberg News Also in Business ● Apple is orchestrating a $3.2 billion acquisition of Beats Electronics, the headphone maker and music-streaming distributor founded by hip-hop star Dr. Dre and record producer Jimmy Iovine, according to a published report. Citing unnamed people familiar with the negotiations, the Financial Times said Apple could announce the deal as early as next week. The report warned that the talks could still collapse if the two sides can’t agree on some details. Both Apple and Beats Electronics declined to comment. ● Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, the company that will be formed from the combination of Fiat and Chrysler Group, will be based in London, chief executive Sergio Marchionne said. “The board, my office and some of my functions need to operate out of London,” Marchionne said. “That doesn’t mean that I’ll give up operational responsibilities in the U.S.” Fiat, which bought full control of Chrysler in January, had said it will have its main stock listing in New York and will be registered in the Netherlands with a fiscal domicile in Britain for tax purposes. Marchionne hadn’t commented previously about a specific city for the headquarters. ● LightSquared can’t exit bankruptcy under a plan designed by controlling shareholder Philip Falcone, a judge said, calling it a “sophisticated shell game” that was unfair to the firm’s one-time suitor, Dish Network Chairman Charles Ergen. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Shelley Chapman gave the parties until May 27 to come up with a new plan before she imposes a mediator. LightSquared had sought to put Ergen’s $1 billion debt claim behind those of other creditors as it reorganized


Carroll County board votes to resume sectarian prayers

religious leaders.” Whether more voters agree with Drury or with Warner will help decide the future of the board’s five seats this year. All the commissioners were new in 2010, and four are running for reelection, with a primary scheduled for next month. The local residents who brought the suit included a Catholic man and a self-described deist, who says he believes in a higher power but does not adhere to a specific denomination. “Both of them were made to feel unwelcome by virtue of the prayer that was delivered,” said Dana Denbrow, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, who also are represented by the American Humanist Association, which advocates for church-state separation and the rights of athiests. The association is also a plaintiff in the case. Neil Ridgely, the deist, is a retired county employee who worked variously as zoning commissioner, sustainability director and the manager of landscaping and forest conservation. Sitting in his living room in Reistertown, which is decorated with stuffed blackbirds and antique tools, Ridgely described the county’s recent evolution. Carroll County had long been conservative, he said, but while his liberal politics had sometimes clashed with past boards, their members had always worked with him. However, with the election of the current board in 2010 it swung far to the right, he said. “I was sort of invited to leave,” he said, “because I have an environmental background.” He continued to attend board meetings, he said, even as the board entertained speakers who denied climate change and spoke out against smart growth. But when the commissioners started offering sectarian prayers, he stopped attending. “I personally felt extremely excluded,” he said, adding, “I think they just want to be seen praying. . . . We have a large fundamentalist community here, and I think they feel it will enhance their standing if they can be seen to be prayerful.” Rothschild rejected the suggestion. “I don’t think any of us would ever base a decision as serious as how we pray on election concerns — that would not be Christ-like behavior,” he said. “The plaintiffs are trying to keep it alive, but I believe this issue has been resolved.” Those pursuing the suit say the case in Carroll County is different from the case in Greece, N.Y., which went to the Supreme Court. “The sectarian prayers being said here are being said by the elected officials themselves, whereas


South Sudan peace deal hailed, but will it hold?

NAIROBI — The truce signed by President Salva Kiir and former vice president Riek Machar late Friday in neighboring Ethiopia calls for a cessation of hostilities within 24 hours and unhindered humanitarian access. Although it is the second peace deal of the nearly five-month conflict, the two leaders did not attend talks that led to the first cease-fire in January. This time they stood face to face, a hopeful sign one week after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met with Kiir in South Sudan’s capital and spoke to Machar by phone. Days later, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon flew in, adding to the pressure. The warfare has thrown an extremely poor country up against the edges of severe hunger. An analysis released Saturday by the World Food Program, Save the Children and the South Sudan government found food needs intensifying to “alarming” levels in areas isolated by conflict, particularly several counties in Unity state. The fighting, which has often pitted Kiir’s ethnic Dinka against Machar’s ethnic Nuer, has killed thousands of people, often in what a new U.N. report this week said were gross violations of human rights “on a massive scale.” More than 1.3 million people have fled their homes, and aid officials fear that mass hunger will set in later this year. “Big news from Addis,” Toby Lanzer, the top U.N. aid official in South Sudan said on Twitter on Saturday. “Calling on both parties to facilitate deliveries of emergency relief to people in need now: open roads for truck convoys & rivers for barges.” John Prendergast, co-founder of the Washington-based Enough Project, which does advocacy work in eastern and central Africa, said, “We will know very quickly whether the parties are serious, as they are right now poised to attack each other in a number of volatile locations on the front lines of the war.”


Pain and gain: An Alabama clinic stands out amid data on Medicare payments

Texas Tech University in anesthesiology. After a pain management fellowship, he returned to his native Huntsville to start practicing medicine. He also started two nightclubs, the Velvet Underground and the Stockyard Saloon, and a limousine company, along with several other businesses. He is no longer involved in those ventures, Bogard said. In 2000, he formed the Alabama Pain Center. The center catered to patients who felt they were out of options, Willis said. “They’re worn out,” he said. “We do something different here.” The center treated many patients with more traditional methods, such as epidurals, spinal procedures and pain pills. But the practice increasingly became known for the pain pump, manufactured by Medtronic, and business took off. Willis added three satellite clinics and had planned to keep growing. He brought in a sleep doctor, a family practitioner, a physical therapist, four counselors and three psychologists. “It’s not about the money,” he said. “God provides.” ‘A last resort’ The pain pump was pioneered in the 1980s, although then it was used mainly for cancer patients managing intense pain, according to Timothy Deer, a Charleston, W.Va., physician who has held leadership positions with several pain management societies. Over the past two decades, its popularity has grown as doctors have expanded its use to non-cancer patients afflicted by other types of pain. “Remember, this is a last resort,” Deer said. “They’ve already failed everything when they try this.” There are around 2,500 physicians in the United States who treat patients with pain pumps, he said. Most pain-pump doctors are neurosurgeons, anesthesiologists or physiatrists, who are physicians specializing in rehabilitative medicine. Karen Knight At the time, the center was implanting them to treat patients with chronic, non-cancer pain. According to her research, the pumps were overused and the risks — including infections and inflammation — outweighed the benefits. As a result, the center curtailed the procedure for non-cancer patients, she said. “There are better ways to manage pain,” said Knight, who does not use pain-pump implants in her private orthopedic practice. Currently, the Alabama Pain Center treats about 325 out of 1,200 patients with the pump. Few of them are cancer patients. When the Medicare data was released last month, Willis said he knew the millions in reimbursements would be negatively perceived. He said he wants the public to know that he has no control over how much insurance companies pay to reimburse a


National Symphony Orchestra’s ‘New Moves: symphony + dance’ mini-festival

The New Ballet Ensemble, based in Memphis. (Patricia Possel) With a changing culture and shrinking audience base, orchestras around the country have been throwing all manner of ideas up against a wall to see whether any stick. Some companies have turned to video screens and live-feed program notes streamed to smartphones. Concerts of video-game scores are now almost as common as “A Night at the Movies.” The Colorado Symphony recently made headlines and got a few jokes on late-night TV for its planned “cannabis-friendly” concerts (now under legal threat by Denver officials). The success of these efforts remains ephemeral. The National Symphony Orchestra has tossed together a number of ideas in its “New Moves: symphony + dance” mini-festival, which continued Saturday evening with a program on the same template as Thursday’s and which will be repeated Tuesday: a first half of Americana (here, Gershwin and Barber), plus a modern concerto featuring an NSO musician (here, timpanist Jauvon Gilliam in a work by James Oliverio); then a dance troupe joining after intermission (here, the New Ballet Ensemble from Memphis) performing in front of the orchestra on an expanded stage area. The single dance number that ended the evening was simply dazzling, eliciting an audience response that dwarfed all that had gone before. “Harlem,” by Katie Smythe, was set to a score of Ellington in a new genre called “Memphis Jookin,” whose vocabulary is a dizzying mishmash of Cab Calloway, Alvin Ailey and hip-hop. The nine dancers shimmied, levitated and jolted their way through eye-popping solos and ensemble work, bringing a cheering crowd to its feet. Would that the NSO had found a way to elicit some of that energy in the rest of the program. The “Porgy and Bess” medley seemed to sheepishly recall bygone days when people actually hummed along to Broadway melodies; the Barber ballet music “Souvenirs” was more vital, but the dancers’ absence was palpable; and the timpani concerto, harsh and dissonant, belonged on another program altogether. Gilliam showed off some “new moves” of his own, displaying impressive quadra-dexterity as he navigated his eight drums plus tuning pedals, but the artistic achievement of the piece was too cerebral for most in the audience, to judge from the applause. Conductor Thomas Wilkins had a huge load to shoulder: unfamiliar music all evening long in an unending stream of meter changes. He and the musicians communicated little, all focusing on


The Download: Novavax has laid the groundwork for MERS vaccine, executives say

Executives at Gaitherburg-based Novavax say the company has laid the groundwork for a vaccine to combat Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, or MERS, should the number of people infected with the virus continue to rise as some public health officials fear. In the April 13 issue of the medical journal Vaccine, researchers from the company and the University of Maryland School of Medicine published data showing they were able to block infection in laboratory tests. The vaccine is still considered highly experimental and would need additional safety and efficacy tests before it could be used in humans. But researchers contend their findings are a promising development for health officials. “We’ve been talking with a lot of different people who are interested in what’s going on here. No decision has been made about going forward,” said Greg Glenn, senior vice president of research and development at Novavax. Matthew Frieman “If it continues to rise as it has been, this type of vaccine, even though it’s experimental, may be fast-tracked all the way,” Frieman said. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention reports the first case of MERS emerged in 2012, and most cases have been contained to countries on the Arabian Peninsula. The first confirmed case in a traveler to the United States was reported last week. Symptoms of the virus include fever, cough and shortness of breath, according to the CDC. About 30 percent of those with the illness die from it. Bits & bytes Bethesda-based WealthEngine, a data analytics company that helps marketers to learn about the wealth and lifestyles of customers, raised $7 million from investors last week. Novak Biddle Venture Partners Making your summer reading list? Aneesh Chopra, the nation’s first chief technology officer, last week released his book, “Innovative State: How New Technologies Can Transform Government.” Chopra, who now works for under-the-radar upstart Hunch Analytics, argues in the 299-page book that modern technology offers the government ways to operate more efficiently and tackle persistent problems in new ways .


How IBM is trying to commercialize watson

Advisor, which crunches patient records and medical literature to suggest treatment options to physicians. It presents options in order of confidence in the treatment’s success — say, 80 percent for chemotherapy, 70 percent for drug therapy, also taking into account a patient’s preference. It might ask a physician to perform follow-up tests before the software offers suggestions. The system uses roughly the same technology that allowed Watson to churn through an encyclopedia of knowledge before buzzing in on “Jeopardy!” After the Jeopardy! show aired in 2011, IBM started receiving calls from doctors interested in using some form of Watson to process medical data, Mike Rhodin, who heads the Watson group, said in an interivew. “Healthcare wasn’t the first [application] I thought of. What was interesting was the doctors actually saw something in it that intrigued them.” Over the past couple of years, IBM has been hawking Watson in Washington. The company recently announced new investments in its federal health-care practice, marketing Watson health IT software to potential customers such as the Defense Department. The company also named its first chief medical information officer for the federal practice. Last year, several members of the Watson team demonstrated its medical applications to lawmakers on Capitol Hill, primarily to educate them about the system, according to the company. Still in its early stages, Watson has yet to make a dent in the local market. IBM only has a handful of Watson pilots running — at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, and the M.D. Anderson Cancer Treatment Center in Houston, for instance. The region’s earliest adopters will likely be government agencies applying Watson in health care, Anne Altman, IBM’s general manager for federal and government industries said in an e-mail. The Department of Veterans Affairs and the Defense Department, for instance, have had electronic health records for about 20 years, but are today “inundated with data and in need of new approaches to help make fact-based decisions more quickly.” Eventually, agencies could use Watson to connect directly with citizens, Altman suggested. “Think of the possibilities of using Watson to improve citizen satisfaction and create something like a ‘411 for government’ that helps people navigate through the maze of federal agencies to quickly find the best, most accurate answers.” IBM is still searching for a viable business model for Watson’s health applications — some, such as Sloan Kettering, partner with IBM


Jackson Diehl: Putin is acting defensively in Ukraine

Russia’s dissidents — one that the Obama administration has inexplicably shunned. A law passed by Congress in 2012, known as the Magnitsky Act, mandates sanctions against Russian officials who are implicated in human rights violations. After resisting passage of the bill, the administration applied a visa ban and asset freeze to a small number of officials last year. But in December, the White House set aside a second list of up to 20 of Putin’s enforcers that had been prepared by the State and Treasury departments. Congress was told at the time that the administration didn’t want to provoke Putin just before U.S. athletes headed to Sochi for the Winter Olympics. But with the Olympics long over and Ukraine under attack, Obama still keeps the human rights list on ice. That timidity has provoked senators from both parties, including Maryland Democrat Ben Cardin, who sponsored the Magnitsky Act. Cardin and three other senators, including Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) and ranking Republican Bob Corker (Tenn.), used a Magnitsky Act provision to petition the administration to add two Russian officials to the sanctions list. The administration is required by the law to respond by next Monday. Tolonnikova and Alyokhina came to Washington to lobby for a positive response. They appeared with Cardin at a Capitol Hill news conference and touted their own list of suspecsts suitable for sanctions. Many are connected to the suppression two years ago last week of the “Bolotnaya protest,” an opposition march in Moscow on the eve of Putin’s presidential inauguration that was attacked by security forces; eight protestors were subsequently sentenced to prison terms. One Pussy Riot sanctions target is also on the senators’ list, as well as the State--Treasury list frozen by the White House: Alexander Bastrykin, Putin’s head prosecutor. Would sanctions on these police, prosecutors and judges have any impact? The Pussy Rioters think so. Bastrykin, they point out, has property in the Czech Republic. “Why shouldn’t he be forced to take his vacations in Crimea instead of Prague?” asked Alyokhina. Putin himself demonstrated his sensitivity to Western pressure by releasing a number of political prisoners before the Sochi games, including these young hipsters. They do look the part; but there’s a lot of quiet courage behind Alyokhina’s outsize blue glasses and Tolonnikova’s green-and-red painted nails. Asked if they planned to return to Moscow after their latest anti-Putin tour, they simply


Robert Samuelson: On climate change, we have no solution

projects global emissions will increase almost 50 percent. About 80 percent of global energy comes from fossil fuels (coal, oil, natural gas), which are also the major sources of carbon dioxide emissions. At present, we have no practical replacement for this energy. No sane government will sacrifice its economy today — by dramatically curtailing fossil-fuel use — for the uncertain benefits of less global warming sometime in the foggy future. (The focus of the U.S. global warming report on the present seems aimed at bridging this gap.) Worse, almost all the projected increases in global emissions come from poorer countries, half from China alone. By contrast, U.S. emissions (and those of most rich nations) are projected to stay stable over the three decades. Economic growth is slowing; energy efficiency is increasing; and, in Japan and some European countries, populations are declining. Because poor countries understandably won’t abandon their efforts to relieve poverty, any further U.S. emissions cuts would probably be offset by gains in China and elsewhere. This dims their political and environmental appeal. The only real hope of disarming these well-known conflicts is new technology. As yet, no magical fix has emerged. Though increasing, solar and wind power still represent a tiny share of global energy. “Carbon capture and storage” — pumping carbon dioxide emissions from power plants underground — has been discussed for years. So far, it’s not commercially viable. Amid the rhetoric, there’s enormous uncertainty about how much warming will occur, what changes (for good or ill) it will bring and how easily (or not) we can adapt. My own oft-stated preference is for policies that might dampen global warming but would also address other problems. The most obvious idea is a carbon tax to help finance government and stimulate energy-saving technologies and new forms of non-carbon energy. If these technologies went global, the gap between rich and poor countries would narrow. I do not claim this would be popular or that the desired technologies would materialize. But it’s our best bet and would have the added virtue of being honest. Read more from Robert Samuelson’s archive. Read more about this topic: Charles Krauthammer: The myth of ‘settled science’ The Post’s View: The new IPCC report shows that work to limit climate change must begin now The Post’s View: How to make a global climate change deal Kofi Annan: A united call for action on climate change


Capitol Hill death ruled homicide; man attacked last week on 8th Street SE

The death of the man who was beaten and robbed on Capitol Hill last week has been ruled a homicide. Carlton Coltrane, 60, of Southeast Washington, died as a result of blunt force trauma, according to a determination made by the office of the District’s chief medical examiner, D.C. police said. They said the medical examiner’s office determined the manner of death to be homicide. Coltrane was attacked early Tuesday and died Friday afternoon. The attack occurred inside and outside a convenience store in the 400 block of Eighth Street SE, police said. The attack happened about two blocks from the entrance to the Eastern Market Metro station. It is at the north end of the Barracks Row strip, which is lined with restaurants and taverns. Police said they are trying to find two people whom they describe as “persons of interest.” Police currently offer a reward of up to $25,000 to anyone providing information which leads to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons wanted for any homicide committed in the District of Columbia. Anyone with information about this case is asked to call the police at (202) 727-9099. Additionally, anonymous information may be submitted to the department’s text tip line by text messaging 50411. Get updates on your area delivered via e-mail


The Devil beware Father Gabriele Amorth

Nearly 200 delegates — most of them priests and nuns — from more than two dozen countries attend a Vatican-sponsored exorcism conference in Rome. Although it is difficult to measure, Vatican officials talk about a resurgence of mystical rites in the Catholic church, including exorcisms. by Anthony Faiola ROME — The Rev. Gabriele Amorth, 89, peers up with goldfish eyes through his Hubble-telescope glasses. “Enter,” says the diminutive priest. I obey. The pope’s actions are changing the rules at the Vatican. The room is stark, outfitted with a hospital bed and numerous images of Jesus and the Virgin Mary. Then there are the mementos, which Amorth began collecting after he was appointed an exorcist back in the 1980s. He has conducted thousands of spiritual cleansings since then, keeping just a few of the bits and bobs he likes to call “the stuff that gets spewed from mouths.” Nails. Keys. Chains. Plastic figurines. (Read: A modern pope gets old school on the Devil) “What seems to be spit turns out to be a nail,” he said with a seen-it-all tone. “I don’t give it much importance.” His services, though in great demand, are not always needed. “Most times there’s no actual diabolical presence, and my job lies in suggesting [to] those that come to me to live a life of faith and prayer,” he said. “And this is enough to assuage the fears of those afraid of the Devil’s ills.” But other times, he said, “there really is a diabolical influence.” Twice, Amorth said, he saw possessed victims levitate. “We try to keep the person in the armchair,” he said, adding that demons “do it just to show off.” An hour later, he invites me and an Italian colleague to witness an exorcism ourselves. His exorcism room is a retrofitted, white-tiled kitchen on the first floor of the residence, decorated with more images of Jesus and Mary. A large statue of the Virgin, to which Amorth’s eyes constantly dart, sits in one corner of the room. When we enter, he is donning a black cassock draped in a purple stole vestment and is consoling a 40-something Neapolitan housewife. Her hair is well-coiffed, and her sparkly sneakers and Bulgari sunglasses say soccer mom more than demonic host. In fact, the woman, who gives her name only as Antonella, seems perfectly normal at first. That will change. Unlike the speedy rituals shown in


Second case of MERS in U.S. is health-care worker in Saudi Arabia, visiting family here

Particles of the Middle East respiratory syndrome, MERS, coronavirus that emerged in 2012 are seen in a colorized transmission electron micrograph from the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, NIAID. (Reuters/NIAID) A second case of the deadly respiratory virus known as Middle East respiratory syndrome has emerged in the United States, once again involving a health-care worker who lives in Saudi Arabia and was visiting his family in the United States, health officials said Monday. The 44-year-old man is in isolation at Dr. P. Phillips Hospital in Orlando, where he arrived on May 8 showing symptoms of the virus. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed he had the virus Sunday night, agency Director Thomas Frieden said in a teleconference Monday. “The patient is in good condition and is improving,” said Antonio Crespo, one of the hospital’s infectious-disease specialists. “We are taking every precaution but believe the risk of transmission from this patient is very low since his symptoms were mild and he was not coughing when he arrived at the hospital.” The man left Jiddah, Saudi Arabia, on May 1, and flew to London, then on to Boston, Atlanta and Orlando, where he is visiting family. U.S. health officials are attempting to contact more than 500 people in 20 states who may have been exposed to the patient, and international authorities are doing the same overseas. Officials said the virus does not appear to be transmitted by casual contact but instead requires close contact for transmission. “Our experience with MERS so far suggests that the risk to the general public is extremely low,” Frieden said. Sixteen personnel at the Orlando hospital are being monitored for symptoms, and family members of the man are staying at home, a hospital spokeswoman said. MERS, which was first reported in Saudi Arabia in 2012, can cause severe acute respiratory illness with fever, cough and shortness of breath. More than 30 percent of patients who have symptoms of MERS have died. There is no vaccine or specific antiviral treatment for MERS, which comes from the same family of viruses as the one that caused severe acute respiratory syndrome. SARS killed almost 800 people around the world in 2003. As of Monday, there were 538 MERS cases in at least 12 countries that have been confirmed and reported to the World Health Organization, including 145 deaths. Of those, Saudi Arabia had 450 cases


Robert D. Stuart Jr. , Quaker Oats chief and founder of America First, dies at 98

1966 to 1981, Mr. Stuart oversaw the introduction of instant oatmeal and Quaker Chewy Granola Bars. He also continued the Chicago-based company’s growth beyond oatmeal. The 1969 purchase of Fisher-Price Toy Co. of East Aurora, N.Y., was Quaker Oats’s first non-food acquisition since 1942, when it had expanded into dog food by buying Chappel Brothers Inc., maker of Ken-L Ration. Quaker Oats turned Fisher-Price into an industry leader through national television advertising. Explaining the acquisition of the toymaker, Mr. Stuart told the New York Times, “The back of the cereal box on the breakfast table just seemed to be a logical fit between the cereal and toy businesses.” Fisher-Price sales rose to $300 million in 1980 from $25 million in 1966, according to the Times. By 1990, though, the toy unit was being blamed for earnings declines, and Quaker Oats spun it off in 1991. It has been a unit of Mattel Inc. since 1993. Mr. Stuart was U.S. ambassador to Norway from 1984 to 1989, appointed by former president Ronald Reagan. Politically active throughout his life, Stuart was an Illinois Republican Party committeeman from 1964 to 1972 and served on the national Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission in 1991 and 1993. His first leap into politics made history. At 24, he became founding national director of the America First Committee, the antiwar movement begun in 1940 at Yale University in New Haven, Conn., where he was attending law school. Other Yale students involved in its formation included Gerald R. Ford, the future president; R. Sargent Shriver Jr., who would become founding director of the Peace Corps; and Potter Stewart, a future Supreme Court justice. In its first story on the movement in November 1940, the Times quoted Mr. Stuart as saying that the push for U.S. intervention against German aggression “seems to come from those who want to go and save England. We are taking a stand for unity in defense and peace.” Though the America First campaign went down in history associated with the anti-Semitism of aviator Charles Lindbergh — “The three most important groups who have been pressing this country toward war are the British, the Jewish and the Roosevelt administration,” he said in a September 1941 speech — Mr. Stuart said its founding core consisted of Democrats and Republicans, Jews and non-Jews who shared reasoned viewpoints against war. “Most of us in our generation who


Michael Gerson: Americans’ aversion to science carries a high price

dozen countries, including the United States. Other, more measured criticisms ring truer. Some scientists have displayed an artificial certainty on some matters that seems to cross into advocacy. Others assume that the only way to deal with greenhouse gas emissions is a strict, global regulatory regime — an economic and political judgment that has nothing to do with their actual expertise. But none of these objections relates to the scientific question: Is a 40 percent increase in the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide since the Industrial Revolution driving disruptive warming? And further: Can this process be slowed, allowing societies and ecosystems more time to adapt? Our intuitions are useless here. The only possible answers come from science. And for non-scientists, this requires a modicum of trust in the scientific enterprise. Even adjusting for the possibility of untoward advocacy, it seems clear that higher concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere have produced a modest amount of warming and are likely to produce more. This, in turn, is likely to produce higher sea levels, coastal flooding, shifting fisheries, ocean acidification, water shortages, lower crop yields and vanishing ecosystems. The consequences will vary by region but are likely to be more severe in poorer nations. New York City can adapt to a rising ocean better than Bangladesh. This scientific consensus raises difficult political questions. Is some grand global bargain on carbon-dioxide emissions, including China and India, even a possibility? Might it be more practical to make polluters pay — perhaps with a revenue-neutral carbon tax, fully rebated to taxpayers — thereby encouraging the development of new technologies that limit future carbon emissions? And I’d add: How can you oppose GMOs that resist pests and drought while pretending to help poor nations cope with climate disruption? But perhaps the most difficult question is this: How can you make serious political decisions based on scientific likelihoods when politics thrives on the feeding of ideological certainties? Read more from Michael Gerson’s archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook Read more about this issue: Eugene Robinson: No more excuses on climate change Charles Krauthammer: The myth of ‘settled science’ The Post’s View: A backup plan for climate change Robert J. Samuelson: We have no solution for climate change yet The Post’s View: States and cities should act now on climate change Kofi Annan: A united call for action on climate change


World Digest: May 12, 2014

South SUDAN Presidential election to be postponed South Sudan’s government said Monday that a presidential election scheduled for next year would be postponed for two or three years to tackle the issue of reconciliation among its people. South Sudan was plunged into violence in December when President Salva Kiir accused his former deputy, Riek Machar, of trying to oust him in a coup. Ethnic-based violence has raged since, leaving thousands dead. The two met in Ethiopia on Friday and signed a peace deal, but violence again flared over the weekend. No new fighting was reported Monday, a military spokesman said. Meanwhile, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called for a special tribunal for South Sudan, saying there are grounds to believe that crimes against humanity have been committed in the ongoing conflict. — Associated Press AFGHANISTAN 21 killed as Taliban begins spring fighting The Taliban unleashed a wave of attacks that killed 21 people in Afghanistan, making a show of strength to start the spring fighting season. The annual surge in violence poses a new test for Afghan security forces, who for the first time will face the onslaught largely on their own as international combat forces prepare to withdraw. On Monday, three insurgents attacked a provincial Justice Ministry building in Jalalabad. They fatally shot two police guards and stormed the building. Security forces rushed to the scene, and a gun battle ensued. Five civilians were killed. In other attacks, insurgents killed nine police officers at a checkpoint in Helmand province. A rocket struck a market in Parwan province, killing two civilians. Militants attacked police checkpoints on the outskirts of Ghazni, killing two women and a police officer. — Associated Press Exit polls signal that Modi may be India’s next leader: Suspected U.S. strike kills 6 al-Qaeda militants in Yemen 15 dead in Congo soccer stadium stampede: Court orders Turkey to pay Cyprus over invasion: At least 14 killed as migrant boat sinks: Israeli arrested on U.S. request over Iran arms trade — From news services


University of Maryland offers “relativity camp” to teach teens about physics

A kind of relativity camp, a program targeting girls who want to know more about such matters as quantum mechanics and Einstein’s theories, will be held this summer at the University of Maryland. This sources of this journey into the abstruse can be traced back to 1990 when two Maryland faculty members lamented the lack of a way to interest girls in physics. Things took off. An application was submitted the National Science Foundation for funding and, according to the university, the result was the Maryland physics department’s Summer Girls Outreach Program. According to program officials, the first sessions were designed for eighth-graders who would enter the ninth grade in the fall. Since the ninth-grade program started, more than 1,000 students have attended, with some becoming engineers, doctors, computer specialist and, yes, physicists. That program is focused on the more sedate topics of classical physics. But its popularity was so great, officials said, that the two-week daytime sessions were extended to students entering the 11th or 12th grades. The advanced program includes the cutting-edge topics familiar to fans of science fiction and fantasy. Besides relativity and quantum mechanics, the physics department said, the topcis include antimatter, quantum computing and more. According to an announcement for the program, students will be exposed to topics not likely to be part of the offerings of standard high-school classes. These will range from Einstein’s “thought experiments” to current applications in code-breaking. Although the program had its origins in a desire to introduce more young women to the fascinations of physics, it is not restricted to girls, program officials said. Boys are invited to apply.


2 hospital employees have flu-like symptoms after contact with second MERS case in Fla.

A man wearing a mask leads his camels to a market in the village of al-Thamama. People handling camels should wear masks and gloves to prevent the spreading of MERS. Saudi Arabia issued the warning for the first time. (Faisal Al Nasser/Reuters) Health officials are contacting people who were in the reception area and others in the emergency department the same time as the patient May 8. On Monday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the Florida case days after a health-care worker who was the first confirmed U.S. case of MERS was released from an Indiana hospital Friday. Health officials said the Indiana man no longer had symptoms, tested negative for the virus and posed no threat to the community. Because the virus does not appear to be transmitted by casual contact but instead requires close contact, health officials stressed that people who were in the waiting rooms of the two Florida medical facilities at the same time as the patient have a low risk of contacting the disease. Antonio Crespo, one of Dr. P. Phillips Hospital’s infectious-disease specialists who is treating the patient, said the man was not coughing when he accompanied the family member May 5, so there is less risk of transmission. The patient left Jiddah, Saudi Arabia, on May 1 and flew to London, then to Boston, Atlanta and Orlando, where he is visiting family. U.S. health officials are attempting to contact more than 500 people in 20 states who may have been exposed. International authorities are doing the same. The man worked in a hospital in Jiddah that was treating MERS cases. MERS, first reported in Saudi Arabia in 2012, can cause severe acute respiratory illness with fever, coughing and shortness of breath. More than 30 percent of patients who have symptoms of MERS have died. There is no vaccine or specific antiviral treatment for MERS, which comes from the same family of viruses as the one that caused severe acute respiratory syndrome. SARS killed almost 800 people worldwide in 2003. As of Monday, there were 538 MERS cases in at least 12 countries that have been confirmed and reported to the World Health Organization, including 145 deaths. Of those, Saudi Arabia had 450 cases and 112 deaths, officials said. Related: Second case of MERS surfaces First MERS victim has fully recovered CDC confirms first case of deadly MERS virus in Indiana


Sallie Mae to pay $97 million for unlawfully charging troops on student loans

said the violations were “processing errors” that prevented members of the military from receiving the full “benefits they deserve.” He added: “Over the past several years, we have implemented changes in our procedures and training programs to prevent these mistakes from happening again.” As part of the Justice settlement, Navient and Sallie Mae must request that all three major credit bureaus delete black marks on service members related to the interest-rate overcharges and improper legal judgments. The companies must also simplify the process for service members to prove their eligibility under the SCRA statute. Instead of having military personnel submit reams of documents to establish their eligibility for better loan rates, companies can make the determination through the Defense Department database. The FDIC launched a probe into Sallie Mae after uncovering violations of the SCRA statute during an examination of the company’s banking unit in 2012. About the same time, Justice began looking into complaints from troops received by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. “I have been concerned for some time about the way that military personnel are treated by their student loan servicers,” said Holly Petraeus, assistant director in the office of service member affairs at the CFPB. “Sallie Mae gave service members the runaround and denied them the interest-rate reduction required by law. This behavior is...particularly troubling from a company that benefits so generously from federal contracts.” The case against Sallie Mae marks the first time the government has sued a student lender for violating the rights of military personnel. In the past five years, however, Justice has hit nearly all of the nation’s big banks, including Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Citigroup, Ally Financial and JPMorgan Chase, with enforcement actions for wrongfully foreclosing on active-duty military. As a result of the Justice investigation into Sallie Mae, the Department of Education is reviewing whether Navient’s actions against military personnel are in violation of its contract to service federal student loans. The company collects payments on approximately $166 billion worth of federal loans for the Education Department. “Once that review is complete, we will use the information to determine what appropriate actions — if any — should be taken against Sallie Mae’s contract with the federal government,” Education Secretary Arne Duncan said at Tuesday’s news conference. Duncan did not rule out terminating the department’s contract with Navient, an agreement that is set to expire in June. He said that


Ruth Marcus: Rubio’s changing climate

believe . . . himself. As the Miami Herald recounted, “As the leader of the Florida House in 2008, Rubio presided over a unanimous vote in favor of directing the state Department of Environmental Protection to develop ground rules for companies to limit their carbon emissions.” The following year, Rubio described a cap-and-trade system as “inevitable” and pronounced himself “in favor of giving the Department of Environmental Protection a mandate that they go out and design a cap-and-trade or a carbon tax program.” According to the Herald, Rubio “hired a leading climate change expert” — eek, a scientist! — “from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to advise lawmakers.” Rubio claimed the following year that he was actually engineering a plan to stop cap-and-trade, but that was hardly a credible explanation for a convenient flip-flop as he ran in the Republican primary against then-Gov. Charlie Crist, a cap-and-trade advocate. Since then, Rubio has moved from disclaiming scientific expertise to deriding it. “I’m not a scientist. I’m not qualified to make that decision,” Rubio told the Herald in December 2009 when asked whether climate change was the result of human activity. Climate change, by the way, isn’t the only issue on which Rubio punted to scientists: When GQ asked in 2012 how old the Earth is, Rubio demurred, “I’m not a scientist, man.” Which is it, senator? You don’t know as much as these scientists or you don’t believe them? Rubio’s shift sadly mirrors his party’s. As Paul Waldman recounted on The Post’s Plum Line blog, in 2012, the leading Republican presidential candidates had “embarrassing flirtations with climate realism.” The 2016 crowd, by contrast, ranges from skepticism to blanket denial. “The last 15 years, there has been no recorded warming,” asserted Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. “The Earth’s 4.5 billion years old, and you’re going to say that we had four hurricanes and so that proves a theory?” offered Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul. “Climate is always evolving,” Rubio told ABC. Sadly, it’s not the only thing. Read more from Ruth Marcus’s archive, follow her on Twitter or subscribe to her updates on Facebook. Read more about this issue: Robert J. Samuelson: On climate change, we have no solution yet Charles Krauthammer: The myth of ‘settled science’ The Post’s View: The new IPCC report shows that work to limit climate change must begin now Kofi Annan: A united call for action on climate change


9 things you need to know about MERS

Health officials around the world are paying more attention to a recent increase in cases of a deadly respiratory virus known as MERS. Middle East Respiratory Syndrome first emerged in the Middle East about two years ago. Since then, more than 500 cases have been confirmed and reported to the World Health Organization, including at least 145 deaths. Most of the cases have been in Saudi Arabia. Two cases have been confirmed in the United States. Middle East respiratory syndrome particles. (Reuters/NIAID) The MERS coronavirus emerged in 2012. (Reuters/NIAID) Both were in healthcare workers, living and working at hospitals in Saudi Arabia. One man in Indiana has recovered and been released. Another patient is in a Florida hospital. Here are some questions and answers about MERS. Now that there are confirmed cases in the United States, should I be worried? Health officials say people aren’t likely to get infected by casual contact. The people who have gotten sick so far are healthcare workers or family members who were in close contact with the infected person. The people most at-risk people are healthcare workers. About one-fifth of reported cases worldwide have been in that group. Are these two cases in the United States linked? No. But both are healthcare personnel living in Saudi Arabia and working in hospitals that were treating MERS cases. What are the symptoms of MERS? MERS was first reported in Saudi Arabia in 2012. Most people infected with the virus developed severe respiratory illness with symptoms of fever, cough, and shortness of breath. The World Health Organization is holding an emergency meeting on the MERS virus as more cases are reported. There is no vaccine or treatment against the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome. As of Monday there were 538 confirmed cases in at least 12 countries. 145 deaths have been reported. How deadly is it? More than 30 percent of people with MERS have died. Most of the people who died had an underlying medical condition. Some infected people had mild symptoms or no symptoms at all. The median age of confirmed cases is 51. Has anyone who came into contact with the two U.S. patients also gotten sick? No one else has gotten sick In Florida, up to 100 people may have come into contact with the 44-year-old patient, including 20 hospital personnel at two hospitals. Two employees of Dr. P. Phillips Hospital in Orlando where


9 things you need to know about MERS

United States linked? No. But both are healthcare personnel living in Saudi Arabia and working in hospitals that were treating MERS cases. What are the symptoms of MERS? MERS was first reported in Saudi Arabia in 2012. Most people infected with the virus developed severe respiratory illness with symptoms of fever, cough, and shortness of breath. The World Health Organization is holding an emergency meeting on the MERS virus as more cases are reported. There is no vaccine or treatment against the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome. As of Monday there were 538 confirmed cases in at least 12 countries. 145 deaths have been reported. How deadly is it? More than 30 percent of people with MERS have died. Most of the people who died had an underlying medical condition. Some infected people had mild symptoms or no symptoms at all. The median age of confirmed cases is 51. Has anyone who came into contact with the two U.S. patients also gotten sick? No one else has gotten sick In Florida, up to 100 people may have come into contact with the 44-year-old patient, including 20 hospital personnel at two hospitals. Two employees of Dr. P. Phillips Hospital in Orlando where the patient was admitted May 8 have flu-like symptoms and are awaiting tests to see if they have the virus. Officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are trying to contact more than 500 people in 20 states who may have been exposed to the patient and international authorities are doing the same overseas. The man left Jiddah, Saudi Arabia, on May 1, and flew to London, then on to Boston, Atlanta and Orlando, where he is visiting family. Is it safe to go to the theme parks in Orlando? Yes. The patient didn’t feel well after he arrived in Orlando and mostly stayed home with his family. Doctors said he did “not do the usual tourist activities.” What is the incubation time for the virus? What’s the treatment? The incubation period of the virus — the time between exposure and development of symptoms — is about five days. Most patients who have had clear-cut exposure to an infected person have become sick within five days. Health officials are using 14 days as the window, to be on the safe side. There is no vaccine or specific treatment. A man wears a surgical mask while working with camels.


Prince George’s County Animal Watch

PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY These were among cases received recently by the Prince George’s County Animal Management Division. Call 301-780-7200 for directions to the county animal shelter, hours of operation and adoption and licensing procedures. The department Web site is www.princegeorgespets4us.com. Shaggy stray dog: Thin dog with scratches: Injured baby squirrel: Raccoon in fireplace: Annapolis pet adoption event: Upper Marlboro low-cost animal clinic: The Partnership for Animal Welfare — Compiled by Jillian S. Jarrett


MERS is serious but is not yet a global health emergency, WHO says

gloves and masks, would have an immediate impact on reducing the number of cases, he said. The virus, which causes Middle East respiratory syndrome, or MERS, infections in people, has been confirmed in 571 cases reported to the WHO, including 171 deaths. There are two confirmed cases in the United States. One patient in Indiana has recovered. The second patient is hospitalized in Orlando. Two hospital employees who were exposed to the Florida patient have developed flulike symptoms, and one has been hospitalized. Hospital officials said Wednesday that the two symptomatic employees have tested negative for the virus. They are awaiting test results on 18 other health-care workers. Meanwhile, the patient with MERS remains in isolation but no longer has a fever. MERS, which was first reported in Saudi Arabia in 2012, can cause severe acute respiratory illness with fever, cough and shortness of breath. More than 30 percent of known patients who have symptoms of MERS have died. The virus is from the same family of viruses as SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, which killed almost 800 people worldwide after it first appeared in China in 2002. In Saudi Arabia, where most of the cases have occurred and where millions of people from around the world will make pilgrimages during Ramadan in July and the hajj in October, there appears to be little sense of urgency about the disease. Just since Saturday, 19 patients have died, bringing the total number of MERS victims since September 2012 to 152. A few people have begun wearing masks in the streets and at airports to try to protect themselves against the disease, but with the method of transmission of MERS still uncertain, prevention efforts have focused on camels. The virus has been found in camels in Qatar, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, and in a bat in Saudi Arabia. A kingdom-wide awareness campaign launched Tuesday warned people to avoid raw camel meat and liver and unpasteurized camel milk. People were advised to thoroughly cook the camel meat they do consume. In a separate initiative, schools were to be provided with toilet paper and soap in an effort to heighten awareness of the disease among students. A report in the Arab News newspaper this week suggested that the threat of MERS had been exaggerated by the media. “Media blamed for panic over deadly virus,” read the headline. Most of those who caught the


Saudi Arabia. A kingdom-wide awareness campaign launched Tuesday warned people to avoid raw camel meat and liver and unpasteurized camel milk. People were advised to thoroughly cook the camel meat they do consume. In a separate initiative, schools were to be provided with toilet paper and soap in an effort to heighten awareness of the disease among students. A report in the Arab News newspaper this week suggested that the threat of MERS had been exaggerated by the media. “Media blamed for panic over deadly virus,” read the headline. Most of those who caught the disease “had recklessly come into contact with other people with the flu,” the story quoted a doctor as saying. A recovered MERS patient told the newspaper that it is untrue that all patients who catch MERS die and that she recovered after spending three weeks in a hospital and drinking honey and ginger syrup. During the news conference in Geneva on Wednesday, Fukuda responded to repeated questions about why the committee has not declared MERS a global health emergency. “Calling for a global emergency is a major act. . . . It means you will raise anxieties,” he said. “You have to have really solid information this is a global emergency.” Last week, the WHO declared the spread of polio to several countries to be a global health emergency. It was only the second time the WHO has made such an announcement since rules allowing such designations were adopted by the organization in 2007. Fukuda said the two diseases “present two different kinds of dilemmas for the world.” The recent spread of polio is an international public health emergency threatening to undermine the decades-long global effort to beat the disease, he said. “We are not in the middle of eradication of MERS,” Fukuda said. The appearance of the virus is more like that of some other viruses that have arisen over the past decade, he said. Some of those, such as the H7N9 bird-flu virus, have the potential to cause a global outbreak because influenza viruses constantly change and can spread easily. But others have “receded into the background,” he said. For MERS, he said, experts do not know yet “which direction [it is] going to go in.” Liz Sly in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, contributed to this report. Related: 9 things you need to know about MERS Second case of MERS surfaces in the U.S.