Datasets:

jhu-clsp

/

news21-instructions

like 0

bf63b3ae-7720-11e1-b191-2d5f686e7ff4_0

Afghan forces fatally shoot 3 NATO troops

Correction: KABUL — The gunman in the incident in the south started shooting at a group of NATO troops at the entrance of the Provincial Reconstruction Team headquarters in Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand province, said Daud Ahmadi, a spokesman for the governor. A NATO statement said the gunman was killed when some of the foreign forces returned fire. It provided no other details, including the nationalities of the slain service members, but the British Defense Ministry confirmed that they were both British. Ahmadi said the gunman was a soldier in the Afghan army. A NATO military spokesman said officials were investigating. In the east, a member of an Afghan Local Police force fatally shot a NATO service member as a group of soldiers approached a checkpoint manned by the militia, the military said in a statement. The incident appeared to mark the first time a member of an ALP group opened fire on foreign troops. A NATO spokesman said Monday night that he could not say whether the ALP gunman was detained or shot. So-called “green on blue” shootings have become a rising threat this year, following a series of missteps that have created distrust between Afghan forces and their international coalition partners. Among the most significant was last month’s burning of Korans by U.S. troops. The episode sparked violent riots and retaliatory attacks, and prompted the Taliban to call on Afghan security forces to open fire on foreign troops. Since May 2007, at least 80 NATO troops have been killed by Afghan security forces, according to military news releases and statistics provided by the Defense Department to Congress last month. Ten of those killings were committed since the Koran burning. At a Pentagon press briefing Monday, Gen. John Allen, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, said, “In most cases the relationship [between Afghan and NATO forces] is very strong. They know each other well.” But, he added, “We have taken steps necessary on our side to protect ourselves with respect to, in fact, sleeping arrangements, internal defenses associated with those small bases in which we operate, the posture of our forces, to have someone always overwatching our forces.” The death of the British troops is likely to further erode support for the war. Publicly, British Prime Minister David Cameron has sounded his determination to stay the course in Afghanistan. But the growing death toll is feeding a

127db588-7435-11e1-862c-76c4e0e725cd_4

NASA probe offers new view of Mercury: an alien world right in our back yard

their calculations had been muddied by the minute pressure of sunlight pushing on Messenger. “It slowed us down, but it’s a fantastic find,” said Zuber. Before Messenger, some of Mercury’s weirdness was already known: A day creeps by in six months, but a year zooms by in less than three months. A tin can would melt at noon, but deathly cold descends at night, the wispy atmosphere too thin to trap heat. Asking the right questions Mercury remained unexplored for so long due to its promixity to the sun, which makes it hard to inspect and harder to reach. Its mere existence baffled the ancient Greeks, who thought it was two planets. Seen just before sunrise, it was http://history.nasa.gov/SP-424/ch1.htm#1">Apollo; just after sunset, it was called Hermes (the winged messenger of the gods, whom the Romans called Mercury). The Hubble Space Telescope has never inspected Mercury, as it might be blinded in the attempt. Sending spacecraft to Mercury also tempts fate, as the sun’s enormous gravity threatens to suck interlopers toward a fiery death. So when NASA’s Mariner 10 craft flew by in 1974 and 1975, it couldn’t linger. In the intervening decades, two advances made the Messenger mission possible. First, space scientist Chen-wan Yen figured out that a long, spiraling trip from Earth could slow a probe enough to park it in Mercury’s orbit. That’s why Messenger’s voyage took almost seven years and covered twice the distance to Pluto (formerly the smallest planet but no longer considered a planet). Messenger flew by Earth once, Venus twice and Mercury three times, shedding speed at each encounter. The second advance was a sun shield made from high-tech ceramic fabric; the six-foot by eight-foot rectangle protects the sensitive scientific instruments. But to project scientist Ralph McNutt of the Applied Physics Laboratory, the decades of waiting were well worth it. NASA recently extended Messenger’s mission, which was supposed to last just a year, so more data will be pouring in. “Mercury was seen as sort of a backwater,” McNutt said. “It looked like the moon; it looked like this dead planet. Why would we want to go there? It turns out we didn’t even know the right questions to ask.” More of the latest health and science news: Surgery can help fight diabetes, studies find Power plants to face first greenhouse gas limits James Cameron makes solo visit to the bottom of the sea

1c288dd8-483e-11e1-b211-f163d35bb8f4_1

A headache is usually a minor ailment, but it can be a sign of a serious problem

related to menstruation might benefit from taking preventive medication just before and during their period. Good choices include ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin IB and their generic cousins) and the prescription drug sumatriptan (Imitrex and generic). ●Make simple changes. Cutting down on alcohol, eating less and controlling stress with meditation, relaxation or other means can help prevent headaches. If the problem stems from a lack of sleep, take steps to get six to eight hours each night. Go to bed and wake up around the same time, and don’t watch TV or use a computer in bed. If you snore, ask your doctor whether you should be evaluated for sleep apnea. ●Consider nondrug therapies. In a 2011 study, researchers in Sweden randomly assigned 91 migraine sufferers to one of three programs. One group exercised on stationary bicycles for 40 minutes three times a week for three months. Another practiced relaxation in a weekly class and at home every day. The third group took daily doses of topiramate (Topamax and generic), an anti-epileptic medication that’s used at lower doses to prevent migraines. Researchers found that exercise and relaxation reduced the frequency of migraines and the need for painkillers as effectively as topiramate, and without side effects. Preventive drugs Beta blockers such as propranolol (Inderal and generic) and timolol (Blocadren and generic) are often the best first choice because they’re inexpensive and have a long safety record. Tricyclic antidepressants such as amitriptyline (Elavil and generic) are also an option. The anti-epileptics topiramate and valproate (Depakote and generic) are other choices. But there’s no evidence that they’re more effective than beta blockers or tricyclics, and the drugs can cause side effects including hair loss, nausea, tremors, vertigo and, in some instances, organ damage, suicidal thoughts and tongue-swelling. The Food and Drug Administration recently approved Botox injections for migraine prevention in adults experiencing 15 or more headaches a month for three months or more. The costly treatment requires about 30 to 40 injections into the forehead, temples and neck every three months. But some clinical trials have found that the injections work no better than a placebo. And one small study suggested that injections might work better for certain types of migraines, those centered behind an eye or those that cause gripping pain rather than an explosive type of pain. Several dietary supplements reduced the frequency or severity of migraines in small randomized placebo-controlled trials. Those

71722d2e-7801-11e1-862c-76c4e0e725cd_0

Apple faces Australian legal challenge over 4G label

Apple’s iPad is in faces some legal troubles in Australia where an agency has taken its objections over the tablet’s 4G label to court. According to a statement the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission released Tuesday, the agency will seek orders against Apple in federal court this week for “alleged contraventions” of Australian Consumer Law. The controversy stems from Apple’s promotion of the new iPad as a tablet with “WiFi + 4G.” The agency said that it alleges this label is “misleading” because the iPad cannot connect to the 4G networks in Australia. On Apple’s Web site, the company has a footnote that reads: “4G LTE is supported only on AT&T and Verizon networks in the U.S., and on Bell, Rogers and Telus networks in Canada.” CNET notes that the Australian version of the Apple store notes that the iPad is not compatible with Australian 4G networks. “The iPad with Wi-Fi + 4G model can roam worldwide on fast GSM/UMTS networks, including HSPA, HSPA+, and DC-HSDPA. When you travel internationally, you can use a micro-SIM card from a local carrier,” the site says. Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The agency is seeking “final orders including injunctions, pecuniary penalties, corrective advertising and refunds” for consumers who have been affected. Related stories: Why heat issue won’t slow down sales of new Apple iPad Main complaints about the new iPad New iPad users slowed by expensive 4G network rates

7c0830d6-753a-11e1-862c-76c4e0e725cd_0

4,000 days of war in Afghanistan? The U.S. nears its limit

Rachel Maddow is the host of MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show” and author of “Drift: The Unmooring of American Military Power.” In this 11th year of the longest armed conflict in U.S. history, it is starting to feel as if we may be near the constraining edge of an American war’s natural life span. The massive and lethal U.S. military is theoretically capable of sustaining itself in war almost indefinitely, as long as it is given the resources and the orders to do so. But as we close in on the 4,000-day mark ahead of our own fall elections, the inertia of the war in Afghanistan seems to be giving way to concerns about the costs of sustaining it and the need to find the best way to end it. Why now? Our wars’ life expectancy has been bolstered over the past generation or so by a series of changes that eased the small-d democratic tensions that an American war abroad could cause here at home. The financial cost of war was for years taken off the books and treated as a fiscal asterisk, an “emergency supplemental” to the real and debated budget. The ranks of the deployed were bolstered with employees of private firms, obfuscating the cost associated with their services, the lines of accountability for their actions, and their number and individual humanity when they became casualties. For years, even images of U.S. military casualties were shielded from public view. Three months before 9/11, Americans were given a multitrillion-dollar tax cut. After the attacks and our invasion of Afghanistan, not only were the cuts not rescinded but we gave ourselves another giant round of tax cuts less than two years later, just weeks after we’d shipped troops off to a simultaneous war in Iraq. While military families have endured multiple year-long combat deployments over the past decade, we civilians have endured something approaching the opposite of sacrifice on their behalf. In politics, the Congress that got up on its hind legs after Vietnam, and insisted on seizing its constitutional prerogative to decide when the country went to war, dropped down to all fours and mostly ceded that authority back to the presidency. The decade-old congressional authorization to wage war in Afghanistan directs the military to go after those who attacked us on Sept. 11. Worthy as the current Afghan mission may be, the multibillion-dollar, multiyear effort to train

e2cddecc-72cb-11e1-ab86-1f92b6642693_0

The D.C. stamp on beer cocktails

At Boundary Road, H Street’s new Brooklyn-esque den of exposed brick and farm-to-table hanger steaks, the Five & Dime cocktail begins with a squeeze-bottle squirt of translucent goo. When I ordered one recently, a bartender shook the egg white with artisanal root beer liqueur and maple syrup, strained the mixture into a glass, added malty Otter Creek porter and placed it on the bar. My neighbor eyed it as if afraid it might scuttle into his lap. “Beer and egg,” he said. But it tasted great: a smooth, sweet, herbal riff on a root beer float, with a milkshake-like head and lingering flavors of coffee and roasted barley. It was also a prime example of how Washington-area bartenders have been increasingly blurring the line between craft beer and craft cocktails, turning out drinks with enough creativity and variety to please the beer-obsessed while wooing the beer-indifferent. Beer cocktails aren’t new to the District. Anchored by the late great Brickskeller, establishments including Pizzeria Paradiso and Belga Cafe began serving them years ago. Since then, such concoctions have grown into darlings of the national mixology scene, served at places such as Chicago’s the Aviary and New York’s wd-50. Locally, they’ve experienced a similar ascent, appearing not only on more menus, but on swankier ones. At Rogue 24, Bryan Tetorakis has been experimenting with beer cocktails since December. For his Cherry Coffee Stout, he mixes a cherry-and-coffee-flavored syrup with coffee-infused brandy and Duchesse de Bourgogne, a Flemish sour ale that contributes tart cherry notes. Another cocktail, the Trippel Dubbel, grew out of his desire to accent the citrus and coriander notes in Saxo, a blond ale from Belgium’s Brasserie Caracole. Tetorakis adds the beer to tangerine or orange-kumquat syrup, lemon juice, rye whiskey and Gran Classico Bitter, a liqueur made with bitter orange peel and rhubarb. Pomegranate Fizz, a beer cocktail from Todd Thrasher of the Eat Good Food Group in Alexandria. (Eat Good Food Group) “It’s got the bitterness,” he says. “You can tell that there’s whiskey in there, and it’s also smooth and creamy. It’s approachable to a lot of people.” Key word: “approachable.” Although some beer lovers recoil at the thought of other ingredients tainting their sacred substance, some take delight in the fact that the beer cocktail often functions as beerdom’s Trojan horse. It’s a means of slipping the goods into enemy territory. Such is the case at the

4873b3d4-6faf-11e1-83d2-d0fd5d8e0952_0

Young beekeeper enjoys honey, helps tend hives and isn’t afraid of being stung

Sam Shapiro, 8, wears a veil to protect himself when he tends the hives at his home in Washington. (NIKKI KAHN/THE WASHINGTON POST) Bzzzzzz. Bzzzzzzzzzzz. Through his white beekeeper’s veil, 8-year-old Sam Shapiro looks down at the delicate black and yellow worker bee that just landed on his chest. “She won’t hurt me,” Sam says. “A lot of kids go psycho when a bee gets near them. But if I just stand still, she’ll think I’m a statue.” Wearing a veil when working with bees is like wearing a helmet when riding your bike. Sam has been stung two or three times in his career as a beekeeper. According to Sam, bees make great pets. They are fun to take care of, and they make food for their owners. Sam has spent his entire life with bees in his family. When he was 2, he would stand at the window and watch his dad (experienced urban beekeeper Milt Shapiro) checking the hives in the side yard of their home in Northwest Washington. When he was 3, he and his dad would sit outside in the summer, admiring the worker bees as they delivered pollen (carried on their back legs “like little puff balls,” Sam says) to the hive. Sam Shapiro holds a comb on which his family’s bees have deposited honey. After it is removed from the hive, the comb goes into a bucket, and the honey slowly drops off. (NIKKI KAHN/THE WASHINGTON POST) For the past five years, Sam has helped his dad with beekeeping chores throughout the year. Every spring and summer, they look inside their two hives to make sure the queen is healthy and laying eggs. They also check for disease and make sure the bees (as many as 140,000 of them) have enough pollen and nectar stored to survive. As winter approaches and the temperature drops, the bees begin to cluster. Huddled together, they vibrate their flight muscles to keep the hive warm until spring. Each summer, Sam and his dad harvest the honey. “When my dad takes a comb out of the hive,” the Lafayette Elementary third-grader says, “it’s covered with honey. You don’t want to put it on the ground because leaves would stick to it, so my job is to hold it.” Next, they squeeze the comb into a clean bucket where it will drip honey through a filter for a few

614ff78c-6faf-11e1-83d2-d0fd5d8e0952_0

Facts about bees

Bees cluster around a honeycomb seen here in an urban beehive tended by Sam Shapiro, 8, and his dad Milt Shapiro at their home in Washington, D.C. (Nikki Kahn/THE WASHINGTON POST) Facts about bees Here are four things Sam thinks kids should know about bees: 1 2 Bees sting only if they think their hive is being threatened or if someone is bothering them. Instead of saying “excuse me,” bees sting. 3 If a bee is flying around, ignore her and she’ll fly on by. 4 Bees care about their families. Worker bees collect pollen and nectar, turn it into honey and store it in the combs, kind of like stocking their pantry. For more information about bees and beekeeping, visit www.montgomerycountybeekeepers.com.

fb3a4aca-737c-11e1-9ab6-c7562e04789c_0

Beer Madness, Round 3: Defending champ stays strong

The judges of the Washington Post's annual Beer Madness, which takes place at Church Key, write down their comments for each beer they taste and judge to determine which one is the best. (Astrid Riecken/FOR THE WASHINGTON POST) Hometown fans, take heart: You’ve still got a dog in this year’s Beer Madness fight, a tasting competition of 32 all-American craft brews. In a dustup to determine supremacy in the Hop category, DC Brau’s the Public eked out a 5-4 victory over the bigger, burlier Dogfish Head Burton Baton. Burton Baton is a blend of an imperial IPA and an English-style old ale, which spends a month mellowing in an oaken tank. Its complexity, body and high alcohol (10 percent by volume) might have worked against it. At this stage, we simply craved a lighter, snappier beer. The Burton Baton was likened to “cognac” (mixologist Gina Chersevani), “beer candy” (Komi sommelier Kathryn Bangs) and “caramelized bananas and rum with a squeeze of lime” (Palena pastry chef Agnes Chin). The Public drew such comments as “grapefruit zest” (Chin), “classic IPA” (reader/judge Halley Fehner) and “hint of sage” (reader/judge Samantha Polinik). In the Crisp category, Sword Swallower trounced Fordham Helles, 8-1. This might have been an apples-vs.-oranges matchup: Sword Swallower is almost 2 percentage points higher in alcohol and much more aggressively hopped (the brewing company’s Web site calls it “IPA style”). “Pine nose, herbal, slightly nutty” was Cork Wine Bar executive chef Rob Weland’s description. Polinik was almost apologetic about choosing Sword Swallower, calling Fordham Helles “a really great, crisp pilsner.” Defending champion Flying Fish Exit 4 once more dominated the Fruit & Spice category, handily beating Saison Rue, 7-2. Fehner commented that drinking Exit 4 was “like sipping a bouquet.” Other descriptors included “fresh grass,” “forest floor,” “tropical fruit.” Saison Rue was perhaps our most polarizing beer. “I do not like this one, it tastes like what compost must taste like,” wrote Polinik, perhaps picking up some earthiness from a secondary fermentation with the wild yeast Brettanomyces. “Love it . . . very few beers could compete with [it],” asserted Bangs. Maui Coconut Porter Commentary was fading at this point. The normally loquacious Bangs simply wrote “yes” next to the coconut porter, and “no” aside Stone’s black IPA. Next week:

d7749948-77f9-11e1-b191-2d5f686e7ff4_2

Japan has lots of plutonium on hand, little way to use it

Studies. The 9/11 Commission reported that al-Qaeda had attempted to acquire nuclear materials, and other terrorist groups such as Aum Shinrikyo — the Japanese cult group that staged a sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system in 1995 — have also reportedly tried to obtain radioactive materials. According to the International Panel on Fissile Materials, there are about 500 metric tons of plutonium in the world. (There are also about 1,440 tons of highly enriched uranium.) Japan has more plutonium on its hands than any other non-weapons state, according to a 2011 report from the panel. Three-quarters of Japan’s plutonium is stored in other countries, but Japan holds nearly 10 tons, enough for more than 1,000 weapons, in various storage facilities and nuclear reactors across the country. It obtained all that plutonium because it had one of the world’s most ambitious non-weapons nuclear programs. Japan not only wanted to use nuclear reactors to supply half of its energy but also wanted to reprocess the plutonium from the spent fuel produced by those reactors so the material could be used in the reactors again. Most countries choose simply to store their spent fuel — a less expensive option, but one that invites its own controversies and considerations about handling of nuclear waste. Japan, even before the Fukushima accident, had faced numerous technical problems that slowed or delayed its plans to reuse the separated plutonium as reactor fuel. The country drafted its first plans for reprocessing plutonium several decades ago, when most scientists believed that the planet had a thin supply of mineable uranium, which is fed into reactors. Separated plutonium represented an alternative source of fuel. But scientists have learned that the world supply of mineable uranium is much more abundant than thought, undermining any justification for stockpiling plutonium. “These were visions that made sense 30 to 40 years ago, when we thought there was little uranium in the world,” said Laura Holgate, an Obama senior adviser on weapons of mass destruction and nuclear threats. “But now we know that the shortage concept is antiquated. We also know more about how vulnerable separated plutonium can be from a terrorist point of view.” More world news coverage: - U.N. envoy says Syria has accepted plan to end violent crackdown - India’s college system in ‘deep crisis’ - Militant leader reported killed in Afghanistan - Read more headlines from around the world

b1530064-7854-11e1-883d-f22537a8ca20_0

Improving your financial literacy is a good investment

Survey after survey continues to conclude that consumers don’t have a good grasp of personal finance issues. There are good intentions behind these surveys. Their purpose is to find out how to create financial literacy programs to help people understand the importance of saving and investing, the devastating results of taking on too much debt, and how to avoid becoming a victim of fraud. In fact, April has been designated as National Financial Literacy Month. Last year, in a proclamation about setting some time aside to learn more about your finances, President Obama said: “As we recover from the worst economic crisis in generations, it is more important than ever to be knowledgeable about the consequences of our financial decisions. . . . The financial crisis was fueled by a lack of responsibility from Wall Street to Washington. It devastated ordinary Americans, many of whom were caught by hidden fees and penalties or saddled with loans they could not afford. Preventing a recurrence will require both better behavior and oversight on Wall Street and more informed decision-making on Main Street and in homes across our country.” In other words, they — the bankers — did some awful things, but individuals have to ultimately take personal responsibility for their financial decisions. Do you have any plans to observe National Financial Literacy Month? If not, I suggest you go to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Web site at www.ConsumerFinance.gov and take the agency up on its “ask us anything” new feature. It’s an interactive online tool that allows you to submit financial questions, from credit cards to debt collection to reverse mortgages. CFPB Director Richard Cordray said that “Ask CFPB” was designed to provide consumers “answers in plain language so they can make sound financial decisions.” Far too often, the people who are most readily available to answer your financial questions have an agenda because they want to sell you a service or product. It’s important to seek out a source that can provide unbiased answers. The Ask CFPB feature already contains hundreds of answers to the most commonly asked financial questions. The majority of the entries are focused on credit cards and mortgages. However, in the coming months, the bureau will expand the database to answer questions about a range of financial products and services, including student loans, auto loans, and checking and savings accounts. Another government site, www.MyMoney.gov, is dedicated

95f2e040-776a-11e1-8ca7-e7ce935c8941_1

U.S. seeks more money for Afghan force

discussed the matter only on the condition of anonymity. A diplomat from a close U.S. ally said his country shares the “objective” of maintaining a strong Afghan security force. “But,” the diplomat said, “we have a very restricted budget and a very severe fiscal situation.” An Arab diplomat said his government wants more information on how the Obama administration arrived at its calculations, how much others will contribute and how the money will be administered within corruption-plagued Afghanistan. But, he said, “we’ll probably end up paying.” Still others, particularly in Europe, pointed out that although U.S. money may flow more freely from the Pentagon than from the State Department, the opposite is true in their countries. Some said they will find it easier to pledge development funding for Afghanistan — a separate appeal for post-2014 money that will be made in July at an international conference in Tokyo — than to provide more military spending. In December, Afghan President Hamid Karzai told the international community that after 2014, his country will need at least $10 billion annually in combined security and development assistance until 2025. Afghanistan’s gross domestic product is about $17 billion. The United States spent about $12 billion last year, 95 percent of the total cost, to train and equip Afghanistan’s army and police. Since 2009, police salaries have been paid from a $5 billion development assistance fund established by Japan that will expire at the end of 2014. The combined Afghan force is expected to reach a target strength of 352,000 in October. U.S. military officials have estimated that the force’s expenditure could be cut in half after this year once the target number is reached. The post-2014 budget also anticipates additional savings from a reduction in the size of the force of up to one-third by 2017, a projection that assumes successful reconciliation with the Taliban. “I think as people consider the past and how to protect the past into the future, they’ll make the contribution, and we will have both a sufficient and sustainable” Afghan force, Marc Grossman, the administration’s special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, said last week during a fundraising tour in Europe. The endgame envisioned for the war calls for a gradual transition of security control from foreign to Afghan troops throughout the country by some point next year, with all coalition combat forces to withdraw by Dec. 31, 2014. The administration’s

4e15c41e-7773-11e1-8ca7-e7ce935c8941_3

Annandale woman specializes in caring for bats

because they grow so fast. They start eating ground mealworms once they are a few weeks old. Orphans are generally able to be released, once they are mature enough, in a few weeks to a couple of months. “The best part of rehab is release,” Keen said. “The more we release, the more that they’re hopefully going to go out there and have offspring.” Adult bats, on the other hand, “come in more broken,” Sturges said. The culprits can include car strikes, cats, high-wind nights or being trapped indoors. Many are too injured to save and have to be euthanized, Sturges said. “Whenever we can, we try to save them, even if it means surgical intervention,” she said. Bats that can’t be rehabilitated enough to be released back into the wild — generally because they can’t fly and therefore can’t feed themselves — end up in Sturges’s education collection and help her with the Save Lucy Campaign programs. She does about 30 educational programs per year for children and adult organizations. White-nose syndrome, the main focus of the Save Lucy Campaign, is beginning to affect the local migratory bat species that overwinter in caves, particularly the little brown bat. Sturges said she hasn’t had a little brown come through her door for four years, which is concerning to her. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimates more than 5.5 million bats have died from white-nose syndrome since 2006. Habitat loss also is contributing to the decline in bat populations, she said. Most people generally are unaware of the threats to bats and don’t understand how important they are to human agriculture, Sturges said. Bats help pollinate plants and eat millions of bugs, reducing the number of insects feeding on plant materials. Many people also are unnecessarily afraid of bats, Sturges said, noting that the largest bat native to this region weighs an ounce and could fit in a human palm. “Bats do not attack humans,” Sturges said, adding she always is mystified when people feel they need to attack a bat with a broom or tennis racket to capture it. Only half of a percent of bats contract rabies, and those that do will quickly die, because of their small size, she said. “Education is key,” Keen said, adding she knew little about bats before she started volunteering with Sturges. “I was really surprised at how stinkin’ cute they are.”

2818c7cc-7299-11e1-b747-ee64265ae6c6_0

D.C. news briefs

Lights Out project aims to help migrating birds City Wildlife has started Lights Out D.C., a campaign to save birds migrating through the District. The nonprofit wildlife rescue organization is asking owners of tall buildings to turn off unnecessary night lighting during critical bird migration periods. Urban lighting attracts and disorients migrating birds. Many birds fly into windows; others circle buildings until they fall from exhaustion. Of special concern are external and architectural lights, lights aimed into the sky, upper story lighting (third floor and higher) and lighted atria with plants behind glass. Upper story tenants are asked to draw blinds and use spot lighting, such as table and desk lamps, after 11 p.m. For information, go to http://citywildlife.org. Event celebrates tap with classes, concert D.C. Tap Fest IV, three days of classes for tap dance students of all levels and ages, will be Friday through Sunday at the D.C. Dance Collective, 4908 Wisconsin Ave NW. Highlights include a jam session, student showcase and talks on tap history. An 8 p.m. concert Saturday at the Duke Ellington Theater, 3500 R St. NW, will feature Grammy-winning singer Mya, Emmy-winning dancer Ted Louis Levy and 7-year-old dance prodigy Luke Spring, who was discovered at D.C. Tap Fest II. For prices and tickets, go to www.dctapfestival.com. Private wall space sought for street mural project The D.C. Department of Public Works and the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities are seeking donated wall space for Murals D.C., a free program that uses mural art to discourage graffiti. Mural sites should be a privately owned non-residential building that has been a target of graffiti and is visible from the street. The owner must donate the space for a year or longer. Applications must be submitted by April 30 and require three images of the site from different vantage points, the rough dimensions of the site and signed authorization from the owner. For information, go to www.dpw.dc.gov or e-mail nancee.lyons@dc.gov. St. Anselm’s student wins Poetry Out Loud contest Garrett Jansen, a senior at St. Anselm’s Abbey School in Northeast, won first place in the D.C. finals for Poetry Out Loud, a recitation contest March 13 at Arena Stage. Jansen won for his reading of Siegfried Sassoon’s “The Reedemer” and will compete in the national finals at the Harman Center for the Arts on May 13 to 15. For information, go to www.poetryoutloud.org. Rescue league hosting

4d0a9e72-7846-11e1-8ca7-e7ce935c8941_0

Reports link heat waves, deluges to climate change

Scientists are increasingly confident that the uptick in heat waves and heavier rainfall is linked to human-caused greenhouse-gas emissions, posing a heightened risk to the world’s population, according to two reports issued in the past week. On Wednesday, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a 594-page study suggesting that when it comes to weather observations since 1950, there has been a “change in some extremes,” which stem in part from global warming. The report — from 220 authors in 62 countries — makes distinctions among weather phenomena. It shows there is “limited to medium evidence” that climate change has contributed to changes in flooding, for example, and there is “low confidence” that long-term hurricane trends over the past 40 years have been driven by the world’s growing carbon output. But the IPCC team projects that there is a 90 to 100 percent probability that sea-level rise “will contribute to upward trends in extreme coastal high-water levels in the future.” Chris Field, who co-chairs the IPCC’s Working Group II and serves as director of the Carnegie Institution’s Department of Global Ecology at Stanford University, said in an interview that although many uncertainties still exist when it comes to extreme weather, “We also know the risk people face is changing as a result of climate change.” Whether particular extreme weather events can be blamed on human-caused global warming is the wrong question to ask, since there is no method available to make such a connection, said Dim Coumou, a climate scientist at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany. Instead, a new analysis from Coumou and a colleague, published in the journal Nature Climate Change, examines patterns of extreme weather since 2000 and asks whether the likelihood of these events was heightened by human-driven climate change. The answer is “yes” for extreme heat waves and unusual downpours, Coumou and his colleagues found. “The evidence is solid,” he said: Human-emitted greenhouse gases trap heat in the atmosphere; warmer air, in turn, soaks up more moisture. The climate has already changed, and the sheer number of these events over the past decade reflects it, they find. Linking hurricanes, tornadoes and other storms to climate change is much harder, because records for these events are poorer than those for temperature and rainfall. Coumou pointed to heat waves in Western Europe in 2003 and western Russia in 2010, among others, as

0eb7b94e-74f8-11e1-9ab6-c7562e04789c_0

Montgomery County Animal Watch

These were among cases received by the Montgomery County Animal Services Division. For information on shelter hours and location, adoption and licensing procedures, rabies clinics and low-cost neutering, call 240-773-5960. Howls that for an alarm? Biting the hand that feeds: Pets available for adoption Dogs, cats and other pets will be available through the Montgomery County Humane Society at the following location. To confirm the schedule, call 240-773-5966 or visit www.mchumane.org. Rockville — Compiled by Lisa M. Bolton

3c4ce9a8-7901-11e1-96fc-4e3f9a8561ee_0

Staff Sgt. Robert Bales describes PTSD-like symptoms, lawyer says

The soldier accused of killing 17 Afghan villagers this month has reported suffering from severe nightmares, flashbacks of war scenes and persistent headaches after his multiple combat tours, his attorney said Wednesday. Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales told his legal team that he has long woken up with night sweats, often replaying memories of a grisly episode that he and his infantry company witnessed in Iraq several years ago, according to John Henry Browne, a civilian lawyer. Browne’s comments amounted to the most detailed public portrayal so far of Bales’s state of mind in the months leading up to an incident in which the soldier stands accused of committing one of the worst U.S. atrocities in the decade-long war in Afghanistan. Military officials and witnesses have alleged that Bales left his base in the pre-dawn hours of March 11 and methodically killed Afghan villagers — most of them women and children. He allegedly attempted to burn the bodies before returning to the base. Browne, in an interview, did not acknowledge any wrongdoing by Bales, but the lawyer said his client told him that, on the night of the shootings, he returned to his base in southern Afghanistan with only a foggy memory of what had just happened. Bales, Browne said, remembered the smell of gunfire and of human bodies but not much more. The lawyer stressed that Bales did not confess, as military officials have said, and seemed surprised when his weapon was taken away. Bales, 38, is being held at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., pending a full military investigation. He faces the possibility of a death penalty on charges of premeditated murder. Military officials have not offered any possible motive for Bales’s alleged actions, and the formal charges against him shed no light on the issue. Unnamed military officials have said that Bales “snapped” as a result of marital and financial stress and that those factors were compounded by his consumption of alcohol that night, according to news reports. Bales had recently been passed over for a promotion, and he and his wife were under financial strain. This month, they put their Tacoma, Wash., area home up for sale for $50,000 less than the purchase price. In recent years, Bales had several brushes with the law after incidents in which he was alleged to have been drinking. Browne disputed any suggestion that alcohol may have played a role in the

9f17c9c8-7900-11e1-a01f-52d5c6187537_0

Sudan’s oil dispute with South Sudan turns violent

THE NEW NATION of South Sudan was on the brink of war this week with Sudan, the country it split from just eight months ago. In heavy fighting Monday and Tuesday, Sudan’s planes bombed border areas in South Sudan, while South Sudan’s troops briefly seized an oil-producing area north of the border. Tensions eased a little Wednesday, with both governments saying they wished to avoid an all-out conflict. But the two Sudans are already the site of a budding, and largely neglected, humanitarian catastrophe — one that has produced tens of thousands of refugees, an imminent famine and a boost in the world oil price. The underlying cause of the trouble is disputes over borders and resources that remained unresolved when South Sudan declared independence last July. South Sudan was left with most of the former country’s oil reserves, but its exports travel through pipelines in Sudan. The two governments have been unable to agree on how to divide the revenue, and South Sudan shut down its oil production last month — costing the global market 135,000 barrels a day and denying one of the world’s most impoverished countries 98 percent of its income. This week’s fighting erupted just as the two states appeared to be getting closer to resolving some of these disputes. A nonaggression pact was signed last month, and Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir was scheduled to travel to South Sudan next week for a meeting with President Salva Kiir Mayardit. The two men were to sign another deal on free movement and employment of each other’s citizens, appoint a committee to demarcate the border and discuss how to settle the oil issue. Now Mr. Bashir has suspended the meeting. That may have been the point of the fighting. Since last summer Mr. Bashir has seized one disputed territory, Abiyeh, by force and responded with characteristic brutality to lingering rebel movements in the border provinces of South Kordofan and Blue Nile. Journalists and human rights groups say his forces have indiscriminately bombed and rocketed areas in the Nuba Mountains. More than 100,000 people have been driven into South Sudan, and the United Nations says 400,000 are in need of food aid. Mr. Bashir, like his defense minister, has already been indicted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court; the scorched-earth approach to the border regions is his standard practice. If he negotiates a settlement with Mr.

948689a2-78e9-11e1-9c70-78e01e7448f8_0

After Bo’s ouster, a mysterious death adds to Chongqing's churning rumor mill

BEIJING — Such is the insatiable appetite of tens of millions of Chinese for news — no matter how tangential or speculative — about the country’s biggest political drama in two decades that “Heywood” has joined “tanks,” “military coup” and a host of other search terms now proscribed by the ruling Communist Party as it struggles to calm a national spasm of jitters. Through Internet postings, Twitter-like messages and articles in Hong Kong’s Chinese-language media, Heywood’s death in November in the southwest megacity of Chongqing is helping to fill a massive thirst for news created March 15 when, with a single sentence, China’s official news agency announced that one of the country’s rising political stars, Bo Xilai, had lost his job as Chongqing’s Communist Party boss. Perhaps only nine men — the members of the party’s Politburo Standing Committee — really know what led to Bo’s downfall. But the sudden celebrity of a previously obscure Briton highlights how difficult it has become for the political machinery — rooted in a doctrine of intense secrecy and discipline devised by Vladimir Lenin nearly a century ago — to cope with a flood of fact and fantasy unleashed by 21st-century technology. Though almost entirely hidden from view inside the Zhongnanhai leadership compound in Beijing, the drama at the summit of the party ahead of a ­once-in-a-decade leadership transition is playing out as an increasingly bizarre spectator sport. The party is not without defenses. A massive censorship apparatus adds new words daily to a list of taboo topics. Even the word “Ferrari” is blocked, after a mysterious March 18 traffic accident in Beijing that may, or may not, have killed the son of a top party official. Until his sacking, Bo, the charismatic son of one of the party’s revolutionary-era grandees, was widely thought to be in line for a seat on the Standing Committee in the fall. But Bo’s ambitions crumbled when his former right-hand man, Chongqing’s then recently fired police chief, Wang Lijun, fled to the U.S. Consulate in Chengdu and spent 24 hours holed up inside. Wang, hauled to Beijing by state security agents, is under formal investigation, but officials have made no comment on Bo’s exact status. Even his whereabouts are unknown. And, fueled in part by overseas media reports recycled by Chinese Web sites, there has been a storm of speculation that Heywood may have been bumped off by

c3fdf578-781f-11e1-883d-f22537a8ca20_0

D.C. TV personality Rich Massabny celebrates 25 years of rave reviews

On Monday evening, some of the region’s chefs, restaurateurs and bartenders gathered in the Ritz-Carlton’s ballroom in downtown Washington to hear the finalists for this year’s Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington’s Rammy awards. But among the most celebrated of the lot was a man who has never worked in a kitchen, never attended culinary school and doesn’t even hold a bartender’s license. Rich Massabny For 25 years, Massabny has promoted Washington area restaurants and theater companies on the Arlington Weekly News program and his local cable television shows, “Rich’s Place” and “Conversations with Rich.” He has become a beloved personality in the Washington region and was recognized at Monday night’s event. “He has been a very integral part of the hospitality, arts and cultural industries here in the nation’s capital region,” said Visit Fairfax CEO Barry Biggar in a sentimental speech before the nominations. He thanked Massabny for being “one of the longest-running cheerleaders” of local restaurants. Massabny, 75, has lived in Arlington for nearly 60 years. His two Fairfax television shows are filmed once a month and air three times the following week. “Rich’s Place,” a half-hour cooking show, features local chefs, and “Conversations with Rich,” his hour-long talk show, features personalities such as WTOP’s Bob Madigan and Virginia Ballet artistic director Tish Cordova. On his six-minute Arlington Weekly News segment, he reviews plays and opera at theaters throughout the region. Massabny was born in Brooklyn and moved to Arlington when he was 18. He attended George Washington University and spent 30 years in sales. Then, during a visit to an Arlington county fair in 1987, he was approached by someone in Arlington Cable Television’s booth who said he looked nice in their monitor. “I had a full head of black hair back then,” he said. “Hard to believe, I know.” The station was looking for someone to do theater reviews, and Massabny volunteered. He went to the station to fill out an application, and as he was leaving, a producer frantically approached him to fill in for an anchor who hadn’t shown up. “It was right out of a movie,” Massabny said. “He asked me if I could do six minutes on restaurants, and I’ve been doing it ever since.” Now, 25 years later, Massabny has been instrumental in promoting the area’s restaurants and theater. “I’ve appeared on his shows and always had a ball,” said RAMW president Lynne

2d0241d2-79ab-11e1-9362-cd989ac6bfb2_1

Bee research details harm from insecticides

Unlike older pesticides, the neonicotinoid pesticides are most often introduced directly into the seeds of crops planted by farmers and thus permeate the entire plant as it grows — including the pollen and nectar the bees feed on. Spraying of the older pesticides could be halted when plants were flowering so bees and other pollinators would not be harmed. With the neonicotinoids, which kill pest insects by attacking their central nervous systems and are derived from the same nicotine found in tobacco, that kind of timing is not possible. Failure to thrive The initial changes in bee behavior found by the researchers may have been small, but the longer-term impact was large: Researchers found a sharp drop in the number of queen bumblebees produced, a decrease in the size and weight of beehives, and a demonstrated increase in the number of bees unable to find their way home. When the hives as a whole don’t thrive, then the individuals become more susceptible to disease and other threats. The subject became a major focus of agricultural and environmental attention in 2006 when beekeepers reported massive losses in their beehives, an escalation of a decline seen for years. The new research — one study of honeybees and the other of bumblebees — points to flaws in the way pesticides are evaluated by regulators, said the author of the study of a kind of honeybee widely used as a pollinator in agriculture. “So far, they mostly require manufacturers to ensure that doses encountered on the field do not kill bees, but they basically ignore the consequences of doses that do not kill them but may cause behavioral difficulties,” said Mickael Henry of the French National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA) in Avignon, France. Environmental toxicologist David Fisher of Bayer CropScience, which makes some of the neonicotinoids, said the studies appear to be well done, but are inconsistent with earlier results. Pesticides were an early suspect in the decline, but many other factors have been implicated as well — including a relatively new invasive mite that kills bees in their hives, the loss of open land for foraging, and the stresses on honeybee colonies caused by moving them from site to site for agricultural pollination. “We know that these agents can kill bees at high dosages, but previous studies did not show that effect at the low doses found in fields,” Fisher said. “We

b3559c9e-79b4-11e1-9362-cd989ac6bfb2_1

Union reaches deal with Safeway and Giant

in the Washington region, confirmed that a tentative deal had been reached, but declined to comment further. The threat of a strike loomed over the final days of negotiations. The union spent the past few weeks rallying public support by holding demonstrations throughout the region. Tensions grew as Safeway and Giant hired temporary employees to man the stores in case union workers walked off the job — a tactic used in 2008 during the last contract negotiations. Company officials at Safeway said those replacement workers will remain on standby until the agreement is ratified by union members. A majority of union members in attendance must vote in favor of the agreement for it to be ratified. If rejected, two-thirds of members must vote to authorize a strike. The new contract would come nearly a year after workers at a Giant warehouse in Jessup ratified an agreement to ensure that the site would not be shuttered. Those members of Teamsters Local 730 accepted a 40 percent reduction in staff, with the assurance that employees would be offered buyouts or jobs in other parts of the company. Reducing labor costs has been a key concern of Giant and Safeway as nonunion retailers such as Wal-Mart expand. “We’re optimistic and hopeful that [Giant and Safeway] will remain successful. [We only ask] that they continue to allow us to share in that success,” Federici said. To be sure, Safeway and Giant still reign supreme in the local supermarket world. They had a combined market share of 39 percent in the Washington area in 2011, compared with 38.5 percent a year earlier, according to Food World, a local trade magazine . Safeway is based in California; Giant, based in Landover, is owned by Dutch firm Royal Ahold. Wal-Mart, with 33 percent of the national grocery market, has about a 4 percent share locally that stands to rise once it rolls out six new stores in the District in the next few years. Pharmacy chains CVS and Walgreens have also upped the ante by expanding their food offerings, while other nonunion shops — such as Harris Teeter and Wegmans — are opening more locations. “Virtually everybody who is new on the block in food retailing has entered the market [as] nonunion,” said Jeffrey Metzger, publisher of Food World. Only four of the top 10 chains selling groceries in the Baltimore-Washington area, including Costco and Shoppers Food

cae6158a-7a01-11e1-a01f-52d5c6187537_2

Indianapolis Grand Prix swimming: Brendan Hansen, Ed Moses lead parade out retirement and back into pool

came out of retirement last year, but his bid to make Australia’s Olympic team failed less than two weeks ago at his nation’s Olympic trials. Libby Trickett, Michael Klim and Geoff Huegill also un-retired to compete. “When I was growing up, swimming seemed like something you did through college . . . then the rigors of adult life kind of consumed you,” said Ervin, who was in graduate school last year at the University of California when he decided to resume training with the college team. “At the turn of the millennium, there were notable differences in how it’s been professionalized.” Results here mean little as few of the swimmers are in top form and many, including 2011’s most dominant male swimmer, Ryan Lochte, are smack in the middle of heavy training. Lochte finished ninth in the 100 freestyle in 49.46 seconds as Nathan Adrian (48.62) topped Michael Phelps (48.74) for the gold medal — despite the fact that Adrian’s jammer shorts split in the back seconds before the race. Later, in the 100 butterfly, Phelps claimed the gold medal in 52.23 and Lochte got ninth in 52.32. In the women’s 400 free, Towson’s Katie Hoff claimed second in 4:07.00 and Kate Ziegler of Great Falls placed sixth in 4:12.98. One reason Hansen said he didn’t want to compare himself to his old self was that he didn’t want to finish the same way he did in 2008. After winning individual silver and bronze medals at the 2004 Summer Games in the 100 and 200 breast, he finished fourth in the 100 breast in Beijing, his only individual event. Demoralized and burned out, Hansen got out of the sport fast. He dived into triathlons and helped manage a nutritional supplement company. He had no intention of returning, but missed the competition. “A lot of the expectations and pressure I had in ’08 was from myself,” Hansen said. “How you react to yourself is really important in how successful you are. Now, I’m going out there with a clear head, a refreshed outlook.” Moses tried professional golf and a marketing job in Los Angeles. But he never found the same level of success he hit in the swimming pool just a couple years out of high school. “He’s a competitor,” Hansen said. “He’ll be there racing, no matter what. It’s just that he may run out of time.” So might they

2633f95c-7a70-11e1-9362-cd989ac6bfb2_0

Afghan police officer kills 9 comrades as they sleep

KABUL — The incident, which took place in Paktika province, marks one of the deadliest cases of fratricide in Afghanistan this year. The apparent surge in such incidents — when Afghan soldiers and policemen target their American and Afghan colleagues — has raised concerns about the state of the war effort during a critical time, just as the Taliban’s yearly “spring offensive” has begun. On Monday Both assailants in the Paktika incidents are believed to have been members of the Afghan Local Police, a force of local recruits armed and trained to keep insurgents from gaining ground, authorities said. The ALP has recently been under fire for alleged human rights abuses, and some critics say the force amounts to little more than a smattering of militias. Still, U.S. and Afghan defense officials say the ALP is key to policing restive districts and gaining the trust of local populations. Friday’s incident, which is under investigation by American and Afghan forces, ended with the suspect driving off in a white Ford Ranger filled with 10 AK-47s and 25 magazines, a U.S. official said. Afghan police brought in the suspect’s two brothers for questioning, said Mokhlis Afghan, a provincial spokesman. In two additional incidents, one NATO service member died in a makeshift-bomb attack on Friday and another was killed by an insurgent attack Thursday, according to Western officials. Both incidents took place in southern Afghanistan. More world news coverage: - British Conservatives push for gay marriage - Euro zone pumps up bailout fund - West Bank outpost at center of Israeli battle over rule of law - Read more headlines from around the world

33821954-784a-11e1-8ca7-e7ce935c8941_2

War’s suffering falls on Afghan civilians and U.S. soldiers alike

fall of 2010, as part of the troop surge into Kandahar, U.S. forces built a road through another cooperative member’s land, opening a swath through his grapevines. Because it broke their line of sight, they blew up the family’s raisin house, a thick-walled building used to dry perfumed local grapes. All of nearby Zingawat — Zingawat, again — suffered similar destruction that autumn: Empty buildings that the Taliban had booby-trapped were smashed, mulberry trees cut down, ancient irrigation channels filled with rubble. Kandahar’s economy has not recovered. As for the men who wrought that destruction — men much like Bales, sentenced to spend a year in a tiny outpost, their pup tents sunk in inches of talcum-powder dust, youngsters whose watchful eyes dart to the surrounding fields just a slender coil of razor wire away — I know them, too. From 2009 to 2011, I was a special adviser to two commanders of the international troops in Afghanistan and to the Joint Chiefs of Staff. I have visited hundreds of troops in their outposts and trained hundreds more before their deployments to Kandahar. They are the best our country has to offer. Like Bales, his past marred by alleged financial fraud, and like some Zingawat villagers who may have helped the Taliban, many of them are not untarnished. But I have found them to be remarkable men and women: generous, driven to serve a greater cause than personal comfort or advancement, and straining to acquit themselves in everything that is asked of them, from local government to preindustrial agriculture to — right — killing other human beings. And this war is chewing them up, just as it’s chewing up the villagers in Zingawat. Never before has so much been asked of such a small segment of the American population. A startling proportion of the troops I’ve seen in Afghanistan have deployed three or more times: They make up less than 12 percent of the less than 1 percent of us in uniform. They endure multiple tours, layering scars on top of scars, becoming strangers to their children, unable to readjust to family life before shipping out again, bearing physical and psychological wounds in aching loneliness. If only there were a clear reason for such suffering. But the worst of this tragedy is that these ordinary people — U.S. soldiers and Afghan civilians — are absorbing the cost of a failing

fcfb3df2-7aa6-11e1-8f65-4cbb23028e62_0

Bin Laden roamed Pakistan for 9 years, his widow says

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — A newly surfaced confidential police report summarizing the testimony of bin Laden’s youngest wife, who was taken into custody after his death, has renewed debate over how the world’s most notorious terrorist could have eluded detection by Pakistan’s powerful security services. “Who facilitated his movement and his stops, and were they ordinary citizens or members of law enforcement or intelligence agencies?” asked an editorial Friday in the English-language newspaper Dawn, which broke the story here. The report is based on the interrogation of Amal Ahmed al-Sadah, a Yemeni national and the last of bin Laden’s five wives — three of whom were living with the al-Qaeda chief at the time of the raid on his villa in the garrison town of Abbottabad last May. The women, who could be jailed for up to five years, face charges of illegally entering Pakistan. They, their children and bin Laden’s grandchildren are among those now confined to a home in Islamabad provided by the government, officials have said. Sadah, who bore bin Laden five children and was shot in the leg during the Navy SEALS operation, has been the most cooperative of the widows, according to a security official familiar with the investigation. The others — Saudi nationals Siham Saber and Khairiah Sabar — said Islam does not permit women to talk to non-related men, the official said. Since bin Laden’s death, the military establishment — especially the Inter-Services Intelligence agency, or ISI — has faced accusations it was aware of bin Laden’s presence. But nothing proving its complicity has emerged in documents seized from the compound and analyzed by U.S. intelligence officials. Sadah’s narrative, if accurate, reveals the extent of bin Laden’s travels in Pakistan before his six-year-long stay in Abbottabad. She said that starting in 2002, she lived with him in the country’s northwest, including in the Swat Valley and Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. She said they also lived for more than two years in a village in the Haripur district, 20 miles from Abbottabad. Sadah bore bin Laden children in 2003 and 2004, both delivered in government hospitals in Haripur, she told the investigators. She later gave birth to two other children, evidently at private hospitals in Abbottabad. (Her eldest child was born in Afghanistan, where she had married bin Laden before Sept. 11, 2011.) Retired Brig. Gen. Asad Munir, a former ISI official

943f8428-7a9f-11e1-9362-cd989ac6bfb2_0

To combat PTSD and unemployment, two locals create a ‘Facebook for veterans’

Margarita Angelo of Zions Bank talks to veteran Robert Ryan, who is looking for a job at the "Hiring Our Heroes" job fair on November 4, 2011 at the South Towne Expo Center in Sandy, Utah. (George Frey/GETTY IMAGES) What do you get when you combine a former defense contractor with a Web technology whiz? A new social network for veterans — or at least that’s what its founders hope the site Veteran Central will become. Many soldiers face a harsh reality upon their return from abroad. Veterans of recent wars are more likely to be jobless than the general population — those who served in Iraq and Afghanistan had an unemployment rate of 11.6 percent in August 2011, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, compared with the national average of 8.3 percent. But after researching post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injury issues with the Pentagon, Paul McDonald realized veterans face even bigger problems than a lack of jobs. “I realized that there were three of important veteran issues that weren’t really being dealt with by any kind of Web site,” said McDonald, who has a PhD in neuroscience. To him, that meant social reintegration for veterans who are re-entering civilian society, a centralized portal for mental-health resources and a jobs board with dependable listings. To create this new veteran-services Web clearinghouse, McDonald teamed with his friend Jonathon Lunardi, a former product manager at the education company Blackboard, who brought the IT skills to the operation. A few months later, Veteran Central was born. Help wanted With its job listings component, Veteran Central aims to solve a problem McDonald and Lunardi see in the veteran-job-board ecosystem: Most of the listings are geared toward white-collar professionals, leaving a gap for less-educated workers. “The Booz Allens are going to put a job on any site and it will do well, but the local mechanic is going to go on Craigslist,” Lunardi said. “We’re depending on people to put jobs on our job board so that the local guy can find a job in his community.” Lunardi and McDonald don’t charge for companies to post, and a team of interns looks over each posting to ensure it’s relevant for military skills. Beyond job listings, the site also features resources to guide veterans on the path to collecting benefits and managing other transitional issues. Podcasts, videos and articles by veteran contributors aim to

1b3c46b6-7aad-11e1-a01f-52d5c6187537_1

White House sees more pain for Iran as it clears way for further sanctions

working together to send a clear message to Iran.” The new measures are intended to pressure Iran into agreeing to strict curbs on its nuclear program at negotiations set to begin in mid-April. Western officials are describing the talks as a last best chance for a diplomatic settlement of an Iranian nuclear crisis that has driven up oil prices while spurring fears of military strikes. Countries that import Iranian oil. (The Washington Post/International Energy Agency) The price of Brent crude rose 49 cents Friday to finish at $122.88 per barrel. Western intelligence agencies believe that Iran is using its ostensibly civilian nuclear infrastructure to develop the components for nuclear weapons, a charge Iran vehemently denies. The administration’s decision to press forward with deeper sanctions highlights the political risks confronting President Obama. Sharp cuts in Iranian oil could drive energy prices higher, alienating middle-class voters upon whom Obama depends for reelection. At the same time, a failure to back painful sanctions against Iran could invite attacks by the president’s Republican rivals while also raising the risk of a unilateral military strike by Israel against Iranian nuclear facilities. The new sanctions, signed into law in December, target the Central Bank of Iran, the financial institution that processes payments for nearly all of Iran’s foreign oil sales. One provision, set to take effect June 28, imposes sanctions on any foreign bank or company that continues to engage in oil transactions with the Iranian central bank. The administration has granted waivers to 11 countries that have agreed to end or sharply reduce oil imports from Iran, and its diplomats are encouraging Iran’s remaining customers to agree to similar cuts. On Friday, Turkey, a major consumer of Iranian oil, announced that it would slash Iranian imports by 10 percent. Turkish officials were in talks with Saudi Arabia about making up the shortfall. Already, the cuts have had an impact on Iran’s economy and its currency, the rial. The pressure will soon become “greater than anything Iran has faced before,” said the senior administration official, who insisted on anonymity in describing the conclusions of U.S. economic assessments. “It is already far beyond what anyone anticipated two years ago,” the official said. Many oil analysts predict that Iran’s exports could eventually fall by half, amounting to 1 million barrels per day, as the July embargo by the European Union kicks in and the United States pressures its

a0c1e818-7aa8-11e1-9213-2189903adc1b_2

Biosecurity advisory board reverses decision on ‘engineered bird flu’ papers

influenza virus emerged in Hong Kong in 1997 and has circulated indolently since then in East Asia, Central Asia and parts of Africa. The number of confirmed cases is 598, of which 352 (or nearly 60 percent) have been fatal. The latest victim was a 17-year-old Indonesian boy, who died March 9. Most of the victims have been poultry workers in close contact with sick birds. In only a few cases does it appear that person-to- person infection occurred. The controversial research was paid for by the National Institutes of Health. The purpose was to determine what changes wild H5N1 flu virus would have to undergo in order to become easily transmissible between human beings — a trait that would make it hugely more dangerous if it remained lethal as well. Both labs apparently achieved the goal. The experiments were done using ferrets, which is the lab animal that most closely resembles human beings in its response to flu. In at least one of the experiments, scientists engineered “starter mutations” into wild H5N1 and then repeatedly infected ferrets, where the virus evolved further, gaining new mutations that eventually made it easily transmitted. When the advisory committee in December asked the journals to hold the papers back, many of the people who had read Fouchier’s paper believed his final virus was lethal to ferrets when transmitted through the air. At a meeting early this month, he clarified his results. The strain was fatal when sprayed into the lungs of the animals, but not when they sneezed and it traveled through the air in microscopic “aerosols” containing much less of the virus. Although the notion that some research can be put to both beneficial and nefarious use is not new, the question of what to do with the papers on the engineered bird flu virus took much of the scientific community by surprise. As the biosecurity committee debated the matter, Fouchier and Kawaoka agreed to a 60-day moratorium on further experiments. The World Health Organization convened a two-day meeting in February to mull over the issue. The Royal Society, in London, will hold another meeting next week. Earlier this week, the Obama administration asked federal agencies to inventory all the research they conduct and sponsor that involves 15 specific pathogens that “pose the greatest risk of deliberate misuse with most significant potential for mass casualties or devastating effects to the economy” and

90cdafae-7a9f-11e1-a01f-52d5c6187537_0

D.C. hydroponics store caters to those who wish to grow medical marijuana

Jordamis Valcine, a Howard University student, looks at grow lights during the opening of the new weGrow store on Rhode Island Avenue on March 30. The store advertise itself as "the one-stop-shop for the products and services one would need to grow plants indoors — from tomatoes to medical marijuana." (Tracy A. Woodward/THE WASHINGTON POST) Among the empty houses and weathered storefronts, a new business hopes to grow on Rhode Island Avenue NE. WeGrow, a hydroponics store found nationwide, offers the equipment and training for anyone who wants to start an indoor garden. A garden of pot. “We’re the first hydro store to come out and say that our products are used to cultivate medical marijuana,” Chief Operations Officer Sunny Singh said. The store sells trays, lighting, soil and other tools needed to grow plants in a controlled environment. The franchise’s “Bloom Room” offers consultation and training sessions for beginners, and can design and assemble “grow rooms” for clients, Singh said. Friday’s opening coincided with the District’s selection of six companies to grow marijuana and supply medical cannabis to users. D.C. officials will announce the dispensary locations in June. When the D.C. Council voted to establish as many as 10 cultivation centers as part of its medical marijuana program two years ago, some city residents raised concerns about where the cultivators would be located. But the strongest community opposition could surface as city officials review the applicants to run the distribution centers. Another hurdle could come from Capitol Hill because federal law prohibits the sale or possession of medical marijuana. Singh said weGrow wants to be able to supply the cultivation companies’ owners with any equipment they may need to grow medical marijuana. The franchise also aims to educate users about safe, responsible growing and spread awareness of marijuana’s medicinal benefits, Singh said. Under D.C. regulations, those with cancer, HIV-AIDS, multiple sclerosis and glaucoma may obtain the drug from legal dispensaries. “Our customers are elderly people. It’s not young kids and people that are growing it illegally,” Singh said. “When you see that, it’s comforting to know that you’re helping somebody out.” D.C. resident Jessica Jackson, who attended the store’s grand opening, said she became interested in medical marijuana because of her mother’s negative side effects to glaucoma medicines. Her husband, Pierre, said he is interested in opening a dispensary. “This increases the chances not only to make [marijuana] legal

90cdafae-7a9f-11e1-a01f-52d5c6187537_2

D.C. hydroponics store caters to those who wish to grow medical marijuana

It’s not young kids and people that are growing it illegally,” Singh said. “When you see that, it’s comforting to know that you’re helping somebody out.” D.C. resident Jessica Jackson, who attended the store’s grand opening, said she became interested in medical marijuana because of her mother’s negative side effects to glaucoma medicines. Her husband, Pierre, said he is interested in opening a dispensary. “This increases the chances not only to make [marijuana] legal in D.C., but also increases the chances of people that actually need the help to come in and have the supplies to grow it themselves,” Pierre Jackson said. About whether people will welcome the opening of marijuana cultivation companies in some D.C. neighborhoods, Jessica Jackson said, “I think it’s a 50-50.” “There are a lot of people who are conservative in D.C., and they might take a negative standpoint on it,” she said. “. . . . On the other hand, people who are a little bit more open-minded and a little more liberal, will look at it positively, like this is a new breakthrough in D.C.” The store does not sell equipment for using the drugs, and its stock is not limited to marijuana-growing products. Holly Torgerson, a clinical herbalist intern at LongeviTea Wellness in Laurel who came to the store’s opening, said the business can be beneficial for purposes other than cannabis. “I love growing plants, I love using things from the earth as medicine,” Torgerson said. “As a gardener, I see a lot of great supplies — organic potting soil . . . like, ooh! Bat guano, I’m so excited.” Like Jessica Jackson, Torgerson said growing up with an often-ill mother led her to an interest in herbal remedies. “There’s millions of plants out there that traditions have used for medicine,” Torgerson said. “Anxiety, digestive disturbances, skin, detoxification. . . . It’s hard to find good ones for pain, though.” The Northern California native said the need for effective natural pain remedies has placed an emphasis on cannabis over other drugs, so she acknowledged that some may use the system dishonestly despite its benefits. “I’ve seen where it can go and how people can take advantage of using the system, claiming anything just to get [medical marijuana], but this is going to help so many people that a few just using it to get high . . . I don’t care,” Torgerson said.

a19eef5c-784a-11e1-883d-f22537a8ca20_0

At a beer industry summit last month, Ed McBrien, distribution chief for MillerCoors, compared himself to a typewriter salesman in an iPad age. McBrien was sketching plans to resurrect light beer, a $50 billion market battling to stay relevant as makers of craft beer, wine and spirits increasingly steal customers from Molson Coors Brewing, SABMiller and Anheuser-Busch Inbev. Light beer is ceding ground as cabernet-loving baby boomers and millennials weaned on exotic cocktails seek more complex flavors in their brews. High unemployment among light beer drinkers has prompted some to drink less or switch to cheaper brews. In a bid to return the froth to light beer, the U.S. joint venture between Molson Coors and SABMiller unveiled new advertising for a key brand, Miller Lite. If the companies can’t revive the brand, “we’ve got big trouble ahead of us,” said Bump Williams, whose BWC advises more than 100 beer retailers. “Light beer has become a commodity.” The new Miller Lite ads will revive the brewer’s classic tagline, “It’s Miller Time.” Aimed at men in their 20s and 30s, the campaign will tone down talk of carbs and calories in favor of a “brewed for brotherhood” theme. The brand will spend 50 percent more on media in the summer season. “Miller Time is all about real friends getting together over a real beer,” MillerCoors Chief Marketing Officer Andy England said. “We’re going to articulate that with a kind of Midwestern grit that can only come from Miller Lite.” Light beer, an American invention, took hold in 1975, when Miller Brewing Co. became the first to distribute a low-calorie beer nationwide. Four of the five best-selling suds in the U.S. are light beers. Still, as consumers turn to more exciting alternatives, U.S. beer sales volumes have dropped for three straight years, including a 1.5 percent decline in 2011, according to the Beverage Information Group. Coors Light — the only Top 5 U.S. beer still growing — posted a 1 percent increase last year, the same as in 2010. The shift has retailers stocking more wine and spirits. Beer lost 2.3 share points of display space in the past five years as spirits and wine gained, according to Nick Lake, senior director of category management for Heineken. Miller Lite has always sought broad appeal, with early TV ads featuring athletes pitching the brew as “Everything You always Wanted in a Beer. And Less.”

1a94a72e-7c0d-11e1-9213-2189903adc1b_0

Suu Kyi claims victory in landmark Burma election

RANGOON, Burma — The Nobel Peace Prize winner’s allies said she had soundly defeated her opponent from the ruling party, recording wins at all but one of 128 polling stations in her rural constituency near this Southeast Asian nation’s former capital, Rangoon. With results still coming in Sunday evening, Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party projected it would claim 40 of 45 seats being contested across Burma. The country’s election commission is expected to confirm the much-anticipated results in the coming days. In Washington, the White House on Monday congratulated “the people of Burma on their participation in the electoral process, and Aung San Suu Kyi and the National League for Democracy on their strong showing in the polls.” Press secretary Jay Carney said in a statement: “This election is an important step in Burma’s democratic transformation, and we hope it is an indication that the government of Burma intends to continue along the path of greater openness, transparency and reform.” While the result leaves the NLD with only a small fraction of the 664 seats in the Burmese parliament, the vote was the most dramatic gesture yet in the government’s sudden turn toward reform after decades of unyielding oppression. Since becoming president of Burma one year ago, the former general Thein Sein has freed political prisoners and signed cease-fire agreements with rebel ethnic groups. The moves are believed to be aimed at winning concessions from the West, which has long tried to isolate Burma in hopes of forcing the government to loosen its grip. In January, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton announced that the United States would send an ambassador to Burma for the first time in more than two decades. The U.S. government had identified Sunday’s poll as a critical measure of Burma’s progress, suggesting that it may begin to dismantle a raft of economic sanctions against the nominally civilian regime. That is widely expected to happen in stages, as Washington seeks to maximize its leverage. Clinton, who made a landmark visit to Burma at the end of last year in what was seen as a reward for Thein Sein’s reforms, gave a cautious reaction to the vote Sunday. “We are following elections with great interest. With the results not yet announced, the United States congratulates the people who participated, many for the first time,” she said. “Going forward, it will be critical for authorities to

a09b0f80-7c11-11e1-8f65-4cbb23028e62_1

Rogue Afghan police officer: A Taliban infiltrator’s road to fratricide

ago, the Taliban began plotting the assassination of Asadullah’s father, who was a government official and religious leader in the Yayakhil district of eastern Afghanistan’s Paktika province. Ehsanullah, who like his son and many other Afghans used only one name, had long preached against jihad, and his public opposition to the Taliban in an insurgent-heavy region made him an obvious target, according to Haji Mohammed, the district governor, who said he is close to the family. Before the Taliban finalized its assassination plans, fighters met with then-18-year-old Asadullah. He had already begun talking about the value of defeating U.S. and Afghan forces and rebelling against his father’s politics, officials said. Some local residents considered Asadullah a peripheral Taliban member from his early teenage years. When insurgents informed him of the plans to kill his father, Asadullah “granted them approval,” according to a U.S. official who had been briefed by Afghan security and intelligence personnel. After Ehsanullah was killed, “we told [Asadullah] that his father was a martyr, but he refused to accept that. He said his father was vile. I could tell then that he was a traitor,” Mohammed said. The Afghan government compensated the family for the father’s loss by sending Asadullah to Mecca — a common reparation for relatives of assassinated government workers and fallen troops. Not long after he returned from the pilgrimage, Asadullah became a full-fledged insurgent, spending weeks in Quetta and Wana, both considered Taliban havens in Pakistan, according to Afghan security officials. He fought for three years, vanishing for long stretches before returning for brief stays with his five younger brothers. Two of those brothers were detained for interrogation after Friday’s attack. “He rose to become a local Taliban commander,” said Abdul Ghani Paktin, a member of the provincial council. “He carried out attacks on Americans and the local government.” About three months ago, Asadullah resurfaced and told village elders, at least two of whom were relatives, that he had given up on the Taliban and that he was ready to defend his tribe from insurgents. Afghan intelligence officials said Asadullah managed to participate in the government’s program to reintegrate Taliban members thanks largely to the support of local officials. One of those officials, a top police commander named Mohammed Ramazan, would later be found among Asadullah’s victims, along with two of Ramazan’s sons. (The Washington Post) “He said, ‘I repent. I will never

a09b0f80-7c11-11e1-8f65-4cbb23028e62_4

Rogue Afghan police officer: A Taliban infiltrator’s road to fratricide

key terrain in the counterinsurgency, is the human terrain. And the Afghan Local Police deny the human terrain to the Taliban,” Marine Gen. John Allen, the top NATO commander in Afghanistan, told Congress last month. But recruiting local men in districts such as Yayakhil, still dominated by the insurgency, presents one of the program’s biggest challenges. “Most people in Yayakhil had some ties to the Taliban in the past,” said Daulat Khan Zadran, the Paktika police chief. ALP recruiters often find themselves trying to discern whether former insurgents such as Asadullah are genuine about their conversion or simply looking for an opportunity to attack American or Afghan personnel. Four days before Asadullah’s attack, another ALP officer fatally shot a U.S. soldier in Paktika. Asadullah received about 20 days of training in the ALP, probably from Afghans and Americans, officials said. He then moved to a small outpost with about two dozen officers. After years of hunting men in Afghan uniforms, he was now living among them in a barracks with four other police officers. Armed with a newly issued AK-47, he waited about a month before carrying out his attack. Early Friday, after lacing his colleagues’ meal with sleeping pills, Asadullah apparently picked up that rifle and killed four men in one barracks and five in another. One of the dead was a civilian who happened to be on the base. Asadullah fled the outpost in a police pickup with two accomplices, 10 rifles and 25 magazines. Within hours of the attack and Asadullah’s disappearance, a local council met to decide how his family should be punished. Its members voted to destroy properties belonging to Asadullah’s brother, cousin and grandfather. Villagers rushed to set them aflame. “The tribe wanted to send the message that this kind of killing is not acceptable,” Paktin said. Meanwhile, NATO and Afghan forces worked to track down Asadullah. On Sunday morning, officials said they had located him. And they were planning their final retribution. “We know where he is,” said Ali Shah Hamidzai, the nation’s top ALP commander, “and we are going to kill him.” Special correspondent Sayed Salahuddin contributed to this report. More world news coverage: - For China’s driving test, be prepared for almost any contingency - In Tibet, choosing death to protest Chinese rule - Russian opposition candidate appears headed to Yaroslavl’s mayor’s office - Read more headlines from around the world

555776f8-78f6-11e1-a01f-52d5c6187537_4

Senior citizens continue to bear burden of student loans

card debt or auto loans. Borrowers age 60 and above accounted for 5percent of that debt. The share for Americans age 50 and older is 17 percent. In some cases, student debt has been a burden for even financially responsible older Americans. Maxine Bass, 60, of Minnesota said her granddaughter dreamed of going to college since she was a child. But her mother could barely afford to provide her lunch money, much less pay for tuition. Bass had good credit and a steady job. So when her granddaughter was accepted into St. Catherine University to study biology, Bass said she gladly co-signed for a $38,000 loan with her. But when the granddaughter fell behind on the payments as she hunted for a job with a decent salary, Bass’s own finances took a hit. “I went into a panic, like, what was I gonna do?” Bass wondered. Because of late fees and missed payments, Bass said she and her granddaughter owe about $69,000. They are now contributing monthly, but Bass is worried she won’t be able to catch up. “Many parents who thought they were headed to retirement with a college-educated child end up continuing to work because of student debt that can’t be paid,” Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) said at last week’s hearing. Durbin has introduced legislation that would allow private student loan debt to be discharged in bankruptcy, though borrowers would still have to pay off any federal loans. Sallie Mae, one of the nation’s largest private student lenders, as well as consumer groups support all types of student loans being forgiven during bankruptcy. Last year, President Obama addressed the issue by easing the repayment requirements for federal student loans. The new rules allow borrowers to pay 10 percent of their income for 20 years before the loan is forgiven. Still, the bill would only address one aspect of what many believe is a more fundamental problem: the cost of college. Until that is solved, Suzanne Martindale, an attorney with Consumers Union, said she anticipates older Americans’ share of student loans will only increase. “This current generation of borrowers is going to be a generation of seniors who are burdened with debt,” she said. More from Post Business: Pearlstein: Eat your broccoli, Justice Scalia ‘Avengers’ launches early in advance screenings for Facebook fans 5 reasons to buy the new iPad; 5 reasons not to buy the new iPad

eff2d2dc-67d7-11e1-ae3f-f01d906792b9_2

As separatists in Ethiopia disarm, a new chapter for D.C.’s Oromo community

of dinner or found dead after being assaulted. Oromos, 50 percent of whom are Muslim, are Ethiopia’s largest ethnic group, and the men and women talk about religious persecution and attempts to limit their political power in the majority Christian Ethio­pian Orthodox country. The OLF, one of the world’s long-running insurgent groups, was so active in Washington that it had offices in a Takoma Park bungalow, a U Street rowhouse and a commercial building in Petworth that now has a “For Rent” sign out front. The group organized Howard University political rallies, functions at Oromo churches and mosques and high-level meetings with Congress — even a Miss Oromo-North America beauty pageant. Those events will continue, Tuko promises the crowd, just with a different spin. “We still want to keep our identity as Oromos. But it’s also about healing and working together now,” he said. Tuko has been spreading a similiar message in Oromo diaspora communities across the United States, holding lunches like this one in places such as Dallas and Houston as part of the OLF’s so-called “Oromo Unity Train.” Or in the joking words of radio host and political satirist Abebe Belew: “You’ve heard of the Arab Spring, as this awakening to revolution? Well, this is our Ethiopian Winter because of the dropping of secession. But soon it’s going to be much bigger than the Arab Spring, because our biggest breakaway group wants unity and they will join forces against the current government,” said Belew, who is known as a sort of Ethiopian Jon Stewart. “It will change Ethiopia and it will change Washington.” * * * Tuko and other Oromos would correct you if you called them Ethio­pian. There are youth groups for Oromo college students, Oromo cultural festivals and Oromo Singles, a dating Web site. “On U Street, other Ethiopians would call us by an ethnic slur outlawed in Ethiopia and used to mean, you are ‘an ignorant peasant,’ ” said Misra Ibrahim, 37, a cook who was eating lunch at the cafe when Tuko and other Oromos began to discuss the movement’s new focus. Her brother was killed in the fighting in 1995. “They don’t know how much that hurt, and worse was the fact that the word was being used in Washington,” said Etena Shuremu, a 37-year-old Oromo teacher, who said he was relieved the separatist fight was over. “I’m really proud I’m an Oromo.

20e8a592-79f3-11e1-8528-f799df778c43_0

OPM: Reservists can’t be denied their civilian jobs

The White House’s personnel chief is calling on senior federal executives to ensure that National Guard and Reserve troops returning to their civilian federal jobs are not penalized for their military service. “This Administration has zero tolerance for violations of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act,” John Berry, director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, said in a memo last week to the President’s Management Council and the Chief Human Capital Officers Council. The Washington Post reported in February that the federal government is the biggest violator of the USERRA law, which says that service members cannot be denied jobs or otherwise be penalized by employers because of their military obligations. In fiscal 2011, more than 18 percent of the 1,548 complaints of violations of that law involved federal agencies, according to Labor Department figures. “We must continue to pay close attention to our returning Reserve and Guard population and ensure we manage their reintegration and maintain their professional trajectory,” Berry said. In separate remarks, Berry said that recent Bureau of Labor Statistics figures showing a drop in unemployment among veterans in the first months of 2012 are encouraging. The BLS reported in March that unemployment among veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars stood at 12.1 percent in 2011 but had dropped to 7.6 percent in February. “We still have work to do, but that trajectory shows the impact we can have when we focus our efforts and work together,” Berry told a leadership conference in New York last week. However, a survey released last week by the group Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America found that unemployment among its members stood at 16.7 percent. The survey “shows that unemployment for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans is significantly higher than reported by the government,” said IAVA director Paul Rieckhoff, who added that the results “should be a wake-up call for all Americans.”

de12b1bc-78e0-11e1-96fc-4e3f9a8561ee_2

Alexandria’s Brooke Curran on winning the Antarctica Marathon

far Type A distance runners would go in pursuit of their goals. “These are people who take the reins and ride life hard. They’re not afraid to take some risk and live life to the fullest,” Gilligan said. In 1993, Gilligan was quoted in a travel trade magazine saying that he could take runners to every continent except Antarctica. Two days later, an outfit that specialized in Zodiac boat tours of the area contacted him about conquering that last frontier. They decided to set it up for 1995. “I was hoping for 30 people,” Gilligan said. “We got 110 deposits in 60 days.” Today, the Antarctica Marathon is sold out for 2013, 2014 and 2015, and accepting applications for 2016. There is now a Great Wall marathon (yes, you run parts of the Chinese landmark) and a marathon through a Kenyan game park, among others. The company has a few serious competitors in this niche market, including San Diego-based Kathy Loper Events and Adventure Marathon in Denmark. The Antarctica race’s 100 or so runners live aboard a converted Russian research ship. For $7,500 to $9,500, plus airfare, they spend two weeks in South America and Antarctica as tourists before and after they run their dream marathons on a rugged course marked by small red flags. About the only other people on that part of the peninsula work in research bases belonging to Uruguay, Chile, China and Russia (four Chilean scientists ran the half-marathon this year). In this climate, there are no guarantees. In 2001, the seas were too rough for the small inflatable boats that take the runners ashore, just a kilometer away. The marathon was run aboard the ship: 442 laps around Deck 6, Gilligan said. Another year the race went off in a blizzard. Runners thanked Gilligan for that experience. Curran, whose husband, Christopher, is an attorney in the District, began running short distances as a stay-at-home mother of three daughters about 15 years ago. Then the Sept. 11 attacks occurred. “I heard the sonic boom, I could see the smoke rising from the Pentagon. I was sitting there with my three girls. . . . It’s an ‘aha’ sort of moment where all of a sudden you realize the fragility of life. You realize how short life is.” She worked her way into terrific shape, lowering her time until she realized that wasn’t the whole answer either.

4d69684e-7cec-11e1-9a89-5e2bc7327af3_2

In Pr. George’s, 5 killed in deadly weekend

cause of that, we believe, is robbery,” Magaw said. “We’re looking at an overtone of a gang issue, but we’re still investigating.” On Saturday, 25-year-old Ashley McClurkin was slain in her Suitland apartment. Her friend, Audrea Blackwell, 24, was charged with first-degree murder and related counts, accused of shooting McClurkin during an ongoing dispute. Blackwell also shot herself in the leg, police said, and was found about a mile from the apartment. Tarel McClurkin, Ashley McClurkin’s uncle, declined to comment on the shooting but said his niece was “loved and cherished.” “She’s a beloved family member and a spirited young woman whose life, honestly, was ended way too soon,” he said. “It never even got started.” Police began investigating Ogden’s slaying later Saturday night, arriving at her Danville Road home after Cristalina Warner called 911, according to charging documents. Warner initially told officers that her grandmother was in the kitchen when she left the home about 7 p.m. Saturday and that she returned to find the side door open, according to the documents. She told the officers that although her grandmother’s car was in the driveway, she could not find the 83-year-old, her purse or her cellphone. After an officer found Ogden’s body, Warner gave “a statement confessing to shooting and killing her grandmother,” the documents state. She was charged with first-degree murder, online court records show. LouAnn Warner said her daughter was once a well-adjusted young woman. “Cristy,” as family members called her, graduated from the University of Maryland, where she studied government, and briefly pursued a law degree at Catholic University, her mother said. “Very bright young lady,” she said. About three years ago, though, something changed, LouAnn Warner said. Her daughter dropped out of law school and broke ties with her family, she said. She said she suspected her daughter was ill — possibly with Lyme disease and psychiatric issues — but Cristalina Warner kept most of her medical information private. LouAnn Warner said that in January 2011, her daughter reached out to the family for help, saying she was sick. The family devised a plan for Cristalina Warner to move in with her grandmother a few months later, in hopes that “they would take care of each other.” “But it didn’t end up a help at all, obviously,” LouAnn Warner said. She said her daughter’s mental problems did not seem to improve at her grandmother’s. At

6879cfd6-6eda-11e1-91fd-5ffb00867c92_3

Nate Bennett-Fleming, D.C. shadow-rep hopeful, works to be heard over the buzz

Arrington Dixon and recruited other young Ward 8 natives to hand out fliers at grocery stores. He enlisted fraternity brothers to populate his core staff, outspent the respected incumbent Mike Panetta and set up a headquarters on North Capitol Street, using wood from Home Depot for makeshift desks. In the fall of 2009, he was running a campaign while enrolled at both the Berkeley School of Law and Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. He spent Tuesdays through Thursdays in Cambridge and long weekends in Washington, and studied legal texts in between. He left Harvard before completing his thesis because he wanted to refocus on law school and the campaign, he says. His goal, then as now, was to draw young people to the cause and to empower an essentially powerless role. Nate lost, and was shaken by this first and very public failure, but re-branded his defeat as the largest-ever vote tally of any D.C. candidate younger than 30. He knew he was going to run again in 2012 and positioned himself as the inevitable successor to Panetta, who decided after three terms to make way for fresh blood. Nate has essentially wiped the field of potential challengers but is running as if he hadn’t; that’s his way of trying to raise the profile of the office. His campaign motto is “Expect More” — of the shadow rep, of the city, of the country. He is an overachiever gunning for a position of underachievement. Some longtime political know-it-alls started talking. Who is this kid? What does he want? Why is he doing this? A little history In a historically literal sense, Nate is doing this because angry veterans of the Revolutionary War surrounded the Continental Congress in Philadelphia in 1783 and demanded back pay. The state refused to dispatch its militia to protect the Congress, which thenceforth vowed that the nation’s capital, wherever it was based, would be under the federal government’s control. A long-running farce unfolds from there: Scene 1. In 1801, the Congress of the United States, a nation founded partly on the principle of no taxation without representation, incorporates its capital as the District of Columbia, whose citizens pay federal taxes but have no federal representation. Ho ho, ha ha. Scenes 2 through 500, set to “Yakety Sax.” People object. Adjustments are made. No one is happy. The District could elect its own mayor and council members

36807660-7a6f-11e1-8528-f799df778c43_2

Recommendations

the District at Cleveland Park Wine and Spirits, Paul’s of Chevy Chase, Potomac Wine & Spirits, Rodman’s. Available in Maryland at several Montgomery County Liquor Stores, Bottle Shop and World Gourmet Wine & Beer in Potomac, Cork & Fork in Bethesda, Kosher Mart in Rockville, Miller’s Delicatessen in Pikes­ville, Old Farm Liquors and Riverside Liquor in Frederick, Quarry Wine & Spirits in Baltimore. Available in Virginia at Arrowine and the Italian Store in Arlington, D’Vine Wines in Winchester, Rick’s Wine & Gourmet and Unwined in Alexandria, Vienna Vintner. EASTER WINES Puriri Hills 2006 Reserve ★★★ Clevedon, New Zealand, $40 New Zealand is known for its lamb, but not so much for its red wines made from Bordeaux grape varieties. This delicious example is a blend of merlot, carmenere and cabernet franc. It features lush dark-fruit flavors accented by mint and spice, with a hint of earth. Decant at least an hour before drinking to allow the flavors to develop. Nice Legs: Available in the District at Cleveland Park Wine and Spirits; on the list at Corduroy and Vidalia. Available in Maryland at Cork & Fork in Bethesda; on the list at Grapeseed in Bethesda. Available in Virginia at Ashburn Wine Shop; Crystal City Wine Shop, Grape+Bean in Rosemont, Le Tastevin Fine Wines and Unwined in Alexandria, Vienna Vintner, the Vineyard in McLean; on the list at Willow in Arlington. Dr. H. Thanisch Bernkasteler Badstube Kabinett Riesling 2010 ★★1 / 2 Mosel, Germany, $24 This lovely off-dry Riesling will pair nicely with just about anything, and especially an Easter ham. J.W. Sieg: Available in the District at Cleveland Park Wine and Spirits. Available in Maryland at Corridor Wine & Spirits in Laurel. Available in Virginia at Curious Grape in Arlington, Oakton Wine Shop, Unwined in Belleview, all local Total Wine & More locations. Rabbit Ridge Sangiovese “Brunello Clone” 2010 ★★1 / 2 Paso Robles, Calif., $20 California Sangiovese has not exactly been a success story, but this example offers the dried cherry and cocoa flavors characteristic of the grape along with a robust fruit-forward structure and ripeness that speak of the New World. “Brunello Clone” refers to the particular clone Sangiovese grosso that is grown near the town of Montalcino in southern Tuscany and forms the basis of the famed Brunello wines. Constantine: Available in the District at Ace Beverage, Broad Branch Market, Cleveland Park Wine and Spirits, Connecticut Avenue Wine

041d77f6-7dc9-11e1-a52e-fb86d694c97a_1

Full Transcript: Barack Obama speech before newspaper editors

for a job that pays enough to cover their bills or their mortgage. Too many citizens will still lack the sort of financial security that started slipping away years before this recession hit. A debt that has grown over the last decade, primarily as a result of two wars, two massive tax cuts and unprecedented financial crisis, will have to be paid down. And in the face of all these challenges, we’re going to have to answer a central question as a nation. What, if anything, can we do to restore a sense of security for people who are willing to work hard and act responsibly in this country? Can we succeed as a country where a shrinking number of people do exceedingly well while a growing number struggle to get by or are we better off when everyone gets a fair shot? And everyone does their fair share. And everyone plays by the same rules. This is not just another run of the mill political debate. I’ve said it’s the defining issue of our time and I believe it. That’s why I ran in 2008. It’s what my presidency has been about. It’s why I’m running again. I believe this is a make or break moment for the middle class and I can’t remember a time when the choice between competing visions of our future has been so unambiguously clear. Keep in mind, I have never been somebody who believes that government can or should try to solve every problem. Some of you know my first job in Chicago was working with a group of Catholic churches that often did more good for the people in their communities than any government program could. In those same communities I saw that no education policy, however well crafted, can take the place of a parent’s love and attention. As president, I have eliminated dozens of programs that weren’t working and announced over 500 regulatory reforms that will save businesses and taxpayers billions. And put annual domestic spending on a path to become the smallest share of the economy since Dwight Eisenhower held this office. Since before I was born. I know that the true engine of job creation in this country is the private sector not Washington, which is why I’ve cut taxes for small business owners 17 times over the last three years. So I believe deeply that the free

ca34f00a-7756-11e1-862c-76c4e0e725cd_0

The 401(k): Americans ‘just not prepared’ to manage their own retirement funds

(Illustration by Dadu Shin for The Washington Post) When lawmakers added a subsection to the tax code called the 401(k) more than three decades ago, they could not have imagined that this string of three numbers and a letter would become a fixture in the financial lexicon. Nor could they imagine the stress it would unleash. A poll by Gallup last year showed that for two-thirds of Americans, not having enough money for retirement topped seven other financial worries, including medical bills, mortgage payments and their children’s college tuitions. Worrying about having enough money for retirement is not a new phenomenon. But the rise of the 401(k), dating to the early 1980s, has steadily shifted more financial responsibility onto the shoulders of many Americans who are — let’s face it — clueless. The number of people who are unprepared is growing. In 1983, researchers now at the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College calculated that 31 percent of working-age households were “at risk” of not being able to maintain their standard of living after they retired. By 2009, it was 51 percent. “I don’t know how you feel, but managing your own money is just horrible,” said Alicia Munnell, director of the center. “We just don’t know how to do it.” Consider the hurdles between every American with a 401(k) and a decent retirement: First, wade through your HR department’s paperwork to enroll in a plan at your company. Second, save enough. (Imagine what you think is enough. Then save more.) Next, manage your investments intelligently through stock market highs and lows, tending to your portfolio every year to make sure you have the right balance of stocks and bonds, and avoid withdrawing any money early. And not least, when you retire, ration your money at just the right rate: not so little that you live uncomfortably but not so much that you run out. The result has been a system that works well for people who know how to use it. For many others, it’s better than nothing, but it still may not be enough. “Does the system work or not? It’s really a ‘compared to what’ question,” said Eric Toder of the Urban Institute. “One side emphasizes the glass is half-full and the other emphasizes the glass is half-empty. The real question is, how do we make the system work better for the people for whom it’s

c500fd02-7d0c-11e1-b953-d75e34ce3b94_2

Three Great Mills students receive top awards in regional science fair

The store-bought helmet fared the worst, resulting in the most damage to the model head, she said. “I’ve applied for a provisional patent for it,” she said of the foam helmet she designed. “It will, hopefully, give better insight into concussions and lower the rate of concussions.” Gordge, a senior, built a device for her project, “Direction Detection,” to pinpoint when an ambulance or other emergency vehicle is approaching by picking up sound waves from sirens. “It will ultimately alert the driver of the direction of approach,” she said. This will be beneficial not only to people who have hearing problems, but also to teenagers who listen to loud music in the car, she said. “I just tried to solve a real-world problem, and as a new driver I’ve experienced it,” said Gordge, whose father is a volunteer paramedic. She said the device also eventually could be used to automatically change traffic lights to help approaching emergency vehicles. Gordge competed last year in the international fair with a device she invented that continuously monitors and tracks “crackles,” or sounds made from fluid in a patient’s lung that might be associated with congestive heart failure. She also wrote a computer program that visualizes these sounds to allow for easier monitoring. “I’m really fortunate to get to go again,” she said. Alsheimer, a sophomore, expanded on a science project he originally developed last year. “The wacky, out-there part is I wanted to see if a magnet could control lightning,” Alsheimer said. “Last year, I saw there was an effect that the magnet had on the spark.” For this year’s project, he examined what are called Lichtenberg figures, which are basically branchlike shapes that electric discharges make on a nonconductive surface, he said. He shot electricity at an acrylic plate and tried to use a magnet to affect the patterns formed. Although he was unable to observe any change in the patterns, he speculated that the judges liked his presentation, both the actual project and accompanying notebook and data. All three students have been participating in science fairs since elementary school. They also are in the Great Mills’ STEM academy, which focuses on science, technology, engineering and math and draws students from throughout St. Mary’s. “It’s science and fun at the same time,” Gordge said. Alsheimer and Moore began participating in earnest while in the sixth-grade STEM academy at Spring Ridge Middle School.

994a8d0a-7919-11e1-a01f-52d5c6187537_5

The fragrant garden

summer treat is the scent of the shrub named clethra or summersweet, which will work in a shade garden where lilies are unhappy. In a sunnier location, butterfly bush will flower for a similarly long time, though it is not as strong as the clethra. This can be a weedy bush that needs cutting back in spring to develop a compact habit. Also, you should cut off faded flowers to promote reblooming and prevent seeding. Fall In addition to roses, lavender and butterfly bush, the fall garden is ripe with sweet-smelling annuals and tropicals that have reached maturity. These include the snail vine, which will flower happily from seed to vine over the course of a single season, though its flowering will be greatly increased if it is cut back and kept dormant indoors over the winter. Container-grown tuberoses and ginger-lilies are an olfactory knockout, though hardy plants also scent the late-season garden. Sweet autumn clematis blooms in September, an evergreen shrub named osmanthus blossoms in October. Its tiny white flowers are almost invisible, though that doesn’t seem to matter. Winter The fragrant flowers of winter come and go, relying on periods of mildness that cannot be predicted. Witchhazel is a good example. Some hybrids are more scented than others, and again the acid test is to sniff them in flower before buying one. Green Spring Gardens in Northern Virginia has an excellent collection that is well-labeled. The Chinese witchhazel, Hamamelis mollis, is considered the most powerfully fragrant. Another shrub named edgeworthia, at its edge of hardiness in Washington, is extremely fragrant when it blooms in February and March. This is about the time a glossy-leafed evergreen named sweetbox blooms. Its little white blooms, the size of rice grains, can perfume an entire garden. Along with a wintersweet, of course. Right under your nose The zone of fragrance differs not only by plant, but time of day, so unless you are planting a whole field of lavender or lilies (not a bad idea) you have to place your scented plant close to where you walk and sit. That means by the patio or the screened porch, along the front walk, on a balcony or deck, near the kitchen door or elevated in raised beds or pots. More on this story Chat Thursday at noon : Get advice from Adrian Higgins Share photos of your garden PHOTOS: See Higgins’s favorite roses

d9dc9954-7dbe-11e1-a52e-fb86d694c97a_0

Derail this gravy train

THE FEDERAL government has a lot on its mind these days. A war in Afghanistan. Fiscal reform. Health care. With so many genuine issues to address, you wouldn’t have thought that Washington would also be trying to figure out a new way to get tourists from Southern California to the Las Vegas strip. But you would be wrong. The Federal Railroad Administration is considering lending $4.9 billion to a company called Desert Xpress, for the purpose of building a high-speed rail line to Las Vegas from Victorville, Calif., some 81 miles east of downtown Los Angeles. The brainchild of several wealthy Las Vegas casino moguls, Desert Xpress enjoys the backing of Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) and has already secured approvals from the Bureau of Land Management, the Army Corps of Engineers and the Fish and Wildlife Service, among other federal and state agencies. It is pursuing about $1.6 billion in private financing. All that’s left is the Federal Railroad Administration’s okay on the loan. According to a recent Associated Press report, the $4.9 billion loan would be three times as much as all previous lending by the Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing (RRIF) program, a little-known pot of low-interest, long-term credit previously used mainly to upgrade existing lines. The proposed line’s advertised public benefits are the same as those claimed for all high-speed rail projects: reduced carbon emissions, less air and auto traffic, and, of course, jobs, jobs, jobs. What makes this one unique is that it would be a non-stop route whose Western end, Victorville, would function as a gathering point for people from all across Southern California. They would park their cars and then board the train for Vegas. In theory, that’s no different from driving to an airport and leaving your car. And once you reached the train, it would take only 80 minutes to hit Vegas, as opposed to a minimum four-hour drive each way. In theory. But if this train is such a good idea, business-wise, how come private banks aren’t lining up to finance it? Previous high-speed rail projects around the world have been plagued by poor ridership, requiring government subsidies to continue operation. You might save travel time by taking the train instead of a car — as long as you’re content to depend on the train’s schedule. The train’s backers project an average round-trip L.A.-Vegas fare as low as

0c80b636-7e9d-11e1-afcc-ccc07c639b65_4

Mega Millions letdown

carry over credit card debt month to month. ●Twenty-five percent of those who do not currently have non-retirement savings indicated that, if they did begin to save, they would keep their savings at home in cash. “This year’s survey unveiled some disturbing trends, showing that a significant number of Americans are saving less, spending more and carrying credit card debt over from month to month, suggesting that the painful financial lessons of the past are quickly being forgotten,” said Susan C. Keating, president and CEO of the NFCC. I had hoped that the Great Recession would change people’s behavior. However, this survey, conducted March 16-19, shows that people are going back to some old ways. “Making well-informed decisions about money is a key life skill,” said David Vladeck, director of the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “Financial Literacy Month is a great time to learn your financial rights – or teach someone you care about.” The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has launched a new initiative, called Ask CFPB, to help consumers get clear answers to financial questions. The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago is kicking off the month by hosting a Money Smart Week from April 21-28. The bank will have a series of free classes and activities designed to help consumers better manage their personal finances. To find out whether there are free financial education events near you, go to the bank’s Web site at www.chicagofed.org and click on the link for Money Smart Week. Responses to “Facebook” Last week, I asked you: “What do you think of being required to give up your Facebook username and password to a prospective employer? Would you do it? Have you done it?” Bloomberg Businessweek reported Here are some reader’s comments: “I have nothing to hide on Facebook,” wrote Rebecca Pellot of Monroe, N.Y. “But if it’s a choice of getting the job, I would give my password.” “The only way that I would agree to this grossly intrusive requirement for employment is if I were applying to be a CIA or FBI agent,” said Nicole Leonard of Baltimore. “The vetting process for those jobs is so extensive they are likely to find out about anything on my Facebook page anyway. Any other job? No way. I am an asset and it is their loss.” Brian Busenbark “Prospective employers are requesting access to password-protected Facebook accounts? Sounds like a sneaky

a0340424-7dc5-11e1-b19e-2a1d7a793e3a_2

GAO report offers a window into the lives of wounded warriors

were wounded in the theater of operations. Serious problems, such as TBI and PTSD, were handled at the Naval Hospital Camp Lejeune and through the Tricare network locally. A support team was established for each wounded Marine. The team included a noncommissioned officer as a section leader, a civilian medical case manager, a military or civilian primary-care manager, and a civilian recovery care coordinator who acted as the primary point of contact. Overall, the inspector general found that the management and staff at the battalion and Naval Hospital at Camp Lejeune “were fully dedicated to providing the best available care and services.” But they faced “significant challenges.” Misuse or abuse of prescription medications, sedatives, painkillers and illegal drugs was a big problem. Most of the battalion’s Marines “were on serious medications” and many were “predisposed” to addictions, according to the battalion’s senior officer. There was no real control of medication distributed by military and civilian providers, so combating drug abuse became a top priority. That included establishing regular and surprise drug screenings. There was a sense that the rules on drug abuse were more lenient for combat-wounded Marines and Purple Heart recipients than for others, which set a “bad tone” within the barracks. One Warrior told the inspector general that he thought nothing was done to those caught with drugs “because no one wanted to be the guy that kicked out a Marine for drugs.” To mitigate the problem, video cameras were installed in the barracks to deter thefts of prescription medication and illegal drugs. More recently, a new policy has established “proper medication accountability of each Marine,” according to a December 2011 letter to the inspector general from the battalion commander. Keeping people busy between medical appointments was difficult. Making various programs mandatory — internships, reconditioning programs and other structured activities — left some Warriors feeling “they were being ‘messed with,’ which created some anxiety,” according to one person interviewed by the inspector general. Another issue for the wounded Marines was the amount of time spent waiting for decisions about their futures. The disability evaluation system involves a medical evaluation board, a physical evaluation board, disability determinations, an appeals process and a final disposition. The process can take as long as two years. Just the medical evaluation process for a wounded Marine at Lejeune was taking 245 days, the inspector general said. On a broader basis, it found that

456e6670-7cf7-11e1-8f65-4cbb23028e62_0

Off to war — for what reason?

Rachel Maddow’s excellent op-ed piece on the changes in American society that have “almost normalized the condition of America being at war” [“Reaching the limit in Afghanistan,” March 28] left out one important factor — the all-volunteer Army. Before the all-volunteer Army, when there was the threat of being drafted, citizens, especially young students, posed a counterbalance to establishment figures with warlike tendencies. Today, men and women are, for whatever reason, in the military by choice. For the rest of the citizenry, with no danger of being drafted and no requirement to pay increased taxes to support wars, the drawn-out conflicts in faraway countries are largely out of sight and out of mind. This does not change the fact that our military is deployed for wars by the president and the Congress that we have elected. We and our representatives are the ones responsible for sending men and women to die or to be seriously injured in places like Afghanistan. We ought to be able to describe the vital national interests that cause us to continue sending them forward into battle. William R. Burns Jr., Washington

2e34f6a4-782e-11e1-862c-76c4e0e725cd_8

Instant tax refunds on their way out

said its partner bank, HSBC, would no longer provide tax loans after receiving a notice of concern from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. ­JPMorgan Chase, one of the three biggest providers of tax advances, had pulled out of the market earlier that year. This tax season marks the final year that a bank can offer the loans. Republic Bank, based in Kentucky, is the lone holdout. Early last year, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. notified the bank that extending the loans without the debt indicator compromised its “safety and soundness.” The regulator also alleged numerous violations, including failure to disclose the annual percentage rate and discrimination based on marital status. The FDIC said nearly half the tax preparation centers it visited that distributed Republic’s loans committed three or more regulatory violations. The FDIC proposed a $2 million fine. Republic settled the case for $900,000 late last year and agreed it would stop making tax advance loans. Timed out by technology Some analysts say the industry was on its last legs anyway. Advances in technology have shortened the time it takes for the IRS to process refunds to a week or two, reducing demand for the loans. But others say that the loans filled a critical niche in many consumers’ budgets and that demand was inelastic. “The people who think they know more than the consumer does and what’s good for them — and that’s an opinion — decided that they don’t like this, that people shouldn’t have to pay to get their money faster,” Longfield said. “The pendulum, as it always does, swings too far in the other direction.” Tax preparers have developed alternatives to tax loans for customers who do not have bank accounts. Refund anticipation checks or prepaid cards allow customers to deduct the cost of tax preparation from their refunds. Also, some non-banks have begun offering tax advance loans on a more limited basis. According to the NCLC, about 5 million tax loans were madelast year, generating roughly $338 million in fees — one-third of the size of the market at its height. It is expected to shrink even more this year. “It had kind of served its purpose to solve a problem when people weren’t getting refunds as quickly as before,” Ernst said. “The need to enable an industry to exist to accelerate refunds, we didn’t believe that was a good policy choice.”

55fd76a8-7e7c-11e1-bc36-069277cb6efc_0

Point/Counterpoint: The death of the matinee

The Boston Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Roberto Abbado, performs Haydn's Symphony No. 93 in D at the Kennedy Center. (Michael Temchine/For The Washington Post/FOR THE WASHINGTON POST) Who goes to Friday afternoon orchestra concerts? Not enough people, apparently. The National Symphony Orchestra has decided, for next season, not to “phase out” its matinees but to end them. To comment on this divisive action, we turn the soapbox over to two NSO attendees, who are no less pithy for being wholly imaginary. Call them Florestan and Eusebius, in a nod to classical tradition. Florestan: Eusebius Florestan: Eusebius Florestan: Eusebius Florestan: Got a rant? Got a suggestion for Washington’s arts community? Go to wapo.st/the-rant and submit yours. We’ll run the most interesting ones. Please include your name, city and contact information.

847ff4d2-7fc2-11e1-bc36-069277cb6efc_0

For Japan, shutting down nuclear plants brings surge in oil, gas imports

The LNG tanker Grand Aniva arriving from Russia at Futsu, Chiba prefecture, on April 16, 2011. The Russian tanker carrying liquefied natural gas helped Japan cope with its electricity shortage after last year’s earthquake. (Tsuyosi Matsumoto/AP) Correction: TOKYO — As part of that hunt, tankers from as many as 12 countries are pulling up weekly to Japanese port cities, hauling liquefied natural gas super-cooled to 260 degrees below zero. Officials from Tokyo are making trips to the Middle East, requesting increased shipments of oil. In the Timor Sea, off the coast of Australia, a Japanese firm has invested in a subsea natural gas pipeline that will eventually speed deliveries northward. So far, Japan’s drastic increase in fossil fuel imports, namely oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG), has kept the country from the short-term crisis of power outages and darkened cities, even as more of its nuclear plants come offline. But the import surge also comes with a dire side effect, analysts say, that strikes at the heart of the world’s third-largest economy. By relying on pricey, imported alternatives to nuclear energy, Japan this year is facing an ominous cycle in which energy costs rise and business conditions erode. Even if thermal plants operate at full capacity this summer, the country will still be short on electrical power in peak months, hampering industrial production. That means industrial exports could shrink at the same time energy imports are on the rise, shriveling growth rates and leaving the country more vulnerable to global price shocks. There is a solution to all this — restarting the nuclear power plants — but given Japan’s mounting objection to atomic energy, it draws only a dark laugh. Even before last year’s nuclear crisis, a triple meltdown triggered by an earthquake and tsunami, Tokyo ranked as the world’s largest importer of LNG and third-largest importer of crude oil. But nuclear reactors powered one-third of the country’s needs, and the country planned for that share to increase to 50 percent. Thirteen months later, only one of Japan’s 54 reactors is operating; some were shuttered because of the disaster, and most of the others have come offline for scheduled maintenance. Despite attempts by politicians in Tokyo to persuade them to do so, provincial governors and local communities won’t allow them to restart. In February, nuclear plants produced just 3 percent of the total power generated in Japan. By next month,

f89c746e-7ea3-11e1-a48c-ab6fd19329b8_0

Craft brews bubble up to eager Washington fans

Cans are prepared to be filled at local craft brewery D.C. Brau. (Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post) The District-based ChopHouse & Brewery ferments nine types of craft beer on site, and its servers can describe each one like a sommelier would a fine wine. Head brewer Barrett Lauer said microbreweries’ tailored approach has contributed to craft beer’s rising popularity over the years: When Chophouse opened 15 years ago, small brewers comprised just 1 percent of the national beer market. Last year, it was nearly 6 percent. Furthermore, craft brewers saw their sales increase 14 percent last year, even as overall beer sales fell by 1.3 percent over 2010, according to a trade group report released last week. In the Washington area, last year alone saw the opening of D.C Brau. Brewing Co., 3 Stars, Chocolate City Beer, Port City Brewing Co. and others. Across the country, there were 1,989 craft breweries operating in 2011, an 11 percent increase from the previous year, the Boulder, Colo.-based Brewers Association said. The increase represents a shift in consumer tastes toward local, artisan products, analysts say. “If you look at demographics, craft beer drinkers tend to be more economically affluent and they tend to be younger,” said Warren Solochek, who follows beverages for the NPD Group consulting firm. No ad men required Bill Butcher founded Port City in Alexandria last year. He has a 30-barrel system, which is big for a microbrewery, and now distributes in four states. But as is typical for a craft brewer, he did it all with a very limited marketing budget. “We allocated zero dollars for advertising, to be exact,” Butcher said. Instead, he relied on word-of-mouth among brew connoisseurs and used Twitter and Facebook to stay in touch with die-hard beer lovers. “People love to talk about craft beer with their friends,” Solochek said. “So they often don’t have to do a lot of advertising to be successful.” Despite their local successes, craft brewers have historically faced challenges in gaining national market share. The distributors who bring beer from suppliers to retailers still make most of their revenue from national brands, and the sheer number of craft beers makes it hard for them to predict which ones will do well. “The volume is still with the big brewers,” said David Henkes, who follows the beverage market for consulting firm Technomic. Some small brewers opt to circumvent the distributor issue

bda21b40-8027-11e1-a0b6-d7a82554f2ac_0

If, according to April 5 editorial “Derail this gravy train,” a fast train from Southern California to Las Vegas is hardly the most sensible way to channel government funds, “previous projects around the world” have not been “plagued by poor ridership.” This applies to a degree to emerging China but certainly not to longer established economies such as those of Japan and France, where a number of train routes have proven to be faster, more reliable and more enjoyable than the competing plane alternatives. On shorter and medium distances, bullet trains and TGV’s just “plow” through traffic, reducing the congestion both on roads and runways. Not only does the train passenger save time and skirt stress, non-users — i.e. motorists — themselves benefit from having fewer other automobiles, buses etc in their midst, justifying a rail subsidy. Michael Kent, Washington

486ddf3c-7f44-11e1-a48c-ab6fd19329b8_2

Capital Buzz: Former framer enters greeting-card business

vs. Democrats on April 28 at Yards Park, at 3rd and 4th Streets SE. The event is promoted by the company’s Adventures division, which tries to think up new things for people to do. Tickets go on sale April 10 for $25 if you want to throw a fastball at the opposition. “Independents,” who want to just sit and watch, can pay $10. For that, you get admission and a couple of beers. The following week is “Pirates” vs. “Ninjas” dodgeball. White House Nannies Entrepreneur John Kane of the Kane Co. has started two new businesses. One is Hospital Relocation Services, which stores and installs equipment for mid-Atlantic hospitals. “There are 5,850 hospitals in the country, and most will renovate in the next decade, so we are focusing resources for that industry’s needs,” Kane said. The other is Kane Home Moving & Storage, created for the hoped-for revival of the housing market. Serial retail entrepreneur Chuck Rendelman’s FroZenYo (yogurt shops) has started Zombie Coffee as a small in-store station at the FroZenYo store at F Street. Now it is on the hunt for its first stand-alone store. Rendelman is positioning the new coffee shop as a blue-collar competitor to Starbucks. The Zombie mission statement: “Less money, and you can get in and out in less than two minutes.” Auto dealer mogul Tammy Darvish zipped down to Orlando last week to hear about the digital opportunities in the dealership industry — and to pick up an award applauding how Darcars Toyota Dealership treats women customers. Take aways? “Digital tools should allow us to better engage with customers so we can do things like track their service histories and keep them informed. The social media side of the business shows us how to better connect with our customers and build long-term relationships with them.” Carlyle watch: The Carlyle Group plans to sell up to 10 percent of the company when it puts shares on the market in the next few months, according to a regulatory filing last week. One of the firm’s founders, David Rubenstein, also said at a Washington investor conference last week that he expects the next Congress to take up the issue of taxation of the private equity business as part of overall tax reform. Private equity’s profit-based compensation — known as carried interest — is taxed at a lower rate than earned income. Factoid of the week: Geico

c12d343e-7d0c-11e1-b953-d75e34ce3b94_0

JOBS Act could give some banks a boost

Speaker of the House John Boehner unveils the JOBS Act in Washington on Feb. 28. (Larry Downing/Reuters) It is now possible for small banks to raise additional capital without having to register with the Securities and Exchange Commission, a requirement that on average can result in tens of thousands of dollars a year in compliance costs. A provision in the JOBS Act, signed into law last week, raises the threshold that requires banks to register with the SEC from 500 stockholders to 2,000. It also ups the “de-registration” threshold from 300 shareholders to 1,200, making it easier for registered banks to opt out following a stock buyback or consolidation of shareholders. “To raise capital, small banks have to, in many cases, issue more shares and bring in more shareholders. But if you have to register and pay hundreds of thousands of dollars, it’s counterproductive because your capital is taken away by those costs,” said Paul Merski, chief economist at the Independent Community Bankers of America, a trade group. Had the new threshold been in place four years ago it would have saved John Marshall Bank some $150,000 a year in legal and accounting costs, President Bill Ridenour said. The Reston-based institution had 300 shareholders in early 2008, but the number jumped to 700 following a private placement offering that raised $27 million that spring. Soon after, John Marshall had to start filing quarterly and annual reports, proxy solicitations and trading notifications with the SEC — plus certify internal controls as as required by Sarbanes-Oxley. The bank, with $436.9 million in assets, currently has about 834 shareholders. “For a larger corporation, financial reporting is important for shareholders to get a feel for what’s happening,” Ridenour said. “But frankly, we know most of our shareholders. If they have any questions, they can call us directly.” John Marshall’s stock is registered, but not publicly traded because its shareholder group is small, he said. Most trades are done privately between sellers and buyers. Ridenour said bank officials want to thoroughly weigh the pros and cons of opting out of registration before making any decision. As a growing community bank, John Marshall may run up against the 2,000 cap in a matter of years. Registering all over again may be a costly endeavor. At Access National Bank in Reston, chief executive Michael Clarke said has no intention of de-registering, though he supports the spirit of

1ad351a0-7d06-11e1-b953-d75e34ce3b94_1

IT contractors look for ‘big data’ opportunities

computer programs. The Obama administration announced late last month a new big data initiative meant to help the government better analyze large collections of information. The government’s big data can range from the claims filed by Medicare and Medicaid users to video footage collected by unmanned vehicles on the battlefield. The initiative kicked off with more than $200 million in projects at six agencies in an effort to advance the technologies needed to collect, store and share the troves of data and expand the needed workforce. Now, information technology companies are hoping the government’s spotlight will mean additional opportunity. MarkLogic, a California company with a Tysons Corner-based public sector business, has long specialized in organizing what it calls “unstructured” data, which could be anything from e-mails to geospatial information that doesn’t fit into typical databases. The company’s government work includes contracts with the intelligence community as well as civilian agencies, and MarkLogic has seen its government unit become the largest group within the company since it was founded about six years ago, said Randall Jackson, vice president of the company’s public sector. “We feel like we’ve been doing this whole solving the big data problem for many years,” Jackson said. Mark Weber, president of the Tysons Corner-based U.S. public sector division of storage and data management company NetApp, said his company already has some big data-related work, too. For instance, NetApp last year won a major contract with the Energy Department to provide storage for a supercomputer at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California. For the government, “the amount of data they’re bringing in ... has just created a huge opportunity for them to take that data and do something with it,” Weber said. “But it also creates a huge problem in speed, complexity, volume of that data.” Companies large and small expect the government’s new focus to provide growth opportunities. IBM, for instance, made analytics — which includes big data analytics — one of the company’s four corporate growth initiatives, said Frank Stein, director of IBM’s District-based Analytics Solution Center. Reston-based Global Computer Enterprises, which has been working with the General Services Administration to help it make procurement data searchable across the government, said the administration’s focus will likely yield more awareness within agencies. “It’s a very good signal from the administration that they value this new set of tools,” said Ray Muslimani, the company’s founder and chief executive.

4c9a7534-8255-11e1-b088-8660630b7284_1

Occupy Wall Street plans to ‘take down’ Bank of America

banks and local credit unions. Members of the Occupy movement, who have long resisted making specific demands or adopting a leader, say they think that in the case of Bank of America, more specific action is needed. “We want to make sure that people feel like that is a direct action unto itself,” Occupy activist Nelini Stamp told Alternet, a progressive news site. “It’s not just ‘I’m just moving my money from here,’ but actually people are feeling empowered and knowledgeable about the choices that they’re making when they’re making their banking decisions.” Bank of America did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the protest. A recent article by Rolling Stone writer — and Occupy Wall Street supporter — Matt Taibbi compared Bank of America to the “world’s worst behaved teenager. “They’re out of control, yet they’ll never do time or go out of business, because the government remains creepily committed to their survival, like overindulgent parents,” Taibbi wrote. Occupy protesters often employ the lessons and jargon of Taibbi, including his famous description of Goldman Sachs as “vampire squids.” One offshoot of Occupy has already been taking on Bank of America for months, “living-rooming” local branches of Bank of America, meaning its members move furniture into the banks and explain to employees they are moving in because the bank took their homes. Bank of America last month tried to stem the foreclosure problem by sending proposals to more than 1,000 of its customers asking that they become renters to avoid foreclosure. In February, The Washington Post’s Suzy Khimm wrote that Occupy’s protests could be having a real impact on banks. Khimm cited a new study from J.D. Power and Associates that found a growing number of Americans are transferring their money out of large and mid-sized banks: 9.6 percent moved their money in 2011, up from 8.7 percent the year before, and 7.7 percent two years ago. The most popular reason people moved their money was because of higher fees, such as Bank of America’s proposal for a $5-a-month debit card fee, which the bank later scrapped. But in a separate survey from Javelin Strategy & Research, 11 percent of people who switched banks cited a grass-roots campaign urging them to switch to smaller banks or credit unions as the reason for their move. Is Occupy Wall Street hurting banks? Khimm wrote: “At least on the margins.”

dddd1920-8255-11e1-b088-8660630b7284_2

Google glasses competitors in the works

which got a lot of press recently when Google released a video of a blind man taking the car to the local Taco Bell. The cars run using laser range finders and video cameras to navigate on the road, according to a report from The Post’s Dominic Basulto. The cars are meant to lower emissions, eliminate congestion and save the lives of those who might have otherwise died in car crashes caused by human error. Another project from Google X takes a high-level — really high level — view of the problem of expensive space travel: the space elevator. This idea has been a sci-fi staple for decades, but the basic premise is that someday we’ll be able to hop into an elevator on the ground here on Earth and ride it all the way up to the Earth’s orbit or into outer space. There are, as you might imagine, a few problems with this concept. For one, there’s the logistics of anchoring the top elevator. There’s also the problem of space junk, of getting the elevator to play nice with Earth’s orbit and, of course, the cost. Other ideas rumored to be a part of Google Labs at least sound a little more readily achievable: Internet-connected refrigerators, dinner plates that collect information about what you’re eating and robots that act as avatars for workers. As for the Google glasses prototypes, the company isn’t handing any out yet, the Associated Press reports The company didn’t say when regular people can expect to get their hands on a piece of Project Glass, but going by how quickly Google tends to come out with new products, it may not be long. Enderle estimates it could be about six months to a year before broader tests are coming, and a year or more for the first version of the product. With such an immersive device as this, that sort of speed could be dangerous, he cautions. “It’s coming. Whether Google is going to do it or someone else is going to do it, it’s going to happen,” Enderle said. “The question is whether we’ll be ready, and given history we probably won’t be. As a race we tend to be somewhat suicidal with regard to how we implement this stuff.” More technology coverage: Flashback trojan shows Macs do get viruses Nokia U.S. future at risk AOL sells patents to Microsoft, in $1.1B deal

d88743ec-8322-11e1-841f-f928abe652de_1

China’s Bo Xilai removed from party posts; wife accused in Briton’s death

considered particularly Wen directly challenged Bo in a news conference last month, saying the economic opening needed to continue or China risked returning to the turmoil of the 1960s and early ’70s. For weeks, disparate threads of Bo’s murky case had unfolded mainly through Internet rumors and overseas media reports. But two articles appearing after 11 p.m. Tuesday on Xinhua, China’s state news agency, finally began to unravel some of the mystery, offering the only official version so far of what happened in the southwestern city of Chongqing, where Bo until recently served as party boss. Bo’s public troubles began Feb. 6, when his former police chief and onetime right-hand man, Wang Lijun, entered the U.S. Consulate in Chengdu and, according to Xinhua, made allegations about the death of the Briton, Neil Heywood. Heywood’s body was found in a Chongqing hotel room Nov. 15, and police initially said he died of heavy drinking, but the body was cremated before an autopsy could be performed. Wang told American diplomats that the Briton was murdered, Xinhua said. After a day inside the consulate, Wang left and was taken by public security officials to Beijing, where he was placed under investigation. But based on his allegations, police reopened the case of Heywood’s death and found that the Briton had been involved in business dealings with Bo’s wife, Bo Gu Kailai, and was close to Bo’s son, Bo Guagua. The investigation found that Bo’s wife and son “were in good terms with Heywood,” Xinhua said. “However, they had conflict over economic interests, which had been intensified.” “After re-investigation there is now available evidence proving that Heywood died of homicide,” according to the reopened police probe, which said Gu and Zhang Xiaojun, identified as an “orderly” at the Bo household, were “highly suspected of committing the crime.” Gu and Zhang were arrested “on the suspected crime of intentional homicide,” the dispatch said. Since Bo was removed as the Chongqing party chief last month, speculation has swirled about his whereabouts — he is thought to be held under guard in Beijing. The Xinhua article Tuesday reporting Bo’s removal from the 25-member Politburo and the Central Committee made no mention of any specific allegations against him, but Cheng Li, an expert on Chinese politics with the Brookings Institution in Washington, called it “highly likely” that he will face criminal charges Purge with a difference Other Politburo members

094afbbe-7f21-11e1-9877-d2a289f31732_2

Beer Madness, Final Round: Our first canned champ

volume, Coconut Porter is robust, a little stronger and fuller-bodied than the brown porter style. It’s very food-friendly, says Marrero, who has incorporated it into recipes including braised short ribs and chocolate cake. It also makes a terrific beer float with Rocky Road ice cream, he adds. Coconut Porter inspired two of our restaurant-pro judges to create recipes as well. Mixologist Gina Chersevani played off the beer’s notes by adding rum, coconut milk and sugarcane syrup. The tall cocktail looks like a black-and-white milkshake. Palena pastry chef Agnes Chin used the beer to steep steel-cut oats and to provide the background for a dense, rich chocolate coconut porter cake, which she’s serving this week at the restaurant with a cacao nib ice cream and drizzle of espresso caramel. “I always loved great beer,” says Marrero, who grew up in San Diego, a city often described as beer valhalla. “I graduated from high school the same year that Stone Brewing Co. opened.” Marrero later became close friends with Stone’s co-founder, Greg Koch. When Coconut Porter trounced Stone’s Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale in Round 3, Koch e-mailed Marrero, “You sunk our battleship!” After a brief career as an investment consultant, Marrero and his wife Melanie opened a brewpub on Maui in 2005. They began canning beer in 2007. “We believe cans protect the beer better from light and oxygen,” he asserts. Their lightness and compactness allow him to ship beer as far afield as Maryland, Virginia, the District and even Puerto Rico. Marrero likes to experiment with other Hawaiian ingredients. Mana Wheat is an unfiltered American wheat beer flavored with pineapple. His draft-only Onion Mild actually contains caramelized and charred onions, a sweet variety grown on Maui and celebrated in a local festival. Attendees at this year’s Savor beer and food festival can get an early sip of his Sobrehumano Palena ’ole (“superhuman without limits”), a collaboration with Michigan’s Jolly Pumpkin Ales, brewed with Michigan cherries and Hawaiian passion fruit (called liliko’i). Marrero will spend about a week in Washington around Savor in early June, no doubt with a little more swagger in his step than the average tourist after outlasting the rest of the best. RECIPES: Black, White Tiki Chocolate Coconut Porter Cake Maui Coconut Porter is sold at several Whole Foods Markets locations, Rodman’s in the District, Potomac Gourmet in Oxon Hill, Planet Wine in Alexandria and at Total Wine stores.

24f3db8e-8344-11e1-b088-8660630b7284_1

Tough week so far for Best Buy, Sony

period of transition," that will shed the company's retail footprint in the US by 20 percent, and cut a number of staff from Best Buy's corporate headquarters. The move is intended to save Best Buy $800 million in costs, but it's not yet clear how the company plans on competing with internet giants like Amazon that have squeezed big box retailers with fierce competition. The announcement comes as the tech retailer “struggles to regain its footing,” the Associated Press reports Best Buy lost $1.23 billion in the last quarter and revenue at stores opened at least a year, a key metric, dropped 1.7 percent for the year after having fallen 1.8 percent in the prior year. The company has been hit hard by a number of factors. Once the bread-and-butter of electronics retailers, sales of TVS, digital cameras and video game consoles have weakened. Meanwhile, sales of lower margin items like tablet computers, smartphones and e-readers have increased. At the same time, Best Buy, like other big-box retailers, is finding that more people are using its stores as showrooms to browse for products and then going online to Amazon.com and other rival sites to buy at a lower price. As a result, Best Buy is trying to become nimbler and avoid the fate of former rival Circuit City, which liquidated its business in 2009. A couple weeks ago, Best Buy, which has about 1,400 stores in the U.S., unveiled a restructuring plan that calls for it to close 50 of its U.S. big-box stores, open 100 small-format stores and cut $800 million in costs over the next five years. The plan comes after Best Buy has made some inroads in the past year. The company has cut its square footage by 15 percent in about 43 stores. It did that by either subletting the space to other merchants or giving it back to the landlords. But some analysts say Best Buy hasn’t moved fast enough to reduce its foot print. They also say there are more opportunities for Best Buy to take advantage of its mobile business. Gary Balter, an analyst at Credit Suisse, says Best Buy’s mobile business accounts for nearly one-third of the retailer’s profits, yet it accounts for less than 10 percent of the overall square footage. News of Dunn’s resignation also comes a day after Sony announced that it was cutting 6 percent of its workforce

27f2107a-8354-11e1-9c4f-3efa65a02dce_3

Afghan officials stress need for U.S. security presence beyond 2014 withdrawal

police officers and civilians were killed in attacks in Afghanistan on Tuesday in a spate of violence that coincided with the start of the traditional fighting season there. A suicide blast killed 11 people during the morning rush hour on a road near the airport in the western city of Herat, according to a police chief, Sayed Agha Saqib. Hours later, three suicide bombers armed with guns stormed the main police station in Musa Qala, in the southern province of Helmand, according to provincial spokesman Dawoud Ahmadi. Four police officers were killed in a round of gunfire at the entrance of the compound and by blasts triggered by the bombers. Three more officers heading to help them were killed by a fourth suicide bomber on a motorbike. In a statement posted on a Taliban Web site, the group asserted responsibility for the Musa Qala attacks but not the Herat bombing. The high-level U.S.-Afghan defense meeting in Washington was the third in a series, and Mohammadi said he and Wardak had “reiterated . . . our appreciation and heartfelt thanks to the people of the United States” for their assistance. Originally scheduled in February, the meeting was postponed when riots broke out in Afghanistan after U.S. service members inadvertently disposed of and burned copies of the Koran, the Muslim holy book. Mohammadi said 35 to 40 Afghans were killed in the upheaval, as well as two U.S. officers who were shot inside the Afghan Interior Ministry. The Afghans said they had discussed with Panetta the “green on blue” violence by Afghan forces against U.S. troops, as well as the shooting deaths of 17 Afghan civilians, allegedly by a U.S. service member, last month. The suspect in that shooting spree, Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, was brought to the United States for possible military trial. Asked whether he would have preferred a trial in Afghanistan, as many Afghans demanded, Wardak said the U.S. Status of Forces agreement provides legal immunity to U.S. service members in Afghanistan. Asked whether Afghanistan would seek that arrangement for U.S. troops in a new agreement, he said such matters would be negotiated as part of the long-term strategic partnership. Following troop withdrawals from that Iraq last year, U.S. plans to leave a residual military force in the country fell through after the Iraqi government refused to grant legal immunity for U.S. forces there. Salahuddin reported from Kabul.

6a61bfd0-8270-11e1-ba3d-cb532dc48601_3

Micah True, ultramarathon runner, dead at 58

through the Colorado Rockies, Mr. True met a small group of runners wearing sandals fashioned out of old car tires. He learned they were Raramuri, an elusive tribal people indigenous to Mexico’s Copper Canyon region amid the Sierra Madre. One of the Raramuri runners, the 55-year-old Victoriano Churro, won the race and finished 40 minutes ahead of the field. Mr. True finished 28th. Hampered by injuries in the past, he was impressed by the smooth running style of the Raramuri, whose name translates as “the lightfooted ones.” He set out for Urique, Mexico, to learn the secret of their injury-free running. Isolated from modern running shoes with spongy foam and air bubbles, the Raramuri padded around in sandals. By running on the balls of their feet, they allowed their legs to act as natural shock absorbers. To research his book, McDougall told The Washington Post that he had traveled to Mexico to meet the Raramuri and “figure out why they were able to run these in­cred­ibly long distances deep into old age.” McDougall learned that the tribe, also known as the Tarahumara, was not very receptive to strangers. But he heard about a tall, white “gringo” who had lived and run among them for more than 15 years. After meeting Mr. True, he described the runner’s sinewy physique by writing: “Melt the Terminator in a cauldron of acid, and Caballo Blanco is what comes out.” Starting in 2003, Mr. True organized the Copper Canyon Ultra Marathon to benefit the Raramuri. The annual event offered top-class distance racers the opportunity to compete against the naturally gifted runners. The ultimate purpose of the race, Mr. True once wrote, was to come together “at the bottom of a deep canyon to share with the local people of the region, eat, laugh, dance, run, and create peace.” The son of a Marine Corps gunnery sergeant, he was born Michael Randall Hickman on Nov. 10, 1953, in Oakland, Calif. His family moved frequently to different military bases, and the young, skinny Michael took up boxing to fend off schoolyard bullies. He studied religion and history at Northern California’s Humboldt State University before dropping out to become a boxer full time. Survivors include two brothers and a sister. In Hawaii, he changed his first name to Micah, after the Old Testament prophet, and his surname to True, after a loyal mongrel he kept as a pet.

41eb7c6e-7ce7-11e1-9a89-5e2bc7327af3_0

Animal Watch, Montgomery County

These were among the cases received by the Montgomery County Animal Services Division. For information on shelter hours and location, adoption and licensing procedures, rabies clinics and low-cost neutering, call 240-773-5960. Dog aggressive toward construction workers: Out-of-town dog leaves a mark: Pets available for adoption Olney Olney Shelter has adoptable cats Gaithersburg Rabies clinic Free phone workshop offers help to Dog trainer Debbie Jacobs talks about fearful dogs, why dogs are afraid, how to handle a fearful dog and techniques for training, with games and activities 7 p.m. Tuesday. Sponsored by the Meetup Puppy Mill Support Group. Please call the conference call number five minutes before the workshop: 218-862-7200; conference code: 833973. RSVP and send questions to Donna at dzeigfinge@aol.com. — Compiled by Lisa M. Bolton

f92c8c38-3a75-11e1-bd99-502c7f894ebd_2

Matthew Centrowitz learns the strategy behind speed

a chess match and roller derby. The race is just long enough to provide opportunities for nudging, clustering and tripping, and short enough to allow for furious late sprints. And it allows plenty of time for monumental mental breakdowns. Some of the world’s fastest milers have struggled to win Olympic or world championship races simply because they panicked or were outmaneuvered. Certain basic precepts govern the discipline; however, the best approach in any particular race is always a fluid concept, subject to change. A few of the fundamentals: ●Running in the lead, which requires making decisions about pace and surrendering the ability to watch your race rivals, keeps a runner out of traffic but can be mentally and physically taxing. ●Hanging in the pack, while offering the benefit of drafting, subjects runners to dangerous contact and possible falls or trips. ●Running on the outside of the pack removes the threat of collisions, but it lengthens the race. ●A fast pace spreads out the field but can hurt a runner’s ability to generate a hard sprint to the finish or ward off late challengers. ●A slow pace causes runners to bunch up, enhancing the chance of collisions, favoring the fastest sprinters and opening the door to underdogs. Those truths will help shape the split-second analysis and evaluation of ever-changing race conditions; Centrowitz said he has done nearly all of his learning through trial and error. Perfect execution demands some combination of experience, preparation, relaxation, aggressiveness, flexibility and good sense. “With me, you don’t want to give me a strategy because there’s a million different things that can happen,” Matthew Centrowitz said. “So going into a race with a set strategy can only set you up for failure.” A lot to learn The younger Centrowitz, 22, looks smaller and slighter in person than he does on the track. He’s listed by USA Track and Field at 5 feet 9 and 133 pounds, but the temptation is to demand a remeasurement. His short-cropped hair, bright, dark eyes, dimples and thin shoulders ensure he will be carded for years to come, and belie his increasingly calculated approach to his sport. The elder Centrowitz, a larger, gruffer and more profane version of his son, competed in the 1,500 in the 1976 Summer Games in Montreal and made the 1980 U.S. Olympic team that did not travel to Moscow because of the U.S. boycott. He won

8095090a-83e8-11e1-abb4-839961045500_0

Post-ABC News poll shows drop in Republican support for Afghan war

A majority of Republicans say for the first time that the war in Afghanistan has not been worth fighting, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll that comes as the continuing U.S. presence in that country is emerging as a key point of contention in the presidential race. The poll findings are likely to present a challenge for Republican front-runner Mitt Romney, who has said that the goal in Afghanistan should be to defeat the Taliban on the battlefield. President Obama stepped back from that goal during his 2009 strategy review and has set the end of 2014 as the departure date for all U.S. combat forces. Overall, the Post-ABC News poll reflects a country bone-weary of war after more than a decade of fighting in Afghanistan and, until late last year, an almost nine-year engagement in Iraq. Public support for the U.S. war effort in Afghanistan has fallen to an all-time low, with only 30 percent of respondents saying it has been worth fighting. Since the 2001 invasion, almost 2,000 U.S. troops have been killed and more than 15,000 have been wounded in Afghanistan. According to the poll, two-thirds of Americans think the war has not been worth fighting, equaling the most negative public assessments of the U.S. war effort in Iraq. Although foreign policy has been a peripheral issue in the presidential campaign, the poll’s findings highlight the difficulty Obama and Romney face in explaining U.S. policy to an increasingly war-weary electorate. Obama, who announced the deployment of 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan at the end of 2009, is now drawing down those forces with the goal of turning over security responsibilities to Afghan troops by the end of next year. The president intends to bring home all U.S. combat troops by the end of 2014 — and he is tapping into the nation’s war fatigue on the campaign trail. “For the first time in nine years, there are no Americans fighting in Iraq,” Obama told an audience in Hollywood, Fla., at a campaign fundraising event Tuesday. “And we’ve begun to transition in Afghanistan to put Afghans in the lead, bring our troops home.” But Romney, whose résuméis thin on foreign-policy experience, has criticized Obama’s management of the Afghanistan war. In particular, the former Massachusetts governor has said that he would have listened more closely to his commanding generals, who have urged Obama to keep troops in place

fb5fd270-7f6d-11e1-9877-d2a289f31732_1

For the metro area, a show-stopping fly-around of America’s spaceship

must be willing and able to hang around outside for nearly an hour midmorning. That’s because the 747 will be zooming by very quickly. NASA did release a list of locations the plane was scheduled to fly near or over, including much of the Potomac River in the District, Ronald Reagan National Airport, National Harbor, the U.S. Capitol, the Mall, Andrews Air Force Base and much of the Capital Beltway on the Maryland side. Views from atop downtown buildings should be spectacular. Except for a few swoops, the 747 will cruise at 1,500 feet, high enough so that it isn’t looming like a menace. Anyone in Washington in November 1985 may remember a similar flyover, when NASA showed off the prototype space shuttle Enterprise before it landed at Dulles and the Smithsonian took possession. NASA’s experienced flight crew may cancel or modify the extraordinary fly-around at any time. Rain or wind could stop the show, sending the behemoth duo to an early landing. The parking lot at the Udvar-Hazy Center will open at 8 a.m. for “guaranteed viewing,” said Valerie Neal, the National Air and Space Museum curator who procured Discovery. Even if the flyover is canceled, the plane does, after all, have to land. BEST PLACES TO WATCH District of Columbia ●The Mall, including Memorial Bridge, the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument and the east end. ●Hains Point at East Potomac Park, south of Jefferson Memorial and 14th Street Bridge. ●Southwest Waterfront Park. Virginia ●Long Bridge Park, 475 Long Bridge Dr., Arlington. ●Old Town Alexandria waterfront. ●Gravelly Point, just off George Washington Parkway, near National Airport. Maryland ●National Harbor, just off the Woodrow Wilson Bridge in Prince George’s County. Details are available online at www.airandspace.si.edu/collections/discovery/. Thursday, April 19 (weather dependent) After a NASA crew hoists Discovery off its carrier 747, they’ll tow the shuttle to the Udvar-Hazy Center for an all-day celebration Thursday. An 11 a.m. public ceremony will feature 14 of Discovery’s living commanders, former astronaut and Ohio senator John Glenn, and music by the U.S. Marine Drum and Bugle Corps. After the ceremony, visitors can see Discovery and the Smithsonian’s current shuttle, the prototype Enterprise, nose-to-nose outside the museum until 5:30 p.m., when Discovery will be rolled into its retirement home, the museum’s James S. McDonnell Space Hangar. Special events and displays will continue inside and outside the museum through Sunday , keeping space fans occupied with

54d36084-858a-11e1-8f94-a95e55813be7_0

Fans of Bo Xilai rally to ousted chief in China

Supporters of China’s “new left” take to the Web to show their dismay after Chongqing’s former Communist Party secretary Bo Xilai fell from favor. (Feng Li/Getty Images) HONG KONG — “We support the Chongqing Model and Bo Xilai,” declared a call to arms posted on the Web site of the Progress Society, a pugnacious “new left” fraternity that trumpets the ousted Chongqing Party boss as a hero. Its logo features a panda wearing a Mao cap and clutching a rifle in front of a Chinese flag. Bo, who until just a few weeks ago had a shot at joining the supremely powerful nine-member Politburo Standing Committee, has now been stripped of all his posts and is under investigation for “serious violations of discipline” while his wife is in detention on suspicion of murdering a British business consultant. China’s new left is a disparate, volatile force, united only by a vague sense that the country has taken a wrong turn by pursuing economic growth above all else. Members range from nationalist firebrands and prominent intellectuals to discontented princelings, such as Hu Yingmu, the elderly daughter of Mao Zedong’s longtime secretary. “The real concern in Beijing is that the links here are unpredictable, difficult to gauge and largely underground,” said Patricia Thornton, a scholar of Chinese politics at the University of Oxford. The jittery mood in Beijing, heightened by unfounded recent rumors of a coup, gives the new left “more heft than it would otherwise have in normal times and contributes greatly to sense of uncertainty as the next transition looms” at the Party’s 18th Congress later this year. Most of Bo’s previously outspoken supporters have now fallen silent in the face of a steamroller of official denunciation. But hit-and-run polemic strikes are being made on Web sites and Twitter-like micro-blogs. The Progress Society site, which is officially blocked in China but is still accessible to legions of Internet users who know how to skirt the “Great Firewall,” froths with bile and often personal attacks on Party leaders, particularly Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, a relative liberal whom Bo’s supporters blame for his downfall. “Fake communists have seized power in new China,” read a message flashing across the top of the home page Friday. Who stands behind the site, first registered to an address in the central Chinese city of Zhengzhou in 2010, is not known. There have been rumors of a connection

8f7c7ec4-7d19-11e1-b953-d75e34ce3b94_0

European Youth Orchestra to tour United States

Trumpet player Victor Koch Jensen, of the European Union Youth Orchestra. (Courtesy of European Union Youth Orchestra) Two weeks before their six-city American tour, the musicians of the European Union Youth Orchestra are holed up, practicing Richard Strauss’s “Alpine Spring,” among the snow-capped peaks of Interlaken. They’re not there to set the mood — although, “Alpine Spring” must sound crisper in Switzerland — but because Vladimir Ashkenazy, their six-time Grammy Award-winning conductor and music director, lives nearby, outside Lucerne. Some of the orchestra members are meeting in this scenic tourist hub for the first time, while others are old hands at the age of 20. But all the members, ages 15 to 24, are grateful to be part of an orchestra that recruits promising young musicians from schools and conservatories around the continent. On April 15, the EUYO will perform a program of Copland, Bruch and Strauss at the Kennedy Center, its first American tour since 1988. The orchestra also will visit the Big Apple and the Windy City and meet musicians from the University of North Carolina and Indiana University. For their travels and good will, they’re rewarded with a program that reads like a ‘Who’s Who’ of classical. Many of these young talents will make their American debut with Itzhak Perlman in Carnegie Hall and Pinchas Zuckerman at the Kennedy Center. Not a bad welcome to the United States. “We’ve been here for only three days, and already we’re so excited,” said Andrei Mihailescu, 21, a principal bassist from Romania. “The orchestra influences your life so muc. . . . How many people at this age can say, I’ve played with Itzhak Perlman, Pinchas Zukerman? It’s one in a million for us.” Yet the odds of becoming one of the privileged young musicians aren’t so stacked. About 4,000 amateur musicians audition each year. Naturally, competition is tough and competitive. Besides its reputation for snazzy, glamorous tours — this one is costing about $90,000 — the EUYO is a renowned feeder orchestra, bolstering the burgeoning careers of its 117 young members, who hail from all 27 countries in the E.U. Double bass player Andrei Mihailescu, of the European Union Youth Orchestra. (Courtesy of European Union Youth Orchestra) “If you’ve been in the EUYO, it is like a diploma,” said Joy Bryer, co-founder and secretary general of the orchestra. “You can go on to join the London Symphony or any

18820fe0-778e-11e1-883d-f22537a8ca20_1

Book review: ‘The Social Conquest of Earth,’ by Edward O. Wilson

by the Nobel Prize. A professor emeritus at Harvard, he has produced a body of work that has withstood scientific critics, including those who rejected his assertion that both animal and human social behavior is based on biological and evolutionary principles. (Activists dumped a pitcher of ice water on him during a 1978 meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.) Others rejected his prediction in “The Diversity of Life” (1992) that more than a quarter of all species on Earth would vanish by mid-century, but subsequent research has supported the notion that we are in the midst of the Earth’s sixth great extinction. ”The Social Conquest of Earth” by Edward O. Wilson (W.W. Norton) To build his latest argument, Wilson first sets about exploding an important theory of evolutionary biology that he once championed. The key to understanding the human condition is to understand how our species developed advanced social lives and the altruistic behaviors they require. If evolution is driven by the survival of the fittest — individual selection — how does one explain the self-sacrifice seen among the workers of an ant colony or a bee hive, or in the person who runs into a burning house to save a stranger? The current explanation — kin selection, or “inclusive fitness” — is that altruism evolved among closely related individuals as a way to ensure the survival of the shared portions of their genetic heritage. But Wilson describes in considerable detail how the insect studies on which this theory was built have since been shown to be incorrect. (Many scientists in the field disagree, and dozens have denounced him in letters to the scholarly journals in which he first aired his critique.) Instead, Wilson argues that altruism is a result not of individual or kin selection, but of group selection. Charles Darwin himself proposed that a tribe that had many members willing to contribute to or sacrifice themselves for the common good “would be victorious over most other tribes.” Drawing on recent evidence from social psychology, archaeology and evolutionary biology, Wilson builds a compelling and multi-faceted case that Darwin was right. Species that have developed advanced social lives, or eusociality — certain bees, ants, termites and ourselves — have been staggeringly successful and extremely rare. “Our ancestors were one of only two dozen or so animal lines ever to evolve eusociality, the next major level of

7d707764-8271-11e1-ba3d-cb532dc48601_0

Discover some facts about Discovery

The space shuttle Discovery lifts off from Launch Pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida, in 2005. The next stop for the shuttle is the Smithsonian. (DAVE MARTIN/Associated Press/AP) Look, up in the sky. Tuesday morning, if the weather if good, the space shuttle Discovery will fly piggyback on a 747 jet over parts of the Washington area on its way to landing about 10:40 a.m. at Dulles International Airport. Then on Thursday, the shuttle will be moved to the Smithsonian’s Udvar-Hazy Center, where it will be on display for everyone to see. If you’re thinking “but I’ve already seen a shuttle at the museum,” you’d be right. But that is the shuttle Enterprise, which never actually flew in space. Discovery went on lots of fascinating and historic missions. Here are just a few facts about Discovery that you can use to amaze your siblings, classmates, parents and teachers. ●Shuttle Discovery flew its first mission on August 30, 1984, and landed after its last mission on March 9, 2011. Buzz Lightyear at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. The doll traveled on Discovery, though not quite to infinity and beyond. (NASA/Paul E. Alers) ●It flew 39 missions and spent a total of one year (365 days) in space. ●Discovery took the Hubble Space Telescope, which is about the size of a school bus, into space. ●It got its name from four British exploring ships, all named Discovery. ●Discovery was the shuttle that was launched after the tragic disasters involving the shuttle Challenger in 1986 and the Columbia in 2003. It earned the nickname the “Return to Flight” orbiter. ●Discovery carried former astronaut John Glenn, who was the first American to orbit Earth in 1962, back into space in 1998. At the time, Glenn was 77 years old, making him the oldest person in space. ●Discovery carried a Buzz Lightyear toy into space in 2008. Buzz spent 468 days on the international space station before returning to Earth aboard Discovery in 2009. (Last month, Buzz found a new home at the Air and Space Museum on the Mall as part of the popular-culture collection.) ●The only president to attend a shuttle launch was Bill Clinton. He watched Discovery blast into space in October 1998.

22dc0e66-8623-11e1-abb4-839961045500_0

Diplomats cautiously hopeful after talks on Iranian nuclear crisis

ISTANBUL — The day-long talks at an Istanbul conference center did not yield an agreement on specific curbs to Iran’s nuclear program, but U.S. and European officials described the negotiations as “constructive and useful” and said a second round had been set for May 23 in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. “We want now to move to a sustained process of serious dialogue,” said Catherine Ashton, the European Union’s foreign policy chief and lead negotiator for a bloc of six world powers engaged in the first direct nuclear talks with Iran since January 2011. A senior U.S. official described the tone of the discussions as encouraging but stressed the need for rapid progress on steps to ease concerns about Iran’s nuclear intentions. “While the atmosphere today was positive, and good enough to merit a second round, there is urgency for concrete progress, and the window for diplomatic action is closing,” said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe diplomatic deliberations. The official added that there were no expectations for immediately lifting sanctions against Iran. The chief Iranian representative, Supreme National Security Council Secretary Saeed Jalili, called the talks a “success” and said he believed the atmosphere was now conducive to progress. “We saw a positive approach,” said Jalili, speaking through an interpreter. “We consider it a step forward. For Iranian people, the language of threats and pressure don’t work. But the approach of cooperation and talk could be fruitful.” The senior U.S. official said that during the meetings, Jalili “repeated what they said in the past, that it is un-Islamic to have a nuclear weapon.” Both Ashton and Jalili said the two sides would begin work immediately on an arguably harder task: drafting concrete proposals for resolving the crisis. The proposals and counterproposals will address an array of complex and emotionally laden issues, including Western demands for suspension of parts of Iran’s nuclear program as well as Iranian calls for easing economic sanctions. Signaling Iran’s intention to take a tough line in the future talks, Jalili said Tehran would insist on having “full rights under the non-proliferation treaty,” implying that it will continue to maintain its right to enrich uranium, which it says it needs for peaceful nuclear energy uses. Before taking the podium, Jalili’s aide displayed a poster of Iranian scientists killed in bomb attacks over the past four years — assaults Jalili denounced as terrorism.

940fca42-82a3-11e1-88da-a261c82602c1_0

Think True Value — but for banks

In a city where special-interest pleading and finger-pointing has been developed to a high art form, there are no bigger whiners than the community banks. When they’re not complaining about excessive regulation, misguided monetary policy and inflated deposit insurance premiums, they’re railing against unfair competition from big banks, savings and loans, credit unions, credit card companies, finance companies and other unregulated lenders. Considering this mountain of injustice that has been heaped upon them, it’s a wonder these bankers are able to get out of bed in the morning, let alone show up smiling at the weekly Rotary luncheon. The latest woe to befall community bankers, of course, has been the collapse of the housing and commercial real estate markets, which hit particularly hard since that is where they’ve put the vast majority of their money over the past 15 years. But who can blame them? After all, much of their consumer lending business has been stolen away by bigger and more efficient lenders who have easy access to cheaper funding through Wall Street and the “shadow” banking system. In the process, many had become addicted to the higher yields offered by asset-backed securities and loans to local home builders, developers and land speculators. Now, with their balance sheet weighed down by under-performing real estate loans and underwater securities, community banks find themselves in something of a pickle. New regulations that limit the fees they can charge depositors for things such as debit card transactions, overdrafts and ATM withdrawals threaten to dramatically reduce their fee income. A relatively flat yield-curve has reduced the “spread” between the interest they pay to depositors and the interest they can charge borrowers. And although they still have money to lend, many now find they have lost the expertise, risk appetite and customer relationships to make to small- and medium-size firms in sectors other than real estate. A couple of Washington financiers have come up with a clever answer to their prayers. One is Lee Sachs, a former Treasury Department official in the Clinton and Obama administrations. The other is John Delaney, the just-nominated Democratic candidate for Congress from western Maryland and founder of CapitalSource, a commercial lender based in Chevy Chase. Their new venture, BancAlliance, is a cooperative of community banks that aims to make loans to mid-sized and large businesses that none of its members has the size, expertise or risk appetite to make

9b9dfafe-82a3-11e1-88da-a261c82602c1_0

Online comparision-shopping tool makes costs of college clearer

My oldest daughter just returned from touring several colleges she’s interested in attending next year. I’m hoping the school on the top of her list will be one of my favorites, North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro. I’m also pulling for my alma mater, the University of Maryland at College Park, but she says it’s too close to our home, about 17 miles away. “You won’t think it’s too close if you have to walk,” I said. Olivia was not amused. My husband and I have told our daughter that she can apply to any college she likes — state or private, large or small. But we have saved just enough to cover tuition plus room, board and books for four years based on estimated in-state school expenses. If she gets accepted to a school where the cost is more than the money we have set aside, she has to get scholarships or grants to make up the difference. She cannot take out any student loans. Nor will we. So all of us need to weigh Olivia’s college offers. This process should be a lot easier, thanks to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. It has introduced one of the best college-cost tools I’ve seen, a Financial Aid Comparison Shopper. In April, about 1.5 million students will be receiving multiple admissions letters, the bureau says. But once they’re accepted to a school, their families have to figure out how to pay for it. With total education debt crossing the $1 trillion mark, it’s the second-largest source of consumer debt after mortgages, according to CFPB director Richard Cordray. Students excited about getting into their top pick might not focus on the fact that most of the financial aid they’re being offered is in the form of loans. Or the reverse could be true. An elite, expensive school might be more affordable when scholarships and grants are added. The problem is that the financial aid information that families receive is presented differently, and it’s often incomplete and hard to figure out. “We know that putting student loan debt into context is particularly important for students and parents,” Cordray said. As part of its “Know Before You Owe” student loan project, the bureau’s shopping tool allows you to select three schools at once and then compare tuition, fees and other expenses for first-year, full-time undergraduates. The database includes information from more than 7,500

38d569f8-833d-11e1-994a-e58f7869f9d3_1

CoStar: Region’s retail, industrial vacancies drop in first quarter

for retail. With CoStar continuing to forecast positive absorption of available space and an exceptionally low level of new construction, the outlook is for a slow but sustained recovery, although rising energy prices and fiscal debt issues for both European and U.S. governments remain clouds on the horizon. Office In the first quarter of 2012, U.S. office markets posted nearly 11.5 million square feet of net absorption, less than the two previous quarters. But with very little new construction, the office vacancy rate continued to trend downward, dipping under 13 percent for the first time since 2008. After eight consecutive quarters of positive absorption and very little new construction, the U.S. office market appears poised for the return of rent increases. Indeed, eight of the 10 largest U.S. office markets posted year-over-year increases in rent in the first quarter of 2012. Washington was the exception among the largest U.S. office markets. With negative 421,909 square feet of net absorption during the first quarter, Washington recorded the lowest level of office absorption among the top metros. Warehouse The U.S. warehouse sector also saw positive net absorption and declining vacancy rates behind a slight increase in asking rents. In the first quarter, warehouse vacancy fell to 9.4 percent , down 0.7 percentage points from one year ago. The reduction in vacancy was driven by positive net absorption of 20.9 million square feet in the first quarter. However, this amount was actually a slight disappointment given the acceleration in leasing activity toward the second half of 2011. In the Washington region, the Manassas/I-66 and South Prince George’s County submarkets accounted for the majority of industrial space demand growth during the first quarter. Retail The U.S. retail sector did achieve positive net absorption in the first quarter, preserving a streak of 11 consecutive quarters of positive absorption, along with a stabilized vacancy although still declining rents. In Washington, the retail vacancy is much lower than the national average at 4.9 percent, a slight increase from the previous quarter. Area retail rents have stabilized and even increased in certain in-demand markets. The Washington market’s demographics continue to attract interest from national retailers. Recent major retail leases signed in the area include a 125,875-square-foot deal signed by grocery store operator Wegmans at Seneca Meadows; a 57,252-square-foot lease signed by Kohl’s at 3901 Aspen Hill Rd. and a 50,000-square-foot lease signed by Starplex Cinemas at Loudoun Station.

cdc04874-8010-11e1-a48c-ab6fd19329b8_0

Deltek: Cloud opportunities will likely come in three forms

Federal cloud computing, while often viewed as a single opportunity, is actually a fractured market. Vendors hoping to find sales should focus on three categories: determining an organization’s cloud strategy, enabling an organization’s readiness to move to the cloud or implementing a cloud-based solution. In the first type, an agency might request guidance on how to set up plans to implement a cloud environment. These opportunities might include help developing policies and best practices. For example, the Food and Drug Administration is expected this year to release a solicitation for “scientific computing support,” meaning the FDA is looking for guidance on how to best use the benefits associated with cloud computing. It’s an opportunity that could help a contractor develop a particular solution it could then replicate for other agencies. In the second category, an agency has determined it will adopt cloud computing and is setting up the needed infrastructure. Work to consolidate data centers, create virtual systems that mimic physical technology or create a service-oriented architecture could all be included. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, as one example, has a $3 billion contract vehicle for supporting a virtual data center that will be awarded to several small businesses. The agency, which is expected to issue a solicitation in May, wants to establish a group of geographically dispersed data centers owned and operated by a pool of companies under a single contracting program. A related solicitation for large businesses was released late last year. In the third type, an agency already has a cloud strategy and has readied its infrastructure. The next step is buying or developing applications in a cloud environment. Take the Social Security Administration’s request in February seeking sources for a Web analytics software service. The administration’s goal is to reduce costs and provide its Web masters with better metrics on Internet and intranet usage. As agencies continue to capture and store more data, more may try to tackle the challenge of how to use that data for decision-making. Jennifer Sakole is principal research analyst at Herndon-based Deltek, which analyzes the government contracting market and can be found at www.deltek.com.

c2c5c5ae-8252-11e1-a6a4-f586a92a03cb_0

Contract to Watch: NIH readies IT contract vehicle

Contractors are readying for a new National Institutes of Health effort to buy computer hardware and commercially available software. The program would replace an existing contract vehicle called Electronic Commodities Store 3, or ECS3, which was first awarded in 2002, said Alexander Serbau, a senior research analyst for health and human services at Deltek, which studies the government contracting market. At the time, 66 contractors received a place on the contract vehicle, which is worth up to $6 billion, said Serbau. About $1.7 billion has been spent using it, according to the NIH. ECS3 is broken into six categories of work, from providing commercial desktops and laptops to software to telephone equipment. The program is focused on products, but includes some basic services such as maintenance, Serbau said. The NIH’s technology assessment and acquisition center is collecting contractor feedback about the replacement program, called Chief Information Officer New, or CIO-New, through a market survey originally released in February. The survey is meant to collect industry perspective on the contract vehicle’s scope and evaluation criteria. A solicitation for CIO-New likely won’t be released until mid-summer, he added. Still, Deltek users are already anticipating the program; nearly 500 have indicated the effort is of interest. At the same time, the NIH’s acquisition arm is preparing to award contracts for the hotly-anticipated Chief Information Officer-Solutions and Partners 3 contract, better known as CIO-SP3. That program, Serbau said, will likely be used to buy more technical services, such as developing software.

0e58686c-83f4-11e1-953f-29058dd916b6_1

HMSHost chief executive settling into new role

airports and 101 travel plazas is paying off handsomely for HMSHost, he said. Sales rose 5.2 percent to $2.5 billion in 2011. And Fricke said he expects another prosperous year as the company rolls out new restaurant concepts and opens new travel plazas. “We’re off to a great start,” Fricke said, declining to comment on the lawsuit. “And I will not be deterred.” A LEARNING CURVE Coming off a stint as chief executive of Cartridge World, an ink and toner retailer with 1,700 stores in 63 countries, Fricke is well-versed in multinational operations, but not so much in food service. Spending hours at the elbow of the executive chefs in the company’s test kitchen is helping, as is dozens of visits to its airport eateries. Airport dining comprises at least 60 percent of the company’s business. Fricke sees the sector in the midst of transforming from a haven for fast-food joints to a place where higher-end concepts can thrive. “Consumer preferences don’t change just because they’ve gone through security or are stopping on the side of the road,” he said. HMSHost has developed a collection of restaurant concepts that it is opening at a handful of airports. In February, the company introduced Bubbles Wine Bar and Beaudevin Wine Bar at Chicago O’Hare International Airport. HMSHost said it will open more concepts this year that it is keeping under wraps for now. Innovation is important. In recent years, the number of passengers boarding aircraft has slipped from 7.5 percent annual growth in 2004 to 2.5 percent last year, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. Fricke said that shift in consumer traffic because of fuel prices and the sluggish economy has meant being more creative in structuring concessions. These days, HMSHost places some of its Starbucks stands in baggage claims to capture more customers. HMSHost is also contending with rising food costs. Fricke, as a result, expects that margins may shrink. REMAKING REST AREAS The company has been tinkering with its highway rest area strategy. Two years ago, HMSHost entered into a joint venture agreement with Ontario-based Kilmer Van Nostrand to develop and operate 23 travel plazas along two highways in Canada. They have redeveloped 14 of those plazas. The company recently lost some rest stop contracts in Florida, but is opening the redeveloped South Somerset Plaza in Pennsylvania next month. “On any given day, we got four or five different sites

d0570386-857c-11e1-abb4-839961045500_0

D.C. road rules won’t change for Emancipation Day

Monday is Emancipation Day in the District. In the past, D.C. officials have suspended the rush-hour traffic rules but not this time. As a result, drivers should anticipate the typical weekday traffic pattern of reversible lanes on Connecticut Avenue NW between Legation Street and Woodley Road; on 16th Street NW between Arkansas Avenue and Irving Street; on Canal Road between Chain Bridge and Foxhall Road; and on Independence Avenue between Fourth Street SW and Second Street SE. The National Park Service also will maintain the usual rush-hour pattern on Rock Creek Parkway. The District’s rush-hour parking restrictions will be enforced from 7 to 9:30 a.m. and from 4 to 6:30 pm. Vehicles that violate the restrictions are subject to ticketing and towing. On the holiday, the D.C. Department of Public Works generally will not issue tickets for expired meters, but there’s an important exception. Because the Washington Nationals will be playing a home game Monday evening, parking rules will be enforced in the neighborhoods around Nationals Park. Look carefully at the signs on the street poles and on the meters. The other D.C. rules that govern parking in residential areas and on streets scheduled for sweeping will be suspended for the holiday. Metro The biggest effect on bus service may result from the parade and festival downtown. Go to washingtonpost.com/drgridlock for the latest update on bus detours. Emancipation Day parade and festival The Emancipation Day Parade is scheduled from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday on Pennsylvania Avenue NW between Third and Seventh streets. A festival is scheduled for 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. at Freedom Plaza, along E Street NW between 13th and 14th streets. Pennsylvania Avenue NW and the surrounding streets will be closed between Third and 14th streets NW from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. for the parade. These streets will be closed from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. for the parade and festival: ● Constitution Avenue NW and the surrounding streets between Seventh Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW. ●Pennsylvania Avenue NW and the surrounding streets between 12th and 14th streets NW. ● E Street NW between 13th and 14th streets NW. ● 12th Street NW between E Street and Constitution Avenue NW. There’s also a fireworks display, which will close 12th Street NW between E Street and Constitution Avenue from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. — Robert Thomson

e0e4890c-8703-11e1-8f94-a95e55813be7_0

Juilliard Baroque started weak but finished strong in District concert

The Juilliard Baroque, a 10-member period-instrument assemblage recently formed by British violinist Monica Huggett, made its area debut Saturday at the Library of Congress in an all-Bach program that started weak and ended strong. The second half offered vibrant performances of the Overture No. 2 (here in a reconstructed original version for oboe and strings) and the Fifth Brandenburg Concerto. In the latter, harpsichordist Kenneth Weiss navigated the huge cadenza with clean fingerwork and dramatic pacing. His ornamentation and agogic freedom in the slow movement were exemplary, as well, although it raised a question: Why was such playing so rare everywhere else on the program throughout the ensemble? The most impressive performance of the evening was from oboist Gonzalo Ruiz, who handled the marathon difficulties of the overture with something approaching relish, even though his balky instrument protested at times. Perhaps it was just greater familiarity with the repertoire, but the tutti ensemble in both works was also noticeably more precise, and more purposeful in inflection, than in the first half. Period-instrument groups get no special cachet from me; historical scholarship does not give anyone a leg up on musical artistry. But the Juilliard Baroque showed, in these two pieces at least, that even the most overplayed repertoire can sound fresh and new when fine musicians pull together in a unified vision. In the first half, a group of selections from “A Musical Offering” sounded slapdash; the aural novelty of hearing the plangent early woodwinds was not enough to compensate for the generic sameness of the playing. In the final “Ricercar a 6,” and even more so in the opening work (a concerto in A minor for the same forces as the Brandenburg), the conductorless ensemble lapsed into a tedious plod, with the players’ individual, random inflections amounting to a generic soup. A mixed bag, then, but a skilled, sturdy group. I hope we hear more from them. — Robert Battey

87611426-877c-11e1-89af-d6178d1c1a12_1

D.C. culinary start-up caters to dining enthusiasts, innovative chefs

year and the fireside chats that they host and the literature-inspired dinners. But there are also the dining elements, and being part of the group really lets you see what can be special about a restaurant.” The idea stemmed from what was called the Number 68 project at 68 Boleyn Rd. in London. Richmond’s friend, a chef, backed out of the venture with several weeks of pre-sold dinners remaining on the test kitchen’s schedule. Responding quickly, Richmond managed to fill the rest of the evenings with a rotation of guest chefs — an emergency plan that received rave reviews from local foodies and media outlets. So when Richmond, a New Jersey native with a background in economic development, returned to the U.S. for work less than a year later, she said she wondered whether the same model could catch hold in the nation’s capital, where an up-and-coming restaurant scene was beginning to blossom. She tested it under the same name, renting out space downtown and bringing in some of the city’s premier chefs to carry out a nine-week pop-up restaurant experiment from February to May 2011. The District incarnation of the Number 68 Project was well-received, much like its predecessor in London. However, Richmond soon realized that renting out space to host the dinners was not feasible for the chefs. “The brick-and-mortar model was too big of an investment, and the chefs really didn’t want to keep stepping away from their kitchens for two- or three-week stretches,” she said. Richmond partnered with Nick and David Wiseman, the District natives behind Roadside Food Projects, who helped her reach out to additional restaurants in the city, build the membership site online and begin spreading the word about their new start-up, now christened The Coterie. They decided to operate on quarterly themes (for example, one recently highlighting chefs’ earliest memories of cooking) and to incorporate sophisticated, intellectual discussions of politics, literature and culture into each of their dinners and events. The group also began hosting a series of cocktail events and salon-style dinners, which Richmond said continue to be one of the main drivers of new memberships. That membership currently costs $42 a month, and each dinner at one of the five partnering venues costs a flat $135, of which The Coterie keeps $10 and passes the rest along to the restaurant. So far, The Coterie has been financed largely by the three

1e440e1c-87e0-11e1-97b9-0c8b2351aef5_3

More military personnel might have been involved in misconduct before Obama’s trip

five of its personnel to their rooms at the hotel, pending the investigation. Military officials did not say how many more of its personnel might now be suspected of participating in the alleged misconduct. Prostitution, legal and regulated, is a booming business in the Caribbean tourist hub of Cartagena, a city of about 1 million inhabitants that is famous for its Spanish colonial heart and a modern stretch of Miami-style high-rises. As a byproduct of its lure of cruise ships and conventioneers, Cartagena draws prostitutes from both the city’s poor and upper-class echelons — as well as from different cities around the country. Before the summit, the government of President Juan Manuel Santos asked the city health department for an action plan outlining disease prevention efforts with prostitutes ahead of the gathering of 30 hemispheric leaders. Officials at Cartagena’s health department said that there are about 80 streetwalkers in the city’s colonial district, which features bountiful nightclubs, boutique hotels and elegant restaurants. Another 550 women, who will spend the night with a client for about $250, are estimated to be available at 15 nightclubs, officials said. The Pleyclub touts its services by distributing small, glossy advertisements featuring nearly naked women to taxi drivers who drive visitors around town. The ads, in Spanish, promise: “We’re the best good time in the city.” Inside the Pleyclub, there is a stage with two poles and a glass-enclosed shower in which women perform strip shows. Several hotel workers said some of the Secret Service agents spoke good Spanish. The Hotel Caribe, like most hotels in Cartagena, permits overnight visitors to join hotel guests. But there are rules: Young women brought for the night must come after 11 p.m.; cannot spend time in public areas, such as the lobby; must present identification to prove they are adults; and must leave by 6 a.m., two hotel employees said. The hotel also levies a $60 surcharge for each overnight visitor, said the employees, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak for the management. Hotel management declined to comment about the incident, saying that it must protect the privacy of its guests. Even though Secret Service officials have said Obama’s security was not compromised, lawmakers who oversee the agency have grown increasingly outraged as new allegations surface. “I find this to be so appalling,” said Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), the ranking

250cd484-6956-11e1-acc6-32fefc7ccd67_1

It’s time for Venus to transit

eight years apart (the last one took place on June 8, 2004; the next will come June 5/6 this year), but they roll around only once a century or so. In his new book, Nick Lomb, longtime curator of astronomy at Australia’s Sydney Observatory, gives the complete rundown on this astronomical event. With the invention of the telescope in the 1600s, the transit of Venus became a hot ticket for astrophiles, who often went to great lengths to check it out. How great? Well, Captain James Cook, for one, sailed across the globe to Tahiti to view it in 1769. And not just because it looked cool. By providing a third point of reference, the transit of Venus made it possible for astronomers to measure the distance from Earth to the sun, which unlocked a lot of other data, including the mass of the sun and the other planets. Lacking modern solar filters, observers had to watch the transit by positioning a telescope to project the sun’s image onto a piece of paper in a darkened room. There’s better equipment available these days. If you miss Venus’s appearance in June, you’ll have to wait a while — until 2117 — to catch the transit again. Space Travel Making the stars swirl Fragile Oasis Blog On NASA’s Fragile Oasis blog (find it at www.fragileoasis.org), astronauts from the United States and around the world have a forum to share their experiences — including descriptions of what it’s like to grow vegetables in zero gravity, meditations on space travel, and snapshots from out of this world. Recently, astronaut Don Pettit, a chemical engineer and all-around science expert aboard the international space station, posted about his pet project of taking arty photographs from low-Earth orbit. While the space station spins around the planet, it’s also revolving on its own axis, meaning that if you use a long exposure, you get pretty trippy results. In Pettit’s photos, the stars have swirling light trails, the atmosphere glows green and the electric lights given off by cities shimmer beneath the clouds. It took a little bit of ingenuity, though. To get the effect, Pettit needed a 15-minute exposure, which his digital camera couldn’t accommodate. “To achieve the longer exposures I do what many amateur astronomers do,” he writes. “I take multiple 30-second exposures, then ‘stack’ them using imaging software, thus producing the longer exposure.” — Aaron Leitko

70a4a404-87f0-11e1-812d-c4a154f0e452_4

Pulitzer Prizes in journalism, arts and letters announced; two area winners

improve school safety. The Washington Post’s Philip Kennicott was a finalist in the criticism category. Kennicott also was a Pulitzer finalist in 2000 for editorials he wrote for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Among the seven arts and letters winners were author John Lewis Gaddis for his biography, “George F. Kennan: An American Life,” which has also won the American History Book Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction. The general nonfiction winner was “The Swerve: How the World Became Modern,” by Stephen Greenblatt. The volume — about how the rediscovery, translation and copying of an ancient Roman philosophic epic poem by Lucretius helped fuel the Renaissance — has also won the National Book Award. The history winner was “Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention” by Manning Marable, who died shortly before the book’s publication. In his review for The Post, Wil Haygood wrote that Manning’s work “goes deeper and richer than a mere homage to Malcolm X. It is a work of art, a feast that combines genres skillfully: biography, true-crime, political commentary. It gives us Malcolm X in full gallop, a man who died for his belief in freedom, a man whom Marable calls the ‘fountainhead’ of the black power movement in America.” The Pulitzer winner for drama, “Water by the Spoonful,” is about a soldier making a tough transition back to civilian life in Philadelphia after serving in Iraq. It was written by Quiara Alegria Hudes, who was a finalist for the prize in 2007 for a similarly themed work, “Elliot, A Soldier’s Fugue.” She also wrote the book for the musical “In the Heights,” a Pulitzer finalist in 2009. Two categories, editorial writing and fiction, did not award prizes. The winners this year included: ●Breaking news reporting: the Tuscaloosa (Ala.) News staff. ●Investigative reporting: Matt Apuzzo, Adam Goldman, Eileen Sullivan and Chris Hawley of the Associated Press and Michael J. Berens and Ken Armstrong of the Seattle Times. ●Feature writing: Eli Sanders of the Stranger, a Seattle weekly. ●Commentary: Mary Schmich of the Chicago Tribune. ●Criticism: Wesley Morris of the Boston Globe. ●Breaking news photography: Massoud Hossaini of Agence France-Presse. ●Feature photography: Craig F. Walker of the Denver Post. Under the letters, drama and music categories, winners included: ●Poetry: “Life on Mars” by Tracy K. Smith. ●Music: “Silent Night: Opera in Two Acts” by Kevin Puts. Staff writer Michael Cavna contributed to this report.

9823876a-273e-11e1-ba51-99a2b27f6305_3

Asking old human tissue to answer new scientific questions

have been held at various places in the Washington area since soon after the autopsies.) Most of the virus’s eight genes, however, were reconstructed from much larger pieces of lung recovered from a body buried in permafrost after flu swept through Brevig Mission, Alaska, killing 90 percent of the Inuit residents. The third source was from flu victims’ tissue blocks stored at Royal London Hospital. All of those cases came from the epidemic’s explosive “fall wave,” which began in October 1918. There had been scattered fatal cases of flu in Army camps as early as March that year. Was that the same virus? If it was, did it pick up some particularly dangerous mutations over the summer? Last year, Taubenberger and his team published an analysis of four rare 1918 “spring wave” flu cases, shedding light on what was — and wasn’t — happening in the months before the same virus killed 50 million people worldwide. The 1918 strain was directly descended from an avian — “bird flu” — virus. Like all flu viruses, it must attach to cells in the nose, throat and lungs before it causes illness. In three of the four spring cases, the gene responsible for that attaching mechanism was more “birdlike” than in the fall cases. By fall, the virus (in most cases) had a mutation that made it better adapted to attacking human beings. Was that what made the difference in the deadliness of the spring and fall waves? It appears not. The lung damage seen in the spring and fall specimens was nearly identical. There’s also much epidemiological evidence that the spring virus was easily transmitted from person to person, just like the fall one. So something, still undiscovered, was going on that made the fall wave different. Taubenberger and his research team still hope to find out what. Their new strategy is to look for strains from the early 1920s, because by then flu was no longer killing young adults at the rate it had a few years earlier. Something had changed. If it turns out there are new mutations in that “Son of Spanish Flu,” then the researchers might be able to deduce the reasons for the parent strain’s lethality. That’s not the only mystery. “One of the big questions about the 1918 virus is: Where did it come from?” Taubenberger said. “Having the full [gene] sequence of the virus still

9823876a-273e-11e1-ba51-99a2b27f6305_5

Asking old human tissue to answer new scientific questions

hasn’t answered that question,” But older samples might. They could shed light on the mutations and gene reassortments — small steps and big leaps — that led to the pandemic strain. Over the past few years, research assistants at the Royal London Hospital have been going through items from the first decade of its pa­thol­ogy collection, which goes back to 1908. They are looking for cases of fatal wintertime pneumonia, illnesses that are most likely to be caused by flu. (However, none of the autopsy reports are labeled ­­“influenza”; that virus wasn’t identified in people until 1933.) The Royal London team has found 20 candidate cases, and “a handful” have screened positive for flu, Taubenberger said. The work is exceptionally laborious because time has shattered the flu genes into tiny fragments. Just identifying which subtype — there are 16 — these old strains fall into, let alone reconstructing them, will require a lot more testing. Fishing for the gene fragments requires chopping up pieces of the preserved tissue, extracting its soluble contents with water and then winnowing trace amounts of viral RNA from the human and bacterial RNA that is 99 times more prevalent. The researchers are looking for more efficient ways to do this. “We could easily burn up all the material just trying to find out what subtype we have,” Taubenberger said. “I have been very reluctant to just dive in. We have waited 110 years, and we can wait a little longer.” John Oxford, a virologist at Royal London and Taubenberger’s collaborator, agrees. “Pathologists risked their lives to get those samples,” he says of the tissue from Spanish flu victims. “We need to be able to pass the baton on to another generation. We don’t want to just gobble it up.” The backstory of HIV AIDS was identified in the United States in 1981, and the virus that causes it was found in 1983, but nobody credible in the scientific world believes it just appeared overnight. Human immunodeficiency virus clearly descended from a monkey ancestor, simian immunodeficiency virus. At some point it leaped a “species barrier” and got into people. But the big genetic difference between HIV and SIV implies it must have been evolving for decades — which is to say, circulating in thousands of people — by the time the human disease was recognized. So what is the unknown backstory of HIV? This is an

742eff26-8759-11e1-8f94-a95e55813be7_0

Concert review: European Union Youth Orchestra at the Kennedy Center

Conductor Vladimir Ashkenazy led the European Union Youth Orchestra at the Kennedy Center on Sunday. (Keith Saunders/Harrison/Parrott Ltd.) We seem to be living in something of a golden age of youth orchestras. Ensembles of young musicians, such as the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra and the New World Symphony, have set standards high for orchestral players of any age, let alone those at the student level. And as they amply demonstrated at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall on Sunday, the European Union Youth Orchestra need fear no competition. Under Vladimir Ashkenazy’s baton, the EUYO musicians (ages 17 through 24) tore into Strauss’s Alpine Symphony for all they were worth. There have been subtler or more visionary Alpine Symphony performances in recent decades, but Ashkenazy’s extrovert approach juiced all the ecstatic and cataclysmic moments in this opulent score and treated the more lyrical material with a songful warmth. The musicians — so plentiful they stuffed every square inch of the Concert Hall stage — responded with burnished brass chording, thunderous accents from the percussion and a gorgeous sheen on their voluminous string section. The orchestra opened with a brashly idiomatic performance of Copland’s “An Outdoor Overture” and a reading of Bruch’s turbulent Violin Concerto No. 1, in which Pinchas Zukerman’s rich, febrile and grandly projected treatment of the solo line matched the Wagnerian thrust and weight the orchestra brought to the score. A “pops” arrangement of “America” from “West Side Story” closed the program on a witty note, followed by the musicians hugging and kissing each other in a giddy release of post-concert emotion. Ah, youth. Banno is a freelance writer.

f6ddce6c-87f3-11e1-abb4-839961045500_1

Reuters: Neil Heywood killed in cover-up plot

that ended Chinese politician Bo Xilai’s hopes of emerging as a top central leader and threw off balance the Communist Party’s looming leadership succession. Bo’s wife, Gu Kailai, asked Heywood late last year to move a large sum of money abroad, and she became outraged when he demanded a larger cut of the money than she had expected, the sources said. She accused him of being greedy and made a plan to kill him after he said he could expose her dealings, one of the sources said, summarizing the police case. Both sources have spoken to investigators in Chongqing, the southwestern Chinese city where Heywood was killed and where Bo had cast himself as a crime-fighting Communist Party leader. Gu is in police custody on suspicion of committing or arranging Heywood’s murder, though no details of the motive or the crime itself have been publicly released, other than a general comment from Chinese state media that he was killed after a financial dispute. The sources have close ties to Chinese police and said they were given details of the investigation. They said that Heywood, 41 — who had been a close friend of Gu and was helping her with her overseas financial dealings — was killed after he threatened to expose what she was doing. The sources said police suspect Heywood was poisoned by a drink. They did not know precisely where he died in Chongqing. But they and other sources with access to official information say they believe Heywood was killed at a secluded hilltop retreat, the Nanshan Lijing Holiday Hotel, which is also known as the Lucky Holiday Hotel. The sources said Gu and Heywood, who had lived in China since the early 1990s, shared a long and close relationship, but were not romantically involved. It was not possible to get official confirmation of the case that police are building against Gu. The Chinese government did not respond to faxed questions. Some of Bo’s leftist supporters have said the case could be a campaign to discredit him. Bo and Gu, who is in custody and facing a possible death sentence for murder, could not be reached for comment. — Reuters More world news coverage: - Taliban hits Afghan cities in coordinated attack - Fight to save Russian forest wins young woman the Goldman prize - Moroccan marriage law causes uproar - Read more headlines from around the world

4752b3f8-79d0-11e1-96fc-4e3f9a8561ee_0

Green Carts put fresh produce where the people are

Vendor Maria Ayora sells produce from a cart in Brooklyn as part of New York’s Green Cart program. The carts serve low-income areas with high rates of obesity. (Melanie Burford/For The Washington Post) NEW YORK — On the busy commercial strip along Knickerbocker Avenue in Brooklyn’s Bushwick neighborhood are all the shops one might expect to find in a poor area branded a “food desert”: two 99-cent stores, a check-cashing center and plenty of pizza and fried chicken joints. But thanks to Alfonso Victor and Elena Ferreira, there’s also an oasis of fresh fruits and vegetables. Just about every weekday for the past three years, even in the depths of winter, the couple has set up a produce cart here, piled high with pineapples, tangerines, lettuce, tomatoes and specialty items for the area’s Latino community, such as plantains, yucca, hot peppers and cilantro. Victor, from Mexico, and Ferreira, from the Dominican Republic, are two of more than 500 vendors who participate in New York’s Green Cart program, which puts fruit and vegetable carts on the streets in low-income areas with high rates of obesity and diet-related diseases. Though green carts are only one of several city strategies designed to encourage consumption of more-healthful food, there is early evidence it is working: In New York’s high-poverty neighborhoods, the percentage of adults who said they ate no fruits or vegetables during the previous day is slowly dropping, from 19 percent in 2004 to 15 percent in 2010. Alarming statistics — more than 70 million Americans are now considered obese — and first lady Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” campaign have focused national attention on efforts to make healthful food more accessible and affordable. New York’s Green Cart program is fast becoming a model for other American cities. Philadelphia launched its Healthy Carts program in 2011. Similar programs are being introduced in the District; Chicago; Los Angeles; Madison, Wis.; and California’s Santa Clara County. “Green carts are a quick and nimble approach that can get fresh food out there relatively quickly,” says Rick Luftglass, executive director of the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund, which has provided $2 million to support green carts in New York. “And because they are mobile, you can follow the need. If sales aren’t good on one block, you can move a few blocks away. It allows the market to build around the customers.” Fruit-and-vegetable carts might seem like an

4752b3f8-79d0-11e1-96fc-4e3f9a8561ee_4

Green Carts put fresh produce where the people are

their benefits.” Other cities are adapting New York’s model to fit their needs. Philadelphia, something of a pioneer of food-access programs, started its Healthy Carts as a pilot in 2011, with seven vendors. In an effort to capture foot traffic that New Yorkers take for granted, the carts were stationed near parks, playgrounds and other neighborhood destinations. But administrators noted that during the first year, the program’s most successful cart was one located inside the busy atrium at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children in North Philadelphia. Hundreds of families pass through the lobby every day, and the indoor location allowed the vendor to stay open through the winter. “The time cost to gain access to healthy foods is as important as the financial cost,” says Giridhar Mallya, the Philadelphia Department of Public Health’s director of policy and planning who is overseeing the Healthy Carts program. “So we’re looking at ways to serve people in places they are already coming or going. We think working with hospitals might be a way to scale the program and serve many folks of limited incomes.” The District is still fine-tuning plans for its pilot program, which it hopes to launch in June. What is sure is that the five to seven carts will roll out on to the streets in Wards 5, 7 and 8, areas with the highest levels of obesity in the city and limited access to fresh food. (Ward 8, for example, was without any grocery store for nine years until, in 2007, Giant Food opened on Alabama Avenue SE.) As in New York, the aim is to make fresh food more accessible and to create jobs, says Michele Tingling-Clemmons, bureau chief for nutrition and physical fitness programs at the Department of Health. But while new immigrants have applied for most of the green-cart licenses in New York, officials hope that in Washington the program will attract “nontraditional workers,” such as unemployed youth and seniors. “Here in D.C., we have a different population we want to help,” she says. City officials say they are optimistic that by adapting New York’s model they can make fresh produce more accessible to consumers and more profitable for vendors. In the District, for example, city officials are hoping to offer food-handling licenses to vendors so they can sell fruit cups as well as whole fruits and chopped vegetables that can be bagged and sold as

4f969e44-83e4-11e1-916b-46b164a8cc33_2

Quirky brewing pays off for Growlers of Gaithersburg

can’t do that in here,’ “ Kimbrough recalls. “And I said, ‘Who the hell are you?’ And he said, ‘I’m the fire marshal.’ ” Much of Kimbrough’s mad science now takes place on the brewpub’s outdoor deck. There are also occasional excursions onto the pavement out back to make German-style steinbiers — “stone beers” — which Kimbrough heats to a boil using red-hot hunks of granite. “We’re like 5-year-olds out there, screaming and jumping up and down,” he says. The pilot beer program has generated a similar sort of excitement among the brewpub’s customers, creating so much buzz, according to Kimbrough, that last month Growlers served nearly 50 percent more beer than usual. “It’s obviously helped the business tremendously,” says co-owner Jon Silverman. Within the next year, Silverman and his partner, Chuck Blessing, intend to convert a private dining room into additional brewing space. Why do patrons love beers like Turkish Delight (scented with rose water and preserved lemons) and Rye of the Tiger (brewed with 100 percent rye)? The creative ingredients and silly names help, Kimbrough says, but even more important is the sense of constant experimentation. He also credits his previous career. Before arriving at Growlers, Kimbrough studied bread-baking and pastry at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y., and spent a decade in professional kitchens. “Having an understanding of how ingredients work in food gives you a really good understanding of how they’ll work in beer,” he says. Kimbrough’s beers, particularly those that rely heavily on spices, fruits or other added ingredients, are surprisingly balanced and fresh-tasting, even as his home-brew-style brewing methods make quality control more difficult than usual. He decided not to serve some of his white bean ale, for example: The beans added a pleasant acidity, but one keg was too sour. As the beers themselves attest, such issues are rare. A Belgian-style saison brewed with peppercorns and lemon is aromatic and refreshing, without the overwhelming bite that can mar peppercorn beers. A creation inspired by Grand Marnier, brewed with orange marmalade and orange blossom honey, has a candylike aroma, full flavor and an appropriate boozy warmth. “I don’t want to be necessarily remembered as eccentric,” Kimbrough says. “I want to be remembered as making good beer.” But ideally, he adds, “I’m remembered as eccentric and making good beer.” food@washpost.com Fromson, a freelance writer, lives in Washington. Follow him on Twitter: @dfroms.

b0f748d4-88a1-11e1-97b9-0c8b2351aef5_0

Book World: Tracy K. Smith’s 2012 Pulitzer-winning poems are worth a read

Readers of Tracy K. Smith’s third book of poetry, Life on Mars (Graywolf, $15), which won the Pulitzer Prize this week, had better be prepared to face some stark metaphysical questions. Is our universe “a house party,” as the title of one poem suggests, or a “primal scream,” as another would have it? “Is God being or pure force? The wind / Or what commands it?” Or might there be more than one God? “Maybe there is a pair of them, and they sit / Watching the cream disperse into their coffee // Like the A-bomb. This equals that, one says, / Arranging a swarm of coordinates // On a giant grid. They exchange smiles. / It’s so simple, they’ll be done by lunchtime.” Cosmically speaking, of course, we will all be “done by lunchtime.” An awareness of death permeates “Life on Mars.” Two of the longer poems, “The Speed of Belief” and “My God, It’s Full of Stars,” are moving elegies for Smith’s father, an engineer who worked on the Hubble telescope. The latter is particularly strong, making use of images from science and science fiction to articulate human desire and grief, as the speaker allows herself to imagine the universe . . . sealed tight, so nothing escapes. Not even time, Which should curl in on itself and loop around like smoke. So that I might be sitting now beside my father As he raises a lit match to the bowl of his pipe For the first time in the winter of 1959. Ron Padgett’s How Long (Coffee House, $16), one of two finalists for this year’s poetry Pulitzer, is also concerned with nostalgia and loss, but tonally it inhabits a different galaxy. Indeed, Padgett’s poems are so playful, self-mocking and eager to please that it would be easy to overlook their craft, not to mention the depth and sincerity of the emotions they convey. What animates “How Long” is the tension between the buoyancy of its language and the gravity of its subject, death, to which the poems obsessively return. The loss of friends and the aging poet’s own impending demise pervade the book, from the question half-concealed in the book’s title to the oddly moving meditation of the penultimate poem, “The Great Wall of China”: “Am I great yet? no I am smaller and smaller / and happier to be so, soon I will be only

a7dc496a-88d9-11e1-860b-57fdd983517c_1

Chinese official is questioned in Neil Heywood slaying case

her preferred mountain retreats in Nan’an. The Chinese government stripped Bo of all his party posts last month and put him under investigation for “severe violation of party discipline,” ending his push for a seat in the nine-member group that will rule China when the current leadership retires early next year. Bo’s rule mixed a Maoist revival with populist policies and abuse of police powers. The government also said Gu was suspected of involvement in the killing. By revealing unprecedented details of alleged abuse of power and corruption involving a member of China’s political leadership, the drama has unleashed the Communist Party’s most serious crisis since at least the Tiananmen Massacre in 1989. Bo has said his wife had given up her work as a successful lawyer and become a devoted housewife to accommodate his political career. Although Gu did not appear publicly during Bo’s tenure as Chongqing party chief, government officials and people familiar with the couple say she continued to wield considerable influence behind the scenes. Two officials said Heywood was allegedly poisoned on Gu’s orders because he was threatening to publicize details of illegal financial dealings. “Heywood and Gu were accomplices in economic crimes committed abroad,” said one official in the Chongqing municipal government, using Communist Party language to describe the transfer of illicit funds out of the country. “He had material on her,” said the official. A Chongqing party official said Heywood had collected documents showing some of Gu’s financial transactions and told her so when he was called to Chongqing in November last year. The hotel in which Heywood stayed is respectable, if slightly shabby. On Monday night, the floor in the dimly lighted lobby was strewed with cigarette butts. In the rooms, the brown faux-wood flooring and the yellowing wallpaper were coming off at the edges. The nightclub, an aged hall that distinguishes itself from the breakfast room mainly by the purple curtains, was closed. The hotel has moved on. Five dozen men and women in their late 70s celebrated their 60-year high school class reunion there Tuesday, bringing to life the deserted compound, which sits on a hilltop next to a half-empty new apartment complex built in the Mediterranean style and a closed amusement park. Receptionists said they knew nothing about a killing there. Two other hotel employees said several staff had been transferred away late last year. But Bo’s fall is being

6ad4ff02-88a8-11e1-abb4-839961045500_0

Foreign Service officers feel dogged by airline

Foreign Service officers are barking mad at United Airlines. Seems the airline’s new policies are costing a paw and a leg for them to move their pets from country to country. The carrier’s new rules have upped the charge for pet transfers, and though it gives a nice waiver to members of the military who have to make such moves, it doesn’t offer the same deal to the diplomats. That means that pets — newly classified as cargo instead of excess baggage — can cost several thousand dollars to transport, instead of a few hundred. And since cargo is treated differently than baggage, the pets must undergo more complicated inspections and connections — and some have even died en route, Foreign Service officers say. Because United is so ubiquitous — and because many officers must travel on a U.S. airline — it’s often the only option. But at least the four-legged companions have friends in high places. U.S. Ambassador to China Gary Locke — a former commerce secretary — weighed in with a letter to United’s CEO. “As a pet lover myself, I am deeply concerned about this policy change,” Locke wrote. “The sharply increased costs will likely place transporting the family pet beyond the reach of some of our diplomats.” So basically, he’s advocating a no-pup-left-behind policy. And some 3,000 Foreign Service officers wrote, too. The issue, we hear, is reaching top desks on the seventh floor at the State Department. Pet puns aside, the Foreign Service Association says it’s a serious issue that affects the morale of the diplomatic corps across the globe. Still find even the lower rates too pricey for schlepping Fido? Ask a fiscal conservative like former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, and he’d tell you to strap the pup’s crate to the top of the minivan. That would work at least from Ottawa to Buenos Aires. Just don’t say ‘clown’ Seems everyone’s gotten so uptight about federal workers and conferences these days — thanks for nothing, General Services Administration! Managers at other agencies might be casting a beadier eye than ever on their employees’ requests to travel. How helpful, then, that the sponsors of one upcoming government conference have provided an excellent rationale that would-be attendees can use to justify their presence at what sounds like a lovely three-day affair on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. In an invitation e-mail, the organizers of the Equal

a6c8b306-8807-11e1-812d-c4a154f0e452_1

Several nations trying to penetrate U.S. cyber-networks, says ex-FBI official

former officials are speaking out about the need for action to contain a threat that Mueller recently said is likely to eclipse terrorism as the top menace to the country. Last week, Rear Adm. Samuel Cox, director of intelligence at U.S. Cyber Command, said that “a global cyber arms race” is underway. James E. Cartwright Jr., who retired in August as vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at a separate event that even a limited cyberattack on the nation’s power grid or financial system could spark tremendous public fear. “If you can take out one area of electric power or one bank, the question that puts in people’s minds about the security of others is what you’re really worried about,” Cartwright said last week at a conference hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Despite such concerns, experts have said the government is legally constrained in its ability to help companies protect their networks, in part because of privacy issues surrounding the sharing of information between the government and the private sector. Congress is set to take up proposals aimed at fostering information-sharing as well as security standards for some companies to better protect commercial networks. In the meantime, the costs of cyber-espionage are proving to be enormous. Scott Borg, chief economist at the U.S. Cyber Consequences Unit, a research group, has assessed the annual loss of intellectual property and investment opportunities across all industries at $6 billion to $20 billion. Henry, a former executive assistant director of the FBI’s cyber-crime branch, said the bureau knew of one company that lost $1 billion — 10 years’ worth of research and development — in a weekend after being hacked. One thinly capitalized firm that processed credit card payments was forced to close two years ago when it was breached. The FBI has become more aggressive in collecting and correlating intelligence, and over the past couple of years it has notified dozens of defense contractors, government agencies and companies that they were being targeted for intrusion, according to Henry. Still, he said: “There needs to be much greater sharing of intelligence across all the sectors.” “You can only be punched in the face so many times before you fall to your knees,” he added. “There needs to be more offense and less defense.” As head of services at CrowdStrike, Henry, who spent 24 years at the FBI,

8c1e3be4-8950-11e1-9c96-ab1216f0937b_4

Pentagon condemns photos of U.S. troops posing with dead Afghan insurgents

in 2010 and has since redeployed to Afghanistan. It was not clear how many of the soldiers posing in the photographs are still with the unit, which the Times identified as the 1st Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment. Unit leadership concerns U.S. commanders said they are investigating whether poor unit leadership by noncommissioned officers could have played a role in the recent cases of misconduct, amid concerns that troops have become desensitized or worn out after multiple deployments. Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), a former Army paratrooper who is on the Armed Services Committee, said one possible factor is a lack of direct supervision. Under the military’s counterinsurgency strategy, many small units are dispersed across rural parts of Afghanistan, often without their platoon leaders or company commanders. “They aren’t always there, so they physically can’t exercise the leadership,” he said in an interview Wednesday. Reed said the instances of misconduct are obscuring the military’s good deeds and effort to win the support of the Afghan people. “This is one of the difficulties of this kind of operation, with counterinsurgency,” he said. “It is as much a political battle as a tactical one.” Andrew M. Exum, a former Army captain who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, said he doubted that the photos would cause a big stir among Afghans. “Speaking bluntly, most Afghans are probably not going to be terribly offended by the body of a suicide bomber being treated in less-than-respectful ways,” said Exum, who is an analyst at the Center for a New American Security in Washington. Public reaction to the Marine urination video was relatively muted, he noted. U.S. commanders pledged to disclose the results of their investigations of the Marine video, the Koran burning and the Kandahar massacre. So far, however, they have kept a tight lid on the probes and released few details. In the United States, support for the war in Afghanistan is at an all-time low. A Washington Post-ABC News poll last week showed that only 30 percent of respondents say the war has been worth fighting. Staff writer Greg Jaffe in Brussels and correspondent Kevin Sieff in Kabul contributed to this report. More national security coverage: - Other nations trying to penetrate U.S. cyber-networks, ex-FBI official says - Panetta says he regrets cost to taxpayers for his weekend trips - U.N. Security Council condemns N. Korea rocket launch - Read more national security news

c983c0a6-8349-11e1-994a-e58f7869f9d3_1

The problem with health food

belief system, I should have been lunching instead. What was the turnoff? The way they put vegan mayonnaise in everything, even sandwiches with eggs or meat? Was it the mud-colored vegetable medleys? Or the quesadillas without any cheese? An irresistible smell of things bobbing madly in hot fat had guided my hand to the left turn signal, not an aroma of denial and guilt. Health food these days tends to define itself by prohibitions, including those that should apply only to people with genuine food sensitivities. Gluten, lactose and salt are treated like poisons. Fat is the road to hell, and red meat is the road to the grave, even if it’s from a happy, local, organic, grass-fed, free-range, hormone- and antibiotic-free animal, a distinction that eludes the fervently herbivorous. Asian food is prominent on health menus because anything Western in the world of alternative lifestyles is disdained. But the hands that stir those woks rarely have the deft touch with vegetables and sauces that real Asian cooks display. So who does healthful food right? Nora Pouillon, for one, whose Restaurant Nora in Dupont Circle was the first in the United States to receive organic certification. Flavor chez Nora is never sacrificed on a political altar and owes much to the freshness and high quality of the produce. Among my other favorites, Chase’s Daily, an acclaimed lunch spot in Belfast, Maine, sets another positive example. I ate there three times before I realized the menu was vegetarian. Why? Maybe because there were no rectangles of tofu or seitan (a modern product made from wheat gluten) offered as meat impersonators. In the hands of a skilled Korean chef, tofu is like a bowl of clouds rather than the texture of a flip-flop. Helen Nearing was a vegetarian, too, something that I am not. But I appreciate the fact that her recipes were written by her garden. The vegetables in her dishes crossed the threshold of her kitchen moments before her drop-in visitors did and were given places of honor at the table. Damrosch is a freelance writer and the author of “The Garden Primer.” Tip of the week Seeds, seedlings and young transplants of annuals and vegetables must not dry out. In the absence of rain, soak their beds at least three times a week. A light mulch of straw, compost or leafmold will help retain soil moisture. — Adrian Higgins

a749571c-8277-11e1-ba3d-cb532dc48601_1

D.C. news briefs

has increased by 2.1 percent Preliminary data from a multispectral imagery study indicate that the District tree canopy has grown by 2.1 percent over the past five years and covers 37.2 percent of the city. The study, funded by the U.S. Forest Service for the D.C. Urban Forestry Administration, shows that all wards have gained tree canopy except Ward 3, which has lost 3.7 percent of its cover. The report provides a baseline for the District’s goal of 40 percent urban tree canopy by 2035. For information, go to www.ddot.dc.gov/trees. City will add two streetcars to H Street/Benning Road line The District Department of Transportation has contracted for two new streetcars and completed preliminary tests on three others for its planned H Street/Benning Road streetcar line. The streetcar line is projected to start running in 2013. The two new cars will be built by Oregon Iron Works. They will join three others, built in 2007 by Czech company INEKON and stored at the Metro rail yard in Greenbelt since 2009. INEKON technicians recently completed phase one inspections for electrical and mechanical issues and water leaks on those vehicles. Phase two will involve correcting any defects and testing the traction power system. For information, go to www.dcstreetcar.com or www.facebook.com/dcstreetcar. Georgetown House Tour will benefit St. John’s Church St. John’s Episcopal Church, 3240 O St. NW, will conduct its annual Georgetown House Tour from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 28. The tour showcases eight to 12 houses that have been renovated while retaining their historic character. A parish tea will be served in Blake Hall at St. John’s from 2 to 5 p.m. Tickets are $45 ($40 before Friday), with proceeds going to St. John’s Ministries. Online ticket sales end next Thursday; tickets must be picked up at St. John’s on April 28. Tickets can be purchased at St. John’s until 5 p.m. April 27 and 28. For information, go to www.georgetownhousetour.com or call 202-338-1796. Habitat for Humanity seeks used car for grant program Habitat for Humanity International, a nonprofit housing group, is seeking used cars for its Cars for Homes matching grant program. Money from the sales of donated vehicles by Habitat affiliates in the District and Arlington, Fairfax, Montgomery, Loudoun and Prince William counties goes toward building houses locally for low-income families. Donations are tax deductible. To donate, call 877-277-4344 or go to www.carsforhomes.org. — Compiled by Terence McArdle