diff --git a/index.py b/index.py index bda417898fd91d1a84426651631c37731a753bcb..516b7b8ede47a6a14c373dbc75e69b19f71a2a1e 100644 --- a/index.py +++ b/index.py @@ -1,9 +1,12 @@ import duckdb import json import os +import numpy as np +import pandas as pd from collections import defaultdict -from nltk import corpus +from nltk import corpus, word_tokenize from typing import List +import time class Index: @@ -52,8 +55,8 @@ class Index: def get_terms(self, body: str): terms = defaultdict(int) - for term in body.lower().split(): - if term not in self.stopwords: + for term in word_tokenize(body.lower()): + if term not in self.stopwords and term.isalpha(): terms[term] += 1 return terms @@ -66,6 +69,10 @@ class Index: self.cursor.execute(f"INSERT INTO docs VALUES ({doc_id}, '{doc_name}', {doc_length})") + term_freqs = {} + + start = time.time() + for term, frequency in terms.items(): term_id = self.cursor.execute(f"SELECT termid FROM dict WHERE term = '{term}'").fetchone() @@ -76,7 +83,16 @@ class Index: term_id = term_id[0] self.cursor.execute(f"UPDATE dict SET df = df + 1 WHERE termid = {term_id}") - self.cursor.execute(f"INSERT INTO terms VALUES ({term_id}, {doc_id}, {frequency})") + term_freqs[term_id] = frequency + + end = time.time() + + print(f'{end - start}s for {len(terms)} terms') + + term_values = ', '.join([f'{term_id, doc_id, frequency}' for term_id, frequency in term_freqs.items()]) + self.cursor.execute(f"INSERT INTO terms VALUES {term_values}") + + print(f'{time.time() - end}s for inserting') def bulk_index(self, filename: str): try: @@ -86,8 +102,56 @@ class Index: print('[!] Invalid input file!') return - for document in data: - self.index(document) + dict_table = self.cursor.execute('SELECT * FROM dict').fetchdf() + term_table = self.cursor.execute('SELECT * FROM terms').fetchdf() + doc_table = self.cursor.execute('SELECT * FROM docs').fetchdf() + + docs = [] + docid_start = 1 if doc_table.empty else doc_table['docid'].max() + 1 + + start = time.time() + + for i, document in enumerate(data): + docid = docid_start + i + + doc_terms = self.get_terms(document['body']) + + new_dict = pd.DataFrame([{ + 'term': term, + 'df': 0, + } for term in doc_terms]) + + dict_table = (pd.concat([dict_table, new_dict], ignore_index=True) + .drop_duplicates('term')) + dict_table.loc[dict_table['term'].isin(doc_terms), 'df'] += 1 + + new_terms = dict_table.loc[dict_table['term'].isin(doc_terms)].copy() + new_terms['termid'] = new_terms.index + new_terms['docid'] = np.repeat(docid, len(doc_terms)) + new_terms = new_terms.replace({'term': doc_terms}).rename(columns={'term': 'count'}).drop('df', 1) + + term_table = pd.concat([term_table, new_terms], ignore_index=True) + + docs.append({ + 'docid': docid, + 'name': document['name'], + 'length': len(doc_terms), + }) + + print(i) + + new_docs = pd.DataFrame(docs, columns=['docid', 'name', 'length']) + doc_table = new_docs if doc_table.empty else pd.concat([doc_table, new_docs], ignore_index=True) + + print(f'Done in {time.time() - start:.4f} seconds!') + + # for i, document in enumerate(data): + # self.index(document) + # print(i) + + def search(self, query): + self.cursor.execute(query) + return self.cursor.fetchdf() def clear(self): self.cursor.execute("DELETE FROM terms") diff --git a/main.py b/main.py old mode 100644 new mode 100755 index 162fa3bc54de646925d22d695f16eb9334452ad4..37497cfdae1a0ca47ce795102294cced935eecc5 --- a/main.py +++ b/main.py @@ -1,20 +1,27 @@ -from argparse import ArgumentParser import argparse from index import Index +from search import Search def bulk_index(index: Index, args: argparse.Namespace): filename = args.data index.bulk_index(filename) - print(index) def query_index(index: Index, args: argparse.Namespace): query_terms = args.terms + + search = Search(index) + search.search(query_terms) + # TODO use query terms to query index +def dump_index(index: Index, args: argparse.Namespace): + print(index) + + def clear_index(index: Index, args: argparse.Namespace): index.clear() @@ -23,20 +30,23 @@ def main(): parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(prog='old_duck', description='OldDuck - A Python implementation of OldDog, using DuckDB') - subparsers = parser.add_subparsers() + parser.add_argument('database', help='The database file to use') + + subparsers = parser.add_subparsers(dest='command') + subparsers.required = True parser_index = subparsers.add_parser('index') - parser_index.add_argument('database', help='The database file to index the files to') parser_index.add_argument('data', help='The file to read and index documents from') parser_index.set_defaults(func=bulk_index) parser_query = subparsers.add_parser('query') - parser_query.add_argument('database', help='The database file to query') parser_query.add_argument('terms', help='The query terms', nargs='*') parser_query.set_defaults(func=query_index) + parser_clear = subparsers.add_parser('dump') + parser_clear.set_defaults(func=dump_index) + parser_clear = subparsers.add_parser('clear') - parser_clear.add_argument('database', help='The database file to clear') parser_clear.set_defaults(func=clear_index) args = parser.parse_args() diff --git a/query.py b/query.py new file mode 100644 index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..0715325f49e7a59527e9e7c8f76891b726e9827f --- /dev/null +++ b/query.py @@ -0,0 +1,26 @@ +def bm25(terms, disjunctive=False): + term_list = ', '.join([f"'{term}'" for term in terms]) + + constraint = '' if disjunctive else 'HAVING COUNT(distinct termid) = (SELECT COUNT(*) FROM termids)' + + return f""" + WITH termids AS (SELECT termid FROM dict WHERE term IN ({term_list})), + qterms AS (SELECT termid, docid, count FROM terms + WHERE termid IN (SELECT * FROM termids)), + subscores AS (SELECT docs.docid, length, term_tf.termid, + tf, df, (log(((SELECT COUNT(*) FROM docs WHERE length > 0)-df+0.5)/(df+0.5))*((tf*(1.2+1)/ + (tf+1.2*(1-0.75+0.75*(length/(SELECT AVG(length) FROM docs WHERE length > 0))))))) AS subscore + FROM (SELECT termid, docid, count AS tf FROM qterms) AS term_tf + JOIN (SELECT docid FROM qterms + GROUP BY docid {constraint}) + AS cdocs ON term_tf.docid = cdocs.docid + JOIN docs ON term_tf.docid=docs.docid + JOIN dict ON term_tf.termid=dict.termid) + SELECT scores.docid, score FROM (SELECT docid, sum(subscore) AS score + FROM subscores GROUP BY docid) AS scores JOIN docs ON + scores.docid=docs.docid ORDER BY score DESC; + """ + + +def tfidf(terms, disjunctive=False): + return '' diff --git a/search.py b/search.py new file mode 100644 index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..ce0c32fb0da212e9ac17e6e9e51dc6af4551fbec --- /dev/null +++ b/search.py @@ -0,0 +1,24 @@ +from index import Index +import query +import re + + +class Search: + index: Index + + def __init__(self, index: Index): + self.index = index + + def search(self, terms, method='bm25'): + if method == 'bm25': + sql_query = query.bm25(terms) + elif method == 'tfidf': + sql_query = query.tfidf(terms) + else: + raise NotImplementedError(f'Search method "{method}" was not implemented') + + print(sql_query) + + print(re.sub(r'\s+', ' ', sql_query)) + + print(self.index.search(re.sub(r'\s+', ' ', sql_query.strip()))) diff --git a/washington_data.json b/washington_data.json new file mode 100644 index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..263c1b2db8b92e21fa87768f35a94aaf84f55496 --- /dev/null +++ b/washington_data.json @@ -0,0 +1 @@ +[{"name": "b2e89334-33f9-11e1-825f-dabc29fd7071", "body": "NEW ORLEANS \u2014 Whenever a Virginia Tech offensive coach is asked how the most prolific receiving duo in school history came to be, inevitably the first road game in 2008 against North Carolina comes up.\nMidway through the first quarter, Virginia Tech had to call two timeouts in a row because then-freshmen Jarrett Boykin and Danny Coale couldn\u2019t seem to line up right, and \u201cthey had those big eyes out there looking around,\u201d Kevin Sherman, their position coach, said recently.\nNow that Boykin and Coale have only Tuesday\u2019s Sugar Bowl remaining before leaving Virginia Tech with every major school record for a wide receiver, they\u2019ve taken a different stance.\n\u201cI still don\u2019t think that was on us. Macho [Harris] was in the game and he lined up wrong,\u201d said Boykin, as Coale sat next to him nodding in agreement.\nJust add that to the list of slights these seniors have had to overcome.\nBoykin has been the team\u2019s leading receiver the past three seasons, using hands that need size XXXL gloves and a knack for out-maneuvering opposing cornerbacks in the air to set a single-season school record for receptions this year (57). He will end his career with more catches (180) and yards (2,854) than any other Hokies receiver.\nCoale, an Episcopal High graduate, leads Virginia Tech with 785 receiving yards this year. He is right behind Boykin in the school record books and became the team\u2019s starting punter by the end of this season. Coach Frank Beamer has frequently marveled how \u201cDanny just always seems to be open.\u201d\nAnd yet neither warranted even honorable mention all-ACC status this year, a snub that quarterback Logan Thomas said made him \u201cextremely upset\u201d and left Beamer wondering about the media members who participated in the voting.\nIn retrospect, Boykin said he recognizes the lack of notoriety is partly due to Virginia Tech\u2019s offensive philosophy. The Hokies have always been known for their rushing attack, and this year was no different. Running back David Wilson earned ACC player of the year honors during a year when Thomas set multiple records for a first-year quarterback.\n\u201cThere\u2019s just some things that we were held back from being able to show,\u201d Boykin said, \u201cthat we\u2019re just as good as [South Carolina wide receiver] Alshon Jeffrey and [Oklahoma State wide receiver] Justin Blackmon. I feel like they\u2019re great athletes, but at the same time we\u2019re right up there with them.\n\u201cIt\u2019s great playing wide receiver here because once we throw the ball, you have opportunities to get big chunks of yardage. What we can\u2019t do is we\u2019re not going to catch 100 balls for 1,500 yards and 22 touchdowns.\u201d\nThe other issue is that neither has the sort of attention-grabbing personality or pedigree associated with big-time wide receivers these days.\nCoale has graduated with a degree in finance and was named the ACC\u2019s top scholar-athlete this year. He speaks in measured tones reminiscent of a CEO and has yet to join Facebook or Twitter. Boykin is so quiet around the team facility that Beamer said he sometimes doesn\u2019t notice him until he\u2019s making catches on the practice field or in games.\nComing out of high school, Coale was barely recruited. Before showing up to a camp in Blacksburg one summer, his only scholarship offer was from VMI, where his father is the head of strength and conditioning. Coale still jokes that when he spent his redshirt year (2007) on the scout team, former Virginia Tech wide receivers and future NFL wideouts Eddie Royal, Andre Davis and Josh Morgan \u201cmust have thought I was a walk-on. I prefer to just fly under the radar.\u201d\nBut their accomplishments haven\u2019t gone unnoticed now that the clock is ticking on their careers. Quarterbacks coach Mike O\u2019Cain said Thomas\u2019s comfort level during his record-setting first year under center is a direct reflection of Boykin and Coale. \u201cNot only are they gonna run the right route with the right timing, you know they\u2019re gonna catch the ball,\u201d he said.\nYears of lining up together has also created a special bond between the two, and it played out before the ACC championship game this year.\nBoykin was supposed to deliver the pregame speech, but always reticent about public speaking, he was afraid he might stutter and not be taken seriously. He asked Coale to take his place.\n\u201cI\u2019ve been through his struggles, he\u2019s been through mine,\u201d Coale said. \u201cHe\u2019s a guy that I know I can count on, whether it\u2019s five years from now, I just know I can count on him and he\u2019ll be there. I know when I look back, part of my Tech experience is going to be him.\u201d"}, {"name": "749ec5b2-32f5-11e1-825f-dabc29fd7071", "body": "Set down your champagne and gaze west, as the bubbly planet Venus kicks off Sunday night\u2019s first evening of the New Year.\nSee this splendid planet about 23 degrees above southwestern horizon at sunset. You can\u2019t miss this ultrabright beacon \u2014 about negative fourth magnitude \u2014 skimming over the treetops. By mid-January, Venus hangs 30 degrees above the horizon at sunset, and the planet sets about 8:10 p.m.\nOn Jan. 24, a waxing young moon begins to ascend toward Venus in the western heavens. The lunar crescent sneaks closer to alluring Venus on Jan. 25, and by the evening of Jan. 26, the moon has passed by our neighbor planet.\nLike a 1950s teenager at a diner, Jupiter loiters in the east-southeast sky at dusk, in the Aries constellation. It\u2019s a negative second magnitude (very bright) object. The waxing gibbous moon approaches this large planet Sunday and snuggles closer Monday evening. By Tuesday, the moon has passed Jupiter, but have no fear, we get an \u201cinstant replay\u201d from Jan. 28-31.\nBright enough to see from the light-polluted Washington area, Mars and Saturn, both zero magnitude objects, become the New Year\u2019s late-night revelers. The reddish Mars rises just before midnight now in the east. A few hours later, at 1:30 a.m., the ringed Saturn ascends the east-southeast. By late January, both planets loiter in the Virgo constellation, as Mars will rise about 9 p.m. and Saturn appears just before midnight.\nFind fleet Mercury now before sunrise in the southeast, in the constellation Ophiuchus, hugging the horizon.\nWith hot coffee, toast the Baby 2012 by viewing the Quadrantids meteor shower peak early Wednesday morning. The big, fat moon sets at 3:15 a.m., so very early risers could catch some falling stars between then and sunrise. The International Meteor Organization (www.imo.net) says the hourly rate could be 120, but, in all honesty, you\u2019ll be lucky to spot a handful. If you spy them, they appear to emanate from the near the Big Dipper and Little Dipper constellations in the northeast. You might see a few errant Quadrantids up to Jan. 12, according to the IMO.\nJan. 5 \u2014 \u201cHow Do Astronomers Know How Big Asteroids Are?\u201d a lecture by astronomer Melissa Hayes-Gehrke, at the open house, University of Maryland Observatory, College Park. Weather permitting, see the night sky through telescopes after the lecture. 8 p.m., 301-405-6555. www.astro.
umd.edu/ openhouse.\nJan. 8 \u2014 \u201cA Survey of Star Atlases,\u201d presented by astronomer Cal Powell at the Northern Virginia Astronomy Club meeting, Room 80, Enterprise Hall, George Mason University, Fairfax. 7 p.m. www.novac.com.\nJan. 14 \u2014 Guy Brandenburg explains \u201cMaking Your Own Telescope\u201d at the National Capital Astronomers meeting, University of Maryland Observatory, College Park. 7:30 p.m. www.capital
astronomers.org.\nJan. 14 \u2014 Stargazing at the National Air and Space Museum\u2019s Public Observatory, adjacent to the museum building. 6:45 p.m. National Air and Space Museum, National Mall. Free. www.nasm.
si.edu.\nJan. 20 \u2014 Anne Lohfink, an astronomer who researches the physics of compact cosmic objects and their surroundings, speaks at the open house, University of Maryland Observatory, College Park. View the heavens through telescopes after lecture, weather permitting. 8 p.m. 301-405-6555. www.astro.umd.edu/openhouse.\nJan. 28 \u2014 Neither Bieber nor Bono compare to authentic stars: \u201cHow Are Stars Born?\u201d at the Montgomery College Planetarium, Takoma Park. 7 p.m. www.montgomerycollege.edu/
departments/planet/.\nJan. 28 \u2014 \u201cSand Dunes Throughout the Solar System,\u201d a lecture by geologist Jim Zimbelman of the Smithsonian Center for Earth and Planetary Studies. This is part of the Smithsonian\u2019s Stars Lecture Series. 5:45 p.m., Albert Einstein Planetarium, National Air and Space Museum, the Mall. After the presentation, stargazing at the museum\u2019s public observatory (about 6:45 p.m.) www.nasm.si.edu ."}, {"name": "69654742-33d7-11e1-825f-dabc29fd7071", "body": "DES MOINES \u2014 Two days before the voting begins in the wildest Republican race anyone can remember, the GOP candidates for president were engaged in a frenzy of old-school retail politicking acutely aware that a poor finish in Tuesday\u2019s Iowa caucuses would probably end some of their prospects.\nOn Saturday evening, the Des Moines Register released a poll showing a highly volatile race, with former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney holding a slight lead at 24\u00a0percent among likely caucus attendees and Rep. Ron Paul (Tex.) in second with 22\u00a0percent. But former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum, showing a late burst of momentum that has brought him from the back of the pack to 15\u00a0percent, was poised to move into second place if he can continue gaining over the next two days.\nMeanwhile, three former front-runners were struggling to regain their footing, with former House speaker Newt Gingrich at 12\u00a0percent, Texas Gov. Rick Perry at 11 percent and Rep. Michele Bachmann (Minn.) at 7 percent.\nCaucuses are notoriously difficult to predict, given the fact that they require voters to venture out on a winter night and spend an evening arguing politics with their neighbors, but the Register\u2019s late poll has had a strong record of foreshadowing the results.\nIn recent days, the candidates\u2019 arguments have pitted voters\u2019 pragmatism against their passions, with Romney representing the safe, establishment-approved pick and his rivals vying to be the conservative alternative.\n\u201cThis is a process not just of putting your name or your hand next to someone who you kind of like. It\u2019s also selecting who our nominee ought to be, who you think could beat Barack Obama,\u201d Romney told a crowd of hundreds Thursday afternoon as he stood on a chair in the faux \u201cMusic Man\u201d set in Mason City.\nBut on Saturday, as Santorum addressed about 50 people outside a library in Indianola, he insisted: \u201cI understand they\u2019re all saying who can win and cannot. Trust your own heart. Trust your head. Trust your gut. And vote for who you think is best.\u201d\nAmong the serious caucus contenders, only Paul was missing. He and his senator son, Rand Paul of Kentucky, will be back Monday to launch a five-county tour.\nRon Paul has lately found himself at the top of polls, joining a procession of contenders \u2014 some credible, others less so \u2014 who have soared and fallen, often within a matter of weeks.\nSome have stumbled, spectacularly. Others have been pushed. Gingrich was hit by almost $3\u00a0million in negative advertising in Iowa from a Romney-aligned super PAC \u2014 an outside group barred from coordinating with his campaign.\nThe volatility reflects Republicans\u2019 fervor to pick their strongest nominee against a vulnerable president and the dissatisfaction and mistrust many conservatives, especially those who align with the tea party movement, feel toward Romney.\nRalph Davey, 60, a retiree from Manly who came out to hear Gingrich speak at the local shopping mall last week, has been going back and forth over whether to support him or Romney.\nRomney \u201cknows a lot about business, and he\u2019d be able to create jobs. But he seems wishy-washy on issues. He seems to change with the circumstances,\u201d Davey said. \u201cI like his electability. He doesn\u2019t have skeletons in the closet. Newt definitely does.\u201d\nParadoxically, the tumult in the field and the fragmentation of the electorate may have worked to Romney\u2019s benefit, creating an opportunity for him to prevail in a state where he was trounced four years ago.\nIt was once expected that Romney would put forth no more than a token effort in Iowa, where he blew $10\u00a0million on a distant second-place finish in 2008. But as it became clear that a strong showing \u2014 even a victory \u2014 might be possible, Romney has put in a heavy campaign schedule here in the final days.\nIowa has a history of knocking establishment GOP candidates down a peg, so if Romney can avoid that jinx he would be well situated going forward.\nRomney is the overwhelming favorite in New Hampshire, which holds its primary Jan.\u00a010. And it is questionable how strong a threat Paul or Santorum would be over the long run. On the other hand, if Gingrich or even Perry were to get a bump out of Iowa, they could potentially pick up momentum.\nRomney originally planned to spend more time over the weekend in New Hampshire. But he was drawing large and enthusiastic crowds here, and Romney\u2019s aides scratched that plan so he could dart back to Iowa. He added two afternoon campaign stops in the heavily Republican northwestern corner of the state, where he performed well in 2008, and he has scheduled four large rallies Monday in the state\u2019s population centers.\nThis campaign season has also, again, proved that experience is an asset when it comes to running for president. It is probably not a coincidence that two of the candidates best positioned for Tuesday\u2019s caucuses \u2014 Romney and Paul \u2014 are the ones who have been there before.\n\u201cPeople like Ron Paul and Mitt Romney are benefiting from the fact that they had infrastructure from the past that they could build on,\u201d said Steve Scheffler, president of the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition.\nMany political veterans here expect turnout at the caucuses to top 2008\u2019s record 118,000. But they worry that Iowa\u2019s cherished, quirky process has begun to lose its intimate feel \u2014 and its influence.\nIowans have seen far less of the candidates this year than they have in the past. The GOP contenders started their campaign operations here later and invested less of their time and resources. Instead of getting to know potential presidents in a leisurely fashion at their local diners and in church halls, Iowans are learning about the presidential field on television, just like the rest of America.\nThat has contributed to voters\u2019 uncertainty, Scheffler said.\n\u201cThe candidates haven\u2019t been here, and their messages and their stands are similar,\u201d he said. \u201cYou don\u2019t have that one personality that sticks out from the others.\u201d\nAdam Gregg, 28, a Des Moines lawyer, came to see Romney speak at an ice-cream parlor in Le Mars on Saturday.\n\u201cBack in \u201906 and \u201907,\u201d Gregg said, \u201cyou saw all the presidentials going to state legislative fundraisers. They were all over the Iowa circuit. That\u2019s one of the starkest contrasts to me.\u201d\nSantorum is one who has been doing things the old-fashioned way \u2014 more by necessity, because of his strapped finances, than by choice.\nHaving made more than 250 appearances in the state over the past six months, \u201ca guy like Santorum gave Iowans all across the state multiple opportunities to meet him and get to know him,\u201d said Craig Robinson, a blogger who writes for the Web site the Iowa Republican.\nThat patient, shoe-leather approach is paying off with an eleventh-hour surge in the polls for Santorum, who noted with some satisfaction that he has not had to spend the final days before the caucuses crisscrossing Iowa on frantic bus tours, as his rivals have.\n\u201cEverybody\u2019s sort of running around trying to get to all these counties. We\u2019ve done all that,\u201d he said during a leisurely interview Friday afternoon at his campaign headquarters in Urbandale.\nLater that evening, Santorum spent more than an hour at a sports bar, joining fans to watch Iowa State play Rutgers in the New Era Pinstripe Bowl.\nOne significant difference from 2008 is the lack of political cohesion among evangelicals, whose mobilization was the key to former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee\u2019s victory over Romney in 2008. This time around, however, there are at least four candidates competing for their votes.\n\u201cNo one candidate has brought all the values voters together,\u201d Huckabee said in an interview. \u201cAnd the splitting of that vote helps Romney.\u201d\nThe political climate may also diminish the influence of socially conservative voters here.\n\u201cEconomic issues are at the forefront now, even among conservatives, unlike they were four years ago,\u201d said Tim Albrecht, who worked for Romney\u2019s operation in 2008 but now is unaffiliated and is an aide to Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad.\nThe Iowa caucuses have provided the first real test of the new world of outside money in presidential campaigns, unleashed by a Supreme Court decision last year.\nSpending by outside groups \u2014 technically independent of the campaigns but often run by some of the candidates\u2019 closest allies \u2014 used to be virtually nonexistent in primary campaigns. This year, it has accounted for 43\u00a0percent of all spending on television ads.\nThe tone of the ads in many cases has been far more negative than the candidates personally would dare to project when speaking about members of their own party.\nAlmost none of the donors of that money have been revealed, and they probably won\u2019t be until Jan.\u00a031 \u2014 after the polls close in the Florida primary and after a nominee may already be chosen.\nThe new rules have given a boost to candidates who already have a network of rich supporters \u2014 most notably Perry and Romney. This kind of support may soon be an unwritten requirement for a successful campaign.\nGingrich initially believed that he could overcome the influence of negative advertising with a strong message and the kind of coverage he draws.\n\u201cThat\u2019s the secret of the Gingrich campaign,\u201d he said in an interview in late October. \u201cThe other guy gets to raise a lot of money to buy radio ads, and I get to do talk radio. It\u2019s probably almost impossible to buy enough radio to offset what I can do with talk radio.\u201d\nThe most recent polls suggest that view may have been overly complacent.\nAt one point Gingrich said, \u201cI wouldn\u2019t vote for the guy they are describing.\u201d"}, {"name": "d5966ad2-33f9-11e1-825f-dabc29fd7071", "body": "Towel draped over his head and shoulders, staring at the ground as he mouthed lyrics to the music blaring from his headphones, John Wall appeared flustered, angry and distant as he sat in the visiting locker room at Bradley Center.\nWall had his worst game of the season \u2014 and arguably one of the worst of his young career \u2014 as the Washington Wizards lost to the Milwaukee Bucks, 102-81, on Friday and dropped to 0-3. The statistics told one side of the story \u2014 six points on 1-of-9 shooting, with seven assists and four turnovers \u2014 and Wall\u2019s body language told another, as he was unusually disengaged and disconnected, even as his teammates attempted a fourth-quarter rally to cut a 26-point deficit down to single digits.\nAfterward, Coach Flip Saunders expressed disappointment in the best player on his roster for failing to fight through a challenging night.\n\u201cNo matter how bad you\u2019re playing, you don\u2019t want someone to look at you and say, \u2018What\u2019s wrong with you?\u2019\u2009\u201d Saunders said. \u201cThe only thing you can be consistent about is how hard you play, and with passion and energy. John has a tendency to get down on himself when he\u2019s not making plays. We got down big. He got down. We\u2019ve got to work as a team. He\u2019s got to work on it too. As a leader, everyone is looking for him.\u201d\nWall often had trouble containing his emotions through adversity as a rookie, but his frustration with a ragged start to this season was encapsulated by a sequence with about five minutes left in the fourth quarter against the Bucks.\nMilwaukee called a timeout after reserve Beno Udrih made a layup and Wall glared at the hardwood, ignoring and leaving Ronny Turiaf, Hamady Ndiaye, trainer Koichi Sato, JaVale McGee and Kevin Seraphin stunned as they attempted to give him high-fives.\nWall was hoping that this would be a breakout season for him, but he has gotten off to a thorny start, struggling to find a way to balance being a facilitator and a scorer and not doing particularly well at either one. He\u2019s averaging just 13 points, six assists and 4.7 turnovers but also is shooting just 27 percent from the field.\n\u201cI\u2019m not really worried about myself getting going, I\u2019m just trying to run the team as much as everybody wants me to do. That\u2019s all I\u2019m trying to do,\u201d Wall said. \u201cEverybody trying to say I\u2019m trying to look for scoring, but I\u2019m just trying to take open shots that I got. I know teams know what I want to do, they making it tough for me. I just got to make shots and trust that my teammates will make shots when they get open and when I find them.\u201d\nThe Wizards haven\u2019t been able to support that trust, as they rank 29th in the league in field goal shooting (38.6 percent), making it hard for a player to get assists. Andray Blatche is admittedly \u201cin a funk,\u201d averaging just eight points on 11-of-41 shooting (26.8 percent) this season. In the past two games, Washington\u2019s starting shooting guards \u2014 Jordan Crawford in Atlanta and Nick Young in Milwaukee \u2014 shot a combined 1 for 16.\nWall begged Saunders to take out one of the starters as the Wizards got off to a slow start in Atlanta, then grew tired of playing setup man and scored eight consecutive points for the team. He has been a team captain since his first NBA practice and the Wizards respond to his demeanor, whether good or bad.\nBut he is already growing impatient with the losses, especially with the team blowing a 21-point lead in an opening loss to New Jersey, getting routed in a wire-to-wire loss in Atlanta and failing to file the correct roster in another blowout loss in Milwaukee. In their past 127 minutes, the Wizards have been outscored by 66 points, and the schedule doesn\u2019t get any lighter with a home-and-home, back-to-back set against Boston starting on Sunday at 6 p.m. at Verizon Center, followed by Orlando on the road and New York at home.\n\u201cIt\u2019s getting tough,\u201d Wall said. \u201cWe\u2019ve just got to find a way to win. You don\u2019t want to start the season 0-10 or 0-6 or nothing like that, so you got to find a way to win one of these games.\u201d\nSaunders and assistant Randy Wittman spoke to the players after the loss in Milwaukee and veterans Maurice Evans and Rashard Lewis continued the conversation in a mini-players-only meeting afterward.\n\u201cWe got on each other,\u201d Young said. \u201cYou don\u2019t want to get used to losing, but we\u2019ve got to stick together. You can\u2019t have somebody mad every night. That don\u2019t help the team. We\u2019ve got to come together as a family. This is really all we\u2019ve got in here.\u201d\nSaunders said the team has to figure out something soon. \u201cWe don\u2019t have a lot of time. We\u2019re not going to say, \u2018We\u2019re going to get this figured out in practice.\u2019 We can\u2019t,\u201d Saunders said. \u201cBottom line is, we\u2019ve got to put people on the floor that are going to compete and play hard. If that happens to be that some of our most talented guys, they\u2019re not the ones to do it, then they are not going to be able to play.\u201d"}, {"name": "f2c10c06-2c0c-11e1-9952-55d90a4e2d6d", "body": "A developer who stands to gain millions by building headquarters for the state Department of Housing and Community Development in Prince George\u2019s County owes Maryland more than $124,000 in back taxes, penalties and interest, according to state records.\nThe Maryland comptroller\u2019s office has filed several tax liens over the past seven years against Carl S. Williams for failing to pay state withholding taxes for employees at one of his companies. As of Dec.\u00a028, the bill remained unpaid, state officials said.\nThe liens stem from nonpayment of withholding taxes for King\u2019s Kids Child Development, a division of a company where Williams was in charge.\n\u201cWhen the corporate entity does not pay, we can go after the managing member,\u201d said Sharonne Bonardi, the director of the compliance division within the comptroller\u2019s office. \u201cThat\u2019s why he was assessed personally for the tax debt.\u201d\nBarb Clapp, a spokeswoman for the developer, said Williams filed an appeal over the back taxes Sept. 14, which the state confirmed this week. On Sept. 19, the state announced that it had selected him to develop the new headquarters near the New Carrollton transit hub.\nWilliams is a principal of Grand Central Development, and he hopes to lead a team that will build the New Carrollton mixed-use development. The project, known as Metroview, would house the first state agency with headquarters in Prince George\u2019s.\n Clapp said Williams took over as executive director of St. Paul Development Corp., a nonprofit group that builds affordable housing in Prince George\u2019s and owns the day-care center, in 2006. Some of the company\u2019s tax troubles predate his appointment as executive director, she said. Clapp also said some payments were applied to taxes owed by St. Paul Development.\n\u201cHe didn\u2019t know about some of it,\u201d Clapp said. \u201cWhen he learned, he filed an appeal.\u201d\nThis week, state officials said the balance includes $67,329.26 in taxes, $46,897.781 in interest and penalties of $9,895.60. The state would not provide a breakdown of when the taxes were incurred.\nBut the outstanding bill is just one of the financial problems that companies headed by Williams have faced.\nThe charter of the Carl Williams Group, a development company founded in 2005 in Prince George\u2019s, was revoked by the State Department of Assessments and Taxation two years ago for failing to file a 2008 property tax return with the state. Clapp said the company did not file a property tax return with the state because it did not own any personal property. As a result, the company\u2019s charter was revoked. Clapp said the Carl Williams Group is no longer doing business.\nThe Woodviews at St. Paul Limited Partnership \u2014 a division of St. Paul Development, which Williams heads \u2014 filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2008. Williams\u2019s spokeswoman added that he is not personally liable for the bankruptcy of Woodview. The company ran into trouble with county officials, she said.\n\u201cWe got caught in the pay-to-play game of Jack Johnson, and our necessary county approvals were not approved because we would not pay,\u201d Clapp said.\nAnd the Carl Williams Group was sued by UrbanAmerica, a real estate investment company, over the alleged nonpayment of a loan. Last year, the trial court entered a judgment against the Carl Williams Group for $9\u00a0million. Clapp said the loan at issue in the lawsuit stems from a $100\u00a0million project in the county that was never built. The Carl Williams Group is appealing, and UrbanAmerica, which sued Williams personally but lost, has also filed an appeal.\nClapp said Williams has shepherded many projects in the county, including the Jericho City senior living project in Landover and the St. Paul Retirement Community at Addison in Capitol Heights. But, she said, many of the financial problems of his companies can be blamed on a sluggish real estate market and the play-to-pay culture in Prince George\u2019s. Metroview, a mixed-use project that still needs financing, would be Williams\u2019s largest project.\nAs part of a push to promote transit-oriented development, Gov. Martin O\u2019Malley (D) announced last year the intention to move the housing agency from Anne Arundel County to a site near a Metro station in Prince George\u2019s. O\u2019Malley announced the selection of Grand Central Development and the location with much fanfare during a news conference in front of the New Carrollton Metro station in September.\nThe state Board of Public Works still has to decide whether Grand Central Development should be awarded the 15-year, $40\u00a0million lease for the agency\u2019s move to New Carrollton.\nAccording to state officials, the panel was supposed to consider the project before the end of the year, but the lease never made it onto the board\u2019s agenda. Grand Central was one of 16 bidders for the project.\nMichael A. Gaines Sr., the assistant secretary of real estate for the Department of General Services, who has handled the requests for proposals for the relocation, did not return repeated calls to his office.\nWilliams, a developer and executive director of St. Paul Development, spoke briefly about the DHCD development\u2019s prime location, just 12 minutes by rail from the Baltimore-Washington International Marshall Airport, and his plans to build 442 apartment units, 22\u00a0percent of which will be affordable housing.\nWilliams will be joined by Tim Munshell of Montgomery County in developing Metroview, which includes 30,000 square feet of retail space, four floors of office space for DHCD and office space for the city of New Carrollton. The pair is also working on another multimillion-dollar, mixed-use project in Baltimore County.\nMunshell did not return a phone call or a message left with his company spokesman.\nThe announcement of the development selection for DHCD came before Grand Central Development underwent a tax clearance review by the comptroller\u2019s office.\nThe compliance division within the comptroller\u2019s office was unaware of the liens filed against Williams until they were brought to its attention by The Washington Post on Dec. 20.\nBonardi, the director of that division, said her office searched for days and could not find any liens placed against Williams or any delinquencies against the Carl Williams Group.\nJoseph Shapiro, a spokesman for the office, was adamant that no liens were placed against Williams by the comptroller\u2019s office.\nIt was not until documents from the Prince George\u2019s Circuit Court were provided to the state by The Washington Post that officials located the liens.\nBonardi said there was a \u201cdisconnect\u201d because the liens were under the federal identification number of the King\u2019s Kids Development Center and Williams\u2019s Social Security number.\nSylvia Brokos, the manager of business tax collections within the comptroller\u2019s office, said Williams\u2019s back taxes would not necessarily disqualify him from a contract.\nShe said all companies seeking state contracts must pass a tax clearance process that includes a search for back taxes and a review to make sure the company\u2019s charter is in good standing.\nIn Williams\u2019s case, only Grand Central Development, which was formed in November 2010, would go through that process.\n\u201cWe do not look beyond that to the principal, not unless they are the sole proprietor,\u201d Brokos said."}, {"name": "4db820a0-3251-11e1-8c61-c365ccf404c5", "body": "In this remote, sun-blasted corner of southern Yemen, there\u2019s a battle raging that is as important to the United States as it is to this nation\u2019s beleaguered government.\nEach day, American-backed Yemeni forces engage in a grueling struggle to retake territory from militant Islamists \u2014 a conventional army pitted against a guerrilla militia with grand ambitions to stage an attack on U.S. soil. Each day, the soldiers feel increasingly besieged.\n\u201cWe are like an island in a sea of al-Qaeda,\u201d said Lt. Abdul Mohamed Saleh, standing at a checkpoint on a desolate highway that connects Zinjibar with the port city of Aden. \u201cWe are surrounded from every direction.\u201d\nThe battle is but one in a broader struggle that has upended Yemen over the past year and left the country badly fragmented. With pro-democracy demonstrators now in the 11th month of a populist uprising that has forced President Ali Abdullah Saleh to agree to step down, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and its sympathizers have taken full advantage of the turbulence.\nIn May, they overran large swaths of Abyan province, including this regional capital. Today, they rule over significant territory in this strategic region, near important oil shipping lanes.\nThe al-Qaeda affiliate has already targeted the United States several times, including sending parcel bombs on flights into the country last year. Its stated goal is to create an Islamic emirate in Yemen, which American officials fear could be used as a base to plan more attacks against the United States.\nThat base may already be taking shape. A rare recent visit to Zinjibar, the first by a Western journalist since the Islamist fighters swept into the city, revealed just how entrenched the militants have become here.\nAt the gate of the only military base left in this ghostly city, Ali al-Katib peered up and down the deserted road. Clutching a walkie-talkie and a Kalashnikov rifle, the Yemeni soldier looked as haggard as the battered landscape.\n\u201cThey\u2019ve attacked us three times already today,\u201d Katib said, his emotions rising.\nSaleh\u2019s government has a mixed record of combating extremist groups. He is a nominal U.S. ally who has pledged to defeat al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP. But critics say his government is primarily responsible for the instability that has allowed the group and other militant organizations to thrive.\nAlthough the pro-democracy demonstrators have no sympathy for AQAP, the group is one of several regional forces that have seized on the chaos of the uprising to grab territory and power. Many fear that Yemen could face years of turmoil before a system emerges to unify the country.\nIn the north, Shiite Houthi rebels control three provinces. In the south, secessionist voices are growing louder. And in the divided capital, Sanaa, armed tribesmen and defected military units control entire neighborhoods, driven by fears that Saleh plans to hang on to power. His family and loyalists remain in control of the security forces and hold key government positions.\nWith Saleh\u2019s government in disarray, the United States has stepped up operations against AQAP, using drone strikes to kill several of the group\u2019s top officials, including Anwar al-Awlaki, the radical Yemeni-American cleric implicated in helping to motivate several attacks in the United States.\nBut such a strategy has its limits in Zinjibar.\nLess than a mile from the highway stands Zinjibar\u2019s main soccer stadium. Outside, a half-built apartment complex is riddled with holes from mortar shells. On a rooftop, soldiers peer from behind sandbags. Two tanks stand nearby. Inside the stadium, walls have crumbled from shelling; the artificial grass is littered with debris and bullets.\nThe Islamists emerged in March, taking over the town of Jaar and nearby areas. By the end of May, they had entered Zinjibar. They seized government buildings and looted banks and military depots.\nMost troops, police officers and local officials fled Zinjibar, an ancient city that was once a major trading center with the Far East. Tens of thousands of residents fled as well, triggering a humanitarian crisis.\nAccording to Yemeni military commanders and residents, the militants number only 700 to 1,000, and include fighters from Sudan, Somalia, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Syria. Some wear long hair and thick beards. They call themselves Ansar al-Sharia, or supporters of Sharia \u2014 Islamic law. AQAP leaders said this year that they were operating under that name.\nThe ease of their takeover prompted Saleh\u2019s critics to accuse him of purposely losing territory to convince the United States and Yemen\u2019s neighbors that chaos would ensue if he were to step down. Opposition figures describe al-Qaeda\u2019s presence in Abyan as exaggerated, a diversion by Saleh to remain in power.\nBut the soldiers of Brigade 25, who live inside the military base, have no doubts about their enemy\u2019s identity. The only government forces who did not flee, they have been pummeled almost daily by mortars, rockets and snipers.\nWadhan Ali Said, a slim 20-year-old soldier, bears the scars of a sniper\u2019s bullet in his back. He said he and his fellow troops lived on rice and well water for more than two months before U.S. planes dropped parcels of food into the base in September. On one day, the militants killed 10 soldiers inside the base, he said.\nLater in September, after reinforcements arrived, the soldiers managed to lift the siege. But the militants have kept up the pressure, moving in highly organized cells. They use loudspeakers outside the base in a psychological assault on the soldiers.\n\u201cThey say they are the followers of Osama bin Laden,\u201d Said said. \u201cThey give us lectures on Islam. Then, they tell us they will enter the base tonight.\u201d\nYemeni security forces have unleashed an intensive campaign of aerial bombings and shelling in southern Yemen. They have sent large numbers of reinforcements, including some U.S.-trained counterterrorism units.\nYet the Islamist fighters control more than half of this city, including its center. They dominate other parts of Abyan as well as neighboring Shabwa province, where they have imposed a strict interpretation of Islamic law. Al-Qaeda cells are also increasingly active in Aden, staging assassination attempts and suicide attacks.\nGen. Muhammad al-Somli, the commander of Brigade 25, said the United States has been assisting with intelligence. But his soldiers lack night-vision goggles, sniper rifles and other military equipment to adequately fight the Islamists. The U.S.-trained counter-terrorism units were too small in number, he said. And his soldiers, he added, are not adequately trained to combat a guerrilla force. He also acknowledged that the government has lost much of its control over southern Yemen to the Islamists.\n\u201cThey are already acting like they are rulers of a state,\u201d Somli said.\nThe streets of Zinjibar are eerily quiet. Houses are abandoned, shops and gas stations closed. There\u2019s no electricity. The landscape is silent, a wasteland littered with bullets and graves. Not a single resident was seen in more than four hours spent inside government-controlled areas of the city.\nMost of the city\u2019s inhabitants are 35 miles away, in Aden. They traveled with only the possessions they could carry. They have sought refuge there in dozens of schools, turning classrooms into makeshift homes.\nBut even Aden may not be safe.\n\u201cIf we don\u2019t manage to stop them, their next target will be Aden,\u201d warned Brig. Awad al-Qatabi, the head of Yemeni National Security in the city.\nThose who fled Abyan brought with them disturbing stories about life under the Islamists that are reminiscent of Taliban rule in Afghanistan. Drinking alcohol is punishable by death. Praying is mandatory and monitored closely by the militants. Television is banned, as is any contact with Westerners.\n\u201cAnyone who supports Saleh is considered an agent of America and the West,\u201d said Salah Nasser Nashir, 34, a farmer, who fled in July.\nHe was more afraid of the indiscriminate bombings by security forces than he was of al-Qaeda, echoing comments by others who fled Zinjibar. \u201cWe fled not because of al-Qaeda, but because the government was shelling us,\u201d he said.\nStill others, though, fled the wrath of the Islamist militants. Maher Ali, 17, said he was caught two months ago stealing electric cables from a store. He explained to his jihadist captors that he was unemployed and hungry and that he needed money for food. They took him to a clearing. A man carried a bag of knives. They blindfolded Ali. A voice asked him which hand would he like to have cut off. Ali pleaded for mercy.\n\u201cThis is Allah\u2019s law,\u201d he heard the voice say, before the knife came down on his left wrist.\nMore world news coverage:\nRussia arrests New Year\u2019s protesters\nMaliki marks end of U.S.-Iraq pact\nIn Egypt, an act of courage that launched a revolution\nRead more headlines from around the world"}, {"name": "2ee2b1ca-33d9-11e1-a274-61fcdeecc5f5", "body": "Early last week, a postcard advertising a rally for Mitt Romney arrived at the home of Pam Arnold Powers and her husband, Kelly. As undecided voters, the couple had grown accustomed to such invites. They regularly received mail from Rick Perry and Ron Paul, and Romney himself called several times a week, clogging up their voice mail with automated messages that began \u201cPamela, this is Mitt.\u201d\n\u201cThey use our names!\u201d said Ms. Powers, a gregarious 47 year old who, likewise, considers herself on a first-name basis with Mitt, Newt, Rick and the other Republican hopefuls.\nThe Powerses started concentrating on the Iowa caucuses about a month ago, spending $200 on tickets to a Dec. 10 debate. They have spent days and weeks warming and cooling to candidates.\nThey are trying to recapture the electricity they felt four years ago when Michelle Obama took Ms. Powers\u2019s arm in front of the pork tent at the Iowa State Fair, the first step in their journey off the Republican rolls and into the fold of Obama voters.\nNow, political disappointment and personal progression have led them back to the GOP, but the Powerses are scrambling to find someone who possesses the attributes on their checklist \u2014 electability, passion, depth and strong moral values. Like the vast ranks of their ambivalent brethren who will determine the winner of the Iowa caucuses and possibly the Republican nominee, the Powerses are still having a tough time.\n\u201cI\u2019ve got to figure it out by Tuesday,\u201d Ms. Powers said.\nAt 7:10 a.m. Friday, Mr. Powers, a 50-year-old mortgage banker in tapered-temple glasses, arrived for the Romney rally outside a local supermarket in a red golf sweatshirt. His wife, who also thought the event would be held indoors, arrived soon after in a yellow sweater, black vest and paisley-printed slacks.\nRomney staff members offered them signs to hold. They declined, instead keeping their hands warm in their pockets.\nRomney\u2019s bus arrived in an area of the parking lot marked off by upended shopping carts. The Powerses cheered as the candidate, his wife and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie took turns testifying to Mitt Romney\u2019s love of America.\nAs Romney thanked people for coming, Ms. Powers found herself deep in conversation with another undecided voter at the foot of the stage. They talked about Romney\u2019s trouble connecting, Perry\u2019s trouble speaking, Paul\u2019s radicalism, Michele Bachmann\u2019s inexperience and Rick Santorum\u2019s fervor.\nThe Powerses thawed for a few minutes in the supermarket and then drove their beige Saab downtown to give Newt Gingrich, who they had all but written off, a last look at a \u201cMoms Matter Coffee Break\u201d event.\nThe couple found seats in the back of the small room decorated with Elvis album covers. On stage, GOP pollster Frank Luntz warmed up the audience by showing off his stars-and-stripes sneakers (\u201cespecially made for me by K-Swiss\u201d) and asking undecided voters to raise their hands. The Powerses, like most in the room, lifted their arms.\nMoments later, Gingrich took the stage. As he spoke about how \u201cin a different world it would have been great not to have been divorced,\u201d Ms. Powers slowed the chewing of her gum. She nodded approvingly as Gingrich talked about how \u201crights come from our creator.\u201d\nWhen Gingrich made the case that he is more electable than Romney (\u201cI\u2019m a more effective debater\u201d) and decried the millions of dollars spent on negative ads to run his name through the mud, Mr. Powers momentarily stopped checking the photos on his phone to listen.\nAt the end of the event, Gingrich choked up as he spoke about his mother\u2019s death and the impact \u201cthe real problems of real people in my family\u201d had on his policy thinking.\nMs. Powers thoughts turned to her own mother, who had died on Christmas Eve 2009, after a battle with cancer. The ordeal, she said, strengthened her Catholic faith, which in turn led her to seek a Republican candidate who shares her moral values.\nWhen Gingrich finished speaking, his cheeks shining with tears, she clapped wildly.\n\u201cPeople are going to go nuts on the crying, but that was as real as anything you can see,\u201d she said as she left the coffee shop. \u201cI thought Newt was off my ballot. But Mitt doesn\u2019t make that connection.\u201d\nThe couple fueled up on moo shoo pork slices at Fong\u2019s Pizza and talked about Santorum as a \u201ca victorious underdog\u201d and Romney as a \u201clast man standing.\u201d\nMr. Powers lamented the \u201cbombardment\u201d of anti-Gingrich television ads from Romney-supporting super PACs. \u201cIt has influenced us,\u201d he said unhappily. His wife excused Romney of any blame for the ads and then spotted one of Gingrich\u2019s daughters walking into the restaurant. \u201cYou picked a great place!\u201d she called out to her. Hearing no response, she turned back to the fortune cookies on the table.\n\u201cOoooh look!\u201d she said, reading the fortune: \u201cLinger over dinner discussions this week for needed advice.\u201d\nThe couple stopped home to check voice mails (Dan Quayle called on behalf of Romney, Romney called on behalf of Romney) and changed into warmer clothes for the drive out to Marshalltown to see Santorum.\nAs their car slid by acres of crushed pale cornstalk, Ms. Powers rebuked her husband for failing to photograph her \u201carm-in-arm with Mitt today\u201d and to be ready with the camera \u201cwhen Rick comes.\u201d\nEach booth at the Legends American Grill had its own flat-panel television tuned to the Iowa State football game. In a space off the dining room, a small group of potential voters, outnumbered by the national media, sat waiting for the candidate. The Powerses squeezed into the back and craned their necks to see Santorum\u2019s entrance. He wore an Iowa State sweater-vest and spoke under muted TVs tuned to C-SPAN, which showed him speaking, on a seven-second delay, to the voters in the room.\nMs. Powers clapped vigorously as Santorum talked about \u201cthe crossroads of American civilization\u201d and asserted that \u201cI know life begins at conception.\u201d As the event plodded on, her husband grew less interested, preferring to text friends as Santorum responded to short questions with long answers. After he spoke for an hour, audible sighs emanated from reporters in the room and a waitress adjusted the thermostat, which read 83 degrees. Santorum, standing before a lighted fireplace, kept talking and, at the one-hour 22-minute mark, he took the last question of the evening.\n\u201cHow will you conserve your integrity when you\u2019re operating in the Washington machine?\u201d Ms. Powers asked from the back. She maintained eye contact with Santorum throughout his lengthy answer. When the event broke up, she stepped into the dining room with a broad smile across her face.\n\u201cDone!\u201d she exclaimed, her face flush from the heat. \u201cI know who I\u2019m caucusing for. No one talks like that.\u201d\nHer husband, less impressed, shrugged.\nOn the drive back to Des Moines, night blotted out the barren fields, and the couple debated Santorum\u2019s performance. \u201cHis answers are too long,\u201d said Mr. Powers. \u201cThat\u2019s the beauty of Rick Santorum,\u201d his wife countered.\nThey talked about his answer on Iran. \u201cHe said we\u2019re going to blow \u2019em up,\u201d said Mr. Powers. \u201cI didn\u2019t hear that at all,\u201d Ms. Powers said.\nThey compared his substantive answers to Romney\u2019s patriotic \u201cpep rally,\u201d but then Ms. Powers suggested she hadn\u2019t decided after all.\n\u201cIt would be interesting, at the very least,\u201d Ms. Powers said, \u201cto go see Mitt in that kind of venue.\u201d"}, {"name": "a9552634-2c06-11e1-9952-55d90a4e2d6d", "body": "The District and Prince George\u2019s County had nearly the same number of homicides in 2011, a major departure from a high 20 years ago, when the city saw 325 more slayings than the county.\nIt is a shift that reflects a double-digit drop in killings in the District from 2010 to 2011, with an especially noticeable downward trend in the most stubborn crime zones east of the Anacostia River. Just across the border, though, the homicide count in the neighboring communities in Prince George\u2019s is surging, and the county as a whole saw a slight increase last year.\nThere were 97 slayings in Prince George\u2019s in 2011, four more killings than in 2010. In the District, the year saw 108 homicides, down from 132 in 2010 and the lowest homicide total in the city since 1963.\n\u201cWe share many of the same issues,\u201d said D.C. Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier. \u201cQuite a few of our victims come from Prince George\u2019s County.\u201d\nThe police department\u2019s 7th District east of the Anacostia River \u2014 neighborhoods including Barry Farm and Congress Heights \u2014 saw its annual homicide count drop 55 percent, with 24 fewer killings in 2011. Neighborhoods across the border in Prince George\u2019s 4th District \u2014 including Hillcrest Heights and Oxon Hill-Glassmanor \u2014 saw their count more than double, up by 21 slayings.\nLaw enforcement officials said the trend along the Prince George\u2019s border reflects problems that migrated with those who left the District for inside-the-Beltway county neighborhoods, including issues connected with poverty and long-simmering neighborhood disputes.\nSome D.C. residents who still see frequent violence in their neighborhoods are weary, and say there\u2019s not much to celebrate in the city\u2019s declining homicide numbers.\n\u201cI\u2019m slow to get too excited,\u201d said the Rev. Donald Isaac, executive director of the East of the River Clergy, Police, Community Partnership. \u201cAs soon as you begin to celebrate, it can reverse so quickly.\u201d\nPrince George\u2019s Police Chief Mark Magaw said crime has long run \u201cback and forth\u201d between the District and Prince George\u2019s, and he has pushed this year for increased cooperation between the two police departments.\n\u201cIt\u2019s one big community now,\u201d he said. \u201cNo longer do we have the luxury of saying, \u2018We only have to worry up to Southern Avenue,\u2019\u2009\u201d one of the borders between the city and county.\nThough killings in both the District and Prince George\u2019s averaged about two per week during 2011, overall violent crime in the city fell by 10 percent and in the county by 12 percent.\nBut the city had a 6 percent jump in property crime, largely due to a growing problem with thieves grabbing smartphones, computer tablets and other electronic devices from people and cars. \u201cSnatching electronics is the battle of the century,\u201d Lanier said. \u201cIt\u2019s the single biggest problem I have in term of numbers.\u201d\nMayor Vincent C. Gray (D) said that the decline in homicides in the District is encouraging and that the city should work to try to get to fewer than 100 slayings in 2012.\n\u201cWhen people see crime going down like this, especially homicides, they are going to feel safer,\u201d Gray said. \u201cMy sense is that people do feel safer. On the other hand, when you still see north of 100 homicides in the city, even though it\u2019s a stark reduction, people are going to continue to be concerned about it. Some additional vigilance is going to serve you well, too.\u201d\nKillings in the District have fallen rapidly in recent years, with 2011 bringing the lowest number of slayings in nearly 50 years.\n\u201cWhen I started here in 1990, the two things that used to really bother me was that we were known as the murder capital of the world and the city of unsolved homicides,\u201d Lanier said. \u201cOur detectives and our police officers have done an amazing job turning that around. We are no longer either one of those things.\u201d\nHomicides in Prince George\u2019s have been generally trending downward as well, though at a slower pace.\nThe rest of the region\u2019s suburbs have far fewer homicides than the District and Prince George\u2019s, with most counties recording 2011 homicide numbers roughly unchanged from the prior year. Fairfax County was an exception, with a decrease from 16 to 11.\nThough Montgomery County had just 16 homicides in 2011, in March it saw one of the year\u2019s highest-profile murders in the region when Brittany Norwood, an employee at a Bethesda Lululemon yoga store, fatally bludgeoned and stabbed a co-worker, Jayna Murray.\nAnd in the wealthier neighborhoods of Northwest Washington, where homicides are rare, three killings drew wide attention: a teen was shot on a busy street in Georgetown on Halloween night; socialite Viola Drath was killed in her Georgetown rowhouse in August, allegedly by her husband; and in November, a man was gunned down outside a nightclub in Dupont Circle.\nThe Northeast quadrant of the city, covered by the 4th and 5th districts, ended the year with a combined eight more killings than in 2010.\nArea crime watchers say they\u2019ve seen violence steadily shift from the District into Prince George\u2019s.\nThe migration of many of the District\u2019s poorer residents to inside-the-Beltway communities in Prince George\u2019s has been happening for years, fueled by the District tearing down some public housing, said former D.C. police chief Isaac Fulwood Jr., who led the department in the early 1990s, when the city had nearly 500 homicides a year.\nThat shift has had lasting effects, he said.\n\u201cPeople from D.C. that had to move tended to move to Prince George\u2019s County, and they took with them the things that poverty brings: Lack of access to everything,\u201d said Fulwood, who is now chairman of the U.S. Parole Commission.\nThe Prince George\u2019s police department, which has more than 2,000 fewer officers than in the District, was left to deal with neighborhood disputes that people brought with them, as well as new beefs created in the large apartment complexes in Prince George\u2019s.\n\u201cAlabama Avenue, Stanton Road subsidized housing, all of that is gone,\u201d Prince George\u2019s Deputy Chief Craig Howard said. \u201cNow when you ride through those areas, there are townhouses, single-family homes.\u201d\nLast year\u2019s killings in Prince George\u2019s did not seem to follow any common thread, officials said. Young men and women sometimes killed one another in petty disputes.\nThe majority of the killings in Prince George\u2019s happen inside the Beltway, a more urban setting than the rest of the county. Because Prince George\u2019s has a larger overall population than the District, its homicide rate was lower than the city\u2019s, with about 11 killings per 100,000 residents, compared with about 17 per 100,000 residents in the District.\nAcross the nation during the first half of last year, the homicide count increased by about 1\u00a0percent for cities the size of the District, and remained the same for counties such as Prince George\u2019s, according to FBI crime statistics.\nLanier, who hoped to have fewer than 100 homicides in the District in 2011, said she remains frustrated by the numbers. \u201cWe\u2019re not where we need to be until we have less than 50,\u201d she said.\nThe Washington Post\u2019s homicide count includes criminal killings within the borders of the city or the county, but does not include killings that officials have ruled justified. Prince George\u2019s homicide numbers last year included one killing investigated by Laurel police and one on the Bowie State University campus.\nLanier said the District had fewer gang-related homicides than in prior years. Most killings happened amid personal disputes, often stemming from squabbles at nightclubs where people had been drinking, she said.\nShe added that her department\u2019s homicide closure rate is about 94 percent, which sends a message to criminals.\n\u201cWord travels pretty quickly when a homicide happens and an arrest is made,\u201d Lanier said. \u201cYour risk of being caught is pretty high if you commit a homicide in D.C.\u201d\nPrince George\u2019s police\u2019s homicide closure rate was 66 percent last year, a slight increase over 2010.\nIn Prince George\u2019s, 16 people were killed in January, including a teenager who used to cook eggs for his 3-year-old brother, an ice cream truck driver and a University of Maryland student who tutored athletes. But by year\u2019s end, overall crime had dropped compared with 2010, with violent crime down about 12 percent and property crime down about 10 percent.\nLanier\u2019s biggest success was in the 7th District, which has regularly led the city in killings and some other crimes. In 1993, the 7th District alone had 133 homicides. Last year it had 20.\n\u201cA lot of it is the officers being out there, being visible,\u201d 7th District Commander Joel Maupin said. He said officers continue to take guns off the streets, and often blanket neighborhoods with extra patrols when they get a tip that violence might be coming.\nIt is essential, he said, to make arrests in crimes such as robberies and burglaries because it prevents future violence.\n\u201cRemoving these individuals from the streets and doing it quickly reduces crime,\u201d Maupin said.\nIsaac, the clergyman who works in the same neighborhoods as Maupin, said his group visits every family that loses someone to violence, offering burial support, grief counseling and other services. \u201cEven if you have one homicide a month, it\u2019s impacting out there,\u201d Isaac said.\nRead more local news from The Washington Post:\nRobert McCartney: What will happen in 2012?\nIn Va., an abundance of offbeat bills\nMetrobus employees: Tight schedules don\u2019t allow for bathroom breaks\nVincent Gray focuses on future after tough first year in office"}, {"name": "7cecbc12-33de-11e1-a274-61fcdeecc5f5", "body": "Mike Shanahan will close his 28th season as a coach in the NFL on Sunday, when his Washington Redskins play what is essentially a meaningless game in Philadelphia. And though he has seen almost everything in pro football \u2014 he has been hired and fired, made and missed the playoffs, won and lost the Super Bowl \u2014 he has never faced the circumstances he does now. Whatever happens against the Eagles, Shanahan will have back-to-back losing campaigns for the first time in his 17 full seasons as a head coach.\nFor the Redskins, who haven\u2019t had consecutive winning seasons since 1991-92, such is life. But for the man who was hired to overhaul the entire organization, this is new.\n\u201cI couldn\u2019t have handled it earlier in my career,\u201d Shanahan said Friday, not long after the Redskins practiced for the final time this season. \u201cYou don\u2019t know the big picture. You\u2019re just trying to survive. Unless you\u2019ve been with different programs or organizations that have been down or have been up, you can\u2019t really relate to where you\u2019re at now. I can relate to this.\u201d\nShanahan opened his Redskins tenure by going 6-10 in 2010. Win Sunday, and he only matches that record. Lose, and he has his worst record as a head coach. Jim Zorn \u2014 whose tenure running the Redskins was mocked from near and far \u2014 won 12 games in his two seasons with Washington. The Redskins must win Sunday for Shanahan to match that.\nYet ask Shanahan to take stock as he winds down the second of two difficult seasons, and he is unwavering.\n\u201cI feel very good about this football team and the direction we\u2019re headed,\u201d he said, \u201cbecause we\u2019ve got the right people.\u201d\nRegardless of Sunday\u2019s outcome, the Redskins will finish in last place in the NFC East for the fourth consecutive year. Yet Shanahan can sit behind his desk \u2014 tape of a practice session frozen on a television screen over one shoulder, the Redskins\u2019 entire depth chart on the wall he faces \u2014 and emphatically restate his belief that the franchise he oversees will win, and soon. He does so, he said, because he can draw on all those experiences, good and bad. What others see? How others evaluate his team? It doesn\u2019t matter to him.\n\u201cHe doesn\u2019t let perception become reality,\u201d said his son Kyle, the Redskins\u2019 offensive coordinator. \u201cHe knows what he\u2019s doing. All of us know what we\u2019re doing, but the difference with him is, he\u2019s so strong in his personality and he\u2019s had so much success his whole career, he\u2019s seen it all. He knows when things are done right, when things are done wrong. And he knows we\u2019re doing it right.\u201d\nThere are, Mike Shanahan believes, several aspects to \u201cdoing it right,\u201d many of which occur far from the practice field. For the past several weeks, he has begun many mornings by watching a half-hour of film on college quarterbacks, a different one each day, maybe 70 or 80 plays. It is a window into his world. The Redskins clearly are searching for a quarterback to eventually replace current starter Rex Grossman. And Shanahan will have the most significant role in selecting that player, be it through free agency or the college draft, this year or the next or the year after that.\n\u201cThe key is you have to keep the right people coming in through the draft, through free agency,\u201d Shanahan said. \u201c.\u2009.\u2009. You can\u2019t make a lot of bad decisions. You\u2019re going to make some, but if you do, admit it was a bad decision and move on.\u201d\nThat, essentially, is what has happened at quarterback in Shanahan\u2019s two seasons in Washington. In 2010, he traded for Philadelphia\u2019s Donovan McNabb, wasn\u2019t pleased with the results, then traded him away after one season. He started Grossman when the 2011 season opened, benched him during a four-interception outing against the Eagles in October, and inserted John Beck. Beck led one touchdown drive and moved the ball in that fourth quarter despite playing without left tackle Trent Williams, left guard Kory Lichtensteiger and tight end Chris Cooley, all of whom were injured earlier in the game.\nBeck started the next three games \u2014 a decent performance at Carolina, a disastrous one against Buffalo in which he took 10 sacks, and a jittery follow-up against San Francisco when he got rid of the ball too quickly. All three were losses. Offensive players, quietly and not, expressed a preference for Grossman. A week later, Shanahan turned back to him. Entering Sunday\u2019s game, Grossman is tied for the league lead with 19 interceptions.\n\u201cYou make [the decisions] based on what you see,\u201d Shanahan said. \u201cIf John didn\u2019t play the way he did for that quarter [against Philadelphia] \u2014 the drives, all that \u2014 then we wouldn\u2019t have gone to him. .\u2009.\u2009. You want to do the best thing for your organization. Does John have a chance to be that No. 1 guy? We felt like we had a good feel for what Rex was and what he was doing. But losing those three starters, are you better off with a quarterback that\u2019s a little more mobile? We didn\u2019t know that.\u201d\nThe episode raised questions about Shanahan\u2019s acumen as a talent evaluator, in no small part because he said, in a moment of bravado, that he would stake his reputation on Grossman and Beck. But even as the Redskins continue their search for stability and stardom at quarterback, Shanahan believes the structure for evaluating who will be next, at any position, is in place.\nScott Campbell, the director of player personnel, oversees the college scouting process. Morocco Brown, the director of pro personnel, is heavily involved in evaluating potential free agents. Every position coach will have input on potential draftees and free agents. Shanahan said he does not feel the need to bring in another personnel man.\n\u201cThe thing that people think is that I\u2019m sitting here doing all the evaluating,\u201d he said. \u201c.\u2009.\u2009. My main thing is I get everybody involved. That\u2019s how you eliminate mistakes. I\u2019ve got to feel comfortable. They\u2019ve got to feel comfortable. I\u2019ve been doing this thing a long time, and I\u2019ve made my share of mistakes. You have to learn how to limit mistakes.\u201d\nBeginning with last year\u2019s draft and free agency, Shanahan believes the Redskins have limited theirs. Coaches believe the shift from a 4-3 defensive alignment to a 3-4 has gone well because they correctly evaluated free agent acquisitions Barry Cofield and Stephen Bowen and first-round draft pick Ryan Kerrigan. They also believe second-round pick Jarvis Jenkins, a defensive lineman who missed the entire season with a knee injury, will have a big impact in 2012, further strengthening a front seven that has helped the Redskins move from 31st in total defense a year ago to 13th this season.\n\u201cYou\u2019re changing not just one guy; you\u2019re changing all 11 guys,\u201d defensive coordinator Jim Haslett said. \u201c.\u2009.\u2009. You\u2019re really starting it over from square one last year. And we made great progress, but we got to keep working at it. We got to keep getting better at it.\u201d\nThat, Shanahan believes, will happen \u2014 and soon. He can tick off the plays from 2011 that still knock around in his mind \u2014 a third-and-21 conversion that allowed Dallas to turn a win into a loss, a missed field goal in overtime of the second Dallas game, an offensive pass interference call that negated a game-tying touchdown against New England, five losses by one touchdown or less \u2014 and build his case that his last-place Redskins aren\u2019t terribly far from first.\n\u201cYou win those games, we\u2019re playing for something right now,\u201d Shanahan said. \u201cYou\u2019ve got to keep things in perspective.\u201d\nHow Shanahan does that, players and coaches say, does not change. Not from day to day. Not from week to week. And not from season to season, regardless of how difficult things become.\n\u201cHe works in every aspect of it a lot more than I realized, from personnel to defense to special teams to offense, but he doesn\u2019t try to control everything,\u201d Kyle Shanahan said. \u201cHe makes everyone accountable. .\u2009.\u2009. If the players mess up in the game, and we didn\u2019t put them through that situation, it\u2019s definitely not their fault. It\u2019s on us all the way. He coaches his coaches hard, which makes us better coaches.\u201d\nEventually, though, that style must lead to wins. Right now, an offseason full of questions awaits: Who will be the quarterback? Who will be drafted? Is Mike Shanahan the right man to make the decisions? But for Shanahan, all that chatter amounts to so much white noise. Forget last place. Forget an 11-20 record. And most of all, forget the unrelenting analysis from the outside that goes along with it.\n\u201cI\u2019m impervious to it,\u201d he said. \u201cYou have to be, because you have to have a plan. .\u2009.\u2009. What you have to have is belief in what you\u2019re doing. And I do, because I\u2019ve been doing it for a while.\u201d"}, {"name": "153127ee-341e-11e1-825f-dabc29fd7071", "body": "COLUMBUS, Ohio \u2014 As the Washington Capitals headed to their dressing room after 40 minutes of play on Saturday night, some players slammed their sticks in the tunnel while others threw their heads back and stared at the ceiling. It looked as though the team\u2019s 2011 might end with a whimper against the worst team in the NHL.\nA furious third-period comeback instead launched Washington into 2012 with its first three-game winning streak since October.\nThree goals in the span of 2 minutes 53 seconds erased a two-goal deficit and fueled the Capitals to a 4-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena. It marked just the third time this season that Washington has rallied to win a game after trailing entering the third period.\nThe victory improved the Capitals to 5-2-1 in their past eight contests and gave them a much-needed two points to complete a run of three wins in four nights. Washington (20-15-2) holds 42 points but is sitting outside the Eastern Conference playoff picture in ninth place.\n\u201cFor a while here we were going win one, win two, lose a couple \u2014 we were going back and forth,\u201d defenseman Dennis Wideman said. \u201cWe needed to string some together. The top teams are starting to pull away from us and we\u2019re getting into that time of year where you need to crank it up and start running some wins together to try to get back up there were we need to be.\u201d\nColumbus, which has just 10 wins in 38 games, outworked the Capitals through the first two periods and carried a two-goal advantage into the final period of regulation. No one in the visitors\u2019 dressing room was pleased with the effort. But rather than accept a subpar fate, Washington opted to throw everything it had at the Blue Jackets.\n\u201cWe had nothing to lose,\u201d Coach Dale Hunter said. \u201cWe were down 2-0, it\u2019s an all-out blitz and the guys did a great job skating, playing hard, never quit, and it\u2019s a credit to them.\u201d\nHunter wanted pressure from all areas, with defensemen pinching to help keep offensive play alive. Ovechkin began the onslaught when he recorded his first goal of the night 4:23 into the third. Though scored as unassisted, his one-timer from the left faceoff circle that broke Steve Mason\u2019s shutout bid was set up by a slap pass from Wideman.\nThe defenseman set up another tally when he found Alexander Semin, whose wicked wrister at 6:48 evened the score at 2 during four-on-four play while the Capitals\u2019 Dmitry Orlov and Grant Clitsome of Columbus were in the penalty box for matching roughing minors.\nTwenty-eight seconds later Wideman added a goal of his own, his first in nine games. The blast of a slap shot, which also came during four-on-four play, deflected off a Blue Jacket\u2019s stick to beat Mason (22 saves) and stood as the game-winner.\nOvechkin added his second of the night and 16th of the season as insurance with just less than nine minutes remaining in regulation with a slap shot on the power play. The star left wing has seven goals in the past eight games.\n\u201cEverybody was upset how we playing [in the first two periods]. I don\u2019t think we play at all our game,\u201d Ovechkin said. \u201cSo we just play hard and again this kind of win that we need and all the momentum on our side.\u201d\nUntil the final period, though, the contest was hardly under the Capitals\u2019 control. The game featured choppy play with turnovers aplenty, an abundance of whistles and more than 34 minutes of scoreless action.\nEarly in the game, the Blue Jackets showed a willingness to win battles for the puck in corners and along the boards, forcing the issue against Washington, which looked beleaguered in its second game in as many nights.\nAs the first period wore on, Columbus (10-23-5) gained some momentum and in the final five minutes of the period peppered netminder Tomas Vokoun (35 saves) with shots from all angles and speeds. The veteran goaltender remained composed and helped Washington reach the intermission in a scoreless tie.\nIn the second, what was already a slow-moving contest regressed to more of a crawl as whistles for offsides, high sticks, icings or shots off the netting occurred with stunning frequency. With the play continuing in spurts, the first goal grew in importance, and Columbus got it when a turnover by Jason Chimera turned into a goal by John Moore at 14:47 of the second.\nSamuel Pahlsson made it 2-0 with just 34.9 seconds remaining in the second, but that tally, which could have set Washington on its heels, galvanized the group into making sure it didn\u2019t let the week of progress unravel in one night.\n\u201cIt\u2019s a big win for us. Losing here would have erased the big effort against Buffalo and Rangers earlier this week,\u201d Vokoun said. \u201cWe need these points. We\u2019re not sitting in the second or first place where we can say, \u2018Well we have a nice comfortable cushion.\u2019 We\u2019re actually outside the playoffs so we need every point we can get.\u201d\nCapitals note: Mike Green missed a 23rd consecutive contest with a strained right groin muscle. He made the trip with the team, however, and took part in an optional on-ice workout Saturday."}, {"name": "8d0035ac-340b-11e1-a274-61fcdeecc5f5", "body": "The last day of a warm December was one of the month\u2019s warmest. Washington\u2019s high temperature Saturday was 62, just a degree short of the 63-degree top reading for the entire month.\nSaturday\u2019s soaring mercury helped cement the month\u2019s place as one of the most meteorologically benign Decembers here since National Weather Service recordkeeping began in 1871.\nAs the last hours of December and 2011 faded, it appeared that the month\u2019s average temperature could be as high as 45 degrees. That would be less than a degree below the 45.6 degree record, set in 1889 and not matched until 1984.\nIn recent years, December warmth has seemed more frequent and less of a surprise. News reports from the days of Washington\u2019s warmest December suggest a greater degree of wonder.\nA story in the Dec. 27, 1889 Washington Post asked whether the Gulf Stream had shifted position. (The answer: No.) A Dec. 16 report told of snow seen atop a train arriving from the Northeast, calling it \u201cthe first evidence that Washingtonians have yet had of the actual presence of winter.\u201d"}, {"name": "a0fb5cda-340b-11e1-825f-dabc29fd7071", "body": "Packers already clinched North and home-field,Lions and Falcons already clinched playoff spots\nSan Francisco 49ers: Already clinched West
 Clinch first-round bye: W OR T and Saints T/L OR Saints L\nNew Orleans Saints: Already clinched South
Clinch a first-round bye: W and a 49ers T/L OR T and 49ers L\nNew York Giants: Clinch East: With a W/T against Cowboys.\nDallas Cowboys: Clinch East:With a W against Giants\nNew England Patriots: Already clinched East, bye
Clinch home field: W OR Ravens and Steelers L/T\nBaltimore Ravens: Already clinched playoff spot
Clinch North: W/T and Steelers T/L OR Steelers L
Clinch home field: W and Patriots L\nPittsburgh Steelers: Already clinched playoff spot
Clinch North: W and Ravens T/L OR T and Ravens L.
Clinch home field: W and Patriots L, Ravens L/T\nDenver Broncos: Clinch West:W OR T and Raiders T/L OR Raiders L\nOakland Raiders: Clinch West: W and Broncos T/L OR T and Broncos L
Clinch playoff spot: W and Bengals L and Titans L/T OR W and Bengals L and Jets W\nCincinnati Bengals: Clinch playoff spot: W/T OR Jets T/L and Raiders T/L OR Jets T/L and a Broncos T/L\nNew York Jets: Clinch playoff spot: W and Bengals L, Titans T/L and Raiders T/L OR W and Bengals L and Titans T/L and Broncos T/L\nTennessee Titans: Clinch playoff spot:W and and Bengals L, Jets W and Raiders T/L OR W and Bengals L, Jets W and Broncos T/L OR W and Bengals L, Jets T/L, Raiders W and Broncos W"}, {"name": "69f1a5e2-342d-11e1-825f-dabc29fd7071", "body": "ATLANTA \u2014 The Virginia football team gained entry into the Chick-fil-a-A Bowl on Saturday night in large part because it spent the fall listening to all the things it hadn\u2019t accomplished in a long time and then accomplishing those very things. Next item on the list: The Cavaliers had not concluded a season with a victory since 2005.\nBut this was not a night for fitting endings. Depleted by injuries on defense and continuously flummoxed on special teams, Virginia did not possess enough offensive firepower to overcome a sizable hole. Despite totaling 435 total yards, the Cavaliers fell to Auburn, 43-24, at Georgia Dome and will have to resolve to finish next season on a higher note.\n\u201cThey played better than we did; they made more plays than we did,\u201d Virginia Coach Mike London said of Auburn. \u201cSo my hat goes off to them, and we just regroup, get ready and remember this experience. Because this is something we want to do, play in the postseason and have a chance to play teams like that.\u201d\nThe final two minutes of the third quarter did a fine job of encapsulating the night. Auburn (8-5) had blocked a punt by Virginia (8-5) in the first quarter. So the Cavaliers tried a rugby-style punt out of their own end zone late in the third. The Tigers blocked that one, too, resulting in a safety.\n\u201cThe second one was on me because I got nervous after we got the first one blocked,\u201d Virginia special teams coordinator Anthony Poindexter said. \u201cYou really can\u2019t do what we tried to do down there. .\u2009.\u2009. That was kind of an overreaction to getting the first one blocked.\u201d\nOn the ensuing free kick, the Tigers returned the ball 62 yards to the Virginia 15-yard line. Two Auburn penalties turned an easy field goal attempt into a 45-yarder, but the Tigers converted anyway.\nIn the weeks leading up to Saturday, relatively little of the public discussion centered on either squad\u2019s special teams units, but that proved to be a critical facet of the game. Two plays after Auburn\u2019s first blocked punt, quarterback Kiehl Frazier scored on a three-yard touchdown run to tie the game at 7.\nThe Cavaliers began the second quarter by completing a 10-play, 73-yard drive with a six-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Michael Rocco to Kris Burd, his second scoring reception of the night. But as far as highlights go, that was about it for Virginia. Burd, a fifth-year senior who finished with six receptions for 103 yards, left the game early in the fourth quarter with what he later described as a collarbone injury.\n\u201cI thought we were blocking great up front,\u201d Virginia offensive coordinator Bill Lazor said. \u201cWe knew we\u2019d get better as the game went on. We knew we\u2019d be stronger as it went, but we just couldn\u2019t put enough points on the board to go with it.\u201d\nMeantime, the Virginia defense struggled increasingly as the game progressed. Defensive coordinator Jim Reid said that after Auburn\u2019s first few offensive drives, \u201cI thought we were going to shut \u2019em out.\u201d\nHowever, missed tackles and over-pursuit \u2014 \u201cthings we hadn\u2019t done all year,\u201d Reid said \u2014 made the Virginia defense susceptible to giving up big plays.\nAfter holding Auburn to 37 yards in the first quarter, Virginia\u2019s defense gave up plays of 22, 25, 28, 50 and 60 yards in the second quarter, during which the Tigers gained 237 total yards. That\u2019s more yards than Auburn gained in losses to Georgia and Alabama this season.\nBut the Cavaliers\u2019 defense was not at full strength Saturday. First team all-ACC cornerback Chase Minnifield sat out the final game of his collegiate career with a knee injury, as did redshirt junior middle linebacker Steve Greer, a second team all-ACC pick and Virginia\u2019s leading tackler this season.\nGreer suffered a partially torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee during practice two weeks ago and will undergo surgery Tuesday.\u00a0\n\u201cGetting a hold of their offense, they really came out with it seemed like just different kind of stuff, misdirections and what-not, that I didn\u2019t pay attention to on film as much,\u201d said redshirt freshman linebacker Henry Coley, who replaced Greer in the starting lineup. \u201cI put myself in bad spaces.\u201d\nThe Cavaliers gave up a season-high 455 total yards against the Tigers, though to point the finger at any one defensive player would be foolish.\nIn the midst of all those yards were more special teams miscues by the Cavaliers. Auburn also attempted an onside kick in the second quarter and converted.\nThe Tigers scored a touchdown five plays later to take a 21-14 lead.\nLate in the first half, Virginia faked a 32-yard field goal attempt and had holder Jacob Hodges run the ball on fourth and six. He came up three yards short of the first down marker. Auburn scored a touchdown nine players later to go up 28-14.\n\u201cWe hadn\u2019t been to a bowl game around here since [2007]. That alone, I feel, launches the team forward,\u201d Burd said. \u201cBehind Coach London and the atmosphere he\u2019s bringing, how the community is behind us and how people are really buying in, I feel like this was definitely a great launching point for the program, and I\u2019m excited to see where it goes.\u201d"}, {"name": "6033cbfe-21e8-11e1-a34e-71d4bf6b8d0a", "body": "It was the kind of year that made a person look back fondly on the gulf oil spill.\nGranted, the oil spill was bad. But it did not result in a high-decibel, weeks-long national conversation about a bulge in a congressman\u2019s underpants. Which is exactly what we had in the Festival of Sleaze that was 2011. Remember? There were days when you could not escape The Bulge. At dinnertime, parents of young children had to be constantly ready to hurl themselves in front of their TV screens, for fear that it would suddenly appear on the news in high definition. For a brief (Har!) period, The Bulge was more famous than Justin Bieber.\nAnd when, at last, we were done with The Bulge, and we were able to turn our attention to the presidential election, and the important issues facing us, as a nation, in these troubled times, it turned out that the main issue, to judge by quantity of press coverage, was: groping.\nSo finally, repelled by the drainage ditch that our political system has become, we turned for escape to an institution that represents all that is pure and wholesome and decent in America today: college football.\nThat was when we started to have fond memories of the oil spill.\nI\u2019m not saying that the entire year was ruined by sleaze. It was also ruined by other bad things. This was a year in which journalism was pretty much completely replaced by tweeting. It was a year in which a significant earthquake struck Washington, yet failed to destroy a single federal agency. It was a year in which the nation was subjected to a seemingly endless barrage of highly publicized pronouncements from Charlie Sheen, a man who, where you have a central nervous system, has a Magic 8-Ball. This was a year in which the cast members of \u201cJersey Shore\u201d went to Italy and then \u2014 in an inexcusable lapse of border security \u2014 were allowed to return.\nBut all of these developments, unfortunate as they were, would not by themselves have made 2011 truly awful. What made it truly awful was the economy, which, for what felt like the 17th straight year, continued to stagger around like a zombie on crack. Nothing seemed to help. President Obama, whose instinctive reaction to pretty much everything that happens, including sunrise, is to deliver a nationally televised address, delivered numerous nationally televised addresses on the economy, but somehow these did not do the trick. Neither did the approximately 37 million words emitted by the approximately 249 Republican-presidential-contender televised debates, out of which the single most memorable statement made was, quote: \u201cOops.\u201d\nAs the year wore on, frustration finally boiled over in the form of the Occupy Various Random Spaces movement, wherein people who were sick and tired of a lot of stuff finally got off their butts and started working for meaningful change via direct action in the form of sitting around and forming multiple committees and drumming and not directly issuing any specific demands but definitely having a lot of strongly held views for and against a wide variety of things. Incredibly, even this did not bring about meaningful change. The economy remained wretched, especially unemployment, which got so bad that many Americans gave up even trying to work. Congress, for example.\nWere there any positive developments in 2011? Yes:\n\u2022 Osama bin Laden, Moammar Gaddafi and the New York Yankees all suffered major setbacks.\n\u2022 Kim Kardashian finally found her lifetime soul mate for nearly 21 / 2 months.\n\u2022 Despite a prophecy by revered Christian radio lunatic Harold Camping, the world did not end on May 21.\nCome to think of it, that last development wasn\u2019t totally positive, not when we consider all the other things that happened in 2011. In case you\u2019ve blotted it out, let\u2019s take one last look back, through squinted eyelids, at this train wreck of a year, starting with ...\nJANUARY\n... which sees a change of power in the House of Representatives, as outgoing Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi hands the gavel over to Republican John Boehner, who, in the new spirit of Washington bipartisanship, has it checked for explosives.\nIn the State of the Union address, President Obama calls on Congress to improve the nation\u2019s crumbling infrastructure. He is interrupted 79 times by applause, and four times by falling chunks of the Capitol ceiling. In other Washington action, Chinese President Hu Jintao is honored at a White House dinner for 225 luminaries, who dine on prime rib accompanied by 17,000 little plastic packets of soy sauce. As the official state gift from the United States, President Obama presents Hu with a six-pack of Bud Light, this being the only American product the White House staff can find that is not manufactured in China.\nThe month\u2019s biggest story is a tragedy in Tucson, where a man opens fire on a meet-and-greet being held by U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. The accused shooter turns out to be a mentally unstable loner with a history of drug use; there is no evidence that his actions had anything to do with uncivil political rhetoric. So naturally the blame for the tragedy is immediately placed on: uncivil political rhetoric. This results in a nationwide spasm of civil political rhetoric lasting about two hours, after which everybody returns to uncivil political rhetoric, which has been the norm in the United States for two centuries.\nIn Egypt, demonstrators take to the streets to protest the three-decade regime of President Hosni Mubarak following revelations that \u201cHosni Mubarak\u201d can be rearranged to spell \u201cA Bum Honks Air.\u201d The movement continues to grow in ...\nFEBRUARY\n... when \u201cArab Spring\u201d anti-government demonstrations spread from Egypt to Yemen, then to Iraq, then to Libya, and finally \u2014 in a development long feared by the U.S. government \u2014 to the volatile streets of Madison, Wis., where thousands of protesters occupy the state capitol to dramatize the fact that it\u2019s warmer in there than outside. As the protests escalate, 14 Democratic Wisconsin state legislators flee to Illinois, where they barricade themselves in a hotel and, after a heated four-hour debate, decide, by a 7 to 4 vote with three abstentions, to order room service.\nIn other national news, a massive snowstorm paralyzes the Midwest, forcing a shutdown of Chicago\u2019s O\u2019Hare Airport after more than a dozen planes are attacked by yetis. President Obama responds with a nationally televised speech pointing out that the storm was caused by a weather system inherited from a previous administration.\nIn Europe, the economic crisis continues to worsen, especially in Greece, which has been operating under a financial model in which the government spends approximately $150 billion a year while taking in revenue totaling $336.50 from the lone Greek taxpayer, an Athens businessman who plans to retire in April. Greece has been making up the shortfall by charging everything to a MasterCard account that the Greek government applied for \u2014 in what some critics consider a questionable financial practice \u2014 using the name \u201cGermany.\u201d\nIn a historic episode of the TV quiz show \u201cJeopardy!,\u201d two human champions are swiftly dispatched by an IBM supercomputer named Watson, which combines an encyclopedic knowledge of a wide range of subjects with the ability to launch a 60,000-volt surge of electricity 25 feet.\nOn Broadway, the troubled musical \u201cSpider-Man: Turn Off the Dark\u201d suffers a setback when three actors and 11 audience members are injured in what the producers describe as a \u201ccatastrophic spandex failure.\u201d\nIn sports, two storied NFL franchises, the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Green Bay Packers, meet in Super Bowl XLV, a tense, back-and-forth battle won at the last minute, in a true shocker, by Watson the IBM supercomputer.\nSpeaking of shocking, in ...\nMARCH\n... the European economic crisis worsens still further as Moody\u2019s downgrades its credit rating for Spain following the discovery that the Spanish government, having run completely out of money, secretly sold the Pyrenees to China and is now separated from France only by traffic cones.\nIn domestic news, the renegade Wisconsin Democratic state legislators are finally captured in a late-night raid by the elite Wisconsin State Parliamentarian SWAT team, which knocks down the legislators\u2019 hotel room door using a 200-pound, steel-reinforced edition of Robert\u2019s Rules of Order. The SWAT team then subdues the legislators using what one source describes as \u201ca series of extremely aggressive cloture votes.\u201d\nOn the national political front, Newt Gingrich, responding to a groundswell of encouragement from the voices in his head, reveals that he is considering seeking the Republican presidential nomination. He quickly gains the support of the voter who had been leaning toward Ross Perot.\nIn tech news, Apple, with much fanfare, unveils the latest model of its hugely popular iPad tablet computer. The new model, called the iPad 2, is similar to the original iPad but \u2014 in yet another example of the brilliant customer-pleasing innovation that Apple has become famous for \u2014 has a \u201c2\u201d after it. Apple enthusiasts line up by the thousands to buy the new model, even as excitement builds for the next iPad, which, according to rumors swirling around an excited Apple fan community, will feature a \u201c3.\u201d\nThe troubled musical \u201cSpider-Man: Turn Off the Dark\u201d suffers yet another setback when four orchestra musicians are killed by what producers describe as a \u201cfreak clarinet accident.\u201d Responding to the tragedy, President Obama delivers a nationally televised address, expressing his personal sympathy and noting that Republicans in Congress have repeatedly blocked the administration\u2019s proposed $37 billion Federal Department of Woodwind Safety, which would create literally dozens of jobs.\nIn sports, National Football League team owners lock out the players after negotiations break down over the issue of \u2014 in the words of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell \u2014 \u201clocker rooms being littered with reeking jockstraps the size of hammocks.\u201d\nSpeaking of negotiations, in ...\nAPRIL\n... a major crisis is barely avoided when Congress, after frantic negotiations, reaches a last-minute agreement on the federal budget, thereby averting a government shutdown that would have had a devastating effect on the ability of Congress to continue spending insanely more money than it actually has.\nMeanwhile the economic outlook remains troubling, as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, in a rare news conference, consumes an entire bottle of gin. Things are even worse in Europe, where Moody\u2019s announces that it has officially downgraded Greece\u2019s credit rating from \u201cpoor\u201d to \u201crat mucus\u201d following the discovery that the Acropolis has been repossessed.\nOn the political front, the field of Republican contenders considering running for presidential nomination continues to expand with the addition of Ron Paul, Rick Santorum and Gary Johnson, all of whom pose a serious threat to gain traction with the Gingrich voter. Donald Trump reveals that he, too, is considering running for president, spurred by a sincere and passionate desire for attention. Trump makes headlines when he appears to side with the \u201cbirther\u201d movement, questioning whether Barack Obama is in fact a natural-born U.S. citizen. Under growing pressure to respond, the White House finally releases a certified copy of a long-form birth certificate that appears to prove conclusively that Donald Trump is Belgian. Also, biologically female.\nMeanwhile the troubled musical \u201cSpider-Man: Turn Off the Dark\u201d suffers yet another setback when the actor playing Peter Parker, the young man who develops superpowers after being bitten by a radioactive spider, is bitten by an actual radioactive spider. Unfortunately, instead of superpowers, he develops a world-class case of diarrhea, which makes for what the show\u2019s producers describe as \u201csome audience unpleasantness during the flying scenes.\u201d\nBut the month ends on a joyous note as millions of TV viewers around the world watch Prince William and Catherine Middleton, two young people widely hailed for their down-to-earth likability and common touch, get married in a wedding costing the equivalent of the gross domestic product of Somalia.\nSpeaking of joyous, in ...\nMAY\n... the big story takes place in Abbottabad, Pakistan, where Osama bin Laden, enjoying a quiet evening chilling in his compound with his various wives and children and porn stash, receives an unexpected drop-in visit from a team of Navy SEALs. After due consideration of bin Laden\u2019s legal rights, the SEALs convert him into Purina brand Shark Chow; he is then laid to rest in a solemn ceremony concluding upon impact with the Indian Ocean at a terminal velocity of 125 miles per hour.\nWhile Americans celebrate, the prime minister of Pakistan declares that his nation (a) is very upset about the raid and (b) had no earthly idea that the world\u2019s most wanted terrorist had been living in a major Pakistani city in a large high-walled compound with a mailbox that said BIN LADEN.\n\u201cAs God is my witness,\u201d states the prime minister, \u201cwe thought that place was a Wal-Mart.\u201d\nIn domestic affairs, Arnold Schwarzenegger reveals that he fathered the child of a member of his household staff; incredibly, he does not follow this up by announcing that he will seek the Republican presidential nomination. Herman Cain, however, does enter the GOP race, promising to reach out to as many ... No, wait, let\u2019s rephrase that: Promising to take firm positions on ... No, sorry, how about: Promising to appeal to a broad ... Okay, never mind. Former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty also announces his candidacy, but winds up withdrawing from the race about midway through his announcement speech when he realizes that his staff has fallen asleep.\nMeanwhile, followers of Christian radio broadcaster Harold Camping prepare for the Rapture, which Camping has prophesized will occur at 6 p.m. May 21. But the fateful hour comes and goes without incident, except in New York City, where, in yet another setback for the troubled production of \u201cSpider-Man: Turn Off the Dark,\u201d the entire cast is sucked through the theater ceiling, never to be seen again.\nAs the month draws to a close, a Twitter account belonging to Anthony Weiner \u2014 a feisty, ambitious Democratic up-and-comer who managed to get elected to Congress despite looking like a nocturnal rodent that somehow got a full-body wax and acquired a gym membership \u2014 tweets a link to a photograph of a pair of briefs containing what appears to be a congressional member rarin\u2019 to filibuster, if you catch my drift. This member immediately captivates the nation, although, surprisingly, President Obama fails to deliver a nationally televised address about it. The drama continues to build in ...\nJUNE\n... when Weiner denies that he sent the photo, although he admits he cannot say \u201cwith certitude\u201d whether the member is or is not his. He finally confesses to sending the photo, and, as the pressure on him to resign becomes overwhelming, he is left with no choice but to declare his intention to seek the Republican presidential nomination.\nNo, I\u2019m kidding. Weiner resigns and takes a full-time position in the private sector admiring himself in the mirror.\nMeanwhile the Republican field does in fact continue to grow as Michele Bachmann, Rick Santorum,Mitt Romney, the late Sonny Bono and somebody calling himself \u201cJon Huntsman\u201d all enter the race, bringing the Republican contender total to roughly 125.\nIn Washington, Congress is under mounting pressure to do something about the pesky federal debt, which continues to mount as a result of the fact that the government continues to spend insanely more money than it actually has. Congress, after carefully weighing its three options \u2014 stop spending so much money; get some more money somehow; or implement some combination of options one and two \u2014 decides to go with option four: continue to do nothing while engaging in relentlessly hyperpartisan gasbaggery. Incredibly, this does not solve the debt problem.\nThe economic crisis is even worse in Europe, where the Greek government sends out an e-mail to everybody in its address book claiming it was mugged in London and needs its friends to wire it some emergency cash so it can get home. This prompts Moody\u2019s to change Greece\u2019s credit rating to, quote, \u201ca word we can\u2019t say, but trust us, it\u2019s worse than rat mucus.\u201d\nBut perhaps the month\u2019s most disturbing development takes place in the Middle East when Iran, which is believed to be close to developing nuclear weapons, test-fires 14 missiles, including some capable of threatening U.S. interests, as becomes clear when one of them plunges through the theater roof during a matinee performance of the troubled musical \u201cSpider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.\u201d\nSpeaking of disturbing, in. ..\nJULY\n... the eyeballs of the nation are riveted on Orlando, where Casey Anthony is on trial on charges of being an attractive young woman who is definitely guilty of murder, according to millions of deeply concerned individuals watching on TV. The trial becomes an obsession for hundreds of people who are not in any way connected to the victim, Caylee Anthony, but are so distraught over her death that they feel compelled to travel to Orlando and lurk around the courthouse expressing anguish, as opposed to doing something that might actually help one of the many living children who are at risk but who, unfortunately for them, are not featured on TV. In a shocking verdict, Anthony is acquitted of murder and set free, only to be attacked outside the courtroom and have large clumps of her hair yanked out by outraged prominent TV legal harpy Nancy Grace.\nSpeaking of drama: In Washington, as the deadline for raising the federal debt limit nears, Congress and the Obama administration work themselves into a frenzy trying to figure out what to do about the fact that the government is spending insanely more money than it actually has. After hours of intense negotiations, several walkouts, countless press releases and of course a nationally televised address by the president, the Democrats and the Republicans are finally able to announce, at the last possible minute, that they have hammered out a historic agreement under which the government will continue to spend insanely more money than it actually has while a very special congressional committee \u2014 A SUPER committee! \u2014 comes up with a plan, by a later date, that will solve this pesky problem once and for all. Everybody involved heaves a sigh of relief and basks in the feeling of satisfaction that comes from handling yet another crisis, Washington-style.\nBut things are not so rosy in Europe, where the debt crisis continues to worsen with the revelation that Greece has sold the naming rights to itself and will henceforth be officially known as the Republic of Burger King. In response, Moody\u2019s lowers Greece\u2019s bond rating to the point where it is no longer represented by words or letters, just a brownish stain on the rating document.\nIn England, the News Corp. media empire comes under scrutiny for alleged phone hacking when an investigation reveals that calls to Queen Elizabeth\u2019s private mobile number are being answered by Rupert Murdoch speaking in a high-pitched voice.\nOn a positive note, NFL owners and players are finally able to settle their dispute, thereby averting the very real danger that millions of fantasy football enthusiasts would be forced to develop lives.\nSpeaking of threats, in ...\nAUGUST\n... Standard & Poor\u2019s makes good on its threat to downgrade the U.S. credit rating, noting that the federal government, in making fiscal decisions, is exhibiting \u201cthe IQ of a turnip.\u201d Meanwhile Wall Street becomes increasingly jittery as investors react to Federal Reserve Board Chairman Bernanke\u2019s surprise announcement that his personal retirement portfolio consists entirely of assault rifles.\nWith the stock market in a steep nosedive, economic growth stagnant and unemployment relentlessly high, the White House, moving swiftly to prevent panic, reassures a worried nation that President Obama will once again be vacationing on Martha\u2019s Vineyard, where he will recharge his batteries in preparation for what White House press secretary Jay Carney promises will be \u201ca real humdinger of a nationally televised address.\u201d\nIn political news, Texas Gov. Rick Perry announces that he will seek the Republican nomination with a goal of \u201crestoring the fundamental American right to life, liberty and a third thing.\u201d But the early GOP leader is Michele Bachmann, who scores a decisive victory in the crucial Ames, Iowa, Straw Poll, garnering a total of 11 votes, narrowly edging out Ron Paul and a heifer named Widget. In what will become a pattern for GOP front-runners, Bachmann\u2019s candidacy immediately sinks like an anvil in a duck pond.\nAbroad, a wave of riots sweeps across England as thousands of protesters take to the streets of London and other major cities to strike a blow against racism and social injustice by stealing consumer electronics and designer sneakers.\nAs the end of the month nears, a rare 5.8-magnitude earthquake, with its epicenter in Virginia, rattles the East Coast, shaking buildings from South Carolina to Maine but causing little damage, except in New York, where a theatrical set depicting a building topples over onto the cast of \u201cSpider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.\u201d The producers, determined to escape the bad luck that has haunted the current theater, move the entire production to New Jersey, which unfortunately turns out to be directly in the path of Hurricane Irene.\nSpeaking of disasters, in ...\nSEPTEMBER\n... the worsening European debt crisis worsens still further when Italy, desperate for revenue, establishes a National Tip Jar. As markets plunge, the International Monetary Fund, seeking to prevent worldwide investor panic, announces that it will henceforth be supplementing its income by selling Herbalife.\nIn domestic news, President Obama returns from his Martha\u2019s Vineyard getaway refreshed and ready to tackle the job he was elected by the American people to do: seek reelection. Focusing on unemployment, the president delivers a nationally televised address laying out his plan for creating jobs, which consists of traveling around the nation tirelessly delivering job-creation addresses until it\u2019s time for another presidential getaway.\nMeanwhile on the Republican side, Herman Cain surges to the top of the pile with his \u201c9-9-9\u201d plan, which combines the quality of being easy to remember with the quality of being something that nobody thinks will ever actually happen. Seeking to regain momentum, Rick Perry also comes out with a tax plan, but he can remember only the first two nines. Adding spice to the mix, Mitt Romney unexpectedly exhibits a lifelike facial expression but is quickly subdued by his advisers.\nIn what is seen as a sign of public disenchantment with the political process, voters in New York\u2019s Ninth Congressional District, choosing a replacement for disgraced Rep. Anthony Weiner, elect Anthony Soprano, despite the fact that he is a fictional character and not even Jewish.\nDisenchantment is also apparent in New York\u2019s Zuccotti Park with the birth of the Occupy Wall Street movement, a gathering of individuals who seek to focus the nation\u2019s attention, laser-like, on the problems of income inequality, greed, corporations, student loans, hunger, mortgages, health care, deforestation, unemployment, political corruption, racism, gender discrimination, lack of tents, consumerism, global climate change, banks, poverty, people wanting to tell other people where and when they can and cannot drum, fossil fuels, showers, immigration, animal rights, Internet access, capitalism and many other issues that will not be resolved until people finally wake up, get off their butts and start seriously engaging in long-term urban camping.\nAs the month draws to a close, an anxious world looks to the skies, as a NASA satellite weighing more than six tons goes into an uncontrolled reentry, breaking into fiery pieces that hurtle toward Earth but fortunately come down at sea, where they do no damage other than sinking a passenger ship that had been chartered for a recuperation cruise for the surviving cast members of \u201cSpider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.\u201d\nThe downward trend continues in ...\nOCTOBER\n... which sees yet another troubling development in the world economic crisis when an International Monetary Fund audit of the 27-nation European Union reveals that 11 of the nations are missing. \u201cAlso,\u201d states the audit report, \u201cthe nation claiming to be Slovakia is in fact Belize using a fake ID.\u201d Meanwhile in Greece, thousands of rioters take to the streets of Athens to protest a tough new government austerity program that would sharply reduce the per diem rioter allowance.\nIn Arab Spring developments, Libyan strongperson and lunatic Moammar Gaddafi steps down and receives an enthusiastic sendoff from his countrymen, who then carry him, amid much festivity, to his retirement freezer.\nOn the domestic protest front, Occupy Wall Street spreads to many more cities, its initially vague goals now replaced by a clear sense of purpose as occupiers focus on the single issue that is most important to the 99 percent: bathrooms. Some cities seek to shut down the protests, but the occupiers vow to remain until there is a reawakening of the national consciousness. Or, winter.\nAttorney General Eric Holder announces that the FBI has uncovered a plot by Iran to commit acts of terror in the United States, including assassinating the Saudi ambassador, bombing the Israeli Embassy, and \u2014 most chillingly \u2014 providing funding for traveling productions of \u201cSpider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.\u201d\nOn the political front, Sarah Palin announces that she will not seek the Republican presidential nomination, noting that the GOP field is \u201calready funny enough.\u201d\nIn technology news, Apple releases the iPhone that comes after the iPhone 4, which was rumored to be named the \u201c5,\u201d but which instead is named \u2014 talk about innovation \u2014 the \u201c4S.\u201d It is of course a huge hit with Apple fans, who, upon purchasing it, immediately form new lines outside Apple stores to await the next breakthrough iPhone, preliminarily rumored to be named the \u201c4.7.\u201d\nIn sports, one of the most exciting World Series in history is won by some team other than the New York Yankees.\nHumanity reaches a major milestone as the United Nations estimates that the population of the Earth has reached 7 billion people, every single one of whom sends you irritating e-mails inviting you to join something called LinkedIn.\nThe month ends on a tragic note when Kim Kardashian, who only 72 days earlier had a fairy-tale $10 million wedding to the love of her life, professional basketball player whatshisname, files for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences in height. \u201cAlso,\u201d she states in the filing documents, \u201cI am a total slut.\u201d\nSpeaking of fairy tales, in ...\nNOVEMBER\n... the congressional Supercommittee, after months of pondering what to do about the fact that the federal government is spending insanely more money than it actually has, announces that, in the true \u201ccan-do\u201d bipartisan Washington spirit, it is giving up. This means the government will continue spending insanely more money than it actually has until 2013, at which time there are supposed to be automatic spending cuts, except Congress would never let that happen, and even if it did happen, the federal government would still be spending insanely more money than it actually has.\nUndaunted, Democratic and Republican leaders move forward with the vital work of blaming each other. As it becomes clear that Congress will do nothing, a visibly frowning President Obama delivers a nationally televised address in which he vows to, quote, \u201ccontinue reading whatever it says here on the teleprompter.\u201d\nSpeaking of the many benefits provided by the federal government: As Thanksgiving approaches, the Department of Homeland Security, having apparently handled all the other terrorist threats, issues a warning, including a scary video, on the dangers of: turkey fryers. I am not making this item up.\nAbroad, the worsening Greek economic crisis forces Prime Minister George Papandreou to resign, leading to the formation of a new coalition government headed \u2014 in what some economists view as a troubling sign \u2014 by Bernie Madoff.\nIn domestic politics, the Republican Party is rocked by polls showing that 43 percent of all likely voters \u2014 nearly 55 million people \u2014 claim to have been sexually harassed by Herman Cain. With Rick Perry stumbling and Mitt Romney continuing to generate the excitement level of a dump fire, the GOP front-runner becomes none other than that fresh-faced, no-baggage, anti-establishment Washington outsider ... Newt Gingrich!\nSpeaking of extraterrestrial phenomena: Astronomers watch closely as an asteroid 1,300 feet across hurtles extremely close to Earth. Incredibly \u2014 NASA calls it \u201ca one in a billion chance\u201d \u2014 the asteroid fails to hit anyone or anything connected with \u201cSpider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.\u201d\nIn business news, GM, responding to fears that the Chevy Volt might be prone to catch fire, issues a message to the six American consumers who have actually purchased Volts, assuring them that the car is \u201ccompletely safe\u201d and \u201cshould never be parked near buildings.\u201d American Airlines files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, but assures its passengers that \u201cnormal flight operations will remain just as screwed up as before.\u201d\nThe month ends on a reflective note as Americans pause to observe Thanksgiving very much as the Pilgrims did in 1621, by pepper-spraying each other at malls.\nSpeaking of pausing, in ...\nDECEMBER\n... Herman Cain announces that he is suspending his presidential campaign so he can go home and spend more time sleeping in his basement. This leaves the Republicans with essentially a two-man race between Gingrich and Romney, which means it\u2019s only a matter of time before we start hearing the name \u201cBob Dole.\u201d\nThe U.S. Postal Service, facing huge losses, announces a cost-cutting plan under which it will start delivering first-class mail \u201cto totally random addresses.\u201d The resulting savings will enable the USPS \u201cto continue providing every American household with a minimum of 145 pounds of junk mail per week.\u201d\nMeanwhile, in a vindication for the Department of Homeland Security, alert passengers aboard a United Airlines flight foil an apparent terrorist attack when they subdue a man attempting to deep-fry a turkey in economy class. After the plane makes an emergency landing, the man is removed by federal agents, who confirm that he was carrying not only cranberry sauce, but \u201cenough stuffing to choke a buffalo.\u201d\nAbroad, the member nations of the European Union, in a last-ditch effort to avoid an economic meltdown, announce that they are replacing the euro with a new unit of currency, the \u201cpean,\u201d the exchange rate for which will be linked to the phases of the moon. The goal, according to the EU announcement, is \u201cto cause American tourists to become even more confused than they already are.\u201d The plan starts paying dividends immediately as a pair of elderly ladies from Indianapolis purchase two croissants at a Paris cafe for six peans and wind up leaving the equivalent of a $3,780 tip.\nThe economic outlook is also brighter in Washington, where congressional leaders, still working night and day to find a solution to the problem of the federal government spending insanely more money than it actually has, announce that they have a bold new plan: They will form another committee. But this one will be even better than the Supercommittee, because it will be a SuperDUPERcommittee, and it will possess what House and Senate leaders describe, in a joint statement, as \u201cmagical powers.\u201d\nSo the nation is clearly in good hands, and as the troubled year finally comes to an end, throngs of New Year\u2019s revelers, hoping for better times to come, gather in Times Square to watch the descent of the famous illuminated ball, followed by the rise of what appears to be a mushroom cloud from the direction of \u201cSpider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.\u201d\nBut there\u2019s no need to worry: The president is planning a nationally televised address. So everything will be fine. Happy new year.\nDave Barry, co-author of the novel Lunatics\"\"\" target=\"_blank\">\u201cLunatics,\u201d which is being published this month, can be reached at wpmagazine@washpost.com. Read his Year in Review stories from past years, and chat with him Tuesday at noon ET."}, {"name": "dbe17e88-331b-11e1-825f-dabc29fd7071", "body": "The Vatican is set to launch a structure Monday that will allow Anglican parishes in the United States \u2014 and their married priests \u2014 to join the Catholic Church in a small but symbolically potent effort to reunite Protestants and Catholics, who split almost 500 years ago.\nMore than 1,300 Anglicans, including 100 Anglican priests, have applied to be part of the new body, essentially a diocese. Among them are members of St. Luke\u2019s in Bladensburg, which this summer became the first group in the country to convert to Catholicism.\nSt. Luke\u2019s and Baltimore\u2019s Mount Calvary, which also applied to join, were part of the Episcopal Church, the official wing of American Anglicanism. But most of those joining the new structure are Anglicans who aren\u2019t part of the Episcopal Church.\nIt\u2019s unclear how many priests and their followers will ultimately convert to Catholicism. Compared with the tens of millions of Americans who identify as Catholic or Protestant, the movement is small. But it is the most tangible progress in decades for Catholic leaders, who see Catholics and Protestants as estranged siblings who should be reconciled.\n\u201cIt\u2019s the largest reunification effort in 500 years,\u201d said Susan Gibbs, a spokeswoman for the new body, called an ordinariate.\nThe possibility of dozens of married Catholic priests could provide fodder for Catholics who want the Vatican to open up on the issue of priestly celibacy. There are about 40,000 Catholic priests in the United States.\nGibbs declined to say which priests and parishes have expressed interest. But congregants at St. Luke\u2019s, and others who call themselves Anglo-Catholics, tend to be theological and social conservatives who say they like the clear, single authority of a pope. However, they also want to hold onto aspects of Anglicanism, including retaining more authority in governing and certain music and rituals, such as kneeling for Communion.\nMore details will be made public Monday, but Gibbs said most of the Anglicans who expressed interest were not leaving the Episcopal Church. Most are members of offshoot Anglican groups, many of which have grown since the Episcopal Church ordained an openly gay bishop about a decade ago.\nTens of thousands have left the Episcopal Church since then for breakaway groups.\nBut people in both movements \u2014 Anglo-Catholics and Episcopal breakaway groups \u2014 tend to voice similar concerns about the liberal direction of the Episcopal Church. They mention the ordination and marrying of gays and lesbians; the ordination of women; and leaders who view the Bible as metaphor, not fact.\nIn 1980, the Vatican created a different system for American Anglicans to join the Catholic Church but didn\u2019t give them as much freedom as the new structure provides. In the 32 years since, 90 Anglican priests have joined the Catholic Church, as have seven congregations, totaling 1,230 families, Gibbs said. Almost all are in Texas and Pennsylvania.\nThe U.S. ordinariate is the second. One that launched this year in England has more than 1,000 members and 57 priests, Gibbs said.\nCardinal Donald Wuerl, archbishop of Washington, has been the Vatican\u2019s point man on setting up the ordinariate.\nGibbs said that the movement wouldn\u2019t change the church\u2019s position on celibacy and that the exception is only for married Anglican priests.\n\u201cIt\u2019s written into the founding documents,\u201d she said. \u201cThe norm is celibacy.\u201d\nOne of the Episcopal Church\u2019s longtime liaisons with other faiths, including the Catholic Church, said the Vatican could have consulted more with Episcopal leaders before announcing the changes.\n\u201cIf this papacy sees this as the only way to dialogue with other religions, that\u2019s troubling,\u201d said the Very Rev. Thomas Ferguson, who from 2001 until 2010 worked on ecumenical outreach. Ferguson is dean of Bexley Hall Seminary in Columbus, Ohio.\nHe predicted that the new structure wouldn\u2019t draw that many people.\n\u201cIn the end, we\u2019re a country founded on religious beliefs, and people need to go where they\u2019re called to go,\u201d Ferguson said.\n\u201cThat\u2019s fine. God bless them.\u201d"}, {"name": "92c0a656-3448-11e1-825f-dabc29fd7071", "body": "BEIJING \u2014 A forceful 6.8-magnitude earthquake hit off the coast of southeastern Japan on Sunday, rattling buildings in Tokyo and jolting a nation still recovering from last year\u2019s mega-disaster.\nBut the earthquake caused little apparent damage, with no initial reports of damaged buildings or injuries. It prompted no tsunami warning, and nuclear plants across the nation reported no irregularities.\nThe earthquake was centered near Japan\u2019s Izu Islands, about 307 miles south-southwest of Tokyo, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The quake struck at a depth of 217 miles; such a deep jolt is less likely to cause damage than one close to the surface.\nFor those in Tokyo, this was among the biggest shakes since the 9.0-magnitude earthquake of March 11 that triggered Japan\u2019s greatest crisis since World War II. Books fell off shelves, and buildings quivered.\nSome roads were temporarily closed, but the train system was unaffected.\n\u201cMemorable start to New Year \u2014 about to greet Emperor and Empress for New Year when Imperial Palace began to shake,\u201d John Roos, the U.S. ambassador to Japan, said in a message on Twitter.\nThe March 11 earthquake, which struck off the northeastern coast, led to the deaths of more than 20,000 and sparked a triple meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. Since that day, Japan \u2014 whose islands stretch along the world\u2019s most seismically active region \u2014 has had at least 16 earthquakes or aftershocks of magnitude 6.5 or higher.\nMore world news coverage:\nRussia arrests New Year\u2019s protesters\nMaliki marks end of U.S.-Iraq pact\nIn Egypt, an act of courage that launched a revolution\nRead more headlines from around the world\n"}, {"name": "2ebf4e80-346d-11e1-88f9-9084fc48c348", "body": "BEIJING \u2014 North Korea vowed an \u201call-out drive\u201d Sunday toward economic prosperity, setting a vision for a nation with fewer food shortages, a stronger military and a people who defend their new supreme leader with their lives.\n\u201cThe whole Party, the entire army and all the people should possess a firm conviction that they will become human bulwarks and human shields in defending Kim Jong Eun unto death,\u201d said an editorial carried in the country\u2019s three major state-run publications.\nNorth Korea uses its annual New Year\u2019s editorial to set the agenda for the nation, and outside analysts describe it as a fiery keynote. This year\u2019s message provided a window into the country\u2019s policymaking \u2014 and its many challenges \u2014 after the death of Kim Jong Il, who left behind a failing nuclear-armed nation led by an inexperienced hereditary successor.\nThe editorial, outside experts said, tried both to push for economic growth and build support for the young leader, who is thought to be in his late 20s. The editorial made clear that Kim Jong Eun would follow Kim Jong Il\u2019s plan to build a prosperous nation, and it described the successor as a perfect duplicate of his father. Kim Jong Eun\u2019s legitimacy, experts say, depends on that link, especially as he tries to build support among older party and military elites. But his country also faces problems \u2014 notably, chronic food shortages and human rights abuses \u2014 that his father and grandfather either failed to or neglected to address.\n\u201cIt is the steadfast determination of our Party that it will make no slightest vacillation and concession in implementing the instructions and policies [Kim Jong Il] had laid out in his lifetime,\u201d the editorial said.\nAfter 63 years of rule by the Kim family, North Korea has among the world\u2019s lowest living standards, its people confined in a secretive police state. But North Korea has long tabbed 2012 \u2014 the 100th anniversary of founder Kim Il Sung\u2019s birth \u2014 as a year for massive development and emergence as a \u201cstrong and prosperous\u201d first-world state. The Sunday editorial described 2012 as a \u201cmajor, important occasion for displaying the might of Korea.\u201d\nThe editorial made a rare mention of the country\u2019s \u201cburning\u201d food problem, but it outlined only vague steps for a solution, calling on \u201cloyalty to the revolution\u201d and a radical increase in crop yield.\nBefore Kim Jong Il\u2019s death on Dec. 17, North Korea was close to a deal in which it would have received 240,000 tons of food aid from the United States in exchange for a possible suspension of its uranium enrichment program. But those arrangements are on hold as neighboring governments draw up plans to deal with Pyongyang\u2019s new leadership. The State Department\u2019s top Asia diplomat, Kurt Campbell, will visit Beijing, Seoul and Japan this week.\nNorth Korea\u2019s Sunday editorial included almost none of its typical criticism of Washington, though several times it mentioned the imperialist threat that surrounded it. The country also described \u201cU.S. aggressor forces\u201d as the main obstacle to peace on the Korean Peninsula. But it gave no mention of its nuclear weapons program \u2014 a sign, experts said, that the country might be open to further talks.\n\u201cBefore Kim Jong Il died, North Korea started to have that dialogue, and they were willing to accept the U.S.\u2019s nutritional aid,\u201d said Ryoo Kihl-jae, a professor at Seoul\u2019s University of North Korean Studies. \u201cSo it was very natural for North Korea not to denounce the U.S. in this editorial. It\u2019s a sign that they are still willing for dialogue in the future.\u201d\nMore world news coverage:\nRussia arrests New Year\u2019s protesters\nMaliki marks end of U.S.-Iraq pact\nIn Egypt, an act of courage that launched a revolution\nRead more headlines from around the world"}, {"name": "95195e84-32fe-11e1-825f-dabc29fd7071", "body": "With Republican voters in Iowa set to finally begin picking a nominee to challenge President Obama, GOP officials in Washington are quietly and methodically finishing what operatives are calling \u201cthe book\u201d \u2014 500 pages of Obama quotes and video links that will form the backbone of the party\u2019s attack strategy against the president leading up to Election Day 2012.\nThe document, portions of which were reviewed by The Washington Post, lays out how GOP officials plan to use Obama\u2019s words and voice as they build an argument for his defeat: that he made specific promises and entered office with lofty expectations and has failed to deliver on both.\nRepublican officials say they will leverage the party\u2019s newly catalogued video library containing every publicly available utterance from Obama since his 2008 campaign. Television and Internet ads will juxtapose specific Obama promises of job gains, homeowner assistance, help for people in poverty, lower health insurance premiums and stricter White House ethics standards against government data and news clippings that paint a different reality.\nThe decision by GOP officials to finalize a strategy at this stage underscores the view, in both parties, that the general-election campaign has begun \u2014 even if an official Republican nominee has not been selected.\nThe new GOP playbook is designed to take one of Obama\u2019s great assets \u2014 the power of his oratory \u2014 and turn it into a liability. It details hundreds of potential targets, partially a result of a president who Republican strategists say is unusually prone to making detailed promises.\nA 2009 Obama statement that his stimulus bill would lift 2\u00a0million Americans out of poverty, for example, is paired against census data showing that more than 6\u00a0million Americans have fallen into poverty since he took office. A pledge that an administration housing plan would \u201chelp between 7 and 9 million families restructure or refinance their mortgages\u201d is paired against news reports showing the government spent far less than promised and aided fewer than 2\u00a0million.\nAnd his 2008 Democratic nomination acceptance speech vow that a green jobs initiative would create 5 million jobs is matched up against news reports from this year depicting lackluster results and headlines about Solyndra, the failed maker of solar panels that received hundreds of millions in federal loan guarantees.\nOne Obama quote will be featured prominently: In 2009 he said on NBC\u2019s \u201cToday\u201d show that if he could not fix the economy in three years, \u201cthen there\u2019s going to be a one-term proposition.\u201d\n\u201cThat\u2019s a clip the American people will hear and see over and over and over again throughout the next year,\u201d said Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus. \u201cThe nice thing about Barack Obama is that he\u2019s given us plenty of material. The one thing he loves to do is give speeches.\u201d\nA similar in-his-own-words strategy has already been adopted by Obama\u2019s campaign and the Democratic National Committee designed to portray GOP front-runner Mitt Romney as a flip-flopper.\nA \u201cMitt vs. Mitt\u201d online video, showing Romney expressing opposing views on various issues over time, gained considerable attention and prompted a new round of questions from primary rivals and journalists about whether Romney can be trusted.\nWith a campaign war chest expected to total at least $750\u00a0million, the Obama campaign and the DNC are likely to continue hammering Romney\u2019s shifting stances on hot-button issues to portray him as lacking a moral core.\nAt the same time, Obama\u2019s team is compiling data to defend his record, such as a Congressional Budget Office report showing that the stimulus raised employment by millions of jobs and testimony from economists that the legislation helped end the Great Recession. Democratic strategists say voters are more apt to see Romney as untrustworthy than to question the president\u2019s leadership.\n\u201cFour years ago on Iowa caucus night, the president promised to make health care affordable and accessible for all Americans, put a middle-class tax cut in the pockets of working Americans, start to free us from our dependence on foreign oil and end the war in Iraq \u2014 promises that have been fulfilled,\u201d said Obama spokesman Ben LaBolt. \u201cCompare that to a candidate like Mitt Romney, who has been on both sides of every key issue and will say anything to try to hide that he was a corporate buyout specialist who bankrupted companies and fired workers and a governor with the third-worst job-creation record in the country.\u201d\nGOP officials are set to roll out new attacks in the coming days, starting Tuesday on caucus day in Iowa with a new video showing clips from Obama\u2019s victory speech there four years ago. The RNC will buy TV ad time in select battleground-state markets within weeks.\nOnce a nominee is established, the strategy book will then serve as a turnkey battle plan as the campaign and RNC staff begin close coordination.\nA Romney win should make for an easy transition, as the book\u2019s primary author, Joe Pounder, a 28-year-old specialist in the political dark arts and the RNC\u2019s research director, is a former Romney campaign aide. And Romney appears to already have adopted the same approach \u2014 often quoting Obama directly and even visiting venues where Obama spoke as a candidate or as president.\nLast summer, Romney spoke at a now-shuttered Allentown, Pa., metal works factory that Obama had hailed a year earlier before it closed as a symbol of his economic success. The event was accompanied by a video, called \u201cObama Isn\u2019t Working,\u201d depicting images of the visit coupled with a year-after picture of the abandoned factory floor.\nLast week, Romney spoke in Davenport, Iowa, down the street from the spot where Obama gave one of his last pre-caucus campaign speeches four years earlier.\n\u201cHe closed with these words: \u2018This is our moment. This is our time,\u2019\u2009\u201d Romney said. \u201cWell, Mr. President, you have now had your moment. We have seen the results. .\u2009.\u2009. You have failed to deliver on the promises you made here in Davenport.\u201d\nSeveral Republican strategists said that striking the right tone in attacking Obama will be tricky, because many Americans, even if they disapprove of his job performance, still see the country\u2019s first black president as a historic and admirable figure. Polls show that most people like him personally \u2014 making them more likely to discount traditional attack ads.\nStill, party officials believe that many independent voters \u2014 more than eight in 10 of whom think the country is on the wrong track, according to a November Washington Post-ABC News poll \u2014 are ready to accept the premise that Obama didn\u2019t work out. Officials said they settled on the plan to use the president\u2019s own words after examining private and public polls showing that the approach resonated with swing voters nationally and in key battlegrounds.\n\u201cBecause the president remains personally well liked, [the GOP strategy] is a good way to not have to swim against that tide,\u201d said Ed Gillespie, a former RNC chairman who is in regular contact with senior party officials. \u201cIt\u2019s his own words.\u201d\nSimilar conclusions emerged from months of focus groups and polling conducted by American Crossroads, the pro-GOP group that along with its affiliate, Crossroads GPS, expects to have raised $240 million during the 2011-12 cycle. A recent ad by the group featured a mom lying awake at night recalling that she backed Obama because he \u201cspoke so beautifully\u201d and promised recovery but now worrying that his policies were costly and ineffective.\n\u201cWe don\u2019t bang voters upside the head with an anti-Obama message, but we appeal to their sensibility that maybe they supported him in the past, and we make it okay for them to not support him now,\u201d said Jonathan Collegio, a Crossroads spokesman.\nThe RNC\u2019s Obama book reflects a number of technology developments since the last campaign, such as video archives that are searchable by keyword. It has been collected in part by a team of staff members and interns who spend each day in a windowless room on the RNC\u2019s ground floor, staring at a dozen flat-screen TVs and monitoring the Web.\nIn the past, opposition research books took the form of three-ring binders. Many of those binders, dating to the 1976 race against President Jimmy Carter and spanning to the admittedly thin 2008 text on Obama, now sit on a bookshelf in the office of Pounder, the RNC research chief writing the 2012 book. This time, the document will exist only online, complete with links to videos, government reports, transcripts and other background material.\nThe new book contains more than a dozen chapters, including a 73-page section titled \u201cThe Obama Economy,\u201d and has separate chapters logging local-level campaign promises delivered during stops in places such as Cleveland, Denver and Scranton, Pa.\nWhen Obama heads out on the campaign trail, officials will use the newly compiled quotes and data to put in place a full-scale mobilization, including videos, op-eds in local papers, calls with local media outlets and appearances by local GOP supporters, all designed to highlight the president\u2019s past statements in each locale, said Sean Spicer, the RNC\u2019s spokesman. Promises relating to the Hispanic community will be fed to Hispanic bloggers and media.\n\u201cHe made so many promises in so many places,\u201d Spicer said. \u201cThe goal is whenever he does an interview in Scranton, Columbus, Ames, Cleveland or wherever, that every local reporter, blogger and concerned citizen says, \u2018Hey, we\u2019re armed here with information about the last time you were here, and we want you to answer to yourself.\u2019\u2009\u201d\nThe strategy can be seen in several Internet ads produced by the party in recent weeks.\nA video titled \u201cFailed Promises: Scranton\u201d was released in November to coincide with an Obama visit to the northeastern Pennsylvania city. It shows Obama speaking about jobs and the economy, his face depicted through shattered windows of an abandoned factory as job-loss stats flash across the screen.\nAnother RNC ad, \u201cIt\u2019s Been Three Years,\u201d shows Obama as a candidate saying the \u201creal question\u201d is whether Americans would be better off in four years. Then it shows a clip from an October ABC interview when he tells George Stephanopoulos that \u201cI don\u2019t think they\u2019re better off than they were four years ago.\u201d\nThe spot ends with Obama the 2008 candidate drawing roaring applause when he proclaims: \u201cThis country can\u2019t take four more years of the same failed policies. It\u2019s time to try something new.\u201d\nPolling analyst Scott Clement contributed to this report."}, {"name": "b0172374-349d-11e1-88f9-9084fc48c348", "body": "Back in 1992, Washington reigned as Super Bowl champs with high hopes for two in a row under coach Joe Gibbs. That year, a Native American resident of the District, Suzan Harjo, became the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit seeking to change the team\u2019s disparaging name: Redskins.\nAs the legal battle over the name enters its 20th year, let\u2019s review some highlights of a struggle in which moral victories by the plaintiffs often coincided with demoralizing losses by the team on the field \u2014 including dashed hopes of winning another Super Bowl.\n* * *\n1992: The American Jewish Committee voices support for the lawsuit. The term \u201credskins\u201d is not an honorific to Native Americans, as Washington claims; it\u2019s an insult, says the AJC. Seven years later, when communications executive Daniel Synder buys the team, Native Americans assume that he\u2019ll be more sympathetic than the previous owner because he is Jewish. They are sorely mistaken.\nOn the gridiron, Gibbs takes the team to the NFC divisional playoffs (January 1993) but loses to the San Francisco 49ers. After 12 seasons and three Super Bowl wins, Gibbs retires. It is the end of times for Washington football.\n* * *\n1993: Webster\u2019s Third New International Dictionary Unabridged (3rd ed., Merriam-Webster, 1993) defines the team name as \u201ctaken to be offensive.\u201d This contrasts with a Washington Post-ABC News poll the previous year in which 89\u00a0percent of respondents said they favor keeping the team\u2019s name because \u201cthe name is not intended to be offensive.\u201d\nDefensive coordinator Richie Petitbon replaces Gibbs as head coach and is promptly fired after losing 12 of the season\u2019s 16 games.\n* * *\n1994: The InterFaith Conference of Metropolitan Washington joins the call for a name change.\nWashington hires Norv Turner as head coach and the team loses 13 of 16 games.\n* * *\n1995-99: The lawsuit, Harjo et al v. Pro-Football Inc., finally gets a hearing before the U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. A three-judge panel rules that the team name and logo violate the Lanham Act prohibition on any trademark that \u201cconsists or comprises .\u2009.\u2009. matter which may disparage .\u2009.\u2009. persons, living or dead .\u2009.\u2009. or bring them into contempt, or disrepute.\u201d\nWashington takes the case to the U.S. Court of Appeals, which eventually overturns the trial board\u2019s ruling, saying that Harjo and the others had waited too long to file the lawsuit. The plaintiffs later petition the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse that decision, but the high court refuses to take the case.\nSnyder purchases the Washington team in 1999, along with the newly built Jack Kent Cooke Stadium in Landover. He immediately removes the former team owner\u2019s name from the arena and sells the naming rights to Federal Express for an estimated $250\u00a0million. Friends of Cooke, who had died of a heart attack two years earlier, pitch a fit. But Snyder calms them by declaring that, out of respect for tradition, he will never give in to the demands of the Native Americans.\nThen again, they don\u2019t have millions to spend on naming rights.\n* * *\n2000-04: Hundreds of high schools and universities stop using Native American imagery as sports logos and mascots. As African Americans press their fight to change the Virginia state song, \u201cCarry Me Back to Ole Virginny,\u201d which makes references to \u201cdarkies\u201d and \u201cmassas,\u201d Native Americans hope that more of Washington\u2019s black fans will join in solidarity with their struggle.\nHope springs eternal.\nTurner takes Washington to the NFC divisional playoffs against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. With less than two minutes to go, the team is poised to take the lead with a field goal when \u2014 oops! \u2014 the snap is botched and the game is lost, 14-13.\nTurner is fired in the middle of the following season and Terry Robiskie takes over as interim coach for the last three games. Marty Schottenheimer replaces him and, a year later, he is canned for Steve Spurrier, who is eventually let go to make way for the return of Joe Gibbs.\n* * *\n2005-10: The American Psychological Association supports the Native Americans\u2019 case with research showing the corrosive effects of racial stereotyping on children. But after a dejected Gibbs retires in 2008, it is the Washington fan who seems to need psychological help the most. It\u2019s as if spiritual war is being waged against the team, which soon becomes one of the most dispirited franchises in the NFL.\nBy the time Jim Zorn is hired and fired as head coach and Mike Shanahan arrives to take his place, Washington will have burned through eight head coaches since 1992. The team has also started 21 quarterbacks.\nAbout the only thing that hasn\u2019t changed through all that is the team\u2019s reputation as losers \u2014 and that cursed name.\n* * *\n2011: Harjo tells the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs: \u201cThe term \u2018redskins\u2019 is the most vile and offensive term used to describe Native Americans. It is most disturbing to the overwhelming majority of Native Americans throughout the country that the professional football team in the nation\u2019s capital uses a team name that demeans us.\u201d\n* * *\n2012: Another lawsuit to get rid of the team name, Blackhorse et al v. Pro-Football Inc., will be working its way through the courts, this one from a younger group of Native Americans who cannot be said to have \u201cwaited too long to file.\u201d\nBut they have already waited too long for justice."}, {"name": "fdce25a8-30c0-11e1-b034-d347de95dcfe", "body": "It\u2019s never enough, unless it\u2019s too much. In 2012, commuters in the D.C. region will renew their love-hate relationship with transportation projects and programs, including some scheduled for completion and others just getting started. Here are 10 efforts likely to get attention.\nThe high-occupancy toll lanes on the western side of the Capital Beltway are scheduled to open late in 2012. The D.C. region hasn\u2019t seen anything like them. Will they become the way of the future?\nTravelers still ask about \u2014 and complain about \u2014 what\u2019s going on in the 14-mile work zone between Springfield and the Dulles Toll Road interchange. But they\u2019ve also begun to ask how the lanes will function when they finally open.\nThe HOT lanes managers will spend months preparing drivers to use them. And even before the lanes open, drivers will experience some improvements at the interchanges being rebuilt to accommodate the new lanes.\nAfter a half century of discussion and debate, opening 18 miles of the Intercounty Connector was a top transportation story of 2011. But it opened in segments, and the biggest part didn\u2019t open till the end-of-the-year holidays were upon us.\nThis year, we should see whether drivers really take to the new toll road or decide they will stick with the congestion and delay on the old routes. Many drivers probably will test out the connector and pick the portions of it that work for them under particular circumstances. Most times, it won\u2019t be a question of paying $4 to use the entire highway at rush hour, but rather a choice to pay 70 cents to travel from southbound Interstate 95 to southbound Route 29, cutting a corner off the Capital Beltway when traffic reports say it\u2019s especially congested.\nThe repeated rounds of heavy rain this fall pushed back the Woodrow Wilson Bridge project\u2019s goal of opening new lanes on the Capital Beltway near Telegraph Road in Virginia. Important parts of the remaining work on the Beltway require warmer weather, so expect to see the lanes in their current configuration through the winter.\nThen in late spring or early summer, a new portion of the THRU lanes will open in the zone between west of Route 1 and west of Telegraph Road. During the summer, the LOCAL lane segment also will be completed. This work will eliminate the three-lane bottleneck on the Beltway west of the Wilson Bridge, the obstacle that has prevented many drivers from enjoying the full benefits of the new, wider bridge.\nMore employees are scheduled to arrive at the Mark Center, off Interstate 395 in Alexandria. Some changes have been made in the signal timings and lane markings nearby, but the main planned improvement is a new HOV ramp at I-395 and Seminary Road. The Virginia Department of Transportation has scheduled a public meeting on that project for Jan. 25.\nMeanwhile, the Maryland State Highway Administration will begin to upgrade intersections near the newly consolidated Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Rockville Pike in Bethesda. Several projects are scheduled to start this spring.\nThis D.C. project also made the list of 2011\u2019s top transportation stories, but several of the new 11th Street Bridge\u2019s most important and beneficial elements aren\u2019t scheduled to open till later this year. The new span taking traffic away from downtown and over the Anacostia River is scheduled to open this month, following December\u2019s opening of the new inbound span.\nThat will clear the way for completion of the ramps that will link the highways on either side of the river. Also scheduled for this year is completion of the third new span, which will provide a new link for local traffic between neighborhoods on both sides of the river.\nAt mid-year, Metrorail riders will have to pay a lot more attention to the transit maps and the destination signs on the trains. To make room for the future Silver Line trains and to accommodate the increased number of people heading toward the eastern side of downtown D.C., Metro will modify service on the Blue, Yellow and Orange lines during rush hours.\nOrange Line trains will be sent to Largo Town Center as well as Landover. Some Blue Line trains will be redesignated as Yellow Line trains, and they will travel between Franconia-Springfield and Greenbelt. Look for the old lines going to new places on a revised version of the Metro map.\nAfter the holiday lull, the transit authority will resume its aggressive maintenance program on the rail system. During the last three weekends of January, for example, some stations on the Orange, Blue and Red lines are scheduled to be closed, and Metro will shift riders to shuttle buses to get around the closings.\nMetro will finish off the fixes to the Foggy Bottom station entrance by opening the stairway and installing a protective canopy, and in February, it also will begin replacement of the escalators at the south entrance to the Dupont Circle station, closing that entrance for much of 2012.\nAll the maintenance disruptions should put riders in a swell mood to hear about potential fare increases. Metro General Manager Richard Sarles will propose his next budget this month. But his chief financial officer, Carol Kissal, said in December that a fare increase would likely be part of the package.\nThe transit staff also will look at simplifying the complex fare structure, which is based on distance traveled and time of day. I hope that will include eliminating the \u201cpeak-of-the-peak\u201d rate for the height of rush hour. Advocates envisioned that in part as a congestion management technique, but it\u2019s been just one more way of baffling tourists.\nMany transportation efforts fall below the ribbon-cutting scale in grandeur but still have a big impact on daily commuting, both as work zones and as completed projects. For 2012, they will include continued lane shifts and lane narrowings for Northwest Branch bridge rehabilitation on the Beltway, resurfacing of the Beltway between Arena Drive and D\u2019Arcy Road, resurfacing of I-66 between the Beltway and Route 50, the beginning of the Washington Boulevard bridge over Columbia Pike, construction on the Linton Hall Road overpass at Route 29 in Gainesville, and a \u201cGreat Streets\u201d safety and beautification project on Minnesota Avenue in D.C.\nThere are plenty of transit and pathway projects that will benefit travelers. They include additional bus routes using the Intercounty Connector; the planned expansion of the Capital Bikeshare rental program, adding 50 stations and 500 bikes; construction of a pedestrian bridge over the railroad tracks to the Rhode Island Avenue Metro station; construction of a pedestrian bridge between the Minnesota Avenue Metro station and Kenilworth Avenue to the Parkside community; and construction of the Anacostia Riverwalk Trail\u2019s Kenilworth Gardens segment."}, {"name": "4f255be8-30ac-11e1-8c61-c365ccf404c5", "body": "BUENOS AIRES \u2014 Some make the mistake of calling Juan Carlos Rennis\u2019s school an academy, a word he associates with elitist institutions, blue blazers and snooty attitudes.\n\u201cWe\u2019re a technical school,\u201d Rennis, rector for 17 years, said with conviction. \u201cWe take people and teach them to do a job.\u201d\nRennis, a wiry man with a booming voice, wasn\u2019t talking about plumbing or cabinet-making. But the job his 600 students are training for is one he considers of equal practical value \u2014 and far greater emotional significance \u2014 to the country: reporting the latest scores, trades, contract talks, back-office negotiations and other minutiae of the most Argentine of passions, sports.\nIn metropolitan Buenos Aires alone, there are about a dozen institutions like the 51-year-old Superior School of Sports Journalism that Rennis runs, each year churning out hundreds of sportswriters, play-by-play broadcasters, color commentators, camera operators, Web designers and sports analysts.\n\u201cI don\u2019t know if there\u2019s another place in the world that has so many of these schools,\u201d said Roberto Bermudez, a teacher at the Superior School.\nIn some ways, it\u2019s easy to see why the \u201ccolegios deportivos,\u201d or sports schools, thrive here, replacing university journalism departments for anyone who dreams of covering sports, particularly soccer, or futbol, as it is known. The country is sports-mad.\nTake Buenos Aires: Although big U.S. metropolitan areas \u2014 New York, say, or Chicago \u2014 may boast of two football teams and two baseball clubs, the Argentine capital and its suburbs have a dozen first division soccer clubs, each with its own stadium.\nThat means fans, lots of them, who require clear reporting on the latest twist in a complex schedule of matches and championships that even an aficionado can have trouble keeping straight.\nAnd it\u2019s not just the games. The machinations of Argentine soccer\u2019s scandal-plagued governing body here, the Argentine Football Federation, provide constant fodder for sports radio and TV and the front page of the city\u2019s newspapers.\n\u201cYes, the passion for soccer in Argentina is exaggerated,\u201d said Miguel Angel Vicente, sports editor at the country\u2019s biggest paper, Clarin. \u201cIt occupies a space that it shouldn\u2019t. But this is the way we are, and hopefully one day, we\u2019ll change and lower our temperature for this.\u201d\nAside from mainstream media, the soccer teams themselves \u2014 at least those in the first division \u2014 each have two or more affiliated radio stations and Web sites providing blanket coverage. Many of those who work there refined their vocation at the sports schools.\nAmong the recent graduates of the Superior School is Adrian Michelena, 22, who is held up as the latest success story. Upon getting his diploma, he found himself overseas, covering the Argentina rugby team\u2019s international matches for Clarin.\n\u201cThe preparation they give you is really precise,\u201d Michelena said of his training. \u201cThe rules, the techniques, the tactics and also the strategy. They teach you to know each one of the sports, the most minuscule of details.\u201d\nAlthough the focus is soccer, all sports that Argentines follow are given attention: basketball, polo, rugby, horse-racing, volleyball. Rennis said 22 sports are covered in 18 different classes.\n\u201cNine of 10 graduates will work in soccer,\u201d he said. \u201cBut maybe 10 percent can make a niche covering something else. What if some editor says, \u2018Okay, who can go cover the South American bocce championship?\u2019\u2009\u201d\nThe school\u2019s administrators point out that the curriculum goes well beyond games and jocks and scores. There are also classes in philosophy, linguistics and languages to round out the students during the three years, on average, they will spend at the school.\n\u201cThis school has a program that\u2019s very broad, very humanistic,\u201d Bermudez said.\nStill, on a recent night, most of the chatter in the classrooms was soccer-related.\nBermudez taught his class how to analyze a game on live television. In a packed basement classroom, Juan Pablo Peralta, a 32-year-old teacher, alumnus and member of a third-division soccer team, expounded on the intricacies of tactics. Next door, another group of students were putting on a mock radio show, highlighting scores and trades.\nPaulo Stepper\u2019s turn as mock host was clumsy, his teacher pointed out to him afterward.\nBut Stepper, 25, was undaunted. He explained that he had been a bored accounting student before he transferred to the sports school. He now dreams of one day recounting the day\u2019s games for readers of a major newspaper.\n\u201cThis is hard, yes,\u201d he said. \u201cBut with practice, you can get over your fears and surprise yourself.\u201d\nMore world news coverage:\nRussia arrests New Year\u2019s protesters\nMaliki marks end of U.S.-Iraq pact\nIn Egypt, an act of courage that launched a revolution\nRead more headlines from around the world"}, {"name": "cc64bb44-3336-11e1-a274-61fcdeecc5f5", "body": "Iran is quietly seeking to expand its ties with Latin America in what U.S. officials and regional experts say is an effort to circumvent economic sanctions and gain access to much-needed markets and raw materials.\nThe new diplomatic offensive, which comes amid rising tensions with Washington and European powers, includes a four-nation swing through South and Central America this month by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. His government has vowed to increase its economic, political and military influence in the United States\u2019 back yard.\nThe visit reinforces recent commitments by Iran to invest millions of dollars in economic development projects for the region, from a mining joint venture in Ecuador to factories for petrochemicals and small-arms ammunition in Venezuela.\nIran has also dramatically expanded its diplomatic missions throughout the hemisphere and dispatched members of its elite Quds Force \u2014 the military unit U.S. officials in October linked to a foiled assassination plot in Washington \u2014 to serve in its embassies, U.S. officials and Iran experts say.\nThe importance of Ahmadinejad\u2019s visit was underscored last week by Iran\u2019s state-owned Press TV, which said promotion of \u201call-out cooperation with Latin American countries is among the top priorities of the Islamic Republic\u2019s foreign policy.\u201d\nIran has dispatched a stream of lower-ranking officials to the region in recent months. Ahmadinejad granted a live interview Dec. 13 with Venezuela\u2019s state-owned broadcaster TeleSUR in which he hailed the close ties between the two countries and boasted of Iran\u2019s advances in military technology, including unmanned drones.\n\u201cNo one dares attack Iran,\u201d Ahmadinejad said in the interview.\nWith its latest outreach, Iran appears to be seeking to woo back Latin American countries that have grown wary of doing business with Tehran. Iran\u2019s closest ally in the region, Venezuela, had its largest petroleum company hit with U.S. sanctions last year over its ties with Iran. Smaller countries such as Nicaragua and Bolivia have seen little of the millions of dollars in aid promised by Iranian officials over the past decade.\nBut with Western nations threatening to boycott Iranian oil, the country\u2019s leaders are scrambling to find willing foreign partners who can soften the blow of sanctions and provide diplomatic cover for Iran\u2019s nuclear ambitions, current and former U.S. officials say.\n\u201cIran has been actively working for years to expand its ties and influence in the Western Hemisphere, and it has found willing partners in the region\u2019s anti-American despots,\u201d said Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.\nRos-Lehtinen said she was disturbed by Ahmadinejad\u2019s plans for what she called a \u201ctour of tyrants,\u201d saying it would bring \u201cthe Iranian threat closer to our shores.\u201d\nThe visit is expected to include Venezuela, Ecuador, Cuba and Nicaragua, where the Iranian president will be a guest at the inauguration of newly reelected leader Daniel Ortega.\nYet Iran\u2019s efforts in the region also have yielded disappointments. Its Latin American partners do far more business with the United States and other Western nations than with Iran, and most have been reluctant to fully back the Islamic republic in disputes over sanctions or curbs on Iran\u2019s nuclear program.\nSome would-be allies also have been disappointed when Iran failed to deliver on promised development projects and joint ventures, such a proposed $350 million deep-water port for Nicaragua.\nA report released in November by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank, questioned whether Iran ever could succeed at building an effective support network in the region, even if it managed to make good on its grandiose commitments.\n\u201cWhile Iran\u2019s overtures to peripheral states have the potential to weaken U.S. attempts to contain and isolate Iran, Tehran\u2019s web is fragile and possibly illusory,\u201d the CSIS report said.\nIran\u2019s ambitions in the region date back at least two decades, and Tehran was linked in the 1990s to two bombings of Jewish centers, including Argentina\u2019s worst-ever terrorist attack in 1994.\nRelations between Iran and Latin America began to warm shortly after the 2005 election of Ahmadinejad, who made the region a diplomatic priority. Iran has since opened six new missions there \u2014 in Colombia, Nicaragua, Chile, Ecuador, Uruguay and Bolivia \u2014 and has expanded embassies in Cuba, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and Venezuela.\nFormer U.S. intelligence officials say the presence of Quds Force officers and other military personnel in diplomatic missions enhances Iran\u2019s ability to carry out covert activities, sometimes in conjunction with members of the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group that operates extensive networks in Latin America and maintains ties with drug cartels. U.S. officials say the Quds Force was behind the alleged plot to hire Mexican drug gangs to assassinate a Saudi diplomat in Washington.\n\u201cFor Iran to be so active in Venezuela and for the Quds Force to be there can only suggest Iran is serious about asymmetrical force projection into our neck of the woods. If Israel bombs Iran, we may well see retaliatory strikes aimed at U.S. interests coming from these Quds Force guys in South America,\u201d said Art Keller, a former case officer with the CIA\u2019s counterproliferation division.\nAs diplomatic relations have grown between Iran and Latin America, trade has soared. Iran recently surpassed Russia as the biggest importer of beef from Brazil, a country that saw its exports to Iran surge seven-fold over the past decade to an annual level of $2.12 billion. Commerce with Argentina has climbed nearly as rapidly. Trade with Ecuador leaped from $6 million to $168 million in a single year, from 2007 to 2008.\nAnalysts argue that an expanded foothold in Latin America also could provide Iran with strategic advantages in its protracted struggle with Western powers. In Venezuela, where President Hugo Chavez is an avowed supporter of Tehran\u2019s nuclear ambitions, Iran has opened bank branches and transportation companies that U.S. officials say enable Iran to circumvent sanctions.\nOne Iranian-owned bank drew special scrutiny in a study commissioned by the Pentagon\u2019s Defense Threat Reduction Agency. The study, released in May, described Venezuela\u2019s Banco Internacional de Desarrollo as an \u201copaque\u201d institution with an all-Iranian board of trustees.\nThe bank, which is now under U.S. sanctions for supporting terrorist networks, operates with only a single branch in Caracas and appears immune from oversight by the country\u2019s regulators, according to the report\u2019s author, Douglas Farah, a senior fellow at the International Assessment and Strategy Center.\nSuch institutions \u201cafford Iran and its proxy elements state cover and effective immunity for its covert activities,\u201d Farah said in testimony in July to the House Homeland Security subcommittee on counterterrorism and intelligence.\nThrough them, Iran can achieve such goals as \u201cunfettered access to global banking facilities, ports and airports; mining of precursor elements for WMD and advanced weapons systems fabrication; and a regional base for infiltration and contingency operations aimed at undermining the United States and its interests,\u201d Farah said.\nMore world news coverage:\nIndia\u2019s drug trials fuel controversy\nIran claims nuclear fuel advance\nArgentine sports obsession sprouts sportswriter schools\nRead more headlines from around the world"}, {"name": "81c54a46-326d-11e1-825f-dabc29fd7071", "body": "Gyms have been the answer to a tricky question for commercial real estate owners and developers in downtown Washington: Who wants to rent space in the basement?\nTypically there are few stores willing to rent space underground. Even with sidewalk-level signage, a lack of display windows is less than ideal for retailers who rely on visibility to attract a certain number of customers. Some restaurants and bars are willing to rent space underground for their kitchen, storage and the like, but often only when at least their entrance and sometimes a portion of their seating is on the main floor.\nGyms, with their membership-based clientele, some need for privacy and willingness to line their walls with mirrors, have been perfect for filling basements. High-rise apartment, condo and office builders have stuffed their self-operated gyms in the basement, and in the densest real estate markets of Washington, brand-name gyms frequently take space underground, sometimes nearly entirely underground. Consider the Results Gym at Farragut Square, the Washington Sports Club at Gallery Place or the L.A. Fitness in White Flint.\nBut that dynamic may be changing. Although many gyms will continue to be underground, some developers are renting or reserving space for them in parts of their buildings that afford natural light and \u2014 in some cases \u2014 a decent view.\nThis is happening for a number of reasons, according to developers and leasing brokers. First, the sagging retail market has allowed some gyms to afford above-ground or street-level space that they could not have before. This also aided the rapid growth of some independent chains with new and different fitness and health concepts. Vida Fitness recently opened a U Street location last year with a rooftop \u201cPenthouse Club,\u201d featuring a private pool, fire pit and bar.\nWashington is one of the only markets in the country where the fitness industry continues to expand, according to John Bemis, executive vice president at Jones Lang LaSalle, and gyms in the area are moving aggressively in the slow economy. \u201cThey\u2019re taking advantage of not only lower rental rates, but they\u2019re taking advantage of opportunities for better locations,\u201d Bemis said.\nBemis said cost-friendly gyms such as Planet Fitness and the YMCA are faring well, alongside upscale gyms such as Equinox, which he said caters to people who \u201cwere not as negatively affected by the recession.\u201d\nAnother factor in the growth here is Washington\u2019s highly competitive apartment market, in which developers are racing to build or renovate new units in order to take advantage of rising rents and low vacancy rates. The race for top rental dollars has some apartment builders and managers emphasizing better fitness experiences for residents as a way of distinguishing their buildings.\nStonebridgeCarras, the developer who recently built Flats 130 at Constitution Square, a mixed-use apartment project in NoMa, put its two-story gym on the second and third floors, allowing members to look out on the street while they exercise. JBG Rosenfeld, which is building a mixed-use Tysons Corner project with a new Wal-Mart store, is putting a 24 Hour Fitness Health Club on top. JBG plans to build apartments for the project in future phases.\nGreystar, the country\u2019s largest manager of apartment units, is entering the Washington market for the first time and putting a heavy emphasis on quality gym space in its efforts to upgrade apartment properties and attract higher rents. In October, after Greystar announced a number of local acquisitions, Kevin Sheehan, managing director for local real estate, said building the biggest and most quality gym possible in apartment buildings would be key in beating the market."}, {"name": "a2a3858a-326c-11e1-825f-dabc29fd7071", "body": "It used to be that a T-shirt and pair of sweats was the outfit de jour at the gym. These days fitness apparel, much like workouts, have become more sophisticated. There are shirts with ventilation panels, pants with thermal lining and they all can be found in the Washington area.\nDozens of speciality stores, including Lululemon and Lucy, have sprung up around town to cater to a growing health-conscious population.\nIn 2011 alone, Modell\u2019s Sporting Goods opened in Columbia Heights, Althleta debuted in Georgetown and City Sports took up an address in Silver Spring. Outdoor gear and apparel retailer Recreational Equipment Inc., or REI, is putting the finishing touches on a location in Woodbridge set to open later this year.\n\u201cThe D.C. area has a young, affluent and highly educated population that is much more health conscious than other places in the country,\u201d said Cushman & Wakefield broker David Dochter, who represented Athleta in the Georgetown deal. \u201cIt\u2019s a perfect culmination of the characteristics that retailers and gyms want.\u201d\nArea demographics were a huge draw for Boston-based retailer City Sports, said the company\u2019s executive vice president of merchandising, Michael Mosca. The company has opened five locations inside the Beltway in eight years.\n\u201cThis market has been good to us,\u201d Mosca said. \u201cWe\u2019re definitely open to additional locations if the opportunity is there.\u201d\nCity Sports carries an assortment of indoor and outdoor workout gear. Mosca said attire for running and cycling are especially popular, though general fitness wear continues to fly off of the shelves.\nGrowing interest in a wide variety of athletic activities has kept the fitness apparel industry humming with an estimated $34.5 billion in sales in 2011, a 6.7 percent increase from the prior year, according to research firm IBIS World.\nSpeciality stores aren\u2019t the only ones ringing up sales for workout wear. Big-box retailers Target and Wal-Mart sell discount lines, while women\u2019s apparel stores, such as Victoria\u2019s Secret, Bebe and Forever 21, now are offering athletic wear.\n\u201cIt\u2019s not just Nike or Adidas anymore,\u201d said Janet Shim, a retail analyst at IBIS World. \u201cTraditional women\u2019s apparel stores are expanding their product lines to accommodate their customers.\u201d\nDespite the crowded field of contenders, Shim asserts that oversaturation is not eminent because \u201cmore people are wearing sports apparel as everyday clothing, and that\u2019s a growth opportunity for retailers.\u201d Brand loyalty, however, will be key to growth."}, {"name": "0e1df3bc-326e-11e1-825f-dabc29fd7071", "body": "The popularity of yoga has prompted some studios to devise unique business models to differentiate themselves in this crowded field.\nAfter months of management changes, Stroga, the nearly 2-year-old hybrid yoga studio in Adams Morgan, is starting to catch on.\n\u201cWhen I came on [in June 2011], Stroga wasn\u2019t really that well respected in the yoga community,\u201d said Angela Meyer, yoga and programs director at Stroga. \u201cNow, we have a name.\u201d\nStroga, the brainchild of Results Gym owner Doug Jefferies, is a cross between yoga and strength training. The studio, housed in the three-story L\u2019Aiglon Building, has added classes for kickboxing, capoeira and budokon \u2014 a blend of yoga, martial arts and animal movements \u2014 and this year will start a new teacher training program.\nRevenue has grown by 50 percent and membership has doubled between 2010 and 2011.\nThe studio\u2019s core team consists of Meyer, a general manager, accountant and assistant yoga director, and 10 part-time front office staff. And it faces the same challenges as any burgeoning business looking to grow and evolve, including turnover \u2014 Stroga is on its third general manager and second yoga director. Managers also sometimes have had a difficult time finding top talent in a market filled with independent yoga instructors and successful studios.\nJefferies first tried to hire Meyer as his yoga director last year, but at the time she had a noncompete contract with Down Dog Yoga in Georgetown, where she taught and managed for years. Meyer then moved to New York for a year, returned to Washington in June and promptly accepted the job at Stroga, which she says brought new opportunities to create and develop programs on her own terms.\n\u201cI really wanted to start a budokon program,\u201d Meyer said. \u201cI also wanted to be able to teach budokon, and I wouldn\u2019t have been able to do that at Down Dog. At Stroga, Doug trusts me, and he\u2019s given me so much freedom to create.\u201d\nStroga strives to become a community hub, and partners with the nonprofit Mission: Results to promote social and economic development in Haiti. The studio hosts donation-based Sunday night classes where all proceeds go to Mission: Results, and is organizing its first Haiti yoga relief trip later this month, which will bring 10 instructors and volunteers to teach English, hold daily yoga sessions and build a small farm and community center in the impoverished nation."}, {"name": "c2b2e87c-3170-11e1-b034-d347de95dcfe", "body": "Thomas Heath is away, but we still found some things of interest to pass on until he returns.\nWhen Jeremy Farber launched his company 10 years ago under the name Miami Computers, the moniker was a bit of a misnomer. After all, its headquarters was actually in upstate New York.\nToday, the Chantilly-based firm is called PC Recycler but even that name isn\u2019t a perfect fit. Farber\u2019s company doesn\u2019t just discard old electronics, it first wipes their data and shreds them into confetti.\n\u201cA couple of our big customers early on were big government contractors and they loved us, but they were really interested in information security,\u201d Farber said. \u201cIt was a very big priority to them, more so than the environmental aspect of it.\u201d\nThe latest tool in that effort is a $100,000 machine that allows the firm to destroy equipment faster through a process called degaussing. Essentially the magnetic field that allows a device to store data is eliminated, and the data is taken along with it.\nThere\u2019s no shortage of devices to demolish as cybersecurity concerns continue to trouble government and commercial entities alike, Farber said. Though most security efforts are aimed at a device that\u2019s in use, he said the risks don\u2019t necessarily end once it\u2019s unplugged.\n\u201cBecause a lot of the attacks come over the Net it gets a lot of publicity, but there are just as many breaches that happen through physical loss,\u201d he said. \u201cA lot of people don\u2019t understand that the information is just as accessible once the device is offline.\u201d\n\u2014 Steven Overly\nPottery Barn has been added to the growing list of merchants vacating Friendship Heights. The home furnishings store notified customers last week that its location at Chevy Chase Pavilion will close on Jan. 16., making it the third retailer in the area, after Borders and Filene\u2019s Basement, to turn off the lights in the past 12 months.\nOfficials at Williams-Sonoma, which owns Pottery Barn and West Elm, were not available for comment. No other Pottery Barn stores are slated to close, according Williams-Sonoma\u2019s most recent regulatory filings. Pottery Barn, with 7 percent increase in revenues in the third quarter, has been leading the company\u2019s sales growth.\nThe home furnishing store has locations in Clarendon, Tysons Corner and White Flint. The store at the Pavilion, located at 5335 Wisconsin Ave. NW, occupies two floors. It\u2019s unclear whether Akridge Real Estate Services, which owns the nine-story complex, has another tenant lined up for the space, since the company did not return calls for comment.\n\u2014 Danielle Douglas\n\u00a0When Lowe\u2019s, the home improvement chain, pulled out of plans to anchor a development in Baltimore in October, it prompted concerns that the chain also would opt against opening a store on New York Avenue in a planned development in Northeast Washington where Wal-Mart also has agreed to open a new location.\nBoth projects have the same developer, Rick Walker, and Walker had long pitched the plan of building the Wal-Mart store on top of a home improvement big box on New York Avenue at the corner of Bladensburg Road, just as he planned to build a Wal-Mart store above a Lowe\u2019s in Baltimore.\nWalker is no longer marketing his New York Avenue project, called the Pointe at Arbor Place, as having a home improvement store. He says he is juggling his tenant mix and is attempting to attract a national pet supplies chain to his project. Wal-Mart says it is still committed to the site.\nLowe\u2019s still appears to be coming to New York Avenue, however, but to\u00a0the Shops at Dakota Crossing, a development planned down the road by Fort Lincoln and Trammell Crow Co. That project recently lost a commitment from Target but now has a commitment from Lowe\u2019s, according to a person familiar with the deal. Hagans declined to discuss Lowe\u2019s but said the development team recently inked a deal with TD Bank to finance construction. A Lowe\u2019s spokeswoman declined to comment.\n\u2014 Jonathan O\u2019Connell\nThe Department of Veterans Affairs\u2019 inspector general said in a report released last month that the agency showed a potential bias toward incumbent Booz Allen Hamilton, the McLean-based contractor, in its acquisition of support services for its information security and privacy programs.\nThe acquisition, which was awarded in late September 2010, favored Booz Allen by making knowledge of VA procedures and practices a significant selection factor without making clear in the solicitation it would be important. Though Booz Allen\u2019s proposal cost the most, its knowledge and experience helped it win the decision, said the IG memo, which was first reported by NextGov.\nThe VA\u2019s acquisition office generally disagreed with the inspector general\u2019s findings.\nIn a statement, Booz Allen said the report \u201cwas not directly focused on actions by Booz Allens itself, and we have no comment on its conclusions.\u201d\n\u2014 Marjorie Censer\nMalika Levarlet, a Washington-based associate at Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton, is getting kudos for being the first lawyer at the firm\u2019s D.C. outpost to take on a political asylum case through the human rights nonprofit Human Rights First.\nThe firm awarded Levarlet, a corporate lawyer and American University law alumna, its Pro Bono Attorney of the Year award, an annual honor recognizing attorneys\u2019 community service work.\nLevarlet worked closely with a woman who was forced to flee her native Cameroon after advocating for transparent elections and equal access to health care for prisoners to gain political asylum in the United States. Her efforts helped Sheppard Mullin nab the Frankel Award from Human Rights First, which goes to law firms taking on asylum cases on behalf of clients from dozens of countries.\n\u2014 Catherine Ho"}, {"name": "92f648ce-31b9-11e1-a274-61fcdeecc5f5", "body": "The District government has selected two restaurant operators to open locations in a city office building in the Benning neighborhood of Northeast Washington, in what could serve as a test-run for bringing new food options to the area around St. Elizabeths Hospital.\nThe D.C. Department of General Services chose the two restaurant operators in December to fill 4,500 square feet in the ground floor of the Minnesota-Benning Government Center, a 232,000-square-foot, five-story office building at 4058 Minnesota Ave. NE that houses the city\u2019s jobs agency, the Department of Employment Services.\nThe first is Cohn\u2019s Hospitality and Management Academy, a caf\u00e9 and job training program founded by restaurateur Paul J. Cohn. Cohn\u2019s company, Capital Restaurant Concepts, is behind J. Paul\u2019s and Georgia Brown\u2019s.\nCohn would open next door to the 1,500-square-foot Eclectic Caf\u00e9, a new restaurant concept from the former owners of East River Bagel, a fixture of Minnesota Avenue until its closing in 2011.\nUnder Mayor Vincent C. Gray (D), the District has targeted retail and hospitality as industries to find opportunities for unemployed residents \u2014 particularly in neighborhoods east of the Anacostia River, where unemployment and poverty rates run higher than elsewhere in the city.\nIf the deals for restaurants in the Minnesota-Benning Government Center are successful, they could provide a blueprint for how the city government might deliver restaurants and retail to areas around St. Elizabeths Hospital, where a new headquarters for the U.S. Coast Guard is being built for 3,700 employees, but where there are few jobs or places to eat lunch.\nCohn\u2019s restaurant would be part culinary and part workforce education. For a year or more he has planned a culinary and hospitality institute that would offer training for District teens interested in learning kitchen management, purchasing, marketing and accounting.\nDarrell Pressley, a spokesman for the general services agency, said the culinary institute would fill 3,000 square feet of the building and work closely with the jobs agency to employ District residents.\n\u201cIn partnership with [the Department of Employment Services], D.C. youth and young adults will be hired to take part in an 18-plus month program where they learn the skills necessary to run a restaurant,\u201d Pressley said in an e-mail.\nThe agency issued a solicitation for interested restaurateurs in September, 10 months after the building was completed. The Cohn and Eclectic concepts beat out TD Burger Bar, Wise Counsel LLC and PTC, which does business as Roadside Caf\u00e9.\nBoth selected businesses would have to agree to leases with the city. The solicitation calls for a lease of at least three years at a rate of $20 a square foot or more.\n"}, {"name": "0f507be2-30de-11e1-a274-61fcdeecc5f5", "body": "As any new resident to our region can attest, apartments within walking distance of a Metro station charge a premium in monthly rent, one that renters appear willing to pay.\nAnd no wonder, according to a recent report, Washingtonians suffered through the worst traffic congestion in the nation in 2010, losing an average of 74 hours a year sitting in traffic, costing an average of nearly $1,500 a person.\nThese high transportation costs make many apartment renters more than willing to pay higher rent to be able to walk to a Metro station and avoid the frequently gridlocked highways on their daily commutes.\nTo calculate how much more, we analyzed two sets of apartments from a sample of the region\u2019s apartment property inventory. One group included those located within one-half mile of a Metro station, and a second included those located farther than one-half mile from a station. According to this analysis, Washingtonians have consistently paid more in rent to live within walking distance of a Metro stop, even throughout the recent downturn.\nOf course, countless other factors affect apartment rents, the age and quality of the property, safety of the neighborhood and proximity to employment and retail nodes, to name just a few. But this clearly shows that transit-oriented development remains in strong demand in D.C.\nZooming in a little closer to the submarket level, the trend still holds true. In the District, apartments within walking distance of Metro command 28 percent more in rent than those farther from transit stations. In the Northern Virginia, Inner Beltway and Montgomery County submarkets, the premiums are even higher, both near 40 percent in the third quarter of 2011.\nWhile Prince George\u2019s County offered the most affordable Metro-walkable apartments in the region, rents there are still 11 percent higher than those for properties located farther from Metro stations in the same submarket.\nNo individual submarket has a premium as high as the metrowide average because submarkets with no Metro stations (Loudoun County, outlying Maryland counties and outlying Virginia counties) have rents on the lower end of the spectrum, pulling down the non-Metro-walkable aggregate at the metro level.\nWhile the apartment rent premium in Fairfax County is the smallest at about 9 percent, the county currently only has two Metro stations, in Vienna and Dunn Loring.\nWhen the first phase of the Silver Line increases Metro service in the county in 2013 or 2014, apartments located near the new stations should command above-average rents based on the trends in other submarkets.\nStephanie Hession is a senior real estate economist with CoStar Group in Washington."}, {"name": "ef241d24-3218-11e1-b692-796029298414", "body": "A black punching bag hovers alongside the desk in Grant Verstandig\u2019s office. A pair of worn sneakers rest on the arm of a white, modular sofa. Overhead, a photo of a hulking Muhammad Ali hangs from the wall.\nIf it weren\u2019t for the panoramic view of the Georgetown waterfront, this space could be mistaken for a college dorm room. Perhaps that\u2019s fitting for the 22-year-old chief executive of Audax Health, a start-up that blends social media with health care.\nThe company has been Verstandig\u2019s brainchild since the District native endured a spate of intensive knee surgeries to correct sports-induced injuries. It\u2019s banner product, called Careverge, will make a public debut next week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.\nCareverge users answer a series of questions about their health history that range from daily dietary habits to specific chronic illnesses. The site allows them to anonymously read relevant Web resources, connect with similar users and set health goals. Audax plans to market Careverge as a benefit for companies to offer employees.\nBut while Washington has become home to a crop of 20-something entrepreneurs with ambitious plans to launch businesses, Audax may stand out for the seasoned lineup of mentors Verstandig has managed to recruit to its board.\nJohn Sculley, the former chief executive of Pepsi and Apple, has been a financial backer and business adviser since May 2011. He had been hunting for a health care investment when a business contact introduced him to Audax.\nFrom the health arena, Verstandig has brought on Dr. Richard Klausner, former executive director for global health of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and director of the National Cancer Institute from 1995 to 2001.\nKlausner, who worked with Verstandig\u2019s mother in the Clinton administration, also introduced him to the health and science fields as a high school student through summer work at the National Institutes of Health.\nAlso on the board are Roger W. Ferguson Jr., president and chief executive of retirement services provider TIAA-CREF, and John Wallis Rowe, the former chairman and chief executive of insurance firm Aetna.\nVerstandig said the makings of the business really began in his Brown University dorm room where, while laid up after a knee operation, he began to compile a list of industry contacts. Then through social media, e-mail and telephone calls, he began to network.\n\u201cThe candid truth is spending a lot of time not being able to move made you focus,\u201d said Verstandig, who would later drop out to focus on the company full time.\nHis persistence and charm \u2014 it\u2019s clear Verstandig can talk his way through almost any social situation \u2014 impressed Sculley. During their meeting, Sculley twice asked Verstandig to name his biggest mistake. His response \u2014 setting unrealistic expectations and misreading progress \u2014 aren\u2019t uncommon for first-time entrepreneurs.\n\u201cIn every case, except this one, I always work with serial entrepreneurs,\u201d Sculley said. \u201cI said, \u2018Gee, this violates everything I said I\u2019m going to do. I\u2019m not going to work with people who have never built companies before and yet here is a guy who resembles in some ways Steve Jobs and Bill Gates when they were in their 20s.\u2019\u201d\nFor a maturity beyond his years, Verstandig certainly looks his age. Smelling of cologne and wearing a V-neck sweater and dark denim jeans, his office attire could transition easily to a bar in Foggy Bottom.\nBut casual is to be expected at a company like Audax. Ping-pong tables, remote-control helicopters and oversized bean-bag chairs are just a few of the start-up staples that the company makes available to its 55 employees.\nVerstandig admits that his position has come with a steep learning curve, particularly as a first-time CEO without any prior business experience or education.\n\u201cBack in the early days I did everything myself because I thought I could do it faster, better, quicker, but now I just hire people who are smarter and hire people who are more experienced,\u201d he said.\nAnd then there are challenges beyond his control. Health care can be a notoriously stubborn market where attempts at innovation become bogged down by bureaucracy, regulation and big business.\n\u201cYou have to be acutely aware of all those things that are swirling around, but at the end of the day, one thing I\u2019ve learned from my mentors is you can\u2019t control what you can\u2019t control,\u201d Verstandig said.\nTiming, however, may be on the company\u2019s side. Verstandig and Sculley both believe that health care reform at the federal level combined with other initiatives to revamp the system make now an opportune moment for a company like Audax to make a strong play.\n\u201cI am absolutely convinced that the health care problem that we have in the economy will eventually be solved largely by innovation from the private sector and not the government,\u201d Sculley said."}, {"name": "c2e30376-3162-11e1-b034-d347de95dcfe", "body": "Washington area banks sold fewer troubled loans in the first nine months of the year, despite a continued inflow of distressed assets, according to data from Charlottesville-based research firm SNL Financial.\nThe 43 local banks the firm reviewed disposed of a total of $228 million in nonaccrual loans \u2014 those 90 days past due \u2014 through the end of September, leaving $1.5 billion in troubled assets sitting on their books. A year earlier, those same institutions traded $517 million in problem loans, with a total $1.6 billion in bad debt remaining.\nKeep in mind that the numbers are skewed because of the inclusion of Capital One Financial Corp. The McLean-based behemoth accounts for more than 75 percent of all the nonaccrual loans and more than 90 percent of the asset sales in the area for both years.\nExcluding Capital One, local sales of troubled assets declined by roughly 12 percent to $12.4 million, while the universe of distressed debt grew about 8 percent to $360.6 million at the end of September.\nSome area banks no longer may feel an urgency to off-load problem loans as asset values in the Washington area have largely stabilized, said David G. Danielson, president of Danielson Associates, a banking consultant firm in Bethesda.\n\u201cAsset values, in some cases, have stabilized at a level that\u2019s still below what they were written out to on the banks\u2019 books,\u201d he said. \u201cSo banks are still reluctant to sell them and take the hit to capital, but they feel much better, particularly in the Washington area, about their ability to work out [distressed loans] with little or no loss.\u201d\nBanking consultant Bert Ely agreed that more banks may be entertaining loan modification under the assumption that they will take less of a loss than if they sell at the bottom of the market.\n\u201cThey think prices are going to go up and there will be a recovery in values,\u201d he said. \u201cThe thing about that is it\u2019s a judgment call, and bankers don\u2019t always get it right.\u201d\nHolding on to problem loans as the volume continues to rise seems counterintuitive. But many local banks have stashed away enough cash in reserves to offset loan losses. The current volume of troubled loans, though edging up, remains much lower than in 2009 at the height of the banking crisis.\nA majority of area banks, having logged record profits this year, are healthy enough to withstand an uptick in problem loans and hold off on asset sales. Others, however, may lack the financial capacity to clean up their balance sheet.\n\u201cIf a bank is having trouble, they will hold off on selling assets because that makes them recognize a loss,\u201d Ely said. \u201cAnd many times the loss is more than what they reserved for, and so they\u2019ll drag their feet.\u201d\nMeanwhile, there were some significant jumps in noncurrent loans this year.\nThe Industrial Bank of the District, for instance, logged a 34 percent year-over-year increase to $16.1 million in problem loans. Alliance Bank nearly tripled its portfolio of nonaccrual loans to $10 million through the first nine months of the year. However, the Chantilly-based bank was among the most active sellers this year, clearing $725,000 in problem loans off of its books.\nThere were a number of banks that bucked the prevailing trend and cleared a higher percentage of problem loans off of their books this year.\nCardinal Bank of Tysons Corner, for example, traded $3.5 million in distressed assets through the end of the third quarter, a 15.5 percent increase over the prior year. Herndon-based MainStreet Bank sold a little over $1 million in troubled loans, though its total nonaccrual loans shot up to $4.9 million at the end of September.\n\u201cSome banks, particularly if they\u2019ve been in a turnaround mode, want to clear the debt and eliminate the distraction that a lot of problem assets cause,\u201d Ely said.\nA few banks have experienced an overall drop in distressed assets. Vienna-based Business Bank, for instance, whittled its noncurrent loans down from $1.8 million at the end of September 2010 to $576,000 this year. The bank sold $533,000 in problem loans this year, compared to $1 million through the end of September.\nVirginia Heritage of Fairfax also recorded a decline in total nonaccrual loans, from $1.2 million through September 2010 to $435,000 for the same period this year. Distressed assets at WashingtonFirst Bank dwindled from $7.5 million at the end of the third quarter of 2010 to $3.5 million at the end of September 2011."}, {"name": "2f3ee892-2d89-11e1-8af5-ec9a452f0164", "body": "The first quarter of fiscal 2012 got off to an all-too-familiar start, with federal agencies operating under a series of short-term continuing resolutions, instead of year-long budgets. Still, that didn\u2019t stop agencies from awarding contracts worth more than $45 billion.\nWith budgets now in place, that pace likely will speed up. Deltek has identified more than 3,500 solicitations worth up to $325 billion planned for release early this year.\nFirst, we take a look at some of the more notable contract awards from the first quarter:\nThe General Services Administration awarded more than 20 contracts under its $5 billion Connections II contract vehicle. A recompetition of the original Connections contract, the program provides telecommunications infrastructure equipment and services.\nAir Combat Command awarded almost 30 contracts under its $4.7 billion Contract Advisory and Assistance Services IV vehicle, which covers technical assistance and systems engineering.\nThe Office of Personnel Management awarded contracts to CACI, U.S. Investigations Services and KeyPoint Government Solutions for background investigation fieldwork services worth $2.5 billion. These contracts pay for the investigations needed to clear government employees and contractors for sensitive work.\nNaval Air Systems Command awarded its $2 billion Training Systems Contract III program, which supports Navy training systems, to more than 25 companies.\nNow agencies are readying to release thousands of solicitations in the second quarter of fiscal 2012. While it\u2019s possible to predict release dates relatively accurately using historical trends and current data, it will never be perfect. That said, Deltek expects several major solicitations:\nThe Army is planning to release a solicitation for logistics related services under a $23 billion program called EAGLE.\nThe Air Force is readying a solicitation for training systems under the $20 billion Training Systems Acquisition III program.\nSpace and Naval Warfare Systems Command is planning a $16 billion acquisition of secure single-channel tactical software-defined handheld radio systems. Under existing contracts, this equipment has been provided by Harris and Thales.\nThe Navy is readying solicitations worth up to $10 billion for services related to implementing the Next Generation Enterprise Network. NGEN replaces the existing Navy network, NMCI, provided by HP Enterprise Services (formerly EDS).\nThe Army is planning a $5 billion solicitation for computer equipment and related services under the ITES 3H program, which is meant to be the primary vehicle the Army uses to buy IT equipment.\nThe Department of Homeland Security is set to release its $2 billion FirstSource 2 solicitation, which will replace First Source in providing the agency IT equipment, software and related services. First Source 2 will be set aside for small businesses.\nAlready this fiscal year, there have been several pieces of legislation and policy relevant to government contractors:\nMost noteworthy was the passage of two appropriations bills, providing funding for federal agencies for the full 2012 fiscal year.\nIn November, President Obama released a memorandum pushing for making federal records management more cost effective and transparent and for moving from paper to electronic records.\nThat same month, Obama called on agencies to develop plans to reduce by 20 percent (from 2010 levels) their costs in areas like travel, mobile devices and printing.\nIn December, Obama issued a memorandum directing agencies to implement energy conservation measures with a payback of less than 10 years. Specifically, he challenged them to award at least $2 billion in performance-based contracts designed to implement energy efficiency measures in government buildings.\nKevin Plexico is vice president of federal information solutions at Herndon-based Deltek, which conducts research on the government contracting market."}, {"name": "e251666c-2bef-11e1-9952-55d90a4e2d6d", "body": "Contractors are lining up for a rare opportunity to win a spot on a military radio program as the Army seeks to replace its cancelled ground mobile radio initiative.\nIn the competitive and crowded field of military electronics, some companies are looking to partnerships to bolster their credentials.\nThe Army late last year released a draft solicitation for the new effort, known as the multi-tier networking vehicular radio program. The winning contractor will be expected to build, integrate and test radio sets that will offer improved communication within vehicles.\nIn a move to stake an early claim on the program, McLean-based ITT Exelis and Falls Church-based Northrop Grumman announced last month that they plan to partner on the effort. Northrop would lead the team and provide the radio system, while Exelis would support radio development and vehicle integration, among other elements.\nGreg Bublitz, director of business development for network communication systems at Northrop Grumman, said ITT made an attractive teammate in part because of its experience producing large numbers of radios and keeping costs low.\nThe team likely will encounter plenty of competitors, said Loren Thompson, a defense industry consultant with the Lexington Institute, who forecasts some consolidation within the military electronics industry.\n\u201cThere aren\u2019t very many big new starts in military electronics,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s really crucial for the leading companies to put together the strongest possible teams if they want to have a future.\u201d\nGeneral Dynamics is among those companies with plans to compete, said Chris Brady, vice president of assured communications for General Dynamics\u2019s C4 systems unit.\n\u201cIt\u2019s a significant opportunity to break into one of these funded programs,\u201d he said.\nGeneral Dynamics hasn\u2019t decided whether it will be part of a team, said Brady, but the company certainly would be the prime contractor. Still, he said there are downsides to teaming.\n\u201cA principal consideration here will be unit cost, and every time you add members to your team, you have to consider the ripple of [general and administrative expense] and markups,\u201d Brady said. \u201cThat\u2019s cost that you would be well served to avoid in a competition like this.\u201d\nCompany officials agree that price likely will be a key part of the evaluation criteria, along with meeting certain performance standards.\n\u201cAffordability is going to be, I think, one of the keystone requirements,\u201d said Dennis Moran, vice president for government business development in Harris\u2019s radio communications unit, which also expects to participate in the competition.\nGiven shrinking defense dollars and a large group of military electronics competitors, alliances will be one strategy companies use, Thompson said.\nThe ITT and Northrop team \u201cdemonstrates the fluidity of the military electronics market,\u201d he said, noting that the two are opponents in other competitions. \u201cWhen the technologies and skills are fungible, the teams will coalesce and come apart with amazing agility depending on how opportunities emerge.\u201d"}, {"name": "8e81b89c-3181-11e1-a274-61fcdeecc5f5", "body": "In a lawsuit some have dubbed \u201cWinklevoss Part II,\u201d Facebook is getting sued by a former Mark Zuckerberg associate Paul Ceglia, who\u2019s claiming 50 percent ownership of the world\u2019s most famous social networking site. Ceglia is on his third set of lawyers, now being represented by Ohio attorney Dean Boland, since filing suit in 2010 (among those that have come and gone are mega-firm DLA Piper). Facebook is being defended by a five-lawyer team at Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, including Washington partner Thomas Dupree, which intends to ask a judge to dismiss the case. Dupree, 41, cut his teeth as a young associate representing George W. Bush in Bush v. Gore, the historic U.S. Supreme Court case that resolved the 2000 presidential election in Bush\u2019s favor. He\u2019s represented some of the world\u2019s most recognizable companies, including Chrysler and Mattel, and served in the Justice Department from 2007 to 2009, eventually rising to second-in-command of the civil division. He talked to Capital Business about how he and New York co-counsel Orin Snyder landed the Facebook account, and what it\u2019s like working with Ted Olson \u2014 the senior Gibson Dunn partner who helped lead the legal challenge to California\u2019s Proposition 8.\n How did you and co-counsel Orin Snyder come to represent Facebook in the Ceglia case? \nThomas Dupree: Gibson Dunn has previously represented Facebook in a number of matters, including before the Federal Trade Commission. Orin\u2019s and my practice focuses on civil litigation, and we have experience in cases that attract media interest, so it was a natural fit.\nAre you on Facebook? \nYes.\nCentral to Ceglia\u2019s claim is proving the age of the ink in the 2003 contract Ceglia says entitles him to a major stake in Facebook \u2014 if the document is real, the ink should be several years old. If it\u2019s fake, as you argue, the ink should only be a year old. Your forensic experts think there are red flags about the document\u2019s authenticity, like inconsistent margins, font size and font density. How did you find your experts?\nWe wanted the best, so we retained some of the top document authentication experts in the country \u2014 experts who have worked for the Justice Department and have decades of forensic experience. (They include Frank Romano, a document origination expert, and Gus Lesnevich, a former forensic document examiner for the Secret Service.)\n You\u2019ve represented some big names in major litigation \u2014 Chrysler, George W. Bush, Time Inc. Is working with Facebook, which is powerful in a different way than many traditional corporations, any different? \nIt is not particularly different. Facebook has a stellar team of in-house lawyers who are not just technologically savvy, but have terrific legal instincts and strategic judgment.\n What are some new or interesting things you\u2019ve learned from working this case? \nThe entire lawsuit is an attempted shakedown. Paul Ceglia is trying to extort a settlement from Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg based on a fabricated contract and so-called e-mails he created out of whole cloth.\n(Boland, Ceglia\u2019s attorney, is pushing back with fraud allegations of his own, saying Facebook lawyers are concealing evidence by withholding from the court content from several computers containing electronic communications by Zuckerberg. The contract was not forged, and its authenticity has been confirmed by several experts, Boland said.)\n What was it like working on Bush v. Gore as a young associate? \nIt was a very intense 36 days. Regular life pretty much came to a halt. We were writing briefs around the clock and always strategizing and trying to anticipate the next move. In retrospect, there was obviously some history to it, but at the time we were focused on winning the case. It was the most demanding pace of any matter in my professional career. I remember one night when I set the alarm for 3 a.m. so I could be up and have a new draft of a brief written by 6 a.m.\n How did you get on that case, and what did you get out of it? \nI had the good fortune as a young associate to work with Ted Olson, who headed up our legal team. Ted has been a mentor to me over the course of my career, and is the gold standard for how a lawyer should conduct himself in public life."}, {"name": "48b59c08-318a-11e1-a274-61fcdeecc5f5", "body": "Nearly a third of lawyers plan to make new hires in the first quarter of 2012, according to a quarterly hiring survey by legal staffing firm Robert Half Legal.\nThirty-one percent of lawyers said they plan to add legal jobs in the first three months of the year \u2014 up from the 25 percent who projected hiring in the fourth quarter of 2011. Law firms are expected to do the majority of the hiring, and the strongest areas of growth are likely to be in bankruptcy and foreclosure, litigation and labor and employment.\nThe survey interviewed 200 lawyers nationwide \u2014 100 lawyers at law firms with at least 20 employees, and 100 corporate lawyers at companies with at least 1,000 employees \u2014 and the hiring outlook in the Washington region mirrors nationwide findings, said Jonathan Witmer, Robert Half Legal\u2019s metro market manager for the District and Baltimore.\n\u201cA majority of the lawyers we surveyed nationally and here in D.C. are feeling good about hiring,\u201d he said. \u201cFirms are being smarter about how and when they add personnel.\u201d\nLaw firms and in-house counsel in the region also are using more contract and temporary lawyers \u201cthat can get work done and be off the books until the next time the workload spikes,\u201d Witmer said.\nLaw firms continue to focus on hiring senior and partner-level lawyers with books of business and expertise in high-demand practice areas, said Robert Half Legal executive director Charles Volkert. He added that corporations also are hiring more legal staff in an ongoing effort to bring more work in-house and reduce outside legal spending. \u201cGeneral counsel are handling more matters internally in areas such as corporate transactional, labor and employment, intellectual property, litigation and regulatory law,\u201d Volkert said.\n \nDougherty previously was a consultant at B&D Consulting, the Indiana law firm\u2019s lobbying group. He will counsel pharmaceutical, biotech and medical device companies in reimbursement strategies for products and technologies, Arent Fox announced in December."}, {"name": "32534192-323c-11e1-b692-796029298414", "body": "Short takes on the week's announcements and deals.\nRockville based defense contractor Lockheed Martin said it has been selected by the National Science Foundation to operate and maintain the support infrastructure for the U.S. Antarctic Program. The multi-year contract has a value of $2 billion.\nSilver Spring-based United Therapeutics has received approval in France for the intravenous use of Remodulin for treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension.\nRockville-based Neuralstem has received approval from the Food and Drug Administration to advance to Phase Ib in its ongoing clinical trial to test its neuroregenerative compound NSI-189 for the treatment of major depressive disorder.\nFour companies have received loans from the Anne Arundel Economic Development Corp.: Annapolis-based Chesapeake Light Craft, $300,000; Annapolis-based OpinionWorks, $100,000; Glen Burnie-based Six C/D Associates, $35,000; and Glen Burnie-based Honey Bee Diner, $35,000."}, {"name": "e571c8d2-2ccb-11e1-8af5-ec9a452f0164", "body": "Construction trucks hummed in the distance as Edens President Jodie McLean outlined plans for a Neiman Marcus Last Call Studio at Mosaic District, a collection of shops, offices and residences rising in Merrifield.\n\u201cIt\u2019s only their second location in the area, after the store at Congressional Plaza,\u201d she said, while flipping to a rendering of the 15,200-square-foot clothing store. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be right at the main entrance on Lee Highway and District Avenue.\u201d\nNeiman Marcus is the latest merchant to sign on at Mosaic, where Target and MOM\u2019s Organic Market have agreed to fill some of the 350,000 square feet of retail set to open in October. That phase, one of four, also is to include an eight-screen theater run by Angelika Film Center, a New York City outfit that shows art house and mainstream films.\n\u201cRight over there, behind the theater, is where we\u2019ll have the outdoor screen that we can program for all kinds of community events,\u201d McLean said, pointing to the side of a four-story structure facing what will be one of the project\u2019s two parks.\nAcross the way on Strawberry Lane and District Avenue, construction workers toiled on the 150-room Hotel Sierra, overlooking the site of a 7,000-square-foot Black\u2019s Bar & Kitchen. The restaurant is to be one of several eateries, including Cava, Matchbox, Sweetgreen and Taylor Gourmet, opening in the fall.\nResidents of the 112 town homes being built by EYA and AvalonBay\u2019s 531-unit apartment complex on the west end of the site will be able to walk to get dinner.\n\u201cThere were a lot of national restaurants interested, but it was important to us to bring unique food offerings that felt like they belonged to the community,\u201d McLean said.\nShe noted that a number of national apparel chains also wanted in on the project, but Edens opted for local boutiques such as Lou Lou and Dawn Price Baby. About 25 percent of the retail tenants are local.\nAll told, the retail portion of the first phase of the project is about 80 percent pre-leased. Another 250,000 square feet of retail is to be opened piece by piece in the next three phases.\n\u201cThe retail makeup is something that we\u2019ve probably spent more time on than anything from a merchandising standpoint,\u201d said Steve Boyle, managing director at Edens. \u201cThere is a sameness to retailing that we wanted to avoid, and that sameness is manifesting itself in merchandising and design.\u201d\nEvery inch of Mosaic, he said, is designed to create a walkable cityscape that flows into the neighboring developments in Merrifield. Edens is creating a new grid of streets to allow traffic to flow in and out of the site, as well as 4,000 parking spaces in four above-ground parking garages. There is to be a bus to shuttle visitors over from the Dunn Loring-Merrifield Metro station a half-mile away.\nThe Mosaic District Community Development Authority, an arm of Fairfax County, issued $66 million worth of bonds in June to finance the road and utility infrastructure. Edens is to repay the debt via future property taxes.\n\u201cThe project has the ability to transform and revitalize the area,\u201d said Fairfax Supervisor Linda Smyth (D-Providence). \u201cWhen I go out to civic association meetings, one of the first questions people ask me is, \u2018What\u2019s the latest on Merrifield?\u2019 People are interested because they see this as an asset to their community. \u201d\nMosaic is the outgrowth of a redevelopment plan that county officials introduced in 1998 to transform Merrifield from a semi-industrial mishmash into a mix of stores, homes and offices.\nEdens became involved in the project in 2004 by teaming with National Amusement, owner of the former movie theater site on which Mosaic is being built. They submitted a proposal just as the county approved Mill Creek Residential Trust\u2019s retail and apartment project atop the Dunn Loring-Merrifield Metro station.\nWhen Mosaic got through the regulatory process, the project faced the turmoil of the recession, which made retailers apprehensive about making decisions, McLean said. Boston-based National Amusement even backed out of a deal to operate a theater. Edens bought National Amusement\u2019s share of the development.\nOnce the economy started to rebound, the pace of leasing picked up. Now it\u2019s just a matter of filling the few remaining slots. McLean said two homegrown boutiques are close to signing on, but she said she wouldn\u2019t share names until the ink was dry on the agreement."}, {"name": "e348254a-31be-11e1-b034-d347de95dcfe", "body": "It happens every new year. Too many slices of fruitcake are devoured, buttoning the pants gets a little harder and working out starts looking a whole lot better.\nShedding a few pounds is one of the most popular New Year\u2019s resolutions. Any gym can attest to the influx of snowbirds after the holidays. You know the folks, the ones who take over the elliptical machines in the dead of winter, but fly away in the spring.\nThe Washington area, however, does have a healthy population of fitness buffs. So much so that the metropolitan area ranked as the healthiest and fittest place in the U.S. from 2008 to 2010, according to the American College of Sports Medicine.\nMinneapolis knocked our region out of the top spot last year because of the rise in smokers and cases of diabetes. Still, four out of five locals surveyed by the college reported exercising regularly.\nIt\u2019s no wonder that the Washington area is witnessing an explosion in gyms, yoga studios, running clubs and sports apparel stores in the past few years. We decided to take at how various segments of the local fitness industry are doing as the market is gaining more attention.\nIt used to be that a T-shirt and pair of sweats was the outfit de jour at the gym. These days fitness apparel, much like workouts, have become more sophisticated. There are shirts with ventilation panels, pants with thermal lining and they all can be found in the Washington area.\nDozens of speciality stores, including Lululemon and Lucy, have sprung up around town to cater to a growing health-conscious population.\nIn 2011 alone, Modell\u2019s Sporting Goods opened in Columbia Heights, Althleta debuted in Georgetown and City Sports took up an address in Silver Spring. Outdoor gear and apparel retailer Recreational Equipment Inc., or REI, is putting the finishing touches on a location in Woodbridge set to open later this year.\n\u201cThe D.C. area has a young, affluent and highly educated population that is much more health conscious than other places in the country,\u201d said Cushman & Wakefield broker David Dochter, who represented Athleta in the Georgetown deal. \u201cIt\u2019s a perfect culmination of the characteristics that retailers and gyms want.\u201d\nArea demographics were a huge draw for Boston-based retailer City Sports, said the company\u2019s executive vice president of merchandising, Michael Mosca. The company has opened five locations inside the Beltway in eight years.\n\u201cThis market has been good to us,\u201d Mosca said. \u201cWe\u2019re definitely open to additional locations if the opportunity is there.\u201d\nCity Sports carries an assortment of indoor and outdoor workout gear. Mosca said attire for running and cycling are especially popular, though general fitness wear continues to fly off of the shelves.\nGrowing interest in a wide variety of athletic activities has kept the fitness apparel industry humming with an estimated $34.5 billion in sales in 2011, a 6.7 percent increase from the prior year, according to research firm IBIS World.\nSpeciality stores aren\u2019t the only ones ringing up sales for workout wear. Big-box retailers Target and Wal-Mart sell discount lines, while women\u2019s apparel stores, such as Victoria\u2019s Secret, Bebe and Forever 21, now are offering athletic wear.\n\u201cIt\u2019s not just Nike or Adidas anymore,\u201d said Janet Shim, a retail analyst at IBIS World. \u201cTraditional women\u2019s apparel stores are expanding their product lines to accommodate their customers.\u201d\nDespite the crowded field of contenders, Shim asserts that oversaturation is not eminent because \u201cmore people are wearing sports apparel as everyday clothing, and that\u2019s a growth opportunity for retailers.\u201d Brand loyalty, however, will be key to growth.\n\u2014 Danielle Douglas\nGyms have been the answer to a tricky question for commercial real estate owners and developers in downtown Washington: Who wants to rent space in the basement?\nTypically there are few stores willing to rent space underground. Even with sidewalk-level signage, a lack of display windows is less than ideal for retailers who rely on visibility to attract a certain number of customers. Some restaurants and bars are willing to rent space underground for their kitchen, storage and the like, but often only when at least their entrance and sometimes a portion of their seating is on the main floor.\nGyms, with their membership-based clientele, some need for privacy and willingness to line their walls with mirrors, have been perfect for filling basements. High-rise apartment, condo and office builders have stuffed their self-operated gyms in the basement, and in the densest real estate markets of Washington, brand-name gyms frequently take space underground, sometimes nearly entirely underground. Consider the Results Gym at Farragut Square, the Washington Sports Club at Gallery Place or the L.A. Fitness in White Flint.\nBut that dynamic may be changing. Although many gyms will continue to be underground, some developers are renting or reserving space for them in parts of their buildings that afford natural light and \u2014 in some cases \u2014 a decent view.\nThis is happening for a number of reasons, according to developers and leasing brokers. First, the sagging retail market has allowed some gyms to afford above-ground or street-level space that they could not have before. This also aided the rapid growth of some independent chains with new and different fitness and health concepts. Vida Fitness recently opened a U Street location last year with a rooftop \u201cPenthouse Club,\u201d featuring a private pool, fire pit and bar.\nWashington is one of the only markets in the country where the fitness industry continues to expand, according to John Bemis, executive vice president at Jones Lang LaSalle, and gyms in the area are moving aggressively in the slow economy. \u201cThey\u2019re taking advantage of not only lower rental rates, but they\u2019re taking advantage of opportunities for better locations,\u201d Bemis said.\nBemis said cost-friendly gyms such as Planet Fitness and the YMCA are faring well, alongside upscale gyms such as Equinox, which he said caters to people who \u201cwere not as negatively affected by the recession.\u201d\nAnother factor in the growth here is Washington\u2019s highly competitive apartment market, in which developers are racing to build or renovate new units in order to take advantage of rising rents and low vacancy rates. The race for top rental dollars has some apartment builders and managers emphasizing better fitness experiences for residents as a way of distinguishing their buildings.\nStonebridgeCarras, the developer who recently built Flats 130 at Constitution Square, a mixed-use apartment project in NoMa, put its two-story gym on the second and third floors, allowing members to look out on the street while they exercise. JBG Rosenfeld, which is building a mixed-use Tysons Corner project with a new Wal-Mart store, is putting a 24 Hour Fitness Health Club on top. JBG plans to build apartments for the project in future phases.\nGreystar, the country\u2019s largest manager of apartment units, is entering the Washington market for the first time and putting a heavy emphasis on quality gym space in its efforts to upgrade apartment properties and attract higher rents. In October, after Greystar announced a number of local acquisitions, Kevin Sheehan, managing director for local real estate, said building the biggest and most quality gym possible in apartment buildings would be key in beating the market.\n\u2014 Jonathan O\u2019Connell \nThe popularity of yoga has prompted some studios to devise unique business models to differentiate themselves in this crowded field.\nAfter months of management changes, Stroga, the nearly 2-year-old hybrid yoga studio in Adams Morgan, is starting to catch on.\n\u201cWhen I came on [in June 2011], Stroga wasn\u2019t really that well respected in the yoga community,\u201d said Angela Meyer, yoga and programs director at Stroga. \u201cNow, we have a name.\u201d\nStroga, the brainchild of Results Gym owner Doug Jefferies, is a cross between yoga and strength training. The studio, housed in the three-story L\u2019Aiglon Building, has added classes for kickboxing, capoeira and budokon \u2014 a blend of yoga, martial arts and animal movements \u2014 and this year will start a new teacher training program.\nRevenue has grown by 50 percent and membership has doubled between 2010 and 2011.\nThe studio\u2019s core team consists of Meyer, a general manager, accountant and assistant yoga director, and 10 part-time front office staff. And it faces the same challenges as any burgeoning business looking to grow and evolve, including turnover \u2014 Stroga is on its third general manager and second yoga director. Managers also sometimes have had a difficult time finding top talent in a market filled with independent yoga instructors and successful studios.\nJefferies first tried to hire Meyer as his yoga director last year, but at the time she had a noncompete contract with Down Dog Yoga in Georgetown, where she taught and managed for years. Meyer then moved to New York for a year, returned to Washington in June and promptly accepted the job at Stroga, which she says brought new opportunities to create and develop programs on her own terms.\n\u201cI really wanted to start a budokon program,\u201d Meyer said. \u201cI also wanted to be able to teach budokon, and I wouldn\u2019t have been able to do that at Down Dog. At Stroga, Doug trusts me, and he\u2019s given me so much freedom to create.\u201d\nStroga strives to become a community hub, and partners with the nonprofit Mission: Results to promote social and economic development in Haiti. The studio hosts donation-based Sunday night classes where all proceeds go to Mission: Results, and is organizing its first Haiti yoga relief trip later this month, which will bring 10 instructors and volunteers to teach English, hold daily yoga sessions and build a small farm and community center in the impoverished nation.\n\u2014 Catherine Ho \nThat New Year\u2019s pledge to shed a few extra pounds and kick up the exercise regimen might be best followed by a cold, frothy beer \u2014 at least that\u2019s the ethos of NAKID Social Sports.\nOne of Washington\u2019s many adult recreation leagues, NAKID (which stands for No, Adult Kickball Isn\u2019t Dumb) is a fitness haven for the decidedly unathletic.\n\u201cThe league started to really focus on the social aspects of sports, and to focus on the fact that we\u2019re a bunch of adults playing a children\u2019s game, so things shouldn\u2019t be taken too seriously,\u201d said Erin Reilly, executive vice president for events.\nThere\u2019s a decent business to be made of children\u2019s games it seems. Last year, the league attracted 10,000 participants from around the region to play kickball, volleyball, dodgeball and, most recently, flag football.\nBut the big draw for many of those who take part is the post-game trek to a nearby bar. Reilly said the league regularly hosts professional game nights, movie screenings and parties \u2014 all of which drive traffic to other neighborhood businesses.\nTucked in the shadow of the Capitol, My Brother\u2019s Place used to close its doors on Sundays. It\u2019s not a busy day for the nearby government employees that have kept its business humming for 31 years .\nBut the NAKID began hosting outdoor sports on the mall, and sending players to belly up to the bar. Now, when the league is in season, Sundays draw a rambunctious crowd sporting a rainbow of league T-shirts.\n\u201cFor us it\u2019s been very good, especially in the summer months,\u201d said co-owner and events coordinator Martin Scahill. \u201cBecause we\u2019re only located one block from the mall, it gives them a place to come that\u2019s easy walking distance to get affordable drinks and food.\u201d\nReilly said the league negotiates discounts for its members and requires that the bars serve Bud Light, one of the league\u2019s primary sponsors. NAKID also has partnerships with D.C. United, the Wizards and the Capitals for discounted game nights.\nFor the businesses, the arrangement brings new customers.\n\u201cIt\u2019s a very transient area,\u201d Scahill said. \u201cLots of young professionals are moving in and out of the area. It gives them an opportunity to interact and see what\u2019s going on.\u201d\n\u2014 Steven Overly \nSales for the fitness apparel industry worldwide in 2011, up 6.7 percent from 2010, according to research firm IBIS World."}, {"name": "8c95ab52-30a9-11e1-b034-d347de95dcfe", "body": "The payroll tax debate on Capitol Hill is putting a spotlight on taxes for everyone in 2012, but especially employers. While many of us like to avoid knowing too many of the details about how much we pay in taxes and where all the money goes, area employers should take note of the known new taxes that they\u2019ll be paying in the new year to budget for the increases.\nFor the past two years, payroll tax credits and tax cuts have benefitted both employers and employees. In 2010, Congress provided tax credits to employers for hiring new employees and in 2011 reduced the employees\u2019 share of the payroll tax by two percent. That means American workers making $50,000 kept an extra $1,000 in their pocket. Last month, President Obama signed into law a two-month extension of the current two percent reduced employee rate with the hopes of making it effective for the full year.\nRegardless of what Congress ultimately decides with the payroll tax, there are a couple of other taxes on the horizon that business owners need to be aware of. They include state and federal unemployment insurance taxes.\nBecause of the recession, one of the largest tax increases employers will continue to face is escalating unemployment insurance (UI) taxes. As many employers know, they pay the taxes to their states to fund the unemployment benefits provided to former employees who are out of work and collecting unemployment benefits. With more unemployed individuals who are collecting unemployment benefits for longer periods of time, these taxes are inevitably escalating to meet the growing need.\nEmployers may be shocked when they receive their unemployment insurance tax notices for 2012 between now and February. Maryland had an historic increase two years ago, in which some employers\u2019 unemployment insurance taxes grew by 400 percent. While the Maryland tax rate table will not change for 2012, many employers will see higher tax rates as the full impact of past layoffs affects their tax rate. Employers in Virginia and the District should also expect higher UI tax liabilities. The taxes will be due on April 30, 2012.\nThe recession has also taken a toll on federal unemployment taxes. Virginia and 20 other states were forced to borrow money from the federal UI trust fund to pay benefits. This will mean higher UI taxes (as much as 50 percent more per employee) for employers who operate in these states. These increased taxes will be due by January 31, 2012.\nNonprofits are also facing serious UI financing challenges, as many have opted for the reimbursement method of funding their UI costs. Under this method, the employer is required to pay only when benefits have been charged against their account. Unfortunately, the economic downturn has negatively affected some nonprofits and layoffs have occurred. These nonprofits now must pay dollar-for-dollar for each dollar in benefits paid.\nThus, if a \u201cseparated\u201d employee collects the full duration of regular benefits (26 weeks) and is eligible for $400 per week, the nonprofit will owe $10,400.\nFinally, the Social Security wage base has increased for the first time in three years, up to $110,100 for tax year 2012. For the past three years, the wage base was set at $106,800. In addition, Social Security recipients will receive a three percent cost of living raise in January. Paying for the 2012 cost of living increase will come as greater taxes are collected from employers, the self-employed and high-wage earners. High-wage earners seeing an increase in their Social Security taxes are the folks defined as those earning more than $110,100 in 2012.\nCharlie Wolf is chief executive of Payroll Network, an independently owned payroll management company operating in the Washington and Baltimore metropolitan areas."}, {"name": "6c22fff2-3237-11e1-b692-796029298414", "body": "Cognosante of McLean appointed Stephen Gantz vice president of health reform.\nEarth Networks of Germantown appointed Thomas Spendley, former vice president of software development at Thomson Reuters, vice president of engineering.\nInternational Foundation for Electoral Systems of the District appointed Judy A. Black, a policy director at Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, secretary of the board of directors.\nThe American Land Title Association of the District appointed Jessica McEwen, former legislative assistant to Rep. Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.), director of government affairs.\nThe Ballston Business Improvement District of Arlington appointed Tina Leone executive director.\nThe National Health Council of the District appointed Larry Hausner chairman, LaVarne A. Burton chairwoman-elect, Nancy Brown vice chairwoman, Eric Racine treasurer and Tom Wallace secretary.\nVienna Tysons Regional Chamber of Commerce of Vienna appointed Lisa F. Huffman, former vice president of business development for the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce, president.\nCoStar Group of the District appointed Rene Circ director of research industrial in the property and portfolio research division.\nNorthwest Federal Credit Union of Herndon appointed Jim Northington chief credit officer.\nSandy Spring Bank of Olney appointed Nina Baranchuck vice president and chief investment officer in the investment management and fiduciary services division.\nVirginia Commerce Bank of Arlington appointed Mark S. Merrill executive vice president and chief financial officer.\nBracewell & Giuliani of the District appointed Paul S. Maco partner.\nSend information about promotions, appointments and personnel moves in the Washington area to Appointments, Business News, The Washington Post, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071-5302, or to appointments@washpost.com."}, {"name": "c2b4843e-2be9-11e1-9952-55d90a4e2d6d", "body": "Company: Near Infinity.\n Location: Reston.\n Number of employees: 70.\nBrandon Marc-Aurele, 22, wasn\u2019t used to receiving gifts from his boss.\nSo when one arrived in his inbox earlier this year, he paid it no notice.\n\u201cI got an e-mail from my manager and assumed it was just more work,\u201d said Marc-Aurele, a junior software engineer at Near Infinity. \u201cI let it just sit there for a while before I opened it.\u201d\nThe e-mail turned out to include a $50 gift card to NewEgg.com, a computer parts site Marc-Aurele frequented.\n\u201cIt was so thoughtful,\u201d Marc-Aurele said. \u201cI wasn\u2019t expecting it at all.\u201d\nNear Infinity, a Reston-based software development company, gives managers $100 to spend on each employee every year.\nSome managers take their team on quarterly lunches, while others purchase gifts throughout the year.\n\u201cManagers love it because they don\u2019t have to come and ask us for approval if they want to do something nice for an employee,\u201d said Karen Upton, director of human resources.\nOver the summer, Caroline Wizeman took a group of interns and employees out for bowling. They left work after lunch, went to Bowl America in Sterling for a few games, then stopped for ice cream.\n\u201cIt\u2019s great because we can tailor rewards for our employees,\u201d said Wizeman, director of marketing and communications. \u201cLike, I wasn\u2019t going to take my team out for happy hour because so many of them weren\u2019t 21 yet.\u201d\nThe company keeps a running spreadsheet where employees can log their interests and hobbies, ranging from their favorite coffee shops and sports teams to coveted items they\u2019d never buy for themselves.\n\u201cThis really allows managers to get to know their employees and to thank them in a personal way,\u201d Upton said."}, {"name": "8eaa2058-2ccb-11e1-8af5-ec9a452f0164", "body": "In this current job market it is incredibly important to be able to outshine your competition in all stages of a job interview. I asked our top recruiters what their key tips were for those seeking new job opportunities. Here is what they had to say about the interview process.\nDo your research\nMake sure you have a working knowledge of the company, including its mission, products/services and industry. Acquire strategic information such as their core competencies and values. For instance, if you\u2019re interviewing with GE, your answers should reflect their five \u201cGrowth Leadership Traits.\u201d\nSpend a good deal of time researching and preparing for each interview you do. If you only spend 10 minutes researching a company and another interviewee spent three hours on their research, it will be very evident to recruiters. Do your homework and it will pay off in the end.\nBe relevant and concise\nWhen discussing your career accomplishments, make sure you match them to what the company is looking for. Tailor your resume to fit the company at which you are applying. Similarly, tailor your interview responses to focus on your strengths in a way that matches up with the specific position that is open as well as the values and mission of the company. Make sure you explain how you can create value for the company. Keep your answers concise, about two minutes in length. Going off on tangents and rambling turn off recruiters.\nBe engaged and don\u2019t dominate\nRecruiters like candidates who can partake in meaningful conversations, so be inquisitive and engaging. On the other hand, too much initiative can derail an exchange. Avoid overselling yourself. Remember that there is a fine line between confidence and arrogance. Also keep in mind that a conversation is a dialogue, not a monologue.\nAsk great questions\nPrepare a list of questions you want to ask the interviewer. Pose questions that demonstrate your knowledge of the organization and subtly convey your expertise. Ask pertinent questions to better understand what the recruiter is looking for (e.g., if you\u2019re attending a finance information session, don\u2019t ask questions about information systems or marketing). Avoid being overly aggressive \u2014 excessive questions can discourage potential employers.\nPractice makes perfect\nLike a stage actor, rehearsing will help you convey your ideas in an eloquent, persuasive and authentic manner. Prepare answers to commonly asked interview questions. Have five to 10 behavioral scenarios (e.g., \u201cTell me about a time you had to work cooperatively with someone who did not share your values or ideas\u201d; \u201cShare a time when you did not reach the expected goals of a project. What did you learn and what could you have done differently?\u201d; etc.) that you can readily access that demonstrate your skills, interests, strengths and what you can do to benefit the company. Practice with your mentors, your family members and your friends. Try recording or videotaping your responses so that you can replay the interview and see how well you did.\nRemember to say \u2018Thank you\u2019 and leave a positive impression\nIt might sound trivial, but those two words can go a long way. Say \u201cthank you\u201d to any recruiter you talk to, whether it is a brief meeting at a career fair or a full-fledged job interview. Send follow-up e-mails to thank them for their time and send \u201cthank you\u201d cards for interviews you are granted. It shows that you appreciate and respect the time they are taking to interview you and that you are really interested in the job. Keep your message short and simple and personalize your note so you can reinforce a positive and memorable impression. Also, be sure to reiterate your perceived fit with the job and your value to the firm. Doing so can definitely give you a leg up over a competitor.\nLooking for powerful results? With preparation, practice and focus you can ace interviews and assess which companies are the best fit for you. You\u2019ll also outshine the competition.\nJeffrey Kudisch is managing director of the Office of Career Services at the Robert H. Smith School of Business and a faculty expert in leadership, negotiations and human capital management. He has a Ph.D. in industrial and organizational psychology and he co-founded Personnel Assessment Systems Inc., a human resource consulting firm specializing in executive assessment and leadership development."}, {"name": "1c63af38-3198-11e1-a274-61fcdeecc5f5", "body": "Who: Jennifer Silberman, vice president of corporate responsibility.\nCompany: Hilton Worldwide.\nCharitable giving highlights: Hilton Worldwide gives about $1 million annually to the Washington region.\nTell me about the company\u2019s philanthropy.\nWe have four areas of focus that matter most to our business. First is creating opportunities, which focus on training future leaders in hospitality around the world to make hospitality an attractive business for young people. Second is strengthening communities, which is understanding the kinds of needs that make a community successful where our hotels are located, such as entrepreneurship, community development, disaster preparedness. Thirdly, celebrating cultures is where we bridge cultures through what we do everyday in our business, which is travel. Lastly is sustainability. We need natural resources to sustain our business so we think about the impact we have on those resources, such as repurposing waste.\nTell me about the new Global Soap Project partnership.\nWe need to repurpose soap otherwise it\u2019s going to end up in a landfill. We saw it as a great opportunity to not only minimize waste but also to repurpose it for community needs. Global Soap Project collects our used soap, breaks it down, makes it into new soap and distributes it to communities in need.\nHow did you get connected with them?\nThey were looking for a global hospitality partner. We approached them at a great time because we were really looking to get our arms around this issue and how we can be strategic with an organization as opposed to just a sponsorship relationship.\nWhat sealed the deal to choose Global Soap Project as a partner?\nIt\u2019s a great mission. Sometimes partnerships are really complicated. This one was a really easy concept. Their leadership was really important because they have several members that understand and have worked for global hospitality companies.\n\u2014 Interview with Vanessa Small "}, {"name": "8213c0f4-2cff-11e1-8af5-ec9a452f0164", "body": "Last November, after a long day of meetings, Dana Tai Soon Burgess, founder of a modern dance company in the District, opened a letter with disappointing news.\nThe District\u2019s Commission on Arts and Humanities informed him that it was unable to provide his organization with a grant this year. This was among a series of letters he\u2019d received from foundations, which were forced to redirect their dwindling funds from arts groups toward human services organizations.\nThe decision put Burgess\u2019s studio $51,000 in the red during that quarter \u2014 an amount that represented a fifth of its annual budget.\nBurgess found out just before heading to a rehearsal that night for the company\u2019s upcoming 20th anniversary spring show, now jeopardized by the funding cuts. He also had to consider shortening or terminating dancers\u2019 contracts and giving up its rental space.\n\u201cI just sat there for a couple hours after my heart palpitations passed and then I thought, \u2018Who would care enough about dance and the performing arts to help?\u2019\u201d Burgess said.\nAt the top of his list was Jane Cafritz, interior designer and founder of Jane R. Cafritz Antiques and Interiors in D.C.\nA lover of the arts and a Washington Ballet donor, she had been a regular supporter of Burgess\u2019s studio after seeing a show 10 years ago.\nWhen she received his e-mail, \u201cthere was no question in my mind whether or not to help,\u201d said Cafritz, who also called on an old friend, Georgiana Warner, to join in the challenge.\nThe three of them brainstormed ways to raise funds on a time crunch.\nThey began mailing letters and making phone calls to people familiar with the dance company, asking for gifts above $2,000.\n\u201cIt\u2019s so hard to ask because people get asked by so many organizations, but this was an emergency situation. We told them, \u2018You know Dana, and love his work. Can you help us out?\u2019\u201d Cafritz said.\nWithin weeks, pledges were made. Checks sent. And the giving circle was born.\nIn less than a month, the group raised $50,000, covering expenses into 2012.\n\u201cThe giving circle completely saved our spring and fall season,\u201d Burgess said.\nBurgess and his staff are now looking to use the giving circle to reach individual givers as government and foundation resources dry up.\n\u201cThis is a really wonderful start, at a very important juncture at our company turning 20, to turn to this direction to look for individual supporters that we haven\u2019t reached out to at this level,\u201d Burgess said.\nThe spring concert is set for April."}, {"name": "a552eada-2cc9-11e1-8af5-ec9a452f0164", "body": "Sometimes all an entrepreneur needs to hear about his or her venture is that he or she is on the right track and should definitely keep at it. For Darlene Duchene, receiving that sort of affirmation was all she needed to keep going strong with her entrepreneurial endeavor, Fish Window Cleaning.\nDuchene\n\u201cFish Window Cleaning is the largest commercial and residential window cleaning business in the country. Our company is headquartered in St. Louis, with four franchise locations in Maryland. As of April 2011, I am the owner of Fish Window Cleaning in Annapolis.\n\u201cOur window cleaners are licensed, bonded, insured, come in uniform and are trained professionals. We focus on cleaning from the ground up to five stories, and we also clean gutters, chandeliers, screens, mirrors, ceiling fans and those hard to reach and maintain windows.\n\u201cMy current challenge is with finding and keeping skilled window cleaners, which in turn makes it hard to grow the business. One aspect of this challenge is that our employees are doing manual labor and are required to do so whether it is 10 degrees or 100 degrees outside. Employees are paid by the job, not the hour, and they must have their own car to drive themselves to the job site.\n\u201cFor the right people who are independently motivated and like to work outside, it really is a great job. You are your own boss and can schedule as many cleanings in a week as you would like to do. But my challenge is finding and keeping these professional window cleaners. Right now I post the job listing on Craigslist and on SnagAJob.com. I hold group interviews to explain how the job works and bring back those who seem like they would be a great fit with the company. Still, I am having a hard time finding the right people.\n\u201cOne thing I have been meaning to pursue is reaching out to firefighters \u2014 they often work 24-hour shifts and have 72 hours off. A lot of them are looking for things to do during that break, and since you can make your own schedule at Fish, it seems like it would be a good fit. Plus, they are familiar with ladders and can definitely carry the weight of the window cleaning equipment.\u201d\nAsher Epstein, managing director, Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship\n\u201cThat is always a good question: How do you find those people who are self-motivated to do the work? I have to say that it sounds like you are doing all of the right things. Since you aren\u2019t looking to hire dozens of people right now and are just trying to get a handful of good window cleaners, I think the group interview is a great way to go about it. That way you are not spending too much time on each person, especially since the job will only be a good fit for a few of them. With Craigslist you will definitely get the most bang for your buck because it is free to post job listings on. And, if SnagAJob seems to be working and is inexpensive, I\u2019d stick with that too.\n\u201cKeep finding new and innovative ways to get in front of your target employees. I think the firefighter idea is really fantastic. I would definitely recommend you try to tap into that market and for the exact reasons you said \u2014 they are free for days at a time, could make their own schedule, are good with ladders and can lift the equipment. That could really be a nice relationship to develop with a local department. You are definitely thinking about your business differently and turning the model upside down.\n\u201cYou could also try to get hooked into the community college. Students would likely be interested in a job at which they can make their own hours. Overall, it sounds like you\u2019ve got the right strategy and I really wouldn\u2019t change much. Give it time and stick with it \u2014 it sounds like this is a very successful and proven model.\u201d\nDuchene\n\u201cThat is great to hear. I have no doubt that I\u2019ll be able to grow my franchise with time. I will also be sure to tap into the firefighter market in the very near future. I definitely think I could be on to something there.\u201d"}, {"name": "9cb90546-2cd6-11e1-8af5-ec9a452f0164", "body": "Columbia-based Corporate Office Properties Trust is selling off office buildings worth millions in an effort to position itself better as its core customers face tougher times.\nCOPT, a specialty real-estate investment trust, has focused on providing office space specifically designed for Defense Department bodies and defense contractors, often buying up space near bases. But analysts say the company has been hurt by cuts to government spending and the resulting hit to contractors.\nThe company \u201cwas exceptionally good at taking advantage of the growth of the federal government\u2019s overall budget,\u201d said John W. Guinee, managing director at Stifel Nicolaus. \u201cThat worked very, very well from Sept. 11 ,2001, until about a year ago, maybe even two years ago.\u201d\nLast month, COPT announced it is significantly expanding its strategic reallocation plan \u2014 or its strategy to sell certain properties more quickly \u2014 from $260 million in assets to $572 million. The company also said it was revising its earnings per share for the quarter ending Dec. 31 to reflect losses.\nWhen COPT announced its strategic reallocation plan in April, the company said the strategy would allow it to reduce its \u201cexposure to traditional suburban office buildings\u201d and increase its percentage of buildings serving its \u201csuper core customers,\u201d or government agencies and defense contractors.\n\u201cFrankly, from 2008 until recently it was a poor market for selling assets. We\u2019re using the current environment to catch up on some rational pruning,\u201d said Roger A. Waesche Jr., COPT\u2019s president, in an April call with investors.\nWaesche is in the process of taking over from Rand Griffin, COPT\u2019s chief executive since 2005, who announced in September that he would retire at the end of March.\nGuinee said the company now is trying to reposition by selling off assets it bought at the height of the market \u2014 in 2006 and 2007 \u2014 but have become less desirable.\n\u201cThe thing to do is to take [their] medicine and to sell all the assets that [they] think don\u2019t have any long-term growth potential,\u201d Guinee said. \u201cI don\u2019t really think they have any other choice.\u201d\nLast quarter, the company said it sold 15 properties of about 641,000 square feet and 13.7 acres of land, ringing up $52.2 million. Those sold include a property in the Hunt Valley area for $3.45 million; 13 properties and a small piece of land in the Rutherford Business Center in Woodlawn for $32.5 million; and White Marsh Commerce Center, made up of a 218,000-square-foot warehouse and 13.4 acres, for $16.25 million.\nSince announcing the plan in April, COPT said it has sold $76.7 million in properties.\nIn a report issued Dec. 6, BMO Capital Markets backed rapidly disposing of unwanted assets.\nWaesche \u201ccould look to quickly put his signature on the business by using the current point in time, when the stock is out of favor, to accelerate dispositions \u2014 a faster move to focus on its \u2018super-core\u2019 defense/IT niche,\u201d the analyst report said.\nGuinee said the company\u2019s sales now will position it better for the future.\n\u201cThey\u2019ll clearly be a stronger company a year from now,\u201d he said.\nCOPT, which declined to elaborate on its plans, has scheduled a Jan. 12 call with investors to provide guidance on 2012."}, {"name": "fdafa37c-2db3-11e1-8af5-ec9a452f0164", "body": "It happens every new year. Too many slices of fruitcake are devoured, buttoning the pants gets a little harder and working out starts looking a whole lot better.\nShedding a few pounds is one of the most popular New Year\u2019s resolutions. Any gym can attest to the influx of snowbirds after the holidays. You know the folks, the ones who take over the elliptical machines in the dead of winter, but fly away in the spring.\nThe Washington area, however, does have a healthy population of fitness buffs. So much so that the metropolitan area ranked as the healthiest and fittest place in the U.S. from 2008 to 2010, according to the American College of Sports Medicine.\nMinneapolis knocked our region out of the top spot last year because of the rise in smokers and cases of diabetes. Still, four out of five locals surveyed by the college reported exercising regularly.\nIt\u2019s no wonder that the Washington area is witnessing an explosion in gyms, yoga studios, running clubs and sports apparel stores in the past few years. We decided to take a look at how various segments of the local fitness industry are doing as the market is gaining more attention."}, {"name": "dc1b1862-2daf-11e1-b030-3ff399cf26f3", "body": "Happy New Year! But before we get too far into 2012, let\u2019s check in with some of the people I wrote about in 2011.\nChristy Winton got an inadvertent lesson in how mean the Internet can be. In October, Christy\u2019s 79-year-old mom, Joy Bricker, moved out of the TownePlace Suites by Marriott in Falls Church where she\u2019d lived for 10 years. I wrote about how Joy was moving to New York state to live in the farmhouse Christy rents.\n\u201cSome of the retaliation toward me was not nice,\u201d Christy told me when I called her recently. Some online commenters said anyone who let their mother live in a hotel for 10 years must be an awful daughter.\n\u201cThat was where she wanted to be,\u201d Christy said. \u201cIt\u2019s amazing the perception people get when they read stories. And the negativity. .\u2009.\u2009. Just shows you how people are.\u201d\nBut there was plenty of good, too. The coverage \u2014 in my column, on CNN, in the Huffington Post \u2014 helped Joy reconnect with people she\u2019d known over the years.\n\u201cIt\u2019s an adjustment, of course,\u201d Christy said of her mother\u2019s new rural life. \u201cBut she\u2019 a very adaptable person.\u201d\nThen Joy shouted over the phone: \u201cI plan to be in Washington in 2012!\u201d\nConcepcion Picciotto has had an unusual living arrangement, too. She\u2019s the peace activist who since 1981 has mounted a vigil in front of the White House.\nWhile she spends the majority of every day and night in her makeshift camp in Lafayette Park, Concepcion retreats for a few hours each day to a house on 12th Street NW to shower and eat. That house is for sale, and it looked like Concepcion would have to leave.\nShe\u2019s still able to use the house, she told me last week. While she and owner Ellen Benjamin \u2014 who inherited the house when her peace activist husband William Thomas Hallenback died in 2009 but who does not live there \u2014 still don\u2019t get along, Concepcion is being allowed to stay for now.\n\u201cI\u2019m in limbo,\u201d she told me.\nEllen said two people have expressed interest in buying the Peace House, one of whom is connected with the Occupy D.C. movement. Both have assured her that they would like to use the house as a headquarters for activists. It would be up to the new owner whether Concepcion could stay.\nThere\u2019s nothing sadder than a locked library, and that was the state of things when I last wrote about the Historical Society of Washington. The handsome Kiplinger Library, gem of the society\u2019s headquarters at Mount Vernon Square, had been forced to close, the most visible victim of the society\u2019s slow slide into insolvency.\nA savior came in the form of the agency that runs the D.C. convention center. It will operate a visitors center in the old Carnegie Library building and take over the site\u2019s expensive overhead.\nThe Kiplinger Library\u2019s doors are still locked, but they will be open Jan. 16 \u2014 Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The hope is to open the library two days a week after that.\nSo, we still have to wait \u2014 and two days a week is a fraction of how often the library used to be open \u2014 but it\u2019s better than nothing. What\u2019s more, the society just got a donation of fascinating graphical materials that show the evolving landscape of Washington. The collection, more than 4,000 pieces, was assembled over the years by Kiplinger Washington Editors, the personal-finance publishers, headed today by major Washington history buff Knight Kiplinger. It includes maps, paintings panoramic prints, photographs by Mathew Brady. There\u2019s even a receipt for a D.C. dog licensing fee, signed by Thomas Carbery, the city\u2019s mayor from 1822 to 1824.\nThere\u2019s barely a week left to make a difference in our 2011 fundraising drive for Children\u2019s National Medical Center. The campaign ends Friday. Why should you donate? To help ensure that Children\u2019s Hospital can do what it\u2019s done since being founded in 1870: treat every child, no matter how much money he or she may have.\nTo make a tax-deductible donation to the hospital\u2019s uncompensated care fund, go to washingtonpost.com/childrenshospital, or send a check or money order (payable to Children\u2019s Hospital) to Washington Post Campaign, P.O. Box 17390, Baltimore, Md. 21297-1390.\nDonors who give $250 or more will receive a $20 gift certificate to the Chef Geoff family of restaurants."}, {"name": "d7a6a3fc-2d26-11e1-b030-3ff399cf26f3", "body": "Nevermind that it\u2019s a federal holiday. And nevermind that the vast majority of Washington area schoolchildren will be snoozing late, savoring their last day of winter break.\nOn Monday morning, a few students are headed to class.\nSchools opened their doors Jan. 2 in Alexandria and Howard, St. Mary\u2019s and Charles counties, while elsewhere in the region \u2014 and in eight of the nation\u2019s 10 largest school systems \u2014 students are free to enjoy the nation\u2019s official celebration of New Year\u2019s Day.\nSome parents in Alexandria, home to thousands of federal workers and countless others who follow the federal calendar, assumed their kids would have the day off. As 2012 approached, they were not pleased to discover otherwise.\nMatt Petersen said he would keep his two children home despite initial objections from his fifth-grade daughter, who fretted about ruining her perfect attendance record.\n\u201cWe won\u2019t literally be out of town,\u201d he said, \u201cbut it\u2019s one of the main holidays on the calendar, and it\u2019s just inappropriate for them to have class.\u201d\nOthers see an unequivocal upside.\n\u201cI was very surprised that the kids were going to be in school Monday, but once I thought about it \u2014 it\u2019s great!\u201d said Scott Boggess, also of Alexandria. \u201cMy wife and I are going to go out to eat a nice lunch and to see a movie that\u2019s not animated.\u201d\nSchool boards discuss and approve academic calendars the way they do most of their business: in public but without much of an audience. Alexandrians did not object to schools being in session Jan. 2 before the Alexandria School Board voted on the matter in May, said chairwoman Sheryl Gorsuch.\nShe said those who are peeved might blame Virginia\u2019s so-called \u201cKings Dominion law.\u201d It prohibits schools from opening before Labor Day and makes it difficult, Gorsuch said, to shoehorn enough instructional days into the calendar before standardized tests are administered in the spring.\nMoreover, not every parent has a paid holiday Monday.\n\u201cThere\u2019s a big voice out there that\u2019s just as happy to have their kids go back to school on January 2nd, because they\u2019re going back to work,\u201d Gorsuch said.\nRead more on PostLocal.com: \nNew Year\u2019s baby a precious surprise\nViola Drath: A remarkable life hijacked\nGetting a handle on the new bag tax\nTwo killed in New Year\u2019s crash in Bethesda"}, {"name": "5b0a7ae4-1cff-11e1-a1c9-d8aff05dec82", "body": "THE BOY IN THE SUITCASE\nBy Lene Kaaberbol and Agnete Friis\nTranslated from the Danish by Lene Kaaberbol\nSoho. 313 pp. $24\nNovels about stolen children are emotionally hard for most readers to handle, and yet they are instantly compelling because so much is at stake: a child\u2019s tender psyche or even life. With a mystery about a stolen inheritance or even a great painting filched from a museum, it\u2019s easy enough to assume a commonsensical Buddhist point of view: In the end, it\u2019s only stuff. But when a 3-year-old is forcibly taken from his anguished mother, as happens in this terrific Danish thriller, you know you\u2019re in for a frantic read. Is this \u201cfun\u201d? Yes and no. What\u2019s for sure is that, once you start reading, you can\u2019t stop \u2014 it\u2019s as if the poor kid\u2019s life depends on your getting to the end as fast as possible.\nEven the title of this first in a series by two Danish writers with their own careers \u2014 Lene Kaaberbol does fantasy, Agnete Friis writes children\u2019s books \u2014 induces apprehension and dread. The boy in the suitcase is exactly that: a naked tot, drugged but alive, who turns up in a suitcase in the Copenhagen railway station. It takes a while to learn much about Karin Kongsted, the woman who left the boy there, but the woman who finds him, Nina Borg, is wonderfully, painfully vivid right away. She\u2019s the central figure in this new series \u2014 a Red Cross nurse with a social conscience so robust that she sometimes neglects her husband and children to help maltreated refugees and illegal immigrants.\nKaaberol and Friis have packed plenty of depressing information about human trafficking into their labyrinthine tale, much of it related to poverty and social breakdown in the Eastern European countries once dominated by the Soviet Union. Most of the novel\u2019s richness, however, comes from the supple rendering of the two mothers whose stories are told on parallel tracks. Borg is all too believable, a nurse who \u201ccould always be counted on. She led a remarkably efficient one-woman crusade to save the world,\u201d according to her exasperated husband. \u201cIt was only her own family who could reduce her to abject helplessness.\u201d\nYou keep rooting for this basically decent woman to get her act together, while even more wrenching is the dilemma facing Sigita Ramoskiene in Vilnius, Lithuania. While the father of her little boy, Mikas, is off working in Germany, a strange woman at a playground lures the boy to her with chocolate. She and her sadistic Polish boyfriend then drug Sigita and make off with her child. Sigita wakes up in a hospital. The police wrongly suspect her of being a drunk and a bad mother. As a refugee from a dysfunctional rural family, Sigita has no one to help her find her boy. \u201cShe did not want to admit to [a police detective] just how alone she was. It was shameful, like some embarrassing disease.\u201d Sigita is forced to draw on reserves of strength and cunning she didn\u2019t know she had as she maneuvers desperately to find her child.\nBorg\u2019s reason for not simply taking the found boy to the police is not entirely plausible: The bad Pole has spotted her at the train station and is soon chasing her around Denmark, and she has lost her cellphone. Well, okay. . . . The suspense is nonetheless abundant, with scenes like the one where a man who plans on purchasing the boy is stuck on an airliner that keeps losing its place in the takeoff queue while the fate of the boy hangs by a thread. Another ticking-clock element is Borg\u2019s search for someone \u2014 practically anyone \u2014 who speaks the boy\u2019s language so she can find out who he is.\nThis series debut \u2014 translated with assurance by Kaaberbol \u2014 looks like another winning entry in the emotionally lacerating Scandinavian mystery sweepstakes."}, {"name": "41395194-323a-11e1-b692-796029298414", "body": "DES MOINES \u2014 At nearly every event, Ron Paul begins on a high note. He generally smiles, introduces a member of his family, talks up his campaign and says how pleased he is with the way things are going.\nAnd then, for the next 45 minutes or so, he outlines a view of the world so bleak it would make Chicken Little sound like an optimist.\nThere will be a total collapse of the economy. An eruption of violence in the streets. Martial law is just around the corner.\nPaul says he would like to cut $1\u00a0trillion out of the budget.\n\u201cPeople say that means everybody will suffer,\u201d he adds. Some probably will, he concedes, but \u201cthey should have to suffer.\u201d\nAnd then there are the sorts of ominous predictions he made at an evening rally here Wednesday: \u201cThere are certain events that are coming that are going to happen \u2014 they are going to be very dangerous. They might come in a day, a week or a year.\u201d\nNot exactly morning in America.\nPaul\u2019s sky-is-falling message goes against everything a successful American politician is supposed to do. In the land of hope and change, where a little malaise can undercut a campaign, it is almost always the sunniest candidate who succeeds.\nBut the Republican congressman from Texas is betting that the usual optimism and laundry list of promises \u2014 millions of jobs, bringing people together, changing the tone in Washington \u2014 is not what voters want to hear this year. The latest Iowa polls, which show Paul in a virtual tie for first place with Mitt Romney ahead of Tuesday\u2019s caucuses, suggest that he has found an audience.\n\u201cI want someone to give it to me straight. We aren\u2019t getting a lot of fluff, and he isn\u2019t offering us a prize or a present or something to make us feel good,\u201d said Tom Icatar, 65, who saw Paul at a West Des Moines town hall. \u201cI think he\u2019s been consistent and honest. He is giving people the bitter medicine they need to have.\u201d\nJordan Sorensen, 23, of Adele, Iowa, said after an event in Perry that \u201cwe\u2019ve heard the same old political talk of promising this and that. Ron Paul isn\u2019t the most brilliant speaker, he isn\u2019t great with rhetoric, but it\u2019s refreshing for me to hear something that\u2019s more truthful. He is realistic about what he is working with, and he is less full of it.\u201d\nThe fact that Paul is resonating with some voters is more reflective of the moment than the man. Paul has long spoken in such apocalyptic terms, but after years of war and financial hardship, his leave-\u2019em-alone foreign policy and get-the-government-off-my-lawn domestic approach is a match for the times. And to his backers, his anti-politician demeanor confirms their sense that he\u2019s telling the truth, unlike what they see as a bunch of overproduced alternatives.\n\u201cThe others are political-machinery people. They change their message to tell us what we want to hear, not what\u2019s actually needed,\u201d Steve Chase, 63, said at the event in Perry. Paul, he said, is \u201cthe least likely to create a situation that will lead to the destruction of everything.\u201d\nMost of Paul\u2019s rivals also lay out the difficulties America faces \u2014 it\u2019s just that it\u2019s not all they focus on.\nGov. Rick Perry, in ads and on the stump, talks up his faith and his idyllic childhood in Paint Creek, Tex., where he says he learned the value of hard work. He touts the millions of jobs created in Texas on his watch and how domestic energy production can create many millions more.\nIn Romney\u2019s ads, there are green fields, kids playing baseball, factory workers strolling on the shop floor, and soundtracks of soothing music as the candidate strolls hand in hand with his wife, Ann.\nAnd in his speeches, Romney quotes \u201cAmerica the Beautiful,\u201d promises more and better jobs (11 million to be exact) and invokes what he sees as a pre-Obama heyday linked to Ronald Reagan.\n\u201cI\u2019m asking each of you to remember how special it is to be an American,\u201d Romney said in Davenport on Tuesday. \u201cThat America is still out there. We still believe in that America. We still believe in that shining city on a hill. We still believe in the America that brings out the best in all of us, that challenges each of us to be better and bigger than ourselves.\u201d\nThe speech later became the basis for a Romney ad called \u201cAmerican Optimism.\u201d\nPaul offers little of this. His ads and rhetoric are filled with images of destruction and decline. There are shuttered stores, dark clouds, barking dogs, and federal department buildings lined up for destruction all set to to urgent music.\nPaul says sanctions on Iran will lead to another useless and costly foreign war. Mounting debts and more bailouts will lead to the government printing more money, which will make the dollar worthless. The latest bill to fund the Defense Department is a slip into tyranny.\n\u201cIf we continue to do what we do, if we have runaway inflation, everybody gets thrown out on the streets, because the whole thing comes down on our head,\u201d he said last week at a town hall at the Iowa Speedway in Newton, in front of about 200 people.\nAt another stop, he said: \u201cIf we continue to [spend money overseas], we will have an economic calamity, we will have runaway inflation . . . we will have violence in the streets, and that will be very, very dangerous.\u201d\nPaul does offer a solution to avoid all the calamity he sees \u2014 lawmakers should just follow what\u2019s laid out in the Constitution \u2014 but he makes no promises to directly improve people\u2019s lives.\n\u201cAll of a sudden, people are tired of the wars, they are tired of this economy, they are tired of the Federal Reserve, they are tired of Congress spending a lot of money, and they are looking for some change,\u201d Paul said, summing up the state of mind of his audiences. \u201cAnd I am suggesting one significant change. Why don\u2019t we just follow the Constitution?\u201d\nThere is one radical change Paul likes: the Internet.\n\u201cFortunately we\u2019re able to get some information out, and a lot of what we\u2019ve done in our campaign makes use of the Internet,\u201d Paul said at a rally in Des Moines.\nAs might be expected, however, Paul anticipates a problem or two on that front as well.\n\u201cBut also,\u201d he went on to say, \u201cthere\u2019s an attack on the Internet now.\u201d"}, {"name": "38e709f4-302e-11e1-8149-868dd2c9e12e", "body": "Chris Masters enjoys a well-made suit. But recently he has been looking for a place to buy them other than frenzied department stores where women\u2019s clothes dominate the sales floor.\nThat\u2019s why Masters treks to the appointment-only menswear boutique Alton Lane in Dupont Circle for custom ensembles.\nClients in the newly opened third-floor showroom are escorted into a fitting room to be measured by a body scanner that captures as many as 400 measurements in 30 seconds. A stylist then uses the reading to pencil in an order for a form-fitted suit at a starting price of $500. The high-tech encounter scored points with Masters, as did the men\u2019s club ambiance, complete with flat-screen TV and leather sofas.\n\u201cWomen are not the only ones that put extra care into their appearance,\u201d said Masters, director of marketing for a real estate firm in Alexandria. \u201cIt\u2019s nice to see more stores recognizing that this area is full of sophisticated men that want to look good.\u201d\nAlton Lane, originally a New York City boutique, opened its first branch in Washington recently as part of a resurgence in menswear that has drawn new retailers to the market, while spurring the expansion of existing stores in the past year.\nJack Spade brought its messenger bags and crewneck sweaters to Georgetown in September, just as HMX Group introduced the Streets of Georgetown, featuring an assortment of its brands such as Hickey Freeman and Bobby Jones. Brooks Brothers, meanwhile, turned on the lights at its sixth location in the area about the same time.\nThere are dozens of area department, specialty and discount stores that carry men\u2019s suits and sportwear. But the new shops are fueling a nascent movement in local retail catering to men who are interested in tailored suits and custom jeans.\nGuys across the country are buying slacks, shirts and coats at a pace that exceeds women. Sales of U.S. menswear climbed 6.5\u00a0percent to $53.7\u00a0billion through October, eclipsing the 1.5\u00a0percent gain in women\u2019s wear during the same period, according to market research firm NPD Group.\nMen retreated from shopping after the recession but are at a point where they need to replenish their wardrobes, said NPD retail analyst Marshal Cohen. He suspects that men are also keenly aware of their appearance as they attempt to keep or seek out employment.\n\u201cIt\u2019s no longer good enough to look like you just rolled out of bed and went to work,\u201d Cohen said. \u201cGuys are dressing better to separate themselves from the competition, which we haven\u2019t seen in decades.\u201d\nResponding to the trend, designer Vera Wang is making a foray into men\u2019s formal wear, while Isaac Mizrahi\u2019s label is set to bring out a collection of dress shirts and neckties, analysts note.\nHakob Stepanyan, a 26-year-old research associate at an investment firm in Arlington County, admits that he spends more on shirts and slacks these days to make an impression at work.\n\u201cI\u2019m more selective about what I wear than I was in college, because you have to dress the part to get ahead,\u201d he said. \u201cValue and durability also mean a lot more.\u201d\nAlton Lane has surpassed 3,000 customers and $3\u00a0million in sales without advertising. The company sources fabrics from 10 mills in Europe and has the clothing made by tailors in Southeast Asia. The stores are tucked away on side streets, rather than along fashion rows such as Fifth Avenue or M Street, and welcomes clients by appointment only.\n\u201cThe retail industry runs on brand inflation \u2014 the $3,000 Prada suit doesn\u2019t cost close to that to make, but they\u2019re paying for the Fifth Avenue address and ads,\u201d said Colin Hunter, a co-owner of Alton Lane who met his partner, Peyton Jenkins, while attending the University of Virginia 12 years ago. \u201cThere are ways to offer a more honest pricing structure that\u2019s focused on a better shopping experience for guys.\u201d\nThe approach of Alton Lane mirrors that of homegrown haberdashery Lost Boys on 31st Street in Georgetown. Owner Kelly Muccio created a space in 2008 where guys can kick back in a leather recliner and watch a little James Bond, while her team pulls together an entire wardrobe for $250 an hour.\nThis \u201cstyle bar,\u201d as she calls it, has become so popular that Muccio expanded her ground-floor operations upstairs for the Black Room, a members-only studio that debuted on Black Friday. Guests are treated to cocktails as Muccio offers personal styling and consultation starting at $600.\nMuccio says her frequent clients include executives, government officials and local celebrities. She would not reveal names.\n\u201cWashington is a very important market for retailers,\u201d said Robert Hensely, executive vice president of store operations at Jos. A. Bank of Hampstead, near Baltimore. \u201cThe growth of collateral industries associated with the federal government, be it lobbying or communications, works hand in hand with our fashion.\u201d"}, {"name": "ed3bb34a-333b-11e1-825f-dabc29fd7071", "body": "Stephen J. McCormick, 97, a White House radio correspondent in the 1930s, who later was the host of Washington-based news programs for NBC-TV, died Nov. 30 at a rehabilitation facility in Bar Harbor, Maine.\nHe had congestive heart failure, his daughter said.\nMr. McCormick came to Washington in the mid-1930s and worked for a local radio station before joining the Mutual Broadcasting System. He broadcast the \u201cfireside chats\u201d of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, went on to cover three other presidents and became a top executive for the Mutual network.\nBeginning in 1954, Mr. McCormick was the host of two public affairs programs broadcast nationally by NBC-TV, \u201cThe American Forum\u201d and \u201cYouth Wants to Know.\u201d\nWith \u201cAmerican Forum,\u201d he served as moderator between two people arguing opposite points of a public issue. \u201cYouth Wants to Know\u201d was an interview show in which children and teens asked questions of politicians and other public figures in the news.\n\u201cThe moderator must be neutral,\u201d Mr. McCormick told The Washington Post in 1956, describing the role of a news-show moderator. \u201cNo public affairs discussion program can last for very long if word gets around that the moderator favors one point of view. Guests will just refuse to take part in the show.\u201d\nIn March 1956, Sen. John F. Kennedy (D-Mass.) appeared on \u201cYouth Wants to Know\u201d and was asked if he would consider accepting an offer to be a vice presidential candidate.\n\u201cI think it\u2019s a bad idea in politics and every other kind of job to accept or refuse things which have not and probably will not be offered to you,\u201d Kennedy replied.\n\u201cI suppose it\u2019s like saying to a girl, \u2018If I asked you to marry me, and I\u2019m not asking you to marry me, would you marry me?\u2019 I suppose, when the time comes, we can make a better judgment on it.\u201d\nAmid gentle laughter, Mr. McCormick added, \u201cI wouldn\u2019t be surprised, after reading about you for many years, Senator, if we had a lot of girls who were thinking of marrying you.\u201d\nStephen Joseph McCormick was born May 4, 1914, in Taunton, Mass., and attended Boston University before coming to Washington.\nDuring World War II, he served in the Army in the Pacific and received the Bronze Star Medal for service during the Battle of Saipan. He stayed in the Army reserve for many years, reaching the rank of lieutenant colonel.\nMr. McCormick\u2019s television career was at its height in the 1950s. He played himself in the 1959 Doris Day-Jack Lemmon film \u201cIt Happened to Jane.\u201d\nBy 1960, he had returned to radio as a vice president in charge of the Mutual Broadcasting System\u2019s Washington operation. He continued to appear on the air, with news and interview shows, well into the 1970s.\nMr. McCormick was Mutual\u2019s anchor at national political conventions for 20 years and also produced and directed the network\u2019s coverage of the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo manned spaceflights. He sometimes contributed feature stories to the BBC.\nHe lived in Alexandria and Potomac for many years before moving to Swan\u2019s Island, Maine, about five years ago. He was a founding member of the Radio and Television Correspondents Association and was a member of the White House Correspondents Association, National Press Club and Army and Navy Club.\nA daughter, Patricia Delano, died in 2010.\nSurvivors include his wife of 66 years, Theo Henelt McCormick of Swan\u2019s Island; daughter Teddi Harrison of Carlsbad, N.M.; and five grandchildren.\nIn describing his broadcasting style in 1956, Mr. McCormick called himself \u201cthe greatest neutral in Washington.\u201d\n\u201cI have absolutely no opinions when I\u2019m on the air,\u201d he told The Post, \u201cand I have very few opinions when I\u2019m off the air.\u201d"}, {"name": "fe7d6ba0-34bf-11e1-81ef-eaf2bd09c8a2", "body": "PHILADELPHIA \u2013 In a performance befitting their dismal, error- and injury-plagued campaign, the Washington Redskins stumbled their way through a 34-10 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in their final game of the season Sunday.\nThe Redskins have been plagued by mental gaffes, turnovers, injuries to key players and flat-out poor play all season long.\nSunday\u2019s game was no different.\nRex Grossman kept team and individual turnover streaks intact with his 20th interception of the season. Poor tackling and breakdowns in pass coverage led to big scoring plays for the Eagles (8-8). Ineffective red-zone play and penalties kept the Redskins from scoring.\nAt one point, the Redskins had both running backs Roy Helu and Evan Royster on trainer\u2019s tables, receiving treatment from the medical staff. Linebacker Brian Orakpo missed the second half with a pectoral muscle injury. There was a 21-point fourth-quarter collapse. And of course, the package wouldn\u2019t have been complete without a blocked field goal, so Washington allowed one of those as well.\nThe primary bright spots of the game for Washington were a 47-yard touchdown reception by Helu, a second straight 100-yard rushing outing by Royster (20 carries, 113 yards) and two sacks by Orakpo, who finished the season with nine, the third straight year he has led the team. It also made Orakpo the first Redskins player since Dexter Manley in the 1980s to record at least eight sacks in three consecutive seasons.\nBut beyond that, highlights were few for the Redskins. The Eagles, in contrast, racked up 390 yards of offense \u2014 190 of them in the fourth quarter \u2014 and had three pass-catchers with at least 86 receiving yards apiece. Washington\u2019s defense gave up at least 30 points for the fourth time in the last five games, and the 24-point loss was the Redskins\u2019 largest margin of defeat this season.\nSo ended the worst year in Mike Shanahan\u2019s 17 full seasons as a head coach.\nThe 5-11 finish was worse than a pair of 6-10 campaigns recorded by Shanahan last year and in 1999. It also gave Shanahan an 11-21 record in his first two seasons with the Redskins, who went 12-20 in the two seasons led by former coach Jim Zorn prior to Shanahan\u2019s arrival.\nIt also marked a third consecutive losing season for one of the NFL\u2019s most storied franchises, and the eighth time in the last 10 seasons that the Redskins have failed to post a winning record.\nThe Redskins\u2019 standing in the NFC East already had been determined prior to Sunday\u2019s game. For the fourth consecutive year, they finished last in the division.\nBy virtue of their record and following strength-of-schedule determinations, the Redskins learned on Sunday that they will hold the sixth overall pick in April\u2019s draft.\n\u201cExtremely frustrating to lose 11 ballgames, another game to a divisional opponent,\u201d said linebacker London Fletcher. \u201cFelt like we played good football in the first half, and then in the fourth quarter, it got away from us. . . . Not enough good football for 60 minutes.\u201d\nThe Redskins trailed 10-0 at halftime and saw their best chance for an early touchdown slip through their hands midway through the first quarter. On third and nine from the Philadelphia 43, Grossman had Santana Moss open running down the center of the field. Grossman\u2019s pass was slightly underthrown, and Moss had to slow up for it, but the ball slipped between Moss\u2019s arms for an incompletion at the goal line.\nAnd then came an unfortunate second quarter, which featured the same misfortunes that have plagued the Redskins all season.\nOn the third play of the quarter, wide receiver Anthony Armstrong had slipped past two defenders 54 yards downfield. But Grossman\u2019s underthrown pass bounced off the helmet of cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and into the hands of safety Nate Allen at the Philadelphia 7-yard line. Allen returned the interception 31 yards. It marked the 13th consecutive game with a turnover for Grossman, who finished the game 22 for 45 for 256 yards, a touchdown and an interception, and for the Redskins, a league-worst 30th straight game with at least one turnover.\nLater the same quarter, place kicker Graham Gano lined up for a field goal at the Philadelphia 18-yard line only to have it blocked as the Eagles mowed down the right side of the line and Derek Landri batted the ball down. That gave Washington its league-worst fifth blocked field goal of the season and Gano his 10th failed field goal attempt.\nPhiladelphia scored on a seven-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Michael Vick to wide receiver Chad Hall, who slipped feeble tackle attempts by DeAngelo Hall and Perry Riley and stepped into the end zone.\nThe Redskins moved to the Philadelphia 35 before turning over the ball on downs with 44 seconds left, but Orakpo sacked Vick and forced a fumble, and Washington recovered at the 17.\nThe Redskins, who had no timeouts left, reached the 4-yard line, but Grossman threw an incompletion in the end zone to Moss. The receiver thought he had been interfered with and took off his helmet while arguing the non-call, drawing an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that backed Washington up 15 yards with 23 seconds left.\n\u201cI\u2019ve been a Redskin for seven years. I can\u2019t tell you when things went our way when it comes to stuff like that,\u201d Moss said after the game, still upset. \u201cI just have to learn how to deal with it, put it behind me.\u201d\nTwo plays later, the Redskins reached the 7-yard line, but couldn\u2019t stop the clock and couldn\u2019t get lined up in time to try a field goal. They entered halftime without a point.\nWashington\u2019s best play of the game came eight plays into the third quarter when Grossman hit running back Helu on a screen pass, and the rookie turned upfield, got a block by guard Maurice Hurt, and another downfield from wide receiver Niles Paul to score on the 47-yard play.\nDespite their struggles, Washington entered the fourth quarter having allowed only 200 total yards, and less than two minutes in, a Gano field goal cut the lead to 13-10.\nBut three plays later, Vick completed a 62-yard pass to DeSean Jackson, who ran a post route and got behind cornerback Josh Wilson and safety Oshiomogho Atogwe. That proved the tipping point. Vick later completed a four-yard scoring toss to tight end Brent Celek with 5 minutes 56 seconds left and, with 1:56 remaining, running back Dion Lewis scored on a nine-yard run for the final score.\n\u201cI thought it was competitive until the post route,\u201d Shanahan said. \u201cWe really had a chance for three quarters, but when you\u2019re 0 for 3 in the red zone, you don\u2019t win games. We had moved the ball against them as much as anybody had moved it against them. They were giving up 225 yards a game and we had that at halftime. But we didn\u2019t score points. . . . You can\u2019t go on the road and win games like that.\u201d"}, {"name": "c0556f00-2b21-11e1-bbb4-584e01ef538d", "body": "It was a first for Texas: a state office devoted to consumers struggling to find affordable health insurance coverage. With funds from the federal health reform law, the Texas Consumer Health Assistance Program was launched last January.\nA $2.8\u00a0million grant allowed the state to hire nine employees to staff a toll-free hotline. More than 6,000 Texans called in during the past year, seeking advice on how to find affordable coverage, or help filling out an insurance application, or fighting a denied claim. The new employees traversed the state, hosting more than 160 events aimed at making Texans \u2014 a quarter of whom lack insurance \u2014 more aware of coverage options.\n\u201cThe grant provided us with the opportunity to .\u2009.\u2009. actually take the 20 or 30 minutes, or however long, to help someone complete an application,\u201d said Audrey Seldin, senior associate commissioner for consumer protection at the Texas Department of Insurance, which oversees the program.\nBut less than a year after it opened, the Texas Consumer Health Assistance Program is preparing to shut down, a victim of Congress\u2019s inability to agree on a federal budget for next year. The nine employees are likely to be dismissed in April. The events will stop and the toll-free hotline will redirect to a general consumer assistance number at the Texas Department of Insurance, which deals with all kinds of insurance and has less expertise in health coverage.\nTexas is among the 35 states that received health reform grants to build consumer assistance programs more than a year ago. The Affordable Care Act of 2010 set aside nearly $30\u00a0million to fund the program in 2010, which states have used to handle questions about how to obtain affordable health coverage or appeal denied insurance claims.\nThe health reform law also authorized future funding for the consumer assistance program, but left it to Congress to appropriate that money \u2014 in contrast to most other provisions in the law, which were automatically funded into the future. When the House and Senate failed to pass a budget last year, operating instead on a short-term fix that continued all existing appropriated programs, the consumer assistance program was shut out.\n\u201cI don\u2019t know that, while health reform was being debated, any of us understood how hard it would be to get additional funding going forward,\u201d said Christine Barber, a senior policy analyst with Community Catalyst, a Boston-based community advocacy group that has worked with many of the new programs.\nBarber and other consumer advocates say the funding could not have run out at a worse time. The federal health reform law has left more Americans with questions about how health insurance is changing. Those are likely to increase as the law is expected to expand coverage to 32\u00a0million more Americans by 2019.\n\u201cI have a little bit of a nightmare about what will happen\u201d when the funding runs out, said Victoria Veltri, who oversees Connecticut\u2019s grant and is currently looking to the state or private foundations to continue her program. \u201cI won\u2019t stop searching for funding.\u201d\nConnecticut has run ads on television and the sides of buses letting residents know about its services, while Maine has begun representing those denied claims by insurance companies in appeals courts. Since the grant started, Maine Consumers for Affordable Care has netted consumers $23,000 in insurance appeals, with an additional $53,000 on the line in pending cases.\n\u201cWe haven\u2019t lost one yet,\u201d Mia Poliquin Pross, associate director of the Maine consumer assistance program, said of the claim denials her two attorneys have appealed. \u201cWe would really like to ramp up that portion of the work.\u201d\nThe consumer assistance programs have also served as an informal monitor of health insurance materials and policies, often tipped off by consumers\u2019 questions. Multiple states, including Massachusetts and New York, have reported back to the federal government certain insurers that are out of compliance with a given health reform provision, or are incorrectly advertising their services.\nAs many states expect to exhaust their funds in the spring, they are preparing in different ways. A few, like Texas, have already decided to shut down their programs. The Arkansas Department of Insurance also plans to shut down its program, reassigning two employees funded by the grant to new positions.\nOthers are exploring how they might be able to move forward without federal funding. But the uncertainty of whether or not that will happen is already taking its toll: Massachusetts\u2019s new outreach coordinator left when the state could not guarantee she would have a job next year.\n\u201cWe expected these grants would be funded continually,\u201d said Brian Rosman of Health Care for Massachusetts, which has run the state\u2019s consumer assistance program. \u201cTo walk away now from the investment, that seems really counterproductive, given that we\u2019re now getting closer to 2014. I would think these programs would be needed more than ever.\u201d\nMany running the grants expressed a similar frustration, not only over investing in a program that would be dismantled so quickly but also at increasing consumers\u2019 awareness of the new departments, only to lose the capacity to handle increased call volumes.\nCarla Obiol, a deputy commissioner at the North Carolina Department of Insurance, is managing a $1.2\u00a0million grant that allowed the state to create an ombudsman office devoted to handling health insurance issues that she describes as \u201cconsumer assistance on steroids.\u201d\n\u201cIt\u2019s not just about handling complaints,\u201d Obiol said. \u201cWe\u2019re adding an educational element, so folks understand they have a right to appeal [an insurance claim denial] and take advantage of that option.\u201d\nShe\u2019s frustrated at spending so much time building a department only to face the prospect of shutting down. \u201cWhile we do think this service is so important,\u201d she said, \u201cWhy would we build a great data system and recruit professional folks thinking this is going to fold?\u201d\nObiol and many others are looking to other federal grant opportunities to continue parts of their programs. Funds to build new health insurance marketplaces, which will launch in 2014, do include some money for consumer assistance, although more limited in scope.\nThe Department of Health and Human Services is working with states to explore other sources of funding to keep their programs running.\nSome states have managed to move forward with their programs, even after funding has run out. New York\u2019s federal funding ran out at the end of October, but it has continued to run a consumer assistance hotline that serves all 62 counties across the state by using funds from the federal health exchange grant. In the past year, it has handled calls from more than 33,000 New Yorkers.\nNot all states have applied for health exchange grants, and those that have may use the funds solely to set up the new insurance marketplace.\nFor many programs, the future remains less certain.\n\u201cWe\u2019re exploring all options,\u201d said Kimberly Cammarata, an assistant attorney general in the Maryland Consumer Protection Division. \u201cThe reality is we need these people. I\u2019m cautiously optimistic that things will work out.\u201d"}, {"name": "7f2d27e8-3233-11e1-b692-796029298414", "body": "The U.S. Navy has estimated a worst-case cost overrun of as much as $1.1\u00a0billion for the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford, the service\u2019s most expensive warship.\nThe carrier is being built by Huntington Ingalls Industries under a cost-plus, incentive-fee contract in which the Navy pays for most of the overruns. Even so, the service\u2019s efforts to control expenses may put the company\u2019s $579.2\u00a0million profit at risk, according to the Navy.\nA review of the carrier\u2019s rising costs began in August after the Navy\u2019s program manager indicated that the \u201cmost likely\u201d overrun had risen to $884.7\u00a0million, or about 17\u00a0percent over the contract\u2019s target price of $5.16\u00a0billion. That\u2019s up from a $650\u00a0million overrun estimated in April, according to internal Navy figures made available to Bloomberg News. The worst-case assessment would be about 21\u00a0percent over the target.\n\u201cRegular reviews of the cost performance indicated cost increases were occurring,\u201d Capt. Cate Mueller, a Navy spokeswoman, said in a statement.\nSome rising costs are tied to construction inefficiencies, the Navy said. Sean Stackley, Navy assistant secretary for acquisition, directed the review \u201cto determine specific causes and what recovery actions could be put in place,\u201d Mueller said.\nEven as the Navy conducts its internal review, it is trying to assure U.S. lawmakers and Pentagon officials that costs of major vessel programs are being controlled. The Pentagon is evaluating strategy, retirement health benefits, weapons programs and military service budgets to find as much as $488\u00a0billion in reductions through 2021. The service has already offered to delay construction of the second Ford-class vessel, the CVN-79 John F. Kennedy, by two years.\nStackley\u2019s assessment is focusing on \u201cevery aspect of the ship\u2019s construction including the risks\u201d of delays and cost growth to both contractor- and government-furnished equipment, Mueller said. Among the largest government-furnished equipment is the carrier\u2019s nuclear reactor.\nThe review includes officials from Stackley\u2019s office, as well as the Naval Sea Systems Command, the chief of naval operations and the Navy\u2019s supervisor of shipbuilding, Mueller said.\nLate delivery of Huntington-furnished material has been a key factor in late assembly and inefficient construction, the Navy said. Still, the carrier remains on schedule for its planned September 2015 delivery, the service said.\nHuntington Ingalls\u2019s goal is to reduce the program\u2019s costs, chief executive Michael Petters said in an interview.\n\u201cIf there was something else I thought we needed to do, we\u2019d be doing it,\u201d Petters said. \u201cIf there is something else somebody else thinks we ought to be doing, we\u2019ll listen and, if it makes sense, we\u2019ll do it.\u2019\u2019\nMueller said some of Huntington\u2019s cost-control efforts are producing \u201cfavorable results.\u201d For example, the Newport News, Va.-based shipbuilder has established specific labor-cost targets for its key manufacturing and construction jobs. Mueller did not say whether those moves have reduced costs yet.\nThe Navy also has agreed to consider changes to specifications and modify them \u201cwhere appropriate to lower cost and schedule risk,\u201d Mueller said.\nHuntington has designated a senior vice president and ship construction superintendent with daily oversight responsibility.\nThe Navy plans to report a new contract completion cost in its next annual report to Congress. The document would be submitted to lawmakers next year.\nMueller declined to discuss the current overrun estimates. The Navy earlier disclosed that the carrier faced the $650\u00a0million overrun to complete the contract \u2014 562 million of which the Navy would absorb, the remaining $88 million absorbed by Huntington.\nThe completed initial vessel, the first of three in the $40.2\u00a0billion program, is projected to cost at least $11.5 billion.\nThe $11.5 billion comprises $2.9 billion in detailed design and $8.6 billion for construction and government-furnished equipment, such as the nuclear reactor. An additional $3.7\u00a0billion is for research that applies to all three vessels in the class, the Navy said.\nThe Congressional Budget Office wrote in a June report that cost growth typically occurs when a ship is more than half finished. The Ford design contract is about 42\u00a0percent complete.\nThe Navy\u2019s projected cost has risen 10\u00a0percent between the fiscal 2008 and 2012 budgets and \u201cfurther increases appear likely,\u201d CBO analyst Eric Labs wrote.\nThe office estimates that the final price tag will be about $12.9\u00a0billion if the increases in the aircraft carrier\u2019s cost follow historical patterns.\nAny discussion of cost growth should reflect the Gerald Ford\u2019s status as a first-of-a-kind ship under development, Petters said.\n\u201cA lead ship comes with a whole lot of churn \u2014 things that don\u2019t go the way it should,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s like building a prototype.\u201d\n \n \n \u2014 Bloomberg Government \n "}, {"name": "83ae3402-3237-11e1-b692-796029298414", "body": "These firms recently filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court\u2019s local court clerk\u2019s offices.\nUnder Chapter 11 of the federal bankruptcy code, a company is protected from claims by creditors while it attempts to reorganize its finances under a plan approved by the court.\nIn a Chapter 7 liquidation, a court trustee sells assets to pay creditors\u2019 claims. The company then ceases operations.\nAcross the World Travels LLC\n5501 Merchant View Sq., #222, Haymarket, Va. 20169\nType of filing: Chapter 7 liquidation\nCase number: 11-19075-RGM\nDate filed: Dec. 21\nAttorney: Rachael Hammer, 703-848-1950\nAssets: zero to $50,000\nLiabilities: $100,001 to $500,000\nLargest unsecured creditor: Keshav Travels Put Ltd., $51,000\nDorsey\u2019s Meats Inc.\n305 S. 2nd St., Woodsboro, Md. 21798\nType of filing: Chapter 7 liquidation\nCase number: 11-34894\nDate filed: Dec. 27\nAttorney: Stanley N. Tashoff, 301-948-1466\nAssets: $50,001 to $100,000\nLiabilities: $100,001 to $500,000\nLargest unsecured creditor: Not disclosed\nUniversal Community Development LLC\n333 I St. SW., Washington, D.C. 20024\nType of filing: Chapter 11 reorganization\nCase number: 11-00943\nDate filed: Dec. 22\nAttorney: Richard H. Gins, 301-718-1078\nAssets: $1,000,001 to $10 million\nLiabilities: $1,000,001 to $10 million\nLargest unsecured creditor: Not disclosed\n\u2014 Compiled by Vanessa Small"}, {"name": "5fae7e50-3335-11e1-a274-61fcdeecc5f5", "body": "The year begins with a week packed with economic news.\nThe Institute for Supply Management releases its index of activity in the nation\u2019s factories in December. Analysts are expecting good news: They forecast that the index will rise to 53.4, from 52.7 in November, signaling more robust growth in manufacturing output.\nThe Federal Reserve releases minutes of its Dec. 13 policy meeting, where the central bank\u2019s policy committee decided to affirm its low-interest-rate policies but make no changes. The minutes could prove more newsworthy than the meeting. The Federal Open Market Committee has been discussing changes to how it communicates about its goals and expectations, and the minutes could reveal, or at least hint at, any imminent changes. One strong possibility would be for the Fed to start announcing what its members expect the future course of interest rates to be.\nFactory orders are expected to have risen 2 percent in November, following a dip in October.\nSales of cars and light trucks, meanwhile, are expected to have roughly held steady in December. Analysts expect that light vehicles were sold at a 13.5 million annual rate last month, little changed from 13.6 million in November.\nThe ISM is back, with its index of activity in the service sector. The group\u2019s non-manufacturing index is expected to have risen, with a boost to 53 in December projected, from 52 in November.\nThe International Council of Shopping Centers releases its report on December sales at major retail chains.\nThe December jobs report will show whether the labor market continued to improve last month. Analysts think it did: They forecast 150,000 net new jobs were created, up from 120,000 added in November. That would be consistent with a decline in new claims for jobless benefits in the month. The unemployment rate, however, is forecast to edge up to 8.7 percent from 8.6 percent, partly reversing a steep November decline.\n\u2014 \n \n Neil Irwin \n \nThe Council on Foreign Relations asked five thoughtful economists about what over-arching trends will affect the economy in 2012. Read their answers at the council\u2019s Web site. And what is money, really, and is the Fed really printing more of it? Jon Hilsenrath addresses this much-misunderstood question on the Wall Street Journal\u2019s economics blog.\nFind links at washingtonpost.com/
mustreads.\n\n"}, {"name": "415dda64-34b0-11e1-81ef-eaf2bd09c8a2", "body": "New year, old habits: Sports Nation often gets it shorts all bunched up about everything and anything. At the moment, you can turn on talk radio \u2013 or dip a big toe in an online forum \u2014 and hear the clamor about next Monday\u2019s Alabama-LSU BCS title game. Oh, the horror \u2014 the horror!!! \u2014 this rematch stirs up.\nThis unrelenting devotion to all matters sporting strikes me as a springboard to insanity.\nThink about this:\nWe have been at war somewhere in the world since 2001 \u2014 at war \u2014 and that gets less scrutiny than an average NFL game. For real. Buccaneers-Falcons is dissected in detail much more than U.S.-Afghanistan; that\u2019s an NFC divisional game weighed against an international armed conflict.\n(I often am told that I\u2019m just an old man out of touch. Guess what? I once was a young man out of touch. So, trust me, age has nothing to do with this. What\u2019s right is right and what\u2019s wrong is wrong, and America\u2019s continued obsession with sport at the expense of substance remains the Achilles\u2019 heel of our culture.)\nWhat concerns me about our ongoing fight against terrorism is this:\nThe Muslim fundamentalists believe we are the devil incarnate and they are willing to strap bombs to their bodies to defeat the American enemy. Us? We just want to watch football every Sunday. In short, they appear committed to a grand cause while we remain committed to instant replay.\nSo, yes, I worry.\nWe spend more money on stadiums than schools.\nAt our institutions of higher learning, we care more about basketball than biology.\n\u201cCrossfire\u201d has been replaced by \u201cPardon the Interruption\u201d; actually, that\u2019s probably a good thing.\nSometimes I stumble upon Skip Bayless and Stephen A. Smith on ESPN2\u2019s \u201cFirst Take\u201d and wonder, \u201cIs this a \u2018Saturday Night Live\u2019 sketch?\u201d I half-expect one of their heads will explode one morning while shouting, and if that happens, I fully expect the other guy will keep on shouting.\nThey never stop screaming, because they believe it\u2019s entertaining or because they\u2019re really serious; it\u2019s either disingenuous or distressing. Heck, these fellows have convictions about EVERYTHING; I mean, how much conviction can you have about an offensive coordinator\u2019s third-down play selection?\n(How out of whack are our priorities and sensibilities? Just look at the \u201cCall of Duty\u201d video-game series. In November 2009, \u201cCall of Duty: Modern Warfare 2\u201d set a first-day sales record with 4.7 million copies to reap $310 million. In November 2010, \u201cCall of Duty: Black Ops\u201d topped that with 5.6 million and $360 million in sales in its first 24 hours. Then, in November 2011, \u201cCall of Duty: Modern Warfare 3\u201d hit 6.4 million and $400 million on opening day. It\u2019s a battlefield out there, and while we ignore real war, we love to shoot \u2019em up on our PlayStations.)\nI used to think I loved sports as much as the next guy \u2014 well, unless the next guy walks in wearing a Yankees baseball cap, Lawrence Taylor football jersey and New York Rangers wristwatch \u2014 but I now realize I only liked sports in spurts. Which, frankly, might be healthier.\nSure, as a kid, nothing beats the anticipation of going to the ballpark or watching a big game on TV. But as an adult? Sports is still a great release; beyond that, there\u2019s got to be more to a fine day than getting World Series home-field advantage by winning the All-Star Game. There has to be a greater sense of accomplishment than seeing your alma mater\u2019s biggest rival go on probation, no?\nI\u2019m not a religious man, but something tells me that just walking by a church on any given Sunday is a better idea than slouching on a couch on any given Sunday.\nI\u2019m not just talking here about a New Year\u2019s resolution, I\u2019m talking about a New Year\u2019s revolution. Let\u2019s put the games on pause and pick up our lives.\nIf nothing else, we need to downsize Big Monday.\nBy the way, how can Alabama be playing for the national championship? The Crimson Tide already lost to LSU and didn\u2019t even win its own conference. Who\u2019s minding the BCS store, Howdy Doody?\nQ. Will LSU be national champion even if it loses to Alabama in the BCS title game? (Philip Murphy; Boardman, Ohio)\nA. Actually, I believe the combination of an LSU loss and a Notre Dame loss elevates the Fighting Irish to No. 1.\nQ. Has a newspaper ever resorted to \u201cflex scheduling\u201d to replace one of your less interesting columns? (Mark Concannon; Whitefish Bay, Wis.)\nA. Under your proposal, newspapers would run my column no more than once a month.\nQ. The Golden State Warriors hired a TV announcer as their new coach. Any chance you\u2019ll leave the broadcast booth to be a poker coach? (Mark Cohen; Gibsonia, Pa.)\nA. If I\u2019m qualified to be a poker coach, then the game truly involves no skills.\nQ. Do you stash your mouth guard between your face mask and helmet between marriages? (Mike Jonas; Berwyn, Ill.)\nA. Pay the man, Shirley."}, {"name": "052c18ba-34ad-11e1-88f9-9084fc48c348", "body": "TEHRAN \u2014 \n Iran announced a nuclear fuel breakthrough and test-fired a new radar-evading medium-range missile in the Persian Gulf on Sunday, moves that could further antagonize the West at a time when Tehran is trying to avert harsh new sanctions on its oil industry.\nOn Saturday, President Obama signed a law imposing tougher financial sanctions to penalize Iran for a nuclear research program that the West suspects is aimed at developing nuclear weapons.\nThe move could for the first time hurt Tehran\u2019s oil exports; the European Union is due to consider similar steps soon.\nAs tensions have risen, Iran threatened last week to close the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow gulf shipping lane through which 40 percent of world oil flows, if sanctions hit its oil exports.\nAt the same time, Iran signaled on Saturday that it was ready to resume stalled international talks on its nuclear program. It says the program is completely peaceful, and, in what Iranian media described as an engineering breakthrough, state television said Iran had successfully produced and tested its own uranium fuel rods for use in its nuclear power plants.\nThe rods were made in Iran and inserted into the core of Tehran\u2019s nuclear research reactor, the television reported.\nIran is trying to develop its own nuclear fuel cycle to power reactors without international help. Western countries are sceptical of some of Tehran\u2019s engineering claims but say they fear that Iran\u2019s enrichment of uranium to make fuel could eventually lead to its producing a weapon.\nIn what has become part of a pattern of saber-rattling in recent weeks, Iran is finishing a 10-day gulf naval exercise.\nDeputy Navy Commander Mahmoud Mousavi told IRNA, the state news agency, that it had successfully test fired a medium-range surface-to-air missile equipped with \u201cthe latest sophisticated anti-radar technologies.\u201d\nIran has apparently delayed pre-announced plans to test its long-range missiles during the drill, saying the weapons would be launched in the next few days. Its long-range missiles could hit Israel or U.S. bases in the Middle East.\nThe United States and Israel say they have not ruled out military action against Iran if diplomacy fails to resolve the dispute over its nuclear program.\nWestern analysts say Iran sometimes exaggerates its nuclear advances to try to gain leverage in its standoff with the West.\n\u2014 Reuters\nMore world news coverage:\nRussia arrests New Year\u2019s protesters\nMaliki marks end of U.S.-Iraq pact\nIn Egypt, an act of courage that launched a revolution\nRead more headlines from around the world"}, {"name": "4ae7f364-32fb-11e1-825f-dabc29fd7071", "body": "My dad was part of that World War II generation that never really talked about their experiences. But one day when I was 12, I found a set of memorabilia in a box inside of a drawer in the house. In that box was a Silver Star medal that was awarded to my dad, who was a combat medic in the Third Infantry Division, for saving the life of some men under machine gun fire.\nI never knew that about my dad. When I read that, it prompted a conversation between us that was part of the momentum to carry me forward to West Point.\nI arrived at West Point in 1972, when the Vietnam War wasn\u2019t over just yet. I enjoyed the discipline, the environment and the opportunity to learn about leadership.\nHaving studied civil engineering, I went into the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as an officer and ended up staying for 32 years in the Army, commanding at the platoon, company, battalion and brigade level.\nThat theme of serving the country and having an interest in business circled around many times in the Army. I ended up commanding a division in Dallas, which was really like a $1.5\u00a0billion construction company.\nOne of my proudest experiences was as an engineer platoon leader tasked with the construction of a road leading to a camp for children with disabilities.\nThe road was in horrible shape, and people couldn\u2019t get to and from the camp. It was a unique project paid for by private sources. We basically donated the use of the time and equipment.\nWe honed our skills as engineers, but also provided a needed service to a community. Everyone was beaming the day the ribbon was cut.\nOne of the things I learned early on about leadership is that you give respect in order to get respect.\nRespect is appreciating the talent and skills of human beings while understanding that everyone has a dream, desire and need to achieve. It\u2019s the job of a leader to inspire hope and aspirations.\nWhen I retired from the Army as a lieutenant general and looked at all the opportunities out there, joining ITT Defense was very attractive because it was a company whose capabilities I saw as a customer in the military. The night vision devices, the radios \u2014 this was a company I was impressed with.\nI initially came to the company to do strategy work and business development but I was given a very rare opportunity within four months to become president of its defense group.\nI think this was because I supplied a fresh set of eyes to the company and was able to see the storm clouds on the horizon in terms of the defense budget. I knew we needed to reshape the company in a way that would reduce costs and create opportunities not only in the Defense Department, but in non-defense sectors.\nNow, in this position, we will have to manage our portfolio well, adapt to changing circumstances, seek out opportunities to grow new business and offer affordable solutions to customers.\nI\u2019ve learned you need to be the best leader you can be in a governmental context, because the nation needs that, and in a business context because the nation needs that too.\n\u2014 Interview with Vanessa Small\nPosition:\u2009Chief executive officer and president of Exelis Inc., an aerospace, defense and information solutions company headquartered in McLean.\nCareer highlights:\u2009President, ITT Defense & Information Solutions; vice president of strategy and business development, ITT Defense and Information Solutions; lieutenant general, Army\u2019s military deputy for budget, Pentagon; brigadier general; commander of the Army Corps of Engineers, Southwestern Division; White House fellow, Office of Management and Budget.\nAge:\u200958\nEducation:\u2009BS in civil engineering, U.S. Military Academy at West Point; MS in business administration, Harvard University; MS in public administration, Shippensburg University.\nPersonal:\u2009Lives in Northern Virginia with his wife. They have two grown daughters."}, {"name": "b32f089a-2bda-11e1-b030-3ff399cf26f3", "body": "On the outskirts of this sprawling city in one of India\u2019s poorest states, the whitewashed columns and domes of Chanakya National Law University rise next to a deep and murky swamp. To get there, visitors bump along potholed streets lined with idle men sipping tea and cows rooting through piles of garbage.\nDespite its inauspicious location, the four-year-old university has high aspirations.\n\u201cWe\u2019re in a position to be a leading national law school,\u201d said Ravi Sarma, an assistant professor of property law.\nThe university is part of an ambitious plan to expand higher education to India\u2019s most destitute corners, where the country\u2019s vast population of young people is concentrated.\nOf 1.2 billion Indians, one third are under the age of 14. Realizing that the youth bulge could be an asset in India\u2019s drive to become a world power, or a disaster that drains its resources and fuels social unrest, the government has responded with an ambitious university building spree.\nThe effort could help India in its economic competition with China and the United States. While the United States may have enough colleges, President Obama has warned that its higher education system is falling behind. Poor graduation rates plague lower-tier schools with the vast majority of U.S. students, even as budget cuts and rising tuition make it more difficult to enter college and to graduate.\nIn India, dozens of new public universities are opening. Officials say 374 new \u201cmodel\u201d colleges, meant as demonstration projects, will be constructed in remote areas. The plan is to increase the postsecondary enrollment rate for 18- to 23-year-olds to 30 percent, from 18 percent, by 2017, said Ved Prakash, chairman of India\u2019s University Grants Commission. The enrollment rate for 18- to 24-year-olds in the United States is 41 percent.\n\u201cIt has never happened in the history of India, this massive expansion of higher education,\u201d Prakash said.\nThe government estimated that India had 13.6 million postsecondary students in 2009, about 6 million fewer than the U.S. But if India reaches its goals, it could have nearly twice as many college students as does the United States by the end of the decade.\nThe construction boom is transforming Patna, a city of more than 5.7 million long written off as a poverty-stricken backwater, into a college town, and the state of Bihar, which borders Nepal, into a hub of higher education.\nThe government is doubling the number of its renowned and selective Indian Institutes of Technology to 16. IIT Patna opened in 2008 and is waiting to expand into a 500-acre campus in a nearby village.\nA National Institute of Fashion Technology opened downtown in the same year, and in 2006, a state technical college opened an expansive new campus near the city\u2019s airport.\nThe Central University of Bihar, one of 15 new government-sponsored universities that aims to compete with the global elite, opened in 2009 and has been allocated 1,000 acres on the edge of the city. Plans call for enrollment to grow over the next decade from 200 students to as many as 40,000.\nSixty miles south of Patna, down a two-lane highway clogged with rickshaws, motorcycles and idling trucks, plans are under way to open Nalanda International University. The campus will be located near the ruins of a Buddhist university that, in the 5th century, drew students from around the world. The hope is that the new school will do the same.\nFor some poor students in Bihar, the universities are turning farfetched dreams of higher education into reality.\nAbhishek Ujjwal, 18, grew up in a small village in Bihar, where most people worked on farms and the roads out of town were unpaved. His father has a small business selling the milk of local cows and his mother is a housewife. Neither went to college. But in middle school, Ujjwal decided he would aim for admission to an IIT.\n\u201cIt\u2019s a very global brand,\u201d he said. \u201cYou can go anywhere.\u201d\nA tutoring program for the poor called Super 30 helped him prepare for the entrance exam. Last summer, he qualified for IIT Bombay, a branch opened in 1961 with a stronger reputation than the one in Patna.\nUjjwal enrolled for the fall term in IIT Patna instead, because he wanted to be near his family as he embarked on the intensive course work. \u201cThey gave me moral support,\u201d he said.\nThe founder of Super 30, Anand Kumar, said that for many in Bihar, the universities remain out of reach. One-room schoolhouses lacking basic amenities such as toilets are often the only option for children in slums and villages, even though the government is investing in elementary and secondary education. Many children drop out as early as age 10.\n\u201cWith more and more institutions coming up, they will certainly increase access,\u201d Kumar said. \u201cFor the poor students, however, it is tough as always to make the most of these opportunities.\u201d\nThe new universities are also targeting the expanding middle class in an effort to keep talented students in India. More than 100,000 Indians study abroad, most of them in the United States.\nRavi Prakash, 22, a middle-class Patna native, might have chosen to study in Delhi or abroad. Instead, he opted for the Chanakya law school.\n\u201cLaw is a means to bring social change, and I\u2019m interested in developing my state,\u201d he said.\nIndian officials acknowledge that the rapid expansion of public colleges and universities will not come close to meeting the demand.\nPrivately run schools fill the gap through distance education, but often their offerings are of low quality, said Devesh Kapur, a political scientist at the University of Pennsylvania. And corruption and nepotism are rife in the postsecondary system.\nPawan Agarwal, an adviser to the federal government\u2019s planning commission on higher education, said that in 2012the Indian government will start to shift its attention \u201cfrom rapid expansion to quality expansion,\u201d although he acknowledges that solutions will be elusive.\nIndia\u2019s new institutions are fulfilling one mission already, however: They are raising the expectations of a new generation of Indians. \u201cAll the Biharis, now they are dreaming that \u2018I will go for this institution,\u2019\u200a\u201d said Ujjwal, the IIT student. \u201cWe are imagining what we could be.\u201d"}, {"name": "a1ae7992-2046-11e1-b180-0df42576a2af", "body": "Viola Herms Drath had been to the Blue Star Mothers convention the week of Aug. 8, and she spoke excitedly about an upcoming family dinner at the Prime Rib on K\u00a0Street and her great-granddaughter\u2019s first birthday. She was pleased that, even at 91 years old, her calendar was so full.\nBut by the end of the week, she was found dead.\nDrath was determined not to let her age, or anything else for that matter, slow her down. Her wits sharp and her health steady, Drath navigated the worlds of journalism, foreign policy, art, fashion, travel and Georgetown life with the ease and style of someone decades younger. She still had dreams and aspirations.\nBut by Aug. 12, Drath\u2019s remarkable life had been hijacked by a man described by those close to her as an eccentric opportunist. More than 40 years her junior, the man had looked to piggyback on Drath\u2019s successes and ride them to social status and importance, several people who knew the couple said.\nDrath\u2019s second husband, Albrecht Gero Muth, 47, has been charged with beating and strangling her in their Q Street home in Northwest Washington. In court recently, Muth, who has claimed to be a general in the Iraqi army and a spy for several countries was granted the right to represent himself at trial. \nDrath\u2019s friends, co-workers and acquaintances described the Muth-Drath marriage as a quintessential Washington story of power and influence. But it was a relationship that got increasingly dysfunctional as Drath got older and Muth got more delusional and demanding, they said.\nAlthough a strong and independent woman, Drath \u2014 widowed after a long and loving first marriage \u2014 became ensnared in a two-decade cycle of loneliness, love, dependence, abuse and reconciliation, her friends and family say.\nBut Drath never saw it that way. In an unpublished and previously undisclosed memoir \u2014 called \u201cA Thoroughly Muddled Marriage: Report of an Inmate\u201d \u2014 Drath acknowledged the many differences between Muth and her. But she also wrote of a true and genuine love and said the fights all were worth it.\nIn lengthy conversations over the past three months, Drath\u2019s family members spoke of a woman they admired and loved and now sorely miss. They said the way she died and the person they think is responsible for her death have overshadowed her inspiring life.\n\u201cMy mother was not ordinary in any way, not in the way she lived and not in the way she died,\u201d said Connie Dwyer, Drath\u2019s eldest daughter. \u201cShe had a very interesting life. .\u2009.\u2009. She said she\u2019d like to live to 95, but we don\u2019t get to choose when we die or how we die. Yes, she was robbed. There\u2019s no doubt about it. Her day had not really come.\u201d\nDrath told her family that she truly loved Muth, just that it was a different kind of love affair. Those close to her said that Muth took over much of her life and that she relented because she didn\u2019t want to be alone.\nThat could be seen in their Georgetown home. Photographs of Drath\u2019s daughters and grandsons graced the living room piano until they gradually were replaced by signed head shots of top U.S. generals and a 1989 image of Drath shaking hands with President George H.W. Bush. Beautiful artistic works above the mantel were eventually surrounded by military challenge coins. Framed family memories on a wall in the English basement were pushed aside in favor of letters from dignitaries and photographs of senators, a Supreme Court justice and foreign officials.\nAll to impress a Washington society that often trades on influence and connections.\nAs police looked through the photographs Aug. 12, their attention turned to Muth. Drath\u2019s body lay lifeless in an upstairs bathroom, steps from her longtime office, where a Blue Star Mothers conference folder had been tossed on a small couch.\nMuth, authorities allege, had killed Drath before concocting a story that she was frail and had fallen and hit her head. Those who knew Drath said that the moment they heard of her passing they were certain that story could not have been true.\n\u201cShe had a lot to look forward to,\u201d Dwyer said of her mother. \u201cShe did like drama, and she would have been fascinated by this. She would have. The attention, the celebrity that comes with this right now. She probably wouldn\u2019t have minded that.\u201d\nViola Herms was born in Dusseldorf in 1920, into a family that was doing quite well for post-World War I Germany. Relatives recalled stories of drivers and vacations and boarding school in Scotland. It was there that she learned flawless English.\nA student of art and fashion, she began her adult life as a playwright. One of her early productions \u2014 \u201cFarewell Isabell\u201d \u2014 reached the stage in Munich in 1946. She wrote newspaper articles for German and Austrian papers and wrote plays that became movie scripts. A stunning beauty, she captured her bright blond hair and blue eyes in an oil self-portrait that hangs in her home.\nIt was about that time that she met Lt. Col. Francis S. Drath, a handsome U.S. Army officer who was serving as the deputy military governor of Bavaria. In an autobiographical manuscript that was never published, she wrote of finding him and a group of Americans on a small motorboat in the Swiss waters of Lake Constance.\n\u201cI caught the eye of a tall dark-haired Colonel with the most soulful brown eyes I had ever seen,\u201d she wrote. \u201cIt was love at first sight.\u201d\nCol. Drath needed interpreters at his headquarters in Munich, and she showed up at his office the next day. It was a whirlwind romance. Within months, they married and moved to his home town of Lincoln, Neb., where she began studying for an advanced degree in literature and philosophy at the University of Nebraska.\nOnce in Nebraska, Drath worked hard to keep a connection with her past by taking a job with a German language weekly in Omaha and later working as an American correspondent for Germany\u2019s Madame magazine.\nThe style writing required frequent travel to New York, where she circulated in the fashion, arts and book worlds and began hobnobbing with celebrities.\n\u201cShe had about five dimensions,\u201d said Parker Ladd, a friend who met Drath more than five decades ago when she was covering a New York fashion show his partner, Arnold Scaasi, was putting on. \u201cShe was an intellectual. She loved to dress up, a mid-European style. Hats and hair, it was really something. .\u2009.\u2009. She was a brilliant politician. She was a happy person, for a German. But there was a seriousness about her, her daily life and what she was involved in.\u201d\nFran Drath, born in 1952, was in awe of her mother, whom she remembered as glamorous and fun. She remembered Drath banging away on a Remington typewriter, using only her index fingers.\nThe family also acted a bit differently. For vacations, they would use the colonel\u2019s military position to fly space-available on military aircraft to Morocco, Spain, Germany, Antigua.\n\u201cIt was like a big adventure; she was just loving her life in America,\u201d Fran Drath said. \u201cShe was involved in the now, embracing what was before her. And they had a really solid marriage. They were totally in love.\u201d\nIn 1968, after 21 years in Lincoln, Col. Drath took a job as a legislative liaison with the Selective Service in Washington, allowing his wife to jump into Washington journalism. She quickly snagged a job as a political correspondent for Handelsblatt, Germany\u2019s rough equivalent of the Wall Street Journal.\n\u201cHe realized that she was quite brilliant and should be somewhere else and not Nebraska,\u201d Ladd said.\nThe couple bought a house on Q Street just off Wisconsin Avenue, putting them within walking distance of Georgetown\u2019s shops and restaurants.\nDrath took advantage of the location to hit the Tuesday art show openings, and she was a regular at the P Street galleries. Family members said she befriended J. Carter Brown, then director of the U.S. National Gallery of Art, and famed Washington artist Leon Berkowitz.\nJournalism gave Drath access to Washington\u2019s elite, especially in the areas of politics and art. She pursued a lifelong interest in German reunification and studied foreign policy.\n\u201cShe knew about art and was very educated,\u201d said Sonia Adler, who edited Washington Dossier and hired Drath. \u201cShe wrote very well. She was wonderful and one of the real professionals I had.\u201d\nWarren Adler, Sonia\u2019s husband and author of \u201cWar of the Roses\u201d and numerous other novels, said Drath was one of the most interesting people he met in Washington.\n\u201cOur conversations were always lively and full of knowledge,\u201d Warren Adler said. \u201cShe had a great take on what the world was all about, and she also had a certain style, which we liked.\u201d\nBecause of her work for Handelsblatt, Drath was often on Capitol Hill. At a news conference in the early 1980s, she met an unpaid intern from Germany, a young man who impressed her with his intelligence and wit. They met for dinner at a Georgetown restaurant, and he would pop in on her Georgetown home. Once, he sported an eye patch and claimed that he had gotten in the way of an assassination attempt in Paraguay \u2014 an eye patch that Drath would remember in her memoirs as \u201can attention-getting prop.\u201d\nIt was Albrecht Gero Muth.\nAs Drath neared her 66th birthday, she was dealt the biggest personal blow of her life. On Jan. 11, 1986, Col. Drath died after a battle with cancer. They had been married nearly 40 years. He was 81.\nGone was Drath\u2019s main support system, the man who cooked and handled the finances and did the shopping and tended to the spacious back yard. Gone was her true love.\n\u201cIt was hard for her,\u201d Fran Drath said. \u201cIt was very hard. It turned her world upside down. What scared her the most is that she knew she couldn\u2019t replace him.\u201d\nEthan Drath said his grandmother was devastated.\n\u201cShe was grieving,\u201d he said, \u201cand she didn\u2019t know what the next step was.\u201d\nIn her autobiographical manuscript, Drath wrote that she was truly alone: \u201cIn an empty house with nobody to talk to, nobody to share laughter and tears, nobody to hug, nobody to love!\u201d\nShe vowed to herself never to attend a mate\u2019s funeral again.\nSoon, Muth was again on her Q Street doorstep.\nMuth was in almost every way the opposite of the colonel, according to those close to Drath. He was in his 20s, he was German, he was outspoken and he liked to name-drop. He loved to argue politics and carried a formal European air about him. He was eccentric.\nBut to Drath, he was charming, attentive and fresh.\n\u201cI was impressed by his natural eloquence, his polished speech, his grasp of affairs of state, of governance and the intricacies of political chess,\u201d Drath wrote. \u201cOften, after our talks, he sat down at the baby grand to play and sing for me into the wee hours of the evening.\u201d\nAfter months of teas and phone calls, Muth showed up unannounced at Drath\u2019s home in a tuxedo and carrying a bottle of Moet. He proposed marriage, and she accepted.\nIn an anecdote that Drath and Muth told many people over the years, Muth the next day cold-called Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia asking if he would marry him, drawing out the reply: \u201cBut I\u2019m already married.\u201d It was a conversation that Drath wrote in her memoir was \u201cthe beginning of an animated relationship that lasted many years.\u201d\nInstead, Muth used a fictional relationship with a senator to persuade a Virginia Supreme Court judge to marry the couple in early 1990.\nFor the next two decades, Drath\u2019s family and friends said, Muth tried to climb Washington\u2019s social and political ladders, often gaining an advantage from his wife\u2019s status or from carefully crafted stories that usually had a kernel of truth but upon inspection did not hold up.\nHe threw unusually formal parties, filled with pomp and circumstance and protocol, trying to bring the city\u2019s elite together under his auspices \u2014 often successfully. Generals, top journalists, foreign dignitaries and government officials accepted his invitations to parties at the Q Street home and at the Dacor Bacon House in Foggy Bottom.\nMuth, in e-mails to The Washington Post before his arrest in August, said his relationship with Drath was a \u201cmarriage of convenience\u201d and part of an arrangement that included a prenuptial agreement.\nHe wrote that he was \u201can agent of the East German foreign intelligence service\u201d in the early 1980s when he met Drath, who had been \u201cone of my icons.\u201d\nMuth\u2019s court-appointed defense attorney did not return calls seeking comment.\nProsecutors have labeled Muth a liar, saying in court papers that he has concocted much of his own history \u2014 calling himself a spy for various countries, an Iraqi general, European nobility \u2014 all the while unemployed and living on a monthly allowance from Drath.\nHe would walk around his Georgetown neighborhood in a uniform detectives say was made by a tailor in South Carolina, carrying a swagger stick, and law enforcement officials said he used a Maryland copy shop to make certificates showing that he was an Iraqi general. The Iraqi Embassy in Washington has disavowed any connection to Muth, though it is clear from photographs in Drath\u2019s home that some Iraqi officials attended his events.\nMuth at one point officially changed his name to \u201cCount Albi\u201d in a nod to aristocracy. He showed Drath\u2019s family members \u2014 and others \u2014 a 1999 letter that purported to be from a relative who was conferring his title on Muth after suffering serious physical injury from a fall off an elephant in Mumbai.\n\u201cI asked her how she could marry him. It was so bizarre, I couldn\u2019t understand it,\u201d Warren Adler said.\nMuth, according to Drath\u2019s account, made her feel young, alive and excited. They traveled the world, often trading on embassy contacts Muth cultivated.\nHe supported her efforts to work on the 1988 Bush campaign as a foreign policy adviser and encouraged her involvement in memorializing war veterans through the White House Commission on Remembrance and the Blue Star Mothers.\nDrath\u2019s family members generally declined to speak about Muth because of the criminal case, but they said they questioned the need for them to marry and over time barely saw him because he did not attend family events.\n\u201cShe did things her way. She made her own decisions and wasn\u2019t overly concerned about what people would say about her,\u201d Dwyer said. \u201cWe kind of were two minds about all of this. We have to respect the decisions she makes.\u201d\nThe trouble began not long into their marriage. Muth was arrested in 1992 and was charged with domestic assault, ultimately serving jail time.\nIt was the first of several alleged violent outbursts from Muth, usually after drinking. Drath wrote of a threat in a Scottish castle when the two were traveling \u2014 she said she ran down a hall in her underwear to escape him \u2014 and friends recall several times when she would seek help after claims of abuse, such as being hit with a chair or threatened.\nSome of those incidents led to lengthy breakups. In 2002, after an alleged attack, Muth became romantically involved with a man and moved into his apartment.\nTo support himself during the breakup, Muth worked at an Embassy Suites hotel in Foggy Bottom.\nIn her autobiography, Drath wrote that she was cognizant of the situation but was consistently drawn to Muth anyway.\n\u201cThe bumpy ride was propelled by an unchallenged ego, incapable of understanding the dynamics of teamwork, and partially steadied by a romantic concept of unconditional love on my part,\u201d Drath wrote. \u201cAs his dreams of fame and fortune faded, the smart kid with the promising potential, the ready smile and witty asides turned into a frustrated champagne guzzler, a braggart and relentless user. It was a chilling experience to see his small creative deceptions that had fascinated and amused me during the early years of our marriage turning into ever bolder and calculating schemes and games teetering on the brink of legality.\u201d\nYet amid the domestic abuse and the lies, the couple continued to get back together.\n\u201cShe missed having someone in the house, and she was lonely,\u201d said Helle Dale, former editorial page editor at the Washington Times, who published Drath\u2019s works on foreign policy. \u201cI told her she should not take this man back, because he\u2019s dangerous.\u201d\nIn 2008, Drath advertised one of her rooms on craigslist, hoping to take in a boarder to have a third person in the house. The boarder\u2019s room \u2014 now Muth\u2019s study \u2014 was next to the bedroom where Muth and Drath slept in separate beds.\nAlan Burns, who was starting graduate school, moved in for $1,000 a month. Things were great, for a few weeks. One Saturday night, Drath busted his door open, visibly shaken.\n\u201cShe said that he had threatened to hit her,\u201d Burns said. \u201cI asked her if she wanted to call the police, and I told her she should. But she didn\u2019t want to.\u201d\n\u201cThe next day, they just acted like it didn\u2019t happen, which is even more bizarre,\u201d he said.\nDrath told Burns that she wanted to rent out a room because she thought it would change Muth\u2019s behavior. Burns moved out suddenly early one morning and sent an e-mail to his former hosts telling them that he was uncomfortable with the situation.\nEthan and Lindsay Drath had wanted their daughter, who celebrated her first birthday on Halloween, to get to know her great-grandmother. Viola Drath lit up when she saw her.\n\u201cShe was interesting, alive, relevant and busy,\u201d Lindsay Drath said. \u201cEven at 91, it wasn\u2019t easy to get on her calendar. She was a different kind of 91-year-old.\u201d\nEven at 91, Drath was planning for the future. Even at 91, she was aware that she was in a volatile relationship but felt drawn back to her husband. Even at 91, such blind love and drama can be deadly.\nIn her memoir, Drath appears to clearly understand the two sides of her relationship, even if no one else did.\n\u201cIt was a strange feeling to mount the front steps to my house knowing that my longtime mate and comrade would not be there, would never hold my hand again, never play the piano for me again and never vocally or physically abuse me,\u201d Drath wrote. \u201cWalking through the rooms with mixed emotions I was as scared of an encroaching emptiness as I was relieved to realize that I would never have to be afraid of the man whom I once entrusted my life and in a perverse way still cared for.\u201d\nShe wrote that she had no regrets.\n\u201cIn hindsight, my friends ask, would I do it again? Most of them shudder when I answer: I would,\u201d Drath wrote. \u201cYou see, I had fallen in love with this man.\u201d"}, {"name": "90fbb236-325c-11e1-825f-dabc29fd7071", "body": "Who: No. 20 Houston
vs. No. 24 Penn State.\nWhere: Cotton Bowl, Dallas.\nTV: ESPNU.\nRecords: Cougars 12-1;
Nittany Lions 9-3.\nYes, it\u2019s a Jan. 2 bowl game played at the Cotton Bowl that isn\u2019t called the Cotton Bowl. The Cotton Bowl, the game, is Friday at the JerryDome. Bowl season: where common sense goes to die. In any case, it\u2019s your last chance to see Case Keenum \u2014 owner of many NCAA passing records and averaging nearly 400 passing yards this season \u2014 in a Houston uniform, though his previous bowl forays have been a bit disastrous: In three bowl games, Keenum has three touchdown passes and seven interceptions, six of them coming in the 2009 Armed Forces Bowl against Air Force. Penn State has the nation\u2019s fifth-ranked passing defense (162.2 yards allowed per game) and has allowed only nine passing touchdowns this season, fourth in the nation.\nWho: Ohio State vs. Florida.\nWhere: EverBank Field,
Jacksonville, Fla.\nTV: ESPN2.\nRecords: Buckeyes 6-6; Gators 6-6.\nThe Buckeyes, soon to be coached by Urban Meyer, take on the Gators, formerly coached by Urban Meyer. It\u2019s been reported that Meyer might not even watch the game because of his conflicted interest in both teams, but does anyone really believe that? Both tradition-rich teams stumbled badly this season, with scandal-plagued Ohio State suffering its first losing season in Big Ten play since 1999 and Florida losing six of its last eight games. The Gators ranked 102nd nationally in total offense and the Buckeyes ranked 107th. Expect malaise.\nWho: No. 12 Michigan State
vs. No. 18 Georgia.\nWhere: Raymond James
Stadium, Tampa.\nTV: WJLA-7, WMAR-2.\nRadio: WSPZ (570 AM).\nRecords: Spartans 10-3;
Bulldogs 10-3.\nMichigan State Coach Mark Dantonio has won four straight against rival Michigan, but is 0-4 in bowl games as the Spartans head coach. Here\u2019s to guessing that his job is safe, because wins over the Wolverines are likely more important than wins in bowl games named after mid-range steak restaurants. Georgia Coach Mark Richt\u2019s job also is likely safe, which you probably couldn\u2019t say after the Bulldogs lost to Boise State and South Carolina to start the season. Georgia rebounded, however, winning 10 straight before losing to No. 1 LSU in the SEC title game. The Bulldogs finished third nationally in total defense (268.5 yards per game allowed); the Spartans were fifth (272.7).\nWho: No. 10 South Carolina
vs. No. 21 Nebraska.\nWhere: Florida Citrus Bowl
Stadium, Orlando.\nTV: ESPN.\nRadio: WWXX (92.7 FM),
WWXT (94.3 FM), WTEM (980 AM).\nRecords: Gamecocks 10-2; Cornhuskers 9-3.\nCoach Steve Spurrier has the Gamecocks on the verge of the first 11-win season in program history, but he\u2019s 1-4 in bowl games at South Carolina, with his only win coming in the 2006 Liberty Bowl. The Cornhuskers\u2019 rushing game ranks 13th nationally, and quarterback Taylor Martinez has nine rushing touchdowns, but none since a 34-27 win over Ohio State on Oct. 8. He\u2019ll be chased around the field by South Carolina defensive end Melvin Ingram, a first-team all-American who has a team-high 8 1/2 sacks, picked off two passes and also scored on a fake punt earlier this season.\nWho: No. 6 Oregon
vs. No. 9 Wisconsin.\nWhere: Rose Bowl,
Pasadena, Calif.\nTV: ESPN.\nRadio: WWXX (92.7 FM),
WWXT (94.3 FM), WTEM (980 AM).\nRecords: Ducks 11-2;
Badgers 11-2.\nNeither the Ducks nor the Badgers have had much success of late in Pasadena. Oregon lost there after the 2009 season to Ohio State; the Ducks\u2019 last postseason win at the Rose Bowl came all the way back in 1916, when Ivy League teams were still being invited to prestigous bowl games. (Oregon defeated Penn that year, 14-0.) Wisconsin, meanwhile, lost in last season\u2019s Rose Bowl game. There will be points: Only 12 teams have scored 80 touchdowns in a season since 1996, and Oregon and Wisconsin are two of them. They rank No. 3 (Oregon, 46.2 points per game) and No. 4 (Wisconsin, 44.6) nationally in scoring offense. Badgers running back Montee Ball had a national-best 1,759 rushing yards and 38 total touchdowns; he\u2019s four short of tying Barry Sanders\u2019s single-season record of 42.\nWho: No. 3 Oklahoma State
vs. No. 4 Stanford.\nWhere: University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, Ariz.\nTV: ESPN.\nRadio: WWXX (92.7 FM),
WWXT (94.3 FM), WTEM (980 AM).\nRecords: Cowboys 11-1;
Cardinal 11-1.\n After Monday night, the next time Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck and Oklahoma State wideout Justin Blackmon will meet likely will be in the green room at the NFL draft. Luck, who ranked fifth nationally in passing efficiency and threw 35 touchdown passes this season, is almost certain to go No. 1. Blackmon, second nationally in receptions per game (9.4), eighth in receiving yards (111.3 per game) and tied for third in receiving touchdowns (15), is projected by many draft gurus as a top 5 prospect. Again, there will be points: Oklahoma State scored at least 30 points in every game this season, ranking second to Houston in scoring offense. Stanford was sixth in that category. Neither team defends the pass very well, with the Cardinal at 78th nationally and the Cowboys 102nd.\n\u2014 Matt Bonesteel"}, {"name": "f6f5dae2-1c47-11e1-a1c9-d8aff05dec82", "body": "KHANDWA, India \u2014 Two months after he lost his wife to Alzheimer\u2019s disease, 80-year-old Sharad Geete made a shocking discovery. The free drugs his wife, Sheela, had been receiving for two years before she died were part of a clinical trial.\n\u201cThe doctor told us that the medicines will be given free and that they were going to be launched soon by a foreign company. Not once did he say it was an experiment or a trial. If I knew, would I have taken the risk?\u201d asked Geete, sitting in his home in Khandwa, a small town in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.\nSince India eased guidelines for conducting drug trials in 2005, the number of Indians participating has shot up to 150,000 from close to zero, as international drug companies take advantage of lower costs here. But questions about the consent process have fueled fears that many Indians are entering the trials without knowing the risks.\nA Madhya Pradesh state government probe found that six doctors had violated ethical standards in gaining patients\u2019 consent for participation in drug trials and did not compensate those who suffered adverse side effects in 76 drug trials on 3,300 patients since 2006, according to results released last June.\nIn the wake of the recent controversies, the Indian Council for Medical Research invited public feedback on http://www.icmr.nic.in/icmrnews/Compensation%20Guidelines%20for%20Website.pdf%3c/p%3e%3cp%3e%3c/p%3e\">draft guidelines about compensation for injuries that occur during clinical research.\nThe consent form that Geete signed said the medicines were part of a study. \u201cI was so stressed about my wife\u2019s health, I said okay, okay to everything and signed on the form. We never questioned the doctor, we trusted him blindly,\u201d Geete said about his wife, who was a singer. \u201cShe became bedridden and stopped speaking or hearing us. She became a vegetable.\u201d\nAcross India, 1,700 people who participated in clinical drug trials died between 2007 and 2010, the government\u2019s drug regulatory agency said, although no autopsies were carried out to determine the causes of the deaths. In 2010, 22 families of the dead were compensated by U.S. and European drug companies, ranging from $2,000 to $20,000.\nClinical drug trials in 2010 generated business worth $300\u00a0million in India, according to the Confederation of Indian Industry. Conducting drug trials here saves the companies almost 40 percent of the total cost of drug development because health-care professionals are cheaper and liability is not very high, analysts said. The large pool of patients with diverse illnesses and doctors who speak English also make it an attractive destination for outsourcing trials.\n\u201cIndia is emerging as a hub for drug trials, and Indian patients are like guinea pigs,\u201d said C.M. Gulhati, editor of the Monthly Index of Medical Specialities journal.\n\u201cThe ethical review panels are bogus,\u201d he said in an interview. \u201cThe drug control authority approves almost all the trial applications without rigorous scrutiny. And poor, unsuspecting patients get duped, while doctors and hospitals earn money.\u201d\nIn the central Indian city of Indore that Geete and his wife visited for treatment of Alzheimer\u2019s, patients participated in trials for Indian subsidiaries of companies including Novartis, Pfizer, Merck, Glaxo SmithKline and Boehringer Ingelheim, according to documents retrieved by activists using the right-to-information law. U.S. drug companies have conducted trials for Parkinson\u2019s disease, seizures, eye infection, and heart and gastric illnesses.\n\u201cA handful of doctors had turned it into a business on the side. And most patients had no idea what was going on,\u201d said Anand Rai, a doctor at the government-run M.Y. Hospital and a whistleblower. \u201cMany of the trials were conducted on children, mentally ill patients and illiterate people.\u201d\nRai said he retrieved forms that showed thumb impressions and were countersigned not by independent witnesses but by doctors. The Hindi form was one page long, \u201cwith difficult words,\u201d Raid said, and the English forms he retrieved were about 30 pages long.\nLast month, Rai said he received an e-mail from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration office at the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi seeking \u201cspecific information on the clincial trials of concern\u201d that were conducted in Madhya Pradesh.\nA Merck spokesman said in an e-mail that the company was aware of the allegations but its subsidiary MSD in India had provided information about their trials to the Indian drug regulatory agency, and \u201cwas not found liable for any compensation\u201d and no deaths were reported in their trials, which have been continuing for five years.\nA spokesman for Pfizer said that the company canceled its trial in Indore because proper processes were not followed, and that it has produced an audio book in Indian languages that is shared with staff and patients, to educate participants about their rights and responsibilities.\n\u201cPeople will think twice and thrice before coming to a hospital in Indore now because of this scandal,\u201d said Sharad Pandit, chief medical health officer in Indore.\nBut one doctor named in the probe said that all the trials have been ethical and legal, and that the protocols were the same as those followed in South Korea, Malaysia and Thailand.\n\u201cThe consent process is very detailed, meticulous and standardized. Even less-educated and illiterate patients understand the nuances of blinding, control and randomization,\u201d said Apoorva Puranik, a neurologist who said he conducted trials on 40 patients on behalf of MSD, Pfizer and Eisai, a Japanese drug company.\nThe FDA has already approved the new dosage of Eisai\u2019s Donepezil tablets for patients suffering from Alzheimer\u2019s disease, partly based on the Indore trials, he said. An FDA spokesman declined to share any information on the drug.\nQuestions about the consent process arose last year in a demonstration project of a vaccine for sexually transmitted cervical cancer carried out by the Seattle-based charity PATH International and the southern Andhra Pradesh state. Hundreds of young school girls were vaccinated after obtaining consent from their teachers and dorm wardens, instead of their parents. The immunization card given to the girls was in English instead of their native language, activists said.\nPATH International had said the goal of the study was not to assess the efficacy or safety of the vaccine but generate evidence to introduce it into India\u2019s immunization program. But an investigative report by Sama, a New Delhi-based women\u2019s health advocacy group, said many young girls suffered from acute stomach aches, headaches and dizziness. The government subsequently stopped the study.\nLast month in Indore, a government probe recommended that doctors videotape the process of securing consent, and put up large signs on the hospital walls that inform patients about ongoing drug trials.\nMeanwhile, health activists across India are collecting signed testimonials from hundreds of drug-trial participants and their families. \u201cWe will soon launch legal claims\u201d against drug companies, said Amulya Nidhi, a health activist with the Health Rights Forum in Indore.\nMore world news coverage:\nRussia arrests New Year\u2019s protesters\nMaliki marks end of U.S.-Iraq pact\nIn Egypt, an act of courage that launched a revolution\nRead more headlines from around the world"}, {"name": "5057141e-3261-11e1-825f-dabc29fd7071", "body": "She hangs there nightly, a yellow or white or spookily orange disk, the bringer of tides, the caster of romantic shadows. She waxes and wanes and sometimes she turns ruddy as the shadow of the Earth crosses her face. For all her beauty, though, our moon hides a lumpy, unflattering secret: She\u2019s lopsided. Her backside is much thicker than her front. And no one knows why.\nIt\u2019s unseemly, really. After more than 100 robotic and human missions to the moon, scientists still can\u2019t account for why one half \u2014 the half we can\u2019t see \u2014 is taller than the other.\nTwin NASA probes that arrived at our satellite this weekend may finally reveal a shocking truth: that early on, a smaller twin moon smushed into her. As this intruder splatted into its big sister, it shattered \u201clike a mega-avalanche,\u201d said Erik Asphaug, the planetary scientist at the University of California at Santa Cruz who published the twin-moon idea in the journal Nature in August. His co-author was Martin Jutzi of the University of Bern in Switzerland.\nThis collision would have spread a wide hump of rock onto the back of the moon. There, the material cooled and hardened into a thick crust: the far-side lunar highlands.\n\u201cThis is one of those ideas that all sorts of people will try to prove wrong,\u201d said Maria Zuber, the MIT scientist heading up the new NASA moon mission. \u201cBut it\u2019s extremely testable.\u201d\nAnd so GRAIL will test it. Designed to probe the moon\u2019s interior, the two washing-machine-size spacecraft will reveal the thickness of the moon\u2019s crust, its topmost layer.\nIf the two-moon theory is correct, the backside crust will be much thicker than that of the front side. The hump should taper toward the equator.\nGRAIL could also spot another hidden feature predicted by the theory. If a second moon did crash into the first, the collision would have occurred when the big moon was young and hot. A thin layer of molten heavy elements including uranium and potassium still burbled just under the crust.\nThe backside impact would have squeezed this liquid, pushing it around to the front side. There it would have cooled and hardened, leaving a telltale layer.\nThe existence of both features \u2014 a thick backside crust and a thin, dense layer under the front\u2019s crust \u2014 would offer strong support for the twin-moon theory, Asphaug said.\nWhen Zuber first heard the notion, she scoffed. \u201cThis is going to be nonsense,\u201d she recalled thinking. But computer simulations run by Asphaug and Jutzi were compelling leading Zuber to reverse course. \u201cIt\u2019s a plausible scenario,\u201d she said.\nThe idea is also simple, another stroke in its favor. By contrast, other explanations for the moon\u2019s front-back discrepancy tend toward the complicated and unsatisfying.\n\u201cThere are all these theories out there,\u201d Asphaug said, \u201cthat have big warts on them.\u201d\nSuch as: Maybe the front side of the moon was terribly unlucky, flattened by seven or eight big space rocks. The problem: Asteroids and comets arrive from all directions; there\u2019s no reason impacts should cluster. \u201cIt\u2019s like flipping a coin and getting heads eight times,\u201d Asphaug said.\nAnother theory suggests that the backside hump is a tidal bulge. Planets and moons sport such bulges when they get tugged at \u2014 and the Earth tugs on the moon a lot. The problem: Tidal bulges tend to be symmetrical, so there should be a bulge on both sides of the moon.\nAsphaug\u2019s theory requires a very specific sequence of events some 4.5 billion years ago, when the infant Earth was a molten ball.\nLong before life appeared, rocky debris ricocheted around the early solar system. Something the size of Mars plowed into the Earth, sending huge globs of molten material hurtling into space. The largest glob coalesced into the moon. This catastrophic-impact theory of moon formation is widely accepted by scientists.\nTo that, Asphaug and Jutzi threw in a twist: What if a second, smaller glob of Earth-stuff also got blasted free? If it launched at a particular angle, the glob would have coalesced into a second body and drifted behind the moon in roughly the same orbit.\nAfter a few million years, the pull of the sun would have drawn the smaller moon closer to the bigger moon. Eventually, the two bodies collided \u2014 in slow motion. A fast collision would have excavated a giant crater. But a slow collision \u2014 just the type predicted by the computer simulations \u2014 would have pancaked the small moon onto the surface, leaving evidence for GRAIL to spot.\nIt\u2019s a quirk of happenstance that GRAIL will be able to test the theory at all. Zuber proposed the $400 million mission five years ago, long before Asphaug and Jutzi published their idea. Zuber wanted to probe other, more general questions: Does the moon have a solid core? How long did the moon take to cool after it formed? And did the moon once have a magnetic field?\n\u201cYou might think we already know all there is to know about the moon,\u201d said Zuber. \u201dOf course, that\u2019s not the case.\u201d\nThe twin GRAIL probes arrived in a high lunar orbit this weekend, but they won\u2019t begin collecting data until March.\nBy then, thrusters will have dropped the pair to just 35 miles above the surface. Flying in formation \u2014 one ahead of the other \u2014 the probes will map minute fluctuations of the moon\u2019s gravity over its entire surface. This new gravity map will be 100 to 1,000 times as accurate as current maps. From it, scientists will infer the internal structure of the moon \u201cfrom crust to core,\u201d Zuber said.\nAsphaug said there\u2019s an even better way to test the long-shot idea, though it\u2019s one that GRAIL can\u2019t carry out: Study rocks from the far side of the moon. The Apollo astronauts collected hundreds of pounds of moon rocks \u2014 but all of them came from the Earth-facing side."}, {"name": "343aec92-34be-11e1-88f9-9084fc48c348", "body": "CARACAS, Venezuela \u2014 An arbitration panel has awarded U.S. oil giant Exxon Mobil $908\u2009million in compensation for Venezuela\u2019s 2007 nationalization of its assets, less than 10\u2009percent of what the company sought in a long legal battle with the OPEC nation.\nVenezuelan President Hugo Chavez will probably celebrate the ruling as a vindication of his nationalist confrontation with oil companies, which is aimed at increasing revenue from the industry to boost funding for state-led anti-poverty programs.\nBut Venezuela faces another arbitration with Exxon over the nationalization of the Cerro Negro heavy oil project, as well as more than a dozen pending claims from companies such as ConocoPhillips resulting from a wave of state takeovers.\n\u201cThey must be elated that they got off so cheap. It\u2019s certainly a happy new year for Venezuela,\u201d said Russ Dallen, head bond trader at investment bank Caracas Capital Markets.\n\u201cBut what gives Exxon hope is that it\u2019s only the first of two arbitration proceedings.\u201d\nAn Exxon spokesman said in an e-mail Sunday that the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) had ruled that Venezuela\u2019s state oil company, PDVSA, \u201cdoes have a contractual liability to Exxon Mobil. The ICC award is for $907,588,000.\u201d\nExxon had sought as much as $10 billion in compensation for its heavy crude upgrading project in the South American country\u2019s vast Orinoco belt, which was nationalized by Chavez along with three others. The award is less than the $1 billion that Venezuela offered in compensation in September.\nIn addition to the ICC claim, Exxon filed for arbitration with the World Bank\u2019s International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes over the same issue. The Exxon spokesman said that case was scheduled to be argued next month, and that the date for any verdict was not yet known.\nPrices for Venezuela\u2019s widely traded bonds are likely to react positively to the news given some expectations that the award could have been higher, Dallen said. Venezuela\u2019s sovereign debt and PDVSA\u2019s bonds may get a lift Monday.\nA limited payout in the claim will help the socialist Chavez continue to boost state spending on public assistance and housing for the poor in the run-up to his October reelection bid, which is seen as the toughest of his 13 years in power.\nThe dispute between Exxon and Chavez became symbolic of the conflict between countries seeking more revenue from the booming oil industry and companies insisting on respect for investments and compensation for state takeovers.\nThe ICC decision appears to award Exxon a sum close to the $750 million it said it invested in the project \u2014 the amount Venezuela says Exxon deserves after the takeover.\nBut Exxon insists it should also be compensated for the increased value of the project, which at its outset in the early 1990s was considered risky because of low oil prices and uncertainty about the relatively untested operations to turn tarlike Orinoco oil into valuable light crude.\n\u201cExxon took a risk when they went in. I\u2019m sure they were expecting more than just making their money back,\u201d Dallen said, adding that it will be hard to reach a definitive conclusion about what the decision means until more details are released.\nThe Exxon spokesman told \u00adReuters that the company was still reviewing the more-than-400-page ruling.\nIn 2007, Venezuela bought back $630\u2009million in bonds issued to finance the Cerro Negro project, which Dallen said may have figured into the calculation of the award.\nLocal analyst Asdrubal Oliveros of Ecoanalitica estimated the value of Exxon assets in Venezuela at $4.5\u2009billion.\nConoco Phillips was an investor in two of the four Orinoco upgrader projects. Exxon and Conoco, which had in total asked for as much as $40\u2009billion in compensation, both left the country after the nationalizations.\nVenezuelan Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez has said the country does not expect to pay more than $2.5\u2009billion for the combined total of the claims by the two companies. PDVSA said in a debt prospectus that it had set aside $1.5\u2009billion in provision for litigation as of the first semester of 2011.\nVenezuela\u2019s outstanding arbitration claims include disputes with Swiss cement maker Holcim and Canadian miner Gold Reserve, which could force it to make large payouts.\nChavez\u2019s steady push to boost control over the country\u2019s oil industry started in 2004 and was followed by similar efforts in oil-producing countries ranging from Ecuador to Kazakhstan.\nCritics say his nationalization drive has slowed foreign investment that could help lift Venezuela\u2019s crude production, which has been stagnant for years, and has left fewer companies interested in its oil fields.\nRelations between Exxon and Venezuela were particularly acrimonious. In 2008, Exxon won an injunction against PDVSA to freeze up to $12\u2009billion of its assets, a ruling that was quickly overturned but triggered furious criticism from Chavez.\nOil companies have remained eager to invest in the Orinoco belt, which is considered one of the world\u2019s largest crude reserves, with Chevron and Spain\u2019s Repsol signing investment deals in 2010 for new multibillion-dollar projects there.\n \n \n \u2014 Reuters \n "}, {"name": "e434b9ba-3497-11e1-88f9-9084fc48c348", "body": "It is the final day of his best year at work, and Keith Lazar, 62, settles into his corner office at the community bank. He eats a doughnut with a fork and turns on an instrumental CD titled \u201cRelaxation.\u201d Outside his office window, the town square is bustling with proof of his impact during the past 12 months: trucks financed by his loans, restaurants expanding because of his savings advice and small businesses created with his support.\nThe first customer of the day arrives at 8:20 a.m., 40 minutes before the bank is scheduled to open. It\u2019s a hog farmer wearing overalls and work boots, another longtime customer enjoying a record year. He wants to apply for a loan so he can expand his operation again. Lazar opens the door and waves him inside.\n\u201cHiya, Keith,\u201d the farmer says. \u201cHow\u2019s it going?\u201d\n\u201cCouldn\u2019t be better,\u201d Lazar says. \u201cLife is good.\u201d\nLife is good. It has become Lazar\u2019s default greeting, the motto he inscribed on the wall of his kitchen and printed on \u00adT-shirts to distribute at family gatherings. What could be better at the beginning of 2012 in this other city called Washington, a rural town of 7,200 surrounded by the corn and soybean fields of eastern Iowa? This is the Washington with a 4\u00a0percent unemployment rate, with record-breaking hog and cattle production, with a new high school and a $6\u00a0million library, with a newspaper that doesn\u2019t bother to print a crime blotter, with heated sidewalks in front of the bank so customers never have to walk in the snow.\nThis is the place that officially refers to itself in all marketing materials as \u201cWashington \u2014 Voted One of the Best 100 Small Towns in America Three Times!\u201d\nIt is also a place where, day after day, presidential candidates make their case that the country is a horrific mess.\nWhen Iowa holds its first-in-the-nation caucuses Tuesday, a major campaign moment will unfold here, in one of the most robust towns in one of the country\u2019s most robust states. It is an ironic way for the 2012 election to begin: Politicians come here to talk about the problems of someplace else. Lazar and his friends in Washington can render a crucial verdict on issues from which they often feel disconnected.\n\u201cThis is a nation in crisis,\u201d Rick Perry said at a campaign stop at the local coffee shop last week.\n\u201cThe Washington machine is strangling our economy,\u201d said a local TV ad for Ron Paul.\n\u201cWe\u2019re seeing a war on our values,\u201d Rick Santorum said on the evening news.\n\u201cLife is good,\u201d Lazar says again, still at the bank, four days before the caucuses. He is a lifelong Republican who likes Mitt Romney best, although he doesn\u2019t like any of them enough to participate in the caucuses. He has no problems in his life that require an election to fix, and he believes politicians rarely fix problems anyway. The economy is stable in some early-voting states such as Iowa and New Hampshire, so for some voters like Lazar the calculus is different. The population around the town square in Washington is growing, along with small businesses and the middle class.\nLazar is tall and stately in a dark suit and crisp white shirt, with a pen in his right pocket and the bank logo pinned to his jacket. The bank has yet to open for the day, but already he has underwritten loans for the farmer and for a single father trying to put two daughters through college. \u201cPretty neat to be able to help,\u201d he says. \u201cPretty awesome.\u201d\nAnother day in Washington is off to a great start.\nLife is good at his morning Kiwanis Club meeting, where he stands for the Pledge of Allegiance next to the sheriff, the dentist, the hospital president and the middle-school principal \u2014 friends and customers all. They sing \u201cAmerica the Beautiful.\u201d They solicit community-improvement donations, even though donations already have funded a weight room, a fountain in the park and a municipal bandstand. \u201cPass the hat for Washington!\u201d the club president says, because they\u2019d rather pitch in a few twenties than raise taxes or rely on government to fix their problems.\nLife is good at home, a two-minute drive from work, where he goes on his lunch break to sit by the fireplace and eat with his wife, Sam. They turn on Fox News but keep the TV on mute. \u201cWhat could they say that I really need to hear?\u201d Lazar says.\nWhile politicians talk about a country that is angry and divided, Lazar reads self-improvement books and eliminates the word \u201cwrong\u201d from his vocabulary. \u201cIt\u2019s better to say, \u2018I think you might be mistaken,\u2019\u2009\u201d he says. While politicians talk about a Washington that is dizzying and unpredictable, his life is an exercise in routine: Married 35 years. At the bank for 20. Vacations twice a year to Jamaica. \u201cIt\u2019s a Wonderful Life\u201d on his TV every Christmas. Sunday services at United Methodist Church.\nAnd life is especially good at the community bank, where he closes his office door in the afternoon to look over the year-end financial statements. \u201cPretty awesome year,\u201d he says, nodding. \u201cPretty fortunate.\u201d\nThe bank has been on a corner of the square for 80 years, outlasting chain banks that moved into town and growing from six employees to 31. No year has been as good as 2011. Lazar\u2019s year-end statement shows a net profit of $2.7\u00a0million. Local agriculture profits rose to record highs, and housing prices remained steady. Thriving farmers paid back their loans ahead of schedule. More than 98\u00a0percent of customers stayed up to date on their loan payments.\nLazar has given out $300,000 in bonuses to his staff, doling out $8,000 and sometimes more to greeters and tellers without college degrees. Now, on the last afternoon of the year, he wants to verify dividend checks totaling $1.5\u00a0million for the bank\u2019s 430 shareholders, most of whom also live in town.\nWhile he works in his office, bank customers continue to wave from the lobby and invite themselves in to see him. One wants $600 to cover Christmas presents; another wants a loan for a mobile home; another wants advice on how much to ask for his house; a retired couple want to chat and maybe buy some stock.\n\u201cLife is good,\u201d he says again and again, inviting each customer to sit across his desk. This is his model of community banking. \u201cIf you treat someone like a crook, they will act like a crook,\u201d he says. \u201cMy job is to believe in people, to treat them well, to help them and then to get out of their way.\u201d\nThat is what irks him so much about government and politicians: All they do is get in the way, he thinks. There\u2019s the Dodd-Frank act, which will result in a few hundred more banking rules and force him to hire another employee to sort through the mess. There are the farming regulations that make life complicated for local hog producers. There\u2019s the endless stack of paperwork and the seven-day delays required to complete a mortgage. There\u2019s the new law that requires bankers who deal with mortgages to undergo background checks and fingerprinting. \u201cI pressed down one finger real hard,\u201d Lazar says.\nAnd now, in the heat of the election, there are the incessant presidential campaign calls to his home that have forced him to disconnect the land line.\n\u201cI\u2019m sick of it,\u201d he says.\nSo rather than think about the problems in Washington, D.C., and the rest of the country, he focuses on the occasional problem in his Washington. Late in the afternoon, the owner of a local tanning salon arrives at his office in black sweats and a jacket, looking frazzled. She calls him \u201cUncle Keith\u201d because he offered her financial advice when she was opening her shop on the square. Now she explains that she is short on her mortgage payment for a rental property. Her renter moved out with no notice and left without paying.\n\u201cWhat can I do?\u201d she asks. \u201cI\u2019m in trouble.\u201d\nLazar looks back at her and considers his options. There are a number of ways a banker can handle defaults, and Lazar has tried most of them. Early in his career, when a customer lost his daughter to cancer, started drinking too much and defaulted on his farming loan, Lazar went to the property with a sheriff and hauled away 25 cattle and 365 hogs. It took about seven trips, and the farmer watched from his porch and threatened to go inside for a shotgun. Lazar saw him in his dreams for weeks. \u201cAn ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,\u201d he decided then. Ever since, he has tried to restructure loans and defer payments to help customers avoid defaults.\nOptimism. Trust. Kindness. Those are the values in his Washington. Those are the tenets that ensure life is good.\nHe looks across his desk at the owner of the tanning salon. There might be big problems elsewhere, but this isn\u2019t one. \u201cJust skip the payment this month and you\u2019ll make an extra payment at the end of your loan,\u201d he says.\n\u201cCan it be that easy?\u201d she asks.\n\u201cIt can be,\u201d he says."}, {"name": "1402ce60-34bc-11e1-81ef-eaf2bd09c8a2", "body": "By Toni L. Sandys\nThe Spring Valley Vikings (Columbia, S.C.) are one of the top ranked girls\u2019 basketball teams in the country, finishing last season in the No. 2 position according to MaxPreps Xcellent 25. Entering this year\u2019s third annual National Title IX Holiday Classic in Washington, the team was ranked seventh. The tournament, sponsored by DC Events and the Sankofa Project, goes beyond the reach of the playing court. Teams are invited to attend workshops and conferences that address topics such as Title IX and civic responsibility. Tournament organizers arranged for teams to visit the Martin Luther King Memorial and tour the Capitol.\n\u201cWe wanted to do that,\u201d said Spring Valley Coach Anne Long. \u201cThat was part of the trip. It wasn\u2019t only the competition, but just a great civic lesson. That was a drawing card. We could have gone to any tournament we wanted to this year, but we chose this one.\u201d\nWith no games to play on Friday, and their flight not leaving until the evening, the Spring Valley Vikings took advantage of their free time and headed out for the day. Led by assistant coach Gregory Bauldrick, an active-duty lieutenant colonel in the Army, the team left their hotel and headed for the Mall. On their itinerary: the Holocaust Museum, the White House and the Lincoln Memorial.\n\u201cI think the best [part of the trip] was when we actually got to settle down and not play basketball,\u201d said junior guard Latisha Smith, 16, \u201c and just spend time together and talk about the history that is behind all of this that is D.C.\n\u201cIt\u2019s more than about basketball,\u201d Smith continued. \u201cWe get the opportunity to see all of these things down here. Basketball is supposed to be fun, so this is just part of it.\u201d\nSmith didn\u2019t mind that she has spent most of her two-week winter break on the road traveling with her team to two tournaments. \u201cIt\u2019s pretty cool that you get to go different places, see new things, and learn new things.\u201d\nAt the Holocaust Museum, Smith was overcome with emotion listening to the story of survivor Erica Eckstut (Neuman). \u201cI was listening and looking at her big blue eyes, she stopped talking and she was staring at me. I started crying and had to walk away,\u201d said Smith, who is German and African American. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of emotional because my mom is German, and I\u2019m pretty sure some of her ancestors went through that.\u201d\nAfter the museum, the team posed for photos in front of the Washington Monument, did the same at the White House, and walked past the Vietnam Memorial on their way to the Lincoln Memorial. The well-conditioned basketball team was worn out by its last stop. Slowly the team trickled up the steps for a glimpse of Lincoln. They gathered around the spot where Martin Luther King, Jr. had given his historic speech.\nMinutes before, someone had splashed water on the inscription. Latisha Smith reached down to touch it. \u201cThat was a great experience,\u201d Smith said. \u201cI had never been to D.C. before and I actually got to stand where [King] stood.\u201d\n\u201cWe loved the experience,\u201d Long said as the team headed back to gather its luggage from the hotel. \u201cBut we\u2019re going to hold them accountable for what they\u2019ve learned. We\u2019re going to give them tests and quizzes,\u201d she said with a smile."}, {"name": "9739e392-3492-11e1-81ef-eaf2bd09c8a2", "body": "There was a certain symmetry to the arrival of the Washington area\u2019s first baby of the new year: As 2012 made its debut, so did a baby girl in Maryland \u2014 at precisely 12:12 a.m.\nShe is the first daughter and third child of Irja and Greg Bonafede, a military family from Upper Marlboro, who pronounced themselves \u201ca little astounded\u201d by their midnight-hour delivery.\nA healthy baby Bonafede \u2014 with dark hair, blue-brown eyes and round cheeks \u2014 weighed in at 8 pounds 10 ounces at Southern Maryland Hospital Center in Clinton. By shortly after 1 a.m., she was followed by babies in Rockville and Leesburg.\n\u201cWe had no idea it would be smack-dab at midnight,\u201d Greg Bonafede said from the hospital Sunday afternoon as his newborn snuggled up with her mother. \u201cBut of course the baby has her own idea of things.\u201d\nEyeing a due date of Jan. 16, her parents had thought they had another week or two before their daughter made an appearance. Yesterday, as news crews showed up one after another, they had little time to choose among several favorite names.\nIrja, 36, had begun to recognize labor pains Saturday during an outing to the B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore, where the family took in Christmas displays. The Bonafedes\u2019 sons \u2014 Leo, 5, and Dean, 3 \u2014 had such a good time they did not want to leave.\n\u201cHalfway through the day, I started realizing this really could be it,\u201d Irja said. So Greg, 45, drove them all home, and by 6 p.m. babysitters were in place for their sons and the Bonafedes were heading to the hospital.\nIrja says she is glad \u2014 that she really wanted a January baby.\nThe family already has two December birthdays on the calendar \u2014 Greg\u2019s and Leo\u2019s. Plus, Irja thought January would honor her late mother, who had a birthday in that month.\nHer baby\u2019s arrival at 12:12 a.m., in January 2012, struck both parents as meaningful.\nBut how?\n\u201cTo me, it makes me think of the 12 days of Christmas, which we\u2019re still in,\u201d she concluded.\nGreg Bonafede was still mulling it over.\nA lieutenant colonel in the Air Force who works as a speechwriter at the Pentagon, he had worked in earlier years as an English professor at the Air Force Academy and taken a particular interest in medieval literature.\n\u201cI know there\u2019s a lot of fun you can have with all of these numerological relationships,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t know at the moment what they are. I will have to do some research.\u201d\nThe new baby had a momentous arrival in another way, too: outdoing her brothers\u2019 birth weights by nearly two pounds and nearly three pounds. But the Bonafedes, mindful of the danger of sibling comparisons, were quick to widen the spotlight.\nSaid Greg: \u201cAll of our children are little miracles.\u201d\nRead more on PostLocal.com: \nStudents, parents ask: What holiday?\nViola Drath: A remarkable life hijacked\nGetting a handle on the new bag tax\nTwo killed in New Year\u2019s crash in Bethesda"}, {"name": "fe0ce10e-3231-11e1-8c61-c365ccf404c5", "body": "Bryan R. Lawrence did an excellent job highlighting the $2.9 trillion increase in the cost of obligations that Social Security and Medicare will have to pay out [\u201cThe bad news before Christmas,\u201d op-ed, Dec. 29]. The growing cost of these obligations should motivate efforts to support the long-term solvency of these programs, and history suggests that taking steps forward is possible.\nIn the New Year, Democrats and Tea Party Republicans should consider working together to secure drug price negotiation powers for Medicare. These groups managed to pass legislation to stop funding the GE Rolls-Royce jet engines that the Pentagon identified as wasteful, a task that had eluded previous attempts and a fiscal victory of 2011 that is worth remembering.\nPerhaps in 2012 the collaboration could continue on legislation to allow Medicare the same right already given to the Veterans Affairs Department. If the policy is good enough for the VA, why isn\u2019t it good enough for Medicare?\nThe Tea Party calls for budget discipline. Members of Occupy Wall Street intuit corporate priorities outweighing over citizen priorities. Working to guarantee that the government does not overpay for medication, misallocating tax dollars in the process, would be a victory for both sides.\n Nicole Bhalla Fernandez, Arlington"}, {"name": "ec472c86-24e4-11e1-a95c-9c59e68f8d88", "body": "GLOUCESTER POINT, Va. \u2014 Under the murky waters of the York River, an eerie blur appeared suddenly on Edward Hogge\u2019s sonar, near where his 40-foot deadrise boat sailed about a mile offshore on a cool December morning.\nHogge made a hard right turn. \u201cI\u2019m going back to get it,\u201d he said. He called out to his wife and first mate, Cheryl. \u201cAll right, honey, get your gloves on. Get ready!\u201d When the boat stopped, she tossed a long rope lined with hooks overboard and yanked it. \u201cIt\u2019s got something! It\u2019s heavy,\u201d Cheryl Hogge said.\nBe warned: This is a ghost story. A hidden killer haunts marine life in the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries: tens of thousands of baited crab traps left behind by watermen each year.\nThese \u201cghost pots\u201d capture legions of crabs, eels, terrapins, fish, muskrats and even an occasional duck, leaving them to die. For three years starting in 2008, more than 22,000 blue crabs, male and female, were found dead in ghost pots collected by watermen such as the Hogges under a federal and state program that pays for their work. Another 2,600 oyster toadfish, 950 sea snails known as whelks and 430 black sea bass were killed.\n\u201cIt\u2019s like a feeding machine,\u201d said state Department of Natural Resources Secretary Doug Domenech, who recently sailed with the Hogges to see firsthand how the program partly overseen by his agency works. \u201cAnimals get stuck and can\u2019t get out. So they .\u2009.\u2009. become bait for the next animal that comes.\u201d\nWatermen in Virginia are licensed to set about 300,000 crab pots each year. About 20 percent \u2014 60,000 \u2014 are lost, according to a Virginia Institute of Marine Science estimate. The certain toll of dead animals represents those found in about 28,000 recovered pots, said Kirk J. Havens, director of the Coastal Watersheds Program for the Virginia Institute of Marine Science. A short-lived program in Maryland removed 6,000 ghost pots, he said.\nThe Chesapeake\u2019s iconic blue crabs have enough problems without catching a death sentence in a ghost pot. Their dangerously low population is just beginning to come back after Virginia closed the December-to-March winter fishery as part of an effort to protect them.\nEach ghost pot traps about 50 crabs per year, according to an estimate by the institute. The killing continues all year, even when the waters are closed to crab harvesting.\nThe program to remove the pots has been a success, Havens said. But it will end a four-year run when the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration stops funding it after this year\u2019s haul in March.\nOn this bright morning, though, Edward and Cheryl
Hogge are still at work. They reach over the side of their boat and haul up a deformed peeler crab trap heavy with mud, grass and too many sea grapes to count. Inside, flat on its back, white belly gleaming in the sun, is a tiny dead blue crab.\nThe trap once was sturdy chicken wire coated by vinyl, but now it is a dilapidated animal trap, jailing creatures until they perish. New pots come with a buoy that floats to the surface and marks a trap\u2019s place in the water. But boats often snag the ropes, and storms may roll the trap, wrapping the tether around it and pulling the buoy under during the March-to-November open crab fishery.\n\u201cSome of them you can\u2019t get,\u201d Edward Hogge said. \u201cThey\u2019re so old, they\u2019ve been in the water so long, they fall apart.\u201d\nEarlier in the day, the Hogges pulled up traps with three dead or dying eels, a weakened oyster toadfish and a dead croaker.\n\u201cLast year, we caught a lot of them,\u201d Cheryl Hogge said of ghost pots. \u201cI think we caught, like, 348 or something, right up at the top of the most caught.\u201d\nVirginia is trying to create a more animal-friendly pot. It would have a portal made of a plant-based polymer that dissolves if left in water for a year or more, allowing animals to escape forgotten pots.\nThe loss of the Chesapeake Bay\u2019s most recognized seafood is detrimental to more than just the crab. Restaurants, retailers and customers pay more for crabs, and watermen, who rely on the creatures for income, suffer too.\nIn 2007, the federal government allocated $15\u00a0million to Maryland and Virginia \u201cto assist those economically hurt by the commercial fishery failure, and to support the restoration of the fishery.\u201d In other words, taxpayers would help watermen put food on the table and scientists to resurrect the crab.\nVirginia used its money to develop a Blue Crab Fishery Resource Disaster Relief Plan.\nWhen then-Gov. Tim Kaine (D) insisted that watermen work for the assistance, the Virginia Department of Natural Resources and the Virginia Institute of Marine Science came up with the ghost pot removal program.\nEdward Hogge said recruiting watermen for the work was a good idea. \u201cThose guys at VIMS are very smart, but they don\u2019t know the water like we do.\u201d\nHogge was chosen for the job after state officials entered his winter dredging license in a lottery. He was issued a new, $2,500 side-scan imaging sonar for his 51-year-old boat and paid $300 per day and fuel costs for up to 50 days. He and his wife spend six hours on the water, usually starting at 7 a.m., when temperatures often are below 30 degrees on the water.\nLike most watermen, Hogge would rather be crabbing, and he wants the state to open the winter fishery.\n\u201cIt took our work, and there\u2019s nothing for us to do,\u201d he said. \u201cNow they want to take this program away. I have no education. I quit school in the fifth grade. I was married by the time I was 17. I\u2019ve got to do something.\u201d\nAs he steered the boat back, Hogge had an admission about the winter dredge harvest, which involves raking up crabs that have buried themselves in the bay bottom to shelter from the cold. \u201cThat dredge is heavy when it comes down. When I drag it, I catch about three bushels of crabs. But I also kill three bushels. If it doesn\u2019t get all the crab, it gets part of it.\u201d\nEarlier, as he loaded a ghost pot onto his boat, Hogge had another admission. Most watermen are honest workers, he said, but \u201cthis was thrown overboard deliberately. A lot of them don\u2019t care. That\u2019s just the way some people are.\u201d"}, {"name": "d6a1161e-3234-11e1-8c61-c365ccf404c5", "body": "Two Dec. 27 front-page articles illustrated the devastating impact that drug use has on society, though one would not know it just reading the headlines.\n\u201cA grim tally, driven by drugs\u201d told of the continuing spread of cartel violence southward. \u201cU.S. cites gains in housing veterans\u201d trumpeted recent success by the Department of Veterans Affairs in decreasing the number of homeless veterans by eliminating the requirement for successful substance abuse and mental health treatment as a condition for awarding a housing voucher. The second article espoused the virtues of fewer homeless veterans without addressing how the treatment of these veterans will be handled. I agree that ending homelessness is a top priority, but so, too, is treatment. We should not be out to improve homelessness statistics at the expense of drug treatment for homeless veterans.\nDrug supply and demand are two dimensions of the same problem. Only when our demand for drugs decreases will the violence south of the border decline as well.\n Jodi Peters, Arlington\nThe writer was a senior adviser at the Office of National Drug Control Policy from 2007 to 2009."}, {"name": "67e9663c-212b-11e1-a624-a985dfc4f35d", "body": "Executives at Merkle, a Columbia-based marketing services company, blow off steam racing dune buggies across the Baja California peninsula, climbing Mount Rainier, bouncing along Colorado River white water and running with the bulls in Pamplona, Spain.\nI have written about sexier companies than Merkle, which \u2014 to put it simply \u2014 collects and analyzes massive amounts of data, then advises clients \u2014 from Clorox to Disney \u2014 on how to find new customers and keep them happy.\nThere are no set hours for Merkle\u2019s 1,500\u00a0employees, including the 419 who work locally. You do the job, keep the clients satisfied, and push the envelope on what you can do for them. Drive by the five-story suburban headquarters any weekend or weeknight, and you\u2019ll find a dozen cars in the parking lot.\n\u201cWe are a work-hard, play-hard kind of company,\u201d said David Williams, the 48-year-old chairman and chief executive. \u201cMerkle is not for everybody.\u201d\nDon\u2019t talk to Merkle about \u201cwork-life balance.\u201d\n\u201cIf some person is going to miss a kid\u2019s recital tonight because they are taking care of a client, [that] is a practical reality at Merkle,\u201d said the hard-charging entrepreneur. \u201cWe are willing to do what it takes to take care of business. A lot of people aren\u2019t willing to work that hard.\u201d\nOne of the company\u2019s mottos is \u201cbusiness is personal.\u201d\nIt isn\u2019t easy to get hired. The screening process includes making a presentation before three people, who then vote on whether they want you.\nThe rewards are high. The average Merkle salary is about $90,000, and all employees get health-care coverage. Every quarter, the company awards a handful of \u201cdream grants,\u201d from $1,000-to-$5,000, that allow a person or small team to do whatever they want, whether it\u2019s go to Boston for a Red Sox game or climb down a cave in Belize.\n\u201cWe really want hard chargers,\u201d said Williams.\nThe company grossed around $300\u00a0million in 2011, and earns a profit of about $50\u00a0million based on a profit percentage in the mid-teens. It also has little debt.\nA recent investment of $75\u00a0million by Technology Crossover Ventures, a Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm, pegged Merkle\u2019s worth at $400 million. That means Williams, who owns just shy of half of the company, is a happy man.\nThis is a focused bunch. And like most corporate cultures, Merkle\u2019s starts at the top \u2014 with a boss whose hobby is driving race cars.\nWilliams grew up in Philadelphia and studied marketing and finance at Shippensburg University in south-central Pennsylvania, where he graduated in 1985.\nLike most entrepreneurs, Williams pined to own his own company. He planned on growing a landscaping business that he had begun in college, but one of his customers said he \u201cwas on a path to nowhere\u201d and suggested he become a stockbroker.\nWilliams \u2014 born with a talent for numbers \u2014 took the stockbroker exam in 1985. He was hired by Butcher & Singer, a storied Philadelphia investment house, where he thrived.\nHis \u201caha moment\u201d hit when he noticed that his wealthiest clients were entrepreneurs who had sold their businesses at some point in their lives.\n\u201cThe only way to build equity is to actually own a business,\u201d said Williams, who was earning about $60,000\u00a0a year at the time and trying to build a stake by investing in rental properties.\nOne of his customers at the time, a retired Air Force colonel named Harvey Blanton, started talking about selling a profitable Lanham-based marketing company he owned called Merkle Computer Systems. The company earned $800,000 in profits on $2.5 million in revenue. It had 23 employees.\nAfter failing to get Butcher & Singer interested in Merkle, Williams decided to buy the company himself in 1988. He borrowed $5 million of the $5.3 million purchase price, selling a couple of his rental properties to raise the $300,000 down payment. He asked his clients if any were interested in investing in the company, and one became a partner \u2014 and a business coach.\nWilliams was turned down by about a dozen banks before one agreed to lend him $2.5 million. He borrowed the rest from Blanton.\nHe had a quick awakening when Merkle lost one of its biggest clients in his first year and Blanton took ill, removing a key advisor. But Williams pushed through.\n\u201cI wasn\u2019t worried about failure because I had so much exposure to it [growing up],\u201d said Williams, who says a lifelong battle with dyslexia, a reading disorder, hardened him against embarrassment.\nMerkle had started as a data processing company that kept track of union and association members and where they lived. Using that as a core, Merkle rode the direct-mail and direct-marketing boom of the \u201990s.\nCatalogues became mainstream. Credit card solicitation grew. The Internet opened up new ways to reach customers. Big companies hired Merkle, especially the telecom giants of the day \u2014 MCI, AT&T and Bell Atlantic \u2014 all of whom were competing furiously for landline and cellphone customers.\nAs computer horsepower grew, Merkle married the technical aspects of large data compilation with analysis that predicts consumer behavior. To parse the information even more, it hired statistics experts.\nThe company says its secret sauce lies in its analytics. For example, when Dell computer wanted to send catalogues to 120 million potential customers, Merkle helped them narrow the focus to those most likely to buy a laptop computer. Merkle sent out thousands of catalogues, digesting the responses to come up with a profile of a likely Dell customer. Then they used that profile to project likely customers across the United States.\nMerkle prefers to work with Fortune 1000 companies and major nonprofit organizations, such as the American Cancer Society. It focuses on growth industries and large \u201cbest in breed\u201d corporations such as Dell, Geico, DirecTV, Wendy\u2019s, OnStar, Urban Outfitters, T.G.I. Friday\u2019s, Disney and Microsoft.\nIn addition to its Columbia headquarters, it has offices in Boston, Chicago, Denver, Little Rock, Minneapolis, New York, Philadelphia, Seattle and Hagerstown.\nAnd Williams has his sights set on raising revenue to $1\u00a0billion a year.\nThe company has had many offers from suitors in the last half dozen years, and Williams said receiving venture capital investment means the company will have to reach some sort of decision point in five to seven years. But no one knows the end game.\nIn the meantime, the racing-car enthusiast has no intention of putting on the brakes.\n\u201cI intend to work very hard my entire career,\u201d he said. \u201cI want to be around a really smart, hardworking group of people.\u201d"}, {"name": "bb260b3a-274c-11e1-ba51-99a2b27f6305", "body": "Five months in an Egyptian jail gives a person a lot of time to think. When you are not pacing or trying to catch an hour of afternoon sun through the barred window, there are thoughts of home, family, the freedoms Westerners take for granted, what exactly got you into the mess and even why you came to the country that locked you up. Two months after my release, as I watch news of the Egyptian military\u2019s violent suppression of protests and raids on nongovernmental organizations, I still think of my first hours of arrest, when I was handcuffed and blindfolded.\nWhen I went to Egypt to spend the summer working at a nongovernmental organization that provides legal assistance to asylum seekers from Sudan and Iraq, I was no stranger to the Middle East. I had studied Arabic in Cairo and spent more than two years in the Israel Defense Forces. I hoped that my summer would prove that my Zionist ideals could coexist with support for the right of human migration and sanctuary. I also hoped to convince the Arabs I met that my Zionism did not have to be antithetical to their interests and that we could work together for peace.\nBut in post-revolutionary Egypt, my attempts to educate and interact with the local population led to my arrest, to solitary confinement and eventually to the threat of five simultaneous life imprisonments for \u201cespionage\u201d and \u201cincitement.\u201d\nOn previous visits, the friendships I developed overpowered the omnipresent anti-Israel propaganda of the Arab world. Some former adherents of the Muslim Brotherhood actually wished me luck when I left to do reserve duty in Israel. Most Egyptians I met and chatted with over coffee ended our conversations by admitting to holding misconceptions about Israelis. This reinforced my hopes for common ground.\nSo during the summer I emphasized my Israeli background, even when I entered Egypt as an American. I identified as a Zionist Israeli to all of my Egyptian friends, taught them Hebrew and showed them Israeli movies. In return, I received lessons in Arabic, Islam and Egyptian culture.\nSome who do not know me considered my actions peculiar or harmful. But that condemnation only underscores a particular abyss into which the Middle East conflict has descended since once-influential Zionists and Egyptians considered cooperation to be beneficial, as did the early Zionist leader Chaim Weizmann and Dawood Barakat, the former editor of the Egyptian daily al-Ahram.\nOn June 12, two dozen state security officials barged into my hostel room, handcuffed and blindfolded me, and transported me to their general prosecutor.\nPeople ask, \u201cWere you scared?\u201d I was terrified and confused. Over time I also became angry and lonely. The initial 14 days were the \u201cbest\u201d part of my imprisonment because there was at least human interaction. The prosecutor and I bantered about politics, religion and the Middle East conflict. The conversations were jovial, mostly innocuous, save for some random accusations: \u201cSecurity reports inform us that you were smuggling weapons from Libyan revolutionaries into Egypt,\u201d or my favorite \u2014 but perhaps irrelevant \u2014 charge: \u201cIlan, you used your seductive powers to recruit Egyptian women and that is a crime.\u201d\nAfter these first two weeks, the interrogations ended, but my detention continued. Thus began my solitary confinement, which became the true ordeal \u2014 near-complete isolation, interrupted just twice a month by consular visits that lasted only 40 minutes. But thanks to the work of so many U.S. and Israeli government officials, I was not lost in the system. My parents and U.S. officials got me books, which I read slowly because I did not know whether I would get more or how long I would be jailed.\nPeople ask, \u201cWere you tortured?\u201d I was not beaten \u2014 but consider what it\u2019s like to spend nearly 150 days (3,600 hours) alone in a 10-by-10 room with a bed and chair, a small barred window and no idea what would come next.\nPeople ask, \u201cSo what do you think of Egypt and your mission now?\u201d My answer is constantly evolving. As my detention and recent events and repressions in Egypt make clear, the revolution brought only superficial change. The junta\u2019s focus on external actors represents a desperate attempt to avoid culpability and abdication of power.\nHosni Mubarak\u2019s notorious state security forces still arbitrarily arrest Egyptians without real charges or trials (as they did me), denying anything resembling due process. Prosecutors and judges go through the motions of court proceedings, but the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces really calls the shots.\nWas my trip reckless or \u201cwrong\u201d? No. Despite the peril, the U.S. government sends Peace Corps volunteers to volatile regions because of the benefit of grass-roots diplomacy. Hasbara, the Hebrew term that refers to efforts to explain the Israeli viewpoint, has much to gain from such a strategy, given the pernicious myths about Israel and Jews prevalent in much of the Arab world.\nMy hasbara provided a viewpoint that changed the mentalities of former Muslim Brotherhood members, the prosecutor and my guards, whose last words were \u201cShalom, we hope you forgive us.\u201d Israelis and Arabs can continue to maintain the status quo of mutual avoidance or they can dare to coexist. To those who wrongly held me, I say simply, I forgive you."}, {"name": "ad505a4c-3237-11e1-8c61-c365ccf404c5", "body": "Regarding the Dec. 29 front-page article \u201cPentagon thinning ranks of top brass\u201d:\nI served on active duty in the military and am in the reserves. Vice Adm. William E. Gortney\u2019s comment that it takes so long to eliminate senior officers because \u201cyou need time to work this\u201d and \u201cyou can\u2019t just give people their pink slips\u201d shows a disconnect with the real world.\u00a0General officers serve at the pleasure of the president.\u00a0Since they are all eligible for retirement (with immediate collection of benefits), why wait to let them go?\u00a0In the civilian world, folks get let go on short notice all of the time.\n Sean F. Conroy, McLean"}, {"name": "507123bc-3334-11e1-825f-dabc29fd7071", "body": "Four years ago this week, a young and inspirational senator who promised to turn history\u2019s page swept the Iowa caucuses and began his irresistible rise to the White House.\nBarack Obama was unlike any candidate the country had seen before. More than a mere politician, he became a cultural icon, \u201cthe biggest celebrity in the world,\u201d as a John McCain ad accurately, if mischievously, described him. He was the object of near adoration among the young, launching what often felt like a religious revival. Artists poured out musical compositions devoted to his victory in a rich variety of forms, from reggae and hip-hop to the Celtic folk song. (My personal favorite: \u201cThere\u2019s no one as Irish as Barack O\u2019Bama.\u201d) Electoral contests rarely hold out the possibility of making all things new, but Obama\u2019s supporters in large numbers fervently believed that 2008 was exactly such a campaign.\nAs the attention of the politically minded has focused on the rather more down-to-earth contests in Iowa and New Hampshire that will help determine which Republican will face Obama in November, let us ponder what the coming year will bring for someone who must now seek reelection as a mere mortal.\nObama\u2019s largest problem is not the daunting list of difficulties that have left the country understandably dispirited: the continuing sluggishness of the economy, the broken political culture of Washington, the anxiety over America\u2019s future power and prosperity.\nOn each of these matters, Obama has plausible answers and, judging by improvements in his poll ratings since September, he has made headway in getting the country to accept them.\nMost Americans still believe that Obama inherited rather than caused the economic turmoil. Barring another crisis in Europe, there is a decent chance of somewhat better times by Election Day. Obama\u2019s fall offensive against Republicans in Congress has paid dividends. Voters seem inclined to blame Washington\u2019s dysfunction on the GOP, not on a president they still rather like. Most also think Obama\u2019s foreign policy has put the nation on a steadier course. To the extent that bellicosity from the Republicans \u2014 notably from Mitt Romney \u2014 portends a return to George W. Bush\u2019s foreign policy, Obama will enjoy an advantage. Ron Paul\u2019s strength in Iowa and New Hampshire suggests that there are even Republicans who are exhausted with foreign military adventures.\nFor all these reasons, Democrats are far more bullish on the president\u2019s reelection chances than they were even a few months ago, and for what it\u2019s worth, I put the odds in his favor. Yet the threat that should most concern Obama may not be any of the particulars that usually decide elections but the inevitable clash between the extravagant hopes of 2008 and the messy reality of 2012.\nIn traveling around Iowa and New Hampshire over the last few weeks, I have been struck by the number of Democrats and independents who still more or less want Obama to win and deeply fear the consequences of a government dominated by Republicans. But having made this clear, they then bring up the ways in which they cannot summon the emotions on Obama\u2019s behalf this year that they felt the first time around.\nSome point to disappointment over his failure to confront the Republicans early enough and hard enough. How, they ask, could Obama possibly have expected cooperation from conservatives? Others are frustrated that he couldn\u2019t bring Washington together, as he said he would. Still others point to real Obama achievements, including the stimulus and especially the health-care law, and ask why he was unable to sell their merits to a majority of the electorate. And then there are those who wonder why the malefactors of finance have faced so little accountability.\nFew of these voters would ever support a Republican, and most will turn out dutifully for Obama again. But a president who won election with 52.9 percent of the vote does not have a lot of margin. He needs to worry not just about issues but also about the spirit and morale of his supporters. In their jaunty song on Obama\u2019s behalf four years ago, the alternative reggae band Michael Franti & Spearhead promised a country that would \u201csoar through the sky like an eagle\u201d and saw Obama as \u201cseeking finds of a new light.\u201d\nThese are not the standards of normal politics. Can voters who supported someone as a transcendent figure reelect him as a normal, if resilient, political leader? This is Obama\u2019s challenge.\n ejdionne@washpost.com \n"}, {"name": "7441217c-3332-11e1-825f-dabc29fd7071", "body": "Let us count the ways in which the nomination of Ron Paul would be groundbreaking for the GOP.\nNo other recent candidate hailing from the party of Lincoln has accused Abraham Lincoln of causing a \u201csenseless\u201d war and ruling with an \u201ciron fist.\u201d Or regarded Ronald Reagan\u2019s presidency a \u201cdramatic failure.\u201d Or proposed the legalization of prostitution and heroin use. Or called America the most \u201caggressive, extended and expansionist\u201d empire in world history. Or promised to abolish the CIA, depart NATO and withdraw military protection from South Korea. Or blamed terrorism on American militarism, since \u201cthey\u2019re terrorists because we\u2019re occupiers.\u201d Or accused the American government of a Sept. 11 \u201ccoverup\u201d and called for an investigation headed by Dennis Kucinich. Or described the killing of Osama bin Laden as \u201cabsolutely not necessary.\u201d Or affirmed that he would not have sent American troops to Europe to end the Holocaust. Or excused Iranian nuclear ambitions as \u201cnatural,\u201d while dismissing evidence of those ambitions as \u201cwar propaganda.\u201d Or published a newsletter stating that the 1993 World Trade Center attack might have been \u201ca setup by the Israeli Mossad,\u201d and defending former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard David Duke and criticizing the \u201cevil of forced integration.\u201d\nEach of these is a disqualifying scandal. Taken together, a kind of grandeur creeps in. The ambition of Paul and his supporters is breathtaking. They wish to erase 158 years of Republican Party history in a single political season, substituting a platform that is isolationist, libertarian, conspiratorial and tinged with racism. It won\u2019t happen. But some conservatives seem paradoxically drawn to the radicalism of Paul\u2019s project. They prefer their poison pill covered in glass and washed down with battery acid. It proves their ideological manhood.\nIn many ways, Paul is the ideal carrier of this message. His manner is vague and perplexed rather than angry \u2014 as though he is continually searching for lost car keys. Yet those who reject his isolationism are called \u201cwarmongers.\u201d The George W. Bush administration, in his view, was filled with \u201cglee\u201d after the Sept. 11 attacks, having found an excuse for war. Paul is just like your grandfather \u2014 if your grandfather has a nasty habit of conspiratorial calumny.\nRecent criticism of Paul \u2014 in reaction to racist rants contained in the Ron Paul Political Report \u2014 has focused on the candidate\u2019s view of civil rights. Associates have denied he is a racist, which is both reassuring and not particularly relevant. Whatever his personal views, Paul categorically opposes the legal construct that ended state-sanctioned racism. His libertarianism involves not only the abolition of the Department of Education but also a rejection of the federal role in civil rights from the Civil War to the Civil Rights Act of 1964.\nThis is the reason Paul is among the most anti-Lincoln public officials since Jefferson Davis resigned from the United States Senate. According to Paul, Lincoln caused 600,000 Americans to die in order to \u201cget rid of the original intent of the republic.\u201d Likewise, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 diminished individual liberty because the \u201cfederal government has no legitimate authority to infringe on the rights of private property owners to use their property as they please.\u201d A federal role in civil rights is an attack on a \u201cfree society.\u201d According to Paul, it is like the federal government dictating that you can\u2019t \u201csmoke a cigar.\u201d\nThe comparison of civil rights to the enjoyment of a cigar is a sad symptom of ideological delirium. It also illustrates confusion at the heart of libertarianism. Government can be an enemy of liberty. But the achievement of a free society can also be the result of government action \u2014 the protection of individual liberty against corrupt state governments or corrupt business practices or corrupt local laws. In 1957, President Eisenhower sent 1,000 Army paratroopers to Arkansas to forcibly integrate Central High School in Little Rock. This reduced Gov. Orval Faubus\u2019s freedom. It increased the liberty of Carlotta Walls LaNier, who was spat upon while trying to attend school. A choice between freedoms was necessary \u2014 and it was not a hard one.\nPaul\u2019s conception of liberty is not the same as Lincoln\u2019s \u2014 which is not a condemnation of Lincoln. Paul\u2019s view would have freed African Americans from the statism of the Emancipation Proclamation and the Civil Rights Act. It would have freed the occupants of concentration camps from their dependency on liberating armies. And it would free the Republican Party from any claim to conscience or power.\n michaelgerson@washpost.com \n"}, {"name": "08c2ef8c-3307-11e1-a274-61fcdeecc5f5", "body": "Could 2012 turn conventional wisdom on its head? Here\u2019s the conventional wisdom: President Obama\u2019s reelection is vulnerable to the weak economy and high joblessness. Here\u2019s what might happen: The economy gradually improves, and although unemployment stays high (exceeding 8 percent), what counts politically is the palpable sense that things are moving in the right direction. This allows Obama to argue, as he already does, that his policies are slowly repairing the economic calamity he inherited from Republicans.\nTo which they respond: Obama\u2019s anti-business rhetoric and policies have impeded recovery; the Affordable Care Act (\u201cObamacare\u201d) and new regulations create uncertainties that deter hiring; and Obama hasn\u2019t dealt with the explosion of federal debt.\nJust which narrative triumphs may well determine the election. If Obama convinces Americans that he\u2019s set a course for a stronger recovery, then he wins. If the Republicans successfully cast his policies as producing prolonged stagnation, they win. Though the debate matters, the economy\u2019s actual performance \u2014 for better or worse \u2014 will decide how many Americans feel. And this will depend on forces and events over which the candidates have little or no control.\nWhat\u2019s the 2012 outlook?\nMany forecasts see modest growth. Here are some numbers from IHS Global Insight, a major consulting firm. The economy will expand 1.8 percent, almost the same as in 2011 (estimate: 1.7 percent). Payroll jobs will grow about 145,000 a month, rising gradually; that\u2019s decent but probably wouldn\u2019t cut the unemployment rate. Indeed, normal labor force growth and the prospect that some discouraged workers will start looking for jobs indicate the unemployment rate (8.6 percent in November) could average 8.7 percent, only slightly below the 9 percent of 2011.\nThis forecast depicts a plodding economy; should it materialize, it would favor the Republicans. \u201cConsumers face too many negatives to allow a robust spending recovery \u2014 a weak labor market, high debt burdens, house prices that have not yet hit bottom, price increases that have outpaced wage growth, and a lack of confidence in the government\u2019s ability to make things better,\u201d says IHS.\nBut the mainstream forecast may be too glum. Starting with the 2008 financial crisis, economic predictions have routinely been wrong. At this time last year, they were too optimistic; now they might be too pessimistic. Many indicators are exceeding expectations. Weekly initial claims for unemployment insurance, which peaked at more than 600,000, are running under 400,000 \u2014 a level often associated with a low or declining unemployment rate. Housing construction was up 9.3 percent in November over October and 24.3 percent over November 2010.\nFor Obama, the economy holds two large potential pluses.\nFirst, there\u2019s huge pent-up demand for homes and vehicles, because both sectors collapsed in the recession. Car and light-truck sales, which totaled about 17 million annually in 2004 and 2005, fell to 10.4 million in 2009. In 2011, IHS estimated sales to reach 12.7 million. The decline in housing construction was even deeper, from about 2 million units annually in 2004 and 2005 to an estimated 600,000 in 2011.\nSecond, the consumer debt burden is dropping rapidly, notes Timothy Taylor, managing editor of the Journal of Economic Perspectives, on his blog. Households have repaid some debts. Others have been written off; interest rates on many remaining loans have declined. On average, households paid 16.15 percent of their income toward loans, rents and leases in the third quarter of 2011, according to Federal Reserve data. That was the lowest since 1993 and down from a peak of 18.85 percent in the third quarter of 2007.\nThe upshot: More Americans may be in a position to borrow to buy a home or vehicle, relieving some pent-up demand. Home sales may already be reviving. In November, new contracts reached their highest level in 19 months.\nBy contrast, Europe and China pose big risks. In Europe, Italy and Spain have nearly 500 billion euros worth of maturing debt in 2012, reports the Institute of International Finance. If they can\u2019t refinance \u2014 if bond markets won\u2019t renew loans at acceptable interest rates \u2014 they would default or need to be rescued. Either way, Europe would face greater austerity and a deep recession. This would hurt U.S. exports and the profits of American multinational firms.\nThe danger from China is a collapsing real estate \u201cbubble\u201d that, if it occurred, would result in bankruptcies of developers, loan losses to banks and slower economic growth. The effects would spread beyond China, because construction fuels its demand for cement, steel, copper and other raw materials traded on world markets. Again, U.S. exports could suffer.\nGiven all the possibilities, handicapping the election based on the economy is nearly futile. It\u2019s 2012\u2019s political wild card that \u2014 when played \u2014 may prove decisive, if accidental.\n"}, {"name": "b97c78a4-331e-11e1-825f-dabc29fd7071", "body": "THERE MAY NOT have been a party in Times Square to celebrate, but two of the most wasteful subsidies ever to clutter the Internal Revenue Code went out with the old year. Congress declined to renew either the 45-cent-per-gallon tax credit for corn-based ethanol or the 54-cent-per-gallon tariff on imported ethanol, so both expired Dec. 31.\nTaxpayers will no longer have shell out roughly $6 billion per year for a program that badly distorted the global grain market, artificially raised the cost of agricultural land and did almost nothing to curb greenhouse gas emissions. A federal law requiring the use of 36 billion gallons of ethanol for fuel by 2022 still props up the industry, but the tax credit\u2019s expiration is a victory for common sense just the same.\nMeanwhile, a lesser-known but equally dubious energy tax break also expired when the year ended Saturday: the credit that gave electric-car owners up to $1,000 to defray the cost of installing a 220-volt charging device in their homes \u2014 or up to $30,000 to install one in a commercial location. As a means of reducing carbon emissions, electric cars and plug-in hybrid electrics are no more cost-effective than ethanol. What\u2019s more, only upper-income consumers can afford to buy an electric vehicle (EV); so the charger subsidy is a giveaway to the well-to-do.\nThe same goes for the $7,500 tax credit that the government offers purchasers of electric vehicles, a subsidy that, alas, did not expire at year\u2019s end. The Obama administration says that the credit helps build a market for EVs, which helps create jobs. Given the price of eligible models, like the $100,000 Fisker Karma, that rationale sounds an awful lot like trickle-down economics.\nBackers of the charger tax credit may lobby Congress to renew it when lawmakers tackle the payroll tax extension issue again in the new year. We hope that Congress says no. Not only is it a case study in upward income redistribution, it also would represent a deepening of the taxpayers\u2019 commitment to what looks increasingly like an industry not ready for prime time.\nSales of electric vehicles were disappointing in 2011, with the Volt coming in below the 10,000 units forecast. In addition to its high price, the Volt brand is suffering from news that some of its batteries burst into flames after government road tests. Meanwhile, Fisker, the recipient of more than half a billion dollars in low-interest Energy Department loans, repeatedly delayed the introduction of its ballyhooed Karma \u2014 while repeatedly raising the sticker price. And now Fisker has announced a recall of the cars because of a potential defect in its batteries \u2014 made by A123 Systems, another large recipient of Energy Department support.\nEvidence is mounting that President Obama was overly optimistic to pledge that there would be 1 million EVs on the road by 2015. Electric cars are not likely to form a significant part of the solution to America\u2019s dependence on foreign oil, or to global warming, in the near future. They simply pose too many issues of price and practicality to attract a large segment of the car-buying public. More prosaic fuel-economy innovations such as conventional hybrids, clean-diesel cars and advanced gasoline engines all show much more promise than electrics.\nThe ethanol credit was on the books for 30 years before it finally died. Let\u2019s hope Congress can start unwinding the federal government\u2019s bad investment in electric vehicles faster than that.\n"}, {"name": "af8f7bda-34c6-11e1-88f9-9084fc48c348", "body": "The Iowa caucuses are almost here!\nIn less than 48 hours, Republicans will gather across the Hawkeye State to pick the man or woman they think should be the next president.\nAt this point, there\u2019s not much left for the candidates \u2014 or the reporters who cover them \u2014 to do but wait and wonder. Now, the Fix isn\u2019t a betting man, but there is no better way to wile away the hours between now and Tuesday night than to do a bit of odds-setting.\nBelow are the odds we give each candidate in Iowa. The numbers are based on conversations with strategists for many of the contenders, independent poll figures and a little bit of historical context sprinkled in for taste.\n Mitt Romney (1-1): The former Massachusetts governor is the best bet to win the caucuses because he is the only candidate aggressively competing for the mainstream/establishment vote in the state. The five others in the race are trying to emerge as the social-conservative/tea party choice.\nAlthough more social conservatives than mainstream Republicans participate in the caucuses, the fracturing of the evangelical vote means that Romney\u2019s 25\u00a0percent could be enough (or close to enough) to win the nomination. (He received 25\u00a0percent in the Iowa caucuses in 2008 and lost to former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee by nine points.)\nRomney and his team know that a victory in Iowa followed by another in New Hampshire would all but lock up the nomination for him, so he is pushing \u2014 hard.\n Rick Santorum (4-1): A Des Moines Register poll released Saturday night made plain that the former senator from Pennsylvania is the momentum candidate. Although he took 15\u00a0percent overall in the four-day survey, he was at 21\u00a0percent in the final two days \u2014 a sign that he is peaking in the waning moments.\nThe key for Santorum is how much of the vote he can peel off other socially conservative candidates \u2014 most notably Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who, despite major spending in Iowa, doesn\u2019t appear to be rising fast enough.\n Ron Paul (5-1): The congressman from Texas has the most reliable base \u2014 between 15\u00a0percent and 19\u00a0percent \u2014 in the field. But his ability to grow beyond that has always been very much up in the air, and it\u2019s even more so now as Paul has come under withering attack from the likes of former House speaker Newt Gingrich (Ga.) and Rep. Michele Bachmann (Minn.). Both Bachmann and Gingrich have painted Paul not only as outside the mainstream of Republican Party thought, which he is, but also as potentially dangerous if elected.\nAlthough conventional wisdom holds that if turnout in the caucuses is low (less than 100,000) it\u2019s good for Paul, there\u2019s also a case to be made that high turnout (120,000 or more) might be even better. The more nontraditional Republicans who decide to vote Tuesday (Iowa has same-day registration), the better for Paul.\n Newt Gingrich (20-1): If the caucuses had been held Dec.\u00a03, Gingrich would have won. But his baffling pledge not to go negative combined with his inability to raise enough money to compete with his rivals (and their affiliated super PACs) on television doomed his chances over the past month.\nGingrich has insisted that South Carolina is where he will make his stand, but if he finishes outside of the top three in Iowa it might be hard for him to raise more money and stay viable through the Palmetto State\u2019s Jan.\u00a021 primary.\n Rick Perry (25-1): The Texas governor\u2019s inability to gain any real traction despite outspending all of his rivals in the Hawkeye State reveals just how damaging his disastrous debate performances were late last year.\nAlthough Perry is, at best, a socially conservative spoiler for the likes of Santorum at this point, he will almost certainly be remembered as a \u201cwhat might have been\u201d candidate. His profile \u2014 and ability to raise money \u2014 should have made him Romney\u2019s main competition nationally and the front-runner in Iowa. Instead, he\u2019ll be the latest reminder that candidates and the campaigns they run matter.\n Michele Bachmann (50-1): Need a sign of how fluid this race has been? The congresswoman from Minnesota was the Iowa front-runner when she won the Ames Straw Poll in mid-August. A little more than four months later, she is the heavy favorite to finish last in the caucuses.\nBachmann\u2019s inability to raise money has badly hamstrung her, and she has been a shadowy presence on Iowa airwaves over the past month. If she does come in sixth Tuesday night, it\u2019s hard to imagine her staying in the race through the Jan.\u00a010 New Hampshire primary."}, {"name": "c1a204be-3246-11e1-a274-61fcdeecc5f5", "body": "Children in snow suits are a common sight during winter. But in 1962, Peter from \u201cThe Snowy Day\u201d was something most children in the United States had never seen before: an African American character who was the hero of his own book.\n\u201cNone of the manuscripts I\u2019d been illustrating featured any black kids \u2014 except for token blacks in the background,\u201d wrote author and illustrator Ezra Jack Keats, who died in 1983. \u201cMy book would have him there simply because he should have been there all along.\u201d\nFirst published 50 years ago, \u201cThe Snowy Day\u201d is a gentle story that revels in the wonder of an urban snowfall. It also was quietly groundbreaking, both as what is widely considered the first picture book to star a black child and in its use of collage, for which Keats won the 1963 Caldecott Medal. Writers such as National Book Award winner Sherman Alexie, who thanked Keats in his 2007 acceptance speech, and award-winning author/illustrator Bryan Collier have cited \u201cThe Snowy Day\u201d as an inspiration.\n\u201cThe fact that it\u2019s still around \u2014 and picture books are like lettuce in the grocery store, they disappear so fast \u2014 the fact that it\u2019s still with us is something,\u201d said Newbery and National Book Award winner Katherine Paterson, who is the National Ambassador for Young People\u2019s Literature. \u201cIt\u2019s so important for a child to be able to say, \u2018There I am in the book,\u2019\u2009\u201d said Paterson, whose daughters are Chinese and Native American. \u201cThat\u2019s been a wonderful change, even in the lifetime of my children, who are in their 40s now.\u201d\nTo celebrate the book\u2019s 50th anniversary, Viking has issued a special edition that includes eight pages of supplemental material, including the magazine photos of a little boy that inspired Keats and a fan letter from poet Langston Hughes. \u201cThe Snowy Day and the Art of Ezra Jack Keats,\u201d the first major U.S. exhibition about Keats, opened this fall at the Jewish Museum in New York and will travel to Massachusetts, California and Ohio in 2012 and 2013.\nCollier, whose book \u201cUptown\u201d won the first Ezra Jack Keats award, still remembers his mother, a Head Start teacher, bringing home \u201cThe Snowy Day.\u201d \u201cIt was the first time I saw a kid that looked like me,\u201d Collier said. \u201cAt 4, I didn\u2019t have the vocabulary to articulate what I was looking at. But I remember seeing Peter, and this kid looked just like me. The yellow-print housedress the mom wears \u2014 my mother had a housedress like that, too. Even the pattern of the pajamas \u2014 my great-uncle had pajamas like that. It felt so real.\u201d\nBack in the 1940s, 22 years before \u201cThe Snowy Day\u201d was published, Keats had cut out pictures from Life magazine of the young boy, who was being vaccinated, said Deborah Pope, executive director of the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation in New York, which supports arts and literacy programming in schools, libraries and other institutions. He pinned them to a wall in his studio; meanwhile, he continued illustrating other people\u2019s books.\nKeats\u2019s book, when it appeared, \u201cwas both a social, personal and artistic breakthrough,\u201d said Pope, whose father was Keats\u2019s best friend. \u201cIt really opened up the wellspring of his inner voice. He said that the book \u2014 as artists sometimes say \u2014 the book kind of burst out of him. He had never done anything like this before.\u201d\nIf it had purely been a \u201ccause\u201d book, some argue, \u201cThe Snowy Day\u201d would be just a footnote. The fact that children still read it today has to do with the universality of the story and Keats\u2019s stunning collages.\n\u201cThat\u2019s what struck me: It was gorgeous,\u201d said Laura Ingalls Wilder Award winner Tomie dePaola, who has written or illustrated more than 200 books. \u201cIt deserves all the fame and notice it\u2019s going to get.\u201d\nKeats\u2019s art has a richness and depth, Christopher Award-winning author and illustrator Jerry Pinkney said, that only increases as you peel away its layers.\n\u201cHe brought his sensibilities as a painter, his ability to remember his childhood and express it in a way that other kids could connect to, his total love of the city,\u201d said Pinkney, who curated an exhibit in Los Angeles in the 1990s that included Keats\u2019s work. \u201cYou take a 32-page picture book \u2014 packed into those 32 pages is all of that.\u201d\nKeats once attended art classes with Jackson Pollock and was working during the height of abstract expressionism.\n\u201cHe\u2019s been compared to Edward Hopper: taking the ordinary and making it extraordinary,\u201d said Nick Clark, chief curator for the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, Mass., where the exhibit will be on display this year. Collage, Clark suggested, might be a way of using scraps of paper to suggest \u201clife\u2019s detritus.\u201d Clark added that Keats had the ability to take the poverty and squalor he saw as he walked through his neighborhood and recombine them in a way that was beautiful: \u201cSo there are these exquisitely rendered reproductions of graffiti. He found a way to capture this other beauty.\u201d\nAlthough the 50th anniversary has been cause for celebration, when \u201cThe Snowy Day\u201d was first published some critics questioned whether a Jewish man had the right to tell a story about an African American child.\n\u201cCarry that to an extreme, and none of us could write,\u201d Paterson said. \u201cThere\u2019s no space for the imagination.\u201d\nThe controversy was \u201cdevastating\u201d to Keats, Pope said. He had grown up in a poor immigrant family and changed his last name from Katz to Keats after years of anti-Semitism. Pope says he asked: \u201cHow can you put a color on a child\u2019s experience in the snow?\u201d\nWinning the Caldecott Award and receiving fan letters from Hughes and other African American activists helped stem the criticism. \u201cIt was such a vindication,\u201d said Regina Hayes, president and publisher of Viking Children\u2019s Books in New York. At the time, full-color printing was very expensive, and most picture books were either black and white, or alternated between black and white and color pages. \u201cIt was really a commitment. Everyone [at Viking] was completely aware that this was going to be the first mainstream picture book to feature an African American child as a main character.\u201d\n\u201cIt holds up the need for everybody to be included,\u201d Pinkney said. \u201cBut I think, you know what, the art stands up. And good art gets better. .\u2009.\u2009. It\u2019s going to stand up 50 years from now. We\u2019re going to celebrate that 100th year.\u201d"}, {"name": "fe4a4de6-3268-11e1-a274-61fcdeecc5f5", "body": "ONE ISSUE THAT demands more attention in the scandal surrounding D.C. Council member Harry Thomas Jr. (D-Ward 5) is the role played by the independent non-profit that administers city grant money for youth programs. Was it a lack of proper controls, susceptibility to political pressure or perhaps both that resulted in funds intended for children\u2019s baseball going, as alleged, to Mr. Thomas? Did this faulty oversight result in other questionable appropriations? D.C. officials should not wait for the outcome of the criminal probe of Mr. Thomas to undertake their own scrutiny of how wisely its money is being allocated.\nInvestigation by D.C. Attorney General Irvin B. Nathan, which resulted in Mr. Thomas agreeing without admission of wrongdoing to repay the city $300,000, details how the DC Children & Youth Investment Trust Corp. was hoodwinked into directing money earmarked in 2007 for youth baseball to a group that, in turn, funneled it to groups controlled by Mr. Thomas. According to the attorney general\u2019s civil complaint filed in June, the trust followed Mr. Thomas\u2019s direction to pick the Langston 21st Century Foundation as recipient for the funds that were regularly doled out despite seemingly weak documentation. Did no one in the trust think it unusual that it was Mr. Thomas\u2019s council office that was providing the spare budget narratives and work plans, not to mention putting in requests for the issuance of checks?\nThis wasn\u2019t the only time that the trust followed Mr. Thomas\u2019s lead. A March 12, 2010, account in the Washington City Paper by Mike DeBonis, now with The Post, examined $1.3 million set aside in the fiscal 2010 budget for gang intervention and youth anti-crime initiatives. The money was competitively bid in Ward 6 but not in Ward 5, where, a trust official said, \u201cWe met with the Ward 5 council member [Mr. Thomas] and talked about what we felt would be the best way to serve the community. We talked about a number of organizations that he suggested we look at that he knows have a track record of good services.\u201d More recently, the Brookland Heartbeat, a neighborhood publication in Ward 5, raised questions about a $560,000 grant given by the parks department in the summer of 2008 to the trust to fund programs to support a Ward 5 initiative by Mr. Thomas. No evidence of wrongdoing has emerged. But it\u2019s only prudent that the city demand a better accounting of exactly how those monies were spent.\nThe trust is generally seen as doing truly laudable work in creating better opportunities for D.C. youth. Trust President Ellen London told us that procedures have changed dramatically; for instance, there is now a requirement that all grants be competitively bid and approved by the board. At the initiative of Mr. Nathan, the city entered into a new agreement with the trust that includes better controls. Not only does it tighten how city funds are accounted for, but it also requires the trust to disclose all communications from council members or staffers regarding the distribution of funds. Clearly that\u2019s a step in the right direction \u2014 but we would also urge the D.C. Council to take its own look at whether further improvements are warranted.\n"}, {"name": "e5b6b2b4-2814-11e1-af61-6efac089e2f6", "body": "IN 2010, THE FEDERAL government funded 55,000 experiments worldwide on human subjects. Ethical and operational controls adopted over four decades have eradicated the most abominable experiments, such as those in which U.S. researchers infected unwitting Guatemalans with sexually transmitted diseases during the 1940s. But the sheer number of ongoing projects and the absence of a centralized record-keeping system argue for additional safeguards.\nThousands of often desperately ill individuals volunteer each year to participate in experimental, federally funded medical programs. Thousands more participate in more mundane research with significantly less risk. And yet others take part in projects fueled by federal dollars that focus on social science and education research. The Department of Health and Human Services funds the most research on human subjects, but some 18 federal agencies play a role.\nAccording to a recently released report by the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues, the government does not have a centralized database to keep tabs on these experiments. Even some agencies do not have a comprehensive database of the experiments they fund. The Defense Department, for example, took roughly seven months to compile data about research it sponsors on human subjects. The commission sensibly recommends creation of an online registry of all federally funded research on humans.\nAnother area of uncertainty: the number of individuals injured in medical experiments. \u201cWe don\u2019t think it\u2019s a big problem,\u201d commission chair Amy Gutmann said, \u201cbut it\u2019s perceived as a big problem because we\u2019re one of the only developed countries that does not guarantee compensation for injured subjects.\u201d\nThe commission encouraged the government to establish such a system. It did not endorse a particular approach but rightly pointed to the \u201cno fault\u201d program developed by the University of Washington. The university will pay up to $10,000 for medical care provided outside of the university system for individuals injured as a result of participation in a university research project. The school will pick up the tab for all post-injury medical services provided by university staff. Individuals who are treated through this program maintain the right to take the university to court. But one side benefit of the university\u2019s morally responsible behavior is that it has seen the number of court cases and its litigation costs go down."}, {"name": "d7f23238-32f6-11e1-8c61-c365ccf404c5", "body": "In her very good Dec. 25 Outlook article, \u201cThe colder war,\u201d\u00a0Heather Conley\u00a0left out a key fact for U.S. policy interests in the Arctic. She mentioned the importance of the Convention on the Law of the Sea for Arctic issues but did not note that the United States has not ratified the convention, despite broad support in industry, the armed forces and the Senate. A handful of senators has opposed ratification for reasons inexplicable to anyone who looks rationally at U.S. national security interests in the Arctic region and elsewhere.\nAs a result, the United States is on the outside looking in as the rules of the road for the warmer Arctic are made by those who are a party to the convention. The Senate needs to ratify the Law of the Sea Convention as early as possible to ensure the United States has a leading voice on issues covered by the convention that relate to our national security, of which the Arctic is perhaps the most urgent.\n Kenneth C. Brill, Bethesda\nThe writer was acting assistant secretary of state for oceans and environmental affairs for two stints, in 1999 and in 2001."}, {"name": "72f097a4-3269-11e1-825f-dabc29fd7071", "body": "The philosophers were in town last week, swarming the Marriott Wardman Park hotel for the American Philosophical Association\u2019s annual conference, at which the meaning of a great many things was debated, including the meaning of meaning (\u201cWhat Is Meaning?\u201d Hall IV-F, 9-11 a.m.), and a great many thoughts were thought, including thoughts about thought (\u201cThinking About Thinking,\u201d Hall IV-J\u201d).\nIn one largish ballroom, a different sort of panel was happening. It featured the Dish\u2019s Andrew Sullivan and two other men who looked like Andrew Sullivan \u2014 pleasant, bearded, round-faced men, which is a chic sub-style among many of the attendees here, optionally accessorized with square glasses and male-pattern baldness. The panel was called \u201cFrom Philosophical Training to Professional Blogging.\u201d\n\u201cPerennially, departments of philosophy are under attack,\u201d said Andrew Light, the George Mason University professor who organized and monitored the panel discussion. \u201cWe\u2019re always looking for better ways to sell the major.\u201d\nThere are jobs for philosophers. (There is, at least, \u201cJobs for Philosophers,\u201d a publication of the APA). But the irksome perception persists that a philosophy degree is only slightly more useful than an English degree, and so it was thought that a panel such as this might give frightened philosophers \u2014 many of whom came to this conference in search of gainful employment \u2014 a spot of hope.\nPhilosophers: If you are pinning your hopes of gainful employment on blogging, don\u2019t.\nBut the three men on the panel have done so, and splendidly, with varying degrees of national recognition for their thoughtful punditry on political and cultural issues. Besides Sullivan, who has a PhD in political philosophy and is known for his writings on conservatism and gay marriage, the other participants included Slate blogger Matthew Yglesias, who majored in philosophy at Harvard, and Grist magazine writer/blogger David Roberts, who has a master\u2019s degree in philosophy from the University of Montana.\n\u201cWhat blogging created was a Platonic dialogue,\u201d Sullivan said, to perhaps the only audience that would intuitively understand that the \u201cP\u201d should be capitalized.\nPhilosophy, Roberts said, taught him to dissect and make arguments.\nFor centuries, philosophers were regular engagers in mainstream cultural conversation, contributing to discussions of issues that tinged on values and ethics. The American Pragmatists \u2014 the John Dewey types \u2014 were known for this, commenting on education and social reform in the early part of the 20th century. But in recent decades, Light said, \u201cphilosophers have ceded these questions of value and importance to economists,\u201d who are prone to taking the important questions of life and sticking numbers on them.\nThe Internet is the new public sphere, and so the blog might be a way to reclaim old standing, to demonstrate the practical value of having someone with foundational philosophical knowledge ring in on the issues of the day.\nThe professorial attendees at the panel found this concept rather fascinating.\nOne gentleman was bothered by the comment-jacking that he sees happen on message boards. \u201cIt\u2019s zigzags and red herrings .\u2009.\u2009. all of which seems not in line with philosophy,\u201d he fretted during the Q&A portion of the event. How could one enter the blogosphere without relinquishing one\u2019s credentials as an academic?\nReading the comments \u201cis a truly existential\u201d experience, one of the panelists assured him.\nAnother attendee wondered whether the \u201cpublic sense of self\u201d achieves an outsize importance on Twitter.\nPerhaps, the panelists agreed. But from a philosophical perspective, the benefits of freewheeling intellectual rigor online far outweigh the downsides.\nOn blogs, Yglesias said, \u201cYou can see which issues bring people together.\u201d\nLike, Roberts said wryly, \u201cJustin Bieber\u2019s paternity test.\u201d"}, {"name": "46382344-34d0-11e1-81ef-eaf2bd09c8a2", "body": "PHILADELPHIA \u2014 When the season had finally ended, Rex Grossman was the first player off the field, sprinting into the stadium tunnel for a final time. Later, his hair still damp from a postgame shower, Grossman walked out of the Washington Redskins\u2019 locker room wearing a blue pinstripe suit and pulling a roller bag behind him.\nFirst stop, the team bus. Then on Monday morning, Redskins Park to pack up his locker. And after that \u2014 who knows? Grossman will be a free agent, and the future of the Redskins\u2019 quarterback position is up in the air.\nAs the Redskins begin to weigh their options, though, Grossman said he\u2019d like to return to Washington next season.\n\u201cI really enjoy it here. I really enjoy this offensive system, what they\u2019re building here,\u201d he said following the Redskins\u2019 34-10 loss to the Eagles on Sunday. \u201cSo I\u2019d love for this to be the place where I end up.\u201d\nOf course, that decision will ultimately be made by Coach Mike Shanahan and his staff, not the nine-year veteran quarterback. Shanahan in recent weeks has said the team\u2019s turnover problems this season were unacceptable. In 13 starts, Grossman had 20 interceptions and five lost fumbles.\nShanahan already has started evaluating the quarterbacks who will be available in this year\u2019s NFL draft. Before that, though, the team will have to make a decision on Grossman \u2014 and all of the other free agent quarterbacks, including Green Bay\u2019s Matt Flynn, who raised some eyebrows Sunday with his six-touchdown, 480-yard performance.\nGrossman\u2019s agent, Drew Rosenhaus, attended the Redskins\u2019 game Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field and said it\u2019s too early to guess what Grossman might do in free agency.\n\u201cI don\u2019t really want to speculate what might happen right after a loss like this,\u201d he said.\nAfter beating out John Beck in a preseason position battle, Grossman started 13 of the Redskins\u2019 16 games. He threw at least one interception in each but also threw for at least 250 yards seven times. In Sunday\u2019s season finale, he was 22-for-45 passing for 256 yards with one touchdown and one interception.\nThat lone interception Sunday was the product of a broken play, resulting in a severely underthrown pass to Anthony Armstrong. Still, it was the type of play that highlighted one of Grossman\u2019s biggest strengths \u2014 his fearlessness in heaving the ball downfield \u2014 and biggest drawbacks \u2014 the tendency for the other team to make the catch.\n\u201cHoudini couldn\u2019t have thrown the football in that,\u201d Shanahan said. \u201cBut Rex threw the ball up in the air, gave [Armstrong] a chance to make a play.\n\u201cRex played a heck of a ballgame today,\u201d the coach continued. \u201cTo have that type of pass rush and make some of the throws that he did under duress, I don\u2019t have a problem with the way he played.\u201d\nEven though Shanahan benched Grossman in favor of Beck for a three-game stretch, the coach said Grossman made strides from Week\u20091 to Week 17.\n\u201cI think Rex feels a lot more comfortable with the system. The more reps you get, the better off you feel,\u201d Shanahan said. \u201cYou can see over the last four or five games, he\u2019s felt a lot more comfortable.\u201d\nThe season might have had more lows than highs \u2014 Grossman predicted a division title for a team that won only five games \u2014 but the veteran quarterback said he\u2019ll look back on the year and note the positives. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of good things,\u201d he said.\nDespite missing three games, Grossman finished the season with 3,151 passing yards, just 42 yards shy of his career high, set in Chicago in 2006. His 20 interceptions matched his career high, also set in 2006.\nHe was a free agent each of the past three years, signing a one-year contract with the Redskins the past two. So Grossman is certainly familiar with offseason uncertainty.\n\u201cIt\u2019s part of this job. .\u2009.\u2009. Obviously, everybody would love to have a 10-year contract worth $200 million and you could just Albert Pujols it,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s not always the case and you just got to work hard and go about it, worry about what you can control and take care of business.\u201d\nThe free agent market for quarterbacks is not expected to be a deep one, and with Grossman having spent three years in this system \u2014 he was Houston\u2019s backup quarterback in 2009 under offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan \u2014 it\u2019s possible Washington might still represent his best opportunity to contribute to an NFL team next year.\n\u201cI\u2019m not sure what my opportunities are going to be. But I hope this is the best opportunity,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd like I said, it\u2019s a very good team, I\u2019m proud of every single teammate that I played with.\u201d"}, {"name": "e74d9a6c-34cf-11e1-81ef-eaf2bd09c8a2", "body": "PHILADELPHIA \u2014 The mix-up, apparently, started when Washington Redskins quarterback Rex Grossman could not hear the entirety of a play call from offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan. It came at the end of the first half, when Sunday\u2019s 34-10 blowout loss to the Philadelphia Eagles was still very much a game, and the exchange was almost comical.\nWhen Grossman completed his final throw of the half over the middle \u2014 instead of throwing to the end zone or chucking it away, as the coaches\u2019 truncated message would have conveyed \u2014 Nick Sundberg, the long snapper, thought he was supposed to go onto the field for a hurry-up field goal on fourth down. Yet when he arrived, starting center Will Montgomery was standing over the ball, with his hand on the ball.\n\u201cI heard people yelling, \u2018Spike!\u2019\u2009\u201d Sundberg said. \u201cI knew it was fourth down, but it just created a bunch of confusion. I turned around to run off thinking that I\u2019d made a mistake instead of just trusting myself, and it cost us.\u201d\nThe mess meant the Redskins didn\u2019t even attempt a field goal before the clock expired, but it was just a small slice of a disastrous day on special teams that contributed significantly to Washington\u2019s 11th loss of the season. The Redskins punted poorly. They had their fifth field goal of the season blocked. They committed a pair of penalties on a punt return, including one by special teams captain Lorenzo Alexander.\n\u201cVery weird,\u201d Sundberg said.\nThe uneven special teams play started from the very first time they lined up to punt after an opening three-and-out series. Sav Rocca, the former Eagle who spent a largely successful first season in Washington, dropped the ball to his foot.\n\u201cBut it was a bit breezy out there,\u201d Rocca said. The ball ended up on the outside of his foot, a 22-yard shank that gave the Eagles the ball in Washington territory. They needed to drive 31 yards to kick a 35-yard field goal and take a 3-0 lead.\nThat was part of a day in which Rocca averaged just 36.6 yards per kick, and the Redskins netted just 30.2 yards in net punting \u2014 both their second-worst numbers of the season.\n\u201cI feel like I kind of fell off the last three or four games,\u201d Rocca said.\nIn the second quarter, Grossman threw three straight incompletions after the Redskins reached the Philadelphia 18. Still, place kicker Graham Gano had a seemingly easy 36-yard field goal.\nGano had made his last 13 kicks over four games. Rocca barely got the snap down, but \u201cI thought I hit it well,\u201d Gano said. It didn\u2019t matter, because Eagles defensive lineman Derek Landri completely overwhelmed Redskins offensive lineman Tyler Polumbus, who was playing right guard on the place-kicking team.\nThe resulting block not only meant the Redskins went without a score \u2014 one of three trips to the red zone in which they came up with all of three points \u2014 but it led to Gano getting drilled as he tried to tackle Philadelphia\u2019s Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, who scooped up the ball. The kicker sat at his locker after the game with his right ankle heavily wrapped and his back iced, right where Philadelphia lineman Jason Babin had kneed him. Of the 10 field goals he missed on the year, half were blocked.\n\u201cI think we actually had seven blocked, but two of them went in,\u201d Gano said. \u201cIt\u2019s frustrating.\u201d\nCoach Mike Shanahan said he had never seen a team have five field goals blocked in a season. \u201cI don\u2019t think I\u2019ve ever seen three,\u201d he said.\nAnd all that set up the confusion at the end of the half.\n\u201cI wasn\u2019t sure exactly what we were doing,\u201d Montgomery said.\nAn apt description of an entire day of special teams futility."}, {"name": "c07082d6-34a4-11e1-88f9-9084fc48c348", "body": "Eva Zeisel, who designed and produced stylish but simple lines of tableware that were credited with bringing a sense of serenity to American dinnertime, died Dec. 30 at her home in New City, N.Y.\nMrs. Zeisel was 105 and had come to America just before World War II, after a harrowing series of adventures in the turbulent Europe of the 1930s.\nHer daughter, Jean Richards, confirmed the death but said she did not know the medical cause.\nMrs. Zeisel was widely regarded as a master of modern design. Her salt and pepper shakers, creamers and ladles are included in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Yet she resisted being characterized as an artist. \u201cArt has more ego to it than what I do,\u201d she once told the New Yorker.\nWhat Mrs. Zeisel did was create everyday objects that fundamentally changed the look of American kitchens and dining rooms.\nShe brought \u201ca trained designer\u2019s eye and touch to the kind of inexpensive daily goods that were available to everyone,\u201d said Karen Kettering, vice president for Russian art at Sotheby\u2019s and a former curator at the Hillwood Estate, Museum and Gardens in the District, which featured a retrospective of Mrs. Zeisel\u2019s work in 2005.\nMrs. Zeisel received artistic training in her native Hungary in the years after World War I. She moved to the Soviet Union, where she worked in a factory and, after building a reputation as a talented ceramicist, landed a job as art director of the state-run porcelain and glass industries.\nWhile in that position, Mrs. Zeisel was falsely accused of conspiring to assassinate Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin. She spent more than a year in a Soviet prison, much of that time in solitary confinement. Her experience there would deeply inform \u201cDarkness at Noon,\u201d the novel about life under Stalinism written by a childhood friend, Arthur Koestler.\nWhen guards called Mrs. Zeisel from her cell one day, she thought she was about to be executed. Instead, she was released. She fled to Austria, only to be forced to flee again when Adolf Hitler\u2019s Germany annexed that country. Mrs. Zeisel went to England and then to New York, where the design community quickly recognized her talent.\nMrs. Zeisel often said that her work was about the \u201cplayful search for beauty.\u201d\nAlong with some of her contemporary designers, Mrs. Zeisel replaced the florid, gilded style of earlier eras with simple colors. Her most famous table collection from the 1950s is pure white.\nHer work often was described with words not usually associated with tableware: human, sensual, voluptuous. Many of her designs are curvaceous and reminiscent of the \u201cfeminine midriff,\u201d Kettering said. Mrs. Zeisel designed flower vases with belly buttons. Her bowls were not meant to be stacked but rather to nestle together. Big spoons could be seen as protecting smaller ones.\n\u201cAll of my work is mother-and-child,\u201d Mrs. Zeisel once said.\nHer work reached the height of its popularity during the Cold War. Art critics believe it helped provide a sense of tranquillity during the tensions of the time, Kettering said.\nShe added that critics have noted a resurgence in the popularity of Mrs. Zeisel\u2019s work since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. A tableware collection from the 1950s was re-released several years ago by Crate and Barrel.\nEva Amalia Striker was born Nov. 13, 1906, in Budapest. She originally trained as a painter but pursued industrial arts, in part to avoid the fate of the starving artist. She was reported to be one of the first female members of the Hungarian guild of chimney sweeps, oven makers, roof tilers, well diggers and potters.\nOnce in the United States, Mrs. Zeisel broke onto the artistic scene in the 1940s when Castleton China invited her to design a table collection. It would later be displayed at MOMA.\nHer first marriage, to Alex Weissberg, ended in divorce. Her second husband, Hans Zeisel, died in 1992 after 54 years of marriage.\nSurvivors include two children from her second marriage, Jean Richards of New City and John Zeisel of Montreal; and three grandchildren.\nMrs. Zeisel was the author of \u201cEva Zeisel on Design: The Magic Language of Things.\u201d Her memoir of the Soviet prison is forthcoming, her daughter said.\n\u201cI search for beauty,\u201d Mrs. Zeisel told The Washington Post in 2003. \u201cI never wanted to do something grotesque. I never wanted to shock. I wanted my audience to be happy, to be kind.\u201d"}, {"name": "82fed8ae-31a1-11e1-b034-d347de95dcfe", "body": "Delores Price hit the grocery store on New Year\u2019s Day prepared to beat Montgomery County\u2019s new nickel bag tax.\nBut she emerged from the Shoppers Food & Pharmacy in Wheaton clearly irked. Although Price had brought several cloth bags from home, she said, she had underestimated her shopping by four bags, drawing a 20-cent surcharge.\n\u201cThis is ridiculous,\u201d said Price, a retired federal worker, as she unloaded a full cart into the trunk of her car outside the store on Randolph Road. \u201cYou shouldn\u2019t have to pay for bags when you spend enough money in the store.\u201d\nAcross Montgomery, the debut of the bag tax surprised many shoppers, drew praise from some who said they hope it will clean up the environment and angered others who said any new tax is too much in a tight economy.\nStores had updated self-guided checkout stations overnight with new software to ask how many bags, if any, a customer wanted. Some stores, including a Safeway in Bethesda, had retrained employees to load bags more tightly, knowing customers paying for each one would be eyeing their packing prowess.\nAt a Starbucks in Germantown, confused customers asked whether the tax applied to the little bag for their muffin. Answer: Muffin bags are still free, but the bigger bags with the handles will cost you.\nMontgomery\u2019s tax on plastic and paper bags, which the County Council approved in May, is an expanded version of a 5-cent bag tariff enacted in the District two years ago. While the District\u2019s surcharge applies only to businesses that sell food or alcohol, Montgomery\u2019s bag tax involves nearly all retail establishments, not just those that sell food. The few exceptions include paper bags from restaurants and pharmacy bags for prescription drugs.\nMontgomery officials have said they expect the tax to raise $1 million a year, most of which will go toward financing storm water management and water quality programs. Some revenue will be used to buy reusable bags for the poor and elderly, officials have said.\nThe goal, supporters say, is to encourage shoppers to reduce the number of plastic bags that end up polluting the Anacostia and Potomac rivers. By taxing paper bags as well, officials said, they will prevent shoppers from simply choosing paper. Local officials have said the tax is easily avoidable: Just bring a reusable bag.\nBut that\u2019s easier said than done, many said Sunday.\nBarbara Fisher of Bethesda had a red-and-white cloth bag rolled up tightly in her purse as she pushed her cart down the Safeway aisles on Bradley Boulevard. Fisher said she has gotten used to tucking a cloth bag into her purse and briefcase for shopping and eating out during her workday in the District.\n\u201cI probably remember 20 percent of the time,\u201d Fisher said. \u201cI have a lot of very nice bags at home, and I don\u2019t have a car. If it\u2019s not in my purse, it\u2019s not going to happen.\u201d\nMontgomery County Council President Roger Berliner (D-Bethesda-Potomac) said he appreciates that creating new habits takes time. Berliner said he keeps about five reusable bags in the back of his black Toyota Prius but often forgets to take them into his local Giant.\n\u201cI actually do think the 5-cent tax is good for people like me, who forget and need that little reminder, that little smack upside the head,\u201d Berliner said.\nJeff Bulman, owner of Original Pancake House restaurants in Bethesda and Rockville, took his usual bright red insulated bags to Safeway. Fewer disposable bags means less trash, he said. Although in the past he has opted for store bags when he has forgotten his own in the trunk, he said, \u201cI\u2019ll run back now\u201d to avoid the tax.\nSeveral shoppers said they\u2019ll reluctantly pay for the convenience of not having to remember to bring their own bags.\nJulie Simms of Germantown said she spent 20 cents on plastic bags at Safeway on Sunday, even though she has plenty of bags at home that she forgot to bring.\n\u201cIt\u2019s ridiculous,\u201d Simms said of the new tax. \u201cWith today\u2019s economy the way it is, every 5 cents adds up.\u201d\nshaverk@washpost.com\n\nRead more on PostLocal.com: \nNew Year\u2019s baby a precious surprise\nStudents, parents ask: What holiday?\nViola Drath: A remarkable life hijacked\nTwo killed in New Year\u2019s crash in Bethesda"}, {"name": "a4b784c6-34c3-11e1-81ef-eaf2bd09c8a2", "body": "MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa \u2014 Losing hope that their Iowa brethren will coalesce around a suitably like-minded candidate in Tuesday\u2019s Republican caucuses, national conservative leaders are beginning to accept the increasingly likely prospect of a Mitt Romney nomination, and how and whether they can live with that.\n\u201cThe answer to that, to a large extent, totally rests with Romney,\u201d said Richard A. Viguerie, a direct-mail pioneer and longtime leader of the conservative movement . \u201cThe first half-dozen moves are his. We\u2019re just tired of supporting the Republican establishment candidates and getting nothing but lip service in return. Those days are over with.\u201d\nViguerie said his hope is that if Romney wins the nomination, he makes a strong effort to win over conservatives, and the most critical step he can take is to select an appealing running mate.\n\u201cRomney\u2019s got a big hill to climb to get conservatives enthusiastically on board,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t know if he is capable of doing that. He needs tens of thousands of conservatives and tea parties and bloggers and organizations singing that song.\u201d\nThe dismay among conservatives about Iowa rests largely on the reality that, despite their overwhelming majority among Republican caucus-goers, they have split their support between five candidates: Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum, former House speaker Newt Gingrich, Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota.\nMeanwhile, Romney, the former Massachusetts governor whom they have resisted out of concern that he is too moderate, is in position to win the caucuses, even though about three-quarters of the vote will probably go to someone else.\nThe other candidates and their supporters continued making the case Sunday for voters to rally around a single conservative to block Romney\u2019s nomination. But to many, the prospects appeared dim.\nPastor Dan Berry of the Cornerstone Family Church in Des Moines said after services Sunday that several candidates appeal to conservative Christians \u2014 and a number had sought his endorsement. He declined, he said, in part because so many of the candidates are appealing \u2014 including Romney.\nThe splintering is in sharp contrast with 2008, when former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee rallied conservative voters to win the caucuses.\n\u201cFour years ago, people had their minds made up early,\u201d Berry said. \u201cIt was easy for a lot of the Christian conservatives to make their decision earlier. That\u2019s not the way it\u2019s happening this time, with all the ups and downs, it\u2019s been harder to choose. They all have strengths. Most people think the Christian conservative is only concerned about the social part of it. We\u2019re all concerned about life and marriage, but also the economy.\u201d\nSantorum compared the difference between 2008 and this year to ordering at his favorite cheesesteak shop in Pennsylvania. \u201cYou ever been to Geno\u2019s in Philadelphia?\u201d he asked on the trail last week. \u201cHow long does it take you to order at Geno\u2019s? You know what they sell? Cheesesteaks. That\u2019s it. It\u2019s pretty simple to order. Go to a menu where you\u2019ve got three or four pages of menu and it\u2019s going to take you longer to order. In 2008, you had a Geno\u2019s election. Mike was the cheesesteak. .\u2009.\u2009. He was it.\u201d\nGingrich, campaigning at a sports pub in Marshalltown on Sunday, said the potential for conservatives to rally around one candidate does not end in Iowa.\n\u201cIt\u2019s pretty clear from the Des Moines Register poll that conservatives who want real change are going to get probably between 70 and 75\u00a0percent of the vote, and the only moderate establishment candidate is going to get about 20 or 25\u00a0percent of the vote despite massive spending for two consecutive races,\u201d Gingrich said. \u201cAnd I think that\u2019s going to set the stage for the whole rest of the campaign.\u201d\nHe added: \u201cIt\u2019s going to be overwhelming that the conservative base of the party is still there, and that Governor Romney remains a Massachusetts moderate and has not broken out despite spending millions of dollars. As we go on to New Hampshire, South Carolina, Florida and beyond, those numbers will ultimately prove decisive in the race.\u201d\nCampaigning on Sunday in Atlantic, Iowa, Romney was asked about his outreach to social conservatives. He said that his goal in Iowa is to be seen as the candidate capable of winning, which means building support and organization in other states.\n\u201cIt\u2019s been important to me,\u201d he said, \u201cto make sure that I have a team and a capability to go the full distance, to get the nomination and to have the people in Iowa who caucused for me be proud that they were on that team from the very beginning.\u201d\nSome conservatives are less certain that there is any chance of stopping Romney after Iowa. One national conservative leader, who requested anonymity to speak freely, said he and other conservatives were in talks as recently as the past month about whether it was still possible to draw in another candidate who could consolidate the vote \u2014 someone like Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal. But time is short for that, the leader said. \u201cYou have a number of people who are good candidates, but none just leaps out at you, so where do people land?\u201d he asked.\nSeveral people interviewed at Cornerstone Family Church on Sunday said they were looking for the candidate who best represented their Christian values. Some said Romney wasn\u2019t ideal, but they could accept him as the nominee if necessary to beat President Obama.\n\u201cMy gut feeling is it\u2019s going to end up being Romney. He won\u2019t be my first choice. Or my second choice. But I\u2019ll support him if it comes to that,\u201d said Mike Carolus, 59, a mechanic from Des Moines, who said he\u2019d prefer Perry or Bachmann.\n\u201cThe way I feel about this election is, you can go down through every single one of them, and if you\u2019re looking for Mr. or Mrs. Perfect, you\u2019re not going to find it,\u201d said Dan Brown, a trader from Des Moines who said he\u2019d be willing to support the candidate he calls \u201cthe plastic man\u201d because of his background in business. \u201cMy number one agenda is to get Obama out of there. After that, I\u2019ll look at the issues.\u201d"}, {"name": "ca334a80-34d4-11e1-88f9-9084fc48c348", "body": "NEW ORLEANS \u2014 Michigan defensive lineman Ryan Van Bergen thought he had seen and heard it all during his previous four years in Ann Arbor, from being a part of Lloyd Carr\u2019s final team in 2007 to the tumultuous three years that followed under Rich Rodriguez to finishing the 2010 season with the third-worst defense among Bowl Championship Series conference teams.\nBut then one day this past spring, new defensive coordinator Greg Mattison popped in some video of the Baltimore Ravens, his previous coaching stop, and told the 288-pound Van Bergen he wanted him to emulate defensive tackle Haloti Ngata.\n\u201cI was like, \u2018So you want me to play like Haloti Ngata?\u2019 \u201d Van Bergen recalled this week. \u201cHe was like, \u2018Yeah,\u2019 and gave me the shrug like I\u2019m crazy for not knowing what he meant. \u2018Haloti Ngata is 330 [pounds]. I\u2019m not Haloti Ngata, coach.\u2019\u2009\u201d\nThe Wolverines can laugh about those first days under a new regime now, but when Michigan takes the field Tuesday to face Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl, it will be the final validation for a coaching staff and a defense that have been the catalysts for a dramatic culture change at the winningest program in college football.\nA year after ESPN analyst Chris Spielman referred to Michigan\u2019s defense as \u201ca bunch of guys who would be nice little subs at Indiana,\u201d the Wolverines have improved to 17th in the country without making significant personnel changes. Instead, as Virginia Tech\u2019s coaches have pointed out several times this week, it has been Mattison and first-year Coach Brady Hoke\u2019s ability to \u201ccoach them up\u201d that has led the Wolverines to their first BCS game since 2007.\n\u201cThese coaches just really understand the Michigan tradition,\u201d defensive end Craig Roh said. \u201cThey\u2019ve brought it to life through practice, through camp, through all that stuff. It has enlivened all of us right now. I think that\u2019s why you see, I guess, a change in the environment.\u201d\nWhen Hoke and Mattison first returned to Ann Arbor \u2014 Hoke was a defensive line coach when Michigan shared the 1997 national championship and Mattison was the Wolverines\u2019 defensive coordinator in 1995 and 1996 \u2014 they encountered a team that \u201cbroke every record you didn\u2019t want to break as a team,\u201d Van Bergen said this week. \u201cI would think that we have a blueprint as far as what not to do.\u201d\nEnter Mattison, who had spent the past two years as the Ravens\u2019 defensive coordinator when his good friend, Hoke, called one day wondering if he\u2019d be interested in returning to the college ranks.\nTo the surprise of some, Mattison took the job rather than staying in Baltimore to coach Ray Lewis and Ed Reed.\n\u201cI just missed the chance to take some young man that maybe is not a great football player, or people say he\u2019s not a great football player, or he doesn\u2019t believe he\u2019s a great football player, and help him get to become as great as he can,\u201d said Mattison, who added he wouldn\u2019t have made the move if it were any other school. \u201cThat\u2019s something that I\u2019ve always enjoyed in all my years of coaching and I missed it.\u201d\nMattison brought with him the complex coverage schemes of the NFL and blitz packages that are so extensive Virginia Tech offensive coordinator Bryan Stinespring said recently, \u201cIt\u2019s almost like they\u2019ve got a different playbook.\u201d\nThe end results are evident on the scoreboard.\nThe Wolverines have gone from giving up more than 35 points per game in 2010 to allowing just more than 17 points per contest this season. Michigan never finished higher than 67th in the country in total defense under Rodriguez, but with players almost exclusively recruited by previous regimes the Wolverines moved up to 17th this year.\nBut for a unit that had \u201cexperienced so much pain and suffering,\u201d according to Roh, it was Mattison\u2019s tacit belief that seemed to make all the difference. And so even though Van Bergen still jokes about being compared to Ngata, he\u2019s more than happy to point out just how far this defense has come.\n\u201cI don\u2019t think it had anything to do with buying in. It was more about staying in. When things started going wrong, you could see the team kind of fall apart a little bit,\u201d Van Bergen said of past seasons. \u201cGuys didn\u2019t want to be too committed because if you\u2019re too committed and things start going wrong, you can take a lot of the blame. .\u2009.\u2009.\n\u201cWe\u2019ve been through the worst of fires, we\u2019ve been through the worst that can happen to us, so whatever these coaches tell us to do, let\u2019s make sure we don\u2019t have any regrets. We\u2019re sitting here right now and I don\u2019t think there\u2019s a guy on the team probably too regretful about anything.\u201d"}, {"name": "df15406e-330a-11e1-a274-61fcdeecc5f5", "body": "Four years ago, the five Romney sons were a staple on the campaign trail, their heavy brows, square jaws and penchant for corny jokes coming together in a sort of cubist portrait of their father.\nThis time around, Mitt Romney\u2019s kids have been more scarce, but four of them made a rare joint appearance in New Hampshire last week. Mingling with supporters over pizza and sticky buns, they offered a few mild jabs at their father but spent most of their time lavishing the kind of praise on him that many parents would envy.\n\u201cMy dad is my hero,\u201d son Josh Romney, 36, a Salt Lake City real estate investor, told supporters at a cafe here on a recent morning. \u201cHe\u2019s taught me everything I know about being a father, about loving this country and about raising a family, so for me to be able to be on the campaign trail and talk about him and share stories about my dad to other people is a thrill.\u201d\nIn many ways, they are the ideal surrogates to hold down the fort in New Hampshire, one of Romney\u2019s strongholds, while the GOP presidential candidate focuses his efforts on Tuesday\u2019s Iowa caucuses. They are clean-cut and attractive, conversant about taxes and foreign policy, at ease in the media spotlight and full of darling tales about growing up with their energetic father.\nBut they have done little to dispel the impression that Romney is a little too polished and aristocratic. Three of the five attended Harvard Business School, like their father, and showed up wearing versions of Romney\u2019s jeans-and-blazer campaign trail uniform. Matt and Craig Romney work in real estate. Ben Romney, who was absent, is completing his medical residency in Utah.\nThe brothers, who range in age from 31 to 41 and together have 16 children among them, say they have largely stayed away this year at the request of their father, who did not want them to uproot their lives once more, considering their work and parental responsibilities. But they say they will likely step up their activity as the primaries approach, and supporters say that is exactly what they\u2019d like to see.\n\u201cIt shows what a strong candidate he is that the boys are out here for him while he\u2019s out there in Iowa,\u201d said Pam Skinner, a local Romney activist. \u201cOf course, it helps to have a big family.\u201d\nWithin the Republican field, Romney\u2019s family is hardly the largest. Jon Huntsman Jr. and Rick Santorum each have seven children, and Rep. Michele Bachmann (Minn.) famously raised five children and fostered 23.\nNor is the Romney family the most visible. That distinction probably belongs to the self-described \u201cHuntsman girls,\u201d who grabbed attention with their quirky Web videos about Huntsman\u2019s rivals and irreverent tweets. (They lamented last month that tweets directed to the Romney brothers go unreturned.)\nBut Romney\u2019s sons are a potent force for a candidate who has struggled to connect personally with voters. Along with their mother, Ann, Romney\u2019s wife of 42 years, they provide a stark contrast to rival Newt Gingrich, who has been married three times. And they would help level the playing field in a general election, presenting a wholesome image to rival that of President Obama.\nTagg Romney, the eldest and a venture capitalist, sits in on strategy sessions, and Josh, the middle son, goes out on the trail about once a week. But it is a smaller role than last time, when Tagg quit his job with the Los Angeles Dodgers to work full-time with the campaign and Craig, the youngest Romney son, took his toddler son to 35 states. Gone, too, is the blog, \u201cFive Brothers,\u201d which inspired some mocking for its wholesome banter.\nDuring their campaign swing through New Hampshire, the brothers kept it light with the occasional policy answer or flubbed attempt at humor \u2014 for example, when Matt, 40, the second son, made a joke about Obama\u2019s birth certificate. \u201cRepeated a dumb joke,\u201d he later tweeted. \u201cMy bad.\u201d\nThey made a few cracks about their father but never at his expense. About his habit of planning out every moment of their vacations, when the boys wanted to laze around on the beach. About his stinginess, which \u201cCongress is going to learn pretty quickly.\u201d About how, as head of the 2002 Winter Olympics organizing committee, he learned how to ride a skeleton sled just to get on NBC\u2019s \u201cToday.\u201d\nThey told of his devotion to God and family, about the meandering Sunday conversations that invariably center on the grandchildren. And about their shock, as teenagers, to learn that \u201cthe dad that we liked to tease\u201d was so well respected at his venture capital firm, Bain Capital.\nMatt said it was a misconception that his father is stiff and formal. \u201cI can see how people might get that impression,\u201d he said in an interview. \u201cHe knows that people have that impression of him. We tell him to act differently, and he\u2019s like, \u2018Look, I\u2019m on a news program or I\u2019m at a debate. I\u2019m acting responsibly for that setting.\u2019 But if you get to see him in other settings like we get to see him, he\u2019s the most fun guy out there.\u201d\nAsked about the brothers\u2019 relative comfort speaking publicly for their father, he said it was largely a function of their earnestness.\n\u201cWe\u2019re all still kind of nervous talking about this stuff with folks. Having done it before helps a lot,\u201d Matt said. \u201cThe one thing that really helps is if you\u2019re sincere, and we are sincere about my dad and what he\u2019s done.\u201d\nRead more on PostPolitics.com\nOne day out, a mad dash in Iowa\nRepublicans make final push in Iowa\nWhat Rick Santorum and John Edwards have in common"}, {"name": "0a34d416-34ba-11e1-88f9-9084fc48c348", "body": "DES MOINES \u2014 Seeking to press their advantages and differentiate themselves, the Republican candidates for president flooded the Iowa airwaves Sunday and stepped up their ground games in the final push before decision day.\nSome went to church, others were on buses and at least one \u2014 Rep. Ron Paul \u2014 was somewhere else entirely, ringing in the new year back in his home state of Texas.\nRick Santorum, buoyed by a Des Moines Register poll that showed him among the top three contenders, sought to distinguish himself as the only \u201cfull spectrum conservative\u201d in the race; it was an effort to ding Mitt Romney and appeal to social conservatives, who could be the decisive voting bloc should they coalesce around a single candidate.\n\u201cMy surge is going to come on January 3 after the people of Iowa do what they do, which is actually analyze the candidates, figure out where their positions are, find out who\u2019s the right leader, who\u2019s got what it takes to defeat Barack Obama and to lead this country,\u201d the former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania said in an interview on \u201cMeet the Press.\u201d \u201cWe\u2019ve got a great grass-roots organization. .\u2009.\u2009. They are committed to making sure that this isn't a pyrrhic victory.\u201d\nSantorum sought to paint Romney, whose essential argument for support is his electability, as a moderate who can\u2019t be trusted to push a conservative agenda.\nBut Santorum had to answer questions about his 2008 endorsement of the former Massachusetts governor and about seeming to change his own views on abortion based on political calculus.\nSantorum, who signed a pledge opposing all types of abortion, including in cases of rape and incest, said passing that kind of legislation is politically difficult. \u201cToday I would support laws that would provide for those exceptions; but I\u2019m not for them,\u201d he said. \u201cYes, I support laws that provide those exceptions, because if we can get those passed, then we need to do that.\u201d\nRomney, on a bus tour in Atlantic, Iowa, reminded reporters of Santorum\u2019s 2008 endorsement and pressed his case that he was the best candidate to beat President Obama on the economy.\n\u201cLike Speaker Gingrich, Senator Santorum has spent his career in government, in Washington,\u201d Romney said. \u201cNothing wrong with that, but it\u2019s a very different background than I have. And I think that the people of this country recognize that with our economy as the major issue we face right now, that it would be helpful to have someone who understands the economy firsthand, who spent the bulk of his career working in the private sector.\u201d\nWith just hours left, the race remains topsy-turvy, with nearly half of voters saying that they have yet to make up their minds. The key questions are whether social conservatives will rally around a single candidate, as they did for former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee in 2008, or continue to be splintered among several. There is also the possibility that they accept Romney\u2019s electability argument and rally around him.\nSantorum, in his ground campaign, has argued that he should be the candidate of social conservatives and that they should not just \u201csettle\u201d for Romney. And evangelicals, not yet sold on Romney, could decide to send a message Tuesday that they still matter and that the eventual nominee must take them seriously.\nFormer House speaker Newt Gingrich, battered by an onslaught of negative ads and somewhat hampered by his pledge to run a positive campaign, started his Sunday with Mass at St. Ambrose Cathedral, where Des Moines Bishop Richard E. Pates referenced the nasty campaign rhetoric flooding the airwaves.\nAfter the service, Gingrich took a swipe at Romney, breaking sharply from his pledge.\nGingrich told reporters that Romney \u201cwould buy the election if he could\u201d and accused Romney of lying. \u201cSomeone who will lie to you to get to be president,\u201d Gingrich said, \u201cwill lie to you when they are president.\u201d The former speaker also signaled that he intended to go negative on Romney with new ads in New Hampshire.\nPaul skipped out on the action over the weekend, preferring to spend time in Texas. He makes his final rounds Monday in a series of events with Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), his son, who is becoming a familiar face to Iowa voters and remains a tea party standard-bearer.\nThe 12-term congressman, who is in a virtual tie with Santorum and Romney in Iowa, sat for three Sunday show interviews. He has largely ducked news media questions on the trail as he has rallied hundreds of supporters with an antiwar message.\nDogged by questions about racist and anti-Semitic newsletters that were published in his name, Paul admitted to one flaw, saying his management style is substandard.\nAsked to predict where he\u2019ll stand Tuesday after the votes are tallied, Paul was his usual anti-politician self.\n\u201cI have no idea what\u2019s going to happen. I may come in first, I may come in second,\u201d he said. \u201cI doubt I\u2019ll come in third or fourth.\u201d"}, {"name": "b9478026-34e1-11e1-ac55-e75ea321c80a", "body": "As he got dressed before the Washington Wizards hosted the Boston Celtics on Sunday, John Wall admitted he was \u201cnot enjoying myself playing basketball\u201d with the team playing poorly to start the season. But Wall vowed that he would stop \u201cthinking too much,\u201d get back to playing with his instincts and have fun again.\nCoach Flip Saunders, concerned with Wall\u2019s demeanor in a discouraging loss at Milwaukee two nights earlier, went further before Sunday\u2019s game: \u201cI told him, if he doesn\u2019t play hard and he doesn\u2019t have a smile on his face, I\u2019m going to take him out.\u201d\nIn the 94-86 loss to the Celtics at Verizon Center, Wall played with more passion and desire, encouraged his teammates, and finished with his best game of the season: 19 points, season highs of eight assists and seven rebounds and just one turnover. But the team\u2019s overall performance didn\u2019t give him much to smile about.\n\u201cMy coaches talked to me and told me what I have to do to be effective \u2014 just play, have fun and play my game. That\u2019s what I did. I think the thing is, just try to win,\u201d Wall said. \u201cIt ain\u2019t no fun\u201d losing.\nThe Wizards are the NBA\u2019s only winless team and have opened the season at 0-4 for the first time since 2008-09, when they lost their first five games and matched the franchise-worst record for an 82-game season at 19-63.\nThey couldn\u2019t shoot or defend early and discovered they could do both too late, and Wall had to watch his counterpart, Rajon Rondo, flaunt the benefits of being surrounded by a cast that features three future Hall of Famers.\nRondo spread the ball around, picked the right spots for his own scoring opportunities and recorded his 14th career triple-double. He had more points (18) than all but two Wizards, one fewer assist (14) than the Wizards as a team and more rebounds (11) than every Wizard except JaVale McGee.\n\u201cThat\u2019s what Rondo does,\u201d Saunders said. \u201cBut I thought that John, he had the best game he\u2019s had so far. I can just judge John by where he\u2019s at and how he\u2019s played so far. I thought he did a better job of running our team and getting that and we made progress.\u201d\nNick Young finished with 18 points and JaVale McGee had 16 points, 14 rebounds and five blocks, but the Wizards were unable to overcome an early deficit. The Celtics used crisp ball movement and defensive pressure to establish a double-digit lead eight minutes into the game. Boston led 51-34 at halftime, shooting 55.6 percent from the field and holding the Wizards to 28.2 percent.\nThe Wizards broke out of their shooting slump in the second half, getting within 65-58 when Jordan Crawford made a three-pointer \u2014 his only field goal of the game \u2014 and reserve Ronny Turiaf kicked wildly in celebration. Turiaf was forced to leave the game shortly thereafter with a bruised left hand and is doubtful to play in the rematch Monday in Boston.\nThe Celtics again extended the lead to 13 when Ray Allen hit a three-pointer in the fourth quarter. But Wall made a runner in the lane and Trevor Booker made a driving layup, then had a steal and a dunk to again bring the Wizards within six points with 7 minutes 49 seconds remaining. They would get no closer as Ray Allen (13 points) and Kevin Garnett (24 points, nine rebounds) helped put the game away. Garnett made two free throws, Allen made a nifty layup, then Rondo froze Crawford and Booker on a drive and zipped a beautiful bounce pass to Garnett for a reverse layup that restored order.\n\u201cWe always get down by 10, 15 in the first half and always find a way to fight back, but you\u2019re taking a lot of energy from yourself,\u201d Wall said. \u201cI think down the fourth quarter, the last couple of minutes, we didn\u2019t have the kind of energy we needed to make a comeback.\u201d\nAndray Blatche was unable to completely get out of his \u201cfunk.\u201d He finished with just 10 points, converting 4 of 7 field goal attempts after shooting an abysmal 11 for 41 (26.8 percent) in the first three games. But he also had a team-high four turnovers and allowed Garnett to get into his head.\nBlatche has had some history with Garnett and the all-star forward made sure to fluster Blatche by talking to him and repeatedly grabbing him. At one point in the third quarter, Blatche had grown upset about not getting a call and Wizards assistant Sam Cassell, Garnett\u2019s former teammate in Minnesota, shouted at Blatche during a timeout, encouraging him to get focused.\nThe Wizards wore their red, white and blue road uniforms, which was appropriate since the team gave the sort of poor performance it more often reserves for road games and Verizon Center was populated with many Celtics fans. Disgruntled Wizards fans booed the players as they left the court.\n\u201cWe\u2019re staying positive. It\u2019s still 66 games in the season,\u201d said Roger Mason Jr., who was back in the lineup after being ruled ineligible for the previous game in Milwaukee because the Wizards submitted an incorrect roster. \u201cWe have goals on this team. but it\u2019s not going to just happen. You have to make it happen.\u201d"}, {"name": "28b0bbe8-34d9-11e1-81ef-eaf2bd09c8a2", "body": " PHILADELPHIA \n\nIf the Redskins are a renovation, what does a total tear-down look like?\nAfter 33 losses in three years, the Redskins now face the reality that confronts entrenched bad teams \u2014 ones without a single player picked for the Pro Bowl, ones without a quality quarterback and ones that pack up for the offseason with a quarter left to play and lose 34-10 to a division rival.\nThis level of pain, this immense distance between the present and a future worthy of a fan\u2019s fantasy, is what the rebuilding of a decimated NFL franchise usually feels like. Whether the job is being done well or is being bungled, this is how it often feels when the task is only partially complete.\nFor decades, Redskins fans were spared this exasperating and seemingly endless process. Twice, Joe Gibbs inherited crummy teams yet made the playoffs his second year. Norv Turner jumped from three to six to nine wins. George Allen and Vince Lombardi were winners in their first seasons.\nSo, in Washington, if no progress occurs quickly, or worse, if a team regresses, the correct prediction has always been: failed regime.\nThat eventually may be the case with Mike Shanahan, too. In a game that held no meaning, his Redskins played down to the occasion in a loss full of mental blunders, disorganization and loss of discipline by veterans.\nWhen you have your fifth blocked kick of the season (out of 28 total for the whole NFL), when Santana Moss incurs a 15-yard penalty at the four-yard line for ripping off his helmet in disgust, and when your field goal team dashes on the field but the long snapper isn\u2019t among them as time runs out in the half, that\u2019s NFL chaos.\nSuch performances at the end of lost seasons are, at every level, laid at the coach\u2019s feet. Meanwhile, Andy Reid\u2019s Eagles, who might\u2019ve been demoralized after perhaps the most disappointing season in the league, showed up with their heads screwed on properly.\nTime will have to tell whether Shanahan\u2019s methods and his so far often-flawed decisions at crucial positions will send him packing before his $35-million, five-year deal is done. But he\u2019s not going anywhere before next year. Owner Daniel Snyder\u2019s quick-trigger histories with past coaches as well as Shanahan\u2019s two Super Bowl rings preclude that option. Who comes in if you give up on Shanahan after two years? It would be Zorn-Search Fiasco II.\nSo, welcome to a real rebuilding \u2014 Ugly Squared \u2014 like most cities have endured. It\u2019s losing on New Year\u2019s Day, for 10 defeats in 12 games, after squandering a lead at home on Christmas Eve to the awful, injured Vikings.\nAfter the game, Moss whistled by his locker, the same six notes over an over. A holiday tune? \u201cStuff happens in the heat of battle,\u201d he said of his penalty. \u201cYou don\u2019t want to penalize your team. [But] I thought he [the official] couldn\u2019t hear me with it on so maybe I need to take it off.\u201d\nExcept that taking off your helmet is an automatic penalty. The elegant succession of snafus over the next 23 seconds that resulted in no-field-goal-attempt deserves it own novella. Yes, a team called the Redskins has a hurry-up played called \u201cGeronimo.\u201d\nPerhaps the most nagging aspect of this rebuild is that Rex Grossman, who underthrew two wide-open deep receivers (one for an interception), will probably start at quarterback to begin next season. Not for sure, but likely.\nWith five teams picking before them in the 2012 draft, the Redskins\u2019 chance of trading up to pick either Andrew Luck or Robert Griffin III is, according to history, quite poor. In the last 21 drafts, 25 quarterbacks have been picked in the top six overall; only four were acquired by teams that traded up to grab them. Many want to do the trade-up dance for a franchise quarterback; but few ever want to be your partner.\nFor those four, the prices that were extorted would be a ransom the Redskins \u2014 who are trying to build through the draft \u2014 are poorly suited to pay.\n\u25cfTo move up just one spot, from third overall to second, to get Ryan Leaf, San Diego gave up that third overall pick in the 1998 draft plus another first-rounder, a second-round pick and three-time Pro Bowler Eric Metcalf.\n\u25cfTo move up four spots to get Michael Vick at first overall, Atlanta gave up the fifth overall pick (LaDainian Tomlinson) as well as a second-rounder, plus a third-round pick and a good kick-return man, too.\n\u25cfJust as stunning, to trade up four spots for Eli Manning, the Giants dealt fifth overall pick Philip Rivers, plus a first- (which became three-time Pro Bowler Shawne Merriman), third- and fifth-round pick.\n\u25cfIn \u201909, to get Mark Sanchez with the fifth overall pick, the Jets gave up a first- and second-round pick (17th and 52nd), plus four players, including a starting defensive end and starting defensive back.\nThat\u2019s the whole list: No bargains, huge cost and the Leaf catastrophe.\nShanahan has made it clear that he won\u2019t draft a quarterback merely to have a rookie to develop at the spot next year. It has to be football love \u2014 someone he thinks has \u201cfranchise\u201d on his forehead. After his recent infatuations at the position, his benefit of the doubt is dwindling.\nDespite all this, two factors work in the Redskins\u2019 favor. Their horrid minus-15 takeaway ratio means they minimized every possible opportunity. Flip that to positive \u2014 and luck as well as less Rex can easily be a factor \u2014 and you win more games, maybe two or three more, just on turnovers.\nSecond, unless the Redskins field 46 Oscar-quality actors, this team really believes that it is improving, albeit fathoms under the sonar. True, Shanahan runs a ship as tight as his lips, so grumbling can be career-threatening. But, after listening week after week, I\u2019m buying most of the fellow feeling.\n\u201cEven though we finished where we finished, I was proud to be part of this team,\u201d said Grossman, a symbol of them all. Shanahan got rid of talented goldbricks. Maybe part of the price, in a rebuild, is a simple lack of talent, or a plucky-but-doomed Rex level of talent where 79.6 percent of guys who get open deep will always be missed.\n\u201cExtremely frustrating,\u201d said London Fletcher, who deserves to play in the Pro Bowl more than the Pro Bowl deserves to be played. \u201cI play with passion. We went out to win.\u201d\nExcept for the last 12:01 of their season, after a 62-yard touchdown pass broke their backs, the Redskins usually played with acceptable passion and will. They didn\u2019t win because they just weren\u2019t good enough. Contrary to Shanahan\u2019s recitation of might-have-been plays in \u201911, they weren\u2019t close to being much better. They had good luck, too. They were 5-11 on demerit.\nIn a real NFL rebuild, after a string of 10-loss seasons, closing that huge gap of talent, depth and experience often takes years. The Redskins current construction methods are, at last, probably correct ones.\nBut, in the impatient burgundy-and-gold universe, as the weight-bearing walls along both lines of scrimmage are assembled and support beams are added at skill positions, it\u2019s going to feel like an eternity before the ultimate architecture can be judged. Until then, look away from the shack of \u201911, now squashed flat and, finally, suitable for forgetting."}, {"name": "c102c464-34dd-11e1-81ef-eaf2bd09c8a2", "body": "The New York Giants won their way into the NFL playoffs Sunday night, beating the Dallas Cowboys to seize the NFC East crown at the end of a day in which two AFC teams lost their way into the postseason field.\nThe Giants got three touchdown passes from quarterback Eli Manning en route to a 31-14 triumph over the Cowboys. The Giants won the division with a record of 9-7, a game in front of the Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles.\n\u201cNFC East champions \u2014 that\u2019s a great thing to hear,\u201d Giants Coach Tom Coughlin said.\nEarlier Sunday, the Baltimore Ravens claimed the No. 2 seed in the AFC playoffs and the North division title with a 24-16 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals, earning a first-round bye and ensuring that a potential game against the rival Pittsburgh Steelers would be played at M&T Bank Stadium, where they were 8-0 this regular season.\nIn the AFC West, with another division title up for grabs, the Tim Tebow-led Denver Broncos backed into the No. 4 seed, despite losing to the Kansas City Chiefs, 7-3, when the Oakland Raiders fell to the San Diego Chargers, 38-26.\nWith Tebow completing 6 of 22 passes for 60 yards and a game-sealing interception, Denver (8-8) claimed a first-round home game by virtue of a tiebreaker over Oakland and San Diego and will host Pittsburgh next weekend.\nThe Raiders\u2019 loss also pushed the Bengals (9-7) into the playoffs as the sixth seed even though Cincinnati\u2019s comeback fell short against Baltimore. Cincinnati will go on the road to play Houston (10-6), the No. 3 seed, in the first round.\nWith the Ravens (12-4) winning, the result of Pittsburgh\u2019s game against Cleveland was all but meaningless. The Steelers (12-4) wound up beating their AFC North rival, 13-9, and are the No. 5 seed, but lost the tiebreaker to Baltimore, which swept the season series from the Steelers.\nThe New England Patriots secured the No. 1 seed in the AFC, and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, with a 49-21 victory over Buffalo. The Patriots (13-3) finished the regular season with eight wins in a row, and Tom Brady\u2019s 5,235 yards passing were the second most in NFL history for one season.\nWhile much of the AFC picture unfolded late in the afternoon, all but one of the NFC playoff teams were settled by the early games.\nThe top-seeded Green Bay Packers (15-1), who clinched the No. 1 seed and a first-round bye last week, beat the Detroit Lions, 45-41, despite five touchdowns and 520 yards passing by Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford,\nThe loss, coupled with Atlanta\u2019s 45-24 win over Tampa Bay, made Detroit (10-6) the sixth seed. Detroit will play at New Orleans (13-3) in the first round. The Saints clobbered Carolina, 45-17, behind five touchdowns and 389 yards passing from quarterback Drew Brees, who finished the season with an NFL-record 5,476 yards passing. But the Saints drew the third seed when San Francisco (13-3) outlasted St. Louis, 34-27, to claim a first-round bye as the No. 2 seed and NFC West champion.\nThe fifth-seeded Falcons (10-6) will visit New York in the first round.\nMore on the NFL playoff picture:\nNFL playoff schedule\nGiants top Cowboys to win NFC East\nRavens clinch AFC North, first-round bye\nBroncos back into AFC West title\nChargers deny Raiders a postseason berth\nPatriots earn home-field advantage in AFC\n49ers hold off rally, hold on to bye in NFC\nMaske reported from East Rutherford, N.J."}, {"name": "ab41d620-34cd-11e1-81ef-eaf2bd09c8a2", "body": "PHILADELPHIA\nRegardless of the mistakes Coach Mike Shanahan has made in his first two seasons leading the Washington Redskins \u2014 and there have been some doozies \u2014 Shanahan still is better at coaching than most. And no matter the Redskins\u2019 lack of success, Shanahan will just work harder. He\u2019s not the quitting type.\nThat\u2019s the foundation on which the Redskins should build \u2014 the combination of Shanahan\u2019s X\u2019s and O\u2019s smarts and his intense competitive drive. Granted, that\u2019s not a whole lot, but it\u2019s pretty much all the Redskins have at this point.\nThroughout the season, the Redskins\u2019 performance stirred concerns about their lack of progress in Shanahan\u2019s rebuilding plan, and they were horrendous again at times during Sunday\u2019s season-ending 34-10 blowout loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.\nIn losses to the Minnesota Vikings and Eagles to end the season, the Redskins flopped while completing their fourth consecutive last-place finish in the NFC East division. Shanahan ended with a career-worst 5-11 record, which the Redskins made possible by losing their composure and committing key blunders on offense, defense and special teams at Lincoln Financial Field.\nAfter finishing 6-10 last season, the Redskins regressed, which is the bottom line. I simply don\u2019t see that significant improvement has occurred. Not the kind of strides that would provide proof of a brighter future around the corner.\nDespite everything that has gone wrong since owner Daniel Snyder hired Shanahan to revive the franchise, however, Washington must stay the course. Shanahan has three years remaining on his contract, and for the length of it, the Redskins have to follow his lead and simply hope he has been right all along.\nThis organization has experienced too much upheaval. The Redskins need to ride it out with Shanahan.\nReally, for Redskins fans, it\u2019s about keeping the faith. The franchise has asked it of them time and time again. So the situation is familiar, albeit nonetheless unsettling.\n\u201cWhen you\u2019re building a football team,\u201d Shanahan said, \u201cyou take a look at the positives, of guys that can help you next year.\u201d\nShanahan is convinced that the Redskins are pointed in the right direction. He sees significant progress in some areas of the roster. He has no doubts about Washington becoming a winner again.\nThat\u2019s what Shanahan came to Washington to accomplish. With his career achievements and confidence, success, in his mind, is the only option. Even after the last two seasons.\n\u201cWe\u2019ve made some strides,\u201d Shanahan said. \u201cOur football team is a lot different than a year ago. That\u2019s a positive.\u201d\nI\u2019m convinced, too. Convinced, that is, that Shanahan, at his core , has no doubts about his ability to inspire a Redskins renaissance.\nAfter speaking with Shanahan privately Friday following Washington\u2019s final practice at Redskins Park, I almost forgot how bad the Redskins (11-21 in two seasons) have been under him.\nListening to Shanahan\u2019s reasoned assessment about the effect that injuries, in his opinion, had in derailing the season, I briefly ignored the fact he boldly and incorrectly staked his reputation on ineffective quarterbacks Rex Grossman and John Beck.\nBut anyone who fairly assesses Shanahan\u2019s performance to this point could only conclude he has disappointed.\nWithout a doubt, Washington\u2019s defensive front seven has improved markedly since last season. Shanahan approved the offseason moves that helped the group.\nThe Redskins seem to have something developing at running back with rookies Roy Helu and Evan Royster, though more time is needed to determine whether either is capable of becoming a big-time performer on an elite team.\nA team\u2019s overall record, however, is the most important measurement of progress in professional sports. It\u2019s all that matters.\nThe Redskins are way short on that yardstick.\nShanahan knows this. Better than most, Shanahan knows how the NFL works. In case anyone wondered, he explained things shortly after joining Washington.\nEarly during Shanahan\u2019s first training camp in Ashburn, a reporter asked him if the Redskins were as bad as they seemed while going 4-12 in the 2009 season under former coach Jim Zorn. In this league, Shanahan essentially said, you are your record.\nWhich brings me to Shanahan\u2019s record since the retirement of Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway following the 1998 season.\nShanahan and Elway combined to lead the Denver Broncos to consecutive Super Bowl championships after the 1997 and \u201998 seasons. In his 12 seasons without Elway, Shanahan has missed the playoffs eight times, including his past five seasons. He has only one playoff victory during that span.\nDoes that mean Shanahan forgot how to coach without Elway? No. Not at all.\nIn fact, some NFL people say, Shanahan\u2019s system still could work as well as ever. And regardless of what occurs for the rest of his time in Washington, Shanahan will be considered one of the greatest play-callers in league history.\nClearly, Shanahan now needs what he has lacked since arriving in Washington: a franchise quarterback.\nWhen Shanahan has worked with true franchise quarterbacks, he has been second to none as a coach. Without those rare guys, things haven\u2019t been as good for him. Look at what he accomplished directing Elway and Steve Young, when he was an assistant with the San Francisco 49ers.\nSome would suggest any coach could thrive with quarterbacks like those. Of course, it\u2019s not that simple. History is replete with examples of coaches who failed to succeed at the highest level despite working with star quarterbacks.\nShanahan put the pieces in place that helped Elway break through. Twice. He constructed an offense in which Elway had the greatest moments of his career. Shanahan owns those accomplishments.\nObviously, finding another Elway or Young is very difficult. If it weren\u2019t, everyone would have those types of guys.\nYou think Shanahan would have stuck with Rex-Beck if he could have acquired a couple of future Hall of Famers in the offseason? Ah, no.\nShanahan needs a superstar quarterback. It\u2019s as obvious as the frustration Snyder must feel watching Washington fail to qualify for the postseason in 10 of his 13 years as owner.\nAlthough Shanahan is many things, stupid is not among them. He knows the Redskins are still missing several parts, including the biggest one. But it\u2019s getting late for him to get them."}, {"name": "c4ed83e4-34dc-11e1-88f9-9084fc48c348", "body": "CINCINNATI \u2014 With two electric runs by Ray Rice, the Baltimore Ravens secured their third AFC North title in team history Sunday and satisfied their season-long goal of getting a first-round bye in the playoffs and at least one home game.\nRice\u2019s 51-yard touchdown run, his second of the night, with just 5:41 to play broke open a tight game and pushed the Ravens to a 24-16 victory in front of an announced 63,439 at chilly Paul Brown Stadium.\nRice, who scored on a 70-yard touchdown run on the Ravens\u2019 fourth offensive play, finished with 191 yards rushing on 24 carries. His 15 total touchdowns set a Ravens single-season record.\nTrailing 24-16, the Bengals got the ball back with one minute five seconds to go. They had two shots at the end zone, but both Andy Dalton passes were incomplete. The Ravens (12-4) celebrated their first 6-0 record against the AFC North in team history and their first division title since 2006, which was the last time the Ravens had a home game in the playoffs and a first-round bye.\nThe Bengals (9-7) made the playoffs anyway as a wild-card team, after losses by the New York Jets and Denver Broncos.\nThe Ravens held a 17-3 lead at halftime and forced punts on the first two Bengals drives of the third quarter. But after Cincinnati got the ball on the Ravens\u2019 48, Dalton hit Jerome Simpson for two 10-yard completions and then Bernard Scott broke free for a 25-yard touchdown run.\nScott sprinted past Ray Lewis and then broke free of an arm tackle by safety Ed Reed for the touchdown, which cut the Ravens\u2019 lead to 17-10.\nAnother extended Bengals drive on their next possession resulted in Mike Nugent\u2019s 46-yard field goal, which cut the Ravens\u2019 lead to 17-13 with 12:35 to play in the fourth quarter.\nStill trailing by four, the Bengals again got into Ravens territory, but linebacker Terrell Suggs leveled tight end Jermaine Gresham from behind, jarring the ball loose. Safety Bernard Pollard recovered it and and three plays later, Rice scored on his 51-yard run.\nOne of the common denominators in the Ravens\u2019 four road losses coming into the game was that they had gotten off to slow starts. That wasn\u2019t an issue Sunday.\nThe Ravens needed just four plays to take a 7-0 lead as Rice offered another signature long run to his resume. He took a Flacco handoff and burst through a hole on the right side, not stopping until he reached the end zone on a 70-yard touchdown run.\nRice\u2019s 11th rushing touchdown this season and his 14th overall was perfectly executed, starting with a great block by right guard Marshal Yanda on Bengals linebacker Rey Maualuga. Yanda, who was doubtful for the game with rib and thigh injuries, got to the second level, leaving Rice with plenty of room to run.\nOn the play, the Ravens got safety Reggie Nelson to bite on a fake end around to rookie wide receiver Torrey Smith, so there was nobody to bring down Rice once he reached the secondary.\nLeading 7-0, the Ravens forced a three-and-out and again drove into Bengals territory thanks to a 39-yard Flacco completion to tight end Dennis Pitta. Two more completions set up Billy Cundiff for a 42-yard field goal and a 10-0 lead with 6:45 left in the third quarter.\n \n \n \u2014 Baltimore Sun \n "}, {"name": "21e3b518-34e8-11e1-81ef-eaf2bd09c8a2", "body": "The number of homicides declined last year in the District and in many other jurisdictions throughout the United States, but in Arlington County the figure reached an absolute minimum \u2014 none.\nNo homicides were reported in Arlington last year, for the first time in at least 50 years, said Detective Crystal Nosal, county police spokeswoman.\nNosal said that statistics available to her \u201cgo back to 1960, and this is the first year that we have had zero homicides.\u201d\nThe number of homicides in Arlington in recent years has been small. In 2010 there was one; in 2009, there were two; and in 2008, there were four. The number was as high as 12 in 1990 and 1991.\nAn FBI report estimated that about 14,700 people nationwide were victims of homicide in 2010 \u2014 a rate of about 4.8 per 100,000 people. Arlington\u2019s population was about 208,000 in 2010, according to census figures, suggesting that about 10 homicides a year would conform to national averages.\nSeveral other local jurisdictions had homicide rates last year that fell well below the national rate. But of the counties and large cities in the Washington area, only Arlington reported no homicides."}, {"name": "bcc74d68-34e0-11e1-81ef-eaf2bd09c8a2", "body": "Sunday was the first day of the new year, but that was only one of the day\u2019s distinctions. The temperature rose to 60 degrees in Washington, a January rarity.\nThere was brilliant sunshine, fog, cloudiness, rain and a rainbow.\nMost of Sunday afternoon had been in the 50s, which was pleasant enough. It wasn\u2019t until the waning hours of daylight that the mercury at Reagan National Airport reached 60. That was nine degrees below the record for the date. But it was 16 degrees above the New Year\u2019s Day normal.\n\u201cOpen windows on New Year\u2019s Day\u201d read a comment on the Washington Post\u2019s Capital Weather Gang Web site. \u201cGolly.\u201d\nSunday was warmer than all of last January\u2019s 31 days. In the past three years, the only January day to be warmer was Jan. 25, 2010, when the high was 68.\nA small amount of rain was reported in places during the latter part of the afternoon. About 0.04 inches was measured by the National Weather Service at Dulles International Airport.\nAs the light faded on New Year\u2019s afternoon, some people who looked toward the skies with their backs to the descending sun, spotted a rainbow.\nIt is an atmospheric phenomenon that has been seen as a symbol of benevolence at least since biblical times.\nA comment on the Weather Gang site described the splendor of the sunset and noted that the day\u2019s glories also included \u201cfor about 5 minutes around 4:50ish, a full rainbow towards the east.\u201d"}, {"name": "d4c6cb18-34fa-11e1-ac55-e75ea321c80a", "body": "EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. \u2014 The New York Giants didn\u2019t need a furious fourth-quarter comeback this time, using a less familiar script to punch their ticket to the NFL playoffs. They crafted a big early lead and then did enough in the game\u2019s late stages to capture the NFC East title by beating the Dallas Cowboys, 31-14, on a sometimes-rainy Sunday night at MetLife Stadium.\nQuarterback Eli Manning threw three touchdown passes as the Giants upped their record to 9-7 with their second triumph over the Cowboys in the final four weeks of the regular season. The Giants won three of their last four games after a four-game losing streak that dropped their record to 6-6 and threatened to unravel their season.\n\u201cWe came together and knew what we had to do to win the NFC East,\u201d Manning said. \u201cAnd we got it accomplished.\u201d\nThe Giants secured the fourth seed in the NFC\u2019s postseason field. They\u2019ll host the fifth-seeded Atlanta Falcons next Sunday in the Meadowlands in a first-round playoff game. The Cowboys finished 8-8 and headed home for what promises to be an offseason of discontent.\n\u201cWe just didn\u2019t get it done,\u201d Cowboys linebacker Keith Brooking said. \u201cThe game comes down to execution by the players, and we didn\u2019t execute. .\u2009.\u2009. It\u2019s extremely disappointing. There\u2019s a lot of work that goes into it.\u201d\nThe Giants\u2019 season was built on the strength of five victories via fourth-quarter rallies, but they played from ahead in this winner-take-all game. While the Cowboys were making a series of first-half mistakes, the Giants grabbed a 21-0 advantage. Manning threw touchdown passes to wide receiver Victor Cruz and tailback Ahmad Bradshaw, sandwiched around a touchdown run by Bradshaw.\nCowboys quarterback Tony Romo, playing with a bruised right hand, threw a pair of second-half touchdown passes to wide receiver Laurent Robinson to get Dallas to within seven points in the fourth quarter. But the Giants steadied themselves with a 28-yard field goal by Lawrence Tynes with just less than six minutes to play, and Manning added a four-yard touchdown pass to wideout Hakeem Nicks.\n\u201cThere were some times tonight when it was a little nerve-racking, particularly there in the third quarter,\u201d Giants Coach Tom Coughlin said. \u201cBut we straightened it around and finished the game the way we wanted to.\u201d\nManning completed 24 of 33 passes for 346 yards. Romo connected on 29 of 37 throws for 289 yards. But he threw an interception and his night ended with a lost fumble on the Giants\u2019 sixth sack of the game.\n\u201cOur defense has been playing phenomenal,\u201d Giants tailback Brandon Jacobs said. \u201cThey did what they had to do. They shut Dallas down. .\u2009.\u2009. I would not want to face the New York Giants in the playoffs right now.\u201d\nThese teams had played only three weeks earlier in a memorable Sunday night game in Arlington, Tex., in which the Cowboys had squandered a chance to all but wrap up the division title. They had a 12-point lead with less than six minutes to play in that game but let it slip away and lost, 37-34. Manning orchestrated two late touchdown drives and the Giants blocked a potential tying field goal attempt by the Cowboys in the final seconds.\nThe Giants followed that win with their second loss of the season to the Washington Redskins but regrouped to beat the New York Jets on Christmas eve to ensure that this game would be for the NFC East title. Romo exited the Cowboys\u2019 defeat to the Philadelphia Eagles later that day after hurting his throwing hand on the opening offensive series. But he vowed all along to be ready to play in this game, and there was no reason to question his toughness after he played earlier this season with a fractured rib.\nRomo seemed more bothered by the Giants\u2019 pass rush than by his hand injury in the game\u2019s early going. The Cowboys did next to nothing on their first four possessions of the night, as Romo was sacked three times. The Giants raced to a two-touchdown lead during that span.\nManning and Cruz struck on the Giants\u2019 second drive. Cruz, maneuvering against cornerback Terence Newman on a third-and-one play, cut to his left and made the catch, then got to the sideline and outraced Newman and safety Gerald Sensabaugh to the end zone for a 74-yard touchdown.\nThe Cowboys went nowhere on offense and had to punt, which nearly worked in their favor. The Giants\u2019 Will Blackmon dropped the punt and the Cowboys\u2019 Alan Ball had a chance to grab the loose football. But he couldn\u2019t make the recovery, and the Giants got the ball and took advantage with a drive that ended with Bradshaw\u2019s five-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter. Cowboys safety Abram Elam blitzed on the play and went unblocked but couldn\u2019t make the tackle on Bradshaw in the backfield.\nTynes sent a 40-yard field goal try wide right on the Giants\u2019 next possession, that after the Cowboys had failed to recover another loose football on a fumble by Jacobs. The Cowboys finally began to have some modest success on offense but their drive ended when Romo was penalized for throwing a pass beyond the line of scrimmage after a back-and-forth scramble. The Cowboys appeared to down a punt inside New York\u2019s 5-yard line but Ball was penalized for going out of bounds and then being the first player to touch the ball.\nThat gave the Giants a touchback, and they moved 80 yards for a touchdown on Manning\u2019s 10-yard pass to Bradshaw. The first half ended, appropriately, with Cowboys place kicker Dan Bailey missing a 52-yard field goal attempt as time expired. But things improved for the Cowboys after halftime as they went 94 yards for a touchdown on their opening second-half possession, ending with Romo\u2019s 34-yard pass to Robinson.\nThe Giants began to sputter on offense. They failed to cash in after Romo threw an interception to safety Antrel Rolle, with Jacobs being stopped by the Dallas defense on a fourth-and-one run. The Cowboys moved to the New York 10-yard line, where Romo failed to get a first down on a fourth-down quarterback sneak. But the Cowboys forced a punt and got to within 21-14 on Romo\u2019s six-yard touchdown pass to Robinson with just more than 10 minutes remaining.\nThe Giants, though, had the answers down the stretch.\n\u201cWe\u2019re playing smart football,\u201d Manning said. \u201cWe\u2019re not making many mistakes.\u201d"}, {"name": "33a9181e-3507-11e1-81ef-eaf2bd09c8a2", "body": "NBA\n7:30 p.m. Washington at Boston \u00bb Comcast SportsNet, WJFK (106.7 FM)\nNHL\n3 p.m. New York Rangers at Philadelphia \u00bb WRC (Channel 4), WBAL (Channel 11)\n8 p.m. San Jose at Vancouver \u00bb NBC Sports Network\nCOLLEGE FOOTBALL\nNoon TicketCity Bowl, Houston vs. Penn State \u00bb ESPNU\n1 p.m.\nCapital One Bowl, Nebraska vs. South Carolina \u00bb ESPN, WWXT (92.7 FM),\nWWXX (94.3 FM), WTEM (980 AM)\n1 p.m. Gator Bowl, Ohio State vs. Florida \u00bb ESPN2\n1 p.m.\nOutback Bowl, Michigan State vs. Georgia \u00bb WJLA (Channel 7), WMAR\n(Channel 2), WSPZ (570 AM)\n5 p.m.\nRose Bowl,Wisconsin vs. Oregon \u00bb ESPN, WWXT (92.7 FM), WWXX (94.3\nFM), WTEM (980 AM)\n8:30 p.m.\nFiesta Bowl, Stanford vs. Oklahoma State \u00bb ESPN, WWXT (92.7 FM),\nWWXX (94.3 FM), WTEM (980 AM)\nMEN\u2019S COLLEGE BASKETBALL\n7 p.m. Virginia at LSU \u00bb WSPZ (570 AM)\n7 p.m. Presbyterian at Liberty \u00bb MASN\n7 p.m. Texas A&M at Baylor \u00bb ESPNU\n7 p.m. Wofford atWake Forest \u00bb Comcast SportsNet Plus\n9 p.m. North Carolina Greensboro at Miami \u00bb Comcast SportsNet Plus"}, {"name": "2ca767f4-351c-11e1-836b-08c4de636de4", "body": "BAGHDAD \u2014 A convoy carrying a leading Sunni government official was hit by a roadside bomb Sunday night, injuring his bodyguards, according to the official and a police colonel from the heavily Sunni area where the blast was reported.\nFinance Minister Rafe al-Essawi survived the blast, which occurred at 9:15 p.m. in the Salahuddin province north of Baghdad.\nResponding to inquiries via text message, Essawi would not say whether he thought his convoy was targeted or whether the attack was random.\n\u201cWe will send a letter to the Ministry of Interior to investigate,\u201d he wrote.\nAccording to Col. Jassim Abdulla, a deputy police chief in Salahuddin, Essawi was returning home to Baghdad. Abdulla said three of Essawi\u2019s bodyguards, two officers and one soldier were taken to a hospital in Tikrit.\nNo group had asserted responsibility as of late Monday afternoon in Baghdad.\nThree of the bodyguards were eventually taken to a hospital inside Baghdad\u2019s Green Zone, Abdulla said. Two were reported to be doing well, while the third, a captain, underwent surgery for injuries to his lung, the deputy police chief said.\nEssawi is widely regarded in Iraq as a moderate. He is part of the Iraqiya political bloc, which is supported by Sunnis and includes some Shiites. In recent weeks, the bloc has been sharply critical of the country\u2019s top official, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shiite, who has made moves to consolidate his power in the wake of the U.S. military departure.\nNews of the incident will most likely increase political tensions in Iraq. In recent weeks, the Shiite-controlled security forces have accused another Sunni official, Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi, of running a hit squad. He has fled to the semiautonomous region of Kurdistan. Maliki is demanding that Hashimi return to Baghdad to face trial.\nFurther details of the Sunday bombing were not available, nor is there any indication who might have planted the device. In the past, terrorists have targeted officials to try to widen political tensions among Iraq\u2019s various sects.\nUthman al-Mohktar in Anbar province contributed to this report.\nMore world news coverage:\nIndia\u2019s drug trials fuel consent controversy\nN. Korea calls on people to defend new leader\nIn sports-mad Argentina, sportswriter schools also an obsession\nMore headlines from around the world"}, {"name": "9c31dd5e-352e-11e1-836b-08c4de636de4", "body": "BEIJING \u2014 Saying the Korean Peninsula was \u201cat a turning point,\u201d South Korean President Lee Myung-bak on Monday offered North Korea a \u201cwindow of opportunity\u201d to improve relations but warned of a powerful retaliation if Pyongyang launches another military strike.\n\u201cThere should be a new opportunity amid changes and uncertainty,\u201d Lee said. \u201cIf North Korea shows its attitude of sincerity, a new era on the Korean Peninsula can be opened.\u201d\nIn his first major policy speech since the Dec. 17 death of Kim Jong Il, Lee did not specifically mention new North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong Eun, the young hereditary heir. But he offered Kim Jong Eun largely the same nuclear weapons-for-aid bargain that Kim Jong Il spent years rejecting. Any change on the peninsula, then, will come from a new strategy in Pyongyang, experts said \u2014 not a new strategy in Seoul.\nEntering the final year of a five-year fixed term, Lee has tried to push North Korea toward an economic leap by offering massive aid and investment \u2014 if the authoritarian nation gives up its weapons. Lee\u2019s stance, which reversed a 10-year policy of unconditional aid, has coincided with a tense and bloody era of intra-Korean relations, with a pair of 2010 attacks killing 50 South Koreans.\nLee on Monday repeated his stance that multi-nation nuclear talks can resume if Pyongyang first pledges to freeze its nuclear activities, as it promised in earlier \u2014 and now ignored \u2014 agreements. Talks have been on hold since the North walked out almost three years ago.\nThe upcoming year, Lee said, \u201cwill set a milestone for resolving the North Korean nuclear issue.\u201d He did not elaborate on his reasoning.\nThe North recently has sent mixed messages about the necessity of its nuclear weapons, which include a small stockpile of plutonium and a more modern uranium enrichment program. North Korea in March said the country would never make the mistake of Libya, which abandoned its nuclear program in 2003. Saturday, several powerful political bodies published a message describing the North as a \u201cnuclear state with unrivalled military strength no enemy would dare challenge.\u201d\nBut just days before Kim Jong Il\u2019s death, the North was nearing a reported deal to swap food aid for a freeze in its uranium enrichment program. That deal is now on hold, as neighboring countries figure out how to handle North Korea\u2019s new leadership. It\u2019s also unknown whether Kim Jong Eun, or his cadre of older advisers, will be open to such a trade-off at a time when the country, trying to build support for its leadership transition, has become newly vulnerable.\nSome security experts fear that North Korea could try to bolster its unity by lashing out against the South. Monday, Lee reiterated a promise he first made in the wake of the November 2010 shelling of a South Korean border island in the Yellow Sea: If the North attacked, the South would respond forcefully.\n\u201cAs long as there continues to be a possibility of North Korean provocation,\u201d Lee said, \u201cwe will maintain a watertight defense posture.\u201d\nLee\u2019s hard-line stance toward the North doesn\u2019t figure to be the top issue among South Koreans in this year\u2019s presidential election, because most are more worried about inflation, a widening income gap and runaway education costs. Still, South Korea is polarized by its North Korea policy, and a provocation in advance of the presidential poll in December could cause a wild \u2014 and difficult-to-predict \u2014 shift in what the public wants.\n\u201cAlthough voters tend to favor more hawkish policies at times of insecurity,\u201d a recent report by the International Crisis Group said, \u201cthe right in the South is facing the paradox that voters may blame Lee\u2019s tough line for the increased tensions. ... The North Korean leadership could calculate that rising tensions will push the South Korean electorate towards candidates who favor a more conciliatory policy.\u201d\nMore world news coverage:\nIndia\u2019s drug trials fuel controversy\nIran claims nuclear fuel advance\nIIn Iraq, leading Sunni official\u2019s convoy hit by bomb\nRead more headlines from around the world"}, {"name": "dfe75656-3550-11e1-81ef-eaf2bd09c8a2", "body": "It\u2019s over. You can open your eyes now. The Redskins\u2019 wretched 5-11 season \u2014 motto: \u201cHey, it\u2019s better than 4-12!\u201d \u2014 is, mercifully, at an end.\nFor those who saw glimpses of progress during 2011\u2019s slog of a campaign, Sunday\u2019s finale offered a lot of counterpoints. The end of the first half alone made you wonder if this was Week 17, or Week 1. Thankfully, it was Week 17. What if we had to go back and relive this season like some sort of cruel \u201cGroundhog Day\u201d? Although Bill Murray as Mike Shanahan might be fun.\nNow \u2014 to continue the \u201cGroundhog Day\u201d theme \u2014 we wait to see what happens in the offseason, or as Redskins fans call it, the season. Once again free agency and the draft will offer more twists and turns than the actual season did.\nBut at least the actual season is, in fact, over. Which is more than I can say for the Wizards\u2019 season. Never has the word \u201cshortened\u201d sounded so good. You might need to close your eyes again until, say, April. The Wizards headed to Boston on Monday night in search of their first win and despite an improved performance, extended their winless streak to five.\nOne night prior, the Celtics beat Washington by eight points at Verizon Center on Sunday, after which John Wall said he was \u201cnot enjoying myself playing basketball\u201d so far this season. That\u2019s hardly surprising. Andray Blatche is apparently qualified to be team captain because he read half a book on leadership. The team is so organized that it forgot to put Roger Mason Jr. on the roster for a game and he was ineligible to play.\nAnd Wall looked unhappy in a bad loss to Milwaukee this past weekend, so Coach Flip Saunders said this before Sunday\u2019s game: \u201cI told him, if he doesn\u2019t play hard and he doesn\u2019t have a smile on his face, I\u2019m going to take him out.\u201d\nI know what Saunders is trying to say, and I know he\u2019s not ordering Wall to smile, but maybe he needs to ask Blatche to return that leadership book. Wall should be playing hard, of course, but isn\u2019t it a little too much to expect him to look like he\u2019s enjoying himself? I would posit that if he ran up and down the court grinning, he\u2019d look.\u2009.\u2009. nuts. What is he supposed to smile about? His unbelievably strong supporting cast? The trickling away of his career?\nWizards fans aren\u2019t smiling. Wizards coaches aren\u2019t smiling. Look closely \u2014 the Wizards\u2019 logo isn\u2019t even smiling. But Wall is supposed to carry this team and smile? The only one associated with this team who\u2019s smiling is probably Ted Leonsis, and that\u2019s just how he\u2019s wired.\nWall will smile when Wizards fans, coaches, players and everyone else associated with the Wizards smile \u2014 when the team is finally respectable. Not even good \u2014 respectable would be a nice start.\nIn fact, all of Washington might smile. Respectable is starting to look pretty sweet \u2014 and also unattainable, with the Capitals less than their usual dominant selves and the Wizards and Redskins.\u2009.\u2009. well, it\u2019s hard to know what to call what the Wizards and Redskins are doing. Let\u2019s call it rebuilding. Rebuilding has a nice ring to it. Let\u2019s go with rebuilding.\nAnd everybody smile, dammit."}, {"name": "445d2aa0-354e-11e1-836b-08c4de636de4", "body": "Rep. Ron Paul is in a dead heat with Mitt Romney for first place in the Iowa caucuses. If he does pull out a win on Tuesday, Iowa Republicans will have chosen as their commander in chief a man who says it was wrong to kill Osama bin Laden.\nIn a recent interview with a Des Moines radio station, Paul not only came out against killing bin Laden but gave a remarkable reason for his opposition: The operation that took out the man responsible for the massacre of nearly 3,000 people in our midst, he said, showed no \u201crespect for the rule of law, international law.\u201d International law? Back in 2002, Paul wrote in a column that \u201cAmerica must either remain a constitutional republic or submit to international law, because it cannot do both.\u201d I guess it is goodbye constitutional republic since Paul now claims that international law constrains us from killing the man behind the most brazen attack on our country since Pearl Harbor \u2014 the man who, as we learned from documents recovered from his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan,was actively plotting another attack to exceed the magnitude of 9/11. Since when do libertarians acknowledge the power of supranational law to prevent a sovereign United States from defending itself against foreign aggressors?\nNot only does Paul oppose the killing of bin Laden, he opposes the drone campaign that has taken out more than 60 al-Qaeda leaders since 2008 \u2014 including the strike that killed Anwar al-Awlaki, the man behind the attempted bombing of a Northwest Airlines flight over Detroit on Christmas Day 2009. As he put it in a June debate, as president \u201cI\u2019d quit bombing Yemen, I\u2019d quit bombing Pakistan.\u201d\nPaul has clearly tapped into a growing sentiment among some conservatives to bring our troops home. But do Iowa Republicans really believe that we should not have killed Osama bin Laden? Or that that the United States does not have the authority under international law to take out al-Qaeda leaders planning attacks on our country? If so, then, by all means, they should vote for Ron Paul.\nBut that\u2019s not all. In the CNN/Tea Party debate that took place one day after the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, Paul said he believes that the United States brought the 9/11 attacks upon itself.\nParroting the propaganda of al-Qaeda, Paul declared, \u201cOsama bin Laden and al-Qaeda have been explicit, and they wrote and said that we attacked America because you had bases on our Holy Land in Saudi Arabia, you do not give Palestinians a fair treatment, and you have been bombing \u2026 [Interrupted by boos from the crowd] I\u2019m trying to get you to understand what the motive was behind the bombing. At the same time, we have been bombing and killing hundreds of thousands of Iraqis for ten years. Would you be annoyed? If you\u2019re not annoyed then there is some problem.\u201d\nAt least in that debate he accepted the fact that al-Qaeda was responsible for 9/11. In 2007, Paul appeared on the Alex Jones Show and called the 9/11 Commission investigation into the attacks \u201ca coverup,\u201d adding, \u201cI think we have to keep pushing for [a real investigation].\u201d\nSo Iowa Republicans, if you believe that we brought 9/11 on ourselves because our policies \u201cannoyed\u201d al-Qaeda and that there has been a \u201ccoverup\u201d of the real events on 9/11, Ron Paul is your man.\nPaul has also made clear that he would do nothing to stop Iran from gaining nuclear weapons. Paul opposes not only military action to stop the regime from going nuclear, but he opposes economic sanctions as well. On Thursday in Iowa, he declared that sanctions against Iran are \u201can act of war\u201d (in Paul\u2019s twisted worldview, sanctions against Iran are an \u201cact of war,\u201d but blowing up the Twin Towers is just a crime. Moreover, while Paul asserts there is \u201cno evidence whatsoever\u201d that Iran has enriched uranium, he apparently opposes spying on Iran to find out. During the GOP debate in Des Moines, after a discussion of Iran\u2019s capture of a U.S. spy drone, Paul demanded to know: \u201cWhy were we flying a drone over Iran?\u201d Apparently Paul does not want to know about the Iranian bomb until the mullahs test one.\nSo Iowa Republicans, if you are okay with a nuclear Iran and believe we should not be sending drones to spy on that country, please cast your vote for Ron Paul.\nThese are not conservative positions. They are not libertarian positions. They are nutty positions. It would bring discredit on the state of Iowa if Hawkeye Republicans make their choice for president of the United States a man who opposes the killing of bin Laden, blames the United States for 9/11 and says we should not even spy on Iran, much less stop it from getting the bomb.\n"}, {"name": "dc2b5cc0-354f-11e1-836b-08c4de636de4", "body": "POLK CITY, Iowa \u2014 One candidate made an appearance with the world\u2019s largest tractor. Another showed up with the Duggars, the nation\u2019s most famous large family. There were two Pauls in Des Moines. Six Romneys in Davenport.\nThis is Iowa, the day before the circus leaves town.\nOn Tuesday night, this state will hold its first-in-the-nation Republican caucuses. On Monday, six presidential candidates \u2014 including the three very different men who appear to be front-runners \u2014 all began their last dashes under Iowa\u2019s frigid sunshine.\nFormer Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney\u2019s agenda included four cities, spread over 269 miles. Former senator Rick Santorum (Pa.) drove a 171-mile circuit around Iowa\u2019s navel. And Rep. Ron Paul (Tex.), the third candidate in the lead pack, began a long trek across northeastern part of the state, making five stops over 391 miles.\nTheir messages followed a familiar pattern. Romney attacked President Obama.\nAt a stop in Marion, he accused Obama of turning the United States into \u201ca European-style welfare state,\u201d saying Obama\u2019s policies would \u201cpoison the very spirit of America and keep us from being one nation under God.\u201d\n\u201cI\u2019ve watched a president just become the great divider, the great explainer, the great excuse giver, the great blamer,\u201d Romney said. \u201cI want to have an America that comes together. I\u2019m an optimist. I believe in the future of America. I\u2019m not a pessimist. I believe that this country can be as it\u2019s always been, the shining city on a hill \u2014 but not by turning into Europe or anything like Europe, but by being quintessentially American.\u201d\nAnd the other two candidates attacked Romney. At a rally in Des Moines, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Ron Paul\u2019s son, criticized Romney as flip-flopping on major policy issues.\n\u201cThere is only one candidate who has never been accused of flip-flopping .\u2009.\u2009. my father, Ron Paul,\u201d the younger Paul said to a crowd that chanted his father\u2019s name.\nAnd here in Polk City, Santorum disputed the notion that Romney\u2019s experience as a corporate leader had prepared him to run the country.\nAn executive \u201cassigns people who work for them. I can tell you, as a senator, I didn\u2019t work for the president. Congress doesn\u2019t work for the president,\u201d Santorum said. \u201cThe American people don\u2019t work for the president. It\u2019s the other way around.\u201d\nFurther back in Iowa\u2019s pack, former House speaker Newt Gingrich (Ga.) seemed to be trying to soften his impending defeat. He appeared in Independence, Iowa, with Big Bud, the world\u2019s largest tractor.\n\u201cI don\u2019t think I\u2019m going to win,\u201d Gingrich said, blaming a barrage of negative ads from advocacy groups supporting Romney. \u201cIf you look at the numbers, that volume of negativity has done enough damage.\u201d\nBut, he added: \u201cWhatever I do tomorrow night will be a victory, because I\u2019m still standing.\u201d\nOne positive sign for Gingrich: He appeared to be recovering from a flu that had left him watery-eyed and lethargic over the past few days. At its worst, aides said, the candidate had to be kept quarantined on his own campaign bus. Gingrich\u2019s wife, Callista, and aides kept their distance and used hand sanitizer.\nOver the past few months, Iowa has embraced and then rejected four charismatic front-runners: Rep. Michele Bachmann (Minn.), Perry, Gingrich and pizza executive Herman Cain.\nNow, the state seems set to split its vote among three candidates chosen, instead, for the ideas they represent.\nFor Romney, those are steadiness and electability. For Paul, they are small government and personal liberty. And Santorum\u2019s appeal is based on his socially conservative views on issues such as abortion and same-sex marriage.\nOn Monday, the case for Santorum was made by surprise guests: the Duggar family, who have won reality-show fame because they have 19 children. Jim Bob Duggar, a former supporter of evangelical favorite Mike Huckabee, arrived in Polk City, Iowa, with 12 of his children in tow.\nAnd he brought something the Santorum campaign hadn\u2019t had until that point: a bus. The candidate\u2019s shoestring operation had previously required him to trek around in a supporter\u2019s pickup truck.\nThe Duggars\u2019 massive white coach, parked outside a coffee shop where Santorum held an event Monday, said \u201cRick Santorum for President.\u201d\n\u201cThe mistake we made was the whole political candidate field was splintered last time,\u201d Duggar said of 2008, when Huckabee won Iowa but could not translate the win to a national nomination.\n\u201cWe\u2019re calling on the Christian people throughout the United States to get behind Rick Santorum now, and don\u2019t splinter the vote. Get behind a true conservative with a proven track record,\u201d Duggar said.\nThe evidence of Santorum\u2019s recent surge was obvious: The overwhelming crush of media at the Polk City stop included reporters from Italy and Australia. Dozens of actual voters \u2014 who two weeks ago probably could have snagged a private audience with Santorum \u2014 were now pressed out of the restaurant and stood outside in the cold. \u201cI\u2019m actually from Polk City,\u201d said one to another as he was unable to squeeze his way inside. \u201cYeah, we don\u2019t count,\u201d the other responded.\nDespite the sardine-like, fire-hazard quality of the crowd, Santorum followed a pattern established through 360 previous Iowa events. He took every question asked by voters (\u201cOne more question,\u201d he said after speaking for about 30 minutes. \u201cNo?\u201d he said, spotting more hands. \u201cTwo? Three more questions.\u201d)\nAnd he offered lengthy and at times in-depth responses. He said that his first executive order as president would be to ban federal funding for abortion and that American citizens accused of terrorism should have access to lawyers and courts, and he promised to push for a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution.\nA few miles to the south, the two Pauls held a rally in the lobby of the downtown Marriott in Des Moines. The people in the packed ballroom included libertarians, disaffected Democrats, antiwar liberals, small-government conservatives, antiabortion activists.\n\u201cTo me, he\u2019s my Noah,\u201d said Sharlene Dunlap of Des Moines. \u201cHe\u2019s been saying there\u2019s a flood coming for 30 years.\u201d\nOn stage, Rand Paul said his father is the right man for these big-government times.\n\u201cAnybody here want their government to mind their own business?\u201d Paul said, as the crowd erupted with a singular \u201cYeah!\u201d\nIt took Ron Paul 30 years to matter in Iowa. Yet his son is already on the map in a big way \u2014 he is the first tea party senator. Which causes some to wonder where he might be headed next.\n\u201cRand Paul is a chip off the old block; he stands for the same things Ron Paul stands for,\u201d said David Kaniuk of Pleasant Hill. \u201cIf Rand Paul wanted to go for president, I would look into supporting him.\u201d\nAnd out came the father, refreshed and ready after a 36-hour break from the trail.\n\u201cTomorrow is a very important day,\u201d Paul said. \u201cIt\u2019s small in numbers, big in importance.\u201d\nIn the eastern part of the state, Romney began his day with a rally in a gymnasium in Davenport. He was joined by his wife, Ann, plus three of his five sons and his brother, Scott.\nAll hammered home the message that has helped Romney gain ground in Iowa.The main goal is beating Obama in November, they said. And Romney is the man to do it.\n\u201cI sense something happening as we\u2019ve been going across Iowa,\u201d Ann Romney told the crowd. \u201cI sense a feeling, a coalescing, a momentum or whatever it is you want to call it, around Mitt. And I think people are starting to figure out that this is the guy that is going to beat Barack Obama.\u201d\nThe biggest question of Tuesday night might not be who wins \u2014 Romney, Paul and Santorum would all gain momentum from a top-three finish \u2014 but who loses. And how badly.\nFor limping candidates such as Perry, Gingrich and Bachmann, a dismal showing could set off a chain reaction of bad news. Lower fundraising. Less advertising. And other disappointments in the upcoming primaries in New Hampshire and South Carolina.\nBoth Perry and Bachmann had relatively light schedules on Monday: three stops for Perry, two for Bachmann. Gingrich will have four events, including two in Davenport, where Romney made his case earlier Monday."}, {"name": "cc10e096-2693-11e1-aea1-86b62ae760b1", "body": " Adapted from a recent online discussion.\nDear Carolyn:\nWhen someone dumps you to stick with his plan of grocery shopping with his ex after you had stayed for the night \u2014 it\u2019s time to quit trying to make the relationship work, right?\nMopeyville\nMaybe he\u2019s got guacamole in his fridge and she\u2019s a tortilla chip connoisseur.\nIf you\u2019re always the one making the effort, and this is what it took for you to see that, then this hint to call it quits is actually one of those very well-disguised blessings. CGI-quality disguised. But still a blessing. Make an effort for people who make an effort for you.\nCarolyn:\nWe have a long history, but, ever since they broke up, it always comes down to his \u201cfriendship\u201d with his ex. Our relationship was built according to his terms. It\u2019s basically one-sided 99\u00a0percent of the time.\nI get the gist, that our relationship is very close to friends with benefits. I knew going in that was what I would have with him \u2014 but he knows that is not what I want. He can\u2019t understand that it is not easy for me or why. He acts like I shouldn\u2019t be having feelings for him. Apparently, it doesn\u2019t affect him at all if he doesn\u2019t see me for a month.\nI feel frustrated, sad and angry not knowing how to deal with my feelings and knowing he can just disregard me like this by not rescheduling his \u201cplans,\u201d as I asked him to do for the grocery-shopping fiasco.\nIn a way I blame his ex for who he is now, because he lived with her, and he has changed. He doesn\u2019t seem like the person I knew years ago and I miss his old self.\nHe said he misses the old days, too, but it is confusing to me because we will never get that back.\nSo I\u2019m just trying to go with my life and hope the awful feeling goes away.\nMopeyville again\nThis isn\u2019t going to sound credible, but I\u2019ll say it anyway: Stop taking this guy\u2019s indifference personally. Throughout your letter, you\u2019re saying that you and he just don\u2019t have what you used to, don\u2019t get along they way you used to, aren\u2019t who you used to be.\nSo, end it. Accept that people change, accept that it\u2019s over, and accept that not fitting anymore is a perfectly adequate reason for ending a relationship; it doesn\u2019t have to involve any judgments about someone not being good enough or caring enough or whatever else, or a girlfriend changing him, just because you need to blame something and put your anger somewhere.\nIt\u2019s not your fault, or his, and it\u2019s certainly not his ex\u2019s. You.two.just.don\u2019t.fit.\nNow, once you\u2019ve rolled that into a decision to stop calling this guy, the next step is onerous but strongly advised: good therapy. You\u2019ve agreed to be treated indifferently by someone for, apparently, a pretty long time. Please find out \u2014 and fix \u2014 the underlying reason for that, because the first thing you bring to a relationship and the last thing you have to count on when it goes wrong is: You. That\u2019s it. Make sure you\u2019re able to see yourself as a person you can count on in the clutch.\nWrite to \n\n Carolyn Hax \n, Style, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071, or tellme@washpost.com. Subscribe at www.facebook.com/carolynhax.\nMore from Lifestyle:\n@Work Advice: ToxiCity\nAsk Amy: Sisters differ in their response to grief\nMiss Manners: Too many Happy New Year\u2019s calls make one family unhappy\nCarolyn Hax: Is favoritism ever okay?"}, {"name": "0403c1b0-355f-11e1-ac55-e75ea321c80a", "body": "TEHRAN \u2014 Iran\u2019s ailing currency took a steep slide Monday, losing 12 percent against foreign currencies after President Obama on Saturday signed a bill that places the Islamic republic\u2019s central bank under unilateral sanctions.\nThe currency, which economists say was held artificially high for years against the dollar and the euro, has lost about 35 percent of its value since September. Its exchange rate hovered at 16,800 rials to the dollar, marking a record low. The currency was trading at about 10,500 rials to the U.S. dollar in late December 2010.\nThe slide Monday came as Iran tested a domestically produced cruise missile during continuing naval drills near the strategic Strait of Hormuz, sending a message to the West that the country would not tolerate increased sanctions against its profitable oil industry.\nBut in Tehran, people said they were bleeding money. Currency traders stopped writing exchange rates on the whiteboards propped against their shop windows as residents were trying to buy foreign currency.\n\u201cI am selling my motorcycle in order to invest it in dollars,\u201d said Mehrdad Allahyari, a computer engineer. \u201cMy dream is once to buy a BMW car, but now our leaders are even destroying that.\u201d\nAlthough some say that the government, which says it holds a lot of oil dollars, is gaining from the crisis, the slide of the rial is a huge blow to Iran\u2019s leaders, who have been claiming that the sanctions aren\u2019t hurting the country. The currency drop feeds increasing worries that the government is running out of funds.\nThe Central Bank of Iran had said Sunday that the United States had become the laughingstock of the world after Obama signed the latest round of sanctions aimed at the institution, Iran\u2019s key axis for oil transactions. But Monday afternoon, the bank held an emergency meeting over the sliding rial, the semiofficial Mehr News Agency reported.\nThe rial had already suffered a blow Dec. 20, amid confusion after Iranian statements that, preempting new sanctions, it had suspended all trade with the United Arab Emirates, a major re-exporting partner. Although the decision was revoked, the rial lost 10 percent of its value based on the report.\nA year earlier, there was a similar reaction when the UAE implemented sanctions.\n\u201cIt is clear that there is lack of cohesion within the government on how to fix this,\u201d said a prominent Iranian economist, who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue. \u201cThe market has lost all confidence in a solution.\u201d\nHousing prices have risen 20 percent in the past few weeks, Mehr reported. Private companies and importers say they are in deep trouble.\n\u201cPrices are changing by the hour, the banks are refusing to pay letters of credit at the official dollar rate. It\u2019s a zoo out there,\u201d one steel trader said.\nThose with large amounts of rials are scrambling to buy products that will hold their value, sometimes pre-ordering commodities and paying in advance. Other currencies, such as Britain\u2019s pound and the UAE\u2019s dirham, also have greatly appreciated against the rial.\nMeanwhile, state television\u2019s English-language satellite channel, Press TV, also reported Monday on the launch of another missile, called \u201cNour,\u201d which it said was an anti-radar missile.\nMore world news coverage:\n- Iran seeks more influence in Latin America\n- S. Korean president sees \u2018window of opportunity\u2019 to deal with North\n- In Iraq, leading Sunni official\u2019s convoy hit by roadside bomb\n- Read more headlines from around the world"}, {"name": "bc7ea57e-34ac-11e1-88f9-9084fc48c348", "body": "When the Federal Reserve\u2019s policy-making committee released a statement on the economy in December and the actions it would take, it wasn\u2019t news to Stacey M. Tevlin.\nTevlin is one of the behind-the-scenes economists who feed economic forecasts and analysis to the committee so it can make monetary policy decisions for the nation, a job that is painstaking and pressure-filled.\nClairvoyance would be handy for analyzing the state of the economy and projecting its future path, but Tevlin and her staff perform that role for the Federal Reserve System\u2019s Board of Governors, headed by Ben S. Bernanke, without such powers.\n\u201cForecasting the economy is a really challenging job,\u201d said Tevlin, the assistant director at the Division of Research and Statistics for Federal Reserve\u2019s Board of Governors. \u201cYou have to see pretty far into the future, which is pretty hard to do. There are unexpected events in the world and the economy and we can\u2019t project those.\u201d\nTevlin and her team research the impact of financial market conditions, fiscal policy initiatives, weather disruptions, global developments and many other factors that might affect job creation, household and business spending, housing markets and inflation.\nIt is inherently challenging to forecast the ups and downs of a dynamic economy, but it\u2019s been particularly so during the financial crisis, Tevlin said. Not only is there a long lag time between setting policy and realizing results, but there is no way to predict all the occurrences that can affect the U.S. and global economies. The earthquake followed by the tsunami in Japan is just one example.\n\u201cYou have to be pretty humble and comfortable with the fact that your projections don\u2019t always come through,\u201d Tevlin said.\nTevlin oversees a staff of 21 economists, who are constantly following developments in the U.S. economy in real time. They look at the latest data, monitor the markets, read the academic literature and investigate what influences are moving the economy. They\u2019re constantly improving their methods for understanding the economy in the long run, employing theoretical and empirical models to try to understand financial happenings.\nAnother job is to provide the members of the Federal Open Market Committee with research and materials for their eight meetings a year, at which the policy-making body reaches decisions on the economy and what actions the Federal Reserve should take.\nThe information assists the Federal Reserve with its monetary policy goals of promoting maximum employment and stable prices. When reviewing economic forecasts, the Fed uses the tools at its disposal, such as a change in interest rates, to try to make sure that people are employed and prices are steady.\nUnlike in other areas of government, no one\u2019s trying to push a political agenda, Tevlin said. Her team\u2019s task is to give the best information possible to policymakers so they can do their job.\n\u201cIf anyone knows as much about the current situation, why businesses are investing as much as they are or as little, what investments they\u2019re undertaking, what the reasons are, it\u2019s Stacey,\u201d said David E. Lebow, associate director, Division of Research and Statistics and Tevlin\u2019s supervisor. \u201cOur job is prognosis. She\u2019s totally on top of that.\u201d\nIf it sounds complicated, it is.\nBeth Anne Wilson, assistant director in the Division of International Finance, remembers a presentation Tevlin gave to new economists on the forecasting process. It included a schematic.\n\u201cThe boxes looked like a cobweb of issues showing all the sectors of the economy and how they fit together,\u201d Wilson said. To be all-encompassing, \u201cthe screen would have to be the size of the wall,\u201d Wilson said. \u201cIt was to get at the idea that it was extremely complicated.\u201d\nIn college, Tevlin didn\u2019t start out with the idea that she would contribute to decisions that move financial markets. She had planned to be a math major. But an economics course steered her onto a new track.\n\u201cMaybe I was hooked then,\u201d she said. She enjoyed the interaction between math and public policy questions, and ended up majoring in economics and getting a Ph.D. She was attracted to the federal government, she said, because of the importance of the work. \u201cThe effects of monetary policy have such a broad impact on American society.\u201d\nTevlin has one added element that informs her work, according to Wilson. Tevlin grew up outside Detroit in a world with auto manufacturing as its base. When she returns home these days, she gets an up-close view of how Americans are suffering in the current economy, Wilson said.\n\u201cShe has a real connection to what\u2019s happening in what some people call \u2018real America.\u2019 \u201d\nThis article was jointly prepared by the Partnership for Public Service, a group seeking to enhance the performance of the federal government, and washingtonpost.com. Go to http://washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/fedpage/players/ to read about other federal workers who are making a difference. "}, {"name": "c3f01018-356a-11e1-81ef-eaf2bd09c8a2", "body": "Sunday, 1 p.m., MetLife Stadium, WTTG-5\nFalcons 10-6, Giants 9-7\nHow the Falcons can win\u2026 The Falcons are a relatively balanced team, at least by the standards of some of this year\u2019s top playoff contenders. They ranked 10th in the league in total offense and 12th in total defense during the regular season. The Atlanta defense ranked sixth against the run, and seems likely to shut down a Giants\u2019 running game, which struggled all year. The Falcons rediscovered RB Michael Turner when he ran for 172 yards Sunday, and QB Matt Ryan has the receivers--in WRs Roddy White and Julio Jones and TE Tony Gonzalez\u2014to exploit the Giants\u2019 29th-ranked pass defense.\nHow the Giants can win\u2026 The Giants enter the playoffs feeling good about themselves after beating the Jets and Cowboys on the final two weekends of the regular season to win the NFC East. They get to play at MetLife Stadium again, and they\u2019re talking about re-creating the magic of their postseason run to a Super Bowl title after the 2007 season. QB Eli Manning has been one of the league\u2019s most dependable players all season, leading the Giants to five victories with fourth-quarter comebacks. The defense played well against the Cowboys, sacking QB Tony Romo six times. DE Jason Pierre-Paul has become the most disruptive of the Giants\u2019 pass rushers; he had 16-1/2 sacks during the regular season.\n--Mark Maske"}, {"name": "5e66ba02-3570-11e1-81ef-eaf2bd09c8a2", "body": "Sunday, 4:30 p.m., Mile High Stadium, WUSA-9,\n Steelers (12-4), Broncos (8-8) \nHow the Steelers can win\u2026 They won four more games than the Broncos during the regular season, and their defense probably will find a way to contain QB Tim Tebow and the Denver offense. But the Steelers managed only 13 points in Sunday\u2019s win at Cleveland in the regular season finale, and they lost RB Rashard Mendenhall to a knee injury. The defense could be without S Ryan Clark, who has sickle cell trait and faces possible health risks if he plays in the high altitude at Denver.\nHow the Broncos can win\u2026 The Broncos need Tebow to recapture the magic of the 7-1 run after he took over as starter following the team\u2019s 1-4 start. The Broncos made the playoffs thanks to the Raiders\u2019 defeat Sunday despite losing their final three regular season games to finish 8-8. Tebow threw only two interceptions and lost three fumbles during his eight-game run. He had four interceptions and lost three fumbles during the three-game losing streak at the end of the season. For the Broncos to have any chance, they\u2019ll have to get back to playing mistake-free football and rely on their defense while running the ball effectively and mixing in a big play or two.\n--Mark Maske"}, {"name": "1c576dc6-3577-11e1-81ef-eaf2bd09c8a2", "body": "Saturday, 4:30 p.m., Reliant Stadium, WRC-4\n Bengals 9-7, Texans 10-6 \nHow the Bengals can win\u2026 They went 5-3 on the road during the regular season and are facing the Texans at the right time, with Houston on a three-game losing streak. The Bengals were winless in four games against the Steelers and Ravens but went 9-3 against the rest of their schedule. They lost by a point to the Texans on Dec. 11. The Bengals ranked seventh in the league in total defense and ninth in scoring defense during the regular season. Rookie QB Andy Dalton faces his first playoff game but has been unusually poised all season. Dalton needs to get rookie WR A.J. Green re-involved in the offense after Green totaled only four catches in the final two regular season games.\nHow the Texans can win\u2026 The Texans play the first postseason game in franchise history but limp into the playoffs after a 10-3 start became a 10-6 final regular season record. Rookie QB T.J. Yates suffered a bruised non-throwing shoulder during Sunday\u2019s loss to the Titans. For the Texans to right themselves, they might need to rely on the league\u2019s second-ranked running game and second-ranked defense.\n--Mark Maske"}, {"name": "151a7e0a-357b-11e1-81ef-eaf2bd09c8a2", "body": "Saturday, 8 p.m., Superdome, WRC-4\nLions 10-6, Saints 13-3\nHow the Lions can win\u2026 Detroit has a chance because of its offensive firepower with QB Matthew Stafford and WR Calvin Johnson. Stafford joined the Saints\u2019 Drew Brees and the Patriots\u2019 Tom Brady in topping 5,000 passing yards during the regular season, getting there with a 520-yard performance in Sunday\u2019s loss to the Packers. Johnson led the league in receiving yards. The Lions will be familiar with the environment, having lost at New Orleans in early December. But they certainly need their defense to play better than it did Sunday at Lambeau Field when the Lions lost to the Packers, 45-41. Detroit had no answers for Green Bay\u2019s backup QB Matt Flynn, who threw for 480 yards and six TDs. The Lions will need a few stops against Brees and the Saints.\nHow the Saints can win\u2026 The Saints enter the playoffs with an eight-game winning streak and a 13-3 record, and they were 8-0 at home during the regular season. They have the league\u2019s top-ranked offense built around Brees, who set NFL single-season records for passing yards and completion percentage. The Saints\u2019 plan is simple: turn Brees loose and let him outscore any opponent. Few teams can keep up. TE Jimmy Graham and RB Darren Sproles create major matchup problems for virtually any defense. The question is whether the Saints can continue to get by with a defense that ranked 30th against the pass and 24th overall during the regular season. New Orleans did fare better in scoring defense, ranking 13th in the league.\n--Mark Maske "}, {"name": "6b706fd4-331a-11e1-825f-dabc29fd7071", "body": "With the Maryland legislature set to reconvene next week, a plan to bring slots to Prince George\u2019s County faces several obstacles, including division among local lawmakers and resistance from Maryland jurisdictions that already have casinos.\nRepresentatives of Penn National Gaming, which began a concerted push over the summer to put slots at Rosecroft Raceway, say they remain optimistic that a bill will pass once legislators realize the economic benefits for the county and state.\nBut the 90-day session appears likely to begin without consensus among lawmakers from Prince George\u2019s whether to embrace the once-shunned idea, and County Executive Rushern L. Baker III (D) has not made clear where he stands.\nMoreover, there are mounting concerns about whether adding a sixth slots site in Maryland is fair to other casino owners \u2014 particularly in Anne Arundel County and Baltimore \u2014 who would face unexpected competition just as they are starting operations.\nLawmakers would have little choice but to increase the one-third share of proceeds casino owners may keep, one of several complications House Speaker Michael E. Busch (D-Anne Arundel) cited in an interview last week.\n\u201cThis is not an issue that is easily resolved,\u201d Busch said. \u201cA new location creates a lot of hurdles in the legislative process.\u201d\nAlthough Busch did not voice opposition to the idea, he said he sees an easier path in Annapolis for a bill that would allow the addition of blackjack, roulette and other Las Vegas-style table games at existing casinos.\nThat is a priority for existing Maryland operators, who want to keep pace with offerings in surrounding states \u2014 and it is a change that would create jobs.\nBusch\u2019s counterpart, Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Calvert), has said that both a Prince George\u2019s casino and the legalization of table games are needed to bolster Maryland\u2019s fledgling gaming program.\nHost counties keep a portion of slots proceeds, and Miller, whose legislative district includes part of Prince George\u2019s, is also pushing a casino as a funding source for a new hospital in the county.\nSen. Edward J. Kasemeyer (D-Howard), chairman of the Budget and Taxation Committee, which has jurisdiction over gambling legislation, said it is questionable that the Senate would accept a bill that authorizes table games at existing sites but does not add a new location.\nGov. Martin O\u2019Malley (D), who brokered the 2007 slots legislation, has been cool to the idea of expanding the state\u2019s gambling program \u2014 though aides said he considered in recent weeks introducing a table games bill in an effort to assert some control over what is shaping up as a chaotic debate. O\u2019Malley, who has a full session agenda, has since backed away from the idea, according to aides.\nAlthough there is uncertainty about the path forward, few lawmakers dispute that Maryland\u2019s slots program has yet to live up to its billing.\nThis fall, legislative analysts lowered the amount of revenue they expect the machines to generate for the state over the next five years by about $475\u00a0million \u2014 a 12\u00a0percent write-down. The weak economy, greater competition from surrounding states and delayed openings of Maryland\u2019s casinos were blamed.\nTwo of the five casinos authorized by voters in 2008 have opened, in Cecil and Worcester counties.\nA third \u2014 envisioned as Maryland\u2019s largest, with 4,750 machines \u2014 is scheduled to open in June at Arundel Mills mall. Project developer Cordish has told lawmakers it opposes a Prince George\u2019s site.\nA state commission is continuing to weigh bids from operators for two other facilities, in Baltimore and Allegany County.\nA spokesman for Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake (D) said she thinks \u201cit is preferable to let Baltimore get up and running before adding new sites.\u201d Baltimore is counting on slots revenue to cut property taxes and fund school construction.\nPenn National is pushing a plan to build a casino at Rosecroft Raceway similar in size to the one rising in Anne Arundel. In addition to legislative approval, it would require a statewide vote.\nTalk has also rekindled in Annapolis in recent weeks about the possibility of another Prince George\u2019s slots site: at nearby National Harbor.\nNational Harbor\u2019s developer, the Peterson Cos., has not publicly expressed an interest in slots but recently hired one of the top lobbyists in Annapolis, Timothy Perry, to look after its interests on the issue. Perry, a former chief of staff to Miller, declined to comment.\nA casino at either National Harbor or at recently reopened Rosecroft, a horse-racing track in Fort Washington, would be better positioned than any of the previously authorized sites to attract patrons from the District and Northern Virginia, where casino-style gaming is illegal.\nA study released by Penn National in October contended that a casino at Rosecroft could produce 7,636 jobs during its construction and operation phases and generate more than $415\u00a0million in new annual tax revenue \u2014 about $376\u00a0million for the state and $40\u00a0million for Prince George\u2019s.\nMichael Arrington, a former Prince George\u2019s delegate who is a lobbyist for Penn National, said that once lawmakers understand that potential, he expects support to grow inside and outside of the Prince George\u2019s delegation, given revenue challenges facing the state and county.\nDel. Veronica L. Turner (D-Prince George\u2019s), whose district includes Rosecroft, said she is largely sold on the idea of a casino but acknowledged a lot of groundwork needs to be done to convince some of her colleagues, some of whom share the views of a vocal coalition of ministers in the county who are opposed to slots.\n\u201cIt\u2019s going to be an uphill battle, I know,\u201d Turner said. \u201cBut we all need to get together and see if we can make it happen. It would be helpful if we were all on the same page.\u201d\nTurner and other lawmakers said they are still waiting for a stronger cue from the county executive about whether he is on board.\nDuring a recent visit to Annapolis, Baker, a former state delegate, told reporters that he plans to ask for a lot of state funding this year for the hospital and for school construction and that \u201cwe\u2019re keeping all our options open.\u201d\n\u201cI\u2019ve learned from my days in Annapolis .\u2009.\u2009. that you can\u2019t come down here and ask for revenue if you\u2019re not willing to accept the revenue stream they come up with,\u201d said Baker, who also recently lobbied his County Council against a zoning ban on slots.\nArrington said he is hopeful that Baker will become a more vocal supporter once a bill is unveiled. Arrington also played down the concerns of other jurisdictions with previously authorized slot venues.\n\u201cThere\u2019s a big pie, and there\u2019s enough for everyone,\u201d he said.\nRead more on PostLocal.com: \nWater, sewer pipes: \u2018The unseen catastrophe\u2019\nIn Montgomery County, a push for affordable housing\nPromoting breastfeeding in Southeast\nVictims in fatal Bethesda crash identified"}, {"name": "b2c8da2a-3576-11e1-836b-08c4de636de4", "body": "As the year draws to a close, I wanted to take the time to thank you for your hard work. I wanted also to highlight some of our many accomplishments.\nI am proud to say that we met almost every goal we set ourselves in the beginning of the year. \u00a0We continued to invest in, and aggressively build, our digital business; we saw dramatic improvements in our circulation trends against the prior year as we made investments in our print edition, which remains the most popular consumer product in the Washington area; we continued to invest in new and strategic businesses, some of which are already producing material revenues; and we continued to cut costs and to do so in ways that will not hurt us long term. \u00a0In the short term, we have met our Operating Budget for the year and we have continued to lay the building blocks for the future.\nWe set ourselves five priorities in the beginning of the year: 1) invest in and tend to the newspaper \u2013 which remains a popular and important platform for our readers and a vital source of revenue for us; 2) invest in and build our digital business, which draws more users than ever and is critical to our future; 3) develop new businesses that make strategic sense for us and for our customers; 4) manage and reduce costs to levels our revenues can consistently support; and 5) become more customer centric, by focusing on how we get our stories to people, \u00a0how we package and promote them, how we can enlighten, engage, amuse and move readers. \u00a0\nI am happy to report that we accomplished each of these goals, and performed well across the Company. \u00a0\nIt is our great journalism, and the readers that it draws, that drive our business. \u00a0We had another year of outstanding journalism. \u00a0Our extraordinary journalism is what sets The Washington Post apart in an increasingly crowded world of sound bites, rumors and opinion. \u00a0We have focused our resources on the news that matter most to our readers, whether in our region or around the world. \u00a0Our coverage of presidential campaign politics and the politics of governing, of the expanding use of unmanned drones, of the Arab Spring and the European fiscal crisis, of corrosive scandal in the D.C. Government and weak oversight of federal housing programs,of local crime and local intrigue, of local sports clubs\u2019 travails and prep school sports successes, of new arts venues and celebrations of old culture -- all of it has been superb. \u00a0\nIn addition to our straight journalism, under the leadership of Fred Hiatt, we have one of the best Editorial Departments in the world. \u00a0Political and business leaders from around the world come to our pages to read our columnists and editorials. \u00a0Our opinion section sets us apart from the competition in the strength of the talent we publish, the diversity of voices and topics. \u00a0We shine light on human rights abuses here and abroad and on local and national politics and policies. \u00a0Our writers are controversial and stirring. \u00a0And today, in both print and digital, we are using the the opinions of our readers to create conversations on topics of import to our readers. \u00a0\nBy bringing understanding and clarity to local, national and international matters that impact the lives of our readers, we remain essential to their lives. \u00a0And we are doing it by taking our expertise and skill in journalism and translating it to a multimedia world. \u00a0We are telling stories using the tools available to bring our stories to life in new ways, through pictures, video, text and graphics. \u00a0\nI need not remind anyone that it was a tough year for the economy. After a decent first half of the year, the third quarter turned sour again. \u00a0Our Advertising team, in print and online, are never deterred by the environment. \u00a0They use their consultative skills to bring our clients solutions to meet their needs. \u00a0Overall, we ended the year with a solid performance by the Advertising team. \u00a0Steve Stup and his team have built one of the best digital sales forces in the world. \u00a0And Wendy Evans has built one of the best multi-media sales teams in the world. \u00a0As Wendy leaves us to become a mother to the twins to be born in 2012, she leave a big void.\nLet me turn now to the goals we set ourselves. \u00a0The newspaper remains one of the most popular consumer products in the Washington area. \u00a0It is vital to our readers and to our advertising customers. \u00a0While we will adapt as the habits of our consumers change, we will continue to invest in our newspaper as long as their are consumers who demand it. \u00a0We made changes early in the year to our Sunday paper. \u00a0Splitting out Arts and Style again, giving Style a new format, and delivering parts of the paper on Sunday, we saw a significant reader response. \u00a0 Overall, our Circulation fell only slightly -- by 5% daily and 4% Sunday, a rate of decline that is about half of what it was last year. \u00a0Our Circulation Department, led by Gregg Fernandes, is among the best, if not the best, in the country. \u00a0They are our there delivering papers every single night of the year, no matter what the conditions. \u00a0They provide our customers with reliable and prompt service and complaints are, once again, at an all time low. \u00a0We privileged to have agents and carriers who take tremendous pride in what they do and it shows. \u00a0\nWe also challenged ourselves to increase unique visitors to our website, boost the number of pages viewed on the site, and raise the time spent on the site. \u00a0We did it. \u00a0The number of visitors rose by nearly a fifth, and and will finish 2011 with our highest page view year ever. \u00a0To date, 2008 was the high water mark for page views. \u00a0It is no mean feat to have beaten that record in a non-election year. \u00a0In addition, our readers are more engaged, spending more time on the site with each visit. \u00a0In the fourth quarter, ComScore has shown time spent on the site was up by 150%.\nWe would not have achieved these goals without the work of many people, including our Public Relations team, led by Kris Coratti, and our digital team, led by Katharine Zaleski. \u00a0Certainly, the stellar journalism we publish is a critical factor. \u00a0Under Sandy Sugawara\u2019s direction, the Universal Desk has made sure that our news products are always fresh, offering readers the best we have to offer. \u00a0But in today\u2019s world, publishing great journalism is not enough. \u00a0We have to get our stories in front of readers wherever they are. \u00a0The PR team gets our writers and stories visibility from TV to radio to around the Web, building recognition for our brand and driving readership to our products. \u00a0Our web traffic team, in turn, uses the real-time data we get about what is trending and what stories are getting traffic and use that data to drive more traffic to our stories. \u00a0Under the leadership of Raju Narisetti, Katharine has built up a stellar team of people who hold the journalistic values that this paper has always been known for, but who also understand that publishing great content is not enough -- you have to get it out there and let people know it\u2019s there. \u00a0We have come a long way in a short period. \u00a0We integrated print and digital a mere two years ago. \u00a0While It is not perfect yet, we have made progress, providing everyone in the newsroom with the tools they need, getting \u201cprint\u201d people to think digitally and \u201cdigital\u201d people to understand what drives \u201cprint.\u201d \u00a0And we will know we have it right when everyone thinks about every platform.\nWith the explosion of mobile devices, mainly phones and tablets, we are rapidly expanding the products we offer readers on these devices. \u00a0Whether it\u2019s breaking news, story headlines, or full stories, thanks to great work by Beth Jacobs and her team, and under the leadership of Ken Babby and Raju Narisetti, we now have a host of mobile products that make our journalism easy to access on almost any device and are tailored to that device. \u00a0We launched our Droid app this year and it was worth waiting for. \u00a0It has been consistently one of the top news apps on the Droid. \u00a0We will be launching a politics app tailored to the iPad very soon. \u00a0It is packed not just with great content but with great tools for both the novice and the political junkie. \u00a0We will be launching our ipad v2 app in 2012, based on a lot of work done this year. \u00a0And there will be more. \u00a0\nIn additional to our more traditional platforms in print and online, we are now reaching live audiences with our content. \u00a0Led by Mary Jordan and Jenny Abramson, Washington Post Live hosted conferences on subjects ranging from non-communicable diseases, to education, to policy. \u00a0They made news (Prince Charles attended a conference, we co-hosted a GOP Presidential debate), and, as the slogan says, advanced the conversation on a range of important topics. \u00a0Among our other new businesses, Capitol Business completed its second full year under the leadership of Arnie Applebaum on the business side and Dan Beyers on the editorial side. \u00a0It has become a must-read across the region and is right on target for the business goals we set for it. \u00a0Express had another stellar year for both readership and revenue. \u00a0And El Tiempo Latino proved once again why it is the leading weekly publication for the Latino population in the region. \u00a0While Express is the result of hard work by many, it was conceived of and led by by Chris Ma, whose loss this year we all feel tremendously. \u00a0Chris was passionate about both Express and ETL, and the audiences they serve. \u00a0We will honor his legacy by keeping them as vibrant and important to the region as they became under his leadership. \u00a0\nOne of our top priorities has been to build new businesses. \u00a0In addition to those mentioned above, our New Ventures group, led by Tim Condon, spent the past year nurturing several new businesses in our core, a few of which are showing real promise, including our Capitol Deal site, which has a growing and loyal subscriber base and has drawn new customers to local businesses, and Service Alley, our service listing business, connecting residents with critical service needs through social me\nCustomer focus has always been a priority at The Washington Post. \u00a0By naming it one of our five priorities for the year, I wanted to push us to get even better and more disciplined. \u00a0We are in the process of evolving to a company which uses data and our expertise to provide customers with more and more compelling consumer experiences. \u00a0The most successful companies, from Southwest airlines, to Apple, to Walmart, have demonstrated, time and again, that a relentless focus on the customer always wins. \u00a0 Laura Evans, in her new role as Chief Experience Officer, will help us get there.\nNo one does customer service better than our Production team. They print millions of newspapers a week--all from one plant. \u00a0And I am happy to report that they handled more preprints this year for Thanksgiving than we have had in years. \u00a0Under the leadership of Jim Coley and Frank Abbot, they do a masterful job every single day and night of the year. They continue to push their performance on everything from reduced breakage to reduced waste.\nNone of the progress we made this year could have happened without our IT team. \u00a0Every project we accomplished this year required their partnership. \u00a0We had a bumpy year launching our new content management system and IT has been there every step of the way, ensuring that our systems are working and helping us improve them. \u00a0Increasingly, it is critical to everything we do - whether it is launching a new mobile app, publishing, or creating new creative ad units for our clients. \u00a0Under the leadership of Shailesh Prakash and his team of engineers, we will continue to build a world class engineering organization that will help us create systems that serve as a competitive advantage. \u00a0We have made tremendous progress and continue to get better every single day. \u00a0Thank you for for helping us to get better and better!\nThank you also to our wonderful team in Community Relations, also led by Kris Coratti. \u00a0We not only cover our community. \u00a0We live in it. \u00a0Our Community Relations team does a masterful job of partnering with businesses and non-profits in the region to enhance lives in the region and to ensure that The Post stays engaged in our local community.\nLast, but hardly least, thank you to Accounting, led by the inspiring Usha Chaudary and her team, to HR, led by Wayne Connell, and thank you to our Legal team, led by Eric Lieberman and Jay Kennedy. They are the wizards that make everything go smoothly.\nHappy New Year to all. \u00a0I am proud and honored to work with each and every one of you. \u00a0And looking forward to another great year! \u00a0\nBest, Katharine"}, {"name": "489869a6-357e-11e1-ac55-e75ea321c80a", "body": "MEXICO CITY \u2014 About 12,000\u00a0people were slain last year in Mexico\u2019s surging drug violence, according to grim tallies reported Monday by the country\u2019s leading media outlets. Annual indexes of torture, beheadings and the killing of women all showed increases.\nMore than 50,000\u00a0people have been killed during President Felipe Calderon\u2019s U.S.-backed military confrontation with organized crime and drug trafficking, which began in 2006.\nThe Calderon government, after promising to update figures regularly, has not reported its own death count, perhaps because the trend line does not look good. A government spokesman said new figures would be released later this month. The ruling party is facing national elections this summer, in which the main opposition party threatens to retake the presidency.\nThe daily newspaper Reforma, one of the nation\u2019s most respected independent news outlets, reported 12,359 drug-related killings in 2011, a 6.3 percent increase compared with the previous year. There were 2,275 drug killings in 2007, Reforma said.\nOther media reported similar numbers.\nDaily Milenio recorded 12,284 drug-related deaths last year.\nLa Jornada counted 11,890\u00a0deaths in 2011, which it says is an 11\u00a0percent decrease from the previous year. Regardless, in its annual tally La Jornada featured a cartoon that showed Father Time 2011 lying in the desert with his head chopped off.\nIn the Reforma count, the number of bodies that showed signs of torture grew to 1,079. Beheadings reached almost 600, up from 389 the year before. Reforma also found that women increasingly were victims of drug violence, with more than 900 slain last year.\nThe newspaper did not offer a count of juveniles or children killed, but children increasingly have been caught in the crossfire or intentionally targeted to send a chilling message that the drug gangs will stop at nothing.\nOne of the few bright spots is that the homicide rate appears to be down by about a third in the border manufacturing hub Ciudad Juarez, once dubbed Murder City. Baja California and Tijuana also saw decreases in homicides.\nYet the violence has steadily spread across Mexico. The states that abut Texas \u2014 Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, Tamaulipas \u2014 remain the most deadly. But new zones of conflict, such as the once-mellow gulf coast state of Veracruz, are now gripped by a wave of killing.\nMore world news coverage:\n- Iran seeks more influence in Latin America\n- S. Korean president sees \u2018window of opportunity\u2019 to deal with North\n- In Iraq, leading Sunni official\u2019s convoy hit by roadside bomb\n- Read more headlines from around the world"}, {"name": "891446f6-3567-11e1-ac55-e75ea321c80a", "body": "NEW DELHI \u2014 In a year of global protests, few were as broadly backed as India\u2019s mass movement against corruption, which drew millions of people into the streets and onto social media to express support for veteran activist Anna Hazare as he staged a series of hunger strikes.\nFor months, India\u2019s media seemed to talk of little else. Then, in a few short weeks, the bubble burst.\nHazare\u2019s final fast of 2011 attracted just a few thousand supporters and was abandoned after only a day. The legislation he had campaigned for, meant to establish a powerful anti-corruption investigating agency, was watered down by the government and then delayed indefinitely as politicians from all factions attacked it with a mass of competing amendments.\nLike many movements that harness popular frustration \u2014 from the Arab Spring to Occupy Wall Street \u2014 it proved much more difficult to maintain the unity and momentum of Hazare\u2019s movement once anger with the system was replaced by specific recommendations on how to change it. Although millions of people were prepared to turn out to decry corruption, far fewer wanted to argue the finer points of a specific anti-graft bill.\nBut the movement\u2019s troubles also reflect the fact that the endemic corruption in India was never going to be as easy to eliminate as Hazare sometimes made it sound, and that the activist was never as infallible as some of his most fervent supporters made him out to be.\nThe 74-year-old, who models himself on Indian independence hero Mohandas Gandhi, had been labeled \u201cNewsmaker of 2011\u201d by a leading magazine. But in recent days, he has been called a flop and a failure. In a cruel twist, he ended the year in a hospital with bronchitis, with his doctor advising him to \u201crespect the aging process.\u201d\n\u201cThe fear of Anna Hazare has gone, and so has the bill, into an uncertain time zone,\u201d reporter Sheela Bhatt observed, echoing the prevailing sentiment.\nThe cracks had been appearing for months, since the heady days of August, when the government briefly jailed Hazare, Delhi\u2019s middle class turned out en masse to support his 12-day fast, and the most fashionable headgear in the country was a white Gandhi cap bearing the words \u201cI am Anna.\u201d\nFirst came the questions about the integrity of leading members of Hazare\u2019s team, with the most damaging being perhaps the allegation that respected policewoman-turned-activist Kiran Bedi had falsified her travel expense invoices.\nHazare\u2019s fall from grace, though, seemed even more pronounced. In a country increasingly sick of a corrupt, preening and self-satisfied political class, his strength had been his Gandhian aura of honesty, humility and simplicity.\nBut as the media turned him into a national hero, the attention seemed to go to his head, critics said. It was understandable for Hazare to insist that India\u2019s 1.2 billion people were the country\u2019s real rulers, but when he proclaimed himself the voice of those 1.2 billion people, he perhaps sounded less humble than some might have liked.\nNor did he stick very closely to the Gandhian script of nonviolence, proclaiming first that corrupt politicians should be hanged and then that anyone consuming alcohol should be flogged. When an anti-corruption demonstrator slapped a leading Indian politician in the face, Hazare hastily tweeted, \u201cJust one slap?\u201d before quickly retracting his words.\nAn October vow of silence, another Gandhian practice rooted in Hindu tradition, was more farcical than forceful, with Hazare keeping up a steady stream of tweets and statements throughout the 19 days of supposed restraint and reflection.\nIt was all too much for many of his supporters, including Sanjay Chawla, a 28-year-old real estate agent who had helped organize a rally in his home town of Salem in August only to become disillusioned.\n\u201cHe claimed to be Gandhian, but what he practiced didn\u2019t go by that,\u201d Chawla said. \u201cHe entertained violence, and that drew me away.\u201d\nIn the end, though, it was Hazare\u2019s foray into electoral politics and his growing association with the country\u2019s Hindu nationalist right that most tarnished his reputation.\nFrustrated by the government\u2019s unwillingness to accept his demands, Hazare told his supporters to vote against a candidate from the ruling Congress party in a parliamentary by-election in October.\nThen Hazare branded the Congress party \u201ctraitors\u201d for not accepting his version of an anti-corruption bill. But when invited to condemn the Hindu nationalist opposition for similarly failing to endorse some of his key proposals, he simply walked out of a news conference.\nOthers were put off by Hazare\u2019s unwillingness to compromise with the government or even listen to the views of fellow activists. But, in the end, it might have been his very rigidity, dogmatism and single-mindedness that forced politicians to finally introduce a bill last month, after decades of talk but no action.\nThe chaos and constant back-tracking in Parliament since the bill was introduced simply \u201cproved Anna right,\u201d Bhatt said.\nAlthough \u201cTeam Anna\u201d dismisses the legislation as \u201cuseless,\u201d even critics such as Nikhil Dey say the movement has achieved much more than it sometimes cares to admit.\nDey and many other activists involved in the successful campaign for India\u2019s 2005 Right to Information Act had always been uncomfortable with Hazare\u2019s ultimate goal \u2014 an all-powerful and potentially unaccountable anti-corruption investigating and prosecuting agency, known as the Lokpal.\nBut since the movement, bills have been introduced that would establish a Lokpal (albeit with fewer powers), increase the accountability of the judiciary and bureaucracy, and help protect whistleblowers.\nNone of the bills are perfect, Dey said, \u201cbut if you take the whole basket of measures, there is a lot of progress \u2014 more progress than there has been in many years.\u201d\nTaken as part of a multi-year campaign to raise transparency and accountability in India, Hazare\u2019s movement was neither the transformative revolution the media had hyped it to be, nor the failure some critics would argue it has become.\n\u201cThe fact is, for a year, much of the country\u2019s attention has been focused on the Lokpal bill, and it forced the government to at least bring a bill,\u201d said one of the campaign\u2019s leaders, Prashant Bhushan. \u201cThe movement will now have to widen its objectives and perspective, and not just focus on the Lokpal bill. The time has come to take a step back.\u201d\nMore world news coverage:\n- Iran seeks more influence in Latin America\n- S. Korean president sees \u2018window of opportunity\u2019 to deal with North\n- In Iraq, leading Sunni official\u2019s convoy hit by roadside bomb\n- Read more headlines from around the world"}, {"name": "15178e7c-21ec-11e1-a34e-71d4bf6b8d0a", "body": "A century ago, British naval Capt. Robert F. Scott and four members of his polar expedition trudged across the forbidding Antarctic landscape, \u201cman-hauling\u201d sleds across 800 miles of ice and snow in a desperate push to make it back to their base.\nThe Englishmen were suffering from frostbite, malnutrition, dysentery and probably heavy hearts: They were coming home with the knowledge that a competing expedition, led by Norwegian Roald Amundsen, had beaten them to the South Pole.\nBut halfway back to their base, Scott did something quite extraordinary. He stopped at the foot of a mountain range and sent one of his men to collect some unusual rocks.\n\u201cI decided to camp and spend the rest of the day geologising,\u201d Scott wrote in his journal on Feb. 8, 1912. \u201cIt has been extremely interesting. .\u2009.\u2009. [Edward A.] Wilson, with his sharp eyes, has picked several plant impressions, the last a piece of coal with beautifully traced leaves in layers.\u201d\nThe team loaded 35 pounds of these fossils onto their already packed sleds and pushed off down the Beardmore Glacier. It was a treacherous route across deep crevasses, and one of the men \u2014 Petty Officer Edgar Evans \u2014 fell twice. He died two weeks later from injuries and exposure.\nBy mid-March, the remaining four men were running out of food and water, and their fuel supplies were dangerously low. On March 17, Capt. Lawrence Oates left their encampment and wandered off by himself; his famous last words, recorded by Scott, were: \u201cI am just going outside and may be some time.\u201d\nThe last three men tried for two weeks to push forward but were forced to remain inside their tent, buffeted by a storm. Scott\u2019s final diary entry is dated March 29, its last words referring to his family: \u201cFor God\u2019s sake, look after our people.\u201d Nine months later, the bodies of Scott, Wilson and Lt. Henry Bowers were found frozen in their tent, 100 miles from their permanent base.\nAnd those fossilized plants were eventually sent back to London.\nSo how to judge Scott and his expedition? As the 100th anniversary of the \u201cRace to the South Pole\u201d is marked this winter, it reinvigorates a long debate over Scott\u2019s judgment and preparation. Was he a victim of bad luck and unusually cold weather, as he wrote in his diary, or bad planning and dumb decisions, as some historians have written?\nOne thing experts seem to agree on: Scott\u2019s British Antarctic Expedition of 1910 to 1912 laid the groundwork for understanding climate, paleohistory, oceanography and biology in the most remote continent on the planet.\n\u201cScott\u2019s legacy is really science,\u201d said Edward J. Larson, historian and author of \u201cAn Empire of Ice: Scott, Shackleton, and the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration.\u201d Amundsen\u2019s expedition, he said, \u201cwas a mere dash to the pole. But Scott\u2019s expedition was remarkably successful. He ended up producing a composite picture of what Antarctica was all about.\u201d\nThe two expeditions could not have been more different.\nAmundsen, who turned his attention to Antarctica only after he learned that somebody else had beaten him to the North Pole, brought 19 men aboard his ship, the Fram. They were selected for their ability to ski fast, survive and navigate across the featureless Antarctic landscape, and to run sled dogs. Amundsen used only dog teams because he believed they were the best form of transportation, something he had learned from the native peoples he encountered while exploring the Arctic years before.\nIn contrast, Scott\u2019s crew of 65 men aboard the Terra Nova included physicists, meteorologists, zoologists, glaciologists and a photographer with a complete darkroom. The men camped at several locations during the year and a half they spent in Antarctica. To traverse sea ice, glaciers and the vast ice sheet that covers much of Antarctica, Scott brought not only dog teams but also four motorized tractors (one of which broke through the ice and sank; the others broke down) and several dozen Siberian ponies (whose hooves sank in the snow).\nBefore sailing from London in June 1910, Scott announced to the world that he was headed south to find the pole. Young men clamored to join his expedition, many paying a thousand pounds to join the adventure. By the time Scott reached Australia in October, the expedition had turned into a race: He received a telegram from Amundsen \u2014 who had thus far kept his plans secret \u2014 saying that he, too, was sailing to the continent at the bottom of the planet.\nBoth teams reached Antarctica in January 1911. While Amundsen spent all his time preparing for a lightning-fast dash to the South Pole once the summer began in November, Scott was busy launching scientific side trips, including a geology trip to Antarctica\u2019s Western Mountains and another to collect emperor penguin eggs in the animal\u2019s winter rookery.\n\u201cScott was a British gentleman, and at that time science was part of the standard British expedition,\u201d Larson said. \u201cHe was determined to lead it in a way that facilitated the work of scientists.\u201d\nScott\u2019s expedition certainly produced scientific results:\n\u25cf Shipboard oceanographic measurements on the Terra Nova led to the discovery that marine currents, colder than the surrounding water, circle the Antarctic continent. Since then, scientists have concluded that these currents form a natural barrier that has allowed Antarctic marine life forms to develop along their own evolutionary paths. Scott\u2019s scientists at both the winter quarters on Ross Island and on ship voyages also pulled up dozens of examples of strange, previously unknown sea life.\n\u25cf Weather balloons launched daily by meteorologist George Simpson and other members of the expedition recorded temperature, wind and barometric pressure data that scientists are still using today as a base line to measure climate change. These balloons also measured the high-altitude winds that circle the Antarctic continent and since then have been found to affect weather around the globe. To expand the temperature data, Simpson assigned a night watchman to take readings at midnight as well as noon.\n\u25cf Before leaving base camp for the pole, Scott and three other men explored the Dry Valleys along the western Antarctic coast. This two-week, 150-mile \u201cjolly excursion,\u201d as one man described it, brought back fish fossils and rocks that gave clues to the continent\u2019s early history. Scott also made the first measurements of the movement of the region\u2019s glaciers using flags that had been planted in the ice a year earlier.\n\u25cf Physicist Charles Wright made detailed studies of Antarctic ice sheets, how sea ice forms and how the air and snow together form ice crystals on different structures. He also reexamined the nature of icebergs, according to Larson, and how they break off from glaciers moving slowly from the polar ice cap toward the ocean.\n\u25cf Scott allowed three men to travel 70 miles each way across Ross Island to retrieve the eggs of the emperor penguin during the midwinter of 1911. It was a harrowing trip that zoologist Apsley Cherry-Garrard wrote about in \u201cThe Worst Journey in the World: Antarctic 1910-1913.\u201d The eggs helped biologists figure out the life cycle of this rugged animal. Years later, studies on the bird\u2019s embryos disproved a theory that these penguins were descended from lizards.\nWhile Scott was a career naval officer, not a scientist, he did have an immense curiosity and a scientific mind. In the months before the final push for the South Pole, 25 of Scott\u2019s men built a wooden hut at Cape Evans, along the Antarctic coast. There they conducted scientific studies while laying a string of supply depots. (Other shore parties made smaller camps around the Ross Sea area, and about half the company remained aboard the Terra Nova, ferrying supplies and taking oceanographic measurements.) In this passage from his diary, Scott describes his excitement with some findings of biologist Edward Atkinson:\n\u201cAdjacent to the physicists\u2019 corner of the hut Atkinson is quietly pursuing the subject of parasites,\u201d Scott wrote on May 5, 1911. \u201cAlready he is in a new world. The laying out of the fish trip was his action and the catches are his field of labour. Constantly he comes to ask if I would like to see some new form, and I am taken to see some protozoa or ascidian (sea squirt) isolated on the slide plate of his microscope.\u201d\nScott\u2019s hut at Cape Evans is still standing. The cold, arid conditions have preserved the contents inside as if buried in a time capsule. I visited it last January, taking a short helicopter ride from the main U.S. base at McMurdo Station. Inside the hut, I met with Al Fastier, program manager for the New Zealand Antarctic Heritage Trust, which is restoring the structure.\nStables for horses and kennels for sled dogs line the outside of one wall. Inside, rows of bunk beds and stacks of supplies take up half the space. Microscopes and test tubes filled with crystallized and powdered chemicals sit on the workbench that Atkinson used as a laboratory. Wooden crates of cocoa, lentils, biscuits, cabbage and 23 kinds of canned meat are stacked inside the kitchen pantry. There is a musty smell of dried fur and rancid meat, seal skins and penguin blubber.\nIn addition to conducting science, the men spent time reading, telling stories, writing a camp newspaper and even putting on minstrel shows.\n\u201cI imagine they lived well,\u201d Fastier said. \u201cThey had their own cook and made their own bread.\u201d\nThe seamen and officers slept in separate areas, in accordance with naval tradition. Along with penguins, which the men both studied and ate, locally caught seals provided meat and heating oil.\nFastier said Scott was determined to both explore and document the Antarctic continent.\n\u201cHe was very outcome-driven,\u201d Fastier said. \u201cHe wanted to be the first to the pole and wanted to do a lot of good science. He was a product of his time.\u201d\nFastier said he often feels the spirit of Scott and his men watching over him.\n\u201cThe heroic era was the last of a very special time,\u201d Fastier said. \u201cThat\u2019s when people went out and they really pushed the boundaries, and we really don\u2019t do that today.\u201d\nScott\u2019s scientific legacy is the subject of an exhibit opening Jan. 20 at the Natural History Museum in London. \u201cScott\u2019s Last Expedition\u201d features hundreds of items, including scientific instruments such as microscopes and compasses, the specimens they collected, the iconic black-and-white photographs taken of the expedition by Herbert Ponting, and original diaries.\n\u201cScott\u2019s expedition was the broadest and the biggest scientific program at the time,\u201d said curator Elin Simonsson. \u201cThis is the first time in a hundred years that the artifacts and the specimens they collected have been reunited to tell the story of the expedition.\u201d\nSimonsson says the expedition was greater than its ultimately doomed leader.\n\u201cLooking at the story and the expedition, it\u2019s also important to look at Scott and his interest in science,\u201d she said from her office in London. \u201cThe whole expedition is remembered for the race for the pole and how the polar party died on the way back. But the story of the scientific expedition, that story has fallen out over time.\u201d\nIn November 1911, Scott left from Cape Evans for the 800-mile trip to the South Pole. Five men made the final push and arrived on Jan. 17, 1912 \u2014 only to find a Norwegian flag and a message from Amundsen, who had gotten there on Dec. 14. Then Scott and the four others headed back on that final, doomed journey.\nWhen the surviving crew of the Terra Nova sailed back to England in 1913, the ship was carrying 40,000 specimens \u2014 rocks, corals, freshwater algae, sponges, mollusks, petrels, microbes, worms, lichens, fossilized fish, mummified seal skulls \u2014 none of which had been collected before.\nThe fossils that Scott and Wilson picked up in the weeks before they died turned out to be Glossopteris, an extinct fern that had previously been identified in India, Australia, Africa and South America. That chance find \u2014 when examined years later by geologists \u2014 proved that Antarctica was once part of the super-continent Gondwana, which broke up 180 million years ago.\nThe fossils had been found alongside the bodies of Scott and his men."}, {"name": "99c43466-357b-11e1-836b-08c4de636de4", "body": "The Atholton girls\u2019 basketball team will head into the new year with a new coach. Julia Reynolds \u2014 who had been the Raiders\u2019 junior varsity coach \u2014 has taken over the varsity job on an interim basis, replacing Maureen Shacreaw, who was relieved of her duties on Dec. 23.\nThe Raiders are winless in league play this season with six straight losses since a season-opening win over North County and pulled out of a scheduled appearance in the Pine Grove (Pa.) Cardinal Classic last week after the coaching change was made. Reynolds, a former player under Shacreaw, is slated to make her coaching debut when the Raiders (1-6) resume league play on Wednesday, hosting Mount Hebron.\nAtholton principal Jennifer Clements said Monday she could not discuss school personnel matters or comment further on Shacreaw\u2019s removal. But Shacreaw, who was in her 12th season at the Columbia school, said in a telephone interview on Sunday that she suspected the move was coming in recent weeks, especially after an incident in which she \u2018exchanged words\u2019 with a volunteer assistant during practice.\nShe said she was told prior to the team\u2019s final pre-Christmas practice that she\u2019d been relieved of her duties because of an inability to communicate with her staff and run a stable program.\n\u201cThey said it was time for a change,\u201d Shacreaw said by phone on Sunday morning. \u201cThe people who get hurt the most are the kids. I don\u2019t even want to go to school [Monday] because I don\u2019t know what the reaction will be.\u201d\nShacreaw\u2019s removal was first reported by ExploreHoward.com.\nShacreaw earned All-Met Coach of the Year honors in 2006-07 after guiding the Raiders to a 25-3 record and the Maryland 2A title. She also helped the team to a state semifinal appearance the previous season. Before coming to Atholton, she spent 10 seasons as a softball and girls\u2019 junior varsity basketball coach at Good Counsel.\nShacreaw said she will continue to teach history at the school and hopes to coach again elsewhere.\nNo area girls\u2019 team was as well-traveled the past two weeks as No. 3 Good Counsel.\nThe Falcons split four games in the top bracket at the Nike Tournament of Champions in Arizona from Dec. 19-22 and then won three games at the Naples (Fla.) Daily News Holiday Shootout before falling to nationally ranked Whitney Young (Ill.) in the tournament final on New Year\u2019s Eve.\n\u201cI\u2019d put our schedule the last two weeks up against anybody\u2019s,\u201d Good Counsel Coach Tom Splaine said. \u201cHopefully our girls learned a lot about themselves. That\u2019s what these tournaments are about \u2014 growing together and giving us a great chance to make a run\u201d in the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference.\nOne thing the Falcons (10-3) learned was how to cope without their starting point guard. Junior Lindsey Spann injured her ankle in the final game at the Nike tournament and did not play in Florida. She is expected to return this week.\nSenior guard Faith Randolph, junior forward Amanda Fioravanti and sophomore guard-forward Sara Woods made the all-tournament team in Naples. Junior guard Jordan Light helped fill in for Spann, the team\u2019s third-leading scorer.\nGood Counsel led Whitney Young at the half but got outscored by 16 in the second half.\n\u201cThere was no shot clock at either tournament, and we found out how much we missed it,\u201d said Splaine, whose team was down by six or so early in the fourth quarter when Whitney Young held the ball to drain the clock.\nGood Counsel does not face No. 2 St. John's and No. 4 Holy Cross until the middle of the month. The Falcons play at Bishop Ireton on Tuesday and host Elizabeth Seton on Thursday.\nLindsay Poss has long been Poolesville\u2019s top offensive threat, but the senior forward had never had a night like this. Poss \u2014 the team\u2019s leading scorer each of the last three seasons \u2014 poured in a school-record 43 points in the Falcons\u2019 63-52 win over Seneca Valley on Dec. 21.\nIn a tight contest between two of the better Montgomery 3A/2A squads, Poss surpassed her previous career-high of 23 points and kept going. She converted 14 of her 28 field goal attempts in the game and helped the Falcons (4-4) outscore the Screaming Eagles, 22-11, in the fourth quarter.\nThe performance tied Poss with Brooke Point sophomore Tykera Carter for the highest single-game scoring output by an area girls\u2019 player this season. Carter had 43 points in a 69-56 loss to Stafford on Dec. 16.\n\u201cShe got most of her points within the offense,\u201d Poolesville Coach Fred Swick said of Poss. \u201cIt was just one of those nights when she was ready to score and her teammates were looking for her. It really worked out.\u201d\nPoss, who hopes to continue her career at a Division III college next season, has picked up her scoring each season since leading the team with 8.8 points per game as a freshman.\nAfter bumping up to 12.2 points per game as a sophomore, Poss scored 12.8 points per game a year ago as Poolesville posted 18 wins. In eight games this season, she\u2019s averaged 19 points per game, including 23 points in a 46-39 loss to then-No. 13 Northwest (7-2) on Wednesday at the Clarksburg Holiday Tournament.\nBehind Poss\u2019s surge, the Falcons have won three of their last four games. All four of their losses this season have come against teams with winning records.\n\u201cI think we\u2019ve played much better the last three or four games,\u201d Swick said. \u201cWe were right in the game against Northwest until the end, within a few points until the final minute. I think we\u2019re headed in the right direction.\u201d\nThrough the first seven games last winter, C.H. Flowers was 4-3 and no where near the team that would drop only three games over the next two months and reach the Maryland 4A South Region semifinals, finishing 17-6.\nBut with eight returning players from last season, the Jaguars don\u2019t seem like the December teams of the past. They\u2019re 6-1, riding a four-game winning streak that includes two wins at a holiday tournament.\n\u201cI think what I saw in December, if I look back over the years, this has been our strongest start,\u201d said C.H. Flowers Coach Patrice Watson, who is in her 12th year at the school. \u201cAnybody that has been watching any of the Flowers teams, what you see in December, you won\u2019t see in January or February.\u201d\nPart of the team\u2019s early success has been the players\u2019 ability to blend together quickly and adapt to their roles, some of which are new, Watson said.\n\u201cWe\u2019re just having fun,\u201d she said. \u201cI think the kids that were added to the program, coming from JV to varsity, I can actually say we\u2019re enjoying one another. They\u2019re learning the system and the ones that have been part of varsity for the past couple years, they\u2019re working on their individual games.\u201d\nAnother part of the strong start has been the play of junior guard Kyah Proctor, who was named team MVP at the Woodlawn Tournament for back-to-back 20-point games in wins over Randallstown and Long Reach.\nLast season, Proctor was an occasional starter and wasn\u2019t the leader. But this winter, she has made the most of her starting role, controlling her aggressiveness on the court and playing strong defense. \u201cShe\u2019s doing a lot of things the she didn\u2019t have to do last year,\u201d Watson said.\nAt Madison boys\u2019 basketball games, the fan section is called the \u201cRed Sea.\u201d For the girls games, the section \u2013 a small but ardent core of fans \u2013 has taken on the nickname \u201cBlack Puddle.\u201d\n\u201cOurs is a lot smaller,\u201d junior point guard Megan LeDuc said. \u201cSo it\u2019s a puddle.\u201d\nAfter a strong start to the season, however, there\u2019s a chance it won\u2019t stay a small puddle of fans for long.\nThe No. 15 Warhawks (7-3) captured the Westfield Bulldog Bash Holiday tournament title last week with wins over Centreville (8-3), Paul VI Catholic (10-2) and Westfield (9-3), continuing an early-season run that has many believing Madison could be a contender in the region.\nThere certainly are no doubts within the Warhawks\u2019 locker room, especially not after a schedule that saw them play No. 7 Oakton, previously-ranked Georgetown Visitation and defending region champion West Springfield in the first seven games of the season.\nMadison did not win any of those games, but the four-point loss to the No. 8 Spartans and a three-point loss to Visitation instilled a confidence that they belong in the conversation for region contender.\n\u201cWe play like we have nothing to lose and we don\u2019t,\u201d LeDuc said. \u201cThey are the ones with something that to lose.\u201d\nLeDuc has been the engine for Madison, directing a well-balanced offense that has been led by freshman forward Kelly Koshuta (18.9 points per game) and junior guard Megan Henshaw (15.6 ppg.).\nLeDuc, who is averaging 9.9 points per game, said the addition of the 6-foot-2 Koshuta to the offense has given the team an inside-out look that they previously did not have, and that it has opened up so much more for the rest of the team.\n\u201cI think anyone on our team can score,\u201d LeDuc said. \u201cWe have some great shooters, but if someone\u2019s on, I try to keep giving them the ball. If the defense adjusts to them then something else will open up to the rest of the team.\u201d\nWith the brunt of their Virginia AAA Liberty District schedule ahead, the Warhawks are looking to go undefeated, LeDuc said. If they do, the Black Puddle might need a name change.\n\u201cWe\u2019ll try to make it a pond or maybe even a sea,\u201d LeDuc said.\nOsbourn Park (9-1) defeated three Virginia Beach-area teams to win its bracket at the Boo Williams Holiday Tournament, but the Yellow Jackets still have not played what they would consider a complete game.\n\u201cI guess I'm the unhappiest 9-1 coach in the country,\u201d said Osbourn Park Coach Cliff Gorham, whose team's only loss this season was 63-57 to Stonewall Jackson in overtime. \u201cI think we have so much more to give.\u201d\nFor various reasons, the Yellow Jackets have been without their complete lineup for most of the season, including at the holiday tournament. Sophomore guard Brennan Gappy and junior center Rachel Lewis had family commitments and starting senior center Maddie Ebel went down in the second tournament game with a bruised sternum, this after missing time with a concussion.\nOsbourn Park leaned even more than usual on senior guard Alexis Carter, a Hofstra signee, and junior point guard Janai Burrell. Junior guard-forward Ashley Jennings also played a more prominent role.\nCarter scored 21 points in the 54-52 championship win over Landstown.\n\u201cWe\u2019re young, skilled and immature, so it leads to some interesting games,\u201d Gorham said. \u201cWe have spurts of perfection and spurts of \u2018whatever\u2019 sometimes.\u201d\nThe Yellow Jackets can afford little of that \u2018whatever\u2019 Wednesday when they host No. 17 Potomac (Va.) in a key Virginia AAA Cardinal District game. Potomac (10-1) has won the past three in the series.\nMore on AllMetSports.com \nThe Post Top 20, plus interactive poll\nAll-Met Watch: Week 3\nSchedule, scores"}, {"name": "39b9e1a6-2694-11e1-aea1-86b62ae760b1", "body": "Adapted from a recent online discussion.\nDear Carolyn: \nYou\u2019ve written about relatives who play favorites \u2014 that\u2019s me! My older niece appreciated everything I ever gave her. Her younger sister felt entitled to everything and never, EVER said thank you \u2014 not even when I left work to pick her up for school when she missed her bus. When she turned 18 I stopped sending gifts, doing favors, everything. \nHer older sister noticed and felt guilty. The younger sister simply cut me out of her life. I was only useful to her when I was giving her what she wanted. People may want to simply appreciate generous relatives.\nFavorite-playing aunt\nOf course. But there are also situations where the favoritism is capricious and cruel, sometimes even driven by the gift-giver\u2019s psychological need to secure an ally and create a rift between the haves and the have-nots. Just ask siblings of a favorite who could do no wrong, and who was used to remind everyone else of their failures. In those cases, seeing the aunt as \u201cgenerous\u201d is a slap in the face to her designated have-nots.\nTo Aunt:\nPlease knock it off. The more sensitive and conscientious of the two sisters is the one you are hurting. Swallow your righteousness and give some love to the less pleasant sister (who may need it more for the fact that she\u2019s able to ask for it less), if for no other reason than for the sake of the nicer sister who aches to solve this problem and has no power to do so.\nAnonymous\nYour \u201cwho may actually need it more\u201d insight could be its own thread.\nSometimes people really are selfish and that may be the case here, but I also think it\u2019s common for people to ascribe simple, negative motives where more subtle and complicated things might be happening.\nFor example, the accessible charm of the older sister may have bestowed on the younger sis an entire childhood of being overlooked, ignored, misread, incrementally black-sheeped. By the end of the process, black sheep are easy to write off \u2014 \u201cShe\u2019s so entitled!\u201d \u2014 but what about those points along the way when adults could have acted like adults and made the extra effort, possibly preempting a future where Black Sheep wants no part of family?\nCertainly enough there for debate.\nRe: Favorite-playing:\nI have five young nieces and nephews. Some seem incredibly shy, others not. The 3-year-old won\u2019t speak to me and hides behind my sister.\nI\u2019ve always tried not to force things and let my sister\u2019s children come to me when we\u2019re together. But now I\u2019m having a hard time not favoring the youngest, who seems to like having me around. And I\u2019m having an increasingly hard time not taking the 3-year-old\u2019s action personally. Which seems incredibly dumb for an adult to do. Thoughts on a way to get right with this?\nAnonymous 2\nYou\u2019re already most of the way there, just by catching your bias (you\u2019re being a little hard on yourself, even).\nBest thing you can do is remind yourself that there are great people in both the introvert and extrovert camps; the former just need you to work a little harder to get to know them, because they don\u2019t have an inner force driving them into your lap.\nWrite to \n\n Carolyn Hax \n, Style, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071, or tellme@washpost.com. Subscribe at www.facebook.com/carolynhax.\nMore from Lifestyle:\nWhen two people no longer \u2018fit\u2019\n@Work Advice: ToxiCity\nAsk Amy: Sisters differ in their response to grief\nMiss Manners: Too many Happy New Year\u2019s calls make one family unhappy"}, {"name": "287fc396-357c-11e1-836b-08c4de636de4", "body": "Some of the Washington area\u2019s top boys\u2019 basketball teams returned home with holiday tournament championships and will hit the road again this Saturday for one-day showcase events.\nTop-ranked DeMatha and fourth-ranked Gonzaga, which won tournaments last week in Torrey Pines, Calif., and North Charleston, S.C., respectively, will be joined by third-ranked Paul VI Catholic in the Cancer Research Classic in Wheeling, W.Va.\nSecond-ranked Montrose Christian, which won the Iolani Classic in Honolulu just before Christmas, plays undefeated Kecoughtan of Hampton on Saturday in the 7 Cities Roundball Classic in Newport News, Va.\n\u201cThe event we\u2019re playing in every year has grown and gotten better,\u201d said Gonzaga Coach Steve Turner, whose team plays Whitney Young of Chicago in a game that will be broadcast on ESPNU. \u201cFor all of us, it\u2019s a chance to test ourselves against national opponents.\u201d\nDeMatha plays Neumann-Goretti of Philadelphia, which Gonzaga beat 56-52 in the final of the Gonzaga D.C. Classic last month. Paul VI plays St. Raymond\u2019s of New York.\nWhile Paul VI took last week off after losing to national powerhouse Oak Hill in the championship game of the Chick-Fil-A Classic in Columbia, S.C., DeMatha and Gonzaga each won eight-team tournaments out of town.\nDeMatha forward Jerami Grant was named tournament MVP as the Stags won The Holiday Classic, while Gonzaga forward Kris Jenkins won the same honor in the Piggly Wiggly Roundball Classic in North Charleston, S.C. Teammate Nate Britt was that tournament\u2019s most outstanding player.\n\u201cOne of the biggest things you get out of a trip like that when you go away is team bonding,\u201d Turner said. \u201cHaving a chance to go on the road and play a team you haven\u2019t seen is one thing, but the other thing is your team gets to bond when you travel. You play in a national tournament and it gives yourself a chance to get ready for our league because it is [tough] every night.\u201d\nFew may have been more surprised with Wilson\u2019s 10-4 start \u2014 which includes a Pohanka Chantilly Classic title and early wins over strong and talented teams such as Spingarn and Sidwell Friends \u2014 than Tigers fourth-year Coach Andre Williams.\nThat\u2019s because four of Wilson\u2019s top players \u2014 guard Marcus Coates, guard Dimitri Gaither, guard DiAngelo Preston and wing Dre Williams \u2014 have only been together since August after spending last year at different schools. So the fact they jelled and played so well together quickly was an accomplishment in itself.\n\u201cI didn\u2019t know that they would mesh together and I didn\u2019t know that it would be this early,\u201d Andre Williams said.\nWilliams had heard about Dre Williams, who saw little playing time at St. John\u2019s last season, and eventually met him, telling him about the opportunity to come to Wilson. Then, Andre Williams was introduced to Coates (also at St. John\u2019s last year), Gaither (formerly of now closed KIMA) and Preston (formerly of Cesar Chavez). All four players were on the same AAU team, Team Chaos, and essentially recruited each other to come to Wilson together.\n\u201cThey kind of fell in my lap,\u201d Andre Williams said. \u201cI\u2019m really happy that happened.\u201d\nWilliams said he didn\u2019t expect much from his team early this season because it lost 11 seniors to graduation and returned only one player. But the four players\u2019 familiarity with each other has proved to be a winning formula for the Tigers.\nWilson defeated Green Run, from Virginia Beach, 56-46, for the first holiday tournament win under Williams behind 18 points from Gaither, 15 points from junior guard Cedrick McFadden and 12 points from Coates.\n\u201cWe always came close but these guys closed it out,\u201d Andre Williams said. \u201cIt really sets the stage for us going into league play. It makes me proud that these guys are playing well together. I\u2019m excited.\u201d\nThe goals were the same for the Thomas Stone boys\u2019 basketball team last season, but the results were very different.\nThe No. 16 Cougars had won at least 21 games in four consecutive seasons before last year, but after the top six scorers graduated from the team that went to the 2010 Maryland 3A finals, they struggled through a frustrating 13-10 season last year that ended with a disappointing one-point loss to Huntingtown in the first round of the Maryland 3A regional playoffs.\n\u201cI had the same expectations last year as I do every year,\u201d Thomas Stone Coach Dale Lamberth said. \u201cA lot of these guys saw the guys before them, and they are playing in the exact same system. It was a matter of working hard enough to take the baton and create their own destiny.\u201d\nThe playoff loss \u2013 in which Stone led by 12 points at halftime \u2013 was a wakeup call, and the Cougars entered this season with a newfound maturity.\nLed by standout junior guard Michael Briscoe and senior forwards Brelin Elliott, Emeka Embakwe and Anthony Chesley, the 8-0 Cougars enter January as the last remaining undefeated team in the Southern Maryland Athletic Conference.\nThey snapped defending Maryland 4A champion North Point\u2019s 30-game winning streak on the Eagles\u2019 home court last month, and are once again one of the teams to beat in the SMAC.\n\u201cThe guys didn\u2019t believe they could have success last year,\u201d Lamberth said. \u201cThis year, guys are taking advantage of their opportunities and executing in their roles\u2026We\u2019re playing well but it\u2019s still early. If you don\u2019t stay focused this flame can go out real quick.\u201d\nFour Virginia AAA Cedar Run District boys\u2019 teams reached the finals of holiday tournaments, signaling what could be an interesting district race when play resumes this week.\nNo. 17 Osbourn won the Glory Days Grill Tournament of Champions at Lake Braddock for the second consecutive year, beating Robinson, Hylton and Madison. Broad Run topped Stone Bridge and Briar Woods in winning the Honda of Dulles Holiday Tournament.\nStonewall Jackson reached the Mount Vernon Holiday Tournament championship, beating the host team and Ballou before falling 68-50 to a Florida Air Academy team that featured Texas signee Ioannis Papapetrou, a 6-foot-8 small forward.\nBattlefield knocked off Sewickley Academy (Pa.) and the host team in the Westfield Bulldog Bash Holiday Tournament before losing 67-61 to No. 19 McLean in the final.\nNot a bad showing for a league that\u2019s often squeezed out by its eastern Prince William County counterparts.\n\u201cI think we\u2019ve been overshadowed by the [Cardinal District] for umpteen years,\u201d said 12th-year Stonewall Coach Marcus Lawrence, whose team\u2019s lone loss to a local opponent this season has been to No. 20 Gar-Field, a Cardinal team that won a holiday tournament in southwest Virginia.\n\u201cI think our district has proven early that we might be the toughest district in our region,\u201d Osbourn Coach Mike Dufrene said. \u201cWhen\u2019s the last time [that happened]? We\u2019ve always been the welcome mat for our region.\u201d\nStonewall junior guard J.R. Washington turned in a 36-point championship performance, with an odd scoring line: one two pointer, six three-pointers and 16 for 19 at the line.\nWashington, who scored all but 14 of his team\u2019s points in the final, is now averaging 23.4 points, 7.0 rebounds, 4.3 steals and 2.1 assists and has made 39 three-pointers, tied for the most in the Washington area.\nIt didn\u2019t take long for Broad Run\u2019s Nigel Johnson to establish himself as one of the area\u2019s top scorers. After transferring from Paul VI Catholic before his sophomore season, the speedy point guard took the AA Dulles District by storm, averaging 25 points and leading the Spartans to a 19-5 record.\nBut for all his ability to put the ball in the basket, it\u2019s the maturation of the rest of Johnson\u2019s game that is setting the tempo for Broad Run\u2019s fast-break offense. The Spartans swept local rivals Stone Bridge and previously-unbeaten Briar Woods at last week\u2019s Battle of Ashburn and Johnson\u2019s 28.5 points and 11 assists per game per game during the tournament were a big reason why.\n\u201cHe worked hard to improve his strength and speed, and when he has the ball in his hands, it\u2019s nearly impossible to stay in front of him,\u201d Broad Run coach John Costello said. \u201cBut he\u2019s made the other players on his team so much better this year. When guys run the floor with him, they get the ball. When he drives and kicks, they get open looks. He\u2019s dominating the game.\u201d\nJohnson\u2019s improved play is starting to draw attention from college coaches, too. He already made unofficial visits to Virginia Tech and George Washington, and last week, he landed an offer from Bucknell.\nDefenses are also taking notice, providing a boon for players like senior forward Ryan McNamee. Stronger and fitter than he was as a first-year starter last winter, McNamee (16.4 points per game) provides an inside-outside threat to complement Johnson\u2019s game. All-Met football players Connor Jessop and Jackson Matteo have also added toughness on the boards and a competitive attitude that has helped the team adjust to its first season in the AAA Cedar Run District.\nBut the Spartans have taken their lumps in the early going. Their lone wins against AAA opponents came against first-year Patriot and Stone Bridge (twice). They trailed Stonewall Jackson by two points heading into the fourth quarter, but gave up 34 in the final frame to drop their district opener. Five nights later, a sluggish start against Battlefield resulted in an 81-60 rout.\nTo get back into the district race, Broad Run must start stringing together victories in a hurry - with only six teams in the league, making up ground is no short order. The Spartans host Osbourn on Tuesday and get another crack at Stonewall Jackson on Friday.\n\u201cLast year, if we started off slowly, we could make it up. But in AAA, if you start that way, it\u2019s almost impossible to get back in it,\u201d Costello said. \u201cRight now, we\u2019ve got some momentum going, but we\u2019ve got to come to play every night.\u201d .\u2009.\u2009.\nJohnson is hardly the only player piling up points this season in Loudoun County. Potomac Falls senior center Greg Graves and Woodgrove senior guard/forward Brad Gilson have already eclipsed 1,000 career points, joining Park View\u2019s Ryan McCarter and Briar Woods\u2019 Myles Tate in the exclusive club.\nOn Dec. 21, McCarter broke New Jersey Nets general manager Billy King\u2019s 28-year-old single-game scoring record when he poured in 44 in a victory against Dominion. Two nights prior, Loudoun County senior Michael Anderson eclipsed the Raiders\u2019 single-game mark with 43 in a win over Park View.\nMore on AllMetSports.com \nThe Post Top 20, plus interactive poll\nAll-Met Watch: Week 3\nScores, schedules"}, {"name": "01f7b0d0-2bf4-11e1-9952-55d90a4e2d6d", "body": "Seventy percent of smokers say they\u2019d like to quit, and now, just three days into the new year, many may already be struggling to stick to their resolution to make 2012 a smoke-free year. If quitting were easy, after all, chances are good that nearly one in five adults wouldn\u2019t still be smokers, a figure that hasn\u2019t budged much in several years.\nSmoking is such a familiar health hazard that some experts say it doesn\u2019t get the attention it deserves; the focus is often on other lifestyle-related conditions, especially obesity. But smoking is still the No. 1 cause of preventable death in this country. Nearly half a million people die prematurely because of smoking-related illnesses, including lung cancer, heart disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.\nMost smokers need some sort of assistance to quit, whether it\u2019s counseling, support groups or medication to help reduce nicotine cravings. But getting that help can be difficult.\nScrambling to address budget problems, states this year will spend less than 2 percent of their tobacco-tax and tobacco-settlement billions on programs to help people quit smoking or prevent them from starting, according to a recent report by a coalition of public-health organizations. In the past four years, state spending on tobacco prevention and cessation has declined by 36 percent, to $457 million.\nTobacco-related health-care spending is nearly $100 billion annually, according to the CDC.\n\u201cIt\u2019s a travesty,\u201d says Danny McGoldrick, vice president for research at the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. \u201cThese programs more than pay for themselves.\u201d\nWhile public funding falters, a growing number of companies offer smoking-cessation programs to their workers. Last year, two-thirds of companies with 200 or more workers offered such programs, while 31 percent of smaller companies did so, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation\u2019s annual survey of employer-sponsored health benefits. (Kaiser Health News is an editorially independent program of the foundation.)\nAt the same time that they offer a helping hand to quit, more companies are also penalizing employees who don\u2019t kick the habit by hitting them with higher health insurance premiums.\nAt firms with more than 20,000 employees, 24 percent vary premiums based on whether someone smokes, as do 12 percent of companies with 500 or more workers, according to the 2011 survey of employer-sponsored health plans by human resources consultant Mercer.\nPublic-health advocates generally agree that this punitive approach isn\u2019t ideal. \u201cThe issue isn\u2019t smokers; it\u2019s smoking,\u201d says McGoldrick. Charging people higher premiums may just make smokers drop their coverage, he says.\nBut employers argue that charging smokers more is fair. \u201cThe cost of medical care for smokers is considerably higher,\u201d says Helen Darling, chief executive of the National Business Group on Health, an employer group. \u201cEmployers are increasingly saying that if someone costs the pool more, they should pay more.\u201d\nDarling points out that companies that go this route typically offer free smoking-cessation services and give employees plenty of notice before implementing the change.\nFor Tommy Piver, 59, the combination of pricier cigarettes and looming health insurance penalties finally motivated the two-pack-a-day smoker to give up the habit he\u2019d started at age 13. Increased taxes had caused the price of a pack of cigarettes at the gas station near his home in Naples, Fla., to double within a year, to $5. Then he got a notice that his insurance carrier was going to triple the health insurance premium and reduce the amount it covered for all sorts of care from 90 percent to 70 percent for smokers.\n\u201cKicking and screaming,\u201d Piver quit on Jan. 1, 2010. About a week later, he saw a television ad for an online stop-smoking program developed by Legacy, a nonprofit created under the settlement between the states and the tobacco industry. Piver joined the free EX program and hasn\u2019t had a cigarette in two years.\nThe EX campaign is an \u201cexcellent, science-based tool\u201d for smokers who want to quit, says Thomas Glynn, director of cancer science and trends for the American Cancer Society. Another option is a national toll-free line, 1-800-QUIT-NOW, which routes callers to free support services, including free medication in the handful of states that provide it, says Glynn.\nThe 2010 federal health law expanded coverage for smoking cessation, though not to the degree that advocates wanted. Under the law, states must provide tobacco-cessation coverage for all pregnant women in their Medicaid programs at no cost. But anti-smoking activists would like broader Medicaid coverage requirements: Although 19 percent of adults smoke overall, 31 percent of adults living below the poverty line are smokers.\nThe health law also requires that new health plans \u2014 those that have either just begun or have changed their benefits sufficiently to lose grandfathered status under the law \u2014 screen adults for tobacco use and provide free stop-smoking interventions.\nExactly how much intervention is required isn\u2019t spelled out in the law; that will be up to federal rulemakers to decide. Smokers typically make several attempts to quit before they succeed. Advocates hope that federal guidelines will provide coverage for more than a single four-session counseling module, for example, or a standard 12-week round of medication. \u201cData is accumulating that 12 weeks is not enough,\u201d says Glynn."}, {"name": "13dd275a-2c01-11e1-9952-55d90a4e2d6d", "body": "In December, NASA announced that its Kepler spacecraft had spotted a handful of Earth-size spheres orbiting a distant star. So, now would seem like a good time for mankind to fire up the starship and make haste for the space lanes. It\u2019ll be a long trip, though \u2014 tens of thousands of years. And despite what you\u2019ve seen in sci-fi fantasies, there\u2019s not a lot of hope for a shortcut.\nIn their new book, Allen Everett and Thomas Roman, both physics professors and confessed \u201cStar Trek\u201d geeks, contemplate the viability of speeding up interstellar travel by using wormholes and space warps. \u201cBy chance \u2014 or good insight \u2014 Star Trek\u2019s \u2018warp drive\u2019 turns out to be an apt description of one conceivable mechanism for traveling at faster-than-light speed,\u201d they write. And they go on to describe how real physicists check it out, chapter by intense chapter, complete with diagrams and equations.\nIn theory, they say, it\u2019s possible to construct a wormhole or warp bubble, which would shave a few millennia off of your travel time. But constructing it would take a lot of juice \u2014 whose source would be something called \u201cthe negative energy associated with a quantum field.\u201d The problem is, to get enough energy to make a warp bubble big enough to hold a spaceship, you need negative mass \u201cabout 10 powers of 10 (i.e., 10 orders of magnitude) larger than the total mass of the entire visible universe!\u201d\nHonestly, it\u2019s a bit of a letdown. \u201cAs scientists, it\u2019s our job to understand the universe as it is, not as how we might wish it to be,\u201d Everett and Roman write. \u201cWe must always keep in mind that the universe is under absolutely no obligation to fulfill our hopes and desires.\u201d\n\u2014 \n \n Aaron Leitko \n "}, {"name": "42e06b1a-2c1b-11e1-8af5-ec9a452f0164", "body": "B.o.B featuring Andre 3000: \u201cPlay the Guitar\u201d
Remember when Three Stacks almost never did features, preferring to remain a figure of (semi-) mystery? Those days are long gone. Here, he classes up a track from B.o.B\u2019s upcoming \u201cStrange Clouds,\u201d produced by longtime Amy Winehouse cohort Salaam Remi.\nGods\u2019Illa featuring Bahamadia, Monie Love, MC Lyte and Maimouna Youssef: \u201cYou Don\u2019t Have to Be a Star\u201d (remix)
Having erected one of their best songs around a sample of the same-named \u201970s classic, the DMV threesome enlist some of the greatest femcees of the \u201980s and \u201990s for this killer retake.\nThe xx: \u201cOpen Eyes\u201d (demo)
Consider this spartan, melancholy demo a teaser for the British group\u2019s new disc, the long-awaited follow-up to its \u201909 breakthrough disc.\nMadi Diaz: \u201cTrust Fall\u201d (Down We Go remix by Jensen Sportag)
The 1980s corporate bonding exercise finally gets the tribute it deserves, plus a fittingly nostalgic R&B-inspired remix.\nPolica featuring Mike Noyce: \u201cLay Your Cards Out\u201d
The Minneapolis newcomers team with Bon Iver/Gayngs guitarist Noyce for this effortless early winter jam.\n \n \n \u2014 Allison Stewart \n "}, {"name": "a0300a66-f370-11e0-8244-e35a853718ce", "body": "If listening to music, watching TV or reading while using a cardio machine doesn\u2019t do it for you, and if you love video games, the \u201cVirtual Active: BitGym Edition\u201d app, now available on iTunes, may be for you. The app converts your phone or tablet into a virtual video console when it is placed on a treadmill, exercise bike or elliptical machine. It then synchs your body\u2019s motion and speed into the app\u2019s video interface and allows you to pick a location from 10 options, including Northern Italy and Chicago. As you run or pedal, the scenery on the screen flies by. On its Web site, BitGym says, \u201cYour body hates cardio. It doesn\u2019t understand why you would want to run for half an hour and go nowhere.\u201d Of course, you\u2019re still running (or biking) in place with this app, but the visuals may help you fool yourself enough to make that 30-minute workout feel less like drudgery. Which, after a holiday season of unhealthful overeating, is a good thing.\nFor those who don\u2019t like a one-size-fits-all workout, SparkPeople has created a flexible program complete with cardio and strength training. This DVD features instruction by \u201cCoach Nicole\u201d Nichols, known for her online presence at the fitness site SparkPeople.com. She offers a four-week plan that features combinations of workouts that she promises will \u201ckeep your body guessing and help prevent exercise boredom.\u201d You can follow her plan or create your own. Some of the workouts are just 12 minutes long; others go up to 30 minutes. If you\u2019re in pretty good shape already, you won\u2019t sweat much in the beginner-level short workouts. But the longer ones at the advanced level will make you breathe hard and break into a sweat. All you need are light hand weights and a mat.\n\u2014 \n \n Whitney Fetterhoff \n "}, {"name": "f5777cec-330e-11e1-825f-dabc29fd7071", "body": "Every Tuesday, the Going Out Gurus highlight the week\u2019s best DJs, bands, dance nights and parties. Find a longer list of events at www.goingoutguide.com.\nLady Alma is a product of the influence of a couple of generations of divas \u2014 Chaka Khan, Loleatta Holloway, Jocelyn Brown \u2014 but she has carved out a lane for herself. She brings gospel and blues to dance music as well as a sophisticated jazz style to modern soul. Whether belting out a club-smashing house banger or seductively cooing over sparse, skittish down-tempo tracks, Alma stamps her singular imprint on every song she touches while enhancing the producer\u2019s original intent. King Britt, 4hero and Mark de Clive-Lowe have all delivered classic records with Alma at the microphone. Then there\u2019s her live show, which embodies the ideal of leaving it all onstage. Blues Alley may not be able to contain her.\nWednesday at 8 and 10 p.m. Blues Alley, 1073 Wisconsin Ave. NW. 202-337-4141. www.bluesalley.com. $20.\nWe know that 2012 is only a couple of days old, but we\u2019re ready to make the prediction that the Garland of Hours/Gordon Withers show at the Black Cat will be the cello rock concert of the year. Garland of Hours is the cello-centric project of Amy Domingues, who has added her talents to albums by the likes of Ted Leo and Fugazi but takes center stage to celebrate the release of her band\u2019s new album, \u201cLucidia.\u201d If music at Renaissance fairs sounded like this, we\u2019d be there (okay, probably not). Withers, who plays cello for D.C./Baltimore rock band Office of Future Plans, opens.\nWednesday at 8 p.m. Black Cat, 1811 14th St. NW. 202-667-7960. www.blackcatdc.com. $8.\nWe\u2019ve seen some pretty bizarre Elvis-themed parties, but it\u2019s hard to top the Elvis\u2019 Birthday Fight Club. Last year featured Elvis impersonators, Elvis trivia, tassel-twirling burlesque dancers, \u201950s-themed skits and highly choreographed \u201cfights\u201d between Colonel Sanders and a giant chicken, Sarah Palin and a drag queen, and Abraham Lincoln and a guy dressed as the Washington Monument. We have no idea what to expect this time around, although the preview video on the Fight Club Web site includes a talking toilet, and burlesque queen Lil\u2019 Dutch always pulls together a solid lineup of dancers. And we strongly suggest going to the late show. Just a hunch.\nSaturday at 8 and 11 p.m. The Warehouse Theatre, 1021 Seventh St. NW. 202-321-2878. www.elvisbirthdayfightclub.com. $16 in advance, $20 at the door. 21 and older.\nBell\u2019s beers should be familiar to most bargoers: The award-winning Michigan brewery\u2019s hoppy Two Hearted and summery Oberon are on draft across the area. But the Bell\u2019s Beer Dinner at RFD on Jan. 10 will feature five rare brews that almost never make their way to Washington, including Black Note, a blend of Expedition Stout and Double Cream Stout that\u2019s aged in bourbon barrels, and Hopsoulution, a double IPA made with hops from Germany and the Pacific Northwest. All five beers will be paired with food, including a manchego mac and cheese made with Hopsoulution, but the star of the night will be what\u2019s in your glass. Tickets include tax and gratuity; get them before they sell out.\nJan. 10 at 6 p.m. RFD Washington, 810 Seventh St. NW. 202-289-2030. www.lovethebeer.com. $60.\n \n \n \u2014 Fritz Hahn, David Malitz and Rhome Anderson \n "}, {"name": "ecb73a18-326c-11e1-a274-61fcdeecc5f5", "body": "Over the past eight weeks, I\u2019ve introduced you to some of the kids treated at Children\u2019s National Medical Center. I\u2019ve introduced you to their parents, to their doctors and their nurses. Now I want to introduce you to.\u2009.\u2009. you.\nThat is, I want you to meet some of your fellow readers who have supported this year\u2019s fundraising drive for Children\u2019s Hospital.\nThey\u2019re people such as Maggie and Larry Roffee of Gaithersburg, who wrote: \u201cAs our friends and we are now in the \u2018grandparent\u2019 and \u2018retirement\u2019 age group, we have decided that we have enough \u2018stuff.\u2019 This year in lieu of shopping and sending out gifts, we have agreed to contribute to local charities. We have decided that our gift would be sent to The Post for the Children\u2019s National Medical Center.\u201d\nThe English family of Olney donated $1 for every year that their adult son, Harold, has been alive. \u201cChildren\u2019s helped him survive his first few months of life,\u201d wrote the Englishes. \u201cMany thanks!\u201d\nAlicia E. Porter wrote: \u201cWe are fortunate to have Children\u2019s Hospital. My children used it.\u201d\nCatherine S. Lyon wrote, \u201cAs a first-time grandmother-to-be, I pray that our only involvement with our local \u2018Children\u2019s\u2019 will be to write checks to support them.\u201d\nA reader named Jackie wrote, \u201cMy two little grandkidlings have health insurance. .\u2009.\u2009. Thank you, Children\u2019s Hospital.\u201d\nJ.T. Johnson was moved by the very first story I wrote this year, about Zoie Prandy, a little girl from Bowie who was diagnosed with a tumor in her kidney. \u201cI am delighted to learn that this story has a happy, fairy tale-like ending,\u201d wrote J.T. \u201cAs I read the details of an innocent child\u2019s fight against such a devastating disease, I knew I had to act, to make a difference in a young life that has just begun to live and has so much to offer the world. Hopefully, others will follow suit.\u201d\nAnother reader wrote: \u201cOnce again we give in honor of our healthy son (now 12) who, despite a rough pneumonia week this year, has had the fortune of wonderful health. Non-employment continues, though, and our contribution is much smaller than desired.\u201d\nThat was certainly an undercurrent in some of the letters I received \u2014 and understandably so \u2014 but it\u2019s nice to know that even in a time of tightened belts, so many people still want to donate.\nAn inmate from the Roxbury Correctional Institution in Hagerstown wrote: \u201cThough I cannot do anything about the wrongs I have created, I can, at the very least, go forward into the future creating good instead of evil.\u201d He donated $400.\nI know that not everyone can donate $400. But as this year\u2019s campaign draws to a close \u2014 it ends on Friday \u2014 I hope you will take a moment to think of an amount you might be able to give. All the money raised during our campaign goes to the hospital\u2019s uncompensated care fund, which pays the bills of poor children. To donate, go to washingtonpost.com/childrenshospital, or send a check or money order (payable to Children\u2019s Hospital) to Washington Post Campaign, P.O. Box 17390, Baltimore, Md. 21297-1390.\nDonors who give $250 or more will receive a $20 gift certificate to the Chef Geoff family of restaurants. Thank you.\nHere\u2019s an update on an update: Last week I wrote about the continuing search for Sassafras , the beagle who has been missing since April. Owners Jeff Abramson and Beth Edinger of Takoma Park, and a network of volunteers, have left practically no stone unturned in their search for Sassafras, who was spotted as recently as last month not far from Columbia Country Club.\nSeveral readers who live near the club offered to allow a humane trap on their property, but Jeff and Beth have decided against that. The problem is this: In cold weather, an animal can die of hypothermia if trapped in a cage. The couple aren\u2019t able to check the trap every two hours, as their tracker recommends. They don\u2019t want to endanger any animal, be it a stray cat or a curious raccoon. A Web cam might seem like the answer, but the technical challenges are pretty sizable, Jeff said. It\u2019s one thing to set up a Web cam in your home office, bathed as you are in wi-fi and with electricity just an extension cord away. It\u2019s another thing to do it outside.\nThey might deploy a trap when the weather warms up.\n8 Read more of Kelly\u2019s column at washingtonpost.com/johnkelly"}, {"name": "1b7c1538-204f-11e1-b180-0df42576a2af", "body": "You have old drugs in your medicine cabinet and you want to get rid of them. Here\u2019s what the FDA says you should do \u2014 and not do. First, drugs should not be flushed down the toilet. \u201cThey may get in the water supply or get into a stream and affect marine life,\u201d University of Maryland pharmacist Frank Palumbo said.\nIf disposal directions are not printed on the label, the FDA suggests that drugs be taken out of their containers, placed in a bag and mixed with dirt, coffee grounds or kitty litter to make them unusable. The Justice Department and its Drug Enforcement Administration periodically hold programs in the area where consumers can turn in unused and outdated prescription drugs.\n\u2014 \n \n Laura Hambleton \n "}, {"name": "41a383ae-204f-11e1-b180-0df42576a2af", "body": "Since 1999, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Health and Human Services have maintained a network of warehouses to store medicines and supplies that can be distributed, if needed, during natural disasters, large outbreaks of illnesses or infectious disease, terrorist attacks and at such large national events as the Super Bowland the Olympics. The supplies in the Strategic National Stockpile range from run-of-the-mill antibiotics to human plasma.\n\u201cWe hold unique pharmaceutical products not available anywhere else,\u201d said Greg Burel, the director of the stockpile. \u201cOur supplies are multifaceted and designed for all disasters.\u201d For example, the SNS shipped out 11.5 million doses of antiviral drugs, 25 million respirators and 20 million pieces of protective equipment during the H1N1 flu outbreak. \u201cPush packages\u201d containing medication, antidotes and other supplies were sent to disaster relief workers in New York after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack.\nPush packages are intended to be delivered less than 12 hours after the federal government approves a request, Burel said. \u201cChem packs,\u201d which include antidotes to nerve agents, are stored locally by public and private organizations to ensure that they are delivered even more quickly. \u201cNinety-two percent of the American population lives within 30 minutes of a chem pack,\u201d Burel said.\nStrategic stockpile supplies are monitored constantly by remote sensors. \u201cIf there is a change in temperature or if products have been moved or opened, we check it out,\u201d Burel said. When a quantity of a drug expires, a sample might be sent to the FDA for retesting. \u201cFor certain material we hold, the Department of Defense and the FDA have a shelf-life extension program,\u201d Burel said. \u201cIf it is cost-effective, we place the [expired] material in a separate place in the warehouse and then send it to the FDA. They do the testing and tell us what date to extend it to.\u201d\n\u2014 \n \n Laura Hambleton \n "}, {"name": "7ff08488-2a98-11e1-8329-4460f290b8fc", "body": "Looking at adorable animal pictures is a great way to pass some time, which is how KidsPost came up with this page. But we chose these photographs because of what they say about the amazing variety and adaptability of animals. For example, the blue-black coloring on the giraffe\u2019s tongue may help it from getting sunburned when it sticks it out to eat. Do you see the owl on this page? Fooled you, it\u2019s not an owl but a harpy eagle. Its amazing crest makes it stand out from other eagles. Fun and educational, that\u2019s KidsPost for you!"}, {"name": "bb19bcf0-2ffc-11e1-8149-868dd2c9e12e", "body": "The Federal Trade Commission sent refund checks last month to 75,000 people under a settlement with a Texas firm that allegedly charged them for an online list of work-at-home jobs but then often denied them access and refused to give back the fees.\nUnder the agreement, the firm, Abili-Staff, faced a judgment of $3.6\u00a0million. But the bulk of that amount was suspended because the company\u2019s owners could not pay it, court records show. So in the end, each person got an average payment of only $9.70.\nWhen it comes to recouping losses in alleged scams like this, there\u2019s often little money for the victims. As the unemployment rate has spiked in recent years, the FTC has ramped up efforts to shut down operations that prey on the financially distressed, including the unemployed. But in many cases, the ill-gotten gains have been spent or hidden by the time the government uncovers the fraud and the case winds its way through the courts.\nUnlike established companies that run legitimate businesses with a reputation to protect, many of these are small operations run by obscure firms. In many cases, they can\u2019t afford to cover the losses, in part because the scams are expensive to run and the profits are meager, according to experts who track these types of cases.\n\u201cThis is the real tragedy of taking the last dollar from people who are already down on their luck,\u201d said Amy Mudge, an advertising attorney in the District. \u201cYou can\u2019t get blood from a stone. .\u2009.\u2009. There\u2019s nothing to give back.\u201d\nDavid Vladeck, director of the FTC\u2019s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said there\u2019s great value in shutting down these companies even if victims can\u2019t get a full refund.\n\u201cOne way to look at these cases is injuries averted,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you start adding up the losses we\u2019ve avoided in the cases we\u2019ve done in the last couple of years, you get to $1\u00a0billion pretty quick.\u201d\nAs part of the settlement that Abili-Staff reached with the FTC, the firm was disbanded. The agency approved the settlement last January.\nAdam Cortez, a Texas attorney who represented Abili-Staff and its owners, said his clients did not admit any wrongdoing and maintained that they were running a legitimate operation. But they settled the case, he said, because the FTC \u201capplied a one-size-fits-all regulatory approach\u201d that made it difficult for them to defend themselves.\nThe FTC has toughened its stance toward first-time offenders, according to Vladeck. In several recent cases, the agency has succeeded in banning alleged fraudsters from engaging in the same line of business again. In the past, the FTC only sought such bans against recidivists.\nSince 2008, the FTC has brought at least 20 cases involving alleged job-related and business opportunity scams affecting millions of people, and it has gotten a financial judgment in nearly all of the instances. But that does not guarantee that the victims will get any money back.\nOn occasion, the FTC can\u2019t locate the people accused of perpetrating the fraud. In 2009, the FTC won a $430,000 court judgment against Warner Ramos Borges, who advertised cleaning and maintenance jobs then allegedly tricked job seekers into paying him $100 a pop for an unnecessary certification number that he said they needed. \nBut the agency could not find Borges or his assets, and therefore could not recover even a fraction of the millions of dollars that consumers allegedly lost.\nEven when the FTC seizes assets, it sometimes does not recover enough to provide a refund of any size to consumers. That\u2019s because it costs a lot to hire liquidators to convert the assets to cash, locate injured consumers and print checks, FTC officials said.\nThe FTC distributed more than $116\u00a0million to consumers in fiscal 2011 and credited nearly $142\u00a0million to the Treasury, though most of that money came from fees that the agency collects for merger reviews and other tasks.\nAn FTC fraud survey suggests that the predictor of who gets scammed has little to do with formal education, but rather with the person\u2019s level of economic instability or vulnerability. Consumers who said they had more debt than they could comfortably handle were more likely to be victims of fraud than those with less debt.\nThe 2007 survey also found that one in every seven American adults falls victim to a scam.\nThe number of consumer complaints about work-at-home operations has climbed from 8,200 in 2010 to 9,300 in 2011, as of September.\nTeresa Yeast, who lives outside Erie, Pa., fell victim to what the FTC concluded was such a con. After her husband lost his job a few years ago, Yeast responded to a newspaper ad seeking people to assemble angel pins out of ribbon, wire and beads. The Darling Angel Pin Creations ads claimed that people with no experience could earn up to $500 a week.\nYeast said she sent $500 to the company for supplies. When she got them, she learned she would need to send in one completed angel for \u201cquality approval.\u201d\n\u201cI thought: \u2018No problem,\u2019\u00a0\u201d Yeast said. \u201cI sent it back. Rejected. I sent another and another. Rejected. Rejected.\u2019\u00a0\u201d\nAfter Yeast and other consumers complained to state and federal authorities, the FTC started investigating. The agency said nearly all the pins were rejected regardless of quality and it managed, through the courts, to shut down the firm.\nBut Yeast hasn\u2019t gotten any of her money back, she said. \u201cI suspect I never will.\u201d"}, {"name": "0696dade-03c8-11e1-83ca-8341dbe374ac", "body": "Most of the medications in my husband\u2019s bathroom cabinet are outdated. There\u2019s the chloroquine, filled June 2008, expired June 2009; the prescription-strength naproxen, dispensed October 2010, just expired; and the hydrocodone that should have been tossed more than a year ago. Even the CVS brand of Caladryl expired in 2007.\nThe only seemingly viable medical supply in his cupboard is the TopCare Nasal Spray, which the box says is good through this month. The bottle is pretty full, so there\u2019s no chance he\u2019ll mist his nose enough to finish it by then.\nWhen I asked him about his expired reserve, he laughed and said he had worse squirreled away. The expiration dates don\u2019t concern him, since none of the medications treat chronic, life-threatening ailments. He\u2019s happy to pop old pills if he has a sore shoulder (the naproxen), and he will take a chance with the malaria meds (the chloroquine) on his next work trip to Africa.\nIs this a good idea?\nProbably not, said Shelly Burgess, a spokeswoman for the Food and Drug Administration. She said neither the FDA nor drug companies can guarantee what happens to an outdated medication. \u201cThe drug could retain its potency,\u201d Burgess said, or \u201cthe drug could degrade into nontoxic impurities, giving rise to an ineffective product, or the drug could degrade into toxic impurities.\u201d\nIn any event, she does not recommend swallowing medicine after its expiration date, even if it\u2019s just a couple of months too old.\nThere are studies, however, that suggest a certain fudge factor can temper this rule.\nA 2006 study in the Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences done by the FDA found that 88 percent of drugs held in the Strategic National Stockpile, a repository of medical supplies maintained around the country for emergency situations, had their shelf life extended \u201cat least one year beyond their original expiration date\u201d because an FDA testing program found they were still safe to use. Among the types of drugs that were extended were pain medications, antibiotics, antivirals and malaria drugs. The testing information \u201csupports the assertion that many drug products, if properly stored, can be extended past the expiration date,\u201d the study reported.\nDesmond Hunt, a senior scientific liaison for the United States Pharmacopeia, the nonprofit group that sets standards for drugs used in this country, said it\u2019s probably not fair to extrapolate that advice to your own medicine cabinet, however.\nMedication that the average person buys, he said, \u201ccan go through many hands from the time it is shipped from the manufacturer until it reaches the end-user. During each handoff and during the transportation process, there is a potential for a drug product to be stored outside its labeled temperature requirements. It could sit on the tarmac in humidity, for example, or sit out in the rain.\u201d In maintaining its stockpile, on the other hand, he said, the government \u201chas a tight control over its products, who they buy from, how they are shipped and how they are stored. This is the best-case scenario.\u201d\nHe added that \u201cif you have a choice, I wouldn\u2019t take an out-of-date medication.\u201d\nTo get FDA approval, drug manufacturers must prove that their medications retain their potency throughout their promised shelf life. To do this, scientists expose the drugs to various temperatures and humidity levels and then check to see how well the packaging has held up and whether there has been a change in the look or smell of the medication. In the case of tablets, they then dissolve the drugs in a chemical solution to separate out the drug component and test whether its strength has diminished or remained stable. Drugs in liquid form receive comparable tests.\nMaryland and the District are especially cautious about shelf life: Both stipulate that the expiration date for prescription drugs is the one stamped on the package by the manufacturer or one year after a drug is dispensed, whichever comes first.\nVirginia does not have a similar law, but \u201cit is common practice among pharmacies to indicate an expiration or \u2018use before\u2019 date on the prescription label,\u201d said the executive director of Virginia\u2019s Board of Pharmacy, Caroline Juran. \u201cThis date is generally one year [from when drugs are dispensed] or the manufacturer\u2019s expiration date, whichever is shorter.\u201d\nTamiflu is one of the drugs in the Strategic National Stockpile whose expiration dates have been extended. During the H1N1 flu epidemic in 2009, the shelf life was lengthened for some batches of the antiviral medication.\n\u201cThe products are usually extended for two years,\u201d said Mansoor A. Khan, director of the Division of Product Quality Research for the FDA. \u201cBut we test them every year\u201d to ensure that the second year\u2019s extension is warranted.\nExperts agree that in a home environment, medications should be kept anywhere but in the bathroom, where humidity is most likely to cause them to degrade or lose their effectiveness. Frank Palumbo, the director of the Center on Drugs and Public Policy in the School of Pharmacy at the University of Maryland, said, \u201cThey should be kept in a relatively cool, dry place, outside of direct light. It could be a dresser drawer.\u201d\nLinda Thompson, a family physician in Bethesda, suggested storing drugs in well-marked plastic containers in the kitchen, though well away from food and beyond the reach of children. Also, make sure they are not exposed to changes in temperature.\nShe said she is especially cautious about the longevity of gel capsules and liquid syrups. \u201cCapsules deteriorate faster,\u201d Thompson said. \u201cThey absorb water and humidity and become wet. You wonder: Is there bacteria in there? I had a container of gel vitamins that got all stuck together because of the humidity. I couldn\u2019t take them.\u201d\nThat is why the integrity of the packaging is so important, Khan said. Coated pills, typically used for some nonprescription analgesics, are different, Thompson said. Even if they were bought two or three years ago, \u201cthey should be still good, depending on how you stored them,\u201d she said. \u201cBut I wouldn\u2019t give them to a child.\u201d\nThompson has been practicing for more than 20 years. She has taken antibiotics that were three years old. \u201cI got better,\u201d she said, \u201cbut I don\u2019t tell my patients to do that.\u201d"}, {"name": "bc68cff0-2b2a-11e1-bbb4-584e01ef538d", "body": "A feather as large as a human arm drifts from the azure sky. On Arizona\u2019s Vermilion Cliffs, where the Grand Canyon begins to carve its way into the Colorado plateau, is one of the reintroduction sites for the California condor. And trapping season is underway.\nNorth America\u2019s largest flying land bird, with a wingspan of more than nine feet, is also one of the most endangered species on Earth. The scavengers ingest ammunition fragments when they feed on remains left by hunters, leaving them at risk for lead poisoning. Chris Parish of the Peregrine Fund, a nonprofit based in Boise, Idaho, leads a project here that includes trapping the birds to test lead levels in their blood and detoxifying any with high levels.\nTrapping is easy, he says, because the birds can\u2019t resist the stillborn calf carcass lying at the back of a cage.\nThere are nearly 400 California condors in the world, with more than 200 at reintroduction sites in Arizona, California and Baja California. In 1987, the wild population dropped to just 22. All of the birds were caught for captive breeding, and 16 of them helped to bring the species back from the brink.\nThe genetic bottleneck has given biologists a first-of-a-kind opportunity to map the genetic diversity of an entire species. Genomes of the 16 birds that gave rise to the recovered population are now being sequenced by Pennsylvania State University and the San Diego Zoo. Once complete, conservationists will know about every gene circulating in the population.\nThe genomic work will be useless, though, unless the poisonous lead problem is fixed. A recent review concluded that the wild population would disappear without the detox program. Even with it, lead poisoning is a leading cause of death, and action to prevent it is slow to make an impact. California banned lead ammunition inside condor ranges in 2008 but has seen good and bad years for poisoning since. Arizona has taken a voluntary approach to the problem.\nCondors enter the cage in midafternoon, and soon they have been corralled into an isolation pen.\nLater, the test results arrive: All negative except for one bird. He faces a long, bumpy ride to the treatment facility. But with lead removed via a series of injections, he will soon soar over the Grand Canyon again.\n\u2014 New Scientist"}, {"name": "1abc4be0-2d83-11e1-b030-3ff399cf26f3", "body": "THE QUESTION Might adults with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder face added risk for serious cardiovascular problems because of the medications they take \u2014 drugs that have been shown to raise blood pressure and heart rate?\nTHIS STUDY analyzed data on 443,198 adults, 25 to 64 years old, including 150,359 who took ADHD medications, mainly Ritalin (methylphenidate) or Adderall (amphetamine) but also Strattera (atomoxetine) or Cylert (pemoline). In about a two-year period, 1,357 heart attacks, 575 strokes and 296 sudden cardiac deaths were recorded.\u00a0 However, the cardiovascular problems occurred at virtually the same rate among people who took ADHD medications and those who did not, regardless of people\u2019s age, how long they had been taking the medication or which drug they took.\nWHO MAY BE AFFECTED? Adults with ADHD, who are reported to number more than 1.5 million in the United States and who account for nearly a third of all prescriptions for ADHD medications.\nCAVEATS Usage data came from electronic records of filled prescriptions; consumption of medication was not verified. The study did not determine whether dosage made a difference or whether use of the medications contributed to less severe cardiovascular problems. People 65 and older were not included in the study.\nFIND THIS STUDY Dec. 12 online issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (www.jama.com).\nLEARN MORE ABOUT ADHD at nimh.nih.gov/health and www.familydoctor.org.\n\u2014 \n \n Linda Searing \n \nThe research described in Quick Study comes from credible, peer-reviewed journals. Nonetheless, conclusive evidence about a treatment's effectiveness is rarely found in a single study. Anyone considering changing or beginning treatment of any kind should consult with a physician."}, {"name": "4770c73e-30ac-11e1-b034-d347de95dcfe", "body": "Pigeons can learn abstract numerical rules, a skill that scientists had believed only primates possessed, researchers say.\nAnd they believe the birds\u2019 ability to reason numerically is probably something that a wide variety of species have.\nMany species can discriminate between quantities of items, sounds or smells. But only primates (all species, from lemurs to chimpanzees) were known to be able to reason numerically.\nFor example, scientists showed in 1998 that rhesus monkeys can grasp the concept of \u201cordinal number.\u201d That is, given two sets containing from one to nine objects, they can determine that, say, a set with one thing should be placed before a set with two things, and so on. Since then, \u201cthere have been nice, consistent findings of this ability across all primate species,\u201d says Damian Scarf, a comparative psychologist at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand, and lead author of the new pigeon study. \u201cBut it\u2019s always been a question if this is unique to primates.\u201d\nTo find out, Scarf and his colleagues gave a test to three pigeons.\nScarf spent a year training the pigeons to order three sets containing one to three objects, such as a set of one yellow rectangle, two red ovals and three yellow bars. The sets would appear on a computer screen, with colors and shapes changing each time. The birds had to peck at them in the ascending numerical order to get a food reward. \u201cThey had to learn that it was the number of items that mattered, not the color or shape,\u201d says Scarf.\nThe pigeons were then asked to place two sets containing between one and nine items in the correct, ascending sequence to see if they understood the basic principle behind ordinal numbers. In their training sessions, the birds had learned only first, second and third. But they didn\u2019t falter when presented with new numbers of shapes, such as five ovals or seven rectangles. The pigeons\u2019 scores were far better than chance responses would have yielded, says Scarf.\n\u201cI thought it was amazing that monkeys could do this, so we should be even more impressed that pigeons can, too,\u201d says Elizabeth Brannon, a cognitive neuroscientist at Duke University in Durham, N.C., and lead author on the original rhesus monkey study. The disparate creatures may be relying on the same neural mechanism to perform the task, she speculates. \u201cThese new findings suggest that, despite completely different brain organization and hundreds of millions of years of evolutionary divergence, pigeons and monkeys solve this problem in a similar way,\u201d says Brannon.\nScarf and his co-authors suggest that other species may demonstrate similar skills. Colleagues agree. \u201cThe ability to represent and use numerosity is probably widespread among many animal species,\u201d says Michael Beran, a comparative psychologist at Georgia State University in Atlanta. Moreover, he says, the study suggests that other creatures may possess the \u201cfoundational mechanisms\u201d that enable humans to reason so well with numbers and that \u201cperhaps even advanced mathematical abilities may be found in other animals.\u201d\nThis article is adapted from ScienceNOW, the online daily news service of the journal Science.\n"}, {"name": "71940444-3247-11e1-b692-796029298414", "body": "When a rattlesnake shakes its tail, does it hear the rattling? Scientists have long struggled to understand how snakes, which lack external ears, sense sounds. Now, a new study shows that sound waves cause vibrations in a snake\u2019s skull that are then \u201cheard\u201d by the inner ear.\n\u201cThere\u2019s been this enduring myth that snakes are deaf,\u201d says neurobiologist Bruce Young of the University of Massachusetts, Lowell, who was not involved in the new research. \u201cBehavioral studies have suggested that snakes can in fact hear, and now this work has gone one step further and explained how.\u201d\nIn humans, sound waves traveling through the air hit the eardrum, causing the movement of tiny bones and vibrations of tiny hair cells in the inner ear. These vibrations are then translated into nerve impulses that travel to the brain. Snakes have fully formed inner ear structures but no eardrum. Instead, their inner ear is connected directly to their jawbone, which rests on the ground as they slither. Previous studies have shown that vibrations traveling through the ground\u2014such as the footsteps of predators or prey\u2014cause vibrations in a snake\u2019s jawbone, relaying a signal to the brain via that inner ear.\nIt was still unclear, however, whether snakes could hear sounds traveling through the air. So Biologist Christian Christensen of Aarhus University in Denmark took a closer look at one particular type of snake, the ball python (Python regius). Studying them wasn\u2019t easy. \u201cYou can\u2019t train snakes to respond to sounds with certain behaviors, like you might be able to do with mice,\u201d says Christensen. Instead, he and his colleagues used electrodes attached to the reptiles\u2019 heads to monitor the activity of neurons connecting the snakes\u2019 inner ears to their brains.\nEach time a sound was played through a speaker suspended above the snake\u2019s cage, the researchers measured whether the nerve relayed an electrical pulse (the snakes showed no outward response to the sounds). The nerve pulses were strongest, the researchers found, with frequencies between 80 and 160 hertz\u2014around the frequency for the lowest notes of a cello, though not necessarily sounds that snakes encounter often in the wild.\nThe snakes don\u2019t seem to be responding to vibrations that these sounds cause in the ground, since these vibrations were too weak to cause nerve activity when they weren\u2019t accompanied by sound in the air, Christensen and his colleagues found. However, when the researchers attached a sensor to the snake\u2019s skull, they discovered that the sound waves were causing enough vibration in the bone \u2014 directly through the air \u2014 for the snakes to sense it. The results appeared recently in The Journal of Experimental Biology.\nYoung calls the work \u201cextremely nice,\u201d but he notes that the team studied only one species of snake. \u201cGiven that there are almost 3,000 types of snakes, the next question would be how this differs between them.\u201d Some snakes, he notes, are known to be better at sensing vibrations through the ground, so their ability to sense sound waves in the air might be reduced. Since many sounds are too weak to cause ground-borne vibrations that snakes can sense, having both abilities helps them detect a wider range of noises. Some salamanders and frogs lack eardrums, too, he notes, and they may listen in the same way snakes do.\nYoung also says that there are probably other ways that snakes are sensing vibrations in the air and the ground. \u201cWe know snakes have some special sense organs in their skin and their head that likely react to vibrations. And we have some evidence that they detect vibration along the length of their body,\u201d he says. \u201cThis is unlikely to be the final word on how snakes sense sound and vibrations.\u201d\nThis article is adapted from ScienceNOW, the online daily news service of the journal Science."}, {"name": "d259fc22-f433-11e0-8244-e35a853718ce", "body": "The 53-year-old accountant, a longtime patient of Marvin M. Lipman, Consumer Reports\u2019 chief medical adviser, was smiling when he came in for a routine exam after a winter in Florida. \u201cI guess I\u2019m going to live forever,\u201d he said. \u201cMy coronaries are clean.\u201d\nHe explained that a golf buddy had persuaded him to get a checkup from a local cardiologist, something Lipman never thought the man needed because his health was good and he had no risk factors for cardiovascular disease.\nEvidently, the Florida cardiologist didn\u2019t agree. He put the unquestioning accountant through what he called routine testing. That included an electrocardiogram and a stress echocardiogram (imaging of the heart by sonography before and after a standard treadmill exercise test). Apparently still not satisfied, the doctor ordered a four-hour nuclear stress test, in which a radioactive material is injected before and after exercise, and its eventual distribution in the heart muscle is recorded by a radiation detector. He concluded there was a problem. (It turned out that the \u201cproblem\u201d was an abnormality in the images caused by the patient\u2019s movement during the test.)\nA day or two later the patient, by now convinced he was at death\u2019s door and would need open-heart surgery, found himself at a hospital, in a darkened X-ray room, undergoing a coronary angiogram. The procedure involves the insertion, usually into a groin artery, of a flexible tube that is threaded up into the heart. Dye is then injected to outline the coronary arteries and reveal any blockages.\n\u201cWhen he told me that my arteries were clean, I was the happiest man in the world,\u201d the patient told Lipman. \u201cNo matter that I wound up with bleeding in my groin and unable to play golf for three weeks.\u201d\nThe indications for cardiac screening tests for people without symptoms or a history of coronary disease haven\u2019t changed much through the years. The tests mentioned probably don\u2019t add much to diagnosis and treatment over and above what can be learned from knowing a person\u2019s risk factors.\nThose risk factors are heredity (a parent or sibling who had a heart attack at an early age), smoking, hypertension, diabetes, elevated LDL cholesterol, low HDL cholesterol, lack of exercise, and possibly high triglycerides and obesity.\nYou might assume, as this patient did, that even if you have no symptoms, tests are still helpful because they will either reassure you or alert you to conditions you weren\u2019t aware of. But you shouldn\u2019t need a stress test to persuade yourself to improve your diet, give up smoking and take your medication as prescribed. A stress test with normal results can create a false sense of security, which might cause you to relax your healthful habits.\nAnd an abnormal test might cause unnecessary worry and depression. Worse, it can lead to invasive and potentially harmful testing and treatment. You might even find yourself facing the business end of a scalpel with no more chance of preventing a heart attack or improving survival than what could be achieved with medication.\nThat said, there are a few situations that justify screening for coronary disease for people without symptoms. Those with two or more risk factors who are about to undergo complicated surgery or begin a vigorous exercise program might benefit from stress testing. And screening for those whose jobs affect other people\u2019s safety, such as bus drivers and airline pilots, could save lives.\nLipman reviewed the tests imposed on the accountant but didn\u2019t have the heart to tell him that they were unnecessary, even if the outcome was a clean bill of heart health. And what a bill it was. But he remained convinced that \u201cjust knowing\u201d made it all worthwhile.\n\n Copyright 2011. Consumers Union of United States Inc. \n"}, {"name": "c0c1198c-146d-11e1-9048-1f5352187eed", "body": "Researchers at the National Institutes of Health call the 1918 influenza pandemic \u201cthe mother of all pandemics,\u201d and with good reason: The flu virus infected around a third of the world\u2019s population and killed at least 50 million people.\nAlmost a century later, scientists have a better understanding of how most of those people died. They believe the culprit wasn\u2019t influenza itself but immune system overreactions triggered by the virus.\nAnd it wasn\u2019t just in 1918. The 2009 swine flu killed more than 18,000 people worldwide, according to the World Health Organization. Scientists say immune overreactions caused the majority of those fatalities.\nNew research about how the virus works on the cellular level has uncovered what makes influenza so deadly: It destroys its host \u2014 you \u2014 by using your body\u2019s own defenses against itself.\nThe research about such exaggerated immune responses could lead to more-effective flu drugs and radically change the way all kinds of infections are treated, leading virologists say.\n\u201cThis is where the science [on epidemiology] is right now,\u201d said Trish Perl, a senior epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins Hospital. \u201cThat\u2019s what happens with a lot of severe infections. .\u2009.\u2009. It\u2019s almost like the system goes into overdrive.\u201d\nWhile trying to destroy flu-infected cells, your immune system also destroys legions of perfectly healthy cells all over your body. This is why, even though the virus itself rarely ventures outside the lungs, the symptoms of the flu are so widespread, according to Michael Oldstone, a virologist at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, Calif.\n\u201cIf you get a cold or the flu, you get fever, pains, upset stomach,\u201d Oldstone said. \u201cThat\u2019s all due to the immune response.\u201d\nMost of the time, this immune response isn\u2019t too severe. As the virus runs its course, the response subsides. But in some cases, an infection can trigger a reaction so destructive it can be fatal. Scientists call this a cytokine storm, because of the violent way immune cells respond to a virus. (A cytokine is a molecule that immune cells use to send signals between one another.) Cytokines usually help fight off infections by telling the immune system which specific viral cells it should be attacking. But sometimes an overabundance of cytokines floods into a part of the body, and that\u2019s when you get a storm.\nCytokine storms are rare, but Perl said they may be more common among younger people because they have stronger immune systems, which are more prone to overreactions. She said this may explain one of the more surprising outcomes of the 2009 swine flu: that it was deadlier among young people than it was among the elderly.\nDuring flu infections, Oldstone said, cytokine storms can cause serious damage throughout the body, especially in the lungs. This, he said, combined with the lung damage cause by the influenza virus itself, leads to fatal cases of pneumonia.\nOldstone and two other researchers have been looking into cytokine storms for more than five years. They\u2019ve identified a receptor on an endothelial cell called S1P1, and found that S1P1 signaling by endothelial cells initiates the cascade of events leading to a cytokine storm. The virologists\u2019 findings, published in a recent issue of the scientific journal Cell, could pave the way for a new class of immune-reaction-blocking drugs that could be more effective than antiviral drugs.\n\u201cIt is likely that a single oral dose of a compound can be developed that will provide protection against cytokine storms,\u201d Hugh Rosen, Oldstone\u2019s colleague at the Scripps Institute who also worked on the cytokine study, said in a statement.\nThe findings \u201ccould potentially change the way the flu is treated,\u201d Oldstone said, and could even have implications for lung infections, HIV and other viral diseases, though Perl notes that the research on how cytokine storms function in these other diseases is still very unclear.\nRosen, Oldstone and their team, with funding from the National Institutes of Health, examined this exaggerated immune response in mice.\nThe researchers injected one group of 30 mice with a strain of the H1N1 swine flu virus from 2009. Those mice were left untreated, and 80 percent of them died. The researchers injected 30 other mice with the virus, but they also gave this group an antiviral drug similar to Tami-
flu. Around half died.\nFor a third group of flu-infected mice, the researchers used an experimental cytokine-blocking compound instead of Tamiflu. Only 20 percent of these mice died.\nAnd when the scientists gave a fourth group of mice both Tamiflu and the compound, the death rate dropped to 5 percent.\nCytokine-blocking drugs could be more effective than antivirals, Oldstone said, because they target the flu effects that cause the most damage to the body. Also, a problem with many antiviral drugs is that they can cause viruses to mutate into drug-resistant strains. Oldstone said that probably wouldn\u2019t be an issue for cytokine-blockers because they don\u2019t affect the virus itself.\nJeff Dimond, a spokesman for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Oldstone and his colleagues went deep into the cellular level to figure out how cytokine storms function. \u201cThis is really \u2018getting under the hood and tinkering with the wires\u2019 research,\u201d he said.\nDimond said CDC scientists are also looking at links between the immune system and flu fatalities.\nOldstone said there\u2019s still much that scientists don\u2019t understand about cytokine storms. For example, he said, it\u2019s unclear why the flu virus causes a life-threatening storm in some people while for others it produces nothing more than a few miserable days at home.\nWhile Oldstone\u2019s findings may lead to better flu-fighting drugs, it will probably be many years before those drugs reach the local pharmacy. He said the next step for his team is to try to replicate the mouse study using ferrets, then primates and then, finally, humans.\nIn the meantime, Perl said, scientists now know much more about how the immune system functions and, more important, how it malfunctions. \u201cIt\u2019s even more complicated than what we were taught in med school,\u201d she said.\nSchultz is a freelance writer and graduate student in journalism at American University."}, {"name": "52ffc644-2a5e-11e1-8329-4460f290b8fc", "body": "Instead of making those same old health-related New Year\u2019s resolutions such as losing weight or quitting smoking \u2014 promises that most of us fail to follow through on \u2014 I decided to ask some experts to think outside the box for 2012 and recommend smaller changes that can also have a big impact on your well-being. Here are their top suggestions for a healthier, happier year:\nWork on your focus, says Susan Lehmann, a psychiatrist at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. \u201cIn our hectic lives with ready access to texting, e-mail and social networking sites, it\u2019s easy to feel that \u2018multi-tasking\u2019 enables us to accomplish more,\u201d she said. \u201cBut in fact, our brains are not as good at juggling various duties at the same time as we may think, and interruptions in attention can negatively affect memory and degrade our efficiency.\u201d Research shows this is especially true after age 60, though people of all ages are vulnerable if they regularly use electronic media. Thus, Lehmann suggests trying to limit distractions and instead concentrate \u201con whatever task is at hand, whether it\u2019s remembering where you just parked the car or what you just read.\u201d\nEat more fiber, says Georgetown University Hospital gastroenterologist Robynne Chutkan. \u201cThough many of us are aware that we need more fiber in our diets, most Americans only consume about 12 to 15 grams of the stuff each day,\u201d she said. \u201cBut recent studies have shown that increasing fiber intake to 25 to 30 grams per day is linked to a lower risk of death from all causes, especially cardiovascular, respiratory and infectious ailments.\u201d\nIn addition, she said, \u201cBoosting the amount of fiber in your diet will lead to more-regular bowel movements, which is the ultimate detox, since waste matter in stool is not supposed to sit in your colon for prolonged periods of time.\u201d Other benefits include improving or even preventing colon cancer, diverticulosis and irritable bowel syndrome along with other GI conditions. So eat more fruits, vegetables, beans and unprocessed whole grains.\nGive sleep a chance, says Helene Emsellem, medical director of the Center for Sleep and Wake Disorders in Chevy Chase. People in this area, she says, are so busy and stressed out that it\u2019s often hard to find time to sleep long enough to function optimally \u2014 ideally, at least seven hours a night.\n\u201cGetting the proper amount of rest has many positive health advantages, including a reduced risk of heart disease, increased concentration and memory, and enhanced creativity,\u201d according to Emsellem, who adds that the latest research shows that sleep also plays a critical role in weight control, with many studies linking insufficient zzz\u2019s to being overweight or obese. So this year, she said, \u201cTry setting and keeping to a regular seven-to-eight-hour sleep schedule; don\u2019t deviate by more than an hour and a half or so on the weekends. In addition, if someone in your life says that you\u2019re snoring or not breathing right at night, don\u2019t be insulted \u2014 believe them and follow up with your doctor or a sleep specialist!\u201d\nImprove important relationships, says clinical psychologist Robin Haight, who practices in Vienna. \u201cMeaningful rapport with friends and family is an important source of resiliency, providing a buffer against stress,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s no surprise that good relationships can have a positive impact on many aspects of health, from a reduced risk of stroke, mental illness and even the common cold to enhanced mood and well-being.\u201d So this year work on interactions, whether it\u2019s with your mom, spouse, colleague or best bud: Do you avoid sensitive topics? Is there too much criticism or judgment? Are you being competitive rather than collaborative? Assess how a relationship works for both parties. Does it feel balanced? If not, talk about when you need support and ask for what you want. \u201cUsing humor, empathy and optimism will go a long way towards getting any relationship out of a rut,\u201d Haight said.\nEat dark chocolate daily, says family medicine and chronic pain specialist Gary Kaplan, of the Kaplan Center for Integrative Medicine in McLean. \u201cTreat yourself to up to two squares of \u2018the good stuff\u2019 \u2014 meaning dark chocolate with at least 50 to 70 percent cocoa \u2014 each and every day,\u201d he says. This small indulgence will not only taste delicious and satisfy even the sweetest of sweet tooths, but, Kaplan said, research also suggests that the antioxidants in dark chocolate can help decrease blood pressure (in some studies the effect is equivalent to exercising for 30 minutes a day); lower insulin resistance and the risk of Type 2 diabetes; and help protect the lining of the blood vessels, reducing the possibility of stroke and heart attack. Consuming this candy may also help prevent certain types of cancer. But Kaplan added, \u201cJust remember to avoid milk chocolate, high-calorie add-ons like marshmallows and caramel fillings, and to not get carried away with portion sizes. You don\u2019t need much dark chocolate to do a lot of good!\u201d"}, {"name": "213c928a-2b27-11e1-bbb4-584e01ef538d", "body": "I just read \u201cIf you don\u2019t plan ahead, a road trip can be a nutritional nightmare\u201d [Dec. 20], and I must point out another viewpoint.\nMy husband and I just drove over 6,000 miles to California and back, and we ate the healthiest meals you could want, all at a reasonable price. We are 82 and do not want to waste money or time when we travel. We never go into a town, always stop at the exits that have eating places and gas stations, take care of everything in one stop, and move on.\nWe saw zillions of McDonald\u2019s, some pizza places and other fast-food operations, but we never once ate any of that food. We found other options. The Cracker Barrel stores have menus for kids and seniors, with serving sizes and prices that are appropriate. We even split an adult order when we wanted no leftovers in the car. Denny\u2019s offers discounts for AARP members, and some places honor AAA cards for discounts.\nI think your article was fine as far as it went, but it leaves the reader thinking there is nothing but fast food on the road. Not true.\nTry it, and eat the good stuff!\n Joan Levinson,\u2009Potomac"}, {"name": "d3e62938-2fd1-11e1-a274-61fcdeecc5f5", "body": "The ever-productive, ever-graceful Penelope Lively returns to several pet themes \u2014 memory, history and the powerful role of happenstance in reshaping lives \u2014 with a fresh and charming novel that could well be called \u201cChance.\u201d \u201cHow It All Began,\u201d her 20th book of adult fiction, opens with an act of violence, rare in Lively\u2019s work: Charlotte Rainsford, a retired literature teacher in her late 70s, is knocked to the pavement by an adolescent thug during a purse-snatching. The result isn\u2019t just a broken hip but a chain reaction that ultimately touches nine people, some of whom don\u2019t even know Charlotte.\nLively, author of \u201cFamily Album\u201d and the Booker Prize-winning \u201cMoon Tiger,\u201d kicked off her 2003 novel, \u201cThe Photograph,\u201d with a widower\u2019s discovery of an incriminating snapshot of his late wife. She likened the picture to a stone \u201ccast into the reliable, immutable pond of the past, and as the ripples subside, everything appears different.\u201d In \u201cHow It All Began,\u201d Charlotte\u2019s mugging is the stone cast into the placid waters of her self-sufficient widowhood, stirring up ruminations on many of Lively\u2019s touchstones: the indignities of old age; time, \u201cno longer reliable\u201d; the centrality of literature in a richly reflective life; and musings on the past, which is like a \u201ccomet tail of your own lived life, sparks from which arrive in the head all the time.\u201d\nThe novel\u2019s purview extends well beyond Charlotte, however, to characters tangentially affected by her mugging. These encompass Charlotte\u2019s middle-aged daughter, Rose, and her husband, Gerry Donovan, who move her into their home for her convalescence. There\u2019s often an historian in Lively\u2019s books; this time it\u2019s Rose\u2019s eminently mockable, pompous employer, Lord Henry Peters, sadly passe even in the world of 18th-century history on which he staked his career. The ripples spread all the way to his niece and even to her married lover\u2019s family.\nWith a lovely, light touch, Lively briskly supplies necessary background information about her characters\u2019 foibles. Rose\u2019s husband is \u201cinterested in local government, carpentry, sacred music and a spot of coarse fishing.\u201d Pretty dull, you think? Well, \u201cGerry is fine. Who\u2019d want a husband who would run you ragged?\u201d With that deft introduction, Lively prepares us for Rose\u2019s growing attraction to Anton, the Eastern European emigrant who comes to the Donovans\u2019 house for private lessons to improve his English reading skills, because Charlotte, temporarily homebound, is unable to teach her usual adult literacy class.\nOne of the challenges of interweaving multiple narrative strands is that some are liable to be far more compelling than others. With the exception of emotionally constipated Gerry and keen, sensitive Anton, Lively\u2019s male characters are a pretty self-serving lot. The women are more engaging, though appropriately enough, Charlotte is the clear winner.\nAmong her many appealing virtues, Charlotte is a gifted teacher who understands the difference between illiteracy and \u201ca failure to respond to literature\u201d: The former is \u201ccrippling\u201d and the latter is \u201cmerely a restriction.\u201d In order to bring Anton more quickly up to speed so he can quit construction work and get back to accounting, for which he has been trained, she abandons standard language primers in favor of children\u2019s literature. Anton responds with delight: \u201cI am like child. . . . Child learn when he is interested. When he want to know what come next in the story.\u201d Reading, being able to decipher \u201cthe black marks of another language,\u201d effectively hands Anton \u201ca passport to another country.\u201d\nWe, too, avidly turn pages to find out what comes next in Lively\u2019s story \u2014 what will come of Rose and Anton\u2019s budding relationship; how thoroughly Lord Peters will be duped by his fawning new assistant; whether his niece will extricate herself from her financial straits and dead-end affair. Lively, who became a Dame of the British Empire last week, wraps it all up satisfyingly, despite her assertion that endings are artificial, since \u201ctime does not end.\u201d But, as she reminds us in Charlotte\u2019s lovely paean to reading, finding out what comes next is just part of the equation: Distraction, sustenance, enlightenment and instruction all factor in. With \u201cHow It All Began,\u201d Lively has provided a golden passport that will sweep you through the border control of other people\u2019s lives.\nBy Penelope Lively\nViking. 229 pp. $26.95"}, {"name": "a5b7d5f6-33e2-11e1-825f-dabc29fd7071", "body": "When it comes to national security issues in 2012, the person who faces the toughest choices is Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta.\nLook at what\u2019s on his plate: the Pentagon\u2019s budget crunch, the war in Afghanistan, the postwar period in Iraq, Iran\u2019s nuclear ambitions, Israeli issues, U.S.-Pakistan relations, China\u2019s growing military and the biggest challenge of all \u2014 Congress.\nHovering over him like a cloud is the presidential campaign. A chorus of Republican candidates, as Mitt Romney already has done, will almost certainly take issue with the Obama administration\u2019s defense policies and spending levels. While the economy will be central to the campaign debate, defense will be a close second.\nThe budget crunch goes far beyond numbers. This week, the Pentagon will produce a revised defense strategy that will provide the basis for the fiscal 2013 Defense Department budget. The numbers themselves will come later this month as part of President Obama\u2019s budget and will reflect the second year of a 10-year plan to cut $489 billion in defense spending, made in response to August\u2019s Budget Control Act.\nIt remains to be seen what further defense reductions will be made as Congress wrestles with the \u201csequestration\u201d requirement in the August statute \u2014 across-the-board budget cuts of more than $1\u00a0trillion over 10 years, half of which are to come from national security spending. These cuts were triggered by the failure last fall of the congressional \u201csupercommittee\u201d to come up with a deficit-reduction plan.\nIn a Nov. 14 letter to Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), Panetta wrote that the Budget Control Act cuts \u201care difficult and will require us to take some risks, but they are manageable.\u201d Further cuts under sequestration, he said, \u201cwould tie [the Defense Department\u2019s] hands.\u201d For instance, he said that across-the-board reductions would have to be applied equally to major construction programs, rendering \u201cmost of our ship and construction projects \u2018unexecutable\u2019 \u2014 you cannot buy three quarters of a ship or a building \u2014 and seriously damage our modernization efforts.\u201d\nPanetta has proposed that, if additional cuts are required, the Pentagon be allowed to pick and choose where they are made and not have to apply them across the board.\nTo reach the initial $489\u00a0billion in cuts, Panetta will have to defend before Congress the expected reductions in personnel for fiscal 2013, as well as the scaling back or ending of some weapons programs. All of these have their constituents inside and outside government \u2014 and especially on Capitol Hill.\nHow many F-35s do you buy; should you choose manned or unmanned weapons systems; how many nuclear supercarriers do you need; do you modernize all three legs of the nuclear triad \u2014 strategic bombers, land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles and strategic submarines? While dealing with these questions, Panetta must also protect money for operations, maintenance, and research and development, the favorite areas for congressional budget cutters.\nHe must also determine the size of reductions in military personnel, which smaller weapons programs will be cut or ended, and how much should be spent on the future through research and development.\nSometime this year, there must be decisions on how to downsize in Afghanistan and what arrangements can be made to keep U.S. forces there after 2014, whether to send military trainers back to Iraq, and how to respond if Congress authorizes dispatching Special Forces to Nigeria to assist in fighting a terrorist group, as it did when U.S. troops were sent to help battle the Lord\u2019s Resistance Army in central Africa.\nThen there are the military issues that have election implications. Are personnel coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan getting enough help; what\u2019s being done to reduce military suicides; are boards needed to determine which officers and senior enlisted troops should be retired as overall numbers go down; how do you monitor the end of \u201cdon\u2019t ask, don\u2019t tell\u201d and the new legislation dealing with sexual abuse and rape in the military? Who will be on the promised commission to look into changes in the military retirement system and perhaps the Pentagon\u2019s health system?\nThese are all complicated issues, more often handled through small steps and compromise than through simplistic, black-and-white pronouncements \u2014 like campaign rhetoric.\nSpeaking on Oct. 6, Romney said that he wanted Pentagon core spending to rise to 4 percent of gross domestic product and that he would increase active-duty personnel by about 100,000. In a speech the next day at the Citadel, he said he would \u201creverse the hollowing of our Navy and .\u2009.\u2009. increase the shipbuilding rate from nine per year to 15.\u201d He also repeated a pledge that has Republican roots going back to the Nixon administration: \u201cI will begin reversing Obama-era cuts to national missile defense and prioritize the full deployment of a multilayered national ballistic missile defense system.\u201d\nDuring the Nov. 22 Republican presidential debate, Romney said the Obama administration, in response to the Budget Control Act, halted production of the F-22 stealth fighter, delayed aircraft carriers and said new long-range Air Force bombers would not be built. These steps and others, Romney said, are \u201ccutting the capacity of America to defend itself.\u201d\nPanetta did not step forward to challenge these remarks, though others have noted, for example, that the decisions to limit F-22 production and slow carrier production were made by then-Secretary Robert M. Gates before the Budget Control Act passed, while plans for the strategic bomber are still going ahead.\nWhen the presidential campaign becomes a two-person race in the fall, and the GOP candidate, his supporters or political action committees make similar charges against the Obama defense program, the feisty, outspoken politician inside Panetta may not be so controlled. \u201cI am not sure Panetta will stay totally out of the fray,\u201d said a person who knows the defense secretary well.\nMore national security news coverage:\n- Iran seeks more influence in Latin America\n- Challenging the Navy\u2019s numbers\n- U.S. touts Saudi Arabia jet deal as a security, economic boon\n- Read more national security headlines"}, {"name": "a42690ec-32f7-11e1-8c61-c365ccf404c5", "body": "In his Dec. 29 op-ed column, \u201cWhen the science trumps the law,\u201d George F. Will stated that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit \u201cdid something right when it held that bone marrow donors can be compensated.\u201d While the court\u2019s decision permits, but does not require, compensation in certain instances, compensation poses serious health risks for patients and donors.\nFirst, donors motivated by payment may withhold health information that would make them ineligible to donate safely. Mr. Will also suggested that apheresis, a newer stem cell extraction technique, has replaced aspiration, a technique that draws marrow directly from a donor\u2019s hip bone. However, this assertion is medically inaccurate \u2014 nearly 24 percent of donations occur through aspiration, as apheresis is not always in the patient\u2019s best interests.\nCompensation for one method but not the other may place the donor\u2019s interests in conflict with the best medical decision for the patient.\n Michael Boo, Minneapolis \nThe writer is chief strategy officer for the National Marrow Donor Program."}, {"name": "b4b86afa-32f9-11e1-8c61-c365ccf404c5", "body": "The Securities and Exchange Commission believes it suffered a great injustice when Judge Jed S. Rakoff rejected its proposed plea agreement with Citigroup [\u201cSEC ratchets up its legal battle with U.S. judge,\u201d news story, Dec. 28]. Judge Rakoff disagreed with the SEC acting as prosecutor, judge and jury. The SEC responded that enforcement would be crippled if it had to hold out for verdicts. In this case, the SEC determined that Citigroup misled investors who lost $700 million and should pay $285 million. Judge Rakoff disagreed.\nSEC prosecutors contended that Judge Rakoff failed to give the SEC, as the article put it, \u201cthe deference it deserves.\u201d How dare Judge Rakoff get in the way. Who does he think he is, the judge?\n Patrick Dozier, Washington "}, {"name": "3ca416c8-332a-11e1-8c61-c365ccf404c5", "body": "Since we don\u2019t really know, I prefer to believe that we do not have what Charles Krauthammer called \u201cliving, thinking counterparts in the universe\u201d [\u201cAre we alone in the universe?,\u201d op-ed, Dec. 30]. I choose to believe that we were created uniquely; that this cosmic immensity was created for no other reason than to house us and our little planet; and that the creator \u2014 who, after all, didn\u2019t have to do it this way \u2014 chose to do it this way, just for the fun of it.\nTo this usually excellent columnist, though, the thought of our aloneness \u201cmakes no sense\u201d and is \u201cmaddening.\u201d\nEspecially during the Christmas season, when millions celebrate the birth of God-become-man, it\u2019s possible to hold the different belief that we are \u201calone\u201d by design. It doesn\u2019t contradict faith to believe there\u2019s intelligent life scattered around this vastness, but it is consistent and pleasing to suppose otherwise \u2014 not as some \u201cflattering lesson about our uniqueness\u201d but, like Christmas, as a show of divine love.\nAs for politics, dreary as the topic has become lately, Mr. Krauthammer was, as usual, precisely right: \u201cPolitics is the driver of history.\u201d He did, however, overstate when he wrote that it is \u201csovereign in human affairs. Everything ultimately rests upon it.\u201d\nNot everything.\n Michael E. Baroody Sr., Alexandria"}, {"name": "c3a95bbe-332b-11e1-8c61-c365ccf404c5", "body": "Robert J. Samuelson was correct when he stated that it is not \u201cprogressive\u201d to support status quo Social Security and Medicare benefits for the wealthier elderly [\u201cMy argument with the elderly,\u201d op-ed, Dec. 30]. His solution, however, did not go far enough.\nSocial Security taxes are the most regressive tax we have, with Medicare not far behind. A truly progressive solution would be to eliminate the ceiling on Social Security payroll deductions, exempt workers with incomes below a reasonable living wage and adopt a sliding scale for Social Security and Medicare taxes so that those with higher incomes pay at slightly higher rates that they can readily afford.\nThis approach could be combined with Mr. Samuelson\u2019s solution \u2014 adjusting benefits and Medicare premiums with means-testing.\n Matthew Kalman, Pikesville"}, {"name": "79524da8-3481-11e1-ac55-e75ea321c80a", "body": "Regarding the Dec. 29 front-page news story \u201cWide gaps in school discipline\u201don the disparities between the rate of suspensions of African American and white students across the region:\nThere is another gap that needs to be narrowed and that could go a long way toward eliminating any\u00a0gap in suspensions and other educational outcomes along race, income or other lines. In my 34 years in public education, I have observed that students who were well connected to their schools typically behave better than those who come to school and feel no sense of loyalty or commitment.\u00a0The students who come to school every day and see no value in what they are being taught and do not experience positive relationships with their teachers are the ones most likely to commit a suspendable offense.\u00a0\nBut we have removed many courses that these students can enjoy and learn from in favor of Advanced Placement and honors courses that students and parents feel are the only rigorous path to college.\u00a0In many cases, technical arts and art and music have been axed because the schools say they cannot afford to keep them. In truth, the money is there, but the priority is to fund\u00a0advanced courses.\u00a0It is being entrenched in students\u2019 minds as early as first grade that the only way to a successful, productive life is through college.\u00a0\nIf we give all kids \u2014 no matter their race \u2014 a reason to come to school and to learn how to achieve\u00a0something of which they can be proud, suspension levels will fall.\n George A. Pappas Jr., Frederick"}, {"name": "1340035e-2c19-11e1-8af5-ec9a452f0164", "body": "Until now, wiz kid drummer Zach Hill was best known for his brief stint in surf pop band Wavves, a band of such breezy stoner gentility it\u2019s hard to believe it exists on the same planet as Death Grips, his new aggro-rap project.\nThe group, fronted by MC Ride with backing vocals provided by someone called Mexican Girl (Death Grips is one of those outfits that likes to be mysterious for no good reason), released a mixtape, \u201cExmilitary,\u201d in April. Except \u201creleased\u201d may be the wrong word: \u201cExmilitary\u201d was lobbed into blogland like a hand grenade.\nIt\u2019s a fascinating, pugnacious mess \u2014 a gnarly, knotted fusion of black metal, punk, hip-hop, random beats, sound effects, scratching noises and howls. It\u2019s what it feels like to be yelled at for 40 minutes while simultaneously being beaten over the head. It\u2019s a pre-Occupy Wall Street mix of Odd Future-type calculated anarchy and old-school Rage Against the Machine-style righteous indignation. It\u2019s loud and terrible and fascinating, and sometimes great.\n\u201cExmilitary\u201d starts off with an extended Charles Manson rant and doesn\u2019t let up. It\u2019s exuberantly, extravagantly mad \u2014 at the government, at consumers, at listeners. It\u2019s at heart a rap album with a heavy-metal brain, which is why its political metaphors are couched with plentiful references to violent deaths, witches\u2019 cauldrons and serpents.\nThere are indications that when Death Grips figures out how to focus its bountiful energies, it\u2019ll be a force to be reckoned with. The amazing \u201cKlink,\u201d an anti-police brutality manifesto wrapped in a Black Flag sample, is a tribute to its betters and a statement of purpose, all at the same time.\n \n \n \u2014 Allison Stewart \n \n\u201cKlink,\u201d \u201cGuillotine\u201d"}, {"name": "a1e8570a-30bf-11e1-b034-d347de95dcfe", "body": "Montgomery County needs more affordable housing.\nThat\u2019s the reality top county officials are facing as they work to spur less costly housing in a county that has seen a rise in its immigrant, working-class and elderly populations.\nIt\u2019s also the reality that Lyn E. Alford has been facing for years. She has lived in her two-bedroom Aspen Hill apartment since 1994 and has seen the building\u2019s amenities gradually disappear. But she can\u2019t move: The $1,202 she pays in monthly rent is below market rate, and she doesn\u2019t make enough money to persuade other landlords in Montgomery that she\u2019s a viable tenant.\nOver the next few months, county planning and housing officials will propose broad policy changes intended to improve the local housing market and help Alford and other cash-strapped residents. They say they want to encourage more affordable housing near transit areas and keep the residences the county already has that are affordable for people with modest incomes.\nYet the county, which has seen year after year of budget shortfalls, also must deal with less funding. The housing department budget for the current fiscal year is 50 percent of what it was two years ago.\n\u201cWe have no money,\u201d Richard Y. Nelson Jr., the department\u2019s director, said in an interview. \u201cWhether it\u2019s subsidizing housing or development, it\u2019s a very expensive process. Particularly these days with reduced general revenues, it\u2019s harder to do.\u201d\nAffordable housing has been an important issue across the Washington region, and the economic troubles of the past few years have made the issue even more urgent and more complicated. In Fairfax County, for instance, the subject has divided the 10-member Board of Supervisors and the community.\nAffordable housing takes a number of forms, such as apartments and town houses. In Montgomery, immigrant advocates want the government to mandate more affordable housing units in new developments, while home builders want alternatives to the affordable housing requirements, such as one-time payments to opt out of building the units.\nMeanwhile, the county is getting poorer and more ethnically diverse. Adjusting for inflation, its median household income dropped over the past decade, during which the county also became majority-minority.\nThe shift in county demographics \u2014 as well as the nationwide foreclosure crisis a few years ago \u2014 has led to increased demand for affordable housing, county officials said. There have been tens of thousands of people on waiting lists for housing vouchers, which use government money to subsidize fair-market rent for people who can\u2019t afford it.\nFacing these challenges, county officials are working to strengthen their affordable housing programs \u2014 though in a separate, somewhat amorphous fashion.\nThis month, the housing department will announce a revised version of its countywide housing policy, last approved by county legislators in 2001. The policy is expected, among other things, to encourage multifamily and affordable senior housing.\nCounty planners also are trying to play a role in addressing the housing problem by rewriting the zoning code. Early this year, they are expected to announce changes that would trim bureaucratic processes and allow developers to put units more quickly on the market, which should lower housing costs countywide.\nMeanwhile, council member Nancy Floreen (D-At Large), a strong advocate for the business community, introduced legislation earlier this month that would broaden a tax exemption for developers who construct affordable housing near county-designated development areas.\n\u201cYou need as many tools as you can come up with to ensure a good, consistent supply of affordable housing,\u201d she said.\nThe county\u2019s affordable housing crunch has been on the minds of county officials for years, and it\u2019s been a priority for County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) during his five-year tenure as the highest-ranking county official. But the problem crystallized in November, when a local economist, Stephen S. Fuller, delivered a presentation that council members called eye-opening.\nFuller, the director of the Center for Regional Analysis at George Mason University, provided a breakdown of the current state of the county\u2019s economy. What struck council members most were his estimates of the county\u2019s housing needs.\nAccording to Fuller\u2019s data, the county will need 33,000 to 50,000 more housing units over the next decade for families making $100,000 a year or less. A little more than half of those units must accommodate families that make less than $50,000 a year.\nAnd the projections apply only to the people coming into the county over the next decade, Fuller said at the hearing. They don\u2019t address the residents already waiting for housing.\nCounty Planning Director Rollin B. Stanley said he has met with housing officials and hopes the new policy is creative in bolstering affordable housing. He added that the streamlining of the zoning process will encourage developers to build more housing, including affordable units.\nFloreen\u2019s bill, intended to also help out developers, takes aim at impact taxes, which help finance some infrastructure projects. A portion of the tax would be waived for developers who build twice the amount of affordable housing required by law. Currently, a developer must build 2.4 times the required amount to qualify for a partial waiver.\nA public hearing on the bill is scheduled Jan. 24. Stanley says Floreen\u2019s bill sounds like a \u201cgood\u201d idea. Nelson said he is unsure of its potential impact.\nFloreen said that even with the tax waiver, high-rise developers may not work in the county because of the expense related to affordable housing. For high-rise developers, the tax can reach more than $7,000 per apartment, she said.\n\u201cI have been doing this now for almost 30 years,\u201d said Floreen, a former Planning Board member who has helped to author many affordable housing bills. \u201cWe still have not cracked the nut of affordable housing.\u201d\nAlford, 54, is a single mother who moved to her current apartment because she thought it would be a good place to raise her daughter, Sheilia. Now a senior at Trinity Washington University, Sheilia often comes home to stay with her mother at the apartment complex on Pear Tree Court.\nIt is no longer the cushy place it once was, Alford said. Gone are the community center, the gym and the microwaves in every kitchen. The landlord doesn\u2019t want to maintain them, Alford said.\nAlford has wanted to leave for years but has given up on finding another place. She makes her rent payments almost every month, even though her part-time salary was $2,000 a month. She says she has bad credit, so she\u2019s stuck.\nFor the past month, she has been trying to rest. She is earning only about $200 to $300 a week as an in-home nursing assistant and is living off money that an acquaintance owed her. She says she suffers from chronic pain, probably caused by lifting people when she worked as a nurse technician. (She doesn\u2019t know precisely what\u2019s wrong \u2014 she can\u2019t afford to get a full work-up from a doctor \u2014 but sometimes sees a chiropractor.)\nAlford says she will start working harder in March. She hopes to make more than her previous salary. She\u2019ll need it; she expects her rent to increase around April.\n\u201cThey need to have more affordable housing,\u201d she said of the county. \u201cThere are too many people out there without it.\u201d\nRead more on PostLocal.com: \nWater, sewer pipes: \u2018The unseen catastrophe\u2019\nSlots site in Pr. George\u2019s faces tough odds\nPromoting breastfeeding in Southeast\nVictims in fatal Bethesda crash identified"}, {"name": "88c53c1a-2c1a-11e1-8af5-ec9a452f0164", "body": "For the past 20 years, New Zealand\u2019s the Renderers have dwelled in relative obscurity, releasing a handful of great, if largely unheard, records. In spite of this, the husband-and-wife duo of Brian and Maryrose Crook continue to engage fans with a persistently surprising and occasionally mind-blowing take on psychedelia. Last year, the group put out \u201cA Rocket Into Nothing,\u201d a slow-burning, guitar-heavy freakout that highlights the strengths of a unit indebted to its influences but also eager to push the envelope in a sometimes nerve-jangling fashion.\nThe album\u2019s spooky opening dirge, \u201cDown River,\u201d tells the tale of a claustrophobic, Lynchian hellscape accompanied by noirish guitars and clanging bells. \u201cI found myself there\u00a0/Washed up in a place where the night is the only teacher,\u201d Maryrose deadpans in a near-whisper. It\u2019s intimate and creepy enough to want to hear where the song is taking her, even if the outcome might be terrifying.\nThe rollicking tale of love gone wrong, \u201cTyphoid Mary,\u201d is inspired by one of the saddest incidents in Western history. \u201cLike Typhoid Mary / Amongst the lost and scared she tormented and tormented,\u201d the lyrics snarl while guitars squeal through a seemingly busted amp. On the album\u2019s final track, \u201cHypnotised,\u201d Maryrose describes a somnambulant world that\u2019s part industrial and part spiritual hell. It is a disconcerting, vertiginous noise experiment reminiscent of the John Cale-produced Nico album, \u201cThe Marble Index.\u201d\nPart Velvets, part Mekons, part unalloyed, indescribable weirdness, the Renderers are keen chroniclers of the many moral tragedies of contemporary times. It\u2019s a bumpy ride, but one well worth taking.\n \n \n \u2014 Elizabeth Nelson \n \n\u201cDown River,\u201d \u201cTyphoid Mary,\u201d \u201cHypnotised\u201d"}, {"name": "bb6e116c-3563-11e1-836b-08c4de636de4", "body": "If you are daunted by your New Year\u2019s resolutions to lose weight, quit smoking or stop watching so much reality television, you should see what rapper Wale has planned for 2012.\n\u201cNew year, new goals,\u201d he told a hometown crowd on Sunday night at his Fillmore Silver Spring show, before running down his ambitious to-do list.\nThe guy did a lot last year: He dropped the critically acclaimed \u201cEleven One Eleven Theory\u201d mix tape and the less-well-received \u201cAmbition,\u201d his second studio album. He signed with Rick Ross\u2019s Maybach Music Group \u2014 instantly upping his profile \u2014 and had a strong showing on MMG\u2019s \u201cSelf Made Vol.\u20091.\u201d\nSo how\u2019s he going to top all of that? \u201cI\u2019m about to bring D.C. a gold album in 2012,\u201d he said. The rapper, who performed Sunday with Da Big Fella and Black Cobain, said that \u201cAmbition,\u201d released in October, is on target to be certified gold in \u201cearly April.\u201d\nWale then launched into \u201cLegendary,\u201d saying that when he wrote the bragging track from \u201cAmbition,\u201d he imagined performing it \u201cat home, announcing that the album just went gold \u2014 this is as close as we\u2019re gonna get.\u201d\nWale also said he\u2019s considering dropping \u201c200 Miles & Running\u201d this year. The follow-up to his amazing 2007 \u201c100 Miles & Running\u201d mix tape would be good news for people who prefer his mix-tape output to his label projects.\nThis year, he also wants to raise the District\u2019s profile as a fashion mecca. \u201cI just did an interview with GQ, and they asked me where I get my style from,\u201d he said. \u201cI said, \u2018From home.\u2019\u2009\u201d\nWale got everyone in the crowd to wave their sneakers in the air during \u201cFitted Cap\u201d and to sing off-key during the hit hip-hop ballad \u201cLotus Flower Bomb.\u201d\nThe place then erupted at the first notes of \u201cBait,\u201d which is probably the best thing Wale did last year. The track, which has a bounce percussion courtesy of go-go band TCB (which, sadly, wasn\u2019t there to perform it live), name-checks all things D.C., from the Stadium Club to the Goodman League games.\nWale ended \u201cBait\u201d by promising that he would \u201cget that Grammy for y\u2019all!\u201d An even better goal for 2012 would be more tracks exactly like that."}, {"name": "4a3a51f6-3584-11e1-836b-08c4de636de4", "body": "Terrell Stoglin didn\u2019t hesitate Monday when asked how he has become a better defender.\n\u201cIt was basically Coach [Mark] Turgeon telling me I\u2019m not going to play if I don\u2019t play defense,\u201d Stoglin said, matter-of-factly. \u201cIt was learning his rules, and [realizing] he\u2019s not going to change them for anybody.\u201d\nThat includes Stoglin \u2014 the ACC\u2019s leading scorer (21.8 points per game) and the player most responsible for the Terps\u2019 9-3 record through an early season of growing pains.\nWith Stoglin leading the scoring in nine of Maryland\u2019s 12 games, the Terps take a six-game winning streak into Tuesday\u2019s meeting with Cornell (4-8), their final tune-up before Sunday\u2019s ACC opener at North Carolina State.\nThe most ballyhooed developments of Maryland\u2019s unbeaten December homestand have been the return of point guard Pe\u2019Shon Howard and the debut of 7-foot-1 center Alex Len, who in two games has become the Terps\u2019 second-leading scorer (13.5 ppg).\nBut no less notable is the evolution of Stoglin, the sophomore shooting guard with the quick trigger, who is gradually seeing the benefits of diversifying his game \u2014 even if the epiphany has come under duress.\n\u201cI feel like I\u2019m getting better,\u201d said Stoglin, who has made defending and distributing the ball a greater priority. \u201cPlaying both ends of the court is something I want to do, pretty much, instead of just being an offensive player.\u201d\nJust 6-1 and 185 pounds, Stoglin bristles with competitive fire. He thrives in clutch moments and has a knack for creating scoring opportunities that aren\u2019t in the playbook. The result can make Turgeon shriek over his decision-making and, a split-second later, cheer the result. But Stoglin\u2019s impulse to take over games has, at times, grated on teammates who can score, too, but don\u2019t get the chance when the offense devolves into a one-man show.\nTurgeon\u2019s challenge has been to transform Stoglin into a more well-rounded teammate without quashing his offense. Through encouragement, patience, repetition and the occasional threat, Turgeon appears to have made progress, convincing Stoglin that Maryland won\u2019t get far on his shooting prowess alone.\nThe proof lies in the statistics. Only since Howard and Len joined the lineup has Maryland managed to beat an opponent by double-digits. And as the team\u2019s offense has added a new dimension, Stoglin\u2019s three-point shooting has dramatically improved \u2014 from 33.3 percent in the first nine games to 56 percent in the last three. And his assists have increased (from 1.9 per game to 3).\n\u201cIt makes it easier when Pe\u2019Shon runs the [point guard position],\u201d said Stoglin, who made a career-high six three-pointers in each of Maryland\u2019s last two games. \u201cHe has great vision, and I was getting fed the ball.\u201d\nMaryland is also defending better, holding its last three opponents to 65 points per game (down from 69.8 ppg).\nIf Maryland were a more experienced team, Tuesday\u2019s game against Cornell would be a good time to polish plays designed with N.C. State in mind. Cornell has lost all seven of its road games to date. The Big Red aren\u2019t prolific scorers, averaging 66.9 points per game, but play hard-nosed defense and boast a senior backcourt.\nBut this young Maryland team tends to play to the level of its opponent, struggling to beat squads that Maryland teams of old routinely routed.\n\u201cWe\u2019re totally concentrating on Cornell,\u201d Turgeon said. \u201cThey do enough things defensively that demand your attention.\u201d\nTerrapins note: Senior guard Sean Mosley has been limited after aggravating the high-ankle sprain he suffered during the summer. Mosley said he expects it to be sore for the rest of the season. \u201cIt\u2019s hard for me to sit out because I love the game of basketball so much,\u201d said Mosley, who\u2019s averaging 9.5 points and 5.2 rebounds per game.\nTerrell Stoglin didn\u2019t hesitate Monday when asked how he has become a better defender.\n\u201cIt was basically Coach [Mark] Turgeon telling me I\u2019m not going to play if I don\u2019t play defense,\u201d Stoglin said, matter-of-factly. \u201cIt was learning his rules, and [realizing] he\u2019s not going to change them for anybody.\u201d\nThat includes Stoglin \u2014 the ACC\u2019s leading scorer (21.8 points per game) and the player most responsible for the Terps\u2019 9-3 record through an early season of growing pains.\nWith Stoglin leading the scoring in nine of Maryland\u2019s 12 games, the Terps take a six-game winning streak into Tuesday\u2019s meeting with Cornell (4-8), their final tune-up before Sunday\u2019s ACC opener at North Carolina State.\nThe most ballyhooed developments of Maryland\u2019s unbeaten December homestand have been the return of point guard Pe\u2019Shon Howard and the debut of 7-foot-1 center Alex Len, who in two games has become the Terps\u2019 second-leading scorer (13.5 ppg).\nBut no less notable is the evolution of Stoglin, the sophomore shooting guard with the quick trigger, who is gradually seeing the benefits of diversifying his game \u2014 even if the epiphany has come under duress.\n\u201cI feel like I\u2019m getting better,\u201d said Stoglin, who has made defending and distributing the ball a greater priority. \u201cPlaying both ends of the court is something I want to do, pretty much, instead of just being an offensive player.\u201d\nJust 6-1 and 185 pounds, Stoglin bristles with competitive fire. He thrives in clutch moments and has a knack for creating scoring opportunities that aren\u2019t in the playbook. The result can make Turgeon shriek over his decision-making and, a split-second later, cheer the result. But Stoglin\u2019s impulse to take over games has, at times, grated on teammates who can score, too, but don\u2019t get the chance when the offense devolves into a one-man show.\nTurgeon\u2019s challenge has been to transform Stoglin into a more well-rounded teammate without quashing his offense. Through encouragement, patience, repetition and the occasional threat, Turgeon appears to have made progress, convincing Stoglin that Maryland won\u2019t get far on his shooting prowess alone.\nThe proof lies in the statistics. Only since Howard and Len joined the lineup has Maryland managed to beat an opponent by double-digits. And as the team\u2019s offense has added a new dimension, Stoglin\u2019s three-point shooting has dramatically improved \u2014 from 33.3 percent in the first nine games to 56 percent in the last three. And his assists have increased (from 1.9 per game to 3).\n\u201cIt makes it easier when Pe\u2019Shon runs the [point guard position],\u201d said Stoglin, who made a career-high six three-pointers in each of Maryland\u2019s last two games. \u201cHe has great vision, and I was getting fed the ball.\u201d\nMaryland is also defending better, holding its last three opponents to 65 points per game (down from 69.8 ppg).\nIf Maryland were a more experienced team, Tuesday\u2019s game against Cornell would be a good time to polish plays designed with N.C. State in mind. Cornell has lost all seven of its road games to date. The Big Red aren\u2019t prolific scorers, averaging 66.9 points per game, but play hard-nosed defense and boast a senior backcourt.\nBut this young Maryland team tends to play to the level of its opponent, struggling to beat squads that Maryland teams of old routinely routed.\n\u201cWe\u2019re totally concentrating on Cornell,\u201d Turgeon said. \u201cThey do enough things defensively that demand your attention.\u201d\nTerrapins note: Senior guard Sean Mosley has been limited after aggravating the high-ankle sprain he suffered during the summer. Mosley said he expects it to be sore for the rest of the season. \u201cIt\u2019s hard for me to sit out because I love the game of basketball so much,\u201d said Mosley, who\u2019s averaging 9.5 points and 5.2 rebounds per game."}, {"name": "6ed9e2c0-2c19-11e1-8af5-ec9a452f0164", "body": "Salsa, the Spanish word for sauce, is virtually synonymous with New York\u2019s Fania Records. Often described as the Latin Motown, the label hosted recording sessions by anyone who was anyone in Spanish Harlem\u2019s electrifying music scene during the late \u201960s and \u201970s \u2014 everyone from Tito Puente, Mongo Santamaria and La Lupe to Louie Ramirez, Eddie Palmieri and Willie Colon. All of these performers and dozens of others are represented on \u201cEl Barrio,\u201d Fania\u2019s new 4-CD, 64-track collection of Nuyorican funk, soul, disco and boogaloo from the label\u2019s heyday.\nDisc one concentrates on the funk, including \u201cTogether (Juntos),\u201d conga great Ray Barretto\u2019s bracing denunciation of racism, and \u201cEverybody\u2019s Got Soul,\u201d a churning slab of psychedelia by the aptly named, one-album wonders Flash and the Dynamics. The second disc focuses on disco and is highlighted by Puente\u2019s 1974 hit \u201cWata Wasuri,\u201d Colon\u2019s meringue-steeped \u201cAmor Verdadero\u201d and Lou Perez\u2019s brisk \u201cAfro Hustle.\u201d The third disc is dedicated to boogaloo, the infectious fusion of Latin and black R&B that achieved mainstream popularity in the late \u201960s. Maybe the most irresistible of the four CDs, disc three is galvanized by the horn-charged call-and-response of Joey Pastrana\u2019s \u201cKing of Latin Soul\u201d and Dave Cortez\u2019s breakbeat-triggered \u201cHappy Soul With a Hook,\u201d one of several tracks here built around the groovy rhythm of Archie Bell and the Drells\u2019 1968 hit \u201cTighten Up.\u201d Disc four is subtitled \u201cGangsters, Latin Soul and the Birth of Salsa,\u201d but really everything in \u201cEl Barrio\u201d defies classification, other than as salsa, and of the most piquant variety.\n\u2014 \n \n Bill Friskics-Warren \n \n\u201cWata Wasuri,\u201d \u201cKing of Latin Soul,\u201d \u201cHappy Soul With a Hook\u201d"}, {"name": "159f4878-3581-11e1-836b-08c4de636de4", "body": "Dale Hunter preached patience from the day he arrived in Washington, acknowledging that a turnaround would take time.\nHe was right. The process has been slow, sometimes painfully so.\nBut the Capitals finished 2011 with a flourish, winning three in a row, and they are 4-1-1 in the last six and 8-6-1 since Hunter stepped behind the bench on Nov. 28.\nThat\u2019s not to say they\u2019re once again the Stanley Cup favorites the Hockey News ordained them to be in September. But after watching Alex Ovechkin and his teammates soundly defeat the New York Rangers and Buffalo Sabres, then rally on New Year\u2019s Eve and steamroll the league-worst Blue Jackets, even hardened skeptics would probably agree the Capitals are moving in the right direction.\nAnd that U-turn has started with goaltender Tomas Vokoun, who has been on top of his game since reemerging as the Capitals\u2019 No. 1 netminder. After serving as the backup for three consecutive games, he has stopped 107 of the 112 shots he\u2019s seen since replacing Michal Neuvirth in Buffalo on Dec. 26.\nThe defense in front of Vokoun has also been trending in the right direction because of Hunter\u2019s passive 1-2-2 forecheck and assistant coach Jim Johnson\u2019s adjustments in the defensive zone, namely tightening the gap between themselves and attacking players. The most tangible measure of the defensive zone improvement has been the reduction of odd-man rushes and prime scoring chances against, players said.\n\u201cBefore we play more wide-open style,\u201d Vokoun said. \u201cNow we\u2019re definitely a lot more responsible. If we have a breakdown, it\u2019s more like a four-on-three, never a two-on-one. It\u2019s obviously a difference for the goalie when you don\u2019t have to face three breakaways or two-on-one\u2019s in one game.\u201d\nAs a result, the Capitals have yielded two goals or fewer in six of the past eight games. In 15 games under Hunter, in fact, they\u2019re surrendering an average of 2.33 goals per game, which would be good for sixth in the league. Under Boudreau, they permitted an average of 3.27 per, which would rank 28th.\n\u201cOur goaltender will make the save if we give up an outside shot,\u201d forward Brooks Laich said. \u201cWe\u2019ve really been aware of not giving up grade-A chances.\u201d\nIn addition to instilling a defensive conscience, Hunter\u2019s other primary directive was to flip Ovechkin\u2019s \u201con switch.\u201d\nWe\u2019re witnessing progress on that front, too.\nOvechkin has notched six goals and three assists in the past six games, is taking more shots, getting more scoring chances and seems to be more physically involved, even if that physicality isn\u2019t always consistent.\nSince the coaching change, the former two-time MVP has taken 4.3 shots per game, up from 3.6 before it. He\u2019s also getting 3.3 scoring chances per game, up from 2.4 under Boudreau.\n\u201cI have more opportunities,\u201d said Ovechkin, who was named the NHL\u2019s second star of the week Monday. \u201cRight now, I start go to the net more than I usually do. .\u2009.\u2009. If I had opportunity to shoot, I just have to shoot the puck. If I\u2019m not going to shoot the puck, I\u2019m not going to score. I just change a little bit of [my] game, and you can see [it].\u201d\nHunter said he suspects Ovechkin\u2019s surge is connected to the 6-foot-3, 230-pound bulldozer of a left wing throwing his weight around more often.\n\u201cAgainst the Rangers, he had a big hit on [Dan] Girardi, their shutdown \u2018D\u2019,\u201d Hunter said, referring to a first-period, open-ice check Ovechkin dished out in the Capitals\u2019 4-1 win over the Eastern Conference leaders on Dec. 28. \u201cThat backs \u2019em off, and he gets more room.\u201d\nOvechkin\u2019s reemergence may be the most noticeable, but he isn\u2019t the only Young Gun putting up impressive numbers lately. Winger Alexander Semin has joined his close friend and countryman, scoring three goals and five points during the winning streak. Center Nicklas Backstrom, meantime, has a goal and three assists during the recent run.\nIt\u2019s also possible the fourth member \u2014 defenseman Mike Green \u2014 will rejoin the band this week after missing all but eight games this season due to injuries. Green hinted after practice that he would like to play Tuesday against visiting Calgary.\n\u201cAs a coach you can\u2019t wait to get him back in the lineup,\u201d Hunter said. \u201cIt\u2019s like a Christmas present.\u201d\nThe next test arrives this week, which began with Washington sitting in ninth place in the Eastern Conference but only one point out of sixth.\nFirst, the Capitals host a road-weary Flames team that\u2019s lost three straight at Verizon Center, where they\u2019ve posted the third-best record on home ice this season at 13-5-1. Then they Capitals head to San Jose, where they haven\u2019t won since 1993, and Los Angeles, where they haven\u2019t won since 2005.\nDefenseman Karl Alzner senses an opportunity in the coming weeks.\n\u201cIn January and February, guys\u2019 heads start to wander a little bit, at least until the all-star break comes,\u201d he said. \u201cSo this is a good opportunity to win some games and surprise some teams.\u201d\nBy most measures, the Capitals closed out 2011 headed in the right direction. Now everyone is wondering whether it\u2019s a long- or a short-term turnaround.\nIt was the question of the day Monday at Kettler Capitals Iceplex, where the tone in the dressing room was upbeat. It was also optimistic, albeit cautious.\n\u201cI don\u2019t think we can be patting too much ourselves on the back,\u201d Vokoun said. \u201cWe\u2019re certainly not anywhere near where we should be. Our play has improved, but we have a ways to go to be in the standings where we want to be.\u201d"}, {"name": "b19c8066-2b3a-11e1-b030-3ff399cf26f3", "body": "Each week, the pregnant women sit in a conference room at a health clinic in Southeast Washington. With their hands protectively resting on their protruding stomachs, the women enrolled in the four-week class soak up information on the health benefits of breast-feeding.\nThis gathering at the East of the River Lactation Center on Good Hope Road is aimed at increasing breast-feeding among African American mothers living in Northeast and Southeast Washington and across the Anacostia River. Officials say those women have the lowest breast-feeding rates in the District.\nAccording to research by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, black mothers nationwide lag behind other racial and ethnic groups when it comes to breast-feeding. In a recent study, 54\u00a0percent of black mothers breast-fed their infants from birth, compared with 74\u00a0percent of white mothers and 80\u00a0percent of Hispanic mothers. Breast-feeding rates for all groups, including Asian and Native American mothers, drop after six months. But just 27\u00a0percent of African American mothers continued to breast-feed, compared with 43\u00a0percent of white mothers and 45\u00a0percent of Hispanic mothers.\nCenter director Sahira Long, a certified lactation consultant who is also president of the D.C. Breastfeeding Coalition, said the barriers that any mother would face in breast-feeding, such as lack of knowledge, are magnified among blacks in the high-poverty neighborhoods.\n\u201cThere are myths that are passed on \u2014 that it is painful, or that it will be difficult to get the baby to go to anyone else than the mother,\u201d Long said. \u201cIf that mother is the first to breast-feed in their family, then they won\u2019t get the family or community support.\u201d\nLong, who is also a pediatrician, has been treating patients at the Good Hope Road clinic run by Children\u2019s Health Center since 2004. It was her interaction with families that helped her see the need for breast-feeding awareness classes. She helped land a one- year, $163,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to get a full-time breast-feeding peer counselor, a part-time lactation consultant, part-time nutritionist, supplies and two other positions. District mothers receiving food and nutrition services from the USDA\u2019s Women, Infants and Children program are the target group.\nNationally, WIC serves nearly half of the infants born in the United States each year, said Kevin Concannon, the USDA undersecretary for food, nutrition and consumer services. Mothers enrolled in the WIC program receive checks to purchase vitamin- and protein-packed foods and work with a nutritionist during their pregnancy and after the baby is born.\nIn recent years, Concannon said, WIC has increased its efforts to promote breast-feeding by offering an enhanced food package for women who exclusively nurse their children until the first birthday. The hope is that the incentive will help mothers choose breast-feeding rather than have WIC pay for food and formula, Concannon said. The WIC program also makes breast pumps available.\nAs a result of the effort, breast-feeding among mothers in the WIC program jumped from 41\u00a0percent participation in 1998 to 63\u00a0percent in 2010, Concannon said.\n\u201cWe have been adding elements to support this breast-feeding strategy and I think we can get up to 85\u00a0percent participation if we stay the course,\u201d he said.\nAt the D.C. lactation center, officials set out to increase the number of mothers who try breast-feeding \u2014 and stay with it \u2014 by 10\u00a0percent over the current level of 44\u00a0percent. The center tracks participation monthly, and in the first six months of operation, it met that goal, Long said.\nJamilah Muhayman, the center\u2019s breast-feeding peer counselor who started in August, has breast-fed all three of her children. She approaches clients more like a cousin or sister promoting a good cause than an authority figure. \u201cMy goal is to help moms make an informed decision,\u201d she said.\nOn a recent day, Kathryn Dowling, the part-time nutritionist, called Muhayman to ask her to talk with a mother who breast-fed her daughter at home but gave the child formula when she was in public. The mother might be a good candidate for a breast pump.\nThe mother, Veronica Lee, 22, said she loved breastfeeding her 3-month-old daughter, Kennedi. She enjoyed the special bond that they had and she knew that breast milk was best for her baby. But she just didn\u2019t feel comfortable doing it in public.\nMuhayman suggested that Lee try a breast pump because it would allow her to express the milk into a bottle and then give the bottle to her daughter. \u201cI\u2019ll let you think about it,\u201d Muhayman said, pausing for about a minute as Lee considered the option.\n\u201cYes, I\u2019m interested,\u201d Lee said.\nMuhayman left the room and returned with the pump. She carefully displayed each part and described its use to Lee, who paid close attention. Muhayman played a short video explaining how to use the pump, then gave Lee a card with her phone number and told her to call if she had questions.\nWith the baby snuggled inside a carrier strapped to her chest, Lee tucked her WIC checks into her baby bag and slung the new breast pump onto her shoulder. She said it would come in handy as she starts a job training program this month and has to leave her daughter with a sitter.\n\u201cI\u2019ll definitely use it,\u201d she said."}, {"name": "df81c9de-2fd9-11e1-8149-868dd2c9e12e", "body": "In trying to make any sense of ABC\u2019s duuuuummmmb new Tuesday night sitcom, \u201cWork It,\u201d it\u2019s quite tempting to rummage through centuries of examples that might help us deconstruct modern civilization\u2019s endless fixation for putting a man in a dress for comic effect. But for the purposes of this particular bit of TV criticism, we needn\u2019t travel any further back than 1980, when Tom Hanks and Peter Scolari played \u201cBosom Buddies.\u201d In an unseemly display of uncredited
closet-raiding, \u201cWork It\u201d is just \u201cBosom Buddies\u201d with a smokier eye.\nWhether you\u2019re talking about Milton Berle, Bugs Bunny or the ancient Greeks, bad drag is one of the oldest jokes around, and there is some debate about whether it works the way it used to, thanks mainly to the tireless efforts of professional drag queens, who\u2019ve upped the game considerably, and proponents of transgender rights, who\u2019ve had it with pop culture\u2019s mockery and bias.\nNow a man wearing a dress is just a regressive bit of vaudeville that can, from a certain view, seem as outdated as blackface.\n\u201cWork It\u201d attempts \u2014 badly \u2014 to translate a subset of America\u2019s present unemployment woes, particularly as those statistics apply to jobless men. Amid a so-called \u201cmancession,\u201d the numbers could suggest a gender imbalance that favors women.\nBen Koldyke plays Lee Standish, a husband and father in St. Louis who was once a top salesman at a Pontiac dealership, until Pontiac went kaput during the GM bailout. With no luck on the job search, he hears that a pharmaceutical giant is hiring sales reps. However: \u201cWe\u2019re only looking for girls,\u201d another sales rep tells Lee.\n\u201cWhy?\u201d he asks.\n\u201cWell, we\u2019ve had some guys [as salesmen],\u201d she says, \u201cbut the doctors seem to want to nail them less.\u201d\nRather than file an EEOC complaint (or point out that not all doctors are men), Lee\u2019s natural response is to raid his wife\u2019s closet and visit his local MAC counter. Voila \u2014 awkward transformation. With \u201cher\u201d impeccable sales r\u00e9sum\u00e9, Lady Lee gets the pharmaceutical sales job.\nThe laughs could not be thinner. The show\u2019s comedy is predicated on the fact that none of Lee\u2019s female co-workers seem able to discern the obvious (she\u2019s a man, baby), probably because they are too busy living down to every lame stereotype associated with office women, up to and including the itty-bitty salads they nibble at lunch. As an actor, Koldyke is terrible at being a woman, but he\u2019s also not very entertaining as a man. He\u2019s a drawing of a man wearing women\u2019s clothing.\nFortunately \u2014 which also means unfortunately \u2014 there\u2019s Angel Ortiz (played by Amaury Nolasco), Lee\u2019s bosom bud, who used to work as a mechanic in the Pontiac service department. Lee tells Angel his new secret and, soon enough, Angel puts on a skirt and gets a sales-rep job, too \u2014 and his drag is somehow just a little bit better than Lee\u2019s, and an immeasurable fraction more funny, but that still doesn\u2019t do much to give the show spark.\nCertainly we could all find something better to watch, but that\u2019s also what I thought about Tim Allen\u2019s creaky \u201cLast Man Standing,\u201d which is also airing on ABC Tuesday nights. It, too, is bloated with outdated sitcom humor about the sexes, and it turned out to be a relative ratings smash.\nI wish I could regard \u201cWork It\u201d as harmless fun for the viewers who can stand to subject themselves to it, but there are other issues for us all to think about here. Have you looked at television lately? It\u2019s full of men submitting to various emasculations \u2014 on sitcoms, in dramadies, on beer commercials \u2014 but it\u2019s also lousy with a retro sense of sexism against women. \u201cWork It\u201d repeatedly underlines an offensive notion that nothing could be more humiliating for today\u2019s man than to have to become a woman.\nThere\u2019s also another issue afoot, having to do with actual men who desire to live as women. We still have a long way to go in our culture when it comes to accepting the rights of those who question or alter their birth gender, and who knows if we\u2019ll all ever arrive at the same page on this.\nBut now, even the word \u201ctrans\u201d (and the more slangy \u201ctranny\u201d) has become a loaded gun in mass media, with the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) issuing public rebukes to those who throw the word \u201ctranny\u201d and \u201ctrans\u201d around in off-the-cuff fun. These words vernacularly rocketed forward about four years ago, when a \u201cProject Runway\u201d contestant started saying \u201ctranny\u201d and \u201chot tranny mess\u201d as a way to express his displeasure at bad fashion.\nAfter years of tranny-this and tranny-that, the word police struck back on behalf of the transgendered community. Now, even well-meaning gay and gay-friendly celebs (Neil Patrick Harris, Kelly Osbourne and the writers of \u201cGlee,\u201d to name but a few) are lectured by GLAAD and others about the improper use of the T-word.\nGLAAD has called on ABC to pre-cancel \u201cWork It,\u201d because, as the organization\u2019s acting president, Mike Thompson, said in press release, \u201cTransphobia is still all too prevalent in our society, and this show will only contribute to it. It will reinforce the mistaken belief that transgender women are simply \u2018men pretending to be women,\u2019 and that their efforts to live their lives authentically as women are a form of lying or deception.\u201d\nI can sympathize with GLAAD up to a point (and I\u2019m all for the concept of canceling a show before it stinks up the schedule) but not to this particular point. \u201cWork It\u201d doesn\u2019t need to be canceled for its insensitivity so much as it needs to be canceled for its vapidity and lack of originality. There may be some humor left in cross-dressing comedy, but it would have to be done with nuance and sharp wit \u2014 and the freedom to throw around a word like \u201ctranny\u201d if need be.\nWhen I was in high school, the highest form of assembly humor was to tart up the football players in cheerleader uniforms and lipstick and have them flounce around the stage. Curiously, nobody laughed harder at this than the girls. Any PhD candidate in anthropology would recognize and duly footnote such an array of gender bugaboos, whether they are observed in an auditorium or in a remote jungle.\nOr on television. Bad drag says so much about men and women, and often what it says isn\u2019t flattering to our mutual intelligence. \u201cWork It\u201d is a big step back, aimed at a thoroughly brain-dead audience.\n(30 minutes) premieres Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. on ABC."}, {"name": "a12ea9a4-3574-11e1-81ef-eaf2bd09c8a2", "body": "Two musical legends are hoping that the third time at the altar is a charm.\nThe pair of Grammy-winning sexagenarians \u2014 Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin and voice of Aerosmith Steven Tyler \u2014 announced Monday that each is engaged.\nFranklin told the Associated Press that she will marry longtime friend Willie Wilkerson. And, \u201cNo, I\u2019m not pregnant,\u201d the 69-year-old Franklin joked.\nThe twice-wed Franklin \u2014 who got engaged over the holidays \u2014 said she is considering a summer wedding in Florida.\nAs for Tyler, a representative confirmed that the 63-year-old singer and \u201cAmerican Idol\u201d judge will marry Erin Brady. No other details about the nuptials were available.\nFranklin and Tyler have had health setbacks in recent years.\nEach is a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee (Tyler as a member of Aerosmith).\nCee Lo Green angered John Lennon fans with his lyric-changing performance of \u201cImagine\u201d on NBC\u2019s New Year\u2019s Eve broadcast from Times Square, Rolling Stone reports.\nInstead of singing the original verse, \u201cnothing to kill or die for / and no religion too,\u201d the famous producer and The Voice judge sang \u201cnothing to kill or die for / and all religion\u2019s true.\u201d\nLennon fans took to Twitter to voice their indignation to Green\u2019s version. He responded directly to some angry tweets, and later tweeted: \u201cYo I meant no disrespect by changing the lyrics guys! I was trying to say a world were u could believe what u wanted that\u2019s all.\u201d Green has since deleted all tweets addressing the \u201cImagine\u201d situation.\nRupert Murdoch started the new year by joining Twitter, the Associated Press reports. The 80-year-old media mogul, who is still recovering from the News of the World phone hacking scandal, tweeted: \u201cMy resolutions, try to maintain humility and always curiosity, and of course diet!\u201d Murdoch attracted more than 40,000 followers just two days after opening his account."}, {"name": "964ba0a0-3597-11e1-836b-08c4de636de4", "body": "Who: Virginia Tech vs. Michigan\nWhen: 8:30 p.m. Where: Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans.\nTV: ESPN. Radio: WJFK (106.7 FM), WSPZ (570 AM).\nRecords: Hokies 11-2;
Wolverines 10-2.\nGet David Wilson the ball: \u2009After last month\u2019s 38-10 loss to Clemson in the ACC championship game, conference player of the year David Wilson openly complained about Virginia Tech\u2019s play calling when he registered season lows in both carries (11) and yards (32). That shouldn\u2019t be the case this time around, even though the strength of Michigan\u2019s defense is its front seven. Wilson is just 29 yards shy of breaking Ryan Williams\u2019s school record for rushing yards, and the Hokies\u2019 coaches recognize they\u2019ll need a big game from their junior tailback to score a victory over the Wolverines. For fans, though, it\u2019s a double-edged sword. Wilson is pondering whether to declare for the NFL draft, and a big performance will only help his draft stock.\nMake Denard Robinson throw: Slowing down Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson has dominated the Hokies\u2019 bowl preparations after their worst defensive performance of the year against Clemson. Defensive coordinator Bud Foster said the solution will center around Virginia Tech\u2019s ability to stop the run and turn Robinson into a passer. He\u2019s completing just 56 percent of his passes this year and has 14 interceptions this year. That, though, is easier said than done for a player Coach Frank Beamer has compared to Michael Vick. If Robinson gets loose, it would mean another long night for Virginia Tech\u2019s defense.\nHokies\u2019 kicking conundrum:\u2009It has not been a good two weeks for the Hokies\u2019 kicking game. First, starting placekicker Cody Journell was suspended indefinitely after being arrested on felony breaking-and-entering charges. Then his back-up, senior Tyler Weiss, was sent home on a bus after missing curfew during the team\u2019s first night in New Orleans. That leaves the field-goal kicking duties to senior Justin Myer, the Hokies kickoff specialist this year. Beamer has sounded anything but confident in Myer, who has the strongest leg on the team but struggles with accuracy. Whether it will be an issue Tuesday remains to be seen, but don\u2019t be surprised if Beamer is forced to go for it on fourth down more than he\u2019s accustomed to.\n\u2014 Mark Giannotto"}, {"name": "65ec9ea0-356f-11e1-81ef-eaf2bd09c8a2", "body": "While most of the Washington area did whatever it does on a day when nearly everything is closed, the Arlington County Board claimed bragging rights Monday as the first local government to get to work in 2012.\nIt\u2019s a tradition fulfilled by appointments, calendar-setting and speeches. In the hour-long meeting at the noticeably empty county building, all four board members took advantage, touting the virtues of the urban-suburban county, from affordable housing to free mulch delivered curbside, new homeless services to the prospect of allowing backyard chicken coops.\nArlington being Arlington, the board members announced plenty of doggedly sincere initiatives for the coming year, beginning with new board chairman Mary Hynes, who proposed an effort to train citizens, staff and board members in the \u201cArlington Way\u201d of civic engagement.\nThe loosely defined style of governing often means lots of constructive citizen input, unfettered access to information, consensus-seeking (not unanimity) among people with a stake in the result, and respect for the differences that arise. Hynes would like to formally define and institutionalize that process and seek out individuals and groups that have escaped the government\u2019s official notice, such as soccer leagues, choral groups and babysitting cooperatives.\n\u201cIt\u2019s not that we don\u2019t do it; it\u2019s that we can be more systematic and intentional about it,\u201d Hynes said in a pre-meeting interview. \u201cWhat allowed us to get where we are today was that there was active, constructive community engagement in big decisions.\u201d\nSeveral studies of the Arlington Way have concluded that \u201cwe don\u2019t get the diversity of voices in our planning that we have in the county,\u201d she said.\nThat\u2019s partly due to the erratic translation services offered in a county whose biggest minority group is Hispanic. But it\u2019s also that \u201cyou almost have to be a retired person\u201d to attend all the meetings to develop the most useful relationships with officials, she acknowledged. Considering that Arlington has a low unemployment rate and is home to some of the area\u2019s most highly compensated workaholics, that can be a significant barrier.\nCounty employees will be evaluated in part on how well they work with citizens in this process, which will be put into effect in the fall\u2019s land use planning. County board members will start holding office hours, or \u201copen door\u201d meetings, each Monday night across the county, Hynes said.\nWalter Tejada, the board\u2019s new vice chairman, said he\u2019ll fix his efforts in 2012 on urban agriculture, small-business partnerships and affordable housing, including the Columbia Pike land use and housing study, which he said can be accomplished \u201cwithout displacement of existing tenants.\u201d About 57\u00a0percent of Arlingtonians are renters, he said. Tejada also expressed support for the Arlington Egg Project, a group of people lobbying to permit residents to raise hens in the county.\nThe first-of-the-year speechifying might be dismissed as a Model UN for elected officials, except the issues discussed often find their way onto the agenda. Last year, for example, then-chair Chris Zimmerman promised a more business-friendly county. By year\u2019s end, the board had come under criticism for being overly beholden to developers on several projects. The board also passed one of the top requests of business owners last month \u2014 a new ordinance that allows sidewalk advertising signs.\nArlington faces serious issues in the near future: more than $50\u00a0million in critical maintenance for its deteriorating physical infrastructure; a widening gulf in the cost and availability of housing; a $100 million increase in the cost of the Columbia Pike streetcar line alone, never mind the associated development costs; and a budget forecast for the next year that limits growth to 1\u00a0percent.\nBoard members touched on all those issues in their speeches. But their critics came away unfulfilled. They wondered whether the county should attempt to expand and finish Long Bridge Park. They questioned a plan to buy a privately owned high-rise for county offices and a homeless shelter, and they remained unconvinced by the wisdom of dense development in some areas while some neighborhoods of single-family homes remained off-limits.\nThey were, it seemed, experts all in the Arlington Way.\nRead more on PostLocal.com: \nWater, sewer pipes: \u2018The unseen catastrophe\u2019\nIn Montgomery County, a push for affordable housing\nSlots site in Pr. George\u2019s faces tough odds\nVictims in fatal Bethesda crash identified"}, {"name": "0ee39a0c-3315-11e1-a274-61fcdeecc5f5", "body": "As we speed-surf the choppy seas of YouTube in search of new sounds, two minutes spent watching a music video can actually feel like a serious time commitment. So what happens when a chunk of music asks for two hours of our lives?\nThat\u2019s the running time of \u201cThemes for an Imaginary Film,\u201d an expansive and enchanting new album by Symmetry, a collective of musicians assembled by Johnny Jewel of the Portland, Ore., neo-disco duo Glass Candy. Last year, Jewel contributed a handful of stylish electro-pop songs to the soundtrack of \u201cDrive,\u201d a very real film starring the hunky and ubiquitous Ryan Gosling. Here, Jewel has delivered 36 tracks of his most evocative avant-pop yet. \u201cYour life is the film,\u201d the album\u2019s liner notes declare, \u201cthis is the soundtrack.\u201d\nYou\u2019ll have to read those liner notes online because this thing was too big to fit onto ye olde compact disc. Instead, Jewel is streaming \u201cThemes for an Imaginary Film\u201d in one fell swoop on Soundcloud.com and peddling it on iTunes for $9.99 \u2014 about 28 cents per song.\nBut the recession-friendly price point isn\u2019t what makes this thing so timely. Instead, \u201cThemes\u201d feels like another step in the portability of pop and how we stitch music into our daily routines. From car stereo to Walkman to iPod, we\u2019ve been exponentially soundtracking our lives for decades. And it has revealed certain truths about the artists we hold dearest. Tom Petty will always sound great on the loneliest highways the same way that Madonna will always sound great on the loneliest treadmills.\nJewel isn\u2019t writing pop music of that caliber, but his soundscapes are still very easy to get lost in, whether you\u2019re on the road, at the gym, hiking in the woods or foraging in the produce aisle.\nHe cites the influence of everyone from legendary composer John Cage to slasher-flick-director/soundtrack-composer John Carpenter, and you can especially hear the latter in Symmetry\u2019s music. All but one of the album\u2019s songs are instrumental, and are built around warm analog synthesizer tones that, instead of dissolving into ambient porridge, consistently generate a sense of subliminal urgency.\nWhen Ruth Radelet of Glass Candy buddy-band Chromatics teleports in to sing the lovelorn finale track, \u201cStreets of Fire,\u201d it brings the album to a misty-eyed conclusion. \u201cI watch the moon hang in the air,\u201d she sings. \u201cI feel the cool breeze through my hair. .\u2009.\u2009. I\u2019m still here waiting for you.\u201d\nIt\u2019s lovely \u2014 and because the lyrics provide such specific images, it\u2019s a little bit cruel, too. When Radelet sees that moon and feels that breeze, it seems selfish after two hours of music that allowed us to go wherever our imaginations allowed.\nNonetheless, \u201cThemes\u201d delivers on its promise of making life feel cinematic, no matter how mundane it might be. Listen to this album at Safeway, and your search for organic rice vinegar becomes an explorer\u2019s quest for some ancient relic. Play it while you clean your apartment, and scrubbing the toilet becomes as exigent as defusing a bomb. Take it on a jog, and you\u2019re not just running \u2014 you\u2019re running from something.\nWhether you\u2019re fleeing a phantom villain or the shame of a New Year\u2019s resolution unfulfilled, these songs effortlessly graft themselves to the experiences unfolding around you. So hurry up, and listen closely."}, {"name": "efe32b00-3566-11e1-81ef-eaf2bd09c8a2", "body": "POLK CITY, Iowa \u2014 Nothing fires up a crowd like cloture.\nRick Santorum, the man who has improbably become a contender in Tuesday\u2019s Iowa caucuses, was making his closing argument to a sea of TV cameras here on Monday when he swerved into a thicket of Senate trivia.\n\u201cI\u2019m not disagreeing with the 17th Amendment,\u201d the former senator from Pennsylvania proclaimed to journalists (and a few locals) at a coffee shop here. But, he went on, that obscure 1913 provision that established the direct election of senators had the side effect of creating \u201csomething called cloture.\u201d\nAll was quiet in the coffee shop. At the senator\u2019s side, a child played with his Game Boy.\nIt\u2019s not clear why Santorum thought his final pitch to Iowa voters should include a mention of century-old legislative procedure. More clear from the Polk City appearance \u2014 and a subsequent one up the road in Perry, Iowa \u2014 is that he won\u2019t last long as a top-tier presidential candidate if he doesn\u2019t improve his game.\nThe \u201cSantorum surge\u201d in recent days has little to do with the candidate himself and everything to do with the fact that he is the last man standing after voters discarded all the rest. There\u2019s little time left to scrutinize Santorum before the Iowa vote \u2014 and in his case, that\u2019s an exceedingly lucky thing. Given more time in the spotlight, he would reveal himself as a hard-edged Dan Quayle.\nIn Perry, Santorum gave his opinion that President Obama was more of a divisive figure than Richard Nixon, keeper of the enemies list: \u201cI suspect President Nixon, although I don\u2019t know, would talk and work with people and wouldn\u2019t go out and demonize them as this president has done.\u201d\u00a0Santorum doesn\u2019t know it, but that doesn\u2019t stop him from asserting it.\nAt the same stop, he played loose with the facts when contrasting Ronald Reagan\u2019s vacation schedule with Obama\u2019s.\n\u201cI don\u2019t know if it\u2019s true, but somebody told me this,\u201d he began, \u201cthat Ronald Reagan never left the White House at Christmas, and the reason was he wanted all the staff to be able to spend that time at home.\u201d\nA check of the record would have revealed to Santorum that in 1988, Reagan was in Los Angeles during Christmas, and that he spent the week after nearly every Christmas (and more than a year of his presidency) in Santa Barbara, Calif.\nI\u2019ve covered Santorum on and off since his first run for Congress, in 1990, when I was a rookie reporter in Pittsburgh. Months ago, I predicted there would be such a Santorum surge in Iowa.\u00a0But if and when he receives serious scrutiny, the surge will surely subside.\nOn Monday, for example, he claimed that he is the only candidate who \u201chas proof that, with a conservative record, they were able to attract independents and Democrats.\u201d And that is why Pennsylvania voters unceremoniously tossed him from office in 2006 by a nearly 18-point margin?\u00a0A n Iowan reminded him of this.\n\u201cGreat question,\u201d the candidate replied, blaming his GOP congressional colleagues and President George W. Bush\u2019s unpopularity.\nTalking about Obama\u2019s health-care legislation, he pledged that \u201cI simply won\u2019t enforce the law.\u201d But discussing immigration policy minutes later, he said that \u201cwe need to enforce the law.\u201d\nIf the surge sustains him past Iowa, he will have difficulty explaining such things as his pledge to make abortion restrictions his first order of business (never mind that nonsense about jobs) or the treason accusation he hurled at Obama on Monday: In foreign conflicts, he said, \u201che\u2019s sided with our enemies on almost every single one.\u201d\nScrutiny would also expose Santorum\u2019s attachment to Washington process. His closing argument to Iowa voters moved from his cloture talk to mention of the Senate Appropriations Committee, earmarks, the House Judiciary Committee, the Syrian Accountability Act and a long discourse on Honduras. He grew particularly impassioned when telling his uncomprehending listeners that \u201cwe can take the 9th Circuit and divide it into two circuits.\u201d\nSantorum is clearly enjoying his surge, boasting that, while other campaigns had an \u201cairplane, bus, cars, etcetera,\u201d he simply had \u201cChuck\u2019s truck\u201d \u2014 a Dodge pickup. Now there is a shiny campaign bus with his name on it.\nAt Santorum\u2019s first stop, in Polk City, the coffee shop\u2019s maximum occupancy was listed as 49, but at least 200 filled the room and 100 more spilled into the street. In the media throng were journalists from Japan, Russia, France, Britain, Italy and Australia. \u201cThey weren\u2019t here last week,\u201d a pleased Santorum told the crowd.\nEnjoy it, Senator. They won\u2019t be here for long."}, {"name": "b2a6e686-25b8-11e1-9e90-b906ba7a84f9", "body": "PRIEST LAKE, Idaho \u2014 Chantell and Mike Sackett\u2019s dream house, if it is ever built, will have to be situated just so in order to minimize the view of neighboring homes and maximize the vista of pristine water and conifer-
covered mountain.\nBut their roughly half-acre lot in the Idaho Panhandle has proved to be the perfect staging ground for a conservative uproar over the powers of the Environmental Protection Agency.\nThis month, the Supreme Court will review the Sacketts\u2019 four-year-long effort to build on land that the EPA says contains environmentally sensitive wetlands. A decision in the couple\u2019s favor could curtail the EPA\u2019s authority and mean a fundamental change in the way the agency enforces the Clean Water Act.\nEven before the court takes up the case, the couple have become a favored cause for developers, corporations, utilities, libertarians and conservative members of Congress, who condemn what one ally told the court is the EPA\u2019s \u201cabominable bureaucratic abuse.\u201d\nIt is a familiar spot for the agency, which has come under withering criticism in the political arena. Republican presidential contenders routinely denounce the EPA\u2019s actions and regulations as \u201cjob-killers,\u201d while GOP House members have voted to ban the agency from regulating greenhouse gases and tried to cut its enforcement budget.\nThe Pacific Legal Foundation, which represents the Sacketts, features their saga on its Web site under the headline \u201cTaking a Bully to the Supreme Court.\u201d Conservative talk-show hosts have taken up the couple\u2019s fight, and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) convened a Capitol Hill forum to spotlight what speakers called the dictatorial enforcement policies of the EPA.\n\u201cThis is what happens when an overzealous federal agency would rather force compliance than give any consideration to private property rights, individual rights, basic decency or common sense,\u201d said the Sacketts\u2019 home-state senator, Mike Crapo (R.)\nThe issue before the justices is narrow: whether the Sacketts can go to court to challenge the EPA\u2019s initial findings that their lot contains wetlands. But their plight of not being able to develop their land while other homes are built hundreds of feet away and the threat of millions of dollars in fines have provided the EPA\u2019s opponents with a compelling story line.\nThe EPA has not commented on the case except in court papers. But a coalition of environmental groups, using documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, is attempting to present \u201canother side\u201d of the story to the court.\nThey say documents from the Sacketts themselves indicate that they learned early on that there was a good chance their lot contained wetlands. \u201cPetitioners chose to ignore the options available to them,\u201d says the brief, prepared by the Natural Resources Defense Council and others, and decided to escalate a legal battle rather than negotiate for a permit to build.\nThe Sacketts\u2019 attorneys have taken the unusual step of objecting to the filing of the NRDC\u2019s amicus brief, saying it is an attempt to inappropriately \u201cexpand the record.\u201d\nThe Sacketts, who run an excavation business in Priest Lake, have watched the drama with a sense of amazement.\n\u201cWe\u2019re not the fighting kind,\u201d Mike Sackett said recently over a dinner of chicken-fried steak at a restaurant in nearby Coeur d\u2019Alene.\nAdded Chantell Sackett: \u201cWell, we think we\u2019re not, but we are.\u201d\nPriest Lake might be one of Idaho\u2019s prettiest spots, a 19-mile stretch of clear water that is \u201cthe Lake Tahoe of the upper Northwest,\u201d said Damien M. Schiff, the Pacific Legal Foundation lawyer who will argue the Sacketts\u2019 case at the Supreme Court.\nFed by streams cascading from the Selkirk Mountains and bordered by state and national parkland, the lake is protected but hardly isolated. Houses and resorts crowd the privately owned lakeshore; piers and a marina jut into its waters.\nThe 0.63-acre lot that Chantell bought as a surprise for Mike in 2005 is part of a subdivision, bounded on two sides by roads and 500 feet from the lake. There are several homes between it and the shore; Mike worked on the construction of one of them and said it did not require a special permit.\nWhile land to the north across Kalispell Bay Road appears clearly to be wetlands, Mike said, he had no reason to believe that his lot contained \u201cwaters of the United States\u201d subject to the Clean Water Act.\n\u201cHow can you call it a wetland when it\u2019s a lot in an existing subdivision that has a sewer hookup?\u201d he said.\nThe couple obtained local building permits and, in 2007, began to fill the lot in preparation for their new home. Three days later, acting on a complaint, three officials from the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers ordered work to stop because they thought the land might contain wetlands.\nThe agency subsequently issued a compliance order to the Sacketts, saying the site must be restored to its natural state before construction began. Failure to follow the orders could make the couple liable for fines up to $37,500 a day, an amount that would be nearly $15,000 more than they paid for the lot.\nThe EPA contends that was a starting point for negotiations. Obtaining an exception to build is often available for far less than the Sacketts have spent on legal fees, the agency said. On the other side, the couple describe a bureaucratic maze that left them convinced that they would never be able to build if the EPA\u2019s contention that the land contained wetlands stood.\nThe question for the Supreme Court in Sackett v. EPA is whether the couple had the right at that point to appear before a judge and contest the agency\u2019s contention that their land is subject to the Clean Water Act. If they could not do so, the Sacketts say, their constitutional right of due process has been violated.\nSo far, all the lower courts that have reviewed the claim agree with the government that the agency\u2019s compliance orders are not subject to judicial review. The agency\u2019s orders are not final, the courts have agreed; it must prove a violation of the Clean Water Act to a judge, and it is up to the courts to levy fines.\nThe Sacketts counter that the compliance order is mandatory; they say it requires action in order to avoid the potential of ruinous fines. Even the prospect of waiting to see whether the EPA will go to court \u2014 it has years to make the decision \u2014 deprives the couple of their land and leaves them \u201cto the mercy and whim of EPA.\u201d\nIf the couple is successful, it would mean that they could bring the issue before a court.\nThe danger of a Sackett victory, said Lawrence M. Levine, a senior lawyer at the Natural Resources Defense Council, is that it could allow major polluters to tie up the EPA in litigation.\nCompliance orders and the threats of heavy fines are meant to persuade violators to fix problems.\n\u201cThis case is really challenging an important enforcement authority that Congress granted the EPA to move for a speedy resolution of environmental harms,\u201d Levine said in an interview.\nThose supporting the Sacketts, Levine said, want to portray \u201cthe EPA as overstepping its proper role and being heavy-fisted and unfair.\u201d\n\u201cIt\u2019s really a war against federal regulation of any kind,\u201d he added.\nSchiff said that although the EPA has an \u201cimportant environmental mandate which we don\u2019t deny,\u201d the agency is \u201cout of control and has been for some time.\u201d\nThe Chamber of Commerce, in a brief supporting the Sacketts, said internal EPA documents uncovered in a different suit against the agency shows that it trains employees to make compliance orders \u201cugly, onerous, and tough\u201d to coerce settlements.\nUsually, the Supreme Court accepts cases in which lower courts have disagreed over a law. The fact that all have upheld the EPA\u2019s powers suggests that some justices are anxious to consider the issue themselves.\nThe court\u2019s last look at the EPA\u2019s powers over wetlands, a 2006 decision in a case also brought by the Pacific Legal Foundation, resulted in a muddled ruling that left few satisfied.\nThe Sacketts knew none of this legal history when their case began. And they realize that even a victory at the high court would only mean more rounds of legal hearings.\nBut they are taking the long view. \u201cAs far as I\u2019m concerned, I don\u2019t care what it takes,\u201d Mike Sackett said. \u201cThere\u2019s going to be a house there.\u201d\n Read more on PostPolitics.com \n Ron and Rand Paul, a double dose of liberty \n The Take: Will the nominee shape the GOP, or will the GOP shape the nominee? \n Federal Eye: When are the 2012 federal holidays? "}, {"name": "d3b2fd18-3573-11e1-81ef-eaf2bd09c8a2", "body": "Bob Anderson, 89, a fencing master who coached British Olympians before becoming Hollywood\u2019s premier choreographer of sword-fighting, tutoring the likes of Sean Connery, Errol Flynn and Lindsay Lohan in the art of the blade, died Jan. 1 at a hospital in West Sussex, England.\nHis death was confirmed by Philip Bruce, the president of the British Academy of Fencing.\nFor more than six decades, Mr. Anderson\u2019s talents both as fencer and teacher were on display in many of the most swashbuckling of all Hollywood action epics. Thrust and parry, the clang of steel on steel, through corridors, up and down stairways of medieval castles \u2014 Mr. Anderson showed some of the world\u2019s best-known actors how to do it.\nMr. Anderson secretly earned an enduring place in cinematic lore as the man behind the mask and light saber of archvillain Darth Vader in two \u201cStar Wars\u201d films.\nMr. Anderson\u2019s role as Vader\u2019s on-screen stunt double in the epic light saber battles of \u201cThe Empire Strikes Back\u201d (1980) and \u201cReturn of the Jedi\u201d (1983) went uncredited.\nIn \u201cEmpire,\u201d it is Mr. Anderson who severs the right hand of Luke Skywalker, played by Mark Hamill, in the climactic scene where Vader, voiced by James Earl Jones, says to Luke, \u201cI am your father.\u201d\nDuring a 1983 interview, Hamill revealed that Mr. Anderson had stepped in for actor David Prowse for Vader\u2019s light saber fights.\n\u201cBob worked so bloody hard that he deserves some recognition,\u201d Hamill told Starlog magazine, noting that he had told director George Lucas it had been unfair to keep Mr. Anderson\u2019s contribution secret.\nMr. Anderson\u2019s career in films as a stunt double and sword master began in the 1950s and continued into the 2000s. He enjoyed pointing out that after editing a film for certain sequences, he sometimes ended up on both ends of a duel \u2014 occasionally fighting himself to the death.\nHis credits included \u201cThe Princess Bride\u201d (1987), the Lord of the Rings trilogy (2000s), and a 1998 remake of \u201cThe Parent Trap,\u201d for which Mr. Anderson instructed a freckly-faced youth \u2014 Lohan.\nHe trained the rapier-rattling heroes played by Charlie Sheen and Kiefer Sutherland for \u201cThe Three Musketeers\u201d (1993). He was Connery\u2019s double in \u201cHighlander\u201d (1986). He perfected the swordsmanship of Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom in \u201cPirates of the Carribbean\u201d (2003).\n\u201cThe sword is the ultimate weapon,\u201d Mr. Anderson told the Los Angeles Times in 1995.\n\u201cIt\u2019s not so threatening shooting at someone 20 or 30 paces away or while hiding behind things. When you get into a sword fight, you\u2019re standing toe-to-toe with someone who\u2019s trying to kill you and you\u2019re looking him in the eye \u2014 now that\u2019s thrilling.\u201d\nFor a revival of the Zorro franchise, Mr. Anderson taught Antonio Banderas, Anthony Hopkins and Catherine Zeta-Jones.\n\u201cWe used to call him Grumpy Bob on the set, he was such a perfectionist,\u201d Martin Campbell, director of \u201cThe Mask of Zorro\u201d (1998) and \u201cThe Legend of Zorro\u201d (2005), told the New York Times in 2001. \u201cHe was incredibly inventive and also refused to treat any of the actors as stars. They would complain about the intensity of the training, but having worked with him there\u2019s nobody I\u2019d rather use.\u201d\nRobert James Gilbert Anderson was born Sept. 15, 1922, in Hampshire, England. Survivors include his wife, Pearl, and three children.\nHe started fencing during a stint in the British Royal Marines during World War II and earned a number of championships during his military service. He competed for Britain in the 1952 Olympics at Helsinki, where his team tied for fifth in the saber event.\nAfter leaving the military, he was named coach of the British national team and led his team to six consecutive Olympic games, including silver-medal-winning appearances in Rome in 1960 and Tokyo in 1964.\nHis work in filmmaking began in 1953 when he appeared in \u201cThe Master of Ballantrae\u201d as a stunt double opposite Flynn. While rehearsing one duel, Mr. Anderson accidentally cut Flynn on the thigh.\nAlthough Flynn claimed responsibility for the mistake, Mr. Anderson was known for a short time around Hollywood film sets as \u201cthe man who stabbed Errol Flynn.\u201d\nRead more obituaries:\nJerzy Kluger, boyhood friend of Pope John Paul\nGroundbreaking designer Eva Zeisel\nBroadcaster Stephen J, McCormick\nJames A. Zimble, Navy surgeon general"}, {"name": "c540f1e8-3584-11e1-ac55-e75ea321c80a", "body": "In the first three games since returning from a long suspension, George Mason\u2019s Andre Cornelius offered fleeting glimpses at his dangerous capabilities. In his fourth appearance Monday afternoon, he reminded the Patriots of what they were sorely missing the first stage of the season.\nWith his sputtering team in need of a spark, the 5-foot-10 guard instigated a massive surge and finished with 20 points as George Mason defeated William & Mary, 70-56, in a Colonial Athletic Association game before 5,017 at Patriot Center.\nCornelius scored 14 points in the last 81 / 2 minutes of the opening half to help cancel out a 10-point deficit. Overall he shot 7 for 10 and made 5 of 8 three-pointers to guide the Patriots (10-4, 2-0) to their third straight triumph heading into Thursday\u2019s visit to Old Dominion. He had averaged just eight points per game in his first three contests.\n\u201cI am getting back into my comfort zone,\u201d said Cornelius, who sat out 10 games as punishment for legal problems. \u201cMy teammates did a good job of getting me open. .\u2009.\u2009. When I was shooting the ball, it seemed like the [basket] was big and I was going to hit everything. Every time the ball left my hand, it felt good.\u201d\nCornelius was a starter the previous two seasons, but with the Patriots off to a promising start and the senior needing time to regain his rhythm, Coach Paul Hewitt has used him off the bench. After watching Cornelius shoot with confidence, score in transition and upgrade the team\u2019s defense, a change could come at some point.\n\u201cIf he keeps playing like this, he\u2019ll be getting starters\u2019 minutes and be there when the game is going to be decided,\u201d Hewitt said. \u201cWe\u2019ll see how it goes. It\u2019s nice to get a guy come off the bench and knock in a couple threes and provide so much energy on defense.\u201d\nThe Patriots, coming off an impressive victory at College of Charleston on Friday, trailed the Tribe (2-12, 0-2) most of the first half. But with Cornelius in stride and the rest of the team following along, George Mason embarked on a 26-2 run bridging intermission to claim a 48-31 lead with 14 minutes remaining.\nAhead by one at halftime, the Patriots scored the first 16 points of the second half, led by Ryan Pearson\u2019s six. Everything was going George Mason\u2019s way: Sherrod Wright missed a fast break dunk, but on an ensuing inbounds pass, Cornelius swished his fourth three-pointer.\n\u201cHe was sensational,\u201d William & Mary Coach Tony Shaver said. \u201cHe turned the game [in the first half], and their speed turned the game.\u201d\nMike Morrison contributed 14 points, making 6 of 8 free throws. A 44 percent career shooter from the line, the senior forward has hit 16 of 22 in the past three games. Pearson, coming off a 35-point, 14-rebound effort at Charleston, was slowed by foul trouble and finished with 11 points and three steals.\nMarcus Thornton, a first-team All-Met at McNamara last winter, scored 15 of his career-high 23 points in the first half for the Tribe. He made five consecutive field goals in the opening period, including three three-pointers.\nWith Pearson in foul difficulty, the Patriots had to rely on transition and long-range shooting. Cornelius converted a three-point play and three-point shot during an 8-0 burst. Later, with George Mason trailing by seven, Cornelius made two three-pointers and converted a fast break as part of a 10-0 run. William & Mary never led again.\nEarly in the second half, while the Tribe mishandled the ball repeatedly, the Patriots shot 9 for 11 to pull away. Tim Rusthoven was the only Tribe player to score for the first nine-plus minutes of the half.\n\u201cIt started with Dre,\u201d Morrison said of Cornelius. \u201cYou always want to close the first half strong, and he definitely did that \u2014 caught fire. He really kept us in it, making big shots. That momentum carried us over into the second half. And then we carried over the focus. We got [defensive] stop after stop after stop, and stops turn into easy buckets.\u201d"}, {"name": "96f94720-3595-11e1-81ef-eaf2bd09c8a2", "body": "Two years into the Mike Shanahan era with the Washington Redskins, the pressing question is, where\u2019s the beef? In analyzing the Redskins\u2019 5-11 record, what\u2019s striking is their inability to assert any physical dominance over opponents, to push anybody around, or to survive key injuries. If the Redskins do one thing this offseason it should be this: get bigger.\nThey need to be bigger across the board. They need a bigger quarterback, a bigger pass catcher, and some bigger offensive linemen. They need to get bigger in the defensive secondary, bigger and more barreling in the backfield. In every way, they need bigger playmakers.\nFact: 15 players on the Redskins\u2019 active roster are less than 6 feet tall. Fact: None of the NFL\u2019s division winners carries as many diminutive bodies. The Green Bay Packers? Only seven players under 6 feet. San Francisco 49ers? Eight. Baltimore Ravens? Ten. New York Giants? Just four. The Redskins like to talk about contending for the NFC East next season. But that\u2019s not a seriously attainable goal with such a lightweight roster.\n\u201cThis is a team that lacks size, speed, and talent at certain positions,\u201d says former quarterback Joe Theismann. \u201cThey have to focus on finding some big, fast game-changers.\u201d\nBigger isn\u2019t the entire answer in the NFL, of course. Smaller and faster is a distinct advantage at certain positions, and there is no measurement that accounts for a London Fletcher, the NFL\u2019s leading tackler at 5\u2009feet\u200910. But if you are looking for a pattern, a general trend, so many of the things that went wrong with the Redskins this season had to do with the fact that once they lost some big bodies to injuries \u2014 the Chris Cooleys, Tim Hightowers, LaRon Landrys \u2014 they were just not very prepossessing physically.\nThey didn\u2019t just lack height, they lacked muscle, and overall field presence. Think about it. Rex Grossman\u2019s tendency to get passes batted down. The five blocked field goals and a blocked extra point. The inability to gain significant yards after contact. Or to bulldoze into the end zone. Or to wrap up opponents.\n\u201cAs you watch other teams, they\u2019ll have individuals that are just faster and stronger,\u201d Theismann says. \u201cWe can\u2019t impose our will on anyone.\u201d\nDefensively, the Redskins gave up 30 pass plays of 25 or more yards, tied for 17th in the league. That suggests a couple of things: that their safeties and corners were outjumped on too many occasions, and that they missed tackles or let opponents break free.\nThe secondary was rarely able to separate the opponent from the ball. Josh Wilson is a nice, young corner who had a career-high 17 deflections, but he\u2019s just 5\u2009feet\u20099 and 192 pounds. DeAngelo Hall is 5-10, 195. The Redskins created just 21 turnovers \u2014 fewer than all but eight teams. How many times did we see Redskins defenders meet opponents at the point of a catch, and make enough of an impact to disrupt the play?\nOn the other side of the ball, the Redskins\u2019 receivers averaged just 4.8 yards after the catch, 27th in the league out of 32 teams. How often did a Redskin burst a tackle and hit the afterburners?\nAccording to the NFL\u2019s official stats, the offensive line ranked a cumulative 23rd in the league. It allowed 108 quarterback hits \u2014 third worst in the league. Only Minnesota and Seattle, which gave up 114 each, were more porous.\nWhat all this means is that the Redskins need to have another very busy offseason. They need to add size and brawn \u2014 and they need to add it two and three layers deep, so that when they lose first- and second-stringers, as is inevitable in the NFL, they don\u2019t cave. This will disappoint those who hoped Shanahan\u2019s Redskins were a two-year project, and it clearly disappointed Shanahan himself. He continues to insist the team is improving under his stewardship despite an 11-21 record, and that, healthy, they might have won ten games.\nBut Shanahan didn\u2019t shy away from the obvious conclusion, either. When he was asked in his year-ending news conference Monday how active he would be this offseason in changing personnel, he replied, \u201cVery similar to last year.\u201d It was a deadpan remark, but an important one: Last year, he added eight new starters.\n\u201cI know we\u2019re not there yet,\u201d he said. \u201cI knew it wasn\u2019t going to happen overnight. It\u2019s not going to happen in one year, or two years. We need a good free agent class, and more depth. But I like what we\u2019ve got.\u201d\nThe next few months for Shanahan will be make or break. Owner Daniel Snyder has been patient for two years but there is nothing in his personal history that suggests he will be patient for three. The good news is, the last time Shanahan and General Manager Bruce Allen went shopping, they did well. They drafted well, judging by linebacker Ryan Kerrigan and running back Roy Helu, and they found good value in free agents such as Stephen Bowen.\nShanahan\u2019s focus last offseason was primarily the defense \u2014 five of the new starters were on that side of the ball. One area where the Redskins were significantly big enough to impress the opponent was along the defensive front. The assumption is that this offseason he will focus on the offense, beginning with quarterback. He needs to find the big performer who can redeem his failed gambles on Donovan McNabb, Grossman and John Beck. It will be Shanahan\u2019s signature offseason, for better or worse, a final referendum on his judgment.\n\u201cThis year\u2019s draft and free agency will be the most important of the last decade,\u201d Theismann predicts, \u201cand of the decade going forward.\u201d"}, {"name": "79630d6e-357b-11e1-81ef-eaf2bd09c8a2", "body": "OSKALOOSA, IOWA \u2014 If former senator Rick Santorum (Pa.) is able to translate his late surge into a strong showing in Tuesday\u2019s Iowa caucuses, it won\u2019t be because of money spent on advertising \u2014 his budget pales in comparison to those of his rivals for the Republican presidential nomination.\nAnd it won\u2019t be because of his sparkling debate performances \u2014 as a longtime second-tier candidate, he received limited airtime during those events.\nBut it may be because of the personal connections he has built with people such as Steve Boender, a farmer who met Santorum in May.\n\u201cI soon came to realize, as I got to know him, how he walked his talk. And he knew what he was talking about,\u201d Boender said.\nConventional wisdom says presidential candidates win in Iowa by forging that kind of bond with voters. Now, Santorum is banking that this is still a path to victory, despite the focus this year on massive spending by \u201csuper PACs\u201d and the influence of Fox News interviews and nationally televised debates.\nAfter running behind for much of the race, Santorum pushed into third place in the latest Des Moines Register poll. On Tuesday, a key test for him will be whether a network of local supporters such as Boender can mount the organizational effort needed to draw enough voters to the caucuses \u2014 an operation his campaign cannot afford to buy.\nBack in the spring, Boender ferried each of the candidates to a high school here for voter forums hosted by a conservative Christian group. He then wrote each candidate a thank you note, but only Santorum responded with a handwritten letter, he said.\nThat led to many e-mail exchanges and to Santorum bringing his wife and seven children for a week-long stay at a cabin on the Boender family farm in August.\nOn the last night, the two families shared a dinner of grilled corn, barbecued chicken and pork loin, then prayed and sang hymns.\nSantorum has spent months trying to create an army of Steve Boenders \u2014 crisscrossing Iowa with more than 360 events and visits to all 99 counties.\n\u201cI think it can work,\u201d Boender said. \u201cAt the caucus, you\u2019re around your friends and neighbors. People will be able to stand up and say: \u2018I know Rick. He\u2019s real. He\u2019s courageous. He\u2019s principled, and he\u2019ll actually accomplish what he sets out to do.\u2019\u2009\u201d\nSantorum completed his statewide tour in November, then spent the final weeks before the caucuses revisiting strategic strongholds.\n\u201cOskaloosa is near and dear to our hearts,\u201d he said as he opened a rousing address to about 150 supporters \u2014 including Boender and his wife, Jan \u2014 at the Smokey Row coffee shop Friday. \u201cWe went out and worked hard. And, most people would say, in anonymity.\u201d\nFor a long time, the quiet grass-roots effort appeared to be going nowhere. But now, after watching his opponents rise and fall in the polls, Santorum is something of a last man standing, and his come-from-behind status is suddenly attracting lavish media attention.\nThere were so many television cameras crowded into the tiny Reising Sun Cafe in Polk City to catch Santorum on Monday morning \u2014 including reporters from Italy and Australia \u2014 that voters were forced out into the frigid winter air.\n\u201cTruth be told, we Americans, we love a Cinderella story,\u201d said Bob Vander Plaats, who was chairman of former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee\u2019s successful 2008 campaign in Iowa and now heads the group Boender works with. Vander Plaats endorsed Santorum nearly two weeks ago.\n\u201cWe love someone who came out of nowhere. Those things are going for him now. Mitt Romney, for all the money he has, wishes he could buy this story line right now,\u201d Vander Plaats said.\nSantorum is hoping to activate Christian conservatives, many of them former Huckabee supporters, who have splintered among the candidates.\nIn his stump speech, he highlights his experience in foreign affairs and fiscal policy from his days in Congress \u2014 but above all he sells himself as the race\u2019s most aggressive advocate against abortion and same-sex marriage.\n\u201cThere are a lot of candidates who run who check the box. You know, \u2018I\u2019m pro-life,\u2019\u2009\u201d Santorum said Friday at a restaurant in Marshalltown. \u201cThe question is, number one, do you feel comfortable going out there and advocating for a culture of life? And number two, are you going to lead and try to move the ball forward, to try to advance the culture of life? I think if you look at the track record, we have the best track record of actually doing both of those things.\u201d\nLocal political blogger Shane Vander Hart, who promoted Huckabee four years ago, is doing the same for Santorum.\nSo is Dan Davidson, a Virginian who used to run an online radio show called \u201cStuck on Huck\u201d but on Sunday broadcast \u201cWe Pick Rick\u201d from Santorum\u2019s Iowa headquarters.\n\u201cHe\u2019s got some ground to make up,\u201d said Lori Jungling, the Iowa co-chair of Huck PAC who is now a Santorum caucus captain. \u201cBut people just need to get out and tell friends and family. This is how we\u2019ve always done the Iowa caucuses \u2014 amongst ourselves.\u201d\nRecalling his own effort, Huckabee said that in an unsettled electorate, that kind of support brings reliability.\n\u201cI had very strong support, and it was very loyal,\u201d he said Saturday. \u201cAnd they were absolutely going to go to the caucuses.\u201d"}, {"name": "c9a5b12a-2cc8-11e1-8af5-ec9a452f0164", "body": "At first glance, the pizza-size hole that popped open when a heavy truck passed over a freshly paved District street seemed fairly minor.\nThen city inspectors got on their bellies with a flashlight to peer into it. What they discovered has become far too common. A massive 19th-century brick sewer had silently eroded away, leaving a cavern beneath a street in Adams Morgan that could have swallowed most of a Metro bus.\nIt took three weeks and about a million dollars to repair the sewer, which was built in 1889.\nTime and wear \u201chad torn off all the bricks and sent them God knows where,\u201d said George S. Hawkins, general manager of the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority. \u201cWe have to find them and see if they\u2019re plugging up the system somewhere farther down the line.\u201d\nIf it were not buried underground, the water and sewer system that serves the nation\u2019s capital could be an advertisement for Band-Aids. And it is not much different from any other major system in the country, including those in many suburbs and in cities less than half as old as Washington.\n(Vote: How should we fix the systems? )\nAlthough they are out of sight and out of mind except when they spring a leak, water and sewer systems are more vital to civilized society than any other aspect of infrastructure.\nRapidly deteriorating roads and bridges may stifle America\u2019s economy and turn transportation headaches into nightmares, but if the nation\u2019s water and sewer systems begin to fail, life as we know it will too. Without an ample supply of water, people don\u2019t drink, toilets don\u2019t flush, factories don\u2019t operate, offices shut down and fires go unchecked. When sewage systems fail, cities can\u2019t function and epidemics break out.\n\u201cAll the big cities have these problems, and to me it\u2019s the unseen catastrophe,\u201d Hawkins said. \u201cMy humble view is that the industry we\u2019re in is the bedrock of civilization because it\u2019s not just an infrastructure that is a convenience, that allows you to get to work faster or slower. At least with bridges or a road, people have some idea of what it is because they drive on them and see them. \u201d\nAnd just like roads and bridges, the vast majority of the country\u2019s water systems are in urgent need of repair and replacement. At a Senate hearing last month, it was estimated that, on average, 25 percent of drinking water leaks from water system pipes before reaching the faucet. The same committee was told it will take $335\u00a0billion to resurrect water systems and $300\u00a0billion to fix sewer systems.\nThere is no better illustration of the looming national crisis than the District\u2019s system.\nThe average D.C. water pipe is 77 years old, but a great many were laid in the 19th century. Sewers are even older. Most should have been replaced decades ago.\nEmergency crews rush from site to site to tackle an average of 450 breaks a year.\nRaw sewage flows into the Potomac, the Anacostia and Rock Creek whenever it rains hard \u2014 hundreds of times a year \u2014 an annual flush of about 3 billion gallons, according to D.C. Water.\nFirefighters are equipped with computerized cue sheets to tell them which of the 9,157 hydrants in the District have enough water pressure to put out a fire.\nThe average water and sewer bill has gone up about 50 percent in just four years, to $65 a month for single-family homes. Unless there is federal regulatory relief, it may climb to $100 a month by the end of the decade.\nThe decrepit system has 1,300 miles of water pipe and 1,800 miles of sewers. The water pipes are being replaced at an average of 11 miles a year. At that rate, replacing them all will take more than 100 years.\nThere\u2019s no money to do it any faster. And, Hawkins says, \u201cif you did it much faster than that, you could paralyze the city in terms of traffic.\u201d\n* * *\nA snowstorm had turned the District into a ghost town a couple of years ago when Hawkins trudged through the snow to check a break in a water main at 21st Street and New Hampshire Avenue.\nThe intersection isn\u2019t far from several embassies, and a few foreign visitors came from a hotel on the corner to watch as snowplows dug down to find the leak\u2019s source. Hawkins recalls telling the visitors that the old mains under New Hampshire Avenue burst fairly often. \u201cThey said: \u2018You have pipes that were put in in the 1860s? We thought we had it bad in Ghana!\u2019\u200a\u201d\n* * *\nThe good news? The District\u2019s pipes are being replaced twice as fast as the average in other major water systems in America.\nThe gargantuan numbers tossed around during December\u2019s Senate hearing as the cost of saving the country\u2019s water and sewage systems have no more promise of connecting with the public than has the $7\u00a0trillion that transportation experts say should be spent to resurrect roads, bridges, aviation and transit in the next decade.\nAbout $9.4\u00a0billion more per year is needed for water and sewer work between now and 2020, according to a study released last month by the American Society of Civil Engineers. Without that, many Americans should prepare for regular disruption of water service and a jump in contamination caused by sewage bacteria, the study said.\nThe price of water, always far below commodities like electricity and gasoline, can be expected to rise dramatically as the demand taxes the systems that deliver it, analysts agree.\nNationwide, an estimated 1.7\u00a0trillion gallons of water leaks from pipes each year before it can be put to use. About 900\u00a0billion gallons of raw sewage flows into waterways.\nThose leaks and untreated flushes aren\u2019t just a problem in creaking Eastern cities that date to colonial times. Oklahoma, which didn\u2019t become a state until the 20th century, has estimated it needs to invest $82\u00a0billion in water and sewer infrastructure over the next 50\u00a0years.\n\u201cI remember when they used to consider us out in the newer states like Oklahoma as not having the infrastructure problems of older states,\u201d Sen. James M. Inhofe (R-Okla.) said, \u201cbut that\u2019s not true anymore.\u201d\nAlthough suburbs that have appeared or expanded since World War II have newer systems, they\u2019re showing age. Even in this relatively mild year in which there have been fewer breaks \u2014 more mains break when there are severe temperature swings \u2014 the Washington suburbs have had problems. There have been more than 1,440 leaks or breaks in Montgomery and Prince George\u2019s counties this year. Fairfax County has had 300.\n\u201cPeople count on turning on the faucet and having clean water come out,\u201d said Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin (D-Md.), chairman of the subcommittee on water. \u201cOur nation\u2019s water infrastructure is reaching a tipping point.\u201d\nBut with the economy sputtering and Congress eager to slash a burgeoning deficit, selling Americans on the need to pay billions more in water bills or taxes to salvage a system they didn\u2019t even know was breaking may be impossible.\n\u201cThe customer base really doesn\u2019t know,\u201d Hawkins said. \u201cLike when I turn on the faucet, what on Earth is needed to deliver that water? It\u2019s like magic. And then it goes down the drain. It\u2019s like magic again.\u201d\n* * *\nHawkins was awakened on a Friday night in October 2010 to news that water was erupting all over the place at Constitution Avenue and Ninth Street.\n\u201cWhen a water main breaks, all hell breaks loose because it\u2019s under such high pressure,\u201d he said. \u201cWe dug an original hole that wasn\u2019t in the right place because at first you can\u2019t really tell\u201d where the break is \u2014 the water can work its way to the surface through any fissure.\nPressure from the 24-inch main buckled the pavement a foot high. Water flooded the basement of the Department of Justice. The Smithsonian\u2019s National Museum of Natural History had to shut down the next day.\nThe torrent was unleashed by a water main that had been installed in the 1890s, when Grover Cleveland lived a few blocks away in the White House.\nRead more on PostLocal.com: \nSlots site in Pr. George\u2019s faces tough odds\nIn Montgomery County, a push for affordable housing\nPromoting breastfeeding in Southeast\nVictims in fatal Bethesda crash identified"}, {"name": "b4bf35ea-3585-11e1-836b-08c4de636de4", "body": "NEW ORLEANS \u2014 The last time Cornell Brown was in Louisiana with Virginia Tech will forever be etched in his mind, and not just because he validated his status as the first consensus football all-American in school history by getting three sacks.\nNow an assistant coach at Virginia Tech, Brown still remembers the satisfaction he got from beating Texas, 28-10, in the 1995 Sugar Bowl, because the entire buildup to the game centered on whether an upstart program from southwest Virginia deserved to be there in the first place.\nOutside of Virginia Tech\u2019s run to the national championship game here in New Orleans in 2000, it remains the most significant moment during the Frank Beamer era. And yet as Brown watched pundit after pundit criticize the Sugar Bowl for selecting the Hokies this season, he marveled at how, 17 years after Virginia Tech announced itself on the national stage, some things haven\u2019t changed.\n\u201cIt\u2019s surprising that the program is always in question,\u201d Brown said.\nThat will serve as the defining story line when Virginia Tech takes on Michigan in the Sugar Bowl Tuesday. Though the Hokies lost to just one team (Clemson) this year and are on the cusp of the first 12-win season in program history, they haven\u2019t been able to escape questions about whether they belong in a Bowl Championship Series game this year.\nBeamer has acknowledged as much this week, but that doesn\u2019t mean the Hokies have taken kindly to being viewed as an ugly stepchild undeserving of their status among college football\u2019s elites.\nThe criticism has made the players downright ornery, tired of having to defend themselves after an 11-2 campaign. With all the skepticism surrounding the Hokies\u2019 selection, it\u2019s easy to forget that Virginia Tech actually finished the season ranked higher than Michigan in the BCS standings.\n\u201cIt definitely bothered me. We\u2019re an 11-2 team, so there\u2019s no reason we shouldn\u2019t be playing in a BCS game,\u201d defensive end James Gayle said. \u201cWe could have probably gone undefeated and people would have said we played in the ACC.\u201d\nAdded running back David Wilson: \u201cThe media says that one team shouldn\u2019t be here. So making a statement and winning this game, that\u2019ll be powerful.\u201d\nThis, though, is what irks Virginia Tech the most. It believed the days of having to prove the program\u2019s legitimacy were over.\nAfter all, no Football Bowl Subdivision school has more wins than the Hokies since 1995, a fact Beamer has brought up repeatedly as he faced a deluge of skeptics since becoming the first ACC team to receive an at-large berth to a BCS bowl game.\nHe concedes, however, that neither the Hokies nor their conference brethren have performed well in these sorts of spotlight moments. Beamer is just 8-10 in bowl games at Virginia Tech, and after last year\u2019s 40-12 blowout loss to Stanford in the Orange Bowl, he is 1-5 in BCS bowl games. Meanwhile, the ACC is just 2-11 all-time in BCS games.\n\u201cYou want to do well for the ACC because we haven\u2019t won enough games against outside competition. It\u2019s just a fact,\u201d said Beamer, before addressing his own team\u2019s woes specifically. \u201cI think to take that next step, you\u2019ve got to win your fair share of the BCS games. That\u2019s reality. We\u2019ve been and we haven\u2019t won enough of the BCS games.\u201d\nBut this latest opportunity on a national stage has a familiar ring to it \u2014 a traditional power such as Michigan going up against a Virginia Tech squad that many feel doesn\u2019t belong in New Orleans.\nDefensive backs coach Torrian Gray said it feels like the \u201csame scenario\u201d as that historic 1995 Sugar Bowl victory, a game in which he started at cornerback and had two interceptions. Still, despite the precedent he helped set 16 years ago, even Gray felt the need to defend Virginia Tech.\n\u201cNobody\u2019s really questioning Michigan about Michigan State beat them and Michigan State had a great year and Michigan is selected,\u201d he said earlier this month. \u201cWe need to go out and win this game. We feel we have a chip on our shoulder about it. Why are you asking we don\u2019t deserve it?\n\u201cWe\u2019ll just have to show everybody again why the Sugar Bowl committee thought enough of us to select us.\u201d"}, {"name": "52124d2c-3587-11e1-81ef-eaf2bd09c8a2", "body": "DES MOINES \u2014 It\u2019s never too early to start thinking about 2016.\nAs Rep. Ron Paul, the oldest candidate in the Republican field, heads into what could be his final Iowa caucuses, his motley band of supporters is buzzing about a second coming \u2014 Sen. Rand Paul.\nRand Paul, 48, rode the wave of voter discontent in 2010, winning a U.S. Senate seat in Kentucky and promptly claiming the title of tea party senator. Ron Paul, 76, campaigned for his son, and his son is returning the favor.\nAt five well-attended whistle-stop rallies across the state, Paul the younger joined Paul the elder, showing that the septuagenarian congressman not only has been able to expand his support but also has the capacity to extend his brand.\nWhile it\u2019s not uncommon for the children of presidential candidates to stump for their parents, there is perhaps no more effective surrogate than Sen. Paul, who has voted in lock step with his father on issues that are key to fiscal conservatives and who is proof to tea party voters that the movement has moved to Washington.\nThe Paul camp, hoping for at least a third-place finish in Iowa, has deployed the senator to tout his father\u2019s anti-establishment credentials.\n\u201cAnybody here want their government to mind their own business?\u201d Rand Paul asked, garnering a raucous \u201cyes\u201d from the audience, before introducing his dad in the ballroom of a downtown Marriott. \u201cThere is only one candidate who will balance the budget in one term .\u2009.\u2009. there is only one candidate who has never been accused of flip-flopping .\u2009.\u2009. that candidate is my father.\u201d\nWhile Sen. Paul is an ideological copy of his father and they both have medical degrees, their onstage presence couldn\u2019t be more different.\nWhere his father can be professorial, going from one run-on sentence to the next, name-dropping Austrian economists along the way, the senator from Kentucky is succinct, more down-home (the Southern drawl helps) and less cranky.\nAnd people have noticed.\nSupporters say Rand Paul is a good speaker, a compliment few bestow on his father.\n\u201cPeople who are very interested in liberty have been following the career of Rand Paul just as closely as they have been following Ron Paul. He is very well respected; I see really good things for him in the future,\u201d said Kim Pearson, an Iowa state representative who will caucus for Paul on Tuesday. \u201cSome people have told me that they have reservations about Ron Paul because when he speaks, he sometimes skips steps one through ten. But they don\u2019t have reservations about Rand Paul, who his father says does a really good job delivering the message.\u201d\nThe fervent followers, who show up at Paul rallies clutching his books and chanting \u201cend the Fed,\u201d see in the Kentucky senator the next torch-bearer for the Paul doctrine.\n\u201cRand Paul is a chip off the old block. He stands for the same things Ron Paul stands for, and I support him,\u201d said David Kaniuk, 31, of Pleasant Hill. \u201cHe is positioned well to pick up his father\u2019s legacy. It just depends on if he wants to.\u201d\nThe father\u2019s legacy includes a yawning ground game here and in 10 other states including Nevada, Colorado and Washington, a savvy fundraising infrastructure and a legion of supporters who speak about Rep. Paul in messianic ways.\n\u201cTo me, he\u2019s my Noah,\u201d said Sharlene Dunlap, 55, of Des Moines. \u201cHe\u2019s been saying there is a flood coming for 30 years.\u201d\nWhat Ron Paul, who will not run for reelection to his Texas congressional seat in 2012, has not done is win a statewide race, a feat that his son has accomplished.\nAccording to the latest polls, candidate Paul has seen his Iowa support double since 2008. But he is still viewed largely as a fringe player, even as his smaller-government, anti-tax, audit-the-Federal Reserve, pro-Constitution message has become part of mainstream GOP orthodoxy.\nPaul\u2019s strength is that he has an army of young supporters on college campuses across the country devoted to him and his message. That could make the difference for Paul on Tuesday and in the future for his son, should he ever decide to run for national office.\nFor now, supporters are focusing on getting Rep. Paul out of Iowa with a strong finish.\nBut they do have visions for the future. \u201cWhen we think about who could run as a VP with Ron Paul, that would be a very short list,\u201d Pearson said. \u201cI would love a Paul and Paul ticket.\u201d\nRead more on PostPolitics:\n\u2022 The Ron Paul phenomenon \u2014 in one graph\n\u2022 Ron Paul: Fear and loathing on the campaign trail\n\u2022 Ron Paul leaves campaign promises to the other guys\n\u2022 Iowa caucuses: One day out"}, {"name": "c3d76e92-3573-11e1-836b-08c4de636de4", "body": "Jerzy Kluger, a Polish Jew whose lifelong friendship with Pope John Paul II helped the pontiff\u2019s efforts to repair Catholic-Jewish relations after centuries of anti-Semitism, died Dec. 31 at a hospital in Rome.\nHe was 90 and had Alzheimer\u2019s disease, said his wife, Irene Kluger.\nIn the Polish town of Wadowice, where the pope and Mr. Kluger met as young boys in the 1920s, their friendship was a somewhat unusual one. Karol Wojtyla, who would become pope, came from a deeply Catholic family; Mr. Kluger came from an observant Jewish one.\nFor centuries, scholars have said, anti-Semitism was ingrained in Catholic teachings, which blamed Jews for the death of Christ.\nDuring his papacy, from 1978 until his death in 2005, John Paul II was credited with doing more than any pope in history to unite the Catholic and Jewish faiths. His dedication to those efforts, church scholars said, stemmed in part from his intense friendship with Mr. Kluger, who lost much of his family in the Holocaust.\nMr. Kluger was a \u201clink with the pope\u2019s past,\u201d said Eugene Fisher, the co-editor of \u201cThe Saint for Shalom: How Pope John Paul II Transformed Catholic-Jewish Relations.\u201d \u201cPerhaps the most profound change in Christianity was the change brought about in Catholic-Jewish relations,\u201d he said.\nMr. Kluger and the pope knew each other by their boyhood nicknames, Jurek and Lolek. They met in grade school, played soccer in the streets and did homework together. Mr. Kluger, who became an engineer, let the young Karol see his math homework. The future pope let Jurek copy his Latin exercises, Mr. Kluger\u2019s wife said.\nOne incident left a profound impact on Mr. Kluger. After learning that both boys had passed their high school exams, he ran to the church, where he knew he would find his friend, to share the news. Another parishioner recognized Mr. Kluger as a Jew and asked why he had come.\nWhen Wojtyla heard about the exchange, he responded, \u201cAren\u2019t we all God\u2019s children?\u201d\nThe young men lost touch during World War II, when Mr. Kluger was imprisoned in a Soviet labor camp before joining the Polish army and fighting with the Allies in Egypt and in Italy. After the war, with no family to return to in Poland, he moved to England and later to Rome, where he entered business.\nThe two men were reunited during the Second Vatican Council, which brought then-Archbishop Wojtyla to Rome. Mr. Kluger contacted his old friend, who immediately agreed to meet him.\nThe friendship was rekindled, and for the rest of their lives they remained in close touch. The newly installed Pope John Paul II surprised many Vatican-watchers by reserving his first private audience as pontiff for Mr. Kluger and his family.\nOver lunches and dinners, the two men had intimate conversations that the pope enjoyed with few others, Fisher said. Mr. Kluger spoke openly, helping the pope understand Jewish sensibilities.\nThe New York Times reported that, while hospitalized after an assassination attempt in 1981, the pope asked Mr. Kluger to help him begin a diplomatic effort that in 1993 ended with the Vatican officially recognizing the state of Israel. Mr. Kluger was described as playing a behind-the-scenes but key role in the process.\nJohn Paul II became the first pope to visit a synagogue and to visit the Auschwitz death camp. In 1998, he issued an official \u201cact of repentance\u201d for the Catholic Church\u2019s failure to do more to stop the Holocaust. Critics contended that the apology did not go far enough. Mr. Kluger defended his friend.\n\u201cThis pope is a friend of the Jewish people because he knows Jewish people,\u201d Mr. Kluger told the New York Times in 1998. \u201cHe grew up in Wadowice.\u201d\nJerzy Kluger was born April 4, 1921, in Krakow and grew up in Wadowice. His father was the president of the Jewish community and a successful lawyer. Mr. Kluger grew up \u201cliving like a prince,\u201d his wife said, until the German invasion in 1939.\nWhile fighting with the Polish army in Africa, Mr. Kluger met his future wife, Irene White, who was a driver for the British army. They were married in Egypt before Mr. Kluger fought at Monte Cassino, a key battle in the Italian campaign, in 1944.\nAfter the war, Mr. Kluger received an engineering degree from the University of Nottingham and worked in that field before moving to Rome in the 1950s.\nHis daughter Leslie Kluger died in 2011.\nBesides his wife, of Rome, survivors include his daughter Linda Kluger, also of Rome; a granddaughter; and two great-grandchildren. The children were described as having a close relationship with the pope, who permitted them to play with his skullcap.\nIn an interview with the New York Times, Mr. Kluger once explained his role in the pope\u2019s outreach to the Jewish community.\n\u201cI was a friend,\u201d he said. \u201cWe had friendly conversations, and friendly relationships which one way or another helped these developments. That\u2019s all.\u201d"}, {"name": "38505ad4-3599-11e1-ac55-e75ea321c80a", "body": "When players filed into the auditorium at Redskins Park for a final time Monday, they spotted a man at the front of the room who was about to share quite a story \u2014 one that had nothing to do with the disappointing season, an offseason that promises plenty of change or what the next year might hold for a beleaguered franchise.\nEach NFL organization handles its final team meeting of the year differently. In St. Louis, Steve Spagnuolo said goodbye to his Rams players and was fired Monday. In New York, the Jets\u2019 Rex Ryan broke into tears addressing his squad. In Washington, Coach Mike Shanahan wasn\u2019t even in the room, choosing to watch the meeting on a screen in his office.\nRather than address his team one final time, Shanahan instead allowed a small group of Navy SEALs and a Marine to lead the meeting. That meant that rather than recap how a 3-1 start imploded into a 2-10 finish, players learned how Marine Cpl. Todd Love, at the front of the room, had lost his legs.\n\u201cI thought it was amazing,\u201d said tight end Chris Cooley. \u201cThey did a fantastic job. It was very inspiring. It really puts into perspective what we do.\u201d\nNot everyone was impressed with the way the Redskins handled the players\u2019 final day at the team facility. Tackle Sean Locklear was not available for an interview in the team\u2019s locker room, but he took to Twitter on Monday afternoon to say: \u201cWorst exit meeting ever! No coaches, no front office, just physical\u2019s and goodbye to teammates! We did just spend 5 mos together, WOW!\u201d (Locklear later deleted his tweet and apologized.)\nBy design, Shanahan said, there was a lot left unsaid Monday, as players packed up their lockers and went their separate ways. No one talked about how a team with aspirations for a division title instead sputtered to a 5-11 finish. They didn\u2019t talk about how the Redskins turned the ball over 35 times in 16 games or how they struggled to run the ball for much of the year or the special teams gaffes that plagued the team down the stretch.\nThey certainly didn\u2019t talk about the uncertainty at quarterback, the myriad holes the team must address this offseason or what Washington might do with key free agents, such as linebacker London Fletcher, tight end Fred Davis, safety LaRon Landry, running back Tim Hightower and defensive end Adam Carriker.\n\u201cI never address the team on the final day,\u201d Shanahan explained later. \u201cAs we talked about before, I talked to the team after the game.\u201d\nSo the troops instead talked about the themes that thread through both a military unit and an NFL locker room. When the players walked into the team\u2019s auditorium at 10 a.m., they were by the unfamiliar sight at the front of the room of Love, 21 years old and three feet tall.\nOn the morning of Oct. 25, 2010, in Sangin, Afghanistan, Love was a point man on foot patrol for the First Reconnaissance Battalion, Bravo Company. He was about six weeks away from the end of a seven-month tour when he stepped on an improvised explosive device. He lost both legs and half his left arm.\n\u201cWe talked about how similar NFL players are with warriors in our military,\u201d Love said later. \u201cSo we went into detail about that and how we prepare for things and how they prepare for things. They\u2019re coming towards the end of their season, and how they\u2019re coming to their vacation. We talked a lot about how important it is to train, to keep it up and remember what your mission is.\u201d\nThe meeting was arranged through the NFL by Bobby Crumpler, the Redskins\u2019 director of player programs, and was similar to ones held at most team facilities earlier in the year.\n\u201cBobby knew it would be very motivational, very informative,\u201d Shanahan said, \u201cand we thought they did a great job.\u201d\nWhile Shanahan didn\u2019t share his feelings with the team as a whole, he did hold a series of private meetings with some players Monday and addressed the media for a final time later in the afternoon. He stressed that he believes the Redskins are pointed in the right direction, despite just 11 wins in two seasons.\n\u201cIt\u2019s not going to happen all in one year or two years,\u201d he told reporters. \u201cYou know, I\u2019m still disappointed we didn\u2019t win 10 or 11 games. I really believe if we would have stayed healthy \u2014 that\u2019s not using it as an excuse because we didn\u2019t have a lot of depth \u2014 I think we could have gotten there.\u201d\nShanahan said it\u2019s difficult to struggle through a second straight losing season \u2014 \u201cIt\u2019s like somebody sticks a knife in you,\u201d he said \u2014 but his players learned Monday about a different type of adversity. Love shared his story, fielded questions and met with many Redskins after the team meeting concluded.\nCarriker said one of the SEALs compared football and the military, re-framing the sense of loss many players felt following Sunday\u2019s season finale in Philadelphia. \u201cHe said, \u2018We\u2019re both really competitive in what we do, but the difference is, we mess up, we lose a game. They mess up, somebody gets hurt.\u2019 So to me, I have the ultimate respect for them,\u201d Carriker said.\nAdded defensive end Stephen Bowen: \u201cHis message wasn\u2019t about the playoffs. It was just about being accountable for your teammates and putting it on the line, and you always have somebody depending on you to do your job, so you don\u2019t want to let anybody down.\u201d\nIt wasn\u2019t delivered by the head coach, but that\u2019s the final message many players say they will carry with them into the offseason."}, {"name": "c9a8e17c-32f6-11e1-825f-dabc29fd7071", "body": "Does Iowa matter? Maybe, maybe not. From the round-the-clock polling analysis, detailed delegate projections, and tweeting and retweeting, you\u2019d think the political press corps was readying for the first leg of the Triple Crown. My advice for Tuesday and in the weeks to come: Don\u2019t let the giddiness of the coverage distract from what will matter far more than whether Michele Bachmann beats Rick Perry for the fifth-place slot.\nInstead, pay attention to three issues that could affect the outcome of the election, even though they have nothing to do with the campaigns themselves:\nFirst, a surge in voting restrictions: In 2011, 14 states passed laws making it harder for certain Americans, particularly minorities and young people, to vote. The goal is to keep traditional Democratic constituencies from casting ballots, and methods include requiring voters to show government-issued IDs (which more than 1 in 10 Americans lack), reducing or ending early voting, and disenfranchising citizens with criminal records. In Texas, for example, a concealed handgun license is a sufficient form of voter identification, but a university ID isn\u2019t. In Wisconsin, a voter without an ID needs a birth certificate to get one, but a voter without a birth certificate needs a valid ID to obtain one. In Tennessee, a 96-year-old African American woman was denied a free voter ID because she didn\u2019t have a copy of her marriage license. NAACP President Benjamin Todd Jealous has described the efforts as the most coordinated attack on voting rights since the days of Jim Crow.\nIndeed, a Brennan Center for Justice analysis found that as many as 5 million eligible voters will find it \u201csignificantly harder\u201d to cast ballots. Of the 12 most likely battleground states, five have curtailed voting rights, and two are considering doing so. The 2012 election may well turn on how many traditionally Democratic voters are unable to cast ballots in critical states and on whether the Justice Department is able to fight back, as it did recently in South Carolina.\nSecond, the rise of super PAC spending: Among the most devastating consequences of the 2010 Citizens United ruling is the rise of organizations that are not required to disclose their donors but that can recruit and spend unlimited sums in direct support of candidates. Thus far, these super PACs have reported spending nearly $7 million. Fred Wertheimer of the watchdog group Democracy 21 told USA Today that the organizations represent \u201cthe most dangerous vehicles for corruption in American politics today.\u201d\nWhile super PACs may not coordinate directly with campaigns, there is little means of effectively enforcing that rule. The treasurer of Mitt Romney\u2019s super PAC, which spent $3.1 million in Iowa running mostly negative ads against his opponents, served as chief financial officer of Romney\u2019s first presidential campaign. Jon Huntsman\u2019s super PAC, which has spent $1.9 million, is bankrolled, at least in part, by his father. President Obama\u2019s super PAC is run by Bill Burton, his 2008 press secretary and a close adviser who left his White House post to gear up for the election.\nThe question about super PACs is not whether they will have an impact but how big it will be and whether a people-powered movement can stop them.\nThird, the media\u2019s obsession with false equivalence: How the election is covered will almost certainly have a measurable impact on its outcome.\nThe New York Times\u2019s Paul Krugman describes what he\u2019s witnessing as \u201cpost-truth politics,\u201d in which right-leaning candidates can feel free to say whatever they want without being held accountable by the press. There may be instances in which a candidate is called out for saying something outright misleading; but, as Krugman notes, \u201cif past experience is any guide, most of the news media will feel as though their reporting must be \u2018balanced.\u2019\u201d For too many journalists, calling out a Republican for lying requires criticizing a Democrat too, making for a media age where false equivalence \u2014 what Eric Alterman has called the mainstream media\u2019s \u201cdeepest ideological commitment\u201d \u2014 is confused, again and again, with objectivity.\nIn that world, candidates can continue to say things that are \u201cflatly, grossly, and shamefully untrue,\u201d as The Post\u2019s E.J. Dionne described it, without fear of retribution. Obama has traveled the world and \u201capologized for America,\u201d says Romney. Except that, no, he hasn\u2019t. The stimulus \u201ccreated zero jobs,\u201d says Rick Perry. Except that it created or saved at least 3 million. Obama is going to \u201cput free enterprise on trial,\u201d claims Romney. How does he square that with the nearly 3 million private-sector jobs created under Obama policies in the past 20 months? But in this media era, he doesn\u2019t have to square anything at all.\nThese three factors are key not only to understanding this campaign and election but to seeing just how far we have to go to reclaim a democracy that is driven by the people themselves.\n"}, {"name": "a9cf4322-3572-11e1-81ef-eaf2bd09c8a2", "body": "Campaign 2012 is upon us. Time to size up President Obama\u2019s reelection chances. What do the data suggest?\nIn 2011, an average of 17 percent of the public was \u201csatisfied with the way things are going,\u201d according to the Gallup Poll. That is roughly the same as 2008 \u2014 so Obama enters this year leading a country as unhappy as the one he inherited.\nThe president\u2019s approval rating is lower than his disapproval rating. In mid-December, Gallup had him \u201cunderwater\u201d by eight points: 42 percent approval and 50 percent disapproval.\nThis is four points better than where Obama was in September, reflecting his political victory over congressional Republicans in last month\u2019s battle over extending the payroll tax cut. But the impact appears to have been short-lived. His current Gallup approval rating is the lowest ever for any incumbent president at this point in his first term.\nObama\u2019s ratings on the economy, the issue voters care about most, consistently trail his overall numbers. His top legislative accomplishment \u2014 health-care reform \u2014 remains unpopular. It\u2019s 20 points underwater in a December Associated Press-GfK poll.\nIf Democrats saw Obama\u2019s 2008 victory as a chance to build a progressive majority, they have so far failed to capitalize. Gallup recently asked Americans to rate their ideology on a liberal-to-conservative scale of 1 to 5. The average result was a right-of-center 3.3.\nMore alarming for Obama, voters scored him at 2.3, to the left of center \u2014 and put Mitt Romney at 3.5. Every other GOP contender was to the right of the mean, except Jon Huntsman, who hit the ideological bull\u2019s-eye. But even Rick Perry and Michele Bachmann came closer to the middle than Obama did.\nThe president\u2019s campaign plans to launch a populist attack on income inequality. But the numbers imply that that is not a promising message; indeed, Gallup has recently found that the public favors pro-growth policies over pro-equality policies, 52 to 40.\nUnsurprisingly, December polls by CBS News and AP-GfK found that majorities do not believe Obama deserves reelection. Several polls in the past two months put him in a statistical tie with any Republican; and front-runner Mitt Romney is also in a statistical tie with the president.\nOf course, this is how Romney stands before the Obama campaign has really started driving up Romney\u2019s his negatives. Whomever the GOP nominates, the Democrats will link him or her to the Tea Party and other perceived extremists.\nBut Romney may be relatively invulnerable to such a strategy. He is not only seen as closer to the ideological center than Obama is, he is also less polarizing. According to Gallup, Romney is viewed strongly positively and strongly negatively by equal numbers of Americans. Obama, by contrast, inspires 11 percent more hostility than favorability, the same as Newt Gingrich. Even Democrats view Romney with relatively little \u201cnegative intensity.\u201d\nOf course, the election is not a popularity contest, but a state-by-state race to get 270 electoral votes. Alas for Obama, Gallup recently found that voters in 12 \u201cswing states\u201d favor Romney by five points. In 2008, swing-state party identification favored Democrats by 11 points; now the Democratic edge is down to two points.\nOn the plus side for Obama, majorities continue to like him personally and to describe him as honest and trustworthy. His foreign-policy ratings are strong, blunting the GOP\u2019s traditional edge in that department. The man who presided over the demise of Osama bin Laden scored a phenomenal 63 percent approval rating on fighting terrorism in an early November Gallup poll.\nAlso, Obama now scores better than he used to in polls comparing him to Republicans in Congress on job creation. Consumer confidence began to creep up toward the end of 2011, while the jobless rate crept down. If those trends continue, Obama benefits. Though low by historical standards, his approval rating has yet to plunge below about 40 percent, suggesting that he can depend on a rock-solid base of support.\nYet the downside risks for the president are numerous and, from his view, all too easy to identify: a crisis in Iran or elsewhere in the Middle East; Europe\u2019s financial mess; poor sales at taxpayer-supported General Motors.\nIn short, for all the weaknesses of the Republican opposition, Barack Obama faces a dicey future as 2012 begins. Many factors that could affect his chances are beyond his control.\nAnd if he does win, the prize could be four years of fending off center-right attempts to undo the policies of his first term, rather than pursuing an expansive progressive agenda. Happy new year, Mr. President.\n lanec@washpost.com \n"}, {"name": "2c111a8c-3347-11e1-a274-61fcdeecc5f5", "body": "The blogger Andrew Sullivan, typing faster than he could think, endorsed Ron Paul for the Republican presidential nomination. (He took it back, but we\u2019ll get to that later.) Sullivan is British-born, Oxford-taught and, like so many from that sceptered isle, gifted in print and speech. Still, he somehow did not realize that if someone like Paul had been president in the 1940s, his homeland might have succumbed to Nazi Germany while America, maddeningly isolationist, sat out the war. No doubt, curriculum changes would have been made at Oxford.\nPaul opposes just about all international treaties and organizations. He would have the United States pull out of the United Nations and NATO. He would do away with foreign aid, abolish the CIA and essentially turn his back on the rest of the world. This is pretty much what used to be called isolationism, and it allowed Hitler to presume, quite correctly as it turned out, that America would not interfere with his plans to conquer Europe, Britain included. It took Germany\u2019s declaration of war on the United States, not the other way round, to get Uncle Sam involved.\nThe isolationism of the 1930s and early \u201940s has come roaring back \u2014 in the person of Paul, I am tempted to write, but that is not exactly the case. The old isolationism was deeply conservative, both socially and economically, and its leaders \u2014 Sen. William Borah, R-Idaho, for instance \u2014 would never have advocated the decriminalization of recreational drugs. Paul does because he is a libertarian. It is this ideology coupled with his staunch antiwar pose that attracts so many young people and, when you take another look, some not so young people as well. Sullivan is/was one of them, but others on both the left and the right have praised Paul on this score, as if his antiwar position can be extracted from his general nuttiness to make a rational candidate. No such luck.\nNow some of these people \u2014 notably Sullivan \u2014 have backed off. Paul\u2019s old newsletters have (once again) surfaced, and their smarmy racism is downright repellent. Paul said he did not write the stuff, and maybe that\u2019s the case. But there\u2019s more than one noxious newsletter, and his name is on them all. Either he never read his stuff, or he did and didn\u2019t wince, or he had people working for him who thought a little racism would please the boss. None of those explanations flatter him.\nJust as troubling, though, is what was known about Paul all along \u2014 and that is a foreign policy, if it can be called that, drained of morality. His total indifference to what happens overseas is chilling and reminiscent of the old isolationism, best articulated in Des Moines \u2014 a world capital this election season \u2014 by Charles Lindbergh back in 1941. In that speech, Lindbergh identified three groups that wanted to take America to war against Germany: the Brits, the Jews and the Roosevelt administration. They all had their reasons, he acknowledged, but, \u201cWe cannot allow the natural passions and prejudices of other peoples to lead our country to destruction.\u201d I can almost hear these very words coming out of the mouth of Paul.\nAmerica is weary of war, especially weary of those, in retrospect, that had no real purpose \u2014 the one in Iraq, above all. The country is weary as well of politicians, most of them conservatives, who will not even debate the worth of such wars. (Not a single question about whether the Iraq war was worth nearly 4,500 American lives in the last GOP debate \u2014 and the debate was held the very day the last of the troops left that country.)\nYet America remains a mighty nation, capable of doing good in the world. That\u2019s far different than expanding an empire or making the world safe for McDonald\u2019s. The intervention in Libya, a NATO operation but an American enterprise, succeeded. So did the ones in Bosnia and Kosovo. The Libyan bombings will not bring democracy to that country, but they knocked out Moammar Gaddafi, and that ain\u2019t a bad day\u2019s work.\nPaul opposed that as he would oppose all military interventions \u2014 as he would have opposed the Civil Rights Act, he has said. He cannot for the life of him summon government\u2019s authority or military might to have the right thing done. Still, the man himself is immaterial. His message, though, is a different matter. It has struck a chord, and others, more polished and with better-fitting shirts, will pick it up. Lucky Lindy flies again.\n cohenr@washpost.com \n"}, {"name": "ed60410a-358a-11e1-836b-08c4de636de4", "body": "DES MOINES \u2014 Emily Price wanted to gloat.\nWith her husband, Dave, at the wheel, she was riding alongside their toddler in the back seat of their Saturn SUV en route to Illinois for Christmas when Newt Gingrich\u2019s spokeswoman called to confirm an upcoming interview. As a politics reporter at Des Moines\u2019 CBS affiliate, KCCI, Emily had to bury her glee at the big \u201cget\u201d only days before the Iowa caucuses. Her husband, after all, is a top political reporter at WHO-TV, the Iowa capital\u2019s NBC affiliate.\nLove and politics, however, have a way of keeping the Prices together. \u201cWe were setting up the time and then she goes, \u2018Is Dave sitting next to you?\u2019\u200a\u201d Emily recalled. She handed her husband \u2014 and rival \u2014 the phone so he could book his interview.\nAs candidates capitalize on the couple\u2019s access to more than 100,000 households, the Prices are juggling how to compete and console, to be the best reporters and the best spouses they can be. And with the primary season upended by unusually influential debates and super-PAC ads, the two Iowa mavens who have been shadowing the candidates for a full year insist that the person-to-person venues provide the most valuable and decisive view of American politics.\nTake former senator Rick Santorum, for instance, whom each of the Prices saw early and often in his poorly funded, seemingly quixotic Iowa travels.\n\u201cHe was always here and what he did was more amplified because the others weren\u2019t,\u201d Dave said at a barbecue lunch on the busy Sunday afternoon before the caucuses.\nThe two reporters had been regulars at Santorum events \u2014 he a tall, Richie Cunningham motormouth in pinstripes, she a sunny, blond Floridian in colorful suits. They witnessed Santorum speaking in front of empty seats throughout the state, taking every last question at a VFW hall or a coffee shop and asking voters to fill out a form to learn more. Emily noted that the former Pennsylvania senator, whose dramatic rise has been the story of the caucuses\u2019 final days, both showed up and followed up.\n\u201cA lot of people feel like, \u2018Well, I signed that paper for him and said I would do it, so I\u2019m not going to back down,\u2019\u200a\u201d Emily said. \u201cIt\u2019s almost like a contract. Iowans are very faithful people.\u201d\nBoth Prices are crucial to their respective stations\u2019 political coverage. He\u2019s a big deal at the state\u2019s No. 2 station; she\u2019s a rising star at a station that\u2019s rated narrowly ahead of his. And since Iowa journalistic oracle David Yepsen has shuffled off to academia, the field is open for another quadrennial star to be the state\u2019s man, or woman, to see.\nDave is a savvy analyst and a \u201cliving Rolodex,\u201d in the words of his boss. He saw an opening for Santorum after witnessing the misfortunes of Santorum\u2019s fellow conservatives, Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, Texas Gov. Rick Perry and businessman Herman Cain.\n\u201cAs he has gone up while Bachmann went down and Cain disappeared and Perry didn\u2019t take hold, you could just feel people are thinking, \u2018Oh, maybe this guy can win,\u2019\u2009\u201d Dave said.\nDave and Emily Price, University of Missouri graduates who met covering candidates, individually told colleagues that Santorum was the one to watch. Both endured derision. \u201cPeople thought I was crazy five weeks ago,\u201d Emily said. And the husband and wife never shared their analysis \u2014 or the blowback \u2014 with each other.\n\u201cI think it\u2019s very common in the workplace today for couples to have conflicts,\u201d said Emily\u2019s boss, Dave Busiek, news director for KCCI. He cited spouses who were privy to all manner of competitive and privileged information that their other half could use, whether in media, politics, law or business. \u201cIt\u2019s something that has to be managed,\u201d he said.\nIn past presidential election cycles, the couple met the Obamas, the McCains, the Edwardses. The up-close-and-personal access went both ways, with the presidential contenders aggressively pursuing the Prices.\nDuring Dave\u2019s coverage of then-Sen. Obama\u2019s health-care proposal, \u201cI thought I had this one-on-one exclusive with him,\u201d he recalled. \u201cWe finish, the door opens up and she and her crew walk in. I\u2019m like, \u2018WHAT?\u2019\u200a\u201d\nThe future president razzed the reporters, who he knew were a couple. \u201cObama actually gave us honeymoon advice,\u201d Dave said over his barbecue plate.\n\u201cNot that kind of honeymoon advice!\u201d Emily said with a laugh.\n\u201cAbout where to go!\u201d Dave said.\nObama was very insistent in recommending Kauai, Hawaii, and was seconded by Michelle Obama. \u201cWhen I talked to the McCains, they recommended Montenegro or something like that. Which was a little out of our range,\u201d Dave said. In his many Iowa visits, former North Carolina senator John Edwards always made a point to tell Dave to tell Emily he said hello.\n\u201cNow, of course, I\u2019m wondering why he was thinking of her that way,\u201d Dave said, as Emily gave him a playful punch on his arm.\nDave\u2019s boss is proud of the access Dave has gotten and maintains that his \u201ccrazy-competitive\u201d reporter is never compromised by intimacy with the competition.\n\u201cHe\u2019s definitely not starry-eyed,\u201d said WHO News Director Rod Peterson. The candidates will always try to endear themselves to the Prices, he said, given their role as stand-ins for interactions with so many Iowans, who may meet each candidate but can\u2019t be at every event.\n\u201cThat\u2019s part of modern campaigning,\u201d said Peterson, who noted that local network affiliates\u2019 influence may have risen as print outlets face new challenges. The candidates\u2019 outreach to reporters, according to Peterson, is \u201cstrategic, but it\u2019s not disingenuous.\u201d\nPeterson also noted that since the arrival of Hayden, the Prices\u2019 son, they understand issues that affect Iowa families in new ways, and the audiences are engaged in the couple\u2019s role as parents. Each station sent crews to the hospital on the day of Hayden\u2019s birth.\nNaturally, the candidates have focused on Hayden, too. Dave forgot to turn off his phone when Anita Perry came to the station for an interview, and she saw the boy\u2019s face on the screensaver. She asked about him, and the reporter conceded that he was worried about the boy hitting a lot \u2014 right in the face. Especially Emily\u2019s face. It was troubling to the first-time dad.\nA few days later, he found a message from the first lady of Texas in his voice mail. \u201cShe said, \u2018Hey, I\u2019m not trying to get in your personal business, but after I was talking to you, I was thinking about what we had said.\u2019\u200a\u201d She said she had shared Hayden\u2019s hitting problem with a speech therapist, who explained it as a phase related to the boy\u2019s frustration in communicating.\n\u201cAnd that\u2019s what other people wound up telling us, too,\u201d Emily said.\n\u201cWhen I called back, I hear, \u2018Hello?\u2019 Dave recalled. \u201cAnd, you know, with that Southern accent, and I say, \u2018Is this the first lady?\u2019 And she says, \u2018Is this my favorite area code in the country right now?\u2019\u200a\u201d\n\u201cI like that \u2018right now,\u2019\u200a\u201d Emily noted. \u201cBecause next week it\u2019ll be South Carolina.\u201d\nDave\u2019s strength is \u201ccreative storytelling,\u201d according to his news director. That can come in the form of gimmickry at times: He dressed in a hoodie and a plaid shirt to hold up a sign on a downtown corner and see how the down-and-out get treated; he did a story on highly skilled unemployed Iowans and posted their r\u00e9sum\u00e9s on his blog; he manned a \u201cCast Your Kernel\u201d tent at the state fair, so Iowans could drop a corn kernel in jars with candidates\u2019 names. A frequent question was: \u201cWhere\u2019s none of the above?\u201d\nThere have been times when Dave bested Emily in breaking actual news, for instance, when Cain came to town and fumbled through some responses during one-on-one questioning with Dave, after women accused the candidate of harassment and dalliances.\nIf he knows he\u2019s scored a big one, he has this just-understated grin,\u201d said Erin Kiernan, a WHO anchor/reporter who once worked at KCCI with Emily. \u201cHe\u2019s not one of those people who is doing a fist pump or high-fiving.\u201d\nAnd the advantage Dave has earned is only logical. He is 41 years old to her 31, and he has more experience in the business. In his so-called spare time, he is slaving over an unsold manuscript about this year\u2019s extraordinarily up-and-down race, and has logged interviews with party chairmen in each of the state\u2019s 99 counties.\nFor this election, Emily revived a format that played to her strengths: Bring each candidate to the home of an undecided voter and guide the conversation so that unusual insights \u2014 not responses to trending topics \u2014 would emerge.\nThat suited her boss just fine. He knew what Emily could do with a story, such as the indelible one that led the station\u2019s Web site in page views. As she reported, an elderly couple who had been hurt in a traffic accident held hands in the intensive-care unit, and the husband\u2019s death was not immediately detected because his wife\u2019s pulse was registering on his cardiogram. They died within an hour of each other.\nOn political coverage, \u201cI didn\u2019t want her to just follow the candidates around,\u201d Busiek said. \u201cIt\u2019s been very hard to get on their schedules this time, way harder than it has been in the past.\u201d He wanted the time the candidates spent with Emily to be unusual and memorable.\nRight away, the results were telling. Texas Rep. Ron Paul\u2019s camp gave the request a flat no. Amid the last weeks\u2019 frenzy, Perry showed up at the voter\u2019s home and stayed for much longer at the table than was planned.\nSantorum did, too, and made sure he wasn\u2019t served any caffeine, which he said his body can no longer tolerate.\nRomney agreed, delayed and rejiggered formats for a more formal interview.\nGingrich canceled because of a sudden illness, in the moments after his tearful on-stage talk Friday. \u201cWhat\u2019s wrong,\u201d Emily asked his spokeswoman. \u201cJust ask Dave,\u201d came the reply.\n\u201cBachmann seemed the most ready,\u201d Emily said. \u201cShe came with a centerpiece for the table, a big ol\u2019 pastry and some caramel corn.\u201d The candidate begged off on a question about what it was like to be the only woman in the race, until Emily intervened and pressed for an answer.\n\u201cShe said, \u2018Um, you know, I grew up with three brothers and that really toughens you up. And you don\u2019t complain.\u2019\u200a\u201d\nNeither of the Prices is allowing any complaints about life in this final frenzy. They spend too much time for their liking away from their son, who runs around the house yelling \u201cPapa! Papa! Papa!\u201d as soon as the newscast theme music starts playing.\nThe caucuses will decide the state of play for the nominating season\u2019s next stage, but Emily is going to New Hampshire and Dave is staying in Iowa. Often they don\u2019t tell each other the who, what and where of a story, but this assignment tripped their need-to-know criteria.\nIt underscored what Dave mentioned several times would be his dream: to host a show with Emily.\n\u201cSometimes I think it would be fun to work in tandem instead of trying to outmaneuver her or whatever,\u201d he said. Emily\u2019s boss and Dave\u2019s boss both admitted that the thought had crossed their minds. The couple joke about the Ron Burgundy-Veronica Corningstone comparison, given that they had just watched \u201cAnchorman\u201d in a hotel together and laughed the whole way through.\nCompetition, secrecy, separation \u2014 it just gets to be a drag, they agreed.\nDave, unpracticed in the on-the-record, from-the-heart response he and his wife elicit from candidates, expressed it in a way that would go viral, if he were the candidate.\n\u201cIn the end,\u201d he said, \u201cit\u2019s just not that fun to beat your wife.\u201d"}, {"name": "4a3b86e4-2840-11e1-af61-6efac089e2f6", "body": "BILLIONS OF DOLLARS are lost each year to online piracy, which stifles the ability of writers, songwriters and others in the creative arts to earn the royalties they are due and drains profits from legitimate manufacturers. Consumers often find themselves saddled with shoddy products and no prospect of obtaining a refund.\nA broad consortium of copyright and trademark holders \u2014 corporate behemoths and small enterprises alike \u2014 is pushing for legislation to help combat rogue Web sites. Many of them, based off shore and out of reach of U.S. law enforcement, leech off of the rightful owners\u2019 goods and talents. This group is getting considerable pushback from the likes of Google and open-Internet advocates. The opponents fear that tinkering with the infrastructure of the Internet to crack down on scofflaws could do irreparable damage to the Internet\u2019s freedom and independence.\nThe two forces met at an unusually raucous House hearing last month. The focal point: the House\u2019s Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA. SOPA would allow the Justice Department or a copyright or trademark holder to seek a court order to block a rogue site or force financial companies such as PayPal or MasterCard to stop processing payments from U.S. customers doing business with such sites. The criticism of SOPA is warranted. It contains several provisions, including a definition of a rogue site, that are dangerously overbroad and could threaten legitimate Web sites. The Senate, which is further along in its proceedings, has offered a similar, but better thought-out and more prudent, approach.\nThe Senate\u2019s Protect IP (Intellectual Property) Act is designed to target foreign Web sites that are \u201cdedicated to\u201d and have \u201cno significant use\u201d beyond copyright or trademark infringement. Defendant Web sites would have the right to contest the allegation and would be subject to further action only if a federal judge determines that the site meets the definition above. A Web site that sold a product that turned out to be counterfeit or unwittingly linked to or posted an item to which it did not have the rights would be shielded from legal action. Only the Justice Department would have the authority to seek a court order demanding that an Internet service provider block the site from U.S. consumers. Both Justice and private rights holders would be permitted to ask a judge to compel Internet advertising agencies and financial services firms to discontinue processing payments or providing services to the rogue site.\nEven though Protect IP offers a more restrained approach, many open-Internet advocates worry that it still presents dangers to Internet openness and security. As lawmakers in the House and Senate work through their differences, they should continue their dialogue with stakeholders to ensure the creation of a narrowly tailored bill that preserves Internet freedom and protects legitimate businesses from being ripped off."}, {"name": "4750f82c-2cf2-11e1-b030-3ff399cf26f3", "body": "VICTOR RAMOS GUZMAN and his brother-in-law noticed a Virginia state trooper pull up beside them as they traveled on Interstate 95 near Emporia, Va., in November. \u201cA police car drove by in parallel, looked at our faces and on no more than that decided to stop us,\u201d Mr. Guzman said in a sworn affidavit.\nVirginia State Police say the men were speeding, driving 86 mph in a 70 mph zone and \u201cfollowing too closely.\u201d But the trooper did not issue a ticket that morning despite the allegedly excessive speed nor did he charge the men with any civil or criminal violations. He did, however, seize $28,500 in cash.\nThe episode sheds light on the troubling nature of forfeiture laws that are used to seize money and property without evidence that a crime has been committed. These laws are aggressively enforced in part because police organizations are often allowed to keep the proceeds.\nIn a statement, Virginia State Police say that the \u201cmale driver\u201d gave the trooper consent to search the car, but the driver \u2014 the brother-in-law \u2014 does not speak English. The police also claim the men were acting suspiciously because both \u201cdisclaimed ownership of the money\u201d and provided \u201cinconsistent and contradictory statements\u201d about the money.\nMisunderstandings cannot be discounted; English is a second language for Mr. Guzman. But there is also a simple explanation: The money wasn\u2019t theirs. Mr. Guzman, an El Salvador native and lawful Northern Virginia resident, says he was transporting money for the church in which he serves as secretary. He told the officer he and his brother-in-law were taking $24,000 of the church\u2019s cash to Atlanta to meet with the owner of a parcel of land in El Salvador, where the church hoped to build. He said $4,000 in his possession was set aside to buy a trailer for church-owned land in North Carolina, and $500 was earmarked to cover the trip\u2019s expenses. A lawyer for the church confirms Mr. Guzman\u2019s account.\nAfter calling Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the trooper ordered the men to drive to a nearby police station, where he seized the cash and gave them a receipt. The money is being held by an arm of the immigration service, which is determining whether it should be returned. Mr. Guzman and the church have asked that the matter be referred to a federal court.\nGovernment officials say that seizure and forfeiture laws are designed to give them some leverage over the drug runners, human traffickers and others involved in illicit activities who make a habit of dealing only in cash to evade detection. Fair enough, but shouldn\u2019t due process make an appearance and the police be forced to meet a reasonable standard of proof before they are allowed to snatch property?\nMany in the Hispanic community prefer cash transactions \u2014 some because of worries over their legal status and others because they do not trust banks. It is also commonplace for religious institutions to receive donations in cash from parishioners. Lawyers for the church say they have scores of donation envelopes with the names of parishioners and the amount of their contributions. We cannot vouch for the activities of Mr. Guzman, his brother-in-law or even the church. But there is something very wrong when a law enforcement officer can simply take someone\u2019s money while providing no evidence of illicit activity.\n"}, {"name": "54e31c00-3322-11e1-a274-61fcdeecc5f5", "body": "IF THE AIM of Virginia was to host a presidential primary that no one cared about, it seems to have succeeded. Only two candidates \u2014 former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney and Rep. Ron Paul (Tex.) \u2014 qualified to appear on the ballot, and many voters may be discouraged by a foolish loyalty oath requirement by the Republican Party. It\u2019s too late to change the requirements for access to the 2012 ballot, but a priority of the returning General Assembly should be to review a primary system that has so little regard for the interests of voters.\nThe failure of former House speaker Newt Gingrich and Texas Gov. Rick Perry to qualify for the March 6 primary has renewed scrutiny of the state\u2019s cumbersome laws governing ballot access. Seen as among the nation\u2019s most stringent, the Virginia rules demand that a candidate collect 10,000 voter signatures, an unusually high number, with additional requirements on how they can be collected, where and by whom. Clearly, Mr. Gingrich and Mr. Perry, who has gone to court in a bid to get his name on the ballot, must accept responsibility for not gathering the requisite number of names; the rules are well known and have been in place for years.\nNonetheless, those most hurt by their failure are the voters. Elections are about choices, and voters are best served by having the broadest field of candidates. According to Larry J. Sabato, the director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics, the effect of these laws in Virginia has been to feed a culture of nonparticipation. Consider that Virginia has just about the fewest number of people qualifying for the statewide ballot of any state. Which means that come March, any importance that Virginia has in helping to select the Republican standard-bearer will be diminished by the exclusion of candidates who are seen as competitive. Ohio recently recognized the need for an expanded definition of candidate viability by providing an alternative route to the ballot. Instead of gathering signatures, those who have raised at least $5,000 in each of at least 20 states are able to file a declaration to get on the ballot.\nVirginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II (R) wisely changed his mind about seeking emergency legislation to allow others on the ballot in the March primary; changing the rules midstream is unfair, so an overhaul should be done for future contests. However, when it comes to the misguided loyalty oath, the sooner it is abandoned the better. There is no registration by party in Virginia, so state election officials have approved GOP plans to require anyone voting in the state\u2019s primary to sign a statement pledging to support the party\u2019s presidential nominee. It is, of course, unenforceable, but it is likely to scare off potential voters. That\u2019s why Gov. Robert F. McDonnell (R) should lead the effort to scrap it.\n"}, {"name": "ab9ee918-357d-11e1-836b-08c4de636de4", "body": "DES MOINES \u2014 As Republicans begin choosing a general-election candidate here Tuesday night, one question could shape the destiny of the eventual winner: Will the nominee define the party, or will the party define the nominee?\nSuccessful presidential nominees often have helped redefine their parties. Ronald Reagan\u2019s conservatism changed the Republican Party when he became its nominee in 1980. Bill Clinton portrayed himself as a New Democrat, which proved a key to his victory in 1992. In his 2000 campaign, George W. Bush used the term \u201ccompassionate conservative\u201d to put distance between himself and the congressional wing of his party that had been defined by Newt Gingrich.\nIn this campaign, the opposite seems to be the case. \u201cThis year, it seems to me, the party is the sun and the candidates are the planets. .\u2009.\u2009. They are trying to prove to primary voters that they are reliable and trustworthy when it comes to the basic platform of the GOP,\u201d said Pete Wehner, a Republican strategist and former Bush administration adviser.\nRepublicans have a real opportunity to unseat the president in November, given the state of the economy and public dissatisfaction with some of his policies. President Obama\u2019s standing is as fragile as that of any incumbent seeking reelection in two decades.\nBut Republicans could see their opening slip away if the nominee is bound too tightly to an unpopular congressional wing of the party that has become the face of the GOP over the past 12 months. The Economist magazine recently summed up the Republican dilemma, saying that at a time when many independent voters may be looking for a solid center-right platform, the Republican Party \u201cis saddling its candidate with a set of ideas that are cranky, extreme and backward-looking.\u201d\nOne reason the candidates have been reluctant to chart new philosophical ground is that Republicans are as ideologically united as they\u2019ve been in many years. They are also more conservative than they were even in Reagan\u2019s day, thanks to an infusion of energy and ideas from the tea party movement.\nThat has put a strong gravitational pull on the presidential candidates. None of them, with the exception of Rep. Ron Paul (Tex.), have shown any inclination to break with party orthodoxy or to put distance between themselves and their congressional colleagues.\nDemocrats see the Republican candidates as compliant to the tea party wing of the GOP.\n\u201cThis is a party that is very much defined by the tea party element, and the candidates have submitted to that,\u201d said Democratic pollster Geoff Garin. \u201cThat\u2019s their destiny, and they\u2019re going to have to live with it.\u201d\nA Republican strategist, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to talk candidly about the election, agreed.\n\u201cWhat Obama needs to do now is force the Republican nominee into supporting the tea party wing of the party over the next nine months,\u201d he said. \u201cCan you tie the nominee to the congressional Republicans? If he can do that, now you\u2019re talking about a real problem.\u201d\nIf Republicans\u2019 choice is former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, Democrats believe that the nomination fight will have left him deeply compromised. Advisers to the president assert that in trying to win the nomination, Romney has taken positions that will cost him votes in November \u2014 positions on, among other things, immigration, the \u201cpersonhood\u201d movement and the Medicare reform proposal in the first budget plan from House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.).\nRomney has worked assiduously to court tea party voters on economic and fiscal issues, but he is not widely viewed as having taken up their ideological flag. William Galston, a Brookings Institution scholar and a domestic policy adviser in the Clinton White House, said Romney\u2019s appeal is different than that of rivals such as former senator Rick Santorum (Pa.), who has been rising in Iowa, or former House speaker Gingrich (Ga.), both of whom invoke Reaganism more directly.\nRomney\u2019s message, he said, is not an ideological vision for the party but rather a presentation of himself as an intelligent, practical-minded, conservative businessman.\n\u201cFor better or worse,\u201d Galston said, \u201cRomney is running as Mr. Fix-It, and his diagnosis is that the United States right now is a huge fixer-upper in need of his services. .\u2009.\u2009. Romney is running his campaign the way he would run the country.\u201d\nSome strategists see that as a potential problem. Mark McKinnon, a media adviser to Bush in the 2000 and 2004 campaigns, said: \u201cMy concern about Mitt Romney is that rather than shaping politics, he is shaped by politics. I think he is smart, decent, honest and capable. But the times demand \u2014 and the voters are looking for \u2014 bold, dramatic and visionary leadership.\u201d\nHowever, if Democrats believe that they can wrap the congressional wing around Romney, Galston argues that such a strategy may not be as effective they hope.\n\u201cI think obviously people will try to trap Romney, not only in a debate against one of his many former selves, but also in a debate with some of the excesses of the Republican Congress,\u201d he said. \u201cIt will be a test of Romney\u2019s political skill to be able to draw the distinction, but I don\u2019t see it as mission impossible.\u201d\nRepublican strategists also make a distinction between party and philosophy. Conservatism, they argue, is popular among the broader electorate. It\u2019s the Republican Party\u2019s brand that may be in trouble, a condition that could shape the way the GOP nominee presents himself or herself in the general election.\nRomney has already tipped his hand on this with a message that keeps all the focus on the president, arguing that Obama had a chance to fix the economy and failed. If the unemployment rate remains stubbornly high, that could be enough. If someone other than Romney wins the nomination, he or she is likely to try the same thing.\nThe question of whether presidents truly redefine their parties is debatable. Reagan clearly did, but it happened after a battle between 1976 and 1980 that resulted in his nomination, followed by eight years in the White House that imbedded his philosophy in the GOP.\nClinton offered a redefinition of the Democratic Party in 1992, but even some Democrats \u2014 Galston among them \u2014 say he had less success in converting the party\u2019s base to the centrist ideas of his New Democrat philosophy.\nThe lift to Obama\u2019s candidacy came from his soaring rhetoric about hope and change, rather than a redefinition of what it meant to be a Democrat. He was more about changing the country than the party.\nThe Republican candidates are dealing with a makeover of their party that has taken place since Bush left office nearly three years ago. Bush\u2019s domestic record triggered a conservative revolt that, along with the backlash against Obama\u2019s health-care law and deficit spending, created the tea party movement that now defines the GOP.\nSo far, that has done more to shape the presidential candidates than they have done to shape their party.\n Read more on PostPolitics.com \n Ron and Rand Paul, a double dose of liberty \n Supreme Court case involving Idaho lake house ignites conservative cause against EPA \n Federal Eye: When are the 2012 federal holidays? "}, {"name": "5cf5a22a-356e-11e1-81ef-eaf2bd09c8a2", "body": "INDEPENDENCE, Iowa \u2014 Full of confidence and bombast, Newt Gingrich last week began an eight-day bus tour across Iowa, figuring that the picnic basket of \u201cpositive\u201d ideas he has served crowds for months would be enough to stem his downward slide.\nBut that was before polls showed him dropping into fourth place and his message seeming to fall flat. It was before his opponents were done pummeling him with millions in attack ads. Then there were the tears when he talked about his mother and, finally, a vicious flu that left his eyes watery, his speech sluggish and his campaign fighting the perception that the candidate was limping to a disappointing Iowa finish.\nGingrich conceded as much at a farm exhibit here Monday morning when he told reporters, \u201cI don\u2019t think I\u2019m going to win.\u201d It was a bitter acknowledgment for a man who just a month ago boldly predicted that he would be the Republican nominee, with an assurance that left little room for doubt. Gingrich hasn\u2019t given up on that just yet; he has made clear that he\u2019s prepping for a serious counterattack against Mitt Romney, whose supporters\u2019 ads have badly damaged the former House speaker\u2019s chances.\nBut after surging to the top of the field weeks ago, the Gingrich of the past several days has come to understand that he was wrong about a few things, namely that there is only one story to Newt Gingrich. In fact, the other story took hold, too, leaving him open to attack and struggling to reposition himself.\nSince he rolled into Iowa last week, the lurching has continued. In a basement community room at Mabe\u2019s Pizza in Decorah, the crowd overflowed up the stairs into the main dining room, where families gathered for dinner could hear the approving cheers and applause through the floor.\nThe appeal? Gingrich\u2019s brimming confidence and fluency on the issues. He is a conservative in the mold of Ronald Reagan and Barry Goldwater. He led the charge against Bill Clinton in the 1990s for lower taxes, smaller government and welfare reform. As one woman put it at a question-and-answer session in Ottumwa: \u201cYour ideas are spectacular. Your brain is just inspiring.\u201d\nThe story was similar at the Chocolate Season in Algona, where fans spilled out onto the chilly sidewalk. And Gingrich attracted more than 70,000\u00a0callers to a series of telephone town halls since Christmas. His spokesman, R.C. Hammond, became so well versed that he began cuing up three cellphones with different carriers so Gingrich could stay connected even when the call got dropped.\nBut at the Dubuque Golf and Country Club and the Heartland Acres Agribition Center in Walford, crowds listened politely but exhibited little enthusiasm. When asked if they\u2019d seen any of the ads attacking Gingrich, the near-universal answer: \u201cOf course!\u201d\nAnd although all the crowds applauded when Gingrich condemned the negative ads, it was clear that the refrain \u2014 that Gingrich is a Washington insider; that he was paid $1.6\u00a0million by federally backed mortgage giant Freddie Mac; that he was sanctioned for ethics violations when he was speaker \u2014 had taken a toll.\nRetiree Ralph Davey, 60, who is undecided and came to hear Gingrich speak in Mason City, said: \u201cI like Newt. He was way down in the polls. He bounced back and showed some resilience. And I like his conservative values.\u201d Yet Davey still has reservations, he said, because of Gingrich\u2019s baggage.\nWith Gingrich, the point had sunk in by week\u2019s end. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t vote for the guy they\u2019re describing!\u201d he began quipping. He also began figuring out how to fight back. On his bus between stops in Mason City and Algona, Gingrich recorded a phone message to go to 100,000 homes denying a charge that he is not a strong supporter of gun rights.\nAnd his barbs toward Romney have grown sharper by the day. \u201cSomebody who will lie to you to get to be president will lie to you when they are president,\u201d he said Sunday.\nHe is also trying to change the narrative. \u201cWhatever I do tomorrow night will be a victory, because I\u2019m still standing,\u201d he told reporters. He is looking beyond Iowa, he said, to New Hampshire, South Carolina and Florida.\nGingrich has also altered his directive to stay positive. \u201cNo more\u201d was his message on Monday, along with a preview of what\u2019s to come \u2014 a brutal comparison of his conservative record with Romney\u2019s history as a \u201cMassachusetts moderate\u201d who refused to sign the Contract With America and supported abortion rights.\n\u201cThis is the first few minutes of the Super Bowl,\u201d Gingrich said. \u201cI think it\u2019s been a good three minutes for us. I think we\u2019ve begun to lay out the themes that will work. I think we\u2019ve seen Romney do his most intense negatives, and we now have had time to think through how to respond.\u201d\nWhether that response will work is a question that will have to wait until after Iowa.\nRead more on PostPolitics:\n\u2022 Is there an upset in Gingrich\u2019s future?\n\u2022 Refusal to go negative is only part of Gingrich\u2019s problem\n\u2022 Gingrich: Obama shouldn\u2019t take a salary in 2012\n\u2022 What kind of president would Gingrich be? His wives weigh in.\n\u2022 Iowa caucuses: One day out"}, {"name": "5dfa7e94-358b-11e1-836b-08c4de636de4", "body": "DES MOINES \u2014 One candidate made an appearance with the world\u2019s largest tractor. Another showed up with the Duggars, the nation\u2019s most famous large family. There were two Pauls in Des Moines and six Romneys in Davenport.\nThis is Iowa, the day before the circus leaves town.\nOn the eve of the first balloting of the 2012 presidential primary season, six Republican contenders made their last pitches to voters here, with the three leaders elbowing one another for a finish-line advantage.\nIf the freshest polls are to be believed, three very different candidates are the front-runners heading into caucus night \u2014 although in a campaign as muddled as this one, it\u2019s anyone\u2019s guess who will come out on top. Leading into the final stretch are former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, Rep. Ron Paul (Tex.) and former senator Rick Santorum (Pa.).\nThe other contenders are already looking beyond Tuesday night\u2019s caucuses. At one time or another, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, Rep. Michele Bachmann (Minn.) and former House speaker Newt Gingrich (Ga.) were considered formidable candidates. But in the closing hours before voting, they were scrambling to spin something respectable from what is likely to be a disappointing evening and to put forward a rationale for continuing through contests in New Hampshire, South Carolina and Florida.\n\u201cI don\u2019t think I\u2019m going to win,\u201d Gingrich said Monday, lowering expectations while blaming a barrage of negative ads from groups that support Romney.\nBut he added: \u201cI think we\u2019ve begun to lay out the themes that will work. I think we\u2019ve seen Romney do his most intense negatives, and we now have had time to think through how to respond.\u201d\nThe final full day of campaigning before the caucuses felt part county fair, part reality television. Gingrich appeared in the town of Independence with Big Bud, the world\u2019s largest tractor. Santorum\u2019s surprise guests in Polk City were the Duggar family , stars of the TLC hit show \u201c19 Kids and Counting\u201d (previously known as \u201c17 Kids and Counting\u201d and \u201c18 Kids and Counting\u201d).\nRomney \u2014 along with wife Ann, brother Scott and three of his five sons \u2014 logged more than 250 miles in four cities, arguing electability and inevitability.\n\u201cWe\u2019re gonna win this thing,\u201d Romney told more than 300 supporters at an afternoon rally in Marion, where he received his loudest and most enthusiastic reaction of the past week.\nSupporters such as Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) emphasized the more pragmatic calculation that many Iowa Republicans will be making as they ponder whether to support a front-runner with a moderate record that many conservatives mistrust.\n\u201cThink about this question,\u201d said Thune, a favorite of the right, at a chilly morning event at the Davenport fairgrounds. \u201cWho is best equipped to actually win the election in November and to defeat Barack Obama?\u201d\nThe front-runners represent a stark choice: Romney, the establishment favorite; Paul, the libertarian iconoclast with a young and passionate following; and Santorum, the conservative long shot who is experiencing a late-breaking surge resulting from his own tenacity and the collapse of several rivals.\nAt a rally at the Marriott in downtown Des Moines, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) \u2014 Ron Paul\u2019s son and a tea party icon \u2014 argued for conservatives to follow their hearts.\n\u201cThere is only one candidate who has never been accused of flip-flopping .\u2009.\u2009. my father, Ron Paul,\u201d he said in one of five stops that the father-son team made on Monday.\nThe crowd in the packed ballroom included libertarians, disaffected Democrats, antiwar liberals, small-government conservatives and antiabortion activists.\nIn Polk City, Santorum disputed the notion that Romney\u2019s experience as a corporate executive and turnaround artist had prepared him to govern a nation of deeply divided political interests and entrenched constituencies.\nAn executive \u201cassigns people who work for them. I can tell you, as a senator, I didn\u2019t work for the president. Congress doesn\u2019t work for the president,\u201d Santorum said. \u201cThe American people don\u2019t work for the president. It\u2019s the other way around.\u201d\nThe evidence of Santorum\u2019s recent surge was obvious: The overwhelming crush of media members at the Polk City stop included reporters from Italy and Australia. Dozens of voters \u2014 who two weeks ago probably could have had the candidate to themselves \u2014 were pressed out of the restaurant and stood in the cold.\n\u201cI\u2019m actually from Polk City,\u201d one said to another as he was unable to squeeze his way inside. \u201cYeah, we don\u2019t count,\u201d the other responded.\nDespite the fire-hazard nature of the crowd, Santorum followed a pattern established through 360 previous Iowa events. He took every question voters asked.\n\u201cOne more question,\u201d he said after speaking for about 30 minutes. \u201cNo?\u201d he said, spotting more hands. \u201cTwo? Three more questions.\u201d\nAnd he offered long responses. He said that his first executive order as president would be to ban federal funding for abortion and that U.S. citizens accused of terrorism should have access to lawyers and courts. He also promised to push for a balanced-
budget amendment to the Constitution.\nFor limping candidates such as Perry, Gingrich and Bachmann, a dismal showing Tuesday could set off a chain reaction of bad news. Lower fundraising totals. Less advertising. Disappointments in the upcoming primaries in New Hampshire and South Carolina.\nThe mix of contenders may also shift. Former Utah governor Jon Huntsman Jr., another lagging candidate hoping to catch fire, did not compete in Iowa so that he could focus on New Hampshire.\nIn Sioux City, Perry \u2014 whose weak debate performances demolished the high expectations that had greeted his candidacy \u2014 drew on his experience as an avid runner to frame the race ahead.\n\u201cThis is the first, let\u2019s say, Mile One of the marathon, and I\u2019ve run a marathon before,\u201d he said Monday at a meet-and-greet at the Stoney Creek Inn. \u201cWe\u2019ll see who\u2019s still running at Mile 21. I finished my marathon, and I expect to finish this marathon as well.\u201d\nA Des Moines Register poll over the weekend indicated that four out of 10 caucus-goers are still open to changing their minds about whom to support. For some, that decision could come down to the final appeals they hear from their neighbors during the quirky, quadrennial exercise that will take place in 1,774 precincts across the state \u2014 in schoolhouses, libraries, churches and homes.\n\u201cIt\u2019s hard. You hear good and bad about them all,\u201d said Marilyn Walker, 75, a retired farmer from Indianola who attended an event for Santorum on Monday evening at a Pizza Ranch in Altoona. \u201cWe probably won\u2019t make up our minds until the very last moment.\u201d\nShe said she and her husband had ruled out Romney, calling him \u201ca waverer.\u201d\nThey were considering Santor\u00adum, Paul and Bachmann. \u201cWe\u2019re going to decide based on integrity and morality.\u201d\nAfter hearing Santorum, Walker said she remained undecided. \u201cIt\u2019s food for thought,\u201d she said."}, {"name": "faaec2b8-325c-11e1-a274-61fcdeecc5f5", "body": "Spaceship Earth enters 2012 belching smoke, overheating and burning through fuel at a frightening rate. It\u2019s feeling pretty crowded, and the crew is mutinous. No one\u2019s at the helm.\nSure, it\u2019s an antiquated metaphor. It\u2019s also an increasingly apt way to discuss a planet with 7\u00a0billion people, a global economy, a World Wide Web, climate change, exotic organisms running amok and all sorts of resource shortages and ecological challenges.\nMore and more environmentalists and scientists talk about the planet as a complex system, one that human beings must aggressively monitor, manage and sometimes reengineer. Kind of like a spaceship.\nThis is a sharp departure from traditional \u201cgreen\u201d philosophy. The more orthodox way of viewing nature is as something that must be protected from human beings \u2014 not managed by them. And many environmentalists have reservations about possible unintended consequences of well-meaning efforts. No one wants a world that requires constant intervention to fix problems caused by previous interventions.\nAt the same time, \u201cwe\u2019re in a position where we have to take a more interventionist role and a more managerial role,\u201d says Emma Marris, author of \u201cRambunctious Garden: Saving Nature in a Post-Wild World.\u201d \u201cThe easy answer used to be to turn back time and make it look like it used to. Before was always better. Before is no longer an option.\u201d\nAlthough Marris is speaking about restoration ecology \u2014 how to manage forests and other natural systems \u2014 this interventionist approach can be applied to the planet more broadly. In his book \u201cThe God Species: Saving the Planet in the Age of Humans,\u201d environmental activist Mark Lynas writes, \u201cNature no longer runs the Earth. We do. It is our choice what happens from here.\u201d\nThe wilderness movements of John Muir in the 19th century and Teddy Roosevelt in the early 20th sought to draw boundaries between civilization and nature. The goal was to protect the biggest mountains, the deepest gorges, the wildest places, according to Douglas Brinkley, author of \u201cThe Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt\u2019s Crusade for America.\u201d\nBut after Rachel Carson published \u201cSilent Spring\u201d 50 years ago, detailing the ecological damage from the pesticide DDT, the movement began looking more at industrial pollutants and hazards to human health, Brink\u00adley says. Then, in the 1990s, climate change began to dominate the discussion.\nThis is a different planet in key respects than the one Carson was writing about. The fingerprints of humankind are now found on every continent, in every sea. Radiation from atomic tests can be found in sediments across the world, and the chemical signature of the Industrial Revolution, when coal began to power human activity, can be seen in ice cores drilled in Greenland. Earth is warming even as a growing human population is demanding more energy, using more resources, burning more fossil fuels and emitting more greenhouse gases. The challenges have scaled up.\nAs a result, some influential thinkers argue for a managerial approach to the planet that is short on sentiment and long on science and technology.\nEcologists, for example, have long bemoaned the invasive species that, stowing away amid the human cargo of the global economy, are reworking entire landscapes and overpowering many native species. The old approach would be to try to eradicate the invaders. The new approach argues that \u201cnovel landscapes\u201d are here to stay and that humans may have to take direct action to relocate native species to stay ahead of climate changes.\nOne of the deans of technological environmentalism is Stewart Brand, who in the 1960s ran around with Ken Kesey and the LSD-gobbling Merry Pranksters. In 1968 he published the \u201cWhole Earth Catalog,\u201d which combined hippie sensibility with early computers and nifty gadgets. His catalog had a famous inscription: \u201cWe are as gods, and might as well get good at it.\u201d\nBrand\u2019s philosophy was pro-technology amid a counterculture movement that often saw technology as an evil \u2014 as the source of pollution, industrial-scale warfare and nuclear weapons. Early on, Brand saw the personal computer as a source of individual empowerment and resistance to authority; he sponsored an early convention of computer hackers.\nBrand, whose most recent book is \u201cWhole Earth Discipline: An Ecopragmatist Manifesto,\u201d advocates the use of genetically modified organisms and nuclear power, and speaks of \u201csolar radiation management\u201d through cloud-seeding and other forms of \u201cgeoengineering\u201d as possible mitigators of climate change.\nThis isn\u2019t green orthodoxy, obviously. Albert Borgmann, a professor of philosophy at the University of Montana who has written extensively on technology and the environment, worries about a possible overreliance on technology to fix problems that humans have made.\n\u201cIt has to be done in a spirit of cautionary respect. There has to be some rueful recognition that the spirit of managing things has gotten us where we are. That same sort of arrogance \u2014 we control it all \u2014 can\u2019t continue,\u201d Borgmann says.\nBeyond the philosophical questions are nuts-and-bolts issues about how people could intelligently manage something as complicated as the natural world. We might not be good at it.\nA number of recent events have shown that complex technological systems are vulnerable to rare but consequential failures. The BP oil spill, for example, happened despite elaborate technologies and monitoring systems designed to prevent an oil-well blowout, or at least shut down a runaway well if the initial line of defense failed.\nInvestigators said that engineering decisions eroded the safety margin in an attempt to cut costs. But the technology wasn\u2019t as robust as engineers thought it was.\nEven more humbling was the March 11 earthquake in Japan. The earthquake wasn\u2019t supposed to be possible. The seismic hazard maps showed that the maximum possible earthquake along the Japan Trench \u2014 the huge fault line where one plate of the Earth dives beneath another \u2014 could generate earthquakes up to magnitude 8.4. But on the afternoon of March 11, the fault broke and generated an earthquake registering 9.0, which was six times stronger than the theoretical maximum.\nThat misunderstanding of the quake hazard led to a fundamental error in the design of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant built on the seacoast. The plant was protected by a tsunami wall that could handle waves up to 18.7 feet high. The first wave after the earthquake was 13 feet high, and the second was so much bigger that it obliterated the tide gauge used to measure wave height. The biggest wave may have been as high as 49 feet, according to an investigation by the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations.\nThe tsunami knocked out the backup power generators at the plant, which in retrospect were located too low. Without electricity, the Fukushima plant couldn\u2019t cool the nuclear fuel rods and fuel tanks, and a series of explosions and meltdowns released large amounts of radiation into the environment for months.\n\u201cThe earthquake doesn\u2019t tell us whether we should do nuclear, but the earthquake does tell us that we\u2019re better off, if we\u2019re doing nuclear, to have a good understanding of the world around us,\u201d says Richard B. Alley, a Penn State climate scientist and author of \u201cEarth: The Operator\u2019s Manual.\u201d\nAuthor and activist Bill McKibben published a 2011 book titled \u201cEaarth,\u201d which he proposes as the name for this fundamentally new planet, one that, in his view, won\u2019t be as pleasant for human beings as the one they used to know and will require a new set of values and aspirations. McKibben\u2019s view is of a world that is more decentralized in political power, energy generation and food production.\n\u201cThe future should belong, and could belong, to the small and many, not the big and few,\u201d McKibben says. Decentralization would help prevent small problems from expanding into societal catastrophes, he says.\nSuccessful management of global environmental issues would require political leadership that McKibben, Brand and others say hasn\u2019t materialized. Dealing with climate change, for example, \u201cinvolves a level of global cooperation that has never happened, and the mechanisms for that are not in sight,\u201d Brand says.\nNonetheless, he\u2019s an optimist about human beings in general.\n\u201cWe\u2019re getting better,\u201d he says. \u201cWe are getting far less violent, less cruel and less unjust, steadily for the last millennia, centuries, years and days. It\u2019s a remarkably human accomplishment in basically domesticating ourselves.\u201d\nBrand would amend the famous \u201cWe are as gods\u201d inscription of his 1968 book:\n\u201cThe new version of that is, \u2018We are as gods and have to get good at it.\u2019\u2009\u201d"}, {"name": "4c31f8b4-358a-11e1-81ef-eaf2bd09c8a2", "body": "COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa \u2014 On a recent afternoon at the Kanesville Tabernacle, the historic site along the Mormon Trail where pioneers selected Brigham Young to lead their church in 1847, Sister LaRae Wright lamented that 150 years later many Iowans still know nothing about the Mormon faith.\nMitt Romney, she said, could change that.\n\u201cI want him to shout it from the rooftops,\u201d Sister Wright burst out with a chuckle. Then she paused. \u201cBut does that make political sense?\u201d\nIt does not. Conversations with voters and evangelical leaders across Iowa reveal that a suspicion of Mormonism may still be a central reason for those opposing the former Massachusetts governo