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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/05/AR2006030500884.html
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https://web.archive.org/web/2006030619id_/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/05/AR2006030500884.html
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A Mayoral Free-for-All In Changed New Orleans
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NEW ORLEANS -- The mayoral race here, which got its official start last week, is presenting candidates with a daunting question of post-flood strategy: Who and where are the voters?
Although about half of New Orleans's residents have returned since Hurricane Katrina, tens of thousands of evacuees are still scattered across the country and eligible to cast ballots in the April 22 election, either by mail or at satellite polling places around the state.
But even more challenging in a city where racial allegiances -- real or imagined -- can determine political fates, is the question of who those voters will be.
Once dominated by a significant black majority, the city's demographics have taken a numerical shift toward whites, and the new, uncertain racial balance has given the contest a particularly unpredictable feel.
With credible white challengers to incumbent C. Ray Nagin (D) among a field of 24 candidates, and the looming possibility that the election will yield the first white mayor since 1978, even basic logistical questions regarding election dates and how to notify displaced voters have become bogged down with lawsuits and racial overtones.
"There is a strong sense in the black community that some in the white community are trying to pile it on," City Council President Oliver M. Thomas Jr. said last week. He predicted that anger will motivate many displaced voters to cast ballots, even if it means taking long bus trips back.
Meanwhile, the electorate's new geography is transforming the mayor's contest into a far-flung affair. Candidates are planning campaign stops and possibly even advertising in places as far away as Atlanta, Houston, Dallas, Memphis and Jackson, Miss.
Nagin campaigned in Houston over the weekend, and supporters in Memphis were already arranging buses to send voters to New Orleans for the election next month, he said.
Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu and Ron Forman, chief executive of the Audubon Nature Institute, considered the two leading challengers to Nagin in a field of more than a dozen so far, likewise say they will divide their time between New Orleans and other cities where New Orleanians can be found. Nagin's leadership in the months after the hurricane is expected to be a key issue in the campaign.
Some analysts expect the best-funded campaigns will even run television ads in markets such as Houston, Atlanta and Baton Rouge, La.
Mail campaigns will be, at best, limited. Some candidates had hoped to use an address list of displaced people, maintained by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, for mass mailings of campaign literature. But a court ruling blocked its release to candidates, citing privacy reasons.
"It's peculiar," Landrieu said of the diaspora of New Orleanians. "It's twisted a lot of people's heads. We're just going to have to figure out where we think we know the voters are."
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Complete Coverage on Hurricane Katrina and Rita including video, photos and blogs. Get up-to-date news on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and Rita, news from New Orleans and more.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/05/AR2006030500961.html
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In Fight Over Oil-Rich Delta, Firepower Grows Sophisticated
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PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria -- People steeped in the bloody history of the Niger Delta recall when militants battling for control of the vast oil reserves here traded their fishing spears and machetes for locally made hunting guns and then, a few years later, upgraded to imported AK-47 assault rifles.
But those days now seem long ago to the delta's beleaguered residents and observers of the decades-old conflict, who say government forces and the militants fighting them are both using profits from record-high oil prices to rearm themselves with unprecedented levels of firepower.
The government, according to Nigerian news reports, is shopping in international markets for new weaponry. And the militants, who support their operations by tapping directly into pipelines and selling the stolen oil in a bustling black market, are using the proceeds to stockpile belt-fed machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades.
Dozens of militants displayed such weapons, fully loaded, during interviews last month on a stretch of river they appeared to control. With photographers snapping away, the hooded and camouflaged young men waved their guns menacingly at journalists and at one of the nine hostages they seized last month. The hostage, Macon Hawkins, an oil worker from Texas, and five others were later released.
The hundreds and perhaps thousands of unemployed young men who make up the militant forces have stockpiled boxes of ammunition that are as big as tables, said Ledum A. Mitee, head of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People, a human rights group that advocates on behalf of the ethnic group in the delta.
Mitee saw weapons caches when he visited a base in January to help negotiate the release of four foreign hostages, he said. "I left thinking the situation was more serious than it has ever been," he said.
His group, whose former leader, Ken Saro-Wiwa, was hanged for treason in 1995, opposes violence. But Mitee said that sympathy is growing among residents of this impoverished region for armed confrontation with government forces that long have spirited the delta's oil wealth to far-off government projects and into the pockets of corrupt politicians.
The weapons come from many sources, according to analysts and independent groups such as Human Rights Watch. Corrupt police sell from their own stocks, sometimes offering training for an extra fee. Politicians import weapons to arm their personal militias. And oil companies hire and arm youths to protect their facilities. The guns often end up in the hands of militants, who also buy directly from international dealers.
Last June in Warri, a major delta port, militants purchased $5 million worth of weapons, included rocket-propelled grenade launchers, hand grenades and a variety of machine guns, said Patrick Naagbanton, a researcher for the Project for Environment, Human Rights and Development, a delta-based nongovernmental organization.
"There are so many more guns than before -- bigger guns, more sophisticated guns," he said.
The growing firepower has mixed with rising political frustration and jittery, overstretched global oil markets to produce an increasingly combustible mix here.
A new militant umbrella group, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, has launched a series of attacks on oil facilities that have cut national production by 20 percent. Nigeria, with an average output of 2.5 million barrels per day, is the fifth-largest supplier to the United States. The group was also responsible for the recent kidnappings.
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PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria -- People steeped in the bloody history of the Niger Delta recall when militants battling for control of the vast oil reserves here traded their fishing spears and machetes for locally made hunting guns and then, a few years later, upgraded to imported AK-47 assault rifles.
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65% of Promised Drug Studies Pending
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Drug companies have launched barely a third of the follow-up studies they agreed to undertake once their new medications were on the market, the government said yesterday.
Often the drugs received expedited approval from federal regulators on the condition that the studies be carried out.
The Food and Drug Administration said in an annual report that, as of Sept. 30, 65 percent of the 1,231 "post-marketing" studies that companies had pledged to carry out were still pending.
"That doesn't mean they will never be started," said John Jenkins, director of the FDA's Office of New Drugs, noting that 116 of the 797 studies were committed to during the 12 months ending in September. The clinical trials can take six months to a year to design and launch, he said.
Some studies had been committed to years earlier, but the FDA did not provide a breakdown.
The 797 pending studies represent a slight dip from 812 a year earlier. FDA official Kathleen Quinn said the agency feels that "these numbers show drug companies are taking this thing seriously."
Jerry Avorn, a Harvard Medical School professor and author of "Powerful Medicines," in which he criticizes the FDA's post-marketing system, said the numbers show the system is broken.
"This new information is an embarrassing continuation of similar reports issued by FDA each year on the appalling state of the medication safety studies it has 'mandated' drug manufacturers to perform. It is scandalous that of the supposedly active studies, about two-thirds haven't even been started yet," Avorn said.
But Alan Goldhammer, of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, said the figures should not be "distorted."
"To be clear, pending does not mean delayed. It does mean, however, that the immense and vitally important tasks of developing research protocols, finding investigators and researchers and even recruiting patients to participate in the study is in process," Goldhammer said.
The FDA said it relies on the so-called Phase 4 studies to gather additional information about a drug's safety, efficacy or use. The outcome of those studies can lead to changes in how a drug is made, prescribed and used. The FDA also can require the studies after it has approved a drug.
The report, posted to the FDA Web site, lists 231 studies as ongoing, 28 as delayed and three as terminated as of Sept. 30. Another 172 studies are listed as completed or terminated, with a final report submitted to the agency.
The report also tallies studies required of biological products, which include vaccines, blood components and transplant tissues. There, of 321 study commitments, 118 -- or 37 percent -- remained pending as of Sept. 30. Another 56 were completed by that date.
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Get Washington DC, Virginia, Maryland and national news. Get the latest/breaking news, featuring national security, science and courts. Read news headlines from the nation and from The Washington Post. Visit www.washingtonpost.com/nation today.
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Wonkette Live
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David Lat and Alex Pareene were online Wednesday, March 1, at 3 p.m. ET to talk about their new roles as the editors of political blog Wonkette since founding editor Ana Marie Cox left earlier this year.
David Lat is a former Newark, N.J.-based federal prosecutor. In a November 2005 interview with the New Yorker, Lat revealed that he is also Article III Groupie, the supposedly female author of judicial blog Underneath Their Robes.
Alex Pareene is, as many articles and Pareene have said, a "20-year-old NYU dropout." He's also the author of the blog Buck Hill.
Souf Eazt Dee Cee: As crushed out as I was on Ana, I must say I really like what you guys have been doing. It seems like the site is becoming more "gawkery." Is this a natural phenomenon or is Money Bags Denton pushing you in that direction?
Alex Pareene: I'm answering this one first because it's the only one so far smart enough to start with an obsequious compliment.
Second: Nick "Money Backs" Denton doesn't actually remember that he gave us this gig. He doesn't really notice what we do, as he's generally busy swimming in a pool full of gold coins a la Scrooge McDuck. Seriously: we receive no Orders from On High as to what we cover or how we cover it. Nick sends us a link every now and then, to the tips email, just like regular folks. Except, you know, we actually *post* his links.
Burlington, Vt.: Three words: Mo' Butterstick now.
David Lat: While we adore Butterstick -- who doesn't? -- we feel that this particular meme is uniquely Ana Marie Cox's. So our failure to talk more about "the Stick" reflects a conscious editorial decision on our part to chart our own path here at Wonkette. Our standard for Butterstick items is that we'll talk about that diminutive panda if there's a news hook. For example, we recently did an item about pandas eating up zoo budgets, based on a New York Times piece. If Butterstick goes into Iraq and unearths WMDs, OF COURSE we'll write about him. But we generally don't do "Stick for the sake of Stick" coverage, wisely leaving the Stick shtick to others (e.g., http://www.obeybutterstick.com/).
Alex Pareene: We cut back our coverage after vigorous discussion on our internal omblog following Butterstick's appearance on Olbermann's show wearing a hunting vest. Are you a serious representative of an endangered species or a comedian, Mr. Stick?
We woulda taken Butterstick out to the woodshed, but the little rascal's so darn cute!
Minneapolis, Minn.: You both moved from New York to D.C. Does D.C. feel provincial, like it seems to those of us outside the beltway? How are you going to avoid trading access for your integrity, will it be a struggle?
David Lat: In response to your first question, D.C. definitely doesn't feel provincial, at least not to me. Although I miss some aspects of New York, and the relative quietness of street life here is still strange to me, Washington is a major city with lots to offer. Also, as a former lawyer, I have tons of friends here, which has eased my transition.
As for your second question: I've already started trading my integrity for access! Isn't that the name of the game here in D.C.? When in Rome...
Alex Pareene: As a Minneapolitan myself, I'd just like to say: Hi, mom.
I do miss ordering Chinese at 3 a.m., not to mention, you know, taking the subway places at 3 a.m., but I do really like it here. 'Cause my apartment's huge and comparatively cheap.
No one has really offered to trade me anything for my integrity yet. But I'm open to suggestions. Do you have something good? We'll talk. Lunch at the Caucus Room Friday?
Arlandria, Va.: Alex, how did you advertise your previous blog? And is that how you came to have the Wonkette gig? Was there an application process?
Alex Pareene: I didn't advertise it. Really at all. It's really not that good.
I got the gig because I e-mailed Gawker a long time ago. And they thought my email was funny. That's sort of how it works, I guess. A good way to catch Denton's attention is to be an attractive young man who lives in New York.
A strong sarcasm reflex....: and a nose for news. So how do I get a gig writing snarky things all day long? Where can I sign up?
David Lat: My advice: start your own blog, if you don't have one already, and do the very best job that you can with it. There aren't many opportunities out there to blog for a living, but the way to get such a gig is to show you can do it, and do it well. I came to the attention of Gawker Media through my judicial gossip blog, "Underneath Their Robes." They liked what I was doing with UTR, and it's a blog with a Wonkette-like sensibility: similar to Wonkette, but for the federal judiciary. So that's how I ended up here at Wonkette.
Alex Pareene: My kinda serious answer: There are like three bloggers getting rich, and like a couple dozen making a living off of it. Out of a billion. The rest do it for fun, or, if they advertise and get decent traffic, just a little bit of extra cash.
The "blogsphere" is NOT egalitarian, democratic, or any of that stuff. If you didn't get in on the ground floor, you're kinda screwed unless you have celebrity friends or a really, really great gimmick (Hi, David!)
If you're a great writer, it's a decent way to hone your craft, but you have to be an even better self-promoter to get anywhere.
Washington, D.C.: David, still practicing law?
David Lat: No, not currently, but I pay my bar dues and keep up with my CLE requirement. A law license is like an umbrella -- you never know when you're going to need it!
Nonprofit, D.C.: How can a bottom-rung program assistant tied to her computer all day get a commenting invite? Unfortunately, I can't hang out outside to look for tips lol
David Lat: I'm pretty easy when it comes to giving out comment invites. If you email us and offer us some funny observation that we can use, a stupid CNN.com headline, etc., and ask for a comment invite, we're happy to give you one. It's not intended to be some sort of velvet rope/exclusive club thing; the primary reason for having it is to avoid a total meltdown and anarchy (cough cough, will not say anything about The Washington Post blog here).
Alex Pareene: I only give them out to cute girls.
Washington, D.C.: Do either of have a day job besides maintaining the blog?
David Lat: I don't -- although once I'm more settled in at Wonkette, I may try to do some freelance writing on the side. Reading the news and mongering the rumors keeps me pretty busy during throughout the day, at least right now. I can't imagine trying to balance maintaining the blog with a full-time day job.
Alex Pareene: I have a side gig impersonating David Broder at children's parties.
Alexandria, Va.: Great site, guys! But seriously, what's happening with the new comments section? Is it catching on?
David Lat: I think the comments section is gaining momentum, and the number of comments per posts has been fine, especially considering that it's so new. Of course, we are continuing to build it out -- and to give out more invites. So send us your tips, and we'll send you some invites!
Atlanta, Ga.: Who is your favorite Bush admin. official, senator, and congressman/woman? Love the blog, dahlings...
David Lat: My choices are going to seem cliched, but I have a weakness for dramatic, intriguing figures, and strong, powerful, brilliant women. So my favorite Bush administration official is Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and my favorite senator is Hillary Rodham Clinton. If Hillary and Condi ever face each other in some race -- for example, a presidential race, as Dick Morris has fantasized about -- I will pretty much drop dead from sheer excitement.
As for congressmen, allow me to quote the Original Wonkette, Ana Marie Cox: "Oh, please, congressmen? They're like interns. Why bother learning their names?"
Alex Pareene: Chertoff and Michael Brown should have a sitcom. I love them. I want them to share an apartment. Every week, Chertoff goes to work, and the apartment catches on fire, but Brown refuses to call him and tell him.
Bethesda, Md.: Does it bother you that you're two men writing a blog that has such a feminine name? It made sense under Ana, but was there discussion about whether "Wonkette" would stick? Personally I think the "Wonkette Dudes" would be more appropriate.
David Lat: Not really; I think we're both comfortable enough with our masculinity to be fine with it. Wonkette has such a high profile, and Ana et al. did such a nice job of building it up, so I don't think there was ever any serious discussion about changing the blog's name -- and forfeiting the goodwill. As for what to call ourselves, I suppose we could be called "Wonketteers," if "Wonkettes" might be viewed as too feminine.
But, speaking for myself, I'm okay with being a Wonkette (or one-half of Wonkette). In my original blog, "Underneath Their Robes," I blogged as a woman -- so I have no problem with assuming a female identity in the blogosphere. At this point, though, Wonkette may have transcended a female identity; we haven't done much in the way of gender-specific blogging.
Alex Pareene: One thing I've found is that middle-aged men are much more likely to buy me drinks now.
Silver Spring, Md.: Blogs have traditionally been identified with an individual: AndrewSullivan.com, Kausfiles, etc. But now, although Ms. Cox is gone, her blog-name survives. Could you comment on the notion of a blog as a brand, rather than as a blogger? Is it fair for your blog - which I still enjoy - to bear the Wonkette name or logo, that cute cartoon of the imaginary Wonkette with knee socks, pleated skirt, and purring cat?
P.S. - In what city or cities do you work/live?
Alex Pareene: I think lots of blogs are just as much about the "brands" as individuals... blah blah blah
I really don't have anything serious to say about blogs and branding and the corporatization of new media, actually. Just wanted to point out that the cat was edited out of the logo. 'Cause, you know, we're not *that* girly. Jeez.
I petitioned our boss to add a cartoon of two unshaven skinny guys with bags under their eyes hunched over laptops, but apparently THE MAN didn't like that idea.
Alex Pareene: Oh, and I live/work in D.C.
David Lat: I pretty much agree with Alex's views. I also live and work in Washington. Glad to hear that you continue to enjoy Wonkette!
Washington, D.C.: What's it like blogging as a pair? How are you guys splitting it up?
David Lat: I've really enjoyed blogging with Alex so far, and I think it's great fun to blog with someone else. It's nice to know that on days when you're not feeling especially prolific and/or funny, there's someone else there to keep things going and to pick up the slack. We also ask each other for editorial input and run jokes and ideas by each other, which is helpful. Blogging can be a somewhat solitary activity, so it's nice to have a partner in crime.
As for how we split things up, we've generally eschewed a "zone defense" approach in favor of a "man-to-man" -- or "man-to-story," or "man-to-tip" -- defense. We stay in constant contact throughout the day over instant messenger (IM), and we IM each other to figure out who will be blogging about what. While there may be some subjects that one of us tends to blog about more than the other -- for example, I tend to do more law-related blogging, given my legal background -- nothing is set in stone.
Alex Pareene: It's really, really great blogging with someone else. If you get complaints about something you've written, you have someone to blame right there. If there were bylines, my friends would never speak to me again.
Don't listen to David, I secretly write all the Supreme Court stuff. Guy doesn't know a thing about law, he fakes it. He once told me his favorite Justice was Judge Dredd.
Philadelphia, Pa.: David, back when you were working as an assistant U.S. Attorney in Newark, N.J., what reaction did your superiors in the U.S. Department of Justice have to your unmasking in The New Yorker as the formerly pseudonymous author of a popular federal judicial gossip blog? And what reaction did you expect they would have?
David Lat: Long story! For now, I don't think I have much to add beyond what appears in this New York Times article, by Jonathan Miller, published on Jan. 22, 2006: He Fought the Law. They Both Won.
San Francisco, Calif.: Ana's big assets (no, not THOSE) were all the personal contacts who totally stealthed her juicy backbites of information. Are her contacts embracing you (no, I mean in the journalistic sense) just as closely? Or are you having to start over?
David Lat: Ana has been kind enough to introduce us to a number of her fantastic sources and contacts here in Washington. In addition, we've also been doing some cultivating of sources on our own. For example, given my legal background, I know a lot of sources within the legal profession: government lawyers, law clerks, law professors, etc. Developing a network of contacts and sources is one of the most important, challenging, and enjoyable parts of this job.
Arlington, Va.: I have also been pleasantly surprised by you two. You had big shoes to fill and you have succeeded. Have you found any favorite haunts since you moved to D.C.?
Alex Pareene: While getting repeatedly screwed over by Verizon, I've been spending most of my work days at Tryst on 18th Street. It's very quickly sapping me of my will to live.
I don't go out a whole lot, but you might find me at Chief Ikes on the occasional weekday night, or seeing some over-hyped indie band at one of those U Street. bars on weekends.
I tend to avoid the hill/democrat/republican bar scene (seriously, you want to talk about this stuff *after* work?), though I have stayed at Stetsons until they kicked us out, so you never know.
David Lat: Like Alex, I don't go out terribly much either -- during the week, I tend to be pretty exhausted by the end of the day. Blogging is hard work!
I live between Dupont and Logan circles, and so two of my favorite local places are Logan Tavern and Merkado. Oh, and the Whole Foods on that same street, although I guess that's not really a neighborhood haunt. As for cafes -- we pointy-headed blogger/writer types are supposed to go to them, dontcha know -- I like Kramerbooks/Afterwords.
College Park, Md.: Sooo...what are my chances of getting the Wonkette internship if I applied for it?
Alex Pareene: I found my intern -- there were so many applications, we couldn't get back to everyone to applied. Sorry! Nothing personal. Probably. I think David still has to pick one, so butter him up.
David Lat: Heheh, yes, I haven't moved as fast as Alex -- so yes, butter me up...
Boston, Mass.: First, I really enjoy the blog! What opinions do y'all have on bringing back a fresh air into politics? And why do you think that so many states are revisiting abortion issues right now, ex. South Dakota and Mississippi? Thanks!
Alex Pareene: Bringing *back* fresh air? I was pretty convinced we were degrading the discourse.
Anyway, to answer the second question: Midterm elections + new SCOTUS justices = hell, why not try that flag-burning thing again too while we're at it, see what sticks.
Silver Spring, Md: With Wonkette blocked (somewhat) in Iraq, are you now going to focus more on the up and coming Afghanistan market?
Alex Pareene: We're gonna break into the Iran market now, before everyone else hits it up. We want Wonkette to be an established brand there by the time the tanks roll in.
Alexandria, Va.: Are there any members of Congress known to read and love, or hate, Wonkette?
Alex Pareene: The vast majority of our Wonk'd sightings are sent in by Representative Martin Sabo (D-Minn.).
Joe Biden does the funny CNN headlines. He loves that stuff.
This is my last question, so thanks for reading, and I'd like to let The Post staff know that I'm totally willing to drop this whole blogging thing if you guys have an editorship open. I'm really really good at promoting white people.
washingtonpost.com: Thank you all for participating today. Join us next Wednesday when blogger Frank Warren will be on to discuss his Web site, PostSecret, and his new book, PostSecret: Extraordinary Confessions from Ordinary Lives.
Editor's Note: washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions. washingtonpost.com is not responsible for any content posted by third parties.
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Wonkette co-editors David Lat and Alex Pareene discussed their roles as the "new guys" at Wonkette and writing about Washington's political life.
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And the Winner Is: Not Washington
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Why is it that Washington often seems so out of touch with the rest of the country? Maybe it's because people here are so busy taking themselves seriously that they don't have the time, or the inclination, to go to the movies. Just look at this year's contenders at the Academy Awards.
When homosexuality is raised as an "issue," which is the only way anything gets raised around here, politicians in the nation's capital tend to fall into two camps: those who invoke Sodom and Gomorrah in flights of demagoguery and those who suddenly realize they have pressing appointments elsewhere.
Yet the leading contender for the Oscar for best picture is "Brokeback Mountain," a love story about two gay cowboys -- not Village People "cowboys" prancing up and down the streets of some godless big city where "values" means nothing more than a half-price sale at a fancy boutique, but real cowboys who live in the flyover, red-state American West. (Okay, it's been noted by some that actually they herd sheep, but they're definitely what most of us think of as cowboys.) Another nominee for best picture is the biopic "Capote," whose subject is a great writer who happened to be flamboyantly homosexual. And Felicity Huffman is a contender for best actress for playing a preoperative transsexual in "Transamerica."
No, the prominence of gay-themed movies this year doesn't mean that America has reached a consensus on homosexuality when it is framed as an issue. Battles over marriage, domestic partnership, survivor benefits and the like will doubtless continue for many years. But Hollywood, which doesn't make movies to lose money, seems to have decided that most Americans will neither faint dead away nor riot in the streets if homosexuality is openly depicted and discussed. So there's no need to hurt yourselves scrambling for the door, senators.
Another axiom in Washington seems to be that this great nation can survive anything except an open, honest, nuanced discussion of race. Somehow we think we can talk about policies, such as affirmative action, without talking frankly about racism, prejudice, immigration, fear, envy and the other nitty-gritty factors that define race relations in this country.
But we can't get anywhere if we insist on confining our debate on race to anodyne truisms and regular celebrations of Black History Month. "Crash," another best-picture nominee, surveys the complicated, mine-strewn racial landscape that Americans traverse every day. Only along the banks of the Potomac is policy debate considered an adequate substitute for human experience.
Here in Washington we reporters tend to act as if any question about any aspect of the war on terrorism -- arbitrary detention, secret prisons, domestic spying -- has to be phrased almost as an apology. "Pardon me, Mr. President, but I was wondering, could you please be so kind as to explain once again why interrogation techniques defined by international agreements as torture are not, in fact, torture? If you're too busy to answer, I'll understand."
Watching Edward R. Murrow go after Sen. Joseph McCarthy in the best-picture contender "Good Night, and Good Luck" should remind us how to ask a proper question -- and also how even a struggle against a menacing foe, such as communism, can become a witch hunt if good people stand by and do nothing.
And maybe seeing "Munich," the final nominee for best picture, would point out to everyone in Washington something President Bush seems to forget, or at least pretends to forget. He talks about the war on terrorism without mentioning that terrorism is just a tactic -- a horrible, unacceptable and evil tactic, to be sure, but just a means to an end -- and that you can't wipe it out with bullets and bombs.
This is hardly the first time the movies have had a "Hello?" message for Washington. I remember how stunned many people around here were when Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ" became a runaway hit, despite scenes of unwatchable violence and dialogue in an ancient language no one speaks. That time, of course, mainstream Hollywood -- which tends to be liberal and secular -- was even more surprised. A few politicians, mostly Republicans, had a sense of the breadth and depth of the fundamentalist Christian movement and have been able to use that knowledge for political gain.
This year, if the Oscar nominations are any guide, it's the Democrats who ought to be in a position to absorb valuable political lessons. America is a complicated place filled with minorities of all kinds, including gay people. Celebrating America means celebrating our differences. Standing for America means standing for American principles. War, even when it's justified, has to have peace as its ultimate end.
Really, folks, we should get out more.
The writer will answer questions today at 1 p.m. on washingtonpost.com. His e-mail address iseugenerobinson@washpost.com.
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Why is it that Washington often seems so out of touch with the rest of the country? Maybe it's because people here are so busy taking themselves seriously that they don't have the time, or the inclination, to go to the movies. Just look at this year's contenders at the Academy Awards.
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Shiites Told: Leave Home Or Be Killed
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BAGHDAD, Feb. 28 -- Salim Rashid, 34, a Shiite laborer in an overwhelmingly Sunni Arab village 20 miles north of Baghdad, received his eviction notice Friday from a man at the door with a rocket launcher.
"It's 6 p.m.," Rashid recounted the masked man saying then, as retaliatory violence between Shiites and Sunnis exploded across wide swaths of central Iraq. "We want you out of here by 8 p.m. tomorrow. If we find you here, we will kill you."
Walking, hitchhiking and hiring cars, the Rashid clan and many of the 25 other families evicted from the town of Mishada had made their way by Tuesday to a youth center in Baghdad's heavily Shiite neighborhood of Shoula. There, other people forced from their homes were already sharing space on donated mattresses.
With sectarian violence rampant since last week's bombing of a Shiite shrine in Samarra, the families have become symbols of an emerging trend in Iraq: the expulsion of Shiites from Sunni towns.
New, deadly attacks -- many of them apparently retaliatory sectarian assaults -- surged Tuesday, with 66 people killed, according to Iraqi police. The decision to lift a curfew in Baghdad on Monday appeared to have opened the way for a resumption of intense bombings, including explosions at three Shiite mosques that killed at least 19 people. Some of Tuesday's other victims included 23 people killed by a suicide bomber in Baghdad as they waited in line to buy kerosene; five Iraqi soldiers killed in a car bombing in the capital's Zayona district; and one U.S. soldier killed by small-arms fire west of the capital, authorities and news agencies said.
Attacks on Shiite and Sunni holy sites had been rare in Iraq until last Wednesday, when bombers blew the gold-plated top off the shrine in Samarra, a heavily Sunni city about 65 miles north of Baghdad. The attack unleashed what many people here vowed would never happen: sectarian warfare in Iraq.
"One of those men told me, 'You started this, by burning our mosques and killing our people,' " said Rashid's grown nephew, kneeling with other men from the displaced families. Around them, black-shrouded women drank tea and children napped or played.
At least 58 dislodged Shiite families have come to Shoula since late last week, said Raad al-Husseini, a cleric who is helping the families settle in.
Husseini credited the organization of Moqtada al-Sadr, an outspoken Shiite cleric and growing political force in Iraq -- along with the people of the neighborhood -- for coming to the refugees' aid with blankets, clothing, and pots of stew and rice.
Husseini did not know the total number of displaced people in Shoula, but Rashid, the laborer, said about 200 had left his town.
Many of the newcomers have settled with relatives or even strangers. Rashid said others had decided to keep walking past Shoula, to some of the nearly homogeneous Shiite towns of the south, finding safety among people of their own sects.
In one room at the youth center, volunteers folded up a Ping-Pong table and swept a floor for the newest refugee family, that of Rahim Abood Sahan, 60. They arrived after a three-day trek -- walking by day, and taking shelter in strangers' homes at night -- from the village of Haswah, south of Baghdad.
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BAGHDAD, Feb. 28 -- Salim Rashid, 34, a Shiite laborer in an overwhelmingly Sunni Arab village 20 miles north of Baghdad, received his eviction notice Friday from a man at the door with a rocket launcher.
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Toll in Iraq's Deadly Surge: 1,300
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BAGHDAD, Feb. 27 -- Grisly attacks and other sectarian violence unleashed by last week's bombing of a Shiite Muslim shrine have killed more than 1,300 Iraqis, making the past few days the deadliest of the war outside of major U.S. offensives, according to Baghdad's main morgue. The toll was more than three times higher than the figure previously reported by the U.S. military and the news media.
Hundreds of unclaimed dead lay at the morgue at midday Monday -- blood-caked men who had been shot, knifed, garroted or apparently suffocated by the plastic bags still over their heads. Many of the bodies were sprawled with their hands still bound -- and many of them had wound up at the morgue after what their families said was their abduction by the Mahdi Army, the Shiite militia of cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.
"After he came back from the evening prayer, the Mahdi Army broke into his house and asked him, 'Are you Khalid the Sunni infidel?' " one man at the morgue said, relating what were the last hours of his cousin, according to other relatives. "He replied yes and then they took him away."
Aides to Sadr denied the allegations, calling them part of a smear campaign by unspecified political rivals.
By Monday, violence between Sunni Arabs and Shiites appeared to have eased. As Iraqi security forces patrolled, American troops offered measured support, in hopes of allowing the Iraqis to take charge and prevent further carnage.
But at the morgue, where the floor was crusted with dried blood, the evidence of the damage already done was clear. Iraqis arrived throughout the day, seeking family members and neighbors among the contorted bodies.
"And they say there is no sectarian war?" demanded one man. "What do you call this?"
The brothers of one missing man arrived, searching for a body. Their hunt ended on the concrete floor, provoking sobs of mourning: "Why did you kill him?" "He was unarmed!" "Oh, my brother! Oh, my brother!"
Morgue officials said they had logged more than 1,300 dead since Wednesday -- the day the Shiites' gold-domed Askariya shrine was bombed -- photographing, numbering and tagging the bodies as they came in over the nights and days of retaliatory raids.
The Statistics Department of the Iraqi police put the nationwide toll at 1,020 since Wednesday, but that figure was based on paperwork that is sometimes delayed before reaching police headquarters. The majority of the dead had been killed after being taken away by armed men, police said.
The disclosure of the death tolls followed accusations by the U.S. military and later Iraqi officials that the news media had exaggerated the violence between Shiites and Sunnis over the past few days.
The bulk of the previously known deaths were caused by bombings and other large-scale attacks. But the scene at the morgue and accounts related by relatives indicated that most of the bloodletting came at the hands of self-styled executioners.
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BAGHDAD, Feb. 27 -- Grisly attacks and other sectarian violence unleashed by last week's bombing of a Shiite Muslim shrine have killed more than 1,300 Iraqis, making the past few days the deadliest of the war outside of major U.S. offensives, according to Baghdad's main morgue. The toll was more...
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Security Fix - Brian Krebs on Computer and Internet Security - (washingtonpost.com)
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Since its inception, Security Fix has warned Microsoft Windows users to be extremely wary of clicking on Web links that arrive via instant messenger or e-mail, as these are the most common ways that malware spreads online today. But the sad truth is that for many Internet users, clicking on unfamiliar links that turn up in Google, MSN or Yahoo search results frequently expose users to security risks.
For the past few weeks I've been surfing the Web with the help of the beta version of a browser add-on called SiteAdvisor, a tool that offers users a fair amount of information about the relative safety and security of sites that show up in Internet searches. As I played around with this program, it became clear that this is a tool that not only allows users to make informed security decisions about a site before they click on a search result link, but it also holds the potential to fuel a more informed public dialogue about the often murky relationship between Fortune 500 companies and the spyware and adware industry.
But more on the Fortune 500 stuff later. SiteAdvisor is a browser add-on for Firefox or Internet Explorer that tries to interpret the relative safety of clicking on Web search results. With SiteAdvisor installed, each listing is accompanied by a small color-coded icon that indicates whether the software developers have received any reports of scammy, spammy or outright malicious activity emanating from the site.
The software gets its intel from a proprietary "spidering" technology that crawls around the Web much the same way as search engines do. The company's spiders browse sites with the equivalent of an unpatched version of IE to see if sites try to use any security exploits to install spyware or adware on a visitor's machine.
"Our attitude is, if a site gives you an exploit with an older version of IE, it's probably not one you want to visit with a newer version," said Chris Dixon, one of SiteAdvisor's co-founders.
If you use IE and try to visit any site that the program has seen using security vulnerabilites to install software, the program immediately redirects you to a SiteAdvisor page offering more information on the threat posed by the site (users can still chose to visit the site if they so wish after the initial warning). All such sites will earn a big red "X" next to their search listing, as will others that threaten to bombard suscribers with junk e-mail or have questionable relationships with third-party advertisers or shady Web sites.
Hover over the red "X" with your mouse arrow and a small window appears urging you to exercise "extreme caution" in visiting the site. If you then visit the site, a red dialogue box emerges that offers a brief description of why SiteAdvisor doesn't like it.
SiteAdvisor also may assign a green check mark (all clear), a yellow exclamation point (some fishy behavior found) or a grey question mark (not enough info to assign a rating yet), though I only enountered one or two grey marks in my browsing. Regardless of the rating a site receives, each time you hover over a rating it gives you an unobtrusive dialogue box that includes a "more info" link which users can click on to read a more detailed description of the threat as SiteAdvisor sees it.
I searched for "lyrics" in Google (song-lyrics sites are notorious for using exploits to install adware and spyware), and at the time of this writing the first results page turned up two listings earning red marks. Clicking on the "X" next to lyricsplanet.com, for example, brings up a page that includes a ton of additional info, including a warning that reads: "In our tests, we found downloads on this site that some people consider adware, spyware or other unwanted programs."
Drill down to the link underneath that says "More Detailed Analysis," and we see that the badware Lyricsplanet tries to install is known as "ImIServer IEPlugin," which earns a six out of a possible 10 on SiteAdvisor's "Nuisance Score." Below the meter is a link to anti-spyware vendor PestPatrol's writeup, on the this bugger, which flags it as adware that bombards the user with pop-up ads and tracks their online activities.
I decided to test SiteAdvisor's claims by visiting Lyricsplanet.com with a fresh (unpatched) Windows XP version of IE, and received a pop-up asking me if I wanted to install IEPlugin. My testing was interrupted by a phone call, but when I returned to the browser I noticed another installation popup, that said "Install Search Update?" with a radio button already checked for me next to the text "I accept the agreement." My options were "accept" or "finish," and I had to uncheck the agreement box to unmask the "abort" option. Hitting "abort" popped up another box that said "Please click yes to proceed with installation." I clicked no, and the box closed, only to reveal the "Intelligent Explorer" toolbar installed on my desktop and in all IE windows.
A look in Windows' "Add/Remove Programs" list showed that the site had also installed three other programs: "Netmon," "Command" and another program called "Tsa.exe." All of these are designed to either snoop on your browsing habits or randomly generate pop-up ads, according to writeups at various anti-spyware forums that track programs like IEPlugin. I received all of that after having declined the installation.
When I went back to the site again and accepted the install of IE plugin, I was immediately bombarded with a massive number of pop-up ads for companies including Verizon Wireless, Cingular and Classmates.com. Shortly after displaying about nine such ads, Internet Explorer crashed, taking the pop-ups with it.
Clicking on the red X next to the other suspicious listing on our "lyrics" search results in Google -- a "sponsored link" paid for by www.rewardsgetaway.com -- and we find that this site was flagged because users who sign up can expect to receive no fewer than 134 e-mails a week as a result. SiteAdvisor knows this because on any site that asks for an e-mail address, the company signs up with a unique e-mail address that is not used anywhere else for any other purpose. That way, the company can track how many e-mails users can expect to receive from a given site each week should they fork over their e-mail address.
Here's where the part about Fortune 500 advertisers comes in. Check out each "more info" page and you'll see a graphic that shows which other sites have an advertising relationship with the Web site you're examining. For example, SiteAdvisor says Lyricsplanet.com is linked via advertising (pop-ups, banner ads or e-mail promotions) to absolutelyrics.com, a site which the software flagged as deceptive or fraudulent.
At first, it was difficult to understand why absolutelyrics.com received such a bad review. After all, it didn't try to foist adware onto my browser or bombard me with requests to sign up for spammy e-mail lists. Rather, SiteAdvisor's advertising relationship graphic shows it has ties to a slew of Web sites offering to sell software or other products available elsewhere for free. Absolutelyrics.com is related to several sites asking for a fee to register immigrants in the U.S. Green Card Lottery -- a legitimate program that grants U.S. visas to about 50,000 people each year at no cost.
Browse the Web long enough with SiteAdvisor and you'll find this kind of dynamic at work most prominently in paid search ads. Enter "Internet Explorer" in Google and you'll see that the top paid result is for a site called "freedownloadhq.com," which tries to sell you a copy of IE. Microsoft gives IE away for free (indeed, you'd be hard-pressed to find a version of Windows that doesn't include it). Google for "Winamp," a popular media player (available for free from the legit site) and you'll see freedownloadhq.com at the top again. You might be asking whether people can get fooled by this type of trick, but if the complaints at just this one site are any indication, there are plenty of takers.
At an anti-spyware coalition conference in D.C. last month, FTC Commissioner Jonathan Leibowitz noted that the only way to really make a dent in the adware and spyware problem is to "out" the big companies who pay shadowy third-party adware companies to market their products. SiteAdvisor could be an incredibly useful tool in helping reporters and researchers do just that. The company is making access to its databases free for non-commercial use under the creative commons license.
"I bet a lot of these larger companies would freak out if [their executives] knew exactly who they were paying to run their ads, because a lot of the bad practices we're seeing ... [are] happening because advertising companies [go] through five levels of intermediaries to get their clients' ads out there," Dixon said. "The public shaming of these companies is critical, because it takes away the 'plausible deniability' excuse."
Each SiteAdvisor site profile contains a "comments" space where any registered reviewer can add their 2 cents. Dixon said the company is working on a "reputation-based system" that would allow fellow members to rate the comments of SiteAdvisor members, thus giving more weight to reviews offered by individuals with a better reputation.
The company is headed by Dixon and a bunch of other students and graduates of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and as such it has received a fair amount of venture funding from Bessemer Venture Partners. Its board of directors includes Ben Edelman, one of the nation's preeminent anti-spyware activists and a Ph.D. student at Harvard University, and Avi Rubin, a professor of computer science at Johns Hopkins University.
Dixon said the company's long-term plan is to offer its basic services for free, charging only those companies that want to incorporate the technology into their products, such as instant-messaging applications or e-mail clients.
A couple of minor gripes about SiteAdvisor: For one thing, while there are exploits that allow malicious sites to install software on unpatched Firefox browsers, SiteAdvisor does not currently scan sites for these threats. Also, the company's site database is extensive, but not authoritative. I found a handful of Internet addresses that have been flagged by anti-virus and anti-spyware firms as serving up malware that were marked "safe" by SiteAdvisor. (The company appears to have fixed a problem that blocked site evaluations if users had chosen to nix IE pop-ups.).
By Brian Krebs | February 28, 2006; 07:43 AM ET | Category: Safety Tips Previous: 180Solutions Issues 'Mea Culpa' | Main Index | Next: Apple Update Fixes 13 Security Flaws
TrackBack URL for this entry: http://blog.washingtonpost.com/cgi-bin/mt/mtb.cgi/4802
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Preset options, hidden options, confusing options are so often par for the course whether it be so called reputable software or more questionable software. Things done regardless or without warning is also prevalent. Even to reputable so often forget whose computer it is. The best thing is to avoid free and cheap software. After all the reality is that there is a greater demand for software engineers than there are people with the right aptitude to fill those vacancies. It is little wonder there are so many software problems.
Posted by: Steve | February 28, 2006 08:39 AM
Judging the quality of software by its price tag is just silly. Esp. here since this article is about a free product that was created to fix flaws in a not-free product.
Posted by: Jeff | February 28, 2006 10:08 AM
Jeff - ??? He likes SiteAdvisor. SiteAdvisor doesn't fix flaws - it alerts you to possible dangerous activity. You want to pay another company for IE when it comes preinstalled on a PC? I got this bridge that you may be interested in...
Posted by: HP | February 28, 2006 11:37 AM
gad, look at all the stuff that happens when you have windows... I'm not a techie, not a geek, just a user trying to keep my life simple, and every time I read one of ur columns on all the stuff that windows systems can have done to them I go home and hug my mac....
Posted by: charlie in ogden | February 28, 2006 11:57 AM
Thanks for the article, and also for including information on who is behind SiteAdvisor (instead of sticking to just a product review.) Security Fix is quickly becoming one of the main reasons I visit the Post's webpage.
Posted by: Ashley in Richmond | February 28, 2006 12:09 PM
I always find great information on this website and push it onto my constituents, whether they want to listen or not.
SiteADvisor will be getting a review as well from me.
Posted by: DOUGman | February 28, 2006 12:41 PM
This looks like a good way to detect fraudulent websites that try to install spyware like that described in your article.
However, I would like to see better integration with the search engines like Google. To the point where the search engines don't even list these fraudster websites in their search results. That is, instead of giving a little "red x" icon, don't even list the website.
The result will be that when these fraudulent websites don't show up in (Google, MSN, etc.) search results, they will either have to clean up their websites (to start showing up) or simply fade out of existance (since they won't be "seen").
Posted by: Disappear | February 28, 2006 02:46 PM
Great Job! This desires a raise!
I sent a copy to almost everyone on my address list and the link to the original article.
Adware scares me. I use Norton, Webroot and Lavasoft. I set Norton to stop 2o7.net; but it keeps coming back like a bad dream.
Today, I cleaned out my prefetch folder in Windows and found the below files. They seem to know the current date. Could they be from adware/spyware?
Posted by: Hadov | February 28, 2006 04:47 PM
Being technically challenged, & not understanding everything you talk about, I was leery of downloading Siteadvisor, but figured there's always Uninstall! So glad I did download it. Surprising how many sites there are NOT to click onto. Wish I knew more about computers & their language!Thanks for this info.
Posted by: flaggermom | February 28, 2006 05:31 PM
I looked around for SiteAdvisor for Firefox both at SA and Mozilla. Where is it?
Posted by: almag | February 28, 2006 06:28 PM
I'mlike flaggermom -- probably more so. Anyway, thanks to all of you who write - it's really helpful to read thru these comments, and learn each time I do.
Posted by: ezduzit | February 28, 2006 06:46 PM
Posted by: Bk | February 28, 2006 06:55 PM
Brian: Thanks for a very informative article, much needed.
Posted by: oldkec | February 28, 2006 08:34 PM
>>Microsoft gives IE away for free
"No extra charge up-front" does not equal "free" (besides, it's the back-end costs that get you).
>>(indeed, you'd be hard-pressed to find a version of Windows that doesn't include it).
I'm less hard-pressed to create a version of Windows that dispenses with it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Removal_of_Internet_Explorer
>>a tool that not only allows users to make informed security decisions about a site before they click on a search result link,
I was hoping SiteAdvisor would give me an information tally like this:
[ ] Number of ActiveX controls found on this site ---- [ ] (list of names of all controls found) ---- [ ] Number of controls found on Malicious ActiveX page ---- [ ] Number of controls suspect in other ways [ ] Number of Java programs found on this site ---- [ ] (list of names of all controls found) ---- [ ] Requires {MS-JVM} {Sun JVM} {version} ---- [ ] Number of programs found on Malicious Java page (e.g., ByteVerify trojan) [ ] Number of active scripts found on this site ---- [ ] JavaScript -------- [ ] any encoding? {single} {double} -------- [ ] any IFRAMEs spawning/spawned by JavaScript? -------- [ ] any other suspicious JavaScript? ---- [ ] JScript ---- [ ] VBScript ---- [ ] Other
. . . all without having to have ActiveX, Java, or active scripting enabled in the Internet or Restricted Sites zones: sort of like doing a WGET on the site's content, then parsing it without letting any of it directly touch the browser.
I'd expect that any site which blocks SiteAdvisor's spider(s) in ROBOTS.TXT would receive an immediate "X" verdict as having something to hide.
Posted by: Mark Odell | March 1, 2006 12:00 AM
Siteadvisor can be a useful complement although it forces the user to make a decision about what to click on.
If you want a true block list, one that prevents your PC from making ANY internet connection with known threat sites or advertising servers, use a customized HOSTS file and keep it updated. Instead of hooking up with a malicious web site, you simply get an error message from your web browser.
HOSTS configuration affects all connections, no matter what web browser or media player you use.
Posted by: Ken L | March 1, 2006 03:48 PM
Posted by: andrew | March 1, 2006 06:26 PM
I just started SiteAdviser last week, and so far I've been happy to use its guidance to avoid visiting "bad" links based on SA's recommendation.
But I've been more impressed with the results I've gotten by using WinXP's options to make all XP request my wishes for disposal of all requests for storing cookies.
And I'm looking forward to implement the smart "hosts" file mechanism mentioned above by Ken L.
Your article has been very helpful in the battle for a safe Internet.
Posted by: Richard Muller | March 1, 2006 07:48 PM
Internet explorer is a horrible obsolete program. like andrew said, use firefox.
Posted by: jim | March 2, 2006 01:29 PM
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The latest news on computer and network security issues. Visit www.washingtonpost.com/technology.
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Ports Controversy
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Washington Post business columnist Steven Pearlstein was online to discuss a Dubai company's plans to take control of significant operations at six U.S. ports. In today's column , he writes that Cargogate shows Americans acting just like the French.
About Pearlstein: Steven Pearlstein writes about business and the economy for The Washington Post. His journalism career includes editing roles at The Post and Inc. magazine. He was founding publisher and editor of The Boston Observer, a monthly journal of liberal opinion. He got his start in journalism reporting for two New Hampshire newspapers -- the Concord Monitor and the Foster's Daily Democrat. Pearlstein has also worked as a television news reporter and a congressional staffer.
His column archive is online here .
Washington, D.C.: Does the Carlyle Group have any connection with the Dubai imbroglio? Is our fearless leader protecting Daddy's business interests? And maybe future job prospects?
As a poster said last week--FOLLOW THE MONEY!
Steven Pearlstein: Interesting that you asked that. When I was writing the column, my colleague, Jerry Knight, joked that the solution to all this is to have Carlyle buy P&O from the Brits, and let the Arab investors participate in that way.
As to your question, I would assume there is Dubai money of some sort invested somewhere in Carlyle. But, as far as I know, this is one deal that Carlyle isn't involved in -- yet.
Medford, Oregon: Hi Steven: In all the hubbub about Dubai Ports World operating some of our ports I haven't seen any discussion of who would vet DPW employees, especially their midlevel managers. It seems to me like an excellent opportunity for mischief-makers to collect information.
Steven Pearlstein: There is no particular reason to believe that mischief makers, or bad guys, would chose to try to infiltrate a Dubai owned port operator over a British owned operator at the operational level you speak of. At that level, the supervisors and staff are going to be almost exclusively local (that is, Americans). And as I understand it, there are some checks on those hirings now. Those checks might be inadequate, but that has very little to do with the ultimate corporate ownership. It has to do with the local management and the local security personnel, which is where the debate ought to be focused, in my opinion.
Purcellville, VA: When it comes to the security of our country, there are some jobs that just should not be trusted to foreigners. I doubt the President would allow the United Arab Emirates to do the hiring of his personal security, don't you?
Steven Pearlstein: That's an interesting way of thinking about it, I suppose. But the United Arab Emirates isn't doing the hiring of port personnel either -- and this is not just knit picking about words. The United Arab Emirates has a controlling ownership interest in the private, profit making company that has a lease to run six ports. The company has executive officers, some of whom are Arab, some not, as well as local managers for each of the ports, who we would expect will all be loyal American citizens. We can also limit the contact between these port managers and headquarter on certain issues, as a condition of approving the leases or the sale. You might, by the way, ask the same question regarding the president's security guard and the venerable British-owned company that is selling its port management operations.
Bethesda, Md.: In your column today, you called the reaction to the port sale "protectionism." Why not call it for what it really is: hysterical racism and xenophobia? The media are doing the country a disservice by trying to portray this any other way.
washingtonpost.com: Today's Column: Ports Furor Is Just Protectionism, With a French Accent
Steven Pearlstein: Well, I thought I tried to suggest those less than attractive qualities as well. But I guess I was being too subtle.
I am a long-time resident of the Washington area. Although I try to keep up with the politics of this town, I must say that I never saw this one coming. I find the prospect of ANY foreign governorship/stewardship of ANY US government operation (airport, sea port, whatever) very disturbing.
The fact that the ports in question have been run by a foreign-owned company is shocking. It also begs the question "What other operations have been contracted out to foreign-owned companies?"
In this day and age of terrorism, hate mongering and anti-US sentimentality, how can any government official sanction such a deal and think that the citizens of this country would not be outraged?
Steven Pearlstein: I think it is self-evident that ports are, by their nature, involved in international trade. So it shouldn't be surprising that the companies that are good at running ports are global, gaining efficiencies and know-how by having operations in various countries. In fact, we know that multinational corporations like that don't really have nationalities, although they are headquartered in one place or another for tax and corporate registration purpose. Some are American. Some are British. Some, I'm sure, are headquartered in Bermuda or the Cayman Islands. But corporations are really legal fictions. What matters is people -- who they are, where their loyalties lay, what functions they perform and what functions they don't. That's the analysis that should be done, not the country of registration of the firm. After all, if it was an American based multinational that had these leases, but 28 percent of the company's stock was held by investors from the Middle East, what would you say about that? These nation-focused words people are throwing around don't have a lot of meaning in a world of global trade and finance.
You seem to be suggesting, by the way, that these ports should be operated only by government employees. I couldn't agree less.
Silver Spring, Md.: It may be hard to believe, but I can't recall a more disingenuous column than your column today. Likening legitimate concerns about the patently obvious national security implications of who manages major US ports to French economic policy is straight out of Fox News. My question is why do you accuse Democrats of racist hypocrisy when we all know that, were mainstream Republicans not up in arms, this matter would have been dead already. Do you believe that Senator Susan Collins is a racist because, as Chair of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, she is insisting that the Administration comply with existing law requiring a 45 day investigation of transactions potentially affecting national security?
Steven Pearlstein: There's nothing wrong with requesting a more thorough 45 day inquiry. But let me assure you that Sen. Schumer won't be satisfied if the 45 day inquiry ends in approval of the sale. He's not interested in process. He's interested in making sure this sale is disapproved, as are many of the politicians from both parties who have been grandstanding on this issue. And it is typical of Democrats like you, who see everything in partisan, evil versus good, terms, to suggest that I'm just as bad as Fox News.
By the way, it is racist hypocrisy to say don't racially profile passengers but yes, racially profile investors. I think racial profiling-- ie being more careful with South Asian young men than little old white ladies with blue hair from Dubuque-- is perfectly reasonable when it comes to airport screening and port operations. But being careful isn't the same as just saying no, which is what you want to do with the folks from Dubai. All of them.
Wheaton, Md.: Dear Mr. Pearlstein:
I was in Europe when this ports deal first became news, and before the U.S. Congress began to question security, BBC Business news had one of the company's directors in the hot seat, trying to get him to explain why they were willing to overpay so ridiculously for this deal. I get the impression that when a Middle Eastern firm has its sites set on something, money is really no object. When I came home and heard about these security concerns, I got to think about ulterior motives that would make them overvalue this deal so much. Not terrorism, but perhaps political leverage?
Surely you must also understand that, unlike some of the examples in your article, there are no efficiency gains to the U.S. by this deal. There may be real risks, albeit slim ones. That is enough to make this deal warrant closer consideration.
Steven Pearlstein: The deal warrants close consideration, no doubt about it. But it shouldn't be a non-starter, which is basically what the opponents are saying. I would surely have required some conditions, including special background checks for any of the local managers and clear instructions about topics the headquarters in Dubai should have no involvement with. And if they still want to take over the leases on those terms, then there should be no problem -- or at least no more problem than having any other company run the port. Our ports are vulnerable, no doubt about that, but that has more to do with the less than aggressive response of our government agencies, not the folks in Dubai.
Denison, Texas: We have been told that Dubai, UAE, has been helpful in the so-called GWOT, have we been told just how it has been helpful, or is the help explained just in terms of general policy?
Steven Pearlstein: Actually, we have been told quite a bit -- although I'm sure there is a lot more that is classified. They have provided troops and support for various US military efforts, and welcomes our troops and ships, and cooperated in tracking down the bad guy's finances. I might also add they, as a charter member of OPEC, they have been active participants in an illegal, world-wide price fixing conspiracy. If the US was prepared to get tough on all OPEC countries and deny them all the right to buy US assets, I would support that as good way to break up OPEC. But that's not the issue that has been raised here.
New York, N.Y.: In the past, the UAE has funded distreessed companies in the USA and saved them from bankruptcy. Chysler and Citi Bank are two companies that come to mind. This investment will improve the lives of thousands of Katrina victums. Why do you think the Sultan Of Abu Dhabi is comming under fire from the Unions when the UAE despite its entaglements with the former Afgan goverment is actually pro American. Doen't the press know that 9/11 terrorist Alhibbi was wanted by the UAE goverment and released by Germany? Don't you think this debate should be more respectful of our allies in the UAE?
Steven Pearlstein: Didn't know all that. Thanks. And the answer to your question is Yes!
New York, N.Y.: Is there any evidence that John Snow and David Sanborn's tenure at CSX influenced CFIUS approval of the DPW deal?
Steven Pearlstein: I'm sure it did, whether consciously or not. Sanborn, by the way, is the newly nominated head of the Maritime Administration, which job he came to after a long time at SeaLand and a brief time at the Dubai company. Snow, as head of CSX, sold that company's port operations to the Dubai company. I assume these men would not have had these interactions with a company they knew or suspected was a terrorist-harboring organization. So they had some history, there. But that doesn't or shouldn't disqualify them from participating in the process. Every member of the process brings some history or baggage with them that may color their views, consciously or uncounsciously. But there is no indication that either of these gentlemen had a financial interst in the outcome, or that what motivates them now is anything but trying to do the best job they can for the country. Question their judgment, if you like, but not their motives.
Arlington, Va.: I'm not sure I exactly agree that people opposing the ports deal are racists. Ultimately I think after there has been a thorough investigation of the deal it will go ahead as it should. But for the man who has played the "fear of Arabs" card at every turn since 9/11 to complain about critics of this deal is just ridiculous. Bush has created this environment of constant fear and terror to advance his political goals. He has made his bed, and now he must lie in it.
New York, N.Y.: Some commentators have suggested that this issue has exposed a rift between the business oriented Republicans (who favor the DPW deal) and the national security Republicans (who oppose it). Can you comment?
Steven Pearlstein: Its a fair point, although I'm sure most Republican office-holders would consider themselves in both camps.
Staunton, Va.: Does anyone know how much money the UAE gave to Hamas last year?
Which Port Security recommendations made by the 9/11 Commission has this administration enacted?
Steven Pearlstein: Good questions, for which I can offer no answers. Anyone else?
Chantilly, Va.: I understand outsourcing of manufacturing jobs overseas were due to lower labor costs vis a vis US wages and benefits. But why are foreign firms running US ports? They don't have any competitive advantage that I can see. Running ports has got to be profitable business, otherwise why would any company want to pay a huge sum of money for the privilege? If that is the case, why aren't there any US companies vying to run those ports? We would not have to debate security risks as much if they are managed by US companies, presumably. By the way, who 'owns' the ports and the facilities? So may questions, so little time.
Steven Pearlstein: In most cases, I believe, governments own the ports but lease or let contracts for private companies to manage the port operations. I'm sure there were US firms that competed for these leases or contracts, and there were surely US companies that looked at buying some or all of P&O's operations. But, as I said before, these are inherently functions that are best and most efficiently performed by global companies operating in many countries.
Boston, Mass.: In 2003, CSX sold CSX Lines for $300 million to the Carlyle Group (which renamed CSX Lines to Horizon Lines, then sold it in 2004 to Castle Harlan for $650 million).
In 2004 DP World bought CSX World Terminals for $1.15 billion.
In 2005, Dubai International Capital, a government-backed buyout firm, invested in an $8 billion Carlyle fund.
Steven Pearlstein: Thank yo for those facts, assuming they are facts. I'm not sure what conclusion we are supposed to reach from those facts, other than that the Carlyle Group has interaction with companies and investors in Dubai. I'm not one of those who believe in grand international conspiracies involving the Carlyle Group. Sorry.
Rolla, Mo.: Do you think if we had made more progress in securing our ports over the past four years that this recent incident would have been much less of an issue? For instance, if we were inspecting x% of cargo containers, or had invested $x billion in port security, this would be a minor issue? We have all heard that this is a vulnerable area, yet nothing seems to have been done to improve it, that's why we are concerned.
Oakland, Calif.: Well, I'm certainly glad someone is highlighting racist hypocrisy of our representatives in Congress. Why do you think so few in the media took on this issue?
Steven Pearlstein: Actually, the media has been very good on this one. Just look at the columns and editorials that have appeared in the Washington Post (Krauthammer, Hoagland, Cohen). The reality is that the media doesn't control the public debate, as so many people think. We participate in it, certainly, and have some role in shaping it. But we don't control it by any means. That's a good thing, by the way.
FYI, PORTS: The gatekeeper to the seaport deal is John Snow, Secretary of the US Treasury, who replaced Paul O'Neill. Remember, O'Neill was fired because he refused to give in to pressure from the Bush people to support the invasion of Iraq.
Until he was tapped to serve our government, John Snow was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of CSX Corporation, "where he successfully guided the transportation company though a period of tremendous change."
CSX is the massive railroad monopoly that controls almost all cargo movements across America from the seaports. Snow's knowledge of international industry "stems from his tenure as Chairman of the Business Roundtable, the foremost business policy group comprised of 250 chief executive officers of the nation's largest companies." This group advises the Administration on business policy.
Prior to answering the call to serve in government, CSX Corporation under Snow, paid no federal income tax at all, "supplementing its over $1 billion in pretax profits over the four year period with $164 million in tax rebate checks from the federal government. During the same period, CSX joined the list of 100 top political campaign contributing corporations,(70% to Republicans) gave Snow $36 million in salary, bonuses, stock and options, and forgave a $24 million loan so he would not lose money along with other shareholders as the company's stock price declined."
Not trumpeted on the government's website is the fact that Snow is now the head of a little known government committee that privately approves foreign business transactions. When CSX, was bought out one year ago this week by Dubai Ports World for $1.4 billion, Snow cashed in on his stock options. DPW, the very same U.A.E. state owned company that is now with help from Snow, closing the loop for packages moving from the slums of Dubai to your own home.
My point is this, with a nuclear bomb the size of a laptop we are already unsafe. If somebody wanted that to happen, it would. The extreme efforts and enormous expense to protect our homeland have proven utterly ineffective. This DPW deal under a microscope is yet another example of the theft of our government by a small cadre of wealthy people with a very narrow agenda. It is an effort by Bush to pay back his Arab handlers while he still can. This should put the light to their faux democracy-mongering throughout the world. It should lay open the huge homeland security budget as largely a sham and history's greatest boon to cronyism, with the sole intent of distracting Americans from seeing that the policies and actions of our own government are the greatest danger to the safety of the people of the world today.
Steven Pearlstein: This is just the kind of partisanship, prejudice and conspiracy theories that poison the public debate on so many issues. It is connecting dots that aren't connected and drawing conclusions from facts not in evidence. Maybe you meant to be tuned in to the Daily Kos and got to us by mistake.
Dale City, Va.: While it is true that the company involved has raised the level of complaint because it is an Arab company, it seems to me that most of us regular folks are ticked off about our port security being farmed out to ANY foreign company. Most of us were simply not aware that the ports or our borders were being handed over to foreign countries in the name of commerce. Some things, like our national security, is more important to us regular guys than the amount of money a fat cat company can make on these deals. We want AMERICANS handling our ports, our airports, our borders, and our military. What is so hard to understand about that after the attack on our soil?
Steven Pearlstein: Americans are handling it. They just work for international companies, some of whose owners may not be American.
Fairfax, Va.: How does this Dubai port issue compare with the Chinese company attempting to buy UNOCAL.
What was Bush's stand when that deal was being railed upon by Congress?
Steven Pearlstein: Its very comparable. And the outcry over that was just as reprehensible, in my opinion. Even more so, because most of Unocal's assets weren't even in the U.S.
Boston, Mass.: Isn't the DP World situation a perfect opportunity to investigate and write about the connections between Tony Snow, CSX, DP World, David Sanborn, and the Carlyle Group?
Doesn't Snow have a direct conflict of interest here?
Is it just coincidental that not-the-sax-player David Sanborn used to work for Tony Snow, then worked for DP World until two weeks before he got picked to administer our ports?
Steven Pearlstein: I am assuming you mean John Snow. And no, there is no direct conflict of interest.
Re: Bethesda, Md.: It seems to me that if Americans were a bit more protectionist and xenophobic Americans wouldn't be involved in Iraq, would have more secure borders, better health care, and better paying jobs.
Steven Pearlstein: I doubt it.
Seattle, Wash.: I'm a lifelong Dem, and will so remain. To say I am no fan of the president would be an understatement.
That said -- this port kerfuffle is ridiculous. And hypocritical. And, if carried through, will have major implications for our international relations, and for US export businesses. Remember, for example, that Dubai-based Emirates Air is buying more than 40 US-made Boeing 777s. Surely with the trade deficit where it is, it is foolish to throw away the chance to export $8.5 billion worth of US-made goods.
Steven Pearlstein: Thanks for that, Seattle.
Toronto, Canada: I am going to disagree with Purceville.
The prime leg that port security should rest on should be trusted and tested procedures, with safety checks, and feedback -- not trust based on perceived loyalties.
It was trust based on perceived loyalties that left British security so vulnerable to Soviet moles, like Kim Philby.
The real problem with port security is a lack of attention from your executive branch.
Steven Pearlstein: When Americans get chastized by the Canadians for having pourous borders and lax enforcement, you know we're in trouble.
Shaker Heights, Ohio: The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that the genesis of this imbroglio was a business dispute between P&O and a Florida stevedore company. The implication of that story is that the Florida company's lobbyists manipulated the situation by creating a (misdirected) Congressional uproar over security, for its own ends. Comment?
Steven Pearlstein: The story was an interesting one, although it is based on a belief that a small cadre of lobbyists can somehow "manipulate" not only the Congress but the entire U.s. political process. That's overstating the case.
Dale City, Va.: So are the statements concerning Snow and CSX inaccurate or just inflammatory?
Steven Pearlstein: accurate up to a point, and inflamatory.
Boston, Mass.: Do you find the UAE's recognition of the Taliban and their refusal to recognize Israel in any way troubling?
Or would to do so be racist?
Steven Pearlstein: No Arab country recognizes Isreal. They have said they would recognize Israel as soon as it recognizes a Palestinian state. That's where the moderate Arab position is at the moment. Its a bit silly to expect anything more. And for the American Jewish community to try to paint this as a pro or anti-Israel issue is, in my opinion, just garbage.
Boston, Mass.: What makes OPEC illegal? International law?
You mean the type of law that forbids the U.S. from holding prisoners of war without following the Geneva Convention, or the type of law that forbids the U.S. from kidnapping people in Europe and sending them to the Middle East to be tortured?
Or do you just not like OPEC?
Steven Pearlstein: No, I just don't like OPEC. That doesn't mean I like torture. Where do you get off making that kind of linkage? Price fixing is against US law, and the laws of almost every other industrial country where petroleum products are sold.
Chantilly, Va.: Steven: Well, let's put it this way: the White House admits that Dubai has done many bad things but claims that since 9-11 they've reformed. So if a violent convicted felon is paroled from the Maryland penal system vowing to go straight do we let him join the Secret Service and protect the President?
Steven Pearlstein: South Africa subjugated its black residents until quite recently. Should we trade with them?
Arlington, Va.: "the UAE has funded distressed companies in the USA and saved them from bankruptcy"
This is just a ridiculous and naive statement. They were investment opportunities, I don't think anyone was trying to be charitable.
Steven Pearlstein: That's right. And so is there port investment motivated by a desire to make a good return.
Rockville, Md.: Ever thought of teaming of with Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity? You all would make a fantastic team.
Steven Pearlstein: I'm thinking that was not a compliment.
Germantown, Md.: Why is there no mention of Dubai being the first country in the Middle East to join the Container Security Initiative of the USA and having had that right from the start of this initiative?
Steven Pearlstein: There is no. Thanks, Germantown.
Arizona Bay, Az.: Bush and Co. reap what they sow. For years they've tried to strike fear of terrorism (i.e. middle easterners) into the hearts of U.S. citizens and in most people, unfortunately, it has worked. Now they are trying to spin it the exact opposite way and are finding it difficult to do so.
Steven Pearlstein: Hoisted on their own petard, as they say.
Helsinki, Finland: I usually like your columns, but was disappointed that you were today more interested in taking cheap shots at the French than talking about the issue. Why is that?
Steven Pearlstein: Guilty as charged. I just love a good opportunity to make sport of the French view of the world, particularly the economic world. I can't help myself.
Its been fun, folks. See you next week.
Editor's Note: washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions. washingtonpost.com is not responsible for any content posted by third parties.
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Washington Post business columnist Steven Pearlstein was online to discuss a Dubai company's plans to take control of significant operations at six U.S. ports and a similar controversy in France.
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Governors Lobby Bush About Guard
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President Bush and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld sought yesterday to allay concerns among the nation's governors about funding and restructuring of the National Guard, but governors in both parties later said the administration must do more to satisfy them fully.
Governors were united in their opposition to what they regard as cuts in Guard funding in Bush's fiscal 2007 budget as well as fears that the Pentagon has been slow to replace equipment that has been shipped to Iraq with state Guard units. Early this month, all 50 governors signed a letter opposing the new budget and calling on Defense Department officials to reequip returning units as quickly as possible.
The governors raised the Guard issue at their meeting with Bush at the White House yesterday morning, and then met with Rumsfeld and Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, at a private lunch for a detailed discussion of the problem.
Much of the focus was on the gap between the Guard's authorized strength of 350,000 and the budget, which includes money for 333,000 Guard troops. Bush and Rumsfeld said they are committed to funding the Guard at the fully authorized level. They also said the equipment sent to Iraq will be replaced and in many cases upgraded.
The verbal assurances helped assuage some governors, but many said they still have questions. Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne (R), co-chairman of a National Guard committee of the National Governors Association, said he remained perplexed by what he heard. "I appreciated the president saying he's committed to the full strength, but the money is not in there," he said. "They must find the money."
Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R), the current NGA chairman, said Rumsfeld acknowledged that the administration should have done a better job of consulting with the governors before issuing the budget and a new defense restructuring plan. "The main thing that's different as of today is that they realize that we have to be a partner in the discussion, that we could help them sell a program or we could be a force to reckon with to keep it from ever happening."
The governors said Rumsfeld and the military leaders told them that proposed restructuring will benefit many states. Under the plan, the Pentagon will reduce the number of National Guard units involved in heavy combat activities and increase Guard units devoted to engineering and policing. The Pentagon officials said those changes will make it less costly to reequip Guard units and will make the Guard a more useful force for dealing with natural disasters or homeland security issues.
Several governors said they regard the collision between the administration and the states as a misunderstanding. "If you ask me, this is a tempest in a teapot," said Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R). "There is less here than meets the eye."
But others said verbal assurances from the Pentagon will not suffice. "It's something that governors are going to be paying very, very, very close attention to, to make sure that those oral representations are adhered to," said Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano (D), the NGA vice chairman.
The governors have become increasingly outspoken about Guard issues, because of the substantial role that Guard units have played in Iraq. The long deployments have left some states stretched thin, causing the governors to worry about their capacity to deal with domestic disasters.
Beyond that, governors have become more intimately involved in the Guard's activities and with the problems of the families left at home. Governors often are among the first to learn of casualties among Guard members from their states, and many have been to Iraq recently on Pentagon-sponsored trips to meet with Guard members from their states.
Acutely aware of the dual role the Guard is now being asked to play, the governors reacted negatively to any suggestion of cutbacks, and their reaction appeared to catch the Pentagon by surprise. Pentagon officials have been doing damage control since, highlighted by Rumsfeld's extraordinary appearance yesterday at the NGA winter meeting.
"Every single governor feels so intertwined with their Guard during this war," said Michigan Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm (D), who is among those who have visited Iraq. "We all feel very connected with them and very protective of the Guard. You layer upon that the Katrina situation, and I just think that right now [governors are] especially sensitive to protecting our defense at home and military families."
Governors also remain wary about proposed restructuring of the National Guard, which Pentagon officials said would result in some states gaining strength and others losing strength. Kempthorne also said he has more questions about assurances for the replenishment of equipment and whether the money is available.
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Get Washington DC, Virginia, Maryland and national news. Get the latest/breaking news, featuring national security, science and courts. Read news headlines from the nation and from The Washington Post. Visit www.washingtonpost.com/nation today.
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IAEA: Iran Advancing Uranium Enrichment
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PARIS, Feb. 27 -- Iran is advancing its uranium enrichment program, but the U.N. atomic monitoring organization still cannot determine whether the country is secretly developing nuclear weapons, according to an agency report made public on Monday.
The International Atomic Energy Agency "has not seen any diversion of nuclear material to nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices," Director General Mohamed ElBaradei said in a report to the IAEA's board. But the agency was not "in a position to conclude that there are no undeclared nuclear materials or activities in Iran," the report added.
ElBaradei distributed the assessment to the 35 board members on Monday in advance of a meeting in Vienna next week to debate plans for exerting greater international pressure on Tehran to halt any nuclear developments that could facilitate production of weapons. The report's contents were shared with reporters by diplomats monitoring the debate.
ElBaradei's report criticizes Iran for failing to reveal "the scope and nature" of its nuclear program despite three years of IAEA monitoring efforts. At the same time, the report noted that Iran had made some incremental efforts to meet the agency's requests for information.
Last Sunday, Tehran permitted an IAEA official to meet with an Iranian official involved in purchases of nuclear-related equipment that could be used for either civilian or military purposes, the report said. Iran allowed inspectors access to some, but not all, of that equipment, the report added.
According to the report, Iran has begun testing about 20 centrifuges used in enriching fuel and is making improvements at its Natanz nuclear facility, about 150 miles south of Tehran. Nuclear experts generally say Iran is years away from being able to carry out the industrial-scale uranium enrichment that would allow it to build a nuclear weapon or explosive device.
The report also said that earlier this week Iranian officials had dismissed as forgeries documents indicating their engineers were planning a small-scale facility to produce uranium gas. The documents were contained in a laptop computer obtained by U.S. intelligence in 2004. Portions of those and other documents purporting to show that Iran was trying to modify ballistic missiles to carry nuclear warheads were shared with the IAEA last year.
The documents' authenticity has not been independently verified.
Inspectors reported that although Iran obtained instructions in the late 1980s for the production of uranium metal -- a substance used to protect the core of a nuclear bomb-- Iranian scientists did not appear to have used them. Iran offered written proof in support of previous claims that it had purchased some sensitive equipment through official channels and not from a nuclear black market run out of Pakistan, the report said.
The report described unexplained "inconsistencies" regarding plutonium experiments conducted at least several years ago and said Iran had acknowledged purchasing other equipment it had previously denied possessing.
Recent inspections of large facilities revealed that the Iranians were having technical or financial difficulties completing a heavy-water reactor in the town of Arak and a fuel manufacturing plant in Isfahan.
The IAEA board voted this month to report Iran to the U.N. Security Council for "many failures and breaches of its obligations to comply" with the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and because of an "absence of confidence that Iran's nuclear program is exclusively for peaceful purposes resulting from the history of concealment."
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PARIS, Feb. 27 -- Iran is advancing its uranium enrichment program, but the U.N. atomic monitoring organization still cannot determine whether the country is secretly developing nuclear weapons, according to an agency report made public on Monday.
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Rules of Engagement
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When Jeannine Calandra and Zachary Butterfield got engaged last year, they decided to work on their marriage, not just their wedding.
So when the Arlington computer programmers began researching boutique hotels in Mexico, they also signed up for a premarital education course called PAIRS, an acronym for Practical Application of Intimate Relationship Skills. They hoped the seven-month course would help them reconcile their very different backgrounds and manage the conflicts that help torpedo more than 40 percent of first marriages.
Calandra, 31, the oldest of three siblings, grew up in an exuberant, close-knit Catholic family. Butterfield, 32, an only child raised by a single mother in an observant Jewish family, rarely saw his father after his parents separated when he was 2. Both agree that the PAIRS course, which cost $2,400, helped them resolve several touchy issues, including where to live and how to spend their leisure time.
While most people who attend premarital counseling take a religiously themed course, such as the Pre-Cana classes usually required for marriage in the Roman Catholic Church, a growing number are flocking to secular therapists for short-term couples counseling before their wedding. Some sign up for courses that last about four sessions, although longer versions are available. The cost of these courses ranges from $350 to more than $2,000.
"These programs have grown amazingly in the last few years," said Chicago psychologist Jay Lebow, who adds that more than 40 groups currently offer premarital education. The best, said Lebow, an adjunct associate professor at Northwestern University, have a long track record and are grounded in empirical research about the characteristics of marriages that succeed and those that fail. They include PAIRS, which is headquartered in Reston; PREP, a program developed by psychologists at the University of Denver; and Relationship Enhancement, based in Bethesda.
Like Calandra and Butterfield, many who sign up were born between 1965 and 1976, a period when the divorce rate doubled. A substantial number grew up in divorced families and are eager to avoid repeating the mistakes of their baby boomer parents. In some cases, participants are over 40 and have been divorced at least once.
"People get married on the basis of romantic love, which is a necessary but not sufficient foundation for marriage," said social worker Rob Scuka, executive director of the group that operates Relationship Enhancement. "What too many couples may ignore in the midst of true bliss are deep underlying issues that end up blowing up in their faces" once they're married.
One of the first things many premarital therapists do is to explode persistent myths that help sabotage marriages: that love is the most important predictor of marital happiness; that shared interests are a bulwark against divorce; and that true soul mates don't fight.
All are false, researchers have found.
"That's why people feel so set up," said Diane Sollee, founder of Smart Marriages, a marriage education clearinghouse based in the District. She notes that psychologists have found that all couples disagree about the same amount -- it's the way they manage conflict that distinguishes satisfied partners from miserable ones.
Unhappy couples and those who divorce tend to resort to what John Gottman, a Seattle psychologist and one of the pioneers of the study of marital behavior, calls "the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse": criticism, contempt, defensiveness and stonewalling. They get stuck in negative, destructive patterns, have fewer positive interactions than happy couples and are unable to resolve problems.
Linda Peterson Rogers, a marital therapist who practices in Falls Church, said one of her goals in premarital counseling is to teach couples acceptance and a recognition that personality characteristics -- such as a tendency to be disorganized or late -- probably won't change after marriage.
Scuka said he tells couples that if they can't come to a satisfactory resolution, each partner has to decide how important the issue is. Chronic lateness may not be something worth breaking up over; chronic debt might be.
"Couples can and do have very great differences, but the key is a spirit of mutual accommodation," said Scuka. "The problem comes when it's clear one person's primary agenda is getting their needs met."
Many premarital courses teach self-awareness and empathy coupled with conflict resolution skills, said Northwestern's Lebow. Couples are told what to expect in marriage and use role-playing to learn to communicate effectively while avoiding destructive tactics like name-calling and withdrawal.
Among the techniques: using "I" statements, as in "I need you to ask me about my day" instead of "you" ones, such as "You never ask me what kind of day I had."
PREP, a program developed by Denver psychologist Scott M. Stanley and his colleagues, is widely considered one of the most successful premarital programs. The program, which has been widely replicated, is the basis for a statewide experiment now underway in Oklahoma to provide premarital education to engaged couples there. Researchers have found that couples who took a PREP course before marriage rated their relationships as happier and were less likely to break up during the next five years than nonparticipants.
But researchers caution that PREP and similar courses do not inoculate participants against marital misery or eventual divorce.
"It's easy to oversell these programs," said Chicago's Lebow. "They have a nice effect, but it's not life-changing. They are not going to fix an incredibly bad choice" or a relationship that's deeply troubled.
Even proponents say it's impossible to tell whether a selection bias is at work. It may be that people who agree to sign up for premarital courses are more willing to work on their marriages than those who don't.
To Marry -- or Not?
While many engaged couples sign up for counseling to reduce the risk of future problems, therapists also see unmarried couples who are already having serious difficulties.
Scuka estimates that 10 to 20 percent of premarital couples he works with decide to break up. "One of our jobs is to reinforce for a couple that they are making the right decision by getting married -- or that this is potentially a big mistake," he said.
Often one partner, usually the woman, is having doubts she wants to air or is seeking help extricating herself from a doomed union. The most common issue, said PREP's Stanley, is "conflict that isn't going well -- that's a big one," followed by significant and seemingly irreconcilable differences in background, values or whether to have children.
Minneapolis marriage therapist William Doherty said he recently worked with one such pair: a lawyer who accused his fiancée of being superficial when she complained he did not talk enough about his feelings.
"It turned out he had been skeptical and wanted to have them talk in front of a therapist," said Doherty. The man, Doherty said, subsequently broke the engagement.
Samuel Gee, 41, said he was worried he and his fiancée, Veronica Faison, 30, seemed stuck when they sought help last year from a Relationship Enhancement therapist in Montgomery County. "We were running into problems communicating, and I usually wound up yelling and she wound up crying," Gee recalled.
Therapist Joan Liversidge helped them learn to listen to each other and take a "timeout" when arguments escalated, techniques they now apply on their own. Fights that used to linger, Gee said, now get resolved. And the couple, set to marry at the end of March, agree that they argue less -- and more productively.
"Once we started doing counseling, I felt like I was being heard," Faison said. "That kind of opens the door to other things and has made me feel much more confident" about the future.
Calandra and Butterfield, who are to be married in a civil ceremony March 11 in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, say they are still grappling with a major issue: the religion of their future children. Butterfield said he first assumed Calandra might agree to raise any children as Jews because "Jeannine's not big on Catholicism."
For now, they are observing holidays of both religions together. "We haven't quite figured that one out," Butterfield said. ·
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When Jeannine Calandra and Zachary Butterfield got engaged last year, they decided to work on their marriage, not just their wedding. One of the first things many premarital therapists do is to explode persistent myths that help sabotage marriages: that love is the most important predictor of......
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Premarital Counseling
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While most people who attend premarital counseling take a religiously themed course, such as the Pre-Cana classes usually required for marriage in the Roman Catholic Church, a growing number are flocking to secular therapists for short-term couples counseling before their wedding. (Read More.)
Robert Scuka, Ph.D., executive director of National Institute of Relationship Enhancement in Bethesda, Md., was online Tuesday, Feb. 28, at noon ET to field questions and comments about secular premarital counseling.
How Well Do You Know Your Partner?
Robert Scuka, Ph.D.: Welcome everyone.
I'm now online and will begin to look at and respond to some of the questions that have been submitted.
Thanks for taking our questions!
As a pastor in a Protestant Church, I have mixed feelings about the effectiveness of premarital counseling. When I meet with the couple, in addition to the religious aspect of marriage, I bring up the hot button topics like: Family of origin issues, attitudes about money/saving, children and discipline, etc. I get the feeling that often they just sit there and nod their head just to "get it over with" because they have already made up their mind they are getting married despite uncovering some potential deal-breaking obstacles. What role do you see pastors, other religious leaders, in this process of pre marital counseling?
Robert Scuka, Ph.D.: Dear Pastor.
Your question is very important. I think pastors often represent the first line of opportunity for engaged couples in terms of helping them take a serious look at their relationship and their impending decision. But I believe that asking the important and hard questions is not enough. I think it is important for pastors to equip themselves with the skills to teach engaged couples how to communicate effectively and constructively with one another so that they can actually engage the issues in a real and meaningful manner. An alternative strategy is to refer the couple to a premarital or couples workshop to learn the skills that research has demonstrated can help couples have richer, more satisfying relationships by helping them learn how to communicate better.
Washington, D.C.: Hi Dr. Scuka,
What do you think are the most important values that couples should be in agreement on before they decide to get married? Kids and finances are a given, but what am I forgetting? Thanks!
Robert Scuka, Ph.D.: Coming from different religious backgrounds may pose some very significant issues relating to the raising and religious education of children. This should most definitely be addressed BEFORE getting married. What are your respective visions of the kind of life you want to live together and as a family? Good Luck! Rob Scuka
Confused: I read your article on the Post with great interest. I've been having communications problems with my boyfriend and we even tried counseling. However, nothing get resolved at the counseling and we subsequently decided to part our ways. My question for you is, how do you know that the problem you're having is workable and that you can still have a future together? How and when do you tell yourself this is just not going to work, no matter how hard you try?
Robert Scuka, Ph.D.: Dear Confused. Your question is not an easy one to answer. The first thing is: do both parties remain genuinely interested in trying to make it work? If so, then I suggest attending a weekend workshop devoted to learning concrete communication and problem solving skills. In addition, or as a substitute, go to counseling together for the same purpose - to learn skills that can help you communicate more effectively and at a deeper level to get to the core issues and desires. You perhaps call it a day when you come to a point of realizing that even though you may care for and even love one another, the simple reality is that what the two of you want out of life is not compatible. Good luck!
Washington, D. C.: Can you suggest any resources in the DC area for couple counseling that deals in stressful, unhealthy work experiences. My husband and I have just returned to DC after a prolonged stay in Africa and we are having a hard time adjusting to US life again...de-stressing, bringing up old arguments, letting go of painful situations, etc. Any ideas on who best deals with this type issue? Thanks.
Robert Scuka, Ph.D.: Dear DC: Washington is an incredibly stressful environment, especially so on relationships. Seeking help is a wise decision. You can try the Couples Relationship Weekend at the National Institute of Relationship Enhancement at www.nire.org. Disclosure: This is the organization I am with.) There also is the PAIRS organization in suburban VA, and many churches have couples workshops. Finally, you can try a mental health professional who specializes in stress reduction techniques and life-style changes. Rob Scuka
Washington, D.C.: I have been married less than a year. My husband and I did not participate in premarital counseling prior to getting married. We are now fighting a lot and living separately. We are working on the issues we have in couples therapy and individually in counseling. Many of the problems we are having now we should have and could have easily addressed in pre martial counseling. Do you feel it is best for us to live together during this time or separate?
Robert Scuka, Ph.D.: Dear Washington: I am sad to hear about your experience. It actually serves as testimony, of sorts, as to the vital importance of premarital counseling. Since you are married, no I would not recommend separating while you are attempting to work through your issues - unless there is physical abuse or extreme emotional abuse happening. In those tragic circumstances, I would advise a person to seek assistance to deal with those issues, and to consider the possibility of separation. Take care. Rob Scuka
Washington, D.C.: The company that I work for offers an Employee Assistance Program. Through the EAP, my fiancee and I have been able to receive free premarital counseling. Are the EAP programs just as good as the "pay" programs? Is it beneficial to take more than one premarital class? Additionally, we are taking religion classes through a local Rabbi. She was raised Catholic, I am Jewish. She is in the process of converting to Judaism. We have learned quite a bit from each other through this process, too. We have both secular and religious counseling to a certain extent. Are premarital programs the "best" way? What other methods are effective, beneficial, or indicate long relationships? Thanks!
Robert Scuka, Ph.D.: Congratulations on following through on several different avenues! I think that's great. I would suggest that whether to take more than one premarital class depends on whether you feel you have learned concrete SKILLS that will help the two of you sustain your relationship on a long-term basis. Skill such as listening empathically and acknowledging one another's feelings, concerns and desires; expressing yourself skillfully so that you don't cause one another needless defensiveness; learning how to approach difficult issues form the perspective of "we're in this together and we need to find a way to make this work for both of us" rather than "it's me versus you and my primary interest is in how can I maximize my personal gain in the situation." What I would recommend on a longer-term basis is that you both commit to attending a special couple's workshop or retreat once every year or two as a way of nurturing and sustaininging your marriage for the long haul. I hope you have a great life together. Rob Scuka
Why the shift from religious based counseling? The article doesn't really address this. Do they not use the same techniques? Or is it because a lot of couples either have different religious backgrounds like the article's "lead couple" or no religious background?
Robert Scuka, Ph.D.: It's not so much a shift, as that they co-exist side by side, in part because some people have no religious affiliation. The real key is whether a ny given program teaches concrete communication and problem-solving skills, with lots of coaching and skills practice and dialogue time. That is the real divide, from my point of view, because too many programs are not sufficiently SKILL-based. That's what you really want to look for when you are shopping for a program. Rob Scuka
Silver Spring, Md.: I've been in a relationship for about a year now. We do have a strong love since the beginning but the thing is that I noticed that although there's love violence has come in. We argue over stupid things out of jealousy, infidelity, which end up in bad violent physically and verbally abusive. Recently he hit me in the face and I reported him to the police because it was getting out of hand. But now I have forgiven him. I do love him a lot and he does to me, I just need to know if there's hope in changing his aggressiveness, jealousy, and machismo, or am I just really stupid to stay with him.
Robert Scuka, Ph.D.: Dear SS: Please do not accept violence from anyone in any relationship. If he can do it to you, he can do it to your children as well. People can change, but they have to want to, AND they have to take concrete steps to get their violent behavior under control. Please insist that he get help if he wants to remain in a relationship with you. If he refuses, leave and move on with your life. You deserve better. An absolutely superb resource is Dr. Steven Stosny at www.compassionpower.com. He's one of the leading experts in the field. Good luck. Rob Scuka
Midwest: Do you ever advise a couple not to get married? Under what circumstances?
Robert Scuka, Ph.D.: When there is a loss of respect for the other person; when there is violence; when what you want out of life is incompatible with what other person wants; when you feel that your concerns and feelings are constantly being dismissed by the other person.
Are there marriage education classes instead of therapy and how much do they cost? I saw the $2400 figure and can't afford that price. Do you have suggestions?
Robert Scuka, Ph.D.: Our weekend program (see previous reply) costs $395.00.
Arlington, Va.: I have mixed feelings about the idea of people who aren't married attending counseling. I guess my feeling is that if you have to work this hard in a relationship maybe that's a sign that the relationship isn't a good one. I know that idea isn't necessarily true but it's definitely an underlying thought.
Robert Scuka, Ph.D.: Dear Arlington: Many relationships are difficult, but have the potential to be good and even great relationships. Don't give up until you have it given it every chance - and marriage education classes and/or counseling is the way to go to learn what you may not know in terms of HOW to have a good relationship. Rob Scuka
Arlington, Va.: Dr. Scuka, thank you for taking my question. My boyfriend and I are in an interfaith relationship (he's Jewish, I'm Christian), and we've been talking about marriage for several months now. I would like to find either a program or a therapist that specializes in interfaith counseling, is not biased toward either faith, and yet is knowledgeable about both faiths and traditions. What are your suggestions in how I go about this? I think I would rather have an individual counselor rather than a group program, just because our issues are so specific, yet I know we could benefit from a general program as well. Are there any groups/resources in the DC area that you could recommend?
Robert Scuka, Ph.D.: I'm sorry that I do not have a specific referral for you, but perhaps try Google under Interfaith Counseling in the Washington DC area, and see what comes up. Alternatively, call some rabbis and ministers and ask for a referral to such a person.
Washington, D.C.: When seeking pre-marital counseling, what types of topics should be discussed? How proactive should it be? Will a counselor be able at any point to give an opinion?
Robert Scuka, Ph.D.: The big issues to discuss are money, having and raising children, extended families, religion and other values, sexual intimacy, and what you want out of life. Premarital counseling should ALWAYS have a skills-based component. Ask. If it doesn't, move on until you find one that does, or supplement premarital counseling with attending a skills-based workshop on communication, problem-solving, conflict management, etc.
Opinions are shared sparingly, but always in service of the relationship and in particular to help a couple avoid a potential pitfall.
Washington, D.C.: I have an issue with getting very close to this girl because she has already been married once and has three children. She tells me to get over it and it is no big deal. What should I do?
Robert Scuka, Ph.D.: If you cannot fully accept the 3 children as part of the package, then please do the woman a favor and move on. She - and they - deserve nothing less.
Washington, D.C: My boyfriend and I have been together one year, and we have both discussed marriage. However, I am at a loss on how to get him to understand that my expectations of him are progressive -- what was okay a year ago, isn't enough now, especially with long-term plans being discussed. How do I get him to embrace the need for more serious planning and openness.
Robert Scuka, Ph.D.: You cannot "get" someone to understand your desires. (Desires and requests are OK; expectations and demands are a firestorm waiting to happen.) The question you have to ask yourself is: Do I have confidence that this person is interested in and willing to try to meet my desires (and me his), or am I frequently feeling as though my concerns are being dismissed?
If the latter, not a good prognosis. Though that is not the end of the story. Request that you both attend a couples workshop or counseling. His answer to that question will also tell you a lot of what you need to know.
Blacksburg, Va.: My husband and I have a happy marriage, but we would still like to work on improving communication. We did not have premarital counseling. Are there similar classes for married people? We don't feel we need individual marital counseling.
Robert Scuka, Ph.D.: Yes, there are plenty of workshops for married couples. See some of my previous replies.
Washington, D.C.: Dear Mr. Scuka, I am recently engaged after 6 years of dating. Do you find that prolonged dating or engagement can help the success of marriage in the future? What do you recommend for couples who can't afford extensive pre-marital counseling programs? Are there steps we can take as a couple without third party assistance?
Robert Scuka, Ph.D.: Some religious organizations offer very inexpensive classes.
As fir what you can do on your own: Sit down for 30 minutes with no interruptions. Take turns sharing, speaking kindly.
Do not interrupt the other person. Try your best to acknowledge verbally what you understand the other person to be feeling and desiring. Look at one another as you do this. Share a partner appreciation with one another at least once a day!
Chicago, Ill.: Can you suggest any resources in the Chicago area? Thanks.
Robert Scuka, Ph.D.: Try the Chicago archdiocese. They have many programs, and can probably refer to non-religious one if that is what you want.
I enjoy alone time--reading and playing computer games. My wife sees this period as me trying to avoid her. I view that is going to "the cave" to regroup. How can we find a balance?
Robert Scuka, Ph.D.: Go to SmartMarriages.com and track down Mark Gungor's "Laugh your Way to a Better Marriage." Find one in your area, and go! It will give each of you a different, and more humorous, take on your differences.
Washington, D.C.: Do you recommend counseling for couples that are contemplating marriage but are not engaged? My boyfriend and I have been together for 3 years and have talked about marriage a lot but he is not ready to commit. He's currently in counseling seeking to resolve his commitment issues and I'm wondering if we should also pursue couples' counseling.
Robert Scuka, Ph.D.: Yes, I would recommend couples counseling to supplement his individual work. And you have to ask yourself: How long can I afford to wait for him to make up his mind? There comes a point where it's either a go or it isn't.
Annandale, Va.: What type of counseling do you recommend for couples that have been married before? I have been married before and have 3 children and my boyfriend has never been married. We have been dating for 3 years and get along very well together. There are no major issues but I do know that things can develop when I new person enter a ready made family. He is very willing to read books about step-parenting and seems very opening to counseling before marriage. I just know I don't want to make the same mistakes twice and go through another divorce.
Robert Scuka, Ph.D.: I strongly recommend a couples communication workshop and/or step family counseling. Any step family will inevitably have challenges, but they can be dealt with successfully, if one has assistance and learns some valuable perspectives. Good luck!
Rockville, Md.: I think premarital counseling can be a great help and it's nice to see good counselors committed to helping couples figure things out. My parents were involved in Catholic marriage preparation programs (it's nationwide but organized by diocese) for 15 years, and I was always amazed at the number of couples they would tell us about who simply had never thought to talk about if or how many kids they would have, how they would reconcile their faiths, etc. One aspect of that program: it involved married couples counseling engaged couples. I think in addition to more trained counselors, it can be helpful to talk just to couples who have already been there in successfully making their marriage work over time.
Robert Scuka, Ph.D.: Yes, indeed. And there are some great marriage mentoring programs out there. Visit smartmarriages.com for some leads.
Virginia: Is someone always a cheater? I am in a situation where someone has been cheating on me for a year and has gotten busted. He says he is breaking up with the other woman and recommitting to me. Without condoning this, I can see that it would be attractive to a man who is a year out of a divorce with limited sexual experience to have two girlfriends. Everyone I have met who knows him said he never ever cheated on his ex. All of my friends are shocked that he had done this; he is remorseful about the hurt he has caused. The other woman, btw, knew about me a bit and knew he was seeing someone else which I also think was a bit of a factor. Yes, he is a rat but can rats change?
Robert Scuka, Ph.D.: The question is not whether rats can change (anyone can change if they really want to), but have you so lost respect for him (since you refer to him as a rat) that there is no real point? Maybe yes, maybe no. The only way to get a genuine answer in a case like this is through couples counseling. Good luck.
Ashburn, Va.: Hi Dr. Scuka,
I'd like your opinion on a situation that is rarely ever touched upon in pre-marital sessions.
My ex and I took the the mandatory pre-Cana classes required for a Catholic ceremony along with an additional couples mentoring program.
While they all covered various topics they are all geared to getting people through the "tough times." What I've seen is many marriages fall apart (including my own) when a couple has achieved some level of comfort financially, professionally and personally.
Now one seems to talk about this aspect of life.
Robert Scuka, Ph.D.: Perhaps what was missing form the mix was "being a couple"and making that as much of a priority as anything else. "A word to the wise."
Philadelphia, Pa.: The earlier article mentioned a Catholic and a Jew who had not come to terms regarding the religion kids would be raised in. Shouldn't a choice of religion be made by each individual, and isn't a parents role to help children become responsible adults? My wife is Catholic and I am atheist. We agreed to do three things: expose our kids to the Catholic faith; teach strong and confident use of critical thinking skills; support our children in the beliefs they choose, regardless of what that is.
Robert Scuka, Ph.D.: I think that's great.
Washington, D.C.: My fiance and I both agree we are undecided about having children - but for the same reasons. Do you consider this agreement? Or are we headed for serious problems?
Robert Scuka, Ph.D.: The big question for the two of you is: Can I genuinely imagine being happy in my life with either decision? If so, then you can probably navigate this issue together. If you have doubts, you may want to do some counseling to help each of you get to the deeper levels of ambivalence about having children. You might want to do this anyway.
Washington, D.C.: Regarding the "a relationship shouldn't be so much work" comment - I would say that after 8 years of marriage and now with 3 small kids, then I never anticipated the kinds of conflicts we would have, because you can't really know how you will be as parents and as a family until you are. Having learned those skills before getting married really would have helped my husband and I. We had a year of counseling which really helped us with some difficult issues - issues that were minor annoyances while dating became huge once children were in the picture. It's really so different being two "independent" people in a couple and being a family and dealing with each others' families. Thanks for what you are doing. I think it's really needed.
Robert Scuka, Ph.D.: I'm sharing your comment because I think it gives pre-married couples a realistic take on what married life often involves. Thanks for writing.
Northern Virginia: Do you think that your weekend session can be helpful to a couple married over 30 years who have seemingly settled into avoidance and ignoring each other?
Long Distance/Overseas Romance: I'm getting married to someone with whom I've had a overseas/LD relationship with for almost 2 years (US-Africa). He has all the qualities I want (communication, conflict resolution, values, temperament) and we focus a lot effort on getting to know each other on as many diff levels as we can given the distance.
Currently we are almost daily communication (phone/email/IM). He will be moving to the US soon and I'd like to think of some things we can do to transition from a LDR into an in-person relationship.
Robert Scuka, Ph.D.: Attend a weekend workshop together to get better grounded in solid communication skills. Good luck!
Charlotte, N.C.: Do you recommend the children of previous marriages be included in pre-marital counseling?
Robert Scuka, Ph.D.: Possibly. If there are major conflicts. But starting as a couple can be a good idea, because the two of you getting on the same page is perhaps the most important thing.
Arlington, Va.: I have been engaged for a year, getting married in September. We have attended Engaged Encounters through the Diocese of Maryland. My fiance and I agree on all the major issues (kids, money, where to live) except for my career choice. I have been moving towards a career in law enforcement (I come from a family of cops), which she views as too dangerous and is protesting profusely. My question is, while my marriage is my most important priority, I have always wanted to work in law enforcement since long before I knew her and I know I will be miserable in my current career (accountant) if I do not change. Where do I draw the line between my personal happiness and maintaining peace in our marriage? I have tried to be reassuring and provide her with an honest assessment of the job, but I feel like she won't even listen to me. I know her fear is of the unknown, and I know she knows that this is very important to me, I just can't figure out how to strike a balance between my goals and her fears.
Robert Scuka, Ph.D.: This is a potentially tough issue. I recommend counseling for the two of you to work this through.
DC area marriage prep leader: Thanks for bringing the importance of learning skills to the attention of couples.
I notice that many couples are asking questions about compatibility--for example above someone mentioned agreeing about finances and you mentioned religion.
We feel that couples really need to understand that while there are some issues that they need to agree about (e.g., kids) and it's nice to be 'compatible' about more, it's unrealistic to expect to be and remain compatible on a lot of issues: There's always one partner who is neater, one who is more stressful communication tolerant, one who has a higher sex drive, one who is more of a spender, etc.
It's so important to learn how to MANAGE these differences skillfully--not expect there to be few difference (or especially to resent these).
Couples can find out more about our one-day marriage prep seminar at stayhitched.com
Robert Scuka, Ph.D.: Indeed. Thanks for writing
Arlington, Va.: We have been married 10 years! We solve problems and talk it all out well. Except now he is unhappy about my body. I have been working out for 1 year and have gotten thin, but my problem area is the last thing to go no matter what. He is unhappy and thinks I must do major effort for that one problem area, enough for physical transformation. He is turned off about it. What can I possibly do now?
Robert Scuka, Ph.D.: Ask him if he genuinely loves you as you are.
Virginia: The biggest problem among couples are ex-boyfriend and ex-girlfriends. Among my guys friends (yes macho men talk), our biggest gripes is the former boyfriends. Our wives think it is nothing...
Robert Scuka, Ph.D.: Are good boundaries being maintained, and is the present relationship being treated with respect for it and for your feelings? Flip side: Are you being overly controlling?
Baltimore, Md.: Good Afternoon, Dr. Scuka
Thanks for taking my question.
Last September, I met a wonderful man, and we've been dating ever since. However, at the same time, I was also seeing a man that I knew was in a relationship with another woman. We saw each other strictly for sex and maybe once in a while, you might call it companionship; but I'm trying to keep it real.
I was honest with this new man, and told him what I was doing. He didn't like it and told me that I should stop seeing him if I wanted to keep our relationship healthy (how can you not like a person that puts it to you like that). It has taken me a while to end my affair and my new guy is getting upset because I have not yet ended it. I'm afraid that when I do end this affair, my new true love will leave me because he'll think that if I saw two men once, I'll do it again...and that's not true.
How do I convince him that I want our relationship to work (we've spoke of living together and somewhat touched on marriage, which I'm all for)?
Robert Scuka, Ph.D.: Can you say to yourself in all honesty that you are being fair to your "new man"? His feelings are telling you that you are not. I would recommend individual counseling to uncover the deep fears that are driving your behavior. I would recommend couples counseling to see whether the two of you can have a future together.
Robert Scuka, Ph.D.: Thank you one and all for your questions.
National Institute of Relationship Enhancement
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Putting a Healthy Whole In Your Diet
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The first federal definition of whole grains could make it easier for you to know whether your favorite bread, cereal, crackers and pasta are whole-grain wonders or merely half-baked.
That's important to know, because nearly half of Americans never eat a whole grain, according to the Eric Hentges, executive director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion. The government's 2005 dietary guidelines recommend that most adults eat three, one-ounce servings of whole grains daily.
Knowing what is a whole grain -- and a one-ounce serving -- isn't always easy, however. And by all accounts, the new Food and Drug Administration definition may still leave the picture a little grainy for consumers since it's a recommendation, not a regulation.
Skip whole grains-- popcorn, oatmeal, shredded wheat, graham crackers and corn tortillas, to name a few -- and you not only miss foods with great flavor, you also don't get important protection against heart disease and some types of cancer.
Plus, whole grains could help your waistline, according to the 2005 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee's report. In one large study, for every 40 grams of whole grains added to the daily diet -- roughly equal to three slices of whole wheat bread -- body weight decreased in women by about a pound. Why is not certain, but it may be because they ate less of other foods. In another, body mass index was least in those who ate the most whole grains. And in a study that looked at the children of participants of the landmark Framingham Heart Study, those who ate the most whole grains had the lowest body mass index and the smallest waist-to-hip ratio -- important predictors of heart disease, diabetes and obesity risk.
So what gives whole grains their punch? They're packed with minerals and vitamins that are good for the heart, the immune system and blood, and they help protect against neural tube defects, including spina bifida in newborns. While whole grains are rich in complex carbohydrates, they can also provide a surprising amount of protein, up to 10 percent of the daily intake.
And the good news is that they're turning up as ingredients in a growing number of popular foods, from Chips Ahoy, raisin bread and English muffins to Rice-a-Roni, Fig Newtons and some, but not all, Wheat Thins. The challenge, notes Bonnie Liebman, director of nutrition for Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI): "You have to know which products are whole grains and which ones aren't."
Here's how you can figure that out:
Eyeball the ingredients label . Look for products that list whole grain as one of the first ingredients. That means whole wheat, whole rye, whole oats, whole corn, whole graham and whole barley. Other whole grains are brown rice, wild rice, bulgur, quinoa, triticale, amaranth, whole graham flour and sorghum.
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The first federal definition of whole grains could make it easier for you to know whether your favorite bread, cereal, crackers and pasta are whole-grain wonders or merely half-baked.
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Critiquing the Press
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Howard Kurtz has been The Washington Post's media reporter since 1990. He is also the host of CNN's "Reliable Sources" and the author of "Media Circus," "Hot Air," "Spin Cycle" and "The Fortune Tellers: Inside Wall Street's Game of Money, Media and Manipulation." Kurtz talks about the press and the stories of the day in "Media Backtalk."
Howard Kurtz was online Tuesday, Feb. 28, at 11 a.m. ET to discuss the press and his latest columns.
Read the latest Media Notes: Big Fat Tuesday , ( Post, Feb. 28, 2006 )
Ashland, Mo.: What is the true nature of the port transaction? Is it, as the initial reports say, that a UAE-government company will "control" six U.S. ports? Or is it more like a UAE-government company has purchased the right to use certain facilities in six U.S. ports much like British Airways purchases the right to use certain gates at various airports? If the latter, aren't the initial reports of "controlling ports" another example of media compression and "hype" to emphasize conflict?
Howard Kurtz: Perhaps a better word would be that they will manage the ports. Of course, managing means controlling certain functions, but the company would still be a contractor. Whether it will have any influence over security operations is obviously at the heart of the debate. You know, the media were somewhat slow on this one, and largely followed the outraged politicians (Schumer, Hillary, Peter King) in pumping it up into a big issue.
How does the media cover an administration such as this one, which has lost the support of such a large portion of the country? This clearly goes beyond just tracking the poll numbers or even pointing out that not just the Democrats and liberals are in opposition, but a significant majority of the country. I'm talking about the fact that if the administration continues to push many of its plans, it is doing so in direct opposition of the wishes of the country. How does the media cover this without simply being labeled as antagonistic? Thanks.
Howard Kurtz: My view is that we should aggressively cover every administration, whether the president is at 90 percent or 30 percent in the polls. Bush has obviously had a very rough year, but polls do tend to rise and fall and his party still controls Congress. Obviously, when we are reporting on Bush at 34 percent (as in the new CBS poll), as compared to Bush at 70 or 80 (after 9/11 and Afghanistan), the political context is very different, and the stories need to reflect that. In fact, I wonder if so many Republicans would be challenging the president on the ports deal if he were more popular and they didn't feel a need to distance themselves before the midterms.
I am writing you again about this posting which you haven't responded to previously (is it a CNN tilt?) because I think it merits considered discussion:
Quite often these days you hear people ask "Where is the outrage?" about various abuses or alleged abuses of the Bush administration, and these people blame the media for there being none. I'd like your reaction to my theory on this.
My theory begins with the observation that the print media and the network evenings news programs aren't that much different in content than they were a generation ago (except perhaps for Newsweek and Time putting soft news on the cover much more than ever before).
The difference isn't these news sources but cable news, and the fact that after 7 pm or so the cable news programs abandon hard news for true crime (the murder du jour or the missing white woman du jour) or softball conversation (Larry King) or opinion (Fox and Scarborough). All of this "noise" not only establishes There a disconnect - or abandonment, really - between hard news and what the cable stations cover, but sends a message to the viewer that hard news isn't all that important.
In sum, then, I think media critics really should direct their criticism at cable news schlock, which gives the impression that the real news of the day isn't important enough to be covered in prime time. It also makes me wish there were one cable news network willing to run hard news in prime time.
Howard Kurtz: First, I think you may overstate the influence of cable news, which has relatively small audiences compared to the broadcast networks. Second, there are shows (Countdown, Hardball, Anderson Cooper 360, 7 pm hour of the Situation Room) that cover a fair amount of hard news. And so, in their own way, do O'Reilly and Hannity, albeit in an opinionated format.
Berkeley, Calif.: The report today from Ellen Knickmeyer was shocking to me. Certainly the military and the Iraqi government want to quash any talk of a civil war, and the "modest" (awful as it sounds) death toll numbers they quoted did not speak to a civil war. But 1300 dead in a single week in a single morgue -- that sounds like civil war.
Can we say if the previous numbers based on poor estimates or were deliberate lowballs?
Howard Kurtz: A very good question to which I do not know the answer. Obviously counting civilian casualties can be problematic. But the 1,300 figure was truly sobering and stunning and has added fuel to the debate over whether the presence of U.S. troops can ever stop this level of sectarian violence between groups that have been battling each other for hundreds of years.
Sean Hannity attended a fundraiser for Rick Santorum in Pennsylvania. Isn't that crossing a line? Or is it like William Hurt said in Broadcast News? "They keep moving the little sucker every day."
Howard Kurtz: Well, it's not something that somebody who didn't want to be seen as a spokesman for the Republican Party would have done.
Washington, D.C.: Dear Mr. Kurtz: Love your columns and blogs. Don't have cable so I can't watch you on CNN! I apologize if my question appears insensitive but I'm curious. Bob Woodruff and, until recently, his camera man Vogt have been under military hospital care since their horrible maiming in Iraq. I can certainly understand why the military would assume medical care for the media while in the field of war -- especially since the armed forces doctors are probably more familiar than anyone with the treatment of those wounded by roadside bombs -- but I'm not clear why Bob Woodruff, now that he is back in the States, remains at the Bethesda Naval Medical Center rather than a private hospital. Is it typical for the military to assume the cost of long-term medical care for private citizens?
Howard Kurtz: I suggest you get cable immediately so you can watch me. As far as I know, it's fairly unusual for a military hospital to care for civilians, except maybe on the battlefield. Perhaps the military felt a special responsibility to care for Woodruff and Vogt since they were injured (not maimed) while embedded with an Army unit. The plan is to move Woodruff to another hospital closer to his home once he is well enough. Vogt is now out and has returned to his home in France.
Atlanta, Ga.: Howard, why is that the people who were the most "wrong" about Iraq still get to opine about the war, when people who were the most "right" (i.e. Invading Iraq is a bad idea) get no respect? I'm thinking of the Bill Kristol/Peter Beinhart/National Review crowd, who cheerled the war, were proved wrong, and yet still are somehow considered the "serious" voices on Iraq.
Yet people such as Paul Krugman/The Nation/Howard Dean/The American Prospect etc. are considered "not serious" voices on foreign policy even though all of the above correctly diagnosed and predicted the events in Iraq.
Howard Kurtz: Considered "not serious" by whom? I consider them serious. But even people who were pro-war still deserve to be heard. Some say they supported the invasion to oust Saddam but that the U.S. has totally bungled the occupation and rebuilding, which is not necessarily a contradictory position.
Pittsburgh, Pa.: Hello, Howard, on Reliable Sources this week you asked your panelists if the media was premature in characterizing the violence as "civil war." You showed several clips and I was certain you would say something about Fox discussing whether civil war in Iraq is a good thing. Since your show is a critique of the media, why wouldn't you focus a few moments on Fox's segment on the upside of civil war?
Howard Kurtz: Simple - I missed that particular segment. Sometimes I have to do other things, like eat.
Jericho, Vt.: Good morning. What's the latest on CBS's efforts to replace Bob Schieffer when the time comes? The idea of Katie Couric or Shep Smith replacing him makes me cringe.
Howard Kurtz: I hadn't heard of Shep Smith as a contender. The job is Katie's if she wants it, and she's supposed to decide by May, when her NBC contract expires.
Springfield, Va.: "Well, it's not something that somebody who didn't want to be seen as a spokesman for the Republican Party would have done." I forget, was your criticism of Dan Rather this direct when he spoke at a Democratic fund raiser in Texas?
Howard Kurtz: I guess you're unaware of the fact that I BROKE the story of Rather's appearance at a Democratic fundraiser, which ran on the front page of The Washington Post. You could look it up.
Wheaton, Md.: Last week in this discussion there was this exchange:
Pittsburgh, Pa.: All this media frenzy over Cheney shooting a 78-year-old man in the face - isn't it just the American media now trying to prove they're not mouthpieces of this administration after wrapping themselves in the flag and going all rah-rah in the lead up to the Iraq war without any sense of objectivity?
Howard Kurtz: Going all rah-rah? I have said, and written, many times that the media's performance during the runup to the Iraq war was inadequate. Journalists weren't skeptical or aggressive enough, though I would not put them in the category of cheerleaders. Since the war, most news organizations have been much tougher on the administration's conduct of the war, the situation in Iraq, and the campaign against terrorism in general. (The NYT story on domestic surveillance and the WP story on secret CIA prisons are but two examples.) In other words, I don't think we needed a hunting accident to "prove" anything.
To call the editorial position of your own newspaper "rah-rah" or "cheerleaders" towards the Iraq War would be an understatement. They accused those who opposed the war of "Standing with Saddam." And while there may be a lead wall between your news and editorial sections presumably the editorial board reads the news articles prior to making its decisions.
Howard Kurtz: I was talking about the news coverage. The editorial board of The Post (and others like it) does its thing, renders its opinions, and you're free to agree or disagree. They're paid to have opinions. It's very different from what reporters and editors do.
Ithaca, N.Y.: What do you make of Bill O'Reilly publicly calling for the ouster of Keith olbermannn? Seems a bit much and a bit of poor sportsmanship to me.
Howard Kurtz: I think both of these guys are enjoying this feud. olbermannn has attacked O'Reilly numerous times on his show, so it's hardly shocking that O'Reilly would hit back. olbermannn is so into it, in fact, that last night he played a clip of me on MY show reporting on the feud. Nobody takes these petitions seriously, including, I suspect, the combatants themselves.
Deckerville, Mich.: I heard on C-Span this AM that someone in the White House was thinking of suspending the White House Press Corp Briefings. Is this true, and if so why? As far as I can tell if the so-called "badgering" of the reporters is so offensive, why, then must they "badger" to get the truth out of him in the first place? Sounds like "Controlled Press" is really on the way and that is a sad commentary on the right to know.
Howard Kurtz: I haven't heard so much as a scintilla of a hint of a suggestion that the briefings might be suspended. In fact, the NYT quoted Scott McClellan yesterday as saying they will continue to be televised.
Mechanicsburg, Pa.: Yes, 1300 deaths in a week is sobering - especially when that number is extrapolated to to a population the size of the US...that's the equivalent of 14,000 U.S. deaths. I wish that point would be made more often in such stories; Iraq is a pretty small country, population-wise (around 26 million).
Istanbul, Turkey: Is the White House trying to manipulate journalists?
Howard Kurtz: Short answer: yes. Just like every administration does.
Astoria, N.Y.: I was glad to read about New Orleans today in Media Notes. I agree that the only way to save that entire area is to keep attention focused. Now, this isn't scientific as I was channel surfing this morning, but NBC had Katie, ABC had Robin, CNN had everyone in New Orleans. When I turned to Fox News, all three anchors were still in New York. Did Fox have any of their "big names" there? If not (and I don't think they did), doesn't this show another aspect of their bias? New Orleans was not a bright spot for this administration as recently evidenced by their staggering 59% disapproval. Thanks.
Howard Kurtz: Bill Hemmer, the ex-CNN guy now at Fox, is there. But I don't think sending anchors for an occasional event like Mardi Gras is as important as having correspondents repeatedly cover the story of that devastated city, and I've seen a number of Fox reports on that. The idea that Fox wouldn't cover NOLA because it makes the Bush administration look bad is a stretch. Sean Hannity talks about it all the time -- and blames Ray Nagin, not Bush.
Princeton, N.J.: I think that more significant than the Bush rating poll is the one about soldiers in Iraq:
The poll is the first of U.S. troops currently serving in Iraq, according to John Zogby, the pollster. Conducted by Zogby International and LeMoyne College, it asked 944 service members, "How long should U.S. troops stay in Iraq?"
Only 23 percent backed Mr. Bush's position that they should stay as long as necessary. In contrast, 72 percent said that U.S. troops should be pulled out within one year. Of those, 29 percent said they should withdraw "immediately."
Howard Kurtz: Interesting, though, that the great majority take the middle position of within a year.
So there is an argument FOR the UAE port deal that I keep hearing on Fox (O'Reilly). That is, if we decline or block this deal, that will inflame Arabs and Muslims around the world. We will incite the terrorists. What do you make of this logic? Seems to me that it could have been applied to invading Iraq.
Howard Kurtz: I think the pro-Dubai argument is broader than that. Supporters say it will hurt us economically if we refuse to do business with certain countries, and will strain relations with the UAE, which they see as a strong U.S. ally against terrorism. Obviously, lots of people aren't buying that case.
Silver Spring, Md.: Howard, do you think the nature of print editorials will change in the near future? Even people who are aware of the newsroom/opinion relationship (or lack thereof) seem to bristle at the opinion page, and cite past editorials as official positions of the entire newspaper. Does the editorial page really work anymore?
Howard Kurtz: Sure. Why shouldn't a newspaper have a page on which it takes a stance on the issues of the day? I believe editorials and op-eds influence the debate, not necessarily because zillions of people read them but because there's a trickle-down effect as these views are kicked around on television, talk radio and the Web. I also believe most people are savvy enough to understand the church/state split at newspapers. Exhibit A: The Wall Street Journal.
Arlington, Va.: Re: Bob Woodruff. I believe I read that ABC News is picking up the tab for his care at Bethesda. So, the "American taxpayer" is not footing the bill.
Howard Kurtz: I do not know that for a fact, but it makes sense.
Re: O'Reilly/olbermann Feud: Could it be that Keith olbermann is a bit jealous of the significantly better ratings O'Reilly has over his show?
Howard Kurtz: It could. It could also be that olbermannn (whose ratings have improved lately, though he's still dwarfed by O'Reilly) sees taking on his Fox rival as a way to generate buzz and boost his own ratings a bit.
Richmond, Va.: The latest CBS News poll has President Bush with a 34% approval rating - probably about the same as Howard Dean would poll. Nice to see both parties neck and neck.
What's The Post newsroom's take on the Cheney 2007 retirement rumor?
Howard Kurtz: I haven't taken a, er, poll here. I can only give you my reaction, which is that I'll believe it when I see it. These rumors and anonymously sourced reports keep popping up, and Cheney is still there.
Washington, D.C.: I always understood that, despite its wonderful name, the New Orleans Times-Picayune was one of the worst newspapers in the country. How has it been doing since Katrina, especially in its coverage of that megadisaster?
Howard Kurtz: It was actually a pretty decent paper -- it did a groundbreaking series on race that won widespread plaudits -- but has been absolutely indispensable since Katrina. Which is all the more remarkable when you consider that many of the staffers lost their homes and are struggling.
Washington, D.C.: Love these chats Howard, tune in various weeks. Was just interested in that every time I read the chat it just seems like a Bash-Bush Convention. Now I know The Post attracts a more left-leaning readership and hence caters their editorial and reporting to such, but these chats can't entirely take in anti-Bush questions and comments.
Howard Kurtz: I welcome questions from all political sides but can only work with what I get.
I'd compliment you by saying you're doing a heckuva job, but as words of praise, that phrase seems to have expired.
Have you read the excellent piece in the latest New Yorker magazine that basically says any thoughts of, or efforts toward, trying to resurrect New Orleans are ultimately doomed to failure due to land loss brought on by erosion caused by rising sea levels? They are losing hundreds of square miles every year, and time (and land) is running out. No levee can stop what's coming.
Is the media trapped into too short-termed/short-sighted a vision of the future of N'Awlins? It is easy to find dis-satsfied residents who are justifiably pissed at government at all levels- so we read lots of stories like that. And unquestionably to declare the city ultimately doomed will not go over too well with many- but if one of the media's roles to provide "Truth" and "Facts", and if well-regarded scientists think the Big Easy (at least in its present location) is toast, within 100 years at the latest, why haven't we seen more about this?
Howard Kurtz: There have been a number of stories, mostly in newspapers, about the engineering challenge involved in fixing the levees, etc. But it is perhaps understandable that the most compelling aspect remains the hundreds of thousands of displaced residents, the collapse of basic services and those who are finding it hard, for financial or bureaucratic reasons, to repair their homes.
Boston, Mass.: Are reporters allowed to sit in on classified briefings and then told not to talk about it? John Fund of the WSJ said on MSNBC last night that he was in on one of these briefings about what UAE is doing on the war on terror but that he could not talk about it.
Howard Kurtz: That is unusual. Reporters talk all the time to officials who discuss sensitive information that they insist remain off the record. But a classified briefing? I haven't heard of that (but maybe that's because they're classified!)
Parkville, Md.: Re: the church/state split.
Would you agree with this assertion:
Prominent Newspapers most accused of Liberal Bias (i.e. the New York Times, The Washington Post) include important conservative columnists in their Op-Ed pages (David Brooks, George Will).
Prominent Newspapers accused of conservative bias (The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Times) largely exclude liberal columnists from their Op-Ed pages (??????).
Howard Kurtz: Well, the WSJ did have Al Hunt until he left to go to Bloomberg.
McLean, Va.: Is it true that the Voice of America is broadcasting Air America programs overseas? Does VOA also broadcast other talk show programs such as Rush Limbaugh overseas?
Included this sentence: "In interpreting the story, one should consider the source: Air America's ratings went up substantially in the Fall 2005 book and its affiliate base has grown from 36 affiliations in January of 05 to over 90 affiliations across the country, including internationally on the Voice of America
Howard Kurtz: It's Armed Forces Radio, not VOA, that carries Rush, and recently began carrying Ed Schultz (who is not part of Air America but is very liberal). A Pentagon political appointee, I reported, temporarily blocked the Schultz deal, but eventually it got worked out.
Bush is quoted today as saying, relative to the bin Laden tape which became public just before the last election....
"I thought it was going to help," Bush said. "I thought it would help remind people that if bin Laden doesn't want Bush to be the president, something must be right with Bush."
Am I crazy, or isn't he contradicting himself?
Howard Kurtz: Not in my view. Although it also could be argued that the tape would remind people that Bush had failed to get Bin Laden, as he had vowed.
Anonymous: Richard Morin claimed in December "witness the fact that no member of congressional Democratic leadership or any of the serious Democratic presidential candidates in '08 are calling for Bush's impeachment. When it is or they are, we will ask about it in our polls."
Peter Baker just said in his chat: "If Jim Sensenbrenner or Arlen Specter start talking about impeachment, then let's talk again. "
Why are the goalposts being moved, and why is there such resistance on the part of some members of The Washington Post (Tom Edsall and Dana Milbank being exceptions) to ask the impeachment question?
Howard Kurtz: I think it's fair to say that impeachment is not a serious movement until prominent Democrats begin calling for it. As for the Republicans, I would observe that they do control Congress, at least until November, so we won't be seeing any impeachment hearings.
Charles Town, W.Va.: Howard, thanks so much for taking questions. Although Fox News was initially beating the drum against the ports deal, they seem to be back to a more pro-administration broadcast.
Having worked as a reporter for some news organizations where reporters would complain about the biases of editors or the organization, I wonder if Fox News reporters consider themselves real journalists or do they privately admit to working for a Republican mouthpiece?
Thanks again and have a great day!
Howard Kurtz: I haven't had anyone at Fox admit that. And in fairness, the debate has moved since the opening days, with more conservatives (including bloggers) shifting to a support-the-deal stance, so you're hearing more of those views in various media outlets.
Minneapolis, Minn.: A question on your reporting in the Plame matter. Back on July 17, 2005 in the midst of an interview of Matt Cooper on CNN, you reported that you had been hearing that Cooper or TIME had a third administration source on Plame, a policy person on Africa, beyond Rove and Libby. Has that information held up, or been discounted? Who was it? Was it a source for Cooper or for one of TIME's other reporters working the story?
Howard Kurtz: It was a well-placed source whose identity I can't reveal, and it was definitely in regard to one of Cooper's sources. He has declined to talk about any other sources beyond those he identified in his grand jury testimony.
Anonymous: "Well, the WSJ did have Al Hunt until he left to go to Bloomberg."
Not a good answer Howie. Have the WSJ editors replaced Al? Have they ever had more than 1 center or left of center columnist at a time? The Times and The Post have several right leaning columnists.
Howard Kurtz: Heh. I kind of thought my readers were hip enough to get that.
To the question on Bob Woodruff's care: I believe Elizabeth Vargas reported shortly after Woodruff's return to the States that he was being treated at WR because of their expertise in the type of wounds he sustained and that ABC is paying for the care he receives there.
Howard Kurtz: Good. I don't have any problem with it. But obviously every citizen can't get into the top-notch facilities at Bethesda Naval, even if he or she offers to pay for it.
Thanks for the chat, folks.
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Chatological Humor* (Updated 3.3.06)
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* Formerly known as "Funny? You Should Ask ."
DAILY UPDATES: 3.1.06 | 3.2.06 | 3.3.06
Gene Weingarten's controversial humor column, Below the Beltway , appears every Sunday in the Washington Post Magazine. He aspires to someday become a National Treasure, but is currently more of a National Gag Novelty Item, like rubber dog poo.
He is online, at any rate, each Tuesday, to take your questions and abuse.
Today's Poll... is in two parts. Determine your sex, and then answer both Question 1 and Question 2.
Men: Question 1 | Question 2
Women: Question 1 | Question 2
Weingarten is the author of "The Hypochondriac's Guide to Life. And Death" and co-author of "I'm with Stupid," with feminist scholar Gina Barreca. "Below the Beltway" is now syndicated nationally by The Washington Post Writers Group .
New to Chatological Humor? Read the FAQ .
My column on Sunday provoked a tsunami of mail, not all of itcondemnatory, and it included only one veiled (haha) threat. I found thatencouraging. It is with a heavy heart, however, that I must report this:The Straits Times, a newspaper in Malaysia, published this writhing,groveling front-page apology for publishing a cartoon about The Prophet.Okay? Now here is the cartoon they published, the thing for whichthey felt a need to writhe. Can the world press possibly debase itselfthrough cowardice any more than that?
So that is the first sign of the Impending Apocalypse. The second arrivedin an e-mail from my friend Horace Labadie, who included a clip from theBBC. It revealed that Daniel Craig, the latest incarnation of James Bond... cannot drive a stickshift. Bond's classic Aston Martin DB5 has had tobe converted to an automatic.
So I was feeling really depressed this weekend when I stopped at aneighborhood deli. The man behind the counter -- a trainee -- appeared tobe just off the boat from Malaysia or someplace. He looked at me,pleasantly, eager to please, and said, "Hiyaiwao heyupaio yowie."
I said: Ah, ah, could I have three plain bagels?
He nodded vigorously and then enthusiastically pointed, one by one, toevery single item displayed -- jelly donuts, French bread, the coffeemachine, croissants, onion bagels, and I kept shaking my head, until,eventually, he came to the plain bagels, and I nodded. Then he wrappedit quickly and efficiently, and I asked him how much, and he smiled andsaid, "Taiyawo Maoeee yop," and a woman who was watching this, andtraining him, said,"Two dollars and thirty cents," and he attempted torepeat this, and it came out "Tooyasuttysiz." So I proffered three dollars,which resulted in a three or four minutes of animated conversation aroundthe cash register, partially in Engrish and partially in Malaysian orTagalog or something, after which correct change was made, and the new guybehind the counter rushed it to me, and, warmly smiling, gave it to me,saying, "Yuwao zee kowlaoiiee, bip." And at that moment I caught the eyeof the woman doing the training, and she burst out laughing. Which mademe, despite my best efforts, burst out laughing. Which made the guy behindthe counter burst out laughing. I almost cried at the joy of it.
My only point here is that I do love this country, and there may be hopefor us all, and that enthusiastic guy probably will be running a majorAmerican corporation in eight or ten years.
Lessee, speaking of major corporations, I was stunned to learn last week that Quartermaine's Coffee is not one. Circumstances required me to correspond with the company, at which time I discovered it is basically a mom n' pop concern that exists only in the Bethesda-Rockville area of the United States of America. This is shocking because Quartermaine's coffee, which I obtain at their only outlet store, in downtown Bethesda, is far and away the best coffee available anywhere. (No, I am not being paid or comped for this testimonial.) I care about coffee, I have tried everything, and nothing comes close to Quartermaine's house blend, which looks as greasy as a loanshark's hair. This is a public service announcement, presented to you free of charge by Chatological Humor. Whatever you do, however, do not accept the freebie cup of coffee they offer you at the outlet store. For some reason, it is nearly impotable.
Speaking of recent revelations, I discovered to my utter astonishment yesterday that when I type, my right pinkie is vestigial. I do not use it. I use all nine other fingers. But I hit the p and the ; and the " and the ? with my right ring finger. I never knew this and I find it oddly disturbing.
Take today's poll. Interesting results, so far. I am a little surprised that there is not a larger differential between what bugs men and what bugs women, though the results are a little misleading, collapsing differences unrealistically: To figure out what percentage of the answers include a certain gripe, you need to multiply the percent by five. As I write this, for example, 12 percent of men listed "People who talk in movies" as one of their five biggest complaints. That means it was mentioned on sixty percent of the guys' ballots.
This was an extraordinary comics week, particularly Friday, a watershed day for the Washpost comix. Accordingly, we have more comic lynx today than ever before. All terrific: Friday's Speed Bump , Friday's Zits (which is a new take on the old joke about the guy who was bit by a snake), Friday's Get Fuzzy , Friday's Boondox , Friday's Candorville . The CPOW is Thursday's Non Sequitur . Runner Ups are today's Flying McCoys and Sunday's Opus .
I cannot forbear directing you to today's For Better or For Worse , which is vomit-inducing. And to today's Cathy , in which we discover that Cathy doesn't want Irving to know her dress size. How bizarre is that?
85748: It never occurred to me that people find restaurant chatter annoying. That stuff is hilarious! I hear all of it, but usually my companions are oblivious, so in the most earnest voice I can muster, I fill them in on the important goings on around them.
I always do it really quietly, but you'd be surprised how many loudmouths look my way during the retelling.
Gene Weingarten: Well, restaurant chatter is great when it is either interesting or hilariously stupid. I love hearing about the perils of razor burn after stage two of sex-change transition. I also love to hear (as the rib and I once did) some guy trying to impress a date by expounding on the works of Goethe, but pronouncing it GO-eth.
But so much of restaurant chatter is dreary and banal. That's the bad stuff.
Alexandria, Va.: I find it interesting that on the one hand, you can say that humor often derives from our pompous pretense that we are not animals that poop, and then on the other hand you defend veganism as a rational dietary choice. The facts are pretty settled on this. We are natural omnivores and we were eating meat long before erectus became sapiens. Veganism is exactly this kind of denial; pretending that we are some other type of creature simply because we evolved big brains and empathy. Those attributes don't change the facts that we have incisors evolved for tearing meat and thatmeat is the most ready and potent source of the dietary protein our bodies and big brains need to thrive.
Gene Weingarten: We also used to hit each other over the head with clubs, and "lovemaking" was generally rape. We civilize ourselves, or try to.
Bethesda, Md.: Taco Bell has now added "funny" riffs on its little packets of taco sauce. Among them:
Open quickly, I'm burning up in here (on the packet of mild sauce)
Do you add sauce left to right or right to left?
Where are you taking me?
If you throw this, would it be a flying saucer?
Clearly, these people need help (well, the last one isn't bad). Any suggestions?
Gene Weingarten: I shall refer this to the Empress of the Style Invitational. In fact, I am hereby doing so.
My entry: Caution -- Do not use as personal lubricant.
Kissimmee, Fla.: Regarding veganism: why vegan instead of vegetarian? I understand that eggs are potential chickens and while this isn't a physical harm but is a mental one (if you believe chickens have feelings), but what about milk and it's byproducts? How are those products harmful to the animal? I've often heard of cows becoming ill because they were not milked and didn't have calves to feed. Am I misunderstanding the difference between the two?
On a different note, do vegans oppose the use of animals as workers? What I mean is that horses and oxen and whatnot that are used as labor -- do they also not buy any products that come from this? And wouldn't this drive them crazy making sure that whatever it is they consume/wear/use is in no way connected to the use of animals? Do they also not keep pets? I'm a bit dizzy from this now.
Gene Weingarten: I'll answer this to the best of my knowledge.
Vegans who are vegans for reasons of animal rights believe that animals should not be killed or enslaved for the benefit of humans. The enslavement part is important. I once asked my friend Bruce Friedrich, the PETA spokesman, what animal he would save if he could only save one: what one practice he would stop. He said it would be the enslavement of egg-laying chickens.
If you subscribe to this you will not drink milk or eat milk products; dairy cows have a really crappy life. You will not eat eggs. The very strict vegans will not eat honey.
Molly is not a member of PETA, though, like PETANS, she despises zoos and circuses that use animals. One area where she differs from them is that PETANS believe in the perfect world, we would not have dogs and cats as pets ("companion animals," they call em.) I believe if she could, Mol would have 600 dogs. Me, too.
Vegetab, IL: Your daughter, Molly, is a veterinarian-in-training and a vegan. She is a vegan on moral grounds. The photo of her you shared with us showed her caring for cattle apparently being raised for milk or meat. Unless the barn she's in is, for example, a PETA rescue facility, isn't her care for these animals complicity in an immoral act?
Gene Weingarten: Well, depends how you look at it.
To become a vet, Molly HAS to work with dairy and meat cattle. There is no way around that. Once she is a vet, she will use her skills in a way that reflects her love of and respect for animals. She is not going to become a factory-farm vet. For all I know, she is going to be a consulting vet at an animal sanctuary, treating cows and pigs that were rescued from factory farming.
Can you condemn her for this? Boy, I cannot.
Intestin, al: What in God's name was Molly holding after having her arm in the cow?
Gene Weingarten: That was a man. She had her arm around a man.
Oh, you mean the other hand? Nothing. She had a hand full of cow poop.
George W. Bush: I am a Republican. I generally support Bush. However, can someone tell me why Bush is threatening to use his first veto to allow the UAE to own the company that controls our ports?
Gene Weingarten: Read Richard Cohen's op ed piece today. Hes right. Sorry, but this is not the one issue Bush has been wrong on. THIS IS THE ONE ISSUE HE HAS BEEN RIGHT ON.
Gene Weingarten: Liz, can we link to Cohen, today?
washingtonpost.com: Bush, Speaking Up Against Bigotry , ( Post, Feb. 28 )
Washington, D.C.: Hey Gene! A question for Pthep: What is the plural of doufus?
washingtonpost.com: Doofus is spelled wrong, doofus.
Gene Weingarten: I prefer "dufus," but the Post won't let me write it that way. Yes, it's in the Stylebook. Pat the Perfect polices things like that.
Washington, D.C.: I can only guess that those who aren't bothered by those who slam their airplane seats into the knees of those behind them are either (a) vertically challenged or (b) the ones doing the slamming. Show a little consideration for your fellow (wo)man people!
Gene Weingarten: This is my largest bugaboo. (I'm analyzing the poll early, okay?)
I believe it is never acceptable to recline your seat in the plane, unless no one is seated behind you, or it is the middle of the night and everyone is asleep. No degree of incline is acceptable.
When someone does this to me, I engage in a war of knee jabs.
And I always resist the urge to recline my own seat to get away from this assault. That is only passing on the rudeness.
Alexandria, Va.: Here's my top 5 annoying people archetypes. Didn't really coincide much with your options.
1. People who restate themselves relentlessly (especially during meetings).
2. Musicians who refuse to jam based on a difference in skill levels (whether better or worse)
5. People who think of themselves as authority figures
Gene Weingarten: I go along with all but number three. Stereotyping is exactly the sort of idiotic complaint people like you always have.
2/23 update: OK, neither of those links were any good.
You have the university webpage for someone of Japanese descent, with a completely normal Japanese name. Yes, ha ha, when you pronounce it with English words it's a dirty joke; we are not amused. It would be an aptonym if the guy was a proctologist or a constipation researcher, but a laser/optics guy?
And then you have a story about a figure skater, with several restaurateurs with ordinary names. What, the funny thing is that the Italian restaurant is owned by a guy named Anderson? If you're trying to link the sub shop guy to the Harding-Kerrigan thing of a decade ago, that's a pretty dammed weak joke, Gene.
washingtonpost.com: Dude -- Phil McKracken !!!
Gene Weingarten: Even better, Phil McCracken.
Also, just so the chatters who didn't read the updates can understand your shocking lack of a sense of humor, the Japanese scientist was named "Kazutoshi Takenoshita." Okay?
Out west: My god. I play my car stereo really loud, honk if I think someone is taking too long to make a decision, and sometimes cut into a line of cars. My personal stuff would surely seem inane to anyone who overheard me discussing it. I don't think I talk all that loudly on my cell phone, but I wouldn't, would I?
I'm realizing that I'm really annoying.
Gene Weingarten: I honk and cut, too.
Lansing, Mich.: A shout-out to Jef Mallett, who's experiencing a birthday today...
Gene Weingarten: Patty, I am not Willard Scott. We do not announce birthdays on this chat. This is a journalism chat, covering serious issues like the president's approval rating and vomit.
Coffee: You obviously haven't tried Hayes Coffee from Oak Park, Ill. A mom'n'pop place for over 100 years, and the best coffee available anywhere. And really really nice people who run it. We still order it though we've been in the MD suburbs for almost 10 years now.
Gene Weingarten: Try Quartermaine's, sucker.
Lansing, Mich.: I recline my seat on airplanes, but never all the way back (unless the person behind me is so reclined). Just slightly. Is that OK, or still obnoxious?
Gene Weingarten: It is totally obnoxious.
Thanks to a programming quirk, you're chatting at the same time as the guy talking about relationship counseling. So, advise me, Gene. What should you know about the person you're considering marrying before you marry them?
Gene Weingarten: It is VERY important to know if they are of the sex to which you are attracted.
The land of toddlerhood: where we're home sick today.
Anyway, said toddler has JUST started walking (at 13 months). The funny part is, he's been cruising (walking holding on to furniture) for months now, so now that he's started walking for real, he walks sideways. Is it wrong to find this funny?
Alas, he's learning so fast I probably won't be able to capture this on videotape to embarass future girlfriends.
Gene Weingarten: Dan CRAWLED sideways, like a crab.
Rexburg, Idaho: Gene, can you (and your chatters) please help me? I don't know who else to ask; I feel awkward. I'm a young virgin with my first boyfriend. Last night, all he did was rub my ears, and somehow this led me to be what I imagine it would be like to be drunk. I couldn't stop giggling and I had no control. (He didn't take advantage of me, despite my lack of control. He has my respect.) Why did I lose control over something so simple as him touching my ears? Please respond.
Gene Weingarten: I am laughing here, and I just don't know how to answer this. Anyone?
Herndon, Va.: Mr. W: Your mention of the local coffe store should be tied with today's Post article in Style on Chuck Levin's music store. There are so few of these left -- local stores where you can actually talk to the top management (who may first get to you if you walk in the door and the other salespeople are busy). I've been there to buy a tuba for one son, a trumpet for another, and a few items for myself. It's like going back to the stores of my youth -- whether music, clothes, or even cars, with a local owner, and no "higher management" two states or two countries away.
washingtonpost.com: Chuck Levin's Riff and Ready Charm , ( Post, Feb. 28 )
Gene Weingarten: Yeah, the way I found out about Quartermaine's is I wrote a complaint to the company (a minor matter). It was answered by the president and CEO.
Melbourne, Fla.: On the razor continuum, from straight to electric, I consider myself a fuddy-duddy: I go with the rechargable electric. But I considering a fling this weekend with the five (or is it really six?) bladed newbie on the market until I saw the price. $10 for the razor itself,unpowered mind you, and $25 for pack of 8 replacements. Lemme get this straight, $100 or so a year still with the risk of hacking off a pimple, bump etc.
Gene Weingarten: I tried the Fusion razor last week, as promised. A very good, but very slimy shave. They loaded on that slime to make it glide. I could do without it.
I am sticking to my straight razor. A closer shave, actually, than even the Fusion.
no, YOU are: "If everyone were a vegetarian, animals would not be consigned to horrible lives and painful deaths.
You are fulla crap. In short."
If we weren't eating them, we'd have no use for them, and it wouldn't be long before we figured out a way to dispatch them. You know why no one really cares about the Polar Bear's fate? Because we don't eat them. If you actually believe that by becoming vegetarian, somehow we humans will allow the animals to frolic in the fields, you are a moron. We consider this planet our little playground.
I do eat meat, and I don't feel guilty. I fully believe in the food chain. I know that another carnivore would gladly munch on me if given the chance, and I don't begrudge them that.
I try to pay attention to the source of my food, and not do business with companies that have poor humane records. That's the ONLY facet of immorality when it comes to animal consumption. Are you aware that there are several certified humane producers in the area?
I don't attack my vegetarian friends for their eating habits, and they don't attack me -- but let's give the whole "oh, it's immoral to eat meat, I feel like a hypocrite" crap a rest.
I'll enjoy my steak and, when I die, I'm going to insist that I not be cremated or chemically altered so that the little critters can enjoy eating me. So there.
Gene Weingarten: Your offer means nothing unless you will let them eat you NOW. Because only THAT would be parity.
Washington, D.C.: Who is Phil McCracken?
Gene Weingarten: He is the owner of a Baltimore restaurant. The name is funny. If you don't get it, you don't get it.
Virginia: I don't like tattoos.
I have never looked at a tattoo on a man (or a woman) and thought, "Wow, that looks hot."
Mostly, I think that they look cheap. And that they detract from the overall attractiveness of a good-looking person. And that while time is unforgiving to all of us, it takes a particular toll on inked skin.
Yes, I understand that tattoos are considered art. I also understand that there are people who consider Thomas Kinkade's landscapes to be art. So.
But -- My husband wants to get a tattoo. And he's eager to get my blessing. He knows how I feel about such things, but he keeps trying to win me over. My opinion about body art isn't going to change. So is this one of those things that I just need to suck up, for the sake of marital bliss, and tell him to go ahead?
In that case, do I need to pretend to like it?
And the bigger question: Am I being unreasonable? It's his body, after all. And we're not talking about a giant prison tat across his forehead.
Gene Weingarten: Many years ago, I cut a beard off because my wife didn't like it. I liked it. Basically, I decided that she didn't like it more than I liked it.
You need to apply that logic, I think. You love each other, you'll do what's right.
This does remind me of something I read in The Executioner's Song, Mailer's book about Gary Gilmore. In prison, Gilmore developed a rep as a pretty good prison-tattoo guy. Other inmates paid him in cigarettes for giving them tattoos. There was one guy no one liked who asked Gilmore to put an eagle or something on his back. Gilmore agreed, and kept delaying until just before this guy's mother was gonna visit, and then gave him a tattoo, high on the back of the neck, with the guy proudly showed to his mom, who would see it before he would. It was a penis.
I THINK I'm remembering that right.
Ear-rubbing: Hey, it's 10:18 in Idaho. Get back to class, you little harlot.
The Jet Stream: Your zealotry regarding reclining seats while in flight is, well, sorta stupid.
My universalizing your rule Kantian-style, you'd have everyone sit upright for the duration of the flight, which most people would agree isn't very comfortable. If everyone reclines, by contrast, we all have the same amount of space, but we're all much more comfortable.
Doesn't that make more sense? Why should we all suffer when none of us has to? When someone complains about my reclining, I just tell them to do the same.
In my view, I've paid for the space a seat takes up while reclining; the space in front of me that a reclining seat takes up was never mine to begin with.
The one flaw: a few people get stuck in seats that don't recline (seats in front of a bulkhead or before the exit row). I do try to have mercy on those poor souls, and there's a special place in Hell for the airplane designer who penciled those in.
Gene Weingarten: Wrong, wrong, wrong.
Reclining does many bad things to the person behind you, including making the tray table almost unusable. It also aggravates an already claustrophobic situation.
Airplane seats: When the passenger in front of me reclines his seat I open my air vent wide and direct it at his head.
Gene Weingarten: I have heard of this strategy. It apparently works best on a bald head.
Old Age Home, Warwick, R.I.: When you're a virgin, any touch contact is exaggerated in importance. When I was young, if you touched a woman's ear, she could get pregnant and you had to marry her.
Gene Weingarten: I think this is actually correct. I say this as a man who remembers the first time he rounded second and headed for third.
Pittsburgh, Pa.: One amazing thing about the poll results is the complete lack of anything resembling a consensus on even a single annoyance. I'm personally shocked that so few people agree with me that X-treme perfume (and cologne!) wearers are the greatest single threat to our democracy since the Ruskies launched Sputnik.
Gene Weingarten: Again, beware the inadvertent collapsing of differences. Something that gets 15 percent is actually being mentioned on 75 percent of the ballots.
Ft. Greene, Brooklyn, N.Y.: Why is it considered rude to ask a woman her age? Yes, I know it's tradition and all... but that doesn't get at why. Age is a fact, and there's no judgment being placed on the woman being asked (i.e. that she looks good or bad for her age, etc.) I just don't understand why women find this question offensive, beyond the fact that society implies that it's an offensive question.
Gene Weingarten: I think I know the answer, but will defer to the ladies. Ladies?
The rib and I lived in Fort Greene for three years in the late 70s and early 80s. Molly was born there. We lived on South Portland Ave. Are you on South Portland Ave.? I am guessing yes.
Astoria, N.Y.: Bush at 34 percent approval, Cheney at 18 percent approval. I am not sure if this is Funny or sad?? Couldn't people have realized this before they re-elected him!
Gene Weingarten: The thing I am agriest at Bush for is that he has created a truly ghastly rift in this country. People like you and I are actually steamed at -- and contemptuous of -- the 51 percent who voted for him. That's bad. We have to get over this. We all need to just make sure we do not elect another cognitively challenged person.
Gene Weingarten: Er, make that "angriest."
Re: razors: a true story: Gene, on the question of razor types, I submit to you an absolutely true story from a period when I was in a very bad state of mental health.
I was at a friend's house for a Seder that my ex, who had just dumped me, was also attending. I got extremely drunk on Manischevitz, and decided to go upstairs and slit my wrists. I made it to the bathroom, where I discovered that... all he had was an electric razor.
I can laugh about this incident today (nine years later), and in fact tell the story occasionally at AA meetings, where the been-there audience inevitably howls in appreciation. But if I'd been at your house instead of his, I probably wouldn't be here to tell the tale.
If you can laugh at it, big guy, so can I. It's very funny.
McCracken: Yeah, still pretty weak. Peepee doodoo.
Gene Weingarten: You may not denigrate peepee doodoo in this chat.
Furthermore, the amazing thing about this is that "Phil McCracken" is an old joke.
This would be like finding a real person named Heywood Jablome.
Anonymous: To Alexandria: In some cases, yes, veganism can be seen as defying "what comes naturally"... however, some of your basic premises are wrong. Human incisors were not evolved for tearing flesh, they are more well suited to fruit and nuts. Also, the human digestive tract is not well suited for handling the amount of meat modern Americans eat. When "sapiens" first evolved, meat was an infrequent addition to the diet, hard won by significant effort. Now, if you're willing to broaden your definition of "meat" a little bit, to include windfalls like carcasses left by other predators or alternative sources of protein like insects... that's the kind of thing we less-hairy monkeys are evolved for. Mmm, pass the woodgrubs!
We're also not evolved to handle agriculturally produced products like wheat or dairy in large amounts, but that's a whole different argument.
Gene Weingarten: Oooh, this reminds me. I am in receipt of an excellent photo from rural Maryland, sent in by a reader who wishes to remain anonymous. Check out this sign.
Liz, can we link to it?
Louisville, Ky.: I think that people that talk throughout movies display sickening arrogance. Not only are their opinions and conversations so important that they can't be discussed quietly or after the film, but they have no problem disrupting the enjoyment of a presentation that fellow patrons have spent a lot of money on. If the tickets of an entire house cost $5,000 in total, that one rude person or couple is broadcasting that whatever nonsense they have to say (and it's ALWAYS stupid) is worth that $5,000 and who care about what we want or paid for.
Gene Weingarten: Well, yes. It seems to be the most popular peeve, across both genders.
Ears, Idaho: I assume you know there are folks who submit fiction in order to get published in this chat. I think the "young virgin" is probably a 25 -ear-old male. I am suspicious because I am a 25-year-old male.
Gene Weingarten: I believe it. If it were made up, it would have been much more lascivious.
Phoenix, Md.: Clock Repair! After 25 years of corporate BS, I left my well paying purchasing position to start a business doing clock repair. I've take n the classes at NAWCC and am looking for shop space in northern Baltimore County. Since you do clock repair and would have preferred to do that for a living if it payed as well, what advice would you give me?
Gene Weingarten: If you are doing clocks only, not watches (batteries and bands are very cost-effective) and are starting without a ready-made clientele, you may well starve. Sorry. But good luck.
Do you Yahoo?: I remember this came up in a previous chat, but this week it happened. A friend of mine died, and one of his relatives sent out a mass e-mail, gently describing his last days and what plans had been made for the funeral. And because it was from a Yahoo address, that cheerful question was tagged at the bottom. At least it made me laugh!
Gene Weingarten: It's great, isn't it? I have laughed many times at the sudden inappropriateness of Do You Yahoo?
My column on Sunday is about gmail, and the ads that appear with your incoming email. A similar hilarity.
Slight correction on the razor-suicide story: In the spirit of Gene's careful attention to all things gender-related: I was the suicidal potential-razor-user, and I'm not a guy.
Gene Weingarten: Oh. Hm. Are you sure?
Well, my brain is definitely going. See next post.
Seattle, Wash.: Yup, the funeral question was discussed on the 1-24-05 Chat. Took about two seconds to Google it. Not sure what bothers me most; the fact that I remember it like it was yesterday or the fact that I've probably read every chat since then.
I need to get a life.
washingtonpost.com: Chatological Humor , ( Jan. 24, 2005 )
And I need to get a brain, obviously.
The Poll: I thought the poll was easy. My answers were based on the things that waste the most of my time. Some things might be annoying, but they're easy to deal with (like the telemarketer). But others (sales clerks talking or being stolen, people with too many items in the express lane or holding up a line for whatever reason) waste my time, which drives me nuts.
I included people talking at the movies as one of the things that most annoys me because these days it seems to be such a time commitment to go see a movie. I don't make it to many so people who talk ruin my experience and thus waste my time. I don't, however, have a problem with telling them to shut up.
That said, I don't mind wasting my own time with things such as writing to this chat, doing the crossword and soduku, etc. It's only when others waste it.
Gene Weingarten: You know what I don't understand? Coughing. It seems like as soon as the lights dim at the movies, a half dozen people start coughing. What's that about.
Vegan Reagan: Why is Vegan pronounced like Reagan? Pretentious. It should sound Vegetable. Veg-an. Just like they do in (pretentious) England.
Gene Weingarten: It isn't pronounced like Reagan. It is pronounced like Keegan. And I have no idea why.
Hank Stuever: We can only truly help Virginia when she tells us WHAT KIND of tattoo her husband wants, and WHERE.
All of the following are grounds for divorce or trial separation: barbed-wireish vaguely oriental things wrapped around biceps; tramp stamps on the tailbone; cartoon characters; frat letters; brand logos. Anything on the pecs. Anything in a foreign language -- you think tattoo parlors on Route 1 speak Mandarin? How many dudes are walking around with what they think is Buddhist wisdom on their shoulder, when really it says, "I am the world's biggest a**"?
Virginia, help us help you.
Gene Weingarten: Good point, Hank.
RE: Hot Sauce Slogans: Taco Bell Brand Multi-Purpose Contacts Solution.
Washington, D.C.: Bush's rift: On Saturday night, I was at a party in Leesburg, VA, at the home of a Republican. A fellow partygoer started talking trash about the Washington Post, and the hostess took him aside and pointed at me and my companion and mentioned that we are yellow dog Democrats. The fellow partygoer IMMEDIATELY got up and walked away and did not talk to either of us for the rest of the party. I only hope he's still friends with the hostess.
Gene Weingarten: It's amazing, isn't it? I am truly, viscerally angry at 100 million people I do not know.
Arlington, Va.: Regarding veganism: You're right, all sorts of despicable behavior that used to be perfectly acceptable is now beyond the pale. But clubbing and raping one another, slave-owning, and the like all had to do with humans mistreating other humans. What does that have to do with whether or not I should enjoy a steak?
Gene Weingarten: Good God, people, you cannot really believe this.
It is about civilizing ourselves. Being better people. Not tormenting sentient life forms.
Would you eat a dog?
Pigs are just as smart as dogs. Cows aren't far off.
Muskrat Love: The best thing about the sign is that they flipped over a P to make the B in CRAB CAKES. I would find that P irresistible.
Arlington, Va.: The top 10 in a Mitsubishi Motors-sponsored web poll of the wackiest street names in the U.S.:
10. Tater Peeler Road in Lebanon, Tenn.
9. The intersection of Count and Basie in Richmond, Va.
8. Shades of Death Road in Warren County, N.J.
7. Unexpected Road in Buena, N.J.
6. Bucket of Blood Street in Holbrook, Ariz.
5. The intersection of Clinton and Fidelity in Houston
4. The intersection of Lonesome and Hardup in Albany, Ga.
3. Farfrompoopen Road in Tennessee (the only road up to Constipation Ridge)
2. Divorce Court in Heather Highlands, Pa.
1. Psycho Path in Traverse City, Mich.
Gene Weingarten: Yes, this is very good, but FarfromPoopen should have won.
Halls Crossroads, Tenn.: My computer is freezing up more often and I know I'll need a new one, I just realized that I'm totally out of liquor, the cardiologist is talking about my two leaking valves needing replacement (these things are in order of importance), and then I go to my computer and stare at the wallpaper.
It relaxes me. It soothes me. It's of your front yard. Thank you for that.
Gene Weingarten: It relaxes and soothes me, too. Glad to share.
Baltimore, Md.: Last week, Chatwoman wrote regarding vegans: "...because it would be upsetting to you for your child to never worry about diet-related health problems?"
Any vegans who eschew products of chemical factories will die of vitamin B12 deficiency. The only natural sources of B12 are animals.
washingtonpost.com: Thanks for writing, Baltimore. This is a common refrain from critics of a vegetarian/vegan diet. B12 is inherent in bacteria and humans used to get most of it from eating vegetables grown in soil rich in B12-containing bacteria, not from eating meat. Because of the pesticides/herbicides/etc. used in industrial farming, the B12 is no longer in the soil. Yes, it is still, however, in the bacteria of the meat you're eating.
It is also very necessary for good health, which is why I drink Soy milk fortified with B12.
Useless Trivia (or is it): How much B12 does the average person need in his/her daily diet? 2.4 micrograms, or so sayeth the NIH .
Gene Weingarten: Yeah, this argument is not a fabulous one.
You guys ever see a rally of PETA people? All vegans. Clear skin, bright eyes, gorgeous women, handsome men. Except for Bruce Friedrich, who looks like a polyp.
For all of you...: who misinterpreted my comments last week: Of course, I include straight people when I say I don't want ANYBODY to use in-vitro, surrogates or anything other technology based procreation. (That was the point, although it was either conveyed very poorly OR I used loaded words to goad you all). If you can't conceive naturally then nature is telling you something.
I want STRAIGHT, GAYS and whomever to ADOPT any and all children without a family. If I WAS prejudiced towards gays would I want them to adopt? (expressed in the original post, BTW) I've even counseled a straight friend to adopt a Chinese child rather than use in-vitro. It costs the same but actually helps someone who already exists. (She agreed)
For those of you who did not misinterpret my comments. Thank you!
And, thank you Gene, for letting me clear the air!
Gene Weingarten: Gotcha. I did misinterpret what you said, and I apologize for flaming you, but I still disagree.
I can't condemn people who use technology to help them conceive any more than I can condemn people for using antibiotics to cure an infection.
I do strongly believe in adoption. Some weeks ago I mentioned that I make no distinction between parenting an adopted kid and parenting your biological kid, and said I didn't understand people who seem to regard adoption as a consolation prize, or a next-best-thing.
What I do have a little trouble with is people who have a LOT of kids. Like, a lot. To those people, I would say: Howzabouts adopting numbers four, five, six and seven?
Gaithersburg, Md.: Re: your sign. Joy of Cooking used to have a recipe for muskrat in it. My copy, bought in the '70's, has it. I treasure it. My daughter will get a copy of Joy of Cooking when she gets her first apartment. I'm hoping to find an old edition so that she to can cook muskrat. (not that I have, but you never know -- my food once shared a freezer with two squirrels that were cooked by a dormmate)
Gene Weingarten: Heck, I'd eat muskrat. I love chitterlings.
Awful Spelling/Grammar: The government lab where I work is just putting the finishing touches on a major renovation project. As part of the renovation, they replaced all of the signs on office doors, etc. This morning I noticed they relabeled the bathroom as well - it now says "Ladie's Room."
Harrisburg, Pa.: I would appreciate your thoughts on the use of the "F" word in Post chats. Yesterday, Chris Buckley took a question of mine where he quite humorously made use of the "F" word. I see the particular question and answer were deleted from the final transcript (although I have a printed copy of it before it was deleted, in case you wish to see it in case there is doubt this happened). Is the "F" word appropriate in these chats, and was washingtonpost.com appropriate in deleting it from the transcript?
washingtonpost.com: It's not appropriate for these chats. The only person allowed to drop the F bomb in The Post is the Vice President.
We're working on adding that question/answer combo back to the transcript -- minus the effing word.
Gene Weingarten: Couple of years ago, my friend David Simon (The Wire; Homicide) did a chat and dropped the F Bomb a half dozen times. He swore to me afterwards that he hadn't known it was verboten, but I still suspect sabotage. It was a cataclysm -- apparently the chatmistress was asleep at her desk or something. That transcript got cleansed five seconds after he was done.
Washington, D.C. : "I am truly, viscerally angry at 100 million people I do not know."
Well, they are smirking at you, so there's that.
Gene Weingarten: I know. And I hate them for it.
Dave Barry and the Semi-col, ON: DAVE SIGTHING! I had some sort of public-access television station on late this morning that was showing a program on English grammar. When it came to explaining appropriate use of the semi-colon, the show cut to a "Pulitzer Prize-winning Grammar Expert" and whaddayouknow -- it's Dave Barry! He said something completely inane and then they cut to a less-humorous professor accurately explaining proper use, blah, blah, blah. I don't even think it showed his name, but I grew up in Miami reading his column and the Herald and would recognize him anywhere. I think...
Google tells me that Dave Barry is a Pulitzer Prize winner, but a grammar expert, really?
And what was I doing watching a public access program on grammar?
Gene Weingarten: Some of Dave's most hilarious columns were under the conceit: "Ask Mister Language Person." Lizzie girl, think you can find one or two of them?
washingtonpost.com: Ask Mr. Language Person (Apologies -- it's on a pop-up rich Geocities page.
Your bagel story that led off the chat again brought back a weird pet peeve that I have, and I'm wondering what you think about it.
I hate the accents of South Asian (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh) and Southeast Asian (Thailand, Malaysia, etc.) when they're trying to speak English. I have a roommate from one of these countries, and have somewhat gotten used to his voice. But when I hear someone else's voice (particularly from India), I am really bothered because of the awful rhythm, choppy tone, and the overall horrible sounds that come out of their mouth sometimes? Is this bad? Should I seek counseling? Or am I making too much of a big deal out of a small thing?
Gene Weingarten: It is all those things.
I love Indian-accented English. It's like a song. Everyone sounds peaceloving and sweet, even if they are, like, holding you up at gunpoint.
Sometimes, you're just a jerk: OK, everyone, stop asking Gene's "permission" to recline your airplane seat. Upright airplane seats are grossly uncomfortable, and the fault lies in the design -- bi--- to the airlines about the spacing of the seats, instead of reacting with the maturity of a 5 year old by incessant knee jabs into the back of the person in front of you.
Somebody does that to me, they're going to be wearing my on-flight drink when I "accidently" spill it on them. Let's ALL act like spoiled children.
Gene Weingarten: I apply the knees only after verbal requests have been ignored, either explicitly or implicitly. And yes, of course it is the airlines' fault, but this is the boat we are in, so to speak. We must act civilly.
Tattoo City: Regarding tattoos, I once saw a lovely young lady on the Metro with a strange character written on the back of her neck in Chinese. I was pretty sure I knew what it meant. I wrote it down, went home, and looked it up in my dictionary. Sure enough: it was COW. She probably thought it meant tranquility or harmony.
Gene Weingarten: HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. That is absolutely spectacular.
Liber, AL: Hey! Why are the Republicans mad at us?
Gene Weingarten: Because we keep pointing out what a spectacular disaster their boy is. But mostly because they sense we have contempt for them. They sense we think they are stupid. Which we do.
It's a problem. We have to get past this. Seriously.
Dayton, Ohio: Truly, viscerally angry? I wasn't angry at the people who elected Nixon - I was disappointed, but not angry. I was, however, angry at Nixon!
Gene, and everyone else out there, that's what democracy means! Sometimes you're going to be on the 51 percent side, and sometimes you're going to be on the 49 percent side, and sometimes that +/-1 percent is going to be very, very significant. But don't get angry when you lose, and don't gloat when you win.
Talk about civilizing yourself and being better people....
Gene Weingarten: Well, that is sort of my point. But the difference here is that the blue staters are thinking: HOW COULD YOU NOT SEE THIS COMING?
FAQ: Is it pronounced "P-the-p" or as one word, "pthep"? I know what (or who) it stands for, but is it acceptable to pronounce the abbreviation? The voices in my head want to know.
Gene Weingarten: Yes. Pthep is one syllable.
Washington, D.C.: Re: "All of the following are grounds for divorce or trial separation"
Don't forget skulls, skeletons, and brightly colored dragons.
Gene Weingarten: No, those are not in the same league, IMHO.
Adopting vs. Having: "What I do have a little trouble with is people who have a LOT of kids. Like, a lot. To those people, I would say: Howzabouts adopting numbers four, five, six and seven?"
Howzabouts respecting people's preferences and minding your own business?
Gene Weingarten: Nope. Sorry. Not what I do.
New York, N.Y.: How can anyone hate Apu's voice from the Simpsons?
"I was shot four times last year and, as a consequence, almost missed work."
Geni, U.S.: Gene! The right pinky (I reserve the -ie construction for the plural) is SUPPOSED to remain (mostly) unused whilst typing! If you use proper home row technique, the only thing it should do for you is hit the "shift" key. Which you could of course also use your left pinky for, if it weren't so damned busy typing all those As. But let it be known that I type over 100wpm, and my right pinky is for "shift"ing only.
washingtonpost.com: Wait -- I use my right pinky for things like: ; " ; and '.
Gene Weingarten: Chatwoman is right. My deceased mom taught typing. I KNOW what is correct.
Chitterlings?: What's a chitterling? What does it taste like?
Gene Weingarten: Guts of a pig. It tastes exactly like guts of a pig.
New York, NY: I've been a vegetarian since I was 12 years old (I'm 27 now). It's what I choose to do for myself, I don't preach that other people should make the same choice. But, invariably, when someone finds out that I am a vegetarian, they always ask "why." And it always seems slightly accusatory. Like, I have to defend it to them, or they are offended by just my being a vegetarian. They also often try to defend their meat-eating or say how they could be a vegetarian, but they like chicken too much (and beef and pork). No one would ever ask these questions or behave that way when confronted with someone's religion or politics, etc. So why does this seem to bother so many people?
washingtonpost.com: Good question and I'd like to respond since I was accused of "proselytizing." (I can just hear Gene sighing now). I don't ever try to push my choices on someone else in my day to day life and try very hard to not make my diet a problem for friends or family. I don't ask that special meals be cooked. I don't ask that we only go to veg-friendly restaurants. I don't distribute cards touting my cholesterol level.
But much like this poster -- I've had similar reactions from some family, friends and complete strangers. I've also had plenty of folks not respond negatively. But, for those who do, it's almost as if one's personal choice to become a vegetarian or vegan was done only to spite others. It immediately forces others into a defensive position, and I'm not sure why. It is as if we're saying "I'm not a junkie" or "I'm not a buggerer" or "I'm not a Nazi" -- the implication being, of course, that the other person is.
So, I guess my question is, why the defensiveness?
Gene Weingarten: The defensiveness is that, on some level, most meat-eaters feel a twinge of guilt, whether they know it or not. You cannot be a moral person and not feel this, somewhere. The animals we eat (above the level of fish) suffered for our blood lust.
I absolutely believe that 100 years from now, most civilized nations will not eat meat. Or biotechnology will have progressed to the point where acephalic animals are farmed -- just meat, no brains.
C'mon, Lizziegirl, tell us your cholesterol levels.
One of the 100 Million: We're not smirking at you. Our mommas raised us better than to make fun of unfortunates.
We'd offer you a helping hand to change your ways, but you'd just grab that hand and try to stick it into a macrobiotic cow, or something.
Gene Weingarten: So, here's my question: You're thinkin: "Hey, this Bush feller -- he's a pretty durn good president." Are you?
Washington, D.C.: Hank is here! We love hearing from Hank. Since he doesn't seem to want to do a weekly chat, is there any chance that he would guest host for you when you go on vacation or "special assignment"?
washingtonpost.com: Hank has an open invite to do live discussions...
Gene Weingarten: Ooh, that's a pretty big-league pinch-hitter. Liz, are you committing to that, next time I'm off? If Hank's game?
Massena, N.Y.: Gene, you're arbitration is required. I love the old Loggins and Messina song "Your Mama Don't Dance." The guy next door thinks it sucks. Tell him how wrong he is, he'll believe you.
Maryland: I am glad the chat numbers are so high for you, but I sort of feel like someone who got to see a band regularyly when they played in a bar, and now they tour nationally and you can't get a ticket. It's nice to have "been there" for all the items in the FAQ, but it isn't quite the same now that you're big time and it is much harder to get a comment posted.
Gene Weingarten: It's not that hard. You just have to write more interesting posts than this one.
Re: Project Runway: I am a guy, and watch it regularly with my wife. I tried to figure out why I liked watching. I realized that I (and I assume most guys watching) am crazy about competition -- any competition. What is better is that the show is well done (typical of Bravo) in that they build suspense (even though I couldn't care less about what they are actually doing or competing over). The last thing is that we, as men, are curious about something we have no knowledge of, so it provides some insight into the minds of our SOs.
Why do you turn away? Is it the idea, or you just don't actally like the show?
Gene Weingarten: I think this is a good explanation.
I turn away because I find fashion boring and unfathomable. And while my wife (and Dan, to a lesser extent) can actually have an opinion on whose designs are good and whose aren't, I can't. To me, it is all indistinguishable fluff and flounce and silliness. It would be like watching Amerian Idol and being unable to know whether William Hung was any good or not. The competition angle becomes irrelevant.
Upstairs, Neighbors: Gene --I recently moved into a condo in D.C., and expect for college dorms, I have never lived in this sort of situation (people stacked on top of each other). So I am unsure of the proper way for me to request that my upstairs neighbors invest in a new bed and/or carpet; preferably without any sort of confrontation or way for them to track the communication back to me.
It's bad Gene; from the hippity-hop sound the bed makes when they are amorous, to the moaning, to the stomping across the floor (I don't think they have any carpet down) and then dropping something --I'm not quite sure what -- every day.
Any bright ideas to convince them to buy a new bed?
Gene Weingarten: You need to go to whoever lives ABOVE their apartment, and have loud, moaning, thrashing, hip-hoppity bed sex with that person.
Time on my ha, ND: Gene, I cannot imagine the time it must have taken to complete this anagram D.C. Metro map . (This link goes to a PDF file.)
"Red Line to Harvey's Dog. Next station, Ripened Fish Thighs." I am having way too much fun with this.
Gene Weingarten: My God, this is magnificent. Who did this?
Queens, N.Y.: As a 40-something-year-old gay man who hearts you Gene in a very non-threatening sexual way, let me give you my view. The difference between "extremely effeminate" men and "men who make little kissyface sounds at women on the street" is being effeminate is not totally learned behavior. Some aspects of it such as clothing and word choice might be, but there are effeminate boys who act that way at an early age and without any role models or imprinting from an outside source. It is who they are. I would also point out that there is also a sliding scale on this. Some men are only effeminate in small affectations and some are extremely effeminate in almost every way. It is also just who they are. At the risk of being trite, being uncomfortable with who someone is can say more about you than about them.
So yes, your comments do smack of some level of homophobia to me, regardless of your previous comments on being accepting of gays. I wouldn't expect you to make similar comments about a person being "distasteful" (a really rough word choice there Mr. W.) based on if they exhibited commonly noted racial or ethnic stereotypes.
Gene Weingarten: Okay, I'm thinkin' about this. I'll report back after consulting the center of my being. But thanks. This makes some sense.
Holocaust Hum, OR: Just in case you haven't seen this yet, Tom the Dancing Bug kindly provides some of the first entries to the Holocaust contest. I must say that as an American, and as a Jew, I am horribly... amused.
Gene Weingarten: This is brilliant.
Hands up! Hands down!: Here's something I don't understand. If one is standing, arms hanging loosely, and then puts hands on hips with the thumb-forefinger V pointing up, this is a fairly standard pose for both sexes.
Now, rotate your hands forward 180 degrees so that the thumb-forefinger V is pointing down. I've never seen a guy standing with his hands like that, only women. Not just women of a certain age or just pregnant women, but women of all ages. What's going on?
Gene Weingarten: The floor is open to comment. I think this guy is right, and I haven't a clue.
vegan stuff: Gene! Please make them stop.
No one cares what cavemen did. No one cares what kind of teeth we have. And this is America; no one changes their diet for health reasons.
It's a choice. What makes you feel better? Really really caring about animals, or steak, bacon, and sushi?
For me, I choose the food. Others choose to really really care about animals. It's all cool. Just don't yell at me and I won't yell at you.
So tell them to stop making their crazy arguments that have nothing to do with the real issue.
(Chatwoman can keep saying whatever she wants, though.)
washingtonpost.com: No one changes their diet for health reasons? That's just... misled. And maybe more Americans should start thinking about changing their diets for health reasons. Obesity-related disease and fatalities are set to overtake those caused by smoking. And not just in adults.
Gene Weingarten: My only comment is that when I see the word "misled" in print, I want to pronounce it MIZE-eld.
Also "awry," I want to pronounce AW-ree.
Decapitash, IN: "The ink of the scholar is more sacred than the blood of the martyr."
Did you find the quotation first and then write around it, or did you write the sentiment first and then look for a quotation to support it? ...Or, did you already know the quotation, and it was just synergy?
washingtonpost.com: Below the Beltway: Let's Keep Our Heads , ( Post Magazine, Feb. 26 )
Gene Weingarten: I searched and found it when I was looking for a way to end the column.
Hotda, MN: Re: Strangers asking vegans "Why?"
We experience similar behavoir because of our choice (we've been married 22 years) to not have children; no reason other than neither of us wanted them, and neither of us particularly like them.
Can you imagine the reaction we get when we tell parents the truth?
Gene Weingarten: Not liking children is perceived as incredibly unAmerican.
RE: Adopting vs, Having: "Howzabouts respecting people's preferences and minding your own business?
Gene Weingarten: Nope. Sorry. Not what I do. "
As someone is fond of saying, Noted.
Silver Spring, Md.: Yes, Hankchats!
I have to say he is wasted in the Magazine.
Gene Weingarten: WASTED? Um, well the Post magazine is not like a free driveway flier.
Capitol Hill: Gene, master of all that is funny: The wife and I watched "The 40-year-old Virgin" this weekend and neither of us found it remotely funny. We're not prudes and believe we're relatively enlightened, but maybe not. Did you see the movie? If so, what was your take? Agewise, we are both post-Boomers.
Gene Weingarten: I thought it mediocre. You know what was great? Transamerica. Tour de force acting job.
Okay, we're done. Thank you all. Regular updates to follow.
Gene Weingarten: Thanks to Jim Raley for this photo of his son at a hotel in Gatlinburg, Tenn.
Ithaca, N.Y.: I think folks are missing something pretty fundamental about the veganism argument, and why folks feel threatened by it.
I once asked a high school acquaintance, in an idle conversation, about what music he liked. His response was that he didn't like music. I was kind of taken aback and pressed him on it; he said, well, it just wasn't his cup of tea. Not his thing. Of course I respected his decision. How could I convince him he was somehow wrong, even if I wanted too? Yet at that moment I felt a lot less connected to him. Something that I took for granted that I had in common with most anyone, I realized I didn't actually have in common with him.
Food can be a transcendent experience. It can be wonderfully pleasurable. It's not just fuel. Living a vegan lifestyle is like saying that you're going to limit yourself to art that's black and white only. Or you'll only listen to music through your left ear.
When I think of all the food experiences that are the most wonderful and pleasurable when done very well (pizza, lobster, a hamburger, aged cheese, bacon), the only vegan one I could come up with was guacamole.
So while I respect an individual's choice to eat what they want, when being told by someone that they're a vegan I can't help but think that this is someone who does not share something that's pretty fundamental to my being, which is the enjoyment of food.
That can't help drive people at least a little further apart.
Gene Weingarten: I think this is an elegant explanation, but it doesn't account for the anger and hostility. Assuming we are talking about a non-evangelistic vegan, the anger and hostility comes from repressed guilt.
I need to repeat: I eat meat. I have the guilt.
The comparison with someone who doesn't "like" music is also not entirely apt, in this sense: Your friend had a hole in the center of his being, you know? Music did nothing for him. Most vegans choose not to eat meat not because they can't appreciate the tastes, but because they are willing to forfeit that taste for a greater good.
I have dined with Bruce Friedrich. He will happily eat "mock duck," a soy-based product that tastes very much like duck. He appreciates the taste of duck, he just won't kill a bird to experience it.
Was it just me, or did the Post fail to print Tom the Dancing Bug last week. Were these Holocaust cartoons censored?
Gene Weingarten: Apparently, yes. I sort of understand, but completely disagree. That was one great strip.
washingtonpost.com: Tom the Dancing Bug (Feb. 25)
Herndon, Va. : Meat = eating: A great sci-fi short story by Arthur C Clarke features a senate hearing where a company whose new artificial meat has driven all others out of business (no more animals are being raised for meat). It turns out, after testing, that the wonderful taste which no other company can match is the same as that of human flesh.
Gene Weingarten: Holy crap. When I tried to Google the story to get its title, I found this.
Defensive Vegans: First of all, a lot of the flack you take is your own damn fault. Vegan is a silly word Made all the sillier by the strained pronunciation. It makes you all sound like members of a UFO cult. The fact that you feel the need to disntinguish yourself from mere "Vegetarians" also gives you a whiff of incredible priggishness that many of us find nigh irrestiable to try to puncture.
Now for the dead serious Part: Chatwoman, how seriously can we take you dietary stance when you eat a wildly abnormal diet and also suffer from a rare Neurological diorder and emphatically refuse to even consider that there is a linkage.
Please go to a doctor and have your Lysine levels checked. Low Lysine is so abnormal most doctors wouldn't even know to check for it, but is a serious problem among vegans. It could help cause the Symptoms you have. A Cholosterol deficency could also be affecting mylein sheath production causing a whole host of Nerve abnormalities.
Gene Weingarten: I'll answer this on behalf of C'woman. Her Wormylegs Squirmypants Syndrome predated her veganism.
washingtonpost.com: And the key level that would affect my legs is my iron level, which is completely normal. Thank you, cruciferous greens!
Silver Spring, Md.: I'm surprised no one mentioned that PETA also actively seeks to stop medical research using animals, for any reason. This does not include only non-human primates and companion-type animals, but mice, rats, and non-mammalian vertebrates. I'm sure how they feel about fruit flies and nematodes, the reactions of which to unpleasant stimuli can be regarded as perception of pain, but if vegans won't eat honey, presumably they should also be included. So where does leave people who support PETA (Gene?) with respect to using the drugs and medical procedures which have been discovered or refined using animal research? Do they refuse them? Refuse them for their children?
And this is not just esoteric, is-it-really beneficial-for-us research. Drugs that come to market in the US have been screened in animals for efficacy or at least toxicity. Whether we need all these new drugs is debatable, I guess, but tell that to the cancer patient.
Gene Weingarten: Yeah, this is where PETA and I seriously diverge. It is also where they tend to lose a lot of otherwise sympathetic ears. Their biggest advantage -- the clarity of their vision and unwillingness to compromise -- is also their biggest handicap.
Gene Weingarten: And lastly, this video from an e-mailer. It'll take 10 minutes, but it is worth it. You might wish not to be eating. Or working. Or contemplating your own mortality.
Washington, D.C.: Gene, nominal Republican here. In fact, I'm just the kind of voter the Democrats should be courting. No, I do not think Bush is doing a good job. I'm also not mad at either group of people who voted in the last election. I'm mad at the political parties... seriously, for the past two presidential elections, my vote has been decided on who I like the least. This is ridiculous. I have steadfastly maintained that both parties, after the Bush/Gore debacle, should have issued a joint statement to the effect of "We're sorry... next time, we'll both try to give you a candidate you can feel good about voting for."
Gene Weingarten: Yeah, I was just talking to another writer about this. We were trying to decide if the 2004 election presented the worst choice since Franklin Pierce, the incompetent drunkard, ran against Winfield Scott, the hugely fat incompetent, or when James Buchanan, the hugely incompetent coward, ran against John Fremont, the shocking incompetent fool.
Re: non-sentient meat production: Biologists are attempting to use stem-cell research to grow muscles without actually having to grow animals. I expect that non-sentient meat production will be commercially available within a decade or so.
This is presumably more efficient and easier than producing non-cephalic animals, and provides new avenues for culinary innovation; you could have meat that combines the tastes of lamb and beef, for example.
Gene Weingarten: That's exciting. I wonder how our conservative leaders will react to that? Badly, I suspect. Knee-jerk reaction. It seems pretty humane to me.
Actually, I wonder how PETA would react to this! Bruce, are you out there?
re: AW-ree: I can't read "coworker" without thinking "cow-orker"...
Couple of years ago, when I wrote that story on the Armpit of America, the cover headline read "Nowheresville."
The art director hated it. To him it seemed to read "Now Here's Ville."
Thelma Lou, Fairfax Station, Va.: If you haven't heard by now, which is surely impossible because, duh, its newsworthiness far surpasses any of these UAE port purchase or violence in Iraq shenanigans, it's truly a sad day in Mayberry. What's your opinion of the genius that was Don Knotts? Excluding Three's Company, of course. That show blew.
Gene Weingarten: I believe I ranked Barney Fife among the top 10 sitcom characters of all time. Hang on.
Yes, here we go. Number Nine:
1. Ed Norton ("The Honeymooners"); 2. George Costanza/Larry David ("Seinfeld" and "Curb Your Enthusiasm") 3. Archie Bunker ("All In The Family"); 4. Alex P. Keaton ("Family Ties"); 5. Eddie Haskell ("Leave It to Beaver") 6. Latka Graves ("Taxi"); 7. Alice Kramden ("The Honeymooners"); 8. Kingfish Stevens ("Amos n' Andy"); 9. Barney Fife ("The Andy Griffith Show") ; 10. Lois Wilkerson ("Malcolm in the Middle"); 11. Edith Bunker ("All In The Family"); 12. Maynard G. Krebs ("The Life and Loves of Dobie Gillis"); 13. Ralph Kramden ("The Honeymooners"); 14. Cosmo Topper ("Topper"); 15. Sgt. Ernie Bilko ("The Phil Silvers Show") 16. Cliff Claven/ Norm Peterson ("Cheers"); 17. Roseanne Connor, ("Roseanne") 18. Bill Bittinger ("Buffalo Bill"); 19. Louis DiPalma ("Taxi"); 20. Frasier and Niles Crane ("Frasier"); 21. Sophia Spirelli Weinstock ("The Golden Girls"); 22. Det. Phil Fish ( "Barney Miller"); 23. Hawkeye Pierce ("M*A*S*H"); 24. Larry Sanders ("The Larry Sanders Show"); 25. Dr. Robert Hartley ("The Bob Newhart Show"); 26. Ricky Ricardo ("I Love Lucy"); 27. Thurston Howell III ("Gilligan's Island"); 28. Lucy Ricardo ("I Love Lucy"); 29. Ted Baxter ("The Mary Tyler Moore Show"); 30. Granny Clampett ("The Beverly Hillbillies").
Gene Weingarten: Sadly, Maynard G. Krebs also recently died.
Washington, D.C.: Gene, you may hate me for this but a thing that annoys me most in the world is people who think animals' lives are as important as humans'. Sorry man.
Gene Weingarten: I never said that. I don't think that. See previous post, about medical experimentation.
Here is an interesting thought experiment: Is the life of a profoundly mentally retarded human intrinsically worth more than that of a dog or a chimp with substantially greater cognitive abilities and emotional range?
Yes, I know. An icky area.
I think the question can be debated. From a religious standpoint, the answer is clear. It involves a belief that there is something sacred about the state of being human; that we have souls, that life on Earth is just part of the deal, etc. And I think from a humanistic standpoint, you would argue that this profoundly retarded person is profoundly important to at least one sentient human, ergo he is more important than the animal. Or, more broadly, that since more people would argue that the person is more important, he, perforce, IS more important.
But from a strictly logical standpoint, well, you may have a valid debate.
washingtonpost.com: Where's Marc Fisher when you need him?
Arlington, Va.: I agree that South Asian folks speak English with an interesting melodic accent. I didn't have a professor in college who had a very heavy Indian accent and he was very hard to understand. In general I like accents. I am a gay guy, not that it matters necessarily, but I find myself incredibly attracted to cute Asian guys who have no accent at all. I know lots of guys who moved to the U.S. at very early ages so they have "American" accents or guys who are American-born with Asian parents. Why do I find them so attractive, even moreso than their Asian brothers who have accents? Is it the surprise factor?
Gene Weingarten: I think it is the fact that you are surprised, pleasantly, to discover they are not The Other, but like you. Except for their epicanthal folds, which you happen to like.
No, that is not dirty.
Freezing, N.H.: RE: reclining airplane seats
Here's my problem: Most airplane seats are designed with a headrest that sticks out theoretically to support one's neck. Unfortunately, I am 5-feet and the part that sticks out hits the top half of my head, forcing me to lean forward at a strange and uncomfortable angle. I have to recline the seat slightly just so that I'm able to drink my complimentary beverage. My $0.02.
Gene Weingarten: Okay. This is important. Several teeny women have made this same point, among them Spike, who copyedits my column and whom I therefore very very much need to remain on the good side of.
So I am amending this. If you are a small, intelligent, talented woman, you have my permission to recline. A little.
Chevy Chase, Md.: Anyone considering getting a tattoo should google Dr. Turlinton's Tattoo Remover.
With respect to the PETANs, I had a friend who was a committed vegetarian. When rats infested her back yard, she called PETA to see if there was a humane way to get rid of them. PETA said, "You have a problem living with rats?" That was too much, even for her.
Gene Weingarten: You know, I have to say, as weird as this sounds, the rib and I don't have a gigantic problem living with rats, so long as they do not enter our house. Which they did, once. Lizzie, can you link to my column on rats? Late 2004, I believe.
Gene Weingarten: Oh, and here is the link to Turlington's Tattoo remover, which is pant-wettingly funny.
washingtonpost.com: Below the Beltway: Oh Rats, (Post Magazine, Feb. 27, 2005)
Marcus Welby, MD: Re: Strangers asking vegans "Why?"
You wanna hear people get defensive?
Tell them you're homeschooling your kids.
Wow, it sets off a firestorm.
As enlightened as we are, Americans sure dislike different-ness.
Gene Weingarten: YOU HOMESCHOOL YOUR KIDS?? WHAT ARE YOU, BUCKTOOTHED RUBY-RIDGE TYPE GUMMINT-HATING REDNECK HICKS?
Re: Street names: In Ann Arbor Mich, there is a street corner of Nixon and Blewitt.
How could this not make the list?
Gene Weingarten: That's very nice!
Heywood Jablome: Hey, I am real! Just look at the May 1, 2001 New York Post:
"If I didn't work a block away, I wouldn't go in. People who want to trade can do it from their laptop or hand-held device."
Heywood Jablome, 41, a Manhattan real estate agent, agreed. "This is a nice-looking store, but I don't see people coming in here to trade," he said. "Not the suits' who work up here. No way!"
Gene Weingarten: Yeah, I remember this. Heywood Jablome turns up in a newspaper article every few years, when it gets past the copy desk. Spike would catch it.
Alexandria, Va.: Sigh... can we get away from the vegans vs meat eaters, Reps vs Dems and get on to the most important issue of today's chat...
HOW IN THE WORLD did they choose a James Bond who can't drive a stick?? SOOO not hot. And it WRONG. WRONG WRONG WRONG.
Gene Weingarten: I'm surprised no one else was horrified. I am. Horrified.
Hands down: Um, it's cause doing that takes strain off the breasts & bra straps. Try it, Gene -- even guys can sense a difference.
Gene Weingarten: Here is a typical woman's explanation. Check the next post for a guy's take on it.
Re: Hands on hips: The second pose juts the boobs forward more. Women do that to show off.
Either that or it supports the back a bit more, which women need because of boobs.
Straits Shooter: Singapore is nominally a representative democracy, but there is not freedom of the press. The government not only controls the press (including the Internet) after the fact with various sedition and official secrets acts, but also engages robustly in prior restraint and censorship. I doubt the editors of the newspaper had a real choice about the apology.
Gene Weingarten: You always have a choice. Resign.
Airline Seats: I have another strategy for dealing with the seat in front of me being tipped into my lap: I wait until the person's asleep, and then I apply a tatoo of a penis to their necks.
It's particularly fun to stick around after arrival to watch the reactions of the friends and family who greet them.
Today's Phishing Mail of the Month... of February: Gene,
The latest attempt by the evil-doers to steal my PayPal account password & money began with the following paragraph. They're so smart I nearly fell for it.
We are contacting you to remind you that: on 30-31 February 2006 our Account Review Team identified some unusual activity in your account, one or more attempts to log in to your PayPal account from a foreign IP address.
Gene Weingarten: I got this too! Great, eh?
Ave's, Wisc.: Gene -- Here is my favorite roadside sign, just over the Wisconsin-Minnesota border near the Twin Cities; they also provide veterinary services. What's even better is when they list their specials, such as "Edam $5.99/lb. Sign up now for rabies shots."
Gene Weingarten: And lastly, two eloquently expressed thoughts about topics visited in this chat. The first is from Ronda Ansted of Greenbelt, the second by someone who wishes to remain anonymous, for understandable reasons.
I can't forbear complimenting Ronda on her first name, also. There is something to be said for conciseness in a name. Tom the Butcher, for example, is Tom Shroder. Note the simplicity of Shroder. Not Schroder. Not Schroeder. No umlauts. Shroder. Vry smple. Same with Ronda. I'm Ronda. You got a problem with that?
Maybe partisanship is simply a part of the American character, since the whole vegan-meat eating debate is devolving into a Bushgood-Bushbad type of discussion. Listen, Mr. "Wildly Abnormal Diet" Man, when was the last time you ate microwave popcorn? Or white bread? Or pineapple in the dead of winter? All American diets are wildly abnormal, unless you grow your own food and kill your own meat. That is how we evolved, not eating eggs and bacon and toast and orange juice. In fact, most of our "normal" diet can trace its roots to a marketing ploy.
Whew. Now that I have THAT off my chest, a quick observation. We are a nation of choices. We CHOOSE to eat or not eat meat. And as far as health is concerned, now couldn't be a better time to be a vegan. Nutritional yeast, a tasty (if smelly) condiment, is a vegan source of B vitamins. Braggs Liquid Aminos, a soy sauce alternative, is a tasty source of Lysine (among other essential amino acids).
There is no lasting merit to any of the "natural" or "health concerns" arguments either way. Both types of diets are "unnatural," both can be healthy or unhealthy.
Bottom-line, I don't like the taste of meat, and I don't like the thought of killing animals, so I don't eat meat. Meat-eaters like the taste of meat, and killing animals doesn't bother them (at least not enough to stop). Let's accept our differences, stop trying to convince each other that we have the ONLY right way, maybe then, after much soul-searching and earnest dialogue, we can set the stage to have a real president.
Regarding the gay man who finds non-accented Asian men particularly attractive:
I'm a straight U.S.-born Asian dude, and despite the fact that my gay friends tell me I don't possess any apparent traits that might ping one's gaydar, I get hit on by gay white men all the time. Women, not so much, which is patently unfair. Anyway, said gay friends have told me that much like white straight men often have a fetish for Asian women, so too do white gay men often have a fetish for Asian men. A lot of it is because we're less hairy and usually less beer-gutty (their words, not mine).
The reason why Arlington prefers Asians with American accents to those with Asian accents just might have something to do with his perception of Asian men in general. According to virtually any depiction in America, Asian men are either geeks, wife-abusers who kill all female infants, or nutjob kamikaze soldiers. Or William Hung. The only remotely positive Asian male archetype is the elderly gardening kung-fu master. This also might explain the patently unfair me-not-getting-hit-on-by-women, though I suppose it's possible I'm a nutjob kamikaze wife-abusing geek who kills female infants and just haven't figured it out yet. In any event, an Asian guy with an American accent loses some of his Asianosity, which subsequently may remove the other negative tinges associated with such, even though those negative tinges are a total crock.
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Post columnist Gene Weingarten answers your questions about his column, "Below the Beltway," and more. Funny? You should ask.
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Opinion: Turning Over the Ports
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C. Fred Bergsten was online Tuesday, Feb. 28, at 1 p.m. ET to discuss his op-ed on the takeover of management of American ports by a United Arab Emirates-based company -- a takeover he believes can work. Bergsten is a former chairman of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, the body that reviews deals like the current one involving Dubai Ports World.
Read Avoiding Another Dubai , ( Post, Feb. 28, 2006 )
Washington, D.C.: As a member of the port security community, I see this as a huge missed opportunity. For years (even pre-9/11) experts such as Steve Flynn have been trying to draw attention to the inadequate security at commercial ports of entry. Now every pundit and politician is focusing on the issue (as if it's new) but they're firing their broadsides at the wrong targets. How would you recommend refocusing the attention where it's needed; specifically, in securing the global shipping network from port of origin to final destination, with an emphasis on cargo security and inspection?
C. Fred Bergsten: I fully agree with you. As indicated in my article, there are real security problems in our ports but we need to focus on the AMERICAN Agencies that are responsible for those issues. All of us who share these concerns should try to re-direct the current debate, and especially the Congressional focus, in the direction of expanding the capabilities and funding for our own CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION AND OUR COAST GUARD. They need to beef up security arrangements at both our own ports and in the foreign export locations through agreements with as many other countries as possible.
Providence, R.I.: What do you say to someone who does not want to encourage an Islamic religious empire established through economic jihad. Our oil money comes back to us to buy American businesses, land, port operations. The economic benefits look short-term and myopically self-interested when viewed through the lens of possible outcomes.
C. Fred Bergsten: A major reason that we are forced to worry about increased foreign investment in our critical infrastructure, and in other parts in our economy, is our profligate domestic spending and the huge trade deficits that result. The United States is now importing almost one trillion dollars per year more than we are exporting. To finance this imbalance, we like any individual must either run down our assets or borrow from our foreign creditors. The foreigners quite naturally want to provide at least some part of this funding by buying attractive US companies, real estate and the like. It is thus a bit hypocritical for us to oppose such investment when it is required as a result of our own behavior.
One important aspect of our huge trade deficits, which require us to attract all this foreign capital, is our large and growing dependency on foreign oil. We have become much more efficient in using energy over the past thirty years but are still twice as inefficient as the Europeans and four times as inefficient as Japan. Hence, our oil import bill is soaring, adding to the amounts we must borrow from abroad.
Note the huge irony: we convey huge amounts of money to the oil exporting countries and then worry when they use that money to buy assets here that cause us concern. Some of our concerns are of course real and justified; that is why we have laws and procedures to limit or even block some foreign investments on national security grounds. However, we can only provide a fundamental response to the risk of our being excessively dependent on foreign financing if we take the major steps needed to drastically reduce our dependence on imported energy and our trade deficit, more broadly.
Washington, D.C.: Is every issue before your former committee looked at a economic issue or national security issue? What about politics?
C. Fred Bergsten: The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States looks at every issue before it in both economic and national security terms. Its driving force, however, is to assess the national security risks, if any, that derive from a particular investment proposal by a foreign company. Its decision on whether to raise questions about an investment, or even block it, turns on these security issues. In making that assessment, however, it is of course working within a general policy framework of openness to foreign investment here that has been set and followed by all administrations since the second World War.
In the real world, domestic politics are of course a factor in all policy decisions. The purpose of the CFIUS process, however, is to insulate individual decisions from those pressures as much as possible to avoid the excessive politicization that could all too easily result. At the same time, our democratic society must of course recognize legitimate concerns of all types; this is why I suggest in my article an amendment to the current procedure so that members of Congress would be informed of pending, not just completed, cases and could raise objections in an orderly manner before the process was completed.
Silver Spring, Md.: Concern about the Dubai ports deal is driven by the numerous references to UAE in the 9/11 Commission Report, not nativism. For example, one of the 9/11 suicide pilots was on the payroll of the UAE military. The Washington Post should be analyzing and following up on these references, not ignoring them.
C. Fred Bergsten: There is no evidence that the government of the UAE plays any active role in the operations of the Dubai Ports World company (or indeed any other company in which it invests). Nevertheless, concerns that it might do so in a worrysome manner are certainly justified by the concerns that you mentioned. That is why I propose in my article that the US government insist, as a condition for concluding the deal, that the UAE government as well as the company provide comprehensive written and public assurances that it will not in fact interfere in any way with the commercial operation of the ports. This would provide the US government with full authority to respond to, and indeed prevent, any suspicious activities of the type you mentioned. The penalty for violation of their commitments would be immediate termination of the authorization for the company to operate in the United States, requiring its immediate divestment.
Arlington, Va.: Why, in a post-9/11 world, should ANY of our ports, airports or other critical infrastructure be owned by a foreign entity? Shouldn't the administration and Congress have pushed for Americans to come forward to own and operate them after what happened 4 1/2 years ago?
C. Fred Bergsten: The simple answer to your question is that foreign companies are simply more efficient than US companies in many economic endeavors in this globalized world, including the management of some components of our critical infrastructure. It would thus be extremely costly for us to limit such management to American enterprises. We would in essence have to pay a very stiff "security tax" to realize such an objective. Moreover, how could we be absolutely sure that "American enterprises" would be any more invulnerable to infiltration by unsavory elements than are foreign-based companies, most of whose employees here are US nationals in any event.
It should be noted that the great bulk of our port activities have been managed by foreign companies for many years. To my knowledge, there has never been a single instance of security difficulty with any of these operations. As noted in my article, responsibility for the security of our ports lies with the responsible agencies of the US government, the Coast Guard and US Customs and Border Protection. We indeed need to strengthen their capabilities to carry out those responsibilities, which are largely impervious to the nationality of the companies that manage and operate the ports themselves.
Canton, Ohio: There was a UPI report over the weekend that 21 ports are involved -- not just six -- what's up?
C. Fred Bergsten: You are probably referring to the point I just made that the vast majority of US port managers have been owned and operated by foreign companies for many years. These companies, which incidentally run most of the ports in other countries as well as in the United States, are based in countries such as Singapore, Taiwan and Korea as well as the United Kingdom and Japan.
It is thus correct to suggest that any problems of US port security range far beyond the six that are involved in the current Dubai operation, or indeed beyond the 21 (if that is the correct number) that are owned by the totality of involved foreign companies. The real need is to strengthen the capability of the American agencies that are responsible for the security of the ports, especially the Coast Guard and US Customs and Border Protection. They currently inspect only about 5% of all incoming cargos plus a very small number at the point of export. We probably do not need to inspect anything like the totality of incoming shipments but a more substantial ratio would certainly be more comforting and could certainly be obtained if the human and financial resources were made available for that critical purpose, as recommended by every independent commission that has assessed US security problems in recent years.
Burke, Va.: Personally I would have supported the sale of the ports before the Iraq war, but unfortunately because of the attack on Iraq the image of the United States has become so bad in the Arabic world, that there is to much risk in giving this deal to the UAE. Personally I don't think Ports or Airports should be owned by countries outside of the U.S.
C. Fred Bergsten: I have already addressed your question as to whether US Ports should be owned by foreign countries.
As to the impact of the Iraq war, I agree that the US image has been badly damaged in the Arab world but would reach an opposite conclusion. If we were to reject this investment solely because the purchaser were an Arab country, not to mention a very cooperative Arab country across a whole range of US defense initiatives, our image in that part of the world would be made even worse. Why would any Arab country cooperate with the United States, in the face of the inevitable domestic criticism and even hostility from other Arab countries, if we were to slap them in the face for no reason other than their being Arab? We must of course conduct a full and credible assessment of the security implications of the investment but, unless we find a compelling reason to believe that the shift of ownership from a British company to a UAE company will put us at risk, the investment should be approved.
Lyme, Conn.: Shouldn't more attention be paid on the issue of port security that this is not just a homeland security issue, but one that can assist in reducing smuggling. There are lots of illegal copycat goods, drugs, and even human trafficking that could be better detected if we did a better job at inspecting goods shipped into our country.
C. Fred Bergsten: You are precisely correct that Port security extends well beyond terrorism to include much more mundane, but also much more frequent, problems of smuggling of the types you indicate. This is yet another reason to strengthen the capabilities of the American agencies that are responsible for Port security. I hope that the current Congressional attention to the issue will have a constructive outcome by moving in this direction.
Montgomery County, Md.: I read somewhere (probably a blog) that Dubai Ports World also has bought CSX recently. Can you confirm this? If true, I would think that would pose a much greater security risk than operating facilities in a few ports.
C. Fred Bergsten: You are correct that Dubai Ports World recently bought CSX. You are also probably right that any security risk paused by Dubai Ports World would apply at least as much in that case. It is thus noteworthy that no one raised any objections to the CSX investment nor, to my knowledge, has anyone concerned with the current issue proposed taking a second look at CSX. The bottom line, as noted in some of my earlier responses, is that the substantial array of foreign investments in US infrastructure companies have to-date caused nary a problem. There is always a first time, to be sure, and we must be vigilant in assessing the possible risks in each case. The record so far, however, provides a strong endorsement of long-standing US policy, under all administrations, to welcome foreign investment in the United States and to rely on the CFIUS and other security procedures to prevent any risks.
C. Fred Bergsten: Thanks to so many readers for raising so many good questions on this critical topic. I wish there were time to answer all of them and in fact conduct more extensive discussions with all of you who took the time to participate in the process. I would welcome your further thoughts and will certainly take them fully into account in my further work on the topic and that of my Institute for International Economics. You may want to get a copy of our forthcoming book "Foreign Direct Investment and U.S. National Security" by Edward M. Graham and David Marchick, which we will be releasing in early April.
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C. Fred Bergsten, former chairman of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, discusses his op-ed on turning American ports over to Dubai Ports World.
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Opinion Focus
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Washington Post opinion columnist Eugene Robinson was online Tuesday, Feb. 28, at 1 p.m. ET to discuss his recent columns and anything else that's on your mind.
Today's column: And the Winner Is: Not Washington , ( Post, Feb. 28, 2006 )
Eugene Robinson: Hi, everybody. I'll be at your disposal for the next hour, and as usual we can talk about anything you'd like. My Friday column was about the resignation of Harvard University president Larry Summers, and today's was about the lessons that the Oscar-nominated movies might have for insular, self-important Washington.
Silver Spring, Md.: Mr. Robinson, I enjoyed your column this morning on the Oscars and D.C. insularity. You are right that we need to do a better job understanding how and what people really care about.
I have been somewhat amused by a lot of people's reaction to "Crash". Even in very diverse Silver Spring and Takoma Park, almost everyone I know thought that it was powerful and eye-opening. My reaction was, "You mean you didn't realize that race colors much of our interaction with others, and that the races really aren't talking much with each other or trusting each other?" I thought that "Crash" could have gone a whole lot deeper than it did, and I was really baffled that the existence of racial separation in apparently diverse urban areas was a revelation to so many people. Your thoughts?
Eugene Robinson: I think there are a lot of people who believe the whole racism thing is history. I don't agree, as you might have gathered. In a way it's good that so many folks would like to believe racial issues are a thing of the past, but I just don't think the evidence supports such a rose-colored view.
Silver Spring, Md.: Loved the column about this years movies.
I've seen all but 'Brokenback Mountain', which I probably will see because I love western scenes.
But I think the moral of those movies is that the movie-going public is considerably more broad-minded than the voting public. Clearly getting out the vote is the key to getting officials with opinions you agree with.
Which do you think will win?
Eugene Robinson: Win the Oscar or win the next election? I have a hunch that "Crash" might sneak in and win the Oscar for best picture. As for the coming midterm election, it's hard for me to see how even the Democratic Party could blow this one -- according to the new CBS polls, George W. Bush now has an astoundingly low 34 percent approval rating.
Arlington, Va.: I agree that D.C. is often out of touch with the U.S., but the Oscars are often out of touch too. Brokeback Mountain was 29 in 2005 grossing while Capote was 104 and Transamerica did not make the top 150. The latest Harry Potter was released about 3 weeks before Brokeback and has taken in a bit over $288,000,000 to Brokeback's a bit over $75,000,000. While Hollywood doesn't make movies to lose money, they rarely reward those that make the most money.
Eugene Robinson: True, the Oscars don't always agree with the box-office numbers. But it's really rare that a movie would win an Oscar, or even be nominated, if it really tanked at the box office. And over the years, the Oscars do track the evolution of the society's thinking, I believe. It's not a precise indicator, but it's pretty close.
Chicago, Ill.: Despite the fact that the Bush Administration is tripping over itself (wiretapping, UAE, Iraq) the Democrats seem totally without focus. Are there any signs of hope for the Dems going into the 2006 elections and for the 2008 presidency? Thanks!
Eugene Robinson: Okay, you're right, I can't argue with the phrase "totally without focus." You would think that the Democrats could craft a simple message and just steamroll a party whose president has a 34-percent approval rating, but no such simple message has yet been articulated. Still, if things keep going the way they're going now, Democratic candidates could win some key races in 2006 by default.
But who's the 2008 presidential candidate?
New Orleans, La.: Dear Mr. Robinson,
Many of us in New Orleans wish you would move her and run for mayor. You are one of the few in the national press who has provided an honest evaluation of the post-Katrina realities that New Orleans with live with for years to come. Today is Mardi Gras. While some of our residents celebrate with their homes intact, hundreds of thousands (mostly black) are scattered across the country with dim prospects of ever being allowed to return home. On this, Mardi Grad Day, and at a point now six months after Katrina, what is your honest opinion about the future prospects of New Orleans?
Eugene Robinson: Thanks for your kind words, which are, in fact, much too kind. I just had to take a question about Mardi Gras, because I've been sitting here watching CNN cover the festivities and I'm struck with how unreal it all seems. I didn't have any particular connection with New Orleans before Katrina, but since going there the week after the flood I've been haunted by the city and its plight. Unless you've seen it, you have no idea how extensive the damage is. Pictures don't tell you how much of New Orleans is literally a ghost town. I think that a city called New Orleans will eventually rise again, and it will be a smaller, whiter city, and it will have Mardi Gras every year and gambling and drinking and music and everything. But it won't be the same New Orleans that existed before. That city is gone.
Washington, D.C.: Gene, thanks for these chats (and your columns! :-).
I know this question would be better directed to your colleagues covering politics, but hope you'll indulge me.
In today's Post Politics chat, several participants highlighted the latest voter survey showing mounting disapproval for Bush and asked why the Post steadfastly refuses to poll about support for impeachment. As always, the response was that there's no point in doing so as long as the GOP controls Congress. Fair enough, I guess. BUT:
The Post polled about impeaching Clinton in 1998, well before the House moved on it, and the results consistently showed that most Americans opposed impeachment, seeing it for what it was: political spite.
Fast forward to 2006. We have a president whose administration's rampant dishonesty and malfeasance offer ample grounds for impeachment. And while not a sure thing, indicators are that the Democrats could back at least one house of Congress in November. So why is it premature to pose the question?! If the poll finds that only a fringe of Bush-haters would support his removal (especially with Cheney next in line), isn't that worth knowing?
Sorry for the long question, but I just don't understand the reasoning here...
Eugene Robinson: I'm happy to indulge your question but I don't think I can answer it, at least not within the next hour -- I'll have to ask the political reporters and editors. Maybe we'll have a chance to come back to this subject next week, and by then I'll know more.
Washington, D.C.: what is your opinion regarding the Dubai Ports "Transaction"? Do you really think the people against this deal are prejudice or just really concerned about Port Security. I am a black woman and by no means racist, however I don't feel good about this. I don't want foreigners managing our ports irrespective of a private or govt owned business. And you?
Eugene Robinson: I think the whole Dubai Ports thing is complicated. My fellow columnist David Ignatius did an excellent piece last week pointing out that our profligate spending means, almost inevitably, that more U.S. assets will be owned by foreigners. I guess I think it's probably a good idea to try to write some security guarantees into the contract, but it's hard for me to justify excluding Dubai Ports World on the sole basis that it's an Arab firm.
Takoma Park, Md.: Unlike what a previous reader said, I am a Takoma Park resident who feels "Crash" was too superficial to really say something. It's a powerful film for those who thought racism no longer exists or who think it's only alive in rural areas, but for me it was much too general and shallow. It only scratched the surface of what really goes on in America, and it was packaged in a neat little Hollywood way that made it digestable for the widest audience possible.
Eugene Robinson: I'd say yes, but I wouldn't mean it in a bad way. The "neat little Hollywood" treatment is what we get from Hollywood.
Fairfax, Va.: This morning's Post has a big headline about 1,300 dead in Iraq following sectarian (civil war?) violence. Also this morning on CNN a reporter said the toll was 300. The Post number apparently was based on what the Baghdad morgue had to say and eyewitness accounts by The Post reporters. Why wouldn't CNN use The Post number? Is there any organization monitoring these inconsistencies which can authoritatively set the record straight?
Eugene Robinson: As I understand it, the Post's figure came from the morgue and eyewitness accounts, as you note. Today, the Iraqi government came out with its own "official" figure of something like 379 dead. That's a huge discrepancy, and until someone proves otherwise I'll assume that the government is lowballing the figure to try to downplay the violence and dispel the notion that it's spiraling out of control.
Mitchellville, Md.: Why do you think that Congress, citizens, and the media have not mounted a stronger challenge to the President's so-called "War" on terror? Like the "war" on drugs and the "war" on poverty, the "war" on terror is not and cannot be a "war" in any realistic sense. There is no definable enemy and no end in sight. Yet, we are sacrificing treasured lives and national treasure, while seeming to have accepted what should be unacceptable.
Eugene Robinson: You know, when you think about it, "war on terror" makes even less sense than the previous "wars." The "war on drugs" at least had a definable enemy -- drug traffickers -- and the definable aim of keeping illegal drugs out of the country. It was ineffective, but at least there was a point to it. The "war on poverty" at least went after the root causes of poverty. A "war on terror" is a war on a tactic. The enemy is imprecisely defined and the conduct of the war is creating more terrorists. It's a messy concept.
McLean, Va.: Hi, Gene. And thanks for an interesting column this morning.
I guess I really don't understand two things about the current wave of anti-gay public discourse and related legislation.
The first is how it can be so effective. I mean, hatred is hatred. Couching it in terms of "protecting the family" or "protecting marriage" can only work if people are REALLY willing to hurt people they don't know.
The second thing is why more people --non-gay people-- aren't speaking up against this hysteria. I mean, imagine another group of innocent people: people of color, people of a minority religion-- being the target of such virulent animus. Would we as a society really be willing to put up with such talk, let alone legislation designed to exclude them from the table?
I just don't get why there isn't a real uproar against these attacks.
Eugene Robinson: I don't get it either. In the long run, I think 50 years from now people will look back and ask what the big deal was. My sense is that for young people in their 20s and younger, homosexuality just isn't the issue that it apparently still is for their parents. And I don't know why people don't speak out. Look at someone like Dick Cheney -- certainly not my favorite public official. He has a lesbian daughter, and when pressed on the subject he has said he disagrees with the discriminatory policies favored by his boss. Yet, although the vice president is not timid about straying from the reservation (for example, still claiming that Iraq had something to do wth 9/11), he doesn't speak out on gay rights even though I think he probably believes in them, at least to some extent.
Philadelphia, Pa.: This is another question that is probably better directed at one of your collegues who does politics, but given Hillary Clinton's triangulation/move to the center, what exactly would she do to the Democratic Party as an institution if she become the nominee or President?
Eugene Robinson: I have no idea, and with all respect to my colleagues who know more about politics than I do, I don't think they know either. She's sui generis -- a former first lady, a woman, a lightning rod, a Clinton. She's an effective senator, but given recent elections, that and a quarter won't come close to buying you a cup of coffee. Yet it's not a good idea to underestimate her. One thing for sure is what she'd do to the Republican Party, which is to energize it.
Portland, Ore.: I appreciated your column today. I've noticed that the national news media have a tendency to believe that any story that doesn't originate in Washington, D.C. isn't really "news" until someone official takes notice of it; then and only then does it become newsworthy. Stories don't get reported on because the Congressional Democrats and Republicans aren't raising the issues (e.g., health care.) But of course, part of the reason they aren't raising these issues is that the national media don't reporting on them. Very convenient mutual admiration society, that. Meanwhile resentment of D.C. continues to build out beyond the Potomac, as the real problems of the country continue to be ignored by the people who are supposed to be attending to, and reporting on them.
I think this fault line between the national and local governments may be considerably more important in the end than the Blue-Red divide.
Eugene Robinson: Washington is incredibly self-referential, and we live and work in a little echo chamber. The people who are most effective here, in my view, are the ones who are able to escape the feedback loop and get a sense of what's on people's minds in the rest of the country and the rest of the world. That's true of politicians, journalists, think-tank scholars, everyone. Like I said, we should get out more.
Bala Cynwyd, Pa: Why do you and the Post often use terms like "extraordinary rendition" instead of the more traditional word "kidnap?" Thanks.
Eugene Robinson: I'm a columnist so I write "kidnap" and "abduct" and "torture." I abhor the Orwellian newspeak that this administration uses to define any debate on the adminstration's own terms. (Not that this is the first administration to do so, but these folks have raised it to an art form.) I think "extraordinary rendition" should be put in quotes, if it's used at all, and followed by a quick explanation of what it really means.
Chicago, Ill.: How can you in the media keep saying the Bush is constantly protected by a bubble in which no one with a dissenting opinion is allowed in. Yet the vast majority of the media is liberal, and hostile to those with differing opinions. As an example, I submit you. You have decided to answer one question that remotely disagrees with your statements, and all the other comments that you have chosen to respond to happen to agree with you. Way to step outside of your comfort zone. Have you ever spent any real time in small-town America to get to know those people and how they think and what they do? Or have you spent your entire adult life living on a perch above those people and never trying to see what they see?
Eugene Robinson: I grew up in small-town America and go back frequently. I have a point of view, and my experience of doing these chats is that I get more questions from people who agree than people who don't. If the president's approval rating is 34 percent, I don't think I'm so far out of the mainstream.
Folks, I'm sorry but my time is up. Back next week, same time, same station. Or, I guess I should say: Good night, and good luck.
Editor's Note: washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions. washingtonpost.com is not responsible for any content posted by third parties.
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Washington Post opinion columnist Eugene Robinson discuss his recent columns and anything else that's on your mind.
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Dr. Gridlock
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Since 1986, Ron Shaffer, better known as Dr. Gridlock, writes his column for The Washington Post, Dr. Gridlock Column. In it he tracks the region's traffic woes, finds the correct officials to answer drivers' questions and responds to some of the hundreds of letters he receives each month. He describes himself as "the Ann Landers of commuters."
Dr. Gridlock was online Monday, Feb. 27, at 1 p.m. ET.
Dr. Gridlock appears Sunday in the Metro section and Thursday in Extra. You can write to him at 1150 15th St., NW, Washington, D.C. 20071. He prefers to receive e-mail, at drgridlock@washpost.com , or faxes, at 703-352-3908. Please include your full name, town, county and day and evening phone numbers. If you included your name when submitting a question or comment to this discussion, your question may appear in an upcoming column, and may have been published in this discussion.
Dr. Gridlock: Hello, folks. Welcome to another online chat with Dr. Gridlock. If you're wondering the best route for your commute, this might be a good place to ask, as others probably have some suggstions.
Washington, D.C.: Message for Metro if they are reading this: when you buy new rail cars, please have them made without carpet on the floors. The carpet tends to grow mold, and is a big problem for people like me who have allergies and are sensitive to mold.
Dr. Gridlock: I'll mention that...
Annapolis, Md.: My neighborhood is the Mapquest center of the state of Maryland. So, if Mapquest doesn't understand the city, they send you here. So we get a slew of confused car and bus drivers who are trying to find, for instance, Aberdeen Proving Grounds. In the Summer, we get about a driver per day that is WAY off.
Strange thing happened yesterday, that has, after talking to our neighbors, never happened before. We had a lost driver that was confused as to where they were, that actually was going to our neighborhood!! Now, the neighborhood's abuz with this news.
Dr. Gridlock: I've found Mapquest to be inconsistent with its directions.
Fairfax, Va.: Can Metro PLEASE review the platform escalators at Crystal City? In the morning, the only "up" escalator is at the far back end of the station. You'd think there would be more people exiting the platform, going to work in Crystal City, therefore there would be more "up" escalators than down... Also, the turnstiles are reversed to have more entering than exiting. PLEASE?
To whom at VDOT (or is it Fairfax County?) would I direct questions/complaints about the timing pattern at a traffic signal? In my opinion, the timing at the Tysons Boulevard and Galleria Drive intersection indirectly contributes to the frequent half-mile backups on the 123 South exit ramp off the Beltway every morning.
Dr. Gridlock: Try Mark Hagan, VDOT's traffic signals chief for Northern Virginia, at 703-383-2872. He's one of the good guys...
Burke, Va.: What's the city's policies regarding construction projects taking over public streets? Everyday when I drive into the district I have to negotiate the Columbia Women's Hospital construction traffic and now the new condo building going up across from the Ritz Carleton. Both projects have partitioned off the lanes directly next to their projects, leaving 2 lanes for traffic. However, frequently, they spill-over into these two lanes too with the workers walking in the streets or trucks parked in one of the lanes. This morning in front of the RC, you had to weave between the 2 remaining lanes to avoid the dump trucks lined up in the middle lane and the limo parked in front of the hotel. Who should I file a complaint with?
Dr. Gridlock: Try the city's catch-all complaint number, 202-727-1000. Get a tracking number so you can check back.
It is illegal for construction crews to occupy lanes of traffic for their personal vehicles. Send me a note also that lists specific streets and the impact of construction parking on them...
Falls Church, Va.: I can understand your exasperation with the Virginia Department of Transportation for lots of reasons, but sometimes you seem to go too far, bashing them for things not even true.
Yesterday, in your column, you said: "Here, we get one sign, no mileage and at the point of exit, a single, sad sign that says, 'Exit.' Thank you very much."
What road in Virginia is this true? It can't be the Capital Beltway, where I frequently see a list of upcoming exits. I'll name two places right now where VDOT has the standard Interstate "Next 3 Exits" List. Inner Loop Beltway between I-395 and Braddock Rd, there's such a sign giving the distance to Braddock Rd, Little Rvr Tpke and Gallows Rd. That sign has existed even before the Mixing Bowl project. On the other side, on the Outer Loop to Alexandria, there's a sign before Eisenhower Ave.
Even on I-66 inside the Beltway, a lightly signed road of there ever was one, for every exit there's a big overhead sign placed one mile away allerting you of the exit, and then one more right at the exit, in addition to the little "Exit ->" on the side of the road.
If VDOT shrugs whenever you call them, it may be because you're describing problems that aren't there, or aren't as widespread as you describe.
washingtonpost.com: Work at Home; Leave the Traffic to Others (Post, Feb. 26)
Dr. Gridlock: The areas you cite are exceptions. Most of the time, there are NOT the next three exits signed, and there is NOT a big sign at the exit telling us what the exit is.
PS--Re I-66, inbound, inside the Beltway, note the exit sign for Route 7/Falls Church does not mention Route 7/Tysons Corner) which is also at the same exit...
Cathedral Heights, Washington, D.C.: Dear Doctor - In last Thursday's District Weekly you asked about experiences with online vehicle registration in D.C. For the past four years I've renewed both of my vehicles' registration online and the process has been flawless every time. I generally receive my new sticker in the mail within one week. No credit card or website functionality problems either. I've lived in D.C. for 25 years and remember when mail renewal wasn't even an option; you had no choice but to go downtown. Believe me, online renewal is the ONLY way to go. The District gets bashed a lot, some of it deserved, but its Web site is excellent.
Dr. Gridlock: Good to hear. What is the website?
Silver Spring, Md.: What is the status of the Route 29/Randolph Road intersection? Any idea when it will be finished? Right now there are all kinds of near-misses as people turning on or off these roads have no clear lane markings.
Dr. Gridlock: The Route 29 interchange with Randolph Road/Cherry Hill Road was finished last December 16, according to highway department spokesman Chuck Gischlar. He said the lane markings should have been completed. He is looking into your complaint.
PS--The last Route 29 interchange being built in Montgomery County is at Briggs Chaney Road. It is scheduled for completion in the Fall of 2007.
Vienna, Va. Is there a time frame in which the VA Dept of Transportation or whoever responsible to fix road signs and guard rails must fix broken things. For example, a guard rail on Idylwood Rd, at one end of the 495 overpass, has a severely damaged guardrail that has not been fixed for at leat 3 months. The next person going off the road there probably would be able to drive down and into the beltway because about 8 feet of guardrail is destroyed.
Also, at the intersection of Idylwood and Rt. 7, a sign on an island on R7. 7 has been down for a few weeks but no fix. Further, not too long ago, a stop sign off Idylwood was missing for at least 2 months before it was replaced. Whom should a concerned citizen call to before someone gets hurt because of broken highway things?
On the positive side, VDOT widened part of RT. 7 and Idyllwood Rd that leads to Rt.66. This improvement saves me about 3 minutes during my morning commute. Thanks, VDOT. Thx.
Dr. Gridlock: My experience with VDOT and signs is that the agency places a low priority on them. You might report your problem by calling 703-383-VDOT...
I am SICK and TIRED of various types of debris flying from dump trucks and hitting my vehicle during my morning commute (outer loop from I-66 to Alexandria). Have you heard similar complaints from others? I think most of the trucks are probably involved with the Wilson Bridge project, but I'm not sure. Are there laws to prevent this type of problem. Should I call the State Police?
Dr. Gridlock: There are laws in all three jurisdictions requiring truckers to cover their loads. Problem is, gravel and other debris leaks out between the tarp and the truck. You can dial #77 to report a problem. Let me know what happens...
Fairfax, Va.: Dear Dr. Gridlock, I was on 66 the other day trying to get past a bad crash. The mangled car was actually perched on top of the jersey wall in full view of both eastbound and westbound drivers, which immediately made traffic grind to a halt in both directions. I had a thought: why don't police carry a tarp or sheet that they could simply throw over the car to cut down on the rubbernecking? Seems like an easy solution for certain crashes.
Dr. Gridlock: That seems like a good idea. I recall when Bill Cosby's son was murdered by his vehicle, police strung a sheet around the vehicle so rubberneckers could not see, I'll ask police here why they won't do it.
Arlington, Va.: I need to rant about metro today. For some reason they were running trains only every 7-8 minutes on the Orange line this morning. So by the time a train arrived in Ballston it was already packed. I had to wait at least 30 minutes before I could get on a train. You would think that by now they would now how to get the trains running on some sort of sensible schedule! And why do escalators that were just overhauled seem to break down within a week or two? At King Street they spent months and months rebuilding the two escalators. Now that they have finally been put back into service one of them is already shut down.
Dr. Gridlock: I wonder if those trains were eight-car trains, which can carry more people,but run less frequently.
It should be comforting to know that the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors wants to railroad 13 new highrise buildings over the Vienna Metro station, meaning you folks closer in will not get a seat (or get aboard).
Greenbelt, Md.: In a recent column, a writer complained about not knowing that Smart Trip cards are required for parking on weekdays at the Greenbelt Metro. This is somewhat suprising to me. There is a large sign at the entrance to the parking lot which states "No cash, a Smart Trip Card is required for parking at this station". There is also a huge red and white sign in the metro station itself and there is frequently another sign outside the station. It should come as no surprise to either tourists or those who go downtown for Nats games or events at the MCI center during the week that you must have a Smart Trip Card. If there is any confusion, or if a Metro rider needs help, the station attendants at Greenbelt are excellent. Please help to spread the word. Us regular commuters don't have much sympathy for those who drive to the exit and then whine that "I didn't know..."
Dr. Gridlock: Could be confused tourists, or those who seldom use the system. But I agree, seems like the parking is well signed already...
What questions are you really tired of hearing? What attitudes would you change if you could?
Dr. Gridlock: Driving at 55 mph in the left lane (always prompts outrage). change of attitude: more consideration for other drivers. Let someone merge in front of you.
Bowie, Md.: In Sunday's metro column, a few writers complained about why people aren't telecommuting instead of driving to work everyday and instead clogging the roads. One person bragged about walking over to her computer in her PJ's.
Do these people not comprehend that this is the Washington DC area where there are tons of people who work in the military, the federal government, and for goverment contractors. A lot of us hold security clearances which require us to physically be at work due to the criticality and sensitive nature of our jobs. Excuse me while I work to protect this country so that you can be in your warm PJ's thank you very much.
Dr. Gridlock: A lot of people work on computers. They would seem to be good candidates for working at home.
Bethesda, Md.: I have traveled to many countries and driven across many roads in my time. The one thing that always stikes me as I'm driving through third world countries is their roads are on par with the District of Columbia. How is it that DC cannot maintain their roads any better than third world countries? It's a discrace to be called the Nation's Capital yet have roads that befit a banana republic.
Dr. Gridlock: I'm just guessing here: perhaps the state of D.C. roads reflects the priority the city places on roads, which are heavily used by commuters.
Too bad, though. You'd expect more from a world capital.
Washington, D.C.: In regards to Metro's braking system not being able to line up in the same place each time when stopping...how about painting a line on the wall (ceiling, or wherever) that says to the driver (STOP HERE). That's how many drivers do it in their garage at home. Or I guess they could try the tennis ball hitting the windshield trick, though this may not be viable w/Metro trains.
Dr. Gridlock: They can't stop in the same place. That's what I've been told. Perhaps it is the momentum of six car trains coming to a stop.
Kingstowne, Va.: I don't believe I'll be able to get online during the actual chat today so I'm submitting early. I haven't seen any reports in the local media about whether the new I-95 North flyover bridge in Springfield has made a difference in the traffic through there. Have you seen any sort of information on that? I know the southbound bridge made a HUGE difference, for the better, on the Beltway, and I'm curious whether the northbound bridge has had a similar positive effect on I-95.
Dr. Gridlock: I have heard it has made a difference. Anyone out there have experience?
Alexandria, Va.: The Springfield Interchange project I think is going very well. It is so much easier to get through there now than it was 3 years ago. But I do have an issue.
On the Outer Loop of the Beltway, there used to be a lane shift to the left after you go over the railroad bridge approaching Van Dorn. Ever since the new ramp from I-95 N opened (merging on the left side of the Outer Loop), the lane shift no longer occurs. However, the reflectors in the road are still there. Who can get rid of those things?
Dr. Gridlock: Call Steve Titunik, information officer for the Interchange. He is good to get back to people. His number is 703 383 2530.
Washington, D.C.: Hi Dr Gridlock,
This may be an odd question/comment for this forum, but I can't think of anywhere else to discuss it. After driving a 1994 Toyota 4-Runner for over 10 years, I finally got a new car - a new Landrover LR3. I live on a farm part-time, and have a true need for an SUV, to get that out of the way. I have had the LR3 for 3 months now. In that time, I have received 5 car-door dings, 3 unexplained scratches on the doors - they look like a quick keying basically, 3 bumps into the front bumper that have cut the plastic - with an exhaust pipe, I am assuming, and, this weekend, a dent in the rear left panel, basically looks like someone trying to park banged into it. No notes or apologies on any of these marks. I don't park in tight spaces, I try to park out of the way in parking lots, and I don't parallel park very often. With my 4-runner, I recived 3 such marks in the entire 12 years that I have been driving it, and 2 came with notes on my windshield. My question is, what is the deal? Is it that people don't care because they think that I can afford the damage, since I could afford the car? Do people just not care, because it is an SUV (so is the 4-runner, no such problems)? Do people just not care, because that is how things are these days? I am bewildered. I am not a wealthy person, this car was a major treat. I am a nice person, I don't snake other people's spaces, I let people cross at crosswalks, I am always cognizant of not parking my larger car next to a small car where I might impede its view. I also have a small, ancient sedan that I drive, as well, with better gas mileage. I just wonder what it is that makes people think it is ok to damage someone's property and not take responsibility for it. I would appreciate opinions on this.
Dr. Gridlock: I got keyed on an older and a newer car. Sounds like vandalism. Other comments?
Alexandria, Va: My drive in the morning takes me from 395 to New York Ave to 295 in the morning and then the reverse in the afternoon. During the past two or three weeks New York Ave has gotten much worse in the afternoon compared to just a few weeks ago. In the afternoon the backup on New York Ave heading towards 395 started around Capital Street, but now it's starting all the way back up the hill near the speed camera. Does anyone have a clue of what is going on? I am afraid to do the 295 to the Howard Street U-turn due to traffic in that direction, but I am getting tired of just sitting on New York Ave. Thanks
Dr. Gridlock: You might try I-295 to East Capitol Street to Constitution Avenue, or the Howard Road/Downtown exit from 295 acoss the South Capitol Street Bridge to I-395 south (it's not a U-Turn). I'd exclude New York Avenue from my commute, if possible..
re: Metro trains stopping at the same place: Actually, there are signs that tell drivers where to try to stop, but they aren't really visible from the platforms. The signs hang below the platform where the drivers shouldn't have any trouble seeing them.
I'm not convinced that it's even a good idea to be able to stop at the same place every time. You'll just get people crowding directly in front of the doors, making it even tougher for people to get out of trains. In my opinion, there are MUCH bigger problems with Metro than where the trains stop in each station.
Dr. Gridlock: The goal would be to stop at the same place--a marked platform--so passengers can file on and off the trains, single file, and in an orderly, polite way.. That's how it works on BART in San Francisco, I'm told...
Re: Metro braking system: With the advent of 8-car trains, won't the metro drivers HAVE to stop precisely? I thought that many stations barely had room to fit the 8-car configuration. If such is the case, creating load and unload zones shouldn't be a problem.
Dr. Gridlock: Good point. Stations can handle an eight car train, --but no more. Last year, trains overshot the platform hundreds of times, so I'm not sure they've worked the braking out yet...
Reston, Va.: Thanks for all you do to make the transportation system is this region a little more bearable. I am writing about the interchange improvements being made along Route 28 between Route 7 and I-66 in VA. Many of the interchanges are complete and one would think traffic flow would also have improved with the elimination of signal lights. Unfortunately, I find the interchange at Route 28 and Waxpool Rd/Church Rd has done only a little to alleviate congestion here. I would have hoped that the transportation engineers could have done a better job in desiging the ramp from North Route 28 to West on Waxpool Rd. This flyover ramp is only one lane (should be at least 2 lanes given the traffic demand) and traffic between 4-7pm backs-up on the left side of Route 28 North approaching this interchange in order to squeeze into the one available lane on the ramp. One of the most crucial parts of this interchange is already failing and the work has only been complete for a few months!
Dr. Gridlock: I have heard that this interchange is no better than what was there. I'd like to hear from more people, including specific problems...
Silver Spring, Md.: I have a question about parking. I used to go to Bethesda more, but the parking situation there is insane. Most of the meters are 1-2 hours even on Friday nights. How is one supposed to go to a movie or dinner and not get ticketed? Why can't they stop requiring money in meters after 6 pm on weeknights or make then 3-4 hour meters after 6?
Dr. Gridlock: Parking has been a problem in Bethesda, which is home to so many restaurants. Then the county build some multi=level garages, and I thought that would solve the problem. Having 1-2 hour meters on Friday nights makes no sense.
I'd contact my supervisor's office.
South Riding, Va.: I drive I-66 on a daily basis.
Between Rt 123 and US 50, the Green Arrow lane ends and becomes a regular lane. At the same basic point is a sign for the US 50 exit and an Emergency Pull Over lane. I can almost guarantee that each week I will see one or two drivers pull into the Emergency lane thinking they are getting into the Exit for 50. Is there anything that VDOT can do to prevent drivers from making this mistake? These drivers are either forced to merge back into the traffic or continue on the shoulder until the exit begins.
Dr. Gridlock: Try alerting VDOT at 703 383 VDOT.
Arlington, Va.: Hi there. I live in Clarendon and I was wondering who to contact to have a stop sign or a speed bump put in? I live on 9th street just off of Washington, and this street has become a cut-through for people who are avoiding turning onto 10th street. It's not the traffic that is a huge problem, but it the speed at which these people race through the neighborhood. They come tearing down the block at 40-50 miles per hour! There are many children on this block and it is residential. It is being treated like a highway. Who can I complain to and have a stop sign or speed bump put in? An accident is bound to happen.
Dr. Gridlock: Try Diana Sun, Director of Communications for the Arlington government, at 703-228-3247 or dsun@arlingtonva.us.
Normally, VDOT handles speed humps, and has criteria for the same, but Arlington handles some of its own transportation.
Falls Church, Va.: Re: The driver of the Land Rover with inexplicable marks and dings. It seems to me that this unfortunate driver may be the victim of envious fellow motorists who take a kind of pleasure in damaging a $40,000 luxury vehicle. While a new Toyota 4Runner of the sort the driver used to drive may not cost much less, the Land Rover might attract more hostility just because of the brand and the perception of wealth and excessiveness associated with it. I'm not justifying the keying of luxury vehicles by any means, but there are lots of nasty people out there who wouldn't think twice about it if they can get away with it. Hostility like that might me more apparent in rural areas (where this person lives part-time, it seems), where there are fewer luxury cars and the gap between the haves and have-nots may be greater. This person might want to consider getting a Ford Explorer or similar domestic 4X4.
Dr. Gridlock: Or, just let it collect dents. At some point it will no longer be an attraction. Sad...
Reston, Va.: Dear Dr. Gridlock -- Seven years ago I made a unique decision to move close to my work. for the last seven years, I've enjoyed a 1.9 mile commute to work with virtually no traffic. I listen to traffic reports on WTOP radio every morning to remind me why I made the decision. Life is so much better when you have a short commute.
Dr. Gridlock: You've won the game of life...
Silver Spring, Md.: STOP HERE lines.
Actually MetroRail stations do have indicators showing where trains of different length are targeted to stop. They are small green signs with white number (2, 4,6) that hang under the platforms, and on some fences at above ground stations, depending on the configuration (center platform vs side platforms). I'm sure 8 car trains would just not worry as long as the front of the train does not overshoot the end of the station.
These are for reference when the trains are run manually. As for the automated system, when it works well, thing go fine. When it is out of service it can be hard to stop a trian a dime.
Silver Spring, Md.: I can tell you from personal experience that the intersection of RT 29 and Randolph road is like a free for all. There are lane markings but there are so many lanes, lights and ways to go that it is VERY confusing.
Dr. Gridlock: Maryland Highway administration spokesman Chuck Gischlar says the state plans to adjust lane lines there in the next month.
McLean, Va. - Door Dings: I can feel for the person who has received a ton of door dings, scratches and dents recently. I don't think it's an SUV thing. I drive an Altima - and in the year that I have owned it, I have been dinged numerous times. At least 3 times on my left rear door, and 3-4 times on my right rear door. It's horrible! I think that people are just careless, or it's their kids, or something... but I agree that it's awful. Perhaps it's our penality for living in such a heavily congested area?
Washington, D.C.: Any idea what the enforcement rate is on cellphone use while driving in DC? I see so many cars in my daily (walking) commute where the driver is on their phone. Most of the cars seem to be from MD. I wonder how many people have been ticketed for this.
Dr. Gridlock: Over the last year, the city has issued several thousand tickets for driving with a hand-held phone, according to a police department spokesman. Still, violations of the law are rampant, according to observers.
Judiciary Square, Washington, D.C.: Dr.Gridlock,
I too am irritated by folks who insist on forcing their way onto a METRO train before the folks on the train can get off, but I think METRO is at fault. Too often I have seen the train doors close before the folks on the platform can get on. If you have this happen to you a couple of times, you might be tempted to get on as fast as you can regardless of whether everyone who is trying to get off does so. This is most prevelant at the transfer stops like Metro Center and Gallery Place. Shouldn't train operaters make sure that every one who can gets on the train before closing the doors?
Dr. Gridlock: Apparently they can't do that and make their schedule. The chaotic system" we have now allows for the least number of people to get on and off.
CLifton, Va.: Reston Do you know your 1.9 mile commute in your car is tougher on your car then my 20 mile commute from Clifton, VA to Ballston, VA. Your car never warms up in the winter and never burns off the condesation that forms in the engine and exhaust system. Also the fluid in your transmission and differential never reaches operating temp. The oil in your engine never reaches operating temp either to do its job. Why don't you bike or walk the 2.0 miles?
Dr. Gridlock: This is over my head...
Re: Re: Metro braking system: It's worth mentioning that Metro trains' brakes are computer controlled when they pull into a station. It's not the drivers' faults; they're the ones who have to correct the computers' stopping mistakes. It would seem to me that if they installed more advanced computers on Metro trains, precise stopping at stations would be possible.
Dr. Gridlock: Thanks for the tip.
Metro Media Relations, Washington, D.C.: In response to Arlington, VA., riders traveling on the Orange Line encountered delays in both directions this morning as a six-car Vienna bound train experienced a brake problem at the Minnesota Avenue Metrorail station before 7 a.m. As a result of the mechanical problem, a second train was used to push the first train off the main line. Both trains were removed from service. To Arlington VA., we apologize for the inconvenience. Furthermore, we will also check on the issues raised in this chat regarding escalators at Crystal City and King Street. Thank you for bringing this to our attention. Steven Taubenkibel, Metro Media Relations
Dr. Gridlock: Thank you Steven. Here were some more questions: Why can't ADDFARE machines be put on station platforms so waiting passengers can take care of the fare, and why not have alll 7 car trains instead of some six-and some-eight car trains.
Silver Spring, Md.: The drivers don't stop the trains themselves. It is done automatically. Current Metro brakies aren't precisely controlled enough to stop on a 3-inch-wide stripe. Bart's brakes are.
Arlington, Va.: Ok, so what's the answer to our transportation woes? The Vienna West development is going to put more people on Metro; would you rather they be on the roads? Of course, the could try and build the development in closer, but very few would be able to afford the housing. Not build so much housing? Great for me (close-in condo) but lousy for anyone trying to buy into the market.
Dr. Gridlock: Inhabitants of this new development will be using both roads and Metro, and folks in Arlington will have a tough time getting a seat.
What if we operated the MCI Center and booked Paul McCartney? The event would sell out. So, should we sell another 100,000 tickets to the event? That's what Fairfax supervisors are doing at Vienna West. They just don't know (or care) that their transportation capacity is already full.
Centreville, Va.: I've written in before with this issue and finally have some links to hopefully make my point. The issue is the I-66 exit 52 off ramp for 29, Centreville. Google Maps link
On even moderate traffic days, in the evening this ramp backs up almost on to 66. This is due to right turning drivers waiting until there is a complete break in traffic instead of using the existing acceleration lane. Rte 29 South is heavily congested at rush hour and so breaks large enough to merge directly into through lanes from a standing start are few and far between.
If you look at the above link, you'll see a clear 3rd lane available for right turning drivers that isn't a through travel lane for Rte 29 South. If more drivers would use this lane to match traffic and merge, the back up on the ramp would be much much less.
Can VDOT 'force' drivers to the acceleration lane via solid white lines and/or posted reflectors? Since by the existing signs drivers are not allowed to go straight this shouldn't impact anyone.
Thanks, Rob Pixley, Centreville, VA
Dr. Gridlock: Seems to me you have a double-weave, traffic merging right to exit at O'Day, and traffic in the O'Day dedicated lane trying to merge left to go through. Seems like all this merging might lead to more congestion. I'd like to hear from others.
Reston, Va.: I've noted you haven't talked too much about the hybrid/HOV debate of late, and I have to say I am surprised about the position of some of your colleagues who have writen about it. I don't understand why carpoolers think they have the only solution to the dual problem of congestion and emissions, or that those lanes should exclusively belong to them. So they now have to share the road with others who are taking another approach to the problem. Now there is not just a behavioral solution, there's also a technological one. Unlike folks who work for the government, some of us private industry folks don't have the luxury of regular 9-5 schedules - somedays we have to be in at 9, some days 7:45; somedays we can leave at 5, sometimes 8:30. These people are just selfish.
Dr. Gridlock: Not sure there is a question there. I'll just post your comments.
All about the dings: Part of the problem may be that places are making parking spaces smaller while vehicles are wider.
Gaithersburg, Md.: I used to commute from Gaithersburg to Rockville (roughly 3 miles). Walk to work! That's funny! I would have had to cross several busy intersections and walk in places with little or no sidewalk. Even if you do live close by, you can't always walk to work. I didn't mind that my car wasn't always warmed up until I got to the office, and I'd trade it for my commute now: Gaithersburg to Alexandria (company layoffs caused me take a job where I have to commute). However, I carpool so it's not completely horrible. I was certainly spoiled by my short commute. Now I'm just part of the DC ratrace.
Dr. Gridlock: Walking becomes harder because our jurisdictions don't have sidewalk systems. That needs to be fixed.
Re: Door Dings: Part of the problem is that parking spaces have been shrinking over the years to increase capacity; I park at UMd at the spots are tiny and leave very little room for poor/lazy parkers. I think most keying/dings are accidents or malicious, but they might be sending people a message that they've parked too close to the car next to them. How many times have you come out of store and could barely open your car door because someone parked two inches away from you?
Regular government hours??: For the writer who stated that govt employees have regular hours - that is so not true. Not only do we have to work irregular hours (hm - some days in at 6 and others in at 6:30 - some days we go home at 6 and others at 8) but we also have to travel from one place to another during the course of the day - frequently without compensation for either the time or gas/parking.
Dr. Gridlock: Not sure what you are referring to...
Foggy Bottom, Washington, D.C.: Dr. Gridlock, can you please suggest the best way to get from Foggy Bottom (near the Kennedy Center) to the Beltway and 95 North? I have tried taking surface streets to eventually end up at 16th Street, where I get on 495 in Silver Spring, and I've tried getting over to the Anacostia Freeway and getting to 495 via the BW Parkway, but neither of these seems like a good route. I've gotten so hung up in traffic that it takes almost as long to get out of the District as it does to drive through the whole state of Maryland.
Dr. Gridlock: Here's one route: Take Constitution Avenue over the Roosevelt Bridge, onto I-66,to the Beltway north. Minimal time in the city that way...
RE: Waxpool and 28: Wow, I completely disagree. The flyover to Waxpool is amazing! Everyone used to clump together in the right lane and it was a total mess. Now, with the flyover connected to the left lane it is a really smooth transition. Of course, I go to work around 6 AM so maybe that helps too, but I do the drive 5 days a week.
Dr. Gridlock: Thaks. A new interchange should be better.
Overcrowding on orange line in a.m.: Part of the problem is that the train stays too long at Vienna (the first stop) and I've been on trains where all the seats fill up at Vienna, with one or two people standing. No wonder people at other stops can't get a seat - or even in the car sometimes.
Washington, D.C.: Regarding Metro -- I'm delighted Dan-the-Man is riding Metro to work. Is there a reason that the top management team is not required to do so? Then they, too, could have first-hand knowledge of how the system is working on a day to day basis. Once subjected to the same kinds of delays and information handling, perhaps they'd be more sensitive to customer concerns and complaints. And they'd have first hand experience with which to counter said complaints when they believe things were handled well.
And, regarding your comment to the person in Ballston not being able to board trains at that stop once new apt complexes are built in Fairfax - what about those of us who live IN the District? We already often let trains go by, jam packed, during rush hour. Is there a reasonable way to run a set of trains within the confines of the District in the mornings - eg, start them at Friendship Heights and Foggy Bottom, etc, the first District stops of the different lines? I don't need a seat in the morning, but do need to actually get on the train.
You don't have to wait for METRO: your co-workers Layton & Ginsberg have repeatedly explained that Metro trains are designed so that they must run as pairs of cars. Thus 7 car trains are not possible due to the design of the trains.
RE: I-95 North Flyover Bridge: The backup has all but disappeared during morning rush hour to get onto 95/395 from Old Keene Mill Road.
Dr. Gridlock: Good to hear. Can't wait to hear about travel when the bridge ices over...
Bethesda, Md.: For the person who can't find parking at night in Bethesda: You can park in a county lot. There are over a dozen of them in downtown Bethesda, and they have meters that last up to 9 hours.
Dr. Gridlock: Thanks. Can you mention the location of one or two?
Ashurn, Va.: My questions refers to carpooling options for the extreme long distance commute.
I will soon be moving just north of Matinsburg, WV and am looking for commuting options; such as car pooling, to make the long drive to the Dulles area easier (maybe eve less boring).
I have done some internet research without success. Everything seems to go to downtown Washington. Any ideas or known options would be greatly appreciated.
Dr. Gridlock: Try calling 1-800-745-RIDE, which is a free, governmental matchmaking service for car pools...
For the Land Rover(?) driver: Ugh, ignore the classist person from Fairfax, please. I doubt that people are targeting you because you have an SUV. Please don't turn into one of those SUV drivers who think the rest of us are all envious of your car (some of us may be, sure, but people also envy others' big homes, and you don't see the same type of property damage going on there).
Most likely, you're the victim of the growing numbers of generally inconsiderate folks out there. Like the good Doctor, I've driven both fancy-new and old cars, and both get dinged. Folks never leave a note. People aren't seeking you out to ding your car--stuff happens, and more and more people will drive off if they think they can get away with it.
Damage to cars: My current car (almost five years old and a Toyota) hasn't sustained a lot of damage -- 2 dings and one big incident (my mom backed into my driver side!).
But my old car used to get damaged or vandalized all the time. It was a 10 year old Dodge Omni, and by the time it died, it had more dings than I could count, a major dent on the hood, I was sideswiped three times, and one time I came out from Montgomery Mall and saw a minivan driven by a typical suburban mom back into my car and then take off. Nobody ever stopped or left a note.
I've only been in one accident ever, and it was in that car. I was stopped at a red light and got hit by a drunk driver. But my car looked like it had been through battle.
Dr. Gridlock: I generally buy a car new and then drive it until it gives out. Along the way, I pick up all kinds of dings and dents--and don't get them fixed. That way, I don't worry about them...
Bad Directions from Foggy Bottom,: Hey Doc,
You've essentially told the Foggy Bottom driver to go get in the back of the line to get to I-95 North. You suggested going WEST from the city and sit in Inner Loop traffic all the way to College Park.
I would suggest the opposite direction. Maybe straightlining EAST, along East Capitol to the Beltway could work. It's doubtful though since anywhere out of the city and up 95 is going to be congested.
Dr. Gridlock: Sorry I didn't make that clear: From I-66 head to the Wilson Bridge. I don't route people into Montgomery County because congestion is so much greater there.
Also, the reader wanted to eliminate travel in the District, and this is one way to do it...East Capitol Street, New York Avenue, Pennslvania Avenue--these are not ways to avoid city congestion...
Seven-car trains: Metro cannot have seven-car trains because the cars come in married pairs. This is common on many major transit systems, including many generations of cars in New York. The necessary electronics are in one of the two cars in each pair. While you can swap one car in a pair for another car, you can't operate half of a pair without another car to go with it. Take a look at the paint schemes at the ends of the cars the next time you ride Metro and you'll see what I'm getting at--the red, white, and blue striping is only at one end (the end where the train operator sits), and the other end looks different.
Movin' on up...: Or so they tell me.
I'm moving to the area this Spring. Got any tips for the conversion from small town to big city driving? This is going to be quite a change.
Dr. Gridlock: Yes. You need to tell me where you'll be living and working. We can go from there.
For the Bethesda Parker: Here's a link that lists the MoCo parking garages in Bethesda
Dr. Gridlock: Thank you so much!!!
Metro Media Relations, Washington, D.C.: Dr. Gridlock, in response to your questions, all Metrorail rail cars come in married pairs. That's why we operate four, six, and eight-car trains. You will never see a seven-car train in service. As for the Addfare machines, all of those machines are located on the mezzanine levels in our stations. Addfare machines are not on station platforms due to space restrictions. We need to provide as much platform space to our passengers. Also, by having the Addfare machines on the mezzanines, if a passenger has a question or issue with a fare, he/she can walk one or two steps to the station manager for assistance. Steven Taubenkibel, Metro Media Relations.
Dr. Gridlock: Thank you Steven!!
Alexandria, Va.: Why are there no machines to add money to one's smart trip card on the platform to allow use while waiting for a train?
Dr. Gridlock: A Metro spokesman just answered that. It's need for space on the platforms...
Arlington, Va.: To the owner of the new Landrover: Maybe back in 1994, when your 4-runner was new, people didn't hate SUVs so much. They didn't seem to be everywhere, and there weren't that many of them. So, no one vandalized it. More recently, people might recognize it to be an older SUV, and so they might not vandalize it if they think the owner can't afford to get something new. But the Landrover is flashy, new, and bought at a time SUVs are reviled. I'm not surprised that it's been dinged and dented. Sorry it's been happening, but that's my theory.
McLean, Va.: I just came back from Costa Rica last week. For those of you who want to compare driving here to a third world countries need to visit one. At least the potholes are patched here, there are highways to go on even if congested, and trains still carry commerce here . . .
Dr. Gridlock: Should I scratch Costa Rico from my possible retirement destinations?
RE: Metro braking: With regards to getting trains to stop in the same place every time, isn't the problem with the brakes themselves? I seem to recall White saying that, that a system like BART which can stop in the same place every time has a better, more precise braking system. So the fix here is to install better brakes with all the money that Metro has. (That's meant to be sarcastic.) At this point, I just rather they ran the trains on time -- the orange line was delayed this morning, as was the red line, doubling my commute from 30 minutes to an hour from East Falls Church to Gallery place.
Dr. Gridlock: Yes, I think you have the explanation correct.
Herndon, Va.: Dr. G: The work on the TR Bridge appears to have started, although right now it seems to be going on outside of the rush hour. What exactly is being done, how long will it take, and will it mean one less lane east/west during rush hour?
Dr. Gridlock: The city is redecking the Roosevelt Bridge. Some holes in the bridge are such that you can see the Potomac River down below. The work will take all this year, and will mean the end of the reversible lanes. The work is expected to take one or two lanes. I'd see how this goes, and consider alternate commuting routes.
Exits without warning: I know this is WAY out of your jurisdiction as an example of other places where the signage is less than adequate: driving north on I 287 (speed limit 65)you get 3/4 of a mile notice of the exit to I-684 E. If you aren't in the right lane you are not getting over at that rate of speed.
Dr. Gridlock: Who knows what city/state this refers to?
RE: Waxpool and 28: I was the original poster on the Route 28/Waxpool thread. The responder notes smooth sailing in the mornings at 6AM but this is not where the problem lies. Traffic from Waxpool to go south on 28 moves freely because that ramp is two lanes wide. The flyover ramp is no good though in the middle of evening rushhour; 28 north is a parking lot from the Toll Rd to this new interchange. Yes, part of the gridlock is because of the signalized intersection at Sterling Blvd. (I can't wait for that interchange to be complete.) But the snarls continue for a few more miles especially on the left side with all the traffic trying to get to Waxpool Rd. headed west. Some good in all this: The widening of Waxpool Rd. from Route 28 to Loudoun Co Pkwy is a great success. The four lanes, then reducing to three, going west from Route 28 are a big help.
For "Movin' on up": How to make a small-town driver seem like a DC native:
a-- Lose all manners immediately.
b-- Forget that your turn indicators exist. You must not use them in the DC area.
c-- Exercise your middle fingers. You will need them.
d-- Headlights are not to be turned on at night, or in the rain, or in the snow. They exist only for purposes of high-beaming drivers who annoy you.
e-- If you like to drive the speed limit, you must camp in the left lane, then apply rule C, above, when people become upset with you.
OK, in all seriousness, people driving without headlights have become a HUGE problem around here. I commute down I-395 to the Beltway each night and I always see at least four vehicles with no lights.
Dr. Gridlock: thanks for the tips. Unfortunately, they ring true...
Addfare machines: If I remember rightly (haven't used one in a while...) Addfare machines are designed to allow you to top up the card to the exact amount you need to exit the current station. They don't allow you to add more money than that to the card. Since a "waiting passenger" isn't AT his exiting station, an Addfare machine wouldn't know how much to charge.
Dr. Gridlock: sounds like a point.
Courthouse: I hope you're joking about those highrises over Vienna! Because if you aren't, I will have to start driving into work. The Orange line should be renamed "the line for those who live in Vienna," because there isn't room for anyone else! If only Metro had express lanes . . .
Dr. Gridlock: The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors wants to build these 13 highrises at Vienna regardless of how crowded the Orange Line is now. Clearly they haven't consulted Arlington residents...
I usually agree with you about letting people merge, and try to be considerate. Then the other morning, while trying to enter the outer loop from MD Route 50 westbound, there was a huge backup, maybe a mile or more long. So I get in line to take the exit, and watched dozens of cars race up the left side then stop and try to push into the exit lane. This made my blood boil a little bit, as they weren't merely using all available lanes, but just trying to avoid the wait. Then on the exit, there are two lanes, where one proceeds to the beltway, and the other goes to New Carollton, and the lanes are very clearly marked. Again, people were trying to avoid the wait by using the off lane to cut ahead. The person in front of me let at least 15 people cut ahead of her.
Why do people try to cut into traffic like this? Where does the sense of entitlement come from? Why do I have to be polite and let them in? For the entire 15 minutes that I sat in that wait, I think I only let 1 person cut in front of me. I was a little ashamed of my pettiness, but still perplexed about why everyone didn't just wait for their turn.
Dr. Gridlock: The problem is that there are no established rules. The "zipper" method--where motorists use both lanes and take turns at the point of merge" is a better way, but people in our culture don't understand it. So we have chaos, the most stress and the least efficient way of merging traffic...
Re: Orange Line Today: The chatter with orange line issue was correct about today'c commute - it was awful. I come in from Vienna and actually saw a 4-car train make a run at about 8:25, followed by a 6-car train -- both exceedingly full. Eight-car trains? Only once in a blue moon...
College Park, Md.: I'm sorry, but I think you missed Bowie's point. It doesn't matter if you're working with a computer. If you work with classified material, you can only work on it in a classified area. The federal gov't is not going to pay for classified offices in our homes. We have no choice but to go to our duty stations.
Dr. Gridlock: Thanks. I wonder what percentage of the federal workforce must work on classified documents from a classified workspace?
Still Bad directions: The Wilson Bridge back up is really no better.
Dr. Gridlock: Depends on time of day, no?
Addfare machines: That was the only way I could think of to refer to them. What I want to be able to do is to add money to my smart trip card while waiting for a train. Whatever machine is needed to do that, they should have them on the platforms. Space is not even remotely an issue, Metro needs a better explanation.
Dr. Gridlock: Well, we've got Metro's explanation: space and proximity to the station manager...
Dr. Gridlock: Well folks, that will wrap up another online chat with Dr. Gridlock today. Thanks for your questions and patience. I will be on vacation in March, and will resume the online chats on April 10 (although we may squeeze one or two in before then).
Metro West: Thank you for finally putting it in terms that people can relate to. Whoever moves into there will bring their cars with them. And speaking of people living there, no one will be able to afford to do so. No one lives there now -- people are just flipping the current condos into unaffordability.
All it's going to do is put more and more cars on the road -- most of them probably from Prince William and Loudoun.
Dr. Gridlock: I'm a little unclear how the residential development over the Vienna station will attract more motorists from Prince William and Loudoun...
Reston, Va.: Arlington should be given a chance to voice their concern of the development at the Vienna Metro, just like Fairfax residents had a chance to chime in on widening 66 in Arlington.
Dr. Gridlock: Yep. Good point. Last I heard, Fairfax supervisors were not consulting people in Arlington.
Editor's Note: washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions. washingtonpost.com is not responsible for any content posted by third parties.
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Dr. Gridlock brought his expertise in all things traffic and transportation to washingtonpost.com.
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The Chat House
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Welcome to another edition of The Chat House where Post columnist Michael Wilbon talked about the latest in sports news.
washingtonpost.com: Michael Wilbon will be with us momentarily. Thank you for staying tuned ...
Alexandria, Va.: Mike - Unlike many I actually enjoyed the Olympics, and don't know why there's so much whining about how boring they are, but on to exciting topics.
ESPN is reporting that the Redskins are shopping Ramsey. This is obviously no surprise, but what I want to know is: How do players feel about this? Not that they want to keep him, but is there any feeling that he got a raw deal?
Because I know most fans believe St. Joe can do no wrong, but I think he completely shafted Ramsey if not lied to him about what his chances would be to start for the team, and we saw how successful Brunell was by the end of the season.
Michael Wilbon: No...Raw deal? How? I'm sure Ramsey has friends on the team who will be sorry to see him go. He really is about the nicest guy you could ever meet...or certainly seems that way to me. But he didn't do anything to indicate he ought to have the job on lockdown...So raw deal? No...
Mr. Arenas' Neighborhood: With LaVar Arrington ostensibly losing his title as The Face of Washington Sports, shouldn't Gilbert Arenas assume the title? He has everything you want. Charisma, sublime talent, credibility that transcends race and culture, and not to mention a knack for making the big shot. Hail Gilbert!
Michael Wilbon: I'm with you entirely on the Gilbert Arenas thing. He's becoming a great player as look on. And he's trying to become a clutch player as well, one that can lead his team someplace...He's a worker...a fanatical worker, actually. He's feisty without being over the top...And he's never satisfied. Some guys claim they're self-critical. Arenas is, probably to a fault.
Hermosa Beach, Calif.: Wizards are on an amazing run. Where do you see them in the playoffs if they make it?
Michael Wilbon: Well, I wouldn't call it an amazing run...it's a nice run. And it needs to continue. Yes, the Wizards will make the playoffs as long as Arenas and Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison remain reasonably healthy. But there's no point in finishing 7th or 8th and having to play Detroit or Miami in the first round. The Wiz should finish no lower than fifth in the East, although sixth could be preferable...If I played for the Wiz I'd be perfectly comfortable paying New Jersey int he first round, which would be a 3 vs. 6 matchup. And I'd be fine playing Cleveland in the first round as well...I don't think the Cavaliers are going to scare anybody this season.
Silver Spring, Md.: Mike, it seems like just yesterday that Mary was bugging you to get her a Salt Lake City beret. My how time flies!
Michael Wilbon: Hey, it seems like just yesterday to me that I was taking a train from Albertville to Lyon to Paris for my post-Albertville vacation...And that was 14 years ago...1992 for crying out loud. I really like the Winter Olympics in person (I've done three of them) but didn't get into it on the tele...just couldn't get into it at all. I probably watched a total of, oh, 7 or 8 hours max the whole two weeks. I have no complaints about the coverage or what happened over there...though I am happy that Bode Miller, the fraud, went bust. At least he's out of our lives.
GW in the NCAA Tourney.
Michael Wilbon: push...I think they'll get to the Sweet 16, but not beyond...not with Pops at less than full strength.
Washington, D.C.: Is there any reason why Gibert Areanas does not get any respect from the National Media? He is AVERAGING 28.9 points per game. Do you think it has to do with how is is marketed?
Michael Wilbon: Stop with the "respect" silliness. You get "respect" when you win, okay? LeBron got booed the other night at home in Cleveland. Anybody who covers basketball, whether it's in the Los Angeles Times or the New York Times or the Arizona Republic.
Cold cubicle: How's the weather in AZ?
Michael Wilbon: It was blue skies and upper 60s Tuesday and Wednesday, 70s Thursday, Friday and Saturday...82 yesterday in Scottsdale...And I have insanely returned to arctic conditions and snow flurries today! It was damn near perfect in Arizona, to answer your question.
Suffolk, Va.: Mason blew it to Hofstra earlier this week, but showed back up and demolished Madison. What are their chances of being a serious tournament contender, not top 4, but could you see them as a cinderella elite 8 or a sweet 16 team.
Michael Wilbon: I haven't seen Mason play this season, so I can't speak to the team's chances with any legitimacy. The worst thing about the NFL season running a week deep in Feburary (for those of us writing sports columns)...The next week I went to watch Duke-Maryland, then to Houston for the All-Star game...and suddenly, it was the 20th of February...GMU isn't in town this week (though the Wizards host the Pacers Wednesday and I will see that)...I hate not having seen GMU in person...but I hope to in March.
Falls Church, Va.: Who decides the list of headlines for PTI? How much inputs do you and Tony have, and how much is decided by the Producer(s)?
Michael Wilbon: We're sitting here and doing that now...the producers, Tony and I...We've talked already this morning by phone about the things we're individually interested in from what happened over the weekend. We do it much the same way we are on the air...just rapid fire bursts of conversation, only with more people. But let me give the lion's share of the credit to Erik Rydholm and Matt Kelliher, who are working on these stories at 8 in the morning while Tony works on his radio show and while I work on another hour of sleep.
Washington D.C. : Sorry for another George Washington question, but I have to ask. How come every D.C.-are person that likes Georgetown cannot be happy for George Washington's fantastic season? While I agree that they're strength of schedule doesn't merit a No. 6 ranking (or a 2-seed for that matter), they've only lost once, they a fun style of play, they haven't had a good team in 10 years and they have a charismatic player in Pops. How is this even a rivalry if they don't even play eachother? Can't these coaches get together and figure out how to schedule one game a year?
Michael Wilbon: Well, there is a very real rivalry between Georgetown and George Washington. They haven't played each other, and reports are that Georgetown refused to play GW this season...so I understand. Are the Maryland people happy for Georgetown right now? No, you know they aren't. This is what rivalries are made of...I didn't go to school or grow up here, so I kinda root for all the local colleges to do well...I'd like to see GU and GW and GMU--all the Georges--go as far as possible...
Coconut Creek, Fla.: Mr. Wilbon,
With Tony doing MNF, will we ever see the once unthinkable spectacle of Tony doing PTI from the road while you are in studio?
Michael Wilbon: No sir...PTI will travel on Mondays...somtimes come to you from location again Tuesday...Could it happen? I guess. But I like being on location for Monday games. I did it for four years when I covered pro football for The Post.
Re: Respecting Gilbert: Let's remember Gilbert himself says he doesn't want the kind of fame LeBron, Kobe, etc. have (check out the little piece about him in the most recent Sports Illustrated). I think Gilbert is happy with his "fame" situation. He obviously feeds off being the underdog (the guy wears #0 for a reason), and is his words, he likes the fact he can go to Blockbuster and pick up a movie w/out causing a scene.
Michael Wilbon: Oh, you're right. He does feed off his underdog status. But if he leads the Wizards to the second round again (which, by the way, is further than T-Mac has ever taken a team) then his fame will grow...If they slip past somebody (which won't happen this season) and get to the conference finals, then it's big-time fame.
Leesburg, Va.: We all know Boz does a great job writing about the Nats. Do you have plans on writing any Nats articles this year? I know you're going to be busy with basketball, but it would be nice to get an opinion from someone who's not a homer.
Michael Wilbon: Ooooh, what a shot at Boz! Come on now, I wouldn't want to read me on baseball if I can read Boz instead. In fact, there are times when I've been planning on writing a Nats column, have called Boz and begged him to write instead...Boz sometimes does the same with me in spring with pro basketball. It's not like we're not paying attention to the "other" sport...but we LIVE our primary sport. I follow the Cubs and White Sox closely, but I'm not on top over every single baseball development because I am into virtually every football and basketball development...Anyway, by the time the NBA draft ends (nearly July) and I take a couple of weeks off, it's time for NFL camps. So I may write a column or two on the Nationals, but not much more than that.
Washington, D.C.: I believe the George Washington/Georgetown rivalry goes back more than 200 years when one was a colonial general and the other was the king of England.
Michael Wilbon: Thanks, we needed that.
New York : In response to the question about Gil Areanas not getting respect from the national media. I don't think it's JUST about winning. Look at T-Mac. The guys is one of the most marketed players in the league and he has not been a clutch post-season player.
Michael Wilbon: Marketing is paid for by sponsors. Media covers sports, reports on sports and the people who play. Sounds like you guys are confusing the two. Read the national clips on T-Mac every spring and get back to me. He gets ripped for not getting to the second round...ever...Reebok pumping T-Mac has nothing to do with the national media and what is writing or reporting on T-Mac.
Cleveland Park, Washington, D.C.: Why is NASCAR so popular? To me it appears about exciting as if they televised Beltway traffic. What am I not getting?
Michael Wilbon: The relationship between the patrons and the driver, between the patrons and the feeling they get from the entire culture of racing, from the event itself to the staging of it, to the what it represents (at least in their minds)...It's not my cup of tea, either...but I can see the connection and it's very real.
Washington, D.C.: Can't disagree with Gilbert being the face of DC sports, but I'd go with Clinton Portis. I love this guy. He works like a dog, sacrifices his body every week, and is a absolute riot.
Michael Wilbon: Well, I don't know about absolutely riot. I'd say Charles Barkley is a riot, not Portis...But Portis is a good choice. At the moment--and it certainly influences the conversation that we're in basketball season right now--I'd go Arenas, then LaVar Arrington (yes, still, because people know him...he's been here for awhile) and then Portis...
Silver Spring, Md.: Glad to see you're gonna be watching the Wiz take it to Indy. Try not to dismiss this out of hand as the ramblings of a Wiz partisan but it seems prety possible to me for the Wiz to go as high as the 3 seed. NJ and Cleveland are very passable and outside of the Det & Miami I don't see any team the WIzards should fear in the East in a 7 game series. Cleveland is definitely gonna fade down the stretch and NJ is relying on a banged up Carter to carry them. We're coming for their spots, be forwarned.
Michael Wilbon: Sorry to hurt your feelings, but the Wizards can only finish No. 3 if they pass Miami and win the division. You really want to make that case? I didn't think so. Going into the playoffs as the No. 4 seed, which means home-court advantage in the first round, would be a great season for Washington...No. 3 ain't happening this year unless Dwyane Wade gets hurt, and I hope to Heaven that doesn't happen.
Washington, D.C.: Hey Mike, Are the TarHeels a Sweet 16 team this year? They seem to be peaking at a great time and appear on TV to really enjoy playing for Roy.
Michael Wilbon: Enjoyment has nothing to do with it...but I think the Tar Heels simply making the tournament after losing the top 7 scorers and rebounders from last year's team is amazing. I don't know about the sweet 16...Maybe...If you're good in the ACC, you're good. So maybe. Tyler Hansborough is a bad, bad boy.
Arlington, Va.: PTI guest today? If so, who?
Michael Wilbon: Richard Justice, our dear friend from the Houston Chronicle...We're going to talk about the controversy surrounding Vice Young and the Wonderlic test...should be fun and hopefully enlightening.
If GMU doesn't win the Colonial tourney this weekend should they get an invitation to the Dance? If yes, will they?
Michael Wilbon: To be safe, George Mason needs to reach its conference tournament final...There could be a slew of upsets after that...And we've seen the committee completely trash deserving teams in smaller conferences before...
I am a big fan of yours, but I was rather disappointed with your defense of Bryant Gumbel's comments regarding the Winter Olympics in two respects. First, the Olympics are an international event and not solely one for the United States. To argue that the "whiteness" of the sports distracts from the event to me is unfair considering that many of the countries in which the athletes come from are predominantly, if not almost exclusively, white. It is not as if their is some world wide institutional bias against the black athlete with respect to the sports of the Winter Olympics. Second, and closely related, is his description of the event as a GOP convention is unfair. Those same countries that are predominantly white also are likely to be left of the Democratic Party in this country, some boarding on socialist.
Michael Wilbon: Once again, I defended Bryant Gumbel one one score: I thought it was a funny line. He meant it to be a funny line. I know that humor, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder...I liked the line, thought it was funny, and know that Gumbel has a great appreciation for the Winter Games...But he doesn't have to be reverential about the damn Winter Olympics..I see your point, serious...But I don't think taking a shot at the Olympics is that big a deal.
Washington, D.C.: How is it that the Pistons have stayed together for so long?
Michael Wilbon: Hasn't been THAT long. Rasheed Wallace is in his third season there...Remember, the coach has changed. Ben Wallace is due to be a free agent. Teams can stay together for four or five seasons...And another BIG reason is that Joe Dumars, who runs the team day to day, knows exactly what he's doing. How lucky are the Pistons (and how smart is their owner) to keep Dumars right there in Detroit?
New York, N.Y.: The Big East Tournament is going to be amazing! I can't wait. Are you gonna be coming up to NY to spend some time at 33rd and 7th in March?
Michael Wilbon: Yes, I am. I've covered the ACC Tournament for 11 straight years, but I'm going back to the Big East, which I last covered when Allen Iverson was in his second and final season...I can't wait...CANNNOT WAIT to see it...especially with all the teams on the bubble (Louisville, Seton Hall) who are going to need victories to get into the NCAA Tournament.
Woodbridge, Va.: Are the Cubs deluding themselves by thinking Wood and Pryor are going to be able to go all year? I don't see it happening, given the recent history.
Michael Wilbon: The Cubs are always deluding themselves...Always.
RE: Face of Washington Sports: You have to put Alexander Ovechkin in the conversation...at least...with Gilbert Arenas.
Michael Wilbon: No, I don't. I started to write the sentence: "Don't anybody mention Alex Ovechkin." Not that he isn't great because clearly he is...But if he walked onto the steps of the U.S. Capitol, 95 out of 100 people would have no idea who he is...even if he was holding a stick and wearing skates...Arenas would be known, at least, by 30 of 100..okay, 20 to 25...Ovechkin has a long way to go to build any kind of Q-rating, even locally.
Silver Spring, Md.: When can we expect another Wizards column? I suspect you rarely watch their games but you've been missing out lately with the exception of a tough loss to Dallas before the break where Arenas wasa no show the team is really starting to round into shape. Check out the Memphis game tonight where the eastcoast assasin will definitely be putting in work along side my new favorite player Butler who is quietly killing teams with his all around toughness. Did you see him stare down KG??? What team needs a presence like that more then the Wiz?
Michael Wilbon: Dude, you suspect I rarely watch Wizards games, yet you ask when I'm going to write a Wizards column? What newspaper are you reading? I've seen more Mavericks, Suns and Bulls games this year than you've seen Wizards games. I haven't written many Wizards columns because, as I said earlier, the Super Bowl ended two minutes ago and then there was All-Star weekend. Don't fret, the Wizards have 30 more games and there's plenty of time to write about them...Plus that, the Wizards ought to be in the playoffs for a month...I expect Memphis, which is playing really well, to win tonight at home but the Wizards could really open some eyes by winning down there...But losing at Memphins is no disgrace...The Wiz can bounce right back from that one, as long as they play well tonight...
Michael Wilbon: Okay, gotta run to prepare for PTI...Wow, look what we have the next two weeks. A week from today, we're really going deep into the NCAA tournament. And the next week, we're dealing with selection Sunday leftovers...Chat then. Mike
Editor's Note: washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions. washingtonpost.com is not responsible for any content posted by third parties.
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Post columnist Michael Wilbon took your questions and comments about the latest sports news.
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A federal judge today blocked the Department of Defense from implementing its new personnel system, handing the Bush administration a major setback in its attempts to streamline work rules and install pay for performance in the federal workplace.
In a 77-page decision, U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan said the National Security Personnel System fails to ensure collective bargaining rights, does not provide an independent third-party review of labor relations decisions and would leave employees without a fair way to appeal disciplinary actions.
The American Federation of Government Employees and several other labor unions who filed a lawsuit in November challenging the new system claimed victory after the ruling was handed down this morning.
"Judge Sullivan's ruling eviscerates the core of NSPS, leaving but a hollow shell of provisions that simply cannot stand on their own," said Joe Goldberg, the AFGE's assistant general counsel.
"This is an absolute victory," said Richard N. Brown, president of the National Federation of Federal Employees. "We have said from the beginning that DOD had no right to eliminate collective bargaining rights, and Judge Sullivan's decision shows we were correct in that assertion."
Joyce Frank, director of legislative and public affairs for the National Security Personnel System, said, "Our attorneys are reviewing Judge Sullivan's decision at this stage to determine what our next steps will be."A similar lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security has delayed the implementation of a new pay system there by as much as a year. In August, U.S. District Judge Rosemary M. Collyer faulted the new DHS system for undermining employees' rights to collective bargaining and blocked implementation of new rules governing labor relations and employee appeals.
DHS has appealed. It was unclear today whether the Defense Department would appeal, too.
The National Security Personnel System was designed to eventually cover 650,000 civilian employees. It would replace the familiar 15-grade General Schedule pay system with one in which raises are linked to annual performance evaluations.
The new work rules, originally scheduled to begin taking effect last year, would have curtailed the power of labor unions and made it easier to hire, promote and discipline employees -- all in the name of making the Defense Department more nimble in the struggle against terrorism.
The unions contended that the new rules would gut collective bargaining in violation of federal law. And they maintained that department officials did not live up to their obligation, spelled out in the 2003 law that paved the way for the changes, to consult with employees' representatives in developing a new labor management system.
Judge Sullivan found, however, that Defense officials did, in fact, live up to their obligation to collaborate with unions in the development of the new system. And he ruled that the Pentagon had followed the law in establishing a labor relations system apart from those that govern labor relations at other federal agencies.
Joseph W. LoBue, a lawyer for the Justice Department, told Sullivan in a hearing last month that the DOD personnel system was very different from that at Homeland Security.
"These agencies have explicit authority to do just what they did," LoBue argued.
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A federal judge today blocked the Department of Defense from implementing its new personnel system, handing the Bush administration a major setback in its attempts to streamline work rules and install pay for performance in the federal workplace.
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Ciao to the Winter Games
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TURIN, Italy, Feb. 26 -- After a stirring 2002 Winter Games on home soil just months after the Sept. 11 attacks, the 2006 Olympics have suffered in the United States from a dearth of inspirational moments and a lack of interest among television viewers.
But with the 2008 Summer Games in China next on the Olympic horizon, there was no sense of panic as the Turin Olympics concluded with Sunday night's Closing Ceremonies.
Olympic officials and marketing experts dismiss the notion that the product in which NBC has invested billions can no longer compete in the modern American entertainment market or that the U.S. Olympic team had a disappointing Games when, in fact, it collected 25 medals -- a U.S. record for a Winter Olympics not contested on American soil.
Though U.S. television ratings plunged at least in part because of the competition on other networks and cable channels, media experts say that could turn around in Beijing, which in 2001 was a controversial choice to hold the Olympics because of China's communist government and checkered human rights record.
Draped in mystique, China will open its doors in a way it never has before. Eager to make a global splash, organizers of the Beijing Games figure to counter the glut of programming options and the 13-hour time difference with rich story lines, a stunning Chinese team and, of course, a Games of historical significance. The fact that the Olympics will take place in August, a dead time for U.S. television programming, doesn't hurt.
"The good news for NBC is that China is a bigger story than any athlete," said Paul Swangard, managing director of the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center at the University of Oregon. "The significance of those Games will draw the casual viewer because it's China. . . . You are talking about 1.3 billion people and a country that is using the Games as a statement of its place in the global economy."
U.S. Olympic Committee officials, meantime, vow to more vigorously promote the Beijing Olympics and the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver, B.C., while avoiding the trap of pre-selling a handful of stars who might not pan out.
"These Games went largely unnoticed by the American public" in the weeks before they began, USOC chief executive Jim Scherr said. He said the goal is to "build greater interest. . . . Even just the nature of those two Games will make that job easier for us. There is tremendous interest in China, in the Chinese people and government, and the growing rivalry between the U.S. and China, and that really will drive that interest."
Olympic historian David Wallechinsky said the decision of NBC and Olympic sponsors to single out a few big names -- namely, Michelle Kwan, who left the Games with an injury, and Bode Miller, who didn't win a single medal in five events -- in their run-up to these Games ultimately resulted in a suppression of interest when their stories flopped. NBC had much better luck at the 2004 Athens Games with swimmer Michael Phelps, whose multi-medal quest held interest from the beginning to the end.
"The lesson learned heading into Beijing and on to Vancouver is you have to strike a balance such that you are not too reliant on the personalities of these people or on their athletic performances," said David Carter, a professor at the University of Southern California's Marshall School of Business.
Though frustrated at what they consider an erroneous notion that U.S. athletes have underperformed here, U.S. Olympic officials consider the Summer Olympics the United States' athletic domain and look forward to escaping the snares of ice and snow sports, even while wary of China as a growing sports rival. Of course, there also is a significant benefit of facing a loaded Chinese team: The competition should provide great daily drama -- something lacking at these Olympics.
"While it won't be an 'us-versus-them' story line like the Cold War Olympics, there will be an America-China competition for the medal count," Swangard said. "The Chinese have said they want to win the medal count in Beijing. That will tap the national pride in America to cheer for the home team and as a result, marketers will find a passionate consumer base."
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Despite lacklaster ratings for the Turin Olympics, USOC officials defend American results and look ahead to 2008 and Beijing, China.
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What's Needed From Hamas
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The image of Ariel Sharon lying comatose in an Israeli hospital has a haunting quality. There is the poignancy of the warrior who fought -- occasionally ruthlessly -- in all of Israel's wars, incapacitated when he was on the verge of proclaiming a dramatic reappraisal of Israel's approach to peace. And, there is the prospect that this combative general has transcended his implacable past to show both sides the sacrifice needed for a serious peace process.
A serious peace process assumes a reciprocal willingness to compromise. But traditional diplomacy works most effectively when there is a general agreement on goals; a minimum condition is that both sides accept each other's legitimacy, that the right of the parties to exist is taken for granted.
Such a reciprocal commitment has been lacking between Israel and the Palestinians. Until the Oslo agreement of 1993, Israel refused to deal with the Palestine Liberation Organization because its charter required the elimination of Israel and its policies included frequent recourse to terrorism. After Oslo, Israel was prepared to negotiate with the PLO, but only over autonomy of the occupied territories, not sovereignty. After Ariel Sharon became prime minister in 2001, he unexpectedly came to accept the emergence of a Palestinian state, first as a necessity, ultimately as an Israeli strategic requirement. At the moment of his illness, he was preparing to create the objective conditions for such an outcome through unilateral Israeli actions, including withdrawals from Gaza and major portions of the West Bank.
The Palestinians have yet to make a comparable adjustment. Even relatively conciliatory Arab statements, such as the Beirut summit declaration of 2003, reject Israel's legitimacy as inherent in its sovereignty; they require the fulfillment of certain prior conditions. Almost all official and semi-official Arab and Palestinian media and schoolbooks present Israel as an illegitimate, imperialist interloper in the region.
The emergence of Hamas as the dominant faction in Palestine should not be treated as a radical departure. Hamas represents the mind-set that prevented the full recognition of Israel's legitimacy by the PLO for all these decades, kept Yasser Arafat from accepting partition of Palestine at Camp David in 2000, produced two intifadas and consistently supported terrorism. Far too much of the debate within the Palestinian camp has been over whether Israel should be destroyed immediately by permanent confrontation or in stages in which occasional negotiations serve as periodic armistices. The reaction of the PLO's Fatah to the Hamas electoral victory has been an attempt to outflank Hamas on the radical side. Only a small number of moderates have accepted genuine and permanent coexistence.
This is why, heretofore, even seeming compromises were attainable only by verbal gymnastics using adjectives that kept the content capable of incompatible interpretations. The treatment of the refugee issue in the "road map" is a good example. It calls for an "agreed, just, fair, and realistic solution." To the Palestinians, "fair and just" signifies a return of refugees to all parts of former Palestine, including the current territory of Israel, thereby swamping it. To the Israelis, the phrase implies that returning refugees should settle on Palestinian territory only.
The advent of Hamas brings us to a point where the peace process must be brought into some conformity with conditions on the ground. The old game plan that Palestinian elections would produce a moderate secular partner cannot be implemented with Hamas in the near future. What would be needed from Hamas is an evolution comparable to Sharon's. The magnitude of that change is rarely adequately recognized. For most of his career, Sharon's strategic goal was the incorporation of the West Bank into Israel by a settlement policy designed to prevent Palestinian self-government over significant contiguous territory. In his indefatigable pursuit of this objective, Sharon became a familiar figure on his frequent visits to America, with maps of his strategic concept rolled up under his arms to brief his interlocutors.
Late in life, Sharon, together with a growing number of his compatriots, concluded that ruling the West Bank would deform Israel's historic objective. Instead of creating a Jewish homeland, the Jewish population would, in time, become a minority. The coexistence of two states in Palestinian territory had become imperative. Under Sharon, Israel seemed prepared to withdraw from close to 95 percent of West Bank territory, to abandon a significant percentage of the settlements -- many of them placed there by Sharon -- involving the movement of tens of thousands of settlers into pre-1967 Israel, and to compensate Palestinians for the retained territory by some equivalent portions of Israeli territory. Significant percentages of Israelis are prepared to add the Arab part of Jerusalem to such a settlement as the possible capital of a Palestinian state.
Progress has been prevented in large measure by the rigid insistence on the 1967 frontiers and the refugee issue -- both unfulfillable preconditions. The 1967 lines were established as demarcation lines of the 1948 cease-fire. Not a single Arab state accepted Israel as legitimate within these lines or was prepared to treat the dividing lines as an international border at that time. A return to the 1967 lines and the abandonment of the settlements near Jerusalem would be such a psychological trauma for Israel as to endanger its survival.
The most logical outcome would be to trade Israeli settlement blocs around Jerusalem -- a demand President Bush has all but endorsed -- for some equivalent territories in present-day Israel with significant Arab populations. The rejection of such an approach, or alternative available concepts, which would contribute greatly to stability and to demographic balance, reflects a determination to keep incendiary issues permanently open.
So far Hamas has left no ambiguity about its intentions, and it will clearly form the next government in the territories. A serious, comprehensive negotiation is therefore impossible unless Hamas crosses the same conceptual Rubicon Sharon did. And, as with Sharon, this may not happen until Hamas is convinced there is no alternative strategy -- a much harder task since the Sharon view is, in its essence, secular, while the Hamas view is fueled by religious conviction.
Hamas may in time accept institutionalized coexistence because Israel is in a position to bring about unilaterally much of the outcome described here. In principle, there would be much to be said for a comprehensive negotiation, especially if the United States plays a leading role and if other members of the "quartet" -- the United Nations, Europe and Russia -- that drafted the road map appreciate the outer limits of flexibility. It requires above all a Palestinian leadership going beyond anything heretofore shown and a willingness by moderate Arabs to face down their radical wing and make themselves responsible for a moderate, secular solution.
The danger of a final-status negotiation is that absent a firm prior agreement among the quartet, it might shade into an incendiary effort to impose terms on Israel incompatible with its long-term security and inconsistent with the parameters established by President Bill Clinton at Camp David and in his speech of January 2001 and by President Bush in his letter to Sharon in April 2004. Final-status negotiations in present conditions would probably founder on the underlying challenge described earlier: Do the parties view this as a step toward coexistence or as a stage toward final victory?
Does this mean the end of all diplomacy? Whatever happens, whoever governs Israel and the Palestinian Authority, the parties will be impelled by their closeness to one another to interact on a range of issues including crossing points, work permits and water usage. These de facto relationships might be shaped into some agreed international framework, in the process testing Hamas's claims of a willingness to discuss a truce. A possible outcome of such an effort could be an interim agreement of indefinite duration. Both sides would suspend some of their most intractable claims on permanent borders, on refugees and perhaps on the final status of the Arab part of Jerusalem. Israel would withdraw to lines based on the various formulas evolved since Camp David and endorsed by American presidents. It would dismantle settlements beyond the established dividing line. The Hamas-controlled government would be obliged to renounce violence. It would also need to agree to adhere to agreements previously reached by the PLO. A security system limiting military forces on the soil of the emerging Palestinian state would be established. State-sponsored propaganda to undermine the adversary would cease.
Such a long-term interim understanding would build on the precedent of the Israeli-Syrian disengagement agreement, which has regulated the deployment of forces in the Golan Heights since 1974 amid disputes on a variety of other issues and Syria's failure to recognize Israel.
Whether Hamas can be brought to such an outcome or any negotiated outcome depends on unity among the quartet and, crucially, on the moderate Arab world. It also remains to be seen whether the Israeli government emerging from the March 28 elections will have Sharon's prestige and authority to preserve Sharon's strategy, to which the acting prime minister, Ehud Olmert, has committed himself. A diplomatic framework is needed within which Israel can carry out those parts of the road map capable of unilateral implementation, and the world community can strive for an international status that ends violence while leaving open the prospect of further progress toward permanent peace.
© 2006 Tribune Media Services Inc.
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For there to be progress toward peace, Hamas must undergo an evolution comparable to Ariel Sharon's and accept that a Palestinian and an Israeli state can co-exist.
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Two-Thirds of Katrina Donations Exhausted
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Six months after Hurricane Katrina laid waste to the Gulf Coast, charities have disbursed more than $2 billion of the record sums they raised for the storm's victims, leaving less than $1 billion for the monumental task of helping hundreds of thousands of storm victims rebuild their lives, according to a survey by The Washington Post.
Two-thirds of the $3.27 billion raised by private nonprofit organizations and tracked by The Post went to help evacuees and other Katrina victims with immediate needs -- cash, food and temporary shelter, medical care, tarps for damaged homes and school supplies for displaced children.
What's left, say charities and federal officials, will need to be stretched over years to rebuild lives and reconstruct the social fabric of the Gulf Coast -- from job training to mental health counseling to rebuilding the homes of the poor to reestablishing arts organizations and paying clergy as they wait for their congregations to return.
The Post survey, the first detailed examination of the largest outpouring of charity in the nation's history, also found the following:
? The American Red Cross, which was criticized for slow distribution of donations after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, has given out 84 percent of its Katrina and Rita donations.
? 50 cents of each donated dollar went out in cash to victims.
? 6 percent of contributions came in the form of supplies -- building materials, food, water, clothing, heavy equipment -- donated mostly by corporations.
? 56 percent of remaining donations are controlled by faith-based organizations. They include such well-known institutions as Catholic Charities USA and the Salvation Army but also such lower-profile groups as the United Methodist Committee on Relief and United Jewish Communities.
What remains to be done goes well beyond even the staggering costs of rebuilding infrastructure -- projects estimated to require nearly $200 billion in government aid over the long term.
"There are many, many needs that the federal government cannot cover," said Don Powell, a former Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. chairman who was named coordinator of the Gulf's long-term recovery by President Bush in November. Many are "the crucial part of life that we all depend on," he said. "It's not public works. It's not water, sewage or utilities. It's the soul of our life."
No one has put a price tag on restoring the "soul" of a region after such devastation, but the current charitable resources of about $960 million, as calculated by The Post, will not be sufficient, Powell said.
The line between what the government pays for and what charities will cover is blurred. Even though many Gulf Coast residents are eligible for federal assistance for some housing costs, plenty of other residents will not qualify, say charities, who predict they'll have to pick up the slack.
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Six months after Hurricane Katrina laid waste to the Gulf Coast, charities have disbursed more than $2 billion of the record sums they raised for the storm's victims, leaving less than $1 billion for the monumental task of helping hundreds of thousands of storm victims rebuild their lives,...
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J. Craig Venter's Next Little Thing:
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J. Craig Venter, maverick biologist, wants to cure our addiction to oil. To do so, he proposes creating a designer microbe -- the heart of a biological engine -- from scratch, then adding genes culled from the sea to turn crops such as switch grass and cornstalks into ethanol.
While he's at it, he'd like to modify or devise microorganisms to produce a steady stream of hydrogen.
Either could prompt a major shift in the economics of the energy industry and in the process bring Venter to a secondary goal: showing the world he can be as successful running a company as he was at sequencing human DNA.
"We are on a crusade as much as it is an economic goal," Venter said. "This is one of those crusades that only works if it becomes really profitable."
Five years after antagonizing government scientists while racing them to map the human genome, Venter is back, making the typically bold statements that have long polarized opinion about him. Either he is one of this era's most electrifying scientists, or he's one of the most maddening. He is apt in conversation to compare himself to Robin Hood. Or Darwin.
"Yes, Craig confronts," said Alfonso Romo Garza, a Mexican billionaire, controller of a decent chunk of the world's commercial vegetable seeds and a backer of Venter's latest undertaking. "Of course, he's antagonistic. He's controversial. But I love controversial people because those are the people who change the world."
Bearded from a three-year, Darwinesque yacht trip around the world, Venter also now sports an extensive collection of genetic material scooped from the sea on his journey -- and that's the raw material for his alternative fuel project. With $15 million from Garza, he has launched a new company in Rockville called Synthetic Genomics Inc.
It is a small firm with classic Venter ambition. Create life. Use it to make fuel.
There are caveats, to be sure.
Venter's business career made him rich, but his record running Celera Genomics Corp. was spotty. The company's original business plan -- selling access to the genetic data Venter helped develop -- faltered because the information became public through the government's efforts.
Celera has since waxed and waned with other business plans that haven't yet worked out.
He insists this time that things have changed.
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J. Craig Venter, maverick biologist, wants to cure our addiction to oil. To do so, he proposes creating a designer microbe -- the heart of a biological engine -- from scratch, then adding genes culled from the sea to turn crops such as switch grass and cornstalks into ethanol.
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Tint City
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There are but three colors now, in the deadest days of winter, besides the brown and the much beloved federal graydom of the trees, streets and sky: There is the orange of traffic barrels. There is the Big Bird yellow in the squares of Georgia-Pacific insulation going up along another new ticky-tacky condo on 14th Street NW.
And, no matter where you find yourself, there is the electric blue of tarp.
Blue tarp is going flappa-swappa-flappa. It is draped over the back of what remains of a row house in Shaw, which you can see from the alley, and it seems the owners are in an infinite stage of renovation, and you're starting to think the contractor skipped town. There is a vacant lot north of Woodbridge on which a few tarps are covering something low to the ground, and you get out the car to look, think better of it (the mud, the Kenneth Cole loafers, the wind, the trespassing) and move on. The tarps are coming loose on a half-finished apartment building farther down Route 1, and twisting in the breeze. Is this beautiful or depressing? Is it almost Christo, or much too Home Depot?
Blue tarp is tied down over the firewood, it has slid off the boxes in the garage. You fold it into squares and it makes a horrible crackling-crinkling, a sound that makes you think of landfills. It has come flying off the back of a pickup track, makin' lazy circles in the sky , some sort of bird that isn't on anyone's endangered species list.
Of life's ubiquitous, polymer-resiny things (bolted-down fast-food tables, dead Hewlett-Packard computers, white CVS bags snared in the trees) only the blue tarp is having its celebrity moment:
What chronicler of New Orleans's post-Katrina recovery effort can resist describing the flight into the city? He sees miles and miles of roofs still covered in blue tarp, hammered onto damaged homes. Contractors hired by the Federal Emergency Management Agency or the Army Corps of Engineers have in some cases been overpaid (by thousands of dollars) to cover the city and suburbs in blue tarp, and this report was greeted with outrage -- and more despair. The blue tarp became symbol of something permanently temporary, a lasting aura of plastic, of the unfixed. Musicians and satirists there have written several variations on the blue tarp blues. "Passing through Met'rie I felt such a dread/As I saw the water marks way over my head," penned one. "We're known for our jazz, food and booze/But down in New Orleans we got the Blue Tarp Blues."
Some of the Mardi Gras parade clubs have used blue tarp symbolically in this year's floats. (The Krewe of Mid-City hemmed all its floats in it.) A wetlands-preservation benefit at Antoine's restaurant last week featured a blue tarp fashion show, with outfits made by local artists. According to the Times-Picayune, one model "took a turn in her own frock, swishing back and forth in the season's hottest look, a five-tiered tutu and matching corset in the fabric du jour: blue tarp."
Out West, when you go on a Native American vision quest (there are workshops), the medicine man sends you to the desert with exactly three things: your walking stick, your gallon jug of water and your blue tarp. You're out there for two or three days or more, waiting for the vision, and what you do with those objects is up to you, and beside the point. You are out there to listen to the wilderness, the rocks. A woman named Nancy Blair Moon posted this about her vision quest to a Quaker online forum:
"So I talk to the rock. I say, gratefully, 'Rock, I'm glad to see you. Would you help me hold up my tarp? I'll have to move you, but if you are willing, I will appreciate it very much.' (At this point, truthfully, I'm better at talking to the rock than I am at understanding its response. But I trust myself. It makes a difference that I have addressed the rock at all, and that I have asked permission. Sometimes I say to the Mystery, 'If you don't want me to do this, you'll have to let me know.') And I see a creosote bush a little larger and less brittle than some. 'Bush, may I tie my rope to one of your branches to hold my tarp? Thank you!' "
Other tarps, other oddness: Laura Palmer, the dead girl from the 1990 TV series "Twin Peaks," was found wrapped and duct-taped in clear plastic, more like a shower curtain, or those cheap dropcloths. Between then and now, it seems, the blue tarp has become a key piece of evidence, the bit player of so many "CSI" episodes. ( The fabric du jour . ) From an episode of "Larry King Live" three years ago, when everyone was looking for Laci Peterson, the famous Modesto, Calif., murder victim:
Larry King: Dallas, Texas, hello.
Caller: Hi, I just wanted to know what happened to the blue tarp. There was a -- if they had a tarp out there at the marina. I want to know if his boat was covered when he went out there with the tarp. I feel like -- I just -- I feel something. . . .
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There are but three colors now, in the deadest days of winter, besides the brown and the much beloved federal graydom of the trees, streets and sky: There is the orange of traffic barrels. There is the Big Bird yellow in the squares of Georgia-Pacific insulation going up along another new...
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They Shoot Quail, Don't They?
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On a foggy morning last week in the piney woods of south Georgia, a small group of men and dogs is gathered in a tableau of tense anticipation. After walking quietly through the mist for several minutes, they have suddenly assembled themselves into a living arrowhead pointed at a small tuft of wiregrass. At the tip, a skinny white pointer named Jake crouches with his forefoot up and his tail straight back, every sinew of his wiry body focused on a tiny rustle of the undergrowth. Two yards behind the dog is Ruel Cleveland, a guide employed by Quail Country Lodge, the destination hunting outfit that owns this forest. And a half-step behind him on either side, two hunters with skyward-pointing 20-gauge shotguns stand with legs apart and safeties off.
Whiskers quiver, fingers twitch along trigger guards and the moment swells with pregnant waiting. Finally, a flash of gray erupts from under Jake's snout as a bobwhite quail takes wing and all the readiness becomes action.
Cleveland instantly shuts it down.
"No shot," he shouts, throwing up his hands and freezing the shooters just as they have shouldered their guns. "Low bird."
The quail's rocketing line of flight is only about three feet off the ground, one of several off-limits trajectories that will cause Cleveland to still the hunters under his control. This particular forbidden zone is meant mostly to protect the bounding dogs. Others -- such as a bird darting directly through the group or swinging 180 degrees behind it -- are meant to shield the Jeep, the guide and the other hunters from the pell-mell sprays of birdshot that have been so much in the news lately.
"As a guide, you have to be in control," says Cleveland, 58. He's a retired technician from a Procter & Gamble plant in nearby Albany, Ga., where he helped make Pampers, Bounty and Charmin. Now, between October and late March, he shepherds gun-wielding tourists through the lodge's more than 8,500 acres of pines and brambles. "You have to tell people where to go and what to shoot. We are serious about safety here."
That was true long before Vice President Cheney shoved quail hunting onto the world stage two weeks ago with his stunningly powerful object lesson in shotgun safety. Thousands of people a year pay $500 a day or more for bird-hunting holidays at lodges surrounding Albany in southwest Georgia, the nation's epicenter of commercial quail hunting. Cheney has hunted in this area several times, as well as on quail plantations in Texas and other states.
"It used to be we went hunting in order to get enough quail for dinner that night," says Quail Country owner Paschal Brooks, 62, a practicing dentist who happens to bear a passing resemblance to the vice president. "Now people come for the camaraderie and to be outside and to watch the dogs work. We're in the entertainment business; hunting really has very little to do with it."
A visit to Quail Country, or any of the other nearby lodges, typically begins in the late afternoon after a three-hour drive south of the Atlanta airport. Each year, visitors from Chicago to Jakarta burrow deep into rural Georgia, stepping down from interstates to country roads to the red-clay farm lane that ends at a neat and modern low-rise house in a grove of moss-draped oaks. Inside, between wings that can sleep 30 people in austere double rooms, a wood-paneled great room is lined with a dozen mighty buck heads, stuffed pheasants, turkey and quail; two stone fireplaces; and two wide-screen televisions. One of them is where a quail-hunting safety video is mandatory viewing for all new guests. The other one, jarringly, is showing Olympic ice dancing.
Most of the guests are men, although family groups are common and Brooks says more and more women are joining the shoots. With rates of $495 for a day of guided hunting with dogs, plus $115 a night for a room and three meals, customers tend to be either affluent or on an expense account, although hunt coordinator Rohn Bayman, 49, says quite a few sub-wealthy locals book a day or two a year. "It's really cheaper for them than keeping and training their own dogs," he says. A trained pointer costs an average of $2,500.
The quail-hunting routine follows a kind of industry standard from lodge to lodge, Bayman says: grits and bacon at 8 a.m., hunting from 9 until noon, followed by lunch and a couple of hours of down time. That's when diehards will go out back and shoot skeet over the pond, or when corporate groups will gather in the conference room and do enough business to justify writing off a few days of quail hunting.
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Find Washington DC, Virginia and Maryland travel information, including web fares, Washington DC tours, beach/ski guide, international and United States destinations. Featuring Mid-Atlantic travel, airport information, traffic/weather updates
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Actor Darren McGavin; Starred in 'Night Stalker'
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Darren McGavin, 83, who played gruff, grumpy but often goodhearted characters in a profusion of fondly recalled television series and shows, died Feb. 25 in Los Angeles.
He died of multiple organ failure at Olympia Hospital, his son York McGavin said.
In the "Night Stalker" series, Mr. McGavin wore a porkpie hat to play reporter Carl Kolchak, who revealed the occult forces behind the reality of the Chicago streets. Mr. McGavin is widely remembered as the father in 1983's "A Christmas Story," a classic that reappears every year during the holiday season.
He was also Mike Hammer, the embodiment of the hard-nosed private eye, in the series based on the Mickey Spillane novels.
In dozens of roles in made-for-TV movies, in series, or in episodes of series, Mr. McGavin appeared cynical or curmudgeonly. But even if he was a grouch, he was frequently a grouch with a glint in his eye.
York McGavin said last night that the irascible on-screen figure was not the father he knew. He said, however, that his father was a professional who knew what was demanded of him, "took great pride in his craft" and came to work prepared.
That apparently helped account for one of the busiest careers in television. It spanned more than a half-century, beginning with a part in the 1945 film "A Song to Remember" and continuing into 1999. That year, his son said, Mr. McGavin suffered a stroke while filming an episode of the TV series "The X Files."
Demand for his services was great enough in the 1950s to involve him in the almost unheard-of feat of making two television series simultaneously.
"He would change personas in a day," his son said. He would transform himself from the trench-coated Mike Hammer into the more refined Grey Holden, the steamboat captain in "Riverboat."
Among the films for which he will be remembered is "The Man With the Golden Arm," in which he plays a drug pusher.
He performed in westerns, crime stories and military dramas. In one movie, "Raw Deal," his character was shot in the back by the character played by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Mr. McGavin was born May 7, 1922, in Spokane, Wash. He was the child of a troubled marriage and as a boy spent time in an orphanage. That experience, his son said, gave Mr. McGavin the desire to "pull himself up by his own bootstraps."
He spent a year at the University of the Pacific, where his interest in the stage showed itself in his work as a skilled painter of scenery.
Later, he studied in New York at the Actors Studio. "The theater was his first love," his son said. He played on the Broadway stage and on tour, with appearances in such works as "Death of a Salesman."
His first marriage ended in divorce; his second wife died.
Besides his son York, three other children survive.
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Washington D.C., Maryland and Virginia obituaries, appreciations and death notices.
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Fort Detrick Neighbors Jittery Over Expansion
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After the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and the circulation of letters laced with the anthrax bacteria a few weeks later, the Bush administration moved to strengthen the nation's defenses against bioterrorism and began planning a major expansion at Fort Detrick.
But the project at the Army installation in Frederick is being challenged by some residents who live in the base's shadow, who say their community is not the place to build a major biodefense facility that would handle some of the world's most dangerous pathogens.
The opponents said that they understand they face steep odds in stopping the federal government's planned $10 billion National Interagency Biodefense Campus but that they're going to try anyway. When the Army called what it thought would be the first of a series of routine hearings on the environmental impact of the facility, about 30 people -- mostly opponents -- showed up.
"I realize people like you don't agree with people like us and would much rather not have to go through the motions of listening to people like us," Jason Kray, 26, of Frederick told Army officials at Wednesday's hearing. "I also realize that if people like you had listened to people like us, Detrick would not have spent so much time and money developing biological weapons during the Cold War. . . . If people like you had listened to people like us, soldiers on both sides of the current war would not be dying or losing limbs."
Several warned that the campus makes an inviting terrorist target and questioned its location in a densely populated area. They also questioned the government's claim that the research would be limited to finding cures for deadly diseases, suggesting that the facility's work could also be used to create bioweapons.
"You know there is no line between offense and defense," said Richard J. Ochs, 67, a retired printer who lives in Baltimore.
Others noted that accidents are liable at even the most secure institutions. They also wondered how the facility could ensure that no insiders would ever use their access or knowledge for destructive uses, noting that the FBI's unsolved investigation into the anthrax mailings has centered on the possibility that the deadly bacteria came from Fort Detrick.
Steven J. Hatfill, a former scientist at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, was labeled a "person of interest" by former U.S. attorney general John D. Ashcroft. Hatfill, who has not been charged, has denied any involvement and sued Ashcroft and the government to clear his name.
"The terrible irony is that the source of this unique attack was biodefense itself," said Barry Kissin, 54, a Frederick lawyer who is running for Congress as a Democrat this year.
The comments were a sign that the hearings into expanding the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, known as USAMRIID, [pronounced u-SAM-rid] would be anything but routine.
Army officials listened to the complaints without commenting. They plan to release an analysis responding to concerns.
The facility is to become the cornerstone of the National Interagency Biodefense Campus. The public comment period on the environmental issues ends March 10.
Under the government's plan, the campus would house laboratories for the Homeland Security Department's National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center, whose groundbreaking is set for May; the Agriculture Department's Foreign Disease-Weed Research unit; and the Health and Human Services Department's National Institutes for Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the National Cancer Institute.
The USAMRIID facility currently has about 750 staff members and 23 labs, including six that operate at Biosafety Level 4 -- or under the strictest regulations to prevent accidental releases.
Under current plans, the first stage would more than triple the existing space by 2014. The staff would increase by 1,300 people.
Supporters say that besides its importance to national security, the expansion at Fort Detrick would bring jobs directly to the base, which is already Frederick County's largest employer, and attract additional biotech companies and others to the area.
But opponents say Fort Detrick's history is enough cause for alarm. For two decades beginning in the late 1940s, it led the U.S. government's efforts to research and develop biological weapons, including anthrax bacteria.
When the program was dismantled by President Richard M. Nixon in 1969, USAMRIID began its mission in basic and applied research to protect the public and the military from biological threats.
"Research at USAMRIID has been and will continue to be solely defensive in nature," the institute's leader, Col. George W. Korch Jr., said. Referring to the government's efforts to develop biological weapons at Fort Detrick years ago, known as Operation Whitecoat, Korch said in an interview Friday: "That program is dead and gone, a thing of the past. It still looms in people's imaginations."
Today, Korch said USAMRIID research is subject to open review by peers, and its scientists compete to publish their findings in the most prestigious journals.
USAMRIID's scientists have developed a vaccine that can protect against anthrax bacteria exposure and enhance a person's chances of surviving the illness after becoming infected, Korch said. Recently, they also announced the discovery of a breakthrough for a possible vaccine against the Ebola virus, Korch said.
Korch acknowledged that such a terrorist attack on Fort Detrick is "a possibility." But he said the installation has heavy security in place to thwart one.
Several people in the Governor Thomas Johnson High School auditorium Wednesday in Frederick expressed a mood of futility.
"I realize this facility will be built no matter what we do," Kray said.
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After the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and the circulation of letters laced with the anthrax bacteria a few weeks later, the Bush administration moved to strengthen the nation's defenses against bioterrorism and began planning a major expansion at Fort Detrick.
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Nationals Mull Pitching Options
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VIERA, Fla., Feb. 26 -- The Washington Nationals' search for starting pitching help, in the wake of Brian Lawrence's potentially season-ending shoulder surgery Sunday, has led them away from the well-picked-over free agent market, at least for now, as team officials shift their focus to a trade market that might be almost as barren. And in the meantime, Manager Frank Robinson and his staff are expanding their view of the collection of pitchers already in camp.
Asked if he would be comfortable breaking camp in five weeks with the collection of starting pitchers he has now, Robinson said: "I'd be comfortable. Would I be completely satisfied? No."
General Manager Jim Bowden said Sunday that the team's talks with free agent pitcher Pedro Astacio are "dead" following a conversation earlier in the day with Astacio's agent, Steve Schneider.
"They're not moving at all in their position," Bowden said. "We tried to meet a fair and equitable compromise with the player. But we're turning the page now."
Astacio is also reportedly weighing offers from the Cincinnati Reds and San Diego Padres, although Astacio is not eligible to be placed on the Padres' 25-man roster until May 1 because of baseball's arbitration rules. Astacio reportedly turned down a $1.2 million offer from the Colorado Rockies in January.
The only other free agent starting pitchers still on the market who spent significant time in the major leagues last year are Kevin Brown, Ismael Valdez -- neither of whom apparently interest the Nationals -- and Roger Clemens.
Harming the Nationals' financial maneuverability is the fact the team is approaching its payroll budget figure of $60 million. Lawrence, who underwent surgery Sunday morning to repair a torn labrum, will receive his entire $3.5 million salary for 2006 (although the Padres are responsible for a small part of it), even if he does not pitch at all.
There are far more teams looking for starting pitching help this time of year than teams with extra starters to deal, but the Nationals feel there are potential trade partners -- perhaps most notably the Boston Red Sox, who are prepared to give top prospect Jonathan Papelbon the fifth starter's job, making another starter such as Matt Clement and/or Bronson Arroyo expendable.
However, Clement, who is owed $9.5 million in both 2006 and 2007, may be too expensive for the Nationals. Arroyo, meantime, signed a three-year, $11.25 million contract with the Red Sox in January. Complicating the Red Sox' picture is the fact the team reportedly promised veteran lefty David Wells that they would try to trade him to a West Coast team by the end of the spring.
According to a team source, the Nationals have already approached the Red Sox about a trade involving second baseman Alfonso Soriano, whom the Nationals acquired in a December trade and are trying to persuade to accept a move to left field, but the Red Sox showed very little interest.
The Nationals, whose farm system and organizational depth are rated among the worst in baseball, are in better shape than they were a year ago, thanks to a winter of aggressive stockpiling. Still, aside from 21-year-old third baseman Ryan Zimmerman and catcher Brian Schneider, whom the Nationals consider to be virtually untouchable, the team's most tradable position players are probably first baseman Nick Johnson and outfielder Ryan Church.
Lawrence's injury leaves the Nationals' rotation perilously thin beyond top starters Livan Hernandez and John Patterson. Presently, Tony Armas Jr., Ramon Ortiz, Ryan Drese and Jon Rauch are considered the top four candidates for the final three starting slots, but Drese is being brought along slowly this spring following shoulder surgery in September.
On Sunday, Robinson indicated that 26-year-old left-hander Billy Traber, whom the team signed quietly this winter to a split major league-minor league contract, could be considered as part of that mix.
"Traber is going to be stretched out [as a starter], because I want to see him," Robinson said. "Our people have said they like what they see. They think he's going to be a good one."
Traber, once one of the top-rated prospects in the New York Mets' farm system, saw his promising career sidetracked by elbow ligament-replacement surgery in September 2003 while with the Cleveland Indians. He missed all of 2004, and spent 2005 in the Indians' farm system, going a combined 8-11 with a 4.83 ERA in Class A, AA and AAA.
"If we don't [acquire another] proven arm, why am I going to worry about it? I have to work with what I have." Robinson said. "There's nothing better for a manager than to be able to say in spring training: 'I'm leaving here with these guys. I know I can count on these guys to give me this many wins, this many wins, this many wins.' We just don't have that here this year. No use losing sleep over that."
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This is your source for info on Washington Nationals baseball. Learn about DC baseball at the RFK stadium. Get the latest schedule and stats for the Washington Nationals. Stay updated on the latest Washington Nationals news!
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Wizards Hope to Be Hidden Treasures
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Gilbert Arenas almost blew his team's cover Saturday night.
When Arenas scored 46 points in little more than 30 minutes against the New York Knicks at MCI Center, Washington Wizards Coach Eddie Jordan decided to slow him down.
With a 110-89 victory well in hand and with a potentially tough game looming tonight at Memphis, Jordan sat Arenas for the fourth quarter, preventing Arenas from making a run at Earl Monroe's franchise record of 56 points in a game, set against the Los Angeles Lakers in 1968.
Arenas didn't break Monroe's record, but he did make history. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Arenas's 46 points were the most scored in 30 minutes or fewer of playing time since the 24-second shot clock was implemented in 1954. Larry Bird held the previous record, scoring 43 points in 29 minutes against Cleveland in 1986.
A historic night from Arenas, against the Knicks no less, might have earned the Wizards some national attention, the kind of publicity that has evaded the team during a recent stretch in which it has won 16 of 22 games while steadily climbing the Eastern Conference standings.
"Yeah, we've been kind of laying low, so I guess we'll just let everyone sleep on us some more," said swingman Caron Butler, who had a hand in holding Cleveland's LeBron James without a field goal in the second half of Friday's 102-94 road win over the Cavaliers. "If that's what our role is going to be, that's cool. The important thing is for us to just keep playing good basketball, keep winning. The rest will take care of itself."
Despite playing in a major East Coast market and despite the presence of Arenas, Butler and Antawn Jamison, the team is all but anonymous in the NBA's big picture. Somehow, all the headlines go to James and the Cavaliers; Shaquille O'Neal, Dwyane Wade and the Miami Heat; the latest drama surrounding Philadelphia's Allen Iverson; the latest baffling trade by the Knicks; and, of course, the Lakers and Kobe Bryant.
Even though the Wizards have beaten all of those teams except Miami, Cleveland twice, and are now very much in the thick of the Eastern Conference playoff picture, they continue to fly under the radar.
"I'm not sure what it is, but we all notice it," Jamison said. "Outside of D.C., nobody talks about us. I guess we lack that extra something. I mean, we have some real good ballplayers, but I guess we don't have that kind of big-time star who grabs all the headlines. If we're going to get more [attention], we're going to have to keep winning. That's what it's all about anyway."
Of course, the Wizards lost a chance to send a message when they allowed a winnable game to slip away on national television at Western Conference power Dallas just before the all-star break.
That 103-97 loss, in which Arenas made only 4 of 22 shots while turning over the ball six times, has been the worst setback in an otherwise strong stretch.
The Wizards will get another shot to send a message tonight when they play at Memphis, which is 17-9 at home. A win would move the Wizards five games over the .500 mark for the first time while a victory combined with a Cleveland loss to Detroit tonight would draw Washington within a game of the Cavaliers for fourth place in the East.
Jordan, while pleased to see his team accumulate wins in recent weeks, wants more.
"It's a good thing," Jordan said. "When we were playing Cleveland though, I was looking at their record [the Cavaliers were 32-22 before the Wizards beat them Friday night] and I was thinking that I would like to be like them, 10 games over .500. That's a sweet number. But again, we don't want to get ahead of ourselves."
And now, Jordan's players appear to be as focused as their coach. Arenas has been a self-described "assassin," intimating that he is no longer content with being considered one of the better players in the league. Butler has flourished as the team's third scoring option and primary defender on the opponents' best shooting guard or small forward. Jamison has been on a hot streak since Jordan held him out of the starting lineup for two games in mid-January. Antonio Daniels is playing with a level of confidence that was nowhere to be seen for most of the first half of the season.
"We wanted to start off this part of the season after the all-star break on a good note," Arenas said of his team's 3-0 record after the break. "We lost two before the break, but we played good basketball. This is when the best teams come out to play. We want to show ourselves that we can contend with some of the best."
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A historic night against the Knicks might have helped spread the word about Gilbert Arenas and the Wizards, but Eddie Jordan had other ideas.
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Film: "Thank You For Smoking"
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Nick Taylor (Aaron Eckhart) defends the rights of smokers and cigarette manufacturers. Health zealots and an opportunistic senator (William H. Macy) want to ban tobacco and put poison labels on cigarette packs. Nick launches a PR offensive, hires a Hollywood super-agent (Rob Lowe) and attempts to spin away the dangers of cigarettes in the media. Nick's notoriety attracts the attention of a top tobacco honcho (Robert Duvall) and an investigative reporter (Katie Holmes) for a Washington, D.C., newspaper. Although he manages to pay the mortgage Nick begins to think about how his work makes him look in the eyes of his son.
"Thank You For Smoking" opens March 17 in New York, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., and expands nationwide in the following weeks.
Jason Reitman: Hi everybody. It's Chris Buckley and Jason Reitman. Looking forward to answering your questions.
Rochester, N.Y.: Was Chris Buckley, author of the book, involved in the movie?
Jason Reitman: Chris Buckley speaking - My job was to stand on the sidelines and get coffee.
Jason Reitman - Hardly. We sent the screenplay back and forth during the writing period and Mr. Buckley makes an impressive performance in the film. You have to go to see it.
Washington, D.C.: What was your experience like filming in D.C? How long were you here and what did you enjoy about the city?
Jason Reitman: The city was a trip. Definitely wanted to make a movie that Washingtonians could call their own and take ownership of. That said, had an interesting experience outside the dept of energy on our location scout. Got out of our van, started to take photos, and found ourselves surrounded by men in flak jackets. Fun town.
Bethesda, Md.: What perfect timing for your movie to debut -- right after the Jack Abramoff scandal thrusts lobbying to the forefront of Washington discussion! Did you speed-up production to make the release more timely or is this just pure coincidence?
Jason Reitman: No, we sped up the investigation into Abramoff.
Washington, D.C.: Were the writers aware that "Thank You For Smoking" was a phrase famously uttered by Jesse Helms hundreds of times?
Jason Reitman: Chris Buckley speaking - I had heard that. Also, that Senator Helmes would offer a cigarette to any visitor to his office. And if they accepted, he would say "Thank you for smoking".
Silver Spring, Md.: I heard you screened the film in D.C. this past weekend. How nervous were you to screen in front of a D.C. crowd, based on the subject matter?
Jason Reitman: Very nervous. As I mentioned to someone else, I wanted this to be a "DC film". The crowd seemed to love it. In fact, a liquor lobbyist stopped me on the way out to tell me how much she enjoyed the film and how spot on it was.
Arlington, Va.: I have heard great buzz about this film and can't wait to see it! What is your next project?
Jason Reitman: Chris Buckley - Working on book #12. Also raising two teenagers... wish me luck.
Jason - Adapting another book. Looking forward to any opportunity to work with Buckley again.
Lyme, Conn.: I presume you are aware that cigarettes were once advertised as a health benefit? Doctors were quoted as recommending smoking as a means to calm the nerves and improve one's health. How much is your movie mimicking the old reality of cigarette manufacturers who pretend their destructive product is good for you?
Jason Reitman: Not at all. The movie, as well as the book, are very clear about the dangers of smoking. They both poke fun at how abundantly aware we are of those dangers. In fact, the original cover of the book featured one of those doctors. The new edition of the book is available on bookshelves now (Buckley made me write that)
Severna Park, Md.: I went to the D.C. premiere on Saturday, this movie is hilarious. Aaron Eckhart fits the role of Nick Naylor to a "T". Will this be a big hit or one of those movies that is a sleeper for a few years until the buzz gets around (i.e., "The Usual Suspects")? And the opening credits were the most original I have ever seen.
Jason Reitman: We both think the film will break all existing box office records, making many say "Star Wars what?"
Arlington, Va. : I can't wait for this movie to come out. I'm a huge fan of the book and, seeing the trailer, looks like you caught its spirit and humor nicely. How much involvement did Chris Buckley, who wrote the novel, have in making this?
Jason Reitman: The adaptation was very faithful so book fans should be very pleased. Buckley says that he likes the book, but loves the movie.
Alexandria, Va.: Is the "MOD Squad" from the book faithfully depicted in the film?
Jason Reitman: You bet. Cut and paste.
Silver Spring, Md.: I remember reading the book when it first came out in 1994, and have reread it several times since. Why so long for the movie version?
Jason Reitman: It would take twelve more reasons to explain. Please direct that question to Mel Gibson.
Franconia, Va.: I just finished the new comic novel "Potomac Beach," which is the best satirical jab at trade associations and lobbying since "Thank You For Smoking." Have either of you read it?
Jason Reitman: No, but we're both looking forward to reading it. We hear it would make a great movie
Fairfax, Va.: So what happens in the movie? Please describe the plot. Does it take place in Washington?
Jason Reitman: TYFS follow Nick Naylor, head lobbyist for big tobacco, as he spins his way across America on behalf of big tobacco as he tries to be role model to his twelve year old son.
Tampa, Fla.: Your film sounds great. The blurring of the line between truth and fiction because of the rapid spin cycle today has no better example than what happens to scientific "truth" e.g., well-tested and verifiable hypotheses such as association between cancer and smoking. The result: no body believes anything and people give up trying to take responsibility for changing their lives for the better, or if they do it is upon the advice of untested anecdotal evidence. You have some good actors in the film, I hope they can deliver a timely message, one Hollywood seems to eschew lately for some sex-violence drivel.
Jason Reitman: TYFS will be playing at the Florida Film Festival. Hope to see you there. Funny enough, we had some sex in the movie, but a projectionist took it out.
McLean, Va.: What do you think of the idea that smoking is part of the circle of life? That it brings balance to the human race and helps keep things in check such as the availability of food and resources to the people who remain alive. In other words if all smokers quit smoking overnight and no one else started ever again then there would be too many people alive and not enough food.
Some people who eat healthy and run marathons still get random cancer and die. Isn't it better that someone chooses to take himself out through lung cancer rather then some innocent mother who does everything right yet still gets breast cancer and dies?
Jason Reitman: By any chance, did you ever work with Nick Naylor at the Academy of Tobacco Studies. Chris and I agree there is no good answer to your question.
New York, N.Y.: Does your famous father like your moviemaking?
Jason Reitman: Which one of our famous fathers? Both dads loved it and urge every patriotic American to see the film.
Washington, D.C.: Did Tom Cruise visit the set? I hear Katie Holmes is in the movie.
Jason Reitman: Tom and Katie had not met yet while we were shooting.
Alexandria, Va.: Is this movie pro-tobacco?
Jason Reitman: No, the movie is not pro-tobacco or anti-tobacco. The film seeks to use cigarettes as a location to observe the mania people get in when they want to tell others how to live.
Washington, D.C.: Is this an indie-type movie? If so, how did you get such a name cast? Katie Holmes, William Macy, Robert Duvall, Sam Elliott, Adam Brody. Wow.
Jason Reitman: Aaron and Duvall signed on because they loved the words. It snowballed form there. I still don't quite know how we assembled such an incredible cast. It certainly was intimidating to direct them.
Harrisburg, Pa.: Mr. Buckley: I recall your entering a hallway to give a speech when a woman (one of your fellow Republican politicians, in fact) came up to you and was quite upset. She stated she opened one of the books of yours they were selling the hallway and the first thing she saw was a swear word. She expressed serious disappointment in the use of swear words. I recall you then turned to me, as I was behind you, and you told me "in a few minutes, that woman is going to be very disappointed." I have read and appreciate your books, and I don't care if there is profanity or not. Do you have a particular philosophy on the use of profanity?
Jason Reitman: I try to use profanity less and less in my writing and certainly on my TV appearences, but there are times when only the F word will do.
P.S. Give my regards to the lady in the hallway and tell her to f*** off.
Vienna, Va.: What do you mean, which one? Is Chris Buckley the son of William F?
Jason Reitman: Yes, and he's thrilled you didn't know that.
Washington, D.C.: Obviously, you love movies. What do you have to say about the upcoming Oscars? Any predictions? C'mon, give us a few. Also, will you be attending?
Jason Reitman: I will only attend when I am invited. This year, I guarantee the following:
Animated - Wallace and Gromit
All VFX and Sound - King Kong
College Park, Md.: Will people start saying Thank you for smoking now instead of what they used to say with the "not" in it? Will this creep into today's conversation lexicon?
Jason Reitman: I certainly hope so. These days, people still call the movie "Thank You For Not Smoking"
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Opinion: Classification of Presidential Records
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John Wertman , director of Public Policy at the Association of American Geographers and a former Clinton White House staffer, was online Monday, Feb. 27, at 2 p.m. ET to discuss the implications of President Bush 's executive order allowing indefinite classification of presidential records. In his op-ed, " Bush's Obstruction of History , ( Post, Feb. 26, 2006 )," Wertman explains why secrecy is not the best policy.
Room 97, OEOB: In what capacity did you serve President Clinton and how did your experiences there affect your thoughts on this issue?
John Wertman: Thanks very much for your question. At the White House, I was a staffer in the Office of Presidential Letters and Messages, which is part of the Office of Correspondence. I was largely a jack-of-all-trades and did a bit or writing and also evaluated candidates for the Presidential Medal of Freedom. It was a tremendous honor to work for President Clinton and with my outstanding colleagues.
Los Angeles, Calif.: How is it possible Bush's people blocked out 28 pages of the joint inquiry into 9/11? when will we be able to read those pages?
John Wertman: This was done on a national security basis, and it will probably be up to national security folks in a future administration to weigh the release of the blocked pages.
Bethesda, Md.: To what extent does this order also keep vice presidential records away from the prying eyes of the American citizenry? I'm specifically wondering how many decades we'll have to wait to see how the Administration's big oil campaign donors shaped our energy policy. And what role they may have played in the decision to "pre-emptively" invade the country with the world's second largest oil reserves. Thanks.
John Wertman: As far as I know, this order also seals Vice Presidential Records. As I understand it, it would be up to President Bush or his designee to release Mr. Cheney's papers.
What are the chances that President Bush will reverse this executive order so that his own Presidential Library can open in a blaze of glory? Is he counting on a GOP successor to rescind it, or do you think he is truly committed to keeping some of these documents under lock and key?
John Wertman: I think the President, Vice President, and Karl Rove are fully committed to keeping their documents under lock and key. I would be shocked to see a reversal out of this White House on this issue.
Denver, Colo.: If a future President disagrees with this Executive Order, and signs a new one. Can the current administration use their own order as a basis of exemption? Or can they always be grand-fathered in to releasing the records?
John Wertman: This is a good question - thanks. If a future president if so inclined, he may revoke Mr. Bush's order with an order of his own. If Senator Kerry had won the election in 2004, I would have encouraged him to issue a new executive order on president records access.
Alliance, Ohio: The President is an employee of the people. As our employee virtually everything he says and does, regarding his job, should be open for review by congress and the people. The concept of executive privilege is counter to our national goal of open honest government. The only things that should be classified are things that clearly influence national defense. These include items such as numbers of troops, capabilities of weapons systems, and technologies used in weapons systems. Things such as Mr. Cheney's notes on meetings with oil companies is clearly not national defense sensitive.
John Wertman: Thanks for your comment. I couldn't agree more - unfortunately this Administration seems to disagree with us.
Scully, Mass.: First off, let me say that it was a great piece and that I appreciated your shedding light upon this important issue. Has the Bush administration ever explained why they believe that heirs to a President should have the ability to keep Presidential records secret? On some level, I can understand why they'd argue that a former President should have that ability, but it seems ridiculous that Jenna and Barbara Bush's future children should be able to prevent documents from the current administration.
John Wertman: Thanks for your interesting question. The Administration has issued very little justification for this executive order. It's clear (at least in my opinion) that the Bush family would like the right to keep undesirable documents from reaching public view. There are also many politically-sensitive documents that GOP operatives, such as Karl Rove, would like to keep under wraps for years to come. But I certainly agree with you - these decisions should be made by officials in the National Archives, not by future generations of Bushs, Reagans, Clintons, or Carters.
Philadelphia, Pa.: What is the volume of mail received by the White House? Is every letter kept, or if not, what decides which letters are kept?
John Wertman: Thanks for this interesting question. The President receives thousands of pieces of mail weekly. When I served President Clinton, he made it his policy that every American should receive a detailed response to their letter or e-mail. We prepared letters on a wide range of topics that were sent to Governors, VIPs, and ordinary folks. It was an honor to work for the American people.
Alexandria, Va.: My understanding is that this executive order is also retroactive and allows previous presidents to have vetoes over their records. Has the Reagan or Bush I administrations used this authority for similar purposes?
John Wertman: As I understand it, most of the documents that have been withheld from the Reagan and Bush I terms deal with judicial appointments. Some of this came to light during Justice Alito's confirmation hearings - as we saw just what Mr. Alito had written about abortion and other sensitive topics when he was a member of President Reagan's Administration.
Winnipeg, Canada: Do you not find this executive order ironic in the light of the Patriot Act's justification that people who have nothing to hide should not mind if someone checked into their personal lives?
John Wertman: Yes - that is quite ironic. Thanks for signing on from Canada and sharing that with us.
Charlotte, N.C.: Mr. Wertman, thank you for continuing to hold the torch, but at this point in this most untruthful and secretive of all NONadministrations since the presidency was stolen from popular vote-winner Samuel Tilden and awarded to James Buchanan, why waste time on what gets classified now? Do you think we will need any of these documents to make a case for impeachment should Nov. be fruitful?
John Wertman: I can't really comment on impeachment - though I think it's quite unlikely unless something big is uncovered on the NSA wiretapping issue. Congressional Democrats are now calling for an independent counsel to look into the legalities of the decisions the Bush Administration made in putting wiretapping into place.
But leaving the question of impeachment aside, I hope that my op-ed will have some impact on this issue. I have been in contact with staff in the office of Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), a member of the Democratic leadership, about the President Records Act (PRA). Rep. Schakowsky, who along with former Congressman Steve Horn (R-CA) led previous bipartisan efforts aimed at undoing the Bush executive order, has pledged to bring the issue up again by introducing legislation that would repeal the Bush order. She is currently searching for a Republican co-sponsor so that the bill can move on a bi-partisan basis.
And it should be stressed that this is a bi-partisan issue - the records of any former president should be made public under the guidelines of the PRA. To his credit, former President Clinton has moved to make his records available quickly - even before the law's requirements kick in.
I would encourage any of you who live in Tom Davis' Fairfax County district to call and encourage him to take up this issue. As Chair of the House Government Reform Committee, Davis has jurisdiction over the PRA.
Seattle, Wash.: Has there ever been an administration more obsessed with over-classifying and making SECRET records that should be a matter of public record outside of a sitting president during a Declared War by Congress?
Obviously, this would include JFK and that bald guy in their wars.
John Wertman: I think that the current Administration is quite obsessed with secrecy. Vice President Cheney has asserted that Executive Privilege has been watered down too much in the years since Watergate, and this is one of the ways the Bush Administration has resolved to push back.
But this is not a Democrat vs. Republican issue - that why I was so struck by the quote I included from former President Ford in the op-ed. And it's worth noting that Mr. Cheney spent several years as Ford's Chief of Staff.
New York, N.Y.: What is the most realistic way this executive order could be reversed? What is the best way a citizen could go about supporting its reversal?
John Wertman: As I just mentioned in a previous answer, it will be up to Chairman Davis and his Senate counterpart, Chairman Susan Collins, to move legislation through Congress. The two of them are going to have to show the courage of their convictions to push ahead on this issue in the face of White House opposition. But both Davis and Collins are moderates and good people and I hope they are willing to stick up for the public on this one.
I would encourage any American to write or call their member of Congress about this issue. It's too important to let go by the wayside.
San Antonio, Tex.: You have answered the question from Scully, Mass., as to "why" the Bush administration is redacting government documents.
Perhaps you can go out on a small limb and explain more precisely what types of documents and information is being kept from public, writers' and historians' view?
John Wertman: Thanks for your question - I suspect that most of the documents that Bush will want to withhold will deal with divisive "wedge" issues - such as the stem cell controversy, gay marriage, and judicial confirmations. This Administration, at least in my opinion, has unprecedented ties to religious conservatives and has gone out of its way to promote Christian right viewpoints.
While religion is certainly important to a wide range of Americans, public opinion polls have shown time and again that most folks would rather see policies shaped by scientific evidence and sound debate than extreme ideology - be it liberal or conservative.
I appreciate your opinion regarding the President's executive order. The two relevant points to me are the constitutionality of the order and the effect the order has on the advice that is given to the President. I do not believe that the congress has the right to force the administration to release document that the executive does not want to release. The congress is co-equal to the executive and has no authority to impose rules such as this on another equal branch of government. Secondly, It has been said so many times now that it has lost much of its meaning but this is a post September 11 world. We will be fighting radical Islam for many years into the future and decisions and advice that are given to the President need to kept confidential. This is not so much to benefit the secrecy of the President but to assure those that are giving the advice that their views will not become national news. I am not speaking of national security issues her but strategic issues.
John Wertman: Thanks for you interesting statement. Your points are certainly well taken, but the PRA was passed by Congress in 1978 and signed by then-President Carter. It has the effect of law and supersedes an executive order.
As to the issue of shielding sensitive information from terrorist groups - I am fully supportive of the President's efforts to keep us safe, as are most Democrats. While Karl Rove tries to portray our party as unpatriotic, we are far from that. Democrats believe in safety, but also liberty and freedom.
I don't believe there's any reason the public shouldn't have the right to see Mr. Bush's presidential records in 2021, 12 years after he will leave office. If there are documents that need to be kept under wraps for national security reasons, so be it, but as an American citizen, I am the President's boss. As he is accountable to me, and all of us, I want to be able to know on what basis he ran the country. Historians have long done a very able job of judging our presidents, and we shouldn't keep them from being able to do this in the future.
Philadelphia, Pa.: How accessible are the records of President Clinton compared to the accessibility of records of other Presidents?
John Wertman: President Clinton has made every effort to make his records fully accessible to the American public, and as quickly as possible. He told me in a letter on 2003: "I firmly believe that the decisions we made and the way we made them can withstand the test of history and time." Mr. Clinton is an extremely smart and wise man, and is fully willing to defend what he did as president. It was an honor to work for him and I encourage everyone to visit his library in Little Rock. It is a beautiful museum and complex.
Alexandria, Va.: This order allows private individuals to control materials that belong to the nation. Leaving aside any questions about the irony of that stance from this administration, what possible justification can anyone advance for this idea? Have you heard from anyone who has opposed your position? If so, what have they said to you?
I suspect this is a case where most people would probably agree with your position but no one can be stirred to care enough to send a letter.
John Wertman: The main justification from the Bush Administration has been that this Executive order merely clarifies document release procedures. But that is legally and politically a very shaky assertion. It's worth noting that the Order was apparently written by current White House Staff Secretary Brett Kavanaugh, a lawyer who President Bush has nominated multiple times for a Federal appeals court judgeship. It will be interesting to see whether any Senators on the Judiciary Committee question Kavanaugh about this Order at his confirmation hearing. It would certainly make for an interesting discussion.
Madison, Ind.: I remember that President Nixon and/or his family was given unusual authority to review or restrict access to his papers, and that this happened during President Clinton's administration. How does this executive order differ from what happened with President Nixon?
John Wertman: Thanks for your interesting question. I remember when the issue with President Nixon arose, but as far as I know, that was negotiated between the Nixon family and the National Archives. I believe President Clinton had to sign off on the Archivist's recommendation, but I think that was largely a formality - it was not something the White House was asked to play a large role in.
Corcoran City, Calif.: I was wondering how technology will affect the presidential records act. In other words, could the Bush Administration or a future administration simply get around the Presidential Records act by using new forms of technologies (i.e. digital documents, as in a "paperless office") which aren't governed by the Act as a basis for covering up their workproduct? I LOVED your op/ed.
John Wertman: Thanks very much - this is an excellent question. At the end of President Clinton's term, we were already moving towards many files that were purely digital - i.e. no paper copies. But the White House Office of Records Management (ORM), staffed by career professionals who are truly the institutional memory of the White House, was working closely with technology gurus to put processes in place that would safely store digital files for history. As an example, a copy of every e-mail we sent from our White House accounts automatically went to ORM. I'm sure this process has only been expanded since Mr. Bush took office.
John Wertman: Well, I want to thank everyone for logging on and reading my piece - this is an issue important to all Americans and the public's right to know and something must be done.
Editor's Note: washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions. washingtonpost.com is not responsible for any content posted by third parties.
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John Wertman, director of Public Policy at the Association of American Geographers and a former Clinton White House staffer, discusses his op-ed on the classification of presidential records.
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In Fire's Wake, Logging Study Inflames Debate
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MEDFORD, Ore. -- If fire ravages a national forest, as happened here in southwest Oregon when the Biscuit fire torched a half-million acres four years ago, the Bush administration believes loggers should move in quickly, cut marketable trees that remain and replant a healthy forest.
"We must quickly restore the areas that have been damaged by fire," President Bush said in Oregon four years ago after touring damage from the Biscuit fire. He called it "common sense."
Common sense, though, may not always be sound science. An Oregon State University study has raised an extraordinary ruckus in the Pacific Northwest this winter by saying that logging burned forests does not make much sense.
Logging after the Biscuit fire, the study found, has harmed forest recovery and increased fire risk. What the short study did not say -- but what many critics of the Bush administration are reading into it -- is that the White House has ignored science to please the timber industry. The study is consistent with research findings from around the world that have documented how salvage logging can strip burned forests of the biological diversity that fire and natural recovery help protect.
The study also questions the scientific rationale behind a bill pending in Congress that would ease procedures for post-fire logging in federal forests. This, in turn, has annoyed the bill's lead sponsor, Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.), who has received far more campaign money from the forest products industry than from any other source, according to data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics.
Logging after fires is becoming more and more important to the bottom line of timber companies. It generates about 40 percent of timber volume on the nation's public lands, according to Forest Service data compiled by the World Wildlife Fund, and accounts for nearly half the logging on public land in Oregon.
But there is much more to the dispute than money. The Oregon State study was published in Science, the prestigious peer-reviewed journal. It appeared after a group of professors from the university's College of Forestry, which gets 10 percent of its funding from the timber industry, tried to halt its publication.
Professors behind the failed attempt to keep the article out of Science had earlier written their own non-peer-reviewed study of the Biscuit fire -- a study embraced by the Bush administration and the timber industry. It said post-fire logging and replanting were exactly what was needed to speed growth of big trees and suppress fire.
A couple of weeks after the Science article appeared and infuriated the forest industry, the federal Bureau of Land Management, which footed the bill for the study of the Biscuit fire, cut off the final year of the three-year, $300,000 grant. BLM officials said the authors violated their funding contract by attempting to influence legislation pending in Congress.
After the cutoff, Democrats in the Northwest congressional delegation complained about government censorship, academic freedom and the politicization of science in the Bush administration. Within a week, the BLM backed down and restored the grant.
Oregon State University has officially scolded the forestry professors for inappropriate behavior and praised the authors of the Science article.
Still, the issue is far from over.
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Latest politics news headlines from Washington DC. Follow 2006 elections, campaigns, Democrats, Republicans, political cartoons, opinions from The Washington Post. Features government policy, government tech, political analysis and reports.
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Thai Protesters Call on Prime Minister to Step Down
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BANGKOK, Feb. 26 -- Tens of thousands of protesters waving Thai flags and holding signs that read, "Give back our country" rallied Sunday to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who has been accused of corruption and abusing his power.
The protesters, who included busloads of Buddhist monks and nuns, turned out despite Thaksin's surprise move Friday to dissolve parliament and call snap elections for April 2. Analysts had expected his move would help deflate the opposition's campaign to oust him.
"Thaksin is the nation's problem!" hollered Sondhi Limthongkul, a media magnate and prominent Thaksin critic, addressing the crowd from a giant stage. His television talk show was forced off the air in September, and he mounted several anti-Thaksin rallies in January and February.
Sondhi shouted Thaksin's name repeatedly as he stood beneath a giant banner depicting the prime minister as a cartoon monster with six arms, eating the Thai flag.
"Get out!" the crowd roared in response each time, with the golden spires of Bangkok's Grand Palace complex forming a backdrop.
The peaceful rally was the latest in a series of protests drawing tens of thousands of participants, mostly from the urban elite. Just over a year ago, Thaksin capped a four-year term in office with a landslide reelection victory, largely on the strength of his shrewd populist policies and adroit handling of the aftermath of the December 2004 tsunami. But the protests have shown he is not invincible, analysts said.
"If the anti-Thaksin coalition is organized, determined and has resolve, they can make a difference," said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a political science professor at Chulalongkorn University. "They're committed to overthrowing Thaksin. This is clear."
The rally began in the afternoon, and organizers from the People's Alliance for Democracy promised to continue it until dawn. The demonstration did not draw the 100,000 supporters its organizers had predicted, some analysts said, but according to Thitinan its size and noise were still significant.
"We will sleep here. We won't go anywhere," vowed Chamlong Srimuang, 70, a retired general and Buddhist ascetic. He joined a coalition of non-parliamentary groups in leading the rally, accompanied by 3,000 members of his Dharma Army wearing blue denim farmers' garb.
In 1992, Chamlong led a "people's power" revolt that ousted a military-led government but cost 50 lives. He helped bring Thaksin to power but later turned against him.
Still, Thaksin seems far from hobbled.
The rally's social composition reflected the deep divisions in Thailand between rural poor and urban elite. Thaksin has deftly exploited that gap with programs to lend money to poor villages, relieve farm debt and allow any citizen access to a doctor's care for 75 cents per visit.
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World news headlines from the Washington Post, including international news and opinion from Africa, North/South America, Asia, Europe and Middle East. Features include world weather, news in Spanish, interactive maps, daily Yomiuri and Iraq coverage.
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Students Call for Banning of Peace Studies Class
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For months, 17-year-old Andrew Saraf had been troubled by stories he was hearing about a Peace Studies course offered at his Bethesda high school. He wasn't enrolled in the class but had several friends and classmates who were.
Last Saturday, he decided to act. He sat down at his computer and typed out his thoughts on why the course -- offered for almost two decades as an elective to seniors at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School -- should be banned from the school.
"I know I'm not the first to bring this up but why has there been no concerted effort to remove Peace Studies from among the B-CC courses?" he wrote in his post to the school's group e-mail list. "The 'class' is headed by an individual with a political agenda, who wants to teach students the 'right' way of thinking by giving them facts that are skewed in one direction."
Within a few hours, the normally staid e-mail list BCCnet -- a site for announcements, job postings and other housekeeping details in the life of a school -- was ablaze with chatter. By the time Principal Sean Bulson checked his BlackBerry on Sunday evening, there were more than 150 postings from parents and students -- some ardently in support, some ardently against the course.
Since its launch at the school in 1988, Peace Studies has provoked lively debate, but the attempt to have the course removed from the curriculum is a first, Bulson said. The challenge by two students comes as universities and even some high schools across the country are under close scrutiny by a growing number of critics who believe that the U.S. education system is being hijacked by liberal activists.
At Bethesda-Chevy Chase, Peace Studies is taught by Colman McCarthy, a former Washington Post reporter and founder and president of the Center for Teaching Peace. Though the course is taught at seven other Montgomery County high schools, some say B-CC's is perhaps the most personal and ideological of the offerings because McCarthy makes no effort to disguise his opposition to war, violence and animal testing.
Saraf and Avishek Panth, also 17, acknowledge that with the exception of one lecture they sat in on this month, most of what they know about the course has come from friends and acquaintances who have taken the class. But, they said, those discussions, coupled with research they have done on McCarthy's background, have convinced them that their school should not continue to offer Peace Studies unless significant changes are made. This is not an ideological debate, they said. Rather, what bothers them the most is that McCarthy offers students only one perspective.
"I do recognize that it is a fairly popular class," Saraf said. "But it's clear that the teacher is only giving one side of the story. He's only offering facts that fit his point of view."
For his part, McCarthy, 67, finds the students' objections a bit puzzling. He said that although the two sat in on a recent class, they have not talked to him in depth about their concerns.
"I've never said my views are right and theirs are wrong," he said about the students who take his course. "In fact, I cherish conservative dissenters. I wish we could get more of them in."
The course is also offered at Montgomery Blair, James Hubert Blake, Albert Einstein, Walter Johnson, Northwest, Northwood and Rockville high schools, but the Peace Studies course at Bethesda-Chevy Chase is unique for a number of reasons. Although a staff teacher takes roll and issues grades, it is McCarthy as a volunteer, unpaid guest lecturer who does the bulk of the teaching. He does not work from lesson plans, although he does use a school system-approved textbook -- a collection of essays on peace that he edited.
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For months, 17-year-old Andrew Saraf had been troubled by stories he was hearing about a Peace Studies course offered at his Bethesda high school. He wasn't enrolled in the class but had several friends and classmates who were.
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Federal Wildlife Monitors Oversee a Boom in Drilling
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PINEDALE, Wyo. -- The Bureau of Land Management, caretaker of more land and wildlife than any federal agency, routinely restricts the ability of its own biologists to monitor wildlife damage caused by surging energy drilling on federal land, according to BLM officials and bureau documents.
The officials and documents say that by keeping many wildlife biologists out of the field doing paperwork on new drilling permits and that by diverting agency money intended for wildlife conservation to energy programs, the BLM has compromised its ability to deal with the environmental consequences of the drilling boom it is encouraging on public lands.
Here on the high sage plains of western Wyoming, often called the Serengeti of the West because of large migratory herds of deer and antelope, the Pinedale region has become one of the most productive and profitable natural gas fields on federal land in the Rockies. With the aggressive backing of the Bush administration, many members of Congress and the energy industry, at least a sixfold expansion in drilling is likely here in the coming decade.
Recent studies of mule deer and sage grouse, however, show steep declines in their numbers since the gas boom began here about five years ago: a 46 percent decline for mule deer and a 51 percent decline for breeding male sage grouse. Early results from a study of pronghorn antelope show that they, too, avoid the gas fields.
Yet as these findings have come in, the wildlife biologists in the Pinedale office of the BLM have rarely gone into the field to monitor harm to wildlife.
"The BLM is pushing the biologists to be what I call 'biostitutes,' rather than allow them to be experts in the wildlife they are supposed to be managing," said Steve Belinda, 37, who last week quit his job as one of three wildlife biologists in the BLM's Pinedale office because he said he was required to spend nearly all his time working on drilling requests. "They are telling us that if it is not energy-related, you are not working on it."
Belinda, who had worked for 16 years as a wildlife biologist for the BLM and the Forest Service, said he came to work in the agency's Pinedale office 20 months ago because of the "world-class wildlife." He has quit to work here for a national conservation group, the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, as its energy initiative manager.
"It is a huge attraction for biologists to work in western Wyoming," he said. "But in this [BLM] office, they want you to look at things in a single-minded way. I have spent less than 1 percent of my time in the field. If we continue down this trend of keeping biologists in the office and preventing them from doing substantive work, there is a train wreck coming for wildlife."
Belinda is not alone in his view that the BLM, in its focused pursuit of increased drilling, is neglecting its congressional mandate to manage federal lands for "multiple use."
For years the BLM has reallocated money Congress intended for wildlife conservation to spending on energy. A national evaluation by the agency of its wildlife expenditures found three years ago that about one-third of designated wildlife money was spent "outside" of wildlife programs.
An internal BLM follow-up study found last year that this widespread diversion of money has caused "numerous lost opportunities" to protect wildlife. The study found that the unwillingness of the agency to use wildlife money for conservation programs has "reduced ability to conduct on-the-ground restoration" and made the BLM unable "to conduct adequate inventory and monitoring of habitats and populations."
The sum effect of these diversions, the study said, has damaged the credibility of land-use planning by the BLM. These findings were echoed last year in a report by the Government Accountability Office, which said that BLM managers order their field staff to devote increasing time to processing drilling permits, leaving less time to mitigate the consequences of oil and gas extraction.
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PINEDALE, Wyo. -- The Bureau of Land Management, caretaker of more land and wildlife than any federal agency, routinely restricts the ability of its own biologists to monitor wildlife damage caused by surging energy drilling on federal land, according to BLM officials and bureau documents.
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Happy Anniversary, Nikita Khrushchev
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It is, I admit, an odd thing to celebrate: A long-winded and not entirely honest speech, made behind closed doors, addressed to the stony-faced leaders of a country that no longer exists. Nevertheless, I'm reluctant to let the 50th anniversary of Nikita Khrushchev's famous "secret speech" -- his denunciation of Stalin and Stalinism, delivered to the 20th Congress of the Soviet Communist Party on Feb. 25, 1956 -- pass without notice. We are, after all, at another important historical moment. Condoleezza Rice, the U.S. secretary of state, has just announced that we will spend $75 million promoting democracy and fighting a totalitarian regime in Iran. We have thousands of soldiers in Iraq, trying to pick up the pieces after the collapse of another totalitarian regime there. Since Khrushchev's secret speech was the first step in what turned out to be a very long struggle to end totalitarianism in the Soviet Union, it's worth remembering now what the circumstances that surrounded it actually were.
In essence, Khrushchev's speech (which didn't remain secret very long; Polish communists leaked it to the Israelis, who leaked it to the West) was a piece of theater, a four-hour harangue during which the new Soviet leader denounced the "cult of personality" that had surrounded Stalin, condemned torture and acknowledged that "mass arrests and deportation of thousands and thousands of people" had "created insecurity, fear and even desperation" in his country. But although it was an international sensation -- no Soviet leader had spoken so frankly before -- the speech didn't exactly tell the whole truth. Khrushchev accused Stalin of many crimes, but deftly left out the ones in which he himself had been implicated. As William Taubman, author of "Khrushchev: The Man and His Era," has documented, the Soviet leader had in fact collaborated enthusiastically with Stalinist terror, participating in the very mass arrests he condemned. Khrushchev's speech was intended as much to consolidate his own power and intimidate his party opponents -- all of whom had also collaborated enthusiastically -- as it was to liberate his countrymen.
Still, there were high hopes for change after the speech, both within and outside the Soviet Union. But the cultural and political thaw that followed turned out to be as ambivalent as the speech itself. Some prisoners were released; some were not. Some daring works of literature were published; some were not. Khrushchev himself seemed unable to make up his mind about how much should really change, but it didn't matter: Within a decade he was ousted from power by resentful neo-Stalinists. Two more decades were to pass before Mikhail Gorbachev, one of the young communists who had been electrified by Khrushchev's secret speech, restarted the discussion of Stalin's crimes, and launched, finally, the reforms that brought the system down.
Clearly there is a lesson here for those who would bring down totalitarian regimes, and it concerns timing: The death of a dictator or the toppling of his statues does not necessarily mean that a complete political transformation has occurred, or even that one will occur soon. On the contrary, it takes a very, very long time -- more than a generation -- for a political class to free itself of the authoritarian impulse. People do not easily give up the ideology that has brought them wealth and power. People do not quickly change the habits that they've incurred over a lifetime. Even people who want to reform their countries -- and at some level Khrushchev did want to reform his country -- can't necessarily bring themselves to say or to do what is necessary. Certainly they find it difficult to carry out political reforms that might hasten their own retirement.
This isn't to say dictatorships must last forever: Despite some of its current leadership's repressive instincts, Russia itself has changed in fifty years, beyond recognition. But the transformation was often incremental, always uneven, and difficult for impatient Americans to understand or support. But then, all such transformations are difficult for impatient Americans to understand or support, and probably always will be. If history is anything to go by, we'll have no choice but to try and do so anyway.
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The transformation from dictatorship to democracy is long, agonizing and often boring. It is not the kind of political change that we Americans find easy to support. If history is anything to judge by, we don't have a choice.
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Wanna Buy a Port?
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We're selling our harbors to an Arab government. Our biggest Internet companies are complicit in the Chinese government's censorship of information and suppression of dissidents. Welcome to American capitalism in the age of globalization.
Here the market rules. National security and freedom of speech are all well and good, but they are distinctly secondary concerns when they bump up against our highest national purpose, which is maximizing shareholder value.
| The mellowing of evangelical Christianity may well be the big American religious story of this decade -- and it will probably have an impact on the nation's political life.
This is a uniquely American value. Other nations designate certain industries as too strategic to ship abroad or sell to foreign interests. Only in the United States is the corporation answerable only to its shareholders -- not to its employees, its host communities, its home nation.
It wasn't always this way, of course: In the decades following World War II, you could speak, without undue smirking, about corporate responsibility. A sense of national solidarity, high rates of unionization, and a labor force that did not extend much beyond our borders anchored American business in America. Over the past three decades, however, the eclipse of all corporate stakeholders save the shareholder, and the creation of a global labor pool, have combined to make the very idea of corporate citizenship an anachronism. In consequence, the fundamental needs of our financial and corporate institutions and those of the rest of the nation diverge with increasing frequency.
By the logic of the market, there's no reason why our East Coast ports shouldn't be operated by a company owned by the United Arab Emirates. By the logic of national security, it may be a good idea or a crazy one. But even in the current security-conscious zeitgeist, security concerns do not loom that large in our government's attitude to things economic. Our high-tech manufacturing has decamped to East Asia, and our machine tool industry has all but vanished from our midst.
There is nothing peculiarly American in the willingness of the marquee U.S. Internet companies to play in China by the rules laid down by the Chinese government; globetrotting companies have a genius for assimilating themselves to the worst practices of their host countries. Indeed, while the executives at Yahoo, Google, Cisco and Microsoft deserved to be taken to task for their complicity in Beijing's determination to censor information, they would have been justified in noting that every U.S. corporation that goes to China is linked to, and almost invariably profits from, that nation's suppression of fundamental rights.
After all, when American business goes to China to have a machine built or a shirt stitched or some research undertaken, it is in no small reason because the labor is dirt-cheap. This is partly the result of the nation's history of poverty and partly the result of repressive state policy that views all efforts at worker organization -- as it views all efforts at establishing autonomous centers of power -- as criminal. Were the current labor strife in China to escalate, were the nation plunged into turmoil in an effort to create a more pluralistic society with actual rights for workers, what would the attitudes of the U.S. corporations in China be? Would Wal-Mart, which does more business with China than any other corporation, object if the Chinese government staged another Tiananmen-style crackdown? Would other American businesses? Would the current or a future administration levy any sanctions against China? Given the growing level of integration of the Chinese economy and ours, could it even afford to?
To the extent that American business or our government even attempt to square this circle, the argument they most frequently adduce is that modernity -- that is, the integration of a nation into the global economy -- will transform that nation into a more pluralistic democracy. China, however, is determined to manage its integration on its own repressive terms. And, more broadly, modernity hasn't always guaranteed the flourishing of democratic pluralism -- a lesson you might think we'd learned after that nastiness with Germany in the middle of the past century.
Indeed, at the heart of the Bush administration's theory of democratic transformation, we find two non sequiturs: that integration into the global marketplace leads to democratic pluralism, and that elections lead to democratic pluralism. Yet China and the Arab nations of the Middle East tend to refute, not confirm, these theories. Elections and economic integration are both good in themselves, of course, but absent a thriving civil society, they offer no guarantee of the kinds of transformation that these nations sorely need.
What's clear is that neither the task of building democratic nations around the world nor ensuring secure ports and cities here at home is our primary national purpose. Our mission is to maximize shareholder value. Which, by the measure of our strategic interests and our historical ideals, amounts to selling America short.
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In America, national security and freedom of speech are all well and good, but are distinctly secondary concerns when they bump up against our highest national purpose, which is maximizing shareholder value.
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Prejudice Wins - washingtonpost.com
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UNIVERSITIES EXIST to pose tough questions, promote critical thinking, and generally challenge complacency and prejudice. When he became president of Harvard five years ago, Lawrence H. Summers determined that the university was not living up to this mission: It was infected by its own complacencies and prejudices, and he did not shrink from saying so. This outspokenness won Mr. Summers support across the university: A new online poll conducted by the Harvard Crimson found that 57 percent of undergraduates supported him -- only 19 percent thought he should resign -- and the deans of several faculties praised his leadership. But Mr. Summers alienated a vocal portion of the Arts and Sciences faculty, which pressed last year for a vote of no confidence in him and recently forced a second such vote on to the schedule for next week. Yesterday Mr. Summers preempted that second vote by announcing that he would step down in the summer. Because of the prestige of Harvard, his defeat may demoralize reformers at other universities.
Mr. Summers fought several well-publicized battles with Harvard's establishment. He refused to rubber-stamp appointees chosen by the faculties, blocking candidates who seemed insufficiently distinguished and pressing for diversity in political outlook. This prompted complaints that he was acting like a corporate chief executive -- as though there were something wrong with that. Next, Mr. Summers had the temerity to suggest that Cornel West, a professor of Afro-American studies, produce less performance art and more scholarship. This plea for academics to do academic work was construed as racist. After the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Mr. Summers criticized Harvard's hostility to the U.S. armed forces and called attention to the cultural gap between elite coastal campuses and mainstream American values. The fact that these commonsensical positions alienated people at Harvard speaks volumes about the cultural gap that troubled Mr. Summers.
Perhaps most explosively, Mr. Summers raised the possibility that the underrepresentation of women in science and engineering faculties might reflect innate gender differences in ability. His claim was not that women were less intelligent on average, but rather that fewer women than men might be outstandingly bad or outstandingly good at math, with the result that the pool of math geniuses from which universities recruit is disproportionately male. "I would far prefer to believe something else, because it would be easier to address what is surely a serious social problem if something else were true," he noted. But he was immediately branded a sexist.
Mr. Summers can be undiplomatic, as he acknowledged in his resignation letter. But university professors, of all people, should not require mollycoddling; they should be willing to embrace leaders who ask hard questions about how well they are doing their jobs. The tragedy is that the majority at Harvard seems to have known that. But, in university politics as elsewhere, loud and unreasonable minorities can trump good sense.
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Universities should be willing to embrace leaders who ask hard questions, and the majority at Harvard seems to have known that. But, in university politics as elsewhere, loud and unreasonable minorities can trump good sense.
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High Court's Newbie Rounds the Learning Curve
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It was Samuel Alito's first day of school yesterday, and the new Supreme Court justice demonstrated himself to be a precocious, if sometimes too enthusiastic, pupil.
In his first day on the bench, Alito laughed obligingly at Justice Antonin Scalia's joke about river discharge. He stroked his chin thoughtfully and rocked in his chair, just as the more senior justices do. The eight questions he asked -- on the finer points of the Clean Water Act and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission -- put him on course to surpass within days the total number of questions Justice Clarence Thomas has asked in 15 years.
The new student had some awkward moments as he adjusted to his surroundings. He tried to talk at the same time as 85-year-old Justice John Paul Stevens, then quickly backed down. He continued the questioning of a government lawyer after the time for the argument had expired. And, in his haste to depart the chamber, he forgot the rules of seniority and stepped in front of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg; the 72-year-old Clinton appointee was uninjured.
The high court has a new associate justice -- but Alito is not preparing for a long apprenticeship. He sent a bold signal in his hiring of law clerks: One, Adam Ciongoli, was an aide to former attorney general John Ashcroft and helped design administration policy on military tribunals and terrorism detainees. And the court's decision yesterday to hear a case about "partial birth" abortion will put Alito at the center of a dispute in which his predecessor, Sandra Day O'Connor, cast the deciding vote.
Alito's first day on the bench came as the court was hearing two big environmental cases, and the line for tickets stretched across the Supreme Court plaza and up Maryland Avenue. Inside, the justices engaged in an elaborate round of musical chairs to reflect O'Connor's departure. Scalia moved from seat four on the left to seat three on the right. Anthony Kennedy took over seat four, which sent David Souter to seat five on the right. With Souter in seat five, Thomas moved up to six on the left, while Ginsburg claimed seat seven on the right and Stephen Breyer decamped for seat eight, right near the press gallery. Alito, in seat nine on the far right, rested his chin on his fist, and rotated his head to take in the whole crowd.
As oral arguments started, Alito adopted a studious frown as the lawyer for a shopping-mall developer explained why the Clean Water Act didn't apply to him. Within seconds, Scalia interrupted to declare his agreement with the builder. Ginsburg broke in to make clear her opposition. Then, without waiting for the other six, Alito jumped in.
"Does it make sense," he wondered, that "a tributary that leads into navigable water is not necessarily covered?" Souter quickly agreed with Alito's line of questioning, suggesting "evil polluters" were trying to evade the law.
It might have been an anxious moment for the new justice's supporters. Was Alito, so recently championed by the right wing, siding with Ginsburg and Souter against Scalia? Or was he merely playing the devil's advocate, as justices often do? Alito, resting his face in his left hand, his pinky on his lips, gave no further clues. For the next hour, he sat silently while his colleagues debated fiercely.
Stevens called an argument made by the property owners "sort of foolish." Alito reached for his silver coffee mug. Scalia ridiculed the government argument that land "becomes water of the United States because there are puddles on it." Alito scratched his head.
Alito found his voice in the second hearing, a less important dispute about discharge from dams. He shared a private joke with Ginsburg, apparently at the expense of a clearly nervous petitioner. After Kennedy and Chief Justice John Roberts asked questions, Alito piped up with a question -- but quickly silenced himself when he discovered Stevens had the floor. He sipped from his mug, rested chin in hand, and bided his time -- finally seizing the floor after a Breyer soliloquy.
Alito poked a hole in the dam owner's argument that the state government was interfering with federal regulators. Next, he dissected the lawyer's argument that a river -- in this case, Maine's Presumpscot River -- cannot "discharge" into itself.
"Is it fair to say the Missouri River discharges into the Mississippi River?" Alito asked. Securing an affirmative answer, he pointed out: "They're two water bodies only because people gave them two different names." The lawyer attempted to recover, but Alito cut him off, pointing out that the law doesn't stipulate "discharge from one water body into another."
A few of the justices looked over at their new colleague for the first time. Alito rocked in his chair, allowing himself a celebratory sip from his coffee mug. When lawyers for the government made their side of the case, Alito returned with a tricky hypothetical: "Could you," he asked Maine's attorney general, "adopt water standards that make any hydroelectric power illegal?"
By the time Justice Department lawyer Jeffrey Minear spoke, Alito was so engaged in the argument that, not noticing the time clock had expired, he set off a chain reaction of awkwardness.
Alito directed a complex question about states' rights to Minear. Minear tried to squeeze in a brief answer. Roberts banged the gavel. And, before Ginsburg knew what had happened, Alito vanished behind the curtains.
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It was Samuel Alito's first day of school yesterday, and the new Supreme Court justice demonstrated himself to be a precocious, if sometimes too enthusiastic, pupil.
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Skating Sprites Come Up Big
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Pound for chiffon-draped pound, your average American women's figure skater has as much competitive guts as any athlete at these Olympics. That was the only conclusion to come to after watching Sasha Cohen, Kimmie Meissner and Emily Hughes rescue an entire nation's pride in the short program at the Palavela.
All over these Olympics, Americans with outsize reputations have whined, fallen, bickered and blamed. But these three limelight-drenched young women, who might have had every excuse to fail, stood up under some of the worst pressure in the Turin Games, and smiled while they did it, too.
In case you didn't understand the stakes, the women's Olympic short program is 2 1/2 of the most unforgiving, non-negotiable minutes in sports. It rivals the Kentucky Derby for sheer buildup and yet brevity, and it happens only every four years. It consists of eight required elements, with no do-overs. And it's skated before a panel of nine judges who look about as forgiving as a row of Helen Thomases.
Cohen, all 5 feet 2 and 95 pounds of her, seemed no bigger than a locket as she took the ice. As she stood there with that Valentine of a face and her tight hair bun in her glimmering sequined gypsy dress, you thought, no way. She's just too little. The Russian Irina Slutskaya, lying in first place, seemed too dynamic, too great and too sure in her status as the reigning world champion.
But then Cohen began to hummingbird over the ice, and as the music quickened, so did every pulse in the building. By the end of it, Cohen had filled an entire building with roars, and made it stand up along with her. She had also knocked Slutskaya out of first place by just .03 of a point. The score caused her coach, John Nicks, to exultantly lift her arm in the air, as if the athlete beside him was a fighter, not a skater. Which, really, she was.
"It was difficult to skate at the end after so many strong performances and I just took it one step at a time," she said. "I stayed strong and I believed in myself. To finish with a strong program, have a standing ovation, and then have judges give me great marks on top of that."
With the performance, Cohen seems poised to become the greatest figure skater in the world. The only thing that has kept her from that title so far is a nagging inconsistency; she has yet to get through both the short and long programs in a major competition without a mistake. But she has fought hard to remedy her weaknesses and her little frame is deceptively strong -- she can leg press 400 pounds. Her performance in the short was potentially significant because it came on a night when Slutskaya was at her best, and all of the other potential medalists skated cleanly, too. And there is something that sounds strong in her voice, too.
"It's definitely going to be tough for everyone to do great longs with the pressure," she said. "I've trained as hard as I possibly can this entire year. I'm going to believe in myself and expect the best."
After watching Cohen, you couldn't help but think of a certain much-publicized skier skulking in his trailer up on the mountainside -- and wish he had been here to see what a real competitor looks like. It's not been a wonderful Olympics for Americans. Or perhaps it's more right to say that Americans have not been wonderful at the Olympics. Michelle Kwan showed up hurt. Bode Miller has failed to medal in four Alpine events, but it's his excuse-making and sour behavior off his skis that have been so very disappointing. Speedskaters Shani Davis and Chad Hedrick fouled their gold medal performances with their feuding. That left skier Todd Ligety, snowboarder Shaun White and ice dancers Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto as the feel-good stories for the United States. And it left the USOC counting heavily on the women skaters to help with the medal count, and NBC counting heavily on them to boost ratings.
Cohen was the one with the most pressure heaped on her, but Meissner and Hughes deserved a salute for their grit, too, in what was the Olympic debut for both. Meissner, 16, was just the second skater to take the ice, an unenviable position, but she solidly nailed every jump and spin, and her only mistake was a slight misstep on her footwork, as she placed fifth. "I think I was just kind of excited," she said. "I think I was definitely more excited than nervous."
And then there was the 17-year-old Hughes. For pressure, how about getting the call to come to the Olympics with only a week's notice, because Kwan pulled out? And how about making your Olympic debut with your older sister, Sarah, the defending gold medalist, watching in the stands? Those were the circumstances under which Hughes took the ice, and she couldn't have handled them any better. She never complained or offered to use either as an excuse. Instead, like she delivered a lionhearted performance that left her in seventh place.
"It was just great to do a clean program at my first Olympics, and only finding out a little over a week ago that I was coming here. To have that experience of feeling such elation after the program was great," she said.
It's said you can't win the gold medal in the short program, but you can certainly lose it. Cohen, Meissner and Hughes are now within hailing distance of the medal podium. But no matter what happens now, each of them has already done something great: They showed us all, from the athletes here to the folks at home, what it means to compete.
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The trio of American women's figure skaters, Sasha Cohen, Katie Meissner and Emily Hughes do their country proud with gutsy performances.
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Ugandans Put 'Big Man' Politics to Vote
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KAMPALA, Uganda, Feb. 21 -- With his wide-brimmed safari hat, his modest ranch and his beloved cattle, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni was once hailed as part of a new generation of African leaders, a beacon of hope on a continent where rulers tended to be military tyrants and high-rolling dictators despised and feared by their own citizens.
African leaders have had such a habit of clinging to power that when the folksy-talking Museveni proclaimed himself a "man of the people," and promised Ugandans that "No African leader should stay in office more than 10 years," he was cheered. The West responded, too, pouring millions in donor aid into the East African nation. And everyone from President Bill Clinton to South Africa's former president Nelson Mandela lauded Uganda as the continent's success story. For all of Africa's woes, it was thought, Uganda was going to be different.
After 20 years in power, however, Museveni changed both his mind and the constitution. With the term limits now gone, he says he hopes to stay in power until 2013, a total of 27 years.
Explaining why he wants Ugandans to return him to power in elections to be held on Thursday, Museveni, 62, has said in campaign rallies, "You don't just tell the freedom fighter to go like you are chasing a chicken thief out of the house. A doctor does not leave when a patient is still sick."
While this is the country's first multiparty election in decades, Museveni's decision to jail Kizza Besigye, 50, his main opponent -- who just recently was released on bail to campaign -- has some Ugandans worried that their president has become just another "big man" ruler. They say Museveni's power to change Uganda's central body of laws sends a disturbing message to people in other parts of Africa struggling to dislodge leaders who don't want to leave.
Already, President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria, departing chairman of the African Union, has said he won't rule out altering the constitution in his country, Africa's most populous nation, in order to run for a third term in 2007.
"If Museveni stays in power, Ugandans can call him king, not president. And what will the rest of Africa think?" said Betty Brenda Nassuha, 19, a college student who text-messaged election news to her friends. "Let's talk frankly: Why can't we try someone else? He's the only leader I've known my entire life."
Museveni is one of a string of African leaders once romanced by the West but now accused by opponents and human rights activists of increasingly despotic behavior. They include Prime Minister Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia, who arrested political opposition leaders and had police fire into crowds protesting over allegations of rigged elections, leaving 80 dead; President Isaias Afwerki of Eritrea, who jailed 17 journalists and dozens of government critics; and President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, where opposition leaders were accused of treason as elections approached.
Museveni's defenders say he has proved himself to be a benevolent leader, pulling Uganda out of decades of ruinous dictatorships of Idi Amin and Milton Obote, improving the economy and launching one of the first and most vibrant campaigns to fight HIV/AIDS, which has been hailed as a model on the continent.
"If the man is good, we in Africa can keep him. He's solving our problems. Why trouble ourselves with uncertainty?" said Robert Kabushenga, a government spokesman, who pointed to a photo montage of Museveni surrounded by clapping supporters. "Why must we discuss longevity as an issue on its own? Maybe this is African-style democracy."
Uganda's civil society leaders disagree. They say term limits are important to the success of any nation, and argue that there has been too much emphasis by U.S. and other governments on courting African personalities in young democracies rather than building strong democratic institutions such as courts, a constitution, a free press and a thriving civil society.
The critics also said the international community should have been more focused on finding solutions to the country's brutal 20-year war in the north, where a crusade by a cult-like militia has driven more than 1.6 million people off their farms and left tens of thousands dead. The militia has become notorious for kidnapping children into slavery and mutilating civilians.
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KAMPALA, Uganda, Feb. 21 -- With his wide-brimmed safari hat, his modest ranch and his beloved cattle, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni was once hailed as part of a new generation of African leaders, a beacon of hope on a continent where rulers tended to be military tyrants and high-rolling...
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That Wonderful Woman! Oh, How I Loathe Her.
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Or, more to the point, whom do you idolspize?
Let me explain. It recently became clear to me that modern life has spawned a brand new emotion, that psychological sidewalk-crack between envy and idolatry that we often succeed in jumping over, but once in a while fall right through. That's where we meet them, those of superior beauty, character, talent and intelligence and, if friends, who are never less than loyal, supportive, generous and kind.
For this we loathe them.
It all began on a Thursday. I was at my computer idly scrolling through House & Home, that most invidious section of the New York Times, and there it was: a splashy article about New Yorker staff writer Susan Orlean, and the house she and her husband recently built in the Hudson Valley. An avid house-porn junkie and Susan Orlean fan, I devoured the story and eagerly accompanied Orlean as she took readers on a low-key Web tour of the glass-and-fieldstone showplace overlooking the Taconic mountains, a soaring yet serene sanctuary she described as "spacious but not pointlessly huge." The slide show's centerpiece was a photo of an understandably ecstatic-looking Orlean -- who even at 50 can still pull off her signature mane of long, red hair -- basking with her son and husband in the great room of an incredibly great house.
Within hours, Susan Orlean began acquiring even more real estate than her 55 acres in Columbia County, taking up residence in that part of my brain reserved for those I hold in equal parts esteem and contempt. In my head began a tiny little synaptic badminton game that goes something like this: I love Susan Orlean, I hate Susan Orlean, I wish I could be Susan Orlean, I'm not smart/pretty/talented/enterprising enough to be Susan Orlean. I idolize Susan Orlean. I despise Susan Orlean.
Please understand: I adore Susan Orlean and begrudge her nothing, not the New Yorker gig, the books, the close-up-ready face. Not even the two great movies based on her articles -- "Adaptation" and "Blue Crush" -- that opened the same year . Still, throughout the ensuing weekend, my mind obsessively returned to the same thoughts, the mewling laments of a puny inquisitor: She's got the career, the looks, the romance, the kid. Did she have to get the perfect house, too? Must her happiness, however justified, be so in-your-face? Must she be so promiscuous in her bliss?
We all have them, those close friends, colleagues, casual acquaintances or complete strangers whose lives and careers exist -- it seems to us -- solely as a rebuke to our own. We respect them, admire them from afar, maybe even love them -- but with a twinge of . . . what exactly? Jealousy? Envy? White-knuckled rage? They're the people who are constantly reminding us that we'll never quite measure up. They're the valedictorians to our salutatorians, the bestsellers to our mid-listers, the mid-listers to our never-published, the homecoming queens to our also-rans. They seem to have sprung fully formed from our ugliest competitive streaks, our egos at their most fragile, our deepest self-loathing. They are our own squandered potential, fully realized.
Susan Orlean may be the most idolspicable person in my life, but there have been others: The college classmate, tall and gorgeous enough to be a supermodel, whose documentary was nominated for an Oscar. The acquaintance who, in an aerobics class 20 years ago in New York, giddily confided that she'd begun dating a then-unknown stand-up comedian; reader, she married him and he went on to create a mega-hit sitcom. The former colleague who underwent a transformation -- lightened her hair, got a divorce, quit her job -- into a fabulous-looking, critically acclaimed novelist with a hugely successful writer-producer boyfriend.
In New York, they're the guy you knew when you were both interns, who sold his Web site to Yahoo! and now owns a $5 million brownstone just down the street from the cramped walk-up you're still renting; in Los Angeles they're the fellow actor or screenwriter or director you see every day at Ralph's when, bam, he gets the big studio gig, she sells her script for seven figures, he's asked to pose for a Vanity Fair cover with Soderbergh and Scorsese. In Washington, they're one step closer to the committee chairman with one more Georgetown invitation or Tim Russert tete-a-tete than you.
(Is idolspizing an extreme sport on the coasts, the product of cities where the haves, have-nots and almost-not-quites live in proximity too close not to engender chronic envy? Who idolspizes whom in Des Moines? Discuss.)
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Do you idolspize? Or, more to the point, whom do you idolspize?
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Drop Till You Shop
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TURIN, Italy -- Olympic figure skater Johnny Weir has been out shopping every day, shopping so much that the Louis Vuitton store here, which he affectionately calls "Louie" and which he's visited six or seven times since arriving two weeks ago, paid for his cab recently when he was leaving.
" 'Cause I'm nice," he explains.
Because he's nice, or because he drops a lot of money?
He is nice. And charming. And so thin he buys children's sizes when he shops at Lacoste. And loaded down with money from skating shows like "Champions on Ice." And great at getting discounts. And capable of spending $1,330 in two hours, which is what he did Monday on his daily shopping trip.
He knows the staff in the high-end stores of central Turin. He knows who's having sales and who moved around their merchandise in the few days since he was last in the store. It's a rush to watch him spend -- reckless and freeing, like shooting tequila in the morning.
"I like to shop," Johnny says.
So far, Weir, 21, who came in fifth in the men's figure skating competition for the U.S. team last week (but first in matters of beauty and brashness), has bought the following items here: five pairs of shoes, a pair of rabbit fur hand warmers, a Dolce & Gabbana hoodie he says reads "Sex trainer: Best to practice seven days a week," and a sable scarf that was supposed to be $715 but was instead $415 because he spoke French with the saleslady.
Ah, the fabulousness that is Johnny Weir! The fur collars! The special deals! His absolute favorite item of clothing is a Roberto Cavalli beaver-and-python coat. He is also proud that the "Louie" in Boston "pre-sold me a bag before it was allowed to be released," he says. "I'm the first person in the entire world to have this bag."
Before starting the day's shopping, he meets us for cappuccino at a cafe near the Olympic Village wearing the aforementioned rabbit hand warmers, a Fendi scarf, True Religion jeans, which are his favorite brand ("I like how my butt looks in them"), a black leather coat with some sort of fur collar, and recently purchased red John Galliano sneakers, "new for this season," which were supposed to be $416 but which he got for about $120 because the store's credit card machine was broken, and "I made a scene because I had to walk to an ATM."
He compliments our earrings and orders a biscuit, which is all -- aside from an orange -- that he will eat today, at least until 6 p.m.
Johnny Weir says he is very spiritual. It is true that he adores the celebrity rag Us Weekly and that he's currently reading a book by too-thin, too-blond starlet Nicole Richie. But he also has a deeper side. He says he's been obsessed with the Holocaust since he was little and considers himself "a little bit" Jewish, although he isn't, not technically. He says he's had his past lives read and found out that most recently he was a Jewish girl from Poland during World War II.
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Figure skater Johnny Weir has been out shopping every day, shopping so much that the Louis Vuitton store here, which he affectionately calls "Louie" and which he's visited six or seven times in two weeks, paid for his cab recently when he was leaving.
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Domingo Re-Ups With Washington, L.A. Operas
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Placido Domingo will sign on for an additional five years as general director of both the Washington National Opera and the Los Angeles Opera through the 2010-11 seasons, it was learned yesterday. His contracts with both troupes had been scheduled to expire this year.
The Los Angeles Opera held a news conference about the agreement yesterday morning. Sources close to the negotiations in Washington affirmed that Domingo was staying on with the WNO, but that no decision would be announced until later this week.
"Washington made a deal with the Los Angeles Opera that it would wait at least two days until after the announcement in California before making an announcement of its own," a WNO insider, who asked for anonymity because of the violation of that deal, said yesterday.
The definition of a general director varies from company to company, but the title commonly denotes a person who handles both artistic decisions and administrative affairs at the highest level. Therefore, Domingo -- who is now 65 and continues to sing in some of the world's greatest opera houses and has increasingly added conducting to his busy schedule -- is the ultimate decision-maker for these two medium-size but wealthy and ambitious American companies. He was unavailable for comment yesterday.
Domingo has been associated with the Los Angeles Opera since its creation in 1986, first as artistic consultant, then as artistic director and finally as general director. He came to Washington as artistic director of what was then known as the Washington Opera in 1996 and was promoted to general director seven years later. He reportedly has been paid $450,000 a year in the WNO post.
"The whole situation is unique because there has never been a general director who was the head of two major opera companies," Patrick J. Smith, the former editor of Opera News, said yesterday. "But the way it's being handled is very silly. This business of who gets to announce what when is just a power play -- and who cares? Everybody knows that Placido can stay in both places as long as he wants. He's one of the great fundraisers in the history of opera, and he's not exactly in a shaky position in either Los Angeles or Washington."
Indeed, this is the second time that the news of a change in Domingo's status at one troupe has been followed by an immediate and all-but-identical announcement from the other. In 2003, on the very day Domingo was upgraded from artistic director to general director in Los Angeles, WNO board President Michael Sonnenreich announced that the tenor would do the same thing in Washington.
Over the past several years, there had been speculation that Domingo might be in the running to take over New York's Metropolitan Opera after the retirement of its long-serving general manager, Joseph Volpe, this summer. The October 2004 announcement that Peter Gelb, then president of the Sony Classical record label, would take over for Volpe put an end to those rumors, and made Domingo's renewals in Los Angeles and Washington much more likely.
"I wonder why Los Angeles felt that it had the right to announce first," Smith said with a laugh. "After all, Washington is now a 'national' opera -- it says so in the title!"
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Get style news headlines from The Washington Post, including entertainment news, comics, horoscopes, crossword, TV, Dear Abby. arts/theater, Sunday Source and weekend section. Washington Post columnists, movie/book reviews, Carolyn Hax, Tom Shales.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2006/02/15/DI2006021501556.html
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https://web.archive.org/web/2006022419id_/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2006/02/15/DI2006021501556.html
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Personal Tech
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2006022419
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Want to know what upcoming topics are being covered? Sign up for the Fast Forward e-letter -- get updated information on personal technology news and product demos.
Past editions of Rob's e-letter are online here .
Rob Pegoraro: Good afternoon... lots of potential chat fodder this week: my review of Apple's iLife suite two Sundays ago, Sunday's review of two new digital cameras, the recent news about Mac malware and, if all else fails, everybody's attempts to keep up with the Olympics online. Let's get started!
Seattle, Washington: Whatever became of the big rollout of Microsoft's Xbox 360. There are very few to be had. Clearly something went wrong, or was this shortage manufactured?
Rob Pegoraro: I try to guess all the possible chat topics, and of course I miss this one! No, I highly doubt that the ongoing Xbox shortage was "manufactured." It wouldn't make any sense to have shortages persisting for this long after launch.
Reston, VA: Today, I hate both Apple and Windows -- I'm about ready to bring my old workplace buddy -- Linux -- home to stay. I had been using iTunes with XP to listen to podcasts, download music, etc. A couple of weeks ago -- nothing else changed on my system -- I got error messages saying that iTunes had been installed incorrectly. Some googling implied that I should reinstall iTunes. However, iTunes no longer installs!!! Everything moves along wonderfully until I receive an 'installation interrupted' message right at the end of the process. Apparently, this is an issue many folks have had. Apparently, this is an issue that none of the workaround that have done the trick for other folks works for me. My action of last resort was uninstalling service pack 2. But guess what? Service Pack 2 won't uninstall. The fix for many folks in this situation? Reinstall XP from scratch. While MS surely deserves some of the blame, iTunes is the _ONLY_ software I've had this problem with -- and it seems that this has been an iTunes problem for some time. Someone, shoot me now!
Rob Pegoraro: I'm all out of bullets, Reston, so I can't oblige you in your request :)
Whatever else is wrong with your computer, I don't see how uninstalling or removing SP2 would fix any of them. You'd only make your computer grotesquely insecure afterwards.
As for the iTunes problem--your post is the first I'd seen about this particular issue. (My first thought: Does iTunes show up in Add or Remove Programs? If so, yank it from there before you try reinstalling it.) Anybody with advice for Reston about this, or at least tea and sympathy?
Alexandria, VA: Although iWeb allows the user to create several types of web pages and tie them together, the templates are, unfortunately, really clumsy. Unlike other blogging tools, iWeb's templates float around like elements on a PowerPoint slide. At first I thought this was great--no need to stumble through the html page template to get things the way I want them. Unfortunately, after spending an hour tweaking the characteristics of my page, dragging text boxes, changing fonts, etc., I realized that when I started a new page the original template is back! There's no way to customize how your page looks with out going through it every time you make a new entry. Is this going to change any time soon? Does Apple have plans to allow people to save changes to a layout, or at least spawn a new page that has the same layout as the last one you just made?
Rob Pegoraro: Maybe iLife 2007 will include these features? I wouldn't expect to see them before then; historically, Apple hasn't been in the habit of adding features to iLife with its periodic bug-fix releases.
Seattle, WA: Hi Rob. Considering the eventual release of TiVo Series 3 would it still be wise to invest in a Tivo Series 2 at this point in time? By the way, I don't have digital cable (just regular cable) and don't have a need (at this point) for HDTV capable recordings. Thanks!
Rob Pegoraro: I don't think I can answer that--TiVo's next-gen, HD-ready, CableCard-enabled Series 3 has been in the works for so long that I don't even want to predict when it shows up.
Reston 2-0-1-9-0: Hi Rob Some months ago I heard rumors of a keystroke logger that appeared on some OS X systems, but couldn't (rapidly, anyway) track down a diagnostic tool to detect it. Would that be something ClamXav would expose?
Rob Pegoraro: (This is one of three different questions I'm seeing from this city and Zip code, BTW. I would like to remind everybody that I do welcome input from other Fairfax County Zip codes as well.)
I doubt ClamXav, the free, open-source anti-virus app for OS X, would find these keyloggers unless they're distributed as actual malware. (There are keyloggers for OS X, but all of them, last I checked, required physical access to a machine by an admin and were sold above-board, as software that a company or school might load to monitor employee or student use.)
Washington, DC: I'm a devoted but not overly tech-y Mac user. Lots of stuff in the news lately about OS X vulnerabilities. Is it time to panic yet?
Rob Pegoraro: No. If Apple doesn't crank out some security updates for the recently-revealed vulnerabilities (including one stupid bug that came to light this weekend, after I'd filed my newsletter), you should be angry--but not panicked. All of the attacks that have been outlined so far can be defeated by simple configuration changes (like not having Safari "open 'safe' files automatically") and applying basic common-sense to the files you choose to download and open on your computer. And unless you cough up the admin password every time an application asks for it, none of these attacks could do that much damage in the long run anyway.
Ocean View, DE: Hoping you can help this non-techie here, Rob.
After depleting almost all of my laptop's 55gb HD with iTunes music and didgipix, I bit the bullet and bought an external MAXTOR 200 GB drive yesterday... any clues how I migrate my iPod/iTunes from my C drive to my new H drive? And how I teach iTunes to download all subsequent tunes to the new drive? Thanks.
Rob Pegoraro: Hit the iTunes Edit menu, select Preferences and then click the Advanced tab to change where iTunes stores music.
i-XP Issues: iTunes and XP - makes sure only one user is logged on. This fixed my problems, also with the iPod giving a "don't disconnect" msg and no "safely remove hardware" icon.
PA, CA: Thanks for taking my question.
I have a Pbook G4 with the new iLife. I want to use it, but I can't find a good tutorial or book on it, and the Apple support does not give you much. Can you recommend a solution?
Rob Pegoraro: Have you used the built-in Help? Each one comes with a pretty good (in my experience) introduction to what these applications do--and if you're like most folks, you'll probably only be using iPhoto at the start, which is far more approachable than the rest of the bundle.
Winchester, Va.: Hello. Thanks for the chats. Always informative. I have an off-topic question. What is the financial benefit of residential VOIP. If you have to have a phone line already, and an internet connection, I don't see a great benefit to further paying for the VOIP subscription. Perhaps a few dollars saved, but another bill to pay, another potential headache to have, it seems to me. Thanks.
Rob Pegoraro: A VoIP line can save you money in a few different ways:
1) You get one as a second or third line (say, for the kids)
2) You spend a lot of time making long-distance or international phone calls, both of which are far cheaper over VoIP than in any landline-based calling plan
3) You ditch the voice line entirely, which is entirely possible if you have cable-modem Internet or "naked" DSL, where no voice service is bundled with the DSL.
(In the last case, you do need to verify that your VoIP provider delivers complete 911 service to your location.)
Hoping you can help. I'll be heading to Graduate School this fall where nearly all students purchase the laptops from school (which are pretty expensive $2500+). I am concerned about buying one of these laptops in June considering Vista and Word 2007 will be coming out in the Fall/Winter. What would you do? Would you make such an expensive purchase knowing key software will be updated in mere months?
Rob Pegoraro: My general answer: Just because "key software" will be updated doesn't mean that you have to buy it right away. I can't see any scenario in which not running Windows Vista would stop you from doing anything in grad school. That said, Vista looks to be a very big upgrade--as well it should, considering it's been five years since Microsoft last shipped a new version of Windows!--and you shouldn't buy a computer that would stop you from using Vista. So I suggest getting one with a gigabyte of memory and a graphics card--not an integrated chipset--with at least 64 megabytes of memory.
My specific answer: Nobody should have to spend $2,500 on a laptop for grad school--well, not unless you'll be majoring in video games or computer programming. I think you'd be much better off buying a laptop elsewhere that meets whatever specific hardware requirements your school cites.
Falls Church, VA: Verizon is starting to offer fiber optic broadband, but I hear it doesn't work with Macs. Any info? Thanks.
Rob Pegoraro: Yeah--you heard wrong. There's nothing about the new Fios service that stops a Mac user (or a Linux user, or anybody running an Internet-ready operating system) from using it.
Either the Post hasn't reviewed any new games, or the review link from your newsletter has been broken for at least 3-4 weeks. It keeps linking to the Dec 25 reviews of Cold War and Shawdows of Colossus.
washingtonpost.com: The game reviews recently moved from the Sunday Personal Tech page to Weekend. We're working to update the e-letter links.
Rob Pegoraro: By "recently," BTW, we mean starting on the first Friday of January. We did run notices about this in print and in my newsletter.
Bethesda, MD: I'd assume that the authors of tech articles know there's a difference between a virus and a trojan-- so, why is this being ignored in all the 'Macs attacked by virus' articles?
Rob Pegoraro: A virus, by definition, is a program that has to exploit other programs to spread copies of itself--if it didn't need that help, it would be a worm. This Mac virus exploits a bug in OS X to send copies of itself via iChat.
But, really, why are we having this debate at all? Do you really think that telling people "Oh, it's not a virus, it's only a trojan horse" will make them feel better about the situation if they have to clean this thing off their hard drive?
(Granted, I'd much rather clean up this application than any Windows virus.)
Detroit, Michigan: Apple states that their latest version of iDVD will work with certain third-party external DVD burners, without the need for Roxio Toast. Yet when I look on their website I cannot find any information on which DVD burners are compatible. Do you know which ones will work? (I have a 1.25 GHz eMac with a combo drive.)
Rob Pegoraro: Y'know, I can't find any such list myself. But the comments I have read in Apple's tech-support discussions forum (discussions.apple.com) suggest that most name-brand drives do function properly in iDVD 6.
Washington, DC: Good afternoon, I must have gotten it wrong but I thought there was going to be some discussion about the Hacker who appeared in yesterday's Post Magazine section?
What did you think of the story? And still lots of folks do not bother with security for their computers and one last question - are all those folks who copied XP from a friend's disc so they do not have a legitimate copy at risk or are they allowed to download updates and patches??? Thanks
washingtonpost.com: That discussion began at 1:00. Here's the transcript .
Rob Pegoraro: I thought Brian did a great job with that story (although I do agree with the critique that it could have spelled out the thus-far Windows-only nature of the botnet problem more clearly). I couldn't help noticing, BTW, that Brian's piece ran the same day as Philip Pan's story about China's Web censorship: What if all these kids living in their parents' basements ever decided to prove their 133t hAx0rz ("elite hacker") status by hacking the PRC's firewalls instead of random grandparents' computers?
For security and housekeeping reasons, I clear out my browser cache, history, and cookies after almost every online session. I was wondering, is there a way to somehow designate or tag specific cookies for retention so they are not deleted? For example, I like to visit washingtonpost.com and always have to enter in my login and password every time.
I use Safari on my Mac and Firefox on my laptop PC.
Rob Pegoraro: You're working WAY too hard, Reston. Safari already blocks the cookies set by third-party sites (like ad networks) by default, so your exposure to "tracking cookies" is negligible or zero in the first place. If you do visit a site that you consider sketchy, the version of Safari in Tiger has a "private browsing" option--under the Safari menu--that will erase all records of your online activity once you conclude the private-browsing session.
Unsolicited editorial comment: I really really really really wish that people would quit wasting time like Reston has been. Time spent on this kind of computing voodoo is time that can't be spent keeping your software up to date against real threats--or, y'know, getting some actual utility and enjoyment out of the computer.
Fairfax, Va.: Apple is upgrading some of its software so that it works on the new intel processors, including final cut pro. Have you heard anything about when they will release the new version of final cut express?
Jackson, NJ: Hello... Do you know of any way of loading my videos from a SamsungSCD67 digital video camera into any part of my Mac....I'm running Tiger and it's just not recognizing the camera.....the same happened with Panther and also all forms of ILIFE.......Bob
Rob Pegoraro: Are you connecting the camcorder via USB 2.0? If so, get yourself a FireWire cable--iLife, like other video editors (for instance, Adobe Premiere Elements), won't recognize cameras patched in over USB.
Baltimore, MD: I have an iMac and use Firefox. For email, I use Yahoo's web-based application. When I compose an email, I recently noticed that there is kind of toolbar that is empty above the window that contains the message being constructed.
When I passed my mouse over the empty toolbar, prompt boxes appeared. The toolbar apparently contains font, color, and other styling aids for the message being composed.
In Safari, the toolbar doesn't even show up.
In IE, the toolbar shows up with the proper icons visible.
How can I make the icons visible in Firefox; how can I get the toolbar even show up in Safari? Thanks.
Rob Pegoraro: I think you'd have to ask Yahoo those questions--there are ways to make the same interface available in all current browsers, but Yahoo hasn't implemented them yet. See, for example, Gmail.
Charleston, W.Va.: I'm tearing my hair out over Verizon DSL service. We recently switched phone services from AT&T to Verizon, which caused the Verizon DSL to konk out. Called Verizon and was told that we need to downgrade to Verizon dial up to retain our e-mail address, password, etc. After a day or two of dial-up, THEN we can upgrade back to the DSL with our original e-mail address. It was do this, or cancel and reorder DSL service (also causing me to send back modem, etc.)and start over with new e-mail address and password. This sounds crazy to me. Does this make sense? It's like we're being punished for switching to Verizon phone service.
Rob Pegoraro: As far as I can figure out, the people at Verizon in charge of provisioning DSL service are in WAY OVER their heads. The company seems to have a pretty good DSL offering if you can ever get connected, but too many people are getting sandbagged before they can get that far.
Gaithersburg, MD: This is completely off-topic, but hopefully you can offer some suggestions. About a year ago, I bought an HP laptop with a large screen--it weighs a ton, but I thought the screen would make up for it. After a few backbreaking air trips, I'm wishing that I'd gone with the 12-inch iBook that I also considered. Problem is, my budget doesn't really cover buying a new laptop every year. Is there anywhere I can sell a used computer, besides the usual eBay route?
Rob Pegoraro: The Washington Post has an extremely widely-read classified-ads section, with very reasonable rates!
Washington, D.C.: Hey, I read your column about iLife '06, with particular interest in the new iPhoto. I have thousands of photos on my Mac and, obviously, it's totally bogging down my current version of iPhoto. Sloooooooow.
Could you elaborate on how the new iPhoto will (purportedly) make my photo organizing faster? Is it worth getting iLife?
I fooled around with iPhoto Buddy a bit but it seemed cumbersome.
Rob Pegoraro: Apple says the old iPhoto was certified only up to 25,000 photos, while the new one can handle up to 250,000. (No, I didn't verify that myself.) In my own tests--including daily operation on a four-year-old iMac G4--I can verify that iPhoto 6 does feel notably quicker on its feet than iPhoto 5.
Washington DC: Unchecking the option in Safari does not entirely mitigate the vulnerability. It is a vulnerability in OSX, not Safari.
Rob Pegoraro: Yes, but with that option unchecked you have to actually do something to get the Terminal script to run. That's the least you can ask from any operating system--don't let me get into trouble for doing nothing.
Baltimore, MD: I've read (on CNet) that HDTV's should be calibrated. I just got a Samsung 50" DLP and don't want to shell out $300-400 for a 'professional' to do it. Is it really worth it, or are there calibration DVD's that I can buy to adjust the image quality?
Rob Pegoraro: Yes, there are calibration DVDs--the one I almost always see cited is called "Video Essentials," but I haven't tried it out myself. You could also just use your own eyeballs; pop in a DVD you know well and adjust the TV's settings until the movie looks right.
But dropping $300 or $400 to have a video tech visit your house? I mean, it's only TV we're talking here... let's try to get a grip on our spending.
Takoma Park, MD: Good iLife books exist by Jim Heid and the one called iLife the missing manual - individually the iPhoto missing manual books have been fabulous.
None are updated yet for iLife 06, sadly.
Rob Pegoraro: Not surprised to hear that the guidebooks are out of date--Apple doesn't reveal details about upcoming releases to any but a few outsiders (myself not included), so most writers have to catch up on iLife '06 before writing about it.
Arlington, VA: Hey Rob, I recently deleted a piece of software from my iMAC G5 and then I re-installed a few days later, but it "remembered" all my personal settings for that software. Did the software not completely delete the first time?
Rob Pegoraro: A properly-written Mac application will store your preferences in your user account's Library folder. Trashing the application doesn't delete that folder, but in most cases it's not worth worrying about--leftover prefs files don't clog up a Mac the way leftover system-registry entries gunk up a Windows PC.
Balimer, MD: Hi Rob- I have a D-Link Di-624 Wireless Router. An eMac is connected directly to it, and we have two PowerBooks around the house. I had always had at least WEP security. However, since updating all the computers to Mac OS 10.4, I experienced occasional dropouts, and I'd have to trudge upstairs to restart the router to get either of the laptops to reconnect. So, I updated the firmware on the router. Now I can't get WEP or WPA to work! I do, however, suppress the ID of the wireless network. So my question is this: how much danger am I in? Without knowing the name of the network, can anyone else get on it? And when I am browsing a secure site, how secure is it if I am using a wireless connection?
Rob Pegoraro: Other people can still jump on your network and start sniffing your data if they're running any of a few easily obtained wireless-networking utilities. If there isn't any newer D-Link firmware, I would try removing the old updates and restoring it to factory condition (the manual should have info on how to do that, assuming it's possible at all--I know you can do that with Apple's AirPort wireless hardware).
wash dc: For the guy/gal selling a laptop, Craigslist works well. No fees, local sales, etc.
Rob Pegoraro: Well, there is that. But have I mentioned that the Washington Post has a very widely-read classified ads section, with very reasonable rates?
Rockville, MD: Rob: Re Ubuntu Breezy Badger edition on an AMD 64 bit computer. I've loaded and brought it "up". It accepts my login and pw, then following a disclaimer it takes me to a repetition of my user name an pw and asks for a command to bring up the graphical user interface. The request for a command is preceded by $. I can't find anyone (including emails to Ubuntu) who can tell me what command to issue. Can someone help on this matter?
Rob Pegoraro: I've been meaning to install the Ubuntu distribution of Linux, but I haven't gotten around to it. Can anybody help out Rockville?
Issaquah, Wash.: I have been blocking all incoming email that looks like spam on my XP Media Center system. I wonder how to manage this huge list of unwanted emailers?
Rob Pegoraro: If you're using the message rules built into Outlook Express, you might as well not bother. They only block messages from individual senders or with individual subject headers, and spammers change those all the time. What you need is a spam filter that learns from experience--like, say, the one built into Mozilla Thunderbird 1.5, a free e-mail client that, unlike OE, has been updated since 1999 or so.
Reston, VA 20190: Hi-a personal experience re/DVD drives and Macs, and a question. About 2 months back I bought a DVD reader/burner from a major outlet and the techie there said "sure, it will work for OS X." But the Mac wouldn't recognize it. I then scrutinized the box carefully, and discovered it said, basically, Windows required. I took it back and went looking for one whose box said Mac compatible. To my surprise, none claiming that were for sale there or in another major outlet. So... does iLife 6 have some special software that enables the Mac to see the just about any DVD drive, and if so would the OS X Mac be able to see this in applications other than iDVD, do you think? Finder would be one place, of course.
Rob Pegoraro: Most storage and printing devices these days aren't actually operating-system specific, but if drivers aren't included with them it'll be up to the host operating system to recognize them on its own. What make/model is this DVD drive?
Kodak 570: I know it's off topic but I must report that I purchased the Kodak 570 last weekend. I love it! It was on my short list for some time, but your review cemented my interest. I'm looking forward to great picture taking.
Rob Pegoraro: Glad to hear it's working out for you!
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: I desperately need your help. Both my husband and I use computers at the office but neither of us is particularly computer savvy (as far as anything other than use). I think that at this point we need to have a computer at home and feel we should have a PC or desktop - he feels as though a notebook would be fine for our use. Each person that I talk to about this subject has a different opinion from MIS people at work to friends' teenagers. Once that is settled then I come to buying from Dell on line or going to Best Buy/Circuit City. The availability of The Geek Squad is what is making me look at BB. All of this indecision is wearing me down. Please some guidance first in what you would think would be appropriate for us (some letters, internet use for banking and research) perhaps an iPod (therefore would need something for music) and also if you could direct me to some appropriate research sites or reading materials. I appreciate your time and thanks for helping a novice.
Rob Pegoraro: First, I wouldn't rule out a Mac. None of the uses you cited would rule out getting an Apple--which I think you'd find would be a lot easier to live with over time than a PC, especially after adding up the costs of any Geek Squad interventions.
Second, here's my most recent column on what to look for in a computer:
Ground Rules for Buying on the Cutting Edge: home computer
Washington DC - 20008: Piggybacking on the Verizon DSL, I had horrible cust service w/them after my rooommate decided to move out, and take the DSL w/her. I am wondering, where else there is to go-- for a reasonable price. Is comcast worth it? NetZero? RCA (though not sure they service my area)?
Rob Pegoraro: I think you mean RCN, not RCA. The RCN customers that I've heard from seem generally happy with their service, and you get cheaper-than-Comcast cable TV in the bargain. There are also independent DSL providers, but they do tend to cost a little more. The guide we ran last spring should give you an idea of who's out there, although the prices listed there are generally not current: Personal Technology Guide to Washington Area Internet Service Providers (washingtonpost.com)
Washington DC: For PA CA, who was looking for iLife tutorials -
The O'Reilly "Missing Manuals" series are consistently good - I haven't looked at the iLife manual (I'm sure there is one) but all the others I've used have been great. I bet they could find it at their local Apple Store. (Everyone has a local Apple Store nowadays, right?)
Rob Pegoraro: Another source for help (many written, I should add, by my distinguished competitor at the NYT, David Pogue).
RestonVA 20190: 'Lo Rob. Here is a peripheral Mac question. I have cable modem, and an almost new iMac (bought just before the Intel ones were announced - slight buyers remorse already, but still a fabulous machine), so I "Airported" the older iMac to the new one on the cable. The older one's email inbox from Comcast never loads. Any clue where to troubleshoot this?
Rob Pegoraro: Depends if you check your mail via Comcast's Web-mail interface or using Apple's own Mail program... but either way, you should make sure that Safari and Mail have the same settings on either machine.
(I've heard complaints in the past about Comcast's Mac support; one of my colleagues was livid the other weekend about the runaround he got from some tech-support drone whose understanding of Apple software apparently lapsed sometime around the demise of the PowerBook Duo.)
Cheverly, MD: No Name Laptops. Well not exactly I am interested in the HP Pavilion Notebook DV 5029 sold exclusively at a local retailer. I can't find any reviews on this model(made available 1/15/06). I've compared prices and it has many of the features I am looking for...but how do I know if its a good deal????Help
Rob Pegoraro: I can't tell you if it's a good deal either (price?) but the specs on the 5030, the closest one I could find listed at HP's Web site, seem alright overall. It's got enough memory and hard-drive space and the weight isn't too heavy for a machine you don't plan on taking out of the house. The price is nothing special, though, and with only 3 USB ports it's one short of what a lot of other (non-Apple) laptops include these days.
For Reston: If it's not too late, Reston's iTunes installation problems might be due to the virus and/or spyware protection software he's using. It happens.
Rob Pegoraro: Thanks, For Reston!
Reston 2-0-1-9-0: Re/Washington DC's question about whether iLife is worth it, when iPhoto is pretty populated. I help with my relatives' Macs, which have iLife 05, and have iLife 06 on my own. The speed of iPhoto on mine got noticeably better when I upgraded from 05 to 06 and I really like the ability to make folders in folders, an '06 add. But I hope iLife 07 puts a scroll bar in that pane, for people like me who can't seem to think of short folder names. I stumbled across iPhoto Buddy and put that on my sister's iLife 05 machine. It isn't a substitute for iLife 06 but it is worthwhile.
Rob Pegoraro: Thanks to yet another of my prolific Reston-based correspondents.
washington, dc: To follow up on the rant earlier regarding the itunes software. I, too, am having issues with my ipod. All the sudden about 3 months ago, after working for over a year, my itunes software will no longer detect my ipod when it is plugged in via my USB port. I have tested the ipod in the apple store and it has no problem with linking up with other computers to download music. the cable is fine. the ipod works fine. But i cannot add new music. My USB port also works with other devices and will send a charge to my ipod. Any ideas? The dell people tell me it is not a PC issue (Inspiron 700M laptop) and apple insists it is not their problem. I have updated the software as best as I can for both itunes and ipod, and my drivers have new patches as well that have come out and have been reinstalled. No such luck. Suggestions?
Rob Pegoraro: This is a problem that I have heard of--but I've never encountered it myself, naturally. Have you tried restoring the iPod to factory condition? Use the latest version of Apple's iPod software (www.apple.com/ipod/download) to do this, then install the latest iPod software on the device.
Dummyville: Rob - I need to do a backup in anticipation of wiping the computer clean and re-installing it all. Using the XP System Tools. Now...I get a single file? This is my backup? And what should I do now that time has elapsed and I need to re-backup? Blow away that big file, right?
Rob Pegoraro: If you used the Backup utility included with XP Pro, you'd use that same program to restore your data from the huge backup file just created. For your next update, you'd be making a new backup file.
Reston: Re/what DVD drive wasn't recognizable: Samsung WRitemaster SEW-164
Rob Pegoraro: I tried to find an answer, but... well, you may be the only person on Earth to use this drive. (Amazon doesn't even seem to stock it. Inconceivable!) I guess you could just try plugging into a Mac and seeing if it's recognized by the system. If it isn't, try returning it or putting it for sale on eBay.
Mooresville, N.C.: I was getting ready to purchase a new Gateway 6500D. A friend told me not to purchase anything that does not have a "dual core processor". He says if it doesn't have this it will not be able to run the new Windows Vista operating system. I've never heard of Vista. He says it is scheduled come out in May. Does he know what he's talking about?
Rob Pegoraro: No. Vista doesn't require a dual-core processor. Nor is it coming out in May--Microsoft hasn't set a ship date more specific than "by this holiday season."
Mays Landing, NJ: For Rockville MD with the Ubuntu, try "startx".
(without the quotes). If that doesn't work he should look for answers on a website like linuxquestions.org
Rob Pegoraro: Thanks! (Of course, I have zero idea if this answer is right :)
is the TeraStation a good choice for home backup? It would be shared among 3-4 machines. Worth the $700? Do I need to buy additional backup software or just use what's provided in the package? Thanks!
Rob Pegoraro: There are much cheaper "NAS" ("network attached storage") devices for home use. Take a look at the Mirra Personal Server, for instance--from 160 GB for $280 to 400 GB for $500. We had a reviewer try it out a while back who liked it, and then one of my editors bought one for himself. He seems pretty happy with it overall.
Rob Pegoraro: I think that about sticks a fork in today's chat, gang. Thanks for the all the questions... I should be back here Monday after next if my usual schedule holds.
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Matt Rennie: Hello, hoops fans. Eric and I have a special guest with us this week: Hoyas beat writer Camille Powell. So if you have a special interest in JTIII's boys or the Big East in general, you won't have to tolerate my and Eric's usual ignorance.
MCI Center: Now that we have 3 ranked teams in the area with GW, Mason and Georgetown, isn't it time to make the BB&T a two day, 4 team local event along with Maryland?
Matt Rennie: we've been saying that in this chat long before the teams were ranked, but each one has its own reasons for not wanting to play the others. Too bad. It would be fun for the fans and, oh yeah, the players.
Camille Powell: Not to mention fun for the local media, too. There are DC-area players on all three teams, and the sense I get from them is that they would love to have the chance to play each other.
Montgomery Village, Md: Hey guys.What's the over/under on the number of Big TEN teams you mention in this chat? Usually it is about 2. They will have at least 4 and maybe 5 or 6 teams in the tourney, can't they get any love here?
Eric Prisbell: Sure, I liked this Michigan State team in Maui when I was there and will have a tough time picking MSU to be out before the elite eight. Ohio State will get its share of time in this chat next year when the Thad Five recruiting class arrives. Iowa intrigues me because of the coaching situation. McDermott would be a great fit for the job if Alford moves to Bloomington.
The Big Ten will get six or seven in the NCAAs, no less than six.
Matt Rennie: The Big Ten is an interesting league. We've maintained here that it is second only to the Big East this season in overall strength, and I've seen plenty of bracket projections with Ohio State, Illinois, Michigan State and Iowa getting 3 seeds or higher. That's depth. But that said, I think the Spartans are the only legit Final Four contender in the bunch.
Arlington, Va: As a highly-embarrassed Missouri alum, I'm interested in your thoughts as to who the Tigers' next coach will be. I am a big fan of UAB's Mike Anderson. Would he leave for MU, and would he be a good fit? If not, what names have you heard?
Matt Rennie: I think Anderson likely ends up in the SEC eventually. Maybe Creighton's Dana Altman?
Eric Prisbell: I agree with Matt. I always figured Mike Anderson -- whom I like a lot -- would take over for Heath at Arkansas, but now it looks like the Hogs could get in the NCAAs. I think Dana would be the perfect fit to clean up Missouri.
Washington, DC: First of all, I love these chats. And, I really don't care about the bickering between the GW, Georgetown, and Maryland fans. I think it's all pretty funny. Anyways, assuming my Tar Heels finish the season 10-6 in the ACC regular season, then have one win and one loss in the ACC Tournament, where would you see them seeded in the NCAA Tournament? Also, will Roy Williams get ACC Coach of the Year, or maybe Sendek or Leitao? Hansbrough as ACC and National Rookie of the Year?
Dook is Puke, Wake is Fake, but the team I hate is NC STATE! Go TAR HEELS!
Eric Prisbell: I thought Roy had the award in the bag until UVA's win last night. Let's see what the Cavs do the rest of the way. Leitao is not out of that race yet. Yes, Tyler gets national freshman of the year. I was disappointed by McRoberts, but I think he will be a star next season when Redick and Williams finally leave campus.
Matt Rennie: As far as a seed goes, I'd say a 6 or 7 is probably realistic, barring an ACC tournament run.
I can't believe you wrote that Florida State's best win this season is over Clemson. A season sweep over UVa, including being the only ACC team thus far to win in Charlottesville, isn't better than beating Clemson? That's either a slap in the face to FSU or to UVA (currently 7-6 in the ACC), which is it?
Eric Prisbell: Good point. I would agree with you that the win in Charlottesville is better. But my article focused on RPI implications, and as of yesterday Clemson was the highest rated team in the RPI that Florida State has beaten. UVA obviously got a boost last night and I think 9-7 in the ACC might do it for the Cavs. If they beat Maryland in the final game at U-Hall, that could be the clincher. I've been a fan of Leitao's since he was at DePaul. He will win at UVA.
Matt Rennie: Getting this team into the NCAA tournament would be truly remarkable. And this without the players he's recruited.
Washington, DC: You boys read USA Today?
I'd ask if you are making it to the Smitty tonight, but I'm sure you guys have to beat traffic, or go on a dinner date, or rent a neat movie...
Eric Prisbell: Dude, go watch Howard the Duck.
Camille Powell: I spent $10 of my hard-earned money to stand for two hours in the Smith Center to watch GW play UMass last week. Fun experience, but not the prettiest game I've ever seen.
Washington, D.C.: Shhhhhhh........ Whatever you do, don't start talking up my Jayhawks. We like that we're not getting any attention yet.
Matt Rennie: I've heard that from sources as far away as Italy, but you may soon be out of luck. The Big 12 regularly flies beneath the radar, and the Jayhawks' seeding will likely be hurt by their struggles in the nonconference. But they appear to be coming together at just the right time.
Eric Prisbell: They have developed so much since the Maui tournament. The other young team that could be dangerous next month is LSU, with Big Baby Davis.
I watched N. Iowa last weekend and I can't get over how you maintained they were better than GW for much of this year.
What were you thinking earlier this year and how could you miss the strength of GW when they were developing right under your (and the Post's) nose?
Eric Prisbell: I've said GW was a Sweet 16 team for almost the entire season. I feel that way now as well.
I felt Northern Iowa had a decent chance to reach the Sweet 16 and still feel that way, although it depends on the draw.
I've given GW respect since the beginning. Just hope Hobbs does not wind up back in the Big East next season -- at Cincy.
Matt Rennie: Perhaps if GW-Georgetown doesn't materialize, we could schedule a GW-Northern Iowa game, which will make sense only to the dozens of people who read this chat.
Washington, DC: Rennie and Prisbell,
We got Wolf Blitzer, Red Auerbach, Mark Warner, etc., etc. but so far no Rennie or Prisbell at a Colonials home game, what gives?
Matt Rennie: Don't forget Feinstein. You get him all the time, too.
Eric Prisbell: I have to do my NIT bracketology, which I do twice daily.
Arlington, Va: Matt and Eric,
UConn lost to Villanova by 5 in Philly last week. 'Nova is going to Storrs on Sunday. They're clearly both worthy of #1 seeds in the tournament. Who gets to play in DC in the regionals and who gets sent out West, assuming Duke gets to go to Atlanta?
And, on a NEUTRAL court, say Madison Square Garden in the Big East final, who wins? Huskies or Wildcats?
Eric Prisbell: Nova. UConn is up and down. I don't think they get the most out of the talent. I'd lean toward both for the Final Four, but I don't know if Uconn brings its best effort each game for 40 minutes.
Matt Rennie: Well, I think that neutral court game may decide who gets to come to MCI Center. There will be a lot at stake for a lot of teams in the Big East tournament this season.
How far do you think Duke will go in the tournament? If they played G-town 100 times, Duke would win 95. They got jobbed by the home cooking at the Phone Booth.
Camille Powell: I thought that Duke was the team that got all the calls... I think Duke is a Final Four team, but I like Connecticut better.
Matt Rennie: Oh, so now a DUKE fan is complaining about the officiating in its one loss all season? Now THAT's funny.
Patriot Center: I still think the MVC is the best mid-major league out there, but how about some love for the CAA? The MVC went 5-5 in BracketBuster games over the weekend and the CAA went 6-2 with Mason winning on the road at Wichita St. Hofstra or UNCW should join Mason in the NCAA's next month.
Matt Rennie: This chat is a CAA lovefest. Dan Steinberg wrote a story on the strength of the CAA back in late December, so it's no surprise to us. Clearly, the league deserves two bids whether Mason wins the league tournament or not.
Eric Prisbell: We love the CAA in here almost as much as the MVC.
The CAA deserves two bids and might get three if the rest of the power bubble teams continue to slide.
GMU-What?: Okay...so Mason wins a huge bracket-bustin' upset over Wichita St. and gets a decent page 1 blurb in the sports section but no pics. Georgetown loses its THIRD IN A ROW and gets a huge picture and story that dominates page 1. Where's the love for Mason, guys? First ESPN top 25 ranking EVER and still no respect for them. What gives?
ps Maryland, you still out there?
Eric Prisbell: Huh. I did a big write up on GW and Mason the other day. we've been behind Mason the most in these chats. They are a great story. I love the emails i get from Mason fans because they are so excited.
The emails i get from Maryland fans are a little different.
Among the four-letter words and vile taunts I heard recently from fans at a Maryland game was this:
"This team is so hard to watch."
Matt Rennie: Yeah, I'm not sure exactly what you're looking for, my friend. Mason was on Sunday's front -- much to consternation of GW fans.
Seriously, folks, I love the enthusiasm, but the sports section is never going to mirror the content of a fan message board. We've got three good teams now -- and another that isn't completely dead yet -- and often only room for one college basketball story on a section front, especially during the Olympics. No one's out to get anyone -- I make most of the decisions regarding play for college stories, and I don't have any allegiance to any of these team -- but you have to understand that not only are there readers who don't care about your team, there are readers who don't care about college basketball. Pity them.
Hoya Saxa: Well, I do love these chats already, but the addition of someone who knows the Big East and Hoyas is great. Not to be a downer, but would the Hoyas still be a lock if they repeat last year's slide? Also, has Thompson had any special meetings, similar to the one following the first WVA loss, to address the recent slump (3 tough games, but still 3 losses)?
Matt Rennie: These next three games are critical. You never want to lose three straight in late February, but let's be fair: Two were on the road, and two were to very strong teams. The key thing to watch is how the Hoyas execute offensively and how they shoot from long range. Hibbert is becoming a force, and Green isn't going to have many games like he did in Marquette.
Camille Powell: I agree with Matt that these next three games are huge, especially considering the opponents. Georgetown doesn't really have any bad losses on its resume (save for possibly Vandy) but a loss to Rutgers or USF would be. The Hoyas were in a much stronger position going into the final six games than they were a year ago. As for the recent slump, I don't think anyone needs to be reminded of what happened last season.
With the Hoyas planning to lose to 'Cuse and in the first round of the Big East Tourney, would now be a good time to get a group rate on NIT reservations with Prisbell?
Eric Prisbell: The venerable Mr. Gallo has volunteered to cover the entire NIT and put out an NIT special section.
I'd rather cover Coppin State in the NCAAs than the NIT.
I'd rather the 8-year-old national AAU tourney than the NIT.
I'd rather cover a duck-duck-goose tournament.
Matt Rennie: And I don't think the Hoyas are going to the NIT, anyway. The Terps? Well, that's another story.
new Mizzou coach?: What happened to Quin?
Matt Rennie: Uh, are you kidding? Snyder and the school have parted ways, my friend, and not exactly amicably.
What can you do to make a GW vs. G-Town game happen?
I know some media members say it dosen't involve them or they have no power, but I think a big part of making the game happen is local media pressure, thoughts?
Camille Powell: I'm hoping that the NCAA tournament committee can do what no one else seems to be able to -- match up GW and G'town. With the winner facing Mason.
Eric Prisbell: I want a GW-Houston game in a 5-12 matchup.
I want a GW-UConn Sweet 16 matchup.
And how about a Northern Iowa-Maryland matchup out in San Diego early in the day. Sounds good to me.
McLean, Va: If the Hoos win one, maybe two games in the tournament, are they dancing?
Eric Prisbell: I think they need three more -- two in the regular season and one in the ACC tourney. Very possible.
March 5: Terps vs. UVA, playoff game.
Matt Rennie: A playoff game in the last night of an old building. I think I'd favor the home team in that one.
Washington, DC: For Editor Rennie,
What should readers expect in terms of the depth of coverage at the Post for local teams?
I see GW all over the national media these days, read your response last week where you basically said a local paper dosen't do those types of stories, but have yet to read anything that is insightful for me as a GW fan.
What can I expect from the Post as a GW fan? Game write-ups and player bios? Can you do more?
Matt Rennie: Once the Olympics end and March begins, you can assume we'll have a columnist (as well as the triumphant return of Steinberg) with GW in the A-10 and NCAA tournaments. And we may have others invovled, as well. I'm curious as to what you learned in the SI story (other than it was in SI) that you didn't already know. It would seem there is a vocal minority out there clamoring for a lengthy A1 piece entitled "GW: Great team or the greatest team?"
Washington, D.C.: When Florida State beats Maryland tonight, will that end the Terps tourney chances? Also, just so all your readers have some sense of what they're in for, could you talk about the play of Seminole stars Al Thorton and Alexander Johnson this season?
Eric Prisbell: Thorton could be a scoring machine tonight, and Johnson has to watch foul trouble. But the player I will watch is Andrew Wilson off the bench. He could be a Shawan Robinson. Everyone makes nine threes against Maryland and Wilson could be the surprise player from the outside. Just a hunch. I think it will be closer than expected, but I think FSU wins.
Matt Rennie: And that won't completely eradicate the Terps' hopes, but it will come close.
Washington, DC: THE PEOPLE WANT TO KNOW!
Who is the sicker dunker, Pops, Pinnock, Regis, Hall, or Omar?
Matt Rennie: Now THAT's funny.
Clifton, Va: GMU versus Georgetown or GWU in the Sweet 16. Mason wins comfortably against GWU and G'town. Who has GWU played? WHat is GWU's RPI? GMU's is 20. Go Patriots!
GMU Alum Class of 81
Matt Rennie: It will be interesting to see if the committee tries to put together that type of scenario, much like the Boise Bedlam of a few years back, which also included Lefty.
Here's a first-round possibility: No. 13 seed Houston vs. No. 4 seed GW. Hello, Mr. Penders.
Eric Prisbell: Mason has a chance at a 7 seed. Three area teams could be in the second round. That would be cool.
Washington, DC: Camille, what do you think would have to happen for the MCI Center to become a good college basketball atmosphere (shot of bringing in Duke every game). Right now the atmosphere at Georgetown games can't compare to other local on-campus venues and I'm wondering if it ever will again.
Camille Powell: I've seen a huge change in the atmosphere inside the MCI Center in the 2 1/2 seasons that I've been on the beat, but you're right, it doesn't compare to the other local venues. But that's the difference between playing in an on-campus venue and a pro arena. Georgetown's students deserve a lot of the credit for making MCI into a fun place this season -- recently they've been filling the sections behind the two baskets, and a college atmosphere depends on the students. Georgetown has to work hard to make MCI an exciting place (and winning certainly helps).
Matt Rennie: MCI Center is much better positioned than the old Cap Centre was, so it's definitely possible -- at least for the bigger games. Playing in such a big building has its advantages, but it also means that nonconference games against weak teams are going to feel like ... nonconference games against weak teams.
As Camille said, the answer is simple: Just win.
Washington D.C.: Hey guys love the chats!
In Sundays's Post on page 12 you had the crystal ball piece forecasting the seeds for the upcoming tournament. Much to my surprise I saw FSU seeded 12th. Was this a misprint or do they really have a shot?
Eric Prisbell: No misprint. I was fed up at that point. FSU was my last team in. They did not deserve it, but no one else did. I was NOT going to put Maryland in. FSU had a little better road record than the Terps so I threw the Noles in.
I should have given Coppin State a 12 seed as an at-large over FSU and Maryland.
Then again, Gary Williams says the ACC will get seven teams in.
Matt Rennie: The last four or so at-large bids are going to go to some very borderline teams, moreso than in years past. It will be interesting to see if the committee looks beyond the power conferences to fill out the final slots.
Fairfax, Va: Eric, great article yesterday about Mason (and GW too). So how about those Patriots? Think they're a lock for the NCAA yet? Think any other CAA teams have a shot?
Eric Prisbell: Thanks. Not quite a lock, but getting closer. Wilmington and Hofstra are in contention for at-large bids.
Where is Wil alum Bret Blizzard, one of my favorite all-time players along with former NYC legend Scientific Mapp.
Matt Rennie: Thursday's Mason at Hofstra game is a big one. The Pride -- why can't they still be the Flying Dutchmen -- have as much at stake as Mason did Saturday at Wichita.
Washington, DC: Worst coaching job of the year? Pitino? Prosser? Tubby? Mike Davis? Quinn Snyder? Bueller? Bueller? Bueller?
Matt Rennie: I'll go with Hawley-Smoot.
What do you think about JTIII basically using a 6-man rotation? I think it's really coming back to hurt us in the home stretch. These last few games we've lost all seem to turn on our poor shooting at the end. I know the Princeton should keep these guys less tired, but I think the season is catching up with us, and the same might have happened last year.
Camille Powell: I think the season is going to start catching up with a lot of teams, not just Georgetown. Part of the problem last year was that the starters were having to carry such a heavy load in practice as well as the games, and that contributed to the fatigue. This year's team is deeper, it's the second season in the system, and that has helped.
Matt Rennie: And a LOT of teams are going to be fatigued down the stretch against Villanova. Chasing the 'Cats around will make anyone's legs weak. I think the Hoyas will be okay.
Washington, DC: So, when are you going to invite Camille Powell in on these chats? Or has she already rebuffed you?
On a related note, how many more games must Georgetown win to make the tourney? I'm thinking two of our last three and a win in the tourney should seal it.
Give me scenarios man! I NEED scenarios!
Camille Powell: I should have rebuffed Matt and Eric, to make up for having to cover a Maryland NIT game last year while Eric was off having at the NCAA's. As for your question, I think your scenario is right on -- that would give G'town 20 wins and a winning conference record, to go along with the Duke and Pitt wins.
Matt Rennie: She just hasn't let go of that NIT game, even after I bought her lunch. Yeah, 20 wins and the Hoyas are all good. 19 would have them sweating, but still might be enough.
Bethesda, Md: So, it seems now whenever someone points out how vastly overrated GW is, one of you responds with, "Only 1 loss is only 1 loss." And I guess you have a point... wait a minute!
One loss is not ONLY one loss when your SOS is 235. There are only 15 teams in the top 65 RPI with a SOS over 100, and the next closest to GW is Akron, with 193. (CBS Sports online)
I mean, if the 49ers beat the tar out of only Patriot league college football teams except for one loss to the Seahawks would you actually claim they deserve to be considered among the best?
You're either pandering, blind, or both.
Matt Rennie: The schedule is what it is, Bethesda. GW has beaten everyone that's been put in front of them, save N.C. State. Do we know as much about the Colonials as we would if they had played a Big Ten schedule? No. Would they have only one loss if they had? No. But keep in mind that part of the reason the A-10 looks weak is that GW is beating everybody. If you decide that GW isn't that great, then you're never going to be impressed with their conference wins because you can dismiss then by saying, "Oh, [fill in team] must not be any good."
By that standard, you could say the same thing about the ACC and Duke.
Eric Prisbell: Hey, hey, hey, why bring up your West Coast bias in this chat with the Niners reference?
This chat is fast becoming unruly.
I don't think GW is overrated. They deserve a 4 seed but I would not be surprised if the committee slides them down a little because of the schedule. (See 2002 Gonzaga, which got a raw deal with a 6 seed)
Speaking of SF, next time in the Bay Area, be sure to stop by Flight 001 on Hayes St. for the best luggage. Great place. No Niners jerseys, though.
Not about a George school: My Kentucky boys have been terrible against good teams
and only good half the time they play against bad teams,
but it looks like Tubby's benching experiment has got
them coming together a little bit. Assuming a win over
Mississippi tonight, do you think they are in the tourney
this year even if they lose against Tenn, Fla and LSU?
At this point I think I can be somewhat optimistic that they
are getting better near the end, they might pull off a win
or two against a ranked team, and they could help their
status in the SEC tourney. Could we see maybe a 6 seed?
Or are they stuck at 8 or 9, assuming they don't lose out?
Eric Prisbell: Kentucky, like Maryland, is in trouble. I don't think the Cats can get as high as a 6 seed.
This is the opposite of the college football season, which saw an old-school revival. Old-school programs and coaches have struggled this year: Syracuse, Pitino, Kentucky, Indiana, Arizona, Maryland.
Matt Rennie: I think if the 'Cats rallied to win the SEC tournament, you could see a better seeding but if they fall in the semis, you're looking more at that 8-9 range.
Sec. 100 Hoya Season Ticketholder: Happy to have Camille on board today. I've got my fingers crossed for the rest of the season, since I don't think any of the remaining games are THAT hard, but with the Hoyas you never know...with that said, what's the early word on next year, what with Ewing Jr. no longer red-shirted and some good recruits coming in?
Camille Powell: So much of the G'town excitement before the season began seemed to be driven by the future (the great recruiting class). The player I'm most curious about is Ewing Jr., because he will have spent a year practicing in the system while the frosh will have to adjust. The current players seem to love Ewing, and Jeff Green has often mentioned how excited he is to play with him. I also probably should've nominated Ewing for sickest dunker, based on what I saw at Midnight Madness.
Matt Rennie: The future looks very bright for the Hoyas. This season is just an appetizer, albeit a tasty one.
Bethesda Md: Why no love here for the women's game? Why isn't there a Post reporter following Maryland, surely one of the more interesting turnarounds in the past three years? Go Terps!
Matt Rennie: Kathy Orton was with the Lady Turtles both for the win in Chapel Hill and the loss in Durham and will be with them in the NCAA tournament, likely joined by a columnist if Maryland makes the kind of run it's capable of.
Boston, Mass: Come on Camille, you like UConn better? Duke has been getting jobbed by the refs since Gary Williams launched his anti-Duke jihad in the 2001 Final Four. Go HHS.
Matt Rennie: Boston, I'm posting this just so people can see the diversity of opinions out there. now YOU try making everyone in this bunch happy.
Camille Powell: Typical Duke grad.
Maryland: George Mason at the 25 spot, baby! ... Great day to be a Patriots fan! You guys have been giving us props all year long, saying we are certainly worth more than many give us credit for. But did you guys honestly see a Top 25 berth coming? We fans sure were hoping, but it was one of those "won't believe it 'til you see it" type of things.
Also, do you think this is a legitimate ranking? Because what we're hearing now from bitter high-conference fans is that this proves the polls are a joke since "we haven't haven't beaten anybody," or "the CAA is a pathetic conference in comparison to others." ... their words, not mine.
Eric Prisbell: Sure, it is legit. Nevada crept in the AP poll. Mason should be right there with the Pack. The number that will be more important than the ranking: the seed Mason gets in the tourney.
7 or 10 would be better than 8 or 9, I think. Stay away from memphis.
Matt Rennie: What's not legit? A lot of observers will say, "Do you REALLY think so and so is one of the best 25 (or 10) teams in the country?" Well, why not? What's so impressive about LOSING to ACC or Big Ten teams?
Beached Terrapin: Eric, saw my first Terps game at the new arena over the weekend and was amazed and appalled at all the empty student seats. Has that been a problem this year, and is anyone at the university concerned, or even noticing? Are the chances that the Terps win one of the next two games closer to slim or none? And any chance I won't have to study up on my NIT pool?
Oh, and not to leave him out, Matt does a hell of a job on these chats too. You guys are as entertaining and informative as it gets here online.
Eric Prisbell: Thanks a lot.
I saw Gary scan the stands when he walked in. There were a decent number of empty seats Saturday. I figure it will be worse for the NIT.
There is a good chance Maryland will enter the Miami game having to win three straight, including the ACC tourney first round game. Tonight's game will say a lot. Fact is: Gary might be getting the most he can out of this team right now. They are flawed and limited in areas.
Matt Rennie: If the Terps miss the NCAA tournament for a second straight season, it will be VERY interesting to see what type of reception next year's team gets. Basketball is still the marquee sport over there, but eventually people might not want to keep coughing up big donations for the right to buy seats for an NIT team. I think everyone, including Gary, will look at next season as a fresh start, but that will last as long as the first disappointing loss.
Thanks for the kind words, too.
I'm a GW fan, but think G-Town has a nice team this year. I'm not sure how much you know about GW, but from your perspective where could the Hoyas give GW trouble?
I just don't think the Hoyas could score enough to keep up, but no one can say for sure until the Thompson's decided it's ok to play GW.
Camille Powell: I've watched maybe three GW games, and the reason why I went to see them in person was I wanted to get a gauge on just how fast they are. I think G'town's style would give GW trouble, because the Hoyas force you to defend them in the halfcourt for long stretches, and I don't know how well GW does that.
Matt Rennie: That's a pretty fair analysis, but how would the relentless athleticism and depth of GW affect the Hoyas? Maybe we'll find out in March.
Another Question from Sec. 100: Camille, where's the press box at Hoyas games? I look for you every time. Where do you sit? (Don't worry, I'm not a stalker, just a former jounralist.)
Eric Prisbell: I've heard that one before. Then one day, as you're writing away on deadline, someone taps you on the shoulder who is dressed as a banshee or a troll and it's downhill from there. Just kidding.
Matt Rennie: You wonder why I never leave the office?
Washington, DC: Maryland is 4-9 against top 100 RPI teams. Seton Hall is 7-7 against RPI 100 teams. Will either make the tournament?
Eric Prisbell: Maryland needs to win two of the next four and then win in the first round of the ACC tournament. Maryland's road record is 1-5 - awful.
Seton Hall is an odd, odd team. The two losses by 40 points hurt them, even though it was against great competition. They rocked NC State, beat West Virginia. And they are 7-3 in their last 10. I think they probably need two more wins, even if one comes in the Big East tourney.
Remember, the final few at-large spots will be occupied this year by very average teams. The Big East can definitely get nine teams in.
Washington, DC: La Salle comes into Foggy Bottom tonight on a 7 game win streak, any chance the Colonials stumble against a hot team?
Matt Rennie: That's the only team in the A-10 even close to as hot as the GW. This would be a huge game for LaSalle, the kind of win that could vault them into an at-large position. But unless Steven Smith manages to get Pops in early foul trouble, I don't see it happening. Even if that happened, I think the Colonials' depth would be too much.
Matt Rennie: That's all we have time for, folks. Sorry we didn't get to everyone. Thanks to Camille for joining us. See you all next week.
Editor's Note: washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions. washingtonpost.com is not responsible for any content posted by third parties.
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Join live discussions from the Washington Post. Feature topics include national, world and DC area news, politics, elections, campaigns, government policy, tech regulation, travel, entertainment, cars, and real estate.
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PBS Frontline: 'The Insurgency'
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Co-producer Matt Haan was online Wednesday, Feb. 22, at 11 a.m. ET to discuss the PBS Frontline film, "The Insurgency," which investigates the insurgents behind attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq and what their motives are. The film looks at the initial stages of the insurgency, made up of Baathist loyalists after the fall of Saddam, and the increasingly prominent role of foreign fighters such as Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and al Qaeda in Iraq. Frontline worked through intermediaries to obtain firsthand video and, through interviews with insurgents themselves, provides an in-depth look at those responsible for car bombs and other attacks that have claimed the lives of coalition troops and Iraqis alike.
"The Insurgency" airs Tuesday, Feb. 21, at 9 p.m. ET ( check local listings )
Matt Haan has been working at October Films for the past 7 years. He has produced films on a wide range of subjects.
Washington, D.C.: How were you able to go into the Sunni Triangle, encounter these terrorists, have them cooperate with you, and still be able to be alive able to tell the world?
Matt Haan: We had to operate in extremely strict circumstances. The risks of trying to do this film were too high. We relied on the journalists we met while in Iraq to get to speak to members of the insurgency. The journalists in the film, Michael Ware and Ghaith Abdul-Ahad, were fantastic in helping us achieve our goal.
We also dealt with other intermediaries. In one instance, we had to hand over our camera and list of questions to an intermediary who had contacts with a group of insurgents who we ourselves could not go and meet because the risks were too great. The footage which you see in the film is quite incredible.
Bethesda, Md.: Considering that the presence of "our troops" in that country is under the auspices of a premeditated invasion of a country that never attacked us, isn't it a little propagandistic to be examining "the insurgents who are attacking our troops"? I feel a bit like I'm in Tokyo in 1935 watching a newsreel on those "savage, ruthless Chinese mainlanders" who keep attacking our Emperor's holy troops as they nobly march toward Nanking.
I realize not many Americans can step back from this far enough to see it objectively - but then again that's endemic to the syndrome we are mired in.
Matt Haan: I don't think it is being propagandist to examine the insurgency. If that is what you felt after watching our film, it would be disappointing. I believe that our film actually provides an opportunity to listen to a number of people in the insurgency or have got close to the insurgency in the hope of providing an insight into who these people are. So little has been broadcast about the insurgency where you hear these people speak. The film demonstrates that there is a wide spectrum of people in the insurgency. There are some who are definitely savage, but there are also clever military commanders and strategists in the insurgency who are leading an organised operation. I think this comes across in the film
Bethesda, Md.: According to several independent analyses the Iraqi insurgency is comprised of (at most) 5-10% foreign fighters who fit the Al Qaeda profile. The president however has taken pains to give the impression that (1) all of the insurgents are "terrorists" and (2) if we don't get them there, those marauding Sunnis will be in Topeka next. He didn't desist on the first point, in fact, until the very Iraqi government fighting that insurgency effectively told him to can it.
Why do you think our domestic(ated) media has made such little effort to put his rhetoric into even a vaguely factual context?
Matt Haan: I think the points you make are still used when talking about the insurgency. Some people have misunderstood that parts of the insurgency are highly organised and effective. The focus on the foreign fighters, who members of the Iraqi government that I spoke to believe make up 15% of the insurgency, is mainly a result of the impact they have had on the course of events in Iraq. In many ways, despite their numbers, they have had a larger impact than other groups in the insurgency.
It does surprise me how often the speeches made by our political leaders can be left unchallenged. Especially when they can be so wide of the mark. Why do the media not challenge this? Difficult to say except when you look at the risk people like Michael Ware have taken to get a more accurate picture of what is happening in Iraq, it is obvious that it is hard to get to the heart of the matter.
1. It was interesting to note that in recounting the details of the initial clash between residents and U.S. military forces, it was noted "11 died", failing to add the important detail that the 11 were killed by U.S. forces, hence the resulting upheaval. This careful parsing of the language reflects a careful parsing of the reality. Why was there absolutely no mention of the effect of Abu Ghraib and its revelations of torture and murder mentioned? Why was there no post-incursion footage of the destruction of Fallujah that would have given viewers a more accurate sense of the effects of U.S. military ops in residential areas?
2. Did the access granted to you and your crew to US ops and officers compromise your professional integrity as journalists? Or was it compromised by your "patriotism"?
Matt Haan: In answer to your first question, we decided not to deal with Abu Ghraib and the effects of the incursion in Fallujah are well documented events. We wanted to show a side of things that had not been reported. It is also unfortunately very difficult to cover everything in an hour long film.
In answer to your second question, I myself am English so I don't know how that would fit in with the patriotism you describe. When you embed with the US military you have to operate within the realities of the situation. Exactly as when you speak with insurgents, there are a whole range of restrictions to the normal way in which we would report things. We attempted as best we could to get into areas that hadn't been seen or speak to people who hadn't been heard before. What happened in Tal'Afar was a victory for the Coalition that went largely unreported because the world's media was focused on the aftermath of Katrina. We felt it deserved recognition.
Union, N.J.: It has always been my understanding that the Islamist elements of the insurgency were the smaller faction with the nationalist Sunnis and ex-Ba'athists composing the largest part of the insurgency. Yet the film, while acknowledging the nationalist faction, seemed to highlight the Islamist faction and did not seem to make this fact clear.
Matt Haan: What you say is correct. The Islamic element is smaller but in some ways has had more impact on the evolution of the insurgency. One of the biggest points that we seemed to have missed in Europe and America is that the increasing Islamisation of the war in Iraq will be one its most defining factors. This is not to say that the nationalist Sunnis and ex-Baathists are not important. In fact, towards the end of the film, we discuss the elections and how the tide seems to be changing within the insurgency. Whereas during 2004 and some of 2005, Zarqawi and the foreign elements held sway, the nationalist Sunnis and ex-Baathists are having a greater influence in the direction of the insurgency.
Talladega, Ala.: How edifying! Watching U.S. troops hand out candy to little kids. Was there so little else to film in Iraq, what with a war going on and all, to show us so blatant a photo op? In the old days, journalism was considered a professional vocation, not careerist commercial-making for the U.S. military. You have given us a shallow, insubstantial and frankly, naive fairy tale, notwithstanding the odd bloody corpse to establish your street cred. What about civilian deaths? Abu Ghraib? Are these totally irrelevant to the insurgency and the motivations of those who participate?
Matt Haan: I think that if the only thing you were able to take from the film we produced was the image of Americans handing out candy, then that is a great shame. What of the blood on the streets in Baghdad that came just after the offensive in Tal'Afar. What of the questioning of insurgents on their views on whether Iraqi civilians should be killed in their war against the US and Coalition forces. I would have thought that these would have left a greater impression, maybe not.
Saskatchewan, Canada: Would your film have been different if you would have titled it "The Resistance" instead of "The Insurgency", and referred to "the invasion and occupation" rather than "the war"? (The question remains of how people resisting a foreign occupier can be called "insurgents" - this is an Orwellian use of language.)
Matt Haan: On one side, people talk about the liberation of a country; on the other, the occupation of a noble land. I think that if we had given the film a different title as you suggest, then we would have given the film a particular leaning. We have tried to be objective in giving both sides of the fight in Iraq the opportunity to explain what they believe has happened.
Columbia, Md.: Watching our military roll into Baghdad, my husband noted that the Iraqis said to a man "thank you for liberating us, now go!". How an insurgency could not have been anticipated is mind boggling. And certainly the President saying "bring it on" didn't help. The administration continues to redefine the nature of the insurgency but what is clear they are not deadenders or in the last throes. What would happen if the U.S. had a smaller "footprint"?
Matt Haan: I think the situation would be much different now. In the films and books I went through before going to Iraq, it always amazed that the people who said this was going to happen, just were not listened to. Then listening to Michael Ware in Baghdad tell us how what he saw just after the fall of Saddam and how he has witnessed the insurgency evolve into an effective organisation, it is just sad for the Iraqi people that the Coalition could not have done a better job.
Va.: All SOF troops are required to a learn a foreign language. How important is language in counterinsurgency?
Matt Haan: Very important. Being able to communicate with the local people, I would say, is essential. The US officers we spoke to were very aware of how the Iraqis who spoke the language, knew the terrain, understood the issues would be the key to any potential solutions.
Fairfax, Va.: If you and a film crew can get so close to the people you describe, why are our military and political people having such apparently awful problems doing the same?
Matt Haan: You would have thought so! The people we worked with on the ground in Iraq had the trust of people inside the insurgency. That is something the Coalition forces will never be able to achieve.
Bowie, Md.: Why hasn't the U.S. captured or killed Abu Musab al-Zarqawi? Obviously, this mad man is still on the loose!
Matt Haan: Well, I have read since my return from Iraq that on one occasion Zarqawi may well have been captured, but was then released because they did not know it was actually Zarqawi. You also hear stories of when Zarqawi has almost been killed, but managed to avoid traps set for him at the last moment. The question is this myth or reality?
Alexandria, Va.: How did you begin this project? How does one even begin the process of establishing contact with the intermediaries who had access to the insurgents? Does Frontline plan any further films on Iraq? Thank you for your work.
Matt Haan: We spent a long time trying to make the right contacts before going to Iraq and then when we were in the country. We relied heavily on some incredible journalists - Michael Ware and Ghaith Abdul-Ahad - who helped us enormously. We also met with intermediaries who claimed they had contacts with the insurgency. Those who readily accepted to go and film on our behalf, we did not work with. Those who looked frightened when we told them what we wanted them to do and accepted reluctantly, were the people we ended up working with.
Kansas City, Kan.: Thanks for the great program. What is your assessment of the developing U.S. strategy to reduce forces and depend more heavily on airpower? Can the U.S. military hide in major forts and successfully turn the battle over to the Iraqis before the 2006 elections in the United States? What do you think the insurgents will do?
Matt Haan: This strategy would be a way of reducing contact with the opposition and therefore reduce the number of casualties. But surely going down this route, would allow the insurgency total freedom of action on the ground - even though admittedly they have had this in some areas. It could also lead to an even higher civilian casualty rate.
Arlington, Va.: Did you get a sense with the former army members who turned to the insurgency, that they may not have gone that route if the Iraqi army had not been disbanded ?
Matt Haan: This does seem to be a strong possibility. The way it was described to me was that there was a moment in time after the fall of Saddam where the former army members as well as other Iraqis who had served in the Baath Party waited to see what would happen. The subsequent disbanding of the army and the civil service in Iraq would have lead them to believe that their concerns were not going to be included in the building of what was classed as the "new Iraq". They therefore appear to have taken up arms to fight for what they believe in ... in order to get their voice heard.
Peoria, Ill.: I recently finished Alan Poole's book, 'Tactics of the Crescent Moon'. The book was very informative and expertly laid out the origins, relationships and actions of the various factions as they relate to Lebanon, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Chechnya and Afghanistan. I've also read several books on U.S. Army/Marine Corps actions regarding the war to date in order to better help me understand what took place on the front lines of the invasion as I worked as a Marine in behind the initial invasion forces providing logistics support during OIF I. Your highly informative '60 Minutes' was the icing on the cake for me in terms of putting it all together. I'm embarrassed to say that the only thing that I've seen regarding Tal'Afar is an Internet letter from the mayor praising 3d Cal's work as they prepared to depart for home. Your show said to me that al Qaeda has stepped in to take over the insurgency. My question: since your departure from Iraq, do you hear more of al Qaeda winning in its efforts to shut out the Iraqi nationalists from the insurgency?
Matt Haan: I think we have witnessed a period when the foreign elements in the insurgency did control its direction. This is what we document in our film. However in recent months we have seen that this ascendancy has come into question from other quarters in the insurgency. One of the journalists in our film, Ghaith Abdul-Ahad, reported on how some members of the insurgency have been participating in the elections. This is different to when the foreign elements were driving the insurgency when the insurgency did not want to be involved. Does this mean that the nationalist elements are gaining more power again? In many ways, only time will tell.
New York, N.Y.: After learning what you did in making this film, would you say that these insurgents are in it for the long haul? Time seems to have a different affect on this region. After all it's seen its fair share of civilizations, governments, etc. Many of them have lasted longer then the 284 or so years that the US has been around. It seems that peoples of this area of the world have considerable experience enduring discomfort where our softer, western society can barely deal with a Taco Bell that closes at 11PM. I'm all for removing our troops and bringing them home but if it's at the expense of causing the new government to collapse then these men and women will have died for nothing.
Matt Haan: In our film, we have tried to leave this question open. In one sense, the removal of Coalition Forces from Iraq may well take away the primary cause for the insurgency. But Iraqi soldiers we spoke to were frightened of the chaos this might create. A real catch 22. In many ways, I feel that there is a certain responsibility on the part of the Coalition to stay until matters improve, but how many years will that be?
washingtonpost.com: Thank you all for joining us today.
Editor's Note: washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions. washingtonpost.com is not responsible for any content posted by third parties.
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Co-producer Matt Haan discusses the PBS Frontline film "The Insurgency," which investigates the insurgents behind attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq and what their motives are.
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The Battle for the Soul of Capitalism
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Bogle was online Feb. 22 at Noon ET to discuss the misuse of corporate management for personal gains and how to get the nation's business industry back on course.
For more than 50 years, Bogle, the founder and former chief executive officer of Vanguard mutual funds, has been a passionate advocator for the small investor. In 2004, Time magazine named him one of the most influential people in the world, and in 1999, Fortune magazine named him one of the four investment giants of the twentieth century.
Editor's Note : Vanugard administers 401(k) and pension benefit programs for Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive and The Washington Post Co.
Valley Forge, Pa.: Former Reagan aid Bruce Bartlett described the current Administration as being unable to make the distinction between being pro-free markets and pro-business. Of course massive handouts to corporations and quid pro quo deals on regulations will have a way of deadening belief in the marketplace and dulling the responsiveness of the economy to new ideas and new products. Then again, it's awful tough to wean individual sectors like the airlines, pharmaceuticals, financial services, auto makers, and on and on, from feeding at the trough. What's the solution?
John C. Bogle: There is no easy solution to the issues you describe but I think we ought to make a distinction between industries that are deeply troubled from a financial standpoint -- certainly the autos and the airlines -- and industries that are awash in profitability, most notably the financial services business. The fact of the matter is that the cost of our financial services industry comes to something like $400 billion dollars per year, a dead weight loss on the returns that investors can achieve. We need a federal government commission to study the way our financial services system is working -- I believe it is working badly -- and we also need more educated investors. There are good long term low-priced mutual funds -- my favorite is a total stock market index fund -- and bad short term highly priced mutual funds. If investors would get themselves educated, and invest in the former -- taking their money out of the latter -- we would see some automatic improvements in the system, and see them fairly quickly.
Rockville, Md.: One issue I have is with 401(k) plans. On the surface, they seem like a great idea. The problem that I see is with the invisible fees that investors have but generally do not realize they have. My husband and I worked for many years at several different banks which had their employees' 401ks in mutual funds that they ran. My belief is that the banks bulked up the fees that were never reported to employees and that are pretty difficult to determine. I think it almost made whatever matching funds they gave employees pointless. Not that I have a problem with mutual fund companies being paid to manage investments, but the fees should be revealed to investors so that they can make informed decisions. Even if you get the 401k's annual report, the fee information is not at all clear.
At the Washington Post personal finance conference a few years ago I asked Arthur Levitt about this. But apparently this is not an SEC problem, but rather a Dept. of Labor problem. Do you have any suggestions about how this issue should be addressed?
John C. Bogle: You are absolutely right. There are too many conflicts of interest involved when banks, for example, are using their own -- normally rather high-priced mutual funds in their 401k plans. My own view is that our corporations have let us down -- indeed let their own employees down by not making absolutely certain that all costs of fund management are disclosed. I'm not just talking about the expense ratio, but also the hidden transaction costs that funds incur in portfolio turnover, amounts paid to consultants, out of pocket fees, and even additional costs. The level of costs that most 401k participants are so high as to badly erode the retirement funds they can possibly accumulate.
Houston, Tezxas: Thanks for your career and honesty, Mr. Bogle.
Your book argues in favor of shareholder democracy. But shareholders did not squeak about the robbery until the Enron-like collapses (I'm in Houston watching the trial now) hurt them in their wallets. I'm not certain shareholders can be counted on to keep the game honest if the crooks provide returns above inflation and steal the rest.
When Washington relaxed financial regulations (Democrat & Republican), it really opened the doors to conflicts of interest between brokers and investment bankers. Shouldn't Washington (not just Eliot Spitzer) be a much more active participant beyond Sarbanes?
John C. Bogle: To answer the last part of your question first, yes I believe Washington should be a more active participant focusing on the issue of why corporate shareholders and mutual fund shareholders are not given fair treatment by corporate management and mututal fund management. We need to develop a national standard of fiduciary duty to ensure that these agents, if you will, are adequately representing the principles -- pension beneficiaries and mutual fund shareholders -- whom they are duty bound to serve.
What do you think of DFA and DFA-affiliated advisory firms? They allege to be the cats meow, but I understand their minimums are large, their affiliates' fees can be quite high, and that their funds cannot be purchased other than through an adviser. Thank you.
John C. Bogle: I have a great deal of respect for the DFA organization. However, I am not sure their cats will actually meow in the future. First it's very difficult for any particular segment of the stock market to sustain superior performance. The watch word for our financial markets is, "reversion to the mean" i.e. what goes up must come down, and it's true more often than you can imagine. Second while the returns the DFA publishes are accurate returns for their funds, those who invest in their funds are paying an extra 1% per year to do so significantly reducing capital accumulations over time.
Miami, Florida: I know that you will be speaking during a Boglehead Reunion in Las Vegas in May. What will be the topic of your speech?
John C. Bogle: It's wonderful to hear from the King of the Bogleheads! I hope you're feeling better and on the way to a complete recovery. I haven't decided on a final title for my reunion speech but I expect to talk about "bringing reality back to investing" looking not only at stock market returns but then reducing those returns by the cost investors incur i.e. advisory fees, operating expenses, marketing fees, sales loads, hidden transaction costs, out of pocket fees, taxes, and the cost of living over time. Believe me, the returns we read about in the industry sales literature vastly diminish when we move from the theoretical world of market indexes to the real world of actually investing.
Longview, Wash.: How much of an investor's fixed income allocation should be in TIPS?
John C. Bogle: It's simply not possible to generalize about the proportion of fixed income investments in TIPS. For investors deeply concerned about possible high inflation in the future, the TIPS should be a relatively larger proportion, and vice versa. Speaking for myself -- a person who is getting a little bit older! -- I have about 10% of my bond position in TIPS reflecting some concern about inflation but also interested in getting a small risk premium on corporate bonds that basically don't have TIPS protection. Perhaps, between the 10-25% is a reasonable rule of thumb.
Alexandria, Va.: Mr. Bogle, I have read in several publications that American Capitalism s, in effect, a Ponzi scheme which is economically unsustainable over the long term. It is a fact that the United States, with 5 percent of the earth's population, consumes 30 percent of global resources used each year. Our economic system is, at its core, unfair, unethical and unsustainable. I would love for you to prove these facts wrong, but something tells me that questions such as mine won't make it past your screeners.
John C. Bogle: I am not into screening questions. A responsible question -- and yours is a responsible question -- deserves a responsible answer. No, capitalism is not a Ponzi scheme. Capitalism is a scheme of free markets and, as I point out in my new book, of trusting and of being trusted. But our capitalistic scheme in the latter years of the 20th century seems to have lost its way. We've had a "pathalogical change" from traditional owners capitalism where most of the rewards have gone to those who make the investments and assume the risks to a new -- and deeply flawed -- system of managers capitalism where the managers of our corporations our investment system, and our mutual funds are simply take too large a share of the returns generated by our corporations and mutual funds leaving the last line investors -- pension beneficiaries and mutual fund owners -- at the bottom of the food chain. That is what has to be fixed.
San Francisco, Calif.: Are ETF's that index really a good alternative to index mutual funds, or just another warmed over product?
John C. Bogle: I have to give you a complicated answer. A total stock market ETF bought and held for an investment life time and operated at minimal cost is a perfectly good alternative -- maybe even a hair better -- to a standard total stock market index fund. So spiders and vipers, bought and held are fine. The problems with ETFs are two: 1. Even these total market funds are turned over at a frenetic pace by investors, trading something like $10 billion dollars every day -- a 20% daily turnover, or 5,000% per year. 2. The overwhelming number of ETFs are narrow speciality funds, specific foreign countries, specific industries, and the like, also traded like stocks. I think this latter group of ETFs are a better way to speculate than speculating in individual stocks. But I believe -- deeply and profoundly -- that speculation is a loser's game. I look at ETFs then, as I might look at a shotgun, wonderful for hunting, and equally wonderful for suicide. Handle with care!
Cortez, Colo.: I have seen a couple of discussions on C-Span (one was Milton Friedman) that we should not be concerned with the deficit because it is a small percantage of the GDP.
Do you have or can you recommend a book understandable to the average person that supports this theory? I am over 65 and trying not to retire or take "entitlement" funds. It would be nice to relax and enjoy what is left of my life without feeling as though I am destroying my grandchildrens' futures.
John C. Bogle: There is no easy answer to your question. Right now the deficit is a much larger portion of our GDP than is traditional, easy enough to calculate but only if we add back the costs for example of Iraq and Afghanistan and ignore the expiration of the Bush tax cuts later on. Just as in corporate America, there is a lot of "financial engineering" in Washington DC that' seriously obfuscates the risks we are running in the national deficit. It may well be true that deficits don't matter in the short-run, but I can assure you that they matter a great deal in the long-run. I'm not currently into economic textbooks, but my grandchildren tell me that the book by Greg Mankiew (sp?), former head of the white house council of economic advisors is a model of intelligence and clarity. Why not try that one.
Arlington, Va.: Mr. Bogle, Trying to find an ethical Capitalist is like looking for virgins in a brothel...the two simply don't exist. Can't we just agree that in business, the ends justify the means, and that any profit is good profit?
John C. Bogle: Without getting into brothels (no pun intended!), there are ethical capitalists the problem is that there aren't enough of them. In my new book I mention that it is not "just a few bad apples" that have been evident in our corporations, our investment bankers and our mutual funds, but so many that one has to concede that the barrel itself needs some work.
New York, N.Y.: As a new investor of 64 years, I'm sure impressed with vanguard. But choosing between a tax managed stock fund and the total stock market index is confusing, (for a taxable account.) They Seem very similar. In future will tax managed accounts include more types of funds, or are they now at their most useful level? There are many more index funds than tax managed fund, it seems.
John C. Bogle: You are right, there probably won't be much long run difference between our tax managed growth and income fund and our S & P 500 index fund. The former fund simply is much more reluctant to realize capital gains and prepared to accept small deviations from the index return (although there have been almost no deviations so far) and was originally structured with a redemption fee for short-term holders so that we could assure that we wouldn't be faced with large redemptions that would have forced us to sell stocks and realize gains. I happen to use our regular index funds in my retirement plan and our tax managed funds in my personal account.
Lakewood, Colo.: How does the better course of business practices to be gotten back to differ from today? Isn't a corporate society of public, private and nonprofit governance more efficient than a civic society? Absent avarice & speculation, how would you motivate the U.S. economic engine?
John C. Bogle: I believe that the behavior of too many of our corporations investment bankers and fund managers has jeopardized some of the trust that investors have had. It's not the economic engine that we need to focus on, but the need to make sure that our investors receive their fair share of the returns that that great economic system produces.
Philadelphia, Pa.: I was in an Ivy League business school in the 1970s. I recall being the only person in one class who felt that American businesses operating in foreign countries should follow the business laws of the countries within which they operate even if no American laws were broken by breaking the foreign law. I felt this was not only a moral question but also one that shows we respect the cultures of the people with whom we do business. This is just one example of what I found to be a rampant problem among my classmates. What I observed among my classmates was a cut-throat drive for personal success at nearly any cost. I can verify the tales that many college students have heard as being correct: library readings for classes were often missing (this was the days before the Internet), cheating was rampant and indeed widely boasted, and I learned never to work in a group. The object of learning groups was to stab others in the back in order to lower the class average. From all this, I did learn one valuable lesson: never hire anyone from my class to work for me.
Over time, as I watched and read about many of my classmates in the news taken away from their jobs in handcuffs, I was not in the least bit surprised. The question I have always wondered though is, if I could tell within minutes that I would never want these greedy cheaters working for me, how did they get hired and kept at these brokerage houses and businesses? Do many businesses themselves actually seek out cheating greedy people? Or do they worm their way into these businesses, in which case I feel sorry for the businesses when they find the personal spending accounts of these employees inflated and the business deals they made turned out to be ethically questionable.
Is there a business culture among some companies that attracts these people? If so, shouldn't there be a means for this culture to recognize when mistakes are made and can then to respond to correct itself and its own behavior? Did businesses never learn to look for warning signs and self-correct their own problems?
John C. Bogle: I was born in an earlier generation and, as a group, my classmates at Blair Academy and Princeton University were as ethical, straightforward, and integrity laden as you could possibly imagine -- perhaps not a 100% (we never get to a 100%) -- but the overwhelming majority. I've been in business a long, long time and I simply cannot imagine seeking out cheating, greedy people. Sure there are some companies at the margins of our society that probably do that and I think we all have the responsiblity as consumers and as investors to avoid them like the plague. If we do, they won't last very long. Doing what's right is the only possible formula for long-term -- I emphasize long term -- business success.
Laurel, Md.: If a corporation's excess of various forms (e.g. excessive CEO pay) affects its stock performance, can't the managers of large mutual funds, with their large research teams, find out about the waste and either sell the stock or avoid buying it?
If so, isn't there a sort of 'ripple' effect with other investors observing what Fidelity and Vanguard do and following suit?
If so, doesn't that make the stock price of a wasteful company decline considerably?
If so, don't the guilty executives and their enablers (boards of directors who approve excessive compensation packages) lose a lot of money in their personal holdings?
If so, isn't that a wonderful punishment or deterrent to corporate excess?
Does the above have anything to do with what you call the soul of capitalism?
John C. Bogle: The relationship between executive CEO pay, stock performance is tenuous and not easily unscrambled, just one of myriad factors that affect the price of a stock. I believe that the mutual fund industry's biggest shortcoming is too much focus on the momentary price of a stock -- an illusion -- and too little focus on the intrinsic value of the corporation -- the ultimate reality. I'm comforted by the fact that Warren Buffett feels the same way.
Providence, R.I.: After reading "Common Sense About Mutual Funds", and observing all of the overpaid/overpriced corporate ineptitude, is there any way that mutual fund investors through their mutual fund holdings in a corporation, affect the business practices, similar to the effect of large shareholders?
John C. Bogle: Among my greatest disappointments about the mutual fund industry -- in addition to excessive costs and excessive focus on the short-term -- is that fund managers have been passive participants in corporate governance. Mutual funds own 28% of all the stock in America, yet their voice on governance issues has been only the sound of silence. I've tried to get mutual funds that focus on long-term investing together to wield a "big stick" in governance but to no avail. But I haven't given up trying!
Casablanca, Morocco: Because Islam forbids corruption, thief and treason in managing goods and services of a corporation or a community, what do you think of inserting as rules of conduct, the ethics of the economic values of this noble and universal religion?
John C. Bogle: I'm not an expert on Islam, but I think there are lots of noble religions whose basic principles could stand considerably more observation in the world of business.
Bill, Denver, Colo.: In my view, the fulcrum of failure came for today's managers at the time they could award themselves excessive stock options. This encouraged top management to fraudulently distort the results reported to the public, thus accommodating their personal economic goals rather than the long term goals of their shareholders.
Personal greed has become a board-accepted, pervasive characteristic of today's top management.
John C. Bogle: I agree with your first paragraph as it applies to too many of today's managers. I think we all ought to be careful about too much generalization on this issue, even as I confess to painting with a pretty broad brush myself!
Evanston, Ill.: Why not work on replacing capitalism with something fairer and more efficient? American University economist Robin Hahnel has many sound suggestions.
John C. Bogle: While I haven't read economist Hahnel's work, replacing capitalism would be at the very bottom of my list of priorities -- to be considered only after everything else had been tried. Improving our capitalistic system however, is at the top of my list and is of course the major theme of _The Battle for the Soul of Capitalism_.
Redondo Beach, Calif.: Can you provide a succinct MORAL defense of Capitalism? Why is it morally good? Capital is usually defended on grounds that it works better than socialism. Can you defend it, on moral grounds?
John C. Bogle: I think it's fairly easy to provide a moral defense of capitalism. It has been -- over the last 200 years -- the underlying basis for enormous increases in productivity and human welfare and rising living standards, particularly in the United States, and in the industrialized nations but in fact, in most parts of the world. Yes, I'd be the first to agree that capitalism bestows its blessings unevenly. But that wouldn't persuade me to think it was a good idea to do away with those blessings in their entirety. That said, there is lots of work to be done to make capitalism work better, and to broaden its blessings far more widely not only in America, but all over the globe.
Collinsville, Va.: The word "soul" suggests the presence of humaneness, compassion, and caring. Isn't "soul" an oxymoron when applied to capitalism?
John C. Bogle: You are not the first person to suggest that the use of "soul" in my book title is a bit pretentious. Perhaps so. But even so (you'll find this in the book) Thomas Aquinas defined the human soul as the core of our being, and the power that brings our characteristics into unity so the soul of capitalism -- in its own temporal world as contrasted to the spiritual world of human beings -- is what defines the core of the system and the factors that unify to produce the wonderful world that we are blessed to live in.
Laurel, Md.: About how much in percentage terms did a typical 401(k) investor lose from the well-known corporate scandals of recent years (MCI, Enron, and the mutual fund improprieties)?
John C. Bogle: I hesitate to comment on "the typical" 401k investor. Heavily laden with company stock, 401k participants were pretty much wiped out at MCI and Enron, while the mutual fund scandals -- while disgraceful and shocking -- had a fairly modest financial dimension. However, the fund scandals shined the spotlight on the fact that mutual fund managers were putting their interests ahead of the fund shareholders who trusted them, which had much more substantial consequences in the form of excessive fees and the promotion -- as the market moved into the stratosphere -- of technology funds and new economy funds which were soon to collapse.
Tampa, Fla.: The opponents of Sarbanes-Oxley are guilty of either total ignorance or willful blindness. They claim SOX inhibits business and costs too much. Everyone in the accounting industry (including myself; I'm a CPA) knows the Big 8-6-5-4 under priced audits as a loss leader. The increased audit fees about with CEO cheerleaders complain are finally being priced at market levels. Sure, there's a fair amount of overkill, but that is a lot better than the under kill of past years. And accounting systems are most expensive in th early years; their costs drop sharply after implementing them is finished. Even now, the average publicly-traded company still spends less on audit and SOX fees than on CEO pay. We can start worrying when the reverse comes true. How do you feel about this?
Those who oppose SOX say the shareholders can discipline errant management. As an Enron employee said to Ken Lay when Lay said Enron at $90 was a great buy, are they smoking crack? Shareholders do not control the board of directors and have no power over their companies, thanks to management-friendly laws of states like Delaware and Nevada. Shareholders cannot nominate directors and cannot nominate officers. Shareholders can't even know what the companies they own pay the CEO. Now how are shareholders to make and enforce any decisions over management?
Perhaps you could compare and contrast corporate elections in the US today with elections in the former USSR. Any striking similarities come to mind?
Finally, the feds, in conjunction with the EU, should bust up the Big 4 into the Big 8. I understand Richard Breeden, the overseer of KPMG, has publicly stated this in the past. I agree with Breeden totally. How do you feel about this?
John C. Bogle: I happen to be a believer that SOX was a necessary, indeed long overdue, law. I was chairman of the Instinet audit committee during the early years of SOX and, yes, it was expensive and to some degree cumbersome but it was also long overdue. I have seen very few negative comments about SOX except on section 404 on financial controls and I believe it would be useful for the PCOAB to have substantive discussions with its critics, and not to get rid of section 404, but to make it more manageable for smaller companies. Recently in the news there's been a proposal to eliminate 404 for smaller companies, which I think would be a tragic overreaction.
Brooklyn, N.Y.: Don't you think that many CEOs are grossly overpaid? Enormous salaries and egos to go with it! The gap between what they make and their employees make is way too great. How many more employees could be put on the payroll if they took less? How could anyone ever justify Mr. Grasso's salary? It is time for institutional shareholders to take a more active role on this issue.
John C. Bogle: Yes. And amen!
Washington, D.C.: Are there specific reforms that could be made to the system to make it better? Or are the kinds of changes you describe able to be brought about primarily through the effects of many individuals all changing their behaviors - a "grass roots" kind of reform? Is it top-down or bottom-up?
John C. Bogle: A simple answer: it's both. We need to reorganize our entire system of retirement plan investing and to develop federal standards of fiduciary duty for pension trustees and fund managers. These require "top down" intervention. But we also need investors to look after their own economic interests, a bottom up approach to our problems that is well within our individual power to undertake. I discuss both of these approaches in considerable depth in "The Battle . . ".
Albuquerque, N.M.: A response to the hypothetical......
Q: What will make you, a retired professional of comfortable means re-invest in corporate America?
A: I will need clear, consistent and persistent evidence that corporate leaders are actually earning their income with clear and consistent evidence that corporate boards and CEOs no longer collude to filch investors' hard earned money.
Mr. Bogle: for the next decade, my money stays in real estate, treasuries and buried in my back yard! I suspect I am not alone. Since 2000, this has clearly been a sound financial strategy; at least for me.
John C. Bogle: First of all let me assure you that I'm not retired although I confess that I've accumulated comfortable means during my long career. Corporate leaders surely have their problems, I believe that most CEOs are doing their best to hew to the ethical line. The problem is that that line has gotten blurred and that our moral standard seems to be "if everybody else is doing it, it's okay". That's not good enough for me. I believe that during the next decade that investing in stocks is likely to provide slightly higher returns than investing in bonds -- perhaps 6 1/2 % per year vs. 4 1/2% -- and that premium, if realized, will compound to create substantial additional assets. But we live in a very risky world and investors should not get "carried away" with excessive allocations to equities, or for that matter, real estate. As always asset allocation and low cost and broad diversification will be essential in earning one's fair share of whatever returns our financial markets are generous enough to bestow upon us.
Thank you Mr. Bogle for joining us today for this online discussion. To continue a discussion on ethics in corporate America, the authors of the new book "Pump and Dump: The Rancid Rules of the New Economy," are online now. To read or ask a question, click here .
Editor's Note: washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions. washingtonpost.com is not responsible for any content posted by third parties.
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Sports: Soccer
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Do you also have questions about D.C. United? MLS? National team? Europe?
Washington Post soccer writer Steven Goff was online Wednesday, Feb. 22, at noon ET to talk soccer.
Steven Goff: Howdy, everyone. Thanks for checking in. Let's get started......
Columbia, Md.: Steve, I saw your byline on some college basketball stories. Does this mean your leaving us behind in the soccer world???
Steven Goff: Nah, no worries, just expanding my horizons during the winter. I must say, it's nice to get back to soccer (for an hour, anyway) while my colleagues Rennie and Prisbell take chat abuse from whiny GW hoops fans.
Herndon, Va.: Steven, I scoured every inch of Monday's sports section for the score and report from Sunday's USA v Guatemala friendly...to no avail. How can stories like a toy shoe for Shaq and a bone marrow transplant for a dog sled racer actually get printed when the report from an actual game is dissed? The Post (and you) are among the top 2-3 papers nationally in covering soccer (you did have the flap about Nowak's alleged comments) - but where was the game!?
Steven Goff: Very, very good point. I was stunned not to see anything in the paper the next morning. You should probably pass along your concerns to the editors at sports@washpost.com
Washington, D.C. : Noticed that Olsen has been getting more time with the U.S. lately than I would have expected -- and also doing a bit of spot duty as a right back. Any idea where he sits as a potential roster spot holder for Germany with his performances and apparent versatility? (Not to mention his great goal against Guatemala.) Is he in front of Zavagnin at D-Mid?
Steven Goff: I am suddenly liking Olsen's chances, a lot more than last fall. Ben is a worker, a team player, and an inspirational figure behind the scenes. The only question was whether he could still perform in international matches. That goal on Sunday was outstanding. Keep in mind, however, these are just the MLS players, so Bruce Arena still has to review his Euro-based talent, starting next week against Poland.
Realistically which United players can make the trip to Germany. I've got a feeling that Olsen may make the cut as a gritty guy to kill off a match. But Carroll (Brian, need to distinguish, now) needs a couple of unfortunate injuries to pack his bags. Your thoughts?
Steven Goff: Olsen has moved ahead of Quaranta, in my opinion, among DCU players contending for World Cup roster spots. Carroll is a longshot and Adu has very little chance.
Washington, D.C.: Clint Dempsey, a.k.a the rapper Deuce: are you a hatta or lovva?
Steven Goff: I like his act. Brings some hipness to the national team. Not sure about his voice, though.
Greenbelt, Md.: With all due respect to Freddy who I love as a DC United player, who would chose him for the MNT with a healthy Eddie Johnson to play? Also, how is Alecko Eskandarian looking in training? Finally, who do you see as winning the central D spot on DCU, Facundo Erpen or Bobby Boswell?
Steven Goff: Barring injury, Brian McBride should start in the World Cup because of his experience, professionalism, work rate, ability to battle in the air, etc. Not to mention, he is a regular in the English Premiership. Johnson still has something to prove this spring.
Alecko was slowed by a minor injury (hamstring?), but seems to be on course for a comeback season. As for central defense, great question: Somehow, Nowak has got to find a way to get both Erpen and Boswell on the field. Not sure how he's going to do it.
Falls Church, Va.: What's up with the MD SoccerPlex these days? I know they have had financial problems and then managed to alienate several local leagues. But it's a GREAT complex for soccer at all levels - have you heard anything about its future?
Steven Goff: No, I haven't followed the financial issues of the SoccerPlex. It's a wonderful facility, but clearly politics and management have become a distraction.
Washington, D.C.: Some D.C. fans seem to have high expectations for Argentine striker Lucio Filomeno. Why? What has he done or shown that other candidates haven't?
I would think that Eskandarian and Adu would be higher on the depth chart for that second striker spot, next to Moreno. Any thoughts on that?
Steven Goff: Filomeno arrived at training camp is superb shape, which has led many in the organization to believe he could have a big impact this year. We'll see...
If Esky regains his fitness and scoring form, I would guess he will start alongside Moreno. Certainly, Nowak has a lot of options (Adu, Quaranta, Walker, Filomeno)
Va.: Where were you when Nowak uttered his infamous words?
Steven Goff: Working on a GW basketball story.
Wish I were in Bradenton to hear first-hand what was said.
Arlington, Va.: What's the inside scoop on Nowak and the "go to hospital" comment.
Steven Goff: Nowak said something, Salt Lake heard one thing, United folks heard another. Unless an audiotape emerges, we'll never know for sure. Keep in mind, however, that Nowak is often difficult to understand and words that seem simple to pronounce to most of us sound much different when they leave his mouth.
Looking forward to your coverage of DC United and Germany 2006. Can you offer a guess on who might be a surprise addition to the US team. Stunning omission?
Steven Goff: Hmmm, great question.
Heath Pearce and Jonathan Spector are intriguing candidates for the backline -- two players who have flown under the radar in Europe.
I kinda wonder if Man U's Tim Howard will actually make the final roster. At the moment, Keller and Hahnemann seem to be 1-2, with an MLS goalie filling the third spot. Just thinking out loud...
Washington, D.C.: I went to school with Shawn Kuykendall. I saw a bit of his play last year, and I thought he did a decent job subbing in for Dema. I would love to see a fellow Eagle get more playing time. Now with Dema gone are his chances of securing some minutes aside from reserve matches realistic?
Steven Goff: The front office likes Kuykendall a lot and he seems to have a future in MLS. However, at defensive midfield, Olsen, Carroll and Simms are the top options, I imagine.
Washington, D.C.: Do you see either LA or NE making it through to the finals of the CONCACAF Champions Cup?
Steven Goff: Not likely. MLS teams aren't in top form so early in the year, giving the advantage to Central American and Mexican clubs. Look what happened to DCU last year.
Arlington, Va.: Please tell me that the pitch at RFK is going to receive top priority this season. As the spring turned to summer and summer to fall it was apparent that the grounds were deteriorating.
Steven Goff: As long as two teams are playing there, it's never going to be in ideal condition. Can't wait for the first big thunderstorm to turn it into mush.
Fairfax, Va.: Steve, outside of the comment Nowak may or may not have made, how do you think the league will deal with the obvious leak by the RSL staff to that radio station? I was at that scrimmage and can state without a shadow of a doubt there were no fans or media near the benches during the game.
Steven Goff: It's Salt Lake's word against United's word. From what I hear, the league is not pleased with the way Salt Lake has handled it, especially Ellinger's radio interview.
Washington, D.C.: If we believe the United players and staff that Peter Novak is innocent of making an inappropriate comment during the Real Salt Lake scrimmage, how badly will United beat RSL when they play this season?
Steven Goff: The first thing I did the other day was check to see when the teams play each other for the first time this year! Unfortunately, not until August, I believe.
Didn't you suggest in one of these chats a while back that there'd be some expanded coverage of DC United on the Washington Post website? Is that still in the works? I know there are a some reporters with "blogs" on their newspaper's websites (Wendy Parker in Atlanta, Lauren Gustus in Salt Lake City to name two.). I'd love to see something like that set up for you.
Steven Goff: Nothing new, unfortunately. These chats are the only avenue for expanded coverage, at the moment. As the World Cup approaches, however, I'm sure you will see a lot more soccer features in the paper and on the web site.
Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C.: What are you hearing about the rookies? Who looks to be the biggest impact player in the new season, and who could be the biggest surprise a la Boswell?
Steven Goff: From what I hear, Rod Dyachenko and Justin Moose have been impressive, but I have not spent any time with the team in Florida (nor will I go to Spain with them next week) so it's hard for me to say for sure.
Takoma Park, Md.: Any word on the opponents or venues for the final 3 world cup warm-up matches in May?
Steven Goff: Some rumors (Ireland, Greece, Mexico, others) but nothing is set. I imagine we'll know in the next few weeks. As for the sites of those games, Chicago, Columbus and Foxboro appear near the top of the list.
Great Mills, Md.: Last season the field conditions at RFK were terrible. Has D.C. United or the D.C. Sports Commission done anything to improve the playing surface condition?
Steven Goff: It is what it is. The field will be fine early in the baseball and soccer seasons, but inevitably, it will take a beating from constant use.
Reston, Va.: If we start a quick campaign, can we get your editors to spring for a quick trip to Spain? After all, they are paying for a quirky cheese blog at the Olympics...
Steven Goff: Thanks for your "cheesy" support, but won't happen. However, I am going to Belgium and Germany in a few weeks to work on some pre-World Cup stories.
Alexandria, Va.: Aside from Prideaux, any trade talk lingering around the front office?
Steven Goff: Nope. Pretty quiet at the moment.
Washington, D.C: Hi Steven,United announced the international camp and three games within it: the Getafe friendly and two close doors scrimmages. Any clues on which are the contenders in these scrimmages?
Steven Goff: I imagine they'll play against a couple reserve teams, perhaps Real's.
Takoma Park, Md.: When do you normally hook up with the team early in the season? Is it normal for you to have so little contact with the team during pre-season?
Steven Goff: We don't usually cover DCU preseason on site for financial reasons, especially during a World Cup year. I'd rather save the money for United road games once the season starts.
Alexandria, Va.: Does anyone find it hilarious that a team based in Salt Lake, that bastion of diversity and racial tolerance, is the offended party in the Nowak controversy?
Ellinger is a Maryland dude and the incident happened in Florida.
Bethesda, Md.: Any chance that new Beasley teammate Ngyuen at least gets a look against Poland or Germany?
Steven Goff: Nguyen, who played a year at Indiana, is a very intriguing player who now is in the Dutch league. Wouldn't be surprised if he got called up for those friendlies.
Arlington, Va.: Who do like in today's Chelsea v. Barcelona match? Will you watch?
Did you get an opportunity to ask Peter to tell you himself what he said? If so, what did he tell you?
Steven Goff: Yes, I believe I was the only reporter to speak directly to Peter. He confirmed the 'hospital' comment and was adamant that he made no racial comments. In fact, he's furious at Salt Lake for accusing him of it. You don't want to be around Peter when he's REALLY angry.
Arlington, Va.: Anything new on the new stadium? I guess with the new owners bowing out we have been set back. Didn't the mayor promise us 2007?
Steven Goff: Stadium? What stadium?
DCU officials keep saying everything is on schedule, city officials say optimistic things.
I don't know, I'll believe it when I see it...
I'm not as optimistic as I was six months ago.
Arlington, Va.: A big picture question. I catch a lot of EPL, Italian, and Spanish league games on cable, and I am always a bit stunned by the skill level in comparison to the MLS. The big question: what will it take to close the gap for US soccer? More players in Europe and South America? Better youth programs? Better skill training in the MLS? It seems like the vision of USSF folks is to hope and pray that the US will stumble through the round-robin stage of the World Cup, and this will inspire all the better young athletes will gravitate to the sport, and that one of them will emerge as the next Pele. Well, I think the Freddy Adu experience has shown us that this is not fail-proof.
I go to many DC United games, and while I love the effort that Santino and Ben put out, the idea that they are serious candidates for playing time on the National team shows us how far we have to go.
Steven Goff: It's a combination of a lot of things in order for MLS to improve: continued youth development, better salaries for American players so they don't bolt to Europe, improved quality of foreign players in order to upgrade the level of play in the league.
Obviously, MLS can't compare to England, Italy, Spain, etc., but it's not as far behind some of the mid-level Euro leagues as some think.
Bethesda, Md.: Is there any hope that we'll get a new soccer stadium, or has the craziness over the new baseball stadium pushed soccer off the map?
Also, I heard that Sasho Cirovski wants a better space at U Md--any chance of a new stadium in College Park that could accommodate DC United?
Steven Goff: New MLS stadiums must hold at least 20,000. I can't imagine that's in the works in College Park.
Washington, D.C.: What does "send back to hospital mean? Who was Peter yelling that to?
Steven Goff: Apparently, he was telling his own players that the Salt Lake player should be 'sent to hospital' -- retaliation for physical play.
Arlington, Va.: Is United under the salary cap? If so, are they planning to hang onto the money for a mid-season acquisition after they see where things stand with our current roster?
Steven Goff: They are in good shape at the moment. If they feel the need to add a player during midseason, obviously they would have to trade or waive someone.
Fairfax, Va.: Have you checked out the candidates for goal of the decade? Which is your choice - do you think Etch's goal against NE has a chance of winning or was it too long ago?
Steven Goff: There are always one or two great goals each year, but at this point, over the course of 10 seasons, I couldn't pick out just one.
Oakland, Calif.: Any thoughts on Freddy switching positions as a way to play full 90s?
Steven Goff: Perhaps his best chance to play a full 90 minutes were if he were a flank player. But that's not really the case. If the team decides he's an attacking midfielder, he would have to beat out Gomez for the job. If he's a forward, he's got Eskandarian, Moreno, Quaranta, Filomeno and Walker to overtake.
Washington, D.C.: After watching DC United's performance on and off the field under Coach Nowak over the past few years, I'm getting the nagging, disturbing feeling that he's the soccer equivalent of Billy Martin or Mike Keenan. He takes over a team which has lots of underperforming talent but lacks discipline and whips them into shape through the sheer force of his stubborn, ornery personality. He gets results, but gets dragged into silly controversies with his players and others, and the team and the entire organization get so burned out and exhausted in the process that he wears out his welcome quickly and has to leave after only a few years. Your thoughts?
Steven Goff: Peter is an intense individual whose personality seems to rub off on his team. (Although with Kovalenko gone, perhaps the team's edginess will soften.) He has had some public scraps (the Colorado coach last season, the Freddy mess, etc), but as long as he's successful, I don't think the team will make a change.
Reston, Va.: Speaking of Marco, have you seen him recently? Is he ever going to officially hang up the cleats so we can have a much deserving celebration of what he's done?
Steven Goff: Marco was asked by the team when he would like to be honored. Not sure if he's given them a timeframe yet.
Downtown Washington, D.C.: Do we have a genuine goalkeeping controversy this year, or is the job Rimando's to win or lose?
Steven Goff: Rimando is the No. 1 keeper, but if he slips, Perkins is certainly capable of stepping in.
Elko, Nev.: Any chance Ellinger faces discipline from MLS for a false accusation?
Steven Goff: I'm sure that is among the options for the league.
Richmond, Va.: What will Houston's new name be? and what do you think of the naming mess.
Steven Goff: Houston franchise not off to a good start. Quite embarrassing for the league. What's so wrong with a simple plural nickname??? United is fine and Revolution is okay, but I don't understand why Tigers or Toros or Eagles can't be used for these new teams.
Fairfax, Va.: Love the online videos on the USSF Web site. Did you see the clip of Arena's post-game press conference against Guatemala. A reporter asked what Brazilian fans should think of the USMNT's level of play. Arena looked positively flabbergasted, glanced around the room with a bewildered expression and finally answered the question by saying that he strongly doubted that Brazilian fans were spending any time worrying about the USMNT. It was priceless!
Steven Goff: Bruce is the best in post game settings!
He's no Ray Hudson, but highly entertaining.
Arlington, Va.: Do Nowak or Payne expect Nowak to be fined for admitting to calling for an opposing player to be retaliated against/injured? Do you expect Nowak to be fined for that?
Steven Goff: Indeed, that is the secondary issue. If the league finds that he did not make the Africa comment, will it discipline him for essentially calling for his players to injure someone?
Leesburg, Va.: Who is your favorite U.S. Men's National Team player?
And with that, I must bid farewell. Thanks for all your questions. Sorry I could only respond to a fraction of them. Feel free to reach me anytime at goffs@washpost.com
Editor's Note: washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions. washingtonpost.com is not responsible for any content posted by third parties.
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Pump and Dump
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In their new book, "Pump and Dump: The Rancid Rules of the New Economy," sociology professors Robert H. Tillman and Michael L. Indergaard say that recent corporate scandals such as Enron and WorldCom are symptoms of corporate governance problems that began in the 1990s.
Using a financial fraud theory called "pump and dump," corporate elite artificially inflated stocks and securities in order to sell their shares at higher prices, leaving any fall-out and responsibility on naive investors.
Tillman and Indergaard, who both teach at St. John's University in New York City, were online Wednesday, Feb. 22 at 1 p.m. ET to answer questions about their book.
Michael L. Indergaard: Hello and thanks for joining us to discuss the problem of corporate corruption. In our book, "Pump and Dump: the Rancid Rules of the New Economy", we show why recent financial scandals implicate the U.S. system of corporate governance and a host of politicians who have cashed in on the public trust. Our hope is that citizens will take a closer look at the business and political elites who hide behind free market mantras.
Robert H. Tillman: Welcome. We're looking forward to your comments.
Rockville, Md.: I am curious why two sociology professors would be writing a book on business. What are your backgrounds that you would feel comfortable addressing these issues? Have either of you worked in the finance area? While many of the problems that have emerged over the past 10 years have been pretty egregious, I find that enforcement of our laws is much better today than it was in earlier eras. The Rockefellers, Mellons, Goulds, Kennedys and Morgans of those eras got away with quite a bit and never had much in the way of negative repercussions. Even in the 70's and 80's there were plenty of businessmen whose activities today would justify prison time, but who got away with it. Sure, there are problems today, but at least now there are ramifications.
Robert H. Tillman: Good question. My specialty in sociology is white-collar crime and my colleague's is primarily in economic sociology. Many of the issues we explore in our book can get technical but at their root are not that difficult to understand. We focus on cases of blatant frauds where it is clear that those involved intended to deceive investors, employees, etc.
You're probably right that there were many violations in the past but one of the differences is that today there are so many more opportunities to commit corporate crimes. With new financial instruments, IPOs, etc.
Bethesda, Md.: In your book, do you offer-up any solutions on how to avoid messes like Enron or WorlCom? Are there regulations in place to stop "pump and dump" schemes and if not what should be done by the SEC or Congress?
Michael L. Indergaard: Thanks for the question. Sarbanes-Oxley addressed some problems but there have been attempts to water it down. More generally, strong resistance to reform is threatening to bring it to a halt. We propose that there has been little recognition of larger problems of governance and policy.
Robert H. Tillman: Some of the necessary reforms have been implemented, like requiring companies to expense stock options--which has finally been put in place after much wrangling. But others have not. Such as requiring boards of directors to have outside members. I worry that as memory of the scandals fades people will be less vigalent about seeing that reform measures stay in place
Philadelphia, Pa.: I asked this same following to John Bogle earlier. I would please appreciate your reaction this query:
I was in an Ivy League business school in the 1970s. I recall being the only person in one class who felt that American businesses operating in foreign countries should follow the business laws of the countries within which they operate even if no American laws were broken by breaking the foreign law. I felt this was not only a moral question but also one that shows we respect the cultures of the people with whom we do business. This is just one example of what I found to be a rampant problem among my classmates. What I observed among my classmates was a cut-throat drive for personal success at nearly any cost. I can verify the tales that many college students have heard as being correct: library readings for classes were often missing (this was the days before the Internet), cheating was rampant and indeed widely boasted, and I learned never to work in a group. The object of learning groups was to stab others in the back in order to lower the class average. From all this, I did learn one valuable lesson: never hire anyone from my class to work for me.
Over time, as I watched and read about many of my classmates in the news taken away from their jobs in handcuffs, I was not in the least bit surprised. The question I have always wondered though is, if I could tell within minutes that I would never want these greedy cheaters working for me, how did they get hired and kept at these brokerage houses and businesses? Do many businesses themselves actually seek out cheating greedy people? Or do they worm their way into these businesses, in which case I feel sorry for the businesses when they find the personal spending accounts of these employees inflated and the business deals they made turned out to be ethically questionable.
Is there a business culture among some companies that attracts these people? If so, shouldn't there be a means for this culture to recognize when mistakes are made and can then to respond to correct itself and its own behavior? Did businesses never learn to look for warning signs and self-correct their own problems?
Michael L. Indergaard: Interesting issue. Leading figures in fraud often surrounded themselves with people who were willing to collaborate in dubious activities. They often selected people who were drawn to risk-taking and the prospects of high rewards. Importantly, the ringleaders also created organizational routines and cultures that socialized people into going along with suspect activities. They used a mix of bribery and bullying to normalize corruption.
Columbus, Ohio: I've long felt that an prime but unspoken motivation for privatizing social security was to create coerced artificial demand for stocks, to the benefit of those who already owned them. Am I alone in this view?
Robert H. Tillman: I think there's more than a little truth to your observation. Clearly Wall St and corporate American would have profited tremendously with the privatization of Social Security. It is truly amazing that the administration could have proposed this in the wake of massive corporate scandals in which investors were betrayed by the very people who would under privatization have access to more of their funds Hopefully, this proposal is dead and gone.
Minneapolis, Minn.: The cases of Enron and Worldcom, among others, are classic examples of why government oversight is essential to protect investors. Do you see any real push by Congress and the SEC to strengthen the integrity of the Market beyond window dressing? Also, will this become an increasingly large concern as the Boomers retire and are even more dependent upon their portfolios for retirement income?
Michael L. Indergaard: We see some substance and a whole lotta damage control. One thing that troubles us is that there has been little repudiation of the blind faith in markets that abetted the gutting of regulations. And there has been little, if any accountability for politicians who cashed in on positions of public trust.
Annapolis, Md.: I'm on Amazon concurrently with this post ordering your book.
Recently, I was re-reading an old economics text book I have. It almost seems as if some of the basics (supply/demand curve analysis in particular) are changing as the markets become global in combination with rapid M&A activity plus this vertical and horizontal integration momentum.
I get the impression we are in uncharted territory. From your perspective, how did the globalized economy emerge? Was it a result of random factors? Or were certain people/organizations responsible?
Michael L. Indergaard: We stress the role of neoliberal ideologies and political mobilizations in weakening regulations during the 1990s. Certainly, these same forces have been vigorously promoting a certain type of globalization during the same period. Enron, for example, was at the forefront of promoting privatization of energy industries in developing countries and in exploiting such shifts. In this they were assisted by a host of U.S. government agencies and international bodies which provided Enron with something like $7 billion in support.
Washington, D.C.: Are there any other techniques that corporate big-wigs use along with "pump and dump" to manipulate investors?
Robert H. Tillman: Yes. The variations seem endless. One of the frauds that we explore in the book involved the outrageous rip-offs of electrical energy consumers in California in the late 1990s. These scams cost Californians an estimated $9 billion. Its useful to think about how many people could have been educated, housed or fed with that money. The most galling aspect of this was the fact that under deregulation, many of these practices were not illegal and very few of those responsible were ever punished.
Outside of California, recent revelations about standard practices in the insurance industry also make one wonder if there's any area of the corporate world that is free from corruption.
Munich, Germany: There's a fair amount of hype being published on the Internet by PR firms, trying to establish interest in a company stock, which is often deceptive, especially for small investors.
Would you agree, that while the Internet has empowered small investors to a certain degree by providing access to previously unattainable information, the Internet has also become the domain of large organizations that are well versed in presenting potentially misleading information?
Michael L. Indergaard: Nice to hear from Europa. I'm not sure that much of the info on the Internet is much more helpful than the many emails I get which want to give hot stock tips. The new economy, based as it is on network forms of organization, provides countless opportunities to hide information from investors. There are lots of unresolved issues about the Silicon Valley system which relies on insider ties. Their linkages with the financial system makes their privileged access to information, and ability to shape impressions, all the more problematic.
Arlington, Va.: Just curious -- what does "neoliberal" refer to ideologically? Does this mean "third way" Democrats?
Michael L. Indergaard: It is because of the third-way Dems that one could state that the embrace of neoliberal ideas is bi-partisan. Members of Congress and Presidents from both parties have "starring" roles in our book's scrutiny of promiscous deregulation and free market ideologies. Thanks for bringing the issue up.
Arlington, Va.: Have there been any class action suits or complaints from investors about this practice? Or is it legal and allowed?
Robert H. Tillman: If you're asking about the California energy scams, yes, there have been a number of class action suits, some of which have been successful and have recovered some money for the consumers. The problem is the difference between obtaining a judgement and obtaining cash from these companies. In order to get any money out of Enron California energy consumers will have to join a long line of people trying to get their hands on a dwindling pool of assets.
Arlington, Va.: The executives are not just inflating stock prices for their own greed, they are also helping lots of investors make money. I don't think Wall Street cares about high executive compensation packages, for example, as long as total shareholder return is high. The tragedy with an Enron or Worldcom is that the employees who couldn't dump the stocks were punished.
Michael L. Indergaard: We argue that there were multiple motivations for those who participated in dubious or fraudulent actitivities. One of the basic examples of "New Economy rules" was the doctrine that a firm could become a first mover and dominate new markets if it turned its stock into a currency with which it could make acquistions. A lot of dot-com start-ups were playing the IPO game not to gain riches but to gain crediblity as New Economy players. In many cases, executives tried to play the New Economy game and then found themselves trapped. Then they engaged in fraudulent accounting or other ruses to try to keep things afloat.
Bethesda, Md.: As a small-investor what kind of protection can I take from mistrusting the wrong people? Because I still feel like I'm in the learning stages, I look towards those in the know for guidance. Am I just being naive?
Robert H. Tillman: It's easy to be cynical in these situations--distrusting everybody. At the same time not all stocks are backed by phony information--indeed, most are perfectly honest and straightforward. But even trying to make prudent investment decisions under legitimate circumstances is difficult enough.
the only advice I can offer is to be careful not get caught up in the next wave of "irrational exuberance" or to be on the quest for "the next big thing."
NW DC: You used the term 'massive' to describe corporate scandals: Can you elaborate upon that?
ENRON and WorldCom were large companies, but they were an infinitesimal operator in a massive economy. What other evidence do you have that fraud was pervasive in business, rather than pervasive at an immaterial number of large organizations?
Robert H. Tillman: Very good question. There is a tendency to see the whole barrel as rotten. We are now working on a more systematic study to try to arrive at some more precise estimates of the scope of corporate fraud, specifically, accounting fraud, and its costs.
For now, we can rely on a study by the GAO which found that between 1997 and 2002, over 800 public companies issued restatements of their financial conditions. This represented 10% of all companies listed on the major exchanges during that period. while this leaves 90% that did not file restatements, we think that 10% is a fairly large proportion.
Hopefully, we'll have a more precise answer in the future.
Washington, DC: For the high-profile cases that we've heard about in the media (Enron, etc) aren't these the exceptions rather than the rules? There are millions of corporations in the U.S. and thousands of publicly traded companies... Are you asserting that these few bad apples are proof that the entire crop is spoiled?
Michael L. Indergaard: Bob is answering a very similar question so I will address some big picture issues raised by your question. The magnitude of false finanical statements and of the frauds committed suggest a systemic problem. Our investigation of the politics behind deregulation--and the obstruction of regulators and reformers--speaks of issues that bridge the world of economics and politics. In the 1990s, the power of the corporate elite over Congress and regulators was such that they gained the ability to both make and break the rules. Some powerful executives and professionals have been held accountable by the courts but there has been little recognition of the flaws in our governance system that abetted their misdeeds. Ultimately, what is at stake is whehter we as democracy still have the ability to reflect critically on our system and correct it.
Michael L. Indergaard: We'll conclude with the thoughts we ended our book's introduction with. "Our study suggests that unregulated markets spur the formation of rogue entrepreneurs who feed on moral society--cashing in on social resources, such as relationships, reputation, and trust. 'Caveat emptor' is a sensible guideline in any era, but when it is the only norm that stands between ordinary investors and predatory insiders, "buyer beware" is the most rancid rule of all."
Editor's Note: washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions. washingtonpost.com is not responsible for any content posted by third parties.
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The authors of "Pump and Dump: The Rancid Rules of the New Economy," was online to discuss mismanagement by the corporate elite.
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Court Hears Water Act Arguments
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All water flows downhill to the sea. But at what point does it enter the federal government's jurisdiction?
That was the question at the Supreme Court yesterday, as the justices heard arguments in the first major environmental case of the Roberts Court era -- a test of the Clean Water Act that could determine the scope of federal authority over the development of wetlands nationwide.
As enacted in 1972, the landmark environmental legislation gave federal regulators the power to control the discharge of pollutants into "navigable waters." On the theory that what gets dumped upstream eventually winds up downstream, the government has interpreted that phrase to include not only large lakes and rivers, but also their smaller tributaries and wetlands near those tributaries.
The Bush administration, backed by environmental organizations and more than 30 state governments, says that any narrower interpretation would cripple the Clean Water Act. States alone could not do the job, the administration argues.
"It's a bit much to ask legislators in Minnesota and Wisconsin to restrict local development to protect water in Mississippi," Solicitor General Paul D. Clement told the court yesterday.
But property owners, backed by homebuilders, developers, farmers, ranchers and some water districts from the arid West, say that view would federalize every drop of water in the country, effectively putting Washington in control of development miles away from any recognizably navigable waters.
One such property owner is John Rapanos of Michigan, who filled in 54 acres of wetlands, some of which were 20 miles from the nearest navigable water, without asking for a permit. Rapanos has been slapped with a $185,000 fine and three years' probation as a result. He also faces civil penalties.
His lawyer, M. Reed Hopper of the Pacific Legal Foundation, a property-rights organization, told the justices yesterday that "this is a case of agency overreaching," in which the federal government "had claimed jurisdiction over an entire watershed from the remotest trickle" on up.
Complicating matters is a pair of Supreme Court rulings that point in different directions.
In 1985, the court ruled that the federal government could regulate wetlands "adjacent" to navigable waters.
But in 2001, it ruled that the federal government could not control waste-dumping in isolated water-filled depressions in Illinois. Migratory birds flocked there, the court ruled, but the ponds lacked a "significant nexus" to navigable waters.
The Michigan properties at issue yesterday fall between those two cases.
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Continuing coverage of the Supreme Court nomination and confirmation process from The Washington Post.
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Studies Attest to Buyers' Focus on Color of Meat
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A Food and Drug Administration official indicated yesterday that she was unaware of any scientific studies showing that the color of a piece of meat is central to a shopper's decision to buy it or not -- even though a petition recently filed with the agency describes several such studies.
In a telephone news conference yesterday, Laura Tarantino, director of the FDA's Office of Food Additive Safety, sought to allay consumer concerns about the safety and freshness of the nation's meat supply after revelations in The Washington Post that a growing proportion of prepackaged meats in the United States are spiked with carbon monoxide -- a gas that keeps even rotten meat looking red and fresh.
The agency has been asked to ban the practice, but Tarantino defended the FDA's decision to classify it as "generally recognized as safe," which allowed the meatpacking industry to use the gas without seeking formal FDA approval.
Carbon monoxide "does not reduce the safety of meat," Tarantino said, referring to meat-company-sponsored studies indicating that treated meat is not more likely to harbor harmful bacteria than conventionally packaged meat.
That aspect of safety is essentially undisputed. But Tarantino appeared unacquainted with a significant body of data -- some of it generated by the meat industry -- indicating that red color is a central cue used by shoppers to determine the freshness of meats, which are increasingly sold in sealed, "modified atmosphere" packages.
The issue of how consumers make their choices is central to the argument made by Kalsec Inc. of Kalamazoo, Mich., that the use of carbon monoxide to keep meat red is a "deceptive practice."
Kalsec sells natural extracts that slow the browning of packaged meats -- a business threatened by the growing use of carbon monoxide.
"If we had evidence that consumers would be misled into buying meat that was spoiled because of the use of this technology, that is something we'd be concerned about," Tarantino said. Asked if any scientific studies had quantified the importance of color for consumers making judgments about freshness, Tarantino had none to offer.
But Kalsec's petition, filed with the agency in November, cites:
· A 2001 Colorado State University study that concluded, "Consumers view color as one of the most important attributes of fresh beef when making a decision to purchase retail product."
· A 1972 study published in the Journal of Food Science that concluded, "Consumer studies have shown that physical appearance of a retail cut in the display case is the most important factor determining retail selection of meat products."
· A 1996 study in the Journal of Animal Science that stated, "Meat color is the main factor affecting beef product acceptability at retail points of purchase."
· A National Pork Board/American Meat Science Association fact sheet, which states that "meat color is the single greatest appearance factor that determines whether or not a meat cut will be purchased."
Tarantino said the agency was considering Kalsec's petition, along with documents filed by meat interests opposed to Kalsec's claim that carbon monoxide should be considered a "color additive." That classification would require a public review of safety data. She would not predict when the agency's review would be complete.
Tarantino also said she did not know if the agency would respond on time to a letter sent Feb. 9 to acting FDA Commissioner Andrew C. von Eschenbach from Reps. John D. Dingell (D-Mich.) and Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) , which requested answers by tomorrow to numerous questions about the handling of the carbon monoxide issue.
On Monday, Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), a senior Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said he would introduce legislation to ban carbon monoxide use in packaged meats if the FDA does not immediately revoke its earlier decision.
FDA spokeswoman Susan Bro encouraged shoppers to "use the skills you have as a consumer to be aware of what is a safe and fresh meat product."
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A Food and Drug Administration official indicated yesterday that she was unaware of any scientific studies showing that the color of a piece of meat is central to a shopper's decision to buy it or not -- even though a petition recently filed with the agency describes several such studies.
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Rotavirus Vaccine Urged for Babies
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Every healthy newborn in the United States should receive a new vaccine designed to protect against an intestinal germ called rotavirus, a federal advisory panel decided yesterday as it set aside theoretical concerns about the vaccine's safety.
The decision means that pediatricians are likely to recommend three doses of the oral vaccine for nearly every child at age 2 months, 4 months and 6 months, beginning almost immediately. The vaccine won approval from the Food and Drug Administration on Feb. 3, and some doctors have received supplies of it.
The recommendation for universal use of the vaccine was approved at a meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, the federal panel that sets vaccination policy in the United States. It comes nearly seven years after an earlier rotavirus vaccine was withdrawn from the market for causing a potentially life-threatening form of intestinal blockage in some babies.
Vaccine-safety advocates are urging parents to be wary of the new vaccine because of that history. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the manufacturer, Merck & Co. Inc. of Whitehouse Station, N.J., have promised elaborate studies to catch any safety problems. Merck is selling the vaccine under the brand name RotaTeq.
Merck has tested the vaccine in about 70,000 babies in 11 countries, one of the biggest vaccine trials ever conducted. That test ruled out a safety problem similar to the one that felled RotaShield, an earlier rotavirus vaccine developed by Wyeth, a drugmaker in Madison, N.J. But doctors said it is impossible to design a test big enough to catch all possible side effects that might show up once the product is used in millions of children.
RotaTeq "generally appears to have a better safety profile than the earlier vaccine," said Umesh D. Parashar, a medical epidemiologist at the CDC. "But at the same time it's something we'll continue to look at, and hopefully confirm absence of risk."
RotaTeq is expected to be one of the most expensive vaccines ever marketed, with Merck listing it at $187.50 wholesale for the three-dose series. That means many doctors are likely to charge more than $300 retail, putting the Merck product in league with Prevnar, an expensive Wyeth vaccine that has been widely used in the United States for five years. Prevnar, which protects children against certain types of pneumonia, became the first vaccine to meet the pharmaceutical industry's standard for a blockbuster product, with sales exceeding $1 billion a year.
The development of such high-priced vaccines is causing strains, particularly in state-sponsored vaccination programs for certain low-income children. But it is also drawing new manufacturers into the vaccine market, which many drug companies had abandoned in the 1980s and 1990s, citing too little profit.
RotaShield appeared on the market in late 1998 but was pulled less than a year later after a handful of babies that received it developed a serious intestinal problem called intussusception, a type of bowel obstruction that occurs when the intestine folds in on itself, like a collapsing telescope.
The problem occurs naturally, albeit rarely; it showed up at a sharply elevated rate in babies who received RotaShield. Intussusception is life-threatening for some babies, though doctors can usually treat it.
Many people have never heard of rotavirus, but it is one of the most common causes of childhood illness -- many ailments that parents or pediatricians describe as "stomach flu" are caused by rotavirus infection. Virtually every child in the world contracts the virus repeatedly by age 5, gradually building immunity.
Most children get over rotavirus at home, but at least 55,000 American children are hospitalized every year after becoming dehydrated from vomiting and diarrhea associated with the infection. Fifty to 60 of them die, but it is a different story overseas, where babies often do not receive good medical care and hundreds of thousands die every year.
RotaTeq contains live, but weakened, strains of rotavirus designed to build immunity without causing illness.
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Every healthy newborn in the United States should receive a new vaccine designed to protect against an intestinal germ called rotavirus, a federal advisory panel decided yesterday as it set aside theoretical concerns about the vaccine's safety.
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Embattled Harvard President To Resign
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Lawrence H. Summers, the president of Harvard University, announced yesterday that he will resign his post, bringing to close a stormy tenure in which the former Treasury secretary made impolitic remarks about women, alienated many black professors and repeatedly clashed with the faculty at America's most prominent university.
Summers decided to step down last week after concluding that he could no longer contain the growing conflict being played out publicly while effectively running the university.
"I looked at the extent to which the rancor had emerged in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, and I personally had become a larger issue and concluded very reluctantly that the agenda for the university I cared about and my own satisfaction would be best served by stepping down," Summers, 51, said from his office in Cambridge, Mass., in a 45-minute conference call with reporters.
His resignation takes effect at the end of the academic year. Derek Bok, 75, who served as Harvard's president for 20 years, was named interim president. Summers said yesterday that he will return to the school as an economics professor after a year-long sabbatical.
The marathon power struggle with the powerful Faculty of Arts and Sciences -- which runs the undergraduate program -- has been closely watched by institutions of higher learning as a case study in the ability of college presidents to exercise management control in a historically collegial and decentralized environment. It also spotlights the intense and sometimes ugly political side of academia.
Summers was an unconventional choice for the Harvard presidency. Although he was a tenured economics professor there in the 1980s, he made his mark in Washington -- at the World Bank, and later as President Bill Clinton's Treasury secretary -- rather than in academia.
His troubles started early in his five-year tenure when he angered many black professors by taking on prominent African American scholar Cornel West, accusing him of inflating student grades, and criticizing him for writing more about culture than pursuing serious scholarship.
West quit Harvard in a rage and went to Princeton, saying that Harvard was "messing with the wrong black man."
Some faculty members were further infuriated last year, after Summers suggested in a speech that "intrinsic aptitude" could explain why fewer women have excelled in science and math. Summers apologized several times for the remarks, but his brusque personality and top-down management style continued to rankle detractors. The remarks prompted a public vote of no confidence from the Faculty of Arts and Sciences last March, a stunning rebuke that Summers was, nonetheless, able to survive.
In recent weeks, the Harvard Corporation, the school's highest authority and the only body empowered to fire Summers, has been calling faculty members to get a handle on the extent of the opposition. Summers said yesterday, however, that the decision to leave was his.
Summers refused to assign blame for his departure but acknowledged that the aggressive manner in which he pursued changes might have "threatened" some faculty members. Some saw him as dictatorial and arrogant, and lacking collegiality in decision making.
"There were certainly moments when I could have challenged more wisely and more respectfully," he said. "Those are lessons to be learned."
His resignation ends the briefest tenure of any Harvard president since 1862, and comes one week before the faculty was set to vote on a no-confidence measure on his leadership.
The announcement, first flagged in yesterday's Wall Street Journal, comes on the heels of a fresh round of conflict between Summers and the powerful Faculty of Arts and Sciences, which was in an uproar over the way he handled the dismissal of Arts and Sciences Dean William C. Kirby. Although Kirby was far from an internal hero, faculty members accused Summers of not treating Kirby with dignity.
The incident last month again riled Summers's opponents. Judith L. Ryan, a professor of German and comparative literature, called for a second vote of no confidence.
"I think this is probably the only possible outcome that best serves the health and welfare of Harvard," said Kay K. Shelemay, a professor of music who has been critical of Summers. "He was unable to lead the institution effectively."
Though even Summers's supporters were starting to privately worry that the rift was a major distraction to the school, many are angry about how it played out.
"It says that one group of faculty managed a coup d'etat not only against Summers but against the whole Harvard community," said Alan M. Dershowitz, longtime law professor at Harvard and a Summers ally. "He is widely supported among students and in the graduate schools."
David Gergen, an adviser to presidents who now teaches at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, likened the effort to oust Summers to a negative political campaign. "There were people quite determined that he should leave, and they pursued a long campaign to realize this goal," said Gergen, a friend of Summers.
In a letter from members of the Harvard Corporation posted on the school's Web site, Summers was praised for his "extraordinary vision and vitality." The letter acknowledged, "This past year has been a difficult and sometimes wrenching one."
Summers spoke yesterday of his accomplishments at Harvard since his 2001 appointment, including efforts to attract lower-income students and offer them financial aid.
By a 3 to 1 margin, undergraduates polled online by the Harvard Crimson newspaper this week did not think Summers should resign, with only 19 percent supporting his departure.
Research editor Lucy Shackelford and researcher Don Pohlman contributed to this report.
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Real Wheels
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Warren Brown talks about all your automobile issues! He has been covering the automobile industry for The Washington Post since 1982. Brown, who joined the newspaper in 1976, has what many people think is a particularly cool job: He gets to test drive all manner of cars, from top-of-the-line Mercedes sedans and the newest sports cars to Volkswagen Beetles and SUVs. His auto reviews are lively, detailed accounts of a car's good and bad points, addressing everything from a car's highway performance to its "head-turning" factor and sound system.
Brown comes online Wednesdays at 11 a.m. ET to answer your questions on every aspect of the automotive industry -- from buying your dream car to the future of the internal combustion engine.
Arlington, Va.: Mr. Brown: What do you think of the new Honda Civic? Outside of the Si model, are the rest too out there? The interiors are not growing on me yet -- will they ever? Also, have you had a chance to drive or preview the Honda Fit? Is it a fair competitor for the Yaris, Accent, Versa and Aveo? Also, I saw the new Nissan Sentra in Car & Driver, looks like a nice car. Are they still planning on building the Sentra in Mexico again? Thanks for the chats and articles.
Warren Brown: Good morning, Arlington.
We've got 22 different styles of the Honda Civic, beginning with the stripper DX models, which few people buy.
It's best to get it as the LX, in the $16,000-$17,000 range, where it offers maximum value. It is a well-designed, fuel-efficient car with a quite decent 1.8-liter, 140-hp, four-cylinder engine. It gets good mileage, at least 34 mpg after the engine is broken in. Very much worth the cost. Yes,the Nissan Versa and Toyota Yaris are worthy competitors, although I think that those probably line up best against the Honda Fit. Include the Accent and Aveo, both of which are worthy competitors. The Si? Bigger engine, 2-liters, bigger price for what essentially is a zoot-suited economy car. Your call.
Reston, Va.: Hey, Warren. Last week you told a chatter to stay away from the Jetta because you've heard complaints about the service. Care to tell us more? I love the new Passat, but now I'm a little concerned.
Warren Brown: Unfortunately, Reston, it's the same old complaint that's been dogging VW, that VW says it has corrected, but that many VW customers, nonetheless, keep griping about. It clearly does not apply to all VW dealerships, just as it clearly applies to too many of them. To wit: Slow and costly service; not fixed right the first time; a tendency to treat blame the customers for their service failures; long waits for parts.
Again, I like the VW cars, love them in fact. But I can't ignore these constant complaints. VW should not ignore them, either.
Ithaca, N.Y.: When are American auto makers going to produce a car that can really compete with the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry? They've been talking about it for years, but have been consistently beaten by any metric they choose. The "foreign" cars have outsold the domestics, have a much better long term reliability record, have consistently higher residual value (possibly due to the former), are better engineered (the user experience is more refined), and perhaps most importantly, have established a very loyal customer base. The domestic producers consistently claim to have built the next "Accord killer" but are equally consistent in under performing. The few good models that they have made during the last five years may have driven beautifully for a few years, but they don't last. What's wrong and when will they fix it?
Warren Brown: Well, Ithaca, you clearly have not driven an American car in years.
I'm more loyal to my bank account than I am to the nationality of any automobile or truck. That said, I am going to buy a Chevrolet Malibu Maxx SS in the spring. Why? Because of all the little urban runners I've driven, I simply like that one the best. I like the Civic. But the Malibu Maxx SS has everything I want -- a bit more size, lot more engine, excellently crafted interior and a certain amount of funk. And I'm betting you that it will run just as long if not longer than anything from Honda or Toyota, just as my badly abused Chevrolet S10 truck has lasted and lasted.
So, you can take your metrics and, well, enjoy them. I surely intend to enjoy mine.
There's been a lot of talk lately about reducing our "addiction" to oil, but what other options exist? I haven't heard of any plans to open ethanol stations in the Washington area. It's nice that Ford is making the F150 FFV, but in the mid-Atlantic nobody can use it yet. Is that going to change anytime soon? Do you see more FFVs in the next few years and stations where a driver can actually choose to fill up on something other than that "addictive" substance sold by Exxon?
Warren Brown: The trouble with Americans, Falls Church, is that they want everything yesterday. I suppose you can argue that we should have been farther along with the development of an E85 infrastructure. After all, we've been talking about it for years in this country. Even that 2000-model Chevy S10 truck sitting in my driveway is a flex-fuel, E85 vehicle that has used E85 only once. And there's Brazil with an admirable E85 infrastructure, right?
But we don't like doing anything in this country that will inconvenience us in any way or cost us a bit more. So, we stick with what pleases us at the moment, which has long been gasoline, and we move to something new only when we're being forced to move.
Now, we're being forced. We'll get the E85 infrastructure. It won't be nirvana. It will pinch our pockets initially; but, the way I figure it, it's better to spend the money in the U.S. than it is to spend it on oil abroad.
And, yeah, all of this will make some big Republican corn farmers rich, which is why the Bush administration is pushing it. So what? We need the alternative fuel. If big Republican corn farmers can provide it, I guess it beats pouring money into the pockets of oil barons in the Middle East. The rich always get richer, which is why they're rich.
Boston, Mass.: Warren, please help. I need to upgrade from my current, beloved Forester. I will soon need to be able to transport six people for a carpool. I really prefer four wheel drive, as the weather here in Boston can catch you off guard sometimes.
This means either a SUV or a four wheel drive mini-van. What are your thoughts on this? Are the four wheel drive minivans equivalent in snow handling to the SUVs?
My first instinct was a Honda Pilot. I was not impressed, by the way, by the new Subaru SUV, which seemed awfully cramped, and rather expensive.
Thanks so much for your help.
Warren Brown: Ah, Boston, you are right. I like the Subaru B-9 Tribeca SUV crossover thingy. But I'm a shorty, and we short types can fit into and be pleased with almost anything. But taller sorts, of which you are probably one, have had problems with the B-9 Tribeca and, in that regard, have found it wanting for comfortable space.
So, I'm suggesting that you take a look at something like the Chrysler Pacifica, a crossover SUV that offers ample interior space and snowy traction, and perhaps, the Toyota Highlander.
What says the rest of the class?
Washington, D.C.: I have just heard that the Lincoln Zephyr will be renamed the Mk Z and there will be a change to its look. Does that mean the car is a failure? Or, did Lincoln just not do market research?
Warren Brown: Lincoln did not do the market research. Also, it may be trying to do too much with the same vehicle platform. The Zephyr/MkZ shares the same platform with the popular Ford Fusion and the not-so-popular Mercury Milan. My problem is, once you're in the Fusion, which is a very nice car that isn't substantially different from the other two, why should I pay more for the Milan, which isn't different at all, or the Zephyr/MkZ, which is cosmetically different in an upscale sort of way?
Los Angeles, Calif: Hello, Mr. Brown. I am planning on buying a used Subaru (probably the Impresia wagon or a Forester). I am going to spend around 13K and wonder which would be better: Low mileage but older or newer with higher mileage? I'm single, with a dog and want something that is fun to drive but will be great to haul stuff in, which is why I'm choosing Subaru. Thank you for your thoughts.
Warren Brown: Hello, Los Angeles. Go for low mileage in good condition (spend some money for a tech check). Wear your seat belts, and please check with one of those pet shops for a device to properly restrain dogs in a moving vehicle. Unrestrained woof-woofs are just as vulnerable to serious injury in a crash as are humans. Dogs have rights. Protect them.
Anonymous: Regarding Chevrolet Malibu Maxx: I hope you are getting a hellava deal from the dealership or you have tons of money to throw away because according to Kelly's blue book, Malibu's one of the top 10 cars with the worst residual value. But if you are getting a pre-owned one, you are getting a real deal.
Warren Brown: Residual value is a function of perception, not technical or other reality.
Value is amortized through use and enjoyment. Cars are not investments, anyway. I seldom pay attention to residual value when buying a car. It's just a marketing ruse.
Falls Church, Va.: Warren: When driving down a steep road, in this case a gravel mountain road, should the car be in low gear? That's what I was always taught, but that was a long time ago and I was wondering if things have changed.
When I drive this hill, I put my standard car into first gear. For parts of it, I creep along nicely, slow and safe, without using the brake. On other parts, my speed creeps up so I have to use the brake. The rpms go over 3000 on these sections. Am I doing the right thing? What about in an automatic car? Thanks.
Warren Brown: The good thing about the laws of physics is that they don't change. Gravel roads are low-friction roads. Such roads make it easy to lose control of a vehicle, especially moving downhill. It's best to take things slowly. Select a low gear and creep along until you reach the bottom safely.
Clifton, VA: It costs more energy to produce ethanol for E85 than it saves. This means we would still be using as much foreign oil, etc. More hyperbole spread by the uninformed!
Warren Brown: Baloney, Clifton. If that were the case, Brazil wouldn't be doing so well with its E85 program, would it? All things are not constant. Technology improves. Oil runs out. Repeat: Oil is not renewable. It runs out, and is running out. Or, is it that you think that's as much of a "myth" as global warming? E85 is one solution, just as gas-electric hybrids constitute another solution, et cetera. We need to exploit as many potential solutions as possible to get out of the energy mess we're in. Unless you think we can continue to run on hyperbole. To wit: Inexhaustible supplies of oil.
Alexandria, Va: Six people in a all-weather commuting vehicle? Isn't there a Highlander Hybrid hitting the market now? I think that's your best answer. An Escape Hybrid -- might -- cut it but it'd be a tight fit.
Warren Brown: That's an answer if the chatter wants to pay $5,000 or so more.
Courthouse, Va.: Regarding Boston's question about a 6 passenger all-wheel drive vehicle: another choice is the Ford Freestyle, it's not an SUV but also not a van, actually has room for adults in the 3rd row (but not New England Patriot-size adults, just average people like Warren).
Silver Spring, Md.: A younger coworker asked me about cars because she and her husband are looking to replace their old Sentra. Talking to her, I realized two factors that continue to hold back sales of American brands:
1. Brand confusion. She probably won't go to a big three dealership because she has no idea what they even sell. "Chevy has a couple but I can't keep it straight which one is the old Impala or the new Malibu or the Cavalier or whatever." "Didn't GM get rid of Buick or was it Pontiac?" "I have no idea what sedans Dodge makes other than that Gangster car." "Ford, is it the Taurus?"
The Japanese brands connect with her because they have consistent names/images and have constant improvement .Toyota: Camry, Corolla. Honda: Accord, Civic. Nissan: Maxima, Altima, Sentra.
2. I think I see the light at the end of the tunnel but it will be a few more years before the big three shake the legacy of building really crappy cars from 1975-1990 (design, engineering and quality). It may be irrational, but I think this legacy is a huge factor for millions of car buyers.
I don't know how to do it, but I think a lot of these "lost" customers would be surprised if only the big three could get them into the showroom and sitting in one of their cars.
Warren Brown: Well, Silver Spring, you're right on all counts.
Paris, France: Hello, Warren .With the EPA mileage estimates of cars being reevaluated for "real world" driving conditions. What effect is the reduced mileage going to do to the Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency standard that are mandated by the government? Are the auto companies suddenly going to get some big fines, or will they go along with the old way of measuring "efficiency"? Thanks.
Warren Brown: Hello, Paris. (I'll see you in a week or so.)
Yeah, the EPA is redoing its fantasy mileage rating system, and moving away from what amounts to fixed dynamometer readings and unrealistic assumptions about how people actually drive. I don't know what the effect will be on how the U.S. government adjusts its Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) ratings, which have been woefully ineffective in curbing America's thirst for gasoline. Here's hoping that CAFE dies.
I mean, look, France has no undrinkable CAFE, right? You all just have hard-to-swallow petrol prices at the pump. Funny isn't it? The French also buy and drive more fuel-efficient vehicles.
Cambridge, Mass.: Hi, Warren. What do you know about so-called Hydrogen boost adaptors that are in the works and soon to be, if not already, on the market? Any truth to their claims of increased mileage?
Warren Brown: Zip. I've got to study that.
Washington, D.C.: Hiya, Warren .With all things being equal, which crew cab pickup should I buy: Toyota Tundra; Ford F150; Chevy 1500? Thanks, and welcome back.
Warren Brown: In fairness to Toyota, I have not driven the 2007 Tundra, revealed last week at the Chicago Auto Show. Toyota claims it goes against the Ford-250, not the 150. Hmph. All I know is that it will have to get up and go pretty good to go against the Ford F-Series, the Chevrolet, or the GMC trucks or, for that matter, the Dodge Rams. My favorite of the bunch is the Ford F-Series. It's one very good truck.
Anonymous: Hi, Warren. The cost in oil to produce the ethanol depends on a number of factors. Those who support its use calculate that it will reduce oil dependence, those against it calculate that we use more energy in oil to produce it. It also depends on the plant material: ethanol from corn takes more oil than that produced from sugar cane waste or certain grasses. I wonder what Brazil uses to produce their ethanol?
Warren Brown: Thanks. I'll be able to tell you more about Brazil's operation after a visit there in a few months.
Falls Church, Va.: Yes, but I'd rather make corn farmers richer than oil company executives who don't even want to pay taxes. That would be a nice change, don't you think?
Warren Brown: At least, with the corn farmers, we get flakes.
Warren Brown: New NRA T-Shirt:
"Guns don't shoot people. Vice Presidents do."
Boston, Mass.: Thanks so much for answering my question. I would be interested in hearing from others if the Highlander is a good choice for four kids.
Arlington, Va.: I'm looking for a small car I can use for commuting to work, and then pass on to one of my kids in about four years. It's not the most exciting car, but I'm leaning toward the Hyundai Elantra. I think the value for the money makes it a good bet. What other cars in the under $15K region should I look at before buying?
Warren Brown: The Elantra is a good urban bet. But after beating it around for four years, your kids might not want it. Also consider the Toyota Yaris, or a lingering Toyota Echo, if you can find one; or look at the Civic DX, or perhaps Chevrolet Aveo.
Anonymous: I've sat in the big three cars, I even drove them. I still went over to the Toyota dealer and got my Camry. This was 12 years and 297,000 miles ago. It was the same last year when I bought my son his civic.
Warren Brown: That's the good thing about America -- choices. I sat in a Chevrolet S10 and bought it, I sat in a Mini Cooper and bought it, Finally I sat in a Toyota Echo and bought it. My eldest daughter sat in a Mercedes-Benz C230 and bought it. In the spring, I will sit in a Malibu Maxx SS, black on black with chrome highlights, XM radio and all of that stuff and I will buy it. I'll sell the Chevy S10 and Toyota Echo to anyone who wants sit and either one and buy it. I love this country!
Falls Church, Va.: American automakers are in big financial trouble. Do you think that we (consumers, government) should focus our energies on trying to save GM & Ford Corporations, or should we focus more on trying to help American auto workers, even those employed by "foreign" companies?
Warren Brown: Ford and GM will do a pretty good job of saving themselves, probably a better job than our government does trying to save everyone else except us -- $70 billion for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and $20 billion to help the Katrina-ravaged Gulf Coast, and the people of the Gulf Coast are Americans with democratically elected governments that don't require the presence of the American military to uphold.
Anyway, Ford and GM are having their problems at home. They are doing considerably better abroad. They are, in effect, one of those "foreign" companies.
Washington, D.C.: Is it cheaper to buy a new car directly from the manufacturer? How would one contact the manufacturer for a direct purchase?
Warren Brown: I don't know how you can buy a new car directly from the manufacturer. That's seldom, if ever, done nowadays.
Alexandria, Va.: Many new cars now come with an option of installing either XM or Sirius SAT radio. Is this a good idea or is it better to get an after-market, portable unit in order to maintain the freedom to possibly switch from one system to the other as their offerings change over the years?
Warren Brown: I have aftermarket portable units for XM and Sirius. They make more sense to me. I can use them anywhere.
As a person who has recently relocated from the mundane Austin, Texas, I have found your Sunday column riveting. As a young man, I have long expressed my opinions on the products the automotive industry has to offer, and have mixed it with my own particular brand of facts and dry humor whenever I could. As a person who writes the most informative and entertaining article in The Washington Post (to me at least), what suggestions would you have for someone interested in starting up a similar career?
Warren Brown: Ha! Gotta take this one.
Read everything. Go to plays, musicals, dance recitals. Travel widely. Listen to the way people sound when they talk. Listen to the way footsteps sound on pavement, to the rhythm of moving traffic on a highway, and then write.
Have a good weekend, everybody. Take care. God bless. Drive wisely.
Editor's Note: washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions. washingtonpost.com is not responsible for any content posted by third parties.
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The Post's Warren Brown answers your questions about every aspect of the automotive industry.
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Kildow Out of Hospital, May Race in Downhill
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SESTRIERE, Italy, Feb. 14 -- American medal hopeful Lindsey Kildow, who somehow survived a horrific crash without injury on Monday, will remain on the starting list for Wednesday's Olympic downhill race in hopes that her bumps and bruises heal enough for her to ski, U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association officials said today.
The decision will be made in the hours leading up to Wednesday's race, which begins at noon here (6 a.m. EST). By keeping Kildow on the starting list, the United States will not be allowed to substitute another skier should she be unable to race.
"Our discussion with her is really: We're at the Olympic Games, and if she's prepared to put down a great run then that's what we'll shoot for," said Jesse Hunt, the alpine director for the USSA. "If not, it makes more sense to get prepared for the upcoming races. I think that's going to be our mindset."
Kildow, who crashed during the second of three scheduled training runs on the Fraiteve Olympique course in nearby San Sicario, spent Monday night in a Turin hospital but was released today. She is headed back to the ski team's base here, where she will continue to be evaluated by team doctors. Despite the horrific nature of the crash, she suffered only bruises to her back and pelvis.
Hunt described Kildow as "pretty banged-up," and added, "The ability for her to be mobile and move comfortably to put down a really good run is really what is in question," Hunt said.
At least one interested observer, however, said Kildow should not race. In an interview from his Minnesota home, Kildow's father, Alan, said he thinks the coaches should hold her daughter out of the event. Lindsey Kildow has severed relations with her father, a former elite skier who got his daughter involved in the sport.
"I could give you a lot of reasons" not to race, Alan Kildow said. "For health reasons, you shouldn't get into the starting gate and reach those kinds of speeds with the pressure of the Olympics unless you're 100 percent. That's number one. To do otherwise, I think, is risking your body when it should not be risked.
"Secondly, the other girls have a significant advantage over her because they had three training runs and she had one-and-a-half. . . . If someone holds her best interest in mind, they would not put her on the start list. But then again, nobody's asking me."
Indeed, Alan Kildow said he would not call the coaches or his daughter and would let the decision be made on site. "I'm nothing but a couch potato sitting in an arm chair second-guessing the coaches," he said.
Before arriving here, Kildow, 21, was considered a favorite for a medal in the downhill. Teammate Julia Mancuso is also skiing well; she was third-fastest in a training run today.
Hunt would not say what Kildow's chances would be of racing at some point during the Olympics. She is a contender for a medal in the combined and the Super-G, a longer version of the giant slalom with more sweeping turns that is most similar to the downhill. Kildow ranks second in the World Cup downhill standings.
The course in San Sestriere sent several skiers tumbling in Monday's training run, including Canada's Allison Forsyth, who tore a knee ligament and is out for the Olympics. Hunt, though, said the course was "excellent," and the condition of the snow, which skiers describe as "catchy" or "grippy," was to blame for the accidents.
"The snow is very grippy on the hill, which makes it easy to catch edges," Hunt said. "That's what Lindsey did when she had her accident. But again, the preparation has been excellent. The course is in great shape. But certainly, the conditions are such that you see more hooked edges."
Hunt said a key in the decision on whether Kildow would race is her mental state. Alan Kildow said he has seen his daughter come back in such a situation in the past.
"She does not have a glass jaw," Alan Kildow said. "She can really take that kind of fall and come back from it, whereas a lot of people wouldn't be able to do that. That's part of the psychological component. But that should not be read to sound like I think she should race. I don't."
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SESTRIERE, Italy, Feb. 14 -- American medal hopeful Lindsey Kildow, who somehow survived a horrific crash without injury on Monday, will remain on the starting list for Wednesday's Olympic downhill race in hopes that her bumps and bruises heal enough for her to ski, U.S. Ski and Snowboard...
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Col. Jessep Goes A-Hunting
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Let's all wish a full and speedy recovery for Harry Whittington, the man Cheney accidentally shot on Saturday while they were out in the Texas boonies hunting quail. As for the trigger-happy vice president, let's hope he takes this unfortunate episode as a hint to pack up his shotgun and go home. Lord knows he's done enough.
The man is out of control.
Then again, out-of-control is the way this whole administration operates: Ready, fire, aim. Global war on terrorism, global war on poultry, what's the difference? You see something moving, shoot it.
It's been clear for some time that Cheney came to office with a revanchist agenda, and he has pushed so hard in his campaign to assert autocratic powers for the White House that even his allies on Capitol Hill have begun pushing back. No wonder, given the way he treats them. On electronic spying, Cheney has essentially told Congress that if any members would like to discuss checks and balances, they're welcome to talk to the hand.
His uncompromising drill-and-guzzle position on energy makes a lot of oil industry executives sound like tree-huggers. When the subject turns to measures that could actually begin to lead this country toward energy independence, such as conservation and alternative fuels, Cheney begins checking his watch and barely tries to stifle his yawns. But let someone raise the prospect of drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, which couldn't even begin to slake America's energy thirst, and he lights up with such glee that it's impossible not to think of Mr. Burns on "The Simpsons."
Conservation sounds like one of those sissified foreign ideas. Drilling, now that's what America is all about -- at least the America that spends its weekends on a 50,000-acre ranch in south Texas with a bunch of fellow millionaires, shooting at quail.
Typically, Cheney's office didn't bother to tell anyone for more than 18 hours that the vice president of the United States had shot someone. A vice presidential shooting doesn't happen every day, and I, for one, would appreciate being informed whenever the man who's just a heartbeat away from the presidency peppers a 78-year-old attorney with birdshot. But Cheney apparently is taking his cues from Jack Nicholson's character in "A Few Good Men," the ultrapatriotic Col. Nathan Jessep: "You can't handle the truth."
Cheney seems to believe that we want to know far too much about what our government is up to. He doesn't have to tell us who came to the White House and engineered the administration's "Happy Days" energy policy; he doesn't have to tell us whom the National Security Agency is spying on or how it's doing it; he doesn't have to tell us anything about the conduct of the war on terrorism that this administration is waging in our names. Anyone who leaks information to try to keep us informed, such as the unnamed whistle-blowers who told of the secret CIA prisons and the unauthorized domestic surveillance, will be hunted down. (No shotguns involved, one hopes.) Of course, at times when public opinion is trending perilously the wrong way, Cheney apparently is happy to play the Washington game and leak information that bolsters his argument and tears down his opponents. According to press reports last week, Cheney's former aide Scooter Libby now says it was his "superiors" who instructed him to do the kind of leaking that has him facing trial on federal charges.
Foreign policy wise man Brent Scowcroft, who served with Cheney under George Bush the Elder, famously said that he doesn't recognize the man who now occupies the vice presidency. I wonder what happened.
A pop psychologist might speculate that Cheney was shaken by two stunning blows. One of them -- the Sept. 11 attacks -- was suffered by all Americans, but it's hard to overstate the extent to which George Bush the Younger and his inner circle took Sept. 11 personally. The other blow is Cheney's personal health crisis, which has entailed a series of heart attacks and operations. It's easy to imagine that the fear of a new, even more catastrophic terrorist attack, combined with the intimation of his own mortality, could produce the kind of out-of-my-damn-way inflexibility we see in Cheney today.
But I doubt the vice president would have any patience with this sort of navel-gazing. Just lock and load. The rest of you, don't forget to duck.
It was radio host Tom Joyner who came up with Cheney's Valentine's Day poem:
Roses are red, Violets are blue, Say something I don't like, And I'll shoot you, too.
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Let's hope the vice president takes this unfortunate episode as a hint to pack up his shotgun and go home. Lord knows he's done enough.
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Bridging the Divide on Abortion
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NEW YORK -- For many staunch supporters and opponents of abortion rights, the search for a third way on the issue seems like so much phony political positioning.
But the truth is that politicians are already engaging in strained positioning on abortion. They know there is a large ambivalent middle ground of public opinion that is uneasy with abortion itself and also uneasy with a government ban on the procedure. So they fudge.
No one has been more masterful at holding his pro-life base and appealing to the middle than President Bush. He speaks regularly of his support for a "culture of life" but never says he would overturn Roe v. Wade. In Congress, supporters of abortion rights in both parties will signal their moderation by opposing partial-birth abortion or favoring parental notification laws for minors seeking abortions. Whatever their merits, such laws do little to cut the abortion rate.
But there is a new argument on abortion that may establish a more authentic middle ground. It would use government not to outlaw abortion altogether but to reduce its likelihood. And at least one politician, Thomas R. Suozzi, the county executive of New York's Nassau County, has shown that the position involves more than soothing rhetoric.
Last May Suozzi, a Democrat, gave an important speech calling on both sides to create "a better world where there are fewer unplanned pregnancies, and where women who face unplanned pregnancies receive greater support and where men take more responsibility for their actions."
Last week Suozzi put money behind his words. He announced nearly $1 million in county government grants to groups ranging from Planned Parenthood to Catholic Charities for an array of programs -- adoption and housing, sex education, and abstinence promotion -- to reduce unwanted pregnancies and to help pregnant women who want to bring their children into the world. Suozzi calls his initiative "Common Sense for the Common Good" and, as Newsday reported, he was joined at his news conference by people at both ends of the abortion debate.
This is a matter on which no good deed goes unpunished, and Suozzi was immediately denounced by Kelli Conlin, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice New York, for the grants that went to abstinence-only programs, which, she insisted, do not work.
As the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy has argued for years, the best approach to the problem involves neither abstinence-only nor contraception-only programs but a combination of the two. But the merits of the issue aside, it's unfortunate that Suozzi's initiative is caught in the cross fire of this year's campaign for governor of New York. Suozzi is expected to challenge state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, the front-runner for the Democratic nomination. NARAL strongly supports Spitzer, who opposes the ban on partial-birth abortion that Suozzi -- otherwise an abortion rights supporter -- favors.
Still, it's a good sign for the long run that in an interview on Monday, Conlin was careful to praise most of Suozzi's grants program -- "the vast majority of it we are totally in agreement with" -- adding that "prevention is the key."
Nancy Keenan, the president of the national NARAL group, is also stressing prevention. Her organization ran an advertisement last year explicitly inviting the "right-to-life movement" to join in an effort to "help us prevent abortions." Usually NARAL's allies refer to abortion opponents as "anti-choice," so the conciliatory language itself was a welcome departure. At the federal level, NARAL is pushing for a bill promoting contraception introduced by Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid, an opponent of abortion.
Right about this point, I can see my friends in the right-to-life movement rolling their eyes and insisting that all this prevention talk is a dodge. Maybe so, but my question to them is whether they honestly think that their current political strategy, focused on knocking down Roe and making abortion illegal, will actually protect fetal life by substantially reducing the number of abortions.
Even if Roe falls, legislatures in the most populous states are likely to keep abortion legal. And if a ban on abortion were ever to take hold, does anyone doubt that a large, illegal abortion industry would quickly come into being?
I have more sympathy than most liberals with the right-to-life movement because I believe most right-to-lifers are animated not by sexism or some punitive attitude toward sexuality but by a genuine desire to defend the defenseless. Surely that view should encompass efforts to reduce the number of abortions in our nation. That's why I hope Tom Suozzi finds imitators, and allies on both sides of the question.
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NEW YORK -- For many staunch supporters and opponents of abortion rights, the search for a third way on the issue seems like so much phony political positioning.
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Congressional Probe of NSA Spying Is in Doubt
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Congress appeared ready to launch an investigation into the Bush administration's warrantless domestic surveillance program last week, but an all-out White House lobbying campaign has dramatically slowed the effort and may kill it, key Republican and Democratic sources said yesterday.
The Senate intelligence committee is scheduled to vote tomorrow on a Democratic-sponsored motion to start an inquiry into the recently revealed program in which the National Security Agency eavesdrops on an undisclosed number of phone calls and e-mails involving U.S. residents without obtaining warrants from a secret court. Two committee Democrats said the panel -- made up of eight Republicans and seven Democrats -- was clearly leaning in favor of the motion last week but now is closely divided and possibly inclined against it.
They attributed the shift to last week's closed briefings given by top administration officials to the full House and Senate intelligence committees, and to private appeals to wavering GOP senators by officials, including Vice President Cheney. "It's been a full-court press," said a top Senate Republican aide who asked to speak only on background -- as did several others for this story -- because of the classified nature of the intelligence committees' work.
Lawmakers cite senators such as Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine) to illustrate the administration's success in cooling congressional zeal for an investigation. On Dec. 20, she was among two Republicans and two Democrats who signed a letter expressing "our profound concern about recent revelations that the United States Government may have engaged in domestic electronic surveillance without appropriate legal authority." The letter urged the Senate's intelligence and judiciary committees to "jointly undertake an inquiry into the facts and law surrounding these allegations."
In an interview yesterday, Snowe said, "I'm not sure it's going to be essential or necessary" to conduct an inquiry "if we can address the legislative standpoint" that would provide oversight of the surveillance program. "We're learning a lot and we're going to learn more," she said.
She cited last week's briefings before the full House and Senate intelligence committees by Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales and former NSA director Michael V. Hayden.
"The administration has obviously gotten the message that they need to be more forthcoming," Snowe said.
Before the New York Times disclosed the NSA program in mid-December, administration briefings regarding it were highly secret and limited to eight lawmakers: the top Republican and Democratic leader of the House and Senate, respectively, and the top Republican and Democrat on the House and Senate intelligence committees.
The White House characterized last week's closed-door briefings to the full committees as a significant concession and a sign of the administration's respect for Congress and its oversight responsibilities. Many Democrats dismissed the briefings as virtually useless, but senators said yesterday they appear to have played a big role in slowing momentum for an inquiry.
John D. Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va.), the Senate intelligence committee's vice chairman, has drafted a motion calling for a wide-ranging inquiry into the surveillance program, according to congressional sources who have seen it. Rockefeller declined to be interviewed yesterday.
Sources close to Rockefeller say he is frustrated by what he sees as heavy-handed White House efforts to dissuade Republicans from supporting his measure. They noted that Cheney conducted a Republicans-only meeting on intelligence matters in the Capitol yesterday.
Senate intelligence committee member Mike DeWine (R-Ohio) said in an interview that he supports the NSA program and would oppose a congressional investigation. He said he is drafting legislation that would "specifically authorize this program" by excluding it from the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which established a secret court to consider government requests for wiretap warrants in anti-terrorist investigations.
The administration would be required to brief regularly a small, bipartisan panel drawn from the House and Senate intelligence committees, DeWine said, and the surveillance program would require congressional reauthorization after five years to remain in place.
Snowe said she is inclined to support DeWine's plan. Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.), who also signed the Dec. 20 letter seeking an inquiry, said yesterday that the FISA law should be amended to include the NSA program and to provide for congressional oversight.
As for Rockefeller's bid, Hagel said: "If some kind of inquiry would be beneficial to getting a resolution to this issue, then sure, we should look at it. But if the inquiry is just some kind of a punitive inquiry that really is not focused on finding a way out of this, then I'm not so sure that I would support that."
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Congress appeared ready to launch an investigation into the Bush administration's warrantless domestic surveillance program last week, but an all-out White House lobbying campaign has dramatically slowed the effort and may kill it, key Republican and Democratic sources said yesterday.
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It's Oscar Time and the Stars Are Revealed in All Their Glory
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Most of the buzz about Vanity Fair's hyper-hyped photo essay "Tom Ford's Hollywood" focuses on the cover picture, which features actress Scarlett Johansson's doughy, cherubic keister, white as a fish belly.
But personally I prefer the surrealistically goofy photo inside that shows a bosom the size of a zeppelin perched on a golf course, threatening Garth Fisher, MD, who is not only a hotshot Hollywood plastic surgeon but also a guy who played a hotshot Hollywood plastic surgeon on ABC's "Extreme Makeover."
But that's just one man's opinion. You may prefer the shot of Angelina Jolie lying in a bathtub in what looks like lime Jell-O, displaying the various tattoos on her back, one of which inexplicably says "Know Your Rights," although that's hardly the most interesting part of her. Or maybe you'd prefer . . .
But wait a minute. First, a little background info: What we're talking about is Vanity Fair's annual Hollywood issue. For 12 years, the magazine's March issue has celebrated Oscar month with a gallery of glossy photos of Hollywood stars. Last year, VF's editor, Graydon Carter, was dining with famous designer Tom Ford, the former creative director of Gucci. After a few martinis, Ford told Carter that the magazine's Hollywood photos were getting boring.
"Why don't you come in and do it next year?" Carter replied.
And Ford agreed to do just that.
Which is apparently a very big deal. Judging by the heaping helpings of gushing prose about Ford in the mag, getting this dude to supervise your Hollywood photo shoot is like getting Michelangelo to paint your rec room ceiling. Not only is Ford "the man who rescued Gucci from oblivion," he's also a former model and "a glamorous throwback figure who keeps his crisp white shirts unbuttoned down to here."
The shirt thing is true, as proven by the many photos of Ford in the mag, including the cover shot, which shows him perched next to the naked Johansson while nuzzling the ear of the naked Keira Knightley. (Nice work if you can get it.) With his long sideburns, his facial stubble and his acres of chest hair, Ford definitely has style. Unfortunately, it's the style of a cheeseball disco-era lounge lizard.
But that's irrelevant to the question at hand, which is: Did Ford succeed in pepping up the moribund Hollywood issue?
The answer is: Yes. And he did it the old-fashioned way -- by persuading the stars to get naked and/or do weird things on camera.
So we get a photo of actor Viggo Mortensen kneeling by a bed, twiddling the red-painted toes of an unidentified woman.
And a Helmut Newtonesque photo of actress Sienna Miller, sprawled across a white leather chair wearing nothing but a thong, high heels and some bling.
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Most of the buzz about Vanity Fair's hyper-hyped photo essay "Tom Ford's Hollywood" focuses on the cover picture, which features actress Scarlett Johansson's doughy, cherubic keister, white as a fish belly. Another thing America needs to know is this: Are all those chemicals in our food, our...
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Book World Live
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"Sometimes, as a writer, you forget this. You can get stuck; you can start believing in your own superfluity. As you crumple up the first paragraph yet again and heave it into the wastebasket, you may feel that you're living in a paper house and speaking into a void." ( The Writing Life , Feb. 12)
Award-winning Canadian writer Margaret Atwood , whose essay on teaching creative writing to Inuit women in the Arctic appeared in Sunday's issue of Book World, is online to take questions and comments.
Margaret Atwood's work spans various genres, including poetry, non-fiction, children's books and novels. She is well known for her fiction titles, including "The Handmaid's Tale," "Cat's Eye," and "Edible Woman."
Join Book World Live each Tuesday at 3 p.m. ET for a discussion based on a story or review in each Sunday's Book World section.
washingtonpost.com: Margaret Atwood will be online momentarily. Thank you for your patience.
Margaret Atwood: Greetings from Margaret Atwood stuck in traffic in New York City because of the snow.
Frankfurt, Germany: I think you are one of the world's great writers, but yet you are continually overlooked for the Nobel. And I don't necessarily laud you for your more political works; your more quiet poetry is simply awesome and majestic. Why do you think you have been overlooked thus far, and what advice do you have for aspiring writers? And I mean non-trite advice, real advice, something that you wish someone had told you when you set out, or accidentally fell into, the habit of being an authentic voice represented on a page?
Margaret Atwood: Teaching other people to write is not something I can do. The only kind of advice I can give them will be trite by its nature. Of course, read a lot, write a lot. The kind of advice I wish I had been given is all of a practical nature, having to do with publishers and agents and I do have some of that on my Web page: www.owtoad.com
Thank you for your kind remarks. We don't write in order to win prizes, though they are very nice. So I don't think of it as overlooking. There are great many number of excellent writers in the world and only one prize a year, so of course, some people are not going to get it. Ever. I'm happy that you like my poetry.
Harrisburg, Pa.: Did you find any inspiration or creative ideas for your own writing while teaching?
Margaret Atwood: I enjoyed teaching. I liked the students. Having to formulate my ideas about literature made them clearer. I did not particularly enjoy the more bureaucratic aspects of the job. However, if you are teaching fervently, your energy and time are used up at a great rate. These days, I teach only in small amounts.
Arlington, Va: Ms. Atwood, it seems like you were working with the Inuit women to improve their literacy and writing facility. In general, do you think creative writing skills can be taught?
Margaret Atwood: You cannot teach somebody to write a masterpiece, but you can certainly teach them how to improve their writing skills. And you can teach them that they can make their own voices more effective by being able to communicate more clearly and forcefully. It makes people feel more capable when they can write -- for instance to make a request-- of a politician -- and when they are able to receive a reply.
Washington, DC: Many of your books and poems seem to me to have a very strong sense of place and an attachment to Canada. Is being Canadian more than just being not-American, as it's sometimes said? Do the recent elections show that our countries are becoming more similar? Is that a good thing? Is that a good thing for Canadian fiction?
Margaret Atwood: That's a lot of questions! Yes, Canada is a distinct place, quite different from the United States in its history, in its geography, and in its demographic makeup. Its social attitudes are also quite different. And its political system is different as well. It is a bilingual country with two official languages. It has a higher percentage of native people than does the United States. It has a lot more rocks in it. It also has a great many lakes, rivers, streams, bogs, and bodies of water generally.
We have a political party called the Conservative Party of Canada, but most members of it would probably be considered screaming liberals by U.S. standards. Because we have a minority government right now, and four major political parties, the present government cannot do anything without the consent of at least one of the other parties. We do not have a president, we have a prime minister. Our head of state is the governor general. What else is different? The spelling. We can go on. The astrologers would tell that the U.S. is ruled by fire and Canada is ruled by water. Short version: You pep us up, we cool you down.
P.S. We also have a lot more bears than you.
Burlington, Vt: "Death by Landscape" from "Wilderness Tips" is quite possibly the best short story I have ever read. It so perfectly captures that sense of wonder and distress we have about people who have disappeared so suddenly from our lives. I hesitate to ask this question but, in your mind, does she make it out of the forest alive?
Margaret Atwood: No. In my mind, no. And P.S. there have people who have disappeared in this way and who have never been found.
San Antonio, Tex.: Your book, The Penelopiad, contains poems recited by the women's chorus. When I read them I was struck by how some of them sounded (to my internal ear) like hip hop. Was that intentional or merely a coincidence of meter? BTW, my book club is reading this particular book and are set to have our review of it this coming Monday.
Margaret Atwood: The skipping song at the beginning is probably the one that sounds like hip hop because hip hop itself sounds like a kind of chanting poetry that pre-existed it and can found in the period just before Shakespeare. Also there's another piece by the chorus to seem to be in prose form but when you say them out loud they have a lot of rhyme. So short answer: Not hip hop as such, but hip hop itself resembles other kinds of poetry. P.S. I'm pleased your book club is reading this book.
Nunavut, Canada: Hi Editor and Margaret, this is Bernadette Dean, coordinator of Somebody's Daughter with Sheree Fitch both of us are at the Winnipeg airport, will you let Margaret know that we are online. Thanks
Margaret Atwood: Hi Bernie, Hi Sheree, really glad to hear from you. Bernie, congratulations on your granddaughter. That's terrific. I can just picture the two of you having a really great time. For our readers -- Bernie and Sheree were with me at the Inuit camp called Somebody's Daughter last summer and it was a profound experience for us all.
Washington, D.C.: For a country with a reasonably small population, hasn't Canada produced a remarkable number of world-class novelists? Whose work do you most admire? And what is it about Canada that you think makes for such creativity?
Margaret Atwood: The nights in winter are long. The weather is cold. This means people frequently stay indoors. When people in my generation started to write, we did not actually have much of a movie industry, much of a theater scene, much of a television industry or other creative outlets. But we had a lot of aspiring writers. All that has changed. We now have a movie industry, television industry and lots of theater. But we have retained a large contingent of writers and a dedicated readership.
The larger number of people in society who value writing, the larger number of good writers will be produced. That's my belief. It raises the bar.
Washington, D.C.: Do you have a take about the connection between sewing and writing? I have been in arguments with women who feel it is degrading and detrimental to women to express themselves in their sewing - apparently sewing is looked down upon as a non-intellectual or empowering pursuit. I don't think this is a valid argument - expression is always empowering, no matter what the medium.
Margaret Atwood: As you can tell by my article, I don't find the idea of sewing degrading. A thing is degrading when you are forced to do it, through economic reasons or through slavery or some other form of compulsion. The women at the Somebody's Daughter camp wanted to learn this kind of sweing -- it connected them with their roots and gave them a skil they valued.
Nunavut, Canada: Margaret, we just want to let you know you that the article about Somebody's Daughter is excellent, and it's exciting to see it on the Post, Sheree brought me a copies. I met women from American Samoa last week in Albuquerqu, NM and they are interested in a Somebody's Daughter program for women in American Samoa. Thank you for being a great messenger and teacher.
Margaret Atwood: Hello Bernie -- I think this is you. I'm pleased you enjoyed the article! I hope you will show it to the women who were there with us. The idea of a Somebody's Daughter in Samoa is electrifying -- I wonder what they will teach! And thank you as well, Bernie --
Baltimore, Md: I loved your book Alias Grace. How did you approach the research for that? How long did it take to complete and revise? Also, how did you become involve with Somebody's Daughter?
Margaret Atwood: Alias Grace -- The research was quite involved, as Alias Grace is based on real events and real people. I felt I could not change any actual events. Yet the accounts of these events that were written at the time -- in the 1840s -- often contradicted one another -- as news reports do today. We looked everywhere we could think of -- the records of the Toronto Lunatic Asylum and of Kingston Penitentiary, old newspapers, trial records -- really everywhere. We even tracked down the early life of one of the murder victims -- through Scotland. I had a research assistant who helped me, and in Scotland it was a friend. It was like an Easter egg hunt -- I found it exciting. Even after the book was published, bits kept turning up.
I'm so glad you enjoyed the book.
Washington DC: Ms. Atwood, The Blind Assassin is one of the most beautiful books I ever read. I had to force myself to go out in Paris though I would've been quite content to order room service and read all night long. You are truly talented and I love your poetry as well. Are you saddened when you finish a work? How involved do you have to become with your characters to create such depth on the page? And how do you withdraw from that to life your daily life?
Margaret Atwood: Thank you! I'm going to post a response to you from Nunavut -- It is right about weaving the best basket you can weave.
Yes, am am rather saddened at the end of a book. I think most writers find this. It's like a friend departing on a voyage ....
Nunavut, Canada: If I can add to respond to Washing DC, there is a dialogue between Buddha and his apprentice, where the apprentice asks Buddha how to master the art of meditation, Buddha's reply is to weave the best basket you can weave...
Margaret Atwood: Thank you ...
Munich, Germany: Is it true that you once spent a bit of time in Berlin? How does a European experience help to add perspective to your view of Canadian and native Indian cultures and conflicts?
P.S. I've been wanting to travel with the Polar Bear Express up to Moosonee for years. Have you got any tips on how we should deal with the mosquitoes and polar bears?
Margaret Atwood: Hello Munich: Yes -- I go to Berlin for most novels that appear in German -- but we lived there in 1984, when the Wall was still up, and it was there I began to write The Handmaid's Tale (on a rented typewriter with a German keyboard!) The museums there are terrific -- and they have many works of art from North America.
We often value things when we are far away from them. Sometimes we see them more clearly.
As for the polar bears and mosquitoes -- listen to the advice you will be given by those with experience -- re: bears. They can run very fast and are not afraid of you. The mosquitoes and blackflies -- mosquitoes are annoying but blackflies are actually more of a risk. Use common sense, cover wrists, tuck in your socks, wear a bandanna and a hat, and -- if you feel you need it -- a repellant. But at many times of year there are not big clouds of mosquitoes and black flies. If you are sensible you will be fine.
Haymarket, Va: What kind of things did you and your co-teachers present to the Somebody's Daughter participants?
Margaret Atwood: I'm posting this in the hope that Sheree Fitch is still online -- our main challenge at first was overcoming shyness and lack of confidence. It helped that there were two writing teachers (not one), as neither of us was The Teacher that way -- and we could come up with different ideas.
Among the things we did -- we helped write letters to politicians, local and national, telling them of problems people had in their daily lives.
Bainbridge Island, Wash: Hello Margaret,I am interested in knowing what you learned from these women? They live between two worlds, a special place between the old and new, and I'm imagining that they may have a kind of wisdom that many of us would treasure. Ed
Margaret Atwood: I learned many things from many different kinds of women. Some of them were Elders -- they had grown up in the old way, in tents and igloos -- a live-off-the-land, hunting and fishing culture. They had a lot of practical knowledge, many stories, and an amazing perspective.
From the group as a whole -- what is valued -- helpfulness, sharing of emotions, a basic faith, the belief that things can be made better if people work together. Selfishness is frowned on. People also had a wonderful sense of humor, which I appreciated a lot.
Arlington, Va: Are you still in touch with any of the women you worked with thru Somebody's Daughter? Have you had any updates on how this program has had an impact on their daily lives?
Margaret Atwood: I'm posting this in the hope that Bernadette Dean -- who co-ordinates the program -- is still on line. Bernie says that the program has a really positive impact -- it restores confidence and a sense of wholeness to people whose lives have often been shattered in various ways.
I'm in touch through Bernie, who lives in Rankin Inlet (see map) and is in touch with everyone, I think!
NunaScotia, Canada: Bernie typing and Sheree talking, having been there by myself, I was relieved to have another teacher. And imagine Margaret Atwood! For me, as teachers the first job is to create a safe place so authentic voices come forth from the women.
Margaret Atwood: Posting this from Bernie and Sheree -- Sheree and I were co-teachers. I hope you guys don't miss your plane!
Haymarket, Va.: I am really touched by the Somebody's Daughter Program. Will helping women around the world find their voices bring us closer to world peace?
Margaret Atwood: I certainly hope so. The women in the program were very aware of their connectedness -- to their families, and to other women around the world. Woman in general want their children to grow up safe from harm. The Grameen Bank programme (microeconomics) -- started in Bangladesh -- is also a programme that gives women more power. Learning to write her name is something the woman has to do in order to join.
Trees grow from the ground up, not from the sky down.
Alas, we are out of time. I read all of your postings but had way too little time to answer them all -- thank you for your thoughtful questions and for joining this on-line chat.
Editor's Note: washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions. washingtonpost.com is not responsible for any content posted by third parties.
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Join live discussions from the Washington Post. Feature topics include national, world and DC area news, politics, elections, campaigns, government policy, tech regulation, travel, entertainment, cars, and real estate.
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The Writing Life
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What is writing for? Writers -- unlike dentists, bricklayers and other practical folk -- are always being asked why they do what they do; asked, in effect, to prove their usefulness. It's an odd question, because language and mathematics are the two most potent and useful tools human beings have ever invented.
Sometimes, as a writer, you forget this. You can get stuck; you can start believing in your own superfluity. As you crumple up the first paragraph yet again and heave it into the wastebasket, you may feel that you're living in a paper house and speaking into a void.
At such times, it helps to get back to basics. If you want to learn, teach. At the end of last July, I travelled north to participate in Somebody's Daughter, a two-week camp for Inuit women that takes place in Nunavut, in the eastern Canadian Arctic. This project blends sewing, healing and writing in an unusual but very specific way.
Sewing and hunting are the foundations of traditional Inuit life. For many centuries, the Inuit lived in one of the most unforgiving climates on earth. Their tools were stone and bone; they wore skin clothing; they ate seal, caribou, polar bear, walrus, whales and fish. Men and women were interdependent: The hunters provided the meat, but unless the women made the clothing well, the hunters could freeze and die. Each set of skills was necessary for survival, and each was respected.
Then came the Europeans, and new tools and products and the gathering of a nomadic people into settlements; there was a break with traditional ways and a sharp increase in drinking, violence and suicide. In the old culture, sons were taught hunting skills by fathers and uncles, daughters sewing skills by mothers and aunts, but now -- after two generations of forced education in residential schools -- many younger people are cultural orphans. But many elders still remember the old ways, and the Somebody's Daughter camp aims to reconnect the generations.
Somebody's Daughter is run by Bernadette Dean, the social development coordinator for her district of Nunavut. Like many who confront similar problems, Bernadette knows that to improve the overall health of a community, you must improve the well-being and confidence of its women. The meaning of the camp's name is simple: Not everyone is a wife, not everyone is a mother, not everyone is a grandmother, but every woman is somebody's daughter.
The "daughters" -- women over 20 who, because of damaged families, never had a chance to learn traditional Inuit sewing -- go out on the land with a group of elders and teachers. They live in tents and make an article of clothing the old way: scraping, stretching and softening the animal skin first, then cutting the pattern with a curved knife (or ulu ) and sewing it with whale sinew, which expands to make a garment watertight. Learning this skill can bring immense joy.
But Nunavut now exists in the 21st century. Computers and office jobs are common, and for these and the money they can bring, literacy is needed. That's why two writing teachers were part of the group: Sheree Fitch, a veteran of three summers, and myself.
The campsite was on Southampton Island, at the top of Hudson Bay. The island is as large as Switzerland and has one settlement, which is home to fewer than a thousand people. It also has some 200,000 caribou and many polar bears. We traveled from Coral Harbour along the coast, arriving there on a 30-foot-long liner -- a trip of 60 miles that took more than five hours because of the large waves.
The landscape was spectacular. We set up our tents on the shore, with the sea on one side and the land rising up behind us. On the ridge were the remains of centuries-old Dorset culture dwellings -- circles of rocks with tunnel entrances -- with some fox traps and graves nearby. The ropes of our big canvas tents were tied to large boulders -- a good idea in view of the 80-mile-an-hour winds we soon experienced.
We had three expert hunters with us to provide food and to defend our camp. They immediately shot a caribou -- for food and for the sewing of mittens and kamiks; nothing would be wasted. We weren't the only hungry ones around, however: Through the twilight trotted a large male polar bear, attracted by the scent. The hunters chased it off, then took turns standing guard all night -- just as well, because the bear came back four times.
The next day, the women met with the elders and teachers in a large round communal tent, where they received the skins they would work on. "What do you want to make?" they were asked. Then, "Who's it for?" (Sizes vary according to age, patterns according to gender.) Sheree and I, the writing instructors, faced a difficult task. Sheree told me these women might be afraid of writing because of negative experiences at school or they just might not see the use of doing it at all. We also knew that the standard approach for college courses -- plumbing the depths of the inner you and so forth -- would not be very effective in a culture that places sharing well above self-regard. But this sewing question -- "Who's it for?" -- gave us a way in.
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Search Washington, DC area books events, reviews and bookstores from the Washington Post. Features DC, Virginia and Maryland entertainment listings for bookstores and books events. Visit http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/print/bookworld today.
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Inside the Case Files Of 'Cheating Season'
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It's the day most cheaters dread and the day many cheaters get caught. The spouse and the side dish both want attention, and, during the juggling act, the two-timer slips, right in front of a private eye's camera lens.
Most private investigators are booked solid today. They probably worked all day yesterday and will be catching up on work tomorrow. It's the time of year most of their cases begin or end.
Take the Georgetown wife. She was as cool as the February day that brought her to the Progressive Security Consultants detective agency. Attractive, confident and calculating, the lady had the goods on her cheating husband.
"I know he's meeting her here. On Valentine's Day," she told the private investigators, handing them a slip of paper with the address of a swanky District restaurant. "He has reservations for two that night. And they're not with me."
It was exactly the kind of case that investigators Joe McCann and Dwayne Stanton like: tidy, neat like Scotch. The romance was gone; the drama, minimal. The lady was sharp and detached, and she knew her husband had been seeing this other woman for a while. All she needed now was proof for the divorce. She wanted to keep the Georgetown townhouse, after all.
The junior investigators who work for Stanton and McCann all wanted the day off to keep their relationships from going the way of the affairs they document. So the former D.C. homicide detectives who usually take bigger cases -- slain intern Chandra Levy's disappearance, white-collar bank crimes, security for the stars walking the red carpet -- took the Valentine's Day case themselves.
McCann went first. He has most buildings on that block wired, so someone on the inside let him onto the roof across the street from the restaurant. "It gives me the best view, and nobody sees me. I've got the telephoto," he said. He shrugged into his cashmere overcoat, pulled up the collar and took his position.
The cheating husband was there, right on time. The woman was there, too, just as classy as the Washington mistress of a high-powered lawyer should look. They kissed. Click. Click. Click. It was on film, and McCann's work was done.
After dinner, Mr. Unfaithful dropped off the mistress, but he didn't go home. He took some wild turns left and right, with Stanton behind him trying to keep up, then pulled up in front of an apartment building in Mount Pleasant. A much younger woman dressed in a funky, sexy bar-hopping tank and low-rider jeans came outside and slipped into the car. They went to a crowded bar nearby. With the live music blaring and the shots lined up on the bar, the lawyer had his second assignation of the night. Neither the wife nor the classy mistress knew about that one.
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Ah, Valentine's Day, memorable for heart-shaped chocolates and rose bouquets arriving at the door -- memories that can take a painful twist when they're recorded by a private eye's spy camera, bugging device or telephoto lens.
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Terps Can't Get Over the Top
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DURHAM, N.C., Feb. 13 -- Coming into the game, No. 4 Maryland felt sure it would finally knock off No. 1 Duke. The Terrapins were brimming with confidence from their eight-game winning streak and their recent victory over then-No. 1 North Carolina on its home court. They had every reason to believe their 13-game losing streak to the Blue Devils would end Monday night.
But it was not to be. With the rare opportunity to beat No. 1 teams in back-to-back games, Maryland blew a 10-point second-half lead and lost, 90-80, before 6,047 at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
"Duke really took it to us," Coach Brenda Frese said. "From the defensive end, we had a lot of breakdowns the last seven, eight minutes of the game. They really did a tremendous job on the glass. They outworked us, out-physicalled us, just really gave us a lot of problems."
By continuing its hold on Maryland (22-3, 9-2 ACC), Duke (23-1, 10-1) moved into a tie with North Carolina (23-1, 10-1) for the lead in the ACC standings. The Terrapins, who have lost 17 of their last 18 against the Blue Devils, dropped to third.
Early on, Maryland appeared poised to end its streak of futility against Duke. Led by freshman Marissa Coleman (St. John's), the Terrapins scored easily against the Blue Devils. Coleman, who played only 10 minutes in the first half because of foul trouble, had 10 points and three assists before halftime. She led Maryland with 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting.
But as well as she shot the ball, Coleman didn't want to talk about her offense after the game. Instead, she berated herself for her defense on Duke all-American Monique Currie (Bullis). Currie, who managed only two points against Virginia on Friday, scored eight of Duke's first 13 points. She had 14 points at halftime and finished with a career-high 31 points on 13-of-21 shooting.
"It just makes me sick that I had that horrible of a defensive effort," Coleman said. "That's what I'm concentrating on right now. The offense will come. I just need to work on the defensive end."
Currie, however, was about the only player scoring for Duke before halftime. The Blue Devils went more than four minutes in the first half without a field goal, their only points coming on a pair of free throws by Lindsey Harding. Maryland took advantage of their scoring woes by using a 10-0 run to go up 39-29, Duke's largest deficit of the season. The Blue Devils had not trailed by more than nine points this season.
After going into halftime up 41-33, Maryland scored the first basket of the second half to go ahead by 10 again. Then the Terrapins suffered their own shooting drought, making only one field goal over the next 6 minutes 46 seconds and only four field goals the first nine minutes after halftime. Duke used a 19-3 run to take a 52-46 lead.
Maryland went back in front, 57-56, after a three-pointer by Shay Doron with 8:19 remaining. Doron, who struggled with her shot all night, finished with nine points on 2-of-12 shooting.
But Duke became relentless grabbing offensive rebounds. The Blue Devils seemed determined not to leave their basket until they scored, getting sometimes three shots per possession. Duke, which outrebounded Maryland 44-35, grabbed 21 offensive rebounds.
With 3 1/2 minutes remaining, Maryland pulled to 71-69 on Crystal Langhorne's put-back of Doron's missed three-pointer. The Terrapins missed their next four shots and turned the ball over as Duke used an 11-0 run to seal the victory.
"We've played in two of the toughest environments not only in the conference, but in the country," Frese said. "I'm really proud of the poise and confidence we've played with in both games. Again, this is just going to help us. Our kids are disappointed. They believed that they could come in here and compete to win this game. As long as we have that kind of hunger and we learn from it, good things will happen for this team."
· VIRGINIA TECH 76, FLORIDA ST. 69: Carrie Mason scored a career-high 27 points to lead the visiting Hokies (17-6, 4-6 ACC). Mason nailed 6 of 6 free throw attempts during the final two minutes to help seal the victory.
Ganiyat Adeduntan led the Seminoles (15-8, 6-4) with 17 points.
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No. 4 Maryland matches No. 1 Duke for 33 minutes Monday but the Blue Devils, behind 31 points from Monique Currie, prove too much in a 90-80 win.
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Olympics Web Site a Winner for NBC
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The NBC Olympics Web site is attracting visitors in much larger numbers this year than during previous Olympic Games as consumers increasingly demand control over how and when they get updates and watch video.
NBC said yesterday that page views on NBCOlympics.com since the games opened on Saturday totaled 18.7 million, up 63 percent from the Athens Summer Games in 2004 and up 400 percent from the Salt Lake City games in 2002.
The increases reflect NBC's effort to use the Olympics as a laboratory for testing new approaches to reach fragmented groups of consumers. This year, NBC launched a partnership with Google that provides Olympics video to the search engine, and it provides rival ESPN.com with highlights packages anchored by Bob Costas and has an arrangement with About.com that gives visitors one-click access to medal counts and up-to-the-minute results.
Both partners benefit in each of these cross-promotional experiments. Google, for instance, brings attention to its video business through its relationship with the Olympics.
"Part of what Google is trying to do is reinforce the idea that there is Internet video on Google," said Josh Bernoff, an entertainment and television analyst at Forrester Research Inc. "Today, it's the Olympics -- next it will be the elections or anything else that has a lot of video with it."
A daily Bob Costas audio podcast is downloadable through iTunes, and several mobile phone updates are available. NBC enticed younger visitors through efforts on MySpace.com and MTV.com and created a youth-oriented Web site called OffthePodium.com highlighting the athletes' lifestyles.
"We found that the more content we make available, the more buzz we create," said Gary Zenkel, president of NBC Olympics. "There's an audience for the consumption of media that's super-strong in front of the TV and also strong when people are not. We have to make sure our content is made available to people wherever they are."
With its overwhelming number of events, the Winter Games provides a window on the pickiness of the new consumer. Phil Leigh, an analyst at Inside Digital Media Inc. in Tampa said he isn't interested in watching curling or bobsledding but loves the downhill skiing.
"When you see something you're really into, you want to see it over and over again -- the Internet makes that possible," he said. "NBC is initiating a new paradigm for Olympics coverage. When people write the history of the Olympics on the Internet, 2006 will be seen as a milestone."
Even viewers stuck on the sofa are finding ways to tap into the NBC Olympics Web site. Television customers in seven cities served by Time Warner Cable are using a new software developed by BIAP Systems Inc. that connects their TVs to the Internet. Viewers can program their television to produce a banner on the screen that will provide live updates from the NBC Web site on events from the Olympics.
For a broadcaster such as NBC, the new technologies broaden the scope of content for a wider array of customers. "The Olympics is a thousand little bits, and broadcast TV struggles in that situation," Bernoff said. "It cries out to allow people to get more information on demand and get notified about what they're interested in."
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Stay updated on the latest technology news. Find profiles on different sectors of the tech industry. Learn about new developments in tech policy. Read technology reviews for PCs, laptops, cell phones, and other new gadgets.
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BearingPoint to Help Sell Google Technology
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BearingPoint Inc., a McLean consulting firm that has been mired in accounting problems for the past year, has struck a deal with Google Inc. to sell and integrate technology the search-industry giant created for corporations.
BearingPoint executives said they do not know how much revenue will result from the deal, which is expected to be announced today, but the firm is creating a 100-person unit dedicated to the venture.
In early 2002, Google debuted a search product that is intended to allow companies to quickly search through all the data on their systems, including sales records, human resources files and research reports. But the corporate product has not shared in the dominant success of Google's Web search engine.
"They have the overwhelming advantage of an incredibly great brand for search, but they're coming from behind when it comes to meeting the specific needs of enterprises," said David Schatsky, vice president of research at Jupiter Research.
Google's competitors in the $900 million enterprise search market include Autonomy Corp., of Cambridge, England, and Vienna-based Convera Corp. The market is expected to grow to $2 billion by 2009, according to Susan E. Feldman, vice president for content technology at IDC, a market-research firm.
Today, the enterprise division, with about 3,000 clients, accounts for only "one to two percent," of Google's revenue, according to the company's executives, but the unit doubled its business last year.
In September, Google launched a program to attract small consulting and integration firms that would help companies install its search appliances. BearingPoint executives approached Google a few months later with a proposal to provide similar services on a larger scale.
"When you look at how the different search functions have changed people's lives, you see we need to have something analogous to that" in the corporate world, said BearingPoint chief executive Harry L. You.
What the consulting firm brought to the table, said Dave Girouard, general manager of Google Enterprise, was a portfolio of big clients and the ability to customize Google's basic technology to work with all of the applications used by a company. BearingPoint will become its biggest integration partner, but the deal is not exclusive, Girouard said, so other consulting firms could make similar agreements.
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BearingPoint Inc., a McLean consulting firm that has been mired in accounting problems for the past year, has struck a deal with Google Inc. to sell and integrate technology the search-industry giant created for corporations.
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Ask Tom
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In a city loaded with diverse restaurants, from New American chic and upscale Italian to sandwich shops and burritos on the run, finding the best places to eat can be a real puzzle. Where's the best restaurant for a first date or an anniversary? Father's Day? What's the best burger joint? Who has the best service?
Ask Tom. Tom Sietsema , The Washington Post's food critic, is on hand Wednesdays at 11 a.m. ET to answer your questions, listen to your suggestions and even entertain your complaints about Washington dining. Sietsema, a veteran food writer, has sampled the wares and worked as a critic in Washington, Seattle, San Francisco and Milwaukee, and can talk restaurants with the best of 'em. You can access his Postcards from Tom to read his recommendations for other cities, read his dining column or read transcripts of previous "Ask Tom" chats . Tom's Sunday magazine reviews, as well as his "Ask Tom" column, are available early on the Web.
My boyfriend and I are both 23-year-olds in our first jobs out of college. Every now and then, we like to splurge on a really good dinner, but choose the restaurant carefully so as not to waste our limited funds. So far, we've tried Jaleo, Zola, and 2941, and have really enjoyed them all. Which restaurants would be next on your list?
Tom Sietsema: Tabard Inn, Palena, Vidalia, Foti's, Tosca, Notti Bianche, Sushi-Ko ... how's that for the next few splurges?
Recent Visit to Maestro: My husband and I (along with another couple)recently dined at Maestro for the first time. I had heard such wonderful things about it and was VERY anxious to try it. Our reservation was on a Saturday night at 6:00 p.m. We were seated promptly and treated well throughout the entire evening. The meal cost us $430/couple (we did, admittedly choose an expensive bottle of wine), but for that price we all expected "knock your socks off" food quality and service. What we ultimately got was somewhat less than superb. My husband does not like butter or cream sauces at all and was very clear in explaining this to our waiter. One of the dishes had a cream sauce listed on the menu and he specifically asked the waiter to instruct the kitchen to NOT include it on the plate. When the dish was served, you guessed it -- the sauce was there! Also, none of the food was hot when we got it. All in all, we were very disappointed in our experience and were wondering if anyone else has experienced this outcome. We were left wondering what all the hoopla was about!
Tom Sietsema: Gosh, I get very few complaints about that restaurant. I'm surprised that the cream sauce made it on your husband's plate and that your food wasn't the right temperature. Did you say anything at the time?
20036: Question of the Week: Will Two Quail be updating its menu to include the "Dick Cheney Special?"
(Come on, Tom -- you know someone had to go there. And don't you think all of us are going to be thinking it the next time we order quail?)
Dupont Circle, Washington, D.C.: Hullo Tom. As always, thanks for these highly entertaining and useful chats.
My significant other and I are taking my parents out for a "thank you" dinner Friday someplace downtown/metro accessible. Problem is, we can't really afford places where the dishes are higher than $15-20, but we'd like to eat well. I am scared of Matchbox on a Friday night, Jaleo doesn't do it for me anymore. I'd love to eat in Dupont or U St, but I am drawing a blank there. any suggestions?muchas gracias.
Tom Sietsema: You want to book a table at the soulful Creme Cafe on U St. -- pronto.
Bethesda, Md.: Hi Tom - Just curious whether you regularly read your fellow food critics? Any whose style you particularly enjoy? I make a point of reading Jay Rayner in the Sunday Observer (UK) who frequently goes into great detail about how bad a restaurant is...
Tom Sietsema: I think my pal at the Los Angeles Times, Irene Virbila, writes beautifully. She's got one of the best palates in the business AND she really knows food (dirty little secret in the food world: not everyone knows what they're talki' about).
what do you think is a reasonable amount of time to wait btw. appetizer and entree? we dined in a usually well-regarded restaurant last week and wound up waiting 45 minutes for the entree to arrive. by the time we got it, we were about finished with our bottle of wine (we'd had it for an hour!). the waitress apologized (sort of) for the wait, but gave no explanation for it. there were some large parties in the house, but they arrived well after our orders went into the kitchen.
and our server never, ever came back to ask if everything was ok (I thought my dish was lackluster). it wasn't enough of a slight to request a manager's attention, but I did expect better from a place YOU recommend! (it was corduroy, by the way). i can't see going back. hey, so many places, so little time! they blew it, if you ask me.
Tom Sietsema: Did you inquire mid-way to ask where your main course was?
Forty-five minutes is a long time to wait for a plate of food, I agree, but I bet there's a reason (that big group, perhaps?) behind the delay. At the very least, you deserved a status report and an apology from your server.
Fairfax, Va.: Why do you hold L'Auberge Chez Francois in such disdain? Because it's so popular with the hoi polloi? This reminds me of the film critic who gives thumbs-down to a movie simply because it grossed 200 million dollars and anything with 'mass appeal' is beneath him.
Tom Sietsema: Who says I don't like L'Auberge? I gave it two stars, a "good" rating, when I last wrote about the place. But no way is it a "top French" destination.
Thanks for all the great reviews. I know you're not a fan of the Zagat's restaurant surveys, but what is your opinion of the Mobil Travel Guide restaurant rankings? Thanks.
Tom Sietsema: You know what? I never read them.
Your response to Gordon Biersch comment from last week: Tom, you said, "You are more patient (and forgiving) than I am." Tom, I love your chats and respect your opinion greatly and perhaps I read and took this the wrong way but come on, it doesn't seem like you!!! I thought you gave more recognition to good old customer service. I have to say that the waitress appeared to take every step necessary to rectify the situation, short of jumping in the kitchen and cooking the food herself. (I know the food was messed up and although yes, absolutely, the food is the main attraction in going out to eat--but it's the whole experience that matters)--everyone, every place, every restaurant has off moments--but it sounds to me that this server and the manager at Gordon Biersch did everything possible (in a very courteous way I might add) to make the diners happy--without overdoing it.
That's not easy. I hope to wait on these people some day as the "talent pool for" good customers "in Washington is shallow". (your comments played to a different tune) If they had ordered another pizza to try and fix the problem--and if after the 2nd chance--it was still bad--ok--fine--we have another story but the point is--well---I just am frankly tired of hearing how awful we (as in servers) are.
Again Tom--I really do enjoy these chats--I just think you could give GB a little credit with how they handled this.
Oh--and then I just read this from your review of L'Auberge Provencale
"People who think I'm consumed with food are only partly right. While it's true that what passes my lips in a restaurant gets my full attention, I'm also focused on what happens before and after I'm eating. Is the voice on the other end of the reservation line welcoming or abrupt? Does the check land on the table after I request it or along with my dessert?"
Doesn't really seem to be the case.....
Tom Sietsema: I love careful readers!
From what I recall, the diners at GB were in the restaurant forever. Kudos to the staff for making things right.
Crystal City, Va.: Hi Tom,
My friends made reservations for a group of six at B. Smiths for a pre-theater dinner this Sunday. It looks like you haven't reviewed this restaurant. Can anyone tell me what to expect?
Tom Sietsema: A really beautiful dining room.
(I'm not being sarcastic, by the way. I just haven't dined there in a few years.)
Convention Center, Washington, D.C.: Dear Tom:
First, I want to thank you and congratulate you for your fine work. I really appreciate your reviews because I think they are helping to set a healthy standard in dining in the area by reminding the restaurant community that hospitality is the calling card of fine dining.
I have been reading your chat for a while, and always enjoy when you answer "process" questions that illuminate how you do your job. So here's another one: in your professional opinion, how important is cleaning one's palate? Is it enough to drink water between courses and dishes? Do the fancier sorbets truly do the job?
Tom Sietsema: I'd like to answer your questions -- but I'm not entirely sure what they are!
Do I need to clean my plate to do my job properly? No. A few bites generally give me a sense of what a dish is about.
Water is a great chaser, but my preference is for wine.
Regarding sorbets, I think they "do the job" -- cleanse the palate -- best if they're slightly astringent rather than sweet.
I love your chats and desperately need your help! My parents are coming to town next weekend and are planning to have dinner at Four Sisters (Huong Que) in Falls Church. My dad has been asking to try Vietnamese food for quite some time, but I'm afraid I don't know what dishes to suggest. I am wondering if there are any house specialties or items the kitchen does particularly well. Can you make a few recommendations? Thanks for your help!
Tom Sietsema: Ask for Le Lai, one of the four beautiful sisters. She can point out a few of the restaurant's many fine dishes. They include: spring rolls, baby clams with chopped pork, grilled beef, snow peas and asparagus with garlic, squid with sour cabbage .... I'm getting hungry just thinking about the tour she'll give you!
Visit to Maestro: We didn't mention it to the waiter, but did fill out the comment card & mail it in. We got a very nice phone call from the restaurant last week. My husband had a LONG phone conversation with a gentleman who asked about all our concerns. They did try to explain many of the issues, but I still stand by my original statement - for that kind of money I expect spectacular results! By the way, he also told my husband to please return and try again. He also said to contact him directly when we make the reservation and he would make sure our experience was more positive (and also to offer us a free bottle of wine). We'll have to think about it for a while though. That's an expensive second chance...
Tom Sietsema: Ah, so the restaurant DID try to make amends. It's unfortunate you didn't pipe up AT the restaurant, though. I think your complaints could have been easily addressed -- and you and your party would have left eager to return.
Fogo de Chaos: Tom, I wanted to tell you about the miserable experience my date and I had at Fogo de Chao last night. Last Friday, I called Fogo de Chao and got a reservation for 8:30pm. Frankly, after a few failed attempts at reservations, I was happy to have found a place to celebrate this special date. The person I spoke with told me that they had plenty of availability and my surprise was unjustified because the restaurant is very large. My date and I showed up at 8:05, but I had to wait outside for the valet to take my car. The valets were overwhelmed. It took 25 minutes to leave my car and the police were writing tickets to all the people that had left their cars double parked. I was frustrated, but my date had gone inside to check in with the host so we wouldn't lose our reservation. My date fought her way through about 25 people that were packed between the front door and the host's stand and checked in at 8:15 (for our 8:30 reservation). She explained to a person next to her that she needed to get through because she had a reservation. About three other parties heard this and mentioned, "we all have reservations." When she finally got to the front of the line, the host laughed at my date and said, "you are just now checking in? Come back in about 30 minutes and I might give you a beeper." (Remember this was a full 15 minutes before our 8:30 reservation.) She was clearly overwhelmed with everything, but she was also unnecessarily rude. Her solution was to give my date a ticket for a free drink at the bar, yet there were 25 people or so waiting at the bar to redeem their free drink ticket and the sole bartender was also overwhelmed.
When I got into the restaurant, patrons were all incensed. The recurring theme is, "what are the reservations for? Where is the manager?"
A few people asked to talk to the manager, and the host said he was too busy. I'm sure he was. I'm not exaggerating when I say they had more then double the number of reservations then they should have. It reminded me of being at a rock concert where everyone behind you is pushing you in the back because they want to get closer to the stage. Total disaster.
After 10 minutes of no movement from any of the staff, or patrons, we left. They ruined what was supposed to be a special night. I'm not sure we will ever go back. I've heard good things about the food, but it was the worst managed situation I've ever personally witnessed. There were no controls, no leadership, and no concern for customers. We were mocked for not having checked into the host more then 15 minutes before our reservation. I tried to talk to a manager, and I'm going to try again this afternoon. Last night, he was "too busy."
Tom Sietsema: Wow. Wow. Wow.
I've been to Fogo de Chao three times now, and I've never witnessed any such poor treatment. I'm not challenging you, but it's almost as if we experienced two completely different places. My service experience there has, in fact, been better than many an expense-account venue.
Has anyone else been to the new Brazilian steak house?
Eastern Market, Washington, D.C.: Tom--While folks wait for Stoney's to relocate, if they want to fill their Super Grilled Cheese fix, they might want to go to Tunnicliff's on 7th St. SE, which is owned by the Stoney's folks. I haven't checked to see if it's as good as at Stoney's, but I did have a reuben sandwich there a couple of weeks ago that was terrific, as was its side of potato salad. Given that I've never been a fan of Tunnicliff's food in the past, I was really surprised how good this was!
Tom Sietsema: Yeah, but Tunnicliff's doesn't have the same patina. As in, I miss the police badges on the wall! And the hookers at the stool next to mine!
Visit to Maestro: While I appreciate your comments about mentioning a problem at the time, I must explain something. The dinner took 4 HOURS! If we had made any complaints at the time, we might still be there!!!
Anonymous: he meant palate, not plate
Tom Sietsema: Yes he did.
Old Town Alexandria, Va.: Submitting this because I know you are going to have a lot of whining crybabies after Valentines Day...
GREAT dinner at La Bergerie last night. A bit of a wait, but none of the usual "rookie night" foibles. Service was excellent, the food was memorable (I had the roasted beet/goat cheese salad, the escargots, the Black Angus steak and the creme brulee, which was the best I have ever had.) I always give credit where credit is due and I wanted to share this with you. You do great work, Tom!
Tom Sietsema: I'm happy to share the good -- along with the bad and the ugly -- in this forum.
Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C.: Tom--What do you know about the rumors that La Colline is closing this week and will be replaced by a more casual, New Orleans-style place?
Tom Sietsema: Here's the deal: La Colline was purchased by A Major Player On the Washington Restaurant Scene in January and is expected to reopen as A Great Place for Seafood down the road. That's good news for the Hill and less thrilling news for Dupont Circle. (Hint, hint.)
But ...: But the dish at Maestro was designed by the chef to include cream sauce. Not to sound too judgmental, but when dining in a fine restaurant, I think it's more than a tad insulting and arrogant to mangle what has been a carefully prepared menu to suit particular tastes, preferences, even health issues. It's like asking a fine artist to repaint a painting with more green because then it would match the living room perfectly!
Tom Sietsema: Food for thought.
Going to Bistro Francais for dinner this weekend w/hubby & (well-behaved, mini Epicurean) 5 year old daughter.
What can you recommend as not to miss for us?
Tom Sietsema: I like the fish soup, the steak tartare, poached salmon, lamb steak and seafood mousse myself.
For the "thank you" dinner on U Street: Also try Al Crostino right next door to Creme... my boyfriend and I tried it last weekend and were blown away by both the quality of the food and service and the reasonable prices!
Tom Sietsema: Al Crostino had a shaky opening, in my opinion, but things may have settled down since I reviewed the place.
I want to highly recommend the To Go section of Petits-Plats in Cleveland Park. We took out the rotisserie chicken along with some sides from there last night and it was so delicious. The guy running the place was so nice too, but I noticed they weren't getting a lot of business and I do not want this neighborhood place to disappear! (I am NOT affiliated with the place, just a Woodley Park resident suffering from a dearth of good places to eat). Thanks!
Tom Sietsema: PP has a to-go option? That's news to moi.
Rockville, Md.: Tom - love the chats. Last night the husband and i stayed home - heated up a frozen pizza and watched a movie. As a former hostess married to a former waiter we know better than to go near a restaurant on Valentine's Day or Mother's Day for that matter!
Silver Spring, Md.: Tom, I think it would be a public service if you would identify those restaurateurs and staff who refer to special dining occasions as "amateur nights." That way, those of us who, because of time, family, job, and/or money constraints can only dine out on special occasions will be able to take our business to establishments that are actually interested in making those occasions special for us. Or at least in serving us a meal without the side of contempt.
Tom Sietsema: The list would be rather long!
The restaurateurs who have shared that sentiment aren't necessarily being condescending when they say that, just realistic. The major holidays tend to find dining rooms packed with a lot of people who don't ordinary eat out, many of whom also have very high expectations. There's nothing wrong with that, of course, but it does change things for the restaurant staff (and regular diners).
Amateur Night at Citronelle: Tom,
Me and the missus splurged at Citronelle last night since we're about to leave the area and had never been.
Aware of the horror stories that Valentine's is "amateur night" in the restaurants, we went anyway and figured a place like Citronelle would be immune.
Wrong! From piddly stuff like having menus presented upside down several times to medium stuff like never getting to even say hello to the sommelier to big stuff like having the wrong entree brought, the whole night just wasn't what I expected.
To be fair, the waitstaff I think knew it and were exceedingly gracious and more than made up for any errors made.
But my question is, is the "Amateur night" phenomenon real? And if so, why wouldn't restaurants focus even harder on the big occasions to impress the larger number of patrons who come through the doors?
Tom Sietsema: My post (above) partially explains why you didn't experience a dream dinner last night. Too bad you had to see Citronelle at its middling rather than its mah-va-las.
Re: Maestro: Wonder if the previous chatter is going to ignite a firestorm... but I think you strive for the happy medium here. I also dislike cream sauces, but would probably leave it to the chef to work his magic. And I may end up liking other courses better because they didn't have a cream sauce. But people shouldn't be shy about asking for accommodation on health issues - preferably in advance of the meal. (And of course, shame on those who masquerade personal preference as health restrictions.)
Tom Sietsema: I'm not sure why the poster's husband asked for a cream sauced dish in the first place. Lady, are you still with us?
Herndon, Va.: I was at Ruth's Chris steak house (out of town location) last week. When I was finished with my entree, I asked the waitress to take my empty plate away. She took it from me as I handed it to her, then placed it back down in front of me, stating "We'll just leave this here until the rest of the people at your table are finished too so they don't feel bad". Did I make a faux pas here or was she out of line?
Tom Sietsema: You were both wrong.
Plates are typically (notice the word TYPICALLY) cleared only after everyone at the table is finished eating. But your waitress was waaaaay out of line for giving you a Miss Manners-style lecture in front of your fellow diners.
Herndon, Va.: The Fogo de Chao poster's bad experience was last night, i.e., Valentine's Day. It sounds as if Fogo de Chao understaffed itself very badly and/or failed to take into account the fact that most dining couples on Valentine's Day are looking for a slow romantic meal and the 7 pm tables will not have turned by 8:30.
We enjoyed hanger steak served over asparagus spears and a pad of heart-shaped, pink mashed potatoes in the relaxed ambiance of our own home. (The pink was to amuse the 6 year-old.) It's an excellent night to avoid restaurants.
Tom Sietsema: The picture of pink potatoes in a heart shape amuse me, too! You sound like a fun family.
Washington, D.C.: In response to "But..." regarding Maestro -
Unlike a chef, an artist is not in the service industry, so the leaving out the green from a painting analogy isn't quite appropriate. You go to a restaurant to not only enjoy the aesthetic (artistic) experience, but to eat a meal you can enjoy!
Tom Sietsema: I expect we'll hear more about this ...
Cream Sauce: Yes, Chefs are artists. Yes, they are perfectionists. Yes, they know what is good for us.
However. The diner - and indeed, customer - has preferences and, as the payer, should at least get a vote in how the food is served to him/her.
And when Chefs and diners can't agree, diners eat somewhere else.
Tom Sietsema: You, go, girl! (Or boy!)
Visit to Maestro: I'm still here... It's not a personal preference. Butter & cream sauce makes my husband violently ill.
RE: Fogo de Chaos:: I'm not saying the restaurant doesn't bear some responsibility for this patrons (and the other patrons) ruined Valentine's Day. But it was Valentine's Day! People who never go out go out and expect "perfection." This fact alone easily can overwhelm the best restaurant. This guy sounds surprised the restaurant was crowded on Valentine's Day.
Tom Sietsema: The odd thing is, I've experienced Fogo de Chao when the room is jam-packed before, and I never got the sense things were out of control.
Question re: Ray's: I have a reservation at Ray's in VA for March 1. But I'm annoyed because the operator that took my reservation told me I need to call and confirm by 1pm on March 1. Huh? I am making a reservation; my part is finished. Why do I need to take MORE time to call and confirm? If they are worried about cancellations, take my CC# and hold me to the reservation. But please, do NOT add another item to my to do list. Am I in the right here??
Tom Sietsema: Have you ever tried booking a hot table in NYC? Just about every restaurant reminds you to call back to reconfirm your reservation. Is it annoying? Yes. I'd love to hear why restaurants ask us to reconfirm.
Bethesda, Md.: Here's a Valentine's Day rave review: went to Komi last night and had an amazing time -- incredible food and great service in such a relaxed environment.
They were offering a 5-course menu for $70, but because the first course was made up of about 6 little plates, we must have had about 12 plates each over the course of an incredible 2.5 hour meal.
Maybe because there are so few tables at Komi, even though every table was occupied it didn't feel a bit crowded, and the service was impeccable. They remembered the dietary needs (vegetarian) we mentioned in our reservation and accommodated them easily in every dish.
No "amateur night" feel at all -- if anything, it was a better experience than a previous visit to Komi.
Tom Sietsema: Chalk another one up for Komi!
"Amateur Night": As you explained, it is because the restaurants are filled with people with very high, sometimes unreasonable expectations who do not go out to dinner much. Such diners can take more of a servers time, which can take away service from other tables - when you have a section full, forget about it (I mean, how many times can you run back and forth to/from the kitchen to get get "a side of" something the table just remembers they need EVERY TIME you go to it)! FWTW - I grew up only really going out to dinner once a year while we were on vacation, so I actually like waiting on people who may not go out all that much, reminds me of the fam, it's just when everyone is like that it can be problematic.
Bars are not immune either - see Halloween Mardi Gras, St. Patrick's Day - a bunch of people who decide they are "drinker" and get unreasonably drunk.
Tom Sietsema: Thanks for sharing your side of the story with us.
Fogo: Tom, I'd point out that the diner complaining of Fogo de Chao went on Valentine's Day.
It's not shocking if a brand-spanking-new restaurant has trouble navigating a busy 'occasion' night. Even the old standbys get swamped on these nights.
No, I don't work there. I'm still curious to go. I just won't book for Mother's Day...
Arlington, Va.: Tom - just wanted to share my wonderful experience at a local neighborhood bistro last night. My husband and I go there every Valentine's day, and the service is great, and it is not overly crowded. We opted not to start with anything, and we each had a filet mignon cooked to perfection. For sides, we shared sauteed asparagus and a great four-cheese penne. Dessert was a Sacher Torte that wasn't gorgeous, but was chocolatey enough to satisfy us.
Where was this wonderful repast? OUR HOUSE. Come on kids, haven't we heard it enough? Don't go out for dinner on Valentine's Day - it is a day loaded with enough emotional angst that the additional pressure put on it by over-crowded restaurants isn't worth it.
Tom Sietsema: Ah, a restaurant tale with an O. Henry twist!
Dupont Circle, Washington, D.C.: Tom,
Is there a connection between Komi and A Great Place for Seafood? I have heard rumors about an upcoming change in ownership or chef at Komi due to a new restaurant opening elsewhere in DC.
Tom Sietsema: (Insert Twilight Zone theme music here.)
Petits Plats again: Yes, the to go section opened maybe a month or two ago. It's pretty cheap with sandwiches for lunch and some dinner entrees too, different from the restaurant options, I think. Its in the basement below the restaurant. Please go Tom and spread the word! They're opening a subway on the block and I do not want it to run this out of business!
Tom Sietsema: Consider "the word" spread.
Washington, D.C.: We decided to beat the crowds last night and go for a pre-Valentine's dinner last Thursday night at Buck's. I was almost dissuaded from trying it by some of the negative (we-spent-$200-but-left-hungry) reviews on post.com. But I live right nearby and have driven past 1,000 times, so we gave it a shot.
I'm sure glad we did. My steak was perfectly seasoned and cooked, and my fiancee's meatloaf with spinach and mac/cheese was just right for a chilly night. The service was informal and friendly, but attentive and spot-on with suggestions on both food and wine. And I'm baffled by the thought that anyone could leave there hungry--we spent less than $200 (after tax but before tip) and had pre-dinner cocktails, salads, entrees, a great bottle of wine, and port with our desserts (apple-rhubarb tart and the phenomenal coconut cake). AND they comped us glasses of dessert wine on top of all that. We left there more than satisfied, practically stuffed.
So I wanted to give a shout-out to Buck's for a wonderful meal, expertly served, and also remind people that those anonymous customer reviews are worth what you pay for them.
Tom Sietsema: I'm not a fan of unsigned posts myself. Glad to hear Buck's came through for you and yours last night.
Rockville, Md.: Good morning Tom,
I'm submitting my question early and hope you will answer. I want to take my parents out for French food that's reasonably priced. I'm debating between Lavandou and Petits Plats. Which would you suggest? And, if not those two, then?? Thank you so much!
Tom Sietsema: Lavandou would be my choice there, and I'd suggest you also look into reservations at Montmartre on the Hill and Bistro Lepic in Georgetown.
Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C.: Tom- any tidbits on the new Lima downtown? Is a review in the works?
Tom Sietsema: It just opened!
Logan Circle Washington, D.C.: Hey Tom I am headed to San Francisco tomorrow for a long weekend. Any recommendations for unique San Francisco dining experience that won't break the bank?
Tom Sietsema: Yes! Local oysters and a water view at Hog Island Oyster Company in the handsome Ferry Building are my idea of sheer bliss. Some oysters, vino and a salad will set you back about $35.
Calling to reconfirm: Why should it be the diner's responsibility to call to reconfirm? One of the things I like about L'Auberge Chez Francois and Citronelle is that THEY call ME a couple of days in advance to verify the reservation. I regard it as a nice service on their part. It's also easier for them to do this on a routine basis.
Washington, D.C.: Tom, as a normally avid supporter of your chat I have to admit I am for once disappointed. Though I realize you get 100's of posting requests, I feel as though today it's just a back and forth on Maestro and Fago de Chao and that none of the actual questions are being taken, mine for instance. A lot of people look to this discussion for advice of where to go, because we value your opinion! And it's disheartening when the discussion turns into and argument on who's right or wrong (when obviously no one is right or wrong in these kind of situations).
So --- what's your question?
Average Chat Participation?: Just wondering, Tom. What's the average participation like for this chat? Number of posts? As a percentage of overall submissions? Does a "Day After" chat like this make it spike? Other events that make it spike?
Tom Sietsema: I'm looking at about 240-250 questions and comments at the moment. I'm told Ask Tom is among the top three online discussions every week -- and that the forum was neck in neck with Bush's State of the Union stuff last month.
Which tells me: Washingtonians care about what they eat and where they eat.
Reservations: If doctor's offices can can to reconfirm your appointment, why can't restaurants do the same? Surely a doctor's time is a wee bit more valuable than a chef's?
Tom Sietsema: It depends on the doctor and the chef!
Washington, D.C.: Tom - I've been trying to get my dad, Mike, to enjoy a birthday lunch at Capital Grille since his Jan. 10th birthday. How about a personal entreaty from the Great Sietsema? Thank you oh great one...
Tom Sietsema: "Mike, this is Tom. Be a good sport and have lunch with your offspring at one of my favorite steak houses in Washington."
Crystal City, Va.: Any info on the very bluntly named Afghan Restaurant on Rte. 1 sort of across from Potomac Yards?
Tom Sietsema: I love the enormous flat bread and I like the kebabs, the best of which are made with ground lamb. The setting is modest and the service tends to be matter-of-fact.
Washington, D.C.: Hi Tom. I need a recommendation for a "hip" restaurant for my boss's business dinner. He considers me to be the restaurant expert, when all I really am is a regular reader of your columns and chats. Any kind of food, as long as it's well prepared. Thanks so much.
Tom Sietsema: For hip and new, you can't beat the recently opened Rasika on 6th & D streets.
We had the perfect Valentine's Day meal - a four-course to-go meal from Galileo. It was wonderful getting to enjoy a gourmet meal without having to brave the crowds or get a babysitter. It would be great if more restaurants offered something like this.
Tom Sietsema: Carry-out from Roberto Donna's kitchen sounds terrific. Did you catch his cooking segment from Torino on yesterday's "Today" show?
My husband and I are heading to San Diego in two weeks for a business/pleasure trip. Do you (or any chatters) have any suggestions for fun/interesting restaurants that are not too pricey? Our travels will take us as far north as Oceanside. Thanks for the tips!
Tom Sietsema: Can you pose the question next week? By coincidence, I'm leaving for three days of intensive eatin' and writin' in San Diego tomorrow morning.
Austin, Tex.: Tom, please do NOT publish or answer any pandering email sent to you that starts:
Hi Tom LOVE your chats!.....or similar.
Having said that, I love your chats! and I have a question:
Don't you think your tipping advice is getting out of hand? 20%? You were a waiter in a previous life so you are a little biased, methinks.
I think 15% is adequate for a normal dinner. I'm not there to make the waiter a millionaire.
Tom Sietsema: Let's compromise and say 18 percent then.
In business circles in particular, it's common practice to tip restaurant servers 20 percent. Fifteen percent is a tad low in my opinion. (And if you're tipping 10 percent, you better be at a buffet in North Dakota.)
Philadelphia, Penn.: This question does not relate to our online discussion.
About 60 years ago, my mother made a drawing of a dragon with the words, "THE DRAGON" in asian-looking English letters, that was sandblasted onto the front of a restaurant called "THE DRAGON." She has never been able to find a restaurant by that name. Do you know if this design might sill exist on the outside wall of a restaurant in D.C.? Your assistance is greatly appreciated.
Tom Sietsema: "Paging Bob Woodward, paging Bob Woodward."
Alas, I have not seen your mother's handiwork.
New York, N.Y.: Tom, in a previous chat you were asked about your favorite Seattle coffee shop from which to buy freshly roasted coffee beans. What was the name of the place? Thanks!
Tom Sietsema: The place I've raved about previously in this forum is in San Francisco, not Seattle, and it's called Graffeo. (In fact, I dropped by the North Beach storefront just this past Saturday for a chat with the owner and to buy three pounds of "dark." Graffeo is located at 733 Columbus Ave.)
FdC Solution...: It took me five minutes to come up with a simple solution to the FdC dilemma last night.
"Unfortunately, a computer error caused an inadvertent overbooking this evening."
"We will be glad to offer the first 12 groups to approach the front desk a reservation at a future date at a 50 percent discount, as well as a free round of drinks and an appetizer at the bar tonight. We apologize for the inconvenience."
I bet they would have had takers given how bad things sounded.
Not saying this would have made everyone happy, but it would have cleared the room and given people something for their trouble -- as well as a reason to return.
Tom Sietsema: Hmmmmm. Reminds me of the ticket counter I was standing in front of over the weekend when I was trying to get home from SF!
Help!!!: Tom -- vegetarian sushi -- what are my options?
Re: the Passing of La Colline: Komi's? I thought Johnny's was moving? Blink once for Komi, twice for Johnny's.
Tom Sietsema: I'm just messing with some of you today ....
RE: Citronelle: The thing is, the room was maybe half full.
Again, the staff acted very appropriately to make things right. The point is that for $350 for two the mistakes should never have happened in the first place. When you're dropping that coin you want to be enjoying food and company, not wondering why you got the wrong entree.
I'm afraid the real reason behind the amateur night effect is that there is a caste system in place in some restaurants. If you come in on a night like Valentines you must be an "amateur" and not a "foodie." If you're wearing a sport coat instead of a Versace suit you must not want to order a nice bottle of wine.
So maybe a note to restaurant proprietors: No matter on what night we eat or what we look like, the money in our pockets is green like everybody else's. Give us the same experience.
Tom Sietsema: Beautifully summed up.
Re: Fogo: I posted the initial post. I do want to mention that I eat out all the time. Probably 3 nice expense account lunches/dinners a week (Cap Grille, Bobby Van's, Charlie Palmer, etc.) so it wasn't as if I was just out of my element at a nice place. And I agree that it probably was because it was Valentine's Day. My point is that they shouldn't have taken twice as many reservations as they were able to handle. It wasn't even close. Had we waited, we'd have waited at least 45 minutes to an hour past our reservation before we'd have been seated.
Tom Sietsema: Thanks for coming to your own defense.
RE: Back and forth on Maestro and Fago: It's called a CHAT, people. Sounds to me like that's exactly what's happening here.
Silver Spring, Md.: I apologize if you have received this question a million times, but how do you pronounce your last name? I attended the DC Auto Show a few weeks ago and won your dining guide. The woman said "Tom SISTMA" and that didn't sound correct to me.
Tom Sietsema: I'm not Spanish or Japanese, but my name is frequently pronounced as if I were by people who don't know me.
Which is a long way of saying: SEET-suh-ma is correct.
Washington, D.C.: Tom - I know this question gets asked many times, but what is the best place to get a nice dinner before a performance at the Kennedy Center? Where can you get in and out before a 7:30 show? I've heard Notti Bianche or Circle Bistro would fit the bill, but would you recommend their pre-theatre menus? Thanks so much!
Tom Sietsema: Yes and yes. You might also try the bar at Marcel's on Pennsylvania. And in a pinch, try Dish on 25th St. (though I understand some changes may be in store there).
Silver Spring, Md.: Okay, I know the carding thread got really dull. But the worst is when one person gets carded and the other doesn't, and the one who doesn't is sensitive about their advancing age. I won't mention which one I am.
Tom Sietsema: We can only guess!
Ordering off the Menu: An etiquette question for you:
Our favorite Indian restaurant closed last year and its owners have recently opened a new restaurant. The menu at the new place has some good offerings, but doesn't include our old favorites. Is it rude for us to order these dishes though they aren't on the menu at the new place? The staff has very graciously accommodated us. We would certainly understand if they said no to our requests and we try to balance requests for old dishes with things from their new menu. (The staff did offer at the old restaurant to custom make dishes for diners.)
Tom Sietsema: You sound like good customers -- trying what's new along with ordering your old standbys. But just to be sure, you might ask the owners if it's an imposition to ask for things that aren't on the menu. It sounds as if the kitchen is happy to oblige, however.
Your thoughts on the "Tasting Room" in Frederick? I have been a few times and have always been pleased with my meals, especially so with the sesame encrusted tuna entree & beef tartare appetizer. I love the place, (wine list is superb) but I have been told I'm "easy to please". Your thoughts?
Washington, D.C.: Fourth time's a charm?
I've been asked by some people coming in from out of town to recommend a couple of restaurants for a large group.
$40-45 per person, not including tax, tip, and alcohol
proximity to 15th and Rhode Island Ave.
Tom Sietsema: I haven't been to 15 Ria in awhile, but that's one option. (Is the group staying in the restaurant's hotel, I wonder?) The handsome Tabaq Bistro is just a short can ride away, on U St. NW. That's another possibility.
Can you give me a idea about the group -- its food preferences, etc?
Cleveland Park, Washington, D.C.: Tom,
Just drove by a restaurant, Town Hall, on Wisconsin Avenue that I had never noticed before today. Is it new or am I just not very observant? Is it worth a try?
Keep up the good work.
Tom Sietsema: I haven't been (but the Bush daughters have). Town Hall replaced Saveur, by the way.
Please help! My retired parents will be visiting soon. They're on a very limited fixed income and I'm on a tight budget. What are the best cheap places to eat? Nothing exotic -- all it takes is a good diner to make them happy so simple American food is fine, maybe seafood. Specifically interested in Arlington/Alexandria and around the mall/monuments in D.C.
Tom Sietsema: In Arlington, I like Carlyle for American and Minh's for Vietnamese (there are fish and seafood items on its menu).
In the District, try Mitsitam Native Foods Cafe in the National Museum of the American Indian for very good food in a lovely setting.
Arlington, Va.: Hi Tom. I went to Ray's the Steaks a few months ago and really liked it, so I decided to make a reservation there to celebrate my boyfriend's birthday. I was surprised when the the guy who took my 6 pm reservation said he would "need the table back by 7:30." Is that normal to tell a customer that? I know that it's a small, popular restaurant but it seemed pretty rude and made me have second thoughts about going there.
Tom Sietsema: (Wow, it's been at least two weeks since someone posted a Ray's question!)
Ray's is very small and very popular. To accommodate its many fans, the steak house tells callers about how much time they can expect to eat there, leaving the decision to go or not with the diner. I've been given time limits before, typically in NY, and while it's not ideal, it IS honest.
Alexandria, Va.: Look forward to the chat every week. Noticed the intro (which I understand you probably didn't write) to your chat transcripts reads, "In a city loaded with diverse restaurants, from New American chic and upscale Italian to sandwich shops and burritos on the run..." So what's your favorite New American chic restaurant? The best upscale Italian? Top sandwich shop? And the best place for a burrito on the run? Just curious. Thanks!
Right this moment, I'd respond with:
David Craig in Bethesda ... Tosca ... Breadline or C.F. Folks ... and the Well-Dressed Burrito.
Columbus, OH: Hi Tom, everyone! Love the chats!
I teach at Ohio State University, and yesterday I heard my under 21-year-old students discussing the places they were visiting for Valentine's Day. Hearing the names of some of the loveliest and most expensive restaurants in our city, I first questioned how young people could afford such extravagances. I guess they have more credit cards now and just charge away! I then realized how pleased I was that sweetie and I opted to celebrate at home, as the last thing I want on Valentine's Day is to be seated next to one of my students!
Tom Sietsema: And on that note, I bid you all good-bye for today.
Thanks for spending the hour with me.
Editor's Note: washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions. washingtonpost.com is not responsible for any content posted by third parties.
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Washington Post food critic Tom Sietsema answers your questions, listens to your suggestions and even entertains your complaints about Washington dining.
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Her 'Cinderella Story'
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Betty Jo Rex said she earned $1 an hour as a teenager working in the tobacco fields of North Carolina and only slightly more as a teacher's aide in Virginia. When she moved on to Flint, Mich., in search of better pay, she spent years pasting together a living by cooking at a hospital, cleaning homes and selling vitamins.
But Rex had a vision for entering the ranks of the middle class -- a job in the auto industry, whose strong unionized workforce had made autoworkers some of the best-paid manufacturing employees in America. And in 2000, after two decades in Flint trying to find a position in the auto industry, she was hired by Delphi Corp., which makes parts for General Motors Corp.
The new job changed her life. Rex, who was then 46, was suddenly making $15.33 an hour. The pay, with overtime, was more than double her previous annual income. For the first time, she had a pension and health benefits. Rex and her husband, Harold, who is a hospital technician, moved to a bigger house, bought a new Saturn and took a once unfathomable vacation to Hawaii.
Now just as quickly as it came, Rex's middle-class lifestyle appears to be slipping away. U.S. automakers have been losing business and are trying to rapidly shed costs. Delphi has filed for bankruptcy protection. Workers there and throughout the auto industry have been asked to consider reductions in pay and benefits.
"I got really lucky. And then all of a sudden, it's just all going to get taken away. After all this," Rex said.
Rex's future may become a bit clearer on Friday. If the United Auto Workers and Delphi have not agreed on job cuts by then, Delphi chief executive Robert S. Miller Jr. is expected to ask the bankruptcy court to void Delphi's labor contract.
Delphi workers might go on strike, though most workers so far have seemed reluctant to take strong actions, given the weak state of the auto industry and the presence of tough nonunion foreign competitors, according to Gary Chaison, professor of industrial relations at Clark University in Worcester, Mass.
"They feel there will be jobs lost and they will be unprotected," he said. "The rest of the sector is largely nonunion. So they're looking at the possibility that their next job will probably be a nonunion job with much less wages and benefits."
Nissan North America Inc., for instance, said this month that it will stop offering comprehensive medical coverage for retirees in its manufacturing division in favor of an annual stipend, in an effort to save money.
"They don't want to ruin a good thing, but at the same time, they don't want to lose a good thing," Chaison said.
A dissident group within the UAW, Soldiers of Solidarity, or SOS, organized a protest at the annual auto show in Detroit in January to raise concerns about how much might be lost through concessions.
Rex joined the effort along with about 300 other members. But SOS has attracted only tepid support from the rank and file.
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Betty Jo Rex said she earned $1 an hour as a teenager working in the tobacco fields of North Carolina and only slightly more as a teacher's aide in Virginia. When she moved on to Flint, Mich., in search of better pay, she spent years pasting together a living by cooking at a hospital, cleaning...
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A Study Finds Americans Unrelentingly Cheerful
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We've got Raoul Felder, celebrity divorce attorney for the serially separated, on the telephone and he's taking issue with a big new survey on happiness, which among other findings states that married Americans are more blissful than the unmarried by a ratio of almost 2 to 1.
"All these people talking themselves into being happy about marriage -- it's mass delusion," Felder says with the certainty of a man who has become rich working the marital exit door.
Not that Felder fancies himself a sour lemon. "People who get divorced are very hopeful," he says. "They want to get happier."
So it goes with happiness, which in a new Pew Research Center report -- "Are We Happy Yet?" -- appears to be a smiley-face American birthright. Eighty-four percent of Americans describe themselves as either "pretty happy" or "very happy."
They've been relentlessly cheery for decades. The Pew report, released yesterday, comes with a chart known as the "Happiness Trend Line," which reveals barely a ripple since 1972. (For careful students of the inexplicable, the percentage of "very happy" Americans seems to peak slightly in the mid-1970s, which coincided with a presidential impeachment, the fall of Saigon, a fuel crisis and a deep recession).
The polling data slice and dice the happy and the not very, and why they are and where they live and how much they make.
So we find, aphorisms aside, that Americans are convinced that more money makes for more happiness. "Reported happiness rises in a nearly straight line through eight levels of annual family income," Pew reports.
A gilded euphoria sets in above $150,000, as fully 50 percent of respondents insist they are oh-so-"very happy." Does that trendline continue to arc upward? Are billionaires a gigglier group than mere millionaires? More data are needed.
"It's fine to say happiness is a state of mind," says Mitchell Moss, a New York University professor who studies his city's upper classes with an anthropologist's eye. "But it's a lot easier to have that state of mind if it's accompanied by big income."
What else? Dog and cat owners are equally happy, but no more so than the petless. Republicans and churchgoers have more pep in the step than Democrats and those who prefer to sleep late on Sunday.
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"What's happiness anyway?" Say what? We've got Raoul Felder, celebrity divorce attorney for the serially separated, on the telephone and he's taking issue with a big new survey on happiness, which among other findings states that married Americans are more blissful than the unmarried by a ratio of...
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Former Official Backs Lobbyists in Leak Case
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The former head of the Justice Department's Office of Legal Policy helped write a memorandum of law calling for dismissal of Espionage Act charges against two pro-Israel lobbyists, arguing that, in receiving leaked classified information and relaying it to others, they were doing what reporters, think-tank experts and congressional staffers "do perhaps hundreds of times every day."
Viet D. Dinh, who helped draft the USA Patriot Act after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, has joined with lawyers defending Steven J. Rosen and Keith Weissman, former employees of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), who last year became the first non-U.S. government employees to be indicted for allegedly violating provisions of the Espionage Act.
"Never has a lobbyist, reporter, or any other non-government employee been charged . . . for receiving oral information the government alleges to be national defense material as part of that person's normal First Amendment protected activities," the defense memorandum states.
In addition, since no classified documents are involved, the two lobbyists are being accused of receiving oral classified information during conversations with government officials, one of whom warned Weissman that "the information he was about to receive was highly classified 'Agency stuff,' " according to the indictment.
That government official in this instance was Lawrence A.Franklin, who at the time worked in the policy office at the Pentagon. He recently pleaded guilty to violations of the Espionage Act and was provisionally sentenced to 12 years in prison, with the sentence to be reviewed depending on his cooperation with the government in the Rosen-Weissman trial and any other related investigations.
The defense memorandum was filed under seal in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on Jan. 19 and, according to Rosen's attorney, Abbe D. Lowell, was unsealed last Thursday at the request of the defense.
In the 90 years since the act was originally drafted, according to the Dinh memorandum, "there have been no reported prosecutions of persons outside government for repeating information that they obtained verbally, and were thus unable to know conclusively whether or to what extent that information could be repeated."
Dinh, who has returned to teaching at Georgetown University Law Center after leaving the Bush administration, said in an interview yesterday that the espionage statute is very broad and vague in its language and normally requires "bad faith" on the part of those in violation. The memorandum quotes Patrick J. Fitzgerald, special counsel in the CIA leak case, who said in a news conference that the espionage law is "a difficult statute to interpret" and "a statute you ought to carefully apply."
"Prosecuting the leakee for an oral presentation . . . presents a novel case because the listener has no evident indicia for knowing what relates to national defense," Dinh said. He noted that he could find only one case in which the disclosed information may have been made only orally. In that case, an Army intelligence officer leaked defense information and only he was charged. He was acquitted, "indicating that the government should have thought twice before now trying to stretch the statute even further."
The memorandum notes that the statute contemplates the passing of physical evidence, such as documents with classification stamped not just on each page but also alongside each paragraph. One section of the law says that a person who has improperly received a classified leak commits a crime if "he willfully retains the same and fails to deliver it to the officer or employee entitled to receive it." The memorandum says that the provision cannot cover orally received information since recipients " 'retain' it in memory and it is physically impossible to 'deliver' it back to the United States."
Another reason for dismissing the case, according to the memorandum, is that "if the instant indictment and theory of prosecution are allowed to stand, lobbyists who seek information prior to its official publication date and reporters publishing what they learn can be charged with violating section 793" of the espionage statute. The memorandum also points out that "on many occasions, the media boldly state that they have classified material," which they publish after soliciting and receiving leaks.
Lowell said that his client and Weissman "have been indicted as felons for doing far less than for what reporters have been awarded Pulitzer Prizes." In the memorandum, reference is made to Washington Post reporter Dana Priest's articles on CIA secret prisons for alleged terrorists, for which a leak investigation is underway. FBI agents are also investigating the leak to the New York Times about the National Security Agency's domestic surveillance program.
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Latest politics news headlines from Washington DC. Follow 2006 elections, campaigns, Democrats, Republicans, political cartoons, opinions from The Washington Post. Features government policy, government tech, political analysis and reports.
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The New Reverse Class Struggle
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It was 9:45 a.m. on a Wednesday morning. Jane Reiser's mathematics class in Room 18 was stuffed with sixth- and seventh-graders. There were 32 of them, way above the national class size average of 25. Every seat was filled -- 17 girls, 15 boys, all races, all learning styles. A teacher's nightmare.
And yet, despite having so many students, Reiser's class was humming, with everybody paying attention. She held up a few stray socks to introduce a lesson on probabilities with one of those weird questions that interest 11- and 12-year-olds:
If you reach into your sock drawer in the dark, what are the chances you will pull out two the same color?
Billie-Jean Bensen, principal of Herbert Hoover Middle School in Rockville, called Reiser "outstanding," "fabulous" and "truly amazing," able to get great results despite her large class size.
So why, some experts are asking, are educators and politicians so bent on reducing class sizes? Wouldn't it be better to let classes get bigger? Then schools could reduce the number of teachers, keep good ones like Reiser and pay them more.
The idea seems odd to many. But some scholars and administrators say raising class sizes and teacher pay might improve achievement.
Saul Cooperman, a former New Jersey education commissioner, said in the newspaper Education Week recently that if schools established a class size of 30 to 35 in all grades except third grade and below, they would, for the same money, be able to raise the average teacher salary from $50,000 to more than $75,000.
"What I am suggesting is heresy to most people," Cooperman said in the article, "because everybody seems to love smaller classes."
But according to Cooperman, chairman of the Academy for Teaching and Leadership in Far Hills, N.J., those negative reactions would soften once people thought about it. He said even local teacher union leaders would be intrigued. "Unions, first and foremost, are made up of people who operate in their members' interest," he said. "And a 51 percent pay raise is certainly in a union member's interest!"
Chris Whittle, founder and chief executive of the for-profit public school management company Edison Schools, makes a similar point in his new book, "Crash Course: Imagining a Better Future for Public Education." He argues that schools might be able to pay their best teachers as much as $130,000, in part by ending the campaign to make classes smaller and instead have students do some clerical work and spend significant parts of the school day studying on their own.
Whittle acknowledged that virtually all U.S. adults believe that the smaller number of children in a class, the better the educational results. "But ask yourself why you believe this," he wrote. "Which would be better, a bad teacher with 15 kids or a good one with 30?
The most sophisticated study of class size, the Student/Teacher Achievement Ratio project in Tennessee, found that students in smaller classes outscored their larger-class friends on standardized tests. But only when class sizes fell below 18.
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It was 9:45 a.m. on a Wednesday morning. Jane Reiser's mathematics class in Room 18 was stuffed with sixth- and seventh-graders. There were 32 of them, way above the national class size average of 25. Every seat was filled -- 17 girls, 15 boys, all races, all learning styles. A teacher's nightmare.
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Vote on Special-Ed Disputes Postponed
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The D.C. school board yesterday tabled a resolution seeking to change a law that puts the burden of proof on the school system when its instructional plans for special education students are challenged by parents.
In a case closely watched by educators nationwide, the Supreme Court in November upheld a Maryland law that puts the burden of proof on parents in such disputes, requiring them to show why a school district's plans will not meet their child's needs. As soon as the ruling was issued, D.C. school officials said they would seek to align their law with Maryland's.
But since then, the board has twice put off voting on a resolution asking the D.C. Council to change the law, amid signs that board members are divided.
Advocates of the change, noting that the District school system spends a disproportionately large portion of its budget on special education, contend that shifting the burden of proof to parents could reduce the number of legal challenges filed against the system and save money.
But other board members say requiring the school system to show why its plans are adequate is an appropriate safeguard, given the system's long-standing problems in delivering special education services. They also argue that school administrators have offered little evidence that changing the law would have much financial impact.
The school system's deputy general counsel "did not provide any information to show this would save the District money," school board member Tommy Wells (District 3) said after yesterday's meeting. Changing the law, he added, "would make a statement to parents that we want to make it harder for you if you feel you want to get help for your child."
Saying that the resolution needs to be studied further, board members yesterday postponed a decision until next month, when Superintendent Clifford B. Janey will present proposed policies on a range of special education issues.
The District's law is unusual. Most states, even before the Supreme Court decision, had laws putting the burden of proof on parents in disputes about instructional plans for students with disabilities.
D.C. school officials were prompted to establish their policy after they lost a 1972 federal lawsuit alleging that they discriminated against disabled students, said Robert Berlow, a special education lawyer in the District. In several subsequent lawsuits, federal courts have found the District in violation of the federal Individuals With Disabilities Education Act.
In 2003, then-superintendent Paul L. Vance proposed shifting the burden of proof to parents. But the school board left the policy alone after parents protested.
Many of the District's special education students attend private schools, often as a result of being placed there by hearing officers. In such cases, the school system is responsible for paying the private school tuition as well as the parents' legal fees. The number of hearings rose from 2,641 in 2002 to 3,502 last year.
A recent study of D.C. school system finances, conducted by the nonprofit Council of the Great City Schools, said the District could save a significant amount by changing its burden-of-proof rule, though it did not provide an estimate.
Some analysts, however, doubt that. They note that hearing officers often rule against the school system because it has missed deadlines for assessing students or completing their instructional plans -- procedural violations that would continue to cause problems. The District also has lacked some of the in-house programs that other school systems typically offer for special-needs students.
In a memo to the school board, the system's deputy general counsel, Erika Pierson, wrote that changing the law "will make it more difficult for parents to file frivolous hearing requests and will result in parent's counsel being more amenable to accepting settlement offers."
But Mary Lee Phelps, interim executive director of the system's Office of Special Education Reform, said that whether any money will be saved "is a hard judgment to make." She said that the number of cases she considers frivolous is "fairly small."
Advocates for D.C. special education students oppose the change.
"This will mean that children will be compelled to stay in failing schools," said Theresa Bollech, parent of a special-needs 14-year-old girl. Shifting the burden of proof to parents, she added, "makes it easier for the school system to not be held accountable."
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The D.C. school board yesterday tabled a resolution seeking to change a law that puts the burden of proof on the school system when its instructional plans for special education students are challenged by parents.
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'True Adventures of the Ultimate Spider-Hunter'
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Water treatment engineer by day, tarantula obsessive and arachnid guru by night, Martin Nicholas is out to find the most amazing spiders in the world. Featured in NATURE's "Deep Jungle," Nicholas travels the world in pursuit of exotic spiders, including the goliath bird-eater of Venezuela and a small South American spider that creates the biggest web in the world - up to 30 feet long.
Arachnologist Martin Nicholas and Executive Producer of NATURE Fred Kaufman were online Monday, Feb. 13, at 2 p.m. ET to field your questions and comments about the world's spiders and to discuss the NATURE program "True Adventures of the Ultimate Spider-Hunter," which aired on Sunday, Feb. 12 ( Check local listings .)
In "True Adventures of the Ultimate Spider-Hunter," Nicholas' explores the Arizona desert, southern Mexico, French Guiana in South America and the Guyanese jungle.
Martin Nicholas is acknowledged as an authority on spiders, especially tarantulas, having conducted independent research and participated in joint research projects on five continents. Although technically an amateur scientist, he has served as a research associate and jungle guide for the British Museum of Natural History in London, and is identified with numerous other institutions as consultant, lecturer or guest speaker. Martin's avocation has taken him all over the world, including Belize, Borneo, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, North Africa, Turkey, the Windward Islands and Vietnam, as well as Peru, where his startling discovery was seen in Deep Jungle.
Three-time Emmy Award-winner Fred Kaufman has been executive producer of NATURE since 1991, and has been associated with the series since it first went on the air in 1982. Kaufman was executive producer for Thirteen/WNET of AFRICA, a comprehensive exploration of the people of Africa, their rich culture, and the continent's bounteous wildlife and complex ecology. The eight-part miniseries, co-produced by Thirteen/WNET and National Geographic Television in association with Tigress Productions and Magic Box Mediaworks, launched NATURE's 20th season in September 2001. Among his other credits as executive producer for Thirteen/WNET is IN THE WILD, a series that included such episodes as Dolphins with Robin Williams, Pandas with Debra Winger, The Elephants of India with Goldie Hawn, Lions with Anthony Hopkins, and Orangutans with Julia Roberts.
Fred Kaufman: Hello, and welcome everyone. Thanks for your interest in last night's show and your kind comments about Martin. Martin will be able to answer your specific spider questions. And, since I am the Executive Producer of Nature, I can answer your questions about the series.
Arlington, Va.: Martin /Fred - how large and what kind of spider was the largest spider ever recorded in history?
Martin Nicholas: Good afternoon all, two answers to this question - largest living spider is the one featured in the show - The Goliath record legspan 12 inches across but there was a fossil spider called Megarachne that measured 25 inches - from Argentina 50 million years ago
Eagle River, Alaska: The Brazilian wandering spider is a beautiful looking spider, also quite toxic as I understand it. You said it was about 15-20 times more toxic than the black widow and Loxosceles reclusa, correct? Does the venom affect the central nervous system, or does it cause necrosis like the brown recluse?
Martin Nicholas: Phoneutria venom is a neurotoxin and goes for the central nervous system like black widow
Nashua, N.H.: Great Show Martin!
Can you tell me where I could find a "tarantula cam" and the magnifying visor like you used on your show? My family and I are attending an arachnid convention in Texas in July and will be doing some tarantula hunting and I would really like to have a camera set-up like you for this trip.
Martin Nicholas: Really sorry I can't come to that conference, T-cam is basically a tiny security camera with LED lights and of course the low rider to get round corners - I'm afraid I don't think you can buy but you can make if you are handy!
Leyden, Mass.: When you were handling the goliath tarantula, you mentioned some of the hairs getting onto your skin and that itching would come later. Does the spider shoot out hairs that are irritating to human (or other) skin?
Your adventure is a fab journey. Thank you all involved!
Martin Nicholas: Thank you LL, the goliath kicks out "irticating hairs" that act like nettle rash or poison oak. they make you itch but are much worse when they get in your eyes or nose! very painful!
Chicago, Ill.: How strong is the web of the Golden orb-weaver?
Martin Nicholas: its one of the strongest materials known to man for its weight tougher than top strength nylon or steel thread
Bristol, UK: Hi Martin, Can you tell us when this program will air in the UK. Also are there more in the series?
Very best regards, Mark, British Tarantula Society
Martin Nicholas: Hello young man! I believe that Chanel 5 are interested in broadcasting it sometime this year
Chicago, Ill.: What was it like to search for all those spiders?
Martin Nicholas: It is such a buzz! this is my extreme sport - fighting thru jungles looking for big spiders. lol!
New Delhi, India: Do you accept unsolicited proposals? If so what is your format for a proposal, do you have a sample you could share and where does one need to send it to?
Fred Kaufman: We get proposals all the time. Send a page or two proposal. Include a list of credits so I know who you've worked with before. Send it to Fred Kaufman, Thirteen/WNET, 450 West 33rd Street, New York, New York 10001 , USA.
Chicago, Ill.: How exciting was it to see those spiders up close and hold some of them in your hand?
Martin Nicholas: I never fail to get a real thrill seeing spiders in the wild, the sense of discovery is what drives me and the possibility that what I find could be something brand new
Chicago, Ill.: What was it like to hold a Goliath Bird- eater?
Martin Nicholas: that was the First time I ever picked up a goliath - so the adrenaline was real - she did behave very well though and was obviously unharmed
Alexandria, Va.: Fred, I'm the producer of a PBSKids Web site called Backyard Jungle . Is there some way we can promote your show and feature some of your materials for our members? We'd love to have them hunting spiders!
Fred Kaufman: I would love to promote some of our shows on your web site. But most of our shows have mature themes and sometimes, disturbing images not suitable for youngsters. Although 'Animals Behaving Worse' is very entertaining and is on next Sunday. Our publicist will be in touch.
Riverside, Calif.: Isn't the Australian funnel web spider more dangerous than the Brazilian wandering spider?
Martin Nicholas: No, Atrax, the Sydney funnel web male is is very dangerous but the venom toxicity is not as potent,it does not have the wide distribution and is not as active and aggressive. Still very nasty though
Arlington, Va.: Fred, how did NATURE come up with the idea for this program? Have you received good feedback? Thanks.
Fred Kaufman: Martin was one of several experts in our three-part series, DEEP JUNGLE, which aired last April. That series was a big success and we were looking to spin-off stories/people from it. Martin was a natural. We were able to do something with him in a relatively short time and for not a lot of money. Two things an exec producer looks for.
San Diego, Calif.: My son and I like to capture spiders, and here in southern California we have many colorful ones.
Can you tell me if there is a really comprehensive web site I can use to help me identify my many "captives". For one I want to know if they are venomous, and two I would like to know what kind they are.
Martin Nicholas: a good first stop is the British Tarantula Society site www.thebts.co.uk and this will plug you into a range of people who should be able to help you.
Naples, Fla.: Some years ago I was driving into the mountains north of Tucson. ( the road to Mt Lemon). In the foot hills I came across tarantulas on the road. Thousands of them all walking the same direction. East to west. The migration covered several hundred yarde accrest the road. I stopped and walked into the desert several hundred yards without running out of spiders.
I have never heard anyone else report any such thing. Have you ever encountered such a migration?
Fred Kaufman: You should have had a camera. The footage might be worth something!!!
Martin Nicholas: I would have loved to have seen that!
New York, N.Y.: To Martin: What was the most difficult spider to find? What's the next spider you want to look for? And where will that take you? How are you able to finance your expeditions?
Martin Nicholas: undoubtedly the cave tarantula was the most difficult not only to find but to get to in the first place! 1 mile underground in a very hot damp cave. But worth every second when we found it!
Tuscaloosa, Ala.: I watched the show last night on PBS and was fascinated. I've always had a slight fear of spiders yet I no longer squash them when I see them. I was wondering what credentials Mr. Nicholas has and how he became interested in spiders? Also, how did Mr. Nicholas land a documentary with PBS? Kudo's for Mr. Nicholas - you made the show one of the most interesting I have seen in a while.
Fred Kaufman: Martin was 'discovered' by the producer of our DEEP JUNGLE series. Martin was one of many experts on that series but his search for the chicken eating spider was a particular highlight. He was very good on-camera so we decided to pursue a show with him alone.
Martin Nicholas: While I am biologically trained, I am not an academic and not affiliated to a museum or university, I'm basically freelance just looking for the stories and spiders that interest me
Gardiner, Maine: I can understand wanting to see spiders and learn about them. But for you, the experience doesn't seem complete unless you're holding them. Why?
Do you hold spiders other than tarantulas? For example, I noticed you left the banana (golden silk) spider alone, although you did touch her web. I realize holding a golden silk spider might be messy, but what about others? When I was a child, I had a shoe box full of brown house spiders (not reclusa) that I collected (live) from the heaters of our old Maine farm house, which I tweezed from the baseboard heaters. I was only bitten once (while trying to give them all baths!)
Martin Nicholas: in truth the purpose of picking them up is to give some scale for the viewer but also to show that not all spiders are deadly venomous (which some people still think) and I think gentle handling helps illustrate this
Chicago, Ill.: were you ever afraid of spiders during your life?
Martin Nicholas: I can't remember ever being afraid - but that wandering spider did give me some raised hairs on my neck!
South Carolina: Firstly, I want to thank you for you TV show... I am thoroughly enjoying it... My question to you is..
you said the wandering spider is the deadliest... is that the deadliest in the world or just south America... is it's venom worse than that of the Sydney funnel web spider of Australia, also, is the trap door spider dangerous?
Martin Nicholas: Wandering spider is more venomous, more widespread and faster and aggressive than the funnel web and therefore qualifies as "worlds most dangerous" but the title is quite subjective
El Cerrito, Calif.: Yay! I'm absolutely elated that they finally did a whole program for Martin Nicholas! I saw him as a guest for another Nature episode and thought that he was absolutely adorable! (Heh, I'm not sure if I should be addressing him in the third or first person) Anyway, though I am somewhat frightened of spiders I found the show fascinating.
Martin Nicholas: Much appreciated - the show was so much fun to make, glad you enjoyed it!M
Chicago, Ill.: If someone went looking for some of these spiders what would you say to bring along on the adventure?
Martin Nicholas: Go out during the day and look for webs and burrows, then return at night when the spider is likely to be out hunting and more visible. But don't forget mosquito repellant, a good flashlight and a long sleeved shirt
San Diego, Calif.: I have a St. Andrew's Cross spider living in my back yard in San Diego, in case you would like to film one, pretty amazing bee wrapping action. -Ellen
Martin Nicholas: Argiopes (st Andrew x spiders) are one of my favorites, so beautiful and such ingenuity!
El Cerrito, Calif.: Yay! I'm absolutely elated that they finally did a whole program for Martin Nicholas! I saw him as a guest for another Nature episode and thought that he was absolutely adorable! (Heh, I'm not sure if I should be addressing him in the third or first person) Anyway, though I am somewhat frightened of spiders I found the show fascinating.
Fred Kaufman: It's called charisma and Martin has it. All good on-camera people have it. And I'm glad the subject matter didn't turn you off. I'm not a lover of spiders but I enjoy watching someone who has a passion for them
Riverside, Calif.: Martin, did you look for the giant spiders near the small village of Cacao?
Martin Nicholas: I don't recall us being near Cacao. Nearest town was Acatzlan or something like that (but that was 40 miles away!)
There's a spider that eats BIRDS? Talk about turning the tables! Unfortunately, I missed your show (I'm hoping my local staion will repeat it). However, after the reading the intro to this chat, I became curious.
How big is this spider that eats birds? Is it a type of web-spider or trap-door spider?
Martin Nicholas: Bird-eating spiders have been described all over the world, usually big tarantulas that catch and eat small birds, so the name has stuck
Owensboro, Ky.: Have you been bitten by a spider? If so, what kind and how did you react to it?
Martin Nicholas: I have been bitten several times - all my own fault. but I have never had a bad reaction and still have all my limbs! This may not be the case for everyone however and some people may be allergic to the venom and have a bad reaction so always be careful
Farmington, Conn.: Thanks for a great show last night. Martin, I have also loved spiders since I was 6 years old (24 now) and I'm trying to get into a career involving spiders. I recently graduated college with a Bachelors of Science in Biology. Do you have any suggestions on the path I should take? Thanks.
Martin Nicholas: There is a lot of work going on with genetics work into endangered spider species and also the pharmacological active ingredients in their venom both very cutting edge and both fascinating topics if you wanted to pursue them
New York, N.Y.: If you could have one spider super power what would you choose? Also, which spider was the most difficult to find? What is the next spider you're going to look for and where?
Martin Nicholas: Difficult one! Climbing walls would be really cool though!
Chicago, Ill.: What was it like to discuss spiders with Stan Lee?
Fred Kaufman: I know Stan Lee and Spiderman were big influences in Martin's life and Martin was thrilled to be in his company. I was shocked that Stan agree to do the interview with us since he is a very busy guy. But he said he would give us an hour and we filmed him in that time.
Chicago, Ill.: What's your thought on people capturing and keeping spiders?
Fred Kaufman: My view is to leave nature alone...capturing any living creature is dangerous and caring for them can be time consuming and expensive.
Martin Nicholas: Yes, removing any animal from the wild is clearly undesirable. Captive breeding techniques in North America and Europe mean that people can keep spiders without raiding the environment. But before anyone goes out and buys a spider PLEASE read up about how to keep one first, there's lots of advice out there
Irving, Tex.: The program was fun. I hope that it opens up the fascinating world of nature to many more young people. Not just spiders but everything else. (heck, if your alright with spiders, all the rest will fall into place!) One thing I did not see on the program was a description of how effective a hunting technique "looking for eye-shine" is.
Fred Kaufman: Thanks for the compliment. I have never heard of 'eye-shine?' Do you mean reflection?
Anonymous: Which venomous spiders are found in Maryland, and how can we recognize them? Are their bites dangerous, or just a nuisance, like a mosquito?
How is the health of an ecosystem measure in terms of population and diversity of spiders?
Martin Nicholas: I think you may be ok in Maryland as Brown recluse and black widow are found further south and west than you. but I can't be 100% on that.
Spiders are mid-way up the food chain so a healthy population is good for low end control and for food further up
Washington, D.C.: Are there any spiders that would go out of there way to harm a human even when they don't have reason to feel threatened? (Leave their web area and proactively go bite someone?) I know your job that you want to dispel myths and fear of spiders. I like spiders too. Just curious.
Martin Nicholas: We are really not on the menu for any spider so any bite is purely a defensive reaction to stimuli. That said some are more apt to bite than others and the wandering spider is a prime example and is the only one I have ever seen jump onto an intruder and bite it ferociously several times
Deep River, Conn.: Is it Van Der Waals forces that enable spiders to walk up walls and on ceilings? Does Van Der Waals forces work on all surfaces and in all conditions?
Martin Nicholas: exactly - electrostatic attraction created on the branched hairs on the feet. highly polished ,0.38ra and below causes problems though
Reno, Nev.: Dear Martin -- I just wanted to tell you that I absolutely loved your program, it was great! The best thing I've seen on TV in a long, time. I too love spiders. I think they are just one of the coolest parts of all of God's creation. I think that spiders are incredibly beautiful and functional, absolute wonders of the world.
We have great spiders here in Nevada--Great big tan spotted ones that build wonderfully symmetrical webs under the eaves of our houses in the summertime .They look kind of like that Brazilian guy on your show. We also have the jumpers like they do in Tuscon, and they are my favorite. I'm just like you, I love to let them climb on me. I am absolutely enthralled by their perfect symmetry, perfect acclimation to their environment, and perfect functionability. ( Sorry, I couldn't think of the right word!) I know they won't hurt me unless they bite and I know most of the time they are just crawling from one spot to somewhere else (or jumping!). I am always finding spiders in my house, especially in wintertime, and I usually pick them up and transport them out into the yard. Sometimes, if they're out of the way, I let them stay in. I consider them part of the decor, not a nuisance to be gotten rid of.
We don't have any giants like they did in the tropics, but we do have a huge variety of small guys. We have these creepy looking dark brown guys, that I don't let climb on me, that always show up in the sink and the shower. They have sort of a deep orange, faded red body color. These guys I transport in a glass or cup. We also have Daddy Long Legs, or at least their close cousins, that really love it inside my house. Sometimes I let too many of them accumulate at once and I have to go around and take out 5 or 6 at once. They are really cool, with a body that is about 1/20th the length of their legs. It's like they're walking around on giant stilts.
Anyway, I was just glad to see someone else who appreciates the beauty and the wonder, instead of being afraid. Keep up the good work!
Martin Nicholas: Thank you glad you liked the show - sounds like I have some work to do on the spiders of Nevada sometime too!
St. Louis, Mo.: Have you ever had to give up because you simply couldn't find the spider you were looking for? With editing it seems as though you simply stumble upon these creatures (luckily with tuning fork at the ready!), but realistically, it must take quite a bit of time to locate an example. -Terri
Fred Kaufman: I'll let Martin also respond but as a Nature producer I can tell you that failure is the norm. For example, a big cat in Africa will hunt and be successful one in twenty attempts, yet, of course, you will think it is successful most of the time based on what is left in the program.
Martin Nicholas: Luckliy we found all the animals we were looking for but as you correctly asked, it does take a long time getting to the right area then finding the spider. The cave spider was tough and goliath took days to pin down too
Riverside, Calif.: Comment. I've been to French Guiana and have seen in person those giant bird eating spiders. They're huge!
One of them had found its way into the hotel bar I was drinking at. Scared the heck out of everyone who saw it.
Martin Nicholas: He must have wanted a beer!
New York, N.Y.: What a pleasure it was to see Martin Nicholas back on the air, and with more spiders! Your passion for animals that are not ordinarily considered glamorous or fetching is contagious. After the DEEP JUNGLE episode it occurred to me that you are the true "spider man," so I was amused to see that as a theme of last night's show.
Fred Kaufman: Thanks...by the way, we wanted to call the show 'The Real Spiderman' but we would've had a copyright problem with Marvel Comics.
Hondo, N.M.: Where in southern Mexico were you searching for the blind Tarantula? It looked a lot like the Pacific watershed of Chiapas. Was I close? I have collected herps, bats and other small creatures in a couple of Chiapas Caves near Ocotzocoautla when I worked as a Curator/collector for both major Chicago zoos. Exceptionally fine job you did on your program. --Ray
Martin Nicholas: Thank you, No the caves were south eastern mexico nearest town Atcatzlan (I think) butthat was 50 miles away
The eye-shine technique for hunting spiders at night involves holding a flashlight close to your temple. The flashlight (or torch I think the English call it) should be pointed out towards the direction you are searching. Using this technique you will be astounded to see what appears to be many many jewels sparkling back at you. Those "jewels" are reflections from spiders eyes. This technique is highly effective at finding the smallest of spiders! Try it in your backyard in the summer. (I once ruined some bodys trip to the rainforest by showing them this trick, they did not like spiders)
Fred Kaufman: Thanks, makes sense. I know when you do the same thing is a croc infested river you get that same spooky look.
El Paso, Tex.: Mr. Nichols, I enjoyed the Nature program very much. Any efforts to familiarize people with spiders has to be a good thing. My question concerns your cameras. What kind of camera do you use and how is the remote camera that went into the burrows set up?
Thank you and have fun! --Paul, Ph.D.
Martin Nicholas: Paul, the Tarantula cam is simply a tiny security camera linked to the input on a PD150 digital camcarder and a microphone then we put LED lights on the back and mounted the whole thing on a toy car - simple but it does the trick!
Washington, D.C.: Does that story about thousands of migrating tarantulas that someone posted fit with anything you've ever seen or heard about? Where are they migrating? To mate?
I'm not doubting the authenticity of the story, but I've never heard anything like it.
Fred Kaufman: Yes, it is true. It is a well known migration. It is seasonal.
Las Vegas, Nev.: After watching your show my husband and I noted that we had a brown T. spider, as big as the one you pulled out at the end of your show, in our kitchen. We had an even bigger black one on our porch. Needless to say we were pretty horrified to find them. Are they native to our neighborhood of Sunrise Mountain, Las Vegas, NV?
Martin Nicholas: I'm not sure goliath comes that far north (I'm certain of it actually!) but large long legged scub tarantulas like the Tuscan Blond can get to be 6" across and look even bigger when they turn up in your kitchen. Hope you put him safely outside and did not squish him?
Raleigh, N.C.: In your quest for the "cave tarantula," you ran across a stygobitic (blind, white) crayfish. Where was that cave located, and do you know the scientific identity of that crayfish species?
J. Cooper, Ph.D., Curator of Crustaceans, North Carolina State Museum of Natural Sciences, www.naturalsciences.org
Martin Nicholas: I'm afraid I ran a blank on the ID of the crayfish even my caver friend could not help -sorry I can't help
Irving, Tex.: I am much like Martin in that I am able to finance my lifelong interests in the natural world with a regular day job. I am a software engineer. My time away from the office is likely to be spent in a South American rainforest at night. I have a piece of photo equipment I built and use for doing night photography. If you have time, visit my site at http://www.nightfocus.info/ andtell me what you think.
Fred Kaufman: Thanks, I will.
Mount Juliet, Tenn.: Hello, we have watched your documentaries on spiders and really enjoyed learning about the different types of spiders. We have two children, ages 3&5, and they enjoyed seeing the different types of spiders that were shown. The way that you present the species helps to dispell any fears that people might have about spiders. When our oldest son was a year old, I was changing his clothes on the bed and a spider ran up the side of the bed and jumped on his leg. I immediately brushed it off and caught it in a jar to determine the type. We had seen some similar spiders before around the house, and we wanted to learn more about them. The spider was a brown recluse. We researched this spider and found out that it is common in this area and not much is known about treating an infestation. We are very interested in any information that you have about this type of spider and what we can do to remove them from our home before someone is bitten. Thank you very much from concerned and loving parents.
Martin Nicholas: I do understand your concern and Brown recluse bites can be very nasty. Unfortunately our home make very good homes for them as well. The best risk prevention I can recommend is to minimise clutter in out buildings and your home, reducing spaces for them to hide and build their webs. Check behind picture frames and behind TVs as well.
Be safe and my best wishes
Lindsy Ontario, Canada: Hi Martin, I just finished watching your show and would like to say how brilliant it was. I myself am captivated with spiders especially the jumping breeds. Can you tell me how many species of jumping spiders there are in North america? Thanks.
Martin Nicholas: Jumping spiders are the biggest spider family so there are probably 100's of species in North America and probably 100's yet to be discovered. Jumping spiders are one of my personal favourites too
I enjoyed your adventures with the world's tarantulas. Although not even close to your comfort level with personal contact, I have a deep admiration and respect for spiders and their kin. My mother was a self-educated naturalist and she passed on her love of the natural world to me, giving me skills for observation of the often "unseen" in our lives.
Living in the country, I have had several opportunities to observe writing spiders, a common garden type often seen in Southern flower beds. I have protected their egg cases through the winter and happened upon one or two of them when the miracle of hundreds of baby spiders spilling out could be observed.
One summer, a rather large writer had set up a web low in the flower bed. I would visit her several times each day, with my three year old daughter keeping a watchful distance. Each time I approached, I cast an offering into her web, an unlucky cricket, a doomed moth or two, whatever insect I could catch and partially cripple. The spider zipped across the distance, pounching on the offering, having it wrapped up in a blink of the eye. My daughter would clap her little hands and say Again! Mommy Again! I'd always tell her later we'd come back for the next mealtime. The spider got to where she'd see us coming across the yard and would set her web to vibrating back and forth as if in anticipation of the goodies to come. Crickets seemed to be her favorite, the wrapped package never sat around long. I never saw any other crickets in her web, except for the ones I provided. She mostly caught small moths, flies, mosquitoes, etc.
I know from observing her behavior that there was some "connection" established between the spider and me. Was she intelligent enough to connect my appearance with a food source to me being a "friend"? The spider did not act the same way when other adults accompanied me to her web, or if visiting her without me. She was very shy if approached by any other adult human, running to the backside of her web. If I took someone to see how she'd vibrate the web, she just sat there, neither running off or reacting in any way. The only other person to see her actions at a feeding was my three year old, not a very substantial witness.
I know that all living things have greater substance than most humans would think to credit them with. As people like Martin Nicholas, with his passion for a species and Fred Kaufman, with his passion for putting a subject into such relevant format, continue to bring enjoyable learning to the woefully uninformed, more can begin to care and respect the fragile environment our fellow creatures exist in.
Thank you for the show, Cathy Page
Martin Nicholas: Thank you for such an interesting account and your kind comments, glad you liked the show!
Fred Kaufman: Many of you have written about personal experiences with spiders. Thanks for sharing your stories. I want to let you know that next Sunday's PBS NATURE show, 'Animal Behaving Worse,' is about what happens when animals invade our territories and some bizarre and fascinating stories are told. Of course, it is us who are invading the natural living spaces of the these creatures but I do think you'll find the show very interesting and it will have you talking about it the next day. Thank you all.
How did the English school system help to either support or discourage your life-long fascination with spiders?
Just saw the show and it was great.
Martin Nicholas: Thanks Colin, I did have a very good biology tutor who taught me study and searching techniques - his thing was butterflies but his enthusiasm definitely rubbed off on me
Northern California...: seems to be full of wolf spiders! Are these poisonous? Or just gross? Also please settle the long standing question of whether or not they are in fact related to TARANTULAS. Thank you!
Martin Nicholas: Wolf spiders do look a little like tarantulas but they are actually unrelated - they are "true spiders" mostly harmless they are just out and about looking for food. The bite is not dangerous to humans unless you have an allergic reaction and they are not that aggressive so don't worry - think of all those roaches they are eating!
Irving, Tex.: If Martin likes gadgets and gizmos for doing his research, I would like for him to check out a tool I use for doing Night photography in the tropics: http://www.nightfocus.info/ I would love to work with him on this if he is interested.
Martin Nicholas: thanks - I'll take a look later!
Clemson, S.C.: Dear Spider Hunter, How do you make the tarantula cam? I mean, how could I make one?
T-Cam is just a tiny little security camera mounted on a toy car with some lights that we link to the TV camera .Good luck trying to make one hope it works for you!
Winton, N.C.: Great show, Martin! You should team up with the guy from Australia, Steve Irwin (The Crocodile Hunter). You both have such wonderful enthusiasm for nature.
I work with a lot of females and none of them are fond of spiders. What does your wife think about your avocation? Does she take care of and feed your pet spiders while you are on expedition?
Martin Nicholas: I love Steve's shows, his enthusiasm knowledge and the care he has for the environment - it would be a privilege to work with him sometime!
My wife is a zoologist and comes on many of these trips with me so she is Mrs Spiderhunter!
You know with valentines day coming up, the following is a valid question... How did you meet your wife and how does she feel about all of this?
Martin Nicholas: lol! I really did meet my wife when she was working running a zoo - she hired me as her spider consultant!
Ojai, Calif.: How do you control spiders in your own home ?
Martin Nicholas: best advice I can give is to minimize clutter and debris in outbuildings and your home this gives spiders fewer places to hide and build webs
Abbotsford, BC, Canada: I was wondering what you think would be the best exotic animal to own. I have owned spiders but found most to be to aggressive to have so now I own a bearded dragon.
Martin Nicholas: The essential thing is always to research before you get any exotic animals, learn how it lives in the wild and relate that to its captive care a goodfirst tarantula would be a Chilean Rose Hair. But remember - always buy a CAPTIVE bred animal not one that has been taken from the wild
St. Joseph, Miss.: Comment: About 20 or so years ago my wife and I witnessed a very interesting phenomenon. We have a few acres here in St. Joseph and on our property, coming from the main road, is a 220 electric line to an electric post on our property. One summer day we looked up and saw a beautifully woven spider web hanging from the 220 electric line. It was hanging down and from its bottom extended a single spider web that hung down to about 12 inches from the ground with two small pieces of gravel held together by spider webbing, which acted as a drag so that the main web,containing the spider in the center of his web, would not swing too much due to the wind. To us this was amazing because it indicated that the minicule brain of this spider had the capability (actuality) to solve a problem and come up with a solution much like a human would solve the problem by employing a weighted drag to control the wind affecting the main web above. I called the Biology department at the local college and spoke with their resident spider expert and told him what we had and asked him if he could drop by and see it. He indicated that he was too busy to do so. I tried to take pictures of the drag containing the two pieces of gravel but I did not have a micro/macro(?)at the time to take such a picture. Just wanted to share the story with you. Regards, Bob
Martin Nicholas: Thanks for the story Bob, I am constantly being surprised at the ingenuity and apparent "intelligence" of spiders- there is still much that we don't fully understand about them
Riverside, Calif.: In french guiana, that big arboreal spider, does it spin webs up in the tops of the tree's? When I was down there, I saw a huge web high up in the canopy with what looked like a huge spider in the middle of it.
Martin Nicholas: could have been the big communal spider web or possibly the golden orb weaver (they live there as well as Mexico) the webs can be truly huge!
East Lansing, Mich.: Just a question regarding advice for resources on web-weaving spiders: Is there any Internet site or book you recommend as to how to identify such spiders? We had an interesting spider on our back porch for most of the past summer and fall and enjoyed watching it process and eat moths that happened into its web. However, I could not identify the species when I tried to look up about spiders on the Internet. Thanks for any advice.
Martin Nicholas: the best little book I can recommend is one by a chap called Paul Hillyard call "Spiders" by Collins I'm sure you can pick it up from an on-line book store - good luck
Alsip, Ill.: Martin, one of my favorite spiders is the little tiny painted jumping spider. I always look forward to seeing them on my windowsills in the spring through fall.
Tarantulas though would be a bit much for me!
I missed your program on Sunday, but will definitely look forward to catching it in repeat.
Martin Nicholas: Hope you enjoy, Rob.
I do love jumping spiders as well!
Raleigh, N.C.: Do you think the collection and subsequent mounting of Goliath Tarantula Spiders as novelty items for tourists is their primary threat?
Martin Nicholas: It is a very significant threat, I never appreciated the scale at which they were collected - much greater than that for the pet trade which is moving over to captive breeding more and more.
The one thing that may limit this trade I think is inaccessibility. The deep jungle is very difficult to get to and this may prove to be Goliaths' salvation
Martin Nicholas: It's been a real pleasure chatting to you all and thank you for your interesting and intelligent questions. Really Hope to do it again sometime
Take care, Thank you all again for watching and remember -be nice to spiders! - Good Bye!
Editor's Note: washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions. washingtonpost.com is not responsible for any content posted by third parties.
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Arachnologist Martin Nicholas and Executive Producer Fred Kaufman fielded your questions and comments about the world's spiders and discusses the NATURE program "True Adventures of the Ultimate Spider-Hunter," which airs on Sunday, Feb. 12.
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Caught Between Ballots and Bullets
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Probably the most interesting reaction to Hamas's victory in the Palestinian elections was one of the least noticed. It came from Essam Erian, a leading spokesman of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, of which Hamas is a branch. Erian duly lauded Hamas's "great victory." But then he added, according to a report by the Associated Press, that the Islamic militant movement should take up the challenge "of maintaining good relations with the Arab governments and world powers to secure support for the Palestinian cause."
The message from one Muslim fundamentalist to another was unmistakable: Don't be evil. Go along with the Egyptian government and the Arab League, which are demanding that Hamas renounce violence and accept previous Palestinian accords with Israel. Find a way to keep the aid dollars of the European Union and United States. No more suicide bombings.
Such rhetoric confounds the common assumption in Washington that Islamic extremists -- al Qaeda, Hezbollah, Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood -- are merely different versions of the enemy with which the United States has been at war since Sept. 11, 2001. But Erian's words would come as no surprise to Ayman Zawahiri, the Egyptian who is Osama bin Laden's deputy, or Abu Musab Zarqawi, the al Qaeda commander in Iraq. Both recently condemned the Muslim Brotherhood, and by extension Hamas, for playing George W. Bush's game of democracy. "How can anyone choose any other path but that of jihad?" lamented Zarqawi.
In fact, Bush's strategy of insisting on elections -- in Iraq, in Egypt, in Lebanon and in the Palestinian Authority -- has had the effect of widening a rift among the region's Islamic fundamentalists. Some, like the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and Jordan, have embraced democracy, and broken with the terrorists. Erian recently published an article in the Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram defending Ayman Nour, the secular democrat who was jailed in December on trumped-up charges by the government of Hosni Mubarak. His Muslim Brotherhood won 88 seats, about 20 percent of the total, in Egypt's parliamentary elections last fall. In Jordan the Brotherhood, which will soon participate in local elections, helped to organize popular demonstrations against Zarqawi and al Qaeda after the bombings of three Amman hotels in November.
Hamas and Hezbollah, once firmly in al Qaeda's camp, now straddle the gap. Both movements have joined in parliamentary elections, and both have ceased acts of terrorism for the past year while refusing to give up their militias, weapons or the option of violence. Because of their participation in democratic politics, each is under unprecedented pressure to choose between Zarqawi and Erian; between pursuing an Islamic agenda by violence or by ballots. Because Hamas is the first Sunni Islamic movement to win an election outright, its choice is particularly important: If it were to fully embrace democratic politics, the sponsors of terrorism in the Middle East -- not just al Qaeda but Syria and Iran -- would suffer a momentous loss.
It's in that light that the Bush administration watches the complex, multi-sided maneuvering that has followed the Palestinian elections. On one side stand Israeli hawks and their hard-line supporters in Congress, who insist a Hamas-led Palestinian Authority would be "a terrorist entity," or "Hamastan," as Likud leader Binyamin Netanyahu calls it. They urge that the Islamists be prevented from taking office -- or that the Palestinian Authority be strangled if they do. On a second side is Iran, which demands that Hamas make no concessions and offers fresh funding in the event of a Western boycott. On a third side are Egypt and other secular Arab regimes, which support neither democracy nor Islamic movements; they'd like to make the secular Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, into a strongman. On a fourth are the Europeans, who are likely to soften their current resistance to a Hamas government, and Russia, which already has. Hamas itself is divided between hard-line outsiders, who live in Damascus on Iranian funding, and leaders in Gaza who won the elections by stumping on a moderate platform of clean government and better services.
The pitfalls here are abundant: Rob Hamas of its victory and it will return to the terrorism of Iran and al Qaeda, while the Palestinian Authority collapses. Let it off the hook and it will try to simultaneously govern and wage war on Israel, much as did Yasser Arafat. Somewhere in the middle lies the possible outcome suggested by the Brotherhood -- a nonviolent Palestinian Islamic cabinet that, while unready to endorse Israel, will accept existing Palestinian-Israeli agreements and the results of future elections. A peace accord would have to wait -- one was in any case most improbable -- but a foundation for the peaceful and democratic Palestinian state Bush has called for could at last be laid.
The odds are not great. Even if the administration can calibrate the right mix of pressure and de facto tolerance, and get Israel to go along, Hamas might not respond. It may be, as some argue, that Islamic militants are incapable of converting to democracy as have secular terrorist movements. But without the elections, there would be no opportunity at all.
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Hamas and Hezbollah, once firmly in al Qaeda's camp, have joined in parliamentary elections. Both have ceased acts of terrorism for the past year while refusing to give up their militias.
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Bush-Abramoff Photo Authentic
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The White House acknowledged yesterday the authenticity of the first photograph made public that shows President Bush and embattled lobbyist Jack Abramoff, while stressing it does not mean the two had a personal relationship.
The photo, published by the New York Times and Time magazine, shows Bush shaking hands with an Abramoff client, chairman Raul Garza of the Kickapoo Indian tribe in Texas. Abramoff's bearded face appears in the background, small and slightly blurry.
White House spokesman Allen Abney said the photo was taken in 2001, when the president dropped by a meeting of about two dozen state legislators to thank them for supporting tax relief.
Originally, the White House said it had no record of Abramoff's attendance at the meeting.
"We now know that Mr. Abramoff attended this meeting," Abney said. "The president has taken tens of thousands of pictures. This does not mean he has a personal relationship with each individual that is in those pictures."
The White House would not release the photo or any others that Bush had taken with Abramoff, who helped raise more than $100,000 for the president's reelection campaign. Abramoff has since pleaded guilty to federal charges related to an influence-peddling scandal on Capitol Hill.
Bush has said that he had his picture taken with Abramoff an unknown number of times, but he does not remember any of them.
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S. America's Big Dig: Bank Robbers Tunnel Their Way to Millions
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BUENOS AIRES, Feb. 12 -- The hostage standoff was stretching into its seventh hour, with hundreds of police officers surrounding the bank. After negotiating a peculiar swap -- four hostages for some pizzas and sodas -- the captors inside seemed suspiciously quiet. So police stormed the building.
They found the 19 remaining hostages safe and sound, but the captors had vanished. A hole in the basement wall was covered with an iron lid that had been bolted shut from the other side. Later, police discovered that the hole led to a secret tunnel, which hooked into a municipal drainage system that emptied into the La Plata River. It was a clean getaway.
"Until now, in the history of Argentina there has never been a band of thieves that's had the audacity, the logistics, the preparation and the luck that this group of criminals had," a Buenos Aires provincial police investigator, Osvaldo Seisdedos, told reporters after the heist three weeks ago.
But those bandits have had some stiff competition. In the past six months, tunneling bank robbers in South America have broken world records of crime, snatching millions of dollars from banks and making their getaways through narrow passages beneath busy city streets.
The subterranean thieves in Argentina last month got away with cash and safe-deposit box contents worth an estimated $25 million to $70 million, according to police and lawyers representing bank customers. If those estimates are accurate, the robbery would be among the biggest bank heists in history -- a list currently topped by a $68 million job pulled off five months earlier in Fortaleza, Brazil. There, thieves dug a 260-foot tunnel from a house to the bank, equipping the passage with electric lights and wood-paneled walls.
News reports of the Argentine caper suggest almost everything went as the thieves had planned: The hostages were allowed to talk to relatives on cell phones, and the robbers even sang "Happy Birthday" to one of them. What the thieves really wanted, it seemed, was time to get more than 140 safe-deposit boxes loaded into the tunnel.
"Everyone I know is talking about it and saying the same thing -- that the people who did it are geniuses," said Salvador Peluso, 37, who works at a water-sports store across the street from the bank. "They robbed a bank without a single gunshot being fired and got away with everything. It's like a good movie."
Or a horror movie, to those who lost safe-deposit boxes. Many Argentines avoid bank accounts because of the financial sector's tumultuous recent history. Before the nation's economy collapsed in 2001, the value of the Argentine peso equaled the U.S. dollar's. Those who had deposited their dollars in savings accounts watched their fortunes largely disappear overnight -- the banks converted the money to pesos at the time of the collapse, and the pesos immediately lost most of their value. Throughout the country, many people vowed never to put another cent in a bank account.
In last month's crime, bank cash accounted for about $200,000 of the millions stolen, according to bank officials; the vast majority of the plunder came from the privately held boxes.
"Safe-deposit boxes seem to be an Argentine habit because people understand that banks are very insecure here," said Nydia Zingman, an attorney representing dozens of the robbery victims. "But the bank is ultimately responsible."
Similar robberies have allowed Zingman to carve out a legal niche for herself in Argentina; she has represented hundreds of clients who have lost safe-deposit boxes to tunneling robbers since 1988, she said. In 1997, she helped some of the owners of 370 boxes stolen at a bank to obtain compensation for lost money and valuables. After that robbery, neighbors told police they had heard digging sounds underground for months, and police found a tunnel stretching from the bank to an office building across the street.
Perhaps the most audacious tunneling robbery was the one last August in Fortaleza, Brazil. About 100 yards from Fortaleza's Central Bank, a sign appeared in front of a house that described it as a landscaping store -- a ploy, apparently, to defuse suspicions when the building's tenants removed large quantities of dirt from the premises.
The robbers entered the bank when it was closed for the weekend and got away with about $68 million. Previously, the largest bank robbery was one at the Knightsbridge Safe Deposit Center in London in 1987. The largest known bank-related crime in history is the embezzlement of nearly $1 billion from Iraq's Central Bank in 2003 by members of President Saddam Hussein's soon-to-be-deposed government.
In the months since the Fortaleza robbery, police have recovered about $8 million and arrested eight people they suspect were part of a large gang of thieves responsible for the crime. The massive amount of money yet to be recovered has led to kidnappings of alleged suspects for ransom.
In October, one of the men widely thought to have helped plan the robbery was kidnapped, then found dead after his family reportedly paid $890,000 in ransom. Two policemen have been arrested in connection with that crime. On Thursday, kidnappers released the sister-in-law of another suspect after failing to collect a ransom.
Argentine authorities would not discuss their ongoing investigation for this article, but they have told Argentine newspapers that they think some of the people responsible for the Fortaleza robbery were involved in the Buenos Aires heist. They also suspect that some members of the gang might be connected to other tunneling bank robberies in Uruguay and the Argentine city of Cordoba.
"However long it takes, the criminals will be arrested and will have a sweet anecdote to tell their prison cellmates," Argentine investigator Seisdedos told reporters at a news conference days after the crime.
According to Brazilian press reports, one potential suspect sought by authorities is Moises Teixeira da Silva, who was sentenced to 25 years in prison for organizing bank robberies using tunnels.
He escaped from a Sao Paulo prison in 2001 -- through a tunnel.
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Mark Morris: A Balance of Stillness and Razzmatazz
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Dancing itself was the subject of the Mark Morris Dance Group program this weekend at George Mason University's Center for the Arts.
In his 25 years as head of one of the most acclaimed modern dance companies in the world, Morris has worked on both grand and intimate scales, creating witty romps full of naughty bits and magnificent abstractions that spring from musical masterpieces. But Friday's program had a deeply personal feel, not only because Morris himself danced -- an increasingly rare event -- but because the works delved into the power of dancing to bridge the gap between alone and abyss.
The program opened with the equivalent of a fireworks display in "From Old Seville," a flamenco-inspired gem in which Morris, who turns 50 this year, flaunts both his heel-drilling footwork and his funny bone. We're in a smoke-filled nightclub, where Morris and Lauren Grant meet over a wine bottle and hit the dance floor hard. (They dance to a recording of Manuel Requiebros singing "A Esa Mujer," with a heart that bleeds.)
Their dancing is furious, all hot emotions and even hotter castanets. Their feet fly at hummingbird speed, but truly, this dance was all in the castanets, rolling and clacking like chattering teeth. At first, I thought the dancers were merely miming the fingering to a castanet soundtrack -- but no, Morris and Grant's finger technique was as skilled as their footwork.
What's funny is the matchup between the great, round but light-footed Morris (he studied flamenco in Spain as a youth) and tiny, aggressive Grant. Funnier still is the nonchalant way they pause for more wine and then dive back into the dance. Morris keeps leaving Grant for the bottle -- and possibly for the bartender, too. But when she yanks him back to the dance floor, they are an exquisitely matched pair. The laughs, though, stop abruptly: When the dancing ends, Morris seems to be saying, all that's left is booze and confusion.
Created nearly 10 years apart, "Rock of Ages" (2004) and "Somebody's Coming to See Me Tonight" (1995), which followed "From Old Seville," felt like soul mates. Both drew the audience into a soft-focus world of mystery and poetry, and both underscored the yearning tones in the music of composers who died while only in their thirties: Franz Schubert and Stephen Foster.
The two works also emphasized the gifts of consolation and uplift that a community -- specifically a dancing community -- offers. Schubert wrote his Piano Trio in E-flat as he was ill and dying, and in the Adagio section that accompanies "Rock of Ages," one hears a haunting lullaby, a lament for lost time and, perhaps, a reaching out for salvation.
Certainly Morris must have heard this plea for deliverance, in giving the work its title. The MMDG Music Ensemble's Yosuke Kawasaki, Wolfram Koessel and Steven Beck played the piece with luminous restraint. (The ensemble accompanied all the works except the first -- live music being common for Morris performances, but lamentably rare for other dance companies.)
The dancing largely kept out of the music's way. It was quiet, based on stillness and the deft turn of the head (as if listening to a faraway summons) or the extension of an arm. What was most moving in this work was the way the four women -- Amber Darragh, Fairfax native Rita Donahue, Julie Worden and Michelle Yard -- interacted, tuning into and sustaining one another, and the way the movement beautifully expressed this intuitive connection.
There was a more complete, overt sense of community in "Somebody's Coming to See Me Tonight," a series of dances to Foster's more romantic songs (the title tune as well as "Beautiful Dreamer," "Linger in Blissful Repose" and "Come Where My Love Lies Dreaming," among others). This was not the "Camptown Races" Foster, but the parlor song Foster, crooning about love and loss. Although some segments had a more upbeat, folksy air, there were threads of regret and sadness woven in, and a sense that in dancing with a partner, one can brush the shadows away for a while.
Perhaps because of the gentle, wistful air of those pieces, the program's last work, "Rhymes With Silver," felt long. The two preceding works lulled us into a meditative state, and Lou Harrison's intricate composition with its richly embroidered dynamics furthered the plunge into abstract dreaminess. Its inclusion was also curious because this work has been performed here several times in the past. Particularly on an anniversary tour, one would expect a broader look at this company's vast repertoire.
Still, "Rhymes" offers plenty of rewards, benefiting from expansive performances from five musicians, whose sound felt like a full orchestra. Howard Hodgkin's backdrop of thick, finger-painting lines of blood-red and green is an exciting foil for dancing that is small-scale and delicate. I have seen this work numerous times, but this night, for the first time, it struck me as a spell wrought by dancer Bradon McDonald, who performs the role that Morris himself used to dance.
He has one long, unforgettable solo, where he is in constant motion, seemingly desperate for attention from another dancer who stands stock-still and ignores McDonald until he falls to the ground. McDonald appears again in the finale, in the midst of the full cast but doing a very separate thing. Now he is the one standing still, moving only his hands, swishing them around in lines that echo the waves of paint in the backdrop, as if he were conjuring up the whole communal gathering. As if it were his solace for loneliness.
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Search Washington, DC area theater/dance events and venues from the Washington Post. Features DC, Virginia and Maryland entertainment listings for theater, dance, opera, musicals, and childrens theater.
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Grievances Spike After MetroAccess Transition
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Angry and frustrated riders using MetroAccess filed more than 2,400 complaints about poor service last month, a 445 percent increase over the previous January, according to Metro statistics.
Two-thirds of the grievances came after a new company took over the service for disabled and elderly riders unable to use the subway or bus.
Despite the fact that MetroAccess riders are greatly outnumbered by riders of Metrorail and Metrobus, they generated the majority of complaints for the first three weeks of January. Most passengers complained about rides that arrived late or not at all, according to statistics. Last January, there were 451 complaints filed.
Metro officials have brushed aside suggestions that problems are widespread, and Richard A. White, Metro's outgoing chief executive, has suggested that some riders are lying. Metro managers and officials of the new contractor, MV Transportation, said bumps in the transition are to be expected.
But the number of complaints in January far exceeded number of complaints logged the same month six years ago, the last time there was a change in contractor. And MV's top executive has called it the worst transition he has experienced in 26 years in the industry.
MetroAccess staffers say they have received fewer than 100 responses from MV about how it handled the complaints.
Speaking to a disability group last week, Metro manager Pamela Wilkins, who oversees MetroAccess, acknowledged the "very difficult" transition. "We recognize there have been some disruptions in service," she said. Metro is closely monitoring operations, she said.
MV Transportation began providing the publicly funded curb-to-curb van service for 16,000 eligible people Jan. 15.
The overwhelming number of complaints comes as no surprise to many MetroAccess riders, who say they are frustrated by the poor service and lack of response. D.C. Council member Carol Schwartz (R-At Large) said she plans to ask about MetroAccess at a Metro budget hearing this month.
On Wednesday, the Montgomery County Commission on People with Disabilities drew its largest attendance in years because the subject was MetroAccess, officials said. Seventy-five people showed up -- several in wheelchairs or accompanied by Seeing Eye dogs -- seeking explanations from Metro managers and two board members for rides that did not arrive, trip routes and procedures that defy common sense and replacement of experienced drivers with new ones.
"We got a lot of answers that were incomplete, incorrect, insensitive or didn't understand the questions we asked," said Harold Snider, the commission chairman.
MV and Metro officials maintain that the troubles stem from bad data -- since corrected -- and misunderstandings about requirements to carry more than one rider and provide curb-to-curb instead of door-to-door service.
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News and information about Washington's bus and rail transit system.
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West Virginia Ends Hoyas' Winning Ways
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For the first 20 minutes of Georgetown's game with ninth-ranked West Virginia last night, the Hoyas looked like the sharp, efficient team that knocked off two top-10 teams and won seven straight games. But a dismal second-half performance, in which they scored only 19 points, cost the 15th-ranked Hoyas. West Virginia left with a 69-56 victory in front of a raucous MCI Center crowd of 16,263 that seemed to have a good deal of gold mixed in with the gray. It was the Hoyas' first loss at home since Nov. 26, when they fell to Vanderbilt.
Georgetown (17-5, 8-3 Big East) will travel to Marquette (16-8, 6-5) on Thursday and to fourth-ranked Villanova (19-2, 9-1) on Sunday.
The Hoyas shot nearly 60 percent in the first half as they built an 11-point lead. But they went cold in the second half, shooting just 24 percent, and had no offense outside of sophomore forward Jeff Green. Green scored 14 of the Hoyas' 19 second-half points as his teammates made 2 of 23 shots. He finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds.
The Mountaineers, meantime, shot 62 percent in the second half, mainly because they got high-percentage shots off of drives. West Virginia senior Kevin Pittsnogle, who missed all 12 shots he attempted in a loss at Pittsburgh on Thursday, scored a game-high 25 points on 10-for-15 shooting.
"We did not play our best ball in the second half," Georgetown Coach John Thompson III said. "We're a better team than that. We've had a run here where we've looked pretty good, and now we've got to bounce back."
Georgetown's players felt that they let a game slip away when they lost, 68-61, in Morgantown in early January. The Hoyas led by double digits in the first half, but a poor stretch that spanned the end of the first half and the start of the second half did them in. Georgetown didn't match the Mountaineers' intensity at key moments in that game. That wasn't the problem last night; the Hoyas' execution was.
"We played hard. We could have executed a lot better," Thompson said. "The overall effort, the overall intensity was there. For us to be successful, I've said to this group from day one, we have to play hard, we have to play smart, we have to play together. We could've played a little smarter at key times."
Georgetown led 37-29 following an entertaining, well-played first half. The two teams combined for just five fouls and eight turnovers in the first 20 minutes, while handing out 22 assists on 28 field goals.
The Mountaineers, who shot a miserable 22 percent from three-point range at Pittsburgh, made four of their first six shots from beyond the arc and built a 20-13 lead with 12 minutes 9 seconds left until halftime. But Georgetown went on a 20-2 run over the next eight minutes to take a 33-22 advantage with 4:13 until the break.
The Hoyas were sharp during that stretch. When they got open looks from beyond the arc, they made them (4 of 6 in that span). Defensively, Green blocked two shots and dove on the floor near midcourt to corral a loose ball, and Brandon Bowman and Darrel Owens each started a fast break with a steal and ended it with a reverse dunk.
"I sat there in the first half and my head was spinning," said West Virginia Coach John Beilein, whose team is 18-5 and 9-1 in the Big East. "They were playing so well and we didn't have answers. I just said, 'Now I know why they beat Duke.' In the second half, they missed some pretty good shots and all of a sudden the momentum began to turn."
Georgetown opened the second half with center Roy Hibbert missing a shot inside and Bowman failing to score off of a drive. The Hoyas didn't score until nearly five minutes had elapsed, and by that time, West Virginia had wiped out its deficit. The Mountaineers scored the first 10 points of the half, essentially taking the ball right at the Hoyas and beating them one-on-one. West Virginia took the lead on a pair of free throws from Pittsnogle with 15:28 to play -- the first free throws of the game.
A dunk from Green brought the Hoyas to within 54-51 with six minutes to play, but Georgetown didn't score for the next five minutes. The Hoyas settled for three-point shots and were off (2 for 14 in the half). Bowman, who made 6 of 7 shots and scored 13 points in the first half, missed a couple of layups and didn't score until the game was out of reach. Green missed four straight free throws.
And as the Hoyas found out, the margin for error against the senior-laden, battle-tested Mountaineers is very slim.
"You've got to try to do everything perfect," Green said. "There are so many things we didn't do perfect. That kind of made them get a little confident and they started banging their shots. . . . They just get the job done."
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No. 15 Georgetown has no answer for Kevin Pittsnogle, who scores a game-high 25 points Sunday to lead No. 9 West Virginia to a 69-56 victory.
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Apple's Upgraded iLife Has Benefits, but It's No Bargain
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Not that many companies manage to persuade customers to pay for upgraded versions of their software every year. Tax-software developers always get away with it because Congress can't resist tinkering with the tax code. Makers of sports-simulation games usually do, thanks to the need to update player rosters and add new stadiums and arenas.
And though personal-finance developers try to pull this off, most users ignore them. When does anybody care if you're using Quicken 2005 instead of Quicken 2006?
Apple Computer Inc. accepted this challenge in 2004, when it began charging $49 for its multimedia programs with the release of iLife '04. Last year, it shipped iLife '05 and upped the price to $79. And now, iLife '05 has been retired by iLife '06, also $79.
This year's model has much in common with the last two: It brings major upgrades to iPhoto while making relatively few changes to iMovie, iDVD and GarageBand. But iLife '06 also adds one new program to the bundle, a blog- and home-page creator called iWeb. (iTunes, however, is sensibly gone from the bundle; Apple updates that free download far more than once a year.)
As a freebie on new Macs, the 2006 edition of iLife (it requires a G4, G5 or Intel-processor Mac running Mac OS X 10.3.9 or newer) is a pleasure overall, despite bugs and missing features. But as a $79 purchase -- especially if you anted up for last year's version -- it only makes sense in a handful of circumstances.
The most likely reason to upgrade would be if your old copy of iPhoto has begun sinking under the weight of your accumulated pictures. Apple says iPhoto 6 can store 10 times as many images as its predecessor, up to 250,000 photos. Even on a four-year-old iMac G4, iPhoto 6 felt distinctly swifter in everyday sorting and editing operations.
It also looks more streamlined, with a new interface that trims the old brushed-metal frame, leaving more room to inspect your photos. A full-screen mode wipes away even that minimal chrome, letting you eyeball and edit photos against a no-distraction black background. That mode also reveals an extraordinarily useful "compare" button to line up two to eight photos for inspection.
Although the new software doesn't offer new ways to sort or find pictures, it adds some ways to edit and share them. A new set of visual effects (for instance, selective blurring and color fading) catches up to those in such Windows-only programs as Google's Picasa, and you can now make and order calendars and greeting cards from Apple's site.
That calendar template shows off what Apple does better than most other computer companies -- orchestrating an array of software programs. Not only can you feature your own photos above each month or on any single day, you can also include friends' birthdays (as noted in Mac OS X's Address Book) and any personalized calendars (as stored in OS X's iCal).
IPhoto 6 adds a "photocasting" feature to share pictures online, but Apple's boneheaded implementation of a popular Web-publishing standard called Really Simple Syndication trips up most non-Apple software. Three RSS-compatible Web browsers (Firefox, Opera and a test release of Internet Explorer 7), two desktop RSS programs (Google Desktop and FeedReader) and RSS readers incorporated into Yahoo and Google's Web sites at first displayed only error messages. It took tweaking, sometimes non-obvious, to see the photos I'd published.
Photocasting requires a subscription to Apple's $99-a-year .Mac online service, as do many of iLife '06's new parts -- in particular, iWeb. This program's clean, classy templates make creating photo galleries or starting a blog a matter of dragging pictures into designated spots, substituting placeholder text with your own words, and clicking a "Publish" button. (Without a .Mac account, you need to use a separate file-transfer program to publish a page.)
The results look fantastic -- but they might seem less so once other Mac-folk start whipping up iWeb sites with the same designs as yours. IWeb can't create a page from scratch, edit one created in another program or even just save a customized copy of Apple's templates. The results feel like a frozen-dinner approach to Web design: You can jazz things up with some spices and herbs, then serve it on a nice plate, but it's still the same meal.
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As a freebie on new Macs, the 2006 edition of iLife is a pleasure overall, despite bugs and missing features. But as a $79 purchase -- especially if you anted up for last year's version -- it only makes sense in a handful of circumstances.
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Contractor Fraud Trial To Begin Tomorrow
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The first civil fraud case against a U.S. contractor accused of war profiteering in Iraq goes to trial tomorrow in federal court in Alexandria. It pits two whistle-blowers against two former Army officers whose company, Custer Battles LLC, won multimillion-dollar contracts in the aftermath of the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003.
Robert J. Isakson and William D. "Pete" Baldwin, who worked for the company in Iraq, accuse its founders, Scott Custer and Michael Battles, of overcharging the government millions of dollars by running inflated expense billings through a series of shell companies they created.
Custer, who served as an Army Ranger, and Battles, a West Point graduate who also served in the CIA and ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 2002, have denied the charges and counter that their accusers are disgruntled competitors.
The case has generated media coverage, including a piece on CBS's "60 Minutes" last night, because of the explosiveness of the fraud charges and because it has become the first test of whether the federal False Claims Act reaches the conduct of contractors working in Iraq.
Custer Battles, which has had offices in Northern Virginia and Rhode Island, won contracts in 2003 to provide security for the Baghdad airport and to help guard and distribute a new money supply for the country.
U.S. District Court Judge T.S. Ellis III ruled last summer that because "the essential nature" of the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority was "shrouded in ambiguity," the reach of the fraud law turned on the source of the allegedly stolen funds. Since much of what the CPA spent was Iraqi money from oil sales, the trial is limited to $3 million Custer Battles received in funds controlled by the agency.
Under the Civil War-era False Claims Act, individuals can file suit secretly on behalf of the government. The case becomes public after the Justice Department has had a chance to decide whether to join the case. In this case the department declined but did not say why. The complainants, pursuing the case with their own attorney, can collect 12 percent to 15 percent of any damages.
This week's trial focuses on the contract to help distribute a new Iraqi currency in the first months after the collapse of Hussein's government. A separate trial will be held later on similar charges involving the contract to provide security for the Baghdad International Airport.
A subplot in the trial is likely to be the performance of the CPA, which has been criticized for failing to properly oversee the spending of more than $20 billion in U.S. reconstruction funds. The special inspector general examining that spending said financial systems were so shoddy that billions of dollars couldn't be accounted for.
One former CPA employee pleaded guilty recently to several felony counts for stealing cash in an unrelated case during the rebuilding effort. Several others, including a contractor, are under investigation.
Court filings in the Custer Battles case detail how CPA officials in Baghdad were ill-equipped to write, much less oversee, the processing of millions of dollars in contracts. For example, the agency couldn't wire money to Custer Battles and its other contractors, so it sometimes advanced them millions of dollars in cash, according to the records.
Custer and Battles, who are in their mid-thirties, met while in the Army and co-founded the company in the fall of 2002. By June of 2003, Battles was in Baghdad bidding on and winning a first contract, a $16.8 million deal to provide security at the airport.
The Iraqi currency exchange, or ICE, contract was awarded in August. Custer Battles was supposed to build three camps as distribution points for new Iraqi currency that didn't have Saddam's picture on the bills. The contract was originally for $9.8 million. It was later expanded to more than $20 million.
One document in the case is a spreadsheet showing the company's actual expenses and much higher figures for what it was charging the government. It was among documents provided to The Washington Post last spring by attorneys for the whistleblowers.
It showed for example, that $74,000 generators were billed at $400,000 and $240,000 trucks at $600,000. The items were listed as coming from other companies Custer and Battles set up in the Cayman Islands.
When Baldwin complained about the alleged overcharging, the company appointed an investigator, Peter Miskovich, to probe the matter. He sent Custer Battles a memo outlining what he considered "elements of criminal fraud" in the documentation. Miskovich said in another statement several months later that he didn't believe Custer or Battles was involved in the questionable conduct.
Isakson, an owner of an Alabama construction company called DRC Inc., is in a separate financial dispute with the government over federally financed work his firm did in Honduras several years ago following Hurricane Mitch.
His company has sued the government over that contract. In late 2004, the Justice Department sued DRC, claiming the company made false statements on the $12.7 million deal. DRC denies the charges.
The Custer Battles trial is expected to last about two weeks.
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The first civil fraud case against a U.S. contractor accused of war profiteering in Iraq goes to trial Tuesday, pitting two whistle-blowers against two former Army officers whose company won multimillion-dollar contracts after the fall of Saddam Hussein.
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Video Appears to Show Britons Abusing Young Iraqis
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BAGHDAD, Feb. 12 -- A video released Sunday by a London tabloid shows what appear to be British soldiers head-butting, kicking and clubbing unarmed Iraqi teenagers as an off-camera voice laughs and taunts the victims.
The footage, described by the News of the World in its Sunday edition and linked to the paper's Web site, was shot from the observation tower of a compound in southern Iraq during a series of street demonstrations in early 2004, the newspaper reported.
Eight soldiers in riot gear and army uniforms can be seen dragging four boys or young men into the courtyard of a walled compound, wrestling them to the ground and battering them with more than 40 blows over a two-minute period. The teenagers offer little resistance and occasionally cry out, "No, please!"
As the beatings escalate, a man with a British accent can be heard urging the soldiers on, yelling, "Oh, yes! Oh, yes! You're gonna get it. Yes! Naughty little boys," then laughing and uttering expletives.
If determined to be authentic, the footage would be the most graphic visual depiction of abuse by coalition forces since the 2004 Abu Ghraib scandal, when photographs taken the previous year by American soldiers at a prison west of Baghdad showed detainees stripped naked, forced to assume degrading positions and being terrorized by German shepherds.
A British military spokesman in the southern city of Basra said the tape had prompted the country's Defense Ministry to order an "urgent investigation" by the Royal Military Police.
"We are aware of the very serious allegations and obviously condemn all acts of abuse and brutality," said Maj. Peter Cripps, a British military spokesman in Basra. "British troops are not above the law."
British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who is traveling in South Africa, said, "We take seriously any allegation of mistreatment, and these will be investigated very fully indeed," the BBC reported. "The overwhelming majority of British troops in Iraq, as elsewhere, behave properly and are doing a great job for our country and for the wider world," Blair said.
News of the World said the video was made by a British army corporal and provided to the newspaper by a "disgusted whistleblower" after it had circulated on a military base in Europe. The newspaper reported that the teenagers were beaten after they threw a homemade grenade and rocks at the soldiers. The report also said that the footage shows a soldier drawing back the blanket covering a dead Iraqi and kicking him twice, although that segment was not on the Web site.
This is not the first allegation of detainee abuse by British troops in Iraq. A year ago, British newspapers published photographs showing soldiers at Camp Breadbasket, near Basra, stepping on Iraqi prisoners, preparing to punch them and suspending one from the prongs of a forklift. Three soldiers were dismissed from the army and imprisoned in connection with the case.
In other cases, images of detainee abuse by British troops turned out to have been faked. In May 2004, London's Daily Mirror printed several photographs that appeared to depict abuse, including one showing a soldier urinating on a prisoner. Two weeks later, the tabloid's editor was fired when experts concluded the images had been doctored.
The treatment of detainees in Iraq is among the most politically sensitive issues facing Iraqi and coalition officials. Leaders of Iraq's Sunni Arab minority, whose members make up the bulk of the country's insurgency, have repeatedly condemned what they say is systemic torture and abuse by Iraq's security forces.
In November, U.S. soldiers found evidence of brutal beatings and other abuse when they raided a prison run by Iraq's Interior Ministry. Weeks later, the existence of another such facility was disclosed.
Relations have been strained between the more than 8,000 British troops in southern Iraq and local residents, politicians and police. Attacks against the British have escalated in recent months, pushing the number killed in Iraq past 100 and intensifying calls in Britain for the force's withdrawal.
Last month, angry street rallies broke out in Basra after British troops arrested 14 members of the local police force -- many of whom remain loyal to powerful Shiite Muslim militias.
"We will be working hard with the political and religious leaders to try to put the video into context so it doesn't undo our hard work," said Cripps, the military spokesman in Basra. "Remember, over 80,000 British service men and women have served in Iraq since the beginning of the military operations, and only a tiny number are alleged to be involved in incidents of deliberate abuse."
Correspondent Mary Jordan in London contributed to this report.
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World news headlines from the Washington Post, including international news and opinion from Africa, North/South America, Asia, Europe and Middle East. Features include world weather, news in Spanish, interactive maps, daily Yomiuri and Iraq coverage.
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Africa's Polio Efforts Aiding Bird Flu Fight
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Africa's response to the first appearance of H5N1 bird flu on the continent may be aided by its fight against an entirely unrelated infection -- polio.
Nigeria, where the dangerous flu strain was found in chickens last week, is the focus of a high-stakes endgame effort to eradicate polio from the world. The work is being done by thousands of vaccinators and surveillance officers equipped with maps that record every house in every village and who are able to move diagnostic specimens from patient to laboratory quickly and safely.
This extensive public health infrastructure is now mobilizing against avian flu.
A four-day campaign, begun over the weekend, to vaccinate 40 million Nigerian children is being used to deliver a message to thousands of village leaders that people should not touch or eat sick chickens. More elaborate activities may begin later.
"The polio organization has offered to use all its network to deliver information, and also for surveillance and case detection. We are going to support all kinds of activities to mitigate the impact of avian flu," said Mohammed Belhocine, the World Health Organization's representative in Nigeria.
The H5N1 strain of avian influenza has infected 166 people and killed 88 since 2003. Most had direct contact with infected chickens, which have died in the tens of millions. The more people the virus infects, the greater its chance of evolving into a pandemic strain that could spread worldwide rapidly.
Should the polio workers become flu fighters, it would not be the first time the eradication campaign paid unexpected dividends. In recent years, polio teams have helped rescue earthquake survivors in Pakistan, investigate a lethal outbreak of Marburg virus in Angola, find victims of the rare Crimean-Congo fever in Afghanistan, and deliver malaria-preventing mosquito nets to mothers in Niger.
The versatility of the polio campaign is ironic as well as unanticipated.
In the past six years, the eradication initiative has missed two self-imposed deadlines to complete a task begun in 1988. It has suffered setbacks, including a revolt against vaccination in Nigeria's northern states in 2003 that led to a resurgence of polio there and a temporary reappearance of the disease in 18 other countries. It has spent $3.2 billion and is chronically short of money. Until a revised strategy and a new vaccine were introduced last year, the 18-year effort was on the verge of unraveling.
Begun by the Rotary International network of clubs, polio eradication has been criticized by some experts as a public health "trophy" that diverts time, money and labor from worse diseases and bigger problems.
But on the way to its still-unreached goal, the initiative has put in place an infrastructure of people, skill and equipment that can respond quickly to crises in the poorest, most crowded and inaccessible places on Earth.
"It is a network that is in place and that we hope countries will maintain and broaden in scope," said David L. Heymann, director of polio eradication at the WHO headquarters in Geneva.
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World news headlines from the Washington Post, including international news and opinion from Africa, North/South America, Asia, Europe and Middle East. Features include world weather, news in Spanish, interactive maps, daily Yomiuri and Iraq coverage.
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Defusing the Message of a Hollywood Blockbuster
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As a conservative evangelical leader, Josh McDowell is one of the last people you'd expect to urge young Christians to see "The Da Vinci Code," the upcoming movie based on the phenomenally best-selling novel. After all, the book argues that Jesus sired a line of royalty before he died on the cross -- Mary Magdalene being pregnant with his child -- and that it was covered up by religious leaders through the centuries.
But McDowell, author of "The Da Vinci Code -- A Quest for Truth," not only urges a trip to the theater, but also advises everybody to read the novel by Dan Brown.
Then, he says, read his book.
"I don't attack Dan Brown. I don't attack the book," says McDowell, who is on the staff of Orlando-based Campus Crusade for Christ. "Let's see where fact leaves off and imagination begins. It's a marvelous opportunity to be positive. The main purpose of my book is to reinforce their belief and placate their skepticism. If you look carefully, truth will always stand."
McDowell and Campus Crusade, a worldwide ministry with more than 20,000 staff members and volunteers, seem to have accepted this truth: The movie, starring Tom Hanks and set to open May 19, almost certainly will be a blockbuster. So instead of fighting the wave of popular culture or urging a boycott, Campus Crusade is pushing McDowell's book, which is aimed at young moviegoers and tries to spin their interest in an evangelical direction.
McDowell says he wrote the book after distraught parents told him their children had read the novel and, as a result, walked away from their faith.
The evangelist's rejoinder is a short paperback written in the form of a series of dialogues between a college graduate student and several of his friends. They meet for coffee on a weekly basis to discuss the book after seeing the movie together. The tone is neutral regarding Brown and his motives and complimentary to his storytelling, but the grad student systematically refutes the way biblical and church history are portrayed in the story.
"Quest for Truth" publisher Green Key Books is considering a first printing of 100,000 copies. Crusade is also planning to print 500,000 copies of a mini-magazine version of the McDowell book, complete with stills from the movie. Like other evangelical groups, Crusade is preparing Web-based study guides to the film.
Meanwhile, the Hollywood media machine is teaming with a New York publishing powerhouse to create a perfect storm of synergy for a best-selling book turned blockbuster movie.
In March, Random House will release 5 million paperback copies of "The Da Vinci Code," which has been on best-seller lists for three years, along with several illustrated versions of the screenplay and the complete shooting script.
This kind of coordinated effort is standard drill for tie-ins and marketing hype. What is not by the numbers is a quiet campaign by Sony, the studio producing the film, to court the one group most likely to be offended by the book's central theme: evangelical Protestants such as McDowell.
Through Grace Hill Media, a Hollywood firm headed by Jonathan Bock that markets studio films to Christian audiences, those who oppose the book's thesis are being courted, consulted, cajoled and encouraged to voice their criticism in ways that could blunt their opposition. Bock has had extensive meetings and conversations with Campus Crusade officials, as well as faculty members of Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, Calif.
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As a conservative evangelical leader, Josh McDowell is one of the last people you'd expect to urge young Christians to see "The Da Vinci Code," the upcoming movie based on the phenomenally best-selling novel. After all, the book argues that Jesus sired a line of royalty before he died on the cross...
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Green, Not Gold, Is Name Of These Games
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TURIN, Italy -- The Olympics are going on around here somewhere, but they're buried under so much junk, swill and sludge that it's hard to find them. Believe it or not, the armchair viewers at home may be the lucky ones, with the more romantic and unobstructed views of the Winter Games.
There are two Turin Olympics. There is the idyllic one, as represented by the dreamlike sequences and exuberant march of athletes in the Opening Ceremonies that you saw Friday night on TV. And then there is the unfortunate reality that the Games aren't being staged for the athletes, or even the spectator, but for the corporate client. And that's a shame, and seems somehow not at all the point.
The numbers tell you exactly what the Olympics have devolved into. There are only 2,500 athletes here, but there are 10,000 "sponsor's guests," the privileged corporate customers of Fiat, Samsung, Kodak, Coca-Cola, General Electric, Visa, Johnson & Johnson, McDonald's, Omega, Budweiser, Panasonic and so on. There are 57 Olympic sponsors in all and 29 more "suppliers."
There are also 2,300 dark-suited and self-important Olympic officials on hand, for what earthly purpose no one knows. They are IOC members, national Olympic committee members and federation members. At his annual news conference, Jacques Rogge, the sleek and supercilious IOC president, entertained barely a single question about sports. He addressed globalism, First World vs. Third World economic development and the fact that there are just 13 women on the IOC's 150-member executive board. He said hardly a word about games.
There are another 2,700 NBC staffers here. The network employed 52 cameras in showing the Opening Ceremonies.
Now let's total those numbers up: there are 15,000 corporate customers, officials and NBC employees. And that's not even counting the 20,000 volunteers, or 1,600 members of the Turin Organizing Committee, or 7,300 international media members.
In other words, the credentialed non-athletes outnumber the athletes by a ratio of more than 20 to 1.
If you want to visit a monument, much less a sporting event, you have to crane your neck to see over the corporate riffraff, blazer-wearing IOC officials or network types. No wonder ticket sales have been so slow, between the traffic tie-ups, security hurdles and sheer expense.
The preferred corporate customer and the television viewer experience a distinctly different Olympics than the average spectator or athlete here, an Olympics that is far more preferential and elegant. Katie Couric has commandeered the pretty part of Turin, the one that is not raw and industrial. The historic Turin is a place of grand, martial boulevards, shouting statues and looming castles, but it's only a piece of the city. The postcard shots on your TV screen, the magnificent old porticoes and arcades, aren't the whole truth: bombs destroyed 40 percent of Turin in World War II. The gorgeous Piazza Castello shown to you by Couric and Matt Lauer is a very pretty deception: It's actually heavily barricaded for security reasons, and pedestrian views are obstructed by tall fencing and the massive platform for the medal ceremonies. You need a credential to get in.
Rogge pronounced Turin ready for the Games to begin, but in fact, the city looks unfinished. There are huge mud patches and yawning pits around some of the "villages." The Olympic mascot ought to be a crane. The main Olympic complex, centered in the old Fiat factory far from the center of town, looks like Shawshank prison. "I feel like I did something wrong," my colleague Liz Clarke said. In fact, most of the Olympic venues are far from the charming quarter, in neighborhoods that look like Akron, unending blocks of nondescript cinderblock buildings.
Don't misunderstand: The Olympics remain one of the world's noble ideals and a joyous mental escape, 2 1/2 weeks of riveting and occasionally even pure action. It's naive and soreheaded to decry all commercialism, or the television networks that carry the Games. Sponsors help fund the athletes' training, and make it possible for the Games to be held, and NBC's love affair with the event is genuine.
But there is a decided difference between sponsorship and commercial glut. The balance is in danger of tipping, in the hands of Rogge and the IOC, and tangential junk threatens to blot out every athlete and ideal. The Games are drowning in product. They are becoming more than just an economic engine; they are a tasteless festival of freeloading and overloading. There are 1,100 "officially licensed" Olympic products here: pins, watches, scarves, mouse pads, umbrellas, neckties, perfumes, headbands, board games, dice, posters, thermal bags, sunglasses, puzzles, slippers, notebooks, wines and puzzles.
When did the main priority of the Olympics become sales strategy instead of athletic pursuit? You can probably date it to the surpassing crassness of the Atlanta Summer Games -- ever since then, cities have used the Games as an increasingly desperate attempt at economic revival. Turin's population has dropped by a third since the bottom fell out of Fiat in the early 1980s. The cost of staging the Games is about $4 billion, and Turin is gambling that it will revive business and transform the city into a tourist destination. A blighted Athens made a similar bet by hosting the Summer Games two years ago. But while the Olympics bring joy, the jury is out as to whether it brings economic return. It will be years before the tab is settled.
In the meantime, the corporate bazaar will go on. At least we have the prettier Olympic pictures on the screen, and in our minds.
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TURIN, Italy -- The Olympics are going on around here somewhere, but they're buried under so much junk, swill and sludge that it's hard to find them. Believe it or not, the armchair viewers at home may be the lucky ones, with the more romantic and unobstructed views of the Winter Games.
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Two Immigrants, Two Standards
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We recently learned that U.S. immigration policy is, in fact, capable of fast action and flexibility. It just depends on who the immigrant is.
In December Congress speedily passed special immigration legislation to benefit just one person: an ice dancer. As a Canadian, she couldn't join the 2006 U.S. Olympics team. But a law was written that lasted exactly two days, long enough for her to be fast-tracked for citizenship and sent to compete for the United States.
Around the same time, we at the Safe Harbor Project at Brooklyn Law School received notice that the U.S. immigration system had denied entry to Teresa, a 14-year-old African girl who has been stranded as a refugee in Guinea almost all her life. She is trying to join her adoptive mother, Momara (no real names are used here, as is generally practiced with asylum), a refugee from Sierra Leone who was granted asylum in the United States. But in this girl's case, there is no fast track, only the rigid application of a procedural rule.
Teresa's harrowing story began when she was born in the bush, where everyone from her town had fled to escape rampaging rebel forces threatening to kill them. Her birth mother died giving birth to her. Without a second thought, Momara scooped up the infant and from that moment on considered Teresa her own. She, Teresa and her other young children went to a refugee camp and remained there until the rebel forces struck again, robbing the refugees and stabbing Momara. Somehow the family made its way to Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, but they were still not safe. Rebels beheaded Momara's husband before their eyes, gang-raped and beat Momara, and stabbed her sons. Miraculously, they escaped and, without husband and father, fled to Guinea.
With our legal representation Momara received asylum in 2004. She now lives with her grown son in Queens. An uneducated woman with few personal belongings, she has great dignity and endless hope for her future in the United States. Yet her worries have not ended, because she has not yet been reunited with all her children.
The law permits immediate relatives of refugees -- spouses and biological and adopted children -- to come to the United States. Momara's three biological children were recently granted derivative asylum and are waiting for visas. But Teresa is another story. Since she is not Momara's biological child, she can qualify for a visa only with proof that she is adopted. The Department of Homeland Security denied her application because she does not have an "official adoption decree" from Sierra Leone.
As Momara's lawyers, we explained to DHS that Sierra Leone was devastated by a 10-year civil war. Many children have been orphaned in the war, and it is customary for other families to adopt and raise them, albeit without official adoption papers. The country does not have a functioning government, much less a formalized adoption procedure.
Momara is pleading to be reunited with all of her children and to know that they are finally out of harm's way. But the DHS stated in its denial of Teresa's visa application that "[s]ince there are no formal adoption decrees in Sierra Leone then you are unable to provide a copy of the final adoption decree . . . which has been registered with the proper civil authorities." This is a new version of Catch-22: We know it's impossible for you to get the proof we request; nevertheless we will withhold the relief you seek because you cannot obtain the proof.
The DHS's flat denial shows an all-too-familiar inflexibility in the administration of U.S. immigration policy and frustrates one of its most fundamental stated goals: family unification. Our nation's consensus, derived from international norms, is that innocent families, survivors of terrorism and brutality elsewhere in the world, be granted asylum here. Yet the DHS has chosen to bar a victimized and vulnerable girl from rejoining her family for the flimsiest of reasons -- lack of an unobtainable document.
The machinery of Congress was geared up to make it possible for an ice dancer to bring Olympic glory to the United States. Why can't it be set in motion for humanitarian cases such as that of Teresa and her mother? That would bring us a measure of glory, too.
Stacy Caplow is a professor and director of the Safe Harbor Project at Brooklyn Law School. Lauren Kosseff is a third-year student there.
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Congress moved fast so a Canadian ice dancer could immigrate in time for the Olympics.?Why can't it help a 14-year-old African girl who wants to join her mother in the U.S.?
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Neighborhood Peace a Casualty of War
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BAGHDAD -- To generations of its residents, the tightknit neighborhood known as Tobji was among this city's rare oases. People argued amiably in sidewalk cafes kept open until nearly midnight. Shiite and Sunni Muslims married into each other's families and lived side-by-side. Until recently, Iraq's police and army, with more than enough trouble spots to worry about, rarely came around.
It was a neighborhood, residents said, that lived up to its formal name, Salam, which means peace. But in volatile Baghdad, home to more than 5 million people, even stable sections sit a few stray shots from chaos. It took scarcely two months for the sectarian conflict consuming other corners of the capital to gain a foothold in Tobji.
It began, residents say, one November day when gunmen killed Majid Abdul Hussein, a local preacher and member of a powerful Shiite militia. Days later, a former member of Saddam Hussein's Sunni-led Baath Party was gunned down in broad daylight. Before locals realized it, they said, theirs had become yet another fractured community, a place nearly silent after dark save for the crackle of gunfire.
Then, on Jan. 23, men in camouflage uniforms rounded up 53 Tobji residents, nearly all of them Sunnis, in pre-dawn raids. Two people were killed. Other than two old men who were released days later, none of those taken have been heard from since.
Locals said the uniforms the gunmen wore and the vehicles they drove identified them as Interior Ministry police commandos, whose ranks are dominated by former members of Shiite factional militias. Since Iraq's Shiite majority first gained political power in elections a year ago, raids like the one in Tobji have taken place in neighborhoods in Baghdad and other Iraqi cities. They always target Sunni men, and witnesses always implicate the police.
Iraqi officials have denied any government role in the raids, blaming groups intent on destabilizing the country.
"It happens too often that people impersonate government forces, impersonate police," said Baghdad's governor, Hussein Taha, who oversees his province's police force. "When the terrorists feel chased in one area, they transfer to another and carry out operations there randomly, even if it affects civilians. That is what happened to Tobji."
Asked how many Tobji residents have died violently in recent months, Mariam Nouri, 27, whose family came to the neighborhood more than 50 years ago, counted them by name.
"There's Hussein, Firas, Abbas, Osama, Uday," said Nouri, a Sunni, whose brother, father and uncle were dragged from her home during the recent raid. Hardly pausing for breath, she ticked off 11 of the dead from memory. "It might be more like 15," she said. "There are some I've forgotten."
Sunni leaders have responded to the raids in Tobji, northwest of downtown, and in other Baghdad neighborhoods by calling on residents to defend themselves. Adnan Dulaimi, a prominent Sunni Arab politician, called for further unrest unless the country's next government puts police beyond the control of Shiite militias. The Iraqi Accordance Front, the country's dominant Sunni political group, warned Wednesday of "nationwide civil disobedience" unless what it termed "haphazard raids" were halted.
Observers in the capital say the destructive cycle of raids, denunciations and retaliatory violence represents the first tentative steps toward a wider sectarian conflict spreading like a virus from community to community.
"It started in Iskan, then Sadiya and Ghazaliya," said Abbas Lafta, 35, a Shiite resident of Tobji, citing once-tranquil Baghdad enclaves that have fallen like dominoes toward his neighborhood in the past year. "People used to move here to get away from those places. Now we are one of them."
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BAGHDAD -- To generations of its residents, the tightknit neighborhood known as Tobji was among this city's rare oases. People argued amiably in sidewalk cafes kept open until nearly midnight. Shiite and Sunni Muslims married into each other's families and lived side-by-side. Until recently, Iraq's...
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Tighter Borders Take a Toll In Iraq
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OM AL-KABARI, Iraq -- In this once-thriving smuggling village on Iraq's border with Syria, the last donkeys are dying.
Mothers complain they have no shoes for their children and only soup to feed them. Men sit idly playing checkers and bemoaning the night when American scout helicopters swooped overhead, spelling the end of their livelihoods.
"We could get around everything, but not the helicopters," sighed Mahmood Ahmed, 29, who, along with most of the men in this village of 400 people, admitted he was a smuggler. "We're having nightmares about them."
With their income shriveling, the smugglers could no longer afford food for the hundreds of donkeys they used to haul 30-gallon drums of benzene, cartons of cigarettes and other goods into Syria.
"There is no grass, no money to feed them. So they all died," said Yassin Ali, 39, pointing to a mangy, skeletal white donkey lying listless nearby.
The dramatic downturn in the fortunes of villages along the border is one sign that a surge of American and Iraqi troops into the region in recent months has sharply curtailed illegal traffic over the frontier, U.S. and Iraqi officials and local residents say.
U.S. commanders last year launched a plan to gain better control of Iraq's borders to try to stop the flow of outside fighters, weapons and cash to the Iraqi insurgency. Several thousand additional U.S. and Iraqi troops have been sent into regions near Syria since last summer to bolster a growing contingent of Iraqi border guards. Scores of border forts have been built or refurbished and manned, and there are plans to erect a double chain-link fence along the border during the coming year, according to U.S. and Iraqi officials.
"It's much more than just a line in the sand right now," said Lt. Col. Gregory Reilly of Sacramento, Calif., commander of a U.S. cavalry squadron that oversees about 115 miles of Iraq's northwestern border with Syria, from the Tigris River to the Euphrates. "It's not like a vast open border, not at all. It's a very difficult border to cross."
Syrian border police are also aggressively patrolling their side, Reilly said, in contrast with official statements in Washington accusing Damascus of lax control. "The Syrians are actually doing their job. They are more violent than we are. If they see someone, they will open up shooting," Reilly said as he walked along a dirt berm in view of Syrian guards several weeks ago. Iraqi officers said Syrian guards had recently shot at Iraqi border police, leading to skirmishes.
Controls have been tightened at official border-crossing points. At the town of Rabiyah, a 10-wheel cargo truck rumbled past a newly constructed Iraqi customs station toward a Syrian checkpoint marked by a huge portrait of Syria's late president Hafez Assad. A few months ago, the Iraqi entry point here was in disarray, U.S. and Iraqi officials said. Inbound and outbound traffic were mixed together. Iraqi guards had only five rifles, lacked ammunition and "had no idea what passport was fake and what was real," said Col. Fadel Shaaban Abas, commander of Iraqi customs police at Rabiyah.
"It was complete chaos. You had no idea who was coming and going," said Reilly, commander of 1st Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, which finishes a year-long tour in Iraq this month. A suicide car bombing in late May closed the entry point for two weeks.
Today, up to 5,000 people, mostly on foot, and about 300 vehicles cross the border daily through divided lanes. Customs revenue has almost tripled. The 120 Iraqi customs police are armed with AK-47 assault rifles or pistols and are backed up by a new, 260-man police battalion, which arrived in December, Abas said. A U.S. customs team recently trained the police officers to spot false passports, and now they find three or four a day, said Staff Sgt. Robert Lowery of Naples, Fla.
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OM AL-KABARI, Iraq -- In this once-thriving smuggling village on Iraq's border with Syria, the last donkeys are dying.
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Bob Barr, Bane of the Right?
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You could find just about everything at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference this week: the bumper sticker that says "Happiness is Hillary's face on a milk carton," the "Straight Pride" T-shirt, a ride on an F-22 Raptor simulator at the Lockheed exhibit, and beans from the Contra Cafe coffee company (slogan: "Wake up with freedom fighters").
As of midday yesterday, a silent auction netted $300 for lunch with activist Grover Norquist, $275 for a meal with the Heritage Foundation president and $1,000 for a hunting trip with the American Conservative Union chairman. But lunch with former congressman Bob Barr (R-Ga.), with an "estimated value" of $500, had a top bid of only $75 -- even with a signed copy of Barr's book, "The Meaning of Is," thrown in.
No surprise there. The former Clinton impeachment manager is the skunk at CPAC's party this year. He says President Bush is breaking the law by eavesdropping on U.S. citizens without warrants. And fellow conservatives, for the most part, don't want to hear it.
"You've heard of bear baiting? We're going to have, today, Barr baiting," R. Emmet Tyrell, a conservative publisher, announced as he introduced a debate Thursday between Barr and Viet Dinh, one of the authors of the USA Patriot Act.
"Are we losing our lodestar, which is the Bill of Rights?" Barr beseeched the several hundred conservatives at the Omni Shoreham in Woodley Park. "Are we in danger of putting allegiance to party ahead of allegiance to principle?"
Barr answered in the affirmative. "Do we truly remain a society that believes that . . . every president must abide by the law of this country?" he posed. "I, as a conservative, say yes. I hope you as conservatives say yes."
But nobody said anything in the deathly quiet audience. Barr merited only polite applause when he finished, and one man, Richard Sorcinelli, booed him loudly. "I can't believe I'm in a conservative hall listening to him say [Bush] is off course trying to defend the United States," Sorcinelli fumed.
Far more to this crowd's liking was Vice President Cheney, who stopped by CPAC late Thursday and suggested the surveillance program as a 2006 campaign issue. "With an important election coming up, people need to know just how we view the most critical questions of national security," he told the cheering crowd.
Dinh, now a Georgetown law professor, urged the CPAC faithful to carve out a Bush exception to their ideological principle of limited government. "The conservative movement has a healthy skepticism of governmental power, but at times, unfortunately, that healthy skepticism needs to yield," Dinh explained, invoking Osama bin Laden.
Dinh brought the crowd to a raucous ovation when he judged: "The threat to Americans' liberty today comes from al Qaeda and its associates and the people who would destroy America and her people, not the brave men and women who work to defend this country!"
It was the sort of tactic that has intimidated Democrats and the last few libertarian Republicans who question the program's legality. But Barr is not easily suppressed. During a 2002 Senate primary, he accidentally fired a pistol at a campaign event; at a charity event a decade earlier, he licked whipped cream from the chests of two women.
Barr wasn't going to get a lesson on patriotism from this young product of the Bush Justice Department. "That, folks, was a red herring," he announced. "This debate is very simple: It is a debate about whether or not we will remain a nation subject to and governed by the rule of law or the whim of men."
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You could find just about everything at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference this week: the bumper sticker that says "Happiness is Hillary's face on a milk carton," the "Straight Pride" T-shirt, a ride on an F-22 Raptor simulator at the Lockheed exhibit, and beans from the Contra...
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Muslims' Fury Rages Unabated Over Cartoons
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COPENHAGEN, Feb. 10 -- Tens of thousands of Muslims took to the streets across Asia, Africa and the Middle East after weekly prayers on Friday, burning Danish flags and shouting anti-Danish and anti-American slogans in a continuing convulsion of anger over cartoons of the prophet Muhammad.
Demonstrators marched in at least 13 countries -- Kenya, Iran, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Indonesia, the Philippines, Egypt, Israel and Jordan -- as the global wave of protests, spurred by a Danish newspaper's publication of cartoons depicting Islam's holiest figure and the reprinting of those cartoons in newspapers in other countries, headed toward a second consecutive weekend.
The protesters defied calls for calm from several prominent Muslim leaders and organizations as well as a statement of regret from Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen and an apology by editors of the newspaper that originally published the cartoons. "The government has done what can be done," Rasmussen said in an interview Thursday. "Neither the government nor the Danish people can be held responsible for what is published in an independent newspaper. And neither the government nor the Danish people have any intention whatsoever to insult Muslims or any other religious community."
In Kenya, police shot and wounded at least one protester Friday as they tried to protect the Danish ambassador's residence. Thousands of demonstrators shouting "Kill Danes! Down with Denmark!" marched from Nairobi's largest mosque following Friday prayers. Riot police fired on a group of at least 200 people who had tried to reach the home of the Danish envoy, Bo Jensen.
"We've certainly heard their message and hope they will go home," Jensen told the Reuters news agency.
In Pakistan, more than 5,000 people demonstrated peacefully in Islamabad in the largest rally in the country since the controversy began. Another 2,000 protesters fought with police in the northwestern city of Peshawar.
In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, several thousand protesters marched from a mosque to the Danish Embassy, shouting, "Destroy Denmark! Destroy Israel! Destroy George Bush! Destroy America!" Others carried placards supporting an economic boycott that has almost halted Danish exports to the Middle East and North Africa.
Addressing a large crowd, Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi described a "huge chasm that has emerged between the West and Islam," not simply because of the cartoons, he said, but because of Western policies regarding oil, Iraq, Afghanistan and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
In India, thousands of angry Muslims kicked, spat on and tore Danish flags and burned effigies in the capital, New Delhi, and in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir, the Associated Press reported. In Bangladesh, more than 5,000 Muslims marched on Denmark's embassy in the capital, Dhaka, shouting, "Death to those who degrade our beloved prophet!"
In the Middle East, about 2,000 women, young boys and older men marched around the Dome of the Rock shrine in Jerusalem chanting "Bin Laden, strike again!" Large crowds of protesters in Gaza fired gunshots into the air and burned Danish flags. Thousands clashed with police in Egypt.
About 2,000 Muslims marched in Jordan. Demonstrators in Tehran threw gasoline bombs at the French Embassy and shouted, "Death to France!" and, "Death to America!" Several French newspapers have reprinted some of the Danish cartoons.
The violence came despite calls for calm from Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami, a senior cleric.
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COPENHAGEN, Feb. 10 -- Tens of thousands of Muslims took to the streets across Asia, Africa and the Middle East after weekly prayers on Friday, burning Danish flags and shouting anti-Danish and anti-American slogans in a continuing convulsion of anger over cartoons of the prophet Muhammad.
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Baseball Questions Stadium Cost Cap
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Major League Baseball President Robert A. DuPuy told District officials yesterday that a stadium spending cap adopted by the D.C. Council has "seriously disrupted" the previously negotiated ballpark agreement, but he pledged that baseball officials will continue talking with the city.
In a one-page letter to Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D) and Mark H. Tuohey, chairman of the D.C. Sports and Entertainment Commission, DuPuy said baseball officials are reviewing the spending cap approved early Wednesday. The cap limits city investment in the project along the Anacostia River in Southeast Washington to $611 million.
"It clearly contains conditions, restrictions and new provisions which go well beyond our previous agreements and raises a number of questions," DuPuy wrote. "We want to make sure that the kind of ballpark we agreed upon will be built."
Already, there are signs that the cap could compromise the design of the complex. The council's legislation leaves the city about $34 million short of the cost of an underground parking garage, which D.C. and baseball officials have said is crucial to creating a lucrative entertainment district.
The latest development raises questions about whether baseball officials will endorse the spending cap or seek to negotiate changes. DuPuy added in his letter that MLB wants to see analysis from the District's chief financial officer and the D.C. attorney general before making a decision on the council's cap. D.C. finance chief Natwar M. Gandhi is conducting a review.
On Wednesday, the council also approved a stadium lease agreement with MLB contingent upon it accepting the city's spending limit.
Under the council's legislation, cost overruns, except those related to acquiring land, must be paid by the Washington Nationals' owner, the federal government or other private entities.
Mayoral spokesman Vince Morris said DuPuy's letter does not represent bad news for the administration. "It shows MLB is just as keen to press ahead with the ballpark as we are," he said. "So far as we can tell, the late-night revisions made by the council do not jeopardize the deal and mostly reaffirm our existing plans."
But baseball sources said a contingent of MLB officials -- led by Chicago White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf, chairman of the relocation committee -- was leaning toward taking the city to binding arbitration. Under that scenario, baseball officials would seek to force the city to abide by the original stadium agreement, under which the District is responsible for all cost overruns.
DuPuy was taking a more moderate position, hoping to negotiate a final agreement with the city, said the baseball sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the deliberations are ongoing. DuPuy and Reinsdorf could not be reached to comment.
Williams has said that land adjacent to the stadium should be used for a mixed-use entertainment district, featuring retail businesses, restaurants, residential units and office space.
On Feb. 3, Williams offered the council a plan under which the city would sell development rights for land adjacent to the stadium. Under one provision, the money would be used to build an underground garage.
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Baseball President Robert A. DuPuy says a stadium spending cap has "seriously disrupted" the ballpark agreement, but pledges MLB officials will continue talking with the city.
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Of Mouse and Women
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NEW YORK Let's begin with a brief case study in how the cynical, superficial American media (that's us) can distort the lives of political figures and their families.
We are talking with Karenna Gore Schiff about her new book, "Lighting the Way: Nine Women Who Changed Modern America." The smart, personable 32-year-old daughter of the Man Who Was Almost President tells us she wrote it as a kind of therapy, an antidote to the "punched-in-the-gut" feeling she got whenever she looked at the newspaper after the 2000 election.
We nod. Seems perfectly understandable.
She also wrote the book, she says, because ever since she was a little girl, she has wished there were "more female faces in the historical pantheon." She remembers sitting at her desk at Arlington's Oakridge Elementary School, looking at the chart of the presidents on the wall and wondering why they were all male.
We'll buy that. We've got daughters ourselves, don't we?
In fact, there isn't the slightest reason to doubt the sincerity of the motives that Schiff cites for launching her literary venture. But we have a problem with them anyway.
Her reasons are just a little too . . . reasonable . We start picturing that glazed look in our readers' eyes, the one that shows up just before they abandon us for the Boondocks and Zippy the Pinhead.
Ah, but then Schiff lets her guard down for an instant -- despite a lifetime of watching journalists turn Al and Tipper Gore into unrecognizable caricatures of the parents she knows and loves -- and lets slip something we can twist into a sexier lead.
Why did she really write this book? Hey, isn't it obvious?
It's because her mom wouldn't let her watch "Mighty Mouse" as a kid.
Hold that thought for a while. It may not be quite as ridiculous as it sounds.
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NEW YORK Let's begin with a brief case study in how the cynical, superficial American media (that's us) can distort the lives of political figures and their families.
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Alicia Graf, Rising to a Greater Height
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Some of the best advice dancer Alicia Graf ever got came from her mother: Since you're tall, you'll always stand out, so you might as well be glorious. Maybe that's why at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater performances at the Kennedy Center this week, Graf leaps and turns and extends her legs so high it's as if she's trying to play footsy with God.
In conversation, the Columbia native is so soft-spoken she still can seem like that innocent 17-year-old who made such a splash on the New York dance scene a decade ago. But while the critical acclaim and attendant buzz about her have returned, this time around Graf just revels in the joy of motion.
Fame came early to Graf and left in a hurry. Now it's back. She turned 27 on Wednesday, and the curtain is up on her second act.
At rehearsal Tuesday afternoon, as Dwana Adiaha Smallwood instructed, Graf and fellow dancer Tina Monica Williams worked on their "fan hands" for a section of the company's 46-year-old signature piece, "Revelations." In practice, even in sweats, Graf is all legs and lines, and she moves with graceful economy. The signature role of "center woman" used to be danced by Ailey's legendary artistic director, Judith Jamison, a majestic performer who, like Graf, stands at just under six feet tall. Now, Graf is learning this role.
That center spot is not new to her. In 1996, Graf moved to New York and joined the Dance Theatre of Harlem. A year later, she was dancing lead roles. Acclaim followed. One critic said she rises on pointe "as if it were a moral imperative." In 1998, the New York Times dubbed her one of the year's most influential dancers. Then, searing pain. Stricken with a difficult-to-diagnose knee injury, not only could Graf not dance, she could barely walk. For a year, there were surgeries, rehab, tears.
It was an emotionally wrenching time. Dance was everything she knew, she says. "That's all I thought about." Finally, Graf decided she had to let go of dancing to keep her sanity. She decided to try the one move she had never done.
She enrolled in the City College of New York, then Columbia University. Without the rigor of performances and the need to adhere to rehearsal schedules, she paid attention to the rhythm of her thoughts. "I didn't even know what my other interests were," says Graf. "It's the first time I had a chance to relax and be a kid." She had a boyfriend; she took classes in accounting, Spanish and gender in South America en route to a degree in history. She did summer internships at J.P. Morgan Chase financial company and in the fashion and beauty department of Essence magazine.
And, after the swelling from her reactive arthritis subsided, she put a foot back into dance. But not at the ballet barre. Along with other Columbia University students, none of them professional dancers, she started a "praise dancing" troupe, doing spiritual moves of uplift and celebration. At first, she tried being only artistic director. "I had this hang-up," Graf says. "I wanted to be around dance and dancers, but I don't think I trusted myself to try to be in it and not be in it 100 percent."
She was right. By her senior year, she was dancing again. After graduation in May 2003, Graf accepted a position at J.P. Morgan and planned to start that fall. But she decided she would spend one more summer dancing. After one of her performances, the legendary dancer Carmen de Lavallade took her aside. "You have something special. I really don't think you should try to do this banking thing," Graf recalls de Lavallade telling her.
Instead, she rejoined the Dance Theatre of Harlem as a principal dancer. After the company disbanded, she joined Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater last year. Once again, the accolades are piling up. "Graf's intuitive grace means she can do just about anything physically possible and make it look easy, natural and uncomplicated," wrote Post dance critic Sarah Kaufman of her performance Tuesday. (She dances again tonight and tomorrow.)
Coming back from injury, "it humbles you," says Graf. "It allows me to know that to be able to do this for a living is such a blessing." She doesn't worry that she might re-injure herself, she says. Instead, "I'm thanking God every day that I have this opportunity. Not many people have the opportunity to do something they love. From the time I was 3 years old I said I want to be a dancer."
Martha Graf, a former model who became a social work professor at Howard University, says her daughter was still in diapers when she started dancing. Martha Graf began a modeling school in 1993 housed in the same building as a dance studio. The instructor noticed little Alicia looking on and let her join the class. She and her husband, Arnie Graf, who works on housing issues for a local nonprofit organization, now live in Ellicott City, but Graf says her minivan used to be known around Columbia. She constantly ferried Alicia or her three siblings to soccer, basketball and dance in Howard County.
The dancing was all-consuming, and Martha Graf says she'd sometimes type parts of her daughter's school papers or get up with her during workouts at dawn. Alicia was "a whisper of a person when she was young," says her mother, who taught her to take up all her space.
Alicia Graf credits her home town for its diversity. Her father is white, and "my parents just wanted me to be comfortable" as a biracial child, she says. She was able to make friends with kids of different races and backgrounds. Even now, although she often splits time between New York and Atlanta, where her boyfriend, a financial analyst, lives, she returns home often. "I love Maryland," she says. "I'm definitely a suburban girl."
And, although naturally shy, the dancer knows "to be tall and shy is not attractive," so she's learned not to shrink. And she's learned to accept her role as role model.
Part of Alvin Ailey's preference was to feature dancers that ranged from the tiny and compact to the very tall and powerful. Graf is in a continuum of long and leggy Ailey powerhouses, beginning with Jamison and continuing with Donna Wood and April Berry. In her autobiography "Dancing Spirit," Jamison writes about a dance company that "really didn't know what to do with me. . . . What are you going to do with a five-foot-ten-inch female dancer, in any company?"
So Graf is well aware she is helping to put a different face on ballet. "I think a lot of things about me are unique. My height definitely sets me apart from other dancers. I have to work 10 times as hard because I'm going to be seen," she says. But she finds the Ailey mission of exposing young people to the brilliance of dancers of color a particularly rewarding part of her career.
"It's hard to dream about something if you don't have an image in your head," she says, "if you can't see yourself in the same position." An aunt who was a dance critic did that for her, sending her pictures of Dance Theatre of Harlem founder Arthur Mitchell and Ailey's Jamison.
"I think because dance is an art form, it's based off of somebody's imagination. If someone can't imagine a black dancer in a line of white dancers then it cuts off that line." But things are changing, she says, and the dance world is evolving and slowly, slowly, opening its doors to a larger range of faces and forms.
On Tuesday night, after the deft moves and impossible grace, after all the precision lifts and the standing ovations, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater relaxed at a gala dinner inside the Kennedy Center. Alicia Graf, tall, thin, lovely, glorious, hugged her dad, who reached out and caressed his daughter's face. "I'm happy for her because she's so happy," Arnie Graf says.
When she was a teenager, Alicia Graf couldn't imagine her life without dance. Now she refuses to waste time worrying that it'll be taken away again. She merely takes the stage and extends her legs beyond all imagination.
"Every time you go on the floor, dance as a way of thanking God for your gift," Martha Graf says she told her daughter.
And the glory of thank you is all Alicia Graf is thinking about for her second act.
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Search Washington, DC area theater/dance events and venues from the Washington Post. Features DC, Virginia and Maryland entertainment listings for theater, dance, opera, musicals, and childrens theater.
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The Tao of Tommy Lee Jones
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Rightly or wrongly, Tommy Lee Jones is known for biting off heads.
The 59-year-old actor-turned-director has been known to snarl at reporters, or pan-fry them with a withering glare, just for posing personal questions. As was widely reported, he overturned a table at a press conference for the movie "JFK" after journalists quizzed him about his Harvard days with roommate Al Gore. (The Gore Thing is his pet peeve -- consider yourself warned.) Jones lore also includes director Joel Schumacher calling him a "bully" for the way he treated Jim Carrey on the set of "Batman Forever," and Will Smith apologizing to reporters for Jones's unpleasant behavior at a press junket for "Men in Black II."
So it comes as a surprise to hear that the man who played Ty Cobb -- that terrifying baseball player who slid into bases with his spikes way up -- was often the Texas equivalent of a kinder, gentler sage when it came to directing his first feature film, in which he also stars.
Think Sagebrush Yoda, or Mr. Miyagi with a Stetson.
Cast members recalling the making of "The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada," which opened Friday, tell of an enigmatic man more inclined to offer soft-spoken riddles and assign reading lists than bark out commands. (The Book of Ecclesiastes and Albert Camus' "The Stranger" were two homework assignments.)
"He can give an actor a Cormac McCarthy or Flannery O'Connor book, or remember any 'Hamlet' passages," says "Three Burials" scriptwriter Guillermo Arriaga, who also wrote "21 Grams." "But he also can tell you how to brand a cow, how to rope, how to ride a horse, how to climb the mountains or how to shoot a rifle."
The movie, which won two awards (for Jones's performance and Arriaga's screenplay) at the Cannes Film Festival last year, is set along the border between Texas and Chihuahua, Mexico. Jones plays Pete, a ranch foreman who's outraged when a border patrolman (Barry Pepper) accidentally kills a Mexican rancher (Julio Cedillo) -- and buddy of Pete's -- then arranges a hasty burial to cover it up. Pete kidnaps the patrolman, forces him to disinter his friend and marches him into Mexico, body in tow, to give Melquiades a proper burial.
Jones can be an intimidating presence. At Cannes, that Southern basso profundo, the deeply lined Mount Rushmore face and the black cowboy wear -- shirt, pants, shades and boots -- had the entertainment press cowering. At a press luncheon, a Canadian reporter asked Jones what he thought about being known as, um, "a bad boy" and what he thought about the fact that he intimidates people. The silence was deafening as Jones mulled this over.
"I don't give these matters any thought at all," he said, clearly appalled at the question. "I have better things to think about."
Was that a collective swallow from the press?
Yet on the set of "Three Burials," Pepper insists, all was Zen.
"He would say things like" -- Pepper mimics Jones's Texas drawl -- " 'Keep it stupid, simple.' That was all he said all day. Or he'd say, 'Don't just do something, stand there.' At first you'd be sort of assaulted, like, 'What did that mean? I don't know what to do with that.' To me it perfectly crystallized the element of faith that was at work in filmmaking, once all the bone-breaking work of breaking down the script and research is complete. You have to leave the analytical mind behind."
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Search Washington, DC area movie listings, reviews and locations from the Washington Post. Features DC, Virginia and Maryland entertainment listings for movies and movie guide. Visit http://eg.washingtonpost.com/section/movies today.
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Steele Apologizes for Holocaust Remarks
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Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele profusely apologized yesterday for comments linking stem cell research to Nazi experimentation, but the offhand analogy could undermine what had been a concerted effort by the Republican to run for the U.S. Senate as a moderate "bridge" between Democrats and Republicans in his left-leaning state.
Steele issued apologies in a radio interview and in phone conversations with Jewish leaders in Baltimore and Washington, and then continued to express regret throughout a series of stops in Prince George's County.
"I offended members of the Jewish community and members of the Maryland community," Steele said outside a Prince George's nursing home. "It was a remark that was an improper inference, because I never specifically said Holocaust. . . . And it did not reflect my attitude and my belief, and I am really sorry about the whole thing."
Besides offending those Steele was trying to befriend, some politicians and political observers said his remarks appeared to hurt him in several ways: putting him on the wrong side of a popular issue, reinforcing a worry among even some Republicans that he can be an accident-prone candidate in a high-profile race, and signaling to swing voters that he is more conservative than the almost-nonpartisan image he has cultivated.
"Some people could think he's not moderate . . . but a hard-right Republican," said University of Maryland Prof. Ronald Walters, who has been closely following Steele's campaign.
Keith Haller, who conducts polls for Maryland media and others, said his recent surveys show that Steele has "risen above the cacophony of partisan battles" in the state. "His popularity has been steadily soaring, so he certainly didn't need to engage on this issue, in such an awkward way."
In an appearance Thursday before the Baltimore Jewish Council, Steele responded to a question about stem cell research by saying he was "cautious" about the idea of "tinkering around with life," and added:
"Look, you of all folks know what happens when people decide they want to experiment on human beings, when they want to take your life and use it as a tool," Steele said, according to a recording of the event. "I know that as well from my community and our experience with slavery."
Jewish leaders, for the most part, accepted Steele's apology. Ron Halber, executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, said he considered it an exercise of bad judgment by a good man.
"He understands his remarks were offensive," Halber said. "People in the Jewish community are upset about them. What was behind the words were not the feelings of a hatemonger, though."
His Democratic opponents were glad Steele apologized but sharp in their criticism.
"Michael Steele does not have the right to compare the lifesaving potential of stem cell research to the barbarity of the Holocaust," said Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin, one of several Democrats running to replace retiring Sen. Paul S. Sarbanes (D). "His remarks were offensive to the millions of Americans who stand to benefit [from] this research, as well as to Holocaust survivors and their families."
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Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele profusely apologized yesterday for comments linking stem cell research to Nazi experimentation, but the offhand analogy could undermine what had been a concerted effort by the Republican to run for the U.S. Senate as a moderate "bridge" between Democrats and...
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Terps' Public Enemy: No. 4
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Seeking redemption for last month's blowout loss at Duke, the Maryland men's basketball team also is bracing for today's arrival of J.J. Redick, the all-American whom Maryland fans most love to hate. If ever a perfect stage existed for Redick to display his offensive arsenal, the senior's final appearance in College Park could be it.
Maryland's perimeter defense is among its most glaring deficiencies, and the Terps (15-7, 5-4 ACC) do not have a player with much experience covering Redick, a national player of the year hopeful who undoubtedly will face his share of hecklers and perhaps profane chants. No visiting player relishes the hostile ambience more than Redick, whose favorite sound is the silence of 20,000 fans after he makes a key basket and his second-ranked Blue Devils (22-1, 10-0) win on the road.
"The Duke-Maryland rivalry is very intense," Redick said in an interview conducted through e-mail. "There is not a lot of friendly feelings between the two schools. Certainly, we have respect for their coaches and players, and I am friends with a couple guys on their team. But overall there seems to be an intense dislike between the two schools."
In the past, Maryland fans serenaded Redick with vulgar chants during a nationally televised game. Redick still references one poster -- "J.J. drinks his own pee" -- in amusement. But there also were less pleasant occasions when Maryland fans obtained his cell phone number, or when they made a sexual reference about his sister during a game.
Maryland Coach Gary Williams is so concerned that the crowd could provide Redick with extra incentive that he went out of his way following Tuesday's victory against Virginia to say: "Most great players get motivated when people personalize cheers. You can't do that. They are too good; they have too much pride in their program. They don't need any extra incentives to play well. We've got to be wild, loud, everything -- but nothing personal."
Said Redick: "It's not difficult to block out the crowd and sometimes play along with the crowd, especially during warmups. Once the game starts, it is easy for me to just focus on what is going on in the game."
This season, no atmosphere or defense has fazed Redick, who has scored at least 35 points in four of the past six games. He scored 40 against Virginia on Jan. 28 despite taking only 13 shots from the field. In Duke's lone loss, on Jan. 21, Georgetown opted to try to shut down Redick's teammates because Coach John Thompson III felt it was essentially futile to try to quiet Redick, who scored 41.
Today, Redick will not face the player who had success covering him last season, Chris McCray, who was ruled academically ineligible Jan. 23. In Maryland's two victories against Duke last year, McCray held Redick to a combined 12-of-40 shooting.
Redick remembers McCray as a "long, athletic" defender but noted that his recollections don't matter because McCray is no longer on the roster. Last year's performances also are less relevant because Redick has improved, developing into a more adept scorer capable of making pull-up jump shots or acrobatic layups in addition to three-point baskets.
Today, Redick could see plenty of D.J. Strawberry, who missed last year's games against Duke because of a season-ending knee injury. Earlier this season, McCray critiqued his team's defense by saying he excelled at shadowing opponents while Strawberry was best at jumping into passing lanes.
But in Tuesday's win over Virginia, Strawberry was successful denying Virginia's Sean Singletary from even touching the ball at times in the second half. It will be difficult to duplicate that feat against Redick, who snakes around screens and remains in perpetual motion better than virtually anyone in the game.
"Redick is Redick," Strawberry said. "He is probably going to get his points no matter what. Nobody has been able to stop him this year. Putting me on him might slow him down, but I'm not sure what Coach is going to do and I'm not sure if you can stop him at this point."
A less likely defensive option is Mike Jones, who has occasionally been a defensive liability in man-to-man matchups. But Jones said after Tuesday's game that he would not be too concerned if he drew Redick.
"I've been working on my defense," Jones said. "Redick is a great player. Just like any other player in the ACC, he is a pretty good player. If you put your mind to it, anything is capable of happening. You just have to be tough and try to deny him as many shots as possible."
Williams has said that Redick is the best pure shooter he can remember in college basketball in some time and that Redick might have more range than Chris Mullin, who starred at St. John's in the mid-1980s. Today, Redick, who needs six three-pointers to become the NCAA's career leader, will face a perimeter defense that has given up at least nine three-pointers in nine of its past 11 games.
Regardless of how many points he scores, he won't enjoy today unless he leaves the floor hearing silence.
"I've enjoyed the competition at Comcast Center," Redick said. "Obviously, we have lost two out of my three years there, so it has not been that enjoyable for me."
N ote: Williams and Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski will wear sneakers in recognition of National Coaches vs. Cancer Awareness Day.
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Seeking redemption for last month's blowout loss at Duke, the Maryland men's basketball team is bracing for J.J. Redick final appearance in College Park.
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A Man of Many Firsts
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Paul S. Otellini, head of Intel Corp., the chipmaker famous for its alliance with Microsoft Corp. and the Windows operating system, is expecting delivery of his new Mac laptop any day now. It'll be his first.
Otellini might be the first guy at the top of the world's largest chipmaker to buy a computer from his company's longtime neighbor in Silicon Valley. He doesn't know for sure. But it's certain that he'll be the first to own a Mac with an Intel processor inside.
Starting this year, Apple Computer Inc. is building its computers around Intel processors. Apple's orders will amount to small change for the gigantic chipmaker, a day or two's worth of production. But the development is emblematic of a larger reinvention behind the scenes at the venerable tech company as it tries to reach consumers and regain momentum against mounting competition.
Otellini took the reins last year after his predecessor, Craig R. Barrett, retired and became chairman. The company was co-founded by a famously fiery-tempered immigrant named Andy Grove, whose motto was "only the paranoid survive," but Otellini, who once worked as Grove's technical assistant, comes across as more of a diplomat.
Otellini once headed up Intel's marketing department, and he isn't afraid of stunts to promote the brand. One week, he's on stage at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, helping colleague Sean Maloney perform a magic trick to introduce a new processor. The next, he's in San Francisco, wearing the white "bunny suit" of a chip factory worker onstage at Apple's trade show to announce that the new Intel-powered Mac computers would soon start shipping.
Intel remains solidly on top of the processor market, but in recent years, such smaller rivals as Advanced Micro Devices Inc. have eroded some of Intel's long-dominant position. Sales growth for such products as desktop processors have cooled off, and moves by the company to expand into hotter areas like cell-phone components have sometimes fallen flat. Intel's stock has been stagnant.
Otellini is the first non-engineer to run the company, and while he can speak tech-ese with the best of them, he prefers to talk about what his company's technology will make possible -- not what speeds the next wave of processors will hit.
"You talk about bits and bytes and you lose half the people," he said. "It's all about what these things do for you, what capabilities they provide."
That's the new Intel talking. For most of its life, Intel operated as a company whose main task was to design an ever-faster processor; computer makers and software makers figured out how to take advantage of the extra horsepower. Engineers gave the marketing department a head's up on what the next product would be -- now, it's the other way around.
The company was once organized the way a techie would structure it, by type of chip. Now, following a massive restructuring a year ago, the company is organized by target markets.
Otellini is credited at Intel as being a force behind one of the company's savviest steps in recent years: bundling a processor with wireless technology for use in laptop computers.
The Centrino package, as the processor system is known, was unusual for Intel. The company didn't even manufacture the wireless hardware included with the first set. When Intel marketed Centrino, it emphasized the abilities afforded by wireless Internet access, not processor or download speeds.
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This is your source for news on personal technology. Find info and reviews on the newest technology that affects your life. Read our latest features on new tech gadgets.
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Banks Look to Make Converts Of Credit Unions
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After more than a decade of trying unsuccessfully to roll back the credit union movement in Congress and the marketplace, the banking industry has come up with a new strategy: If you can't beat 'em, get 'em to join you.
In a small but significant number of cases, it seems to be working.
Last year in Texas, two credit unions, each with more than $1 billion in assets, converted to mutual savings banks, and another of comparable size in Michigan is seeking to convert. These transactions would bring to 26 the number of credit unions -- out of a total of about 9,000 -- that have converted in the past decade. Of those, more than half have gone on to become stockholder-owned companies -- a far cry from the cooperative movement that spawned credit unions.
The size of the recent conversions heartens bankers and alarms many in the credit union industry, both for the same reason. As low-cost competitors, credit unions have exerted downward pressure on the fees banks charge.
Some bankers envision a wave of conversions as officers, volunteer directors and some members of credit unions realize that they can make a lot of money if they switch over to a stockholder-owned institution.
"At some point, either the management or the members or both will figure out what [their credit unions] are worth, and their enlightened self-interest takes over," Richard C. Hartnack of U.S. Bancorp told an industry meeting last year.
Congress made conversion much easier with a bill passed in 1998, which, among other provisions, eliminated the authority of the National Credit Union Administration, the federal regulator, to block conversions. The measure also eased the threshold for approval of a conversion from a majority of a credit union's members to a majority of those who vote.
Some bankers and consultants involved in conversions say the switches are needed to cope with a changing marketplace.
"I would have loved to have stayed a credit union, but I couldn't do it under the [legal] constraints" on who could join her institution as a credit union, said Kay Hoveland, president and chief executive of Kaiser Federal Bank, formerly Kaiser Permanente Federal Credit Union, in California. Medical care was changing, and the institution, created to serve employees of a health care system, needed more members, she said.
Others, such as Alan D. Theriault, president of CU Financial Services, a Maine-based consulting firm that helps credit unions convert, say that as financial institutions get larger and more complex, they need more flexibility in compensation in order to attract the caliber of management they need.
Credit unions are nonprofit, tax-exempt cooperatives. They once were primarily niche players, typically serving employees of a single company.
However, membership grew sharply in the 1980s and '90s, spurred in part by a wave of bank mergers that sometimes left depositors feeling neglected and overcharged and looking for an alternative. At the same time, changes in law and regulation allowed credit unions to take in multiple groups of members and made it easier for institutions to merge.
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Washington, DC, Virginia, Maryland business news headlines with stock portfolio and market news, economy, government/tech policy, mutual funds, personal finance. Dow Jones, S&P 500, NASDAQ quotes. Features top DC, VA, MD businesses, company research tools
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