A2 Politics & The Nation
Marine convicted of killing pregnant colleague who accused him of rape .....A5 National Digest Firm settles in deadly collapse of bridge ...............................................A3
The World
Insurgent groups rouse fear before Afghan elections ..........................A6 Afghan officials challenge U.S. on corruption within aid contracts ...A6 Iranian ex-prosecutor may face trial in prison deaths.........................A8 Pakistani president recognizes flood’s potential to destabilize nationA8 Foreign Digest U.S. drone attack in Pakistan kills 13 militants, 7 civilians ..................A6
Economy & Business
Gasoline prices hit eight-month low......................................................A9 AIG pays back $4 billion of bailout debt ...............................................A9 Business Digest Fed loses review bid on bailout disclosure.............................................A9 Market Summary....................................................................................A12
Opinion
Editorial: D.C. schools’ progress and challenges. ...............................A14 Editorial: How to hold Pepco accountable. .........................................A14 Eugene Robinson: Right-wing whining on the Ground Zero mosque. .........A15
S
KLMNO
TUESDAY, AUGUST 24, 2010
Chronic fatigue study points to retrovirus Findings could
syndrome treatment By Rob Stein
A team of scientists released CORRECTIONS
A graphic with an Aug. 23 Page One article on the proposed Ko- rea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement transposed the value of auto im- ports and exports between the two countries in 2009. The graphic incorrectly said that the United States imported about $161 million worth of passenger cars from South Korea and ex- ported about $5.7 billion; the numbers should have been the reverse. A corrected version of the graphic appears here. An- other graphic, one with the con- tinuation of the article that listed the top five import and export categories between the United States and South Korea, incor- rectly labeled the dollar amounts as being in millions. The amounts were in thousands.
An Aug. 23 article about a U.S. House race in South Dakota de- scribed Sen. Tim Johnson (D- S.D.) as being in poor health. Johnson has had medical prob- lems — he was treated for pros- tate cancer in 2004 and had brain surgery in 2006 and gallbladder surgery this month — but his spokeswoman, Julianne Fisher, said he is in good health today. The article also said that he is ex- pected to retire when he com- pletes his term in 2014, and pos- sibly sooner. Although political observers in the state have said they expect Johnson to retire, Fisher says he has no such plans.
A graphic with the continua- tion of an Aug. 21 Page One arti- cle about the growth of New Or- leans’s Hispanic community in- correctly labeled figures for the New Orleans metropolitan area’s total population as being in bil- lions. The figures were in mil- lions, with the area’s 2009 popu- lation at 1.2 million.
CARS 2009* to South Korea from South Korea
$161 million U.S. exports
U.S. imports
long-awaited evidence Monday that a virus may be playing a role in chronic fatigue syndrome. The researchers, from the Na- tional Institutes of Health, the Food and Drug Administration and Harvard Medical School, analyzed blood samples that were collected 15 years ago from 37 pa- tients with chronic fatigue syn- drome. Most of the subjects — 32, or 86.5 percent — tested positive for a virus known as a murine leukemia virus-related virus, the researchers found. In contrast, tests on 44 healthy blood donors detected evidence of the virus in only three of the subjects, or 6.8 percent.
$5.7 billion *Passenger cars, new and used.
SOURCES: International Monetary Fund, Commerce Department
THE WASHINGTON POST
An Aug. 19 A-section article about Haiti and the potential presidential candidacy of musi- cian Wyclef Jean incorrectly de- scribed the time frame of Jean- Bertrand Aristide’s tenures as president. Aristide took power in 1991 but was evicted by a military coup later that year; he was re- stored to power in a U.S. military intervention in 1994. He was elected for a second time in 2001 but forced from power again by a rebellion in 2004.
A map with the Aug. 7 Where We Live feature, about the Silver Spring enclave of Woodside Park, incorrectly labeled areas north of Dale Drive as being part of the neighborhood. According to area historian Robert E. Oshel, homes on both sides of Dale Drive, plus the first block of Clement Road and Clement Place, are consid- ered to be in Woodside Park. Homes farther north toward Sli- go Creek are in the Woodside For- est neighborhood.
A July 22 Page One article about how Arizona’s new immi- gration law has affected the town of Benson incorrectly described a car involved in a police stop as a Dodge Falcon. There is no such model; the Falcon was made by Ford. Police said the car pulled over was a Dodge, but they could not confirm which model.
The Washington Post is committed to correcting errors that appear in the newspaper. Those interested in contacting the paper for that purpose can:
·· E-mail
corrections@washpost.com. Call 202-334-6000, and ask to be connected to the desk involved — National,
Foreign, Metro, Style, Sports, Business or any of the weekly sections. The ombudsman, who acts as the readers’ representative, can be reached by calling 202-334-7582 or e-mailing
ombudsman@washpost.com.
Oil spill hearings focus on improvements, not blame
Hybrid investigation separate from criminal case is geared to safety
by Joel Achenbach
houston — A Transocean rig manager testified Monday that, about a week before the April 20 Deepwater Horizon explosion in the Gulf of Mexico, he challenged his counterparts at BP to explain their decision to swap out the most experienced well-site lead- er — or “company man” — for someone less familiar with the rig. The discussion took place at a delicate moment in the opera- tion to abandon the problem- plagued well temporarily. “We did have numerous well- control issues throughout dril- ling this well,” Transocean’s Paul Johnson, who managed the Deepwater Horizon from Hous- ton, testified at a federal fact- finding hearing in Houston. When he found out that the new company man, Robert Kaluza, would soon fly to the rig, he said, “I was a little concerned. . . . We didn’t know who this gentleman was.” The BP executives assured him
that Kaluza — who has declined to testify in the probe — had ex-
KLMNO NEWSPAPER DELIVERY
For home delivery comments or concerns contact us at
washingtonpost.com/subscriber services or send us an email at
homedelivery@washpost.com or call 202-334-6100 or 800-477-4679
TO SUBSCRIBE 1-800-753-POST
TO ADVERTISE
washingtonpostads.com Classified: 202-334-6200 Display: 202-334-7642
Tiffany 1837™ concave ring in sterling silver, $225.
TO REACH THE NEWSROOM Metro: 202-334-7300
metro@washpost.com
National: 202-334-7410
national@washpost.com
Business: 202-334-7320
business@washpost.com Sports: 202-334-7350
sports@washpost.com
Ombudsman (reader representative for news coverage): 202-334-7582
ombudsman@washpost.com
TO REACH THE OPINION PAGES Letters to the editor:
letters@washpost.com
MAIN SWITCHBOARD
To contact any department: 1-202-334-6000
Published daily (ISSN 0190-8286).
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Washington Post, 1150 15th St. NW,
Washington, DC. 20071. Periodicals postage paid in Washington, D.C., and additional mailing offi ce.
OSHA fines SeaWorld in death of whale trainer Associated Press
See what it’s like to love car buying
CHRYSLER DODGE JEEP of Silver Spring
orlando — The federal job safety agency fined SeaWorld Or- lando $75,000 on Monday for three violations uncovered while investigating the death of a train- er who was grabbed by a killer whale and dragged underwater in February. The Occupational Safety and
TYSONS CORNER 8045 LEESBURG PIKE 703 893 7700 THE COLLECTION AT CHEVY CHASE 301 657 8777 TIFFANY.COM
0% Financing on select newmodels VAresidents save hundreds on processing fees alone
WeWillNot be Undersold!
jdelgadojr@DARCARS.com (301) 622-0010 12511 Prosperity Dr, Silver Spring,MD 20904
Health Administration catego- rized the most serious violation as “willful,” or showing indiffer- ence or intentional disregard for employee safety. That citation, carrying a $70,000 penalty, was
for exposing workers to drowning hazards when interacting with killer whales. The agency proposes not allow-
ing trainers to have physical con- tact with Tilikum, the killer whale involved in trainer Dawn Brancheau’s death, unless pro- tected by a barrier. The OSHA report described Ti- likum as having “known aggres- sive tendencies.” Sea World trainers were forbid- den from getting into the water with Tilikum because of previous deaths. But the killer whale grabbed Brancheau’s long hair as she laid on her stomach on a con-
While providing evidence that a virus may play a role in the mys- terious condition, the researchers said the findings, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, are far from proving that the virus causes the syndrome. But the findings are being hailed by advocates for chronic fatigue syndrome patients, such
alter approach to
as the CFIDS Association of America. The head of that group, Kim McCleary, says the findings are a potentially important step toward finding the cause of the condition and possibly develop- ing treatments, as well as dispel- ling the notion that the condition is psychological.
One million to 4 million Amer- icans are thought to have the syn- drome, which causes prolonged and severe fatigue, body aches and other symptoms. Over the years, many viruses have been linked to the syndrome, only to end up as dead ends. But in 2009, Judy Mikovits and colleagues at the Whittemore Pe- terson Institute in Reno, Nev., published a paper in the journal Science. The paper reported that many syndrome patients ap- peared to be infected with a little- known virus called the xenotrop- ic murine leukemia virus-related virus, or XMRV. XMRV is a retro- virus, which is the same type of virus as the AIDS virus. It has also been found in some prostate can- cer patients.
But four other groups, includ- ing a team at the federal Centers for Disease Control and Preven- tion in Atlanta, failed to duplicate the findings in other patients, raising suspicions that this was yet another wild goose chase. The recent findings will prob- ably revive interest in the virus.
The virus detected in the new study does not appear to be exact- ly the same one the Reno group found, but it is closely related. In addition to detecting evidence of the microbe in an overwhelming majority of the stored blood sam- ples, the researchers found evi- dence of the virus in fresh blood samples from seven of eight of the patients, indicating that the infection persists. Harvey Alter of the NIH, who helped conduct the study, says there also were in- dications that the virus had evolved slightly over time, which is what would be expected from a retrovirus. The paper’s publication was
delayed because of questions about whether the findings could have been the result of laboratory contamination. That prompted the researchers to conduct addi- tional tests to try to rule that out, and rumors that the research was being suppressed.
But in an editorial accompany- ing the paper, the journal’s editor said that the additional studies were important to validate the findings.
Some researchers continue to question whether the scientists have ruled out contamination. And many researchers urged great caution in rushing to any conclusions.
But the scientists say they are confident that they ruled out
laboratory contamination. They are not sure why they found evi- dence of the virus in syndrome patients while others failed. They speculated that there could be a variety of explanations, including that they tested a better-defined group of patients or perhaps that the virus is only found in patients in some geographical areas. In a commentary accompany- ing the study, Andrew Mason of the University of Alberta in Cana- da and colleagues said that one of the next steps might be to try testing antiviral drugs on chronic fatigue patients in a carefully de- signed study. Not everyone thinks there is enough evidence for that yet, giv- en that antiviral drugs can have side effects. But Mikovits and her colleagues at the Reno clinic who made the original discovery say they are hoping that a drug com- pany will fund such a study. Researchers are trying to de- velop standardized patient test- ing to see if they can further vali- date the connection between the virus and the syndrome. The FDA and CDC are interested in pursu- ing such tests, in no small part because of concerns about a safe blood supply. If the virus causes chronic fatigue syndrome, then blood donors may need to be screened for it to protect trans- fusion recipients.
steinr@washpost.com
CHUCK COOK/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Hydrographer Rachel Medley takes a sample from a water column sampler that was recovered from the Gulf of Mexico. Nearly 5 million barrels of oil have spilled into the gulf.
tensive experience in deep-water drilling. Johnson said he was sat- isfied with the response. But the night of April 20, a col- league phoned him with a bulle- tin: “I don’t want to alarm you, but we’re getting Mayday calls from the Horizon.” Johnson’s many hours of testi-
mony in a Hilton hotel across from the Houston Hobby Airport came as part of an investigation by the Coast Guard and the Bu- reau of Ocean Energy Manage- ment, Regulation and Enforce- ment. Other BP and Transocean employees are scheduled to testi- fy this week. The previous hear- ings were in a New Orleans sub- urb, but for technical reasons in- volving jurisdiction and subpoenas, the government de- cided to relocate to Houston. The hearings are something of
a hybrid. The federal investiga- tors are not looking to bring charges, but they will write a re- port, with safety recommenda- tions, at the end of their inquiry. But the witnesses are sworn in, and they are questioned for hours at a stretch. The hotel con- ference room Monday was jammed with high-powered law- yers representing multibillion- dollar companies and various rig workers involved in the disaster. The testimony could become ma- terial for the hundreds of law-
suits that have been filed. The Justice Department is separately conducting a criminal probe. In the earlier hearings in New Orleans, there were frequent ob- jections from the lawyers and the hearings seemed on the verge of disintegrating. To counter the chaos, federal authorities added two members to the investiga- tory board, most notably recent- ly retired United States district judge Wayne Andersen. Ander- sen ran the hearing Monday and was largely successful at keeping the lawyers on their best behav- ior.
“It’s uniquely complicated,” Andersen said late last week. “The board cannot let this be- come another sparring ground for determining civil liabilities between the various parties, or free legal discovery for matters not relevant to the board’s mis- sion.” The search for a clear explana- tion of what went wrong April 20 is hampered by the technological complexity of the mile-deep well and the organizational complex- ity of an operation that involved multiple companies with dispa- rate financial interests.
BP owned the well and leased the rig from Transocean for more than half a million dollars a day. The rig was overdue at another site, and BP hoped to plug and
abandon the Macondo well and leave the site. It was during a final pro- cedure, the displacement of heavy mud with lighter sea water in the well, that gas surged onto the rig and exploded, killing 11 workers. The rig sank two days later and eventually nearly 5mil- lion barrels of oil flowed into the gulf. The government has struggled
to sort out who knew what and when, and who had authority over and responsibility for vari- ous aspects of the drilling opera- tion and rig maintenance. A senior Transocean manager,
Daun Winslow, told the board that he flew to the rig April 20 as part of a “management visibility” exercise and spent much of the afternoon and evening touring the Deepwater Horizon. Shortly before the blowout, he and col- leagues visited the bridge and used a simulator to see how the rig could handle 70 mile-per- hour winds and 30-foot seas. Winslow said that he came across rig workers discussing a pressure test. Later he asked a worker if everything was under control. “He gave me a thumbs up and said everything’s okay,” he said. Soon thereafter, the rig exploded. Winslow escaped in a lifeboat.
achenbachj@washpost.com
crete slab in three inches of wa- ter. The cause of death was drowning and traumatic injuries. The second citation, deemed serious, was for failing to install a stairway railing system next to the stage in Shamu Stadium. That citation carried a $5,000 penalty. The third citation, which did not carry a penalty, was for failing to have weather-protected elec- trical receptacles at the stadium. SeaWorld spokesman Fred Ja- cobs said the park will contest the citations. “SeaWorld disagrees with the unfounded allegations made by OSHA today,” Jacobs said in a statement.
©T&CO. 2010
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56