Friday, July 31, 2015

Zimbabwe wants to put Cecil's killer on trial


An American dentist went to Zimbabwe, in Africa, and killed a lion which had become famous throughout the world. This dentist, apparently, enjoys hunting large animals around the world.

Zimbabwe is now seeking to extradite him. This means that they want the United States to send him back to Zimbabwe to be put on trial. A trial is a legal process in which a person is determined to be guilty or innocent of a crime.

Apparently it was illegal to hunt this lion, and the American dentist 'lured' the lion outside of a park where it was protected by the law in order to kill it. "To lure" someone or something means to attract it or draw it from one place to another.

The dentist thought that by luring the lion outside of the park and onto another person's land, he could legally kill it. This was not the case.

Here is a story about this from CNN:

http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/31/world/zimbabwe-cecil-lion-dentist/

Vocabulary from the article:  

outrage - extreme anger

to extradite - this is when a person is wanted for a crime in a country where he is no longer located and his home country is asked to send him to trial in the country where the crime may have happened

prized - valued

a well-orchestrated agenda - a well-designed and organized plan

to tarnish an image - to make an image look worse; a silver spoon can become tarnished if it is not taken care of - it turns a brownish color

to strain a relationship - to add stress or difficulties to a relationship

a guide - someone who assists a hunter to find wild animals

to be accused of something - this is when the police officially blame someone for doing something illegal

using a crossbow - this is a type of bow and arrow: they did not want to use a gun or they would have been caught illegally hunting.


a lion quota - if there are too many lions in a park, hunters may be allowed to enter the park and kill lions until the proper number is reached

poaching - illegal hunting; apparently the landowner helped lure the lion onto his property, where the dentist shot it

to condemn an action - to strongly say it is wrong

a conservationist - someone who wants to protect wild animals

sustainable utilization of natural resources - making sure that natural resources do not run out or 
are destroyed completely

to ensure a legal hunt - to make sure of a legal hunt

collared - scientists had placed an electronic collar on the lion to study where it traveled

allegedly - supposedly, apparently

to be lured - to be attracted by something so that someone or some animal moves to a place others want it to go to

the uproar - the noise created by an angry public

a petition - a document demanding something from the government which can be signed by numerous people

to be tried - to be put on trial, a process in a courtroom to determine a person's guilt or innocence

Feds mum - this means the federal government is mum on this issue - they are silent on this issue

a hunting quota - a number of animals which can be killed

a boost - an increase

in the wake of - following

Tuesday, July 7, 2015

The WHO admits it needs revamping



The World Health Organization is an international organization with representatives from over 130 different countries. One of the goals of the WHO is to detect (discover), limit and eliminate possible threats to public health. It seems safe to say that they failed in this goal in regard to the Ebola outbreak in Africa. 11,000 people have already died and about 25 more per week are dying.

'to revamp something' means to fix something up and make it better. 

An article on problems and upcoming changes to the WHO:

http://www.bbc.com/news/health-33422635

Vocabulary from the article:

to be unfit - to be unfit for something means not to be able to do something effectively or properly

capacity - the ability to get something done

a damning report - a super critical report

commissioned by the WHO - the WHO paid for the repot and aksed someone to complete it

the review panel - the group that wrote the report

to get on top of something - to effectively handle something (it's not a common expression)

an overhaul - to completely fix something; if your car is running badly, you might have to overhaul the engine

reform - complete or near complete change

to be overwhelmed - to have too much to do and not to be able to do it; this is a good term to commit to memory...i.e. How do you feel these days? To be honest with you, I am totally overwhelmed by my work. I am so stressed out!

it shook this organization to its core - it shocked the organization, it negatively affected the organization at every meaningful level

rapid - quick, fast

scaling up - increasing

up to speed - up to date, aware

severity - how serious a situation is

pandemic flu - flu that crosses the borders of different countries and starts spreading

a contingency fund - a large amount of money to be used in an emergency

an epidemic - when a disease spreads rapidly

Sunday, July 5, 2015

Political Corruption in New York: Congressman Grace Meng

Congressman Grace Meng with her father after he was sentenced to jail. When the father was arrested by the FBI for offering to use political connections to get criminals off the hook, she said, "I am independent of my father, always have been always will be." Yet, he seemed to be a major factor in her political career and she had called him her 'moral compass' while she was running for Congress. Now out of jail, this criminal has access to a daughter who can do his bidding.

Many of my students tell me they have heard that New York City and New York State are very corrupt but they want examples.  Well, I can always tell them my personal example of an experience of corruption I had with a politician who is now a Congressman - someone who makes the laws in Washington D.C.

This story not only demonstrates corruption but points to why it exists and why it is not being changed in New York City or New York State. Basically this person is openly supported, for some reason, by the New York Times, which has written glowing articles about her instead of doing hard, real journalism about her.


Here's my story of how I learned that my Congressman is a crook:


In 2010 I felt compelled to report the activities of a Korean company I was working for, in New York City, to the Korean press.  



All my allegations were true and verified – among them was the fact that vulnerable young female performers were placed (for housing) in illegal units above a business in rooms the City of NY classified as ‘perilous to life.’ Bloomberg (God bless him) went after this company big-time and they were forced to pay over $30,000 to the city in fines and ultimately moved back to Korea. 

Here's one posting from the City of New York about a $10,000 fine:
http://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/ECBQueryByNumberServlet?requestid=2&ecbin=34979692J

Here is a story about NINE building code violationshttp://nwww.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20121017000844

These girls were not given health insurance by their company and the journalist for the newspaper discovered that the performers were brought into the country under the wrong visa and that the president of the company openly admitted it was ‘illegal’ to do this. 

To me, this looks like felony visa fraud and I am concerned about the fact that the US government never prosecuted this company for what seems to be visa fraud to me. As you'll read, this company's law firm seems to have had political connections - could it be that if you have political connections you can even get away with visa fraud?

Apparently afraid I was going to release more info, the company hired a law firm which sent me an intimidating letter demanding a retraction of undisclosed defamatory content. I didn’t see any defamatory content and they didn’t specify anything specific. My impression was that these were bullies trying to shut me up. 

A Korean-American journalist, however, told me that this firm was ‘politically connected’ and knew the governor (Patterson). Because I had received some of Meng’s political mail, I thought I could count on her for help.

She immediately got back to me and promised assistance. 

Nothing ever happened. I waited weeks. She did nothing. I wrote to her and she never did anything constructive about this.


Months later, unbelievably, I learned that MENG WORKED FOR THE LAWFIRM THAT HAD THREATENED ME. 

Basically I was being threatened by my own State Representaive and my State Rep didn’t see fit to mention this. 


So the clients of this firm violated almost every housing code in the books, putting girls in harm’s way through illegal construction, and they seem to have violated visa laws – via their own admission. 


My State rep blithely accepted this? Because she was getting money from the law firm that represented this company?  I went from thinking Meng would be my knight in shining armor to realizing there was another shady person in Albany.


But it gets weirder. After I discovered - accidentally - that she worked for the firm, the firm changed her status on their web page (I have screen shots).

Meng went from being a "Partner" in the firm to just being "Of Counsel". Meng wrote to me denying, in writing, that she was nothing more than 'Of Counsel'.

When this happened, I had no idea where to turn. I contacted Albany and nobody there wanted to help (since Albany is the most corrupt legislature in America - still being run by Sheldon Silver at the time, who will soon be doing time in a country club prison of his choice).

Frankly, the thought that Meng is in the Congress turns my stomach. It's like having Blajojevich in the Congress again. What further turns my stomach is that there seems to be a concerted PR effort to portray her as something she is not.


And the corruption is, basically, piling up. 

When she ran for Congress, for instance, her chief opponent was a Jewish politician. Suddenly, a Jewish guy affiliated with Meng also filed papers to run in the same election. His last name would easily be recognized by Jewish folks as being a Jewish name. 

So the strategy seemed to be that the group of Jewish voters in that district would split their vote into two and if all the Asian people in Meng's district voted for her, she would win. This is a form of racism and it was political corruption basically. Did the New York Times expose this? No. Other papers exposed this and then the Times wrote this: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/20/nyregion/gottlieb-quitting-house-race-in-queens.html?_r=0

Our system is badly broken if this can happen. Meng is a nightmare for democracy.


Furthermore, after her father was arrested for a major crime, she wrote a letter to the judge asking for leniency, and her father received (from Loretta Lynch) an amazingly light sentence.

Now her BROTHER has been arrested! Can we count on Meng and Lynch working out a nice sweetheart deal for this guy as well? If he is found guilty, what will his sentence be - free tennis lessons at the Rancho Dinero Super-Minimum prison?



Daniel Gauss
   

Friday, July 3, 2015

Racial Segregation in the USA

{{{A data map of Detroit, showing that white people (blue dots) live in the north and black people (green dots) live in the south. Asian people are represented by red dots}}}

Segregation is when groups of people live or work separated from each other, usually because of their race or ethnicity.

The opposite word for segregation is integration. This is when different races and ethnicities live among each other, all mixed up.

New York City is a strange city because there are people from over 200 countries who live here, but people often live in segregated neighborhoods. For instance, most black and Latino people live in the northern area of Manhattan. The section of Manhattan below Central Park contains lots of white folks. There are some neighborhoods that are mainly Chinese - like Flushing, Queens or Bensonhurst, Brooklyn - and there is an Indian neighborhood called Jackson Heights. Immigrants tend to find the neighborhood (area of the city) where people of their race or ethnicity live and they move there.

If you look at the map of Detroit in the article, you will probably be shocked to see that black people live in the south part and white people in the north part.

Here is an article and a series of maps about how racially segregated the USA is. 

Article:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3145042/How-segregated-state-Interactive-map-reveals-worrying-racial-divides-US.html

Vocabulary from the article:

race / ethnicity: if you are from China, your race is Asian, your ethnicity is Chinese. If you are white and from Poland, your race is white and your ethnicity is Polish. I am a 3rd generation American, but because the origins of my family are in Germany, I am often called a German-American (even though my father and his father were born here).

worrying racial divides - troublesome forms of segregation; the newspaper implies that racial divisions in the USA should be a cause for concern.

impossible to shift - impossible to change; to shift something means to move it, usually sideways

while New York appear more racially diverse - should be: while New York appears more racially diverse

racial tensions - if you feel tension you feel uneasy or nervous, so racial tensions are negative feelings that people have when thinking about or dealing with people from other races

at a peak - at their highest point

Charleston massacre - a massacre is when a group of innocent and defenseless people are killed. In Charleston a crazy white guy killed several black people in a church

a string of black deaths - a number of black deaths

census data - every 10 years the USA takes a census. This means every American has to fill out a form and submit it to the government. On the form every person at an address has to be listed. The purpose of the census is to determine how many people live in certain areas so that they can be represented in the Congress. For instance, if 1.5 million people live in an area, they might get 2 Congressmen. If 800,000 people live in an area they might only get 1 Congressman. Population changes a lot in the USA so the census happens every 10 years to decide how many Congressmen/women each area of the country will get.

a stark division - very strong, bold, striking
----------------------------------------------
You can buy my bookNew York City Sucks, But You'll Still Want To Come Here from amazon: 

http://www.amazon.com/York-Sucks-Youll-Wanna-Anyway-ebook/dp/B004TSPAQS

Or write to me at djg51qu@gmail.com and tell me you read my English blog and I'll send you a free copy via PDF file.

Wednesday, July 1, 2015

Euthanasia in Belgium


'Euthanasia' comes from two ancient Greek words: 'eu' - good and 'thanatos' - death. So euthanasia means 'a good death' or, basically, euthanasia is when a person is helped to die when he/she wants to, usually because of extreme pain which cannot be ended and a terminal condition (a condition which is leading directly and soon to death).

In Belgium euthanasia is not only legal, but they seem to allow people who are not suffering physical pain to die if they want to. Please read the article below - it is about a young woman who does not find life to be meaningful and who literally said, "Life? It's just not for me."

So part of me agrees that if a person wants to die, he should should not be prevented from doing this, but in the case of this young woman, it seems that her desire to die was caused by a horrible life. Perhaps there is some type of psychological treatment that can convince her to stick around and live. What do you think?  

The article:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3141564/Belgian-doctors-healthy-woman-green-light-die-euthanasia-suicidal-thoughts.html?ito=social-facebook

Vocabulary to help you understand the article:

a green light - if a person gets a green light to do something, the person may do it freely; the person has permission to do something

to commit suicide - please remember that suicide is not a verb, so we don't say, "He suicided..." we say: "He committed suicide."  Suicide is a noun and the verb to be used with it is: to commit

jumped by a third - increased by 33% or 1/3

a perfectly healthy girl - here the adverb 'perfectly' is used for emphasis, to stress how healthy the girl is

ranging from ____ to _____ - this means the category includes various types that can be represented as falling within two extreme types

ailments - physical problems

fictitious name - fake name, non-real name

she qualifies for euthanasia - she meets the standards or qualifications or criteria for this process

a troubled childhood - a difficult, painful childhood

her arrival was not planned - her parents did not want to give birth to her

this did not diminish ____ - this did not make her suicidal thoughts decrease, she kept thinking about suicide even though her grandparents were good to her

a stable family - a family in which one can predict what's going to happen and where people don't change in crazy ways

a funeral - the ceremony performed after a person dies

pulled the trigger - killed herself with the gun

a bearable life - a life that doesn't cause so much psychologically originated pain that a person wants to die

extensively - very detailed

everything has been appointed - arranged, established, this will happen

Those who are about to die salute you. - ancient gladiators in Rome used to say this before they fought against each other to the death. To salute someone is to pay respect to someone through a visual signal.

surged - increased rapidly

liberalized the law - made the law less strict, made it easier to engage in euthanasia

crept up incrementally - moved up or increased slowly but surely

unrelieved - can't be relieved, can't be made better

a capacity of discernment - an ability to think clearly and to understand what is going on

affirmed - acknowledged, verified, said to be true

consent - the agreement of their parents

safeguards - ways to prevent bad things from happening

gravely - seriously

a symposium - an academic talk

physical deformities - changes to one's appearance which make a person look terrible to others

involuntary - against their will, against their desire

in a coma - not conscious, in a medical condition where the person is not dead but not conscious

controversial - if something is controversial it causes people to argue

deliberately - not accidentally, choosing to do something

a living will - a document a person prepares ahead of time stating how he/she wishes to be treated if he/she falls into a coma

restricts - limits

emancipated - this word means 'free'

a GP - general practitioner, a doctor

urge - to encourage

high on their agenda - this issue should be a top priority, or an issue that is addressed very quickly