Protesters recall Henry Kissinger's war crimes and crimes against humanity

Why would protesters call Henry Kissinger (National Security Advisor and Secretary of State of the USA for President Richard Nixon) a war criminal?

Probably because policies he recommended or created lead to the deaths of many innocent people, especially in South East Asia (Vietnam, Cambodia). As most international readers of this blog already know, however, no government leader from the USA ever gets arrested for war crimes or crimes against humanity because the USA is too powerful. George Bush should probably be in jail for war crimes for attacking Iraq in 2003, but he sits safely in his ranch in Texas.

In 1968, when Richard Nixon was running for the presidency, he told the American people that he had a secret plan to end the Vietnam War. History shows he lied in order to win an election. With Richard Nixon as president the war became worse. Indeed, Kissinger and Nixon even secretly sent US troops into Cambodia and other neighboring countries.

The Vietnam War was one of the most horrible and immoral wars the USA ever fought. Over 2 million Vietnamese were killed by the US military while the USA lost about 50,000 soldiers. Vietnamese children are still suffering from the effects of chemicals that were deliberately dropped on forests in that country to destroy trees so that Vietnamese soldiers could be seen more easily. To this day the people of Vietnam suffer because of people like Henry Kissinger.

Indeed, the Vietnam war should never have been fought. In 1964 one of the most corrupt and dishonest presidents the USA ever had - Lyndon Johnson - began the war when he lied about Vietnamese ships attacking American ships (The Gulf of Tonkin incident). The war lasted until Nixon finally removed US troops in 1972 because the USA could not beat the Vietnamese people.

{{{The flag of North Vietnam - when the US military was defeated by a third-world nation of farmers and Buddhists.}}}  

Here is an article about the protests. In the video Senator John McCain attacks the protesters and calls them various names. I am so glad this idiot never became president. 

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/senator-john-mccain-calls-protesters-swarmed-henry-kissinger/story?id=28577623

Vocabulary from the article:

protesters recall Kissinger's war crimes - protesters remember Kissinger's war crimes

to call out - basically this is a slang term meaning to insult people or speak badly of them; to verbal phase 'to call out' is not used very often

a protester - someone who does not like something and expresses his/her disapproval publicly

to swarm - to surround someone and bother him; bees sometimes swarm people who get too close to their hive

low-life scum - this term was meant as an insult...'low-life' means a very basic life form like bacteria or a type of worm...scum means dirt. So if someone calls you low life scum they are saying you are a type of dirt, basically.

disgraceful - not something to be proud of, something terrible that shoulod embarrass a person who does it

outrageous - unacceptable, terrible

despicable - something that should be hated because it is so wrong

demonstrations - protests, when people take action to demonstrate they are angry

to chant - to repeat something over and over

controversial - something that makes people argue; a hot topic

to be arrested - to be taken away by the police

the greatest distinction - if you have done something great, you have done something 'distinguished'...of great distinction means of great accomplishments

off the dias - the dias is the area where speakers usually sit

to be held fully accountable for their actions - to be punished

Do you know these 5 high-intermediate vocabulary words?

a fiasco - a disaster, something that goes very badly

 

to demote or to be demoted - this is the opposite of to promote or to be promoted.  For instance, when I was younger, it was possible for students to be demoted to lower grades if they were not doing well in their particular classes.  If someone has a supervisory position but does not perform satisfactorily, he/she might be demoted.

 

a probe - an investigation.  To probe can mean to investigate.  A doctor will sometimes do a medical probe on a patient...a device with a little camera might be inserted into the patient, through the patient's mouth or whatnot, and this will allow the doctor to see inside the patient.

 

a shakeup - a sudden change to an organization due to poor performance.  Usually some people are demoted, some are promoted, some might be fired and some newly hired.  A CEO might say that he needs to shakeup his organization because people have become too corrupt or lazy.

 

to hoard - to collect some type of thing or differing things and store those things even though you do not need them or might not ever need them.  Animals, for instance, tend to hoard food in case the weather turns bad.

 

 

answers to the exercises are way at the bottom of this message

 

 

Because the huge amount of snow that fell during the recent blizzard was not plowed from the streets promptly, the newspapers demanded a __________________ at the Department of Sanitation.  Several high-ranking officials were later fired. 

{{{to plow - to push the snow, using a type of vehicle with a huge shovel on the front of it, toward the side of the road.  promptly - in a timely manner.  If you are a prompt person, you are generally on time.  The Department of Sanitation is basically the department that has to pick up garbage and plow snow.}}}

 

It was discovered that when the city government began its program of distributing free food in poor neighborhoods, some residents would take food they really didn't need and _______________ it, while others who truly needed the food could not gain access to it once the city ran out of supplies.

 

Once it was learned that a Governor of New Jersey was giving high-ranking government positions to handsome men who were not qualified for the positions, a newspaper launched (initiated or started) a _________________.  They then discovered that the Governor was secretly gay and was giving out important jobs to his lovers.

 

When David Patterson became Governor of New York State, after Governor Spitzer was caught secretly visiting prostitutes (women who sell their bodies for sex), many people had high hopes for him.  However, his term as Governor was a complete and total _________________.  The government became more corrupt and ineffective and taxes and MTA fares rose greatly.

 

Because Bob had been such an excellent journalist, he was promoted to the position of editor.  However, the skills required for being an editor were different from the skills required for being a journalist and he was shortly ________________ back to journalist, where he was quite happy again.

 

 

 

shakeup

hoard

probe

fiasco

demoted

Should Greece have to pay back its entire debt to the EU?

(photo taken from the BBC)

It looks as if people in Greece do not like the idea of 'austerity'. Actually, probably nobody likes the idea of austerity.  Austerity means, basically, giving up luxuries and extra comfortable things and living as simply as possible.  It doesn't necessarily mean you will live uncomfortably, but it means you won't have the extra things you might want or have become accustomed to (used to).

When Greece borrowed billions of dollars from The Eurozone to keep the country running, the government of Greece agreed to austerity measures.  The government agreed to cut spending and other wasteful things (government workers, for instance, were receiving huge pensions upon retirement - a pension is free money you get after you retire). Now, however, there is a new political party in Greece and 1) they don't believe in austerity any more and 2) they don't want to pay back the money they borrowed from other Europeans. This party - Syriza - is now in power.

Apparently Greece is threatening to leave the European Union if they are forced to continue austerity measures and if they are forced to pay off their debts completely. If Greece leaves the EU, this will probably destroy the EU in that economic investors will lose confidence in the Union - they will fear that other countries may leave in the future as well (and many probably will).  So Greece is partially blackmailing the EU - "If you don't give us what we want, we will do something to severely hurt you." The EU does not want to give in to blackmail since other countries seriously in debt will do the same thing in the future.

What do you think?  Should Greece pay off its debt completely or should the EU cut some of the debt and stop requiring austerity measures? 

An article from the BBC about this:

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-30995480?ocid=global_bbccom_email_27012015_business

Vocabulary from the article:

Syriza - this is the new political party that recently won the Greek elections.  They won because they promised the Greek people they would not continue austerity programs and that they would not pay off the complete Greek debt.

negotiation not confrontation - confrontation is when two people or groups have a different solution to a problem and they fight over the solution instead of using negotiation strategies.

the debt is not sustainable - usually if something is sustainable it can continue existing. Here I think he means that if Greece and the EU do not help Greece get rid of this debt there will be a disastrous situation.  Basically he is saying, "This situation cannot continue, or something terrible will happen."

a bailout - this is when a company or country desperately needs money in order to survive and a government or other lending sources provide this emergency money.

to live up to its commitments - it must honor its commitments, it must do what it promised to do

to unveil - to reveal or show

centrifugal - a centrifuge is a machine that spins very quickly so that heavy stuff in the machine stays toward the middle but lighter stuff gets thrown farther from the center of the machine. So this person is saying that the powerful contries will throw the less powerful countries out or force them away from the center of European life.

to incorporate change - to accept and live with change

to collapse - to fall apart

credible - serious, believable

protectionist - someone who wants to protect his/her own economy and who does not care about other economies or countries

sangfroid - cold blood, in this case I think it would test and see how strong the markets would be

a rupture - a tearing apart, an explosion

nationalists are in the ascendant - a nationalist is someone who only believes in his/her own country. To ascend is to rise. So investors might feel that any country dominated by nationalists will acquire huge debts and just refuse to pay them or drop out of the EU.

frenzied - wild

panic - when you are no longer acting in a calm manner

implausible - not easily believed

reason will prevail - to prevail means to win; so here if reason prevails, the right thing or the most reasonable thing will happen

to sanction a write-off - to agree to or to approve a cancellation of the huge debt

peers - those around us

viable - possible

troika - a group of three

not on the radar - radar is used to track airplanes, if something is not on the radar it doesn't exist

a volatile start - a shaky, quickly changing start

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A Chinese lady cut off her husband's penis...twice.

If she had only done it once, I wouldn't have bothered writing about it. 

I guess I'm fascinated by the intensity of this Chinese lady's rage (extreme anger). It's amazing that she would be so angry that she would: 1) cut her husband's penis off (a penis is the male sexual organ) and 2) cut it off again after the doctors had sewed it back on. (Something is 'sewed' with a needle and thread.) Oh, 3) she also threw the severed (removed) penis out a window.

I'm also curious as to what happened to the penis after it was thrown out the window. The medical staff could not find it. Did a dog eat it? A crow? A rat? Apparently some animal enjoyed a tasty meal of human penis a few days ago in Shangqiu. Let's hope it didn't acquire an appetite for that kind of thing!  Men in Shangqiu - be faithful to your ladies!  There might be a hungry dog looking for more!

Here's the story.  Apparently the woman discovered that her husband was cheating on her (he was seeing another woman). She became so angry...well...you already know what happened. 

I think she will be in a lot of trouble now. Punishment exists primarily as a form of deterrence: some people are punished in order to make sure other people don't do the same thing. If they don't throw this woman in jail, Chinese ladies may feel they have the right to cut off the penises of their cheating husbands.  So I think she'll probably be punished to make sure other guys in China don't have to go through this horrible experience, even if they are cheating.

The article:

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/jilted-wife-china-chops-husband-penis-article-1.2076292

Vocabulary to help you understand the article:

jilted - if someone has been jilted, that person's spouse (husband/wife) has been cheating (seeing someone else)

two-timing - cheating, having sex secretly with another person

hubby - husband

manhood - penis, the male sexual organ, the thing that makes a guy different from a woman

jail - a place where criminals are sent after being found guilty

a dad of five - he has five children; this is difficult for me to understand - doesn't China have a one-child policy?

saucy - hot, erotic, sexual

marital home - the home where he lived with his married wife

stunned - shocked, surprised

flew into a rage - became outrageously angry, angry to the point where she did not care about consequences any more

stormed into - ran into, forced her way into, entered a place aggressively

to snip - to cut: chop chop...ooops there it goes...

sewn - sew, sewn, sewn or sewed - to use a needle and thread to attach something to something else

fuming - still very angry, fumes come from a fire

combed the area - searcher very carefully

missing member - his penis

emotionally distraught - very very very upset, depressed, shocked

fertility - ability to produce children

gruesome - bloody, disgusting, shocking

Can we please learn the right lesson from the killings in Paris?

Please take a look at this disgusting image from a German magazine:

It says, "You cannot murder our freedom!"

It deliberately depicts a crazy looking person meant to be Muhammad sitting in a bathtub of blood.

Is this a mature, reasonable manner in which to respond to this recent situation in Paris?  No. It is a childish, malicious and racist way to respond. It encourages hatred toward the Muslim religion and does nothing to resolve the underlying tensions in France between the dominant culture and the new additions to French culture who are not being treated fairly.

"to play devil's advocate" is an expression in English which means that a person will make an argument that others will probably not like, but the argument has to be made if a person cares about the truth.

So I am going to play devil's advocate in regard to this recent situation in Paris where several followers of the religion of Islam killed several cartoonists from the magazine Charlie Hebdo.

So the magazine Charlie Hebdo often presented cartoons mocking (making fun of) the prophet Muhammad.  Why?  Can someone please tell me what purpose drawings of Muhammad naked or having gay sex might have accomplished? 

The argument I would like to make is that having the freedom to say anything you want to say does not mean you are obligated to say horrible things that will offend, harm and provoke other people.

What is especially troubling to me is that now everyone seems to feel cartoonists and writers should go out of their way to mock the prophet Muhammad, as a tribute to those cartoonists who died in Paris.  This is INSANITY. 

I would also like to please point out that in France the Muslim minority has been discriminated against and treated badly by the white, French dominant culture.  I would argue that the cartoons by Charlie Hebdo were RACIST in nature and meant to attack people who were different from the French and of a different color and culture.

I would argue that the cartoons by Charlie Hebdo were not free speech, but a form of racist hate speech.  Just because you have the right to say anything you want to say, this does not mean you are obligated to attack people of a different color and culture. 

Of course, there was no justification for the murder of the staff or the innocent people who were taken as hostages.  But please remember the quote: "You reap what you sow." If you put hatred, racism and anger out there, you will NOT receive kind-hearted consequences. If you sow hatred, please do not be surprised if you reap hatred. Unfortunately, what seemed to be continually racist and hate-filled images reaped a hatred far too extreme. 

What ever happened to the idea that we need to become the peace and the change that we wish to see in the world?  Charlie Hebdo was spreading peace and love?  No, they were attacking a sacred figure over and over and over again.  It became part of the way they made their living to attack the religion of a minority population of a people of color in France.

Freedom of speech does NOT mean that you have to attack people you do not like because of their race or religion.  The highest form of freedom of speech consists of addressing matters with civility and humanity. But it takes maturity and character to reach this level, and I do not see much maturity in the responses to this horrible attack that I am seeing in the news.

More injustice for Yingluck Shinawatra in Thailand

Thailand is divided between two groups of people - the red shirts and the yellow shirts.  For many years the folks who now identify as 'yellow shirts' controlled the Thai government.  These were, primarily, people from the various cities of Thailand.

For many years the economic policies of Thailand favored people who lived in the cities and the people of the countryside suffered greatly.  Basically the 'red shirts' are people who have supported Thaksin Shinawatra and his sister Yingluck Shinawatra. After he gained power, Thaksin, and later his sister, Yingluck, developed economic policies that finally helped the poor farmers (who had definitely been seriously neglected).

Unfortunately, the yellow shirts have friends in the military and last year the Thai military lead an illegal and anti-democratic 'coup' (they took over the government by force).  This was solely to remove Yingluck Shinawatra from power and to take Thailand back to the old days when the yellow shirts controlled the country.  Yingluck had been fairly elected the leader of Thailand.

Now the military which broke the law by removing an elected prime minister is putting Yingluck Shinawatra on trial.  It will NOT be a fair trial, because the military in Thailand is totally corrupt (dishonest).

Here is a brief article about this situation:

http://www.apnewsarchive.com/2015/Thai-legislature-begins-impeachment-hearing-against-ousted-prime-minister/id-5517414ce47a4105a7665ff806986329

Vocabulary to help you understand the article:

ousted - forced from office, removed from office through force (often through illegal means)

charges - allegations, complaints, accusations

impeachment - this is a formal hearing or trial to 'legally' remove an elected president from office.  So this is, basically, a joke - the Thai military has already removed Yingluck from office illegally, now they are pretending to have a legal hearing (trial).

a subsidy scheme - an attempt by the government to provide money to support a business.  In this case the subsidy didn't work (Obama, for instance, tried subsidizing businesses that did not work and nobody is impeaching him here).

the foreseeable future - for as long as anyone can imagine

dismissed - rejected, said to be untrue

politically motivated - the charges were brought against her by the yellow shirts for political reasons

a verdict - a decision

anti-graft - anti-cheating, anti-corruption, anti-dishonest (anti means against)

indicted her - indicted is pronounced in DITE id, to force the person to go to trial 

dereliction of duty - not doing what should should have done as well as you should have done it

dismantled - taken apart

wiped out - eliminated

ascension - rise, her quick rise to power

curbing the power - decreasing the power

junta - the group of generals from the military who illegally changed the government

at bay - away from where the action is, to keep her harmless

incurring the wrath - suffering from the anger of the many red shirts

polarization - the deep division between the Thai people

allegedly - supposedly, apparently but it hasn't been proved

Did the US government lie about the North Korean hacking of Sony?

Almost everyone in the USA, including me, believed that North Korea had hacked into the internet system of the Sony Corporation in retaliation (revenge) for the making of the film "The Interview." 

Now outside researchers are claiming that this was an 'inside' job.  A disgruntled (unhappy) ex-worker at Sony worked with others to hack into the Sony system and they pinned (blamed) the attack on North Korea, or at least they knew North Korea would be blamed.

So, frankly, given the fact that Snowden showed the US government cannot be trusted in regard to anything, I tend to believe they lied about North Korea. Why, however, would they blame North Korea for this hacking incident?

I am guessing that blaming North Korea gives Obama a chance to seem like a strong leader to the American people.  He has already, apparently, blacked out internet service in North Korea (for 10 hours at one time) and is imposing (placing) more economic sanctions (punishments) on North Korea. Obama has been made to seem foolish and incompetent (not able to do his job well) by Vladimir Putin and now, I guess, Obama is looking for opportunities to make himself seem 'strong.' In the mean time, it looks as if North Korea is telling the truth and the US government, again, is lying. Everyone thought the lying and corruption would stop with Obama, but it has become worse.

An article from Gawker:

http://gawker.com/researcher-sony-hack-was-likely-an-inside-job-by-a-wom-1676556756

Vocabulary to help you understand the article:

unprecedented - this never happened before

or Santa Claus - this is sarcasm, the author is deliberately being funny and providing a ridiculous option to emphasize his argument

compelling - believable, strong

counter-theory - an alternative theory

vulnerable - can be harmed

sifting through - looking through carefully

in the wake of - following

intrusion - invasion, when someone enters a place he/she is not supposed to go

he doesn't buy the... - he doesn't believe the...

the feds - the Federal government, Washington D.C.

the angle - their interpretation, their explanation

dead ends - they don't prove anything; so it looks as if North Korea might have done this, but when you really really check, they are not guilty

leaked data - revealed data, data made public against Sony's will or desire

raided - invaded, attacked

formerly - once upon a time

ad hoc - put together for one purpose or to do one thing

sketchy - not fully developed; an artist often makes a sketch before executing a full painting

it hinges on - it depends on; a door is connected to a frame by a hinge

axed - fired

brutal - harsh, severe

mutual - something in common

pissed - angry (so some people who had been illegally downloading movies from Sony and who had been caught wanted revenge along with an ex-employee who had been fired)

disgruntled - someone unhappy about something

plausible - likely

a crack unit - a well-trained and experienced unit

a wet-dream - this is kind of a dirty/vulgar word...if a man is dreaming of something sexual, he might have an orgasm while he is asleep...therefore his underwear will be wet when he wakes up.  So the writer of this article calls the theory a Tom Clancy 'wet-dream' - a fantasy by the writer of thrillers named Tom Clancy. The writer also attacks the New York Times, which used to be a good newspaper but now is known for defending the Obama administration and other democratic politicians regardless of how corrupt they are.

far-fetched - unlikely, not-to-be-believed

substantiated - proved

a slam-dunk - a sure thing (in basketball a slam dunk is the easiest way to scores points)

to prosecute - to have someone arrested and taken to court

in some capacity - in some way 

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Can we show some compassion for Cho Hyun-ah?

I think the internet is dehumanizing all of us.  People see stories about people they do not even know and they often feel they can go on the net and openly attack and mock (make fun of) these people. It's a game that the internet news services play. 

So when I say that the internet dehumanizes us, I mean it encourages people to act in ways that are inhuman or inhumane. The internet and the way the internet is being utilized often encourages people to act worse than animals.

For example, this is a very sad photo above.  The woman who is crying is Cho Hyun-ah. She was the Korean airline executive who became upset on an airplane because she felt a flight attendant had not provided adequate service (it was Cho's job to ensure service standards on that airline).

She is being continually attacked online for one big mistake that she made in her life and I think things have gone too far.  Now the Korean government has arrested her and is charging her with numerous crimes. I think this whole situation is now ridiculous, although it does seem to be the case that government officials in Korea attempted to cover this situation up (as the article below points out). 

In my opinion, not enough people were arrested by the Korean government for the terrible tragedy involving the deaths of over 300 Korean children due to the sinking of the Sewol. Many South Koreans think that the government is covering up aspects of the Sewol tragedy because the person who owned that ship had many wealthy and powerful friends inside and outside Korea. So anger should be directed at a government which, apparently, covers almost everything up.

Cho Hyun-ah apparently had been doing a pretty good job until this one terrible day for her. It seems to me that she is being attacked so viciously because she was fortunate enough to be born into a wealthy family. Instead of acting maliciously and spreading hate and ridicule, greater compassion and concern would have been more appropriate.  But greater compassion and concern on the internet will not help news services or internet providers make money.

Here's an article about her arrest:

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/12/31/former-korean-air-executive-arrested-over-nut-rage-incident-on-plane/

Vocabulary to help you understand the article:

nut rage - this is an example of how 'journalists' take a sad situation and try to make it funny or entertaining. If a person is driving a car in the USA and becomes angry at other drivers and starts yelling at them, we call this 'road rage'. Rage means extreme anger.  So they are saying this woman became upset because of the way that nuts were being served to her and they are calling this a 'nut rage' situation.

prosecutors - lawyers who work for the government

allegedly - apparently; if someone allegedly does something, something is being claimed but it hasn't been proved yet.

endangering - putting people in danger. How did she endanger anyone?  This is an over-reaction.

mounting anger - increasing anger; basically, I think people do not like this woman because she grew up in a wealthy family and this is their chance to attack someone who has had more advantages than they have had.

dubbed - called

to flee - to escape

warranted - justified; if a concern is warranted, it is possible or even probable

detention facility - a place like a prison

an arrest warrant - an order from a judge for the police to take a person into custody

charges - accusations, claims that a person did something wrong

changing a flight route - she did not change a flight route - the airplane never got off the ground.

poked - pushed

siblings - a brother and sister are siblings

cozy - friendly, kind, warm
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Many NY City Police Officers Refuse to Work, but Do We Need Them Anyway?

{{{photo taken from ibtimes.com}}}

Mayor de Blasio

The New York City Police Department does not like the current mayor (leader) of New York City. The police seem to feel that this mayor (Mayor de Blasio) favored large groups of people who were protesting the fact that NY City police officers killed a harmless black man, instead of supporting the NY Police Department.

de Blasio's attitude is certainly different from the attitude of the last two mayors, Giuliani and Bloomberg, who often defended and made excuses for horrible things the NY police did. Indeed, a majority of New Yorkers would probably support de Blasio in this matter.

Furthermore, NY City police officers seem to be blaming de Blasio for the murder of two police officers.  A mentally ill man deliberately (he chose to do this) shot two police officers in the head to get revenge for the killing of the innocent black man. The police claim that de Blasio somehow encouraged this type of action by supporting protesters and not the police.

Yet, it's pretty idiotic to assert the mayor was responsible for these deaths - why don't the cops blame the TV stations, the newspapers, the internet sources etc. that provided massive coverage of the protests by people who were angry about the NY police department?  Why don't the police blame the NBA basketball players who were wearing tee shirts that said "I can't breathe!" on them? (The black man who was killed by the police kept telling the police that he couldn't breathe, but they didn't listen to him.)

So now newspapers are reporting that the NY police department is refusing to do its job. They are no longer arresting people and no longer writing out tickets for people who drive their cars too fast etc.

The funny thing is, that seems to be OK.  It looks as if all of these extreme measures the police have been taking for so many years were not even needed.  It looks as if the police had been over-arresting people and writing too many tickets - they are not doing their jobs, and the city is running just fine.  Maybe about half of them need to be fired, because, frankly, I think there are too many police officers in New York City and apparently a lot of the work they have been doing wasn't even necessary.

An article from the BBC:

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/12/why-the-right-should-oppose-the-nypds-flagrant-insubordination/384140/

Vocabulary to help you understand the article:

arrests - an arrest is when the police take a person into custody - they take him/her to the police station and do all of the paper work for the person to then go to trial

amid - this is a preposition meaning among, inside, during

high tensions - you have a situation of high tension or tensions when two groups are unhappy with each other and each group mistrusts the other and each group is a bit afraid of what the other group might do; usually aggression can follow from a situation of high tension

heckled - if a person is heckled, that means that someone from a crowd says something nasty or insulting while a public figure is trying to talk

unions - these are organizations of workers meant to keep the rights of those workers safe and to make sure the workers are paid enough money; unions are very important in NY City politics - often if a political candidate gets enough unions to support him/her, he/she can get enough votes just from the unions to win an election

citations - these are often called 'tickets'; if a person is driving his.her car too fast, for example, a police officer might pull the person over and give him/her a citation or ticket; the person can then go to court and try to argue that he/she did not deserve the ticket

offenses - an offense is something wrong that someone did 

rhetoric - words; speech

demonstrators - protesters, groups of people who are unhappy about something and who publicly express their anger or concerns

brutal - very extreme, harsh, cruel, horrible, severe

unarmed - not carrying a weapon

highlighted - to reveal more clearly, to bring extra attention to

protesters - groups of people who are unhappy about something and who publicly express their anger or concerns

respectively - one after the other

backing - supporting

mixed-race son - de Blasio is married to a black woman and so their children are part black and part white. de Blasio told his son that he needed to eb careful around the police because many NY cops are racist (hate blacks)

deliberate - choosing to do something; not accidental

Patrolmen's Benevolent Union - the police union

anti-police - against the police; anti always means against, pro means for