Breathing the air in New Delhi is like smoking 50 cigarettes a day

Fourteen of the world's fifteen most polluted cities are in India these days.

One of the most polluted cities in the world is New Delhi. As you can read from the article below, breathing the air daily in New Delphi is like smoking 50 cigarettes a day. The pollution seems to be from cars, industry and crop burning.

Access the article here:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/weather/2019/11/05/new-delhi-smog-toxic-pollution-can-seen-space/4166838002/

Vocabulary words from the article:

toxic – causing harm

to choke someone – to stop someone from breathing

haze – a cloud of something

to suffocate someone – to stop a person from breathing

inflammation – when something on your body swells or becomes larger

blanketed - covered

smog – a type of thick air pollution

fumes – gas that smells

emissions – something that comes from something else

stubble – the remains of crops (grown food) that are burned

foul – bad, terrible

congestion – when something is clogged up, when something isn’t loose

fatigue – when someone is extremely tired

ventilator – a machine that helps a person to breathe

a gas chamber – a room that can fill up with gas (an old way to kill people)

crop burning – a crop is a type of fruit or vegetable that has been grown

to be distraught – to feel depressed and hopeless

a street vendor – someone who sells something on the street

filthy – very dirty, not clean

a cut and paste from the USA Today article:



New Delhi's toxic, polluted air chokes city's 20 million people, and the haze can be seen from space

Toxic air is choking New Delhi, closing schools and colleges, forcing cars off the road and prohibiting planes from landing at the airport.

The pollution is so bad that it can be seen from space.

The 20 million residents of New Delhi, one of the world’s most polluted cities, have suffered for weeks under a toxic haze that's up to 10 times worse than the upper limits of what's considered healthy.

"I have a headache every day I wake up. It's suffocating to breathe sometimes. And inflammation in the nostrils and all. And eyes also. Like it kind of burns," Ankusha Kushi, a student, told the Agence France-Presse news agency.

A public health emergency has remained in place in the city for the past five days as the air pollution is at its highest level in more than three years.

Every winter, the city is blanketed by a poisonous smog of car fumes, industrial emissions and smoke from stubble burning at farms in neighboring states.

Experts said breathing the air in New Delhi is equal to smoking 50 cigarettes a day.

Dr. Salil Sharma, a throat specialist, said 95% of the patients he has treated over the past 10 days are sick because of the foul air.

“I have patients from all age groups, and most of them are nonsmokers who complain of breathlessness, chest congestion, fatigue and weakness,” Sharma said. “In some cases, I had to put some patients on a ventilator because they couldn’t breathe.

More than 30 flights were rerouted Sunday because the pilots could not see to land, the Weather Channel reported. Private cars can be on the road only on alternate days.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said last week that the city had been "turned into a gas chamber due to smoke from crop burning," CNN reported. 

Fireworks set off during Diwali, the Hindu festival of light, add even more smoke to the air, and calmer winter winds do not clear it very well.

Some people distraught over the pollution consider leaving the city for good.

Devendra Verma, a street vendor, did not go to work for three days last week. He said he was too weak to leave his house as filthy air made him feel fatigued.

“The city is not livable anymore,” he said. “Sometimes I think I should pack my bags and leave Delhi for once and all.”

According to the United Nations, 14 of the world's 15 most polluted cities are in India.

A teenager in Oregon gets harassed with homophobic graffiti, but responds with grace and humor

This article has very useful vocabulary and I chose it to show that the United States is not as open-minded as many folks around the world might think. Because this teenager admitted to some friends that he is not "straight" or "heterosexual" (to be "straight" means you are a guy who likes women or a woman who likes guys) people secretly came to his house and left anti-gay graffiti all over the place.

Everyone's right to make his/her own decisions about his/her life is supposed to be protected in the USA, but, as you can read, there are still many hate-filled and narrow-minded people who enjoy causing harm to others.

The article:

https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/oregon-teen-turns-homophobic-graffiti-teachable-moment-n1038206

Vocabulary:

homophobic - if a person is homophobic, he/she hates people who are not straight; someone who hates gay people. In this article the teen states he is "bi" which means bisexual, so he likes both boys and girls. So I guess the term homophobic can be used to describe people who do not like bisexual people either.

grace - if a person acts with grace, he acts calmly and peacefully and kindly

to be harassed by someone - this is when someone deliberately tries to harm another person emotionally,;when one person bothers another person

graffiti - this is when paint or markers are used in public places, often illegally, to convey messages or designs. There is something called "graffiti art" but in this case the graffiti is not art, it was meant to emotionally harm the teenager.

a teachable moment - when something bad happens but you use it to teach people something important. So the teenager used the graffiti to create more positive art and to get people from his community involved in a process to take action against hatred.

to be vandalized, vandalism, to vandalize - this is when public or private property is deliberately destroyed or ruined by someone for fun or out of hatred.

LGBTQ - lesbian, gay, bi, trans, queer: lesbian = women who like women, gay = guys who like guys, bi = liking both sexes, trans = switching from one sex to another, queer = you don't want to be called any of the other stuff, but you are not straight

anti - against. If someone is anti-gay, he/she is against gay people. The opposite of anti is pro.

bass - pronounced "base"...a musical instrument that produces a very deep sound

disturbing - not calm, not peaceful, anything that causes one to worry or be scared

tagged - painted

to be flabbergasted - to be deeply surprised to the point where one is shocked

the slur "fag" - a slur is an insult against someone because of how they look or act. The word "fag" is an insulting term for someone who is gay or lesbian.

to spray paint something - this is paint that comes out of a spray can

to cope with something - to deal with something bad in a healthful way

pride - a feeling that one should be happy about or satisfied about something. 

pansexual, asexual - pansexual means liking every gender or sex (I think), and asexual means you just don't care about sex

inclusive flags - inclusive means everyone s welcome to do something or be somewhere. So there are flags that represent this attitude in the LGBTQ community.

bullying - when ignorant, hateful (often stupid) people bother, harass or attack innocent people. Usually the people being attacked are peaceful and kind and easy targets for the idiots who do this.

to confide something to someone - to tell something to someone secretly. If there is a person you often tell secrets to, he/she is your confidant.

an outpouring  of support - a huge amount of support, like water pouring out 

the community has stepped up - the community took positive action, people came forward to help even though they didn't have to

a bias crime - to be biased against someone is to hate someone because of how he looks or acts. A bias is, basically, a prejudice. In the USA a bias crime is a very serious matter because everyone is supposed to have the right to be whatever he/she wants to be. 

Putting Trump's victory into historical perspective

PHOTOGRAPHER: DON EMMERT/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

Here is a good article about the Trump election in relation to other important US elections.

https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2016-12-25/trump-s-win-was-unusual-but-not-historic

Vocabulary to help you understand the article:

aides - assistants

to vie for something or to vie to be - (vie rhymes with eye) to vie for something is to try hard to get something, to vie to be something means to try hard to be something. Marco is vying to become the most famous poet in New York City. One of the most meaningful, although often painful, lives involves vying for justice.

ostentatious - if you are ostentatious, you are a show off, you like to be seen and are often flashy or colorful. So basically the article is saying that Trump's followers are trying hard to show off the most they can about Trump's victory over Clinton, because Trump likes this kind of attitude and behavior.

The claim deserves close inspection. - Is their claim correct? We need to look more closely at what they are saying. 

least qualified - the writer says Trump was one of the least qualified candidates because he has no prior experience in politics. But this is why many people voted for him - they do not like the corruption (dishonesty and crime) that occurs among professional politicians in the USA.

the shape of the Supreme Court - this means how the Supreme Court will change when Trump makes appointments to it.

the prospects for war - the chances or odds of war happening.

the shredding of regulations - right now there are a lot of laws (regulations) controlling the amount of pollution companies can create - if these regulations are shredded it means they will be torn up or destroyed. There are also many banking and business regulations that Trump may abandon (get rid of).

the social safety net - these are social programs which are funded by the government to help people who need help - like the elderly or the chronically ill or single mothers.

to realign - to realign something means to put something in a different order or to move things from one category to another.

mobilized populist passions - he got the people excited and many common people voted for him because he called himself the first common-man to run for president. To mobilize something is to get something moving.

he ushered in expansionism - to usher something in is to lead something in; an usher helps you find your seat at a concert or sporting event; he caused the United States to begin to expand more in a westward direction.

to refine something - to make something purer.

a coalition - a grouping of business people and wealthy farmers, in this case, became the core of the Republican Party while he was president.

to forge a coalition - to create a coalition (group) through hard work; to forge something is to create it through a long process involving fire (like creating a sword).

The New Deal was a political program to help Americans survive the Great Depression.

to shake up voting patterns - in this case it means to change voting patterns a lot. To change voting patterns means that some people of some groups have tended to vote for one party, but now they change and vote for another. Black people used to always vote Republican (Abraham Lincoln's party) until Franklin Roosevelt came along and then this changed that voting pattern and they started voting democratic.

evangelicals - very religious and conservative Christians.

to bring someone into the fold - to bring them into your party or onto your side.

decisive - certain, sure.

durable - lasting; so the writer is saying that these changes didn't last very long (Reagan and Obama).

a shift - a change of category.

a higher turnout - more Republicans voted.

a drop-off - fewer Democrats voted (Because they were upset about the Bernie sanders situation).

a swing state is a state that sometimes votes Republican and sometimes votes Democratic. Each state carries a certain number of electoral college votes - whichever candidate wins over 270 electoral votes, wins the election. Hillary won the total number of votes but Trump won the electoral college votes due to swing states voting for him.

striking - a difference is striking if it is really noticeable.

decisively - clearly, easily, no doubt.

singling out - choosing from among a bunch of choices.

draining the swamp - a swamp is an area of stagnant water (old, dirty, smelly, rotten water), Trump compared Washington D.C. and the US government to a swamp and said we need to drain it (get the water out and eliminate it.

a gambit - a trick, not something serious, something to gain attention.

a consulting company - a company that provides advice; in this case, since Lewandowski has a connection with Trump, he may be offering to help companies influence Trump.

protectionism - protecting the US economy through high taxes on imports.

white nationalism - the belief that the country is better of with white people in power.

it won't sit well with them - they won't like it.

to warm to something - to start to like something.

to capitalize on resentment - to capitalize on something means to take advantage of something, to use something to get some kind of benefit; so the writer is saying common Americans became upset with highly educated and wealthy people and wanted revenge against them. (I don't buy this - I am not sure why he makes this argument. I think Americans were fed up with corruption, war and lies.)

urban and academic elites - people from the city and universities who seem to be powerful and important.

Clinton personified that attitude - Clinton was the type of person who was a perfect example of a member of the urban and academic elite. (I don't buy this either - Hillary appeared very corrupt - dishonest, not trustworthy.)

anecdotal evidence - this means the writer doesn't have 'real' evidence or proof, but his evidence is based on 'anecdotes' or what he heard people saying.

his strongholds - areas that were especially sympathetic to Trump.

consigned - categorized.

a basket of deplorables - losers, human garbage (Hillary said that the people who supported Trump were a 'basket' or collection of human garbage. This upset a lot of people and hurt her greatly because it made her seem very arrogant.

the challenge is daunting - the attempt to make this a long-lasting victory will be daunting or difficult.

imprimatur - a stamp of approval, a formal mark of approval (a Trump imprimatur, here, means something that came from Trump and is still approved of by Trump).

Putin becoming a Jeffersonian Democrat - the writer is trying to be funny. Jefferson believed in small government and total freedom.

A New York City Math Professor Donates His Sperm to Women Who Want Smart and Attractive Children

If a woman in the USA wants a child but does not have a husband or male partner, she can go to a sperm bank and doctors will inseminate her with the sperm of a donor. The men who donate their sperm remain anonymous but the 'bank' will not accept sperm unless the male donor is under 25, healthy, over 6 feet (180cm), and college educated. Getting this super-sperm is very expensive.

So this New York City professor offers a less expensive and probably just as good alternative. 

The only problem for him is, by providing his sperm outside of a sperm bank, he is legally responsible for the child: he is legally considered the child's father and can be sued by women and forced by a judge to pay them child support. In fact, he has been sued a few times and it seems that money is garnished (taken) from his paycheck and sent to women he has helped in the past.

Despite the fact that he can be sued, he keeps providing his sperm to women who want smart and attractive babies. My guess is that judges can only garnish a certain percentage of his earnings - he has to be allowed to make enough money to survive. Therefore, he has already probably reached this percentage limit and cannot be hurt further by women who sue him. Indeed, suing him now would be a waste since the woman suing would receive a very small amount (if anything) from him.

The big problem I see is that he is creating many single-parent families. It would be nice if a child could have a dad around the house. Also, he is creating a greater tax burden for all of us since the government will give a single mom money and free food to help the baby.

Here's the NY Post article:

http://nypost.com/2016/06/12/professor-who-donates-sperm-in-city-bathrooms-has-sired-22-kids/

Vocabulary from the article:

to sire - to father, to produce offspring (children)

sperm - in case you couldn't figure out what sperm is from the context of the article, it is the substance provided by a male partner that combines with a woman's 'egg' to produce a child

flushed - red faced

semen - sperm

CUNY - City University of New York

Kingsborough - a location in Brooklyn

This isn't time-consuming and.... - so it doesn't take him long to produce the sperm in the public restroom and he jokes that he engages in that activity every day any way.

in a committed relationship - she was his chosen partner, not someone random, not a stranger

offspring - children

the old fashioned way - this means he has sex with the woman and inseminates her through having sex

for moral support - for encouragement (because it cannot be easy for a lesbian to have sex with a man). If you provide 'moral support' to a person you are there with the person to encourage him or her.

to engage in intercourse - the sexual process that can result in sperm being combined with a woman's ovum (egg)

he supplies his goods in a cup - he ejaculates his sperm into a cup for the women who then inserts it into herself to try to achieve pregnancy

I'm not doing it for easy action - he claims he is not doing this to get easy sex with women

Isn't that what Tinder is for? - he jokes that if someone wants easy sex, he/she should use the dating app Tinder 

to procure his samples - to get his sperm sample

ovulating women - women who are ready to get pregnant (their egg is ready)

menstrual - referring to menstruation, when a woman bleeds once a month; a menstrual cup catches blood usually

to conceive - when a woman conceives, this means a sperm cell has entered an egg cell and the baby is being produced

This time might do the trick - this time might work. If something does the trick, it works. So if you are stressed out and drink a glass of wine, you might say, "Whew, I am relaxed now. That wine did the trick."

prolific - doing something over and over. A prolific writer has written many books.

off the charts - when something is off the charts it is immeasurable, so many that they can't be counted

his first foray - his first attempt

to fix her up - to help her meet a guy

he got cold feet - he changed his mind, he lost his courage

a fertility clinic - a place where they help women to become pregnant

craigslist - a very popular website in the USA (10th most popular in the country), but a very dangerous site where people often lose money or are harmed through people they meet through the site

are a draw - are an attraction

toddler - a baby who can walk

siblings - brothers and sisters

a large brood - a large family

without the hassle - without the trouble

garnished - when a judge takes money from a person's paycheck to pay someone else. I think the most that can be taken is 1/2, so nobody else can really benefit from suing him now.

to sue - to take a person to court to try to get money from another person because of some wrong or illegal action

got left in the dust - were abandoned, were not properly taken care of

contentious - to be contentious is to argue about something

Am I chopped liver? - Do I look ugly? Am I not important?

in-vitro fertilization - when a special, more scientific, container is used

progeny - offspring

A Dutch woman sought medically assisted death because she could not live with the effects of child sex abuse

This is really a terrible story. A woman in Holland who had been raped (sexually attacked) as a child suffered daily psychological pain that was so severe that she requested euthanasia (when a doctor helps one to die).

Holland was the first European country to allow euthanasia (in 2002) and about 5,000 people, each year, choose this. Anyone over 12 years old can request euthanasia in Holland. You can read the article below and judge for yourself whether this person - in her 20s - should have been allowed to die.

I, personally, would say 'no'. They just gave up on this girl. What good is psychology or medicine if women like this cannot be helped? Also, many people in Holland who kill themselves through euthanasia seem to do so because they are lonely or socially isolated. 

It seems obvious that we all have to work to try to create more humane societies where people do not feel so isolated that they have to kill themselves. (Frankly, we also need to make sure that our children are as safe as possible and don't experience the type of situation that leaves them with incurable psychological pain.) 

I think each of us has to demonstrate a greater compassion and concern for others on a daily basis and really help others feel their lives are of value and meaningful. One of our social goals and values has to become compassion, instead of greed and competition. This story has challenged me to try to take a sense of compassion with me into the streets and in my every day dealings regardless of how rude, nasty and malicious others can be. 

The article:
https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/dutch-doctors-kill-sex-abuse-victim-because-of-incurable-mental-suffering

Vocabulary from the article:

sought - seek, sought, sought (to seek - to look for)

Dutch - if you are from Holland you are called Dutch. Another term for Holland is The Netherlands...nether means 'under' - much of Holland is actually under sea level.

to euthanize, euthanasia - eu means good in ancient Greek; thanatos means death. So euthanasia means a good death or a merciful death. It is when medical professionals help a person who is suffering to die. There are 4 or 5 states in the USA which allow this...most states do not because the USA is a predominantly Christian country.

incurable - can't be cured, the person cannot be helped, the pain cannot be lessened or eliminated

post traumatic stress syndrome - post means after, trauma is something horrible that happens to a person, stress is psychological discomfort and pain, a syndrome is a group of symptoms or things that help to define a situation. So if a person has PTSS, the person has experienced something horrible and is suffering psychological pain from it.

competent - she had the ability to do this. To be mentally or psychologically competent to decide something means you have the ability to make a decision. I would argue that this woman was NOT competent to make this decision. She just wanted the terrible suffering to end and it was easier to do that than to help her. This story has made me feel so sad...

anorexia - when a person refuses to eat because he/she wants to appear attractive

chronic - it won't go away

mood swings - when one goes from one emotion to another very quickly and without any apparent reason

a tendency - something one does over and over again

hallucinations - seeing things which are not real

an obsession - a strong desire to do something over and over again, or a desire to do something that doesn't have to be done but one feels one needs to do it

a compulsion - basically the same thing as an obsession. If a person has obsessive-compulsive disorder, he/she might wash his/her hands 30 times a day, be worried about things nobody else worries about etc.

that lay at the root of the problem - that is causing the problem

lethal injection - a deadly shot, poison injected into one through a needle

paradoxically - this is a paradox because she chose to die when she wasn't feeling any pain or depression.

to decriminalize - to make something legal which had been illegal. For example, marijuana has been decriminalized in Colorado in the USA.

infamous - famous for the wrong reasons; famous because it was horrible

a precedent - something that comes before something else and inspires the new thing

dementia - an inability to remember or think clearly

advocating - to advocate for something or to advocate something means to believe it is good and to encourage it

to quadruple - to increase by four times

Tipping - Restaurant Owners in the USA Are Too Cheap to Pay Good Wages

Restaurant owners in New York City like this (a lot!):

So they pay their waiters and waitresses very low wages, as low as the law allows them to pay, and they expect customers to give the waiter/waitress a tip. 

A tip, in case you don't know, is an additional amount of money equal to 15% to 20% of your bill. So if your bill is $20, you are expected to leave a tip of $3 or $4 dollars.

Restaurant owners will even say,"Don't be cheap! Give your waiter a good tip!" Well, people in the USA are starting to say to restaurant owners, "Hey, don't be cheap! Pay your waiters what they should get as human beings! Stop making the customers pay extra! Share your wealth with your staff!"

Here is a nice article about this type of situation:

The article:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/05/06/1509590/-How-restaurant-owners-con-Americans-into-paying-employee-wages-it-s-legal-and-it-s-brilliant?detail=facebook

Vocabulary from the article:

to con someone - this means to deceive or trick or fool someone. If you con a person you make the person pay or give you extra money he/she shouldn't have needed to pay for something. For example: "How much did you pay for that pen? $3? Oh my God, that store clerk conned me into paying $15 for the same type of pen!"

brilliant - super intelligent

taking in profits - you can also say 'making a profit'

to foot the bill - to pay for the bill; this is slang...for example: "Hey, let's ask our boss to take us out to dinner; he'll probably foot the bill and we can save some money."

to range from ___ to ____ - to be from one point to another point along a common continuum. "College tuition in the USA can range from free to $50,000 per year."

to subsidize the rest - to pay for the rest of the worker's salary

a server - a waiter/waitress...someone who takes your order and delivers your food

literally- this is a term of emphasis. i.e. He literally said he hated me! (He really said he hated me.) He literally jumped in the air he was so angry! 

And that how it will continue - an example of bad editing, it should be: And that's how it will continue

until the people speak out - until people begin complaining

while we're working this out - while all of us are solving this

the gumption - the courage, a strong motivation which overcomes fear (like the word audacity i.e. He had the audacity to ask me such a personal question.)

to split tips - to share tips with other servers

uneasiness- a feeling of discomfort, in this case because you have caught them doing something wrong

by a mere .13 - by the small amount of .13

condiments- ketchup, mustard etc.

to kiss someone's ass - to be very very very very nice to someone just because you have to. Actually this person is wrong...even if your waiter/waitress is horrible you are expected to tip him/her.

snuck out - sneak, snuck, have snuck (actually it should be a regular verb of sneak, sneaked, have sneaked). To sneak out means to leave secretly, without anyone noticing you.

out of my own pocket - by myself

do you see how servers get fucked? - can you understand how unfair things are to servers? to get fucked means to be treated unfairly (be careful, 'fucked' is considered very vulgar, dirty language)

take a cut of your tips - take a certain percentage of your tips

to be blacklisted - when everyone in an industry knows you are a trouble-maker and they won't hire you 

to make ends meet - to make enough to survive

don't kill the messenger - don't blame me for telling you the truth

to be stiffed - to not get any tip

slandered and vilified - verbally attacked by people who do not tell the truth about you

the other NRA - when Americans see NRA they think of National Rifle Association. The 'other' NRA is the National Restaurant Association.

holding the poor down -keeping poor people from becoming successful

being scammed- being conned, being cheated, not getting what we deserve

to call the industry out - to tell the truth about the industry

----

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A woman was fined for a nasty and malicious Yelp review

For some reason, people think they can post anything they feel like saying on the internet. Well, one woman learned (the hard way) that you simply can't do this (according to the judge who fined her).

She felt it was her 'freedom of speech' to attack a business owner whom she didn't like on the website "Yelp".  Indeed, Yelp does not seem to have any guidelines posted for its users about what is freedom of speech and what isn't, so I think Yelp should be sued by the business owner as well.

Unfortunately, this is impossible because of a 1998 law that was passed by the US Congress. According to this law, no internet company can be held responsible for postings placed on it. So if I own a website that allows comments by anyone, and someone writes something horrible about another person which is not true or which is meant to harm the person, according to this law the person who posted the statement can be sued but I who own the website can't.

This law was passed during the early stages of the internet and is clearly a bad law.  Why? Well, if someone who doesn't like you goes to a site and attacks you, and you write to the site, it will basically simply tell you that they don't care. Congress passed a law which absolves them of responsibility (says they are not responsible for what is on their site) and so they won't remove nasty, false and malicious comments even if it is readily apparent that the statements are false and that any decent company would remove them. You have to sue the person who posted the content.

Their attitude seems to be: "OK, this is horrible, it might destroy an innocent person's life, but we don't have to remove it and so we won't. It's too much trouble for us and we don't want to hire a few more employees to help make sure that innocent people are not hurt." The 1998 law was meant to protect these companies from crazy comments users might make, but the companies have been using the law to justify these harmful comments and the cyber-bullying that goes on on their sites. Why? Money makes the world go around. A responsible company would remove anything harmful and malicious, but the current internet companies simply refuse to do this.

So this woman learned a big lesson and she was lucky. The judge probably should have, in my opinion, fined her more for her attack on the guy. 

The article:
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/s-woman-pay-1g-fine-bashing-business-yelp-article-1.2370681

Vocabulary:

for bashing floor refinishing business; for attacking a business that makes older and stained wooden floors look better

a fine - this is a type of punishment in which a person has to pay the other person or the government money

Staten Island - this is one of the 5 boroughs or areas of New York City

the reviews are in - the journalist is joking a little...after a play the actors will wait for reviews by theater critics and when the papers arrive they'll say 'The reviews are in!'  In this case the review relates to what the woman from Staten Island wrote about the floor refinishing business

to bash, bashing - to attack, attacking

a judge - someone who is in charge of a courtroom

a con artist - 'con' comes from the word 'confidence' - a con man or con artist is someone who gains your trust or confidence only to try to get money from you illegally. If someone keeps promising something and keeps stealing money based on that promise, he is a con man or con artist.

a scathing review - a very, very nasty, harsh, severe review which is critical or attacks someone

rants - negative, nasty, mean and aggressive comments

crossed the line - she went too far, what she did could no longer be considered freedom of speech

to refinish a floor - usually the floor is sanded with an abrasive or rough material ad then varnished so that it looks new

green chemicals - chemicals that will not hurt the environment

peeling - she meant the surface of the floor was coming up in curls

she was unable to contain her  anger in a coherent sentence - she was so angry she wrote in badly broken English; her English didn't really make sense because she was so angry

the guy mat the owner - should be: the guy Matt, the owner, 

coherent - meaningful

is a scam - she meant, is a scammer (someone who steals money from people through scams - illegal plans

to rob - to steal from

BULL-----ER - a bullshitter, someone who lies (this is a dirty word)

urging - encouraging

libel - lying about a person to hurt him/her

personal in their invective - she made very personal comments in her attack on the owner

to impugn his integrity - to call his integrity or honesty into question; to make people believe that he has no integrity

her bid - her attempt

I'll fight you tooth and nail - I'll fight against you with everything I have (like an animal, with my teeth and nails)

Obama restricts immigration of 'legal' highly educated foreigners, but wants to harbor (protect) minimally educated 'illegals'

Sometimes it's been hard to understand why the current president has made various decisions which he has made. There's been little logic and no vision for the past 6 years. Instead of showing leadership, he's been hiding and reacting. At times, internationally, Vladimir Putin has made him look like a boy playing a man's game. Right now in Syria Putin is taking action and all Obama can do is complain like a spoiled child. Even his great accomplishment - Obamacare - is a badly flawed system that many people do not like and which may be eliminated if a Republican becomes president.

Now it seems he has made a decision which makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. There are many many many highly educated foreigners who were lead to believe that they could enter the USA and gain green cards (the ability to work and live in the USA). Obama has changed his mind. Yet, he doesn't seem to have a problem with the 12 million minimally educated illegal immigrants who are in the country and often using government services for free without paying one penny of taxes.

Within a short time Latinos will be the largest segment of the US population, yet statistically Latinos under-perform every other racial and ethnic group in the country educationally. It seems as if we are going to need highly educated and skilled people from outside our borders. 

An article about this issue:

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11525621

Vocabulary:

to undo something - to reverse something, to take something that has changed and change it back to its original state

a green card - this is a card which gives the holder of the card the ability to stay and work legally in the USA and to possibly become a citizen some day

an order - something which must be executed, a command

a federal judge - a federal judge works for the US government, not a state or city government. A judge is the person you see in a court room.

to decline - to reject something, to say 'no' to something

permanent residents - people who can legally stay for a long time in the USA without being citizens

initially - at first, at the start, earlier

in the public interest - the judge said it would not benefit the American people if educated foreigners came into the country (we need more uneducated people - because they will stupidly vote for the most corrupt candidates of the Democratic party...don't worry, I hate Republicans too)

to sue - to go to court and try to get money from a person or to go to court to get an order from a judge

revised - changed

class-action status - this means that many people were being represented in this court case

curtailing - limiting

a temporary restraining order - an order by the judge that something has to stop immediately until it can be better looked at

blocking - stopping

backlogs - when work backs up and you fall behind on your work, you get a backlog; when something piles up

streamline - to make it shorter and less than it was

urging them to abide by... - these major companies desperately need qualified workers and are upset that Obama is streamlining this process; to urge is to encourage...to abide by means to obey or follow

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

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

How Democratic Politicians Get Their Votes

(The logo of the Democratic Party)

There are two political parties in the USA - the Republican Party and the Democratic Party. They both suck.

The Republicans are, basically, evil. They support big business and do not care about providing any social services to people who might need them. They don't care about the poor at all and issues of equality are not important to them.

The Democrats are, basically, corrupt (dishonest). Lots of democratic politicians get thrown in jail for various reasons and they provide lots and lots and lots of social services when they have power, and this is how they get votes. They do not do anything to eliminate poverty, they use the poor to stay in office. The poor have to keep voting for them because they desperately need the services the Democrats are giving them. Free housing, free food, free medical care etc. 

New York State has a governor (leader) who loves, loves, loves, loves using NY State and US tax dollars to give away free stuff to poor folks. 

As you can see from the article below, he is giving away 400,000 daily free meals to poor children this summer.  He has no plans to help the parents of these children get jobs, go to school or make money. 

What is even more ridiculous is that he was offering 400,000 free meals a day and only 30% of the poor children eligible for the meals ate them. So the program wasn't even really necessary - 70% of the people thought to need the service did not even accept the service. The food and money was just wasted. It should have been a much smaller program, but it's not Mr. Cuomo's money so who cares. NY State has the highest tax rate in the country in large part because Mr. Cuomo does STUPID stuff like this. He wants to be president some day.

400,000 children who don't have parents who can buy them food is a CRISIS (a terrible situation that has to be taken care of). We should be looking for the underlying causes of this crisis and trying to end poverty. But this would not help Governor Cuomo to potentially become president of the United States. So he will not be tackling (addressing/trying to solve the problem of) poverty any time soon.

Here is a message from the Governor:

https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-cuomo-announces-free-meals-help-feed-400000-children-summer

Vocabulary to help you read this message:

to remind - to repeat something so that it will be fresh in a person's mind

drawing to a close - coming to an end

to be or remain eligible for s/t - to be qualified for something, to be able to be a part of something

nutritious - food which is good for one's health

fills a gap - meets a need that isn't being met

a proclamation - a formal announcement

to highlight an issue - to call attention to an issue

vital - essential, necessary for life

federally funded - so Cuomo got this money from the US government

only an estimated 3 out of 10 eligible students are being fed - this means that most students who can use the program are not using the program because they don't need it. So the program isn't even necessary, but Cuomo wants to run it anyway to make himself seem more popular.

disseminating information - giving out or spreading information

a food pantry or soup kitchen - a food pantry is a place in a city where people can come and pick up free food. A soup kitchen is where people can come and get a free hot meal (it is called a soup kitchen but soup is usually not served).

migrant programs - I am guessing these are programs that travel around