Can you get these 15 often-used English words?

This is the type of vocabulary exercise in my book: New York City Sucks, But You'll Still Wanna Come Here!  Please buy my book, it's pretty good!

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

Words to choose from:

scruples, rotten, shady, evidence, verifiable, to retract, to tell, to sue, livid, incompetent, outrageous, corrupt, elegant, inspiring, compromised

Fill-in-the-blanks: 

The MTA subway system is so bad. It is crowded and expensive and unreliable. I wake up in the morning feeling pretty good, but after riding the subway I feel _____________.

It is hard to find political leaders who are so honest and so kind and have such a great vision that they are _______________. Instead, I often feel depressed looking at the leaders around me.

The journalist was sure what he had written was true, but then he learned he was wrong and he had to _____________ his article.

I wanted to use our savings for several great vacations. My wife wanted to buy a house. So we ________________ and decided to put some money down for the house and to save some for travel.

I didn’t have much money but I really needed at least one ____________ dress that I could wear to art gallery openings and formal parties.

I may not be handsome, I may not have money, but nobody can honestly say that I don’t have ______________: I really care about doing the right thing and acting with morality.

Which street is this?  I didn’t wear my glasses today and I can’t __________ where we are.

Joe was in a terrible car accident. It was the other guy’s fault and so Joe decided to ____________ him. He won $50,000 in court.

Although this politician has a very good reputation, in reality she is very _____________. The newspapers will not write the truth about her, for some reason.

Initially he seemed like a very honest businessman, but as his accountant I began to see that he was doing many illegal things and I realized how ____________ he was.

The _____________ seemed to indicate that Bill had killed his roommate’s dog because the stupid thing wouldn’t stop barking. There was no real proof, however.

When Debbie learned that Bruce was cheating on her, she became ______________ and demanded that they break up.

Most people who work for the State of New York are ______________. They don’t know what they are doing and can’t do their jobs but get these jobs for political favors they have done for shady politicians.

When I went to get my driver’s license, the conditions at the DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) were _______________. The employees were lazy and stupid and I had to wait 7 hours.

I felt that his theory was really good but I didn’t think it was _______________; therefore we may never know the truth.

Answers are below:

Answers:

rotten, 

inspiring, 

retract, 

compromised, 

elegant,  

scruples, 

tell, 

sue, 

corrupt or shady,  

shady or corrupt, 

evidence, 

livid, 

incompetent, 

outrageous, 

verifiable

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
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You can buy my book: New 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.

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

Test your intermediate English vocabulary

to abandon – to get rid of, to leave behind

abundant – more than enough

an optimist – someone who always sees the bright side of things

to plummet – to drop quickly, to fall

a quest – a search for something important or meaningful

chronological order – to order a set from earliest to latest

to collaborate – to work together with others instead of competing

retaliation – getting revenge

unanimous – everyone agrees

to dissent – to disagree with what a majority of people believe

domestic – dealing with your home

to vow – to promise

meager – not much

a controversy – a topic or issue that causes people to argue

an innovation – something new

King Arthur and his knights were never bored – each of them was constantly engaged in some type of ___________ and they all sought to find the Holy Grail.  

When students learn US History they often go through it in _________________, although some teachers like to teach ‘themes’ instead. 

Are our schools too competitive?  Might it not be better if students _______________ with each other and learned better social skills? 

A jury’s decision has to be ________________.  If even one person dissents, there can be no real verdict. 

This will be my first international flight, although I have taken many ____________ flights around the USA. 

I loved my old Converse All Stars but they were getting old and I needed a new pair of casual shoes, so I _______________ them for some cool new running shoes. 

The internet seems to have been around forever, but I can still remember in the 90s when this was an ___________________ and people were thinking about what might be possible from it. 

Capital punishment remains a huge ______________.  Should the state have the right to execute criminals if they have killed others? 

Many economists have pointed out that there should not be any cases of world hunger since the amount of food being produced now is ___________________. 

Many world religions do not believe in the morality of _________________. They recommend that a person should show mercy and forgive others.

Answers are below: 

Answers:

quest
chronological order
cooperated
unanimous
domestic
abandoned
innovation
controversy
abundant
retaliation

If you like my blog, please consider buying my book: http://www.amazon.com/York-Sucks-Youll-Wanna-Anyway-ebook/dp/B004TSPAQS

Vocabulary Review: 12 Useful Words from "Americans Are Being Thrown in Jail for Debt"

Here are 12 very useful vocabulary words.  As well as doing this fill-in-the-blank exercise, try to use these words meaningfully.  If you can use these words, you will "keep" these words.

to thrive, a relic, to abolish
to incur, to incarcerate, to stem from
a stint, to contravene, to derive from
a resurgence, the indigent, to relent


1)  The world financial crisis seems to have _______________ the financial crisis that began in the USA in 2008.  At that time too many loans had been awarded to people with bad credit histories, and the loans went unpaid.  Banks lost billions of dollars.

2)  Although Japan had been suffering from economic problems, recently there has been a ______________ in the Japanese economy.  The economy is becoming stronger and stronger.

3)  Although the desert seems to be a desolate and lifeless place, many types of animal life _____________ there.

4)  I used to do a lot of volunteer work for a homeless shelter in Manhattan.  Each monthly volunteer _____________ would last from 7pm until 6am.  Yes, the volunteers would literally sleep overnight at the shelter once per month.

5)  The child kept bothering his mother to buy him a toy dinosaur.  After several hours the mother _____________ and bought the child the toy.

6) Slavery was ____________ in the USA in 1863.  However, African Americans have yet to attain equality of opportunity in America.

7) The ____________, in most American cities, live in the most dangerous neighborhoods with the fewest city services.

8)  The last name Schmidt is ___________ from the German word for "smith."

9)  The cell phone that I bought 3 years ago is already considered a ____________ compared to the latest smart phones and other electronic appliances.

10) I truly wanted to pursue a university education; therefore, I was willing to __________ whatever debt I had to in order to go to school.

11)  Is it better to _____________ a murderer or execute him?  Most European nations have abolished the death penalty in favor of the first option.

12)  Any attempt by one country to take land obviously belonging to another country ______________ international law, by anyone's definition.



Answers are below:


Farther below...





Farther yet...


Here they are:


Answers:


1) stemmed from
2) resurgence
3) thrive
4) stint
5) relented
6) abolished
7) indigent
8) derived
9) relic
10) incur
11) incarcerate
12) contravenes

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I started a pretty good art blog: http://artgallerystuff.blogspot.com/
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Yes, I'm the guy who wrote the very funny ESL book: New York City Sucks, But You'll Wanna Live Here Anyway.  
http://www.amazon.com/Sucks-Youll-Wanna-Anyway-ebook/dp/B004TSPAQS

If this page is useful to you, please buy the book (it's quite inexpensive and useful!!!!). If you don't have an e-reader, drop me a line at djg51qu@gmail.com and I'll send you a free copy via Word file. Let me know whether you have Word 2010 or an earlier version.
----------------------------------------
Yes, I'm also the guy who created the scandal in Asia awhile ago. :P

http://nwww.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20100511000742

http://nwww.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20100512000682

http://www.shoutcastblog.com/2010/05/11/wondergirls-were-mistreated-by-jyp-entertainment/
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Vocabulary Review - Please test yourself

I want to make sure that this site is really useful, so I took 15 highly useful words from the last 3 articles and I created a fill-in-the-blank exercise.  Please try it.  The answers are below the exercise.

If you have trouble doing this exercise, please go back to those articles and review the words.  I promise you that this blog is an EXCELLENT resource for you, and it's free and without ads!!!!!

In fact, please recommend this blog to others, include it in your blog etc.  I am really happy that many people from different countries tend to drop by and look at the articles.  I honestly hope I am helping you! :) :) :) ^^ ~~~~~~

Words from which to choose: 

domestic, probation, cruelty,
alleged, an ultimatum, desolate,
dilapidated, to commercialize, barbaric,
an obstacle, to intercede, to stimulate,
sluggish, prominent, to be indifferent to

Verbs can be used in various tenses etc.

1)  In the morning, when I wake up, I usually feel and act a little ___________, but after I have a cup of coffee I become more energetic and active.

2)  Mitt Romney ran against Barack Obama in the last US presidential race.  One big __________ to his success was the belief by many Americans that he was a very rich person who did not care about others.

3)  Because the young man had not committed any other previous crimes, he was just sentenced to one year of ________________.  He was warned that if he committed any crimes during this period, he would be immediately thrown in jail.

4)  About 20% of Americans can be classified as living in a state of poverty, yet many politicians and newspapers seem completely ________________ to their problems.  Politicians never speak about the poor and newspapers never mention them.

5)  The economic crisis that began in the USA in 2008 was not just a ____________ issue.  This crisis has caused problems and suffering all around the world.

6)  Lee Harvey Oswald was __________ to have been the lone assassin (killer) of president John Kennedy, however many people think others were involved.

7)  When a person travels into neighborhoods on the south side of Chicago, where most of the poorer people in that city live, he/she will see many ______________ houses which cannot be restored or repaired due to a lack of money by the inhabitants.

8)  William Powers, a ______________ university president, believes that affirmative action programs are necessary to make sure that American university campuses are racially diverse. (Affirmative action is the practice of colleges giving black and Latino college applicants extra points just because they are black and Latino, so that they can compete effectively against white and Asian students)

9)  Americans were shocked by the ____________ of the man in Cleveland who held three women captive in his house for 10 years.  He regularly beat and abused them.

10)  President Obama is currently trying to decide whether the USA should _______________ between the rebels and the government in the civil war in Syria.  Most Americans do not want to get involved in that conflict, however, regardless of the suffering.

11)  President Obama has issued an ____________ to president Assad of Syria.  If Syria uses chemical weapons, the USA will intercede in the Syrian civil war.

12)  A fast food company wanted to pay a New York City school to have advertisements in the school's cafeteria.  The school, however, stated it did not want to ________________ aspects of their students' educational experience.

13)  Although many parts of the American Southwest might seem _____________, their is wonderful natural beauty to be found in the deserts there.

14)  Americans have debated this issue for many years:  Was the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki a ______________ action, or an action necessary to end World War II?

15)  In his first four years of office, President Obama borrowed a great deal of money in order to try to ________________ the American economy and create more jobs.  Unfortunately, it didn't work.


Answers are below.



Farther....


Farther...



Just a little farther below.......


OK< here are the answers!!!! :)



1) sluggish
2) obstacle
3) probation
4) indifferent
5) domestic
6) alleged
7) dilapidated
8) prominent
9) cruelty
10) intercede
11) ultimatum
12) commercialize
13) desolate
14) barbaric
15) stimulate

----------------------------------------
I started a pretty good art blog: http://artgallerystuff.blogspot.com/
----------------------------------------
Yes, I'm the guy who wrote the very funny ESL book: New York City Sucks, But You'll Wanna Live Here Anyway.  
http://www.amazon.com/Sucks-Youll-Wanna-Anyway-ebook/dp/B004TSPAQS

If this page is useful to you, please buy the book (it's quite inexpensive and useful!!!!). If you don't have an e-reader, drop me a line at djg51qu@gmail.com and I'll send you a free copy via Word file. Let me know whether you have Word 2010 or an earlier version.
----------------------------------------
Yes, I'm also the guy who created the scandal in Asia awhile ago. :P

http://nwww.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20100511000742

http://nwww.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20100512000682

http://www.shoutcastblog.com/2010/05/11/wondergirls-were-mistreated-by-jyp-entertainment/
------------------------------------------

Bizarre Internet Story: Athlete Falls in Love with Fake Woman

I am not even sure I understand the following story.

An American college athlete apparently fell in love with a woman he met online, but it turns out that
it was not really a "woman."  It was some type of "hoax."  A hoax is a plan to deceive or trick a person to gain some benefit.

So apparently someone pretending to be a woman contacted this college sports star and after many e-mail exchanges, he fell in love with the fake person.

At some point, the fake person was said to have died of a terrible disease.  Apparently the star athlete used this information to gain sympathy from journalists in order to advance his career.

In any case, welcome to America in the internet age.   Here's a weird story about a celebrity and the internet and deception.  I don't have any discussion questions after this story because even I don't understand what is going on.

http://news.yahoo.com/nfl--manti-te-o-speaks-for-first-time-since-revelation-of-girlfriend-hoax---043012320.html














Yes, I was responsible for this amazing scandal in which I exposed something I felt to be wrong: http://nwww.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20100511000742

Controversial Michigan "Right-to-Work" Law

Labor unions have played an important role in American history and have helped to ensure that workers are treated fairly and receive adequate wages.  However, there has recently been a backlash (a negative reaction) against labor unions in various US states.  It is often felt that unions have received too many benefits for their workers and that the high wages unions expect for their workers are actually harming the businesses that employ the workers.

In Michigan a law was just passed to ensure that workers are not "forced" to join unions.  Basically, as part of many union agreements with businesses, once a worker is hired, money is auotmatically taken from the worker's paycheck and sent to the union as the worker's union dues or union fees.  So workers automatically become union members when they are hired at some companies.

The "right-to-work" law states that workers can no longer automatically be registered as union workers once they are hired for a job.  Workers must actively "choose" to join a union.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57558337/the-big-union-fight-in-michigan-explained/?tag=nl.e875&s_cid=e875

1)  Whose side are you on?  The union side or the business side?

2)  What do you think of this law?

3)  If you were hired as a worker and automatically enrolled in a union, with money taken from your check to pay for the union fees, how would you feel?

4)  What role do unions play in your home country?

5)  Do you think that unions are now "out of control" and harming business more than helping it?

------------------------------------


Yes, I'm the guy who caused the "scandal" in Asia two years ago :P http://www.shoutcastblog.com/2010/05/11/wondergirls-were-mistreated-by-jyp-entertainment/

Yes, I'm also the guy who wrote the very funny ESL book: New York City Sucks, But You'll Wanna Live Here Anyway http://www.amazon.com/Sucks-Youll-Wanna-Anyway-ebook/dp/B004TSPAQS

Virgin Mobile U.S. Ad (Stupidly) Seems to Joke About Rape

Even in the 21st century, in America, where women have made huge achievements and are approaching full equality of opportunity, rights, power and income with men, we still see absolutely STUPID instances of sexism and the hatred of women in advertising.

Virgin Mobile USA was running an ad which seemed to joke about the issue of rape.  Virgin Mobile is owned by Sprint/Nextel.   

Basically, in the ad, a man is considering whether he should buy "chloroform" (a chemical that causes a person to lose his/her consciousness) to use on a woman he knows.  The implication is clearly that by chloroforming this woman, he will be able to rape her easily.

http://now.msn.com/virgin-mobile-us-kills-ad-that-seems-to-condone-rape

1)  Virgin Mobile claims they did not know about this ad.  Do you believe them?

2)  Does seeing an ad like this make you angry?  How angry? 

3)  After seeing an ad like this, how influenced are you to change your judgment of a company?  Would you consider not buying a Virgin Mobile product because of such a terrible ad?  Honestly, why WOULD a woman ever buy a Virgin Mobile product again?  It seems that Sprint/Nextel owns Virgin Mobile.  If you are a woman, would you be inclined to buy a Sprint/Nextel product when they joke about an issue like rape?

4)  Many people immediately went online to protest this ad.  Does this seem to indicate to you that normal people, in general, are fed up with sexism and will not tolerate this type of joke?  Should we be proud of ourselves, so to speak, that ordinary people forced this company to take down this disgusting ad?

5)  Should executives at Virgin Mobile be held accountable (punished) for this attack against women?


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Yes, I'm the guy who caused the "scandal" in Asia two years ago :P http://www.shoutcastblog.com/2010/05/11/wondergirls-were-mistreated-by-jyp-entertainment/

Yes, I'm also the guy who wrote the very funny ESL book: New York City Sucks, But You'll Wanna Live Here Anyway http://www.amazon.com/Sucks-Youll-Wanna-Anyway-ebook/dp/B004TSPAQS

Longer School Days Will Mean Better Test Scores?

It's no secret that the American school system is underperforming.  This is especially true for students in America's inner-cities, where Black and Latino students do not perform as well on standardized exams as White and Asian students.

There have been a number of proposed solutions to the inequality and underperformance of the American educational system.  One big trend is "teacher accountability."  According to proponents of this trend, better teachers and lower class sizes will mean better academic performance for all students.

There are others, however, who point to the Coleman Report of 1964, which indicated that students tend to underperform when they come from areas of poverty, violence and broken homes.  Proponents of this approach suggest that if the government can create anti-poverty programs (similar to those which were created in the 1960s) this would also help students perform better in school. If students come from very poor and violent environments, this adversely affects their ability to do well in school.  Fix this social and economic problem and you'll find that the schools work afterall.

Now there's a new approach.  In five states students will be kept in school longer.  It is felt this will improve academic performance (without having to create an anti-poverty program).

http://living.msn.com/family-parenting/the-family-room-blog-post?post=05ac0527-f968-44d6-8873-34adf00854ee

1)  Which of the three aproaches do you think will work best?  Teacher accountability, anti-poverty programs or longer school days?

2)  Do you believe that longer school days will work? For how long can students focus on academic work?  Shouldn't students have time to pursue recreational and sports activities and socialize? 

3)  Do you feel that there is a significant problem with US schools? After all, almost everyone in the world wants to attend a US university?

4)  Why do you feel that Blacks and Latinos are far underperforming White and Asian students?  What do you think should be done?

Fake Homeless Man "Scams" NY Police Officer for Free Boots

There was a story that was in many newspapers around the world last week, concerning a NY City police officer who saw a man lying on a sidewalk with no shoes on his feet.  When this happened it was freezing cold outside and the officer went into a shoe store and bought shoes for the homeless man.

Yet, there seemed to be something strange about the story to me.  The apparently homeless man was deliberately lying in front of a shoe store in Times Square with no shoes.  To me, it seemed as if he was trying to make tourists feel sorry enough for him so that they might actually go in the store and buy him a pair of shoes or at least give him some money.  The fact that this "homeless" guy was deliberately sitting on the ground without shoes seemed a deliberate ploy (scheme, plan) to make people feel sorry enough for him that they might give him something.

This is what the cop did.

Now, there is a new story that the "homeless" man has been seen around the city without shoes again!  Therefore, it seems that the "homeless" man really does not need shoes, but merely takes his shoes off to trick or fool cops and tourists into giving him money and shoes.

This is called a "scam."  This is when someone tricks another person into giving him/her money.  On the subways there are lots of these scams.  Women will sometimes even bring children onto the subway and claim they are homeless and hungry to get people to give them money.

What is shocking to me is that the City of New York actively warns people NOT to give any money to any beggars.  There are about 100 free food programs in New York City and many free clothing programs.  There are also homeless shelters where the homeless may go.  The City of New York points out that if a beggar is asking for money, he/she probably wants it for drugs or alcohol.  Help is available in New York to anyone who wants it.

So basically, the cop wanted to be a good samaritan, but became a scam victim instead.  He did not follow the advice his own government bosses give to people about giving things to beggars.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/50052716/ns/us_news-the_new_york_times

New Story!!!!  The "homeless" guy is not even homeless.  Basically, and I am sorry to say this, this news makes the NY police officer really seem ridiculous.  He totally got scammed. Even though the city warns people not to give money to beggars, he did so.

http://news.msn.com/us/shoeless-nyc-man-isnt-homeless-after-all

1)  Do you agree with my theory?

2)  Does this make the cop look foolish to you, or is he still a hero?

3)  Do you provide money to beggars on the subway?  Why or why not?

4)  Do you provide money to street musicians on the streets?

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Yes, I'm also the guy who wrote the very funny ESL book: New York City Sucks, But You'll Wanna Live Here Anyway http://www.amazon.com/Sucks-Youll-Wanna-Anyway-ebook/dp/B004TSPAQS

Is The US Military Abusing The "WikiLeaks" Soldier?

A while ago a low-ranking US soldier took many secret documents and sent them to the website WikiLeaks to reveal what the US military was doing in its two foreign wars.

This soldier was arrested and is being held in a military prison until his trial.  His attorney claims that this young man is being abused by the US military.  The abuse includes keeping him naked and isolated in a prison cell 23 to 24 hours a day.

Here is an article about this: http://news.yahoo.com/counselor-mannings-history-showed-self-harm-risk-175239354.html

1)  Do you think this soldier was a hero or a villain?

2)  Do you feel that he is being abused by the US military?  The military claims that they took away his clothes to keep him from killing himself, but he claims he is being punished for not talking to prison authorities.

3)  Do you think the US government is justified in bringing him to trial for handing over the secrets to Wikileaks?  Do you think this soldier was trying to stop the wars or do you think he had other motives?  What do you think his ulterior (other, hidden) motives might have been?

4)  The United States would also like to put the founder of WikiLeaks on trial.  What do you think of this situation? 

A Mother Inherits Her Dead Son's Debt, and Asks for Its Cancellation

Foreign students often learn how expensive American tuition is when they consider coming over to the USA to study.  Indeed, as foreign students, they are charged even higher rates.

Many American students have to borrow money in order to attend college and graduate school.  After college is over, they are expected to pay back these loans, little by little, month after month. Sometimes this takes years, and the student is forced to pay back a huge, extra amount of money in the form of "interest."

However, the loan organizations have acquired a terrible reputation.   If a student falls behind in his/her payments, they often harass the student, the student's family and sometimes acquaintances of the student, in an attempt to get their money back.  (This type of harassment if often illegal and the loan organizations or their collection agencies can be sued.)

In the following story, a mother co-signed for a student loan for her son.  This meant that the mother agreed that if the son could not pay the loan back, she would assume responsibility for it.  Then, after the son graduated, unfortunately, at a very young age, the son died.

The mother then became responsible for paying back the son's debts for which she had co-signed (equalling tens of thousands of dollars).  The Federal Government released her from the obligation to pay the debt back (he had taken some loans from the US government), but a private company which gave a large loan to her and her child is expecting their money back.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/business/2012/11/mother-inherits-dead-sons-student-loans-petitions-to-have-them-forgiven/

1)  Do you feel that this private loan company should cancel the debt owed by the dead son?

2)  Some people feel that the mother should have to pay the money back because 1: She co-signed for the loan and 2: The son accepted and used the money. The son spent four years studying at a college with this money. 

Furthermore, this loan organization is a business and they cannot operate unless they receive their loan money back with some interest.  How do you feel about this?

3)  Some people seem to be upset that the Federal Government cancelled the loan payments upon the death of the son.  People point out that the tax dollars of Americans went to pay for her son's tuition, he used that money, and the government should receive the money back.  How do you feel about this?

4)  If you had to take out a massive amount of loan money to pay for your education, would you do it? 

Europe Considers Banning "Baby Boxes."

In New York City, each year many newly born babies used to be abandoned by their mothers in garbage containers, where the babies would die.  The police department, therefore, established a special program in which women can bring in their babies to any police department and leave the baby with the police, and the police will not ask any questions.

Because of this program, fewer babies have been found in garbage containers over the past few years and many babies have been handed over to the police.

In Germany a similar program was established through a hospital.  The hospital established a special, warm, safe structure in which a woman could place her unwanted baby.  Many baby's lives have been saved through this method.

However, a UN human rights organization is declaring this apparently humanitarian practice to be "wrong" and a violation of human rights.  Here is an article on this subject:

http://news.yahoo.com/europe-mulls-banning-boxes-abandoned-babies-075454911.html

1)  Do you think that by providing a baby box the German hospital is encouraging mothers to abandon their babies?  Or do you think they are encouraging women to save the lives of their babies?

2)  How do you feel about this issue?  Can you understand why new mothers might want to abandon their babies, or do you think this is a terrible practice?

3)  Ostensibly (on the surface) the baby box idea seems like a nice gesture.  Do you think they should stay or be removed?

Is this NBA team "too white?"

The Minnesota NBA basketball team has 10 "white" players and 5 "black" players, in a league in which 75% of the players are "black."

Because Minnesota is a primarily "white" state, some people feel that the team deliberately chose a predominance of "white" players.  Yet, many of the white players are from Europe, where many new great basketball players are developing.

http://www.thepostgame.com/blog/dish/201210/are-minnesota-timberwolves-too-white

1)  Do you think that a team with primarily "white" players should seem strange in the NBA?

2)  Do you agree with those who are accusing the owners of the team of a type of racism?

3)  NBA games are very expensive to attend and most of the fans are "white" at the games.  Should anyone be complaining about this?

4)  Do you think NBA fans care about the color of the players on their team or do they care primarily about whether their team wins?

5)  The whole country - White, Black and Asian - was excited about Jeremy Lin's success earlier this year.  Does this say something positive about people's attitudes toward race in America?

6)  Europe is turning out amazing basketball players these days, and the US Olympic basketball team had a hard time beating some European teams.  Is this situation a situation of racism or a change in the types of players who are NBA caliber? 



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Legalization of Prostitution?

The recent Economist magazine has a story about a female Chinese activist who works to help women who are forced to work as prostitutes.  The Economist story refers to an older story about Ye Haiyan, and I found a good article about her on the site: The Daily Beast.  She was, in fact, attacked by eight men back in May of this year, due to her activism on the part of Chinese "sex-workers."

This article is somewhat heart-breaking in that it points out that many women who work as prostitutes in China have "no other economic choices."

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/07/31/china-s-sex-worker-warrior-ye-haiyan-fights-for-prostitutes-rights.html

1)  Ms. Ye believes that by legalizing prostitution, the working conditions of Chinese prostitutes will improve.  What do you think?

2)  Do you, in general, believe that prostitution should be legalized?

3)  Do you believe, as some psychologists suggest, that working as a prostitute can cause psychological problems or trauma?

4)  Ms. Ye believes that prostitution should be legalized to help these poor women who turn to prostitution to make money.  Shouldn't the Chinese government find a way to help these women so that they do not have to sell their bodies for a living?

5)  Ms. Ye became a prostitute for one day to find out how it feels.  What do you think of her action?

6)  Do you believe that a "feminist" or someone who believes in the equality of men and women should support prostitution?

7)  Do you think that legalized prostitution will increase the "objectification" of women (the viewing of women as objects?)?

8)  Toward the end of the article, a woman states that her previous job was washing dishes.  She then states that being a prostitute allows her to make more money than she did washing dishes.  What do you think of this situation?

Social Rejection Stimulates Creativity

In this article it is argued that those who are "rejected" by a social group or by society can become immensely creative.  However, these people will have to have very strong identities.  Basically, being rejected or having one's ideas rejected can either crush a person or motivate a person.  If a person already strongly believes in him/herself, social rejection will motivate the person to greater creativity.

http://www.businessinsider.com/how-social-rejection-can-make-you-more-creative-2012-10?utm_source=1026&utm_medium=yahoo&utm_term=&utm_content=&utm_campaign=partner#_methods=onPlusOne%2C_ready%2C_close%2C_open%2C_resizeMe%2C_renderstart%2Concircled&id=I1_1351303120306&parent=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.businessinsider.com

1)  Are you crushed or motivated when you or your ideas are rejected?

2)  Many authors of great or ultimately popular literature receive numerous rejection notices.  In a famous example, the author of Confederacy of Dunces, John Kennedy Toole, was rejected by every publisher to whom he submitted his manuscript, and he killed himself.  Several years later his mother found a publisher for his manuscript and the book won the highest award for fiction in America. Do you think that truly creative people are always going to be misunderstood and rejected?

3)  Will this article help you to deal with rejection now?

4)  Can you speak about times you felt or were unfairly rejected?  How did you deal with that?

New Neanderthal Model Created

Apparently the "Neanderthals" or Homo Sapiens Neanderthalensis preceded modern humans in evolutionary history.  Indeed, for many thousands of years, apparently, Neanderthals and humans lived side by side.  It is thought, in fact, that Neanderthals died out due to the extreme competition with humans for various resources in Europe.

Scientists have created a new model of a Neanderthal male, based on a skeleton found about 100 years ago. 

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/neanderthal-model-made-70-000-year-old-bones-article-1.1191670?localLinksEnabled=false

1)  In the past Neanderthal models were presented as fierce and potentially violent.  Why do you think this model looks so sweet and gentle?

2)  Does it look as if there was a huge difference, in appearance, between Neanderthals and humans?

3)  A scientist in Europe has been able to retrieve some DNA from a Neanderthal skeleton.  Do you think he should be able to clone a Neanderthal so that we can see whether the models are correct?  If a Neanderthal is cloned, should he/she be given full human rights?  What if the Neanderthal can speak (it is believed that they had some speech capacity)?  Should human rights for a cloned Neanderthal be based on its genetic similarity to humans or its capacity to speak?

4)  Do you think that Neanderthal man looked alot like Chuck Norris?  (This is a joke.)

Italian Earthquake Experts Found Guilty of "Manslaughter"

In 2009, after many minor tremors, a major earthquake hit an Italian town and this resulted in the deaths of about 300 people.  The Italian government, following this tragedy, arrested several scientists who, according to the government, should have warned the people of the upcoming quake. 

However, the scientists have pointed out that many people died because the government had not done its job of ensuring that the buildings of the town were "earthquake proof."

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57538311/italy-disaster-experts-quit-upset-by-quake-trial/?tag=nl.e875&s_cid=e875

1)  Why do you think these scientists were arrested?  Are they scapegoats?

2)  Given the fact that these experts did NOT warn the townspeople, do you think they should be punished somehow?  How?

3)  Would you want to work as an earthquake expert in Italy now?  Why/why not?

4)  Who bears greater responsibility for the deaths: the scientists or the government, both or neither?

5)  Do you think the experts were negligent, or do you think they were just being overly cautious, or do you think they did their jobs?

Malala Has A Chance Of Survival and Recovery

Malala is the brave 14 year old Pakistani girl who was shot by the Taliban for encouraging the education of women.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18563_162-57532877/doctors-hope-for-decent-recovery-for-14-year-old-pakistani-activist-malala-yousufzai/

1)  What are women's rights like in your home country?

2)  What do you think about the relationship of men and women in the USA?  Should this be a model for the rest of the world or are there still problems?

3)  What can the world do to ensure that this type of situation cannot happen again around the world?

4)  What can be done to promote the education of women around the world?