The Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at Bush is running for president of Iraq

So one of my students said, "Hey, look at what he did with just his shoes! Imagine what he'll be able to do with an entire government!"

The article:

https://nypost.com/2018/05/01/iraqi-journalist-who-hurled-shoe-at-bush-is-running-for-president/

Vocabulary from the article:

flung - fling, flung, flung (to throw)

to run for office - we use the verb 'to run' if someone is trying to win a political position through the electoral system

chucked - another term for to throw is to chuck something at someone. It is more of a slang term.

launched - another term for thrown.

to brain someone - to hit someone in the head (again, this is a type of slang term)

widows - women whose husbands have died

orphans - children lacking parents (children without parents)

to be tackled - to be attacked and taken down to the ground

nimbly - skillfully

Bush cracked at the time - another verb for to 'tell' a joke is to 'crack' a joke

a ceremonial official - not much power

sovereignty - independence

the provisions of the constitution - what the constitution says should be done

alas - unfortunately 

Affluence - Affluenza (Catch this disease!!!!)

Affluence means wealth. If you are an affluent person, you are a rich or wealthy person.

Recently a rich young man killed two people with his car. His lawyer said that he should not be punished because he was not responsible for his actions. His wealthy parents, because they were so wealthy, never taught their son the difference between right and wrong. So they never taught him how to be an ethical or moral (good) person.

Should wealthy children be shown mercy when they commit crimes because their parents do not teach them to be ethical? 

I think that affluenza must be a difficult disease to catch, since you need to have about $25 million in your bank account first.

The article:

https://www.aol.com/article/news/2018/03/20/affluenza-texan-who-killed-four-while-driving-drunk-to-be-freed-from-jail/23391020/

Vocabulary from the article:

affluenza - the disease of not knowing what is right or wrong because your parents were very rich and never taught you to be good

probation supervision - he will have to report to an office every month to be checked on

juvenile court - court for children

testifying on his behalf - speaking for him in court

an affliction - a disease or painful condition

to be spoiled - when your parents let you do anything you want and do not show any kind of discipline toward you or they do not set good standards for your behavior

fled - flee, fled, fled...they ran away

fatalities - deaths

the sentence - this means the punishment in this instance

it spanned the systems - it carried over from the juvenile to the adult system

excessive - too much

to place him behind bars - to put him in jail

hindering the apprehension of someone - making it harder for the police to catch someone

a fugitive - someone running away from justice

money laundering - making money illegally and then hiding it in a real, legal business

The US Supreme Court will make a significant ruling on unions and union fees

So let's say you get a job with the New York state government. You will now be represented by a non-governmental union. A union is an organization that protects the rights of the workers within the union. They negotiate salaries and benefits and attempt to protect their membership as much as they can.

The union automatically will receive a small percentage of your salary. This is automatically taken out of your paycheck by the government and sent to the union. The problem is that many people do not care whether they are represented by a union or not. In fact, many do not want to be in a union and do not want money taken out from their paycheck and sent to a union. The unions and the government have an agreement, however, to remove money from paychecks and send this money to the unions.

So, EVEN IF you do not want to be in one of these unions, the government takes a fee out of your salary anyway and sends it to the union. The unions have argued that even people who are not in unions are protected by unions, so they should have to pay a fee as well.

A guy in Illinois, who works for the Illinois state government, did not want to be in a union and does not want any of his paycheck going to the union. He claims that these unions usually support Democratic political candidates (they do) and he is a Republican - he does not want any of his salary to go to an organization that will contribute money to Democratic candidates. 

The Supreme Court will soon determine whether these unions of government workers have a right to take money out of every government worker's salary. I have a feeling the Supreme Court will rule against the unions in this case, especially since the current US Supreme Court is quite conservative and Republican (not liberal and Democratic).

The article:
https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/25/politics/scotus-union-nonmember-case/index.html

Vocabulary to help you understand the article:

will wade into a clash - if you are at the beach and you slowly walk into the water, you wade into the water. The Supreme Court will enter into this argument (clash) between unions and non-union members. They will wade into the controversy the way a person wades into water, slowly and forcefully.

organized labor - unions (organized workers - labor often means workers)

conservative groups - if someone is conservative he/she tends to support business and low taxes. Conservatives are generally anti-union (against unions). They believe that businesses should not be monitored or regulated very strictly.

a precedent - something that happened before and that is a guide to all future action. 

deal a potentially crippling blow to - to deal a blow means to hit someone or something. A crippling blow is when you hit a person so hard he can no longer walk. So to deal a crippling blow to something is to ruin or destroy it.

contentious - if an issue is contentious, people are arguing about it

pivotal - a moment of great change (the USA is becoming much more conservative, but this seems to be a cyclical situation. In 1976 there was a liberal president, Carter. In 1980 he was replaced by Reagan, a conservative, and Reagan and Bush, another conservative, were president until 1992. Clinton, a liberal, took over until 2000. G.W. Bush (son of G.H. Bush), conservative, took over until 2008. Obama was a liberal and now Trump is a conservative.)

protesters - people who do not like something and gather to express their disapproval

to flood the court - to enter the court in large numbers

the debate - the argument

public sector unions - unions of government workers

pertaining to - in regard to

employee grievances - employee complaints. So the existing law says that non union members can be charged by unions because the unions will help them with complaints etc.

a compromise - both sides gave in a little bit, neither side completely won

to be overturned - to be completely changed to the opposite

a challenge - a challenge to the law allows fees to be collected from non-union members. So the new Supreme Court Justice, who was appointed by Trump, will probably decide who wins this case. He is conservative.

to be germane to something - to be relevant to something, to legitimately apply to something

issues germane to collective bargaining are inherently political - unions engage in collective bargaining, meaning they negotiate for the whole group (collective)...and the guy who brought this case to the court says that collective bargaining is a political process in itself (inherently). Therefore, he should not be forced to support a political organization. He is saying all unions are political.

The First Amendment - this is a part of the Constitution which protects many of an American's rights, especially a person's right to 'free speech'. He is saying that if he is forced to give money to a political organization, his free speech rights are being violated.

to subsidize the speech of a third party - to pay for the message of a political party

advocacy - to advocate for something means to speak in favor of it. So the guy, Janus, is saying that Illinois is heavily in debt, but these unions keep demanding higher and higher salaries for their workers, and this is killing his state. He does not want to be a part of this.

the current fiscal situation - the current economic situation of Illinois, which sucks.

a stagnant economy - an economy which is not moving, seems dead. A stagnant body of water has old, rotten, polluted water in it.

the case boils down to - the central issue of the case is.....

coffers - budgets

to file a brief - in an important Supreme Court case, all kinds of organizations will 'file briefs', meaning they will send documents to the Supreme Court advocating for a certain decision.

to impose - to force

Turkey and the Kurds - Should the USA Defend the Kurds from Turkey?

Kurds

After World War I England and France occupied large territories in the Middle East which had once belonged to the Ottoman Empire (now Turkey - one of the countries which had lost World War I).

England and France were only concerned about extracting (getting) oil and so they created a number of countries just by drawing lines across a map. They created Iraq, Transjordan, Palestine, Syria and Lebanon.

It did not matter to either England or France who was living in which parts of the Middle East, they just needed to draw lines through the map to divide this large area up into countries that England and France would control. So a number of countries that had never existed before were created by England and France by two guys who drew lines around a map to divide the area up between them.

If you don't believe me, here's proof: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-25299553

So the Kurdish people, unfortunately, had lines drawn through the area where they were living. This one ethnic group was, therefore, separated and forced to live in four different countries.

For about 100 years now, the Kurds have been seeking to get their own homeland. Turkey, a country in which many Kurds live, does not like this idea. Nor does Iraq. It seems that the land which rightfully belongs to the Kurds also has lots of oil on it. Iraq, for instance, does not want to lose this oil to the Kurds.

The United States has been very sympathetic to the Kurdish people. Indeed, the Kurds have been very helpful to the United States in its war on terror. As you can read from the following article, Turkey has begun to attack Kurds who had helped the United States to fight against ISIS. So far the United States has not done anything to help the Kurds. The person who wrote the following article recommends that the US government begin to help the Kurds.

The article:

https://nypost.com/2018/01/22/dont-abandon-the-kurds-to-the-mercies-of-turkeys-tyrant/

Vocabulary to help you understand the article:

to abandon someone/some group/some thing: to leave it helpless, to just walk away.

mercies - this is an ironic or sarcastic term here. Turkey is clearly not interested in being merciful or kind to the Kurds. To be merciful or to show mercy means not to harm someone when you feel like harming them. Turkey has no desire to show mercy and that's why "mercies" is in quotation marks.

a tyrant - a dictator, someone who is not part of a democratic system, a leader who has too much power. So this writer is calling the leader of Turkey a tyrant.

an ally - a friend.

a quarter century - 25 years. 1/4 of 100 years.

man-for-man, woman-for-woman - meaning that if you compare the average Kurdish man or woman to anyone else from any other ethnic group or country which has fought against ISIS, the Kurds are better or superior.

Kurdish boots on the ground - Kurdish soldiers on the ground, fighters (soldiers wear boots so instead of him saying "Kurdish soldiers on the ground..." he says "Kurdish boots on the ground...")

sweeping - wide, thorough, complete

caliphate - the type of government ISIS created

to crush something - to step on something in order to destroy it

wriggling - if you step on a snake, it will wriggle and try to bite you, it will twist around wildly

snapping - trying to bite (the author is comparing ISIS to a trapped snake)

we're turning our backs on them - we are turning away or abandoning them

NATO - the North Atlantic Treaty Organization...a group of European countries plus the USA. It was created during the Cold War to protect Europe from Soviet Russia. Turkey and the USA are supposed to be allies in NATO, but Turkey's leader has been turning against the USA for some time now.

gone rogue - to have become uncontrollable; if someone is a rogue, he is highly independent to the point where he can't be trusted, because he will always pursue his own needs.

Islamist strongman - a dictator or tyrant who believes in the Islamic religion

odious - hateful

President is in quotation marks like this "President" because the writer believes that Erdogan is NOT really a president, but instead is a dictator.

to be captive - to be prisoners

a census - when a population is officially counted

butchered en masse - violently killed in large numbers

scapegoated - blamed for things they didn't do

unnervingly familiar - so familiar to the bad way that Israel has been treated (according to this author) that one should be unnerved or upset.

letting the Kurds down at Versailles - The Treaty of Versailles was the agreement that ended World War I. According to that treaty England and France were allowed to divide Kurdish territory up and place it into 4 different countries. So America did not try to help the Kurds at that point - the USA let them down (disappointed them).

acquiesced - to agree without wanting to agree

in the wake of Desert Storm  - following Desert Storm, the war in the early 1990s against Saddam Hussein of Iraq.

a succession of - a number of

combating - fighting

on the verge of - close to

a slaughter - a violent and often mass killing

an underdog - someone who does not have a lot of power but who is good

a rabid dog - a dog with a disease that makes it a ferocious (aggressive) killer

he has gutted democracy - he has removed the essence or reality of democracy from his government

false charges - he has accused people of fake crimes and thrown them in jail

suppressed - pushed down, held down

rigged the courts - if you rig something you change it so that justice does not occur, what you want to happen will occur. So people do not get justice in the Turkish court system any more.

to back someone - to support someone

Islamic hardliners - these are very extreme followers of the religion of Islam, very conservative

reignited - restarted; to ignite something is to start something on fire

inertia - this means that when something comes to a stop, or is in a resting state, it is hard to move it again

strategic interests - strategy or plans as to how the US will carry out its foreign policy

restricted use of an airbase - the USA seems to need an airbase in Turkey and Erdogan seems to be threatening to refuse to allow the US Air Force to use it if the USA does not support Erdogan's policies. So the USA seems to be afraid to offend or upset Erdogan for fear of losing this airbase.

Turkey uses the airbase as leverage - leverage is the ability to move a heavy object using a long stick and something you can place the stick on top of - you then push down on one end of the stick while the other end moves the object. If something is being used as leverage, it is being used to force someone to do something he doesn't want to do.

call Erdogan's bluff - if you are bluffing, you are pretending to do something you really aren't going to do. So the writer is basically saying we should defend the Kurds and see whether Erdogan will actually try to force Americans out of the air bases. The writer does not seem to think Erdogan will, but if he does, it doesn't matter, the USA will just lose two air bases.

liberated by the Kurds - freed by the Kurds through fighting

a bogus claim - a fake claim, a lie

the alphabet game - the writer is joking about all of the organizations represented by all the different three-letter combinations

indistinguishable - cannot be differentiated from, cannot be told apart from, to look the same as

a domestic resistance group - a group within Turkey that resisted the government and demanded a homeland for the Kurds

political accommodation - this Kurdish group that functioned within Turkey gave up violence in order to work within the Turkish political system. 

oppressed - held down, not allowed their rights

solidarity - a feeling of brotherhood, when individuals feel they belong in a group and are willing to work together with others toward a goal

the YPG is the same as the PKK - the writer is trying to make a joke saying that just because names sound similar it does not mean that things or organizations are similar.

to cling to - to hold on to too tightly

to draw a red line - to tell Erdogan that he cannot continue to do things which are clearly wrong; to draw a red line is like drawing a line on the ground and telling someone that he cannot walk past this line with punishment.

the terrorist sits in his president's chair in Ankara - Ankara is the capitol of Turkey, so the writer is saying that Erdogan is the real terrorist in this situation.

Vicente Fox says that Trump's mouth is the "foulest shithole in the world."

I am guessing that within the next four years, due to the presidency of Donald Trump, the world will become familiar with every curse word/dirty word in the English language.

President Trump just introduced the dirty word 'shithole' to English learners world-wide.

So, as a responsible English teacher, let me discuss the meaning of this term that my president so suddenly introduced to you.

You could say that, literally, a shithole is a toilet, but it is actually an outdoor toilet, basically a hole in the ground where people might defecate (to defecate is the polite verb for to poop or to shit). 

If you say that a place is a shithole, you are saying it is really a lousy, rotten, bad, dirty, disgusting place - like what you might find at the bottom of a shithole.

So, apparently, Trump asked the question, "Why do only people from shithole countries come to America?"

What the world has to understand is that Donald Trump has no capacity for self-restraint (self-control). He can't say 'no' to any urge or desire he feels. Whatever he feels like saying, he has to say. Sometimes he'll change his mind and say exactly the opposite. He lacks the ability to reflect on or think about his actions and he never questions whether the way he feels is right or wrong or whether he might hurt someone through something he does or says. He is like a boat just being pushed around on the ocean, going wherever his emotions or emotional responses take him. 

Furthermore, after he does something, he is incapable of assessing whether what he did was right or wrong. He seems capable of attacking others for their faults and errors, but self-assessment is beyond his little pea-sized brain.

So Trump is, basically, the perfect example of a Republican in the USA.

Here is an article about the current president of the USA and his 'shithole' comment.

The article:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/world-reacts-to-trumps-shithole-countries-remarks/ar-AAuAekh?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=wispr

Vocabulary to help you understand the article:

to prompt - to cause

condemnation - to condemn something is to say it is very wrong

divisive - it pushes people apart instead of bringing them together

explicitly - openly, directly (the opposite of explicitly is implicitly - this is when you hint or imply something and don't say it outright)

to summon someone - to call someone to appear before you

to commemorate - to remember

to displace - to force something out of its usual space

to be accorded - to be given

granted - given

strife - trouble

vacant - nobody is there

the foulest -  if something is foul it is super disgusting

to proclaim - to loudly state something

a betrayal - not being loyal to something/someone

a narcissist - someone who is in love with himself

white supremacist - a white person who thinks that white people are better than other people of other races

to defy logic - to violate the laws of logic, to make no sense

The Metropolitan Museum of Art will charge non-New Yorkers a $25 admission fee

{{{Yep, that's me in front of the Met Museum}}}

One of the best features of coming to New York City, for visitors, was being able to get into the Metropolitan Museum of Art for whatever the person chose to pay. The Met had a recommended admission fee, but you could get in for a dollar if you wanted to. 

Now the Met is changing its policy and requiring anyone who is not from New York State to pay a $25 admission fee. So people from New York can still pay a dollar to get in, but visitors will have to pay through the nose (pay a lot). Indeed, $25 to get into a museum seems to be close to a standard fee, but I feel it is outrageous. The most time anyone can realistically spend in a museum is about 3 hours. If you really want to see everything at the Met, this will require multiple visits. $25 is way too much for a visit (even though the Met will give a person a 3 day pass under the current policy).

The Met is an amazing museum - clearly the best art museum in the United States. But I tend to disagree with this policy. What do you think? It seems to me that the Met wants to take advantage of visitors. The average visitor to New York City spends around $1,200 here. So the Met thinks people from out of town have money, and the Met wants more of it.

The following article implies that the Met has not been wise about handling its money and that is one reason why this crisis and this new policy have developed. Please feel free to read the following article and judge for yourself.

The article:

http://www.vulture.com/2018/01/metropolitan-museum-of-art-25-admission-fee.html

Vocabulary to help you understand the article:

to pay through the nose - this is an expression meaning to pay a lot of money

the resignation of - when a person voluntarily leaves a position/job

financial stability - financial health, how well someone or some organization is doing in regard to money

mandatory - no choice, you have to do this

satellite museums - there are 3 museums that are operated by the same organization, the Met is the primary one, with two 'satellites'

the wheels began turning - the plans to change things began developing

a deficit - a debt, when someone or an organization owes money

fueled by - made worse by

a head for numbers - someone good at accounting and money

righting the financial ship - fixing the financial mess

to vouch for something - to say that it is true, to indicate that something is a fact

stat-heavy - lots of statistics

support contingent on - the support from the city was based on a pay-what-you-wanna policy

gamely renegotiated - aggressively renegotiated

a budget crunch - a lack of money in the budget, not enough money

a silver bullet - an easy solution, a quick effective solution that fixes everything (a Werewolf or other monsters can be killed with a silver bullet)

stingy - cheap, not willing to spend money, not generous

The "Christian" Baker vs. the Gay Couple

{{{image from washingtontimes.com}}}

A few years ago a gay couple asked a bakery in the USA to create a cake for their wedding. The owners of the bakery were a conservative Christian couple and they refused to do this.

{{{If someone is 'conservative' they tend to not like it when things change. They have 'old-fashioned' values. Liberals tend to be more 'open-minded' about change.}}}

The bakery owners felt that it was their right to refuse to provide service to a gay couple because of their religious beliefs. Many conservative Christians believe it is wrong for gay folks to get married.

However, in the USA there are very strong anti-discrimination laws. 

{{{Discrimination is when action is taken to deny someone some type of service because of who or what the person is. Prejudice is an attitude, discrimination is a type of action.}}} 

So the gay couple argued that the bakery owners discriminated against them because of their sexual preference. A government organization agreed with the gay couple and fined the bakery owners $135,000. This is, of course, a huge amount of money.

How do you feel about this issue? Even if you agree with the gay couple, how do you feel about the fine? Do you think the fine was fair? Why do you think the government fined them so severely?

An article about this issue:

http://wkrg.com/2017/12/29/sweet-cakes-pays-135k-fine-in-gay-wedding-cake-case/

Vocabulary to help you understand the article:

legally-binding - this means the decision is a legal decision which must be obeyed. To bind is to tie something up. 

The Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) - any 'bureau' is going to be a government office. This is an office in Oregon which monitors businesses to make sure they follow all the laws in the USA.

to net (that netted) - to net something is to collect or get something, like catching fish in a net

discrimination - remember that discrimination is an action, prejudice is an attitude

a state exemption - if you are exempt from some type of law, it means the law does not apply to you. So the owners of this store believed that because they have an anti-gay religious belief, this protected them (made them exempt) from anti-discrimination laws. They were wrong.

being appealed - the owners are taking this matter to a higher court to get the decision overturned, if possible 

to be a beneficiary of someone/something - to get a benefit, to get something good or a reward

an evangelical Christian - these are 'super' Christians. Very, very, very conservative. To be an evangelical Christian means you believe so strongly in the Christian religion that you feel you have to encourage everyone to become a Christian.

America's new tax law explained for English learners

Many of my students ask me what the basic difference is between the Republican Party and the Democratic Party in the USA.  I usually joke and say that the Republicans are evil while the Democrats are corrupt. I then say that Americans, themselves, generally fall within two categories: the evil and the corrupt. So when an American goes to vote, he/she just asks, "Hmmm...am I evil or corrupt?" If evil ---> Republican; if corrupt ---> Democratic.

Why are Republicans evil? The core (basic) principle of this party is that everyone should take care of him/herself and that whatever is good for business is good for America. During the Great Depression a Republican President (Herbert Hoover) actually said on the radio that he was not going to help Americans who were hungry or out of work because government help makes 'the people' weak.  

Why are Democrats corrupt? Well, lots of Democratic politicians get arrested every year for corruption because they seem to feel that as long as they are providing services to poor people who need them, they can fill their own pockets with cash as well. Indeed, the Democrats are good at providing lots of free stuff and free services, but they never seem to ever solve any social problems. So they believe that businesses exist to pay high taxes so that they can provide people with free things and free services (and stick some money in their own pockets while they are at it).

So, basically, both parties suck and neither has any solution to the real problems the USA faces.

The Republicans are now in control of the government, and so it is their turn to harm the country and its people by being evil.

So you've probably heard of the new tax law that Trump has signed. Basically it's a law that reduces taxes for businesses and wealthy folks, while not doing anything for folks in the middle class and among the poor. Supposedly, if wealthy people and businesses make more money then everybody will make more money because businesses will create new jobs. They tried this before in the 1980s and it was a disaster that lead to a homeless crisis in America (which still exists). 

The tax law also adds to the amount of debt the USA is carrying, so, China, if you are reading this, you might want to ask Trump and the Republicans when they intend to start paying back some of the money they owe you. You've been too nice China!!! Tell the US Government to stop taxing poor people and to pay its debts!!! Please!!!! (I'm joking, kind of). China, you might want to ask the US government when it intends to start paying you back. They don't seem to be thinking too much about that. Can you please remind them, for the sake of all Americans who are neither evil nor corrupt?

Here is an article about the crazy new law our crazy new president recently signed:

http://www.cosmopolitan.com/politics/a14472733/gop-tax-plan-immoral/

Vocabulary to help you understand the article: 

to be corrupt - to be dishonest, to do wrong things in order to benefit, to cover-up things that are wrong

the GOP - the Grand Old Party ...the Republican Party

to be disgusted - to feel sick because you see something that is wrong

to be immoral - not to be ethical, to be evil, not to do right or good things

abundance - wealth, having more than you need

grossly failed - failed in a huge way, failed in a really big way; if an adjective is 'grossly' something, it is a really big something. His lie was grossly inaccurate. His sexist behavior was grossly inappropriate. His statement was grossly insulting.

to balloon the deficit - the make the debts of the USA grow too large...the deficit is the debt the USA owes

to repeal the Obamacare mandate - to repeal means to 'take back' or 'eliminate'. A mandate is a law that you have to do something. So under the Obamacare healthcare plan, everyone had to have health insurance or they had to pay a fine (an amount of money as a punishment). The Republicans got rid of this mandate. Cosmopolitan feels that the Obamacare system cannot survive without this mandate because now only very sick people who need insurance will apply and young, healthy people will not buy into the system.

a reverse Robin Hood - in folktales Robin Hood stole from the rich and gave to the poor. Republicans are reversing this process and stealing from the poor to give to the rich.

deductions and loopholes - these are terms that apply to saving money on one's taxes. A deduction is an expense (money you have spent) that will allow you to reduce your taxes. A loophole is an exception to a law that allows one to avoid paying a high rate of taxes.

to go back on a promise - to make a promise and then to change one's mind about it

a blatant lie - a very, very obvious lie; a lie that is so apparent that it can't even be covered up

to their heirs - to people they want to give their money to after they die. So now Trump's children can inherit his property without paying much in taxes.

dubious - doubtful, not believable; so the article is saying that corporations are already making huge profits in America but they are not using this money to create new jobs. Therefore a tax cut that helps them save more money will not help the country to get more jobs. The tax cuts are only meant to help people who have supported the Republican Party financially.

the uber-rich - uber is a German word meaning 'over' - so uber-rich means overly rich or too rich.

non-partisan - to be partisan means to only support one political party. If a group is non-partisan, it means this is a group made up of Democrats and Republicans, not just one of the parties 

to expire - to end

a repeal- an elimination 

the wide consensus - a consensus is when everyone agrees on something, a wide consensus means that everybody easily agrees on something (the opposite would be a narrow consensus)

to force premiums to soar - a premium is the amount per month a person would pay for health insurance. premiums will soar because healthy young people won't buy insurance and the fewer healthier people there are in the system the more money insurance companies will have to pay for treatment for the excess number of ill people in the system. To soar means to rise rapidly.

to rack up - to increase; this is a common phrasal verb. That basketball player is so great today - he is racking up points!  Hey, don't order too many drinks, you are racking up our bill! 

entitlement reform - entitlement is the Republican term for a service people get for free. It has a negative meaning. Social Security is a system that makes sure our elderly have money after they retire. If Social Security didn't exist, children would have to take their elderly parents into their homes or let them die in the streets. Republicans seem to think it's OK to let Americans die in the streets. Yes, these are EVIL people. Reform means a positive change. But taking away an elderly person's money is not 'reform' it is THEFT.

devastating - horrible, an effect which is truly terrible

to be saddled on the backs of - a horse wears a saddle so that it can be ridden, so the author of the article is saying that debt will be like a saddle our young people will carry for the rest of their lives

millennials - the current young generation of Americans

hypocrisy - when a person says one thing but acts the opposite way; a hypocrite is a person who says something but acts differently from what he says

stunning - shocking

morality - being good, acting in a good, ethical way; morals are principles or ideas on how to be good in society, to be moral is to be able to act ethically or to do good things in society

The Keystone Pipeline leaks massive amounts of oil into the environment

Many of us in the USA protested against the expansion of this oil pipeline. In fact, the protests were so effective that President Obama agreed to stop the building of this pipeline from Canada through the USA. Unfortunately, one of the first things that Donald Trump did, as president, was to OK this pipeline. Since then, there have been two major oil leaks. Part of the pipeline goes through land which is sacred to Native Americans and part of the pipeline goes through the largest supply of underground fresh water in the USA.

Here is an article about this oil spill:

http://www.cnn.com/2017/11/16/us/keystone-pipeline-leak/index.html

Vocabulary to help you understand the article:

to protest - this is when people who disagree with an issue or action come together publicly to express themselves in order to try to change something.

a leak - when a liquid substance escapes from a container or structure that was meant to hold the liquid safely.

to be sacred - to be holy, to be a part of someone's religion.

South Dakota - a state in the American mid-west.

a barrel - a wooden container 

to stretch from - they go from 

to be approved - to be OK'd, to be allowed to happen

to give a permit approval - when a government agency provides a permit (official document allowing something) to allow something to happen.

a thumbs up - an approval, a thumbs down is a disapproval

crude oil - oil in its basic form, before it is refined into gasoline or other products

intense debate - strong arguments for and against something

amid - among, within 

hefty opposition - strong opposition, strong feelings against something

the extraction of - the removal of something

sovereign lands - if land belongs to Native Americans, the US government has no legal right to use it. 

Should New York City decriminalize turnstile jumping?

This is a turnstile:

Lots of people in New York City 'jump' the turnstile, meaning they are able to climb over it or duck under it and get into the system for free.

Many of these people are arrested by the police and they get criminal records. These criminal records hurt these folks when they look for jobs.

So some folks are arguing that turnstile jumping should be 'decriminalized' - it will no longer be a criminal offense. A person will just receive a fine (a person will have to pay some money to the city) and this will not go on a person's record.

The price of the fare to get into the New York City subway system is $2.75. So that's almost $6 for a round trip ride in New York City. There are a lot of poor people for whom $6 is a lot of money. I have never jumped a turnstile, but there were times when I was a bit poor or running short of money and I realized that $6 was a lot of money for me at that time.

So I tend to think that New York should decriminalize this behavior. Too many lives are being hurt over this situation and the fares are, honestly, too high and the service is too poor. The MTA - New York's transportation system - is a badly mismanaged system. The service should be better and the fares should be lower. When poor people have to jump turnstiles, the city and state are not helping poor people to improve their lives.

Here is an article about this situation:

https://ny.curbed.com/2017/8/10/16122244/nyc-subway-turnstile-jumping-decriminalized-bill-mta

Vocabulary from this article:

a mayor - the person who leads a city; the person in charge of a city

fare evasion - not paying one's fare (money) to get into the subway

to lack funds - to be without money

legislation - a law or laws

to be arrested - this is when the police take you into custody; you are processed by the police and have to go to a court room for a trial

to take a stance on an issue - to take a position on an issue, to argue for or against some issue

a civil rights activist - someone who works to make sure that people have all the rights that are supposed to be guaranteed to them by the government

a stance - an attitude, a position, a belief

fare beaters - people who don't pay their fares

NYPD - New York police department

the jurisdiction - the power

to issue a summons - this means that instead of the police arresting someone they give the person a ticket and the person has to appear for a hearing in a non-criminal court

to implement something - to do something, to bring something about

prosecuting people - arresting people and forcing them to go to court

to deter other crimes - to try to scare people from committing other crimes; if someone breaks a little law and you arrest him, it will deter (scare) other people from committing that same crime. 'Broken windows' refers to a university study which showed that if a parked car has a broken window which is not immediately fixed, criminals will break into the car and steal as much as they can (because they feel nobody really cares about the car). Basically the argument is that the police should arrest people for small crimes and this shows all criminals, small and large, that the city will not tolerate any type of crime. This will, according to the theory, reduce crime. Here's a video on the 'broken windows' policy:

How many calories do you burn while doing nothing?

So the good news is that you burn about 700 calories just sleeping 8 hours a day. Then, even if you do nothing, just sitting at a desk, sitting in a chair, you'll burn another 1,000 or so calories throughout the day. So your body is burning about 1,700 calories a day for you for free - no effort needed. Now, if you want to lose weight, you just have to cut back on the amount of food you eat and increase your activities a little more. The weight should start flying off!

to lose weight - many students will say, "I need to lose my weight." or "Joe is trying to lose his weight." There is no need, however, for a possessive pronoun. 

You should say, "I need to lose weight." or: "Joe needs to lose weight."

Interesting article about burning calories while doing nothing.

http://www.livestrong.com/article/461950-how-many-calories-can-you-burn-daily-just-from-sitting-walking-around-a-house/

Vocabulary from the article:

bowling - I don't know why they included bowling along with these other activities. I have not been bowling in 20 years and I don't think I know one person who regularly bowls. Here is an image of a bowling ball hitting some pins in a bowling alley:

thermal energy - heat energy

body composition - what your body is made up of, the proportion of fat to muscle to bone etc.

There is very simple vocabulary in this article, I just wanted to point out that you don't have to use a possessive pronoun with 'weight'.

Also, as someone who is trying to lose weight, I found this article useful.

Kyrgyzstan breastfeeding controversy

The daughter of the president of Kyrgyzstan posted this photo of herself breastfeeding and then removed it shortly thereafter, when her parents requested that she do so.

{{{photo from the BBC}}}

Do you think it is ok for women to breast feed their children publicly?

Some folks think this woman was trying to show off her (sexy) body more than showing the process of breast-feeding? Was she 'sexualizing' the breast-feeding process?

Do you think Aliya should have taken the photo off of social media?

Article about this topic:

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-40479231

Vocabulary from this article:

a controversy - when a topic causes people to strongly disagree with each other 

to spark - to cause, to initiate

a debate - when a topic is discussed and there are at least two differing opinions

the row - this is an English term meaning the controversy or disagreement or conflict

hyper-sexualized - too sexualized, over sexualized

sexualisation vs. sexualization - sexualisation is how the English spell this word and sexualization is how Americans spell it. So images of women are 'sexualized' when the images are deliberately meant to excite or arouse sexual desire when one sees the image

the caption - explanatory words under an image

immoral - not moral, not ethical, not acting in a right way; if you are doing something immoral you are doing something wrong.

vulgar - dirty, overly and inappropriately sexual

physiological needs - body needs

to disapprove - to express that one does not like something, when one expresses that something is wrong

conservative - someone who is conservative doesn't like things to change; a conservative person is usually not considered to be very open-minded

the outskirts - near the outer border of the city

stylized portraits - not realistic, more attractive and stylish than realistic

the backdrop - the background, what can be seen behind something that you will first focus on

landscapes - wide areas of nature depicted/shown in paintings

a recurring theme - it is something that happens over and over again in her postings

her flat - her apartment

prestigious - famous for being really good or special

a rarity - not common, not usual

the context of a post-Soviet Muslim society - The Soviet Union used to contain many countries including Russia and many smaller countries surrounding Russia. The Soviet Union broke up and these smaller countries gained their independence in the early 1990s. Some of these countries have traditional Islamic values. So the author is pointing out that this young woman is really different from most others in her traditionally Muslim society.

the generation gap - this is when the values and culture of the generation of one's parents is very different from the values and culture of the children. There was a lot of talk about the generation gap in the USA in the 1960s. Parents from the World War II generation generally supported the Vietnam War but their university student children opposed it.

compromise - when both sides in a disagreement meet in the middle

to be ousted - to be kicked out of office, to be removed from office

the incumbent leader - the current leader, the person in charge right now

to pledge - to promise

to meddle in - to get involved in, to interfere in

to cause a stir - to create controversy, to create heated discussion

Should restaurants have to provide free access to restrooms for the public?

A politician in Chicago wants to create a law which will force restaurants to provide free access to anyone who needs a bathroom if the situation is an 'emergency'. 

Here is the article about this situation:

http://chicago.suntimes.com/news/gotta-go-proposal-guarantees-public-toilet-access-in-emergency/

Vocabulary from the article:

restroom, bathroom, washroom - these terms are used interchangeably for the place where a toilet is located. 

gotta go? - Do you have to go?

an ordinance - a law

when nature calls - another way of saying: when a person has to go to the bathroom

rookie - someone new is often called a rookie. If it is your first year as a nurse, you are a rookie nurse. Teacher: rookie teacher. a rookie Ald. means rookie Alderman. An Alderman in Chicago represents his neighborhood in the city government and helps make laws for the city.

to be humiliated - to be deeply embarrassed, to do something that others might laugh at or look down on someone for

who had just had an accident - this means that she either peed or pooped in her pants. If you are a parent and your very young child pees or poops in his/her pants, you might say, "Oops my child just had an accident. We need to change his/her pants."

to be inhumane - to be lacking in real human values or morality, not to act like a kind and caring human being

Moore's ordinances goes further - it should be 'ordinance'

general counsel - general adviser/lawyer

well-intentioned - the person who created the ordinance wants to do something good, but....

Wrigley Field - the place where the Chicago Cubs play baseball. It is an area with lots of restaurants.

St. Patty's Day - St. Patrick's Day, a day celebrating the accomplishments of St. Patrick, who brought civilization to Ireland. Lots of people drink on this day and there are parades in many American cities.

massive amounts - huge, large amounts

too much of a burden - too difficult to deal with; a burden is something heavy you have to carry

the mandate - the law

burdensome - difficult

to be equipped - to have the capacity or facilities necessary to do something

substantial - big enough to matter

a genuine emergency - a real emergency

hit the head without having to walk too far - to hit the head means to go to the bathroom

edict - law

imposed on - forced on

death by a thousand cuts - business owners are saying that the government of Chicago is killing business slowly by doing one little thing after another that hurts business, like the form of execution (public killing) called 'death by a thousand cuts' where the person dies slowly after being cut by a knife several times. Chicago has some of the highest taxes in the country because it did not transition well after all of its factories moved to other cities in other countries. So the government keeps trying to get as much money as it can from its businesses (thus causing more and more businesses to leave the city). Chicago, as well as its businesses, is dying a slow death. 

a higher minimum wage - the minimum wage in Chicago is now $11/hr. Businesses would prefer that wages be established by the market and by supply and demand. Many business owners feel that a higher minimum wage hurts their businesses. Proponents (supporters) of a higher minimum wage feel this helps people overcome poverty and that it puts more money into the economy.

paid disproportionately - there are many people in labor unions in Chicago. A labor union is an organization that is supposed to protect workers in a particular industry. The biggest unions in Chicago are of government workers: the police, firemen and teachers. There are many of these people and so politicians have given them good salaries and large pensions after their retirement. Politicians have done this to get the votes of these union workers. In order to pay for the huge pensions (money paid to a person after he/she retires) the city is taxing businesses well above and beyond what citizens are being taxed (businesses are being taxed disproportionately - not in the right proportion). Yes, Chicago is PIGS: Portugal, Italy, Greece, Spain.

to be nickeled and dimed - to have someone stealing small amounts of money from you repeatedly

piling on - when one burden is added to another, then another burden is added then another etc.