How do we explain what happened here?

Well, this all started about 8 o'clock Pacific Time last night when this man, who, as you said, was believed to be an airline employee, stole a Horizon Airlines Q400 turboprop plane. This is a small, 80-passenger aircraft used for regional hops. He managed to take off from Sea-Tac Airport - a major airport. And he stayed airborne for about the next 60 to 90 minutes. During this time, North American Aerospace Defense Command, also known as NORAD, launched those two F-15 fighter jets from Portland, Ore. , to intercept the plane. As you heard, the man was in contact with air traffic control. They were trying to get him to land. And then just after 9 o'clock local time, the plane crashed on that small island, caught fire. NORAD says the F-15s did not fire upon the aircraft. And the man is presumed dead.

What do we know about him?

Not much. Alaska Airlines, the parent airline to Horizon Air, put out a statement saying it believes this man was a ground service agent employed by Horizon. They say that he took the plane from a maintenance position, which means that this was not a plane scheduled last night for passenger service. We don't know what motivated him to take the plane and do this. But during those communications with air traffic control, he did describe himself - and I'm quoting here - as "a broken guy with a few screws loose. "Those are his words.

turn 3 : The man who stole the plane had mental health issues.

What was the man's self-description during the communication with air traffic control?

Answer: guy


But the increase in numbers, I mean, you're talking about going onto reefs and having hundreds to thousands times as many starfish on a reef as you normally would see, and that's a big difference.

Yeah, and you think of some of the runoff that might be coming onto the reef.

There's a lot of evidence that it is. The smoking gun hasn't been found yet, but there's a lot to think that the runoff may be contributing to this. We're definitely - the Australian data show that they're seeing more frequent outbreaks of these sea stars in recent decades, and they think that especially nutrients but other parts of runoff may be to blame.

If you can get them - get the die-off under control, how much of a recovery could we expect from the reef system?

turn 1 : Runoff may be contributing to the increase in starfish population.

How is the increase in starfish population related to the environment?

Answer: Environment


It's necessary because of the drop in consumption.

When the government is spending over $150 billion on a stimulus bill like this, will that have a long run effect on how every person gets a check has to pay out their taxes in the future, has to deal with the realities of how much service the federal government can give in the future?I mean, will there be a sort of back-end re-tax for people who might get a cut in the short run?

I wouldn't put it that way. The problem is in the short run will people be much worse off and will they be able to recover from that?Because during a recession it's not unusual for families to lose two or three percent of their income. So the issue is do you want to lose that two or three percent because in the future you don't want to get a tiny tax increase to balance the budget.

So I think you have to think about what's the potential loss in income, which can be huge if we have a severe recession, or even a mild recession like the one we had in 2001.

turn 2 : "put it that way" - This phrase is an idiom that means to express something in a different or less direct way. In this context, it implies that A disagrees with the way B phrased his question and wants to clarify the issue.

What is the idiom used by PersonA to express disagreement with PersonB's phrasing?

Answer: Idiom


OK.

. . . It's a big question.

OK. So it does seem that it's been reported that the president's advisers are at odds. His national security adviser, John Bolton, is hawkish, seems very skeptical about any negotiations with Iran while the secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, seems to want to de-escalate the conflict. Now, obviously, everyone should be very careful about committing troops to any conflict, so let's just take that as a given. But how do you interpret what's going on in the administration around this very sensitive and consequential issue?Some would argue that these things should have been worked out by now.

Well, as far as any discussion with regards to the military option - and there are four instruments of national power, primarily - diplomacy, information, military, economics. It's the dying principle that we follow here as a nation. I believe and many others believe that the military option anywhere at any time should always be the absolute. . .

turn 3 : "It's the dying principle that we follow here as a nation." The phrase "dying principle" here does not refer to a principle that is in the process of dying or fading away, but rather to the fundamental principle that should always be followed, even in dire circumstances.

What principle should always be followed, even in dire circumstances?

Answer: Principle


New York City's teeming millions prime target for an atomic attack go about their normal affairs.

Sixty years ago today, America took cover. Ten a. m.  Eastern Time, sirens sounded in 54 cities, including New York and Washington, D. C.  for Operation Alert, the nation's first civil defense drill. People were told to get to their nearest civil defense shelter. So bank clerks, factory workers, shopkeepers and store clerks went down into basements and subway tunnels. President Eisenhower took a helicopter to an undisclosed location. School kids did the duck and cover in their classrooms. The drill lasted about 10 minutes, and a newsreel at the time showed empty streets and silence.

All clear. New York's first civil defense drill is a tribute to its citizens and defense organizations.

The drill was proclaimed a success because people were calm, orderly and civil. But post-drill analysis estimated that 2 million people in New York would have died in a nuclear attack and 12 million across the country. The Cold War had chilling statistics. More public figures began to say, in President Kennedy's phrase, that in a nuclear war, the fruits of victory would be ashes in our mouth. Operation alerts were canceled after 1962.

turn 1 : Implied meaning: The speaker's use of repetition or emphasis on certain words or phrases may indicate that they are trying to convey a particular message or make a specific point, or that they feel strongly about the topic at hand.

How did people respond to the civil defense drill in New York?

Answer: Calm


Well, if it's $135 million cut this year, I can envision an entire university being closed.

Meaning having to shut an entire campus.

We have three universities in our system and 13 community colleges all across the state. And so 135 million would be one of our universities and all of our community campuses.

What else in the immediate term are you considering doing or are you already doing to comply with this budget cut?

turn 1 : system refers to the reality and not a computer or a program

Answer: Reality


Now, the first Crohn's gene was cofounded here at the University of Chicago by one of my colleagues. And subsequently, multiple genes for Crohn's disease have been found, most of which have to do with how the body's immune system interacts with the bugs living in the gut.

This is SCIENCE FRIDAY, from NPR. I'm Ira Flatow, talking with Dr.  Russell Cohen. And so there's more than one gene involved, is what you're saying.

Well, yes, there are multiple genes, and there's been big breakthroughs in genetic discoveries with something called genome-wide association, GWAS. So now the genes are falling out of the sky at us every time a group does a big genetic study.

Falling out of the sky. They're - is it that easy to discover them, or are there are just so many you can't really narrow down the important ones?Or are they all important?

turn 3 : There are so many genes that it is difficult to determine which ones are important

Which factor makes it hard to determine important genes for Crohn's disease?

Answer: genes


It takes a whole lot of land to produce meat. If you think about it this way, imagine around the globe all of the crop land out there - one-third of it is used to grow food not for people but for animals. It's animal feed. And when you combine the land needed to graze animals and feed them, this is just a whole lot. The World Resources Institute has estimated that for every gram of protein, producing beef can require 20 times the land and emit 20 times the emissions compared to what it takes to produce beans.

So are there certain types of meat that are better in terms of environmental footprint?Or basically is the suggestion that we should not be eating meat?

There are definitely better choices, and it does not have to be all or nothing. I just mentioned cows and other ruminants. They require a lot of land and feed. But they also release a lot of methane into the atmosphere. Every time these animals belch, a bit of methane goes up into the atmosphere. Methane is a very potent greenhouse gas.

So from an environmental perspective, options such as chicken and turkey can be better. It takes less animal feed to produce meat from these animals. They grow faster. They require less land. So when it comes to reducing the environmental footprint of your diet, you don't have to completely give up meat.

turn 2 : There are better meat choices to reduce environmental impact.

Which specific aspect of meat should be considered to reduce environmental impact?

Answer: Feed


Possible charges and possible indictment for bribery in a number of cases - and yet, that's not - it's barely scratching the surface here in the headlines. Netanyahu is poised to have a very strong few weeks. He is meeting Secretary of State Pompeo this week in Jerusalem. He goes to Washington next week, expected to meet Trump. Brazil's new president is visiting just days before the elections, and all of this could boost Netanyahu's profile.

And of course, people are following violence in the West Bank and Gaza happening at the same time. What's happening there?

Yeah. Yesterday a Palestinian stabbed a soldier, stole his gun, commandeered a car and fired shots. An Israeli soldier and a rabbi were killed. Another soldier was badly wounded. And this comes a week after two Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire. And then in Gaza, we've been seeing some rare protests against Hamas, against tax hikes there. All of this is a reminder that even though there's been a relative period of calm here, there is continuing tension. And when violence erupts, it can impact how Israelis vote.

Do you notice intense interest in this election, Daniel?

turn 0 : "Scratching the surface" here implies that a topic or issue has only begun to be considered or addressed, and that the scope is much greater. It has nothing to do with actual scratching anything in the physical sense.

How does the phrase "scratching the surface" relate to the headlines?

Answer: Scope


Eastern Congo may be the most dangerous place on Earth, and it's getting worse. A rebel army is moving on the biggest city, Goma. Hundreds of thousands of people are running for their lives. This is the region of infamous ethnic killing between the many people who call themselves Hutus and the far fewer Tutsi.

Hez Holland is a correspondent with Reuters. He's been reporting from Goma. He joins us now. Hez, welcome. And remind us, this is also a region of enormous wealth - timber and minerals. People have been fighting over it for a long time.

At least. It's historically been a curse, what with the mineral wealth and, as you said, the timber, has been something that has been fought over for - since the Belgians. It's always been a place where minerals have been extracted and exploited, and the people have always been just pawns in the great game of any kind of colonial power, really.

Well, now, there's this rebel group led by a man named General Nkunda. He is a former Congolese general. And it is moving on the city of Goma. What are you seeing there now?

turn 0 : Eastern Congo is a dangerous place due to rebel armies and ethnic killings

What is the reason for the rebel army moving towards Goma in Eastern Congo?

Answer: Rebel


It could be. But there is nowhere for the new justices, the Trump justices, Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch, to hide. They're going to have to say more than they said at their confirmation hearings, and that's why it's critical. And it is likely that both of them differ from the swing justice of the last 15 years, Anthony Kennedy.

So DACA is another controversial issue. In November, the court's also going to consider whether President Trump can end the DACA program that shields immigrants brought to the United States as children from deportation. It's my understanding that the court isn't going to rule on whether the law itself is legal. So what's the issue here?

The issue is executive power. The issue is to what extent the Trump administration could reverse the executive action taken by Barack Obama and whether the Trump administration followed the correct procedures. So it will be read by the public as a key ruling on a Trump policy. And therefore, it's important.

And so finally, let's turn our focus to the coming week. The court is going to hear three cases related to workplace discrimination on Tuesday. And basically, the question for the court is whether the Civil Rights Act applies to gay and transgender people in the workplace. Is that the crux of the issue?

Correct. And it's a question of statutory construction - whether Title VII, passed decades ago by Congress to apply to discrimination based on sex, should also be read to apply to sexual orientation. This is the first time several of these justices are going to weigh in on gay rights.

turn 0 : The justices can not avoid being questioned and they are different from the justice who sided with both political parties.

Which justice is different from the swing justice of the last 15 years?

Answer: Kavanaugh


Well, she's made her mission here to expand or improve transparency and ethical reform in the state government. As you likely know, Alaska has been just shaken by corruption scandals for the past couple of years. The FBI has been investigating state legislators, three of them are in jail for bribery now, more maybe coming.

So she sort of arrived on the scene in the middle of all of that, and push for new ethics rule in the legislature and her - one of her biggest goals in office is to get a big new natural gas pipeline. Something along the lines of the old Alaska oil pipeline, built so that Alaska can ship out it's natural gas.

But she wants that done in a more transparent fashion. She says she wants more outside energy companies coming and bidding on that. As oppose to sort of, deals struck among the elite, as she would say, you know, the old governor was accused by her of cutting a deal with the oil companies that just wasn't too favorable to Alaska, or so she said at the time, in terms of oil production taxes. So, she wants all of that to have a lot of more sunlight.

Well, speaking of sunlight, she's facing an ethics investigation of her own, is she not?

turn 3 : The conversation has shifted from talking about Sarah Palin to talking about her ethics investigation.

Which investigation is being discussed in the dialogue?

Answer: Her


What would be risky about it, from the Nicolas Maduro point of view?

Well, there'd certainly be retaliatory measures from the U. S. , very likely more sanctions. There would be a massive outcry from Guaido's dozens of other international allies. The EU's warned that this would be a major escalation in tensions. And there'll be a lot of anger from the multitude of Guaido's supporters here in Venezuela.

Guaido himself says that any attempt by Maduro's government to detain him would be - as he put it - without doubt, one of that government's last mistakes. So we don't know, Steve. I mean, it's not clear that Maduro's concluded that he's in a strong enough position to do this. But it is a possibility.

And I guess we don't know if Guaido intends to go to a border crossing and present his passport or if he intends to sneak in some way. Is it known what path he plans to take?

turn 2 : The literal meaning is discussing the possibility of Maduro's government detaining Guaido, but the implied meaning is that Guaido is confident in his own safety and that Maduro's government is unstable.

What is the possible outcome of Maduro's government detaining Guaido?

Answer: Downfall


Well, that's right. There's obviously not a lot of nuance that can be conveyed in either a four-page letter or a 140-character tweet. And President Trump has been very clear in trying to establish a political narrative around what the attorney general has characterized as the findings in the report. So the question is, is there anything that's going to change, essentially, the political point of view surrounding this report that we're going to learn?Or, essentially, has the news cycle moved on?

Remember, President Trump has had such a consistent approval and disapproval rating. Basically, people's minds are made up about the president. And so I think, from the point of view of Washington and politics, one big question - is there anything in this report - any fact, any conclusion, any information - that offers the possibility of changing the minds of the very few people whose minds are still available to be changed about the president?

Right. I mean, did poll numbers tell us anything even when the summary first came out?We've had, you know, some time since then.

Well, that's right. I mean, look. Consistently, surveys have shown that people in both parties want the report released. It took a little bit of time, but you have seen Republicans migrating around to the narrative that the president has offered for them that, in fact, this report does offer exoneration and vindication. But interestingly, the president himself appears to be somewhat more nervous and concerned about what is actually in this report than he was initially.

turn 3 : The President is worried about the contents of the report despite claiming exoneration and vindication.

Which person appears to be nervous about the report's contents?

Answer: President.


And the question has to be raised. With his support - outspoken support - for Vladimir Putin, for Kim Jong Un, for President Duterte - forgive me - the president of the Philippines - not working well today - does the president send the message that dictators can do as they please?

The president - let's be frank - came to power promising to disrupt official Washington and the way things have been done, including in terms of our relationships with just about every other country. And that is a promise on which the president has delivered. And his base voters are delighted with it, even if it gives pause to members of Congress and people in the media and other observers.

Ron Elving, thanks so much.

Thank you, Scott.

turn 1 : The president's disruptive foreign policy is popular among his base but concerning to others.

Which policy is concerning to others but popular among the president's base?

Answer: Foreignpolicy


Yes, I do. And one of the ways it could be would be to have more women in the House and in the Senate. We saw back in the early 1990s after the Justice Clarence Thomas controversy, Anita Hill's allegations - led a lot of women to say, why weren't there more women on that committee passing judgment on Anita Hill's accusations?- because there was not a single one. They were all men. And why can't we have more representation for our gender when we are, after all, half the population?

That led to the so-called Year of the Woman - 1992 - in which a record number of senators who were women were elected and a large new number in the House. And that we have seen somewhat rise and continue to rise. And the number of women who are in the Senate today is the highest it's ever been, but it's still a minor fraction. And it's still a minor fraction in the House. And as women become more politically active, they become more politically attuned - they are seeing these things, and they are realizing that they need to be represented in Congress to have full power and full equality in this society.

NPR's Ron Elving, thanks so much.

Thank you, Scott.

turn 1 : And as women become more politically active, they become more politically attuned - they are seeing these things, and they are realizing that they need to be represented in Congress to have full power and full equality in this society."  In these turns, the speakers are implying that there is a need for increased representation of women in Congress in order to achieve gender equality and address the underrepresentation of women in positions of power. The literal meanings of the statements may focus on the numbers or demographics, but the implied meaning goes beyond that to highlight the importance of equal representation and the pursuit of gender equality.

How do women become more politically attuned?

Answer: Active


Underserved communities are neglected from the outside in. You know, we're talking about citizenry that have demonstrated a love for their community, have demonstrated a loyalty to the community and city as a whole, and they are the heart and soul of culture and cuisine for so many decades in New Orleans. And to let that go, means we've lost perspective of what is truly important in the society, and that's the root of what our culture is all about, you know, the intersection between people and life itself. And when we lose the priority of that, then we've lost our way as a city. And so the 9th Ward is emblematic of that. While a lot of the city is thriving, until the 9th Ward comes back, we won't be whole, and that's why we believe we should be there as a company.

A grocery store is not everything a neighborhood needs, but it is one of the things a neighborhood needs.

Mm-hmm.

Do you hope that, alongside the growth of Sterling Farms, will come those other necessities - a better school system, the infrastructure elements of sewage and power and water - everything that the people need to get their community going again?

turn 0 : "the heart and soul of culture and cuisine" In this turn, the phrase "heart and soul" is used metaphorically to refer to the essential and central aspects of culture and cuisine. It does not imply the literal physical organ of the heart or soul.

How is the phrase "heart and soul" used in turn 0?

Answer: Metaphorically


It does.

It worked out.

So, first of all, just - as you said, you're just coming back from this conference. Could you just give me - just overall, what are you hearing from your colleagues, particularly your former colleagues in the courts, about how this system is functioning now?How do they experience this backlog?Is it this unending flow of cases that they can't do anything with?Or - how are they experiencing this?

Yeah. You know, the American Bar Association just put out a report on the immigration courts recently in which they said it's a dysfunctional system on the verge of collapse. And that was, basically, agreed to by everybody at the conference, including sitting immigration judges. What the judges have said is that the new judges being hired are pretty much being told in their training that they're not really judges, that instead, they should view themselves as loyal employees of the attorney general and of the executive branch of government. They are basically being trained to deny cases not to fairly consider them.

turn 3 : This statement implies that that judiciary is not independent of the executive branch of government,

What does the training of new judges entail?

Answer: Deny


Well, it's my pleasure, Scott. Thank you.

Can you recreate for us in a sense, like our town does, a summer day at that house you loved?

Basically, people woke up as early as they could, as close to dawn. Everyone was kind of on their own once the kids got older and could take care of themselves to fix something for breakfast and start the day however they wanted as long as they were busy.

There was no television, barely a radio. And it would be tuned into very infrequently, generally when the Red Sox were playing. And all you got were scratchy sounds anyway. People were left to just, I guess, invite the outdoors into their hearts and their souls.

turn 3 : (4) - Implied meaning: People were encouraged to enjoy the outdoors and take in the beauty of nature

What were people left to invite into their hearts and souls?

Answer: Nature


Remember, David, the lead FBI agent assigned to this probe started a new job in Virginia this month. And other lawyers have been moving off the team, too. But Andrew Weissmann was, in some ways, aside from Robert Mueller, the most well-known. He's been attacked by conservative talk radio hosts. And he was called a killer by Steve Bannon, one of Trump's former advisers, who also called him the LeBron James of money laundering investigations.

The thinking being that, I mean, once the important work is done, you're going to let your investigators move on, even if you're putting the finishing touches on the report or whatever is happening.

That's exactly right. And we're seeing more high-level departures by the day.

So the prosecutor you're talking about, Andrew Weissmann, I mean, really played a central role in the case against Paul Manafort. And we're seeing a lot of news in that case over the past 24 hours with the sentencing. What exactly is happening?

turn 1 : The actual meaning is that investigators are typically moved off a case once their important work is done, even if there are still finishing touches to be made. This is different from the literal meaning which is simply a statement about the movement of investigators.

Which aspect of investigator's work determines their movement off a case?

Answer: Important


Southern Africa is reeling from a massive cyclone that hit more than a week ago. Some 700 people are reported dead across the region. But that toll is expected to rise. The scene has been described as apocalyptic, with hundreds of thousands of people affected in four countries. Massive flooding has hit Mozambique the hardest, and that is where Rik Goverde of Save the Children is. He joins us from Maputo via Skype. Welcome to the program.

Thank you. Hi.

Can you tell me what the scene is like there on the ground?

Well, the scene is as you described. It is catastrophic. Imagine that there's an inland sea now where there used to be land. People were sitting on roofs, in trees trying to escape the water. But they had nowhere to go. And helicopters are still flying to get them out of there, to get them to dry and - well, not dry - but mainland.

turn 2 : The phrase, "on the ground" implies being in a place or situation where something important is happening, rather than somewhere else.

What does the phrase "on the ground" imply?

Answer: there


Yeah. It's the fastest and oldest field game in the world, as far as we're concerned, and the only sport that I can really compare to - and you've alluded to it yourself - would be lacrosse. And to American viewers or listeners, sometimes I try and explain it as ice hockey on grass except for the ball leaves the ground and travels at speeds of up to 140 kilometers an hour. It's extremely brave. They wear minimal padding. And it's a full-contact sport.

And tell us about the hurling stick because I've seen those. They're - if I may - to an American audience, they look a little bit like something you'd use to handle a pizza in a brick oven.

(Laughter) I've been told they look like a large spoon. It's a coral-shaped (ph) stick. And at the end of the - at the bottom, it's called a bas where you strike the ball. The ball is made of leather. And it's called a sliotar. The hurley's supposed to reach from your foot up to your hip and is generally about 33, 34 inches for a grown adult.

Do you think that hurling expresses some intrinsic aspect of the Irish spirit?

turn 0 : Comparing hurling to ice hockey on grass is a better way to explain it to American viewers than saying it's the fastest and oldest field game in the world

How does the speaker describe the ball in hurling?

Answer: leather


It probably depends on what chapter you're reading at the time. It's probably all of those things!I don't know who decides what goes into what box or what bin or what shelf, you know. For me, it's just about finding a character, finding a story, following, I guess, my heart at what I'm working on at the moment. And it just kind of falls, you know, wherever it may out there after that, you know.

There's been a lot of attention to the whole idea of street lit. And Zane, who's an erotica writer, extremely popular, sells a ton of books. A lot of people are like, well, she just can't write, but there's a lot of sex in it. And there's also a question that some people have raised about whether or not it is good for the race to have books that are explicit about black sexuality out there. So. . .

What race?The human race?

The black race. The black race. And so I bring this up because so often when people, you know, just as you mentioned, the distinctions between the way some people will look at female sexuality and male sexuality and what it's like to have a track record and whether that makes you a bad person. You know, people also look at these distinctions by race and say, oh well, black people are oversexed. That's some people stereotyping. Are you ever afraid that by doing work like this that you're, you know, I don't know, playing into a stereotype?

turn 3 : The speaker is worried that their work may contribute to the stereotype that black people are oversexualized.

How is the speaker worried about their work?

Answer: Contributing


I think the major difference from the time you were here is that then we were experiencing shortages, but as we speak right now, there is nothing on the shops here. People also surviving on imports, that is the food that people are surviving on is direct imports by the citizens themselves from South Africa from Botswana. And most of the families that are also surviving from their kid's work - seeking economic refugee in those countries and give them to (unintelligible) of Africa. Pay taxes affected the livelihoods of the people involved. As we speak especially with the finding of food distribution by NGOs, we will Zimbabwe is heading towards Somalia. People starve of hunger. There's no food for people to buy even in the stores, that means that people don't have money, but if they had money there is nothing to buy.

Do you plan to vote even though the MDC has dropped out on Friday?

Well, voting on Friday means I'll be legitimizing an illegitimate process. I'll be saying what, even if I don't want from Mugabe, but the outcome of that election will be a reflection of the people in Zimbabwe.

Are you hopeful that someone, I mean the U. N.  Security Council has heard arguments from the U. S.  and Britain, different countries and coalitions of African leaders have tried to make statements, but statements have not so far changed things. What would help?

turn 0 : Despite the presence of goods in shops, people are still starving due to lack of money and high taxes.

Answer: IMPORTS


An so he went from - on Sunday on his Facebook page saying, well, I misspoke. I got the wording wrong, which is something he repeated again today.

Yeah. Well, that plus. He's gotten just increasingly - because as the pressure has mounted - and it's been fascinating to watch the responses from the congressmen, from the Republican Party, from Governor Romney and his running mate. As the public outrage on this has mounted, their apologies have become increasingly full-throated so that, as you mentioned, the congressman started out with I misspoke, like that's a little bit of a bizarre concept. Misspeak is when you accidentally picked the wrong word or say President Clinton when you meant President Obama. This was not misspeaking. As I wrote, this was mis-thinking.

And then similarly, you saw Governor Romney. His campaign several hours after this broke managed to choke out a press release comment saying that the governor and Congressman Ryan disagree with this view. And by morning, disagreement had become finding it offensive and unacceptable. So it's sort of a classic political story of how candidates follow the public polls.

And his colleagues - his would-be colleagues in the United States Senate, basically, as you said, throwing him under the bus.

turn 0 : very enjoy am very nice feelvery enjoy am very nice feel

What did PersonA write about the congressman's statement?

Answer: Mis-thinking


Some folks get a little bit cranky about having to work on the holiday. It's a day that, you know, most of us spend with our family and friends. How do you feel about working on a day that most people get off?

Folks that work in NASA have a common bond of a real passion for the space program. So, we wouldn't be here if we didn't have that. And obviously, we'd like to be with our families, but if we can't be there, then the next best place to be is working on a space mission.

So, you know, we've been doing a space station for 10 years straight, and there's been someone here every year for every holiday. And beyond holidays even, you know, one of the crew members on board is having their wedding anniversary just yesterday, and tomorrow's one of the birthdays of one of the flight directors working the flight.

So, we all kind of take care and bond together and take care of each other. And we're having a Thanksgiving dinner here that management's all bringing in for the flight controllers that are working, and we try to shift people out so that, you know, there's three shifts so that people do get some time at home.

turn 0 : cranky refers they're unwell or weak and not related to a shaft

Which word describes how "cranky" is being referred to in turn 0?

Answer: Unwell


Well, we think that the individual insurance markets need to be stabilized. There needs to be certainty. Right now, the insurance companies are putting together their plans for rating the 2018 insurance products, and they have no certainty from Congress regarding the support for insurance premiums for lower income people. Without knowing those, they don't know how to price their policies, and they're going to price them very high. So the bit - that's the biggest thing that needs to be addressed right now.

Dr.  Gurman, I move to ask you a question, both as a physician with a practice and the head of the AMA, how much time do you have to spend on matters that have nothing to do with medicine?

Well, unfortunately, a lot. We know from doing detailed studies where we actually follow doctors and minute to minute with a stopwatch find out what they're doing. The doctors are spending less than half of their time actually taking care of patients. So it's a big problem.

And how would you reduce that bureaucracy, though?Because, you know, bureaucracies run on (laughter) run on a paper trail in a sense.

turn 0 : (1) A: The speaker implies that the lack of certainty from Congress regarding support for insurance premiums for lower income people is causing instability in the individual insurance markets, which is leading insurance companies to price their policies very high.

How are insurance companies pricing their policies for 2018?

Answer: high


I mean, that's something that I wouldn't say I'm worried about, but it's definitely something that I'm thoughtfully considering, as well as I know my colleagues will be.

So how do you protect against that risk?

I do feel like that fear is overstated when it comes to the IPO tax. No. 1 - it's a very small tax. We're talking about 1. 5% on the immense wealth that'll be flowing in when these companies go public. I'm very interested in ensuring that we have a balanced economy here in San Francisco that includes a tech sector but also supports other sectors that haven't benefited from the same tax breaks.

Now, San Francisco is a city where a family of four earning $117,000 a year qualifies as low-income, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

turn 2 : Explaining that the fear related to the IPO tax is overstated and that a balanced economy including other sectors should be supported

How does PersonA believe the IPO tax fear is?

Answer: Overstated


And eventually they found that the virus abided in giant fruit bats, a couple different species of giant fruit bat that were native to that part of Australia. The fruit bats had been roosting in trees, fig trees, eating figs and dropping pulp, dropping their feces and urine onto the grass beneath, and one of the horses had been staying in a pasture out there by those fig trees, had gone into the shade under the tree, had eaten the grass, picked up the virus, and then when she was brought back to the stable with the rest of her fellow horses, she passed the disease on to them, and they passed it on to the humans.

So it was spillover from a bat into horses. The horses became sort of amplifier hosts of the virus, and it spilled onward from them into humans. The mortality rate of that disease is around 50 percent.

And where is it now?I mean, has it popped up again since you wrote about it?

It has popped up, but like some of these diseases, it pops up, and there's an outbreak, a local outbreak, and the case of Hendra usually infects no more than one or two humans, might kill one out of two. In some of the other cases, like Ebola virus in Central Africa, it might kill a dozen or a few dozen people. There's been an outbreak going on in the Democratic Republic of the Congo this summer.

turn 1 : The mortality rate of the disease is high and it has caused outbreaks in the past.

How many people has the disease killed during outbreaks?

Answer: 50


Yeah. Did Joan love Ray, really?

You know, it's easy to think that perhaps she married him because of his money. But it's been hard to sort of root out exactly what she felt. What she said in interviews a number of times was very circumspect - what is love?But I do know that people who knew them both say that it was a long passion - that it wasn't just as simple as a beautiful, young woman running off with a rich man. Certainly, you know, the facts bear that out. It took them so long to get together, and there was a huge price to be paid with both their families.

She really made a difference in the way we think of and treat addiction, didn't she?

Oh, she did, and in such an interesting time. In the '70s, even before Betty Ford had famously stepped forward and talked about her struggles, Joan was convening people who were early thinkers in how to treat people differently. You know, AA had been around, of course, for decades. But there was a movement in the '70s to get people to look at the whole person with alcoholism. And Joan was really passionate about getting the word out.

turn 3 : (4) "Joan was really passionate about getting the word out" - Implied meaning: Joan was determined to spread awareness of the new way to treat people with addiction.

Answer: Addiction


Now, when we look at this, what they're doing, there was a - you know, in some ways perhaps a minor incident, but a telling one where the British publication, the Telegraph, reported online that the G8 leaders enjoyed a six course lunch followed by an eight course dinner. African leaders were not invited and of course they're talking about the global hunger situation. There was a lot of static about that. Do you think that, that was symbolic in any way or just, you know, big time world business as usual?

Well, Farai now you're going to draw the cynical side out of me. This was an incredibly stupid, careless move, by the G8 leaders where they basically seemed to have thought off camera they could do whatever they wanted to. And they demonstrated, for all to see, the contempt actually that they have towards the rest of the world.

That they basically - they see themselves, as in effect, the rulers of this planet. So, when they're on camera there'll be the tears, there'll be the concern. Off camera you saw this hideous example of consumption.

What do you think the G8 leaders should be doing in terms of an Africa agenda?I'm going to get to a couple of specific things, specific national issues of Zimbabwe and Nigeria in a second.

turn 1 : G8 leaders are contemptuous of the rest of the world and think of themselves as the rulers of the planet.

How did the G8 leaders demonstrate their contempt towards the rest of the world?

Answer: Consumption


Well, I think the water infrastructure we have in this country is seriously neglected. I mean, all infrastructure acts as a foundation for economic prosperity, but water is especially important. It does live in this different world where it's so intrinsic and folks expect that we're going to have clean, fresh water any time you turn on the tap. But given the fact that it's buried, it's literally underground, it's easy to ignore. And while we have large infrastructure problems in this country, the water infrastructure problems loom particularly large.

So we don't see them, perhaps even can't taste them. It's not until they - well, that just makes it easier for problems to hide in a sense.

Exactly. And some of these systems are, you know, were built 100 years ago. Some of the pipes are made out of wood. Some of them were built in the time when metropolitan areas were expanding and decentralizing. And just - we just need to reinvest in these existing systems. But because we don't do a good job in this country investing in the infrastructure that's already built - we do a good job building new stuff - we don't do a good job taking care of what's on the ground. Things like water infrastructure are seriously neglected.

I don't think any city likes to hear - but you have to spend more money.

turn 1 : The invisibility and tastelessness of water problems make it easier for them to go unnoticed and unaddressed, leading to potential risks to public health and safety.

Answer: Unnoticed


Dual loyalty is something that relates to the potential conflict between clinicians' duties to their patients and their obligations to their employers. When these organizations have sometimes questionable tasks to fulfill, that becomes a very, very serious almost ethical minefield, I would say.

You and I have both been to immigration detention centers. What do you imagine the work will be like?

Well, I think when you talk about any correctional facility, especially immigration detention centers, there are a couple of hats that one has to wear. One is to take care of routine medical issues - so somebody has a headache, somebody has an infection, is vomiting. But also, we're talking about people who are coming with immense trauma, people who may have injuries, people who have suffered from violence. You need to address that in some ways. There's also making sure that there's no spread of contagious diseases, that people are being nourished well. So it's a very big job.

Isn't it important to have the best medical personnel possible in those facilities?Wouldn't you want somebody extremely qualified to be hired for a job like this?

turn 0 : "almost ethical minefield" implies a morally controversial topic

What is the potential conflict between clinicians' duties?

Answer: Dual


NPR's Sylvia Poggioli says the showdown speaks to deeper tensions between populists and liberals, tensions we've seen playing out across Europe. And Sylvia joins me now from Rome. Hey, there.

Hi, there.

So tell us exactly what has unfolded here. This all began back on June 12.

That's right. That's when the captain of the NGO ship Sea-Watch, 31-year-old Carola Rackete, and her crew rescued 53 migrants off the coast of Libya. They decided to head for the closest safe port, which is the Italian island of Lampedusa. But Italy's populist Interior Minister Matteo Salvini has introduced a controversial security decree that bans NGO migrant ships from entering Italian ports. He claims they essentially are in cahoots with human traffickers. But after two weeks on the high seas, the standoff continued.

And just to be clear, Sylvia, they were just circling in the waters out there for two weeks, trying to figure out what to do next.

turn 2 : They are trying to ask what happen in Europe

Answer: showdown


I suspect that more than a wee dram has been ingested in Scotland, particularly over the past few months, between people grousing about being under the thumb of London and the U. K. In the end, did a lot of Scots decide they kind of like the English?

I really don't think this is a kind of loving of Britain. I think that we had a double negative affect here rather than a positive embrace of what's British. It was more to do with a fear of how we might mess up if we go it alone, I think. There is just something within the Scottish psyche, I think. It's fairly confrontational, the psychology of the Scots. We tend to not wholeheartedly embrace something and say, you know, oh God, we love being British or we love you or, you know, we'll say, ah, you're not bad. You know, that's a very Scottish expression. I think that's what we've done with England and the rest of the U. K.  You know what; it's not that bad rather than suddenly discovering our Britishness.

Ewan Morrison, author and screenwriter, author of "Tales From The Mall," joining us from Glasgow, Scotland - still the U. K. Thanks very much for being with us.

Thank you for having me.

turn 3 : "Thank you for having me." - The actual meaning is figurative, as the speaker is not physically being "had" or possessed by the host, but rather expressing gratitude for the opportunity to participate in the conversation.

Answer: Thank


How was that?

Well, it was astonishing. I think that the grown-ups around us were much too confused themselves to be able to sort of sit down and tell us that when they said that television sets belong to Satan, maybe they hadn't been right. Suddenly, we've got a television set in our house. Suddenly, we've got a radio. . .

Oh, boy.

. . . (Laughter) In our house. And suddenly, we're being taken to go and see "Gone With The Wind" in the cinema.

turn 2 : (3) - The speaker is expressing surprise and disbelief at the changes that have taken place in the household.

How would you describe the PersonA's reaction in turn 3?

Answer: Astonishing


The New York Mets lost 7 to 1 to the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday, but the real loser was their mascot, Mr.  Met. Mr.  Met has a huge white baseball of a head dappled with red stitching and embellished with a perpetual grin.

But as he left the playing field Wednesday night, Mr.  Met flipped a middle finger to a group of fans who posted it on Twitter - busted, Mr.  Met. The club apologized, and the team employee in the Mr.  Met costume that night has reportedly not returned. There were reports that fans heckled him, which fans deny.

The Mr.  Mets middle finger controversy poses a physical and philosophical question. Mr.  Met has four fingers on each hand. How can you say that any of them is a middle finger?Anyway, flipping the bird in New York, isn't that just how they say good morning in Queens?

(Singing) Well, everybody's heard about the bird - bird, bird, bird, the bird's the word. Well, bird, bird, bird, bird is the word. Well, bird, bird, bird - the bird is the word. Well, bird, bird, bird, bird is the word. Well, bird, bird, bird - the bird is the word. Well, bird, bird, bird's the word. Well, bird, bird, bird - the bird's the word. Well, bird, bird, bird, bird is the word. Well, bird, bird, bird's the word. Well, don't you know about the bird?Well, everybody knows that the bird is the word. Well, bird, bird, the bird's the word. . .

turn 2 : The actual meaning of the statement is that Mr. Met's middle finger controversy is a reflection of the fact that in New York, flipping the bird is seen as a normal way of greeting someone.

How is flipping the bird perceived in New York?

Answer: Normal


And it changed your behavior with your friends and family, right?

Oh, absolutely. I became alienated from most of my friends and everything because I wasn't there for them or with them. They had out to social events and things, my social event was to get to the casino as quickly as I could in order to gain money.

And what did it do to your marriage?

Well, I got a divorce. I ended up in divorce. I ended up with my wife getting everything plus the kids. And basically, I was out in the streets trying to survive.

turn 2 : A's gambling addiction affected his marriage to the point of getting a divorce

Which aspect of PersonA's life suffered the most due to his gambling addiction?

Answer: Marriage


Yeah.

. . . To (unintelligible).

Correct.

So what has changed since then?What has happened now?What's causing these federal charges to be brought now?

I think, you know, a big part of this is, one, the #MeToo movement, but two, a bigger part of this is the Miami Herald's three-part series late last year that sort of got everybody interested in this, including the Daily Beast - and we've been working on this now for a year - that highlighted, one, the non-prosecution agreement, why these girls weren't given their day in court - essentially made the U. S.  Justice Department look bad.

turn 0 : The #MeToo movement, as well as the Miami Herald's series, have caused the U.S. Justice Department to re-examine their handling of the case and brought about the federal charges.

Which movement sparked the re-examination of the U.S. Justice Department's handling of the case?

Answer: Miami


What in this agreement makes it better in your perspective?Because you did say that there was something in it that was, so tell me one thing.

There are. The labor chapter itself is better. However, if you can't enforce the labor chapter, it is meaningless. And so we're trying to get the enforcement on three different levels that I outlined earlier.

So what's your message to Democrats here?I mean, the issue is, so far, the administration has been trying to work with the Democrats. I mean, the trade chief, for example, the U. S.  trade representative, Robert Lighthizer, has been working with Democrats to hear their concerns about it. I mean, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has appointed nine House Democrats to committees to negotiate these sort of - these changes.

But there is this some sense that, you know, the administration - others in the administration would like to fast-track it. There is a mechanism for doing that. I mean, do you have a specific message to Democrats?Because, as you know, with such a large - particularly with such a large presidential field, you've got all kinds of different opinions about international trade in that group. Do you know what I mean?So do you have a specific message to them about how to - you would like to see them proceed?

turn 2 : What is your message to Democrats about how to proceed with negotiating the trade agreement?

How is the labor chapter in the agreement?

Answer: Better


No, that felt great. Did it make up?I can't go back to my life pre-June 1, 2017, where I'm getting smeared. And as a Muslim, being attacked with the worst anti-Muslim trope you can say is that I'm a Muslim and I'm a terrorist. So it was very painful. It was painful to have friends and family express concerns. It was painful to contact security at Daily Beast and my radio channel to say, hey, we might be visited by white supremacists coming to kill me. And they might kill innocent people I work with. That was all horrible.

But through this all, I've never once questioned doing this. This is the right thing to do. It's the thing we have to do. And I'm happy we got the judgment. And we're going to continue. And I hope it inspires others and gives them a roadmap to say, don't be silent. There are lawyers who will represent you - I'm not kidding - free of charge for this kind of work to make it clear that we're not going to cower from these people. We're going to sue them. We're going to win. We're going to get their money.

That's Dean Obeidallah. He's the host of "The Dean Obeidallah Show" on Sirius XM. He's a columnist for The Daily Beast. And he's a comedian and a former lawyer. Dean, thanks so much for talking to us.

Thanks for having me on, Michel. I appreciate it.

turn 0 : Being called a Muslim terrorist is hurtful and dangerous.

Which anti-Muslim trope was used against the person in turn 0?

Answer: Muslim


Well, it's definitely run by individual nations but individual nations with their systems tied together. And that happens both geographically but also temporally. You know, one of the key tools for observations that feed the weather models are the polar-orbiting satellites. It's so well-integrated that the European polar orbiters cover the earth in each local time's morning, and the American orbiters come in the afternoon.

I mean, that's a sort of pattern that has been essential to making sure that, you know, we have the latest observations from every part of the earth's atmosphere. It's about this sort of continually humming system to step forward in time and correct slightly and, you know, keep spitting out a changing forecast that hopefully gets better and better.

And so up until now, it's been governments that have been obviously calculating the weather for the greater good. But you call privatization a major threat to weather forecasting. Explain.

Yes, it's a 150-year-old system of governments collaborating with each other as a global public good. You know, in the '60s, it was something that President Kennedy saw as a sort of counterpoint to the space race. You know, meteorology was a way that governments could collaborate. But more recently, we potentially have a kind of bifurcation. You know, we potentially have forecasts for the haves and forecasts for the have-nots.

turn 0 : The weather models obtain information from the satellites.

Which instruments provide observations for the weather models?

Answer: Satellites


Part of the problem is that you obviously need to deal with the security issues. But at the same time, that doesn't mean you put the human rights issues into the background. You can also raise human rights issues as you raise these security issues. You have to be able to walk and chew gum if you're going to practice international relations.

Yeah. You met North Korea's top nuclear negotiator in 2011. How did that go?I mean, how did you balance those concerns?

Well, the primary person I was - the reason that I was in North Korea at the time was to talk about the possibility of United States humanitarian assistance. North Koreans made a request. We were looking at the possibility of doing that. And our negotiations focused on that. On the other hand, there were meetings that we had and also time that we had after meetings or in connection with dinners and that kind of thing to raise human rights questions. You know, you don't start out by blasting them with the worst thing you can find. But there are ways that you can press them and push them and encourage them to accept the idea that human rights actually improves the standing of the regime if people like the government.

This administration eliminated the job you held. Do you think that matters?I mean, do you think this administration will even broach the issue of human rights?

turn 2 : Blasting was done in the metaphorical sense, ie blasting them with words. There was no actual shooting.

What did the negotiations in North Korea primarily focus on?

Answer: Words


What makes a great building?

Well, what makes a great tall building is a building that stands out from the normal run of the mill stuff which is - which makes up most of the tall buildings that are being built in cities around the world. The four buildings this year that we've honored from each region are definitely breaking away from the norm.

Let's talk about - let me just remind everybody that this is SCIENCE FRIDAY from NPR. Let's talk about the Absolute Towers in a suburb of Toronto. These towers were named best tall buildings of Americas. They've been named the Marilyn Monroe Towers because of their sky-high curves. They're curvy-looking, yet they - the curves serve a function.

The curves do serve a function. And what's unique about these buildings is, again, against the backdrop of 99 percent of tall buildings being fairly boring rectilinear boxes, these are very curving organic towers, which look iconic and look incredible, but they serve a purpose.

turn 3 : Literally, the turn means that the Absolute Towers are unique because they are curvy and organic, and also serve a purpose. However, the implied meaning is that most tall buildings are not designed with both aesthetics and functionality in mind, whereas the Absolute Towers manage to achieve both.

What is unique about the Absolute Towers?

Answer: Design


There is a level of acceptance for some. So one young woman I met joined the all-women's force after being brutalized by her husband, who was part of ISIS. On the other hand, the women who were foreigners and even the real hardcore last holdouts in the fight against ISIS who are in this town of Baghuz, which had basically an apocalyptic end. They ran out of food. They ran out of water.

And what you see now from the women who were part of that is that all of the crimes of ISIS - you know, enslaving girls, raping women, beheading people on the streets, the hangings - that was not enough really to make them lose confidence in the head of ISIS. But the fact that children whose families belong to ISIS starved to death while leaders had food, that is what's making people very disappointed, very disillusioned, especially the women I've talked to.

Are there people who still support the caliphate despite all that they went through?

Absolutely there are. And in fact, one woman from Egypt I met has four daughters. She was talking about how all they want is to go home, to go back to Egypt, to go back to the parks, to go see relatives. And she said to me, you know, I don't believe in Baghdadi. But I still believe in the caliphate.

turn 3 : The woman from Egypt still supports the caliphate even though she does not believe in Baghdadi.

What does the woman from Egypt believe in?

Answer: Caliphate


And so when two clumps of free protons and electrons hit each other, they will slow each other down. But dark matter has no charge. That's why we can't see it because the only reason you and I could see anything, it's because there's charges that are being accelerated. That's what light is. But if something has no charge, it doesn't give off light.

So yeah, so in the Bullet Cluster, dark matter and galaxies stayed together just as they should, and in Abell 520, they do not, and that is a mystery as to why exactly that is. There isn't a comfortable explanation that can be readily arrived at.

Is there a theory about what may be happening, or just - you have to just think about it some more?

Well, so there's a number of things that could be happening. All of them are slightly disturbing.

turn 0 : (1) The speaker is explaining why dark matter cannot be seen because it has no charge and therefore does not emit light.

What is the reason that dark matter cannot be seen?

Answer: Charge


Another effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act gained steam last night. A federal judge in Texas ruled that the law is unconstitutional. We're joined now by NPR's health policy correspondent, Alison Kodjak. Alison, thanks so much for coming in.

Thanks for having me, Scott.

This decision was received last night. What's it say?

Well, it's a pretty sweeping decision, actually. This judge ruled that the entire Affordable Care Act, which famously ran more than a thousand pages long, was unconstitutional. The case was brought by 18 Republican attorneys general, and it was led by Texas AG Ken Paxton.

turn 3 : The judge ruled that the entire Affordable Care Act is unconstitutional

How did the judge rule on the Affordable Care Act?

Answer: unconstitutional


(Laughter) He was her father's boss. And he was one of the great nobleman of France at the time, a very, very powerful man. And all of a sudden, she was the very young mistress and was moved into Paris so that he could keep her separate from his wife, but she wanted more. And so very quickly she got bored and she ran off with her fencing master.

Yeah. There's a lot of fencing in this book. As soon as I say that, I realize metaphorical but also actual fencing in this book.

Well, I used to fence as a kid. It's one of the reasons I know about her. I fenced all through school and college, but I have to say that I'd - when I'm writing the fencing scenes, I do jump out of my chair and grab a foil - I've still got my old swords - and I act out the scenes for myself just to make sure that they make sense.

turn 0 : Her fencing tutor, when she is 13, makes her his mistress. Julie says he gave everything I desired and quite a few things I hadn't known existed. Oh, my word.  The implied meaning here is that the fencing tutor didn't only provide fencing training but also engaged in a romantic and possibly sexual relationship with Julie when she was 13. The phrase "makes her his mistress" suggests a deeper relationship beyond a mere student-teacher dynamic.

How did Julie feel about her fencing tutor?

Answer: Everything


But we can also use technology to, you know, warn providers when they're entering orders, for instance. If I'm supposed to be in Mr.  James Smith and entering a complex chemotherapy order, for instance, I'd get an alert saying, are you sure?

Because there was another, you know, Mr.  James Smith on the same ward in the hospital. Are you sure you're entering orders on the right Mr.  James Smith, you know, for instance?

Anything a patient can do to protect him or herself?

With electronic health records has come in a layer of additional transparency for the health care system where patients can access more information electronically than they could ever do before.

turn 3 : Patients can now have more access to their own medical records and other health care information online.

How can patients access their medical records and other health information?

Answer: Electronically


You know, Scott, it's really hard to say. Most of the people we've talked to here in Edmonton over the past few days say what's happening with FIFA has nothing to do with what's going on on the field. There's definitely a worry here, though, that the media will fixate on it. And at FIFA's opening press conference in Vancouver, the president of Canada's soccer association got a barrage of questions all about the drama, and he basically said, look, this is perfect timing for the Women's World Cup. It's the purest form of the game. It's soccer to the core. Let's focus on that because that's what this sport needs - some purity, some positivity. And let's not forget, Scott, this is the biggest women's sporting event in the entire world. And a half a billion people are expected to watch today's opening game between Canada and China, so it's a big deal.

And more national teams than ever, right?

Yeah, that's right. The World Cup is held every four years, and this year there are 24 teams, which is eight more than four years ago. It should be really exciting. Canada is a giant country. So they're going to be traveling around a ton from the West Coast of Vancouver all the way to Moncton on the East Coast, which, you know, hey, I've never even heard of that place so that should be. . .

I've been to Moncton.

turn 3 : "I've been to Moncton" - means the speaker has visited Moncton before, rather than literally carrying or moving to that location.

How does the speaker indicate their familiarity with Moncton?

Answer: Visited


Yeah. So, I mean, you know, I had gotten drunk once or twice. I actually bartended one of my mother's parties for her - the faculty of the English department of the local college. And I loved. . .

He always makes that point.

Well, I was 12, you know, I was old enough to serve alcohol. You didn't have to be. . .

You were bartending at the age of 12?

How old was PersonA when they bartended for their mother's party?

Answer: 12


I thought that our spin was slowing down.

We are slowing down. We're slowing down but only because we're transferring it to the moon, and so the - if you count both of these bodies today, that spin should be remained constant throughout the course of solar system history.

And what they're suggesting is that you can lose spin from the Earth-moon system and transfer it to the sun-Earth system. And it's a very complex calculation. I mean, it's not just trivial that it took 30, 40 years to figure this out. But once that is on the table, and you say hey, I can start with an Earth that's spinning with a period of two hours, now you have an Earth, that if you were to look at this - and you can download the simulations from Science magazine - and you can see that - or from Harvard - and you can see that this Earth looks kind of like a muffin.

It's spinning so fast, it's got kind of a two-to-one axis ratio. And so their solution is hey, I can make the moon out of Earth's mantle, I'll just sort of hit it with a tiny projectile - you know, not tiny but much smaller than we thought previously - so Theia becomes smaller.

turn 1 : We're slowing down but transferring spin to the moon.

Which body is receiving the transferred spin?

Answer: Moon


So the sport itself has given me countless opportunities. And for me, the reason why I'm so interested in doing this, it's sort of like my way of giving back, in a sense. You know, I'm going places with the javelin and it's helping me out and probably going to get me into a nice school. So why not give back?And I feel like if I have to do this research project at my school, why not do it on something that I like?

Yeah. I'm just going to guess you've heard from some people that know somebody who was injured by a javelin who've said there's no need for this sport?

Honestly, I haven't. I mean, I know there are some people that have gotten injured and there are people that are against the implementation of the event. But personally, I do not know anybody that has been injured.

You know, Mr.  Christensen, there are people listening around the country I'm sure might point out that it seems easier to buy a gun in South Carolina than to throw a javelin in high school.

turn 2 : "there are people that are against the implementation of the event" - The literal meaning is that some people are against having the javelin event in competitions. The actual meaning is that there are some concerns about the safety of the sport, but the speaker does not personally know anyone who has been injured.

How does the speaker feel about the people who are against the implementation of the event?

Answer: Concerns


It was you coming forward that helped open the floodgates in that case with Larry Nassar. Do you believe there are other abuse cases in the Southern Baptist Church that have yet to come to light?

Oh, absolutely. You know, survivors live in silence for so long. And one of the reasons that they do - the main reason they do is because they watch how society talks about abuse. And they watch how our culture treats abuse victims. And that's one of the primary things we need to change. We have to let them know that they are safe when they come forward before they're going to be able to speak up. Our cultural and societal response to those survivors who have spoken up is really going to set the tone for whether or not others feel free to come forward.

And may I ask, as someone who's prominently working on this within the church while obviously wanting to respect the anonymity of people coming forward, do women come to you and tell you their stories?

They do all the time. And oftentimes, I am the first disclosure. And I consider that an absolute privilege to be trusted with their stories. It's not something I ever take for granted.

turn 3 : Being the first disclosure for a survivor is a privilege

What does PersonA consider being the first disclosure for a survivor?

Answer: Privilege


When we say those reductions are temporary, we have to remember that they go until at least 2025. So for most of us out there, regular working folks, seven years of tax reductions is a big deal. We can have that fight again in seven years. I'm sure the Democrats will be promoting increasing taxes in seven years. That's what the Democrats always promote. The Democrat plan today was to increase taxes by over a trillion dollars. So we have to remember what our alternative option was with the other party.

But why make it temporary for individuals who might need that tax relief when corporations, who are doing very well, get a permanent. . .

Yeah, you and I are on the same page. I think that's craziness. I don't like temporary tax reductions. I don't like temporary legislative fixes, generally. I want to see permanent legislative fixes. So I am against the fact that they are temporary, but I'd rather have, as a person who pays these taxes, as a middle-income person - I'd rather have seven years of tax reduction than what the Democrats were proposing, which was a trillion dollars in increased taxes.

I'd like to talk about the political ramifications. By and large, polls show this isn't popular, and it pushes through some very substantial changes in the financial lives of Americans. Do you think that there will be a cost come 2018?

turn 3 :  "Do you think that there will be a cost come 2018?" - The speaker is asking about potential negative consequences in the future, rather than an actual financial cost in 2018.

What is the speaker concerned about in 2018?

Answer: negative


At dusk tonight - the Belmont stakes, and an engaging chestnut named California Chrome has a chance to be the first horse to win the Triple Crown - a sweep of all three of the major thoroughbred races since 1978. We're honored now to be joined by Laura Hillenbrand. She's a horse rider by trade, of course she's author of the perpetual best-selling "Seabiscuit. "Laura, thanks so much for being with us.

I'm so happy to be here Scott.

What is there about the Belmont stakes that frustrates so many great four-legged athletes who've already won two big races?

They call it the test of their champion for a reason. It is a tricky race. It's run around the biggest track in the country so strategy is different. You have to move a different place. It's a race that requires a lot of the jockey.

The thing that makes it the hardest in terms of sweeping the whole Triple Crown is the horse that gets there with a chance to win it as California Chrome has. They've already competed in the Derby and the Preakness, which are two incredibly difficult races. And now, in the span of five weeks, they have to try the third one. And it's the hardest one of all, the longest one of all. It's really asking a huge amount of them. And that's why, in my whole racing fan life, I have never seen a horse sweep the Triple Crown. I've seen 12 horses go to the Belmont with a chance to win it, and all of them have failed.

California Chrome is called the people's horse, kind of like Seabiscuit.

turn 0 : a chance to be the first horse to win the Triple Crown" - This implies that California Chrome has the opportunity to achieve a rare and prestigious feat by winning all three major thoroughbred races, rather than simply having a possibility of winning.

Which feat does California Chrome have the chance to achieve?

Answer: Triple


Tell me a little bit about the violence. What happened?

The biggest single attack was a suicide bomber here in Kabul. The suicide bomber, trying to get into a polling station, was stopped by a policeman. He detonated his explosive vest outside. In the north, there was shelling in Kunduz. We know that they burned down one polling center outside of Kunduz city. And there's been some irregularities, as well. One local strongman on the outskirts of Kabul brought his armed men in. He's a candidate, and he tried to prevent other people from getting to the polling station. So not by far the cleanest elections. The Afghan government has announced it's arrested a few dozen people for fraud and intimidation. They're trying to make sure that Afghans will have faith in this election.

One of the more hopeful signs, though, this time around is the number of women running, right?Over 400. What will this mean?

They are guaranteed 68 seats in the parliament for each province, but I think the real key has been the number of young people running. As you said, Lulu, there hasn't been parliamentary elections in eight years. The current parliament has been a frustration to many, almost a symbol of the corruption and patronage that has held Afghanistan back. And it was really interesting to see election observers at the polls. There were 400,000 of them - many of them there to support their own candidates to make sure that their candidates got a fair shake in these elections. The fact that so many young people and nonpoliticians were willing to put themselves out there, I think, shows that there's a new generation of Afghans trying to change things.

turn 2 : The women are not running but they are trying to get elected.

How many women are running for parliament in Afghanistan?

Answer: 400


You know, that's a really great question. Our book hit No. 3 on the New York Times bestseller list on Wednesday. And here I am having written this book and stepping into a different version of, you know, women's rights feminist icon. And it's something I'm really proud of because I had to really educate myself on what I believe to be true.

And so I - I don't know. I think that recreating a person's identity is happening on the daily. And I - for me - I want to keep breaking free from all of these identities and get down to that last one, which is human. And I hope that people out there feel the same way because we are all the same matter.

That soccer star Abby Wambach.

Abby, thank you.

turn 2 : B: "That soccer star Abby Wambach" - This turn has a literal meaning as it refers to the actual identity of the person being mentioned.

What is the name of the soccer star mentioned by B?

Answer: Abby


And in most car journeys, he'd be playing me music and reciting poetry. So it was really extraordinary being a daughter of such a man.

Rebecca, I mentioned earlier how I grew up in a very religious family. I don't go to church that much anymore. Actually, I don't go at all. So I'm wondering, for you, where is your faith now?Do you still have it?

No one's asked me that question (laughter). I would say that one of the things I expected from this book was that it would lay some ghosts for me, and I think it has. I still cannot open the Bible without hearing the sound of those men using scriptures almost like rapiers with each other. They knew the Bible inside out, so they would use one scripture to trump another. And it was all men locking horns, you know. So it's hard for me not to see the Bible full of words that have been used for warfare, if you like.

And yeah, I've been surprised at the effect on me of writing the book and also of the many, many people who have written to me, ex-Brethren - I would say 70 or 80 by now - beautiful letters from elderly people writing to me to say, the Brethren was a terrible thing. We all lived through it - and telling me their stories but saying, I came to find a kinder God and kinder Christians outside. And I've been really moved by how much people have wanted me to know about their kinder God.

turn 3 : The implication of the statement is that Rebecca has been touched by the stories of how many of the ex-Brethren were able to find a kinder God and kinder Christians outside of the Brethren.

What has touched Rebecca in the stories of ex-Brethren?

Answer: KinderGod


Tell me how you grew up.

Well, my grandparents raised me. When their - they had - they've been foster parents for as long as I can remember. And I was actually the first child other than their own that they actually took care of, and they raised me since I was six months old.

Although my mom lived there as well, she was always - you know, raised me as well, but I lived in their house. I always kept myself around something musical, whether it was being in a play where I played the drunk daughter, or sneaking out to the studio to make a, you know, a demo that never became anything. But you know, it was all a part of what I felt I needed to do beyond, you know, those - that house and beyond church. You know, I was always looking for something to do outside of that - of those four walls.

In this book, you talk about some really rough times you went through. Being held out a window by an abusive boyfriend who threatened to drop you to your death, being beat up, being manipulated. Why do you feel that it was important to put all that in the book?

turn 2 : B pursued music and activities outside of his grandparents' house and church.

What did PersonB keep himself around other than his grandparents' house and church?

Answer: Activities


Oh, thanks for having me on, Scott.

What made you decide to do this?

You know, Scott, we'd been trying to sort of open up the view of this place to the public pretty much from day one. But we had to get through some of these hurdles so that, in the event of bad things going on in jail, we're not going to hide from it. We're going to be transparent. And we'll attempt to work through firing, criminally charging, if - as necessary as well - but to let the public know that we're trying. We're not involved with some cover-up, or this isn't some big secret.

Bad things going on - I mean, to be plain about it, you mean mostly guards abusing inmates?

turn 3 : The literal meaning of turn (4) is that the interviewer is seeking clarification on what the interviewee means by "bad things going on." However, the actual meaning is that the interviewer is making an assumption that "bad things going on" primarily refers to guards abusing inmates, even though the interviewee did not explicitly state this.

How did the interviewer interpret the phrase "bad things going on"?

Answer: Guards


Well, yes. As you said, I'm at 17,000 feet in the Atacama Desert. And this place is wonderful for viewing because it's so high, so the - most of the atmosphere is - well, it's not most below us, but a lot of it is below us. And the air is very dry, and the wavelengths that people want to study, the stars and galaxies at - up here, there's very dry air, and the wavelengths are not - they're coming through clear because water vapor absorbs wavelengths that they're interested in, so they want to get as far away from water vapor as they can. So they're up high. And there's other places here besides the Atacama that are in the Andes - very high, very good viewing - or seeing, as they call it in astronomy.

And is that why, as you told us, that half of the world's major telescopes are in Chile?Is that why they're all there?

Well, yeah. It's because it's a great location. And the one I'm at right now is not one of the major telescopes. It's a smaller one. It's called CLASS - the Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor. And what it's doing is looking for signals, traces of the earliest moments of the universe that were laid down in something called gravitational waves. Those gravitational waves have a certain property known as a polarization, and it should be possible to see that polarization left behind in the wavelengths that they're studying at CLASS. That's what they're doing here.

So where else have you been on this trip?

turn 0 : The Atacama Desert is an ideal place for astronomical observation because its high altitude and dry air reduce atmospheric interference with wavelengths.

Which property of the gravitational waves is CLASS looking for?

Answer: Polarization


It's time now for our Africa Update. The search begins for an African Einstein. In South Africa this week, at least two dozen people have been killed in a wave of attacks on foreigners and we look at Rwanda's new economic force, women. For more, we've got Roxanne Lawson, she's director of Africa Policy for TransAfrica Forum. Hey, Roxanne.

Hi, how are you doing?

I'm doing great. So let's talk about some disturbing news form South Africa. It's the biggest economic power on the continent and plenty of immigrants from other African nations are flooding into the country, legally or not. South Africans are accusing these immigrants of taking away jobs and causing crime, in some ways it's similar to a lot of the debates right here in the U. S.  Now, some South Africans are getting into brutal attacks on foreigners. At least 24 people have been killed in unrest that broke out a week ago. So what's the latest on the violence?

You're directly right that it actually is very much like what we see here in the United States with our migration issues. As of this morning, official reports that 217 people have been arrested, over 3,000 have been displaced and 22 people are dead.

turn 2 : Immigrants in South Africa are being blamed for job loss and crime, leading to brutal attacks on foreigners.

Which country is the biggest economic power on the African continent?

Answer: SouthAfrica


Other than describing him as a populist, can you describe his politics to us?

Well, he has a combination of sort of radicalism, and he doesn't want high-speed trains. He want the unemployment benefits for everyone. But also, he said he wants a referendum on the euro - which, of course, is completely the pie in the sky. But these he's got, also, some wise - says some wise things, says, for instance, we have to stop showering political parties with public money.

I know you, in the United States, you have different problems with money and politics. But in Europe, especially in Italy, too much money - public money, our money goes to political parties. He say: Two terms is enough in parliament. And he says things that, actually, sort of people like to hear. And that's why he could share those points. You could leave the populist and the radical things aside and find those things that he share with the Italian Democratic Party - which, by the way, is not that different from your Democratic Party. The big difference, that you have Obama, and in Italy, we have Bersani.

Well, a lot of people are interested in another name that begins with a B, and that is Berlusconi. He left office in disgrace. He is still facing numerous trials, and yet here he is, back, a major player once again.

turn 1 : The politician holds some wise ideas despite his radical and populist views.

How would you describe the politician's ideas?

Answer: Crowding


Companies like Morgan Stanley, UBS, GE Financial, American Express all plan to use this new facility, and industrial companies will probably follow suit. Now, usually, this is not a market that the government has had any role in, at least as a direct lender. It used to be that these IOU's were bought by financial institutions, money market, mutual funds, and the like. The loans weren't too sexy, they weren't very risky, and the interest rate wasn't anything to write home about.

But all that changed after the collapse of Lehman Brothers. Holders of commercial paper started worrying that these corporate IOU's weren't so safe, so they stopped buying them. And then perfectly healthy businesses have been since finding it difficult and expensive to get hold of cash. So now, the Fed will become the lender of last resort yet again and try to jump start lending by others.

And then so - and loosen the credit, the credit crunch. And so, is this move - will it be more promising than all the others we've seen so far to try to loosen credit?

You know, in short, the answer is yes, with the caveat of probably. Every economist I've talked to or seen quoted today thinks this is a pretty safe move by the Fed. The government simply has to get financial institutions back to lending money more than a day at a time.

turn 2 : More promising implies very beneficial and advantageous

Answer: Beneficial


Nice to be here.

And remind us of what you reported last week - a room filled with brains must be a startling sight.

It certainly is. Dozens of brains in glass jars - it's what's left of this collection at the University of Texas that came here in 1986 from the Austin State Hospital. It was a mental institution here in town. So they kind of sat in a closet in a basement lab for about 25 years until they were happened upon by a photographer here in town named Adam Voorhees. And he started to dig into them a little bit more and, you know, found that a hundred of these brains were missing, that half the collection had gone missing over the decades that they'd been sitting there.

And there was some news this week about what might've happened to those brains.

turn 3 : The speaker is implying that new information has been revealed regarding the missing brains.

How was the missing brains news described by the speaker?

Answer: Startling


It's lovely. And I was trying to think of things that old people do that I should do, you know, like sticking my tongue out when the spoon is only halfway to my face and stuff like that. But in actual fact, if you just behave yourself absolutely normally, you become like an old person because they're exactly the same as us.

You've gotten the opportunity to work with two of the great actresses our generation, with Judi Dench in "Mrs.  Brown" - I think a lot of people remember that - and now with Maggie Smith.

Yeah, and an absolute delight it's been, yeah - and not only that, but with Michael Gambon, as well.

Mm-hmm. He's a great actor.

turn 0 : Just behaving normally can make you feel like an old person.2. Working with great actresses like Judi Dench and Maggie Smith has been a delightful experience.

Which actor did PersonA work with in addition to Judi Dench and Maggie Smith?

Answer: Michael


It's far worse than that. The assumption that Social Security numbers were compromised was there at the beginning, but, you know, OPM has sort of slow-rolled how bad this really is. And what has been compromised includes security clearance information, background investigation information for millions of past and present employees across the U. S.  government, including the Pentagon and the intelligence community. This is really, really bad.

And, potentially, how could this information be used?

Well, this is very personal information, as anyone who's ever had a security clearance could tell you. This involves - especially at the higher levels of classification that are needed - very detailed personal information about lifestyle habits, anything you've done wrong - things you probably wouldn't want other people to know about, frankly - if you've had addiction issues, financial problems, marital problems, partner problems.

So it could be used to blackmail a federal employee. . .

turn 3 : implies that this sensitive information could be used by malicious individuals to blackmail federal employees.

Which individuals could potentially use the compromised information to blackmail federal employees?

Answer: Malicious


I think that teenagers - I mean, some were very passionately involved in this. And, you know, teachers do feel things very passionately. It's why they're such a great audience to write for. But others are getting a little bit fed up because these controversies within YA, especially, are dominated by adults, and they're led by adults. So the teens are starting to kind of push back a little bit and saying, you know, this community is supposed to be for us, and you guys are messing it up.

(Laughter) As adults often do mess up things, don't we?

It's true. We ruin everything.

Kat Rosenfield, her article "The Toxic Drama On YA Twitter" is on Vulture. com. Thanks so much for being with us.

Thank you for having me.

turn 1 : Adults tend to make mistakes and create chaos when they meddle in things that are meant for teenagers.

Which group often dominates the controversies within YA, causing the teens to push back?

Answer: Adults


Some might see it that way. Some look at other numbers and are a little less sympathetic to the auto industry. Sometimes, people are critical. They say that union auto workers are paid too much. What, from your perspective, would you tell people who have that opinion, who say, look, guys working for Toyota don't get nearly as much in benefits. You guys should give up some more.

You can only get what you can negotiate from a company, and a company has to have something for you to negotiate it from, and that's basically how we got where we are today. We happen to work for three companies that were far and above - probably most companies in America pay their CEOs huge profits, huge wages. And, you know, we only negotiate our share of that.

Now, if we have to give our share back to save that company, I guess that's something we've got to do, you know. I guess America has to decide if they want an American auto business here in America, or if they want to rely on China to fight a war in the event we have to go to one.

I'm curious, Mr.  Watson. Personally, what's at stake for you?You, I'm sure, still receive benefits from GM. Are you possibly sacrificing some things here, and what would that mean for you?

turn 1 : Companies pay their CEOs huge profits, while the workers get a small share.

Which group is getting a small share according to turn 1?

Answer: Workers


So, you're skeptical about a car czar. You think that there should be loans, though, with strict provisions attached to them.

Right, right.

What else?What else needs to be done?I mean, this is a massive, massive problem, and two of the three are facing extinction at this point.

Don't forget, what's putting them in this condition is the economic, you know, the economic condition of the nation right now. But the kind of fixed-cost structure that these auto companies have is massive, massive losses that have to do with what's happening to demand.

turn 3 : The auto companies need to restructure their fixed costs due to the current economic situation, resulting in significant losses.

How are the auto companies affected by the current economic situation?

Answer: Restructure


Exactly, keep looking up, and I can't believe I still pinch myself every time that I get to say those words afterwards. But this is the fellow that would appear on your PBS station, usually late at night, at weird hours, for a minute or five minutes telling you what's up in the sky. He'd sit on the rings of Saturn and point out at Jupiter, and he'd have this very interesting voice. It was great.

And so he passed away a few years ago, and the station has decided to continue the program. We've done a little bit of touching-up to it, but it's called "Star Gazers," and so you might catch us on weird hours on your PBS station, and they're always online at our website, stargazersonline. org, and you can watch any of the shows there, and we'll tell you what's up in the sky and say keep looking up. That's what we always say.

That's it. It's a great show. I've been watching it for years. I used to know Jack for a while, so. . .

Oh, I know, what a great guy. I mean, this is a populizer of astronomy, and I just hope that I can fill his shoes a little bit and get people excited about the stars.

turn 1 : "we've done a little bit of touching-up to it" implies that some minor adjustments have been made to the show, but not that it has been significantly altered.

Answer: Touching-up


Let's clear this up immediately: blonde, lithe, the initials V. P. So, is Vanessa Pierson Valerie Plame?

The great thing about fiction is that you can fix things and make things better. I think Vanessa is a smarter version of where I was. And it's definitely informed by my experiences in the CIA.

Well, that raises another question. So, did you take some top-secret operation and just thinly fictionalize it to this book and, you know, are. . .

. . . are there Russian agents reading this now and saying, oh, this is what we were looking for?

turn 1 : The great thing about fiction is that you can fix things and make things better.I think Vanessa is a smarter version of where I was.And it's definitely informed by my experiences in the CIA. The implied meaning of this turn is that the speaker is suggesting that their experiences in the CIA have informed their fiction writing, and that the character Vanessa is a version of the speaker that is smarter and more successful.

What is the character's name that the speaker believes is a smarter version of themselves?

Answer: source


Governor Mike Pence endorsed Ted Cruz yesterday in Indianapolis, although he also had kind words for Donald Trump. Mr.  Trump has also been endorsed by perhaps the best-known Hoosier on the planet. Forgive me Cole Porter. We mean Bobby Knight, the legendary Indiana University basketball coach. Coach Knight is celebrated for winning national championships, running an honest program and holding his players to high academic standards. He's also famous for having a titanic, chair-hurling temper. He is not known for political endorsements or being involved in campaigns.

I think that I'm like millions of Americans today that would like to see some things done that take us back to where we want to be, where we can really be proud of America, we have leadership that enables us to do that. I think I'm just one of millions of people. I'm not out there by myself. I just want to see us be the very best that we can possibly be and be thought of worldwide by the very best there is.

What did you hear Donald Trump say that convinced you you wanted to help him?

Well, Donald Trump didn't say anything that convinced me 'cause I went through people and people that were involved and least - involved themselves in the election. I made a little chart. I put together the things that he's done in life. And Donald Trump has created more jobs than all of the other candidates and politicians in the country. That's huge. That's important. That was a big thing for me to put down on my checklist.

turn 1 : The speaker believes that America is currently not living up to its potential and wants a leader who can bring the country back to a place of pride and respect on the world stage.

What does the speaker want a leader to do for America?

Answer: Bring


So the parents as well as one coach have agreed to plead guilty in connection with this scheme. And according to one of the plea agreements at least, they may serve a few months in jail as well as paying fines and restitution. And Felicity Huffman, the actress, as you heard, is one of the more high-profile people accused. But others, including Lori Loughlin, another actress from the TV show "Full House," is among those originally accused who is continuing to fight the charges.

What are we hearing from the parents?

Well, two of those who plead - pled guilty today issued very contrite statements. Huffman's statement reportedly said, I am in full acceptance of my guilt - deep regret and shame. And she also reiterated that her daughter had no idea.

This story has gotten so much attention, and it seems to have really resonated with students and parents. Why do you think it has had such a big impact?

turn 2 : Felicity Huffman has accepted her guilt in the scheme.

Which actress has admitted to her guilt in the scheme?

Answer: Huffman


I think Russia wants what it's always wanted, which is to establish its own security. I suspect that Mr.  Putin, in his heart of hearts, would love to re-establish the borders of the old Soviet Union. And security, to them, consists of trying to defend yourself against everybody else. I think that's what they want. And so they regard all the rest of us with great suspicion and as potential enemies.

You write about people in intelligence looking over their shoulders at what you called the Snowdenistas. How has Edward Snowden and WikiLeaks hacking changed intelligence agencies and security work?

Well, I think it has changed. I think they need obviously, if they're going to be able to keep us safe, to see what their targets - and that is a broad word - are doing online. And yet, obviously, naturally, the civil liberties lobby is interested in our civil liberties and our right to privacy and so there's tension there. And I think that that is very much now a feature of the way intelligence services have to work in Western countries, particularly in my country. And the government is trying to introduce legislation which will actually give them the powers that they now need. But it's a very difficult business to get this right in the face of people's natural concern for their privacy.

Dame Stella, I fell hard for one of your characters in this novel, Jasminder.

turn 1 : is asking how intelligence agencies have changed in response to Edward Snowden and WikiLeaks hacking

How did the Snowdenistas affect intelligence agencies and security work?

Answer: Changed


But they just talk. They don't really do anything, and they make appeals, and people are fed up with it, so people don't really pay much attention to the Arab League meetings anymore, even if they meet at the summit level. But it's a sign that the leaders are aware that their people are angry and concerned.

And the fact is that Hamas, like Hezbollah in Lebanon, is an Islamist group that is actively fighting back against Israel, and they're the only people who seem to do this, and popular opinion in the Arab world is very much with them. Not everybody is with them. Some people criticize them, but most people line up, support Hamas in terms of just fighting back against Israel, protecting Palestinians. So there is great tension within the Arab world itself over the situation.

The Arab League is meeting today in Cairo. Do you think it will be as you say, all talk?Or will any action come out of that meeting?

Well, there probably will be some symbolic action. They'll probably send a delegation to the UN Security Council. They'll do something like that. They will ask for possibly a meeting of the Arab summit at the head of state level. But again, it will be more talk, more talk than action, more rhetoric. The facts on the ground won't change very much because of what the Arab leaders are doing, unfortunately.

There is a bit of a perception that Iran's influence is growing in that region. How do you think Arab leaders are responding to that?

turn 3 : The Arab League meetings will not lead to significant action.

Which meeting won't lead to significant action?

Answer: Meetings