NPR 2008-06-25

An Inspector¹ General's report is contending that politics played a major role in who was hired at the Justice Department by the Bush administration. NPR's Dina Temple-Raston reports.

If you are a young lawyer trying to get a career job at the Justice Department, there are two ways to get in: either through the Honors Program, or the Summer Law Intern³ Program. And according to today's report, ever since the beginning of the Bush administration in 2002, to get through that door, you probably needed to be a Republican. The report lays out stark⁴ numbers. In 2002, for example, of the so-called "liberal candidates", 15 of 18 were rejected. Not one of the conservative candidates was bounced. Those hiring practices have since changed, and Attorney General Michael Mukasey said he would adopt all the IG's additional  changes to make sure politics stays out of the process. Dina Temple-Raston, NPR News, Washington.

Missouri National Guard soldiers are patrolling levees in Lincoln County, north of St. Louis, looking for problems. Further south, a levee has breached⁵ near the City of St. Charles. From member station KWMU in St. Louis ,Adam Allington reports.

 In the village of Foley, Missouri, floodwaters began filling the higher parts of town after the lower east side was already submerged. North of Foley, some residents in Pike County remain cut off after high water crossed over Highway 79 in multiple spots. Randy Sappinton says even though he can only access his home by boat, he plans to stay.  "Mainly, just make sure nobody gets in there and loots, and,you know, trys to turn anything up. You know, there is another hundred, almost 200 homes in there (back) right long the river and like a small river community. So, you know, we're all trying to take careof each other down there." Two holes opened up early today in the saturated⁶ Elm Point levee in the City of St. Charles, Missouri. About 700 people were immediately evacuated⁷ as National Guard troops rushed to form a makeshift levee. For NPR News, I'm Adam Allington in St. Louis.

 Fire crews from around the country are helping⁸ to  battle hundreds of wildfires in California. One of the fires sparked by a lightning strike over the weekend has already blackened 16 square miles in a rural area, some 120 miles north of San Francisco. Randy Eardley is with the National Interagency Fire Center based in Boise, Idaho, which helps coordinate⁹ western firefighting efforts. He says while there may be a few more storms this week, they aren't expected to be as severe as those that ignited many of the California fires.  "I guess the one good thing is while there will continue to be isolated¹⁰ storms, there's nothing forecast like we saw over the weekend, where there were thousands of strikes." All told, officials say more than 800 fires are burning in California, all but a handful in the northern part of the state. One fire in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, north of Sacramento, is threatening 1,200 homes and several campsites.

 On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 35 points to end the session at 11,807. The NASDAQ lost 17 points today.

 This is NPR

Militants¹¹ in Afghanistan torched a convoy¹² carrying military supplies south of the Afghan capital and killed two NATO soldiers in the turbulent south and east of the country. The latest attacks showing the now six-year-old multi-national effort to establish order there is running into new headwinds. Germany confirmed today it plans to up its contingent¹³ there by another thousand this fall. There are currently around 60,000 multi-national troops in Afghanistan. Insurgent¹⁴ attacks in Afghanistan are up 40% this year compared to last year, according to the top U.S. general there.

Radio shock jock Don Imus is in hot water again. And again, he's gotten in trouble over race. NPR’s David Folkenflik reports.

On Monday’s show, Warner Wolf told Don Imus that pro² football player “Pacman” Jones now wanted to go by his given name "Adam" to try to shed the taint¹⁵ of his involvement in a nightclub shooting. Wolf is the first voice, Imus the second.

"He's been arrested six times since being drafted by Tennessee in 2005."

"What color is he?"

"He's African-American."

" Well, there you go, ok, now we know."

Imus was fired by CBS Radio and MSNBC in April,2007. He was hired in December by Citadel¹⁶ Broadcasting which owns the ABC Radio Network. But Imus has stirred new criticism. And on Tuesday, he said he had been misunderstood. "What people should be outraged¹⁷ about is that they arrest blacks for no reason, and I mean there's no reason to arrest this kid six times." Imus says any claim of racism¹⁸ is nonsense. David Folkenflik, NPR News, New York.

Crude oil futures¹⁹ prices ended the session slightly higher. The near-month contract for benchmark crude was up 26 cents a barrel today to end the session at $137 a barrel in New York.

1 inspector   

n.检查员，监察员，视察员

参考例句：

• The inspector was interested in everything pertaining to the school.视察员对有关学校的一切都感兴趣。
• The inspector was shining a flashlight onto the tickets.查票员打着手电筒查看车票。

2 pro   

n.赞成，赞成的意见，赞成者

参考例句：

• The two debating teams argued the question pro and con.辩论的两组从赞成与反对两方面辩这一问题。
• Are you pro or con nuclear disarmament?你是赞成还是反对核裁军？

3 intern   

v.拘禁，软禁；n.实习生

参考例句：

• I worked as an intern in that firm last summer.去年夏天我在那家商行实习。
• The intern bandaged the cut as the nurse looked on.这位实习生在护士的照看下给病人包扎伤口。

4 stark   

adj.荒凉的；严酷的；完全的；adv.完全地

参考例句：

• The young man is faced with a stark choice.这位年轻人面临严峻的抉择。
• He gave a stark denial to the rumor.他对谣言加以完全的否认。

5 breached   

攻破( breach的现在分词 )； 破坏，违反

参考例句：

• These commitments have already been breached. 这些承诺已遭背弃。
• Our tanks have breached the enemy defences. 我方坦克车突破了敌人的防线。

6 saturated   

a.饱和的，充满的

参考例句：

• The continuous rain had saturated the soil. 连绵不断的雨把土地淋了个透。
• a saturated solution of sodium chloride 氯化钠饱和溶液

7 evacuated   

撤退者的

参考例句：

• Police evacuated nearby buildings. 警方已将附近大楼的居民疏散。
• The fireman evacuated the guests from the burning hotel. 消防队员把客人们从燃烧着的旅馆中撤出来。

8 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

9 coordinate   

adj.同等的，协调的；n.同等者；vt.协作，协调

参考例句：

• You must coordinate what you said with what you did.你必须使你的言行一致。
• Maybe we can coordinate the relation of them.或许我们可以调和他们之间的关系。

10 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

11 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

12 convoy   

vt.护送，护卫，护航；n.护送；护送队

参考例句：

• The convoy was snowed up on the main road.护送队被大雪困在干路上了。
• Warships will accompany the convoy across the Atlantic.战舰将护送该船队过大西洋。

13 contingent   

adj.视条件而定的；n.一组，代表团，分遣队

参考例句：

• The contingent marched in the direction of the Western Hills.队伍朝西山的方向前进。
• Whether or not we arrive on time is contingent on the weather.我们是否按时到达要视天气情况而定。

14 insurgent   

adj.叛乱的，起事的；n.叛乱分子

参考例句：

• Faruk says they are threatened both by insurgent and government forces.法鲁克说，他们受到暴乱分子和政府军队的双重威胁。
• The insurgent mob assembled at the gate of the city park.叛变的暴徒聚在市立公园的门口。

15 taint   

n.污点；感染；腐坏；v.使感染；污染

参考例句：

• Everything possible should be done to free them from the economic taint.应尽可能把他们从经济的腐蚀中解脱出来。
• Moral taint has spread among young people.道德的败坏在年轻人之间蔓延。

16 citadel   

n.城堡；堡垒；避难所

参考例句：

• The citadel was solid.城堡是坚固的。
• This citadel is built on high ground for protecting the city.这座城堡建于高处是为保护城市。

17 outraged   

a.震惊的，义愤填膺的

参考例句：

• Members of Parliament were outraged by the news of the assassination. 议会议员们被这暗杀的消息激怒了。
• He was outraged by their behavior. 他们的行为使他感到愤慨。

18 racism   

n.民族主义；种族歧视(意识)

参考例句：

• He said that racism is endemic in this country.他说种族主义在该国很普遍。
• Racism causes political instability and violence.种族主义道致政治动荡和暴力事件。

19 futures   

n.期货，期货交易

参考例句：

• He continued his operations in cotton futures.他继续进行棉花期货交易。
• Cotton futures are selling at high prices.棉花期货交易的卖价是很高的。