NPR 2011-08-07

 A partisan¹ standoff over a bill to fund the Federal Aviation Administration has the agency in partial shutdown and tens of thousands furloughed. Today at the White House, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood called on Congress to get back to Washington.

 

"There are construction workers all over America that are ready to go to work. This is their season. This is the time when they make their money for their families so they can pay their house payments, they can buy food, they can make their car payments. And for members of Congress to give speeches about jobs and then go on their vacations, rings very hollow."

 

Out-of-work, as a result, 4,000 FAA employees and 70,000 construction workers connected to airport projects. 

 

Despite a grueling heat wave in the central US, the president scheduled an August bus tour of the Midwest. The focus will be jobs. Meanwhile, the president's reelection campaign is hoping to catch up with fundraising opportunities lost during the extended Washington debt-limit stalemate. 

 

The Justice Department has broken up a big international child pornography ring. As NPR's Carrie Johnson reports, 72 people are charged.

 

Federal investigators² started looking into the online bulletin board in December 2009, and officials say they were disgusted by what they found: Images of children under age 12 being abused by adults. Leaders of the service called "Operation Dreamboard" allegedly encrypted the images to avoid detection by law enforcement, and users got to the bulletin board by using proxy³ servers to disguise their location. Authorities say they got search warrants on some of those servers and were able to find insiders to crack open the case. The Justice Department says it's arrested 52 people and it's looking for more. Authorities say they've identified some but not all of the children depicted⁴ in the images. Carrie Johnson, NPR News, Washington.

 

In the Middle East, a bloody⁵ government crackdown continues against protesters in the Syrian city of Hama. We get more from NPR's Peter Kenyon.

 

It's been harder to reach anti-government activists⁶ in Hama amid reports that communications have been cut. Activists say people trying to flee the city have come under fire and some have been forced back into their homes. Amateur video posted to the Internet appears to show increased movement of tanks and troops as the Syrian regime ignores international condemnation⁷ and continues its military assault against demonstrators. Internet postings by activists groups said tank shells continued to fall as young demonstrators confronted the troops and security forces trying to prevent them from entering neighborhoods in the city center. Next door, Turkey's deputy foreign minister called the Hama violence an atrocity⁸. Peter Kenyon, NPR News.

 

On Wall Street, some ground recovered. The Dow now down 10; the NASDAQ up.

 

This is NPR.

 

In San Angelo, Texas, the prosecution⁹ is expected to rest its case today against the polygamist leader of the Fundamental Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Leader Warren Jeffs. He's accused of sexually assaulting two girls that he took his brides during so-called spiritual marriages. 

 

A Klansman imprisoned¹⁰ in connection with the killings¹¹ of two black teens in Mississippi during the 1960s is dead. NPR's Kathy Lohr has more on the conviction and death of James Ford¹² Seale.

 

Seale was convicted of kidnapping and conspiracy¹³ in the deaths of two black men, Hanry Dee and Charles Moore. They were beaten, tied down with weights, and their bodies thrown into the river while they were still alive. That was in 1964. The prosecution of Seale came more than 40 years later in 2007. The prosecution was part of a federal effort to reopen civil rights cases. Seale maintained his innocence¹⁴, but a former Klansman testified against him during the trial. Seale, who was 76 years old, died Tuesday after being transported to a hospital. A spokesman for the Federal Bureau of Prisons says he does not know the cause of death. Kathy Lohr, NPR News.

 

There're now limits on Massachusetts State Lottery¹⁵ ticket sales after the Boston Globe reported professional gamblers were gaming the system and issued the Cash WinFall game. Stores are now limited to a daily maximum of 5,000 dollars worth of sales in the game. The Globe reported that when buying over 100,000 dollars worth of the game's tickets at certain times of the year, professional gamblers found that they were virtually certain to score a profit.

 

I'm Louise Schiavone, NPR News, Washington.

1 partisan   

adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒

参考例句：

• In their anger they forget all the partisan quarrels.愤怒之中，他们忘掉一切党派之争。
• The numerous newly created partisan detachments began working slowly towards that region.许多新建的游击队都开始慢慢地向那里移动。

2 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 proxy   

n.代理权，代表权；（对代理人的）委托书；代理人

参考例句：

• You may appoint a proxy to vote for you.你可以委托他人代你投票。
• We enclose a form of proxy for use at the Annual General Meeting.我们附上委任年度大会代表的表格。

4 depicted   

描绘，描画( depict的过去式和过去分词 )； 描述

参考例句：

• Other animals were depicted on the periphery of the group. 其他动物在群像的外围加以修饰。
• They depicted the thrilling situation to us in great detail. 他们向我们详细地描述了那激动人心的场面。

5 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

6 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 condemnation   

n.谴责; 定罪

参考例句：

• There was widespread condemnation of the invasion. 那次侵略遭到了人们普遍的谴责。
• The jury's condemnation was a shock to the suspect. 陪审团宣告有罪使嫌疑犯大为震惊。

8 atrocity   

n.残暴，暴行

参考例句：

• These people are guilty of acts of great atrocity.这些人犯有令人发指的暴行。
• I am shocked by the atrocity of this man's crimes.这个人行凶手段残忍狠毒使我震惊。

9 prosecution   

n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营

参考例句：

• The Smiths brought a prosecution against the organizers.史密斯家对组织者们提出起诉。
• He attempts to rebut the assertion made by the prosecution witness.他试图反驳原告方证人所作的断言。

10 imprisoned   

下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was imprisoned for two concurrent terms of 30 months and 18 months. 他被判处30个月和18个月的监禁，合并执行。
• They were imprisoned for possession of drugs. 他们因拥有毒品而被监禁。

11 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

12 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

13 conspiracy   

n.阴谋，密谋，共谋

参考例句：

• The men were found guilty of conspiracy to murder.这些人被裁决犯有阴谋杀人罪。
• He claimed that it was all a conspiracy against him.他声称这一切都是一场针对他的阴谋。

14 innocence   

n.无罪；天真；无害

参考例句：

• There was a touching air of innocence about the boy.这个男孩有一种令人感动的天真神情。
• The accused man proved his innocence of the crime.被告人经证实无罪。

15 lottery   

n.抽彩；碰运气的事，难于算计的事

参考例句：

• He won no less than ￡5000 in the lottery.他居然中了5000英镑的奖券。
• They thought themselves lucky in the lottery of life.他们认为自己是变幻莫测的人生中的幸运者。