bandy
A professional sports gambler from Las Vegas is on a different kind of winning streak. He’s won sixteen straight appearances on the game show Jeopardy!, taking in more than $1.1 million in prize money so far. Obviously, Holzhauer is a very knowledgeable guy, but a key part of his success is an aggressive betting strategy in which he goes for the highest-value clues to gain insurmountable margins that his competitors can't overcome.
I don’t use the term “game-changer” lightly. It gets
bandied about in sports contexts quite a bit, although generational talents who actually alter the way their particular game is played aren’t that common. But Holzhauer is playing the game as no one else has, up to and including Jennings.
- USA Today (Apr 24, 2019)
exonerate
When the Mueller report was first released, President Trump expressed the view that it cleared him of wrongdoing, or exonerated him. But rather than dropping the subject and moving on, the President recently attacked the report and Mueller himself. Mr. Trump appears conflicted in his reaction to the report, and he is not alone. Democratic leaders are also at odds, arguing whether their best strategy to unseat Trump is to impeach him or to try to beat him in the 2020 election.
While Mr. Trump once welcomed it as “total exoneration,” he has spent the last few days assailing it as a “total ‘hit job’” produced by “true Trump Haters, including highly conflicted Bob Mueller himself."
- The New York Times (Apr 24, 2019)
havoc
Coordinated bombings were carried out across the east Asian nation of Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday, leaving hundreds dead. The suicide bombers targeted churches and hotels, with six bombs being detonated almost simultaneously. The terrorist group known as the Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attacks, and the Sri Lankan government is now being criticized because it had intelligence information which warned of a threat, but it did not act on this potentially life-saving information.
As Christians in Sri Lanka gathered on Sunday morning to celebrate Easter Mass, the culmination of Holy Week, powerful explosions ripped through three churches packed with worshipers, leaving hundreds of victims amid a
havoc of splintered and blood-spattered pews.
- The New York Times (Apr 21, 2019)
inadvertent
A source close to actress Lori Loughlin and her husband, who are facing federal criminal charges in the college cheating scandal, says that if the couple committed a crime in paying people to get their kid into college, they didn’t know that the actions taken on their daughter’s behalf were illegal. The couple decided not to plead guilty in a deal offered by prosecutors to avoid possible jail time, and will endure a criminal trial in which a jury decides their fate.
The source continues, “She never intended to break any laws, and if she did, it was
inadvertent.”
- People (Apr 24, 2019)
ingenious
Lego has introduced special blocks for the blind with bumps that are not just for connecting the bricks — they actually teach Braille. The special bricks are patterned after the Braille alphabet, which uses raised dots to represent letters and numbers. These Legos still function as building blocks, so children can learn while they play. Something ingenious impresses with its cleverness and inventive approach.
This
ingenious combination brings a whole new approach to getting blind and visually impaired children interested in learning Braille, enabling them to develop a breadth of skills needed to thrive and succeed.
- Good News Network (Apr 24, 2019)
mull
Former Vice President Joe Biden announced that he is seeking the Democratic nomination for President in 2020. Biden enters a crowded field, but is already considered the front runner. Critics say that 76-year-old Biden is out of step with the younger generation of voters and the future direction of the Democratic Party.
Biden has been publicly
mulling a bid for months, and while he is leading in most polls, he will start at a fundraising disadvantage from other candidates who already raised millions in the first fundraising quarter of the year.
- CBS News (Apr 24, 2019)
replete
The first 3D-printed heart created from human tissue has been synthesized in a lab in Tel Aviv. While 3D-printing has been used in medicine for awhile now, the heart is a major leap forward in terms of vascular makeup and overall complexity. 3D-printed organs could someday be used for transplants.
“This is the first time anyone anywhere has successfully engineered and printed an entire heart
replete with cells, blood vessels, ventricles and chambers,” says Professor Tal Dvir of TAU’s School of Molecular Cell Biology and Biotechnology, who led the research for the study.
- Good News Network (Apr 24, 2019)
rhetoric
Andy McKean, a Republican member of the House of Representatives from Iowa, declared in a news conference this week that he is switching parties and becoming a Democrat. McKean cited the negative influence he feels Donald Trump has had on the Republican Party as a factor in his decision. McKean was Iowa’s longest-serving Republican lawmaker, having served in both the House and Senate at various times since 1978.
He added: “I believe that his actions have coarsened political discourse, have resulted in unprecedented divisiveness, and have created an atmosphere that is a breeding ground for hateful
rhetoric and actions. Some would excuse this behavior as telling it like it is and the new normal. If this is the new normal, I want no part of it.”
- Time (Apr 24, 2019)
scrutinize
Democrats in Congress have issued subpoenas, or legal orders, to interview witnesses and obtain all documents related to the Mueller report. President Trump has vowed to fight these subpoenas. Congress has the power of oversight of the executive branch of government, but the extent of that power will now be tested in the courts as this becomes a legal battle, as well as a political one.
President Trump vowed on Wednesday to fight a host of congressional efforts to
scrutinize his conduct, business and policies, opening the path toward a constitutional clash that could last for the rest of his term or longer.
- LA Times (Apr 24, 2019)
stalemate
Kim Jong-Un and Vladimir Putin held a summit this week in Vladivostok to discuss Russia’s role in ongoing nuclear disarmament negotiations. Russia has been on both sides of this issue, at various times supporting Kim Jong-Un while at other times supporting sanctions against North Korea. The summit offers the leaders a chance to break the stalemate, and is also seen as an opportunity for Putin to one-up President Trump before the United States resumes negotiations with North Korea.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said all international efforts aimed at resolving the North Korean nuclear issue deserved support, but the six-party talks, a series of multilateral negotiations aimed at finding a peaceful resolution to concerns over North Korea’s nuclear armament currently at a
stalemate, were the only efficient way of addressing the denuclearization.
- The Wall Street Journal (Apr 24, 2019)
