用法学习: 1. Europe's leaders divided over their tactics with Trump: The frustration that poured out of the mouth of the normally phlegmatic ( phlegmatic [flɛɡˈmatɪk] 面无表情的, 四平八稳的, 稳如泰山的, 处变不惊的, 喜怒不形于色的 (stone-faced = poker faced = stoic) adj. (of a person) having an unemotional and stolidly calm disposition. A phlegmatic person does not usually get emotional or excited about things: As a football player, his great asset was his calm, phlegmatic manner. "the phlegmatic British character". vocabulary: Yes, phlegmatic has roots in that colorless, mucousy stuff called phlegm, but people who are phlegmatic aren't called that because they have lots of mucus. They are just a little dull in expressing feelings or showing emotion. It may be their training more than their natural behavior, but those palace guards who wear the red coats and big hats and show absolutely no expression on their faces are phlegmatic. Attempts to make them laugh, smile, or twist their faces in irritation won't work, because being phlegmatic is important to their role as stone-faced keepers of the palace. Phlegmatic people show less emotion on the outside — but who knows, they may be jumping up and down on the inside. stoic [ˈstəʊ.ɪk] 坚韧的, 坚忍的 determined not to complain or show your feelings, especially when something bad happens to you. not showing or not feeling any emotion, esp. in a situation in which the expression of emotion is expected: He is somewhat stoic as he speaks of his past. We knew she must be in pain, despite her stoic attitude. He showed a stoic resignation towards his fate. Local people were stoical about the damage caused by the hurricane. ) German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was palpable when he left the Paris meeting. "It is completely premature and a completely wrong time to have this discussion [on sending European troops to Ukraine] now. I'm even a little irritated by these debates." He's had a couple of uncharacteristically emotional outbursts at home too of late, presumably under the strain. The tone the UK prime minister struck after the Paris meeting was in stark contrast to these darker European broodings. He is openly keen to use the "special relationship" the UK hopes it still has with Washington as a bridge between Europe and the US. One that Sir Keir Starmer is determined not to burn, telling voters at home that European security was in their national interest. He appeared determinedly unfazed at Russia's face-to-face preparation talks with the US in Saudi Arabia. 2. off the books I. in a way that is not officially written down in a person's or company's financial records. done or performed for cash or without keeping full business records: esp. as a way to avoid paying income tax, employment benefits, etc. Much of his work as a night watchman is done off the books. These workers are getting paid in cash off the books. Is he cheating the welfare and tax systems by earning money "off the books"? Yeah, try not to say half of your old name before introducing yourself. That's probably Spycraft 101, isn't it? Who are you? Are you a Black Dove? No. No, I'm not a spy. I do a bit of work for Reed off-book sometimes. Great. So you're the odd-job man, then? That's not the way I would describe it. Well, no, you'd... you'd probably make it sound more important, wouldn't you? II. US removed from an official record, especially as a law: Civil rights groups worry that, once enacted, tough new laws may be difficult to get off the books. adj. used to describe a payment that is not officially recorded, so that no tax is paid on it: Off-the-books payment of wages 不记账的, 不记录在案的 in cash still happens in some small businesses. They were paid off-the-books. nervous Nellie 神经质的, 胆小如鼠的 variants or nervous Nelly or Nervous Nellie or Nervous Nelly or less commonly nervous nellie or nervous nelly. a person or animal that tends to be timid or anxious. a person characterized by worry, insecurity and timidity. A person whose personality and behavior are characterized by worry, insecurity, and timidity. She is a world-class worrier, a change-avoider and, by her own admission, a bit of a nervous Nellie. I love nature and outdoor adventures. Some might call me "outdoorsy." … But the truth is, I am a chicken. A scaredy-cat. A nervous Nelly. Everybody's a nervous Nellie … nobody's prepared to spend any money. 3. jolly adj. I. happy and smiling: a jolly smile/manner/mood. She's a very jolly, upbeat sort of a person. II. enjoyable, energetic, and entertaining: a jolly occasion. We spent a very jolly evening together, chatting and reminiscing. III. bright and attractive: I love the bright yellow you've painted the children's room - it makes it look really jolly. verb. to encourage someone to do something by putting that person in a good mood and persuading them gently: I'll try to jolly my parents into letting me borrow the car this weekend. She didn't really want to go to the party, so we had to jolly her along a little. noun. UK informal an enjoyable trip or event organized for pleasure, not work: Are they really on a fact-finding trip or just on a jolly? He hasn't come here for a jolly; he's come to win. get your jollies to get pleasure from something: One of Britain's richest men, he gets his jollies from fast cars. Some people seem to get their jollies from harassing other people. jolly hockey sticks used to describe a woman or girl of a high social class who is enthusiastic in a way that annoys most people. jolly good UK old-fashioned used to express approval of something that someone has said or done, or to show that you have heard or understood what someone has said: "I've left all the papers you need on your desk." "Oh, jolly good." jolly good show! UK old-fashioned used to express admiration for what someone has said or done: "We won!" "Oh, jolly good show!" jolly something up UK informal to make something brighter and more attractive: I thought I'd jolly the room up with some colourful curtains. A cummerbund [ˈkʌməbʌnd] 腹带, 腰围, 腰带 is a broad waist sash, usually pleated ( A pleat (plait in older English) is a type of fold formed by doubling fabric back upon itself and securing it in place. It is commonly used in clothing and upholstery to gather a wide piece of fabric to a narrower circumference. Pleats are categorized as pressed, that is, ironed or otherwise heat-set into a sharp crease, or unpressed, falling in soft rounded folds. Pleats sewn into place are called tucks. Cartridge pleats are used to gather a large amount of fabric into a small waistband or armscye without adding bulk to the seam. Cardboard boxes are industrially prefabricated boxes, primarily used for packaging goods and materials. Specialists in industry seldom use the term cardboard because it does not denote a specific material. Paperboard, sometimes known as cardboard, is generally thicker (usually over 0.25 mm or 10 points) than paper. According to ISO standards, paperboard is a paper with a basis weight (grammage) above 224 g/m2, but there are exceptions. Paperboard can be single- or multi-ply. Corrugated [ˈkɒrəɡeɪtɪd] fiberboard ( (of a material or surface) shaped into a series of parallel ridges and grooves so as to give added rigidity and strength. "corrugated cardboard". ) sometimes known as corrugated board or corrugated cardboard, is a combined paper-based material consisting of a fluted corrugated medium and one or two flat liner boards. The flute gives corrugated boxes much of their strength and is a contributing factor for why corrugated fiberboard is commonly used for shipping and storage. ), which is often worn with single-breasted dinner jackets (or tuxedos). The cummerbund was adopted by British military officers in colonial India, where they saw it worn by sepoys (Indian soldiers) of the British Indian Army. It was adopted as an alternative to the waistcoat, and later spread to civilian use. The modern use of the cummerbund to Europeans and North Americans is as a component of the traditional black tie Western dress code. Cummerbunds (kamarbands) were an accessory to the dress uniform used in several modern South Asian armies, including the Indian Army, the Pakistan Army and the Bangladesh Army. It is generally worn during ceremonial parades and dinners. The colour or combination of colours varies widely according to regiment or corps. Unlike the civilian 民间的 cummerbund, a leather belt is worn above this cloth piece and one end hangs free displaying an ornamental fringe. 4. the long and the short of it 总得来说, 总而言之, 长话短说 said when you want to explain the general situation without giving details. the whole story of in a few words; gist or point of: The long and the short of it is that they are willing to start the work in January. hammy [ˈhæmɪ] I. (of an actor) overacting or tending to overact. used to describe an actor or acting that is unnatural and uses too much emotion. marked by exaggerated and usually self-conscious theatricality: a hammy performance. II. (of a play, performance, etc) overacted or exaggerated. scattershot = scattergun 杂乱无章的，无针对性的，漫无目的的 involving a lot of things or people in a way that has no organized plan: The strategy was more like a scattershot approach to acquiring new customers. Some committees post opening remarks and transcripts, but the coverage is scattershot. their approach to conservation is scattershot and unscientific. Europe's scattershot intentions formed one half of a stunning split-screen this week; on the other side were the US and Russia, suddenly chummy, tossing Ukrainian demands and territories off the negotiating table. The emergence of a leader might help, some experts say: A figurehead who can corral Europe behind a universal intention, building a bridge between Kyiv and Washington. Britain's Keir Starmer and France's Emmanuel Macron are the most obvious candidates, and both will visit DC next week, trips that have taken on outsized importance. vocabulary: Anything that's scattershot is very broad and disorganized. Your scattershot method of planting a garden involves sprinkling wildflower seeds randomly around the lawn, rather than digging a flower bed and preparing the soil. Scattershot comes from a shotgun that shoots small pellets in a wide range, rather than zeroing in on a specific target. It's used today for anything that takes that kind of haphazard, indiscriminate approach. A scattershot education might mean learning a little of this and that, instead delving deeply into one subject. And a scattershot response to a forest fire could be an ineffective attempt at quashing the flames here and there, rather than a deliberate, focused effort. 欧洲应对特朗普转向: UK Prime Minister Starmer made the first significant move to jostle European governments behind a common goal, announcing this week a marked shift in policy: Britain would be ready to put boots on the ground to keep an agreed peace in Ukraine. And Starmer, who oversees a creaking military that has reduced in size since wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, would need buy-in ( I. 支持. 同意. 接受. the fact of agreeing with, accepting, or supporting something that another person suggests or does: If you want to go ahead with these plans, you'll need buy-in from the employees. Key to the scheme's success, he said, is the buy-in it gets from both students and parents. I don't know whether the amendment will get a total buy-in, but I don't think there will be an outright rebellion. II. finance & economics, business specialized a situation in which a person or group buys enough shares in a company to get control of it: She led a buy-in of the group and is now its director. The company was aquired through a management buy-in. III. finance & economics, business specialized a situation in which a company buys its own shares from shareholders: The new buy-in is on top of existing powers that allow it to buy in 10% of its shares in the current year. Investors saw its shares collapse from a peak of 400p to the buy-in price of 42p42 cents.) from Europe, too. "The British Army is suffering from the cumulative effects of 40 years of decline," Drummond said. "My sense is we can cope, but it is in dire need of investment for the modern battlefield," the lawmaker told CNN. 5. come in from the cold = bring in from the cold I. to become part of a group or of normal society again after one has been outside it. to come out of exile, isolation, etc.; resume an active role. out of a position or condition of exile, concealment, isolation, or alienation Since the new government promised amnesty, fugitive rebels are coming in from the cold a former spy who has come in from the cold. To allow someone to join or participate in a group from which they were previously excluded; to accept someone into a certain social setting. A relatively unknown director for most of her career, her work with the A-list celebrity garnered the attention of a major Hollywood studio and finally brought her in from the cold. The company finally brought its striking workers in from the cold after months of intense negotiations. After excluding me from their meetings for months, the rest of the executive team has finally brought me in from the cold. II. To gain widespread acceptance in a group or society, especially where there was not any before. Long an outsider in Western politics, Portugal came in from the cold after the 1974 Carnation Revolution. leave someone out in the cold 任其自生自灭 (idiomatic) To deliberately fail to provide someone with support; to ignore or neglect. 6. proscribe (of a government or other authority) to not allow something. to forbid an action or practice officially ( a. to condemn or prohibit. b. to outlaw; banish; exile. ): The sale of materials that could be used in making nuclear weapons is proscribed by US law. Torture and summary execution of political prisoners are proscribed by international law. The Athletics Federation has banned the runner from future races for using proscribed drugs. While the federal government has proscribed three international far-right groups as terrorists, no Australian groups have been listed. tradwife 传统家庭主妇 a married woman who embraces the role of supporting her spouse and taking care of domestic affairs. wiki: A tradwife (a neologism for traditional wife or traditional housewife) is a woman who believes in and practices traditional gender roles and marriages. Some may choose to take a homemaking role within their marriage, and others leave their careers to focus on meeting their family's needs in the home. The traditional housewife aesthetic has since spread throughout the Internet in part through social media featuring women extolling the virtues of being a traditional wife. dingleberry [ˈdɪŋɡəlˌbɛrɪ] I. a type of cranberry native to the south east US. II. derogatory, slang a stupid person. a foolish or inept person. I'll get rid of this dingleberry. III. a small piece of faecal matter, esp one stuck to the anus.
Zero Day: 1. Sorry. I got held up 有事拖住了. I think that's the last of the stragglers. You deserve more. We'll make up for it when I see Chief Justice. It was fine, George. You must be exhausted. So? No question. It is a trap, politically. Mitchell has to take decisive action. And she knows there's a chance half the country will end up hating whoever takes this on. I can't let that stop me. You are the smart play (选择你是他们精明的一步棋). Everyone says that they want the truth, but the reality is it's better for both sides if the blame can't be pinned on anyone. That way, they can just keep on blaming each other. Oh, is that your analysis? No, that's our daughter. She says they're weaponizing a crisis. Well, we both know she can be prone to hyperbole. Though, in this case, I don't think that comes close to capturing it( capture I. to take someone as a prisoner, or to take something into your possession, especially by force: Two of the soldiers were killed and the rest were captured 抓捕, 捉拿. Rebel forces captured 攻占 the city after a week-long battle. II. to succeed in getting something when you are competing with other people. capture a large share/10%/30% of the market 获得市场份额. It was predicted that the internet could capture 5% of the US retail market within three years. They have captured a major position in a worldwide market. A corporation can profit by capturing resources more cheaply. The Democratic Party candidate captured 70 percent of the vote. III. 精准抓到. 捕捉到. to represent or describe something very accurately using words or images. to succeed in representing or describing (something elusive) the artist captured her likeness. It would be impossible to capture her beauty in a painting. IV. to record or take a picture of something using a camera: A passer-by captured the whole incident on film. V. computing specialized 采集. If a computer or similar machine captures information, it takes it in and stores it. New digital video technology makes it possible to capture and store an almost limitless volume of footage at minimal cost. capture data/images/information. VI. If something captures your imagination or attention, you feel very interested and excited by it: The American drive to land a man on the Moon captured the imagination/attention of the whole world. noun. I. 抓捕. that act of taking someone as a prisoner, or taking something into your possession, especially by force: People who commit cybercrime often evade capture. They witnessed the capture 沦陷 of the city by rebel troops. II. the process of collecting a natural product so that it can be stored or used: Rainwater capture will ensure water conservation is a priority. III. the act of recording an image, sound, or other information using a computer or camera, or the image or other information that is recorded: The device is designed for the capture of visual images. A screen capture of the incident was circulated online. document/image/information capture. They develop software tools for document capture and image enhancement. IV. a photograph; used especially when commenting on a photograph on social media: We are sharing this great capture of a rainbow over the city. Nice capture 抓拍! V. (of a computer or similar machine) the act of taking in and storing information: It is important to ensure accuracy in the capture of machine interpretable data. The company develops information capture software. data capture 数据收集, 数据采集 any method of collecting information and then changing it into a form that can be read and used by a computer. motion capture 动作抓拍 the process of recording the movements of people and objects, used for example in film-making, video games, and sports: Usually, motion capture provides more realistic action than computer animation because it is based on the actual movements of human beings. carbon capture = carbon capture and storage = abbreviation CCS. a way of collecting the carbon produced when fuel is burned, so that it is not released into the air. the act of catching and collecting carbon dioxide so that it is not released into the environment: Facilities are required to plan for the capture of carbon dioxide in compliance with federal standards. We will never be able to combat climate change without carbon capture. ). This commission is the single greatest affront ( 侮辱, 冒犯 a remark or action intended to insult or offend someone: He regarded the comments as an affront to his dignity. ) to civil liberties ( Civil liberties are guarantees and freedoms that governments commit not to abridge, either by constitution, legislation, or judicial interpretation, without due process. Though the scope of the term differs between countries, civil liberties often include the freedom of conscience ( the right to think, believe, and practice one's beliefs without coercion or restraint. It includes the freedom to change one's beliefs, and to share them with others. Freedom of thought is the freedom of an individual to hold or consider a fact, viewpoint, or thought, independent of others' viewpoints. ), freedom of press, freedom of religion, freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, the right to security and liberty, freedom of speech, the right to privacy, the right to equal treatment under the law and due process, the right to a fair trial, and the right to life. Other civil liberties include the right to own property, the right to defend oneself, and the right to bodily integrity. Within the distinctions between civil liberties and other types of liberty, distinctions exist between positive liberty/positive rights and negative liberty/negative rights. Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of society and the state. Civil rights generally include ensuring peoples' physical and mental integrity, life, and safety, protection from discrimination, the right to privacy, the freedom of thought, speech, religion, press, assembly, and movement. Political rights include natural justice (procedural fairness) in law, such as the rights of the accused, including the right to a fair trial; due process; the right to seek redress or a legal remedy; and rights of participation in civil society and politics such as freedom of association, the right to assemble, the right to petition, the right of self-defense, and the right to vote. These rights also must follow the legal norm as in they must have the force of law and fit into the system of administrative justice. A key feature in modern society is that the more a state can guarantee political rights of citizens the better the states relations are with its citizens. Civil and political rights form the original and main part of international human rights. They comprise the first portion of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (with economic, social, and cultural rights comprising the second portion). The theory of three generations of human rights considers this group of rights to be "first-generation rights", and the theory of negative and positive rights considers them to be generally negative rights. Civil Liberties 政府不可以侵犯的你的权利: Definition: These are basic freedoms and protections individuals have against government overreach or interference. They're about what the government can't do to you. Focus: Personal autonomy and individual freedom. Examples: Freedom of speech, religion, press, assembly, the right to privacy, the right to bear arms, protection from unreasonable searches and seizures. Source: In the U.S., they're rooted in the Constitution (especially the Bill of Rights) and are seen as inherent or natural rights. Civil Rights 政府需要保护和保证的你的权利: Definition: These are protections and guarantees of equal treatment under the law, often requiring government action to enforce. They're about what the government must do for you. Focus: Equality and preventing discrimination, ensuring access to opportunities and justice. Examples: Right to vote, equal protection under the law, freedom from discrimination based on race, gender, or religion, access to public accommodations. Source: In the U.S., they're tied to laws like the 14th Amendment, Civil Rights Act of 1964, Voting Rights Act—often enacted to correct systemic wrongs.) anyone has ever attempted. Okay. Well, that's it then. I tell Mitchell, "No, I'm not gonna do it." That's why you have to do it. They've already weaponized it. And who else do you want with their finger on the trigger? 2. Usually, a Zero Day vulnerability(A zero-day (also known as a 0-day) is a vulnerability in software or hardware that is typically unknown to the vendor and for which no patch or other fix is available. The vendor thus has zero days to prepare a patch, as the vulnerability has already been described or exploited. Despite developers' goal of delivering a product that works entirely as intended, virtually all software and hardware contains bugs. Many of these impair the security of the system and are thus vulnerabilities. Although the basis of only a minority of cyberattacks, zero-days are considered more dangerous than known vulnerabilities because there are fewer countermeasures possible. States are the primary users of zero-day vulnerabilities, not only because of the high cost of finding or buying them, but also the significant cost of writing the attack software. Many vulnerabilities are discovered by hackers or security researchers, who may disclose them to the vendor (often in exchange for a bug bounty) or sell them to states or criminal groups. The use of zero-days increased after many popular software companies began to encrypt messages and data, meaning that the unencrypted data could only be obtained by hacking into the software before it was encrypted. ) exists on a single operating system, your iPhone, say. But this thing exploited unknown vulnerabilities across dozens of systems. It shut those systems off for exactly one minute and then turned everything back on again. So that wasn't us? No. We had barely gotten our people into it when everything came back online. There was no ransom demand, nobody claimed responsibility? Nothing like that? Just that insidious threat. We're running shifts 加班加点, 轮班制 at Meade trying to sort through a digital trail that is basically the Gordian Knot ( Gordian knot a difficult problem or situation: to cut the Gordian knot (= to deal with problems by taking forceful action). (in Greek legend) a complicated knot, tied by King Gordius of Phrygia, that Alexander the Great cut with a sword. cut the Gordian knot to find a quick, bold solution for a perplexing problem. ). So what's the plan? Congress is authorizing a special investigatory commission and endowing 授予. 赋予 ( I. obsolete to provide with a dower. II. to give a large amount of money to pay for creating a college, hospital, etc. or to provide an income for it. to give money that will provide an income for a college or university, a hospital, or other organization: The state of Michigan has endowed 捐献, 捐助 three institutes to do research for industry. This hospital was endowed by the citizens of Strasbourg in the 16th century. In 1937, Mellon endowed the National Gallery of Art. $1.5 million was donated to endow a university chair in his name. be endowed with If someone or something is endowed with a particular quality or feature, the person or thing naturally has that quality or feature. to have a particular quality or feature: Some lucky people are endowed with both brains and beauty. Sardinia is generously endowed with prehistoric sites. People think Jefferson was endowed with great wisdom. well endowed 天赋异禀的 I. having a lot of something, especially money or possessions: The city is well endowed with modern medical facilities. It is a very well-endowed college. II. humorous approving (of a man) having large sexual organs, or (of a woman) having large breasts: He's very well endowed! ) it with extraordinary powers commensurate with the scale of this emergency. They will be granting this commission powers of surveillance, powers of search and seizure, if necessary, even the suspension of habeas corpus ( Habeas corpus 不能非法拘禁的权利 ( [ˈheɪbiəs ˈkɔːrpəs]) a legal order that states that a person in prison must appear before and be judged by a court of law before he or she can be forced by law to stay in prison. the right of someone who is in prison to appear in court so that a judge can decide whether that person is being kept in prison legally: The new legislation would restore habeas corpus rights to all detainees in U.S. custody. habeas corpus appeals/petitions/proceedings. wiki: an equitable remedy by which a report can be made to a court alleging the unlawful detention or imprisonment of an individual, and requesting that the court order the individual's custodian (usually a prison official) to bring the prisoner to court, to determine whether their detention is lawful. ). Jesus, Evelyn, we didn't even do that after 9-11. This is different. We knew who did it then. We have no clue here and no time to spare. We need an entity with all the powers of every law enforcement and intelligence agency put together operating on American soil. You're just gonna grab people without warrants. Actually, you are.
乌克兰大饥馑: The Holodomor, also known as the Ukrainian Famine, was a mass famine in Soviet Ukraine from 1932 to 1933 that killed millions of Ukrainians. The Holodomor was part of the wider Soviet famine of 1930–1933 which affected the major grain-producing areas 产粮区 of the Soviet Union. The famine affected the Ukrainian SSR as well as the Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (a part of the Ukrainian SSR at the time) in spring 1932, and from February to July 1933, with the most victims recorded in spring 1933. The consequences are evident in demographic statistics: between 1926 and 1939, the Ukrainian population increased by only 6.6%, whereas Russia and Belarus grew by 16.9% and 11.7% respectively. The number of Ukrainians as ethnicity decreased by 10%. From the 1932 harvest, Soviet authorities were able to procure only 4.3 million tons of grain, as compared with 7.2 million tons obtained from the 1931 harvest 粮食收成. Rations in towns were drastically cut back, and in winter 1932–1933 and spring 1933, people in many urban areas starved. Urban workers 城市工人 were supplied by a rationing system 粮食分配制度 and therefore could occasionally assist their starving relatives in the countryside, but rations were gradually cut. By spring 1933, urban residents also faced starvation. It is estimated 70% to 80% of all famine deaths during the Holodomor in eight analyzed Oblasts in the Soviet Union occurred in the first seven months of 1933. Olga Andriewsky writes that scholars are in consensus that the cause of the famine was man-made. The term "man-made" is, however, questioned by historians such as R. W. Davies and Stephen Wheatcroft, according to whom those who use this term "underestimate the role of ... natural causes", though they agree that the Holodomor was largely a result of Stalin's economic policies. Among contemporary historians it is debated whether the famine was an intended result of such policies, whether the Holodomor was directed at 专门针对 Ukrainians, and whether it constitutes a genocide, the point of contention 争议点 being the absence of attested documents explicitly ordering the starvation of any area in the Soviet Union. Some historians conclude that the famine was deliberately engineered by Joseph Stalin to eliminate a Ukrainian independence movement. Others suggest that the famine was primarily the consequence of rapid Soviet industrialisation and collectivization 公有化, 集体化 of agriculture. A middle position, held for example by historian Andrea Graziosi, is that the initial causes of the famine were an unintentional byproduct of the process of collectivization but once it set in, starvation was selectively weaponized and the famine was "instrumentalized" and amplified against Ukrainians as a means to punish Ukrainians for resisting Soviet policies and to suppress their nationalist sentiments. Some scholars suggest that the famine was a consequence of human-made and natural factors. The most prevalent man-made factor was changes made to agriculture because of rapid industrialisation during the First Five Year Plan. There are also those who blame a systematic set of policies perpetrated by the Soviet government under Stalin designed to exterminate the Ukrainians. Low harvest 低收成: According to historian Stephen G. Wheatcroft, the grain yield for the Soviet Union preceding the famine was a low harvest of between 55 and 60 million tons, likely in part caused by damp weather and low traction power, yet official statistics mistakenly reported a yield of 68.9 million tons. (Note that a single ton of grain is enough to feed three people for one year.) Historian Mark Tauger has suggested that drought and damp weather were causes of the low harvest. Mark Tauger suggested that heavy rains would help the harvest while Stephen Wheatcroft suggested it would hurt it which Natalya Naumenko notes as a disagreement in scholarship. Another factor which reduced the harvest suggested by Tauger included endemic plant rust. However, in regard to plant disease Stephen Wheatcroft notes that the Soviet extension of sown area combined with lack of crop rotation 轮耕 may have exacerbated the problem, which Tauger also acknowledges in regard to the latter. Due to factional struggles with Bukharin wing of the party, peasant resistance to the NEP under Lenin, and the need for industrialization, Joseph Stalin declared a need to extract a "tribute" or "tax" 公粮 from the peasantry. This idea was supported by most of the party in the 1920s. The tribute collected by the party took on the form of a virtual war against the peasantry that would lead to its cultural destruction and the relegating of the countryside to essentially a colony homogenized to the urban culture of the Soviet elite. Leon Trotsky, however, opposed the policy of forced collectivisation under Stalin and would have favoured a voluntary, gradual approach towards collective farming with greater tolerance for the rights of Soviet Ukrainians. This campaign of "colonizing" the peasantry had its roots both in old Russian Imperialism and modern social engineering of the nation state yet with key differences to the latter such as Soviet repression reflecting more the weakness of said state rather than its strength. In this vein ( in the same vein in the same style of speaking or writing. to introduce an idea or statement that is similar to or follows logically from what was just said. "In the same vein, we're working to reduce the carbon footprint of our offices". in this vein 像这样, 以这样的方式 In a particular way related to that which is being discussed. I know you're sick of all these superhero sequels, but because they make tons of money, expect box office trends to continue in this vein for a long time. For all the company's problems, they still have a fantastic customer service policy. In this vein, they are unmatched by their competitors. Employee retention has been atrocious these last few years. What can we do to improve in this vein? ) by the summer of 1930, the government instituted a program of food requisitioning, ostensibly to increase grain exports. According to Natalya Naumenko, collectivization in the Soviet Union and lack of favored industries were primary contributors to famine mortality (52% of excess deaths), and some evidence shows there was discrimination against ethnic Ukrainians and Germans. In Ukraine collectivisation policy was enforced, entailing extreme crisis and contributing to the famine. In 1929–1930, peasants were induced to transfer land and livestock to state-owned farms, on which they would work as day-labourers for payment in kind.
The Republican Party's NPC Problem — and Ours: A few years back, the online right became enamored of ( enamoured [ɪˈnæm.əd] liking something a lot: enamoured with/of I have to say I'm not exactly enamoured with/of this part of the country. ) a new epithet ( epithet [ˈep.ə.θet] an adjective added to a person's name or a phrase used instead of it, usually to criticize or praise them: The singer's 104-kilo frame earned him the epithet of "Man Mountain" in the press. ) for liberals (Liberalism in the United States is based on concepts of unalienable rights 不可剥夺的权利 ( unable to be removed: inalienable right = unalienable right not able to be transferred to another; not alienable the inalienable rights of the citizen. We have an inalienable right to freedom of speech. ) of the individual. The fundamental liberal ideals of consent of the governed, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, the separation of church and state, the right to bear arms, the right to due process, and equality before the law are widely accepted as a common foundation of liberalism. Some philosophers distinguish two types of rights, natural rights and legal rights. Natural rights are those that are not dependent on the laws or customs of any particular culture or government, and so are universal, fundamental and inalienable (they cannot be repealed by human laws, though one can forfeit their enjoyment through one's actions, such as by violating someone else's rights). Natural law is the law of natural rights. Legal rights are those bestowed onto a person by a given legal system (they can be modified, repealed, and restrained by human laws). The concept of positive law is related to the concept of legal rights.): "NPC," short for "nonplayer character." The term was lifted 借过来的 from video games, where "NPC" refers to the computer-controlled characters that populate the game while you, the live player, make decisions. NPCs don't have minds of their own. They're automatons ( automaton [ɔːˈtɒm.ə.tən] (复数: automatons or automata in UK) 自动机 a machine that operates on its own without the need for human control, or a person who acts like a machine, without thinking or feeling: I take the same route to work every day, like some sort of automaton. Perpetual motion is the motion of bodies that continues forever in an unperturbed system. A perpetual motion machine 永动机 is a hypothetical machine that can do work indefinitely without an external energy source. This kind of machine is impossible, since its existence would violate the first and/or second laws of thermodynamics. ). They do as they're told. "NPC" quickly became a favored dismissal for all those liberals with their Black Lives Matter and #MeToo hashtags, their Ukrainian flag icons, their "they/them" pronouns and antiracism reading groups. Liberals, in this story, thought what they were allowed to think, said what they were allowed to say. You might have seen the memes — featureless gray faces, sometimes surrounded by liberal icons. Elon Musk loved posting them. Like any good insult, the NPC meme served a dual purpose. It contained a kernel of truth ( kernel of truth (idiomatic) A core accuracy at the heart of a claim or narrative which also contains dubious or fictitious elements. A singular element of truth or wisdom within a greater story, narrative, speech, or claim, especially when most or all other elements are fictitious or of questionable veracity. I think the governor's speech is a bunch of hogwash by and large, but there is a kernel of truth in what he said about the need for lower taxes. Is there a kernel of truth to this rumor of layoffs? Please say no. There is not one kernel of truth in any of that nonsense you just said! There may be a kernel of truth in the story of how George Washington confessed to his father that he chopped down the cherry tree. ) about its target. We liberals can be conformist. We can be too afraid to offend. We can be overly deferential to ( [ˌdef.əˈren.ʃəl] marked by or showing deference [ˈdɛfərəns ] or respect; respectful. polite and showing respect: She is always extremely deferential towards anyone in authority. ) institutions. We can be cowed by the in-group 内部的, 自我的 policing ( cow noun. I. a large female farm animal kept to produce meat and milk. the adult female of cattle that is kept on a farm to produce milk or meat. dairy cow We had several chickens and a dairy cow on our farm. Most of these ranchers own only own a bull and about twenty cows. II. A cow is also any of other large female, adult mammals, such as elephants or whales. the adult female of a large mammal such as an elephant, a whale, or a seal: a cow elephant. III. UK offensive an offensive word for a woman who is considered to be unkind or unpleasant. IV. Australian English informal something difficult or unpleasant: a cow of a It's been a cow of a day. have a cow = UK have kittens 心慌意乱, 焦躁, 恼怒 to be very worried, upset, or angry about something: My mother had a cow when I said I was going to buy a motorbike. till/until the cows come home for a very long time: I could sit here and argue with you till the cows come home, but it wouldn't solve anything. verb to frighten someone into doing something, using threats or violence. to frighten or control someone by using threats or violence: be cowed into The protesters refused to be cowed into submission by the army. The dictator has succeeded in cowing his public opponents into near silence. In social psychology and sociology, an in-group is a social group to which a person psychologically identifies as being a member. By contrast, an out-group is a social group with which an individual does not identify. People may for example identify with their peer group, family, community, sports team, political party, gender, sexual orientation, religion, or nation. It has been found that the psychological membership of social groups and categories is associated with a wide variety of phenomena. ) we inflict on ourselves and quick to take up the cause of the moment. But the real purpose of the NPC insult was self-congratulation. The right was full of live players. You could see it in their willingness to offend, their mistrust of institutions, their eagerness to debate what liberals would not even say out loud. This became part of the Trumpist right's self-definition: They were the nonconformists [ˌnɒnkənˈfɔːmɪst] ( 不人云亦云者. a person who does not conform to prevailing ideas or practices in their behaviour or views. "Jenkins was a nonconformist who disdained the rugby union coaching certificate". ), the coalition that wasn't made up of automatons. That's what America needed. Live players. And at this point, I'm willing to concede half the argument. American politics does have an NPC problem. Possibly a lethal one. But it's not on the left. Within the Trump administration's acts of overreach are arguments that were worth taking seriously. The administrative state ( The administrative state is a term used to describe the phenomenon of executive branch administrative agencies exercising the power to create, adjudicate, and enforce their own rules. The administrative state is a term used to describe the power that some government agencies have to write, judge, and enforce their own laws. Since it pertains to the structure and function of government, it is a frequent topic in political science, constitutional law, and public administration. The phenomenon was relatively unknown in representative democracies before the end of the 1800s. Its sudden rise has generated considerable scholarship, writing, and study to understand its causes and effects, and to square it with previous notions of law and governance. ) can be too hard to control. Government is too gummed up ( gum up something 堵塞, 堵住, 塞住 to prevent something from working or opening in the usual way because of being blocked or stuck. to cause something to slow down or stop working: When I woke up this morning my eyes were all gummed up. The volcanic ash can gum up a car's air filter. Requiring every bill to have a hearing would gum up the works (= cause a process to stop working).) by process and protocol. It is too hard to hire and fire in the civil service. Even if I agree with the goals of many D.E.I. programs, and I do, many of them do not achieve those goals and some make the problems they seek to fix worse. There is a good argument for converting more of what U.S.A.I.D. spends to cash grants and direct public health support. How the government manages software procurement and builds and maintains digital services is outdated. All of this was well known, including among liberals. It's a genuine failure of Democrats that they didn't put more energy into making the government faster and better when they were in charge. How did the Biden administration pass $42 billion for broadband in 2021 and have basically nothing to show for it by November of 2024? How did it get $7.5 billion for electric vehicle chargers but build only a few hundred chargers by the end of the term? Democrats became champions of a government that didn't work. I think that's part of the reason Donald Trump won. Not the biggest reason he won, but when people feel that the government isn't working, the party promising change beats the party rallying in defense. When Musk says that Republicans had a mandate for governmental reform, I don't think he's totally wrong. Archived clip of Elon Musk: You couldn't ask for a stronger mandate from the public. The public voted — we had a majority of the public vote for President Trump. We've won the House. We won the Senate. The people voted for major government reform. There should be no doubt about that. But even Musk notes that the proof of the mandate is that Republicans control the House and Senate. So why not write some bills? Sure, Republican majorities are narrow, but bipartisanship wasn't out of the question. Democrats were defeated and ready to deal. Their own voters wanted them to deal. A January poll by CBS and YouGov found that 54 percent of Democrats wanted their congressional representatives to work with the Trump administration and 46 percent wanted relentless opposition. One month later, only 35 percent of Democrats wanted cooperation, and 65 percent wanted all-out opposition. That's a lot of political capital 政治资本 the Trump administration burned in just one month. And for what? I've covered Washington for decades now. There's gray in my beard. If this were about policy, Trump and his team would have tried to go through Congress. They could have crafted much larger reforms using a wider set of powers, and they wouldn't be facing down the courts. But they didn't want policy. They didn't want to go line by line through U.S.A.I.D. and figure out what worked and what didn't. They didn't want to release a package of proposed spending cuts and debate their merits. They didn't want to think through new civil service regulations. They wanted power. They are trying to remake our system of government, not our laws. They have identified a weak point in that system, and they are driving a flaming Cybertruck through it. That weak point is Congress. And the reason Trump and his administration might succeed in taking its power is that they have turned congressional Republicans into NPCs. The vulnerability here goes way back. In Federalist No. 51, James Madison set out the challenge he and his colleagues faced in writing the Constitution. He wrote, "In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: You must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself." So how does a government control itself? The founders' idea was that it controls itself through internal competition among independent branches, each with some powers and some dependencies. It was the competition among them that would keep the system balanced. "Ambition must be made to counteract ambition," Madison wrote. But one branch was designed to be stronger than the others. Congress controls the money. Congress declares war. Congress can overturn presidential vetoes. Congress can impeach federal judges, cabinet officers and the president. Why was Congress made so strong? Congress reflects the second and, in some ways, more important form of fracture the founders imagined. Our political system was designed to fracture power by place. Senators are elected by states — until 1913, they were elected by state legislatures — not by a national vote; the House is sliced up into geographically bound districts. Every member of Congress represents a place, and every place is believed to have its own interests and culture and politics. That, ultimately, is what members of Congress are supposed to represent: the particular needs of a particular group of voters in a particular place. The framers of the Constitution got a lot right. But they got a lot wrong, and the biggest thing they got wrong was visible almost immediately: The founders imagined a political system free of political parties. Within a few years, they had formed their own political parties. For much of American history, though, the founders' second assumption held. Geography kept American politics fractured because it kept America's political parties fractured. The two-party system of the 20th century was really a four-party system. The Democrats were split between the liberals we know today and the Dixiecrats, whose primary goal was upholding segregation. The Republicans were split between conservatives and Northern liberals. It is astonishing from our vantage point, but it was true for much of the 20th century: To say you were a Republican or a Democrat didn't reveal whether you were a liberal or a conservative. As a senator, Joe Biden opposed the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973. President Richard Nixon proposed a universal health care bill and created the Environmental Protection Agency. George Wallace started out as a Democrat. Politics was different then. Parties that contained so many different places and ideologies could not act in lock step, and so bipartisanship was common. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was pushed by a Democratic president, but congressional Republicans were crucial to its passage. When Watergate began coming to light, Congress acted as a collective 集体. Only four House Republicans voted against opening the impeachment inquiry into Nixon, and a delegation of congressional Republicans ultimately persuaded him to resign. And it wasn't just impeachment. When Nixon refused to spend the money Congress had appropriated — a policy known as impoundment — Congress acted to protect its power: The Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 passed the House with only six "no" votes; it passed the Senate without a single vote in opposition. That was then. In 2025, Trump is impounding money that Congress has appropriated, in clear defiance of that impoundment law. He is trying to erase agencies that Congress created. And while the courts are standing in his way, Congress is letting him do it. Congress is not fighting to stop the destruction of U.S.A.I.D., even though its current structure was created by a bill passed by a Republican-controlled House and Senate in 1998. It's astonishing. Republicans in Congress could demand that Trump cut them in ( cut someone in to allow someone to take part in something, for example a game or business: cut someone in on something Shall we cut you in on the deal/game? Next time you get the test answers ahead of time, cut me in! cut in [on something] I. to interrupt what someone is saying by saying something yourself: I was just talking to Jan, when Dave cut in on us/our conversation. He started to say something, but she cut in. II. to make a sudden sideways movement in order to position your car in front of another car, not leaving a safe distance between the two vehicles: Did you see that white car cut in on us? He swerved onto the wrong side of the road and caused the traffic to brake suddenly as he cut in. cut someone up UK = US cut someone off to suddenly move your car sideways in front of another car that was in front of you, leaving too little space: I was cut up several times on the motorway this morning - I've never seen such dangerous driving! Sometimes I get cut up by another vehicle as I go for a parking space. ). They won the election, too. It is their job to write these bills. Agreement with Trump's policy aims need not mean agreement with his power grab. But the most powerful branch of government — the branch with the power to check the others — is supine [ˈsuː.paɪn] ( I. 反义词(prone) lying or resting on the back with the face, palm, etc, upwards. (lying) flat on your back, looking up: We walked along the beach, past the rows of supine bodies soaking up the sun. II. 不愿理. 懒得理, 冷漠. 漠视. 无所谓. (躺平. 放弃抗争. 放弃抵抗 (lie flat, lying flat)) disapproving displaying no interest or animation; lethargic. displaying no interest or animation; lethargic. If you are supine, you are weak and willing to accept the control of others. Reluctant to take action due to indifference or moral weakness; apathetic or passive towards something: The new director has introduced a series of changes against little opposition from the supine staff. ). It is not that it can't act to protect its power. It's that it will not act to protect its power. This is a nonplayer Congress. Behind it is the collapse of the Madison structure and the nationalization of the two parties. I am not going to rehash the whole story of how the parties nationalized here — I tell that story in detail here, if you're interested — but it's been true for decades now. And the possibility that something exactly like this could happen has been feared for decades. In 2006, Daryl Levinson and Richard Pildes published an article in The Harvard Law Review called "Separation of Parties, Not Powers," in which they warned that "the practical distinction between party-divided and party-unified government rivals in significance, and often dominates, the constitutional distinction between the branches" and "calls into question many of the foundational assumptions of separation-of-powers law and theory." In other words, it's parties that now compete with each other, not branches. If Democrats controlled Congress right now, Congress would be a check on Trump. Since Republicans control it, it is not. To speak of Congress as an institution with ambition and will is to mislead yourself. Congress is a power center. What matters is which party controls it. Parties can be more or less responsible. They can themselves be a check on abuses, even on their own side. In 2005, President George W. Bush nominated his White House counsel, Harriet Miers, to the Supreme Court. She had to withdraw because the Republican-controlled Senate found her unqualified and ideologically unreliable. The fact that Bush wanted her on the court was not enough. Congressional Republicans had their own views. In 2009, President Barack Obama had nominated Tom Daschle to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, only to see him withdraw. Daschle, a former majority leader of the Senate, had been found to owe back taxes, and he thought his nomination might not make it through the Democratic-controlled Senate. But this Republican Party is no check on Trump. That has been the message of Trump's nominations. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Tulsi Gabbard, Kash Patel, Pete Hegseth — these were tests. Senate Republicans know these nominees are unqualified. You could see it in the hearings. Senate Republicans mostly do not want to vote for these nominees. None of them got into politics to confirm Kennedy — who ran for president in 2024 as a pro-choice Democrat — as secretary of health and human services. But Trump knows what he is doing. You force submission early, and it becomes a habit. Congressional Republicans have their reasons. Washington is aflame with talk of the primary challenges that Musk will fund against any Republicans who make trouble for Trump. All of them fear Trump personally weighing in against them in a primary. What a strange life to rise as far as they have in politics and be as afraid as they are to use their power and judgment. I suspect that Trump's reliance on executive action and congressional Republicans' acceptance of their own marginalization reflect internal divisions they do not know how to overcome. They agree on Trump — or are at least cowed by him. They disagree on taxes and spending cuts and defense policy. Their congressional majorities are slim, and bipartisanship would require compromises they may not have the muscle to make. And Trump has little patience for congressional bargaining, but he will attack those he sees as holding up his agenda. If congressional Republicans cede power to Trump, at least they do not have to resolve their own disagreements or risk angering the MAGA base. The NPC criticism got something right. There are real dangers to conformity. Political parties — even presidential administrations — are stronger when they can hear contrary voices. Musk using his billions to scare congressional Republicans into supporting everything Trump does makes Trump look stronger now. It might make him much weaker later if those nominees fail and he is blamed for disaster. Or if the Treasury payment system breaks and he is blamed for the chaos. The scandal that is now engulfing the administration around its effort to dismiss the charges against Eric Adams is another example: Trump would be stronger if there were forces in the Republican Party able to talk him out of ideas like that. There is too little friction right now between Trump's impulses and his administration's actions. It would be good for the country and for the Republican Party if Republicans displayed the values they once claimed to prize — a willingness to offend their own side, a mistrust of institutional authority, an eagerness to debate the questions that those in power do not wish to see debated. But we're seeing none of that. This is the NPC problem we actually face: a nonplayer Congress, driven by Republicans who serve Trump's ambitions first. We are left relying on the courts, and that may work. But this is not the system working. It is the system failing.
