This Week In Words: September 28–October 4, 2019

Amber Guyger was found guilty of murder in the shooting of Botham Jean, who lived above her in their apartment building. A police officer, she mistook his apartment for her own one night and shot him while he sat on his couch eating ice cream. She was sentenced to ten years in prison.

One of the Russian billionaires behind an effort to influence the 2018 midterms has been hit with sanctions by the Treasury Department. Yevgeniy Prigozhin and six employees of his Internet Research Agency had their assets, including jets and a yacht, targeted so that no American can use or do business with them. Ironically, the yacht is named "Cull Me Maybe".

In a 60 Minutes interview, House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy appeared not to have his facts straight about President Trump's call to the President of Ukraine. That call is now the subject of impeachment proceedings in the House. In woodworking, adovetail joint is a row of interlocking trapezoids (which are shaped like doves' tails) often used in cabinetry for attaching the sides of a drawer to the front.

The author argues that because impeachment is so serious, and because the Administration has shown that it will resist any and all investigations, including subpoenas, that whatever the outcome the result may be long-term damage to our democracy. The phrase "bear with me" is a good way of remembering what forbearance means: moving carefully and deliberately, tolerating delays, in order to achieve a just outcome.

WeWork, which lost well over a billion dollars last year, has postponed its IPO (Initial Public Offering, the first sale of stock when a company goes public). Co-founder and CEO Adam Neumann, blamed for the company's troubles, has been assigned a new role as chairman of the parent company. Some observers say that he has to go altogether if the company wants to regain credibility in investors' eyes. Jettison means to urgently toss overboard, especially from a damaged or sinking vessel.

Two men have been arrested for stealing $300,000 off of an airplane at JFK airport in New York. One of them was caught on camera driving away with the bag, and the other one came and picked it up at the airport. Manifest can mean a number of things, all having to do with reality: appearance, evidence, or realization. In this context, a manifest is a document listing everything in a plane's cargo.

The U.K. government is trying to spread awareness about what Brexit will mean to its citizens by holding educational events around the country where people can ask questions about how departure from the E.U. might affect their businesses. The campaign is reportedly costing over £100 million, which is a lot of money considering that nobody on either side of the issue actually knows what will happen, or when.

While climate activist Greta Thunberg's visit to the U.S. inspired many, it also angered a lot of people. The author of this piece argues that because she opposes the system that has created the crisis — and the corporations that have contributed most of the carbon to the atmosphere — she represents more of a threat to the current order than other activists. A reactionary sounds like someone who responds quickly, but it refers to someone who doesn't like change and works to prevent it.

The Indian government's crackdown on Jammu and Kashmir, Muslim-majority territory that Pakistan contests, continued to intensify. Despite a huge police presence and hundreds of arrests, protests continue. Anti-Indian militants, backed by Pakistan, are also attacking their own people in an attempt to destabilize society. Restive sounds relaxed, but it means the opposite: tense, agitated.

Beijing pulled out all the stops to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Communist Party rule in China, but the huge military parades and festivities in the capital were followed by widespread demonstrations in Hong Kong that turned violent. Protestors in the semi-autonomous region do not want to be part of Communist China, and say that continuing the "one country, two systems" policy is merely tightening Beijing's grip on the former British colony.