Ripped from the Headlines: February 2020: This Week In Words: February 15–21, 2020

The Federal Judges Association called an emergency meeting to confront the President and Attorney General's intervention in cases that relate to the President, the impeachment inquiry, and the special counsel's report. The President has been tweeting and making statements critical of judges, jurors, and others. Around 2,000 former Justice Department employees signed a public letter demanding that the Attorney General resign.

Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas, many times more potent than carbon dioxide. New research shows that methane emissions from oil and gas drilling and refining are to be many times higher than previously estimated. Scientists can distinguish between two types of methane: the kind that bubbles up to the surface in swamps and the kind emitted from deep within the ground as a byproduct of drilling for fossil fuels. The second kind is they type they found in the atmosphere in large amounts.

Alphabet, Google's parent company, ended Makani, a project generating electricity using turbine-equipped kites. The company is shifting focus to more overtly climate-related technologies, though Makani had some success and did create a functioning prototype that can generate 600 kilowatts. Boia is Latin for "fetter," which is a term for primitive handcuffs chained to a wall or post. A buoy is anchored in one spot, hence the name.

SoftBank made a $375 million bet on Zume, a company that built trucks with pizza-making robots inside. The idea was that customers would order with an app, and the pizza would be made and cooked on the truck, arriving at their front door hot out of the oven. Zume failed to realize this dream, and laid off 300 people. It is now trying to reinvent itself as a packaging company.

The President pardoned a number of prominent white-collar criminals, including former San Francisco 49ers owner Edward DeBartolo, financier Michael Milken, and former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik, among others. He also commuted the sentence of former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. Critics said that pardoning billionaires and corrupt public officials is an abuse of power and sends a terrible message.

Bernie Sanders and Mike Bloomberg's campaigns traded accusations about the candidates' health. While Bloomberg has not had a heart attack, he did have stents put in two arteries, a procedure that Sanders underwent after his recent heart attack. Both men are 78. Corona is Latin for "crown," and the coronary artery wraps around the top of the heart a bit like a crown.

Just a week after suspending his presidential campaign after a poor showing in New Hampshire, Andrew Yang became a commentator for CNN. His first gig will be analyzing the Democratic debate in Nevada. Entrepreneur is a French word for a business owner; we use it specifically for someone who starts a business and assumes the financial risk of doing so.

Apple warned that its profits will suffer due to the COVID-19 epidemic. China is a huge part of the company's supply chain, and has an outsize impact on the U.S. economy because so many components and products are manufactured there. The stock market fell after Apple's statement. Idle comes from a Germanic root meaning "empty" or "worthless."

After two weeks stuck on board, passengers who tested negative for the COVID-19 virus were finally allowed to leave the Diamond Princess cruise ship. Anyone who had contact with an infected passenger will have to stay on the ship for another two weeks. Of the 3,711 people originally on board, nearly 550 people have tested positive. From Latin via French, a quarantine originally referred to a forty-day fast away from other people.

Dennis, a so-called "bomb cyclone," hit Britain with heavy wind and rains, causing serious flooding. At least three people died, and the British meteorological service declared nearly 200 different flood emergencies. In Latin, saturare means "full" or "satisfied" as in the way you feel after a big meal.