Category Archives: News and Current Events

I don’t know enough about the financial crisis here in the U.S. to explain why our economy is having so many problems, but I can explain some of the headlines (titles) that have appeared recently in U.S. newspapers for those … Continue reading →

We are now less than two months away from the U.S. presidential election and the media (newspapers, television and radio news, Internet news sites) is full of stories about each of the presidential and vice-presidential candidates. In addition to media … Continue reading →

If you read an American newspaper today, you’ll see the phrase hockey mom. What is a hockey mom, and why are all the newspapers talking about it? In the narrowest (most restricted) sense, a hockey mom is a mother who … Continue reading →

Yesterday was an historic (historically important) day in the United States. No matter if you are liberal or conservative, Republican or Democrat, it was hard not to notice the significance of what happened in Denver, Colorado, last night. There, one … Continue reading →

Americans on average don’t watch much professional soccer on television. However, soccer is popular among Spanish-speakers in the U.S.  If you want to watch a game of soccer on television, you usually have to watch a Spanish language channel in … Continue reading →

Following up on Lucy’s post yesterday about the cost of traveling and oil, there was a headline today in the New York Times (paper edition) which read “Bush to Seek an End to Ban on Oil Drilling.” I want to … Continue reading →

The airline industry (business) is in trouble all over the world, and the U.S. is no exception (the same as everyone else). In the U.S. in recent months, four smaller airlines have filed for bankruptcy, which is when a person … Continue reading →

“Weed” is the name of a small town in California with about 3,000 residents (people who live there). “Weed” is also a slang or informal term for marijuana, an illegal plant whose leaves are dried and smoked. “Weed” is the … Continue reading →

I received the following email from Huang, one of our listeners who lives in the area affected by the terrible earthquake in China recently. I thought it would be good to share this note with all of you: —————————————————————— Dear … Continue reading →