notes - TIME: 2045, The Generation Changing The World -

・Boehner and Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnel are cool customers, but the coming budget battles of 2011 keep them on their toes.
keep someone on his toes : ～の気を引き締める

・House Republican leaders labeled Obama's decision a "punt" and said he'd pay a price with voters who identified the budget as a top priority last November.
punt : To fail miserably
cf. have a punt : to bet prospectively on something that probably won't win
参照：http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=punt
pay a price : 代償を払う、報いを受ける

・In reality, Obama had an easy call.
easy call : 優しい判定

・Advocates urge allegations that would allow victims to go outside the chain of command and report incidents to an independent party.
chain of command : 指揮・命令系統

・That's not a black swan. that's a flock.
black swan : 非常に珍しいもの
flock : 一団、一群（数が多いことの強調）

・The Bennett Test is my bright line for presidential cattle shows (in both parties).
cattle show : 政治家を品評する会

・At this year's Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), there were two candidates who passed the Bennett Test with flying colors.
flying colors : 大成功、大勝利

・Paul won the presidential straw poll.
straw poll : 非公式の世論調査

・Furthermore, I suspect Daniels' menace is secondary to some larger problems, the hollowing out of the American middle class, of American industrial capacity; the lassitude in its educational system; the greed and laziness that are its affluenza hangover.
holloing ouf of ～ : ～の空洞化
affluenza : 金持ち病（豊かさになれてしまったため無気力や孤立感などに悩まされる金持ち特有の精神障害）

・Even those who have watched this generation come of age in the Middle East struggle to explain its sudden empowerment.
come of age : 十分発達する

・They were thoroughly intimidated by the Mubaraks and Salehs, together with their ubiquitous, Orwellian spies and secret police.
Orwellian : オーウェル風の（特に1984年に書かれた独裁主義体制の世界についていう）

・Trading the Situation Room for Elstations, Emanuel is trying to sweep Chicago's voters off their feet.
Situation Room : 戦況報告室、危機管理室（ホワイトハウスの地下にある）
sweep someone off his feet : ～を有頂天・夢中にさせる、熱中させる、～に大いに影響を与える

・Why subject yourself to a city-hall press corps whose cynicism can make its White House counterpart look decorous and fawning?
press coprs : 記者団

・In other words, Emanuel is a gut-level kind of guy with a gut-level passion for Chicago.
gut-level : 直観的な、本能的な
cf. at gut level : 直観的に

・Somewhere in there, real―if ad hoc―science might occur.
ad hoc : その場限りの／で、特別に／の、特にその為に／の

・Building on the work of another physician, Stubbins Ffirth, who drank the blackened vomit of yellow-fever survivors to prove that the disease was not contagious,
build on ～ : ～をさらに拡大・増強する

・Today's lengthy ethical approval protocol is designed to prevent such disasters, but Warwick admits that no process is fail-safe.
fail-safe : 絶対に安全な

・Equally astonishing, Mason and his partners turned the Googleplexers down.
cf. Googleplex : アメリカ合衆国カリフォルニア州マウンテンビューにあるGoogle本社の愛称
参照：http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/Googleplex

・In fact, Groupon's investors believe its strength is in its data mining and not necessarily in its consumer interface, which is easily copied.
data mining : 新しい情報を作り出すために既存のデータベースを調査すること

・"Investors become a promotional army with a vested interest,"
vested interest : （特に金銭的な）利害関係、既得権益、偏った持続的趣味

・Its columnists are liable to demand Firth's head the moment he's perceived as unpatriotic or too big for his boots.
cf. call for someone's head : ～の解雇を求める
too big for one's boots : がらにもなく自惚れる、横柄に振る舞う

・and trans fats―a.k.a. partially hydrogenated fats, the building blocks of traditional margarine―have been outlawed in restaurant kitchens in New York City and all of California (and are on the chopping block in 28 other states and the District of Columbia).
building block : 基礎的要素、成分、構成要素
on the chopping block : 廃止される運命の、大幅に削減されそうな

・It would seem to the casual observer that butter left margarine for dead.
leave ～ for dead : ～をはるかに引き離す、見捨てる、あきらめる

・Much better than when he was in the White House and I was a wise-ass who might run against his boss.
wise-ass : 知ったかぶりの、生意気な、思い上がった

・There's no free lunch : （何か裏があって）ただほど高いものはない

・So, for the record, you like ice in your beer?
for the record : 記録として残すために、公式に
cf. off the record : 記録しない、非公式の

notes - TIME: 2045, The Year Man Becomes Immortal -

・As a young Chinese American who has been on the receiving end of this sort of discipline, I can say that the says of the tiger mom are effective and laudable to an extent.
on the receiving end of ～ : （恩恵などを）受ける側になって、～の受益者の立場にあって、被害者の立場にあって

・But nobody wants to cry uncle first.
cry uncle : 参ったという、降参する

・When Hatch asked to speak at the Utah Tea Party's first gathering in the spring of 2009, "we basically told him to drop dead,"
drop dead : うるさい、とっとと消えろ、ぽっくり死ぬ

・At the same time, Hatch's recent voting record suggests he's sipping the tea.
sip the tea : Tea Partyの考えを取り入れる

・Taking no chances, Hatch is off to his earliest start ever in a re-election bid,
be off to ～ : ～に向かう、～へ出発する

・The explanation may lie in the brain's endocannabinoid receptors, which respond to the active chemicals in pot and play a role in dopamine regulation, possibly increasing the likelihood of psychotic episodes.
episode : 発病

・She never regained her èclat.
èclat : (French) 名声、喝采、賞賛、華々しい成功

・Mubarak is the devil she knows.
cf. better the devil you know (than the devil you don't) : 知らない敵より知っている敵の方が良い

・But as Egypt, a society weaned on the absolute certainties that come with authoritarianism, enters its third week of political upheaval, many feel a mounting anxiety about what lies ahead.
wean ～ on ... : ～を...に慣れさせる

・His new Cabinet also announced a 15% raise for all state employees, an unsubtle attempt to curry favor with the 6 million people on the government payroll.
curry favor : ごまをする、お世辞を言う
on the ～ payroll : ～に雇われて

・This is Suleiman's stock-in-trade:
stock-in-trade : 常套手段、必要手段、在庫品

・Qutb fell afoul of the popular and secular regime of Gamal Abdel Nasser, who had him executed in 1966.
fall afoul : （人と）もめ事を起こす、（法律に）ふれる

・If you can swallow that idea, and Kurzweil and a lot of other very smart people can, then all bets are off.
all bets are off : 全てが白紙だ、先が読めない

・Kurzweil's interest in humanity's cyborganic destiny began about 1980 largely as a practical matter.
cyborganic : cyborg + organic (?)

・He knew about Moore's law, of course, which states that the number of transistors you can put on a microchip doubles about every two years.
Moore's law : 「半導体の集積密度は18～24ヶ月で倍増する」という法則
参照：http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%A0%E3%83%BC%E3%82%A2%E3%81%AE%E6%B3%95%E5%89%87

・Not all of them are Kurzweilians, not by a long chalk.
by a long chalk : （否定文で）全く（～でない）、（肯定文で）はるかに、ずっと

・your ordinary citizen's distaste for apparently absurd ideas is just an example of irrational bias, and Singularitarians have no truck with irrationality.
have no truck with ～ : ～と何の関係・取引もない

・Of course, a lot of people think the Singularity is nonsense―a fantasy, wistful thinking, a Silicon Valley version of the Evangelical story of the Rapture, spun by a man who earns his living making outrageous claims and backing them up with pseudoscience.
the Rapture : 人を別の場所（特に天国）に移すこと、ハルマゲドン直前に救済された人が肉体的に昇天すること

・Suppose we did create a computer that talked and acted in a way that was indistinguishable from a human being―in other words, a computer that could pass the Turing test.
Turing test : 人工知能を調べるテスト

・He positively flogs himself to think bigger and bigger; you can see him kicking against the confines of his aging organic hardware.
flog oneself : 努力する、骨折って進む

・We can scan our consciousness into computers and enter a virtual existence or swap our bodies for immortal robots and light out for the edges of space as intergalactic godlings.
light out for ～ : ～へ向けて（急いで）去る、出かける、逃げ出す

・A hundred years from now, Kurzweil and de Grey and the others could be the 22nd century's answer to the Founding Father―except unlike the Founding Fathers, they'll still be alive to get credit―or their ideas could as hilariously retro and dated as Disney's Tomorrowland.
the Founding Father : 米国憲法制定者、参照：http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Founding_Fathers_of_the_United_States

・If you really want to figure that out, you have to think very, very far outside the box.
think outside the box : （問題解決するために）型にはまらない考え方をする

・One of his first messages was "Can we talk about Falun Gong?"―a reference to the spiritual movement banned by Beijing.
Falun Gong : 法輪功、参照：http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%B3%95%E8%BC%AA%E5%8A%9F

・How much are the Birds of Heaven worth? How about the lilies of the field?
the Birds of Heaven : 参照：http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Birds_of_Heaven
the lilies of the field : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lilies_of_the_Field (?)

・So don't expect her to rest on her laurels.
rest on one's laurels : 成功に安心して何もしない、現在の栄誉に満足する

notes - TIME: Revolution -

・Some claim Huntsman's service in the Obama Administration and his centrist positions on the environment and gay rights will be the kiss of death among conservatives if he runs.
the kiss of death : 死の接吻、身の破滅を招くもの

・Have they buried the hatchet?
bury the hatchet : 和睦する、戦いをやめる

・Tom Carper of Delaware, who is working with McCain on line-item-veto legislation that Obama favors.
line-item-veto : 個別条項拒否権

・Fir avid fans, high-stakes games like the Super Bowl can trigger the same kind of stress and fight-or-flight response as extreme events like earthquakes.
cf. fight-or-flight syndrome : 闘争逃避反応（目の前の危険がストレスに対する体の本能的反応により血液中にアドレナリンが流れ、闘争or逃避のいずれかの反応をとる症状）

・'You were strung out on crack.' Carol Moseley Braun, former U.S. Senator and a candidate for Chicago mayor, responding at a forum to opponent Patricia Van Pelt Watkins's charge that Braun had been "missing in action" from the city;
be strung out : 麻薬を常用している
cf. string out ～ : ～を酔わせる
crack : 純度の高いコカイン
missing in action : （戦死or捕虜となるor逃亡のため戦闘中）行方不明の

・"It seems clear that, for the next two years at least, President Obama... will work on triangulating to stay in office, à la Bill Clinton.
cf. triangulation : チェスの終盤でkingが三角に動き有利な形を得る方法
à la ～ : ～流の、～式に、～を真似て

・In lieu of that, policymakers might also get more creative about how mortgages are structured.
in lieu of ～ : ～の代わりに

・but only if Karzai stepped aside and allowed an esteemed technocrat―like Ashraf Ghani, who ran for President against Karzai and was crushed―to run the show in the interim.
run for President : 大統領選に出る
run the show : 仕切る、音頭をとる

・The Kissingerian effort to transfer Egypt from the Soviet account to the American side in the 1970s, later perfected by Jimmy Carter, was certainly another.
～ian : ～を信奉する、～に精通する
account : 得意先、顧客

・The best way to do this is to latch onto institutions, not individual leaders, in the developing countries we seek as a allies.
latch onto ～ : ～を有利に生かす、つかむ、統括する

・Yet by standing at parade rest, the army was suggesting, at least for the time being, that Mubarak's government, after 30 years in power, can't count on the army to beat his people into submission.
parade rest : 休めの姿勢

・They may have turned U.S. policy in the Middle East on its head, but even the American President was moved to praise the people who humbled a staunch Washington ally.
turn something on its head : ～をひっくり返す、～を逆の見方をする

・it reminded the watching world that historic change seldom comes gently: this is no velvet revolution. The rear-guard action by Mubarak's thugs felt very much like the final spasms of a dictator ship that won't go quietly.
velvet revolution : ビロード革命、平和的な（共産）政権打倒
rear-guard action : 後衛戦、敵の追撃を防ぐ戦い、歯止め

・But Egyptians, long cowed by the heavy hand of Mubarak's police and intelligence forces, needed a crash course in protest.
crash course : 速習講座、短期集中講座

・The revolution also benefited from a cadre of political activists who had learned the ropes from campaigning ahead of parliamentary elections late last year.
rope : こつ、仕方、内情

・The revolution, said many in the square, had brought them within a whisker of victory.
within a whisker of ～ : ～のほんの一歩手前で

・K street : ロビイスト街、ワシントンDCの大通りの名前で、ロビイスト、シンクタンク、圧力団体などが集中している場所

・The Administration muddles along;
muddle along : 行き当たりばったりで（何とか）やっていく、もたもたする

・From the terrace you can look south at the white peaks of the Graubünden serrated against a Carolinaßblue sky, tuck into zour wurst and rösti and think that all is well with the world.
wurst : (German) ソーセージ
rösti ：(Switzerland) フライドポテト

・Europe escaped a meltdown last year by the skin of its teeth,
by the skin of one's teeth : かろうじて、危ないところで

・American critics of Europe might recall the passage from the Sermon on the Mount about motes and beams.
the Sermon on the Mount : （聖書）山上の説教
参照：http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sermon_on_the_Mount
motes and beams : 埃と丸太（「人を裁くな、人の目にある小さなゴミを取ろうとする前に、自分の目から丸太を取り除け」より）
参照：http://www2.plala.or.jp/Arakawa/christ_srm37.htm　http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mote_and_the_Beam

・Will those nations on the periphery of Europe and most at risk of a new or renewed sovereign-debt crisis sacrifice short-term economic prospects for the long-term benefit of remaining members in good standing of the euro zone?
in good standing : 評判がよい、（信用などが）良い状態で、正会員

・Washington seems to have the evidence on its side.
have ～ on one's side : ～を有利な点として持っている

・"Maybe not medically extraordinary," the doctor replied, "but just short of that, O.K.?"
short of ～ : ～の手前で

・The Eat, Pray, Love brigade likes to see it as a crazy occult isle, its sarong-clad populace in thrall to wraiths and babbling shamans.
in thrall to ～ : ～の虜になって、～にとらわれて

・Several island nations hold their Carnival smack dab in the middle of summer―in defiance of the region's hurricane season.
smack dab : まともに、もろに

notes - Midnight's Children -

―Introduction―

・In this letter I justified the text to their satisfaction, except with regard to one sentence which, as I said, was hard to substantiate, as it was about three people, two of whom were dead, while the third would be the one suing us.
to one's satisfaction : ～の満足のいくように、～に申し分のない

・But if, in the end, a British court refused to accept that the Prime Minister of India was not a woman of good character, then we would be, not to put too fine a point upon it, royally screwed.
not to put too fine a point upon it : 率直に言うと、歯に衣着せずに言えば

―Midnight's Children―

・At one and the same time a rebuke from Ilse-Oskar-Ingrid-Heidelberg as well as valley-and God, it smote him upon the point of the nose.
At one and the same time = at one （一体となって、同意見で）+ at the same time（同時に）

・Keeping out of my voice the natural envy of the ugly man for the strikingly impressive, I record that Doctor Aziz was a tall man.
keep ～ out of ... : ～が...に出ないようにする、～を...に寄せ付けない

・'Mughal Emperors would have given their right hands for noses like that one.
would give one's right hand for ～ : （～を得るためには）どんな犠牲でも払う

・But still the old soliloquist would dawdle in his boat at the garden's lakeside toes and Aziz would sit at his feet until voices summoned him indoors to be lectured on Tai's filthiness and warned about the pillaging armies of germs his mother envisaged
sit at someone's feet : ～の教えを受ける、門下に入る

・'He just came up here to live it up a little.'
live it up : 楽しい時を過ごす、道楽する

・'The itching sent him wild; but the damn fool dug in his heels and stayed with his little witch when the army went home.'
dig in one's heels : （相手に対して）絶対に譲らない、自己の主張を貫く

・'He became―what?―a stupid thing, neither this nor that, a half-and-halfer with a nagging wife and an itch in the nose, and in the end he pushed his sword into his stomach.'
cf. half-and-half : どっちつかずの、中途半端な

・'Five hundred rupees only―and I did not trouble to beat him down.'
trouble to do : ～することで骨を折る、努力する
beat down ～ : ～に値引きさせる、～を値切る

・which demands to be recorded, filling my nostrils with the acrid stench of his mother's embarrassment which has brought her out in boils,
bring someone out in ... : ～の体に（吹き出物など）を出させる

・but Tai is in full flight now, a stream of invective pouring out of him.
in full flight : （行動に）弾みがついて

・'Remember I have friends; and ill-health strikes high and low alike.'
high and low : すべての階級の、至る所を／に／で

・Doctor Aziz begins to fight, against sadness, and against Tai's anger, which is beginning to infect him, to become his own, which erupts only rarely, but comes, when it does come, unheralded in a roar from his deepest places, laying waste everything in sight; and then vanishes, leaving him wondering why everyone is so upset...
lay waste ～ : ～を荒廃させる

・Another louder, conclusive snort... but I take no exception to her attitude.
take exception to ～ : ～に腹を立てる、異議を唱える

・Things are always getting her goat.
get someone's goat : ～を苛立たせる

・But go, take care of your invisible patient, your mother is all right with her little nothing of a headache.
little nothing of ～ = little short of ～ : 全く・ほとんど～以外の何ものでもない

・At these times his thermometer would be placed under her armpit and he would hum and haw about the relative inefficiency of the method.
hum and haw : ぶつくさ言う、口ごもる、躊躇する

・'He was the type that gives anarchists a bad name.'
give someone a bad name : ～の評判を落とす、名を汚す

・I make no comment; these events, which have tumbled from my lips any old how, garbled by haste and emotion, are for others to judge.
any old how = all any how :（文尾で）不注意に、乱雑に

・I have been singing for my supper
sing for one's supper : ごちそうになる・したいことをする前に一働きする

・He is, I know, feeling very scared, because his nose is itching worse than it ever has; but he is a trained doctor, he puts it out of his mind, he enters the compound.
put ～ out of one's mind : ～を意図的に忘れる

・When my grandfather got home that night, my grandmother was trying hard to be a modern woman, to please him, and so she did not turn a hair at his appearance.
not turn a hair : （困難なときにも）平然としている、疲れた素振りを見せない

・No doubt about it: my story has her by the throat, so that all at once she's stopped nagging me to go home,
have someone by the throat : ～を思いのままにする、支配する

・He whistled an old German tune: Tannenbaum.
Tannenbaum : (German)もみの木 参照：http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6guVKTsmmBs

・Nadir Khan ducked in through the gate, squatted for a moment with his back to the perimeter wall, reddening as he passed his water.
pass water = make water : 小便する

・Hooting in terrified unison, they both turned tail and ran.
turn tail and run : （背を向けて）逃げる

・'Mum's the word!'
Mum's the word : 他言無用だよ

・She was possible the last victim of the optimism bug, and in her case the illness didn't last long, because the comptroller was a hard man, and gave her the boot.
comptroller = controller : 管理者
give ～ the boot : ～を解雇する、絶縁する

・Yes: after a fashion: true.
after a fasion : 曲がりなりにも、一応

・because nobody was used to seeing a young lady, much less one of the Teen Batti, running alone and distraught through the rain-soaked streets with her fingers in her ears and no dupatta around her shoulders.
much less ～ : ましてや～（はない）、いわんや～

・and Mumtaz hadn't liked it when Major Zulfikar (who had chosen not to charge my grandfather with harbouring a wanted man, and squared it with Brigadier Dodson) asked for, and received, permission to marry Emerald.
square ～ with ... : ～を...に了解させる

・'Not the godwond, God forfend,' Amina prayed silently,
God forfend : とんでもない、断じて（～でない）

・'That's the ticket!'
that's the ticket : その通り、そうとも

・'I'm dead against it myself, but what's to be done?'
be dead against ～ : ～に断固反対である

・'Look around you: everything's in fine fettle, don't you agree? Tickety-boo, we used to say. Or as you say in Hindustani: Sabkuch ticktock hai. Everything's just fine.'
in fine fettle : 快調で、元気いっぱいで
tickety-boo : あるべき姿の、正しい、満足のいく

・'But me no buts; it's me all right; I just know it for sure.'
but me no buts : もう弁解・議論はよしてください、何回も「しかし」というのはやめてください

・Even under the pressure of the peeved gaze of her neighbour Nussie-the-duck, who was also pregnant, and had also read the Times of India, Amina stuck to her guns, because Ramram's prediction had sunk deep into her heart.
stick to one's guns : 一歩も譲らない

notes - TIME: Why Obama ♥ Reagan -

・The speech was given during the day until LBJ turned it into a prime-time occasion.
LBJ : Lyndon Baines Johnson（第３６代大統領）

・Given the choice between a buddy-buddy Congress that accomplish nothing and one with frosty relations that gets stuff done, the American people would unhesitatingly choose the later.
buddy-buddy : とても仲が良い

・GenXers as slackers, remember?
GenXer = GenerationXer = Generation X : 1960年代中頃から１９７０年代中頃に生まれた世代
cf. Generation Y : 1980年以降に生まれた主に米国の世代

・In a deft State of the Union address, Obama turns the tables on the GOP, redefining his party and himself.
turn the tables : （優勢な相手に対して）形勢を逆転する、仕返しをする

・It wasn't exactly a barn burner, and its muted, nonconfrontational message was reinforced by the integration of Democrats and Republicans in the House chamber,
barn burner : 水田正秀（日本の俳人）の俳句 "Barn's burnt down, now I can see the moon"（蔵焼けて 障るものなき 月見かな）から「不要なものを排して展望を開くことのできる人・もの」の意（？）

・it becomes prohibitively difficult for Congressman Paul Ryan, offering the official Republican response, to argue that the U.S. is wantonly heading down the tubes.
cf. go down the tubes : （管を落ちるように）流れ落ちる、倒産する

・By contrast, Obama's biggest applause line was about American exceptionalism:
applause line : （政治演説の中の）受けねらいの部分

・Obama seemed less interested in talking about Lincoln's team of rivals or Kennedy's Camelot than the accomplishments of an amiable conservative named Ronald Reagan,
Camelot : 魅惑的な時代、特に、米国のケネディ政権時代を指す

・"Reagan recognized the American people's hunger for accountability and change," Obama wrote, conferring on Reagan two of his most cherished political slogans.
confer ～ on ... : ～を...に与える

・It is only natural for them to ask, How will I stack up?
stack up : 太刀打ちできる、匹敵する

・"I basically told headquarters, 'Sorry I didn't call this in,'"
call in ～ : （欠陥商品など）を回収する、（撤回する（？））

・But then he went on to say he believed his election would spell "an end to the knee-jerk reaction toward the New Deal and Big Government."
knee-jerk : 反射的な、型にはまった、容易に反応が予想できる

・"He needs to take a page from Ragan and forge a consensus in America."
take a page from ～ : ～を見習う、の真似をする

・Reagan's fiercest defenders naturally are suspicious about Obama's bromance with Reagan.
bromance : 性的な関係はない男性同士の親密な関係

・"You're a lefty," she said as Obama inked the Reagan commission into law.
lefty : 左利きの人、左翼の人

・A lefty who wants to be remembered just like Ronnie.
Ronnie : レーガン大統領の妻がレーガンを呼ぶときの愛称、参照：http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Reagan#Marriages_and_children

・"What I would really like to do is to go down in history as the President who made Americans believe in themselves again."―Ronald Reagan
go down in history : 記録される、記憶される

・True to form, in the Oval Office, Eisenhower displayed a paper weight that read, in Latin, "Gently in manner, strong in deed."
true to form : 例によって、例の如く

・Certainly, no one who heard his husky-voiced tribute to "the boys of Pointe du Hoc" 40 years after they scaled the walls of Hitler's Fortress Europe is likely to forget the experience.
Pointe de Hoc : a clifftop location on the coast of Normandy in northern France, where Operation Overlord took place by the United States Army Ranger Assault Group in World War II.
参照：http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pointe_du_Hoc
Fortress Europe : a military propaganda term from the Second World War which referred to the areas of Continental Europe occupied by Nazi Germany, as opposed to the free United Kingdom across the Channel.
参照：http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortress_Europe

・In taking an assassin's bullet and cracking wise in the shadow of death, he displayed qualities of character only hinted at on the campaign trail.
crack wise : 冗談を言う、知ったかぶりをして言う
campaign trail : 遊説

・Yet the same fertile imagination conjured Lend-Lease, the Four Freedoms and a too-clever-by-half scheme to pack the Supreme Court with Justices friendly to his New Deal.
too-clever-by-half : （自分の利益だけに）ひどく抜け目ない、利口ぶった、ずる賢い

・Is he sufficiently unconventional to subject government to an intellectual as well as fiscal means test.
means test : 収入・資産調査

・Italy is at the mercy of an 18-year-old Moroccan and a dental hygienist.
at the mercy of ～ : ～のなすがままになって

・ambidexterity : 両手利き、非凡な器用さ、二心（のあること）

・Page has said he wants Google to run more like the star-up it once was; he's enamored of the Skunk Works-type projects that produced Android, for instance.
Skunk Works : 企業の中の小規模・傍流で組織に縛られない革新的研究開発部門

・While some bash Microsoft as a one-trick pony, it still makes huge profits.
one-trick pony : 一つしか才能のない人

・The first mate miscalculated the long journey through the labyrinth of shoals and coral atolls outside the harbor: instead of hanging a right at at crucial juncture, the ship went straight and shuddered to a halt in a stretch of sand, shells and coral.
hang a right : 右に曲がる

・You can't have your cake and eat it too : 一度に二つ良いことはない、二つのことを同時に得ることはできない

・Growth is once again expected to be in the Goldilocks range―neither too hot nor too cold
Goldilocks : Goldilocks planet（ゴルディロックス惑星）生物が生息可能な大きさ・環境・位置などの条件を満足する地球のような惑星

・And they say the E.U. should light a fire under Big Steel by cutting its free carbon credits in Europe's emissions-trading scheme, which allows manufactures to pay for the right to emit CO2.
light a fire under ～ : ～の尻をたたく、～を急かす、思い通りに動かす

・"The holy grail is to get away from the use of of carbon-based material in the production of iron,"
the holy grail : 究極の目標、大望、聖杯

・Once ULCOS perfects either technology, all ULCOS members will be free to use it; in keeping with the consortium's collaborative spirit.
in keeping with ～ : ～に合わせて

・Another green feather in its cap: steep recycles as no other industry does, as evidenced by that nearly one-third of product that World Steel says comes from scrap.
cf. a feather in someone's cap : ～の誇りとしているもの、自慢の種、名誉

・"Then I'd be through with having conversations for the rest of my life," he vows, "and they'd leave me alone."
be through with ～ : （人・こと）との関係を絶つ、～と手を切る、～はこりごりである

・Slawenski's prose is serviceable at best, and he has a weakness for awkward formulations.
have a weakness for ～ : ～に目がない

・The notion of a Caucasian leading man playing second banana to his Asian Valet is the one inspiration of Michel Gondry's The Green Hornet, the year's first 3-D movie.
second banana : 脇役、二次的な立場の人

・the tranquil Al-Azhar Park makes an ideal jumping-off point on this newly rich tourist itinerary.
jumping-off point : 出発点、人里離れたところ、最果ての地

・but he has been unable to assert himself or broker a compromise.
assert oneself : 自分の意見などを主張する

notes - TIME: THE TRUTH ABOUT TIGER MOMS -

・The U.S. looks suspiciously at a China that is flexing its muscles, while China sees in the U.S. a place whose economic confidence has taken a pounding.
take a pounding : ひどい攻撃を受ける、ぼろ負けする

・The area, on the fault line between Hausa Muslims and Berom Christions, has been a flash point of violence for years.
fault line : 互いに譲歩できない線、争点
flash point : （暴動などが起きそうな）危険地域、我慢の限界、引火点

・A Yemeni court sentenced U.S.-born militant cleric Anwar al-Aqlaki in absentia to 10 years in prison for murder and belonging to a terrorist group.
in absentia : (Latin) 不在中に、欠席のまま

・Barring surprises, Romney, Pawlenty and Gingrich are sure bets to joint the fray.
barring ～ : ～がなければ
sure bet : 確実な人・もの、確実に勝つ人・もの

・In top GOP circles, the smart money is that Barbour gets in and vies with Romney to be the Establishment favorite, while Palin, Huckabee and Daniels take a pass, for reasons personal, financial and sundry.
smart money : Money bet or invested by experienced gamblers or investors (転じて= sure bet（賭けるならこれだという、一番確実そうなこと）?)
参照：http://www.audioenglish.net/dictionary/smart_money.htm
take a pass : 辞退する

・Sharpies in both parties believe a jobless rate over 8% would be a barrier to the President's re-election;
sharpie : 非常に抜け目のない人

・Obama officials (and many economists) insist we have to extend out national credit line to fund a deficit-running government, lest the global financial markets panic about a U.S. debt default
credit line : 貸越限度額、信用限度

・"It will be brinksmanship,"
brinksmanship : 瀬戸際政策

・Some of us have the bad fortune to follow in the footsteps of giants.
follow in the footsteps of ～ : ～の跡を継ぐ、～の例にならう

・She had to do this jet-lagged out of her skull, having just returned from an intense six-day swirl through the Middle East, and after delivering a monster speech about China that morning at the State Department.
out of one's skull : ふらふらで、気が狂って

・She more than held her own, if a bit more formally than her husband: she is, after all, the nation's highest ranking diplomat these days.
hold one's own : 引けをとらずにやる、がんばる、屈しない

・The first is that the Secretary of Defense is going to have a lousy, nuts-and-bolts job over the next few years,
nuts-and-bolts : 基本的な、実践的な、主要な

・'We need to speak out, no matter what,'
no matter what : 何が何でも、どんなことがあっても

・Such details fanned the protesters' fury, and the First Family's assets bore the brunt of their wrath:
bear the brunt of ～ : ～の矢面に立つ

・"Short of a terrorist nuclear attack against the United States," says Kenneth Lieberthal of the Brookings Institution, "managing the rise of China well is the single most consequential development for the U.S. over the coming 10 years."
short of ～ : ～を除いては、～がなければ

・Americans have ample reasons to wonder these days, starting with our distinctly loserish economy.
starting with ～ : ～をはじめとして、～から続けて
～-ish : ～の性質を持つ、～のような

・The document that finally focused the nation's attention on these crucial questions was not a blue-ribbon study or a hefty government report, but a slender book that sprang from one mother's despair over her daughter's teenage rebellion.
blue-ribbon : 最高級の、最優秀の

☆"Kids who have this well-earned sense of mastery are more optimistic and decisive; they've learned that they're capable of overcoming adversity and achieving goals." Children who have never had to test their abilities, says Marano, grow into "emotionally brittle" young adults who are more vulnerable to anxiety and depression.

・Another parenting practice with which Chua takes issues is Americans' habit, as she puts it, of "slathering prise on their kids for the lowest of tasks―drawing a squiggle or waving stick."
take issue with ～ : ～に反論する

・All that said, however, psychologists universally decry the use of threats and name calling―verbal weapons frequently deployed by Chua―as harmful to children's individual development and to the parent-child relationship.
name calling : 中傷、悪口

・Recently, Chua says, Lulu told her that during a math test at school that day she had looked at a question and drawn a blank.
draw a blank : （求めているものが）思い出せない、得られない

☆But what you'll never see here is an adoption of what Chua calls the obsessive concern in the U.S. with a kid's self-esteem, which from my expatriate viewpoint has practically become a form of dementia among some parents: the Little Leagues in which they don't keep score, for example, lest the kids on the losing team get their feelings hurt.
We have this kind of fools who, unfortunately, have kids, in Japan, too; we call them Moster Parents.

・the members of the global economic and political elite will find themselves coming to terms with something they have never known before.
come to terms with ～ : （困難など）をあきらめて受け入れる、～との合意に達する

・The second―much of it politically under the thumbs of the first―has remained poor and technologically dependent.
under the thumb of ～ : ～の言いなりになって

・The rich world―the U.S., Canada, Western Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and the four original Asian dragons―accounts for only 16% of total world population but nearly 70% of world output.
the four Asian dragons : Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan、"the four Asian Tigers" ともいう、
参照：http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Asian_Tigers

・haves : 持てる人・国
・have-nots : 持たざる人・国

・We are not out of the woods yet.
out of the woods : 困難・危険を逃れて

・There was a particularly poignant moment when Ireland, which cherishes its independence like a precious jewel, was forced to go cap in hand to the E.U. for a bailout in November.
cap in hand : うやうやしく
go cap in hand : （借金の申し込みなどに）畏まっていく

・In the rich world, the gains that the working class made during what the French call the trente glorieuses after 1945―decent health care, guaranteed pensions―are seen as increasingly fragile.
trente glorieuses : the thirty years from 1945-1975 following the end of the Second World War in France、Over this thirty-year period, the French standard of living, which had been ruined by both World Wars, had become one of the world's highest.
参照：http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trente_Glorieuses

・Unhappiness with the way the global economy has played out will manifest itself in different ways in different societies, from a rise in nationalism im China, say, to the "throw the bums out" anti-Washington fervor of the Tea Party in the U.S,
throw out ～ : （人・政府など）を（無価値として）追い出す
bum : 無能な人

・in which tens of millions of people in the U.S. and Europe are unemployed or underemployed and many millions more have been at best making do.
make do (with ～) : （不十分だが～で）何とかやる

・but it can be understood by looking back to an era in which both the West and the East were strong enough to call their own shots,
cf. call the shot : 決定を下す、支配する、意のままに操る
call their own shots : 自分たち自身の決定を自分たち自身で下す

・Today we have crises in spades.
in spades : （文尾で念を押して）確かに、あからさまに、非常に

・globalization : the fact that different cultures and economic systems around the world are becoming connected and similar to each other because of the influence of large multinational companies and of improved communication
・glabalism : 地球規模の政策・思考法、世界主義

☆Later on, humanists like Erasmus of Rotterdam and Pico della Mirandola eloquently articulated a world in which faith and reason existed not in tension but peacefully within each of us.

・These are the places where you'll see that mayors, governors, CEOs and philanthropists are pound for pound as important as most Presidents and Prime Ministers.
pound for pound : 等分に、同じように見比べた結果、全体として

・Today's Generation Y―the so-called millennials or digital natives―is pioneering this new consciousness.
Generation Y : 1980年以降に生まれた主に米国の世代
digital native : デジタル世代の人、生まれた頃からコンピュータや携帯電話機などのデジタル技術に慣れ親しんでおり、使いこなせる人

・Investors increasingly reward countries for investing in people and broadening the economic base by any means necessary.
by any means necessary : 何とかして、何とかしてでも

・Our goal should be an autopoieitc world: self-regulating and re-creating.
～poietic : 生み出す

・Its new innovation: an alliance with a brick-and-mortar bank.
brick-and-mortar : 不可欠な、基本的な

・Some college students work as interns or burger flippers during semester breaks;
burger flipper : ハンバーガー調理係、（低賃金労働者）

・Not guy-guy, as in the standard bromance, but guy-gal, with all appropriate gender shadings.
bromance : 性的な関係はない男性同士の親密な関係
shading : わずかな相違

・she's ready to play, occasionally, by the industry's rules―to take on the ordinary movies that, in sum, define a modern film star.
in sum : 要するに、つまり

・The pop-rock quartet, comprising Sara Wee, Alvin Khoo, Bani Hidir and Irwan Shah, slogged it out as a cover band on Singapore's live-music circuit for seven years
slog it out : 最後までやり抜く、徹底的に戦う

・Clientelewise, Aurus is freaky cool.
～wise : ～の点で、～に関して

・and management consultancies spent last year falling over one another in their zeal to identify new lions―or leopards, cheetahs, gazelles, whatever―among its rising corporate champions.
fall over ～ : ～につまずいて転ぶ
cf. fall all over oneself (to do/ for) : （～しようと／～を求めて）躍起になる

notes - Disgrace -

・Like all rationalized personnel, he is allowed to offer one special-field course a year, irrespective of enrolment, because that is good for morale.
irrespective of ～ : ～とは関係なく、～にかまわず

・Nevertheless he fulfils to the letter his obligations toward them, their parents, and the state.
to the letter : 言われたとおりに、正確に

・As mother, aunts, sisters fell away, they were replaced in due course by mistresses, wives, a daughter.
in due course : 当然の順序を追って、やがて

・A clearing of the decks, at least, so that one can turn one's mind to the proper business of the old: preparing to die.
clear the decks : 不要・邪魔なものを片づける、準備をする

・He is out of touch, out of date.
out of touch : 現実認識が欠けて

・'It may be in your better interest to throw a veil over the gaze, so as to keep her alive in her archetypal, goddesslike form.'
cf. in one's best interest (to do ... ) : （...することが）～のため、～の利益になる

・So, he thinks: the chickens come home to roost.
the chickens come home to roost : 過去の悪行が自分にはね返る、因果応報

・After this coup de main Melanie keeps her distance.
coup de main : 不意打ち、奇襲

・'At least go through the motions."
go through the motions : お義理に～する、（乗り気でないことを本気でやらずに）形だけですませる

・'If I've got hold of the wrong end of the stick, now is your chance to say, but I don't think so, I can see it from your face.'
get hold of the wrong end of the stick : 物事を完全に誤解する

・The hand slows, settles, makes its X, its cross of righteousness: J'accuse.
J'accuse : 余は糾弾す、弾劾、糾弾

・(die) Schadefreude : (German) 他人の不幸を喜ぶこと

・Scrawled in pencil at the bottom is a message: 'YOUR DAYS ARE OVER, CASANOVA.'
casanova : 女たらし

・'Are you in love with this young woman who is dragging your name through the mud?'
cf. drag someone's name in the mud : ～を中傷する、～の信用に泥を塗る
cf. drag the name of someone through the dirt : ～に恥をかかせる、～の名声を落とす

・'You are taking us in circles, Professor Lurie.'
in circles : 堂々巡りの議論に

・Then he remembers: they were gathered here yesterday in this same room, and she was before them, Melanie, who barely comes to this shoulder.
come to his shoulder : 彼の肩まで（背がある）

・'That would be back to front.'
back to front : あべこべに、混乱して

・'Then we can decide whether to accept it in mitigation.'
in mitigation : 減刑して

・'I took advantage of my position vis-à-vis Ms Issacs.'
vis-à-vis ～ : ～に関して、相対して

・He is prepared not to take extreme measures, he says, on condition that you issue a statement in your own person which will be satisfactory from our point of view as well as yours.
on condition ～ : ～という条件で、もし～なら
in one's own person : 自分で、自ら、直々に

・'Now we are truly splitting hairs.'
split hairs : くだらないことを細かく詮索する

・'The owner have done a bunk.'
do a bunk : 逃亡する、疑いをかけられてずらかる

・'I was no great shakes as a teacher.'
be no great shakes : たいしたものではない、並である

・'And are you so perfect that you can't do with a little counselling?'
can't do with ～ : ～に我慢できない

・'I'll keep her, if it comes to that.'
if it comes to ～ : ～ということとなると、～という話になれば

・'So,' she says, 'now we must let nature take her course.'
let nature take its course : 自然の成り行きに任せる

・The truth is, he does not like to think of his daughter in the throes of passion with another woman, and a plain one at that.
in the throes of ～ : （困難・危機・骨の折れる仕事など）に苦しんで
at that : その上、さらに

・There must be some niche in the system for women and what happen to them.
niche : 最適な場所
cf. find one's niche in life : 人生における適所を見つける、自分にふさわしい場所を見つける

・chuchotantes : ささやくこと(?)

・Lucy's future, his future, the future of the land as a whole―it is all a matter of indifference, he wants to say; let it all go to the dogs, I do not care.
go to the dogs : 落ちぶれる、（体の調子が）悪くなる

・That brings him up short.
bring ～ up short : ～を急に止める、～の鼻をあかす、～を立ち止まらせる

・'Nothing could be further from my thoughts.'
nothing could be further from ～ : （真実など）などではない、～とは全く異なる

・'I am not just trying to save my skin.'
save one's skin : 危機を脱する、～を危機から救う

・She is here because she loves the land and the old, ländliche way of life.
ländliche : (German) ländlich（田舎の、素朴な、地方の）＋形容詞変化語尾'e'

・A non sequitur, but he lets it pass.
non sequitur : (Latin) 無理な推論

・'I don't feel up to it.'
feel up to ～ : ～する力があると感じる

・In the old days one could have had it out with Petrus.
have it out with ～ : ～に鬱憤を晴らす

・Ettinger will be a harder nut to crack.
a hard/tough nut to crack : 厄介な相手・問題、嫌な奴

・Ettinger is another peasant, a man of the earth, tenacious, eingewurzelt.
eingewurzelt : (German) einwurzeln（～をしっかり根付かせる）のp.p.、しっかり根付いた、"sich4 einwurzeln : しっかりと根付く

・The real truth, he suspects, is something far more―he casts around for the word―anthropological, something it would take months to get to the bottom of, months of patient, unhurried conversation with dozens of people, and the offices of an interpreter.
get to the bottom of ～ : ～の真相を突き止める

・On the other hand, he does believe that Petrus knew something was in the offing: he does believe Petrus could have warned Lucy.
in the offing : 近い将来に、やがて起こりそうな

・This is not what he came for―to be stuck in the back of beyond, warding off demons, nursing his daughter, attending to a dying enterprise.
the back of beyond : 人里離れたところ、世界の果て、奥地

・On the whole, I would prefer not to go.
on the whole : 何もかも考えあわせると

・He shivers, as if a goose has trodden on his grave.
cf. someone is walking on/over my grave : 誰かが自分の墓所となるところを歩いている（不意にぞっとしたときの文句）

・'Boys can be expensive too,' he remarks, doing his bit for the conversation.
do one's bit : 一肌脱ぐ、本分を尽くす

・'You must buy them this, you must buy them that,' continues Petrus, getting into his stride, no longer listening.
get into one's stride : 絶好調になる、仕事の調子が出る

・'David, I don't want to kick up a fuss, but can we leave at once?'
kick up a fuss : 騒ぎ立てる、不平を言う

・On the contrary, the boy appears to have been waiting for this moment, storing himself up for it.
store ～ : ～を備える
up for ～ : ～に対する準備ができて

・He is tired of living out of a suitcase, tired of listening all the while for the crunch of gravel on the pathway.
live out of a suitcase : スーツケースに詰め込んだもので暮らしている、年中旅行している

・What is being asked for is, in fact, Lösung (German always to hand with an appropriately blank abstraction): sublimation, as alcohol is sublimed from water, leaving no residue, no aftertaste.
(die) Lösung : (German) 希釈、処理、解決策、取り消し、lösen（解決する、ゆるめる）の名詞形

・If, more often than not, the dog fails to be charmed, it is because of his presence:
more often than not : 通常、大抵、しばしば

・Rigor mortis had stiffened the corpses overnight.
rigor mortis : 死後硬直

・Even sitting down more purposefully with the Byron libretto might, at a pinch, be construed as a service to mankind.
at a pinch : 必要とあれば、いざという時に、せっぱつまって

・Sunt lacrimae rerum et mentem mortalia tangunt: those will be Byron's words, he is sure of it.
Sunt lacrimae rerum et mentem mortalia tangunt : (Latin) 「歴史への涙がある。人間の出来事は心（の琴線に）触れる」「ここにも人の世に注ぐ涙があり、人間の苦しみは人の心を打つ」
参照：http://www.kitashirakawa.jp/taro/latin52.html 「ラテン語格言集 (14)」の274

・Surely they tempted the gods by giving her a name like that!
cf. tempt God : 神の怒りにふれる、無茶をする、あえて危険を冒す

・The two of them in the same bed: an experience fit for a king.
fit for a king : 完全にぴったりの

・'Break bread with us.'
break bread : 食事する、ごちそうになる

・Well, so much the worse for him.
so much the worse (for ～) : （～にとっては）それでますます悪くなる

・Superman hanging his head as he is berated by Lois Lane.
hang one's head : うなだれる、顔を伏せる、恥ずかしく思う
Lois Lane : スーパーマンの恋人

・'I rattle about in the house like a pea in a bottle.'
rattle about in ～ : （広すぎる部屋・建物）にいる

・In the years since Byron's death, his friends have written one memoir after another, drawing upon his letters.
draw upon ～ = draw on ～ : ～を参考にする、当てにする

・Their libels hurt her to the quick.
to the quick : 骨の髄まで、ひどく

・The halt helping the lame, for want of better.
for want of ～ : ～不足のために
cf. for want of anything better : 他にやりたいことがないので

・And, astonishingly, in dribs and drabs, the music comes.
in dribs and drabs : ほんの少量ずつ／で

・No matter, he thinks: let the dead bury their dead.
let the dead bury their dead : 聖書のイエスの言葉からの引用。参照：http://ldolphin.org/deaddead.html or http://www.usingenglish.com/forum/ask-teacher/32064-help-what-does-let-dead-bury-dead-mean.html

・She wants to be loved, Teresa, to be loved immortally; she wants to be raised to the company of the Lauras and Floras of yore.
Lauras and Floras : "Laura and Flora"のp.l.（？）
Laura and Flora : possibly refer to well-known High Renaissance portraits of women by Titian and Giorgione, both evoking the Italian sonneteer Petrarch's unconsummated obsession with a woman named Laura.
参照：http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Original_of_Laura
of yore : 昔の

・'That may be so, David, but surely you know by now that trials are not about principles, they are about how well you put yourself across.'
put across ～ : ～を理解させる、納得させる

・He does not rise to the bait.
rise to the bait : （人が）誘いにのる、挑発にのる

・'The story of your life.'
cf. That's the story of my life : これが私の人生だ（不運が続く人が言う言葉）

・'That's enough, David, I'm upset as it is, I don't want to get into an argument.'
as it is : （語尾・文中で）実際問題として、もうすでに

・The marriage of Cronus and Harmony: unnatural.
Cronus :ギリシャ神話 参照：http://www.h6.dion.ne.jp/~em-em/page132.html（日本語）http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cronus（英語）
Harmony :ギリシャ神話 参照：http://www.h6.dion.ne.jp/~em-em/page204.html

・For unnatural acts: for broadcasting old seed, tired seed, seed that does not quicken, contra naturam.
contra naturam : (Latin) Against nature, or against the natural course of things

・Omnis gens quaecumque se in se perficere vult : "The meaning (as well as the correct grammatical form) of this statement has been the subject of some debate among professors of Latin." In other words, I don't know anything about this.
参照：http://www.nt.armstrong.edu/HLHdisgrace2.htm

・'I have taken every reasonable care short of what you are hinting at.'
short of ～ : ～以外は、～を除いて

・'I thought you took Ovral.'
Ovral : emergency contraception pill

・So this is it, that is what all the shadow-boxing was for: this bid, this blow!
shadow-boxing : 意見のさぐり合い

・'Before you get on your high horse with Petrus, take a moment to consider my situation objectively.'
a/one's high horse : 高慢な態度、威張り散らすこと、立腹

・'I know what I would be letting myself in for.'
let ～ in for ... : ～を（面倒など）に巻き込む

・'Tell him that he can have it, title deed and all.'
title deed : 権利証書

・'I can cope with Petrus and his aanhangers, I can cope with you, but I can't cope with all of you together.'
aanhanger : (Dutch) one of the persons who compose a social group (especially individuals who have joined and participates in a group organization).
参照：http://lookwayup.com/lwu.exe/lwu/toEng?s=d&w=aanhanger&slang=Nld

・Vedi l'anime di color cui vinse l'ira : (Italian) now see the souls of those whom anger has defeated

・'If I were to stand back,' he stumbles on, 'and some new disaster were to take place on the farm, how would I be able to live with myself?'
live with oneself : 自尊心を失わないでいる

・Che vuol dir questa solitudine immensa? Ed io che sono? : (Italian) "What means this immense solitude? And what am I?" by Googole翻訳

・The bees must be in their seventh heaven.
be in seventh heaven : 有頂天である、無情の幸福に浸っている

・The truth is, he has never had much of an eye for rural life, despite all his reading in Wordsworth.
have an eye for ～ : ～の鑑識眼がある、～を見る目がある

・There is only the young dog left, the one who likes music, the one who, given half a chance, would already have lolloped after his comrades into the clinic building,
give ～ half a chance : ～に少しでも機会を与える

notes - TIME: Guns. Speech. Madness. -

・I'm disappointed you chose the social networker over Asange, who has made inroads toward cultivating a national conversation on U.S. imperial efforts to secure energy resources in Iraq and Afghanistan―and on the long-term costs of those efforts.
cf. make inroads into/on/upon ～ : ～に果敢に取り組む、～に食い込む、～の山場を終える

・The government of President Zine el Abhidine Ben Ali, who has ruled for more than 23 years, ordered universities and schools shut in a bid to halt further protests and instituted curfews.
in a bid to do : ～しようとして

・the state's first increase since 1989 and the biggest tax hike yet by states struggling with massive deficits.
最上級＋yet : これまでで一番

・who turned cherry-picked examples of liberal overreach into sweeping generalizations.
cherry-picked : 都合の良いものだけを選び都合の悪いものを無視した、望ましいものだけを選んだ

・Palin eventually released an eight-minute video in which she denounced efforts to link her to the shootings as "blood libel."
blood libel : ユダヤ人がキリスト教徒の赤ん坊を殺してその血を材料にして「過ぎ越しの祭り」の種なしパンを作っていたとする作り話で、ユダヤ人の大虐殺や迫害を正当化する際にしばしば引き合いに出されてきた
参照：http://www.afpbb.com/article/politics/2782249/6660079

・Does the sound of the dentist's drill set your teeth on edge?
set one's teeth on the edge : 歯の浮くような感じがする、～をいらだたせる

・The chip on China's shoulder.
a chip on (some)one's shoulder : （馬鹿にされたと）ぷりぷり怒ること、けんか腰、しゃくの種

・Whiskey Rebellion : 1794年にウイスキー税徴収に反対して起こった

・Some of those peaceably assembling are there to tell Giffords how much they admire her, and some intend to give her a piece of their mind.
give ～ a piece of one's mind : ～にずけずけ文句を言う、叱りとばす

・And Sarah Palin, for what it is worth, was the little-known first-year governor of Alaska.
for what it is worth = for all it is worth : 価値があるか／本当かどうかはわからないけれど

・Tierney says his friend stopped drinking, cut back on the weed, began working out.
cut back on ～ : ～を減らす、削減する

・Elected officials in swing districts are always in danger of losing, and when one of them does, the creators of the target lists can boast of their fearsome power.
swing : 選挙の結果などを左右する、決定的な

・On cable TV, the most watched political pot stirrer draws roughly 1 out of every 100 Americans.
pot stirrer : A person who feels it necessary to try and create more drama in regards to a situation/arguement/debate in which they are an outside observer. Usually by way of a comment or statement.
参照：http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=pot+stirrer

・A government that can't pass its appropriations bills or reform its broken entitlement programs.
appropriation bill : 歳出予算案

・The one about people rising to the occasion.
rise to the occasion : いざというときに力を発揮する、臨機応変の処置をとる、難局をうまく乗り切る

・Her death, and everything wrought that day by Jared Loughner, was senseless wrenching―but in no way was it an expression of what we've become.
in no way ～ : 決して～ない

・when she heard the charges against him, "it just blew my mind."
blow one's mind : ～をとてもビックリさせる、強い感情で圧倒させる、（音楽などが）～を恍惚状態にさせる

・"He seemed out of it, like he was somewhere else,"
out of it : 無関係で、ひとりぼっちで、（頭が）混乱して
cf. feel out of it : 場違いな思いをする

・Why are we allowed to pack heat at a Safeway when we can't pack shampoo in our carry-on?
pack heat : 銃を携行する

・and the Administration's rhetoric since has echoed NRA talking points about enforcing gun laws already on the books.
cf. remain on the books : （実際使われていないが）効力を持っている
on the books : 効力を持っている、条文化されている（？）

・and some politicians have searched for middle ground on an issue dominated by macho hands-off-my-gun posturing and maudlin think-of-the-children appeals.
hands off : 手をふれるな、干渉するな

・It has become well known that Giffords owns guns and that she filed a friend-of-the-court brief opposing a handgun ban in Washington.
friend-of-the-court : 「amicus = amicus curiae : 裁判所に係属する事件について裁判所に情報・意見などを提出する第三者」の形容詞形
amicus : 法廷助言者の

・But even as China unleashed its global charm offensive in 2010, its other face was still evident.
charm offensive : 頬笑キャンペーン、（敵にみせる）友好的態度

・When Washington indicated that it might dip a mediating hand in the contested waters of the East and South China seas, Beijing responded indignantly.
cf. dip/put one's hand in ～ : ～に手を入れる
dip a mediating hand in ～ : ～への調停者の介入を招く（？）

・The low point of this phase came with the awarding in October of the Nobel Peace Prize to imprisoned Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo.
low point : 最悪の時

・Foreigners dealing with the Chinese complained that they didn't know who was calling the shots.
call the shots : 決定を下す、意のままに操る、支配する

・Fierce words like that put the Foreign Ministry's growing stable of oversseas-educated diplomats in a bind.
in a bind : 理論上は、名目上は

・And only 5% of the up to 20 million cu m heavy debris has been tackled.
cu m : cubic meters in measurements

・As usual, Apple is staying mum until the moment it's ready to put its hype machine into overdrive.
mum : 黙っている
hype : 誇大宣伝の
cf. give/move into overdrive : 熱心に働く、過度に興奮する、
overdrive : 過熱状態

・But the linchpin of the scheme is something few other countries could offer: clean electricity.
linchpin : （仕事・組織などの）要、不可欠の人・もの、調整役

・managing director of the quasi-governmental agency Invest in Iceland
quasi-～ : 準～、半～

・But for now, the main fear is no that Chinese demand will cool but that China will price the rest of the world's wine lovers out of the top end of the market.
cf. price oneself out of ～ : 法外な値を付けて～から閉め出される
price ～ out of ... : 法外な値を付けて～を...から閉め出す（？）

・Whether the claret craze will last is anyone's guess.
anyone's guess : 予測しがたいこと、推測はできても断定できないこと

・The band has spent the past decade specializing in high-concept suites and tongue-in-cheek lyrical conceits,
tongue-in-cheek : 軽蔑した、皮肉な

・The author of Seabiscuit returns with another epic of long odds and unbreakable spirit
long odds : 起こりそうもないこと、大差、一方的賭け率

・The only demerit is that the hotel's beach club was recently damaged in a storm; it may or may not be rebuilt.
～ may or may not ... : ～が...かするかどうかはわからない

・Intimidated by China's rise, Chinese spokesmen insist, the West has been going out of its way to offend the world's most populous country and second biggest economy.
go out of one's way : 取り乱す、無理して～する、わざわざ～する

・Exhibit A in their brief: the Nobel Peace Prize committee's decision to honor Liu Xiaobo, a figure with views so allegedly "un-Chinese" that celebrating him is equivalent to launching a broadside against China's cultural core.
Exhit A : 証拠物件Ａ、最も重要な証拠・証人

notes - The Fragile Progress in Afghanistan -

・I've always tried to construct my films with the same structure: intense, on the edge of your seat.
on the edge of one's seat : 興奮して、ハラハラして、椅子から身を乗り出して

・I am due to meet with a director who makes gory shoot'em-up flicks about the Mexican drug cartels.
shoot'em-up : 撃ち合いの、流血の場面の多い

・After a long life of service to his nation, John McCain, it now appears, will leave as a legacy his thoughtless infliction of Palin on the American people.
infliction of A on B : BにAを与えること

・Your article makes no sense and smacks of your one-sided reporting of this situation.
smack of ～ : ～の気味がある

☆It's the unremitting incitement, beginning almost at infancy, by their leaders that is turning the new generation into one filled with more hate and distrust than the current one.

・but the eventual winner will never go head to head with Barack Obama.
go head to head with ～ : ～と直接対決する

・Most surprisingly, the would-be 2012 presidential contenders are in a game of reverse chicken,
cf. game of chiken : 度胸試し、我慢比べ

・After spending some $450 million to elect Obama and a supporting cast of Democrats, labor was calling in the chits:
call in the chit : （金などの）支払いを要求する

・On taxes and card check, zip.
zip : 無得点、ゼロ点、何もない

・Indiana legislators talk of making their state―once a bastion of unionized manufacturing―a Midwestern right-to-work redoubt.
right-to-work : クローズドショップ制禁止の（クローズドショップ：使用者は特定の労働組合に加入していることを条件に労働者を雇い入れ、組合を脱退or除名されたものは解雇しなければならないという制度）

・Even in places where Democrats cling to power, unions are under the gun.
under the gun : 一触即発の状態で、危機に瀕して、切羽詰まって

・... returns to his old post talking darkly about the unsustainable drain that union pensions and health benefits are on the state's budget.
on a (tight) budget : 限られた予算で、出費を抑えられて

・Though stock prices have largely rebounded, the crisis laid bare the absurdly rosy scenarios that propped up the pension plans of public employees.
lay bare ～ : （秘密など）を明かす、暴露する、～をむき出しにする

・It's not likely to make anyone's bucket list, but a colonoscopy could save you from needing to do everything on that list anytime soon.
bucket list : 生きているうちに成し遂げたい行動や業績のリスト
S makes someone's list : ～のリストに挙げられる（？）

・But some of it reflects the impact of Roe v. Wade.
Roe v. Wade : 妊娠中絶を合法とした裁判

・Since 1973, countless lives that might have been welcomed into families ... have been cut short in utero instead.
in utero : 生まれる前に、子宮内で

・At best, it's inspirational and affection, brain candy for people affluent enough to worry about self-actualization.
brain candy : An experience that is enjoyable because it stimulates the mind pleasantly, but doesn't actually make it work. Usually in reference to light and fluffy books, movies, TV shows, and other entertainment. Akin to eye candy.
参照：http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=brain+candy

・Theologically, Warren and his congregants were of a piece with the Deep South.
of a piece with ～ : ～と一致・調和して、～と同じ内容・性格の
Deep South : South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississip, Louisianaの５州。政治・人権問題などに対する保守的態度に言及して用いられることもある

・By late last fall, Deloitte had discounted the likelihood of a double-dip recession, no small bet since a lack of confidence has been a big impediment to hiring for lots of companies.
no small ～ : たいした～、かなりの～、少なくない～

・It doesn't want to be caught short of talent.
be caught short ～ : 思いがけず～が足りない

・Inflation is still muted, and stocks are on a roll.
on a roll : 幸運続きで、何をしてもうまくいって、どんどん受け入れられて

・That 6% figure refers to what economists call full employment, meaning that people who want to work can find it (give or take time lost to layoffs or telling the boss to shove it.)
give or take ～ : ～の多少の増減を伴って
shove it : くたばれ！、失せろ！、くそったれ！

・That on-campus tête-à-tête has gotten much more competitive.
tête-à-tête : (French) 密会、内緒話

・But now they say they want people to hit the ground running.
hit the ground running : 時間を無駄にせず本格的に仕事を始める

・This dropped to 2.1 million job openings in the first months of 2009, and lo and behold, in the second half of the economy, " he explains.
lo and behold : 驚くなかれ、なんとまあ

・health care and education, the perennial job comets, are doing well.
comet : something looks like a bright star wth a tail

・At the same time, they will be advertising openings in like numbers for IT and call-center jobs.
cf. in numbers : 大量に
in like numbers : ほぼ同数で、同じような数で(?)

・"The company is going out with the sales force to get new business,
go out to do : ～使用とできる限り努力する

・Likewise, the domestic auto industry, which pulled a Houdini in even getting to 2011, is still rationalizing its manufacturing capacity to match its market share.
pull a Houdini : 突然消えて何の音沙汰もなくなる、参照：http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=pull%20a%20houdini

・Because autos and construction are male-dominated industries, alot of guys will stay on the sidelines.
on the sidelines : 参加しないで傍観して、そばで待機して

・Two years later, new jobs are few and far between.
few and far between : 数少ない、極めて稀な

・"National brands give us legitimacy with our trade-down customer,"
cf. trade down : より安いものに乗り換える

・The message seems to be getting through.
get through : 自分のいうことをわからせる、（言いたいことが人に）通じる

・Pro-reform activists also despair of Sarkozy's tendency to turn policy innovation into a grudge match by making resounding political defeat of opponents a greater priority than compromising to find the most efficient means of change.
despair of ～ : ～に絶望する、～をあきらめる
grudge match : 遺恨の対決

・Their default reaction was to be protective of the children they indirectly had a hand on in wounding.
have a hand in ～ : ～に関わっている、影響を及ぼす

・Whether the U.S. should even address those long-term question is the quiet fault line in the current Afghanistan-policy debate.
fault line : 互いに譲歩できない一線

・they remain unconvinced that the Americans will have the patience to stay the course in Afghanistan.
stay the course : （困難にめげず）最後までがんばる

・There would be no solution, he believed, if the Pakistanis didn't think the U.S. was in Afghanistan for the long haul.
the long haul : 長期にわたる困難な仕事

・The U.S. would foot the bill for the Afghan military: $7 billion to $8 billion per year. "But that would be chump change compared to the $100 billion we're spending now," an Administration official told me.
foot the bill for ～ : ～の勘定を受け持つ、～の責任を引き受ける
chump change : はした金、雀の涙、些細な問題

・After Holbrooke read Karzai the riot act, telling him that he would have to clean up his government and that funds would no longer flow with no strings attached as they did during the Bush Administration,
with no strings attached : 無条件で

・It is quite possible that he will have the appearance of an Afghan solution in place, with tens of thousands of troops returning home, as he runs for re-election in 2012.
have the appearance of ～ : ～に特有な特徴を持っている、～のように見える
in place : 機能している、機能を果たしている

・shuttling between continents to grab face time with suppliers, developers and carriers.
face time : （重要な人などとの）面接（時間）、上司などにアピールするための時間

・That's because RIM's iconic BlackBerry is no longer the category-killing "CrackBerry" in the $100 billion smart-phone universe it created.
cf. category killer : 特定の商品の安価な大量販売を行うことにより、他店舗におけるそのカテゴリーの売り場を消滅させてしまう大規模小売店チェーンストア

・RIM's stock is trading at $58 per share on NASDAQ, down from $150 two years ago, on investor fears that its glory days are history.
on (investor fears) : 根拠・理由を表す、投資家の恐れのために

・PlayBook won't hit stores before the first quarter of 2011, but RIM is convinced it has a slumbering tiger on its hands.
have ～ on one's hands : （難しい仕事・問題など）を抱え込む

・and Google's Android has pretensions to the throne.
pretension to ～ : ～にあるという自負、～があるという自負

・but the real challenge will be in creating gotta-have devices it will buy.
gotta = have got to (do) : ～しなくてはいけない
gotta-have : 必需品の、必須の

・And to make good on that declaration, he has opened the door to London's data vaults through a website called the London Datastore.
make good on ～ : ～を果たす

・but webizens quickly transform it into graphs, charts, maps and documents
cf. webize : （文書など）をウェブフォーマットに変換する
webizen : ウェブフォーマットに変換する人（？）

・What gives? : 一体どうなっているんだ？、一体どうしたんだ？

・Reading these two books about free-market capitalism simultaneously is a Rashomon-like experience.
Rashomon : 『羅生門』1950年の日本映画（同一事件への関係者の告白が一つ一つ食い違う多義的な真実を描いた）

・The authors' writing styles are poles apart.
poles apart : 正反対だ、かけ離れている

・Bowyer has a bare-knuckles, take-no-prisoners bluster.
bare-knuckles : ルール無視の、無茶苦茶な
take-no-prisoners : 玉砕戦法的な姿勢の

・Chang, befitting his position as an economics professor at Cambridge University, is engagingly thoughtful and opinionated at a much lower decibel level.
cf. keep the decibels down : 静かにしている
at a much lower decibels level : かなり落ち着いて、とても静かなトーンで（？）

・As is so often the case in economic debate, each author is preaching to the choir.
preach to the choir : すでに同じ意見の相手を説得しようとする

・It is unlikely that George Soros will be picking up Bowyer's anti-left screed anytime soon or that Rupert Murdoch will give Chang's liberal musings the time of day.
George Soros : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Soros
Rupert Murdoch : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rupert_Murdoch
give ～ the time of day : ～と親しく・仲良くする

・But every once in a while, a book hits the jackpot
hit the jackpot : （予期せぬ）大成功を収める

・It's about second chances: before being rescued by the Levins, Oogy had been involved in dog fighting and left for dead.
leave ～ for dead : ～を見捨てる、あきらめる

・Yet you realize you know nothing and must either go yourself or else heed Tyutchex and take Siberia on faith in order to accept what it is: an imponderable vastness beyond even Frazier's monumental scope.
on faith : 疑いなく、信用して

・For most of the calendar year, the film business is purely business, with comedies, fantasies, action movies and animated features reaching for the billion-dollar brass ring.
brass ring : 成功、富、大成功のチャンス

・the studio bosses and indie-house minimoguls suddenly get religion.
get religion : ひどくまじめ・熱心になる、急に信仰に入る

・voilà : （成功・満足を表すor注意を引いて）見て！、ほら！

・The mainstream movie biz depends on sequels; indies rely on stars doing pro bono work.
pro bono : (Latin) 無料（奉仕）の、善意からの

・Chok, who has been publishing cookbooks and catering to exclusive dinner parties in the interim, brings three articles of faith to his new project.
in the interim : その間に
articles of faith : 信仰箇条、参照：http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Articles_of_faith

notes - TIME: The Fighter -

・The Humpty Dumpty of modern diplomacy has been knocked off its perch by Assange's revelations
Humpty Dumpty : 一度壊れたら元通りにならないもの

・Before we hang Assange and WikiLeaks out to dry, perhaps it is worth remembering that it's the message that counts most, not the messenger.
hang ～ out to dry : ～に非常に厳しくあたる、～を困難な状況に陥れる

・Snowpocalypse
cf. apocalypse : 大事件、大惨事、ヨハネの黙示録、この世の終わり

・Airlines have cut their schedules to the bone, leaving no wiggle room to cope with weather madness, let alone true catastrophe.
to the bone : 徹底的に
wiggle room :逃げ道、 釈明の余地

・Suspicious packages received recently at other embassies proved to be false alarms.
false alarm : いたずら通報、誤り・嘘の警報、根拠のない危惧・期待・思い過ごし

・Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, up for re-election this fall, faces a growing political crisis following several weeks of violent clashes between immigrant squatters and residents of southern Buenos Aires.
up for ～ : ～に立候補して、～に対する準備ができて、～の予定で

・But Cuccinelli is on a tear that makes the tenures of those men look plodding.
be on a tear : バカ騒ぎをする

・The Cuccinelli Doctrine comes with asterisks.
cf. with an asterisk : 注目すべき
asterisk : 注意を喚起するもの

・And he lined up with civil libertarians when he was one of just two state attorneys general to decline, on First Amendment grounds, to file an amicus brief in support of a father whose son's military funeral was picketed by anti-gay bigots from the Westboro Baptist Church.
amicus = amicus curiae = (Latin) friend of the court : 裁判所に係属する事件について裁判所に情報・意見などを提出する第三者
amicus : 法廷助言者の

・A lifelong democrat, Pèrez had gone into exile as a 26-year-old over his opposition to a military dictatorship.
cf. go over ～ : ～を越えて
cf. go over to the enemy : 敵側へ回る
go over his opposition to a military dictatorship : 野党どころか軍事独裁に転じる（？）

・In 2011, we'll see if the Republican brand of stimulus produces anything better than the muted results of the Democratic plan (and it may well, building atop the economic hole the first stimulus filled).
may well (do) : たぶん～だろう（この場合、「たぶん何かしらよりいい結果を出すだろう」）

・you'd think that we were facing Armageddon, Sodom, Gomorrah and the last days of Pompeii all at once.
Pompeii : 火山の噴火で埋没したイタリアの古都

・Call it my glass-half-full column.
galss-half-full : プラス思考の

・But senior Chinese officials seem to recognize that they might have overplayed their hand, and perhaps they will spend 2011 signaling their benign intentions to East Asia and being more cooperative with the U.S.
overplay one's hand : 実力以上に自分を見せる、（ポーカーで）自分の手を大きく見せる

・Since 1962, Burma's battle-hardened generals have faced down communist insurgents, ethnic armies, even the Western governments that impose economic sanctions on the regime.
face down ～ : ～を脅しつける、威圧する、（批判など）を抑える

・That Rangoon summer grew into Burma's version of a Prague spring.
Prague spring : 1968年、チェコスロバキアで共産党政権の下で自由化政策のとられた短い期間

・Today, despite Suu Kyi's release and the influx of foreign investment that has brought the occasional Hummer and day spa to Rangoon, Burma is still a country preserved in amber.
Hummer : 米国ゼネラルモーターズ(GM)社ブランド名
day spa : If you don't know what "day spa" means, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Day_spa
cf. a fly in amber : 過去の奇妙な異物
amber : 琥珀

・Then we'll be home and dry.
home and dry : 全く安心で、必ずうまくいって目的を達して

・Serving as an icon of democracy is hard enough, without having to deal with the nitty-gritty of everyday political life.
nitty-gritty : 核心、本質、基本的事実

・"All I have to say is, 'Is so-and-so in or out?' and they know exactly what I mean."
so-and-so : 何とかさん

・and when northern bombers strayed into southern territory in December, the south did not respond in kind.
in kind : （返報に）同種のもので

・The toweringly tall Ngok Dinka tribe, whose members live around Abyei and of which Mijak Kuol is a leader, is a case in point.
a case in point : 好例、適切な例

・the loss of the south "is going to be a very hard decision for the north to accept, so we have got to figure out some ways to make it worth their while."
worth one's while : 時間や労力をかける価値がある、無駄ではない

・Khartoum is a city of chic cafè and gleaming skyscrapers, but most southerners still live in mud huts and make do with little industry or agriculture, few roads and almost no electricity.
make do with ～ : （不十分だが何とか手に入るもの）で間に合わせる、やっていく

・"If you know your actions are going to be covered, you tend to behave much differently than when you operate in a vacuum.
in a vacuum : （周囲から）孤立して

・What was unusual, though was that during the signing ceremony, Obama called McConnell "extraordinary," a far cry from the adjective―among them, cynical and deceptive―that the President had been using to describe him for much of the year.
a far cry from ～ : ～から遠く離れている、～大いに異なる、～どころではない

・McConnell never had much in common with Obama, who arrived in the Senate in 2004 more interested in the possibility of a presidential campaign than in the institution's elaborate pecking order.
pecking order : （人間社会の）序列、階級の順位

・"We think it's the best thing since sliced bread,"
the best thing since sliced bread : 最上のもの・人

・The old assumption was that if a child's parents couldn't care for her, everyone else in the family would have a similarly negative influence―that the apple didn't fall far from the tree.
the apple never falls far from the tree : 一家の顕著な特徴は、普通遺伝するものだ

・Azure Dynamics is making headway by concentrating on the commercial and fleet customers that account for 30% of all new-vehicle sales in the U.S.
make headway : 前進する
commercial and fleet (cars) : 商用車および会社所有車

・The wear and tear on the brakes is reduced because the regenerative braking system pulls the kinetic energy off the brakes and uses it to recharge the battery.
wear and tear : 消耗、傷み

・webslingers : web（クモの巣） + slinger（投げる人）

・"We have to go humbly before the Broadway community, because they have a tradition that goes back way before us,"
cf. go back a long way : （考え・活動などが）長い間存在している

・"So it is a tall order."
tall order : 困難な仕事、無理な注文

・Sounds like the perfect setup for a cliffhanger, and we get plenty of potboiler trappings.
cliffhanger : （芝居・小説・連続ドラマなどの）続きを気にさせるような終わり方、緊張させる場面
potboiler : 金儲けのための粗製濫造文学作品、またはその作家

・Overweight, alcoholic Ken might drop dead at any moment,
drop dead : ぽっくり死ぬ

・a hope somewhere south of dwindling.
cf. go south : 悪化する、いなくなる、死ぬ
dwindle : 次第に小さくなる、先細りになる
a hope somewhere south of dwindling : 叶う可能性がかなり低くなってきた願い（？）

・It may not trip off the anglophone tongue, but a sense of tryghed―the Danish word for "tucked in"―is key to the warm, fuzzy feeling that pervades many things about Copenhagen,
trip off the tongue : （名前などが）言いやすい、語呂がいい、耳に心地よい
anglophone : （第１言語として）英語を話す人

・Never Mind the Bollards had the whiff of the anorak wearer about it.
anorak wearer : アノラック（防寒用フード付きジャケット）を着て野外で待ち続けるようなオタク、趣味にのめり込むやつ

・not realizing there's a huge difference between impressing people with your knowledge and boring the crap out of them.
cf. beat the crap out of ～ : ～を徹底的に殴りつける
cf. scare the crap out of ～ : ～を心底から怖がらせる
bore the crap out of ～ : ～をひどく退屈させる（？）