"telltale" means his eyes betrayed or revealed that he was a stoner. "slits" means his eyes were narrow or almost closed. "practiced stoner" in this context means that the man was a frequent user of marijuana. (stoner = user of marijuana)

You do not need subtitles. You speak very clearly, though you do have an accent. I think the only thing to improve would be the speed of your speaking. Other than that it sounds great!

1. "the bad side of the cut-off" probably means being someone who loses their job because the employer can't afford to pay them. Some workers will have their pay increased by the law, but some workers will lose their jobs because their employer can't pay them what is legally required (at least that is what is implied by the article). The workers who don't get higher pay but do get fired will be on "the bad side of the cut-off." 2. Good question. Washington is not a person is this instance. It is referring to the United States government, which is located in the city of Washington, D.C. Many Americans refer to the government as a whole in this way. For example, if someone says "Washington is so corrupt" they mean that the government in general is corrupt not necessarily specific persons. 3. A safety net is something meant to help people who drop below some level of income, test score, etc. Sometimes safety nets are used to prevent people from having even worse things happen to them. Unemployment insurance is an example of this. 4. An extension is something that prolongs or widens the time frame or numerical range. If I am buying a house from you and I need to wait for more money to buy it, I might ask for an extension on our deal. Similarly, if a business offers kids a discount and then changes their policy to include teenagers, that would be an extension of their age range for discounts.

Restrain is to stop someone from completing an action. "The police restrained the criminal from escaping." Constrain is to force someone to complete an action. "The criminal was constrained to stop running." Resist is to fight against something. "The criminal resisted arrest." Confine is to restrict someone or put them inside boundaries. "The criminal was confined to prevent him from stealing." Restrain, constrain, and confine are all synonyms (they have similar meanings) but usually they are used in different contexts. Resist is what one does to avoid being restrained, constrained, or confined.

People use 'in the loop' to mean being aware of something. For example, if I were hosting a party and I changed the time it started I would tell other people to keep them 'in the loop.' Not knowing something means you are 'out of the loop.'