Word: backdrop
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...course, the U.S. doesn't glibly fire cruise missiles at a factory in a far-off country. The decision was taken against the backdrop of the pressure to retaliate for the embassy strike, very real concerns that Bin Laden might be planning further attacks using chemical weapons, Sudan's history as a haven for terrorists (including Bin Laden) and evidence that Bin Laden had sought to develop chemical weapons there. All of that, and a soil sample showing traces of a nerve gas building block. The administration's position was summed up a month after the missile strike by National...
...also a flagrant attempt to hype a pet project of his: the inexpensive network computer. This particular model is built and sold by NIC, a company partly owned by--who else?--Ellison. Later, on a CNN feed from a high school social-studies classroom against a backdrop of a few of the donated computers, Ellison will talk up this project, part of the Oracle Promises program, while also plugging the NIC and its sub-$500 price tag: "A computer every family can afford. A true bridge over the digital divide...
...Gore has an opportunity to make his own statement against a gray backdrop. He'll have the spotlight, and he'll have to show us his moves. He can match greybeards with George Mitchell; he can gamble on Florida with Bob Graham; he can clone his better self with Evan Bayh. He could even get weird with Warren Christopher. He'd be risking it with a woman, because this is still a country that elects men to its highest office. Would he drop a bomb like Jesse Ventura, thinking he could harness him? Maybe he'll convince natty banker Robert...
This dramatic recovery comes against the backdrop of some very real international attainments. France is the world's fifth biggest economy; the No. 4 exporter; and a world leader in transportation (the TGV bullet train), aerospace (Airbus and the Ariane rocket, produced in France with European partners), telecommunications (mobile phones and wireless technology) and civil engineering (the dazzling new Normandy Bridge and the Franco-British Channel Tunnel). With assets like these, the country is well placed to benefit from the cyclical upturn lifting all European economies. Meanwhile, aggressive French firms are making their mark abroad. Vivendi last month announced...
After that episode, TIME sent me for media training with Joanne Stevens, M.S., who runs Stevens Media Consulting Ltd. Her office had a very Jack Paar-inspired set with a desk in front of a painted New York City backdrop. She gave me advice like not to wear hats "unless you have a clever or serious reason for wearing one" and to avoid the temptation of swivel chairs. She also told me, "You're the man," "Be the man," "Just be the man," and "It makes you the man." After reviewing the tape we had made, where I did fine...