Word: backgrounder
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...includes such devastating truths as "[The attack] was carried out by a tiny group of people with trivial resources operating from one of the poorest, least industrial of all nations... In some ways they were more globalized than we were." Those looking for a neutral primer on the background of the events of 9/11 will probably not do any better than this handy book...
...Report, which received as much literary as political criticism, the comix adaptation has the dry sensibility of a typical governmental report. Ernie Colon, a journeyman cartoonist who has worked on countless mainstream comic projects, provides highly competent if not very memorable illustrations. Occasionally his good guy vs. bad guy background seems to unconsciously pop out, such as when he depicts George W. Bush, who stands at 5'11" according to the White House website, as the tallest guy in a room, or when one of the terrorists looks more like he should be searching for his missing chromosome than plotting...
...Some background: one of the IMF's primary missions is to be an emergency lender to countries suffering from economic shocks, such as sudden currency devaluation. During the Asian crisis, the IMF loaned billions of dollars to countries including Thailand, Indonesia and South Korea, where years of excessive borrowing and frenzied investment by a financially overstretched private sector (abetted by errant government policies) led to sharp economic reversals. While IMF intervention helped put those countries on the road to recovery, it was not without controversy. For example, the IMF initially urged governments to cut spending, but quickly reversed itself when...
...marzipan (almost uppermost) layer of the British social fruit cake. I did, it's true. But, I plead, I'd much rather sound like the other 98% of the country. As a preliminary exercise, he has me read Christina Rossetti's poem Remember. His verdict? "Two vowels betray your background." My clenched and elongated [an error occurred while processing this directive]"oh" and "oo" sounds, he says, are the tip-off that I'm a toff. So why don't I want to sound privileged? For starters, I'm not. I'm just plain middle class, but I talk...
...Astronomy Department, on the other hand, plans to offer two tracks. The first option, “Astrophysics,” is aimed at students with a good background in physics and math, according to James M. Moran, Menzel professor of astrophysics and the Astronomy Department chair. The second option, “Astronomy” would “provide an introduction to observational phenomena and explore new and unsolved problems,” Moran wrote in an e-mail...