Word: balk
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Manville's insurance companies settled the claims largely without protest. But in 1980, when a total of 5,000 suits were filed, the insurers began to balk. Manville officials wanted the insurers to make good on all policies in effect at the time workers were exposed to asbestos. Most insurance firms, however, argued that they should pay off only on policies that are now in effect, not on those that date from the time that workers were first exposed 30 or even 40 years ago. In 1980 Manville finally sued 27 of its carriers in state court...
...agreement in principle from both sides to accept the idea of a cease-fire and a phased withdrawal. Like Haig, however, the Secretary-General ran into a major obstacle: the Argentines' insistence that any agreement must "inexorably" lead to their sovereignty over the islands. When Britain continued to balk at this, Argentina appeared to back off by calling sovereignty an ultimate "objective" rather than a precondition to talks. At the same time, however, the Argentines hardened their position on mutual withdrawal. Meanwhile, the Thatcher government, stung by increasing "sellout" charges from Conservative Party backbenchers, stiffened its stance...
There is, however, a strong sculptor in the show: Penone, 35, a strikingly gifted poet of natural processes. His largest piece on view is carved from a huge, continuous square-sawed balk of larch, 39½ ft. high. At first it looks like a dead inverted tree, standing on a pedestal, its branches lopped to stubs. Then one becomes aware that the whole form of the tree has been patiently excavated, by carving, from the sawed block. Working backward into the wood from knots, Penone has raised the buried ghost of the tree as it looked when it was younger...
Outlining the program is one thing; selling it is something very different. Though the President won every important legislative battle in 1981, one senior adviser concedes that "we are going to lose some" this year. Congress may well balk at further sharp cuts in social spending unless Reagan agrees to significant reductions in defense-spending plans as well. And no legislator will be eager to vote for higher taxes in an election year...
...army is also short of such critical items as helicopters and spare parts. Substantial help is unlikely to come from the U.S., despite the Reagan Administration's desire to halt Marxist expansion in Central America. Already concerned about Guatemala's human rights record, Congress undoubtedly would balk at providing new aid. The funds for the army therefore would have to be taken from other areas of the hard-pressed economy. Says one local intelligence analyst: "Something has to give. If they expand the army, that will cut into the budget for building roads, schools and health clinics...