Word: centralizes
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...hard-liner's justification for enlargement is harsh: What better time to kick an opponent than when he's down? Russia is weak; the new Eastern and Central European democracies are fragile; Russia has the resources and, historically, the inclination to rise and threaten again. So now is the time to shelter those nervous fledglings of the former Soviet bloc so they can thrive under NATO's protective wing. As an added benefit, supervised membership may even ease regional hostilities that have destabilized Central Europe for generations. Then, if Russia keeps democratizing and ultimately proves to be no menace...
...likely to coalesce. Congress backs expansion. As is often the case, conviction on Capitol Hill is wider than it is deep, but in this case two added factors undergird support: a lingering belief that anything Russia hates cannot be bad, and that 20 million American voters of Eastern or Central European heritage want their homelands protected, as they were not a half-century ago. That will guarantee a big legislative victory. Honest coordination with Russia along the lines of last week's agreement can ultimately guarantee that everyone wins...
...continues to stand by the series is reporter Webb, whose disagreement with some of Ceppos' criticisms were explicitly noted in the editorial. Webb, who has spent eight years at the Mercury News, mostly reporting from Sacramento, the state capital, maintains that the paper "is not backing down from the central assertion of the story"--that cocaine sold in Los Angeles in the 1980s produced money for the contras. He says he has written four follow-up stories that bolster his allegations: one featuring an eyewitness interview that, Webb claims, confirms some dollar figures, and another based on documents that allegedly...
...John Henry, who in legend died trying to defend his job against the incessant march of technology--in his case, the steam-powered drill. After pondering that outcome, and Deep Blue's triumph, people naturally find it reassuring to be reminded that chess is an artificial endeavor, hardly central to our lives or our livelihoods, and that computers still can't make meaningful small talk...
...Brooklyn Bridge, completed in 1883. Designed by John Roebling and his son Washington Roebling, built by thousands of workers laboring under perilous and sacrificial conditions on the high cables or underwater in the caissons, it was the greatest engineering feat of 19th century America and, with a central span of 1,595 ft., by far the longest suspension bridge in the world. Its soaring Gothic-arched towers also predicted the vertical city, whose chief element--the high, steel-framed palazzo block--had been adumbrated by Badger but reached its first maturity outside New York in the 1890s, in the buildings...