Word: certainly
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Currently, applicants with siblings and those within a certain proximity are given priority in school choice. In cases when all these factors are similar, a lottery system is used as a tie breaker...
People who drink black coffee do so with a certain macho pride, as if it were a feat of strength. In pop culture, black coffee has become a meme. It’s the John Wayne of caffeinated beverages—a metonym of stoicism, intensity, and general badassery. Every hack screenwriter knows that the fastest way to toughen up a character is to have him or her order a cup of black coffee. In the same way, its converse is a ready-brew instant joke. On “The Office,” Michael Scott drinks milk...
Historian H.W. Brands of the University of Texas points to the demise of the Glass-Steagall Act in 1999 as an unfortunate tipping point of deregulation. Glass-Steagall, passed in 1933, separated investment banking and plain-vanilla banking, which some experts argued made markets safer. (Certain restrictions of Glass-Steagall were repealed to allow the merger of Citicorp and Travelers. Let's just say that didn't end well.) "That was the single moment when the seeds for the bad stuff were planted," says Brands. "There was a belief that technology, the Internet and financial instruments had changed things...
...also recall that the stock market usually mirrors political and economic trends. When the future appears to be stable and certain, the market moves up. When unexpectedly positive events occur, like the Internet boom in the 1990s, stocks produce above-average returns. This decade, the surprises were mostly negative, which drove the market lower. At some point, unanticipated positive developments will again drive the market higher: perhaps a sustained easing of tensions between the West and radical Islam, breakthroughs in green technology (think energy sources) or something completely unimagined. If we were too positive heading into the 2000s...
...John and Alan, former colleagues at a London airport, also report a certain numbness on their eighth annual visit to the show. "The first time is an eye opener. After that, there are no surprises," says John. "But we'll be here next year," says Alan. "Oh my word," says John, suddenly distracted as an elderly man clad only in shoes and socks and a posing pouch ambles past. (See eco-friendly sex aids...