Word: deserting
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...Sudan, the story is much the same: 518 fighters arrived in August, and only 370 remain today. The Palestinians who live in tents at Mashtal el Bassatin, a Nile village 120 miles north of Khartoum, occasionally call themselves Polisario, after the desert guerrillas of northwestern Africa. Says one: "We did not choose to come here." Discipline at Mashtal el Bassatin has broken down only once: on the day the fighters heard over the radio of the Beirut massacre. Outraged, some of the men set their tents on fire. About 100 of them had relatives in the two Beirut camps...
...India it is a sign of status. In Saudi Arabia it is a virtual oasis in a cultural desert. In China it is a window on a forbidden world. It is the video cassette recorder (VCR). As sales of the machine move into fast forward around the world (Japanese manufacturers, the world's leaders, have shipped 3.5 million units to Europe during the first three quarters of this year, a leap of 196% over last year), it threatens to replace the television aerial as the most familiar symbol of the global village...
...anthropologist Richard Lee has described an unusual Christmas in a Kung San village in the Kalahari Desert To show his appreciation for the tribe generosity, Lee slaughtered the fattest ox in the neighborhood as a Christmas gift. The Kung responded only with abuse and ridicule, and Lee had to infer that such displays of wealth and superiority are inappropriate. "The interesting thing is the competitive aspect of gift-giving, and that generosity can be interpreted in lots of different ways in different societies...
Geologists believe that radar scanning will be valuable in detecting modern waterways lying near the surface in arid areas. "If you want to look for water in the desert," says Breed, "you would look for that type of site where ground water intersects the surface." For archaeologists, the technique may help determine sites of early human habitation near former rivers and lakes. And, by indicating telltale subsurface features, it may prove a boon for geologists surveying for oil and minerals...
Among modern leaders, Muammar Gaddafi is called a man of simple tastes who spends days alone in meditation on the desert, when he is not threatening to blow up the world. What Indira Gandhi does for fun is not generally known. As for the absent Idi Amin, his pastimes were said to run to the wild side, what with his peculiar way of making enemies an internal issue. Amin has been known to show a light heart, however, and has played the accordion at dances. It would be a sad end to so carefree a hobby if Amin were...