Word: diminish
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...worries Republican Charles Mathias, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "A lot of their leaders don't like Gaddafi any more than we do," he says. "But we put them into the position of having to choose between him and us." Although Washington hoped the operation would diminish the Libyan's prestige, it seemed more likely to reinforce his self-proclaimed image as a David against Goliath. Notes William Quandt, Middle Eastern specialist at the Brookings Institution: "I think we have helped to prop up Gaddafi internally, made it harder for his opposition to get a hand...
...Gorbachev headed during part of Brezhnev's years, is now being scrutinized and reorganized. Another serious problem facing the country is oil. Petroleum output, which provides more than two-thirds of foreign currency earnings, had begun to decline even before the petroleum glut, and lower market prices will further diminish income. Said Jan Vanous, a Washington-based analyst of the Soviet economy: "The decline in oil prices represents the most serious external challenge to the Soviet Union since World...
...responsibility for crime. We broke down the line between explanation and excuses, and explanations became excuses." The individual, he stresses, not the group, must be held morally responsible. "For purposes of ethics and of law," he says fervently, "we elevate human beings by holding them responsible. Ultimately, you diminish human individuality and importance when you say, 'Oh, well, you're not really responsible for what you did. Your parents are responsible for it, or your neighborhood is responsible for it, or society is responsible for it.' In fact, if you harm another human being, you're responsible for that...
...exports expensive for foreigners and imports cheap for U.S. consumers. Last week the Commerce Department reported a $33 billion shortfall between America's exports and imports for the third quarter. By year's end the trade deficit will probably reach $145 billion. As the dollar weakens, the deficit should diminish. Said Alan Greenspan, a New York City-based economic consultant: "The share of imports in the American markets will start to flatten out and that will remove a negative factor that is pressing down the economy...
...title role, Kate Nelligan unfortunately does nothing to diminish Gage's beatific image of Eleni. Shot through a bright yellow screen, Nelligan positively glows with the radiance of the blessed. In one scene, she has to lug a huge trunk full of rare American goodies up the hill next to her house, drawing a clear analogy between the soon-to-be betrayed Eleni and the martyred Christ making his ascent up Calgary Hill. As she reaches the top, she announces to Nicholas, God and anyone else within hearing, "Nicolai Gatzuiannus, your father is alive!" with all the verbal presence...