Word: diminished
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Erin will doubtless benefit educationally from her parents' exertions. But imagine what American public education would look like if parents who currently home school flooded their local schools with all that mighty dedication instead. One doesn't diminish a home-schooling parent's sacrifice for his child to note that he may also be abdicating some of his responsibilities to his community. "In a home school, a parent can really insulate a child from the vibrant, pluralistic, democratic world," says Rob Reich, who teaches political science at Stanford. Susanne Allen, 35, a home-schooling mother from Atlanta, claims her children...
...traits were those evolved through natural selection: stamina, agility, intelligence and speed. But the Victorians' emphasis on appearance rather than performance changed all that. Over the decades, changing fashions encouraged exaggerated, distorted features such as massive heads, squashed muzzles, hairless bodies and highly folded skin - all traits that can diminish the quality of an animal's life, cause serious discomfort and in extreme cases even prove fatal. More pernicious still has been the overindulgence in irresponsible inbreeding, which has spread inherited disorders among pedigree dogs. The Kennel Club, the top canine body in Britain, working with breed-specific dog clubs...
...what, exactly, is "it"? One doesn't diminish the gravity of racial profiling by noting that there is no accepted understanding of what the term means. It is not in criminology texts. It seems to have been popularized in the early '90s by activists and reporters in New Jersey, not cops. Before we can tell police what they are doing wrong, we must figure it out for ourselves...
...much on the comments of competitors for the analysis of a merger. The E.C.'s investigative and decision-making functions should be separated, as they are in the American system. Most important, global businesses need global-competition rules--and a global body to enforce them. That, however, would diminish the power of U.S. officials, including chairmen of Senate committees. So don't bet a chowder dinner...
Kids' lives are crowded with trophies and awards--the computer-generated commendatory certificates blow through my house like ticker tape; they get underfoot and gather on the floor of the car. All of this is part of "achievement inflation," and I think it may actually diminish the intended effect of all this acclamation, which is to make kids feel proud and accomplished for doing something difficult and important. Peter L. Sheras, professor of child development at the University of Virginia, says that while "the idea of celebrating life events can be really useful, we are becoming addicted to celebrating...