Word: direness
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...many restrictions will lead to a stagnation of basic science" with dire effects for the economy and national security, the report says. The report argues that the controls stifle the academic innovation and discovery which lie behind technological progress. And if our technological progress does not keep pace with our international competitors, our prosperity and safety will suffer, the report says...
President Raul Alfonsin was determined to be convincing. "A time bomb," he declared, "is planted in the middle of Argentine society." In a 30-minute television address last week, Alfonsin resorted to such dire imagery to convey a sense of emergency and justify a drastic new austerity program. To cure the country's economic ills -- runaway inflation of more than 100% so far this year, a foreign-debt burden of $55 billion and a current budget deficit of $5.6 billion -- the President offered a radical prescription: wage-price freezes, tax increases for middle- and upper-income earners and a currency...
Indoor baseball has finally made it to the World Series, along with the Minnesota Twins (ne Washington Senators) and St. Louis Cardinals. The Cardinals' once again coming through dire circumstances is a drama without suspense, but the Twins are a thorough surprise. Over 84 fall classics, only the 1973 New York Mets lost more games along the way (81 to 78). In both instances, first at Cincinnati and now Detroit, the playoff victim was Sparky Anderson, who has penned a small couplet on upsets: "It ain't no fun when the rabbit...
Sheriff Fraker, along with others in the area, assumed that the family's dire economic circumstances had pushed Kirk over the edge. It seemed to be yet one more tragic testament to the desperation of so many of the country's debt- burdened family farmers. Said the Rev. Wilburn Steward at a funeral service for the slain family attended by more than 500: "In mankind, there's a breaking point. Something in Kirk had reached that point, and he just snapped...
Indeed, if the ozone layer diminishes over populated areas -- and there is some evidence that it has begun to do so, although nowhere as dramatically as in the Antarctic -- the consequences could be dire. Ultraviolet radiation, a form of light invisible to the human eye, causes sunburn and skin cancer; in addition, it has been linked to cataracts and weakening of the immune system. Without ozone to screen out the ultraviolet, such ills will certainly increase. The National Academy of Sciences estimates that a 1% drop in ozone levels could cause 10,000 more cases of skin cancer a year...