Word: direness
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...past has made up an important share of Citicorp's profits. In 1986 the bank earned $257 million, or about 24% of its total income, on loans to countries in the Caribbean and in Central and South America. The growing threat to the bank's welfare was therefore extremely dire; at the same time, the potential for default on these debts was depressing Citicorp's reputation on Wall Street...
America has been through these orgies of moral self-flagellation before. Sometimes the diagnosis was far more dire than the disease. Intellectuals reacted to the TV quiz-show scandals of the late 1950s with an outrage that now seems comically disproportionate to the offense; a prominent political science professor wrote at the time, "The moral fiber of America itself stands revealed." Just as the Iran-contra hearings began as a road-show Watergate, it is easy to find other 20th century parallels to today's eviscerated ethics. As New York Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan puts it, "If you want...
Still, it is not for the sex therapist to despair--that is a task for old, fat, or ugly people. It is under dire circumstances that the mettle of great men proves itself, and in grave danger that the most bucks are to be made. Above all, one should always remember that the situation could always be worse. I mean, at least Gary didn't drive off a bridge with the girl...
...more environmental disaster to the list of potential dire consequences of the greenhouse effect. A general warming of the earth because of increasing amounts of carbon dioxide and other gases in the atmosphere might not only melt the polar ice caps and drastically alter weather patterns but cause more ferocious storms. Writing in Nature, M.I.T. Meteorologist Kerry Emanuel warned that a warmer climate could result in hurricanes packing up to 50% more destructive power. This could happen, he suggests, within 40 to 80 years, when some scientists think CO2 levels will have doubled and ocean temperatures will have increased...
With thick dark bangs, a prissy hairstyle and a dire need for some face powder, Basinger doesn't look as good as usual, but she is a striking presence in her little red suit. Before the dinner, Nadia and Walter attend an art exhibit that will strike Northeasterners as very L.A., and he shyly asks her what a nice girl like her is doing with a free evening...