Word: grimness
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Four years have passed since the meltdown at the Chernobyl nuclear plant, but the grim legacy of the Soviet catastrophe is still unfolding. Large populated areas surrounding the reactor site in the Ukraine and in nearby Belorussia remain contaminated with high levels of radioactivity. The poisoning of the land has created dire health problems and economic devastation. A new study by the chief economist of a Soviet government institute calculates that the cost of Chernobyl, including the price of the cleanup and the value of lost farmland and production, could run as high as $358 billion -- 20 times as much...
...aware of how fast the end came last month for Drexel Burnham Lambert, wags at the brokerage firm of Shearson Lehman Hutton are in pretty grim humor these days. The latest joke making the rounds of the troubled American Express subsidiary: "What's the difference between Shearson and Drexel?" Answer: "About three months...
...Still, the situation may not be as grim as it appears, given that both the contras and the Sandinistas are posturing, inflating their obstinacy in an effort to gain leverage. Ortega and his colleagues are seeking to secure as much power as possible in their role as the opposition in the new legislative assembly, where they will be the single largest party, controlling 39 of the 94 seats. The contras, for their part, want assurances that they will not be wiped out by the still armed Sandinista military once they agree to give up the fight and surrender their weapons...
...hard to sell fun in the sun with statistics this grim: homicides in Rio jumped from 2,200 in 1987 to more than 2,800 last year; an average of 100 cars were stolen every day; in just 24 hours ten people were shot through the head. Armed robbers even began holding up funeral services and processions in Rio's cemeteries, and last Christmas several churches scheduled their midnight Masses several hours early to reduce the risk of robberies. The city's largest electronics company temporarily stopped delivering goods because its trucks had been robbed so often...
...sidewalks and beaches of the Brazilian city are usually plump with thieves' prey at festival time. But grim and mounting homicides and robberies are making it hard to sell...