Word: grist
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...Japan don't perceive themselves as nations of bigots. Neither condones violence or the persecution of minorities. But both see themselves as possessing a certain superiority -- cultural in France, ethnic in Japan -- and they are uncomfortable with the presence of aliens. Such largely unspoken social attitudes frequently provide the grist for demagogic politicians to transform into blatantly racist actions and policies. But as the following reports also illustrate, the governments in Paris and Tokyo are increasingly aware of their problem and are trying to deal with both public outrages and long-standing prejudices...
There is at least some possibility of a coalition that would unite angry conservatives in the party with worried bureaucrats at all levels and military men who resent their increasing role in controlling ethnic rebellion. "There is grist for their mill," says a senior Western diplomat in Moscow of such opponents. "They want to restore centralization, keep the country strong. It's a prescription for a real Russian-dominated empire." If disorder does increase, he adds, "maybe a leader will emerge...
Ironically, blame might rest with the success of Gorbachev's glasnost campaign. The call for openness has given rise to a crescendo of grumbling that has become grist for news reports calling attention to the shortage of consumer goods. Public debate has also offered hints of divisiveness at the top. Last week Pravda published a letter, penned by six influential conservative writers, that attacked the weekly magazine Ogonyok, a leading light of glasnost, for abusing the new openness by distorting history. The letter could not have appeared in the Communist Party daily without support from some top-ranking party members...
...three months of deprivation, the great Missouri-Mississippi watershed has fused into a giant arc of aching thirst. The heartland bower of James Whitcomb Riley and Edgar Lee Masters, of Indiana and Illinois, has received less than half the normal spring rainfall. The soft night lawns are brown crackling grist. The old swimming holes have evaporated...
...nondisciples, Peters' book is destined to be disappointing in parts. It tends to treat issues involving race and poverty as grist for abstract ideas rather than emotional commitment. It occasionally lapses into homilies rather than serious expositions of a philosophy. Yet it is the simple goodness of these homilies that accounts for much of Peters' allure. With a sweetness and grace that make him the least jaded journalist in Washington, Peters turns Windmills into an inspiring account of a good man's quest for ideas that make sense and for deeds that can make a difference...