Word: likelihood
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...affair strained credulity from the outset, like the proverbial little man who wasn't there. Benveniste's researchers had diluted a solution of antibodies to such a degree that there was no likelihood that even a single molecule of the antibody remained. But, voila, when human white blood cells were exposed to the superdiluted solution, they apparently responded by releasing a chemical substance, as they would have if they had encountered the initial antibody solution. The effect only worked when the solution was shaken violently. Explained Benveniste: "It's like agitating a car key in the river, going miles downstream...
Take Reagan's Moscow summit, which in all likelihood would have been a flop had it not been for a determined group of writers thumping away in the Old Executive Office Building. They provided the President with speeches that soared around the world, eloquent statements about freedom and democracy and glory of the individual. By the measure of the day, Chief Writer Tony Dolan, 39, along with Josh Gilder, 34, Peter Robinson, 31, Clark Judge, 40, and Mark Klugmann, 28, should have been out riding the bull market or selling their kiss-and-tell memoirs. Instead they were busy burnishing...
More half measures followed. Some 2,000 additional troops were dispatched to U.S. bases in Panama. Abrams had hoped Noriega would fear an invasion, but the Pentagon promptly and publicly ruled out the likelihood of combat. A reassured Noriega then easily put down a coup attempt by some PDF officers, and his troops once again employed tear gas, clubs and bird shot to end a relatively subdued round of street demonstrations. The harsh tactics, as well as Noriega's appeals to Panamanian nationalism, led to the rapid demoralization of a recently formed opposition group, the Civic Crusade...
...stop the grumbling in the U.S. One answer: greater spending by the West Europeans. With a combined gross domestic product of $4.3 trillion, they are as strong economically as the U.S., and their total population of 374 million is one-third larger than that of the U.S. The likelihood that defense outlays will increase is dim, however, since European economic growth rates are slowing. Another inhibiting factor, a senior U.S. official notes, is that "arms talks are making progress and detente is in the air." And just as crises tend to pull NATO together, any easing of East-West tensions...
...likelihood, every candidate secretly realizes that the 41st President will somehow have to find additional revenue. But they still disguise their intentions behind pledges to raise taxes "only as a last resort." Next to Babbitt, Paul Simon came closest to the truth when he revealed that this "last resort" effort would probably come during his first year in office...