Word: portend
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...Valerie Plame leak case. There was, and is, the failure to deal head-on with the Iraq war and make the necessary adjustments-more troops, more pressure on the corrupt and Iranophilic government of Ibrahim al-Jaafari-that might secure a better outcome. The higher gasoline prices portend a very expensive home-heating winter. About the only thing that went well for Bush was the nomination of the indisputably excellent John Roberts to the Supreme Court...
...Chinese believe that natural disasters signal the fall of empires, a shift in the "Mandate of Heaven." The 1976 Tangshan earthquake that killed more than 200,000 people, for example, was said to portend the end of Mao's reign. This may be akin to seeing a fetus in the shape of a hurricane, but the Chinese do have a point: we have had two catastrophes in the past four years-9/11 and Katrina-and taken together, they send a signal that America's remarkable late-20th century run may not be perpetual. Modifications in the way we live...
...Palomar Observatory, astronomers did not think they would be able to make naked-eye sightings until late December. But Halley's is much brighter than it was expected to be, a phenomenon that may be only temporary. Scientists say that the comet's current luminosity does not necessarily portend, during the coming months, a more brilliant display than they had anticipated...
...with a twist. At first, it seems to be the story of Mary, an attractive young Englishwoman who, upon finishing her studies in Japanese, finds work as an "economy geisha" in Osaka to earn money for travel. Mary's adventures in boredom, sexual harassment and exposure to secondary smoke portend a Lost in Translation comedy of manners. But something darker is afoot. Mary is having an affair with the bar owner's son, a handsome man with connections to the Yakuza, the Japanese organized crime syndicate. As the relationship deepens, her travel plans keep receding. "Every one of his embraces...
...danger of civil war, then presumably it knows better than to rely for stability only on the unknown quantity that is the Iraqi security forces. That's why reports of discreet talks between the U.S. and Syria in pursuit of cooperation on securing Iraq's borders may portend a new U.S. effort to stabilize Iraq on the basis of political and security agreements with its neighbors. The chances of avoiding a civil war, and achieving some form of stability, will be greatly enhanced if a new political arrangement in Baghdad carries the backing of Syria, Turkey, Jordan, Saudi Arabia...