Word: problem
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...years later to tether West Germany to the Atlantic Alliance. For the Soviet Union, which subjugated East Germany as a satellite and buffer, this meant that any war with the West would occur on German rather than Russian soil. For the other Europeans, it meant a respite from the problem of German militarism. For the U.S., it made possible the creation of a strong NATO alliance to lead the struggle for containing the Soviets...
Some of the most passionate talk, however, centered on what many bishops consider an equally critical problem: the growing shortage of priests. By the latest count, at least 1,000 of the 22,733 U.S. parishes have no resident clergy. The future looks even bleaker. The number of priests (now 53,522) is certain to decline as the population of Catholics (54 million) increases. By the year 2000, experts estimate, there will be only half as many active priests as there were in 1965, when there were only 46 million parishioners...
That, of course, could be the problem: too much comedy clutter. HA!, at least in its early stages, looks like yet another warehouse for comedy shows, old and new, available in ample supply elsewhere. The Comedy Channel, with its all-clip format, could wind up looking like nonstop previews of coming attractions. (Like MTV, the Comedy Channel is acquiring most of its clips free, since producers assume they will help the movies and videos from which they are excerpted.) Not to mention the indignity of seeing classic films and TV shows strip-mined for their "funny" parts. Oh, well; comedy...
...large problem facing the domestic-partnership movement is a practical one: major U.S. insurance companies have thus far refused to offer group plans that include coverage for unmarried partners, partly because of the unspoken fear that the pool would include a higher proportion of gay males at risk for AIDS. In West Hollywood when the city decided to provide health coverage to its employees' domestic partners, no insurance company would underwrite the business. The city had to resort to self-insurance. So far that has resulted in a drop in costs, but it has not yet encouraged leading insurance companies...
Working with microscopic machines presents special challenges to scientists. Not only do they risk inhaling their tools or scattering them with a sneeze, but they also have to cope with a new set of physical laws. The problem of friction, for instance, looms ever larger as parts get smaller. The tiniest dust speck can seem like a boulder. Rotating a hair-width dynamo through air molecules, says AT&T's Gabriel, "is like trying to spin gears in molasses...