Word: sapping
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Most economists believe a deficit cut is necessary to prevent a loss of confidence that might bring on a recession. The contrary opinion among a few thinkers is that too large a budget reduction would sap momentum from the economy at a weak moment. But that idea seems increasingly implausible in the light of Washington's current paralysis. Says Economist Rudolph Penner of the Urban Institute: "The last thing that should keep you awake right now is the fear that Congress will do too much...
...Boston Society of Architects, social workers and architects told an audience of 40 last night that the competition was meant to show that permanent homes could help Boston's homeless people more than the creation of new temporary shelters. The panel said that efforts to produce shelters often sap cities' ability to build new homes for people...
...called them, thinking no doubt of the locust plagues described in the Old Testament. Actually, those biblical insects were migratory grasshoppers, which even today cause extensive crop damage in Africa, Asia and South America. In contrast, the 17-year cicadas are reasonably harmless bugs whose only sins are sucking sap out of trees for nourishment and killing small branches by laying eggs in them. They also mess up lawns with their 2-in.-long bodies. Vulnerable sapling oaks and fruit trees can easily be protected with a covering of cheesecloth. "They're more of a nuisance than anything else," says...
...long sojourn underground, subsisting on sap in tree rootlets, the cicada nymph passes through five growth stages, or instars, each of which ends with the insect throwing off its carapace. About two months before it is ready to emerge, the nymph tunnels its way upward, lying at the surface and building a protective earthen turret if the ground is too damp. This final rest stop is truly character building: it apparently enables the insect to develop adult claws and flight muscles to help it cope with life aboveground. "Their bodies undergo a major transformation, especially of muscle structure," says Miller...
...when his own credibility and competence, and that of his staff, are being questioned as never before. The special investigating committees of the Senate and House begin probing anew into Iranscam this month; whatever they find, the President is unlikely to get much respite from a crisis that would sap the energy of the most vigorous Chief Executive...