Word: stationed
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Slurry is dyed bright red to aid in visibility and help tanker pilots drop a seamless line of retardant. "Basically, they're trying to box in the fire," says Janet Upton of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire), which is helping to battle the giant Station fire near Los Angeles. Another advantage of slurry is that unlike water, fertilizer doesn't evaporate. (It offers still another bonus for farmers, who have requested that unused slurry be dropped onto their fields as aircraft make their way home.) (Read a 1977 essay: "What Ever Happened to California...
...firefighting is also risky, as it often requires flying at low altitude through poor visibility. Nine people died in a helicopter crash during the Buckhorn fire in northern California last year, and last month a pilot died in the crash of a single-engine tanker near Reno, Nevada. (The Station fire has so far claimed the lives of two ground-based firefighters after their fire truck fell down a hillside.) Yet, as we're again reminded this year, tanker flights are favorite action shot of television news shows - California fire officials have dubbed them "CNN drops" - and that makes them...
...concerned about a possible missile shipment, especially if it were destined for the Middle East. Chief among them is Israel. In recent years, the Israeli government has consistently raised alarms about Russia's plans to sell MiG-31 fighter planes to Syria and its construction of a nuclear-power station in southwestern Iran. Negotiations with Moscow have been tough on these issues and relations often icy, as the Israeli President pointed out during his visit to Russia on Aug. 18, just as the mysteries behind the Arctic Sea's disappearance began to unfold. (Read "Medvedev and Obama: Sunshine in Moscow...
...most likely explanation is that the Israelis intercepted this cargo, which had been meant for Syria or Iran," says Yulya Latynina, a prominent political commentator and radio host on Echo of Moscow, a station owned by state-controlled gas giant Gazprom. "They will now use the incident as a bargaining chip with Russia over weapons sales in the region, while allowing Russia to save face by taking its empty ship back home." When contacted by TIME, both the Israeli Prime Minister's office and Mossad, Israel's secret service, declined to comment. (See pictures of 60 years of Israel...
Finally, under President Ahmadinejad, a rationing program began in the summer of 2007. Every Iranian with a registered motor vehicle received a smart card that could be used at any pumping station. Up to 100 liters (26 gallons) a month could be bought at a still subsidized price of about 38 cents a gallon. After the 100 liters is up, drivers can pay a fixed price of about $1.50 a gallon for any additional gasoline, known as the "open price." (For comparison, U.S. gasoline prices averaged $2.63 per gallon at the end of August...