Word: symptom
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...post-cold war world, increasingly the response of choice to the plethora of small-scale slaughters that prick the West's collective conscience but do not seem important enough to command greater diplomatic or military involvement. The travails in delivery last week were only a symptom of the lack of political will in Western capitals to act forcefully. Humanitarian aid feels good to those who insist that something must be done to stop the killing in Bosnia, in Somalia, in a dozen other bloody conflicts. And it is far more politically palatable than sending soldiers to fight...
...years, nature has provided an unequivocal answer. Since 1987, when the Whittier Narrows earthquake caused eight deaths and $350 million in property damage, about half a dozen quakes of significant size have rattled along thrust faults beneath greater Los Angeles. All this activity, many scientists speculate, may . be a symptom that overall tectonic pressure in the region is increasing. For while temblors on secondary faults relieve stress locally, they often put greater strain on larger faults nearby. Of particular concern is the southern part of the San Andreas, which in 1992 was greatly perturbed by a major, 7.3 quake centered...
...struggle between Sumner Redstone's Viacom and Barry Diller's QVC to acquire Paramount. The winner in this fight will almost certainly be a loser because the winner will overpay. Overpaying is a major symptom of show-business fever. Whatever the wishful rationalization of the day -- magazines and cable TV need the synergy of movies and records (Time and Warner, 1989); hardware needs software (Sony and Matsushita buying Columbia Pictures and MCA/Universal, 1990-91); the information superhighway needs content (everyone, 1993-94) -- it is almost axiomatic that when people come down with show-business fever, they pay a premium...
...because the values of America have changed, not those of Las Vegas. Deviancy really has been defined down. The new hang-loose all-American embrace of Las Vegas is either a sign that Americans have liberated themselves from troublesome old repressions and moralist hypocrisies, or else one more symptom of the decline of Western civilization. Or maybe both...
...discussing future endorsements, because the basketball gurus already had him targeted as the next great one. Others argue that the league is boring because it lacks rivalries. Flawed opinion. The lack of rivalries is a symptom not a cause...