Word: undercutting
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...internecine warfare has not caused undue alarm abroad. While the West Germans are somewhat concerned that their good friend Haig may be undercut, the French feel that the Reagan Administration at least has a coherent policy, in contrast to Carter's. Says a high-ranking French diplomat: "Bush is Haig's political rival, not his ideological one. Right now it is a question of power, not substance. We don't give a damn which people do what as long as there seems to be some agreement on essential questions." But the fact that the foreign policy...
That urgency seems undercut, however, by some Administration proposals. As part of its budget reductions, the White House wants to slash $600 million out of the $5 billion lending authority for the Export-Import Bank, which provides low-interest loans to foreign buyers of U.S. goods. Such credits are often a key factor in determining which company will win an export contract. Countries like France and Japan offer attractive loans if a foreign company agrees to buy their products. American firms may now be at a disadvantage in competing with those exporters...
...that way, however, the question is one of theology, not science. Though the growth of scientific knowledge has unquestionably undercut faith, creationists tend to ignore the fact that the awe-inspiring complexity of the universe, its grand design, has been made known to man mainly through the free inquiry of science. The true study of evolution, moreover, is a humbling experience that gives man only a tiny niche in the vast scheme of the universe. "Never lose a holy curiosity," Einstein once wrote. Says Astrophysicist Robert Jastrow: "Astronomers have proven that the creation of the universe is the result...
Simon ticks off a series of the report's specific conclusions-"Arable land will increase only 4% by 2000, real prices for food are expected to double, significant losses of world forests will continue over the next 20 years"-and attempts to undercut them by either citing different statistics or showing that the panel relied on inadequate data. Says Simon: "I'm not saying all is well now, and I do not promise that all will be rosy in the future. What I am saying is that, for most or all the relevant matters I have checked...
...granted full union status. They also received an influential new endorsement: Poland's Roman Catholic hierarchy issued a bold statement declaring that the farmers' "right to free assembly as trade unions must be recognized." Once again Walesa's calls for moderation were tending to be undercut within his own ranks and among his own allies...