Word: watchdog
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...underhanded way in the affairs of other countries. They also argue that given the nature of American society, covert activities are unlikely to stay secret for long. One reason is that after the Watergate-era investigations of abuses by the CIA, Congress insisted on a more stringent watchdog role. Another is that the nature of journalism has changed. In 1961 the New York Times voluntarily withheld information it had about the impending Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba; today major news organizations are inclined to publish that type of story...
...nuclear watchdog growls...
...Commission (NRC) has been under intense public pressure to make sure that workable plans exist for evacuating the people who live near one of the 83 American nuclear power plants in case of another emergency. Last week the NRC showed by two tough decisions that it really takes its watchdog role seriously. In a unanimous ruling, the five-member agency voted to shut down by June 9 two troubled reactors that serve metropolitan New York City unless local authorities quickly agree on acceptable evacuation procedures. In a separate action, the agency levied its largest fine ever for a nuclear plant...
...alarming lack of attention to environmental causes of cancer has been exacerbated by recent actions of the Reagan Administration. As part of its deregulation craze, the current Administration lately took steps to ease the control of cancer-causing substances. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), ostensibly the watchdog of the environment, markedly loosened its regulations in dealing with the recent dioxin contamination crisis at Times Beach, Mo. The FPA established much higher acceptable exposure levels after the crisis than those dictated by previous risk assessments. This recent backslide in the regulation of carcinogens reflects the same problem manifested in the misdirection...
...Soviet Union ("The status of human rights . . . continues to fall far short of accepted inter national standards"), Cuba ("Freedoms of speech and press do not exist") and Nicaragua ("The human rights situation deteriorated markedly in 1982"). But other regimes that have been accused of serious human rights violations by watchdog organizations like Amnesty International get off lightly: El Salvador ("signs of improvement throughout the year"), Argentina ("significant expansion of civil and political liberties") and Turkey ("Politically motivated killings . . . have now virtually stopped...