Word: whiffs
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...Boston archdiocese agreed last week to pay $20 million to $30 million to settle the high-profile lawsuits brought by 86 victims of defrocked priest John Geoghan. But that was hardly all that the scandal has cost Boston's Catholics. In confidential settlements intended to avoid any whiff of publicity, the church, starting in 1994, gave $15 million to a group of victims molested by Geoghan. In one instance, according to the Boston Globe, a single family got $400,000 to hush up the sexually explicit phone calls Geoghan made to the children. And there are at least 120 more...
Cruelty is the reason the anti-hunt Britons give for why they want the sport stopped. Yet, I wonder. Some are sincere animal lovers, but the whiff of hypocrisy is strong. For a start, no one talks of stopping the killing of foxes. Considered vermin, tens of thousands are destined to be slaughtered every year in a variety of ugly ways. Snaring is one of them, a practice banned in some European countries - but not in Britain. Snares are supposed to be checked within a limit of 12 hours, by which time foxes, half crazed with fear, have been known...
Chirac may not be in any imminent legal danger, but the whiff of sleaze hanging over him poses a threat to his political future. Things look set to get worse on March 6, when ex-magistrate Halphen publishes a book recounting the political pressure he faced while investigating the alleged rpr slush funds...
Enron's unraveling can be traced to investors' first whiff of "off-balance-sheet" partnerships that hid billions of dollars of the company's liabilities. By the time Enron crashed, it was primarily a trading firm. It had relatively few hard assets to cushion its fall when business faltered and hidden debts came due. The risks aren't nearly so great at asset-rich companies like Tyco and GE. But, as with Enron, seasoned analysts have trouble determining whence, exactly, they derive their profits...
...events captured the willful hubris of the late '90s like the summer 1999 launch of Talk magazine. The hype-driven, bicoastal venture of Hearst Magazines and Miramax Films began life with a celebrity editor, Tina Brown; with the requisite '90s whiff of "synergy" (articles becoming books becoming movies becoming magazine covers!); and with a party, complete with fireworks and paparazzi, at the feet of the Statue of Liberty. It ended life last week with a whimper, as Brown tearfully broke the news of its closing to her staff, followed by a subdued dinner...