Word: wipe
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...debt. Total American debt -- government, corporate and personal -- stands at a record 190% of our gross national product. Historically, 140% would be a more reasonable level. But the best way to cut the debt isn't necessarily to lay everybody off and have a depression. Massive bankruptcies would wipe out a lot of debt but also make us a lot poorer. No, muddling through is a better idea, working down the debt over many years. By making things for export rather than for our own consumption, by spending more on infrastructure and less on shopping centers, and by spending less...
Poultry producers are trying to deal with the situation. They put chlorine in the chilling tanks, and they are experimenting with other chemicals in hopes of finding one that is more effective against salmonella. Irradiation could wipe out the bacteria, but it would be costly and consumer acceptance might be low, since many people mistakenly believe that zapping food with radiation makes it dangerous to eat. The visual inspections carried out routinely in the plants can weed out obviously diseased chickens, but the contamination is usually invisible. A panel of experts convened by the government may recommend soon that...
...companies have other ways to restructure their debt, notably by using corporate stock. Firms in relatively good financial health can raise money by offering new shares on the market. Mr. Coffee, which was leveraged to the hilt as the result of a 1987 buyout, was able to wipe out almost half its LBO debt through a new issue last May. Another technique is the debt-for-equity swap, in which corporations retire their bonds by giving lenders corporate stock. That strategy was employed by furniture maker Interco, which last week announced that it will swap 95% of the stock...
...held on to the West Bank at least partly because of a belief that it needed the territory for defense against neighboring states that have never recognized its right to exist and often threatened to destroy "the Zionist entity." No one, not even Ayatullah Khomeini, has ever proposed to wipe Iraq off the map. Nor can Iraq conceivably claim that it needs Kuwaiti ( territory for defense. It fought off Iranian assaults quite effectively throughout eight years of war without making any use of Kuwaiti soil...
...tale seems eerily parallel to Rushdie's predicament. There is a storyteller named Rashid Khalifa, also known as the Shah of Blah, who loses the gift of the gab and can no longer entertain. What's worse, his condition is mysteriously linked to a fanatic cult that wants to wipe out not only made-up tales but also human speech. Children may take all this as make- believe, but adult readers are free to perceive some veiled autobiography, plus a wistful prophecy: in the end, the good guys live happily ever after...