Word: worsted
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...What's worst about this jingoist response is that it obscures the one valuable lesson America might glean from the events in Iran. Air-mobile divisions wouldn't have helped avoid the taking of the hostages; but a more open-minded appraisal of the domestic dynamics of Third World nations, instead, coupled with a more visible reluctance to support repressive dictatorships, surely would. No amount of money spent on flexible military capabilities will protect our "vital interests"--like Middle East oil--as effectively as a wholehearted effort to understand cultural forces like Islam...
...crash, the world's fourth most serious aviation tragedy,* was the third DC-10 disaster this year. It thus raised initial apprehensions about another possible mechanical failure like the faulty engine mounting that caused the U.S.'s worst single air disaster in Chicago last May. However, there was no evidence that the aircraft was defective. Though the exact cause of the crash remained undetermined at week's end, suspicions centered on possible pilot error. Captain Jim Collins, 45, was a flyer of 21 years' experience with a reputation for being "the epitome of a non-risk...
...been the Central Committee's secretary in charge of agriculture. Gorbachev, apparently, was not blamed for a disastrous 1979 grain harvest. Largely because of bad weather, Brezhnev announced, this year's crop amounted to only 179 million tons-47 million tons short of the target, and the worst harvest since 1975. The U.S.S.R. has already contracted to buy 25 million tons of American wheat and corn and will probably purchase at least 7 million tons from other countries. Soviet production of oil, natural gas and electric power also fell short of targeted goals in 1979, which Brezhnev aptly...
...cheat with anonymous quotes are many, however, and skeptical readers invariably give them less weight. In the wrong reporter's hands, the use of anonymous quotes can be a lazy device, enabling him to imply that he has talked to a higher authority than he really has. At worst, without putting his own good name at risk, an official may be floating a trial balloon, scoring off a rival or planting wrong information. The bargain may seem an evenhanded one-my increased candor in exchange for your protecting my identity-but it isn't. A strange transference takes...
...blame for Graham's supposed servility on one event, however traumatic, seems risky at best--irresponsible at worst. And Davis cannot produce any convincing evidence that Graham does dance to the Administration's beat. The Washington Post did smugly support Johnson's Vietnam policy on its editorial pages, but so did countless other newspapers. Calling Graham servile because The Post supported LBJ's Vietnam policy is patently absurd. Nor does Davis propound any solid evidence that Graham acutally bends her news coverage toward the pleasures of her "father figure" in the White House...