1. aberration
Obama, however, was undeterred by the defeat, and just four years later won the U.S. Senate seat that positioned him for the White House. The congressional race, as it happened, was merely an aberration in a series of professional and political triumphs unmarred by any genuine or lasting setbacks. Even when he ceded a few key primary contests to Hillary Clinton in 2008, Obama was able to swiftly regain the upper hand. To this day, then, the Rush contest stands out as an anomaly in Obama's political life, when a loss seemed to truly threaten his future.
2. about
At the Moscow conference, a feisty Gorbachev himself presided over the debate about why his reforms, particularly democratization, had unfolded dramatically but then had been terminated, and whether they could be revived in post-Soviet Russia. Indeed, the idea of a "perestroika 2" has arisen in Moscow in connection with a public debate over the pressing need to diversify Russia's economy and modernize the country's disintegrating infrastructure.
3. abstentions
Strong support for the resolution at the meeting was also notable. Only three nations — Cuba, Venezuela and Malaysia — voted against the document, with six abstentions and one member absent.
That meant even most nonaligned IAEA board members abandoned Tehran, despite their traditional backing of the Islamic Republic.
The diplomats who reported the vote spoke on condition of anonymity Friday because of the sensitivity of the situation.
A separate resolution — a Russian initiative to establish an international nuclear fuel bank under IAEA oversight — was passed with 23 nations for, eight against, three abstentions and one nation absent. The opposed votes came from developing nations that fear such a fuel bank, meant to place uranium enrichment under international control, could impinge on their rights to develop indigenous nuclear programs.
4. above and beyond
"Bill Clinton has said publicly he will do whatever they want," said one Democrat with ties to Clinton who is familiar with the negotiations. "Not just with the Giustra stuff, but with the library, the foundation, the donors — he has demonstrated the willingness to go above and beyond."
5. accord
Lawmakers from both camps said Friday they were now in accord. "We need to get this done," said Rep. Baron Hill, D-Ind., one of the Blue Dogs.
6. accounts for
Their combined wealth has been estimated at around $525 million, but Madonna accounts for the bulk of it.
If you look at the health care bill proposed by House Democrats you will see how large a part of the overhaul is focused on Medicare, which accounts for 478 pages — or well more than half — of the 850-page House proposal.
to account for the accident.
to account for the missing typewriters
He accounts himself well paid.
The humidity accounts for our discomfort. His reckless driving accounted for the accident.
the many virtues accounted to him.
Bad weather accounted for the long delay.
McNair’s most noted drive was the final one of the 2000 Super Bowl. He drove the Titans 87 yards in the final minute, 48 seconds, only to come up a yard short of the tying touchdown. Kevin Dyson caught his 9-yard pass, but was tackled at the 1-yard line by the Rams’ Mike Jones(notes).
McNair accounted for all of Tennessee’s yards in that drive, throwing for 48 yards and rushing for 14. The rest of the yardage came on penalties against the Rams. Before that, he brought the Titans back from a 16-0 deficit to tie the game.
Call them to account for having endangered their lives.
She gave a good account of herself in the tennis tournament.
If any of the silver is missing, I'm going to hold you to account.
I can't pay the balance, but here's $10 on account.
She saw it through on account of me
on all accounts/at all accounts
On no account should you buy that painting without having it appraised.
One must take account of the difficult circumstances. Taking account of the high overhead, the price is not excessive.
She has turned her misfortunes to account
Basal breast cancers account for 20 percent of all breast cancers and are among the most aggressive. They occur in women carrying mutations of the tumor-suppressing gene BRCA1 and have long been thought to originate in breast stem cells.
Consumer spending accounts for about 70 percent of U.S. economic activity.
The overhaul would lead to the biggest changes in the U.S. healthcare system -- which accounts for one-sixth of the U.S. economy -- since the 1965 creation of the Medicare government health insurance program for the elderly.
7. accrue
The latest polling confirms that the financial crisis and stock market crash that has gripped Wall Street and Washington over the past month has increased the importance of economic matters to voters -- particularly in the industrial Midwest -- and accrued almost exclusively to Obama's benefit.
The QALY tells us to do what brings about the greatest health benefit, irrespective of where that benefit falls. Usually, for a given quantity of resources, we will do more good if we help those who are worst off, because they have the greatest unmet needs. But occasionally some conditions will be both very severe and very expensive to treat. A QALY approach may then lead us to give priority to helping others who are not so badly off and whose conditions are less expensive to treat. I don’t find it unfair to give the same weight to the interests of those who are well off as we give to those who are much worse off, but if there is a social consensus that we should give priority to those who are worse off, we can modify the QALY approach so that it gives greater weight to benefits that accrue to those who are, on the QALY scale, worse off than others.
interest accruing in my savings account.
Common sense that accrues with experience.
I have accrued 15 days of sick leave.
Graduation day should have been a happy one for Tyrone Bailey. The first in his family of three children to earn anything beyond a high-school diploma, Bailey, 24, received a bachelor's in criminal studies from Westwood College in Torrance, Calif., two years ago. But even while the day's pomp and circumstance played out, his thoughts turned quickly to the tough job market and the $20,000 in loans he borrowed directly from his alma mater that were set to accrue a whopping 18 percent interest rate.++.
8. acolyte
Both as policy and politics, a serious reckoning for those who gamed the system is a win-win. Yet the fear that the Obama administration is protecting its friends persists. On the same morning that Rubin testified last week, Eamon Javers of Politico wrote about his continued influence on his many acolytes in the White House. That includes Geithner, whom Rubin talked with repeatedly in the weeks before the president released his financial regulatory reform proposal last June.
Americans still waiting on Main Street for the recovery that lifted Wall Street once invested their hopes in Obama. Getting the new era of responsibility only 70 percent right won’t do.
9. ad hoc
a committee formed ad hoc to deal with the issue.
The ad hoc committee disbanded after making its final report.
10. ad hominem
Schmidt, who has returned to his California-based political and public affairs consulting business, said that he “worked incredibly hard during the campaign to defend Sarah Palin and her family against a lot of attacks that I thought then and think today were very unfair.”
And he got in a dig at Kristol, who frequently offered unvarnished assessments of McCain’s campaign from his perch at the Standard, on Fox News, where he is a contributor, and in his then-New York Times column.
“Bill Kristol, going back to the time of the campaign, has taken a lot of cheap shots at the campaign without ever offering a plausible path to victory,” Schmidt said. “He’s in the business of ad hominem insults and criticism.”
Debaters should avoid ad hominem arguments that question their opponents' motives.
11. Adjudicate
A campaign would also give us an occasion that history denied us in 2008: an opportunity to adjudicate the George W. Bush years in a direct way. As John McCain pointed out in the fall of 2008, he is not Bush. Nor is Cheney, but the former vice president would make the case for the harder-line elements of the Bush world view. Far from fading away, Cheney has been the voice of the opposition since the inauguration. Wouldn't it be more productive and even illuminating if he took his arguments out of the realm of punditry and into the arena of electoral politics? Are we more or less secure because of the conduct of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq? Does the former vice president still believe in a connection between Saddam and Al Qaeda? Did the counterterror measures adopted in the aftermath of the attacks go too far? Let's have the fight and see what the country thinks.
12. Affect
to affect a Southern accent
The talking heads on cable TV panned President Obama’s Wednesday press conference. You see, he didn’t offer a lot of folksy anecdotes.
The politician affected a folksy style.
13. affirmatively
It is common for opponents of health care rationing to point to Canada and Britain as examples of where we might end up if we get “socialized medicine.” On a blog on Fox News earlier this year, the conservative writer John Lott wrote, “Americans should ask Canadians and Brits — people who have long suffered from rationing — how happy they are with central government decisions on eliminating ‘unnecessary’ health care.” There is no particular reason that the United States should copy the British or Canadian forms of universal coverage, rather than one of the different arrangements that have developed in other industrialized nations, some of which may be better. But as it happens, last year the Gallup organization did ask Canadians and Brits, and people in many different countries, if they have confidence in “health care or medical systems” in their country. In Canada, 73 percent answered this question affirmatively. Coincidentally, an identical percentage of Britons gave the same answer. In the United States, despite spending much more, per person, on health care, the figure was only 56 percent.
14. affix
So here is what 17-year-old Melanie Oudin of Marietta, Ga., was doing about 20 minutes before heading out to play in the first Grand Slam quarterfinal of her nascent career: affixing her signature to an endorsement contract.
to affix stamps to a letter
15. afford
In her discussion with the president-elect, several members of his transition team said, Mrs. Clinton expressed no hesitation about becoming a loyal member of the Obama team — though she was reportedly deeply conflicted about giving up her Senate seat and the independent power base it afforded her.
But his latest plan has little chance of getting GOP support. Built on the Senate bill, it would require most Americans to carry coverage, with federal subsidies to help many afford the premiums. It would bar insurance companies from denying coverage to people with medical problems or charging them more. Regulators would create a competitive marketplace for small businesses and people buying their own coverage. The plan would be paid for with a mix of Medicare cuts and tax increases.
16. After all
Lawmakers know this, which is why many of the key elements in the health care bill just passed by the House - and being considered in the Senate - are aimed squarely at small business. A wide array of economists and health-policy experts say insurance reforms (like prohibiting insurers from denying coverage because of pre-existing conditions), a new transparent marketplace to shop for coverage and a government-run insurance plan all have the potential to help small business. So why are the powerful lobbyists who represent this crucial sector of the economy, such as the Chamber of Commerce and the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), doing everything they can to scuttle the House bill? (Read "Understanding the Health Care Debate: Your Indispensable Guide.")
After all, it's not as if these advocates believe the status quo is viable. "If we don't get something done, sooner or later the whole temple is going to come crumbling down," says James Gelfand, senior manager of health policy for the Chamber. Some 70% of the nation's estimated 50 million uninsured are full-time workers or their dependents, many of whom work for small businesses. Just 39% of workers in firms with three to 24 staff are covered by job-sponsored insurance, down from 50% in 1999. Workers at companies with fewer than 200 employees (that offer coverage) pay an average of $4,204 out of pocket per year for family health insurance, compared with $3,182 for workers at firms above the 200-employee threshold.
I've discovered I can attend the meeting after all.
17. afterward
Standing in the locker room afterward amid empty champagne bottles and wincing from a gimpy foot, Beckham claimed the furor between himself and Donovan may even have had a positive effect.
18. aegis
a debate under the aegis of the League of Women Voters.
In this regard, they usually cite the European Union (EU) as the new model, with its 27 member nations falling under the aegis of a centralized financial system administered in Brussels. On issue after issue, from climate change to trade, American liberals increasingly look to Europe’s example of transnational consensus as the proper model for the United States. That is particularly true when it comes to national security, as John Kerry revealed when, during his presidential bid in 2004, he said that American policy had to pass a “global test” in order to secure its legitimacy.
19. aghast
Then the fateful day came when the mother goose took her brood to the water for the first time. She jumped in, and the goslings leaped in after her. The chick stood on the bank, aghast.
The villagers stood aghast at the sight of the plane crashing.
20. age
But could it be that the underlying assumption behind the program is wrong? Last week at the European Congress on Obesity in Amsterdam, a team of researchers from Peninsula Medical School in the U.K. presented findings from a painstaking study of physical activity in 206 children ages 7 to 11 from three schools in and around Plymouth, on the southern coast of England. Kids at the first school, an expensive private academy, got an average of 9.2 hours per week of scheduled P.E. Kids at the other two schools - one in a village near Plymouth and the other an urban school - got just 2.4 hours and 1.7 hours of P.E. per week, re
According to an oft-cited 1996 University of Virginia study led by psychologist Bella DePaulo, lying is part of the human condition. Over the course of one week, DePaulo and her colleagues asked 147 participants, aged 18 to 71, to record in a diary all of their social interactions and all of the lies they told during them. On average, each person lied just over 10 times, and only seven participants claimed to have been completely honest
Boyle faced some stiff competition on the semifinal, which opened with another eclectic performance by Diversity, the street dancing group composed of friends and brothers, ranging in age from 13-25. The group earned the public’s second-place vote, but had to wait from the decision of the judges to learn whether they had beaten 10-year-old singer Natalie Okri, who had been dubbed by the press Baby Beyonce. Drawing out the suspense further, Morgan voted for Diversity, and then Amanda Holden chose Okri, leaving Cowell with the deciding vote. He plumped for Diversity, leaving loser Okri in tears.
On Monday, the children, ages 7, 11 and 12, were placed under the temporary guardianship of their paternal grandmother, Katherine Jackson, by a Los Angeles judge.
But Sarah Palin herself is a microcosm of Alaska, or at least of the fastest-growing and politically crucial part of it, which stretches up the broad Matanuska-Susitna Valley, north of Anchorage, where she came of age and cut her political teeth in her now famous hometown, Wasilla.
Judge Mitchell Beckloff granted 79-year-old Katherine Jackson temporary guardianship of his three children, who range in age from 7 to 12.
Jenny Sanford has been adamant from the beginning that her four boys, ranging in age from ten to seventeen, are the center of her life.
That's even after taxpayers pick up most of the cost of covering the elderly. Under one scenario Democrats are considering, people age 55 to 64 would have to pay full freight to join Medicare. Private insurance plans could well be a better deal for them.
Teresa Heinz says she is being treated for breast cancer discovered through mammography and argues that younger women should continue undergoing the tests despite a federal panel's recent recommendation to reduce their frequency.
The 71-year-old wife of the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee, Sen. John Kerry, of Massachusetts, told The Associated Press that the cost of mammography is far lower than the physical and personal tolls women ages 40 to 60 face if their cancer goes undetected early and they later have to be treated with aggressive chemotherapy
In a village less than a day’s drive from Victoria Falls, I stumbled across a hut that to me captured the country’s heartbreak — and also its resilience and hope. The only people living in the hut are five children, orphans from two families. The kids, ages 8 to 17, moved in together after their four parents died of AIDS and other causes.
21. agog
But there, out front, was Mortenson, dressed in traditional Afghan garb. He was surrounded by bearded village elders and scores of young Afghan boys and girls, who were agog at the helicopter, and not quite believing that America’s “warrior chief” — as Admiral Mullen’s title was loosely translated into Urdu — was coming to open the new school.
22. aim
In their new book, Why Women Have Sex,University of Texas psychologists Cindy Meston and David Buss aim to illuminate the complexities of women's sexual motivations through women's own words—an important step, they say, to better understanding how women can achieve sexual satisfaction.
Lawmakers know this, which is why many of the key elements in the health care bill just passed by the House - and being considered in the Senate - are aimed squarely at small business. A wide array of economists and health-policy experts say insurance reforms (like prohibiting insurers from denying coverage because of pre-existing conditions), a new transparent marketplace to shop for coverage and a government-run insurance plan all have the potential to help small business. So why are the powerful lobbyists who represent this crucial sector of the economy, such as the Chamber of Commerce and the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), doing everything they can to scuttle the House bill? (Read "Understanding the Health Care Debate: Your Indispensable Guide.")
The measure, aimed at taking banks and other private lenders out of the lucrative federal subsidized student-loan market, also would lessen the burden for some graduates as they pay back their loans.
The main health care law and a companion "fix-it" measure aim to crack down on insurance industry abuses and to reduce federal deficits by an estimated $143 billion over a decade. Most Americans would be required to buy insurance for the first time or face penalties.
23. Alas
When coyotes threatened our sheep operation, we spent $300 on a Kuvasz, a breed of guard dog that is said to excel in protecting sheep. Alas, our fancy-pants new sheep dog began her duties by dining on lamb.
It’s always said that if a dog kills one lamb, it will never stop, and so the local rule was that if your dog killed one sheep you had to shoot it. Instead we engaged in a successful cover-up. It worked, for the dog never touched a lamb again and for the rest of her long life fended off coyotes heroically.
24. along
Working people from the middle class down were in serious trouble, and Demos, along with many other voices (the bankruptcy expert and middle-class advocate Elizabeth Warren comes quickly to mind) was sounding the alarm long before the Great Recession hit like a Category 5 hurricane.
25. albeit
Past research by Walker and colleagues at Harvard Medical School, which was published in the journal Current Biology, found that in people who were sleep deprived, activity in the prefrontal lobe - a region of the brain involved in controlling emotion - was significantly diminished. He suggests that a similar response may be occurring in the nap-deprived volunteers, albeit to a lesser extent, and that it may have its roots in evolution. "If you're walking through the jungle and you're tired, it might benefit you more to be hypersensitive to negative things," he says. The idea is that with little mental energy to spare, you're emotionally more attuned to things that are likely to be the most threatening in the immediate moment. Inversely, when you're well rested, you may be more sensitive to positive emotions, which could benefit long-term survival, he suggests: "If it's getting food, if it's getting some kind of reward, finding a wife - those things are pretty good to pick up on."
Mr. Krugman joins another Princeton economist, albeit one of different ideological leanings, who has been in the news recently: Ben S. Bernanke, the chairman of the Federal Reserve who, coincidentally, offered Mr. Krugman his Princeton post. Mr. Bernanke and Mr. Krugman were fellow graduate students at M.I.T. in the 1970s.
An examination of the FBI complaint against Blagojevich and the days immediately following Obama's historic election victory suggests the governor was highly interested in Obama confidante Valerie Jarrett as a potential Senate appointee, albeit with a steep price tag.
He accepted the job, albeit with some hesitation
The press has portrayed the 47-year-old Sanford as an heiress with connections to the Kennedys, but the Sanfords’ house on Sullivan’s Island, a small, laid-back beach community ten minutes from downtown Charleston, is a modest cinder-block affair, albeit one with million-dollar views of the ocean. The kitchen counters are Corian, the rugs sea grass. It’s a house for boys to knock around in and friends to gather in. The Sanfords are conservative Christians, but they’re not the teetotaling, proselytizing sort. There are bottles of wine on the kitchen counter. Ayn Rand is on the bookshelf, but so is Gabriel García Márquez. The Bible sits front and center on the coffee table, alongside Forbes magazine. “You could be friends with her for 20 years, and she would never bring up the religious stuff,” says her friend Marjory Wentworth, poet laureate of South Carolina and a self-described liberal who once worked for The Nation.
26. all
Above all, the little girl wanted a piano.
He came in time after all
We were all in at the end of the day.
There were twelve absentees all in all
Painting became his all in all.
For all that, it was a good year.
Officials also said a bipartisan compromise in the Senate would not subject large companies to a penalty if they declined to offer coverage to their workers. Instead, these businesses would be required to reimburse the government for part or all of any federal subsidies designed to help lower-income employees obtain insurance on their own.
27. all but
Burdened by President Bush's unpopularity and an economic crisis that redrew the race in September in Obama's favor, the senator from Arizona sprinted through a series of critical states yesterday -- all but one of which Bush carried four years ago -- exhorting his supporters to help him defy the odds
These batteries are all but dead
28. all out
“Senator Clinton did not just check the box for Obama - she went all out for him, which says an awful lot about how important she felt this election was, what kind of character she has, and the positive state of their relationship,” said Chris Lehane, an aide to both John Kerry and Al Gore during their presidential bids.
We went all out to win the war.
I also hope we will hear more from President Obama. Something feels very calculating in how he has approached this bill, as if he doesn’t quite want to get his hands dirty, as if he is ready to twist arms in private, but not so much that if the bill goes down he will get tarnished. That is no way to fight this war. He is going to have to mobilize the whole country to pressure the Senate — by educating Americans, with speech after speech, about the opportunities and necessities of a serious climate/energy bill. If he is not ready to risk failure by going all out, failure will be the most likely result.
29. All that
It's not all that different from your other house.
30. all the better
If the sun shines, it will be all the better for our trip.
31. all the more
This feat is all the more impressive because it occurs at a time of economic crisis—and despite serious ideological divisions between the political parties over how to respond.
His bold stand seems all the more striking in today’s atmosphere, in which moral courage among the very prominent — the kind of courage that carries real risk — seems mostly to have disappeared.
32. Alienation of affection suit
"Husband pushed sex with others, wife says, and she fell for one of her lovers. Now her husband will get $4,800 in rare alienation of affection suit."
(Putting a price on love. Chicago Sun-Times.
33. allay
In the House, the leadership sought to allay concerns among the rank and file. Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said, "We're on schedule to do it now or do it whenever," when asked whether the House would complete its bill before lawmakers leave at the end of the week for their summer break.
34. alongside
The committee has the authority to strip Williams of her entire $350,000 prize purse for this tournament, plus hand down a ban for future Slams starting with the 2010 Australian Open. However, she is expected to be allowed to compete in Monday’s women’s doubles final alongside sister Venus.
The idea of a public plan has become a symbol for the reach of government in a revamped health care system. Supporters say it would give workers and their families similarly secure benefits as older people now get through Medicare, while leaving medical decisions up to doctors and patients. The plan would be offered alongside private coverage through a new kind of purchasing pool called an insurance exchange. At least initially, the exchange would be open to small employers and people buying coverage on their own.
The dog ran alongside me all the way.
While searching for work alongside 16 million people who are angling for the same openings, getting a hiring manager to tell you why you didn't get hired is about as easy as actually getting the job. But one of the best things you can do is examine your job search with a critical eye: Is your résumé really a good advertisement for your skills? Does your nail-gnawing habit turn off prospective employers? Do you tend to make your interviewers a little nervous?
Alongside of his brother, he is no student at all.
Yet as Donovan sprinted for the sidelines in celebratory bliss late Friday night after scoring the penalty that sealed the Galaxy’s place in the MLS Cup final, there was Beckham alongside him, grabbing his colleague for a joyous hug that summed up the extent to which their fractured relationship has healed.
Yet since 1970, when Richard Nixon signed the Controlled Substance Act into law, the time-slowing green plant known as marijuana has been a Schedule 1 controlled substance: classified alongside drugs like heroin and PCP—and deemed more harmful than cocaine, meth, and Ketamine. Pot advocates call that reality the “Schedule I Lie” —referring to the drug’s federal classification as the most potent of drugs, considered, by law, to have “no accepted medical use.”
35. allure
The allure of evolutionary psychology is that it organizes all behavior into one eternal theory, impervious to the serendipity of time and place. But there’s no escaping context. That’s worth remembering next time somebody tells you we are hardwired to do this or that.
Promises of quick profits allure the unwary investor.
Charms that still allure.
36. All the while
Democratic leaders wrestling with health care legislation are confronting a host of knotty issues such as medical malpractice, abortion, illegal immigrants and Medicaid, all the while predicting passage of sweeping health care legislation within a few months.
She realized all the while that the cake would fall.
37. all told
Under the House bill, the exchanges would start operating in 2013. They would be open initially to people who lack any insurance; to the 13 million people who have bought individual policies from insurance companies, which often charge them high rates for relatively skimpy coverage; and to employees of small businesses, who often pay high rates for their group policies, especially if a few of their co-workers have run up high medical bills. By the third year, larger businesses might be allowed to shift their workers to an exchange. All told, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that 36 million people would be covered by policies purchased on an exchange by 2019.
There were 50 guests all told.
38. alone
The White House earlier denied it had given up wooing Republican support for Obama's plan, following reports Democrats may go it alone.
39. Alternative
British Foreign Secretary David Miliband was stronger, suggesting sanctions could be a next consideration in a statement saying the six powers remained committed to their "dual track" policy — a term alluding to attempts to engage Iran diplomatically but to turn to sanctions should the first track fail.
"We are waiting for Iran to respond meaningfully," he said. "But if it is clear that Iran has chosen not to do so, we will have no alternative but to consider further pressure on Iran, in line with the dual track policy we have been pursuing."
Republicans were for President Barack Obama's requirement that Americans get health insurance before they were against it.
The obligation in the new health care law is a Republican idea that's been around at least two decades. It was once trumpeted as an alternative to Bill and Hillary Clinton's failed health care overhaul in the 1990s. These days, Republicans call it government overreach.
40. Alternatively
Rationing public health care limits free choice if private health insurance is prohibited. But many countries combine free national health insurance with optional private insurance. Australia, where I’ve spent most of my life and raised a family, is one. The U.S. could do something similar. This would mean extending Medicare to the entire population, irrespective of age, but without Medicare’s current policy that allows doctors wide latitude in prescribing treatments for eligible patients. Instead, Medicare for All, as we might call it, should refuse to pay where the cost per QALY is extremely high. (On the other hand, Medicare for All would not require more than a token copayment for drugs that are cost-effective.) The extension of Medicare could be financed by a small income-tax levy, for those who pay income tax — in Australia the levy is 1.5 percent of taxable income. (There’s an extra 1 percent surcharge for those with high incomes and no private insurance. Those who earn too little to pay income tax would be carried at no cost to themselves.) Those who want to be sure of receiving every treatment that their own privately chosen physicians recommend, regardless of cost, would be free to opt out of Medicare for All as long as they can demonstrate that they have sufficient private health insurance to avoid becoming a burden on the community if they fall ill. Alternatively, they might remain in Medicare for All but take out supplementary insurance for health care that Medicare for All does not cover. Every American will have a right to a good standard of health care, but no one will have a right to unrationed health care. Those who opt for unrationed health care will know exactly how much it costs them.
You have the alternative of riding or walking.
The alternative to riding is walking.
There was no alternative but to walk.
–adjective
41. Altogether
A House-Senate conference committee agreed Wednesday to consider a texting compromise that would ban most drivers from writing, sending or reading text messages and ban cell phone use by beginning drivers altogether.
The debt amounted altogether to twenty dollars.
42. a.m.
Woods smashed his Cadillac near his $2.4 million mansion at 2:25 a.m. Friday and was briefly hospitalized, police said. His lips were cut, and Windermere police chief Daniel Saylor has said Woods' wife us
As we first reported, Tiger told a friend that his wife went ballistic at around 2:00 AM yesterday and scratched his face up -- all because of reports he allegedly had cheated on her. He left the house, started driving away and she attacked the SUV with a golf club, Tiger told the friend. He got "distracted" and hit the hydrant.
43. ambivalent
The public is ambivalent about the Democrats' legislation. While 58 percent want elected officials to tackle health care now, about half of those supporters say they don't like what they're hearing about the plans, according to a new Kaiser Family Foundation poll.
44. Among
More recently, his reputation was left badly damaged after the corruption trial of the political fund-raiser Antoin Rezko, who was convicted in June of fraud and bribery among other charges. Mr. Blagojevich’s name and administration surfaced again and again during Mr. Rezko’s highly publicized trial in Chicago. The governor’s approval rating, according to The Chicago Tribune, had sunk to 13 percent.
In a brief interview with The Associated Press, Baucus also disclosed he was "very close" to agreement with a handful of industry groups for them to accept hundreds of billions of dollars less in Medicare and Medicaid fees than they currently are projected to receive. He said the talks have involved insurance companies, hospitals, doctors, pharmaceutical firms and the makers of medical devices, among others, but did not provide a specific figure for the savings overall.
A number of factors drove the decision - financial, political, personal - but chief among them was the desire to worship without being on display. Obama was reportedly taken aback by the circus stirred up by his visit to 19th Street Baptist in January.
Just how much poorer the rich will become remains unclear. It will be determined by, among other things, whether the stock market continues its recent rally and what new laws Congress passes in the wake of the financial crisis. At the very least, though, the rich seem unlikely to return to the trajectory they were on.
Russia has been struggling with different modes of "modernization" at least since Peter the Great. In the 1980s, Gorbachev took up the mantle of democratic modernization, introducing multi-candidate elections, ending censorship and permitting some private ownership, among other changes. He was a courageous leader willing to confront powerful opposition, entrenched interests and orthodoxy. Yet even great leaders, particularly in a democratic context, rarely complete their own historic reforms. Gorbachev could only go so far as to open doors long closed by Soviet communism and the Cold War and give his country and the world new alternatives.
45. amount
McConnell said talk on the Democratic side about possibly trying to pass the measure using a Senate maneuver that would require just 51 votes amounted to resorting to "a device which has never been used the for this kind of major systemic reform."
Big tax cuts for wealthy Americans were passed using that method during the administration of President George W. Bush.
46. anachronistic
"We've gotten rusty at legislating," says Representative Jim Cooper, a Tennessee Democrat. He is being kind. There are only two sorts of legislation that seem to pass these days: things that have to pass, like budgets - and cotton-candy giveaways, like tax cuts or the wildly irresponsible, unfunded Medicare drug bill that George W. Bush enacted. Occasionally, responsible actions take place in the budget process. Bill Clinton spent most of his political capital on deficit reduction, which helped fuel the economic boom of the 1990s. Obama has just managed to kill the F-22, an anachronistic fighter jet. Very, very occasionally a special interest will take it on the chin - as the teachers' unions did when Bush passed the No Child Left Behind Act, which mandated a testing regimen the teachers didn't like. But the passage of landmark legislation like the health-industry reforms that Obama is seeking has become about as common as politicians who refuse to run television ads. It just doesn't seem to happen anymore.
47. anew
to play the tune anew
With the showdown vote set for Sunday in the House, Obama decided to make one final, personal appeal to rank-and-file Democrats, arranging a visit to the Capitol Saturday afternoon. Republicans, unanimous in opposition to the bill, complained anew about its cost and reach.
to write the story anew.
48. angle
She angled her column toward teenagers.
While searching for work alongside 16 million people who are angling for the same openings, getting a hiring manager to tell you why you didn't get hired is about as easy as actually getting the job. But one of the best things you can do is examine your job search with a critical eye: Is your résumé really a good advertisement for your skills? Does your nail-gnawing habit turn off prospective employers? Do you tend to make your interviewers a little nervous?
49. anticlimax
In the end, the actual release of the much-hyped bank stress tests on Thursday came as an anticlimax.
After serving as President, he may find life in retirement an anticlimax.
After a week of dramatic negotiations, all that followed was anticlimax.
Going back to work after a month travelling in China was bound to be an anticlimax
50. anathema
That subject is anathema to him.
But Ms. Weingarten’s defense of her members was not the most important part of the speech. The key point was her assertion that with schools in trouble and the economy in a state of near-collapse, she was willing to consider reforms that until now have been anathema to the union, including the way in which tenure is awarded, the manner in which teachers are assigned and merit pay.
51. anchored to
"Pragmatism has its place, but there are limits, as well," said Wehner, now a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. "If you aren't anchored to a political philosophy, you get blown about, and government becomes ad hoc and you make it up as you go — and if you're not careful, you begin to go in circles."
52. angst
53. animus
The speech was suffused with animus toward the profit motive
54. anodyne
The music was an anodyne to his grief.
55. anonymity
Clinton advisers say they diligently worked to resolve questions. The Clinton Foundation, for instance, turned over 208,000 donor names for review by Obama's transition team, even though many donated with promises of anonymity.
A U.S. official, speaking on grounds of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation, also said a military team of armed guards was aboard the Maersk Alabama.
The will, disclosed Tuesday, was created in July 2002 and named as executors Jackson’s longtime lawyer John Branca and John McClain, a music executive and a family friend, says the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the topic.
The Obama administration may buy a near-empty prison in rural northwestern Illinois to house detainees from Guantanamo Bay along with federal inmates, a White House official said Saturday.
The maximum-security Thomson Correctional Facility, about 150 miles west of Chicago, was one of several evaluated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, and emerged as a leading option to house the detainees, the official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because a decision has not been made.
56. another
Health care is a scarce resource, and all scarce resources are rationed in one way or another.
Of course, it’s one thing to accept that there’s a limit to how much we should spend to save a human life, and another to set that limit.
57. answerable
"I'm answerable to the American people," Bernanke told the audience at the town hall meeting.
58. anteroom
Lobbying may be the one remaining recession-proof industry, and as Washington prepares for a summer-long debate over how to reform health care, lobbyists for every conceivable interest group have camped out in congressional anterooms to press their case.
59. Apex
We cannot continue transferring the nation’s wealth to those at the apex of the economic pyramid — which is what we have been doing for the past three decades or so — while hoping that someday, maybe, the benefits of that transfer will trickle down in the form of steady employment and improved living standards for the many millions of families struggling to make it from day to day.
That money is never going to trickle down. It’s a fairy tale. We’re crazy to continue believing it.
60. apiece
Next week, Joanna, Kelly, Mya and Donny will perform three dances apiece, including a freestyle number in which anything goes. We recommend that Donny leave the frilly lace cravat at home, though.
We ate an orange apiece.
The cakes cost a dollar apiece.
61. appeal
The Indian electorate is one of the world's poorest and least educated, and yet it voted with remarkable intelligence. The ruling Congress party was rewarded for economic growth. Contrary to the hopes of India's many left-wing pundits, people support the move toward a more open (and thus productive) economy. One can see this in the fact that Congress didn't win everywhere. Regional governments that had also pursued development (in Orissa and Bihar) were rewarded as well. The parties that stumbled badly were those that based their appeal on fear, hatred and identity politics—the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, and smaller caste-based groups.
The game has lost its appeal.
The red hat appeals to me.
Anyone who believed that the battle over health-care reform would be waged on facts, logic, reason, and concern for the less fortunate—46 million uninsured—probably also scoffed at Lyndon Johnson's daisy ad. As politicians and strategists (at least the successful ones) have finally learned, appeals to emotion leave appeals to logic in the dust. And no emotion moves people more powerfully than fear. To explain the remarkable traction that death panels and other lies have gotten this summer, however, you need to probe deeper than the emotions-trump-reason truism. The specifics of the exaggerations and misrepresentations that work best speak volumes about fundamental aspects of the American character, about the neuroscience of decision making, and about the extraordinary events of the past 12 months. Yes, I'm sorry to say that AIG is part of this story.
62. apotheosis
The whole effort was summarized nicely by the party's slogan in 2006, "A New Direction for America." There was no need to specify north or south, east or west, up or down. Compared with Bush, any alternative destination seemed appealing. And by becoming the apotheosis of the fresh and the new, Barack Obama emerged as the most attractive guide to this unknown promised land.
This poem is the apotheosis of lyric expression.
63. approach
"While both political parties believe we need to reform our health care system, particularly in the areas of cost and access, Americans are rightly skeptical about the administration's approach to overhauling everyone's health care and about the more than $1 trillion price tag. Moreover, Americans are concerned about funding new government programs through massive cuts to Medicare and taxes on small business,
Congressional Democrats are trying to resolve differences within their rank and file over abortion, taxes and letting the government sell health insurance as a competitor with private insurers. Those are all crucial policy questions, and House and Senate Democrats have taken conflicting approaches.
64. Approvingly
The Palestinians on Saturday rejected Israel's offer to show "restraint" in settlement construction in the West Bank, rather than completely halting building. Clinton spoke approvingly of the Israeli offer, knowing it is at odds with the prevailing Palestinian view.
65. archetype
"'Frankenstein' . . . 'Dracula' . . . 'Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde' . . . the archetypes that have influenced all subsequent horror stories" (New York Times)
an archetype of the successful entrepreneur.
66. around-the-clock
The Republican amendments were meant to force Democrats to cast difficult political votes before November's congressional elections, but Democrats methodically rejected them in an around-the-clock voting spree that started on Wednesday and stretched until almost 3 a.m. Thursday.
67. as
The rise of two fallen pop stars. J.Lo recovered from her tumble, as did Adam Lambert — judging by his soaring album sales. Week in music
As David Beckham’s career in the United States floundered, so too did the credibility of the designated-player regulation brought in primarily to accommodate his blockbuster salary. The concept was sound, allowing teams to splash cash on a highly paid superstar without obliterating their salary cap, but its practice seemed to be a route to on-field ruin.
I don't think it's as hot and humid today as it was yesterday.
the church as separate from the state the church as separate from the state
Some flowers, as the rose, require special care.
the church as separate from the state
the square as distinct from the rectangle
She sang as promised.
He left as agreed.
It came out the same way as it did before.
You are as good as you think you are.
As you are leaving last, please turn out the lights.
Questionable as it may be, we will proceed.
He said it in a voice so loud as to make everyone stare.
have the same trouble as you had.
She did her job well, as can be proved by the records.
It is an excellent piece of work, as far as I can tell.
As for staying away, I wouldn't think of it.
It was as if the world had come to an end.
We bought the table as is.
He became, as it were, a man without a country.
This price is effective as of June 23.
As regards the expense involved, it is of no concern to him.
An officer of the law, as such, is entitled to respect.
The position, as such, does not appeal to him, but the salary is a lure.
As yet, no one has thought of a solution.
As for dessert, I'd better skip it today and We are not sure as to how to pay the bill.
Play was scheduled to begin Monday, with Roger Federer embarking on the quest for his sixth consecutive title in a match against NCAA champion Devin Britton. The Williams sisters were both on the schedule, as were Roddick and James Blake, two Am
It was unclear whether the committee would debate Baucus' decision not to permit the government to sell insurance in competition with private industry. Many liberal Democrats favor the idea, saying it is essential to hold down costs, but some moderates inside the party are opposed, as are all Republicans.
Where you live has about the same influence on your personal happiness as what you do for work -- that is, much less than your personal relationships. The biggest thing you can do to create happiness in your life is to cultivate and maintain intimate, reliable relationships with people. Retrieved June 8, 2007, from http://finance.yahoo.com/expert/article/careerist/38221
The comparisons are inevitable, as are the questions – will Obama stick with American designs, or go international? What does one wear to have tea with the Queen? And what will she wear to stand next to Bruni-Sarkozy, dubbed the “Chanel gazelle?”
As one Western banker put it, when oil is $35 a barrel, Russia “has no choice” but to reform, to diversify its economy and to put in place the rule of law and incentives that would really stimulate small business. But at $70 a barrel, it takes an act of enormous “political will,” which the petro-old K.G.B. alliance that dominates the Kremlin today is unlikely to summon. Too much rule of law and transparency would constrict the ruling clique’s own freedom of maneuver.
In some poor neighborhoods, a man or woman with a traditional full-time job is the exception, not the rule. In five Midwestern states — Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin and Oklahoma — the jobless rate for blacks is at least three times as high as that for whites.
68. As a first take
As a first take, we might say that the good achieved by health care is the number of lives saved. But that is too crude. The death of a teenager is a greater tragedy than the death of an 85-year-old, and this should be reflected in our priorities. We can accommodate that difference by calculating the number of life-years saved, rather than simply the number of lives saved. If a teenager can be expected to live another 70 years, saving her life counts as a gain of 70 life-years, whereas if a person of 85 can be expected to live another 5 years, then saving the 85-year-old will count as a gain of only 5 life-years. That suggests that saving one teenager is equivalent to saving 14 85-year-olds. These are, of course, generic teenagers and generic 85-year-olds. It’s easy to say, “What if the teenager is a violent criminal and the 85-year-old is still working productively?” But just as emergency rooms should leave criminal justice to the courts and treat assailants and victims alike, so decisions about the allocation of health care resources should be kept separate from judgments about the moral character or social value of individuals.
69. ascendancy
Obama's ascendancy in these key states mirrors his growing lead in national polling. The latest Washington Post/ABC News survey put Obama at 53 percent to McCain's 43 percent, while the daily Gallup tracking poll showed Obama holding a similar lead of 51 percent to 41 percent on Monday.
70. Ascent
In 2000, Barack Obama tried to unseat incumbent Illinois Congressman Bobby Rush in a Democratic primary. The thumping Obama received - Rush got 61% of the vote to the upstart's 30% - was a grave political disappointment for the young state senator. Some of his friends even feared that Obama had undermined his golden image and permanently altered what had been the unbroken upward trajectory of his professional ascent.
71. ascertain
No matter how odd or confrontational Henry Louis Gates Jr. was that afternoon, he should not have been arrested once Sergeant Crowley ascertained that the Harvard professor was in his own home.
72. As a whole
But there’s an even bigger problem: while the wheeler-dealer side of the financial industry, a k a trading operations, is highly profitable again, the part of banking that really matters — lending, which fuels investment and job creation — is not. Key banks remain financially weak, and their weakness is hurting the economy as a whole.
As a whole, the relocation seems to have been beneficial.
73. as before
In the Senate, opponents could try one last filibuster. If so, the bill's backers would need at least one GOP vote, as before. And they would need all, or virtually all, of the Senate Democrats to agree to let the bill reach the floor, even if some plan to vote against it on final passage, which requires only a simple majority.
74. as far as
The President has brought some of his current travails on himself, of course, and in some cases failed to head off the harsh squalls that have made this final stage so arduous. Most important, the President long ago lost control of the message behind his drive for health care. Now, as far as a wary and weary American public is concerned, Obama's health care endeavor means messy legislative wrangling and a frightening increase in government spending rather than necessary and overdue improvements to a system defined by inefficiency and rising costs.
75. As for
As for Obama, he had a clear agenda. We've heard a lot lately about Obama's interest in Abe Lincoln's "team of rivals" in his Cabinet. He's not about to go that far with the man he beat for the presidency, but he also knows that McCain will be a very useful ally.
As for that age-old dilemma of whether to marry for wealth or looks, half of the 18- to 24-year-olds questioned said they would marry an ugly man if he were a multimillionaire.
76. aside
Aside from her salary, she receives money from investments.
They had no more food, aside from a few stale rolls.
Aside from occasional criticism of his temper inside the ropes, Woods has kept himself out of the news beyond his sport.
Aside from concern for the well-being of Americans, Europeans had another reason to want to see health care reform pass: Obama's political standing. Obama remains hugely popular in most of the continent, and European papers have treated the health care vote as a measure of the President's ability to push through his other policies.
77. as now
When the executive branch is dominant you often get coherent proposals that may not pass. When Congress is dominant, as now, you get politically viable mishmashes that don’t necessarily make sense.
78. As of
Jackson was recently in shaky financial health. In the most detailed account yet of the singer’s tangled financial empire, documents obtained by The Associated Press show Jackson claimed to have a net worth of $236.6 million as of March 31, 2007.
This price is effective as of June 23
79. as regards
As regards the expense involved, it is of no concern to him.
80. as a result
Williams released a statement on Sunday evening claiming her actions had highlighted her intensity for the game. “Last night everyone could truly see the passion I have for my job,” she said.
“Now that I have had time to gain my composure, I can see that while I don’t agree with the unfair line call, in the heat of battle I let my passion and emotion get the better of me and as a result handled the situation poorly.”
When it comes to finding quality, affordable health insurance, few have it worse than small-business owners and their workers shopping for coverage on the open market. They are charged the most per person, have the least amount of choice and, as a result, are some of the most likely to be uninsured.
81. As soon as
"The people of Massachusetts have spoken. We welcome Scott Brown to the Senate and will move to seat him as soon as the proper paperwork has been received," said Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin said he would notify the Senate on Wednesday that Brown had been elected.
82. as such
An officer of the law, as such, is entitled to respect.
The position, as such, does not appeal to him, but the salary is a lure
83. as to
"I was also concerned at the selection of Governor Palin. She's a very distinguished woman, and she's to be admired; but at the same time, now that we have had a chance to watch her for some seven weeks, I don't believe she's ready to be president of the United States, which is the job of the vice president. And so that raised some question in my mind as to the judgment that Senator McCain made."
Overall, voters are evenly divided as to whether tax cuts or increased government involvement in the economy would be better.
It's been 51 days since Serena Williams threatened an official at the U.S. Open, yet there's still no word from the International Tennis Federation as to whether the 11-time Grand Slam champion will be suspended from any tournaments as a result of the tirade. The WTA's chief executive said three weeks ago that the investigation was "ongoing" and that a decision was expected by the end of the year. Our question: What's taking so long?
84. as to why
There’s no mystery as to why the race has moved in Obama’s direction--it’s the economy.
85. aside
Joking aside, if Caroline wants Hillary's seat, it's probably hers.
The Obama team has gone to school on Clinton's mistakes. Aside from stating several broad principles, the president is letting powerful committee chairs like Kennedy draft the legislation to assure they have a vested interest in its passage. Unlike '93 and '94, Democratic leaders are on the same page. There's no Moynihan problem and no jurisdictional squabbling in the House to hobble passage. Obama is more open to the legislative dealmaking that Kennedy excels at and that Hillary Clinton resisted. The old bulls that gave Clinton so much trouble have moved on. A new generation is in power, and Kennedy believes that like '71 and '93, this is another one of those rare moments in history where something dramatic can be done.
86. as yet
As yet, no one has thought of a solution.
That might be a moot point now. Late last week, partially in response to the passage of a state law in Arizona that gave police unprecedented latitude to crack down on illegal immigration, the Democratic leadership began considering moving immigration reform ahead of energy and climate legislation in their congressional priorities. Given how split the country remains on immigration and given the fact that little advance work on the issue has been done in Congress as yet, Graham told reporters on April 22 that moving ahead on the issue "destroys the ability to do something like energy and climate." (Read "Congress Launches Opening Gambits on Global Warming.")
87. As with
As with most Russian political initiatives, there's a good deal of elite and popular cynicism about the debate, many viewing it as just another struggle over power and property. Even so, it is an important debate because potentially it is also a struggle over Russia's future.
88. At best
One of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's potential presidential rivals said Sunday that her abrupt resignation won't help her dodge scrutiny. President George W. Bush's chief political adviser said her strategy is, at best, unclear.
Electorally, the GOP faces an environment that is uncertain at best and challenging at worst.
Have no doubt, Phase II is coming. At best, it will require hundreds of billions of dollars more, at worst more than a trillion, to deal with more bad loans and toxic assets weakening the economy — problems that Phase I can’t fully absorb. Because unemployment is still rising — ensuring that the initial spate of mortgage defaults, which came from loans to people who could never repay, will be followed by another spate of defaults from those who could repay but now can’t because the deteriorating economy has stripped them of their jobs, their businesses or their credit lines.
89. At latest
A voting session in Waxman's committee that has been on hold for a week must resume quickly, probably by Wednesday at latest, if there's any chance for the committee to pass a bill and send it to the full House for action before the summer recess. Bypassing the committee remains a last-ditch option if agreement can't be reached.
90. At most
If the U.S. system spent less on expensive treatments for those who, with or without the drugs, have at most a few months to live, it would be better able to save the lives of more people who, if they get the treatment they need, might live for several decades.
Those demands should be ignored. It’s much too soon to give up on policies that have, at most, pulled us a few inches back from the edge of the abyss.
Reid has 58 Democrats and two independents in the Democratic caucus. He may be able to get one or two Republican votes, at the most. He is still short of the 60 votes he needs to shut off debate and move to a final up-or-down vote on the bill.
91. Atop
President Barack Obama, worried about growing resistance to his health care plan, exhorted Congress not to "lose heart" Friday and urged deeper cost cuts to calm concern over the huge expense of covering millions of uninsured Americans.
"What we want to do is force the Congress to make sure that they are acting" on recommendations to hold down Medicare and Medicaid spending, the president said, rather than allowing reports to sit unused on a shelf.
One of the world's most powerful telescopes opened its shutters for the first time Friday to begin exploring faint light from distant parts of the universe. The Gran Telescopio Canarias, a euro130 million ($185 million) telescope featuring a 34-foot (10.4-meter) reflecting mirror, sits atop an extinct volcano. Its location above cloud cover takes advantage of the pristine skies in the Atlantic Ocean.
atop the flagpole
Under the pared-down option, McChrystal would be given fewer forces than the 40,000 additional troops he has asked for atop the current U.S. force of 68,000, officials told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
92. attuned
Past research by Walker and colleagues at Harvard Medical School, which was published in the journal Current Biology, found that in people who were sleep deprived, activity in the prefrontal lobe - a region of the brain involved in controlling emotion - was significantly diminished. He suggests that a similar response may be occurring in the nap-deprived volunteers, albeit to a lesser extent, and that it may have its roots in evolution. "If you're walking through the jungle and you're tired, it might benefit you more to be hypersensitive to negative things," he says. The idea is that with little mental energy to spare, you're emotionally more attuned to things that are likely to be the most threatening in the immediate moment. Inversely, when you're well rested, you may be more sensitive to positive emotions, which could benefit long-term survival, he suggests: "If it's getting food, if it's getting some kind of reward, finding a wife - those things are pretty good to pick up on."
He has attuned himself to living in the quiet country
an industry that is not attuned to market demands.
93. augur
In Texas, a showdown at the GOP corral
Hutchison, Perry race could augur outcome of elections nationwide
94. Aura
He has taunted millions of Iranians by praising their unprecedented participation in an election many now view as a ballot-box putsch. He has ridiculed the notion that an official inquiry into the vote might yield a different result. He has tried pathos and he has tried pounding his lectern. In short, he has lost his aura.
an aura of respectability
an aura of friendliness.
One Democratic Obama ally lamented that the push for a public plan has become synonymous with victory on health-care reform. "In the last 90 days, it has taken on an aura much more pronounced than it did the first four months of the year," said the activist, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss White House strategy. He said Obama's advisers have stoked the controversy this week by creating the perception they were abandoning the public plan.
95. avail
All our efforts availed us little in trying to effect a change.
His strength did not avail against the hostile onslaught.
His belated help will be of little or no avail.
Nothing could avail the dying patient.
Halfway measures will no longer avail.
labored to no avail.
They availed themselves of the opportunity to hear a free concert
96. average
In a traditional insurance system, members of a risk pool pay premiums. The risks of any of them having expensive claims to be paid in any given year are averaged out.
He averages seven hours of sleep a night.
His taxes should average out to about a fifth of his income.
She can read 50 pages an hour, on the average.
She can read 50 pages an hour, on average.
Her golf average is in the 90s.
My average in science has gone from B to C this semester.
The average secretary couldn't handle such a workload.
His grades were nothing special, only average.
We averaged the price of milk in five neighborhood stores.
97. avatar
the very avatar of cunning.
occultism in its present avatar.
Palin is unlike any other national figure in modern American life—neither Anna Nicole Smith nor Margaret Chase Smith but a phenomenon all her own. The clouds of tabloid conflict and controversy that swirl around her and her extended clan—the surprise pregnancies, the two-bit blood feuds, the tawdry in-laws and common-law kin caught selling drugs or poaching game—give her family a singular status in the rogues’ gallery of political relatives. By comparison, Billy Carter, Donald Nixon, and Roger Clinton seem like avatars of circumspection. Palin’s life has sometimes played out like an unholy amalgam of Desperate Housewives and Northern Exposure.
98. Avuncular
Skeptical of the Afghan leader's abilities, Obama breaks away from the avuncular way Bush dealt with the U.S. ally.
Avuncular affection
99. award-laden
Colleagues say the post is well-suited for Holdren, who at Harvard went from battling the spread of nuclear weapons to tackling the threat of global warming. He's an award-laden scientist comfortable in many different fields.
100. awry
Obama aims to boost the Afghan army from 80,000 to 134,000 troops by 2011 — and greatly increase training by U.S. troops accompanying them — so the Afghan military can take control of the war. The White House also is pushing forces to set clear goals for a war gone awry, provide more resources and make a better case for international support.
to glance or look awry.
Our plans went awry.
101. back down
Israel to U.S. : We won’t back down
102. backdrop
They are about the moment and the movement to engage Americans in ways not seen before, especially against a backdrop of economic strife unmatched since the Great Depression.
Against this backdrop, it is not surprising that the scientific community began rallying to Barack Obama months ago. Periodically, Dr. Harold Varmus, now chief of Memorial Sloan Kettering, convened informal conference calls among leading scientists to provide counsel to the Obama campaign, and they also met with Obama for a morning of conversation in Pennsylvania.
Against a backdrop of IOUs and expanding government furloughs, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders expressed optimism Saturday that they were moving toward a compromise that could end California's fiscal calamity.
A vast mountain range backdrops the broad expanse of lake.
One day shy of the first anniversary of Obama's swearing-in, the election played out amid a backdrop of animosity and resentment from voters over persistently high unemployment, Wall Street bailouts, exploding federal budget deficits and partisan wrangling over health care.
103. backstop
There were technicians on board as backstops to the automated controls.
Act as a backstop.
104. balance
Shame on them. The health care system is in crisis. The fate of America’s middle class hangs in the balance. And there on our TVs was a president with an impressive command of the issues, who truly understands the stakes.
The balance of the blame is on your side.
I'm always happy when cash on hand balances expected expenses.
One side of an equation must balance the other.
The advantages more than balance the disadvantages.
While the jury deliberated, his fate rested in the balance.
On balance, the new product is doing well.
He lost his balance and fell down the stairs.
He carried what he could and left the balance for his brother to bring.
to balance all the probabilities of a situation.
He would balance and temporize endlessly before reaching a decision.
Climate deal hangs in the balance.
On balance I think we've had a very good year.
105. balk
He balked at making the speech.
While there has been an outcry over such disparity, Americans also may balk at the idea of the government setting salaries, especially if such pay caps trickled down below the executive suite.
a sudden reversal that balked her hopes.
106. bamboozle
They bamboozled us into joining the club.
107. bankroll
Taxpayers are bankrolling studies of whether pressing various spots on your head can help with weight loss, whether brain waves emitted from a special "master" can help break cocaine addiction, and whether wearing magnets can help the painful wrist problem, carpal tunnel syndrome.
Thousands of British forces, fighting under NATO command, have been in Helmand since 2006 with broadly the same strategy, but security has deteriorated. They have met with stronger resistance than initially expected against Taliban fighters bankrolled by the vast opium and heroin trade.
108. barometer
According to his wife, the governor of South Carolina was always a bit of a restless, searching soul. It’s part of what initially attracted her to him. When they met in the mid-eighties, Jenny Sanford (née Sullivan) was working at the hard-driving, testosterone-soaked Manhattan investment-banking firm Lazard Frères & Co. One of the few females in the office, she blazed a trail upward by putting in long hours and learning to set aside some of her innate moral squeamishness. “I loved it, and I learned a lot, but some of the things I learned there about greed and power, I wish I hadn’t.” Such as? “At an early age I had a lot of access to people who made a lot of money. Some lived good lives, some didn’t. But I knew then that working 24/7 and trying to climb a ladder to make more money wasn’t what it was about. I have never thought money is the barometer of your success or worth.” (It’s a good thing Jenny Sanford is not overly concerned with money, as her husband is a fiscal conservative on the micro as well as macro level. Or, as she puts it, “My husband is famously cheap.”)
Opinion polls serve as a barometer of the public mood.
109. Barring
For the second straight summer, the nation can expected an intense Supreme Court confirmation debate even though, barring a surprise, Kagan is likely to emerge as a justice.
110. be
The core concerns are more about the future than the past, be it eight years ago or one day ago.
111. be at
She's pregnant again because he's at her morning, noon, and night
112. bariatric
113. Based
Based on five years of research and an online survey of 1,000 women, the authors consider motivation ranging from altruistic sex ("I felt sorry for the guy") to revengeful sex ("I wanted to get back at my partner") to palliative sex ("I had a migraine").
114. Basis
The GOP bill had no new taxes, and unlike the House-passed measure, would permit insurance companies to continue denying coverage on the basis of pre-existing medical conditions.
115. bash
Kyl's comments came as other conservative Republicans joined in to bash the co-ops idea. Rep. Tom Price (Ga.) said "a co-op that is simply another name for a public option, or government-run plan, w
The thug bashed the hood of the car with a sledgehammer.
The police arrested the men who bashed an immigrant in the park.
What a bash! I'm exhausted!
Let's go out and bash, how 'bout it?
A bunch of old Jonathan Computer fans love to bash Macrosoft whenever they can.
116. bask
Bernanke was basking in good press in the hours leading up to his reappointment.
He basked in royal favor.
117. bear
Another aspect of the Palin phenomenon bears examination, even if the mere act of raising it invites intimations of sexism: she is by far the best-looking woman ever to rise to such heights in national politics, the first indisputably fertile female to dare to dance with the big dogs. This pheromonal reality has been a blessing and a curse. It has captivated people who would never have given someone with Palin’s record a second glance if Palin had looked like Susan Boyle. And it has made others reluctant to give her a second chance because she looks like a beauty queen.
The dire situation for which Keynes prescribed a cure bears distressing similarities to our own.
The case bears similarities to a case PRLDEF brought on behalf of Hispanic New York City sanitation workers who sought to stop white employees from getting promotions, arguing that the promotion exams unfairly disadvantaged minorities. Sotomayor chaired the board's litigation committee at the time.
Bill Gates, Warren E. Buffett, the heirs to the Wal-Mart Stores fortune and the founders of Google each lost billions last year, according to Forbes magazine. In one stark example, John McAfee, an entrepreneur who founded the antivirus software company that bears his name, is now worth about $4 million, from a peak of more than $100 million. Mr. McAfee will soon auction off his last big property because he needs cash to pay his bills after having been caught off guard by the simultaneous crash in real estate and stocks.
The English Premier League offers no room for complacency, a point Jozy Altidore would do well to bear in mind this week.
The roof will not bear the strain of his weight.
His claim doesn't bear close examination.
The crowd was borne back by the police.
I can't bear your nagging. I can hardly bear to see her suffering so.
to bear a resemblance
to bear responsibility; to bear the cost.
Please bear with me until I finish the story.
Pressure was brought to bear on those with overdue accounts.
The White House team also pledged whatever support the Senators might want, including visits to their states by Vice President Biden and making Administration officials available for interviews with home-state media. Some of the very tactics that helped get Obama elected, the team said, could be brought to bear now. Messina told them it will be important to achieve parity against the opposition on the airwaves, with paid advertising and surrogates; to overwhelm them with ground organization; and to "stand for something, go for it, and always play offense."
But Cheney rejected any suggestion that Obama had to decide on a new strategy for Afghanistan because the one employed by the previous administration failed.
Cheney was asked if he thinks the Bush administration bears any responsibility for the disintegration of Afghanistan because of the attention and resources that were diverted to Iraq. “I basically don’t,” he replied without elaborating.
118. Beat out
All of the three other finalists she beat out for the job are federal appeals court judges, and all nine of the current justices served on the federal bench before being elevated.
119. befit
His clothes befit the occasion.
120. behest
Meanwhile, questions grew about a trip to Argentina he took last summer. While Sanford has agreed to reimburse the state for part of a more-than $8,000 tab that enabled him to see the mistress, state officials indicated they never intended a South American economic development trip to hold meetings in Argentina. That was only done at the governor's behest, said Kara Borie, a spokeswoman for the state Commerce Department.
121. Behemoth
The army's new tank is a behemoth.
The cartel is a behemoth small business owners fear.
_The lack of an all-seeing federal entity to detect institutional stresses that threaten the financial system, and the government's inability to step in and unwind large institutions before they choke the system. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. can do this with banks. But the government lacked the power to do the same with a behemoth such as the insurer American International Group Inc.
122. beholden
a man beholden to no one
Sotomayor would be beholden to no one.
But Blackmun drifted toward the more liberal wing of the court, especially after 1973, when he wrote the opinion in Roe v Wade, which established a constitutional right to abortion, the most bitterly disputed ruling of that era or this. While Chief Justice Burger concurred in that decision, Blackmun's dissents in other cases fractured their friendship. By the time he retired in 1994, Blackmun was rated among the most liberal justices.
"Having been appointed by a Republican president and being accused now of being a flaming liberal," he said in 1991, "the Republicans think I'm a traitor and the Democrats don't trust me."
And, he said, he didn't care, because he was beholden to no one.
123. belly bulge
124. below
"What could be agreed today, falls far below our expectations," a European Commission spokesman said. "But it keeps our goals and ambitions alive."
125. bereft
His once formidable forehand is bereft of timing, the solid backhand is letting him down, the sloppy errors are becoming a regular feature but more importantly—he has lost the killer instinct.
They are bereft of their senses
. He is bereft of all happiness.
126. bellwether
Paris is a bellwether of the fashion industry.
"The degree to which the paper is censored is a political bellwether" (Justine De Lacy).
Palin worked hard, and the results were adequate. Palin’s winking “Can I call you Joe?” performance against Biden was nothing like a disaster. In fact, it seems to have emboldened her enough that the next day she openly voiced disagreement with the McCain team’s decision to pull out of active competition in Michigan. When orders or advice from McCain headquarters began to conflict with her own impulses, aides told me, she simply did what she wanted to do. “The problem was she came down from Alaska with basically Todd as a sort of trusted bellwether adviser,” one McCain friend says. “She was given this staff of 20.
127. bid
By invading Republican territory in the South, Midwest and Rocky Mountains, Obama also is bidding to redraw an electoral map that has been static and closely divided into red and blue states in the past two elections.
I will do as you bid.
to bid them depart
She bid at the auction for the old chair.
128. Bide one’s time
He wanted to ask for a raise, but bided his time.
129. bemused
A bemused Paulson, who was present at the creation of Bailout Nation with TARP funds, said while still in office: "Even if you don't have the authorities -- and frankly I didn't have the authorities for anything -- if you take charge, people will follow." This would not be happening were Congress awake, or were the courts properly active. Constitutionalists are not amused.
130. benchmark
Thompson Reuters says that Rochester Methodist Hospital is ranked among its top 100 hospitals in the nation out of 2,926 short-term, acute care and non-federal hospitals.
Benchmarks include mortality, medical complications, patient safety, average length of stay, expenses, profitability, patient satisfaction, adherence to clinical standards, post-discharge mortality and readmission rates for acute myocardial infarction, heart failure and pneumonia.
131. Bent
In a joint news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, Obama also said he was bent on "getting this right." He denied that his administration has been dithering and said that whatever policy change he announces must be aimed at protecting America from terrorist networks.
to be bent on buying a new car.
132. Bequeath
Lindsay, who passed away last month at 79, bequeathed his estate to the small Christian university in Orange County where he ate daily at the cafeteria for decades. The donation, estimated to be at least several million dollars, will likely help the school that is saddled with $42 million in debt.
She bequeathed her half of the company to her niece.
They bequeathed to their children a respect for hard work.
133. Beside
Whether the person who called the police or the officer who arrived on the scene consciously considered race is beside the point. What we know from scores of studies is that race influences our mental calculus — sometimes when we aren’t aware of it, when we don’t want it to, and even on the police force.
Beside him other writers seem amateurish.
beside the point
beside the question.
The family rode in the carriage, and the dog ran along beside.
A proposal that seems quite reasonable beside the others.
He has earned a place beside the best performers in the business.
"Many creatures beside man live in
A remark that was beside the point
134. Besides
Besides Obama and his team, others in Washington closely watching the debate include Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and Massachusetts' all-Democratic delegation to the U.S. House.
Besides, I promised her we would come.
Here are three elm trees and two maples besides.
They had a roof over their heads but not much besides.
: Besides a mother he has a sister to support.
There's no one here besides Bill and me.
The bill cannot be paid as yet; besides, the work is not completed.
I did not like the house; moreover, it was too high-priced.
Before visiting Israel, Clinton met with Abbas in the Gulf emirate of Abu Dhabi. Besides meeting Netanyahu, Clinton also held talks with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman.
Besides the children, a fortune is at stake. Forbes magazine estimated that Woods this year became the first athlete to reach career earnings of $1 billion -- mainly from his sponsorship endorsements -- that had left the Cypress native with a net worth of $600 million.
Besides reshaping parts of the landmark health overhaul, the legislation transforms the federal student loan program -- in which private banks distribute the money -- into one in which the government issues the loans directly. That produces some federal savings, which the bill uses in part to increase Pell grants to needy students.
135. best
Want to keep your notebook running for longer than a few years? Ensure your laptop is as drop-proofed as possible (use a padded bag or case, route cords so they won't be tripped on, lock children in another room), and protect it as best you can from heat and dust.
136. between
The Copenhagen climate conference "failed" long before it even opened. It may not "succeed" until long after it ends. For the moment, then, negotiators must satisfy themselves with something in between, an "outcome," one whose shape Thursday was in the hands of the United States and China.
137. Bevy
Eclipsed by a globe-trotting president, a foreign policy-savvy vice president and a bevy of special envoys, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is struggling to re-emerge this week as the Obama administration's diplomatic heavyweight.
a bevy of boisterous sailors.
138. Beyond
So now what? Mr. Summers still insists that the administration did the right thing: more government provision of capital, he says, would not “have been an availing strategy for solving problems.” Whatever. In any case, as a political matter the moment for radical action on banks has clearly passed.
The main thing for the time being is probably to do as much as possible to support job growth. With luck, this will produce a virtuous circle in which an improving economy strengthens the banks, which then become more willing to lend.
Beyond that, we desperately need to pass effective financial reform. For if we don’t, bankers will soon be taking even bigger risks than they did in the run-up to this crisis. After all, the lesson from the last few months has been very clear: When bankers gamble with other people’s money, it’s heads they win, tails the rest of us lose.
139. billed as
The crowds begin streaming into the Evansville Auditorium and Convention Centre a couple of hours before the arrival of the “special guest speaker” at the Vanderburgh County Right to Life dinner on a soft Indiana spring evening—nearly 2,200 people in the banquet hall, 800 more in an adjacent auditorium watching the proceedings on a live video feed. The menu is thick slices of roast pork and red velvet cake, washed down with pitchers of iced tea, and when Sarah Palin finally enters, escorted by a phalanx of sheriff’s deputies and local police, she is mobbed. The organizers of the dinner, billed as “the largest pro-life banquet in the world,” have courted Palin for weeks with care packages of locally made chocolates, doughnuts, barbecue, and pastries, and she has requited by choosing Evansville, a conservative stronghold in southern Indiana, as the site of her first public speech outside Alaska in 2009.
A policy that was billed as an important departure for the administration.
140. Billow
Dark smoke billowed over this vast city in the late afternoon. Motorbikes were set on fire, sending bursts of bright flame skyward. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader, had used his Friday sermon to declare high noon in Tehran, warning of “bloodshed and chaos” if protests over a disputed election persisted.
A sudden wind billowed the tent alarmingly.
sheets billowing in the breeze.
wind that billowed the sails.
141. bind
Even in the blush of Saturday’s victory, Reid (D-Nev.) is far from having the votes to move his $848 billion package to final passage. At least four centrists have pledged to oppose it in its current form, largely over the public option. Reid is in a bind. Stay to the left, and moderates vote no. Move a tad to the right, and Reid faces insurrection from the left, as liberals in his own caucus and in the House vow not to compromise any further on their signature issue.
142. Blasé
Operation Cast Lead, which commenced on December 27, 2008, would become J Street’s first real-world test of the popularity of its ideas. On the first day of the operation inside Gaza, J Street posted a statement on its website calling for an immediate cease fire and making the remarkably blasé claim that “only diplomacy and negotiations can end the rockets and terror.” A few days into the conflict, the group released a statement that combined abject moral equivalence, heroic self-flagellation, and anguished false introspection. “As friends of Israel, we felt immediate pressure from friends and family to pick a side,” the statement said. “Couldn’t we see who’s right and who’s wrong?” The monthly War and Peace poll conducted by Tel Aviv University found that 94 percent of Israeli Jews had no difficulty either picking a side or determining who was right and who was wrong. Public opinion was so uniformly in favor of the operation that even the ultra-dovish Meretz party—for which Daniel Levy once worked, and which typically earns only about 5 percent of the vote in Israeli elections—supported the campaign.
He had a blasé attitude about housecleaning.
143. Blazing
Kagan is known as sharp and politically savvy and has enjoyed a blazing legal career. She was the first female dean of Harvard Law School, first woman to serve as the top Supreme Court lawyer for any administration, and now first in Obama's mind to succeed legendary liberal Justice John Paul Stevens
144. blend
Biden's quote: “These individuals all possess incredible integrity and an unmatched commitment to public service. Cathy Russell has a unique blend of policy and management experience, combined with an ardent commitment to ending injustices around the world. Cynthia Hogan is a brilliant lawyer who was instrumental in guiding the Senate Judiciary Committee though some of its most important challenges in both crime control and judicial selection, and has shown incredible legal acumen and integrity over her career. I’m grateful to have Moe Vela, a man with experience in White House management and broad outreach skills on my team. Their combined experience, diverse leadership and esteemed counsel will be essential in helping the Obama-Biden Administration bring the change we need to America.”
Blend a little red paint with the blue paint.
"The smoke blended easily into the odor of the other fumes" (Norman Mailer).
145. blip
Ten years ago the cover of Time magazine featured Robert Rubin, then Treasury secretary, Alan Greenspan, then chairman of the Federal Reserve, and Lawrence Summers, then deputy Treasury secretary. Time dubbed the three “the committee to save the world,” crediting them with leading the global financial system through a crisis that seemed terrifying at the time, although it was a small blip compared with what we’re going through now.
"The decline in the share of GNP going to health . . . appears to be a one-time blip in the historic trend rather than the start of a new trend"
The midwinter blip was no cause for optimism among store owners
Those opposed were merely a blip in the opinion polls.
146. blistering
After Levi told Tyra Banks that he had often spent the night in the Palin home, in the same room as Bristol, and assumed that the governor knew they were having sex, Palin, through her spokeswoman, released a blistering statement expressing disappointment “that Levi and his family, in a quest for fame, attention, and fortune, are engaging in flat-out lies, gross exaggeration, and even distortion of their relationship.”
a blistering pace.
These new shoes blistered my feet.
The boss blistered his assistant in front of the whole office.
147. blitz
A blitz of commercials every few minutes
The visitors really blitzed the home team.
His last-minute refusal blitzed all our plans.
a car that will blitz through rough terrain.
148. blizzard
"What we have also seen in these last months is the same partisan spectacle that only hardens the disdain many Americans have toward their own government," Obama said. "Too many have used this as an opportunity to score short-term political points, even if it robs the country of our opportunity to solve a long-term challenge. And out of this blizzard of charges and counter-charges, confusion has reigned.
"Well, the time for bickering is over. The time for games has passed,"
149. Bloviate
the rural Babbitt who bloviates about 'progress' and 'growth'" (George Rebeck).
150. Blubber
I am not saying we give an inch on the war on blubber. Obesity is an epidemic in the U.S. and growing quickly around the globe.
Stop blubbering and tell me what's wrong.
She dried her blubber eyes.
151. blunder
Former President Bill Clinton came to the defense of the Senate bill. Clinton, whose ambitions were humbled by the collapse of his own health care remake, reminded Democrats that political pros don't let the perfect become the enemy of the good.
"Take it from someone who knows: These chances don't come around every day," Clinton said in a statement. "Allowing this effort to fall short now would be a colossal blunder — both politically for our party, and far more important, for the physical, fiscal and economic health of our country."
152. Blur
But the conservative caricature of Wood as a sort of judicial extremist blurs the reality. She has earned praise from people across the ideological spectrum. In one recent case, Bloch v. Frischholz, Wood had dissented, arguing that condo residents had a federal claim of religious discrimination in response to a building rule that prohibited the hanging of a mezuzah, a traditional Jewish scroll, on a hallway doorframe. "She has the ideal judicial temperament," libertarian scholar Richard Epstein told the New Republic last year, when Wood was interviewed by Obama as a finalist for the seat that Sotomayor eventually won. A decade older than Kagan, Wood was born in New Jersey but has spent most of her career in Chicago, where she taught law school at the same time as Obama and now works as an appellate judge.
153. Bode
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. O.K., maybe not literally the worst, but definitely bad. And the contrast between the immense good fortune of a few and the continuing suffering of all too many boded ill for the future.
154. Boilerplate
Indeed, the prospects for such savings are precisely what have the opponents of a public plan so terrified. Mr. Obama was right: if they really believed their own rhetoric about government waste and inefficiency, they wouldn’t be so worried that the public option would put private insurers out of business. Behind the boilerplate about big government, rationing and all that lies the real concern: fear that the public plan would succeed.
The new provisions of the lease renewal were merely boilerplate.
155. bona fides
n presentation and tone, A Plan for Action is determinedly uncontroversial; indeed, it looks and reads more like a corporate brochure than a foreign-policy paper. The text is the work of three academics—Bruce Jones of NYU, Carlos Pascual of the Brookings Institution, and Stephen John Stedman of Stanford. Its findings and recommendations, they claim, rose from a series of meetings with foreign-policy eminences here and abroad, including former Secretaries of State of both parties as well as defense officials from the Clinton and first Bush administrations. The participation of these notables is what gives A Plan for Action its bona fides, though one should doubt how much the document actually reflects their ideas. There is no question, however, that the ideas advanced in A Plan for Action have become mainstays in the liberal vision of the future of American foreign policy.
The bona fides of this contract is open to question.
Sakharov's bona fides within the Soviet system . . . have given added weight to his message" (Christian Science Monitor).
All our bona fides are on file with the SEC.
The souvenir program for this evening’s dinner is full of displays for local politicians and businesses, attesting to their pro-life bona fides.
Besides, weight aside, Benjamin does bring some rather impressive bona fides to the job. She was awarded the Nelson Mandela Award for Health and Human Rights, was the first person younger than 40 to be appointed to the board of the American Medical Association, is the immediate past chair of the Federation of State Medical Boards (meaning other doctors think highly of her) and won a “genius grant” from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
Most remarkably, she chose to practice among the rural poor at the clinic she built herself in Bayou La Batre, Ala., charging her poorest patients nothing.
In presentation and tone, A Plan for Action is determinedly uncontroversial; indeed, it looks and reads more like a corporate brochure than a foreign-policy paper. The text is the work of three academics—Bruce Jones of NYU, Carlos Pascual of the Brookings Institution, and Stephen John Stedman of Stanford. Its findings and recommendations, they claim, rose from a series of meetings with foreign-policy eminences here and abroad, including former Secretaries of State of both parties as well as defense officials from the Clinton and first Bush administrations. The participation of these notables is what gives A Plan for Action its bona fides, though one should doubt how much the document actually reflects their ideas. There is no question, however, that the ideas advanced in A Plan for Action have become mainstays in the liberal vision of the future of American foreign policy.
At a Jan. 28, 2008 rally at American University in Washington, the then 75-year-old progressive warrior from Massachusetts forcefully rejected arguments that Obama was inexperienced and not ready to lead the nation, and drew parallels to the path breaking campaign his brother waged in 1960.
The address at once firmed up Obama's bona fides with unions, Latinos and senior citizens and dealt a staggering blow to the presidential hopes of his chief primary rival, Hillary Rodham Clinton
156. boon
The appointment, should the New York Democrat accept the post, would make her Obama's highest-ranking Cabinet official. Backers say the popularity of both Hillary and Bill Clinton overseas would be a boon to the U.S.'s global reputation.
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, speaking to reporters in Norristown, Pa., earlier in the day, said the program was an unprecedented success and a boon for car dealers, automakers, scrap yards and financial institutions. He estimated that by the sales deadline later Monday, "there will be 700,000 to 800,000 cars that have been sold, most of them fuel efficient," replacing gas-guzzling cars and trucks.
157. bottleneck
The fierce national debate over health care is entering a new phase, with advocates on all sides focused on a handful of legislative bottlenecks that will determine the ultimate overhaul of the $2.5 trillion medical care system.
158. bout
His tremendous bouts of drinking had wrecked his health
a wrestling bout
159. branded
A top White House lawyer for Ronald Reagan, Douglas Kmiec is an unlikely supporter of Barack Obama—which makes him the president's most important Roman Catholic booster. Kmiec's close ties to the church—he's a former dean of Catholic University's law school—mean he can defend Obama's social policies against critical Catholic bishops without being branded a "Catholic in name only." He supports Obama's approach to reducing abortion through means other than limiting abortion rights.
160. brainiac
Brace yourself, America. What if the already terrible economy gets even worse? And not just a little bit worse, but a lot worse? Look at it this way: If you put a group of brainiac economists together in a room and told them to create a computer model of a Great Depression 2.0, the key ingredients would probably be a) plunging stock prices, b) collapsing home values, c) soaring unemployment, and d) a banking system on the verge of complete implosion.
"These companies are not hot Silicon Valley startups swarming with Gen-X brainiacs" (Ronald Henkoff).
161. brain-teaser
162. Break the ice
The chairman broke the ice with his warm and very amusing remarks.
163. breathalyzer
An arrest affidavit from Thursday said Kazemi had bloodshot eyes and alcohol on her breath when she was pulled over, but refused a breathalyzer test, saying "she was not drunk, she was high."
164. breathlessly
The British press in particular has followed Michelle Obama’s every move breathlessly, from her dresses to the “kitchen garden” behind the White House. One London paper tracked down her high-school prom date. Another asked plaintively, “Why Doesn’t the UK Have a Michelle Obama?”
165. breath of fresh air
"Barack Obama is a breath of fresh air. He is not all style and no substance. In his time in the public arena, he has demonstrated a keen intellect and firm grasp of national and international issues," she said.
166. breathtaking
But Sarah Palin herself is a microcosm of Alaska, or at least of the fastest-growing and politically crucial part of it, which stretches up the broad Matanuska-Susitna Valley, north of Anchorage, where she came of age and cut her political teeth in her now famous hometown, Wasilla. In the same way that Lyndon Johnson could only have come from Texas, or Bill Clinton from Arkansas, Palin and all that she is could only have come from Wasilla. It is a place of breathtaking scenery and virtually no zoning. The view along Wasilla’s main drag is of Chili’s, ihop, Home Depot, Target, and Arby’s, and yet the view from the Palins’ front yard, on Lake Lucille, recalls the Alpine splendor visible from Captain Von Trapp’s terrace in The Sound of Music. It is culturally conservative: the local newspaper recently published an article that asked, “Will the Antichrist be a Homosexual?” It is in this Alaska—where it is possible to be both a conservative Republican and a pothead, or a foursquare Democrat and a gun nut—that Sarah Palin learned everything she knows about politics, and about life. It was in this environment that her ambition first found an outlet in public office, and where she first tasted the 151-proof Everclear that is power.
a breathtaking performance
167. brewing controversy
Asked at the White House health care summit this week about the brewing controversy, the president promised to address the qualms felt by some. But he did not abandon the notion of a government plan.
168. brim
"He sought me out and I was happy to work with him," Isakson said of Franken. "He'd done his homework, he was very informed. It was obvious he was trying to hit the ground running
"No sooner had the fighting started than the hotel filled to the brim with a most extraordinary collection of people" (George Orwell).
169. broadly
The goal was to demonstrate that the administration is on the case and, more broadly, that history shows American resilience will win.
170. brood
Then the fateful day came when the mother goose took her brood to the water for the first time. She jumped in, and the goslings leaped in after her. The chick stood on the bank, aghast.
As for the chick, she never doubted her goosiness. At night, our chickens would roost high up in the barn, while the geese would sleep on the floor, with their heads tucked under their wings. This chick slept with the goslings, and she tried mightily to stretch her neck under her wing. No doubt she had a permanent crick in her neck.
Then the fateful day came when the mother goose took her brood to the water for the first time. She jumped in, and the goslings leaped in after her. The chick stood on the bank, aghast.
The museum exhibited a brood of monumental sculptures.
171. brunt
It's much the same all over the axis of Hugo, the constellation of 10 states in the Andes, Central America and the Caribbean that have followed Chávez in lockstep in the march towards so called 21st century socialism. In the name of power, justice and plenty for the downtrodden the leaders of the "Bolivarian alternative" in Bolivia, Ecuador, Nicaragua are rewriting their constitutions, intimidating the media and stoking class and ethnic conflicts that occasionally explode in hate and violence. (The military coup on June 28 that ousted Honduran president Manuela Zelaya, a key Chávez ally, is the latest example of the blowback from the Bolivarian revolution.) The middle classes and the young are taking the brunt.
His arm took the brunt of the blow.
He bore the brunt of the household chores.
172. buck
Governments implicitly place a dollar value on a human life when they decide how much is to be spent on health care programs and how much on other public goods that are not directed toward saving lives. The task of health care bureaucrats is then to get the best value for the resources they have been allocated. It is the familiar comparative exercise of getting the most bang for your buck.
The plane bucked a strong headwind.
He was bucking the odds when he bought that failing business.
Never one to admit error, he passed the buck to his subordinates.
to buck for a raise
He knew that with a change of scene she would soon buck up.
He bucked the letter on to the assistant vice president to answer.
173. Bulk
Overall, Obama's appointments will take place throughout the week, allowing people to make the transition to their new jobs, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said. The news of Becker's appointment drew the bulk of the ire from Republicans.
The bulk of the debt was paid.
174. bulwark
Of course courts should not make policy or invent rights not stipulated or implied by statutes or the Constitution's text. But courts have no nobler function than that of actively defending property, contracts and other bulwarks of freedom against depredations by government, including by popularly elected, and popular, officials. Regarding Chrysler and GM, the executive branch is exercising powers it does not have under any statute or constitutional provision. At moments such as this, deference to the political branches constitutes dereliction of judicial duty.
The new dam was a bulwark against future floods.
Religion was his bulwark.
175. Bum rap
As noted, Palin has established a political-action committee with the legal advice of John Coale, who met Palin when his wife, Greta Van Susteren, the Fox News host, went to interview her during the campaign. Coale, a former Hillary Clinton supporter, told me he felt Palin had gotten a bum rap from liberals and conservatives alike, and he advised her that a pac was a logical and legal way to pay for out-of-state political travel.
He was sent to prison on a bum rap.
The review was a bum rap, but I liked the play.
176. Bungle
Pushing past years of "red flags," investigators at the Securities and Exchange Commission bungled their probes of Bernard Madoff so badly that his multibillion-dollar fraud not only flourished but he used the exams to suck in new investors, an agency watchdog declared Wednesday.
He is a fool who bungles consistently.
177. Burnish
The move seemed calculated to burnish her national conservative credentials.
178. bushel
a bushel of kisses.
Here’s my fun fact for the day, provided courtesy of Robert Litan, who directs research at the Kauffman Foundation, which specializes in promoting innovation in America: “Between 1980 and 2005, virtually all net new jobs created in the U.S. were created by firms that were 5 years old or less,” said Litan. “That is about 40 million jobs. That means the established firms created no new net jobs during that period.” Message: If we want to bring down unemployment in a sustainable way, neither rescuing General Motors nor funding more road construction will do it. We need to create a big bushel of new companies — fast. We’ve got to get more Americans working again for their own dignity — and to generate the rising incomes and wealth we need to pay for existing entitlements, as well as all the new investments we’ll need to make. It was just reported that Social Security this year will pay out more in benefits than it receives in payroll taxes — a red line we w
179. busy
While Venus Williams is busy with writing a book, her left-handed serve and an ownership stake in the Miami Dolphins, this week she's zeroed in on tennis
180. but
Soon Palin will take a crack at her own story: she has signed a book contract for an undisclosed but presumably substantial sum, and has chosen Lynn Vincent, a senior writer at the Christian-conservative World magazine, as co-author of the memoir, which is to be published next year not only by HarperCollins but also in a special edition by Zondervan, the Bible-publishing house, that may include supplemental material on faith. During the presidential campaign, Palin’s deep ignorance about most aspects of foreign and domestic policy provided her with a powerful political reason not to submit to interviews. The forthcoming book adds a powerful commercial reason.
Katherine Jackson was granted temporary guardianship Monday of Jackson's three children. A judge held off on requests to control the children's estates, and gave her limited control over her son's troubled, but lucrative finances.
As it turns out, the pressures and demands of political life have inflicted devastating damage not only on the Ensign and Sanford families, but on the families of many of the 71 other freshmen who formed the vanguard of the Republican Revolution.
As President-elect Barack Obama prepares to announce his choice for education secretary, there is mystery not only about the person he will choose, but also about the approach to overhauling the nation’s schools that his selection will reflect
There's going to be a major debate over the next three weeks," Obama said in Warren, Mich., deviating from his prepared text on new spending for community colleges. "And don't be fooled by folks trying to scare you saying we can't change the health care system. We have no choice but to change the health care system because right now it's broken for too many Americans."
Obama, the first African American nominated by a major party, is looking not only to win the presidency but also to produce a popular vote majority, which no Democrat has done since 1976, when Jimmy Carter won 50.1 percent.
That control has all but dissolved in the leak-centric world of Washington.
“I’m not sure he’s playing with a full deck anymore,” Mr. Jacobs said. “I think he brought a lot of this on himself. He’s so gifted, but so flawed in a number of fundamental areas. It’s like he dared the feds to come get him.”
"We've experienced great trials before," Obama said. "And with every test, each generation has found the capacity to not only endure, but to prosper — to discover great opportunity in the midst of great crisis. That is what we can and must do today. And I am absolutely confident that is what we will do."
Stiglitz was born in Gary, Indiana, to Jewish parents, Charlotte and Nathaniel Stiglitz. From 1960 to 1963, he studied at Amherst College, where he was a highly active member of the debate team and President of the Student Government. He went to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for his fourth year as an undergraduate, where he later pursued graduate work. His undergraduate degree was awarded from Amherst College. From 1965 to 1966, he moved to the University of Chicago to do research under Hirofumi Uzawa who had received an NSF grant. He studied for his PhD from MIT from 1966 to 1967, during which time he also held an MIT assistant professorship. The particular style of MIT economics suited him well - simple and concrete models, directed at answering important and relevant questions.[1] From 1969 to 1970, he was a Fulbright research fellow at the University of Cambridge. In subsequent years, he held professorships at Yale University, Stanford University, Oxford University and Princeton University. Stiglitz is now a Professor at Columbia University, with appointments at the Business School, the Department of Economics and the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), and is editor of The Economists' Voice journal with J. Bradford DeLong and Aaron Edlin. He also gives classes for a double-degree program between Sciences Po Paris and Ecole Polytechnique in 'Economics and Public Policy'.[2] Stiglitz is generally considered to be a New-Keynesian economist.
In addition to making numerous influential contributions to microeconomics, Stiglitz has played a number of policy roles. He served in the Clinton Administration as the chair of the President's Council of Economic Advisors (1995 – 1997). At the World Bank, he served as Senior Vice President and Chief Economist (1997 – 2000), in the time when unprecedented protest against international economic organizations started, most prominently with the Seattle WTO meeting of 1999. He was fired by the World Bank for expressing dissent with its policies.[3] He was a lead author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Stiglitz has advised American President Barack Obama, but has also been sharply critical of the Obama Administration's financial-industry rescue plan.[4] Stiglitz said that whoever designed the Obama administration's bank rescue plan is “either in the pocket of the banks or they’re incompetent.”
The mayor of the Salt Lake City suburb of Murray says he has little choice but to shave his nearly foot-long handlebar mustache for charity. Dan Snarr is putting the decision to a vote of residents and says his fashion statement is "getting creamed." "People are voting 'shave.' It's a way to get back at an elected official," said Snarr, who has sported the waxed mustache for three years but now is resigned to shaving.
They shouldn't have said yes. Clearly, Obama was not about to pull the trigger, which would have sent tens of thousands of autoworkers straight into unemployment. Politically, he would have had no choice but to cough up the $4.5 billion loan the feds just gave Chrysler with or without a debt settlement. The political pressures that have always operated on this Democratic president are still there and still in play.
Climate change is being felt first in the Arctic regions, which explains why Alaska is warming at twice the rate of the rest of the country, and could warm by as much as 13 degrees Fahrenheit in the next 50 years. That will melt sea ice and severely affect already endangered species like the polar bear and the walrus. And warming could ruin the state's valuable fisheries — as sea temperatures warm, the habitat for cold-water fish like salmon and trout could all but disappear in Alaska and the Pacific Northwes
Maloney, a New York City Democrat, is thinking about making a try for the Senate seat now held by Kirsten Gillibrand. Generally, people who are contemplating a race for higher office try to convey the impression that they’re bowing to popular demand so intense that the drumbeat has become all but deafening.
Therefore, the country that uses this crisis to make its population smarter and more innovative — and endows its people with more tools and basic research to invent new goods and services — is the one that will not just survive but thrive down the road.
It's no secret that Bernie Madoff doesn't have many friends right now. In fact, newspapers can't seem to write his name without describing him as "disgraced." But what might come as a surprise is that his wife, Ruth, may be even more of a social pariah—not for what she's done, but rather for her silence regarding her husband's tremendous fall from grace.
That designation complicates a petition by Jackson’s mother Katherine to become the administrator of his lucrative, but debt-encumbered estate.
Officials described the operation — dubbed Khanjar, or "Strike of the Sword" — as the largest and fastest-moving of the war's new phase and the biggest Marine offensive since the one in Fallujah, Iraq, in 2004. It involves nearly 4,000 newly arrived Marines plus 650 Afghan forces. British forces last week led similar, but smaller, missions to clear out insurgents in Helmand and neighboring Kandahar province.
In Britain, everyone has health insurance. In the U.S., some 45 million do not, and nor are they entitled to any health care at all, unless they can get themselves to an emergency room. Hospitals are prohibited from turning away anyone who will be endangered by being refused treatment. But even in emergency rooms, people without health insurance may receive less health care than those with insurance. Joseph Doyle, a professor of economics at the Sloan School of Management at M.I.T., studied the records of people in Wisconsin who were injured in severe automobile accidents and had no choice but to go to the hospital. He estimated that those who had no health insurance received 20 percent less care and had a death rate 37 percent higher than those with health insurance. This difference held up even when those without health insurance were compared with those without automobile insurance, and with those on Medicaid — groups with whom they share some characteristics that might affect treatment. The lack of insurance seems to be what caused the greater number of deaths.
Dissension within Democratic ranks over President Barack Obama's health care initiative all but paralyzed the House Friday, typifying just how many political land mines are littering the path to enactment.
She was so overcome with grief she could do nothing but weep.
There is no hope but by prayer.
But for the excessive humidity, it might have been a pleasant da
As long ago as 1982, the economist Mancur Olson made the argument, in The Rise and Decline of Nations, that as a democracy matures, special interests grow more entrenched. Their intense dedication to their own specific needs, Olson wrote, often trumps the broader, but less focused, interests of society
There is no shortage of opinion on how Obama should regain the upper hand. Most analysts in Washington think he has almost, but not quite, missed the chance to get a bill passed and therefore must use all the persuasive powers of the presidency to get his legislative effort back on track.
The speech's timing also suggests that top Democrats have all but given up hope for a bipartisan breakthrough by Senate Finance Committee negotiators. The White House had given those six lawmakers until Sept. 15 to draft a plan, but next week's speech comes well ahead of that deadline.
So much for bipartisanship. Wyoming Republican Mike Enzi, another participant in the Finance Committee talks, has all but abandoned the notion of reaching a deal with the Dems. With Grassley bailing out too, the only Republicans who might side with the Democrats now are Maine's Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins - though their GOP street cred is undercut by the fact that they were also the only current Republicans to vote for Obama's economic-stimulus package. Some Democrats now wonder whether Grassley had been toying with them - and particularly his good friend Baucus - from the start. One joked that Baucus needs to see the movie He's Just Not That into You.
Obama held the 10th and final meeting of his Afghanistan strategy review since mid-September on Monday night. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said the president left the war council meeting without announcing a decision to the group or to aides, but that no more meetings are planned.
Of course, all of this can fade in a heartbeat, but there is plenty of pressure on the Saints to keep going. With Minnesota just a game back at 10-1 (and with its only loss coming against AFC opponent Pittsburgh), the Saints may have no choice but to push to go undefeated if they want to assure home-field advantage in the playoffs. That feat is possible with their remaining schedule: Atlanta, Dallas, Tampa Bay, Carolina and Washington left.
The two big concessions that were made in the Senate were unfortunate, but not fatal. The original bill would have created a new public plan to compete with private ones. That was replaced with a likely weaker alternative: a couple of private plans that would be supervised by an obscure government agency that administers heath benefits for federal employees. The reform package should include a public plan, but the absence of one is not a good reason to vote against the bill.
Embattled Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd was all but forced to quit, and North Dakota Sen. Byron Dorgan also ditched his re-election effort in the face of a difficult race. Dodd's announcement Wednesday may actually save the Democrats' hold on his seat — the party quickly recruited a stronger candidate — but Dorgan's retirement may cost the party a seat in his Republican-leaning state. And that would mean the loss of a critical 60th vote in the Senate.
In full campaign mode, his voice rising, the president all but claimed victory, declaring to a cheering audience in Virginia, "We are going to fix health care in America."
The results show what a rough road the dynamic but increasingly isolated Sarkozy has ahead of him between now and 2012. Nationwide strikes are planned Tuesday by some of those who punished his party Sunday: train drivers angry over pension reforms that are a pillar of his presidential policy, and teachers angry over job cuts. Meanwhile, he faces new challenges from a popular green movement and a reinvigorated extreme right.
“His experience is the most important thing,” Benoit said. “He wants to go out and play ball like he did a few years back and it’s exciting to see a guy his age still do it. Like any other player, he has lapses, but his experience is the main thing, not only for the younger Americans coming here to play but for the younger Japanese too.”
But an investigation by The New York Times casts doubt on the official version of events and instead indicates that Haitian authorities shot unarmed prisoners and then sought to cover it up. Many of the bodies were buried in an unmarked grave.
181. By any conceivable metric
Roosevelt's innovations dramatically changed the character of American society. They deeply shaped the life trajectory of the so-called Greatest Generation, as well as the fates of millions born well after the Depression passed. It was no coincidence that African-American aspirations for full citizenship, denied for a century, were substantially realized at last in that context of stable economic health and almost giddy national self-confidence. By any conceivable metric, the New Deal's reforms were a success, as gauged by the conspicuous upward social mobility of several postwar generations of both genders and all races and ethnicities.
The House bill and a similar bill in the Senate would require virtually all Americans to carry health insurance with specified minimum benefits or pay a penalty. They would require all but the smallest businesses to provide and subsidize insurance that meets minimum standards for their workers or pay a fee for failing to do so.
The only way to really dry up their support, though, is for the Arab and Muslim modernists to actually implement better ideas by producing less corrupt and more consensual governance, with better schools, more economic opportunities and a vision of Islam that is perceived as authentic yet embracing of modernity. That is where “our” allies in Egypt, Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan have so consistently failed. Until that happens, the Islamist radicals will be bankrupt, but not out of business.
Get ready for a closeup: your next job interview might be on webcam. Looking to save time and money, companies are turning to video-chat software as a cheap, low-hassle way to vet job candidates. That means a growing number of people looking for work are meeting their prospective new bosses not at the office but in the comfort of their own home
Ihe lone survivor, the Stinson Seafood plant here in this eastern Maine shoreside town, shuts down this week after a century in operation. It is the last sardine cannery not just in Maine, but in the United States.
182. By choice
No one told me to come; I'm here by choice.
183. By comparison
At 11-0, the Saints are tied with Indianapolis for the best record in the league, one game ahead of Minnesota. But anyone who saw New England play Indianapolis on Nov. 15 will tell you that what the Saints did to the Patriots was scary good by comparison.
184. By extension
Housing is a critical component to the U.S. economy and by extension the availability of credit
185. By virtue
Why? Because Cheney is a man of conviction, has a record on which he can be judged, and whatever the result, there could be no ambiguity about the will of the people. The best way to settle arguments is by having what we used to call full and frank exchanges about the issues, and then voting. A contest between Dick Cheney and Barack Obama would offer us a bracing referendum on competing visions. One of the problems with governance since the election of Bill Clinton has been the resolute refusal of the opposition party (the GOP from 1993 to 2001, the Democrats from 2001 to 2009, and now the GOP again in the Obama years) to concede that the president, by virtue of his victory, has a mandate to take the country in a given direction. A Cheney victory would mean that America preferred a vigorous unilateralism to President Obama's unapologetic multilateralism, and vice versa.
186. cabal
"Espionage is quite precisely it—a cabal of powerful men, working secretly" (Frank Conroy).
187. Cagy/cagey
Perhaps most painful, how could John McCain, one of the cagiest survivors in contemporary politics—with a fine appreciation of life’s injustices and absurdities, a love for the sweep of history, and an overdeveloped sense of his own integrity and honor—ever have picked a person whose utter shortage of qualification for her proposed job all but disqualified him for his?
a cagey reply to the probing question.
188. caddie
Tiger Woods' caddie said he'll be the one handling Tiger's clubs this year at the Masters
189. cadre
In the aftermath of the November election, the conventional wisdom among Palin’s supporters in the Republican establishment was that she should go home, keep her head down, show that she could govern effectively, and quietly educate herself about foreign and domestic policy with the help of a cadre of experienced advisers.
They hoped to form a cadre of veteran party members.
a cadre of corporals who train recruits.
190. calculus
Malaria TBVs can be problematic, and not just because none has been perfected yet. People would have to step forward to receive a vaccine that would not make them immune to malaria; they would instead become part of a growing web of people who would eventually push the parasite out of circulation. That complicates the risk-benefit calculus. Every vaccine, after all, can have side effects - in some cases, the possibility of contracting the disease itself. Typically, people are willing to accept that danger because they want the immunity. The AnAPN1 vaccine has been tested in human blood only in the lab, and while it's effective there, no one knows if it causes any negative reactions in people.
191. calibrate
She showed she could calibrate her remarks for predominantly black audiences too, opening up a bit more about what Obama's election would mean for them—and what it would also mean for her, referring to herself as "the little black girl from the South Side of Chicago."
Obama carefully calibrates approach to Iran
U.S. officials say Obama is intent on calibrating his comments to the mood of the hour.
Trying to tamp down an uproar over race, President Barack Obama said Friday he used an unfortunate choice of words in commenting on the arrest of black scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. and could have "calibrated those words differently."
a sales strategy calibrated to rich investors.
He calibrated the polling procedures to ensure objectivity.
192. Calibration
Many of us have been dissatisfied with the legalistic calibrations of the Obama administration’s response to Iran, which have been disproportionate to the sweeping events there. We’ve been rooting for the politicians in the administration, like Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who have been working for a more sincere and heartfelt response.
193. Calisthenics
Sit-ups, trunk twists, and other calisthenics are demonstrated on the videotape.
Politicians have extraordinary shoulder joints that enable them to pat themselves on the back, and last week the president, a master of that calisthenic, performed it in the Rose Garden. His subject -- aside from himself, as usual -- was the bill by which Congress authorized the Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco. The president called this "a bill that truly defines change in Washington" and "changes the way Washington works and who Washington works for."
194. callous
They have a callous attitude toward the sufferings of others.
195. callow
a callow young man.
196. cantankerous
a cantankerous, argumentative man.
If there had ever been any hope for a truly bipartisan health-care bill this year, it came in the person of one cantankerous and quirky Iowan. For months, much to the consternation of many of his fellow Republicans, Charles Grassley, the ranking minority member on the Senate Finance Committee, had continued to negotiate behind closed doors with chairman Max Baucus and four other members of the panel. No Republican received more TLC from Barack Obama, who has met with Grassley three times at the White House and called him three times more just to keep in touch.
197. Cap
Capping a long day and a consuming political journey, President Barack Obama celebrated the passage of health care legislation with hugs, high fives and an emboldened attitude. Said the president to the nation, "Tonight, we answered the call of history."
198. capsule
In a brief capsule, here are some of their key complaints:.
a capsule report
An appendix to the book contains biographical capsules of the contributors.
199. carcinogenic
Before the surgeon general declared tobacco addictive (1988) and carcinogenic (1964), before a character in a 1906 O. Henry story asked, "Say, sport, have you got a coffin nail on you?" people intuitively understood that inhaling smoke is unhealthy.
200. case
Chief Justice Earl Warren is the classic case of a justice who defied the expectations of his sponsors and, indeed, the president who chose him, Dwight D. Eisenhower. Warren was the three-time governor of California, the Republican vice presidential nominee in 1948, and a prospective challenger for the GOP presidential nomination in 1952. Instead, he endorsed Eisenhower, and was promised appointment to the first opening on the Supreme Court.
Sailing in such a storm was a case of poor judgment.
a case of conscience
This family is a hardship case.
The police studied the case of the missing jewels.
She had a severe case of chicken pox.
In any case, there won't be any necessity for you to come along.
In case I am late, don't wait to start dinner.
In case of an error in judgment, the group leader will be held responsible.
He should in no case be allowed to get up until he has completely recovered from his illness.
A case in point was the collision of a cyclist with a pedestrian crossing the designated bike path. [Mid-1700s]
Obama's selection for agriculture secretary, former Iowa governor Tom Vilsack (D), is another case in point. Vilsack's nomination was cheered by groups representing big agricultural interests, which praise him for his support of biotechnology and subsidies for corn-based ethanol. "He understands the reality of producing food and energy today," said Craig Lang, president of the Iowa Farm Bureau. "I think he'll try to strike a chord somewhere in the middle."
201. cast
Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a former president, has cast himself in a new light: as a player with the authority to interpret Iran’s ideals.
She cast her eyes down the page.
Casting health care overhaul as a legacy for the American people and failure as politically unthinkable, President Barack Obama on Sunday rallied Senate Democrats to deliver on their party's half-century quest to expand the social safety net by providing access for all.
202. catalyst
After all, this is a player who was released by San Diego, with his career in doubt, after a serious throwing shoulder injury at the end of the 2005 season. If that was the nadir of his pro career, it also was the catalyst for his move to New Orleans, where he’s has been such a smashing success that fans have lightheartedly compared him to a savior by giving him the nickname, Breesus.
203. cauldron
a cauldron of conflicting corporate politics.
As long ago as 1982, the economist Mancur Olson made the argument, in The Rise and Decline of Nations, that as a democracy matures, special interests grow more entrenched. Their intense dedication to their own specific needs, Olson wrote, often trumps the broader, but less focused, interests of society. And that was before the rise of cable news and talk radio. It was before the utterly corrupting effect of televised advertising on politicians really kicked in - the need to raise money (from interest groups, mostly) and to exercise extreme caution lest one of your votes be used to decapitate you in a 20-second ad. It was before the Democrats and Republicans transformed themselves into more strictly ideological parties. Put all these factors in the cauldron and you create a poisonous atmosphere that makes legislative action on big issues almost impossible. It is also a prescription for conservative governance of the sort that has thrived since Ronald Reagan. Doing nothing is the easiest thing
204. Center of gravity
In China, Obama will glimpse world's new center of gravity
205. Chafe
They note that she has had frequent and regular meetings at the White House with the president, pointing to private sessions with both Obama and Vice President Joe Biden in the Oval Office scheduled for just an hour after her speech on Wednesday.
But they acknowledge that she has chafed under the limitations imposed by her injury, which notably caused her to miss important multilateral confere
He chafed his shoes on the rocks.
Her collar chafed her neck.
To chafe cold hands.
To chafe cold hands.
The horse chafed against his stall.
He chafed at their constant interruptions.
The work was going very slowly, and he began to chafe at the bit.
If Snowe balks, the ultimate Senate bill may need a lower price tag or other changes to attract a few other Republicans, such as Ohio's George Voinovich, who is retiring. Liberals would chafe at such concessions
He chafed at their constant interruptions.
206. champion
And it's bad news for an already beleaguered Republican Party. Just five years ago, the GOP thought it had begun a conquest of the Hispanic vote, but it saw its share of that electorate plunge 13 points in last year's presidential election, when Obama persuaded Hispanics that they could trust a liberal black candidate to champion their interests after all.
207. chance
Asked on FOX News Sunday whether the House of Representatives and Senate would meet a target and pass a bill before the August recess, he said, "I think the chances are high."
I'll have to chance it, whatever the outcome.
She chanced on a rare kind of mushroom during her walk through the woods.
I met her again by chance in a department store in Paris.
It chanced that our arrivals coincided.
I'll wait on the chance that she'll come.
Chances are good that you will win. Is there any chance of rain?
208. Chagrin
Another top aide expressed chagrin that a single element in the president's sprawling health-care initiative has become a litmus test for whether the administration is serious about the issue.
209. challenge
At the White House, Obama called the vote historic, and said because of it, "we are incredibly close to making health insurance reform a reality in this country. Our challenge now is to finish the job."
210. Change
Although the national debate over health care has been heated, there was little to no change from November in the public's attitudes on the proposals being discussed — 44 percent oppose them while 36 percent support them. And only half the country approves of Obama's handling of the issue.
211. changeling
212. Charge
But Republicans charge that his proposals to extend coverage to uninsured Americans and create competition for private insurance providers are too expensive, especially as deficits go up.
213. Charter
A father and his 9-year-old son at the center of a five-year custody battle on two continents are spending Christmas together at an undisclosed location.
Sean Goldman and his dad, David Goldman of Tinton Falls, N.J., landed in Orlando on a private jet chartered by NBC. They reunited earlier in Rio de Janeiro, ending an epic battle that pitted Sean's father against the boy's Brazilian stepfather, who had cared for Sean since his mother died last year.
214. chasm
OK, maybe we’ll buy that. But at a time when the term “statement win” is vastly overused, this game actually qualified. On Monday, the Saints laid waste to the Patriots, putting on an offensive and defensive performance that made the gap between them and most of the rest of the NFL a chasm.
215. Checkered
a checkered past
the checkered shade beneath trees
a checkered career
a checkered fabric
216. Chord
All of that has struck a chord with Lucy R. Moreno of Houston, 70
His story struck a chord of pity in the listeners.
217. Churn
Just like that, Justice John Paul Stevens is on his way out, and the Supreme Court replacement machine has begun to churn.
Read more: h
218. Circumvent
Both Republican and Democratic presidents have made recess appointments, which circumvents the Senate's authority to confirm nominees, when they could not overcome delays. President George W. Bush made more than 170 such appointments in his two-term presidency. President Bill Clinton made nearly 140.
to circumvent the real issues.
He circumvented capture by anticipating their movements.
219. co-recipient
Varmus, who was a co-recipient of the Nobel Prize for his research on the causes of cancer, served as National Institutes of Health director during the Clinton administration. A former medical professor at the University of California, San Francisco, he helped found the Ralph Lauren Center for Cancer Care and Prevention and chairs a scientific board at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
220. chore
Solving the problem was quite a chore.
221. Cipher
Palin is a cipher by choice. When she chooses to reveal herself, what she reveals is not always the same thing as the truth. Her singular refusal to have in-depth conversations with the national media—even Richard Nixon and Dick Cheney, among the most saturnine political figures in modern American history, each submitted to countless detailed interviews over the years—has compounded the challenge of understanding who she really is. There has been Hollywood talk that Palin could star in a reality-TV show about running Alaska, but nothing has come of it yet. Recently, Palin did star in a week-long seriocomic feud with David Letterman over some of his borderline jokes. Meanwhile, she has begun sharing insights several times a day on Twitter, with chipper reports on her own doings and those of her husband, Todd, and the rest of what she calls the “first family.” “Look forward to today’s staff discussion re: my 3rd justice appt to highest court in 3 yrs. Supreme Court truly effects AK’s future,” reads one. And another: “Picking up my handsome little man to rtrn to Juneau, Trig got 1st haircut so my little hippie baby’s ready for AK sunshine on his shoulders.”
222. Circle
It is a full circle experience: The powerless (the slaves) left Africa, and the powerful ( the likes of Obama and other black eminences are coming back).
223. clad
Throughout this week, photos of a bikini-clad Kate Gosselin and her eight children in Bald Head Island, North Carolina have been circulating.
224. clicked with
“He clicked with Obama,” one outside adviser said. “If you think about it, their sort of cool, distant styles are alike.”
225. climax
Obama's effort signaled the climax of a yearlong duel over his premier domestic priority, with the outcome still uncertain. Democratic leaders hope to muscle the overhaul package through Congress by month's end or sooner over what is expected to be unanimous Republican opposition, teeing up a pivotal issue for the November congressional elections.
226. clamp
House votes to clamp limits on Wall Street bonuses
There were too many tax loopholes, so the government clamped down.
clamp down on
227. Clear
Although Davydenko has been cleared of any wrongdoing by the ATP, he spent the last two years answering questions about his integrity.
Federer said he was impressed that Davydenko was able to play through all the rumors and still stay at the top of his game.
“To be able to continue playing this well by being asked always the same stupid questions must not have been very easy for him,” Federer said. “So I respect him not only for that, but obviously for the player he is.
“He finally beat me today. I wish him all the best for the final.
228. Climb-down
China will delay a controversial policy to force manufacturers to install mandatory filtering software on all new computers, state news agency Xinhua said on Tuesday.
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's climb-down on the mandatory installation of the "Green Dam Youth Escort" filter comes just a day before the order was due to come into effect.
The software was designed to block objectionable material including pornography, but the policy stoked opposition among industry groups, human rights organizations and foreign governments amid fears it could strengthen government efforts to censor politically sensitive information.
"Agreeing to give up their arms and to yield control of Tripoli represented a major climb-down" (Jim Muir).
229. Clipboard
Secret Service spokesman Jim Mackin said officers at the checkpoint had a clipboard with names of the invited guests. Even though the Salahis names weren't on it, they were allowed to proceed. The officers should have called either someone on the White House staff or Secret Service personnel before allowing them past the checkpoint, Mackin said.
230. cliffhanger
Senior Democrats predicted a cliffhanger when the House is expected to vote Sunday night, saying they are likely to clear the 216-vote threshold for final passage by the narrowest of margins. Democratic leaders huddled in the office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) late into the evening, reviewing the final list of commitments.
231. Close
A bipartisan group of senators is closing in on a health care compromise that omits key Democratic priorities but seeks to hold down costs, as lawmakers on both sides of the Capitol struggled Tuesday to deliver sweeping health legislation to President Barack Obama.
232. Clout
Liberal activists say there's no point in the Democrats winning the House, Senate and White House unless they use their clout to enact the major measures that Obama campaigned for — with or without some Republican support.
233. coalesce
As previously reported, Mr. Baucus is not calling for a government-run insurance plan, or “public option,” to compete against private insurers. Instead, his committee’s group of negotiators has coalesced around the idea of forming nonprofit, member-owned insurance cooperatives in the states.
234. cobble
The health care reform bill that Senate Democratic leaders have cobbled together to win support from all 60 members of their fractious caucus — the filibuster-proof majority needed to ensure passage — has drawn scornful attacks from a united Republican opposition. It is causing anguish among liberals who fear too much has been given away to a handful of conservatives
235. Coextensive
" Last week, the Supreme Court disagreed, 5-4. Chief Justice John Roberts, joined by Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, noted that in 1986 the court, in a case arising from ''lewd and indecent'' student speech, did not conduct a ''substantial disruption'' analysis. Instead, that court held that, ''in light of the special characteristics of the school environment,'' the rights of students ''are not automatically coextensive with the rights of adults in other settings.'' And in another case, the court has recognized an ''important -- indeed, perhaps compelling'' public interest in deterring drug use by children."
236. Coincidentally
It is common for opponents of health care rationing to point to Canada and Britain as examples of where we might end up if we get “socialized medicine.” On a blog on Fox News earlier this year, the conservative writer John Lott wrote, “Americans should ask Canadians and Brits — people who have long suffered from rationing — how happy they are with central government decisions on eliminating ‘unnecessary’ health care.” There is no particular reason that the United States should copy the British or Canadian forms of universal coverage, rather than one of the different arrangements that have developed in other industrialized nations, some of which may be better. But as it happens, last year the Gallup organization did ask Canadians and Brits, and people in many different countries, if they have confidence in “health care or medical systems” in their country. In Canada, 73 percent answered this question affirmatively. Coincidentally, an identical percentage of Britons gave the same answer. In the United States, despite spending much more, per person, on health care, the figure was only 56 percent.
237. combined
But many House Democrats expressed deep reservations about the Senate bill. Those complaints, combined with the message sent by the Massachusetts electorate, apparently were sufficient to leave Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her lieutenants reluctant by Tuesday night about moving in that direction.
238. Come by
Not long ago, low-interest student loans were as easy to come by as a pass to get out of gym class. But the economic downturn and ensuing credit crunch put an end to that. As relatively cheap, private bank and federally backed loans became harder to come by, some colleges, vocational schools, and online institutions filled the void by lending directly to students like Bailey. Loans from traditional sources like Student Loan Marketing Corp., commonly known as Sallie Mae, fell by more than 50 percent from 2007–08 to 2008–09 after years of rapid growth, according to the College Board. (Article continued below...)
How did he ever come by so much money?
239. Comity
Its implementation will lead to the successful resolution of dispute after dispute and usher in a new and unprecedented period of worldwide comity.
comity of nations
240. commensurate
Still, even the Obama administration’s more self-directed approach could have unintended consequences. Some compensation experts believe government regulations requiring executives to more clearly disclose their salaries and other forms of pay had the side effect of actually raising executive pay, since competing executives were more easily able to compare themselves to other CEOs and demand a commensurate salary.
Your paycheck should be commensurate with the amount of time worked.
241. commiserate
"Of all of the parts of the immigration system, more money has flowed into the border enforcement part of the system than by far in any of the rest of it. Any leader or new group of leaders needs to ask if we are getting the payoff that is commiserate with the investment," Meissner said.
Obama conceded his words had been ill-chosen, but he stopped short of a public apology. He personally telephoned both Gates and Sgt. James Crowley, hoping to end the rancorous back-and-forth over what had transpired and what Obama had said about it. Trying to lighten the situation, he even commiserated with Crowley about reporters on his lawn.
They commiserated with her over the loss of her job.
She commiserated over their failure.
242. companion
Obama's young presidency received a much needed boost from passage of the legislation, which would touch the lives of nearly every American. The battle for the future of the health insurance system — affecting one-sixth of the economy — galvanized Republicans and conservative activists looking ahead to November's midterm elections.
A companion package making a series of changes sought by House Democrats to the larger bill, which already passed the Senate, was approved 220-211. The fix-it bill will now go to the Senate, where debate is expected to begin as early as Tuesday. Senate Democrats hope to approve it unchanged and send it directly to Obama, though Republicans intend to attempt parliamentary objections that could change the bill and require it to go back to the House.
243. compare
Fully 58% of those polled said they would be optimistic and confident or at least satisfied and hopeful if Sen. Obama were to be elected, compared to 46% who said that about a McCain victory
An NBC/Wall Street Journal poll this past week put Republican popularity at near historic lows. Just 26 percent in the survey viewed the party positively, compared with 68 percent for President Barack Obama, despite the economic crisis and sharp GOP criticism of his $3.8 trillion budget plan.
In some good news for Obama, more people said the country is heading in the right direction, 46 percent compared with just 38 percent last month. And the increase is evident among Republicans, Democrats and independents.
Dekker's plays cannot compare with Shakespeare's.
Their development compares poorly with that of neighbor nations.
Two concert halls that just do not compare.
a musician beyond compare
244. compendium
It was, rather, a compendium of spending plans, proposals, and fantasies that suddenly and thrillingly had been let loose from the drawing board on which they had languished for so long—the outward explosion of the pent-up desires of liberal legislators. President Obama himself made that clear when he spoke to Democratic legislators during the fractious Senate debate on the bill:
a compendium of medicine
a compendium of their complaints
245. compromise
Labor unions are also cheering Franken's arrival. During his campaign, Franken voiced strong support for a top priority of organized labor, a bill that would make it easier for workers to form unions. Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin, the lead Democrat working on a compromise version of the bill, has predicted it would get a vote in the Senate once Franken was seated.
246. compunction
"This is something that could change the security landscape in this country and around the world for years to come," Obama said. "If there was ever a detonation in New York City, or London, or Johannesburg, the ramifications -- economically, politically and from a security perspective -- would be devastating. We know that organizations like al Qaeda are in the process of trying to secure nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction and would have no compunction at using them."
247. Con artist
We need to make some fundamental changes in the way we do things in this country. The gamblers and con artists of the financial sector, the very same clowns who did so much to bring the economy down in the first place, are howling self-righteously over the prospect of regulations aimed at curbing the worst aspects of their excessively risky behavior and preventing them from causing yet another economic meltdown.
248. conceit
The truth is that we have learned almost nothing about the use of fiscal stimulus since the Great Depression, and it is a fatal conceit to assume that we can hurriedly construct a fiscal policy that will produce the prescribed results today. Economists seem to admit this fact by advocating what they prefer anyway, for political or ideological reasons. I would feel better about stimulus if Elmendorf were clamoring for permanent tax cuts and Feldstein for food stamps.
He jotted down the conceits of his idle hours.
249. conceivably
Even though Obama has set all-time highs for money raised, TV ads run, campaign staffers hired and probably paper clips used, the turnout Tuesday will determine who wins. The Dispatch Poll, like most surveys this year, shows more self-identified Democrats than at any time in the recent past. If they or Obama's other core supporters -- women, blacks and young voters -- don't show up at the polls, McCain conceivably still could pull it off.
250. Conclusively
“Based on statements of eyewitness observers, observations made at the location of Candice Berner's death, physical characteristics of the two wolves killed, and the proximity of the two wolves to the location of Candice Berner's death, I conclude that it is highly likely that these wolves killed Candice Berner,” state Fish and Game biologist Lem Butler said.
The animals were to be forensically examined to determine conclusively if their teeth match the bite marks found on Berner's body. Officials also plan to compare DNA samples.
251. confident
"After discussions with senior White House and congressional staff this afternoon, we are confident that our concerns will be resolved and the bill strengthened."
252. confluence
the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers
St. Louis is at the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers.
"A confluence of negative events conspired to bring down bond prices" (Michael Gonzalez).
253. Congenital
“Steve Schmidt has a congenital aversion to the truth,” Scheunemann said. “On two separate and distinct occasions, he speculated about about Governor Palin having post-partum depression, and on the second he threatened that if more negative publicity about the handling of Governor Palin emerged that he would leak his speculation [about post-partum depression] to the press. It was like meeting Tony Soprano.”
"the congenital American optimism that denies conflicts and imagines all stories having happy endings" (Robert J. Samuelson)
254. conjure
Years after cracking the very code of the Web to lucrative ends, Google may be in the midst of trying to conjure the most complicated algorithm yet: to wit, can goodness, or at least a stated intention not to be evil, scale along with the enterprise?
to conjure a miracle.
She seemed to have conjured up the person she was talking about.
to conjure up the past.
I conjure you to hear my plea.
She tried to conjure away the doubts that beset her.
"Arizona conjures up an image of stark deserts for most Americans" (American Demographics).
True, Eric Cantor, the second-ranking House Republican, offered some mild criticism after the fact. But the operative word is “mild.” The signs were “inappropriate,” said his spokesman, and the use of Hitler comparisons by such people as Rush Limbaugh, said Mr. Cantor, “conjures up images that frankly are not, I think, very helpful.”
255. connectivity
A few hours later, I took off from Hong Kong’s ultramodern airport after riding out there from downtown on a sleek high-speed train — with wireless connectivity that was so good I was able to surf the Web the whole way on my laptop.
a phone company that offers excellent Internet connectivity.
connective remarks between chapters
256. Conniption
The far-right extremists have gone into conniptions.
He had a conniption fit over the question of my marriage to Fred
257. conscript
Healthy young people who might prefer not to buy insurance at all will probably be forced to by a federal mandate. That is all to the good. When such people get into a bad accident or contract a serious illness, they often can’t pay the cost of their care, and the rest of us bear their burden. Moreover, conscripting healthy people into the insured pool would help reduce the premiums for sicker people.
a conscript soldier.
258. conspicuous
GM chairman Rick Wagoner became the most conspicuous casualty of that decision, forced out Sunday as the White House indicated Detroit must make management and other changes if it hopes to survive — and that the Obama administration will have a hands-on role in those changes.
The Williams sisters were conspicuous by their absence on Sunday when Italy completed a shutout of the United States to win its second Fed Cup title in four years.
259. Consternation
For months, much to the consternation of many of his fellow Republicans, Charles Grassley, the ranking minority member on the Senate Finance Committee, had continued to negotiate behind closed doors with chairman Max Baucus and four other members of the panel.
260. context
Russia has been struggling with different modes of "modernization" at least since Peter the Great. In the 1980s, Gorbachev took up the mantle of democratic modernization, introducing multi-candidate elections, ending censorship and permitting some private ownership, among other changes. He was a courageous leader willing to confront powerful opposition, entrenched interests and orthodoxy. Yet even great leaders, particularly in a democratic context, rarely complete their own historic reforms. Gorbachev could only go so far as to open doors long closed by Soviet communism and the Cold War and give his country and the world new alternatives.
261. constrictions
Fear caused a sudden constriction in my chest.
These constrictions account for some of the strange decisions that Obama has made in shaping the health-care debate. Since most people like the health care they have, the President has been forced to say, "If you like the health care you have, you can keep it." But it is difficult to enact substantive reforms when 80% of the system stays the same. The need for simplicity has also forced Obama to stick with - indeed, to double down on - the current practice of having employers provide health insurance. This is the weakest, most illogical part of the system. It is difficult to sustain in a global economy where American corporations have overseas competitors that aren't saddled with providing health care for their employees.
262. Continued
The continued outreach to Republicans, meanwhile, is testing Democrats' unity. This week, more than 50 House Democrats issued a letter saying: "Any bill that does not provide, at a minimum, for a public option with reimbursement rates based on Medicare rates — not negotiated rates — is unacceptable."
263. Contortion
His account of the incident was a complete contortion of fact.
264. Contour
Veteran lawmakers -- including Obama's campaign opponent, Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain -- have lamented Kennedy's absence from the Senate during this year's health care debate and speculated how his presence might have by now helped forged consensus on the contours of a plan.
265. conundrum
Do you think life is long enough to let me speculate on conundrums like that? --W. Black.
"the conundrum, thus far unanswered, of achieving full employment without inflation" (Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.)
266. contrary
"Despite false claims to the contrary, the Senate bill will not provide taxpayer funding for elective abortions," said the letter signed by 60 leaders of women's religious orders. "It will uphold longstanding conscience protections and it will make historic new investments ... in support of pregnant women. This is the real pro-life stance, and we as Catholics are all for it."
The latest look at the public option comes from the Congressional Budget Office, the nonpartisan economic analysts for lawmakers.
It found that the scaled back government plan in the House bill wouldn't overtake private health insurance. To the contrary, it might help the insurers a little.
by contraries
That’s not all. Deflation is a painful process, which invariably takes a toll on growth and employment. So Greece won’t grow its way out of debt. On the contrary, it will have to deal with its debt in the face of an economy that’s stagnant at best.
On the contrary, there may be some who would agree with you.
I believe he is innocent, whatever they may say to the contrary
267. contrast
In both states, 58 percent of the sample cited the economy as the leading issue affecting their vote -- nearly six times as many as named any other issue. The Wisconsin number represents a significant shift from the seven-point advantage the Quinnipiac poll showed for Obama in the Badger State in the third week of September. It also stands in contrast to other recent poll data, including a CNN/Time poll done earlier this month, that showed Obama leading 51 percent to 46 percent.
Contrast the political rights of Romans and Greeks.
In his own testimony before the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission last week, Rubin took no responsibility for his record, as Clinton Treasury secretary, in opening the floodgates of deregulation that would fatten his wallet in his post-Washington migration to Citigroup. Nor did he own up to his role as a proselytizer for increased risk at that mammoth bank, where the bad bets would ultimately require a $45 billion taxpayers’ bailout. Rubin maintains that he had no significant operational responsibility as chairman of Citigroup’s executive committee — a role that paid him well over $100 million while there. But as Roger Lowenstein writes in his new book, “The End of Wall Street,” Rubin’s responsibilities did include writing a letter to shareholders in early 2007 for the Citigroup annual report. In sharp contrast to Jamie Dimon’s contemporaneous letter to shareholders at JPMorgan Chase — which darkly confronted potential “negative scenarios” from “recent industry excesses” — Rubin glossed over any gathering clouds.
268. convergence
269. convenience
This link references a third party World Wide Web site. Microsoft is providing this information as a convenience to you. Microsoft does not control this site and has not tested any software or information found on these sites; therefore, Microsoft cannot make any representations regarding the quality, safety, or suitability of any software or information found there. There are inherent dangers in the use of any software found on the Internet, and Microsoft cautions you to make sure that you completely understand the risk before retrieving any software from the Internet.
The caricature of Sarah Palin that emerged in the presidential campaign, for good and ill, is now ineradicable. The swift journey from her knockout convention speech to Tina Fey’s dead-eyed incarnation of her as Dan Quayle with an updo played out in real time, no less for the bewildered McCain campaign than for the public at large. It is an ironclad axiom of politics that if a campaign looks troubled from the outside the inside reality is far worse, and the McCain-Palin fiasco was no exception. As in any sudden marriage of convenience in which neither partner really knows the other, there were bound to be bumps. Palin had been on the national Republican radar for barely a year, after a cruise ship of conservative columnists, including The Weekly Standard’s William Kristol, had stopped in Juneau in 2007 and had succumbed to her charms when she invited them to the governor’s house for a luncheon of halibut cheeks. McCain had spent only a couple of hours in Palin’s presence before choosing her, and she had pointedly failed to endorse him after he clinched the nomination in March. The difficulties began immediately, with the McCain team’s delivery of the bad news that the pregnancy of Palin’s daughter Bristol, which was already common knowledge in Alaska and had been revealed to the McCain team at the last minute, could not be kept secret until after the Republican convention.
a shelter for the convenience of travelers.
270. core
At its core, the new law would expand health care to 32 million who lack it while cracking down on the insurance industry and cutting federal deficits by an estimated $143 billion over a decade. Most of the bill's estimated $938 billion cost for coverage would pay for assistance to help families with annual incomes of up to $88,000 pay for insurance, although small businesses also would receive subsidies as in incentive to cover their employees.
271. Corral
The Ohio Democrat opposed the bill when the House voted on it last year. But he has been lobbied hard by the president himself, as Democratic leaders try to corral the 216 House votes they need to approve the nearly $1 trillion package.
"difficult for congressional leadership to corral a majority of votes" (Don J. Pease).
272. Correspondingly
Part of the reason for the slow-motion recovery is the depth and nature of the recession that preceded it. A Federal Reserve study of the past three recessions found that employment, income, spending, stock prices, home values, and wealth all fell much more sharply during the 2007-2009 recession than after the downturns of 2001 or 1991. Loan delinquencies and bankruptcies, correspondingly, rose much faster. That leaves a lot of damage to repair.
273. coterie
The narrative that the McCain campaign employed to explain Palin’s selection and to promote her qualifications—that she was a fresh-faced reformer who had taken on Alaska’s big oil companies and the corrupt Republican establishment, governing with bipartisan support—was never more than superficially true. In dozens of conversations during a recent visit to Alaska, it was easy to learn that there has always been a counter-narrative about Palin, and indeed it has become the dominant one. It is the story of a political novice with an intuitive feel for the temper of her times, a woman who saw her opportunities and coolly seized them. In every job, she surrounded herself with an insular coterie of trusted friends, took disagreements personally, discarded people who were no longer useful, and swiftly dealt vengeance on enemies, real or perceived. “Remember,” says Lyda Green, a former Republican state senator who once represented Palin’s home district, and who over the years went from being a supporter of Palin’s to a bitter foe, “her nickname in high school was ‘Barracuda.’ I was never called Barracuda. Were you? There’s a certain instinct there that you go for the jugular.”
274. count
The resolution — and the resulting vote of the IAEA's 35-nation decision-making board — were significant on several counts.
The resolution was endorsed by six world powers — the U.S., Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany — reflecting a rare measure of unity on Iran. Moscow and Beijing have acted as a traditional drag on efforts to punish Iran for its nuclear defiance, either preventing new U.N. Security Council sanctions or watering down their potency.
275. Countenance
You should not have countenanced his rudeness.
Bank regulators were willing to countenance those kinds of risks because their main charge was keeping banks healthy and profitable. A separate consumer agency would presumably be much tougher. It would also probably curtail financial innovation and keep some Americans from getting loans — as banking groups, who like the consumer agency idea least of all the Obama proposals, are already arguing. But that's not necessarily a bad thing. It's hard to imagine the financial crisis of the past two years being anywhere near as damaging if lenders had simply been banned from extending home loans to people who couldn't afford to repay without either selling their houses or rolling over into new loans. So maybe this one bold change will be enough.
a sad countenance
He was somewhat out of countenance at the prospect of an apology.
276. Counterpart
Although geneticists and evolutionary biologists agree that the Y chromosome is degenerating -- and far more rapidly than its X counterpart -- they reject the idea of a world far in the future where men are obsolete.
Our president is the counterpart of your prime minister
277. counter
The two men sat down after last year's election to make changes, aware that the anti-immigrant Dobbs' image ran counter to the brand CNN was trying to create. CNN calls itself the network of unbiased reporting compared to conservative commentators on Fox and liberal ones at MSNBC. Since then, Dobbs has been doing a relatively straight newscast, Klein said.
278. Counterintuitive
The direction we had to follow was counterintuitive—we had to go north first before we went south.
279. countervailing
It’s not just comforting but essential to have sane countervailing voices like Demos to remind us that government action is necessary to plan for the common good, to set proper rules for economic activity and to be a bulwark against predatory practices in the private sector.
280. Course
"We will be working closely with the White House over the course of the next weeks, with a view of trying to pull together ... a piece of legislation that we hope could get the 60 ( Senate ) votes necessary to pass" and avoid a filibuster, Kerry said.
281. Credence
That was then. In August, Grassley - who is up for re-election next year - held town halls and constituent meetings in 30 counties. While the sessions never got as raucous as they did in some other parts of the country, Grassley's constituents turned out by the thousands to tell him how little they thought of his efforts back in Washington. One sign in the small town of Adel read "Thank God Patrick Henry Did Not Compromise." Over the course of the recess, Grassley began sounding less like a potential Obama ally and more like the enemy army. When the Iowa Senator actually gave credence to the absurd notion that the House version of the legislation might allow the government to decide when, in his words, to "pull the plug on Grandma," Democrats decided he was past the point of any hope. And then came Grassley's late-August coup de grÂce, a campaign fundraising letter. "The simple truth is that I am and always have been opposed to the Obama Administration's plans to nationalize health care," Grassley wrote. "Period
282. credited
Karl Rove, who is widely credited as the mastermind behind President Bush's election victories in 2000 and 2004, predicts that Democratic nominee Barack Obama will win Tuesday's election with 338 electoral votes while Republican John McCain garners 200.
283. credo
But the legislation is only one step in a long process. And just as it is too soon to write the final chapter of the history of Roosevelt's New Deal or Gorbachev's perestroika, it is too early to judge Obama's reforms. Leaders, activist groups and citizens must continue the fight to improve the health-care legislation's protections and fix its flaws.
In urging that the struggle continue, I recall the words spoken by a Russian writer in 1986, after listening to Gorbachev express his vision of perestroika and the opposition to it: "If not now, when? If not us, who?" Those words should be our credo.
284. cronyism
285. crosscurrent
Still, the NYT tells us, there are crosscurrents in how people feel about health care in general and how they feel about their own coverage. Those give us a sense of where opponents are likely to take their argument in the coming months--and why President Obama keeps reassuring Americans that if they like what they have, they can keep it.:
a crosscurrent of dissent
sociopolitical crosscurrents.
286. Crossover
If there are too many Democratic defectors or too few Republican crossovers, the Democratic reign as a governing party may be short-lived. The mid-term defeat of 1994 could be repeated (though that might also require that the “green shoots” of economic recovery, which White House economic adviser Larry Summers says he has spied, fail to materialize.)
287. crucible
"Macroeconomics . . . was cast in the crucible of the Depression" (Peter Passell).
Forget about the Hundred Days of 1933, the legendary crucible in which F.D.R.'s anti-Depression strategy was supposedly forged. The legislative frenzy of that fabled springtime gave a stricken nation a valuable psychological boost, but many of its initiatives did not survive the Depression decade. F.D.R.'s greatest achievements came later. Their essence can be summed up in a single word: security.
288. crunch
My guess is that the public option is a bargaining chip that will be cashed in to gain support from moderate Republicans and Democrats as crunch time approaches. The real battle, and the fate of this liberal dream, will be fought over what gets covered and who decides.
The administration's policy seems to crunch the economy in order to combat inflation.
When the crunch comes, just do your best.
289. cry
In a statement, Reid said the emerging compromise "includes a public option and will help ensure the American people win in two ways: one, insurance companies will face more competition, and two, the American people will have more choices."
It wasn't clear what he meant by a "public option" — the Medicare expansion or another element.
Either way, it's a far cry from what liberals had in mind when they envisioned the government competing directly with private insurers to offer health coverage to uninsured or self-employed Americans.
290. crystallize
Perhaps nothing crystallized President Barack Obama's determination to press forward on health-care legislation more than the 10 letters he reads each day from ordinary Americans
291. culminate
It said the theft of the Bernanke checkbook became part of a wide-ranging identity-theft investigation by the US Secret Service and US Postal Inspection Service which had been previously underway.
Newsweek said the probe culminated in a series of arrests, criminal complaints, and indictments brought by federal prosecutors in Alexandria, Virginia.
he argument culminated in a fistfight.
292. curry
The unorthodox arrangement could present ethical concerns for Sen. Clinton if foreign governments believe they can curry favor with her by helping Giustra's far-flung mining operations, or if they fear that restricting his activities would damage their relations with her.
293. Curtain
The Obama administration threw open the curtain on years of Bush-era secrets Monday
294. Curtsy
So while the president has to juggle the politics, Michelle Obama's job is in some ways more subtle and just as complicated. France’s first lady, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, was judged recently on her curtsy before the Queen, and back in the day, Jackie O.’s outfits and her command of the French language were closely scrutinized.
295. Cusp
At the White House, Obama swiftly welcomed the breakthrough, saying, "After a nearly century-long struggle, we are on the cusp of making health care reform a reality in the United States of America."
Yet Obama has undoubtedly created a different climate in Washington -- one based on reasonable discussion and debate -- and expressed a desire to work with the international community, as he has eloquently articulated in his speeches abroad. On national security, the president has largely made decisions through thoughtful consideration of the different perspectives rather than the stubbornly instinctive decisions of his predecessor. On the environment, his administration represents a radical change from the Bush era and has resurrected important regulations that were dismantled by the previous president. Despite criticism that health care reform has been watered down by industry interests and political deal-making, the very fact that the issue is being taken seriously in the Oval Office after years of inertia and is on the cusp of insuring millions of low-income Americans is, in itself, a victory.
on the cusp of a new era.
296. Cut no ice
Sarah Palin is a star in Evansville and all the many Evansvilles of America, but there is a big part of the Republican Party—the Wall Street wing, the national-security wing—in which she cuts no ice.
Her father's position cuts no ice with me
297. cylinder
The 29-year-old has been firing on all cylinders of late and netted a hat-trick last weekend in the Diavolo’s 4-0 thrashing of Serie A basement side Siena to take his tally to six goals in his last three appearances and nine overall this season.
298. Day and age
It’s also nice, in this day and age
299. deadline
The Transportation Department extended the deadline Monday for auto dealers to submit their Cash for Clunkers deals, giving them more time to make sure they get repaid under the popular $3 billion government rebate program.
Dealers now have until noon on Tuesday to submit the necessary paperwork, after the deadline was pushed back from 8 p.m. EDT Monday. All sales under the program were still scheduled to end Monday evening.
300. Deal breaker
The proposal he referred to would, for the first time, offer government-sponsored coverage to middle-class families, as an alternative to private health plans. By some estimates, it could reduce premiums by 20 percent or more — making it much more affordable to cover the estimated 48 million people who don't have health coverage.
It could also be a deal breaker for broad , bipartisan agreement.
The proposed financing between the prospective investor and the entrepreneur could be a deal breaker.
301. dearth
For nearly two years, Obama's political inner circle took great pride in the dearth of public reports about personnel moves, fundraising numbers and staff friction inside his campaign. When Obama announced his choice of Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (Del.) as his running mate, he did it via a text message to supporters. When the campaign announced that Pritzker, finance director Julianna Smoot and her team had raised $150 million in September, it came in an e-mail from reclusive campaign manager David Plouffe.
302. Death Knell
The Suffolk poll also confirmed a fundamental shift in voter attitudes telegraphed in recent automated polls that Democrats had dismissed as unscientific and the product of GOP-leaning organizations.
And it signaled a possible death knell for the 60-vote Senate supermajority the president has been relying upon to stop Republican filibusters and pass not only his health care overhaul, but the rest of his legislative agenda heading into crucial mid-term elections this fall.
303. debt-laden
UEFA opened its ruling executive meeting on Tuesday with officials set to discuss delayed preparations for the 2012 European Championship and new rules to curb spending by debt-laden European football clubs.
304. decennial
As the U.S. census nears its final stages, the government is preparing for possible debacles that could derail its $15 billion head count, from mass identity theft and lawsuits to homeowners who refuse to answer their doors.
Census Bureau documents, obtained by The Associated Press, underscore the highly fragile nature of the high-stakes population count before the government dispatches some 700,000 temporary workers to visit homes, beginning in May.
The preparedness efforts are not entirely new. Previous censuses had contingency plans in place, at least conceptually, and the Census Bureau has never failed to meet its constitutional mandate of delivering population counts by Dec. 31 each decennial year.
305. Decrepit
There is no formula for undermining a decrepit regime. And there are no circumstances in which the United States has been able to peacefully play a leading role in another nation’s revolution. But there are many tools this nation has used to support indigenous democrats: independent media, technical advice, economic and cultural sanctions, presidential visits for key dissidents, the unapologetic embrace of democratic values, the unapologetic condemnation of the regime’s barbarities.
A decrepit man who can hardly walk.
a decrepit stove
306. deduct
Rangers were deducted three points for using six foreign players—the limit is five—in a league match on Nov. 8. The three points cost them relegation to the second division, and last week they appealed the case to a Chilean court.
307. de-facto
These de-facto laws are called "midnight rules" or "midnight regulations" because they happen at the end -- or midnight period -- of an administration. If the rules are published in the Federal Register by Friday, Nov. 21, they'll be very hard for President-elect Obama to reverse when he gets into office.
Although his title was prime minister, he was de facto president of the country.
Although his title was prime minister, he was de facto president of the country.
Although the school was said to be open to all qualified students, it still practiced de facto segregation.
308. Deferential
Despite the occasional ribbing, the president is actually quite deferential to the man he mostly calls "Professor Summers."
When President Barack Obama lands here Sunday night in China's largest city, he'll find many of its 20 million people intrigued by him and welcoming, but hardly deferential, and some openly skeptical of his promises of change.
309. deference
"Well, the only advantage you have in my case is that I have a 17-year record that I think demonstrates how I approach the law, and the deference I give to the other branches of government."
310. defraud
Pistons guard Richard Hamilton says he feels "violated" amidst charges his former manager defrauded him of $500,000.
311. decertification
The Boston Globe’s Marc Spears first reported Nochimson’s decertification and alleged impropriety in June.
312. deem
The absentee ballots in question were all rejected on or before Election Day, but later deemed to be incorrectly disqualified.
He did not deem lightly of the issue.
He deemed it wise to refuse the offer.
deemed the results unsatisfactory
In his confirmation hearings, Souter endorsed the concept of originalism, which holds that the Constitution should be followed according to the intent and the words of the men who wrote it. That was the philosophy of no less a conservative than Robert H. Bork, whose nomination to the Supreme Court had been rejected three years before by senators who deemed him too dogmatic and hard right.
313. deference
“Her every ensemble will be front page news and endlessly interpreted and decoded,” said Patricia McDonald, a London-based editor for the Michelle Obama fashion blog, www.Mrs- O.org. “Will she break out a new wardrobe, or in deference to the economy, recycle her greatest hits?”
314. Degree
In a report released earlier this week, Global Witness claims that multinational companies are furthering a trade in minerals at the heart of the hi-tech industry that feeds the horrendous civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). (Global Witness is the same nongovernmental organization that helped expose the violence that plagues many of the sources of diamonds.) However, the accused companies, with varying degrees of hostility, deny any culpability, saying Global Witness oversimplifies a complex economic process in a chaotic geopolitial setting. (See pictures of diamonds set on onyx and black enamel.)
315. Deliberate
"We have been bold or deliberate as circumstances demanded, but our objective remains constant: to restore a more stable financial and economic environment in which opportunity can again flourish, and in which Americans’ hard work and creativity can receive their proper rewards,” Bernanke said in brief remarks.
316. De Jure
In the American South, racial segregation was de jure, but in the North, it was de facto.
317. dereliction
Pawlenty added: "I'm not going to defy an order of the Minnesota Supreme Court. That would be a dereliction of my duty.
318. Destined for
Kent Redfield, a professor of political science at the University of Illinois at Springfield, said Mr. Blagojevich had clearly come into office believing he was destined for bigger things, and may have been tripped up by that ambition.
319. Destiny
It was just another one of those impossible scenes that became reality for the strange soccer team that now finds itself on the brink of destiny by believing in itself when it had no right to.
320. debt-to-income ratio
The result: "more significant drops in sales, prices and construction," Moody says. If so, more folks will be checking out the government's new foreclosure prevention plan, especially if your debt-to-income ratio is above 31 percent, and your mortgage is more than your home is worth.
321. Defray
Also with Coale’s help, Palin formed the grandiosely named Alaska Fund Trust, to defray a reported half million dollars in legal expenses arising from a slew of formal ethics complaints against her in her home state—prompting yet another formal complaint, that the fund itself constitutes an ethical breach
The grant helped defray the expenses of the trip.
Two weeks ago, the pharmaceutical industry offered some $80 billion in prescription discounts over the next decade to help defray the cost of healthcare reform proposals.
322. Destitute
North Korea will find it increasingly difficult to trade arms due to U.S. moves and U.N. sanctions to punish it for a May nuclear test, but those measure will not end the weapons exports the destitute state relies on for foreign currency, experts said.
destitute of children.
323. Dicey
Last year Sen. John McCain plucked Palin from near-obscurity to be his running mate. The folksy governor remains a potent figure in Republican politics, although her resignation could make a potential 2012 campaign even more dicey. If she chooses to run, she'll enter a race with questions about her strategy as well as her experience.
an extremely dicey future on a brave new world of liquid nitrogen, tar, and smog" (New Yorker).
he Democrats, no surprise, have different ideas. In fact, party leaders are ready to write Grassley and the Republicans out of their plans for action in September and October. "If we can't do a bipartisan bill, we can do a partisan bill," says Senate majority leader Harry Reid. That may be harder than it looks. Though Democrats control Congress, it takes 60 votes to get past a filibuster in the Senate; with the death of Ted Kennedy, they have only 59. And holding the Democrats' own ranks is getting dicier, given the sinking poll numbers for both Obama and his health-reform effort - particularly among women and voters over 65, who worry that Washington's fixes will only hurt the quality of the care they've got. (See more about health care.)
324. dictum
It violated the Rahm Emanuel dictum that “you never want a serious crisis to go to waste” and could yet prompt a serious political backlash.
325. Diffident
But in a recent interview with Fox News, the president sounded diffident and nervous about his economic policy. He spoke vaguely about possible tax incentives for job creation. But “it is important though to recognize,” he went on, “that if we keep on adding to the debt, even in the midst of this recovery, that at some point, people could lose confidence in the U.S. economy in a way that could actually lead to a double-dip recession.”
326. Dilatory
Reid might ask the Senate parliamentarian to rule that the sheer number of amendments is aimed at slowing a process designed to expedite legislation. A parliamentarian has never decided that question. Should he conclude that the amendments are dilatory, Republicans could challenge the ruling but would need a majority of votes to win — virtually impossible under these circumstances.
327. Diligence
The study, Faced with a Gun, What Can You Do?, raises questions about the involvement of nearly 240 companies spanning the mineral, metal and technology industries. It specifically fingers four main European and Asian companies as open buyers in this trade: Thailand Smelting and Refining Corp. (owned by British Amalgamated Metal Corp.), British Afrimex, Belgian Trademet and Traxys. And it questions the role of others further down the manufacturing chain, including prominent electronics companies Hewlett-Packard, Nokia, Dell and Motorola. Even though the companies may be acting legally, Global Witness criticizes their lack of due diligence and transparency standards at every level of their supply chain.
328. dire
in dire need of food
The American economy remains in dire straits, with one worker in six unemployed or underemployed. Yet Goldman Sachs just reported record quarterly profits — and it’s preparing to hand out huge bonuses, comparable to what it was paying before the crisis. What does this contrast tell us?
dire predictions about the stock market
dire economic forecast
dire poverty
329. disingenuous
Her excuse was rather disingenuous.
330. disentangle
"It's hard to know how they could disentangle this interest from her duties as secretary of state," agreed Michael J. Smith, a University of Virginia politics professor.
331. dislodge
Real Madrid’s ambitious plan to dislodge Barcelona from the perch of world soccer begins with the start of the La Liga season, where an exciting title contest between classic rivals is likely to have all eyes focused on the Spanish league this year.
332. Dismorphic disorder
333. disparate
If Obama’s belief system was fairly consistent, his public persona was not. Remnick returns repeatedly to the notion that Obama is a “shape-shifter,” with a remarkable ability to come across differently to disparate constituencies. Some of that reflects his agility at shifting rhetorical gears when, say, speaking to a living-room gathering on Chicago’s Near North Side or at a black church — a talent not unknown to some white politicians, starting with Bill Clinton. But much of this has less to do with Obama’s performance style than with how various audiences respond to his complex, hard-to-pigeonhole poly-racial-cultural-geographical identity. As far back as 2004 — when Obama was still in the Illinois Senate — a writer at The Chicago Tribune, Don Terry, framed what remains the prevailing Obama takeaway to this day. “He’s a Rorschach test,” Terry wrote. “What you see is what you want to see.”
334. dissed
I do think Maloney has a right to feel dissed considering that the guy in Long Island was personally pressured by the president while she just got a call from Joe Biden.
"[The network] is often dissed for going after older, less demographically desirable viewers" (Michael McWilliams).
335. Dissenting
"Stevens, dissenting and joined by David Souter and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, argued, plausibly, that Frederick's banner hardly constituted ''promoting'' drug use, or advocacy with likely and ''feared'' consequences. One wonders: How does Stevens square this admirable First Amendment fastidiousness with his tolerance of McCain-Feingold's gross restrictions on political advocacy?" ( High court decisions demand parsing. Chicago_Suntimes.Retrieved July 1, 2007, from http://www.suntimes.com/news/will/450363,CST-EDT-geo01.article).
336. Dither
He can't seem to get out of this dither he's in.
Dick Cheney accused the president of dithering over his strategy for Afghanistan .
337. ditto
More important, my gut tells me that if the U.S. government puts a price on carbon, even a weak one, it will usher in a new mind-set among consumers, investors, farmers, innovators and entrepreneurs that in time will make a big difference — much like the first warnings that cigarettes could cause cancer. The morning after that warning no one ever looked at smoking the same again.
Ditto if this bill passes. Henceforth, every investment decision made in America — about how homes are built, products manufactured or electricity generated — will look for the least-cost low-carbon option. And weaving carbon emissions into every business decision will drive innovation and deployment of clean technologies to a whole new level and make energy efficiency much more affordable. That ain’t beanbag.
o, none of them have any real hope of knocking off the Chargers or Colts. It’s just not going to happen. Really, the only teams that would have had a shot would have been the ever-inconsistent Houston Texans because of quarterback Matt Schaub(notes) and wide receiver Andre Johnson(notes) or maybe the Pittsburgh Steelers if safety Troy Polamalu(notes) had gotten healthy. But the Cincinnati Bengals, Baltimore Ravens, New England Patriots and Jets just don’t have it in them to get to the AFC championship game. The Bengals have the best combination of cornerbacks in Leon Hall(notes) and Johnathan Joseph(notes), but they don’t have the third and fourth corners to stop the Chargers or Colts. Ditto for the Jets, who also don’t have the quarterback (at least not yet). Baltimore is just way too banged up (and way too mediocre) in the secondary. As for New England, go to the nex
338. Diversion
He completed substance abuse counseling as part of a pretrial diversion program to settle those charges. Retrieved July 4, 2007, from http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070704/ap_on_re_us/people_gore_s_son
Movies are his favorite diversion.
a diversion of industry into the war effort.
339. Dodge
Pelosi's decision to have the House hold two votes, one on the Senate bill and one on a separate package of revisions, reversed an apparent plan laid earlier in the week, when Pelosi said she preferred not to force rank-and-file Democrats to cast a separate vote on the unpopular Senate bill. Republicans had accused her of trying to dodge responsibility for health reform, and even some Democrats complained about the move.
340. doorstep
"We're on the doorstep of doing something really meaningful," top White House adviser David Axelrod said in an interview.
341. donning
“It’s going to be a huge challenge and we are committed to winning,” said Ronaldo, donning a Corinthians jersey at a news conference. “I thank Corinthians for giving me this opportunity, for opening their doors and embracing me during my recovery.”
Two days earlier Fisher had caused a stir by showing up at a Nashville-area charity event and donning a Peyton Manning(notes) jersey when introducing Colts coach Tony Dungy, joking, “I just wanted to feel like a winner.”
to don one's clothes.
342. Double dip
The central bank has leeway to keep rates low because inflation is under control and is expected to stay tame because of the economy's weakness. Some private forecasters even fear that the recovery could fizzle late next year as government stimulus fades.
Asked about prospects for such a "double dip" recession, Bernanke said he could not guarantee it won't happen. He stuck with his forecast for a moderate recovery but said a "vigorous snapback" is less likely.
Bernanke said he expects "modest" economic growth next year. That should help push down the nation's unemployment rate — now at 10 percent — "but at a pace slower than we would like," he acknowledged.
343. Downgrade
The main factors behind the downgrade: consumers didn't spend as much, commercial construction was weaker and the nation's trade deficit was more of a drag on growth. Businesses also trimmed more of their stockpiles, another restraining factor.
344. Draconian
Graham has tried to woo other Republicans with warnings that the Environmental Protection Agency will impose draconian regulations if Congress fails to act.
345. Drain
A decade has passed since the U.S. government began returning endangered Mexican wolves to their historic range in the Southwest. It hasn't worked out — for the wolves, for ranchers, for conservationists or for federal biologists.
And that has resulted in frustration and resentment by many involved in the reintroduction program centered along the Arizona-New Mexico border, a landscape of sprawling pine and spruce forests, cold-water lakes and clear streams.
"I believe in being a good steward of the land and preserving it for generations to come, but this is ridiculous," said Ed Wehrheim, who heads the county commission in Catron County, in the heart of wolf country. "I've had ranchers' wives come to me just bawling because everything they and their parents have worked for is going down the drain."
346. Draw
What's the draw? Largely money. Last year, as executives at online retailer Zappos.com looked to cut expenses, they noticed how much the firm spent on travel. In HR alone, it easily cost $1,000 a pop to fly out job candidates and put them up for the night. The firm had used Skype internally, so about six months ago, recruiters started trying it for interviews.
347. drawing-board
Now the last time there was a comparable expansion of the financial safety net, the creation of federal deposit insurance in the 1930s, it was accompanied by much tighter regulation, to ensure that banks didn’t abuse their privileges. This time, new regulations are still in the drawing-board stage — and the finance lobby is already fighting against even the most basic protections for consum
348. Dress rehearsal
The Confederations Cup, in which Brazil rallied past the United States 3-2 in Sunday’s final, was a dress rehearsal for the World Cup and was considered a major success on the field. But Blatter and FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke say the tournament revealed problems that must be resolved in 11 months when the World Cup makes its debut in Africa.
So where in America is there serious consideration of moving away from fee-for-service to a more comprehensive, integrated approach to health care? The answer is: Massachusetts — which introduced a health-care plan three years ago that was, in some respects, a dress rehearsal for national health reform, and is now looking for ways to help control costs.
349. drive
President Barack Obama heads to Grand Junction, Colo., Saturday in his drive to overhaul the health care system.
350. droves
But the average income for the vast majority of Americans actually declined during those years. The standard of living for the average family improved not because incomes grew but because women entered the workplace in droves.
Hugo Chavez and his allies are tightening their grips, forcing the intelligentsia to leave in droves.
351. drumbeat
Obama kept up a steady weekend drumbeat of cheerleading for his health care plan in a campaign-style rally, on the radio and Internet, and on network television. He planned to continue the pace with more events designed to seize control of the health care debate following his address to Congress last week in which he urged Democrats and Republicans to come together.
Senate Republicans have demanded details of the lawyers' past work and Liz Cheney’s group “Keep America Safe” has questioned their “values." A drumbeat of Republican criticism forced the Justice Department reluctantly to identify seven of them last week. But the harshness of the criticism – Keep America Safe labeled a group of them the “Al Qaeda Seven” — has provoke
352. Dual
Graham, a South Carolina Republican, is working with Democratic Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts and independent Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut to craft a climate change bill.
They face the dual challenge of overcoming widespread GOP opposition and withstanding relentless attacks by Big Oil and allied energy interests.
"Our goal is to create a vision that not only will help this planet — which I think is in peril — but will create millions of new jobs for Americans who need them, and help us become energy independent to make us safer," Graham told a crowded Capitol Hill news conference Wednesday.
353. Duh
354. The national Democratic establishment, however, looks at the two of them and sees one who is a prodigious fund-raiser with a proven ability to run in conservative parts of the state and another who is a Manhattan liberal whose last serious race was in 1992. Duh
355. Dual track
British Foreign Secretary David Miliband was stronger, suggesting sanctions could be a next consideration in a statement saying the six powers remained committed to their "dual track" policy — a term alluding to attempts to engage Iran diplomatically but to turn to sanctions should the first track fail.
356. Duplicate
Reformers are planning to finance universal coverage in large part by saving money in the traditional Medicare program, raising the question of whether all beneficiaries will face a reduction in benefits. President Obama insisted that benefits won’t be reduced, they’ll simply be delivered in more efficient ways, like better coordination of care, elimination of duplicate tests and reliance on treatments known to work best.
He duplicated his father's way of standing with his hands in his pockets.
357. dwarf
If I were a senator, I would not vote for the current health care bill," Dean wrote in an opinion piece published Thursday by The Washington Post. "The winners in this bill are insurance companies; the American taxpayer is about to be fleeced in a situation that dwarfs even what happened at AIG."
"Together these two big men dwarfed the tiny Broadway office" (Saul Bellow)
If Greece obtains aid, the package could dwarf past IMF bailouts for Mexico and Argentina. The largest IMF commitment ever made to a country was the $47 billion arrangement for Mexico approved in April 2009 under a so-called flexible credit line; Mexico has not drawn from the credit line.
358. each
In each of the four states, between 71 percent and 75 percent of voters said they watched the second presidential debate in Nashville, Tenn., last Tuesday night. And yet, in each of the four states more than eight in ten voters said the debate did not change their vote.
The Wall Street Journal, citing a confidential document and people familiar with the matter, reported that Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank each got about $6 billion in payments between the middle of September and December last year.
Roger Federer and Andy Murray each took a step closer to a possible showdown in the semifinals with relatively routine victories during third-round matches Monday at the BNP Paribas Open.
Eight of the 13 ballots are from Minneapolis, two are from St. Louis County and there is one each from Dakota, Ramsey and Washington counties, Gelbmann said.
a hallway with a door at each end.
Each had a different solution to the problem.
They cost a dollar each.
They each dress in different styles.
The houses each have central heating.
The House voted Friday to slap restrictions on how Wall Street executives are paid after nine banks that took government bailout money rewarded thousands of their employees with bonuses topping $1 million each.
In a statement, the couple said only, “We will remain friends and supportive of one another’s family.” The statement said they requested privacy for them and their families.
Paris City Council and the French government were set to invest 20 million euros ($29.26 million) each in the project which is estimated to cost 120 million euros.
on and Kate Gosselin better stock up on their #2 pencils -- TMZ has learned the reality parents have each been required to go to a court-mandated parenting class.
Read more: http://www.tmz.com/#ixzz0mIEGXj9C
Los Angeles, California (CNN) -- Actor Randy Quaid and his wife, Evi, spent several hours in the Santa Barbara County, California, jail Monday after they showed up for a hearing on accusations that they defrauded an innkeeper and failed to pay a hotel bill.
A judge set bail at $100,000 each for the actor and his wife, who missed several previous hearing dates, Santa Barbara District Attorney Arnie Tolks said.
The judge did give them each $20,000 credit for a previous bond. After about four hours in jail, they posted the remaining $80,000 each and were freed from jail until another hearing Wednesday, according to the sheriff.
359. earmark
The mayor's statement had all the earmarks of dirty politics.
360. ebb
Mexico swine flu deaths ebb — but caution urged
His life is gradually ebbing
the ebb of a once great club.
His fortunes were at a low ebb.
His life is gradually ebbing.
361. earnest
But after nearly two months, it’s not enough. Only half of those displaced have received even the crudest means of emergency shelter: plastic tarps and tents that will hardly protect them when floods start in earnest next month, and the hurricanes come in June. In hundreds of crowded settlements around the country, like the ones sheltering more than 600,000 in Port-au-Prince, food, water, medical care and security remain spotty.
362. Echo
The echoes of history emerge often as Obama seeks a balance between the practical language of governing and the oratory meant to keep people inspired. Just a few days earlier, he promoted new transportation plans by saying the nation built itself up before, during the Civil War and the Great Depression.
Michelle Obama’s official schedule says she will accompany the president to many of his events – they both will have tea with Queen Elizabeth II, for instance – but she’ll have some solo outings as well. She’ll visit an all-girls school in London where the population is mostly minority and the second language is English — an echo of her work in Washington, DC.
The hall echoed with cheers
Shouts echoed through the street.
The hall echoes the faintest sounds.
a fashion that is an echo of an earlier style.
He found echoes of past civilizations while examining artifacts in the Middle East.
Their demand for justice found an echo in communities across the nation.
Her resignation had echoes throughout the department.
The speaker's words echoed in her mind.
rooms echoing with laughter.
And Kmiec says the president's stances on the Iraq war and healthcare echo Catholic social teaching.
363. eclectic
Obama, who had an eclectic religious upbringing, was drawn to Christianity by Wright's brand of black liberation theology, a '60s-era tradition emphasizing black empowerment.
364. edge
After weeks of secretive talks, a bipartisan group in the Senate edged closer Monday to a health care compromise that omits two key Democratic priorities but incorporates provisions to slow the explosive rise in medical costs, officials said.
Bordeaux edges Montpellier 1-0 in French league
The contestants were on edge to learn the results.
365. Effusive
But after news of Obama’s decision broke on Monday evening, effusive praise for Bernanke began to roll in from the trade groups thatrepresent Wall Street in the nation’s capital.
effusive greetings
an effusive person
an effusive manner
366. egregious
The prime minister is an egregious liar.
367. either
Sources say Dr. Arnold Klein and Dr. Conrad Murray have not turned over the medical records the L.A. County Coroner's office has requested. We're told both doctors have turned over some records, but the coroner's office has not gotten the complete file from either doctor.
British Amalgamated Metal Corp. (AMC) firmly denies the accusations, citing its standing objective to improve visibility so that warring parties do not benefit from trade. "We are disappointed with the number of inaccuracies and omissions in the report and are concerned that all the facts should be properly represented in a balanced way," AMC said. The company statement went on to say, "We are concerned that Global Witness' approach will lead to a de facto ban on the trade which we do not believe is in either the short term or the long term interests of the Congo either economically, politically or socially."
368. eke
My grandfather was a dirt farmer with only a sixth-grade education. During the Depression, he eked out a living selling blocks of ice. But in those days, even though he was poor, he knew someone special: from listening to the fireside chats on the radio, he knew Franklin Roosevelt. And he believed that Roosevelt knew what his life was like — and cared about it too.
They managed to eke out a living by farming a small piece of land.
to eke out an income with odd jobs
369. elicit
The relative struggles of the rich may elicit little sympathy from less well-off families who are dealing with the effects of the worst recession in a generation. But the change does raise several broader economic questions. Among them is whether harder times for the rich will ultimately benefit the middle class and the poor, given that the huge recent increase in top incomes coincided with slow income growth for almost every other group. In blunter terms, the question is whether the better metaphor for the economy is a rising tide that can lift all boats — or a zero-sum game.
to elicit a response with a question
to elicit the truth
370. elusive
The mystery of why women have sex, and what they want out of it, has long been an elusive study—something even Sigmund Freud called "the great question." Researchers have historically theorized that women's motives lie in love and commitment, while newer studies have shown they do it for pleasure, just like men. But women are complicated creatures: their sexual health is determined as much by their emotions as by their physical state, which might help explain why as many as 50 percent of women have trouble getting aroused. Yet while scientists, in recent years, have labored over the "how" of female desire, no major study, until now, has actually asked women to describe why they have sex in the first place.
a fish too elusive to catch.
371. emblem
The Rev. Joel Hunter's resignation as president-elect of the Christian Coalition in 2006 over disagreements about the organization's strictly hot-button agenda turned him into an emblem of a new generation of evangelicals, one that toes the conservative line on abortion but embraces progressive causes like environmentalism.
The olive branch is an emblem of peace.
the emblem of a school
372. embolism
A former Miss Argentina died Sunday after elective surgery on her butt went terribly wrong.
According to several international reports, 37-year-old Solange Magnano suffered a pulmonary embolism after going under the knife Wednesday at a Buenos Aires medical center for a gluteoplasty – a procedure which normally involves placing implants in the buttocks to improve their outline.
Solange -- a wife and mother of 7-year-old twins -- suffered a pulmonary embolism the day after her surgery when liquid injected into her buttocks "went to her lungs and brain."
Read more: http://www.tmz.com/#ixzz0YSAebyPS
373. eminences
In presentation and tone, A Plan for Action is determinedly uncontroversial; indeed, it looks and reads more like a corporate brochure than a foreign-policy paper. The text is the work of three academics—Bruce Jones of NYU, Carlos Pascual of the Brookings Institution, and Stephen John Stedman of Stanford. Its findings and recommendations, they claim, rose from a series of meetings with foreign-policy eminences here and abroad, including former Secretaries of State of both parties as well as defense officials from the Clinton and first Bush administrations. The participation of these notables is what gives A Plan for Action its bona fides, though one should doubt how much the document actually reflects their ideas. There is no question, however, that the ideas advanced in A Plan for Action have become mainstays in the liberal vision of the future of American foreign policy.
philosophers of eminence
374. encroachment
The lawsuit calls this an "unprecedented encroachment on the liberty of individuals." It states the Constitution doesn't authorize such a mandate, the proposed tax penalty is unlawful and is an "unprecedented encroachment on the sovereignty of the states."
375. end
The Pentagon is deploying 21,000 additional troops to Afghanistan in time for the elections and expects the total number of U.S. forces there to reach 68,000 by year's end. That is double the number of troops in Afghanistan in 2008, but still half as many as are now in Iraq.
kindness without end
to walk from end to end of a city
an island at the very end of the world
The journey was coming to an end
The end of her speech had to be cut short because of time.
The happiness of the people is the end of government.
What is to be the end of all this bickering?
He met a horrible end.
Another war would be the end of civilization.
He does his end of the job very well.
The cartons were turned end for end.
He backed the truck until it was end on with the loading platform.
We ended the discussion on a note of optimism.
This was the battle that ended the war.
This passage ends the novel.
A bullet through the heart ended him.
You just committed the blunder to end all blunders.
The road ends at Rome.
He spent two years wandering about the country at loose ends.
I'm at my wit's end with this problem.
The cartons were turned end for end.
He backed the truck until it was end on with the loading platform.
The pipes were placed end to end on the ground.
In the end they shook hands and made up.
The work is demanding, but he's holding his end up.
Let's make an end of this foolishness and get down to work.
Despite her meager income, she tried to make ends meet.
to stand a box on end
They talked for hours on end.
The advent of sound in motion pictures put an end to many a silent star's career.
Baucus has said he hopes the panel can complete work by week's end, although more than 500 amendments were pending to the 10-year, nearly $900 billion bill.
376. engender
"The Kennedy name is synonymous with the Democratic Party. And at times, Ted was the target of partisan campaign attacks," Obama said. "But in the United States Senate, I can think of no one who engendered greater respect or affection from members of both sides of the aisle. His seriousness of purpose was perpetually matched by humility, warmth, and good cheer. He could passionately battle others and do so peerlessly on the Senate floor for the causes that he held dear, and yet still maintain warm friendships across party lines."
377. enmesh
And yet by enmeshing the White House so deeply into G.M., Obama has increased the odds that March’s menacing threat will lead to June’s wobbly wiggle-out.
He was enmeshed by financial difficulties.
378. En route
"Thirty-three years later, at a school-sanctioned event, students were watching the Olympic torch pass through Juneau en route to the 2002 Winter Olympics in Utah. Frederick and some friends, standing across from their school, unfurled a banner reading ''Bong Hits 4 Jesus.''"
Djokovic, who won the ATP World Tour Finals in Shanghai last year, seems to be in the best form heading into this year’s tournament. The third-ranked Serb beat Federer in the Swiss Indoors final early this month, and then defeated Nadal in the Paris Masters semifinals en route to winning the tournament last Sunday.
379. ensnare
Even in broad outline the story of how a small-town mayor became the youngest governor in Alaska history seems improbable. There was her long-shot campaign for lieutenant governor, in 2002, in which she came in second against a veteran state senator in a five-way race; her appointment as chair (and ethics supervisor) of the state’s Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, which oversees drilling and production; and her resignation from that post, charging that a fellow commissioner, Randy Ruedrich, the chair of the Alaska Republican Party, was conducting political business on state time. In a climate where the sitting Republican governor, Frank Murkowski, had become the most unpopular figure in the state, and where the F.B.I. was swarming over Alaska, pursuing the corruption probe that later ensnared the state’s senior U.S. senator, Ted Stevens, Palin seemed like a breath of fresh air.
to ensnare birds.
380. Entertain
Democrats now face decisions on whether to give up on the health care fight – an approach few lawmakers appear willing to entertain – or perhaps pull together a scaled-back measure and use special procedural rules that would eliminate the need for 60 votes in the Senate. But it is not clear how many of the key provisions of the legislation could be passed under such a procedure.
381. entitled
The state of mind visible at recent right-wing demonstrations is nothing new. Back in 1964 the historian Richard Hofstadter published an essay titled, “The Paranoid Style in American Politics,” which reads as if it were based on today’s headlines: Americans on the far right, he wrote, feel that “America has been largely taken away from them and their kind, though they are determined to try to repossess it and to prevent the final destructive act of subversion.” Sound familiar?
382. enthuse
All the neighbors enthused over the new baby.
The liveliness of the dance enthused the audience
She enthused warmly over his performance
383. ephemeron/ephemera
The man stood on the front lawn, cradling his infant son, surrounded by porcelain figures, a playpen, a couch, shoes — the familiar ephemera accumulated in better times.
384. epithet
Black lawmakers said some protesters hurled racial epithets at them, and in one instance, spit upon them.
Observers also said that Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) was heckled with anti-gay epithets inside the Longworth House Office Building.
385. epitome
But it was hardly that in the final weeks. Perry successfully painted Hutchison as the epitome of everything that's wrong with Washington and effectively played to animosity fueling the "tea party" coalition over excessive federal spending. It didn't help Hutchison that their images played into his message: He's down-home Texas, with a swashbuckling style. She's every bit Washington, from her polished appearance to her Senate-tinged vernacular.
386. epitomize
This meadow epitomizes the beauty of the whole area.
387. eponym
"Constantine is the eponym for Constantinople"
388. eponymous
Colin Powell demonstrated his eponymous "Powell Doctrine" of overwhelming force on Sunday when he endorsed Barack Obama on Meet the Press.
389. equanimity
Our future requires a steady, intelligent and, as former Secretary of State Colin Powell said, a "transformational" leader to guide us into a new era. Obama brings deep intellectual curiosity, equanimity and discipline.
390. earmarking
"This poll has all the earmarkings of an electorate that has reached an opinion that Barack Obama would be a good president," Mr. Hart said. "The uncertainties [about Sen. Obama] that were so prevalent early in the year have just melted away."
391. End in sight
The good news is there's an end in sight.
392. equate
"People have come to equate tests with good care and prevention," Redberg, a cardiologist with the University of California at San Francisco, said in an interview Thursday. "Prevention is all the things your mother told you — eat right, exercise, get enough sleep, don't smoke — and we've made it into getting a new test."
393. erstwhile
On the other side is Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani, the erstwhile colleague and now principal antagonist of the rahbar. He has chosen, as he usually does, to stay behind the scenes as a master strategist, leaving the public field to Mir Hossein Mousavi and the other disappointed candidates and their followers.
394. escalate
Rihanna revealed that Chris received a text message from another girl and when she confronted him about it, he lied. As they argued about the text message, the exchange escalated into Chris' violent outburst.
395. essence
In essence, Obama encouraged House leaders to tweak their bill when he embraced several Senate proposals absent from the House version. He also set a 10-year spending target of $900 billion, which may prove hard to meet. House officials said leaders will send to the Rules Committee a modified health bill reflecting some of Obama's newly identified priorities.
In chess, cool nerves are of the essence.
For all his bluster, he is in essence a shy person.
396. evenhanded
Alan Frumin, the parliamentarian, has been appointed by both Democrats and Republicans when each had a Senate majority. There is always grumbling, but both Gregg and Coburn said they believe Frumin is evenhanded. "On this he has to be fair, because the whole country is going to be watching," said Coburn.
397. every
Every single one of you has something you’re good at. Every single one of you has something to offer. And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is. That’s the opportunity an education can provide.
398. exceed
A pair of House Democratic leaders predicted Sunday the final tally on President Barack Obama's historic health care bill will meet or exceed the 216 votes required for passage. But they acknowledged having yet to nail down commitments from a handful of members.
399. Exhaustive
He published an exhaustive study of Greek vases.
One of the reasons so many conservative Republican absurdities became actual U.S. policy was the intellectual veneer slapped upon them by right-wing think tanks and commentators. The grossest nonsense was made to seem plausible to a lot of people — people who wanted to believe in a free lunch. When Mr. Reagan told the country that “government is the problem,” the intellectual handmaidens of the corporate and financial elite were right there to explain in exhaustive detail why that was so.
400. existential
an existential moment of choice.
Do you remember the days when Bush administration officials claimed that terrorism posed an “existential threat” to America, a threat in whose face normal rules no longer applied? That was hyperbole — but the existential threat from climate change is all too real (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/29/opinion/29krugman.html?_r=1)
401. exude
Where Obama exudes the new Washington equanimity, Gingrich exalts in the old-school insult.
402. Even as
Even as some positions were filled with non-entities, the White House left vacant the post of Executive Director for the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.
Let’s start with those paychecks. Last year, the average salary of employees in “securities, commodity contracts, and investments” was more than four times the average salary in the rest of the economy. Earning a million dollars was nothing special, and even incomes of $20 million or more were fairly common. The incomes of the richest Americans have exploded over the past generation, even as wages of ordinary workers have stagnated; high pay on Wall Street was a major cause of that divergence.
Meanwhile the Department of Housing and Urban Development recently began bulldozing thousands of units of New Deal-era public housing over the objections of many local activists, while the Army Corps of Engineers is shoring up existing canals and levees as if the city were going to grow back to its original size — something no sane person believes.
"even as he lay dying they argued over his estate"
Iran's output of enriched uranium is stagnating even as its production capacity increases, a sign that Tehran may be running out of the ore needed to make nuclear fuel, diplomats said Tuesday.
If so, it could mean that international sanctions to slow if not stop Iran's nuclear program are taking hold.
403. Even so
Even so, the fate of New Orleans has yet to be determined. Many of the city’s low-lying areas are as barren now as they were a week after the storm. And it’s still possible to imagine a more sustainable, socially inclusive city, one that could serve as a model as powerful and far reaching as the American subdivisions of the 1950s. For that to happen, however, a range of government agencies would need to work together to come up with a more coordinated plan.
He claimed it contained no garlic, but even so I could taste it.
The main expansion of coverage would not come until 2013 — after the next presidential election.Even so, the political stakes are enormous for Obama and the Democrats as they strive to pass legislation that has proven elusive for years. Republicans are overwhelmingly opposed to the approach they chose, and outside groups on both sides of the issue arranged a heavy dose of television advertising over August.
But suppose we grant that both Goldman and Mr. Hall are very good at what they do, and might have earned huge profits even without all that aid. Even so, what they do is bad for America.
Of particular contentiousness to moderates is a provision for the government to sell insurance in competition with private companies, subject to state approval — a part of Reid's bill expected to come under significant pressure as the debate unfolds.
Even so, their announcements marked a major victory for Reid and the White House in a year-end drive to enact the most sweeping changes to the nation's health care system in a half-century or more.
Obama's approval rating on Afghanistan stands at 52 percent — up a whopping 10 percentage points from November — while the percentage of those who disapprove dropped to 40 percent from 48 percent. Obama has improved his standing among members of both major political parties: 70 percent of Democrats and 39 percent of Republicans now approve of his handling of Afghanistan, increases of 9 and 19 points, respectively, from last month.
Even so, only 39 percent of Americans overall favor the Afghanistan war, while 57 percent oppose it — roughly unchanged over the past six months.
As with most Russian political initiatives, there's a good deal of elite and popular cynicism about the debate, many viewing it as just another struggle over power and property. Even so, it is an important debate because potentially it is also a struggle over Russia's future.
404. evidence
Barack Obama widened his lead considerably over John McCain in four key battleground states during the past three weeks, providing further evidence that the economic crisis has greatly enhanced the Democrat's advantage with just 21 days left before Election Day.
His flushed look was visible evidence of his fever.
He evidenced his approval by promising his full support.
He evidenced his accusation with incriminating letters.
The first signs of spring are in evidence.
Hearsay evidence is not admitted in a trial.
The broken window was evidence that a burglary had taken place.
Scientists weigh the evidence for and against a hypothesis.
evidence of grief on a mourner's face.
405. Evoke
To establish his own legitimacy, Mr. Rafsanjani evoked his long political history.
a short passage that manages to evoke the smells, colors, sounds, and shapes of that metropolis.
songs that evoke old memories.
a novel that evokes the Depression in accurate detail.
His comment evoked protests from the shocked listeners.
406. Example
But Summers's public performances have gotten mixed reviews. He drew criticism this week, for example, for his statements on the bailout of insurance behemoth American International Group. In television network appearances,\\\
The US must move towards a higher-quality, lower-cost system in which best practices are universal – rather than concentrated only in some parts of the country. The administration has therefore put forward initiatives such as health IT, research into what works, prevention and wellness, and changes in provider incentives. We must also change the process of policymaking so that policy can keep pace with a dynamic health market, for example by expanding the role of bodies such as the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission.
407. Exasperated
The Finance Committee’s chairman, Senator Max Baucus, looked exasperated. With that haughty and peremptory manner that they teach in Committee Chairman School, he told Wyden and the world that this idea was not going to happen.
He was exasperated by the senseless delays.
408. Except
The problem is the lending freeze has made getting a mortgage loan tough for everyone except those with sterling credit.
Clinton has been mulling the post for several days, but the comments from the transition aides suggested that Obama's team does not feel she is inclined to turn it down. Clinton spokesman Philippe Reines would not comment, except to say that anything about Cabinet appointments is for Obama's transition team to address.
President Obama’s European tour was a triumph. Among other accomplishments, he and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown managed to secure a commitment from G-20 nations to provide $1.1 trillion to less developed countries, not just to help their battered economies, but to increase global demand. The Financial Times observed that few doubted Obama’s success except for his “conservative critics” at home. (Since so many of them live in an alternate universe, they have difficulty grappling with the realities of this one.)
Democrats, in contrast, haven’t been an effective governing party since the mid-1960s—except for a brief NAFTA-passing, deficit-reducing moment at the dawn of the Clinton years. There have been big progressive ideas pushed through Congress; Ted Kennedy has achieved more than many Presidents. But the hallmark achievement of the Carter Administration, the Camp David Accords between Israel and Egypt, was almost entirely a product of presidential prerogative. Carter’s signature initiative on energy failed—partly due to his delay in proposing it and then because of Democratic dissent in Congress. Clinton’s health care bill came to grief in exactly the same way.
I won’t weigh in on the debate over the quality of the stress tests themselves, except to repeat what many observers have noted: the regulators didn’t have the resources to make a really careful assessment of the banks’ assets, and in any case they allowed the banks to bargain over what the results would say. A rigorous audit it wasn’t.
Despite increasingly intense Republican criticism, and the passage of resolutions in the House and Senate on Friday that were tougher than the president's words, U.S. officials say they will stick to their current course. They say there is not much the United States can do to influence the situation -- except make it worse for the opposition -- but they have begun planning for the administration's response if the crackdown turns very violent.
Oil is a key reason that democracy has had such a hard time emerging in the Middle East, except in one of the few states with no oil: Lebanon. Because once kings and dictators seize power, they can entrench themselves, not only by imprisoning their foes and killing their enemies, but by buying off their people and using oil wealth to build huge internal security apparatuses.
Sanford said she discovered her husband's affair early this year after coming across a copy of a letter to the mistress in one of his files in the official governor's mansion. He had asked her to find some financial information, she said, not an unusual request considering her heavy involvement in his career.
She would not comment on what was in the letter except to say "enough to figure out an affair was going on."
Since the campaign ended, Van Susteren has interviewed Palin twice more, but she says she has never had a conversation with Palin off-camera, except for when Palin called to rescind her acceptance of Van Susteren’s invitation to the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in May, because of the Alaska flooding.
Goldman’s role in the financialization of America was similar to that of other players, except for one thing: Goldman didn’t believe its own hype. Other banks invested heavily in the same toxic waste they were selling to the public at large. Goldman, famously, made a lot of money selling securities backed by subprime mortgages — then made a lot more money by selling mortgage-backed securities short, just before their value crashed. All of this was perfectly legal, but the net effect was that Goldman made profits by playing the rest of us for suckers.
If these lobbying efforts succeed, we’ll have set the stage for an even bigger financial disaster a few years down the road. The next crisis could look something like the savings-and-loan mess of the 1980s, in which deregulated banks gambled with, or in some cases stole, taxpayers’ money — except that it would involve the financial industry as a whole.
The retail sales report also showed signs of strength across almost all sectors, with the exception of furniture and building materials, evidence that household spending was probably mending. It also added to views that the economy was starting to emerge from its worst recession in seven decades.
The top players on the men’s tour are required to play at eight of the nine Master Series events—with Monte Carlo being the exception. And the top eight players of the year also have an extra week by qualifying for next month’s season-ending tournament in London.
Her comments represented a significant departure in tone from her previous statements demanding a total Israeli settlement freeze without exception. Israel has been resisting that demand for months, and has given no indication it would be willing to call a total freeze.
Federal law currently prohibits the use of federal funds to pay for abortions except in the case of rape, incest of situations in which the life of the mother is in danger. That left unresolved whether individuals would be permitted to use their own funds to buy insurance coverage for the procedure in the federally backed insurance exchange envisioned under the legislation.
With one exception, Republicans voted against the legislation when it cleared the House, and the GOP now is girding for a fight in the Senate, where debate on health care is expected to begin within day
It turns out that Chatty Cathy and the United States House of Representatives have a lot in common. Except in Congress' case, it is the biotechnology industry that has been pulling the string.
The House adopted strict limits on abortion funding as the price for the support of anti-abortion Democrats. Abortion rights supporters are now backing Reid's approach, which tries to preserve coverage for abortion while stipulating that federal dollars may not be used except in cases of rape, incest or to save the life of the mother. Catholic bishops say they can't accept that because it would let federally subsidized plans cover abortion.
Nelson has spoken openly of seeking stricter abortion curbs, except in cases of rape, incest or when the life of a mother is in danger. An earlier proposed compromise on that issue — which attempted to separate public from private funds for abortion coverage — won the tentative support of Catholic hospitals. But the National Right to Life Committee objected, dismissing it as an accounting gimmick.
In some poor neighborhoods, a man or woman with a traditional full-time job is the exception, not the rule. In five Midwestern states — Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin and Oklahoma — the jobless rate for blacks is at least three times as high as that for whites.
House leaders were working to secure their votes late Saturday with the promise of an executive order affirming President Obama's commitment to a longstanding ban on public abortion funding except in cases of rape or incest, or to save the life of the mother. Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio), a key antiabortion vote, said she thought the document would be insufficient to bring the entire group of about 10 antiabortion Democrats onboard.
Those who continue to go without coverage will have to pay a penalty to the IRS, except in cases of financial hardship. Fines vary by income and family size. For example, a single person making $45,000 would pay an extra $1,125 in taxes when the penalty is fully phased in, in 2016.
409. exclusion
Americans are concerned about the nation’s economic problems almost to the exclusion of every other issue, and they register the lowest level of national satisfaction ever measured in a Pew Research Center survey.
410. extemporize
He has an air of courtesy and sincerity. Unlike the current occupant of the White House, he has no difficulty in orally extemporizing a series of grammatical English sentences, each containing a main verb.
He can extemporize on any of a number of subjects.
411. extension
But it is not guaranteed that bailing out Greece will save it and, by extension, the euro zone. Hanke worries that even with a bailout, wealthy Greeks and foreign investors will not stop withdrawing their money from Greek banks, from which they have already pulled out billions of euros. In order to get the rest of Europe's support for a bailout, Greece has had to promise to fill in its budget with more tax revenue. But paradoxically, those taxes might cause even more people to flee the Greek financial system, says Hanke. "In effect, with bank runs coupled with capital flights, you would get a collapse in credit in Greece," he says.
412. extol
In a brief prepared speech, he extolled Alaska salmon as “some of the world’s healthiest protein, rich in Democrats in the House and Senate, are planning additional piecemeal benefit extensions, tax breaks and other spending that could eventually add up to as much as $100 billion, say some outside experts. "The fact is that this is a word game. It isn't a discussion of the 'second stimulus,' " says Jennifer Psaki, a White House spokeswoman. "This needs to be an ongoing discussion between the President and his economic team about new ideas and ways to get people back to work."coming, but it just won't be called stimulus. Economic advisers, in concert with senior
to extol the beauty of Naples
413. facsimile
Obama even appeared in a facsimile of the White House Oval Office during the infomercial. Every single line during that 30 minutes was something that the campaign knows works and appeals to those undecided voters.
414. Fair use
The first is a standard motion to dismiss, claiming that McCain’s use of the song was fair use. The campaign’s fair use reading is based on the application of the standard four-factor test that includes the purpose and character of the use of the song (McCain argues it was non-commercial and transformative); the nature of the work (McCain derides the song as old, old, old, with a title that’s an acknowledged cliche); the amount and substantiality of the use of the song (McCain only used the title phrase, and cites a recent judgment against Yoko Ono, who had sought to prevent the unauthorized use of John Lennon’s “Imagine” in a film); and the effect of the use of the song (McCain says that rather than damage the song’s commercial potential, his use “will likely increase the popularity of this thirty year-old song”).
415. fall back
Expectations that the Democrats would fall back on their majorities in the House of Representatives and the Senate to pass the bill were fanned by several media reports late on Tuesday and early Wednesday.
Baucus and many other senators believe a so-called public plan would be unlikely to get the 60 votes needed to advance in the 100-member Senate. Obama has spoken repeatedly in support of a public plan and did so again in his speech, but he also left room for alternatives like the co-op or a fallback option that would trigger the public plan only if private companies weren't offering enough choices.
Some lawmakers think the panel could try to split the difference on the public insurance question. A possible compromise would be to replace the House's public option and the Senate's cooperatives with a "trigger" or "fallback" public plan, which would take effect only if private insurers fail to meet targets for providing affordable policies.
Liberals are furious over the compromises Reid had to make to keep the bill alive. Gone is a government insurance plan modeled on Medicare. So is the fallback, the option of allowing aging baby boomers to buy into Medicare. The major benefits of the bill won't start for three or four years, and then they'll be delivered through private insurance
companies.
The House passed its own version last year, and members assumed it would be reconciled with the Senate bill and then sent back to both chambers for final approval by the narrowest of margins.
A GOP win in Massachusetts on Tuesday would likely kill that plan, because Republicans could block Senate action on the reconciled bill.
The newly discussed fallback would require House Democrats to swallow hard and approve the Senate-passed bill without changes. President Barack Obama could sign it into law without another Senate vote needed.
The negotiators agreed on a fallback position.
416. fame
But every time I start writing that column, something stills my hand. This week it was something very powerful. I watched Greg Mortenson, the famed author of “Three Cups of Tea,” open one of his schools for girls in this remote Afghan village in the Hindu Kush mountains. I must say, after witnessing the delight in the faces of those little Afghan girls crowded three to a desk waiting to learn, I found it very hard to write, “Let’s just get out of here.”
417. Fan
In a surprising rebuke to the warriors who fought for him through tough times, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) on Sunday sided with President-elect Barack Obama and scolded the Republican National Committee for fanning the Illinois corruption scandal
418. Fantasist
The bill passed the House, but would it actually reduce emissions? It’s impossible to know. It contains so many complex market interventions that only a fantasist could confidently predict its effects. A few years ago the European Union passed a cap-and-trade system, but because it was so shot through with special interest caveats, emissions actually rose.
419. far cry
The match was a far cry from the Monte Carlo final two weeks ago, when Djokovic became the only player to take a set from Nadal on clay this year.
420. fault
On Friday, Obama made an impromptu appearance at the daily White House briefing in an effort to contain the controversy. He said he continued to believe that both the officer, Sgt. James Crowley, and Gates had overreacted during the incident, but the president also faulted his own comments.
421. feat
Arranging the treaty was a diplomatic feat.
Bush is presiding over a smooth transition, free from leaks and backbiting. More important, he has delivered a level of policy coordination between outgoing and incoming administrations unprecedented in American history.
This feat is all the more impressive because it occurs at a time of economic crisis—and despite serious ideological divisions between the political parties over how to respond.
The 26-year-old Contador has won all three Grand Tours of France, Italy and Spain—a feat accomplished by only five riders. Armstrong isn’t one of them.
422. fell
The 67-year-old Kim was diagnosed with the cancer around the time he was felled by a stroke last summer, Seoul's YTN television reported, citing unidentified intelligence officials in South Korea and China.
to fell a moose
to feel a tree
423. fine-tune
Pushing to complete a comprehensive health care overhaul plan by Friday and bring it up for committee votes next week, House Democrats abandoned earlier money-raising proposals, including a payroll tax. They met behind closed doors Thursday to fine-tune the details.
to fine-tune the nation's economy.
424. finger
The study, Faced with a Gun, What Can You Do?, raises questions about the involvement of nearly 240 companies spanning the mineral, metal and technology industries. It specifically fingers four main European and Asian companies as open buyers in this trade: Thailand Smelting and Refining Corp. (owned by British Amalgamated Metal Corp.), British Afrimex, Belgian Trademet and Traxys. And it questions the role of others further down the manufacturing chain, including prominent electronics companies Hewlett-Packard, Nokia, Dell and Motorola. Even though the companies may be acting legally, Global Witness criticizes their lack of due diligence and transparency standards at every level of their supply chain.
425. Firestorm
Acting before Brown is sworn in. Congressional and White House negoatiators could try to reconcile the House and Senate bills quickly and pass them before Brown takes office. A firestorm of criticism would follow, but some Democrats say it would be better than having no bill.
When former George W. Bush speechwriter David Frum published a blog post declaring the final vote on health care reform the “Waterloo” of the Republican Party, he drew a firestorm of criticism on the right. He also, it seems, sacrificed his seven-year fellowship at the American Enterprise Institute. The prestigious conservative think tank abruptly dismissed Frum on Thursday from his $100,000-a-year post as an AEI resident scholar.
426. Fit
Once Sonia Sotomayor is confirmed to the Supreme Court, all those hours of predictable questions and cautious replies at her Senate confirmation hearings will be filed and forgotten as she judges the way she sees fit. Nobody can hold her to what she's said.
This water isn't fit for drinking. A long-necked giraffe is fit for browsing treetops.
Anna Burger, chairwoman of the labor coalition Change to Win, on Wednesday linked the health care overhaul to Kennedy's work on social justice issues, saying, "The most fitting tribute to honoring the life and legacy of this great statesman is for Congress to pass quality affordable health care for all this year."
427. Fix-it
428. Fixture
He became such a fixture at the 2,200-student university, he would often hold court in the crowded dining hall.
429. Flagship
In e-mails released by the university and in news reports since May, it became clear that Herman played a key role in what the university called its Category I list — students with political connections whose applications for places at the flagship Urbana-Champaign campus were closely tracked. Some of those applicants were admitted over more qualified ones.
NBC Universal includes the flagship NBC TV network, the Telemundo Spanish-language network, Universal Pictures and theme parks, and about two dozen cable channels such as Bravo and CNBC. Regulators would have to approve the deal, and they are likely to take months to sort out the implications of allowing a company that serves one-fourth of the nation's pay-TV households to take control of a vast content-creation empire.
Getting into the flagship Berkeley could be harder than ever for California residents because it plans to admit more nonresident undergraduates, who pay three times more in tuition.
the flagship of a newspaper chain;
430. Flashpoint
The flashpoint is a proposal that would give Americans the option of buying medical coverage through a government plan. President Barack Obama and many Democrats have endorsed it, as one part of a broader health overhaul. On Saturday, Republicans laid down a challenge.
A 10 percent drop in mortgage rates will produce a flash point in the housing market.
The Mideast has been the flash point for a series of conflicts
The expanded Fed role and the new consumer regulator are likely to be the two main political flash points in the administration's proposal. Many bankers oppose a new consumer protection regulator and many lawmakers in Congress worry the Fed could turn into a too-powerful and independent financial overseer. Friction over those points could slow any major overhaul of banking and market regulations.
When the Obama campaign first crafted its health-care proposal, the creation of a government-sponsored insurance option "was not the most important thing," said David Cutler, a Harvard University economics professor and campaign adviser on health-care issues.
Obama, like Cutler, embraced the concept because it would afford consumers more options, Cutler said.
But while the idea has given conservatives an opening to attack Obama for allegedly supporting government-run health care, "to the left it's become this unholy grail" without which any reforms would be inadequate, Cutler said.
'Could have avoided it'
Richard Kirsch of Health Care for America Now said the idea was destined to become a flash point for the Obama administration as it began the health-care debate.
In this ugly landscape, the White House has come to realize that the President himself is going to have to play a more forceful and direct role - and soon, including an address to a joint session of Congress on Sept. 9. Rather than leaving the legislative sausagemaking up to Congress, allies say, Obama will have to become far more specific about what he wants to see in a bill. He must spell out, for instance, precisely what he means by a public option, an issue that has grown to outsize proportion as an ideological flash point. The President may also need to declare whether he would be willing to sign a bill without one
431. flaw
Why? Because, for all its flaws, this bill is the first comprehensive attempt by America to mitigate climate change by putting a price on carbon emissions. Rejecting this bill would have been read in the world as America voting against the reality and urgency of climate change and would have undermined clean energy initiatives everywhere.
432. Fleece
He fleeced the stranger of several dollars.
a host of clouds fleecing the summer sky
But crashing the economy and fleecing the taxpayer aren’t Wall Street’s only sins.
If I were a senator, I would not vote for the current health care bill," Dean wrote in an opinion piece published Thursday by The Washington Post. "The winners in this bill are insurance companies; the American taxpayer is about to be fleeced in a situation that dwarfs even what happened at AIG."
433. flop
The play flopped dismally
434. flower
"It was really Harry Truman of Missouri who planted the seeds of compassion and duty which have today flowered into care for the sick, and serenity for the fearful," Johnson said.
435. Fluke
He got the job by a fluke.
Forget that the final score of the Confederations Cup final Sunday was Brazil 3, the United States 2. The Americans proved their upset of top-ranked Spain was no fluke, dominating the Brazilians in the first half and giving the five-time World Cup champions a test to the final whistle.
436. fluky
Palin’s victory that November was one of the flukiest successes in modern American politics
437. Flush
It’s a strategy that might work. After all, right now the banks are lending at high interest rates, while paying virtually no interest on their (government-insured) deposits. Given enough time, the banks could be flush again.
The state's real estate catastrophe contributes to the problem as well. Captain Joe Mendez from the South Florida High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA), says operators flush with cash are attracted to the abundance of cheap homes in Florida, particularly in Miami-Dade, which leads the state in foreclosures. While Florida's legitimate economy continues to flail, the HIDTA captain says indoor marijuana is thriving even though law enforcement is arresting more people every year. Says Mendez: "If the economic downturn remains as it is, I don't see any light at the end of the tunnel."
The bottom of the window is flush with the floor.
The table was flush against the wall.
He was feeling flush on payday.
It was set flush against the edge.
The only Jackson who was flush with cash -- Janet -- put her money on the line to cover some of the cost of Michael's funeral, this according to legal documents that were just unsealed.
In the docs, it shows Janet signed an "initial contract with Forest Lawn for mortuary services in the amount of $103,578.50" and paid $49,372.50 of the bill up front.
According to the docs, the special administrators of Michael's estate were granted permission to pay Janet back the $49k and to pick up the remainder of her outstanding tab.
438. flying colors
The Sanfords "passed" the Culbertsons' course with flying colors. A week later, Jenny Sanford asked her husband to leave their home.
439. Fodder
Kennedy’s “you knows” become political fodder
Notably, Bruni-Sarkozy, who had been fodder for British tabs for her racy, rock-and-roll past, was able to sway public opinion in her simple visit with the Queen.
fodder for a comedian's routine.
Two Ohio police chiefs suspected of snooping for tabloid fodder at the home of a surrogate mother for actors Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew
The White House budget office and the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), a non-partisan arm of Congress, release updated economic forecasts and deficit estimates on Tuesday, providing further fiscal fodder to opponents of Obama's nearly $1 trillion healthcare overhaul plan.
440. folksy
The politician affected a folksy style.
The talking heads on cable TV panned President Obama’s Wednesday press conference. You see, he didn’t offer a lot of folksy anecdotes.
441. following
Here, in a few sentences, Obama did the following: He deepened his bond with every dog lover in America. He identified with every household that’s tried to figure out what kind of dog to get. He touched every parent with a kid allergic to pets. He showed compassion by preferring a dog from a shelter. And he demonstrated a dry and slightly politically incorrect wit by commenting that “a lot of shelter dogs are mutts like me.”
That television show has a large following.
See the following for a list of exceptions.
Check the following report for details.
442. Follow suit
Speaker Nancy Pelosi expressed confidence the committee would approve the bill, and said the full House would follow suit in the fall. She also signaled flexibility on key issues, saying that despite her own backing for abortion rights, she would not allow the issue to torpedo legislation.
443. fortuitous
Although these jobs will only last through mid-July, economists say they will provide a fortuitous stream of income to families and act as an employment bridge until summer, when more private employers are expected to ramp up hiring.
444. Founder
The project foundered because public support was lacking.
The loss by the once-favored Democrat Martha Coakley in the Democratic stronghold was a stunning embarrassment for the White House after Obama rushed to Boston on Sunday to try to save the foundering candidate. Her defeat signaled big political problems for the president's party this fall when House, Senate and gubernatorial candidates are on the ballot nationwide.
Built on a former lake bed, the building has foundered nearly ten feet.
Rough seas had foundered the ship in mid-ocean.
445. Footnote
"Last week, after five years and the attention of 13 federal judges, Frederick became a footnote in constitutional history." (High court decisions demand parsing. Chicago_Suntimes.Retrieved July 1, 2007, from http://www.suntimes.com/news/will/450363,CST-EDT-geo01.article)
446. for certain
As Palin has piled misstep on top of misstep, the senior members of McCain’s campaign team have undergone a painful odyssey of their own. In recent rounds of long conversations, most made it clear that they suffer a kind of survivor’s guilt: they can’t quite believe that for two frantic months last fall, caught in a Bermuda Triangle of a campaign, they worked their tails off to try to elect as vice president of the United States someone who, by mid-October, they believed for certain was nowhere near ready for the job, and might never be. They quietly ponder the nightmare they lived through. Do they ever ask, What were we thinking? “Oh, yeah, oh, yeah,” one longtime McCain friend told me with a rueful chuckle. “You nailed it.” Another key McCain aide summed up his attitude this way: “I guess it’s sort of shifted,” he said. “I always wanted to tell myself the best-case story about her.” Even now, he said, “I don’t want to get too negative.” Then he added, “I think, as I’ve evaluated it, I think some of my worst fears … the after-election events have confirmed that her more negative aspects may have been there … ” His voice trailed off. “I saw her as a raw talent. Raw, but a talent. I hoped she could become better.”
447. for good and ill
The caricature of Sarah Palin that emerged in the presidential campaign, for good and ill, is now ineradicable.
448. For starters
This system was a powerful engine of wealth creation and lifted millions out of poverty, but it relied upon the risks to the Market and to Mother Nature being underpriced and to profits being privatized in good times and losses socialized in bad times. This capitalist engine doesn’t need to be discarded; it needs some fixes. For starters, we need to get back to basics — accountable lending, prudent saving, reasonable leverage and, most important, more engineering of goods than just financial products.
449. Fore
It is difficult to overstate the stability of this campaign ever since the events on Wall Street brought a new wave of economic anxiety to the fore.
Kagan came to the fore as a candidate who had worked closely with all three branches of government, a legal mind with both a sense of modesty and sense of humor. The source spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss factors that led to Kagan's impending nomination.
450. Foretell
Moderate Senate Democrats threatened Sunday to scuttle health-care legislation if their demands aren't met, while more liberal members warned their party leaders not to bend.
The dispute among Democrats foretells of a rowdy floor debate next month on legislation that would extend health care coverage to roughly 31 million Americans. Republicans have already made clear they aren't supporting the bill.
451. For fear
A senior executive at one of the nation's largest banks said he had heard from several hedge funds that they would not partner with the government for fear that lawmakers would impose retroactive conditions on their participation, such as limits on compensation or disclosure requirements.
452. forge
A confidant of George W. Bush, evangelical megapastor Rick Warren has forged a surprisingly close relationship with President Obama based on Warren's desire to shed his partisan image and on Obama's strong overtures to white evangelicals, a solidly Republican voting bloc.
Veteran lawmakers -- including Obama's campaign opponent, Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain -- have lamented Kennedy's absence from the Senate during this year's health care debate and speculated how his presence might have by now helped forged consensus on the contours of a plan.
It's not official yet--but it's getting awfully close. With the Senate finally passing an $871 billion healthcare reform bill, there's just one major step left before the most sweeping healthcare legislation in at least 45 years becomes law. Senate negotiators will next meet with their counterparts in the House--which passed its own $894 billion bill in November--to work out the differences and try to forge one bill that Congress can present to President Obama.
to forge through dense underbrush.
to forge ahead and finish the work in a burst of energy.
to forge a friendship through mutual trust.
453. Fortitude
Never once did her fortitude waver during that long illness.
454. For the sake
O.K., I know I’m being impractical: major economic programs can’t pass Congress without the support of relatively conservative Democrats, and these Democrats have been telling reporters that they have lost their appetite for stimulus.
But I hope their stomachs start rumbling soon. We now know that stimulus works, but we aren’t doing nearly enough of it. For the sake of today’s unemployed, and for the sake of the nation’s future, we need to do much more.
455. foulmouthed
Williams was levied with a $10,000 fine by the U.S. Open for unsportsmanlike conduct on Sunday for her foul-mouthed tirade at a line judge the night before, as she slumped to a semifinals defeat to Kim Clijsters. The fine was the maximum possible at this stage.
456. frame
Obama will announce a troop buildup in Afghanistan in a speech Tuesday at West Point, and he’s expected to send at least 30,000 more U.S. troops to the country. The White House also has said that Obama will outline a general time frame for the United States to begin withdrawing from Afghanistan.
The White House is expected to frame Kagan's lack of service as a judge in upbeat terms, underscoring that there are many qualified routes to the top of the judiciary.
457. Fraught
Not that the Patriots defense is anything special. Anybody who ripped Belichick for going for it on fourth-and-2 against the Colts near the 2-minute warning instead of giving his defense a try should reconsider their stance. New England’s defense is in transition and fraught with problems that come with youth in key positions.
458. Fret
Fretting about the lost ring isn't going to help.
You mustn't fret yourself about that.
459. For one thing
Workers whose employers don’t offer coverage are forced to seek individual health insurance, often in vain. For one thing, insurance companies offering “nongroup” coverage generally refuse to cover anyone with a pre-existing medical condition. And individual insurance is very expensive, because insurers spend large sums weeding out “high-risk” applicants — that is, anyone who seems likely to actually need the insurance.
Everything seemed to go wrong; for one, we had a flat tire, and then we lost the keys, or I find many aspects of your proposal to be inadequate; for one thing, you don't specify where you'll get the money.
For one thing, Morial says, the two sides have begun to learn much more about each other, thanks in part to joint political lobbying work in recent years between groups like the Urban League and La Raza, a major Latino advocacy organization in Washington. Black leaders now realize that they can't expect a group like Latinos, with such diverse national origins, to be as politically monolithic as blacks have historically been. Latino leaders, in turn, are less prone to underestimate (as leaders in South American and Caribbean countries too often do) the social disadvantages of being black in America.
460. fringe
The key thing to understand about that rally is that it wasn’t a fringe event. It was sponsored by the House Republican leadership — in fact, it was officially billed as a G.O.P. press conference. Senior lawmakers were in attendance, and apparently had no problem with the tone of the proceedings.
the lunatic fringe of a strong political party.
461.
462. Frolic
The children were frolicking in the snow.
Page Six broke the story of their secret engagement in August. And in November, The Post also ran photos of Jeter and Kelly frolicking in the water off St. Barts -- and looking very much in love.
463. front and center
After all, Democrats won big last year, running on a platform that put health reform front and center. In any other advanced democracy this would have given them the mandate and the ability to make major changes. But the need for 60 votes to cut off Senate debate and end a filibuster — a requirement that appears nowhere in the Constitution, but is simply a self-imposed rule — turned what should have been a straightforward piece of legislating into a nail-biter. And it gave a handful of wavering senators extraordinary power to shape the bill.
464. Fruition
In six days, two of the biggest projects of Obama's presidency came to fruition after months of painstaking work, transforming the image of an administration that had swung hard but failed to connect on big agenda items.
465. full-throated
But Graham may not have been the only one having second thoughts - climate and energy legislation never seemed to have the full-throated backing of the White House or the Democratic leadership. The political upside seemed limited at best, with opponents of legislation successfully characterizing "cap and trade" as an energy-inflationary economy killer. (The fact that independent analysts at the Congressional Budget Office reported that climate bills would actually reduce the budget deficit over time seemed to make little difference.) Even before Graham's decision, it was proving difficult to earn the support of conservative Democrats representing industrial and agricultural states in the South and Midwest; bipartisan support seemed nearly impossible, especially if Graham is gone for good.
466. Fundamentally
On a summer visit back to the farm here where I grew up, I think I figured out the central problem with modern industrial agriculture. It’s not just that it produces unhealthy food, mishandles waste and overuses antibiotics in ways that harm us all.
More fundamentally, it has no soul.
467. Full-blown
Liberals sought the Medicare expansion as a last-minute substitute for a full-blown, government-run insurance program that moderates earlier insisted be jettisoned. But it drew strong opposition from Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., and quieter concerns from a dozen Democrats — all of whose votes are essential for Democrats to overcome implacable Republican opposition.
468. full-fledged
In effect, his reappointment means that the Obama administration is doubling down on the Fed, validating Bernanke’s aggressive approach to cutting interest rates and pumping money into the economy – and signaling that Obama wants to stay the course in hopes of turning some recent positive signs in the economy into a full-fledged recovery.
469. furlough
Thousands rally against Hawaii furlough plan
Many plant workers have been forced to go on furlough.
Competition is particularly intense in California, where public universities are dealing with huge cuts in state support that have led to sharp tuition increases, faculty furloughs, course cutbacks and student protests. The state's 110 community colleges are struggling to accommodate a record 2.9 million students.
470. further
And Obama has the further advantage of inheriting a recession that will give him a very tough first year or two (for which he won’t be blamed), but that should be followed by a recovery well timed for his re-election bid.
Further meetings seem pointless.
“It is going to be very hard, and it’s going to take some time,” Obama said. “We have come a long way, but we have much further to go.”
The 10-campus University of California reduced enrollment of California-resident freshmen by 6 percent, or about 2,300 students, and is expected to shrink enrollment further this year even as a record number of applicants applied for admission for the fall of 2010, said Nina Robinson, UC director of student policy.
471. Fuss
Some Europeans even seem puzzled by the complex mix of expectations placed on Michelle Obama in America. While her sleeveless-in-winter look caused a bit of a stir here—seen as immodest by some and fashion forward by others—across the pond, many observers just didn’t understand the fuss.
They made a fuss over the new baby
They had a fuss about who should wash dishes.
You'll never finish the job if you fuss over details.
White House spokeswoman Linda Douglass played down the intraparty fuss, noting that it's far from clear how the final legislation will turn out. She said negotiations involving Obama have led drug manufacturers to agree to reduce costs for the nation's health care system by $80 billion over 10 years, while hospitals have agreed to an additional $155 billion.
What's all the fuss about? After all the noise over Democrats' push for a government insurance plan to compete with private carriers, coverage numbers are finally in: Two percent.
472. gambit
Several senators said the expectation that the industry would ante up more was a factor this week when the Senate killed an effort to allow consumer access to low-cost prescriptions from abroad. Following the Obama administration's lead, more than a dozen Democrats who previously had backed drug imports switched sides on the vote.
Whether the gambit will work with seniors is another matter.
473. gangly
NOT since Clark Kent changed in a phone booth has there been an instant image makeover to match Barack Obama’s in the aftermath of his health care victory. “He went from Jimmy Carter to F.D.R. in just a fortnight,” said one of the “Game Change” authors, Mark Halperin, on MSNBC. “Look at the steam in the man’s stride!” exclaimed Chris Matthews. “Is it just me, or does Barack Obama seem different since health care passed?” wrote Peter Beinart in The Daily Beast, which, like The Financial Times, ran an illustration portraying the gangly president as a newly bulked-up Superman.
In a village less than a day’s drive from Victoria Falls, I stumbled across a hut that to me captured the country’s heartbreak — and also its resilience and hope. The only people living in the hut are five children, orphans from two families. The kids, ages 8 to 17, moved in together after their four parents died of AIDS and other causes.
The head of the household is the oldest boy, Abel, a gangly 10th grader with a perpetual grin. He has been in charge since he was 15.
474. Gape
Tuesday changed all that. It was not simply the extortion and venality with which he was charged that left mouths gaping, but the ruthlessness and grandiosity revealed in the federal wiretap transcripts, even as he knew he was being investigated.
475. garb
But there, out front, was Mortenson, dressed in traditional Afghan garb. He was surrounded by bearded village elders and scores of young Afghan boys and girls, who were agog at the helicopter, and not quite believing that America’s “warrior chief” — as Admiral Mullen’s title was loosely translated into Urdu — was coming to open the new school.
476. Garble
Sarah Palin ended her debate performance last Thursday with a slightly garbled quote from Ronald Reagan about how, if we aren’t vigilant, we’ll end up “telling our children and our children’s children” about the days when America was free. It was a revealing choice.
To garble instructions
477. garner
Republicans signaled Tuesday that dropping the public option would not garner additional GOP backing. Jon Kyl (Ariz.), the second-ranking Senate Republican leader, criticized an alternative idea of creating a private insurance cooperative, calling it a "Trojan horse" that was effectively the same as the public option.
He gradually garnered a national reputation as a financial expert.
The case garnered international attention, and threatened to disturb Brazil-US relations.
478. Gated
The world's No. 1 golfer and his family live in the exclusive, gated community of Isleworth, where more than two dozen media and clusters of TV trucks were camped out Saturday.
479. Gaudy
It's that time of year again. Uncle Sam takes off that gaudy blue coat, puts on his white smock and snaps that all-too-familiar rubber glove into place. And we, the taxpayers, must gird ourselves for intrusions of proctological magnitude and glacial duration by the revenuers.
gaudy plumage
480. gauntlet
He was always willing to take up the gauntlet for a good cause.
run the gauntlet
In a final drive to thwart President Barack Obama's health care remake, Republican senators plan to force Democrats to run a gantlet of politically dicey votes before they can finish a companion bill to the landmark law.
throw down the gauntlet
481. gear up
As census workers gear up to count us, they are counting themselves lucky to be employed.
482. gestation
Look, a public option is no panacea, and it won’t automatically set right the many shortcomings in our health system. But if that option is killed in gestation, then we’re back to Square 1 and there’s little hope of progress in solving the vast challenges confronting us
483. gesture
"We must not settle for legislation that merely gestures at reform," the two Democrats wrote. " We must deliver on the promise of true change."
484. get-well
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown sent a get-well message to Beckham and praised his role as an ambassador for his sport, according to Brown's spokesman, Simon Lewis.
485. Ghastly
Present trends are not good. Communities of color are being crushed economically and the national news media have not fully focused on the carnage. The official unemployment rate for blacks is 16.2 percent and could well pass 17 percent before the year is out. The real jobless rate is far more ghastly. The Boston-based group United for a Fair Economy noted that even “college-educated black men are nearly twice as likely to be unemployed as their white, college-educated counterparts.”
a ghastly error
486. giddy
Roosevelt's innovations dramatically changed the character of American society. They deeply shaped the life trajectory of the so-called Greatest Generation, as well as the fates of millions born well after the Depression passed. It was no coincidence that African-American aspirations for full citizenship, denied for a century, were substantially realized at last in that context of stable economic health and almost giddy national self-confidence. By any conceivable metric, the New Deal's reforms were a success, as gauged by the conspicuous upward social mobility of several postwar generations of both genders and all races and ethnicities.
Giddy climb
a giddy young person.
487. gingerly
The president has maneuvered gingerly around the issue of a public plan, largely maintaining that he prefers to include the public option in a new insurance marketplace. He often argues that a government plan -- without high executive salaries and the need to post profits -- could keep big insurance companies "honest."
488. Gird
With one exception, Republicans voted against the legislation when it cleared the House, and the GOP now is girding for a fight in the Senate, where debate on health care is expected to begin within days.
They girded themselves for the trial ahead.
489. giveaway
"We've gotten rusty at legislating," says Representative Jim Cooper, a Tennessee Democrat. He is being kind. There are only two sorts of legislation that seem to pass these days: things that have to pass, like budgets - and cotton-candy giveaways, like tax cuts or the wildly irresponsible, unfunded Medicare drug bill that George W. Bush enacted. Occasionally, responsible actions take place in the budget process. Bill Clinton spent most of his political capital on deficit reduction, which helped fuel the economic boom of the 1990s. Obama has just managed to kill the F-22, an anachronistic fighter jet. Very, very occasionally a special interest will take it on the chin - as the teachers' unions did when Bush passed the No Child Left Behind Act, which mandated a testing regimen the teachers didn't like. But the passage of landmark legislation like the health-industry reforms that Obama is seeking has become about as common as politicians who refuse to run television ads. It just doesn't seem to happen anymore.
"We've gotten rusty at legislating," says Representative Jim Cooper, a Tennessee Democrat. He is being kind. There are only two sorts of legislation that seem to pass these days: things that have to pass, like budgets - and cotton-candy giveaways, like tax cuts or the wildly irresponsible, unfunded Medicare drug bill that George W. Bush enacted. Occasionally, responsible actions take place in the budget process. Bill Clinton spent most of his political capital on deficit reduction, which helped fuel the economic boom of the 1990s. Obama has just managed to kill the F-22, an anachronistic fighter jet. Very, very occasionally a special interest will take it on the chin - as the teachers' unions did when Bush passed the No Child Left Behind Act, which mandated a testing regimen the teachers didn't like. But the passage of landmark legislation like the health-industry reforms that Obama is seeking has become about as common as politicians who refuse to run television ads. It just doesn't seem to happen anymore
490. glare
The announcement ended intense speculation over their relationship, which has been played out in the full glare of the media spotlight.
Looking shy and awkward under the glare of media attention, South African runner Caster Semenya returned home Tuesday amid questions about her gender after her 800-meter win at the world championships and South Africa’s president vowed that he would not permit her gold medal to be taken away, no matter what gender tests say.
. The legislation would change the new health care law by making drug benefits for Medicare recipients more generous by gradually closing a gap in coverage, increasing tax subsidies to help low-income people afford health care, and boosting federal Medicaid payments to states.
It kills part of the new statute uniquely giving Nebraska extra Medicaid funds — designed to lure support from that state's Sen. Ben Nelson — that had become a glaring embarrassment to Democrats. It also eases a new tax on expensive health coverage bitterly opposed by unions and many House Democrats, while delaying and increasing a new levy on drug makers.
491. Gloat
The opposing team gloated over our bad luck.
Europeans are gloating this week. The continent might be struggling with ballooning debts, a faltering euro and national strikes, but when the U.S. House voted in favor of President Barack Obama's health care bill Sunday night, March 21, Europeans seized the moment to thumb their noses at Americans and remind them that they've had pretty good health care for decades.
"On Sunday evening the richest, most powerful country in the world, the USA, finally entered the 20th century. Yes, not the 21st century, but the 20th," read an article published Monday on the popular French news website Rue89.com. The site also posted a copy of TIME's cover from Nov. 24, 2008, showing Obama as a contemporary Franklin D. Roosevelt, below which it placed a cartoon of Obama on the phone to French President Nicolas Sarkozy, saying, "Hi, Nicolas, how's your health?" The Dutch daily De Volkskrant noted that the change was a long time coming: "Where health care was until now a closed privilege, Obama and the Democrats have made it a law," read an article in the paper Monday. "One of the most important differences between America and other industrialized countries has finally been lifted." (See pictures of Obama discussing his health care plan.)
492. Gloom
Oil falls over 4 percent as economic gloom darkens
493. Gloss
to gloss over flaws in the woodwork.
494. Go-between
Caddies frequently pull the prettiest girls out of the autograph line, often offering a private chat with the pro. The caddy then often serves as the go-between. Players never give out their telephone number or contact information, instead leaning on the caddy as a trusted arranger. It partly explains why some caddies get paid so well—often, with a percentage of the winnings—to carry a bag and judge breaks on the green. For instance, Steve Williams, who is Tiger’s caddy, has been with him since 1999; Tiger even attended Williams’ 2005 wedding. Their financial arrangement is secret, but it’s obviously generous: Williams has been able to start his own charitable foundation to help junior golfers in his native New Zealand.
495. go-it-alone
The White House readied its last-ditch effort to salvage health care legislation while the Senate's Republican leader warned Democrats against the go-it-alone approach.
496. good
Healthy young people who might prefer not to buy insurance at all will probably be forced to by a federal mandate. That is all to the good. When such people get into a bad accident or contract a serious illness, they often can’t pay the cost of their care, and the rest of us bear their burden. Moreover, conscripting healthy people into the insured pool would help reduce the premiums for sicker people.
497. go a long way
It would go a long way to helping AEG Live recoup some of the $30 million to $32 million it spent producing the concert before Jackson died June 25.
498. gridlocked
With Congress gridlocked and the economy floundering, the Bush administration declared Friday it would step in to prevent the “precipitous collapse” of the U.S. auto industry and the disastrous loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs sure to follow.
499. Grin
The little boy grinned his approval of the gift.
In a village less than a day’s drive from Victoria Falls, I stumbled across a hut that to me captured the country’s heartbreak — and also its resilience and hope. The only people living in the hut are five children, orphans from two families. The kids, ages 8 to 17, moved in together after their four parents died of AIDS and other causes.
The head of the household is the oldest boy, Abel, a gangly 10th grader with a perpetual grin. He has been in charge since he was 15.
500. grips
When I was President, F.D.R.'s portrait hung near that of the 26th President, his cousin Theodore Roosevelt. They should have been together. Teddy Roosevelt was the first President to come to grips with the challenges presented by America's transition from a rural to an urban society; from an agricultural to an industrial economy; from a fairly stable and homogeneous nation to a more dynamic, diverse one of new immigrants; from a nation of modest influence to a global power.
We didn't come to grips with the real problem.
501. Grope
He seemed to be groping for an answer to the question.
I had to grope around in the darkness before I found the light switch.
502. Ground
The Bush administration built an unprecedented surveillance operation to pull in mountains of information far beyond the warrantless wiretapping previously acknowledged, a team of federal inspectors general reported Friday, questioning the legal basis for the effort but shielding almost all details on grounds they're still too secret to reveal.
"He sought me out and I was happy to work with him," Isakson said of Franken. "He'd done his homework, he was very informed. It was obvious he was trying to hit the ground running
The 15 appointees to boards and agencies include the contentious choice of union lawyer Craig Becker to the National Labor Relations Board. Republicans had blocked his nomination on grounds he would bring a radical pro-union agenda to the job, and they called on Obama not to appoint Becker over the recess.
503. Groundswell
While a lot of money is going directly to Republican candidates, they're not always the candidates the GOP would prefer to field. In Kentucky, for example, insurgent Tea Party darling Rand Paul has raked in nearly $2 million, outraising the establishment candidate, Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson by more than $100,000. In Florida, conservative insurgent Marco Rubio has raised more than $3.4 million and is leading Gov. Charlie Crist, the official Republican candidate, in the polls. To see the potential dangers of the Tea Party groundswell, the GOP leadership need look no further than the debacle in New York's 23rd district - where Democrats won a Republican safe seat after conservative activists put up a third candidate against Dede Scozzafava, a GOP candidate deemed too moderate by the Tea Party types. (Watch a video about the Florida GOP.)
504. grumpy
505. Guarded
Woods rarely faces such private scrutiny, even as perhaps the most famous active athlete in the world.
He usually makes news only because of what he can do with a golf club. Few other athletes have managed to keep their private lives so guarded, or have a circle of friends so airtight when it comes to life off the course.
506. guide
Cash and his wife also have five children, some of whom may find themselves acting opposite Sasha and Malia in the Christmas pageant. But if the experience of past Camp David chaplains is any guide, Cash won't necessarily have the opportunity to form a pastoral relationship with Obama. "We used to tell people our job was to run like a five-star resort," said Patrick McLaughlin, who was chaplain at Camp David from 2002 to 2005, in an interview with Religion News Service. "One of the things you value when you go on vacation is peace and quiet." His contact with Bush outside worship services, McLaughlin said, was "very little."
507. gut
“I also got a gut feel for the right way to tell a news story,” says Louis.Retrieved July 5, 2007, from http://journalism.nyu.edu/pubzone/bullpen/errol_louis/backgrounder/
Palin has disappointed many of those who once had the highest hopes for her. She has stumbled over innumerable details. But as she said to Andrew Halcro years ago, “Does any of this really matter?” Palin has shown herself to have remarkable gut instincts about raw politics, and she has seen openings where others did not. A
508. gutsiness
CNN photojournalist Margaret Moth barely survived being shot in the face while on assignment in Sarajevo in 1992. After three years of battling cancer, the woman known for her gutsiness and humor died today.
509. gulp
He gulps down his food like a starving man.
510. haggle
They spent hours haggling over the price of fish.
The senators haggled interminably over the proposed bill.
511. halve
The changes — which include possibly halving a penalty for people who don't comply with a new requirement to purchase insurance — came a day ahead of a committee session beginning Tuesday to amend and vote on the bill, which Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., hopes his panel will approve by the end of the week.
512. halt
Rumors of the rift were confirmed in June when the couple officially filed for divorce, and production of their show was put on halt
513. hammer out
Danielson said he was hopeful the panel could hammer out the compromise language that would ban the reading of casual or leisure texts by most drivers but provide targeted exemptions for law officers, firefighters, emergency responders and professional drivers — such as truckers or bus drivers — who use dash-mounted or hands-free information systems in their lines of work
514. hamstring
McCain also is being badly hamstrung by a national political environment tipped heavily against his party. Just one in four voters in Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin approve of the job President Bush is doing -- a number reflected in the Post/ABC News national poll where just 23 percent of voters voiced approval for Bush's performance.
Republicans also see opportunity in Franken's high profile.
"He has a much higher bar to reach when it comes to positioning himself as someone who's serious about policy," said GOP strategist Kevin Madden. "That's unfortunate for him and I think it probably provides an opportunity for Republicans to hammer away at the caricature of him in a way that could hamstring congressional Democrats."
Their efforts were hamstrung by stubborn pride
515. hands-off
Obama’s hands-off approach to health care seems to have run its course, some Democrats say.
516. Haphazard
517. hanker
Beckham’s anger is commonplace these days. Even though he has performed well for an improving Galaxy team since returning to the United States last month, he clearly doesn’t want to be in America and is hankering for a switch back to the Italian Serie A with AC Milan.
518. hard-pressed
Without him, Democrats are hard-pressed to push through a healthcare bill, torn between compromising with Republicans and conservative Democrats on one side -- or standing with Kennedy's liberal Democratic wing on a far-reaching reform.
financially hard-pressed
519. Harken
In speeches, Sotomayor has harkened back to her and her brother's beginnings in a poor Bronx neighborhood, roots that President Barack Obama highlighted in introducing her this week.
On a rare fine day in Juneau, not long ago, Palin was seen sitting in the sunshine in the broad plaza near the state capitol, alone with her thoughts and some reading material for more than an hour and a half. Down the hillside below her, the big cruise liners that ply Alaska’s Inside Passage in the summer months were beginning to call in the port. Only two years have elapsed since William Kristol and his colleagues disembarked from one of them and hearkened to her siren call. Sarah Palin might well have been wondering whether her own ship is going out, or just coming in.
520. harness
to harness the energy of the sun.
in his radio address, Obama said he planned early next year to more closely address the issue of engaging the nation's technology community to "harness technology and innovation to create jobs, enhance America's competitiveness and advance our national priorities."
After his illness he longed to get back in harness.
Joe and I worked in harness on our last job.
521. harbinger
Phil Mickelson's HSBC Champions victory brought excitement to China and may be a harbinger of more to come in 2010.
All of this has produced a ruthlessly pragmatic victory machine. Last week Democrats were able to pass a politically treacherous cap-and-trade bill out of the House. The Democratic leaders were able to let 44 members vote no and still bribe/bully/cajole enough of their colleagues to get a win. This was an impressive achievement, and a harbinger for health care and other battles to come.
522. hash-out
The real fights - including those over provisions in the bill like a government-run public option and its language allowing abortion coverage if it is paid for by private funds - are not likely to come until some time in December. Then, if it passes the Senate, it will move into a conference committee with the House, where the two chambers will hash out some significant differences over abortion (the House bill has far more restrictive language than the version now before the Senate), the public option (the House version is almost certain to be more robust) and how to pay for the health overhaul (with the House favoring higher taxes on the wealthy and the current Senate version relying on new levies on high-priced insurance plans).
They hashed out every aspect of the issue.
Fisher told his players that McNair, who’d planned to go to Chicago with friends during the bye weekend, instead went to Houston and met with a former team chaplain, with whom he hashed out his feelings. “When he got back, he was still a little shaky, but he was better,” Fisher said. “He still wasn’t sure he wanted [to keep playing], but he agreed to be the No. 2 quarterback for our game in Pittsburgh.”
523. has-been
During his decades in Iranian politics, Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has been praised as a pragmatist, criticized as spineless, accused of corruption and dismissed as a has-been.
524. haunting
haunting music; haunting memories.
The most important changes happen invisibly inside peoples’ heads. A nation that had seemed apathetic suddenly mobilizes. People lost in private life suddenly feel their public dignity has been grievously insulted. Webs of authority that had gone unquestioned instantly dissolve, or do not. New social customs spontaneously emerge, like the citizens of Tehran shouting hauntingly from their rooftops at night. Small gestures unify a crowd and symbolize a different future, like the moment when Mir Hussein Moussavi held hands with his wife in public.
525. Haven
The first place Obama will look for results is Helmand, a Taliban-dominated province that has been McChrystal's primary focus for much of this year and has been the site of some of the bloodiest fighting. Earlier this year, about 10,000 Marines moved into the area and pushed Taliban fighters out of several major cities there. The Marines then began to rebuild the long-absent Afghan government and police forces in the area.
The U.S. offensive, however, did not dislodge the Taliban from such places as Marjeh, a city of about 50,000 people in central Helmand that remains a major center for the opium trade. After several months of fighting, senior Marine officials concluded that they did not have enough troops to expand into Marjeh and a handful of other Taliban havens while holding on to the gains they had made in the province.
The Marines' inability to push the Taliban out of these key sanctuaries led some Afghans in the area to doubt U.S. resolve. The Taliban has used its haven in Marjeh to produce roadside bombs and plan attacks on areas where Marines were trying to build the local government and police forces. This month, Taliban fighters from Marjeh killed three Afghan city council members in nearby Nawa, which Marines have held up as a major success story in the province.
526. Haves and haves-not
In this nation of 1.3 billion people — a billion more than the U.S. — there's a deep gulf between the haves and have-nots. Hundreds of millions of poor Chinese worry about illness, about how they'll survive the early snow, how they'll make ends meet. For many younger people in Shanghai , however, the standard of living is quickly improving.
527. Havoc
The fire havocked throughout the house.
cry havoc
play havoc with
The wind played havoc with the papers on the desk.
The bad weather played havoc with our vacation plans.
528. haywire
We’ve got nerves running through our bodies that act as lines of communication between the brain and the other body parts, transmitting commands from the brain
and relaying sensory information back to it for processing. What’s happening with a sleeping limb is that your nerves are going a little haywire because prolonged pressure has actually cut off communication between that limb and the brain. (The tingling sensation is technically called paresthesia)
The town is haywire because of the bus strike.
The car went haywire.
He's been haywire since he got the bad news.
529. Hawk
Deficit hawks like to complain that today’s young people will end up having to pay higher taxes to service the debt we’re running up right now. But anyone who really cared about the prospects of young Americans would be pushing for much more job creation, since the burden of high unemployment falls disproportionately on young workers — and those who enter the work force in years of high unemployment suffer permanent career damage, never catching up with those who graduated in better times.
The corporation is now run by a bunch of young hawks.
530. hawkish
Clinton portrayed herself as a hawkish Democrat
531. heads in the sand
The President and the men around him have been so ideologically opposed to the idea of man-made global warming that they first put their heads in the sand, refusing to accept evidence and editing reports from scientists inside the government such as the EPA, sending morale down the tubes. More recently, President Bush has acknowledged that man has contributed to warming, but the U.S. continues to drag its feet in international negotiations and Bush has resisted mandatory emission standards.
532. head
or much of the last century, educators and many scientists believed that children could not learn math at all before the age of five, that their brains simply were not ready.
But recent research has turned that assumption on its head — that, and a host of other conventional wisdom about geometry, reading, language and self-control in class. The findings, mostly from a branch of research called cognitive neuroscience, are helping to clarify when young brains are best able to grasp fundamental concepts.
533. headed
The survey is one of many in key states across America that indicate Obama is headed toward a win Tuesday that might not be close, although Republican John McCain is furiously trying to mount one more comeback and prove the pollsters wrong.
534. head-on
Jay Leno just finished his monologue tonight where he addressed the Conan O'Brien situation head-on, saying that in 2004 NBC didn't have faith Jay could remain #1 in the ratings.
"I have wondered since whether it would have been wiser to meet the issue head-on" (Henry A. Kissinger).
535. headway
She could do well in the Iowa caucuses or South Carolina primary, but it is much harder to imagine her making headway in New Hampshire, where independent voters were turned off by her last fall. It is also difficult to see just how she would expand her appeal beyond the base that already loves her.
The ship's headway was slowed by the storm.
a slight headway against concerted opposition.
536. headwind
Illustrating the headwind facing Sen. McCain, Democratic registration will have increased by an estimated 1.4 percentage points, or by 2.9 million, since 2004; Republican registration will have declined by 1,458,000.
537. heck
No one argues that NCLB can't be improved, but there's likely to be a heck of a debate about how to do it.
What the heck do you care?
That was a heck of an impressive speech.
Have one heck of a good time.
538. heedless
“We have always known that heedless self-interest was bad morals,” said Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1937. “We know now that it is bad economics.” And last year we learned that lesson all over again.
Heedless of the danger, he returned to the burning building to save his dog.
539. heedlessness
540. heft
The new setup takes away some of the heft from the adage "the only poll that counts is the one on Election Day."
Tt was a rather flimsy chair, without much heft to it.
Obama has had Clinton in mind for secretary of state for some time, his advisers said, believing that her visibility and the respect she commands from many world leaders would lend immediate heft and credibility to U.S. diplomatic efforts.
Trying to buck up a dispirited nation, President Barack Obama on Saturday promised that prosperous days will return and cast these bleak times as nothing less than a "great opportunity." Packing some heft with his hope, he defended his fast-moving and expensive agenda.
541. Helm
The Fed chief, who took the helm on February 2006, has been on the front lines of efforts to battle the financial crisis and end the recession, the longest since World War II.
542. Hence
The eggs were very fresh and hence satisfactory.
They will leave a month hence.
Former Bush propagandists will never lack for work in this climate. It’s remarkable how often apologists for Wall Street’s self-inflicted calamity mirror the apologists for Washington’s self-inflicted calamity of Iraq. In the case of that catastrophic war, its perpetrators and enablers almost always give the same alibi: “Everyone” was misled by the same “bad intelligence” about Saddam Hussein’s W.M.D. Hence, no one is to blame and no one could have prevented the rush to war.
543. Herculean
With the next summit slated for the spring, the work on fleshing out details for the Herculean task will fall to the incoming administration of President-elect Barack Obama and his new Treasury secretary.
544. hereby
I hereby resign as president of the class.
"It is increasingly clear that pressure is mounting on many of my supporters to shift their support," Scozzafava said in a written statement. "Consequently, I hereby release those individuals who have endorsed and supported my campaign to transfer their support as they see fit."
545. Hermaphrodite
Johannesburg - Athlete Caster Semenya has both male and female organs, Australia's Sydney ... 18, had shown the athlete "is technically a hermaphrodite". ...
546. heyday
In addition, because of our vibrant and meritocratic university system, the best foreign students who wanted the best education also came here, and many of them also stayed. In its heyday, our unique system also attracted a disproportionate share of high-I.Q. risk-takers to high government service. So when you put all this together, with our free markets and democracy, it made it easy here for creative, high-I.Q. risk-takers to raise capital for their ideas and commercialize them. In short, America had a very powerful, self-reinforcing engine for growing innovative new companies.
547. Hiccup
In separate interviews, Obama adviser David Axelrod used the same line, underscoring the White House's desire to paint the missed deadline as a hiccup rather than a hurdle.
Naturally, the transition from in-person to online isn't without its hiccups. Fuzzy transmissions, dropped calls (especially on wireless networks) and unusual disruptions are all par for the course. Tip No. 1: Get your dog out of barking range before you start the interview. (We'll return to the pointers in a bit.)
There was general alarm when the economy hiccuped.
548. High-end
Schmidt suggested that Scheunemann had fingered Nicolle Wallace, a senior McCain adviser who helped work with Palin, to Kristol in the message.
“It led to a whole another round of speculation, including Fred Barnes the next night attacking Nicolle Wallace on the air,” Schmidt said, suggesting without saying directly that was why an effort was made to terminate Scheunemann. Barnes, another Weekly Standard editor and Fox News contributor, accused Wallace on Fox News in late October of being “a coward” for running up tens of thousands of dollars in high-end clothes for Palin and then letting the governor take the blame for the purchases. After Wallace denied she had purchased the clothes, Barnes apologized on the air the following night.
New York socialite Veronica Hearst is at the ultra-high end of famous foreclosure victims. The widow of publishing mogul Randolph Hearst lost her $45 million beachfront Florida residence in February. The palatial 52-bedroom second home was sold at a foreclosure auction for $23 million to Ridgefield, Conn.-based New Stream Secured Capital.
We're told Sandra's reps have been in touch with several high-end divorce lawyers. Our sources say Lance Spiegel, who handled divorces for Charlie Sheen, Heather Locklear and Michael Jackson, is the frontrunner.
As for Jesse, we're told his business people have contacted several lawyers as well, but he will not be initiating the divorce. We're told his reps are asking the attorneys "if they'd be interested in taking the case" if Sandra files.
549. highflier
The huge bonuses Goldman will soon hand out show that financial-industry highfliers are still operating under a system of heads they win, tails other people lose. If you’re a banker, and you generate big short-term profits, you get lavishly rewarded — and you don’t have to give the money back if and when those profits turn out to have been a mirage. You have every reason, then, to steer investors into taking risks they don’t understand.
550. highs
Even though Obama has set all-time highs for money raised, TV ads run, campaign staffers hired and probably paper clips used, the turnout Tuesday will determine who wins.
551. hip
The months-long rally that Wall Street has seen since the darkest days of late February and March will likely be viewed by historians as the result of muscular intervention in the markets by the federal government, and Bernanke was joined at the hip with Obama’s team in that effort.
552. historical
Consumer spending, while also showing recent signs of strength, is still weak by historical standards. Despite the Federal Reserve’s unprecedented policy of holding short-term interest rates at near zero, rates on long-term bonds — which are based on investor sentiment — have recently begun ticking higher. That’s pushed mortgage rates higher as well, a trend that could weigh on the fragile housing market.
553. history
Michelle Obama’s aides also insist that she is there in a support role to her husband. Yet if history is any guide, first ladies can overshadow their spouses, and the comparisons to Jacqueline Kennedy’s 1961 trip to Paris seem sure to abound, much like some are fond of comparing Michelle O. to Jackie O.
554. hitherto
He got both on Saturday — and saw the hitherto sacrosanct authority of his office challenged as never before since the 1979 revolution birthed the Islamic Republic and conceived for it a leadership post standing at the very flank of the Prophet. A multitude of Iranians took their fight through a holy breach on Saturday from which there appears to be scant turning back.
a fact hitherto unknown
555. Holdout
Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., was poised to release the latest version of the Senate legislation as early as Friday, but it was unclear what kind of reception he'd get. Labor leaders said the bill was soft on the insurance industry, and former party chairman Howard Dean said he'd vote against it if he were a senator.
All eyes were on the only known Democratic holdout, moderate Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska, whose primary concern is that abortion funding restrictions in the bill were too lax. Nelson indicated Thursday he still was not happy but would keep talking with Reid, who needs 60 votes to push through Republican opposition.
"We're looking at that to see if it does it sufficiently. That's the key — sufficiently," Nelson said during a break in closed-door talks in the Capitol with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, senior White House officials and others. The discussions were expected to continue into the night as Reid rushes to finalize the legislation in time for a first vote likely within days. Nelson is the lone holdout in the 60-member Democratic caucus — exactly the number Reid needs to overcome Republican opposition and pass the legislation.
There are still members looking at it and trying to make up their minds," House Democratic leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said on NBC's "Meet the Press" in the hours before the vote. He added that the holdouts numbered in "the low single digits."
The basketball star was a holdout until they offered more money.
556. holdover
Podesta also said Obama is working to build a diverse Cabinet. That includes reaching out to Republicans and independents — part of the broad coalition that supported Obama during the race against Republican John McCain. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has been mentioned as a possible holdover.
557. Holy grail
Economic crises come and go, but entitlements are forever. The Great Depression eventually dissipated, but Franklin Roosevelt's crown jewel — the Social Security system — is still with us. And so it will be with the Obama Administration. The early headlines have been all about the President's efforts to repair the financial system and jump-start the economy. If he succeeds, he probably will be re-elected. But Barack Obama's place in history will be determined by the long-term structural changes he initiates, and his most important legacy battle is just beginning as Congress tackles the holy grail of modern liberalism, a universal health-care system.
558. Home run
So the justice Bush had been told would be a "home run" for conservatives became part of the liberal bloc on a conservative court. And when Sotomayor succeeds him, the first justice named by a Democratic president in 15 years, her decisions are not likely to alter the balance on a court usually dominated by its five most conservative members.
559. hoopla
The new sedan was introduced to the public with much hoopla.
THAT First 100 Days hoopla seems like a century ago. The countless report cards it engendered are already obsolete. The real story begins now. With Iran, universal health care, energy reform and the economic recovery all on the line, the still-new, still-popular president’s true tests are about to come.
560. Hop
Job seekers are hopping on board too. Last spring, after Stephen Bhadran got laid off, he quickly realized there were more openings for computer programmers in Dallas, Atlanta and Los Angeles than in South Florida, where he lived. So he cast a wide net — and got a bite from the University of California, Los Angeles. The university wanted to interview him but wouldn't pay the airfare. "I was laid off and running out of funds," says Bhadran. "I couldn't fly on my own dime." He suggested interviewing by Skype. He got his request — and the job.
561. Hope
The Conservatives — who won the most seats in Thursday's national vote but fell short of a majority — spent the weekend wooing Nick Clegg and his Liberal Democrats in hopes of forming an alliance. Cameron and Clegg also met face-to-face Monday as teams of party negotiators tried to hammer out a power-sharing deal.
562. horrendous
In a report released earlier this week, Global Witness claims that multinational companies are furthering a trade in minerals at the heart of the hi-tech industry that feeds the horrendous civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). (Global Witness is the same nongovernmental organization that helped expose the violence that plagues many of the sources of diamonds.) However, the accused companies, with varying degrees of hostility, deny any culpability, saying Global Witness oversimplifies a complex economic process in a chaotic geopolitial setting. (See pictures of diamonds set on onyx and black enamel.)
563. Hot-button
The Rev. Joel Hunter's resignation as president-elect of the Christian Coalition in 2006 over disagreements about the organization's strictly hot-button agenda turned him into an emblem of a new generation of evangelicals, one that toes the conservative line on abortion but embraces progressive causes like environmentalism.
564. Honcho
"Now that Hollywood honchos have discovered the verdant beachfront villages, the stores have grown in scope and sophistication" (David Field)
She volunteered to honcho the new project.
565. How else
The day after a 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck Haiti, Christian televangelist Pat Robertson sparked outrage with his comments on The 700 Club that the nation's history of catastrophes was due to a "pact to the Devil" its residents had made some 200 years ago. How else to explain why Haiti suffers, while the Dominican Republic - which shares the 30,000 sq. miles of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola - is relatively well-off? "That island of Hispaniola is one island," Robertson said. "The Dominican Republic is prosperous, healthy, full of resorts, et cetera. Haiti is in desperate poverty." (Read why Pat Robertson is blaming Haiti.)
566. Household
A household face as co-host of CNN's "Crossfire," Novak had been a columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times for decades. He was diagnosed with a brain tumor in July 2008, less than a week after he struck a pedestrian in downtown Washington with his Corvette and drove away.
567. Hover
Saylor said his two officers found the 33-year-old Woods lying in the street with his wife hovering over him.
568. Howl
The wind howls through the trees.
Likewise, a decision by the president to install someone else at the top of the Fed when Bernanke’s term expires on Jan. 31 would have been seen as a course change in the policies that have underscored Obama’s approach to the global financial crisis of 2008. And any replacement would have met with howls of protest on Wall Street, where Bernanke is viewed as the man who saved the world economy.
We need to make some fundamental changes in the way we do things in this country. The gamblers and con artists of the financial sector, the very same clowns who did so much to bring the economy down in the first place, are howling self-righteously over the prospect of regulations aimed at curbing the worst aspects of their excessively risky behavior and preventing them from causing yet another economic meltdown.
The wind howls through the trees.
569. Hubris
Stimulus—that is, fiscal intervention with the express purpose of speeding up the normal regenerative process that Grant describes—is unnecessary and almost certainly harmful, a policy based on hubris and anxiety, rather than on history and good sense. Under such circumstances, the proper way to analyze discrete proposals today for spending or taxing is on their own merits, not on their supposed ability to stimulate something else. There may, in fact, be a good reason for government to spend billions of dollars today on building highways, and it has nothing to do with stimulus. It is that long-term interest rates are at historic lows and that the right highways can boost the economy in the long term. There also may be a good reason, again far apart from stimulus, for revising the tax code and reforming Social Security and Medicare. It is that Americans now understand that the economic future is not so assured as they believed a couple of years ago, and it is time for decisions to be made—in a manner careful, sensible, and unstimulated.
"There is no safety in unlimited technological hubris" (McGeorge Bundy
570. humdrum
a humdrum existence
By all accounts, Palin was either unwilling, or simply unable, to prepare. In the run-up to the Couric interview, Palin had become preoccupied with a far more parochial concern: answering a humdrum written questionnaire from her hometown newspaper, the Frontiersman. McCain aides saw it as easy stuff, the usual boilerplate, the work of 20 minutes or so, but Palin worried intently. At the same time, she grew concerned that her approval ratings back home in Alaska were sagging as she embraced the role of McCain’s bad cop. To keep her happy, the chief McCain strategist, Steve Schmidt, agreed to conduct a onetime poll of 300 Alaska voters. It would prove to Palin, Schmidt thought, that everything was all right.
571. Hush
They hushed as the president walked in.
572. hush-hush
a hush-hush political investigation
Team is hush-hush about Lance-Contador feud
573. hydrant
Tiger Woods was seriously injured early Friday when he hit a fire hydrant and a tree near his Florida home, authorities said.
574. hyperbole
“Teaching is an ancient craft, and yet we really have had no idea how it affected the developing brain,” said Kurt Fischer, director of the Mind, Brain and Education program at Harvard. “Well, that is beginning to change, and for the first time we are seeing the fields of brain science and education work together.”
This relationship is new and still awkward, experts say, and there is more hyperbole than evidence surrounding many “brain-based” commercial products on the market. But there are others, like an early math program taught in Buffalo schools, that have a track record. If these and similar efforts find traction in schools, experts say, they could transform teaching from the bottom up — giving the ancient craft a modern scientific compass.
575. hypoallergenic
576. hypochondriacs
Democrats, economic hypochondriacs all, see economic sickness. They should get on with legislating their cure.
577. hydroponic
California may be the center of the marijuana trade and the controversies over its legalization. But Florida has surpassed it in one important category: the Sunshine State is now the country's leader in indoor marijuana cultivation. It is a potent distinction because most of the marijuana grown this way is cultured hydroponically - that is, mostly without soil and with a carefully calibrated cocktail of chemicals and lighting - to create some of the highest level of highs on the market.
578. ice
Both the Galaxy’s big stars played critical parts in Friday’s victory. Beckham’s pinpoint free kick created confusion in the Houston defense at the 103-minute mark, and Gregg Berhalter capitalized to score with a low, left-footed shot. Donovan iced it 6 minutes later with a cool penalty after Alan Gordon was fouled in the box.
That lack of defensive ability played out on the New England offense as the Patriots were forced to go on fourth down three times. The last one was a critical play. Down 31-17 in the third quarter, the Patriots went on fourth-and-4 from New Orleans’ 10-yard line. The Patriots had a seemingly good matchup with Moss lined up against cornerback Mike McKenzie(notes), whom the Saints had brought back only a week ago after he was out of football for a year.
McKenzie broke up the pass and the Saints put the game on ice with a touchdown in the fourth quarter.
McKenzie then danced his way back to the New Orleans sideline.
You may pass the course, but you're on thin ice right now.
You may be skating on thin ice.
579. iconic
Iconic structures like the Empire State Building and Egypt's pyramids will heed conservation group WWF's call to turn off the lights in the name of environmentalism, creating a wave of darkness that will roll across the world.
580. idiosyncratic
Evolutionary psychology leaves the impression that human nature was carved a hundred thousand years ago, and then history sort of stopped. But human nature adapts to the continual flow of information—adjusting to the ancient information contained in genes and the current information contained in today’s news in a continuous, idiosyncratic blend.
581. if
Realistically, however, the future looks hazy. “This is symbolic if nothing else because the AMA is abandoning this flat-earth policy it's held for decades," says Paul Armentano, the deputy director of the National Organization for Reform of the Marijuana Laws and the coauthor of Marijuana Is Safer; So Why Are We Driving People to Drink?. “But does the AMA have the power to reschedule marijuana, or even get the ball rolling so that those who have the power will do it? I highly doubt it.”
Fact is ... if it weren't for the tour, given Britney's progress, the judge might already have made the decision to undo the conservatorship. The various vendors were promised under their contracts that the conservatorship would stay in tact throughout the tour.
"If that gets out of control, if interest rates start to rise because people are reluctant to buy all that debt, then that can slow the economy down. So, that's the more systemic concern I have," Taylor said.
A total of 33 Fox advertisers, including Wal-Mart Stores Inc., CVS Caremark, Clorox and Sprint, directed that their commercials not air on Beck's show, according to the companies and ColorofChange.org, a group that promotes political action among blacks and launched a campaign to get advertisers to abandon him. That's more than a dozen more than were identified a week ago.
While it's unclear what effect, if any, this will ultimately have on Fox and Beck, it is already making advertisers skittish about hawking their wares within the most opinionated cable TV shows.
The debate over the “public option” in health care has been dismaying in many ways. Perhaps the most depressing aspect for progressives, however, has been the extent to which opponents of greater choice in health care have gained traction — in Congress, if not with the broader public — simply by repeating, over and over again, that the public option would be, horrors, a government program.
Some version of a health care overhaul must squeeze through five key gates this fall if a final package is to become law by year's end.
In his second game since rejoining Milan on loan, David Beckham again lined up at right forward and had a solid—if not spectacular—match.
Sanford Levinson , a University of Texas Law School professor, said that Americans who choose not to purchase health insurance can pay a fine under the new law. Congress , he said, clearly has the authority to levy taxes and fines.
"As a technical matter, it's been set up as a tax," Levinson said of the penalties under the health-care law. "The argument about constitutionality is, if not frivolous, close to it," he sa
582. if any
The City Attorney has not yet decided what charges, if any, will be filed against either Tyson, the photog, or both.
583. If anything
If anything, Obama tried to project even more confidence. Ticking off a list of accomplishments to date, he said, "We are going to get this done. We will reform health care. it will happen this year. I'm absolutely convinced of that."
Holy Cross professor of political science David Schaefer suggested Kennedy's death could help the healthcare bill. "If anything, some senators among the Democrats may be persuaded that they are obligated to carry this through as a sign of respect to the senator," Schaefer said.
elosi's leadership hasn't improved the public reputation of Congress ; if anything, it's gotten worse. The most recent Gallup Poll shows that 80 percent of Americans surveyed disapprove of the job Congress is doing.
584. if ever
Two factors could help drive down the premiums for those who are insured. In the short-term, if reform manages to cover most of the uninsured, that should greatly reduce the amount of charity care delivered by hospitals and eliminate the need for the hospitals to shift such costs to patients who have private insurance. One oft-cited study estimates that cost-shifting to cover care for the uninsured adds about $1,000 to a family’s annual insurance premiums; other experts think it may be a few hundred dollars. In theory, eliminating most charity care should help hold down or even reduce the premiums charged for private insurance. When, if ever, that might happen is unclear.
And now health reform stands as another crucial juncture. If the President fails to win the upcoming series of congressional votes that are designed to get health care legislation to his desk, it will be a calamitous failure for his presidency and for him personally, dwarfing the potholes he has hit during his first bumpy year in office. Indeed, the notion of defeat is so unthinkable for his Administration that Obama's foremost argument in rounding up support in the House and Senate is a panoptic imperative: health care is too important - politically and substantively - to fail. Should the effort collapse, regaining political traction would be nigh impossible any time soon, if ever. And a potential comeback would be in further jeopardy because Obama is so unaccustomed to losing.
585. If necessary
The will names Diana Ross as a successor guardian to Jackson's mother if necessary.
586. If not
These officials tell The Daily Beast that several important cases before the department’s 30-lawyer Public Integrity section have stalled, if not died outright, in part as a result of last year’s debacle in the corruption case against former Republican Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska.
587. if so
Well. When in the long human story have economic burdens and benefits been ''spread evenly''? Does Obama think they should be, even though talents never are? What relationship of ''fairness'' does he envision between the value received by individuals and the value added by them? Does he disagree -- if so, on what evidence? -- with Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke that ''the influence of globalization on inequality has been moderate and almost surely less important than the effects of skill-biased technological change''?
Besides the welfare and social service reforms, education funding is one of the key negotiating points. Lawmakers are trying to decide whether it can be cut and, if so, by how much. Funding for K-12 schools and community colleges accounts for roughly half of annual state spending.
Not everyone in Medicare will be happy. The prospective losers are likely to include many people enrolled in the private plans that participate in Medicare, known as Medicare Advantage plans. They are heavily subsidized, and to pay for reform, Congress is likely to reduce or do away with those subsidies. If so, many of these plans are apt to charge their clients more for their current policies or offer them fewer benefits. The subsidies are hard to justify when the care could be delivered more cheaply in traditional Medicare, and the subsidies force up the premiums for the beneficiaries in traditional Medicare to cover their cost.
588. Iffy
An early decision on this is iffy
an iffy situation
As Washington collapsed toward its August recess, the President's reform efforts were looking distinctly iffy, even though he is absolutely right about the need for change.
589. Immediate
“The ITF has removed both Mr. Malisse and Ms. Wickmayer from the list of suspended players, and both are eligible to participate with immediate effect,” the International Tennis Federation said in a statement.
590. immune
immune to persuasion.
immune from taxation
591. impending
Notre Dame students are generally enthusiastic about Obama's impending visit to their northern Indiana campus. He won about 57 percent of the students' vote in a mock election in October, compared with 41 percent for Republican John McCain, an abortion rights opponent.
their impending marriage
an impending storm
592. impervious
The coat is impervious to rain.
impervious to reason
impervious to wear and tear.
Would you hire a smoker, who must be either weak-willed or impervious to evidence?
593. implode
"President Clinton brings a lot of credibility to that debate," said Cardin, who was a congressman when Clinton's effort imploded.
594. important
There are, however, three qualities that could make her a memorable Secretary of State. She brings a vision of departmental reform — the need to elevate foreign aid programs to the same status and rigorous scrutiny as diplomacy — that could change striped pants into chinos in the developing world. She is also the first elected politician to hold the office since Edmund Muskie briefly did during the Carter Administration, which has enabled her to better understand and interact with the politicians who run places like Afghanistan and Pakistan. But most important, she is an international celebrity with a much higher profile than any of her recent predecessors and the ability — second only to the President's — to change negative attitudes about the U.S. abroad.
595. in
In Michigan, more than six in ten voters said the economy was the "single most important issue" in deciding their vote. Among likely voters, Obama increased his lead over McCain from a four-point edge in a late September Quinnipiac poll to a whopping 16-point lead in the most recent survey.
596. In addition
In addition to branding countries, it also identifies global trends in travel and tourism, which the statement said was the world's fastest growing economic sector.
597. In any case
In any case, political numeracy can illuminate the hours before midnight. So as Tuesday's numbers accumulate, here are some benchmarks to bear in mind:
In any case, there won't be any necessity for you to come along.
I won’t weigh in on the debate over the quality of the stress tests themselves, except to repeat what many observers have noted: the regulators didn’t have the resources to make a really careful assessment of the banks’ assets, and in any case they allowed the banks to bargain over what the results would say. A rigorous audit it wasn’t.
Estimates of the number of U.S. deaths caused annually by the absence of universal health insurance go as high as 20,000. One study concluded that in the age group 55 to 64 alone, more than 13,000 extra deaths a year may be attributed to the lack of insurance coverage. But the estimates vary because Americans without health insurance are more likely, for example, to smoke than Americans with health insurance, and sorting out the role that the lack of insurance plays is difficult. Richard Kronick, a professor at the School of Medicine at the University of California, San Diego, cautiously concludes from his own study that there is little evidence to suggest that extending health insurance to all Americans would have a large effect on the number of deaths in the United States. That doesn’t mean that it wouldn’t; we simply don’t know if it would.
In any case, it isn’t only uninsured Americans who can’t afford treatment. President Obama has spoken about his mother, who died from ovarian cancer in 1995. The president said that in the last weeks of her life, his mother “was spending too much time worrying about whether her health insurance would cover her bills” — an experience, the president went on to say, that his mother shared with millions of other Americans. It is also an experience more common in the United States than in other developed countries. A recent Commonwealth Fund study led by Cathy Schoen and Robin Osborn surveyed adults with chronic illness in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States. Far more Americans reported forgoing health care because of cost. More than half (54 percent) reported not filling a prescription, not visiting a doctor when sick or not getting recommended care. In comparison, in the United Kingdom the figure was 13 percent, and in the Netherlands, only 7 percent. Even among Americans with insurance, 43 percent reported that cost was a problem that had limited the treatment they received. According to a 2007 study led by David Himmelstein, more than 60 percent of all bankruptcies are related to illness, with many of these specifically caused by medical bills, even among those who have health insurance. In Canada the incidence of bankruptcy related to illness is much lower.
So now what? Mr. Summers still insists that the administration did the right thing: more government provision of capital, he says, would not “have been an availing strategy for solving problems.” Whatever. In any case, as a political matter the moment for radical action on banks has clearly passed.
598. Index
Robertson's rationale is more than suspect, yet the differences between the two nations are undeniable. The UN ranks the Dominican Republic 90th out of 182 countries on its human development index, which combines a variety of welfare measurements; Haiti comes in at 149th. In the Dominican Republic, average life expectancy is nearly 74 years. In Haiti, it's 61. You're substantially more likely to be able to read and write if you live in the eastern two-thirds of Hispaniola, and less likely to live on under $1.25 a day. (See TIME's exclusive pictures from the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake.)
599. In the nick of time
The fire engines arrived in the nick of time.
Del Petro hit a huge serve in the nick of time.
600. In any event
In any event, what the Seattle and Louisville school districts were aiming at went beyond achieving integration to enforce a rigid racial "balance" in every school. Had Joshua been allowed to go where his mother requested, no one would have been denied the chance to attend a school made up of kids of different races. (Retrieved July 6, from http://www.reason.com/news/show/121152.html).
In the event of rain, the party will be held indoors.
In the event that I can't come back by seven, you can eat without me.
601. In comparison
In any case, it isn’t only uninsured Americans who can’t afford treatment. President Obama has spoken about his mother, who died from ovarian cancer in 1995. The president said that in the last weeks of her life, his mother “was spending too much time worrying about whether her health insurance would cover her bills” — an experience, the president went on to say, that his mother shared with millions of other Americans. It is also an experience more common in the United States than in other developed countries. A recent Commonwealth Fund study led by Cathy Schoen and Robin Osborn surveyed adults with chronic illness in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States. Far more Americans reported forgoing health care because of cost. More than half (54 percent) reported not filling a prescription, not visiting a doctor when sick or not getting recommended care. In comparison, in the United Kingdom the figure was 13 percent, and in the Netherlands, only 7 percent. Even among Americans with insurance, 43 percent reported that cost was a problem that had limited the treatment they received. According to a 2007 study led by David Himmelstein, more than 60 percent of all bankruptcies are related to illness, with many of these specifically caused by medical bills, even among those who have health insurance. In Canada the incidence of bankruptcy related to illness is much lower.
602. inanity
The debate over the public option has, as I said, been depressing in its inanity. Opponents of the option — not just Republicans, but Democrats like Senator Kent Conrad and Senator Ben Nelson — have offered no coherent arguments against it. Mr. Nelson has warned ominously that if the option were available, Americans would choose it over private insurance — which he treats as a self-evidently bad thing, rather than as what should happen if the government plan was, in fact, better than what private insurers offer.
603. inch
The White House has confirmed that its deficit estimate for the 2009 fiscal year, which ends September 30, will inch down to $1.58 trillion from $1.84 trillion after eliminating billions of dollars originally set aside for bank rescues.
604. indebtedness
Obama acknowledged his indebtedness to Kennedy on Wednesday while vacationing on Martha's Vineyard, calling him "not only one of the greatest senators of our time, but one of the most accomplished Americans ever to serve our democracy."
605. in-depth
For the special, "Dateline" correspondent Josh Mankiewicz takes an in-depth look at the private VIP world in Vegas that attracted Woods and for the first time gets inside the National Enquirer story that started his public nightmare. In an exclusive interview with a Vegas insider, Mankiewicz is told that a feud between two women led to that first story on Woods's alleged affair.
606. Indication
America’s political scene has changed immensely since the last time a Democratic president tried to reform health care. So has the health care picture: with costs soaring and insurance dwindling, nobody can now say with a straight face that the U.S. health care system is O.K. And if surveys like the New York Times/CBS News poll released last weekend are any indication, voters are ready for major change.
607. inebriation
608. In Between
"He was a Washington institution who could turn an idea into the most discussed story around kitchen tables, congressional offices, the White House, and everywhere in between," Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said in a statement.
609. in error
Rowe, who was married to Jackson in 1996 and filed for divorce three years later, surrendered her parental rights. An appeals court later found that was done in error, and Rowe and Jackson entered an out-of-court settlement in 2006.
610. In part
Driving the call for more stimulus efforts is the unemployment rate, which now sits at 9.8%, and is expected to rise into next year, even though the recession may have already officially ended. Republicans, who have long been critical of the $787 billion stimulus that passed in February, are likely to support some, if not most of these new spending programs, in part because they are politically popular. Texas Republican John Cornyn, a vocal opponent of the February stimulus, said recently that he was in favor of some more federal spending efforts. "I think there are things we need to do to help people who need help," he said Oct. 4 on ABC's This Week.
611. Indebtedness
Obama acknowledged his indebtedness to Kennedy on Wednesday while vacationing on Martha's Vineyard, calling him "not only one of the greatest senators of our time, but one of the most accomplished Americans ever to serve our democracy."
612. inerrancy
It was a small detail, a point of comparison buried in the fifth paragraph on the 17th page of a 24-page summary of the 2009 American Religious Identification Survey. But as R. Albert Mohler Jr.—president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, one of the largest on earth—read over the document after its release in March, he was struck by a single sentence. For a believer like Mohler—a starched, unflinchingly conservative Christian, steeped in the theology of his particular province of the faith, devoted to producing ministers who will preach the inerrancy of the Bible and the Gospel of Jesus Christ as the only means to eternal life—the central news of the survey was troubling enough: the number of Americans who claim no religious affiliation has nearly doubled since 1990, rising from 8 to 15 percent.
613. in hopes of
Obama's treasury secretary touched off a Wall Street rally with a long-awaited plan to help rid banks of their toxic assets. Timothy Geithner rolled out a comprehensive overhaul of financial regulations in hopes of avoiding another meltdown. Congressional Democrats worked to put their own imprint on a budget full of ambition but saddled with deficits.
Obama's top domestic priority has suffered numerous setbacks in recent weeks, and Republicans have stepped up their criticism. A Senate vote has been postponed until September. Administration and Democratic leaders hope to show significant progress before lawmakers begin their monthlong recess in hopes of regaining momentum.
614. incarnations
In his past incarnations, including his stint at the Treasury Department, he was known for his mammoth ego and for his impatience with people he considered his intellectual inferiors. Now he is generally more mellow and diplomatic.
No top player in the Bush administration has taken responsibility for his or her role in selling faulty intelligence products without exerting proper due diligence. There have been few unequivocal mea culpas from those who failed in their oversight roles during the housing bubble either — whether Greenspan, the Bush Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson or Timothy Geithner in his pre-Obama incarnation leading the New York Fed.
615. Included
So if Mr. Obama has bluntly pressed for a settlements freeze, he is, in fact, reflecting a broad sentiment in Congress, the Pentagon and among many Americans, Jews included.
616. Incremental
So what should be done? Barack Obama offers incremental reform: regulation of insurers to prevent discrimination against the less healthy, subsidies to help lower-income families buy insurance, and public insurance plans that compete with the private sector. His plan falls short of universal coverage, but it would sharply reduce the number of uninsured.
At the end of his presidency, Clinton told me that the biggest mistake he made in trying to reform health care was pulling a pen out of his pocket during the 1994 State of the Union address and threatening to veto any health-care legislation that didn't achieve universal coverage. He had come to believe that the only way to get something big like health-care reform was to do it incrementally. Obama has been wise not to make any take-it-or-leave-it offers. He is still fighting for a comprehensive bill - and he still may get one. But he may have to settle for less.
617. innocuous
In psychological research, participants exposed to subliminal photos of black men are quicker to identify ambiguous images as weapons. Respondents in police simulation studies — including actual officers — are more likely to mistake innocuous items for guns when held by a black man. These are basic human tendencies to which many of us fall victim, yet they aren’t inevitable with proper vigilance or training.
618. In no uncertain terms
It's been a week to savor for immigrant advocates. First, there was the news that Lou Dobbs, with his nostril-flaring rants against illegal immigration, was departing CNN. Then there was Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano's speech at the Center for American Progress today, in which she declared in no uncertain terms that the administration was intent on pursuing comprehensive immigration reform in early 2010.
619. In particular
In particular, the same plan has to be available to all employees, regardless of the size of their paycheck or the state of their health.
Mr. Krugman received the award for his work on international trade and economic geography. In particular, the prize committee lauded his work for “having shown the effects of economies of scale on trade patterns and on the location of economic activity.
There is one book in particular that may help you.
620. in principal
The Boston Celtics and Rajon Rondo(notes) have reached an agreement in principle on a contract extension, Rondo’s agent, Bill Duffy, said early Monday.
621. in search of
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., says a floor vote is still possible in the next few days, and Democrats called a meeting of all their House members late Monday afternoon. In the Senate, a small group of lawmakers from both parties were resuming negotiations in search of an elusive compromise.
622. In sight
The surge worked. It worked better than even its proponents expected. The strategic and moral calamity of an American withdrawal in defeat from the central front in the war on Islamic jihadism was averted. The positive outcome of a reasonably stable, democratic, and friendly Iraq is now in sight. Thanks in large part to John McCain, we did not have a second Vietnam-like humiliation. Thanks in large part to John McCain, the United States is on the verge of snatching victory from the jaws of defeat.
623. inescapable
Rationing health care means getting value for the billions we are spending by setting limits on which treatments should be paid for from the public purse. If we ration we won’t be writing blank checks to pharmaceutical companies for their patented drugs, nor paying for whatever procedures doctors choose to recommend. When public funds subsidize health care or provide it directly, it is crazy not to try to get value for money. The debate over health care reform in the United States should start from the premise that some form of health care rationing is both inescapable and desirable. Then we can ask, What is the best way to do it?
624. ingredient
Obama has promised to do that. The president, a Democrat, says he will cut the deficit in half by the end of his four-year term, and he sees lowering healthcare costs as a key ingredient toward achieving long-term deficit reduction.
625. In hopes of
A person who delays signing a contract in hopes of gaining more favorable terms.
626. Inordinate
The group Ben-Ami founded seeks to be the vehicle for this protest. It has sought to challenge the ascendancy of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the hub of the legendary “Israel Lobby” in Washington that critics of strong American support for Israel see as a key obstacle to their goal of Middle East peace. While J Street is a tiny operation that cannot match AIPAC in terms of influence and money, in its first year of operation it has gained an inordinate amount of largely favorable press coverage.
He drank an inordinate amount of wine.
an inordinate admirer of beauty.
inordinate hours
627. Instead
During his presidential election campaign, Barack Obama was opposed to an individual mandate, preferring instead strong requirements that employers be required to provide coverage. "I'm not sure how ready the country is politically to accept the overall mandate," Irwin Redlener , a Columbia University physician and adviser to Obama, told The Miami Herald during the campaign.
628. In retrospect
In retrospect, the signs of Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan's growing anger over the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan seem unmistakable. But even people who worried his increasingly strident views were clouding his ability to serve the U.S. military could not predict the murderous rampage of which he now stands accused.
In the months leading to Thursday's shooting spree that left 13 people dead and 29 others wounded, Hasan raised eyebrows with comments that the war on terror was "a war on Islam" and wrestled with what to tell fellow Muslim solders who had their doubts about fighting in Islamic countries.
"The system is not doing what it's supposed to do," said Dr. Val Finnell, who complained to administrators at a military university about what he considered Hasan's "anti-American" rants. "He at least should have been confronted about these beliefs, told to cease and desist, and to shape up or ship out."
629. In so as to
to make minor adjustments in so as to produce stability, improvement, or the precise results desire
630. Insolvency
The case for explicit health care rationing in the United States starts with the difficulty of thinking of any other way in which we can continue to provide adequate health care to people on Medicaid and Medicare, let alone extend coverage to those who do not now have it. Health-insurance premiums have more than doubled in a decade, rising four times faster than wages. In May, Medicare’s trustees warned that the program’s biggest fund is heading for insolvency in just eight years. Health care now absorbs about one dollar in every six the nation spends, a figure that far exceeds the share spent by any other nation. According to the Congressional Budget Office, it is on track to double by 2035.
631. Installment
Public television's Jim Lehrer moderated the one-hour town hall meeting. It will air this week in three installments on PBS' "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer."
632. Instead
Al Franken refused his rival's calls for an election night concession last November, choosing instead to begin vote counting and courtroom haggling that stretched almost eight months and ultimately landed him a seat in the U.S. Senate.
House leaders are leaning toward not voting directly on the Senate -passed measure. Instead, they plan to have the House vote on a rule governing debate on a "sidecar" bill intended to modify the Senate legislation's most controversial terms. The rule would "deem" that the rule's passage meant that the House has approved the Senate -passed measure, and the House next would vote on the "sidecar" bill to modify the Senate legislation. House leaders of both parties have used this obscure process many times to expedite bills, but never for such sweeping legislation.
One of the domain name companies, Go Daddy Inc., announced its change in policy at a congressional hearing that was largely devoted to Google Inc.'s announcement Monday that it will no longer censor Internet search results in China.
Christine Jones, executive vice president and general counsel of Go Daddy, said its decision was not a reaction to Google and instead reflects her company's concern about the security of its customers and "the chilling effect" of the new Chinese government requirements.
633. Insular
There are many experts who think that the whole restructuring strategy is misbegotten. These experts think that costs are not the real problem. The real problem is the product. The cars are not good enough. The management is insular. The reputation is fatally damaged.
He is an exceedingly insular man, so deeply private as to seem inaccessible to the scrutiny of a novelist" (Leonard Michaels).
634. insulate
the chief of staff must cope with huge amounts of chaos, tension and demands to insulate the president from all but the most important issues before him, she said.
635. Instead
But an investigation by The New York Times casts doubt on the official version of events and instead indicates that Haitian authorities shot unarmed prisoners and then sought to cover it up. Many of the bodies were buried in an unmarked grave.
636. intent
Jones -- who's been indicted on one charge of possessing 10,000 oxycodone pills with intent to distribute -- was hand in hand with former Playboy mansion resident Karissa Shannon earlier this week.
637. Interloper
As Amandi notes, one election and one high-court pick won't have blacks and Hispanics sharing rap and salsa around a campfire. Immigration, for example, isn't a priority issue for African Americans - most Latinos feel Obama needs to ratchet up his commitment to it - and Latinos aren't as passionate about affirmative action. But it is indeed hard to overstate what a sea change their apparent alliance represents. As the U.S. Latino population began to mushroom in the 1980s and minority competition for employment and resources became more acute, the black-brown divide turned into a chasm. Many blacks viewed Latinos as interlopers getting a free ride on the civil-rights trail African-Americans had blazed; Latinos resented the notion that they were merely junior partners in minority politics, that their own demands for good jobs, schools and neighborhoods were somehow considered gate-crashing.
638. In terms of
Obama and Democratic leaders say he faces more obstruction, in terms of the number of pending nominees and the length of their delay in getting a vote, than Bush did. The hyper-partisan atmosphere in Washington began long before Obama's presidency but remains as entrenched as ever, if not worse, during his term.
639. inverse
Sure, it would take time to influence the regime, but, unlike words alone, it will have an impact. I believe in “The First Law of Petro-Politics,” which stipulates that the price of oil and the pace of freedom in petrolist states — states totally dependent on oil exports to run their economies — operate in an inverse correlation. As the price of oil goes down, the pace of freedom goes up because leaders have to educate and unleash their people to innovate and trade. As the price of oil goes up, the pace of freedom goes down because leaders just have to stick a pipe in the ground to stay in power.
640. inversely
Past research by Walker and colleagues at Harvard Medical School, which was published in the journal Current Biology, found that in people who were sleep deprived, activity in the prefrontal lobe - a region of the brain involved in controlling emotion - was significantly diminished. He suggests that a similar response may be occurring in the nap-deprived volunteers, albeit to a lesser extent, and that it may have its roots in evolution. "If you're walking through the jungle and you're tired, it might benefit you more to be hypersensitive to negative things," he says. The idea is that with little mental energy to spare, you're emotionally more attuned to things that are likely to be the most threatening in the immediate moment. Inversely, when you're well rested, you may be more sensitive to positive emotions, which could benefit long-term survival, he suggests: "If it's getting food, if it's getting some kind of reward, finding a wife - those things are pretty good to pick up on."
641. impeccable
Kennedy had a few built-in advantages, of course – she charmed Charles de Gaulle with her style and impeccable French, and her French maiden name and schooling at the Sorbonne didn’t hurt—but her turn in Paris proved that little things matter.
642. ineradicable
643. inscrutable
the inscrutable depths of the ocean
an inscrutable smile
Bernanke himself has not been shy in mounting what some saw as a very public bid for re-nomination. Earlier this summer, he gave a lengthy interview to CBS’s 60 Minutes – an almost unheard of proposition for a Fed Chairman. Greenspan typically made sure that his comments to reporters were safely off the record and that his public pronouncements were inscrutable.
644. instead
One Republican Senator said, “If we’re able to stop Obama on this, it will be his Waterloo. It will break him.” And a leading political strategist urged fellow Republicans to “resist the temptation” to be “constructive or, at least responsible,” and instead work to “kill” health care reform
Sanford spoke with reporters a day after a legislative panel rejected an impeachment resolution and instead decided to recommend a formal rebuke for his trysts with an Argentine mistress and his misuse of state planes. The panel said his actions had brought the state "ridicule, dishonor, disgrace and shame."
In a fiery closing argument for health reform, Obama urged lawmakers to focus not on the impact to his presidency or even the impact to their own political fortunes when they cast what he acknowledged will be a "tough vote." Instead, Obama reminded them of the nation's 100-year quest for universal health coverage, and told them to vote against the bill only if "you honestly believe in your heart of hearts" that it is not a "vast improvement over the status quo."
645. In the interim
In the interim, there would be a law on the books — with the president’s signature at the bottom — which includes more than a handful of widely unpopular measures, including carve-out deals like the Nebraska “Cornhusker Kickback” and the “Louisiana purchase,” made with individual senators . House Democrats may ask for a written pledge from at least 51 Democrats that those provisions will be stripped out.
646. intone
Before he was seated, Franken and his aides intoned he would take a path well-trod by already-famous Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama before him. The idea is to work hard, pick a few issues and do your best to drown your celebrity by focusing on the detail of day-to-day work in the Senate.
647. In turn
Today's PGA pros owe at least a quarter of everything they've earned to Tiger, who raised the game's prominence and, in turn, their paychecks. But Crane's comments indicate that Tiger's alleged proclivities were an open secret among Tour players.
648. inveigle
to inveigle a person into playing bridge
to inveigle a theater pass from a person
649. Inversely
Past research by Walker and colleagues at Harvard Medical School, which was published in the journal Current Biology, found that in people who were sleep deprived, activity in the prefrontal lobe - a region of the brain involved in controlling emotion - was significantly diminished. He suggests that a similar response may be occurring in the nap-deprived volunteers, albeit to a lesser extent, and that it may have its roots in evolution. "If you're walking through the jungle and you're tired, it might benefit you more to be hypersensitive to negative things," he says. The idea is that with little mental energy to spare, you're emotionally more attuned to things that are likely to be the most threatening in the immediate moment. Inversely, when you're well rested, you may be more sensitive to positive emotions, which could benefit long-term survival, he suggests: "If it's getting food, if it's getting some kind of reward, finding a wife - those things are pretty good to pick up on."
650. ire
Grassley, in a letter that became public Monday, appealed to supporters earlier this month to “help me defeat ‘Obamacare.’” But it was Enzi who provoked the ire of White House press secretary Robert Gibbs in a notable departure from the administration’s previous approach.
651. ironclad
The caricature of Sarah Palin that emerged in the presidential campaign, for good and ill, is now ineradicable. The swift journey from her knockout convention speech to Tina Fey’s dead-eyed incarnation of her as Dan Quayle with an updo played out in real time, no less for the bewildered McCain campaign than for the public at large. It is an ironclad axiom of politics that if a campaign looks troubled from the outside the inside reality is far worse, and the McCain-Palin fiasco was no exception. As in any sudden marriage of convenience in which neither partner really knows the other, there were bound to be bumps. Palin had been on the national Republican radar for barely a year, after a cruise ship of conservative columnists, including The Weekly Standard’s William Kristol, had stopped in Juneau in 2007 and had succumbed to her charms when she invited them to the governor’s house for a luncheon of halibut cheeks. McCain had spent only a couple of hours in Palin’s presence before choosing her, and she had pointedly failed to endorse him after he clinched the nomination in March. The difficulties began immediately, with the McCain team’s delivery of the bad news that the pregnancy of Palin’s daughter Bristol, which was already common knowledge in Alaska and had been revealed to the McCain team at the last minute, could not be kept secret until after the Republican convention.
652. Irrespective
The QALY tells us to do what brings about the greatest health benefit, irrespective of where that benefit falls. Usually, for a given quantity of resources, we will do more good if we help those who are worst off, because they have the greatest unmet needs. But occasionally some conditions will be both very severe and very expensive to treat. A QALY approach may then lead us to give priority to helping others who are not so badly off and whose conditions are less expensive to treat. I don’t find it unfair to give the same weight to the interests of those who are well off as we give to those who are much worse off, but if there is a social consensus that we should give priority to those who are worse off, we can modify the QALY approach so that it gives greater weight to benefits that accrue to those who are, on the QALY scale, worse off than others.
653. issue
At issue is a proposal to send 1,500 additional troops to the border to analyze intelligence and to provide air support and technical assistance to border agencies. The governors of Texas, Arizona, California and New Mexico began making the requests in January, drawing support from Napolitano but prompting objections from the Pentagon, where officials argue that it could lead to a permanent, expanded mission for the military.
654. Jaw
The Orlando Magic snatched defeat from the jaw of victory.
655. Jettison
After agreeing tentatively to jettison a key liberal priority — a full-blown government-run insurance option — Senate Democrats woke up Wednesday to find that the fragile coalition backing President Barack Obama's health care bill is still together.
656. Jibe
The report does not quite jibe with the commissioner's observations.
Despite her disastrous performance in the 2008 election, Sarah Palin is still the sexiest brand in Republican politics, with a lucrative book contract for her story. But what Alaska’s charismatic governor wants the public to know about herself doesn’t always jibe with reality. As John McCain’s top campaign officials talk more candidly than ever before about the meltdown of his vice-presidential pick, the author tracks the signs—political and personal—that Palin was big trouble, and checks the forecast for her future.
657. jitter
Every time I have to make a speech, I get the jitters.
A survey this month of 1,205 adults by the Kaiser Family Foundation showed similar jitters among older Americans.
658. joke
If I had told you on Halloween that the Tennessee Titans would be playing a meaningful game on Christmas, you’d have wondered if it were some kind of April Fools’ joke.
659. jolt
President Barack Obama on Saturday dismissed the idea the nation might need a second stimulus to jolt the economy out of recession and urged Americans to be patient with his economic recovery plan.
660. Journals
Los Angeles Times , The New York Times , The New Republic , Slate , and other publications
661. Joust
Groups allied with J Street, such as Americans for Peace Now, Brit Tzedek v’Shalom, and even the well-funded Israel Policy Forum, have all previously jousted with the pro-Israel establishment. But they merely fashioned themselves as openly dovish in policy. J Street’s goals are even more ambitious. It seeks to make its advocacy mainstream by re-branding policies that had been thought to be discredited by the demise of the Oslo Accords as moderate, thus effectively labeling the Jewish mainstream as right-wing and self-destructive.
The candidates will joust in a television debate.
Novak, editor of the Evans-Novak Political Report, had been a columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times for decades. He is perhaps best known as a co-host of several of CNN's political talk shows, where he often jousted with liberal guests from 1980 to 2005. One of the best-known was "Crossfire."
662. jugular
The narrative that the McCain campaign employed to explain Palin’s selection and to promote her qualifications—that she was a fresh-faced reformer who had taken on Alaska’s big oil companies and the corrupt Republican establishment, governing with bipartisan support—was never more than superficially true. In dozens of conversations during a recent visit to Alaska, it was easy to learn that there has always been a counter-narrative about Palin, and indeed it has become the dominant one. It is the story of a political novice with an intuitive feel for the temper of her times, a woman who saw her opportunities and coolly seized them. In every job, she surrounded herself with an insular coterie of trusted friends, took disagreements personally, discarded people who were no longer useful, and swiftly dealt vengeance on enemies, real or perceived. “Remember,” says Lyda Green, a former Republican state senator who once represented Palin’s home district, and who over the years went from being a supporter of Palin’s to a bitter foe, “her nickname in high school was ‘Barracuda.’ I was never called Barracuda. Were you? There’s a certain instinct there that you go for the jugular.”
The defense attorney went right for the jugular by attempting to destroy the witness's credibility.
663. Junior
"When the Indian-born Rushdie started his romance with the model more than 20 years his junior, the British tabloids made much of their differences in age and intellectual stature."Author Rushdie and TV host Lakshmi to divorce .
May I speak with the junior Mr. Hansen?
His appointment is junior to mine by six months.
he junior division of the camp went on the hike.
he hotel has special weekend rates on junior suites.
a sister four years my junior.
664. Juggle
And for all the attention that will be paid to the arrival of America's first black president, there is also a deep fascination with his wife - her humble roots, her Ivy League education, her groundbreaking role and her ability to juggle being first lady and raising two daughters out of the spotlight.
The center fielder juggled the ball but finally made the catch.
to juggle the business accounts
to juggle the facts
to juggle the obligations of job and school
665. Jump
Some Democratic senators say they'll jump ship from the bill without tighter restrictions on abortion coverage. Others say they'll go unless a government plan to compete with private insurance companies gets tossed overboard. Such concessions would enrage liberals, the heart and soul of the party.
666. just
In the United States, Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal began a perestroika of American capitalism, the struggle for which continues 75 years later with Obama's attempts to expand health care and regulate the crisis-prone financial system. Passage of health-care legislation, as the president said after the House vote, "answered the call of history." The bill goes a long way toward fulfilling President Truman's declaration that universal health care is a basic right. It will extend health insurance to 30 million Americans and impose tough regulations on the insurance industry, which are welcome changes.
But the legislation is only one step in a long process. And just as it is too soon to write the final chapter of the history of Roosevelt's New Deal or Gorbachev's perestroika, it is too early to judge Obama's reforms. Leaders, activist groups and citizens must continue the fight to improve the health-care legislation's protections and fix its flaws.
Seeking to deradicalize the idea during a symposium in Orlando in September 2008 , Thompson said, "Just like people are required to have car insurance, they could be required to have health insurance.
667. keystone
Truman is considered the political Godfather of universal health care, having first proposed it on Nov. 19, 1945, and establishing it as a keystone of the Democratic Party agenda ever since.
668. Kind of
“The government’s previous attempts to kind of regulate executive pay have been colossal failures,” said Carol Bowie, head of the Governance Institute at RiskMetrics Group.
669. Keel
The affairs of state are seldom on an even keel for long.
Several cadets keeled over from the heat during the parade.
670. Knotty
Knotty issues include whether to establish a government-run insurance plan and how to control costs.
Knotty
671. kingpin
If Mr. Karzai is at all grateful for this support, he has a very peculiar way of showing it. He has ignored pleas from President Obama and others to take meaningful steps to rein in the rampant corruption. His brother, Ahmed Wali Karzai, the kingpin in southern Afghanistan, is believed by top American officials to be engaged in all manner of nefarious activities, including money-laundering and involvement in the flourishing opium trade.
672. lambaste
This November, the president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science publicly lambasted the administration for putting unqualified political appointees into permanent civil service jobs that make scientific policy decisions. A case in point: Todd Harding, a 30-year old with a bachelor’s degree from Kentucky’s Centre College, was named to a permanent post at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration working on space-spaced science for geostationary and meteorological data
673. lampoon
After being skewered by Congress and lampooned on NBC's "Saturday Night Live," the CEOs of Detroit's three automakers may end up making their return trip to Washington by car as they seek a federal bailout.
674. land
Bruno has landed the No. 1 spot at the weekend box office, though it's uncertain how much staying power he has.
He will land a lucrative job.
At Georgetown University, the ne plus ultra for brainy Catholic girls, Jenny majored in finance before landing the job at Lazard, where she rose within a few years to the rank of vice president in the cutthroat mergers-and-acquisitions department. Only 27 and beginning to feel burned out, she requested a transfer to the more sedate bond desk. There she followed a time-honored tradition of young working people in New York City by taking a summer share in a house on Long Island. Sanford was not the Paris Hilton of the Hamptons, but neither was she a saint. “I don’t have a wild past, but I don’t have a perfect past. I worked hard, and I played hard. There are things I probably shouldn’t have done, but I was human. The question is what you learn from them.”
675. lap
But Obama and most congressional Democrats want more: granting subsidies to help low-income people buy health insurance; requiring nearly all U.S. citizens to have insurance, and requiring large employers to contribute; creating greater competition for private insurers, possibly through a government-run option; and imposing more efficiency in Medicare and other programs, where experts say too much money and effort are wasted.
Obama is campaigning throughout the nation, with a rally Saturday in Minneapolis, an appearance Sunday on CBS' "60 Minutes" and trips next week to New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland.
But the health care issue is mainly in Congress' lap.
676. lapse
The pivotal decisions will be made this fall, with administration officials saying the debate cannot lapse into the midterm election year of 2010.
Toward the end of the book the author lapsed into bad prose.
We let our subscription to that magazine lapse
he custom lapsed after a period of time.
to lapse into heresy
Your insurance policy will lapse after 30 days.
lapse into bad habits
a team that lapsed into mediocrity halfway through the season.
apse into reverie
He realized that his attention had lapsed and he hadn't heard the assignment.
She allowed her membership to lapse after the first year.
a lapse of memory
a lapse in judgment
a lapse into barbarism
a lapse in the conversation
a lapse of several years between the two revolution
“His experience is the most important thing,” Benoit said. “He wants to go out and play ball like he did a few years back and it’s exciting to see a guy his age still do it. Like any other player, he has lapses, but his experience is the main thing, not only for the younger Americans coming here to play but for the younger Japanese too.”
677. Last
Hull, which is second last in the standings, has put Brian Horton and Steve Parkin in temporary charge. The favorites to replace Brown fulltime—Gary Megson and Alan Curbishley—are both out of work, so Hull wouldn’t have to pay any compensation.
678. last-ditch
In a last-ditch effort, the administration has given company a short-term deadline to try one last time to persuade Washington that it is worth saving, said senior administration officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to more frankly discuss the decision.
The White House readied its last-ditch effort to salvage health care legislation while the Senate's Republican leader warned Democrats against the go-it-alone approach.
679. Late
Chief Justice Gilmar Mendes late Tuesday ruled that nine-year-old Sean Goldman should be handed over to his New Jersey father, lifting a stay on a lower court’s order and raising the prospect that the two could be reunited within days.
680. Lawsuit
Coleman's biggest debt comes from a $1.3 million lawsuit brought against him by Comerica Bank and a $1 million real estate loan from Thornburg Mortgage Home Loans. He also owes $50,000 to NBA Hall of Famer, and current Detroit mayor, Dave Bing.
Despite the filing, Coleman will be trying to keep both his Beverly Hills home, and the home that he bought for his mother, also located in Beverly Hills. Berke says that Coleman is "just hoping to get rid of that debt and make a fresh start."
681. Lawyer
TMZ has learned Rachel Uchitel -- aka the person the National Enquirer calls the Other Woman in the Tiger Woods saga -- decided at 3:00 AM today she needed to lawyer up. She left a message for Gloria Allred at her office -- and quickly got a return call.
We've learned Rachel has hired Gloria and is considering, among other things, suing the National Enquirer for defamation. As we first told you, Rachel called the National Enquirer's report that she had an affair with Tiger Woods "bulls**t."
682. Leader board
Tiger Woods’s troubles help professor to storm up the leader board
683. learning curve
The reason, several of Mr. Obama’s transition team members say, is that they believe that the new administration will have no time for a learning curve. With the country facing a deep recession or worse, global market turmoil, chaos in Pakistan and a worsening war in Afghanistan, “there’s going to be no time for experimentation,” a member of the Obama foreign policy team said.
684. Leeway
The central bank has leeway to keep rates low because inflation is under control and is expected to stay tame because of the economy's weakness. Some private forecasters even fear that the recovery could fizzle late next year as government stimulus fades.
685. Length
Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin -- who has gone to great lengths to hype the supposed dangers of a big government takeover of American health care -- admitted over the weekend that she used to get her treatment in Canada's single-payer system.
Israeli officials privately say Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu — Washington-bound next week — is willing to go to some lengths to calm tensions. U.S. officials are also looking for a way to finesse their demand that Israel cancel the construction.
686. lend
Bill Clinton's dealings with Giustra already have posed a public relations problem for his wife, in large part because, by accompanying Giustra on foreign business trips, the former president may have appeared to lend his stature to Giustra's mining ventures.
687. Lens
The central issue going forward will be the regime’s survival itself. The radically insecure members of this government will make no concessions that might threaten their hold on power. The West won’t be able to go back and view Iran through the old lens of engagement on nuclear issues. The nations of the West will have to come up with multi-track policies that not only confront Iran on specific issues, but also try to undermine the regime itself.
688. lesson
The first lesson they have learned is that domestic policy making should never be dictated from the White House. The Clinton health initiative was hatched in the executive branch and unleashed on Congress. So the Obama administration is doing the opposite, handing Congress working control of every major piece of legislation.
689. lest
And lest courts conclude that companies cannot be sued for behavior (selling cigarettes) governed, hence authorized, by a regulatory body, the bill stipulates that it shall not be construed to limit "the liability of any person under the product liability law of any state."
He kept his notes by his side lest faulty memory lead him astray.
There was danger lest the plan become known.
As long ago as 1982, the economist Mancur Olson made the argument, in The Rise and Decline of Nations, that as a democracy matures, special interests grow more entrenched. Their intense dedication to their own specific needs, Olson wrote, often trumps the broader, but less focused, interests of society. And that was before the rise of cable news and talk radio. It was before the utterly corrupting effect of televised advertising on politicians really kicked in - the need to raise money (from interest groups, mostly) and to exercise extreme caution lest one of your votes be used to decapitate you in a 20-second ad. It was before the Democrats and Republicans transformed themselves into more strictly ideological parties. Put all these factors in the cauldron and you create a poisonous atmosphere that makes legislative action on big issues almost impossible. It is also a prescription for conservative governance of the sort that has thrived since Ronald Reagan. Doing nothing is the easiest thing.
690. let alone
Some voters told reporters that they didn’t want Obama to run, let alone win.
The report says too few relevant officials knew of the size and depth of the program, let alone signed off on it. They particularly criticize John Yoo, a deputy assistant attorney general who wrote legal memos undergirding the policy. His boss, Attorney General John Ashcroft, was not aware until March 2004 of the exact nature of the intelligence operations beyond wiretapping that he had been approving for the previous two and a half years, the report says.
He was too tired to walk, let alone run.
Marriages are often destroyed by relatives who will not let well enough alone
The case for explicit health care rationing in the United States starts with the difficulty of thinking of any other way in which we can continue to provide adequate health care to people on Medicaid and Medicare, let alone extend coverage to those who do not now have it. Health-insurance premiums have more than doubled in a decade, rising four times faster than wages. In May, Medicare’s trustees warned that the program’s biggest fund is heading for insolvency in just eight years. Health care now absorbs about one dollar in every six the nation spends, a figure that far exceeds the share spent by any other nation. According to the Congressional Budget Office, it is on track to double by 2035.
Just a few months ago, David Beckham and Landon Donovan didn’t particularly like being in the same zip code, let alone on the same field, following a rift that went public and looked set to rip apart the Los Angeles Galaxy at the very seams.
The proposal does not set overall emissions targets or deadlines, let alone establish a legally binding treaty, which had been the expectation for Copenhagen months ago.
691. Lethargic
Still, the good news is that the economy finally started to grow again, after a record four straight losing quarters. The bad news is that the rebound, now and in the months ahead, probably will be lethargic.
692. leverage
he Obama team wants to pursue talks with Iran over its nuclear program, no matter who wins there. Fine. But the issue is not talk or no talk. The issue is leverage or no leverage. I love talking to people — especially in the Middle East — on one condition: that we have the leverage. As long as oil prices are high, Iran will have too much leverage and will be able to resist concessions on its nuclear program. With oil at $70 a barrel, our economic sanctions on Iran are an annoyance; at $25, they really hurt.
693. levity
a moment of levity
694. Lift
He gave her a lift onto the wagon.
695. Light
In a fitting show of solidarity for International Women's Day, First Lady Michelle Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made light of the brutal 2008 battle Clinton conducted to defeat Barack Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination. As Michelle Obama launched a State Department commemoration of International Women's Day, she briefly stumbled over Clinton's job title. "Let me thank my dear friend, Senator - Secretary Clinton. I almost said, 'President Clinton,' " said the first lady to laughter and applause. "But let me thank you for that kind introduction, and most of all thank you for your friendship, thank you for your support, and thank you for your indispensable advice in getting me through this first year and helping me figure out how to get my family settled in our new life in D.C."
696. like
While Mr. Krugman’s popular writing is now more focused on politics and his research more concentrated on international finance, he has occasionally returned to his interest in trade. In the last year he has written several times about the negative results of free trade, both in his column and in a paper he wrote for the Brookings Institution about whether trade with poor countries increases inequality in developed nations like the United States.
Republicans so far are united in opposition to the plan unveiled on Wednesday by Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid, which is designed to rein in costs, expand coverage and bar industry practices like denying coverage to those with pre-existing conditions.
697. likely
Among the poll's findings: Voters are just as likely to identify with Sen. Obama's background and values as they are with Sen. McCain's, with the Democrat having made up substantial ground in this regard.
Present trends are not good. Communities of color are being crushed economically and the national news media have not fully focused on the carnage. The official unemployment rate for blacks is 16.2 percent and could well pass 17 percent before the year is out. The real jobless rate is far more ghastly. The Boston-based group United for a Fair Economy noted that even “college-educated black men are nearly twice as likely to be unemployed as their white, college-educated counterparts.”
698. linchpin
"The business community realizes that (the Blue Dogs) are the linchpin and will become much more so as time goes on," former Mississippi congressman turned lobbyist Mike Parker told the organization's researchers.
The monarchy was the linchpin of the nation's traditions and society.
If primary care doctors are the lynchpin for success, that's not what the system favors. P
699. linked
It has been easy for people to forget in the decades since we lost the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. that he was a passionate fighter for economic justice as well as civil rights. The two goals were as closely linked as the hydrogen and oxygen atoms in water.
700. live video feed
The crowds begin streaming into the Evansville Auditorium and Convention Centre a couple of hours before the arrival of the “special guest speaker” at the Vanderburgh County Right to Life dinner on a soft Indiana spring evening—nearly 2,200 people in the banquet hall, 800 more in an adjacent auditorium watching the proceedings on a live video feed.
701. loath
But Snowe may be loath to be the only Republican supporter and the crucial 60th vote. "I'm not going to speculate" on the possibility, she said Friday. "That is very dangerous territory."
to be loath to admit a mistake.
702. Lock in
The presidential spokesman said it was possible Obama could lock in a decision at Monday's meeting or that it could come "over the course of the next several days." In either case, it will not be announced this week, he said.
703. locus
“In the U.S., Michelle is the locus for a nation's attitudes about femininity, motherhood, feminism and sexuality,” McDonald said. “In Europe, she carries less symbolic significance. Her willingness to experiment are all traits European fashionistas admire -- and if the occasional misstep is the result of taking a few risks, c'est la vie.”
704. lodge
The reformist clerics said the council "did not pay attention" to the complaints lodged by defeated candidates Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi.
The spinal canal lodges and protects the spinal cord.
The château will lodge the ambassador during his stay.
He lodged with a local family during his college days.
The bullet lodged in his leg
A boardinghouse that lodges oil workers.
The château will lodge the ambassador during his stay.
to lodge one's valuables in a hotel safe
A sudden hail had lodged the crops.
documents lodged with a trusted associate
The ball lodged in the fence.
705. logjam
Dems, GOP: Summit will not break logjam on health
a logjam of bills before Congress.
706. logrolling
The great paradox of the age is that Barack Obama, the most riveting of recent presidents, is leading us into an era of Congressional dominance. And Congressional governance is a haven for special interest pleading and venal logrolling.
707. Long shot
The Titans (7-7), one of eight teams battling for two AFC wild-card spots, remain a huge long shot: With a 4-7 conference record, they’d likely lose out on a tiebreaker to every team but the Miami Dolphins, who they defeated in overtime last Sunday, and the Houston Texans, who have a worse divisional record. But even if Tennessee’s quest falls short, its unlikely journey back to contention has been inspirational.
708. longitudinal
The Washington Post reported that Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the Army's chief of staff, is forming the investigative panel. It "will look longitudinally across Hasan's entire career to figure out how did this happen and what can we do to stop it from happening again," an anonymous Army official told the Post.
709. loom
Even before Barack Obama was elected president, religious figures loomed large in his political career.
The mountainous island loomed on the horizon.
Suddenly a police officer loomed in front of them.
A battle looms at the convention.
In line or not, the political challenges of the updated deficit projections are numerous. With Congressional elections looming next year, Obama will need to show he is serious about cutting costs in order to neutralize an otherwise politically radioactive issue for both political parties.
Democrats have little room for error, with the prospect of the 2010 midterms looming large and a some of their own moderates already declaring their opposition.
The placebo effect looms large in alternative medicine, which has many therapies and herbal remedies based on beliefs versus science. Often the problems they seek to relieve, such as pain, are subjective.
710. loss
raxys CEO Mark Kristoff told TIME that his company suspended trade in the DRC in May 2009 until there is a clearer road map for cooperation among companies, the U.N. and governments for a plan of social action. He added that Traxys' $50 million in trade in the DRC is equivalent to 1% of the company's total business. Afrimex told TIME via e-mail that its last shipment from the DRC took place in September 2008 and all such transactions have since ceased. "Any link between Afrimex's past mineral-trading and armed groups remain wholly unfounded," the statement said. "We remain at a loss to understand why Afrimex is still being mentioned by Global Witness." Global Witness spokesperson Amy Barry said, "Just because they have claimed to stop sourcing at this point doesn't change the fact that they were sourcing during our research. So we still think that the evidence we uncovered is worth bringing to the public's attention."
711. lump
Klein said Dobbs does a smart newscast that explores issues that get little in-depth attention elsewhere, such as trade with China, health care funding and the stimulus plan. He suggested Dobbs' CNN work is unfairly lumped in with his unrelated radio show, and that he's judged on the show he did a couple of years ago, when Dobbs became a political target for his campaigning against illegal immigration.
712. lumpectomy
713. lurch
The wounded man lurched across the room.
While I respect John McCain's service to our country, I do not like how his campaign has lurched from issue to issue. The steadiness I admire in Obama is sorely missing in McCain. I have trouble seeing him as a true maverick when he has played to the interests of his base so strongly."
714. make-or-break
President Barack Obama is traveling to Capitol Hill on Saturday to try to close the sale on his signature health care overhaul, facing a make-or-break vote in the House certain to be seen as a test of his presidency.
715. mainstay
Coffee is the mainstay of the country's economy.
In presentation and tone, A Plan for Action is determinedly uncontroversial; indeed, it looks and reads more like a corporate brochure than a foreign-policy paper. The text is the work of three academics—Bruce Jones of NYU, Carlos Pascual of the Brookings Institution, and Stephen John Stedman of Stanford. Its findings and recommendations, they claim, rose from a series of meetings with foreign-policy eminences here and abroad, including former Secretaries of State of both parties as well as defense officials from the Clinton and first Bush administrations. The participation of these notables is what gives A Plan for Action its bona fides, though one should doubt how much the document actually reflects their ideas. There is no question, however, that the ideas advanced in A Plan for Action have become mainstays in the liberal vision of the future of American foreign policy.
Agriculture is a mainstay of the economy.
716. marshal
The one-time chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff systematically marshaled his assets to neutralize the Republican endgame strategy, which is to suffuse the air around Obama with a vague mist of terrorism, socialism and "otherness."
717. maelstrom
Michelle Obama wasn’t always an admirer of Hillary Clinton, but last Wednesday the soon-to-be first lady dialed up the former first lady for pointers on protecting her two young daughters from the media maelstrom of the White House.
The Obama transition team's refusal to talk has contributed to a maelstrom around Obama's incoming White House chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, a Chicago congressman likely to have been in contact with the governor, who was arrested this week in a corruption scandal. But Emanuel is not a target of the probe, according to people who have been briefed on the investigation.
the maelstrom of early morning traffic.
Caught in the maelstrom of war.
718. Magnetometer
People wishing to enter the stadium were asked to empty their pockets and walk through a magnetometer.
719. Mainline
She may not cut a national profile, but the Rev. Sharon Watkins has made plenty of history. She's the first woman to lead a mainline Protestant denomination, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada, which has 700,000 members.
to mainline on TV movies.
mainlining coffee all day long.
the membership of mainline churches.
720. Makeshift
At once a symbol of Jackson's success and excesses, Neverland became the site of a makeshift memorial after his death Thursday. Scores of fans have streamed past the gated entrance to leave handwritten notes, photographs, balloons and flowers.
721. making
The historic legislation, affecting virtually every American and more than a year in the making, would extend coverage to an estimated 32 million Americans who lack it, forbid insurers to deny coverage on the basis of pre-existing medical conditions and cut federal deficits by an estimated $138 billion over a decade.
722. malign
The gloomy house had a malign influence upon her usually good mood.
"This has been ratcheting up, and I obviously helped to contribute ratcheting it up," he said. "I want to make clear that in my choice of words, I think I unfortunately gave an impression that I was maligning the Cambridge police department and Sgt. Crowley specifically. And I could've calibrated those words differently."
723. mantel
Russia has been struggling with different modes of "modernization" at least since Peter the Great. In the 1980s, Gorbachev took up the mantle of democratic modernization, introducing multi-candidate elections, ending censorship and permitting some private ownership, among other changes. He was a courageous leader willing to confront powerful opposition, entrenched interests and orthodoxy. Yet even great leaders, particularly in a democratic context, rarely complete their own historic reforms. Gorbachev could only go so far as to open doors long closed by Soviet communism and the Cold War and give his country and the world new alternatives.
724. mark
Just days before Congress moved to pass the most sweeping health-care legislation in decades, I was at a Moscow conference marking the 25th anniversary of perestroika, as Mikhail Gorbachev called his transformational political and economic reforms. And as I listened to the discussion, I was reminded that when assessing reforms, it's important to take the long view.
725. mastectomy
726. mammoth
The possibility of a breakthrough in resolving California's mammoth budget shortfall comes a week after the state began issuing IOUs to thousands of vendors. State workers also have begun taking three days off a month without pay, cutting the salaries of more than 200,000 government employees by 14 percent.
727. maneuver
McConnell said talk on the Democratic side about possibly trying to pass the measure using a Senate maneuver that would require just 51 votes amounted to resorting to "a device which has never been used the for this kind of major systemic reform."
728. Mantle
Iranian cleric is seeking the mantle of Khomeini
the mantle of darkness
The champagne mantled in the glass
a face that was mantled in joy.
"On a summer night . . . a mantle of dust hangs over the gravel roads" (John Dollard).
In fact, the party of Limbaugh and Beck could well make major gains in the midterm elections. The Obama administration’s job-creation efforts have fallen short, so that unemployment is likely to stay disastrously high through next year and beyond. The banker-friendly bailout of Wall Street has angered voters, and might even let Republicans claim the mantle of economic populism. Conservatives may not have better ideas, but voters might support them out of sheer frustration.
729. mantra
Top aides to the president-elect had hoped to take a methodical approach to selecting and unveiling their new team, starting with the announcements of top national security and economic players shortly after Thanksgiving. But leaks and rumors have disrupted that plan, suggesting that the "no-drama Obama" mantra famously repeated by his staff may not be as operational in Washington as it was at campaign headquarters in Chicago.
Today's edutainment software comes shrinkwrapped in the magic mantra: 'makes learning fun.'" (Clifford Stoll).
730. mar
n an epic upset in liberal Massachusetts, Republican Scott Brown rode a wave of voter anger to win the U.S. Senate seat held by the late Edward M. Kennedy for nearly half a century, leaving President Barack Obama's health care overhaul in doubt and marring the end of his first year in office.
he holiday was marred by bad weather.
That billboard mars the view.
The holiday was marred by bad weather.
731. masterstroke
However, the introduction of new boy Jozy Altidore for his debut proved a masterstroke as he teed up Ghilas for the winner.
War was avoided by a masterstroke of diplomacy
732. matchup
When the Titans returned to their training facility a few days later, they saw a revised “2009 schedule” that Fisher had displayed: It consisted of just 10 games, beginning with the upcoming Nov. 1 matchup with the Jacksonville Jaguars at LP Field.
733. Matter
To complicate matters, there is no clear-cut "Obama plan" or "Democratic plan." Obama has listed several goals, but he has drawn few lines in the sand.
734. Max out
Westwood's Rudawsky says the suit is "98 percent fiction" and notes that the school requires students max out government loans and grants and private options before turning to the school for financing. Following the controversy, the school has dropped its rate to 10 percent for new and incoming students and to zero for existing students and graduates. Rudawsky maintains that its direct-loan program has suffered from a high rate of defaults and was not a moneymaker for the school.
735. maven
The budding news maven’s years of reading resulted in a comprehensive knowledge of the Vietnam War, Watergate, urban riots, the 1973 Mideast War, and the Nixon, Ford, and Carter administrations. Retrieved July 5, 2007, from http://journalism.nyu.edu/pubzone/bullpen/errol_louis/backgrounder/
736. meaning that
Judge Phillip Waller ruled that he did not need to apply family law in the case — meaning that he accepted an agreement reached by the couple over their assets and children.
The No. 2-seeded Serena and No. 3 Venus are in the same half of the U.S. Open field announced Thursday, meaning they could face each other only in the semifinals of the year’s last major tournament.
Suppose that the economy were to keep growing at 3.5 percent. If that happened, unemployment would eventually start falling — but very, very slowly. The experience of the Clinton era, when the economy grew at an average rate of 3.7 percent for eight years (did you know that?) suggests that at current growth rates we’d be lucky to see the unemployment rate fall by half a percentage point per year, meaning that it would take a decade to return to something like full employment.
737. measured
Republican losses on Tuesday should be measured against the aftermath of two debacles a decade apart.
738. meld
Lawmakers are struggling to meld five separate healthcare bills into versions that can pass the Senate and House of Representatives by the August 8 start of a month-long recess
"a professional position that seemed to meld all his training" (Art Jahnke).
"a meld of diverse ethnic stocks" (Kenneth L. Woodward).
739. meritocratic
In addition, because of our vibrant and meritocratic university system, the best foreign students who wanted the best education also came here, and many of them also stayed. In its heyday, our unique system also attracted a disproportionate share of high-I.Q. risk-takers to high government service. So when you put all this together, with our free markets and democracy, it made it easy here for creative, high-I.Q. risk-takers to raise capital for their ideas and commercialize them. In short, America had a very powerful, self-reinforcing engine for growing innovative new companies.
740. metastasize
The prime minister--who was born in St. Paul, Minn.--even connected the current crisis to the Great Depression as well as the Great Recession. "If the European crisis metastasizes, it could create a new global financial crisis with implications as grave as the U.S.-originated crisis two years ago," he said.
Street gangs have metastasized in our city. Street gangs have metastasized in our city.
741. meteoric
Kagan's appointment would mark the culmination of a meteoric rise for the former Harvard law professor, who is a close ally of Obama and was only sworn in in March 2009 as the first female solicitor general.
742. microcosm
So, of all the puzzling things that Sarah Palin told the American public last fall, perhaps the most puzzling was this: “Believe me, Alaska is like a microcosm of America.”
Believe me, it is not.
“He sees the auto industry as a microcosm of the U.S. itself" (William J. Hampton).
743. milestone
Democratic leaders in Congress are trying to convince their wavering House colleagues that the U.S. public needs healthcare reform. The package is also viewed as a possible make-or-break milestone for Obama's legislative agenda.
Her getting the job of supervisor was a milestone in her career.
744. mindlessly
It will be tougher yet if they underestimate Obama. His selection of Rahm Emanuel as chief of staff suggests that Obama’s not going to be mindlessly leftist, and that he’s going to shape a legislative strategy that is attentive to Congressional realities while not deferring to a Congressional leadership whose interests may not be his own. Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton were both tripped up in their first two years by their Democratic Congresses. Obama intends for Emanuel to ensure that that doesn’t happen.
745. Mirage
The huge bonuses Goldman will soon hand out show that financial-industry highfliers are still operating under a system of heads they win, tails other people lose. If you’re a banker, and you generate big short-term profits, you get lavishly rewarded — and you don’t have to give the money back if and when those profits turn out to have been a mirage. You have every reason, then, to steer investors into taking risks they don’t understand.
746. Mired
But at a time when the president had hoped to be selling middle-class voters on the ways in which insurance reforms would benefit them, the White House instead finds itself mired in a Democratic Party feud over an issue it never intended to spotlight.
747. Mischievously
"Stevens mischievously wondered whether the majority justices would have allowed Frederick's punishment if his offense had been a banner reading ''Wine Sips 4 Jesus,'' which could be read as advocating alcohol use but also as -- communion wine? -- ''a protected religious message.''
748. Misdirected
Dennis O'Connor, president of the Cambridge Police Superior Officers Association, said Obama's remarks were "misdirected" and the Cambridge police "deeply resent the implication" that race was a factor in the arrest.
749. Mitigate
Why? Because, for all its flaws, this bill is the first comprehensive attempt by America to mitigate climate change by putting a price on carbon emissions. Rejecting this bill would have been read in the world as America voting against the reality and urgency of climate change and would have undermined clean energy initiatives everywhere.
to mitigate a punishment
750. Modicum
The Depression gave F.D.R. the chance to use the power of government to complete the work his cousin had begun: to build a great middle class, help the poor work their way into it and give Americans a modicum of security in old age. His leadership during World War II and the plans he made for the U.N. and a permanent leadership role for the U.S. on the world stage cemented his legacy as one of our greatest Presidents. I thought of both Roosevelts when I told Americans that we needed a new social contract for the 21st century, one that would keep us moving toward a "more perfect union" in a highly interdependent, complex, ever changing world.
"England still expects a modicum of eccentricity in its artists" (Ian Jack).
He hasn't even a modicum of common sense.
751. Modus Vivendi
During the separation, her parents adopted a modus vivendi that enabled them to tolerate each other.
The closest we ever became, perhaps, was when Michael needed a book to sell primarily as a concert souvenir. It would contain pictures for his fans but there would also be a text consisting of short fables. I sat with him for hours while he dreamily wove Aesop-like tales about animals, mixed with words about music and his love of all things musical. This project became Dancing the Dream after I pulled the text together for him, acting strictly as a friend. It was this time together that convinced me of the modus vivendi Michael had devised for himself: to counter the tidal wave of stress that accompanies mega-stardom, he built a private retreat in a fantasy world where pink clouds veiled inner anguish and Peter Pan was a hero, not a pathology.
752. Moonlight
Nikolai Podorvanyuk works by day as a scientist at Moscow's prestigious Institute of Astron¬omy and moonlights as an editor at an online newspaper by night. If you guessed that the science job is his big breadwinner, you'd be wrong. He lives on his journalist's income.
753. Moniker
Political columnist Robert Novak, a diehard conservative, pugilistic debater and proud owner of the "Prince of Darkness" moniker, has died after a battle with brain cancer.
754. More broadly
The goal was to demonstrate that the administration is on the case and, more broadly, that history shows American resilience will win.
755. More important
Bush is presiding over a smooth transition, free from leaks and backbiting. More important, he has delivered a level of policy coordination between outgoing and incoming administrations unprecedented in American history.
More important (or More importantly), her record as an administrator is unmatched.
More important, my gut tells me that if the U.S. government puts a price on carbon, even a weak one, it will usher in a new mind-set among consumers, investors, farmers, innovators and entrepreneurs that in time will make a big difference — much like the first warnings that cigarettes could cause cancer. The morning after that warning no one ever looked at smoking the same again
756. more so
Dreams may not be the secret window into the frustrated desires of the unconscious that Sigmund Freud first posited in 1899, but growing evidence suggests that dreams - and, more so, sleep - are powerfully connected to the processing of human emotions.
757. morph
Dobbs is considered among the smartest people at CNN, and also the most personally intimidating. For whatever reason — the rise of CNBC as a competitor or a sense that opinionated hosts were the future for cable news — Dobbs morphed from a business anchor to a polarizing populist.
Morphing from a tough negotiator to Mr. Friendly.
758. Muddle
But focusing on the process can distract from the larger picture. What we’re really seeing here is a decision on the part of President Obama and his officials to muddle through the financial crisis, hoping that the banks can earn their way back to health.
Some people just muddle along, waiting for their big break.
None of us knew much about staging a variety show, so we just had to muddle through.
759. Munch
Brother-in-law Craig Robinson is the Oregon State coach. And the president brought along first lady Michelle Obama, daughters Malia and Sasha, and mother-in-law Marian Robinson. The family sat courtside in the half-full Smith Center, munching on popcorn as Oregon State (2-3) handed George Washington its first loss after four victories.
760. Must-have
While many who snapped up Apple Inc.'s iPhone were using the latest must-have gadget even before leaving the store, some buyers were put on hold as they experienced frustrating delays in activating their cell phone service. (Some iPhone customers face delayshttp://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070701/ap_on_hi_te/apple_iphone)
For nearly a decade, digital compact cameras were must-haves for most consumers.
761. Muster
This is not a view with which the broader American population has shown much comfort. Traditionally, Americans have resisted the notion that their government’s actions had to pass muster with other governments, often with widely differing values and interests. It is the foreign-policy establishment’s unease with this long-held American conviction that is the motivating factor behind A Plan for Action, which represents a bold attempt to argue that any such set of beliefs has simply been overtaken by events.
He mustered all his courage.
Your grades don't pass muster
A day after receiving a positive budget score from the CBO for his health-reform bill, Senate majority leader Harry Reid told his caucus that he hopes to hold the first test vote - on the motion to proceed - by 8 p.m. on Saturday. In the face of a promised GOP filibuster, that will require 60 votes, which is exactly the number Reid has in his Democratic caucus. While several Democrats have yet to commit to voting with Reid on the motion to proceed, the majority leader is "reasonably confident" that they will be with him when the time comes, says spokesman Jim Manley. "The whole goal right now is simply to get on the bill, and then we'll start some old-fashioned legislating." More questionable is whether Reid can muster 60 votes several weeks from now, when he presses to end debate and move to final passage.
762. mutts
763. nadir
After all, this is a player who was released by San Diego, with his career in doubt, after a serious throwing shoulder injury at the end of the 2005 season. If that was the nadir of his pro career, it also was the catalyst for his move to New Orleans, where he’s has been such a smashing success that fans have lightheartedly compared him to a savior by giving him the nickname, Breesus.
764. nail down
A pair of House Democratic leaders predicted Sunday the final tally on President Barack Obama's historic health care bill will meet or exceed the 216 votes required for passage. But they acknowledged having yet to nail down commitments from a handful of members, some of whom remained concerned about the abortion issue.
765. namely
Mr. Obama was especially good when he talked about controlling medical costs. And there’s a crucial lesson there — namely, that when it comes to reforming health care, compassion and cost-effectiveness go hand in hand.
766. nascent
Barack Obama’s nascent presidency has brought forth the customary flood of policy proposals from the great and good, all hoping to influence his administration. One noteworthy offering is a short report with a distinguished provenance entitled A Plan for Action,1 which features a revealingly immodest subtitle: A New Era of International Cooperation for a Changed World: 2009, 2010, and Beyond.
"the moral shock of our nascent imperialism" (Richard Hofstadter).
767. nail-biters
Many of Obama's victories in red states will be won by 5 points or more, according to Rove's map, including Ohio (5 percent); Virginia (7 percent); Colorado (6 percent) and Nevada (7 percent). Several of McCain's wins will be nail-biters by comparison, including Florida (2 percent) and Missouri and North Carolina (less than 1 percent each).
768. namesake
2 more glaciers gone from Glacier National Park
Glacier National Park has lost two more of its namesake moving icefields to climate change, which is shrinking the rivers of ice until they grind to a halt, a government researcher said Wednesday.
769. Nanosecond
"Ours is a great institution with its brilliant and hardworking faculty and staff, and its smart and ambitious students, and I plan to continue to contribute to ensuring the bright future of the University of Illinois," Herman wrote. "Thank you for the honor to serve the University. I have enjoyed every minute, in fact, every nanosecond."
770. necessary
Obama himself did not publicly engage on the issue, playing a round of golf. He participated in several meetings where health care was discussed and will make calls through the week as necessary, Gibbs said. But he is otherwise expected to lie low until next week, and there was no indication of whether the White House is planning a shift in strategy when he returns.
771. nettlesome
Franken could prove nettlesome to Democrats looking for a consensus on some issues. Campaigning in Minnesota, Franken lampooned the Senate-approved bank bailout. It's unclear where he will fall in Democrats' efforts to reform the banking industry.
To cope with a nettlesome situation.
772. nevertheless
773. The Houston Rockets are counting on an innovative and complicated surgical procedure to repair the hairline fracture in his left foot. They hope it’ll ultimately create a base for his body that’ll withstand the unprecedented pounding delivered beneath his 7-foot, 6-inch frame. Nevertheless, Yao will miss next season and Houston officials operate with private doubts he’ll ever be a sturdy player again.
774. nightmarish
That kind of targeted effort is desperately needed, but don’t hold your breath. There is precious little sentiment for programs that would provide real help to communities trapped in the nightmarish depths of this downturn, whether the residents are mostly black, mostly white, mostly Hispanic, or whatever.
his nightmarish experience in a concentration camp.
775. nitty-gritty
Prior to that Gibbs served as a spokesman for Sen. John Kerry's (D-Mass.) presidential bid. Gibbs, like Plouffe, has experience in the nitty-gritty of Democratic politics, having served as the communications director at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and as campaign spokesman for Sen. Fritz Hollings (D-S.C.) in 1998
Let's skip the chitchat and get down to the nitty-gritty.
nitty-gritty advice
776. nod
In a nod to the White House, however, Dodd is expected to propose that states have enhanced ability to enforce consumer rules. State attorneys general and the Obama administration have called for such authority. Financial regulations approved by the House in December gave states more leeway to write and police their own consumer laws.
The speaker was so boring that half the audience was nodding.
777. no matter
NCLB has brought a critical spotlight to struggling schools. It has put pressure on all schools to raise the performance of all kids, no matter their race, ethnicity or social class.
We'll never finish on time, no matter how hard we work.
No matter, this string will do as well as any other.
778. noncommittal
At the same time, Obama remained noncommittal on a surtax to pay for the overhaul, which some experts have said could cost over $1 trillion in the next several years to reconstitute and incorporate some 46 million uninsured into the system. He did reiterate his opposition to taxing people's employer-provided health benefits, however.
779. Nonentity
780. nonetheless
In his address, Mr. Obama is nonetheless expected again to describe a public option as his preferred way to “keep insurance companies honest,” as he often puts it, and encourage better coverage at a lower cost. At the same time, he will make clear that enactment of health care legislation should not hinge on whether it includes the public option, a message sure to anger liberals, including many in the House.
781. nonstarter
"Many lawmakers are pronouncing the budget a nonstarter" (Christian Science Monitor).
782. nor
President Obama has said plainly that America’s health care system is broken. It is, he has said, by far the most significant driver of America’s long-term debt and deficits. It is hard to see how the nation as a whole can remain competitive if in 26 years we are spending nearly a third of what we earn on health care, while other industrialized nations are spending far less but achieving health outcomes as good as, or better than, ours.
Rationing health care means getting value for the billions we are spending by setting limits on which treatments should be paid for from the public purse. If we ration we won’t be writing blank checks to pharmaceutical companies for their patented drugs, nor paying for whatever procedures doctors choose to recommend. When public funds subsidize health care or provide it directly, it is crazy not to try to get value for money. The debate over health care reform in the United States should start from the premise that some form of health care rationing is both inescapable and desirable. Then we can ask, What is the best way to do it?
In Britain, everyone has health insurance. In the U.S., some 45 million do not, and nor are they entitled to any health care at all, unless they can get themselves to an emergency room
After weeks of secretive talks, three Democrats and three Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee were edging closer to a compromise that excludes a requirement many congressional Democrats seek for large businesses to offer coverage to their workers. Nor would there be a provision for a government insurance option, despite Obama's support for such a plan, officials said.
Neither the administration, nor our political system in general, is ready to face up to the fact that we’ve become a society in which the big bucks go to bad actors, a society that lavishly rewards those who make us poorer.
The women who answered Meston and Buss's online survey certainly don't represent every woman, says Julia Heiman, the director of the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction. Nor will an anonymous online poll tell us everything we need to know. The authors are well aware of that reality, but it is a start. "Up until the past 10 years, we weren't even talking about the nuances of female sexuality, let alone the multifaceted reasons we have sex," says Laura Berman, a professor of psychiatry at Northwestern University and the author of Real Sex for Real Women. "So in that sense, this is a really big step." A step, with many more to go.
A 25-year-old woman has a friend who is a virgin. She's not physically attracted to him, nor does she want to be romantically involved. But she feels sorry for him, pities his inexperience. So she decides she will go home with her friend—to show him how it's done. As she undresses, she feels powerful and sexy—and that feeling (not the presence of her soon-to-be deflowered friend) turns her on. "It boosted my confidence to be the teacher in the situation and made me feel more desirable," the woman says.
783. not
Many health care experts believe that one main reason we spend far more on health than any other advanced nation, without better health outcomes, is the fee-for-service system in which hospitals and doctors are paid for procedures, not results. As the president said Wednesday, this creates an incentive for health providers to do more tests, more operations, and so on, whether or not these procedures actually help patients.
Second, we have to align incentives for doctors and hospitals so that they’re rewarded based on the quality of care they provide, not on how many tests or procedures they prescribe.
784. Now that
Where, oh where, did AIG's bailout billions go? That question may reverberate even louder through the halls of government in the week ahead now that a partial list of beneficiaries has been published.
Now that the bill is heading for the Senate, though, we must, ideally, try to improve it, but, at a minimum, guard against diluting it any further. To do that we need the help of the three parties most responsible for how weak the bill already is: the Republican Party, President Barack Obama and We the People.
All right, first things first: no matter what your mom or dad or grandparents told you, and no matter how much it may sound like the rolling waves, it’s not actually the ocean you’re hearing in a shell.
Now that we’ve got that out of the way, what exactly is it that you’re hearing? In a word, noise; the ambient noise that’s being produced all around and inside you, which you normally don’t hear or pay attention to because it’s too quiet.
Rihanna's emotional account of the ordeal will clearly spark further backlash for Chris.
Chris has had some detractors since the attack, but those numbers are going to increase now that the victim has come forward and shared her account of what transpired.
Now that
the Senate parliamentarian has made clear to Democrats that they won't be able to take the path they had considered to get a health care bill passed, they must ask themselves: If we vote for the Senate's bill, do we trust the senators to make the changes they say they will?
Now that she is rich and famous, she is constantly being besieged by appeals for aid.
785. nose
In the fifth hurdle for the legislation to clear, the conference committee would send its reconciled bill to the House and Senate for a final yes-or-no vote, with no amendments allowed. House liberals might be furious over various concessions, but Democrats think they would hold their noses and pass the bill.
786. Nothing
Perhaps nothing crystallized President Barack Obama's determination to press forward on health-care legislation more than the 10 letters he reads each day from ordinary Americans.
The letters became talismans for him: He carried them around. He recited their stories. He used them as rallying cries. (Or as props, as his critics saw it.)
787. Notwithstanding
It was just another in a series of topsy-turvy days for the 84-year-old, six-term senator who has been straddling coast-to-coast challenges to his power. Notwithstanding all that turmoil, Stevens revealed that he will not ask President Bush to give him a pardon for his seven felony convictions.
It was the same material, notwithstanding the texture seemed different.
Notwithstanding a brilliant defensive strategy, the soccer team lost the game.
788. Now that
You may recall that earlier this year there was a big debate about how to get the banks lending again. Some analysts, myself included, argued that at least some major banks needed a large injection of capital from taxpayers, and that the only way to do this was to temporarily nationalize the most troubled banks. The debate faded out, however, after Citigroup and Bank of America, the banking system’s weakest links, announced surprise profits. All was well, we were told, now that the banks were profitable again.
789. nurture
For the next few days, mother and daughter tried to reason it out, each deeply upset by the other’s intransigence. After several days of barnyard trauma, the chick underwent an identity crisis, nature triumphed over nurture, and she redefined herself as a hen.
790. obduracy
The debt crisis in Greece is approaching the point of no return. As prospects for a rescue plan seem to be fading, largely thanks to German obduracy, nervous investors have driven interest rates on Greek government bonds sky-high, sharply raising the country’s borrowing costs. This will push Greece even deeper into debt, further undermining confidence. At this point it’s hard to see how the nation can escape from this death spiral into default.
791. object
Some will object that this discriminates against people with disabilities. If we return to the hypothetical assumption that a year with quadriplegia is valued at only half as much as a year without it, then a treatment that extends the lives of people without disabilities will be seen as providing twice the value of one that extends, for a similar period, the lives of quadriplegics. That clashes with the idea that all human lives are of equal value. The problem, however, does not lie with the concept of the quality-adjusted life-year, but with the judgment that, if faced with 10 years as a quadriplegic, one would prefer a shorter lifespan without a disability. Disability advocates might argue that such judgments, made by people without disabilities, merely reflect the ignorance and prejudice of people without disabilities when they think about people with disabilities. We should, they will very reasonably say, ask quadriplegics themselves to evaluate life with quadriplegia. If we do that, and we find that quadriplegics would not give up even one year of life as a quadriplegic in order to have their disability cured, then the QALY method does not justify giving preference to procedures that extend the lives of people without disabilities over procedures that extend the lives of people with disabilities.
792. obnoxious
an obnoxious little brat.
WESTWOOD, Calif. – Sam Querrey, one of the most promising young tennis players in America, counts among his weapons a giant first serve, a powerful forehand and, depending on one’s perspective, the most entertaining or most obnoxious cheering section in the sport.
793. octogenarian
794. Oddity
Progressive evangelical Jim Wallis has been a political oddity ever since he landed in Washington more than 35 years ago. Lobbying for poverty relief and against war, Wallis was at odds with Christian right leaders who claimed to speak for evangelical America. His politics lined up with the Democrats, but the party had little use for evangelical pastors. As younger evangelicals have branched out beyond hot-button issues and Democrats have begun wooing born-again Christians, however, Wallis is suddenly very much in demand. "I've been 40 years in the wilderness, and now it's time to come out," he says. The White House consults Wallis, a friend of the president's since Obama's Illinois legislature days, on a range of issues, but most intensively on poverty relief.
795. odds
The fiscally conservative Blue Dogs were at odds with the leadership over how to pay providers in a government-run health plan that would compete with private insurance. The House bill models the payments based on Medicare, but the so-called Blue Dogs want a negotiated rate similar to private insurance. Other issues remain sticking points for the Democrats.
796. of
Of the many issues senators have to weigh, abortion funding and the option of a government insurance plan promise to be the most difficult.
797. offset
“To the extent that we’re trying to find savings within the federal budget to offset the cost of health reform, Medicare is obvious place to go because it is so large,” said economist Paul Van de Water, a health care policy expert at the liberal Center on Budget and Policy Priorities in Washington.
The gains offset the losses
to offset advantages against disadvantages.
798. of late
The days have been getting warmer of late
The 29-year-old has been firing on all cylinders of late and netted a hat-trick last weekend in the Diavolo’s 4-0 thrashing of Serie A basement side Siena to take his tally to six goals in his last three appearances and nine overall this season.
799. ogle
ABC broke down the video like a Super Bowl play ... and then cleared the Prez of aimless ogling.
800. ominous
But there were ominous signs—indications of an erratic nature. This is the third thing McCain could have discovered about Palin—a woman, after all, who kept a pregnancy secret for seven months, flew all the way home from Texas to Alaska with a near-full-term baby while leaking amniotic fluid, and then finally drove the 45 minutes from Anchorage to a hospital in Wasilla, all so that the child could be born in the 49th state.
an ominous bank of dark clouds.
The debate over the public option has, as I said, been depressing in its inanity. Opponents of the option — not just Republicans, but Democrats like Senator Kent Conrad and Senator Ben Nelson — have offered no coherent arguments against it. Mr. Nelson has warned ominously that if the option were available, Americans would choose it over private insurance — which he treats as a self-evidently bad thing, rather than as what should happen if the government plan was, in fact, better than what private insurers offer.
Last Thursday there was a rally outside the U.S. Capitol to protest pending health care legislation, featuring the kinds of things we’ve grown accustomed to, including large signs showing piles of bodies at Dachau with the caption “National Socialist Healthcare.” It was grotesque — and it was also ominous. For what we may be seeing is America starting to be Californiafied.
In a 2003 report called “Borrowing to Make Ends Meet,” Demos spotlighted the increasing gap between the incomes and the day-to-day living costs of many low- and middle-income families. That report was updated steadily in subsequent years, and in 2007 Demos was reporting: “Many households have tried to cope with this financial imbalance by relying on credit cards to cover basic expenses that earnings do not meet. Homeowners, ominously, have then relied on cashed-out home equity — $1.2 trillion over the last six years — largely to pay down those debts and to cover other costs of living.”
801. on average
Twenty years ago, the National Research Council, an arm of the National Academy of Sciences, examined a proposal for installing seat belts in all school buses. It estimated that doing so would save, on average, one life per year, at a cost of $40 million. After that, support for the proposal faded away. So why is it that those who accept that we put a price on life when it comes to consumer safety refuse to accept it when it comes to health care?
802. one
Sadly, the two historic opportunities his leadership created -- one for Russia's democratization, the other for Russian-U.S. relations -- were squandered by elites in Moscow and Washington after he left power.
803. Onerous
His bill includes $848 billion over 10 years to gradually expand coverage to most of those now uninsured. It would ban onerous insurance industry practices such as denying coverage or charging higher premiums because of someone's poor health. Those who now have the hardest time getting coverage — the self-employed and small businesses — could buy a policy in a new insurance market, with government subsidies for many. Older people would get better prescription coverage.
The Senate is in its second week of debate on the 10-year, nearly $1 trillion legislation that would dramatically remake the U.S. health care system and extend coverage to millions of the uninsured, with a new requirement for nearly everyone to purchase insurance. New purchasing marketplaces called exchanges would make it easier for small businesses and people without government or employer coverage to shop for health insurance, and onerous insurance company practices such as denying coverage to people with pre-existing medical conditions would be banned.
804. only
This brings us to the case of Frank Ricci, a firefighter in New Haven who in 2003 passed a test to get a promotion, only to see the city throw out the test because black firefighters were not doing well on it. Mr. Ricci sued in federal court and lost.
“Only if Obama successfully obfuscates this point will he get his public option. Otherwise, the chances of his big-bang change to the American health system radically diminish”
In the face of bipartisan outcry, Palin’s aides insisted she had never meant to say she wouldn’t take the money, only that she wanted to review the matter carefully.
Until recently, however, that catering mostly took the form of empty symbolism. Once elections were won, the issues that fired up the base almost always took a back seat to the economic concerns of the elite. Thus in 2004 George W. Bush ran on antiterrorism and “values,” only to announce, as soon as the election was behind him, that his first priority was changing Social Security.
805. obfuscate
to obfuscate a problem with extraneous information.
806. on short notice
Aides such as Axelrod and Gibbs probably will be able to see Obama on short notice without seeking Emanuel's permission, Palmieri said, but they certainly would inform Emanuel of their visit and its purpose.
807. On the other side of the ledger
On the other side of the ledger, Rep. Michael Arcuri of New York and Stephen Lynch of Massachusetts became the first Democratic former supporters to announce their intention to oppose the bill. Lynch said he did so despite a telephoned appeal from Vicki Kennedy, whose late husband, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, championed health care for decades.
808. Onerous
Baucus' plan would require all Americans to get health insurance, either through an employer, a government program, or on their own. New consumer protections would prohibit onerous insurance companies practices, such as denying coverage because of a prior health problem, or charging more to those who are sick.
809. onus
5-5 - Roddick moves swiftly to 30-0 with two very professional points, playing within himself and forcing Murray to make the errors. The American finishes with two big serves, and levels at 5-5 to put the onus back on the Brit.
The onus was on the defense attorney.
810. Open
Lucia Whalen placed the 911 call July 16, saying she saw two men on Gates' front porch who appeared to be trying to force open the front door. The call led to the arrest of Gates by Cambridge police on a disorderly conduct charge, and the resulting national firestorm.
As the Hall of Fame threw open its doors to Michael Jordan, the game's greatest player clung bitterly to the past
811. Opposite
Bernanke defended the Fed's structure of regional banks and a board based in Washington. He said it has provided policymakers "with a way to keep in close touch with the continent-spanning, highly varied economy of the United States."
Dodd, however, is pushing back at Bernanke's argument, noting that former Fed officials and others who have testified before his committee have made the opposite point — that bank supervision and monetary policy are not related.
812. ostensible
an ostensible cheerfulness concealing sadness.
the ostensible truth of their theories.
It would also eliminate the gap in Medicare prescription drug coverage by closing the “doughnut hole,” the coverage gap in the drug plan before Medicare recipients reach the threshold for catastrophic coverage.
In the current debate, , which is ostensibly about health insurance, what sometimes goes unmentioned is that Medicare isn’t an insurance program in the classic model of a pooling of risks.
His ostensible purpose was charity, but his real goal was popularity.
813. Other
The United States said it saw no acceptable solution to Zelaya's ouster other than returning him to power. State Department spokesman Ian Kelly told reporters that the U.S. was still reviewing whether to cut off aid to the Central American nation.
Other than his victory in the Iowa Democratic caucuses, no moment catalyzed Barack Obama's historic presidential campaign more than winning the endorsement of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy.
No, I haven’t lost my mind. Nixon was surely the worst person other than Dick Cheney ever to control the executive branch.
“I actually feel sorry for people who have nothing to do on Christmas Day other than watch an NBA game,” the Orlando Magic coach said.
814. Otherwise
Will he side with those who want to abolish teacher tenure and otherwise curb the power of teachers’ unions?
Under the circumstances, I can't believe otherwise.
an otherwise happy life.
Button up your overcoat, otherwise you'll catch cold.
We hoped his behavior would be otherwise.
an otherwise pleasure had become a grinding chore.
She thought otherwise
an otherwise logical mind
The evidence is otherwise
“Think of a teacher who is staying up past midnight to prepare her lesson plan... Think of a teacher who is paying for equipment out of his own pocket so his students can conduct science experiments that they otherwise couldn’t do... Think of a teacher who takes her students to a ‘We, the People’ debating competition over the weekend, instead of spending time with her own family.”
Free services will be offered only from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday. Walgreen said it will not offer free checkups, vaccinations or other injections because it is focusing on providing services patients might otherwise get at an urgent-care center or even an emergency room.
“Only if Obama successfully obfuscates this point will he get his public option. Otherwise, the chances of his big-bang change to the American health system radically diminish” writes Lowry
Lately, there has been way too much talk about minting dollars and too little about minting our next Thomas Edison, Bob Noyce, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Vint Cerf, Jerry Yang, Marc Andreessen, Sergey Brin, Bill Joy and Larry Page. Adding to that list is the only stimulus that matters. Otherwise, we’re just Russia with a printing press.
815. or
The fate of nations is determined by glances and chance encounters: by the looks policemen give one another as a protesting crowd approaches down a boulevard; by the presence of a spontaneous leader who sets off a chant or a song and with it an emotional contagion; by a captain who either decides to kill his countrymen or not; by a shy woman who emerges from a throng to throw herself on the thugs who are pummeling a kid prone on the sidewalk
The most important changes happen invisibly inside peoples’ heads. A nation that had seemed apathetic suddenly mobilizes. People lost in private life suddenly feel their public dignity has been grievously insulted. Webs of authority that had gone unquestioned instantly dissolve, or do not. New social customs spontaneously emerge, like the citizens of Tehran shouting hauntingly from their rooftops at night. Small gestures unify a crowd and symbolize a different future, like the moment when Mir Hussein Moussavi held hands with his wife in public.
816. Ostentatiously
Here’s one thing Barack Obama does not have to worry about: the opposition. Approval ratings for Republicans hit an all-time low last week in both the New York Times/CBS News and Wall Street Journal/NBC News polls. That’s what happens when a party’s most creative innovations are novel twists on old-fashioned sex scandals. Just when you thought the G.O.P. could never match the high bar set by Larry Craig’s men’s room toe-tapping, along came Senator John Ensign of Nevada, an ostentatiously pious born-again Christian whose ecumenical outreach drove him to engineer political jobs for his mistress, her cuckolded husband and the couple’s son. At least it can no longer be said that the Republicans have no plan for putting Americans back to work.
an ostentatious dresser
Lady Bountiful's ostentatious charity
817. outlay
The cost savings which President Barack Obama says are urgently needed won’t be possible without cutting Medicare’s outlays, which have kept growing annually at a pace more than two percent faster than the economy.
the weekly outlay on groceries.
"huge new outlays for the military" (New York Times).
818. Outlet
But Sarah Palin herself is a microcosm of Alaska, or at least of the fastest-growing and politically crucial part of it, which stretches up the broad Matanuska-Susitna Valley, north of Anchorage, where she came of age and cut her political teeth in her now famous hometown, Wasilla. In the same way that Lyndon Johnson could only have come from Texas, or Bill Clinton from Arkansas, Palin and all that she is could only have come from Wasilla. It is a place of breathtaking scenery and virtually no zoning. The view along Wasilla’s main drag is of Chili’s, ihop, Home Depot, Target, and Arby’s, and yet the view from the Palins’ front yard, on Lake Lucille, recalls the Alpine splendor visible from Captain Von Trapp’s terrace in The Sound of Music. It is culturally conservative: the local newspaper recently published an article that asked, “Will the Antichrist be a Homosexual?” It is in this Alaska—where it is possible to be both a conservative Republican and a pothead, or a foursquare Democrat and a gun nut—that Sarah Palin learned everything she knows about politics, and about life. It was in this environment that her ambition first found an outlet in public office, and where she first tasted the 151-proof Everclear that is power.
The crash drew wide interest over the holiday weekend as news outlets began to link the accident to a report in the National Enquirer that alleged Mr. Woods had an affair with a New York woman. Media reports suggested that the accident may have been triggered by an argument with Mr. Woods's wife.
819. outside-the-box
“Ben approached a financial system on the verge of collapse with calm and wisdom; with bold action and outside-the-box thinking that has helped put the brakes on our economic freefall,” Obama said Tuesday, taking a break from his vacation in Martha’s Vineyard
820. outright
On being presented the Nobel Prize in economics in 1974, Friedrich von Hayek devoted his Stockholm lecture to acknowledging the severe limitations of his profession. “It seems to me,” he said, “that this failure of the economists to guide policy more successfully is closely connected with their propensity to imitate as closely as possible the procedures of the brilliantly successful physical sciences—an attempt which in our field may lead to outright error.” Government simply cannot know enough to direct an economy successfully, and when the President claims that his fiscal stimulus plan will create (or save) at least 3 million jobs, he is taking a wild, and dangerous, leap. Said Hayek:
an outright sale of the car
For Democrats, that hints at a trifecta of key yes votes on those two issues and the confirmation of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court, even though Franken has not said outright that he will support Sotomayor.
821. outsize
President-elect Barack Obama wrapped up his Cabinet appointments yesterday, meeting his ambitious holiday deadline by assembling a team full of outsize personalities with overlapping jurisdictions and nominees who are known more for pragmatism than for strong leanings on the issues they will oversee.
In this ugly landscape, the White House has come to realize that the President himself is going to have to play a more forceful and direct role - and soon, including an address to a joint session of Congress on Sept. 9. Rather than leaving the legislative sausagemaking up to Congress, allies say, Obama will have to become far more specific about what he wants to see in a bill. He must spell out, for instance, precisely what he means by a public option, an issue that has grown to outsize proportion as an ideological flash point. The President may also need to declare whether he would be willing to sign a bill without one
Mr. Ailes is certainly making money. At a time when the broadcast networks are struggling with diminishing audiences and profits in news, he has built Fox News into the profit engine of the News Corporation. Fox News is believed to make more money than CNN, MSNBC and the evening newscasts of NBC, ABC and CBS combined. The division is on track to achieve $700 million in operating profit this year, according to analyst estimates that Mr. Ailes does not dispute.
This outsize success has placed Mr. Ailes, an aggressive former Republican political strategist, at the pinnacle of power in three corridors of American life: business, media and politics. In addition to being the best-paid person in the News Corporation last year, he is the most successful news executive of the last 10 years, and his network exerts a strong influence on the fractu
822. outstrip
The amount outstrips contributions to other congressional political action committees during the same period, according to an analysis by the Center for Public Integrity , a nonprofit watchdog organization.
a demand that outstrips the supply.
A car can outstrip the local train.
823. Overhaul
How skillful Democratic leaders are in reassuring seniors about such uncertainties may determine whether they get the support they need to push an insurance overhaul to final enactment.
While the House and Senate had passed its own version of a health overhaul, lawmakers had yet to settle their differences and produce a single bill acceptable to both chambers when Brown won.
824. overstated
Still, the census paychecks won't have a meaningful impact on the overall economy.
The government has set aside $7.8 billion to conduct the census. That pales compared with last year's stimulus package of $862 billion.
Yet the impact of these jobs cannot be overstated for people who were out of work.
825. pal around
While it is known that Obama and Ayers live in the same Chicago neighborhood, served on a charity board together and had a fleeting political connection, there is no evidence that they ever palled around.
826. pale
The government has set aside $7.8 billion to conduct the census. That pales compared with last year's stimulus package of $862 billion.
827. Pallbearer
Undercover officers use Taser on pallbearer .
828. pan
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, a potential presidential contender in 2012, was widely panned after his nationally televised response to Obama's address to Congress last month.
panned the fish right after catching
829. par
The raise — an annual cost of living adjustment, or COLA — would bring U.S. District court judges up to par with members of Congress, who will receive an almost $5,000 boost on Jan. 1.
She didn't feel up to par today so she stayed home, or I'm sure he'll come up to scratch when the time comes, or She's up to snuff again.
The gains and the losses are on a par
This violinist may be an amateur but he's on a par with professional orchestral players.
to feel below par
I am feeling below par today, but I'm sure I'll recover by tomorrow.
to feel above par
performing up to par
did not yet feel up to par.
sold the bond at par
a solid, par performance.
They were late again, but that's par for the course.
830. pare
Under the pared-down option, McChrystal would be given fewer forces than the 40,000 additional troops he has asked for atop the current U.S. force of 68,000, officials told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
831. paragon
And who said the surgeon general or doctors in general or anyone working in health care must be paragons of health and risk avoidance?
a paragon of virtue
832. paramount
The paramount strategic goal in picking Palin was that the choice of a running mate had to ensure a successful convention and a competitive race right after; in that limited sense, the choice worked.
a point of paramount significance
tending first to one's paramount needs.
833. paraphrase
To paraphrase Mark Twain, it's not what you don't know that can come back to bite you; it's what you know for sure that ain't true.
834. Parcel
The parceling-out of reinforcements is driven in part by Afghanistan's lack of infrastructure, which cannot immediately support a larger U.S. force. The phased approach will also allow the president to cancel some of the additional reinforcements if the counterinsurgency strategy advocated by McChrystal, the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, does not show results or if the Karzai government does not meet goals for stamping out corruption and providing for the Afghan people, White House officials said.
The first place Obama will look for results is Helmand, a Taliban-dominated province that has been McChrystal's primary focus for much of this year and has been the site of some of the bloodiest fighting. Earlier this year, about 10,000 Marines moved into the area and pushed Taliban fighters out of several major cities there. The Marines then began to rebuild the long-absent Afghan government and police forces in the area.
835. Parity
Only 30% of university professors are women, so women are not yet at 50/50 parity with men. They will reach their goal of 50/50 parity soon,
"A problem that has troubled the U.S.-Soviet relationship from the beginning has been the issue of parity" (Charles William Maynes)
The White House team also pledged whatever support the Senators might want, including visits to their states by Vice President Biden and making Administration officials available for interviews with home-state media. Some of the very tactics that helped get Obama elected, the team said, could be brought to bear now. Messina told them it will be important to achieve parity against the opposition on the airwaves, with paid advertising and surrogates; to overwhelm them with ground organization; and to "stand for something, go for it, and always play offense."
836. parody
The consensus is that Palin’s rollout, and even her first television interview, with ABC’s Charles Gibson, conducted after an awkward two-week press blackout to allow for intensive cramming at her home in Wasilla, went more or less fine, though it had its embarrassing moments (“You can’t blink,” Palin said, when Gibson asked if she’d hesitated to accept McCain’s offer) and was much parodied
his hilarious parody of Hamlet's soliloquy
His acting is a parody of his past greatness.
The trial was a parody of justice.
837. parse
I won’t try to parse the competing claims about how much direct benefit Goldman received from recent financial bailouts, especially the government’s assumption of A.I.G.’s liabilities. What’s clear is that Wall Street in general, Goldman very much included, benefited hugely from the government’s provision of a financial backstop — an assurance that it will rescue major financial players whenever things go wrong.
What are we missing by parsing the behavior of chimpanzees into the conventional categories recognized largely from our own behavior?" (Stephen Jay Gould).
I simply couldn't parse what you just said.
Klein said those stories were OK because they were about the controversy and weren't actually questioning the facts. But critics suggest Klein is parsing words, that even raising the issue lends it credence.
838. parsimonious
On cap and trade, the House chairmen took a relatively clean though politically difficult idea — auctioning off pollution permits — and they transformed it into a morass of corporate giveaways that make the stimulus bill look parsimonious. Permits would now be given to well-connected companies. Utilities and agribusiness would be rolling in government-generated profits. Thousands of goodies were thrown into the 1,201-page bill to win votes.
839. Part
Both Nick and Jessica recently parted ways with their significant others and rumors of a rekindled love were soon in full force.
Part of the answer is that those earlier profits were in part a figment of the accountants’ imaginations. More broadly, however, we’re looking at payback from the real economy. In the first phase of the crisis, Main Street was punished for Wall Street’s misdeeds; now broad economic distress, especially persistent high unemployment, is leading to big losses on mortgage loans and credit cards.
840. Particular
Our leaders are often wrong but rarely so precisely wrong. In two important particulars, the bill is a crystalline example of Washington business as usual -- the protection of the strong. The bill was supported by America's biggest tobacco company and by the Democratic Party's fountain of funds, the trial bar
to give an investigator the particulars of a case.
There is one book in particular that may help you
841. PAS
Police say they have made an arrest in the case of a racial comment being made over the public-address system at a Walmart store in southern New Jersey.
842. passer-by
The incident began when police went to Gates' home last week after a passer-by reported a potential break-in. It turned out that Gates had tried to jimmy open his own door, which was stuck, and there was no intruder. Gates protested the police actions and was arrested, although the charges have since been dropped.
843. patchwork
"It comes at a good time because you're transitioning from an economy that's slowly recovering to sustainable growth," said John Canally, an economist at Boston-based LPL Financial. "This is a good patchwork until then."
a patchwork policy of dispensing foreign aid.
She specializes in patchworking skirts.
"It comes at a good time because you're transitioning from an economy that's slowly recovering to sustainable growth," said John Canally, an economist at Boston-based LPL Financial. "This is a good patchwork until then."
844. Path
If problems continue, the post suggests resetting the iPad's network settings. iPad users can find those settings under the following file path: Settings > General > Reset > Reset Network Settings.
845. Pay off
Stewart Cink worked hard to turn his game around and it paid off with a breakthrough win at the British Open.
846. pay-to-play
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and former high-ranking members of his administration won't be criminally charged in a yearlong federal investigation into pay-to-play allegations involving one of the Democratic governor's large political donors, someone familiar with the case said.
A federal grand jury began an investigation in 2008 into a possible pay-to-play scheme in which lucrative work on state bond deals went to a Richardson donor. The federal probe derailed Richardson's appointment as commerce secretary in President Barack Obama's administration.
847. peak
Rafael Nadal concedes he probably isn’t in peak condition heading into the U.S. Open.
In this, the mainland's most Western-minded and economically dynamic center, where Obama will deliver remarks on Monday before moving on to the capital of Beijing , many Shanghainese see the global balance of power shifting: China is ascending, while America may have peaked.
848. Pecks
" Putin gave pecks on the cheeks to first lady Laura Bush and the president's mother, Barbara Bush, and handed them bouquets of flowers." (Bush-Putin relationship in choppy waters.
a peck of trouble
Stop pecking at me, I'm doing the best I can.
849. pegged
Whatever his current motivation, he came into office with a very different persona. As a young congressman representing the North Side of Chicago, Mr. Blagojevich was pegged as a rising star with a populist touch. Undistinguished as a lawmaker but with proven likability in and out of Chicago, he seemed hellbent on pushing reform and cleaning house in a state with an embarrassingly overt culture of political corruption.
850. peer
Now that it has arrived at this point, both protagonists are faced with decisions of unprecedented gravity. There has been nothing like this in the 30-year history of the Islamic republic, and today there is no Khomeini father figure to moderate and mediate among the warring factions. They must improvise in conditions of severe uncertainty. If anyone tells you that they know how this will turn out, treat their words with the same regard you would have for any fortune teller peering into a crystal ball
a sky-scraper without peer.
The moon peered from behind dark clouds.
851. peerlessly
The Kennedy name is synonymous with the Democratic Party. And at times, Ted was the target of partisan campaign attacks," Obama said. "But in the United States Senate, I can think of no one who engendered greater respect or affection from members of both sides of the aisle. His seriousness of purpose was perpetually matched by humility, warmth, and good cheer. He could passionately battle others and do so peerlessly on the Senate floor for the causes that he held dear, and yet still maintain warm friendships across party lines."
852. peculiar
Crowley told a Boston sports station that Gates “seemed very peculiar — even more so now that I know how educated he is.”
853. Peephole
Tonight, you may have noticed, marked the return of blessed college football, and the return of sideline favorite Erin Andrews to broadcast television for the first time since her unwitting appearance on that loathsome peephole video flew around the Web last month. The game? Largely uneventful, to put it mildly. Andrews' appearance? Largely uneventful, to put it mildly.
854. penchant
Longtime Washington operator David Saperstein has a penchant for strange-bedfellow alliances
a penchant for outdoor sports
855. pepper
Bernanke's comments came during a town-hall style meeting in Kansas City, Mo., where he was peppered with several questions about government decisions last year to rescue so-called "too big to fail companies" like insurance giant American International Group, whose collapse would have wreaked havoc on the global economy.
856. perch
Using his perch as a designated prayer leader on Friday to deliver the speech of a lifetime, Mr. Rafsanjani abandoned his customary caution to demand that the government release those arrested in recent weeks, ease restrictions on the media and eradicate the “doubt” the Iranian people have about the election result. And he implicitly challenged the authority of the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, to make decisions without seeking consensus.
Jay Leno is perched in prime time, but he still says he would have rather stayed put at "The Tonight Show" — and if NBC offered him that job again, he'd take it.
857. Percolate
Interest in the idea has begun to percolate
Slowly but surely, the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act -- better known as the economic stimulus package -- is beginning to percolate nationwide, six weeks after President Obama signed the legislation.
Interest in the idea has begun to percolate.
Any changes in the organization of care would take time to percolate from Medicare throughout the health care system. They are unlikely to affect most people in the immediate future.
858. peremptory
The Finance Committee’s chairman, Senator Max Baucus, looked exasperated. With that haughty and peremptory manner that they teach in Committee Chairman School, he told Wyden and the world that this idea was not going to happen.
The officer issued peremptory commands.
859. perennial
Seven weeks after wearing AC Milan’s jersey, David Beckham is ready to compete against the perennial Italian power with the MLS’ Los Angeles Galaxy.
860. perfunctory
In his lectures he reveals himself to be merely a perfunctory speaker.
perfunctory courtesy.
These officials said there are no plans to appoint a formal House-Senate conference committee, the method Congress most often uses to reconcile differing bills. Under that customary format, a committee chairman is appointed to preside, and other senior lawmakers from both parties and houses participate in typically perfunctory public meetings while the meaningful negotiations occur behind closed doors.
861. pernicious
with whatever government emerges from this trial by fire.
The crisis in Iran is an Iranian crisis and it can only be resolved by the Iranian people and their leaders. There is no need to conceal our belief in freedom of speech and assembly and our support for the resolution of political disputes without bloodshed. But we should not be stampeded by domestic political concerns into pretending that our intervention in this crisis could be anything but pernicious.
pernicious teachings
862. Peter out
The hot water always peters out in the middle of my shower.
The census hiring also comes in a year when President Barack Obama's economic stimulus package will peter out. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that stimulus spending added more than 1 million jobs last year.
863. piecemeal
Obama also used his letter to draw a line in the sand. He said "piecemeal reform is not the best way" to achieve his health care goals — a clear message to Republicans and moderate Democrats who say the president should take a more modest, bill-by-bill approach to reshaping the health care system.
864. Pinch
Republicans questioned assertions of deficit-reduction, predicting that Democrats would abandon the measure's primary funding mechanisms when seniors begin to feel the pinch of Medicare cuts, or when union families fall victim to a new 40 percent tax on the most generous insurance policies set to take effect in 2018. If those and other politically painful provisions were removed, the CBO said, the measure would increase deficits.
865. Pitch
He and his television crew stayed with the injured all night, long after the medical team had left, long after the generators gave out and the tents turned pitch black.
866. Placard
The Republican message was being received loud and clear outside the Capitol, where angry protesters gathered and waved placards that said "Defeat Obamacare" and "Born in the USA not the USSR." Republicans were treated as heroes as they walked through the crowds, who patted them on the back and thanked them for their opposition. Democrats were greeted with jeers.
867. pursuant
Pursuant to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, the Brazilian courts were supposed to render a decision within 6 weeks of filing the case in their country, he says. "Brazil breached its obligations in allowing this case to drag on for years."
868. Phase-in
Aides were reviewing lists of proposed changes from members of the group — primarily the Republicans — touching on issues that included how much states must pay for a proposed expansion of Medicaid, prohibiting federal funding of abortion, reducing medical malpractice costs, ensuring illegal immigrants don't get insurance and a possible phase-in of coverage for legal immigrants.
869. pitch in
The president noted in an interview on NBC's "Today" show that "the House has put forward a surtax." And he repeated his feeling that wealthier Americans, "such as myself," should pitch in and help reinvent the system to spread coverage to those now without it.
870. Phalanx
"formed a solid phalanx in defense of the Constitution and Protestant religion" (G.M. Trevelyan).
871. Phantom
A better model, I’d argue, is Japan in the 1990s, which ran persistent large budget deficits, but also had a persistently depressed economy — and saw long-term interest rates fall almost steadily. There’s a good chance that officials are being terrorized by a phantom menace — a threat that exists only in their minds.
872. Pigeon-toed
Longtime rivals Agassi and Sampras were wearing microphones during the match, and the crowd at Indian Wells Tennis Garden in California could hear an exchange that started lighthearted but turned testy.
At one point Sampras mimicked Agassi’s pigeon-toed walk, which drew laughs from the crowd.
873. pivot
"The plot . . . lacks direction, pivoting on Hamlet's incertitude" (G. Wilson Knight).
Crowley, 42, and Gates, 58, said they were planning to meet again, and Obama hopes he can now pivot back to health care and other issues with this distracting story behind him.
874. pivotal
While liberals are discouraged, the endgame remains unclear. Some still hope that Obama and congressional Democratic leaders will use all their parliamentary powers — which could prove especially divisive in the Senate — to pass a far-reaching bill that would include a public option for health insurance and more palatable consumer costs for prescription drugs and other needs.
"Its pivotal location has also exposed it to periodic invasions" (Henry A. Kissinger).
875. Placard
Three dozen lawmakers, plus several administration officials, were to sit at a hollow square table with name placards. Leaders of both parties planned to speak. Topics were to include controlling health care costs and expanding coverage, deficit reduction and insurance reform.
876. plaudits
Their reputations as moderates have won Obama plaudits from even some Republicans, but the choices offer relatively few clues to his plans in certain key areas.
Her portrayal of Juliet won the plaudits of the critics.
The president planned to describe his plan at the White House, a day after he said he was open to melding four Republican ideas into his proposal. In a measure of the partisanship that has dominated the battle, his embrace of those GOP policies drew no plaudits from Republicans; instead, it appeared designed to coax votes from nervous Democratic moderates by demonstrating an attempt to cooperate with the other party.
877. plight
President Bush, you may remember, was notably unconcerned with the plight of the uninsured. “I mean, people have access to health care in America,” he once remarked. “After all, you just go to an emergency room.”
878. plot
President Obama will meet Tuesday afternoon with Democratic Congressional leaders to plot strategy, a day before his scheduled speech to the nation on health care, an address billed as the most important of his presidency so far.
879. poke
Former President Bill Clinton poked fun at Republicans, Democrats, his own health and his audience of reporters Saturday night, telling the Gridiron Club's annual dinner he was there because "I really didn't have anything much better to do tonight.
880. poised
Ohioans also appear poised to elect Democrat Richard Cordray as attorney general, defeat yet another attempt to bring casino gambling to the state, and uphold tighter regulations on payday lending.
881. portents
But then he said something decidedly unusual in the canon of presidential addresses. "Such symptoms of prosperity," he warned, "may become portents of disaster!" Only then did he utter one of his most quoted and most misunderstood lines: "I see one-third of a nation ill housed, ill clad, ill nourished."
The address in its entirety makes it clear that when he spoke of that "one-third of a nation," F.D.R. was not referring primarily to the victims of the Great Depression, which he thought was ending. He was speaking, rather, about the accumulated social and human deficits spawned by more than a century of buccaneering, laissez-faire American capitalism — deficits that he considered not yet fully redeemed in 1937. Solving that problem was what he meant when he said in June 1936 that "this generation of Americans has a rendezvous with destiny."
882. Posit
"If a book is hard going, it ought to be good. If it posits a complex moral situation, it ought to be even better" (Anthony Burgess).
But guys, that chromosome is in trouble.
In a new study, researchers say there is a dramatic loss of genes from the human Y chromosome that eventually could lead to its complete disappearance -- in the next few millennia. While the Y chromosome's degeneration has been known to geneticists and evolutionary biologists for decades, the study sheds new light on some of the evolutionary processes that may have contributed to its demise and posits that, as the degeneration continues, the Y chromosome could disappear from our genetic repertoire entirely.
883. postmortem
McCain has delivered his own postmortem on Palin with the patented brand of winking-and-nodding ironic detachment that he usually reserves for painful political questions, an approach that simultaneously seeks to confess his sin and presume absolution for it. In November, he told Jay Leno he was proud of Palin and did not blame her for his defeat, but by April, when Leno asked him about who was running the Republican Party, McCain declined to mention Palin: “We have, I’m happy to say, a lot of choices out there: Bobby Jindal, Tim Pawlenty, Huntsman, Romney, Charlie Crist—there’s a lot of governors out there who are young and dynamic.” McCain went on, “There’s a lot of good people out there, and I’ve left out somebody’s name and I’m going to hear about it.” When I ask Mark Salter, McCain’s longtime speechwriter and co-author, about that comment, he says simply, “McCain always talks unscripted,” and adds that he has heard “not one word of regret” about Palin ever pass McCain’s lips. McCain’s daughter Meghan, who has continued the blog she began on the campaign last year, has said that Palin is the one topic on which she will have no public comment.
a postmortem criticism of a television show
to do a postmortem on the decision of a court
If, this fall, proponents of health-care reform conduct a postmortem on how President Obama's signature issue went down to defeat—I'm not saying it will, but stick with me here—they will not be far off if they trace it to this summer's "great phrase face-off." From Obama, we got "bending the cost curve," his hope of slowing the rise in health-care spending. From Sarah Palin: "death panels." From Obama: "the status quo on health care...is threatening the financial stability of families, of businesses, and of government." From GOP strategist Frank Luntz and his clients: some bureaucrat will put himself "between you and your doctor, denying you exactly what you need." From Obama: "If you like your health-care plan, you can keep" it. From GOP Sen. Jon Kyl: "Imagine needing a new hip that will make it easier to get around, but just because you're over 75, the government denies you that surgery." Not to mention Republican Rep. Lamar Smith's assertion that the Democrats' bill "contains gaping loopholes that will allow illegal immigrants to receive taxpayer-funded benefits." And then there was that sign greeting President Obama outside an August town-hall meeting in New Hampshire: Obama lies, grandma dies.
Which phrases inspire you to grab a pitchfork, or at least e-mail your congressman: bending the cost curve, or stopping the government from condemning Grandma to death because treating her cancer is too expensive? Exactly.
Anyone who believed that the battle over health-care reform would be waged on facts, logic, reason, and concern for the less fortunate—46 million uninsured—probably also scoffed at Lyndon Johnson's daisy ad. As politicians and strategists (at least the successful ones) have finally learned, appeals to emotion leave appeals to logic in the dust. And no emotion moves people more powerfully than fear. To explain the remarkable traction that death panels and other lies have gotten this summer, however, you need to probe deeper than the emotions-trump-reason truism. The specifics of the exaggerations and misrepresentations that work best speak volumes about fundamental aspects of the American character, about the neuroscience of decision making, and about the extraordinary events of the past 12 months. Yes, I'm sorry to say that AIG is part of this story.
a postmortem criticism of a television show.
to do a postmortem on the decision of a court.
884. Poster boy
For years Federer was the poster boy of how to succeed by going it alone. Despite not having a full-time coach by his side since 2003, he piled up 13 grand slam trophies and now stands just one short of Pete Sampras’s overall record.
Although both he and Cutie have insisted they do not want to be held up as poster boys for changing the Church's celibacy requirement, their stories have added new fuel to a long-simmering debate. The Catholic Church in the U.S. has a serious priest crisis - the number of men entering the priesthood has dropped by 60% over the past four decades and the current average age of active priests is 60. Many dioceses have been forced to close parishes or import foreign priests to deal with shortages. But advocates of celibacy reform say there is a better solution: ditch the 900-year-old church law prohibiting priests from marrying or being sexually active.
885. postpartum depression
886. Potent
California may be the center of the marijuana trade and the controversies over its legalization. But Florida has surpassed it in one important category: the Sunshine State is now the country's leader in indoor marijuana cultivation. It is a potent distinction because most of the marijuana grown this way is cultured hydroponically - that is, mostly without soil and with a carefully calibrated cocktail of chemicals and lighting - to create some of the highest level of highs on the market.
a potent fighting force
Several potent arguments were in his favor.
887. Potential
Lawmakers know this, which is why many of the key elements in the health care bill just passed by the House - and being considered in the Senate - are aimed squarely at small business. A wide array of economists and health-policy experts say insurance reforms (like prohibiting insurers from denying coverage because of pre-existing conditions), a new transparent marketplace to shop for coverage and a government-run insurance plan all have the potential to help small business. So why are the powerful lobbyists who represent this crucial sector of the economy, such as the Chamber of Commerce and the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), doing everything they can to scuttle the House bill? (Read "Understanding the Health Care Debate: Your Indispensable Guide.")
888. Powerhouse
The powerhouse doubles team came through for the United States again with a four-set victory over Switzerland’s Stanislas Wawrinka and Yves Allegro on Saturday to give the U.S. a 2-1 lead in the opening round of the Davis Cup.
889. pre-eminence
Leading Democrats expect U.S. automakers will show Congress next month they are worth rescuing and are capable of returning to global pre-eminence.
890. preeminent
Summers, who turns 54 at the end of November, is considered one of the country's preeminent economists, and served as Treasury Secretary for two years during the Clinton administration.
He is preeminent in his profession.
891. premier
For at least half a century, America has been the world’s premier nation for scientific and technological research. Remaining at the cutting edge is not only important for the advancement of knowledge, but it is also critical – absolutely critical — for the creation of high-powered jobs and meeting the challenges of global warming. In his Internet address on Saturday, Obama said, “It’s time we once again put science at the top of our agenda and worked to restore America’s place as the world leader in science and technology.” He’s right – it is none too soon to call off the war and build a strong, new alliance between government and science. .
892. pre-emptive
One hot topic of discussion related to pardons is whether Bush might decide to issue pre-emptive pardons before he leaves office to government employees who authorized or engaged in harsh interrogations of suspected terrorists in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Some constitutional scholars and human rights groups want the incoming administration of President-elect Barack Obama to investigate possible war crimes.
893. premium
However, the ways of the past, which we believe McCain understands, will not work in this new America. The future requires new tools and new expertise. A premium must be placed on more than just love of country. We must re-embrace American ideals and lead the world on a stronger path to prosperity and peace.
Housing in that area is at a premium.
a wine made of premium grapes
Employers put a premium on honesty and hard work.
894. prep
She apparently didn’t like preparing for debates back then either. “In the campaign for governor, they’re prepping her for debate,” Curtis Smith’s former business partner, Jim Lottsfeldt, told me recently in Anchorage, “and Curtis says, ‘The debate prep’s going horribly. Every time we try to help her with an answer, she just gets mad.’” (Smith himself says, “Unfortunately, I don’t recall having that exact conversation with Mr. Lottsfeldt, nor do I recall my experience, including debate prep, with Governor Palin in the light he portrayed.”) But Palin’s lack of knowledge turned out not to hurt her. Andrew Halcro later remembered that he and Palin once compared notes about their many encounters, and she said, “Andrew, I watch you at these debates with no notes, no papers, and yet when asked questions, you spout off facts, figures, and policies, and I’m amazed. But then I look out into the audience and I ask myself, Does any of this really matter?”
895. preponderance
Their view tracks with that of the Psalmist, who said, "Put not thy trust in princes," and there is much New Testament evidence to support a vision of faith and politics in which the church is truest to its core mission when it is the farthest from the entanglements of power. The Jesus of the Gospels resolutely refuses to use the means of this world—either the clash of arms or the passions of politics—to further his ends. After the miracle of the loaves and fishes, the dazzled throng thought they had found their earthly messiah. "When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone." When one of his followers slices off the ear of one of the arresting party in Gethsemane, Jesus says, "Put up thy sword." Later, before Pilate, he says, "My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight." The preponderance of lessons from the Gospels and from the rest of the New Testament suggests that earthly power is transitory and corrupting, and that the followers of Jesus should be more attentive to matters spiritual than political.
The preponderance of votes is against the proposal.
896. Primer
a primer of phonetics
897. prize
If you prize choosing your own cardiologist or urologist under your company's Preferred Provider Organization plan (PPO), if your employer rewards your non-smoking, healthy lifestyle with reduced premiums, if you love the bargain Health Savings Account (HSA) that insures you just for the essentials, or if you simply take comfort in the freedom to spend your own money for a policy that covers the newest drugs and diagnostic tests -- you may be shocked to learn that you could lose all of those good things under the rules proposed in the two bills th
898. Prescient
But with the murder of Dr. George Tiller by an anti-abortion fanatic, closely followed by a shooting by a white supremacist at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the analysis looks prescient
But with the murder of Dr. George Tiller by an anti-abortion fanatic, closely followed by a shooting by a white supremacist at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the analysis looks prescient
899. Presage
Now Obama comes home—and here is the hard part. Will Democrats in Congress believe enough in his broad agenda of change to enact it? On health care, which Republicans desperately want to postpone on the calculation that delay presages defeat, the viable, perhaps essential, course is to include it in the budget reconciliation bill. The reason? Reconciliation requires only 50 votes and Vice-President Biden to break a tie in the Senate. Under that scenario, health reform could be stopped only if Democrats break ranks.
The recovery may have gotten off to a slow start in the third quarter, but a surge in home sales last month could presage a more robust end to the year.
900. Prod
Count on Obama to prod Congress to act ASAP on the financial reform package the administration has sent to Capitol Hill. And both political and economic forecasters will be listening closely to the president's tone.
901. proffered
Davis declined to discuss sanctions but indicated time was running out for Tehran to take the proffered negotiating hand of the six world powers.
902. Profligate
Speaking to four of the women Woods turned to in order to fuel his sex addiction, Woods’s former adviser and lawyer, and other insiders, Seal paints a picture of the superstar at his most profligate, and explores how he got to that point. Here are just some of the revelations in “The Temptation of Tiger Woods”:
Germany, the Netherlands and Austria argued that any emergency loans should be at current market rates to avoid moral hazard that would ensue if profligate countries were rewarded.
903. project
On the eve of the unveiling of the nation’s new Afghanistan policy, former Vice President Dick Cheney slammed President Barack Obama for projecting “weakness” to adversaries and warned that more workaday Afghans will side with the Taliban if they think the United States is heading for the exits.
904. Proliferation
"His case illustrated how the multiplication and extension of rights lead to the proliferation of litigation."
905. prop
to prop an old fence
to prop up an unpopular government
He propped his cane against the wall.
His father is his financial prop.
906. proper
John Amato from the left-leaning website Crooks and Liars added that “with thousands of people dead already and as the suffering continues in Haiti, Limbaugh and his ilk only care about one thing: destroying Obama.”
The conservative media watchdog site Newsbusters stepped up to defend Limbaugh, saying his comments were not put in proper context, but very few others are backing the conservative firebrand’s latest controversial remarks.
907. proponent
Still, it would be wrong to say that Mr. Rafsanjani has suddenly become a proponent of justice, human rights and freedom.
908. proprietor
Oefelein also left the astronaut corps after the case came to light and now works as a test pilot instructor. Shipman is a freelance writer, and the couple's Web site indicates that they are both proprietors of a freelance adventure writing and motivational business.
909. Prospect
Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., the third-ranking Senate Democrat, raised the prospect of the leadership crafting a bill to Democratic specifications and using a rare legislative procedure to expedite legislation fulfilling President Barack Obama's top domestic priority.
So what are the prospects for a healthcare bill law to pass? In my view, decent. That may sound naive, given the fact that unemployment has topped 10 percent and tea-party activists are feeling more energized than ever.
The loss of so many beaches is an alarming prospect for Hawaii on many levels. Many tourists come to Hawaii precisely because they want to lounge on and walk along its soft sandy shoreline. These visitors spend some $11.4 billion each year, making tourism the state's largest employer.
Reid already faced the prospect of losing moderate Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., who said his support was in question after the failure of an amendment he offered Tuesday to insert tougher abortion restrictions into the legislation. The vote was 54-45.
Speaking with reporters after a closed-door meeting of the Democratic rank and file, Pelosi said the session left her feeling "very exhilarated" about the prospects of passing the legislation.
910. Prove
But Democratic strategist Tad Devine said that Obama still has the edge and that his huge financial advantage will now prove difficult to overcome
In the case of Chicago billionaire Penny Pritzker, leaks that she would probably be tapped for a Cabinet job proved premature.
The strategy, laid down in the summer at the beginning of the general election, has proved successful in the late stages of the race and require McCain to win virtually every state where the polls are close to deny Obama a victory.
Franken could prove nettlesome to Democrats looking for a consensus on some issues. Campaigning in Minnesota, Franken lampooned the Senate-approved bank bailout. It's unclear where he will fall in Democrats' efforts to reform the banking industry.
The 2008 vice presidential nominee was seen as a likely presidential contender in 2012 and had proved formidable among the party's base. But the last week brought a highly critical piece in Vanity Fair magazine, with unnamed campaign aides questioning if Palin was ever really prepared for the presidency.
The growing liberal unhappiness sets a difficult stage for Obama this fall. Political pragmatists want him to keep seeking a middle ground that will attract at least a few Republican lawmakers as well as moderate Democrats who could prove crucial to passage in the House and Senate. Even modest achievements, such as preventing insurers from refusing to cover pre-existing medical conditions, would allow Obama to claim a victory and perhaps try for more later, they say
While liberals are discouraged, the endgame remains unclear. Some still hope that Obama and congressional Democratic leaders will use all their parliamentary powers — which could prove especially divisive in the Senate — to pass a far-reaching bill that would include a public option for health insurance and more palatable consumer costs for prescription drugs and other needs.
However, the introduction of new boy Jozy Altidore for his debut proved a masterstroke as he teed up Ghilas for the winner.
Computer problems have plagued the program, as it proved far more popular than government officials expected. A rush of filings also bombarded the online system earlier this month when it appeared the first $1 billion Congress set aside would run out just days after sales began. Transportation officials later expanded its computer network capacity and tripled the number of staffers working on the program.
911. Provenance
The provenance of the ancient manuscript has never been determined.
Barack Obama’s nascent presidency has brought forth the customary flood of policy proposals from the great and good, all hoping to influence his administration. One noteworthy offering is a short report with a distinguished provenance entitled A Plan for Action,1 which features a revealingly immodest subtitle: A New Era of International Cooperation for a Changed World: 2009, 2010, and Beyond.
912. Provided
Right now employers are free to change or even drop your coverage at any time. Under likely reforms, they would remain free to do so, provided they paid a penalty to help offset the cost for their workers who would then buy coverage through an exchange. Under the House reform bill, all employers would eventually be allowed to enroll their workers in insurance exchanges that would offer an array of policies to choose from, including a public plan whose premiums would almost certainly be lower than those of competing private plans.
913. prowess
But it has become increasingly clear over the past few days that top officials in the Obama administration are still in the grip of the market mystique. They still believe in the magic of the financial marketplace and in the prowess of the wizards who perform that magic.
his prowess as a public speaker.
914. pry
Greenspan was testifying to the commission trying to pry loose the still incomplete story of how the American economy was driven at full speed into its iceberg.
915. pummel
By the time Election Day rolled around, the staff had been serially pummeled by unflattering press reports about the gaps in Palin’s knowledge, her stubborn resistance to direction, and the post-selection spending spree in which she ran up bills of $150,000 on clothes for herself and her family at high-end stores. The top McCain aides who had tried hard to work with Palin—Steve Schmidt, the chief strategist; Nicolle Wallace, the communications ace; and Tucker Eskew, her traveling counselor—were barely on speaking terms with her, and news organizations were reporting that anonymous McCain aides saw Palin as a “diva” and a “whack job.” Many of the details that led to such assessments have remained obscure. But in a recent series of conversations, a range of people from the McCain-Palin campaign, including members of the high command, agreed to elaborate on how a match they thought so right ended up going so wrong.
916. Punditry
A campaign would also give us an occasion that history denied us in 2008: an opportunity to adjudicate the George W. Bush years in a direct way. As John McCain pointed out in the fall of 2008, he is not Bush. Nor is Cheney, but the former vice president would make the case for the harder-line elements of the Bush world view. Far from fading away, Cheney has been the voice of the opposition since the inauguration. Wouldn't it be more productive and even illuminating if he took his arguments out of the realm of punditry and into the arena of electoral politics? Are we more or less secure because of the conduct of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq? Does the former vice president still believe in a connection between Saddam and Al Qaeda? Did the counterterror measures adopted in the aftermath of the attacks go too far? Let's have the fight and see what the country thinks.
917. Pursuit
Michelle Kwan is passing up toe loops for treaties. The nine-time American figure skating champion announced Friday that she will begin pursuit toward a master's degree in international affairs this fall rather than train for next February's Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
918. purview
Drama and suspicion have long surrounded Mr. Blagojevich, a 51-year-old Democrat known locally for his quirky love of Elvis and a big black signature hairstyle of his own. Though he ran for office as a reformer, he has been embroiled for years in a federal investigation into hiring fraud that included multiple departments under his purview.
The purview of Obama's Domestic Policy Council, to be led by Melody C. Barnes, a former aide to Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, is another question mark, particularly given that there will be highly credentialed individuals steering the Departments of Education and Housing and Urban Development. What will be left for Obama's new White House Office of Urban Policy, to be run by the president of New York's Bronx borough?
919. pushover
England captain John Terry is already raising a warning flag to those who think the United States will be a pushover in the teams’ group opener at the World Cup.
920. push-ups
921. Putative
Three years out, the GOP field does not offer a putative nominee.
The putative boss of the mob.
922. pyromaniac
Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y., who is co-chairman of the Middle Class Caucus, said that "leaving private insurance companies the job of controlling the costs of health care is like making a pyromaniac the fire chief."
923. quagmire
The voters elected Richard Nixon to extricate us from the quagmire in Vietnam with honor, which he did, and Gerald Ford attempted to prevent the Democratic Congress from walking away from our ally and our responsibility. Voters decided, however, to give the presidency back to the party of JFK and LBJ--by this time more the party of George McGovern--and we got the Iranian revolution and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
924. qualms
qualms of homesickness
a sudden qualm about the success of the venture.
WALLACE: Any qualms, or second thoughts, or embarrassment?
CHENEY: No, I thought he merited it at the time. (Laughter.) And we’ve since, I think, patched over that wound and we’re civil to one another now.
925. Putative
926. quarry
Two main quarries are supplying the building blocks for President-elect Barack Obama's new administration.
927. question
The question in the aftermath of the Madoff calamity is this: Why do we keep ignoring what we learn from the black boxes being retrieved from crash after crash in our economic meltdown? The lesson could not be more elemental. If there’s a mysterious financial model producing miraculous returns, odds are it’s a sham — whether it’s an outright fraud, as it apparently is in Madoff’s case, or nominally legal, as is the case with the Wall Street giants that have fallen this year.
Yet surely I’m not the only person to ask the obvious question: How different, really, is Mr. Madoff’s tale from the story of the investment industry as a whole?
Republicans trailed by more than a 30-point margin on the question of which party is best positioned to end the recession.
In response, Congress last year voted funds for the Treasury to use to shore up financial institutions—the widely maligned Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP—and the Fed opened wide its lending window. Those actions forestalled mass failures, but banks, chastened by their past overindulgence and worried about depleting their capital, still do not want to lend. So while government action proved necessary (and remains necessary) to maintain public confidence in the banking system, it became clear those actions could not and would not mitigate the parlous effects of the recession that, we were told late in 2008, had begun at the end of 2007. So the question becomes: In a world in which monetary adjustments do not appear effective, can tax and spending policies pull us out of the slump?
A final item is the Nabucco pipeline bringing Central Asian gas to Europe via Turkey. Both America and Turkey would like to see it built. The question, however, is who will pay for it? Neither America nor Turkey has much spare cash right now.
For the moment, even public plan options that don't potentially undercut private insurers lack traction with Senate Republicans, which is why Democratic Senator Kent Conrad over the weekend proposed the creation of "consumer health cooperatives." The idea, in essence, is to create a public option that isn't technically public at all; according to a one-page Conrad proposal circulating this week, state or regional nonprofit cooperatives would be created by federal charter and be member-owned and operated by boards of directors. The co-ops would operate by the rules of the insurance exchange and be capitalized by initial federal seed money. Conrad has compared the model to an HMO-like health cooperative operating in Washington State, but also, oddly enough, to agricultural cooperatives like Ocean Spray and Land O'Lakes. Republicans have not outright rejected the co-op idea. And over the weekend, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said of the co-op plan, "Having these ideas on the table is exactly where we need to be right now." The question is, Will any one of them be enough to get health-care reform to the President's desk by the end of the year?
Those skills would come in handy now. So far, there are few indications that the HELP Committee will come up with a strong bill that sets the tone for the debate that will follow on the Senate floor. On the contrary, it now increasingly looks like the HELP Committee will be playing a subordinate role in the debate to the Senate Finance Committee, whose chairman, Max Baucus of Montana, says he expects to begin the markup (or formal drafting) of his own, likely more centrist, bill next week. Also likely to fall to Baucus and the Finance Committee will be the most difficult question of all about health reform: how to pay for it.
The question now is whether we will nonetheless fail to get that change, because a handful of Democratic senators are still determined to party like it’s 1993.
When I told Mr. Schmidt I was worried about Google’s dominant presence in my digital life, he said: “It’s a legitimate concern. But the question is, how are we doing? Are our products working for you?”
But now the big question is what will happen with the TLC series "Jon & Kate Plus 8," and what will happen with the kids.
Still unsettled are the divisive questions of whether to create a new public plan to compete against private insurers, and what types of requirements employers should face to offer coverage to their workers.
The big question here is whether health care is about to go the way of the stimulus bill.
Of course, it’s one thing to accept that there’s a limit to how much we should spend to save a human life, and another to set that limit. The dollar value that bureaucrats place on a generic human life is intended to reflect social values, as revealed in our behavior. It is the answer to the question “How much are you willing to pay to save your life?” — except that, of course, if you asked that question of people who were facing death, they would be prepared to pay almost anything to save their lives.
The rhinos are closing off your future. As the White House folks say, health care premiums have doubled over the last decade. The government is saddled with $36 trillion in unfunded liabilities.
So your only question should be: Where do you find a tool or weapon big enough to stop the rhino stampedes? You know the problem is big, and you figure the response had better be gigantic.
Fear, Grassley argues, is part of the process too. "Democracy is at work," he says. "The public hearings have had an impact. Exactly to what extent? I'll have to get back [to Washington] and talk to my colleagues." The question is whether anyone on either side is still willing to listen.
When Susan Hockfield was named president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in August 2004, one of the first things she did was go on a listening tour. Her main question for students and faculty was what MIT, a longtime leader in scientific research, should focus on in the next decade. "I expected to get a lot of different answers, and, frankly, I did get a lot of different answers," Hockfield says. "But there was near unanimity that MIT needed to have a larger impact in solving the world's energy challenges."
The question of abortion coverage in the health care bill has bedeviled top Democrats for weeks. Under its current language, the measure would allow individuals to purchase policies through a new insurance exchange that would cover abortion procedures. Anti-abortion Democrats, led by Rep. Bart Stupak of Michigan, have argued that provisions designed to prevent tax dollars from being used to pay for such services directly are inadequate.
The mystery of why women have sex, and what they want out of it, has long been an elusive study—something even Sigmund Freud called "the great question." Researchers have historically theorized that women's motives lie in love and commitment, while newer studies have shown they do it for pleasure, just like men. But women are complicated creatures: their sexual health is determined as much by their emotions as by their physical state, which might help explain why as many as 50 percent of women have trouble getting aroused. Yet while scientists, in recent years, have labored over the "how" of female desire, no major study, until now, has actually asked women to describe why they have sex in the first place.
Robert Natelson, a constitutional law professor at the University of Montana School of Law, said it would be easier for states to argue for standing to file a lawsuit that claims the federal government has overstepped its constitutional powers.
"The legal question is, Does this health care bill exceed the federal government's powers or it is invalid for other reasons?" he said.
Republicans also face the question of what happens if the health care bill does not create the cataclysm that they warned of during the many months of debate.
928. Quibble
"We have to watch every day to see what is happening, even while we anticipate several different possibilities and what to do in those circumstances," one official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. Within the administration, officials say, Obama's cautious stance has the support of key senior officials, with disagreements centered mostly on quibbles over a word choice.
929. quicksand
The economy is sinking into quicksand.
930. Quiescent/Quiescence
a quiescent mind
Don’t expect that this will be resolved cleanly with a win or loss in short period of time. The Iranian revolution, which is usually regarded as one of the most accelerated overthrows of a well-entrenched power structure in history, started in about January 1978, and the shah departed in January 1979. During that period, there were long pauses and periods of quiescence that could lead one to believe that the revolt had subsided. This is not a sprint; it is a marathon. Endurance is at least as important as speed.
931. Quip
President John F. Kennedy once quipped that he was merely “the man who accompanied Jacqueline Kennedy to Paris.”
The real difference between the Senate pre-Franken and now?
"So far, an extra seat at lunch," quipped Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, heading into the weekly closed-door session.
932. quirk
Bob names all his cows, and can tell them apart in an instant. He can tell you each cow’s quirks and parentage. They are family friends as well as economic assets.
He is full of strange quirks.
He lost his money by a quirk of fate.
"Every man had his own quirks and twists" (Harriet Beecher Stowe).
933. quiver
934. Quote
Eisenhower came to regret his choice of Warren, and once was quoted as calling it a damned fool mistake. But he couldn't do anything about it. Warren retired as chief justice in 1969, eight years after Eisenhower left the White House.
935. radioactive
In line or not, the political challenges of the updated deficit projections are numerous. With Congressional elections looming next year, Obama will need to show he is serious about cutting costs in order to neutralize an otherwise politically radioactive issue for both political parties.
936. ragtag
Palin’s 2006 campaign for governor relied at first almost wholly on a ragtag band of true believers. “She had this little grassroots group that was going around the state on a wing and a prayer, talking up her platitudes,” says John Bitney, an old friend of Palin’s from junior-high band in Wasilla, where he played the trombone and she played the flute. Bitney at the time was a lobbyist and veteran legislative aide in Juneau, and he began passing political intelligence and advice to Palin. When Palin routed Murkowski in the Republican primary, she still had no real professional campaign staff. Bitney signed on, forming a triumvirate with Curtis Smith, a veteran Anchorage media consultant, and Kris Perry, another old friend of Palin’s from Wasilla, who functioned as her personal assistant and also held the title of campaign manager. Palin began preparing for a general-election campaign against Tony Knowles, the former two-term Democratic governor, and Andrew Halcro, a former Republican legislator who was running as an independent.
"They're a small ragtag army of racketeers, bandits, and murderers" (Thomas P. O'Neill, Jr.)
a ragtag crowd.
937. rail
Two points from victory against inexperienced, unheralded Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina, two points from a sixth consecutive title at Flushing Meadows and a record-extending 16th Grand Slam overall, Federer, quite simply, fell apart Monday.
He railed at the chair umpire. His legs grew weary. His double-faults mounted. He could not figure out a way to stop the 6-foot-6 del Potro from pounding forehand after forehand past him. In a result as surprising for who lost as how it happened, del Potro came back to win his first Grand Slam title by upsetting Federer 3-6, 7-6 (5), 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2.
to rail at fate
938. ramble
During a sometimes rambling statement, she cited ongoing ethics complaints and the financial toll they were taking on the state and her personal finances. She also blamed the media for sensational attention and attacks on her family, although she didn't offer details.
They rambled through the shops until closing time.
The vine rambled over the walls and tree trunks.
The speaker rambled on with anecdote after anecdote
939. rapacious
How historic is the health-care reform bill that President Obama signed into law this morning? The bill only begins the long task of taking back control of the health-care system from rapacious insurance and drug companies. We must work to include a real public option and to eliminate the insurance industry's antitrust exemption.
940. ratchet
"This has been ratcheting up, and I obviously helped to contribute ratcheting it up," he said. "I want to make clear that in my choice of words, I think I unfortunately gave an impression that I was maligning the Cambridge police department and Sgt. Crowley specifically. And I could've calibrated those words differently."
"This has been ratcheting up, and I obviously helped to contribute ratcheting it up," he said. "I want to make clear that in my choice of words, I think I unfortunately gave an impression that I was maligning the Cambridge police department and Sgt. Crowley specifically. And I could've calibrated those words differently."
Interest rates have been ratcheting downward.
to ratchet prices up
Interest rates have been ratcheting downward.
941. rather
Now, his reported selections for two of the major positions in his cabinet — Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton as secretary of state and Timothy J. Geithner as secretary of the Treasury — suggest that Mr. Obama is planning to govern from the center-right of his party, surrounding himself with pragmatists rather than ideologues.
Patrick Whelan, a physician at Harvard Medical School and president of Catholic Democrats, said that by taking such a hard line against Obama, bishops and other conservative leaders risked driving Catholics away from the church rather than cool their support for the president.
Democrats need not confine themselves to their ritual tropes about how ''the middle class is under assault'' (Clinton again). They control Congress; they can act. The unemployed John Edwards, who has the luxury of irresponsibility, challenges Democrats to repeal the Bush tax cuts they disapprove of rather than wait for them to expire.
Senator McCain and his operatives are gambling that he can distract you with smears rather than talk to you about substance. They'd rather try to tear our campaign down than lift this country up,"
Haitian officials here say they did not use lethal force but rather found lifeless bodies when they entered the prison. They attribute the killings to a prison ringleader who, they say, slaughtered his fellow inmates before hopping over the wall and disappearing.
Rather than pitch ahead to his next message, Obama devoted his address to recapping what his team did this past week to help get people working and spending.
"The president's appearance at Notre Dame will not in any way serve as an acceptance or condonation of his position on abortion and stem cells, but rather will provide the university the opportunity to reject — freely and clearly — those positions for all the world to hear and read," Cuomo wrote. "Better that confident and respectful stance by the university than a defensive and impolite insult to our nation's respected and singularly important world leader, who demonstrated his respect to Notre Dame by agreeing to come to the university."
“I have thousands of people calling me, telling me not to run,” said Representative Carolyn Maloney, rather proudly.
Such growth would be fine if financialization really delivered on its promises — if financial firms made money by directing capital to its most productive uses, by developing innovative ways to spread and reduce risk. But can anyone, at this point, make those claims with a straight face? Financial firms, we now know, directed vast quantities of capital into the construction of unsellable houses and empty shopping malls. They increased risk rather than reducing it, and concentrated risk rather than spreading it. In effect, the industry was selling dangerous patent medicine to gullible consumers.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi hailed the agreement as a "giant step forward" for the bill that Obama has made a test of his leadership. Advocates said it eventually would turn Medicare toward a program that rewards quality, rather than volume, as well as alter a system that pays doctors and other providers more in some regions of the country than others.
Some employers might well conclude that it is a better deal — for them or for you — to subsidize your coverage on the exchange rather than in your current plan. If so, you might end up with better or cheaper coverage. You would probably also have a wider choice of plans, since most employers offer only one or two options.
They said any legislation that emerges from the talks is expected to provide for a nonprofit cooperative to sell insurance in competition with private industry, rather than giving the federal government a role in the marketplace.
Reid told reporters during the day that August deadlines were a product of the media, rather than lawmakers or the White House.
In today's New York Times, Robert Pear has a story that tells us how it happened that more than a dozen lawmakers made virtually the same statement in the official record of the House health care debate. (It's worth knowing that these are not necessarily speeches they gave on the floor itself, but rather, what gets printed in the Congressional Record when they ask permission to "revise and extend" their remarks. So no one actually hears them say it, but it does go into the official history of the event, and it does put them firmly on record. It also tells the lobbyists' paymasters that they are getting good return on their investment.)
"It would be our hope that our more moderate Democratic colleagues would respect the wishes of their constituents rather than do the bidding of Harry Reid," Republican Senator Jon Kyl told reporters.
As residents of Florida, Woods and Nordegren would be subject to that state's practices in the division of marital property should they file for divorce, conditions likely to result in an "equitable" distribution of assets rather than an equal one, said Stanford University family law professor Richard Banks.
Settling for something small rather than a big nothing, President Barack Obama and four peers on Friday brokered a climate policy framework that other nations reportedly agreed to support as the U.N. climate summit here wraps up.
McConnell was emphasizing a new GOP political approach opposing Democrats' health care measures that proposes "repealing and replacing" the bill rather than just repealing the new health care law. Republicans say they can push for parts of the health care overhaul without adopting elements they don't like, such as tax increases.
The trip to Guam, Australia and Indonesia — the world's most populous Muslim country, where Obama spent several years as a youngster — will now run from March 21-26, rather than March 18-24, according to a senior administration official who spoke condition of anonymity because the White House hadn't announced the delay.
942. raucous
That was then. In August, Grassley - who is up for re-election next year - held town halls and constituent meetings in 30 counties. While the sessions never got as raucous as they did in some other parts of the country, Grassley's constituents turned out by the thousands to tell him how little they thought of his efforts back in Washington.
a raucous party
943. Razor-slim
At this point, Democrats hold a razor-slim edge (47 to 43 percent) on the "generic ballot," the question about which party's candidate people support in their local districts. Independents, who swung solidly for Democratic candidates in 2006 and 2008, now divide 42 percent for the GOP candidate and 39 percent for the Democrat.
944. reason
For the next few days, mother and daughter tried to reason it out, each deeply upset by the other’s intransigence. After several days of barnyard trauma, the chick underwent an identity crisis, nature triumphed over nurture, and she redefined herself as a hen.
945. recalibrate
The comment was a clear indication that Democrats were recalibrating their approach on health care, leaving them a diminishing and politically difficult set of choices.
946. Record
"As a matter of record, everybody in this room knows exactly who I was with over the weekend," Sanford said. "That is no mystery to anybody given what I said last summer. And, you know, the purpose was obviously to see if something could be restarted on that front given the rather enormous geographic gulf between us. And time will tell. I don't know if it will or won't."
947. Reflexively
Many Americans reflexively reject the idea of any new taxes — especially to pay for others’ health insurance. They should remember that if this reform effort fails, there is little hope of reining in the relentless rise of health care costs. That means their own premiums and out-of-pocket medical expenses will continue to soar faster than their wages. And they will end up paying higher taxes anyway, to cover a swelling federal deficit driven by escalating Medicare and Medicaid costs.
948. regal
949. regale
As for Obama's vigor, perhaps the Illinois senator has regaled Powell with detailed explanations of how the market for commercial paper has been disrupted by the credit crunch and other nuances.
950. Rein
The stars are better aligned for the passage of health-care reform principally because the business community that almost uniformly opposed it in the past now supports it. It's not just the economic crisis and people losing health insurance or having to pay higher copayments, it's the realization that health-care reform has gone from what it always was, a clear moral issue, to being an economic imperative. The Clintons were caricatured as bleeding-heart liberals for framing the fight as an expansion of coverage to millions of uninsured. Obama approaches it as a long-overdue and necessary effort to rein in the runaway costs that are eating away at the economic health of the country.
951. related to
Mr. Krugman first gained a popular following while writing about economics for Slate magazine and Forbes in the 1990s. He frequently weighed in on contemporary free trade debates related to his research.
Mr. Krugman, who grew up on Long Island and has a bachelor’s degree from Yale and a doctorate from M.I.T., has been teaching at Princeton since 2000. This semester, he is teaching a graduate-level course in international monetary theory and policy. He often teaches all-freshman seminars on issues related to economics.
952. Remainder
The deal is expected to call for Comcast to spend $6.5 billion in cash and contribute cable channels worth $7.25 billion for its 51 percent stake in NBC Universal. GE would hold the rest, though it could sell half of its portion after 3 1/2 years and the remainder after seven years.
953. relative to
First, their huge disadvantage in costs relative to foreign brands must be eliminated. That means new labor agreements to align pay and benefits to match those of workers at competitors like BMW, Honda, Nissan and Toyota. Furthermore, retiree benefits must be reduced so that the total burden per auto for domestic makers is not higher than that of foreign producers.
954. Reduce
It was forced on the administration by the Senate special election victory of Massachusetts Republican Scott Brown in January. He captured the seat long held by Democrat Edward Kennedy, who died last year. Brown's victory reduced the Democrats' majority in the Senate to 59 votes, one shy of the number needed to knock down Republican delaying tactics.
955. Relating
Landrieu said she has concerns relating to the bill's costs to small businesses and individuals. She also expressed opposition to a public health insurance option "that will undermine the private insurance market." If that's included in the measure, she said, "it needs to come out at some point."
956. Relentless
House Democrats announced agreement Friday on far-reaching measures designed to rein in the relentless growth of Medicare, part of a drive to counter the impression that President Barack Obama's health care legislation is in deep trouble.
957. relinquish
Brad Childress relinquished control in August. And four months later, it’s a little late to ask for it back.
to relinquish a plan
958. Relish
Overall, he relishes being back in the thick of the intellectual debate. In September 2008, he told Portfolio.com: "I'm somebody who wants their errors to be of trying to do too much rather than trying to do too little, trying to make as large and as constructive a difference as I can. That's a perspective that I bring to whatever I try to do." In a very basic way, he is fortunate to have landed in his current job at this moment, as setting an ambitious agenda is exactly what President Obama has in mind.
He has no relish for obscene jokes.
959. Remake
Former President Bill Clinton came to the defense of the Senate bill. Clinton, whose ambitions were humbled by the collapse of his own health care remake, reminded Democrats that political pros don't let the perfect become the enemy of the good.
960. remiss
He's terribly remiss in his work.
961. remittance
Before he was sworn in as President, Barack Obama began to lay out his plans for reviving an American economy that, it would later be discovered, had declined 3.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008, its worst performance in 26 years. About the first part of his project, “stimulating” businesses to invest and consumers to consume through government spending and tax remittances, he was forthcoming and enthusiastic. About the second, stabilizing the financial system, he wished to reserve judgment.
962. reminisce
She reminisced with her uncle about the time she spent with her daughter before she moved to Germany.
963. reminiscent
In some ways, the choices made so far are reminiscent of the way the last senator to be elected president — John F. Kennedy — chose a cabinet.
His style of writing is reminiscent of Melville's.
They won’t say this, because it does no good for Yao’s rehabilitation and the psyche of the Rockets faithful. Whatever happens, this has turned into one of the sport’s saddest stories. Yes, it’s reminiscent of Bill Walton’s saga, but Yao is a far bigger, far more important figure in basketball history. Yes, Walton could’ve been one of the most accomplished centers in history, but Yao’s powers have been truly transformative.
964. Reprise
They reprised the elaborate dance number in the third act
Sarah Palin's new book reprises familiar claims from the 2008 presidential campaign that haven't become any truer over time. Ignoring substantial parts of her record if not the facts, she depicts herself as a frugal traveler on the taxpayer's dime, a reformer without ties to powerful interests and a politician roguishly indifferent to high ambition.
965. Requite
The crowds begin streaming into the Evansville Auditorium and Convention Centre a couple of hours before the arrival of the “special guest speaker” at the Vanderburgh County Right to Life dinner on a soft Indiana spring evening—nearly 2,200 people in the banquet hall, 800 more in an adjacent auditorium watching the proceedings on a live video feed. The menu is thick slices of roast pork and red velvet cake, washed down with pitchers of iced tea, and when Sarah Palin finally enters, escorted by a phalanx of sheriff’s deputies and local police, she is mobbed. The organizers of the dinner, billed as “the largest pro-life banquet in the world,” have courted Palin for weeks with care packages of locally made chocolates, doughnuts, barbecue, and pastries, and she has requited by choosing Evansville, a conservative stronghold in southern Indiana, as the site of her first public speech outside Alaska in 2009.
966. rescind
The House bill, for example, would require that all new policies sold on or off the exchanges must offer yet-to-be-determined “essential benefits.” It would prohibit those policies from excluding or charging higher rates to people with pre-existing conditions and would bar the companies from rescinding policies after people come down with a serious illness. It would also prohibit insurers from setting annual or lifetime limits on what a policy would pay. All this would kick in immediately for all new policies. These rules would start in 2013 for policies purchased on the exchange, and, after a grace period, would apply to employer-provided plans as well.
967. resonance
The ruling by Brazil’s chief justice in favor of an American man seeking to gain custody of his son has important resonances in an era of increasing international marriages, say several legal experts.
968. respectively
The data was similar in Wisconsin and Minnesota where Obama gained 10 points and nine points, respectively, in his margin over McCain since the September Quinnipiac poll; the Illinois senator led McCain in Wisconsin 54 percent to 37 percent, and held a 51 percent to 40 percent edge in Minnesota.
969. résumé
Summers was named director of the National Economic Council last November as one of Obama's first personnel choices. A big part of his appeal was his golden résumé. But his background is not without controversy. As Harvard president, he angered some faculty members when he raised questions about the relative paucity of women in science and mathematics and wondered if something innate caused their lack of success in those fields. The resulting strife forced him to resign in 2006. As Clinton's treasury secretary, he promoted the theory that the financial industry should be substantially deregulated and moved to ease restrictions on banks, which is seen by some critics today as a contributing factor in the current meltdown. Summers says that times have changed and that his role as a deregulator has been overstated.
970. rest
But some of the blame also must rest with President Obama, who famously praised Reagan during the Democratic primary, and hasn’t used the bully pulpit to confront government-is-bad fundamentalism. That’s ironic, in a way, since a large part of what made Reagan so effective, for better or for worse, was the fact that he sought to change America’s thinking as well as its tax code.
971. reverberate
Whatever the outcome, there was no doubt the issue would reverberate into this fall's elections, with control of Congress at stake.
972. reversal
Some of the clearest signs of the reversal of fortunes can be found in data on spending by the wealthy. An index that tracks the price of art, the Mei Moses index, has dropped 32 percent in the last six months. The New York Yankees failed to sell many of the most expensive tickets in their new stadium and had to drop the price. In one ZIP code in Vail, Colo., only five homes sold for more than $2 million in the first half of this year, down from 34 in the first half of 2007, according to MDA Dataquick. In Bronxville, an affluent New York suburb, the decline was to two, from 17, according to Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage.
973. reverts
The five income tax brackets (10, 25, 28, 33 and 35 percent) will be increased 50, 12, 10.7, 9.1 and 13.1 percent, respectively, to 15, 28, 31, 36 and 39.6 percent. The child tax credit reverts to $500 from $1,000. The estate tax rate, which falls to zero in 2009, will snap back to a 60 percent maximum and exemptions that have increased will decrease. The capital gains rate will rise and the marriage penalty will be revived, as will the double taxation of dividends.
They reverted to the ways of their forefathers.
He constantly reverted to his childhood.
974. repose
When in repose, her face recalls the Mona Lisa
His body will repose in the chapel for two days.
The sea reposed under the tropical sun.
The body of the senator will lie in repose.
975. reproach
Three years out, the GOP field does not offer a putative nominee. When Gallup polled on the Republican race for 2012, it asked about Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich, Tim Pawlenty, and Haley Barbour (Huckabee won, with Romney and Palin tying for second among Republicans who were asked whom they would consider voting for). Cheney covers all the ground these folks do, and then some. (After Liz Cheney's remark on Fox News, a flood of subsequent e-mails asked her, "Where do I sign up?") In an era of ideological purity within the party, Cheney is among the purest; no one can question his conservative credentials on national security, and his record in the House and as vice president places him beyond reproach from the base. He was, it is true, second in command in years of great deficit spending, but his image as an implacable foe of terrorism and a hardliner on the projection of American power would go a long way toward securing his position within the party as a warrior of the old school offering himself once more to a nation he has served in four different decades.
976. ripe
Scientists who detected worrisome signs of growing stresses in the fault that unleashed this week's devastating earthquake in Haiti said they warned officials there two years ago that their country was ripe for a major earthquake.
977. riposte
a brilliant riposte to an insult.
Mike Barnicle warns that the next time Gates needs 911, he should call the Harvard faculty lounge instead. But Gates ripostes, “I have a feeling the Cambridge police will be especially attentive to my needs.” He said that, as he was packing for China, he got a call from the Cambridge police soliciting a donation and told them to try back in two weeks
978. roil
President Barack Obama wants to sign the legislation into law by the end of the year. But abortion opponents in the Senate are seeking tough restrictions in the health care overhaul bill, a move that could roil a shaky Democratic effort.
to be roiled by a delay.
979. Rogue
Palin's book goes rogue on some facts
The youngest boys are little rogues.
980. rolling
In a speech in Dawsonville, Ga., Vice President Joe Biden will announce the first 18 projects that will receive federal funding to bring high-speed Internet connections to rural areas, poor neighborhoods and other underserved communities across the country.
The administration plans to award a total of $2 billion in grants and loans on a rolling basis over the next 75 days as it starts doling out the first round of stimulus funding for broadband.
981. Roost
As for the chick, she never doubted her goosiness. At night, our chickens would roost high up in the barn, while the geese would sleep on the floor, with their heads tucked under their wings. This chick slept with the goslings, and she tried mightily to stretch her neck under her wing. No doubt she had a permanent crick in her neck.
982. round-the-clock
Miami Police Major Charles Nanney says informants played a crucial role in the success of a statewide crackdown in June that resulted in the seizure of 6,828 marijuana plants and 120 residential marijuana labs over the course of a few days. Among the best tipsters, they say, are electricians paid big money by growers to wire the sophisticated network of lights and air conditioners used to cool plants and subject them to round-the-clock illumination. The energy-chugging networks require an expert's touch to bypass the electric meter and tap straight into the grid. A sharp increase in electricity used to be a telltale sign of a grow house. Some growers have caught on, however, and are learning to mask their energy profile.
983. roundly
The Packers legend was roundly booed by fans in his first return to Lambeau Field since the acrimonious split he had with the team (and its fans) last year. While some in the crowd politely applauded Favre when he came out for warm-ups, went to midfield for the coin toss and took his first snaps from under center, the vast majority of fans showered Favre with boos. This only continued, as Favre and his new team, the Minnesota Vikings, jumped out to a 24-3 early in the third quarter.
984. Rousing
The Rev. Al Sharpton gave a rousing speech praising the pop star to hundreds of fans who crammed into the theater as others waited in line outside to pay their respects.
985. Rowdy
rowdy behavior at school.
986. ruckus
The losers are sure to raise a ruckus.
Newspapers fostered the ruckus by printing the opponents' letters.
Some decades ago, you would have heard a sustained outcry against such dire conditions among blacks, and there would have been loud demands for policy changes designed to bring more black Americans into the economic mainstream. You don’t hear much of that now. Too many so-called black leaders are much more interested in invitations to the White House and positive profiles in mainstream publications than in raising any kind of ruckus that might benefit people in real trouble.
987. saddle
Lindsay, who passed away last month at 79, bequeathed his estate to the small Christian university in Orange County where he ate daily at the cafeteria for decades. The donation, estimated to be at least several million dollars, will likely help the school that is saddled with $42 million in debt.
He has saddled himself with a houseful of impecunious relatives.
988. sag
By all accounts, Palin was either unwilling, or simply unable, to prepare. In the run-up to the Couric interview, Palin had become preoccupied with a far more parochial concern: answering a humdrum written questionnaire from her hometown newspaper, the Frontiersman. McCain aides saw it as easy stuff, the usual boilerplate, the work of 20 minutes or so, but Palin worried intently. At the same time, she grew concerned that her approval ratings back home in Alaska were sagging as she embraced the role of McCain’s bad cop. To keep her happy, the chief McCain strategist, Steve Schmidt, agreed to conduct a onetime poll of 300 Alaska voters. It would prove to Palin, Schmidt thought, that everything was all right.
Then came the near-total meltdown of the financial system and McCain’s much-derided decision to briefly “suspend” his campaign. Under the circumstances, and with severely limited resources, Schmidt and the McCain-campaign chairman, Rick Davis, scrapped the Alaska poll and urgently set out to survey voters’ views of the economy (and of McCain’s response to it) in competitive states. Palin was furious. She was convinced that Schmidt had lied to her, a belief she conveyed to anyone who would listen.
Our spirits began to sag.
The roof sags
he stock market sagged today.
Her skirt was sagging
His shoulders sagged.
989. sanctum
Longtime, deeply loyal associates will dominate the White House inner sanctum. And veterans of Bill Clinton's presidency will hold vital jobs throughout the government, although a bit farther from the Oval Office.
990. salvo
His mother took the first step Monday when she petitioned the Superior Court of California to be named the administrator of the late singer's estate. Katherine Jackson said in the filing she was acting to ensure Michael Jackson's three children are the beneficiaries.
It's the opening salvo in a complicated battle for a fortune that includes a lucrative music catalog of the King of Pop's own hits, the rights to songs by the Beatles, and the Neverland ranch that could one day be a tourist attraction.
991. Sanitize
to sanitize a document before releasing it to the press.
992. sanguine
Lately, however, economists have become more sanguine about the power of fiscal stimulus, in large part because of the apparent success of the tax-rate reductions and rebates in 2001 and 2003 (although such a conclusion may ignore the monetary effects of the huge cut in interest rates).
a sanguine disposition
sanguine expectations.
993. sap
The presidential address was scheduled by the White House last week in part to pressure Mr. Baucus to act. Many Democrats say Mr. Obama has for too long deferred to him, sapping momentum from the president’s chief domestic priority.
994. saturnine
Palin is a cipher by choice. When she chooses to reveal herself, what she reveals is not always the same thing as the truth. Her singular refusal to have in-depth conversations with the national media—even Richard Nixon and Dick Cheney, among the most saturnine political figures in modern American history, each submitted to countless detailed interviews over the years—has compounded the challenge of understanding who she really is. There has been Hollywood talk that Palin could star in a reality-TV show about running Alaska, but nothing has come of it yet. Recently, Palin did star in a week-long seriocomic feud with David Letterman over some of his borderline jokes. Meanwhile, she has begun sharing insights several times a day on Twitter, with chipper reports on her own doings and those of her husband, Todd, and the rest of what she calls the “first family.” “Look forward to today’s staff discussion re: my 3rd justice appt to highest court in 3 yrs. Supreme Court truly effects AK’s future,” reads one. And another: “Picking up my handsome little man to rtrn to Juneau, Trig got 1st haircut so my little hippie baby’s ready for AK sunshine on his shoulders.”
995. savvy
Some of Kennedy's Senate colleagues on Wednesday said his negotiating savvy and ability to reach across the aisle would likely have Congress and the administration closer to an agreement on a health care plan.
a candidate who seemed to have no political savvy.
996. say
Health care does more than save lives: it also reduces pain and suffering. How can we compare saving a person’s life with, say, making it possible for someone who was confined to bed to return to an active life? We can elicit people’s values on that too. One common method is to describe medical conditions to people — let’s say being a quadriplegic — and tell them that they can choose between 10 years in that condition or some smaller number of years without it. If most would prefer, say, 10 years as a quadriplegic to 4 years of nondisabled life, but would choose 6 years of nondisabled life over 10 with quadriplegia, but have difficulty deciding between 5 years of nondisabled life or 10 years with quadriplegia, then they are, in effect, assessing life with quadriplegia as half as good as nondisabled life. (These are hypothetical figures, chosen to keep the math simple, and not based on any actual surveys.) If that judgment represents a rough average across the population, we might conclude that restoring to nondisabled life two people who would otherwise be quadriplegics is equivalent in value to saving the life of one person, provided the life expectancies of all involved are similar.
997. skimpy
Skimpy though her paper trail may be, Kagan’s past experience does contain some hints about her legal views and what her approach to judging might be. Over the next several weeks, folks on all sides of the fight will pore over that record. Kagan and the White House will provide senators with copies of her articles, speeches, and briefs; starting on May 12, she’ll begin paying courtesy calls to members of the Senate and respond to questionnaires from the Senate Judiciary Committee. The White House hopes that the committee will hold confirmation hearings by late June, with a vote possible as early as the first week in July.
998. scant
to do scant justice
paid scant attention to the lecture.
a scant cup of sugar
We were scant of breath after the lengthy climb.
She had to scant the older children in order to nourish the newborn.
Our leisure time is scanted by this demanding job.
Galvin, who discounted sporadic reports of voter irregularities throughout the day, predicted turnout ranging from 1.6 million to 2.2 million, 40 percent to 55 percent of registered voters. The Dec. 8 primary had a scant turnout of about 20 percent.
999. scuttle
There was upheaval earlier in the week in the Senate, where the Democratic leadership is intent on scuttling a proposed tax on health care benefits that has long been key to attempts at a bipartisan compromise. At the same time, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and others went out of their way during the day to emphasize eagerness for Republican support.
Lawmakers know this, which is why many of the key elements in the health care bill just passed by the House - and being considered in the Senate - are aimed squarely at small business. A wide array of economists and health-policy experts say insurance reforms (like prohibiting insurers from denying coverage because of pre-existing conditions), a new transparent marketplace to shop for coverage and a government-run insurance plan all have the potential to help small business. So why are the powerful lobbyists who represent this crucial sector of the economy, such as the Chamber of Commerce and the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), doing everything they can to scuttle the House bill? (Read "Understanding the Health Care Debate: Your Indispensable Guide.")
1000. seaside
1001. seemingly
That lack of defensive ability played out on the New England offense as the Patriots were forced to go on fourth down three times. The last one was a critical play. Down 31-17 in the third quarter, the Patriots went on fourth-and-4 from New Orleans’ 10-yard line. The Patriots had a seemingly good matchup with Moss lined up against cornerback Mike McKenzie(notes), whom the Saints had brought back only a week ago after he was out of football for a year.
1002. serendipity
the serendipity of getting the first job she applied for.
The allure of evolutionary psychology is that it organizes all behavior into one eternal theory, impervious to the serendipity of time and place. But there’s no escaping context. That’s worth remembering next time somebody tells you we are hardwired to do this or that.
1003. Shenanigans
After health reform, the test of Democratic governing capacity will move on to energy and other tough challenges, including the possible need for a new round of financial bail-outs. (I know the White House doesn’t like that word, but that’s how opportunistically populist Republicans will cast it.) These legislative initiatives will require filibuster-proof majorities of 60 votes. The Democrats will have 59 votes in the Senate once the GOP, running out of increasingly far-fetched legal shenanigans, can no longer disenfranchise the state of Minnesota by delaying Al Franken’s seating in the Senate. If Senate Democrats then forge a united front around proposals that largely reflect the Obama program, they will need just one Republican vote to govern.
1004. schizoid
These tensions have created a somewhat schizoid relationship between Clinton and the Obamas – warm on personal matters, warier on political ones, and downright frosty on the still-unresolved issue of Clinton’s mountainous campaign debt, which Barack Obama had pledged to reduce.
1005. seeding
Indeed, when a team is 13-1 and one victory shy of wrapping up the franchise’s first ever No. 1 NFC playoff seeding, it’s hard to be too upset over that lone loss for long.
1006. Shatter
After the longest presidential race in history, the electorate looks more engaged than ever, and turnout could shatter records.
1007. Sheer
We drilled a hundred feet through sheer rock.
sheer stockings
"Sex has all kinds of utilities—it always has," says Pepper Schwartz, a sociologist at the University of Washington and the author of a number of books on sex. "People use what they've got, and sometimes yes, women too use sexuality as a tool." Buss, an evolutionary psychologist, says, "One of the things we realized early on was that there's this huge gap in the field of study in that we thought women's sexual motivations were sort of intuitive and understood. But what shocked me was the sheer complexity of women's psychology."
1008. Scheme
"McCain seems to have slipped a little bit, but in the grand scheme it's still a very close race," Zogby said.
1009. Sevenfold
First of all, even before the current crisis Reaganomics had failed to deliver what it promised. Remember how lower taxes on high incomes and deregulation that unleashed the “magic of the marketplace” were supposed to lead to dramatically better outcomes for everyone? Well, it didn’t happen.
To be sure, the wealthy benefited enormously: the real incomes of the top .01 percent of Americans rose sevenfold between 1980 and 2007. But the real income of the median family rose only 22 percent, less than a third its growth over the previous 27 years.
1010. Shambles
There’s truth in each of these explanations. But a visit to Zimbabwe highlights perhaps the main reason: bad governance. The tyrannical, incompetent and corrupt rule of Zimbabwe’s president, Robert Mugabe, has turned one of Africa’s most advanced countries into a shambles.
to turn cities into shambles.
Her desk is a shambles.
1011. Shed
"The court said that students do not ''shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate."( High court decisions demand parsing. Chicago_Suntimes.
1012. shy
One day shy of the first anniversary of Obama's swearing-in, the election played out amid a backdrop of animosity and resentment from voters over persistently high unemployment, Wall Street bailouts, exploding federal budget deficits and partisan wrangling over health care.
1013. Shot
New Orleans far more likely to make run at perfection, but it’s a long shot
For weeks considered a long shot, Brown seized on voter discontent to overtake Coakley in the campaign's final stretch. His candidacy energized Republicans, including backers of the "tea party" protest movement, while attracting disappointed Democrats and independents uneasy with where they felt the nation was heading.
1014. Should
The backing of Moscow and Beijing also appeared to signal possible support for any new Western push for a fourth set of U.N sanctions, should Tehran continue shunning international overtures meant to reach agreements that reduce concerns about its nuclear ambitions.
1015. Shy
The story is not yet complete without the MLS Cup tucked away in a Home Depot Center trophy cabinet that was collecting only cobwebs of late. However, this revival – spearheaded by three men and an intelligent and committed supporting cast – is nothing shy of remarkable.
1016. short-circuit
"There are still several more weeks to go in potential negotiations between Republicans and Democrats. I don't know why we would short-circuit any of that."
1017. shortcoming
But the new approach comes with its own shortcomings.
1018. shoulder
The NFL is giving the cold shoulder to some of the bigger names in the gam
1019. "shovel-ready"
According to Anne Gelbspan, a Boston nonprofit community developer, finance for "shovel-ready" affordable housing projects has dried up.
1020. Short-sighted
And the damage from sustained high unemployment will last much longer. The long-term unemployed can lose their skills, and even when the economy recovers they tend to have difficulty finding a job, because they’re regarded as poor risks by potential employers. Meanwhile, students who graduate into a poor labor market start their careers at a huge disadvantage — and pay a price in lower earnings for their whole working lives. Failure to act on unemployment isn’t just cruel, it’s short-sighted.
1021. Shrivel
What seems clear is that the room for compromise between Republicans and Democrats is shriveling to almost nothing. Some Democrats found Kyl's remarks particularly galling. Even if Democrats manage to produce a health care bill that won't increase the federal deficit over 10 years, Kyl said, "that doesn't mean Republicans would support it."
1022. Shrouded
On a trip shrouded in secrecy, President Barack Obama flew into Iraq on Tuesday for a brief inspection of a war he opposed as a candidate and now vows to end as commander in chief. "There is still a lot of work to do here," he said.
They shrouded their past lives in an effort to forget.
Palin, 45, and her staff kept her future plans shrouded in mystery, and it was unclear if the controversial hockey mom would quietly return to private life or begin laying the foundation for a presidential bid.
Dobbs's political future, however, remains shrouded in question marks. He has left open a variety of paths to public office — in addition to toying with a presidential campaign, Dobbs hasn't ruled out a bid for the Senate in 2012 in New Jersey — and also left his party affiliation a mystery.
1023. Shy
Kagan's fate will be up to a Senate dominated by Democrats, who with 59 votes have more than enough to confirm her, even though they are one shy of being able to halt any Republican stalling effort.
1024. sidestep
His defeat could also allow Republican senators to sidestep the task of determining whether to kick out the longest serving member of their party in the Senate.
1025. Signature
Reforming the $2.5 trillion U.S. healthcare industry is Obama's signature domestic issue and a major test of his presidency, but he is running out of time to get the enabling legislation passed this year. A delay to 2010, a congressional election year, could make it harder to win a final deal.
Pushing the Senate plan through the House was favored by some lawmakers and strategists as a way to quickly deliver the president a bill on a signature domestic achievement, since it would require just one final House vote. Remaining problems could be worked out with a subsequent piece of legislation.
1026. Sight
At a hastily called evening news conference in the Capitol, Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., declined to provide details of what he described as a "broad agreement" between liberals and moderates on an issue that has plagued Democrats' efforts to pass health care legislation from the outset.
With it, he added, the end is in sight for passage of the legislation that Congress has labored over for months.
1027. Silver
On Saturday, Obama told a Colorado crowd, "The public option, whether we have it or we don't have it, is not the entirety of health care reform. This is just one sliver of it."
1028. simmering
Although both he and Cutie have insisted they do not want to be held up as poster boys for changing the Church's celibacy requirement, their stories have added new fuel to a long-simmering debate. The Catholic Church in the U.S. has a serious priest crisis - the number of men entering the priesthood has dropped by 60% over the past four decades and the current average age of active priests is 60. Many dioceses have been forced to close parishes or import foreign priests to deal with shortages. But advocates of celibacy reform say there is a better solution: ditch the 900-year-old church law prohibiting priests from marrying or being sexually active.
The town simmered with rumors.
We waited for the audience to simmer down
thoughts simmering in the back of her mind
Anger about an optional government-sponsored insurance program has been simmering for months, but the flare-up has created legislative and communications challenges for the White House at a critical point in Obama's push for reform.
1029. Simply put
Rush Limbaugh has been Topic A in the political world, with Republicans debating his influence on their party and Democrats trying to elevate the conservative radio host to the GOP's de facto spokesman.
The skirmish has cast a bright light on the GOP and its search for leadership in the Obama era. But the personality-driven diversion has deflected attention from the deeper problems the party faces.
Simply put, the public isn't buying what Republicans are selling right now.
1030. Singular
A neighbor in Tiger Woods' development tells TMZ a flotilla of paparazzi set sail on a private lake with a singular mission -- catch a Tiger.
1031. sit-ups
1032. skew
The television show is skewed to the young teenager.
And the events of the past year have skewed those incentives even more, by putting taxpayers as well as investors on the hook if things go wrong.
1033. skimpy
Under the House bill, the exchanges would start operating in 2013. They would be open initially to people who lack any insurance; to the 13 million people who have bought individual policies from insurance companies, which often charge them high rates for relatively skimpy coverage; and to employees of small businesses, who often pay high rates for their group policies, especially if a few of their co-workers have run up high medical bills. By the third year, larger businesses might be allowed to shift their workers to an exchange. All told, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that 36 million people would be covered by policies purchased on an exchange by 2019.
1034. Skittish
It's a reality a key Democratic senator acknowledged. Even though the Democrats enjoy a majority in the Senate, some are skittish about the financial or political costs of the proposals.
1035. skyrocket
Well, in the case of health care, one pill means continuing on our current path — a path along which health care premiums will continue to soar, the number of uninsured Americans will skyrocket and Medicare costs will break the federal budget. The other pill means reforming our system, guaranteeing health care for all Americans at the same time we make medicine more cost-effective.
Which pill would you choose?
1036. Sleek
." The sleek, touch-screen cell phone that triples as an iPod media player and a wireless Web device went on sale at Apple and AT&T stores Friday evening after months of breathless hype and anticipation."(Some iPhone customers face delayshttp://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070701/ap_on_hi_te/apple_iphone)
a sleek sports car.
a sleek confidence man
1037. slew
Also with Coale’s help, Palin formed the grandiosely named Alaska Fund Trust, to defray a reported half million dollars in legal expenses arising from a slew of formal ethics complaints against her in her home state—prompting yet another formal complaint, that the fund itself constitutes an ethical breach.
a whole slew of people
1038. sluggish
A rally from below $35 a barrel in March stalled last month on investor concern that a sluggish global economy may not recover fast enough to justify surging oil prices.
1039. smarts
Kagan has the high task of following Stevens, who leaves a legacy that includes the preservation of abortion rights, protection of consumer rights and limits on the death penalty and executive power. He used his seniority and his smarts to form majority votes.
1040. smear
Yet Palin herself cut corners. Ruedrich, Palin’s target on the Conservation Commission, was forced to resign, but in 2006, as Palin was beginning her campaign for governor, a conservative columnist dug up e-mail messages showing that she too had conducted campaign business from her mayoral office. Confronted by the columnist, Palin acknowledged that she had erred. Then she turned around and issued a press release, demanding to know why the columnist was publishing smears.
1041. smirk
He smirked and said “You probably know this already.”
1042. snarky
1043. snicker
Humor matters, too. “In the quest to inform, amuse, and challenge the reader,” says Louis, “my best measure [of success] is the chuckle test: if I like the piece enough to snicker about it on the train ride home, I’ve had a good day.”Retrieved June 5, 2007, http://journalism.nyu.edu/pubzone/bullpen/errol_louis/backgrounder/
1044. Snub
1045. spawn
At the White House, officials worked to maximize Obama's influence over lawmakers who control the fate of legislation that has spawned a yearlong struggle. They said he would delay his departure on an Asian trip for three days — until March 21 — and he will go to Ohio next week for a campaign-style pitch for his health care proposals.
1046. squats
1047. squeamish
The findings suggest limits to Obama's persuasive skills — and underscore what's seemingly become the public's default position in his first year in office: People like him, but they're squeamish about his policy.
1048. so
As a first take, we might say that the good achieved by health care is the number of lives saved. But that is too crude. The death of a teenager is a greater tragedy than the death of an 85-year-old, and this should be reflected in our priorities. We can accommodate that difference by calculating the number of life-years saved, rather than simply the number of lives saved. If a teenager can be expected to live another 70 years, saving her life counts as a gain of 70 life-years, whereas if a person of 85 can be expected to live another 5 years, then saving the 85-year-old will count as a gain of only 5 life-years. That suggests that saving one teenager is equivalent to saving 14 85-year-olds. These are, of course, generic teenagers and generic 85-year-olds. It’s easy to say, “What if the teenager is a violent criminal and the 85-year-old is still working productively?” But just as emergency rooms should leave criminal justice to the courts and treat assailants and victims alike, so decisions about the allocation of health care resources should be kept separate from judgments about the moral character or social value of individuals.
Americans are angry at Wall Street, and rightly so. First the financial industry plunged us into economic crisis, then it was bailed out at taxpayer expense. And now, with the economy still deeply depressed, the industry is paying itself gigantic bonuses. If you aren’t outraged, you haven’t been paying attention.
And Grassley has said he's uninterested in a compromise that draws only three or so Senate Republicans' votes.
It’s always said that if a dog kills one lamb, it will never stop, and so the local rule was that if your dog killed one sheep you had to shoot it. Instead we engaged in a successful cover-up. It worked, for the dog never touched a lamb again and for the rest of her long life fended off coyotes heroically.
In fairness, industrial farming is extraordinarily efficient, and smaller diverse family farms would mean more expensive food. So is this all inevitable? Is my nostalgia like the blacksmith’s grief over Henry Ford’s assembly lines superseding a more primitive technology? Perhaps, but I’m reassured by one of my old high school buddies here in Yamhill, Bob Bansen. He runs a family dairy of 225 Jersey cows so efficiently that it can still compete with giant factory dairies of 20,000 cows.
As David Beckham’s career in the United States floundered, so too did the credibility of the designated-player regulation brought in primarily to accommodate his blockbuster salary. The concept was sound, allowing teams to splash cash on a highly paid superstar without obliterating their salary cap, but its practice seemed to be a route to on-field ruin.
1049. so as to
Palin communicated with legislators and her staff mainly by BlackBerry, sometimes using a personal e-mail account to avoid having to disclose documents under the state public-records laws. (The one time Meg Stapleton, who handles Palin’s personal and political public relations, ever answered multiple e-mails was when I wrote her and Palin’s gubernatorial office at the same time, and she replied: “Thank you for emailing. I will email you separately so as to remove us from the state account.”) Palin’s anti-politician stance had worked so well in her campaign that she carried it over into her dealings with actual politicians in Juneau, who didn’t take kindly to the practice.
We took off our shoes so as to avoid scratching the newly finished floors.
to make minor adjustments in so as to produce stability, improvement, or the precise results desired
We took off our shoes so as to avoid scratching the newly finished floors.
Lawmakers know this, which is why many of the key elements in the health care bill just passed by the House - and being considered in the Senate - are aimed squarely at small business. A wide array of economists and health-policy experts say insurance reforms (like prohibiting insurers from denying coverage because of pre-existing conditions), a new transparent marketplace to shop for coverage and a government-run insurance plan all have the potential to help small business. So why are the powerful lobbyists who represent this crucial sector of the economy, such as the Chamber of Commerce and the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), doing everything they can to scuttle the House bill? (Read "Understanding the Health Care Debate: Your Indispensable Guide.")
During President George W. Bush's administration, it was standard procedure to have someone from the White House social office at the gate for state dinners and other events with large groups of visitors, according to a former senior Bush aide who spoke on condition of anonymity so as not to be seen as criticizing the Obama White House.
1050. so that
British Amalgamated Metal Corp. (AMC) firmly denies the accusations, citing its standing objective to improve visibility so that warring parties do not benefit from trade. "We are disappointed with the number of inaccuracies and omissions in the report and are concerned that all the facts should be properly represented in a balanced way," AMC said. The company statement went on to say, "We are concerned that Global Witness' approach will lead to a de facto ban on the trade which we do not believe is in either the short term or the long term interests of the Congo either economically, politically or socially."
1051. solace
According to Hamilton, education explains 36 percent of a country's intangible wealth. Conservatives can find solace in the importance of property rights and, moreover, in the confirmation that not all cultures are equal -- at least when measured by their ability to produce and sustain wealth. And both right and left will agree that the rule of law, including fair courts and government transparency, is the single most important contributor to a nation's wealth.
1052. solicitous
solicitous about a person's health
solicitous of the esteem of others
He was always solicitous to please.
a solicitous housekeeper
1053. Somehow
Jackson’s health also was a concern in his final days. A nutritionist who was working with the singer as he prepared his comeback bid said Jackson was so distraught over persistent insomnia in recent months that he pleaded for a powerful sedative despite warnings it could be harmful.
Cherilyn Lee, a registered nurse whose specialty includes nutritional counseling, also said she got a frantic phone call from Jackson four days before his death that made her fear that he somehow obtained Diprivan or another drug to induce sleep.
1054. Somewhat
A CBS/New York Times poll taken last month, when the health care debate was in a lull, showed 52 percent of those surveyed identified the economy as their top priority. Health care was a distant second at 13 percent.
The gap closed somewhat this month as Obama and the Democratic-controlled Congress put more of a focus on the legislation, but not by enough to upend the public's order of priorities. A CNN/Opinion research survey in mid-March showed the economy was the top issue, at 43 percent of those polled, with health care at 23 percent
not angry, just somewhat disturbed.
1055. Soothe
President Obama was right the first time, that the encounter had a stupid ending, and the second time, that both Gates and Crowley overreacted. His soothing assessment that two good people got snared in a bad moment seems on target.
1056. sophistry
This is exceptionally brazen sophistry.
1057. span
he media, particularly in India, have tended to be skeptical of Sonia and Rahul Gandhi's political skills. Yet they have presided over two electoral wins in a span of six years, are rejuvenating a sclerotic party and have done all this while maintaining a principled commitment to secularism, economic reform and good government. (Singh is the most scrupulously honest man in Indian politics in at least three decades.) Neither mother nor son has yet taken a government post, and while this can be described as clever calculation or biding their time, how many people, when offered the prime ministership of the world's second-largest country, would show such discipline and restraint?
The study, Faced with a Gun, What Can You Do?, raises questions about the involvement of nearly 240 companies spanning the mineral, metal and technology industries. It specifically fingers four main European and Asian companies as open buyers in this trade: Thailand Smelting and Refining Corp. (owned by British Amalgamated Metal Corp.), British Afrimex, Belgian Trademet and Traxys. And it questions the role of others further down the manufacturing chain, including prominent electronics companies Hewlett-Packard, Nokia, Dell and Motorola. Even though the companies may be acting legally, Global Witness criticizes their lack of due diligence and transparency standards at every level of their supply chain.
1058. spate
Nelson's backing gave the Democrats the crucial 60 votes needed to move the bundle of recent amendments, which involved a spate of compromises, to the Senate floor.
1059. spawn
We need to do all we can now to get more brains connected to more capital to spawn more new companies faster. As Jeff Immelt, the chief of General Electric, put it in a speech on Friday, this moment is “an opportunity to turn financial adversity into national advantage, to launch innovations of lasting value to our country.”
His sudden disappearance spawned many rumors.
1060. spearhead
One of the country's top preachers, the Rev. T. D. Jakes is also a wildly successful spiritual entrepreneur, publishing bestselling books, producing popular movies, and spearheading philanthropic projects from Dallas to Nairobi, Kenya.
She spearheaded the drive for new members.
1061. spectrum
In the House, advocates and opponents of abortion rights and conservative Democrats have made clear that they object, for different reasons, to the Senate’s compromise language on abortion. Interest groups on both sides of the spectrum — Planned Parenthood on the abortion rights side, Catholic bishops for the anti-abortion rights camp — also oppose the abortion provision in the Senate bill, leaving Speaker Nancy Pelosi with a challenge in rounding up the votes she needs in the House.
1062. spew
A volcano that spewed molten lava.
He spewed invective at his opponent.
1063. spiral out of control
This time, with significant Democratic majorities in both houses of Congress, there is real optimism that a universal plan will be passed and enacted. But Clinton also had Democratic majorities — and strong public approval, at first. This time, because of the rules agreed on in the arcane budget process, Democrats will need only a simple majority vote in the Senate. But the process could run into the same two roadblocks that caused universal health insurance to fail in the past: the specter of "socialized medicine" and the fear that the cost of the program will, like that of other entitlements, spiral out of control.
1064. spoil
According to Global Witness, although the Congolese army and FDLR rebel groups have been warring on opposite sides for years, they are collaborators in the mining effort, at times providing each other with road and airport access and even sharing their spoils. Researchers say they found evidence that the mineral trade is much more extensive and profitable than previously suspected: one Congolese government official reported that at least 90% of all gold exports from the country were undeclared. And the report charges that the failure of foreign governments to crack down on illicit mining and trade has undercut development endeavors undertaken by the international community in the war-torn region.
1065. spook
Tightening the squeeze. The mullahs look to be spooked by American-led efforts to curb banks and companies from doing business with Iran, as well as a U.S. campaign to rekindle the democratic reform movement in Iran.
The news spooked investors, and stock prices fell.
1066. springboard
Harvard Law School professor Charles Ogletree, an attorney for Gates, said they hoped to settle the dispute and "create a springboard for a larger discussion about how law enforcement interacts with minority communities and how we can figure out a way to both enforce the law but also protect civil liberties and civil rights."
1067. sprint
The survey shows he has sprinted to a 14-point lead among those who already have cast a ballot under Ohio's new early-voting law, and he is up by a ratio of almost 3-to-1 with voters who registered for the first time this year. Such voters now make up about 10 percent of the electorate.
1068. squabble
The high stakes and array of people involved will likely make the fight far more convoluted than recent high-profile squabbles over the estates of singer James Brown and ex-Playboy playmate Anna Nicole Smith.
1069. squawk
1070. squeaky-clean
The shock surrounding the Tiger Woods revelations this past week had a lot to do with his carefully generated squeaky-clean image. But almost as much the game and culture he came from—golf, with its elitist, country club provenance and paunchy, white, middle-aged enthusiasts. At the professional level, however, there’s a secret underworld not unlike many other major league sports: a Daily Beast investigation turned up groupies, carousing and wild sex as a central element for many players on the PGA Tour.
1071. stake
In politics, as one suspects in life, no good deed goes unpunished. John McCain staked everything on success in Iraq. He advocated the surge publicly and made the case for it privately.
Other than his victory in the Iowa Democratic caucuses, no moment catalyzed Barack Obama's historic presidential campaign more than winning the endorsement of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy.
At a Jan. 28, 2008 rally at American University in Washington, the then 75-year-old progressive warrior from Massachusetts forcefully rejected arguments that Obama was inexperienced and not ready to lead the nation, and drew parallels to the path breaking campaign his brother waged in 1960.
The address at once firmed up Obama's bona fides with unions, Latinos and senior citizens and dealt a staggering blow to the presidential hopes of his chief primary rival, Hillary Rodham Clinton.
In return for his support, Kennedy made Obama pledge to make health care a first-tier priority -- a promise the president fulfilled by staking much of his first-term agenda on an ambitious and controversial plan to retool the U.S. health care system.
Though Dobbs's criticism of the Obama administration and his famously conservative views on illegal immigration have raised the prospect he could run for office as a Republican, he has staked out a rhetorical position that places him outside both parties.
After months of negotiations, Comcast Corp. is finally about to seal its deal for a majority stake in NBC Universal, turning the nation's largest cable TV provider into one of its most powerful media companies.
1072. Staggering
If this were against St. Louis or Cleveland or Tampa Bay, it would qualify as impressive. The fact it came against New England is staggering.
1073. stalemated
At stake in the high-risk strategy is the Democrats' stalemated legislation to extend coverage to more than 30 million people who are now uninsured. Politically, it's an all-or-nothing gamble in a midterm election year for Democrats bent on achieving a goal that has eluded lawmakers for a half-century.
1074. stall
For decades, Washington has talked about fixing a broken health care system. And for decades Washington failed to act – allowing the special interests to stall reform while the cracks in the system turned into crevices, then craters.
1075. stand
Treasury spokeswoman Brookly McLaughlin said, "Because Congress failed to act, we will stand ready to prevent an imminent failure until Congress reconvenes and acts to address the long-term viability of the industry."
1076. Starting point
The Republican whom Baucus has courted most assiduously, Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine, said noncommittally the legislation was "a solid starting point — but we are far from the finish line."
1077. star-crossed
In the 14 years since that star-crossed class arrived in Washington espousing an agenda that placed family values at its core, no less than a dozen of its members have been caught up in affairs, sex scandals or in messy separations and divorces from their spouses that, in more than a few instances, led to their political downfalls.
1078. stark
Obama described the stakes in stark terms, using words uttered so rarely out of the White House that they seem all but banned: "If this vote fails." What then? "The insurance industry will continue to run amok," the president said, pointing to rising rates, denials of coverage and limits on care.
The stark reality of the schedule's deadline.
1079. staunch
Like Richard M. Nixon, who chose the coalfield town of Hyden, Kentucky, for his first post-resignation public appearance, Palin has come to a place where she is guaranteed a hero’s reception. She is not only a staunch foe of abortion but also the mother of a boy, Trig, who was born with Down syndrome just a few months before John McCain chose Palin as his running mate. The souvenir program for this evening’s dinner is full of displays for local politicians and businesses, attesting to their pro-life bona fides. An ad for Hahn Realty Corporation reads, “If you need commercial real estate, call Joe Kiefer! Joe is pro-life and a proud supporter of the Vanderburgh County Right to Life.”
1080. statesmanship
And as a result of the remarkable progress in Iraq over the past two years--progress whose possibility was scoffed at and whose reality was then denied by all leading Democrats except Joe Lieberman--Iraq faded as an issue in the presidential race. And with it, the critical question of who should be commander in chief also receded. By the fall of 2008, McCain got no credit for one of the great acts of statesmanship by a senator--let alone a senator who was also a presidential candidate--in American history. President Obama will now be able to draw down in an orderly manner,
1081. stay-at-home
“I think”—she chooses her words carefully—“my husband has got some issues that he needs to work on, about happiness and what happiness means. You wish it wouldn’t come to a crisis like this, but I think when a lot of men get to this midpoint in life, they start asking questions that they probably should have asked a long time ago.” A former investment banker and a stay-at-home, full-time mother, Sanford doesn’t share her husband’s angst. “Midlife aging is different for men than for women,” she says. “Mark is worried about what his next job is. He worries about making money, running for office again, his legacy. I know my legacy is my children. I don’t worry about that.”
1082. Stealth
A stealth hiring of the competitor's CEO
the stealth issue of the presidential race
The White House readies a stealth stimulus.
a stealth hiring of the competitor's CEO
the stealth issue of the presidential race.
1083. steer
Caldwell keeps a low media profile and, despite his friendship with Bush, usually steers clear of politics; his donation to Obama's campaign was his first ever to a candidate.
The House changes, which drew immediate opposition from liberal lawmakers, would steer away from using Medicare as the blueprint for a proposed government insurance option, reduce federal subsidies to help lower-income families afford coverage, and exempt additional businesses from a requirement to offer health insurance to their workers.
1084. Stonewall
It also censured Iran for secretly building a uranium enrichment facility and demanded that it immediately suspend further construction. It noted that IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei cannot confirm that Tehran's nuclear program is exclusively geared toward peaceful uses, and expressed "serious concern" that Iranian stonewalling of an IAEA probe means "the possibility of military dimensions to Iran's nuclear program" cannot be excluded.
1085. Stranglehold
We’ve spent the last few decades shoveling money at the rich like there was no tomorrow. We abandoned the poor, put an economic stranglehold on the middle class and all but bankrupted the federal government — while giving the banks and megacorporations and the rest of the swells at the top of the economic pyramid just about everything they’ve wanted. We’ve spent the last few decades shoveling money at the rich like there was no tomorrow. We abandoned the poor, put an economic stranglehold on the middle class and all but bankrupted the federal government — while giving the banks and megacorporations and the rest of the swells at the top of the economic pyramid just about everything they’ve wanted.
the stranglehold of superstition.
1086. Stratosphere
Budget deficits are in the stratosphere. Unemployment has hit 10 percent. The health care overhaul is incomplete.
Still, Americans appear to like President Barack Obama and the way he's doing his job.
The latest Associated Press-Gfk poll shows the president's popularity holding steady, with 56 percent of those polled approving of the way he's taking care of the country's business. His marks for handling the 8-year-old war in Afghanistan have jumped by double digits, with more than half now approving, since he capped a three-month strategy review by announcing a big troop increase.
1087. strides
Have we made strides when it comes to racial profiling? Sure. The practice now has a well-known name, jurisdictions keep statistics to track it, and commissions have been established to eradicate it. But what the arrest of Dr. Gates crystallizes is that we still have a ways to go.
1088. septuagenarian
Sitting in the MSNBC green room when the news of Caroline's interest in going political first made the rounds, a young, dot.com journalist floated the idea that she would be a good vice president for Barack Obama in his second term. "He'll have to get rid of Biden; he'll be a septuagenarian by then," he opined.
1089. stand
The action in the House stood in contrast to the Senate, where Democrats edged away from their goal of passing health care legislation by early August amid heightening partisan controversy over tax increases and a proposed new government role in providing insurance to consumers.
1090. startle
When the film Blood Diamond came out in 2006, people were startled at the alleged origins of the precious stones from areas of bloody conflict and began asking whether the jewels on their fingers cost a human life. Will consumers soon find themselves asking similar questions about their cell phones and computers?
1091. star-studded
This past Saturday, Obama began filling out his appointments to his science and technology team, and it is a star-studded cast, promising a sharp break with the Bush administration. Among those who will be surrounding him are a physicist who has won a Nobel Prize (Steven Chu), a physicist and top expert on global warming who will be his top science adviser in the White House (John Holdren), a chemical engineer who has won acclaim for as an environmental leader in New Jersey (Lisa Jackson), a marine biologist is a leading expert on the impact of global warming on the oceans (Jane Lubchenco),. a polymath who heads up one of the most important genome projects in the country (Eric Lander), and a biologist who won a Nobel prize in medicine (Varmus). It doesn’t get any better than that!
1092. Start-up
But you cannot say this often enough: Good-paying jobs don’t come from bailouts. They come from start-ups. And where do start-ups come from? They come from smart, creative, inspired risk-takers. How do we get more of those? There are only two ways: grow more by improving our schools or import more by recruiting talented immigrants. Surely, we need to do both, and we need to start by breaking the deadlock in Congress over immigration, so we can develop a much more strategic approach to attracting more of the world’s creative risk-takers. “Roughly 25 percent of successful high-tech start-ups over the last decade were founded or co-founded by immigrants,” said Litan. Think Sergey Brin, the Russian-born co-founder of Google, or Vinod Khosla, the India-born co-founder of Sun Microsystems.
It grew from a tiny start-up to a multimillion-dollar corporation.
1093. Stave off
Once foreclosures level off and the backlog is cleared, Wachter says, the housing market can begin to recover. But even with the Obama administration directing $75 billion in bailout money to stave off foreclosures, most economists don't expect home prices to bottom out before the first quarter of 2010. And don't expect an explosive rebound: Price increases will probably be modest when they come.
He wasn't able to stave off bankruptcy.
1094. Steps
Both Franken and Coleman kept low profiles in the months since Election Day, though Franken has taken some steps to ensure a quick transition by appointing a staff in waiting that includes communications staffers, a chief of staff and a state director.
1095. Sterling
1096. a person of sterling character.
1097. Sticking point
The issue has become the biggest sticking point in getting Israelis and Palestinians back to the negotiating table. Clinton made it clear that she wasn't pleased with Israeli settlement construction but that it was no reason to hold up talks.
1098. Stir
Perhaps nothing has caused a bigger stir than Palin’s nomination of Wayne Anthony Ross to be Alaska’s attorney general
1099. Stoke
They stoke hatred
Recently, many people thought it was clever to say that elections on their own don’t make democracies. But election campaigns stoke the mind and fraudulent elections outrage the soul. The Iranian elections have stirred a whirlwind that will lead, someday, to the regime’s collapse. Hastening that day is now the central goal.
1100. storied
The foundation had invested its endowment with Bernard L. Madoff, a storied name on Wall Street. Every year, Madoff paid out several hundred thousand dollars to the foundation. But on Thursday, Madoff was charged with securities fraud after confessing to his sons that his business was a Ponzi scheme, according to a complaint filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
the storied cities of ancient Greece.
1101. Sort
And her national ambitions? “What it looks like to me she’s trying to do is try the same formula that got her the governorship,” John Bitney says. “You sort of start off with a conservative base.
In response, Purdum, a Princeton graduate, wrote of his Harvard-degreed critic: “I'm not nearly as well-educated as Bill, but the great Irving Berlin taught me that ‘you don't have to go to a private school not to pick up a penny near a stubborn mule.’ In the age of Google, I'm confident that plenty of Alaskans know more about finding medical reference works – and all sorts of other knowledge – than Bill thinks they do.”
Freud said we’re forever changed by the traumas of our youth, and so it is with the Democrats and Clintoncare. Even as you watch the leading Democrats today in their moment of glory, you can still see wounds caused by the defeat of the Clinton health care initiative. You see the psychic reactions and the scars and the lessons they have taken away so that sort of debacle never happens again.
1102. standout
Slower than he once was and no longer indispensable, Beckham was never going to be the World Cup’s top scorer or its standout star. It was never even guaranteed that he would make England manager Fabio Capello’s squad. If he had, Beckham would have spent much, if not most or even all the World Cup warming the bench, a Hollywood-famous understudy for younger and speedier wingers like Theo Walcott or Aaron Lennon.
1103. straddling
The climactic count came after a series of tumultuous days for a senator who has been straddling challenges to his power both at home and in his trial in Washington. Notwithstanding all that turmoil, Stevens revealed Tuesday that he will not ask President George W. Bush to give him a pardon for his seven felony convictions.
1104. strait
lll and penniless, he was in sad straits indeed.
1105. Strait-up
The trigger alternative was getting attention from a number of moderate Senate Democrats who met with Obama at the White House on Thursday, according to several who attended. Some moderates oppose a straight-up public plan.
1106. stride
She was able to take her sudden rise to fame in stride.
Cody took the predictable elimination in stride, thanking his fans and referring to his time on the show as a “growing, learning journey.”
He was walking a stride or two ahead of the others.
apid strides in mastering algebra.
"she took all his criticism in stride"
Obama takes the homestretch in stride
1107. Strikingly
"In concurring opinions, Thomas and Alito took strikingly different positions. Thomas said that nothing in the history of public education or the original understanding of the First Amendment suggests that students have any justifiable First Amendment rights."
1108. Stripe
The first thing McCain could have learned about Palin is what it means that she is from Alaska. More than 30 years ago, John McPhee wrote, “Alaska is a foreign country significantly populated with Americans. Its languages extend to English. Its nature is its own. Nothing seems so unexpected as the boxes marked ‘U.S. Mail.’” That description still fits. The state capital, Juneau, is 600 miles from the principal city, Anchorage, and is reachable only by air or sea. Alaskan politicians list the length of their residency in the state (if they were not born there) at the top of their biographies, and are careful to specify whether they like hunting, fishing, or both. There is little sense of government as an enduring institution: when the annual 90-day legislative session is over, the legislators pack up their offices, files, and computers, and take everything home. Alaska’s largest newspaper, the Anchorage Daily News, maintains no full-time bureau in Juneau to cover the statehouse. As in any resource-rich developing country with weak institutions and woeful oversight, corruption and official misconduct go easily unchecked. Scrutiny is not welcome, and Alaskans of every age and station, of every race and political stripe, unself-consciously refer to every other place on earth with a single word: Outside.
1109. Subliminal
In psychological research, participants exposed to subliminal photos of black men are quicker to identify ambiguous images as weapons. Respondents in police simulation studies — including actual officers — are more likely to mistake innocuous items for guns when held by a black man. These are basic human tendencies to which many of us fall victim, yet they aren’t inevitable with proper vigilance or training.
1110. Subpar
But in testimony to Congress' Joint Economic Committee, Bernanke warned that even after a recovery gets under way, economic activity is likely to be subpar. That means businesses will stay cautious about hiring, driving up the nation's unemployment rate and causing "further sizable job losses" in the coming months, he said.
1111. subtext
he irony of two former colleagues now competing for power over the expiring corpse of the Islamic republic that they created with such grandiose expectations is lost on no one. The important subtext, however, is that these two understand very well what they are doing. They know how a revolt can be turned into a revolution. They also know they have everything to lose. The shared consciousness of high stakes has until now prevented an all-out political confrontation between rival factions in the elite. That may help explain why the rahbar and the Revolutionary Guards were so reckless in their insolent contempt of the reformers and the public. They may have believed that no one would dare take it to this level.
Some prominent members of the media who screened the film certainly took note. In a glowing review for the Chicago Sun-Times, Roger Ebert noted that "Avatar" "has a flat-out Green and anti-war message" that is "predestined to launch a cult." Meanwhile Ben Hoyle, writing in the Times of London, noted that the film "contains heavy implicit criticism of America's conduct in the War on Terror." Further, Will Heaven of the Daily Telegraph said that the plot line involving people of color who wear "tribal" jewelry while sporting dreadlocked hair, being saved by a noble white man gave the film a "racist subtext" that he found "nauseatingly patronising."
1112. Such as
Statewide polls conducted last week show Obama overtaking McCain in such key battleground states as Ohio, Virginia and Florida. In Florida, for example, the last four polls have shown Obama with leads of between three and eight percentage points; in the weeks prior,
1113. Suffice
Suffice it to say that the Obama team has not resuscitated the Glass-Steagall Act, the New Deal reform that Summers helped dismantle in the Clinton years and that would have prevented the creation of banking behemoths that held the economy hostage.
Schmidt said Scheunemann’s charges were “categorically untrue.” “It is inappropriate for me to discuss personnel issues from the campaign,” Schmidt continued. “But suffice it to say Randy is saying these things not because they’re true but because he wants to damage my reputation because of consequences he faced for actions he took.
1114. suffuse
The one-time chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff systematically marshaled his assets to neutralize the Republican endgame strategy, which is to suffuse the air around Obama with a vague mist of terrorism, socialism and "otherness."
"That really hit me hard," he told me last week. "The Northwest was never as religious, never as congregationalized, as the Northeast, which was the foundation, the home base, of American religion. To lose New England struck me as momentous." Turning the report over in his mind, Mohler posted a despairing online column on the eve of Holy Week lamenting the decline—and, by implication, the imminent fall—of an America shaped and suffused by Christianity. "A remarkable culture-shift has taken place around us," Mohler wrote. "The most basic contours of American culture have been radically altered. The so-called Judeo-Christian consensus of the last millennium has given way to a post-modern, post-Christian, post-Western cultural crisis which threatens the very heart of our culture." When Mohler and I spoke in the days after he wrote this, he had grown even gloomier. "Clearly, there is a new narrative, a post-Christian narrative, that is animating large portions of this society," he said from his office on campus in Louisville, Ky.
The sky above the roof is suffused with deep colors"
1115. suited
Colleagues say the post is well-suited for Holdren, who at Harvard went from battling the spread of nuclear weapons to tackling the threat of global warming. He's an award-laden scientist comfortable in many different fields.
1116. Shush
Biden shushes wife over slip
1117. Skirt
The senator skirted the issue.
Claims that President Barack Obama's tax plans are an assault on small business skirt the likelihood that most job-producing small businesses wouldn't feel that pinch at all.
1118. slipperiness
At one point, trying out a debating point that she believed showed she could empathize with uninsured Americans, Palin told McCain aides that she and Todd in the early years of their marriage had been unable to afford health insurance of any kind, and had gone without it until he got his union card and went to work for British Petroleum on the North Slope of Alaska. Checking with Todd Palin himself revealed that, no, they had had catastrophic coverage all along. She insisted that catastrophic insurance didn’t really count and need not be revealed. This sort of slipperiness—about both what the truth was and whether the truth even mattered—persisted on questions great and small. By late September, when the time came to coach Palin for her second major interview, this time with Katie Couric, there were severe tensions between Palin and the campaign.
1119. Stellar
Kagan has clerked for Thurgood Marshall, worked for Bill Clinton and earned a stellar reputation as a student, teacher and manager of the elite academic world. Her standing has risen in Obama's eyes as his government's lawyer before the high court over the last year
1120. stooge
U.S. officials say Obama is intent on calibrating his comments to the mood of the hour. They say he is seeking to avoid having the demonstrators accused of being American stooges and is trying to preserve the possibility of negotiating directly with the Iranian government over its nuclear program, links to terrorism, Afghanistan and other issues.
1121. Stranger
Henry was no stranger to money problems -- last year, his car was repossessed and his attorney famously declared him "broke." But when the Bengals re-signed Henry in 2008 -- it appears they were determined to resurrect him both on and off the field.
1122. Subsume
The only thing wrong—aside from the policies themselves, in my view, but that is not what is under discussion here—is the intellectually dishonest effort to subsume the agenda items of the liberal Left under the pleasing rubric of the word “stimulus.”
1123. Subpar
It will likely be subpar.
1124. Suited
That version of Dobbs seemed better suited for HLN, formerly CNN Headline News, which has an opinionated prime-time lineup led by Nancy Grace. But reruns of Dobbs' show didn't do well on HLN, which is more female oriented. Klein said he and Dobbs determined Dobbs was more valuable as a reporter than as a commentator.
1125. Surreptitious
I found Zimbabwean superheroes like Abel often in my week of surreptitious reporting in Zimbabwe. (Mr. Mugabe subjects journalists to imprisonment, so it seemed best not to advertise my presence.) Parents sacrifice meals to keep their children in wretched schools (one teacher showed me his two textbooks for a class of 50). And a growing number of Zimbabweans risk crocodiles, drowning and violence to sneak into South Africa in search of work.
1126. sustain
The 32-year-old striker sustained a major knee injury in February that ended his time at the Italian club AC Milan.
1127. swearing-in
Customarily, the preinaugural period is slow in Congress as lawmakers await the swearing-in of a new president. They then spend weeks doing little more than confirming Cabinet secretaries and other officials.
1128. Sweeping
The White House's plan was expected to modify the bill passed by Senate Democrats last year, an effort to address the concerns of lawmakers in the House, where a more sweeping version passed with a comfortable majority.
1129. Swirl
In a written statement the White House released early Wednesday morning, the president recalled how Kennedy found time to make him feel welcome in the Senate, in spite of the swirl of legislative activity, and provided advice and counsel.
1130. Switch-off
Hundreds of millions of homes, in scores of cities scattered around 125 countries will also join the great Earth Hour switch-off, which comes just months after disappointing UN climate talks in Copenhagen.
1131. sync
Management wants to be in sync with the client's wishes.
The picture and the soundtrack were out of sync.
Orange County Fire officials confirm a rescue call came in at 2:36 AM from a home on Deacon Circle. TMZ has confirmed the woman was indeed transported to the hospital.
A person from County Fire tells TMZ the responding address does not sync up with Tiger's home, suggesting it's a neighbor (see update
Read more: http://www.tmz.com/#ixzz0Z6qoHWI8
1132. Tad
Please shift your chair a tad to the right.
The frosting could use a tad more vanilla.
Even in the blush of Saturday’s victory, Reid (D-Nev.) is far from having the votes to move his $848 billion package to final passage. At least four centrists have pledged to oppose it in its current form, largely over the public option. Reid is in a bind. Stay to the left, and moderates vote no. Move a tad to the right, and Reid faces insurrection from the left, as liberals in his own caucus and in the House vow not to compromise any further on their signature issue.
The new reading on GDP, which measures the value of all goods and services produced in the United States — from machinery to manicures — was a tad weaker than the 2.9 percent growth rate economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters had expected.
1133. Tailspin
It all costs money -- 6,000 dollars a month, says Wilson -- and with the US economy in a tailspin, the bird man of Damascus is struggling to cope, especially as he just took in more than 80 birds from a man who was no longer able to cope with them
After the mill closes, the local economy may tailspin.
1134. taken aback
A number of factors drove the decision - financial, political, personal - but chief among them was the desire to worship without being on display. Obama was reportedly taken aback by the circus stirred up by his visit to 19th Street Baptist in January.
I was taken aback by his harsh criticism.
1135. Take up
Worse yet, it’s far from clear that growth will continue at this rate. The effects of the stimulus will build over time — it’s still likely to create or save a total of around three million jobs — but its peak impact on the growth of G.D.P. (as opposed to its level) is already behind us. Solid growth will continue only if private spending takes up the baton as the effect of the stimulus fades. And so far there’s no sign that this is happening.
1136. talk
Denver's Josh McDaniels is the talk of the NFL after his comment to some San Diego players.
1137. Talisman
10 letters a day: humanizing talismans for Obama
Perhaps nothing crystallized President Barack Obama's determination to press forward on health-care legislation more than the 10 letters he reads each day from ordinary Americans.
The letters became talismans for him: He carried them around. He recited their stories. He used them as rallying cries. (Or as props, as his critics saw it.)
1138. tamp
Trying to tamp down an uproar over race, President Barack Obama said Friday he used an unfortunate choice of words in commenting on the arrest of black scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. and could have "calibrated those words differently."
He tamped the tobacco in his pipe.
1139. tantalizing
a tantalizing taste of success
The building's doormen tantalize reporters with vague statements, giving nothing away. Luxury cars with tinted windows enter and leave the garage. Cameras record everyone coming and going, in the hope of snaring the image U.S. media are desperate to obtain — the first pictures of the woman who may have helped ruin the governor's political career.
Murray puts a backhand tantalizingly wide, and Roddick leads 6-4, with match points!
1140. tantamount
For example, the National Right to Life to Committee says unless there are big changes, it will count the procedural motion to allow a final up-or-down vote on the legislation as tantamount to a vote on abortion.
1141. Tardy
1142. Tax Lien
The State of California has filed a $45,308 tax lien against Smith's estate for a 2008 delinquency. She died in 2007.
1143. Tawdry
tawdry motives
1144. Teeter
Democrat Barack Obama, responding to new stridency from his Republican opponent, previewed a new television commercial Sunday that charges John McCain has behaved erratically as American financial structures teetered under the mounting burden of bad debt.
The plan also includes a measure that Geithner and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke discussed before the committee on Tuesday to give the administration expanded powers to take over major nonbank financial institutions, such as insurance companies and hedge funds that were teetering on the brink of collapse
1145. telegenic
I’m not saying that reformers should give up. They do, however, have to realize what they’re up against. There was a lot of talk last year about how Barack Obama would be a “transformational” president — but true transformation, it turns out, requires a lot more than electing one telegenic leader. Actually turning this country around is going to take years of siege warfare against deeply entrenched interests, defending a deeply dysfunctional political system.
1146. teleprompter
Election Night brought what McCain aides saw as the final indignity. Palin decided she would make her own speech at the ticket’s farewell to the faithful, at the Arizona Biltmore, in Phoenix. When aides went to load McCain’s concession speech into the teleprompter, they found a concession speech for Palin—written by Bush speechwriter Matthew Scully, who had also been the principal drafter of her convention speech—already on the system. Schmidt and Salter told Palin that there was no tradition of Election Night speeches by running mates, and that she wouldn’t be giving one. Palin was insistent. “Are those John’s wishes?” she asked. They were, she was told. But Palin took the issue to McCain himself, raising it on the walk from his suite to the outdoor rally. Again the answer was no.
1147. Tell all
Chris Brown released a statement to MTV today, responding to Rihanna's tell all interview with Diane Sawyer that has revealed the details and motivation of his February 8 felony assault.
1148. telltale
Miami Police Major Charles Nanney says informants played a crucial role in the success of a statewide crackdown in June that resulted in the seizure of 6,828 marijuana plants and 120 residential marijuana labs over the course of a few days. Among the best tipsters, they say, are electricians paid big money by growers to wire the sophisticated network of lights and air conditioners used to cool plants and subject them to round-the-clock illumination. The energy-chugging networks require an expert's touch to bypass the electric meter and tap straight into the grid. A sharp increase in electricity used to be a telltale sign of a grow house. Some growers have caught on, however, and are learning to mask their energy profile.
a telltale blush
It looks like Tiger Woods has been boxed into a corner and his best friend, now, is time -- because he's again refused to meet with the Florida Highway Patrol about the incident with his wife early yesterday. Tiger may well be waiting for the telltale wounds to heal.
1149. Tempestuous
Summers’s tempestuous personality and Bernanke’s strong performance in office made it increasingly unlikely in recent months that Obama would make a switch.
1150. Template
While the Senate Finance Committee, led by Mr. Baucus, is expected to produce a moderate bill with the best chance of passage in the Senate, it is not clear whether the White House regards it as a template. Four other committees with jurisdiction — three in the House, one in the Senate — approved versions of health legislation before Congress recessed.
1151. Tenable
Remember the joke about the man who asks a woman if she would have sex with him for a million dollars? She reflects for a few moments and then answers that she would. “So,” he says, “would you have sex with me for $50?” Indignantly, she exclaims, “What kind of a woman do you think I am?” He replies: “We’ve already established that. Now we’re just haggling about the price.” The man’s response implies that if a woman will sell herself at any price, she is a prostitute. The way we regard rationing in health care seems to rest on a similar assumption, that it’s immoral to apply monetary considerations to saving lives — but is that stance tenable?
a tenable theory
a research grant tenable for two years.
a tenable outpost.
1152. tenor
Kennedy's death could change the tenor of the debate, now mired in fierce partisan battles over how to pay for an overhaul and what role the government should play in a retooled health insurance market.
1153. Tension
But the new approach comes with its own shortcomings. To understand them, we have to distinguish between two types of pragmatism. There is legislative pragmatism — writing bills that can pass. Then there is policy pragmatism — creating programs that work. These two pragmatisms are in tension, and in their current frame of mind, Democrats often put the former before the latter.
1154. terms
So there you have it. In grand strategic terms, I still don’t know if this Afghan war makes sense anymore. I was dubious before I arrived, and I still am. But when you see two little Afghan girls crouched on the front steps of their new school, clutching tightly with both arms the notebooks handed to them by a U.S. admiral — as if they were their first dolls — it’s hard to say: “Let’s just walk away.” Not yet.
After a long struggle, we brought them to terms.
to come to terms with a creditor
The book offers nothing in terms of a satisfactory conclusion.
They spoke in rather vague terms
They praised him in glowing terms.
1155. testament
Almost 20 percent of those surveyed said they had already voted, testament to the long lines seen in a number of states at early balloting sites, and 90 percent said they are following the race closely -- 63 percent said very closely.
The spacious plan of the city is a testament to the foresight of its founders.
my political testament
1156. testosterone
According to his wife, the governor of South Carolina was always a bit of a restless, searching soul. It’s part of what initially attracted her to him. When they met in the mid-eighties, Jenny Sanford (née Sullivan) was working at the hard-driving, testosterone-soaked Manhattan investment-banking firm Lazard Frères & Co. One of the few females in the office, she blazed a trail upward by putting in long hours and learning to set aside some of her innate moral squeamishness. “I loved it, and I learned a lot, but some of the things I learned there about greed and power, I wish I hadn’t.” Such as? “At an early age I had a lot of access to people who made a lot of money. Some lived good lives, some didn’t. But I knew then that working 24/7 and trying to climb a ladder to make more money wasn’t what it was about. I have never thought money is the barometer of your success or worth.” (It’s a good thing Jenny Sanford is not overly concerned with money, as her husband is a fiscal conservative on the micro as well as macro level. Or, as she puts it, “My husband is famously cheap.”)
1157. than
Still, Democrats are much happier to have him than to not.
1158. that
A potential lesson for the World Bank may be that building roads, dams and factories in the Third World is a fool's errand until those nations have the intangible capital to maintain such things. The Marshall Plan's success in rebuilding Europe after World War II stemmed not from the U.S. footing the bill for concrete and bulldozers, but from the intangible capital locked in the hearts and minds of everyday Europeans.
Franken is not a cure-all for Senate gridlock. Democrats are quick to note that two members, Sens. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., and Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., are ailing and have not been in the chamber for weeks, depriving them of two critical votes. His arrival also doesn't change the fact that the Democratic majority is built on an ideologically diverse caucus where centrists hold key committee chairmanships.
That said, in the ever-tangled Senate, Democrats will enjoy the simplicity of fairly straightforward support. Franken is expected to pursue a seat on one of the two Senate committees that are handling health care legislation, and he has expressed interest in the Senate's Judiciary Committee.
"The United States remains firmly committed to a peaceful resolution to international concerns over Iran's nuclear program," he said. "We also remain willing to engage Iran to work toward a diplomatic solution to the nuclear dilemma it has created itself, if Iran would only choose such a course.
"But our patience and that of the international community is limited," Davies said, urging Tehran to "demonstrate its exclusively peaceful (nuclear) intent, rather than to carry out more evasions and unilateral interpretations of its obligations."
1159. theatrics
Lost in the theatrics was Clijsters’ significant accomplishment: In only her third tournament back after 2 1/2 years in retirement, the 26-year-old Belgian became the first mother to reach a Grand Slam final since Evonne Goolagong Cawley won Wimbledon 1980.
1160. then
As Palin makes her way slowly across the crowded ballroom—dressed all in black; no red Naughty Monkey Double Dare pumps tonight—she is stopped every few inches by adoring fans. She passes the press pen, where at least eight television cameras and a passel of reporters and photographers are corralled, and spots a reporter for a local community newspaper getting ready to take a happy snap with his pocket camera. For a split second she stops, pauses, turns her head and shoulders just so, and smiles. She holds the pose until she’s sure the man has his shot and then moves on. A few minutes later, the evening’s nominal keynote speaker, the Republican Party’s national chairman, Michael Steele, who has been reduced to a footnote in the proceedings, introduces the special guest speaker as “the storm that is the honorable governor of the great state of Alaska, Sarah Palin!”
Minnesota has put an entertainer in office before. In 1998, former pro wrestler Jesse Ventura captured the governor's office with an outsider third-party run. He served one term, then resumed private life without seeking re-election.
The treatment of the association illustrates one technique by which America's growing ranks of self-appointed speech police expand their reach: They wait until groups they disagree with are provoked to respond to them in public debates, then they persecute them for annoying those to whom they are responding.
It’s the latest phase in the ruling-class soap opera that is the Obama-Clinton alliance, where the two first families negotiate new personal relationships as Hillary Clinton wrestles with her own ambivalence about Michelle Obama’s husband, a man she once ridiculed as too callow to govern, and then worked tirelessly to elect.
Bob and Mike Bryan deftly handled the pressure, then placed it squarely on teammate Andy Roddick.
John Menard Keynes argued that when businesses and people cannot or will not invest, then the government must take on the role of filling the gap. The key is speed. The means, Keynes wrote in The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money, really did not matter so much:
His staff first said the records might be made available Tuesday, and then the governor's spokesman said Wednesday Sanford would not release them.
Former President Corazon Aquino, who swept away a dictator with a "people power" revolt and then sustained democracy by fighting off seven coup attempts in six years, died on Saturday, her son said. She was 76.
The rain stopped and then started again.
We ate, then we started home.
At first the water seemed blue, then gray
Standing beside Charlie is my uncle, then my cousin, then my brother.
He loves his job, and then it pays so well.
You have, then, found the mistake? You are leaving tonight then.
the then prime minister
We have not been back since then.
Till then, farewell
I found their conversation very dull, but then I have different tastes.
I started to pack my things right then and there.
I was still in school then
Come at noon; I'll be ready then.
watched the late movie and then went to bed.
The star was nervous, but then who isn't on the first night of a new play.
If traffic is heavy, then allow extra time.
The case, then, is closed.
he bus leaves at four; until then let's walk.
Born on Dec. 13, 1953, Bernanke was raised in South Carolina and went on to Harvard, where he majored in economics. He received a PhD in economics from MIT in 1979 and then became a professor at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He later chaired the economics department at Princeton until his appointment to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve in 2002.
1161. terms
Historically the country has tended to muddle through somewhere between the extremes of right and left. There is often much virtue in conducting public life by fits and starts. When things drift too far one way in ideological terms, Americans are pretty good about tugging them back to the middle.
1162. the late
The late Mr. Phipps.
1163. The Like
Returned to the club presidency, Florentino Perez has spent over $350 million on the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Karim Benzema and Xabi Alonso as Madrid returns to its galactico ways following a barren season where it came near to competing with its Catalan rival.
1164. The other way around
Can the economy recover even with weak banks? Maybe. Banks won’t be expanding credit any time soon, but government-backed lenders have stepped in to fill the gap. The Federal Reserve has expanded its credit by $1.2 trillion over the past year; Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have become the principal sources of mortgage finance. So maybe we can let the economy fix the banks instead of the other way around.
1165. the next best thing
“Lots of people are saying to me, ‘Why didn’t you get it?’” said Jagdish Bhagwati, an economics professor at Columbia who helped Mr. Krugman publish one of his seminal papers when other academics thought it was too simple to be true. “Given the fact that I didn’t get it, this is the next best thing.”
1166. Thereby
With the exception of the FDIC, however, none of them dates from the Hundred Days, or even from 1933. Therein lies an important lesson. Had the Hundred Days swiftly brought about economic recovery, a return to business as usual might have meant politics as usual as well. In that scenario it is doubtful that any of those landmark reforms would have come to pass. Roosevelt, in short, understood the difference between the urgent and the important. He could hardly ignore the compelling need to steer the economy out of the Depression, but he refused to allow that task to deflect him from his more important objective of making American life less hazardous — and more inclusive — ever after. He aimed not merely to end the crisis at hand but to forestall similar calamities in the future, and thereby to build a country, as he once said, "in which no one is left out."
It is a cliché to say that by naming Clinton, Obama brought his most popular potential opponent into the tent. The conventional wisdom, too cynical by half, is that he thereby succeeded in neutering her, a theory bolstered by Clinton's reticence during her first nine months on the job, with special envoys like Mitchell and Richard Holbrooke doing the heavy lifting of diplomacy. But by naming Clinton, Obama also gave her great power, which cuts both ways: if she becomes dissatisfied with her role or the Administration's policies, she can become a torpedo aimed at the Oval Office. Colin Powell had similar power and a real gripe — the Iraq war — but never used it. Clinton has no such gripe, but as the Obama Administration settles in and policy differences begin to emerge among the key players, the Powell conundrum looms: How will Clinton choose to use her power? How will Obama react if and when she does
Cloture is the procedure that allows senators to place a time limit on consideration of a bill or other matters, and thereby overcome a filibuster.
1167. Therefore
"I don't know if that means he will resign or take another option that is provided under the Illinois constitution where he can voluntarily recognize that there is a serious impediment to his ability to carry out his duties, and therefore temporarily remove himself," she said.
We need to make some fundamental changes in the way we do things in this country. The gamblers and con artists of the financial sector, the very same clowns who did so much to bring the economy down in the first place, are howling self-righteously over the prospect of regulations aimed at curbing the worst aspects of their excessively risky behavior and preventing them from causing yet another economic meltdown.
We should be going even further. We’ve institutionalized the idea that there are firms that are too big to fail and, therefore, “we, the people” are obliged to see that they don’t — even if that means bankrupting the national treasury and undermining the living standards of ordinary people. What sense does that make?
If some company is too big to fail, then it’s too big to exist. Break it up.
1168. Therein
1169. Thing
And here’s the thing: The continuing weakness of many banks is helping to perpetuate that economic distress. Banks remain reluctant to lend, and tight credit, especially for small businesses, stands in the way of the strong recovery we need.
1170. Thumbs-up
Others, like Democrat Scott Hanson, 30, a state employee from Duluth, Minn., give Obama a thumbs-up for leading on Afghanistan but are absolutely against the escalation. Said Hanson, "I just don't feel that threatened, so I don't think we really need 30,000 more troops."
1171. Tier
In return for his support, Kennedy made Obama pledge to make health care a first-tier priority -- a promise the president fulfilled by staking much of his first-term agenda on an ambitious and controversial plan to retool the U.S. health care system.
1172. Tilt
This year, Obama particularly wanted someone who could provide leadership and help sway fellow justices toward a majority opinion. The president has grown vocal in his concern that the conservative-tilting court is giving too little voice to average people.
1173. timeframe
"It's too short of a timeframe to really do something, particularly for a country like Haiti, but even in a developed country it's very difficult to start very big operations in two years," Eric Calais, a professor of geophysics at Purdue University, said Thursday.
Their conclusions also lacked a specific timeframe that could have prodded quick action to shore up the hospitals, schools and other buildings that collapsed and crumbled, said Paul Mann, a senior research scientist at the University of Texas' Institute for Geophysics.
1174. think tank
John David Podesta (born January 15, 1949) was the fourth and final White House Chief of Staff under President Bill Clinton from 1998 until 2001. He is currently President of the Center for American Progress, a progressive think tank in Washington, D.C, and is also a Visiting Professor of Law at the Georgetown University Law Center. Podesta has been named as a co-chairman of Obama-Biden Transition Project.
So our best hope now is for a somewhat cheaper program that generates more jobs for the buck. Such a program should shy away from measures, like general tax cuts, that at best lead only indirectly to job creation, with many possible disconnects along the way. Instead, it should consist of measures that more or less directly save or add jobs.
One such measure would be another round of aid to beleaguered state and local governments, which have seen their tax receipts plunge and which, unlike the federal government, can’t borrow to cover a temporary shortfall. More aid would help avoid both a drastic worsening of public services (especially education) and the elimination of hundreds of thousands of jobs.
Meanwhile, the federal government could provide jobs by ... providing jobs. It’s time for at least a small-scale version of the New Deal’s Works Progress Administration, one that would offer relatively low-paying (but much better than nothing) public-service employment. There would be accusations that the government was creating make-work jobs, but the W.P.A. left many solid achievements in its wake. And the key point is that direct public employment can create a lot of jobs at relatively low cost. In a proposal to be released today, the Economic Policy Institute, a progressive think tank, argues that spending $40 billion a year for three years on public-service employment would create a million jobs, which sounds about right.
1175. Thoroughfare
Mr. Gehry suggested that by concentrating more public transportation and cultural institutions along this thoroughfare, Los Angeles might finally find its center, both geographically and socially.
1176. Trade-off
Several senators said the expectation that the industry would ante up more was a factor this week when the Senate killed an effort to allow consumer access to low-cost prescriptions from abroad. Following the Obama administration's lead, more than a dozen Democrats who previously had backed drug imports switched sides on the vote.
Whether the gambit will work with seniors is another matter.
"It's a trade-off in the minds of seniors," said Robert Blendon, a Harvard School of Public Health professor who follows opinion trends on health care. "The question they have to ask is whether they're better off if Medicare stays the way it is with no change, or if the bill is enacted with the (Medicare) cuts — but they get the doughnut hole filled."
1177. Thrall
His wife concurs. Finding evidence of the affair last January in a stack of papers was, she says, a shock. “It never occurred to me that he would do something like that. The person I married was centered on a core of morals. The person who did this is not centered on those morals.” She calls the further revelations about “crossed lines with other women” nothing short of “punches to the gut.” The only explanation that makes sense to her is that her husband is in thrall to an addiction as potent as the one cast by any drug. “Over the course of both pastoral and marriage counseling, it became clear to me that he was just obsessed with going to see this woman. I have learned that these affairs are almost like an addiction to alcohol or pornography. They just can’t break away from them.”
He was the thrall of morbid fantasies.
There’s a lot to be said about the financial disaster of the last two years, but the short version is simple: politicians in the thrall of Reaganite ideology dismantled the New Deal regulations that had prevented banking crises for half a century, believing that financial markets could take care of themselves. The effect was to make the financial system vulnerable to a 1930s-style crisis — and the crisis came.
1178. travails
There's currently no end in sight for Jon & Kate Plus 8: Kate Gosselin said on The View Monday that she won't quit the TLC series because she needs a paycheck even though it doesn't pay her enough.
"Is anybody paid enough?" Kate said during her guest-hosting stint.
Filling in for Elisabeth Hasselbeck, who's on maternity leave, she gamely spoke about her family travails as part of the show's Hot Topic segment, defending her decision to continue the series despite all of the media hoopla and her pending divorce.
1179. threshold
After an unprecedented campaign that seemed to break a record for breaking records, Barack Obama stands on the threshold of history -- if his poll numbers hold up.
the threshold of a new career
The Democratic-controlled Senate on Saturday cleared away a Republican filibuster of a huge end-of-year spending bill that rewards most federal agencies with generous budget boosts.
The $1.1 trillion measure combines much of the year's unfinished budget work — only a $626 billion Pentagon spending measure would remain — into a 1,000-plus-page spending bill that would give the Education Department, the State Department, the Department of Health and Human Services and others increases far exceeding inflation.
The 60-34 vote met the minimum threshold to end the GOP filibuster. A final vote was set for Sunday afternoon to send the measure to President Barack Obama.
1180. Thrive
Armstrong has a rare ability to transform anger into strength on his bike. He thrives when he can focus on an enemy. Just ask Rudy Pevenage, who once directed Armstrong's longtime German rival Jan Ullrich.
The children thrived in the country.
The wild deer that throve here" (Tom Clancy).
1181. Thrust
He thrust his way through the crowd. She thrust a dagger into his back.
To thrust oneself into a conversation between others
to thrust a dollar into the waiter's hand
After his best-selling The Language of God came out three years ago, Collins began receiving thousands of e-mails — primarily from other Evangelicals — asking questions about how to reconcile scriptural teachings with scientific evidence. "Many of these Christians have been taught that evolution is wrong," Collins explains. "They go to college and get exposed to data, and then they're thrust into personal crises of great intensity. If the church was wrong about the origins of life, was it wrong about everything? Some of them walk away from science or faith — or both."
He thrust his fist in front of my face
CIA officials were proposing to activate a plan to train anti-terrorist assassination teams overseas when agency managers brought the secret program to the attention of CIA Director Leon Panetta last month, according to two U.S. officials familiar with the matter.
The plan to kill top al-Qaeda leaders, which had been on the agency's back burner for much of the past eight years, was suddenly thrust into the spotlight because of proposals to initiate what one intelligence official called a "somewhat more operational phase." Shortly after learning of the plan, Panetta terminated the program and then went to Capitol Hill to brief lawmakers, who had been kept in the dark since 2001.
Elin has now been thrust into the spotlight. It would be easy to judge Elin for the choices she makes. After all, we've done it before, scrutinizing whether women made more famous by their husbands' affairs have chosen to walk away or stand by their man.
1182. tick
His efforts to explain the Fed's actions to get the economy and financial markets back on firm footing comes as the clock ticks on Bernanke's term as Fed chief. His term expires early next year, and President Barack Obama has not said whether he will be reappointed.
1183. Thus
Madoff investors should have been reporting earnings from their investments with him through the years and thus paid taxes on those earnings. Given that some of those were "phantom" profits, investors have said they should be entitled to refunds of the taxes they paid.
All the major New Deal reforms that endured had a common purpose: not simply to end the immediate crisis of the Depression but also to make America in the future a less risky place, to temper for generations thereafter what F.D.R. called the "hazards and vicissitudes" of life. By creating the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the New Deal provided more confidence to bank depositors. With the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), it guaranteed more reliable information for investors. The Federal Housing Administration gave more protection to mortgage lenders and thus more options to home buyers. The National Labor Relations Board brought more stability to dealings between capital and labor. The Fair Labor Standards Act ensured more predictable wages for the most vulnerable workers. And Social Security offered at least a minimal safety net for both the unemployed and the elderly.
The same provision is also estimated to greatly reduce the number of workers whose employers would drop coverage, thus addressing a major concern noted by CBO when it reviewed the earlier proposals.
When the media feature someone like Bruce Hardy or Jack Rosser, we readily relate to individuals who are harmed by a government agency’s decision to limit the cost of health care. But we tend not to hear about — and thus don’t identify with — the particular individuals who die in emergency rooms because they have no health insurance.
It is true that the long-term goal of health reform is to get rid of the fee-for-service system in which patients often get very expensive care but not necessarily the best care. Virtually all experts blame the system for runaway health care costs because it pays doctors and hospitals for each service they perform, thus providing a financial incentive to order excessive tests or treatments, some of which harm the patients.
Until recently, however, that catering mostly took the form of empty symbolism. Once elections were won, the issues that fired up the base almost always took a back seat to the economic concerns of the elite. Thus in 2004 George W. Bush ran on antiterrorism and “values,” only to announce, as soon as the election was behind him, that his first priority was changing Social Security.
1184. tightrope
More broadly, Summers has tried to walk a tightrope between candor about the severity of the nation's economic problems and optimism that those problems will be solved.
1185. Tilted
The battle tilted in Obama's direction Friday as more Democrats revealed their positions. But with a hardly a vote to spare, the divisive issue of how to keep federal funds from being used to pay for abortions emerged once again as a potential last-minute obstacle.
1186. timely
Edwards said in a statement obtained by The Associated Press on Sunday that he is confident no campaign funds were used improperly. He says he has made people and information available to resolve the issue in a timely manner.
1187. tinged
Americans are more likely to disapprove than approve of how President Barack Obama dealt with the racially tinged dispute between a white Cambridge, Mass., police officer and a well-known black Harvard scholar — with disapproval especially strong among white voters, according to a poll released Thursday.
1188. tinker
He is still tinkering with the speech.
The big unknown is, what will Republicans do? Given the populist anger in the country and the GOP's diminished popularity, Republicans may find it harder to oppose health-care reform the way they did the Clinton plan, or Obama's stimulus plan. Lobbyists with strong GOP ties are part of Kennedy's working group and were on the guest list for Thursday's White House Forum on Health Reform. The day was capped by a surprise emotional appearance by Kennedy. Unlike Hillary's task force, which excluded critics and kept its deliberations private, the names of the Obama attendees were made public and C-Span cameras recorded the proceedings. Recalling that Teddy Roosevelt first called for reform nearly a century ago, Obama said the time for talking and tinkering is over. He wants a bill before the Senate in August. There are more people betting he'll get something than you would expect, given the troubled history of reform, another big change from the way things were.
Suppose scientists could erase certain memories by tinkering with a single substance in the brain. Could make you forget a chronic fear, a traumatic loss, even a bad habit.
Stop tinkering with that clock and take it to the repair shop
Snowe said keeping down costs means tinkering with the design of health care plans that would be offered through new purchasing exchanges. Another piece is the level of subsidies to be offered to help low-income people buy care, something that remains a matter of debate, Snowe said.
1189. Tip
In 2009, the struggle between those two trends tipped toward the Sadatists. The fact that Iran’s ruling theocrats had to steal their election to stay in power and forcibly suppress dissent by millions of Iranians — according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, Iran has surpassed China as the world’s leading jailer of journalists, with 41 now behind bars — is the most visible sign of this. The Taliban’s burning down of secular schools that compete with its mosques, and its peddling of heroin to raise cash, are also not exactly signs of intellectual triumph.
1190. Tipster
Miami Police Major Charles Nanney says informants played a crucial role in the success of a statewide crackdown in June that resulted in the seizure of 6,828 marijuana plants and 120 residential marijuana labs over the course of a few days. Among the best tipsters, they say, are electricians paid big money by growers to wire the sophisticated network of lights and air conditioners used to cool plants and subject them to round-the-clock illumination. The energy-chugging networks require an expert's touch to bypass the electric meter and tap straight into the grid. A sharp increase in electricity used to be a telltale sign of a grow house. Some growers have caught on, however, and are learning to mask their energy profile.
1191. Tilted
However, Rep. Chris Hagenow, R-Windsor Heights, expressed misgivings that the compromise tilted heavily toward a Senate-passed version with language barring text reading that representatives previously rejected.
1192. Tightrope
When dealing with privacy, Google often finds itself walking a tightrope.
1193. To
As President-elect Barack Obama prepares to announce his choice for education secretary, there is mystery not only about the person he will choose, but also about the approach to overhauling the nation’s schools that his selection will reflect.
Will he side with those who want to abolish teacher tenure and otherwise curb the power of teachers’ unions? Or with those who want to rewrite the main federal law on elementary and secondary education, the No Child Left Behind Act, and who say the best strategy is to help teachers become more qualified?
"From landing on the moon, to sequencing the human genome, to inventing the Internet, America has been the first to cross that new frontier because we had leaders who paved the way," Obama said in announcing his selections in his weekly radio address. "Leaders who not only invested in our scientists, but who respected the integrity of the scientific process." "Leaders who not only invested in our scientists, but who respected the integrity of the scientific process."
"I'm concerned that if the government steps in, it will eventually push out the private health care plans millions of Americans enjoy today," Rep. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., said in the Republican weekly radio address.
Blunt, who will play a leading role in the debate, warned: "This could cause your employer to simply stop offering coverage, hoping the government will pick up the slack."
The Clinton plan was the next opportunity, and it collapsed from too many good intentions and a naiveté about how Washington works. The first lady thought Republicans wouldn't dare vote against health care for everybody. All she would have to do is get her bill to the Senate floor. She never even got a vote in the Senate Finance Committee, which was headed by a Democrat, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, so skeptical of the Clinton plan that he held all 1,342 pages aloft and let it drop to the floor with a loud thud, signaling exactly what he thought of it, which was not much.
Given the complexities, as well as fresh calls for delay in the Senate, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., opened the door to pushing off a vote past the early August timeline she and Obama laid out weeks ago.
Obama claims his health effort will not dig the nation deeper into debt and over time will help reduce deficits. He has vowed to not sign any health bill that raises deficits.
1194. To
Global landmarks from Sydney's Opera House to the Forbidden City, to the glittering Las Vegas Strip, will be plunged into darkness Saturday as activists bid to reinvigorate the climate change fight.
In 2006, Tamara Draut, Demos’s vice president of policy and programs, wrote a book called “Strapped: Why America’s 20- and 30-Somethings Can’t Get Ahead.” Ms. Draut made the case that the hallmarks of adulthood — from getting an education to buying a home to finding a good job with decent benefits to raising children and beginning to save for retirement — had been eroded by the shortsighted public policies that have prevailed in recent decades.
1195. Together
Given how hard Beckham toiled to realize his unlikely ambition at age 34 of getting to South Africa this June, it is heartbreaking that a ruptured Achilles tendon has now abruptly and cruelly dashed his hopes. The apparent seriousness of the injury and Beckham’s advancing years together make it likely that he will never play for England again.
1196. To make matter worse
A 2007 study in the British Journal of Dermatology found that sugar's effects on the skin begin to show at about age 35 and become more pronounced as you get older. And it's not just the obvious culprits, like soda and candy, that cause damage; other foods with a high glycemic index, like white bread, pasta and potatoes also cause the formation of AGEs, because they are quickly converted to sugar in the bloodstream. To make matters worse, AGEs also make the skin more susceptible to sun damage, which in turn accelerates the glycation process.
1197. To name a few
The Bush administration spent years trying to isolate people the Turkish government thought should be engaged—Iran, Syria, Hizbullah, Hamas, to name a few. The Obama administration broadly endorses engagement. Turkish-American relations are therefore about to change from being good despite fundamental disagreement to being a genuine meeting of minds. Some people in Washington have been screaming that Turkey's increasingly good relations with the countries in its neighborhood means it is "turning away from the West." Apparently they view international relations as a form of monogamy in which it's evidently dangerous to go out on a date. In fact, international relations are like business partnerships. An extensive Rolodex greatly increases a partner's value.
1198. To no avail
"It later disappeared under the sand and archaeologists kept looking for it to no avail until it was found by the Belgian expedition," a statement from the Supreme Council of Antiquities quoted Hosni as saying.
1199. to put it another way
Or to put it another way, in effect voters support the health care plan jointly released by three House committees last week, which relies on a combination of subsidies and regulation to achieve universal coverage, and introduces a public plan to compete with insurers and hold down costs.
1200. To top it off
To top it off, we’ve fallen into a trend of diverting and rewarding the best of our collective I.Q. to people doing financial engineering rather than real engineering. These rocket scientists and engineers were designing complex financial instruments to make money out of money — rather than designing cars, phones, computers, teaching tools, Internet programs and medical equipment that could improve the lives and productivity of millions.
1201. top to bottom
President Barack Obama is sending a blunt message to Detroit automakers: To survive — and win more government help — they must remake themselves top to bottom. Driving home the point, the White House ousted the General Motors chairman as it rejected GM and Chrysler's restructuring plans.
1202. topnotch
Like many African-American women I know, Michelle has had a lot of practice at the delicate tap dance of getting along in the mainstream white world. During all those years in boardrooms and a topnotch law firm—not to mention the exclusive clubs of Princeton and Harvard Law School—she's had to learn to blend in.
1203. Torch
The 19-year-old Taylor Swift became the youngest artist ever to win the Entertainer Of The Year award.
Not only that--Swift became the first solo female to win it in a decade, taking the torch from 1999's Shania Twain, and toppling the reign of the formidable Kenny Chesney.
1204. Total
The press has portrayed the 47-year-old Sanford as an heiress with connections to the Kennedys, but the Sanfords’ house on Sullivan’s Island, a small, laid-back beach community ten minutes from downtown Charleston, is a modest cinder-block affair, albeit one with million-dollar views of the ocean. The kitchen counters are Corian, the rugs sea grass. It’s a house for boys to knock around in and friends to gather in. The Sanfords are conservative Christians, but they’re not the teetotaling, proselytizing sort. There are bottles of wine on the kitchen counter. Ayn Rand is on the bookshelf, but so is Gabriel García Márquez. The Bible sits front and center on the coffee table, alongside Forbes magazine. “You could be friends with her for 20 years, and she would never bring up the religious stuff,” says her friend Marjory Wentworth, poet laureate of South Carolina and a self-described liberal who once worked for The Nation.
1205. touchstone
the qualities of courage and vision that are the touchstones of leadership" (Henry A. Kissinger)
1206. tout
a highly touted program
1207. Toward
Obama has promised to do that. The president, a Democrat, says he will cut the deficit in half by the end of his four-year term, and he sees lowering healthcare costs as a key ingredient toward achieving long-term deficit reduction.
The White House weighed in quickly with a statement from spokesman Reid Cherlin. "Senators are making great progress and we're pleased that they're working together to find common ground toward options that increase choice and competition," he said
1208. Trail
Bork's writings and rulings did him in politically. Souter came with no paper trail and President George H. W. Bush chose him as a safely conservative nominee to the court. At first he was. But he changed course on the bench, moved to the middle and then the more liberal wing of the court, voting against abortion restrictions, supporting criminal defendant rights, siding with workers in employment disputes.
1209. Traipse
We traipsed all over town looking for a copy of the book.
Since signing the health care reform bill, President Obama has been traipsing about the country trying to sell it. It’s not really working for him.
1210. transvestite
Instead, the spokesman said Pele was referring to the sexual assault allegations Robinho faces in England and an encounter Ronaldo had last year with three transvestites in Rio.
1211. trifecta
For Democrats, that hints at a trifecta of key yes votes on those two issues and the confirmation of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court, even though Franken has not said outright that he will support Sotomayor.
1212. Triger
1213. Triumvirate
Once, presidents routinely selected prominent politicians -- often their party's other leading light -- as their secretary of State. In the 19th century, the Senate's "Great Triumvirate" of Daniel Webster, John Calhoun, and Henry Clay all held the job at one point; Woodrow Wilson tapped William Jennings Bryan, a three-time (losing) Democratic presidential nominee.
alin’s 2006 campaign for governor relied at first almost wholly on a ragtag band of true believers. “She had this little grassroots group that was going around the state on a wing and a prayer, talking up her platitudes,” says John Bitney, an old friend of Palin’s from junior-high band in Wasilla, where he played the trombone and she played the flute. Bitney at the time was a lobbyist and veteran legislative aide in Juneau, and he began passing political intelligence and advice to Palin. When Palin routed Murkowski in the Republican primary, she still had no real professional campaign staff. Bitney signed on, forming a triumvirate with Curtis Smith, a veteran Anchorage media consultant, and Kris Perry, another old friend of Palin’s from Wasilla, who functioned as her personal assistant and also held the title of campaign manager. Palin began preparing for a general-election campaign against Tony Knowles, the former two-term Democratic governor, and Andrew Halcro, a former Republican legislator who was running as an independent.
1214. Troika
This victory is a mandate not just for the Congress party but within it for the remarkable troika of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, party leader Sonia Gandhi, and her son, Rahul Gandhi, 38. The latter has spent the last few years doing the seemingly impossible—reviving the grassroots of the Congress party, which over the years had become less a political organization and more a fawning and corrupt court. He made a series of big strategic bets during the campaign—to field young candidates and not to ally with caste-based parties. Every one paid off.
1215. Trojan horse
But the Senate's second-ranking Republican, Jon Kyl of Arizona, dismissed even such co-ops as a "Trojan horse" leading to government control of health care.
1216. Trough
As the nation continues to wallow in the trough of widespread unemployment, black Americans are bearing a disproportionate burden of the joblessness. The election of a black president may have been important to African-Americans for myriad reasons, but it hasn’t done much for their bottom line, which continues to deteriorate.
1217. trot
It escalated into a clash of egos — the hard-working white cop vs. the globe-trotting black scholar, the town vs. the gown, the Lowell Police Academy vs. the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
1218. Trumpet
The White House and Democratic leaders trumpeted two new converts to their cause, as retiring Rep. Bart Gordon, D-Tenn., and first-term Rep. Betsy Markey, D-Colo., announced their support after opposing an earlier version of the legislation last year. Markey cited improved deficit cuts. Gordon said his backing was unrelated to a new provision sending higher Medicaid payments to Tennessee hospitals that treat large numbers of uninsured.
1219. Tucked
Pay raise for judges tucked into bailout plan
Tuck in your shirt.
Tuck the edge of the sheet under the mattress.
She tucked her husband into bed.
to tuck up one's skirts
to tuck one's knees under one's chin.
a bed that tucks into the corner.
We tucked into a roast beef dinner.
He tucked his chin into his chest
As for the chick, she never doubted her goosiness. At night, our chickens would roost high up in the barn, while the geese would sleep on the floor, with their heads tucked under their wings. This chick slept with the goslings, and she tried mightily to stretch her neck under her wing. No doubt she had a permanent crick in her neck.
Students and their families should find the student loan process simpler, and lower-income students should find more financial help, under the sweeping changes tucked into the health-care legislation that Congress passed this week.
1220. Truism
1221. Truistic
1222. tummy-tuck
Here's the best, most sordid part: Glassman, 23, is the daughter of the plastic surgeon that performed Kate's tummy-tuck procedure! So it's really all his wife's fault.
1223. turban
Bearskin hats give way to blue turbans as two Sikh soldiers begin guarding Queen Elizabeth's palace.
1224. Turned
Al Franken is on his way to Washington and the comedian-turned-senator-elect will bring with him a likely yes vote on key legislation, including two of President Barack Obama's top priorities — health care and climate change.
1225. twitchy
All that pressure at the office has made him twitchy.
1226. Umbrage
to feel umbrage at a social snub
to give umbrage to someone
to take umbrage at someone's rudeness
Because Palin had taken particular umbrage in the fall campaign at any effort to criticize her children or invade their privacy, her willingness to mix it up in public with an 18-year-old, who is after all the father of her only grandchild, struck many in Alaska as odd.
1227. Unabated
Produced by 13 federal agencies and several major universities and research centers, the climate report found that if carbon emissions continued growing unabated, the mainland U.S. would heat up anywhere from 7 degrees Fahrenheit to 11.5 degrees Fahrenheit by 2090, with some margin of error. T
According to legal papers filed today by the defense, Robert Halderman confronted Stephanie Birkitt in December 2008 with evidence of the affair and she promised to end it. But Gerald Shargel, Halderman's lawyer, claims the relationship continued "unabated" into this past summer.
1228. unapologetically
Nonetheless, something did become very confused in the weeks immediately before and after Obama’s swearing-in. It was almost as though the country’s unapologetically liberal politicians found themselves forced to argue that larger government was not so much a good in itself but rather merely a means—a temporary means, even, lasting a couple of years at most—to put the economy back on track.
1229. Unassailable
The American dream was alive and well and seemingly unassailable. But somehow, following the oil shocks, the hyperinflation and other traumas of the 1970s, Americans allowed the right-wingers to get a toehold — and they began the serious work of smothering the dream.
Shakespeare's genius gives his works an unassailable position in world literature.
unassailable logic
1230. Ubiquity
Rushing to lock the nation into expensive health-care and climate-change commitments, Democrats are in an understandable frenzy because public enthusiasm for both crusades has been inversely proportional to the time the public has had to think about them. And the president pushing this agenda has, with his incontinent hunger for attention, seen his job approval vary inversely with his ubiquity. Consider his busy December -- so far.
1231. ubiquitous
The question of intent was always present during my visit last Tuesday to the so-called Googleplex. In recent years, Google has used its billions in earnings (more than $4 billion last year) to finance all manner of applied and pure research while coming up with applications that made it all the more powerful and ubiquitous in the process.
ubiquitous little ants
"plodded through the shadows fruitlessly like an ubiquitous spook" (Joseph Heller).
1232. unaccounted
More than 300 U.N. staffers are unaccounted for. Thirty-seven are confirmed dead, including the top two civilian officials at the U.N. mission in Haiti, a peacekeeping and police force established after the 2004 ouster of then-President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
1233. unanswered
Left unanswered was where Woods was going at that hour. Greenspan and agent Mark Steinberg said there would be no comment beyond the short statement of the accident posted on Woods' Web site.
Still unanswered is where Woods was going in the wee hours of the morning after Thanksgiving Day. The police report said alcohol was not a factor.
1234. Unapologetic
Why? Because Cheney is a man of conviction, has a record on which he can be judged, and whatever the result, there could be no ambiguity about the will of the people. The best way to settle arguments is by having what we used to call full and frank exchanges about the issues, and then voting. A contest between Dick Cheney and Barack Obama would offer us a bracing referendum on competing visions. One of the problems with governance since the election of Bill Clinton has been the resolute refusal of the opposition party (the GOP from 1993 to 2001, the Democrats from 2001 to 2009, and now the GOP again in the Obama years) to concede that the president, by virtue of his victory, has a mandate to take the country in a given direction. A Cheney victory would mean that America preferred a vigorous unilateralism to President Obama's unapologetic multilateralism, and vice versa.
1235. Uncommitted
Democratic Senators Blanche Lincoln and Mary Landrieu remain uncommitted on the vote to proceed to debate on the overhaul of the $2.5 trillion healthcare system, President Barack Obama's top domestic priority.
1236. unconscionable
Sen. Carl Levin, D-Michigan, and Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Missouri, told a news conference the GOP tactic was delaying work on vital issues.
"It's unconscionable," said Levin, who as chairman of the Armed Services Committee was supposed to conduct a hearing with a top U.S. military commander in Korea who had flown in for the hearing. "Out national security cannot be held hostage to disagreements over a health care policy."
1237. uncremated
It was unclear whether Jackson could be buried at the ranch. California Funeral Directors Association executive director Bob Achermann said state law would prohibit Jackson's uncremated remains from being interred at Neverland.
1238. Undercut
According to Global Witness, although the Congolese army and FDLR rebel groups have been warring on opposite sides for years, they are collaborators in the mining effort, at times providing each other with road and airport access and even sharing their spoils. Researchers say they found evidence that the mineral trade is much more extensive and profitable than previously suspected: one Congolese government official reported that at least 90% of all gold exports from the country were undeclared. And the report charges that the failure of foreign governments to crack down on illicit mining and trade has undercut development endeavors undertaken by the international community in the war-torn region.
"This celebration of opulence and wealth and power undercuts the character of the Statue of Liberty" (Jesse Jackson).
"The partnership between the United States and Western Europe is undercut by diverging economic interests" (Scott Sullivan).
1239. Undergird
The report says too few relevant officials knew of the size and depth of the program, let alone signed off on it. They particularly criticize John Yoo, a deputy assistant attorney general who wrote legal memos undergirding the policy. His boss, Attorney General John Ashcroft, was not aware until March 2004 of the exact nature of the intelligence operations beyond wiretapping that he had been approving for the previous two and a half years, the report says.
to undergird a top-heavy load
ethics undergirded by faith
1240. underscore
In the Senate, Majority Leader Harry Reid said he wanted floor debate to begin a week from Monday. With the Senate Finance Committee still struggling to reach consensus, that timetable could slip. Even so, it underscored a renewed sense of urgency.
The recent tragedy underscores the danger of disregarding safety rules.
1241. Under way
The Maersk Alabama is again under way to the Kenyan port of Mombasa — its original destination — with 18 armed guards, according to Capt. Joseph Murphy, a professor at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy whose son, Shane Murphy, is second in command. A person reached by The Associated Press by phone on the bridge of the vessel confirmed that "We're moving."
We'll put our bags in the car and be under way.
Plans are under way to sell the company.
But economists say — and data is beginning to show — that a significant change may in fact be under way. The rich, as a group, are no longer getting richer. Over the last two years, they have become poorer. And many may not return to their old levels of wealth and income anytime soon.
1242. underpin
The author's conclusions are underpinned by references to experimental findings.
1243. Understanding
Beckham was picked for the England squad Sunday, but with the understanding that the 34-year-old midfielder would not be available if the Galaxy won their playoff match later in the day.
1244. undertone
.Despite the obvious political undertones in "Avatar," at least one right-leaning critic doesn't think people who disagree with the film's ideology should totally dismiss it. In his review on the website Hot Air, Ed Morrissey writes, "Conservatives have more or less primed themselves to hate this film because of the presumed anti-war politics of the movie. It's there -- in fact, it's unmistakable -- but it's not as bad as one might presume." He goes on to note that "Avatar" is "entertaining" though "hardly a deep intellectual exercise."
There was an undertone of regret in his refusal.
To speak in undertones.
1245. Uneven
The history of health care co-ops in the U.S. is uneven. Many have failed because they were unable to compete effectively, or because tensions between doctors and consumer-oriented governing boards could not be resolved. But some, including one in Washington state, have operated successfully.
The book is uneven in quality.
1246. Unfazed
Lance Armstrong was unfazed about slipping to fourth place at the Tour de France. Instead, he was riled that his former lieutenant, George Hincapie, was deprived of the yellow jersey—allegedly by a rival U.S. team.
He was unfazed by his previous failures
1247. Unfurl
Eager to remove incentives that they say contributed to last year's financial crisis, President Barack Obama's economic team plans to unfurl broad executive pay principles, possibly as early as Wednesday, that put a premium on long-term performance over short-term gain.
1248. Unheralded
Two points from victory against inexperienced, unheralded Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina, two points from a sixth consecutive title at Flushing Meadows and a record-extending 16th Grand Slam overall, Federer, quite simply, fell apart Monday.
The young pianist proved to be an unheralded genius.
1249. Unknown
The big unknown is, what will Republicans do?
1250. unpalatable
Obama administration officials have complained ever since taking office that they face a series of unpalatable — if not impossible — national security decisions in Afghanistan and Pakistan because of the Bush administration’s unwavering insistence on focusing on Iraq.
1251. Unsettle
Violence unsettled the government
doubts unsettling his religious convictions
The quarrel unsettled her
1252. Up-close
She will give you up-close look at the data
provided up-close views of rare fish.
"up-close glimpses of the big money, big deals, and big decisions of America's entrepreneurial giants" (Harvard Business Review).
1253. Upend
They upended a popular legend.
The Federal Reserve today left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at virtually zero as it indicated that the economy--while still fragile--appears less imperiled than it did several months back. "Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in April suggests that the pace of economic contraction is slowing," the central bank said in its statement. "Conditions in financial markets have generally improved in recent months." The announcement comes amid growing concern over mortgage rates, which have surged in recent weeks. Elevated mortgage rates threaten to upend President Barack Obama's plans to revive the housing market--and the economy as a whole--by limiting home loan refinancings and putting additional downward pressure on residential real estate prices. To that end, here is a step-by-step way to evaluate what today's announcement from the Fed could mean for mortgage rates:
1254. upheaval
the upheaval of war.
"the psychic upheaval caused by war" (Wallace Fowlie).
1255. upturn
The hiring of temporary workers has surged, suggesting that the nation’s employers might soon take the next step, bringing on permanent workers, if they can just convince themselves that the upturn in the economy will be sustained.
Everton manager David Moyes believes the easing of the club's injury crisis is driving the club's recent upturn in form and fortune.
1256. uncharted
There are procedural ways to get around the 60-vote hurdle, but going that route with a bill as big and complicated as health-care reform would take the Senate Democrats into dark, uncharted parliamentary territory. Among the options they are considering are cutting the bill into pieces and ultimately passing a smaller and less ambitious measure. That, however, sets up a clash with the more liberal House.
1257. Underlying
Sunday night's votes capped an unpredictable and raucous weekend at the capitol, with Democratic leaders negotiating around the clock for the final votes as hundreds of protesters paraded outside, their shouts of "Kill the Bill! Kill the Bill!" audible within the Capitol.
A last-minute deal with a critical group of anti-abortion lawmakers Sunday afternoon sealed Democrats' victory. The leader of the anti-abortion bloc, Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., didn't get to add stricter anti-abortion language to the underlying bill, but was satisfied by an executive order signed by Obama affirming current law and provisions in the legislation that ban federal funding for abortions except in cases of rape, incest or danger to the life of the mother.
1258. Unravel
Ms. Pelosi’s room for maneuvering is limited because any changes to the language in the Senate bill could unravel the deal that provided Democrats with the 60 votes they need to get the legislation through the Senate.
1259. Unrelated
U.S. law enforcement agents are following the rest of the Internet world into popular social-networking services, going undercover with false online profiles to communicate with suspects and gather private information, according to an internal Justice Department document that offers a tantalizing glimpse of issues related to privacy and crime-fighting.
1260. Unrelenting
Obama's advisers, in turn, tried to tighten the political vice on McCain with unrelenting reminders of his links to the deeply unpopular administration of fellow Republican, President George W. Bu
an unrelenting opponent of the Equal Rights Amendment.
an unrelenting attack
an unrelenting rain
1261. unrivaled
still believe that America, with its unrivaled freedoms, venture capital industry, research universities and openness to new immigrants has the best assets to be taking advantage of this moment — to out-innovate our competition. But we should be pressing these advantages to the max right now.
His work is unrivaled for the beauty of its prose.
1262. Untenable
Discussions with CNN/U.S. President Jonathan Klein made it clear Dobbs' style of combining news and opinion was untenable at the network, Dobbs said.
1263. upshot
The upshot of the disagreement was a new bylaw.
1264. uproar
Trying to tamp down an uproar over race, President Barack Obama said Friday he used an unfortunate choice of words in commenting on the arrest of black scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. and could have "calibrated those words differently."
"The uproar of the street sounded violently and hideously cacophonou
1265. Uptick
Indeed, the survey found that 36 percent of people call themselves independent, an uptick from two years ago, while 35 percent claim the Democratic label and only 23 percent say they are Republicans. Among independents, 17 percent lean toward Democrats while 12 percent lean toward the GOP.
The swine flu virus continued its gradual global march on Tuesday, prompting countries to strengthen efforts to stem its spread, while President Barack Obama asked Congress for $1.5 billion in supplementary spending to prepare for a possible swine flu pandemic and installed the newly confirmed Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius, to help lead the fight against the disease. In the U.S., the caseload rose to 67 across five states - 45 of them in New York City, where health officials are investigating two new possible outbreaks at city schools - with more virus samples awaiting laboratory confirmation. New Zealand and Israel also confirmed its first cases, while Canada, the U.K. and Spain saw small upticks in their swine flu caseloads.
Last week's uptick in interest rates.
And Pam Pryor, a spokeswoman for Palin's political action committee SarahPAC, said the group continues to accept donations on its Web site, with an uptick in funds after Palin's announcement.
1266. unseemly
an unseemly act
an unseemly hour
1267. unseeming
1268. unsportsmanlike
“She was called for a foot fault, and a point later, she said something to a line umpire, and it was reported to the chair, and that resulted in a point penalty,” Earley explained. “And it just happened that point penalty was match point. It was a code violation for unsportsmanlike conduct.”
1269. usher
Americans will usher in the new decade less hopeful than they were at the dawn of the millennium in 2000, says a new national poll.
1270. unvarnished
David Beckham won’t be the only player forced to watch the World Cup on television but he is going to be one of the most sorely missed.
In pure footballing terms, however, the unvarnished truth is that his absence will hardly be felt.
1271. Upswing
Amid a sudden upswing in relations, President Barack Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao sought common ground Monday on Iran, agreeing that a set of potential sanctions should make clear to Iran the cost of continued nuclear defiance, a White House official said.
1272. Vanguard
I also know that Iran’s women stand in the vanguard. For days now, I’ve seen them urging less courageous men on. I’ve seen them get beaten and return to the fray. “Why are you sitting there?” one shouted at a couple of men perched on the sidewalk on Saturday. “Get up! Get up!”
1273. Varnish
To varnish the truth
The play has a varnish of witty dialogue.
1274. veer
The speaker kept veering from his main topic. The car veered off the road.
"a sequence of adventures that veered between tragedy and bleak farce" (Anthony Haden-Guest)
veered the car sharply to the left.
1275. vein
Pelosi, for instance, spent hours hearing out House Democrats whose anti-abortion views diverge from her own strong support of abortion rights. Finally, Rep. Bart Stupak of Michigan and a crucial handful of other Democrats who oppose abortion said Sunday afternoon that they'd support the legislation, having been persuaded that it won't permit federal funding of abortions.
In a similarly pragmatic vein, Pelosi disappointed her own liberal Democratic base when she declared that a government-run insurance program, or public option, wouldn't be part of the health care bill. It was all a matter of counting votes.
1276. Velvet
The taboo-breaking response was unequivocal. It’s funny how people’s obsessions come back to bite them. I’ve been hearing about Khamenei’s fear of “velvet revolutions” for months now. There was nothing velvet about Saturday’s clashes. In fact, the initial quest to have Moussavi’s votes properly counted and Ahmadinejad unseated has shifted to a broader confrontation with the regime itself.
1277. vendetta
At this, Schmidt unloaded in a lengthy telephone interview, suggesting that Kristol was carrying out a personal vendetta based out of anger over the attempt to fire Scheunemann in the final days of the campaign.
a political vendetta
1278. ventriloquist
1279. venture
In 2005, Clinton flew with Giustra to Kazakhstan, where the two dined with the president of the former Soviet republic just as Giustra was preparing to buy into uranium mining projects controlled by a state-owned company. The same year, they traveled to Colombia as one of Giustra's firms brokered a coal mining venture there
a mountain-climbing venture.
Ben Silverman will be leaving his job as co-chairman of NBC Entertainment and Universal Movie Studios to head a new venture with Barry Diller's IAC/InterActiveCorp focusing on producing and distributing multimedia content.
1280. version
There’s a lot to be said about the financial disaster of the last two years, but the short version is simple: politicians in the thrall of Reaganite ideology dismantled the New Deal regulations that had prevented banking crises for half a century, believing that financial markets could take care of themselves. The effect was to make the financial system vulnerable to a 1930s-style crisis — and the crisis came.
1281. Verve
That continuing philosophy was represented by Klein, who said last week,"We believe in the mission of presenting nonpartisan news and doing it with verve and passion and a lot of inside information."
Her latest novel lacks verve.
I like a teacher with plenty of verve.
1282. via
Traxys CEO Mark Kristoff told TIME that his company suspended trade in the DRC in May 2009 until there is a clearer road map for cooperation among companies, the U.N. and governments for a plan of social action. He added that Traxys' $50 million in trade in the DRC is equivalent to 1% of the company's total business. Afrimex told TIME via e-mail that its last shipment from the DRC took place in September 2008 and all such transactions have since ceased. "Any link between Afrimex's past mineral-trading and armed groups remain wholly unfounded," the statement said. "We remain at a loss to understand why Afrimex is still being mentioned by Global Witness." Global Witness spokesperson Amy Barry said, "Just because they have claimed to stop sourcing at this point doesn't change the fact that they were sourcing during our research. So we still think that the evidence we uncovered is worth bringing to the public's attention."
1283. vice-versa
Why? Because Cheney is a man of conviction, has a record on which he can be judged, and whatever the result, there could be no ambiguity about the will of the people. The best way to settle arguments is by having what we used to call full and frank exchanges about the issues, and then voting. A contest between Dick Cheney and Barack Obama would offer us a bracing referendum on competing visions. One of the problems with governance since the election of Bill Clinton has been the resolute refusal of the opposition party (the GOP from 1993 to 2001, the Democrats from 2001 to 2009, and now the GOP again in the Obama years) to concede that the president, by virtue of his victory, has a mandate to take the country in a given direction. A Cheney victory would mean that America preferred a vigorous unilateralism to President Obama's unapologetic multilateralism, and vice versa.
1284. Video-chat
Get ready for a closeup: your next job interview might be on webcam. Looking to save time and money, companies are turning to video-chat software as a cheap, low-hassle way to vet job candidates. That means a growing number of people looking for work are meeting their prospective new bosses not at the office but in the comfort of their own home
1285. view
1286. vis-à-vis
income vis-à-vis expenditures
They were now vis-à-vis the most famous painting in the Louvre.
According to the opponents of the public option, private insurers are at a disadvantage vis-à-vis the federal government because they don’t have the power of the government to dictate prices to doctors and hospitals
He offered a cigarette to his vis-à-vis.
She introduced her vis-à-vis to the hostess.
my vis-à-vis in the Louisville office.
She performed well vis-à-vis the rest of the competitors.
1287. Vitiligo
1288. Vex
Vexing question
His noisy neighbors often vexed him.
Lack of money vexes many.
to vex a question endlessly without agreeing.
1289. Voraciously
But no one questions his work ethic. He gets up before dawn and spends 14 hours on the job, sipping constantly on cans of Diet Coke as he briefs the president, talks frequently with members of Congress, and meets with other administration insiders, especially Geithner. He reads voraciously, everything from policy memos to newspapers and magazines.
1290. vociferously
And the National Iranian American Council, which supports engagement with Iran, last night praised Obama for not taking sides but called on him "to speak vociferously against the bloodshed taking place before our eyes."
1291. Wallow
Goats wallowed in the dust
to wallow in luxury
1292. Watchword
Conservation has been our watchword.
For the United States, the watchwords should be: Do no harm. The situation in Iran is being exploited for short-term domestic political purposes by those who have been looking for an opening to attack the Obama administration. Wouldn’t it feel good to give full-throated expression to American opposition to the existing power structure in Iran? Perhaps so—but it could also be a fatal blow to the demonstrators risking their lives on the streets of Tehran and it could scotch any chance of eventual negotiations with whatever government emerges from this trial by fire.
1293. way
If President Obama and House Democratic leaders have their way, the entire tax burden would be dropped on families earning more than $250,000 or $350,000 or $1 million a year, depending on who’s talking. There is strong opposition in the Senate, and it seems likely that at least some burden would fall on the less wealthy.
1294. Wedded
Obama says he is not wedded to a plan on how to fix the problem. But one proposal he has endorsed, giving people the option of buying medical coverage through a government plan, is drawing opposition from Republicans.
1295. waffle
to waffle on an important issue.
But when asked whether the public option was non-negotiable he waffled, declaring that there are no “lines in the sand.” That evening, Rahm Emanuel met with Democratic senators and told them — well, it’s not clear what he said.
1296. wage
"I cherished his confidence and momentous support in my race for the presidency," Obama said. "And even as he waged a valiant struggle with a mortal illness, I've profited as president from his encouragement and wisdom."
1297. wake
The health-insurance industry, which spent months campaigning against Democratic health reform, has shifted focus in the wake of its passage, pivoting from opposition to making sure the new law succeeds beyond most expectations.
1298. watershed
The treaty to ban war in space may prove to be one of history's great watersheds.
1299. waver
With Democrats' command of the necessary votes looking tenuous in the final hours, Obama threw the weight of his administration behind the effort to round up support. He and top administration officials worked the phones to pressure wavering lawmakers.
1300. way
Three years out, the GOP field does not offer a putative nominee. When Gallup polled on the Republican race for 2012, it asked about Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich, Tim Pawlenty, and Haley Barbour (Huckabee won, with Romney and Palin tying for second among Republicans who were asked whom they would consider voting for). Cheney covers all the ground these folks do, and then some. (After Liz Cheney's remark on Fox News, a flood of subsequent e-mails asked her, "Where do I sign up?") In an era of ideological purity within the party, Cheney is among the purest; no one can question his conservative credentials on national security, and his record in the House and as vice president places him beyond reproach from the base. He was, it is true, second in command in years of great deficit spending, but his image as an implacable foe of terrorism and a hardliner on the projection of American power would go a long way toward securing his position within the party as a warrior of the old school offering himself once more to a nation he has served in four different decades.
Then again, if the Saints play anything like this the rest of the way, going undefeated won’t be too hard.
1301. weather
After all, the U.S. banking system had a long period of stability after World War II, based on a combination of deposit insurance, which eliminated the threat of bank runs, and strict regulation of bank balance sheets, including both limits on risky lending and limits on leverage, the extent to which banks were allowed to finance investments with borrowed funds. And Canada — whose financial system is dominated by a handful of big banks, but which maintained effective regulation — has weathered the current crisis notably well.
It was a difficult time for her, but she weathered through beautifully.
Many fatal accidents are caused by drivers who are under the weather.
1302. Wedge
wedge clothes into a suitcase.
The quarrel drove a wedge into the party organization.
Police responding to a call about "two black males" breaking into a home near Harvard University ended up arresting the man who lives there — Henry Louis Gates Jr., the nation's pre-eminent black scholar.Gates had forced his way through the front door because it was jammed, his lawyer said. Colleagues call the arrest last Thursday afternoon a clear case of racial profiling.Cambridge police say they responded to the well-maintained two-story home after a woman reported seeing "two black males with backpacks on the porch," with one "wedging his shoulder into the door as if he was trying to force entry."By the time police arrived, Gates was already inside. Police say he refused to come outside to speak with an officer, who told him he was investigating a report of a break-in.
"Why, because I'm a black man in America?" Gates said, according to a police report written by Sgt. James Crowley. The Cambridge police refused to comment on the arrest Monday.Gates — the director of Harvard's W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research — initially refused to show the officer his identification, but but then gave him a Harvard University ID card, according to police.
He wedged himself through the narrow opening.
The box won't wedge into such a narrow space.
1303. Wee
Still unanswered is where Woods was going in the wee hours of the morning after Thanksgiving Day. The police report said alcohol was not a factor.
1304. Wield
Supreme Court justices wield enormous power over the daily life of Americans. Any one of them can cast the deciding vote on matters of life and death, individual freedoms and government power. Presidents serve four-year terms; justices have tenure for life.
1305. Welcome
Census jobs provide short but welcome opportunity.
1306. What if
Millions of people might be tempted to erase a severely painful memory, for instance — but what if, in the process, they lost other, personally important memories that were somehow related? Would a treatment that “cleared” the learned habits of addiction only tempt people to experiment more widely?
a series of what-ifs
Brace yourself, America. What if the already terrible economy gets even worse? And not just a little bit worse, but a lot worse? Look at it this way: If you put a group of brainiac economists together in a room and told them to create a computer model of a Great Depression 2.0, the key ingredients would probably be a) plunging stock prices, b) collapsing home values, c) soaring unemployment, and d) a banking system on the verge of complete implosion.
What if everyone who was invited comes?
1307. When it comes
When it comes to combating global warming, Sen. Lindsey Graham is right where he loves to be — ahead of the curve, in the mix on a major issue, at the table for high-level, bipartisan talks behind closed doors.
Graham, a South Carolina Republican, is working with Democratic Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts and independent Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut to craft a climate change bill.
When it comes to finding quality, affordable health insurance, few have it worse than small-business owners and their workers shopping for coverage on the open market. They are charged the most per person, have the least amount of choice and, as a result, are some of the most likely to be uninsured.
1308. whereas
As a first take, we might say that the good achieved by health care is the number of lives saved. But that is too crude. The death of a teenager is a greater tragedy than the death of an 85-year-old, and this should be reflected in our priorities. We can accommodate that difference by calculating the number of life-years saved, rather than simply the number of lives saved. If a teenager can be expected to live another 70 years, saving her life counts as a gain of 70 life-years, whereas if a person of 85 can be expected to live another 5 years, then saving the 85-year-old will count as a gain of only 5 life-years. That suggests that saving one teenager is equivalent to saving 14 85-year-olds. These are, of course, generic teenagers and generic 85-year-olds. It’s easy to say, “What if the teenager is a violent criminal and the 85-year-old is still working productively?” But just as emergency rooms should leave criminal justice to the courts and treat assailants and victims alike, so decisions about the allocation of health care resources should be kept separate from judgments about the moral character or social value of individuals.
One arrived promptly, whereas the others hung back.
1309. Whereby
What about Mr. Obama? He has nothing to apologize for policy-wise. The president is working on a deal whereby Israel would agree to a real moratorium on settlement building, Palestinians would uproot terrorists and the Arab states would begin to normalize relations — with visas for Israelis, trade missions, media visits and landing rights for El Al. If the president can pull this off, it would be good for everyone. But going forward, if peace talks get under way, there are a few style points Mr. Obama should keep in mind.
1310. wherewithal
the wherewithal to pay my rent.
As with most matters involving Google, it is less about the specific activity than the scope of it. A company with Google’s wherewithal and ambition may have the ability to eventually seem like the only choice in all manner of endeavors.
Fill in a long résumé blank with volunteer work. Nearly 6 million Americans had been out of work for six months or more in October. President Obama recently signed a bill providing another extension of unemployment benefits, giving as much as two years of benefits to eligible workers. Many Americans w ill have gaping recessionary holes in their résumés through no fault of their own--they wanted work but just couldn't find it. One solution: volunteering part time. "Volunteering tells potential employers that you are an energetic, compassionate person who, even when faced with problems of your own, found the wherewithal to help others," says Burns, who blogs at karenburnsworkinggirl.com. Volunteering also says that you didn't let your skills go to waste.
Unlike the current justices on the Supreme Court, all of whom served on other federal courts before their confirmations, Kagan has never been a judge, and she has spent relatively little time as a practicing lawyer. That has raised questions about whether she has the right qualifications and experience. Kagan’s supporters argue that she is uniformly regarded as very intelligent and clearly has the intellectual wherewithal for the job: She has held two of the most prestigious positions in the legal world: dean of Harvard Law School and solicitor general of the United States. Moreover, she held high-level positions making policy in the Clinton White House and briefly worked for then-Senator Joe Biden on Capitol Hill — key attributes for those, like the president, who believe that judges need to understand the policy and real-world implications of the judicial decisions they make.
1311. whether
Mr. Krugman said he did not expect his award to have much effect on how colleagues and his popular readership — whether they be friends or foes — regard him.
In announcing his presidential exploratory committee today, Sen. Barack Obama said he will not make a final decision on whether or not to run for president until February 10.
A couple's age, previous relationships and even whether they smoke or not are factors that influence whether their marriage is going to last, according to a study by researchers from the Australian National University
Whether we go or whether we stay, the result is the same.
See whether or not she has come. I doubt whether we can do any better.
We should find out whether the museum is open
He threatens to go whether or no.
Whether she wins or whether she loses, this is her last tournament.
Frustrated with the pace of bipartisan talks, Democratic leaders on Monday promised to push a sweeping health care bill through the Senate whether they get Republican support or not.
Federal investigators reviewed whether political contributions influenced the selection of California-based CDR Financial Products as an adviser on state transportation bond transactions, and whether Richardson's former chief of staff, David Contarino, played a role in the hiring of CDR.
Whether Democrats should abandon the bipartisan talks altogether is just one of the questions Obama will have to address. If he does decide to follow that course, should he attack opponents more aggressively and offer more specific ideas — maybe even a bill of his own? And will he need at some point to signal whether he is willing to settle for less than he originally hoped for?
From start to finish, this week offers tests of whether economic recovery is taking root and also should answer whether months of Senate negotiations on health lead to a bill with any Republican support.
First, the economy.
President Obama heads to Wall Street, exactly one year after the collapse of Lehman Brothers, to offer his assessment of whether the financial sector and the overall U.S. economy are out of the woods.
So we had an orgy of bonuses just as the recession was taking hold and now another orgy (with taxpayers as the enablers) that is nothing short of an arrogantly pointed finger in the eye of everyone who suffered, and continues to suffer, in this downturn.
Whether P.T. Barnum actually said it or not, there is a sucker born every minute. American taxpayers might want to take a look in the mirror. If the epithet fits...
Still, the reason why this scandal exploded the way it did is because Woods' secret dealings were allowed to continue unabated, whether intentionally or unintentionally. The more Woods got away with his misdeeds, the bolder -- and stupider -- he got. (Leaving your name on a voicemail? Sending texts from your own phone? Really, Tiger?)
has raised new questions about whether
McCollum and South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster , a leader of the states' initiative against the health-care law, are both running for governor in their states. McCollum is a former congressman who was involved in the impeachment proceedings against former President Bill Clinton .
Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink , who has a large lead in polls over other Democratic gubernatorial candidates in the state, criticized McCollum's filing of the lawsuit as a political gimmick.
"Lawsuits and partisanship won't do anything to help Floridians get better health care," Sink said. "If Bill McCollum brought the same kind of energy to fighting Medicaid fraud as attorney general, it might not be costing Floridians an estimated $3.2 billion every year."
McMaster denied that his participation in the lawsuit was politically motivated.
"The key question involved is whether personal freedom, state sovereignty and constitutional law will survive America for future generations," he said.
Once Republicans raise a point of order, it would be up to the Senate parliamentarian to rule on whether it is legitimate. Democrats would have difficulty defeating a point of order because that would require 60 votes. The Democrats lost their filibuster-proof 60-seat majority in the chamber when Republican Scott Brown won the Massachusetts seat long held by Democrat Ted Kennedy, who died last year.
1312. Whisk
She whisked everything off the table with her arm.
He whisked the money into his pocket.
He put her in handcuffs and whisked her off to jail.
1313. whirlwind
Recently, many people thought it was clever to say that elections on their own don’t make democracies. But election campaigns stoke the mind and fraudulent elections outrage the soul. The Iranian elections have stirred a whirlwind that will lead, someday, to the regime’s collapse. Hastening that day is now the central goal.
whirlwind visit to Boston.
reap the whirlwind
a whirlwind political campaign
1314. Whopping
The IRS wants some serious "Girls Gone Wild" money, because they've filed a lien against Joe Francis for a whopping $33,819,087.14 ... this according to documents obtained by TMZ.
Read more: http://www.tmz.com/#ixzz0XGmbIzMu
1315. Whose
The White House released a photo showing the Salahis in the receiving line in the Blue Room with Obama and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in whose honor the dinner was held. Obama and Michaele Salahi are smiling as she grasps his right hand with both of hers as her husband, Tareq, looks on. Singh is standing to the left of Obama.
1316. windfall
The contributions came at a time when health care, insurance and pharmaceutical companies were mounting a campaign against a government-run public health insurance option, fearing cost controls and an impact on business. The Blue Dogs' windfall also came at a time when the 52-member coalition flexed its muscle with both the White House and the Democratic leadership in the House of Representatives as an increasingly influential bloc in the health care overhaul debate.
windfall profits
1317. wistful
Recollections like that make me wistful for a healthy rural America composed of diverse family farms, which also offer decent and varied lives for the animals themselves (at least when farm boys aren’t conducting “scientific” experiments). In contrast, a modern industrialized operation is a different world: more than 100,000 hens in cages, their beaks removed, without a rooster, without geese or other animals, spewing out pollution and ending up as so-called food — a calorie factory, without any soul.
1318. Wither
The grapes had withered on the vine.
The drought withered the buds.
Reputations were withered by the scandal.
One person familiar with the situation told me that Donatelli could not stand dealing with Palin’s political spokeswoman in Alaska, Meghan Stapleton, who has drawn withering fire from Palin friends and critics alike for being an ineffective adviser. Also with Coale’s help, Palin formed the grandiosely named Alaska Fund Trust, to defray a reported half million dollars in legal expenses arising from a slew of formal ethics complaints against her in her home state—prompting yet another formal complaint, that the fund itself constitutes an ethical breach.
Novak was the first to publish the name of CIA employee, and he came under withering criticism and abuse from many for that column, which Novak said began "a long and difficult episode" in his career.
1319. window
Frustrated administration officials said Chrysler cannot function as an independent company under its current plan. They have given Chrysler a 30-day window to complete a proposed partnership with Italian automaker Fiat SpA, and will offer up to $6 billion to the companies if they can negotiate a deal before time runs out.
1320. wire
An analysis by Scott Rasmussen suggests that McCain will need a couple of breaks if he wants to keep things competitive down to the wire.
to get an application in under the wire
There's someone on the wire for you.
She wired him.
a law firm wired into political circles.
She wired him to come at once.
A committee administrator will first determine whether Serena Williams’ actions warrant consideration as a “major offense” – a near certainty given the nature of her comments toward the official.
It is likely that she would be charged with “aggravated behavior” for conduct that was “flagrant and particularly injurious to the success of a Grand Slam, or is singularly egregious,” according to the Grand Slam rule book.
1321. wily
There may not be a clear winner or loser. Iranians are clever and wily politicians. They prefer chess to football, and a “win” may involve a negotiated solution in which everyone saves face. The current leadership has chosen, probably unwisely, to make this a test of strength, but if they conclude that it is a no-win situation, they could settle for a compromise. The shape of a compromise is impossible to guess at this point, but it would probably involve significant concessions concealed behind a great public show of unity.
1322. wholesale
Ms. Weingarten was raising a cry against the demonizing of teachers and the widespread, uninformed tendency to cast wholesale blame on teachers for the myriad problems with American public schools. It reminded me of the way autoworkers have been vilified and blamed by so many for the problems plaguing the Big Three automakers.
wholesale discharge of workers.
I can get it for you wholesale.
Wild horses were slaughtered wholesale.
1323. why
Obama's 54 percent to 38 percent lead in Michigan helps to explain why McCain decided to pull down his ads and pull out the majority of his campaign staff from the Wolverine State last week -- choosing to fight, instead, in Pennsylvania, New Hampshire and Maine.
the whys and wherefores of a troublesome situation.
1324. whoop
Their promises aren't worth a whoop.
They whooped it up after winning the big game.
Every spring they whoop it up for the circus
a class reunion where they whoop up the good old days.
1325. Wield
Mr. Summers, the director of the National Economic Council, wields important influence over Mr. Obama’s policy decisions for the troubled financial industry, including firms from which he recently received payments.
Hundreds of young men and women chanted "death to the dictator," confronting police wielding batons and firing tear gas in the capital Thursday as opposition activists sought to revive street protests despite authorities' vows to "smash" any new marches.
With Congress' two chambers on track to pass substantially different bills, a yet-to-be-appointed House-Senate conference committee will meld them into one. This small group, dominated by Democrats, will wield extraordinary power, including the right to add provisions that neither the House nor Senate passed.
Comcast is eager to diversify its holdings amid an encroaching threat from online video and more aggressive competition from satellite and phone companies that offer subscription TV services. Although the deal holds the promise that movies could reach cable more quickly after showing in theaters, and that TV shows could appear faster on cell phones, it has already raised concerns that Comcast would wield too much power over entertainment.
Fed up with waiting, President Barack Obama announced Saturday he would bypass a vacationing Senate and name 15 people to key administration jobs, wielding for the first time the blunt political tool known as the recess appointment.
1326. Willy-nilly
Summers blasted AIG for spending $165 million on employee bonuses after receiving more than $180 billion from the federal government to prevent its financial collapse. Summers said the administration had "done everything it can do" to limit the bonuses and added that "we're not a country where contracts just get abrogated willy-nilly." That's essentially the same point that AIG executives had made in defense of the bonuses.
He'll have to do it willy-nilly.
willy-nilly work
After her boss fell sick, she willy-nilly found herself directing the project.
willy-nilly cooperation
1327. Wobbly
With American voters concerned over economic security above all other issues in the 2008 White House contest, Obama was trying to protect his growing margin over McCain — countering character assaults by drawing attention to the veteran Arizona' senator's wobbly performance on the economy as the potential financial meltdown sent shudders through the electorate
1328. workaholic
Democrat Obama defeated Republican John McCain by a count of 15 to 6 in Dixville Notch, where a loud whoop accompanied the announcement. The town of Hart's Location reported 17 votes for Obama, 10 for McCain and two for write-in Ron Paul.
1329. Worse yet
But the plan hit a brick wall. It turns out advertisers weren't crazy about placing their brands next to that "user-generated content." Yes, YouTube generated some advertising revenue, but not enough to cover costs. Worse yet, YouTube became wildly popular. The dupes did as they were supposed to, and started flooding YouTube with videos. These days YouTube is the third-biggest site on the Internet, with 426 million monthly visitors who upload 20 hours of video every minute. But the more stuff people put on YouTube, the more computers and data-storage equipment Google must buy. Google also pays to ship videos across the Internet to viewers. Instead of creating a digital gold mine, Google has created a digital sinkhole—the bigger YouTube gets, the more Google must spend to keep it running.
1330. wrangle
During the first half of the year, as the Obama administration and moderate and liberal factions within the Democratic Party wrangled over the timing, shape and cost of health care reform efforts, the party's fiscally conservative Blue Dog Coalition pulled in $1.1 million in campaign contributions, according to watchdog organizations.
He wrangled a job through a friend.
After months of wrangling and delays, President Barack Obama has chosen a national cyber security coordinator to take on the formidable task of organizing and managing the nation's increasingly vulnerable digital networks.
1331. wreak
They wreaked havoc on the enemy.
He wreaked his anger on the office staff.
1332. wreath
Obama planned to lay a wreath in Chicago, Illinois, while Vice President-elect Joe Biden was giving a speech at a Veterans Day event in New Castle, Delaware.
1333. wring
to wring clothes.
Frustrated liberals have a question for President Barack Obama and Democratic lawmakers: Isn't it time the other guys gave a little ground on health care? What's the point of a bipartisan bill, they ask, if we're making all the concessions?
A case in point:
Sen. Charles Grassley, a key Republican negotiator on health care, was on a winning streak as Congress recessed for August, having wrung important concessions from Democrats, including an agreement to back away from a government plan to compete with private insurers.
1334. wrongdoing
Brazilian Marcos Daniel has been cleared of any wrongdoing after an altercation with a spectator at the Australian Open.
1335. wryly
made a wry face.
a wry remark.
How can they ever reconcile their accounts? Crowley says he asked Gates to come outside and the professor replied, “Ya, I’ll speak with your mama outside.” Gates wryly suggests Crowley got the line from watching “Good Times” as a child.
1336. year's end
Obama was elected on a promise of change, but the nature of the job makes it difficult for presidents to do much that has an immediate impact on the lives of average people. Congress plans to take up a second economic aid plan before year's end — an effort Obama supports. But it could be months or longer before taxpayers see the effect.
1337. yet
In a triumph for President Barack Obama, the Democratic-controlled House narrowly passed sweeping legislation Friday that calls for the nation's first limits on pollution linked to global warming and aims to usher in a new era of cleaner, yet more costly energy.
The sex scandals that have tarnished Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) and Gov. Mark Sanford (R-S.C.) don’t appear to have much in common. Yet there is one thread that binds them together: Both Ensign and Sanford were members of the famed Republican House class of 1994, as well as its latest casualties.
Most great tech companies start out with one great idea, and for Google it was figuring out how to make money off the work of others. Google doesn't publish any books or magazines or newspapers. It doesn't employ writers. Yet Google probably makes more money off the printed word than anyone else on the planet. (It might make more than everyone else combined.) Three years ago, Google set out to bring that freeloading business model to the world of video, when it spent $1.65 billion to acquire YouTube, which was then an 18-month-old video-sharing site that was losing money like crazy.
The only way to really dry up their support, though, is for the Arab and Muslim modernists to actually implement better ideas by producing less corrupt and more consensual governance, with better schools, more economic opportunities and a vision of Islam that is perceived as authentic yet embracing of modernity. That is where “our” allies in Egypt, Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan have so consistently failed. Until that happens, the Islamist radicals will be bankrupt, but not out of business.
I've never read it nor yet intend to
strange and yet very true
The mail brought yet another reply.
She came here on a vacation 20 years ago, and he is here yet.
It is good, yet it could be improved.
may yet change his mind
returned for yet another helping.
a yet sadder tale
1338. Zest
Somewhere, a teenager with an abnormal interest in the court and a normal zest for mischief might be thinking: Cool idea, Justice Stevens -- I'll create a banner to test whether banning ''Wine Sips 4 Jesus'' would infringe my religious freedom. Endless distinctions can -- actually, must -- be drawn once a subject becomes a matter of constitutional litigation.
"At 53 he retains all the heady zest of adolescence" (Kenneth Tynan).
1339. Zombie
So why won’t these zombie ideas die?
Call me naïve, but I actually hoped that the failure of Reaganism in practice would kill it. It turns out, however, to be a zombie doctrine: even though it should be dead, it keeps on coming.
