Word: means
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Dates: during 1990-1990
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...greatness, Schwarzenegger was born in the rubble of the Third Reich's defeat, in the Austrian village of Thal. His father was a policeman, his mother a housekeeper, and they lived in a house that had no toilet or refrigerator until he was 14. Could it have been such mean circumstances that gave Arnold an edge? He thinks so. "Today in America," he says, "I see kids comfortable, getting everything they want, peaceful minds, no hang-ups. And I realize that stability will never create the hunger it takes to go beyond the limits where others have been. For that...
...Most Kuwaitis were spoiled beyond imagination," says Saud Nasser al- Sabah, Kuwait's ambassador to the U.S. Except at KPC and the investment office, lean and mean because they were (and still are) the lifeblood of the country, merit counted for nothing. "There was no accountability," says Khalifa, "because government employees were promoted automatically. It was impossible to fire civil servants. Several years ago the parliament passed an amazing law. In effect, it said that if someone was performing poorly, he would have been fired. But, says this law, since he was not fired, then by definition he was performing...
...supposed to be the province of Congress and state legislatures. Environmentalists might also reconsider their tendency to favor more government regulation as the answer to most ecological problems. In Washington State voters rejected a ballot initiative that would have put curbs on development, partly because they feared it would mean new government intrusions into their lives. Regulations that lead to the creation of new bureaucracies are not attractive to citizens who are fed up with the inefficiency of government red tape. "People want to be more certain and careful about how their money is spent to clean up the environment...
...always felt that the export of our vulgarity is the hallmark of our greatness," says Styron, who lived for many years in Paris and whose books always sell well in France. "I don't necessarily mean to be derogatory. The Europeans have always been fascinated by wanting to know what's going on with this big, ogreish subcontinent across the Atlantic, this potentially dangerous, constantly mysterious country called the U.S. of A." American popular culture fills a vacuum, vulgar or not. "French television is a wasteland; ours is a madhouse. But at least it's vital," says Styron. "Dallas...
...handles lyrics, lead vocals and sex-symbol assignments with equal panache: "We've toured a lot around the world for three or four years without a lot of success to tour on at first, because that's one of the ways we show what we're made of. I mean, we are one of the best live bands in the world...