Final Word from Tuesday, January 24, 2012
In a perverse sort of way, you have to admire the versatility of Europe's efforts todestroy itself. Any one thing would be enough to put down a weaker organism, butEurope has fought several unwinnable wars, loaded up on debt that can't be repaid,debased its currencies, outsourced its jobs to Asia, and taught its children how notto study, work or eat well, yet it is still looking for other ways to hasten the decline.And so it has declared an embargo on Iranian oil, based in part on a vague claim bythe Int. Atomic Energy Agency that there are "indications that some activities relevantto the development [by Iran] of a nuclear explosive device continued after 2003,and that some may still be ongoing." Zbigniew Brzezinski told the Financial Timesthat he fears that Israel might attack Iran in Oct., right before the U.S. elections. Hesaid that it would be disastrous on a massive scale to slide into a conflict with Iran.
Glossary of difficult words
perverse - contrary to the accepted or expected standard of practice;
versatility - ability to adapt or be adapted to many different functions or activities;
to put down - to put to death, kill;
to debase - to devalue or to degrade;
to hasten - to be quick to do something.