PoochyB’s Wordstock

“Industrial civilization” has been pumping additional carbon dioxide into the earth’s atmosphere and adding to the greenhouse effect, whereby carbon dioxide, methane and water vapor combine to trap sunrays bouncing off the earth’s surface, keeping the earth at a temperature conducive to supporting life.

con·du·cive
adj.   Tending to cause or bring about; contributive: working conditions not conducive to productivity.

Mr. Hayward rebuffed them, and then declined to take part in a regularly scheduled board meeting, leaving it without a quorum.

quo·rum
n.  

1. The minimal number of officers and members of a committee or organization, usually a majority, who must be present for valid transaction of business.
2. A select group.

Harrison Ford maybe 65, but he still wields a prehensile bullship with aplomb and his punches sound as though they might fell an elephant.

pre·hen·sile
adj.  

1. Adapted for seizing, grasping, or holding, especially by wrapping around an object: a monkey’s prehensile tail.
2. Having keen intellect; insightful.
3. Greedy; grasping.

After an initial burst of cuts last year focused mainly on America’s benighted mortgage industry, the pace of firing has slowed early this year.

be·night·ed
adj.  

1. Overtaken by night or darkness.
2. Being in a state of moral or intellectual darkness; unenlightened.

UBS unveiled yet another set of embarrassing quarterly results on May 6th and also announced 5,500 job losses, many of them at its investment banking unit. The cull comes soon after similar carnage at Citigroup and Merrill Lynch, which also announced thousands of cuts last month.

cull
tr.v.   culled, cull·ing, culls

1. To pick out from others; select.
2. To gather; collect.
3. To remove rejected members or parts from (a herd, for example).

n.   Something picked out from others, especially something rejected because of inferior quality.

The authorities have noted an increase in suicide bombings carried out by women – the American military reports that 18 women have conducted suicide missions in Iraq so far this year, compared with 8 all of last year – but they say there is also a less violent yet potentially more insidious army of women organizers, proselytizers, teachers, translators and fund-raisers, who either join their husbands in the fight or step into the breach as men are jailed or killed.

Charitable impulse of the Taiwanese is often channelled into Buddhist philanthropy, which troubles receiving countries less than the proselytizing zeal that comes attached to some brands of Christian charity.

pros·e·ly·tize
v.   pros·e·ly·tized, pros·e·ly·tiz·ing, pros·e·ly·tiz·es

v.   intr.

1. To induce someone to convert to one’s own religious faith.
2. To induce someone to join one’s own political party or to espouse one’s doctrine.

v.   tr.
To convert (a person) from one belief, doctrine, cause, or faith to another.

pros’e·ly·ti·za’tion (-tĭ-zā’shən) n., pros’e·ly·tiz’er n.

Indiana Jones is more than an early amalgam of archeological adventurers: He also carries strains of Zorro and even James Bond.

a·mal·gam
n.  

1. Any of various alloys of mercury with other metals, especially:
   1. An alloy of mercury and silver used in dental fillings.
   2. An alloy of mercury and tin used in silvering mirrors.
2. A combination of diverse elements; a mixture: an amalgam of strength, reputation, and commitment to ethical principles. See Synonyms at mixture.

In 2004 Chinese football fans went on the rampage after their team was beaten by Japan. Now, China wanst to tamp such nationalism down.

tamp
tr.v.   tamped, tamp·ing, tamps

1. To pack down tightly by a succession of blows or taps.
2. To pack clay, sand, or dirt into (a drill hole) above an explosive.

After the Tibet imbroglio.

im·bro·glio
n.   pl. im·bro·glios

1. 1. A difficult or intricate situation; an entanglement.
   2. A confused or complicated disagreement.
2. A confused heap; a tangle.

AOL was in the midst of a painful transition then, weaning itself from dial-up subscription revenue and converting to an advertising-based model in tandem with Google.

wean
tr.v.   weaned, wean·ing, weans

1. To accustom (the young of a mammal) to take nourishment other than by suckling.
2. To detach from that to which one is strongly habituated or devoted: She weaned herself from cigarettes.
3. To accustom to something from an early age. Often used with on: “The northerners among the refugees … were weaned on harsh weather and infertile soils and are known for their rigorous work ethic” (Lowell Weiss).