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referendum
referendum referral of proposed laws or constitutional amendments to the electorate for final approval. This direct form of legislation, along with the initiative , was known in Greece and other early democracies. Today, these legislative devices are widely used in certain countries, most notably ...
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bootlegging
bootlegging in the United States, the illegal distribution or production of liquor and other highly taxed goods. First practiced when liquor taxes were high, bootlegging was instrumental in defeating early attempts to regulate the liquor business by taxation. After the appearance of local and state...
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golden parachute
golden parachute a contract given to top executives of a corporation to provide benefits in case of job loss due to a takeover by another firm or a merger. The unusually generous benefits may include substantial severance pay, a one-time bonus payment when employment ends, or stock options.
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Stabat Mater Dolorosa
Stabat Mater Dolorosa [Lat.,=the sorrowful mother was standing], 13th-century hymn of the Roman Church attributed to Jacopone da Todi. A prayer meditating on the sorrows of the Virgin Mary in her station at the Cross, it was the liturgical sequence for the Seven Sorrows of the Virgin (Sept. 15 and ...
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Jay's Treaty
Jay's Treaty concluded in 1794 between the United States and Great Britain to settle difficulties arising mainly out of violations of the Treaty of Paris of 1783 and to regulate commerce and navigation.
Negotiations
War threatened when the British admiralty ordered the seizure of American...
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bourse
bourse , term applied to a European stock exchange . The first international bourse was established in Antwerp in the 16th cent. The Paris bourse, dating from 1720 but completely reorganized in 1999, consists of the main exchange, equivalent to the New York Stock Exchange, plus the Matif (the deriv...
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liberation theology
liberation theology belief that the Christian Gospel demands "a preferential option for the poor," and that the church should be involved in the struggle for economic and political justice in the contemporary world—particularly in the Third World. Dating to the Second Vatican Council (196...
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nearsightedness
nearsightedness or myopia, defect of vision in which far objects appear blurred but near objects are seen clearly. Because the eyeball is too long or the refractive power of the eye's lens is too strong, the image is focused in front of the retina rather than upon it. Corrective eyeglasses wi...
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solid waste
solid waste discarded materials other than fluids. In the United States in 1996, nearly 210 million tons—about 4.3 lb. (2 kg) per person daily (up from 2.7 lb./1.2 kg in 1960)—were collected and disposed of by municipalities. In that year, municipal garbage included 12.4 million tons of...
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poker
poker card game, believed to have originated in Asia and first played in the United States in the 19th cent. A traditional cutthroat gambling game at first, it is now also an internationally popular social pastime.
Basic Rules
Poker is fundamentally a gambling game and is played either fo...
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