bearings

Shorn of their usual political compass bearings: party loyalty, ideology, an instinct on the extent or limits of the state, for instance, they have instead had to come to a very personal decision.

Their usual political compass bearings, party loyalty and a broad sense of being on the left or the right, count for little here.

Recently, the firm has worked with UK-based Teer Coatings to test a product that could be applied to satellite components including gears and bearings used in various moving parts.

And that is the sort of dark cloud that's hanging over this political moment in human history: people have really lost their bearings about what is true, what is right and wrong.

In one memorable case, a pilot lost his bearings after a plane above and in front of him dumped its load of retardant on his windshield, cloaking his view.