Word: benign
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...smiled and tousled the hair of a young boy named Stuart Lockwood, asking him what he had eaten for breakfast (cornflakes and milk) and marveling at how the lad fared better than some Iraqi children. Talking cheerfully to a tense group of British hostages, he presented himself as a benign and misunderstood leader who had no choice but to act truculently...
...holds out little hope for an alternative that he seems to agree would be preferable -- the rise of a multinational superstate. Mearsheimer believes the European Community, like the Long Peace itself, has been a benign by-product of the cold war. He expects the process of integration to slow down, even go into reverse as the Continent lapses into the anarchy of every nation for itself...
Last week the court, which has restricted a number of affirmative-action programs lately, surprised civil rights advocates by approving the FCC rules in a 5-to-4 decision. "Benign race-conscious measures mandated by Congress" are permissible, the majority ruled, if "they serve important governmental objectives." Regardless of the professed policies, the voice of minorities remains barely a whisper; they still hold only 3.5% of the licenses...
Even with the effort to limit the demands upon his time, there were fears that Mandela would be overtaxed. His crowded American itinerary would test the stamina of a presidential campaigner, much less a frail-looking 71-year-old recovering from surgery to remove a benign cyst from his bladder. Mandela's arrival in New York from Montreal had to be delayed by two hours to give him more time to rest...
Fulghum's sons live in the neighborhood, and in order to stay in shape, two generations frequently go jogging in a nearby park. En route, readers hail the shaggy, benign figure, and he is often asked for advice. He rarely breaks step as he shouts his inarguable credo: "Life is so . . . unique! Trees, people, dogs, cats, comedy, love . . . don't miss it!" The springy, affirmative footsteps clatter like laughter as they echo down the path. The Rev. Feelgood is off in pursuit of another elusive truth...