Word: contentions
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Newspapers used to be content with printing what they knew. The New York Times, which has acres of space to fill, has lately been telling its readers what it doesn't know. It names the news sources it could not reach, to show how fairly it covers a story (a check by computer shows that in the past 14 months the Times told its readers 101 times that a news source "did not return telephone calls"). On occasion the paper also publishes a series of questions about stories in the news that it doesn't know the answer...
Toad reflected. What he saw on the penciled page was himself, all right, not just the content of the words but the physical shape and flow of thought. Some writers do not like to see so much of themselves on the page and prefer to objectify the words through a writing machine. Toad for a moment accused himself of sentimentalizing handwriting, as if it were home-baked bread or hand-cranked ice cream. He accused himself of erecting a cathedral of enthusiasm around his handicap...
Upon any sort of mature reflection, one would conclude that the only fair thing to do would be to hold the election again, with the two disputed candidates eliminated from the ballot. Why? (1) Because they were illegally entered, and (2) because the content of the position papers of the legally-entered candidates could very easily have been affected had the candidates been aware of the presence of others in the race. The council finally decided to vote on whether or not hold new elections. Even this measure was ridiculously weak, since it allowed the two illegal candidates to appear...
Harvard had been in the driver's seat, but it let the Ivy crown slip away--at least for one night. The team would have to be content with second place, sitting a single but distant game behind the Big Green with just two league contests remaining...
Sure, the content and popularity of the issue says something about today's society. Maybe it is something we ought to be worried about. But why pick...