Word: cousin
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Bhutto years, caught between purdah and leggy Jane Fonda workout tapes, Suzuki Swifts and donkey carts. They are Zaki's grasping grandmother Daadi; his widowed mom Zakia, editor of a progressive women's magazine that criticizes the government and runs interviews with acid-attack victims; and Zaki's teenage cousin Samar Api, who is on a lame quest to find an Amitabh Bachchan to sweep her off her feet. (See the 100 best novels of all time...
...that assessment was not shared by some of his own family members. His cousin, Hewad, 31, stayed at home over concerns about security in the streets. Apathy over the quality of presidential candidates in the field made the decision easier, he says. "But it looks like there were not as many problems like we expected," he explains, adding that he would have backed Karzai, a fellow Pashtun. "Now I really regret that I didn't vote." He may yet get a second chance if the contest goes to a run-off - and the country has to pluck up its courage...
...same, very familiar problem: There are too many people in China. In a hole-in-the-wall bun shop in Tianjin (the famous Tianjin goubuli baozi), three people are arguing about the People's Communication Party while pinching dough. Human rights, they complain. Disrespect for human rights. My cousin turns to me and says, yes, he thinks there are problems, but the government’s method achieves efficiency and growth. He's a member of the Party. It is the only party in China...
...depending on the exact relation, such a modern progression toward family breakdown and divide seems incongruous. But then again, partition in Indian history is a recurrent theme, referenced even in the Sanskrit epic “The Mahabharata,” where dividing the kingdom of Hastinapura among cousin, princely heirs is proposed as an alternative to war (although war inevitably ensues). In 1947, geographic partitioning of the subcontinent, intended to veil cultural-turned-political differences, later became the subtext for South Asia’s modern political narrative...
...Presidents also get more cards than they know what to do with. When Teddy Roosevelt turned 50 on Oct. 27, 1908, messenger boys flooded the White House throughout the day bearing letters of congratulation from all over the globe. (England's King Edward VII sent his "cordial congratulations.") On cousin Franklin's 52nd birthday in 1934, 100,000 telegrams poured into the White House. One was 1,280 ft. long and signed by 40,000 people. It took two days to transmit and two messengers to carry. (See TIME's White House photo blog...