Word: fractious
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...surprisingly, then, accounts of the first language experiments with apes in the 1970s produced one of the most fractious debates in the history of the behavioral sciences. Washoe the chimp and Koko the gorilla became famous for their linguistic feats using sign language, but scientists argued bitterly over the significance. Did the "speech" of these animals reflect a genuine ability to think symbolically and communicate thought, or was it largely the result of rote conditioning or of cuing -- a la Hans -- by trainers? Skepticism carried the day, and researchers who had dedicated their lives to working with the apes...
CARDINALS AND BIG-CITY MAYORS OUGHT TO HAVE greater concerns than deciding who marches in local parades. But in New York City's hopelessly fractious public discourse, a spat over including homosexuals in the annual St. Patrick's Day celebration has once again grown into a political war. After the organization that has staged the parade for more than 150 years refused to permit gay groups to march under their own banner, Mayor David Dinkins handed control of the parade to an ad hoc group that favored including the gays. John Cardinal O'Connor used his pulpit to decry Dinkins...
...G.O.P.: A Fractious Future...
Whoever is chosen to replace Rich Bond as party chairman next January will face the task of reuniting the fractious G.O.P. Departing Minnesota Congressman Vin Weber seems the favorite for the job, partly because he is a straight-talking pol who kept his head above water while the President was drowning in his futile re-election bid. Du Pont also wants the party job, and has hinted he would forgo another run at the White House if he got it. Gramm and many moderate Bush operatives believe Labor Secretary Lynn Martin would do a better job of preventing the party...
Peterson, a registered Democrat, says he doubts a GOP version of the Democratic drought is imminent, since the Republican big tent is not so diverse or fractious as the Democrats...