Word: ironizing
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...nuances, its gasps, its sighs and hesitations, poring over the secret messages that lie in every cadence. The difference between "Jane (whom I adore)" and "Jane, whom I adore," and the difference between them both and "Jane -- whom I adore -- " marks all the distance between ecstasy and heartache. "No iron can pierce the heart with such force as a period put at just the right place," in Isaac Babel's lovely words; a comma can let us hear a voice break, or a heart. Punctuation, in fact, is a labor of love. Which brings us back...
...sunny sidewalks and streets of Port Vila (pop. 18,000), capital of the island republic of Vanuatu, about 1,000 miles east of Australia, became a South Pacific battleground last week. Chanting "Change the law or there will be a revolution!" about 2,000 marchers, some armed with iron bars and clubs, clashed with 140 police and soldiers. One man was killed and nine were injured. Looters then turned the city into a shambles of debris and shattered glass. A beleaguered Prime Minister Walter Lini requested help from the Australian government, which quickly airlifted in riot-control gear...
...Kennan, the father of the doctrine that the U.S. and its allies must "contain" Soviet expansionism around the globe, had another explanation. They believed that Leonid Brezhnev and the other Kremlin gerontocrats were seeking a buffer zone against Islamic ferment in Iran, much as Joseph Stalin had erected the Iron Curtain to protect the U.S.S.R. against its enemies in the West after World...
When Heavyweight Champion Mike Tyson makes a request, people listen. And if "Iron Mike" wants you to take a Bentley off his hands, what can you do? Tyson, who earned $10 million from his last fight, made just that request to two policemen who approached him after he had scratched his brand-new $183,000 silver Bentley in a New York City fender bender. "I've had nothing but bad luck and accidents with this car," the boxer said. "You guys take this car, and keep it." After some hesitation, the cops accepted. Unfortunately, police higher-ups heard...
...wife, as patient as Penelope. Director Ron Howard (Splash, Cocoon) gets the social politics of the dwarfs' village right, but he is not adept at action scenes: some are too busy; others are botched. Kilmer tries hard in a role that might have fit Mel Gibson like an iron glove, and Whalley, teen angel of the serious British mini-series (The Edge of Darkness, The Singing Detective) is wasted as the heroine. Both Kilmer and Whalley, in fact, are curiously irrelevant to the climactic battle. But then, Willow is a Star Wars without star quality, an Indiana Jones adventure with...