Word: local
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...very different reaction. When I went on my European trip, I felt that the famous Disney attention to detail justified the price tag of the flawlessly organized tour. Our two professional guides often wore tasteful costumes representing the local cultures, had genuine-looking smiles firmly planted on their faces and acted like perfect nannies: patient, kind and a little magical (not unlike Ms. Poppins herself). At certain points, the itinerary carefully separated the age groups: the adults enjoyed wine-tasting while the kids played dress-up with 18th century garb. Disney is obviously well versed in keeping each family member...
...next section - popular chocolates shaped like triangles or trapezoids - the Kit Kat from Nestlé just beat out Hershey's Kisses, an entrant at a slight disadvantage because voters had to imagine how they tasted after the local convenience store sold out of them. (That may have been for the best: TIME's test generated a deluge of opinions about where the best chocolate comes from. The bottom line on the Old World side of the Atlantic: big selling American chocolate is sour, powdery and generally inferior to European chocolate...
...fuels the insurgency - a problem that Defense Secretary Robert Gates had noted early in the debate. The fact that the Taliban is now effectively in control of as much as half of the country eight years after being routed by the U.S.-led invasion is a sign that the local population is at least more tolerant of an insurgency against foreign forces. Expanding the ground war may not solve this problem. As University of Michigan historian Juan Cole wrote last week, "The U.S. counter-insurgency plan assumes that Pashtun villagers dislike and fear the Taliban, and just need...
...ineffective and a tool in the hands of a foreign invader, and Afghans are mostly gloomy about the prospects for reforming it. While Karzai could be forced to respond to some egregious cases of corruption, his instinct will be to continue to use the power of patronage to broker local support. Corruption and nepotism may be just as much as a symptom of the weakness of the central government as its cause. Even in the times of greatest stability, Afghanistan has been governed from the center via a loose consensus among powerful regional and ethnic leaderships. Karzai might, in fact...
...elite of moneyed families still dominates the candidates running for Congress and higher local government posts, such as mayors and provincial governors. A parade of celebrities - including boxing champ Manny Pacquiao, running for a congressional seat - are adding the customary glamor. Aquino's sister Kris, a popular television personality, is reported to be energetically rallying her friends in entertainment to publicly support her brother. (Despite his perceived lead, he is not to everyone's taste: one local journalist memorably described him as a "crudely-cut outline of his parents.") (Read "The Meaning and Mythos of Manny Pacquiao...