Word: makeshift
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...makeshift court worked swiftly in Deadwood, presumably so that judge and jury could get back to gambling, drinking and whoring, the town's principal activities. Standing the myth of the American West on its head is % not a new trick. But this time out, Dexter performs it with unusual skill, grace and glee, particularly in his presentation of Calamity Jane. No act of violence or natural appetite passes without a graphic description. This is Blazing Saddles for grownups...
...sense." They don't much care what the book says or how Detroit would do it. But homemade fixes abound. A visitor to the pits may notice a mechanic sprinkling baby powder on a manifold gasket to keep it from sticking next time the engine is taken apart. The makeshift caps some crews use to keep debris out of the headers may also look familiar: they're soda cans sawed in half. Finally, a newcomer will be appalled to see Garlits flip a lighted match into a pool of alcohol under his new dragster. It's a makeshift Sterno...
Underarmed, undernourished and under fire, the contras are on the ropes. Most are languishing in makeshift bases in Honduras rather than staging raids in their native Nicaragua. After a few highly publicized victories, the contras have reached the nadir of their troubled five-year history. Indeed, one of the obstacles facing Ronald Reagan's policy of using the contras to make the Sandinistas "cry uncle" is that, even with a significant infusion of military aid, the desultory band of rebels shows little potential of posing a threat to the regime in Managua...
That was apparent last week as Aquino gamely began tackling the job of governing. In keeping with its spontaneous beginnings, the new administration had a decidedly makeshift look about it. In the building that had served as her campaign headquarters, Aquino aides rubbed shoulders with foreign ambassadors, job seekers and influence peddlers. There, the Philippine President met with U.S. Special Envoy Philip Habib, who was dispatched last week by Reagan to convey his "warmest greetings" to the new government. Outside, a carnival atmosphere prevailed. The building's small parking lot was filled to overflowing with cars, jeepneys and diplomatic limousines...
Then the national mood shifted. America wept. From the White House to farmhouses, Americans joined in mourning their common loss. Flags were lowered to half-staff. Makeshift signs appeared in countless cities: WE SALUTE OUR HEROES. GOD BLESS THEM ALL. President Reagan, in a moving broadcast to the nation that afternoon, paraphrased a sonnet written by John Gillespie Magee, a young American airman killed in World War II: "We will never forget them nor the last time we saw them this morning as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and 'slipped the surly bonds of earth to touch...