Word: parrots
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...talk about winning the war on terrorism, but we will never win such a battle. An endless stream of people are willing to commit suicide in violent acts for a cause that has been made absolutely clear to us: forcing us out of the Middle East. Yet we parrot phrases like "They want to destroy our way of life" and "They hate our freedom." We are the worst kind of trespassers, with no legitimate business in Middle Eastern countries. The West is driven by a hunger for their oil. We continue to deal with unscrupulous royalty while the death toll...
...terrifying. In a stunning Arabesque world map from the 8th century, Beatus of Li?bana, a Benedictine monk who tutored the Spanish royal family, describes India as "famous for gems and elephants," and adds that "there are men of all colors, huge elephants and dragons, the Monoceros beast, the parrot bird, ebony wood, cinnamon, pepper and aromatic reed. It sends forth ivory, precious stones, beryls, adamant burning carbuncles, and pearls." But, he warns, there are also "mountains of gold impossible to approach because of dragons and gryphons and monsters of enormous...
...fascinating glimpse at turn of the century domestic life. All of the guys try their hand at being a "schoolboy" but in classic comic style they all repeatedly get the "go home" treatment after screwing up through misunderstandings like removing the stove to clean it or accidentally teaching the parrot to swear in Japanese. The pleasures of the "Schoolboys" arc, and the entire book, come as much from its richly detailed minutiae as its historicity. In one sequence Charlie and Fred take a walk past the "Call" building (now Central Tower), through Union Square with its bums lounging around...
...friend Sherlock Holmes, although Chabon never names him. Chabon's Holmes is long past his Baker Street prime: at 89, he has become a frail, eccentric, beekeeping retiree. Mystery comes looking for the aging detective in the form of a mute boy, 9, and his pet parrot (the symmetry is neat but not too: a boy who can't speak and a bird that can). Before long, the parrot is missing, a man is dead, and Holmes is back in the game...
...their obligation to impartiality extends. College students are adults who are perfectly able to make up their own minds on a range of issues. Whether a student takes a class on economic incentives or systems of oppression, he can be relied upon not to mindlessly parrot every word the teacher spouts, like some sort of evil zombie. Some bias is actually salutary, insofar as it spurs students to articulate their own views...