Word: pretender
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...That is not to pretend that the U.S. undertook Iraq for reasons of pure humanitarianism-as America undertook the rescue of other Muslim peoples (with varying success) in Somalia, Bosnia and Kosovo. We would never have invaded Iraq to depose Saddam without 9/11. After 9/11, we finally understood that helping build decent, representative, tolerant societies in the Middle East is ultimately the only way to prevent endless generations of young Arab men from finding fulfillment by crashing airplanes into buildings filled with infidels. Europe has a similar interest, having suffered, with the train bombings in Madrid, the kind of fanatic...
...tend to have better verbal skills and are better at understanding other points of view, according to Taylor and Carlson. Earlier studies suggested that children with imaginary friends may have above-average IQs, be more creative and smile and laugh more on the playground than other kids. "Children with pretend friends are actually less shy and more sociable than children without them," says Taylor. "It's almost the opposite of what you might think...
...cultural weathervane, Carson straddled two eras: the 50s and 60s, when all arbiters of popular taste, from a magazine editor to a comedian-host, were expected to pretend some interest in high culture; and the last 30 years, when those same custodians of taste were allowed, commanded, to express no interest. Readers of a certain age can recall when every New York Times music critic was writing about classical music, except for the guy on the jazz beat, and when opera divas graced the cover of TIME. (No rock performers were cover boys until the Beatles in 1967.) Now neither...
...words, once again, were gorgeous. This is a President who has uttered more stunning sentences than any since Reagan. It would be hard for even Bush's most hateful opponents to gainsay such sentiments as "America will not pretend that jailed dissidents prefer their chains or that women welcome humiliation and servitude ..." And so Bush's critics have an uphill struggle. They risk sounding pinched, curmudgeonly. It is impossible to dispute the superiority of freedom over tyranny, of democracy over dictatorship...
...tumult in the streets escalated, Yanukovych seemed at a loss. At first, he tried to pretend nothing was wrong. Then he disappeared from public view until last Friday, when he told a crowd of 6,000 miners and metalworkers who had been transported by bus and train to Kiev's central station from the east: "I'll give it to you straight. A creeping coup is taking place. We must do everything possible to prevent this coup from happening." After Parliament called for a fresh vote, many felt that the coup had succeeded. "This is banditry," said Irina...