Word: raison
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...surely helps explain the remarkable good humor and even enjoyment of the streaking phenomenon manifested by school authorities, lawmen and the public.With few exceptions, hardly a bluenose is out of joint. Indeed, the only groups that streaking really threatens are nudists and Peeping Toms-it deprives both of their raison d'étre. More ponderous analyses are already droning forth: the sexual revolution is responsible; folks are simply grateful that students are no longer rioting or building bombs. But the best explanation may be as simple as the relief afforded by a good belly laugh. What...
That situation has created what may well be NATO'S chief problem: how to maintain its strength and raison d'être in an age of détente. Inevitably, the quality of NATO's components has begun to waver more erratically than ever. The Italian army is moderately well trained, and could probably defend its own country against attack as long as the U.S. Sixth Fleet controls the Mediterranean. The French army, in contrast, may be the weakest of NATO's major links...
...that many of Kennedy's advocates have learned from their failures, while conservatives (one thinks of Richard Nixon) chose to pick up Kennedy's torch long after its fire had stopped burning. We can learn from mistakes, and even though this is Wills's premise (perhaps even the whole raison d'etre of his book), it is a premise he prefers not to state where fifties Liberals are concerned...
...most ancient civilizations, jewelers made little use of precious stones-and when they did, they used them to embellish essentially sculptural designs. It was only in later times that gems themselves became jewelry's raison d'être: partly because craftsmen learned to cut them to reveal their undeniable beauty, partly because they were believed to possess and emanate magical powers. As late as the 15th century, emeralds were prescribed as cures for epilepsy, dysentery and failing eyes, as guards against evil spirits and sure protectors of chastity. By the 20th century, says English Jewelry Expert Peter Lyon...
...spiralling costs, wage and labor disputes, and a dollar squeeze. In the process, Durso thinks, sports businesses like Madison Square Garden, the owners of a racetrack, a basketball and hockey team, an ice show, and boxing interests, fomented a revolution which saw money supplant entertainment as professional sport's raison d'etre...