Word: singulars
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This complexity of character makes Cambridge singular among historical novels, a genre usually so intent on showing the constancy of human nature, on proving that people "back then" were "just like you and me." Emily and Cambridge are indeed recognizable human characters, but they remain largely locked in the ideologies of their time. Emily considers herself a liberal even as she casually spews racist rhetoric; the proud slave Cambridge despises his African birthplace and views his own unconverted wife as a degenerate. Phillips' almost brutal insistence on historical accuracy renders these characters at once alien and sympathetic. It is this...
...after so much piercing, visionary pain, rehabilitation is neither a believable nor an appealing option. The angels at the drive in and behind the bar speak louder than the apostrophes which end many of the stories, addressing the reader. Johnson's depictions of the druggie's singular experiences shine with a metallic grace; the visions, the "rushing on a run," resist the very messiness of the world in which they occur. This simultaneous representation of a crude reality and a burning vision is Johnson's final unresolved gift to the reader...
Most important, lawmakers in both parties warned that raising the top rates on individuals and businesses threatens to undo one of the singular accomplishments of the '80s: the 1986 tax-reform act. Apart from simplicity and fairness, the theory behind keeping rates low and loopholes closed was to encourage people and corporations to focus on business opportunities rather than on how to avoid taxes. Economists warned that many investors will scramble for tax shelters and tax-free bonds or move their money abroad. Corporations will head back into debt to reduce their taxable profits. Offering tax credits to small businesses...
Almodovar's singular talent lies in his ability to respect and ridicule his characters as they make their way through his melodramatic, messy story. "Law of Desire" sometimes feels like a B-movie, sometimes like a parody of a B-movie and occasionally like fine drama. It's a hodge-podge that winds up surprisingly witty and even moving. "Law of Desire" may also be Almodovar's smartest, most challenging film. He displays here an acute consciousness of the way deviance and normalcy tend to get mixed up; in his merciless satire, the Church and the family unit appear twisted...
...government-media nexus is complicated in foreign policy by the requirement that nations act as singular actors; international relations, domestic politics must stop "at the water's edge." In our New World Order of shifting alliances and multipolarity, the U.S. government will have to utilize all means necessary to gain advantages in negotiations and crises...