Word: soft
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...This brand of fervid romance packed 'em in for the first 60 years of feature films, then went nearly extinct, replaced by the young-male fetishes of space toys and body-function humor. Twilight says to heck with that. It jettisons facetiousness for a liturgical solemnity, and hardware for soft lips. It revives the precept that there's nothing more cinematic than a close-up of two beautiful people about to kiss. The movie's core demographic is so young, its members may not know how uncool this tendency has become. But for them, uncool is hot. And seeing Twilight...
...world turning Japanese? Even as Japan's domestic economy slips into recession and its politicians dither endlessly, the country's overseas influence is reaching new heights. Limited by a postwar constitution from developing military power, Japan's international clout relies on soft power, the term coined by Harvard professor Joseph S. Nye in 1990 to describe how countries "get what [they] want through attraction rather than coercion." Today, a generation of idealistic Japanese is attempting to sway the world through cultural, social and economic means. Japan doesn't tend to trumpet its efforts - understandable given the nation's imperial past...
...renewed love affair with the nation has blossomed just as many nations are growing wary of the rising influence of Asia's other superpower: China. Unlike Japan, China has done little to mask its global natural-resources grab. As a result, Japan outranked China in a June survey of soft-power effectiveness in six countries by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. Far from China eclipsing Japan, as many once thought, the Middle Kingdom's emergence has actually reawakened international admiration of its neighbor. "There's a strong perception that China's not doing enough for people's rights," says...
...Harvard, he is dressed simply in a grey robe and matching pants, a crisp white collar clasped around his neck. Thick bifocals perch gracefully on his nose. Two tufts of snowy-white hair peek from beneath his characteristic red felt hat. He speaks with a soft, gravelly cadence, but carries himself with the gravitas befitting his stature. Chinua Achebe stands as perhaps the most recognizable and lauded African author of modern times. Celebrating its fiftieth anniversary this year, his premier novel, “Things Fall Apart,” has sold over 8 million copies and been translated into...
...early backer of Obama's campaign, the soft-spoken Daschle was invaluable in helping bring aboard some of the Democratic establishment to back him against the formidable Hillary Clinton. When Senator Edward Kennedy decided to endorse the freshman Senator, he called Daschle, not Obama, to deliver the news. Much of Daschle's political organization joined the Obama effort - among them, Steve Hildebrand, who engineered Obama's field operation, and Anita Dunn, a top strategist. (See pictures of Barack Obama's campaign behind the scenes...