Word: strained
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...show -- with one exception, an inertly sentimental picture of a small black boy in a paper hat -- are still lifes. He was not interested in figures and had no feel for the human face. The best of Harnett is, so to speak, the weak populist end of the best strain in 19th century American art: its adherence to pragmatic, empirical vision, to art as an instrument of the world's measurement. (The great figures in this are Audubon, Eakins and Homer...
...tragedy is that, if the polls are anywhere near accurate, the races have more in common than they think they do: the dominant strain in black and white opinion condemns both the acquittal and the rioting. That should have offered an opportunity for creative political leadership to begin emphasizing the convergence and narrowing the differences. In particular, it offered a rare chance to President Bush, who when faced with a tough choice often tries to go both ways. This was one time he could have done so and won the applause of that majority disgusted with the acquittal...
Clinton's general strategy has been four-part: 1) in effect, admit to adultery without actually using the words by repeatedly conceding that his marriage to Hillary has gone through periods of severe strain; 2) insist that they have patched things up and their marriage is now solid; 3) deny the specific allegations by Gennifer Flowers of a 12-year affair with him; and 4) refuse to answer any questions about other women on the grounds, essentially, that if Hillary is satisfied, it is no one else's business...
...league stadiums, a move clearly motivated by those who would profit from our sloth and obesity. There is also an extra half-foot of leg room, which promotes the exact sort of relaxed lounging that causes bad posture. The bullpens are elevated so fans do not need to strain themselves to see which pitchers are warming...
Indomitable and often unpredictable, Begin put an unprecedented strain on relations with the U.S. Ronald Reagan was caught off guard by the 1981 bombing of an Iraqi nuclear reactor, and a year later by Israel's bloody invasion of Lebanon. Such actions served to underscore a fundamental duality in Begin's nature: the peacemaker was not a pacifist, and never abandoned his dream of a Greater Israel...