Word: stringings
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...China's leaders have backed Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa because they believed he could keep Hong Kong in its place. And until now, the city's faux Parliament could be counted on to rubber-stamp any legislation put forward by his administration. But Tung has lately mishandled a string of crises--economic, epidemiological (SARS hit the city hard) and now a constitutional one--thereby politicizing Hong Kong and becoming a liability to Beijing...
...iconic moment in American history studied by generations of schoolkids. On a storm-tossed June day in 1752, Ben Franklin, joined by his son William, hoisted a kite with a wire poking out of it high over Philadelphia. As the skies darkened, the kite's hemp string bristled with electricity, like a cat's fur after being stroked. Franklin brought his knuckles close to a brass key dangling from the end of the string. A spark leaped through the air, giving him a powerful jolt--and immeasurable pleasure. No longer could anyone doubt that the small electrical charges created...
...spirit and honour accustomed to a different mode of conducting business to be trifled with, and as I may say, to be jockied by such a finesse. But we must for a time submit," he advised at one aggravating juncture. In fact, ego massaging and wheel greasing and string pulling--the courtier's repertoire--came easily to him. He was no innocent abroad; he was no more bawdy Poor Richard than he was the self-correcting killjoy of his autobiography. What he was instead was himself, gravitas and raffishness combined, always a winning combination in Paris. The censors approved Poor...
...year ago the Prime Minister seemed almost crushed by the burdens of office. His health was suffering, the BJP had suffered a string of state election defeats, war with Pakistan was looming and, sensing weakness, Hindu mobs had slaughtered some 2,000 Muslims in the western state of Gujarat. "He just felt down and out," says Times of India political editor Manoj Joshi. A Hindu critic says, "Everybody was doubting how long he would be able to last and saying a change in the leadership was just around the corner." That view was reinforced when Vajpayee promoted Advani...
...professor of contemporary European history at the University of Florence, since Berlusconi - Italy's richest man, with an estimated worth of over €5.1 billion - owns virtually all of the country's commercial television outlets. And the independence of the Italian judiciary is also under attack, thanks to a string of tailor-made laws passed by the Italian legislature to protect Berlusconi from a bribery prosecution that he says is politically motivated. These laws were capped in June by an immunity bill that stopped the trial against him dead in his tracks - guaranteeing that his time as E.U. president...