Word: utterness
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...spectacles clinging to his round shaved head, pebbled brown half boots peeking out from beneath the robe. He actually does smile, and even jokes, impishly describing the stop-start-stop process of New York traffic. He appears to be that rare combination: a born listener who speaks with almost utter assurance, even on controversial subjects. Before his visit, his American retinue stressed that the Kagyu lineage is historically apolitical, but in person he was less circumspect, telling Time, "As far as I'm concerned, the situation in Tibet, particularly the political situation, has reached a level of emergency...
...unexpected, can dramatically reduce fear, should the worst come to pass. Just knowing where the stairs are gives your brain an advantage. Likewise, research into plane crashes has found that people who read the safety briefing cards are more likely to survive. These rituals that we consider an utter waste of time actually give our brains blueprints in the unlikely event that we need them...
...Because the last thing Iran's leaders want is an American President who doesn't play the role of the Great Satan. They need the mirage of an implacable, saber-rattling foe to distract their population from the utter incompetence of their government. An American President who said, "Let's talk," would lead an awful lot of Iranians to ask their leaders, "Why aren't you talking?" That was certainly the case after the reformer Mohammed Khatami won a surprise landslide election to become the Iranian President in 1997. The Clinton Administration began making quiet diplomatic overtures toward Khatami...
...major jumped out, screaming at the two guards. Apparently some foreign NGO workers had slipped past the checkpoint. How could the officers let that happen? The major turned to my driver and continued to rant: how could he bring foreigners to this disaster area? Doing so showed his utter disregard of patriotic duty. The major warned that he would be reporting the driver's serious violation back to military headquarters...
Ickes' superdelegate search had the feel of utter futility only a few weeks ago, when both math and momentum seemed to rule Clinton out of contention. But then came her 9-point win in Pennsylvania, highlighting Barack Obama's persistent weakness among Catholics, senior women, Hispanics and blue-collar workers, and the self-aggrandizing return of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright to the political spotlight. These two events have played perfectly into a pitch Ickes had been making to superdelegates for months: that "we don't know enough about Obama" to make him the nominee. "The one thing we Democrats...