spotty, sully, abandon, free speech, sheer force, bedrock, intransigence.“A bedrock principle of our constitutional order,” the special counsel told the Supreme Court in a filing, “is that no person is above the law — including the president.” Credit...Kent

Prosecutors Ask Supreme Court to Reject Trump’s Immunity Claim in Election Case The filing was the main submission from Jack Smith, the special counsel prosecuting the former president. The case will be argued on April 25. “A bedrock principle of our constitutional order,” the special counsel told the Supreme Court in a filing, “is that no person is above the law — including the president.” Credit...Kent Musk has not commented publicly on the Trump ban, but he has frequently expressed his concern that the platform limits free speech and over-moderates comments. In a statement, Musk said “Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square.”

If you thought Roald Dahl was kind and gentle, think again...

In 1980, a 'spotty teenager' wrote to Roald Dahl. Here is his priceless response

INDEPENDENT.CO.UK

U.S. Officials Claim Russia Tested Missile, Despite Treaty
By MICHAEL R. GORDON
American officials believe Russia tested a new ground-launched cruise missile, raising concerns about Moscow’s compliance with an arms deal that has been viewed as a bedrock accord in ending the Cold War.

Russian intransigence has helped Ukraine's integration into Europe. The Kremlin's "soft power", designed to push Ukraine into the Russia-led Eurasian customs union, is in fact achieving the opposite. Never before has Ukraine been so close to signing an association and free-trade agreement with the European Union, a step towards EU membership http://econ.st/1a37NAj

·Icahn, a Deal-Maker With a Spotty Record Clorox is only the latest company that Carl C. Icahn has made an offer for. But whether it's bidding directly for a target or pushing it into a sale, the activist investor has a mixed deal-making record. DEALBOOK »

More Than 100,000 Rally in Cairo With Few Clashes

By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK 1 minute ago

Lurking fears that the opposition may have lost momentum were banished by the sheer number of protesters in Cairo’s Tahrir Square on Friday.

Stance by China to Limit Google Is Risk by Beijing

By MICHAEL WINES
China’s intransigence on the flow of information could harm its links to the global economy and sully its image.BEIJING — This is a nation that builds dams, high-speed rail lines and skyscrapers with abandon. In newly muscular China, sheer force is not just an art, but a bedrock principle of its seemingly unstoppable rise to global prominence.

Commercialism and the Palace of Versailles

Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Artist Jeff Koons at the Palace of Versailles

A restrospective of the works of the pop artist Jeff Koons is currently on display inside the Palace of Versailles in France. And the choice of venue has raised eyebrows there.

Some critics have called it a sullying of French culture. Others claim that Versailles is selling out to commercialism.

sully sul·ly (sŭl'ē)

tr.v., -lied, -ly·ing, -lies.

1. To mar the cleanness or luster of; soil or stain.
2. To defile; taint.

n. Archaic, pl., -lies.
Something that stains or spots.

[Probably from French souiller, from Old French. See soil².]

The verb has 3 meanings:
Meaning #1: place under suspicion or cast doubt upon
Synonyms: defile, corrupt, taint, cloud
Meaning #2: make dirty or spotty, as by exposure to air, of metals; also used metaphorically
Synonyms: tarnish, maculate, defile
Meaning #3: charge falsely or with malicious intent; attack the good name and reputation of someone
Synonyms: defame, slander, smirch, asperse, denigrate, calumniate, smear, besmirch


abandon
tr.v., -doned, -don·ing, -dons.

1. To withdraw one's support or help from, especially in spite of duty, allegiance, or responsibility; desert: abandon a friend in trouble.
2. To give up by leaving or ceasing to operate or inhabit, especially as a result of danger or other impending threat: abandoned the ship.
3. To surrender one's claim to, right to, or interest in; give up entirely. See synonyms at relinquish.
4. To cease trying to continue; desist from: abandoned the search for the missing hiker.
5. To yield (oneself) completely, as to emotion.

n.

1. Unbounded enthusiasm; exuberance.
2. A complete surrender of inhibitions.

[Middle English abandounen, from Old French abandoner, from a bandon : a, at (from Latin ad; see ad-) + bandon, control.]

abandoner a·ban'don·er n.
abandonment a·ban'don·ment n.
v. tr. - 丟棄, 中止, 放棄, 遺棄, 拋棄, 使放縱
n. - 放縱, 放任, 狂熱

bedrock
n.

1. The solid rock that underlies loose material, such as soil, sand, clay, or gravel.
2. 1. The very basis; the foundation: Ownership of land is the bedrock of democracy.
   2. The lowest point: personal finances that were at bedrock.

spotty
(spŏt'ē)
adj., -ti·er, -ti·est.

1. Lacking consistency; uneven.
2. Having or marked with spots; spotted.

spottily spot'ti·ly adv.
spottiness spot'ti·ness n.

ADJECTIVE (spottier, spottiest)

1Marked with spots:a spotty purple flower

MORE EXAMPLE SENTENCESSYNONYMS

1.1British Having pimples:a spotty youth

MORE EXAMPLE SENTENCESSYNONYMS

1.2North American Of uneven quality; patchy:his spotty record on the environment

MORE EXAMPLE SENTENCES

intransigent

Pronunciation: /ɪnˈtransɪdʒ(ə)nt, -ˈtrɑː-, -nz-/

Translate intransigent | into German | into Italian | into Spanish

adjective

• unwilling or refusing to change one’s views or to agree about something: her father had tried persuasion, but she was intransigent

noun

• an intransigent person.

Derivatives

intransigence

Pronunciation: /-dʒ(ə)ns/

noun

intransigency

Pronunciation: /-dʒ(ə)nsi/

noun

intransigently

adverb

Origin:

late 19th century: from French intransigeant, from Spanish los intransigentes (a name adopted by the extreme republicans in the Cortes, 1873–4); based on Latin in- 'not' + transigere 'come to an understanding'