But each piece is soulful and affecting, the artists resisting direct, confrontational moral and political statements in favor of allusion and metaphor.

Any tension has been kept from the public view and leaders have avoided confrontational statements in public.

Dr. Schwartz proclaims that the artists "have chosen to use clay to make confrontational statements about our time and place."

The play is a confrontational statement on the intersection of pornography and domestic violence which includes adult language, violence and full frontal male nudity.

He also criticized the Momoh faction for constantly making confrontational statements after each political development in the country, saying "Society looks at us as a bunch of rascals".

Though one organizer with a loud speaker encouraged participants to take "autonomous action" and engage in civil disobedience, most demonstrators seemed intent on making a less confrontational statement.

But in the past few months, both sides seemed to peer over the abyss and then back away from their more confrontational statements.

The lawyers we celebrate are remembered for confrontational statements and actions with respect to government conduct.

Russia today accused two senior officials of the Bush administration of making "openly confrontational" statements by labeling Moscow as an "active proliferator" of dangerous weapons technologies.

But with Mr. Daschle's mildly confrontational statements today, Democrats emerged from weekly party meetings re-energized in their intention to oppose the nomination.