1.   These are often ad hoc verbal discussions between the individuals directly affected, sometimes requiring official blessing, sometimes requiring no further action.

2.   But to get that official blessing, he knew he would have to finish his first year.

3.   Going into dangerous places without official diplomatic blessing is often the only way to get the ball rolling when two sides have staked out hard-line positions, said Babbitt.

4.   It helps, Murphy says, to have official blessings Down Under.

5.   None of the lawsuits filed so far has the official blessing of the Gore campaign.

6.   So far, the encyclopedia has had no problem winning official blessing.

7.   These interventions have received no official blessing from the U.N.

8.   Throwing flower petals and sugar into a crackling fire as they chanted and danced, the shamans in turn bestowed their official blessing on him.

9.   Those days may be gone in most places, but in Afghanistan, a wronged family may demand the death penalty and carry it out themselves with official blessing.

10.   And while Orthodox communities in the past have gradually expanded into secular areas, the attempted takeover of Neve Rotem is seen as carefully orchestrated with official blessing.