Word: backlasher
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...Tunisia's critics say that beneath the gloss of modernity, the ruling party has snuffed out dissent, leaving Ben Ali unchallenged. Some Tunisians, along with Western diplomats, have begun to wonder whether repression and economic growth can continue to coexist, or whether tight government control might ultimately provoke a backlash as middle-class Tunisians demand more civil liberties, and as jobless youth seek outlets to vent their frustration - not least by joining radical Islamic organizations. "Tunisia is the one Arab country which could afford real political openness, but the system is completely closed," says a former World Bank economist with...
...backlash against prostitution could escalate, however. El Alto officials are determined not to reopen any brothels within a 1,600-foot radius of schools, and there are rumors of similar citizen protests planned for the cities of Cochabamba and Sucre. The sex workers are hoping that the public health risk posed by their action forces the authorities to back down. But by refusing to undergo the medical checkups required to be able to work legally, it also potentially opens them to further police action...
...since the spring, a backlash has taken hold. Texas, a pioneer in privatization under the enthusiastic leadership of Governor Rick Perry, saw its legislature impose a two-year moratorium on new projects. The Pennsylvania legislature bounced Rendell's first attempt to privatize the turnpike, though now he's trying again in the wake of shifting state politics. The mother of all toll roads, the New Jersey Turnpike, is under review, but Governor Jon Corzine, a former Goldman chairman, disappointed eager bankers in June when he flatly stated, "We're not going to privatize...
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author Susan Faludi has never been afraid of controversial topics. Her two previous books, Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women, (which won the National Book Critics Circle Award), and Stiffed: The Betrayal of the American Man, took on touchy issues of gender politics and feminism. Likewise, her provocative new book, The Terror Dream: Fear and Fantasy in Post-9/11 America (Metropolitan), concerns sensitive cultural territory, the nation's myths about 9/11. Does Faludi worry about treading on sacred ground? "I'm used to being beaten up," she says wryly. "You try as best...
...athletic competition, they are criticized for diverting attention from the substance of their respective sports. Female athletes are simultaneously acclaimed and derided for their good looks, as was the case with Kournikova. Her appealing physique was largely responsible for making her so popular, but it led to a backlash from people who hated that she was famous for it. Instead of anyone suggesting that the people who drooled over her in the first place were in the wrong, Kournikova was the one chastised for profiting from it. It was essentially a cop-out to blame women for the fact that...