Word: buffer
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...curtain rises on Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Scholastic; 759 pages), all Harry's parents and parent-figures - Sirius and Dumbledore - are dead. He's quit school, and he's got a job to do, picking up the shards of Voldemort's shattered soul. Any soft adult buffer between him and the world has been stripped away. He's riding the rims. Harry isn't having a good time anymore...
According to this view, the Chinese have helped persuade Kim that he need not feel threatened by opening, however cautiously, to the outside world. Beijing has an enduring interest in making sure North Korea is a viable buffer state against the U.S. and its ally, Seoul. Beijing has further stressed to the North that the U.S. views its bilateral relationship with China as far and away its most important account in east Asia, and that it has no interest in toppling Kim or starting a war. That's a tough sell, many in the region say - us-against-the-world...
...recent change to divisional boundaries has brought to Bennelong people from poorer suburbs to the west and cut Howard's buffer to 4%. While Labor sniffs a chance to win, the P.M. is just as likely to think of the new entrants as future converts to the Howard doctrine. There is a sharp whiff of Shanghai exuberance around Labor. Just as in China's stock exchanges, the local political market will eventually turn to reflect fundamental laws. The Australian electorate is ultimately conservative. Issues such as the war in Iraq and the five-year Guant?namo incarceration of David Hicks...
...stress in all the wrong ways. A November survey by the advocacy group Mental Health America found that we frequently deal with chronic stress by watching television, skipping exercise and forgoing healthy foods. The problem with these coping mechanisms is that they keep you from doing things that help buffer your stress load--like exercising or relaxing with friends or family--or add greater stress to your body. Indeed, using many of our most cherished time-saving gadgets can backfire. Cell phones and mobile e-mail devices--to give just two examples--make it harder to get away from...
...rules change, when what used to work doesn't anymore, your ability to reason takes a hit. Just being aware of your nervous system's built-in bias toward learned helplessness in the face of unrelieved stress can help you identify and develop healthy habits that will buffer at least some of the load...