Word: hardening
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...millions left homeless, global attention-and sympathy-has shifted decisively away from Tibet to China. Indeed, some observers say support in Western capitals for the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, has lessened noticeably since the quake. They fear the shift is an opportunity for China to harden its position, setting off a new round of tension and violence...
...America, when a sad and angry English major killed 32 people and himself at the Blacksburg campus of Virginia Tech, only modest changes have been made to the country's gun control laws. These days it appears that the most lasting effect of mass-casualty shootings is to harden people's pre-existing opinions on emotionally loaded issues like gun control and privacy rights...
...could argue that the two-month late-night hiatus was a blessing or a curse for candidates. The shows have long since been institutionalized as a free-fire zone on politicians, where ridicule is relentless and labels harden into epitaphs. On the first strike-era Daily Show, on Jan. 7, Jon Stewart bemoaned the agony of watching Mike Huckabee give a victory speech in Iowa with action star Chuck Norris--"Chuck Norris!"--looking over the candidate's shoulder, yet having nowhere to do a Chuck-and-Huck gag the next night...
...With the world watching, tournament officials enforce stringent rules. Traditionally, schoolyard tricksters harden their conkers by baking them or by soaking them in vinegar. To prevent such breaches, referees provide regulation conkers to competitors prior to each match. The Ashton Conker Club sources the chestnuts from trees within a five-mile radius - to account for regional variations in ripeness and, therefore, hardness - and they precision-drill each...
...character. With a bristly face and a slightly ironic tone, Hirsch might have the angry post-grad down better than Jake Gyllenhaal. Sean Penn, directing his fifth feature film, likely used some of his celebrity muscle to pull in supporting cast members Vince Vaughn, William Hurt, Marcia Gay Harden, Jena Malone, and Catherine Keener. Like Hirsch, most of the actors play against type. For example, Hurt portrays an abusive husband, and funny-man Vaughn is a mundane grain farmer. Like something out of an IMAX movie, the sweeping shots of natural vistas in the film are breathtaking, heightening the rawness...