Word: powerlessness
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...definition, terrorism succeeds by making us feel powerless. It is more often a psychological threat than an existential one. The authorities compound the damage when they overreact - by subjecting grandmothers to pat-downs and making it intolerable to travel. Even though the Christmas bombing suspect had been stopped, stripped and cuffed before the plane landed, we still talk like victims. "[This] came close to being one of the greatest tragedies in the history of our country," New York Congressman Peter King said on CNN, criticizing Obama for not holding a press conference sooner...
...devoid of any purpose except accumulation at all costs—have guided Harvard’s investments and continue to direct its handling of the endowment meltdown. Critical economic decisions are made under a shroud of secrecy; high administrators give vague answers to urgent educational questions; powerless directors are told to freeze hiring and salaries; hard-working, lower-wage staff who make Harvard function are laid off in the worst recession in 40 years by an institution that proudly touts its courses in ethics, religion, and morality...
...corruption; and growing anti-Americanism, fueled by conspiracy theories on Washington's intentions in the region, has left him portrayed as a stooge. His political opponents appear increasingly united, while mounting fury at rising prices, shortages of wheat and sugar, and a wave of terror attacks that Islamabad seems powerless to stanch, have seen his popularity nosedive among a public in front of whom he hasn't appeared for months...
...Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), have a vast, sophisticated network of political and financial supporters around the world. The confidential report, which was obtained by TIME, also makes clear that the international community and the 20,000-strong U.N. peacekeeping operation in eastern Congo have been powerless to cut off the rebels' prodigious sources of funding...
...always dense, but seldom beautiful. The polysyllabic scientific terms, forgotten place names, and global cultural figures with which Alexander litters his opus ensure that the poetry is characterized by mechanical coldness, not joy or pathos. At one point, the narrator describes himself as “stunningly wrought powerless by my sudden lexical commingling.” It is a moment of wonderfully unintentional irony...