Word: rile
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...issue is so certain to rile the normally subdued Swedes as taxes. With reason. The average Swedish worker must turn over about half of his earnings to finance the cradle-to-grave welfare society, and for the self-employed the tax bite frequently exceeds 85% of income. Historian Sven Stolpe was so disgusted by his tax assessment that he threatened to burn all his unpublished manuscripts. An actor even set himself ablaze last March outside Stockholm's tax office. But most Swedes have chosen a less extreme alternative: the ballot box. In 1976 they turned out the Social Democratic...
Wisconsin Democratic Congressman Henry Reuss similarly badgered Stockman for not proposing an end to the tobacco subsidies (even some White House aides admit these were protected partly not to rile conservative Senator Jesse Helms of North Carolina), interest deductions for vacation homes, and the oil depletion allowance. Reuss even asked about a $37 million program for roads in national parks and wilderness areas. Replied Stockman in a revealing aside about the scale of Government spending: "That may be an item we missed. The computers at OMB are programmed to round off at $50 million...
...collection that is at the heart of the scientific process. Nor has he come close to the kind of breakthrough work that wins Nobel Prizes. But he more than compensates with other significant talents. He has a penchant for asking provocative questions. Sometimes, as Sagan fully concedes, this can rile others. But such prodding can inspire students and colleagues, lead to brilliant new insights and generally create a mood of intellectual excitement...
Bingham will admit that blown at-bats sometimes rile him excessively, but no one can call him a worrier. If he were a California, "mellow" might even be the word. With the exception of upcoming airplane trips, ("I hate flying," he says earnestly. "I just can't believe something that big can fly."), his lack of definite future plans seems not to bother him at all. He hopes to be drafted by the pros again, but says, "I'm not banking on baseball. I'd love to do it, and at this point I just don't have a contingency...
Despite attempts by other countries to rile our citizenry, Americans must make every effort to remain the beacon of liberty and justice in this repression-darkened world. Let us not sink to Iran's level by persecuting all Iranians...