Word: spasm
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This latest spasm of political instability has spooked investors, sending Thailand's stock market down nearly 20% since late May. The index had already been a lackluster performer, with the country still recovering from the aftermath of the September 2006 military coup that unseated elected Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. A billionaire tycoon who is generally loved by the poor and reviled by the rich, Thaksin was charged with corruption and his party was disbanded. On Wednesday, the first of many cases against Thaksin got underway in Bangkok, just as other courts were busy issuing rulings that dealt body blows...
...When you deprive your body of oxygen, it is only a matter of time before your carbon dioxide levels build, triggering a reflex that will cause your breathing muscles - including the diaphragm and the muscles between the ribs - to spasm. The pain of these spasms is what causes most people to gulp for breath after just a couple of minutes. When holding your breath underwater, however, you have a bit of mammalian evolution on your side. When humans are submerged in cold water, our bodies instinctively prepare to conserve oxygen, much in the way that dolphins' and whales' bodies...
...spasm of fear and frustration, the adults fire back at a moving target. Last week politicians went after the tormentors: in Washington State the senate passed a law requiring school officials to investigate--and notify parents about--incidents of bullying on their campuses. Police went after negligent parents: in Indianapolis, Calvin and Shawnee Sistrunk were charged with felony neglect after their six-year-old daughter arrived at kindergarten with a loaded handgun. She wanted to show it to her friends. The culture cracked down on itself: on Friday night KGTV, an ABC affiliate in San Diego, televised the memorial service...
Over the last month, Kenya was gripped by the kind of fever usually seen only when a Mega Millions lottery jackpot creeps past the $100 million range. In the aftermath of the country's violent political spasm, the mania was perceived as a sure bet on prosperity: the initial public offering of East Africa's most profitable company, the mobile phone service provider Safaricom...
Despite a grisly spasm of violence in the days leading up to the elections, Pakistanis lined up at the polls this morning to cast their votes in an election with possibly grave consequences. In theory, the polling could bring an end to the rule of President Pervez Musharraf. In practice, if the vote is seen as fraudulent, it could trigger a repeat of the mayhem that greeted news of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's assassination on December 27th...