Word: stiff
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Even when the authorities do act, stiff opposition from local representatives usually succeeds in frustrating those efforts. In Anhui province, for example, officials issued a rule that any project involving the expropriation of more than 20 mu (about three acres or 1.3 hectares) had to be approved by the provincial authorities. But, as Chen notes, in 10 years since its implementation the law hasn't been enforced once. "The central government has issued lots of good policies," Chen says, "but the local governments need help to implement them." That's why he and others such as the rural activist...
...common in this social set, writes Ballard, with children often treated as "an appendage to their parents, somewhere between the servants and an obedient Labrador." He claims these were happy days, yet time and again he mourns, without rancor, the lack of parental warmth, which he blames on the stiff formalities of the British middle classes of the time. "The vistas of polished furniture," he writes, "turned a family home into a deserted museum, with a few partly colonised rooms where people slept alone, read and bathed alone, and hung their clothes in their private wardrobes along with their emotions...
...tone was even harsher from Merkel's aides and leaders of the other political parties, many of whom called for stiff jail sentences for those convicted of tax evasion. "It would be unbearable if, in the end, deals were made instead of putting people on trial," said Kurt Beck, chairman of the Social Democrats, junior partner in the federal government coalition...
...another 12 in the slalom the following afternoon. Kinner’s performance in the GS proved impressive in Friday’s stacked results, as his time of 1:56.9 placed him in the 26th position, but was a mere 2.6 seconds off the leader. Although competition was stiff, Kinner’s teammates finished not far behind in the slalom. Freshman Brad Alvarez, sophomore Samuel Harrison, and freshman Alec Boardman landed spots 40, 41 and 42, respectively. On the women’s side of the Alpine races, freshman Margie Thorp came on strong, finishing first for Harvard...
...appeared to confirm the status of Day-Lewis, Bardem and Christie as front-runners for their respective Oscar awards. Dee was a sentimental favorite among the membership: Ossie Davis, her actor husband of 57 years and another lion for racial equality, died two years ago. But she still has stiff competition from Cate Blanchett, who impersonated Bob Dylan in I'm Not There, and Amy Ryan, multi-award-winner as the rotten mom in Gone Baby Gone...