Word: draconian
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...influential pastor of Saddleback Church in Southern California, author of best-selling book The Purpose Driven Life, has become an influential voice in several countries on the continent, including Rwanda, Kenya and Uganda. But that prominence has recently drawn him into controversy. When the Ugandan legislature began considering a draconian anti-homosexuality bill - which in one version would have punished "aggravated homosexuality" with death or life imprisonment - Warren was castigated for not denouncing the proposed law, especially when one of its most public supporters was revealed to have been a speaker at a Saddleback-sponsored seminar. The American preacher severed...
...many countries, economic reform can be a good thing. Even draconian changes to paper currency can help governments draw a line between "bad economic policies of the past, often after taming a hyperinflation," says Marcus Noland, an economist at Washington's Peterson Institute of International Economics. However, this being North Korea, one of the most repressive and impoverished nations in the world, that's not the case. The government announced that it would limit the amount an individual can exchange to just 100,000 won - or less than $40 at black-market exchange rates - and any amount above that threshold...
...insurgents have been punished for their crimes and wonder why the Thai authorities have not done a better job infiltrating militant cells. In turn, Muslims resent what they see as an official attitude that regards members of their religion as potential terrorists who must be suppressed by draconian emergency laws. Perceived discrimination against Muslims has so penetrated large segments of the population that it is likely feeding the radicalization of a new generation of extremists...
While the Chinese government has been criticized for its draconian public-health response to swine flu - using quarantines, canceling school and detaining entire planeloads of people when a single passenger appears to have flulike symptoms - the country's officials say the strict measures helped stem the spread of flu. So far, China reports about 36 deaths and 62,800 H1N1 cases - compared with U.S. government estimates of 4,000 American deaths and 22 million infections. China plans to immunize 65 million citizens, or 5% of the country's population, by the end of the year. As in the U.S., health...
...Three Mile Island incident in 1979, there has been a de facto moratorium on the construction on the construction of new nuclear plants in the United States. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is currently reviewing applications for 26 new reactors, none of which would be constructed before 2016. Hurdles include draconian environmental regulations, a shortage in the supply of nuclear components and qualified personnel, and the lack of willing investors.This status quo is unacceptable. Nuclear energy is far and away one of the most powerful weapons in our arsenal for cutting emissions. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, constructing...