They use their clout with the centre to go soft on corruption cases involving their leaders.

BBC: Is India's federal spirit weakening?

"If India continues to go soft on Bangladesh, the time might come when border villagers in the region would be forced to take up arms and go underground to defend themselves, " Manik Syiem, a resident of the Indian border state of Meghalaya, said.

BBC: Indian anger over soldiers' deaths

But many Americans get much more riled about elitist liberals than they do about elitist Republicans particularly if those liberals embrace the teachers' unions while sending their own children to private schools, or go soft on crime while making sure that they live in the safest bits of town.

ECONOMIST: How would the White House attack John Forbes Kerry?

The proposals on sugary soft drinks will go to New York's Board of Health in June for a final decision.

BBC: New York mayor proposes ban on big sugary drinks

Billy has the kind of looks I used to go for a couple of years ago, when I was about fifteen: soulful and soft, with absolutely no hair on his chest.

NEWYORKER: Natalie