Could they not move elsewhere, to new kinds of work in less harsh regions?

ECONOMIST: Bolivia

As the pope learned in Turkey, the Ottoman treatment of minorities was less harsh than that of some Christian regimes.

ECONOMIST: Islam and Christianity

Mr Cao will hope that on November 2nd New Orleanians will be less harsh in their assessment of his time in office.

ECONOMIST: The only Vietnamese-American in Congress faces defeat

The 217-page report was far less harsh in its assessment of what went wrong than a similar report last week by a committee from the House of Representatives.

NPR: White House Unveils Disaster-Response Measures

This is because they are pragmatic and have known for some time now that grey is softer and more versatile than navy blue, more flattering than black and less harsh than white.

WSJ: Tina Gaudoin on Style: Twenty Five Shades of You Know What��

While the game of politics has become highly partisan and divisive, the political parties' foreign and domestic policies tend to be more idealistic than they used to be, less harsh and punitive, tending to the conciliatory and therapeutic.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: The past, and the present

But clearly, for the chancellor, the debate also has an added political benefit: the more the focus is on what the Bank of England can or should do to revive the economy, the less that harsh spotlight may fall upon him.

BBC: The Bank of England, the chancellor, and the target

The genius in the ad seems marginally less annoying than the real Apple geniuses giving you attitude behind the bar at retail stores, but critics have been harsh.

FORBES: Connect