While private sector businesses can be characterized by their versatility and creativity in the pursuit of revenue, governments tend to be sluggish, reactionary, and unchanging.

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That can be characterized by sort of an acute respiratory distress, such as difficulty in breathing, sweating, high temperature, and turning blue, basically, from lack of oxygen.

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AngloGold can be financially characterized by high cash generation, substantial reinvestment in long-term growth and the payment of significant dividends.

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While these discussions are often a useful forum for diplomacy, it is fair to say that these conversations can sometimes be stilted, characterized by predictable presentations rather than a spontaneous back-and-forth in which uncertainty can be expressed.

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And certainly this type of relationship can be very painful, characterized by bouts of blubbering to friends and of drinking too many Margaritas.

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The charges are the latest in what can only be characterized as an unprecedented effort by civil and criminal authorities to more aggressively combat insider trading.

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"Now courts are much better at recognizing how behavior can be anticompetitive even if it's characterized by a pro-competitive veneer, " Balto says.

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"Because the lake is generally warm and has a lot of moisture, we find that it generates this very big, what we call, convective potential energy, which generates a lot of cloudness and this unique nature of weather characterized by heavy thunderstorms which sometimes can be dangerous, " he explains.

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