Yet if Mr Rumsfeld is out of the woodshed, he is not out of the woods.

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But as so often happens in sports, conventional wisdom got taken to the woodshed.

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It was time to woodshed, time to build an audience through constant, intense performance in clubs, small theatres, and university gyms.

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So, companies that reduce their dividend to avoid needless taxation of their shareholders are taken out to the woodshed for their actions.

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After the markets fell back in July, the favourite tales changed: the recent talk has been of something nasty in the woodshed.

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Alas, it couldn't fit through the door of the woodshed Ford was using for a garage, so he used an ax to smash his way out.

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And now for my woodshed moment with US Attorney Bharara.

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It is kind of in its fifth base, which you know, it could be extended, but the market, in my opinion, has been rewarding the winners and really taking everybody else to the woodshed.

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If there does turn out to be something nasty in the woodshed, his enemies will brand him as complacent or, worse, claim plausibly that his chosen image of prudence and iron resolve was a fake.

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Tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins heard the new sound, propelled by bassist Charlie Haden and drummer Ed Blackwell, and went back to the woodshed to retool his music, excising the piano and guitar and featuring the work of trumpeter Don Cherry, Ornette's perennial sidekick.

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