It runs the risk of feeling like all the cheap stuff you get on the back-end channels of digital cable.

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There are two possible explanations for this tightening: lenders and borrowers are feeling exceptionally risk-averse, or regulators are forcing banks to be too cautious in building up capital and liquidity for a rainy day.

BBC: The Bank's push to ease credit

The findings suggest that, for some, wearing a helmet is less about calculating risk, and more about having a way of feeling safer in situations that feel risky - whether or not it actually would make them safer.

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The intelligence findings follow Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff statement on Wednesday that he has a "gut feeling" that the United States faces a heightened risk of attack this summer.

NPR: Intelligence Report Says al-Qaida Gaining Strength

Too high tax rates are an economic killer because they create a confiscatory feeling that kills off any incentive for work, gain or risk.

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Oswell said wearing flip-flops can be seriously detrimental for people whose feet are already at risk: For people with diabetes, who often have poor circulation and feeling in their feet, wearing flip-flops can expose them not only to injury but to infection.

CNN: Flip-flops present feet with a painful problem

It should not be about risk factor reduction and fear of dying, but about joy of living and feeling better.

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But those kinds of decisions would mean taking a risk, especially since it seems deep down many of those chief executives are not feeling so confident about the economy.

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Gold has slid so far this year, with many investors feeling more comfortable about the economy and willing to turn to so-called risk assets, including the broader equity market, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average repeatedly hitting record highs in recent sessions.

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