Publicly, a number of premiers have been hostile about the national energy guarantee, particularly South Australia's Jay Weatherill, who has urged federal Labor to hold the line against the policy, but Turnbull suggested state leaders were adopting a more conciliatory tone in private.
Critics were hostile about his attempts to bring a flavour of the Baracke (and some of its productions) into such a hallowed space; one doubted whether he was even capable of directing the "classic texts … staged with an encyclopedic background and superior taste" that were expected.
Repeatedly, she said, they have been hostile about her work.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency is trying to prepare for bigger floods even as the White House is hostile to talking about climate change.
Business leaders have been hostile to conjecture about an outright nationalization of Tokyo Electric, which has long been one of the bluest of Japan's blue-chip companies and plays a central role in business groups.
Instead, sympathize, try to be objective in pointing out things you have noticed without being hostile or righteous about it.
One hurdle Mr. Kirkpatrick faced: the "distrust" many Christian conservatives have for the mainstream media because "they think that big-city journalists are hostile to or dubious about their values". Conservative ministers being interviewed would often ask about Mr. Kirkpatrick's personal faith.
In the past, Apple executives had been hostile in their remarks about companies they believed were copying their innovations.
But, he said in an interview, "there is no way that any candidate can get the presidential nomination if there is a perception that the candidate is hostile to voters concerned about the breakdown of values".
"She was hostile to any question about human rights in her country," Williams told me, recalling how a young Burmese activist had been dismayed after Suu Kyi stormed out of the meeting.
