With the awards ceremony two weeks away, Mr. Jackson expressed his dismay over the cutbacks in a letter to Neil Portnow, the president of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, and raised the possibility of protests.
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal in January, the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, expressed confidence in his rule, which he said represented the people, and dismissed the possibility of protests.
Unemployment is at historic lows and disposable incomes are unlikely to slide between now and October (although the possibility of protests at the World Cup may provide a focus for discontent).
At the last minute, however, Beijing postponed the visit indefinitely; according to an official quoted by AFP, the delay had to do with security concerns, specifically the "possibility of protests from Tibetan exiles".
"I don't think we're going to [make a difference] but it would be hypocritical if we didn't say something," she said, ruling out the possibility of protesting at the Examination Schools, where the vote is being held.
The crowd gathered a day after the embassy warned Americans in a posting on its Web site, "In the wake of recent events in Libya and Egypt, there is the possibility of protests in Yemen, and specifically in the vicinity of the U.S. Embassy, in the coming days".
In addition, there were numerous security threats in the buildup to the Games, as well as political unrest in nearby Ukraine, and the June 2013 passage of an antihomosexuality bill in the Russian parliament raised the possibility of protests derailing the Olympics.
When a rumor spread that the Cortland v Ithaca football game was going to be canceled because of the possibility of protests, many became furious and some even took to social media to post anonymous death threats against those who would dare to disrupt their sacred game.
In 2012, Mr McCluskey was heavily criticised for raising the possibility of protests during the Olympics with the Conservatives describing him as "unpatriotic".
The U.S. Embassy in Cairo, which was closed to the public for two weeks due to the unrest, reopened Monday but with a warning that the possibility of protests in the area remained.
