Argentina responded with a stiff protest note that criticized Britain's "anachronistic imperialist ambitions that hark back to ancient practices".
That could be anything from nuclear war to a stiff diplomatic protest.
At the end of today's Israeli cabinet meeting, the cabinet secretary, Gideon Saar, read out a stiff note of protest directed at President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt for "personal attacks" on Mr. Sharon.
The shift from organised protest towards disorganised rebellion has put Mr Sarkozy's determination not to back down to its stiffest test yet.The routine protests this week were mostly peaceful, even festive.
But the Arab spring was met with stiff resistance in Syria, where protests were brutally put down by Bashar Assad's regime, resulting in 5,000 deaths so far.In Libya Muammar Qaddafi caused a civil war after he tried to crush an opposition movement that spread from Benghazi.
The sentences handed down today followed those imposed recently by another judge, who began meting out stiffer jail terms in May for protests on Vieques.
But lawmakers didn't stop the IRS or the courts from imposing stiff penalties on those who make traditional protest arguments or take other positions that the IRS deems to be "frivolous".
The risks became starker when 50,000 people, mostly students, marched through the Whitehall government district on Wednesday to protest education spending cuts and the stiff increase in college tuition.
Unemployed youths in suburban Paris and elsewhere many of whom were immigrants or the children of immigrants engaged in periodic rioting to protest their plight and were met with stiff (and popular) police resistance.
Mass protests erupted, forcing the government to respond with stiffer penalties.
