• NEGOTIATIONS ARE GOING NOWHERE on a permanent peace agreement between warring factions. One labels the other obstructionist and stubborn. The other complains of "a history of bad blood between us."
• Both labor and management representatives balk at yielding on even one item in a proposed settlement. Each feels the other has done or said things that have "poisoned the relationship."
• Pollutants are building up in an ecosystem. Partisans are at loggerheads about both the causes and solutions. It's clear, though, that plants, animals, and human beings are suffering the consequences.
