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Quote from : Wikipedia : Bread and Circuses
"Bread and circuses" (or bread and games) (from Latin: panem et circenses) is a metaphor for a superficial means of appeasement.
In the case of politics, the phrase is used to describe the creation of public approval, not through exemplary or excellent public service or public policy, but through the mere satisfaction of the immediate, shallow requirements of a populace.
The phrase also implies the erosion or ignorance of civic duty amongst the concerns of the common man (l'homme moyen sensuel).
In modern usage, the phrase has become an adjective to deride a populace that no longer values civic virtues and the public life.
To many across the political spectrum, left and right, it connotes the triviality and frivolity that in popular culture is supposed to have characterized the Roman Empire prior to its decline.
Publishers Weekly : Amazon Review :
Entertaining, richly detailed and authoritatively narrated, Zacks's account of the life of legendary seaman William Kidd delivers a first-rate story.
Though Kidd, better known as Captain Kidd, was inextricably bound with piracy and has popularly gone down as a marauding buccaneer himself, Zacks (An Underground Education) argues that he was actually a mercenary backed by the English government and several New World investors to track down pirates and reclaim their stolen wares.
The book is cogent and replete with supporting evidence without the heavy-handed feel of some scholarly work.
What really sets the book apart is Zacks's gift as researcher and storyteller.
He highlights the role of an undeniable pirate, Robert Culliford, in Kidd's tale and pits the two men against each other from the outset, constructing his book as an intriguing duel.
Aside from the tightly constructed plot, Zacks also wonderfully evokes the social and political life of the 17th century at land and at sea, and he takes turns at debunking and validating pirate folklore: while it appears the dead giveaway of a skull and crossbones made it a rare flag choice, Zacks contends that pirates did often wear extravagant clothing and were as drunk, cursing, hungry, horny... and violent as myth would have them.
Augmented by such details and driven by a conflict between Kidd and Culliford that keeps the pages flying, Zacks's book is a treasure, indeed.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
Amazon Review :
Readers able to shoulder the technical Wall Street details that overburden this thriller set in the cut-throat world of investment banking will enjoy its bristling view of the mercenary side of moneymaking.
The acquisition of News/Worldweek, a conglomerate of American newspapers, magazines and TV stations, will give Marcel Bresson, a French publisher with a shadowy past and a secret agenda, unequaled media power.
Mergers and acquisitions specialist Jayson Lyman will make a fortune if he can structure Bresson's purchase, but Lyman, suspecting that his client isn't who he claims to be, is soon on a trail of money that leads inexorably to Russia.
With the help of an attractive Senate staffer (who doubles as sidekick and romantic interest), Lyman works to sabotage the deal from within.
While Aaron ( State Scarlet ) brings considerable knowledge of international finance to his second novel, the story's suspense is frequently lost in the miasma of monetary doubletalk delivered by its driven, humorless hero.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Originally posted by oozyism
reply to post by SpartanKingLeonidas
So does this mean the US is an organ of Israel?
Second line..
Originally posted by SpartanKingLeonidas
reply to post by HappilyEverAfter
I would not necessarily say they benefit in any sense of the word but I would agree they are used.