Final Word from Friday, March 6, 2009
It's possible to have lived 20 years in the CR without ever having met a Communist. They've disappeared like ninjas. Not really, of course, but pollster Jan Hartl told Czech Radio that most Czechs stopped paying attention to the hated ex-Communists because they realized that every family, on average, had one of them amongst it. The great capitalist banksters ("banker" + "gangster") are now on a similar roller-coaster ride. After ruling the roost for years (like the pre-1990 Communists), they are now being cursed and spat upon like never before. The latest FT/Harris poll shows that 82% of Europeans think that investment and commercial bankers have "complete" or "a lot of" responsibility for the current crisis. If history is any guide, though, they too will soon disappear into the night without leaving a trace. Fleet-of-foot banksters are already rewriting their CVs to expunge their nefarious past.[Czech Repubic STEM KSČ Financial Times]
Glossary of difficult words
ninja - a person trained in traditional Japanese espionage techniques, characterized by stealthy movement and camouflage;
pollster - a person who conducts or analyzes opinion polls;
bankster - banker + gangster; used occasionally to refer to predatory elements within the financial-services industry;
roller-coaster ride - a period of wild and unpredictable change;
to rule the roost - to exercise complete control;
to curse - to use offensive words to express anger or annoyance;
fleet-of-foot/fleet-footed - nimble and fast on one's feet;
to expunge - to erase or remove completely;
nefarious - wicked or criminal.