calvisson-leblon

  Without horses, English and a pair of scissors, Coco Chanel (1883-1971) would never have been the successful entrepreneur and the fashion icon she is hailed today.   In her early life in Auvergne, she dated a rich cavalry officer and learned to ride and love horses.   As a matter of fact, the French “mettre le pied à l’ é trier (put one’s foot on the stirrup) means winning one’s spurs and getting started in life.   She was also a committed Anglophile, she opened her business horizon by learning to speak and write English, an uncommon feat for a female orphan from central France.   Last but not least, Coco had always a pair of scissors hanging from her neck.   She neither sketched nor designed her clothes (she could not draw), instead, a model was made based on her recommendations.   Since it seldom pleased her, she took her scissors to remodel it to her taste in an act of destructive fitting.   She also enjoyed to cut down to size her rivals ...

“Give them bread and circuses and they will never revolt”, wrote Juvenal, a farsighted poet of Ancient Rome.   Kings, emperors, political leaders, and autocrats of many hues have used this pork-barrel stratagem to keep peace and stay in power. Wheat to make bread is no longer distributed in the streets of Rome.   Now, in Italy and in a large number of countries, it has been replaced by more sophisticated welfare handouts like food stamps.   Consequently, these social benefits have become entitlements.   During the Roman Republic, Ludi romana were public games which took place in circuses.   Initially religious offerings quickly morphed into political events paid by rich sponsors intended to share their wealth with the populus or politicians who sought forgiveness from them.   Brutus, Julius Caesar’s assassin, organized annual games to endear himself to the Romans.   He was soon upstaged by the grandiose games sponsored by Octavian/Augustus to celebr...