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> Firebrand politics extinguished with water. In a sense this is a response to "Fire brand politics," but it appears to be a fully developed technique none the less. It involves responding to anger with quiet calm and kind words. If it has a character of its own it would be called compromise. Buying the opponent off is approved. J. Useem names this strategy, but was perhaps unaware of the wider significance, For him the phrase pertained to "a small time official who use his authority for his own benefit but shrewdly avoids being detected by superiors." I think that most Palauan political leaders would agree that any political tactitian,knowingly using the strategy of his training, would expect to accomplish as much. |
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> Jelling of the fruit. Coconut syrup, collected from the stem of the cut flower, is boiled to make it thick. The weather in August is spoken of as being extra hot in order to bring fruit to its final stage of ripeness for harvest. |
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> You're like a floating log without a resting place. You have no fixed abode. |
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> Like the bathing of the terriid. The terriid, a bird, takes a quick splash bath, hardly a complete bathing. The idiom applies to a ducking one may get when a boat swamps, or to a wetting with spray. More generally, it is applied to a task done with haste rather than with care. It can be applied also to a brief acquaintance. |
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> Aiming at the ground and missing? From a folk tale in which the hero rebukingly challenges another to aim his spear at the ground to see if he can hit it.The saying may be applied to a situation where a person of ability is expected to succeed at a task with ease, whereas others have failed. |
