Word: figureheads
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After the failure of this summer's coup in Cyprus, the junta's last president, General Gizikis, invited Caramanlis to take over the collapsing government. Caramanlis retained Gizikis as a figurehead president and, in deference to public sentiment, finally exiled five other members of the junta--strong-man George Papadopoulos included--to the Aegean island of Kea. But his skittish attitude towards punishment of the leaders and instruments of dictatorship, including known torturers, has drawn sharp criticism from the opposition. He did gain credit as being independent of American influence--and soothed people's self-esteem--by taking Greece...
...geometrically muscular figurehead of this phenomenon was Bruce Lee, who fought with the grace of a ballet dancer and the contained fury of a one-man guerrilla army. His hands were like wedges, his feet flew like blades. With his flashing skill, though, came an edge of self-deprecation. He was sure enough of his own power to be casual about it. That quality made him not only indomitable but affable-a surefire combination for those who prefer their super-heroes to be approachable...
...first years on the throne, the Shah was generally considered a figurehead monarch who cared more for fast cars, fancy living and pretty women than for the tasks of kingship. That impression was reinforced by his failure to deal firmly with Premier Mossadegh during the 1950s, and by his ineffectual early struggles with the landowning "thousand families" who largely controlled his country. In 1950 he attempted unsuccessfully to force them to hand over their land to their peasants; the Shah set an example by deeding 450,000 acres of crown property to the 42,000 farmers who worked the royal...
...nola's resignation was the climax of a long-simmering struggle between the young officers of the Armed Forces Movement, the rebel group that toppled the Caetano regime, and the conservative general they had chosen as the figurehead leader of their revolution. Tension grew after Spínola made a bid last July for immediate elections, which he would almost certainly have won, thereby acquiring vastly enlarged powers. The officers rebuffed him, fearing that he was attempting to take over the revolution for himself. Lately, Spínola had begun making appeals to the "silent majority" to "awaken...
...Sometimes I Feel So Uninspired." Even worse, that concert tour was marked by the overshadowing of Stevie Winwood on organ by a part of the Muscle Shoals rhythm section and the omnipresent Rebop on bongos, congas, and other assorted skins. With Capaldi prancing about as the meaningless figurehead, one actually wondered if the Traffic known to millions had really existed...