Word: shrewd
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...began to annex great swatches of the old Mogul Empire, England's soldiers and administrators unwittingly opened the way for a dramatic Hindu renaissance. The first British conquest was the vast state of Bengal, or what is now India's West Bengal state and East Pakistan. As shrewd and energetic traders, Bengal's Hindus had close ties with the British, and they naturally found positions in the new civil service. As British rule spread, so did the new Hindu elite. They became not only civil servants but also teachers, doctors, lawyers and engineers, landowners and financiers, writers...
...movie was directed by Noel Black, who several years back made a quirkish little black comedy called Pretty Poison. None of the shrewd, chilly humor present in that effort can be detected in Jennifer on My Mind. There are only two small bright moments: Peter Bonerz does a funny, lamentably brief turn as an unctuous psychiatrist. And Robert De Niro appears as a speed-freak gypsy cab driver who doesn't want to take Marcus to Oyster Bay. "Come up, see my sister instead," De Niro leers. Marcus declines, and as De Niro hurls his purple...
...project withdrawals well into the spring or early summer. To be sure, if Nixon extends the new, higher withdrawal rate past the end of January, U.S. force levels will be down to less than 50,000 by June. But he stopped short of announcing that, and it was a shrewd move. There remains only one more season for possible enemy attack between now and the 1972 elections, so that by not committing himself to a large, long-range figure now, he gives himself greater flexibility in meeting that military threat if it should arise. Also, as he sees...
Acting as compelling as that comes partly from shrewd instinct, partly from careful planning. Beverly, whose IQ is 155, reads voluminously into the backgrounds of her roles and thinks them through imaginatively. Behind her pigeon-toed bumpkin in the first act of Manon, for example, lies this Sills analysis: "She was born with a good bosom and a shock of unusual-colored hair, whatever the color. She probably has gone barefoot all week except Sundays. Mama has probably caught her in the hayloft with one of the farm hands and decided that this kid is too much...
Contrasted with the other Allies. Stalin played a shrewd and knowledgeable game. Ulam is at his best when he speculates about the Soviet leader's motives and plans. Only Stalin knew the extent of Russia's weakness. And by exploiting his opponents' fear and guilt, he was able to win his objectives, and more. Throughout his East European campaign, and particularly in Poland, Stalin mixed cunning, ruthlessness and masterful diplomacy to win the reins of power for pro-Russian communists...