Bread and circuses kept the mob quiet in a declining Roman Empire. We take a slightly different approach today in the US to achieve the same end. The government expands the food stamp program, while a major drug company gives out some free prescription drugs to the unhappy masses—including Pfizer's recently announced plan to dispense the ED drug Viagra at no cost to the recently unemployed. That should keep the proles pacified—at least for awhiie...

The Prole Pacification Poem

My days aren't full,
My job prospects are null,
I get grief from my spouse,
'Cause I mope 'round the house.
Viagra. 

With finances a wreck,
I've lost self-respect,
You've got things to prove,
When you've lost the work groove.
Viagra.

All of Geithner's new tricks,
My well being ain't fixed,
For an atitude riser,
I now look to Pfizer.
Viagra!

*****

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"Nowadays, you can't turn on the TV without some talking head telling you about the economy. Yet, in a world overrun by 'analysts,' only one man has the guts, the brains, and, quite frankly, the poetry to put it all in perspective.That man is Michael Silverstein... Silverstein is a true intellectual." — Gersh Kuntzman, The New York Post

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