Private-equity nabobs bristle at being dubbed mere financiers.[…]Much of their pleading is public-relations bluster. Clever financial ploys are what have made billionaires of the industry’s veterans. “Operational improvement” in a portfolio company has often meant little more than promising colossal bonuses to sitting chief executives if they meet ambitious growth targets. That model is still prevalent today.

I was compelled to unmesmerize them and start again from the beginning.

There is a monument on the town green to the soldiers who died in World War I.

In its more harmless form, fauxtomation is merely a marketing ploy, a way to make pointless products seem cutting-edge.