It has been summoning the press to the White House for sweet-talking sessions with the president.

WSJ: Strassel: Is the Obama-Media Alliance Over?

Gazprom is now said to be sweet-talking the Poles into a long-term gas contract.

ECONOMIST: Russia, NATO and Europe

Yet even as Oxford managers were sweet-talking Wall Street, doctors and hospitals were complaining that their bills were not being paid.

ECONOMIST: Oxford Health Plans: The harder they fall | The

Publishing employee phone lists facilitates "social engineering" -- essentially sweet-talking secrets out of employees -- says Larry Watson, program manager for the FBI's Awareness of National Security Issues and Response unit.

CNN: Does your Web site reveal too much?

That should help keep Russia from bankruptcy in the coming months: as finance minister, Mr Zadornov had the job of sweet-talking international lenders, with some success, into bailing Russia out again.

ECONOMIST: A Russian shuffle

At the same time, the two foreign-led private-equity groups are busy sweet-talking Netcom, apparently offering the firm up to 50% of whatever assets they end up with more or less for nothing, thus diluting their own interests to minority status.

ECONOMIST: Telecoms