Word: flatterer
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...surgeons made a sideways slice through the cornea's outermost layers, leaving one side attached, and carefully lifted the flap of tissue out of the way. In nearsighted patients, an invisible beam of laser light then trimmed away layers of tissue from the center of the cornea, producing a flatter curve. In farsighted patients, the beam scooped out a doughnut-shaped ring that resulted in a steeper curve. Then the doctors lifted the flap back into place. After a few minutes of drying, it rebonded with the rest of the cornea. Because tissue destruction is minimal, there's little healing...
...celebs--everyone, he has said, "from abba to Zadora"--to deliver on award shows, concert tours and the TV talk circuit. He has written for the past nine Oscar fests, and for the Tonys, Grammys, Emmys--any outlet for the entertainment industry's endless need to taunt and flatter itself. When stars are booked for a big benefit, or for Leno or Letterman, they cry, Get Bruce! Which is also the title of Andrew J. Kuehn's fond, zippy new documentary about the Bruce who, on the Hollywood circuit, is the real Boss...
...short step from a late-night joke about CBS chief Les Moonves to the name dropping that has become easy punch-line fodder on even bland fare like Movie Stars ("Any movie where you throw Jeff Goldblum down a flight of stairs is a good movie"). These references flatter us by confirming that we're the sort of hipsters who would knowingly chuckle at them, that we're the quality audience for quality shows, unlike Hollywood's ordinary pap--an argument tailored to the upscale demographics that programmers covet. What's more, insiderism appeals to, well, insiders, which means attention...
...McCain's reform plan to resonate with grass-roots Republicans, he must pitch it in explicitly conservative terms. "You're never going to get a simpler, flatter tax code unless you reform the way we finance our campaigns," McCain says. "And you're never going to get rid of pork-barrel spending and make government smaller until you remove the special interests that dominate our political process." Sources close to McCain say he and his co-sponsor, Democrat Russ Feingold of Wisconsin, will threaten to bring Senate business to a halt this month unless G.O.P. leaders bring up the bill...
This turnabout points up a broad trend in the market. Dare I say it? New-economy firms are out of favor. Since March 31, the smokestack-vintage Dow Jones industrial average has risen 1,000 points, while the tech-laden nasdaq has gone flatter than steel slab. In that period aluminum maker Alcoa rose a shiny 55% and joined heavy industrials such as 3M and Phelps-Dodge in posting heady gains. Tech wonders, including Cisco, Microsoft and Intel, floundered...