Word: formulaic
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Risk is a thriller about Liz Carlyle, a plucky young agent in MI5 (Britain's equivalent of the FBI) who spars with a roguish male sidekick while chasing a bomb-toting Islamic terrorist and his "invisible" (blond, British and female) co-conspirator. The book follows the standard spy-novel formula, though the formula works with surprising elegance--perhaps because its author, Stella Rimington, is a former director general of MI5 who spent 30 years foiling the plots of baddies from Russia, the Middle East and Northern Ireland. Rimington was the duty officer the night a Bulgarian émigré died...
...State of the Union address, Bush cited four types of benefit cuts that are "on the table." One under serious consideration is changing the formula for calculating initial benefits, basing them on inflation rather than faster-rising wages. What this technical-sounding change would mean is smaller Social Security checks. For instance, according to a 2002 analysis by the chief actuary's office at Social Security, a 38-year-old earning $35,000 would now expect to receive $1,343 a month when she retires at 65, but with indexing to inflation, that benefit would drop 18.2%, meaning she would...
Congress recently altered the formula used to calculate the federal financial aid required for each student, a change which will likely take 80,000 to 90,000 students off the Pell Grant list...
...called Lab21, headquartered in Stony Brook, N.Y., creates individually formulated products based on a quantitative genetic test. Customers take an at-home DNA test (by swabbing the inside of their cheek) and answer a questionnaire about the health of their skin. Lab21's SkinProfiler System then creates a custom formula to treat specific conditions--for example, acne, redness or aging. Prices range from $80 for 2.5 oz. of antioxidant fluid with SPF to $600 for a complete custom skin-care line including face cream, eye cream and cleanser. For more information, visit lab21.com
...will the new government tame the insurgency? Senior Iraqi leaders say Allawi's formula of tough talk, backed by U.S. military might, will give way to a more conciliatory approach. The consensus among leading politicians is that the only way to bring the Sunnis back into the political fold is to try to negotiate an end to the resistance. "This is the minimum we need to do in order to deal with the security situation," says Tawfiq al-Yasseri, general secretary of the secular National Democratic Coalition...