rhyming weird insults

"the more we love our friends, the less we flatter them; it is by excusing nothing that pure love shows itself." /molière


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Barack Obama To Appear On "The Daily Show" Wednesday [via huffington post]

This will be Obama's fourth time on the show. He last appeared on April 21, the eve of the Democratic primary in Pennsylvania.
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Phony flier says Virginians vote on different days [via hamptonroads]

The somewhat official-looking flier - it features the state board logo and the state seal - is dated Oct. 24 and indicates that "an emergency session of the General Assembly has adopted the follwing (sic) emergency regulations to ease the load on local electorial (sic) precincts and ensure a fair electorial process."

The four-paragraph flier concludes with: "We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause but felt this was the only way to ensure fairness to the complete electorial process."
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mccain vs. obama dance-off: this is an impressively well-edited video. the drama and suspense are the sugarplums on this cake. [via]

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The Mysterious Cough, Caught on Film [via]

The process involves a small, bright light source, precisely placed lenses, a curved mirror, a razor blade that blocks part of the light beam and other tools that make it possible to see and photograph disturbances in the air. In the world of gas dynamics, a cough is merely “a turbulent jet of air with density changes.” Though coughs spread tuberculosis, SARS, influenza and other diseases, surprisingly little is known about them. “We don’t have a good understanding of the air flow,” Dr. Settles said.




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beautiful decay profiles marsha pels.




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via ny times:

Frequent Flier - Tired and Impatient? Keep Your Pants On

I do try and roll with whatever comes my way. But sometimes my brain morphs into mush from all the travel.

Google Settles Suit Over Book-Scanning Project

Under the settlement, which is subject to court approval, the money will be used to set up a book registry, resolve existing claims by authors and publishers and cover legal fees. Copyright holders will also be able to register their works and receive payment for book sales and use by individuals and for subscriptions by libraries. Revenue from those programs will be split between Google, the publishers and the authors. If approved, the settlement could expand online access to millions of in-copyright books available at libraries participating in Google’s Book Search program. The settlement left unresolved the question of whether Google’s unauthorized scanning of copyrighted books was permissible under copyright law.

Bracing for Bad Times, Operas and Orchestras Batten Down the Hatches

In addition to canceling “Pagliacci” next spring, the company is letting three employees go, giving up on a big Wagner production next year in favor of the less financially taxing “Don Giovanni” and doing without the final performance in an April run of Donizetti’s “Elixir of Love.” That performance had been scheduled to take place at the same time as a Final Four game of the N.C.A.A. basketball tournament, at nearby Ford Field. Management thinks it can make more money renting out its parking lot to fans.

“It hurts a lot,” said Tom O’Connor, the executive director of the Orchestras of Pasadena, which includes the symphony and the pops. “But I’ve been in the business almost 40 years. You just have to think imaginatively: how can we make sure music is always available to people in one form or another?”

A Rise in Kidney Stones Is Seen in U.S. Children

Forty to 65 percent of kidney stones are formed when oxalate, a byproduct of certain foods, binds to calcium in the urine. (Other common types include calcium phosphate stones and uric acid stones.) And the two biggest risk factors for this binding process are not drinking enough fluids and eating too much salt; both increase the amount of calcium and oxalate in the urine.

Excess salt has to be excreted through the kidneys, but salt binds to calcium on its way out, creating a greater concentration of calcium in the urine and the kidneys.

“What we’ve really seen is an increase in the salt load in children’s diet,” said Dr. Bruce L. Slaughenhoupt, co-director of pediatric urology and of the pediatric kidney stone clinic at the University of Wisconsin. He and other experts mentioned not just salty chips and French fries, but also processed foods like sandwich meats; canned soups; packaged meals; and even sports drinks like Gatorade, which are so popular among schoolchildren they are now sold in child-friendly juice boxes.

Crossword Puzzles - Wordplay Blog

Welcome, finally, to Wordplay, the newest blog at The New York Times. For those who don’t know me, I used to run an independent Web site called The JimH Crossword Blog. My strategy there was to let each puzzle suggest a theme for discussion, so topics ranged from crossword analysis and philosophy to solving strategies, from the serious to the ridiculous.
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via largeheartedboy:

The Line of Best Fit interviews Fred Nicolaus of Department of Eagles.

Do you read your own reviews? Do you generally read music magazines / websites etc (and if so, which?)

When it comes to reading about music in general, I do it a lot. I read Pitchfork, which I think is pretty much the paper of record when it comes to contemporary music, also some blogs, especially Gorilla Vs Bear, that guy is usually right about what’s interesting and what’s not. I read the music section of the New York Times, Spin, whatever. It’s all interesting on some level. I do sometimes read our reviews, I think you’re either a saint or a liar if you say you don’t, but it can get depressing pretty fast. I try to limit it.

The New York Observer interviews the "high priestess of Scandanavian pop," Lykke Li.

O2: There're a lot of different genres running through your record. There's hip-hop, there's pop, there's a little folk. Is there a single element that connects all of these songs for you, whether musically or thematically?

LL: It's me. I don't know why I should have to stick to one sound when I love all kinds of music. The thing [that pulls the album together] is my voice, and what I say, and honesty. And then I can go and do a techno song or a blues song. I don't want to define it or narrow it down 'cause I think it's really boring to label music. And I certainly don't want to get labeled either--I'm scared of that.
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a sampling of the results from a calvin and hobbes keyword search for "universe:"