22 June 2013

myopic

22 June 2013

myopic

[mahy-op-ik, -oh-pik]

adjective
1. Ophthalmology . pertaining to or having myopia; nearsighted.
2. unable or unwilling to act prudently; shortsighted.
3. lacking tolerance or understanding; narrow-minded.
Origin:
1790–1800; myop(ia) + -ic

Related forms
my·op·i·cal·ly, adverb
non·my·op·ic, adjective
non·my·op·i·cal·ly, adverb
un·my·op·ic, adjective

Today’s aphorism

‘When it comes to life the critical thing is whether you take things for granted or take them with gratitude’.

– G.K. Chesterton

On this day

22 June 1938 – death of C.J. Dennis, Australian poet (Songs of a Sentimental Bloke). Born 7 September 1876. Note, that C.J. Dennis foretold email by about 90 years with his reference to ‘ethergrams thro’ space’ which appears in ‘The Stoush of Day‘, in ‘The Sentimental Bloke‘.

21 June 2013

prudent

[prood-nt]

adjective

1. wise or judicious in practical affairs; sagacious; discreet or circumspect; sober.
2. careful in providing for the future; provident: a prudent decision.

Origin:
1350–1400; Middle English < Latin prūdent- (stem of prūdēns ), contraction of prōvidēns provident

Related forms
pru·dent·ly, adverb
non·pru·dent, adjective
non·pru·dent·ly, adverb
pre·pru·dent, adjective
pre·pru·dent·ly, adverb

Can be confused: prudent, prudential.

Synonyms
1. sensible. 2. economical, thrifty, frugal.

Today’s aphorism

‘If there is some corner of the world which has remained peaceful, but with a peace based on injustices the peace of a swamp with rotten matter fermenting in its depths – we may be sure that that peace is false. Violence attracts violence. Let us repeat fearlessly and ceaselessly: injustices bring revolt, either from the oppressed or from the young, determined to fight for a more just and more human world’.

― Hélder Câmara

On this day

21 June 1953 – birth of Benazir Bhutto, elected Prime Minister of Pakistan in 1988, becoming the first female leader of a Muslim country. She was dismissed as Prime Minister in 1996 amid accusations of corruption. She went into exile, living in the United Arab Emirates. In 2007, against the orders of President Musharraf, she returned to Pakistan to contest the 2008 election. She was assassinated at a rally on 27 December 2007.

21 June 1964 – Three civil rights activists (James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, Michael Schwerner) disappear in Mississippi while investigating an allegation that the Ku Klux Klan had burned down an African-American church. Their bodies were discovered six weeks later. In 1966, seven Ku Klux Klan members were found guilty of the murders, while eight others were found not guilty, including Edgar Ray ‘Preacher’ Killen who was retried in 2005 and found guilty.

21 June 2001 – death of John Lee Hooker, American blues guitarist.

21 June 2005 – Edgar Ray ‘Preacher’ Killen, former Ku Klux Klansman, is found guilty of manslaughter for his part in the 1964 killing of three civil rights activists and sentenced to 60 years imprisonment.

20 June 2013

sagacious

[suh-gey-shuhs]

adjective

1. having or showing acute mental discernment and keen practical sense; shrewd: a sagacious lawyer.
2. Obsolete . keen of scent.

Origin:
1600–10; sagaci(ty) + -ous

Related forms
sa·ga·cious·ly, adverb
sa·ga·cious·ness, noun
qua·si-sa·ga·cious, adjective
qua·si-sa·ga·cious·ly, adverb
su·per·sa·ga·cious, adjective

Synonyms
1. wise, sage, discerning, clever, intelligent, judicious, acute, sharp, keen, perspicacious.

Antonyms
1. unwise.

Today’s aphorism

If you are depressed you are living in the past. If you are anxious, you are living in the future. If you are at peace, you are living in the present.

– Lao Tzu

On this day

20 June – World Refugee Day – to raise awareness of the plight of refugees across the globe. Refugee Week is held Sunday to Saturday of the week that includes 20 June.

20 June 1864 – birth of Worm Pander, sculptor. Died 6 September 1919 … … no relation to this site’s Panda Man …

20 June 1909 birth of Errol Flynn, Australian-born American actor. Died 14 October 1959.

20 June 1966 – The Beatles release their ‘Yesterday and Today’ album with the controversial ‘butcher cover’. The Beatles appeared on the cover wearing white smocks and covered with decapitated baby dolls and pieces of meat. Some people took offense to this and the cover was withdrawn and replaced with something a little more savoury.

20 June 2001 – General Pervez Musharraf establishes himself as both President and Chief Executive of Pakistan. He had come to power as Chief Executive following a coup d’état in 1999.

19 June 2013

hot-spur

[hot-spur]

noun

– an impetuous or reckless person; a hothead.

Origin:
1425–75; late Middle English; after Sir Henry Percy, to whom it was applied as a nickname

Related forms
hot·spurred, adjective

Today’s aphorism

These three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon and the truth.

– Buddha

On this day

19 June 1623 – birth of Blaise Pascal, controversial French mathematician, physicist, inventor and writer. Formulated ‘Pascal’s Triangle’, a tabular presentation for binomial coefficients, challenged Aristotle’s followers who claimed that ‘nature abhors a vacuum’. The computer programming language, ‘Pascal’, is named in his honour.

19 June 1945 – birthday of Aung San Suu Kyi, Burmese politician, activist and Nobel Peace Prize Recipient.

19 June 1978 – The original Grumpy Cat, Garfield, first appears in newspaper comic strips in the USA.

18 June 2013

appose

[uh-pohz]
verb (used with object), ap·posed, ap·pos·ing.

1. to place side by side, as two things; place next to; juxtapose.
2. to put or apply (one thing) to or near to another.

Origin:
1585–95; by analogy with compose, propose, etc. < Latin appōnere to place near, set alongside, equivalent to ap- ap-1 + pōnere to place

Related forms
ap·pos·a·bil·i·ty, noun
ap·pos·a·ble, adjective
ap·pos·er, noun
non·ap·pos·a·ble, adjective
un·ap·pos·a·ble, adjective

Example:

The stent is thin, flexible and expands to appose the vessel wall.

Today’s aphorism

Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply.

– Stephen Covey

On this day

18 June 1942 – birth of Paul McCartney, member of The Beatles and his writing partnership with John Lennon made them one of the world’s most successful song-writing duos. After the break-up of the Beatles, McCartney went on to have a successful solo career. He was knighted in 1997.

17 June 2013

vituperation

[vahy-too-puh-rey-shuhn, -tyoo-, vi-]

noun

– verbal abuse or castigation; violent denunciation or condemnation, e.g. ‘The besieged politician has endured months of vituperation from the media’.
Origin:
1475–85; < Latin vituperātiōn- (stem of vituperātio ), equivalent to vituperāt ( us ) (see vituperate) + -iōn- -ion

Synonyms
censure, vilification, spite, scolding, defamation, aspersion.

Antonyms
praise.

Today’s aphorism

Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are.

– Benjamin Franklin

On this day

17 June 1958 – birth of Jello Biafra (born Eric Reed Boucher), American musician and spoken word artist, was lead singer of the San Francisco punk rock band, Dead Kennedys.

16 June 2013

zugzwang

[tsook-tsvahng]
noun Chess.

– a situation in which a player is limited to moves that cost pieces or have a damaging positional effect.

-a situation in which any move or option chosen, will be bad.

Origin:
1900–05; < German, equivalent to Zug move + Zwang constraint, obligation

Example sentence:

The company restructure presented staff with a zugzwang in which they would either keep their jobs and accept lower pay, or leave their jobs and be made redundant.

Today’s aphorism

What is done is love, is well done.

– Vincent van Gogh

On this day

16 June 1961 – Soviet ballet dancer, Rudolf Nureyev defects to the West. Soviet Leader Nikita Khrushchev allegedly issued an order for Nureyev to be killed, which did not eventuate.

16 June 1967 – The Monterey Pop Festival is held over three days at Monterey, California. Over 200,000 people attended to experience performers such as Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jefferson Airplane, The Who, The Byrds, The Animals and The Grateful Dead.

15 June 2013

quisling

[kwiz-ling]

noun

– a person who betrays his or her own country by aiding an invading enemy, often serving later in a puppet government; fifth columnist.

Origin:
1940; after Vidkun Quisling (1887–1945), pro-Nazi Norwegian leader

Today’s aphorism

The enemy is fear. We think it is hate, but it is fear.

– Gandhi.

On this day

15 June 1920 – a 5000-strong mob in Minnesota lynches three African-American who were convicted of the rape of a 17 year old white woman.

15 June 1946 – birth of Noddy Holder, British musician and singer. Holder was the lead singer with 1970′s glam rock band, Slade, which was famous for songs such as ‘Mama Weer All Crazee Now’, ‘Cum On Feel The Noize’, ‘Gudbuy T’ Jane’, and ‘Skweeze Me Pleeze Me’. Their second studio album, ‘Slayed’, spent 34 weeks at Number 1 in the UK. In 2000 Holder was awarded an MBE for his services to spelling.

14 June 2013

fag end

noun

1. the last part or very end of something: the fag end of a rope.
2. the unfinished end of a piece of cloth; remnant.

Origin:
1605–15

Example:

I belong to the fag-end of Victorian liberalism, and can look back to an age whose challenges were moderate in their tone, and the cloud on whose horizon was no bigger than a man’s hand.

– E.M. Forster

Today’s aphorism

The best way to find yourself, is to lose yourself in the service of others.

– Gandhi

On this day

14 June 1928 – birth of Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara, Argentinian Marxist revolutionary, physician, author. Executed 9 October 1967 on the order of Bolivian President Rene Barrientos.

14 June 1982 – Argentina surrenders to Great Britain after the six week Falkland’s War.

14 June 2007 – Former Ku Klux Klan member, 71 year old James Seale is found guilty of a number of charges related to the 1964 murder of two civil rights activists in Mississippi. He was sentenced to three life terms of imprisonment. His conviction was overturned the following year, before being reinstated. He died in prison in 2011.

13 June 2013

Efficient breach

A legal and economic theory which postulates that there are occasions when voluntarily breaching a contract and paying damages as a result, is more efficient, or will incur less cost, than fulfilling the terms of the contract.

Today’s aphorism

When there is no enemy within, the enemies outside cannot hurt you.

– African proverb

On this day

13 June 1944 – Germany launches 10 of its new rockets, known as the V1 (also called a doodlebug or buzz bomb). The V1s were pilot-less, pulse-jet-propelled rockets with a one ton payload with a 500km range. The Germans rained V1s over London. The V1 was an early version of the Cruise Missile.

13 June 1991 – Boris Yeltsin becomes Russia’s first democratically elected President following the end of the Soviet Union.