23 November 2012

presumptive

[pri-zuhmp-tiv]
adjective
1. affording ground for presumption: presumptive evidence.
2. based on presumption: a presumptive title.
3. regarded as such by presumption; based on inference.
4. Embryology . pertaining to the part of an embryo that, in the course of normal development, will predictably become a particular structure or region.

Example sentence:

We are not so presumptive as to prescribe what needs to be done.

Today’s aphorism

If aliens visit us, the outcome would be much as when Columbus landed in America, which didn’t turn out well for the Native Americans.

– Stephen Hawking

On this day

23 November 1859 – birth of William H. Bonney aka Billy ‘The Kid’. American outlaw. Legend has it that he killed 21 men, although historians believe it may have been between 4 and 9 men. He was shot dead by Sheriff Pat Garrett around 14 July 1881. Some conspiracy theorists believe that Bonney did not get shot that day, but that Garrett staged the shooting so that Billy ‘The Kid’ could escape.

23 November 2012 – ‘Black Friday’ sales extravaganza. The Friday immediately following Thanksgiving Day is known as Black Friday in the U.S.A. It marks the beginning of the Christmas shopping season and is one of the biggest retail sales days on the calendar, often resulting in stampedes as stores opens their doors. Ironically, after spending Thanksgiving giving thanks for what they have, people spend the next day trampling each other in an effort to buy things they don’t have, and likely don’t need.