primogeniture
Kate Middleton gave birth to her third child with Prince William this week. The boy, whose name has not been announced, is fifth in line for the British throne after his grandfather, his father, and his older brother and sister. Primogeniture is an old rule of kingly succession and a good thing to keep in mind when reading Shakespearean plays, which often deal with who gets the throne next.
Shortly before older brother George was born, British law changed to make birth order the determining factor in succession, replacing gender — male
primogeniture — as the default rule that developed over 10 centuries.
- USA Today ( Apr. 24, 2018)
delusion
There was a shooting at a Nashville Waffle House this week. The gunman killed four people before being disarmed by an unarmed customer, James Shaw, Jr., who is being hailed as a hero. The gunman fled into the woods but was later found after a manhunt. No motive for the shooting is known at this time, but the gunman, Travis Reinking, has a history of bizarre behavior.
More than 150 city, state and local law enforcement agents searched for the gunman, who has had a history of bizarre behavior,
delusions and multiple encounters with authorities, including an episode in Washington in July 2017 when he was arrested for trying to get into the White House, according to police records.
- Reuters (Apr.23, 2018)
indiscriminate
A man drove onto a busy sidewalk in Toronto this week, deliberately hitting pedestrians. Ten people were killed, and fifteen others wounded. The driver, Alek Minassian, 25, was taken into custody.
The killing began on a busy lunchtime thoroughfare in Toronto on Monday when a white rental Ryder van ran over a pedestrian crossing the street — then mounted a sidewalk and began plowing into people indiscriminately.
- The New York Times (Apr. 23, 2018)
stave off
A signature American retail store, Sears, is selling off assets like the Kenmore brand of appliances in hopes of preventing a bankruptcy filing. The likely candidate seems the owners of a hedge fund who could end up spending $500 million dollars for Kenmore.
The moves are an effort by Mr. Lampert to inject Sears with cash and
stave off a bankruptcy filing, while at the same time allowing the hived-off businesses to grow by distributing their products and services beyond Sears and sister chain Kmart, according to people familiar with the matter.
- The Wall Street Journal (Apr. 23, 2018)
bonhomie
French President Emmanuel Macron visited the United States this week. Macron is said to get along very well with President Trump. Macron is expected to try to break down Trump's resistance to the Iran nuclear deal, a deal that President Trump campaigned against and has criticized throughout his presidency. Macron's visit, which includes a lavish state dinner, will be followed by a visit from German Chancellor Angela Merkel next week.
courier
Amazon is starting a pilot program where they will deliver packages directly to your parked car. The program works through keyless entry systems on select vehicles. There is already a program that delivers packages to the inside of a house using similar technology. Some might think it's creepy that a delivery person as been in your car or house without you there, but other say it's better than the risk of porch pirates stealing those brown boxes right off your doorstep.
The company said Tuesday it has joined with General Motors Co. GM +0.36% and Volvo Cars to start offering in-car deliveries, giving its
couriers access to potentially millions of vehicles in 37 U.S. markets.
- The Wall Street Journal (Apr. 24, 2018)
proximate
Two years after his passing, Prince's family is suing a medical center and a pharmacy for playing a role in his death. Prince died of an overdose, but the lawsuit filed by his estate alleges that he did not receive the proper care and treatment. Proximate means nearby in the course of events, close enough to be the direct cause, or direct result, of a related action.
The wrongful-death lawsuit filed in Cook County, Illinois, alleges a doctor and pharmacist at Trinity Medical Center in Moline, Illinois, failed to appropriately treat and investigate Prince's April 15, 2016, overdose, and that he died "as a direct and
proximate cause of one or more ... deviations from the standards of care."
- USA Today (Apr. 24, 2018)
inhospitable
A three-year-old girl got lost in mountainous terrain in Australia this week. The girl was guarded and saved by her dog, who stayed by her side for 15 hours until a search party arrived. The dog, Max, is seventeen years old, deaf and partially blind. The dog comforted the little girl and when he sensed that people were approaching, went out on the path and led them right to her.
“The area around the house is quite mountainous and is very
inhospitable terrain to go walking in, so she’d traveled quite a distance with her dog that was quite loyal to her,” SES area controller Ian Phipps told ABC.net.au.
- goodnewsnetwork.org (Apr. 24, 2018)
jeopardy
Ronny Jackson is President Trump's nominee to be the head of Veteran’s Affairs. It was revealed that Jackson has a history of overprescribing medications and possibly drinking on the job. Jackson's previous position was personal physician to the president, and some question whether, apart from the brewing scandals, Jackson has enough leadership experience to be in charge of such a large bureaucracy like the VA. On Thursday, Jackson removed himself as a candidate amid the scandal.
The development came just two days before Jackson, the White House physician, was scheduled to testify before the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs and threw what was looking to be a difficult confirmation process into further
jeopardy.
- The Washington Post (Apr. 24, 2018)
perpetrate
The Supreme Court ruled this week that victims of terrorism cannot sue entities indirectly responsible for those actions, such as banks that funded the terrorists. The court held that the ability to pursue such legal action would discourage investment by companies. The ruling is interesting because in several decisions in recent years, corporations have been increasingly granted the rights afforded to people, but in this ruling corporations get a protection not available to individuals.
The Supreme Court limited foreign victims of terrorism, torture and other international crimes in their use of U.S. courts to sue corporations they say helped
perpetrate abuses, ruling that a centuries-old statute at the heart of major human-rights cases could be employed only against individuals.
- The Wall Street Journal (Apr. 25, 2018)
