Gene Weingarton - Fatal Distraction: Forgetting a Child in the Backseat of a Car Is a Horrifying Mistake. Is It a Crime?

1)The room was a sepulcher
sep·ul·cher (spl-kr)
n.
1. A burial vault.
2. A receptacle for sacred relics, especially in an altar.

2)He was virtually catatonic,
cat·a·to·ni·a (kt-tn-)
n.
An abnormal condition variously characterized by stupor, stereotypy, mania, and either rigidity or extreme flexibility of the limbs. It is most often associated with schizophrenia

3)the worst day so far in the worst year so far in a phenomenon that gives no sign of abating.
a·bate (-bt)
v. a·bat·ed, a·bat·ing, a·bates
v.tr.
1. To reduce in amount, degree, or intensity; lessen. See Synonyms at decrease.
2. To deduct from an amount; subtract.
3. Law
a. To put an end to.
b. To make void.
v.intr.
1. To fall off in degree or intensity; subside.
2. Law To become void.

4)Each instance has its own macabre signature.
ma·ca·bre (m-käbr, m-käb, -käbr)
adj.
1. Suggesting the horror of death and decay; gruesome: macabre tales of war and plague in the Middle Ages. See Synonyms at ghastly.
2. Constituting or including a representation of death.

5)as he discovered his son's body, a calliope tootled merrily beside him
The Muse of epic poetry.
A musical instrument fitted with steam whistles, played from a keyboard

6)public servant is trying to do his best with a Solomonic dilemma.
The Judgment of Solomon is a metaphorical expression referring to a wise judge who uses a stratagem to determine the truth, tricking the parties into revealing their true feelings. Specifically, the judge pretends that he will destroy the subject matter of a dispute, rather than allowing either disputing party to win at the expense of the other.



7)painfully austere beginnings.
aus·tere   /ɔˈstɪər/ Show Spelled[aw-steer] Show IPA
–adjective
1. severe in manner or appearance; uncompromising; strict; forbidding: an austere teacher.
2. rigorously self-disciplined and severely moral; ascetic; abstinent: the austere quality of life in the convent.
3. grave; sober; solemn; serious: an austere manner.
4. without excess, luxury, or ease; simple; limited; severe: an austere life.
5. severely simple; without ornament: austere writing.
6. lacking softness; hard: an austere bed of straw.
7. rough to the taste; sour or harsh in flavor.


8)There is an almost pugnacious matter-of-factness about Lyn Balfour that can seem disconcerting

dis·con·cert   /ˌdɪskənˈsɜrt/ Show Spelled[dis-kuhn-surt] Show IPA
–verb (used with object)
1.to disturb the self-possession of; perturb; ruffle: Her angry reply disconcerted me completely.
2.to throw into disorder or confusion; disarrange: He changed his mind and disconcerted everybody's plans.


pug·na·cious   /pʌgˈneɪʃəs/ Show Spelled[puhg-ney-shuhs] Show IPA
–adjective
inclined to quarrel or fight readily; quarrelsome; belligerent; combative.


9)In one particularly egregious instance, a mother used her locked car as an inexpensive substitute for day care
e·gre·gious   /ɪˈgridʒəs, -dʒiəs/ Show Spelled[ih-gree-juhs, -jee-uhs] Show IPA
–adjective
1.extraordinary in some bad way; glaring; flagrant: an egregious mistake; an egregious liar.
2.Archaic. distinguished or eminent

10)second-degree murder was a preposterous charge in a case lacking even the faintest whisper of intent
pre·pos·ter·ous   /prɪˈpɒstərəs, -trəs/ Show Spelled[pri-pos-ter-uhs, -truhs] Show IPA
–adjective
completely contrary to nature, reason, or common sense; absurd; senseless; utterly foolish: a preposterous tale.

11) It helps her survive, but it can seem off-putting
off-put·ting   /ˈɔfˌpʊtɪŋ, ˈɒf-/ Show Spelled[awf-poot-ing, of-] Show IPA
–adjective
provoking uneasiness, dislike, annoyance, or repugnance; disturbing or disagreeable

12)Humans, Hickling said, have a fundamental need to create and maintain a narrative for their lives in which the universe is not implacable and heartless,
im·plac·a·ble   /ɪmˈplækəbəl, -ˈpleɪkə-/ Show Spelled[im-plak-uh-buhl, -pley-kuh-] Show IPA
–adjective
not to be appeased, mollified, or pacified; inexorable: an implacable enemy.


13)Balfour's laywers petitioned the court to get the record of her prosecution expunged
ex·punge   /ɪkˈspʌndʒ/ Show Spelled[ik-spuhnj] Show IPA
–verb (used with object),-punged, -pung·ing.
1.to strike or blot out; erase; obliterate.
2.to efface; wipe out or destroy.


14)Just before the tragedy, she had two dreams that seem to her, in retrospect, like foreboding

   /ˈrɛtrəˌspɛkt/ Show Spelled[re-truh-spekt] Show IPA
–noun
1.contemplation of the past; a survey of past time, events, etc.
–verb (used without object)
2.to look back in thought; refer back (often fol. by to): to retrospect to a period in one's youth.
–verb (used with object)
3.to look back upon; contemplate retrospectively.
—Idiom
4.in retrospect, in looking back on past events; upon reflection: It was, in retrospect, the happiest day of her life.

fore·bod·ing   /fɔrˈboʊdɪŋ, foʊr-/ Show Spelled[fawr-boh-ding, fohr-] Show IPA
–noun
1.a prediction; portent.
2.a strong inner feeling or notion of a future misfortune, evil, etc.; presentiment.

Prohibited and illegal

Can an object that is being prohibited be legal? Is this even a sentence that makes sense? In fact this bought me to more questions that i still cannot ans.

Prohibited
–verb (used with object) the action of a subject
1.to forbid (an action, activity, etc.) by authority or law: Smoking is prohibited here.
2.to forbid the action of (a person).
3.to prevent; hinder; preclude: Modesty prohibits me from saying what happened.

Illegal
–adjective
1.forbidden by law or statute. To modify a noun
2.contrary to or forbidden by official rules, regulations, etc.: The referee ruled that it was an illegal forward pass.
3.Unacceptable to or not performable by a computer: an illegal operation.

The word 'prohibited' has 3 meanings, of which 1 includes the prohibition due to the law and another the prohibition due to the action of. Similarly, illegal has 3 meanings of which 1 indicates that the noun is forbidden by law or forbidden by rules. Hence by not indicating what it is caused by, by law or by rule, the sentence can make sense.

However this sentence is weak as it is ambiguous and can cause confusion. A better way to phrase it would be "This is prohibited by the rules but legal in the eyes of law", or "This is made illegalised by the rules but made legalised in the eyes of law" or "This is prohibited by the rules but not prohibitive in the eyes of law.

Comparing "prohibited" and "made illegalised"
Comparing "made legalised" and "not prohibitive" and "legal"
One will then question what is the difference with (a) and (b)?

_________________________________________________________________
Adjectiveillegalised (not comparable)

Positive
illegalised
Comparative
not comparable
Superlative
none (absolute)

-adjective
Made illegal.
After contentious protests, gambling was illegalised by the legislature.

–adjective
1.forbidden by law or statute.
2.contrary to or forbidden by official rules, regulations, etc.: The referee ruled that it was an illegal forward pass.

Legacy

The word legacy has been used loosely in the organisation. With the notion of the derogatory connotation that the word "old" holds, I attempted to look for a better synonym for the description of the state of a system. This lead me to the realisatin that the word "legacy" was not one of the synonym.

As Legacy has also been used in the organisation as a reference to old system, I decided to correct this misconcception and search in the online dictionary for the meaning of the word "Legacy".

Legacy: Noun

1 : a gift by will especially of money or other personal property : bequest
2 : something transmitted by or received from an ancestor or predecessor or from the past

Since legacy is not a verb, it cannot be used to describe a system. The phrase legacy system is inappropriate. Unless we are refering that the system is a legacy. Base on the definition, the closest meaning would be index 2. But this again is not appropriate to the context since the system does not transmit from one person to anoher, from one place to another, from one thing to another. That is, unless time is define as a thing. A question brings me to another question:

"Can we transmit an item from one time to another?"

The strengthening of the Euro

I use some money to buy some money for the hope of earning more money. S$1500 for a hope. Lets hope Euro will rise.

My Ideal World

When I was in Primary School, I already knew that I wanted to go to the University. Call it early maturity. But I guess that it was a misconception about life. Adults always told me that I needed to study hard so that I could have a better life. Certainly, it was not false but I had took it to another level of understanding - that life would be very much better if I had study hard. It would be a world of cotton candy and everything that is ideal. You could see how dissapointed I am to discover that its not so straight forward.

My ideal world compasses of having no need to work that hard. Before you even think that I must be quite a slaker, note that I am actually quite a hardworking person who can and will work beyond 10 hours a day consecutively. This has been the same since I was studying. It would also later on apply to my attitude in work. It would also involves the need to travel widely, but not working like a worker bee to the queen bee. I would have time for all my hobbies- learning the piano, the violin, reading widely and baking. I guess I was living in another part of the world when I was conceiving such ideas and its only till now that I have seen the real world.