Word: draconian
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...brain, in a display of biological exuberance, produces trillions more connections between neurons than it can possibly use. Then, through a process that resembles Darwinian competition, the brain eliminates connections, or synapses, that are seldom or never used. The excess synapses in a child's brain undergo a draconian pruning, starting around the age of 10 or earlier, leaving behind a mind whose patterns of emotion and thought are, for better or worse, unique...
...years later, Fujimori seized near dictatorial powers in a "self-coup" that savaged virtually every democratic institution in the country but enabled him to implement draconian security measures that eventually crippled both rebel movements. By 1993 Abymael Guzman, the Shining Path warlord whose face had not been seen in 25 years, was in jail and Polay had been recaptured. An elated Fujimori boasted to a Chilean reporter that "no one here in Peru any longer doubts that [Tupac Amaru] will be defeated this year...
Despite exasperated complaints of overwhelming workloads and Draconian exam schedules, several hundred Harvard students simply refuse to take a break...
...integrity of his nation, a colonial creation that lashes together some 200 tribes across a region the size of Western Europe, is already at risk. Only Mobutu's will and wizardry have held the place together for so long. His style of rule combines charisma with a flair for draconian repression. (As part of an "authenticity campaign" in the '70s to divest Zaire of its European taint, he outlawed bow ties, public kissing and Christmas.) But he also successfully marketed his country to the West as a bulwark against Soviet expansion in Africa, until the collapse of the Soviet Union...
Consulting our Dartboard staff attorney, the possible penalties seem draconian indeed. If the students are charged by the Ad Board with "B&E" i.e. breaking and exiting, they could be sentenced to three months of light yard work at President Rudenstine's house. On the other hand, if the dread charge of "behavior unbecoming a Harvard student" is raised, they could all receive a spanking from every member of the Harvard Corporation, and the registrar will be instructed to dip their transcripts in tuna oil before mailing them to potential employers...