What's in the News

The grammar police no longer ride.


Grammar vigilantes 'vandalise' sign

August 25, 2008

A CAMPAIGN by two grammar vigilantes to correct mistakes on signs across America has come to an abrupt end after they were charged with vandalism for trying to rectify a spelling error at the Grand Canyon.

The founders of the Typo Eradication Advancement League (TEAL) have been banned by a court from correcting any publicly owned signs after trying to emend one on the Desert View Watchtower that, for seven decades, has drawn attention to an "emense westward view of the Grand Canyon". Oblivious to grammar, the prosecutors pronounced the sign "a unique historical object of irreplaceable value".


Jeff Deck and Benjamin Herson, both 28, met in a creative writing class. The two graduates of the Ivy League Dartmouth College teamed up after Mr Deck, from Somerville, Massachusetts, had an epiphany in the shower. Misspellings on his shower curtain inspired him to try to make a better world by travelling the nation to correct errors with a fix-it kit of magic markers and correction fluid.


A star of high-school spelling competitions, he worked on Dartmouth's student newspaper and honed his editing skills in a temporary job at an academic publisher. He invited Mr Herson, then working in a bookshop outside Washington, to join him in a round trip of the United States.


Their goal, according to the TEAL mission statement, was to "stamp out as many typos as we can find, in public signage and other venues where innocent eyes may be befouled by vile stains on the delicate fabric of our language".


They found and corrected 231 signs with mistakes ranging from "birthday candell's" to a "Sweedish" berry drink and even discovered misspellings in neon lights in Las Vegas.


They quickly identified the apostrophe as America's greatest grammatical challenge. Their pet peeve is the number of car park signs warning that vehicles will be towed "at owners expense" - without an apostrophe.


The grammar vigilantes planned to take a day off when they visited the Grand Canyon on March 28 and found the hand-rendered sign inside the Desert View Watchtower. They covered up a misplaced apostrophe and painted it in its proper place with correction fluid. They also added an omitted comma. Reading on, however, they were appalled to discover what Mr Deck described as a made-up word: emense.


The sign was painted by Mary Colter, the architect who designed the rustic 1930s watchtower and other Grand Canyon landmarks. The authorities took a dim view of what they considered "vandalism" at a site listed in 1987 as a National Historic Landmark.


Mr Deck and Mr Herson were caught after recording their exploits on their website, which was seen by the police. The two admitted conspiracy to vandalise government property and were fined dollars 3,035 and banned from national parks or from modifying any public signs for a year.

- The Times

Those guys should come to China.  They'd have enough work to keep them busy until retirement age.

edit - Just had a thought:  Can you imagine some guy with a magic marker accosting people on the street to correct their t-shirts 

You don't have to imagine... his name is Stil.

Those guys should come to China.  They'd have enough work to keep them busy until retirement age.

edit - Just had a thought:  Can you imagine some guy with a magic marker accosting people on the street to correct their t-shirts 

I think I may have a new mission in life.   

ZOOM AIRLINES GOES KA-BLOOM!!!

The discount airline from the UK stopped running on Thursday.  Passengers have been left high and dry and many were stranded, as the last flights touched down and parked alongside runways.  The airline is now officially bankrupt and grounded.

Lotus, this HAS to be asked....so does that guy's penis have an AVO out on his ex ??

AMonk, your tickets to China aren't with ZOOM airlines, are they?

No.  Thank the Lord.  They're American Airlines.

American Pilot Arrested In UK, Suspected Of Drinking

An American Airlines pilot was arrested in Britain on Saturday on suspicion of being drunk before a scheduled flight to Chicago, the airline said.

A statement by the airline said the crew member was a relief pilot on the Boeing 767-300 with 198 passengers, meaning he was a backup to the captain and first officer. The crew member was not identified.

He was arrested on suspicion of being under the influence of alcohol after reporting for duty at Manchester Airport, the carrier said. A court appearance was scheduled for Monday.

American said in a statement it was investigating and would not provide additional details.

"Our primary concern is for the safety and comfort of our passengers and crews," the airline said. "American Airlines has strict policies on alcohol and substance abuse and holds its employees to the highest standards."

Flight 55 was due to arrive in Chicago shortly after 4 p.m. local time, three hours late. The plane was scheduled to stop in New York to supplement the crew.

Don't worry about it. I'm sure those things really fly themselves.

Fantastic piece for discussion in class.  Let your classes go to town on this one.


Rail work damages 3000-year-old relics

From correspondents in Shanghai | September 02, 2008

A CHINESE construction company has severely damaged relics dating back more than 3000 years while building a section of a high-speed rail linking Beijing and Shanghai, state media has reported.

Work was halted on the section of rail in the eastern city of Nanjing and the company faces a fine of up to 500,000 yuan ($80,000) for ignoring warnings that the site contained ancient treasures, the China Daily said.

"These precious cultural relics absolutely must be excavated before construction continues," Nanjing's Cultural Heritage Bureau deputy director Yang Qinghua was quoted as saying.

"You can't just ignore them."

Nearly 2000 square metres of the site was damaged last week when the company shrugged off experts' instructions not to work on the area in China's ancient capital, Mr Yang was quoted as saying.

The incident is the latest battle between those seeking to drive China's explosive growth forward at any cost and those wanting to preserve the country's priceless historical heritage.

The site was identified in October after bones and pottery dating back to the Shang Dynasty (16th to 11th century BC) and the Zhou Dynasty (11th to 3rd century BC) were discovered there, Mr Yang said, according to the report.

Heritage officials initially told the company it would have to redirect the rail line, but company officials refused, saying the project was of national importance, Mr Yang was quoted as saying.

Good one.  Thanks.  And what a pity...

Resting in peace?


Bodies dug up for cash in scam

From correspondents in Hong Kong | September 02, 2008

HONG Kong cemetery officials took bribes to allow bodies buried in the overcrowded city to be dug up from temporary graves before they were fully decomposed, the city's corruption body says.

A total of 18 senior cemetery managers, tombstone contractors and funeral agents had been arrested in connection with the racket, the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) said.

"ICAC enquiries revealed that the arrested serving and former staff of Board of Management of the Chinese Permanent Cemeteries (BMCPC) had allegedly conspired together to solicit and accept monetary advantages from a number of tombstone contractors and funeral agents,'' it said.

"In return, the BMCPC staff were alleged to have allowed exhumation to continue improperly despite the fact that the human remains of the deceased were not fully decomposed.''

The case highlights the shortage of land in Hong Kong, where permanent cemetery plots are rare and costly.

Cremation is unpopular in Chinese culture, and many families choose to bury their dead in government-run cemeteries where they lease a plot for 10 years, after which the corpse is either cremated or re-buried in a smaller plot.

Cemetery supervisors are meant to bury the body for another six months if they find it has not fully decomposed.

But the ICAC investigation - codenamed "Mid-Summer Night'' --found this rule was being ignored if bribes were paid, so the sought-after plots could be cleared and re-leased.

In some cases, the supervisors were also alleged to have brought forward the date for exhumation in return for cash, the ICAC said.

The scam had been going on for up to two years with funeral agents and tombstone contractors offering substantial cash bribes, an unnamed source told the South China Morning Post newspaper. worth hundreds of dollars.

I just got online to find a couple of articles for use in my "newspaper reading" class tomorrow and I find Lotus has done my work for me.

I am doing this for the next ten weeks. Please keep up the good work.

 

Sept. 3: Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin addresses the crowd at the Republican National Convention telling them she is not going to Washington to seek the approval of the media but rather to “serve the people of this country.”

When Republican Presidential nominee John McCain announced Sarah Palin as his choice for vice president — a younger, relatively inexperienced woman — the scenario seemed familiar. If you were watching ABC a couple years ago, it should. It’s essentially the backstory of Commander in Chief.

Geena Davis was great as president.  I say let's give Sarah Palin a chance.  It's time a woman was in control.

Top nine ridiculous place names

Australia may boast some of the funniest sounding place names in the world, but it doesn't have a monopoly. Scattered across the globe are towns and villages with names so unfortunate that it's hard not to feel sorry for the locals.

But if you're looking for an amusing spot to add to your travel itinerary, these places are ideal for a visit, especially if you'd like your smiling mug captured on camera next to a silly sign.

Muff — County Donegal, Ireland
Undeterred by a name that conjures up all sorts of hairy images, tonnes of people have been crossing the border from Northern Ireland in recent years to relocate to this once-sleepy village. Despite the population explosion, Muff hasn't lost its traditional soul. Each year, during the first week in August, residents celebrate the Muff Festival, which includes all kinds of parades, parties, copious beer consumption and a raft of bizarre competitions, like JCB heavy vehicle driving, pig racing and lorry pulling events.

Twatt — Orkney Islands, Scotland
While unfounded rumours abound that this is Muff's twin town, the inhabitants of Twatt have become rather used to people laughing at them. This far-flung village off the north coast of Scotland featured at number four on the list of most vulgar sounding names in the book Rude Britain. Perhaps surprisingly, Bell End, Minge Lane and Cocks were ruled even cruder than Twatt, which also has a namesake on the Shetland Islands.

Whiskey Dick Mountain — Washington State, US
Mountaineering aficionados may dream of reaching the peaks of Everest and K2, but the humorous hiker heads to Whiskey Dick Mountain. A two-hour drive from Seattle, a 15km trail leads you through rugged desert area, blessed with rocky outcrops, hidden canyons and a blaze of flora and wildlife, until the 1200m-high summit appears before your eyes. People have been known to reward themselves at the top with a swig of Jack Daniel's whisky from their hip-flask.

Titty Hill — Sussex, England
Although it's just 40km from Portsmouth on England's south coast, Titty Hill feels like it's in the middle of nowhere. Surrounded by a patchwork of fields, the tiny hamlet consists of a couple of houses and a farm called, appropriately enough, Titty Hill farm. In a country that's well known for its wealth of silly place names, Titty Hill is within easy driving distance of Thong in Kent and Shitterton in Dorset, but a fair way from Wetwang in Yorkshire.

Gobblers Knob — Pennsylvania, US
Immortalised in the 1993 film Groundhog Day, Gobblers Knob in Punxsutawney is a place of pilgrimage for those wanting to hear if winter is finally over. German tradition holds that if the sun comes out on Candlemas, the precursor to Groundhog Day, the hedgehog (or badger) will see its shadow and six more weeks of the cold season will follow. When German settlers came to Pennsylvania they continued this tradition, using groundhogs instead of hedgehogs to predict the weather.

Dildo — Newfoundland, Canada
Dildo was founded in 1700 around fishing and whaling activities, with unsubstantiated rumours that its name came about because of the phallic-like shape of its harbour. Consistently named among the prettiest towns in Canada, it's recently become a magnet for tourists. Australians may already be familiar with Dildo as it was featured in the 'What the?' segment of Rove Live in 2006. The Dildo museum is popular for the replica of a 9.1m squid hauled from local waters in 1933.

Hell — Stordal, Norway
This pleasant Norwegian village hardly lives up to its dastardly name, especially in winter when, with temperatures as low as minus 20°C, Hell literally does freeze over. An easy train ride from the major city of Trondheim on Norway's fjord-peppered west coast, Hell was put on the map in 1990 when Mona Grudt, a green-eyed redhead, was the country's Miss Universe representative. She billed herself as 'the beauty queen from Hell' — and lost.

Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch — Anglesey, Wales
Although there's an uninhabited hill in New Zealand called Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu, this Welsh town has one of the longest officially recognised place names in the English-speaking world. Locals claim that when translated from Welsh it means 'St Mary's church in the hollow of the white hazel near to the rapid whirlpool and the church of St Tysilio of the red cave'. Thankfully, it's also spelt Llanfairpwllgwyngyll and commonly known as Llanfair PG or Llanfairpwll.

Fucking — Tarsdorf, Austria
Arguably the world's most shockingly-titled town, Fucking — 30km from Salzburg and apparently named after a sixth-century local called Focko — has been the centre of much controversy in recent years. After souvenir hunters kept stealing the signs, local authorities arranged a poll to ask the townspeople whether or not they should change their name. The stubborn lot gave a two-fingered salute, and a four-letter word response, to that little idea.

Have you been to any places with 'off the wall' names?