Could I ask a Favor?

Please, people of the world, Citizens, My Fellow Americans: Please stop using the APOSTROPHE to designate a PLURAL.





Use the apostrophe to show possession, as in:





"That is my NEIGHBOR'S house." "That is the CAT'S toy."

Also, the apostrophe is used to show omission:

DON'T use the apostrophe to show a plural.
ISN'T it a nice day?

The apostrophe stands in for the missing letter, in this case, the "o" in NOT.

DO NOT (DON'T) USE an apostrophe to show PLURALS (as in MORE THAN ONE):

I have NEIGHBOR'S on the right but not on the left."


I have four CAT's.

NO. You have NEIGHBORS on the right but not on the left.

and

You have four CATS.

Please. No apostrophes for plurals. Apostrophes are for contractions and to show POSSESSION.

Do it right, or I will go all Linda Blair on you (speaking of possession)

"I have many DEMONS living in my body" NOT "I have many DEMON'S living in my body."

Madmenize Yourself

Here. That's me in the purple suit with the coffee cup. Click to embiggen and get teh full effect!

A Hero is Laid to Rest: Sargeant John Beale

a community's response to the death of U.S. Army Seargeant John Beale.

(via Powerlineand Bookworm Room

Edited: here's a brief biography of Sgt. Beale.

A Taste of things to come?

I had a little glimpse into the future yesterday.

Suffering from sinusitis, I went to the local doc-in-a-box and sat amongst the Great Unwashed to see Saturday's doc-for-hire and get what I hoped would be a prescription for antibiotics.

The receptionist was a twenty-something slob, reading People magazine, devouring no doubt the latest Jon-and-Kate nonsense who shoved a form at me, rattled off some instructions, and barked at me when I asked her to repeat herself.

The doctor was in a great hurry, not happy to deal with me since she didn't think I had an infection but merely some sinus congestion. She turned and stalked out of the room without so much as a howdy-do. Or even a good-bye.

I don't mind the fact that treatment is impersonal at this place since I don't expect to ever see the same doctor twice. I'd just like to be treated like I'm the same species as the person prodding me.

Feminists and Sarah Palin

Reclusive Leftist has a fascinating post on this topic. Very interesting.

Rappin', Roller Skatin' Babies

Obama, unidentified baby.

Homeless

It is hot in Georgia in the summer and I do feel for those who have no place to go to escape the heat and humidity. It can get cold in winter, it can storm. I honestly can't imagine living on the street with no place to go. I know many people living on the street are chronically homeless, alcoholics, drug addicts, and sadly, many are mentally ill. I see them all the time.

I especially wonder what on earth a woman with two small children does between the time the shelter turns her out onto the street, and allows her back in that evening.

Does she have money to feed those kids? Where do you go with them if it's raining or cold? How do you keep an infant and toddler occupied for the long hours stretching between morning and evening? Would the children be better off in foster care? Would I be able to give them up for their own good? Would foster care be better?

Just asking these questions because I ran into a woman with two very young children yesterday, obviously homeless, with nothing to occupy herself or her children for many long hours. I have no idea what her situation was, whether she had drug or alcohol problems or was just going through a hard time. Where was the father of these children? Maybe he was out looking for a job, or had a job, just not enough yet to support his family. Am I dreaming? Being incredibly naive?

It's just some of the things I wonder about when I see the homeless.

Around the Blogs in Eighty (NNC*) Days

(*not necessarily consecutive)

Today we visit Robert Spencer's Jihad Watch, which is

"dedicated to bringing public attention to the role that jihad theology and ideology plays in the modern world, and to correcting popular misconceptions about the role of jihad and religion in modern-day conflicts. We hope to alert people of good will to the true nature of the present global conflict."

Mr. Spencer is an author of numerous books and articles on Islam and jihad and is a sought-after speaker on the subject. His biography is on his website.

Mr. Spencer was invited to join a panel discussion on Islam at the American Library Association's annual meeting in Chicago this Sunday, July 12. However, a group of univeristy professors and librarians are circulating a letter expressing their dismay at his invitation. While not overtly pressuring ALA to remove Mr. Spencer from the panel, they do indicate that they are "saddened" "concerned" and "puzzled" at ALA's choice, which expect they would be at any representative of a view not in lock step with their own politically correct agenda.

Stay tuned.

Voice of Glory

If this doesn't move you, you have a heart of stone. Or maybe you're just a member of congress.

Around the Blogs in Eighty Days

(Not necessarily eighty consecutive days)

I found a terrific blog selling prints of mid-century illustrations, or artwork based on such: It's called Plan59 and the prices are reasonable.


I found my way there via Shorpy: "Always Something Interesting", where you can find more vintage photographs.

On another note, yesterday I watched "The Last Enemy", a BBC Masterpiece Theater miniseries from 2008. Benedict Cumberbatch (aha, whom I just recognized as the scoundrel Paul Marshall in Atonement) plays a young man who returns to Britain after his brother's death to find it's become a surveillance society. After his late brother's widow disappears along with a gravely ill individual he finds in his brother's apartment, Stephen slowly realizes there is a complex and devious conspiracy involving surveillance technology in which he becomes a pawn. A bit ragged at the very beginning, I was soon engrossed and completely chilled by this believable and frighteningly plausible series.

"In the eyes of the state, the last enemy is the individual." Read writer Peter Berry's interview about the series here.

Sunrise at Tybee Island - Two Views:

Honduras

I just read Neal Bortz's column on the situation in Honduras. It's an interesting summary of events, undeniably curious as to why President Obama quickly spoke up on behalf of Zeyala but let Iran simmer for weeks before issuing an "entirely consistent" -- according to him -- statement about the protests.

What I Just Read

Annie's Ghosts by Steve Luxenberg.

Although I took a ton of books with me on vacation, mostly stuff I don't ordinarily read (i.e., fluffy romances, recommended by helpful friends who thought I needed to "lighten up"), I wound up becoming engrossed in Annie's Ghosts by Steve Luxenberg

Luxenberg's aunt, Annie, was institutionalised at the notorious Eloise Asylum in Michigan for over thirty years. Although other family members knew about Annie, Luxenberg's mother Beth never mentioned her or revealed that fact to her children. After Annie died, Beth had her buried, with a service by a rabbi, and placed flowers on her grave regularly for years without ever saying a word.

Not long before she died, an offhand remark by Beth Luxenberg to a social worker --that she had had a younger sister who had been institutionalized when Beth was four years old and the sister two -- opened the door to years of dogged research by Luxenberg, taking him back to his family's origins in Russia, the Holocaust, and interviews with many family members and friends.

His book also shines a light on the treatment of mental illness in the first half of the century, and the thousands of souls lost and forgotten in institutions like Eloise.

The question Luxenberg tries to answer is why this deep secrecy for so many years? While not able to answer that question definitively -- after all, the only person who could had died -- it is a riveting account of a family's history, the frustrations of trying to track down long forgotten information, and the attitudes toward the mentally ill. I think we're able to get a good feel for why such a situation might be covered up during that time period, and how a secret, once created, can loom so ominously in one's lifes that it becomes impossible to let it go.

For more information, go to Luxenberg's web site.

Around the Blogs in Eighty Days

Listen to podcasts about forgotten historical tales at The Memory Place. (via Freakonomics, HT Althouse).

On that same theme, News From 1930 "summarizes the WSJ from the corresponding day in 1930." )The similarities are frightening.)
(again, via Freakonomics, HT Althouse).