A LOCAL authority was accused of "dumbing down" today after ruling that apostrophes should not feature on its road and street signs.
But wait, who have we left out here?The decision not to reintroduce apostrophes, which began to disappear from Birmingham's road signs in the Fifties, had been taken in light of factors such as the need for consistency and the cost of changing existing signs, he said.
"We are constantly getting residents asking for apostrophes to be put back in and we have got to make a decision one way or another," he said.
John Richards, chairman of the Apostrophe Protection Society, said: "It seems retrograde, dumbing down really. The council would be better advised to make sure the right apostrophes are in place rather than removing them. It sets a bad example to children."
A CENTURIES-OLD nursery rhyme has fallen victim to political correctness after government officials removed any reference to alcohol.
The government-funded charity Bookstart changed the title character in the traditional sea shanty What Shall We Do With A Drunken Sailor? to a "grumpy pirate".
HOLOCAUST denier Richard Williamson, 68, is one of four bishops who have had the excommunications lifted by Pope Ratzinger this week.
Pope Benedict XVI’s rehabilitatation of a British bishop who denies that millions of Jews died in Nazi gas chambers has alarmed Catholics who fear it risks dealing a fatal blow to the inter-faith dialogue promoted by his predecessor.
Over the weekend the Pope issued a decree welcoming back into the Roman Catholic Church Richard Williamson, 68, and three other breakaway bishops excommunicated by John Paul II in 1988. The bishops had been ordained without Vatican permission by the renegade French archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, who rejected the reforms of the Second Vatican Council.
It seems even a thief appreciates good manners.
A masked man walked into a Needs convenience store in Lower Sackville, N.S., Tuesday night and demanded cash and cigarettes from the clerk.
Cpl. Joe Taplin, an RCMP spokesman, said the employee simply refused.
"He asked him, 'Please leave the store,'" Taplin said.
That polite request caught the would-be bandit by surprise.
"The suspect then looked at him and said, 'You know, you're the first one to ask me to leave in such a nice way, and because of that I'm going to leave,'" Taplin said.
Cannabis has been reclassified by the government from a Class C to a Class B drug, carrying a higher maximum jail sentence for possession.
Men might want to remember a new rhyme: a drink a day keeps erectile dysfunction away.
Despite traditional views about the effects of booze on male performance, new research suggests that moderate drinking actually protects against impotence in the long term – perhaps for the same reason a glass or two of wine a day cuts the odds of suffering from heart disease.
In the scale of embarrassing place names, Crapstone ranks pretty high. But Britain is full of them. Some are mostly amusing, like Ugley, Essex; East Breast, in western Scotland; North Piddle, in Worcestershire; and Spanker Lane, in Derbyshire.
Others evoke images that may conflict with residents’ efforts to appear dignified when, for example, applying for jobs.
These include Crotch Crescent, Oxford; Titty Ho, Northamptonshire; Wetwang, East Yorkshire; Slutshole Lane, Norfolk; and Thong, Kent. And, in a country that delights in lavatory humor, particularly if the word “bottom” is involved, there is Pratts Bottom, in Kent, doubly cursed because “prat” is slang for buffoon.
New road names with rude connotations could soon be banned in part of Sussex to avoid "deliberate misinterpretation".
But throughout England streets including "Grope Lane" and "Titty Ho" have a rich history.
"Place names and street names are full of history and culture, and it's only because language has evolved over the centuries that they've wound up sounding rude," Hurst said.
An atheist UK bus campaign which uses the slogan "There's probably no God" does not breach the advertising code, a watchdog has ruled.
There's a new front in the conflict between Jew and Muslim: Broward County buses
I will unfortunately miss the sound of conservative sphincters twitching all over the US today as the words “I, Barack Hussein Obama do solemnly swear…” go out on the TV.
Still, it’s nice to see the door hit Bush on the ass.
Last night, I got out to the 10th anniversary party for the London Skeptics in the Pub. As it was my first time out with the SitP I periodically took a break in the conversation to mentally go over the dozen or so names of people I met.
Among the skeptic notables who were there were Rebecca Watson, also giving a talk on Monday, Ben Goldacre and Richard Wiseman.
I enjoy meeting a number of like minded folks who also enjoy beer - ‘twas in a pub after all. My natural impishness (okay I’m a a sarcastic prick – it’s called spin) means that I have to play with people in these situations when they do the natural sounding out of where you stand on matters of woo. When asked what I thought of UFOs I answered that it’s only reasonable to believe in them. This started the probing until I revealed that I was being very literal on the U more than the FO. Hey, it’s a bit sky and I sure as shit don’t know all the stuff in it. There’s lots I can’t identify. Aliens visiting Earth? Completely different story.
And so on like that.
If you’re in London, I may bump into you at one of these gatherings.
The Celebrities and Science Review 2008, prepared by the group Sense About Science, identifies some of the worst examples of scientific illiteracy among those who profess to know better – including top politicians.
Mr Obama and John McCain blundered into the MMR vaccine row during their presidential campaigns. "We've seen just a skyrocketing autism rate," said President-elect Obama. "Some people are suspicious that it's connected to the vaccines. This person included. The science right now is inconclusive, but we have to research it," he said.
His words were echoed by Mr McCain. "It's indisputable that [autism] is on the rise among children, the question is what's causing it," he said. "There's strong evidence that indicates it's got to do with a preservative in the vaccines."
Catholics who claim they have seen the Virgin Mary will be forced to remain silent about the apparitions until a team of psychologists, theologians, priests and exorcists have fully investigated their claims under new Vatican guidelines aimed at stamping out false claims of miracles.
The Pope has instructed the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, formerly the Holy Office of the Inquisition, to draw up a new handbook to help bishops snuff out an explosion of bogus heavenly apparitions.
It was no surprise to see it reported on the BBC that Stephen Green has lodged a complaint with the Advertising Standards Agency over the Atheist Bus Campaign and its slogan "There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life."
Green's complaint has elicited a fantastic response from the British
Humanist Association's chief executive Hanne Stinson, who told the BBC:"I'veSo they're not taking Green seriously
sought advice from some of our key people here, but I'm afraid all I've
got out of them so far is peals of laughter. I am sure that Stephen
Green really does think there is a great deal of evidence for a God
(though presumably only the one that he believes in), but I pity the
ASA if they are going to be expected to rule on the probability of
God's existence."
then? Which brings me to my usual question on this matter - why is the
BBC still taking him seriously?
AMERICANS, INCLUDING ELECTED OFFICIALS, EARN A FAILING GRADE WHEN TESTED ON AMERICAN HISTORY AND ECONOMICS
The opening chord to A Hard Day’s Night is also famous because for 40 years, no one quite knew exactly what chord Harrison was playing. Musicians, scholars and amateur guitar players alike had all come up with their own theories, but it took a Dalhousie mathematician to figure out the exact formula.
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