And banned from this blog too

PHOENIX—A man from Somerville, Mass., and his friend who went around the country this year removing typographical errors from public signs have been banned from national parks after vandalizing a historic marker at the Grand Canyon.

[From Men banned from national parks after vandalism - Boston.com]

Well, preemptively banned, since neither one has tried read any thing here as far as I know. But we believe we have to nip this in the bud. Because the last thing we need around here is a grammar freak. (Or, now that you mention it, a cliché freak either.)

Fiore says...

Vote for Oil!

[From Vote for Oil! - Wednesday, August 20, 2008 ]

Click the link (has audio).

And the prize for Most Innovative Use of the Word "Safekeeping" goes to...

...the Associated Press:

Ohio's elections chief says she won't allow poll workers to take voting machines home for safekeeping in the days before the November presidential election.

[From The Raw Story | Ohio: No 'sleepovers' for voting machines]

Yes! You read that right! Take voting machines home for safekeeping.

Pop, soda, or coke?

Depends on where you live, of course - and here's how.

Why you should never, ever go anywhere without your camera (too)

I stop for gas this morning, look up, and there's a hot air balloon floating past the moon. Squint and maybe you can see it - it's there between the phone wires - the best my little cell phone camera can do. It takes a pretty long lens to get any kind of decent picture of the moon, but at least a larger image would allow for a little cropping and enlarging. 

Save us, please, from Harvard Law

[Obama] will campaign through Virginia midweek - an anchor of the Old South that has not voted Democratic in a presidential contest for decades, home of a well-grounded governor, Tim Kaine, little known on the national stage. Kaine has fared well in the talk-show tryouts. He has addressed questions of national policy and foreign affairs. Kaine, for most Americans, also represents a fresh face, a Harvard Law graduate, ex-mayor of a small city, Richmond, and now governor of an emerging Democratic state.

[From Obama's running mate: The 'fire' factor: The Swamp]

Research is everything

Who is more likely to order a drink straight up? Republicans 82 percent; Democrats 14 percent.

Who is more likely to order a fruity (pink) drink? Democrats 58 percent, Republicans 34 percent.

[From UNDERNEWS: DEMOCRATS BETTER DRINKERS THAN REPUBLICANS (EXCEPT FOR THOSE SILLY PINK DRINKS)]

From a survey of DC bartenders commissioned by Beam.

Note to Nebraska teens: Shape up

Nebraska enacted a safe haven law. Typically these laws apply to newborn infants; parents can leave their babies at a designated safe place without fear of prosecution for child abandonment. But the Nebraska law actually applies to any child up to 19

[From In Nebraska, Parents Can Leave Their Teens : NPR]

See Georgie stamp his foot, see Condi go on "Meet the Press"

RUISI, Georgia (AP) -- Russian soldiers took 20 Georgian troops prisoner at a key port in western Georgia on Tuesday, blindfolding them and holding them at gunpoint, and commandeered American Humvees awaiting shipment back to the United States.

[From East Valley Tribune | Daily Arizona News for Chandler, Gilbert, Mesa, Tempe, Scottsdale]

Frame it, Bunky

That's the sunniest forecast I've seen all summer by a long shot. Maybe we finally ran out of little green squares. 

It's like living in a hall of mirrors, is what it is

For Condoleezza Rice, the secretary of state and an expert on international relations with the Russians, it's a remarkable statement - the one she made today - that, as a result of the conflict with Georgia, Russia's reputation is "in tatters.''...

On the question of the G-8, which includes Russia: "I would just note that I have been meeting by phone, telephonically, with my G-7 foreign minister colleagues because Russia is a party to the conflict, and this has been a useful forum for doing that. But we're not going to do anything hasty. I think Russia is already paying a significant price."

[From Condi Rice: Russian reputation in 'tatters': The Swamp]

I don't know, it seems to me Russia's reputation is still pretty much like it always was, at least as far as I remember it, but then I'm not an expert on Russia, nor telephonic.

Still, I suppose I should defer to Rice here, because on the list of people who know all about tattered reputations she ought to be right up near the top.