September 30, 2005

White slavery in the UK Police in Birmingham, UK, are reported to have rescued nineteen women from ten countries from white slavery. (The term is archaic; the practice, sadly, isn't.) They were allegedly being locked in the establishment at night, and kept in by day with the assistance of an electric fence around the back garden. more inside

February 18, 2005

The Eggcorn Database Many people who lack a flare for language, when given free reign to write, instead of towing the line, put English through the ringer. In future, don't just grin and bare it; issue a cease and decease! Heave scorn on the abusers! Help preserve the goal standard of written English! more inside

December 13, 2004

Haugesund to Trondheim, the long way round. Ask Microsoft's Mappoint route-finding service to plan the quickest route from Haugesund, in Norway, to Trondheim, also in Norway, and it suggests a forty-seven-and-a-half hour drive-athon involving a ferry to England, the Channel Tunnel to France, and an overland trek on through Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark and Sweden before getting back into Norway. more inside