For the Want of a Comma

The sentence beginning, 'There are no rallies ...' is entirely ambiguous. I imagine that the writer is saying that the reason there are no rallies or complaints is that most men have escaped 'this cultural curse', but, without a comma before 'because', the sentence could just as easily mean that Dior Homme does make size 40 waist jeans, but not because most men have escaped:

When using 'because' a good rule of thumb is to think about these two sentences: 1. I knew she'd been crying because she looked ugly - in this one her ugliness has provoked her tears. 2. I knew she'd been crying, because she looked ugly - in this, her ugliness is caused by her tears.

What a Difference a Vowel Makes

Check those Facts

On one page of the Australian yesterday there was this chart, which indicated that all but two of the High Court bench have been appointed by Labor:

On the opposite page, we were told that 'it is worth remembering a majority of the court - four - were appointed by the Howard government':

Which is true?

So True

They're certainly ruling the Sydney Morning Herald. Apparently nobody there can actually be bothered to check whether all the necessary words appear on the printed page.

Alan and the Family Picnicking on a French River

Cezanne saw Alan Bond's potential very early on:

Nothing is a Singular Noun

I Thought her Gripe Was with News Limited

Sack that Sub

Hey Sydney Morning Herald, I don't mean to be rude, but the person who worked on your Murray-Darling article in today's edition made a total hash of the job:

A Clean Energy Future

Is gas a renewable, as this sentence from the federal government's Clean Energy Future advertisement seems to imply:

Commas Make Sense

In Nikki Savva's article in yesterday's Australian, a couple of commas, plus a semi-colon, would have made things clearer:

Today, in the Sydney Morning Herald, there were places where commas were missing:

and others where they really should not have appeared (why is there one after 'Glenn Stevens?):