The Manhattan Project
Morning Roundup: Second Helpings Edition
Compromise Uncertain on Same-Sex Marriage Law
Fire at 17th and L NW Forces Evacuations
Sculpture Garden Ice-Skating Rink Remains Closed
>> The United States Postal Service increased postage rates today. First class letters now cost $0.41 (first ounce) and $0.17 for each additional ounce. New rates and fees for all classes of mail went up today except Periodicals, which is delayed until July 15. You can apparently find a handy chart of all the new rates in a pdf here, though we're having a little trouble downloading it in Firefox. One more reason to start paying all your bills online?
>> A 19-year-old woman from Cameroon was found murdered Sunday in a townhouse in Alexandria. Paul Zibi-Melingui, 22, has been arrested charged with second-degree murder in the death of Stephanie Sophie Mani-Mbaga, his half-sister. [WTOP]
>> The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to hear a case involving the constitutionality of Virginia's alcohol laws, which prohibit non-Virginia wine from being sold in state-run liquor stores and restricts the amount of alcohol consumers can bring into the state for personal drinking. [AP via Richmond Times-Dispatch]
>> U.S. Capitol Police were summoned to the Hart Senate Office Building earlier today after a report of an entirely nude streaker was called in. Turns out the man in question was actually wearing a nude-colored unitard, was breaking no laws and therefore was not arrested. Which begs the question: Should wearing nude-colored unitards be against the law? We vote maybe so. [The Sleuth]
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Anyone caught streaking wearing a nude-colored unitard should be held in a theatrical set of a jail and tried by Judge Judy. If guilty, fines should be assessed in Monopoly money.
what happened to costanza when nude-bodysuit-streaked at the baseball game? anyone?
Ooh, she said "begs the question." It's only a matter of time before DCist's own William-Safire-in-training steps in to tear her a new one for this crime against the English language...
At this point, the use of that phrase is not just incorrect, it's downright trite. I'd put it on par with "not so much" and "gasp" (as in "I am against so-and-so because I believe, gasp, so-and-so is important").
Oh great, the court has handed down a sentence of being restricted to the selection of plonk at Safeway. Such a progressive state. Yeah, I know, there are places to get decent wine, but if you find something you like, say a limited selection from a Sonoma vintner, and want it sent, it's not going to put them out of business!
Believe me, I love William Safire just as much as the next person. I'm just tickled by the one DCist commenter who nearly always gives the DCist staff a stern dressing down whenever that phrase appears here. I point out spelling and grammatical errors from time to time because those do actually detract from the readability of the content, but I fail to understand how one can legitimately rail against "begs the question." It seems like a matter of preference more than anything.
Virginia is an idiot state. Sure, it's fine to arm yourself to the teeth with semiautomatics and Glocks, no problem. But god forbid you try to bring in a few cases of beaujolais or pinot gris from Maryland, 'cuz that's just WRONG.
It's things like this that make me wish we'd let the South go its backward-ass way on its own.
Christine, I don't know if it was me you're talking about, since I frequently complain about the misuse of that phrase, but I think it's more than a matter of preference. The phrase means something specific: you are assuming the very point you are trying to make. It's a rich phrase because it say's so much in just three words. It dilutes the phrase when you use it to mean "which raises the point." It's doubly frustrating when the whole reason people misuse "begs the question" is because they want to use a phrase that sounds more artful than "raises the question."
It wouldn't bother me other than the fact that the two meanings are not compatable. Misusing it contributes to the elimination of its correct meaning.
:sigh: