The Daily Grill

Chip Off The Old Blockhead

A basketball-sized piece of marble molding fell from the facade over the entrance to the Supreme Court Monday, landing on the steps near visitors waiting to enter the building. No one was hurt.
The chunk of Vermont marble that fell was over the figure of Authority, near the peak of the building's pediment, and to the right of the figure of Liberty, who has the scales of justice on her lap. By sheer coincidence, the missing chunk is the identical shape of the head of Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito.

Last Daily Spammer Roll Call

Okay. As fun and funny as the names affixed to the spamail I get is, I think today is the last time I'm going to put up the results of just one day's load o' spam. After this, I'll just pick the best from the week and put 'em up. (You, dear readers, can keep submitting 'em through the Comments feature, though! Not that anyone has yet...)

Here are the best from today:

MOHAMMAD HOBBS, LEON ZAVALA, SHERMAN SHARP, FAUSTINO STARKS, KIP KOCH, LEONORA KUHN, ADAN T. STILES, ANDY GLEW, ALMA LAMB, NICKODEMOS EICHENLAUB, MARCO MCDERMOTT, WILLEM ZUK, MARYELLEN U. YU, KIARAN KNAPPENBERGER

Miracle Statues

Starting a week ago, red stains similar to blood began running from the left eye of a statue of the Virgin Mary at the Vietnamese Catholic Martyrs Church in Sacramento, Calif. At the same time, brown stains similar to tobacco juice began running from the corner of the mouth of a bust of Pete Rose at the Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati, Ohio. Religious scholars and sports fanatics alike are looking into whether the two incidents are related.

More Fave Spammers

My email inbox continues to fill up with fascinating names of people who apparently have nothing better to do than to send me ads about refinancing my home, peddling a variety of pharmaceuticals and enhancing my manhood. Here are the best from today's Spammer's Roll Call:

COUNTENANCES A. LIMING, MORTON H. GUERRA, CONISITA CAPA, GOTTLIEB MARE, OTIS W. RITTER, ILA P. SYKES, ESPERANZA RIDDLE, VAN JOHANNING, SANDRA D. FRENCH, LEHI CARVALHO, EUGENIA HUBER, CHARMAIN GANDHI, EMMANUEL MCCARTY

Feel free to use the Comment feature to add some from your own spamalicious intake!

Total Terror

A story in the New York Times points out that "no one outside the Bush administration knows just how the determination is made whether to handle a terror suspect as an enemy combatant or as a common criminal, to hold him indefinitely without charges in a military facility or to charge him in court. Indeed, citing the need to combat terrorism, the administration has argued, with varying degrees of success, that judges should have essentially no role in reviewing its decisions." The story goes on to quote Eric M. Freedman, a law professor at Hofstra University: "The position of the executive branch is that it can be judge, jury and executioner."

Apparently the best way to fight terrorism is with a healthy dose of totalitarianism.

Favorite Spam Mail Senders

Everyone gets so much spam these days that there's virtually no way anyone with a computer doesn't know what I mean when I talk about the funny names that often accompany them. I've even begun playing "Real Or Spam?" with friends when I'm scanning my inbox, where you try to identify the names by one of those two categories.

With that groundwork laid, I'd like to begin listing some of my Favorite Spam Mail Senders as they begin coming in as of today. (You no doubt will have seen some of these yourself.)

Here's the best from today's so far:

THURMAN LUSK, JANIS HARRISON, M. VANOSS, CONCETTA D. ALTON, SIM CAREY, IVEY AVRIL, ZULA KARP, TERFAR OTIS, BAD BOY SAM, ARMAND G. CONTRERAS, ROSENDO BERNAL, TYREE J. HAMMOND, GERALDINE PELETIER, ELBA ROBINSON, MADELEINE CROWLEY

Feel feel to respond with the Comment feature and add some of YOUR favorite names to the Spaminator Roll Call!

Buzz Words/Was Words

BUZZ..........................WAS
On the bubble..............Out of the box
Bleeding edge..............Innovative
Was............................Buzz

New York Acts To Cut Emissions

In this story behind the headlines, it seems that to reduce emissions in the Empire State, you will only be able to purchase black, pinto and garbanzo beans on even-numbered days, while Boston baked, refried, and lima beans are restricted to sale on odd-numbered days. Any other beans can be purchased without restrictions...

The Sane Light Of Night

In Baltimore, Maryland, over the past few weeks, thieves have been sawing down 30-foot tall aluminum light poles. Some 130 have vanished from city streets, the authorities say, presumably sold for scrap metal. The poles, which weigh about 250 pounds apiece, have been snatched during the day and in the middle of the night, from two-lane blacktop roads and from parkways with three lanes on either side of grass median strips, in poor areas and in some of the city's most affluent neighborhoods. Left behind are half-foot stubs of metal, with wires that carry 120 volts neatly tied and wrapped in black electric tape. Ironically, no one seems to be able to shed any light on the thefts.

Giving Thanks And Then Some

Nick and Jessica are history. That's right. "After three years of marriage and careful thought and consideration, we have decided to part ways," Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey said in a statement. "This is the mutual decision of two people with an enormous amount of respect and admiration for each other." Clearly the end of an era, I think it's safe to say that we will never forget what's-her-name and what's-his-face.