Did you know it was against the law to correct errors on government signs? That tells you all you need to know about the intellectual state of this country - that fixing mistakes is punished as vandalism.
Jeff Michael Deck, 28, from Massachusetts, and Benjamin Douglas Herson, 28, from Virginia, have been sentenced to a year's probation - during which they're prohibited from visiting any national park - and have been ordered to pay resititution after pleading guilty to defacing a historical sign in Grand Canyon National Park.
What exactly did they do? Deck admitted using Wite-Out and a Sharpie to fix a grammatically incorrect apostrophe and comma on the handmade sign, which is more than 60 years old. He did restrain himself, however, from correcting a misspelled word on the sign - "emense" - acknowledging that making such a large correction would require defacing the sign.
Deck and Herson are both members of the "Typo Eradication Advancement League" (TEAL), whose goal is to "stamp out as many typos as we can find, in public signage and other venues where innocent eyes may be befouled by vile stains on the delicate fabric of our language."
As a former English professor and holder of two graduate degrees in English, all I can say is: You go, guys!
