Glaring apostrophe error in a book about law for the layman

Ed. has just renewed his membership in the Grammar Police. He has this advice for those who aspire to be published writers.

Apostrophes give many writers a lot of trouble. Sometimes, you might be tempted to put an apostrophe where it does not belong, such as when you are simply making a word plural. 

Other times, you need to make a word possessive, but you might forget to use the apostrophe. 

Then, of course, there is that whole its / it’s thing that confuses most everyone. Remember, the rule is to use an apostrophe when you need to show possession or ownership. 

The exception is with possessive pronouns such as my, your, his, hers, ours, their, and its. "Its" shows ownership while "it’s" is a contraction for "it is". So, just like "hers" and "his" are possessive pronouns that don’t use an apostrophe to show possession, "its" follows the same format. 

For more information on the apostrophe, be sure to check out the Apostrophe section in the Punctuation area of Grammar Essentials of the Excelsior Online Writing Lab. If you just need to brush up your skills, visit the Apostrophe Refresher. 

If  you don't follow these rules, you might end up with a sentence like this: 

Its abundantly clear to me that the rule’s of English grammar can be confusing and following it’s many exceptions even more so! 😒

WRONG! The sentence should read (and be punctuated) like this.

It’s abundantly clear to me that the rules of English grammar can be confusing and following its many exceptions even more so! 😀

Quick quiz: See how many apostrophe errors you can find in the title of the book pictured at left.

Answer: "Juror's", "Sheriff's", "Bailiff's", and "Justice's" are all WRONG, using the possessive form where the plural is wanted. This is not a joke, but a real book, advertised on the Thriftbooks website. We'll have to give the author a pass, as he's obviously a product of American education. And yes, "we'll" and "he's" are correct. They are contractions of "we will" and "he is".

Remind you of anyone?

Meanwhile, over Iran

Meanwhile, at the Vatican

Warning to our Traditional Catholic readers: They came for the SSPX (including its lay supporters) this month. The FSSP is next. And then?

Pope Leo XIII laid the groundwork for the Oath Against Modernism (click here for complete text) which was promulgated by Pope St. Pius X in on 1 September 1910, via his Moto Proprio Sacrorum antistitum.  

At the core of the Oath are four key tenets of the Catholic Faith.

Reason and God: God's existence can be proven with certainty by human reason using the natural light of created things. 

External Proofs: Divine revelation and miracles are real, historical, and valid signs of the Christian religion's origin.

Divine Institution: The Church was historically founded by the real Christ and built upon Saint Peter. 

Immutable Dogma: Church dogmas possess absolute, unchanging meaning and do not evolve into entirely new concepts over time. [The emphasis is Walt's.]

Pope Paul VI presumably swore the Oath Against Modernism when he was ordained as a priest, since doing so was required at that time. Yet in 1967 he purported to abolish the Oath and replace it with a watered down "Profession of Faith". 

That was only a foretaste of what was to come, a first step on the path to Francis' and Leo's New Church of the New World Order. Walt anticipates the promulgation of a new "Oath For Modernism", to which all who want to be in "full communion" with the Church will be required to subscribe. God save us! St. Thomas More, pray for us.  

UPDATED: Radical Islamist attacks followers of "Rev." James Martin

As Walt pointed out a mere six weeks ago, homosexuality -- the lifestyle and the acts, not the people suffering from this disorder -- is condemned in Islam, just as it is in Christianity. A Catholic (in name, anyway) priest who begs to disagree is Father James Martin, S.J., the leading apostle (in America) of all things gay. He is called out by name in the video in "Bad shepherds are leading the faithful to hell!", WWW 1/8/21.  

The ever-increasing number of "Pride events" -- days, weeks, months, parades, festivals and other queer-ins -- has given rise to an increasing number of anti-gay types who are sick, sore and tired of all this "We're here, we're queer!" nonsense. 

One person who has acted on his righteous indignation is a follower of the Prophet -- Abdul Ballout, a German citizen of Lebanese background -- who is now the subject of a massive manhunt in Germany after a suspected "Islamist terror attack" at a Berlin Pride event last night.

One woman is dead and at least 29 injured after a van drove into a crowd. The suspect then attacked people with a blade that "might have been a machete." [It might have been a scimitar too, but "machete" is easier to spell. Ed.]

Herr Ballout was known to die Polizei and had previously "committed a number of crimes." He is still at large, but the cops have taken several people into custody in relation to the attack, according to German media. Die Zeit reports that some of those taken into custody have now been released, while others remain in custody.

Inspector Katzenjammer of the Berlin constabulary reportedly told journalists that if police cannot assign suspicions of a crime to those detained, then they must be released within 48 hours. It's still unclear if the suspect named as Abdul Ballout is believed to have acted alone, or with accomplices. 

Equally unclear, to hear the cops tell it, is the motive for the attack. But, warns the German Minister of the Interior, "We cannot rule out the possibility of copycat attacks." 

An angry German Chancellor Fred Merz (pictured) added that extremists "have no place in our society", vowing to do everything in the government's power to see justice served.

UPDATE ADDED 27/7/26 @ 0515 FMT: Die Polizei found the killer yesterday, hiding in a shed in the Spandau district of Berlin. They shot and killed him. No trial. 

One bleeding heart liberal has already commented that this shows why we need Pride Parades. Well, it does get `em all together in one place so you can attach them en masse, if you are so inclined.

Further reading: "Trans woman BEGS to return to the US after fleeing Trump's America to be placed in notorious Islamic asylum center in the Netherlands: 'I will be hurt or killed'", Daily Mail, 26/7/26. Thanks to the good folks at Blazing Cat Fur for the lead.

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Your Sikhs today: Diversity Truck Lines in $98 million drug bust

Before Walt answers the question "How do you know they're Sikhs?", let's read the entire story as it was reported today by one of Canada's top three agencies of the lickspittle media. [He means CTV News. Ed.]

A cross-border investigation involving police and border agencies in Canada and the U.S. has resulted in the seizure of nearly 1.7 tonnes [3.74 tons] of illegal drugs. Authorities are calling "Project Bay" one of Ontario’s largest single-investigation drug busts. The estimated street value of the drugs seized is more than $139 million [$98 million in real money].

According to police, the investigation targeted the importation and trafficking of illegal drugs linked to the Canada-U.S. border. The investigation started in January 2025 when police in Windsor ON launched a drug-trafficking probe. A month later, the Canada Border Services Agency joined the investigation as officers worked to identify a cross-border trafficking network.

Authorities said the investigation uncovered a broker-style operation within the commercial trucking industry that allegedly exploited established transportation networks to move illegal drugs across the border. Investigators allege the operation arranged for drivers to knowingly transport illicit substances through legitimate supply chains.

Police said the investigation also relied on support from several law enforcement partners. U.S. Homeland Security Investigations and the Drug Enforcement Administration assisted with the international aspects of the case, while Toronto police and Peel Regional Police provided operational and investigative support.

On June 25, investigators used 18 search warrants at homes and businesses in Windsor, Corunna, LaSalle, Brampton and Kleinburg. On July 14, two search warrants were used in Markham and Caledon, and on July 20, two search warrants were used in Brampton.

Considering that the CTV version doesn't list any names or other information which would identify the accused, I hear you asking: How do I know there are Sikhs involved? I've highlighted the clues contained in the text. 

Are you still doubtful? OK, here the list of those charged, taken from the addendum to the police statement. (Two persons charged are "unnamed", as they haven't been arrested yet.) 

Gagandip THINDAL, 27, Brampton, ON - 10 charges

Simranjit SINGH, 32, Brampton, ON - 12 charges

Kanwarpal KULAR, 32, LaSalle, ON - 2 charges

Jatinderpal SINGH, 39, Brampton, ON - 2 charges

Jasvinder SOHI, 55, Brampton, ON - 2 charges

Tejwinder SANDHU, 29, Brampton, ON - 2 charges

Harjwinder SANDHU, 33, Kitchener, ON - 2 charges

Haninderpal GREWAL, 34, Barrie, ON - 4 charges

Tarminder SINGH, 19, Brampton, ON - 9 charges

Steven SCUSSOLIN, 32, Windsor, ON - 2 charges

Avtar SAHOTA, 54, Shelburne, ON - 2 charges

Mohamed BINHASSAN, 41, Toronto, ON - 2 charges

Michele MOSCONE, 28, Windsor, ON - 26(!) charges

Gundeep TALIWAL, 32, Brampton, ON - 4 charges

Shawn BATTE, 44, Corunna, ON - 1 charge

Zain KHAWAJA, 28, Windsor, ON - 1 charge

Villy SCHWARTZ, 30, Markham, ON - 1 charge

Mehakpreet SINGH, 24, Brampton, ON - 8 charges

Karandeep SINGH, 27, Brampton, ON - 6 charges

I don't know how that "Schwartz" got in there, but of the 19 named accused we have... let's see... 5 "Singh"s, 2 "Sandhu"s and a "Grewal" (whose middle names are undoubtedly "Singh"), and 4 others with "South Asian" names who may or may not be "Singh"s. And 1 (only) Mohamed.

Some of the accused are likely graduates of the notorious Singh School of Truck Driving (HQ in Brampton ON), and probably employed by companies with names like Diversity Truck Lines. Anyone with information to the contrary is invited to blab in our "comments", or you can just call 1-800-222-TIPS.