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An article in The Wall Street Journal  goes on about "bad grammar" in the workplace and quotes someone raving about the Oxford comma and Bryan Garner's dislike of "I could care less. " William B. Lawrence, dean and professor of American church history at SMU's Perkins School of Theology, takes up the cudgel  and execrates data  and media  used as singulars. Tom Chivers of The Telegraph   has some fun with a C of E vicar  who thinks that ordinary literary competence has rung down the curtain and joined the choir invisible.* Upon examination, these complaints turn out to be the customary farrago of minor errors, superstitions, and private prejudices.

On what would have been 100th birthday for Julia Child, queen of the upscale cookbook, here's some good reading: The Washington Post reports that the National Museum of American History today reopened one of its most beloved exhibits: the kitchen Child used for television shows. "The copper pot collection represented only in outline until it was reunited with Child's kitchen in 2009 now hangs directly across from where it belonged. Child's French Legion of Honor medal of 2000 and the 1996 Emmy statuette for “In Julia's Kitchen With Master Chefs” are displayed nearby.

On Sunday, The Sun revealed that a dozen area businesses, nonprofits and federal government organizations owe the city of Baltimore more than $10.5 million on water bills that are past due by at least six months. In some cases, the businesses haven't made any payments on their accounts in years. It was the latest in a series of articles that Sun colleague Julie Scharper and I have written since February about Baltimore's problems issuing and collecting bills associated with its aging water system.  We've reported on the city refunding $4.2 million to customers after an audit found widespread problems with water bills; and uncovered voluminous problems of our own , including a $100,000 overbilling of Cockeysville Middle School and a Randallstown woman who's been receiving her neighbor's bills for seven years -- both of which were fixed after our inquires.

In response to the article, "Columbia couple, both 100, still going strong" (July 5): Thank you for your recognition of two of our prominent residents, John and Ruby Hill, who have recently turned 100 together. We noticed with dismay that the headline and article call Vantage House an assisted living center. In point of fact, Vantage House is a continuing care retirement community, or CCRC — the only one in Howard County. CCRCs provide a full continuum of care, from independent living apartments, to enhanced living, assisted living, and skilled nursing care.

Wednesday is World Population Day! Why does that matter? Unlike Slurpee Day - also Wednesday - or National Hot Dog Day (July 21), population growth has a direct effect on you, your children, your future and the health of our planet. Let's put population growth into terms any Orioles fan can understand. Every hour, the world population increases by about 9,100 people. At that rate, it would only take about five hours to fill up Camden Yards. It would be loud. It would be crowded. A lot of Slurpees and hot dogs would be needed to feed everyone.

I've been meaning to comment on The Atlantic's thought-provoking cover story from a couple of weeks ago, "Why Women Still Can't Have It All," since I first read it. But I was kind of engrossed in getting my essay out in yesterday's paper, and I was fresh out of deep thoughts. Not to mention, a whole lot of other people got there first. But it's definitely worth a read -- in it, former director of policy planning at the State Department Anne-Marie Slaughter explains why she gave up her dream job to spend more time with her family, in the real way, not the euphemistic, "he or she was asked to leave the position" kind of way.  Then, this week, just as I was hoping to get settled back in and figure out my own deep thoughts on these issues, the great, conversation-starting articles just keep coming.

I enjoyed your article regarding ice creams from local farms ("Cream of the crop," June 27). The only thing that turned me off was the third cow from the left in your picture, which looked like a "downed" cow. But I'm assuming it was not, since the barn looks very clean and the other cows look well cared for. Please do more articles and interest stories on vegetarian restaurants, organic farmer's markets, organic farms and compassion for animals'...

Please indulge me today. Having reached an age at which I would look at the obituary page every morning even if I were not professionally obliged to keep up with the paper, and at which I more regularly attend funerals and memorial services, I would like to say a couple of farewells. If you are in Baltimore, you may have heard of Dudley Clendinen: read either of his books or his published articles, or listened to him talk with Tom Hall on WYPR-FM over the months that amyotrophic lateral sclerosis was claiming his body.

Last week Steve Buttry posted an article at The Buttry Diary on the ways in which copy editing, if it is to survive, must change from copy editors' accustomed attitudes and practices. I urge you to read it; no, I implore you to read it. Mr. Buttry, though an apostle of the new digital-first era, understands and appreciates the value of copy editing, and his article is thoughtful and intelligent. There are a few points I would like to amplify. DROP THE NONESSENTIALS: "You need to assess a story's needs quickly and address them efficiently," he writes.

In a small, rural, rust-belt town there sits a nondescript office building not far from the town square. The building is an unassuming amalgam of storefronts, offices and vacancies. Near one of the offices, there hangs a shingle: "Psychiatrist's Office. " Patients arrive faithfully, dutifully awaiting the chance to receive comprehensive, compassionate care and the most appropriate medicine for their maladies. My mother runs this clinic, striving to provide the best and most cost-effective medicine possible.