The premiere of George Clooney's new film, "The Ides of March," at the Toronto International Film Festival is getting a lot of attention.

Much of the attention has focused on whether Clooney and Baltimore-area ex-pro wrestler Stacey Kiebler are really a couple. A wee bit is focused on the merits of the adaptation of Beau Willimon's play "Farragut North."

I think Clooney's movie is worth noting for another reason: egregious punctuation. As National Punctuation Day nears -- Sept. 24 -- it's time to take stock of our use of commas, apostrophes and other squiggly things.

So when I read on the "Ides" website that the movie is about a campaign manager in a "political scandal that threatens to upend his candidates shot at the presidency," my blood starts to boil.

I see more and more misuse -- and disuse -- of the apostrophe these days. Another offender: our local snowball stand, which proclaims on a sign: Kid's Rule.