Lightly Seared On The Reality Grill

I’m not a children/young adult author, but if the drop in my PLR loans reflects library closures, then we have just slammed the door in the face of a new generation of readers. I got my start reading fiction from my local library; the voracious reading habits of a bookish child aren’t easily supported from a family budget under strain from elsewhere during a time of cuts. I hate to think what the long term outcome of this short-term policy is going to be, but I don’t believe any good will come of it.

- Charlie Stross

Simon Carr thinks he will. And it wouldn’t surprise me if this turned out to be the case. Milliband Jr. was foisted on the Labour parliamentary party by the unions and has proved to be a complete non-entity as leader.

Most of his MPs thought he was the wrong man for the job and he has done nothing to convince them otherwise.

Online map suppressing crime reporting, says survey

More than 5.2 million people have not reported crimes for fear of deterring home-buyers or renters since the Home Office’s online crime map was launched in February 2011, according to research from insurers Direct Line.

An online poll of 2,685 adults conducted on behalf of the insurance company found that of the people not reporting crimes, nearly 75 per cent had ignored antisocial behaviour such as drug-dealing or vandalism for fear of devaluing the neighbourhood.

Whoops

Jason Sanford makes a good point:

[O]penness is a double-edged sword and means that when big news events occur information will often be released which is ultimately proven inaccurate. Since the alternative is to wait hours or days until all information is properly vetted and verified, I don’t see this changing anytime soon.

Perhaps one day our society will develop to the point where we have accurate information at our fingertips before any of us engages in our global games of gossip and telephone. But I’m not holding my breath.

I don’t really have anything to add other than to suggest that you go and read the full post.