pootling

Want to see how the bank bailout looks compared to the other parts of the UK economy and government spending? Yeah, you probably don't. But the next time that someone tells you that the private sector have some inherent ability to be better with money than the public sector, you can show them this.

"But the deniers' campaign of lies, grotesque as it is, does not justify secrecy and suppression on the part of climate scientists. Far from it: it means that they must distinguish themselves from their opponents in every way." Monbiot's right.

"Her singing voice wavers up and down through the octaves, like someone slowly tuning a shortwave radio in search of an authentic emotion."

From Londonist, all of the places that Sherlock Holmes visits in his various cases. Some, inevitably, are a bit vaguer than others.

I think my favourite part of the Belle de Jour story is Darren from LinkMachineGo's role in it all.

It's been a long time since I found a blog that I really liked. I'm late to this party, but Five Chinese Crackers' dismantling of the media's idiocy is top rate.

A depression analysis of what Disney leading ladies teach young girls and boys.

Cory Doctorow suggests that Murdoch's trying to reshape the web rather than just being insane when it comes to copyright. A persuasive opinion.

This is pretty stunning. Having got used to Google Maps, it would have been nice to be able to travel wherever you like, but I get why that's a way off yet.

Great post by Malcolm Coles. I doubt the Mail particularly cares, since a pretty hefty chunk of its readers are racist, but the point still stands.

Ah, the joys of the Collings and Herrin podcast.

Eminently sensible post from Ed West about freedom of speech.

Great post on the Enemies of Reason about the tabloid hipocrisy over Nick Griffin and the BBC.

I'm not Guido's biggest fan, but when he says "Get a grip. There is no right to not be offended.", he's entirely right.

The TimesOnline Eureka Zone sets about seeing how true Nick Griffin's throwaway line 'scientists would happily confirm this' is. They wouldn't.

"There’s a difference, I think, between social media users who employ every rhetorical weapon at their disposal to hit back at Moir, and those who want to stop views like hers being expressed in future." Indeed.

Makes for depressing, but enlightening reading of what's actually going on.