The Blood is The Life 09-11-2012

[miss_s_b]

• Sarah Teather: Asylum through a child's eyes: ePolitix.com
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• Filipino VS Cumbrian women - how sexism is still a socially acceptable prejudice - Comment - Voices - The Independent
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• Authors cannot review authors on Amazon - Salon.com
  What about if you are a critic?
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• Colleen Lachowicz, Maine's World of Warcraft-Playing State Senate Candidate, Wins Office | Side Mission | GameTrailers
  YAY!
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• Why there isn’t a British Nate Silver | Stephen Tall
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• Research
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• Would aliens want to talk to Brian Cox anyway? | Roz Kaveney | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk
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• The debate about wealth must start with morals | Zoe Williams | Comment is free | The Guardian
  Interesting, if not totally convincing
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• Almost half of Britons would vote for the UK to leave the European Union in a referendum - UK Politics - UK - The Independent
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• Stephen's Liberal Journal: Dave paedophiles are not a subset of gay men
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• Mugging bid at Brighouse bus station last night
  Note to self: sort out motorbike sooner rather than later -_-" This is where I get off the bus on the way home from work...
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• Las Vegas business owner fires 22 ‘mostly Hispanic’ employees over Obama win | The Raw Story
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• U.S. National Debt Clock : Real Time
  Terrifying real time image of lots and lots of American national/federal debts
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Comments

[drunkwriter]

Everyone wants to talk to Brian Cox.

The Amazon review thing is a big pile of ick. Part of the problem is the perception that Amazon reviews actually matter - I have eleven 5 star reviews (from real people and everything, go me), and, well, I sold three books this week. And it's been a good week. In an uncertain world, reviews are one element that authors think they can control, through bullying and cheating and general underhandedness, so they've created a bit of a cesspit of pointless corruption.

I've been writing reviews online for longer than I've been publishing short stories, and I don't see a conflict of interest there. Amazon simply need to decide whether to:

a) Get a lot quicker and smarter at acting on reports of very obviously faked reviews, etc, or

b) Acknowledge that reviews actually serve little useful purpose beyond increasing the site's stickiness for customers, and just ignore the whole mess.

[andrewhickey.info]

BAD reviews matter. On multiple occasions I've had books sell an average three copies a day, then get a couple of one-star reviews, and immediately drop down to three copies a month. Good reviews don't sell books, but bad reviews stop them selling :-/

[londonkds]

I don't know about the "especially against gay men" remark is a sign of Cameron's homophobia: more like even though Saville seems to have mostly if not totally assaulted girls a lot of the rumour floating around is about people alleged to have attacked boys, some of whom have also been popularly rumoured to have been gay.

[andrewducker]

Yup - I think he knows that at least some of the original rumours were put about by homophobes, and are accusing gay men of paedophilia.

[ggreig.livejournal.com]

I'm surprised it's still below 50% that would want to leave the EU. It seems to me that the pro-European politicians in other parties largely gave up on defending Europe to the public during the Major government, when it was in their short-term interest to let the Tories tear themselves apart without any external distractions; and given the way that stoked up public opposition, they've been scared to go back in to bat ever since. I'd be interested to know if that's more than just my perception.

[miss_s_b]

That chimes with my perception, certainly.