Scum

How should one respond when caught up in a tabloid story that’s blatantly untrue? I’m not the victim, but a relative is. From some of the details they’ve got right, it’s clear they’ve been talking to someone  who knows the victim; from some of what they’ve got wrong, it’s clear they’re lying when they claim the story came direct from the horse’s mouth. The advice of people more accustomed than I am to the attentions of the sewer-rats seems to be to ignore it. Punch a journalist today – it’s in society’s interest.

A man I never knew

I’ve spent some time drafting some text for this post, but I think I’ll just state the facts. My attention was drawn by a post at Cosmic Variance to a posthumous post by an Andy Olmsted at Obsidian Wings. I’ve subsequently seen other links to it. It’s a touching piece. I’d also recommend his last post to his own blog, and especially the comments.