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Three-quarters of New York's 82 branch libraries close three or more days a week. All this is happening in a nation already alarmed about declining literacy, but whose library usage has risen to 53% of adults. Yet their facilities receive only 1% of federal tax dollars, money that over 25 years still amounts to less than the price of one aircraft carrier. Presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush tried to eliminate federal contributions entirely. They were thwarted by Congress, but cuts still bit. Now, President Bill Clinton's deficit reduction proposals include cuts that would reduce federal contributions to library literacy programs to less than those to military bands. (Article written by Christopher Reed in The Observer). [My thanks to Irene Caudwell for this newspaper cutting] ONLY IN CANADA? NO, IN BRITAIN TOO (ONLY WORSE) PITY! "CUT DOWN ON FISHING - BURN THE BOATS":- The night sky above Portavogie, Co. Down, was last week lit by flames - not from a terrorist outrage but from the burning of a 70 ft. trawler. Under an EEC agreement, the Kincora was one of the first of hundreds of British fishing-boats to be "decommissioned" by our [U.K.] government in its efforts to reduce Britain's "fishing effort" by 19%. Under rules imposed by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food the fishermen must physically destroy their boats, so that they can never be used again. By the same agreement reached by fisheries ministers last December, Spain -with a fishing fleet eight times the tonnage of Britain's - is due to cut its effort by only 4%. Now Britain's fishermen not only face the prospect of an armada of Spanish boats entering the North Sea and other formerly British waters after 1996 -meaning another cut-back in Britain's fishing quota. They also learned last week that the Spaniards are embarking on a huge programme to replace some 300 fishing boats at a cost of billions of pounds - heavily subsidised by government and EEC funds. As Maastricht comes into force, it would certainly be understandable if the Spaniards were lighting bonfires of their own to celebrate. (Sunday Comment: Sunday Telegraph, October 31st, 1993) Aren't politicians just wonderful! Tony Scammell Editor