cold weather/criticism

Hello, How about the cold weather we're having. Yesterday, with the wind chill, the temperature dipped to -39. So...I didn't go out and water our rink. It was too cold. It's supposed to warm up tomorrow. Of course our snow is not quite as dramatic as the snow on te coast. I've heard from friends and relatives who live in Vancouver and Victoria that they have just about shut down because of the snow. I lived in Victoria and know they have a "few" snowplows. Hmm. Not enough when it snows a foot. In Calgary we have the equipment to clean the roads but that didn't help the other night when I heard on the radio there were over 200 fender benders.
Okay, so now I'm going to change topics but only because...it's been cold so I've been inside more and reading this list group I subscribe to but usually don't read. There has been some discussion on how we should all have the freedom to criticize books in whatever way we want. I do agree with constructive criticism, it's necessary to be a good writer and to keep improving. I'm all for it. But when people make the feedback personal and vindictive to make themselves look good that's when I say, enough. To me there's enough crap going on in the world that there's no need to be mean. Why do some people feel they have to be mean to be heard? I can say, The Da Vinci Code was not my cup of tea, and I felt the characters were a bit cardboard. I thought the plot was clever though. But that couldn't hold my attention and I didn't finish the book. But I certainly wouldn't say it was crap and I threw the book across the room it was so bad. To me that's a nasty comment. And not needed. My brother didn't read my book See Fox Run. He's a doctor on Ontario and the book is a mystery but is a little dark. He doesn't read dark mysteries because he sees a lot of stuff on a daily basis that he doesn't like reading about the same stuff. He likes Agatha Christie. Can I say he's a bum. No, he expressed himself in a kind manner and I'm not going to beat him over the head with my book. Someone else will read it and love it. All, I'm saying here, is criticism is vital to a writer but not when it is mean-spirited. I'm not sure how everyone else feels about this but...I'll leave it at that.