THE NEEDS OF THE MANY – THE NEEDS OF THE FEW

So I don’t really count myself as either left or right on the politics scale nowadays I find myself as far too cynical to consider it. I do have an active interest in politics though and one thing very close to my heart is civil rights. Recently I was listening to Radio Five Live [Part of the BBC’s radio network dedicated to News and Sport] and the DNA database was under discussion. Previously police in the UK were holding onto people’s DNA after their arrest even when proven innocent of the crime they were arrested for. Now it seems under the CONDEM government the amount of time such DNA can be held might be reduced.

However it has been shown that several of the innocent DNA samples have resulted in convictions for other crimes. So there is a vocal section of society that is all for handing over our DNA from birth so no one can hide and all the evil lawbreakers can be found and stopped. I, however, do not consider myself a part of that faction I tend to believe that if you are innocent or not charged after an arrest then you have every right to have your DNA returned and not retained so it should be destroyed.

Yes it may lead to more crimes being unsolved but half of that blame lies with the police itself. The police have become far more political in the last 10 years or so, demanding more powers that they needed in the aftermath of terrorist attacks. Now we see those same laws misused by councils spying on their council payers while judges throw out control orders.

Before you agree to sign over your most intimate details to your government please consider a few things.

The utter regularity with which government departments in the past have managed to lose our details, like the inland revenue or even the armed forces. Don’t you remember all those laptops on the train fiascos now think about the information they lost being the very essence of your being. Also consider your DNA will likely become very valuable in the next few years with insurance companies wanting to likely scan yo so they can refuse you cover or charge you over the odds whern you test positive for a gene making you more likely to develop heart disease or cancer in your old age, now more than ever knowledge is power and can you really trust the government not to make some mutually beneficial deal to hand over your DNA to insurance companies?

Also consider that freedom in and of itself means that you allow people some measure of their own control and choice which sometimes may prove to be the wrong choice. Going for the whole population to be added to the DNA database from birth or from their arrival in the country seems to be taking much of the idea of freedom and democracy out of the picture. Next you’ll want some secret police with the power to grab people at dawn with no evidence… oh wait we do that already my bad.

Return of the CHUCK

Yes reader the Bartowski is on his way back to us. Us in this case being the non-downloading viewers of Virgin 1 in the UK. I am a big fan of Chuck especially from the first season in my opinion things got a little boring towards the middle of season two but I have high hopes for where we go from here. Yvonne Strahovski is absolutely gorgeous as is Chuck's sister whose name escapes me at present. Now the US TV season is winding down I find my evenings open to more creative endeavours. So more blogging it is, I think I might be doing more book reviews in the future as TV has dried up on me.

Anyway hope all of you in blogger land are cool I'm out for now.

HEROES NOOOOOO!

So it's official Heroes is gone gone gone. With the only chance of redemption a one off finale to wrap things up. So Heroes goes the way of Dollhouse, Firefly, Threshold et al. I don't agree with NBC's decision especially after seeing the rather meagre planned replacements. Obviously Heroes wasn't perfect except for most of the 1st season the only problem being Sylar surviving at the end which you might argue is property of Season Two. A bizarre season two coupled with the Writers Strike really did it for Heroes in the end, after all that stuff was resolved the audiences had already made up their minds that Heroes was a sinking ship.

UPDATE: Just read Kring's statement, it was very brief and not all that specific suggesting that Heroes might continue on in some fashion, maybe the Graphic Novels but then why the hell should their continuity matter now? At lease Kring had a pop at NBC talking about Heroes international viewership of 45 million while mentioning NBC's failure to deal with measuring the success of the show.

Nielsen ratings SUCK no one watches TV on time anymore.

Burned, No Money and other stuff

So it is here and it is so very good. I am so hooked into this series it could hurt. I do however tend to agree that the first three books were the best I think maybe the structure of school life mixed in with the paranormal kept you coming back for more. The other books do it as well but I find myself longing for the days when they head back to the House of Night proper if those days ever return which to me seems by no means certain.

I had my birthday recently without it to be fair I would have had some issues trying to pick up my copy of Burned but showing off my total inability to manage finances I managed to waste a decent amount of birthday money which should have been better placed to dealing with my debt or putting away for a rainy day. I am too old to be so silly about money I am an adult and I should know better I have responsibilities.

Money leads into work which is pretty scarce on the ground, motivation is hard but I have some job centre thing coming up (On election day) but the last one I went to served to be more of a de-motivator than anything else so I can’t say I have my hopes up regarding the interview or whatever it is. I dunno I need to have a chat with my buds about this maybe they can help me out a bit at least to stay focused.

Even though you wouldn’t think from the incredibly variable weather recently (blame the Icelanders I say) I have my own internal system pointing to the rapid approach of summer. Yep all of a sudden I find myself with a hunger and need that seems more appropriate to the newly resurrected red vampyres of house of night fame. Although in my case I speak of lust itself as opposed to bloodlust and violence, though there is nothing wrong with that I suppose. As I pretty much daily walk the streets of my town (I live alone so it is nice to at least see the occasional other person) and I find my eyes flitting from woman to woman admiring this and that.

I’m not particularly sex crazed I don’t think but it tends to be around now I find myself thinking about how nice a girlfriend might be a little more often than I might usually let my mind wander to that particular subject. Before I can truly try to find someone I need to sort out some issues health and otherwise with myself before I take that step.

Anyway I think I have shared enough.

OH MY GODDESS!!!

So recently I have been thinking about religion. Not the main ones but those ones that might be described as more specialist like Jedi. Now those of you that are familiar with the House of Night Series with which I am currently obsessed with will know of the Goddess Nyx and the religion woven around her. I was instantly engaged by it and the way it identifies the five elements (Wind, Fire, Water, Earth and Spirit) in case you were wondering, the religious ideals are interesting even without the more supernatural aspects of what the story brings us like affinities and the appearance of Nyx towards her most important followers.

Can I convert?

So today was a get stuff done kind of day so yours truly was out and about paying bills, doing some light snack shopping and also checking to see if Burned - the new HON novel was available at my local WH Smiths which is wasn't, EPIC FAIL. Though in some HON related promotions they were offering the first book of the HON series Marked with the upcoming Twilight book.

Now I'm at home enjoying my days off from raiding with my new guild ver at Shattered Balls EU - World of Warcraft. Pop in and say hello sometime :o)

That is enough from me I need to do some job searches.

Some collected blogs I never finished

[These bits and pieces have been festering on my HD so I have finally put them up here and tried to complete them]

So the time for change is now

Crazy stuff the elections are almost here and will be pretty soon after a very special person’s birthday. I don’t quite know what to make of the elections not sure if I am going to vote or not either I live in a Conservative held place seat should maybe take the time at least to see if it is close or not.

I have no idea who will win to be honest, a hung parliament is a distinct possibility and that well for the UK that would seriously complicate matters, I mean first past the post basically means you railroad things through in theory in practice even we can’t manage that it seems so to move to a system seen mostly in Europe with no end of deals an compromises worries me greatly.

Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

I had heard a lot about this, the Millennium Trilogy had often been mentioned on the virtual book shelf a late night segment on Radio Five Live and of course a lot more recently the first of the film versions has made its way to the UK

Been very quiet and I apologise for that. Job wise things are way too quiet unfortunately so I will leave off that for now. In my world of hobbies I have been getting through even more books I feel like I am addicted.

So recently I have been going in two different directions I guess

Dean Koontz and Rick Riordan

The titles that I have been enjoying were 'Relentless' and 'Dragon Tears' by Dean Koontz. Relentless was an incredibly entertaining chase thriller with the usual Koontz weirdness and a really cool dog. Dragon Tears is a nice scary tale about a cop going up against a supernatural enemy. I mean generally scary, something that keeps you on the edge of your seat.

Rick Riordan wrote the Percy Jackson and The Olympians I can't explain how good this is. Probably teenager appropriate and not younger than that as the series gets pretty violent especially later on and has reasonably mature themes death and relationships and such but doesn't ever get to serious. You have probably heard about The Lightning Thief the 1st book which has been recently made into a movie. I caught the film it is a terrible translation of the text to be honest and I can't recommend it apparently though it might spawn more sequels.

[So those are the ones that I had in archive basically. Currently I am waiting to hear back from an awesome job that I have applied for. Also got the House of Night series the first book it is awesome and the 2nd in the Milennium Trilogy]

Weekly Round Up

Murder at Avelon Hill – This is the podcast I have been listening to since I finished my last audiobook. This is a pretty good book found it on Podiobook so you can look it up there or on the author’s website.

It is a sword and magic fantasy with a whodunit twist. It has like 42 chapters and is quite long and intricate I’m maybe a third of the way through but it is definitely holding my attention. Unlike most podcast novels it features a huge array of voices lots of fellow writers have come together to help him and it works perfectly. I recommend it if you’re a dungeons and dragons or an avid reader/watcher of Agatha Christie.

Relentless by Dean Koontz
I’m a massive fan of Dean Koontz I always wondered why he got killed that time on Family Guy. His stories tend to feature strong women and psychopathic killers as well as a fair bit of supernatural phenomena. I won’t reveal the plot because once you know the premise it basically becomes a bit spoilery.

It is a great read or listen depending on how you consume your books and I guess it helps with the wait for the next instalment of the Odd Thomas series which I can’t wait to get my hands on.

Alex Rider – Crocodile Tears
That is the name of the title of course I left out the author name. I have yet to finish it but I think I am maybe on the penultimate chapter. I’m not sure if it is as good as past efforts to be honest but it is still a decent read. I thought the last book was the end of the Alex Rider story but it continues it is just hard to believe how little time has passed in the timeline to leave Alex still so young.