Ongoing

11 Aug 2020  What a lovely ray of sunshine Jacinda is in this gloom ridden world. We need more with her qualities all over the world and fewer egotistical, in the main blokes, like our disappointing PM, Putin, Xi Jinping, the legendary Kim of N Korea and the USAs joke of an unbalanced President Trump in charge.

Kev, I'm wondering if you actually watched the podcast or have read the book? I have on both counts and what you suggest in your reply is not what the QC is advocating at all. His research has been thorough and deep looking at how systems do or do not work all over the world. In the podcast, he comes to a ballpark figure of circa 100 unredeemable criminals who should never be released in the UK but argues eloquently that a guy who turned to progressive theft followed by release, reoffending to actually return to prison where he has been in and out of and is now 55 years old at a cost of around £50K to the state a year prison isn't working. 2.3M people in the USA in prison! In Switzerland, they have legalised drugs resulting in no cases of 15-year-old kids dying as they sometimes do in the UK after taking a drug of too high a purity or cut with harmful substances and heroin addicts actually becoming clean again and going back into useful lives in society. The current system fails society but is a vote winner for politicians. As with education, something needs to be done to mend the system.

<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50245253-interference" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img border="0" alt="Interference" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1577933110l/50245253._SX98_.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50245253-interference">Interference</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2941328.Brad_Parks">Brad Parks</a><br/>

My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3498697672">4 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />

Brad Parks is a new author to me and I have started reading him on his 10th book. I found it difficult for about 90 pages to adapt to Brad’s style and grasp the nub of the well-thought-out and super extremely complicated plot. After that progress I found the book a gripping and compelling read. Full of twists and turns and high octane excitement. I even managed to keep on track with the swerves and diversions that had me guessing until very near the end to be certain who the villain of the peace was. It surprised me! 

<br/><br/>

<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/116363905-geoff-brewer">View all my reviews</a>

https://www.facebook.com/thelodgesurgery/posts/172863417722789

03 Feb 2022 Yes. On Q1 I put the wrong answer. I have little or no intention of watching this spectacle. When it starred these competitions were functional & fair nowadays it's all about commercial nonsense and one-upmanship. High time this nonsense was stopped. On the last question I view China as a greater threat to world peace than even Putin's Russia. China's human rights record is deplorable. Covid19 almost certainly came out of a laboratory in China and as to the malware issue the fact our stupid crazy government could be allowing them to be a partner in building a nuclear power station here beggars belief. https://health-study.joinzoe.com/blog/omicron-symptoms?utm_medium=email&utm_source=zoe_covid_study&utm_campaign=1_July_2022_GB&mc_cid=dd3582c9d3&mc_eid=25bfcadcc4 East of Eden & Grapes Of Wrath by John Steinbeck
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

What a brilliant pair of books. I felt East of Eden was superb but The Grapes of Wrath is up another notch again. The inequalities in life experiences by accident of birth were stark when Steinbeck wrote these books and sadly stark comparisons of the imbalance are equally present in 2022. A truly epic read that has left me wanting to discover how life went on for the family members featured.

View all my reviews