And this one makes me sad..

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7462934.stm

“The number of abortions among girls aged under 16 rose by 10% to 4,376 in 2007, official figures for England and Wales show.

In the under 14s, abortions rose by 21% from 135 in 2006 to 163 last year.

The number of abortions in all women rose by 2.5% with the highest rate in those aged 19 years.”

What is going wrong with these young girls? Are we not getting the sex education across to them, or are we teaching them the wrong thing?

The article goes on to say we need better contraception services for young people, which also makes me sad, because it’s such a shame that young girls are so keen to grow up, and enter the world of sex.

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Is anyone else cross about this..?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7460452.stm..

“Tanker drivers delivering fuel for Shell have been offered a 14% pay increase over two years after their four-day strike hit UK fuel supplies.

The increase will be worth 9% in the first year and 5% in the second, taking average annual earnings to £41,750.

Drivers and union officials rejected an earlier offer of about £36,000. The union representing the drivers, Unite, has urged them to accept the new offer.”

What exactly do these drivers do that is SO special, to warrant such a high pay, and now such a huge rise?

Teachers, nurses, police etc have to battle year after year to get anything much higher than 1.5%.. and that’s on a rather low pay to start with. However, they’re not able to hold the country to ransom by striking. These tankers drivers have done.. just a few days of some people having trouble getting petrol, and boom… up go their (already high) salaries!

Can you tell I’m a tad annoyed?!

LOL

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Sorry…

I know that not many people regularly read my offerings, but for those who do pop in for time to time, I’m sorry I haven’t blogged much. I’ve been feeling rather ‘blah’, as a good friend put it this morning, and haven’t really felt like doing much. There have been various things that have been going on, but I won’t bore you with it all.

Thank you to those who been there for me over recent issues.. and to the above mentioned friend, I do hope you feel much better soon!

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Tagged again – Authors

I’ve been tagged by Karen, over at Fresh As A Daisy, and this one is about authors…

1. Who is your all-time favourite author, and why?

Sorry, but that one has got to be impossible! Over the years I have read so many  books, by so many authors, there isn’t just one who stands out.

2. Who was your first favourite author, and why?  Do you still consider him or her among your favourites?

Hmm.. bit of a cliche, but I have to say Stephen King. Once I moved away from the teen section in the library, I got into horror books, and I tried to read everything I could find by this guy. I’ve read most, and it’s his early stuff that I generally prefer.

Still among my favourites? Going by the amount of his that I have read, I would say yes.

3. Who’s the most recent addition to your list of favourite authors, and why?

That has to be Linda Gillard – I really liked her first book, Emotional Geology, then found myself loving her second, A Lifetime Burning.

I’ve discovered many excellent new authors over the past few years, but she is my most recent.

4. If someone asked you who your favourite authors were right now, which authors would first pop out of your mouth?  Are there any you’d add on a moment of further reflection?

Ok, let’s try.. Linda Gillard, Sam Hayes, R.L. Royle, Katherine Warwick & Raven Hart are the ones that spring to mind. The first two are recent additions, and all the first three had books that made me go ‘wow!’. Katherine because she makes anything a joy to read, even if not my usual genre, and Raven because her vampire series rocks!)

On reflection, I’d add Stephen King, JD Robb, Tess Gerritsen, Carole Matthews & Kate Harrison, as authors that I have greatly enjoyed, but haven’t read much of recently.

I’m sure I’ve left someone out, and will be back to edit later! LOL

The rules:
Link to the person that tagged you, post the rules somewhere in your meme, answer the Author questions, tag some people in your post, let the tagees know they’ve been chosen by leaving a comment on their blog, let the tagger know your entry is posted.

Tagged:
Cindy
Lucy Diamond
Imogen Howson
Nici

Now, can I go back to reading now? {grin}

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