Just Books

Dead Centre - Press Release

Dead Centre

Not All Suicide Bombers Are Religious!

by

Owen Jones

For immediate release:

Author's new book receives a warm literary welcome.

Readers' Favorite announces the review of the Fiction - Action book "Dead Centre" by Owen Jones, currently available at http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1499121628.

Readers' Favorite is one of the largest book review and award contest sites on the Internet. They have earned the respect of renowned publishers like Random House, Simon & Schuster, and Harper Collins, and have received the "Best Websites for Authors" and "Honoring Excellence" awards from the Association of Independent Authors. They are also fully accredited by the BBB (A+ rating), which is a rarity among Book Review and Book Award Contest companies.

"Reviewed By Anne-Marie Reynolds for Readers' Favorite

Dead Centre – Not All Suicide Bombers are Religious by Owen Jones is a different take on a hot topic of conversation. Tony, a terrified soul, walks into an upper class department store in Baghdad and just seconds later, he detonates the bomb strapped to his body. The Iraqi government first treat it like any other suicide bomber and the case is passed over to Captain Allawi. Things are not what they seem, though. A young police officer spots something on the store's surveillance video that changes the game plan, taking the investigation off on a tangent. Six more apparent suicide bombs go off, which cannot be explained unless they are treated in the same way as the Baghdad bomb. A new form of terrorism is taking over the world and it could be unstoppable. Possible breakthroughs get them nowhere and it’s all looking hopeless until the Chinese government and the SAS are called in.

Dead Centre – Not All Suicide Bombers are Religious by Owen Jones was a great read. A well written thriller that starts off on top gear and stays there all the way through. The scary thing is this sort of event could happen – could be happening now for all we know – and the subject is likely to get one or two backs up. However, subject aside, Mr. Jones has written a superb story, with great characters, that spans 9 different countries and dozens more cities. Excellent book, I will definitely be looking out for more from the same author."

You can learn more about Owen Jones and "Dead Centre" at https://readersfavorite.com/book-review/dead-centre where you can read reviews and the author’s biography, as well as connect with the author directly or through their website and social media pages.

Stop Press: Now available in Portuguese, and as an audiobook, and coming soon in French, Italian, and Spanish. There is also a sequel: DEAD CENTRE II (also available in Portuguese).

Readers' Favorite LLC

Media Relations

Louisville, KY 40202

800-RF-REVIEW

https://readersfavorite.com

Boots Pharmacy, Barry

Boots Pharmacy, Barry

Boots Pharmacy has been in the centre of Barry, my home town, forever, or at least as long as I can remember. In fact, my first girlfriend got her first Saturday job there as an assistant on the drugs counter. The experience inspired her to go to university and become a pharmacist.

They were the good old days apparently, because it is a sad, old-looking place now, although I don't know what opportunities they offer young people these days. I don't know, but my guess is none.

Anyway, that is not what this article is about.

I have been suffering from a severe case of gout for the last week, and yesterday, a friend - a fellow traveller, suggested a remedy. Today, dosed up on an unsustainable amount of Ibuprofen and codeine, I limped up to the prescription counter in Boots.

'Hi', I opened, I'm having a problem with gout. What can you recommend, please?' She started to look at her computer. 'I have heard of Napraxis', I said.

'No, that is prescription only'.

'OK, Altar? I used to buy that OTC in Spain...'

'No, but, I could order something in for you'.

'OK, yes, please, but I need something now. I've been told that Feminax contains the same drug, and relieves gout'.

She looked up from her screen and studied my face. 'How do you know that?'

'Research. Can I have a box of Feminax, please?'

'No, I can only sell that to females between the ages of fifteen and fifty'.

'OK', I countered, 'my wife here wants a box'.

'No', she replied, 'not now that I know what you want it for'.

Crazy

So, to cut a long story short, I pointed out that Boots' policy on this matter was prompting me to go to another pharmacy and not be perfectly honest. The woman shrugged apologetically. 'Well, it's either that, or I stand outside your shop here and ask a young woman to buy my drugs for me'.

She looked surprised when I said that. It reminded me of teenagers stopping adults outside a corner shop to ask them to buy cigarettes or alcohol for them.

It is a stupid policy that encourages people to lie, and we wonder what is wrong with society? Government and shopping policies are forcing me to either cheat, lie or wait four days to go to the doctor's.

If I could have bought what I needed, I would be limping around for four days less, AND, the doctor's time would have been saved for a more important case.

It reminds me of five years ago, when I tried to buy ten boxes of paracetamol from Boots to take abroad with me – a years' supply - and the assistant refused me.

'Thirty-two tablets maximum', the girl had said. 'Suicide risk', she had said knowingly, but she also advised that I could buy thirty-two in all the pharmacies and corner shops in town.

And people wonder about why we are where we are?!

As a nation, we have all gone bloody mad!

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All the best,

Owen

Podcast: Boots Pharmacy, Barry

Saga of My Bus Pass part one

Saga of My Bus Pass part one

The saga of my bus pass begins in the now sleepy seaside town of Barry in South Wales. I happens to be my home town, and I returned to live there with my Thai wife of fifteen years in June 2018. I am now sixty-four years of age, so I have been qualified for a bus pass for four years.

However, I have lived in Thailand and Spain for most of the last fifteen years, so I didn't bother to apply for one. I was soon to wish that I had started the application process earlier. From my first few days home, friends were extolling the virtues of the bus pass - one even called it 'his best friend'.

A bus pass removes the restrictions on mobility that are imposed by a shortage of money, which a lot of older people experience despite what the media would have the youth believe about wealthy, greedy pensioners propping up the price of houses. Who are these pensioners going to leave their houses to, for God's sake?!

Anyway, my bus pass... so, I went down to the local council offices and asked at the Information Desk.

A very large, but young woman, asked me what I wanted as she dabbed at the perspiration apparent on every inch of bare skin. I told her and she slid a form towards me, which I took, filled in and handed back.

"I cannot accept that without proof of eligibility", she said with a strange look of satisfaction. "Proof of date of birth, a utilities bill, and a signature from your doctor".

"I don't have a doctor, and since I'm renting a room and have only been here for three days, I don't have a utility bill either... I will probably never get one either".

"That's your problem", she said and proceeded to ignore me.

I walked to the nearest doctor's surgery, registered, and then took the council form to the 'Buccaneer' pub to think about it. An hour later, I phoned the surgery for an appointment for a check up.

"August 14th., 8:15? Does that suit you?" I was asked by a cheerful receptionist.

"Well, it's six weeks away, on my birthday, and a bit earlier than I was hoping to have to get up", I said light-heatedly.

"September..." he started. I interrupted him and agreed to the August appointment.

When the day came, the check-up fell way below my expectations, but that is another story, to continue my bus pass saga, the doctor refused to sign it.

"I am not here to validate your age or place of residence", he retorted rather angrily.

"But the local council said..."

"Hearsay", he cut me off. "If the local council want me to sign anything, they can write to me here!"

My birthday had not started well, and it set the tone for the day.

A week later, I went back to the local council, where the grumpy fat lady had been replaced by a friendly young man. I handed him the form.

"Confirmation, please, sir".

I passed him the letter from the doctor confirming my appointment and my passport. They were sufficient, so he scrutinised the form.

"You need to get your doctor to sign this where the box has been marked with a cross".

"He won't do it, unless you ask him officially. Perhaps, he's looking for a fee..." I quipped.

"All doctors sign these firms, take it back to him and tell him..."

"No", I interjected. "I will not be the shuttlecock between you both. Here is my application for a bus pass".

He took it. "This will be rejected", he said glumly. "My advice is to change your doctor... it really is common practice for them to sign these forms..."

I received a rejection letter from the council today, which stated that I should return the form to my doctor for his signature.

My Wife's Strange Dizzy Spells

My wife woke up three days ago feeling a little out of sorts, but when she actually got up to start the day, she complained of dizziness. Neither of of thought much about it, although that soon changed when she was physically sick before she could get to the bathroom. The dizzy spells continued, so I had to help her to the bathroom.

She could neither stand nor walk with any confidence, but she kept on being sick, so she spent the rest of that day in bed... and all of the following one. My wife tried eating again, but it came straight back up. Yesterday, she tried to eat again, but the result was the same, so she asked me to take her to our family doctor's. It is not far, but I had to support her all the way, and we had to stop for a rest and vomit.

When we arrived, the receptionist told us that we didn't have an appointment, which we already knew, and further informed us that no-one was available to see us.

Our Doctor's Surgery

"So, what do want me to do?" I asked.

"Go home", she advised. "I'll put you on phone watch, if you like".

I didn't know what that was, but it means that if a doctor anywhere in town has a few minutes, they would try to fit her in.

"Do what you like", I replied, "but we're not leaving here. If she collapses anywhere, I want it to be here, not while we're crossing the road".

"What are her symptoms?" I was asked, so I told her.

"We really do advise that you go home, we don't want sick people in here... we have a lot of very old and very young patients in and out..."

I was flabbergasted, but I had one more request.

"Here is a letter from the council asking my doctor to sign my application for a free bus pass".

"There is a £10 fee for leaving it with us, or a £15 doctor's fee for the signature".

I refused to leave, and so took a seat while my wife went outside to be sick - I felt like joining her.

Some thirty-odd minutes later, a man walked in. He explained that he didn't have an appointment, but wanted to see a doctor. My ears pricked up.

"Take a seat, we'll see what we can do" chirped the receptionist.

I went to have a word. "Why couldn't you have done that for us?" I asked.

"You're on phone watch", she explained.

The top nearly came off my head. "Only because you put us on it! That wasn't our idea".

"Your wife has gone home anyway, sir. My supervisor had a word with her and she left".

I couldn't believe it, but she was nowhere to be seen, so, I set off in the direction of her best friend's shop nearby to look for her. A few doors from the shop, I called into a pub. I hadn't taken two sips when our landlady and friend rushed in saying that my wife needed me at home. We were there in twenty minutes.

"She needs the paramedics", warned our landlady, who is a carer.

My wife was a quivering wreck, by the time they arrived, which was not long. Anyway, after several tests, they diagnosed 'vertigo' - something my wife has never been diagnosed with. They also phoned our doctor to get a prescription, which I had to collect.

Bad Practice

Naturally, I wanted to know what the supervisor had told my wife to make her go home alone.

"I told her to go home and wait for a call..."

"And?"

"...and when she asked where her husband was, I said: 'I have no idea. I don't even know your husband".

"And did she understand you?"

"I don't know, she was looking at me..."

"My wife is dizzy, confused and Asian, but you didn't check whether she had understood you or not?"

Today, after four tablets, my wife is sitting up in bed. She has eaten three bowls of rice soup - typical Thai br...

Biometric Data for Residency Cards

Biometric Data for Residency Cards

My wife is Thai, for those of you who don't know me, and, since we have moved back to the UK to live, she needs a residency card (RCUK) or residency permit. These days, these cards contain biometric data such as iris scans and finger prints.

We first submitted her application for a residency card four months ago, so, for about eighteen weeks, she has had nothing to do, because the local government will not grant her the right to work without one. This is completely illegal, I might add, and contravenes the EU Directives to which the UK is a signatory. However, they don't care about the law unless it suits them.

The government and the politicians who run it are the biggest crooks around... anyway, we all know that already, so back to the point.

On Thursday, we received a letter from the Home Office telling my wife that she should send them her biometric data within fifteen days of the date of the day that letter was posted. Well, I don't know what that was, but the date on the letter was the third of the month, but the day we received it was the eleventh. Eight days to get a government letter 150 miles? That doesn't sound right, does it? She had seven days to complete the task with a weekend in that. That sounds like them trying their damnedest to obfuscate to me.

Anyway, so we caught the bus to the nearest facility - the Post Office fifteen miles away - and asked for the biometric data service.

'Oh, it's down today, please come back on Monday. Sorry. Next!'

I wouldn't move!

I complained to everyone around me and made a total nuisance of myself until the manager came.

'I'm sorry, Sir', she said, 'but the engineer can't get here for four hours. You may wait over there, if you like'.

I went into overdrive.

The result was that she rebooted the machine and it took my wife's biometric data!

I thanked them and left, not sure whether to be happy that we had gotten the job done, or whether to be really sad that our once great Royal Post Office - the role model for all the others in the world - has sunken so low.

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All the best,

Owen

Podcast: Biometric Data for Residency Cards

 

UN Human Rights

Statement on Visit to the United Kingdom, by Professor Philip Alston, United Nations Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights

Version with footnotes (PDF)

London, 16 November 2018

Conclusion

The experience of the United Kingdom, especially since 2010, underscores the conclusion that poverty is a political choice. Austerity could easily have spared the poor, if the political will had existed to do so. Resources were available to the Treasury at the last budget that could have transformed the situation of millions of people living in poverty, but the political choice was made to fund tax cuts for the wealthy instead.

It was a British philosopher, Thomas Hobbes, who memorably claimed that without a social contract, life outside society would be “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.” The risk is that if current policies do not change, this is the direction in which low-income earners and the poor are headed. Loneliness rates have soared in recent years and life expectancy rates have stalled in the United Kingdom, with the latest statistics showing a sharp drop in the annual improvement that has been experienced every year since the records began, and an actual drop for certain groups.

The compassion and mutual concern that has long been part of the British tradition has been outsourced. At the same time many of the public places and institutions that previously brought communities together, such as libraries, community and recreation centers, and public parks, have been steadily dismantled or undermined. In its fiscal analyses, the Treasury and the Government constantly repeat the refrain that fiscal policy must “avoid burdening the next generation.” The message is that the debt burden must be paid off now. The problem is that the next generation’s prospects are already being grievously undermined by the systematic dismantling of social protection policies since 2010.

The negotiations surrounding Brexit present an opportunity to take stock of the current situation and reimagine what this country should represent and how it protects its people. The legislative recognition of social rights should be a central part of that reimagining. And social inclusion, rather than increasing marginalization of the working poor and those unable to work, should be the guiding principle of social policy.

The UK should introduce a single measure of poverty and measure food security.

The government should initiate an expert assessment of the cumulative impact of tax and spending decisions since 2010 and prioritize the reversal of particularly regressive measures, including the benefit freeze, the two-child limit, the benefit cap, and the reduction of the housing benefit for under-occupied social rented housing.

It should ensure local governments have the funds needed to tackle poverty at the community level, and take varying needs and tax bases into account in the ongoing Fair Funding Review.

The Department of Work and Pensions should conduct an independent review of the effectiveness of reforms to welfare conditionality and sanctions introduced since 2012,

NANOWRIMO 2018

NANOWRIMO 2018

Have you ever wanted to write a book? Many people have... I hear it from someone every week. The main reason they cite for not doing it is that they wouldn't know where to start. I have written fifty-two novels and a hundred and twenty-five short manuals, but I still remember vividly how scared I was writing the first one. It took me seven years and I kept putting it off, because I had no confidence in it or myself. Now let me introduce you to NANOWRIMO and NANOWRIMO 2018 in particular.

Written correctly, it is NaNoWriMo 2018 and stands for National November Writing Month. The 'national bit lasted a year, then it went global. I joined NaNoWriMo in 2013 and have participated every year since, so this year will be my sixth.

As it happens, 2018 is the one year when I really don't have time to get involved, but I feel that it would be such a shame not to join in and I enjoy it a lot anyway.

However, the point of NaNoWriMo is to help beginners to gain the conference to write. So, to me, that especially means their first book, but many people only write one book a year, so NaNo is a big thing to them. And I have written many books, but it still is to me too.

NaNoWriMo offers so much support to writers. It is a fantastic feeling writing in a group. I say 'a group', but I have never met any of the people I have written with. We write together connected by Skype. However, the world is divided into sections for the NaNoWriMo 2018 experience, and most cities in the West have NaNo writing groups.

The challenge is to write 50,000 words during the month of November. I know that that might sound daunting, hut it is 1,667 words a day - call it 2,000 if you want a cushion. It doesn't have to be published or edited in November, only written.

I urge everyone who wants to write a book to get on over to nanowrimo.org and sign up right now. You won't regret it, I promise you, even if you don't finish on time this year. You will have started and that is the biggest hurdle. Start now, finish wherever, and then really go for it next year.

I'll be one of your writing buddies, if you like. Look me up, owenjones, and say 'Hello'.

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All the best,

Owen

Podcast: NANOWRIMO 2018

Promotion on Megan Publishing Services

Promotion on Megan Publishing Services

Advertising on Megan Publishing Services is possible and not expensive, but the type of promotions that we will accept is limited to books and artwork in general, although if you have broader requirements, we may be able to help there too, as long as the ads fit in with the site's content.

Books and Artwork can most easily be promoted through the bookshop button on the Title Bar above as this method is automated in that the advertiser can set up the promotion and pay for it without outside intervention.

However, there is another alternative too - banner advertising! This is not automated, but is easy to achieve if you have a existing banner, say from a company that you are affiliated to, or one that you have made yourself. This latter type can also be used by authors and artists to promote there own work in a larger format, from which one would expect more impact.

Prices for the banner ads are also available from the Title Bar.

If you are stuck trying to create a banner, perhaps I could help, or you can get one made on Fiverr for $5, and you will own it outright. It will probably be more professional too. (I may get one made for myself, thinking about it :-) )

There are prime spots for all the common size banners, but in general, there is only one spot for each size of banner.

So, if you have specific requirements, get in soon.

You can find the sizes of the banners and their prices for promotion on Megan Publishing Services here:

Advertising on Megan Publishing Services

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All the best,

Owen.

PS: Promotion on MPS is best suited to all SWAMPies (sculptors, artists, authors, musicians and photographers).

Podcast: Promotion on Megan Publishing Services

The Cloud - An 'Internet Service Provider'

The Cloud - An 'Internet Service Provider'

Many people rely on the Internet these days for their daily communication and entertainment. Television is dire, and people don't talk much anymore... at least, they don't tend to talk to the ones around them. People sit in groups, but talk to people miles away via the Internet. I am one of the worst, I wouldn't use a pub that didn't offer WI-Fi Internet. Most pubs, clubs and restaurants do offer Internet access, but some of them offer it via an Internet Service Provider called The Cloud.

I am not sure how extensive The Cloud network is, but several pubs in our area (Barry, South Wales) are connected to it.

Most establishments use ISP's that are available to the public like Virgin, BT, Sky or whatever and they seem to function well no matter how busy the places are. On the other hand, many pubs and restaurants are quite small, and so, Internet access is unlikely to be overloaded often.

However, some of the largest pubs now use an ISP called The Cloud. I'm talking about places like Whetherspoon's and similar sized businesses. I don't know what The Cloud costs to install, but in my experience, the results are dreadful.

You have to register to able to use it, and once you have created an 'identity', it is supposedly your calling card anywhere that uses The Cloud. It sounds all right, but pubs with private accounts don't require my personal details in order to use them. This data can be sold, so, in effect, you are paying for your Internet access.

Why do larger bars need to do this when smaller ones don't? Not only that, but Internet access via The Cloud is far inferior to that of normal ISP's. Surely, the traffic in larger pubs should allow them to provide superior access, not the opposite?

If micro bars can afford to pay for decent Internet access for their customers, why can't larger ones? It doesn't make sense to me...

Contempt is the only word that springs to mind... and they make us pay for it...

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All the best,

Owen

Podcast: The Cloud - An 'Internet Service Provider'

Andropov's Cuckoo Review

Andropov's Cuckoo

A Story of Love, Intrigue and The KGB

by Owen Jones

Review by Barry Boy

Andropov's Cuckoo is in the genre of Thriller, but straddles the sub-genres of Love (Romance) and Espionage. It is written in the third-person singular and set in the Soviet Union, and several other Eastern and Western countries, in the thirty-odd years after the Second World War.

We meet the main character, Natasha, quite late in the novel - the fourth chapter - although we hear of her under another name - Youriko - before that.

Natasha was born in Kazakhstan and happened to look Japanese, which is the basis of the plot. However, Natasha was an idealistic, naive young woman who wanted to help Socialism better the condition of the Working Class around the world, and so was vulnerable to abuse by the Soviet hierarchy, which is where Yuri Andropov makes his appearance as the fearsome head of the dreaded KGB.

At first, things went well for Operation Youriko, but Natasha gradually lost her enthusiasm and wanted out, which could not go unpunished. Shortly after this point, she meets a British student and falls in love for the first time in her life, and the race is on to get out of the USSR and into the UK.

We are told that Andropov's Cuckoo is based on a true story that happened to the author himself, but that cannot be corroborated. The realism and passion in the story suggests that that might be true.

I enjoyed Andropov's Cuckoo by Owen Jones and give it full marks. It is thrilling, pacey and realistic. Your heart will go out to Natasha, I promise you. It is a love story on several levels filial love, patriotism, idealism and romance.

Andropov's Cuckoo by Owen Jones is available from all major retailers both on and off line, although it is probably quicker to order it from Amazon as a paperback, ebook or (free) audiobook here:

Andropov's Cuckoo - all formats