MY BETTER HALF...

This woman is cleverer, funnier and stronger than I am. So she can certainly kick YOUR ass...

LEAST ACTION HERO...

So many deadlines and dinosaur incursions, so little time...

JOURNEYMAN...

Lay back and think of the air-miles I'm earning...

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Archive for December 2006

Yes, it's finally here. Try to contain yourselves.

Ready to send out just before Christmas and just after. Full of the best interviews and articles on recent and upcoming television, film and the people who make it happen. Check out my formal website at http://www.theregoestheday.com for full listings and ordering. The cover should be on display to the right >>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Several people brought this to my attention: http://www.globalorgasm.org/

Now, here's an idea I could really get behind. I mean, it's not for me you understand. No, no...it's for the planet. And the Earth will reallllly respect you in the morning!



I find myself getting more and more political, though I really never wanted to be. However it takes Jon Stewart to totally nail my thoughts towards the end of the following clip... (takes a second to load...)

From today's The Sunday Times:

Directions: The new terrorist test: chicken or beef? By Chris Haslam

Think carefully before choosing your in-flight meal next time you plan a trip to the USA, because your choice could make the difference between receiving a welcome to America and being banned from boarding your flight.

As of last Monday, passengers crossing US borders are being assigned a secret risk-assessment score that cannot be seen or challenged, and which will be held on file for 40 years — a period judged by the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to “cover the potentially active lifespan of individuals associated with terrorism or other criminal activities”. Secretary Michael Chertoff confirmed that once a passenger is on the blacklist, the agency transmits their name to the airline and “the airline is actually legally obliged to deny that person the opportunity to fly”.
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Most worryingly, this score is not assigned by qualitative observation, but by a government computer program called the Automated Targeting System (ATS), which sifts through 39 items of intelligence provided by air and shipping lines for every inbound traveller to the States. This information, known as the Passenger Name Record (PNR), includes home and e-mail addresses, credit-card details, seat preferences and even in-flight meal choices from which the DHS claims its computers can identify terrorists and criminals.

Asked if this meant that a passenger ordering a halal meal on a flight to New York was potentially more dangerous than a vegetarian, the DHS replied that it “was not prepared to discuss security matters”, giving the same reply when asked if a preference for an aisle seat was more suspect than a window seat. ATS, it said, was “one of the most advanced targeting systems in the world”, without which the security of America’s borders would be “seriously impaired”.

In May, the European Court of Justice judged America’s demand for PNR data to be illegal, putting airlines in the tricky position of breaking US law by withholding information and falling foul of the EU by providing it. However, a new agreement was reached in October, with Europe agreeing to give the data freely so long as America agreed not to demand it.

The ATS system has angered human-rights campaigners on both sides of the pond. David Sobel, of civil-liberties group the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said the system broke America’s own Privacy Act of 1974, warning that it would “become an error-filled repository resulting in scores that will unfairly brand citizens as suspect for their entire lives”.

Liberty’s policy director, Gareth Crossman, said ATS was part of a worrying trend. “This is profiling rather than intelligence-led policing — there is a lack of human input, which is troubling.”
The DHS told The Sunday Times that passengers had nothing to fear. “In the unlikely event of an error, passengers can complain to our customer satisfaction unit,” it said.



Thoughts: My criminal record is in the hands of a souped up Atari and The Department of Homeland Security has a Customer Satisfaction Unit? One suspects the DHS Gift Shop is only a matter of time.

I feel more secure by the second
.

It's been a while since I posted. Apologies to all concerned. It's largely been down to the scheduling of those pesky things which have deadlines getting in the way of more enjoyable things that don't. Such is life.

Last weekend I was in Dublin for the city's first Comic Convention (kudos to The 3rd Place et al for organising a great bash). On the Friday night I joined up with Dr.Who/Robin Hood/Wisdom writer Paul Cornell, his wife Carolyn and Millarworld Moderator Mark Peyton for our entry into the pre-weekend charity quiz. (See pic to the left, taken by James 'Goliath' Dodsworth) Team Wisdom (never was a title so obvious!) came in a respectable second place... and only after heated debate over whether Dangermouse's sidekick Penfold was a mole or a hamster (we said - correctly - he was a mole....these things are important to know and I left the venue feeling slightly intelligent. The full weekend event went well. It's been a while since I was in Dublin and though its more expensive than I remember, the locals are friendly and the city has a real unique character. Ultimates/Civil War's Mark Millar was on fine form too. Mr Cornell stepped delicately around what he could and could not say publicly about the forthcoming Dr. Who season and much alcohol was consumed with discussions about life, the universe and how to survive a zombie uprising. Again, these things are important to know and may prove useful in the future. Only bad moment was appalling attitude of the restaurant we graced with our colelctive 40+ presence on the Saturday night who asked us to wait outside for nearly forty minutes. However, the food was
good, so all is okay.

The rest of this past week has been a whirl of Impact and Verbatim deadlines, fighting off a cold and sore throat and sorting things out for various PR duties for pre-and-post Christmas... now mere weeks away. There are presents to be sent (more small token things this year as postage often costs more than the darned thing being sent!), bills to be paid (bah, humbug!) and irons to be put in the fire.


While I've been lucky enough to get to Biarritz and Dublin this year I haven't made it to the US - the first year that's happened in the last decade I think. Something simpy isn't right with the universe when I can't inflict my mother tongue on the colonials. However next year I hope to get to LA and elsewhere Stateside for some fun stuff. I hope to travel in the Spring and I'll be a guest at a con in Ohio around the middle of the year. Then there's the HLWW8 event that I'm eMCeeing in October in Vancouver. One way or another, it should be a fun year.

For those of you with whom I haven't been in touch, apologies (trust me I'd rather be spending time with you than the tax forms and pinheads of this world!) so drop me a line here or at the usual e-mail to make sure I've got your details correctly.


More to come...