Out for a lunchtime stroll today and passing Easons on Talbot Street when my eye is caught by a new Skulduggery Pleasant novel.  I rushed inside and bought it, though not before spending several minutes trying to find two other books to get the 2 for 3 offer.  I hate 2 for 3 offers because I know they are a con and yet I still fall for them.  At least I do in Waterstones where at least they have a fairly wide selection to chose from.  In Easons I scoured the shelves before discovering there was a total of I'd say about ten books, including Twilight and its various sequals.  My best book friend has tried them and says the first one was good but the rest, not so much.

But Skulduggery I recommend.  It's about a teenage girl who teams up with a skeleton to solve unusual crimes.  A bit like Leon.  Your hooked, aren't you?  I think Ellen Page would be good for the movie.  I was watching her in Hard Candy the other evening - a disturbing film in many ways.

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Speaking of disturbing, the Mannystrie o Poustie, Resydenter Heisin an Fowk Siccar, has just launched it Guidance on the Termination of Pregnancy:  The Law and Clinical Practice in Northern Ireland.  This is an abominable document.  The whole thrust of it is to advise doctors how to circumvent the law, how to protect themselves from prosecution, and, I had a third point that I have now forgotten (it is 2.22am).  Throughout the document it quotes the codes of the General Medical Council and the Nursing and Midwifery Council - both of which bodies are committed to extending the 1967 Abortion Act to Northern Ireland and both of which believe doctors and nurses should have no genuine right to conscientious objection.  We're told that foetal abnormality is not a lawful ground for "termination" in Northern Ireland.  But then we're told the way round this is to pretend the mother will suffer mentally without an abortion - all you need is a cheap psychiatrist and you're flying.  We're warned that performing an illegal abortion could get you life in prison.  We're not told this to show that abortion is a heinous crime, but to tell you how to protect yourself - get another doctor to agree with your diagnosis and it'll never go to trial.  This is a truly shameful piece of work.

Another shameful thing is BBC reporting.  Take the case of Iris Robinson.  You may not like Iris and no one would blame you, but look at this headline on the web "No prosecution over gay remarks".  The whole thrust is that she has done something wrong and somehow escaped prosecution on a technicality, when in fact no crime was committed.  One could have a headline every day along those lines: "Queen not to face prosecution for having a thirty year old hairstyle".

Better go to bed - busy day tomorrow - Carmelite Secular Order meeting in the Poor Clares and then a trip to Ikea to buy some stuff for Michael's newly built attic.  This madness must end soon.