Derby County

Interesting times for us Rams fans but I am still not convinced by the stance of the board. They appear to have a plan and that plan is to pick up/poach some very promising youngsters and then stick them in a development team. Clearly spending really big money is not on the agenda.

They have allowed Nigel(Clough) to sign up a few very promising players from the lower divisions but this is not a Notts County situation. The big bucks were spent by Paul Jewell and now Nigel must harness the talent. I think that he is doing it although the early results have not looked good. I believe that he has centre backs who will cease the ridiculous goals conceded at the City Ground.

The team is in place. They have the potential but what will happen? I think that this team has the ability, the team spirit and the resolve to make a play off place at least. I personally will be watching the performances of the developement team and the youth team. It is clear that big bucks currently rules football but Derby have decided to play a different game. It is morally acceptable but will it work?

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

I am currently viewing a Channel Four programme on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder involving soldiers. This has long been a subject ignored by the Ministry of Defence because if they begin to recognise the mental trauma that soldiers can suffer then their compensation claims would never cease.

I well remember my service in Northern Ireland in the seventies and eighties which I believe would be nothing like as stressful as that experienced by the lads currently serving in Afghanistan and I know how it affected me and my family. One minute a soldier is out on the streets expecting to be shot at and building up the mental reserves to be prepared to kill someone and the next one has to come home and be a husband and father. It is just not possible!

It is still my contention that in order to maintain order and ensure that soldiers fulfill their military roles the army has built up a macho image where soldiers are encouraged to ignore their mental health and are actually scared to report any feelings of inadequacy. In order to complete their tasks a soldier has to hide the fear and uncertainty. He/She cannot allow themselves to dwell on what could happen. They switch off and concentrate on what they must do.

This however will only last for so long. Eventually the inevitable will happen because despite their training, despite the bravery, despite the remarkable resilience of the average soldier the mental toll will eventually register. If you do not believe me then try reading some books involving the real heroes of the SAS. Many of them end up wrecked!

The army cannot afford to recognise the real affects of PTSO because if they do then we will never recruit sufficient numbers. Personally I am still amazed that they still recruit like they do but then in the times of hardship created by NoLab then many of the lads do not have an option. The money still encourages the risk.

Gordon Brown

I suspect that the men in grey suits are currently deciding the fate of Gordon Brown. There are enough rumours buzzing around the blogosphere about the state of his mental health that it smacks of the beginning of a campaign. I have always been convinced that Gordon would never fight a General Election. NoLab know that if he does it is likely that they will be slaughtered.

They must find a way to be rid of him and this health scare could be the ideal ruse. They don't have anyone to replace him but it doesn't really matter because once he has gone they can blame him for everything!

In the meantime he continues to blunder around. His latest gaffe I hear is referring to our world champion female cyclist as Veronica Singleton when her real name is Victoria Pendleton. I mean...it is so funny...but this man is our Prime Minister!
Pour me another drink...!!

London Midland Railways

I cannot believe that London Midland Rail is cancelling trains on a Sunday because it cannot find sufficient drivers to man them! Now forgive me but I thought that the government franchise for these rail companies called for a seven day a week service. So is London Midland in breach of contract?

Frankly they deserve to lose it because any company who relies on volunteers to drive on Sundays is so inept and lacking in managerial nouse that they cannot begin to serve the public. Whatever happened to rosters?

I have no idea who in the chaotic world of NoLab is 'Transport' this week but I think a rather strongly worded memo should be despatched tout suite to London Midland suggesting that they extract their digits sharply or else there will be government action. It won't happen of course and I doubt if 'Transport' has even noticed but it's nice to remind oneself now and again what would have happened at one time.

Ever younger...ever more violent.

So the paths chosen by the Political Class over the past twenty years or more has led us to the point where ten year olds are trying to murder other ten year olds. Everyone in authority knew about these little thugs but as usual they were allowed to roam free and it nearly cost the lives of two innocents.

What I fail to understand is how far does this bestiality reach before the cretins in Westmonster decide to act. What is it going to take before an MP, any MP from any party, says 'enough is enough'? Society is sinking deeper and deeper into the mire but nobody appears to have the slightest idea how to reverse the trends which are seeing rotten young thugs from rotten, disgusting, families commit acts of such violence that they are almost beyond belief.

While Gordon and his Justice Minister (Ha!) Jack Straw struggle to cover up their activities in TripoliGate the most desperate acts of depravity are being committed by kids on a daily basis. We now have reports that two kids were plotting to murder their schoolmaters so that they would be famous for the worst atrocity in British schools.

Knives are now commonplace on our streets and so are guns (witness the Ryan Jones case in Liverpool) and yet still nobody comes up with the kind of plan that will put the fear of God up the youngsters. You see that is what it needs. They have no respect for anyone because nobody can hurt them. If you are reared in a filthy house by drunken, uncaring parents then how can they be punished? Life has already punished them.

We must discover something that will deter them. Our MPs must address this problem because unless they do then the next crime will be worse and the one after that still worse and then one day their kids will be the victims.

I am sure that I will be compelled to revisit this subject again but I have one suggestion which of course will be instantly rejected but we will one day have to bring back the birch. When that days arrives it will of course be far too late but it is a joke to suggest that an ASBO is a deterrent. Only pain will deter the type of little sod that I am talking about. One birch sentence would be worth a hundred ASBOs.

Leicestershire County Council

This evening the Chairman of Leicestershire County Council was bleating about how much money the Council was going to have to save in order for Council Tax not to rise. He was asking the electorate for ideas of where the cuts should come.

Some time ago I read that nine chief officers from LCC were earning more than £100,000 per annum. That means that we spend a million pounds on nine individuals before we look at anything else. Personally I do not believe that any local government officer should earn more than an MP. They are just not under the same pressure.

If this authority is under such pressure then they should immediately only pay salaries that we can afford. I also believe the councillors should look at their own expenses. This is why I so admired the stance of the Mayor of Doncaster from the Emglish Democrats who when pruning expenditure for the benefit of the tax payer, he began with himself!

In Loughborough alone the Highways department has squandered so much money on grinding the town almost to a standstill that it is a scandal. For years now they have created one problem after another so that when the university returns it is better to walk!

So when the councillors meet and I bet there are far more councillors than what we actually need, they should cut their own expenses, reduce salaries and chop the Highways department!

This sick country!

Do you remember at the start of the summer when Dr Liam Donaldson NoLab's doctor in chief was predicting the dire consequences of 'Swine Flu'. Remember the figures quoted, hundreds of thousands would die unless we did this and did that. Call centres were opened up to deal with the modern day equivalent of 'Black Death' and the population was scared to death.

On 20 July I blogged that 'Swine Flu' was probably another invention by this incompetent government to distract us from their lack of ability. So what has happened to 'Swine Flu'? Where has it gone? How many people have died? How many millions were dispensed to cope with it?

Meanwhile in downtown Derby a paramedic was despatched to deal with a dying woman in a pub. She was sent alone without her mummy or any other visible back-up so as you might expect she got scared. Now there are pubs in Chaddo (Chaddesden) which would scare me but I am not a paramedic being paid to save lives. Who sent out this babe in arms alone to deal with an emergency? How the hell can someone in uniform think that there own safety is more important than the life that they should be saving?

I despair!!