Laurence

Politics apart , I think localities should be allowed to raise funds through local taxation I can't understand the rational, of preventing local councillors from managing their own budgets. If income remains static, council workers would never get a rise, councils can't maintain services, Who in their right mind would stand for election if held by a ball and chain .

Just out of Interest and it may interest someone When I was a young fireman ( now called firefighters) , I was manning the watch room at Nelson fire station in Lancashire, when I answered a call by Ex. tel . at 0200 hrs on a cold winters night with Snow outside. The caller said there is smoke coming out of a house , I asked where, he said " next to the yellow door near Jim's barbers shop. Being New to Nelson , I asked for the Street, The guy said " Lawn Street". I hit the General alarm , The Sub Officer took the address and said " No it will be Lorne St, I know the hairdressers shop" Just a thought that local knowledge goes a long way. The caller had obviously had a few, and a small fire was put out before it became a big one. Never forgot that day way back in 1963. Not a computer in site. Not long afterwards the local fire station watch rooms were closed down and control was moved to Divisional al HQ, later with computers it went to Brigade HQ at Preston, The field of control grew wider and wider . Lawn St and Lorne St they were 5 miles apart.

He is in again Colman announced his squad today. ( according to Sky Sports HQ ) Other custodians mentioned are Hennessy and Ward Hennessey is getting on a bit, don't know much about Ward. As one of the games is against Andorra I hope he gets a cap. Can any one tell me who the last non Scot was to get an international call up whilst playing for ICT ? Oh yes it has to be McKay , forgot ?

One has to feel sorry for Terry after a brilliant career on the field and a legend at this club. I feel that is it to be rejected by club 92nd in the professional set up in England,, must be terrible Time to return to Suffolk Terry and put your feet up Many thanks for some really top players you found and left us with especially Josh Meekings from your beloved Ipswich Newport say they will announce his successor on Monday , don't let grass grow, it is not even Bonfire night yet

Seriously though " how did we manage to get this Welsh masterpiece to sign for us*? When Astra scored I thought we had bought a dummy. When he saved that first penalty I knew I was wrong. Someone mentioned above Real Madrid, After their failure to get the United goalie, , who knows.

Well Newport County got their first win under Butcher against Carlisle. I thought he would have been sacked by now. I suppose winning at Carlisle is ironic because that's nearly in Scotland. In the 11th century Carlisle was to the North of the border. Seriously though I think he will be out by Christmas. No way will Newport risk going back into the non league set up. Poor Terry what an arse he made of his life.

I think the one nation Police Force is an OK idea, as part of the UK. In a separate Scotland it may feel the weight of across border crime to be a big problem, extra finances will have to be used to cover measures currently derived from Scotland Yard. I talk of Forensics , top detectives , training schools, communication equipment, standards of investigation , and the like, all covered from London, and would cost a separate force a bundle to buy in. Sometimes bigger is better but it has to be properly managed. Control rooms( I speak from experience), need to be fairly local to problems. Money saving measures using computers etc are a recipe for mistakes. Going back to the RTA which has caused this uproar, a smaller local control room staffed by people with local knowledge might have averted the problem. The police force in my view is no longer an emergency service. response times are a joke, there is only the Fire Service which comes near to having an instant response. The Scottish government ( whatever the colour) needs to get a grip of policing.

I don't think it will take a brain like Einstein to realise, there isn't enough cash to finance separation. Not to mention currency, imports and welfare payments. The whole idea of going it alone is a mess. Whether you are red or blue or support Corbyn, or not, doesn't matter, IT WOULD JUST MEAN TAX PAYERS WILL HAVE TO FOOT THE BILL UNTIL THE IMF OR SUCH LIKE TAKE OVER AND CONTROL SCOTLAND

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/33789045 2 draws in 8 games

I see my home town/City is leading the way in England. Very glad to see the London nose get a bashing Although never an active supporter of either, having watched Bury for years, I can't help but smile at the current league set up.

Reminds me of the Christmas Carol With The words " And so it continued by day and by night " Its all over forget it

I didn't go to the game tonight ( not safe on the A9 at night I am told ) Watched it on the box, I find it much more stressful than being at the games. It,s quite good though to see the game from different angles. One realises how difficult the referees job is. Just really great to get a win. I really thought Hearts would be tough to beat. Watched the NFL last night to put it in to perspective if their players went down as easily as soccer players, they would never finish a game. In the back of mind I was wondering if we were relegation fodder.

Never really got on well with Palace being a former Dons ( Wimbledon supporter not Aberdeen) , but I know Selhurst Park well Anyway I was very pleased with Palace on Saturday but I am not so sure they can maintain the good form for a season But Swansea is another story

Good luck to the lad, maybe one day a top four club in England I remember when my old club Bury lost Colin Bell and Neville Southall and my Dad stopped going to the games in protest It's just part of life,

Gone are the days when our slow build up and passing style took teams by surprise, now the opps are waiting for the short pass and go in hard. causing fouls and injuries. With more of a direct passing game defences fall back to cover, now they press the passer and receiver knowing that the ball into the forward channels is unlikely.

Lawrence... he was a Loony Lefty who made a bigger contribution to the unelectablity of the Labour Party in the 80s and early 90s than anyone else in history (pre Corbyn!) On which subject, with the emergence of Corbyn, who would now criticise Foot for making a scarecrow look like the epitome of sartorial elegance? The thing is, guys like Lenin, Marx (Karl - and except the beard) and Trotsky actually used to look relatively smart. It's just these neo-Commies who have (unsuccessfully) tried to make it trendy to be scruffy. Boris ?

When loosing 0 1 we take off a midfielder ( who takes corners , free kicks and has a shot on him ) and bring on a fullback ? When chasing the game towards the end , we take off a front player and replace him with another front player. One would think that the subs would be to be more attacking, not like for like > Surely both front players should have been left on to work in tandem. I did not enjoy the game today. (Brian Clough once said the only good thing about the match was the Bovril at half time.) After today I can see his point. I don't mind losing if I can see light at the end of the tunnel, but I don't see even a chink. No jibes please about Trolls .

Even the strongest party needs opposition Some of the governments with big majorities have been the poorest . When parties are too strong they start to become factionalised. he best example was in the late 40s when Beven started the bevenites, in opposition to Attlee Small majorities keep governments on their toes

Charles I think you are very unkind to the memory of Michael Foot Michael was an intellectual a deep thinker and a very kind-hearted person , a true parliamentarian Jeremy Corbyn is an idiot of the first order who may succeed in becoming a leader of the Labour party The Labour Party who have a record second to none in world politics How can the Party born out of the Trade Unions around 2015 to fight for the rights of workers be classed as Tories How can the party that gave us The National Health Service That Gave us Family Allowances , Family Tax credits, The Minimum Wage That gave us the Legal Aid Act Equal opportunism acts for ethnic memories Equal Pay for Women That Gave us Health and Safety at Work Brought Devolved Government to Scotland and Wales Sorted Out Government in Northern Ireland On The Green side the Pollution Acts of 1948 and 1977 together with clean water legislation Massive Extension to Comprehensive education by Tony Crosland Gay Rights, Decimalisation 1n 1967 Under Wilson Liberation of Censorship Laws including Liberation, of Divorcé under the reform act Great improvements of Social Security Benefits Capital Gains Tax on the Rich Rent Acts , Protection From Eviction Acts Massive increase in Council House Building and School Building Housing Slum Clearance Act Town and Country Planning Acts Social Security Acts National Insurance Act which enabled payment when out of work Under Tony Blair Tax Credits Introduced Civil Partnerships Banned Fox Hunting Over 60s local Bus Travel Doubled Apprenticeships Dads allowed Paternity leave Gift Aid of 828 million to Charities Restored City wide Government to London Record Number of Students in Higher Education Introduced Equality and Human Rights Commission Increased Child benefits by over a quarter Increased teachers by over a third Full time workers allowed 24 days paid holidays Built countless new Schools and Hospitals Bailed out the banking system to such an extent the Tories can bow sell off the shares at a loss to help their case as the party who saved Britain New Labour Old Labour ? Doesn't matter The Labour party is the only party since the last Liberal governments welfare reforms that has made the lot of the working classes any better. One exception was Harold MacMillan's Council House building program of the fifties, The Conservatives as their name implies seek to maintain the Status Quo , Changing and spoiling any progress made by earlier governments like public ownership , A lot of Labour supporters cannot get their heads around the fact that to get power they have to appeal to " Disgusted of Tunbridge Well", or the bursars of Thurrock , but that's a fact of life. Poor leadership like that of Milliband and Michael Foot have not helped, Democracy in the leadership elections have not helped either. Union leaders have put the boot in when leadership elections are taking place . Having said all that I am profoundly s disappointed that the party are on course to make the same mistakes. But at the end of the day the nation needs a strong Labour party and strong radical views.

Were the SNP a one dimensional propaganda machine with one aim in life that is to separate from the Union (sic) they would not be on the verge of winning the trust of the people to govern the nation within the Union for a third successive term nor would they be providing the only effective opposition within the parliament of that Union so effectively and constructively that the speaker of that parliament describes them as 'excellent parliamentarians'. To describe them us such betrays astonishing ignorance on your part. You should know because you are the self appointed brain of this web platform One dimensional Kingsmills like you So blatantly obvious you are in self denial ,

Going back to square one - You should when voting hope your vote will be towards governing - not opposing Especially if you are red or blue - To vote to oppose is negative in the extreme, Next year in the Scottish elections a Nationalist landslide is expected so a vote for the other parities may be seen as voting to oppose , but hopefully the Scottish people will have the good sense to realise that the SNP are nothing more than a one dimensional propaganda machine with one aim in life that is to separate from the Union.

The NFL season useful link Find a league? http://www.nfl.com/fantasyfootball/draftkit#tab=fantasyrankings

It is quite common for a team the year after winning a major trophy to struggle. I just hope it is not a nose dive. Portsmouth for instance won the F A cup not many years ago. So did Wigan, I know we have to rebuild .and show that we have what it takes to keep our status.

Sorry I just read it on the vital forum Why they post old news I do not know Maybe I am too old myself ? SORRY

http://www.scotland.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=545500