CHAPEL END CHARLIE

A Merry Christmas to my fellow Saints fans each and every one of you! And as a special Xmas treat uncle Charlie presents for your yuletide entertainment his darling Goddaughter - and budding Saints fan - singing her favorite song : ... a new star is shining over St Mary's tonight

This thread perfectly illustrates the limitations of all Internet product reviews - for every one person who will categorically state that Brand X is better than Brand Y, you will get another, equally strident, opinion that states the precise reversal of that is true. I've had VM for years now and while their service is OK it's rapidly becoming too expensive for my pocket. So my question is: are any of the (much) cheaper phone and broadband providers out there in this market (such as Talk-Talk for instance) any damn good? If you lot could be forthcoming with some sort of consistent answer that would be good.

Murder at Deviation Junction - by Andrew Martin. Although this is the first book by this author that I have myself read, I understand that this novel is just one in a series of detective fiction tales involving the intrepid railway police detective 'Jim Stringer'. Set in the early 1900's, when both our railway system and our industrial heritage were at their formidable heights, this story involves our hero investigating the mysterious murder of a young railway photographer, and the case will lead Detective Constable Stringer onto some extremely dangerous tracks indeed ... oh and trust nobody! If you like the old '39 Steps' story by John Buchan then you'll probably like this undemanding but enjoyable steam powered yarn too, and if the test of a good author is that you'd happily read more of their work then I'd say Andrew Martin has passed with flying colours.

While war crimes committed by Allied forces in the west seem to have been real, but relatively small scale affairs, large numbers of German soldiers who had surrendered in the Balkans were certainly executed by Tito's forces after the end of the war - warfare in the Balkans for one reason or another always tends to foster especially bitter feelings of hatred among those caught up in it. German prisoners unfortunate to find themselves in Stalin's hands were still dying (in quite large numbers) long after the war was officially over - via a mixture of abuse, overwork, and criminal neglect mostly. The record shows that of over 150,000 German POW's taken at Stalingrad only some 5000 or so would ever live to see their homeland again. Indeed, it would be the mid 1950's before the Soviet Union finally released its last German POW's. None of which even begins to excuse Nazi war crimes of course, but this awful truth too deserves to be remembered. For further reading I recommend that anyone interested in this aspect of the war should also seek out James Lucas's 'The Last Days Of The Reich: The Collapse of Nazi Germany May 1945'.

After having missed all our recent setbacks, as luck would have it, me and a Honda load of assorted mates + children were back at St Marys for this game - how the sun does shine on the righteous! I thought this was a pretty mediocre show from both teams right up until the first goal went in (somewhat against the run of play) and from that point onwards we picked Everton off nicely as some much needed confidence visibly returned to our play - one of those games when you could see our 2nd and 3rd goals coming long before they actually hit the back of the net. People who claim to understand tactics tell me that the manager did well here. A lot of the attention has naturally focused on young Harrison Reed (who also did well) but for me Steve Davis and Nat Clyne were our standout performers - Clyne in particular being perhaps one of the best RB's in the league at the moment methinks. Full marks go to Maya Yoshida too, he managed to avoid the disastrous 'cock-up' you kind of suspect is always lurking somewhere in his game and played well for his goal too - how I love seeing centre half's score. So a good win from what was obviously a patched-up team then - we can only hope that this result sets us up for a decent xmas and new year.

Proof positive that nationalised railway systems are inherently evil:

Whenever I listen to this I wonder why anyone would ever want to listen to anything else. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcXXkcZ2jWM

I'm not at all comfortable with posts of this ilk that 'deal in absolutes' as the old Jedi saying has it. If in extreme cases adopting a policy of relatively mild torture (such as 'Sleep Deprivation' for instance) were proven to have materially assisted in saving Human life, would that course of action be a moral or a immoral one? I must say that the answer to that question doesn't seem to be entirely clear to me. Is effectively allowing a grave crime to take place also in its own way not a immoral act too? Some attempt to sidestep the moral issue and argue that in practice torture is a ineffectual method of intelligence gathering because those under interrogation simple lie in order to escape their tormentors questions. This will not do. What we might call a 'tell them anything' strategy is of course to be expected under extreme interrogation situations. The guilty undergoing police questioning nearly always lie, or engage in evasions, and the various techniques that skilled interrogators employ to deal with this known problem are (I understand) quite effective. If memory serves both the current and two former Directors of the CIA have publicly stated that information gained in this manner has been of assistance in combating terrorism. A case perhaps of 'Well he would say that wouldn't he?' as Mandy-Rice Davies once memorably said, but I have this nagging feeling that there may well be more than a grain of truth in that.

While surfing YouTube the other day by pure chance I came across this half remembered four part series from way back in 1981 - The Nightmare Man https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLbzmyDZEnQ Okay it's not great TV by any means and the ending is disappointingly banal, but by the standards of the day this was a pretty effective chiller and it still has its moments. PS - if this series reminds you somewhat you of a 80's Doctor Who story without Tom Baker actually making an appearance this is no coincidence because the both script writer (Robert Holmes) and the Director (Douglas Camfield) were both 'Who' regulars back in the day.

Interesting reply Pap. The Mongols were pretty beastly towards the Arab World for sure, but there again they behaved just as horridly in China and that (admittedly huge) state seems to shaken off the aftereffects in the intervening centuries. Much of Europe has been laid waste of numerous occasions over time and yet we continue to exhibit an ability to recover from devastation. A high degree of resilience is required to succeed in the modern world. As for placing much of the blame on the west because the old colonial powers were (often under the authority of the old League of Nations) instrumental in defining many of today's borders, this is a perfectly reasonable point as far as it goes. I seriously doubt however that it would have been realistically possible to have drawn any set of coherent lines on a map that would have led to the Arab world becoming a revertible haven for peace and progress. The tribal nature of the Arab World is part of the problem and the probability is that there is no easy solution to be discovered on a map here. Perhaps just as individuals are well advised to look first at themselves when seeking a explanation for their unhappiness, we might also say that the Arab world too could do with a spot of 'omphaloskepsis' if they really want to understand why they have failed so obviously to keep pace with the modern world. Blaming your problems on others seldom leads to a satisfactory solution in my experience.

Not a strictly speaking a movie, but I've gotten into the agreeable habit of watching the late great Jeremy Brett in the superb Sherlock Holmes yarn 'The Blue Carbuncle' at this time of year - if you know the story then you'll know why. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAcQQefQeDY

Verbal. It's all well and good lauding the historical achievements of what might be loosely described as Arabic culture - I agree these are real and remarkable - but when you point out their past glories this does kind of raise the uncomfortable question of why this large population group (the 22 members of the Arab League = 280m people) has notably failed to contribute very much towards Human progress ever since medieval/renaissance times. Whatever field you choose to look at, be it Nobel prize winners to politics or science this once advanced and sophisticated culture seems to have stagnated, or even gone into relative decline. The record shows that one in five Arabs still live on less than $2 a day. and growth in income per head, at an annual rate of 0.5%, is lower than anywhere else in the world except sub-Saharan Africa. Ask the average man in the street what the Arab world is best known for and I fear the answer is likely to be oil or terrorism. Uniquely blessed with almost limitless natural resources and with its people sharing this equally rich cultural, religious and linguistic heritage it might be argued that the Arabs really should have done better. It seems to me that they have been faced with neither more endemic poverty nor with more ethnic conflict than many other regions of the world, regions such as Japan or China for instance that have obviously managed to progress in modern times. The Arabs shook off their colonial or neo-colonial legacies long ago but, with barely an exception, its autocratic rulers, whether presidents or kings, give up their authority only when they die; its elections are a sick joke; half its people are treated as lesser legal and economic beings. More than of half its young people, burdened by unemployment and stifled by conservative religious traditions, are said to want to get out of the place as soon as they can. This question of Arabic failure is surely a easier one to ask rather than to answer, but can it be that there is something about the Muslim faith that inhibits its followers from fully engaging with and adapting to modernity? Indeed perhaps progress and strict religious observance are not fully compatible with each other and only when the Arabs finally learn to become less religiously devout will they break out of the state of societal stagnation and extremism they find themselves in.

I guess my family must have been exceptionally fortunate because when my dad became too ill to look after at home during the last month or so of his life the nursing home he ended up at was bloody brilliant - not posh or at all modern - but the staff cared and they did a wonderful job for him. When you are coming towards the end of your life that's all that really matters I suppose. However when he died (very early in the morning) we weren't there in the room with him. I regret that now. My old mum on the other hand we managed to keep at home right up to when she passed away a week ago - as she certainly would have wanted. Her dementia meant she was quite demanding to look after at times and she needed a lot of care, most of which in truth was provided by my brother and a small team of visiting nurses from Poole Hospital - nurses who were again bloody wonderful by the way. At the end she died semi peacefully at home surrounded by all four of her children. Being there at the end watching the person who gave birth to you, the person who loved you more than anyone else in the world ever will, pass away was not a experience I'm ever likely to forget ... but I wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else. So of the two experiences I'd say that keeping your loved ones at home is best as long as your family can cope with that and you have a adequate 'care package' in place to help ease the burden. But I can't say that it's easy and I now know from personal experience that, however much you love someone, that not everyone is really 'cut out' for a 24/7 caring responsibility. PS - My apologies if you find the above to be too personal a message to share with complete strangers on a football forum. But please indulge this old fool because he finds that it helps to write stuff down sometimes.

It seems to me that 'happy' has nothing to do with it - unless you happen to be some sort of sadist that is. It is a 'given' that no decent person wants to see anyone else tortured. A better question however might be: are there (extreme) circumstances when a form of interrogation technique that could be described as torture might just be the lesser of two evils? Most of you lot seem 'happy' that there are no circumstances whatsoever that would justify torture - I applaud your sense of ethics - but that strikes me as a easy thing to say when you lot aren't responsible for the security of this nation and you won't ever have to justify one day why your sense of personal morality should me more important than the lives of your fellow citizens. If I imagine myself in the position of Home Secretary - yes this does take some doing - and the head of the Secret Intelligence Service informs me that there is hard evidence that a terrorist suspect they have apprehended is involved in a imminent plot to attack this country with a weapon of mass destruction, a weapon that might kill tens of thousands of people ... well it would deeply trouble me but I might well authorize the SIS to go away and do whatever it takes to get to the truth of this matter, and I'll worry about the fate of my soul later. But Jack has already put the case better than I ever could.

I think no humane person can with good conscience condone torture. I also think that no responsible government should enact this barbaric practice or even turn a 'blind eye' to it for that matter. So there I am, happily riding around atop my moral 'high horse' confident that my civilised modern attitude towards human rights is of course correct and that there are no moral issues here that are even worth debating. But what if someone was to tell me that information gained via torture had prevented some utterly horrific large scale terrorist attack from occuring? And to bring it home, what if that said attack would certainly have taken the life of someone I love - my innocent little goddaughter perhaps? Not so easy a issue now I think. I suppose we have to stand by what we believe in and reaffirm that the ends don't justify the means under any circumstances. But if one day that attititude leads to a mushroom shaped cloud appearing over the centre of New York, Paris, or London then I reserve the right to change my mind on that question ... by which time it will be far too late of course.

Interstellar The near future and Planet Earth is slowly dying. Our last hope is to somehow relocate Humanity to a another habitable planet located outside of our solar system before the Earth's ecosystem collapses. As luck would have it a 'wormhole' is discovered near Saturn that might just make that desperate hope a real possibility. Can Cooper, a maverick NASA astronaut, (Matthew McConaughey) and his team find us a new home in this distant galaxy, and are they prepared to pay the terrible price that this mission will impose on them and the loved ones they leave behind? A genuinely beautiful film to watch on a big screen, a film too that successfully merges periods of intense action with some delightfully slow paced segments and about as 'high concept' as you could possibly ask for from any work of science fiction. In these respects I won't be the first to point out that this film bears close comparison with Stanley Kubrick's masterpiece '2001: A Space Odyssey' and its criminally underrated sequel '2010: Odyssey II' for that matter - but without quite perhaps reaching those same lofty heights. The special effects on display here are quite wonderful and while certainty not as fully realised as James Cameron's 'Avatar' the strange alien worlds explored in 'Interstellar' are nevertheless well conceived and imaginative. I'll admit I'm no big fan of Matthew McConaughey but he is at least rather more recognisably Human than Keir Dullea was in '2001'. There are in fact numerous fine performances on display from this talented cast, including one from dear old Michael Caine. I must add that I so admire these comparatively rare sci-fi films that don't try to skip around the inconvenient problems of space travel, such as the effects of weightlessness or time relativity. I also loved 'TARS' to bits - as far as I'm aware an entirely new physical form of robot that is a credit to the imagination of its designers. Like Robbie the Robot from my beloved 'Forbidden Planet' it would be nice to see him again. It is in the final act that this film is perhaps less successful. I won't go into all the details (frankly Interstellar is quite demanding to follow at times) but as Cooper falls into a Black Hole the script goes into a series of strange contortions revolving around Event Horizons and Singularities in order to provide a unlikely 'happy ending' that for me stretched credibility more than a little too far. Indeed, I believe that what is depicted in this part of the film is (as far as we know) scientifically impossible. Whereas Kubrick (and Arthur C Clark) devised a famously enigmatic conclusion for '2001' that was utterly unique and left much to the imagination of the viewer, in this film Director Christopher Nolan (he co-wrote the screen play with his brother) makes the mistake of attempting to explain too much. So not I think a truly great film then, but certainly the best sci-fi film to be released since 'Avatar' and if you are at all interested in the genre well worth seeing.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1. After her traumatic extraction from the horrors of the 'Quarter Quell' Katniss finds herself in the unaccustomed safety and relative freedom of District 13. But any joy she might have felt by escaping the tyranny of the Capitol is compromised because her beloved Peeta was not so fortunate and the leadership of District 13 will also have their own plans in mind for her ... I've seen reviews of this film that depict it as a tedious 'bridging' film imposed on HG fans in a cynical attempt to extract more cash from them. I can only assume these reviews were written before the viewers in question had actually seen this film because although splitting the Mockingjay novel into two films (made back-to-back) will doubtless prove profitable, that is not to say that this film is in any way unsuccessful. Far from it. Indeed in many ways I found Mockingjay Part 1 to be the most mature and successful film of the series so far as the stress of competing in the actual games is replaced by a thoughtful examination of the nature of war and the key role that propaganda plays in modern conflicts. As Panem is ripped apart can Katniss and Peeta escape from those who seek to manipulate them, and what role will both these youngsters play in a (bloody) revolution they never intended to spark? In Jennifer Lawrence's central performance as Katniss I think that today's audience has at last found a strong and positive female lead to match Sigourney Weaver's admirable 'Ripley' from the Alien series of my youth. And just like Sigourney Weaver I expect Jennifer Lawrence to go on to build a film career that endures beyond the obvious appeal of youth or the commercial success of one film franchise. PS - Perhaps a actor of Philip Seymour Hoffman's stature might have left us a more substantial final role to remember him by, but methinks a supporting role in the Hunger Games is better than a lead in many other movies I've seen. May he RIP in any case.

I've had my fair share of big powerful cars in the past and I've had a few modest little runarounds at times too - like my current Honda. Thinking back on it I loved the big cars because they made me feel good to both drive them and be seen in them. They were proper men's cars if you know what I mean - and yes I know that is a shallow attitude. But the little cars I've owned offered 95% of the fun of driving for a mere fraction of the running costs a big Volvo V70R, Audi 100, or a old 3.0 Vauxhall Senator would give you. Small cars make sense. I don't really like my boring little Honda but to be frank it (and other brilliantly efficient little cars like it) are all the car most drivers could ever really need.

After years spent virtually refusing to talk about the film and generally giving the impression that he had a utterly miserable time making it, Harrison Ford has done a sudden volte face and decided to take part in the planned 'Blade Runner' sequel - perhaps because Ridley Scott will not be in the director's chair this time: http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/blade-runner-2-harrison-ford-to-star-in-sequel-but-ridley-scott-will-not-direct-9884650.html Whether making a sequel to this 80's masterpiece is a good idea remains to be seen - what is not in doubt is that the original film blew this (then) young Sci Fi fan out of his cinema seat when he first saw it all those years ago.

http://www.holdthefrontpage.co.uk/2014/news/local-press-gagged-over-child-sex-abuse-scandal/ 'However it has also emerged that the D-Notice archives for the period in question are incomplete, meaning the claims by both Don and Hilton are now impossible either to prove or disprove ...' Thanks Pap. Frankly it beggars belief that any measure as significant as a official 'D Notice' can simply disappear from the record as if it were a old unpaid parking ticket. But I suppose we should not be all that surprised because the Home Office has already admitted it has 'lost' other important records related to this affair. The stench of corruption here is overpowering. This story is going to run for years to come and right now I suspect we are still be closer to the start of it rather than the finish.

Yes you are correct, there might be a analogy to be drawn re any 'cover up' but at its core this may well become before too long a even more grave matter than the Watergate business. I find it hard to imagine how it could be any more serious actually. Although the story has been widely reported in the press and on TV I don't really get the impression that this country has yet fully taken on board the implications of the situation - if proven. I'm at a loss to explain this ... perhaps the British people just don't want to believe it. http://www.tpuc.org/blair-covering-up-paedophile-scandal/

Being 'a few years behind the curve' is the story of my life I'm afraid. But thanks for the link.

I fear that this nation may be on the brink of the biggest scandal to hit its ruling political class in century or more. For those who have not been following this story closely it is alleged that a Tory MP murdered a 12 year old boy to satisfy his perverted sexual desires. It is also claimed that the establishment has been effectively covering up this and other serious sexual offences against children that took place at the Elm Guest House in Barnes and at Dolphin Square in Pimlico SW London during the 1970's and 80's. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2845969/Former-Scotland-Yard-detectives-say-young-boys-murdered-Westminster-paedophile-ring.html If this were not bad enough even the Home Secretary has conceded (on the Andrew Marr Show) that what is already in the public domain may be just 'the tip of the iceberg'. Apparently Ministers (both Labour and Conservative) have been aware of these grave allegations for some time now but have done little or nothing about it. It is also alleged that journalists attempting to report the story in the past were issued with official 'D Notices' forbidding them from doing so because of 'national security' concerns. I don't like the sound of any of this and (if true of course) the potential to do grave damage here to British politics is perhaps incalculable. However I can only hope that before too long the truth will out because we must find out what happened here - come what may. A police investigation is ongoing, but in the meantime you are invited to express your opinion here - you are also (for your own sake) reminded of this forum's libel guidelines.

Congratulations to Mercedes GP and above all to Lewis Hamilton - I literally could not be more pleased to see you back where you belong. After a long (and sometimes tedious frankly) period of domination by Vettel and Red Bull you and Nico have served us up a season that will live long in the memory. Although motorsport fans in this country may well be prejudiced I suspect that few F1 fans anywhere would question that you truly deserve this championship and that you are indeed the fastest thing on four wheels. I can't help but think that by this stage in your career you probably should have been F1 Champion more than twice - but a combination of McLaren's consistent failure to provide you with a adequate car, Adrian Newey's utter genius, and perhaps a few signs of Human weakness on your part have conspired to deny you. But that's all in the past now and the chances are that another championship next year is a distinct possibility. I can hardly wait.

It seems to me that there is one story simmering away in this country that we really should all be talking about - the (alleged) Westminster paedophile conspiracy. I'll admit I'm no expert in this depressing matter, but if even half of what has been claimed is true then this is a ticking time bomb that is potentially on the verge of exploding and becoming the quite biggest scandal to hit our ruling Political Class in living memory. Make no mistake here - Jimmy Saville, 'cash for questions' and MP's fielding their expenses pale into utter insignificance by comparison. I'll remind people that it is alleged that (years ago) a Tory MP actually murdered a 12 year old boy for his perverted sexual gratification. Journalists claim that they were banned in 1984 from reporting on the matter because of quote: 'national security' considerations. Others say that the threat of the libel laws are being impressed into attempting to keep this story under wraps. The Home Office admits it has 'lost' vital files - even Teresa May thinks that the latest allegations may just be the 'tip of the iceberg'. The OP well knows that in general I'm not a big believer in conspiracy theories - far from it. However if he or anybody else wants to explore this issue then they'll get no criticism from me because this could be our 'Watergate'.