CHAPEL END CHARLIE

For good or bad Afghanistan is/was a NATO operation that virtually the whole alliance committed forces to. I say that if we are going to send our young men (and women) into battle then the state has a absolute obligation to make sure these young people are provided with the best equipment possible. Are you saying we should withdraw from NATO, or should we just leave all the fighting to others?

Comparing landlocked, not to mention resolutely natural, Switzerland with a major trading nation such as the UK may not add much to the debate. A 'chalk and cheese' situation if ever I saw one. As for other examples, you could just as easily say that Spain (for instance) does not spend nearly enough on its defence rather that we spend too much. But Japan is a interesting and valid comparison because they spend about us much as we do (in absolute terms) but maintain much larger armed forces on the money. Japan of course has no nuclear ambitions and seldom commits it's forces to oversees campaigns. History shows that nations often only become aware that their defences are inadequate when it is far too late to do anything much about it - with calamitous consequences.

This nation currently devotes some 2.3% of its GDP to its defence. Hardly an excessive amount I would have thought.

The Sunday Times reported last week that Treasury officials had warned the MOD that the department was in line for a further 7.5% budget reduction during the FY 2016/17 to 2021/22 period. With manpower levels already cut to the bone a lot of that will have to come from the equipment budget I would think. With the Army reduced to less than 100,000 men for the first time in over a century, the navy down to just 19 destroyers and frigates and even the normally favoured RAF now having only around 100 fighter jets at its disposal, it's hard to see how we can cut even further into that minimal force structure and still claim to have world class defence forces at our disposal. You can bet however that fact won't stop politicians asking the impossible from our armed forces though ...

Apologies for introducing some science-fact into what is a science fiction-thread, but I feel confident that anyone even remotely interested in the imagination expanding properties of sci-fi will definitely want to watch this: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p0276pxp/human-universe-3-are-we-alone Professor Brian Cox is trendy, young, good looking, and about a thousands times brighter than I'll ever be. I must also add that I'm far from convinced that the BBC really has to sent him half way around the world and back (at huge expense presumably) to make every bloody programme he makes! These are all perfectly good reasons to hate his guts, nevertheless it cannot be denied that this instalment of his new 'Human Universe' series is a utterly fascinating look into the sometimes bizarre world of SETI (the search for extraterrestrial intelligence). The (very) tentative conclusion this infeasibly handsome young physicist comes to at the end - IE that although habitable planets must exist in their billions Humanity may well be the only technologically advanced lifeform that our galaxy will ever know - is in its own way as profound an idea as anything I've ever thought about. Those old enough to remember the great man may find themselves drawing unavoidable comparisons between Cox and Carl Sagan ... and speaking for myself if you knew how influential 'Comos' was to me when I was a teenager you'd also know that praise seldom comes much higher than that.

I too saw Brand v Evan Davis on Newsnight last night. A strange interview that kind of started off quite calmly ... but soon went rapidly downhill again. BTW - not quite sure the pair of them are really 'mates'.

Anyone who has actually been unemployed and looking for work recently - as I was - will already understand that a almost unnoticed, but nevertheless profound, shift has occurred in the UK job market. For instance if you fancied working for one of the big supermarket chains (companies that are still hiring) then good luck finding the traditional five day/40 hour a week job many of us grew up with because these positions just aren't on offer anymore. Indeed you'd be lucky to find a job offering much more than 20 hours a week. It seems a broadly similiar situation is becoming increasing common in other industries too. This part-time problem is compounded by the even more difficult 'zero hour' phenomenon - a scandalous abuse of working people that really should be prohibited in my view. So it's really no surprise then that PAYE/NI income streams to the treasury are failing to recover as predicted while the official unemployment rate continues to fall - there must be vast numbers of people out there now who may not be technically unemployed, but they are sure as hell under-employed, and as a direct result not paying much (or any) income tax or NI anymore. This seismic shift in the labour market may well have serious long term consequences for both our public finances and the level of poverty the working people in this country experience.

You are seriously telling me that as a fan you be utterly unconcerned to see virtually half our 1st team and its manager go every summer and that's not a problem as far as you are concerned ... oh as long as some kind of 'plan' is it place? I take it that you are no fan of Rabbie Burns and the expression 'the best laid plans of mice and men' means nothing to you. Now I know why you are called Unbelievable Jeff.

No its a fair point - how were you defining 'fine' ? 'Fine' does seem a pretty vague forecast and depending on how you interpret that term could mean anywhere from 17th place to where we are today.

A guy with your freaky level of foresight should know already I would have thought.

Are you saying that if Koeman, Pelle, Alderweireld, Bertrand, Tadic and Mane all leave next summer you'd be fine with that because this game is so very easy?

A radical thought I know, but has the possibility occurred to you that perhaps you, and for that matter our club, just got lucky?

So you knew for a fact then that Koeman would adapt to the Premier League with such apparent ease did you? Did your (near supernatural) level of foresight also tell you that most (if not all) of the players we signed last summer would too be successful? I wonder did you know 12 months ago that Osvaldo was going to punch Fonte in the face or that Arsenal would end up giving us £16m for Calum Chambers. Your talents are wasted on here Jeff - be kind to we less enlightened SFC fans on here and tell us what next Saturday's lottery numbers are going to be and we can all share in your wonderful gift.

I too was concerned (to put it mildly) about what happen here during the summer. It seems to me however that if so many in the wider game - from well respected ex players to knowledgeable and experienced observers - expressed the very same doubts then we mere fans who called it wrong too can be permitted to put their mistake into some sort of perspective. Ultimately many/all of us probably know less about the game than we like to think we do. It turns out that Koeman has been outstanding, the players we have signed seem (remarkably) to have all been wise additions too, even the fixture computer may have been rather kind to us. So a combination of money, good luck and (very) good judgement has seen us start the season as well as I can ever remember a SFC doing. Long may it last of course, but our resident 'I told you so's' may do well to take a day off from their basking and understand that it could all easily have been a different story. Indeed, lose Koeman and sell-off our best players again next summer and it probably will be.

I know its a bit like the TV equivalent of Marmite - you either love it or hate it - but I've been watching repeats of Victoria Wood's situation comedy 'Dinnerladies' on Freeview recently and I can't deny that I'm firmly in the 'love it' camp. Sometimes you can find yourself watching a complete sit-com series and at the end of it you'd honestly struggle to remember a single genuine 'laugh out loud' moment from hours of programming. Not so with Dinnerladies because VW makes sure that they come thick and fast - and all without you will note resorting to the US practice of employing whole teams of hired gag writers to do it. Wood's 'bren' character is of course central to the plot, but I think the real secret of her success is that not only is she an exceptionally gifted comedy writer and actor, she is also a selflessly generous one too because our Victoria freely gives away many of her best lines to the rest of the ensemble cast she has recruited around her. She must be a dream for any actor to work with and it's no surprise to see so many have chosen to do so time and time again. Both outrageously funny and deeply humane and perceptive too Dinnerladies is surely a comedy masterclass that will stand the test of time just as 'Fawlty Towers' or 'Fools & Horses' has - I think it really is that good.

What a utterly fantastic game of football! I've certainly not seen the like of it before and at my age I suppose I may never again be so fortunate. In a week when the government has so publicly criticised the cost of supporting the game performances like this remind a fan of just how great this wonderful sport of ours can be. Football may be a financial burden to many of us - but its also a blessing too. I took littlun with me and tried my best to explain to him just how rare and precious this result was, but I doubt he really comprehends bless him. After a shaky first 20 minutes when I thought Sunderland gave at least as good as they got, we pressured the Mackem's defence into that remarkable OG and after that we never looked back frankly - indeed at times during the second half the Chapel net was bulging so regularly that I feared it might break. So many good performances on display from our players that it almost seems unfair to single anyone out, but to be unfair to the others I thought that Nat Clyne and Steve Davis were exceptional today. I won't be able to make the coming Stoke fixture but I'll stick my neck out and predict that they won't fold like Sunderland did today. However, I strongly suspect that the prospect of playing our wonderful team and its formidable manager at St Marys is not a prospect that any team in this division now considers to be an inviting one.

I saw some of her passengers interviewed last night and they seemed perfectly happy with their inward facing cabins and that fact that it was hard to tell that they were actually aboard a ship at sea. If I were ever wealthy enough to go on a cruise than I would want to see and feel the power of the ocean and know what it means to undertake such a voyage. Those not interested in any of that might as well fly to Vegas and take their tacky pleasures there.

Indeed it was, and the decision to effectively end this programme was I think a shockingly bad one. There are a large number of people in society who for one reason or another can't compete effectively for jobs with their more mentally and/or physically able counterparts. These unfortunates are dumped onto the not-so tender mercies of the DWP's grim and oppressive Job Centre system and forced to undergo a depressing routine of cheap low quality training schemes followed by forced 'voluntary' work and a so called 'job search' burden that would challenge the best of us. Failure to jump through any of these hoops will naturally result in a loss of benefit. I know someone who once worked at a Remploy business has been trapped in this miserable cycle for many years now. I seriously doubt he will ever escape. What this minister said was crass and insensitive, everyone who does their best deserves at least a living wage, but the truth that 'dare not speak its name' here is that there are people who may not be obviously seriously handicapped but are nevertheless on the margins of the mainstream working population - people whom the state now insists must find work and support themselves - but are more or less unemployable in today's economy. Without a organisation like Remploy, or some other form of long term subsidy, many of them are likely to remain out of work whatever happens to the unemployment rate.

http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/11535923.Saints_boss_Koeman_should_be_in_charge_of_the_Dutch_national_team___De_Boer/

Some stuff I've seen this week: Cosmonauts: How Russia Won the Space Race (BBC4 Monday) A valuable reminder (if one were needed) of how the USSR managed to beat the USA into space with a series of important 'firsts' - from Sputnik to Yuri Gagarin via Liaka the space dog. Apparently because the first Soviet nuclear bombs were so very heavy a extremely powerful rocket was required to lift the bloody things - which in turn coincidently led to the early Soviet lead in Space. A 'must see' I would think for anyone at all interested in space exploration. Guy Martin's Spitfire (C4 Sunday) A mildly informative 90 minute programme about the restoration of a super rare Mk1 Supermarine Spitfire that might well have been made into a series I thought. Despite the misleading title Martin's contribution to this project is obviously minimal, for that matter how you go about 'restoring' a aircraft while using few (if any) of the original parts is also something of a mystery. Doctor Who: The Brain of Morbius 1976 (DVD) A fun pastiche on the classic Frankenstein story set on the planet 'Karn' where the 4th Doctor and Sarah Jane find themselves guests of the sinister Doctor Solon (Philip Madoc) who has a mad plan to re-embody the brain of the heretic Time Lord 'Morbius' using assorted salvaged body parts and Tom Baker's (big) head. Solon is supposed to be a genius surgeon but methinks it's fair to say the result of his efforts is not exactly a pretty sight ... oh and Sci-Fi nerds might like to know that the name 'Morbius' is taken from Forbidden Planet.

It's a old legal principle that an absence of evidence my no means amounts to evidence of absence. The suggestion that no evidence can be found to support the abduction theory does not itself prove that this little girl was not abducted. Far from it, given the evidence that the crime scene seems to have been seriously compromised by any modern UK forensic investigation standard. More than that, it seems to me that if you take a microscope and look long and hard enough into the life of virtually any adult Human Being on this planet then I guarantee you that some sort of 'dirt' will inevitably be found on them. In the same manner the closer you look into any complex and disputed incident, such as this tragic matter (or the death of JFK for instance), then the more minor inconsistencies and misunderstandings that are bound to arise. It is a relatively simple matter for any clever writer to elevate these apparent discrepancies and make more of them than they really merit. To charge the McCanns with a crime quite as heinous as being involved in the death of their own child then surely a high standard of proof will be required. Without this hard evidence then a case based primarily on circumstantial 'evidence' will probably be rejected by any British jury on the grounds of 'reasonable doubt' - and quite right too. In reality The Crown Prosecution Service only bring cases when they feel that there is a good chance of a conviction - it seems to me that the fact that the McCann's have not been charged in this matter (thus far anyway) speaks volumes about the real strength (or otherwise) of the case against them.

It's been a rare privilege for me to witness Adam's growth and development into the exceptional young player he is today and when he left us it saddened me far more than when any of the others departed last summer. I'll make no bones about it, I wish he had stayed and spent his entire adult career playing here like a latter day MLT. However unlike some on here I just can't transmute my sense of disappointment with what has happened into a active dislike of a player who has given me so much. Like others I often struggle to share in the bards opinion that parting can indeed be such 'sweet sorrow' but wherever Adam's chosen career path takes him in my mind he will always remain 'one of ours' and I wish him well. Perhaps supporting young players can be akin to form of parenthood - it hurts like hell but there comes a time when you just have to let them go.

I find it refreshingly honest that a player of ours should come out publicly and explain what went on 'behind closed doors' with such candour. He wanted to go but we held him to his contract, so he stayed and applied himself to the business of earning his pay like the true professional he obviously is. I rated Schneiderlin as a man and a player every since he first arrived here many years ago - but never more so than I do today. Those who continuously opine that clubs are 'powerless' when it comes to contracted players who want to leave might do well to remember this business because (unless a release-clause is in effect) as long as they hold a players registration then a club is actually in a negotiating position of some strength. Of course a lesser player than Morgan might have decided to go on 'strike' in order to get his own way - a action that would probably prove to be as damaging to themselves as it was to the club.

The impact is not only horrific, it is also rotten luck for the lad. Had his car hit either a few feet to the right or left of where it did (under the overhanging rear mounted engine of the digger) then the consequences may well have been less severe. Although we must also remember that the marshals too are extremely exposed to danger in this situation. How should F1 react to this appalling accident? A few ideas of mine: 1 - Rain. If Bianchi's car aquaplaned off the track when the race was under waved yellow flag and 'safety car' conditions then I expect that there will be calls to eliminate the risk of a recurrence of this incident via the simple expedient of Red Flagging (or indeed never starting) a race when track conditions get that wet. Not a idea I much like whenever it can be avoided. 2 - The Cars. F1 has traditionally always been a sport rooted in open cockpit/open wheel racing cars. It seems to me however that safety might be improved significantly if the sport were to abandon that tradition. I can't see F1 being willing to pay a price quite that high. 3 - Recovery. If it was possible to get a digger into position to remove the crashed car then perhaps it might have been possible to have gotten a mobile crane there that could have removed the car from a safer position behind the barrier. When a car does end up in a place where no crane can reach it, which is inevitable, then short of stopping the race completely (many times potentially) I can't see that very much else can be done. Maybe track-side recovery vehicles could be fitted with 'skirts' to prevent cars going underneath them again. 4 - Tracks. There is always room for improvement I suppose, but the bigger the 'run-off' areas we create then the further the action gets from the (paying) spectators. However, many lovely old tracks may be difficult to adapt. 5 - The 'TT' attitude. It seems to me that bikers die and get seriously maimed in the Isle of Man TT races (in what are relatively substantial numbers compared to other forms of motorsport) and nobody seems to bat a eyelid to the annual carnage. So could F1 just do nothing then and take the consequences that a driver might get killed or seriously injured every decade or so? I don't think so because the sports 'safety first' culture would never tolerate it - and quite right too.

Damn it you lefty git! Now I'm going to have to add 'generous to a fault' to the long list of all your other fine qualities.