The Lawman and the Lawless.

 

Denis Law 20th February 1940 - 17th January 2025

Scotland has lost one of her greats, Denis Law, one of the finest footballers to come out of Scotland has passed away.  A loss to his family and to his nation.

Law's professional football career began as a 15 year old with Huddersfield Town in 1955.  He suffered from a squint which was fixed while there greatly improving his game.  A man called Bill Shankly, later famous at Liverpool was manager at the time.   Four years later he went to Manchester City for a then record fee of £55,000.  However, one year later Torino in Italy paid £110,000 for him.  Italian life was good but difficulties arose for Scots and English players there at that time, the style of play was far too  defensive at the time, soon Denis Law went back to Manchester, this time Manchester United paying £115,000 for his services, services which he duly repaid with outstanding football.  These appeared to be enormous sums of cash in the 1960s, however, if he played today he would outrank Lionel Messi when it came to transfer fees and weekly wage, his ability was greater than the Argentinians.

Denis Law became a Scotland regular at a time when some great Scottish footballers could be found, Jim Baxter and Dave MacKay played in most games alongside him for one.  Law scored 30 goals in a mere 55 games, other player may score more however, Scotland play many more internationals today.

Born in a poor area of Aberdeen during the war poverty was to be found in a home with 7 children.  He endured the same struggles many others had at the time and later in life was happy to receive the 'Freedom of the City Aberdeen.'  In 2012 a statue to Denis Law was unveiled at the Aberdeen Sports Village, in his famous pose having scored against England, his favourite hobby!  

Sadly Denis endured a type of dementia in his last years.  I recall him speaking of this a few years ago.   Many great players suffered this way in their last years, especially those where heading the ball was featured, and Denis Law was famous for his heading ability.  Whether this was part of the cause must be unclear for now.  

A great player and a great man, much missed by all Scots and lovers of football everywhere. 

The Conservative Disability Bill, not passed before the election, will be passed by the so called 'Labour Government.'  This Bill takes billions from the disabled with little care if they live or die.  This from a  Labour Government!  

We no longer have Labour and Tories these days, today we have class warfare between the very rich and everyone else.  The unemployed, the disabled, those badly paid, and pensioners are all targets for the elite who now run the UK, and indeed the USA and other western nations.  These are bankrolled by rich Billionaires, corporates who seek to end all benefits, and the NHS is a benefit to them, and force the masses to pay through the nose while they sit back and reap all dividends.  

Therefore Freeports and SEZs have become the norm, and soon they will begin reducing workers rights, attacking benefits of all sorts is now normal, and only the upper levels of society, that is those who have now bought all politicians on all sides, will benefit.

And the people have let this occur.

Where are the Keir Hardies' of today?

Where are the men standing up for the workers?

Where is the outrage from the workers?

They do not appear to exist.

Media propaganda has many looking at migrants in boats as the enemy.  Pointing 'over there' to an enemy that can be seen but in reality does not exist.  All the while the rights of the 'Farage Rioters' are being eroded before their very eyes and they cannot see it because of propaganda. 

Energy companies, supermarkets, Freeports and SEZs laugh at the people who sit back and take the price increases and vote for the people who are encouraging such increases!  The people were warned Labour was no more, the people ignored this.  We are now owned by billionaires and few realise this or how it will end.  Law is a fickle thing, any opposition will soon fall under a new Law, easily enacted by a parliament looking only to self interest.  The future is bleak and the lower orders and the middle classes will be paying for it while blaming everyone else!

Dementia and Fascism...

Guardian

 

This man is Steve Thompson, he won the Rugby World Cup in 2003, that's 17 years ago, and now appears to be suffering dementia.  Rugby Union has always been a rough sport.  Middle Class men showing off their strength to one other and to themselves, barging into one another with gay abandon and making light of injuries recieved and given, sometimes because of the game, sometimes deliberately to hurt.  The Gentleman's Sport!

I have always seen rugby union as rough, an excuse for violent attitudes to be released yet disguised as 'sport.' And since the introduction of 'professionalism' a few years ago the game got harder and more violent.  Big, well prepared men banging into one another cannot be expected to avoid long term damage.  Professionalism introduced larger, fitter, and bigger men, into the game.  Only now are we seeing the results.

Much publicity has been gven to football for old men suffering dementia, heading the ball is given as the reason.  Personally I accept that may well play a part, esepecially with those who were introduced to football via the Brown Leather 'Filly' Ball that once was the only option.  This ball, a mere pound in weight, soon doubled its weight as water and mud off the grubby pitches stuck.  The fact that pitches were not level, heavy with mud and water all added up to a heavy weight and this caused the ball to spend much more time in the air thus endangering those who were required to deal with it.  A 'Filly' hitting you in the face, even on a good day, could knock you out, as I once discovered!  The potential damage to centre halves in particular must have been serious.

Since the late 50's however a new type of ball was introduced, white in colour, easier to see, lighter, more resistant to gathering water, yet still with much improvements required.   The 'T' Ball was soon replaced by the 'Mitre' ball and in the last 20 years al sorts of ball made from a variety of substances have been introduced, thus lighter for the players and more hazardous for the goalkeepers as this type of ball swerves in the air more often.  

Several great Heart of Midlothian players have suffered this way, it is not known how many suffered in years that went before, as there are many ways to die, the NHS has in these times has given us a longer lifespan than that enjoyed by men of yore.  Yet not all old men suffer dementia, indeed many more women suffer this as any geriactric ward will testify, and they from a variety of backgrounds and intellectual levels.  David Holt, the great Hearts left back of the early 60's was seen in the paper recently, at 82, continuing to live with a normal brain capacity.  Laurie Reilly, the Hibernian centre forward died at 84 also fully in control of his mind so far as is known.  Indeed close to his death he was still working on match days as a 'welcomer' to the club visitors. 

Therefore it is not just heading a ball that needs investigation, there are many other threats that lead to dementia, what could they be?  Until around 1970 most men in football would have begun with the 'Filly' ball, men in rugby would have begun in the amateur game but the headbanging would have been similar throughout time.  Men born in the 30's may well have endured a poor upbringing, large family, poor nourishment, war rations, even military service, and I supect most, if not all, smoked.  Beer drinking also may have been constant and most men would finish their career by the age of 32 or so.

Later generations have learned about diet, fitness and health care but not all had such luxuries in the past.  So, how much does family background, age, diet and other possible infuelces have on dementia? It is likely banging heads in rugby, especially since the professional game began, has had effects, it is likely those heading the old ball in the past had an effect, yet not all suffer dementia.  

It is terrible to watch people suffer, and I am a wee bit unsure about those jumping to conclusions re the cause as they are doing at the minute.  Much more in depth research is required, not a tabloid led 'knee-jerk response.

 

The New European

 

You may not have know that the Labour Party had a 'Shadow Minister for Faith,' I did not even know we had a 'Minister for Faith,' but there again so many people are required to pretend there is a governing class that you never can be sure of what those MPs in Westminster are actually doing.  

This one, whatever else she did, if indeed she did anything at all, commented that "...that registrars who have a religious objection to same-sex marriages should be protected from losing their jobs if they refuse to certify the partnership."  Howls of anguish from the gay lobby!  Such howls that she has now 'stood down' from her role and claims she 'apologised sincerely for misjudged remarks.'

Really?

Misjudged?  Who says so?  Blatant discrimination against the conscience, now passed into Law, is clear and wrong, yet when this is stated she has to go?  We live today in a fascist state.  The morals of the people have no centre, they rely soley on what is most popular at the time, the idea of 'right and wrong' have been removed and replaced blatanly in front of us by 'Political Correctness,' a false morality that accepts what is wrong and rejects anyone who indicates that this is so.  Hence the murder of children kileld by abortion and the feeble excuses offered for this crime, the acceptance of same-sex marriage and gay behaviour as if it were normal.  The abuse of those who indicate such abnormal behaviour is unnatural is now common.  The lunatics now run the asylum.  

The vast majority keep quiet, not wishing to get into trouble, politicians join in as they want votes, the courts and media, now run by Oxbridge graduates who emerged in the 60's and 70's smoking dope and releasing their own problems onto the world now oppose those who speak the truth, they fail to understand why anyone would disagree with their view.  An open mind is not allowed in a Nazi state.  Soon the books will be getting burnt, look out for that down your street, it will be too late to object then.

I note this women stood down, offering feeble apologies so she might get another job later.  She spoke the truth but she clearly has no faith stronger than 'Look after number one.'  I suspect we will see her again, but she will not be worth listening to. 

 

Blethering

There is nothing to say.
The weekend has been filled with football and little else.  Once only did I venture out into the real world, Tesco's and the fruit & veg man were calling, and naturally it rained on me.  I was somewhat displeased.  Having decided to remain indoors with the football the sun came out and I was more displeased.
The football was not that exciting, having watched the Heart of Midlothian dispose of Aberdeen in the usual manner on Friday night all other games have less meaning.  The overblown English games have large crowds, huge salaries but little meaning for me in comparison to any Scots game.  
So I have sat here with a somewhat thick head, thicker than usual that is, somewhat weary also and being stimulated only by the desire to get rid of the blasted 'Cortana' effect from Win 10. 
This is an item that they claim helps you, we know its main purpose is to inform the CIA of your every movement and that in doing so it takes up a third of the memory and anything else it can get hold off.  Quite what some CIA worker in downtown Washington would make of the balderdash he would find on here intrigues me.  I can see him working his way through my postings at the end of a busy week leaving him depressed and desperate for a transfer to Afghanistan or the Yemen.  As I peruse my scribblings I an tempted to join him.
Cortana cannot be removed, another example of Microsoft loving care, however some say there are ways to disable the brute, changing the name on the file for instance but that has failed for me today.  The waste of the memory is annoying.  I suppose this stimulates the mind and prevents the brain stiffening up, that may be too late in this house of course, so I will keep trying to kill it.

There has been some talk regarding footballers from the sixties who now suffer from dementia or some similar problem.  These men began playing football during the thirties, forties and fifties at a time when the ball used in football was a leather ball blown up sometimes the night before, and the ball sealed with laces to keep it round and neat.  Of course pitches were not so well cared for in the past, wet and muddy was not uncommon at most grounds and some deliberately made it worse because their players were big men who could cope.  The ball weighing in at one pound soon soaked up the water and weighed at least two pounds on many occasions.  The style of football, especially at lower levels, was simply to hoof it as high and far as possible, a tactic still used by Hibernian to this day, the result being the central defenders and centre forwards tended to head the ball all to often.  I read of one man in what I think was then the third division north being ordered by his doctor to stop playing as he had headed the ball so much in one game it was now unwise to continue.  This brown leather ball, the 'filly' is now considered to be the cause of many players suffering dementia.  Most people who used it, including I myself, found that getting hit in the face with this ball soon led to unconsciousness.
Late in the fifties the coated 'T-Ball' was introduced and soon after the 'Mitre' ball became standard everywhere.  These white balls were coated and somewhat resistant to gathering water and much safer for the players.  Today much research has gone into the ball and the effects cannot be considered similar to the days of the 'filly.'  However heading the ball, an idea introduced by a Scotsman as all today's football innovations were, continues and it is possible banging your head on a ball can cause problems in later life.
However many men who played sixty or more years ago have not lost their minds.  Many are still sharp, wise and knowledgeable, so why the difference?  Could it be age affects us in differing ways?  Is it our eating habits, hereditary or some other cause that leads to dementia?  Many women who have not played or headed a ball suffer thus so there is great need for research and in my view no need as yet to stop people using their heads.  It is sad however when men once seen as fit footballers end their lives this way.

The recent fuss about David Cameron's tax dodging has meant leaders of various parties now rush to show their tax returns and how squeaky clean they are.  Not all have done so and the majority of Cameron's cabinet have not made any effort to do so, not until they have moved their cash from Panama anyway.  Cameron has to explain why his mum gave him two gifts of £200,000 and explain why this was not done to avoid tax, which it clearly was, and why his father had £10 million but only left £3 million in his will, where is the other £7 million David?
And when we are on why is it his wife has an 'advisor' to help with her hair and outfits, an advisor who earns almost £53, 000 a year? 
These tax queries may yet bring an end to the career of the worst Prime Minister we have ever had, however the question remains who will replace him and will anything change if he does go?