101 company profiles found for Beauty and Spas in Leesburg, Florida(FL).
Hair Plus, Goldey Stacia H MD FACS, Angelas Formal Wear & Hair Studio, Cheryl's Beauty Chalet, Beauty Alliance, Da Cutting Edge, Salon On The Square, Hair Junction, Tips & Toes Inc, City Barber Shop, Picture This Tat 2 Inc, Shirleys Beauty Boutique Incorporated, The Tannerie, Bon-Aire Salon, Chapman Health Group, Lillie's Beauty Salon, Totally You, Planet Cosmo Salon Inc, Linda Nails, Pamela's Polish Parlor, Unique Images, Golden Nails & Tanning, Cute's Beauty & Barber, Hair Cuttery, Central Florida Plastic Surgery, Family Of Hair, Dynasty Hair Design, Smartstyle Family Hair Salon, Cutes Beauty & Barber, Cottage Cuts, etc.
31 "Beauty and Spas" business profiles are rated as good, 71 "Beauty and Spas" companies in Leesburg are rated as acceptable. 49% of Leesburg consumers were satisfied with Leesburg "Beauty and Spas" businesses' performance. That is 10% higher compared to "Beauty and Spas" in Live Oak, FL.
Leesburg Forum is currently viewed by 0 visitors. Leesburg Blog received 86 comments last month. Hair Plus was rated as Outstanding, Goldey Stacia H MD FACS as Good. Reviews on "Beauty and Spas" Leesburg Blog are posted daily.


Face Relation - This method is a slight variation of theLink Method. The Link Method is one of the most popular mnemonics that are employed in improving memory.
You can use it by making the simple relation between items in a roster or a list, combining them with a clear image containing a certain item.
Nootropics Users! Who are they? Surprisingly….
Since its development in the early 1970s, nootropics have been discovered and used by many. But with mainstream acceptance and awareness still in development, many who are just learning about nootropics for the first time, possibly yourself included, often wonder: Who are the people using nootropics on a regular basis? Truth be told, there are countless individuals who rely on nootropics for a variety of cognitive benefits. However, there are other uses for these so-called "smart drugs" as well.
One of the major communities using nootropics today is the medical community. In fact, nootropics continue to rise in popularity as new research confirms benefits for age-related diseases and mental disorders. Most notably, doctors rely on racetams to treat injuries, disorders, and more.


Katadyn Drip Self-contained water filtering station Suspect water needs worry-free, hasslefree filtration and that's what you get from this freestanding Katadyn Drip product. No electricity. No pumping. No moving parts. No effort. Just set it up, fill the container, and let gravity pull water through the system. You can confidently treat larger quantities – 4 liters / hour into a 10-liter container – making it a must-have for groups, base camps, huts, cabins or recreation areas. The Drip Ceradyn uses silverimpregnated ceramic elements to clean out bacteria and protozoa; the Drip Gravidyn model adds activated carbon to also reduce chemicals for the extra benefit of better taste and smell.


This fluffy hem dress is one of my favourite buys of 2014. I first spotted it about 6 months ago at the Topshop Autumn/Winter '14 press day and then the wait began until it hit the stores. As soon as it landed in the new in section online I snapped it up and I am borderline obsessed with it. Fluff was everywhere this season and still is quite prominent on the high street. It gives everything a super girly and almost fairytale twist that is undeniably adorable.
I had a Christmas party to attend and it was a themed evening of 'Hollywood glamour' so I thought this dress would be perfect for the occassion. I kept everything else very simple as the dress was the main element of the outfit. I went for black strappy sandals which I think complement the dress niceley and in tone with the black sandals I picked out a black studded clutch. Jewellery I also kept very minimal by only wearing an open middle section choker necklace with two gem and pearl ends, my watch and a few thin gold band rings. I didn't want to go to over the top as the dress really didn't require too much accessorising. I curled my hair for a change and pulled them out slightly to make them loose and not look so uniform, I just prefer this kind of messy wavy hair look as opposed to tight curls. I did brown subtle smokey eyes and finished it all off with my favourite pink lipstick in the form of Kate Moss for Rimmel London in the shade '20'.
I can't wait for another occassion to wear this cute number, it's a nice A line cut and the feather hem just really makes it.


Nuclear Fallout: Is the Land You Plan to Buy Contaminated?
If you are considering buying a piece of land in rural Australia, you may not think that you need to worry about the effect of nuclear fallout or radiation. However, there is a chance that you do. Many Australians are not aware of the fact that the British government carried out a series of nuclear tests on Australian land between 1952 and 1957. The tests were carried out at Emu Field, Maralinga and on the Monte Bello Islands. Each detonation sent large quantities of radioactive dust thousands of feet into the air. The wind carried this dust hundreds of miles until it eventually settled on the ground, contaminating the land. Below is a guide to the steps you need to take when buying land near a nuclear test site.
The Australian government holds detailed records of all of the nuclear testing which occurred during the 1950s. Because the testing took place so long ago, it is now no longer secret, so you should be able to check if the land you plan to buy is anywhere near a test site. You should contact the Land Services Department for further information.
Before you put in an offer on the land, you should commission an environmental assessment. Environmental assessments are carried out by professional contractors who will take air, soil, plant and water samples from different parts of the land which is up for sale. These samples will be tested, and detailed results will show you the levels of different forms of contamination which are affecting the site.
One benefit buying contaminated land is that it will typically be sold at a vastly reduced price. For this reason, you may wish to purchase the land, knowing that you can use some of the money saved to finance the decontamination of the soil. A company which specialises in soil decontamination will use heavy equipment to excavate the soil down to a depth of several metres. This soil will then be hauled off to a waste disposal site. Once all of the contaminated soil has been removed, the decontamination team will backfill the site using clean soil which is of the same type and colour.
If you would like to find out more about buying land which has been contaminated by nuclear fallout, you should contact a company which specialises in environmental assessments and decontamination.


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ManiaJoseph
Sun, 2021-Nov-14 21:55:49
Robert Reffkin - image from pixabay	Robert Reffkin - image from pixabay
The Fintech industry is growing fast with the implementation of new features. These companies are employing technology in almost every activity, to be competitive in the market. They are automating their backend to offer solutions to customers.
A company with the best fintech CEO will always achieve a higher profit margin. These financial industries are innovating the best ways to serve insurance, real estate, cryptocurrency trading, and other payment management systems. Others are using AI and API technology to improve on reliability and speed of transactions. Fintech CEOs are the ones on top to initiate such changes. It takes a good leader to ensure his or her company is getting positive feedback and higher income. Here we look at the top financial industry CEOs that still promise in 2022.
Robert Reffkin
Company: Compass
Robert achieved his degree in economics, history, and philosophy from the University of Columbia. He went ahead to study MBA. His mother was a real estate agent who inspired him to join the industry. He worked at the White-House and later joined Goldman Sachs. He founded America Needs, which holds mentorship programs for college students.
In 2012, he co-founded Compass, a real estate broker that uses smartphone technology to market its product. Agents and buyers meet and share ideas from the platforms. Through investors, the company has managed to raise $775 million to expand its roots. It was not until after the pandemic, earlier this year, that the company went public. It made huge sales and is estimated to have a revenue of $10 billion. All this has made Robert the top financial technology CEO in the world.
Simon Paris
Simon Paris -image from facebook.jpg
Company: Finastra
In 2015, the young Paris made his way to Finastra as president and chairman of the board. Two years later, he rose to deputy vice president. He has experience in management, sales, and leadership for almost 20 years. At one point he worked under McKinsey Company. He is the current CEO of Finastra. He steers the whole plan and approves any innovative idea in the company. The company makes use of cloud computing and Fusion software architecture to build fintech models.
Company: Klarna
He is an Alumni of Stockholm School of Economics where he studied economics. He founded the service Klarna in 2005 where consumers could pay through installments when they buy online goods. People referred to him as the inventor of the popular slogan 'Buy now, Pay Later'. Sebastian is the CEO of his Swedish fintech company. The company allows for direct payment, post-purchase payment, and online storefront payments. Klarna has offered much competition to PayPal in Sweden. The European company has a total of over 21 million users, making it a valuable private financial tech company. Its revenue is estimated to be $31 billion.
David Vélez
Company: Nubank
David launched Nubank in 2013 and serves as its CEO. The company has a user base of approximately 20 million people. Investors have contributed $820 million to the company. It was recognized as the world's largest neobank in 2020. The fintech firm has won numerous honors for its creative capabilities. David is a graduate of Stamford University, where he earned his MBA.
Company: Stripe
He started with an Automatic Management System where he won the 41st Youngest Scientist. The company was absorbed by Live Current Media. Together with his brother, the two technologists focused on Stripe. Millionaires like Sequoia Capital, Peter Thiel, and Andreesen Horowitz managed to invest in the company. Patrick is the CEO of Stripe.
The company allows customers to pay for goods through the internet. The platform has enabled companies and customers to carry out complex financial operations. Almost 100 countries embrace stripe as a medium of sending and receiving money.
Brian Armstrong -image from facebook.jpg
Company: Coinbase
Brian attended Rice University to study computer science and economics. He worked as a senior software engineer with the Airbnb company. Armstrong focused on learning how cryptocurrency works. He founded Tutor.com, an online education platform. Furthermore, he was among the first people to sign on the deal of 'The Giving Pledge'.
He founded coinbase in 2012. The company has managed to top as the leading exchange platform for cryptocurrency in the United States. You can sell and buy Ethereum and bitcoin easily. Coinbase has a total revenue of $320 billion with over 35 million users. These successes have made Armstrong appear among the top financial industry CEOs.
Kristo Käärmann
Company: Wise
Kristo was employed by Deloitte. He helped clients rectify their system architecture and information management. He is an Alumni of Tartu University where he studied mathematics and computer science. In 2011, Kaarman co-founded Wise and he is the fintech CEO. Wise is a money transfer platform. People can exchange their money on the platform at minimum rates. According to statistics, the company transfers around 4.5 billion Euros per month. This makes him one of the best fintech CEO.
Valentin Stalf
Valentin Stalf -image from facebook.jpg
Company: N26
In 2013, the Alumni of St.Gallen University founded N26. He serves as the CEO of this mobile app bank. The customer likes the fact that N26 online banking offers free basic accounts. It has leveraged the digital world to allow users to pay a lower coin base. The financial technology company managed to raise almost $770 million for infrastructure. The company value is around $3.5 billion hence making Kristo one of the top financial technology CEOs around the world.
Kenneth Lin
Company: Credit Karma
In 2007, Kenneth founded Credit Karma. The company gives the customer the power to monitor their credits and to prepare their tax filing for free. They offer almost everything for free but make money through advertisement. The company has managed to secure almost 85 million users across the world. Through Karma, Lin founded Multilytics Marketing agency which earns revenue totaling $40 million. He is one of the top fintech CEOs in the world.
Alex Timm
Company: Root Insurance
Alex grew up with an interest in entrepreneurship. He wanted to change the way insurance works. In 2015, he cofounded Root Insurance, where he serves as the CEO. He changed the way car insurance operates. The insurance company works towards helping the consumers. The insurance rates are calculated depending on the driving ability.
Eric Wu
Company: Opendoor.com
Eric founded Opendoor in 2014. The company specializes in building the real estate industry using technology. The financial tech company supports around 85 000 users who use the company to acquire real estate. The company is estimated to generate a revenue of $4.7 billion before the pandemic.
Company: Chime
Chris studied history at Tulane University. He worked at Visa as a senior product leader before moving to ComScore. Chris joined Green Dot as chief product officer and resigned two years later. He currently serves as the CEO of Chime. The mobile banking company offers free debit card services. The company managed to raise $485 million during the pandemic to expand its branches. Its value is estimated to reach $14.5 billion. All these achievements make Chris a top fintech CEO.
Zachary Perret
Company: Plaid
Plaid was launched in 2013 as a software financial services company. Many digital fintech companies have managed to integrate their platform with the Plaid system. Consumers can connect easily with their accounts. Together with his friend William Hockey, he established the company to solve fintech problems. Almost 11000 financial institutions in Europe, the US, and Canada employ the Plaid system. The company values it at $13.4 billion.
Dave Girouard
Company: Upstart
Upstart is one of the leading AI banks that offers affordable credit services. Girouard founded the platform and serves as the CEO. The company also offers loans to its bank partners. They use a machine learning algorithm before they give out loans to various institutions. They took the company public in 2020. Their revenue doubled hence making Dave one of the top fintech CEO.
Famous Companies That Were SetUp by Teenagers, Youngest CEO
Pedro Franceschi & Henrique Dubugras
Henrique Dubugras- image by facebook.jpg
Company: Brex
In 2017, the two Americans founded Brex. They offer flexible credit lines depending on the current situation rather than strict deadlines. They raised $57 million in 2018 to expand their branches across America. The two friends from Brazil were into video games. They came up with Pagar.me which was later absorbed. In addition, the two joined Stamford but dropped a year later to find Brex. They both share CEO duties in trending fintech companies.
Rishi Khosla
Company: OakNorth
He founded OakNorth Bank in 2015. The company uses data analytics technology and machine learning to create its Credit Intelligence Suite. The company was developed for almost 5 years with a board of 250 engineers. He also invested in Indiabulls and Paypal during the early stages. Rishi chaired Copal Partners for 12 years when he gained many financial skills. He later sold the company in 2014, to Moody's corporation. He is an alumnus of the London School of Economics.
Jason Gardner
Company: Marqeta
Jason is the Chief Executive officer and the co-founder of Marqeta. The company offers modern cards by innovating the processor platform. Many companies have been able to employ Marqeta software on their platforms. Marqeta is helping the financial institution to build smart cards. Previously, Jason founded PropertyBridge company which was absorbed by Moneygram. He also founded another IT management company, Vertica Think. Jason has been able to stand out as one of the top fintech CEO because of his innovative ideas.
Company: GetSafe
He is one of the founders and CEO at GetSafe. The financial technology company offers help to insurance companies. They have managed to create smart bots to replace the paperwork and complexity in the insurance companies. It's one of the fastest-growing insurtech startups in Germany. They have almost 175000 users. His contribution and impact on the company have made him one of the outstanding fintech CEOs.
Company: Ripple
Brad acquired an MBA from Harvard University. He has been in the financial industry for over 22 years. Garlinghouse has served as CEO of Ripple since 2015. The company uses blockchain technology to create a frictionless experience in the fintech industry. In addition, almost 40 countries have managed to use resources from the fintech company.
In this article:biggest financial technology companies, companies the financial technology, financial technology salary, report leaders in fintech, top banking executives, top fintech, what is fintech

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Barnabus was born in 1929 by Princess Mary Lake just west of the Kazan River. The caribou and fish were abundant at this time and Barnabus remembered his father, Havaaq, would regularly use his kakivak, made of wood and muskox horn, to spear trout in the lake.
The family regularly moved during spring and summer as they followed the caribou herd. When Havaaq went out to hunt, Barnabus would often follow. They tried to camp near large lakes so the option of fishing was always available if the caribou proved scarce. Meat was cached whenever possible. Even with these precautions, Barnabus remembers many times when he and his family were hungry.
Barnabus would often journey to Baker Lake to trade for supplies then travel back to his camp. In 1959 he and his family relocated to Baker Lake (Qamanittuaq) permanently. It was there Barnabus began to create. Although he has produced sculpture, prints and drawings, he is known around the world primarily as a stone carver. His work has been a huge influence on the style of the region.


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E. Elvidge, L., H. Bönisch, C. A. M. Brenninkmeijer, A. Engel, P. J. Fraser, E. Gallacher, R. L. Langenfelds, J. Mühle, D. E. Oram, E. A. Ray et al. "Evaluation of stratospheric age of air from CF4, C2F6, C3F8, CHF3, HFC-125, HFC-227ea and SF6; implications for the calculations of halocarbon lifetimes, fractional release factors and ozone depletion potentials." Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics 18, no. 5 (2018): 3369-3385.
Chirkov, M., G. P. Stiller, A. Laeng, S. Kellmann, T. von Clarmann, C. Boone, J. W. Elkins, A. Engel, N. Glatthor, U. Grabowski et al. "Global HCFC-22 measurements with MIPAS: retrieval, validation, climatologies and trends." Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss. 15, no. 10 (2015): 14783-14841.
Chirkov, M., G. P. Stiller, A. Laeng, S. Kellmann, T. von Clarmann, C. Boone, J. W. Elkins, A. Engel, N. Glatthor, U. Grabowski et al. "Global HCFC-22 measurements with MIPAS: retrieval, validation, global distribution and its evolution over 2005–2012." Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics 16, no. 5 (2016): 3345-3368.
Levin, I., T. Naegler, R. Heinz, D. Osusko, E. Cuevas, A. Engel, J. Ilmberger, R. L. Langenfelds, B. Neininger, C. v. Rohden et al. "The global SF6 source inferred from long-term high precision atmospheric measurements and its comparison with emission inventories." Atmos. Chem. Phys. 10, no. 6 (2010): 2655-2662.
Prinn, R. G., R. Zander, D. M. Cunnold, J. W. Elkins, A. Engel, P. J. Fraser, M.R. Gunson, M.K.W. Ko, E. Mahieu, J. Russell et al. "Long-lived ozone-related compounds [Chapter 1]." In Scientific assessment of ozone depletion: 1998. Geneva: World Meteorological Organization Global Ozone Research and Monitoring Project (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ... [and others]), 1999.
Yver, C., I. Pison, A. Fortems-Cheiney, M. Schmidt, F. Chevallier, M. Ramonet, A. Jordan, O. A. Søvde, A. Engel, R. E. Fisher et al. "A new estimation of the recent tropospheric molecular hydrogen budget using atmospheric observations and variational inversion." Atmos. Chem. Phys. 11, no. 7 (2011): 3375-3392.
Montzka, S. A., S. Reimann, A. Engel, K. Krüger, S. J. O'Doherty, W. T. Sturges, D. Blake, M. Dorf, P. J. Fraser, L. Froidevaux et al. "Ozone-Depleting Substances (ODSs) and Related Chemicals [Chapter 1]." In Scientific Assessment of Ozone Depletion: 2010. Geneva, Switzerland: World Meteorological Organization, 2011.
Pieterse, G., M. Krol, A. M. Batenburg, C. A. M. Brenninkmeijer, M. E. Popa, S. J. O'Doherty, A. Grant, P. L. Steele, P. B. Krummel, R. L. Langenfelds et al. "Reassessing the variability in atmospheric H2 using the two-way nested TM5 model." Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres 118, no. 9 (2013): 3764-3780.
Laube, J. C., A. Kiel, H. Bönisch, A. Engel, T. Röckmann, C.M. Volk, W. T. Sturges, P. J. Fraser, and D. E. Oram. Supplementary information to 'Observation-based assessment of stratospheric fractional release, lifetimes and Ozone Depletion Potentials of ten important source gases'., 2013.
Obersteiner, F., H. Bönisch, T. Keber, S. J. O'Doherty, and A. Engel. "A versatile, refrigerant- and cryogen-free cryofocusing–thermodesorption unit for preconcentration of traces gases in air." Atmospheric Measurement Techniques 9, no. 11 (2016): 5265-5279.


Iconic pedestrian bridge in Amsterdam. Flower like forms sculpt a path over the water along levitated botanical gardens creating new and spectacular vistas. It challenges the stereotype of the bridge by creating new urban spaces above and at water level. The concrete structures, referencing the arched bridges of Amsterdam, are interconnected to create a meandering route and in the mean time producing structural stability. Botanical gardens are new feeding grounds for flora and fauna in the urban environment. It is sustainable in the essential way that it enhances the quality of life and livability of the city of Amsterdam. SunCycle panels on the green roofs provide the energy needed for restaurant, bicycleshop and lighting.


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Home » Events » Fluid Horizons: Sinophone Literature and the Sea
Fluid Horizons: Sinophone Literature and the Sea
Nicolai Volland - Associate Professor of Asian Studies and Comparative Literature, Pennsylvania State University
Tuesday, April 6, 2021 - 10:00am to 11:30am
via Zoom See map
Modern Chinese Literature has routinely been understood through continental, land-based frameworks, defined by way of concepts such as the nation, race, and ethnicity. But what happens if we leave behind this terra firma, this seemingly solid conceptual ground, and instead approach Chinese/Sinophone literature from the perspective of the ocean? This talk proposes to rethink modern Chinese literature through an oceanic/maritime lens, drawing on recent conceptual work in archipelagic imaginaries, maritime heterotopologies, and seascape epistemologies. Reading texts by Syaman Rapongan and Ng Kim Chew, I will suggest that the ocean can become motif and medium alike, serving as both epistemology and method. Experimental and exploratory in nature, this presentation is a tentative attempt to reconceptualize our understanding of modern Chinese literature and its positionality in world literary space and time.
Nicolai Volland is Associate Professor of Asian Studies and Comparative Literature at Penn State University. His work covers modern Chinese literature in its transnational dimensions, Sinophone studies, and world literary studies. His is the author of Socialist Cosmopolitanism: The Chinese Literary Universe (2017) and editor of The Business of Culture: Cultural Entrepreneurship in China and Southeast Asia, 1900-1965 (2015, with Christopher Rea). He currently works on Sino-French literary encounters across the twentieth century, and on oceanic epistemologies in China and Southeast Asia. He also serves as president of the Association of Chinese and Comparative Literature (ACCL).
https://yale.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_–0evnC7QeOtkRjlVdCG0g
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Tuesday, Feb. 8th 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM
Thursday, Feb. 10th 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM
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A heritage of improving the quality of life in the communities where we do business.
Supporting the local nonprofit and charitable organizations in our communities has been a tradition at Wilmington Trust for more than a century. Our staff members embrace this core part of our heritage and devote countless hours to numerous volunteer programs and causes as well.
We believe financial literacy is a crucial skill for both adults and children. We have developed innovative programs to teach financial literacy through in-school programs and also partner with other community groups to support financial education through various programs.
Our commitment to community service extends beyond supporting key initiatives to incorporating green practices in many of our daily activities as well. We continue to seek ways to reduce our use of paper, and have annually increased the amount of material we recycle.
Wilmington Trust is part of the M&T Bank family, and we are proud to share M&T's long-standing commitment to community support and involvement. To learn more, please visit A Community Bank at Heart.


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Interview with Faith XLVII, IWD Special 2020
Posted by Donna on 5th March, 2020
Filed under: From the Street
Every year on the eighth of March International Women's Day (IWD) pays tribute to the indomitable spirit of women across the globe. It celebrates the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women – while also marking a call to action for accelerating gender equality. This day recognises and celebrates the achievements of women.
The GraffitiStreet team celebrate International Woman's Day every year and share with you the inspirational women involved in the exciting urban art scene. This year we caught up with internationally-acclaimed South African artist Faith XLVII.
Born in Cape Town, in 1979, Faith XLVII began painting in 1997, three years after the end of apartheid. Since 2006, Faith XLVII has extensively travelled all over the world, with her impactful murals visible in over fifty cities worldwide, creating influential solo exhibitions in Johannesburg, Miami, New York City and London. Faith XLVII now lives in Los Angeles and is currently working on her upcoming and highly anticipated solo show of 2020, 'CHANT', in her homeland, Cape Town.
Faith XLVII Photo Credit Rowan Pybus
Check out our interview with self-taught and inspirational female artist Faith XLVII below…
There have been many studies on how much creativity is attributable to nurture and richness of the environment, and how much is hardwired in our genes? Being a self-taught artist, do you feel that we are born creative? Is it in our genetic makeup, or is it something we learn?
Faith XLVII
Creativity is embedded into us from birth, skill is learnt over time. Anyone can be an artist/musician/creative human being. It's the ability to tune into the collective conscious, into your own self, into the mood and challenges of a time or political situation. Often creativity can come from a place of angst and therefore is a part of the growing/healing/learning/rebirth process.
Le petite morte, Goa India 2016. Photo credit Faith XLVII
As a street artist, you are known to be among the most politically and socially engaged artists. You have painted murals such as 'Populi Suprema Lex Esto', painted on Skid Row, Los Angeles addressing homelessness, 'Estamos Todos Los Que Cabemos' in Harlem that speaks of immigration and' 722 – 481 BC' in Manchester to support LGBT rights. You have achieved a voice that is amplified through your artistic expression. What drives you to speak for the voiceless and empower the powerless?
I grew up in South Africa, where you are face to face with inequality and social distortions on a daily basis. I have a keen awareness of human rights and the gravity of ignorance and lack of empathy that we see in the world weighs heavy on my soul. Sometimes the only way for me to cope with this is to make artwork about it.
However this is not primarily my main focus of thematic in my work, I am interested in subtle inner-shifting work, reflecting on the wisdom of the universe and our place within it. But I do understand that the more intimately spiritually we dive into the inner world, we still must exist in the real world and face the real-world issues. I also see the inner and outer worlds as reflective, affecting each other.
'Populi Suprema Lex Esto', painted on Skid Row, Los Angeles . Photo credit Faith XLVII
Your on-going ASTRONOMIA NOVA project pays a beautiful homage to our great timekeepers and the ancient internal rhythms. Do you feel with modern living our natural cycles and rhythms are arrhythmic? How can we retune ourselves?
Living in cities we are disconnected to the cycle of light and dark, to our connection to the food we eat and often are lacking in community. Our disconnection to the natural world is something that allows us to make decisions with a certain amount of disassociation to the cause and effect of our collective actions. Reconnecting to the natural world, allows us to see ourselves as a vital part of the life cycle of all existing phenomena.
'Astronomia Nova' collab Faith XLVII AND Lyall Sprong. Photo credit Faith XLVII
Our personal 'art experience' is derived from our reality, our own experiences, influences and memories all have an impact on how we perceive and experience art. What is the actual/true experience of art? That of the artist? Or that of the perceiver?
Words can be so cumbersome. Often to make poetry, you have to break language. Visual art, however, speaks in archetypal symbols, in colour, shape, form. It has a language unrestricted by words and is open to abstract thought and interpretation. I am interested in this as it has the ability to directly communicate from and to the heart, the gut, the mind in ways indescribable with logical explanation.
'Language as a boundary'. Photo credit Faith XLVII
On your recent travels home to Cape Town we have seen your graffiti-era lettering in abandoned buildings and leaving the word 'CHANT' in a repetitive way on the streets. Do you have a favourite motivational quote? Or words of wisdom/ spiritual guidance that continues to empower you?
I often find solace in Rudolf Steiner's quote…
'even if the world appears to be filled with suffering, it is, nevertheless radiating with wisdom'
'1200-900BC'. Photo credit Faith XLVII
'CHANT' is also the title of your upcoming and highly anticipated solo show in Cape Town this coming April. We've seen some great teasers! What can we expect to see?
This is a show that explores various mediums and it takes an honest and hard look at the world around us.
CHANT asks, 'How does one stand centered in the face of the ceaseless onslaught of social and economic upheaval'
'CHANT'. Photo credit Faith XLVII
This year's International Women's Day 2020 campaign theme is #EachforEqual. An equal world is an enabled world. Collectively, each one of us can help create a gender-equal world. What does that mean to you?
Each person has the task of understanding their own unique feminine and masculine energies within their own psyche. Once we all are comfortable with ourselves, then we can respect others in their own varying degree of masculine and feminine, despite what physical gender they might have. And yes. Equal pay for equal work. Of course.
In South Africa, the rate of Gender-Based Violence is incredibly high, so I am crudely aware of how much work still needs to be done to re-educate and also empower.
AD PACEM, CINCINNATI, USA, 2019. Photo Credit Chop 'em Down Films
As both, an influential South African and inspirational female street artist, Faith XLVII's murals speak of political and social issues, human rights and spiritual mindfulness that empower, enlighten and awaken empathy, hope, curiosity and inner strength.
GraffitiStreet would like to thank Faith XLVII for taking time out of her busy schedule for our International Woman's Day special interview 2020.
#IWD2020 #EachforEqual
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JCT Vol.4 No.5 A , May 2013
Efficacy of Para-Aortic Lymphadenectomy in Ovarian Cancer: A Retrospective Study
Hiromi Ugaki, Yosiko Komoto, Reisa Kakubari, Eriko Tanaka, Hisashi Konishi, Toshihiro Kitai, Saori Nakajima, Miho Muraji, Takayuki Enomoto, Masahiko Takemura
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Osaka General Medical Center, Osaka, Japan.
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Niigata University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Science, Niigata, Japan..
Abstract: Objective: The prognostic impact for ovarian cancer treatment of employing a systematic para-aortic and pelvic lymphadenectomy is still poorly defined. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the therapeutic efficacy of adding a para-aortic lymphadenectomy (PA) to the pelvic lymphadenectomy (PL), as compared with solely the pelvic lymphadenectomy. Materials and Methods: A retrospective study of patient outcomes was conducted of ovarian cancer patients who underwent optimal debulking surgery, concurrent with either PA + PL or PL alone, between 2000 and 2009 at our Osaka General Medical Center. Results: One hundred twenty-one patients with ovarian cancer underwent surgery. Forty-four patients (36%) underwent optimal debulking surgery (all residual disease was <1 cm) concurrent with lymphadenectomy. Seventeen patients underwent PA + PL (PA group), and 27 patients underwent PL alone (PL group). There were no significant differences in terms of overall survival (OS; hazard ratio [HR] = 0.49; 95% CI, 0.13 to 1.82; p = 0.29) and progression-free survival (PFS; HR = 0.62; 95% CI, 0.19 to 2.00; p = 0.40) between the PA group and the PL group. Both OS and PFS also failed to show significant differences, even when comparing them among 26 cases of FIGO stage I cases. Conclusions: Our data failed to show any prognostic improvement for ovarian cancer by adding para-aortic lymphadenectomy to the standard pelvic lymphadenectomy regimen.
Keywords: Ovarian Cancer; Pelvic Lymphadenectomy; Para-Aortic Lymphadenectomy
Cite this paper: H. Ugaki, Y. Komoto, R. Kakubari, E. Tanaka, H. Konishi, T. Kitai, S. Nakajima, M. Muraji, T. Enomoto and M. Takemura, "Efficacy of Para-Aortic Lymphadenectomy in Ovarian Cancer: A Retrospective Study," Journal of Cancer Therapy, Vol. 4 No. 5, 2013, pp. 28-32. doi: 10.4236/jct.2013.45A005.
[1] T. Matsuda, T. Marugame, K. I. Kamo, et al., "The Japan Cancer Surveillance Research Group. Cancer Incidence and Incidence Rates in Japan in 2005: Based on Data from 12 Population-Based Cancer Registries in the Monitoring of Cancer Incidence in Japan (MCIJ) Project," Japanese Journal of Clinical Oncology, Vol. 41, No. 1, 2011, pp. 139-147. doi:10.1093/jjco/hyq169
[2] E. Burghardt, F. Girardi, M. Lahousen, et al., "Patterns of Pelvic and Paraaortic Lymph Node Involvement in Ovarian Cancer," Gynecologic Oncology, Vol. 40, No. 2, 1991, pp. 103-106. doi:10.1016/0090-8258(91)90099-Q
[3] I. Cass, A. J. Li, C. D. Runowicz, et al., "Pattern of Lymph Node Metastases in Clinically Unilateral Stage I Invasive Epithelial Ovarian Carcinomas," Gynecologic Oncology, Vol. 80, No. 1, 2001, pp. 56-61. doi:10.1006/gyno.2000.6027
[4] FIGO Cancer Committee, "Staging Announcements," Gynecologic Oncology, Vol. 25, No. 3, 1986, pp. 383-385. doi:10.1016/0090-8258(86)90092-2
[5] P. B. Panici, G. Scambia, G. Baiocchi, et al., "Anatomical Study of Para-Aortic and Pelvic Lymph-Nodes in Gynecologic Malignancies," Obstetrics & Gynecology, Vol. 79, No. 4, 1992, pp. 498-502.
[6] G. Ferraris, A. Lanza, F. D'Addato, et al., "Techniques of Pelvic and Para-Aortic Lymphadenectomy in the Surgical Treatment of Cervix Carcinoma," European Journal of Gynecologic Oncology, Vol. 9, 1998, pp. 83-86.
[7] P. B. Panici, G. Scambia, G. Baiocchi, et al., "Technique and Feasibility of Systematic Paraaortic and Pelvic Lymphadenectomy in Gynecologic Malignancies, A Prospective Study," International Journal of Gynecological Cancer, Vol. 1, No. 3, 1991, pp. 133-140. doi:10.1111/j.1525-1438.1991.tb00028.x
[8] C. T. Griffiths, "Surgical Resection of Tumor Bulk in the Primary Treatment of Ovarian Carcinoma," The Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Vol. 42, 1975, pp. 101-104.
[9] N. F. Hacker, J. S. Berek, L. D. Lagasse, et al., "Primary Cytoreductive Surgery for Epithelial Ovarian Cancer," Obstetrics & Gynecology, Vol. 61, No. 4, 1983, pp. 413-420
[10] E. L. Kaplan and P. Meier, "Non Parametric Estimation from Incomplete Observations," Journal of the American Statistical Association, Vol. 53, No. 282, 1958, pp. 457-481. doi:10.1080/0162 1459.1958.10501452
[11] R. Peto, M. C. Pike, P. Armitage, et al., "Design and Analysis of Randomized Clinical Trials Requiring Prolonged Observation of Each Patient. II. Analysis and Example," British Journal of Cancer, Vol. 35, No. 1, 1977, pp. 1-39. doi:10.1038/bjc.1977.1
[12] P. J. Di Saia and W. T. Creasman, "Clinical Gynecologic Oncology," 6th Edition, Mosby, St. Louis, 2002.
[13] ASTEC Study Group, H. Kitchener, A. M. Swart, Q. Qian, et al., "Efficacy of Systematic Pelvic Lymphadenectomy in Endometrial Cancer (MRC ASTECtrial): A Randomized Study," Lancet, Vol. 373, No. 9658, 2009, pp. 125-136.
[14] P. B. Panici, A. Maggioni, N. Hacker, et al., "Systematic Aortic and Pelvic Lymphadenectomy versus Resection of Bulky Nodes only in Optimally Debulked Advanced Ovarian Cancer: A Randomized Clinical Trial," The Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Vol. 97, No. 8, 2005, pp. 560-566. doi:10.1093/jnci/dji102
[15] R. E. Bristow, R. S. Tomacruz, D. K. Armstrong, et al., "Survival Effect of Maximal Cytoreductive Surgery for Advanced Ovarian Carcinoma during Platinum Era: A Meta-Analysis," Journal of Clinical Oncology, Vol. 20, No. 5, 2002, pp. 1248-1259. doi:10.1200/JCO.20.5.1248
[16] T. Onda, H. Yoshikawa, H. Yokota, et al., "Assessment of Metastases to Aortic and Pelvic Lymph Nodes in Epithelial Ovarian Carcinoma. A Proposal for Essential Sites for Lymph Node Biopsy," Cancer, Vol. 78, No. 4, 1996, pp. 803-808. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1097-0142(19960815)78:4<803::AID-CNCR17>3.0.CO;2-Z


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Q: Approximation of T-contraction mapping Inequality
$(X, ||. ||)$ is a Banach space. Let $T, S$ be two operators from $X$ to $X$. $T$ is the k-contraction with constant $k \in [0, 1)$ and fixed point $x \in X$. $S$ is the approximation to $T$ for $\epsilon > 0$: $$
|| T(z) - S(z) || \leq \epsilon
$$ for all $z \in X$. Fixed $x_0 = y_0 \in X$, denote $x_{m+1} = T(x_{m})$ and $y_{m+1}  = S(y_{m})$ for $m \geq 0$.

I am trying to show the inequality relation:
$$
 ||x_{m} - y_{m} || \leq \epsilon \frac{1-k^m}{1-k}
$$
I use the assumption of $T$ contraction mapping: $||x_{m+1} - x_{m}|| \leq k^{m} ||x_1 - x_0||$.
I rewrite the inside inequality and assume this holds for $m$ case, and try to prove for $m+1$ case:
$$
||x_{m+1} - y_{m+1}|| = || x_{m+1} -x_{m} + x_{m} - y_{m} + y_{m} - y_{m+1}||
$$
$$
\leq ||x_{m+1} -x_{m} || + ||x_{m} - y_{m} || + ||y_{m} - y_{m+1}||
$$
The first term is bounded by $k^{m} ||x_{1} - x_{0}||$ the second term is bounded by the induction hypothesis. But how can I bound the third one? It is the approximation to $T$-contraction mapping.

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Travel - Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve
Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve
Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve adjoins Rukum, Myagdi and Baglung districts in the Dhaulagiri Himal range in West Nepal. Putha, Churen and Gurja Himal extend over the northern boundary of the reserve. Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve was established in 1983 and was gazetted in 1987. Management objectives of the reserve allow sports hunting and preserve a representative high altitude, ecosystem in Western Nepal. The reserve extends over an area of 1325 km2 and is the only hunting reserve in the country to meet the needs of hunting for Nepalese and foreign hunters of blue sheep and other game animals . Local people depend on the reserve to meet their requirements of timber, fuel-wood, fodder, and pasture.
The Tibetan refugee camp near the reserve headquarters has put more human pressure in the forest. Every year livestock grazing activities begin from February and last until October. More than 80,000 livestock enter the reserve for grazing. The majority of people belong to the Mongoloid race, including Mugar, Thakali and Gurung, Amalgamation of different ethnic groups has resulted in a mixed pattern of cultures.
The higher elevations remain snow-capped throughout the year. Altitudes vary from 3000 m to more than 7000 m. The flat meadows above tree line (4000 m), locally known as Patans, are important for animals like the blue sheep and other herbivores. The reserve is divided into seven six blocks for hunting management purposes.The reserve is surrounded by villages on all sides except the north.
The monsoon fasts until the beginning of October. Day time temperatures are very low during winter due to strong winds. Higher elevations remain covered with cloud in the morning; later clouds are cleared by the wind. Snow may occur even at low elevation until early April, however, it soon melts. The best time to visit the reserve is March-April.
The reserve is characterized by alpine, sub-alpine and high temperate vegetation. Common plant species include fir, pine, and birch, rhododendron, hemlock, oak, juniper and spruce. Pasturelands occupy more than 50 % of the total area of the reserve at higher elevation.
The reserve is one of the prime habitats of blue sheep, a highly coveted trophy. Other animals found are: leopard, goral, serow, Himalayan tahr, Hirnalayan black bear, barking deer, wild boar, rhesus macaque, langur and mouse hare. Pheasants and partridge are common and their viable population in the reserve permits controlled hunting. Endangered animals in the reserve include: Musk deer, Wolf, Red panda, Cheer pheasant and Danphe. The Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation issue the hunting license.
Local people are allowed to collect limited quantities of fuel-wood for their home use. Visitors are requested to be self-sufficient with fuel (Kerosene) before entering the reserve. Since no medical facilities are available in the reserve, it is suggested that visitors carry a comprehensive first-aid kit including medicines for intestinal disorders. Two hotels/lodges catering simple Nepali foods are located at Chhyantung near Dhorpatan.
Public bus service is available from Kathmandu to Tansen-Tamgash Gulmi from where the reserve HQ is a three-day walk via Burtibang.
Air service links Baglung from Kathmandu and Pokhara. The reserve HQ could be reached in 4 days walk from Balewa-Baglung.
Public bus can be taken to Baglung from Pokhara followed by 4 days walk via Baglung Beni-Darbang-Lumsung and Jaljala to reach Dhorpatan.Chartered service helicopter may be available on request from Kathmandu.
Dhorbaraha a Hindu religious place on the banks of Uttarganga River near Dhorpatan, is in Fagune block. Every year on the day of "Janai Purnima" in August, a religious fair is held here which many local devotees attend. The magnificent view of Dhaulagiri HImal from Barse, Dogari and Gustung blocks are exceptional, Seng and Sundaha block are rich in wild animals.


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Anyone reading the Scottish media over the past few weeks would be forgiven for thinking the nation's scribes are trying to woo John Collins.
Hardly a day goes by without a paean to Collins and his matinee idol looks appearing. Even defeat at Rangers could not dent the ardour of his admirers. Like a John Wayne character Collins' fallibility seems to have made him all the more attractive: it's easier to court a mortal after all.
Amid all this blether there is a serious point. Collins – with apparent ease – is changing things at Easter Road. A Scot who has travelled, he seems to be having much more success bringing continental methods to Edinburgh than Frenchman Paul Le Guen is having in Glasgow.
Training every day? No problem. Collins did it in France so they can do it at Easter Road.
Youth players struggling with a target of 25 dips? No problem Collins can do that himself. The young players should be aiming for 64.
This should not be revolutionary thinking. Look at France where players often train seven days a week. Look at Scotland where players shy away from a five day week. Is there a correlation between success and attitude?
And this week Collins was more refreshing than ever. A calm post-match interview. No shouting, no naming names, no talk of refereeing bias for the Old Firm. But also no hiding the fact that he wanted the players to know they had let the club down.
And Ivan Sproule, sent off at Ibrox for throwing the ball away, will have extra training during his suspension and a "heavy" fine.
No moaning from Collins that a Rangers player and a Celtic player were not punished from similar offences. Sproule was stupid, Collins punished him. Simple. No nonsense about the desire to win that Strachan wheeled out for yet another defence of Neil Lennon on Sunday.
It is discipline of this sort that Sproule needs. Go to Easter Road when he's playing. Amid all the teenyboppers screaming his name you'll find more than a few of the old sages shaking their heads and wondering what Ivan the terrible could achieve if he'd been blessed with a brain to go with his speed.
Collins might just have what it takes to turn Sproule and his teammates into the players their talent suggests they should be.
Labels: Football Journalists, France, Hibernian, Hibs, Ivan Sproule, John Collins, Scotland, Scottish football media, SPL
Mixed Fortunes for Old Firm in Europe
A novel feeling, watching a European draw in December and seeing two Scottish clubs come out. Israel's Hapoel Tel Aviv should hold no fears for Rangers. True, another trip to Israel might not be everyone's choice but the Ibrox side should be looking to progress from what is a pretty favourable draw.
And no that's not an endorsement of the increasingly prevalent view that Rangers will be marching all the way to Hampden for the UEFA Cup final in May. That's not going to happen, although the thought of it is probably a welcome distraction for their fans. Hampden has shut up shop as far as fairytales are concerned. Just ask Sir Alex Ferguson.
Celtic have a far more daunting task. AC Milan, although not on fire at the moment, are never going to be easy opponents. And Celtic's away form in Europe would have made them underdogs whoever they met. I've heard more than one Celtic fan say that an 8 goal lead after the home tie should be just about enough to see them through the second leg. A draw or a one goal victory at Parkhead will be nowhere near enough at the San Siro.
For my money Celtic's best bet was Arsenal. Despite Thierry Henry being the world's greatest player, at least in the eyes of Thierry Henry, I think Celtic could have sneaked a result at home and then held on in the second leg.
But that's all hypothetical now. It's AC Milan and, I strongly suspect, the end of Celtic's Champion's League campaign.
Labels: AC Milan, Celtic, Champions League, Hapoel Tel Aviv, Old Firm, Rangers, Scottish teams in Europe, UEFA Cup
Shock: Big Games Not at Ibrox!
It's a shame that our continuing obsession with the Old Firm will overshadow two other games being played this weekend.
With the Ibrox clash holding all the appeal of being hit in the face with a wet fish, Edinburgh and Falkirk might be the places to go for thrills.
At Tynecastle this afternoon Hearts meet Aberdeen and third versus fourth looks more appealing than the battle of the top two.
Aberdeen are on a roll. They're by no means strolling through games but they are getting results and seem to be carrying a touch of luck. Jimmy Calderwood has taken his time at Pittodrie, tinkering here and there, but now seems to have found a team capable of achieving something.
Hearts need no introduction in this blog. All we need now is for Vladimir Romanov to marry Pedro Lopez for the everyday story of an extraordinary football club to replace The Archers.
That said Hearts enjoyed a great result last week, finally finding their goal scoring touch to bring an end to a nine game run without a victory. If the Paul Hartley story has not unsettled them too much they'll be hoping to continue that form against Aberdeen today.
Make no mistake – the Hearts players still believe they are a top three side. Having Aberdeen above them will be an insult to their pride.
Expect a cracker. A draw, but a cracker.
Today's other game of note is Falkirk against Hibs. Both teams suffered defeats last week but in very different ways.
Falkirk stuffed Aberdeen in the second half of the game at Pittodrie and should have had at least a draw. The best that can be said of Hibs' trip to Ibrox is that at least they didn't lose the second half.
So the two Johns will be looking for different reactions this afternoon. Hughes will ask for more of the same. Collins will ask Hibs to show that last week was an aberration
What we can be sure of is that both managers will ask their players to pass the ball and entertain. If Aberdeen and Hearts promises explosions, Falkirk and Hibs looks like being a treat for the purists.
And, if you want a prediction, I'll go for Falkirk to pull off a shock and get a result.
Labels: Aberdeen, Falkirk, Hearts, Hibs, Jimmy Calderwood, John Collins, John Hughes, Old Firm, SPL, Vladimir Romanov
No X-Factor at Ibrox
If, in our world of sporting cliché, there can ever be a meaningless Old Firm match surely this Sunday's encounter is a contender.
Whatever the result, Sunday is unlikely to tell us anything we don't already know.
Celtic will still be unreachable at the top of the league: a Rangers win won't change that. A victory for Paul Le Guen's men will merely be further evidence of Celtic's shortcomings. Gordon Strachan does not need to be beaten at Ibrox to know that his team is far from being the finished article.
If Celtic win it will simply be further proof that Rangers are a work in progress. Evidence, depending on your personal taste, of Le Guen's inability to manage a decent team or of the continuing toils of a good manager trying to settle in Scotland.
Celtic go into the game as favourites. Rangers have won two games in the past week but the Ibrox side seem only to turn corners in the hope of finding another dead end to run up.
The chances of the game being a spectacle – of football, of passion, of anything – are slim. This is a battle, despite their European progress, of two very average teams. So far this season Celtic have been slightly less average than Rangers. Don't expect that to change on Sunday.
Labels: Celtic, Gordon Strachan, Old Firm, Paul Le Guen, Rangers, SPL
Stokes Lesson to Want Away Youngsters
"I'm doing well for myself, I'm scoring goals and what more can I ask for?
"At the moment, I don't see why I would go back to Arsenal unless Arsene Wenger says that I am in the first team or first team squad then I am better playing regularly here.
"I'm in regular contact with Liam Brady and I think Falkirk are in talks with Arsenal about me but there is still four weeks left on my deal here so there is no rush but it would be good to get it all sorted. But it's up to Arsenal at the end of the day."
A refreshingly honest and sensible appraisal of his career from Falkirk's on loan striker Anthony Stokes.
Picking up his well deserved Young Player of the Month Award for November Stokes did mention that he might, one day, enjoy playing for Celtic.
No doubt the Celtic message boards will be in meltdown right now. But note Stokes was speaking about the future.
This was an interview with a young player just content to be paid for playing football. He hopes still to make it at Arsenal but he thinks he's giving Arsene Wenger more to think about by playing and scoring regularly with Falkirk.
It's an admirable, mature attitude that a lot of young Scottish players would do well to copy.
Let's hope Anthony Stokes sticks to his guns because it won't be long before another agent or another club come to try and turn his head.
Labels: Agents, Anthony Stokes, Arsenal, Arsene Wenger, Celtic, English Premier League, Falkirk, SPL
A Chick for Christmas
Christmas is nearly upon us. And the pantomime horse of Scottish football, Chick Young, is at it again.
In yet another column devoted to Rangers, the die hard St Mirren fan, waxes lyrical about Jock Wallace and the relative merits of Paul Le Guen.
The Murder Hills at Gullane beach are mentioned as Chick harks back to a simpler time when football was stuck in the dark ages.
Chick, never the brightest of boots in the kitbag and a man whose career defies any measure of quality, is entitled to his opinions.
But why does he mention Rangers signing Scott Brown in particular? I would guess that in January there will, at the most conservative estimate, be 50 players available for less money than Brown who could improve Rangers.
Indeed Chick himself would probably improve Rangers. At least he'd play for the jersey.
I'm sure Chick laughs at non-Old Firm fans when they speak of media conspiracies. Mostly I'd agree with him.
But Scott Brown is a Hibs player on a long term contract who has had a transfer request turned down.
So why does Chick mention him other than to stoke the flames of rumour and gossip that are licking at the doors of Easter Road? And in the week before Hibs play Rangers?
It's that kind of journalism that annoys people who get their football fix away from Ibrox or Parkhead.
Chick Young. The most popular Buddy in Govan.
Labels: BBC Scotland, Chick Young, Hibs, Ibrox, Rangers, Scott Brown, Scottish football history
Congratulations to the SPFA, Time for Others To Wake Up
Congratulations to the SPFA for coming out and making a stand against Vladimir Romanov.
Fraser Wishart, secretary of the Scottish Professional Footballers Association, said:
"The SPFA condemns in the strongest of terms what it regards as the wholly unjustified treatment of Heart of Midlothian FC towards our member, Steven Pressley.
"The SPFA and its parent body, the GMB union, have long been concerned about the unorthodox managerial and employment practices of the club and the effects this has had on the personal and professional welfare of our members at the club.
"Steven Pressley has had and will continue to enjoy the full support and backing of the SPFA.
"We, along with our legal team, will offer Steven every assistance to enable him to seek redress via internal football procedures or other means."
I've said before that Pressley is the only person to come out of this whole mess with any dignity and he deserves the full backing of everyone in the game.
I almost hope this does end in a Scottish courtroom and Romanov's running of the club, good or bad, is exposed once and for all.
George Burley and Phil Anderton also still have issues with Romanov that may only be resolved through some kind of legal process.
At the same time Romanov, and his represent on earth, Pedro Lopez, are trying to ensure that any staff leaving Gorgie sign confidentiality agreements that keep a lid on the Tynecastle drama.
The mysterious Mr Lopez now seems to be calling the shots as Director of Infrastructure. Does any other club in Britain have a Director of Infrastructure?
But the fact is that individual disputes, even those backed by trade unions, will not go far enough. The SFA, the SPL and UEFA need to act.
Hearts seem to be in the process of being ripped apart by the personal whims of a man that still has no official role at the club.
Many people will enjoy one side of Edinburgh being made a mockery of. But the whole of Scottish football is suffering whilst this pantomime is being played out.
For the good of the game Vladimir Romanov must be brought to heel by the football authorities.
Labels: Fraser Wishart, Hearts, Pedro Lopez, Steven Pressley, Tynecastle, Vladimir Romanov
SPL2 - The Sequel We Don't Want To See
The SPL2 is a misguided plan wrapped up in a monumental folly.
We don't need a second tier of the SPL. We do need a debate on the way all our leagues are structured but the SPL2 is a muddled compromise that will do little good for Scottish football.
We have too many clubs, in all divisions, playing for nothing. We play too many games in all our divisions. We don't have enough movement between the top league and the First Division. We have an SPL structure that includes a split after 33 games that is mind blowing in its stupidity.
So let's have a 16 team SPL. Teams play each other twice, home and away. The fixture list is drawn up on a simple home and away basis, so fans know that if they're away one week then they're at home the next.
Admit two more sides into the football league and have two divisions based on geography with 14 teams.
Relegate up three teams from the SPL every season. The bottom two to be replaced the two lower division champions. The third team to play in a round robin with the runners up from the two regional leagues.
And admit up to 3 teams from the junior ranks every year as well. The bottom of each regional league to be relegated and the two second bottom teams to be involved in a play off with the third ranked non-league side.
I know we might need to be slightly open with our geographical definitions and that clubs would play fewer games. The former is a pedantic argument, the latter can be solved with a beefed up League Cup.
Celtic and Rangers would still be favourites. But lower down things would heat up – if three teams are to be relegated then scraping the odd draw to pull away from the bottom side wouldn't work.
With fewer games the league would become more competitive - two or three losses in a row would become a massive problem. Teams would have to go and win games.
Obviously everyone has their own opinion on this. But what I think is clear is that the SPL2 is just an attempt to create a bigger buffer between the elite and the also rans.
The system I propose would allow romance back into our game. And it would circulate some much needed fresh air around our stagnated football world.
Labels: Scottish Football, Scottish Football League, Scottish football reconstruction, SPL, SPL2
Fall Guy Fletcher is Inspirational
"The brazen Scottish argument that teams who aren't good enough to qualify under the current system should be allowed in because, um, that would be nice, should be dismissed with the same blend of pity and scorn that would greet Darren Fletcher if he called for Fifa to make football a 20-a-side sport just so he could get into the Manchester United starting line-up. Because the result would be the same: messy mediocrity."
Excellent work on The Guardian's blog site from Paul Doyle on Thursday. In one pithy, 40-something word sentence the master of brevity calls the Scottish football team rubbish and picks on the United fall guy.
On Saturday evening Fletcher scored the winner in a game that took his side six points clear in the Premiership.
He may not have the talent of Wayne Rooney or the flashiness of Cristiano Ronaldo but he has a work ethic and passion that makes him a valuable squad member at United.
Why the United fans choose to pick on him eludes me. I might be wrong but the criticism seems to get worse when Fergie's going through a bad patch.
Perhaps, unwilling to stick the boot in their boss, the supporters use Fletcher, another Scot, as a conduit for their abuse.
We should support Fletcher. He's fighting a lone battle in the upper echelons of a league that once pulsed with a Scottish heartbeat.
Let's use him as an inspiration for other young players to prove that they can make it at the very top down south. We might want to keep our talent in Scotland but we are a small pond.
The more players we have playing for top European sides the easier Walter Smith's job becomes.
Labels: Darren Fletcher, English Premier League, Manchester United, Scotland, Sir Alex Ferguson, The Guardian
SFA Chase Rich Rewards For Mediocrity
The SFA wants to increase the European Championship to a 24 team tournament.
Lennart Johannson, aiming for reelection as UEFA supreme is in favour. Mainly because it will mean more teams can qualify and so should win him votes from the smaller nations.
It's tempting. I grew up expecting Scotland to qualify for tournaments. Expectation has been replaced by a kind of forlorn hope.
But the European Championship should be about excellence. I know we're all supposed to be inclusive these days but an event for the elite shouldn't be expanded to include the also-rans.
Scotland will qualify when they are capable of doing so. That's how it should be. With the team improving qualification shouldn't be far away. The SFA should have confidence in the team and Walter Smith.
Instead, they're trying to erect a back door that will see their coffers boosted by qualification.
They should remember that Scotland being awarded for mediocrity will do little to boost the future of the game in this country.
Labels: European Championships, Scotland, SFA, UEFA
The Week in Scottish Football
The runners and riders in Scottish football over the last seven days:
Well Done You!
Until this afternoon Kilmarnock were going to get this for performance of the week. But Falkirk made a late charge and came through on the inside after putting Rangers to the sword.
A special mention to Scott Brown. After building up a reputation as the player other teams love to hate he's achieved a double whammy by becoming the player the Hibs fans love to hate. A transfer request months after signing a new contract is not endearing. A transfer request minutes after an abject performance is insulting.
Stephen Kenny went back over the water to win the FAI Cup with Derry City. Congratulations but after a 6-1 loss yesterday Dunfermline fans will be asking where the manager's thoughts have been this week.
Paul Le Guen. Turning the corner on Saturday. Hits a dead end on Sunday. Much work still to do.
Villain of the Week
Management at Hearts. Some optimism had returned. Then Steven Pressley was dumped again and the gloom descended once more.
Willie McKay or Rod Petrie. Petrie must wonder how keeping his mouth shut has meant becoming involved in a war of words. McKay says Petrie is in the wrong. Thomson and Brown act like children. Somewhere along the line football becomes the loser.
Labels: Dunfermline, Falkirk, Hibs, John Collins, Kevin Thomson, kilmarnock, Pressley, Rod Petrie, Scott Brown, Transfer Gossip, Tynecastle, Willie McKay
A Bitter Taste for Hibs Fans
Kevin Thomson and Scott Brown.
It's getting a bit boring, this saga they've engineered.
They're young men and they feel they should get paid what they're entitled too. Fair enough.
They've drafted in Willie McKay as their agent, no doubt impressed by tales of his life in Monaco and his incredible story of how he made Jean Alain Boumsong a millionaire.
But the players were happy enough with the contract extensions they signed only recently. And that should put Hibs in a position of strength.
Except player power is becoming an unstoppable force and it looks unlikely that this will end happily for Hibs fans.
McKay has already stated that Hibs have proved they are "selling club." Aside from the fact that all clubs, except maybe Chelsea, are now selling clubs, McKay seems to have been going out of his way to antagonise Hibs.
He may be doing right for his clients but the media campaign that the Glasgow tabloids have allowed him to orchestrate has done the public profile of agents few favours.
Brown and Thomson would have been better shutting up and living up to their potential at Hibs this season. The summer would have been a far better time for these discussions.
Instead they've made themselves look like mercenaries dabbling in the ugly side of football.
It seems like being a footballer no longer suffices. Players now want to be painted in the media as spoilt and manipulative as well.
If Thomson and Brown do go they will leave Hibs, like so many others, with nothing but ill will. Many Hibs fans will actually want to see these two favoured sons fail.
They'll have nobody to blame but themselves.
Labels: Hibernian, Hibs, Kevin Thomson, Scott Brown, Willie McKay
Larsson to Light Up Premiership?
Something of shock move for Sir Alex Ferguson today as he signs up Henrik Larsson on loan.
It will, of course, leave some Celtic fans scratching their heads about why the golden boy wasn't persuaded to stay at Parkhead. And why the Scottish league leaders couldn't have made more serious attempts to get him back in the summer.
For United fans it might be greeted with no little bemusement. But an experienced striker who can offer an alternative to Saha might help freshen things up for the title run in after Christmas.
His stay will be brief but, in his three months at Old Trafford, Larsson just might prove to be a far more valuable acquisition than Schevchenko at Chelsea.
Labels: Celtic, Chelsea, English Premier League, Henrik Larsson, Manchester United, Shevchenko, Sir Alex Ferguson
McCarthy on Road to Big Time?
Spare a thought for 16-year-old Hamilton Accies midfielder Jamie McCarthy.
Being linked with Manchester United must be nice, but it surely brings with it a whole different kind of pressure.
Let's hope things work out for him. Other teams are in the chase but United would appear to offer him the best chance of development. Sure Rangers, Celtic, Aston Villa and Bolton are big clubs.
United, though, are on a different planet. A move to Old Trafford offers a genuine chance at becoming world class.
As Liam Miller would testify it doesn't always work out but when it does the rewards are incredible.
And two Scotsmen should offer McCarthy hope. Brian McClair and Darren Fletcher have passed Sir Alex Ferguson's all important loyalty and reliability tests.
He, in return, has stood by them. He seems to like at least one Scot in his dressing room.
McCarthy might well be a name to watch!
Labels: Jamie McCarthy, Manchester United, Old Trafford, Sir Alex Ferguson, Transfer Gossip
No Return for Casuals
Well done to Lothian and Borders Police for arresting the Hibs and Hearts casuals involved in disturbances in Edinburgh last month.
The eight arrests, made after dawn raids on addresses in the Edinburgh area, are said to be just the beginning of police action after the incident.
Good stuff. Let's hope those found guilty are properly punished and barred from football.
And barred for life. Earlier this month Izak Cowie, a 38 year old nutter and a member of Airdrie's infamous Section B casuals, was banned from every football ground in the UK until 2009.
Leaving court he spoke some rubbish about returning to the game to see Airdrie in the SPL in three years.
He should never get into any football ground again.
The problem of casuals has never really gone away. But for a few years it was underground and, to an extent, out of mind.
If recent events in Edinburgh show that it is returning to the fore then the football authorities should begin to crack down hard. Lifetime bans are a start. Any clubs that aren't seen to be dealing with the problem should face harsh penalties.
There is no room in the game for this brand of violent head case.
Reports in Edinburgh suggest that some of the people who were involved were forty something men who were returning to the battlegrounds of their youth.
Ask yourself what forty year old that would willingly go out and have fight after a football match? And if he chooses to do it he should be locked up.
Football has moved on. Not all the changes have been for the better. But the casual problem has no place in the modern game and no place in modern society.
Labels: Airdrie, football casuals, Hearts, Hibs, Police, scottish football violence
Back from the USSR
So he's back.
Chapter 752 in the Tynecastle saga as Valdas Ivanauskas returns to the club and promises to focus on getting three points on Saturday – although at least the hapless Mr Malofeev and his translator managed to avoid dropping into the British manager's cliché handbook.
Still that Valdas is prepared to risk his health to work for Vlad the Impaler and has started making the right noises about Steven Pressley should come as a relief to Hearts fans.
But the questions remain.
On the park the team needs a victory. Teams they swept past last season are holding them to draws or worse.
Can Valdas reignite the passion in a team that looks disjointed and flat?
Will he be allowed to do it his way or will Romanov continue to have his say? And how many Hearts fans believed Romanov when he said that he doesn't influence team selection?
Will UEFA and the SFA step up investigations into the way Mr Romanov does business?
Will the January sales at Tynecastle make Princes Street look like a ghost town?
Recent events off the park are a step forward. Ivanauskas is a sign of stability. The truce between supporters and owner will settle the team.
But this story is certainly not over. And the unanswered questions might yet point to more gloomy days ahead.
Labels: Hearts, Hearts manager, Valdas Ivanauskas, Vladimir Romanov
A Lesson in Lennonism
Has Kevin Thomson realised that the nonsense he helped create around Hibs last week was over the top?
After the ridicule he found heaped on him following his farcical Daily Record 'column' last Tuesday, today he was in a more conciliatory mood.
No mention of his mummy and his yearning to free her from the chains of wage slavery.
Rather positive talk about winning silverware and fighting for second place. Even some well placed displays of his Hibee credentials – and his distaste for Hearts.
If this really is a sudden change of heart the reason behind it might well be hidden later in the column. Thomson's half hearted protest about his disappointment with Neil Lennon for trying to get Scott Brown sent off can't conceal the nagging admiration he must feel for the Celtic captain.
Lennon is much maligned by fans up and down the country. Often the criticism is fair. And as Hibs battered Celtic for much of the match Lennon must have wondered why he still puts his body through 90 minutes week after week.
More than once Guillame Beuzelin made Lennon look as lumbering and dimwitted as a carthorse approaching the knacker's yard.
But from somewhere Lennon found the strength to orchestrate the comeback. Referee Mike McCurry will not be proud of the way he allowed the Irishman to dominate him in the second half.
Thomson thought Lennon looked "beaten" when Hibs went two up. Lennon doesn't know the meaning of word. With Beuzelin and Ivan Sproule tiring Hibs needed the pace and work rate of that other, allegedly, want-away Hibee Scott Brown.
Lennon sucked Brown into a personal dual – which they were both lucky didn't result in red cards – and the young midfielder was duly posted missing.
Thomson too, trying to play the captain's role for which he is not yet ready, spent too much energy trying to placate Brown. Lennon and Evander Sno duly took over the midfield.
He didn't score but it was Lennon that hauled Celtic back into this match. If he wonders why he often doesn't get credit for contributions like that he need look no further than the way he taunted Brown after Celtic's equaliser.
Neil Lennon is not a man many people could claim to like as a footballer. Much of his game is psychological. It's ugly. But he gets away with it and it gets his team results.
Physically and mentally he has a strength that Kevin Thomson and Scott Brown lack. They're more likely to discover that strength learning in the heat of the SPL with a wonderfully talented Hibs side than toiling with their old mates Derek Riordan and Ian Murray in the reserves at Parkhead or Ibrox.
Maybe Kevin Thomson has realised that in time to pull back from the brink.
Labels: Celtic, Hibernian, Hibs, Kevin Thomson, Neil Lennon, Scott Brown, SPL
Learning from Rugby
The news that UEFA are considering rugby's rule of only allowing team captains to talk to referees during matches should be welcomed.
The petulance and arrogance of players in surrounding officials and berating decisions is becoming a blight on the game.
Of course football is a passionate game and, with adrenalin flowing and win bonuses at stake, players will lose their heads. That's unavoidable.
But if you were walking down the street and six or seven young guys started shouting and swearing at you, would you not think it was unacceptable behaviour? Footballers can't be exempt from the normal boundaries of society.
In fact rugby should be the inspiration for some other rule changes in as well.
How about UEFA making the 10 metre rule that they have already experimented with permanent?
Managers would quickly stamp down on dissent if it was costing territorial advantage and leading to dangerous set pieces.
How many times have you seen the opposition team take turns to kick your star player?
Why doesn't football follow rugby's example and allow the referee to tell captains that the next player on their side to commit a foul will be booked? Even if it's his first offence.
The sin bin also offers possibilities for football. How many games have been ruined by senseless red cards when the player in question would probably have benefited from simply cooling off on the sidelines for ten minutes?
The arrogance that pervades the football authorities is absolutely mind blowing at times. But they have to realise that the game can be improved for the fans if they take on board lessons from other sports.
Labels: Rugby, Scottish Football, Scottish referees, UEFA
A New Era For Scottish Football?
Finally it's happened. After 35 years of huffing and puffing Celtic and Rangers will both be in Europe after Christmas.
Obviously anyone who takes an interest in Scottish football but doesn't follow Rangers or Celtic might feel that it is an achievement that means very little.
And they would be right. Kind of.
That two clubs of their size and stature should have failed to get beyond Christmas simultaneously since the 1971-72 season is embarrassing.
The lack of competition domestically is most commonly cited as the reason for their failings.
But the Dutch league – not universally famous for fierce competitiveness – has produced four European Cup winners as well as UEFA Cup and Cup Winners' Cup champions in those 35 years.
The bleating about a poor domestic league shouldn't hide the failures of the Old Firm, as big, big clubs, to cut it in Europe.
Having said that, their progress this season should be applauded. Successful European runs by any Scottish club bring the game benefits – not just in UEFA ranking points but also by making other people take an interest in our game.
And, funnily enough, any outsiders might be quite surprised by how competitive our top league actually is at the moment.
The monotony of Celtic's recent run and massive cushion at the top apart, every other club looks capable of taking points off everyone else.
And Hibs, Hearts and Aberdeen will all fancy their chances of nicking second spot and consigning Rangers to third (or worse) for the second year in a row.
Added to Scotland's continued improvement this should all mean that our fortunes are beginning to look up.
Let's hope so!
Labels: Celtic, Champions League, Rangers, Scottish teams in Europe, UEFA Cup
Paul's Perplexing Problem
Nobody will have enjoyed Kris Boyd's equalising goal against Auxerre last night more than Paul Le Guen.
But his pleasure will probably have been more diluted than that which Gordon Strachan felt on Tuesday.
True, Le Guen will be satisfied that his return to France didn't end in defeat and that the point they gained has extended his club's involvement in Europe until after Christmas.
But he will remain baffled by the same perplexing problem that bothered Alex McLeish last season.
How does a team that can exceed expectations in Europe fail to replicate that domestically?
Le Guen needs to find his answers quickly. His last two victories on home soil – against a managerless Dunfermline and a rudderless Hearts – have brought little comfort.
Far from cementing Rangers' hold on second place they seem to have almost reignited the battle for the runners-up spot.
Hibs and Aberdeen have matched Rangers win for win. Hearts remain alive and must surely start kicking again at some stage.
If any of those three can mount a sustained challenge Le Guen's team look ill equipped to match them.
He may spend in January – but he knows that will be a tacit admission of failure, prove that the players he brought in during the summer have not delivered for him.
Looking at some of his match winners and success stories this season will offer him little comfort: Adams, Novo, Boyd, Burke, McGreggor.
All names that were in the Ibrox programme before Le Guen crossed the channel.
So where does he go from here? The SPL is, barring a miracle, beyond him. But the fans will demand that there is no meek surrender when Rangers meet Celtic in December.
A performance that day that proves his team have the stomach for a fight will help him.
His next challenge will be the January transfer window. Buying – and buying big – might be a mistake.
Even if results improve in the short term Le Guen will be at the mercy of the next dip in fortunes. He will have proved that he lacks the confidence to back his own judgement. In turn the board's confidence in him will never be the same.
So don't be surprised if Le Guen sticks with what he's got. Another couple of wins in Europe would dangle the carrot of a UEFA Cup Final at Hampden in front of the supporters.
Consolidating in the league – and clinching second – will give him a launch pad to attack Celtic next season.
And he will have a much clearer idea of where he needs to strengthen and who he needs to get rid of – allowing him to get his chequebook out in the summer.
Rangers got a completely new type of manager when they snared Paul Le Guen. Don't be surprised if he thinks that splashing the cash in January would do little to solve his problems.
Labels: Paul Le Guen, Rangers, SPL
Why England Will Always Say No
Let's not turn Celtic's victory on Tuesday into yet another debate about the Old Firm going down south.
We've had the arguments so many times it's tiresome. Yes, on their day they can live with anyone. Yes, they've got a huge support.
But these factors have been constant for close to a decade. And still nothing's happened. The truth is that however much Peter Lawwell and David Murray want it to happen it never will.
And it's their own fault. Why would English football, with the image problem that hooliganism has caused it over the years, willingly invite Celtic and Rangers to join.
As long as their fans continue to spew vitriol out of the stands at every opportunity the Old Firm will be pariahs south of the border.
The irony is, of course, that officials at both clubs have repeatedly stuck their heads in the sand over the sectarian issue.
So for the foreseeable future Murray and Lawwell will be stuck in no-man's land of their own making: staring wistfully at the cash cow of the Premiership but covering their ears to the reasons for their exclusion.
Labels: Celtic, English football, English Premier League, Old Firm, Peter Lawwell, Rangers
The Tynecastle Stadium Mystery
Have you heard the one about the team that lost three managers and had an invisible owner?
No. Neither had I, but it's unlikely to raise much of a titter in Gorgie at the moment.
Let's recap.
Captain Steven Pressley has been dropped for speaking out against the Romanov revolution.
But Romanov, the most visible of all the SPL owners, has turned pretty much invisible.
Valdas Ivanauskas is still officially head coach but is recovering from a stress related condition in Lithuania. But he's got to come back now to go to court for speeding.
Eduard Malofeev is acting head coach. But, at the age of 64, he was supposed to leave on Monday to start his UEFA coaching courses.
John McGlynn, who has been caretaker so many times that Harold Pinter is working on his biography, left this week for Raith Rovers.
Eugenijus Riabovas was supposed to take over on Monday. But now he's back in Lithuania until next month.
But will he return before Mr Malofeev begins his two match touchline ban?
And, if not, will Hearts play those two games with only a translator in the dug-out?
Are you still with me? Thought not. There are, it seems, no answers at Tynecastle these days.
Labels: Hearts, Hearts manager, Vladimir Romanov
Torquay to Shun Divers
Congratulations to Torquay United's chairman Chris Roberts for having the guts to threaten to sack any players at the club caught diving or feigning injury.
The club will give offenders three chances before either sacking the players or placing them on the transfer list.
I can't see it catching on in Scotland – or anywhere else – but if more club chairman start bringing in initiatives like this then the authorities may well begin looking at harsher punishments for players.
Roberts himself is waiting for other clubs to join his initiative.
I do have a doubt about this scheme though. Torquay are in the lower reaches of Football League Two at the moment.
If their survival was at stake on the last day of the season and their centre forward took a tumble to earn a last minute penalty to keep them in the league would Mr Roberts punish him?
Labels: English Football League, Torquay United
All White on the Night
Wanted. Male or Female. Capable of asking John Collins intelligent questions and being reasonably polite to Gerry McNee. Must be able to follow a game of football despite the mindless interjections of Archie McPherson.
Is the media world in Scotland not large enough to fill that job description? Surely someone is out there?
The reason I ask is that yet again Telegraph journalist Jim White hosted STV's Champion's League coverage last night.
This isn't a racist quibble, I prefer him to Jim Delahunt who still looks at the autocue as if it's his enemy. I just think that if we have to put up with Archie's inane ramblings then we really should go the whole way and have a Scottish presenter.
Not an Englishman who has made a reasonable living in the past by trading on his status as a professional Manchester United fan.
It would also have been wise to have someone on hand to work out that Celtic had actually qualified for the last 16. A fact that nobody (Jim, John, Gerry, Archie or Andy Walker)picked up on.
Could STV not take a risk and train up someone from another field? Or even use Scotsport's Grant Stott?
Or could it be that the ever amateurish STV actually believed they were rehiring the other Jim White, formerly of Scotsport and the Brian Laudrup Fan Club? Just a thought.
Jim White's Manchester United Book
Labels: Jim White, John Collins, Scotsport, Scottish football on TV
Kenny and Dunfermline Step into the Unknown
When Dunfermline take on form side Aberdeen on Saturday new boss Stephen Kenny will take the reigns for the first time.
It says much for the way that the travails of Rangers and Hearts have dictated the media agenda that Kenny's appointment has been, to say the least, overshadowed.
Jim Jefferies has already complained this season that 'other teams' – like Jefferies' Kilmarnock and Kenny's Pars – are overlooked by the football press.
But slipping under the radar is maybe just what Kenny and his new employers would want.
A team propping up the SPL, with huge injury problems, that failed to respond to Jim Leishman's motivational skills does not suggest a happy East End Park.
Yet the board have gone for a manager that has no experience of the SPL. His track record is said to have impressed. Yet that track record has come in Ireland – not, with all respect, a top European league.
Finances are tight at Dunfermline. And it is doubtful if Kenny's availability and low profile didn't make him attractive for the bean counters as well as the football men on the board.
And yet, just maybe, Dunfermline have pulled off a masterstroke. The board will be hoping that by plucking Kenny from obscurity they can trigger something similar to Tony Mowbray's revolution at Hibs.
Some of the signs are good. The bottom of the league is incredibly tight and Dunfermline – when they come through the other end of this injury crisis – have a larger and more experienced squad than, say, Motherwell or St Mirren.
It will take a few games to really get an idea about what kind of manager Kenny will be. That Dunfermline have turned their backs on the Duffy,Williamson Largs mafia-type choice means that both he and his side deserve some good luck in the meantime.
Labels: Dunfermline, SPL, Stephen Kenny
Strachan Casts Off O'Neill's Shadow
It will be remarkable if Gordon Strachan resists the temptation to say 'I told you so' after his Celtic side stole a most unlikely victory over Manchester United last night.
Over a year ago it seemed as if the Parkhead faithful would never accept Strachan, the wee east coast scrapper with the big mouth, as a replacement for the sainted Martin O'Neill.
Of course that was after Strachan had presided over a calamitous five goal mauling by Artmedia Bratislava.
Strachan did then as we might have expected. He faced the world as he always has and got on with the job in hand. The result was Celtic coasting to the SPL title last season and Strachan buying himself both some affection from the fans and a crack at the Champion's League proper.
Last night – despite all United's possession and the vast superiority of their players – Gordon Strachan was able to claim his reward.
The shadow of Martin O'Neill may hang around the east end of Glasgow for a while longer yet but Strachan has surpassed him by taking Celtic to the knockout stages for the first time.
That he did so against all the odds, and by somehow outwitting his one time mentor and long time enemy Sir Alex Ferguson, will make his achievement seem all the sweeter.
United may well fancy themselves as being unlucky. But the fact remains that Celtic took their chance and United, for all the breathtaking slickness of their passing and movement, couldn't score. Better teams than Celtic will dish out an even harsher punishment if the Reds can squeeze past Benfica.
Celtic can now enjoy the final game of the group stage. They won't win the Champion's League and last night's results, despite the bragging rights it brings, does not make them a top European club.
But it does make them a richer European club and UEFA's cash windfall will send a shiver down the spine of everyone playing SPL catch-up at Ibrox.
And it might just make Strachan feel at home in Glasgow.
Labels: Celtic, Champions League, Gordon Strachan, Manchester United
Time for Hibs Board to Stand Up and Be Counted
A new manager. A league cup win over you city rivals. Two SPL wins on the bounce. What could possibly go wrong for Hibs?
Well, the transfer window can open in January and that same old combination of an agent engineering a handsome fee for himself and a board petrified of any financial risk can rip the heart from your side.
So your new manager will be incandescent that the assurances he was given on taking the job are worthless.
And despite your favourites tag your new lightweight midfield will be overrun by a well organised team sent out by either your old hero Yogi Hughes or your old nemesis Jim Jefferies in the League Cup final.
Admittedly that's the worst case scenario but the Hibs board might need to find the stomach for a fight on this one and find a big enough stick to beat the predators circling Kevin Thomson and Scott Brown away.
John Collins, new in management but already a breath of fresh air, would be right to feel massively aggrieved by any sales in January unless they are directly sanctioned by him.
Rangers are continuing to toil and an extended run in Europe won't help their SPL struggles. Hearts are in a maelstrom of destruction at the hands of Vladimir Romanov.
Which means Collins may well be in charge of a side that can make a real run for second place and the silverware that Leith craves so badly.
He needs his best players to do that. So it's time for Rod Petrie to do what he has so frequently asked the fans to do. Stand up and be counted.
Petrie asked for increased attendances to ensure financial stability. The fans have delivered. Garry O'Connor was sacrificed to Russia for the good of the balance sheet but the fans forgave the board.
Now that faith needs to be repayed. Every one of the players that destroyed Motherwell on Saturday needs to stay at Easter Road until the end of the season at least.
Hibs might still win nothing and finish sixth. But at least Collins will have been given every chance to achieve something special with his young side.
Labels: Hibernian, Hibs, John Collins, Rod Petrie, Scott Brown
Hearts: End of the Affair as Fans Wake Up to Vlad?
On Friday Rangers and Hearts sat second and third in the SPL table. By Sunday evening Rangers had moved back into second and Hearts had fallen to fifth.
But has a game between two sides occupying such lofty status in the top division ever been overshadowed to the extent this one was?
Sure Rangers haven't exactly been resting on a bed of roses this season but Paul Le Guen must at least be grateful that it's David Murray that wields the axe at Ibrox and not Vladimir Romanov.
Last season as the Jambo's won the cup and split the Old Firm in the league the Tynecastle faithful were on top of the world. The west coast media, they claimed, had done everything they could to pour cold water on the Romanov revolution. Now with the silverware locked up in the trophy room and the Champion's League just around the corner Mad Vlad was exonerated.
Sure there were concerns over the number of loan deals, over the revolving doors to the manager's office and Romanov's constant tinkering. But so what? Why not just get on with it and see if Hearts could actually break the Glasgow duopoly on the title this year?
And what's more the spine of the team, Gordon, Pressley and Hartley, were there to ensure continuity and Scottish passion. It was these three who would let the newcomers know what it meant to be Hearts players, would ensure the traditions of the club would be upheld.
And now? Hearts are to all intents and purposes managerless. The only remaining Scottish coach, John McGlynn, no doubt sprinted across the Forth Road Bridge as he escaped to Raith Rovers. And what of the big Scottish three?
Pressley has been dropped for the last two games for having the temerity to speak out at the Romanov grand plan. Hartley and Gordon, who sat next to their captain as he finally broke the united front on the Lithuanian takeover, are being tolerated in the side but look set to join Elvis on the transfer list in January.
So the fans have woken up. Dropping Pressley, the talisman, who has acted with nothing but dignity through the whole sorry saga, was the final straw for many of them.
The protests after the Rangers game only amounted to a couple of hundred disgruntled supporters. But at football clubs these thing snowball and there was many more than that booing the ineffectual Lithuanians who filled the team on Sunday.
That was nothing more than racism according to Sports Director Alex Koslovski, neatly sidestepping the reality of the growing unrest towards the regime he represents by accusing his own fans of bigotry.
It was nothing of the sort – it was a protest at inferior players. No doubt Vlad and Alex had a good laugh at their cleverness in attacking their own fans. Perhaps the SFA and UEFA would like to challenge that by slapping a fine on Hearts for racism, with their own Sporting Director as the chief prosecution witness and all right minded football people on the side of the defence.
The truth is Hearts are in turmoil. Expect Romanov to make some principled declaration about wanting only good men, honest and true, in the dressing room when he sells Pressley, Hartley and Gordon (probably along with Robbie Nielsen).
The truth is all three are a drain on resources and Hartley and Gordon can still command large transfer fees.
By speaking out, by acting with integrity, Pressely gave Romanov the chance to act. He'll exercise his power by bringing in much needed revenue to offset his eccentric handling of the club's finances.
Like George Burley and Graham Rix. Pressley and co have become pawns in the game that Vlad is playing. So from January young Scots will take to the field with a ragbag of Lithuanian loan signings. For the good of the club Romanov will say. Perhaps, but also the cheaper option.
Maybe Mr Romanov knows where this is going, maybe he doesn't. Certainly nobody else at the moment is willing to predict a happy ending for Hearts, indeed, many are predicting the death of the club.
Only time will tell. In the meantime it is the fans who are suffering most at the hands of Mad, Bad Vlad. By treating an honourable man like Pressley the way he has, the submariner had torpedoed the hopes of the faithful.
Labels: Hearts, Steven Pressley, Tynecastle, Vladimir Romanov
Welcome to the new Scottish Football Blog. Your first stop for rumours, gossip and news on the strange and frustrating world of Scottish football.
From Le Guen's labourings to the Romanov revolution, from the Easter Road January sales to Celtic's romp to the title you'll find it all here.
Stay posted.
Labels: scottish football blog
Congratulations to the SPFA, Time for Others To Wa...


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Q: PHPStorm : List all undefined and unused variables I would like to list all undefined and unused variables in all the files in the project. Is this possible in PHPStorm ?
I am using PHPStorm-7.1 on Mac-Mavericks-ver-10.9.4
Thanks.

A: Go to the top menu and select "Code". In there select "Inspect Code". You will be able to select a scope and then PhpStorm will issue a report of what you want (as well as other things).


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Q: Object-Detection-using-Fast-R-CNN python and brain_script model different? For the toy example A2 part of the Beta 12 Release, it is said that there are two option for training:

*

*A2_RunCntk_py3.py (python API)

*A2_RunCntk.py (brain_script)

Are the models trained from these two methods the same? Or in other words, can I load the model from brain_script into python API and then detect other testing images?
Also see Object Detection using Fast R CNN.

A: Yes it is possible to use Python to load a model you trained with Brainscript. A few gotchas in doing this correctly are described here. We are working on making things work seamlessly without too much Python code for massaging the data.