Harper McLeod eat your heart out

I was shocked to learn that Harper McLeod were so cravenly entangled with Celtic that they can show no objectivity in investigating Rangers.  I was even more shocked to learn of the ways Rangers are linked to Celtic which surely means that they can't defend themselves

It's almost like you could make tenuous links between anyone in Scottish public life

if you use flickr and have perl this will check if files have all been uploaded to the set

#!/usr/bin/perl

$URL=shift @ARGV;
$dir=shift @ARGV;
$PIC_DIR="C:/Users/patrick/Pictures";
use LWP::Simple;
$countthispage=1;
$page=0;
while($countthispage>0){
  $page++;
  &Parse($URL."?page=$page");
}


$dir = $PIC_DIR."/".$dir;

opendir DIR, $dir or die "can't open $dir";
@files=readdir DIR or die "can't read $dir";
foreach $file (@files){
  if ($file=~/(aIMG_\d+)/){
    $disk{$1}=1;
  }
}

foreach $d (sort keys %disk){
  ++$c2;
  unless (exists $web{$d}){
  print "$c2 ";
  print "$d is missing from flickr";
  print "\n";
  }
}


sub Parse{
  my $URL=shift;
  $countthispage=0;
  print "parsing $URL\n";
  $content=get($URL);
  while ($content=~/(.*?)\"(aIMG_\d+)\"(.*)/sm){
    $web{$2}=1;
    $content=$3;
    $count++;
    $countthispage++;
  }
}

Here's a suggestion for a website that I might create when i have the time, but feel free to create in the meantime and make it prettier than i would.

it allows people to vote on the worst quotes of scottish football


PROPOSING

user: proposes a quote by a public figure about Scottish football which they consider to be wrong or misleading.  They provide the following [example, and possibly wrong] info:

quote: "Craig Whyte has wealth off the radar"
from: Keith Jackson
optional support argument: "turned out he had none"
supporting evidence: (or to a tweet from an official source or a recording of the radio or a youtube clip)
optional date of quote: "1/12/11"

administrator: activates that proposal unless it doesn't meet the criteria:

it must be relevant
it must be proved to have been said
it must not be a duplicate
it must be from a public figure

VOTING

user: presented with two random quotes, picks which one was the most preposterous. 

example: KEITH JACKSON "Craig Whyte has wealth off the radar" vs CHICK YOUNG "there is no mechanism for a new Rangers to join the SFL"

the chosen quote gains points, the beaten ones loses points.  the algorithm for this should allow more recent quotes to catch up with old ones quickly if it wins a lot.  top of the league is the quote that has been found to be most preposterous

RESULTS
user: views a table showing the ranking of the various quotes based on the voting that has taken place

user: optionally views a table with a ranking for individuals based on their quotes

administrator:  occasionally retires unpopular quotes.

SPIN-OFF
a favourite iconic quote flavour of the site where things like "The Big Hoose Must Stay Open" meets "This is not the end it's just the beginning" etc

Bringing Democracy To The SPL

There has been a lot of talk about democracy in the SPL recently, with the "Rebel 10" claiming to be "Arab Spring" of democracy. Looking at two different forms of democracy will show that to be a slightly perverse way of looking at it.

Rhode Island and California have 2 seats each in the US Senate. Rhode Island has 2 seats in the other house, the House of Representatives, whereas California has 53. The reason for this difference is that the two houses have different forms of democracy. The Senate uses federal democracy, and each state gets two seats regardless of size. The House of Representatives uses representational democracy, like the House of Commons, where the number of seats is linked to the number of people. Representational democracy, is closer to pure democracy, and is more democratic than federal democracy.

The SPL gives a vote to each club. This not linked to how many fans that club "represents" (it might be questionable whether clubs do represent their fans, but there should at least be an acknowledgement that they should). The SPL is therefore federal. Gretna got as many votes as Rangers.

In order to offset this a bit, the 11-1 voting systems allows any two clubs to veto a measure. This might be Rangers and Celtic, but it could be St Mirren and Dunfermline. This is really a nod to the fact that Rangers and Celtic have the most power because they have the most fans, but it's a cludge because no-one wants to recognise that power is vested in clubs by the people, when it comes to football.

A truly democratic system would give a vote per fan, rather than a vote per club. There are practical limitations to how that can be done, but here is an outline of how it could be introduced.

1. Block voting

Each club gets a number of votes based on its average home gate for the previous season. This is a practical way of working out the size of the club without fans having to register. It also gives clubs an insentive to attract more fans to the stadium. at the moment no club is filling their stadium every week so that won't limit their voting rights.

2. A basic majority wins

There would be no need for the 11-1 rule if voting was proportionate to fan base, so that rule can go.

3. Universal Suffrage

Every club registered with the SFA should get to vote on everything. Ross County will be in the SPL next season but have no say in how it will be structured till they get there. Equally, Dundee have a lot of fans but no say in league reconstruction. That is undemocratic. If Rangers end up in the SFL, they will still have a lot of fans, and should still have a say in how leagues are governed.

These measures would make Scottish Football more like the House of Representatives, and therefore more democratic, and would acknowledge that all clubs are not created equal. Power comes from the people who support those clubs (who are created equal).

In the US system, legislation has to be passed by both the House and the Senate (and President - I propose Victor Wanyama) before it can become law. A similar model where rules have to be backed by a majority of fans and a majority of clubs, could be considered, but might just lead to nothing ever being passed.

unusual business opportunities

andy goram http://www.thefreelibrary.com/BOOZER+GORAM+HAS+TO+SCRAPE+BY+ON+pounds+1000+A+WEEK%3B+Court+claim+puts...-a061251268
graeme souness http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/spl/aberdeen/payout-for-worker-sacked-because-she-was-pregnant-tribunal-awards-pounds-9539-against-home-1.66856
amo: http://www.thefreelibrary.com/pounds+1.3m+AMO+GETS+TO+PAY+FINE+AT+A+WEEK%3B+Court+stunned+by+JP%27s...-a079847071

Feel The Fear And Do It Anyway

Recently, a number of people of have been arguing that an SPL without a Rangers "newco" would benefit Celtic and the other teams. I don't think that's true, but that it should happen regardless

I think that while life might be more interesting for a resurgent New Firm (and the third division would have a field day), in general, without Rangers the SPL would be less interesting, especially for those in other countries. A less interesting league would mean less TV money, smaller crowds, and especially less chance of attracting decent foreign players. I can foresee teamsheets akin to those in the early 80s with the exception that the McStays, Millers and McLeishes would move to England at the earliest opportunity. While Scottish teams would get more participation in Europe at Rangers' expense, it's doubtful if they could compete at the same level as they do now.

I'm certain that Celtic could survive and if the other teams downsized there's no reason why they couldn't as well, but Scottish football could become a backwater.

However, when it comes to deciding what should happen to a phoenix Rangers, none of this matters. How it affects any club or any group of clubs should have no bearing on how to dispense justice. Justice is blind, and the rules should be applied equally, ignorant of who is subject to them. The decision to re-admit to Rangers directly to the SPL would be saying "Rangers can never be allowed to leave the SPL". By implication, Rangers could never be relegated because it wouldn't be "good for Scottish football". I'm a football fan more than a Celtic fan. If Celtic start a basketball team, I won't watch it, but I'll happily watch Forfar playing football. The point at which Rangers (and by extension, Celtic!) are subject to different rules from Aberdeen, is the point Scottish football is no longer a sport. It would have no integrity or principle and would be little better than WWE

The implications of competing in an SPL with a new Rangers are unthinkable. Before it could start there would surely be legal challenges from the first division teams which would make Sion seem compliant. A decade of financial cheating would be condoned by the organisations that are meant to police it. There would be no reason for other clubs not to follow suit as long as they would be clear of relegation. The sixth team in the SPL could write off all their debts every year immediately after the split, having spent millions they didn't have, or just not bothered paying their taxes. Soon, no-one would lend to a football team unless at usurious rates.

If Rangers are found to have cheated financially for a decade, there is no happy ending for Scottish football; no solution which doesn't leave the game damaged. If Celtic's standing in the game has to be hurt in order to maintain the integrity of the game, that is what must happen.

Better the financial death of Scottish football than the moral death of Scottish football.

a wee story of howwood startrails

I set out last night to take startrail pictures near Howwood. When I got to the train station I realised I had forgotten my phone, but to go back and get it would have meant waiting another hour for a train. My initial frustrations were that I wouldn't be able to tweet or listen to music while standing around a field for a hour. however, as I made my way to the field it became obvious that it was an even more horrendous plight. Without my phone, I didn't have a map. A bit inconvient, but i was confident i could find the place eventually. Without my phone, no-one knew where I was. If was to fall down a hole in the inky darkness, no-one would find my body for weeks. Without my phone, i didn't have a clock, so wouldn't know when to go back to the train station. Most of all though, without my phone I didn't have a torch. A useful implement when walking about the countryside in the dead of night.

I managed to walk down the pavementless country roads without getting killed, and reached the field. It was really very muddy. I had considered taking Molly, my sister's dog, but it was just as well i hadn't - she'd have been a mudball in seconds. I eked my way along trying to avoid the boggiest bits, and getting slightly freaked out by a wind turbine and a flock of noctural sheep. Now I was really glad i hadn't taken Molly. Can you imagine? The sheep would have chased her up hill and down dale. I eventually saw the tower I was heading for, and bravely shooed the sheep away, and started the startrail process. I tried to read my e-reader by the moonlight, but it just couldn't be done. So i started playing around with my spare camera. I was leaning on the window sill of the tower to take a photo in the other direction. The wall of the tower started ... flickering. Knowing there was no-one nearby I was confused. I looked up and between me and the moon was a large white bird, silently hovering over me. It was so dark I couldn't make it out clearly, but i think it was an owl. Either that or the archangel Gabriel, but probably a bird. It hovered a bit closer (a few feet) and I thought i would get a closer look and then realised it was probably coming to peck out my beautiful eyes to protect its young. So i made an agressive stance and it flew away. Carried away by a moonlight shadow.

As I made my way back to my camera bag, something pierced the bottom of my boot and my foot. Looking down, i couldn't see what it was, so i can only imagine it was a nail from a bit of old fence or something. In the dark, it's hard to tell how much pain you are in. Was that sensation pain as my lifeblood oozed out my foot, or cold as the mud oozed in? Cold and mud, or pain and blood? (forensics later revealed it was cold and mud). Just in case, I thought I had better return to civilisation so I packed up my stuff and made for home. Somehow in the hour I had been in the field it had gotten much darker and much muddier. And there were big trenches that i hadn't noticed on the way in. The gate which had seemed so obvious on the way in was lost in the murky darkness. By the time i made it to the train station i looked like a survivor of The Somme.