The Scotsman back issues from November 2006:
Reviews: Mother Courage: Sweet Bird of Youth: Frozen: Survival of the hardest in the face of tragedy
Nov 01, 2006; ... Theatre, MOTHER COURAGE, BRUNTON THEATRE, MUSSELBURGH **** SWEET BIRD OF YOUTH, DUNDEE REP **** FROZEN, EASTFIELD COMMUNITY CENTRE, RUTHERGLEN **** WHAT does not destroy me, makes me stronger. It was FriedrichNietzsche who first said it and, whether it's always true or ...
Between the lines: Virtual reality is now so real even the US tax man is taking an interest
Nov 01, 2006; ... IF YOU have a compulsive, addictive side to your personality thendon't, whatever you do, log on to a website called Second Life. Alas,I am not so pure and have become an addict. For those of you who still don't know about Second Life, it is upthere with YouTube (bought by Google ...
Quizzed by police after daughter died
Nov 01, 2006; ... ABOUT half an hour after she was told that her ten-week-olddaughter Abbie was dead, Elaine Penman and her husband James weretaken to separate rooms to be questioned by the police. The lack of any known cause of their daughter's death in November1999 meant, like all cases of sudden ...
Hopes rise for test to spot cot death 'defect'
Nov 01, 2006; ... A SCOTTISH scientist has helped find the strongest evidence todate that cot death is a "real disease" caused by a brain defect. And the breakthrough could eventually help lead to a diagnostictest that would identify those babies most at risk. In the new study, abnormalities ...
Dunedin ready to invest GBP 20m from latest buyout fund
Nov 01, 2006; ... DUNEDIN Capital Partners, the Edinburgh-based private equityhouse, is set to invest the first tranche of the money raised by itslatest buyout fund. Talking to The Scotsman, chief executive Ross Marshall said hehoped to complete the investments in two English companies - each ...
Support soars for plan to adopt the golden eagle as a national symbol
Nov 01, 2006; ... NEW Zealand has the kiwi, Antigua has the frigate bird and Belizehas the keel-billed toucan - but Scotland has nothing. A total of 90 countries around the world, and numerous states andprovinces, have a national bird. Scotland is not one of them but thatomission could soon be ...
Edinburgh Partners hit profit as funds top GBP 1bn mark
Nov 01, 2006; ... EDINBURGH Partners, the fund management boutique set up bydefectors from Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (SWIP) in 2003,has started to generate its first profits while funds undermanagement are believed to have topped GBP 1 billion. Director and investment partner Graham ...
Added drama could result in a more rounded education for many pupils
Nov 01, 2006; ... SCHOOLS should be encouraged to do more to integrate non-academicactivities such as drama clubs and community work into their regularcurriculum as a way of giving pupils a more rounded education,according to Scotland's top schools watchdog. Graham Donaldson, the chief inspector of ...
Losses of international mandate hit F&C's figures
Nov 01, 2006; ... F&C ASSET Management has reported a further fall in assets undermanagement after it lost institutional mandates in the three monthsto September. Assets managed by the group, which is 51 per cent owned by FriendsProvident, fell to GBP 105.8 billion from GBP 107bn at the end ...
Helping women on the farm
Nov 01, 2006; ... SCENE: A recent Garfield cartoon strip, his owner, Jon, on thephone, Garfield the portly, sardonic, cat looking on. First picture, Jon speaking: "Yeah, I suppose she's got goodsturdy legs." Second drawing: "Yeah ... good teeth too." Third: "Dad, I'm dating her, not ...
GNER launches UK's first wi-fi train fleet
Nov 01, 2006; ... GNER has the most trains in the world enabling passengers to goonline on the move, the operator claimed yesterday as it announcedits entire fleet had been equipped for wireless internet access. Tavish Scott, the transport minister, saluted the achievement inEdinburgh yesterday, ...
Finnie warned of fallout from LFA delays
Nov 01, 2006; ... SCOTLAND'S rural development minister has been given privatewarnings that delayed less favoured area (LFA) payments next yearcould wipe Liberal Democrats off the countryside map. In public, NFU Scotland has urged Ross Finnie to ensure that GBP61 million LFA payments are made next ...
Warning on 'salary-gap' for Scotland's top executives
Nov 01, 2006; ... SCOTLAND must attract more "companies of scale" and get morelisted firms on the London Stock Exchange or risk the gap betweensalaries here and the rest of the country continuing to rise. That was the stark warning issued yesterday by the Institute ofDirectors (IoD) in Scotland ...
Review: Lordi
Nov 01, 2006; ... Theatre, LORDI, CARLING ACADEMY, GLASGOW ***** PANTOMIME season came early to the Academy with this pre-Halloween romp from Eurovision winners Lordi, moved to a larger venue"due to massive pyrotechnics". The orc-like Finnish rockers haveshamelessly filched from the gothic theatrics ...
Angry protests at St Andrews as former Iranian leader is honoured
Nov 01, 2006; ... SCOTLAND'S oldest university yesterday took the controversial stepof honouring a former president of Iran, amid angry protests that heallowed students to be persecuted in his home country. Wearing the traditional grey robes of a senior Muslim cleric,Mohammad Khatami swept past ...
Fiat arrives in the age of small-car quality
Nov 01, 2006; ... LAST time I drove a small Fiat saloon was back in the Fix It AgainTam era, where you only bought one because of the massivelydiscounted price and were eternally grateful if you survived a coupleof years without a breakdown. And as if that weren't enough of aburden, small Fiats tended to ...
Blair wins Commons lifeline as he scrapes vote on Iraq inquiry
Nov 01, 2006; ... TONY Blair came close to suffering a damaging Commons defeat lastnight as Labour rebels backed Scottish and Welsh nationalists'demands for a parliamentary inquiry into the Iraq war. The SNP and Plaid Cymru lost their motion for an inquiry by only25 votes as rebels and opposition ...
Succession battle hots up as Nish joins Standard Life
Nov 01, 2006; ... DAVID Nish was unveiled last night as Standard Life's new financedirector, setting up what will look increasingly like a three-waysuccession battle for the top job at the recently floated Edinburghlife and pensions firm. Nish, 47, was finance director of ScottishPower until last ...
Jamieson in dock over rise in number of criminals reoffending
Nov 01, 2006; ... THE number of criminals who commit more offences after finishingtheir sentences is on the rise across Scotland, according to damningnew figures. Some 22,244 offenders convicted in 2002/03 - 45 per cent - werereconvicted within the following two years. That is 1 per cent, orabout ...
UK hopes to be world-leader in online gaming, but only if it's legal
Nov 01, 2006; ... BRITAIN is aiming to become a world leader in online gaming,providing hope to a multi-billion-pound industry rocked by the fall-out from a Stateside clampdown on internet gambling. However, the UK sports minister, Richard Caborn, insisted thatattracting companies to these shores ...
EU GAMBLERS SPLASH OUT GBP 3.5 BILLION
Nov 01, 2006; ... NEW figures show Europe's regular gamblers stake some GBP 3.5billion a year, an average of GBP 1,000 each. The worldwide online gambling market is estimated to be worth inexcess of dollars 30bn (GBP 15.7bn). There are now some 2,300 gambling websites across the world, witha ...
The unknown warriors
Nov 01, 2006; ... THE SCENT from frankincense trees newly flayed by shell fire, theglint of moonlight on blood washing over a booby-trapped bunkerfloor ... Ian Gardiner's memories of action in a little-known war inOman in the late 1960s and 1970s are vivid to the point of beingvisceral at times, but, in ...
Forestry body may build own wind farms
Nov 01, 2006; ... THE Forestry Commission could build its own wind farms tocapitalise on interest in developing renewables on its land. The commission is carrying out a review of its renewable energypolicy to ensure it gets the maximum return for the taxpayer. Six wind farms have already been ...
Autistic pupils 'let down by failures in mainstream education services'
Nov 01, 2006; ... HUNDREDS of autistic children are being denied a proper educationin Scotland's schools, according to a damning report by educationwatchdogs. Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education (HMIe) found that mostteachers in mainstream schools lacked a proper working knowledge ofautism ....
Scots Turner winner back with major show
Nov 01, 2006; ... DOUGLAS Gordon, the Scottish Turner Prize winner, yesterdaylaunched his first major exhibition in his native country for 13years. Gallery bosses from New York and Paris are expected to be amongthe first to see the contemporary artist's striking work, which opensto the public in ...
Father of missing girl launches campaign
Nov 01, 2006; ... THE father of a Scottish girl who vanished 15 years ago launched acampaign yesterday to find thousands of children who disappear acrossBritain each year. Vicky Hamilton went missing during a snowstorm after visiting thehome of her sister Sharon in Livingston, West Lothian, in ...
King talks up Matalan as sales continue to decline
Nov 01, 2006; ... DISCOUNT retailer Matalan gave a mixed update on trading yesterdayafter seeing half-year profits fall by 7 per cent to GBP 28.7million. The group, which is about to be taken private by founder andchairman John Hargreaves, said recent sales remained in negativeterritory, but ...
Review: The Play What I Wrote
Nov 01, 2006; ... Theatre, THE PLAY WHAT I WROTE, KING'S THEATRE, GLASGOW *** THE Touring version of Sean Foley and Hamish McColl's homage toMorecambe and Wise is that curious thing, a tribute show to a tributeshow. The Play What I Wrote has been such a success it has outgrownthe duo who created it, ...
Nationalists' poll position throws independence debate into top gear
Nov 01, 2006; ... THE SNP has a perennial problem: how to turn a temporary protestvote into solid support for independence. The latest ICM poll published in today's Scotsman shows supportfor independence running at 51 per cent. This undoubtedly registersthe electorate's unhappiness with Tony Blair, ...
Linlithgow prepares to end its long relationship with Labour
Nov 01, 2006; ... FOR years, Linlithgow was one of the many Scottish constituenciesLabour could take for granted. Thanks in the main to Tam Dalyell, theWest Lothian town dutifully returned a Labour member to Westminsterfor decades. The same loyalty held true at the first elections for Holyrood ...
Scotsmania
Nov 01, 2006; ... C: COMMITTEES THE Scottish Parliament was set up with a single chamber and soits committees are designed to play a leading role in both reviewingproposed legislation and in bringing ideas before the fullparliament. As well as scrutinising legislation, the committees also ...
Retail survey fall sends a shiver through the UK's high streets
Nov 01, 2006; ... FEARS that Britain's high street retailers could be heading for aChristmas shocker were heightened yesterday with news that salesvolumes unexpectedly fell in October at their sharpest rate in sevenmonths. The reported sales balance in the Confederation of BritishIndustry's ...
Widows axes IFA sales staff
Nov 01, 2006; ... FINANCIAL services giant Scottish Widows is to axe 20 staff fromits independent financial adviser (IFA) sales team throughout the UKin a bid to trim costs. The Edinburgh-based group currently employs about 270 in its salesteam. But following a review, it has decided to restructure ...
Scrutineer: FSA rules called to book at long last
Nov 01, 2006; ... FIVE years after inflicting colossal cost and compliance burdens,the Financial Services Authority has pledged to overhaul itsByzantine rule book. The news will be received with joy, qualified only by thesuspicion that a leopard is not known for changing its spots. The ...
Review: Tequila Sunrise
Nov 01, 2006; ... Theatre, TEQUILA SUNSET, ORAN MOR, GLASGOW ** THERE'S one lovely moment in Elizabeth MacLennan's new play.MacLennan herself, in the role of middle-aged lady-who-lunchesRamona, suddenly rises from her seat in the upmarket West End winebar where she meets her old friend Jess and, ...
A crumbling empire
Nov 01, 2006; ... WERE it a hospital patient's graph, you would fear the worst. Formonths now, the jagged downward curve of the media group SMG has toldthe story of a company not responding to treatment. With a plungingshare price and no permanent chief executive, the Glasgow-basedoutfit looks ...
After hit-and-miss year, National Theatre is winning over critics
Nov 01, 2006; ... IT HAS toured 44 cities, towns and villages across Scotland,reached 100,000 people and won 11 awards - all in its first year. The National Theatre of Scotland, launched 12 months ago todaywith GBP 7.5 million of public funds, has had mixed reviews although,as its executive ...
TV Review: The dubious merits of bangers and mash
Nov 01, 2006; ... Heston Blumenthal: In Search of Perfection, BBC2 George MichaelI'm Your Man - a South Bank Show Special, STV It's been a troubling week in the Pearson kitchen. Disaster numberone involved a batch of birthday-party-bound fairy cakes. Perfectlyrisen and topped with a decadent swirl ...
A ban on flag-burning just doesn't make sense
Nov 01, 2006; ... AS EMBLEMS go, you have to admire the Union Flag, if only for itsability to encapsulate the complexities and contradictions of thecountry it flies above. For one thing, it's a messy hybrid ofcompeting symbols, each laid over the last as the centuriesaccumulated and the United Kingdom ...
FTSE edges back into the black on the day thanks to its Friends
Nov 01, 2006; ... INSURER Friends Provident soared almost 7 per cent yesterday onthe back of strong sales figures and the promise of further growth inthe UK. The FTSE 100 index closed slightly ahead by 2.4 points at 6,129.2.as falls in oil and gas producers cancelled out gains achieved bymining ...
FSA in radical overhaul of retail rules
Nov 01, 2006; ... RADICAL proposals announced by the Financial Services Authority(FSA) yesterday are set to overhaul the rules governing the sale ofall investment products in the UK. Just five years after the FSA took over the regulation ofinvestment business in December 2001, it yesterday decided ...
Let's get back to a weekly bath and sharing the chewing gum
Nov 01, 2006; ... AS I walk the streets of Edinburgh, any other city, my local town,what used to be our local village or even a country footpath thesedays, I find myself preoccupied with one thought as I step warily,head down: what does the world need more than anything else? No, not a dog trained ...
Leader: Holyrood elections wide open
Nov 01, 2006; ... TODAY, we publish the first in a series of regular Scotsman-ICMopinion polls which will run until the Scottish Parliament electionsin May. These polls will provide an essential insight into the votingintentions of the Scottish electorate and the shifting fortunes ofthe political parties ...
Meet the First Lady, as woman minister blazes new trail as next Kirk Moderator
Nov 01, 2006; ... A FEMALE minister has been appointed as Moderator of the GeneralAssembly of the Church of Scotland for the first time. The Rev Sheilagh Kesting will take up the 12-month post from nextMay. Speaking after yesterday's announcement, the 53-year-old saidreaching out to other ...
Succession battle hots up as Nish joins Standard Life
Nov 01, 2006; ... DAVID Nish was unveiled last night as Standard Life's new financedirector, setting up what will look increasingly like a three-waysuccession battle for the top job at the recently floated Edinburghlife and pensions firm. Nish, 47, was finance director of ScottishPower until last ...
Lifeline for Blair as he scrapes Commons vote on Iraq inquiry
Nov 01, 2006; ... TONY Blair came close to suffering a damaging Commons defeat lastnight as a dozen Labour rebels backed Scottish and Welshnationalists' demands for a parliamentary inquiry into the Iraq war. The SNP and Plaid Cymru lost their motion for an inquiry by only25 votes, as rebels and ...
Hibs' crop of talent convinced Collins to come home
Nov 01, 2006; ... THE present generation of prodigious talent at Easter Roadconvinced John Collins that it was time to end his exile in MonteCarlo and return to the sharp end of football as manager atHibernian. The former Scotland midfielder's wife and three children willtoday fly from France and ...
Coaches urge prop Douglas to bulk up after losing a stone
Nov 01, 2006; ... BRUCE Douglas faces a long and tough battle to win back hisScotland place after being put on a special programme by coaches toreplace lost weight. Scotland's first-choice tighthead prop in recent years has alwaysbeen relatively small compared with leading tighthead props, but ...
Edinburgh respond to entry delays by introducing cash turnstiles
Nov 01, 2006; ... EDINBURGH have reacted swiftly to complaints from supporters afterhundreds failed to get into the stadium in time for the kick-off ofSunday's Heineken Cup home match with Leinster. The official attendance at Murrayfield was given as 5,867, a newrecord, but several hundred were ...
Optimistic Taylor hoping to be back in fold this week
Nov 01, 2006; ... SIMON Taylor and Allister Hogg are in line for a return to actionfor Edinburgh this week, which could lift hopes of both pulling onthe Scotland jersey again this month. Two of Scotland's best players, the back rows have been in a raceto recover full fitness in time for the autumn ...
Meet the First Lady as female minister blazes trail as next Kirk Moderator
Nov 01, 2006; ... A FEMALE minister has been appointed Moderator of the GeneralAssembly of the Church of Scotland for the first time. The Rev Sheilagh Kesting will take up the 12-month post from nextMay. Speaking after yesterday's announcement, the 53-year-old saidreaching out to other ...
The Scotsman ICM Poll: Vital gains forecast for SNP in swing from Labour
Nov 01, 2006; ... ALEX Salmond received a massive pre-election boost today with anew opinion poll showing a clear majority of Scots favourindependence, and illustrating a significant swing from Labour to theSNP. The Scotsman ICM poll found 51 per cent now favoured fullindependence with only 39 ...
Lifeline for Blair as he scrapes Commons vote on Iraq inquiry
Nov 01, 2006; ... TONY Blair came close to suffering a damaging Commons defeat lastnight as a dozen Labour rebels backed Scottish and WelshNationalists' demands for a parliamentary inquiry into the Iraq war. The SNP and Plaid Cymru lost their motion for an inquiry by only25 votes, as rebels and ...
Strachan won't rest on laurels as Celtic chase place in last 16
Nov 01, 2006; ... IRONY has been Gordon Strachan's unseen ally through a ChampionsLeague campaign that has taken Celtic to a showdown with Benficatonight in which they could secure passage to the last 16 of Europe'spremier tournament. Only those blessed with authentic second sight, for example, ...
Lifeline for Blair as he scrapes Commons vote on Iraq inquiry
Nov 01, 2006; ... TONY Blair came close to suffering a damaging Commons defeat lastnight as a dozen Labour rebels backed Scottish and WelshNationalists' demands for a parliamentary inquiry into the Iraq war. The SNP and Plaid Cymru lost their motion for a wide-ranginginvestigation by only 25 votes, ...
Business leaders in U-turn over trams plan
Nov 01, 2006; ... A BUSINESS group has backed Edinburgh's tram scheme after securinga 20 per cent rates cut for shops hit by traffic disruption duringconstruction work. The Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce, which had been critical of theplans, yesterday threw its weight behind the project following a ...
North Sea divers reject a 37 per cent pay rise and decide on strike action
Nov 01, 2006; ... MORE than 900 North Sea divers and support staff went on strike atmidnight last night after rejecting the latest pay offer fromemployers. The start of the biggest strike the industry has seen for 20 yearswas confirmed after members of the Rail, Maritime and TransportWorkers ...
McNeill's inspired call ensured eventful trip ended on lucky note
Nov 01, 2006; ... IMMOVABLE believers in the irresistible force of historicalportents will have convinced themselves that Celtic, on the basis ofwhat occurred the last time they met Benfica in the tournament, aredestined to march all the way to this season's Champions Leaguefinal. The Parkhead ...
Coaches urge prop Douglas to bulk up after losing a stone
Nov 01, 2006; ... BRUCE Douglas faces a long and tough battle to win back hisScotland place after being put on a special programme by coaches toreplace lost weight. Scotland's first-choice tighthead prop in recent years has alwaysbeen relatively small compared with leading tighthead props, but ...
Tasks for JC
Nov 01, 2006; ... 1) INSTIL DISCIPLINE While Tony Mowbray was happy to let his exuberant young sideexpress themselves, it came at a price of bookings and red cards.Monday night's antics at Pittodrie were a timely reminder to Collinsthat he needs to stamp out dissent and needless lunges. 2) ...
Club make a song and dance of the homecoming
Nov 01, 2006; ... IT'S not too often that the mood at Easter Road is quite so upbeatthe day after a last-gasp defeat, but this was a special occasion. The homecoming of John Collins was rightly a cause forcelebration, and the powers that be at Hibs were determined to putthe appointment of their new ...
No guarantees, but new man at helm has promising look of a sound appointment
Nov 01, 2006; ... ANY suggestion that a football club has made the right choice inappointing a manager with no experience may sound conter-intuitive.But, in the case of Hibernian and John Collins, a look into thebackground to the appointment leads to the conclusion that the EasterRoad club could not have ...
Collins given assurance key men won't be sold
Nov 01, 2006; ... GIVEN the backdrop to his own departure from Hibernian in 1990,there is little wonder that John Collins was impressed at thecommitment to developing the young players he now has at his disposalat Easter Road. His own GBP 1 million transfer to Celtic helped facilitate theclub's ...
Joy for Lewis as Impek avoids chaos
Nov 01, 2006; ... A ROSE by any other name would smell as sweet and all that jazz. In a previous life, the old style Haldon Gold Cup could usually berelied upon to produce plenty of thrills and spills, and yesterday'sfirst running under the banner of new sponsors William Hill continuedthat ...
Coaches urge prop Douglas to bulk up after losing a stone
Nov 01, 2006; ... BRUCE Douglas faces a long and tough battle to win back hisScotland place after being put on a special programme by coaches toreplace lost weight. Scotland's first-choice tighthead prop in recent years has alwaysbeen relatively small compared with leading tighthead props, but ...