Scottish Roundup

Hello everyone, and welcome to this week’s roundup. There has been a lot of news this week, and perhaps the biggest story has been the death of Michael Jackson. All sorts of political bloggers wrote about him this week, but I have decided it would be better for this story to be covered in the next non-political roundup, which will be published on 15 July. So keep an eye out for that if you’re interested — I can assure you there are already some great Michael Jackson posts in the bank waiting to be featured here.

Apologies for the navel-gazing start to this week’s roundup, but two of the biggest topics this week have surrounded issues to do with blogging.

First of all, early in the week there was concern in the blogosphere when The Times won the right to reveal the identity of anonymous blogger NightJack. Iain Hepburn notes that The Times has previous form in this area, having also outed Girl With a One-Track Mind, and dissects the newspaper’s justifications for its actions.

Jeff takes a broader look at the issues surrounding blogging anonymously.

A spanner was thrown into the works of the SNP’s campaign for the Glasgow North East by-election when front-runner Grant Thoms withdrew his nomination. Jeff had the scoop.

Those who keep an eye on the Scottish blogosphere will know Grant Thoms as Tartan Hero, who for a period was one of Scotland’s most popular bloggers and was certainly featured in this roundup a number of times. Sadly, you won’t be able to read his archive as he has decided to delete the blog.

Lallands Peat Worrier wondered if his decision to delete Tartan Hero was an attempt to avoid being “indygalled”. When The Herald reported that Mr Thoms withdrew from the race, it appeared to give credence to LPW’s theory.

But I was confused as to why anyone things deleting their blog would work, as it surely only brings attention to the fact that you may think there is a problem with it.

Coincidentally, Lib Dem blogger Charlotte Gore this week wrote about how she felt being a blogger made it impossible for her to be a PPC. Stephen Glenn wrote his thoughts on this.

Will P has a different theory as to why Grant Thoms felt that he had to withdraw. In the harsh atmosphere of a by-election (as opposed to a general election), was there the risk that he would face a homophobic campaign from the opposition? Shocking if true.

In a similar vein, you will remember a few weeks ago Scott Rennie being mentioned in the Roundup. Well, this week Ruaraidh Dobson wrote about a trip to Edinburgh as part of a counter-protest outside the General Assembly where Scott Rennie’s fate was being decided.

This week saw the election of a new Speaker for the House of Commons. The process they use to elect the Speaker is interesting. They keep on voting until one of the candidates has at least 50% of the vote, with the most unpopular candidates eliminated in stages. Which brings up a good question which Malc asks: why do they persist in lumbering us voters with the rigged First Past the Post system when it is not good enough for them?

Caron writes about the traditional and ceremonial aspects of the election of a new Speaker. Harmless tradition or outdated relics that increase the distance between the Houses of Parliament and the voters?

Indygal celebrates the passing of “world leading” climate change legislation this week. If it’s good enough for Arnold Schwarzenegger, it’s good enough for her.

Not good enough for James at Two Doctors though, saying it’s all very well having an ambitious target, but you need the policies to help reach it too.

As Nicola Sturgeon urges Westminster to hand over cash to pay for a Swine Flu vaccination, Bernard Salmon points out the irony in the SNP’s desire for Scotland to be independent while going cap in hand to Westminster.

Meanwhile, Yousuf takes a look at that old chestnut, North Sea oil revenues. He analyses a Scotland Office report which suggests that North Sea oil may not be as lucrative as some like to think.

SNP MSP Bill Wilson has called for it to become mandatory for supermarkets to label foods in Scots, including “syboes” instead of “spring onions” (eh?). Big Rab is predictably scathing.

Lallands Peat Worrier is also at a loss, and takes the opportunity to also lay into Christine Grahame’s hysterical reaction to the National Library of Scotland asking a worker to remove his tartan tat from his work desk. Flying Rodent also wrote about this flaggy form of nationalism and the hysteria generated by the story.

Meanwhile, David Maddox has a look at the national identities of two major Scottish sport stars, Chris Hoy and Andy Murray.

Jeff outlines why there needs to be a public enquiry into the Iraq War.

Both Scottish Politics and Subrosa have something to say about David Cameron’s views on nuclear weapons being based in Scotland. But isn’t he right? Defence is a reserved area…

Meanwhile, Bill Cameron adds his thoughts on David Cameron’s comments on devolution.

Shuggy dissects the attempts from some in the liberal left to deal with the BNP. Meanwhile, Yousuf has a look at the news that two members of the Scottish Youth Parliament have been exposed as BNP members.

Andrew Burns puts forward his side of the story after being evicted from the Edinburgh City Council Chamber.

Alan Wallace has a guest post from Helen Critchell about the perceived drop in standards of education.

Angus Nicolson has a frustrating experience trying to deal with Business Gateway.

Disappointed at the state of politics in the UK, Political Dissuasion writes a letter to the political class.

Iain Hepburn analyses The Guardian’s failed attempts to generate outrage over BBC expenses.

Willie Rennie brings us news of the latest Lib Dem victory over Labour. In a similar vein, Bellgrove Belle writes about her experiences in the East End 5k.

And that’s it! Phew, that turned out to be a bit of a bumper edition. Next week’s roundup will be edited by Caron. As always, make sure you get those nominations in either via the form on the right or by emailing us at scottishroundup@gmail.com. And don’t forget to follow @ScottishRoundup on Twitter. Thanks!

Hi folks! This has been one of those weeks where the basic idea is that we ought to expect the unexpected. Labour, the LibDems and Tories all agreeing on the constitution? A line of people begging to sup from the poisoned chalice that is the Speaker’s Chair? Next you’ll be telling me that Celtic and West Brom have agreed compensation for Tony Mowbray…

Anyway. The big moment of Scottish politics this week came with the unveiling of the Calman Report. Lallands Peat Worrier dissects it with forensic precision for your delectation and delight. Yousuf hails it as the opening move in the 2011 election campaign (good grief, can’t we get the 2009/10 election out of the way first?), while Bernard has a few issues with the report but is broadly happy. Anne McLaughlin MSP experiences a flashback to her teenage years and suggests that full independence isn’t radical, let alone the Calman report, while Malc takes a look at the proposal for MSPs to make clear their opinion that any Bill they propose is within Holyrood’s competencies, without the need for backup. Andrew Burns, meanwhile, notes the point that PR for Holyrood is now seen as a given, while Dave comes to the conclusion that there’s nothing overly earth-shattering when you measure the proposals against the status quo.

On a similar note, Caron notes something that Diane Abbott said about the Labour motivation for devolution, and she isn’t impressed.

Meanwhile, while MSPs are looking to claim powers from Westminster, the scandal regarding MPs claiming expenses from Westminster claims yet another scalp, with Labour’s star chamber de-selecting Jim Devine, MP for Livingston. Caron notes his lack of appearance in his Constituency at this time, Stephen notes that the police are now involved, while Subrosa is not exactly impressed with his reaction to deselction.

Speaking of which, his threat to force a By-Election, and the current travails facing Livingston Football Club get Stephen thinking if a “Save the Lions” candidate could appear on a ballot paper, as per the “Accies Home, Watson Away” candidate in the 1999 Hamilton South By-Election. Needless to say, he isn’t enthusiastic.

Anyway, back to the expenses saga, and it’s now the turn of Falkirk MP Eric Joyce to come under the spotlight. Caron has a few questions for him, while Bernard isn’t happy with the way he answered questions put to him on Newsnight Scotland.

Another casualty of the scandal is Kitty Ussher, MP for Burnley (the cradle of 21st Century Fascism in the UK) and now former Treasury Minister caught fiddling her second home arrangements for tax purposes. Angus Nicolson takes a look at part of her resignation letter, and wonders who she’s trying to drop in it.

Staying with the theme, BellgroveBelle is stunned at how easy the MPs find it to repay the money they’ve claimed at this time.

Anyway. The race to replace Michael Martin – the first casualty of the expenses affair – as Speaker of the House of Commons is nearing its conclusion. Frankly, I don’t know why anyone wants to touch that job with a ten-foot pole right now, but ten people do. James takes a look at what he thinks will happen; Tom Harris MP is backing John Bercow, while Jeff is backing Ann Widdecombe (shame for her that the Bercow supporter is the one with the vote, really). Bill Cameron isn’t.

Still, whoever gets the job of shepherding MPs, there’s still talk of how they get elected in the first place. Jack Deighton puts his ideas forward, while David McDonald repeats his call for the voting age limit to be lowered to 16, in light of the Scottish Government’s decision to allow 16 and 17 year olds to vote in the pilot Health Board elections.

But assuming we’re still using the current system for the upcoming election, the announcement by UNISON General Secretary Dave Prentis that the union won’t fund the campaign of Labour candidates who favour privatisation has raised eyebrows. Chris Stephens and David McDonald both note the declaration that UNISON “will no longer feed the hand that bites” them. No one has yet picked up on the fact that you don’t feed hands anyway, or that they don’t bite.

Speaking of party politics, Cabalamat endorses the establishment of a Pirate Party in the UK, along the lines of the Swedish party which won a seat in the European Elections this month, citing their civil liberties platform.

Staying with civil liberties, Tom Harris MP defends the right of blogger Nightjack to remain anonymous (or, to be precise, pseudonymous), while Bucket of Tongues looks at the freedoms we have in the UK.

However, now that we’re on a civil liberties theme, we should take a look at the unfolding situation in Iran: Bill Cameron has the harrowing pictures of the death of one of the protesters in Tehran – this is definitely NSFW. Mr. Eugenides takes a look at the role of Twitter in the protests against the election result and the Ahmedinejad/Khamenei regime. FlyingRodent, however, is a little more jaded about even the most sought after outcome.

Staying in the Middle East, Dave is less than impressed with the manner of Gordon Brown’s U-turn over whether the enquiry into the Iraq War will be held in private.

Closer to home, Michael Greenwell notes that voters in the Republic of Ireland are about to be asked about the Lisbon Treaty again, in the hope that, this time, they give people the right answer.

John Connell reckons that the policy of letting parents choose the school their child attends isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

Lis takes a look at the case of Christine Laird, who faced unsuccessful legal proceedings from her former employer, Cheltenham Borough Council, who alleged that she “fraudulently or negligently withheld” details of her history of depression.

Bucket of Tongues is horrified that a doctor in Elgin has been suspended for not referring a teenage girl being treated for an STI to a social worker.

Finally, to bring things full circle, Montague Burton has news of a rather chilly country whose local government has gained sweeping new powers from the central government to its south, which could represent a step towards full independence. No, Calman hasn’t been implemented yet, we’re talking about Greenland.

That’s a wrap for another week. Duncan is in the hot seat next week, and as always, you can send in your suggestions: drop us a line to scottishroundup@gmail.com or fill in the dinglydell on the right. Bye-de-bye!

Hello everyone, and welcome to this month’s NoPoScoBloRo, or the non-political Scottish blogging roundup in English.

There was great news this month as the truly execrable Sandi Thom totally lost her rag — over a slightly negative review. Anyone who has had the misfortune to hear her terrible song where she sings about punk rockers that had flowers in their hair would think that “it was awful” is a bit of an understatement. But that is the verdict that tempted Ms Thom to pen this “musical ditty” which showcases her diverse lyrical talents to the full. Did someone touch a raw nerve?

The person who dared to call her music awful was none other than former blogger Andrew Learmonth, who has been featured in Scottish Roundup from time to time. Misssy M has the full lowdown.

In other creativity news, Gary Marshall has written a novel. But why didn’t he say before?

The excellent Scotland in the Gloaming blog — which showcases excellent photography of Scotland, er, in the gloaming — has become a regular on NoPoScoBloRo. This month it has produced another cracker in the shape of Sunray.

Keeping with the (sort of) ethereal theme, Radio Scotland chief Jeff Zycinski took a trip to Galaxy’s headquarters. Would have been good if it was the chocolate — he might have got some free samples. But instead it was the radio station for a bit of a chin-wag.

The post brings an insight into the way Galaxy is operated. Nowadays those painfully unfunny links being broadcast on an ostensibly Scottish station are brought to you from London by a presenter who is actually presenting on several “local” stations at once, with local references added in using computers. I’ve just taken a look into the dark future of local radio, and I don’t think I like it!

Probably better to stick to local sources like The Edinburgh Rock Network, who are much more likely to have their finger on the pulse of the local music scene.

Some more authentic local commentary comes from Mike Smith, who asks what home means to you, with Refugee Week in mind.

This month saw the tragic death of Dumbarton football player Gordon Lennon. Big Rab led the tributes from the blogosphere. He was a well-liked footballer, as can be seen from this discussion at Pie and Bovril.

My father has been a Dumbarton supporter all his life, and we all shared our thoughts on Gordon Lennon’s death. Here is my father’s post and here are my brother’s thoughts. I also wrote about Gordon Lennon, just a few weeks after attending my first Dumbarton match in years, the day the squad effectively sealed the Division 3 Championship.

There has been other football news, and Big Rab cast his eye over the SLP’s latest crisis.

Mr H is none too impressed with Susan Boyle’s apparent inability to work for more than a few minutes. Is more compassion required, or is she a scam artist?

Sticking with the theme of reality television, Cameron McEwan watches it so that you don’t have to. I can’t say I watch much television these days. I prefer to prevent my brain from rotting. As such, most of this stuff sadly goes right over my head. But I’m told it’s good.

Some of us end up spending our time staring into a different screen — increasingly the screen of a fancy-pants phone. I’ve been spending this evening trying to download the new iPhone software. Sadly, it seems as though millions of other users decided to do the same, and it’s taken hours. But Lis has had even more trouble with her phone, or more precisely with her phone’s network provider, 3.

Angry Steve is keeping an eye on the labour market (join the club), but “>he takes issue with recruitment agencies’ love of certifications. Why, he asks, does it matter if they haven’t got certifications if they’ve got plenty of experience in that line of work?

Armin Grewe reported on the happenings at Education 2020, and unconference about the future of education which took place on Islay. It includes the now-obligatory mention of Twitter. The use of Twitter in the classroom is an interesting one. Colinton Primary School is one school which is giving it a go.

Thankfully, Colinton’s tweets seem to be more sensible than the teacher at an Argyll and Bute school whose use of Twitter raised some eyebrows and is now being investigated. James Coltham has some thoughts on the appropriate use of Twitter by “tweechers”.

This seems like an apposite point to advertise the fact that I have finally decided that Scottish Roundup should have its own Twitter account. The Twitter account will immediately be updated as soon as a new Roundup is published, and I will also update on how things are progressing so you don’t have to wait around twiddling your thumbs if it’s a bit late. You can, of course, also use it to suggest any great bloggery you have seen by sending a tweet to @ScottishRoundup.

A quick mention also for Scotweb2, a project about Web 2.0 in Scotland. The second event will be held at The Melting Pot on Rose Street in Edinburgh on Friday. See here for more details. Keep an eye on the Scotweb2 blog and Twitter account. Both will be updated with news on the event. And for Twitter, the hashtag is (can you guess) #scotweb2.

That’s all for this month. Next month’s NoPoScoBloRo will be edited by Misssy M. Don’t forget the political roundups if you’re that way inclined. This Sunday’s will be edited by Will P.

For either roundup, get those nominations in! We are always grateful for more suggestions. So use the contact form on the left, or email scottishroundup@gmail.com. Or, indeed, tweet us @ScottishRoundup. Thanks!