Hi folks! As Duncan mentioned last week, I’ve been drafted in to help around here, so I’ll be consolidating the week’s stories into one easy-to-manage Roundup. If you’re looking to re-mortgage your house, on the other hand, then sadly, there’s not much we can do. We can’t do everything.

Anyway, we start off with some good news, as CuriousHamster, who helped get the Roundup off the ground, has made a much-awaited and very welcome return to bloggery, and provides us with news that we may have missed: with MPs about to go back to their constituencies and prepare for their holidays, the Government has issued in excess of 100 Ministerial statements.

Among the policies unveiled by Gordon Brown’s administration in the last week of term is a proposal to seize money from dormant bank accounts, as discussed by Ewan Watt. However, it’s the proposed counter-terror measures, which include plans to double the length of time a terror suspect can be detained, that have got other bloggers going. Reactionary Snob casts a cynical eye over government claims that it is working to protect civil liberties, claiming that the Labour government is, in fact, eroding them. Osama Saeed, meanwhile, has a look at this, ID cards and the seizure of terror suspects’ possessions. Robert Sharp believes that the system is already able to deal with extremism, noting the convictions for those who incited violence in response to the Mohammed cartoons:

When the cartoons came to light and the argument ensued, many asked why we tolerated these illiberals in our mists. They claimed that this was evidence that our society and values were being undermined by outsiders. But in fact this was not the case: our legal system was robust enough to see off the challenge (perhaps, as PDF implies, a little too harshly). As I have said before, our values can easily see off fundamentalist challenges, without the need to tighten immigration restrictions, or create harsher laws.

Staying with extremism, Clairwil has a well thought-out post on the Reggae Compassionate Act, and takes a wider look at Jamaican society, while Bill Cameron reports on homophobia in Italy and the Netherlands.

Still, however bad things get, you could always be Jack McConnell, whose impending resignation as Labour Leader was announced in last week’s press. At Adam Smith was a Socialist, the thinking is that McConnell should stay, but don’t take that to be an endorsement. Jeff at SNP Tactical Voting can’t resist wanting McConnell to stay either, but believes that the departure would be a good thing for Holyrood. Iain Gibson produces a brief political obituary for McConnell and joins in the speculation as to his successor. Davie Hutchison chips in as well and breaks the news that a number of MSPs from other parties will have a vote in a Labour Leadership election!

Whether or not McConnell is going next month, we do know of one resignation: Peter Duncan has stepped down as Chairman of the Scottish Conservatives, but this doesn’t seem to be making many waves outside of Tory circles. However, David Torrance wonders about the timing of the announcement, while The Tired Tory tells us what he would like to see happen. Looking at the UK Tories, HolyroodWatcher asks: is being a political heavyweight necessarily a good thing?

Meanwhile, we await the publication of the SNP’s White Paper on Independence. The good people at Scottish Futures are excited about the debate to come, while agentmancuso isn’t convinced that the debate will be all it’s cracked up to be.

Incidentally, Alex Salmond returned to Westminster last week. Jeff didn’t think the potential clash between Gordon Brown and Scotland’s FM would be all that exciting, and Richard Havers is exasperated with the media’s reporting of Alex Salmond.

While we’re on the subject, Richard takes a long hard look at the news media, and his conclusions are well worth a read:

“It’s yet more evidence that the news have an agenda to paint a country of darkness and despair when we are largely the opposite as a nation. However, how much longer it will be before we fall foul of their constant brainwashing I’m not sure. There was a study done recently that said people were more optimistic and happy in the early 1950s than they are now. The news media and particularly the TV have an awful lot to answer for.”

Staying with the media, the BBC has had a torrid time, with people wondering if the Corporation can still be trusted. Duncan, who is still too modest (frustratingly so) to nominate his own posts when someone else is fronting the Roundup, thinks that the BBC has handled the current controversy well compared with its commercial rivals. Bookdrunk notes that the Daily Mail was quick to attack the BBC for “peddling a pack of lies”, despite the paper being guilty of the same thing.

Speaking of scandals, the Crown Prosecution Service might have decided not to charge anyone over cash-for-honours, but Tartan Hero suspects that the story is far from over. Chris Stephens, meanwhile, slams the CPS for taking part in a whitewash.

Also making waves is George Galloway, who attempted to fight his 18-day suspension from the House of Commons and got himself ejected from it in the process. Right for Scotland isn’t exactly impressed by Galloway’s conduct. Chris Stephens compares the suspension to Cllr John Mason’s nine-month suspension from Glasgow City Council: he agrees with the substance of Galloway’s argument but feels little sympathy for the Respect MP. However, Angus Nicolson is supportive, while Flying Rodent can’t help but be impressed by Galloway’s quoting of porn titles owned by Richard Desmond in the Commons.

Galloway, however, isn’t the only Socialist whose verbal prowess has been noticed: Mark McDonald was queuing up for the latest Harry Potter and spotted an interesting title. Meanwhile, Harry Potter fan Louise brings a much-needed sense of perspective back to Pottermania, thanks to the Daily Mash.

Finally, who can resist a quick look at local government? Surreptitious Evil examines the case of three members of Bideford Town Council in Devon, who have left the LibDem group in protest at another member’s rather interesting career, while Mr. Eugenides gives us a sad tale of Falkirk Council’s role in planning funerals.

And that’s your lot for this week. Richard Thomson will be your guide through the jungle that is the Scottish blogosphere next week. As always you can send in your suggestions via the twiddly-doodah on the right, or dropping us a line at scottishroundup@gmail.com. But from me, it’s bye-de-bye!

Hello there. Good news, I think. I have felt myself flagging a little bit in recent months while writing the weekly roundups. I always felt that this would be too much work for one person (especially when that person was me), even with the occasional help of guest editors.

Ever since CuriousHamster (whose blog is greatly missed) went MIA, I have struggled a bit (though the excitement of the elections helped motivate my a lot up to May).

I think I have managed to rope in Will Patterson as a regular contributor. I chose him because, as you will know if you read his blog, he clearly has an enormous breadth of knowledge about both Scottish politics and blogging.

The current plan is to use a round robin system, with me doing one week, Will P doing the next, then a guest doing the following week before we start the cycle again with me. I also plan to make the ‘non-political’ specials more regular — roughly every six weeks. But more on that as and when.

In the meantime, I am back with another roundup, and since last week’s was one of those non-political specials, there are two weeks’ worth of political posts to sink our teeth into.

Angus Nicolson reckons there is only one party that will be happy following Thursday’s by-elections. Although given that Labour suffered slashed majorities in both, surely none of the major parties are best pleased. Labour will be relieved though, and Angus Nicolson speculates on the idea that Gordon Brown will call a General Election for early 2008.

Of course, Labour had another reason to feel relieved on Friday morning, when it was confirmed that no charges would be pressed following the Cash for Honours investigation. But Richard Havers points out:

Whatever happens in the future the main players in all of this, including Tony Blair, will be forever dogged by rumours and the whiff of scandal.

Meanwhile, Adam Smith was a Socialist says:

A party which has criminalised political opposition[...], conceived the ASBO and created more new criminal offences than ever before was suddenly on the receiving end. Funnily enough they didn’t like the trial-by-media, or the way the police treated the suspects as if they were common criminals.

Catch the views of Mr Eugenides on the issue here.

In the aftermath of the queue of cabinet ministers confessing to having used cannabis in the past, Holyrood Watcher has a dreadful confession of his own. Meanwhile, Kevin Williamson has this on the Richard & Judy perspective on drugs. And Shuggy asks:

Is it really unrealistically ‘libertarian’ to expect people, specifically some of those in the media, to be a bit more grown-up about this sort of thing?

Reactionary Snob makes the point that it’s a bit difficult for to government to expect youngsters to take lessons on drugs from them now. Bill Cameron makes a similar point. But Kezia Dugdale says that there needs to be an open and honest debate, and that begins with open an honest politicians.

Of course, it’s not just Labour politicians who get themselves into a pickle with the law and substances. Niall makes the obvious joke at the expense of Kenny MacAskill’s views on alcohol and crime.

Will Patterson has an in-depth post on the possibility of the creation of a separate Scottish Civil Service.

David Farrer’s post shows why a Scottish BBC should be opposed. Even if you don’t agree with his viewpoint, a Scottish version of the BBC would hardly bring an end to all of the arguments surrounding the operation of the broadcaster. And of course, London bias would only be replaced by Glasgow bias anyway.

Elsewhere in BBC news (that is news about the BBC, not BBC News), Jeff outlines why he thinks the hoo-ha about that controversial footage of the Queen is really a non story.

Bishop Hill is concerned about another case of the BBC sexing up a story.

Stuart Blythe describes himself as “pro-marriage and pro-family”, but he thinks the Conservative Party’s attempts to promote marriage will not be much help to the children of single parents. Bookdrunk says it amounts to social engineering.

But it is not only the Tories who are coming under criticism for their big ideas. Adam Smith was a Socialist (there is a code phrase for “I am a Socialist” if ever there was one!) criticises the Lib Dems’ plans on tax.

Councillor Terry Kelly’s many fans have been howling with laughter over this one. It turns out that Terry Kelly did not even vote in May’s elections. Photographic evidence is at Terry Watch, who also report that his excuse is that he simply “forgot” to vote!

But let’s not forget that some people would avoid the ballot box anyway. Kezia Dugdale discovers the reality of apathy.

Now for one of those issues that only affects England (at the moment), but is still capturing the imagination of many of us north of the border. Louise at My Rambling Thoughts posts her not very rambling thoughts on the organ donation debate going on at present.

Angus Nicolson compares the Gini coefficients of Scotland and the UK.

Bishop Hill has this on the reaction of socialists to the collapse of a company.

Holyrood Watcher takes banks to task for making large profits on trading foreign currency.

Here is Agentmancuso on the relationship between the Lib Dems and Labour.

Richard Thomson ponders the relevance of Scottish Questions as well as commenting on Jo Swinson being shuffled out of the Lib Dem front bench in Westminster.

Reactionary Snob noted two contrasting outcomes of two court cases connected with religion:

What will the bigots around the country think of this? One can only imagine…

Paul Quirk of the Entertainment Retailer’s Association seemingly appeared in Bookdrunk’s comments — only to be fisked.

Meanwhile, Steve is Angry at the Belgian authorities who have outlawed all filesharing. That’s right — not just sharing copyrighted files, but all filesharing.

Anastasia Beaumont-Bott has moved away from Scotland now, and finds herself having to point out that we do have television. (Only just, mind you…)

Here is a post for all fans of the Scottish Raj.

Richard Leyton looks at the bureaucracy of filling a hole in Glasgow (get your minds out of the gutter; it’s a hole in the ground!).

Anas is just shocked by what has happened at Cerne Abbas. (This is nothing to do with Scotland or politics, but I cannot resist including the animated gif that just had to be made!)

Finally, Angry Steve wants to know why around a quarter of people answer the phone on the toilet. I know of one person who had it revealed to her mid-phone call that the person on the other end was in the bath! Not necessarily the image you want in your head when having a phone conversation…

That’s it for this week. Like I said, all going well, Will P will be in the chair next week. So get those suggestions in please by using the form on the right or by emailing us at scottishroundup@gmail.com.

Having missed most of the excitement of Weegies being interrupted heading off to the sun by some loony Al McQuaeda and his buddy Singe Majeep and their single handed effort to reduce the number of Four Wheel Drive Gas Guzzling Carbon Emitting Vehicles, one car at a time, I am forced to look for more uplifting material. Well at least some optimistic stuff. I am a Scot after all and that may be difficult.

OK Had to settle for funny. And now for the serious stuff.

Richard Havers has started a new blog, Airline Confidential. Nothing to do with the disruption at Glasgow Airport, but he does have a funny story about the day Robert Mugabe came to Edinburgh Airport. Is that an AK47 in your pants or are you just glad to see me. You can also learn really useful stuff like the fact that a 747 takes off every 30 seconds somewhere in the world. That is a real killer for the dinner table. How come mine were always in a 40 minute queue?

Continuing along the airport theme comes the New Scottish National Anthem, named after our new national hero. Groanin Jock has us singing along with an alternative to Flower of Scotland. We’ll need all of John’s energy when the Italians come to Hampden in the Autumn. Sing with Drunken Gusto.

O John of Smeaton
When will we see your like again
That fought and panned in
Two Al Qaeda men
And set about them
Osama’s army
And sent him homeward
Tae think again

The airport’s bare now
And cherokees lie burnt and still
O’er land that is saved now
Which brave Sir Smeato held
And set about them
Osama’s army
And sent him homeward
Tae think again

Those days are passed now
And in the past they must remain
But we can still rise now
And be a nation again
That set about them
Osama’s army
And sent him homeward
Tae think again

Speaking of Terrorism, Lady McLeod has an interesting Dubya chases Osama option for those early birds looking to stuff their kids Christmas Stockings. Or is this an adult joke present?

Flying Rodent also weighs into the War on Tetrirism. Clearly there are just so many Tetrirists plotting the downfall of the world as we know it. I mean we have all been trained in the mechanics of the evil game.

Dr Maroon in his inimitable style pays tribute to the United States and how it got away. Most people probably think that it is not such a bad thing, given the way some of the political leadership are behaving over there. Editors Note: The author would like to apologise for that completely unwarranted condemnation of current US policies. I am having anger counselling and it just slips out sometimes. Scottish Roundup has no assets, so don’t expect too much if you sue.

Pat the Chooks likes to get out into the wide open spaces. Nice weather. Not what I remember from many miserable, windy, sleeting, foggy, raining…. days that I spent on Scottish hills. I forgot that you have this sort of weather back in Scotland.

If getting out into the great outdoors is not for you or if you are just bored with your life, there is always Scotland in Second Life, where you can now talk in real time, with the enabling of voice in parts of Scotland. That will rumble all those quasi Scots, masquarading around with their L$1,000 Highland Outfits. Latest buys available for raunchy wannabee Scots include the

** “STRIP ME” KILTS
The Tartan shop now has a new line of “Strip Me” kilts that can allow your partner to rip off that kilt in a moment of (virtual) passion. Custom-ordered a kilt for L800 or just the script alone for 300L.

I think I will stick with the real life version.

In real life, true Scots stand to be harrassed by EU Sporran Polis. David Farrer reviles the impending regulation of the hairy sporran. Me too. Luckily I am in Australia.

Redemption Blues documents a recent Scottish Blogmeet, where the rich cultural diversity of contemporary Scotland was on view. I am not sure that I would be that keen to meet other bloggers since some of the jenesaisquois of the blogging experience may be lost. That said, having met some bloggers in Second Life at the Blogpower Awards, there is some merit in getting to know them a little. The photographs of the Maasai are spectacular however. There is something incredibly incongruous about the Maasai, with all the colour with a dour Edinburgh stone building in the background.

Addressing issues of cultural perception Robert Sharp has some thoughts on the non PC aspects of Tintin. Based on his writing, Tintin was pretty progressive compared to my grandparents generation.

I’ve read Tintin in the Congo, and it is indeed appalling. In addition to the obvious racism, it is also distinctly environmentally unfriendly. Tintin blows up a rhino with a stick of dynamite, shoots an entire herd of impala by accident, makes a snake gobble its own tail, performs a summary execution of a chimpanzee, attempts to shoot a crocodile in the face, and poaches an elephant for its tusks.

Where to begin with the racism in the book? Throughout, the Africans are portrayed as simpletons, who idolise Tintin and Snowy and fetishize anything western they can get their hands on. The chief of one tribe has a rolling pin for a sceptre.

We have certainly come a long way in our world view. The current Australian Labor leader, Kevin Rudd is very succesfully portrayed as Tintin by Bill Leak, one of the leading cartoonists here in Australia. I am not sure that he would share Tintin’s political outlook however.

Besom Abroad a Scottish student in Texas covers a lot of material on life in Texas with the interestingly titled post Testicles and Eggs .

One of the reasons I am such a Scottish nationalist is because it is quite sickening the way Scottish culture gets subsumed by English culture all the time. Americans seem to be very aware of Ireland and Irish culture, but they haven’t got a fucking clue when it comes to Scotland. A lot of the time, Americans will use the word “England” when they actually mean “Britain”. I’ve even heard professors at UT say this, which is disgusting. In the English department at UT (and I imagine in plenty others across the US) they hold classes called “The British Novel” but, if you look to see what writers are included, there’s never a single Scottish one there (or Welsh or Northern Irish, for that matter). They should just call the class “The English Novel” because that’s what it is. Scottish has such a thriving literary culture and yet hardly any Scottish novels are taught in the US. “Irish Studies” on the other hand is a field. If you study Irish literature, then you can join the “Ethnic and Third World Literature” interest group. It pisses me off that the Irish get to be “ethnic” and not me!

In a master stroke of positioning an American from Texas has his Beer Blog placed on the list of Scottish Blogs. We can only assume that this is a function of the importance of beer to our culture. The Scottish angle is not clear, but WTH. Perhaps Mr Smeaton can use this to help clear his bar tab.

Bloody Bus has a very entertaining look at late night Scottish Culture, focussing on a gentleman who had probably tried one of each from the Beer Blog. Who would be a late night bus driver? It certainly doesn’t seem to be like this.

Speaking of drugs, Richard Leyton mourns the end of a dear friend. These kinds of coffee makers were very popular in America when I lived there. Personally I prefer to plunge it myself. I wonder if they have the equivalent of needle exchanges for retired coffee makers.

Gordon McLean muses about social networking sites. Good and Bad. How many of these do we really need to function? Gordon has an amusing quasi legal disclaimer.

Site is copyright © Gordon McLean (1998-2007)

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License. Basically if you use any of the material here without permission, I’ll hunt you down and spork you to death.

This site is best viewed on a computer screen. Any attempts to view this site on a wet haddock are not supported (for, as everyone knows, a slightly damp aardvark is better).

And if that is not depressing enough, head to Glastonbury. Peter Urwin maintains a very nice Edinburgh Photoblog. His blog is a little difficult to navigate, but the photographs are great. This one on the front page Glastonbury #4 reminded me of my trips to Manila without all the people, the Jeepneys, the houses, the pollution, the rubbish, the San Miguel, the people….

Speaking of grim living, Gareth Saunders has a plea for support for homeless people. A very worthwhile cause.

You see the solution to the homelessness problem isn’t in pouring money into hostels to remove these ‘inconvenient’ homeless folks from the streets: out of sight, out of mind. The solution, surely lies in investing time and money in trying to help transform these people’s lives.

And finally, on more upbeat note, Mr Eugenides is considered funny in Australia.

Until the next time toodleoo from Adelaide.