Well, folks, as you’d expect, the decision to release Megrahi on compassionate grounds continues to rumble on.

Richard Thomson and Huttonian take a look at the decision. Lallands Peat Worrier takes a MacAskill-esque quasi-legal view of matters, while Jonathan Mitchell QC analyses the decision and concludes that MacAskill’s decision was the right one.

Meanwhile, Tom Harris points out a flaw in the idea that the release was part of a trade deal – namely that an SNP Minister wouldn’t be overly enthused at making a decision that would make life easier for the UK Labour Government.

Speaking of the UK Labour Government, eyebrows have been raised by Gordon Brown’s silence on the matter: The Big Dollop is far from impressed, while Herald journalist Torcuil Crichton considers the political damage Brown is opening himself up to by keeping quiet.

But UK Opposition responses are raising eyebrows as well: Scott is far from impressed by Tory PPC Louise Bagshawe’s view of events.

And Holyrood Opposition figures are coming under scrutiny as well: neither Clairwil nor BellgroveBelle are impressed, while in the wake of John Prescott voicing his approval of the decision, and Malcolm Chisholm speaking in favour of the Justice Secretary at Holyrood, Calum Cashley speculates on which opposition politicians support the decision to release Megrahi.

Meanwhile, reaction across the Atlantic has been put under the spotlight: Flying Rodent summarises the debate on the matter as it’s taking place in the US, while Malc is critical of the emotive approach being taken, and Shuggy suggests that matters are a little more complex than some of those wading into the debate believe.

Nevertheless, what is clear is that opinion polls show a majority of Scots opposing the decision. Bill takes a look at matters, while Ideas of Civilisation looks at just who are the Scottish people being bandied about by politicians. Scottish Unionist, meanwhile, compares the poll figures with some of the statements made by SNP figures on the matter.

In other news, the passing of Ted Kennedy, Democratic Senator for Massachusetts and the last surviving brother of JFK drew comment. Caron pays tribute to a real Liberal, but The Big Dollop is less inclined towards a eulogy.

To less morbid matters now, and the proposals for a High-Speed Rail Link (to be completed in 21 years’ time – am I the only one who spots the irony there?) between Scotland and London are hailed by Andrew Burns, while Jeff argues that the Link is a far more pressing project than the third Forth Crossing. However, Subrosa and Dave don’t see the plans making it off the drawing board.

Neil Craig has three posts on the economy: the first uses Lily Allen to assess what ‘career’ strategy the UK should put in place, the second looks at X-Prizes can be successful, while the third looks at the habits of highly effective countries.

Adopted Domain might get Neil’s attention with his call for the Greens to rethink their policy on economic growth, while Bucket of Tongues looks at UK taxation levels when compared with other countries in differing economic states, with some surprising results.

And in the weekly constitutional spot, Mr. Eugenides takes a look at why fiscal autonomy for Holyrood would benefit the Scottish Tories – and, indeed, Scotland.

In advance of the UK LibDem Conference, Bernard Salmon takes a look at discussions within the party about the future of devolution (and notes that still no one really mentions England in that context).

Meanwhile, Tom Harris isn’t overly impressed at some aspects of the proposals for reforming the House of Lords.

Elsewhere, Andrew looks at the proposed cuts to Housing Benefit.

Over at Slugger O’Toole, there’s a video of David Mitchell talking about Gaelic language policy.

Kirk Elder is far from impressed at Tory Shadow Home Secretary Chris Grayling’s attempt to compare parts of the country with scenes from The Wire.

Lallands Peat Worrier presents a statistical picture of Scotland.

James presents some political anagrams for our delectation and delight (given the current furore over Lockerbie, there’s something strangely fitting in ‘Scottish National Party’ being re-arranged to form ‘Nasty Atlantic Riot Shop’).

Time for a look at the MSM: Yousuf reviews the state of Johnston Press, owners of The Scotsman, while Montague Burton notes that the Sunday Mail have dropped Elaine C. Smith from their line up of columnists.

Online matters, now. Caron has produced a handy directory of Scottish political twitterati.

And as well publicised on here, some of the Scottish Blogosphere’s A-List met up on Thursday night: Duncan and Stephen report, while Angry Steve provides the photos.

And there’s another blogmeet to tell you about: Bill informs us that the Nairn arm of the blogosphere will be meeting on Wednesday.

So that’s it for this week. If you want to send in a link for next week’s Roundup, you can use the twiddlymajig on the right, or send us an e-mail to scottishroundup@gmail.com. You can also follow us on Twitter: @ScottishRoundup. Bye-de-bye!

Just a quick update to inform those who are interested in attending this week’s meetup of bloggers.

We will be meeting in the Pleasance Courtyard in Edinburgh on Thursday 27 August from around 6pm onwards.

Some people have suggested Pleasance Courtyard may be too busy so there may have to be a Plan B. In case we need to change plans, I will try my best to keep everyone updated on Twitter — @doctorvee. Likewise, if anyone needs to get in contact with me the best way is probably to direct message me on Twitter. Also keep an eye on my blog for any other news.

To help people find us, I will wear a green long-sleeved t-shirt. Look for a young-but-strangely-jaded-looking person and chances are it’ll be me.

Everyone is welcome and based on the feedback so far it seems like we’ll get a relatively good turnout. So I hope to see you there!

No prizes for guessing which topic we’re focussing on this week — the release of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi.

Slugger O’Toole was in early with a roundup of reactions published on Thursday, before Megrahi was released.

Among the most important contributions this week came from Scott at Love and Garbage. He has a personal connection to the Lockerbie case, and his background in law also qualifies him to comment on the legal aspects of the story. In two separate posts he outlined why he felt that Kenny MacAskill is unfit to be Justice Secretary, believing that it was a major error to personally visit Megrahi.

Jeff felt that no matter what decision he took, Kenny MacAskill couldn’t win.

But quite apart from the decision itself, a lot of people got wound up about the way the decision was presented. The Economist’s Bagehot noted that Mr MacAskill appeared to relish his “15 minutes” in the spotlight — and stretched it out to 25 minutes. Fraser Nelson on The Spectator’s Coffee House blog similarly noted: “All too much of this is to do with theatrics; the phrase “Scottish government” – which Salmond’s administration is not – being repeated world over.”

But Flying Rodent thinks it unlikely that the Scottish Government made the decision in an attempt to gain publicity: “what kind of gibbering idiot could believe for a second that the SNP would benefit from releasing Scotland’s most notorious terrorist?”

On the other hand, Jay Stringer recalls the time two years ago when Alex Salmond “manufactured” a story about Megrahi:

He got lots of publicity out of it. Managing at no point to mention that it was he who had raised the issue in the first place.

You can’t shake the feeling that many people thought that a good aspect about the decision was the assertion of the power of the Scottish Government. For Emily Sutton at Total Politics, “MacAskill has proven Holyrood has teeth and isn’t afraid to bite.”

Charon QC’s view is that the decision was actually a sign of “weakness” from the Scottish Government.

The strength of the Scottish Government was something that was also important to Mike Smith at Auld Reekie Rants. But he feels that the decision was a sign of strength:

…whether one agrees with the decision or not, there is one thing that makes me proud of my country. Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill has taken a decision he knew would be unpopular in the UK and more particularly, the USA. But he has refused to bow to American pressure; refused to be bullied by the powers that be in the States. The decision to release Mr Megrahi was made in Scotland. Our country. Scotland’s decision. No one else’s.

Brian Taylor thought that Mr MacAskill’s statement was a “religious pitch to a US audience”.

Now that we’ve mentioned the USA, it is time to move on to the other aspect of the debate. A gulf appears to be present in opinion between Scots / Brits and Americans over the role of compassion in the justice system. But even many Scottish bloggers were asking, was Megrahi was a man who deserved compassion? A common theme was to compare Megrahi to other notorious criminals as a thought experiment.

Tom Harris asked if Thomas Hamilton would have received such a release. He noted:

I can’t shake the feeling that not far beneath the surface of this debate has been an assumption — and if not an assumption, then certainly a suspicion — that Al-Megrahi is innocent of the crime of which he was convicted eight years ago.

Ideas of Civilisation looked for reasons why Megrahi may be treated differently to those involved in other high-profile tragedies such as Baby P or Brandon Muir.

On the other hand, Caron suspects that it is Megrahi’s very notoriety that has made this such a big story: “If he were anyone else, he’d have been quietly released and nobody would really be any the wiser.” Caron also notes that British families may well feel that there was a miscarriage of justice, having memory of the Birmingham Six and the Guildford Four in this country. But she, like Scott and Love and Garbage, thinks that Mr MacAskill made a major error by visiting Megrahi in jail.

Bill Cameron is another blogger who gives the idea of showing compassion to Megrahi short shrift:

We are all going to die some day – it’s part of human existence, indeed of every living creature. The fact that someone happens to be dying of some incurable disease in prison does not make them any more deserving of ‘compassion’ than any other criminal serving a prison sentence who happens to be going to die there.

For Indygal it is not about showing compassion to Megrahi as much as it is about showing compassion to his family.

However, Subrosa is of the opinion that Megrahi and his family has already been treated very well. She contrasts Megrahi’s reported treatment from the NHS. He “appears to have had several specialists looking after his health”, while other sufferers of prostate cancer have had just one specialist.

Scottish Politics says:

To allow Mr al-Megrahi to die in a Scottish prison would be vengeance, not justice and it is important for the sake of our society that this distinction is always uppermost in our minds. Vengeance is rarely just and never merciful and breeds only resentment and hate.

Big Rab thinks that compassion is more important than retribution.

Compassion is surely one of the more endearing traits of the human condition. It is something which separates civilised and barbaric societies.

Revenge, retribution and punishment to the extent that they should be visited upon a man already dying and who poses no further threat or potential to harm anyone, no matter what he is accused or convicted of, is surely not the motif of a mature democtratic, civilised and dare I say it Christian society?

Or is it still an eye for an eye?

The contrast with mainstream opinion in the USA is made by many as it became clear how strong feeling was across the pond.

David Farrer posted his perspective to an American audience.

With incredulity, Jeff wrote on Twitter about a comment left by an American reader. “Fuck you, you bunch of dress-wearing twats.” Nice!

Scottish Roundup also received a comment from an American last week while the story was bubbling under:

I’d suggest a compromise. Release him over his home country of Libya from an aircraft flying at 31,000 feet; the same altitude that Flight 103 was flying at when the bomb was detonated. Give him an oxygen tank so he can breathe during the drop and remain conscious, but omit the parachute so he gets an idea of what the people on that flight endured prior to coming to earth. From that altitude, the fall to earth would take approximately 3 very long minutes. This monster deserves as much compassion as he showed to his victims.

Big Rab spotted a website called BoycottScotland.com. Rab notes: “I don’t recall similar boycott calls when young healthy and potentially active terrorists were released under the Good Friday Agreement (which incidentally paved the way for the outbreak of peace in Ireland) and of course neither should there have been.”

A similar note was struck by Stephen Glenn:

…of course there was no outcry about a mockery of justice from America about early release of Northern Ireland Terrorists who had killed in total more than that fateful night, many of whom showed no remorse. Indeed when Mo Mowlam stalled the release programme in 1999 when the IRA had broken the terms on arms procurement it was the Americans who spoke to urge her to carry on. Of course the Northern Ireland release programme was the right thing to do in the light of the peace process just as al-Megrahi’s is right in terms of his own imminent death.

Mr Eugenides had a slightly different take on the compassion angle:

…if we were really so concerned about allowing a man with cancer of the ass to see out his days with a degree of dignity, why the fuck did we send him out to the plane dressed as a ned?

All-in-all, Jeff struggled to understand many of the reactions to the story, describing other bloggers as “rabid”, “boneheaded”, “momenarily los[ing] leave of her senses” and “vacuous” among other things. Click through for the 800 word version.

In the aftermath of Megrahi’s release, the Scottish Parliament has been recalled a week early. This was just days after Alex Fergusson turned down a request from Tavish Scott to recall Parliament before Megrahi’s release. For Andrew Reeves, the move is “a bit like shutting the door, long after the horse bolted.”

Other issues now.

Neil Craig brings to our attention the fact that the Climatic Research Unit has “lost or destroyed” the data that would allow the construction of a global temperature record. Neil highlights the anti-scientific approach taken by Phil Jones.

On a similar note, Bernard Salmon reckons that the risk of getting bowel cancer as a result of eating red meat is overstated:

…the increased risk of bowel cancer from eating red meat is somewhere in the region of 20-25 per cent, which compares with an increased risk of lung cancer from smoking of up to 2000%.

Over at Bella Caledonia, a perspective on Trident and the Union.

Mike Cormack had a chat with someone which reminded him that “the large majority of people in Britain read the rightwing tabloids and broadsheets.”

David Cameron has suggested that he may be in favour of minimum prices on alcohol. Alex Massie:

…where’s the bleedin’ post-bureacratic age in any of this? Nowhere to be seen. Where is the Tories’ much-ballyhooed commtiment to localism? Abandoned, it would seem and not even sidelined in favour of anything good.

Tory Bear feels similarly: “What happened to personal responsibility, that little concept you spoke of just over a year ago. It wasn’t all nanny state and dictating to people what they should drink then.”

Returning to the political gulf that is apparent between Scotland / Britain and the USA, but this time going back to the issue of the NHS. John Connell has a look at figures comparing the UK’s healthcare system with the USA’s.

On to another topic that has also been recently covered, the attempt to charge for newspapers’ content. James thinks that is is part of the newspapers’ grief process.

Time for some navel gazing now. This year’s Total Politics blog poll results are slowly being drip-fed to a febrile blogosphere. This week saw the announcement of the top 50 Scottish blogs. Congratulations to everyone mentioned in the list.

Andrew Reeves had a look at how the Lib Dem bloggers did in the poll. Meanwhile, Yousuf noted that the presence of nationalist blogs was not as strong as might have been expected.

Finally — yes, we are almost at the end — an update on the bloggers’ meetup. Plans have been decided. We will be meeting on 27 August at around 6pm at Pleasance Courtyard in Edinburgh. Everyone is welcome to join us. Keep an eye on my blog for more information.

Next week’s roundup will be brought to you by Will P. Please get those nominations in the normal way, by using the contact form on the right or by emailing us: scottishroundup@gmail.com. Thanks.

Welcome to what is for me,  a particularly exciting round up. Why the excitement? Well the blogosphere has sent me a sign that I am not be alone in my loathing of Adrian Chiles. He is a man simply designed for slapping yet he peers from our televisions five nights a week and no one does anything. Please do take the time to read this splendid rant from Mr H  which actually deals with Chiles fairly quickly before getting to the chief source of his rage  -  a particularly offensive cover of Countryfile magazine.

On a calmer note The Ill Man strums his ukelele whilst wearing shorts. I have known the Ill Man for about fifteen years and I’ve never known him to make an exhibition of himself by wearing shorts. I suspect it’s a cry for help.

Elsewhere Dumbarton High Street  remains ‘vibrant’ and ‘interesting’. Do I detect despair behind the chuckles? If the state of Dumbarton High Street leaves you tired of the grind and aching to be far  away but the credit crunch has left you stranded try Biking The Great Divide and marvel at corners of the world free from running potato battles.

Another wonderful find is Scotland in the Gloaming. This and this are the  lucky nominees in this round up but please have a look through the whole blog for more breathtaking pictures taken all over Scotland. Staying with fine Scottish photography flickr-Scotland treat us to this dramatic image.

Islay blog treats us to some views of Islay from old Ordnance Survey maps. Pray that Mr Clairwil never finds out these maps are available online. He’s a pleasant chap but there are only so many times one can have ones street pointed out on a map before becoming a wreck living in terror of the phrase ’shall I get the map?’ Don’t let that put you off reading Islay blog, it really is a fascinating post and I promise you, it won’t haunt you just waiting to hear the words ‘I’m not sure where that is’ before pouncing.

I’m afraid I  have lowered the tone somewhat over at my blog by posting not once but twice on matters related to sex. I don’t make a habit of it but sometimes events provoke a response. I shall endevour to find new topics for the rest of the month.

In light of what I learned during my research for the above posts I worry about this Edinburgh bike dolled up like a strumpet. Oh I know it’s just thinks ‘I’m worth it’ and ‘it’s the fashion’ but there are some funny folk out there. Stay safe bike -that’s all I’m saying.

Speaking of funny folk the mind boggles into what goes on in some parents minds as they redefine the word inappropriate using their own children.

Returning to more wholesame fare, a rather silly newspaper article causes Jay Jay’s mother to become alarmed. She has my sympathy. There is nothing worse than an alarmed mother. My life has been a living hell since mummy started taking the Daily Mail.  There is no reasoning with a mother who has read something in the papers, they’ll take the word of hack they’ve never met over their child every time. All one can do is keep a low profile until it blows over.

John Connell has some wise words on the subject of CCTV in the classroom. I don’t know if the modern child is a better behaved beastie than those of my generation but I can’t help but think that the presence of CCTV in the classrooms of my youth would have encouraged obscene gestures and showboating on a grand scale. Quite how that would ‘assist teacher training’ is beyond me.

Sticking with technology I’m not altogether sure what an HD box is, other than it’s something to do with telly. This chap seems to know his onions though so I’d ask him if you have any questions. I’d only palm you off with something I’d made up about magic and chips. It’d be bollocks and we’d all end up thinking less of each other afterwards.

Crying is nothing a quick skelp with a wet tea towel can’t sort but should the men be getting more practice in? I don’t mind a chap showing a bit of emotion as long as they don’t kick the arse out it. We don’t want men carrying on like those funny women who occasionally turn up at parties monopolise the bathroom for a tear fest.

Finally let me draw your attention to a chap who could be forgiven for crying, having decided to undergo a frightful ordeal for a good cause. Malc in the Burgh has embarked on a fundraiser for the MS Society Scotland and is going to run a marathon to loosen your pursestrings.  Give generously folks.

That’s all for this round up. Keep your eyes peeled for news of the BBQ and call back on Sunday for the political round up hosted by an as yet unconfirmed guest.

ScottishToryBoy has a confession to make, I completely forgot about the fact that this week was my turn to do the round up of all the goings on in Scottish Politics. So here it is, a little late but better late than never eh?

One of the big talking points this week has been the news surrounding the proposed release of Adbelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi – the man accused of the Lockerbie bombing. Whilst this is a subject I veered clear of discussing, I am from the area and know of people who lost friends and family etc, it is not an issue that Christine Grahame MSP has missed the chance to talk about in great length. Lallands Peat Worrier has a very interesting post on how exactly the story got out this week and who stands to gain most with it being out in the public domain. Over at Caron’s Musings, Caron believes that an independent body should be set up to look at the release of prisoners if they are terminally ill. Me? I don’t ask for much, just compelling evidence of his illness.

Over States side a row has broken out over Obama’s proposed health bill which has the aim of giving free health care to 46 million people, leading to comparisons with our own NHS. Now, it seems that to many the NHS is above criticism and whilst I think that Tory MEP Dan Hannan went a bit overboard on his criticism, I also believe that him being branded “unpatriotic” is a bit OTT as well. Both the Sun – link not online – and the Daily Mail have urged Tory leader David Cameron not to treat the NHS as a sacred cow as it could and should be doing better. On that subject, Mr Eugenides hits out at those that are bothering him with their “we love the NHS” Facebook and twitter updates. James @ TwoDoctors also talks about the viral campaign of support that the NHS has generated but questions just how much an impact it’ll make. Finally on this subject, it would appear that the Flying Rodent is no fan of Dan Hannan.

A Scandal and a Disgrace hits out at spending by the Scottish Parliament and the Scottish Government this week – spending that includes £2m for a pub in Craigmillar and £300k on new computers at the Scottish Parliament. There seems to have been a bit of a furore over the new computers from some researchers, or faux rage if you will. Not a Village in Westminster has a very interesting post on the role of Labour in a devolved Scotland and the difficulties that the party has due to it’s lack of autonomy from it’s bosses down South. Holyrood Patter reports a fascinating story that Gordon Brown has appointed a dancing tsar whilst Subrosa has a blog about the Ofcom report on Scottish Broadcasting. Tom Harris hits out at the proposed assisted placement scheme that is allegedly being considered by Lord Mandelson describing it as both “misguided” and “patronising.”

Finally, Kezia Dugdale looks at the polling predictions of electoral calculus and asks if Alistair Darling will be the only Labour MP left in Edinburgh. As with most polls, the findings can be taken with a pinch of salt but it’s going to be interesting to see what happens in the Edinburgh Seats. It’s probably fair to say that whoever stands for the Lib Dems in Edinburgh West is likely to be an MP after the next election but I think it is fair to say that all the other seats in the city are very much in play.