What has happened to the blogosphere. Is everyone having a couple of weeks off or was that just me?

Yes, it was just me. I come home from foreign shores and hit the blogosphere to find out that not only has Stephen Gately died, but that my postcards will be getting home two weeks behind me if I’m lucky and they’ve let the racists on the telly in the first time since Carol Thatcher got the boot from The One Show or they stopped letting Prince Philip near a microphone.

First off, the postal strike. Andrew blames the Scottish Government for adding the the Post Office’s woes.

As for Nick Griffin on Question Time there was no one post that said it all- you were ALL talking about it. Moridura does a post mortem on the show. Mr Eugenides agrees with Mathew Parris’s assertion that freedom of speech is more important than worrying about the repercussions of giving the BNP a primetime platform on Question Time. Big Rab over at The Ben Lomond Free Press was not impressed with either Nick Griffin OR the other panellists on this week’s Question Time either. The Big Dollop echoes the freedom of speech argument for Nick Griffin appearing on the show. I have lived my life by the theory that one should ALWAYS get the mature lady’s opinion on anything, as my mother will testify. Luckily Subrosa gives “the mature lady’s” point of view on Griffin’s QT appearance: But what about mature men, don’t they have a say? Yes they do. The Angry Old Man puts the blame for an increase in BNP’s support squarely at Labour’s door. They might as well take it, they’re to blame for everything else anyway. I suspect they are even behind those horrible Irish twins still being in X Factor, the gits.

Still, I should watch what I’m writing and so should you all, I may say. We’re all being thoroughly scrutinised according to The Jury Team.

Clairwil looks at plans to make Trafalgar Square in London more Islamic. Nelson never struck me as the kind of man that liked his ladies covered up. It’ll never happen.

Meanwhile, Sgniteerg looks at where he thinks we are now on the question of Scottish independence.

Some people were not watching Question Time or worrying about the state of things. Or at least if they were, they weren’t blogging about it. Author and writer’s guru Nicola Morgan is the Simon Cowell of authors (in my mind, anyway). She gladly gives free advice to aspiring authors, being a successful author herself, but she won’t pull her punches, so fragile egos should watch out. Here she fiendishly dissects a tirade from a Struggling Author.

I’m all for bursting into spontaneously bursting into song and dance like I’m in a Busby Berkeley musical, it’s what has made me such an interesting neighbour. But now, apparently if you whistle a merry tune at work, or burst into song in the street, the Performing Rights Society can fine you. What, even if it’s not by Cliff Richard? Pirate Party has the lowdown.

Mr Farty continues his long running series of Computer Terms illustrated. Surely a coffee table book is in the offing?

Jaggy looks at the Boy in the Balloon incident but from a perspective of Internet versus TV. It’s like Batman versus Superman. But who won?

Aye, the nights are fair drawing in, so they are. Cat over at The Cat Girl Speaks adds dark nights to her dread-list of the months to come, but gets treated at the shops to help ease the pain.

Where the Mountains Meet the Sea has some beautiful seasonal photos up to remind us all that dark nights may be the downside of Autumn but beautiful landscapes are the best aspect of this time of year.

Over at Doctor V’s place, Duncan is on the verge of starting a support group for motorsport fans.

That’s all for this week. But, before the hounds are released ….One thing I found when editing the blog round up is that many bloggers out there are too shy and self deprecating to nominate their own posts, but you should. Fill in that wee form over there and blow your own trumpet. One correspondent messaged me to say he’d like to nom his own stuff but “it’s not political”. So I feel it’s incumbent on me since I’ve got the keys to the Round-Up penthouse this evening to say- the Scottish Round Up now has no categories, we accept all types of blog nominations from political, to travel, to humour, to personal, to photographic, to fiction to whatever you want to blog about.

Happy blogging, people!

Hi folks! Holyrood might be in recess but there’s still been plenty to chew on this week, especially with the last of the Conferences taking place, as the SNP gather in Inverness.

But the main thing that’s got people to their keyboards this week is the Trafigura affair, where libel lawyers Carter Ruck successfully took out an injunction banning the Guardian from reporting on a parliamentary question asked in the Commons, concerning Trafigura dumping toxic waste in the Ivory Coast. Of course, the Guardian proceeded to report that they couldn’t report on it, and bloggers picked up on that story and duly joined the dots.

BellgroveBelle, Caron, Jess the Dog. Anseo and Bernard Salmon all reflect on the attack on the freedom of the press – heaven forfend that a newspaper might want to report the facts – and the inadvertant damage caused to both Carter Ruck and Trafigura by the heavy-handed legal action. Mr. Eugenides notes that attempts to suppress stories tend to backfire, while Alex Massie notes that Carter Ruck have, in fact, managed to ignore their own advice on this matter.

On a similar note, the blogosphere might not like what Dutch far-right politician Geert Wilders has to say, but are pleased that he can finally come to the UK to say it: Alex Massie and Bernard Salmon discuss the matter, but Mr. Eugenides wants to know the real reason behind UKIP’s invitation to the man.

Tying into the issue of freedom of speech was the death of Boyzone singer Stephen Gately. Caron and Stephen mourn his passing, while Anne McLaughlin s horrifed that, in some circles, it’s become a laughing matter.

But the controversy began when Jan Moir of the Daily Mail waded in, and managed to offend… well, everyone, really. Whatever happened to speaking ill of the dead? Clairwil rips into Jan Moir, while Andrew and Stephen are equally livid. Mr. Eugenides notes that it was ill-advised for them to refer to tweets from Stephen Fry in the very week that he’d used his Twitter feed to slate the paper for publishing Jan Moir’s piece.

Jeff, meanwhile, is perplexed at the general hysteria surrounding both this issue and a handful of tweets by Pete Wishart MP that got other parties foaming at the mouth. Stuart Winton is less than impressed at the hysterical reaction – and the reaction to the reaction.

To other matters now, and the upcoming Glasgow North East By-Election: Kezia has a few snippets from the front-line, Andrew notes a collection of gaffes on the part of the Labour campaign, but Yousuf believes that the SNP Conference has created a ‘lost weekend’ for SNP activists, many of whom are in Inverness, and not Glasgow, while Tom Harris isn’t impressed by the SNP’s use of private leaflet distributors. Meanwhile, Yousuf notes that Alex Salmond is trying to manage expectations of the SNP’s By-Election performance.

Staying with the SNP, activists have been gathering in Inverness: BellgroveBelle reports on speechs by John Swinney and Alex Salmond, while Jeff files his own dispatches from Eden Court, as does Anne McLaughlin, whose post I’m not mentioning just because I was part of the act that beat her at the Nat Factor, oh no. Stuart, meanwhile, casts a more sceptical eye on proceedings.

And one of the big talking points of the Conference is how the SNP will react to a Hung Parliament: James compares the SNP’s potential relationship with the UK Government under those circumstances to the realationship between the Greens and Scottish Government at Holyrood. Meanwhile, the possibility that the SNP might find itself dealing with the Tories has produced a “Vote SNP, Get Tory” campaign from Labour. Andy Sharp responds, pointing out the realities of tactical (and otherwise) voting in East Lothian, while Jeff reckons that SNP Tactical Voting is the way forward. But then, he would say that, wouldn’t he?

Of course, all this talk of a Hung Parliament serves to remind us that a Tory Government isn’t as inevitable as some think, as both Stuart and Yousuf point out. That’s particularly true when you factor in the ‘Anyone but the Tories’ attitude that Duncan discusses.

And with the election around six months away, discussions on voter apathy come with it. Wendy Fraser, guesting at Malc’s blog, looks at why she still finds it worthwhile taking part in the democratic process.

But it’s little wonder that people might not wish to bother, with the expenses scandal rumbling on, and the Legg report adding a new twist to proceedings. Jess the Dog reminds us that we have the power to eject them. Subrosa argues that MP’s caught with their hands in the till should be fired, Malc isn’t overly happy with the actual basis of the Legg report – which expects MP’s to pay back claims that were perfectly valid when they made them – while Mark Lazarowicz is relieved that he, at least, can draw a line under matters.

On other matters, Andrew, Angus Nicolson and Jess the Dog are all unsettled by the prospect of Tony Blair becoming EU President.

Julie McAnulty has three posts on the Mental Capacity Act.

Calum and Chris are less than impressed with Labour’s stance on knife crime.

Andy is unhappy that David Miliband backs the release of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi for diplomatic reasons and not compassionate grounds.

Subrosa is disturbed at the state of industrial relations within Royal Mail.

James is thrilled to welcome Debra Storr, one of the Aberdeenshire Councillors caught up in the Donald Trump row, to the Green Party.

Ideas of Civilisation is exasperated by the sensationalism and oversimplification at the heart of the MSM’s reporting style.

And with the news that a company is looking for a Glaswegian translator, Anne McLaughlin produces a Glasgow-English phrasebook.

Of course, that may come in handy if the Old Firm quit the SPL for the English Premier League. Rob Marrs reflects on the issues at the heart of this, but I am sceptical. Rob is also sceptical about the idea of the North Atlantic League being proposed again.

Malc and Osama, meanwhile, are quite happy with the idea of players born elsewhere but educated in Scotland playing for the Scottish football team.

Staying with snooker, James Kelly reflects on the state of the game.

Finally, Scottish Unionist has announced his retirement from the blogosphere. Here’s hoping that he, like many others, goes on to change his mind.

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

Hello everyone and welcome to this week’s roundup!

There has been much debate about debates this week. The prospects of a televised debate between the political leaders in the run-up to the next General Election are increasing. With it has come grumbling from the SNP, who are threatening legal action if they do not have a presence in such a debate.

Oddly, they are not so keen on taking part in a debate about Scotland’s constitutional future, as Iain Gray has suggested. Yousuf outlines why he thinks a head-to-head debate between Iain Gray and Alex Salmond should take place.

For Stephen Glenn, the desire of the SNP to “bully” the UK-wide agenda while ignoring a Scottish debate is a problem of ego. Maybe this is how Alex Salmond sees himself?

As part of Liberal Democrat Voice’s ‘Haggis, Neeps and Liberalism’ series, Bernard Salmon adds his thoughts on the debate debate.

Richard Leyton calls the SNP’s stance “bizarre”. Shuggy is fairly scathing too.

Nonetheless, the SNP’s objections raise an important point about impartiality in broadcasting. Ideas of Civilisation considers how you could make such televised debates fair.

According to Malc, if you were to only invite those who had a realistic chance of being the next Prime Minister, only David Cameron would be invited to the debate.

Scott at Love and Garbage has come one step closer to world fame, with his joke about Barack Obama winning the Nobel Peace Prize reaching the mainstream media. “All of the world population to be rewarded with Nobel Peace Prize in 2010 because we’re not George W Bush either.”

John Ault says that Obama’s honour is like receiving a standing ovation before the speech. Michael Greenwell was left totally unimpressed by the decision of the Nobel committee.

Scotland’s External Affairs minister Michael Russell is blogging about his visit to India this week.

Amid the news that 100 more jobs will be lost at The Scotsman as it moves printing to Glasgow, Mike Smith has fears over “the continuing demise of The Scotsman“.

Jeff considers the news that the Lib Dems will be reviewing their policy on an independence referendum. According to Malc, this means that Scotland’s constitutional future lies in the hands of Ross Finnie!

Richard Thomson looks at what it means for the Lib Dems. He suggests that Tavish Scott’s hand may have been forced as a result of “discomfit” among members over the party’s previously hardline stance on the issue. But from my perspective, the fact that SNP bloggers have reacted most excitedly, in comparison to the relative silence from Lib Dems, says it all.

Tom Griffin at Open Democracy has a good overview of analysis on the Lib Dems’ move.

Still on constitutional matters, Lallands Peat Worrier extends an olive branch to the much-maligned party list system used for elections to the Scottish Parliament. He sees the virtues in the system.

The option to vote for a party may not be much use to Alex Massie. He considers voting behaviour, and recommends that people should vote for the candidate, not the party.

Following the Conservative Party conference, Will Patterson asks if we are witnessing the rise of the “Teflon Tories”. Alex Massie noted that David Cameron’s speech was perhaps too much on the bleak side.

Meanwhile, Stephen Glenn has noticed a contradiction in Nick Robinson’s coverage of the political conferences.

The Conservatives’ policy on a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty is facing increased scrutiny. Caron has a guest post from Lib Dem MEP George Lyon on the issue.

Winding up for the Glasgow North East by-election, the date for which was finally announced this week, Chris Jones at Leaves on the Line has produced a handy translation guide for Glasgow Labour political slogans.

Andrew Reeves criticises government plans to cut back on the Territorial Army.

Some comments Ian Hislop made on Question Time about Yvette Cooper have raised eyebrows. I don’t watch the programme myself — I personally prefer to remain sane. But Yousuf makes some interesting points about Mr Hislop’s comments.

Ian Hislop isn’t the only one to put his foot in it this week. Jeff was left unimpressed by comments made on Twitter by Ben Bradshaw about David Cameron’s son.

Tracey Emin is promising to leave the country due to high taxes. But as Clairwil points out, if you are moving for tax reasons, why on earth would you choose to move to France?

Dave at Holyrood Chronicles calls Nasa’s attempt to bomb the moon “vandalism”.

At least two bloggers took part in last week’s Loch Ness Marathon. Malc did a great job, completing the run in 3 hours and 41 minutes, with his friend Audrey finishing after 5 hours and 4 minutes. They have raised a staggering £1,500 for MS Scotland — amazing stuff.

Boxthejack also ran the marathon, raising money for Middle East Nonviolence and Democracy.

Joan McAlpine celebrates the 40th birthday of Scottish Ballet.

As I write, the Snooker Grand Prix is currently taking place at the Kelvin Hall. I am quite a fan of snooker, but James Kelly at Scot Goes Pop! notes a fundamental problem with the sport — the better the players, the more boring the spectacle. An interesting thought.

Photography is fast becoming a regular in Scottish Roundup, and this week we are brought footprints in the sand.

And that’s all for this week. Next week’s roundup will be ably brought to you by Will P. So get those nominations in as always, either by using the handy contact form on the right, or by emailing us at scottishroundup@gmail.com. Thanks!

Hi folks, this is my first time as a guest editor so please be gentle.  Here is my round up of what is making those in the MacBlogosphere tap away on the keyboards this week.

The political conference season is now part way through with the TUC, Liberal Democrats and Labour having been and gone, the Conservatives has just begun and the SNP still to come.

It was decided by the media that Gordon Brown had to make the speech of his life at the Labour conference, Neil Craig has an interesting comparison between Gordon Brown and Sarah Palin.  Callum Cashley didn’t think Brown did as bad as (he) expected and Andrew Reeves (me) thought he pulled it out of the bag but filled it with Lib Dem policies.

Then Murdoch got involved and the Sun is once again supporting the Conservatives, although not in Scotland just yet, if at all.  Tom Harris is big enough to admit that losing their support is a blow to Labour and Jeff says Gordon Brown is now facing Operation Insurmountable whereas Stephen questions whether it is people who decide elections?  Will Patterson explains why this was a good day for the Daily Record and Malcolm says the song is the same.

Up in Aberdeenshire the Trump saga goes on and this week the vote on compulsory purchase orders didn’t go the way many expected.  Stephentells us about an article in Golf week with Trump not playing the game with a hattip to James.  The trouble with Donald is explained by James who also comments about Trump’s crumbling Scottish empire.

Friday was when Ireland went to the polls and as we all know now the YES vote won, Jeff explains why Lisbon is worse for Brown, not Cameron.

It was Cameron’s turn on the Andrew Marr show this morning, although there were no pill popping moments it wasn’t the best interview nor was Cameron good at answering any straight questions, here are just two of my favourite blog posts – Tom Harris on yes or no? Jeff is happy that Marr was equally aggressive with Cameron as he was with Brown.

Tom Harris has a view on the hurdles of an AV referendum while Yapping Yousuf explains if Keynes was weegie.

Callum Cashley thinks Strathclyde should ask the Orange Lodge for money to police the marches as they ask football clubs to police the fans while Caron explains where to get information on cervical cancer jabs following the tragic death of Natalie Morton, the 14 year old who died following a jab, although the jab has been ruled out as the cause of her death.

Subrosa explains the curse of Bute House (with some translation for us English folk) or why Salmond hasn’t paid his council tax.

Kez and Mr Eugenides both tell us about the political expansion of The Steamie from now until the general election where Kez, Caron, Jeff, James and Scottish Tory Boy will now be commenting on behalf of the five major parties in Scotland and how this is a good move.

Angry Steve has some comments about the new alcohol licensing legislation, BellGrove Belle talks about Labour slipping into third place behind the Lib Dems, while Andrew talks about the Tories only having two MPs after the election and Bill Cameron shares his thoughts on the SNP and homophobia.

Duncan gives us a perspective on freeview channels and the big re-tune.

The Big Dollop thinks he is being too simplistic about knife crime following the News of the World hustings with the four main candidates for Glasgow North East – Willie Bain, Eileen Baxendale, David Kerr and Ruth Davidson.

Sarah at Whoopdedoo has an amusing take on the Daily Mail story about the English showing passports at Scottish airports – it just had me howling out loud.

Finally, PJ has been outed by Caron and despite some excellent guest blog posts PJ is holding out on setting her own blog up, but  has set up an amazing website and while we have drifted a wee bit from politics Scotland in the gloaming has some amazing photos and as the best cartoon’s say – that’s all folks.

If you have any nominations for next weeks round-up use the form on the right or send us an e-mail to scottishroundup@gmail.com. You can also follow us on Twitter: @ScottishRoundup. Have a good week.