I enjoy a challenge. I enjoy a giant squishy chocolate cake too, but I haven’t got one of those at the moment, so I’ll just need to focus on the challenge. Which is this: to get from woodlice to the independence referendum in under ten paragraphs. Never let it be said that nominations to the Roundup lack diversity.
So, to woodlice! ScotNatureBoy marks his 150th post with a photo of a rather cross-looking woodlouse and a rundown of its key features: did you know woodlice have lungs instead of gills, even though they are the cousins of crabs? No, me neither. And there’s another animal-themed post, with the first instalment of BitsofBobs’ new animated series, Night and Day. In episode one we discover that foxes spend their daylight hours playing pool in seedy backstreet halls, which I’ve always suspected might be the case.
A man who probably hasn’t had time for a game of pool recently is President Obama, unless the Whitehouse has its own pool hall as well as a bowling alley. Raymond Weir looks forward to the November election and expresses the view that the BBC was not only biased in Obama’s favour but also misunderstood the concept of racism in the 2008 elections.
Which is the kind of opinion that could start a lengthy argument. But one thing that isn’t up for debate is the fact that Obama attracted an incredible number of activists when he first stood as President. And attracting activists is the topic of George Laird’s blog post for Tory Hoose: he suggests that internships, training hubs, local media units and a proper understanding of your opponents’ arguments are all essentials. Of course, not being in the Tory party might also help if you’re trying to inspire activists in Scotland, but – whoops! Sorry, my Roundup Editor’s Hat of Neutrality fell off for a minute there.
Anyway, a campaign that is already generating a great deal of activism is Save the Children’s It Shouldn’t Happen Here, which points out the appalling levels of poverty in which some children exist in the UK. Dorkymum supports the campaign and takes issue with those who seek to deny the facts upon which it is based. Which would, were I not firmly wedged under my neutrality hat, prompt me to say something rude about such people.
Also afflicted with the desire to say something rude about some people is Caron Lindsay, whose musings this week are filled with outrage at Alan Cochrane describing our Deputy First Minister as “Wee Nippyâ€. Caron wonders whether a male politician would ever be dubbed with such a title and suspects that it would be a chilly day round Satan’s way before such a thing took place.
Nicola Sturgeon is also at the heart of A Burdz Eye View’s review of the Scottish reshuffle which had hearts a-pounding across the nation this week – well, it did in my office, anyway. The Burd views the new arrangement with some satisfaction, believing that it is the final piece of the jigsaw before the referendum in 2014.
Which brings me to my favourite post of the week, a piece by Jeff at Better Nation who argues quite convincingly that the SNP ought to announce it will disband following a Yes vote. This initially seems like a preposterous notion, but by the end of the post, it’s actually quite hard to find a reason to disagree with him. Who says there are no new ideas in politics?
So there you go. Woodlice to the referendum in just nine paragraphs. Bring on the chocolate cake!