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!

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!

Hello everyone and welcome to this week’s roundup. Massive apologies for the lateness of the roundup this week. I was busy last night watching the Eurovision Song Contest. Congratulations, incidentally, to Norway — although I don’t see what was so great about it that it was the runaway winner.

The party atmosphere of the ESC was ruined somewhat though by the arrest of gay pride activists by the Moscow police. Bill Cameron shares his thoughts.

The Roundup is late today because I have been very lethargic and have begun to exhibit symptoms of a heavy cold. I hope I’m not coming down with swine flu, though attention this week has largely been focussed on other snouts — those in the trough.

For Clairwil, it’s been a bit of an eye-opener. Far from being confined to, say, Labour in the West of Scotland, or a long-running Conservative government, it turns out that corruption happens right across the political spectrum.

Clairwil provides a handy list of smaller parties that you could choose to vote for. Though it goes without saying that you should be careful who you vote for. Fitaloon reminds us that Ukip are the worst of all when it comes to expenses and corruption.

Shuggy found something to disagree with on both sides of the expenses argument. But James points out why he does not yet find this scandal boring.

For those of you who may be tiring of expenses, Caron has taken a look at some of the good things that MPs have done this week.

The jury is out on whether he has been good or bad, but he certainly seems confused. Just what was going on with Mark Lazarowicz this week, Jeff wonders?

The Telegraph didn’t get all of its analysis right. Many eyebrows were raised in particular over the newspaper’s complaint that Alan Reid, MP for Argyll and Bute, claimed £1,500 to stay in bed and breakfasts within his constituency. Andrew Reeves pointed out why this was a foolish complaint. Stephen Glenn went as far as to ask for Telegraph journalist Martin Beckford to resign.

Subrosa and John Connell remind us about Heather Brooke’s major role in uncovering the expenses scandal.

David Farrer wonders if this scandal is the moment libertarians have been waiting for.

Kirty Connell looks at the history of MPs’ pay, and notes that the introduction of an MP’s salary in 1911 weakened the discipline of the Labour Party.

Now attention is turning to Michael Martin. A week ago, Mr Eugenides called him unfit for office. Later on, Bernard Salmon noted just how deep the crisis became for the Speaker. Now Jeff asks why it is a convention not to criticise the Speaker of the House.

Radio Scotland’s Jeff Zycinski reveals all about the BBC’s expenses culture.

Bloggers were also concerned this week with gay minister Scott Rennie. After SNP MSP Dave Thomson waded in, Bernard Salmon pointed out the “Gnat MSP’s anti-gay bigotry”.

Jeff responded, asking why someone would want to join a club which doesn’t welcome them. But this raised the hackles of gay bloggers Will Patterson and Bill Cameron, who both took Jeff to task for his views.

Alan Smart acknowledged 15 years the death of John Smith.

Anseo has a cautionary tale for Labour spin doctors who may try to tell you that a smaller sample size gives you a more accurate opinion poll. All very well when it improves the picture for Labour, but it will bite them in the backside sometime, as it has done this week.

Alex Massie attended the Scottish Conservative Party conference, and took the opportunity to reflect on what an improved Tory performance would mean for Scotland.

Meanwhile, Richard Shields is unimpressed with a Scotsman article about how public spending will be cut by a Conservative government. He argues that public spending will have to be cut by any government.

Speaking of public finances, Bishop Hill suggests a change in the way the level of government spending is publicised by the Adam Smith Institute. Rather than Tax Freedom Day, he thinks a Tax Freedom Time would bring it home to people more.

Andrew Reeves assesses the BNP election leaflet where all of the supporters are fake.

Labour have also produced some dodgy campaign material, though dodgy in a different way. Lallands Peat Worrier analyses their Party Political Broadcast.

Willie Rennie reports on the progress of the Driving Instructors Bill.

Meanwhile, during Breastfeeding Awareness Week, Caron calls on governments to get tough with formula manufacturers.

That’s all for this week. Will Patterson is in the hot seat for next week. And don’t forget that this Wednesday it is this month’s NoPoScoBloRo, hosted by Armin Grewe from Islay Blog (and don’t forget to check his weekly Islay Blogging Roundup too!). So get those nominations — political or non-political — in by using the boom bang-a-bang on the right, or by emailing us at scottishroundup@gmail.com. Thanks!