To begin with, let us consider the delights of Wemyss Bay. A tourist destination to rival San Francisco, Guadeloupe and Bali. All hail to the doyen (OK, one of the doyens) of Scottish political blogging, Freedom and Whisky, who has a splendid post on the Wemyss Bay Incident, a story totally missed by the dead tree press. Of course, Mr F has to work terribly hard to draw out the correct political moral of the tale – and perhaps does not quite succeed – but full credit for trying. And he has put WB back on the map.

SNPTacticalVoting (aka Jeff) dares to make fun of the present (just) Home Secretary for having been in a gang. Well, Jeff better watch it, or I will set the Stockbridge Tongs on him. (Who you lookin at, pal?)

I have a confession to make. I find the whole matter of logos unutterably tedious. But logos, and not least the new London Olympic logo, seem to exert a strange fascination for other bloggers. Thus, notwithstanding the fact that every blogger and his mother was already commenting, the Bellgrove Blogbelle, Mr Eugenides and Robert Sharp all felt obliged to tell the world their views, while even Dr Vee had to have two attempts to get his opinions across. Hey guys, it’s just a logo.

See teachers? Shuggy manages to work J S Mill into a post on drinking. (Pretentious, lui?) Well I was impressed, at least. Though I doubt if Clairwil would have been, as she took the opportunity to have a rant about teachers.

I am not greatly enamoured of rants but I have to admit that Mr E has produced something of a classic this week. You have to read it all to appreciate the level of sustained vituperation but here is a taster:

The only type of pleasure which is not to be curtailed or officially discouraged, it seems, is the quiet, desperate satisfaction these thin-lipped simpletons get from drafting and passing unnecessary legislation; poring over piles of documents late into the night (tightly-typed and printed double-sided on recycled paper, natch) by the flickering, sepulchral light of Fairtrade candles (to save on emissions), trying to come up with exciting new ways of strangling the joy out of life, their spare hand shuttling remorselessly yet fruitlessly back and forth inside their trousers.

You don’t find this sort of stuff on Blether with Brian who is far more concerned with the First Minister’s failure to celebrate the stunning victory over the Faroes. Well what do you expect from a Dundonian?

Meanwhile, in the context of Big Brother, Bookdrunk has noted the fit of vapours which has overcome the MSM when it comes to mentioning that word. See, it’s catching: even I cannot bring myself to repeat it.

Scots and Independent tells us how he almost became one of the Ferrero Rocher set. Has the boy no shame?

Are you part of an oppressed minority? If so, you should be able to sympathise with TiredTory whose political party has already begun the fruitless task of considering how not to lose the next election. (Thanks to Alex for this nomination.)

And yet another oppressed minority: those who fail to take the First Minister’s side in the Libyan farrago. Both Kezia Dugdale and Havering On, in their different ways, have sought to find a different angle on the affair – which is why they are worth a mention.

Angry Steve is also one of the politically incorrect – but I cannot hide a smidgeon of sympathy for his diatribe.

Well that’s it for this week. Nominations for next week, please, on the form on the right.

As ever, my thanks to il dottore, for both opportunity and the assistance.

It has been an interesting week in Scottish politics and it is clear that matters are intensifying in preparation for the elections. If, of course, the elections take place. The Court of Session judgement on the voting rights of prisoners has provoked Mr Eugenides, Devil’s Kitchen (I know, he’s moved down south but he obviously still takes an interest), Freedom and Whisky and the Select Society into flippancy about the prospect (but, hey, flippancy can be good) while Shuggy is less than sanguine about prisoners’ rights.

This has also been the week in which the national bard is celebrated. But the Scottish blogging community has been a bit backwards about coming forward. Just as well that Ranting’n'Raving and Select Society have kept up with tradition, assisted from down under by Adelaide Green Porridge Cafe. I regret to say that Dr Vee has disgraced himself, not only by failing to recognise ‘To a Haggis’ but also by dismissing the Scots language as ‘essentially slang’. See students nowadays…

To revert to political developments, Scottish Political News introduces us to the novel concept of ‘sticky mud’, a substance with which the First Minister is becoming intimately acquainted. Mr Eugenides recounts the fascinating tale of Annabel Goldie and the canteen pie. And as for the LibDems, neither J Arthur MacN nor Ridiculous Politics seems disposed to believe their claims of ideological purity. HolyroodBelle (no relation) at World of Jack gives us a pictorial comment on the First Minister’s travails – which makes a nice change.

Scottish Political News has also discovered a new toy. Just enter in your polling predictions and it will generate the parliamentary numbers. I hesitate to give any additional publicity to the PR consultants responsible but you will find it via SPN.

Meanwhile Sarah of Whoopdedoo manages to encapsulate the Edinburgh social scene in a single sentence: ‘I have little respect for the people of Edinburgh who shop in Sainsbury, because really, if you were all that, you’d be shopping in Waitrose now, wouldn’t you?’ A brilliant apercu. This girl will go far.

Clairwil offers hope for bloggers everywhere. If she can find sufficient inspiration reading Metro on a bus to deliver the last word on the wretched Jade, then there can be no excuses for the rest of us. And I don’t believe her when she says that she’s an old bag.

Finally, a note of sadness. Cassilis has decided to hang up his keyboard. His final post is well worth reading. Regardless of his remarks about the quality of his writing, I for one will miss his contributions. The Scottish blogosphere is not so well-endowed that it can afford to lose a blogger of his ability. I hope that he will feel able to return to blogging when it suits him.

Nominations for next week, please, to scottishroundup [at] gmail [dot] com.

That’s all for this week. It’s been fun; my thanks to Dr Vee and Curious Hamster for the opportunity. Ta ta for now! HW