By analysing the paper "Choosing Scotland's Future" by counting the frequency of words in the document and printing those words in a font size in proportion to their occurence then it is possible to produce this 'word cloud' to get a handy view on what the main themes/topics might be.

Well, what an amazing result in Glasgow East. Such a pity to see the London-centric self-obsessives in the newspapers and mainstream media. Ah well, the significance of the shift in mindset will soon be apparent. The next critical issue of course is to rest from Westminster the powers that are essential to bring social justice into practice and ensure everyone in Scotland has a decent quality of life in economic, social, cultural and environmental terms. What that means is returning to the constitutional issue but with a practical focus that shows why it is one of the most basic first steps in tackling these issues.

In the new incarnation of this site we'll be looking at just such issues and focus on key practical aspects of raising both the amount and the intellectual level of the debate. Behind the scenes this means some rewiring of the site and the addition of a range of new media.

I have toyed with the idea of simply wrapping up this blog given the huge amount of other actvities (and blogs on different topics) I've been involved in recently. This is a particularly convincing argument given the existence of intelligent commentaries such as those on scottishfutures.net But as the issue of a referendum has appeared on the horizon again it might be that we'll find ourselves using this blog as a campaigning venue. In the meantime though, I bid a temporary adieu but invite you to visit the sites of the Scottish independence convention and scottish futures. Links to be found on the side bars.

Apologies to those crazy folk that read this blog, for the long absence of updates and I appreciate the kind messages I've received. A combination of circumstances involving illness, working abroad and other issues all helped to clog up the system.

At the moment I'm dealing with a number of work related deadlines and issues, but will be keeping an eye on developments such as the Scottish Independence Convention's launch of their petition for an independence referendum. The show kicks off on Thursday the 24th at the Scottish parliament, but culminates in a shindig in Glasgow's Oran Mor on the 27th. Put it in your diaries now and head over to the Convention's website to book your tickets.

Best wishes for 2008!

School holidays here in Ireland and we're taking the opportunity to head to Scotland via Norn Iron. A blanket ban on computers and the internet imposed by a rigorous family policing unit however will mean delayed postings of reflections and comments until return. In the meantime, I'm afraid you'll just have to savour the delights of the mainstream media or the thundering outrage of fellow bloggers!

Enjoy.

Behind the scenes I'm tidying up this site and so for the time being comments and user accounts have been switched off. Sorry about this. It is not to stymie debate and discussion but just to avoid heavy trashing of the server by spambots and other undesirable security nasties. Once that aspect is tidy, then some new discussion features will be enabled and we'll open up to the 'voice of the people!'

In the meantime, if you wish to get in touch with me - as some have indicated in various comments posted to the site - then please email me as: iainmacl "at" smallnation.org

As reported in the press this weekend, a move described by those of only limited imagination as 'audacious', Alex Salmond has raised the question of Scotland being granted observer status at the forthcoming UN negotiations on Nuclear non-proliferation. Indeed, from the international perspective, the question that is most likely to be asked is why only 'observer' status? How long is the Scottish population going to wait before it reclaims full sovereignty and takes up 'member' status of the UN?

Perhaps the pending economic situation might hasten moves in that direction, as is hoped by the SNP in response to the budget 'settlement' for Scotland, announced the other week, but that is a risky road to take.

It continues to be amusing however to see just how the Labour party has completely transformed itself into Tories and more evidence in this weekend's papers with David Cairns (Governor General) describing the SNP as the "loony left", attempts to bring in immigration quotas and out-Powell the tories, their reaction to the abolition of council house sales, etc.

Time to stop laughing though, and prepare to roll up the sleeves and rejoin the rest of the world. It's a much brighter place once you crawl out of the shadow of that crumbling self-deluded Empire.

Link to interview in Holyrood Magazine.

Listening, paraphrasing, synthesising, sharing and reformulating ideas - all are at the heart of a decent, constructive conversation and that supposedly taking place on Scotland's constitutional future should be no exception. Whilst the website is up and running and comments are being added daily, there is a danger that that is all it will be. The usual mixture of sensible and rabid remarks, serial postings from deranged bloggers (ahem), etc, is inevitable, but surely fails spectacularly to move things forward in any substantive manner.

Pat Kane has passed on information (first mentioned on Newsnight) about the proposed (since they still need to raise the Canadian$2 million) CanadaJam event. There's also been a fair bit of chat online about youScotland and its participation lacuna, if not demise.

Coincidentally, however, James Fishkin has posted an article on openDemocracy extolling the virtues of deliberative polling as being an ideal way of exploring major constitutional issues and raising the standards of public debate. A current example of such, being "Tomorrow's Europe" (which finished today!).

So, now perhaps is the time to examine some of these initiatives in more depth and see to what extent they can be feasibly adapted to suit the Scottish situation. From an organisational perspective, not necessarily a trivial task, but from an intellectual and democratic standpoint we need to move forward and blogs are only one tiny aspect of what needs to be done.

Still in recovery following last week's surreal Labour conference where the complete eradication of all that party once stood for was completed and it took on the mantle of British-populism and all its trappings of right wing soundbites, corporate smooching and Brit-nationalistic drivel (you know the kind of thing: only the British would remain calm in a terrorist outrage, our people remain steadfast, etc...a bizzare self-conceit shared with the Americans, I suppose).

Many have commented on the blue backdrop, the Thatcher inheritance, the appeal to Tory voters, the number of times "British" and "I" was used in the droning speech. Private Eye this week (for all its faults) has neatly dissected much of what was going on in the background in terms of corporate stands and sponsorship and it makes for a very disturbing picture around contracts, PFI and even foreign policy influence, of what would be called 'corruption' in other countries - but that's libellous in GB's GB of course, hence the quotes.

But the concept of obtaining and retaining power as being the single purpose of contemporary political parties seems to be well described in Peter Oborne's new book "The Triumph of the Political Class" judging by some of the reviews/summaries, though I havent quite stooped to buying it. Nonetheless, the identification of the rot setting in when politics itself becomes a career option and personal goal (the Alexandars?) can only ultimately lead to the debasement of democracy.

As a long time advocate of greater democratic participation, you would think I'd be, for example, cheering on GB's announcement of spending money establishing 'citizen's juries' on key topics and hosting 'deliberative events', but sadly it looks all too clear (as reported in today's Observer) that these initiatives are completely run by PR companies and will be used to steer and control public opinion rather than to engage with it. Indeed, the organisations and individuals responsible for managing the initiative are completely at variance with the fundamental principles of deliberative democracy and it looks like this is going to be the next set of words and phrases which become debased and stripped of meaning in the new-Labour cultural hegemony. Ironically, the more they use the word 'democracy' the more meaningless it becomes and the more dis-empowered the citizenry.

All of which surely must lead to the conclusion that for the sake of the future of democracy, Scotland has to urgently progress its decoupling from the UK. A re-exploration of the fundamental principles of citizenship, participation and the broader social contract can no longer be separated from the constitutional question and is urgently needed lest the world continue to boil away in a haze of greenhouse inaction and vacuous corporate spin. Let's all make our own barefoot, silent march down the streets of our towns and cities and leave this madness behind, as we get on with doing what needs to be done.

Links:

Why Democracy?
The Observer
Review of "The Triumph of the Political Class"
Iain Macwhirter's comments on Labour conference
The sham of Brown's citizen's juries

BBC News