Scotland discovers blogging

Probably for the first time the Scottish parliament has heard about blogs and they didn't like what they were being told:

A forensic psychologist spoke about the dangers of online journals, or blogs, and pictures posted directly online.

Rachel O'Connell said adults could use weblogs to learn about children.

I would have thought that a blog is just about the last means of communication that paedophiles would utilise: the whole point of blogs is that they are public and encourage open discussion with readers. Not that politicians won't jump at any opportunity to control blogs as has been noted over on Samizdata:

I refuse to even attempt a rebuttal of this ludicrous and obviously desperate smear, preferring instead to let it stand naked in all its ignominy. Besides, it will not be the last. Blogging has clearly begun to make an impression on the minds of the political classes and they fear it.

The blogosphere has now landed in Britain.

Sadly our national newspapers haven't quite got the point of blogs either. The Sunday Herald purports to have joined the blogosphere but what a hash of it they have made. The last post on this so-called blog was over two months ago. Ten of the twelve links are to the paper's own pages and one of the others is to the ideologically identical BBC. No one seems to have thought of adding a comments facility. There is no sitemeter. All in all, a pretty poor effort. If the massed ranks of MSPs think that the Herald's blog is typical then perhaps we real bloggers can relax for a wee bit more before big brother comes knocking.