Welcome one and all to Britblog Roundup 44, your nominations for what’s been good in the British and Irish blogosphere this week. As you know we move it around a bit atthe moment, one week here, the next playing away and then back home on the third weekend.

Looks like it will be Aloyada who is hosting next week. As she explained in her email, she doesn’t celebrate Christmas so who better to do it next weekend? Entries to the usual address please, britblog AT gmail DOT com.

First up has to be my find of the week, Dr. Crippen. If you want to find out about the joys of the NHS, where the money goes and so on this new(ish) blog cannot be beat. Highly and strongly recommended and do scroll around a bit.

Several suggested Rachel in North London and rightly so. Have a scroll around to see the several posts on her desire for a public inquiry into the events of 7/7. She’s also in the Sunday Times on the subject and then there’s this, very different piece. I have a feeling that while it started out that way this isn’t going to remain a single issue or short term blog at all.

Lyn has joined the blog bandwagon and I do rather hope that no one she works with reads it yet….or shows that post around the office.

Adrianna Cronin posts from Istanbul and mingles her Slovak childhood, calls from the minarets and a visit to Hagia Sophia. Tim Newman plays silly buggers in the comments but then what’s new?

Mr. Eugenides is both vastly entertaining and extremely rude when talking about Roy Hattersley. I’m told that this was the winner of the first and inaugural "Bloody Devil Award", something we shall all be competing for soon no doubt.

Stephen Tall (no, not the politician done for drunk and disorderly, that was S. Twigg) is really rather evil here. Following the ascention of the Boy David to  whatever it is he looks back to the last time when Howard did it. And finds that the newspaper stories were even more laudatory back then.

Tim at The Castle does a spot of investigation. Yes, those Valuation Officers do have the right to enter your home and to take pictures. But there’s been the usual porkies told about it by politicians. Surprise, eh?

Francis makes a fleeting return from the Riviera to the ancestral homeland. He finds a general simmering of resentment against the Government. I have to admit, on the rare occasions I go back, I find it a strange place. Been away too long perhaps.

Wolfie makes one of the comments. You know, someone presents a new idea and you slap forehead and scream "But of course! Why didn’t I think of that?". It isn’t that they need different ones or to choose them differently, rather, the Tory Party simply needs more MPs. About 150 would do it really.

Natalie Bennet muses on women’s fear of violence and makes the logical comment that one can be too over-protective of children leading to unreasonable helplessness and fears later on in life. She also reviews Lysistrata and thoroughly recommends it.

Green Fairy holds a committee meeting. To decide on what to blog or the fifth anniversary of her blog. I’m not quite sure how the ping pong balls come into it but it is a marvellous piece of whimsy. Strongly recommended.

Gia takes on some of the big religious questions pointing out that most of the philosophic insights of Christianity are retreads of earlier ones of earlier religions and philosophies.

What’s New Pussycat with a very fine piece on Nutella. Personally, I think people who fantasise in that manner about Nutella are simply weird, I mean admiring a man who’d swam in a vat of it. If it had been Marmite I would understand, but nut spread? Just weird.

Several of us out here in this blogging lark will be happy to read that LSE undergraduates appear to bemuch like they were back in our day.

Robin Grant (who I think told us he was retiring from blogging?) points to Charlie’s answers to that Metropolitan Police questionnaire. If you want to do one yourself you’d better get a move on, deadline’s tomorrow.

Ken Owen is both Moderate and Militant ashe dissects the legalisation of torture argument. I rather like (although do, of course, feel free to disagree) his rejection of the "ticking bomb" argument.

Devil’s Kitchen rather picks up my slack and puts the boot into Polly Toynbee. Good man there. He’s also started the Bloody Devil Award (as above we see the first winner) which like all the best of such things is awarded in an entirely capricious manner.

Yellow Swordfish has amost amusing running gag. Rather than simply posts, he has letters to the Maximum Tone, rather like some of the old Dear Bill letters. Do scroll  around for the others.

Finally, the Mayor of London blog is incensed at an advertisement that appeared in the Evening Standard. I’m not all that bothered about sick jokes but your views may well differ. Go on over to find out what hte problem is.

And that’s it, this week’s Britblog Roundup. Next week in another place and then back here on New Year’s Day.

Until then

Toodle Pip!