Welcome to the third edition of Lib Dig Pig, being a roundup of non-Lib Dem oriented gems on the internet, as voted by Lib Dem members using Lib Dig (if you aren’t one, and are a Lib Dem member, sign up here: http://libdig.co.uk).

The rules for inclusion here are simple: they must have been “dug” for the first time in the last seven days and they can’t be Lib Dem-related or come from a Lib Dem blog. The top rated article of each category will be listed, along with three runners up, will be listed here. And finally, for the purposes of this column, my votes will be discounted. Finally, I may bend or break any of these rules as I see fit (this is absolutely terrible and I am dreadfully sorry about it).

This week’s Lib Dig Pig is brought to you by Karen Matthews, Twitter, Jacqui Smith, Peter Cook and John Barrowman (well, part of John Barrowman anyway).

Blog post of the week

If we’re so smart, why can’t we tell a Matthews from a McCann? : The Guardian’s Michael White writes a thoughtful piece in the afterglow of the Shannon Matthews case:

Buried away on today’s Guardian letters page is one of those short-and-to-the-point protests from a reader. If so many journalists who spoke to Karen Matthews and her dysfunctional family failed to rumble the fake kidnapping of nine-year-old Shannon, perhaps they will now be less judgmental about social workers who make similar mistakes, suggests Richard Moore of Bletchley.

Good point. Fat chance.

Strong runner up for the top slot is Tim O’Reilly’s six reasons why you should love Twitter. In essence: it does what it says on the tin.

News item of the week

Plan to stop ID card leaks is … leaked : Do you work for a company contracted to implement the ID card scheme? Jacqui Smith is about to get medieval on yo ass. Still, if you’ve got nothing to hide, there’s nothing to worry about; that’s your logic right? Sit back and enjoy it as the anti-civil liberties industry slowly eats itself.

Facebook group of the week

100,000 united behind John Barroman’s penis: Okay, I’ll admit to being responsible for this one, but it does appear that there is something about John Barrowman’s penis that tickled the insides of LibDiggers. Join the latest anti-Daily Mail campaign to stand up for people’s rights to get their willies out on non-visual media.

Video of the week

Lots of contenders for the video slot this week, but Peter Cook’s famous sketch about the high court judge who presided over a certain famous political scandal won through. Unfortunately, that page can’t be embedded (CENSORSHIP!!!), so instead, for your delectation, here’s a video about the Brave New Information Age as suggested by Jo Swinson (yes, MPs use LibDig too!):

Also dug this week is this short video introducing the new environmental campaign group Serious Change.

Other stuff we dug this week

• OH NOES!! It seems David Cameron didn’t fix the Tory party’s finances when the sun was shining, according to Conservative Home. It’s never nice to lose a job but somehow this news doesn’t quite touch the same heartstrings as Woolworths closing, does it?
• One for you wannabe Lynne Trusses and Princess Bride fans (do I have to draw you a Venn diagram?): The Inigo Montoya Guide to 27 Commonly Misused Words.

Upcoming events

• Nine Lessons and Carols for Godless People (Sunday 21 December, Hammersmith Apollo): “A night of music and comedy to celebrate the rational and scientific and debunk Winterval myths spouted by religious and media ninnies.” With guest appearances from, well, pretty much every famous atheist you can think of.
• The Convention on Modern Liberty (Saturday 28 February, Institute for Education): The launch of a major national debate over what liberty means in the early 21st century, backed by the Guardian, Amnesty International, Open Democracy, Liberty, Unlock Democracy and NO2ID. Don’t worry if you can’t make the London event – they will be announcing regional and local events soon.

See you again next week!

Special thanks to Ryan Cullen for hosting LibDig and for helping to make it easier for me to compile this column.

PS LibDig the easy way – add the LibDig bookmarklet to your toolbar!