Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 184th weekly round-up from the Lib Dem blogosphere … Featuring the seven most popular stories beyond Lib Dem Voice according to click-throughs from the Aggregator (22nd – 28th August, 2010), together with a hand-picked quintet, normally courtesy of LibDig, you might otherwise have missed.

Don’t forget: you can sign up to receive the Golden Dozen direct to your email inbox – just click here – ensuring you never miss out on the best of Lib Dem blogging.

As ever, let’s start with the most popular post, and work our way down:

1. Former Lib Dem councillor not defecting on Dave Smithson’s blog.
“Naturally I am sure there are many newspaper editors the length and breadth of the country screaming at their news editors with fury that they have missed the chance to run a non-story before the denial was issued.”

2. Are There Any Labour Supporters That Would Defend This? on Nick Thornsby’s Blog.
On the case of Labour MP Phil Woollas’s nauseating campaign leaflets.

3. Lembit next to experience defection rumours by Peter Black on Freedom Central.
Yes, because a libertarian Lib Dem’s views will sit sooo comfortably in the party of Blunkett and Woollas.

4. Nick Clegg’s Q&A in Bristol and the case of the troll on Lisa Harding’s Spiderplant Land.
Nick’s tough gig out on the stump.

5. Brotton by-election result on Chris and Glynis Abbott’s blog.
A Labour hold in Redcar.

6. Perhaps this gives us a little clue as to why the Kennedy story was total equine manure from the start on Paul Walter’s Liberal Burblings.
As any Liberal kno..

7. Day 3524: No, Captain Clegg is RIGHT; the Institute for Fiscal Studies HAVE gone nuts! on Millennium Dome, Elephant’s Very Fluffy Diary.
“… how can the IFS report have ANY credibility if they include such a glaring total misunderstanding of how the personal allowance change works? Simply, they can’t.”

And now to the five blog-posts that come highly recommended, regardless of the number of Aggregator click-throughs they attracted. These are normally chosen using the LibDig bookmarking website for party members, the site where you can highlight blog-posts you want to share with your fellow Lib Dems. Remember, though, you’re still more than welcome to nominate for the Golden Dozen a Lib Dem blog article published in the past seven days – your own, or someone else’s – using the steam-powered method of e-mail … all you have to do is drop a line to [email protected].

8. On the phrase “civil liberties fetish” on Liz Williams’ Singing My Song.
‘Why having a fetish might not be such a bad thing after all.’ (Submitted by lizw via LibDig.)

9. Obesity approach is a fat lot of good… on Richard Baum’s blog.
‘A Lib Dem councillor criticises the contradictory messages in a party press release and suggests more constructive ways of tackling obesity than nannying people. Worth a try…’ (Submitted by Niklas Smith via LibDig.)

10. Julian Assange Gets The Bog Standard Smear Technique on Craig Murray’s blog.
“Governments operate in the blackest of ways, especially when it comes to big war money and big oil money. I can see what they are doing to Julian Assange, I know what they did to me and others”.

11. Libraries are about more than books on Alex Folkes’ A Lanson Boy.
Eulogising free access to information for all.

12. NHS Direct to be scrapped on Andrew Reeves’ Running Blog.
‘Is this the right decision?’ asks Andrew.

And that’s it for another week. Happy blogging ‘n’ reading ‘n’ nominating.

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