AV arguments and the election

The video embedded below has illustrated in a very entertaining way the two different methods of voting that were at stake in the Referendum held yesterday.



This page on the BBC website has lots of detail about the local elections which were held at the same time. Big news for the Scots; the SNP are likely to become an majority administration. Bad times for the Lib Dems; major losses accross the country. There are likely to be troubled times ahead for the coalition as the natural party of opposition (i.e. the Lib Dems) is punished for doing things its supporters didn't like.

Obama, Osama and 2012

Interesting times in US politics; first President Obama released his birth certificate (see an article from the Guardian here and an article about forgeries and the untrue rumours here) because Republican presidential candidates were demanding proof that the 44th President was born in the USA. News flash: He was. Then the President tells the world that Osama Bin Laden was killed in a US raid in Pakistan.

The Democracy in America blog from the Economist has an interesting post discussing the impact of all this on the 2012 race; all Republican candidates who have been doubting the President's judgement and patriotism are finished (Sarah Palin, Donald Trump etc). Those who are left will have trouble. The likelihood of Obama's re-election has just increased.

Just for the interested, the President did a fine turn at the White House Correspondents Dinner last week (it's an annual event for White House reporters at which the President traditionally delivers an amusing speech):