In a not-so-distant possible future, Angus Macarthur sits at a table in a strongly-lit basement room somewhere underneath the Central Office of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation in Canberra. Two officers, Dwayne X. and Daryl Y., stand opposite him ( Read more... )

Still no time to graph electoral preference flows this year, and very doubtful I'll manage before Saturday. Has anyone else bothered to look into these?

Recent visitors from Australia brought a packet of Yo-Yo biscuits with them. This was an excellent idea, and I had forgotten how tasty they are.

(Mmm, hot summer afternoon, glass of milk, Test match cricket.)

The SA Senate candidates 2010 graph seems to show four blocs: left, right, fringe and way-out.

42 candidates, 19 groups, competing for 6 seats. Only first preferences are shown there; there must be a better way to convey what might happen when lower preferences are consumed.

http://www.abc.net.au/elections/federal/2010/guide/qa.htm

Will you be setting up Senate Calculators for this election?
Yes.Nominations close at noon on Thurday 19 July, with the release of names and ballot draw after noon on Friday. Names will be released to the media on Friday afternoon and I will have them all up on this website by early evening.

( Read more... )

Julia Gillard says it's a "good day for redheads". http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/06/24/2936439.htm

Now come the important questions: is she a real one?

Philip Micallef at SBS is down on Australia's chances...

http://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/news/1006415/Pim-is-right-to-keep-it-tight

Germany and Australia play their first game of the [soccer] World Cup on Sunday 13th. Who can donate some facts I can use as talking points when asked to predict the result?

The things Wikipedia knows. There was a frigate, USS Harold E. Holt, involved in a hostile boarding of the Mayagüez in May 1975 near Cambodia at the back end of the Vietnam War.

(Harold Holt was an Australian prime minister who died, presumably from drowning, in 1967.)

Five Months at Anzac, A Narrative of Personal Experiences of the Officer Commanding the 4th Field Ambulance, Australian Imperial Force is the recollections of Col. Beeston's time at Gallipoli. It's rather entertaining and full of dry humour, far from the official histories of the campaign.

The difficulty of obtaining sufficient exercise was very ( Read more... )