Some thoughts on the amazing electoral rout of the ALP in the Queensland State election.

First, this is the second catastrophic result for the ALP at a State level, after the 2011 NSW disaster. It is beginning to look like a pattern ( Read more... )

A lovely obituary of a quiet man who knew what he liked:
They will toast the memory of a solitary man who knew his likes and lived within his means, a man who could be counted upon.

Texas continues to provide competitive jurisdiction evidence on preferable public policy.

Culture war politics are not helping Republican candidates ( Read more... )

An email from a friend might help people follow coverage of the election results.

Over the past couple of days there have been silly comments in the media (both in print and on-line) saying that the Australian Electoral Commission has called various seats one way or the other. Example - the front page of today's Fin Review (David Crowe, chief ( Read more... )

Australian federal politics are summarised for Asian viewers by a hilarious animation. (Via)

A friend who is a Liberal stalwart very perceptive about politics made a striking observation last night: that Julia was not yet PM in people's heads when she went to the election. So, it was like (as someone said) having two Opposition Leaders. Labor ( Read more... )

Oz just had a federal election. As PM Julia Gillard said in her speech on the night, quoting Bill Clinton, the people have spoken, it will take some time to work out what they said ( Read more... )

I have not been following the ins and outs of the federal election campaign down here in the land of Oz, but my prediction remains what it was once Julia got PM’d: Government re-elected but swing to the Coalition.

The last Government not to get re-elected the first time it went to the polls was Scullin’s in 1931, and it had the Great Depression ( Read more... )

A 101 year old former librarian and war veteran bear hugged a 47-year old robber into submission. Tough folk, those librarians.

A Scottish brewer has released Nanny State Beer™.

Largest ever hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold found:
It is no longer politically correct to refer to the period as the dark ages - but Anglo-Saxon England remains a shadowy ( Read more... )

Really cool building-a-new-bridge picture.

About symmetry and beauty in physics.

About using spelling errors to catch plagiarism and genetic errors to trace evolutionary lineages.

The second man to walk on the Moon urges Mars settlement as a way of giving people goals.

Research suggests that coffee may counteract some effects of Alzheier’s ( Read more... )

Residents of a council housing block told to remove welcome mats and pot plants as health and safety risks. The Brits are being encouraged to report neighbours who have "too much" money as potentially living off the proceeds of crime.

The text of one of Gordon Brown’s quitting minister’s resignation letter.

A new Eurosceptic group is being formed ( Read more... )

A Tudor recreation site in the UK.

A Somali immigrant wins damages in a Swedish court for mistreatment by her parents, including genital mutilation.

In the UK, a mother is gaoled for three years for forcing her school age daughters to marry their cousins.

UK-French relations have not been helped by revelations of the level of official ineptitude ( Read more... )