I’ve been on a Split Enz kick lately, which prompted my first post to the front page of Metafilter in seven years. The link at the heart of it is so great that I’m cross-posting it here to further spread the word.
Read More · 
30 April 2011 · 
x2 · Music
So, Britain has a referendum on 5 May 2011 on whether or not to replace the first-past-the-post voting system for Westminster MPs with an alternative vote much like Australia’s (we call it “preferential voting”, although it’s actually one specific form of it). As an Australian political scientist living in Britain, I’ve been preparing myself for the inevitable disappointment when the forces of misinformation and apathy carry the day and the proposal fails, even though first-past-the-post is so obviously unfair at deciding a winner when more than two candidates are competing for a single seat, and even though its distorting effects on parliamentary representation are also obvious.
But even though I’ve tried to ignore the No to AV campaign, they insist on pushing their pamphlets through my door, and I insist on reading them, and I have to say something, even if it’s just “ARRRRGGGGGGHHH!”
Read More · 27 April 2011 · x1 · Politics
February 2011