An Ynys Môn by-election – a psephologist’s dream.

Tomorrow sees an Assembly by-election in Ynys Môn as Ieuan Wyn Jones seeks pastures new. (from the BBC). I won’t dream of predicting the result as Anglesey people taught thrawn to you lot… There’s only one rule that the islanders follow. Once elected you only lose by retiring, dying or being thrown in clink…. Here’s the list of UK Parliament MPS since the war: 1929 – 51 Megan Lloyd George Liberal 1951 – 1979 Cledwyn Hughes Labour (the exception to …

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Nadia Popova

Worth a read from the Economist. Nice obituary from the Economist. DewiWelsh Nationalist. Rugby Fan. Know a bit about History and Railways…

Australian Labor ditch Barry girl..

Oh well it’s been eventful…but Julia’s out (from the BBC). Wednesday’s leadership test was the third faced by Ms Gillard since she took office in 2010. She herself ousted Mr Rudd as prime minister in 2010. The BBC’s Nick Bryant in Sydney says Mr Rudd has exacted his revenge, after three years of him and his supporters mounting a destabilisation campaign targeted very much at her. Australian politics is a pretty brutal business… Rudd has 100 days to a general election …

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Lions…..Lucky

Crikey that Israel bloke on the wing looks tasty…..how we won that I really don’t know….. DewiWelsh Nationalist. Rugby Fan. Know a bit about History and Railways…

The Lions Test Team – how were our predictions?

Here’s the team: Leigh Halfpenny (Wales),Alex Cuthbert (Wales),  Brian O’Driscoll (Ireland)  Jonathan Davies (Wales), George North (Wales), Jonathan Sexton (Ireland), Mike Phillips (Wales); Alex Corbisiero (England), Tom Youngs (England), Adam Jones (Wales), Alun Wyn Jones (Wales), Paul O’Connell (Ireland), Tom Croft (England), Sam Warburton (Wales, capt), Jamie Heaslip (Ireland). Subs: Richard Hibbard (Wales), Mako Vunipola (England), Dan Cole (England), Geoff Parling (England), Dan Lydiate (Wales), Ben Youngs (England), Owen Farrell (England), Sean Maitland (Scotland). Astonished at Maitland as sub, very strange. …

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Shane gets the Lions roaring..

Here’s my team: 15 Halfpenny – he missed a kick in 2011 and a tackle in 2009….I’ve decided to let him marry my niece. 14, hmmm  difficult – I think Kearney…or maybe Shane… 13, Davies – player of the tour so far, 12, O’Driscoll – if he’s fit 11, North – ditto 10, Sexton – looking grown up…well at least compared to Farrell 9. Phillips – superb so far 8. Heaslip 7. Warburton 6, Croft (we have to have a …

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A Lions tour – predict the first test team please.

So it was just a bad dream for Rory Best – in the Lions squad…and I reckon a test starter. How about the other 14? Rules are simple. I need the names of the fifteen starters in the first test on June 22nd. 1 point for every correct name. Here’s my guess: 15 Halfpenny 14 Bowe 13 Roberts 12 O’Driscoll 11 North 10 Sexton 9 Phillips 8 Faletau 7 Warburton 6 Lydiate 5 O’Connell 4 AW Jones 3 A Jones 2 …

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Scotland – will the Orange Order save the Union?

From the Herald comes the news that the Orange Order are mobilising for a “No” vote in the September 2014 referendum on Scottish Independence: THE Orange Order has begun the mobilisation of its members across Scotland as part of its campaign against independence. It has applied to join community councils and is involved in a series of roadshows across greater Glasgow, where it plans to lobby councillors on how it can get involved in the No bid. Similar events have …

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The new old firm…

Right – Cardiff City in the Premiership…looking forward to the South Wales Derby. Seriously – fabulous for the city. DewiWelsh Nationalist. Rugby Fan. Know a bit about History and Railways…

A Fair US Election…

OK – the US system is flawed – FTTP in states means that only a dozen or so states matter each time. So make it fairer: You could just count all the votes ? (far too simple) Or perhaps recognise “states rights” The electoral college system gives a boost to small states by giving a minimum of two electoral votes before proportionality kicks in….first past the post awards all to the winner however. So if we keep the bias in …

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Catalunya – Some elections are important…

There’s a huge election in Catalunya on Sunday: Jon Henley’s there for the Guardian. Here’s his succinct summary: Catalonia is preparing to vote in an election that could determine not just its future, but the shape of Spain and, perhaps, even the European Union. The Generalitat, or autonomous government, polls – which have been called early after the Spanish prime minister refused even to discuss Catalonia’s demands to collect its taxes – will in effect be a plebiscite on whether …

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Spanish troops mass on Catalunya’s borders…

Well,perhaps not quite, although as El Economista reports: (The) Spanish Military Association (SMA) has warned Monday that those who cooperate or allow “fracture” of Spain should “respond with all the utmost rigor” in the courts in the field of military courts by the “serious charge high treason. (Google translate gives the gist) Meanwhile in the real world Artur knows what he’s doing methinks. The FT (subscription needed but it’s free to subscribe) chronicles the events of the last few weeks. …

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The long march in Quebec.

The PQ are back in power.  A terribly tragic victory rally  shadowed the victory. Maybe another decade before the next vote but: Another generation are taking up the fight. DewiWelsh Nationalist. Rugby Fan. Know a bit about History and Railways…

What’s New?

Just an editorial from the Independent.: Riots on the streets of Belfast look alarmingly like a return to the bad old days. Indeed, the sight of an Orange band marching in circles and playing a sectarian tune in front of a Catholic church may prompt claims that nothing has changed. Not so. The symmetry that outsiders tend to see between Northern Ireland’s Protestant and Catholic halves is superficial. The Protestant loyalist working-class community of the past was one where boys …

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Kurdistan – it’s time.

OK – it’s been a long march but after hundreds of years of struggle there’s a shining light at the end of the tunnel: 1) The good guys have taken over Syrian Kurdistan.. (Economist) 2) The Iraqi Kurds have finally got some firepower..(Wiki) 3) The Iranian Kurdish resistance is vibrant (Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan) 4) Turkey’s hypocrisy really can’t last. (Hurriyet Daily News) These guys never give up… DewiWelsh Nationalist. Rugby Fan. Know a bit about History and Railways…

Jamaica? No – she wanted to go…

From the Gleaner– Some of the comments are wonderful, The quintessential athlete! A symbol of excellence. An extraordinary strategist. Congratulations Mr. Usain St. Leo Bolt. You are one in three million! And, Happy 50th Independence Anniversary, my beloved Jamaicans!!!! CONGRATS to our blessed & highly-talented Olympic STARS!!! BEST BY ANY TEST!!!! JAMAICA TO THE WORLD … EVERYTIME !!!!! Shelly-Ann not bad either – watch the video of her family celebrating. Bolt’s run summed up nicely in a comment in the …

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LIBOR – a tobacco moment for banking?

Here’s a super leader from the Economist on the LIBOR scandal…the video is pretty good also. “Since we have not more power of knowing the future than any other men, we have made many mistakes (who has not during the past five years?), but our mistakes have been errors of judgment and not of principle.” So reflected J.P. Morgan junior in 1933, in the middle of a financial crisis. Today’s bankers can draw no such comfort from their behaviour. The …

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Close down under.

An astonishing last 10 minutes of New Zealand – Ireland. Penalty just too far for Sexton, daft decision by Owens, a Carter failed drop goal touched in flight, a scrum five and Carter finishes it. As for Wales…give me strength. Ireland BBC Report: Ireland BBC Report Wales BBC Report: Wales BBC report DewiWelsh Nationalist. Rugby Fan. Know a bit about History and Railways…

Danish Germany

Worth a read from the Economist: “About 50,000 Germans who identify themselves as Danes live in Schleswig-Holstein (population: 2.8m). Their forefathers stayed after Prussia and Austria snatched the place from Denmark in 1864. The border was redrawn by plebiscite in 1920. After 1945 Germany and Denmark agreed to recognise the rights of minorities on both sides (a precondition for Germany’s entry into NATO). Denmark finances 50 Danish schools plus other cultural institutions (including a daily bilingual newspaper, Flensborg Avis). Most students …

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