Apparently, Senator Shelby received the PR he wanted.  Whether it will have any effects on the Redstone Arsenal explosives lab or the tanker contract for the Mobile area remains to be seen.

Share on Facebook

How about if a Senator has a reason to object to a given nominee that said Senator would, oh I don’t know, maybe take the floor and try to, well, persuade the other Senators that the nominee is, well, not worthy of the job.  If one’s argument and evidence is powerful enough, perhaps one could actually form a majority contra the nominee.

I know, call me crazy.

BTW, it may well be that the nominee, Craig Becker, deserves to be blocked.  However, one would think that persuading the majority of the Senate of this fact one way or another is not unreasonable.

Share on Facebook

the Central Election Commission announced that it was no longer statistically possible for Tymoshenko to win. With almost all of the votes counted, Yanukovich was leading 48.7% to 45.7%, the agency said. Most of the remaining ballots were marked "against all," a sign of the deep dissatisfaction among some voters.

It’s not just the Election Commission that is saying that Yanukovich won,but international observers as well:

"It is now time for the country’s political leaders to listen to the people’s verdict and make sure that the country’s transition is peaceful and constructive," said Joao Soares, president of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly and head of its observation mission.

Nevertheless, Tymoshenko appears to be unwilling to concede and is seeking a court fight over the results according to an NPR report this morning.

Share on Facebook

Downing Street has admitted "time is tight" to get laws for a referendum on scrapping Britain’s first past the post voting system through Parliament.

Well, waiting until almost literally the last minute might have obviated that problem.  Indeed, as Matthew Shugart noted last week:  Labour first promised that they would address electoral reform in 1997.  Seeing as how they have held the government since that time, one could argue that they had time to address the issue prior to now.

Two other things to note from the piece:

1.  Prime Minister Brown is facing a bit of back bench revolt, as up to 40 members of Labour plan to vote against the bill.  For American readers the notion that members of the majority party might buck leadership is unremarkable.  However, in the UK it is a far more dramatic event.

2.  The story notes “Conservatives say the existing method is fair and ‘keeps extremists out’.”  However, the proper translation of such a proclamation is “we fear we would lose seats if reform were passed.”  Now, certainly, that being the case it makes perfect sense for the Conservatives to oppose change.  However, arguing that  an electoral system might let other political actors into office that the existing system is leaving out is to argue that the existing system is not fully representative of the population.

The degree to which the objection by the Conservatives is actually about fringe groups being let into Parliament is dubious anyway, as the alternative vote (explained here) is not a system that will increase the changes that small factions will be able to win seats.  Really, if a fringe party cannot currently win a plurality in a given constituency, how in the world will it win an absolute majority? Indeed if a party could win an absolute majority, even based on second and third preferences in a district it would, by definition not be a fringe or “extremist” party.

No, the Conservatives’ fear is that the alternative vote will aid Labour and/or the Liberal Democrats.

Share on Facebook

It also has a sort of 1970s sfx/TV intro vibe. There’s also a bit of Warhol in there.

alt 365.39

Share on Facebook

alt 365.39

Share on Facebook

365.39 (2/8/10)

Share on Facebook

Ukraine’s pro-Moscow opposition leader Viktor Yanukovych will win a narrow victory in the country’s presidential election, electoral officials say.

With more than 97% of votes counted, Mr Yanukovych had a 2.6% lead over his rival, PM Yulia Tymoshenko, media said.

Mr Yanukovych called on Mrs Tymoshenko to quit, but she refused and is expected to challenge the result.

The results suggest a remarkable comeback after Mr Yanukovych was swept aside by the 2004 "Orange Revolution".

And in Costa Rica, also via the BBC:  Laura Chinchilla to be Costa Rica’s first female leader

With most votes counted from Sunday’s poll, Ms Chinchilla had 47% of the vote, 22 points ahead of the main opposition contender, Otton Solis.

Ms Chinchilla, a former vice-president, has pledged to continue the free-market policies of outgoing head, Oscar Arias.

[…]

Mr Solis won some 25% of the vote, while the third-placed candidate, Otto Guevara, won 21%.

Interestingly, when Solis ran against Arias back in 2006 the elections was extremely close and the issue of CAFTA ratification (the Centra Amercan Free Trade Agreement with the US–i.e., a free trade policy) was very much a contentious one.  It is interesting that four years later (and especially given the global economy) that there has been such a shift in public sentiment.   Although clearly that was only one amongst many factors.

Share on Facebook

365.38 (2/7/10). The seven month drought commences.

Congrats to the Saints!

Share on Facebook

Via WaPo:  Costa Rica votes, could elect 1st woman president.

Share on Facebook