Category: Politics

The Holodomor

The Holodomor was the famine of 1932/33 caused by Stalin’s reorganisation of agriculture in Ukraine and Russia. Something like five million Ukrainians died and the same number were born with defects or stillborn further depleting the population.

Mass Observation

Almost half a million people took part in the Big Garden Birdwatch, organised by the RSPB, this year. That’s Mass Observation.

Floating Voters

Countries in the Former Soviet Union have a broader franchise than many western countries, including the UK.

Conversations

On an Election Observation Mission there are opportunities to chat, not always about election methodology. A UK observer told me that he had been Master and huntsman of the Pimpernel beagles and jolly smart he must have looked in his uniform: green coat, old gold collar, green stockings and black cap.

The Birthday Paradox

“In a room of just 23 people there’s a 50-50 chance of at least two people having the same birthday. In a room of 75 there’s a 99.9% chance of at least two people matching.“ This is the Birthday Paradox.

Preliminary Report

Volodymyr Zelensky, who plays a fictional president in a popular TV show, secured 30.4 percent of the vote on Sunday, early results showed. Petro Poroshenko, a billionaire magnate and Ukraine’s current leader, received 17.8 percent. In a country on the frontline of the West’s standoff with Russia, the electorate has rallied behind an anti-establishment figure… Continue reading Preliminary Report

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Categorised as Politics

Blog Lite

There is not going to be much here for the next week or so as today I go to Kyev or as you might prefer Kiev. Presidential election on Sunday.

Robinson Crusoë – The Opera

Even Wexford has shied away from Offenbach’s operetta, Robinson Crusoë. It has rarely been performed since it premiered in Paris in 1867. In fact it ran for only thirteen performances and then slumbered like Rip Van Winkle until it was awakened (woke?) at the Camden Festival in 1973. 

Benn v Bellew

I am enjoying Kenneth Rose’s Journals. On every page there is some donnish joke worth repeating but, hitherto, I have resisted.

The Syrian Solution

I wonder how history will treat the actors strutting the Brexit stage? I hope Theresa May comes out with credit. By the time the history books are written she may, in any case, be Duchess of Berkshire, KG, etc.