So it seems to be a day for heavy politics like candidate selection. UKIP is tearing itself apart over this issue, which is surely interesting – if you can’t select candidates you’re not a functioning political party. For example, here’s a piece from the Indy‘s Paul Gallagher, describing a wave of resignations, sometimes en masse,…
Read More Would you buy a used Conservative from this man?Hey look, someone’s writing a Python library to analyse US electoral spending from a network theoretic viewpoint. A good introduction to the problems and also why it’s so intractable in terms of nice charts.
Read More someone else has a #lobsterWhat is it that’s changed in the paedophile inquiry? We’re now looking at a triple murder inquiry and the police seem to be taking it deadly seriously. I have a theory. North Yorkshire police just apologised for denying for years that they ever suspected Jimmy Savile or his associate, Peter Jaconelli. In fact, they investigated…
Read More a high-entropy node in the network of networksA bit of #SimplePlan in action. Enfield set up a wholly owned private company called Housing Gateway this year. Officials have viewed 122 properties, made offers on 77 and had 48 accepted. The company currently owns 22 homes and has tenants in five of them. Oykener said he ensured tenants in those homes would not…
Read More #simpleplan begins to scale upThe USS trustees have, it seems, agreed to defer a decision about valuation, says the UCU after the technical-level negotiations began. Why not sign the petition demanding no changes at the 15th January meeting? What kind of fools do you think we are?
Read More #defenduss: something to sign in the meantimeFrom Cambridge, a collection of charts from USS annual reports. This one is my favourite. Watch the retiree/contributor ratio just rocket upwards! To be honest, you’re losing me here…
Read More quick #defenduss chart: retirees per contributorThanks, as always to Mike Otsuka, we have some insight into how the USS Trustees arrived at their valuation. Really briefly, they seem to have chosen a methodology appropriate for valuing a defined-benefit fund for closure, as opposed to one that will run on, and bish bosh, it becomes absolutely necessary to demand immediate closure.…
Read More #defenduss: so now we know.I want a web standard for password creation/revocation. So does Larry Seltzer. Now the Cambridge Computer Lab security blog is starting to make one.
Read More Passwords againI was saying that nobody seemed to bother to check the claim that defined-contribution pensions were cheaper. Nobody but weirdos like me ever suggested the following until now: Once you account for falling wages among young workers—if you must: “the Millennials”—many mysteries of the economic behavior of young people cease to be mysterious, such as…
Read More They don’t have any money.Here’s a really excellent post from Lord Ashcroft of all people. Something I occasionally bang on about is that public opinion has more dimensions than just agree/disagree. Pollsters very often ask about how important issues are, as well as which party you agree with on them. The difference between which issues respondents rate as important…
Read More Convincing versus mobilising