European 2009 election results map

On 8 June 2009 the Guardian published an interactive map of European 2009 election results.

Mapping the spread of Influenza Type A H1N1

There are a number of maps now available on the web that are illustrating in this age of rapid international air travel how fast diseases can travel between countries and around the world:

• HealthMap - also tracks other diseases
• FluTracker
  
• BBC - see the day-by-day spread
  
• New York Times
  
• Ushahidi
  
• Swine Flu World Map
  

At a national level the following web sites cover just the United States:

• PandemicFlu.gov
• Google Flu Trends
• Swine Flu Map Animation
  

In New Zealand official information on the current outbreak is available from the Ministry of Health.

New Zealand has a new Minister of Transport

Recently elected New Zealand Prime Minister John Key has appointed new list Member of Parliament Steven Joyce to be New Zealand Minister of Transport. Joyce took office on 19 November 2008 and replaces Annette King (now Deputy Leader of the Opposition), Harry Duynhoven and Judith Tizard. The latter two lost their seats in Parliament in the 2008 election.

The NZ Herald carried a profile of Joyce on 5 September 2008. He is a zoology and economics major with a business background, most recently as CEO of Jasons Travel Media and General Manager of the National Party.

In a new innovation there is now also a Minister of Infrastructure, Deputy Prime Minister Bill English.

Cartograms of the US Presidential Election Results

For some excellent cartograms of the United States 2008 presidential election have a look at the work of Physics Professor Mark Newman and colleagues.

They have also done cartograms of the 2004 election.

The cartograms cover both state and county level results. The area of a state or county is based on its population or number of electoral votes rather than land area.

Who to vote for?

A new weblog, Pundit, has a useful Election 2008 Party Quiz to help New Zealand voters decide which party best matches their views on the issues that are important to them.

It also links to the original US Presidential Quiz from Glassbooth.

My personal results? In New Zealand three parties are very close with a fourth not far behind and I still haven't finally decided which way my two votes will be cast on Saturday. As for US, I am glad I am not voting there because my quiz input on the issues results in an exact tie between McCain and Obama!

Anyway whether you are in the United States or New Zealand this week the most important thing is that if you are eligible you exercise your democratic right to vote. At times we may wish that we had a better system of selecting our governments, but a democratic system can only survive if we all support it.

And have fun watching the results roll in on the night.

New Zealand 2008 General Election date announced

On Friday, 12 September 2008 the Prime Minister announced that the next New Zealand General Election will be held on Saturday, 8 November 2008 so it is time for New Zealanders to check that they are enrolled with Elections New Zealand.

Those Kiwis overseas might like to have a look at the web site Every Vote Counts, a non-partisan campaign to reach New Zealanders offshore and encourage them to participate.

Canada's next federal election will be on 14 October and the Presidential election in the United States is on 4 November so there is plenty going on to keep election watchers interested.

John McCain chooses Alaska Governor Sarah Palin

A few weeks ago I mentioned to a friend who follows US politics that he should read up about Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as a likely vice presidential running mate for the 2008 Republican presidential candidate, Senator John McCain. I wasn't caught by surprise when she was selected late last week. This lady has a fascinating personal story that is now getting extensive media coverage.

At least one blog had been supporting her for months.

The aviation angles? Her husband Todd has a private pilot licence, owns a Super Cub manufactured in 1958 and registered N8149D, and they have a daughter called Piper. As was the case with Democratic vice presidential candidate Senator Joseph Biden, the first clue as to who McCain might have picked came from those who follow business jet movements. John McCain, of course, was a US Navy pilot.

My in-laws make the news

Auckland's morning daily, The New Zealand Herald, on 20 May 2008 carried an article on new immigrants to New Zealand that featured my wife's sister and her family. You can just see their new puppy in the photo.

We joined them in their house hunting in Auckland at the end of last year. Many real estate agents and vendors at that stage were not yet accepting that the house price boom was over. Added to that the UK pound was dropping in value against the NZ dollar. It was quite a stressful experience but fortunately it all turned out okay just in time for the start of the 2008 school year.

Interactive graphic of UK constituencies

The UK Daily Telegraph has a great interactive graphic mapping all the constituencies in the United Kingdom based on the new electoral boundaries approved by Parliament on 27 June 2007. Each constituency is represented by a hexagon. The graphic interfaces with political opinion poll results and a "swingometer" to show scenarios for the outcome of the next British General Election. Currently the polls point to a wave of blue washing to the north.

UK Election Maps showing constituency boundaries are available from the Ordinance Survey.

The US presidential primary season kicks off

As a political studies graduate, every four years I take some perverse pleasure in following the peculiar workings of US democracy in action as the US presidential election process works through. It is also fun to watch the polls and see how close they are to the final results.

Today, 3 January 2008, is when the process kicks off in Iowa and this year, with no incumbent running and the polls particularly close in the early races (if not in the country overall), we are in for an interesting time.

There are many web sources for following the US political news but one I have found particularly useful as a starting point is Real Clear Politics from Chicago. It provides links to the latest poll results and articles in the main-stream news media.

Although in New Zealand we are far away from the political action in the US, the final outcome does matter to us, particularly in the attitude a new US Administration and Congress will take on foreign trade issues.

Now on to New Hampshire and beyond.

Kiwis in the United Kingdom

The BBC has produced a cartogram of where the 57,916 New Zealanders that were living in the UK at the time of the 2001 census were located. It is no great surprise that almost half the Kiwis ended up in London.

This compares with around 215,000 Britons resident in New Zealand.