Unfair Elections Results

I have been watching the results of Australian elections for a while now and have noted that in a few ways they represent a gerrymander and are still coming up with mathematically unfair results. The WA elections are a case in point.

This table is not very neat. But you can see a better version here. If the system was truly representational then people would get candidates approximately in the same proportion to their vote. The table below shows that this is not the case. This is why a system such as those used in Tasmania or the ACT are far better than those used in other states.

      % Vote Won Likely Nominal    Difference
Labor     35.9       26      20          6
Liberal   38.7       22      21          1
National   4.9       4        3          1
Greens    11.5       0        6         (6)
Others     9         3        5         (2)

A simple calculation of error being difference divided by total, gives 8 over 55 or a 15% error. I wonder what sort of error would be considered fair?

photo phobia - psychotic behaviour?

Recently I became friend with someone on Face Book just to play a game. I discovered this comment on this persons photo stream which was attributed to me. I never installed this application and I never made this comment. I wonder if the man is being psychotic? There seems to be a tragic wave of photophobia striking Australia at the moment.

Awkward Contact

Brian Yap wrote Wow! that's an odd looking pose for a profile picture, what's going on?

Jammar Prince (Thetford, United Kingdom) wrote Well, ummm, you look like a nice person so let me tell you a little secret...I don't like my photograph being taken but shhhh don't tell anyone ;0)

a faulty way of thinking

A photo of a man that is supposed to invade his privacy because he is unconscious of the footpath. the real problem are the judgemental people who think that this should be hidden.

How Google put Bill's grief on show

suicide

from a certain point of view, going down with the ship looks like suicide.

of the french (again)

People keep on telling me that to like the french is to want to have an affair. They also say that to be Greek is to be gay. I do not think like this, but assuming that we take this to be true then the following must also be true:

1. To like the British is to want to live in a sexless puritanical Victorian relationship with a person of the opposite sex.
2. To like the Americans is to be a red neck, puritan in public who goes around with gay prostitutes when no one is looking.

Sounds only fair really.

Boeing Factory - Melbourne

When in Melbourne recently I spoke to several people about the boeing strike. Actually they spoke to me as I was unaware that there was a 3 week long strike. They siad that the reason for the strike was that Boeing had delayed the 777 development. This meant that they had too many staff. So what Boeing's management was doing was surrupticousy going around finding people that they could sack to save money on redundancies. But they were not following the proper process. People were being sacked for doing things like getting someone else to sign in for them in the morning. They were being put on suspension for a week and then sacked. Aparently this is not the correct process.

mexicans and other types of north americans...

If you are a mexican because you like to be on the bottom, does that mean that being an American means you like to be in the middle and being a Canadian mean that you like being on top? Kind of a north american sandwich.