Iraq Problem Disappeared!

I know that Fox News' grasp of reality is fairly tenuous at best, but losing Iraq?

Melbourne's Water

After yet another below average month of rainfall, Melbourne's water reserves are hovering around the 27% mark, several points below this time last year. Last summer, of course, a lack of rain and high temperatures led to the horrifying bushfires around the state. In the past, the winter rains have always replenished the reserves but the last decade has seen year after year of below average rainfall so something has to be done long-term.

Climate change, I believe, makes the longer term outlook even worse. That is why I support the building of a desalination plant while will enable Melbourne to become self-sufficient in water. (In the news today is a story that the company awarded the contract to built the plant hasn't been exactly environmentally sound in the past) However, I would add a couple of caveats. Melbourne needs to get a lot smarter with water recycling. However, I'm not sure if I'd want to drink recycled water as the long term risks of hormones and chemicals which can't be filtered out have never been fully cleared.

The other major point that needs to be considered is the power that is used by the desalination plant. Most of the power in Victoria is generated by the burning of brown coal, about the worst polluter and generator of CO2 emissions there is. The sooner an alternative source, preferably by wave or tide (desalination plants after all are built right on the coast) is developed, the better.

Norwich City's Pre-Season

I've been impressed with Bryan Gunn's work since the end of last season. I must admit that I was in favour of his reappointment though not overly enthusiastic with it.

I felt the club needed to get back to its roots and recognise that it is a major part of the Norfolk community. The re-appointment of Gunn along with Ian Butterworth, Ian Crook and John Deehan has put the club in the hands of people who understand and can connect with the supporters.

In terms of the team, I've been impressed with the speed with which the club has identified and brought in their targets. Gill, Tudur Jones, Hughes, Whaley and Holt have all started well. The 'Luton Two', Michael Spillane and Chris Martin are the equivalent of two new signings and hopefully have learned in their year away how fortunate they are to professional footballers.

Askou and Maric, subject to international clearance, will be important additions to the squad giving strong competition to every position on the field.

I should save a special welcome to Michael Theoklitos who I've seen play many times here for Melbourne Victory. He always had his defence very well organised in front of him as two A-League championships in four years testify.

Finally, and at long last, there appears to be a string of young professionals coming through from the youth team. I hope they get a chance to shine this season. For the past couple of years, the coach has rushed out to bring in a loan player rather than promoting someone from within.

The results so far, culminating in those excellent wins against Palace and Wigan have shown that Gunn has built a squad that can succeed. Let's hope they carry the form and confidence with them into the League One season, strting at home to Colchester next week.

I, for one, think we'll do well.

Night Sky - Time Lapse

Galactic Center of Milky Way Rises over Texas Star Party from William Castleman on Vimeo.

On of the best time lapse sequences I've seen.

McCain's Vanishing Chances

According to fivethirtyeight.com, McCain's chances of winning are now a mere 5.9%. 

Some Useful Pieces Of Business Advice

These are all worth a read. Here's No. 3

Lesson 3:

A sales rep, an administration clerk, and the manager are walking to lunch when they find an antique oil

lamp.

They rub it and a Genie comes out.

The Genie says, 'I'll give each of you just one wish.'

'Me first! Me first!' says the admin clerk. 'I want to be in the Bahamas , driving a speedboat, without a care

in the world.'

Puff! She's gone.

'Me next! Me next!' says the sales rep. 'I want to be in Hawaii , relaxing on the beach with my personal

masseuse, an endless supply of Pina Coladas and the love of my life.'

Puff! He's gone.

'OK, you're up,' the Genie says to the manager.

The manager says, 'I want those two back in the office after lunch.'

Moral of the story:

Always let your boss have the first say. 

I Approve This Message

Don Wright nails it.

North Carolina Update

There's a long and detailed look at North Carolina by Al Giordano on The Field.  It aagain back up the organisation that Obama has set up throughout the country which is going to change the way that elections are run. 

The Field has listened to all the talk of Obama possibly winning North Carolina and its 15 Electoral Votes with a healthy dose of skepticism, but also with great curiosity (which is why we added it to our swing state reporting tour when it was only number 15 among 538's "tipping point" states - it's now number seven). Remember that, in 2004, Republican George W. Bush won 1,961,166 votes here (56 percent) to just 1,525,849 for Democrat John Kerry.

He goes on to quote Hugh J. McColl, former CEO of Bank of America who endorses Obama and stock market guru James Cramer who explains the difference between the two candidates as "Obama is a recession. McCain is a depression". 

However, it is the extent of Obama's ground organisation that makes a real impression.

At the end of the day on Thursday, The Field conducted an unannounced "inspection" of the regional Obama office in Greenville, to which the local organizers report each day. It was 8:30 p.m., the close of phone banking hours, and the headquarters was a beehive of activity with phone-bankers ending their shift and change crew chiefs bringing in the day's tallies. More than 250 newly filled voter registration forms sat atop an organizer's desk. After phone banking, the organizers then get on a regional conference call with statewide organizers to report the day's numerical progress (new voters, phone contacts, canvass contacts, etcetera). It took the local organizers until after 10 p.m. to finish their daily tasks.

Alright. Okay. I get it. This isn't just a political campaign. It's a steamroller (my italics). This is why North Carolina really is in play. And the excitement in this state - from West to East - is the highest and the hungriest among the five states we visited in the past two weeks.

Summing the article up is Obama representative Dan Blue.

"We're definitely in play. If I had to make the call, I believe we're going to win it."

Read the whole thing.

Lego Bricks.....and too much time on your hands!

Well, it filled up their day I suppose. It's very clever and woth checking them all out. There are some very famous photos there.

The Ground Game

Obama's campaign has been run immaculately, with election day always in mind.

Using momentum built during thr primaries, he has built the most impressive ground game that the US has probably ever seen.

Despite tens of thousands of "Neighborhood Team Leaders," and an entire organizing outreach tool actually named "Neighbor to Neighbor," Barone apparently fervently hopes Obama has no peer-to-peer efforts:

The most successful recent turnout drive was that of the Bush-Cheney '04 campaign, which relied on peer-to-peer volunteers, local people who made connections with neighbors with whom they had something in common (fellow members of a particular church, fellow accountants, nearby neighbors). The Obama campaign, in contrast, seems to be depending on youthful volunteers who seem unlikely to have such connections.

Wow. They. Are. So. F#$%ed.

the fivethirtyeight.com team have been travelling round the States checking out both parties' organisations on the ground. From what I've read, on this site and others, there's just no comparison. I think Sean Quinn's quote above sums it up.