Chatham House and the Institute of Iranian Studies at St. Andrews have published a preliminary analysis of the recent election in Iran. The paper (though it is based on official stats) suggests that the election was indeed rigged to a considerable degree. Here is the complete analysis of the Iranian Presidential Election 2009. continue reading Analysis of Voting Figures in the 2009 Iranian Presidential Election

Technorati Tags: Ahmadinejad, analysis, chatham house, election, iran, iranian presidential election, st andrews

The publication of thousands of claims by members of parliament that have the most interesting parts are blacked out has triggered a new wave of outrage over members expenses. Now, even the Guardian has to recognise that the Telegraph was instrumental in uncovering the scale of the mess we’re in. And so, in a bid to keep pace, they have released an innovative crowdsourcing tool that mirrors the principle behind NASA’s “Clickworkers” project (and Amazon’s http://mps-expenses.guardian.co.uk/ you can wade through 457,153 pages of claims and help the good people of the Guardian to identify the juiciest bits. The task is daunting. My MP (Bob Russell) alone has put in a mere 800 pages of  claims and receipts.  But you can win a duck island. continue reading A New Approach to the Expenses Scandal: sleaze@home

Technorati Tags: Bob Russell, guardian, mechanical turk, members of parliament, receipts, sleaze