Awesome speech - dude.

Bush expresses his appreciation of the Pope's speech as only he can



Later his showed the pope around his crib and let him play the preview version of GTA V on his 50" plasma while his old lady Laura mixed drinks and served pork scratchings.

Ciaran Cannon elected leader of PDs but how?

Congratulations to Ciaran Cannon on a personal level but asking the obvious question but how did the votes really play out? Because that is what will determine if the party unites behind him or goes its separate ways. I acknowledge that I'm guessing here but if I'm wrong about one area then it has a knock on for the others.

Baseline information that we know at this stage.
Oireachtas members 40% - I think we're guessing a 2:2 split here
Cllrs and senior figures 30% - we were told that the cllr were breaking for Cannon 2:1
Party members 30% which would imply the membership broke for O'Malley 2:1

Alternative scenarios
Alternative A
Change in the Oireachtas members 40% - I can't see Grealish or Cannon voting for anyone other than Cannon so the only other possible outcome here is 3:1 for Cannon with Harney supporting him. Which means that O'Malley just have won both the membership and cllrs vote by almost 2:1 to come as close as she did. Which would be a major turn up and a problem for the party if those lower in the political pyramid on whom the party depends had chosen one person but it was undone by the sitting leader and minister. I would rate this option as unlikely.

Alternative B
Oireachtas members 40% - I think we're guessing a 2:2 split here
Cllrs and senior figures 30% - we were told that the cllrs etc were breaking for Cannon 2:1, but maybe that didn't happen as was suggested and he just won convincingly more here than O'Malley did, but not 2:1. However -
Party members 30% - that still implies O'Malley won almost equally more of the membership. And they are the ones relied on canvass leaflet drop etc, will those that supported O'Malley come out if they suspect that their cllr went the other way?

B is the more likely scenario in my view

Alternative C
Oireachtas members 40% - I think we're guessing a 2:2 split here
Cllrs and senior figures 30% - we were told that the cllrs were breaking for Cannon 2:1, but maybe that didn't happen as was suggested and in fact was a very even split.
Party members 30% and that means we almost have to have a very even split in the membership.

C is a less likely scenario in my view than B but marginally so.

Alternative D
Oireachtas members 40% - I think we're guessing a 2:2 split here
Cllrs and senior figures 30% - we were told that the cllrs were breaking for Cannon 2:1, but maybe that didn't happen as was suggested and in fact it was all nonsense and O'Malley romped home amongst the cllrs etc. Some of whom may now decide the jig is up and depart the scene between now and 2009 locals
Party members 30% but that means that Cannon won the membership convincingly. And that if cllrs depart he has eager members ready to enter the battle next year.

Alternative D is the most hopeful one for the PDs but it seems bar far the the most unlikely.

I'm open to people giving alternative options but can they relate them to how the numbers played out in the electoral colleges?

Glad all over.

I'm like some bloke watching his rivals kill each other off while doing almost nothing myself other than my normal work week to advance my cause. Sort of a footballing Francis Urquhart. Last night Wolves lost to WBA to leave themselves 3 points behind the 6th and final play-off place which Palace currently occupy. Wolves still have a game in hand but since they are also 9 goals off our goal difference it would seem that, for the first time this season, making the play-offs is entirely in our own hands.

We have Hull and Watford, both of whom are above us, to play away from home over the next 2 weeks and then finish up with a final home game against Burnley. The team is shockingly young, with the likes of Clinton Morrison looking like an old stager at this pint. Victor Moses, Sean Scannell (Irish u21) and the lads we've brought in on loan, in particular Scott Sinclair looking like they have real quality. He really stands out as a prospect and reminds me of a young Mr Ashley Cole that we had on loan about 8 years ago. I doubt Chelsea will let us have him long term.

The final Cylon

I've been thinking about what would be the most unexpected thing to do with the final Cylon and what occurred to me is that all the speculation is focused on the living. So why couldn't the final Cylon be someone that has died in the Series to date that they happen to come across on some planet or base in the final episode of the first half of the last series. And then we get some back story on them as the start of the 2nd half of the series.

After all we should be able to presume that the final five can resurrect just like the other 7even flesh jobs. And so this final member of the final five may have died and gone to some place where they were resurrected (where a place had been prepared for them as the Testament would say), and we've had a small bit of foreshadowing in that Lee Adama asked his father what if it had been his brother that had returned rather than Kara. So my wild guess is that the final Cylon could be the other younger Adama boy Zak. Or more probably but still on the same theme another character who has been killed in the series so far, like the President's old PA - Billy Keikeya.

Amazing uses for the Wii remote

Ted as ever as another excellent short (5 minutes or so) clip demonstrating someone taking something we've quickly come to accept as background and upgrading it to be so, so much more. I don't normal post tech stuff here, that really belongs either on the personal blog or the work proper one but this deserves a bigger audience.

Hat tip to Giuseppe Torre.

What is better than Gaius Baltar?

Why double Gaius of course! I think the sign for the deep end must have been some way back, cos the place he has gone in off is way beyond deep. "She's a sexy lady"