A new spirit of service?

Looks like I might have over-egged the turnout prediction, and it doesn't appear Obama will quite get to the 379 Clinton watermark :-(

... but it is looking like a 364-174/Obama-McCain result, which by any standards is an exceptional outcome.

I have to say, I don't envy Obama the task now in front of him - I've never known so much hope and expectation being placed on the shoulders of one person, within my lifetime - but, I'm optimistic he'll rise to the challenge. He is surrounded by extremely capable people, and more importantly, he now has a huge body of verifiable support right-across America that will work with him.

And if you have a mere 17-minutes to spare over the next few days, then can I encourage you to watch his victory speech in full ... it does give a very clear flavour of just how he intends to govern.

Personally, I think these intentions - against much expectation - will be delivered upon.

I really do think some significant changes await the period following his inauguration on the 20th January 2009.

Vote #1 for Cammy Day

Parenting angst :-(

Mentioned the other day that junior was off for a week from today ...

... well, he's now departed and we won't see him again until Friday!

Having never been away from him for more than the odd day, a mild sense of panic has now set in, although I'm quite sure he'll have a marvellous time ;-)

Middle-age parenting angst is upon me :-(

President Obama

US election prediction coming up ... I just know I'll regret this :-(

No sitting on the fence, or predictions of a 'slight' Obama victory - I reckon we'll be waking up on Wednesday to a quite extraordinary result ...

Looking at most of the recent polls, and how they currently translate into votes via the electoral college, I predict that Obama is going to get VERY close to 400 electoral college votes ...

... I think he'll beat Clinton's 379 of the 1996 election, and it will thus be the most convincing Democrat Presidential victory since Lyndon Johnson in 1964.

Oh, and the turnout will be VERY close to 80%.

Active Sunday

Very busy day up in the Forth Ward this morning/early afternoon ...

... then local Community Centre meeting this afternoon, before finally making it back to the flat.

Looking forward to next weekend ;-)

Shopping mania :-(

Junior is away on his 'P7 school-trip week' from Monday through to Friday next week ... first time in nearly 11-years we'll have been without him, apart from the occasional night :-(

... I only mention this, as we've a cunning plan to completely re-organise and re-decorate his room whilst he's away - so, this evening we all went off to IKEA (not a place I frequent much!) to buy some new furniture. At 6pm on a Saturday night, the place was hopping - and there was me thinking it would be fairly quiet :-((

But, we escaped in one piece, and all is ready for next week's marathon DIY event ... next few days thus shaping up to be as 'relaxed as can-be', especially given my love of all-things DIY which will now be combined with the last few-days running-up to the Forth by-election!

I can hardly wait.

Anyone for India?

Perceptions matter!

... and I reckon this is a decision to match those made on robes, traffic-lights and old desks ...

It is, unquestionably, an inappropriate time for this type of expenditure. Someone, surely, should have recognised that?

... the very fact that it's made its way into an official Council report just about sums up the political miasma that appears to be suffocating all prospect of decent decision-making within the City Chambers at the moment.

Not good.

Busy few days ahead

Very busy few days ahead, with the Forth Ward by-election now less than a week away!

... and, amazingly, the Council website has JUST put up all the relevant details about voting etc. Much of it, regarding postal voting and so on, is completely out of date now of course :-(

I hope this is not an omen for the efficacy of the electronic count on Thursday night :-((

Edinburgh University (2)

Edinburgh University (for the second time in one day!) this evening for a Student Forum event ... organised by Edinburgh University Students' Association (EUSA).

Enjoyable evening, with good contributions on a wide range of topics.

There does seem to be a renewed effort by the student bodies across the city to engage with the City Council, and local communities - I think it can only be to the good that such communication is happening on a regular basis ...

... that's not to say there will 'always' be agreement - but there's a sense of an open-dialogue now happening, which I'm certain will help understanding from all sides of the debates which surround student communities in Edinburgh.

Edinburgh University (1)

This afternoon, helped out with a lecture session for Edinburgh University Law Diploma students - been something I've assisted with for around 5 years now ... on a course run by Council staff from the Committee Services section.

I did repeat my terrible habit (only at these closed-door events I hasten to add!) of being ridiculously frank and I may have been just a little too blunt about how much I admire (NOT) first-past-the-post as an electoral system ... oh dear ;-)

Simply wrong

I'm personally astounded at the story (BBC link here) being covered today about the Catholic churches' comments on the Embryology Bill currently going through the UK Parliament.

... frankly, they are quite simply wrong on this. There seems to be an almost complete blind-spot (when it comes to certain Catholic church representatives) to the fact that a huge percentage of female eggs are lost in the natural process of conception anyway?

Edinburgh credit crunch?

Council News Release out today, which reads to me like the beginning of a 'softening up' process before the 2009/10 budget round commences properly in a few weeks time - BBC have also covered the story here.

Its all well-and-good to blame some of the current local, financial difficulties on the 'credit crunch' ... but I'm certain all the Opposition Groups on the Council will be looking at the forthcoming budget detail very, very carefully.

... 'credit crunch' or not, I'm fairly certain the financial challenges within several Council Departments are still causing their own problems, precious little of which has been solved since last May - despite all the promises to the contrary?

A banquet for our times?

Possibly not the 'best' time to launch this initiative - but, to be fair, you could argue that its an opportune moment to try and raise the profile of the city which is currently suffering a bit of an onslaught ...

... so, I'll reserve my judgement until I know who is paying for year 2 - as its not at all clear that funding is secured beyond the first year for this event, which is being paid for by an anonymous benefactor??

FACe

New, electronic Newsletter been launched today for the Council's Children and Families Department - official blurb from the launch can be found here ... and the first edition itself can be found here.

... on the face of it (sorry, couldn't resist that!) I reckon this innovation has decent potential and is a good development.

What it absolutely must avoid though - otherwise people will just see it for what it is - is being "nothing but" a propaganda tool for the Department ... and if the lead-article in the first edition is anything to go by, then its not a great omen. I'll quote:

"Improving our school estate is one of Edinburgh's priorities and in recent years there has been a huge investment in our school buildings. We are committed to continuing with this investment and a number of construction programmes are currently taking place in the city."

Slight failure to mention that NOT ONE construction programme has been initiated in the last 18-months and that come early 2010, when the current second-round of the school building programme is finished, there is nothing to follow it.

To be fair, the rest of the Newsletter content is fairly informational - as opposed to the 'aspirational' quoted above!

Forth Ward

Spent a lot of today up in the Forth Ward ... by-election now only 11-days away!

Thankfully didn't encounter any more friendly Alsatians as I was doing my rounds :-(

... weather still not that great mind you - certainly hope it's a bit drier on Thursday 6th November!

Computer overload

Suffering a bit of a computer overload tonight :-(

... you would think being in Opposition would have led to a reduction in the volume of incoming e-mails, but no - if anything there seems to be a never-ending increase in the sheer scale of e-mail traffic that comes my way!

I dread to imagine what it will be like when the remaining 30% (or so) of local households get direct access to a computer??

... all part of the joy of being a public servant, of course ;-)

Wet week

Back in Edinburgh this evening ... been up in Glen Orchy for a few days, as per last October, and I simply cannot tell you how wet a week its been - total non-stop rain :-(

On Thursday, Tyndrum (just a few miles down the road from where we were staying) had a daily rainfall of 7.2cm :-((

This picture of the River Orchy in spate just about sums it all up!

Normal service will be resumed shortly

October half-term week ... blogging may be somewhat light ;-)

Normal service will be resumed very shortly.