Yr Neges Nadolig

Nadolig Llawen i bawb oddi wrth Roger yng Nghymru - Merry Christmas to everyone from Roger in Wales

Statistics

Election and Statistics go together very well indeed. I have mentioned a few Stats about the Blog and earlier today my friend and IT Guru sent me the following message: "...Just read your latest blog entries, and I thought I'd let you know how
I read them, in case others are doing something similar. I use Google Reader (http://www.google.co.uk/reader) to subscribe to all the blogs that I follow. Further, I do almost all of my web browsing through the Firefox web browser
(http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/) with add-ons that prevent javascript running, block adverts, and take various other measures to increase my online security and privacy. Many other people take similar measures. So, I'm not sure how the statistics for who is reading your blog are compiled, but, it might be that the number of visitors/followers/subscribers is being underestimated because of
various intermediaries, and security and privacy measures..."

So the Blog Stats that I have provided for you so far may be an underestimate of the real situation. A bit like the Election Farce in the States the last time around (8 years back and not this years fantastic result). Miscounting, misunderstanding and confusion. Maybe we should arrange for a re-count. My friend also attached a screenshot of what this blog looks like to him in Google Reader. It is totally different and just goes to show that not everything is exactly as we think it is, and things shouldn't be accepted on face value. Now Einstein and others would sign up to that, as I suppose the losing candidate in the Ghanaian Presidential Election will as well. Especially when he reflects on the exit poll results rather than the actual election poll. And that folks is the problem with Statistics; they can be manipulated to display or lean towards what the originator truly desires. And desire will lead us nicely onto the next post when I update you with this evening's fantastic news regarding Jeffers who is suffering 30+ degree heat and the other fantastic news about Patricia and Michael who have to endure -10 at this time of year. I will Facebook them all and ask for permission to release the news in some subsequent Blog posts. Meanwhile, continue to enjoy the read and Nadolig Llawen i bawb - Merry Christmas to everyone.

And more Elections

Ghanaians face a presidential run-off as poll results showed that the ruling party's candidate came out on top in the first round; but just failed to knock his main challenger out of the contest.

According to AFP, Nana Akufo-Addo from the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) won 49.13 percent of the vote, ahead of John Atta-Mills of the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) with 47.92 percent. The third placed Candidate was way behind on 1.3 per cent of the vote. The winning candidate had to achieve 50 percent of the vote plus one vote in order to win the election. The next poll between the two front-runners, takes place on December 28th. According to the Electoral Commission Chief Kwado Afari Gyan; turnout in last weeks Election was a healthy 69.52 percent. A turnout of this magnitude indicates that democracy is alive and Well in Ghana. Although there was one small hiccup in that the announce results were based on 229 out of the country's 230 constituencies as Ballot Boxes in one constituency had been tampered with. 229 out of 230, 1 tampered, 1.3 per cent and we realise that numbers do matter after all. Worse still, time has to be set aside to prepare for the second round on the 28th. Given that time is relative, I suspect that this Christmas will go slow for the two contenders, but that time will move too fast for the Party faithful who try and rustle up more support for their chosen candidate. But what really matters is that neither candidate is vying for the top job at the end of the barrel of a gun. It is democracy, and a close hard fought campaign will only go to strengthen the value and credibility of the successful candidate. It would be lovely to meet the Winner and to hope that Ghana can continue to enjoy the peace that it has had for so long.

The Elections

According to the BBC the main contenders to succeed President John Kufuor are; ex-Foreign Minister Nana Akufo-Addo and the opposition's John Atta Mills. Like in the United States; President Kufuor has to step down from holding the office of President having served the maximum of two terms.

Time waits for no Man

Einstein said that Time waits for no Man. Well, if he didn't then he should have. As time certainly doesn't wait around at all. I haven't seen my friend Adam for quite a while and we met up yesterday. What was really interesting about that meeting is that Adam felt, that as a regular reader of the Blog he had in fact kept in touch. Which is quite cool as he is not one of the two listed followers, and I didn't have to spend a lot of time bringing him up to date with what is happening in my life at the moment. Well answers on a postcard there then, as not much is happening at home or in work. Even the studying has been put on the back burner for a while. Especially with Christmas looming and the demands of the 'n' gauge railway build. But the Blog readership is good news, as Adam's declaration means that the Blog now has three Followers and 3 is my lucky number. Well, it ain't quite as lucky as the number 4 but then again that is another story. I suppose Luck, like Time plays an important part of everyone's life. And if it's not time, then it certainly is timing. You only have to look at President elect Barack O to work that one out. But while the United States Elections drew everyone's attention across the World, back in Africa another election was about to take place. The Billboards in Accra displayed lots of pictures of the potential candidates in what would appear on face value to an outsider, to be a system of personality politics. But my conversations with others showed that this was not the case and the election was about who would be best for the Country and why? The Ghanaians embraced their election long before Barack made voting popular. The number of voters was even reported in the UK on the Ceefax and Teletext systems. Lots of text there then; but I wonder what the winners lucky number is? And if that number and the timing of their candidacy had anything to do with the outcome?

Non Linear Activity, Einstein and all of that

It's only when you jump in the car that you realise how BIG our tiny Country actually is! I attended a meeting in the deepest England today and the journey out of Wales took 6.5 hours yesterday and the more direct route return journey took 5.5 hours today! If indeed there is something as the direct Linear route across Wales. Bends, hills, narrow lanes, more bends and even one that went back on itself. That one took two attempts to negotiate given the size of my car. Don't get me wrong, I don't like to brag, but it is a big car. You drop your speed and you save fuel. You increase your speed but you don't necessarily go any faster. I suppose that is the nature of a long journey. And for me it has been two very long journeys over two extremely short days. Einstein told us about time, and the speed of light. Well my car ain't that fast, but one of my daughters does call me 'The Rocket Man'. Long journeys get you to think; and I can now explain Einstein's Theory of Relativity. For some of my friends that won't come as too much of a surprise, but for me given the long journey that I had with Hawkings 'Universe in a Nutshell' it comes across as a triumph. Although I suspect that this particular bit of knowledge won't help me with my forthcoming interview. But it does at least put it all into context. We are all insignificant, it's just that some of us think that we are important when we are not. And one of the trappings of self belief and importance is the car. But however big and powerful it is; it can't make the bendy roads of Wales - Linear. Only Einstein can do that!

Warming Up

The sun is out today, but not as much as in Accra. My friend Michael sent me the following message "Most often it is 28 degrees celsius. Just last week we had 30 degrees. It's hot here mate; it the season of the hot sun and it's getting hot as early as 8am..."

Bbrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Gosh it's freezing in the U.K. ! The big chill was -5 degrees this morning when I had to defrost my car in order to travel to work. I managed to get the windscreen so that I could safely see and drive, but the bodywork took almost all of the 55 mile journey to defrost. It was -4 on the campus, but one area I drove through was up to 0 degree and that allowed the car to thaw. The chill continued in work and I spent most of the day in a t-shirt, shirt and jacket. Thankfully my bro had sent me a windproof, waterproof, breathable technical fleece as a gift over the weekend. That was really nice of him and a great addition for me to keep warm this Winter. I can only imagine how warm it must be in Accra at the moment. Patricia and Michael will live in Canada, but I don't know where exactly or how warm/cold it is at this time of year. Although, it will not be as warm as Ghana, it probably is warmer than Wales, but then again maybe not. I will have to send a Facebook message to find out the weather in Ghana and Canada. Meanwhile, I shall continue to huddle over the heater and sit here blogging and watching TV. Mind you, chill or no chill I have to get on with building the 'n' gauge railway. Thankfully it is in-doors and does not involve serious labour or the cold weather.