Spent an interesting if chilly evening knocking up voters for the Kentish Town council byelection. The most fascinating voter was a woman whose son answered the door and who asked me in. She was seated in a lounge chair, with Green and Labour leaflets spread in front of her. There was only two hours until the polls closed, and she would definitely vote, but she was trying to make up her mind, and really agonising over it. She grilled me on the full range of issues, the candidates etc, for at least 10 minutes.

If only all voters took such care and paid such attention.

Which brings me to the US election – you might not have a “real” vote, but you can have a virtual one.

And the KT result? Well the fact that I’m not listing it here will tell you it wasn’t a great one from my point of view. You can find it here. The Lib Dems haven’t been punished for their councillor running off to Arizona, or for their 6am day of poll leaflet delivery, which certainly annoyed one voter I spoke to who owns a small, barking dog….

This is possibly the first time I’ve seen an attractive neologism – “greenslide”. Okay it is only talking about the Australian Capital Territory, which is practically a local council, even if it governs the national capital, but it still reflects the broader strength of the Greens across Australia.

And nationally in Australia, it would seem the Greens are getting decent mileage out of their balance of power in the Senate (where they now have five seats, and consequently “party” status – with the resources that goes with it).

And as this piece suggestions, the political ground is moving quickly:

Definitions of radicalism can change quickly, of course. As Brown’s office reminded journalists last week, it was only five years ago that George Bush, triumphant after the invasion of Iraq, addressed a joint sitting of Parliament. The Speaker tried to eject Brown after he said: “Mr Bush, this is Australia. Respect our nation. Return our Australians from Guantanamo Bay. Respect the laws of the world and the world will respect you.”
Close to blasphemous then but who would reasonably disagree with such sentiment today?

Across the Tasman, reports from New Zealand are suggesting that the strength of the Greens might keep Labour’s Helen Clark in power (and she’s generally of the “old Labour” school, so not at all a bad thing.)

* A celebrated death penalty case: the planned execution of Troy Davis, a case that has received considerable international attention, and which clearly appears to be a miscarriage of justice, has just been stayed for the third time, each time just before a scheduled execution. As the second link there asked, must this not be called torture?

* An inside view of the life of fast food delivery men in New York. If they’re robbed, their employers make them pay the money back – and that’s only the start of the abuses. Seems the fair trade movement needs to start working at home.

* And finally a less dramatic, but sad, account from small town America – environmental degradation and the lack of government support means a sympathetic grocery store owner is the only thing that stands between many people and hunger.