Best of the web 01/02/10 – 07/02/10

(c) altemark

Hello and welcome to my top tips for what you should have watched, heard and read on the intertubes this week.

Media restrictions in Iraq

Next month it will be seven years since British and American forces invaded Iraq. Under Saddam, the international media was subject to censorship, with minders assigned to news organisations to “monitor” their reporting. More than 250 journalists have died covering Iraq’s transition to democracy since the invasion in 2003. Now, seven years after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi authorities are threatening to reimpose serious restrictions on the media.

No We Can’t

Yet rather than heeding the lessons of Obama’s historic victory, Plouffe and OFA permitted Martha Coakley to fumble away Kennedy’s seat — destroying the 60-vote supermajority the Democrats need to pass major legislation. In December and early January, when it should have been gearing up the patented Obama turnout machine — targeting voters on college campuses, trumpeting the chance to make history by electing Massachusetts’ first female senator — OFA was asking local activists to make phone calls to other statesto shore up support for health care reform.

Alternative voting systems for choosing a voting system

So if there is to be a UK referendum on voting systems, what should be the actual voting system for that referendum? Or to put it another way, what decision-making system is it right to use when what you’re doing is choosing between different decision-making systems?

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So this analysis confirms that under this distribution of public opinion, each system wins if and only if the votes are counted in line with that system.

Speedy legislating

At one point, Deputy Speaker Sir Alan Hazelhurst commented that he had “stunned” the Commons with the stories and statistics he gave MPs.

For example, the current street value of a 15-year-old girl “so long as she’s a virgin” is between £8,000 and £12,000. The price plunges for women over 30. There are at least 5,000 women trafficked in the UK per year.

Harriet to be Summoned

STOP PRESS: Tony Wright’s Commons Reform Committee – see endless previous blogposts – is reconvening this morning.

Members probably thought their work here was done, when they finalised their report….but they’re worried by the rather exotic voting procedure the government plans to use to decide on whether or not to implement its recommendations.

Wright proposes improving select committees and opening up the setting of the Commons’ agenda. I understand today’s meeting has been called to summon the Commons Leader Harriet Harman to explain what on earth is going on.

Where are all the MPs?

Maybe the sight of the MPs debating the great issues of the day (and there are a few matters they could be talking about) would be more salutary. But just remember, the next time we’re lectured on the scarcity of Commons debating time, that they mostly cleared off before 2.30pm, when they could have stayed till 6pm. And it’s not the first time in recent weeks that business has petered out so early.

David Cameron & Reforming Parliament

David Cameron has just sent out this video of him talking about how Parliament should be reformed. He reveals that Gordon Brown has blocked Tony Wright’s suggested reforms. He suggests that Tuesday’s vote on AV should be scrapped and so should the half term holiday. Instead, he says, parliament should spend the week debating how it should be reformed. He also suggests that the powers of the whips should be reduced.