The longest legal debate Infographic

Sometimes the cut-and-thrust of politics is too much for people.

©2015 James Mathurin

The longest ever wait for a bus Infographic

I'm a public transport kind of guy, but there are times when you just need a taxi.

©2015 James Mathurin

Worst lie (contender) Infographic

It's hard to determine whether 'worst' in this case means an effective lie or a useless one.

©2014 James Mathurin

A Beauraucratic Approach to Death Infographic

Bureaucrats often get a bad rap, as they are, ultimately, just people trying to do their jobs. It is, however, possible for bureaucracy to be taken too far.

 ©2014 James Mathurin 

Most Pointless Conspiracy Infographic

Conspiracy theories have always been interesting to me, even if some seem a bit, well, a bit of a waste of time.

  ©2014 James Mathurin

Most restrictive electoral requirements Infographics

I'm still waiting to do my first lot of overseas voting from Australia, and it will require a trip to another state, but that's still easier than this.

©2014 James Mathurin

Largest scale apology infographic

Apologies come in many forms, but few so musical.

©2014 James Mathurin 

The most animals to stand as candidates in the same election Infographic

Politics is a dirty business.Dirty and strange. And sometimes kind of cute.

©2013 James Mathurin

The Record for shouting “Cha cha taxi Chi chi”

This week's entry is confusingly titled, but here is the original article, and I hope Barnaby's record is inspiring for some of my readers.

©2013 James Mathurin

The longest ever wait for a bus

The longest ever wait for a bus was endured by Louisa Bacheaux, in a suburb of Regina, in Canada. After arriving at a bus stop on the morning of May 15th, she then waited for 8 weeks and 5 days for her bus, with her family being forced to bring her food and supplies throughout. It transpired that, due to a bureaucratic oversight, some 17 bus stops had been installed, and timetables and promotional material sent out, but 6 months before buses were built. Although it was not until 2 weeks after Bacheaux began her wait that this was recognised,she refused to leave the stop, saying,

"I've been waiting for my bus for two weeks now, the timetable says 10-15 minutes, and I'm not leaving until it arrives."

Bacheaux's family's dog, Blancie, who carried many of her supplies to and from her home to the bus stop on a wagon built by her son, Max. Photograph by GIANTsqurl.

  ©2012 James Mathurin 

The largest scale apology

For 3 months in the Summer of 1864, the Principality of Montenegro carried out what is, in the eyes of most scholars, the largest apology on record. 

During the period of June to August of that year, the lyrics of the national anthem were changed to give an official apology to the Spanish government, for the accidental arrest and execution of their ambassador, Miguel Ballasteros, in March of that year.

With their vulnerability to an attack along their Mediterranean coastline, the Montenegrins made the decision to carry out a daily rendition

This bay was the site of the final apology / anthem, on 17th August 1864. One resident, whose name was given as Igor Tuden, said, "While it hurt my national pride to sing such a shanty, I will miss it." Photograph by k.ivoutin.

  ©2012 James Mathurin 

The most animals to stand as candidates in the same election

The most animals to stand as candidates in the same election stands at 19, in the Local Authority elections of Bitstock, a town in Devon, Britain, in 2002. Candidates included Oscar, a Chinchilla (Independent), Lord Somersby, a Great Bernard (Independent), and Phillipa, a Baboon (Sum Dum Monkey Party). Oscar’s campaign manager and owner, Brenda Milthorne explained, “This was an organised protest over the fact that, despite 15 years of mismanagement and, many believe, corruption, our Local Authority is still headed by Dame Shirley Atkins, a convicted criminal who has expressed utter contempt for local democracy, and lives in Spain for 11 months out of every year.” Ms. Milthorne insisted that the number of candidates for the ‘animal protest vote’ may have been too high, as the number of votes they gained would have got 3 of them onto the Local Authority if it had been shared between fewer candidates.

Although none of the nominated "Bitstock 19" won their Local Authority elections, this Pug Dog, Dame Bickerstaffe, did successfullly stand for election as the town mayor 3 years later. Photograph provided by DaPuglet.

©2012 James Mathurin