In the news

Went past my local school at home time yesterday (usually avoid it) Total gridlock. It was a beautiful day. I don't understand.

Personally I think it's a good thing, why would you take a bike or public transport if driving is so easy to get from A to B? Stevenage is a perfect example of this as @skydancer pointed out.

If you remember the chaos of the Olympic where locals people finally start to feel like a second class citizen, the traffic was great, more people cycle (we sold a huge number of Bromptons at the time), lots of people walked.

Buses and tubes appear to be quite busy, but they're always over capacity anyway.

I really think that (as we have learned from Stevenage -ask @fox or
@skülly ) even if the best ever provision for cycling is created
people will drive. Hit their pockets and they may consider not
driving

I have to say the walking and cycling provision in Stevo is not really all that. Better than a lot of places, but it's not the best.

chaos of the Olympic

What chaos? All I remember is my commute at the time (Hackney -> Borough) being wonderfully traffic light/free. I also drove a van for work then and would be very happy to go back to whatever they restricted (right turns, HGVs?) for that month or so.

Surely cyclists end up just as caught up with that disrupted traffic flow though. (Assuming the disrupted traffic flow isn't due to building separate cycling provision which, it appears, is not necessarily a favoured option.)

For instance when traffic is heavy then it's almost impossible to overtake buses in bus lanes as there are no gaps in the traffic to the right of you. Similarly, you end up spending more time filtering which is slower, there'll be bigger queues of traffic which some cyclists will be hell-bent on getting to the front of which is more dangerous, etc.

Disrupting car journeys in order to provide other infrastructure is one thing (I look forward to the day when car parking is banned on Green Lanes for instance and they use all that space for something useful) but doing it just to put drivers off doesn't seem to help anyone.

Ken disrupting traffic lights before the charge is an urban myth, he did no such thing.

Ken Livingstone has not in fact rephased traffic lights to slow down traffic so that when his scheme is launched it will look like deliverance; rephasing in order to give pedestrians more time and bring London's signals into line with those elsewhere was planned by government before he was even elected.

http://glalibdems.org.uk/en/article/2002/017283/getting-london-moving

More significantly, there have been widespread suggestions London Mayor Ken Livingstone deliberately made congestion worse in the run-up to the charge by adjusting traffic light phases and embarking on major roadwork schemes.

In fact, the lights were changed to keep traffic out of Trafalgar Square during improvement work and the roadworks were part of long-term major schemes.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2749187.stm

His great gran shot a white rhino on her honeymoon. They're a couple of shags away from being extinct now. Not that I'm volunteering.

we tortured some folks - 'murica

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/11282617/CIA-torture-report-released-live.html

wow
golden goodbye for mp's ...who'd have thought it

didn't he stand down voluntarily ... and now planning to come back, sweet deal

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/SNP/11281111/Alex-Salmond-refuses-to-repay-65000-golden-goodbye.html

This sort of inverse snobbery does not sit well with me. You cannot dismiss William's efforts to protect endangered species simply because he is a royal. Especially when your points of contention are so spurious.

1) 'how was the balmoral shoot this year your inbredness ?'

Shooting at Balmoral is very carefully managed to ensure the continued survival of the species involved. The prey is also eaten.

William is campaigning against illegal trade involving endangered animals. It is not about the killing of animals in general. And his campaign is about more than the animals themselves.

2) 'how was your nazi grandfathers trip to south africa to shoot game ?'

Do you mean his Grandfather who fought in the second world war? Perhaps you mean his Great-Great Uncle? Either way, must we all be held accountable for the actions of our grandparents?

The plight of endangered species was nowhere near as well documented as it is today. And so the knock-on effects of big game hunting were less evident to hunters of the day. Of course, it was still an indulgent and egotistical practice.

3) There are many ways that you can knock the royals, but I don't think charity is one of them. Between them, a formidable amount of charitable work is done. Too long a list to post here unless you really want me to.

please do!

i was flinging a bit of mud there to be fair
but hypocrisy does not sit well with me
prince phillip is / was president of the WWF and still headed of to africa to shoot stuff whether it be in the name of protecting an endangered species or not
i guess if you want to get the message across, that its not good to shoot animals endangered or not it's best to be wholly on board with the argument, if you are out there shooting things it just seems a bit disingenuous when trying to promote and protect wildlife

and we all know phillips hates the foreigners albeit jovially

i guess if you want to get the message across, that its not good to shoot animals endangered or not

I think you're confusing the WWF with PETA.

Hey guys, here the official website of The British Monarchy where to find all the good things they do.

"I should be spinning this on my finger!" William said.

thanks

A pleasure to deal with.

Got linked to this via facebook. Seems like a rather unsensational feat of thuggery that has become sensational as he happened to be stopped near/with a bike talking before he attacked someone.

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/jailed-cyclist-who-pulled-bus-driver-out-of-cab-and-assaulted-him-for-beeping-his-horn-9910856.html

Yes he did. Denial is easy, living through it and seeing it for yourself means you know he did.
I know for a fact he did and nothing will tell me differently

Come on mike, that is ham fisted reasoning.

Living through traffic disruption just tells you it happened. Not by whom, or how.

Spindrift said that the rephasing of the lights was planned before Ken was elected for reasons other than intentional disruption.

How does living one a certain area at a certain time give you any information on that statement?

I don't class it as charity work when its funded by the taxpayer in a time of enforced 'austerity'.

royals lecturing us on the killing of animals ....

how was the balmoral shoot this year your inbredness ?

Culling deer / grouse is not the same as wiping out rhinos. It's fine to hate the royals, but there are better reasons than William's attempts to protect endangered species.

if you are out there shooting things it just seems a bit disingenuous when trying to promote and protect wildlife

That's like saying if you manage a garden and like flowers you're not allowed to cut the grass.

Irony fail. :)