Tag Archives: politics

Cotch: Flashride for Blackfriars

Posted on August 3, 2011 by Joe

In 2000, London’s previous mayor, Ken Livingstone, began the process of fixing forty years of mistakes that had been made in the pursuit of the impossible — the comfortable accommodation of mass motor vehicle use in a dense city centre. … Continue reading →

Posted in cotch dot net | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

AWWTM: This pretense of neutrality

Posted on July 6, 2011 by Joe

On Saturday I wrote about the leaked draft of the Tories’ coalition’s draft new planning policy document: LAs are told to take into account existing local car ownership rates when doing this.  Fair enough, but why aren’t they also told … Continue reading →

Posted in at war with the motorist | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

AWWTM: Second hand; unused

Posted on July 1, 2011 by Joe

Thinking about how the Cycling Embassy might go about trying to generate political will to progress cycling, I’ve been researching previous failed attempts to advance cycling in this country.  So on Amazon I snapped up a second-hand copy of an … Continue reading →

Posted in at war with the motorist | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

AWWTM: Friday photo: star of the show

Posted on July 1, 2011 by Joe

This was during the first of the student protests last year, when Conservative Party HQ was smashed up for the cameras.  It was long over by this time, but there was still a large backlog of arrests being processed in … Continue reading →

Posted in at war with the motorist | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

AWWTM: The man who crossed the road

Posted on June 27, 2011 by Joe

Brian Haw had a few weird ideas amongst the good ones in his head — in that he was not unusual.  But the weird ones do not mean that we don’t all owe him thanks for the good ideas and … Continue reading →

Posted in at war with the motorist | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

AWWTM: DafT’s deeply regressive fantasy formula

Posted on June 13, 2011 by Joe

Flicking through Google Reader, catching up, something caught my eye in George Monbiot’s latest: Cost-benefit analysis is systematically rigged in favour of business. Take, for example, the decision-making process for transport infrastructure. The last government developed an appraisal method which … Continue reading →

Posted in at war with the motorist | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

AWWTM: Streets versus Democracy

Posted on March 27, 2011 by Joe

We don’t have to accommodate private motor vehicles in places like central London.  The world wouldn’t implode if we did not; the economy wouldn’t collapse.  We don’t have to accommodate any specific number of private motor vehicles in central London.  … Continue reading →

Posted in at war with the motorist | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Simple rules

Posted on February 23, 2011 by Joe

This is another archival repost, originally written for the old blog in november 2007. The main driving force for creationists is not science, but ethics. Their trump card is that “evolution is immoral”: they cite “might makes right” and eugenics, … Continue reading →

Posted in lay science | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

AWWTM: Get help.

Posted on January 18, 2011 by Joe

Henry Ford is often quoted as saying: If I’d asked customers what they wanted, they would have said “a faster horse”. VAT and fuel duty have just risen, while petrol prices continue to rise as it becomes increasingly difficult and … Continue reading →

Posted in at war with the motorist | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

AWWTM: Are we winning?

Posted on January 6, 2011 by Joe

I’ve just been scrolling through Google Reader clearing a couple of months worth of posts with videos that got saved-for-later when using a mobile connection.  Peter at Pedestrian Liberation asks whether we are winning, citing London Bridge as evidence that … Continue reading →

Posted in at war with the motorist | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Cotch: How to deliver a petition

Posted on October 19, 2010 by Joe

The awesome Science Is Vital campaign organisers kindly asked me to accompany them to Downing Street to capture the delivery of their petition of 35,000 opponents of science cuts.  Over at cotch dot net, I have a short photo essay … Continue reading →

Posted in cotch dot net | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Church leader declares crackpot ideas, gets free air time

Posted on August 30, 2010 by Joe

This is another archival repost from the old blog — this one from March 2008. Wow, a slow news day, eh? The BBC, shunning predictable Chinese military aggression, another turn of the tides in Iraq, and yet more boring news … Continue reading →

Posted in shouting at my radio | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Hey, look at this social media clown

Posted on August 22, 2010 by Joe

I have an underused “I get mail” category over here, which could easily get filled with sarcastic posts about the incompetent and irrelevant marketing crap with which I am constantly bombarded.  Instead, I’ve been saving up for the truly special … Continue reading →

Posted in i get mail | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Cotch: Victory Flashmob

Posted on July 4, 2010 by Joe

With Section 44 stop-and-search found to be in contravention of the declaration of human rights this week, the people of Photographer Not A Terrorist organised a victory flashmob at New Scotland Yard.  For pictures, and to find out what it … Continue reading →

Posted in cotch dot net | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

AWWTM: When you start paying road tax…

Posted on July 4, 2010 by Joe

London’s authorities are to be fined £300 million for failing to prevent the serious air pollution that we’re experiencing.  More importantly, an estimated 4-5,000 people will die prematurely this year because of the city’s polluted air.  But nobody seems quite … Continue reading →

Posted in at war with the motorist | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment