BBC Blog Network

User Profile

alext

Listed below are comments made by alext between Wednesday, 31st December 2008 and Thursday, 1st October 2009.

«Newer
Older»

Alonso to Ferrari could herald golden age 09:54am on 01 Oct 2009 What about Massa? Will he tolerate being treated as Number 2, since Alonso has already shown that he requires No 1 treatment.
The future is a merger 2:18pm on 08 Sep 2009 This merger is about reducing competition so that prices can be increased. The UK Government figured some time ago that we should have five mobile operators, and nothing has changed. So why should they allow that to come down to 4 and allow a new group with 37% of the market.

For Lloyds TSB and HBOS, an exception was made because HBOS would have gone under. T-mobile is unlikely to go under. As consumers, we have to hope the regulator has the strength to say no.
Is Italy better than Britain? 10:20pm on 19 Jul 2009 Some ask, "how do I emigrate... Are houses affordable in Italy?". Well, yes, they are, and they're not in the UK. Why is that? It's because the UK has been a lot more successful than Italy over the last 20 years.

The Italian economy has more significant long term problems than the UK. Their labour costs have risen 30% against Germany's since the Euro was introduced and they can't compete in their traditional areas with the Chinese.

That said, Italians have a sense of humour and can take a joke, unlike most of their neighbours. It's still a great country to visit.
Joy and pain in Paris 1:07pm on 09 Jun 2009 We have the pleasure of seeing the greatest player in frequent competition with one of the greatest players and the greatest clay-court player of all time.

What times?

What does New York now mean for Nadal?
Three extraordinary personal decisions 1:32pm on 05 Jun 2009 For the country, another year of this Government is a disaster. The infighting will just get worse.

For the Conservatives, the only worry was that Alan Johnson would take over, and call an election. He might have had a honey moon period.

Alan Johnson and James Purnell were perhaps the only ones Cameron might fear. Now Alan Johnson has gone on the record as saying that he would be a worse leader than Gordon Brown. That is extraordinary.
A greener Germany 3:03pm on 22 May 2009 I know Freiburg well and love the area. Even thinking of moving there.

Number 12 has some good questions which I'll try to answer:

Q: Does the pedestrian zone simply push the cars out to the surrounding roads, as in so many 'park and ride' schemes in the UK?

A: Ring road traffic in Freiburg has always been a problem. East-West traffic used to be atrocious because of the geography. They've now invested a lot of money in a big road tunnel which has made things much better. Hardly "green", but it works.

You also find that pedestrianising the central zone means fewer cars need to turn into the zone, making for LESS congestion on the ring road.

Q: Do local businesses find they get fewer customers? How do they get their stock delivered in the pedestrian zone, or is it only customers that are not allowed to drive?

Customers prefer shopping in a pedestrian zone so it is very, very busy. There aren't many supermarkets, it's more department stores and speciality shops. On Saturdays, there used to be a big bus where you could leave your shopping with an attendant so you could go off and buy more. (Seems a no-brainer for the retailers to fund)

Lorries come into the pedestrian zone. I think they're time restricted. In most German towns cars are allowed into the pedestrian zone, for example to pick up something heavy, but are limited to 10km/hr and you can't leave the car.

Q: Is it difficult to start a new business with all the additional green regulations?

A: Not because of all the "green" rules. More a problem with labour laws. Green rules will be a problem for waste disposal, but that also provides opportunities.

Freiburg is also a centre of solar panel research and manufacturing. This is largely because of the high feed in tariffs, which mean that electricity in Germany is expensive, and lots of houses have south facing roofs covered in solar panels.

Q: Are there plenty of trams, and how are they powered? What happens if the trams don't go near your house? Do disabled citizens have any problems with access?

A: There are plenty of trams which are powered off the grid (not sure if on a green tariff). They have modern trams with very low level access. There are also buses on the less busy routes. I once missed a train because some pl***er parked his Mercedes in the tram route (no doubt collecting something - see comment above).

They've made some mistakes - they allowed a hypermarket (it was a Walmart - not sure now) about 400m beyond the last tram stop. In the UK, we build shopping centres all over the place with no regard for public transport, but for Freiburg this is a mistake. The greens can blame their predecessors.

But lots of people cycle. On rainy days the trams are significantly more full compared to nice cycling days. At the station, there's a purpose built "bike shed" with secure storage for about 1,000 bikes. Freiburg is a good size for bikes.

Q: Are local taxes higher to pay for all this? If so, how much higher?

A: Don't know. I suspect town taxes tend to be higher.

A lot of it comes down to choices local politicians can make. For example, the cheapest way to cut car congestion is to put in segregated cycle routes to schools. They've done this in Freiburg, but in British towns there's no budget for this, and "cycling" is the responsibility of leisure, when it should be part of transport.
Home comforts for England stars 10:48am on 19 Mar 2009 What I don't understand, is that most people believe foreign imports damage the English game, as they reduce the pool of eligible players. Surely then, players going to France (where they're still available) must increase the pool of players and be a good thing!

Consider, if Goode had stayed at Leicester, would Flood have got the experience required?

And if Haskell moves to Paris, he can be in Bagshot faster than Johny Wilkinson or Jamie Noon who have to come all the way from Newcastle. (OK Brive is a bit further). Yes, of course he needs to get the contractual release to attend England games, but Stade should also get some money from the RFU as do other clubs. In other words, under EU law, the RFU cannot discriminate against Stade on the grounds that they are French.
Blood, guts and old-fashioned Six Nations thunder 11:58am on 15 Feb 2009 England seem to be getting a raw deal from referees these days. What's a penalty against most teams seems a yellow card against England.

And vice versa, in two matches last week yellow cards were given for tackling players in the air. But Bryne only got a penalty for tackling Armitage in the air.

Consistency please. Goode's sin binning cost England at least 8 points but his offence was a penalty offence.
It was Balls 11:57pm on 09 Feb 2009 Of course it's more serious. Labour might be thrown out of office.
The downer Down Under 11:30am on 31 Dec 2008 What's all this crap about England wins and British losses?

The Olympics were a British success. Welsh rugby was a Welsh success. Lewis Hamilton and Andy Murray were Lewis Hamilton and Andy Murray successes.

As for Australia, yes they'll be back, but perhaps not as strongly:
- India is poised to dominate cricket. You could almost say India is cricket and cricket is India.
- I can't see NZ rugby union being eclipsed by Australia anytime soon.
- The Olympics are getting harder. Big countries like Britain, which previously weren't bothered (1 Gold in Atlanta) have woken up. China has made it a national priority.

Gromm9 - Australia the greatest sporting nation (per capita)? Maybe - quite a few small countries can claim that. Here are the medals per capita rankings from Beijing. If you add in Winter sports Norway would climb right up the table, and of course, this doesn't take into account the most important sport which would push New Zealand and South Africa right up.
1. Bahamas (1) - 307,451
2. Jamaica (7) - 311,592
3. Slovenia (5) - 401,542
4. New Zealand (9) - 463,717
5. Australia (38) - 542,127
6. Armenia (5) - 593,717
7. Estonia (2) - 653,802
8. Lithuania (5) - 713,041
9. Bahrain (1) - 718,306
10. Belarus (13) - 745,059

«Newer
Older»

^ Back to top

BBC MMVI

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites

BBC.co.uk

BBC Blog Network

Find and talk to the BBC's bloggers.

User Profile

alext