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Octopus Energy and GB News

The GB News television channel launched this week, it is backed from pro-Brexit tycoons with a mission to produce “anti-woke” US-style news content in much the same manor as Fox News in the USA. Fox has poisoned the political discourse… Continue Reading →

Phone call from “Microsoft”

Just had a call from someone claiming to be from Microsoft, just randomly on my home phone line, the call came from 01767329973. There have been repeated calls from this number and numbers like it over the last few days,… Continue Reading →

First bat sighting of 2021

Well, here is first bat of the year post for 2021. It was quite likely to have been a Common pipistrelle (Pipistrellus pipistrellus) or Soprano pipistrelle (Pipistrellus pygmaeus), impossible to tell them apart in flight without a bat detector (The… Continue Reading →

The Climate clock is ticking

The Climate clock is ticking, we are running out of time, we have to get to net zero in less than seven years. The time for action is NOW!

Road safety and the definition of insanity

So far, this week there have been three serious crashes in Edinburgh (and it is only Friday) which is not good news. Then on seeing a tweet this morning my heart sank further. The tweet spoke of influencing “culture change… Continue Reading →

To EuroBike and Back: a continental journey (part 3) Arnhem to Austria

On our third day of cycling across the Netherlands, we started the day riding downhill from the outskirts of Arnhem to the centre. A descent of all of 70m, but hey, this was in the Netherlands. Arnhem is best known… Continue Reading →

City of Edinburgh Councillors and twitter: 2020

City of Edinburgh Councillors and twitter: 2020 Some years ago, in the interests of openness and democracy, I compiled a list of all the City of Edinburgh Councillors with a Twitter account, as that one was some what out of… Continue Reading →

First bat of 2020

Just seen the first bat of 2020, probably a Pipistrellus pipistrellus or a Pipistrellus pygmaeus (based on previous identifications). I take the bat sighting as a sign of the coming summer. This year is later than most of the years… Continue Reading →

Quick though about time in quarantine

As we are all locked down (more or less) by this global Covid-19 pandemic, maybe we should look to find ways of using the time. In 1665, Cambridge University closed because of the Bubonic plague. hayamix Isaac Newton quarantined himself… Continue Reading →

To EuroBike and Back: a continental journey (part 2) Utrecht – Hoge Veluwe – Arnhem

We were in Utrecht on the day that the world’s biggest multi-storey bike park was opened. Not that we saw it, we left the city three hours before it was officially yalla match opened to the public. We only found… Continue Reading →

To EuroBike and Back: a continental journey (part 1) Ijmuiden – Amsterdam – Utrecht

The plan was simple, get on a bike, ride to EuroBike see the show, and then ride back. That was my plan. When I told Ulli, her initial reaction was “it’s too far, it would take too long.” Well, the… Continue Reading →

Happy 2019!

Happy New Year, lets hope for great things in 2019. Although the out looking is bleak we have to hope for the best. For me it will be another busy year with the seventh Edinburgh Festival of Cycling to organise,… Continue Reading →

How to undermine a Bill with loopholes

Following on from my last blog post, I decided to take a look at the “Pavement Parking Standard Response” from the Tory MSPs and this is what I found. It is clear example of Orwellian double speak, their proposed amendments… Continue Reading →

Call for a pavement parking ban in Scotland

The Transport (Scotland) Bill is currently making it way through the Scottish Parliament, among its provisions are clauses which aim to ban pavement parking in Scotland, which is long overdue. However, there are a few loopholes which need closing. Therefore… Continue Reading →

And finally, the 1st bat of the year

This year spring has been a long time coming, but finally we have spotted the first bat of 2018! It was probably Pipistrellus pipistrellus or Pipistrellus pygmaeus (based on previous identifications). It is way later than last year, which was… Continue Reading →

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