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jackReport on the Cambridgeshire guided busway
Council report: http://www2.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/db/council2.nsf/c3cf865e3cc1131380256a6b0037e439/759179cacced8509802576e1003c7df2?OpenDocument
Response: http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/transport/thebusway/
The council commissioned a report to describe exactly why the busway seemed to have just... not turned up. After all several years and late is a bit of a record for a bus, not to mention the eight-figure cost overrun.
The report is fairly short and surprisingly helpful and easy to read; if you're curious about the state of the busway I highly recommend skimming it.
In short the busway is behind schedule. The northern half is about finished, but with several major defects that don't really impede it opening, but are likely to go wrong several years down the line. The council claims that these are not up to spec, and Nuttal should fix them. Nuttal say they were perfectly reasonable. Neither side wants to accept liability for them.
Neither side can agree a way for the council to take delivery of the northern half of the busway until those are resolved, nor to resolve the matters in court until the rest of the busway is finished.
The southern half will probably be late even compared to current estimates, and there will be an additional delay between nothing and for-ever until the legal situation is sorted out.
The response: according the web-page, the council and Nuttal have actually began to negotiate about the defects, and hope to come to some agreement in the next month or so, at which point they may have some actual estimates.
Koch on The dutch parliament
I remember some friends talking about Dutch politics, but I didn't know anything about it at ALL tunil now.
Introduction to the history: http://www.quirksmode.org/politics/
Introduction to the blog: http://www.quirksmode.org/politics/blog/
Via Making-Light, Koch, known for work on browser compatibility, writes an introduction to the parties of the Dutch parliament. It's a marvellous example of making a topic most people didn't have a prior interest in entertaining and informative, and of describing what a foreigner needs to know, both the written rules, the unbreakable customs, and the different political axes the parties break down along, as compared to UK politics.
For instance:
* It's an example of a proportional representation system, and why that works and why it doesn't.
* There are small right-wing anti-islam anti-immigration parties, which are always very scary, but interestingly, they don't necessarily have to be socially conservative in other ways, such as not having gay premiers
* The centrist party for the last hundred years has been the protestant/catholic alliance. Most of the recent social liberal laws the netherlands are known for were passed fairly recently when left-economic left-social and right-economic and left-social and new middle-economic more-left-social parties formed an alliance, so there are no particular signs of MORE things being legalised, but contrariwise, no way for anything to be unlegalised (as most parties are in favour (including the other big ones) or split on the subject).
* No political system is a bed of roses, and despite England sometimes wishing for proportional representation, there's plenty to worry about in the dutch system.
It's really interesting, you should go and read the introduction, even if you hadn't thought you would.
Google Streetview covers all of UK
Wow. Practically all the UK, including many tiny lanes, has been dropped into google streetview. I feel like I'm living in the future where cyberspace has a defined geography!
Council report: http://www2.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/db/council2.nsf/c3cf865e3cc1131380256a6b0037e439/759179cacced8509802576e1003c7df2?OpenDocument
Response: http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/transport/thebusway/
The council commissioned a report to describe exactly why the busway seemed to have just... not turned up. After all several years and late is a bit of a record for a bus, not to mention the eight-figure cost overrun.
The report is fairly short and surprisingly helpful and easy to read; if you're curious about the state of the busway I highly recommend skimming it.
In short the busway is behind schedule. The northern half is about finished, but with several major defects that don't really impede it opening, but are likely to go wrong several years down the line. The council claims that these are not up to spec, and Nuttal should fix them. Nuttal say they were perfectly reasonable. Neither side wants to accept liability for them.
Neither side can agree a way for the council to take delivery of the northern half of the busway until those are resolved, nor to resolve the matters in court until the rest of the busway is finished.
The southern half will probably be late even compared to current estimates, and there will be an additional delay between nothing and for-ever until the legal situation is sorted out.
The response: according the web-page, the council and Nuttal have actually began to negotiate about the defects, and hope to come to some agreement in the next month or so, at which point they may have some actual estimates.
Koch on The dutch parliament
I remember some friends talking about Dutch politics, but I didn't know anything about it at ALL tunil now.
Introduction to the history: http://www.quirksmode.org/politics/
Introduction to the blog: http://www.quirksmode.org/politics/blog/
Via Making-Light, Koch, known for work on browser compatibility, writes an introduction to the parties of the Dutch parliament. It's a marvellous example of making a topic most people didn't have a prior interest in entertaining and informative, and of describing what a foreigner needs to know, both the written rules, the unbreakable customs, and the different political axes the parties break down along, as compared to UK politics.
For instance:
* It's an example of a proportional representation system, and why that works and why it doesn't.
* There are small right-wing anti-islam anti-immigration parties, which are always very scary, but interestingly, they don't necessarily have to be socially conservative in other ways, such as not having gay premiers
* The centrist party for the last hundred years has been the protestant/catholic alliance. Most of the recent social liberal laws the netherlands are known for were passed fairly recently when left-economic left-social and right-economic and left-social and new middle-economic more-left-social parties formed an alliance, so there are no particular signs of MORE things being legalised, but contrariwise, no way for anything to be unlegalised (as most parties are in favour (including the other big ones) or split on the subject).
* No political system is a bed of roses, and despite England sometimes wishing for proportional representation, there's plenty to worry about in the dutch system.
It's really interesting, you should go and read the introduction, even if you hadn't thought you would.
Google Streetview covers all of UK
Wow. Practically all the UK, including many tiny lanes, has been dropped into google streetview. I feel like I'm living in the future where cyberspace has a defined geography!