London to introduce variable Congestion Charge

February 26, 2008 By 2 Comments

After writing about the new “low-emission” zone in London, I was fascinated to read about a scheme for normal cars to make the Congestion Charge variable according to the car’s emissions.

The idea is, that the current charge of 8GBP could rise up to as much as 25GBP for vehicles that have high emission rates, but on the other hand the charge could be reduced down to nothing for low-emission cars.

I’m note sure that everyone will approve, but I’ll be keeping an eye on the new tariffs to see whether bio-ethanol cars belong to the “free” category!

Filed Under: Bio-Ethanol Tagged With: ,

A puppet on a string?

February 26, 2008 By 1 Comment

Well, maybe not quite on a string, but still a puppet nonetheless.
Yes, it’s Dustin the Turkey – Ireland’s entry to this year’s Eurovision Song Contest.
As a big fan of the contest, I was almost shocked to read that the puppet had won the Irish pre-selection to the contest.   After all, was it not Ireland that brought us some of the best Eurovision ballads?
When I think of Ireland in the Eurovision, two songs immediately come to mind: “Rock’n’roll Kids” (winner in 1994) and “In Your Eyes” (winner in 1993).  This was part of “my” golden age for the contest – opening up to new countries in Eastern Europe, before they became smaller and more numerous, requiring the contest in two stages.
They were also the songs that accompanied me through my student year in Germany – the first winning before I left the UK and the second winning whilst I was there.
Last year, however, I became somewhat disillusioned by what seemed to be tactical voting.  I am please to see that the EBU has tackled this problem by splitting the contest into two semi-finals and making countries that often vote for each other take place in different ones from each other.
But still, I think the charm of the evening’s entertainment has been lost by spreading it out over three instead!
I guess the contest will just keep getting bigger and bigger…

Filed Under: Cymeradwyo, Television, Western Europe Tagged With: ,

What are you doing on the 15th of May this year?

February 24, 2008 By 1 Comment

I received an invitation the other day to join this facebook group – which promotes the panic buying of carrots on 15th May this year.

Why????

Well, what started as a crazy idea may have caused a shortage of carrots if they hadn’t warned everybody, but with over 170,000 members in the group, this certainly isn’t a secret any longer.
Several news channels have picked up the story and are now telling the world.  There are even plans to turn the carrots into soup, cake and juice and to donate these to the homeless in the South of England.
It amazes me that something that started out as a silly idea, has created such media attention and could turn out to be such a big event.
I’ll be keeping an eye on the calendar to see how it turns out.

Filed Under: Cymeradwyo, Food and Drink Tagged With: , ,

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