London 2012

Manchester did a very good job with the Commonwealth IMO, but thinking about all he previous host cities, this rumour may be true. Have there been any exception to this?

EDIT: I think Barcelona may have hosted it before. Thinking about it, this rumour must be completely false. Munich have hosted it, as have Sydney!

Manchester did an outstanding job with the Commonwealth Games as has Cardiff with the FA Cup. It's just that no matter how good they are, or in some cases better they are, compared to London, they just aren't London. This is a shame but it is what it is.

As have Atlanta, Montreal, Los Angeles and St Louis.

Birmingham and Manchester simply didn't have the international profile of London. Many foreigners simply wouldn't have even heard of them and those who had probably still had an image of them as ugly industrial cities. I think the only British city other than London which could make a credible bid would probably be Edinburgh.

How does the TV rights for the Olympics work? Is there a bidding process or do the Beeb get it automatically? I assume it would have to be on terrestrial?

I think the BBC bidded collectively with other European broadcasters to stop Murdoch from getting it. The best thing about 2012 is that the events will be shown BRITISH time so the Americans can't change the times that m,uch (if at all) to suit American audiences. Oh and no baseball either!!

Well done Square Eyes! 43 + 7 = 50! Excellent. How did you know that? I think that you should get a first honours in maths. Another thing you should get a first in is obsession with people's age.

Must have been a really good night!

Anyway, London is the capital of Australia. It's a dispersed form of representative government based on City IT departments.

The purpose of Canberra is not to govern Australia, but to be a place to go and hide when you've got too many speeding tickets in New South Wales.