The Energy Act 2011 was granted royal assent in the United Kingdom on October 18, a move that will pave the way for the Green Deal to come into effect within the year. Under the plan, households will be encouraged to install energy- and cost-saving efficiencies to their homes without having to bear the full … Continue reading »
Tag: united kingdom
Slap Upside The Head: UK Kinda Almost Lifts Gay Blood Ban
The United Kingdom has removed its lifetime ban on blood donations from gay men, replacing it with a one year deferral since the last time a donor has had sex with someone of the same gender. So, yeah—essentially, nothing has changed. Well, I suppose at the very least it’s an acknowledgement that the lifetime ban (which Canada […]
Continue readinggay persons of color: Out Magazine salutes five athlete allies
Ben Cohen, Hudson Taylor, Michael Irvin, Mike Chabala, and Nick YoungquestSource: Out MagazineIn its July 2011 issue, Out Magazine salutes five top sportsmen “who have stood up for fairness and tolerance, shoulder-to-shoulder with their LGBT peers.” Th…
Continue readingThey Call Me "Mr. Sinister": The World They Made
If you want to know the state of the relationship between democratically elected governments of the West and the multinational corporations, all you have to do is look at the case of the Parliament of Westminster and News International. The British par…
Continue readingOn governance (2): Parliament
This one’s going to be a little disconnected. The overarching thread, as said yesterday, is figuring out how to adjust our governing institutions to suit the importance of the principle of autonomy — that is, the idea that legitimate government author…
Continue readingDeSmogBlog - Clearing the PR Pollution that Clouds Climate Science: UK Opposed to Europe’s Tar Sands Import Ban
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While most European countries are working on a proposal that would effectively ban the use of Canadian tar sands in the European Union, the United Kingdom has made it clear that the…
Continue readingOn the Quebec question: (4) Devolution
So far, I’ve argued that there are good reasons to favour Quebec’s right to determine, on its own, whether to separate from Canada. One option that has come up under various names — “sovereignty association” or “asymmetrical federalism” — is the poss…
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: The NDP, The Quebec Question and 50% + 1
Much has been made of Jack Layton’s “controversial” comments on a possible Quebec sovereignty referendum.The fact is that it is a very rational and defensible position. Based on the closest precedent, the entry of Newfoundland into Confederation, Quebe…
Continue readingMurdoch’s mischief … the excesses of freedom
If you were to suggest that the most powerful man in British political politics today was Prime Minister David Cameron, I would respectfully disagree. I would suggest it is Britain’s most powerful press lord, Rupert Murdoch. Murdoch’s News Internationa…
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