The Endless Cycle of Oil Dependance

When I was growing up in California, pretty much everyone drove everywhere. When I was 16, I was the odd one out as someone who didn’t have a driver’s license and a car. Ten years later in the U.K., I only know three people who have their own cars. A whole lot of people I know don’t even have a driver’s license. I think a large part of that is to do with public transportation. Brits complain about their bus and train system a lot, but it’s a sight better than what we get in much of the U.S.

Marriage Map

On November 4, 2008 I sat in a pub in Durham, U.K. with a bunch of other U.S. students watching the election results come in with anticipation. However, unlike most of those other students, my attention wasn’t really focused on whether Obama would be elected or not. I kept waiting to hear about the results from the three states that had ballot measures banning same-sex marriage. I was particularly anxious about my home state of California. Up until just a couple weeks before the election I had been sure that the ban would be shot down. It’s California, one of the most liberal states in the country. Yet as I sat in that pub, refreshing a website with election data every 30 seconds, I was really worried. The Yes on 8 Campaign had seemed to be so much more successful than I had thought it would be.

C4EM: An Acronym You’ve Probably Never Heard Of

C4EM

Contrary to what a lot of people outside the United Kingdom think, same-sex marriage isn’t actually legal in the U.K. Instead they have civil partnerships, which grant all the same rights as marriage, except for the label. There is a home office consultation underway asking the population its opinion on civil same-sex marriage. Pretty much the U.K. is considering changing its policy regarding same-sex marriage and so it’s conducting a poll, sort of.