The UK has officially notified the European Union that it is leaving. So what exactly will happen now? Here are a few articles and links to help you understand the situation.
All you need to know about the UK leaving the EU : BBC News
No turning back now – Article 50 is triggered : BBC News
Eight key points you need to know about the Brexit: The Guardian
What does Brexit mean? What does Article 50 mean for the economy, immigration, the pound? : the Express
The power of the media (places and forms of power) What influence did the tabloids have on the Brexit campaign? : The Guardian
What will happen to London after the Brexit? (places and forms of power) : Bloomberg
The day After Thanksgiving (Friday) is known as Black Friday. This also is unofficially or officially start of holiday shopping season. Almost all stores come out with sales to attract consumers to their stores. People stand in line hours before store is opened, to grab the bargain of the year. Almost every store has something that interests every one. For bargain hunters, if there is a biggest festival in a year, that would be, no doubt, the Black Friday.
One of the most covered topics in the news at the moment is the US Presidential Elections. So to start off this new school year let’s take a look at the process:
An election for President of the United States occurs every four years on Election Day, held the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. The 2016 Presidential election will be held on November 8, 2016.
The election process begins with the primary elections and caucuses and moves to nominating conventions, during which political parties each select a nominee to unite behind. The nominee also announces a Vice Presidential running mate at this time. The candidates then campaign across the country to explain their views and plans to voters and participate in debates with candidates from other parties.
During the general election, Americans head to the polls to cast their vote for President. But the tally of those votes—the popular vote—does not determine the winner. Instead, Presidential elections use the Electoral College. To win the election, a candidate must receive a majority of electoral votes. In the event no candidate receives the majority, the House of Representatives chooses the President and the Senate chooses the Vice President.
The Presidential election process follows a typical cycle:
Spring of the year before an election – Candidates announce their intentions to run.
Summer of the year before an election through spring of the election year – Primary and caucus debates take place.
January to June of election year – States and parties hold primaries and caucuses.
July to early September – Parties hold nominating conventions to choose their candidates.
September and October – Candidates participate in Presidential debates.
Early November – Election Day
December – Electors cast their votes in the Electoral College.
Early January of the next calendar year – Congress counts the electoral votes.
January 20 – Inauguration Day
Here are a few links to articles and web sites to learn more about the Presidential elections and also the candidates
The road to the White House – what influence do the media/social media have on the election? Why is money so important during the campaign?
Happy New Year to you all! I wish you success in all your projects and for those sitting their BAC this year I hope you pass with flying colours!!
To start the year off let’s look at a topic that is very much in the news at the moment: climate change, particularly after the COP 21 – the United Nations conference on climate change in Paris.
This topic can be linked to the notion of idea of progress : how is our world changing, what effect does increasing pollution have on our environment? How can we predict the sort of weather we are going to have and the impact the extreme weather conditions can have on our planet? It can also be linked to the notion of spaces and exchanges as well as places and forms of power: how can developed countries help developing countries to cope with climate change? How can the different countries work together to reduce the impact that pollution has on our environment?
Here are a few articles and videos about it:
A BBC article about the impact El Nino is having on the world’s weather
A BBC article about the current flooding in the UK
An article from the Guardian on the floods in the UK and extreme global weather
Here is an excellent article about gun violence in the USA – a topic which is very much in the news at that the moment and that can be used to illustrate the notion « Places and forms of power ».
The article includes a video of Obama’s speech after the Umpqau Community College shooting, tables and explanations about the problem and a video showing how some American politicians go to extreme lengths to show their support for gun rights: Senator Ted Cruz (republican) cooking bacon with a machine gun (!)
Finally there is a section on how other developed countries have had huge successes with gun control (Idea of progress/places and forms of power)
On Thursday 7th May the General Elections take place in the UK. It is traditionally held on the first Thursday in May once every five years in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
The 650 members of parliament (MPs) will be elected through 650 individual elections for a constituency. Each voter chooses a candidate in their area. The candidate with the most votes wins a seat in the House of Commons in the UK parliament, Westminster, London.
The main parties taking part in the election are the Conservatives (led by David Cameron), Labour (led by Ed Miliband), Liberal Democrats (led by Nick Clegg) and the United Kingdom Independance Party (led by Nigel Farage). The current Prime Minister is David Cameron, the leader of the Conservative Party. In the last General Election a coalition government was formed (also known as a hung parliament) with the Liberal Democrats because the Conservatives didn’t have an outright majority.
If one party wins more than half the seats (326) in the House of Commons, its leader becomes Prime Minister and forms a government. The Prime Minister’s official residence is at 10 Downing Street, London.
According to the Independant newspaper « Britain is heading for the most unpredictable general election in a generation as voters turn their backs on the established parties ». Support for the three main political parties is at an all-time low. So much so that it is possible that no single party will win a majority of seats in Parliament. The two main candidates are David Cameron – leader of the Conservatives and who has around a score of around 32% in the polls and Ed Miliband – leader of the Labour party who has around a 33% lead in the polls. However there is growing support for smaller parties like the UKIP and the Greens. The UKIP wants to cut immigration to the UK and quit the European Union – according to some polls they could win 15% of the vote. The Green party could possibly win 15% of the vote.
To learn more about the General Election here are some videos:
