British Prime Minister Tony Blair is calling for a better approach to fight poverty in Britain. Current government programs are not reaching “deeply excluded” families and that needs to change in order for the government to make a much bigger impact.
“He said a small percentage of every generation were “stuck in a lifetime of disadvantage”. “We have to recognise that for some families, their problems are more multiple, more deep and more pervasive than simply low income,” he continued.”
The Church of England has deemed it good religious policy to protect the environment. I hope those SUV driving religious people are reading this post. I digress. The Church is calling their environment-protecting campaign “Shrinking the Footprint,” a noble cause indeed.
“The current climate change situation is such that it will be a long walk – simply to restore the world’s balance we need to cut carbon emissions worldwide by 60% of current levels by 2050. Not only is this a daunting goal but its end lies at least two generations in the future. The results of our actions will only be felt by our children and grandchildren. For individuals and institutions alike, taking action (however simple and obvious that action may seem) and sustaining it will require considerable effort.”
You too can lower the impact you have on the environment, check out My Foot Print and Carbon Footprint.
“Complete idiots” will be charged more in London. To be more exact, the city of London has decided to charge a higher congestion fee for SUVs. According to the mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, SUV drivers are “complete idiots”.
The reasoning behind this move to charge SUVs more is rather elaborate. One of the reasons is that it was recently found that in the US 11.5% of pedestrians hit by SUVs are killed, smaller vehicles kill only 4.5% of pedestrians hit. Londoners also are fans of SUVS, 14.9% of car sales are SUVS, which is much higher than other English cities. Drivers of vehicles more friendly to the environment will have a reduced congestion fee.
London’s congestion fee has been wildly successful and hopefully this addition to it will be too.
A new website has been launched by two mothers as a reaction to increasing tuition fees in the UK that allows parents to swap children. Student Swaps is exactly as it sounds. The idea is that for two families to save money they can have one child trade bedrooms with another – for free.
“The principle behind Student Swaps is to enable students to literally swap family homes. The website will hold a database of students who would like to swap and link them with suitable matches. So those from one town/city could swap with those from a different town/city. ”
This a great idea! It will allow for students and their families to save money and broaden their horizons.
The United Kingdom is going to make their largest human-made wetland to help endangered birds. Biodiversity is a fantastic thing and needs to be protected, so it is great to see such a large investment in helping birds live. It is also hoped that the wetland will help fish.
“Almost 115 hectares will be flooded at Wallasea Island, Essex, creating wetland, mudflats, saline lagoons and seven artificial islands.
The £7.5m government-funded project aims to replace bird habitats lost to development, improve flood defences, and create leisure opportunities.”