Update on the EU and the post-Brexit 1 UK

Far from finally turning the page on five long years of Brexit acrimony, the European parliament’s overwhelming vote to approve the EU-UK trade and cooperation agreement is set to open a whole new chapter of potential disputes. Commission president Ursula von der Leyen referred pointedly to the “possibility for unilateral remedial measures” in the agreement, …

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So much for fighting global climate change!

The world’s 60 largest banks have provided $3.8tn of financing for fossil fuel companies since the Paris climate agreement in 2015, a coalition of NGOs have said. While the coronavirus pandemic has triggered a drop in energy use, funding is still net rising. US and Canadian banks comprise 13 of the 60 banks analysed but …

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Migrating to an empty continent?

This is the perspective of a native American: “Recently, Rick Santorum repeated a widely held myth of US exceptionalism. “We came here and created a blank slate, we birthed a nation from nothing,” the former US senator and CNN commentator told the rightwing Young America’s Foundation’s summit. “It was born of the people who came …

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“Read Epicurus” – a poem

They peddle fear here. They peddle fear of terrorists and sudden death They peddle fear of rapists and angry drivers They peddle fear of government and paying tax Of deer ticks, butter, sugar, fat, untested drugs; Of unknown visitors and dark-skinned men, Of invasion, war and sudden death, Of gunmen holding up cashiers, Of bombs …

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