Background: Great Britain, the dominant industrial and maritime power of the 19th century, played a leading role in developing parliamentary democracy and in advancing literature and science. At its zenith, the British Empire stretched over one-fourth of the earth's surface. The first half of the 20th century saw the UK's strength seriously depleted in two World Wars. The second half witnessed the dismantling of the Empire and the UK rebuilding itself into a modern and prosperous European nation. As one of five permanent members of the UN Security Council, a founding member of NATO, and of the Commonwealth, the UK pursues a global approach to foreign policy; it currently is weighing the degree of its integration with continental Europe. A member of the EU, it chose to remain outside the Economic and Monetary Union for the time being. Constitutional reform is also a significant issue in the UK. The Scottish Parliament, the National Assembly for Wales, and the Northern Ireland Assembly were established in 1999, but the latter is suspended due to bickering over the peace process.
May 7th 2008Europe » United Kingdom » Wales » Vale of Glamorgan Due to my solid week-long chocolate binge during first-year exams week and my necessary habit of not actually wearing shoes anymore, I'm beginning to look more and more like a hobbit. I'm not quite su ... [full story]
April 24th 2008Europe » United Kingdom » Wales » Vale of Glamorgan Sorry about the delay, but you must understand how difficult it is to write when I can barely see through the sheer amount of freckles I've acquired in the past two days. While everyone else frantical ... [full story]
April 7th 2008Europe » United Kingdom » Wales » Vale of Glamorgan I'm trying to decide whether it's been an Insane Dancer Barbie or a Battery-Operated Super Mountaineer G.I. Joe sort of a week. For all the potential A.C. students coming for interviews this past week ... [full story]
March 30th 2008Europe » United Kingdom » Wales » Vale of Glamorgan My bed, or the corner where I believe my bed is, looks quite simply like an archeological dig. It's like Pompeii, if Mount Vesuvius had erupted a deadly river of mismatched socks and random crumpled p ... [full story]
February 28th 2008Europe » United Kingdom » Wales » Vale of Glamorgan Right, so this is going to have to be a short one, but just so you all know what I'm doing in 29 minutes...I will be boarding a bus for Heathrow airport, andseven hours and fifty-eight minutes from no ... [full story]
February 17th 2008Europe » United Kingdom » Wales » Vale of Glamorgan Pre-Calculus was still a complete and utter waste of my time, but now at least I have enough maths skills to realise that the productiveness of my day is always indirectly proportional to the number o ... [full story]
February 10th 2008Europe » United Kingdom » Wales » Vale of Glamorgan I did not wake up this morning to find I had turned into a gigantic insect, but it was just as surreal. First of all, I think I've actually got a legitimate sunburn in February. The weather is so alli ... [full story]
February 6th 2008Europe » United Kingdom » Wales » Vale of Glamorgan O, my clothesline! I loved thee
The chainsaw wailing alertest me
this afternoon, to butchery!
Today they cleavedst thou from thy tree
O, my clothesline! Thou and I
Didst make my bedsheets smell ... [full story]
February 4th 2008Europe » United Kingdom » Wales » Vale of Glamorgan Before AC, my life was barely exciting enough to fuel a single episode of Last Of The Summer Wine, and now it could possibly inspire an entire season of the O.C. On the whole my week has been quite su ... [full story]
January 27th 2008Europe » United Kingdom » Wales » Vale of Glamorgan In real life, living impetuously without any planning or forethought whatsoever is generally considered a bad idea. But must I remind you again that this is not real life? I wouldn't exactly call my s ... [full story]
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