alternatehistory.com
McCain Administration- Spring 2015
Spring 2015
"Well, this was not entirely unexpected for the British..."
"Looks like even Ireland is voting yes on gay marriage"
"So, the World Expo is now in Milan..."
The Winter thawed out into Spring and attention was turning over to the British isles in regards to the future elections. Polls were split between whether the conservatives could increase their lead to have a majority or if the dissatisfication over the handling of the Great Recession (though austerity measures) would be enough to sink them even lower. Furthermore, the rumors and speculations that the Tories were willing to try and leave the European Union was enough to get some interest. Initially, it did seem the Tories had a chance to expand their lead. However, the discussions over the problems of the economy along with the austerity measures were enough to sour opinions on them. Furthermore, there remained some slight but growing nostalgia for the time under the Blair administration. However, that did not mean that the Labor party were in the clear. There was conflicts over leadership between Ed Miliband, the current leader and the more prominent leftist in Jeremy Corbyn. Despite this struggle of leadership, they maintained unity enough for them to try and overcome the government in the elections. Furthermore, the Tories tried scare tactics in intimidating the voters by claiming that the Labour party would form a coalition with SNP. While this may have supposedly yielded results, this also led to a souring of relations between the Tories and the Liberal Democrats, who called out the Tories and tensions grew since they felt marginalized by the Tories. Ultimately though, the effects of the Great Recession and the dissatisfication with the Tories' handling (especially compared with the liberal governments of Canada and Australia) led to their undoing. The elections wielded a loss of over 20 seats for the British conservatives with the gains going primarily to the Labor. Like last time, there remained a hung parliament, but unlike last time, there was no clear route. The Tories lost their advantage with the Liberal Democrats getting creamed because of the SNP, meaning the idea of a coalition was out and their comments toward the SNP had burnt their bridges. However, Miliband had ruled out the possibility of a coalition with SNP and the Labour could not form a ruling coalition with the Liberal Democrats alone. Ed Milliband would be pressured to resign after his statements over the SNP; after over a week of discussions, he reluctanctly resigned after some talk with advisors A new round of electionsin the Labor party would result in self-proclaimed socialist Jeremy Corbyn becoming head of the Labor Party and thus Prime Minister of the United Kingdom by creating a coalition with the SNP. While there was now a government, tensions remained over and accusations toward some of the Labour, especially from the Tories. Meanwhile, rumors circulated that some of the Labour members had let Corbyn win out of hopes he would fail and discredit the more radical members of the Labour Party, though such fears would be countered by the rise in Labour membership. Corbyn meanwhile promised to undo the cuts done by the Tories and to stimulate the economy while allying closer with their fellow Anlgo-descended nations. Corbyn did ease some fears by saying he would remain in NATO after discussing with some advisors, with the main concern being Russian electoral interference and cyberwarfare (though remained adamant in scaling back the Trident program). One thing for sure is that many would be watching what would happen now.
Jeremy Corbyn, new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Meanwhile, that was not the only glimpse of noticeable news over from the Isles as Ireland would be hosting an election in regards to gay marriage. The vote was on for the Thirty-Fourth Amendment to the Irish Constitution, aka the Marriage Equality Act 2015. It would amend the Constitution of Ireland to permit marriage to be contracted by two persons without distinction as to their sex.Prior to the enactment, the Constitution was assumed to contain an implicit prohibition on same-sex marriage in the Republic of Ireland. At a turnout of 61% of people on a referendum on May 22, 2015, the votes came in at 62.07% yes and 37.93% no, thus resulting in the passing of the amendment. Gay marriage was now legalized over in the Republic of Ireland. It marked the first time that a state legalised same-sex marriage through a popular vote. Unsurprisingly, there were some attempts at legal challenges though they would be dismissed weeks later and the amendment signed into the summer. There was a cheer of jubilee and celeberation amongst the LGTBQ+ global community and their supporters internationally, with various nations giving their own approval along with various leaders. While President McCain remained relatively quiet on the affair outside of his approval of how the process was done democratically, various other American politicians send their approval, most notably Senators Barack Obama and Bernie Sanders, both of whom had recently declared their candinancy to become the Presidental nominee of the Democrats.
Fianna Fáil poster in favour of the amendment
Of course, even beyond the British Isles, there was plenty of hustle and bustle going on over in the rest of the world. Beyond the revelations in Britain and Ireland, the big event going on right now was in Milan. It was a World Expo, the second time they would be hosting it. However, what was prominent about it was the theme of the expo: "Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life". Encompassing technology, innovation, culture, traditions and creativity, it was centered around food, sustainability and dieting. The exposition developed themes introduced in earlier expos (such as water at Expo 2008 in Zaragoza) in light of new global scenarios and emerging issues, focusing on the right to healthy, secure and sufficient food for the world's inhabitants. Futuristic concerns about food security are compounded by forecasts of increasing uncertainty about the quantity of food which will be available globally. The seven subthemes were: Science for food safety, security and quality, Innovation in the agro-food supply chain, Technology for agriculture and biodiversity, Dietary education, Solidarity and cooperation on food, Food for better lifestyles and Food in the world's cultures and ethnic groups. However, various side-discussions were held along with a variety of guests, including former US President Al Gore. Talks of innovation such as in vertical farming and new greenhouse developments were among the surface, but perhaps the bigger talks were in economics. The discussions over the questionable ethics of factory farming and Big Agriculture compared to smaller farms and businesses along with the concerns of how various industries, such as the sugar industry, influenced politicians and scientists. While this train of skepticism was continued as a result of the concerns about other big companies doing similar actions as to what Exxon-Mobil and its fellow fossil fuel companies did, it picked up among the various social media facets as veterans and newcomers recorded their thoughts, panels and some scandals, such as the anti-austerity protests outside. As one Italian analyist put it: ""organizing circuses is politically risky when bread is hard to come by".
2015 Expo Milan logo
"Well, this was not entirely unexpected for the British..."
"Looks like even Ireland is voting yes on gay marriage"
"So, the World Expo is now in Milan..."
The Winter thawed out into Spring and attention was turning over to the British isles in regards to the future elections. Polls were split between whether the conservatives could increase their lead to have a majority or if the dissatisfication over the handling of the Great Recession (though austerity measures) would be enough to sink them even lower. Furthermore, the rumors and speculations that the Tories were willing to try and leave the European Union was enough to get some interest. Initially, it did seem the Tories had a chance to expand their lead. However, the discussions over the problems of the economy along with the austerity measures were enough to sour opinions on them. Furthermore, there remained some slight but growing nostalgia for the time under the Blair administration. However, that did not mean that the Labor party were in the clear. There was conflicts over leadership between Ed Miliband, the current leader and the more prominent leftist in Jeremy Corbyn. Despite this struggle of leadership, they maintained unity enough for them to try and overcome the government in the elections. Furthermore, the Tories tried scare tactics in intimidating the voters by claiming that the Labour party would form a coalition with SNP. While this may have supposedly yielded results, this also led to a souring of relations between the Tories and the Liberal Democrats, who called out the Tories and tensions grew since they felt marginalized by the Tories. Ultimately though, the effects of the Great Recession and the dissatisfication with the Tories' handling (especially compared with the liberal governments of Canada and Australia) led to their undoing. The elections wielded a loss of over 20 seats for the British conservatives with the gains going primarily to the Labor. Like last time, there remained a hung parliament, but unlike last time, there was no clear route. The Tories lost their advantage with the Liberal Democrats getting creamed because of the SNP, meaning the idea of a coalition was out and their comments toward the SNP had burnt their bridges. However, Miliband had ruled out the possibility of a coalition with SNP and the Labour could not form a ruling coalition with the Liberal Democrats alone. Ed Milliband would be pressured to resign after his statements over the SNP; after over a week of discussions, he reluctanctly resigned after some talk with advisors A new round of electionsin the Labor party would result in self-proclaimed socialist Jeremy Corbyn becoming head of the Labor Party and thus Prime Minister of the United Kingdom by creating a coalition with the SNP. While there was now a government, tensions remained over and accusations toward some of the Labour, especially from the Tories. Meanwhile, rumors circulated that some of the Labour members had let Corbyn win out of hopes he would fail and discredit the more radical members of the Labour Party, though such fears would be countered by the rise in Labour membership. Corbyn meanwhile promised to undo the cuts done by the Tories and to stimulate the economy while allying closer with their fellow Anlgo-descended nations. Corbyn did ease some fears by saying he would remain in NATO after discussing with some advisors, with the main concern being Russian electoral interference and cyberwarfare (though remained adamant in scaling back the Trident program). One thing for sure is that many would be watching what would happen now.
Jeremy Corbyn, new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Meanwhile, that was not the only glimpse of noticeable news over from the Isles as Ireland would be hosting an election in regards to gay marriage. The vote was on for the Thirty-Fourth Amendment to the Irish Constitution, aka the Marriage Equality Act 2015. It would amend the Constitution of Ireland to permit marriage to be contracted by two persons without distinction as to their sex.Prior to the enactment, the Constitution was assumed to contain an implicit prohibition on same-sex marriage in the Republic of Ireland. At a turnout of 61% of people on a referendum on May 22, 2015, the votes came in at 62.07% yes and 37.93% no, thus resulting in the passing of the amendment. Gay marriage was now legalized over in the Republic of Ireland. It marked the first time that a state legalised same-sex marriage through a popular vote. Unsurprisingly, there were some attempts at legal challenges though they would be dismissed weeks later and the amendment signed into the summer. There was a cheer of jubilee and celeberation amongst the LGTBQ+ global community and their supporters internationally, with various nations giving their own approval along with various leaders. While President McCain remained relatively quiet on the affair outside of his approval of how the process was done democratically, various other American politicians send their approval, most notably Senators Barack Obama and Bernie Sanders, both of whom had recently declared their candinancy to become the Presidental nominee of the Democrats.
Fianna Fáil poster in favour of the amendment
Of course, even beyond the British Isles, there was plenty of hustle and bustle going on over in the rest of the world. Beyond the revelations in Britain and Ireland, the big event going on right now was in Milan. It was a World Expo, the second time they would be hosting it. However, what was prominent about it was the theme of the expo: "Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life". Encompassing technology, innovation, culture, traditions and creativity, it was centered around food, sustainability and dieting. The exposition developed themes introduced in earlier expos (such as water at Expo 2008 in Zaragoza) in light of new global scenarios and emerging issues, focusing on the right to healthy, secure and sufficient food for the world's inhabitants. Futuristic concerns about food security are compounded by forecasts of increasing uncertainty about the quantity of food which will be available globally. The seven subthemes were: Science for food safety, security and quality, Innovation in the agro-food supply chain, Technology for agriculture and biodiversity, Dietary education, Solidarity and cooperation on food, Food for better lifestyles and Food in the world's cultures and ethnic groups. However, various side-discussions were held along with a variety of guests, including former US President Al Gore. Talks of innovation such as in vertical farming and new greenhouse developments were among the surface, but perhaps the bigger talks were in economics. The discussions over the questionable ethics of factory farming and Big Agriculture compared to smaller farms and businesses along with the concerns of how various industries, such as the sugar industry, influenced politicians and scientists. While this train of skepticism was continued as a result of the concerns about other big companies doing similar actions as to what Exxon-Mobil and its fellow fossil fuel companies did, it picked up among the various social media facets as veterans and newcomers recorded their thoughts, panels and some scandals, such as the anti-austerity protests outside. As one Italian analyist put it: ""organizing circuses is politically risky when bread is hard to come by".
2015 Expo Milan logo
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