[Debatewise RRT] Holiday debates
- From: "Alex Helling" <alex@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <debatewiserrt@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 29 Dec 2009 23:59:12 -0000
Hi all,
I hope you enjoyed Christmas, and have a happy new year. I am sure you are
all relaxing, possibly thinking of how to burn off some of those calories
and the new year's resolutions you will never keep. I hope that the RRT is
as successful next year as it has been this year. In the mean time some
debates for you to be doing while you are indoors on hogmanay... or not!
Alex
Debates:
Cut generals not soldiers.
The British Army has one general for every 400 soldiers. Considering that
generals are only the top few ranks and we are not including the many more
majors, captains etc does Britain have too many generals? It would seem that
the obvious place to start making cuts into the military is to reduce the
size of the officer corps.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article6969921.ece
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article6544223.ece
Yemen: America's next war?
While very few people are talking about Yemen being America's next war it is
obvious that something needs to be done to prevent Yemen becoming a failed
state and to reduce any Al Qaeda presence there. Afghanistan has shown how
difficult it would be to fight a war in Yemen, there is similar terrain,
though not the ethnic divisions. However the reason behind the war in
Afghanistan is essentially what is happening in Yemen, a country that is
becoming a base for al Qaeda and Islamic fundamentalism. Is this sufficient
cause to take action?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/8429843.stm
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/6898945/Detroit-t
error-attack-Yemen-is-the-true-home-of-Al-Qaeda.html
Literacy targets for toddlers are a waste of time.
There is a gender gap between boys and girls even before they enter school.
To the government this must mean more targets. To the rest of us a more
sensible approach might be to let children below school age learn at their
own pace. Does a gender gap at this stage matter or should we have targets
and try to teach boys better?
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/education/article4387301.ece
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/boys-aged-three-m
ust-work-more-1852087.html
Is Iran nearing a tipping point?
Once demonstrations get to a certain size, or the government is unwilling to
cause too much bloodshed protests can topple a government. The overthrow of
the Shah demonstrated this, as did the rolling back of communism in 1989.
Unfortunately it is very difficult to measure when or if the protesters will
gain the upper hand or the willingness of the authorities to be brutal in
putting down protests. It may depend partially on how big the change would
be; in this case the tipping point may be quite low as the likely change in
regime is simply from the more radical elements to more moderate elements
within the current elite rather than a full scale revolution.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article6969863.ece
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703278604574624302036557422.ht
ml
Avatar will kill off big earning movie stars?
There have been numerous films this year that have made large amounts of
money but have not had big stars attached. Avatar in particular shows that
there are other ways of engaging audiences rather than paying immense pay
checks to a few faces that everyone recognises. Avatar does it with its 3D
graphics.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/dec/08/film-celebrity-wilting
http://www.slashfilm.com/2009/11/16/is-the-hollywood-movie-star-dead/
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/film/artic
le6969880.ece
Return/resell unwanted gifts.
Many charities are encouraging us to give our unwanted gifts to them so that
they can be put to good use. Alternatively we might want to go and demand a
refund, or get a replacement. We may even take to selling them online.
However should we really be disposing of gifts that others have bought for
us, should the solution not simply be that we buy less presents that are
better chosen rather than get a load of presents that are then not wanted.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/consumertips/6873912/How-
to-recycle-your-unwanted-Christmas-presents.html
http://www.itnewsonline.com/showrwstory.php?storyid=1718
Throw the kids out.
The scope of Peter Mandelson in government has been steadily advancing as
his department swallows others. He is now publishing advice for parents on
how to persuade their children to move out and stop being dependents. In
some cases persuading children to move out may be a good idea but in the
middle of a recession it seems like a waste of effort. Those who have
returned home would not have the resources to make their own home while
burdened with student debt and without a job. So kick the kids out of the
house to sink or swim?
http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/families/article6969
872.ece
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/dec/29/tough-love-parents-gradua
te-unemployment
Government theft or sensible use of funds.
The government wants to effectively nationalise charitable funds for
hospitals. New accounting rules will bring these funds raised onto the
hospitals balance sheet. This has advantages, transparency, and areas that
can support themselves with charitable donations can take less from the
overall pot for the NHS so these government resources can go to areas that
do not have successful charitable funds. In a recession bringing these funds
onto the books makes sense as they can help plug gaps as funding is falling.
There are however problems. Who is going to donate to a charity that is
effectively the Department of Health? This would break down the barrier
between the charities and the NHS harming both. The opposition also argues
it will allow stealth cuts with charity making up the shortfall.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article6969955.ece
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1118821/
We should focus more on the thousands who are executed in China rather than
an individual British citizen.
There may well be good reasons for why the Chinese government has chosen to
ignore the representations of the British government for Akmal Shaikh. In
the case of the British Government it has to act in this case because Akmal
was a British citizen. However China would probably be more cooperative, or
at least more inclined to listen if we did not rave about one person and
attempt to show the holes in their legal system. Instead we should be
working with China to improve its legal system and at the same time reduce
the number of executions.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/blog/2009/dec/29/china-akmal-shaikh-execu
tion
http://www.cfr.org/publication/10063/chinas_legal_reform_at_the_crossroads.h
tml
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/JF18Ad01.html
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1446976
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