[debatewiserrt] Re: Rapid Response Team Questions
- From: Rebecca Jackson <rebeccajackson@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: debatewiseRRT@xxxxxxxxxxxxx, debatewiserrt@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 26 Aug 2009 18:54:00 +0000 (GMT)
Hi,
I'll take does science and religion need a truce if thats ok.
Thanks
Rebecca--- On Wed, 26/8/09, Alex Helling <alex@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
From: Alex Helling <alex@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [debatewiserrt] Rapid Response Team Questions
To: debatewiseRRT@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Wednesday, 26 August, 2009, 11:21 AM
Hello Everyone on the Rapid Response Team,
This is debatewise’s new list for the Rapid Response Team.
As it is an email group if you email debatewiseRRT@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
saying which topic you wish to do everyone will get it so avoiding RRT members
treading on each other’s toes. N.B. you need to use the email that is
registered on the list (the one you get this email from ;))
I am taking over charge of sending out our weekly list of
possible debate titles from David. I intend to keep sending them out on Tuesdays
(usually around 5:30-6 just before I head home). As I have been in charge of
deciding the debate titles for a few weeks the style will not change i.e. I
give you a title and a short background to the debate (that you can use for the
introduction/background if you wish but don’t have to) and then some
links to the relevant story and anything else relevant I have come across.
As always please don’t feel constrained by the topics
we send out, they are merely the big topics of the week or more interesting
questions we have noticed.
Any questions, complaints or suggestions can be sent either to
the group or to me directly at alex@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I hope you enjoy writing our debates.
Regards
Alex Helling
Questions/Topics for the week
Illegal downloaders should be cut off from the internet
The UK is considering a crackdown on internet file sharing.
File sharing damages the creative industries that Britain has a lead in.
However cutting off people who download is an extreme reaction that will limit
freedom of expression.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/aug/25/internet-file-sharing-digitalbritain
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/aug/25/file-sharing-internet
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8219652.stm
Will the conservatives win the next election
A new ICM poll in the Guardian is putting the conservatives
16 points ahead of labour. Labour is also losing ground on the issues. The
British people no longer think the conservatives will destroy the NHS. Can
labour fight back or are the conservatives a shoo in for the next election.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/aug/24/labour-icm-poll-summer-fightback
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/mar/17/labour-general-election-poll
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/conservative/5240568/William-Hague-Conservatives-will-win-the-next-election.html
Tourism is a curse
Tourism is one of the world’s biggest industries, it
brings much needed money into the third world and poorer areas of the developed
world. However in an age of mass tourism too many people are drawn to the
‘must see’ sights that then get many more visitors than they can
manage. Ancient heritage is put at risk by this honeypot effect. Elsewhere many
picturesque places get swamped by development to cater for tourists thereby
destroying the beauty they are coming to see.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/egypt/6082363/Pharaohs-tombs-commentary-tourists-take-their-toll.html
http://www.cdnn.info/news/eco/e080712.html
Africa should power Europe
Africa needs investment to boost its poor economies while
Europe needs power, particularly green power. Africa is potentially a massive
supplier of solar power from the sahara and hydro electricity from the Congo
rives. Can such gigantic infrastructure projects really work?
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/the-big-question-should-africa-be-generating-much-of-europes-power-1776802.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7232328.stm
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article5887597.ece
A Marshall Plan for Pakistan
While Afghanistan and Iraq have received all the attention
in the war against terror Pakistan has had the main burden of fighting the war.
The Pakistani army has launched campaigns on its own soil but is a poor
country. Should the west pay for rebuilding a country whose destruction we had
little to do with?
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/pakistan/6082365/Britain-and-US-back-Marshall-Plan-for-Pakistan.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/20/world/asia/20clinton.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/feb/27/pakistan.usa
Does exercise help us to lose weight?
We all assume that one sure way to lose weight is to
exercise more. After all you burn those calories off. However this may not be
the case. Diet (in terms of what you eat rather than dieting) could mean more
than exercise.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/6083234/Health-warning-exercise-makes-you-fat.html
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1914857,00.html
should there be prosecutions of CIA interrogators?
As more information about CIA interrogation techniques comes out there is
increased pressure on the attorney general Eric Holder to reopen the
possibility of launching criminal investigations against CIA interrogators who
used tactics that could be torture. But is it time to keep the line that was
drawn earlier this year by Obama to avoid allegations of partisanship taken to
extremes
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8217414.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8006597.stm
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/23/AR2009082302038.html
Do Science and Religion need a Truce?
A letter published originally in the LA Times has found it's way into the
Guardian. Written by the co authors of the book Unscientific America it calls
for a truce over evolution between Christians and atheists but is a truce
necessary or should it be survival of the fittest where there can only be one
theory at the top of the tree?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2009/aug/24/atheism-dawkins-science-evolution
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/28/science/28essa.html
Is the widespread use of CCTV justified?
Closed Circuit Television is something that is omnipresent in a lot of UK town
centres but only one crime is solved for every 1000 camera's each year in areas
that fall under the metropolitan police’s remit. Is this a case of value
for lost privacy or should there be more limitations on closed circuit cameras?
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/cctv-cameras-help-to-solve-one-in-every-1000-crimes-1776678.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7384843.stm
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs2/hors252.pdf
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