[Debatewise RRT] Re: Remember to vote!
- From: macmarie123@xxxxxxx
- To: debatewiserrt@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 05 May 2010 07:59:39 -0400
Hi,
I'll take,
Should we be tactically voting to keep the Conservatives out?
Thanks,
Marie
-----Original Message-----
From: Alex Helling <alex@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: debatewiserrt@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Tue, 4 May 2010 19:02
Subject: [Debatewise RRT] Remember to vote!
Hi everyone,
The election will be over on Thursday, everyone make
sure you get out and vote as it is still the closest election in decades so for
once your vote counts... or else it might not take a look at
http://www.voterpower.org.uk/ too see how much your vote it worth. However I
don’t think it is a particularly accurate reflection for example my vote is
supposedly worth 0.771 which is pretty marginal however in reality this is not
the case as it is a Tory seat and the chances of a swing against the
conservatives is pretty small. Anyhow with the election out the way (excepting
negotiations for if there has to be a coalition) we will suddenly have less
political things to discuss, and I am sure you are all sick of them anyway.
Anyhow in order to make things slightly different we were thinking we might
have themed weeks which would mean us doing more debates on non current affairs
topics. So we might have a week on art or philosophy. Some of the questions in
the RRT would be on this topic – I don’t know how many but I don’t want to
exclude current affairs entirely.
Anyhow would you be interested in doing this/do you think it is a good idea?
Also suggestions about what you would like to see done? And if you have
suggestions for a topic feel free to give me ideas for debate titles too.
Alex
Debates:
Should we be tactically voting to keep the Conservatives out?
Gordon Brown in today’s Guardian urges ‘all those with genuinely progressive
values to vote labour on Thursday.’ Asking Lib dem supporters to vote
tactically to avoid a Conservative government that would be against that
progressive agenda, but should we be voting tactically?
http://www.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/5968963/will-the-tactical-voting-plea-work.thtml
http://clients.squareeye.com/uploads/compass/Torytargetsword.doc.doc
The war on terror is more about law enforcement and the police than the
military.
The Bush administration always considered the ‘War on Terror’ or whichever of
its subsequent rebrandings you wish to use as being in large part, as mostly a
militarily occupation. Afghanistan had to be occupied to force Al Qaeda out and
destroy their training camps, there have to be military offensives into
Pakistan’s frontier territories and Iraq was invaded due to possible links to
terrorism. However the vast majority of the real anti terrorism goes on
internally in by security services and police forces gathering information and
then foiling attacks with arrests.
http://www.slate.com/id/2252724/
Animals have a right to privacy.
We have all been captivated by documentaries about various types of animals, be
they cute and furry or extraordinarily alien. Wildlife documentaries are a
large part of the landscape of documentary TV. The filming of the wildlife is
just seen as a challenge and is never questioned, should we be asking not ‘how
can this animal be filmed?’ but ‘should this animal be filmed?’
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/10093327.stm
http://www.uea.ac.uk/mac/comm/media/press/2010/april/homepagenews/Animals%27+right+to+privacy+infringed+by+documentary+makers
Online video rights will be the next big revenue stream for sports events.
Most football matches are broadcast live, but often they are not on TV but are
instead online. Various sites such as the FA’s official site and ITV have been
broadcasting them. At the moment the big revenue stream for sport is TV through
the advertising commercial broadcasters get. However as people begin to watch
their sport through different mediums, particularly the internet this is bound
to change. Yahoo has secured the exclusive UK online highlights rights for the
English Premier League from 2010 to 2013 in a multi million pound deal, showing
that this may already be becoming a revenue stream to be tapped.
http://www.theuksportsnetwork.com/the-future-of-football-broadcasting-lies-online/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8648414.stm
Debates on site:
Does Japan need US military Bases?
Ever since the DJP was elected the main foreign policy issue that has affected
the party has been an attempt to find a renegotiate a deal for a US base in
Okinawa. This has become the defining issue of Prime Minister Hatoyama’s
premiership. He has less than a month until a self imposed deadline on deciding
the future of the base. Japan has thousands of US troops on its soil that it
pays for, however it also has one of the most powerful armed forces in the
world so does it really need the US troops at all?
http://www.globalpolicy.org/component/content/article/152-challenges/48814-pacific-pushback-has-the-us-empire-of-bases-reached-its-high-water-mark-.html
http://www.japantoday.com/category/politics/view/hatoyama-arrives-in-okinawa-to-discuss-us-base-issue
http://www.japantoday.com/category/politics/view/okada-says-us-marines-needed-for-japans-defense
http://www.asahi.com/english/TKY201005030197.html
Offshore drilling should be banned.
The dangers to the environment of offshore drilling has been highlighted by a
blowout on the Deepwater Horizon rig in the Gulf of Mexico leaking hundreds of
thousands of gallons of oil into the sea where it could cause an environmental
catastrophe. This comes only a few days after President Obama conceded that
there could be much more drilling off the coast of the USA, a policy that was
already under fire from his own party.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/may/03/deepwater-horizon-oil-spill-turtle-deaths-soar
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-05-03/schwarzenegger-drops-support-for-offshore-oil-wells-update1-.html
Do papers declaring their support for a party have an impact?
Britain’s papers have normally been partisan even between elections and they
get even more so during an election where they declare their support for a
particular party. Even if this is less the case than it used to be with papers
trying to show a bit more independence their leanings are still usually pretty
much. As it is usually obvious which party a paper will support does it matter
if they declare who they are supporting? And when they do change their support
do they really bring their readers with them?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/may/03/election-2010-newspapers-influence-over-voters
http://electionblog2010.blogspot.com/2010/04/how-powerful-are-newspapers.html
Britain has become a more open minded place.
Labour may be leaving the country in dire financial straits and not changed
public services as radically as they might have done but whether it was caused
by them or not Britain has probably become more tolerant. It may seem from the
perennial theme of election campaigns that is asylum seekers and economic
migrants that nothing changes. However this masks that most worry is about
migrants from Eastern Europe rather than worries about people of a different
colour, Eastern Europeans are simply a worry because they appear to be taking
jobs and arrived so suddenly but within a short time if they stay they will be
integrated. On various other areas Britain is more tolerant; of gays, of other
races and generally of other religions – even if there are worries and linking
of Muslims and terrorism.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/may/03/labour-indelible-mark-british-culture
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2010/jan/26/survey-social-liberal-conservative-supporters
http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/2010/02/transforming-britain-by-accident/
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