I'll take blame China isn't the Eurostar debate already up? Nadia Happy holidays to Alex & all :D On Wed, Dec 23, 2009 at 10:00 PM, <rogers.lewis@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > Hi guys, I'll take 'Cut degrees to two years'. > > Enjoy the holidays guys. > > Lewis > > Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device > ------------------------------ > *From: * "Alex Helling" <alex@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> > *Date: *Wed, 23 Dec 2009 19:24:24 -0000 > *To: *<debatewiserrt@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> > *Subject: *[Debatewise RRT] merry christmas - A sack full of debates for > you! > > Merry Christmas everyone. > > > > Some debates for festive cheer! I have no idea if you will have the time or > inclination to write any debates over this festive week but I thought I had > better give you the option even if you don’t take me up on them. My > apologies for the debates being a day late, I was too busy with Christmas > shopping yesterday to get round to finding debates. > > > > Alex > > > > *Debates:* > > > > *Cut degrees to two years.* > > Universities face a funding squeeze from the government, students don’t > want to pay more fees and anyway are getting further and further into debt > while the worth of a degree is increasingly being questioned. If the > government still wants more students to go to university is reducing the > length of a degree to two years the only option? > > > http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/mandelson-do-your-degree-in-two-years-1848107.html > > > http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/dec/23/two-year-degrees-mandelson-proposals > > > http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/dec/23/academics-vice-chancellors-universities-mandelson > > > > *Pay more to prepare Britain for snow.* > > Britain has once again ground to a halt due to the snow. There has been a > chorus of criticism, the government should have prepared more! Councils > don’t get enough gritters out! Our transport system should not freeze up! > Indeed we could prepare better, but it would cost a pretty penny to do it, > for a relatively mild Britain it is not considered worthwhile. A more > unpredictable climate as climate change begins to bite might however change > that. > > > http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/joepublic/2009/dec/23/road-gritting-public-services > > > http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2009/12/23/we-don-t-have-enough-snow-to-budget-for-it-91466-25453895/ > > > http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article6965674.ece > > http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-157784/Snow-chaos-costs-150m.html > > > > *China is to blame for the failure at Copenhagen.* > > There is plenty of blame to go around for the failure to reach much of an > agreement on climate change at Copenhagen. AoSIS and the G77 pushed too hard > preventing a deal between negotiators. The US would not shift their > position. Chavez and other left wing Latin American governments tried to > destroy the Copenhagen Accord. And finally China refused to budge on > anything of significance getting more inflexible as the conference went on. > So as the final spanner in the works does China have to carry the can? > > > http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/6859567/Gordon-Brown-Copenhagen-China.html > > > http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/dec/21/copenhagen-failure-us-senate-vested-interests > > http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90776/90883/6848407.html > > > > *The tories have everything to lose from a TV debate.* > > There is an agreement between the three main UK political parties to have > three TV debates between the leaders of the parties. There may be more > between ministers and their shadows as well. The liberal democrats the big > winners and the little parties the losers as they are not invited. This is a > big gamble for the conservatives. As they are in the lead they risk throwing > it away if Gordon Brown gets the better of David Cameron. On the other hand > the conservatives get a chance to show that Brown’s problems are essentially > of his own making, that while he acts like a leader on the world stage his > policies at home have not been too successful. Either way democracy is the > winner. > > > http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/election-2010/6860005/David-Cameron-will-take-on-Gordon-Brown-in-election-TV-debate.html > > > http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/the-staggers/2009/12/david-cameron-debates-brown > > > http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/matthew-norman/matthew-norman-politics-needs-bringing-to-life-and-this-might-just-do-the-trick-1848129.html > > > > *Brown has been a disaster as PM.* > > John Hutton has admitted that it was him who said that Brown would be a > disaster as Prime Minister a few years ago when the trench warfare between > the Brown and Blair camps was at its height. This, along with us nearing an > election, seems like a good time to take stock of Brown’s failures and > accomplishments as Prime Minister. Global deals to save us from the > financial crisis, more aid to developing counties, attempting to be green, > foiling terrorist attacks in London and Glasgow etc. So a disaster? > > > http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/dec/22/john-hutton-gordon-brown-disaster > > http://iaindale.blogspot.com/2009/10/gordon-browns-top-ten-dithers.html > > > http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/steve-richards/review-of-the-year-2009-brown-vs-cameron-1847866.html > > > > *Can el Sistema work in the UK?* > > El Sistema the hugely successful Venezuelan scheme for bringing young > people together through classical music. It is credited with helping to > reduce crime by giving youngsters something constructive to do. With our > obsession with ASBO’s and anti social behaviour in Britain copying the > system is something that some think might have results in Britain as well. > On the other hand the youngsters may be less enthusiastic, they are more > likely to already be exposed to music, are likely to have radio’s and > personal stereos already and Classical music is definitely uncool. > > > http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/classicalmusic/6866818/El-Sistema-when-music-cuts-crime-and-saves-lives.html > > http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4457278.stm > > > http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/tomserviceblog/2008/jun/25/thenewsthatelsistema > > > > *Money undermines sport’s values.* > > The more money a sport gains the more it seems to move away from its core > values and it seems the more likely there is to be cheats. Of course the > more money there is as a reward the greater the incentive is to cheat to get > that money. This year there have been numerous cases of cheating being > caught such as the crashing of a F1 car, fake injuries and blood in Rugby > and a new hand of god from Thierry Henry. Should sport try to limit the > rewards given for winning compared to taking part like American Football > where the less successful teams are helped out? > > > http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/6866578/2009-was-the-year-of-the-sporting-scandal.html > > http://www.squidoo.com/badbehavior > > > > *Gladstone the UK’s greatest politician.* > > Referred to within his own lifetime as the ‘Grand Old Man’ four times prime > minister totalling 13 years; introduced elementary education to England, > legalized trade unions and tried to bring about Irish home rule. A man of > grand vision and an idealist goals like promoting harmonious state system > for Europe and ethical foreign policy, attacking imperialism. Possible > competitors for the crown; William Pitt the younger, Robert Warpole, > Churchill, Thatcher, David Lloyd George... > > > http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/columnists/simonheffer/6868274/How-the-great-Mr-Gladstone-saved-our-fallen-country.html > > > http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/newsnight/michaelcrick/2009/12/the_legacy_of_gladstone.html > > I wonder if it might be an idea to have something like this as a > competition style with us each taking someone to advocate as the > greatest.... > > > > *The US political system needs reforming.* > > Gridlock in congress is pretty normal. As party lines slowly grow wider > apart and the moderate middle is squeezed out of American politics a working > Congress gets less and less likely as moderate deals can’t be done. The > other side can always filibuster things they don’t like. At the same time > those bills that do get through congress often have lots of ‘pork’ added on > top to make sure they get through, often costing the taxpayers millions, > like the famous bridge to nowhere in Alaska. Does the US political system > need reforming? > > > http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2009/dec/13/america-broken-political-system-obama > > > http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/nov/23/us-government-tax-reform-crisis > > > > *Eurostar was unfairly hammered for its problems.* > > Numerous Eurostar trains failed, including many in the tunnel itself. > Thousands of passengers were stranded unable to head home over Christmas. > Service is now returning after three days of no trains. Eurostar has been > vilified in the Press. However things have been as bad with other methods of > transport; particularly the roads and the airlines. Has Eurostar been > unfairly treated by the press? > > http://www.nationalpost.com/story.html?id=2370897 > > http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/travel/news/article6964944.ece > > > http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/simon-calder-it-is-down-to-travellers-to-lower-their-expectations-1848111.html > > > > *Season’s Greetings rather than Merry Christmas?* > > In a multi-faith Country we should not be wishing everyone a Merry > Christmas but rather we should follow the Americans in wishing Season’s > Greetings. Should we be celebrating ‘Christmas’ when most of our population > no longer practices Christianity? It is however still a tradition and while > we are no longer practicing Christians we still think of the UK as a > Christian country. Anyhow does the naming really matter, Christmas is today > as much a promotion commercialism as it is for Christianity. > > > http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23378647-brits-reject-secularising-christmas.do > > > http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/readersrespond/bal-keillorletter1223c,0,2419539.story > > http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/23/us/23tree.html > > > > Use Revisewise @ http://revisewise.debatewise.com/ > > > -- Work done with anxiety about results is far inferior to work done without such anxiety, in the calm of self-surrender. Seek refuge in the knowledge of Brahman. They who work selfishly for results are miserable. --"Bhagavad Gita."