[Debatewise RRT] this did not send last night :(
- From: "Alex Helling" <alex@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <debatewiserrt@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 10:55:20 -0000
Sorry, tried to send this last night and got a failed delivery notice...
predictably shortly after I left the office!
So let's try again!
Good evening,
I don't seem to have any more debates from
unlock democracy for the general election although I am still expecting that
we shall get some more. Since I don't know when this might be I am just
going to send out debates as usual today. When we get more general election
ones I will let you know.
The main news is however that we are on the verge of a big change in the
website's design. We would like some of you to go through things and see if
there are any problems with it, i.e. we would like some testers. Could you
please put any problems you encounter in the list on this google docs
http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AcCSL3k5hoJTZGQ0bjRrcDNfNDlkc21odm1mNQ
<http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AcCSL3k5hoJTZGQ0bjRrcDNfNDlkc21odm1mNQ&hl
=en> &hl=en
As part of this we will be changing things with the RRT as well. We will
from now on be using
http://debatewise.info/index.php/tasks/rapid-response-team as a task list
for what needs to be done to the site and I may even update it on days that
are not Tuesday! However as we do not yet know how well it will work we are
going to make the change over slow so I will keep sending out the
information as usual for a while yet.
A couple of things with the list:
It would be good if you did not delete a task when you take it but instead
edit the title of the task to say 'taken by X' then once you have done it
take it off, or change it to asking for points to be added or counterpoints,
references, whatever you think it needs more of.
Do not delete the whole list!
What this does mean is that you can add links to help each other, ask each
other for help and add debate ideas yourself.
Hope it works!
P.S. feel free to offer suggestions about how to use it.
Alex
Debates on site (http://debatewise.org/categories/rrt):
Will victory on healthcare for Obama make a difference in other policy
areas?
So Obama finally has his victory on healthcare. The question now is will it
make a difference anywhere else? Obama has invested most of his political
capital in fighting for healthcare reform when he might have been spending
more time and energy on the economy that has barely begun to recover or on
foreign affairs where there are many who feels the President is not giving
it the attention that it deserves. Victory in healthcare may however mean
that Obama can begin working on other areas.
http://walt.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2010/03/22/a_healthier_foreign_policy
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8580678.stm
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gUomhYW8D6kEhOUESOE_ggtPy
x9Q
If Israel continues stall over an equitable two state solution Palestine
should declare independence unilaterally.
Israel managed to humiliate Vice President Biden by announcing new
construction in East Jerusalem when Biden was trying to restart the stalled
peace process. This is however not in Israel's interest. Palestine is moving
towards stability at least in the West Bank and being able to declare itself
sovereign. This means that Israel has several choices, either it has to
begin giving concessions and work towards a two state solution, or it stands
its ground and risks Palestine unilaterally declaring independence. Or
finally it may be forced into a one state solution if it insists on hobbling
any potential Palestinian state.
http://www.jpost.com/Features/FrontLines/Article.aspx?id=171356
http://newledger.com/2010/03/obamas-israel-crisis/
http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=171559
Politicians wives should not be used for campaigning.
As politics becomes more about personality so it also seems that politicians
wives need to be ever more involved. Samantha Cameron is pregnant and this
is unlikely to hurt the conservatives at all. It also seems that all the
leaders wives are to be much more involved during the general election. Do
we really need to know more about politicians domestic lives, to know that
their partner is able to praise them to high heavens and give some
humanising touches?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/seealso/2010/03/the_leaders_wives_election_cam.ht
ml has several other links in it
Whether an animal is protected is all about politics not realities on the
ground.
Conservation of species would seem to fairly obviously about protecting
endangered members of the animal kingdom so as to reduce the chances of
extinction and keep the biodiversity of our world intact. However does
politics and the influence of certain states have more of an impact than
other considerations? Obviously the panda could not be protected if China
did not wish it. But on many areas conservation requires international
agreement that is not always forthcoming.
http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2010/03/22/the_political_difference_betw
een_elephants_and_tuna
http://www.realclearworld.com/articles/2010/03/22/japans_troubles_with_fish_
98870.html
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/artic
le7069808.ece
Debates for you to take
The USA needs to show it values its friends more and competitors less.
Obama seems to be trying out a new style of foreign policy and is coming in
for a lot of flack because of it. Commentators are accusing Obama of
coddling rivals or competitors and alienating allies. He slapped down Israel
for an untimely announcement, is in conflict with Japan over basing, and is
seen as being cool towards Europe. On the other hand Clinton ignored a
similar embarrassment from Putin, Obama has been trying to encourage
dialogue with Iran and raise China to being part of a partnership. At the
moment it does not seem to be working, but does that mean Obama's foreign
policy will be a failure?
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-03-21/we-are-less-secure
-under-obama/?cid=hp:mainpromo9
http://shadow.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2010/03/08/is_it_time_for_obama_to_sta
rt_making_friends_with_other_world_leaders
Should the Media should focus on educating us about the parties positions
rather than all the image politics?
The BBC was set up to be educational as well as cultural. Because we cannot
all read all the parties manifestos and work out what it means for us it is
essential that the media does it for us, distilling it into manageable
amounts so that we can make up our minds. The media therefore has to be
educational. However the media itself focuses more and more on image and is
less bothered about providing unbias educational reporting. Should the media
really be trying to make our minds up for us?
Hmmm not really found anything on this!
http://www.cps.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content
<http://www.cps.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=cpsarticle&id=29&It
emid=17> &view=cpsarticle&id=29&Itemid=17
Is the so-called 3D cinematic revolution merely a ploy to make us pay more
at the box office?
3D cinema has been a fad before, it has come and gone several times with it
never managing to stay for good. However things might be different this
time. Avatar made $2.5 billion worldwide, there are already at least 30
films planned for 3D and the first 3D TV sets have now gone on sale. However
critics argue that this time it will not last either, it is not a cinematic
revolution but simply an going to create a brief spike in popularity until
the novelty wears off.
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/3d-cinematic-
revolution-or-just-a-trick-of-the-light-1925400.html
http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/unfiltered-lens/the-3d-divide.php
Should Maths be an compulsory subject at school?
We have a chronic shortage of engineers as does much of the developed world.
If we are to get more we need to encourage more people to take maths.
However should maths be compulsory at all in secondary school? Many people
are not likely to use much more than basic arithmetic through their lives so
should the focus should be on getting everyone up to a good level of
arithmetic and the having maths voluntary?
http://plus.maths.org/issue12/editorial/index.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2007/nov/13/schools.uk
Is it finally time for Liverpool to sack manager Rafael Benitez?
Rafael Benitez has been under pressure for some time due to Liverpool's poor
performance this season. Sure enough Manchester United thrashed them on
Sunday. However he seems to stubbornly holding on. It is not like Liverpool
are doing really badly, just not up to standard. Benitez has managed
Liverpool for a long time and it seems harsh to consider firing him for a
poor season.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/philmcnulty/2010/03/ferguson_shows_up_benitezs_fa
l.html
http://goal.com/en/news/9/england/2010/03/15/1833602/liverpool-cant-afford-t
o-fire-rafael-benitez-due-to-a
http://www.thesportreview.com/tsr/2010/03/why-rafael-benitez-is-still-the-ri
ght-man-for-liverpool/
Are the British airways strikes justifiable?
British airways seems to be constantly racked by industrial disputes. At the
moment it is the cabin crew walking out over the company's restructuring.
Unions exist to give the workforce the ability to negotiate from a position
of relative strength with management. However in this case should we be
siding with the downtrodden cabin crew? It is obvious that BA needs the
restructuring or they will eventually go bust so costing many more jobs. The
strikers cannot justify demands for pay rises when large numbers are out of
work or have taken pay cuts.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8413529.stm
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/mar/22/strike-union-warns-ba
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