[Debatewise RRT] Re: this did not send last night :(
- From: macmarie123@xxxxxxx
- To: debatewiserrt@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 12:42:16 -0400
Hi,
I'll take: Should the Media should focus on educating us about the parties
positions rather than all the image politics?
Thanks,
Marie
-----Original Message-----
From: Alex Helling <alex@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: debatewiserrt@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 10:55
Subject: [Debatewise RRT] this did not send last night :(
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&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_ggtPyx9Q
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.html
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_between_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/article7069808.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_start_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&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_fal.html
http://goal.com/en/news/9/england/2010/03/15/1833602/liverpool-cant-afford-to-fire-rafael-benitez-due-to-a
http://www.thesportreview.com/tsr/2010/03/why-rafael-benitez-is-still-the-right-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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