Month: January 2011 Page 1 of 6

Here is your R&D for January 31st:

Dictatorships & Double Standards from Commentary Magazine
This may not seem like an article you could use in extemp, since it comes from 1979, but the situation in Egypt is in some ways similar to the Islamic Revolution in Iran three decades ago. This article provides an analysis of that situation and extempers may be able to use this article in their speeches to parallel the present U.S. foreign policy predicament.

What the U.S. Loses if Mubarak Goes from Time
The U.S. would lose a significant Middle East ally if Hosni Mubarak is forced from power in Egypt. The loss of Mubarak could also hinder Middle East peace efforts.

As Egypt goes offline US gets internet ‘kill switch’ bill ready from the Age
The U.S. Senate is set to take up a bill that would grant the U.S. president powers to shut down the Internet in the event of a national emergency. Critics have pointed out that Egypt’s government shut down the Internet during its latest protests and the move would hamper people’s civil rights.

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Here is your R&D for January 28th:

Egypt shuts internet, rounds up opposition leaders as protests start from the Christian Science Monitor
Egypt is now the major area of the Middle East suffering from civil unrest.  President Hosni Mubarak looks poised to crack down on the protests, as internet communications have been shut down.

Bayh predicts moderation will serve Dems well from Politico
Former Indiana Senator Evan Bayh believes that Democrats lost the House in 2010 because they veered too far left.  Bayh believes that Democrats lost sight of the economy because of their push for healthcare reform.  As a sidenote, this article is written by James Hohmann, who was the 2004 and 2005 NFL national champion in United States Extemporaneous Speaking, and who is now a writer for Politico.

Supreme Court: Emanuel on Chicago mayor ballot from the Chicago Tribune
The Illinois Supreme Court has cleared the way for Rahm Emanuel to run for Chicago mayor by overruling an Illinois Appeals Court that took him off of the ballot earlier in the week.  Emanuel is expected to win the election.

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Here is your R&D for January 27th:

Sudan and the Secession Referendum from This Day (Nigeria)
This article, courtesy of AllAfrica, breaks down the challenges that Southern Sudan will face now that it is on the path to becoming an independent country.

Berlusconi’s Worst Nightmare from Foreign Policy
This is an excellent article that can help extempers navigate the political problems facing Italy because of the sex scandal that has plagued Silvio Berlusconi’s government.

Color-coded threat system to be replaced in April from CNN
The Department of Homeland Security announced yesterday that it is going to scrap the color coded terror threat alert system in April.  The system has been the subject of jokes since it was first introduced nine years ago.

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Here is your R&D for January 26th:

Full text of the State of the Union speech
Courtesy of the Miami Herald, here is the text of President Obama’s third State of the Union address last night.

Text of Paul Ryan’s Rebuttal to the State of the Union
Since quotations from leaders can be useful in any extemporaneous speech, extempers would be wise to print out this summary of Paul Ryan’s rebuttal to President Obama’s State of the Union address last night.

The US Seeks to Protect Former Soviet Nuclear Testing Site from Der Spiegel
The United States is in the process of securing an old Soviet test site in Kazakhstan, where the Soviet Union detonated more than 500 nuclear bombs.  Reports indicate that plutonium is unprotected there and the U.S. fears terrorist groups could acquire it.

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