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Here is this week’s Extemp Central news quiz. Good luck!
To access a list of all our old quizzes, click here.
Month: September 2014 Page 2 of 3
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Today’s R&D covers Turkey’s involvement in the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Turkey’s government announced last week that it will not allow the United States to use its air base at Incirlik to attack ISIS targets in Syria and Iraq. Analysts believe that Turkey’s position is directed by a desire to protect forty-nine of its nationals that are hostages of the group as well. Intelligence sources estimate that up to 1,000 Turks have joined ISIS’s military campaigns in Syria and Iraq.
This is why Turkey is a linchpin to any anti- ISIS coalition, and why its reluctance to do more is such a problem: http://t.co/7sPrVe7P2F
— Mark Landler (@MarkLandler) September 16, 2014
Why can’t Turkey explain its foreign policy? http://t.co/3zudJf0FcA
— Al-Monitor (@AlMonitor) September 16, 2014
US wants to choke off ISIS money from oil; seeks Turkey’s help @sangernyt @juliehdavis http://t.co/xZrlwGQp2X
— Michael Tackett (@tackettdc) September 13, 2014
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The 2014-2015 season kicked off last weekend in Winston-Salem, North Carolina at the Wake Forest National Earlybird. Forty-nine extempers participated in the first national circuit competition competition of the year. In the final round, Yijia Liang of Upper Arlington High School (OH) earned a three rank victory over North Carolina native Eitan Sapiro-Gheiler of Durham Academy to claim the title. Liang, a semi-finalist at last season’s National Catholic Forensic League (NCFL) nationals, becomes the first Ohio extemper in ten years to win Wake Forest. The last Ohio competitor to do so was Whitney Willits of Perry High School in 2004. The victory makes Liang the inaugural leader of this year’s National Points Race competition. It is his first national circuit victory as well.
Nathaniel Saffran of Trinity Preparatory School (FL) came close to succeeding his brother Miles as Wake Forest champion, but he fell four ranks shy. If he had been successful it would have been the first time that a sibling duo won a national circuit tournament in back-to-back years.
Elizabeth Kingaby of Central Cabarrus High School (NC) appeared in the Wake Forest final for the second consecutive year. She placed sixth.
Three of the finalists in this year’s tournament – Saffran, Sydney Britton of American Heritage School (FL), and Ben Tobin of Lake Braddock Secondary School (VA) – were semi-finalists in last year’s competition.
Of all of the schools competing at the tournament, Durham Academy had the most breaks with three. In addition to Sapiro-Gheiler’s runner-up finish, the school placed Abhishek Kodumagulla and Connor Leech in the semi-final round.
All of the finalists earned National Points Race points. Under the new qualification guidelines of the Extemporaneous Speaking Tournament of Champions (TOC) only the finalists earned qualifying legs. Two of the finalists – Liang and Tobin – were prequalified to this year’s TOC. The extempers that earned a qualification leg are indicated in italics in the results listing.
Here are the results of the 2014 Wake Forest National Earlybird (Click here for tab sheet):
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Arguably no other country in Latin America has defined the region’s shift to the political left like Venezuela. Embarking upon a socialist revolution under former President Hugo Chavez in 1999, the country spread its left-wing policies to other nations such as Nicaragua, Peru, and Bolivia. Under Chavez, Venezuela nationalized foreign businesses, bought international allies with subsidized oil, and became a vocal critic of American foreign policy. Unfortunately, poor economic decisions laid the foundation for the country’s current economic mess. President Nicholas Maduro has thus far shown himself ill-equipped to make the hard choices necessary to rescue the economy from inflation and a heavy reliance on imports. Since the failure of the Venezuelan economy would indict the cause of Bolivarian socialism throughout Latin America, it is imperative that extempers continue to follow Venezuela’s economic difficulties.
This topic brief will provide an overview of Venezuela’s economic problems, discuss how Maduro’s government is trying to deal with them, and analyze whether these problems are bound to get worse or better in the remaining months of 2014.
Readers are also encouraged to use the links below and in the related R&D to bolster their files about this topic.
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Here is today’s premium R&D to accompany today’s premium topic brief on Venezuela’s economic problems (2014).
Venezuela is morally bankrupt, Harvard economists say: http://t.co/wGEJJc69P1 pic.twitter.com/KYT35kar1Q
— Bloomberg News (@BloombergNews) September 14, 2014
Venezuela’s Sovereign Credit Risk Measures Reflect Highest Risk of Default Globally: Sector Insights http://t.co/9rbZZRL2qJ
— Moody’s Analytics CM (@MA_CapitalMkts) September 15, 2014
Venezuela heads Argentina’s way. http://t.co/3BCW5UG2wn
— WSJ Editorial Page (@WSJopinion) September 15, 2014
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1. Should Congress authorize war on ISIS?
2. Is the decriminalization of marijuana a public health hazard?
3. What is the best way to promote the use of alternative fuel sources in the United States?
4. Should American schools crack down on grade inflation?
5. Is Georgia moving outside of the Republican orbit?
6. Why is the minority unemployment rate so high?
7. How should the NFL address domestic violence incidents?
8. Is Mary Landrieu headed for defeat this fall?
9. Does President Obama have the right policy to defeat ISIS?
10. Can larger natural gas reserves help the United States repair its relationship with Latin American nations?
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1. Should Palestinians join the ICC?
2. How democratic will the post-coup Thailand be?
3. Are Germany’s radical parties getting stronger?
4. Is the new Iraqi government inclusive enough?
5. Should the Chinese government enact new economic stimulus measures?
6. Is Sweden’s liberal attitude toward immigration backfiring?
7. Should Francois Hollande resign?
8. Will Scottish voters say “yes” to independence?
9. Why is Turkey unwilling to assist in the fight against ISIS?
10. Should Venezuela end the Petrocaribe alliance?
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Miles Saffran competed for Trinity Preparatory High School in Florida. He was the 2014 NSDA National Champion in International Extemporaneous Speaking, the 2014 FFL State Champion in Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking, and a two time qualifier to the Exhibition Round at the Montgomery Bell Academy. Miles also won several national tournaments, including Wake Forest, Yale, Bronx, Blue Key, Sunvitational, and Emory, and placing in the top three at Harvard and MBA. He will be studying at Yale University, where he will continue his debate career with the Yale Debate Association.
Miles agreed to sit down with Extemp Central to discuss his career and thoughts on the activity. Part one of this interview can be found here.
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Here is our weekly survey of news stories to round out the week of September 8th-14th, 2014.
Good luck to all of the extempers competing at the Wake Forest this weekend!
RT @weulich: How the world responded to #Obama‘s #Islamic #State speech @csheasley http://t.co/0nzDj58hR4
— CS Monitor (@csmonitor) September 11, 2014
Unlocking the Potential of Women Entrepreneurs http://t.co/dVUebd6tSd by @Isobel_Coleman
— CFR (@CFR_org) September 11, 2014
Obama’s approval slips among women, youth and Latino voters most responsible for putting him into office http://t.co/3AfxBO95Xo
— Washington Post (@washingtonpost) September 11, 2014
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Miles Saffran competed for Trinity Preparatory High School in Florida. He was the 2014 NSDA National Champion in International Extemporaneous Speaking, the 2014 FFL State Champion in Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking, and a two time qualifier to the Exhibition Round at the Montgomery Bell Academy. Miles also won several national tournaments, including Wake Forest, Yale, Bronx, Blue Key, Sunvitational, and Emory, and placing in the top three at Harvard and MBA. He will be studying at Yale University, where he will continue his debate career with the Yale Debate Association.
Miles agreed to sit down with Extemp Central to discuss his career and thoughts on the activity.
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by Dylan Adelman
Dylan Adelman competed for Lakeville South High School (MN) and was the 2014 NSDA Nationals runner-up and Final Round Champion in International Extemporaneous Speaking. He previously finished 7th and 11th place in the same category his junior and sophomore years, respectively. Dylan was also the 2014 Minnesota state champion in extemporaneous speaking, as well as the two-time state runner-up to former NSDA national champion Ashesh Rambachan (2012 and 2013). Dylan will be attending the University of Pennsylvania in the dual-degree Huntsman Program in International Studies & Business.
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Today’s R&D covers the International Criminal Court (ICC). Founded in 2002, the ICC puts individuals on trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Over 120 nations belong to the ICC, but the United States is not a member, having never ratified the Rome Statute. The ICC has been criticized in recent years by African leaders as unfairly targeting their continent, and it recently drew the ire of the international press for shelving the trial of Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta due to a lack of evidence.
Raising the Bar: The International Criminal Court Deserves Supremely Qualified Judges http://t.co/GU7t7BL9dl via @theworldpost
— Catherine Jenkins (@CathyJenkins101) September 10, 2014
Uhuru case stalls as #Bensouda runs short of evidence http://t.co/QKxV2O6VHX
— Daily Nation (@dailynation) September 6, 2014
#Palestinian leaders abandon US peace-brokering, decide to bring grievances to #International #Criminal #Court http://t.co/5QtdIaGQF9
— A_G_Moore (@A_G_Moore) September 3, 2014
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Here is this week’s Extemp Central news quiz. Good luck!
To access a list of all our old quizzes, click here.
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Today’s R&D covers the conviction of former Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell on eleven counts of public corruption. McDonnell, who was touted a few years ago as a possible running mate for Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, is the first former governor in Virginia history to be convicted of a crime. He will be sentenced in January and faces decades in prison.
Does former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell face decades in jail for the crime of engaging in politics as usual? http://t.co/STEUOxrPVG
— CS Monitor (@csmonitor) September 6, 2014
If you read only 1 story today, make it this @postroz one on the decline and fall of Bob McDonnell. http://t.co/Kbd1a8jzWC
— Chris Cillizza (@TheFix) September 7, 2014
Last year, Virginia’s ex-governor said he would be forgiven for taking gifts and loans from a businessman http://t.co/pKQ3iziNoX
— The New York Times (@nytimes) September 6, 2014
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The fast food chain Burger King made waves in the corporate world two weeks ago when it announced an agreement to merge with Tim Hortons, a Canadian doughnut and coffee chain, and relocate to Toronto. Financial analysts argued that the move – called a tax inversion – may help Burger King reduce its corporate tax burden since Canada has a lower corporate tax rate than the United States. President Obama and Democratic lawmakers criticized Burger King for joining the list of “corporate deserters,” a term applied to companies that have relocated their corporate headquarters outside of America’s borders to reduce their tax burden. Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown and leftist groups have called for a national boycott of Burger King as well. If the merger is approved by American and Canadian regulators, the new company will become the third-largest fast food chain in the world.
This topic brief will provide an overview of the Burger King-Tim Hortons merger and explain what tax inversions are, weigh the potential benefits and drawbacks of the merger for both brands, and evaluate how lawmakers might respond to Burger King’s tax inversion.
Readers are also encouraged to use the links below and in the related R&D to bolster their files about this topic.