Month: April 2015 Page 2 of 3

HotTopics: United States Extemp Questions for the Week of April 20-26, 2015

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HOTtopics1. What is the future of the American environmental movement?
2. How can Democrats win back white, working-class male voters?
3. Has Carly Fiorina become the new Sarah Palin?
4. Is it time for the Senate to hold a vote on Loretta Lynch?
5. How can Marco Rubio win the GOP presidential nomination?
6. Is Apple worth $1 trillion?
7. Should the Federal Reserve raise interest rates in June?
8. What should the U.S. do about continued unrest in Libya?
9. Are too many Republicans running for president?
10. What role should the U.S. play in helping the Iraqi government fight ISIS?

R&D from Prepd: Weekly Roundup for the Week of April 13-19, 2015

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l_2Today’s R&D is brought to you by Prepd, the only software built specifically for extemp. Prepd makes it easy to research, practice, and compete!  Visit www.prepd.in to learn more. Like Prepd on Facebook for special info and contests.

Here is our weekly survey of news stories to round out the week of April 13-19, 2015.

R&D from Prepd: Hillary Clinton in 2016

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l_2Today’s R&D is brought to you by Prepd, the only software built specifically for extemp. Prepd makes it easy to research, practice, and compete!  Visit www.prepd.in to learn more. Like Prepd on Facebook for special info and contests.

This R&D provides resources on a Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential bid.  Clinton declared that she was an official candidate via a YouTube video on Sunday, saying that she would be a champion for the interests of everyday Americans.  Clinton has spent this week in Iowa seeking to rally voters, seeking to avoid the mistakes she made in 2008 when then-Senator Barack Obama pulled off an upset and used the momentum gained there to secure the Democratic nomination.  If elected, Clinton would be the first female president in American history.

Extemp Central News Quiz for the Week of April 13-19, 2015

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Here is this week’s Extemp Central news quiz.  Good luck!quiz-01

To access a list of all our old quizzes, click here.

R&D from Prepd: Bangladeshi Politics

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l_2Today’s R&D is brought to you by Prepd, the only software built specifically for extemp. Prepd makes it easy to research, practice, and compete!  Visit www.prepd.in to learn more. Like Prepd on Facebook for special info and contests.

Today’s R&D covers Bangladeshi politics.  The country is politically divided between the governing Awami League, a secular party, and the Bangladesh National Party (BNP) that emphasizes Islamic nationalism (Bangladesh is a Muslim majority nation).  The recent execution of Mohammad Qamaruzzaman, an assistant secretary-general of the Jamaat-e-Islami party (a party that calls for Bangladesh to become an Islamic state) for crimes committed during the nine month Bangladeshi War of Liberation between 1970 and 1971, has heightened political tensions, with Jamaat-e-Islami calling for a nationwide strike.  Qamaruzzaman was convicted by a tribunal set up in 2010 by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to bring those who committed war crimes during the War of Liberation to justice.  Critics allege that the tribunals are politically motivated.

The Chicago Mayoral Election (2015)

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Chicago is the third-largest city in the United States.  Home to more than 2.7 million people, it is battling some of the same crises as other major urban centers in the country:  declining population, poorly performing public schools, high crime, and a growing pension crisis.  On April 7, Chicago voters went to the polls to participate in the first mayoral runoff since the city moved to nonpartisan mayoral elections in 1999.  The battle was framed as an internal Democratic Party struggle that pitted Mayor Rahm Emanuel, a centrist, against progressive Cook County commissioner Jesus “Chuy” Garcia.  After the votes were tallied, Emanuel won re-election by a comfortable 56-44% margin, but doing so cost millions of dollars and the fact that the election went to a runoff, especially after Emanuel’s biggest challengers dropped out of the race prior to the first round of voting, was deemed as a blow to Emanuel’s political reputation.  Emanuel must now deal with the city’s economic problems, its teachers’ union, and a city council that is growing more progressive.  His success in doing so may determine whether he is able to achieve higher national office in the future.

Since “state and local issues” are an important facet of United States Extemp at the National Speech and Debate Association (NSDA) National Tournament, this topic brief will provide a summary of the major issues in the Chicago election, explain why Emanuel was able to win, and then analyze the fiscal challenges Emanuel will face over his next term.

Readers are also encouraged to use the links below and in the related R&D to bolster their files about this topic.

R&D: The Chicago Mayoral Election (2015)

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Here is today’s premium R&D to accompany today’s premium topic brief on the Chicago mayoral election (2015).

HotTopics: United States Extemp Questions for the Week of April 13-19, 2015

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HOTtopics1. Are Millennials unfairly criticized?
2. How can America fix the nation’s child care problem?
3. What did North Charleston do right that Ferguson did wrong?
4. Should the U.S. begin using paramilitaries and other proxy forces against the nation’s enemies?
5. Are there too many guns in America?
6. How can Chicago avert bankruptcy?
7. Would U.S. interests be better served by Saudi or Iranian hegemony over the Middle East?
8. Should “gay conversion” therapy be banned?
9. Is Rand Paul the next Goldwater?
10. What lessons can Hillary Clinton draw from Rahm Emanuel’s mayoral campaign?

HotTopics: International Extemp Questions for the Week of April 13-19, 2015

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HOTtopics1. Should the UN close the Dadaab refugee camp?
2. Will the British elections produce another coalition government?
3. Is Malaysia’s sedition law politically motivated?
4. Will warmer relations with the United States solidify communist control of Cuba?
5. Is the Bank of Japan hindering Japanese economic growth?
6. Why did the MAS fare so poorly in the recent Bolivian state and local elections?
7. Which nation will benefit the most economically from the ending of international sanctions toward Iran?
8. Is Germany’s grand coalition doing political damage to the SPD?
9. Will the hanging of Muhammad Kamaruzzaman increase political tensions in Bangladesh?
10. How can the UN better respond to international crises?

R&D from Prepd: Weekly Roundup for the Week of April 6-12, 2015

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l_2Today’s R&D is brought to you by Prepd, the only software built specifically for extemp. Prepd makes it easy to research, practice, and compete!  Visit www.prepd.in to learn more. Like Prepd on Facebook for special info and contests.

Here is our weekly survey of news stories to round out the week of April 6-12, 2015.

R&D from Prepd: Saudi-Iranian Relations

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l_2Today’s R&D is brought to you by Prepd, the only software built specifically for extemp. Prepd makes it easy to research, practice, and compete!  Visit www.prepd.in to learn more. Like Prepd on Facebook for special info and contests.

This R&D provides information on Saudi-Iranian relations.  Each country views itself as the respective champion of Sunni and Shi’ite interests in the Middle East, thereby putting their interests in conflict in several Middle East hot spots including Yemen, Syria, and Iraq.  The Saudis are also wary of Iran’s nuclear program, sending some signals that they may look into creating a nuclear deterrent.  However, the Saudis have given their tentative approval to the recent Iranian nuclear deal.

Extemp Central News Quiz for the Week of April 6-12, 2015

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Here is this week’s Extemp Central news quiz.  Good luck!quiz-01

To access a list of all our old quizzes, click here.

R&D from Prepd: John Kerry

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l_2Today’s R&D is brought to you by Prepd, the only software built specifically for extemp. Prepd makes it easy to research, practice, and compete!  Visit www.prepd.in to learn more. Like Prepd on Facebook for special info and contests.

This R&D covers Secretary of State John Kerry.  Agreement on the framework of a nuclear deal with Iran has the media buzzing that Kerry might be a recipient of the next Nobel Peace Prize.  Kerry, a former senator from Massachusetts who was the Democratic nominee for president in 2004, has also been heralded as a possible 2016 candidate if Hillary Clinton opts not to run. However, Kerry has indicated that he has no appetite for running.

Nigeria’s Presidential Election (2015)

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Last week saw Nigerian voters head to the polls to decide whether President Goodluck Jonathan deserved another term in office.  Jonathan, who took office in 2010 following the death of President Umaru Yar’Adua, was reeling from accusations of economic mismanagement and an inability to squelch the Boko Haram insurgency in the Nigerian northeast.  Observers predicted a tense poll that could result in violence.  After all, the 2011 election that Jonathan won over his challenger in this year’s race, Muhammadu Buhari, ended in riots that killed 1,000 people.  However, Nigeria defied these dour predictions and more than forty million voters turned out to give Buhari a sizable margin of victory.  The election marked the first time in Nigerian history that an incumbent president was defeated and optimists hope that the country, the most populous in Africa, can become a model for others on the continent.  To do that, though, Buhari will have to find a way to permanently squelch Boko Haram and fix corruption issues that have plagued Nigeria for much of its post-colonial history.

This topic brief will provide an overview of the major issues that emerged during the Nigerian presidential election, discuss the reasons Buhari won, and then assess his prospects of making Nigeria a more prosperous nation.

Readers are also encouraged to use the links below and in the related R&D to bolster their files about this topic.

R&D: Nigeria’s Presidential Election (2015)

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Here is today’s premium R&D to accompany today’s premium topic brief on Nigeria’s presidential election (2015).

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