Here is this week’s Extemp Central news quiz. Good luck!
1. What does the Taliban’s victory in Afghanistan mean for Europe’s security policies?
2. Should West Africa adopt a single currency?
3. What can stop Lebanon’s economic free fall?
4. Is the UN’s approach to solving Yemen’s civil war failing?
5. Do booster shot plans in wealthy nations threaten the WHO’s efforts to vaccinate the rest of the world?
6. Is China’s economic recovery losing steam?
7. Can Russia “normalize” Afghanistan?
8. Are the world’s central banks prepared to deal with inflation?
9. Will the Green Party be part of Germany’s next government?
10. How did Hakainde Hichilema win Zambia’s presidential election?
1. Should President Biden demand Lloyd Austin’s resignation?
2. Would it be constitutional for the federal government to restrict misinformation on social media platforms?
3. Should health departments relax COVID-19 quarantine guidelines for schools?
4. If the federal government were to pass a slave reparations bill, how should it work?
5. Is Marjorie Taylor Greene laying the groundwork for a presidential run?
6. Will failure in Afghanistan weaken the state of America’s foreign alliances?
7. Has the #MeToo movement been a success?
8. Should the SEC require human-capital disclosures by companies?
9. Does the U.S. need to re-evaluate its approach toward Pakistan?
10. Should Congress extend child tax credit payments beyond 2021?
Today’s R&D is brought to you by Prepd (pronounced “prepped”). Prepd is building debate technology that helps extempers and congressional debaters research, practice, and compete. Visit www.prepd.in to learn more.
This week’s R&D is on American infrastructure. The Biden administration has made upgrading American infrastructure a policy priority and worked across the aisle with Republicans on a $1 trillion package in the Senate. The House has yet to vote on the legislation, but progressives are threatening to balk unless the chamber votes on President Biden’s $3.5 trillion social infrastructure package first. Passage of either bill would be a major domestic success for President Biden, but is also showing the difficulties of moving legislation in today’s partisan climate.
What’s in the U.S. Senate’s infrastructure bill?
Here’s a comparison of the plan President Biden proposed in March and the one that passed on Tuesday. https://t.co/ZffSvPfjSK
— The New York Times (@nytimes) August 10, 2021
From @WSJopinion: As Biden’s approval rating falls, the President needs a win. But Congress isn’t poised to provide, as Democrats feud over the infrastructure bill and budget resolution, writes @BillGalston https://t.co/3tzfrOOioT
— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) August 18, 2021
The bipartisan infrastructure bill includes $65 billion for internet development – some states need more help than others. https://t.co/Tv3wdDub6O
— U.S. News & World Report (@usnews) August 17, 2021
Here is this week’s Extemp Central news quiz. Good luck!
1. What lessons should the United States learn from the War in Afghanistan?
2. Should states require teachers to get the COVID-19 vaccine?
3. What role should the United States play in stabilizing Haiti?
4. How can organized labor recover its footing?
5. Why are Joe Biden’s approval numbers slipping?
6. Should Jerome Powell be nominated for another term?
7. Has social media made American life worse?
8. Are the structures of American public education crumbling?
9. Does the Federal Reserve need to take the threat of inflation more seriously?
10. Is Andrew Cuomo’s political career over?
1. Will China be the biggest beneficiary of a Taliban victory in Afghanistan?
2. Is Hezbollah’s political position weakening?
3. Can the global economy afford more COVID lockdowns?
4. Will Haiti’s recent earthquake exacerbate the nation’s political crisis?
5. Was Zambia’s recent election fair?
6. Will plans for more stringent regulations weaken China’s economy?
7. Are jihadists becoming Africa’s biggest national security problem?
8. Will Trudeau’s snap election gambit work?
9. How can the international community more efficiently distribute COVID-19 vaccines to the developing world?
10. Should the EU offer membership to the Balkan Six?
Today’s R&D is brought to you by Prepd (pronounced “prepped”). Prepd is building debate technology that helps extempers and congressional debaters research, practice, and compete. Visit www.prepd.in to learn more.
This week’s R&D is on the war in Afghanistan. In 2001, the United States helped the Northern Alliance overthrow Afghanistan’s Taliban regime due to the Taliban harboring 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden. Now, the United States is withdrawing its forces from the country and the Taliban has captured nearly a dozen of the country’s provincial capitals. International observers question whether the Afghan government can fight on its own and worry about how a restored Taliban regime will treat the rights of women, ethnic minorities, and political dissidents.
The West may want to forget about Afghanistan, but that won’t be possible. Of the many bad options Biden faced, he chose perhaps the worst. https://t.co/9jjZaUy8Zh
— World Politics Review (@WPReview) August 12, 2021
Ideally, America would not be withdrawing its forces from Afghanistan at all. Its rush for the exit has allowed the Taliban to drop the pretence of negotiations https://t.co/vTAszVNlFi
— The Economist (@TheEconomist) August 12, 2021
The Islamist group was in power in Afghanistan until the US led invasion in 2001https://t.co/ittpBn3iSI
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) August 12, 2021
Here is this week’s Extemp Central news quiz. Good luck!
1. Will Germany remain the leader of the EU after Merkel?
2. Is the growth of the delta variant creating political headaches for Xi Jinping?
3. Where will Ebrahim Raisi take Iran’s nuclear program?
4. How can international organizations prevent their domination by authoritarian entities?
5. What are new tools that the world needs to better combat human trafficking?
6. Is Ethiopia headed for a breakup?
7. What is the biggest threat to India’s governing BJP?
8. How should the OAS respond if Nicaragua’s next presidential election is not free and fair?
9. Why have Ukraine’s military reforms failed?
10. How can the Mexican government reduce the nation’s high poverty rate?
1. Is the Biden administration doing enough to combat inflation?
2. Can the U.S. have a more liberalized border policy during the COVID-19 pandemic?
3. Are Republicans gaining momentum for the 2022 midterm elections?
4. Should the Department of Justice open a criminal probe into former President Trump’s challenges of the 2020 election result?
5. Will New York’s state legislature impeach and remove Governor Andrew Cuomo?
6. Would universal pre-K improve educational outcomes in the United States?
7. Will the Supreme Court eventually nullify the CDC’s extension of the eviction moratorium?
8. How can the U.S. stymie cooperation between China and Russia?
9. Could vaccine mandates exacerbate America’s worker shortage?
10. How can Senate Democrats win Republican support for voting rights legislation?
Today’s R&D is brought to you by Prepd (pronounced “prepped”). Prepd is building debate technology that helps extempers and congressional debaters research, practice, and compete. Visit www.prepd.in to learn more.
This week’s R&D is on the debate over school mask mandates. While some states like South Carolina and Texas have prohibited schools from setting mask requirements, others like California and New Mexico will require them. The fight has become a grassroots battle over local education policy going into the 2021-2022 school year.
One of the first in the U.S. to start a new school year, Arizona provides an early indication of how mask-wearing could play out across the country https://t.co/j7Xh8n2ZSy
— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) August 4, 2021
Read more about how students are adjusting to masks in school from @melissagomez004 at https://t.co/1alTkUmAXX
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) August 3, 2021
Arkansas is one of a handful that blocked school districts from mandating the use of masks in schools. Within days of reopening, hundreds were quarantined. https://t.co/ERPlCfabpT
— U.S. News & World Report (@usnews) August 5, 2021
Here is this week’s Extemp Central news quiz. Good luck!
The last two speech seasons have been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced the cancellation of the 2020 NCFL Grand National Tournament and made last year an online-only year for teams across the country. Hopefully this season begins the transition back to in-person competitions, but regardless of the format of this competition year Extemp Central hopes to provide resources for those doing extemporaneous speaking across the country.
In keeping with that mission, we do plan to revive the Extemp Central National Points Race as well as provide more recaps of national circuit and local competitions. As always, we appreciate our readers providing results so we can post them. Aside from following results, other past bits of Extemp Central’s content will be making a comeback as well, namely news quizzes and R&Ds. Here is the content schedule that can be expected for this season.
Mondays: HotTopics International and United States Extemp questions
Tuesdays: Recaps of local results and/or results from national circuit competitions. This may also be a time for the posting of specialty columns on upcoming tournaments and/or interview pieces.
Wednesdays: News quiz posting in short answer format (spoiler tags will hide the answers)
Thursdays: Recap of any local results and/or national news not posted on Tuesdays. This may also be a time for the posting of specialty columns on upcoming tournaments and/or interview pieces. The revived National Points Race will also feature columns on this day.
Fridays: Weekly R&D about a pertinent, newsworthy topic
Extemp Central will soon be doing interviews with NSDA national winners Pranav Pattatathunaduvil and Laurel Holley, which we will hope to have posted in the coming weeks. We will also be assembling the tournament calendar for 2021-2022 in time for the beginning of the national circuit season in September.
1. Is the U.S. headed for another COVID-19 lockdown?
2. Should state governors issue mask mandates for schools or leave the decision to local officials?
3. If Sarah Palin decides to run for the Senate, how big of a threat is she to Lisa Murkowski’s re-election hopes?
4. How much power should social media services have to remove content they believe to be “disinformation”?
5. Does a delta COVID surge constitute a major threat to President Biden’s domestic agenda?
6. Should Congress have extended the federal eviction moratorium?
7. Are Texas Democrats winning their battle against the state’s proposed voting law?
8. What is the best way to reform policing in the United States?
9. Will vaccination mandates have to come from employers instead of the federal government?
10. How can the U.S. prevent a shortage of critical semiconductors in the future?