R&D: Congress Weighs Security Plan, North Korean Trade Falls, and What the U.S. Should Do About Sudan

Here is your R&D for January 11th:

Congress Weighs Enhanced Security Plan from the New York Times
Congress is looking into adopting a more enhanced security system for its members in the wake of the shooting of Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.  Such a system would overhaul the way town hall meetings are held.

North Korea foreign trade falls sharply from the Los Angeles Times
Extempers are aware that North Korea’s economy is in terrible shape.  The latest news paints an even bleaker economic picture as the country’s foreign trade is down 10.6% from 2008.

Moving Forward in Sudan from the Council on Foreign Relations
In this piece, John Campbell, the Council on Foreign Relations Ralph Bunche Senior Fellow for Africa Policy Studies, discusses the challenges the United States will face if Southern Sudan’s population votes for independence.

Union Loses on Teacher-Data Release from the Wall Street Journal
New York City’s teachers union’s lost a recent court battle to prevent the Department of Education from releasing performance ratings for its members in New York state court yesterday.  Presiding judge Cynthia Kern found that the union’s claim that the release of the ratings would harm teachers lacked merit.

Why Canadians will head to the polls in 2011 from the National Post
Extempers may not be getting many questions right now about our neighbor to the north, but according to Gerry Nicholls, a writer and political consultant, Canada is going to have a general election in 2011.  Find out why.