Extempers usually cut newspapers and magazines for their files. However, there are some critical resources that could help you in a round or help you find the answers to some of the most pressing issues facing the world today. Extemp Central has assembled a list of five sources that you should consider cutting for your file box.
Tag: extemp filing
Here are your top 5 news stories/reports for November 6th:
Top Palestinian Rules Out Race for Re-election from The New York Times
Army post shooting rampage leaves 13 dead, 30 hurt from The Seattle Times
Zimbabwe: Tsvangirai Ends Boycott from The Herald of Zimbabwe courtesy of AllAfrica
Health Bill Garners Endorsements from The Wall Street Journal
Why Oil Majors Are Coming Back to Iraq from Der Spiegel
Extemp Central on Twitter
by Corey Alderdice
If you haven’t heard, Twitter is kind of a big deal. With an estimated 18 million active users by the end of the 2009, it seems safe to say that the Tweet Machine is no passing fad.
Last week, Twitter began rolling out the wide release of its new Lists function. The Twitter Blog describes the feature in short:
The idea is to allow people to curate lists of Twitter accounts. For example, you could create a list of the funniest Twitter accounts of all time, athletes, local businesses, friends, or any compilation that makes sense.
Lists are public by default (but can be made private) and the lists you’ve created are linked from your profile. Other Twitter users can then subscribe to your lists. This means lists have the potential to be an important new discovery mechanism for great tweets and accounts.
Your friends at Extemp Central have encouraged you to both become our Fan on Facebook and follow our tweets. The lists capability provides an even better reason to join us on Twitter: keeping up on news and cultivating your files. Currently, Extemp Central is following nearly 70 magazines, websites, policy journals, think tanks and institutions to help you better understand the news of the world each day. The lists are subdivided in specific areas to better address your needs:
We really, really want your help in making this an outstanding utility for extempers. Have a look at the sources Extemp Central is currently following. From there, send us an email or leave a comment on this post on any additional websites, individuals, publications or organizations that would be useful to add to the list. You are even welcome to suggest any additional lists that we should create or follow from other users.
If you are new to Twitter or just thinking about joining (which you should!), Mashable (@mashable) has an excellent online guide to using Twitter.
Here are your top five news stories & reports for November 5th:
Venezuela: Accelerating the Bolivarian Revolution by International Crisis Group
End of Communism Cheered But Now With More Reservations by Pew Research Center
The EU’s next step after the Lisbon treaty: Choose a president by the Christian Science Monitor
Gay Rights Rebuke May Change Approach from the New York Times
India on brink of Maoist offensive from the Asia Times
Here are your top five news stories/reports for November 4th:
Shades of Red: China’s Debate over North Korea from International Crisis Group
Note: This links to the summary page of this report, but it is highly recommended that extempers click on the .pdf link above the summary and download the full report. International Crisis group does an excellent job with these reports and they can greatly help you understand the history behind conflicts, what caused them, and provide solutions for what should be done.
Contests serve as warning to Democrats: It’s not 2008 anymore from The Washington Post
White House Tally Appears to Overstate Stimulus Jobs by The Wall Street Journal
Karzai’s Moment of Opportunity from The Council on Foreign Relations (Interview with Zalmay Khalizad)
Grassroots Tories’ fury at David Cameron over Lisbon Referendum from the Daily Telegraph (UK)
Here are your top five news stories/reports for November 3rd:
Growing Concern Over Iraqi Election Impasse from The Christian Science Monitor
Conservatives Emboldened by Moves in NY Election from The Los Angeles Times
The Real Winner in Honduras: the United States? from Upside Down World
Democrats Concerns Over Abortion May Imperil Health Bill from The Washington Post
Germany’s New Cabinet on Turkey’s EU Accession: Implications for U.S. Policy from The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
Research & Development (R&D) is a new feature to Extemp Central. Each weekday Extemp Central will post headlines of news stories around the world you will want to read and print for your files. It is hoped that extempers will find these links helpful in their weekly research.
North Korea warns US: negotiate or else from Christian Science Monitor (Global News Blog)
If Fox Is Partisan, It Is Not Alone from the New York Times
The Tragedy of Palestinian Divisions from the Council on Foreign Relations (Interview)
Russia ‘simulates’ nuclear attack on Poland from the UK Telegraph
Monthly Crisis Report for November from International Crisis Group
Many extempers become slaves to their tubs, rather than letting the files serve them.
The file boxes perennially transported by extemporaneous speakers to tournaments across the country perform a variety of functions. The most important, obviously, is the assistance they provide to the competitor’s memory: facts, figures, dates, locations, and other very precise pieces of information are quickly accessible in an organized system, such that no precious prep time need be wasted in their retrieval. Furthermore, most extempers either modify an inherited set of tubs or design their own, which teaches them to organize foreign and domestic issues in meaningful categories. All the countries in sub-Saharan Africa, for instance, would be grouped together, as would intertwined economic issues back home. I might also add in jest that traversing the country with such ponderous luggage as extemp tubs teaches patience and improves physical stamina, while providing a constant reminder of how technologically antiquated the NFL’s procedures are. But there is another role which extemp files frequently play that they certainly should not, and the purpose of this article is to warn of the dangers of relating to the tubs in this manner.
Do not the files often assume a kind of idolatrous affection in the minds of those who maintain them? Do not many extempers, usually of at least intermediate skill, lavish a sort of narcissistic attention on their tubs, taking care to highlight in a favorite color, to ensure that each folder contains a certain number of articles, or to resolve to file for a certain number of hours each day? Granted, such habits may be the honest manifestations of the quest for excellence: order, method, clarity, and daily attention to the headlines are essential; and a committed extemper is by all means entitled to customize the portable library on which he perpetually relies. But extempers, as a whole, devote too much time and attention to the files, striving to meet some self-imposed standard of aesthetic perfection as librarians rather than remaining focused on winning tournaments as public speakers.