Extemp Central

1.  Can Obama’s attacks on the health insurance industry rally support for healthcare reform?
2.  Does the spin placed on the latest unemployment figures by Democrats have validity?
3.  Why has the media ignored climategate?
4.  Will restructuring at AIG enable U.S. taxpayers to recover bailout money?
5.  What role will the Chamber of Commerce play in the 2010 midterms?
6.  Have American police forces greatly improved their relations with minority communities over the last decade?
7.  Will Eric Massa’s revelations about Rahm Emanuel significantly hurt the Obama administration?
8.  Is the U.S. headed towards a trade war with Brazil?
9.  Will the debate over immigration reform reignite the debate over a national ID card?
10.  Why did Avatar lose best picture at the Academy Awards?

For those extempers that seek a challenge here is this week’s short answer news quiz. Continue Reading

Here is the multiple choice version of this week’s Extemp Central news quiz.  I apologize that it was not posted sooner, but I had no Internet access until this evening. Continue Reading

Here is the R&D top five for March 5th:

After the Elections: Prospects for Democratic Consolidation in Iraq from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy

The Armenian Genocide:  Past Imperfect, Present Tense from the Economist

National debt to be higher than White House forecast, CBO says from the Washington Post

In Afghanistan, NATO Denounces an Ally from the Wall Street Journal

Argentina: Defiant Cristina: “this president will pay debts with central bank reserves” from MercoPress

Here are the answers for this week’s extemp news quiz.

Continue Reading

Here is your R&D top five for March 4th:

Justice Dept. probes voting machine merger as midterm elections loom and questions multiply from the Minneapolis Star Tribune

How to Read Brazil’s Stance on Iran from the Council on Foreign Relations

Bernanke to Senate:  If You Want to Fix Job Deficit, Don’t Forget Budget Deficit from the Christian Science Monitor

Chile quake reconstruction ‘to take up to four years’ from the BBC

Syria: Israel trying to frame us from the Jerusalem Post

Here is your R&D top five for March 3rd:

Perry to face showdown against White in November from the Houston Chronicle

GOP dismisses military study on gays as biased from the Miami Herald

The Pentagon’s Runaway Budget from Foreign Policy in Focus

Argentina celebrates diplomatic coup as Hillary Clinton calls for talks over Falklands from the London Times

Chalabi takes center stage in Iraq from the Asia Times

1.  Will the use of budget reconciliation to enact healthcare reform destroy the Democrats chances of retaining control of Congress in 2010?
2.  Which side should the U.S. take in the latest Falkland Islands dispute?
3.  Will Charlie Rangel lose his chairmanship of the House Ways and Means Committee?
4.  Is Jim Bunning being unfairly criticzed for blocking a vote on extending unemployment benefits?
5.  What accounts for America’s Winter Olympics performance?
6.  Can Jerry Brown save California?
7.  Should the federal government increase fuel taxes?
8.  Will the firing of teachers at Central Falls High School become a national trend?
9.  Why was Rick Perry able to defeat Kay Bailey Hutchison in the Texas GOP gubernatorial primary?
10.  Will Arlen Specter be able to defeat Pat Toomey this November?

Here is your R&D top five for March 2nd:

The Rahm bomb from the Guardian

Greek Corruption Booming, Says Transparency International from Der Spiegel

Brown in the race to get state “working again” from the San Francisco Chronicle

The Threat from Jamaat-ul Mujahideen Bangladesh from the International Crisis Group

The Weakening of Turkey’s Military from the Council on Foreign Relations

1.  What grade does the Chilean government deserve for its response to the nation’s recent earthquake?
2.  Would an EU bailout for Greece weaken investor confidence in the euro?
3.  Will Russia rebound from its Olympics flop?
4.  Why has Gordon Brown seen a bounce in the polls?
5.  Are closer ties with the EU in Ukraine’s best interest?
6.  Will Karadzic’s trial end up like Milosevic’s?
7.  Is Nigeria on the verge of a civil war?
8.  How will the declaration of two biblical tombs in the West Bank as Israeli heritage sites impact the prospects of a future Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement?
9.  Does the Marja offensive show that the Afghan military is improving its skills?
10.  Will the Iraqi elections see the reemergence of Ahmad Chalabi as a force in Iraqi politics?