Extemp Questions 30 Aug 2007

• Are centrist politics dead in the Democratic Party?
• Should the US embrace globalization?
• Should the US increase the H1-B visa quota?
• What impact will the resignation of Karl Rove have on the Presidential election in 2008?
• What will the political legacy of Karl Rove be?
• How will the resignation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales change the priorities of the US Justice Department?
• Does Congress need to overall its ethics regulations?
• Seriously now, what’s with all the “I’m not gay” conservative Republican congressmen loving the cock?
• What will Saudi Arabia’s growing leadership role in the Middle East mean for the region?
• Will Saudi Arabia continue to remain friendly to US interests in the Middle East?
• Is growing American secularism a result of Americans turning away from conservative right politics?
• How can Democrats gain support among religious voters?
• How long can China maintain its rapid industrial and manufacturing growth?
• Is outsourced manufacturing to china bad for the US economy?
• Can Americas economy continue to compete effectively against global economic forces?
• What will it take to have open religion flourish in China?
• Will Republicans in Congress use the war in Iraq to diverge from President Bush in the 2008 election?
• Will competition for global resource become a major point of tension between the US and China?

Oratory/Expos - Stories

A very nice talk from TED by Chris Abani on storytelling and the importance of stories. This would be a great topic for someone to write an oratory about. The importance of telling the stories so that we can learn from them. For Hawaii, where I live, this is importnat because the stories that are not told are lost. For a family, it's equally so, how did you come to be. Joe Galloway, a reporter in Vietnam used to tell a story about how his great-grandparents had met in a shoe store because each one of them had lost a leg in the civil war, so they would meet and buy a pair of shoes together. More recently the stories of the history of the British Empire in the Middle East could have told us a great deal about how stupid American expectations about Iraq were. The stories of our lives are our history and when we forget them, we forget ourselves. when we refuse to tell them because we think it might be painful to hear or painful to tell, we rob others of their history. Remember that the root word of history is STORY and that story should be told.

Extemp Questions 6 Aug. 2007

• Should the US raise its minimum fuel efficiency standards?
• Is the war in Iraq breaking the Army?
• Will Congress’ push to control the war in Iraq harm military readiness?
• Has the troop surge in Iraq worked?
• Is Hillary Clinton’s experience a help or a hindrance in her Presidential bid?
• Can alternative fuels reduce America’s foreign oil dependence?
• Has American intelligence gathering improved sinne Sept. 11, 2001?
• What would the outcome be for Iraq if Amerian troops are redeployed out of the country?

Rives

Rives is probably one of the most interesting poets and storytellers I've seen in some time. I saw something on HBO that had him which got me interested, but then he poppsed up on TED. 

TED, if you're not familiar with it is sort of a bunch of geniuses who have way too much free time to think up some really cool shit.

Anyway, Rives on Ted talking about 4 A.M. Probably one of the best examples of an expository ever. Highly entertaining and where else are you going to get a Polish writer in the same monolouge as Bill Clinton and Judy Dench.

Rives profile on ted.com