Untying the knot

Should divorce be a right of democratic citizens? What do you think about the controversial alternative, annulment? What about separation?  If divorce is on the rise, is this a good way of discouraging it?  Should Malta preserve the divorce ban because Catholicism is an important part of their culture and history?    How big a role should religion have in politics and government anyway?  Here in Slovakia, do you think Catholicism should have more or less weight in terms of its influence on public and political life?

Nothing to hide except my fuzzy definition of privacy

A surprisingly timely article given the controversy and complications connected to the recent Slovak census.  Where do you fall on the spectrum of privacy versus security?   This author is mainly dissecting a particular argument.  How convincing is this, especially for those of you who are in debate or have a deep interest in your TOK classes?

Nostalgia for out-dated technology

Here’s one for the amateur photographers out there.  Are there significant advantages to still having a non-digital camera?  Or is this simply a case of nostalgia, and a fear of computers and their supposed impersonality/complexity/sterility?  Is the author right in comparing this to revolutions in audio technology?  Would any of you fancy going back to 78 rpm records for example?  What about other technologies, like changes in forms of transport?  Is it important to preserve the old when you move on to the new?  Are you sad to see film photography disappear?

Say cheese but don’t smile!

What do you think about this study?  Do you see any weaknesses in the methods?  How relevant are the results and what do they tell us?  Do you think the results are more due to cultural or biological factors?  Would the results be any different if the participants had been asked to base their reaction on how they view possible long-term partners?  Do the results show that Western society still has a long way to go if it wants to achieve the goal of gender equality?  If you were a participant in the study, would your answers be similar to the majority’s?  Why or why not?  (Check out the comments below the article too.  I think some are quite perceptive.)

No more bombing houses

It is said that modern warfare causes more civilian deaths than war in the past.  What can be done to limit the deaths of ordinary people during a war?  Is the accusation that the targets use human shields accurate, or is this just a way of blaming suspected terrorists for leading normal lives and engaging in normal activities like socializing, running errands and visiting their families?  Is the difference between a soldier and a terrorist merely whether they kill civilians by accident or on purpose?  Do you sympathize with Karzai’s position?  Is his announcement mainly motivated by humanitarian concerns or political ones?  Is it a good decision?

Have you voted yet, junior?

This is the last post you can comment on for June.

This writer makes the seemingly crazy argument that there should be no legal voting age whatsoever.  Should the voting age be lowered?  Should parents be able to cast votes for their children?  Is he right that the point of voting in a democracy is to defend your own interests?  Or can and should we look beyond that when going to the polls?  What are the strengths of this writer’s argument, and what does he fail to take into account?