Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Does your architect want to make you fat?


How much can the design of your kitchen influence your health?  What do you think about the advice given in this article to make your kitchen encourage healthy eating habits?  How does your kitchen compare?

Gender and Gentility


Are those who tend to criticize others simply trying to mask their own insecurities? Do people have a tendency to get more upset about a critical (and perhaps tactless) girl than they would about a boy?  Should girls be encouraged to speak up more, even when it is judged to be impolite? 


Giving everybody a sporting chance

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How can we encourage diversity in sports and make sure that national teams are made of the talented rather than the privileged?  Should state resources be devoted to equalizing chances like they are in New Zealand or China, say, for young hockey players in Slovakia?

What Swedish krona can buy in Cairo


Is graffiti art?  Should it be funded or does this ruin its anti-establishment character and make it something else entirely?  (For instance, does the spray-painted artwork done before the hockey championship around Trnavske Myto and the Zochova bus stop count as graffiti?)  Is a street where protestors were killed a particularly appropriate or particularly inappropriate place for graffiti? 

Crosses in the Crosshairs

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What does it mean to have a secular state?  Does Slovakia fit the bill?  Do you agree with this author that the standards are not always fairly applied, depending on how acceptable a particular minority is?  Do the criteria set up for taking down crosses on public land seem fair to you?

The Googlization of Reality


How much is Google influenced by prejudices and how can it in turn reinforce them?  What, if anything, can be done about this problem?


Anzacs as invaders or victims?


How much do countries have a tendency to distort the history they believe (and teach) in their favor?  Is it a citizen’s duty to seek out more reliable information about their country’s history and the real horrors of war?  Should governments apologize for mistakes of the past?  Should New Zealand apologize to Turkey for the Gallipoli invasion 100 years ago?


Our coffee doesn’t give you that bitter aftertaste of exploitation

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Should concern about fair economic practices be a consideration in what we buy?  How can a consumer be guaranteed good information?  Do you think that skepticism about fair trade certification is justified, or do third party organizations like this provide the only labels that can be trusted? Would you be willing to pay more for a cup of coffee or a bar of chocolate if you knew that farmers were getting a fair price?