Why grass does not make a slope slippery

What do you think about the Dutch policy on marijuana use?  Is it hypocritical to make something illegal but to not enforce the law?  Or to enforce it only for tourists and not citizens?  Or to disallow advertizing for this product and not others?  Do you think the author is right when she claims that the slippery slope argument does not hold in this case?  That making marijuana more easily available does not lead users toward experimenting with harder drugs?  Would such a policy work in Slovakia?

In the face of opposition

What do you think causes racist extremism and what can be done to counter it, both around the world and in Slovakia?  Under what circumstances can people make a 180 degree turn in their opinions like this man did?  How common do you think such “conversions” are?  What keeps people trapped in their status in the eyes of others like this man’s tatoos?  Do we believe someone when he/she says that he/she has “really changed”?   Did this man deserve his second chance?

Do we need more women on the airwaves?

This is the last entry you can comment on for the first half of November.

Here is an article about how the UK radio business, and especially radio host positions, are dominated by men.  What might be the reasons for this?  How much do you think this holds true for Slovakia?  What is your relation to radio?  Do you think it is becoming a more or less important medium these days?  Are there any negative effects to be feared by the fact that it is male-dominated?  Are organizations like Sound Women an effective way to fight this?  Finally, given that Slovakia has one of the highest pay gaps between men and women, what should be done to make sure that people are paid fairly and not simply according to their gender (as they appear to be in the UK radio business)?

Facebooking in Tok Pisin

Has the reach of modern technology gone too far?  Are primitive cultures in danger of losing their integrity?  What are the benefits and negative side-effects of globalization of this type?

A crisis of character?

The writer seems to claim that recent events of social unrest, such as the riots in London, were caused by a lack of character (or individual morality).  Do you subscribe to this view, or would you look to more societal or economic causes?  Are young people less virtuous than they were in the past?  Is it time to bring the teaching of ethics and character-building back to the classrooom?  If so, what would (or should) this look like?

Biking in the snow

An article close to my heart, since I spent around two years in the Twin Cities using only a bicycle as transport in all kinds of weather.  Apparently things have gotten better for cyclists since I was there.   Could such improvements also be made in Bratislava?  Should they?  What have your biking experiences (or experiences with cyclists) been like here?  In what circumstances is it realistic to live without a car?

Slovakia in the NYT’s eyes

One possible benefit of the Euro’s crisis and possible bailout is that this small little-known country is getting a lot of coverage from world media sources.  What do you think about how the New York Times portrays us?   Is the picture that they give their readers of Slovakia accurate?  Did they emphasize something too much or forget to report something else?  What about their treatment of the crisis itself?

The power of negative thinking

Another article which has some relevance for me since there is a large Hmong population in the Twin Cities and I once taught writing to a class of mostly Hmong students. 

What is your experience of the mind-body connection?  Is it as powerful as this article claims?  If positive thinking can make you healthy, can negative thoughts/beliefs make you unhealthy or even kill you?  Do you believe in evil spirits or curses?  Or do you have any strange sleep experiences to report?

When the guilty prove innocent

This is the last entry you can comment on for the second half of October.

Everyone knows that a justice system can make mistakes, but what can be done to minimise them?  How have things changed with the advent of DNA testing?  Is the possible innocence of those who are convicted a good argument against capital punishment?  How should the government compensate those whom they incorrectly incarcerate (or execute)?

In the prejudiced eye of the beholder

How much do you think physical beauty affects your chances in life?  What should individuals do to combat their own prejudices against "ugly" people?  What should we do as a society?  Do such people deserve special legal protections like other disadvantaged groups or is this too impractical?

OK, all the boys over there and all the girls over there

Do single-sex classes encourage learning or do they just reinforce prejudice?   This article seems quite skeptical about a recent study which claims the latter.  What do you think of the studies mentioned?  Does the article treat the arguments fairly?  Is segregating students by gender similar to segregating by race?  Would you like to go to a single-sex school?  If you were a parent, would you like your children to?  Why or why not?

What’s race got to do with it?

This article is a bit long, but there are so many interesting issues to talk about here.  First of all, does this article give us more evidence to show that the concept of race is outdated?  For instance, geneticists point out that Australian aborigines (who appear black) are more closely related genetically to Europeans than they are to Africans.  Has the simple concept of categorizing people by skin color outworn its usefulness in a world where mixed race individuals are becoming more common and science is providing us a more complex genetic picture?  What do these twins tell you about the nature/nurture debate?  What can be done about racism and bullying in schools?  Finally, what do you think about racially-culturally mixed families like this one?

How much can you do with a hotpot?

This one is especially for those of you (if it indeed applies to anyone in the class) who live in a dormatory. 

As a student, is it worth spending extra time on cooking?  What can you manage to cook given limited equipment and money (and of course time)?  If student cooking is a good trend in terms of health, what can be done to encourage more students to cook (and eat) healthy meals?  For example, should cooking classes be a mandatory part of the high school curricula?

Iran is bad, but the USA is no saint either

Unfortunately, this article is no longer available at the above link.

The writer of this article seems to be claiming that the role of the media should be to criticize national policies and structures rather than those of other countries.  Do you agree?  Is this a realistic expectation?  How can citizens of democratic countries best form an unbiased view of their own country, including its faults?  Do you admire these boys for criticizing US policy after being released, or are they “biting the hand that feeds them?”

(Be sure to hit the “continue reading” button at the bottom to get the whole article.)

Give me an L, Give me an E, Give me a G, Give me an S…..

This is the last entry you can comment on for the first half of October.

What do you think about dress codes and where the limits lie for appropriate student clothing?  Are these schools hypocritical because they don’t allow cheerleaders to wear their official uniforms in the school itself since the skirts are too short?  Are cheerleading squads simply an outdated and sexist custom anyway, or would you like to see Slovak schools take up the practice?