Proposed liscence plate to honor Confederate general

Is this a case of individual rights (or states rights since it is a US article)?   How strictly should the images on license plates (number plates in British English) be regulated?  What to do if you are a country (or region) whose war heroes were on the side which is now considered unsavory?  This may have implications concerning WWII-era Slovakia (as I know it does concerning WWII-era Croatia for example...)  Also, although he was a leading member of the KKK, he repudiated the organization near the end of his life.  How much should public figures be judged by their mistakes, and how much should we believe them or give them credit if they have a change of heart?

An added benefit of using public transport

This is the last article you can comment on for the second half of February.

Here’s a less serious item in honour of Valentine’s Day: three stories about couples getting together because they were both riding the same train.  Could such things happen in Slovakia?  Are chance romantic meetings like this being slowly replaced by something more deliberate: the internet?   Do you believe in love at first sight, which at least some of these people seem to have experienced, or should you be cautious about trusting such a feeling?  Also, check out what appears to be a grammar error: “the story would have ended had they had not bumped into each other”

How happy is your country?

Bhutan, a country which some might consider to be rather poor and backward (internet and television were banned until 1999), has decided to promote an alternative to the GNP for measuring and comparing countries: Gross National Happiness.  Is this just a way to get their country to rank higher?  Can happiness really be measured?  What do you think about the prime minister’s ideas for how it should be defined?  If using this yardstick, how does Slovakia measure up?  (You may want to look at the other articles about happiness on this website, or do a bit of research on Bhutan before commenting.)

Where are the clowns? Send in the clowns!

Should the job of court jester be reinstated?  What is the role of humor in politics?  Is the jester the only one who can criticize the powerful and still be listened to?  Is it so lonely at the top that presidents and prime ministers need such confidantes?

Is college a rip-off?

Before you go, look at what you might be paying for.  Here is a report on  research findings which indicate that undergraduates in the U.S. show remarkably little improvement in their first two years of school.   What do you think some reasons for this are?  Is school really about teaching thinking skills, or are other (perhaps more important) things being learned?  Are undergraduates too lazy?  Are teachers or parents to blame?  Do you think the results would be better in other countries if they were measured in this fashion?  I know the language of this article is a bit advanced.  It may help you to look at the comments at the bottom.  Some make quite interesting points which you can also react to.

Will your new kidney get through customs?

While more and more people want to immigrate, the borders of many states are getting tighter and tighter.  Here is an example of one way in which making it tougher for immigrants to enter a country has had a negative side effect.  But will easing the way for organ donors open the doors to abuse?  Should financial aid be made available in these cases?  How can a state best limit the negative impact of illegal immigration without being uncharitable?  Since I have had personal experience of the time and red tape it takes to immigrate to Slovakia, I am also wondering how tight you think this country’s borders should be?  Should there be a difference in policy between a state founded by immigrants (like the U.S., Australia or Canada) and more historic, national states like those in Europe?

The Age of Reason in the U.S.—long gone!

According to this article, we are entering an age where irrational belief is valued and reason is not (at least in America).  What do you think about this?   Are the examples the author mentions convincing, or are they perhaps signs of more democratic (and diverse) thinking about these issues?   Why is this occurring now?  Is post-modern relativism to blame? What should be the role of reason in our lives, and what should be the role of belief?  If reason is on the decline, how can we best promote it?

Sexist sports commentators

This is the last article you can comment on for the first half of February.

The author claims that the recent sacking of British sports commentator Andy Gray is a sign that we still have a long ways to go in terms of including women in sports.  Should the world of football be more open to women?  Should the genders be allowed any boys only/girls only spheres, or should all of these be eliminated?  Is sexism on the rise, perhaps because of an objectification of women’s bodies?  Finally, in the age of modern technology, where everything can be recorded, should a commentator get fired for comments that were made when he was supposedly off the air?  (You will probably want to look up some news on the incident itself before commenting.)

Searching for Bigfoot

A long article, yes, but fairly easy to read. (And it’s from my home state.)   So what do you think is the likelihood that a large humanoid or ape-like species is alive on our planet and remains undiscovered?  Do humans have a need for such mysteries, which verifying could destroy, as the author hints in the end?   It seems that people believe in such things the world over (I also found a recent article about the Yeti in Tajikistan).  What about Slovakia?  Have you ever gone out in the woods looking for something?  Would you join an expedition like this?

Privatize! Privatize!

Here’s an article on the current government plans to privatize more publicly owned companies in Slovakia.  Since this is from the Spectator, a newspaper which often caters to an international businessperson readership, it is unsurprising (at least to me) that the article mainly quotes experts on the privatization side of this controversial issue.  What is the opposite side of this coin?  Are there certain types of services, such as transportation, utilities and health that should remain public?  Are there disadvantages to privatization?  (Some of the arguments on the opposite side that I sometimes hear is that public ownership prevents privately-owned monopolies in certain services where competition is not possible --the local bus companies mentioned in the article might fall into this category--, that it guarantees essential services, that it allows the public some democratic say in these sorts of companies since voters elect politicians who are at least indirectly in charge of them and can criticize their actions as public figures, and that it provides income and stability to the government.) What is your opinion on this issue in general, and also in the particular context of today’s Slovakia?

Near-death experiences explained

Lots to react to here.  Have you ever heard such stories from family or friends? Would you agree with the scientist’s answers to these questions?  How would you answer them?  Does this make the pro-God or pro-religion argument weaker?  What do you think the relationship should be between religion and science?  Do scientists have a harder time being religious?