This news analysis by the BBC explains how drone strikes can go wrong.
http://www.bbc.com/news/32441853
Archive | Topical
Drone Strike Accident
A recent drone strike in Pakistan accidentally killed the hostages, not the terrorists. This Associate Press story explains how and why it can happen.
Who’s Minding the Sheep?
This article from The Wall Street Journal (April 7, 2015) describes how a rancher from New Zealand uses a drone to herd the animals, among other things.
Drones at Newsela Website
According to Micah G of 36K:
“In gathering potential resources for the drones debate, I saw that the NewsELA site (the site where you can scale the articles up or down for different lexile levels) has a lot of articles on drones. https://newsela.com/?needle=drones”
Drones over Paris
“Mysterious drones flew over famous landmarks in France’s capital for the second straight night, triggering bewilderment, bemusement and concern.” Read more from USA Today…
Armed Teachers Against Terrorists
Speaking of armed police, what do you think about arming teachers in places that need to protect themselves against terrorists attacks in schools? In Afghanistan, teachers are being trained to carry and use guns. This comes after 150 school children were murdered by Taliban terrorists. Read more about it in the New York times article here and let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
Armed Police in Schools?
According to a poll from Columbus, OH, “By almost a 2-to-1 ratio, Columbus City Schools voters want an armed police officer in their school.” How would that make you feel here in New York? The full story can be found in here.
Armed in Europe
This Associated Press article explains a bit about how European police are getting guns — or more powerful guns — to protect citizens against terrorism.
Israel Going Cashless to Combat Crime?
To all the “Pro” debaters in the Future Virtual Currency debate, history may be on your side! This article describes how Israel is limiting cash transactions between businesses to prevent fraud and crime.
Israel Aims to Restrict Use of Cash to Combat Money Laundering
Cheese Bus?
Recently I overheard a student refer to her school bus as a “cheese bus.” I suspect it is because the color is so similar to orange cheddar cheese. Anyway, I did some Wikipedia research and there are at least four different types of school buses:
.
For all you bus riders out there: Do any of these look familiar?
Color Theory
According to Blueline Media bus advertisers, colors should be bright and varied. What color combination would you use to advertise on a bus?
King Kong Bus?
According to CBS Outdoor Company (a part of the CBS television company), there are 13 different ways to advertise on a bus:
- Super King Size Bus
- Ultra Super Kings
- Kong Size Bus
- King Size Bus
- Queen Size Bus
- Taillight Display
- Fullback Bus Display
- L-Sides
- Headlight Displays
- Headliners
- Window Extensions
- Bus Interior Car Cards
- Brand Buses
I wonder what CBS would do for school buses?
Omnibus?
This chart from the New York City Transit Museum shows the transit timeline from the 1827 horse-drawn Omnibus to the present day. I wonder when advertising started to appear on city-owned buses? The New York City Transit Museum site has more information.
Download Chart (.pdf)
And You Got Confused with the Knut, Sickle and Galleon?
If you got delightfully confused by Harry Potter’s wizarding coins (viz., the knut, sickle, and galleon), check out the hilarity of virtual currency and cryptocoins. These sites list over four hundred Bitcoin-esque types of pretend money, which may or may not be actually trading right now.
http://wheretomine.com/ This site puts currencies in list form, with links to their own clever websites.
http://com-http.us/ This site has thumbnail images and shows everything at once.
I especially love the Grumpycoin!
Bitcoin Expo at Javits Center
image from “http://www.mediabistro.com/insidebitcoins/new-york/”
While the Inside Bitcoins Javits Center expo ended April 8, there is still a wealth (virtual wealth?!) of information on their website about virtual currency. Check out all of the sponsors in the right side of the website to see how deep the Bitcoin rabbit hole goes.
Cite the Source!
GOOD TIP!
During a debate, remember to cite the sources of facts and ensure the sources are credible. This contributes to a high score in the “Use of Arguments, Facts, and Evidence” section of the score sheet.
Final Championship Topic
The final topic of the year has been announced. It is (drum roll, please….)
“There should be advertising on school buses.”
Remember the final debates are live at 751M.
By in Announcements, Topical
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Bitcoin Explained
I just came across this Huffington Post video describing what Bitcoin is and the relationship between virtual currency and Bitcoin (as well as Amazon.com’s virtual “One” currency). The video is 22 minutes long and relatively easy to understand. There are several related resources beneath the video. (Please note that there is a 30-second commercial at the start.)
Check out the story of the currency of the island of Yap (at the 13:04 mark)
Money from the Island of Yap
Federal Reserve Note?
I came across this post on changing the way money looks, and even doing away with currency altogether (our current topic)! Scroll down to the Federal Reserve Note section for one designer’s idea. http://www.lettersociety.com/tagged/project-3
Round 3 Debate Topic
