It's probably a little fortuitous that I didn't answer any questions from last week because this week's questions are absolutely abysmal. Some of the US questions are out of left field, the international questions are somewhat interesting, but incredibly difficult to tackle if you don't know anything about what's going on. Which I don't, so I should start using the free printer at work to print out articles. My parents won't like that idea, but I assure, the office is cool with it.
This Week's Possible Questions
I actually left all 20 here to show the weirdness I'm refusing to work with here. I'm probably not going to pick any for this blog, but I might do one or two for the Amnesty International St. Louis blog. Therefore, I don't think it's worth it to spend any time narrowing the list down. Since I'm working on getting that file cabinet, I think I'll spend more time doing research and preparing myself to do this weekly (or more often). I have yet to make good on my word. I'll probably stick with the questions I wanted to answer last week. The nice thing about these questions is that, for the most part, they are relevant past their initial week.
- If not Hillary, then who? (I'm presuming for presidential nominee in 2016, but the question is phrased rather vaguely.)
- Will attempts to unionize America’s fast food industry succeed?
- Has Obamacare’s implementation been a disaster?
- Will leaks about NSA surveillance activities lead to significant revisions of government anti-terrorism powers?
- How should the U.S. respond to allegations of chemical weapons use in Syria?
- Is America’s housing market on the road to recovery?
- Will the Playstation 4 have a more successful release than the XBox One? (I mean, really? What does this have to do with domestic policy? Does anyone care besides gamers and industry analysts?)
- How can Steve Lonegan defeat Cory Booker? (Too localized for my tastes.)
- Will Texas’s redistricting plan pass constitutional muster?
- Does Chelsea Manning have a constitutional right to hormone therapy while in military custody? (No, because the Constitution doesn't say anything about this. Not sure what to say or argue here. I don't think there's much on the issue from this angle).
- What should the Russian government do in light of new reports of chemical weapons usage in Syria?
- Will the release of Hosni Mubarak make Egypt’s interim government extremely unpopular?
- What can missile defense planners learn from Israel’s Iron Dome?
- How can the UN’s MONUSCO mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo improve its effectiveness?
- Will recent revelations about radiation at the Fukushima nuclear plant doom attempts at reviving nuclear power in Japan?
- Do European governments need to take stronger actions against neo-Nazi movements?
- Why is economic growth in India slowing down? (My initial gut instinct says that it's either one or two big reasons, or many little reasons. The latter would make this question hard to answer.)
- Should Ukraine sign a customs agreement with the European Union or Russia?
- How should the Brazilian government deal with rising illegal immigration?
- Would consolidation improve European banking? (Consolidation of what? Would research tell me?)