Ävrising hängs tugäser April 8, 2010

Don’t worry about your English Abitur!
As long as you follow EU commissioner Oettinger’s simple rules, everything’s going to be alright:

1) vie cännot allow sät ävrivon dus äs hie plieses
2) vie are oll sitting in wan boot

and most important of all

3) ävrising hängs tugäser

If you should worry about your English, you shouldn’t miss “Telekolleg: Englisch for Oettinger”. Also worth watching is Katrin Bauerfeind und Harald Schmidt’s remarks on Oettinger English and the master himself “Englisch die Arbeitssprache”.

GOOD LUCK FOR YOUR EXAMS!

Big Brother is watching you April 2, 2010

The UK has more CCTV cameras than any country in Europe. Do these cameras really make the UK a safer place? Do only criminals have to fear the cameras? Can we trust surveillance organisations never to misuse this information? Is our personal data privacy at risk?

So again, as you can see, this is a question of science and ethics, which could be interesting for your Abitur.

Have a look at this tagesschau video blog .

GM potato “Amflora” March 2, 2010

After a fierce debate, the EU approved the cultivation of a genetically modified potato called Amflora today. Amflora was developed by Germany-based BASF.

GM Food: Monster or saviour is a nice comment (including video files) on the GM foods debate by BBC News.

The UK and Europe February 28, 2010

1 ATTITUDES
The UK & The European Union Report examines the attitudes of the UK citizens towards the European Union.
a) Read the summary (p.4) of this report. What do the UK citizens think about the EU? Make a mind map.
b) What is your attitude towards the EU? Is there a positive or rather a negative attitude towards the EU in Germany? Does it differ much from that of the UK citizens?

2 BBC TIMELINE – UK AND EUROPE
What do you know about the UK’s often stormy relationship with Europe? Find out more about it on the BBC Timeline and try to answer the following questions.
1945-1957
a) Which countries first joined the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC)? Why did the UK not join it?
1958-1968
b) Why did the UK not want to join the European Economic Community (EEC) at first?
c) Why was the UK not allowed to join the EEC when Prime Minister Harold Macmillan asked for membership?
1970-1979
d) When did the UK finally join the EEC? What concessions had to be made?
e) Did all British people and politicians support the EEC membership?
1979-1990
In preparation for the introduction of a single currency, the euro, the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) linked currencies of countries outside the Eurozone to the euro. The aim was to reduce exchange rate variability and achieve monetary stability in Europe.
f) When did the UK join the ERM? Was Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in favour of ERM membership?
g) What was Mrs Thatcher’s attitude towards political integration with Europe?
1990-1997
h) What was Conservative Prime Minister John Major’s attitude towards Europe?
i) How did Mr Major once describe the Eurosceptics in his own cabinet?
1997-2002
j) What was Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair’s stance on Europe?
3 SHOULD BRITAIN JOIN THE EURO?
Read the comments to this question of the BBC polls of 2003 and of 2009. Make a mind map containing the arguments in favour of and against joining the euro.

Tories: ‘Floodgates’ have been opened to immigrants February 28, 2010

Immigration is still a hot topic for election campaigns in the UK. The Conservative Party leader David Cameron favours a cap or a limit on immigration. For more information read this comment.

Last night, the Tories were accused of dog-whistle politics after the Conservative leader appeared on the front of flyers saying the floodgates had been opened to mass immigration. Critics say the flyers are alarmist and misleading because they imply limits could be imposed on entrants from EU countries such as Poland. For more information read this article.

GM Foods controversy February 23, 2010

At the moment, you are quite busy with the preparations for your LK-exams, so perhaps we can compromise on this:

Have a look at Sonal Panse’s nice and informative article on “The Advantages and Disadvantages of Genetically Modified Food”:
Add the advantages and the
disadvantages to your mind map of last lesson.

For further reading (not compulsory!!)
“Genetically modified foods – harmful or helpful?” by Deborah B. Whitman is an excellent article on GM foods. Yet, it’s a little long and you might find it difficult to read.

Abitur 2010 Guidelines February 22, 2010

The official guidelines for the Zentralabitur 2010 in NRW can be found here.

Airport body scanners February 21, 2010

You might have followed the raging debate over the use of airport body scanners after the failed Christmas Day attack aboard a Detroit-bound U.S. airliner. This topic could be interesting for your Abitur as it touches not only the topic “science and ethics” but also “international peacekeeping”.

Have a look at this video for some background information and read this Reuters article. Today, even the pope has entered the debate.

Embryonic stem cell research – does the end justify the means? February 10, 2010

In 2009, President Obama overturned Bush’s policy on stem cells. So by law, federal funding of human embryonic stem cell research is allowed in the US now.

This link here will guide you to a CNN video, where Obama announces that he is lifting his funding ban. If you wait a little, some other videos will be shown afterwards. You can also get directly to these other videos if you scroll down and click on the various pictures.

For next Wednesday, you are supposed to watch the following videos (use the link above):

• Obama reverses research ban: President Obama ends limits on stem cell research funding, saying it’s time to end a false choice between morals and science.
• Obama ‘behind the times’: Rep. Chris Smith says Pres. Obama’s stem cell order is “behind the times” and that better alternatives exist.
• ‘A great day for science’: Rep. Diana DeGette applauds President Obama’s decision to overturn a ban on stem cell research funding.
• Stem cell debate: Medical ethicist Arthur Caplan discusses whether human embryos should be considered life.
• How important are stem cells? Dr. Joshua Hare explains why he thinks embryonic stem cells are so important for research.

Please be aware of the fact that there is only one person being interviewed who is against embryonic stem cell research, namely Rep. Chris Smith. I doubt that this choice of interview partners is really representative of the controversy about embryonic stem cell research.

TASK:
Take down arguments, words and phrases that you can use in the discussion on Wednesday.

Rumble or Stumble in the Jungle? February 7, 2010

One of the greatest heavyweight boxers of all times is Muhammad Ali. Have a look at his energetic, unorthodox fighting style (which he described as “float like a butterfly, sting like a bee”) and his quick tongue.

Ali in the ring
Pre-match hype ‘trash talk’

Here you can see Ali joking around with the King of Pop (just for the fun of it):

Ali with Michael Jackson and the Jackson Five Part I
Ali with Michael Jackson and the Jackson Five Part II
Ali with Michael Jackson and the Jackson Five Part III

In later life, Muhammad Ali developed Parkinson’s disease. Have a look at what has become of him:
Muhammad Ali speaking about Parkinson’s disease

Michael J. Fox, who was a very popular actor in the 90ies, suffers from the same disease. He is asking for more political and financial support for (embryonic) stem cell research.
Muhammad Ali and Michael J. Fox Donation
Michael J. Fox: A few words on stem cell research

What do you think? Should more money and efforts be put into embryonic stem cell research? Does the end justify all means?

Over the next lessons, we are going to analyse the moral implications of embryonic stem cell research (i.e. therapeutic cloning) and try to lay the foundations for a well-considered stance on this issue.