Apple's Apps

The New York Times is running an article entitled, "A Playland for Apps in a Tablet World." The article begins, "Apple's move to open up the iPhone to outside programmers in 2008 started a software-writing frenzy. Giant companies and bedroom tinkerers alike rushed to get their applications into the App Store and onto the phone's 3.5-inch touch screen.". It continues, "Now those developers are about to get a bigger stage - or at least a bigger screen."

Questions for Discussion:

1. Imagine that you worked at Microsoft, a software developer. What would this article make you think about? Why?

2. What three questions do you think that all software, or app, developers should ask before creating a product? Why?

3. If you were asked to invent one app that would promote high quality school learning, for any grade and subject area, what would you develop? Why?

4. If you could only have one, would you prefer to have your own tablet or iphone? Why? (You could have another phone, just not a smart phone.)

Questions for Younger Children and Everybody Else:

1. If you could make a computer that could do one thing for you what would you make the computer do? Why?

2. Do you prefer using large computers/games or small hand-held devices? Why? Is it possible that you like them both for different purposes? Explain!

3. Do you think that you would have fun making computers as an adult? Why or why not?

4. Think of one game that you like to play. What one rule would you create to make the game more fun? Why do you think that this rule would make the game more fun?

A Supreme Court Decision

The New York Times is running an article entitled, "Lobbyists Get Potent Weapon in Campaign Finance Ruling." The article begins, "The Supreme Court has handed lobbyists a new weapon. A lobbyist can now tell any elected official: if you vote wrong, my company, labor union or interest group will spend unlimited sums explicitly advertising against your re-election." It continues, "'We have got a million we can spend advertising for you or against you — whichever one you want,’ a lobbyist can tell lawmakers, said Lawrence M. Noble, a lawyer at Skadden Arps in Washington and former general counsel of the Federal Election Commission."

Questions for Discussion:

1. Do you think that corporations should be allowed to spend unlimited amounts of money to support political candidates? Why or why not? Try and argue both sides of this question.

2. Imagine that you were a United States Congressman who did not want to be beholden to large corporations and lobbyists. What plan might you develop to ensure your re-election despite these powerful campaign funders?

3. Imagine that you were a board member of a powerful corporation. What three "business-smart" reasons might you have for not supporting corporate contributions to political campaigns?

4. Do you think that the Supreme Court of the United States should have the ability to overturn precedent decided by former supreme courts? Why or why not? Should this power be limited? If so, how? (Remember, in 1954 when the Supreme Court ruled that segregated schools were inherently unequal they overturned a previous decision.)

Questions for Younger Children and Everybody Else:

1. Describe a time in which you had to make a difficult decision? What did you decide? Why was this decision difficult?

2. What do you think are the most important things for a judge, or a sports referee or umpire, to keep in mind when they are doing their job? Why?

3. If you could tell people not to do one thing that many people do today, what would you tell them not to do? Why?

A 45 Million Dollar Joke

The Washington Post is running an article entitled, "NBC: Conan O'Brien Reaches $45M Exit Deal." The article reports, "Under the deal, which came seven months after O'Brien took the reins from Leno, O'Brien will get more than $33 million, NBC said. The rest will go to his staff in severance, the network said in an announcement on the 'Today' show."

Questions for Discussion:

1. Why do you think that Conan O'Brien refused to move the Tonight Show one half hour later? Do you think he made the right decision? Why or why not?

2. Do you think that Jay Leno acted unfairly when he agreed to move his show to after the local news programs? Why or why not? See if you can argue both sides of this question!

3. Mr. O'Brien reportedly has more than 200 people working for him? What kinds of jobs do you think that so many people have to do to put on a nightly comedy show? Do you think that it would be interesting to work for a comedy show as a staff member? Why or why not?

4. Imagine that you were a network executive trying to fill time slots from 10:00pm to midnight with the understanding that local news shows run from 11:00-11:30pm. What types of shows would you place in these time slots? Why? How would you balance the need to keep the cost of producing shows down while bringing in as much advertising revenue as possible?

Questions for Younger Children and Everyone Else:

1. What is your favorite television show? What do you like about this show?

2. Give an example of something that you think is fair. Give an example of something that you think is not fair. Why do you think that this is not fair?

3. Imagine that you were creating your own television show. What would it be about? Who would be the main character? Make it up!!

Massachusetts' 41st

Newspapers and news programs around the United States are reporting on Scott Brown's victory over Martha Coakley in the election to replace deceased Senator Ted Kennedy. The New York Times is running an article entitled, "G.O.P. Senate Victory Stuns Democrats." The article states, "...his election was a sharp swing of the pendulum. The Senate seat held for nearly half a century by Mr. Kennedy, the liberal lion of the Senate, will now be held for the next two years by a Republican who has said he supports waterboarding as an interrogation technique for terrorism suspects, opposes a federal cap-and-trade program to reduce carbon emissions and opposes a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants unless they leave the country."

Questions for Discussion:

1. Senator-Elect Brown has referred to his senate seat at "the people's seat". What does this mean? Do you think that Mr. Brown really believes that his new seat is the people's seat? Why or why not?

2. Mr. Brown's pick up truck has attracted national attention, since he drove around the state during the campaign in it. Why do you think that he chose to drive around the state in his pick up truck? (He probably could have afforded a driver with a more prestigious car.)

3. Imagine that you were an advisor to President Obama. How would you recommend that he respond to Mr. Brown's victory? Remember that President Obama campaigned for Mrs. Coakley this past Sunday.

4. Perhaps Senator Kennedy knows what happened last night. If Senator Kennedy could say one thing to the American people today what do you think he would say? Why?

Questions for Younger Children and Everybody Else

1. Describe a time when you worked really hard to achieve a goal and were able to achieve it. What was the goal? What did you have to do to achieve it?

2. Do you think that every time people work hard to achieve a goal they will achieve it? Why or why not?

3. What one question would you ask President Obama if you had the opportunity to chat with him one on one?

Donating by Text

The New York Times is running an article entitled "A Deluge of Donations via Text Messages." Of course, this article refers to Haiti. The article states, "The Red Cross is the biggest relief organization with a system in place to receive such donations, which are sent by cellphone to 90999 and billed at $10 each to the cellphone account. The total raised, a small portion of which will be shared with other members of the Red Cross federation, puts the organization well ahead of other relief groups in fund-raising for operations in Haiti." Red Cross spokesperson Roger Lowe said, "I need a better word than 'unprecedented' or 'amazing' to describe what's happened with the text-message program."

Questions to Consider:

1. Why do you think that so many people have responded to the crisis in Haiti by donating through text message?

2. The article explains that the Red Cross has had management problems in the past. Do you think that this organization should be trusted with contributions for Haiti during this crisis? Why or why not?

3. Ten years ago nobody had ever sent a text message. What do you think that people will be able to do with a cell phone in ten years that they cannot do today?

4. Challenge yourself to do something to help the people of Haiti. Perhaps you can donate money? Perhaps you can run a campaign to encourage others to donate, as well.

Questions for Younger Children and Everybody Else:

1. What kinds of things do people need to buy to stay alive?

2. If you had no money to buy food and were very hungry what do you think that you would do to get food? Is there anything that you could do? Explain!

3. Do you think that people who have food should share with people who don't have food, even if that means that both will be a little hungry? Why or why not?

4. What kinds of things do you think that people will be able to do with cell phones in 100 years that they cannot do with them today?

The Massachusetts' 60th

The Boston Globe is running an article entitled, "Rivals Pull Out All the Stops," about tomorrow's Massachusetts' Senate election to fill Ted Kennedy's seat. The article begins, "President Obama, putting his political capital on the line, swept into town yesterday to bolster Martha Coakley’s campaign in the final days of an extraordinarily and unexpectedly tight US Senate race, saying that a Democratic victory tomorrow is vital to moving his agenda forward."

Massachusetts has not elected a Republican senator since 1972 and Democratic candidate Martha Coakley was an early favorite. However, Republican candidate Scott Brown has made the race too close to call.

Questions to Consider:

1. If you were voting in Massachusetts would you be tempted to base your vote on the issue of the health care legislation? Why or why not?

2. President Obama's position can be significantly weakened if Mr. Brown wins the election? (Why?). Do you think that his position can be strengthened if Ms. Coakley wins the election? Why or why not?

3. People say that the President of the United States of America is the most powerful person in the world. But yesterday he was appealing to common people, voters, so that Ms. Coakley could help him implement his agenda. Can the President be the most powerful person in the world if he depends on common people to implement his agenda? Why or why not?

4. What two questions would you ask the Senate candidates about their positions if you had the opportunity to speak to them, face to face? Why these two questions?

Questions for Younger Children and Everybody Else:

1. Do you think that it is important for people to vote in elections? Why or why not?

2. Do you you think that you might enjoy giving speeches in front of a lot of people? Why or why not?

3. Why do you think that somebody would interrupt somebody else's speech by shouting out?

The Presidents Respond

The Washington Post is running an article an article entitled, "Bush, Clinton: Haiti Response Not About Politics." The article begins, "Former Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton and say the earthquake in Haiti offers a chance to put aside politics and help people in despair. Bush and Clinton appeared on five Sunday talk shows as part of their effort to lead private fundraising efforts for Haitian relief, including immediate needs and the long-term rebuilding effort. President Barack Obama asked them to lead the bipartisan effort."

Questions to Consider:

1. President Clinton explained that the disaster in Haiti reminds us of our "common humanity." What does the word humanity mean? Do people have responsibility towards fellow members of the human race? Why or why not? If people do have these kinds of responsibilities, what kinds of responsibilities do they have?

2. Imagine that there was a terrible earthquake in the mountainous regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan, where Al-Qaeda apparently keeps its headquarters. Would Western nations have a responsibility to help these people? Why or why not? What kinds of responsibilities would Western nations have towards these people?

3. Can any tangible benefit come to individuals who help those in need, in distant parts of the world? Why or why not? Can any tangible benefit come to individuals who help those in need in their own community? Why or why not?

4. According to the article, "(Rush Limbaugh) urged people not to donate and said he wouldn't trust that money donated to Haiti through the White House Web site would go to the relief efforts." Rush Limbaugh is considered a distinguished individual and leader of the Republican party, by many. What can we learn from his statement? If you were in a conversation with Mr. Limbaugh, how would you respond to him?

Questions for Younger Children and Anybody Else:

1. Is it possible for you to benefit by helping somebody else? Why or why not?

2. Can you think of any times when you should simply do what somebody else asks you to do and not question why they are asking you to do something? If so, when? Is it ever appropriate to question why somebody else is asking you to do something? Explain!

3. Do you think that you should help people who may dislike you when they need help? Why or why not?

4. Who should you help first, another person or an animal? Why?