“Nigel Marsh: How to make work-life balance work” (10:02)

http://www.ted.com/talks/nigel_marsh_how_to_make_work_life_balance_work.html

rubbish: (noun) trash, nonsense, garbage

incompatible: (adjective) not fitting with, not matching or working well with

messed around: (phrase) played around, hung out

commercial: (adjective) related to business for profit

enlightened: (adjective/verb) having or showing a rational, modern, and well-informed outlook.

1.    What did this speaker decide to do at around 40? What adjective does he use to describe modern working people?

2.    Why does he think thousands and thousands people live lives of “quiet screaming desperation”? BONUS: fill in the blank “They work long hard hours at jobs they ____, to buy things they don’t _____, to impress people they don’t ______.”

3.    Why does he say we must “design our lives”? Who does he say will design it for us if we do not?

4.    Were you surprised by the speaker’s ideal schedule? (lets just skip over the awkward activity he brings up several times) Do you think it would be possible in South Korea to have such a schedule? BONUS: How many hours of work did he allow time for? Does he think this ideal schedule it realistic?

5.    Do people in Korea also think ‘I’ll have a life when I retire”? Why does the speaker think this a mistake?

6.    Is family very important to the speaker? Can you share the story he tells about his son? Does he think the small, everyday things are important in family and in life?

7.    How does the speaker define a “life well lived” or 'success'?

8.    What practical advice does the speaker give?

9.    How does this speech apply to your life? On average, how many hours do you spend at work each day? Each week?

“Andras Forgacs: Leather and meat without killing animals” (9:03)

http://www.ted.com/talks/andras_forgacs_leather_and_meat_without_killing_animals.html

synthetic (adjective) man-made, artificial

artificial (adjective) man-made, an imitation of life

culturing (in biology/food preparation): the growing of micro-organisms, tissue cells, or other living matter in a specially prepared nutrient medium (example: foods like cheese, yogurt, kombucha and more are cultured)

1.    What type of company did the speaker start with his father?

2.    What questions came up when people observed the type of work they’redoing?

3.    Many people say his project is crazy, Andras Forgacs doesn’t agree. What does the speaker want to say IS crazy?

4.    Can you name one body part that has been successfully replicated and transplanted by scientists and doctors?

5.    BONUS: Why does the speaker think synthetic leather would be a good first step in his overall plan?

6.    In what ways does he argue synthetic or artificial leather could do more or be superior to natural leather?

7.    What's your opinion? Would you eat these products? Wear them? Why or why not? Does this raise any moral issues? 

NEW! 

For one person's opinion on genetically altered food (a different but related type of food manipulation take a look at this article.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/03/opinion/schubert-gmo-labeling/index.html?iref=storysearch

-------------January 20th-25th------------

“Marcel Dicke: Why not eat insects?” (16:35)

http://www.ted.com/talks/marcel_dicke_why_not_eat_insects.html

vital: (adjective) very important, important for maintaining life.

gourmet: (adjective) fancy, high quality food

intentionally: (adjective) done with purpose, will, or intention

1.    What are insects?

2.    Are there more insects or people living on earth?

3.    Do insects help contribute to the environment, economy, and overall health of a country?

4.    Is eating insects common in developed countries? Specifically, is insect-eating common in South Korea?

5.    Where do they intentionally eat insects in their meals?

6.    Does everyone eat insects, whether they want to or not? Why?

7.    In what foods might we find insects?

8.    What is protein? Do insects supply protein?

9.    How does this make you feel? Are you comfortable with the idea of consuming insects? Why or why not?

10. Why does he believe that eating insects will be vital in the future?

11. BONUS: Why can eating normal or traditional proteins be more dangerous in terms of disease (such as swine flu).

12. Is raising insects for meat more or less efficient than raising cows?

13. Do insects provide a high-quality protein?

"Sandra Aamodt: Why dieting doesn't usually work" (12:42)

http://www.ted.com/talks/sandra_aamodt_why_dieting_doesn_t_usually_work.html

set-point: (noun) weight that is normal for a person’s body (usually a 20 pound range)

hypothalamus: (noun) the part of the brain that controls temperature, hunger and other

mental: (adjective) of or relating to the mind/brain

intuitive: (adjective) thoughtful, clever (intuitive eaters are people who eat when they feel hungry but don’t think about food or dieting very much)

habit: (noun) behavior, way of doing things

1.    BONUS: What does the speaker say were her New Years resolutions? Are these usual or unusual resolutions? What was the result?

2.    When did Sandra Aamodt (the speaker) begin dieting?

3.    How do people feel when they diet, lose weight, and then get the weight back?

4.    What organ (body part) is hunger and energy-use controlled by?

5.    What is a set-point?

6.    How does the brain respond to weight loss? What does your brain do when you lose weight quickly?

7.    What does this tell us about dieting? Does this make dieting seem less or more useful?

8.    BONUS: Can set-points change? Can they go up? Can they go down?

9.    BONUS: What happens if you stay at a high weight (extra fat, more weight than your TRUE set-point) for years?

10. BONUS: What is the difference between controlled and intuitive eaters? Who is more likely to lose weight? Who is more likely to gain weight? Who is more likely to diet?

11. Are women who diet in their teens more or less likely to become fat later in life?

12.  Can healthy habits (eating good, healthy food or exercising) help more than dieting?

13. What mental habit does she say helps a person be happier and maintain a healthy weight?

14.  How does she say dieting can ruin lives?

15. Opinion Question: What is your experience with dieting? Does it make you agree or disagree with the speaker? Do you think children should diet? Why or why not?

-------------January: first two weeks of the month------------

Paul Piff: Does money make you mean? (16:35)

http://www.ted.com/talks/paul_piff_does_money_make_you_mean.html

Rigged game: (noun) a game that is made to be unfair, giving more benefits to one or more players

Demonstrative: (adjective) tending to show feelings or share ideas openly

Privileged: (adjective) enjoying advantages not open to the majority of people

Pedestrian: (noun) a person walking in the street

Innate: (adjective) Possessed at birth; inborn

Categorical (adjective) being without exception or qualification, absolute, unqualified; positive; unconditional

1.     The speaker uses an experiment with a ‘rigged game.’ What is a rigged game? How was the game rigged?

2.     How did the rich players begin to behave differently than the poorer characters?

3.     How do the richer players feel when they win or achieve success? Do they recognize that their advantage was because of the experiment? Or, do they often feel their success was earned?

4.     Describe the next experiment (the one concerned with helping strangers).

5.     Who would give more generously to the strangers in the experiment?

6.     Were the more wealthy people more likely to cheat in the experiment with the difficult game?

7.     What did the experimenters observe when they told rich and poor test subjects not to eat the candy in the room because it was for children only? Did anyone eat it? Were those who ate it more likely to be rich or poor?

8.     Describe the experiment with drivers and pedestrians. Which economic group was more likely to stop for the pedestrian? Which economic group was less likely to stop and more likely to break the law?

9.     What is ‘wealth inequality’? Is there a lot of wealth inequality in the United States? What about in Korea? Can you think of example of a country where wealth inequality is worse than the United States or Korea?

10. Does society as a whole perform better or worse as wealth inequality becomes greater?

11. How can we change this trend towards wealth inequality and/or self-interest?

12. How did watching a video about people in need and the benefits of cooperation change the way wealthy test subjects behaved?

13. Does the speaker have hope for the future? Does he think we can reverse economic inequity? How?

14. Opinion Question: What are your thoughts on this TED talk? Do you have any personal examples that relate to it?

“New Laws for a New Year”

http://nation.time.com/2013/12/31/new-laws-for-a-new-year/

1.     What are some of the most notable legislative changes that will take affect in the U.S.A. in 2014?

2.     What is a ‘minimum wage’? Which state will soon offer the highest minimum wage? Is there a minimum wage in Korea? If so, what is it?

3.     What is ‘gender identity’ and what type of law did California pass this year on the topic?

4.     Were there any legislative changes that surprised you? If so, what were they?

5.     Would you like any of these legislative changes to occur in South Korea? Why or why not?

-------------December------------

Paul Kemp Robertson: Meet the future of branded currency

http://www.ted.com/talks/paul_kemp_robertson_bitcoin_sweat_tide_meet_the_future_of_branded_currency.html

bitcoin: a virtual or synthetic currency connected to mathematical algorithms.

branded currency: a currency or money linked to a brand or private business such as Bitcoin or Starbucks ‘starpoints’

consumers: People who buy products using currency

outmoded: outdated, old and no longer useful

1.     What does the speaker say  “Tide” and “Bitcoin” are in our “hyper-connected, data-driven global economy”?

2.     What is the world’s best performing currency?

3.     BONUS: What is a bitcoin? Around when was it invented? How does it work basically?

4.     How does the use of bitcoins or other branded currencies imply a new trust in technology?

5.     According to the speaker, do modern people have a lot of trust in banks?

6.     Is there a reason for governments to continue being responsible for currency? Or, do you think that branded management of currency like bitcoins or starbucks ‘starpoints’ or ‘Amazon coins’ may be the future of currency?

7.     BONUS: How is ‘Tide” being used by drug users/consumers across the world?

8.     BONUS: Can you describe Nike’s new point system?

9.     What does the speaker say is true about 45% of younger adults (25-34 years of age) in the US? Would they trust currency like bitcoin? Do you think branded currency could also become popular in Korea? Can you think of any examples?

10. Do you think this branded currency trend will continue and/or spread all over the world? Why or why not?

11. OPINION QUESTION: Would you use or purchase bitcoins or other branded currencies? Why or why not?

Paul Zak: Trust, morality -- and oxytocin? (16:24)

http://www.ted.com/talks/paul_zak_trust_morality_and_oxytocin.html?quote=1149

1.     What is the main idea of the TED talk?

2.     Does Zak believe that morality may be related to biology? How so?

3.     BONUS: What is the purpose or function of oxytocin in the body?

4.     What are some natural ways we can raise oxytocin levels in our bodies?

5.     What does a rush of oxytocin cause a person to feel?

6.     Can oxytocin release be manipulated or ‘taken advantage of’ by untrustworthy people like ‘con men’? How?

7.     What is true about 5% of people in terms of oxytocin? BONUS: what does he call these people? Could they be somehow related to psychopaths? Why?

8.     How does testosterone sometimes cause people to behave?

9.     What hormone/chemical reaction does a wedding cause in the people involved? Is this hormone change equal for all participants?

10. Does oxytocin release happen among people of all cultures and socio-economic levels?

11. BONUS: What is the speaker’s favorite source of oxytocin release and what does he recommend for health? What is the alternative?

Mohamed Ali: The link between unemployment and terrorism (9:02)

http://www.ted.com/talks/mohamed_ali_the_link_between_unemployment_and_terrorism.html

Vocabulary:

Urbanization: (noun) the process of a society or area becoming more city-oriented, the growth of cities in terms of population and/or size

Terrorism: (noun) the systematic use of violence (terror) as a means of coercion for political purposes

Unemployment: (noun) the state of being unemployed (without a job)

Entrepreneurship: (noun) the state, quality, or condition of being an entrepreneur (self-employed business person)

1.     Can you briefly describe the story that Mohamed shares at the beginning?

2.     Who gave the young boy in the story a chance to eat and build a life in the capital city?

3.     How does the speaker link unemployment, urbanization, and terrorism?

4.     What does Ali think the consequences will be for future cities (Cities .0) if young people who live or move there are not provided with opportunities for work?  BONUS: are urban populations becoming increasingly youthful?

5.     Why might young and unemployed people be attractive candidates for terrorist group?

6.     How does Ali believe “creating a culture of entrepreneurship” can provide a solution for the problem he describes? How does he believe this “culture of entrepreneurship” could change places like Mogadishu in physical, economic, and social ways?

7.     BONUS: What else does Ali feel is needed to help young people turn toward entrepreneurship and away from gangs or terrorist organizations?

Themes: unemployment, urbanization, terrorism, entrepreneurship, destruction vs. creation

Noel Bairey Merz: The single biggest health threat women face (15:59)

http://www.ted.com/talks/noel_bairey_merz_the_single_biggest_health_threat_women_face.html

1.     What does the speaker say will happen to 1 out of 3 women?

2.     Describe cardio-vascular disease.

3.     What is the leading killer of women?

4.     What is true about heart disease? Who does it kill the most today? How about 30 years ago?

5.     What does she say people have thought about heart disease in the past, how is this political?

6.     What is a problem with the treatments designed for heart disease?  How is this a political and/or gender related issue?

7.     Is heart disease a bigger problem than Breast cancer for women?

8.     What did Healy start? What did it inform women about?

9.     What did Healy study academically?

10. What is the difference between female pattern ‘micro-vascular’ heart disease and male pattern or ‘obstructive’  heart disease?

11. Who receives more treatment for heart disease? Men or women? What type is often treated? What is missed?

12. Why is it difficult to diagnose women with early heart problems?

13. How is normal body fat positioned on men? Women?

14. What is difference about the “fatty plaque” that can cause heart disease?

15. What is good about MRI, why is this especially important for women?

16. Why is stem cell research relevant to this topic?

17. What does she say about female stem cells? How do they appear different? How do they behave differently?

18. Is the research helping? How many women are dying for every one man that dies of cardiovascular disease?

-------------November 25-November 27---------------- 

Sorry these are going up a little late, I hope you have time to take a look at one before our class! 

Francis Collins: We need better drugs now (14:40)

http://www.ted.com/talks/francis_collins_we_need_better_drugs_now.html

1.     What does Francis Collins ask the audience? Why does he ask about this?

2.     Describe the chart showing life expectancy in the U.S.

3.     What is the average life expectancy of a child born today?

4.     Have we discovered a lot about diseases and their genetic coding? About how many diseases do we understand the molecular basis of?

5.     About how many of these diseases do we have treatments for?

6.     What does he say we must do?

7.     According to Collins, what is a drug?

8.     What drug case study does he discuss? What was interesting about the picture used to represent and advertise the drug?

9.     How expensive is it to have your genome mapped today?

10. Describe the illness he introduces next.

11. BONUS: Describe the appearance of a progeria cell compared with a normal cell?

12. What happens to a separated progeria cell when you add a special protein?

13.  Describe Francis’ visitor, how old is he, is he intelligent and well-spoken?

14. What was the progeria treatment made from?

15. Are there other treatments that were designed for one illness but used to treat another?

16. How do we test drugs currently? How does he think we should test drugs?

17. What do we need to begin creating these new medicines?

Amy Cuddy: Your body language shapes who you are (21:03)

http://www.ted.com/talks/amy_cuddy_your_body_language_shapes_who_you_are.html

1.     What does Amy Cuddy ask the audience to do at the beginning of the speech?

2.     What does she think we are fascinated by?

3.     What is communication mostly about?

4.     What kind of decisions does Cuddy say body language can influence?

5.     In what professions can facial expression be most important?

6.     How does she say emoticons can be used in business interactions?

7.     What do we forget about our body language?

8.     What are ‘non-verbal expressions of power and dominance’? How do we display these?

9.     How do we look when we feel powerless?

10. What do people usually do in social interactions?

11. How does Cuddy say body language type relates to gender? What feeling does she say this reflects in women?

12. What is she interested in experimenting with?

13. What is her main question?

14. What do the minds of powerful people ‘look like’ physiologically?

15. What is the dominance hormone?

16.  What is the stress hormone?

17. What do we desire in leaders with hormone balance?

18. What did they ask people in the experiment to do?

19. What do they ask them to do?

20. Who likes to gamble more?

21. What happens after 2 minutes of low and high power poses in the body’s hormone levels?

22.  What do nonverbals control?

23. Does she think these poses can actually change your life? What real life situation does she choose to focus on?

24. What does she advise to prepare for this situation?

25. What does she say to those who say this method is being ‘fake’?

26. What personal experience does she describe? What did her advisor tell her to do? Did she pass this advice on?

-------------Week of October 28th-October 31st------------------

 TED talks

"Shabana Basij-Rasikh: Dare to educate Afghan girls" (9:37)

http://www.ted.com/talks/shabana_basij_rasikh_dare_to_educate_afghan_girls.html?quote=2037

1. What does the speaker say she heard when she was 11?

2. Who are the Taliban?

3. Why was the speaker’s father so happy?

4. What country was Shabana raised in?

5. Describe the process of getting to school for Shabana and her sister.

6. What were they ‘risking’ by attending this school?

7. How was she lucky?

8. What does her mother do professionally, what has she started in their home?

9. What was her father’s opinion about educating his daughters?

10. What did her father say would always be a part of her?

11. What was he willing to do to pay her school fees?

12. How old is the speaker? BONUS: Where (in what country) did she attend university?

13. What does her father ‘brag’ or say proud things about?

14. What is Shabana’s current project or work?

15. Describe the story of Ahmed, what did the voice on the phone say? BONUS: How did he reply?

16. Why is it so important to have the support of men in Afganistan?

17. How many girls does she say are in school now? How about the past?

18. What are people in Afghanistan worried may happen when the US military leaves the area?

19. Why is Shabana hopeful that this progress will continue even if the US soldiers leave?

"Aimee Mullins: My 12 pairs of legs" (10:02)

(focuses on replacement limbs (legs or arms), their design, and possible capabilities)

http://www.ted.com/talks/aimee_mullins_prosthetic_aesthetics.html 

1. What does Mullins say children must learn to be uncomfortable with?

2. What does she say is now possible for people who are disabled with the new prosthetic technologies?

3. What has she spent her professional life working on?

4. What was her first prosthetic design modeled on or made to look like?

5. What conversation about disability has she become very interested in?

6. Describe the carved wooden legs.

7. What does she say about poetry of shape, how does she say this is important in prosthetics?

8. What does Mullins says her legs can be thought of as?

9. How many pairs of prosthetics does she have?

10. How tall is she in her current pair of legs?

11. How does she say the conversation about prosthetics is changing?

12. What does she say about beauty in general at the end?

-------------Weeks of October 7-October 25th--------------

TED talks

note: video time lengths are written in (minutes:seconds) parentheses

"Dan Ariely: What makes us feel good about our work?" (20:26)

http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_ariely_what_makes_us_feel_good_about_our_work.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5aH2Ppjpcho

1.     What does Dan Ariely say most people think about why people work?

2.     Why does he use the example of mountaineering to describe labor and happiness?

3.     Describe Ariely’s student's example, why/when did he feel depressed?

4.     What is the ‘meaningful’ condition?

5.     Describe the story of Sysiphus.

6.     Did destroying the bionicles effect the test subject? Describe the 'Meaningful condition' vs. 'Sysiphus condition' and their effect on production.

7.     Do people think that finding work meaningful is as important as it truly is?

8.     Does a person’s personal enjoyment of a task effect production? Did lovers of bionicle make more in both conditions?

9.     What did the business people he spoke with want from their CEO?

10. Were the results similar with the writing experiment?

11. What are the three conditions in the writing experiment?

12. Do people like to be acknowledged? What if the work is shredded?

13. What does he say is important about the “shredded condition”

14. Do people also react badly to work being ignored? Is it nearly as bad as destroying the work?

15. What is the power of the simple “Uh-huh” in the acknowledged condition

16. What does he say about IKEA furniture and why he likes it?

17. Describe the complete cake mix example he uses. 

18. How did the cake mix company solve the problem? What does this show about labor? 

19. Do people value their own work or creativity more than other people’s work or creativity

20. When given directions do people value their work more or less? Does labor time and effort effect how much we value a project?

21. Where does the value of a child come from? Not just who they are, but all the effort you have put in them makes their value

22. Why does he say breaking things down into simple steps increases production but may decrease meaning?

23. Is efficiency more important or is meaning more important in modern society?

24. What does he think about motivation equalling payment, what does he think we should add?  

OR

“William Li: Can we eat to starve cancer?” (20:01) 

http://www.ted.com/talks/william_li.html

1. What is William Li interested in studying?

2. What is angiogenesis?

3. What is true about our blood vessel system? Is it both long and complex?

4. What are some amazing abilities of blood vessels (minute 1:20)

5. Do blood vessels grow in adults? If so, in what cases do they grow or re-grow?

6. Explain how inhibitors and stimulators overate in angiogenesis.

7. What can a lack of (not having enough) blood vessels cause?

8. What can having too many blood vessels cause?

9. How can controlling angiogenesis relate to successfully treating cancer?

10. What is true about 40% of women?

11. What do most cancers need to grow?

12. What new approach does this inspire him to research?

13. What do tumor blood vessels look like? How does this make them vulnerable?

14. What does it mean to starve a cancerous tumor?

15. Describe the Milo example. How did they treat him?

16. What percent of dogs does this therapy work for?

17. How did they treat the dolphin? Did she recover?

18. What about the horse, did the cancer disappear forever?

19. Are these treatments becoming available?

20. Is this treatment more successful with some types of cancer than others?

21. What is his personal idea about using angiogenesis.

22. What does he want to add to modern American diets?

23. What are some naturally ‘anti-angiogenic’ foods?

24. Could this have something to do with the healthfulness of wine?

25. What does he mean by food synergy?

26. What is a very anti-angiogenic vitamin?

27. What did a study show about men and tomatoes?

28. Why is this especially useful in developing countries?

29. What other illness does he talk about?

30. Can we use this science to control obesity?

OR

"Georgette Mulheir: The tragedy of orphanages"

http://www.ted.com/talks/georgette_mulheir_the_tragedy_of_orphanages.html

1. How many children are living in orphanages across Europe and Central Asia?

2. What are two opinions about orphanages?

3. What has 60 years of research shown about small children and development in orphanages?

4. How is this especially harmful for very young babies? What is the role of the parent in the growth of the brain?

5. How may this also be important for the development of a healthy society?

6. Where did Mulheir go to have her first real experience working in an orphanage? What did she notice when she was there?

7. How many children may there be for each orphanage staff member to care for?

8. What behaviors can this type of environment cause in children?

9. As older children is the orphanage a competitive place?

10. Why are there so many orphans in Europe?

11. Are children with disabilities more likely to end up in orphanages? What is Mulheir’s advice about how to change the system?

12. In the end what does Mulheir  call the placing of children in institutions?

News Article

"Despite Shutdown Supreme Court Opens it's Doors for a New Term"

http://www.npr.org/2013/10/07/229225889/despite-shutdown-supreme-court-opens-its-doors-for-new-term

1. What is the supreme court and why is it an essential part of the federal government?

2. What is a precedent and what is its importance in our law-making and enforcing procedure?

3. What are some key issues that will be overseen by the court this year?

News Article

"The Case For Clearing More Arteries During Heart Attacks"

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2013/09/01/217262419/the-case-for-clearing-more-arteries-during-heart-attacks

1.     What is the main idea expressed in the article?

2.     How many Americans die from STEMI heart attacks each year? BONUS: do you know the number of heart attack related deaths in Korea each year?

3.     What is the accepted or normal method of treating heart attack patients? What do some experts believe should be changed or added to these practices?

4.     What percent of heart attacks can potentially be avoided by the change proposed?

5.     What was the rate of heat attack patient deaths in hospital beds up until 1961?

6.     Why were death rates unnecessarily high in the past? Do modern physicians/hospitals still need to work on treatment speed and developing these new methods? How and why?

-------------Week of September 30th-October 1st--------------

News Article

"For Tea-Party Shutdown is Worth the Pain"

http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2013/10/03/228832618/for-tea-party-shutdown-is-worth-the-pain

1. Background knowledge: What are the main views of the Tea Party?

2. How have Tea Party groups supported some elected officials? What party are these supported officials generally from? Why may these two groups have some things in common?

3. How does the general public seem to feel about the shutdown as a strategy?

4. Is the relationship between republicans and Tea-party members a strong one? According to this article, are republicans sometimes criticized? 

Discussion points: Main views of the Tea Party group, the benefits of the government shutdown for this ideology, the relationship between Republicanism and Tea Party-ism at present

TED talk

"Gordon Brown: Global ethic vs. national interest"

http://www.ted.com/talks/gordon_brown_on_global_ethic_vs_national_interest.html

1.     How does Gordon Brown define global ethic or global citizenship?

2.     Why does he say establishing a concept of global citizenship is vital to the future of our world?

3.     Where is the speaker from and what is his position or occupation?

4.     In Browns view what is the problem with protectionism?

5.     What is the main reason Brown says we need to become involved with developing and third world countries?

6.     What new opportunity is now open to us?

7.     What does Brown say about global ethic in religion?

---------8:00---------

8.     What issues does he say international coalitions or institutions have when facing the modern global problems?

9.     How have our ideas about establishing independent free countries and states changed in the past decades?

10. Which type of countries does Brown say we need to help with regard to climate change. Why is this the responsibility of large, productive countries like Britain or the U.S.A.?

11. What does Brown say European countries have done to move forward on the climate change issue? What about the U.S.A.?

12. What story does Brown tell at the end of the speech?

News Article

“Russia Agrees to U.N. Resolution on Syria’s Chemical Weapons”

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/09/26/226578728/u-s-official-russia-agrees-to-resolution-on-syria

1.     What is the main idea of the article?

2.     BONUS: Which countries are the “permanent members of the U.N. Security Council”?

3.     What does the draft resolution state?

4.     What makes this resolution “historic and unprecedented”?

5.     How many international members (both permanent and non-permanent) sit in on U.N. Security Council meetings?

6.     Why might the U.S. be less than satisfied with this resolution?

--------------- Week of September 23rd-27th--------------

TED talk

"Exploring the mind of a killer"

http://www.ted.com/talks/jim_fallon_exploring_the_mind_of_a_killer.html

1. What is Jim Fallon’s profession?

2. How did he begin to study psychopathic killers?

3. Has he studied the brains of many people? BONUS: About how many brains did he study?

4. What three factors are he interested in studying?

5. What does he say about these three factors and creating a psychopath?

6.What part of the brain is key in studying psychopathic killers?

7.  What is the violence gene?

8. Where is the violence gene found genetically (on the chromosome)?

9. Why does this help us understand why most psychopathic serial killers are male?

10 What does the violence gene cause you to be insensitive to?

11. What experience must happen to cause a person with this gene to become a violent psychopath?

12. Why does he say that the violent gene can be concentrated in some populations?

13. BONUS: Who is Fallon’s famous cousin?

14. Does Fallon have any other interesting killers in his family?