PDA

The issue of Public Displays of Affection in the THS hallways has students and staff talking. Our Student Handbook defines 'kissing' and 'body contact' as 'inappropriate.' But does that include holding hands? Fist bumps? Or how about hugs?

Schools are not the only ones to define 'decent' public behavior. In Dubai (home of the world's tallest building) public kissing can land you in jail. Take for example this recent case in which British tourists face up to a month in jail for smooching in a Public restaurant.

Compare the laws of Dubai to our own school rules? Are they too harsh or not harsh enough? How would you re-write the PDA rule if you were the Principal?

Now Thats Tall!

TRUE OR FALSE
Humans are the only animals to exploit the earth for our own personal gain?

TRUE OR FALSE
Humans are the only animals that can use reason to weigh the consequences of actions and change?

Termites are social insects, related to cockroaches. They are well-known for building extraordinary cathedral-like mounds with clever ventilation systems, and notorious for eating wooden houses - in the US they cause more damage to homes than storms and fires combined. Some termites eat soil, and others eat dead wood in tropical forests, aiding the decomposition process. Some termites give off methane when digesting food, by fermentation in the gut, in a similar way to cattle. Methane is another of the greenhouse gases.

Termite mounds can be as high as 30 feet, but the average one is seven or eight. Some termite mounds can contain as much as 60 tons of material, which ranges from soil to the waste of the plant matter that they devour. Elaborate termite mounds that reach great heights are the largest structures constructed on the planet by a species other than man. Termites could produce as much as 150 million tons of methane a year. The amount of methane in the atmosphere was - and still is - increasing faster than other greenhouse gases, by 1 per cent a year since 1978.

Take Back Al Gore's Oscar?!

No, it wouldn't do anything for the environment.

But two Hollywood conservatives (yes, there are some) have called upon the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to rescind the prestigious, profitable gold Oscar statuette that it gave ex-Vice President Al Gore et al two years ago for the environmental movie "An Inconvenient Truth."

Lionel and Roger have some tough, but fair questions for the filmmakers of An Inconvenient Truth about inaccuracies in their Academy Award winning film. They've been invited to respond, but so far nothing. Watch & Comment here: http://pjtv.com/v/3033

I'd Like to Thank the Academy...

Sunday night was a big night for Hollywood! The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced its winners for 2009 with Sandra Bullock, Jeff Bridges, and "The Hurt Locker" all taking home Oscars.

Imagine you have just one an Oscar! What will you say? Who will you thank? Watch last night's acceptance speeches and then write one of your own. Be prepared to give your speech in front of the class tomorrow.

Winter Wonder Brand

The Olympics have done their part in replacing war with sport as the way nations earn respect. Modern nations compete by branding their identities, and hosting the Olympic Games is the biggest branding opportunity a nation ever gets. The Beijing Games unveiled China as a global power. The Rio Games in 2016 will do the same for Brazil. The Sochi Winter Games in 2014 will showcase the raw power of Vladimir Putin’s Russia.

If you’re not trying to demonstrate raw power or announce your arrival on the global stage, however, hosting the Games presents a challenge. We Canadians are immensely proud of our country, but we try to be soft-spoken about it, so we aren’t looking for the Vancouver Games to be a grandiose exercise in self-promotion. Instead, we want to demonstrate that we’re a people the world can count on.

The Games will showcase a more competitive Canada. Now Canada waits to see whether the new spirit will pay off, especially in hockey, the national game and ruling obsession. Canada will have the home advantage in the Games, and every player takes the ice knowing that only victory will do.

-Michael Ignatieff is leader of the Liberal Party of Canada. He is a former contributing writer for the magazine. His latest book is “True Patriot Love.”

How did Canada's loss to the United States in Hockey affect their efforts to 'brand' themselves? How did Canadians react to the devastating loss? How does this US victory compare to the 'Miracle on Ice' team of 1980?

Go Braves?!

The "brave," an American Indian warrior, became the symbol of the Talawanda Schools in the 50s. A community group is collecting signatures on a petition that will ask the school board members to get rid of its mascot. The group says it's demeaning to use human beings as mascots.

What does being a 'Brave' mean to you?

Watch the story and then prepare an editorial response.

Ad Wars

Each year, millions of people tune in to the Super Bowl to cheer their favorite team.

But some people watch just for the commercials, and for them, the 2010 game should be pretty interesting.

This year, CBS is airing an anti-abortion commercial featuring college football star Tim Tebow, with his mother. The ad is sponsored by the conservative group Focus on the Family. Within a few weeks of that ad's approval, CBS turned down a commercial for the Super Bowl produced by a new gay dating site called ManCrunch.com.

The Tebow and ManCrunch ads raise questions about not just what networks want in Super Bowl advertisements, but also what potential advertisers really want from the Super Bowl.

Should CBS be allowed to reject one ad and approve the other? Why? What do you think?
List Pros & Cons.
Hear the rest of the story.
Join the debate.