Standardizing Arguments

Mayor should stick to their guns by Ian Marston in The Review

Standardized Form:
2. Mayor should stop proposing for changing the name.
2. a. What is so wrong with the name Prescott and Russell any more than the names Ontario and Quebec?
3. His excuse is that people will get the name mixed up with the town of Prescott.
3. a. Mayor Jeanne Charlebois suggests changing the name to Vanier.
3. b. People will get mixed up with Vanier, Ottawa.
4. Seniors on fixed pensions cannot afford huge amounts of tax dollars spent on something that is not broken.
4. a. We have to more prudent with our spending because of the worldwide economy so uncertain for the unforeseeable future.
5. Streets need to be repaired and sidewalks too. That is what we should be spending the money on and not changing the name.

Therefore
1. Mayor should just keep the name of Glengarry-Prescott-Russell.

Marston, Ian. " Mayors should stick to their guns." The Review 29.Oct. 2008: 115. 44.


MYANMAR-BANGLADESH CONFLICT
It's about natural gas
November 8, 2008
China and India should have restrained Myanmar from sending naval and prospecting vessels this week to a natural-gas-rich patch of the Bay of Bengal that is also claimed by Bangladesh. The tense maritime standoff brought a risk of war between two failed states.The two Asian powers are the principal export markets for Myanmar's ample natural resources. Like much of sub-Saharan Africa, Myanmar is a focus of intense Chinese efforts to lock up supplies of oil, gas and other commodities. Myanmar's resources can be easily transported to China's burgeoning southwest.Beijing-backed companies pay their bills on time and don't ask questions about human rights, which is very convenient to one of the world's most repressive regimes.For its part, India has provided Myanmar with considerable military aid, and Indian companies are racing to match their Chinese counterparts' deals there.Resource revenues are one of the regime's few sources of income, and help pay the soldiers on whom it relies to put down periodic pro-democracy protests. Last year's demonstrations, which nearly toppled the regime, made the military rulers even more interested in those earnings.Their decision to provoke Bangladesh, which has no cozy relationship with China or India, shows how far they will go to keep the commodities flowing.New Delhi and Beijing should not be comfortable with this odious regime. Propping up such a government is a crime against Myanmar's citizens, and in the long run unlikely to benefit either of the great powers of the region.Myanmar's patrons, which are eager to be seen as responsible international actors, should not have allowed such destabilizing behaviour, China's pious urging of caution on both sides this week notwithstanding.Adding a conflict with Myanmar to Bangladesh's long list of problems will only further weaken a country that has already begun to produce Islamic militants in worrying quantities, and sits perpetually on the brink of humanitarian catastrophe.For now, reining Myanmar in from starting a war would be a small but important sign that the two powers will not always accept resources obtained at an immorally high cost.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20081108.EBURMA08/TPStory/Opinion/editorials


Standardized Form:
2. The tense maritime standoff brought a risk of war between two failed states.
3. The two Asian powers are the principal export markets for Myanmar's natural resources.
3. a. Myanmar is a focus of intense Chinese efforts to lock up supplies of oil, gas and other commodities since they can be easily transported to China's burgeoning southwest.
4. Resource revenues are one of the regime's few sources of income. Last year's demonstrations, which nearly toppled the regime, made the military rulers even more interested in those earnings.
5. Their decision to provoke Bangladesh shows how far they will go to keep the commodities flowing.
5. a. New Delhi and Beijing should not be comfortable with this odious regime. Propping up such a government is a crime against Myanmar's citizens, and in the long run unlikely to benefit either of the great powers of the region.
6. Myanmar's patrons, which are eager to be seen as responsible international actors, should not have allowed such destabilizing behaviour.
6. a. Adding a conflict with Myanmar to Bangladesh's long list of problems will only further weaken a country that has already begun to produce Islamic militants in worrying quantities.

Therefore
1. China and India should have restrained Myanmar from sending naval and prospecting vessels this week to a natural-gas-rich patch of the Bay of Bengal that is also claimed by Bangladesh.