Sunday, November 18, 2018

Glenbrooks 2018 prelims Chamber 1

As always, just make use of anything that makes sense and ignore the rest

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yO1Kern-K-HlPaatKrQSpjs6X0ob_Ngttx7RgFLCJA8/edit?usp=drivesdk


Monday, October 1, 2018


The "Stop Punching Yourself" Omnibus of 2018 continues to grow.  It's been an odd experience tallying up the damage--large and small, humorous and horrifying--for which the bill will eventually come due.  It's almost up to Section 1, subsection AAA at this point, but I don't think I've seen any of the items in actual legislation form so far this year.

Two other things:
  • This song, Jon Baptiste's cover of  "What a Wonderful World," captures the uneasy hope of 2018.  
  • This article ought to be required reading for people attached to Congressional Debate.  

Friday, August 17, 2018

Free Legislation

If you'd like to adopt ***this bill*** as your very own, I don't mind at all.  In fact, rename it and trim it down to just the provision(s) you like.   I'm leaving it in www.congressionaldebate.org's googledocs format so you'll at least have to paste it in to your own doc.

Consider this like CBI's monthly bill packet released at NSDA:  there for the taking or at least as inspiration for your own legislation.

(Yes, it's silly.  But it's not entirely silly.)

Saturday, May 26, 2018

CatNats 18 Chamber 5 Prelims


So on this one I tried to cut out all the snark.

And failed. 

So maybe just pay attention to the ballots if they make more sense.  (But I stand by the advice.)

Monday, February 19, 2018

Harvard Semis Chamber C 2018

Congrats to all in an event that seems to be more competitive each tournament.

Here it is.  As always, take whatever helps and ignore all the rest. 

Saturday, January 27, 2018

Here's Emory

As always, take whatever makes sense and ignore the rest.

Here they are.

While we're waiting for the fun to begin at Emory . . .

I've long thought that I should confess that I have a terrible memory of debaters and the schools they go to?  Hand-in-hand with that is the fact that I'm practically face-blind, so as soon as we leave the chamber, poof.  It's all gone. 

I get the sense sometimes that everyone else knows everyone and where they go to school.  Not me.  At Sunvite Finals I gave a richly deserved 1 and 2 to debaters from the same school--I knew because their code BT was the same--and I assumed they were from some powerhouse in South Florida or in the Northeast or one of those schools out west.  But they were from Napierville, wherever that is.  (Illinois, I'm thinking.) 

In the room I just parlied, I'm pretty sure I know where one of the fourteen debaters is from.  The rest, even the ones I've judged a few times?  No idea.  (OK, DeVito is from New York--I know because it was In. Every. Intro.) 

I could learn where y'all are from, if I made an effort.  I won't. 

If my ballot-rankings seem eccentric sometimes, all I can say is that I'm sure of them (they seem obvious and indisputable to me), and you should be proud if I've ranked you, even if no other judge did.  School reps and relationships aren't playing any role in my decision, because I have only the vaguest idea who anyone is.