So I spent last weekend at the TOC, as a judge/scout/driver/EMT for Scarsdale. My qualifying team, perhaps wisely, didn’t want to attend, but I’m a sucker for punishment that way. We had a fun time all around, and there were stories of course. Scarsdale did well; no one finished worse than 3-4, two made elims, [...]
I disagree with everything Menick says in his last post. Since his last post was agreeing with what I say, we have a neat Godelian moment there, eh?
But at any rate, Jim’s right, the community really doesn’t talk a whole lot for a bunch of talkers. I’ve always wondered why that is. Perhaps because it’s a [...]
So Menick says it’s a no-brainer to allow computers in Extemp prep, and supports it with largely two arguments: one, cheating would not be rendered any easier than it pragmatically is, and two, manipulation of internet-based resources is a more valuable skill these days, so reality demands it.
I’ve gone on, perhaps at too great a [...]
So I mostly live in the world of the Massachusetts Forensic League, which governs most of the local tournaments in Massachusetts. It’s an inverse of what they do over in New York, where CFLs run the local show and they get together once a year for the State League to step in; here we do [...]
So once again, an NFL topic committee has caused havoc in debate, presenting us this gem for January 2008:
Resolved: That, by 2040, the federal government should mandate that all new passenger vehicles and light trucks sold in the United States be powered by alternative fuels.
This topic has….problems. That 2040 date, while factually significant, distorts [...]