Debate Tournament Commentary

test testtest test testtest test

Roger, ktprktpr........Still reading you loud and clear.

i was looking for my signature but i can't see it. Am i going blind?

No bud...we are in "low bandwidth" mode because of the unusually high server traffic so many of the extra features have been temporarily disabled like the point bar, sig, background colors and images. When the load decreases things will return to normal.

Low bandwidth I think. Edit: Mr. Mojo Risin' beat me to it.

I'm anxiously awaiting results from the last round, and I'm not even on the chopping block!

I'm eager to know who my opponent will be for the finals.

Edit: Well, it's official, the Libra is in the finals.

Congratulations!

Will there be another break, or are we going to breeze right into the finals?

[edit on 3-8-2005 by WyrdeOne]

[edit on 3-8-2005 by WyrdeOne]

Lookit!

I still say I liked the dirty playing, I (personally) didn't think it was over the top, but, oh well for me!

I'm so totally digging these images:

www.abovetopsecret.com...

Edit to add: Should be pretty quick, I'm gettin' bored.

[edit on 8/3/2005 by Amorymeltzer]

Well, I'm pretty surprised. Good job thelibra!

Looks like I came off a little to harsh and that turned a lot of judges off. I think i'll make this my last ats debate. I've had a fun, jerky career

One odd thing was this comment, as I never used wikipedia and only argued against its use, "As to the repeated use of wikipedia I find it shows a lack of research from various sources." Maybe that was in reference to thelibra?

I don't understand the aversion to Wiki, it's a good resource.

If someone posts a link to Wiki, and the information is false, that gives his/her opponent a free shot, and almost guarantees a loss to the person who doesn't check their facts.

I like Wiki, it's a particularly good source when you know something, and need some quick corroboration. Apparently some of the judges don't care for it, which is a shame, because I think it's an excellent resource.

I would suppose so. You did use it though, once, ktprktpr, and a few times to show that it wasn't great.

I actually fully support Wikipedia. Yes, you should take it with a grain of salt, but the vast, vast majority of it is high quality stuff, in some ways similar to ATS, and very similar, although vastly superior, to h2g2. I would rank Wikipedia as the number 2 ebsite, Google being number 1. (ATS would be a biased vote, but I still say it ranks number 3 or so, def top 5) The open source "revolution," if you'll allow me to call it that, is growing rapidly, and will soon be far too big for mainstream organizations to ignore places like SF, the wiki format, or places like ATS and ATSNN.

Well done to theLibra on his win. Commiserations to ktprktpr, on a well fought debate. However I am sad to read this:

Originally posted by ktprktpr
I think i'll make this my last ats debate.

It would be a terrible waste for you to give up over one loss like this. I was looking forward to the chance of maybe mixing it up with you in the Winter debates!!

Are you miffed over what the judges said, or over the debate topic?

Yeah wikipedia kicks ass. I love it to. I just went against it in the debate because I remembered reading somewhere that a court case was lost because the defense based their facts on wikipedia. But when i searched for that case I kept on running up against court cases that won and specifically used wikipedia in their defense, which is pretty amazing.

So realizing that that wasn't going to work So, I noticed that the critic page was longer than the good page on wikipedia and worked that angle.

and for howmuchisthedoggy, read your u2u for an explanation. I will u2u my reasons to any interested parties.

Give 'em hell in teh finals thelibra !

[edit on 3-8-2005 by ktprktpr]

Toss me one of those u2us, ktprktpr.

They used Wikipedia in Court cases?! Got any links, I'd love to read more.

dude, wikipedia is everywhere in the legal arena:

www.nwmindia.org...

It has even been used in United States litigation, when in July 2003, a Wikipedia article on profanity was cited in a motion to dismiss a case in a Colorado court.

Well, who wants to make their call on the last round? Just for fun.

My guess is that The Libra takes it by a margin of 8-4.

(speaking of which, would somebody tell me exactly what the judge count was in my debate with him? There is sort of a pattern developing where doing better than 9-3 against him is a decent showing.)

To All - Thank you for the congrats, and for keeping the interest in this thread up. It's nice to know that somewhere out there people still care about a debate that they're not in. And also, I apologize for my difficult attitude the last few days. I've been under a terrible strain at work and home due to running out of whiskey...oh, and family drama, home insurance drama, house repairs drama, neighborhood drama, and Family Guy being a re-run this Sunday (that pissed me off the most)... anyway, I know I've been a tad less civilized than normal the last few days, and have been taking it out on the last people I should've.

Ktprktpr - I would like one of those U2Us as well. If you're quitting the debate circuit just because you lost a round to me, I'd consider it a loss to the debating community as a whole. Eloquence and Tenacity are rarities in most people, and you have both in spades. If it was because of the subject matter...well, who amongst us hasn't received poo in their christmas stocking at least once in our lives?

The Vagabond - Thank you for the vote of confidence, but I'm not so sure of winning, much less by a 3x margin. I've seen WyrdeOne's posts before, and have always been impressed by the amount of thought they put into each one (not to mention their avatar is much cooler than mine).

WyrdeOne - I look forward to our debate. Regardless of who wins, it's an honor to make the finals and we should be able to have a lot of fun with this.

I've seen WyrdeOne's posts before, and have always been impressed by the amount of thought they put into each one (not to mention their avatar is much cooler than mine).

Usually I tell people I'm a 'He', but it appears you have finally found out my terrible secret. I'm actually a colony of African termites that achieved sentience after a freak lightning strike. I then over-ran a nearby village and confiscated a field researcher's laptop, which I'm using to learn the ways of man, that I might better destroy him, and usher in a new age of Insect dominance.

WyrdeOne - I look forward to our debate. Regardless of who wins, it's an honor to make the finals and we should be able to have a lot of fun with this.

All sillyness aside, I agree. I'm sure we'll have a blast, and we might even learn something. I couldn't have asked for a better adversary in the finals.

Here's to a great debate!

A colony of termites... it makes sense, if you think about it. Cause fire burns wood, termites eat wood, and getting bit by them can hurt like fire... Yep...

Sorry about the use of "they" and "their". I didn't want to look like a twit by asking if you were male or female, so I used the gender-neutral terms (that unfortunately denote plurality). But at least I didn't refer to you as an "it".

So... I wonder when the next round begins... It's about to be the weekend and I won't be checking ATS every hour or two like usual.

Originally posted by thelibra
Family Guy being a re-run this Sunday

SHAME SHAME! Except, the new episodes are on Thursday, but when they get an old-old rerun, major bummer. I'm glad Sealab is back, though.

WyrdeOne: There's a thread in Aliens and UFO's by Esoteric Teacher you might be interested in...

Anyway, thelibra, very soon, methinks. I'm eager to get this one started.

I'd just like to say how much I've enjoyed this debate tournament, and have been infintitely impressed by the fine efforts so far from all participants. And the drama, conflicts over topics, cat-fighting and even heckling from spectators has made the experience even more entertaining.

However...I'm sure it doesn't need to be said, but may I appeal to the debate officials to please, take just that little bit of extra time to carefully consider the topic for the last round. Sometimes just the slight alteration of the wording of a topic can make a vast difference. I really feel that howmuchisthedoggy was severely shafted by his topic draw, as was MemoryShock to a lesser degree, and the controversy over the "Non-Western Democracy" topic could have been avoided. It would be a shame to see the final round spoiled by a lop-sided topic, or by an unnecessarily controversial one. Let's have a fair and fun final round so that in the end, the participants, officials and spectators alike can walk away from the match with a sense of enjoyment and fulfillment, rather than with a bitter taste in their mouths.

[edit on 2005-8-5 by wecomeinpeace]

gl, ya'll!