Sunday, November 30, 2014

12th International Debate Academy Slovenia - Tournament & Workshop 2014

12TH INTERNATIONAL DEBATE ACADEMY SLOVENIA
WORKSHOP KRANJSKA GORA, TOURNAMENT LJUBLJANA

Faculty assembled a list of 130+ motions and then voted and discussed. Here are the results.

Final
TH regrets the characterisation of soldiers as heroes.

Semifinals
THW welcome a Kurdish state.

Quarterfinals
THBT feminists in the developing world should campaign for economic and political rights not gender rights.

Round One
THW, in countries that severely limit civilian access to firearms, arm police with only non-lethal weapons.

Round Two
THW abolish patents on life-saving medicines

Round Three
THBT democracies should place strict limits on financial campaign contributions.

Round Four
THB space exploration is a waste of taxpayers' money

Round Five
THBT NATO should be abolished.*

Round Six
THW revoke the citizenship of those who travel abroad to join the Islamic State.

PRACTICE MOTIONS (some of them)
ECOLOGICAL, SPEECH
THB climate change denial should be treated the same way as Holocaust denial Practice

DEVELOPMENT
THW require population limits for poor countries as a condition for financial aid Practice

LABOR
THW make unions obligatory for every worker Practice

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
THBT Vladimir Putin is a serious threat to global security. Practice

ECONOMIC, INTERNATIONAL
THBT the EU should pay the Ukrainian gas bills. Practice

LAW ENFORCEMENT
THW create state supported citizen vigilante units to police crime in areas of high organised crime Practice

Los Medanos Steeltown Invitational 2014

LOS MEDANOS, STEELTOWN INVITATIONAL, 2014 TOPICS

Round 1 - TH prefers direct democracy to representative republics.

Round 2 - The Euro should be abolished.

Round 3 - THB that Qatar should be disallowed from hosting the World Cup.

Round 4 - TH would regulate cryptocurrencies

Round 5 - THW completely subsidize education costs for all women who seek degrees in stem disciplines

Semi - TH regrets President Obama's executive action on immigration.

Final - THBT the United States should prioritize combating Central/South American drug cartels over combatting ISIS.

Steeltown Invitational 2014, Final Round
You Tube Link
http://youtu.be/oXxYajTPPO0

Monday, November 17, 2014

The Shalimar Cup (City School Shalimar)

The Shalimar Cup (City School Shalimar)

Motions:
Round 1 THBT the IMF and the World Bank should not make debt relief for highly indebted poor countries conditional on trade liberalization
Round 2 THBT Feminist movements directed specifically towards men have lost their cause
Round 3 THW initiate a current affairs test as a pre-requisite for voter registration
Round 4 THW institute a mandatory military service for all able-bodied men

Quarter-Finals TH regrets that the Western Media demonized Islamic Terrorists rathar than portraying them as criminals with legitimate grievances
Semi- Finals TH welcomes the entrance of large numbers of robots into the workforce
Grand Final THW abolish the Nobel Peace Prize

SICAS Debating Championship

SICAS Debating Championship

Motions:
Round 1 THBT prisoners with life sentences should be allowed to choose the death penalty
Round 2 THW institute a school voucher program for under-privelaged students in public schools
Round 3 THW require media corporations to provide equal airtime to political parties/candidates during an election campaign
Round 4 THBT law enforcement agencies should reflect the diversity of their communities

Quarter-Finals THW pay reparations to communities who have been a victim of historical injustices
Semi- Finals THB in a right to be forgotten on the internet
Grand Final THW grant those diagnosed with terminal illnesses the right to access treatments that have not completed clinical testing

Lahore Alma Cup

Lahore Alma Cup

Motions:
Round 1 THW ban all advertising during children's television programming
Round 2 THW require university students to work in their country of origin for a number of years after graduation
Round 3 THW allow soldiers to sue their governments for negligence
Round 4 THW apply a lower rate of income tax on women

Quarter-Finals THW ban political parties and require all candidates for national public office to seek elections as independents
Semi-Finals THBT corporations should be held responsible for abuses committed by their contracted service providers
Grand Final THS General Raheel Sharif as a mediator between the Government, PTI and PAT

Sondhi International Debating Championship


Sondhi International Debating Championship (LACAS)

Motions:
Round 1 TH Supports the Distortion of History for Positive Social Outcomes
Round 2 TH Regrets the Rise of the Anti-Hero in Popular Culture
Round 3 TH Supports Bashar al-Assad’s Regime in Syria Against ISIS
Round 4 THW Uphold Squatters' Rights Over Private Property

Quarter-Finals THW Force a Liberal Development Agenda on FATA
Semi-Finals THBT the Palestinians Should Pursue a One State Solution
Grand Final TH Supports political change through street power in democratic societies

5th Hong Kong Debate Open 1-3 November 2014

5th Hong Kong Debate Open 2014 ( 1st to 3rd Nov)

(Round 1) This house believes that all states should STOP memorialization of their war deaths

(Round 2) This house would abolish retirement age

(Round 3) This house believes that employment insurance should cover cryopreservation in their health insurance policies

(Round 4) This house believes that western liberal democracies do not have the right to stop their citizens from joining the Islamic State

(Round 5) This house regrets the trend of couples using civilian spyware applications such as Dr. Fone, Spyera, and FlexiSpy that allow users to track phones, text messages and all media and applications on the phone

(Round 6) This house would require companies to have a minimum percentage of employees without college/undergraduate degrees in their core functions

(Octo-Finals) This house believes that schools should actively promote atheism in their curriculum

(Quarters-Finals) This house believes that the 3rd world should not use the exportation of labor as a strategy for development

(Semi-Finals) This house would not allow news outlets to endorse political candidates

(Grand Final) This house believes that it is time for the West to accept/allow Iran's development of nuclear technology

Sunday, November 16, 2014

Oxford IV 14-15 November 2014

I will try and add quarters and semis later.

Round 1
Motion: This house believes that in order for a law to be enacted, it should have to be passed by the legislature and then by a body chosen at random from eligible voters.

Round 2
Motion: This house believes that press agencies should not purchase or publish the work of freelance war reporters.

Round 3
Motion: This house believes the EU should suspend Hungary's membership rights.

Round 4
Motion: This house, as the gay community, regrets the existence of Grindr

Round 5
Motion: This house would deny public funding to parties with explicitly ethnic-based membership or platforms

FINAL
Motion: THBT a world in which people were content and did not desire social mobility is preferable to one where people desired social mobility (had much better wording) (Brent Schmidt)

Monday, November 3, 2014

Huber Debates, Vermont, 1-2 November 2014

Huber Debates, Vermont, 1-2 November 2014

R1: THW return all cultural treasures to their places of origin

R2: THBT it is in China's best interest to let Hong Kong freely elect its leaders

R3: THW, as environmentalists, support the integration of green goals with consumer culture (came with video of an ad)

R4: THBT states should not use education institutions to instill patriotism

R5: THBT states should suspend democratic elections during economic crisis

Qtr: THW nationalize pharmaceuticals 

Semi: THBT the global community should abandon its focus on nuclear non-proliferation 

Novice Final: THBT feminists should reject topless protests (Congrats, Duke, who were OO)

Open Final: TH regrets the emphasis on marriage equality in the gay rights movement (Congrats, Brandeis, who were OO)

Thessaloniki Open, 31 October - 2 November 2014

Thessaloniki Open, 31 October - 2 November 2014

R1: THB that states should no longer fund or own public broadcasters, such as the BBC, NERIT or PBS

R2: TH welcomes the rise of art that celebrates a lack of economic wealth

R3: THBT Google, Youtube and social media platforms should remove content which is deemed as insulting to religion

R4: TH supports Greek youth violently protesting against Trojka mandated austerity measures

R5: THW lift all limits on international migration

Semis: THBT international courts should punish states with the capacity to prevent crimes against humanity, but do not do so

Final: THW significantly lower labour regulations for youth in EU areas with high youth unemployment

Belgrade Open, 24 - 26 October 2014



Belgrade Open, 24 - 26 October 2014

THW allow individuals to grant amnesty to criminals for crimes they committed against them

THW break up banks that are deemed too big to fail

THBT the LGBTQ lobby should make up evidence that prominent anti-LGBTQ rights campaigners are, themselves LGBTQ

THBT developing nations should hold the Catholic Church financially liable for the medical expenses of Catholic HIV/AIDS victims in areas where the church campaigns against condom use

THW ban dating services built around matching rich men/women with younger men/women

Semi Final: THBT Serbia should immediately cut off political and economic ties with the Russian Federation

Final: THW immediately evacuate all relics off cultural or historical import currently located in unstable countries to stable Western nations

SDA Novices Sunday, 26th October 2014

SDA Novices Sunday, 26th October 2014

1 THW ban all political donations by corporations

2 THBT Miley Cyrus' sexualised performances (such as Wrecking Ball) are a victory for feminism

Info slide: Short clip from wrecking ball

3 THW unconditionally lift non-arms related sanctions on North Korea

Info slide: Probably not important but photographed somewhere

4 TH Supports Vigilanteism in high crime areas

Info slide: A vigilante is a member of a self-appointed group of citizens, who undertake law enforcement in their community without legal authority, typically because the legal agencies are thought to be inadequate. Vigilanteism is by definition illegal.

Final THBT the UK should unilateraly remove all restrictions on immigration from its former colonies

SOAS IV, London, 18-19 October 2014

SOAS IV, London, 18-19 October 2014

Round 1: THW require parents to vaccinate their children, except where doing so is not in the child's medical interest

Round 2: THW ban the paying of ransom insurance in the case of kidnapping

Round 3: THW impose very high taxes on the rich, even when doing so will not increase total tax revenues

Round 4: THBT feminist campaigns directed specifically at men are harmful to the feminist cause

Round 5: THBT the IMF and the World Bank should not make debt relief for highly indebted poor countries conditional on trade liberalisation

Quarter-Final: THBT the state has a duty to provide the long term unemployed with lasting employment which pays at least the minimum wage

Semi-Final: THR Lara Croft

Final: THS a federal UK

ESL Final: THW offer full amnesty to any European citizen currently fighting on behalf of ISIL as long as they immediately return to Europe

Strathclyde Cup, Glasgow, 18 October 2014

Strathclyde Cup, Glasgow, 18 October 2014

Round 1: This House Believes that retired parents should be allowed to seek alimony payments from their adult children.

Round 2: This House Believes that western media outlets should collectively decline to cover any ISIS actions primarily intended to attract western attention (e.g. Hostage takings/executions)

Round 3: This House Believes that copyright of photographic art featuring individuals or communities of people should belong to those people, not the artist.

Round 4: This House Believes that the trans movement should actively seek to separate themselves, their issues and their collective identity from the LGBTQ movement in their campaigns and in the public consciousness.

Final: This House Believes that military conscription should be regarded as a war crime.

Roosevelt Open, Middelburg, 17-18 October 2014


Roosevelt Open, Middelburg, 17-18 October 2014

R1: This House would prioritise dealing with the consequences of climate change rather than preventing it

R2: this House would set the burden of proof in criminal trials to "balance of probabilities" rather than "beyond reasonable doubt".

R3: this House regrets that companies such as Facebook and Apple have offered to pay for elective egg freezing for their employees.

R4: this House believes that companies like H&M and Primark should hire half as many factory workers in the developing world but pay them twice as much.

R5: this House believes that people who go bankrupt should have their finances managed by the state for five years.

Semi Final: this House would impose the death penalty for pretty crime, if we knew that it would be 100% effective in deterring pretty crime and would never be used.

Novice Final: this house would only allow those who pass a political awareness exam to vote.

Final: this house believes that the EU should abandon its aim to establish an "ever closer union".

UCL President’s Cup London, 10th October 2014

UCL President’s Cup London, 10th October 2014

Round 1: THW impose a tax on unhealthy foods

Round 2: TH believes that animal rights activists should launch a campaign of sabotage and property destruction to further the cause of animal rights.

Round 3: THW legalise the buying and selling of sexual services

Round 4: TH, as a parent with the financial means to do so, would not send their child to private school

Novice Final: THW make voting compulsory

Semi-Final: THW only imprison individuals who have committed violent crimes and pose a continuing threat to society

Final: TH regrets the characterisation of soldiers as heroes

Edinburgh Cup 4-5 October 2014

Edinburgh Cup (4-5 october 2014)
Round 1: This House Believes that governments should negotiate with terrorists when their citizens are taken hostage by terrorist groups
Round 2: This House would allow international commercial surrogacy
Round 3: This House supports “No Platform” policies in student unions
Round 4: This House would pay reparations to former mining communities in the UK
R5 This house believes that government regulation agencies should be allowed to break up banks, like Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase and HSBC, that are deemed ’too big to fail’.
Semi THBT governments should prioritise economically productive public spending over investing in arts, humanities, etc. when deciding on their budget.
Final: TH, as the UK Labour party, would participate in a cross party initiative to reform the Human Rights Act.
Infoslide: The Conservatives outlined proposed changes to the Human Rights Act. Under the proposal announced on Friday, a victorious Conservative party would draw up a Bill of Rights that would set out the application of human rights law in Britain.
The proposed changes would mean the European court's rulings would no longer be binding over the Supreme Court and that Britain's parliament would have the right to veto its judgments. It is unclear at this stage whether there would be any substantive changes to the rights set out in the legislation.

Thursday, October 30, 2014

1st Macau BP Debate Open 2014

1st Macau BP Debate Open 2014

Round 1
This house would impose a sin tax on meat products.

Round 2
This house believes that all Macau high school students should undergo the same compulsory military training currently being imposed in Mainland China.

Round 3
This house would ban negative advertising campaigns by rival companies against their competitors
(Samsung vs Apple, Coke vs Pepsi).

Round 4
This house would no longer award the Nobel Peace Prize.

Round 5
This house would ban professional athletes who are criminally convicted from any involvements in all professional sports.

Quarter Finals
This house believes that the Umbrella Movement in Hong Kong has failed

Semi Finals
In a democracy, This house would revoke access to healthcare from citizens who do not vote.

Final
THBT children should be allowed to opt to leave their parents' home and choose to be taken care of by the state even if they are not suffering from any physical or psychological abuse by their parents.

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

NBC World Schools Invitational, Holy Cross School, New Orleans, LA October 2014

Round One : This House would make voting in national elections compulsory.

Round Two: This House believes that Internet users should be required to use their real names.

Round Three : This House supports media censorship during a time of political crisis.

Round Four: This House believes that we should grant overweight people the same protections from discrimination as other vulnerable groups.

Round Five: This would make financial literacy a requirement to access welfare.

Round Six: This House would pay teachers based on the academic performance of their students.

Round Seven: This House believes that public services are best run by private companies

Tuesday, October 7, 2014

San Diego State University October 2014

1) THS Ecoterrorist activities carried out directly against politicians and captains of industry that thwart attempts to address global climate change. 

2) THW out atheist politicians who conceal their unbelief. 

3) THW end the USA's military drone program. 

4) THW require faculty to include trigger warnings when covering topics that may cause trauma to students. 

5) THBT America has a moral obligation to accept all Central American refugees under age 18. 

S)THBT China should abandon the one country two systems policy. 

F) When it comes to working with Muslim allies, this house believes the West should work only with Sunni groups and countries in its bid to defeat ISIS.

Monday, October 6, 2014

Yale IV October 2014

1. TH opposes the American Charter School Movement.

2. TH would cooperate with any leader or regime to defeat non-state actors that systematically violate human rights.

3. This house regrets the rise of dating and other websites that allow people to rate others based on past romantic interactions (e.g. LuLu)

4. TH believes that institutional art credentials are bad for art.

5. TH, as an emerging democracy, would supress domestic media in favor of international media.

6. This House believes that universities and other stakeholders should primarily consider teaching ability rather than research output when awarding tenure and allocating academic funding.

Quarter-Finals - THW facilitate religous proselytization in areas of high socio-economic deprivation.

Semi Finals - THS the use of forced population transfers that create separate, ethnically homogeneous states as a solution to prolonged ethnic conflict.

Final - THBT, in the face of police repression, protesters have a right to non-lethal, but violent, proportional retaliation.

Europen Prepared Motions

Motions for EurOpen 2014:

Motion A:
THBT national central banks should set limits on governmental spending

Motion B:
THBT the USA should enter a military alliance with Assad to combat the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Air Force/Colorado College September 2014

Hosted by US Air Force Academy & Colorado College, September, 2014

AIR FORCE/COLORADO COLLEGE MOTIONS 2014

1. THW make those who keep the private information of others in databases liable for damages caused by security breaches.
2. THW give the World Health Organization the power to close borders.
3. THBT the USA government should provide a guaranteed livable income to those in poverty.
4. THBT we should grant overweight people the same protections from discrimination as other vulnerable groups.
5. TH welcomes the entrance of large numbers of robots into the workforce.
6. THBT US military intervention in the Middle East is a greater threat than Islamic fundamentalism.
7. Quarters THW support Elizabeth Warren over Hilary Clinton for the Democratic nomination for president.
8. Semis THBT micro-finance organizations (including, but not limited to: NGOs, charities and development banks) should offer micro-finance loans in developing nations exclusively to women.
9. Finals THBT economic sanctions on Russia relating to the situation in Ukraine will be counter-productive.


Monday, September 8, 2014

9th HKSDPSC Senior Debating Championships

9th HKSDPSC Senior Debating Championships @ GSIS.
Preliminary: Sat 20th September 2014 8am to 5pm
Grand Finals: Tue 30th September 2014 4.30 pm to 9pm
Format: World Schools Style Debating (6 min speeches, 3 min reply speeches)
Motions
Round 1: Impromptu (to be released on the day)
Round 2: THW tax e-cigarettes
Round 3: THS the use of drone strikes in the Middle East
Quarters: Impromptu (to be released on the day)

Semis: THBT developing countries should support commercial surrogacy 

Sunday, August 24, 2014

EUDC 2014 Zagreb Croatia

EUDC 2014, Zagreb, Croatia

From https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1A2vgaacv6s4ojm9vxUmuLUIkMFd8ExUTS5uuaHI2xV4/edit?pli=1#gid=700452310

1This house would pay additional benefits to families on welfare according to their child’s performance in school.
2This house supports two-party political systems over multi-party political systems.
3This house would ban international aid charities from using senational, graphic, or overly-emotional images of suffering in fundraising and advertising campaigns.
4This house believes that EU member states should nationalise all their oil and gas resources in order to surrender total ownership and control of them to an EU-run energy agency.
5This house believes that states of the former Yugoslavia should not commemorate the events of the Yugoslav Wars.For the purposes of this debate, ’Commemoration’ refers to state-supported national celebration or mourning of historical events or people.
6This house would introduce blind voting.Blind voting means voters indicate a series of preferences for policies rather than directly selecting a party. These preferences are then matched to the policies of political parties⁏ the voter is taken to have voted for the party that most closely matches their preferences.
7This house would require of police departments that the ethnic composition of their arrests match the ethnic composition of the population in their jurisdiction.
8This house believes that micro-finance organisations (including, but not limited to: NGOs, charities and development banks) should offer micro-finance loans in developing nations exclusively to women.Micro-Finance’ refers to small, long-term loans with no or extremely low interest rates, provided to individuals who seek to start a business.
9This house believes that states should hold binding national referendums on major peace agreements.
ESL Tie break motionThis house would make membership in a labour union compulsory for every worker.
ESL Quarter FinalThis house would require companies to place images of animal suffering on all products or food whose production harmed or killed animals.
ESL Semi FinalThis house believes that leaders of minority religions in Europe should strongly encourage their congregations to refrain from public displays of their faith.
ESL Final
Open Quarter FinalThis house believes that supreme/constitutional courts should not have the power to strike down legislation.
Open Semi FinalThis house believes that the United States of America should invade, and forcibly partition Iraq.
Open FinalThis House believes that feminist movement should oppose military interventions which claim to further women's rights

Sunday, July 27, 2014

Beihang World Debate Academy, July 2014, Beijing, China

BEIHANG WORLD DEBATE ACADEMY July 2014, Beijing, China


THW TELEVISE EXECUTIONS. demo

PRACTICE DEBATES:

This House would support “Tiger Parenting.” (Tiger Parenting is strict, demanding and pushes children to high levels of achievement.) PRACTICE 1

THBT ZOOS SHOULD BE CLOSED.  PRACTICE 2

THBT PROSTITUTION SHOULD BE LEGALIZED PRACTICE 3

THW legalize the sale and purchase of human organs practice 4

THW ban companies from advertising their products in a sexualized manner practice 5

THBT THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD PROVIDE EVERY CITIZEN WITH FREE INTERNET ACCESS. PRACTICE 6

THBT digital communication is more important to humanity than face-to-face contact. PRACTICE 7
TOURNAMENT:
THBT PARENTS SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED TO BEAT THEIR CHILDREN. RD 1

THW close all "after-school" cram schools RD 2

THW abolish all restrictions on immigration between Hong Kong and Mainland China RD 3

THW require all Internet users to use their real names.  RD 4

A Computer Operated Police (or C.O.P) Machine is a non-autonomous humanoid domestic drone currently being developed by the State to carry out operations deemed to be too dangerous for human officers. They are remote operated and fully armed. Motion: TH supports the deployment, throughout the Police Force, of robot police/C.O.P.s. round 5

ELIM DEBATES

QUARTERFINAL - THBT WESTERN NATIONS SHOULD PAY REPARATIONS TO CHINA FOR CRIMES COMMITTED DURING THE OPIUM WARS OF THE 19TH CENTURY
Infoslide:
OPIUM WARS
FIRST: ENGLAND VS. CHINA 1839-1842
Europe wanted to trade for silk, spices and tea. China did not want European goods. England smuggled in addictive opium to create demand by China for this narcotic. China resisted and England went to war. China signed treaty to end the war and England got Hong Kong as their colony. Still, China did not want European goods.
SECOND: ENGLAND, FRANCE, USA, RUSSIA VS. CHINA      1856-1860
Second war involved invasion and burning of Summer Palaces.  Treaty forced on China legalized opium, gave trade privileges to Westerners, allowed human trafficking of Chinese citizens to the West as workers, China had to pay huge sum of money to Western nations.

SEMIFINAL - THBT NATIONALISM IS A VIRTUE
Infoslide:
Nationalism, political or social philosophy in which the welfare of the nation-state as an entity is considered paramount. Nationalism is basically a collective state of mind or consciousness in which people believe their primary duty and loyalty is to the nation-state.
Virtue , quality of good in human conduct.


FINAL - THBT EARTH SHOULD NOT MAKE CONTACT WITH EXTRATERRESTRIAL INTELLIGENCE IN THE NEAR FUTURE.

Thursday, July 10, 2014

ARGO Open 2014 Prepared Motions


From CA Geetha Creffield:

After careful discussions among the members of the CAP, we have decided the prepared motions for the ARGO Open 2014:

Round 1 –THW ban shadow banking

Round 3 - THS a targeted military intervention by the international community to protect civilians in Northern Nigeria against insurgencies by Boko Haram


Round 5 - THW not cooperate with democratically elected politicians who hold extremist views, on an internal level, even if it means losing political power.

Round 7 - TH regrets the European court's decision to afford people the right to be forgotten on the internet.

Final - THBT Romania should stop using Gazprom gas, until Russia gives up its claims over Crimea.

We hope to see all of you in Romania this September!

Sunday, July 6, 2014

Australs July 2014

http://tab.australs2014.com/t/australs2014/motions/

Open Grand Final
[A] That Western Liberal Democratic States should take an ongoing public stance against religion
[B] That assuming a medicinal method of becoming heterosexual was developed, it should be banned
[C] In a post-genocide society, the state should aggressively pursue housing policies which promote racial integration
ESL Grand Final
[A] That we should ban volunteer tourism
[B] That First Ladies/Gentlemen should not publically advocate for policies or political positions during their partner's term in office
[C] That we regret the American withdrawal from Iraq
Open Semifinals
[A] That the rise of the Tea Party Movement is good for liberal citizens of the United States of America
[B] That we regret that Barack Obama has not made his racial background a significant issue during his Presidency
[C] That it would be better for the United States of America if the Southern states were to secede
Open Quarterfinals
[A] That the West should force the immediate resignation of Nouri al-Maliki
[B] That reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah is bad for Palestine
[C] That, in spite of the opposition of the Burmese Government, the international community should set up a safehaven for the Rohingyas in Burma
ESL Semifinals
[A] That indigenous communities who have historically lived in the Amazon should not be punished for acts of vigilantism against poaches and illegal loggers
[B] That historically oppressed indigenous minorities should embrace and promote inaccurate but positive myths or beliefs about their culture
[C] That indigenous citizens should be paid a salary for life as a form of reparations
Open Octofinals
[A] That the state should vet all advertisements intended for public spaces to ensure they do not perpetuate racist or sexist stereotypes
[B] That progressive public forums should actively recruit controversial, socially regressive speakers in order to spark public outrage and discussion
[C] That adoption organisations which preference, or facilitate biological parents' preferences for, placing children in heterosexual homes should be closed
Round 8
[A] That the feminist movement should exclude activists who argue that transwomen are not women
[B] That full equality between the sexes requires the complete abolition of femininity and masculinity
[C] That, as an attractive educated woman, we would choose to marry for money rather than pursue a career
Round 7
[A] That we should abolish NATO
[B] That Modi's victory over the Congress Party should be celebrated
[C] That ransoms should not be paid to Boko Haram
Round 6
[A] That couples should be able to enter relationship contracts which make any future infidelity a state-enforced crime
[B] That we should support online vigilantes to act against perpetrators of crime and police departments/prosecutors who fail to effectively prosecute them
[C] That we should grant overweight people the same protections from discrimination and hate speech as other vulnerable groups
Round 5
[A] That corporations should be allowed to vote
[B] That we support an aggressively redistributive global income tax
[C] That, once sufficient welfare services have been provided to every citizen, the state should not care about relative inequality
Round 4
[A] That developed nations should pay developing nations to not extract their fossil fuel resources (coal, gas, oil)
[B] That governments should not preserve habitats purely for cultural or aesthetic reasons
[C] That rather than protecting endangered species the animal rights movement should prioritise maximising the total welfare of the animal population
Round 3
[A] That we regret the depiction of protagonists in children's books and media as aesthetically superior
[B] That children should learn history as a unifying national story rather than a criticism of past generations
[C] That we should promote the notion that the decision to have a child is a selfish one
Round 2
[A] That major transactions of professional sporting clubs should be subject to a vote of paid club members
[B] That there should be character tests for owning or participating in professional sporting teams
[C] That we should eject sporting teams from international competitions if their fans are found to have committed racist/sexist/queerphobic etc acts during matches
Round 1
[A] That vegetarians and vegans have a moral obligation to aggressively lobby their friends and community to not consume animal products
[B] That the West should not import food from nations with chronic food shortages
[C] That we should ban all advertising and education which implies that addictive or dangerous substances cannot be enjoyable

Friday, June 27, 2014

Deutsche Debattiermeisterschaft (German Language Debating Championships), Berlin, Germany, June 6-9 2014

Deutsche Debattiermeisterschaft (German Language Debating Championships), Berlin, Germany, June 6-9 2014
  • R1: THW abolish Gesinnungsstrafrecht (additional attitude/mindset penalties for crimes commited, e.g. hate crimes)
  • R2: THW give citizens the right to change their identities without giving justification
  • R3: THBT Putin’s conduct of the Crimea crisis was in Russia’s strategic interest
  • R4: TH is a citizen of a western liberal democracy that rejects discrimination on the basis of religion, gender, sexual orientation or ethnicity. TH would boycott works from artists (painters, musicians, movie directors, etc.) that personally hold discriminatory views, even when you like their art
  • R5: TH regrets the increasing classification of human behaviour as illnesses
  • R6: THW, as part of awareness campaigns about rape and sexual violence, inform women of potentially risky behaviour (like alcohol consumption or choice of clothing)
  • R7: TH, as the European Union, would introduce defence mechanisms agains anti-EU parties
  • Quarter:: THBT liberal democracies should not treat disclosure of information to the public as treason.
  • Semi:: THW temporarily recolonise former colonies that have developed into “failed states”
  • DaF (German as a Second Language) Final: THBT it is time for Germany to take more on miiltary responsibility in the world
  • Final: THBT current day’s political correctness does more harm than good

TechOpen, Haifa, Israel, May 30-31 2014

TechOpen, Haifa, Israel, May 30-31 2014
  • R1: THW implement a full ban on burqas
  • R2: Info: In recent years, Hungary has severely limited freedom of speech and freedom of the press, has silenced opposition groups, and condoned widespread discrimination of the LGBT community and the Roma minority. Motion: TH, as the European Union, would suspend Hungary's EU-membership if they do not reform within a set period of time.
  • R3: Info: Hamsterdams are non-residential areas in which drug users and dealers are legally allowed to buy, sell, and use drugs. Any drug related activity outside such
  • Hamsterdams remains illegal. Motion: THW create Hamsterdams in cities with a high level of drug use
  • R4: Info: Virtual child pornography is a very realistic appearing computer generated depiction of a minor engaging in sexual acts. In the USA, Germany, and Australia (among others) virtual child pornography is banned. Motion: THW allow virtual child pornography
  • Semi: Info: In Star Trek, the Prime Directive prohibits space travels missions’ personnel from interfering with the internal development of alien civilizations. It was designed primarily for encounters with alien civilizations deemed to be less advanced. In the future, when human kind develops space travel capabilities, Motion: THW Implement the Prime Directive
  • Final: TH, as the Palestinian people, would launch a Third Intifada