Political Crossfire Forums

PricklySponge · Joined: 11 May 2005 Posts: 8499

What ever happened to them? Did they just sort of... die?

John Galt · Joined: 04 May 2004 Posts: 20593 Location: Minnesota

There was a lack of interest in formal debates.

The Grandmaster · Posted: Thu Nov 16, 2006 7:02 pm Post subject:

Not by me. I submitted my essays on time and did decent on them. (I thought)

Revenant · Joined: 16 Apr 2006 Posts: 15852 Location: Bliss

The Grandmaster wrote: Not by me. I submitted my essays on time and did decent on them. (I thought)

NO THEY s*cked!!!!! AHA HA HA HA HA!!!

*runs*

*doesn't see train coming*

PricklySponge · Joined: 11 May 2005 Posts: 8499

John Galt wrote: There was a lack of interest in formal debates. Will the great debates forum be closed?

The Comrade · Joined: 16 Jul 2006 Posts: 11403 Location: Zagreb

PricklySponge wrote: What ever happened to them? Did they just sort of... die?

yes...

the middle east forum started up it's own version of the greate debate though.

spearsy23 · Joined: 24 Oct 2005 Posts: 5400 Location: Fulton, Ks

the problem with the great debates is there didn't seem to be much debating, it seemed more of an essay contest

FCTE · Joined: 11 Mar 2004 Posts: 18535 Location: Illinois

spearsy23 wrote: the problem with the great debates is there didn't seem to be much debating, it seemed more of an essay contest

Yeah really. I'd like to see some Lincoln-Douglas mouth frothing and shouting and possibly an eye gouged out........maybe a few chairs thrown...........a stabbing even.

LostSoul3412 · Joined: 11 Feb 2005 Posts: 7657

The Comrade wrote: the middle east forum started up it's own version of the greate debate though.

Israel vs. Palestine?

The Comrade · Joined: 16 Jul 2006 Posts: 11403 Location: Zagreb

LostSoul3412 wrote:

Israel vs. Palestine?

the topic currently is "is a Palestinian state feasible?"

LostSoul3412 · Joined: 11 Feb 2005 Posts: 7657

The Comrade wrote: the topic currently is "is a Palestinian state feasible?"

That's pretty cool.

I should really spend more time there...

The Comrade · Joined: 16 Jul 2006 Posts: 11403 Location: Zagreb

LostSoul3412 wrote:
That's pretty cool.

I should really spend more time there...

currently it's being held up because one of the teams members hasn't shown up. so the judging so far is a little weird.

The Grandmaster · Posted: Sat Nov 25, 2006 5:56 am Post subject:

So it's not looking too good for the great debates?

Secondary Oak · Joined: 02 Oct 2004 Posts: 3378 Location: Haifa

spearsy23 wrote: the problem with the great debates is there didn't seem to be much debating, it seemed more of an essay contest
I agree. It seems it was less debating - as in attacking each other's arguments and such - and more just posting essays.

superskippy · Joined: 14 Jul 2005 Posts: 7737 Location: Petah Tikva

LostSoul3412 wrote: The Comrade wrote: the topic currently is "is a Palestinian state feasible?"

That's pretty cool.

I should really spend more time there...

Please do, the debates took a lot of organizing but it appears we have some real dedication which made organizing them a lot easier. Currently we have started the 2nd round into rebuttals. Take a peak and leave a comment in the comments thread.

emerald · Joined: 05 Apr 2005 Posts: 7294 Location: uk

LostSoul3412 wrote: The Comrade wrote: the topic currently is "is a Palestinian state feasible?"

That's pretty cool.

I should really spend more time there...

it's my general hideout place there, good debates, people to annoy you and people for you to annoy with your conflicting views, and it's generally pretty busy, plus the debate is going pretty well, and should carry on once the current one ends.

Quote: I agree. It seems it was less debating - as in attacking each other's arguments and such - and more just posting essays.

i did read the great debates, i didnt think they were too bad, although they were a little long. perhaps having a word limit like the one superskippy has organised in the ME forum would be better. it's more to the point and doesnt require a great deal of the debators time in formulating essay style pieces of work

The Grandmaster · Posted: Mon Nov 27, 2006 5:45 pm Post subject: Re: Great Debates.

emerald wrote:
i did read the great debates, i didnt think they were too bad, although they were a little long

Did you like my essays? :)

The Comrade · Joined: 16 Jul 2006 Posts: 11403 Location: Zagreb

The Grandmaster wrote:
Did you like my essays? :)

no one did, you failed.

just kidding

emerald · Joined: 05 Apr 2005 Posts: 7294 Location: uk

Quote: Did you like my essays?

:) yeah i did, it was very impressive, you're a good writer

*grandmasters ego is ready to explode* :-D

anselfir · Joined: 16 Apr 2005 Posts: 22848 Location: ZzZzZzZz

I can comment on the essays.
I'll do more later if I feel like it, or there is demand.

Grandmaster's essay went from a vague idea to an even more vague idea, which made me lol'd quite unexpectedly. Civil rights > liberty is not so easy a transition to make, nor is it practical to go from a vague but legalistic idea to a vague and surreal idea.

"It is no strange concept to any reasonable person why national security is important."
Come on.

"We can see it around us all the time. So the questions we ought to ask ourselves are to what degree can you have one, before it becomes destructive to the other."
Can't really ask that question before defining the conflict/harmony you mentioned 1 or 2 sentences before, repeatedly. Otherwise we have not learned anything from this paragraph at all.

"Why is liberty, or why is security even important at all?"
A good question! Now expand on it, define the approach to the question.

"if this society is constantly being invaded, overthrown, and suppressed."
vagueness rules when talking to kids, but not here. Try defining specific actions that compose security, and make so that the relativistic nature of the term comes through. now we have a vague society and vague suppressions, you can't even make the argument that certain actions that endanger civil liberties are the same actions that pose a security risk if carried out by "foreigners" instead you have the reference to prisoners, which requires another consideration. bad use of resources there, or not enough insight into the issue.
*my mistake, can't give you points for that either, sincethat reference is in the next paragraph.
Instead of some shreds of elegance, we have something like "National security is the very basis, the soil in which liberty will take root." Please do not use metaphors without defining the concepts first, you are not jesus here, and we are not asked to find the meaning of life through a love of truth, k

I for one do not give a s**t what russell has to say on rabbits or men. Also, taking this "spice of life" argument makes liberty seems like a luxury without defining it at all. What specific actions compose this liberty, what specific coercive powers are given the government. we've no idea, all we are told is that these things rabbits will not understand or appreciate.

Now the decision part!
"this is not possible to answer in a general sense." Nor is it possible to answer without defining the terms to describe empirical situations.

"Here we can understand that security would take precedence"
Who are "we," is this an essay by democracy? Democracy is a logical fallacy the last time i checked.

"But we must insure simultaneously, that their remains something left to protect." Replace this paragraph with this sentence, nothing much will change. Expand on this and define terms.

"These acts of congress became known as the Alien and Sedition Acts." Great story, but reference it simply as ASA and get along with the argument, if there is any beyond some simple declarations.

". In our examination of the role of the citizen in governance, I stated that in order for any action to be justified for a governance, it must stand up to scrutiny."
Scrutiny by whom? nevermind the implicit democracy-is-truth aura

ASA attacked, but from the same front as the previous "liberty is good" front. Nothing wrong with that, but maybe diversify with some utilitarian candy or something that attracts the crowd. Your love of liberty is like Bush's love of liberty, except his has the extra divine flavor.

"Any act that is to truly protect us from a threat that would be sufficient to destroy us, or damage the very liberties we live for, and is effective in doing so has an exceptional basis for justification."
Ok. But you are repeating stuff that are obvious if we were to follow your preferences.

Overall, I must ask, were you John Kerry's speech writer?

I'll do the anarchist one next.