I don't care what they say...Vengeance is sweet

I got home at 1:30 today from a three-day super-tiresome speech & debate tournament from Thursday through Saturday. It was at U of O in Eugene. In prelims for Lincoln-Douglass debate I faced two people from Ashland (can you guess who?). That's right, the two guys from Ashland who have beaten me before. One beat me to a quarterfinal round, and one beat me in a final round, both in previous tournaments. I lost to both of them in prelims, and barely scraped up quarterfinals. Needless to say, I was mad. I beat my opponent from Tigard in quarterfinals and moved on to debate in semi-finals. There were three Ashland debaters against me. I faced Nathan, the guy who beat me in finals. I out-debated him since he wasted his last two speeches talking about abuse while I was actually trying to debate. And then, finally, I came up against Alex, a guy who I actually like and is a good debater. It was a good debate, but I pulled ahead with a 2-1 vote, and won Junior LD at U of O. My team was really happy that I had faced down three Ashland debaters (who are infamous for being abusive, debatespeak for cheating). I got a small black brick with gold letters on it as a prize, and a U of O debate t-shirt. Sad prizes, but what they symbolize is the downfall of Ashland monopoly on LD, and vengeance on a once-tyrannical school. I used what I think is my favorite argument I've written so far. (for those who care, the resolution is In the United States, the principle of jury nullification is a just check on government) I argued that since jurors are paid by the government for their services, they are part of the government. Since one branch of the government (in this case the judicial) can't check itself, jury nullification can't be a check on government. None of my opponents could attack that argument effectively, so I won =). Margaret, don't you DARE take that argument.

Rampant Racist Rhetoric

At a speech and debate tournament last week, I was wronged like none other. For one of my debates, I centered my case around an aspect of the social contract, mainly that governments are only beholden to their own citizens, and they don't need to care about ramifications on citizens other than their own. One of my points was about Africa, and how it has a polarized economy (basically a few people get rich while the others get almost nothing), and also how targeted economic sanctions on Africa would lead to an un-polarized economy. I also brought Africa up in Cross-Examination. According to my judge, since I said that governments don't need to care about any people but their own, and that sanctioning Africa would be good, I was being racist. I lost the round because of that, and got minimum speaker points. Had I not been "racist" I would have gone to semi-finals and then to finals, and probably won (since every one else in my division was horrible). even my opponent, who is supposed to over-exaggerate bad things about my case, didn't think I was being racist. That's a pretty long stretch for a judge. He used those exact words; "rampant racist rhetoric." It was so funny I laughed all the way home on the bus. It's the best alliteration I've ever heard.

Groundhog Day

Today is February Second, famously known for its title as 'Groundhog Day.' On this day, Punxsutawney Phil (Prognosticator of Prognosticators) felt obligated enough to grace us with his presence, and doom us to another six weeks of winter. Doesn't it ever strike you as odd that we rely on a furry little rodent to tell us what the weather will be for the next few months? I guess it's because he's "cute" that we trust him more than educated, professional weathermen (not that they know what they're doing either). In a few years, probably more people will go to Phil the rodent's funeral than weatherman and famous Asian writer Su Tong. Another thing I wondered about is whether or not the groundhogs in the business of prognostication ever contradict eachother. Do Smith Lake Jake and Punxsutawney Phil get along? I wouldn't imagine so, since they're competing for the same crowd in the same business.
Anyway, glad to see that Phil utilized his pessimistic capabilities.