The May Classic
2020 — Online, US
Policy Paradigm List
All Paradigms: Show Hidehe/him
Mamaroneck '22
Emory '26
I judge primarily on the Atlanta Urban Debate League circuit which is strictly packet. So don’t assume I have remotely any topic knowledge beyond normal politics stuff.
I’ll leave my prior assumptions at the door, and evaluate the round as it is. You should consider that I read policy for most of my high school career, but I am open to K anything if it’s read correctly.
Don’t be racist, homophobic, transphobic, or insensitive in any way or you get a 0.
Hello!
Please add ddevito@umich.edu to the email chain this summer.
I will try my absolute best to avoid intervention while recognizing some amount is inevitable. Anyone who claims to be impartial on every argument is lying. That being said, I strictly believe in the value of leaving the debating to the students.
I debated in highschool but have been out of it this past year, so you may find value in over-explaining or slowing down on certain technical issues. I really do enjoy techy debates though, especially with counterplan competition and topicality. I have an alright understanding of economics as I'm studying it in college (meaning I'm also excited to hear these debates!).
My background is with policy arguments. I have no disdain for kritiks, but bear in mind my knowledge is limited--especially on weird European philosophy. Please don't be discouraged--anything can be overcome with good explanation (and minimal jargon). I'll be transparent on the fact I've never read a K aff and usually went for framework on the neg (typically fairness).
I'll allow most things until the other team wins they shouldn't be; an example is inserting rehighlightings--it's the debaters' jobs to argue over. I'll default to conditionality and judge kick. Dropped arguments need warrants, otherwise the original argument was incomplete.
Princeton '26 Bronx Science '22
Affiliations- Assistant Coach at Berkeley Prep ('23-), Private Coach for Bronx Science teams ('23-)
Email chain: oneoffthek@gmail.com, hidden.aspec@gmail.com, bronxsciencedebatedocs@gmail.com
Pronouns: he/him
TLDR
Tech over truth but have trouble in mid/high level policy v policy debates. Like clash debates but there are better judges for it. Like easy decisions (dropped aspec, wipeout vs a team that is not ready, etc). If its a North East tournament that has comparatively low quality of judges and you are a technical team, you should pref me high. If its an Octas Bid tournament and/or has college coaches / college debaters / good high school coaches who are technically sound and know how arguments interact, I am probably not worth preffing above them.
Debaters who are crushing the other team should make my life easier. If the 2AC drops a DA and a CP, and you are sure you will win, just extend those and sit down. Some of these debates can be won with 3 minutes of the 2NC. Dont use all your prep if you dont need it. Will be rewarded with speaks.
Old:
Glenbrooks Update:
I do prefs for some of my teams. I look for two things: first, are they pure tech over truth. I am, I will only evaluate the arguments on my flow and only intervene if neccesary. I will vote on dropped arguments and will scratch my head if you don't take the easy way out.
Second, what are their opinions on Framework Kritiks and K Affs.
I prefer to judge kritiks that invest most of their time in framework to moot the aff. I prefer the aff to go for fairness impacts. I prefer the negative to realize that 5 links in the block, specific or not, will not help you with mooting the aff. If mooting the aff is not a negative win condition, you will probably lose to the perm double bind or case outweighs if equally debated. I can judge negative kritiks that fiat big functionally competetive alternatives if the negative is losing framework that is treated as a DA/UQ CP. This likely requires a lot of cards and some way to capture aff offense. Less strategic, although its what I did senior year.
For K Affs, I prefer judging impact turn based strategies. The counter interpretation makes sense to me ONLY when winning some external offense about predictability or limits. Otherwise, in my mind, counter interp will always link to negative offense if predictability is articulated well. I prefer that the negative goes for fairness based impacts that explains the neccesity of fairness for both teams.
KvK debates - I prefer that the negative wins a reason the aff doesn't get a permutation or, a harder sell, that the permutation doesn't sheild the link.
Policy v Policy - I dont trust myself to judge decent policy debates. You likely dont want me in the back for this. You should pref me below the college debaters you're comfortable with taking, successful FYOs that still think about debate, and definitely below college and high school coaches who actively cut cards and think about policy arguments. Since I am not super well versed on the true arguments on things like counterplan competition and such, I will be heavily relying on my technical ability and evaluate drops highly. Going for less and collapsing on one or two pieces of offense decreases the chances of me making a bad decision because I'll need time to parse the card doc and think about how arguments interact. I think infinite condo is good (although I enjoyed going for condo a lot and felt judges sometimes did too much work).
Old:
--I went positive at TOCs my senior year if that matters to you
--Tldr: Do what you do best- I am a technical judge and will vote for the team who did better debating. All of my opinions can easily be overturned by out-debating your opponent. I want to judge high-level debates and recognize that you are giving up your precious time to research and compete. I will be invested in your debate, try my best to catch every argument, read cards during prep, etc out of respect for your preparation, genuine interest in high-level argumentative innovation, and appreciation for technical proficiency. Although I'm not going to lie, I may look bored watching some not high level/not competitive debates
--My favorite judges were clash judges who were flow-centric and did not bring personal opinions into the decision (unless it was necessary to do so). This was because I debated fast, reading 13 off and going for undercovered positions. What David Sposito says here resonates with me "Recently I've found myself advising losing teams in the post round that they should have gone for extremely bad, dropped blips. An argument being 'bad' ALONE does not mean that I will have a 'high threshold' for voting on it (again, these are weasel words that allow judges to get away w/ voting as is convenient for them, or as they please). Teams still must answer an argument satisfactorily. It is true that practically, 'bad' arguments should be unstrategic b/c they can swiftly be beaten w/ the right arguments, but the other team only benefits if they know the right answers (which they often do, but sometimes do not, especially for arguments w/ a bad reputation). But that's not about thresholds, exactly.... Ineffective arguments do not suddenly become better because I want one argument to win or lose--logically, that is bizarre, and practically, it is a violation of giving each team their due."
--So what do I believe are "truer" arguments and "faultier" arguments? Despite mostly going for the K in my career, I found myself voting for Policy teams more often in close clash debates when judging last year. However, I am only coaching K teams right now which shows that I recognize the K's strategic potential. This means that if you are a competent K team that utilizes speed to overwhelm your opponent with arguments that are hard to answer, shotgun extendable arguments against the policy team's "true" answers to your offense, isolate offense that is mishandled, impact out arguments and explain how they interact with your opponent's arguments, then you should not be worried. These are the K teams that end up succeeding anyways- most K teams that make it to deep elims of TOCs and other big high school tournaments pref college debaters that solely read policy arguments and college coaches that will vote strictly off of their flow but will vote for the policy team if equally debated. I will think about clash debates similar to these judges. This means I will moot the aff if you win its good to do so, and I will not evaluate reps links if you win reps links are bad.
--To be transparent, I'm confident I can follow a counterplan competition debate but am not as well versed as college policy debaters nor do I know enough dense critical theory to process blocks that use buzzwords every other sentence. I can handle speed, but I can't process insanely fast mumbling or flow as good as the college debaters and coaches who devote much more time to this activity than I currently do. However, I want to judge high-level debates and am confident I can keep up with skilled debaters that make arguments clear and explain how arguments interact with each other.
--I mostly agree with other community norms seen at high levels of debate: if the "truest" arguments on each side are forwarded, affs get perms in kvk debates, unlimited condo is justified, fairness is the most strategic impact, predictability outweighs limits for the sake of limits, dont default to squo unless its mentioned by the negative, etc. I understand these are not homogeneous views held by the community and are contestable, these views mostly stem from Brian Klarman and Mikaela Malsin along with discussions with other top-performing debaters.
--Send docs out quicker, prep ends when doc is sent, asking what cards were read is prep (asking for a marked copy is not)
--Format emails reasonably. If you need help, "Tournament X Round Y- AFF Your Team Code Vs NEG Other Team Code - Judge Alex Eum"
--If everyone in the round sends analytics and you remind me after the debate, I'll raise speaks, just remind me.
-------------------------------------------10/30/2022------------------------------------------
Update:
Currently an engineering student at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. I don't think much has changed regarding my paradigm in the last two years, but I might have gotten worse at flowing so please speak clearly...
-------------------------------------------8/4/2020---------------------------------------------
run almost anything as long as you understand it and are capable of explaining it coherently.
Sam Felgran - samfelgran@gmail.com put me on the email chain.
General
- tech > truth
- tabula rasa in terms of what I will vote on, but making certain args may either boost or detract from speaks.
- flex debater although I run policy args more often.
- speed is fine as long as you are clear
- for quarantine - not sending the 1ac in its entirety will get the aff 27 speaks max and I will likely vote on theory arguments regarding not sending the 1ac.
- I will vote on death good and the death K.
- warrants warrants warrants
Neg
DA - should have uq and an impact in the 1nc (this is for RSG). DAs should be contextualized to the aff when possible. Loosely highlighted 2 card DAs in the 1NC that are blown up in the block warrant new 1AR answers. Going for a good DA that had decent answers > going for a bad DA that was undercovered.
CP - I default condo good. I will vote on cp theory if it is explained well. Not a fan of 2NC uq CPs unless it's a new aff and prob don't read more than one process cp unless it's a new aff.
K - I default util. Normal Ks like cap are fine. High theory is fine as long as you understand it. I am less familiar with identity Ks. Framework 2NRs are usually unconvincing and they should be a last resort unless the k is built around fw. I enjoy bataille and baudrillard debates.
T - I have a very high threshold for T vs policy affs.
Big impact turns on case (spark, x war good, dedev), impact turns in general, and k CTs - straight bossing. I very much enjoy these debates.
vs K affs - I lean neg on framework. Ks vs K affs are good. Call the aff out for being tricky.
Favorite 2NRs (vs policy) - CP and DA/impact turn or just the DA/impact turn. least favorite 2NRs (vs policy) - stupid theory, spec args, T.
Aff
Know your aff well and use your aff effectively, 2ar should write my ballot for me, yadda yadda yadda
1ac should still be clear.
As stated previously, it is strategic to turn neg positions (especially some random DA) and read theory.
K affs - Not the best judge for k affs, but also not the worst. If you read one, the advocacy should be clear, there should be a clear path to solvency, and you shouldn't be sneaky about what you do/don't defend. If a k aff is your go-to strat, by all means, read it.
Chad (death good) affs - sure lmao
bad
- saying or even suggesting that the iraq war or vietnam were good. china/russia war good is great though.
- offensive stuff.
- being genuinely mean (fiery cx is fine though; just make sure to roast your opponent's args and not them as people)
- I will not be persuaded by baseless accusations of racism/sexism etc and I have no patience for such "arguments."
How to boost speaks besides debating well
- star wars references
- good ethos.
Background/Top-Level:
He/him/his
I am beginning to judge more events other than just policy but I have almost zero experience with other forms of debate.
Please include me on the email chain: joshlamet@gmail.com. Everyone gets plus .1 speaks if I'm not asked to be put on, and I'm just automatically put on the chain. Ask me any questions about my paradigm in person or via email, although I try to update it regularly with the most important stuff.
School conflicts: Minnesota, Glenbrook North, Como Park
I don't care what you read as long as you convince me to vote for you, I will.
Stuff related to online debating:
Don't delete analytics from the speech doc, please. I'll probably dock your speaks if I remember to. Online debate is harder to flow than in-person so it's good practice if you want me to catch everything you're saying.
Please slow down a little (especially on T and theory*) because the number of arguments I flow is rarely equal to the number of arguments the speaker actually makes, and those numbers will be much closer to each other if everyone prioritizes clarity and slowing down a bit. Don't just read this and think you're fine. Slow down, please. I know half of all judges ever have something like this in their paradigm but I'm a slower flow than average because I flow on paper.
Sliders:
Policy------------------x-------------------K
Read a plan-------------------------------x---------Do whatever (probably at least sorta related to the topic)
Tech--------------x----------------------------Truth -- I hate myself for it, but I am kind of a truth-orientated judge in that I really don't want to vote for silly args, and the worse an arg is, the more leeway I give to answering it
Tricks---------------------------x--------------Clash
Theory-------------------------------------x--------- Substance -- condo is really the only theory arg that gets to the level of "reject the team", I simply feel that most other theory args are reasons to reject the arg, not the team. Unless the negative goes for the CP/K to which the theory applies in the 2nr, it's a tough sell for me to vote on, "They read [insert abusive off-case position], they should lose".
Conditionality good--------x---------------------Conditionality bad -- this being said, I would much rather see 4-6 good off, than a 7+ mix of good and bad
States CP good (including uniformity)-----------x----------------------50 state fiat is bad
Always VTL----------------x---------------------Never VTL
Impact turn (*almost) everything-x-----------------------------I like boring debate -- to add to this, I'm a huge sap for impact calc and specifically rebuttals that provide a detailed narrative of the impacts of the debate and how they interact with the other team's. Impact comparison and impact turns are often the deciding factors for me in close debates
*Almost meaning I'll vote on warming good, death good, etc. but not on args like racism good or ableism good. Why don't people read death good anymore? I am an edgy teenager at heart and could be convinced the human race should go extinct.
Limits---------------x-------------------------------Aff Ground
Process CP's are cheating----------------------x---------------Best fall-back 2nr option is a cheating, plan-stealing CP
Lit determines legitimacy-------x-----------------------Exclude all suspect CPs
Yes judge kick the CP--x-------------------------------------------Judge kick is abusive -- as long as the 2nr says to kick the CP, I'm gonna kick it and just analyze the world of the squo vs the aff and I'm pretty sure there's nothing the aff can really do if condo bad isn't a thing in the round. Heck, I judged a debate where the CP was extended for 30 seconds and not kicked but I still voted neg because the neg won a large risk of a case turn. What I'm saying, is that when you are aff and the neg goes for more than just the CP with an internal NB, beating the CP doesn't equate to winning the debate outright
Presumption----------x--------------------------Never votes on presumption
"Insert this rehighlighting"---------------------x--I only read what you read
I flow on my computer ---------------------------------------x I'm gonna need to borrow some paper
I try to give out speaker points that are representative of how well you performed in the round compared to the tournament as a whole. I try to follow the process detailed here, but I often find myself handing out speaks sort of indiscriminately. Getting good speaks from me includes being respectful and making good choices in the rebuttals (smart kickouts, concessions, and flow coverage).
Clash! I like judging debates where the arguments/positions evolve about one another as opposed to simply in vacuums.
Don't be sloppy with sources.
Random things I am not a fan of: Excessive cross-applications, not doing LBL, email/tech issues, making my decision harder than it should be, and 2ACs and 1ARs that don't extend case impacts (even when they're dropped).
T-USFG/FW:
Fairness is an impact----------x-------------------Fairness is only an internal link -- My threshold is usually how close your aff is to the topic in the abstract, i.e. econ inequality and nukes. I do feel like in the end the main goal of doing debate is to win. The activity serves a ton of other purposes but at the end of each debate, one team wins, and one team loses. This doesn't mean that I think reading a planless aff is unfair and can be convinced that a "fair" debate produces something bad, but it's going to be very hard to convince me that debate is not a game.
Topic education is decent for an education impact but policymaking and policy education are meh. Critical thinking skills can also be extracted from debate and critical skills about calling out state action and for revolution planning.
If you don't read a written-out advocacy statement: Impact turn framework---------x---------------------------Procedural
Debate and life aren't synonymous but I understand that many of your lives revolve heavily around debate, so I will respect any arg you go for as long as you make smart arguments to support it.
Add me to the chain jrodland1325@gmail.com
Mamo '22
Novice debate is about education
Tech > Truth
Ask me any questions you may have for before the round.
If my Camera is off I am not here.
I'm sure no one will, but don't be racist, sexist, homophobic, etc.
For higher speaks do any or all of the following:
Recommend a song in the chat.
Tell me a fun fact in the chat.
Make a joke about mamaroneck in a speech.
Make a water pun in a speech.
mamaroneck 22
jacobmill404 at gmail dot com
- Add me to your email chain, saramoghadamn@gmail.com.
- Please time yourselves.
- Partner communication is absolutely welcome but I only flow whatever the speaker says.
- (Pertaining to parli) I’m not a big fan of speed though I can follow along fairly well. I would much rather hear a few very well-thought-out arguments as opposed to a bunch of flimsier ones.
- Be aware of your opponent's speed preferences and adjust accordingly when they call clear/speed. If you don't, I will take off speaker points.
- Make sure to provide a framework as that is what I will follow.
- I try to make my decision solely based on my flow and what is said within round. I won’t make any assumptions or link/impact out arguments for you.
- I will vote on T or tricot as long as it makes sense.
- I enjoy T arguments very much, but make sure to provide an interp, standards, and voters.
- K’s should only be run when the other side believes it’s more important than whatever is currently being debated and directly connects to the resolution. There should be clear links, impacts, and solvency/alternatives. The alt should solve at least some of the aff. Please don’t assume I am familiar with the foundational literature.
- I absolutely love counterplans, but make sure you explain why it’s both competitive and net beneficial. Make sure to still provide DAs.
- I really really like to see clash within a debate.
- Extend arguments!
- Impacts and impact analysis are important! Make sure to impact everything out, I don’t want to do the work for you. Tell me what I should consider most important and why. Also explain how competing arguments should be evaluated.
- I like clear links, impacts, and warrants. Warrants strengthen arguments and are something I definitely look for.
- Make sure to summarize in the rebuttal why I should be voting for the aff/neg. Voters and impact calculus are your (and my!) best friends.
Described by Isaac Chao as a "Gamesman" and apparently "very underestimated" by Eric Schwerdtfeger at Strake
My Judge Stats from Nelson Okunlola's script in like 2022: "Out of 202 rounds, you voted AFF 48.02% of the time and NEG 51.98% of the time. Out of being on 48 panels, you sat 6.25% of the time (3 total) (solid imo)"
Lindale '21 U of Houston '25
Tech > Truth to the fullest extent ethically possible
he/him/his
Quick Prefs:
Phil - 1/2
Theory - 2/3
Policy - 1
Tricks - Please just read policy, I'll evaluate it I guess but please don't make me ;(
K - 3
Paradigm Summary: I'm a third year out who's taught at TDC a couple of times, coached every type of student under the sun from a security K fiend to an extinction good lover to a policy head to a hyper technical theory gamesman to nerdy phil debaters and have judged more rounds than I can count. I can judge all styles of debate but fair warning I haven't judged actively in about a year so I am rusty.
History:
I am a junior at UH - I coached for DebateUS! in my freshmen year of college and taught at DebateDrills, TDC, and HUDL in the summer between freshmen and sophomore year of college. During sophomore year I slowly phased out of debate and I judged less often only coaching McNeil at a few tournaments. My only connection to debate now is helping out TDC in backend work.
I evaluate the debate through the easiest ballot route and absolutely adore judge instruction - please make your strategy crystal clear and write my RFD for me. The easiest way to get a 30 in front of me is to have the best strategy and make the round as clear as possible.
Phil
- Probably comfortable with whatever author you read
- Syllogism > Spammed independent reasons to prefer
- Dense framework debates should have good weighing and overviews to make them resolvable
- General Principle means nothing, just answer the counterplans
- default epistemic confidence
Kritiks
- I can evaluate K debates but I'm probably a mediocre judge for it - there are better judges than me at this and there are worse
- Specificity is always better - please don't read generic state/fiat/util/etc links
- Please stop being rude as part of your performance (e.g not answering questions for queer opacity or acting strange as part of baudrillard)
- Do not read nonblack afropess in front of me. I am not afraid to give you an L0 after the 1NC.
- Flex your knowledge! Pull out those historical examples, K debaters are at their best when they can really prove they've done their homework.
Policy Debate/"LARP"
- I've really grown to love policy debate and I think it's probably close to my favorite style. I've judged the best policy debaters in the last few years and really, really appreciate very in-depth topic knowledge.
- Weighing, weighing and more weighing
- Will evaluate your wacky impact turns
- Please do more case debate. I repeat, please do more case debate. No such thing as too much time on case - I mean that. The best 1NC, 99% of the time, is 0 off case.
- Perms are tests of competition not advocacies
T/Theory
- Don't think voters are needed (every standard can be impacted out independently and probably connects to both fairness and education)
- I think RVIs get a bad wrap - they can be very useful to deter bad theory (e.g an RVI against shoe theory)
- Will evaluate all theory but my bar for responses to non-argument related theory (e.g must wear a santa hat theory) is much, much lower than my bar for responses to argument related frivolous theory (spec status, afc, etc)
- Default on drop the debater, competing interps, yes rvis
T-Framework v K Affs
- Debate bad affs that don't offer some microcosm or "solution" are silly
- 1AR probably needs a counter interp/what debate looks like in the aff's world
- TVAs are overrated and usually don't solve the 1AR offense (unless specific to the aff, then maybe but still probably not)
- It's not enough to just say "SSD solves" you should explain why and how that's specific to the aff
- the 1AR should still do LBL and the 2NR should not be 3 minutes of an overview that can be summarized in "I think clash is cool"
Tricks
- If you don't have too, please don't.
Speaks
Good strategy -if you have a perfect strategy, you'll get perfect speaks.
Make me laugh- I've probably been judging a thousand rounds that day and could use entertaining rounds just have fun with it and don't take debate too seriously
I try to keep a 28.5 average but my friends make fun of me for being a speaks fairy or being too volatile with speaks
Just have a good time - we all do debate because we think it's fun so have fun with it and make sure your opponent is having a good time as well. If you're being kind to your opponent and we're all having a good time, it will be shown on the ballot.
You work hard to debate, and I promise I will work hard to judge you and give a decision that respects the worth of that.
My favorite debates that I've judged so far:
JWen v Max Perin @ Emory Quarters 2022
Daniel Xu v Miller Roberts @ TFA Prelims 2022 (Only ever double 30)
JWen v Anshul Reddy @ King RR 2022
Email chain: rrn.debate [at] gmail [dot] com
Background: Mamaroneck High School, University of Southern California – Policy Debate
Tech over truth.
Be clear, don’t be surprised when an argument I can’t flow doesn’t make it into my decision. I am slow at typing and on average get down 60% of your speech down on my flow.
Don't clip, be rude, or lie.
I agree with Ken Karas on most everything.
Mamaroneck '22/Northwestern '26
(GBX 2023 Update)
PLEASE don't clip, especially at the varsity level. I am following along in the doc. It sucks, is unfair, and will result in a loss.
Assume that I have ZERO topic knowledge. Explain acronyms, slow down on T.
TLDR
The following are just thoughts I have, I will vote for anything obviously excluding things that are racist homophobic transphobic etc.
Tech > Truth but an argument that is less true requires less of an answer to beat it, if that makes sense. You need to have a claim/warrant/impact in order for me to consider an argument (ie. condo in the 2AC cannot be "condo--voter for aff ground" and then a minute of the 1AR)
Framework
Fairness is an impact, but the negative should not just assume I think that. Explain why, or for the aff, explain why not.
I am more persuaded by k affs that are grounded in topic literature, but if you give me a reason to think otherwise, I will evaluate it.
CP
Won't judge kick unless you tell me to
Process CP's are fine but I would prefer a well-researched strategy at least somewhat tied to the topic, smart 2ac perm texts are underutilized
DA
Politics is fine but i prefer a 1nr that does good link spin to a 1nr that card dumps bad evidence
K
You do you, neg v. policy affs I feel like the aff should get to weigh the plan and the neg should get links to reps if evenly debated, but would be persuaded by judge instruction + good impact debating by either side
Don't assume anything about my knowledge of your literature base
T
Read lots of cards
Theory
Other than conditionality, theory is usually a reason to reject the argument not the team. I am more likely to err negative if it wasn't particularly egregious.
Random
I'm generally not expressive unless I'm like, super super confused
Will adjust speaker points to the tournament/division.
Mamaroneck '20
Binghamton '24
assistant coach @ Berkeley Prep
As of fall 2021, I no longer actively debate. This was not by my own choice, but rather the result of partner scarcity/other people quitting at a small program, and is something I am sort of sad about. It does however, mean a few things:
1. My engagement with the activity entirely takes place through coaching/judging, thus, I will be especially committed to making these debates as good as possible in whatever ways I can.
2. Many of the views and/or biases (particularly concerning k debate) stated in this paradigm are far more weakly held than they were even a few months ago. You probably get away with anything if you do it well.
In high school I was flex but went for the K very often. I would typically go for topicality against critical affs. I have predispositions towards both sides of the clash of civs depending on issue. My closest mentors in the activity were/are "policy-leaning" and my brief college career was largely k-oriented. Do with all that what you will.
I read a great deal in my spare time and as part of my academic career. This mostly focuses on putatively "critical" bases of literature like world-systems analysis, Russian Studies, Marxism, and development economics. I strive to be neutral but I believe that judges who are highly engaged with scholarship outside of the activity should not try to pretend that it doesn't influence how they think about debates.
Basic predispositions:
+0.3 speaks if you opensource after the debate and tell me
tech determines the direction of truth
protecting the 2nr = yes
not your baudrillard
I will not evaluate arguments made outside of speech times and thus will stop flowing if you continue after the timer
don't be racist, sexist, homophobic, etc
an expressive judge, but tend to express my feelings about extremely irrelevant things and make difficult to discern expressions
horrible with eye contact
speed = good
I am extremely unlikely to vote in favor of mandating pref disclosure
Do not ask for high speaks
Moralizing is prohibited
I would frankly prefer not to hear fascist and genocidal arguments about "first striking" Russia or China or Iran
other than that, more general "death good" is fine
"kritik affs"/planless affs/t-usfg/framework:
Debate is a game. It is also 1) A game with potentially meaningful effects on the social/political consciousness of the participants and 2) A game with a community, culture, and history. This history may mean that even if an argument is narrowly true, the actual enforcement/implementation of a rule may have historically been used as a tool of exclusion. On the flipside, without rules to the game it might cease to function entirely, and then whatever benefits there are to it would be lost. I can be convinced of either of these things.
affs should not defend a moral truism
i will lean more strongly towards the policy side of these debates when affs do not clearly advocate for something and more strongly towards the critical side when negatives make very racist or orientalist arguments
critiques generally:
Critical debates are good when done well. As mentioned above, I am very knowledgeable about literature bases related to Marxism, critiques of imperialism, or orientalism. I am also conversant in baudrillard, foucault, wilderson, etc -- most of the literature that is conventionally read in debates.
links to the plan + alts that function as counterplans OR links that function as impact turns are the most enjoyable k debates for me. these debates produce the most interesting revolutionary research. this doesn't change at all that affs that can't justify weighing the plan will lose in front of me.
I think "weighing the aff" is not all-or-nothing, insofar as the aff is attached to a number of things (political and educational methodology, engagement with certain structures, goals, etc) besides its scenarios which these debates are almost entirely about
Impact turns when well explained and well carded are often a good strategy.
t vs policy affs
I default to competing interpretations.
reasonability is not a thing
not much else to say here
disads
I read most if not all evidence
uq + link + internal link + impact
counterplans:
I like well-researched, specific, techy, creative, etc counterplans. I am a big fan of the advantage cp. I especially enjoy cps that rely on a macroeconomic or ir theory to ground solvency (mmt, prolif good, etc). uniqueness cps are cool
Process counterplans become better the more they are grounded in topic literature. Process counterplans become worse the more they use neg fiat to manufacture an opportunity cost or lead to the aff. Theory will be covered below.
Sufficiency framing >>>>
Logical arguments or arguments based on obvious holes in the aff don't necessarily need solvency advocates
obviously you can kick specific planks
theory:
lean negative on: condo, pics (including plan-inclusive alts), no plan no perm
lean affirmative on: fifty state fiat, multi-actor fiat generally, agent counterplans generally, process counterplans that don't very obviously compete
i am open to intrinsic perms being okay to punish shitty process cps
LD:
Same views as in policy apply for the most part. Best for larp or structural k debates.
Biases in no plan debates significantly weaker in this activity
I do not know much about analytic phil. I know a decent amount about continental and political phil.
People who have influenced how I debate/judge/view debate:
Ronak Ahuja, Ken Karas, Atticus Glen, Daryl Burch
If you make (nice) jokes at the expense of someone from Mamaroneck chances are that I will laugh, especially if it is Sonia Suben