BeIR/webis-touche2020 huggingface dataset:
war in iraq

First of all, I agree with my opponent - they SHOULDN'T have had WMD. But there was a good chance they might. It seemed very probable that Saddam was breaking the treaties. Therefore, my argument about a justified reason for entering the war flows through. I also extend my chess analogy. And, yeah, it was a dictatorship before. But that doesn't mean it couldn't get worse. The fact of the matter is the region is extremely unstable right now, with factions warring to try to gain power. If we pull out, then our forces, which are currently propping up the democratic government and protecting it, are gone. This means the government will not have nearly enough of the necessary defense. It will collapse, and some Islamo-Fascist faction will take control, setting up another dictatorship. Seeing as how divided we've made that country, a genocide would be even more likely. Thus, I extend my argument about a worse situation developing should we pull out. My opponent also asked why we're concerned with a country we fought in the past. Well, we're still concerned with Korea, Germany, and Japan. And even though the Cold War never developed into a real war, we are still concerned with Russia. Countries that we've been at war with are of the utmost concern for us. As far as the economy goes - wars cost money. That doesn't mean it's not worth it. As far as the debt goes, all those trillions of dollars don't all come from the war. True, it has a lot to with it, but the fact of the matter is that this debt has been with us. Every nation has a debt. This doesn't put us in such a horrible position. I'd also like to point out that every time the US has made a big cut in its debt, a recession has followed. I look forward to the next round.
war in iraq

o yea ur welcome my opponent stated that we went over to iraq because we thought that they had WMD, which they shouldn't have had in the first place. see back in the persian gulf war, which was a war in kuwait, the iraqis surrendered to the allied forces. now at the end of that war iraq was supposed to get rid of those weapons. so they shouldn't have had them in the first place. Also my opponent brought up the point that we should stay there and if we pull out that that region would collapse and would be worse off then it was before. Now if we pull out now then they wont be worse off b/c before they had a dictator. So i would rather not have a dictator then have one.Has for our economy we are in so much debt and so my ? to you is why should we be concerned about a country that we have fought against in the past? Also if we stayed in the war what do you propose that we do about the debt that we have which is like trillions of dollars?
war in iraq

I'm unsure as to whether my opponent is arguing that we shouldn't have gone over there in the first place, or that we shouldn't be over there now, so I'll refute both points. Thanks to my opponent for starting the debate. Please vote for the better argumentation, not what you agree with. Yadda, yadda, yadda. Let's begin. His first point that was that the entire reason for going over there was to find weapons of mass destruction, and we didn't find any. Well, right there he gives you a reason for going over: looking for WMD. Just because we didn't find WMD doesn't invalidate the reason for going over there in the first place. It seemed probable at the time, and it was a major issue of national security. If I'm playing a game of chess, and I move my knight to protect my queen, when in fact my opponent was never going after my queen, it doesn't mean that I was wrong in defending my queen. Now, in response to why we're over there now: it's just not a good idea to pull out. The region would collapse and just be worse off than it was before. We have a responsibility to finish what we started.
Black Lives Matter Protest Don't Help

As a young minority in America you as much as anyone should understand that there are constant micro aggressions done toward communities as you said people who work in gas stations are assumed to be affiliated with Isis certain communities like African Americans or Mexicans even more so you must realize that people like your friends father who are shot due to the police racially profiled him are everywhere and the black lives matter movement wants to bring attention to it. Young black people like yourself are constantly getting gunned down based on their skin color or their clothes the black community feels very disgruntled by this due to the fact that they were constantly oppressed in slavery and with the Jim Crow laws black lives matter isn't saying that all other lives don't matter they're saying that there are problems in their communities that must be addressed the media paints black lives matter as this neo black panther group that only wants black supremacy when in fact all it wants is for their voices to be heard because America has a long standing history of ignoring their voices so they believe by being loud and by interrupting people their voices can be heard. The black lives matters is very similar to the civil rights movement in which there were groups that called for black supremacy and groups that said the white men were the devil yet they all worked toward creating an equal America and while some of the actions done by the black lives matter protest are wrong they just do it out of care for you and other young minorities in America they want to convey the point that your voice matters and never let someone take that away form you even if you have to stand up to get it heard.
Black Lives Matter Protest Don't Help

Okay. I do get that they want it to be heard about how they are getting treated, but was all of this stuff happening back when white police were getting shot and killed or held at gun point. If a gun is held and fired at you yes you have the right to pull out your gun, but if they have not threatened you in anyway or have not held you at gunpoint you don't have the right to shoot. I get all of this but was is screaming Black Lives Matter goanna do. It's goanna make people do things that won't help LIKE holding an officer a gunpoint. Did you know that I'm 12 years old, that my friends are white, do you wanna know what one of them said. Well they said that they hate the fact that everybody is focused on black lives matter. What about that fact that one of my friends is Mexican and lived in Cali. but he moved because police kept assuming he as associated with a gang when he wasn't. Or how people always assume '(Not sure of the actual culture but the culture that people say always works at gas station)' are associated with ISIS. What about those problems I don't wanna be scared that I'm can't walk out my door without getting shot because I'm black. I know how they feel but what about the Mexican girls dad down the street that went away for bossiness and never came back because when he went the California he got shot seven time, after wearing a beater and hanging with his friends outside a store. There are more races other than African American, keep the past in the past.
Black Lives Matter Protest Don't Help

First off let me say this, yes I am black, and I'm young but that doesn't have to do with the fact that I have an opinion. First off doing all of these protest is going to do nothing, and I mean NOTHING. Why do I say this well almost every time a protest happens some more stuff happen and what I mean by that is more people get shot, more people get hurt, and at the end of the day what does protesting do. I mean I know it can help people understand the pain but screaming 'Black Lives Matter' is going to do nothing at all. Black Lives Don't Matter. All lives matter. We should not be focused on a white man killing a black person, we should be focused on how almost everyday somebody else is dying, killing themselves, running away. I think just because of something that happened in the past people are making it a bigger deal than what it is. Just because I'm black I'm supposed to listen to rap, like chicken and kool-aid, and be ghetto. No just because I'm black im not any different than you.
God Exists

I would also like to commend him for jumping into a difficult topic on his first debate here on DDO. I will first address the few points brought up in this round, and then conclude with my final thoughts. EyesThe evolution of our eyes is largely understood [1]. In fact, there is considerable evidence showing that the eyes of several different species evolved very similar eyes by very different evolutionary paths [2]. Therefore, nothing regarding the existence of a god is proven. Furthermore, even if we had no idea how our eyes came to be, it would still not be appropriate to claim them the work of a god, for the reasons I mentioned in the previous round; it would be an Argument from Ignorance [3]. The Burden of ProofIn PRO's final paragraph, he points out that I have not shown that no gods exist. Of course, he is correct. I did not try to prove that no gods exist because I didn't have to. PRO made a positive claim ("God Exists"), and therefore has the Burden of Proof. It is the responsibility of the one making a claim to provide sufficient evidence to support that claim [4]. I had no such responsibility since I made no claims; nowhere did I claim that no gods exist. Final ThoughtsThis debate started with PRO making the claim that "God Exists. " He tried to use the argument from design; I showed how that argument fails. He tried to claim that the human eye must have been designed, requiring a deity; I showed that we know how our eye evolved, countering his need for a deity. PRO has not met his burden of proof. [1] . http://www.scientificamerican.com... [2] . https://en.wikipedia.org... [3] . http://en.wikipedia.org...[4] . http://rationalwiki.org...
God Exists

I would like to thank PRO for his arguments, I have two main thoughts:The Argument from DesignYou have basically said that the things we see in our universe that seem to fit together so well, they must have been designed by an intelligent designer. This is not the case. The fact that complex, seemingly designed patterns and interrelationships can and do come from naturalistic processes is well understood [1].An Argument from IgnoranceAn Argument from Ignorance is the name of a logical fallacy in which one claims that since they don't know the answer to something, the answer must be (insert pet explanation here) [2]. This fallacy is pretty much built into the Argument from Design. Basically, you see what you think is design, you cannot explain how it could be anything but design, therefore, you conclude that it is designed by a designer.Final ThoughtsPRO has tried to use the Argument from Design, I have shown how this argument fails. Also, even if we accept that the universe must have been designed, which we have no reason to do, PRO has not shown why the designer must be a god. PRO has not met the burden of proof he accepted when he made a positive claim.[1] http://www.colorado.edu...[2] http://en.wikipedia.org...
curfew time staying the same

Well, if anything, curfews should be either abolished or made later. There is no reason to have a curfew any earlier than 11:00pm, and 11:00 is hardly reasonable. Honestly, curfew doesn't affect crime to the point where it should be strictly enforced and early. If a teenager is convinced to steal or do whatever other illegal act - a curfew is not going to stop him/her because the punishment for that crime is inevitably going to be worse than a curfew violation. In fact, it is reasonable to beleive that the person is going to wait until after curfew to commit the crime anyways, because more people will be asleep/not out and about/etc. Curfews do not deter crime. I realize there have been studies about curfews. The evidence is inconclusive in general. Some of it points to less crime, some of it points to more crime. However, the conclusions that say curfews cause less crime are skewed. These analyses do not take into account that a drop in crime is already being experienced, and they do not compare them to other cities. Speaking on data about curfews decreasing crime... "However, this assertion and others like it require scrutiny. For example, Monrovia had already experienced a forty percent decline in juvenile burglaries, and only had about a dozen juveniles arrested for burglary for each of several years prior to adopting curfew (Criminal Justice Statistics Center 1978-97). Their decline is also not compared to cities that did not enforce curfews." Also, curfews are pretty ineffective anyways. Any curfew law will have to make exceptions for juveniles traveling home from work, etc., so there's one loophole already. Furthermore, what police man or woman is going to arrest a juvenille for being out past curfew if the person is not doing anything? Most likely, the person will only be arrested if he or she commits a crime - thus the curfews don't decrease the chance of this. Most likely, the cop will warn the person, and the person will take no real notice to it and continue on with his night; those being out past curfew and spotted by the police won't be hunted down if they aren't already commiting a crime. Lastly, I don't understand your point about law-abiding juveniles? If they are law-abiding, why would we need curfews? I also do not understand the comment about destroying our environment. I'm pretty sure theres no exclusive negative environmental impact to teenagers staying out later.
Singing Contest

This was extremely fun!! I loved every minute of this debate!! Thanks for sending it to me!! But honestly I would vote you winner just cause you actually took the chance to even show your face an sing!! An your not a bad singer. ;) But thank you for your kind words! I had two songs I just did within this hr, but idk this one is my best option. There's a Spanish part I sang to in it. But lol it's not as fast as you had mentioned i do. http://www.smule.com...Heaven Save me from this prisonLord help me get awayCause only you can save me nowFrom this miseryCause I've been lost in my own placeAnd I'm getting' wearyHow far is heavenAnd I know I need to changeMy ways of livin'How far is heaven, Lord can you tell meCause I've been locked up way too longIn this crazy world, how far is heavenI just keep on prayin' LordJust keep on livin', how far is heavenLord can you tell me, how far is heavenI just got to know how far, how far is heavenLord can you tell meTu que estas en alto cielo,Echame tu bendicion[translated from Spanish][You that's in a higher placeSend me down a blessing]Cause I know there's a better placeThan this place I'm livin', how far is heavenSo I just got to show some faithAnd just keep on giving, how far is heavenLord can you tell me, how far is heavenI just wanna know how far, how far is heaven,Lord can you tell me, how far is heaven,'cause I just gotta know how far,I just wanna know farhttp://www.azlyrics.com...Best wishes to my opponent! :)
Singing Contest

Final round! I'm singing "We Are the Champions", since I haven't had any remotely powerful/slow-ish songs within the last two rounds. I hope it balances out enough. Note: some parts were a bit too fast to sing and I jumbled over them. Hope you still got them though!Why you should vote me:If GCL's last round is anywhere like her previous rounds, well, then she doesn't show any versatility, and we only see the side of her that can sing slow to medium-slow songs. :P Just like if I sang a really fast song, that does not show any skill of me singing slow songs.Okay, yeah, versatility is kind of lame and only gives me a slight edge. Vote whoever you think displayed their skills and talents better than the other.LYRICS:I've paid my duesTime after time.I've done my sentenceBut committed no crime.And bad mistakes R10;I've made a few.I've had my share of sand kicked in my faceBut I've come through.(And I need just go on and on, and on, and on)We are the champions, my friends,And we'll keep on fighting 'til the end.We are the champions.We are the champions.No time for losers'Cause we are the champions of the world.I've taken my bowsAnd my curtain callsYou brought me fame and fortune and everything that goes with itI thank you allBut it's been no bed of roses,No pleasure cruise.I consider it a challenge before the whole human raceAnd I ain't gonna lose.(And I need just go on and on, and on, and on)We are the champions, my friends,And we'll keep on fighting 'til the end.We are the champions.We are the champions.No time for losers'Cause we are the champions of the world.We are the champions, my friends,And we'll keep on fighting 'til the end.We are the champions.We are the champions.No time for losers'Cause we are the champions. LAST WORDS: I hope my song encouraged you to go on, GCL. If I were to vote as unbiased as possible, I would vote you because you seemed the better singer in the first two rounds and no powerful last round can save me.
Singing Contest

http://www.smule.com... "Colors Of The Wind" You think you own whatever land you land onThe earth is just a dead thing you can claimBut I know every rock and tree and creatureHas a life, has a spirit, has a nameYou think the only people who are peopleAre the people who look and think like youBut if you walk the footsteps of a strangerYou'll learn things you never knew you never knewHave you ever heard the wolf cry to the blue corn moonOr ask the grinning bob cat why he grinsCan you sing with all the voices of the mountainCan you paint with all the colors of the windCan you paint with all the colors of the windCome run the hidden pine trails of the forestCome taste the sun-sweet berries of the earthCome roll in all the riches all around youAnd for once never wonder what they're worthThe rainstorm and the river are my brothersThe heron and the otter are my friendsAnd we are all connected to each otherIn a circle of a hoop that never endsHave you ever heard the wolf cry to the blue corn moonOr let the eagle tell you where he's beenCan you sing with all the voices of the mountainCan you paint with all the colors of the windCan you paint with all the colors of the windHow high does the sycamore growIf you cut it down then you'll never knowAnd you'll never hear the wolf cry to the blue corn moonFor whether we are white or copper skinnedWe need to sing with all the voices of the mountainWe need to paint with all the colors of the windYou can own the earth and stillAll you own is earth untilYou can paint with all the colors of the wind Pocahantas
Singing Contest

My last verse was a bit shaky....but it was otherwise well IMO. Lyrics: 7 AM, the usual morning lineup: Start on the chores and sweep 'til the floor's all clean Polish and wax, do laundry, and mop and shine up Sweep again, and by then it's like 7:15. And so I'll read a book Or maybe two or three I'll add a few new paintings to my gallery I'll play guitar and knit And cook and basically Just wonder when will my life begin? Then after lunch it's puzzles and darts and baking Paper mache, a bit of ballet and chess Pottery and ventriloquy, candle making Then I'll stretch, maybe sketch, take a climb, Sew a dress! And I'll reread the books If I have time to spare I'll paint the walls some more, I'm sure there's room somewhere. And then I'll brush and brush, and brush and brush my hair Stuck in the same place I've always been. And I'll keep wonderin' and wonderin' And wonderin' and wonderin' When will my life begin? And tomorrow night, Lights will appear Just like they do on my birthday each year. What is it like Out there where they glow? Now that I'm older, Mother might just Let me go ... Source: http://www.azlyrics.com... My video might be loading, if you see this argument very soon and check up on it super fast.
Singing Contest

Eh this IMO wasn't my best but hope ya like it anyways. I actually do like this song though. http://www.smule.com... Circle of Life by Lion King (movie): From the day we arrive on the planet And blinking, step into the sun There's more to be seen than can ever be seen More to do than can ever be done Some say eat or be eaten Some say live and let live But all are agreed as they join the stampede You should never take more than you give In the circle of life It's the wheel of fortune It's the leap of faith It's the band of hope Till we find our place On the path unwinding In the circle, the circle of life Some of us fall by the wayside And some of us soar to the stars And some of us sail through our troubles And some have to live with the scars There's far too much to take in here More to find than can ever be found But the sun rolling high through the sapphire sky Keeps great and small on the endless round http://www.azlyrics.com...
Singing Contest

This round: Fairy Odd Parents theme song (because it's super cool).I sang a bit soft so you might need to turn your volume up.Lyrics:Timmy is an average kid, That no one understands, Mom and Dad and Vicky always giving him commands. Vicky: Bed twirp! Doom and Gloom up in his room, Is broken instantly, By his magic little fish who grant his every wish, Cuz in reality they are his Odd Parents, Fairly Odd Parents, Wanda: Wands and wings, Comso: Floaty Crowny things, Odd Parents, Fairly Odd Parents, Really odd, pea pod, buff bod, hot rod, Timmy:Obtuse, rubber goose, green moose, guave juice, Giant snake, birthday cake, large fries, chocolate shake, Odd Parents, Fairly Odd Parents, It flips your lid when you are the kid, With Fairly Odd Parents, Vicky: Yeah right, *pop!* Source: http://www.stlyrics.com...http://www.youtube.com...
Singing Contest

Rules: any songs, including parodies and your originals. Please do not sing anything you have posted onto DDO contests before. You may include lyrics if you wish to, but do not have to. You can post either an audio or a video of your singing. The songs must be in their "clean" form--muting of swearing, or replacement with another word.You can also rap.You must use round one only for acceptance.You cannot sing/rap as your round one acceptance, just in case some troll comes along to get a free round. Each round from 2-4 each debater must post them singing a song.If you want to accept but cannot due to the constraints I have placed, please post in the comments. Post quickly, first come fisrt serve, with the exception of GCL, if she wishes to join and is one of the first 10 to comment so, she will be prioritized instead of the first commenter. Voters must keep in mind that song difficulty level is also calculated, in addition to how well the song was sang. For example, if my opponent sings "Happy Birthday" the 20-second-song perfectly, and I sing "Let it Go" with a bit of an out-of-tune voice but mostly intact, I will still win because I sang a much harder song. Of course, the same goes for an original song versus some old unpopular song. If my opponent comes up with this nice country tune with interesting lyrics, and I just sing "Yellow Submarine", and we sing equally well, then my opponent would win due to her creativity. However, difficulty comes before creativity and therefore if my opponent had her nice country song and I sang a tongue-twister rap song with hard high pitches to reach and sing correctly, and we sang equally well, then I would win.