BeIR/webis-touche2020 huggingface dataset:
Resolved: On balance, government employee labor unions have a positive impact on the United States.

Resolved: On balance, government employee labor unions have a positive impact on the United States. Introduction: The April Public Forum topic deals with the topic of whether or not unions of government employee laborers have a net positive impact on the United States. Before examining both sides of the resolution, let's break down some basic terms. In this context, a union is generally understood to be an organization of employees formed to bargain with the employer; "you have to join the union in order to get a job. When employees are part of unions, the union negotiates on behalf of the collective group of employees/union members and to negotiate salaries/overtime and benefits (health care, vacation time, pensions, etc). A pension is essentially a salary that an employee draws for the rest of his or her life once he or she retires. The resolution specifically refers to pubic employee labor unions. This specific reference is important because there is a large conceptual difference between a union of public employees (employees that work for a level of government federal, state, or local) and a union of employees that work for a private company. The difference is that employees of a private company know that they can only ask for so much in wages/benefits or those will start to threaten the viability of the company. Government employees, however, can ask for almost anything that they can get, knowing that the bill will simply have to be paid by the tax payers. The issue of public employee union wages and benefits being payed by taxpayers is what gives rise to this resolution. A declining economy/tax base is giving rise to growing government deficits that are being compounded by large obligations on the part of governments to pay (high) government employee union wages/benefits. This growing fiscal gap is increasing animosity toward public employee unions, and it is what likely gave rise to this topic and makes it timely. The final important concept/phrase in the resolution is on the United States. This is important to highlight because it keeps the question macro/large what is the net impact of these unions on the country as a whole, not necessarily on individual states or counties (though these collective smaller impacts are what determine the on balance impact on the United States My partner and I stand in affirmation to the resolution.
Supreme Court Case of Spongebob SquarePants v Bubble Buddy

"I feel for my final statements I should point out some necessary facts in this case. "According to testimonies, we are faced with a difficult decision. We can conclude that both of these citizens mean well for the people around them, as Mr. Squarepants being a nice person has trusted Mr. Bubble Buddy as a nice person. However, with the death of Scooter, who's fault was it? "As I stated, Mr. Bubble Buddy has been in fear of discrimination since he was born and preferred acting like a normal bubble around everyone except for his best friend, Mr. Squarepants. For my client, this was a situation of life and death for himself, and I believe I was something Mr. Squarepants forgot to take into account. "As we've also heard in testimony, Mr. Squarepants is so incompetent that Ms. Puff was actually hospitalized due to anxiety over it. Is being incompetent a crime? No, but it should not be a supporting reason to charge my client. "This was not a negligent crime. This was a situation of deep moral and situational conflict, and my client had no other choice, but to choose his own self-preservation. Thank you."
Supreme Court Case of Spongebob SquarePants v Bubble Buddy

"Lady and 8 Gentlemen of the jury, lets give a brief review of all the testimony we've heard in this case. Mr Squarepants, a well-meaning member of Bikini Bottom, knew that Mr Bubble Buddy was indeed alive and left poor scooter in his care on that fateful day in November in the year 2000...... Mr Tentacles, a shovel-faced member of Bikini Bottom, explicitly stated how Mr Bubble Buddy immediately tried to get out of town in a hurry when an angry mob came after him for his deplorable conduct on the beach that day...... Mr Smith, a chocolate obsessed citizen of Bikini Bottom, held legitimate fears that Mr Bubble Buddy was a threat to society, along with the 2 dozen other people on the beach that day..... Mrs Puff, a woman who has been subjected to countless hours of torture due to Spongebob's incompetence behind the wheel of a boat, stated herself that Spongebob is a nice person!..... It is clear that Mr Squarepants is a nice, well meaning sponge who wouldnt even harm a jellyfish, let alone drown someone.... Mr Bubble Buddy on the other hand has, in just a few short hours of arriving in Bikini Bottom, stiffed waiters at restaurants, caused an angry mob to form, made a speedy exit from town when he felt that things were getting too hairy for him to stick around, and caused a list of other ills to society in the process. It is clear that Mr Squarepants is innocent, that Mr Bubble Buddy is guilty, and that the prior conviction of Mr Squarepants for the death of scooter is unjustified and should be negated! Thank you." - Pro
Supreme Court Case of Spongebob SquarePants v Bubble Buddy

"Your honor, I would like to call Mrs. Puff to the stand." -Con [Mrs. Puff sits at the stand] "Mrs. Puff, could you please explain your relationship to Mr. Squarepants?" -Con "I'm his boating school teacher." -Mrs. Puff "I thought this was Spanish class." -Patrick Star "Bailiff get him out too!" -Judge [Bailiff drags Patrick to the window] "I believe in you, Spongebob! You can do this!" -Patrick Star "I'll find you, Patrick!" -Mr. Squarepants [Patrick is thrown out of the window followed by the sound of Squidward in pain] "So, Mrs. Puff, would you say Mr. Squarepants is a nice person?" -Con "Well... Yes I would have to say he is." -Mrs. Puff "Does he do his best to behave in class?" -Con "Why yes, he has the most golden stars in our class." -Mrs. Puff "Would you describe him as compitent?" -Con [Mrs. Puff screams and inflates then rolls out of the stand] "No..." -Mrs. Puff "Objection!" -Pro [EMT breaks down the door and the nurses put her on a stretcher] "I'm sure she'll be just fine." -Nurse [They load her in the ambulance and drive to the hospital] [The room settles and a slight murmur is cut off by the banging if a gavel] "Objection, your honor, Mrs. Puff has been diagnosed by psychologists as having Extreme Hate for Spongebob Disorder and can't be taken seriously as a witness." -Pro "Objection! Mr. Bench is out of order!" -Con "Sustained." -Judge "Who is sustained?" -Con "I don't care, both of you." -Judge "Can I challenge Mr. Bench's psychologist?" -Con "Objection! Ms. Bon is out of order!" -Pro "Can you guys just go sit down and play the quiet game?" -Judge "Does the winner get any money?" -Mr. Krabs [judge facepalms] "Okay, now that the last witness has been hospitalized, I would like each side to offer their final statements starting with Mr. Bench." -Judge
Supreme Court Case of Spongebob SquarePants v Bubble Buddy

"The Defense has chosen to rest, Pro you may call forth a new witness" - Judge"Very well, I call Thomas Smith to the stand!" - Pro[crowd murmurs in confusion and curiosity. Mr Smith sits down at the stand http://spongebob.wikia.com...]"Mr Smith, would you care to introduce yourself to everyone" - Pro"My name is Mr. Smith, people around bikini Bottom know me primarily for my obsession and crippling addiction to CHOCOLATE!!! " - Mr Smith"I see. You were at Goo Lagoon that fateful day when young Scooter died in November of 2000, is that right?" - Pro"Yes, that is correct" - Mr Smith"Could you explain what you did that day? Specifically what you said to a group of people gathering into an angry mob to go after Bubble Buddy and Mr. Squarepants?" - Pro"Well. I had seen from a distance a lot of the chaos that Bubble Buddy was causing that day, and I was simply incensed at how arrogant and uncaring he was acting and behaving towards everyone else. Then when people started to gather into a crowd to talk about what Bubble Buddy had done to them, I decided to speak up about how something should be done" - Mr Smith"And what exactly did you say?" - Pro"I said 'he poisoned our water supply, burned our crops, and delivered a plague onto our houses' " - Mr Smith"When someone asked you if mr Bubble Buddy actually did any of those things, what then did you say?" - Pro"I said 'no, but are we just gonna sit around and wait til he does?" - Mr Smith"So you believed that Mr Bubble Buddy was a clear threat to the well being of the people of Bikini Bottom, to the very point that you sincerely believed that all of their lives were at stake?" - Pro"Yes" - Mr Smith"Now what happened after that?" - Pro"Some old guy said 'lets tip something over' " - Mr Smith"Mr Krabs?" - Pro"Yeah that guy. After we tipped over lifeguard tower, someone suggested that we beat up the life guard. Then some hideous lookin dude said that Bubble Bu-" - Mr Smith"IM NOT HIDEOUS, IM GORGEOUS!" - Mr Tentacles"Baliff, remove that man from my courtroom!" - Judge[A very large Baliff literally throws Squidward out of a window. A large crashing noise is heard and a car alarm goes off]"Please continue" - Judge"Well, that guy who was just thrown out the window said we should go after Bubble Buddy since he was the one causing all this trouble, not the lifeguard" - Mr Smith"And how many people were in this angry mob?" - Pro"About 2 dozen people I believe" - Mr Smith"So you and a large group of other people believed that Bubble Buddy was an immense threat to the well being of the people of Bikini Bottom, to the point where you felt that you HAD to do something to stop him" - Pro"Yes" - Mr Smith"I have no further questions for this witness your honor" - Pro"Very well. Con, you may either question this witness, introduce your own witness, or you may rest. This is the last chance you have to interrogate a witness or introduce your own witness, after this both sides will give a final statement and then the jury shall vote" - Judge
Supreme Court Case of Spongebob SquarePants v Bubble Buddy

"Pro, you may call your next witness to the stand" - Judge'I call Squidward Tentpoles to the stand" - Pro"Its TENNISBALLS, I MEAN TENTACLES" [murmurs under his breath] - Mr. Tentacles[Mr Tentacles sits at the interview stand thingy]"Mr. Tentacles, When you first met Mr Squarepants and Mr Bubble Buddy on November 20th 2000, what was your first impression of Mr. Bubble Buddy?" - Pro"Well for starters, he has more brains than Spongebob" - Mr Tentacles"What would you say about his conduct?" - Pro"Spongebob has always been a pain in my -" - Mr Tentacles"I mean the conduct of Mr. Bubble Buddy" - Pro"Oh him, well anyone who voluntarily hangs out with spongebob for a full day is probably an idiot" - Mr Tentacles "Oh please! I hang out with spongebob all the time, would you say that IM an idiot?" - Patrick Star"Yes, a thousand times YES" - Mr Tentacles"Mr Star, please sit down and be quiet" - Judge"I have to go to the bathroom" - Patrick Star"Then go ahead" - Judge[Mr Patrick sits still with a blank face for several seconds]"Ok im done" - Patrick Star"idiot....." - Mr Tentacles"Anyways, what was Bubble Buddy acting like when you last saw him?" - Pro"He apologized and said he was going to go out of town since things were getting kinda weird around here" - Mr. Tentacles"So he was in a hurry to leave town?" - Pro"Yes" - Mr Tentacles"Would you say that a possible reason he was in a hurry to leave because he had inadvertantly killed someone???" - Pro"Objection! Pro is forcing the witness to speculate!" - Con"Sustained" - Judge"No further questions your honor" - Pro"Very Well. Con, you may question this witness, introduce your own witness, or you may rest and let Pro call up a new witness" - Judge
Supreme Court Case of Spongebob SquarePants v Bubble Buddy

"We would like to cross-examine Mr. Squarepants, your honor," -con. "Mr. Squarepants, would you consider yourself a nice person?" -con. "Objection! This is irrelevant!" -pro. "Overruled, she may continue." -judge. "Yes, I'd certainly like to think so." -Spongebob. [Squidward grunts in disagreement] [Judge glares at Mr. Tentacles but lets it slide] "Is that why Mr. Bubblebuddy could probably trust you with knowledge of his sentience without fear of ridicule?" -con. "Bubble buddy and I have been best friends since the day he was born." -Spongebob. "So to be clear that's a yes?" -con. "Yes, it is." -spongebob. "How well did you know Scooter?" -con. "I've never really talked to him that much." -Spongebob. "Okay, thank you. No further questions, your honor." -me.
Supreme Court Case of Spongebob SquarePants v Bubble Buddy

"Your honor, I feel the importance of this case can't be stressed enough, but it is not because of the death of our beloved citizen, Scooter. You must understand that there is a widely known problem in Bikini Bottom. Race discrimination. "Yes, we believe it was racism. My client is part of a race that has been subjected to popping all over the world, above and under the sea. They have not been able to live in peace since the discovery of their delicate nature. While my client may be a lovable man, he was set up that day to be discriminated and popped. "We know that people already hated Mr. Squarepants and my client for the seemingly insane nature of their relationship. We also know, that it is easy for a bubble to disguise his or her sentience. My client confirms that he was afraid that day of intense discrimination and only communicated with Spongebob in private. He chose not to reveal his sentience until the time of his near murder by Mr. Tentacles. "In modern society I find it appalling that this would even become a question. We're supposed to over-support minorities, not hold them to the same level as everyone else. In this case, I believe we can honestly see that Mr. Bubblebuddy had legitimate reason to fear for his life had he revealed his sentience, and chose to stand by instead of do what he was told. "In further defense, Scooter was actually pretty happy. He's in heaven now, and we know that because he flew up to the sky laughing and wearing a halo and angel wings. He seemed rather happy about it. I believe, your honor, that we must acquit my client under respect for other aspects of the law and the fact that we have legitimate cause for negligence outside of pure negligence. He was discriminated to the point of the most extreme introversion. Thank you." -me
Supreme Court Case of Spongebob SquarePants v Bubble Buddy

(Voters = The Judge)(Pro = Attorney for Spongebob)(Con = Attorney for Bubble Buddy)"Your honor, in a previous ruling, my client, sir Spongebob Squarepants here, was convicted of negligible homicide for his actions on November 16th in the year 2000, where Mr Squarepants left a random beachgoer by the name of 'Scooter' in the care of his newly found friend 'Bubble Buddy', after the beachgoer requested to be buried up to his neck in the sand........... Mr Squarepants did so..." - Me"Objection your honor" - Con, "With the absence of pants, Imabench's suspenders serve no functional purpose""Im going to allow it, but watch yourself mr. Bench" - Judge "Thank you your honor. As I was saying, Mr Squarepants obliged by the request to bury the beachgoer up to his neck in the sand, and then left the still buried beachgoer in the care of Bubble Buddy with instructions to dig the beachgoer out of the sand before the tide came in, while Mr Squarepants ran an errand. However, Mr BubbleBuddy did NOT unbury the man before the tide came in, and as a result the young man perished. Unfortunately, in a gross misappropriatment of judicial authoritah, the previous judge ruled against my client and wrongly declared him to be the murderer, declaring that Bubble Buddy is NOT a person and therefore cannot be held responsible for the death of Scooter, and that it is (wrongly) the fault of my client that Scooter passed away that day in 2000. I will attempt to prove that Mr. Squarepants is innocent of the charge of negligent homicide and that Bubble Buddy is guilty of the same charge, while Mr. Con must prove that his client is innocent and that Sir Squarepants is guilty. I now cede the floor to the con and allow him to make an opening statement, and then I will present arguments first in the next 'round' of this trial, as agreed upon prior to the trial..... We will then exchange arguments until the last round, when we shall both give final statements and then let the judge (you voters) decide the verdict."
The Sahel region should have development over military aid by the USA

My opponent doesn't understand that obviously DA is going to cost money? It's literally defined as the giving of resources to develop a countries economy. It costs money so I am not sure what they are talking about. Quite frankly if the problem is gonna be solved for a week, alright that's great but honestly does nothing.. DA means developmental assistance? I think that's obvious. Also considering the US is part of the UN it does pertain but all I said was that it wasn't reaching the UNs goal. Anyways going to further my stance by saying I understand we need some sort of DA to save lives, however we need to start looking towards a permanent solution and that's through developing these countries and making them independent nations. That's the most effective way. We are only going to see this through the prioritization of military aid that way DA can even be successful.
The Sahel region should have development over military aid by the USA

First on the temporary solution. From care.org the Sahel region currently has 11.3 million people that are in risk of starvation so a temporary solution is indeed needed. My opponent has no stats to show how this is unaffordable. Also later the fact that this wouldn't stop droughts was used. Well military assistance won't either so that argument is defeated. While providing assistance this will get people on their feet which wfp.org reported their already fighting hard. This little assistance will give them what they need to be function fully again. Also DA can mean anything it could mean disadvantage like it does in debate or Denmark association. So with this we have no idea what DA means. For the sake of the debate I'll keep arguing even though I just defeated everything my opponent said. Also my opponent used the UN's goals and this irrelevant. The resolution pertains only to the USA not the UN. Thanks to my opponent for a great debate.
The Sahel region should have development over military aid by the USA

My opponent practically just stated that DA is a temporary solution to what may become a permanent problem, quite frankly that's not affordable. Now the main reason this region is stripped of all resources is because of drought. Now you can't tell me DA is going to end the droughts? Let's look at this logically here even though yes DA Is vital it can't be prioritized otherwise these countries are going to starve as soon as our aid is removed. I want to further my position with these next arguments. Not enough resources in DA are being put in the right places Speaking at the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) meeting in Abuja, Nigeria, in December 2003, the former British secretary of state for international development, Lynda Chalker, noted that 40 percent of the wealth created in Africa is invested outside the continent. "If you bring the funds back into infrastructure, the economies of African countries would be much better than what they are today," she said. The chairman of the session and president of the African Business Round Table, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, agreed that indeed Foreign Aid will not pull Africa out of poverty. Military Aid supports countries development Erastus Mwencha, chair of the African Union said in July 2013, "France in no way wanted to do anything linked to the past or to militarism or paternalism but on the contrary to give Africa and in this case Mali every chance to become a democratic independent nation, which can ensure its own development." The French intervention which then led to the countries first election gave Mali a chance to restore its democracy by removing insurgents from the northern part of the country. African Union recognizes aid has been ineffective in the past According to the Cato institute Africa's economy grew only 5% last year. Short of the UN's goal of 7%. Estimates suggest it will take nearly 150 years to achieve the UN's millennium goal to end poverty. Not very effective at all?
The Sahel region should have development over military aid by the USA

On A. First lets start with the fact of how many people are hungry. Last year, over 18 million people in the Sahel region of West Africa were affected by a severe food crisis caused by drought, a failure of several crops, and sharp rises in food prices. With the current conflict in Mali, more than 350,000 people have been forced to flee their homes, both in Mali and its neighbors in Sahel, adding more pressure on already vulnerable communities. The lives of over 1 million children were at risk from severe malnutrition. Communities across the Sahel suffered (and malnutrition rates remain dangerously high) but a major humanitarian operation, acting earlier than ever before, managed to protect the lives and livelihoods of millions of people. This all from oxfam.com which supports the Sahel region. B. While military aid may be effective again people are dying form food issues. So right now the more important issue is food. Again 18 million issues are effected by this food crisis. So we need to focus on food and assists them by food before anything else 2. Yes this mat create dependency. If we provide aid to them in military form they will also be dependent. This is just common sense. So this argument is irrelevant because in both they will depend on us.
The Sahel region should have development over military aid by the USA

Con I negate the resolution Resolved: Developmental assistance should be prioritized over military aid in the Sahel region of Africa. I support this stance with the following contentions 1) Military aid paves the way for developmental assistance A) Majority of these countries are failed states Seyla Benhabib the chair of political sciences at Yale University stated in her study that "if we do not clean up the region, developmental assistance will not be effective. Military aid is a necessity in order for developmental assistance to be effective. Logically if we want the infrastructure and developmental assistance to last it would be a requirement that we clean up the area first or else the terrorist organizations that want more of the resources will find a way to get it, often violently. This would logically lead to lawlessness over whatever resources were grown or given to the region." B) Countries can not develop efficiently without military aid We have to look at the time-frame. Even if it is the case the that poverty is the underlying cause of conflict, it would take a very long time to solve poverty and other potential root causes of conflict in the Sahel. In the short-term, it is essential to provide military aid to prevent the outbreak of violence. There are significant security problems now, Alexander Neill, Masters degree in African Studies from Stanford University, concluded. He wrote that these countries were failed states because they were simply not able to balance security and development. 2) Prioritizing developmental assistance creates foreign dependency A) Majority of economy is relying on foreign aid In a study done by Nathan Allen 12.3% of all Sub Saharan countries GDP came from foreign aid, 70% of all National savings, and 50% of imports. This shows that if a dropout of foreign aid were to come the countries who are so reliant on foreign aid would not be able to fulfill half of their budgetary commitments. I urge a con vote