Debate over government-funded services heats up. [SLSO]
posted by boo_radley on Jun 30, 2009 - 47 comments

40 million Iranians watched a "remarkable, no-holds-barred" and nationally televised debate between President Ahmadinejad (blog) and his rival, former Prime Minister Mousavi (Facebook). [more inside]
posted by msalt on Jun 4, 2009 - 48 comments

The SF Signal Mind Meld feature poses science fiction related questions to a number of SF luminaries and the scientist, science writer or blogger. Subjects have included the best women writers in SF, taboo topics in SF, underated authors and the most controversial SF novels of the past and present. The also cover lighter topics, such the role of media tie-ins, how Battlestar Galactica could have ended better (bonus Geoff Ryman) and the realistic (or otherwise) use of science on TV SF shows.
posted by Artw on May 6, 2009 - 17 comments

The New York Times discovers the significance of today's date. [more inside]
posted by Joe Beese on Apr 20, 2009 - 63 comments

"A friend of mine has come up with an idea to stem the tide of bile. He wants people to post, as a comment, on as many opinion-garnering web pages as possible, as often as they can be bothered, the phrase: 'It just goes to show you can't be too careful!'" [more inside]
posted by WPW on Mar 15, 2009 - 54 comments

"I understand you want to make finance entertaining, but it's not a f*ckin game." (parts 1 2 3) After trading blows over the last couple weeks, CNBC's Mad Money host Jim Cramer appeared opposite Jon Stewart as a guest on The Daily Show. While Cramer worked to keep his poise during the awkward exchange, the evisceration may call to mind Jon's appearance on Crossfire.
posted by Christ, what an asshole on Mar 13, 2009 - 273 comments

The Signtific Lab invites people to develop cutting-edge ideas through experiments of imagination and discussion. Experiment One: what would happen if outer space becomes as accessible as the Web today?
posted by divabat on Feb 18, 2009 - 12 comments

Thought For The World is an alternative to the BBC's much mocked Thought For The Day. [more inside]
posted by ninebelow on Feb 12, 2009 - 4 comments

How to Argue With Zompist: Or Social-Skills 101 A helpful guide for online discussion and debate written by Mark Rosenfelder with some help from notmydesk and others.
posted by The Whelk on Feb 11, 2009 - 31 comments

On December 4, 2008, at NYC's Symphony Space, NPR's Intelligence Squared program conducted an Oxford-style debate. As their future debate schedules in Australia, England, and America show, the propositions of such debates are routinely phrased strongly to provoke debate, and this was no exception. The motion that was put forward was: "Resolved, that Bush 43 is the worst President of the last 50 years." [mp3, 23 MB, 50 min.] What lifts this above the reams of media and multimedia already spent on this issue is that, moderated by ABC's John Donvan, this premise was debated — under formal debate guidelines — by Jacob Weisberg, Sir Simon Jenkins, Bill Kristol, and ... Karl Rove. [more inside]
posted by WCityMike on Jan 6, 2009 - 28 comments

The conservative (post-election) Crack-Up. In the wake of their recent defeats, many American conservatives have formed a circular firing squad, with some arguing that the GOP needs a little less GOD, while others say it's just a matter of returning to their roots. At this point, it looks like the party is headed for civil war and electoral disaster. Democrats and liberals may be enjoying the show these days, but what does the future hold for the GOP? (Previously.) [more inside]
posted by you just lost the game on Nov 19, 2008 - 102 comments

Synchronized Presidential Debating
posted by blue_beetle on Oct 28, 2008 - 31 comments

Ah, the town-hall debate. Where Joe Sixpack and Jane Chardonnay can have their chance to ask a presidential candidate just about anything. Of course, such an open format can sometimes lead to uncomfortable moments for a candidate (although tonight might not have such fireworks). [more inside]
posted by shiu mai baby on Oct 7, 2008 - 877 comments

Sarah Palin may be a better debater than you think... Sarah Palin, much derided for reasons best not gone over again, may be a better debater than people tend to think. Andrew Halcro, a Republican from Alaska says, "I've debated Governor Palin more than two dozen times. And she's a master, not of facts, figures, or insightful policy recommendations, but at the fine art of the nonanswer, the glittering generality. Against such charms there is little Senator Biden, or anyone, can do."
posted by datter on Oct 1, 2008 - 1422 comments

Now that the presidential debate is back on, it's time to prepare by selecting the most appropriate drinking game for tonight's debate. [more inside]
posted by nitsuj on Sep 26, 2008 - 607 comments

McCain calls time! John McCain has asked that the first presidential debate be postponed and he will suspend his campaign so he can focus on the economy. No response from Obama yet. But it may be due to his approval rating, The latest FOX News/Opinion Dynamics poll shows Obama has taken a 45-39 percent lead.
posted by parmanparman on Sep 24, 2008 - 1584 comments

The Cross Examination Debate Association meets regularly for debate tournaments. Things often get heated, but this year, professor Bill Shanahan of Fort Hays State went nuts. More here and here.
posted by Crotalus on Aug 14, 2008 - 151 comments

Baby Bust! After 200 years of exponential population growth, and just four decades after overpopulation doomsaying began filling the bestseller lists, the First World is suddenly gripped with underpopulation hysteria. The governments of the developed world have always maintained an interest in birthrates and procreation, but the reasons why are changing, and the ensuing demographic debates about gender, race and culture are "ideologically fraught and scientifically questionable."
posted by amyms on Jun 16, 2008 - 120 comments

The Dark Side of Literacy - Indian education reform organization Shikshantar, who aims to encourage concepts of "Swaraj", or self-rule in local education, argues that current education and literacy models do not take into account local cultures and languages and gives too much credit to the Western alphabet. They also argue that there are many serious flaws in what they describe as UNESCO's campaign of "McEducation For All".
posted by divabat on Jun 13, 2008 - 46 comments

The Hierarchy of Disagreement: Based on Paul Graham's essay "How to Disagree" (prev), the diagram ranks the types of arguments that can be made. Not quite the same as logical fallacies but a useful guide to measure whether you're making a good argument or if "you are an ass hat".
posted by GuyZero on May 21, 2008 - 34 comments

ProCon.org is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit public charity that has no government affiliations of any kind. On it, you can find unbiased information on the Pros and Cons of issues ranging from the the use of medical marijuana to whether milk really does do a body good. They use a system of theoretical credibility to give weight to cited arguments and opinions, and offer 1-minute overviews, top 10 Pro/Cons, Summaries, Little-known facts, and even extensive glossaries for each subject. They are also following the 2008 election. [more inside]
posted by pedmands on May 10, 2008 - 27 comments

The top 100 films According to The Times (UK) Another film list? The same old Citizen Kane? No - this one’s different, says The Times’s chief film critic James Christopher [more inside]
posted by dawson on May 2, 2008 - 92 comments

Rick Poynor asks - isn't it time we demanded more from design conferences?
posted by divabat on Apr 18, 2008 - 6 comments

If one can look past the Obama/Political filter, here is a fascinating series of debates between two masters of the ancient art of oratory. The setting: The 2004 Illinois senate race. The participants: Barak Obama and Alan Keyes, (who are about as different as politicians get in the US). The arguments: various subjects of national interest such as the war in Iraq, the 'axis of evil' and world diplomacy', gun control, legislative experience, and abortion, trade, poverty and globalism. [more inside]
posted by dawson on Mar 14, 2008 - 72 comments

How Many Five Year Olds Could You Take in a Fight? [cached via]
posted by Avenger50 on Dec 17, 2007 - 87 comments

Germany Seeks to Ban Scientology
posted by chuckdarwin on Dec 7, 2007 - 144 comments

McCain on Waterboarding. [more inside]
posted by chunking express on Nov 29, 2007 - 45 comments

"I want those two minutes of my life back." Musique concrète Fred Thompson-style -- a merciless videohack of the candidate's performance at the GOP debate on MSNBC, October 9, 2007. While almost anyone can be made to look foolish edited this way, not everyone was impressed by Thompson's unedited presence at the debate, his TV debut as a presidential contender. Some believe, however, that the former Law and Order D.A. is just the man to "restore the Republican Party to Reagan's default settings."
posted by digaman on Oct 12, 2007 - 69 comments

Swamp Ghosts. Of all the wrecks on Papua New Guinea (PNG), none is as fabled as the "Swamp Ghost," a B-17E Flying Fortress that ran out of fuel on an ill-fated bombing mission in early 1942 and was ditched in the Agaiambo Swamp about eight miles inland on the northern coast. There the plane rested, intact and more or less unmolested, in soggy splendor for 64 years—that is, until May 2006, when an American salvager took it apart and removed it. This caused such a controversy that the plane was stopped from leaving the country. The story of the Swamp Ghost illustrates the international debate over ownership of salvaged wrecks and war surplus, told from a personal perspective by a journalist whose war-correspondent father died in PNG during WWII.
posted by amyms on Oct 7, 2007 - 13 comments

Be difficult. Be compelling. But above all—be contrary. A brand new debating site. Not a lot of content yet, but it seems to have potential.
posted by signal on Sep 30, 2007 - 18 comments

The British Transform Drug Policy Foundation has recently released their 2nd guide After the War on Drugs: Tools for the debate. Described as a guide for prospective and current policy reform advocates, it enumerates the points typically brought up against reform, and offers strategies to rebut them. Somewhat of a counterpoint to the US DEA's Speaking Out Against Drug Legalization.
posted by daksya on Aug 9, 2007 - 48 comments

"The user who submitted the video was speaking innocuously into the camera when the image of “goatse” was flashed for the briefest moment in 1/24th of a second" Live, Nationwide on the CNN/Youtube Democratic Debate.
posted by peewinkle on Jul 24, 2007 - 127 comments

Does God Exist? The Nightline Face-Off
Former child star Kirk Cameron and his evangelist colleague Ray Comfort (infamous for their banana argument) take on atheists in a debate over the existence of God. Per usual, you can expect calm, cool, collected temperaments and absolute respect for a difference of opinion. Especially since both parties have been previously featured on Nightline, the former taking to the streets to challenge atheists and the latter proposing a God-rejecting blasphemy challenge. You know you're rubbing your hands in anticipation of the fireworks, but you better let Bill O'Reilly weigh in first. For more youtube goodness, parts 1 and 2 of the Nightline piece (the full debate is available in the first link).
posted by Mach3avelli on May 11, 2007 - 299 comments

Tag-clouds for the first debates of the Democratic and Republican primaries. via the kreat orange satan
posted by geos on May 4, 2007 - 28 comments

CNN has invited Sen. Mike Gravel to the Democratic Presidential Debate on CNN. This was after reporting CNN would not invite him back and large public protest. Democrats will take the stage at Saint Anselm College on June 3, Republicans on June 5. Youtube links, If you missed him on the CNN debate or the after on MSNBC.
posted by IronWolve on May 1, 2007 - 89 comments

"Tell me, Barack, who do you want to nuke?" Senator Gravel keeps them honest in the democratic debate
posted by petsounds on Apr 28, 2007 - 151 comments

An Indonesian TV crew was invited to Malaysia for their Visit Malaysia Year 2007 campaign but encountered many problems. They write up about it - and start a flurry of comments and controversy across the Malaysian government about blogging. [more inside]
posted by divabat on Apr 6, 2007 - 14 comments

In this corner: John "Mack Daddy" Mackey. In this corner: Michael "The Pollanator" Pollan. Mackey. Pollan. Mackey. Pollan. Mackey vs. Pollan!! (.rm file via)
posted by ericbop on Mar 1, 2007 - 5 comments

Prime Minister's Questions is a weekly televised convention in the UK started in the 1950s during which Members of Parliament get a chance to hold their leader accountable for his or her actions. Sick of boring political meetings? "PMQ" is fast-paced, hip, heated, eloquent, insulting, and sometimes hilarious. In fact, the inherant humor of it is has been well explored.

But brits aren't the only ones; "Question Time", as it's called generically, has been adapted in other countries as well. Yet the show often shocks Americans since the concept of weekly unscripted access to leaders without giving days of question prep-time seems like a fantasy. Of course, maybe the alternative (0:41) is much worse.
posted by TimeTravelSpeed on Dec 5, 2006 - 63 comments

Dealing with Iran after Rumsfeld. Seymour Hersh details the ongoing debate over how to deal with Iran's nuclear program. There's something here for everyone to worry about.
posted by Dasein on Nov 19, 2006 - 22 comments

Is the web fuelling a crisis in politics? Matthew Taylor, Blair's chief strategy advisor has commented "as a citizen" that the "net-head" culture of political criticism is fuelling a crisis in politics where the populace is "increasingly unwilling to be governed but not yet capable of self-government." One of his chief targets is the blogosphere, because he says bloggers are like teenagers - demanding, but "conflicted" about what they actually want.
posted by talitha on Nov 17, 2006 - 37 comments

Malaysian bookstore Silverfish Books recently pubhlished a list of books restricted by the Malaysian Home Ministry (confiscated at the border by Customs) - a list that includes Chinese teapots, children's prayers, and Dora the Explorer. Banned books & magazines aren't exactly news in Malaysia; indeed, possession of said books can lead to severe penalties, even jail time.The Opposition has made a statement before, but that hasn't led anywhere. However, since Silverfish's list, Malaysian bloggers have had enough with the arbitrary and Kafka-esque bans and restrictions, and have come together to form Manuscripts Don't Burn, to protest and talk about banned books and the larger issue of freedom of speech in Malaysia.
posted by divabat on Nov 7, 2006 - 19 comments

On September 9th 2006, 112 of the world's writers, artists, activists, and social entrepeneurs (nominees here) will gather for a Table of Free Voices in Berlin, Germany, discussing questions about the important issues of today. Who provides those questions? You.
posted by divabat on Jul 24, 2006 - 6 comments

Replacing Trident? Clare Short MP, former International Development Secretary for the UK Labour government, debates replacing trident and the UK's role in nuclear proliferation (and the world in general) with Michael Codner, Director of Military Science at the Royal United Services Institute. Scroll to the bottom for the mp3s.
posted by nthdegx on Jul 24, 2006 - 7 comments

Is Catholic-Anglican Reconciliation the only way forward? The Anglicans aren't Protestant, they're Catholics! In 1920 the Church of England - Anglicans - called for its reconciliation with the Catholic Church, and in 1925 the Catholic Ecumenical movement sought to make the Anglicans an autonomous Catholic church with the Archbishop of Canterbury as its patriarch. It would have been similar to the Coptic and Syro-Malabarese churches. The move was quashed by Pope Pius XI, who ended the ecumenical movement there and then. If conservative Anglicans chose this third way, instead of infighting over sexuality and gender issues or establishing a new model for membership, it could keep its married priests, its land, its churches, it's membership, and the Archbishop of Canterbury would still have a job.
posted by parmanparman on Jul 7, 2006 - 27 comments

The Promise and Perils of Synthetic Biology
posted by Gyan on Jun 16, 2006 - 14 comments

"For half a nanosecond I was tempted to join in the discussion. And then I remembered that all internet debates, without exception, are entirely futile. So I didn't." - Charlie Brooker on Internet discussions.
posted by Artw on Jun 2, 2006 - 67 comments

No one's talking about "government lawyers and regulators engineer[ing] the future of the Internet," except, well, you, Mike. Craig Newmark debates with Mike McCurry over "net neutrality". Meanwhile, Hands Off the Internet seems to be a deceptively clever name for an organization sponsored by big telecoms.
posted by thisisdrew on May 30, 2006 - 19 comments

Lloyd Bentsen dead at 85. He was a renouned senator and vice presidential candidate on the Dukakis ticket, whom you may know better for his famous quote in this debate.
posted by rollbiz on May 23, 2006 - 49 comments

What’s a protest without a little counter-protest? Not that army of one Nita Shinn hasn’t done a bang up job before, but asking people to come out and protest with their toilet bowl brushes, their brooms, their lawn mowers, their pots and pans? - man, that’s just brilliant. Because it’s not un-American to fight to keep America, or to turn in an illegal alien. And, uh, what was the issue again? Flags? Or the national anthem in Spanish or something?
posted by Smedleyman on May 9, 2006 - 29 comments