Tournament: Georgetown | Round: 4 | Opponent: GBN KD | Judge: Jack Erpenbach
The United States federal government should establish tax incentives and credit for renewable energy development and deployment equivalent to the amount of federal subsidies for corn ethanol and engage in public-private renewable energy research and commercialization initiatives implemented through a newly created Energy Technology Corporation housed under the Department of Energy. The United States federal government should expand the definition of alternative fuels under the Renewable Fuel Standard to apply to all renewable energy technologies as defined by the 1992 Energy Policy Act.
It jumpstarts private innovation – driving down the price of renewables rapidly
Shellenberger, President of Breakthrough Institute, ‘8 (Michael, “Fast, Clean, and Cheap: Cutting Global Warming’s Gordian Knot” http://thebreakthrough.org/blog/Fast20Clean20Cheap.pdf)
Ramp Up: Invest $300 Billion in Research, Development, and Deployment of
AND
taking, and thus additional revenue for the U.S. Treasury.
That’s key to a clean tech transition and energy diversification – causes shift away from current energy sources
Friedman, Columnist New York Times, ‘7 (Thomas, “The Power of Green” http://students.washington.edu/timbillo/readings20for20peru/FriedmanPowerOfGreen.pdf)
All that sounds great — but remember those seven wedges? To reach the necessary
AND
interest, the subsidies expire and the investors in alternatives get wiped out.
Avoids politics – the ETC is insulated from political pressure
Shellenberger, President of Breakthrough Institute, ‘8 (Michael, “Fast, Clean, and Cheap: Cutting Global Warming’s Gordian Knot” http://thebreakthrough.org/blog/Fast20Clean20Cheap.pdf)
Insulate Federal Clean Energy Investments From Pork-Barrel Politics There are many models for
AND
appropriation, would be somewhat insulated from congressional and special interest pressure.87

Tournament: NDCA | Round: 6 | Opponent: MBA BR | Judge: Phillips, Scott
Both houses of the United States congress should pass the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act.

CIR provides a path to citizenship and can stop the use of patholozing language used to otherize immigrants
Goodman 12/7
Adam PhD candidate, University of Pennsylvania; Fulbright-García Robles fellow
“Comprehensive Immigration Reform and the 'I-word'” http://www.huffingtonpost.com/adam-goodman/illegal-immigrant-use-term_b_2257817.html
The most immediate impact of any comprehensive immigration reform would be providing a way for
AND
remind us that they are constructions, and that they are in flux.

Tournament: Greenhill | Round: 3 | Opponent: CE Byrd GN | Judge: Fiori, Nick
1NC Case
Their argument denies the value to our experience because it erases the line between life and death- even if death is valuable and there are great things going on there, simply embracing death denies the possibility of agency for choice and sucks the meaning from our current reality
Kyumlicka, Professor Philosophy Queens University, ‘3 (Will, “Contemporary Political Thought: A Reader and Guide” ed. By Alan Finlayson, p 496-498)
The defining feature of liberalism is that it ascribes certain fundamental freedoms to each individual
AND
judge what is valuable, and to learn about other ways of life.
Claiming life is absurd leads to passivity and prevents responses to the destructive forces of capitalism
Toth, ’11 Paul A. Toth, “Life” and Life: The World Is Not Absurd,” The Nervous Breakdown, 1/6/11, http://www.thenervousbreakdown.com/patoth/2011/01/life-and-life-the-world-is-not-absurd/
To say that life is absurd is a common thing and a seemingly-radical
AND
“faith,” and, if feeling Tertullianesque, “Credo quia absurdum.”
Absurdity is not a basic human condition – it cannot be universalized
Allan, ’67 Wayne Allan, AN EXAMINATION OF THE CONCEPT OF THE ABSURD AS DEVELOPED IN THE WORKS OF ALBERT CAMUS, Open Access Dissertations and Theses. Paper 5784. http://digitalcommons.mcmaster.ca/opendissertations/57849-1-1967, p. 76-77
It is evident that a situation can be rendered absurd only with the introduction of
AND
does not follow that it is the basic category of the human condition.

Tournament: Crestian | Round: 4 | Opponent: Edgemont | Judge: Vitolo, Haddad
The problem with Zapatismo consciousness is that it still locates resistance to the sovereign through the identification of a social movement with the identifiable goal of defying coloniality – rather, our counter-advocacy is to embrace the clown as a form of play - the clown represents the best resistance to sovereign exclusion – it fractures current notions of political subjectivity and subverts state rule through laughter, confusion, and feigned idiocy that disrupts state impositions of rationalized rule-making and exclusion
Amoore, Professor Political Geography at Durham University, and Hall, Professor International Politics at University of York, ’13 (Louise and Alexandra, “The clown at the gates of the camp: Sovereignty, resistance and the figure of the fool” Security Dialogue, Vol 44 No 2, p 93-110, SagePub)
The clown, we propose, offers an alternative way into thinking about the troubled
AND
of the Minutemen protests, claiming to be providing security for their demonstration.

Tournament: Crestian RR | Round: 5 | Opponent: Niles North | Judge:
The United States federal government should amend Title 22 of US Code (22 U.S.C. 6065) so that a transition government in Cuba is defined as a government that is taking appropriate steps to restitute and/or compensate United States citizens for property taken by the Cuban government, as outlined in the following addendum. The United States federal government should offer to negotiate a Bilateral Investment Treaty with Cuba that includes a Step-Down Restitution Policy.
Current language
Title 22-FOREIGN RELATIONS AND INTERCOURSE CHAPTER 69A-CUBAN LIBERTY AND DEMOCRATIC SOLIDARITY (LIBERTAD) SUBCHAPTER II-ASSISTANCE TO FREE AND INDEPENDENT CUBA
§6065. Requirements and factors for determining transition government
(a) Requirements
For the purposes of this chapter, a transition government in Cuba is a government that-
(1) has legalized all political activity;
(2) has released all political prisoners and allowed for investigations of Cuban prisons by appropriate international human rights organizations;
(3) has dissolved the present Department of State Security in the Cuban Ministry of the Interior, including the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution and the Rapid Response Brigades; and
(4) has made public commitments to organizing free and fair elections for a new government-
(A) to be held in a timely manner within a period not to exceed 18 months after the transition government assumes power;
(B) with the participation of multiple independent political parties that have full access to the media on an equal basis, including (in the case of radio, television, or other telecommunications media) in terms of allotments of time for such access and the times of day such allotments are given; and
(C) to be conducted under the supervision of internationally recognized observers, such as the Organization of American States, the United Nations, and other election monitors;

(5) has ceased any interference with Radio Marti or Television Marti broadcasts;
(6) makes public commitments to and is making demonstrable progress in-
(A) establishing an independent judiciary;
(B) respecting internationally recognized human rights and basic freedoms as set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to which Cuba is a signatory nation;
(C) allowing the establishment of independent trade unions as set forth in conventions 87 and 98 of the International Labor Organization, and allowing the establishment of independent social, economic, and political associations;

(7) does not include Fidel Castro or Raul Castro; and
(8) has given adequate assurances that it will allow the speedy and efficient distribution of assistance to the Cuban people.

(b) Additional factors
In addition to the requirements in subsection (a) of this section, in determining whether a transition government in Cuba is in power, the President shall take into account the extent to which that government-
(1) is demonstrably in transition from a communist totalitarian dictatorship to representative democracy;
(2) has made public commitments to, and is making demonstrable progress in-
(A) effectively guaranteeing the rights of free speech and freedom of the press, including granting permits to privately owned media and telecommunications companies to operate in Cuba;
(B) permitting the reinstatement of citizenship to Cuban-born persons returning to Cuba;
(C) assuring the right to private property; and
(D) taking appropriate steps to return to United States citizens (and entities which are 50 percent or more beneficially owned by United States citizens) property taken by the Cuban Government from such citizens and entities on or after January 1, 1959, or to provide equitable compensation to such citizens and entities for such property;
(3) has extradited or otherwise rendered to the United States all persons sought by the United States Department of Justice for crimes committed in the United States; and
(4) has permitted the deployment throughout Cuba of independent and unfettered international human rights monitors.
(Pub. L. 104–114, title II, §205, Mar. 12, 1996, 110 Stat. 811.)
Language post-counterplan
Title 22-FOREIGN RELATIONS AND INTERCOURSE CHAPTER 69A-CUBAN LIBERTY AND DEMOCRATIC SOLIDARITY (LIBERTAD) SUBCHAPTER II-ASSISTANCE TO FREE AND INDEPENDENT CUBA
§6065. Requirements and factors for determining transition government
(a) Requirements
For the purposes of this chapter, a transition government in Cuba is a government that is-
(1) has legalized all political activity;
(2) has released all political prisoners and allowed for investigations of Cuban prisons by appropriate international human rights organizations;
(3) has dissolved the present Department of State Security in the Cuban Ministry of the Interior, including the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution and the Rapid Response Brigades; and
(4) has made public commitments to organizing free and fair elections for a new government-
(A) to be held in a timely manner within a period not to exceed 18 months after the transition government assumes power;
(B) with the participation of multiple independent political parties that have full access to the media on an equal basis, including (in the case of radio, television, or other telecommunications media) in terms of allotments of time for such access and the times of day such allotments are given; and
(C) to be conducted under the supervision of internationally recognized observers, such as the Organization of American States, the United Nations, and other election monitors;

(5) has ceased any interference with Radio Marti or Television Marti broadcasts;
(6) makes public commitments to and is making demonstrable progress in-
(A) establishing an independent judiciary;
(B) respecting internationally recognized human rights and basic freedoms as set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to which Cuba is a signatory nation;
(C) allowing the establishment of independent trade unions as set forth in conventions 87 and 98 of the International Labor Organization, and allowing the establishment of independent social, economic, and political associations;

(7) does not include Fidel Castro or Raul Castro; and
(8) has given adequate assurances that it will allow the speedy and efficient distribution of assistance to the Cuban people.

(b) Additional factors
In addition to the requirements in subsection (a) of this section, in determining whether a transition government in Cuba is in power, the President shall take into account the extent to which that government-
(1) is demonstrably in transition from a communist totalitarian dictatorship to representative democracy;
(2) has made public commitments to, and is making demonstrable progress in-
(A) effectively guaranteeing the rights of free speech and freedom of the press, including granting permits to privately owned media and telecommunications companies to operate in Cuba;
(B) permitting the reinstatement of citizenship to Cuban-born persons returning to Cuba;
(C) assuring the right to private property; and
(D) taking appropriate steps to return to United States citizens (and entities which are 50 percent or more beneficially owned by United States citizens) property taken by the Cuban Government from such citizens and entities on or after January 1, 1959, or to provide equitable compensation to such citizens and entities for such property;
(3) has extradited or otherwise rendered to the United States all persons sought by the United States Department of Justice for crimes committed in the United States; and
(4) has permitted the deployment throughout Cuba of independent and unfettered international human rights monitors.
(Pub. L. 104–114, title II, §205, Mar. 12, 1996, 110 Stat. 811.)
Setting up a Bilateral Investment Treaty as a mechanism for compensation helps Cuba meet the only condition that is keeping the embargo in place
Mowry, Senior Counsel Xerox Corporation, ’99 (David, “Lifting the Embargo against Cuba Using Vietnam as a Model: A Policy Paper for Modernity” Brooklyn Journal of International Law, 25 Brooklyn J. Int'l L. 229, lexis)
The obstacles that prevent a President from lifting the embargo against Cuba arbitrarily would appear
AND
S. Government would not be liable for any losses.   *262
Step-Down Restitution Policy is the best mechanism – flexibility in payment ensures appropriate and quick redress and means Cuba says yes
Espino, JD Candidate Nova Southeastern University Shepard Broad Law Center, ‘8 (Daniel- President and Chairman of the Board of Puente de Jovenes Profesionales Cubanos  and President of the Hispanic Law Students Association, Spring, “Step-Down Restitution: A Proposal For An Equitable Resolution To Confiscated Cuban Property” Nova Law Review, 32 Nova L. Rev. 423, lexis)
 *451  V. IMPLEMENTATION The Step-Down Restitution Policy should be
AND
justice for Cuba's transgressions by allowing them to receive individualistic and equitable remediation.
The current embargo holds Cuba responsible for compensation for property taken during the Castro revolution – lifting the embargo and normalizing relations makes the US legally responsible for that compensation under the Takings Clause – that causes lawsuits against the federal government that collapses relations
Smagula, Associate with Totti, Rodriguez Diaz and Fuentes, ’95 (John, Fall, “Redirecting Focus: Justifying the U.S. Embargo Against Cuba and Resolving the Stalemate” North Carolina Journal of International Law and Commercial Regulation, 21 N.C.J. Int'l L. and Com. Reg. 66, lexis)
B. Full Compensation as an Inflexible Standard In extreme cases, full compensation may
AND
cast a cloud over any progress in U.S.-Cuban relations.

Tournament: Harvard | Round: 3 | Opponent: Bronx Science GK | Judge: Vellayappan, Arjun
The fifty states and all relevant United States territories should provide decentralized integrated photovoltaic electrification assistance to Mexico.
State tax incentives spur renewable investment
Brown et al 2002
Elizabeth Brown, Patrick Quinlan, Harvey M. Sachs and Daniel Williams American Council for an Energy-Efficient EconomyMarch 2002 (“Tax Credits for Energy Efficiency and Green Buildings: Opportunities for State Action” American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy http://www.eceee.org/conference_proceedings/ACEEE_buildings/2002/Panel_9/p9_2)
States play a fundamental role in addressing energy use and the adoption of energy efficiency
AND
residents, the United States and its citizens, and the global climate.

Tournament: Harvard | Round: 3 | Opponent: Bronx Science GK | Judge: Vellayappan, Arjun
Their criticism of rational economic tools is misguided – viewing economic exchange as purely symbolic trading of nothing collapses the ability of social science to explain the world
Rosenau, Professor PolSci University of Quebec, ’92 (Pauline Marie, “Post-modernism and the Social Sciences” p 105)
The post-modern call for an End of the Order of Representation poses both
AND
of credibility, yet to be resolved and in need of immediate attention.
Impact is extinction – vote negative to affirm economic engagement not as the symbolic exchange of nothing, but on the basis of the ability of social science to provide causal explanations for knowledge and action
Hausman, Professor Philosophy at University of Wisconsin, and McPherson, Fellow at Spencer Foundation, ‘6 (Daniel and Michael, “Economic Analysis, Moral Philosophy, and Public Policy, p 279)
There are many mundane detailed issues in economic theory, in moral philosophy, and
AND
. The choice between alternative possible indices depends on both economics and ethics.

Tournament: Harvard | Round: 1 | Opponent: BAUDL MW | Judge: McGrath, Michael
Use of the F word normalizes sexual violence and oppression
Schwyzer 9
(Hugo,  PhD in Philosophy from Berkley and Professor of History and Gender Studies, November 4, 2009, “‘Penetrate’ v. ‘Engulf’ and the multiple meanings of the ‘f’ word: a note on feminist language”, http://hugoschwyzer.net/2009/11/04/penetrate-v-engulf-and-the-multiple-meanings-of-the-f-word-a-note-on-feminist-language/)
As another part of my introductory lecture on language, I talk about “fuck
AND
term in the English vernacular will be used, and confine it there. 

We have an obligation to reject it—it’s key to a safe and equal society- t/aff
Schwyzer 9
(Hugo,  PhD in Philosophy from Berkley and Professor of History and Gender Studies, November 4, 2009, “‘Penetrate’ v. ‘Engulf’ and the multiple meanings of the ‘f’ word: a note on feminist language”, http://hugoschwyzer.net/2009/11/04/penetrate-v-engulf-and-the-multiple-meanings-of-the-f-word-a-note-on-feminist-language/)
 Words matter, I tell my students. We’re told over and over again
AND
part of building a more pleasurable, safe, just and egalitarian world.

Tournament: USC | Round: 1 | Opponent: Head Royce HH | Judge: Ward, Cameron
Should denotes an expectation of enacting a plan
American Heritage Dictionary 2000 (Dictionary.com)
should. The will to do something or have something take place: I shall go out if I feel like it.  
Resolved implies a policy
Louisiana House 3-8-2005, http://house.louisiana.gov/house-glossary.htm
Resolution  A legislative instrument that generally is used for making declarations,  stating policies, and making decisions where some other form is not  required. A bill includes the constitutionally required enacting clause; a  resolution uses the term "resolved". Not subject to a time limit for  introduction nor to governor's veto. ( Const. Art. III, §17(B) and House  Rules 8.11 , 13.1 , 6.8 , and 7.4)

The primacy purpose of debate is to increase our skills as decision-makers –affects the quality our own lives and of the people around us
Steinberg, Lecturer Communication Studies U Miami, and Freeley, Attorney, ‘8 (David and Austin, “Argumentation and Debate: Critical Thinking for Reasoned Decision Making” p 45)
After several days of intense debate, first the United States House of Representatives and
AND
customer for our product, or a vote for our favored political candidate.

AND  discourse absent policy action fails
Jill Taft-Kaufman, Speech prof @ CMU, 1995, Southern Comm. Journal, Spring, v. 60, Iss. 3, “Other Ways”, p pq
The postmodern passwords of "polyvocality," "Otherness," and "difference," unsupported
AND
political agendas, institutions, agencies, and the budgets that fuel them.

Tournament: Glenbrooks | Round: 2 | Opponent: New Trier WO | Judge: Hirn, Kevin
Obama will be working closely with Congress to prevent new sanctions on Iran that would wreck nuclear deal
Reuters 11/23
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-iran-nuclear-deal-reached-20131123,0,7192935.story
GENEVA (Reuters) - Iran and six world powers reached a breakthrough agreement early
AND
force against Iran, he believed it was necessary first to exhaust diplomacy.
Plan kills PC - Huge fights between stakeholders and shifting political agendas
Ibarra-Yunez 12 (Dr. Alejandro, Professor of Economics and Public Policy – Instituto Tecnologico de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (Mexico), “Chapter 7. Energy Integration in North America: Politics and Policymaking,” Policy Research Project Report 174, May, http://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/bitstream/handle/2152/17560/prp_174-econ_reg_challenges_US_Mex_electricity-2012.pdf?sequence=5)

Greater integration of the electrical grid across the US-Mexico border poses a unique
AND
explanation of how the US and Mexico constitute an outlier in this regard.)
OB PC key to stop sanctions
Ackerman 11-8 (Spencer,- national security editor for Guardian US. A former senior writer for Wired, he won the 2012 National Magazine Award for Digital Reporting “White House ambitions on Iran deal face chalenge from hawks in Congress”)
As soon as the Obama administration reaches an anticipated deal with Iran over its nuclear
AND
of weeks has been effective on the consequences of damaging a nuclear deal.” 

Deal key to regional stability -~-- multiple scenarios
Saless 9-10 (Shahir Shahid,- political analyst and journalist, writing primarily about Iran's domestic and foreign affairs  for the Asia Times and IranAmerica “A Chance at Last”)
Iran’s economy is in crisis. Inflation is skyrocketing, unemployment—especially among the
AND
else to lose, it could take an irrational and potentially dangerous path.  

Global nuclear war
Primakov ’09 - Doctor of Economics, Professor, executive member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Head of the Center for Situational Analysis at the Russian Academy of Sciences
Yevgeny Primakov is President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation; Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences; member of the Editorial Board of Russia in Global Affairs. The Fundamental Conflict: The Middle East Problem in the Context of International Relations. Russia in Global Affairs Vol 7 No 3. 2009. http://kms1.isn.ethz.ch/serviceengine/Files/ISN/105702/ichaptersection_singledocument/71a40dca-23cb-411d-9c5d-a7ce495e2522/en/12.pdf
The Middle East conflict is unparalleled in terms of its potential for spreading globally.
AND
seems that President Obama’s position does not completely rule out such a possibility.

Tournament: MBA | Round: 5 | Opponent: Edgemont | Judge: Spomer, Andrew
Their framework for debate is mired in totalitarian ideology—the privileging of “oppressed” voices over and against that of “oppressors” buys into a dangerously homogenizing world view which authorizes genocidal violence against all world views that are not sufficiently “liberatory.”
Gur-Ze’ev 98 (Ilan, Education—Haifa University, 1998  “Toward a Non-Repressive Critical Pedagogy,” http://construct.haifa.ac.il/~ilangz/Critpe39.html)
Freire’s Critical Pedagogy did not grow out of mere principles but out of his direct
AND
American colleges so as to be successful in the present order of things.
Vote to negate their strategically oriented praxis.  Your ballot can be used as form of counter-education which is able to challenge their dangerous utopianism while mounting a more effective challenge to dominant knowledge production regimes precisely because it refuses to ascribe normative standards for what makes a strategy “emancipatory.”
Gur-Ze’ev 98 (Ilan, Education—Haifa University, 1998 “Toward a Non-Repressive Critical Pedagogy,” http://construct.haifa.ac.il/~ilangz/Critpe39.html)
Critical Theory is committed to universal emancipation, in the sense I have presented,
AND
only non-repressive form of hope possible in such an educational project.

Tournament: Crestian RR | Round: 2 | Opponent: Gulliver | Judge:
Link – the aff has taken the role of the Western rescuer – their contempt for human rights abuses easily remedied by Western intervention creates voyeuristic egoism that undermines true solidarity with the oppressed
Douzinas, Professor Law at University of London, ‘7 (Costas, “Human Rights and Empire: The Political Philosophy of Cosmopolitanism” p. 70, gender mod)
In this moral universe, the claim that there is a single essence to humanity
AND
the way that images of suffering work on our emotional and psychological life.
Impact – even benign human rights projects like the aff give legitimacy to imperial projects like Rumsfeld’s Iraq invasion – rejecting the centrality of human rights discourse is the only way to prevent the aff’s framing from being coopted for liberal imperialism
Brown, Professor PolSci at UC Berkeley, ‘4 (Wendy, “‘The Most We Can Hope For…’ Human Rights and the Politics of Fatalism” South Atlantic Quarterly, Vol 103 No 2/3, p 451-463, ProjectMuse)
We return to the question with which we began: If human rights activism is
AND
centrality of human rights discourse might render those other political possibilities more faint.
Instead of true solidarity, the affs rights-based approach creates a fantasy of unending human rights to which all are entitled – this causes more rights violations and oppression against those deemed obstacles to recognition
Douzinas, Professor Law at University of London, ‘7 (Costas, “Human Rights and Empire: The Political Philosophy of Cosmopolitanism” p. 49)
The discourse of universal human rights thus presents a fantasy scenario in which society and
AND

the more rights we have the more insecure and unfree we feel.
Alternative – reject the aff’s rights-based justification for the plan – the plan’s compulsive actomania is like giving aspirin to the dying – the only ethical act is to do nothing to come to terms with our own powerlessness rather than live under the illusion our assistance creates solidarity with the oppressed
Rahnema, Professor American University in Paris, ’97 (Majid, “Towards Post-Development: Searching for Signposts, a New Language and New Paradigms” The Post-Development Reader)
A first condition for such a search is to look at things as they are
AND
all its difference and uniqueness, to start its journey into the unknown.

Tournament: Harvard | Round: 1 | Opponent: BAUDL MW | Judge: McGrath, Michael
Their consumerization of Assata Shakur is a commodified and perverse form of hero-worship – Assata Shakur is valorized only as a mother who watches over her revolutionary children that weren’t alive during the height of her activism – this reinforces racial stereotypes and ensures the revolution rests upon a spectacle
Johnson, PhD Candidate Ohio State University, ‘8 (Lakesia, “The Iconography of The Black Female Revolutionary And New Narratives Of Justice” PhD Dissertation)
Both of these quotes not only point to the importance of Davis as a radical
AND
the inherent inferiority of Black men and the emasculating nature of Black women.
The idolization of Assata Shakur as a black female revolutionary is counterproductive for the fight against anti-blackness – it causes us to ignore the stories of rank-and-file organizers that are the true success story of the revolution and reinscribes the idea of a culture founded on elitism and idolatry
James, Professor Ethnic Studies at University of Colorado Boulder, ’99 (Joy, “Black Revolutionary Icons and 'Neoslave' Narratives” Social Identities: Journal for the Study of Race, Nation and Culture, Vol 5 No 2, p 135-159, TandFOnline)
Icons, Gender Politics and `Panther Women’ Influential male narratives have helped to masculinise
AND
spotlight. (Davis also had the international platform of the Communist Party.)
The 1AC speaks a lot about Assata but not a lot about what Assata wanted to do – rather than affirm the spirit of Assata Shakur, we affirm a leaderless spirit that focuses our energy not on Assata, but on her goal, fighting the prison-industrial complex – this is not mutually exclusive with the aff’s affirmation of Assata’s spirit, but it does beg the question of why their affirmation of Assata Shakur is the best political and scholastic engagement for revolutionary action – Assata would not affirm the 1AC’s hero-worship obsessed with her life, she wanted to start with the prison complex instead
James, Professor Ethnic Studies at University of Colorado Boulder, ’99 (Joy, “Black Revolutionary Icons and 'Neoslave' Narratives” Social Identities: Journal for the Study of Race, Nation and Culture, Vol 5 No 2, p 135-159, TandFOnline)
During the NBC special, one interviewee suggested that the New Jersey police would do everything to extradite Shakur from Cuba, including `kidnapping’ and bounty hunters. Shakur responds in her `Open Letter’ that:
I guess the theory is that if they could kidnap millions of Africans from Africa
AND
a maroon woman. I will never voluntarily accept the condition of slavery ...
Perhaps the most unsettling passage of the letter is where Shakur echoes Martin Luther King, Jr’ s eschatological vision on 3 April 1968 just prior to his assassination. King states that he does `not mind’ dying because he has been to the mountain top. Shakur observes:
Everybody has to die sometime, and all I want is to go with dignity
AND
ancestors to be part of the struggle to ensure that they have one.
Arguing for young people’ s right to `live free from political repression’ , Shakur urges the reader s of her letter to work to free all political prisoners and abolish the death penalty with `a special, urgent appeal’ for struggles for the life of Mumia Abu-Jamal, the only political prisoner on death row.26

Tournament: MBA | Round: 1 | Opponent: Barstow | Judge: Forslund
Comprehensive reform will pass Obama taking lead while bipartisanship is high
Lopez 1/1
Oscar, reporter Latin Times, “New Year 2014: 4 Reasons Immigration Reform Will Pass In 2014”, 1/1/14, http://www.latintimes.com/new-year-2014-4-reasons-immigration-reform-will-pass-2014-141778
4. Leadership: As immigration reform comes to the fore, party leaders will
AND
, comprehensive legislation is one thing we can be sure of in 2014.

Plan met will substantial political opposition – taxpayers oppose, medical lobbies will backlash, perceived risk of job loss
Haims and Dick, RAND Policy Analysts, 12 – *Marla C. Haims (Former RAND Global Health Initiative Director, Ph.D. and M.S. in industrial and systems engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison; B.A. in psychology, Miami University) and Andrew W. Dick (Senior RAND Economic analyst, Ph.D. in economics, Stanford University), “Extending U.S. Medicare to Mexico; Why It's Important to Consider and What Can Be Done,” Fall 2012, article 5, http://www.rand.org/pubs/periodicals/health-quarterly/issues/v2/n3/05.html
Although a Medicare Abroad program in Mexico, based on any of the above options
AND
groups, such as the American Medical Association, and the general population.

Most recent nonpartisan report proves CIR generates substantial GDP growth and reduces deficit
US News 10/29
“Immigration Reform Boosts Economic Recovery: Immigration reform could reduce the federal deficit by $1.2 trillion” October 29, 2013
http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2013/10/29/immigration-reform-boosts-economic-recovery
As a comprehensive immigration reform bill hangs in the balance on Capitol Hill, a
AND
found that residential housing construction would increase by $69 billion a year.
Nuclear war
Friedberg and Schoenfeld 8  
Aaron, Prof. Politics. And IR @ Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School and Visiting Scholar @ Witherspoon Institute, and Gabriel, Senior Editor of Commentary and Wall Street Journal, “The Dangers of a Diminished America” http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122455074012352571.html
Then there are the dolorous consequences of a potential collapse of the world's financial architecture
AND
of these countries seek to divert attention from internal travails with external adventures.

Tournament: USC | Round: 6 | Opponent: Lowell CZ | Judge: Duffy, Cat
1NC
The United States federal government should substantially increase its border transportation infrastructure projects with Mexico through the establishment of a new bank modeled off of the United States Mexico North American Development Bank that is dedicated exclusively to transportation infrastructure projects. The United States Mexico North American Development Bank should be required to share any relevant information for border infrastructure projects with the new bank.
Counterplan solves their NADBank key warrants – we create a parallel bank but that only does transportation infrastructure projects
Net-benny is NADBank overstretch – they currently focus on environmental infrastructure
Reuters 12 (“TEXT-SandP revises North American Development Bank outlook” http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/23/idUSWNA177320120723 Jul 23, 2012)
The negative outlook reflects rising embedded risks in NADB's loan portfolio. Rating Action On
AND
end of this year, could affect the ratings. Related Criteria And Research
The aff kills that – expanding the NADBank mandate to include TI overstretches the institution
George Kourous (directs the IRC's BIOC program, Writer, Editor and Senior Program Associate at International Relations Center (IRC)) October 2000 “The Great NADBank Debate” ProQuest
 The charter that created BECC and NADBank requires the institutions to support projects that
AND
many of whom still lack basic services like running water and sewage disposal.
NADBank environmental funding key to alternative energy development
BusinessWire 1/14/13- (“North American Development Bank and Soriana Move Forward on Wind Energy” January 14, 2013, http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20130114006289/en/North-American-Development-Bank-Soriana-Move-Wind)
Organización Soriana, who with the Mexican company GEMEX and Swiss investor Grupo ECOS have
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certified by the Border Environment Cooperation Commission (BECC) in February 2012.

Tournament: USC | Round: 3 | Opponent: Damien SQ | Judge: Lemuel, Joel
Text: The United States federal government should provide resources necessary for the creation of a permanent European Union military headquarters within the North Atlantic Treaty Organization,
support European Union led European defense, replace Americans in North Atlantic Treaty Organization leadership positions with European officials.

EU NATO headquarters solves parity in security alliance and establishes permanent and mutually supportive transatlantic link
Benitez and Artz 10/16
Jorge Benitez is a Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council and Marine Artz is member of the Atlantic Council's Transatlantic Security Initiative. “Ending the Discord Between NATO and the EU” October 16, 2013 http://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/world-report/2013/10/16/the-eu-and-nato-need-more-military-cooperation
On December 19, the leaders of the European Union will meet for a rare
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-- as Europeans cooperating with each other and with our North American Allies."
EU can and will assume NATO and defense leadership if US demonstrates transitional support – CP fosters a durable transatlantic military link
*No link to politics
Kashmeri 10/24
Sarwar Adjunct Professor-Norwich U; Senior Fellow-Atlantic Council; Fellow-Foreign Policy Assoc. “U.S. Should Seize the Moment to Fuse NATO With the EU” 10/24/2013
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sarwar-kashmeri/secretary-hagel-should-se_b_4152580.html
As U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel settles into Brussels this week for
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the new century. Secretary Hagel should seize the opportunity to do so.

Tournament: Georgetown | Round: 2 | Opponent: Thomas Jefferson CG | Judge: Pavur, James
1NC 3
The United States federal government should:
---license for export to Cuba US technology necessary for emergency oil flow suppression, spill containment and clean-up
---allow licenses for US citizens to travel to Cuba to help with oil spill efforts
---provide Cuba with satellite imagery and models to assess oil disasters
---hold joint exercises with Cuba to coordinate oil emergency responses
Cuba will say yes
Sadowski 11 – Richard Sadowski, J.D., Hofstra University School of Law, Fall 2011, “IN THIS ISSUE: NATURAL RESOURCE CONFLICT: CUBAN OFFSHORE DRILLING: PREPARATION AND PREVENTION WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF THE UNITED STATES' EMBARGO,” Sustainable Development Law and Policy, 12 Sustainable Dev. L. and Pol'y 37, p. lexis
Further, spill response planning can be implemented before drilling begins. The United States
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of mutual interest, both countries should work to draft and implement it.
Counterplan solves risk of spills
Piñon and Muse 10 – Jorge R. Piñon, Visiting Research Fellow with the Cuban Research Institute at Florida International University and former president of Amoco Oil Latin America, and Robert L. Muse, D.C. based attorney with long and substantial experience in U.S.-Cuba legal matters, May 2010, “Coping with the Next Oil Spill: Why U.S.-Cuba Environmental Cooperation is Critical,” online: http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Files/rc/papers/2010/0518_oil_spill_cuba_pinon/0518_oil_spill_cuba_pinon.pdf
Establishing specific protocols cannot wait because nothing in U.S.-Cuba relations is
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and effectively to any incident that threatens either country’s marine and coastal habitats.

Tournament: Crestian | Round: 4 | Opponent: Edgemont | Judge: Vitolo, Haddad
Russia is displaying new forms of pragmatic imperialism – they desire expansionist policies to dominate the globe
Bugajski, Director New European Democracies Program at Center for Strategic and International Studies, ’10 (Janusz, Winter, “Russia’s Pragmatic Reimperialization” Caucasian Review of International Affairs, Vol 4 No 1, http://www.marshallarmyrotc.org/documents/Done_Russias_Pragmatic_Reimperialization_Janusz_Bugajski1.pdf)
Pragmatic Reimperialization  The word “pragmatic” has been loosely applied in describing Russia’s foreign
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the priority is to restore the strength and stature of the Russian state.
The aff helps Russia fulfill that – their critique of US involvement in global affairs feeds Russian aggression
Nyquist, Columnist Financial Sense Online and WorldNetDaily, ‘9 (JR, “The Sequence” http://www.financialsensearchive.com/stormwatch/geo/pastanalysis/2009/0828.html,)
In advance of any military campaign relying on tank divisions and nuclear rocket regiments,
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best. Here is the beginning of what I call "the sequence."
This is particularly true in the context of Latin America – US engagement is key to prevent the spread of Russia’s sphere of influence
Blank, Professor National Security Studies at Strategic Studies Institute at US Army War College, ‘9 (Stephen, April, “Russia in Latin America: Geopolitical Games in the US’s Neighborhood” IFRI, www.ifri.org/downloads/ifriblankrussiaandlatinamericaengapril09.pdf?)
Unfortunately Moscow’s current foreign policy—and that of supporters like president of Venezuela Hugo
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Latin American partners in reply to the reciprocal interest they are showing.”26
Russian imperialism causes nuclear war
Blank, Professor National Security Affairs at Strategic Studies Institute, ‘9 (Stephen, March, “Russia and Arms Control: Are There Opportunities for the Obama Administration” http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pdffiles/pub908.pdf)
Proliferators or nuclear states like China and Russia can then deter regional or intercontinental attacks
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perhaps make wars of aggression on their neighbors or their own people.172

Tournament: Crestian RR | Round: 2 | Opponent: Gulliver | Judge:
The United States federal government should exempt medicine, food aid, and communication technology from its economic sanctions on the Republic of Cuba.
Counterplan competes – aff removes the embargo, the counterplan just creates some exemptions to it that allows the exports of goods that reduce suffering without ensuring the US takes over the island – whole-sale lifting of the embargo is a green light for neoliberal domination in areas like oil drilling that replaces a lack of US influence with an iron grip
Robert Sandels 11, former professor of history at Quinnipiac University in Connecticut, September 2011, “An Oil-Rich Cuba?,” http://monthlyreview.org/2011/09/01/an-oil-rich-cuba
Cuba is about to begin drilling for oil in the Gulf of Mexico. If
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cheap oil from Venezuela came the importation of “neo-communism.”12
That turns the case – they allow Cuba to be transformed into a commodity which causes dehumanization and increased violence
Brand and Sekler,professor of International Politics at Vienna University and junior researcher in the area of international politics in the Department of Political Science at Vienna University , 2009 (Ulrich and Nicola, “Postneoliberalism – A beginning debate,” Development Dialogue, no. 51, page 6, January 2009,http://rosalux-europa.info/userfiles/file/DD51.pdf#page=173 )CS
Fifth, the four already noted crises create such great economic, social, cultural
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capital, violence has also been globalised.There is a security crisis.

Tournament: St Marks | Round: 2 | Opponent: Grapevine KS | Judge: Forslund, Eric
1NC
CIR will pass SOON Obama’s continued push is key
Matthews 10/16
Laura Matthews, MA Columbia, International Business Times “2013 Immigration Reform Bill: 'I'm Going To Push To Call A Vote,' Says Obama” October 16 2013 http://www.ibtimes.com/2013-immigration-reform-bill-im-going-push-call-vote-says-obama-1429220
When Congress finally passes a bipartisan bill that kicks the fiscal battles over to early
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can get immigration reform legislation passed in the House and signed into law.”

Key to US-Latin American relations
Lopez-Levy 12 – PhD Candidate at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies of the University of Denver
Arturo, “The Latin American Gorilla,” Foreign Policy in Focus, http://www.fpif.org/articles/the_latin_american_gorilla
Few political acts would have a greater effect on U.S.-Latin American
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remittances, investment, and the voting preferences of expatriates from those countries.

Spills over to broader relations – solves democracy, warming, and prolif
Shifter 12 - President of the Sol M. Linowitz Forum Intern-American Dialogue
Michael, "Remaking the Relationship: The United States and Latin America" Inter-American Dialogue Policy Report -- April -- www.thedialogue.org/PublicationFiles/IAD2012PolicyReportFINAL.pdf
There are compelling reasons for the United States and Latin America to ¶ pursue more
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—both ¶ from the United States and from Latin America and the Caribbean

Warming is an existential risk
Mazo 10 – PhD in Paleoclimatology from UCLA
Jeffrey Mazo, Managing Editor, Survival and Research Fellow for Environmental Security and Science Policy at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, 3-2010, “Climate Conflict: How global warming threatens security and what to do about it,” pg. 122
The best estimates for global warming to the end of the century range from 2
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adaptation to these extremes would mean profound social, cultural and political changes.

Tournament: Harvard | Round: 3 | Opponent: Bronx Science GK | Judge: Vellayappan, Arjun
A.  Interpretation -- “Engagement” requires direct talks with the target government
Crocker 9 – Chester Crocker, Professor of Strategic Studies at the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, Former Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, “Terms of Engagement”, New York Times, 9-13, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/14/opinion/14crocker.html?_r=0

PRESIDENT OBAMA will have a hard time achieving his foreign policy goals until he masters some key terms and better manages the expectations they convey. Given the furor that will surround the news of America’s readiness to hold talks with Iran, he could start with “engagement” — one of the trickiest terms in the policy lexicon.
The Obama administration has used this term to contrast its approach with its predecessor’s resistance to talking with adversaries and troublemakers. His critics show that they misunderstand the concept of engagement when they ridicule it as making nice with nasty or hostile regimes.
Let’s get a few things straight. Engagement in statecraft is not about sweet talk. Nor is it based on the illusion that our problems with rogue regimes can be solved if only we would talk to them. Engagement is not normalization, and its goal is not improved relations. It is not akin to détente, working for rapprochement, or appeasement.
So how do you define an engagement strategy? It does require direct talks. There is simply no better way to convey a
uthoritative statements of position or to hear responses. But establishing talks is just a first step. The goal of engagement is to change the other country’s perception of its own interests and realistic options and, hence, to modify its policies and its behavior.

Tournament: USC | Round: 6 | Opponent: Lowell CZ | Judge: Duffy, Cat
Economic engagement is a subset of conditional engagement and implies a tit-for-tat exchange
Shinn 96 James Shinn, C.V. Starr Senior Fellow for Asia at the CFR in New York City and director of the council’s multi-year Asia Project, worked on economic affairs in the East Asia Bureau of the US Dept of State, “Weaving the Net: Conditional Engagement with China,” pp. 9 and 11, google books
In sum, conditional engagement consists of a set of objectives, a strategy for attaining those objectives, and tactics (specific policies) for implementing that strategy.
• The objectives of conditional engagement are the ten principles, which were selected to preserve American vital interests in Asia while accommodating China’s emergence as a major power.
• The overall strategy of conditional engagement follows two parallel lines: economic engagement, to promote the integration of China into the global trading and financial systems; and security engagement, to encourage compliance with the ten principles by diplomatic and military means when economic incentives do not suffice, in order to hedge against the risk of the emergence of a belligerent China.
• The tactics of economic engagement should promote China’s economic integration through negotiations on trade liberalization, institution building, and educational exchanges. While a carrots-and-sticks approach may be appropriate within the economic arena, the use of trade sanction to achieve short-term political goals is discouraged.
• The tactics of security engagement should reduce the risks posed by China’s rapid military expansion, its lack of transparency, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and transnational problems such as crime and illegal migration, by engaging in arms control negotiations, multilateral efforts, and a loosely-structured defensive military arrangement in Asia.8
To footnotes
8. Conditional engagement’s recommended tactics of tit-for-tat responses are equivalent
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105, no. 3 (1990), pp. 383-88).

Tournament: St Marks | Round: 4 | Opponent: Westwood JR | Judge: Heidt, Jenny
A. Interpretation – Removing sanctions is a form of appeasement
Stern 6 (Martin, University of Maryland Graduate, Debunking detente, 11/27/06, http://www.diamondbackonline.com/article_56223e79-7009-56a3-8afe-5d08bfff6e08.html)

Appeasement is defined as "granting concessions to potential enemies to maintain peace." Giving Iran international legitimacy and removing sanctions would have maintained peace with a potential enemy without changing the undemocratic practices of the enemy. If this isn't appeasement, I don't know how better to define the word.

B. Violation – they remove restrictions – that’s appeasement which is distinct
Resnick 1 (Evan, Assistant Professor and coordinator of the United States Programme at RSIS, “Defining Engagement,” Journal of International Affairs, 0022197X, Spring2001, Vol. 54, Issue 2, http://web.ebscohost.com.turing.library.northwestern.edu/ehost/detail?sid=1b56e6b4-ade2-4052-9114-7d107fdbd01940sessionmgr12andvid=2andhid=24andbdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ3d3d#db=mthandAN=4437301)

Thus, a rigid conceptual distinction can be drawn between engagement and appeasement. Whereas
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or in exchange for certain concessions on the part of the target state.

C. Voting issue

1. Limits – near infinite amount of restrictions the aff can remove in each topic country – explodes neg research burden
   2. Ground – we lose all spending links and internal relations disads – there’s no immediate engagement to get ground off of

Tournament: Barkley Forum | Round: 1 | Opponent: Dexter MS | Judge: Kaul, Raghav
Obama is making major push for TPA generating momentum for passage
Parnes 1/21
Amie Parnes The Hill “Obama: Give me fast track trade” 01/21 http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/195858-white-house-works-to-convince-dems-to-give-obama-fast-track-on-trade
The White House is making a major push to convince Congress to give the president
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House officials are “devoted” to working with members on the issue. 

Plan drains PC
Aho 2013
Matthew Aho, Inter-American Dialogue's Latin America Advisor, Consultant in the Corporate
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Term Hold for U.S.-Cuba Relations?” January 23, 2013
http://www.cubastudygroup.org/index.cfm/our-opinions?ContentRecord_id=c20ad778-24cd-46df-9fb2-3ebc664ed58dandContentType_id=15d70174-0c41-47c6-9bd5-cc875718b6c3andGroup_id=4c543850-0014-4d3c-8f87-0cbbda2e1dc7
While John Kerry's views on U.S.–Cuba relations have favored engagement over
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could prove vital and create new opportunities for U.S. business.
TPA is critical to US economic growth and restoring America’s free trade credibility
Riley and Kim 4/16
Bryan Riley is Jay Van Andel Senior Analyst in Trade Policy and Anthony B. Kim is a Senior Policy Analyst in the Center for International Trade and Economics at The Heritage Foundation.
www.heritage.org/research/reports/2013/04/advancing-trade-freedom-key-objective-of-trade-promotion-authority-renewal
Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) has been a critical tool for advancing free trade
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fosters open markets, democracy, and peace throughout the world.3
Protectionism sparks global nuclear war
Panzer 8 (Michael J., Faculty – New York Institute of Finance, Financial Armageddon: Protect Your Future from Economic Collapse, p. 137-138)
The rise in isolationism and protectionism will bring about ever more heated arguments and dangerous
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between Muslims and Western societies as the beginnings of a new world war.

Tournament: Barkley Forum | Round: 4 | Opponent: Hawken GZ | Judge: Tallungan, Christina
The United States Federal Government should substantially increase its investment in thorium nuclear reactors production and infrastructure towards Mexico.
Nuclear energy like thorium solves both warming and energy poverty.
Amano 12 (Yukiya, current Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, "CLIMATE CHANGE AND NUCLEAR POWER 2012”, International Atomic Energy Agency, http://www.iaea.org/OurWork/ST/NE/Pess/assets/12-44581_ccnp2012_web.pdf)//MG
Nuclear power has the potential to ¶ continue to play a significant role in the
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especially important ¶ to deal effectively with any concerns about ¶ nuclear power.