1AC - Venezuela BIT 1NC - Climate Catastrophism K Immigration Reform DA Brazil Interlocutor CP Case 2NC - K Case 1NR - PTX Case 2NR - K
Barkley Forum
4
Opponent: Maine East AL | Judge: Jon Voss
1AC - Mexico Renewables 1NC - Caro Quintero CP European Union CP Shunning DA Immigration Reform DA Case 2NC - Caro Quintero CP Case 1NR - ShunningPTX 2NR - CP
St Marks Sophomore Hoedown
1
Opponent: New Trier BK | Judge: Ranganathan Turoff
1AC- Mexico THA (Natural Gas China) 1NC- Shunning DA Apocalyptic Rhetoric K Caro Quintero CP 2NC- Apocalyptic Rhetoric K Case 1NR- Caro Quintero CP 2NR- Apocalyptic K
St Marks Sophomore Hoedown
3
Opponent: Highland Park EZ | Judge: Jordan Gerard
1AC Mexico Renewable Energy (Energy poverty no war) 1NC Shunning DA Caro Quintero CP Diplomatic Capital DA Case 2NC Caro Quintero CP Case 1NR Diplomatic Capital DA 2NR Caro Quintero CP
St Marks Sophomore Hoedown
7
Opponent: Westwood HS | Judge: NormandPavur
1AC Cuban Embargo (Influence and Agriculture) 1NC Diplomatic Capital DA Alan Gross CP Cult of Reputation K 2NC Cult of Reputation Case 1NR Alan Gross 1AR Agriculture K CP 2NR K 2AR Agriculture K
To modify or delete round reports, edit the associated round.
Cites
Entry
Date
1NC Alan Gross CP
Tournament: St Marks Sophomore Hoedown | Round: 7 | Opponent: Westwood HS | Judge: NormandPavur 1NC — Alan Gross QPQ CP
The United States federal government should offer to ~plan~ if and only if the Republic of Cuba releases Alan Gross.
The counterplan solves the case and is net-beneficial—
First, the U.S. should trade increased economic engagement for Gross’s release — a quid pro quo is key to boost relations.
Smith 12 — Wayne Smith, Director of the Cuba Program and Senior Fellow at the Center for International Policy, served as unofficial ambassador to Cuba under President Jimmy Carter, 2012 ("What Roles for Foreign Direct Investment in the New Cuban Economy?," Transcript of a Brookings Institution Panel Discussion, December 10th, Available Online at http://www.brookings.edu/~~/media/events/2012/12/1020cuba/20121210_cuban_economy.pdf-http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/events/2012/12/10 cuba/20121210_cuban_economy.pdf, Accessed 09-02-2013, p. 30-31) MR. PICCONE: Let’s take one more. Wayne, up front here, please. ~end page 30~ SPEAKER: Thank you. Back to the stalemate in which we now find ourselves AND would facilitate economic relations between the two, if would seem to me.
Mr. Piccone = Ted Piccone, Senior Fellow and Deputy Director of Foreign Policy Studies at The Brookings Institution, served eight years as a senior foreign policy advisor in the Clinton Administration
Second, Cuba wants to use Gross as leverage to negotiate with Washington on other bilateral issues — they’ll "say yes" to the counterplan.
Sweig 13 — Julia E. Sweig, Nelson and David Rockefeller Senior Fellow for Latin America Studies and Director for Latin America Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, holds an M.A. and Ph.D. from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, interviewed by Robert McMahon, Editor of CFR.org, 2013 ("Talking to Cuba," Council On Foreign Relations, January 25th, Available Online at http://www.cfr.org/cuba/talking-cuba/p29879?cid=rss-latinamericaandthecaribbea-talking_to_cuba-012513-http://www.cfr.org/cuba/talking-cuba/p29879?cid=rss-latinamericaandthecaribbea-talking_to_cuba-012513, Accessed 09-02-2013) Washington continues to point to what it says is the biggest impediment, which is the case of Alan Gross, the U.S. citizen who U.S. officials said was in Cuba to help with Internet access; Cubans say he was subverting the state. He continues to languish in Cuba. How to resolve this issue? Well, like governments resolve issues, they get in the room and they talk AND reinforce the sense that this wasn’t just benign development or benign Internet assistance. This was part of a program funded by the U.S. government intended AND in Miami in 1998 on charges of espionage~, including other bilateral issues. Some see the case of Alan Gross as playing into a narrative that the Cubans are using this case for leverage and are not genuinely interested in justice or in properly handling this case. How do you respond to that perspective? Well, they are interested in using the case as leverage. President Obama, AND very consistent with the bipartisan approach to Cuba over the last fifty years. So, Gross is leverage, unfortunately, and Washington’s position now seems to be AND very little incentive for Washington to move aggressively toward a better Cuba policy. Havana’s attempt to use Gross to launch what it calls a political dialogue, in addition to dealing with all of the myriad issues on the table, in its essence is also about pushing Washington to deal with Havana, government to government. That is sort of a deep strategic driver on this ~Gross case~.
Italicized text is the questions; brackets around "Gross case" in the last sentence is in the original article
Third, Gross’s continued detention is a violation of international law and human decency. Better relations with Cuba are impossible until he is released.
Washington Post 10 — Washington Post, 2010 ("Cuba’s Jewish hostage," Op-Ed, December 6th, Available Online at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/06/AR2010120606357.html, Accessed 09-02-2013) Raul Castro’s attempt to win foreign favor and investment for Cuba’s moribund economy took a AND imprisoned for a year without trial because he tried to help Cuba’s Jews. Mr. Gross, a 61-year-old specialist in international development, AND to Cuban customs - he was arrested on Dec. 3, 2009. Senior Cuban officials claimed that Mr. Gross, who is himself Jewish but speaks AND forced to move from their Potomac home to a small apartment in Washington. Appeals by the State Department and congressional leaders for Mr. Gross’s release on humanitarian AND whose continued detention is a flagrant violation of international law and human decency. To its credit, the Obama administration has put further improvement of relations with Cuba AND media events like his Hanukkah celebration are no substitute for reversing this wrong.
10/24/13
1NC Apocalyptic Thinking K
Tournament: St Marks Sophomore Hoedown | Round: 1 | Opponent: New Trier BK | Judge: Ranganathan Turoff 1NC — Apocalyptic Thinking Critique
First, the affirmative’s dramatization of impacts as existential risks replaces risk assessment with worst-case thinking.
Furedi 10 — Frank Furedi, Professor of Sociology at the University of Kent at Canterbury, holds a Ph.D. from the School of Oriental and African Studies at London University, 2010 ("Fear is key to irresponsibility," The Australian, October 9th, Available Online at http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/fear-is-key-to-irresponsibility/story-e6frg6zo-1225935797740, Accessed 10-18-2010) In the 21st century the optimistic belief in humanity’s potential for subduing the unknown and to become master of its fate has given way to the belief that we are too powerless to deal with the perils confronting us. We live in an era where problems associated with uncertainty and risk are amplified and, through our imagination, mutate swiftly into existential threats. Consequently, it is rare that unexpected natural events are treated as just that. Rather, they are swiftly dramatised and transformed into a threat to human survival. The clearest expression of this tendency is the dramatisation of weather forecasting. Once upon a time the television weather forecasts were those boring moments when you got up to get a snack. But with the invention of concepts such as "extreme weather", routine events such as storms, smog or unexpected snowfalls have acquired compelling entertainment qualities. This is a world where a relatively ordinary, technical, information-technology problem such as the so-called millennium bug was interpreted as a threat of apocalyptic proportions, and where a flu epidemic takes on the dramatic weight of the plot of a Hollywood disaster movie. Recently, when the World Health Organisation warned that the human species was threatened by the swine flu, it became evident that it was cultural prejudice rather than sober risk assessment that influenced much of present-day official thinking. In recent times European culture has become confused about the meaning of uncertainty and risk. Contemporary Western cultural attitudes towards uncertainty, chance and risk are far more pessimistic and confused than they were through most of the modern era. Only rarely is uncertainty perceived as an opportunity to take responsibility for our destiny. Invariably uncertainty is represented as a marker for danger and change is often regarded with dread. Frequently, worst-case thinking displaces any genuine risk-assessment process. Risk assessment is based on an attempt to calculate the probability of different outcomes. Worst-case thinking—these days known as precautionary thinking—is based on an act of imagination. It imagines the worst-case scenario and demands that we take action on that basis.
Second, this causes serial policy failure — acting based on worst-case possibilities ruins decision-making.
Evans 12 — Dylan Evans, Lecturer in Behavioral Science at University College Cork School of Medicine, holds a Ph.D. in Philosophy from the London School of Economics, 2012 ("Nightmare Scenario: The Fallacy of Worst-Case Thinking," Risk Management, April 2nd, Available Online at http://www.rmmagazine.com/2012/04/02/nightmare-scenario-the-fallacy-of-worst-case-thinking/, Accessed 10-10-2013) There’s something mesmerizing about apocalyptic scenarios. Like an alluring femme fatale, they exert an uncanny pull on the imagination. That is why what security expert Bruce Schneier calls "worst-case thinking" is so dangerous. It substitutes imagination for thinking, speculation for risk analysis and fear for reason. One of the clearest examples of worst-case thinking was the so-called "1 doctrine," which Dick Cheney is said to have advocated while he was vice president in the George W. Bush administration. According to journalist Ron Suskind, Cheney first proposed the doctrine at a meeting with CIA Director George Tenet and National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice in November 2001. Responding to the thought that Al Qaeda might want to acquire a nuclear weapon, Cheney apparently remarked: "If there’s a 1 chance that Pakistani scientists are helping Al Qaeda build or develop a nuclear weapon, we have to treat it as a certainty in terms of our response. It’s not about our analysis…It’s about our response." By transforming low-probability events into complete certainties whenever the events are particularly scary AND the extreme but improbable risks and does a poor job at assessing outcomes."
Third, this is the most important impact — training students to make good decisions is debate’s fundamental purpose.
Strait and Wallace 8 — L. Paul Strait, Ph.D. Candidate in Communication at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California, and Brett Wallace, M.A. Candidate in Security Policy Studies at George Washington University, 2008 ("Academic Debate as a Decision-Making Game: Inculcating The Virtue of Practical Wisdom," Contemporary Argumentation and Debate, Volume 29, Available Online to Subscribing Institutions via EBSCOhost Communication 26 Mass Media Complete, p. 3-6) Practical Wisdom Since the inception of modern academic debate, much of the praise it has received AND the highest government officials to the most inconsequential members of society, uses. Aristotle (c. 330BCE/1941a) argues that this decision-making process combines desire and reasoning in the act of deliberation focused on some end. The ability to make good decisions (and to follow through with them) is associated with the virtue of practical wisdom: ~end page 3~ Practical wisdom... is concerned with things human and things about which it is possible AND , and practice is concerned with particulars. (~231141b 6-16). This underlies our contention that practical wisdom is the final cause of debate. Practical wisdom is broad, provides coherence and unity in a non-arbitrary way, and is value-neutral with respect to the growing divide between the policy-focused and the critically-inclined. Non-practical ends are not helpful – as Aristotle (c. 330BCE/1941a) argues: The origin of action—its efficient, not its final cause—is choice, and that of choice is desire and reasoning with a view to an end... Intellect itself, however, moves nothing, but only the intellect which aims at an end and is practical; for this rules the productive intellect as well, since everyone who makes makes for an end, and that which is made is not an end in the unqualified sense. (~231139a32 – 37). Practical ends that are not unqualified—e.g., Mitchell’s (1995) AND highest quality of skills, while at the same time preserving competitive equity. The ability to make decisions deriving from deliberation, argumentation or debate, is that AND is considered the appropriate decision-maker(s) must be identified: The appropriate decision makers are those necessary to the ultimate implementation of the decision. You may win adherence of fellow students to the proposition that the midterm exam should count less than the final paper in grading your class, but if the professor says no, little is gained... It is important ~end page 5~ for... ~arguers~ to recognize who the appropriate decision makers are. (Rieke 26 Sillars, 1993, p. 2). Since policy debate aims at determining whether a particular course of action is expedient all arguments which misapprehend the appropriate decision maker(s) are red herrings and interfere with true rational deliberation. Academics from outside the contest debate community make this argument in different ways in discussing AND success, and preparation for college and employment" (p. 49).
Finally, hyperbolic extinction impacts should be rejected. The alternative is to vote against the affirmative because their 1AC has made effective decision-making impossible.
Gross and Gilles 12 — Mathew Barrett Gross, New Media Strategist who served as the Director of Internet Communications for Howard Dean’s 2004 presidential campaign, and Mel Gilles, Director of Sol Kula Yoga and Healing, 2012 ("How Apocalyptic Thinking Prevents Us from Taking Political Action," The Atlantic, April 23rd, Available Online at http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/04/how-apocalyptic-thinking-prevents-us-from-taking-political-action/255758/, Accessed 10-10-2013) Flip through the cable channels for long enough, and you’ll inevitably find the apocalypse AND Nile virus, are the looming specter of apocalypse darkening our nation’s horizon. How to make sense of it all? After all, not every scenario can AND rapid reversal of the world’s magnetic poles might seem terrifyingly likely and imminent. The last time apocalyptic anxiety spilled into the mainstream to the extent that it altered the course of history — during the Reformation — it relied on a revolutionary new communications technology: the printing press. In a similar way, could the current surge in apocalyptic anxiety be attributed in part to our own revolution in communications technology? The media, of course, have long mastered the formula of packaging remote possibilities AND . "They don’t teach that in Sunday school, but it’s true." Nothing inspires fear like the end of the world, and ever since Y2K, AND an Arab terrorist poisoning that drinking supply, resulting in millions of casualties? Yet not all of the crises or potential threats before us are equal, nor are they equally probable – a fact that gets glossed over when the media equate the remote threat of a possible event, like epidemics, with real trends like global warming. Over the last decade, the 24-hour news cycle and the proliferation of AND flu, or swine flu also never lived up to their media hype. This over-reliance on the apocalyptic narrative causes us to fear the wrong things AND the likely impact of the worst-case model of any given threat?
10/24/13
1NC Brazil Interlocutor CP
Tournament: Barkley Forum | Round: 2 | Opponent: Westminster HH | Judge: Scott Phillips 1NC — Brazil Interlocutor CP
The United States federal government should request that the Federative Republic of Brazil extend an offer on its behalf to the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to ~plan~. The United States federal government should use Brazil as an interlocutor during negotiations with the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela~.
The counterplan solves the case and is net-beneficial.
First, it competes — it doesn’t economically engage Venezuela~. Engagement requires direct negotiations — the counterplan uses Brazil as an interlocutor, avoiding direct negotiations with Venezuela~.
Second, Brazil is an essential interlocutor between the U.S. and Latin America — the counterplan is key to boost Brazil’s soft power
Brazil soft power solves the global economy and the north-south divide
Bodman et. al. 11 – ScD from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Former AND
Independent Task Force No. 66," Council on Foreign Relations)Hensel ¶ Global Financial Architecture¶ ¶ Formally known as the Group of Twenty Finance Ministers AND Bank, and a number of reforms have increased Brazil’s voting power. 36 Brazil will likely continue its efforts toward restructuring the architecture of global institutions and regimes AND the artificially low valuations— of U.S. and Chinese currencies.
1/27/14
1NC Caro Quintero QPQ CP
Tournament: St Marks Sophomore Hoedown | Round: 1 | Opponent: New Trier BK | Judge: Ranganathan Turoff 1NC — Caro Quintero QPQ CP
The United States federal government should pass House Resolution 1613 if and only if Mexico agrees to apprehend Rafael Caro Quintero and extradite him to the United States to face charges.
The counterplan solves the case and is net-beneficial—
First, Rafael Caro Quintero was in prison for killing a DEA Agent but Mexico released him early without telling the United States. Justice demands that the plan be conditioned on Caro Quintero’s apprehension and extradition.
Bensinger 8/29 — Peter Bensinger, served as administrator of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration from 1976 to 1981, 2013 ("Perspective: A travesty of justice," Chicago Tribune, August 29th, Available Online at http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-08-29/opinion/ct-oped-0830-dea-20130830_1_drug-cartel-u-s-consulate-rafael-caro-quintero-http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-08-29/opinion/ct-oped-0830-dea-20130830_1_drug-cartel-u-s-consulate-rafael-caro-quintero, Accessed 09-03-2013) Enrique "Kiki" Camarena, a special agent with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, left the U.S. Consulate in Guadalajara, Mexico, the afternoon of Feb. 7, 1985, to have lunch with his wife. He was kidnapped by several police officers working under the direction of Rafael Caro Quintero, head of the Guadalajara drug cartel. Camarena had caused problems for Caro Quintero by locating secret marijuana fields and millions of dollars of drug money that was frozen in U.S. banks. Camarena was taken to a private residence in Guadalajara, tortured for two days and killed by a blow to his skull with a tire iron. DEA agents asked Mexican police to investigate, but many of them were directly involved with Camarena’s kidnapping. The U.S. brought pressure, ordering that every vehicle crossing the border between the U.S. and Mexico be inspected. The Mexican police finally responded four weeks after Camarena’s disappearance, by identifying a ranch 60 miles outside of Guadalajara where the bodies of Camarena and Alfredo Zavala, a Mexican pilot who worked closely with Camarena, were found. Caro Quintero had taken off in his jet to Costa Rica two days after Camarena’s abduction. The DEA found him by tracing telephone calls from a home he had in Costa Rica. With the cooperation of Costa Rican authorities, Caro Quintero was taken back to Mexico. He was convicted and sentenced to 40 years in prison. On Aug. 9, a three-judge panel in Mexico ordered his release AND continuing criminal enterprise. Both charges carry a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. Caro Quintero’s early release from prison is a travesty of justice. It represents a AND the world did Mexico release one of its most notorious drug cartel bosses? Mexico has a new president, Enrique Pena Nieto. His government needs to send AND leader and the killer of a U.S. drug enforcement agent. The United States must make clear its outrage at the release of Caro Quintero. And Mexico must bring him to justice.
Second, insisting on extradition as a condition for engagement is vital to preserve U.S.-Mexico relations and maintain law and order. The signal of the counterplan is key.
DMN 8/12 — Dallas Morning News, 2013 ("Mexican cartel leader’s release an outrage," August 12th, Available Online at http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/editorials/20130812-editorial-mexican-cartel-leaders-release-an-outrage.ece-http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/editorials/20130812-editorial-mexican-cartel-leaders-release-an-outrage.ece, Accessed 09-03-2013) A Mexican judge’s decision to release drug cartel leader Rafael Caro Quintero makes our blood boil. Caro Quintero played a key role in the 1985 kidnapping, sustained torture and death of a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent, Enrique "Kiki" Camarena. Few cases did more to sour U.S.-Mexico relations than this one. And if President Enrique Peña Nieto fails to act swiftly to block Caro Quintero from escaping justice, bilateral relations could once again turn frosty. Since the United States has long requested Caro Quintero’s extradition, Peña Nieto should honor it. Washington should insist on it. Caro Quintero remains at the top of the DEA’s list of international fugitives. He partnered with two other drug lords, Ernesto Fonseca Carrillo and Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo, in a cartel based in the western state of Jalisco but whose business spanned multiple Mexican states, Colombia and the U.S.-Mexico border. They paid massive bribes to Mexican officials to expand their empire and evade prosecution. All of this occurred when the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, was firmly ensconced as the ruling party, a position it held for seven decades, until 2000. Last year, Mexicans returned the PRI to the presidency after Peña Nieto pledged there would be no return to the party’s old, corrupt ways. His handling of Caro Quintero’s case serves as a test of the PRI’s new commitment to law and order. Caro Quintero’s operations, including Camarena’s murder, fell under the aegis of an international AND Fonseca Carrillo. Felix Gallardo’s attorney has yet not stated plans to appeal. Not only did the three cartel leaders order Camarena’s execution, according to U.S. trial documents, they employed a doctor whose job was to administer drugs to keep Camarena alive and conscious so they could drag out his torture sessions. The abduction, trial and ultimate acquittal of the doctor in the United States added to the international rancor over this case. Since then, free trade and other cooperative ventures have helped thaw bilateral relations, though coordination on counternarcotics operations continues to be fraught with mistrust. Neither country can afford to let relations devolve to that old, abysmal era. Mexico should not expect Washington simply to forget what happened. Caro Quintero’s extradition would send a strong message about the priority Peña Nieto places on close U.S. relations — and on serving notice to other cartel leaders that they will not escape justice for their crimes.
10/24/13
1NC Climate Catastrophism K
Tournament: Barkley Forum | Round: 2 | Opponent: Westminster HH | Judge: Scott Phillips
1NC—Climate Catastrophism Critique
First, the affirmative’s apocalyptic framing of climate change results in denial and despair, undermining the political will to act.
Foust et al. 8 — Christina R. Foust, Assistant Professor in the Department of Human Communication Studies at the University of Denver, et al., with William O. Murphy, Doctoral Student and Graduate Teaching Instructor in the Department of Human Communication Studies at the University of Denver, and Chelsea Stow, Doctoral Student and Graduate Teaching Instructor in the Department of Human Communication Studies at the University of Denver, 2008 ("Global Warming and Apocalyptic Rhetoric: A Critical Frame Analysis of US Popular and Elite Press Coverage from 1997-2007," Paper Submitted to the Environmental Communication Division of the National Communication Association Convention in San Diego, November 20th, Available Online at http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p260125_index.html, Accessed 03-18-2009, p. 22-23) Elements of an apocalyptic frame could be said to exist in most of the articles AND of earth, won’t our efforts to make change now be in vain? As Brummett suggests of pre-millennial apocalyptic rhetoric (which assumes that the world AND necessarily because they are taking collective and personal steps to resolve the issue.
Second, catastrophic depictions of climate change gloss over the root cause of our environmental crisis and the ongoing destruction of life on earth.
Crist 7 — Eileen Crist, Associate Professor of Science and Technology in Society at Virginia Tech University, 2007 ("Beyond the Climate Crisis: A Critique of Climate Change Discourse," Telos, Volume 141, Winter, Available Online to Subscribing Institutions via Telos Press, p. 33-36) While the dangers of climate change are real, I argue that there are even AND to—will barely address—the ongoing destruction of life on Earth.
And, this results in the extinction of the natural world and magnifies all their impacts– focusing on climate change is a distraction.
Crist 7 — Eileen Crist, Associate Professor of Science and Technology in Society at Virginia Tech University, 2007 ("Beyond the Climate Crisis: A Critique of Climate Change Discourse," Telos, Volume 141, Winter, Available Online to Subscribing Institutions via Telos Press, p. 33-36) The diminishment of life’s richness began with the exodus of hunters and gatherers from Africa AND into dead objects, "resources," and humanized landscapes and seascapes.25 The significance of human-driven extinction can never be overstated, because it means AND this level of losses occurs rarely as a consequence of a catastrophic event). Yet, as tragic as extinction is, species are also being devastated without being AND to extinction, no longer able to play significant ecological and evolutionary roles. The nosedive of wild-animal and plant abundance foregrounds yet ~end page 37 AND , tropical forests, wetlands, mangrove forests, and coral reefs everywhere. The whittling down of ecological complexity has been a global trend proceeding from the conversion AND that reproduce slowly, are being suspended.27 ~end page 38~ All these interconnected dimensions constitute what conservation biologists call the biodiversity crisis—a term AND that they may, in reality, dwarf the repercussions of climate change. And yet, the current framing of climate change as the urgent issue encourages regarding AND ongoing, and climate-change-independent wounding of life on Earth.
The alternative is to replace the affirmative’s apocalyptic framing of climate change with alternative frames that emphasize human agency and responsibility. This rejection of the affirmative’s catastrophic telos is crucial: vote negative to productively frame climate change.
Foust et al. 8 — Christina R. Foust, Assistant Professor in the Department of Human Communication Studies at the University of Denver, et al., with William O. Murphy, Doctoral Student and Graduate Teaching Instructor in the Department of Human Communication Studies at the University of Denver, and Chelsea Stow, Doctoral Student and Graduate Teaching Instructor in the Department of Human Communication Studies at the University of Denver, 2008, "Global Warming and Apocalyptic Rhetoric: A Critical Frame Analysis of US Popular and Elite Press Coverage from 1997-2007," Paper Submitted to the Environmental Communication Division of the National Communication Association Convention in San Diego, November 20th, Available Online at http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p260125_index.html, Accessed 03-18-2009, p. 24-25) In conclusion, we hope to inspire more scholarship in the spirit of Moser and AND , without ~end page 24~ moving people to denial and despair. We would like to see the press inspire more of a public dialogue on how AND common ground needed to build a political will for dealing with climate change.
Finally, focusing on the way the affirmative frames the issue of climate change is vital to determine its political effectiveness – frame analysis is a prerequisite to consideration of the consequences of the plan.
Foust et al. 8 — Christina R. Foust, Assistant Professor in the Department of Human Communication Studies at the University of Denver, et al., with William O. Murphy, Doctoral Student and Graduate Teaching Instructor in the Department of Human Communication Studies at the University of Denver, and Chelsea Stow, Doctoral Student and Graduate Teaching Instructor in the Department of Human Communication Studies at the University of Denver, 2008, "Global Warming and Apocalyptic Rhetoric: A Critical Frame Analysis of US Popular and Elite Press Coverage from 1997-2007," Paper Submitted to the Environmental Communication Division of the National Communication Association Convention in San Diego, November 20th, Available Online at http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p260125_index.html, Accessed 03-18-2009, p. 7-8) Along with critiquing the misinformation created through poorly educated reporters, "balance-as AND terms of public agency, public opinion, policy, and democratic discourse.
1/27/14
1NC Cult of Reputation K
Tournament: St Marks Sophomore Hoedown | Round: 7 | Opponent: Westwood HS | Judge: NormandPavur 1NC—The Cult of Reputation Critique
First, the affirmative is caught up in the cult of reputation—the assumption that the U.S.’s credibility is its own possession and that it spills over across issues and to other countries is demonstrably false.
Tang 5 — Shiping Tang, Associate Research Fellow and Deputy Director of the Center for Regional Security Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, Co-director of the Sino-American Security Dialogue, 2005 ("Reputation, Cult of Reputation, and International Conflict," Security Studies, Volume 14, Number 1, January-March, p. 41-45) Two implicitly related notions underpin this belief system. The first notion is that one’s AND reputation, the cult puts far too much value on an illusory entity. Furthermore, as a belief system, the cult dictates an "operational code" AND been rampant, indicating the cult’s prevalence.31 ~end page 41~ There is, however, a fatal flaw in the cult’s logic, for states AND the state never assigns reputation to other states based on their past behavior. Rivalry has long been recognized as the most intensive type of international conflict and the most likely scenario for reputation to matter.32 The U.S.-Soviet rivalry was the first and perhaps the last true global rivalry in history, and both sides had global commitments. If reputation matters at all, one would expect it to have been paramount in the crisis-bargaining process between these two rivals.33 Both Ted Hopf and Daryl Press have examined the role of reputation in the Soviet AND and acted accordingly (for example, by taking an extremely hardline approach). The evidence that Press uncovered deals a devastating blow to the logic of the cult AND to follow the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan."38 ~end page 44~ Likewise, the Soviet Union was reluctant to underestimate U.S. resolve even after repeated U.S. retreats from the Third World.39 In a different setting, Jonathan Mercer also uncovered convincing evidence against the logic of the cult. For instance, while Germany backed down in the first Morocco crisis, neither France nor the United Kingdom nor Russia assigned a reputation of irresoluteness to Germany in the next crisis that arose (that in Bosnia-Herzegovina). Likewise, despite the fact that Russia backed down in the Bosnia-Herzegovina crisis, neither Germany nor Austria believed Russia to be irresolute.40 Therefore, the only plausible conclusion that we can draw is that although the cult AND should clearly apply; their own actions negate the logic of their belief.
Second, the U.S. can’t control the perceptions of others—the underlying assumptions of the cult of reputation are logically and empirically bankrupt.
Fettweis 8 — Christopher J. Fettweis, Assistant Professor of National Security Affairs in the National Security Decision Making Department at the U.S. Naval War College, holds a Ph.D. in International Relations and Comparative Politics from the University of Maryland-College Park, 2007-2008 ("Credibility and the War on Terror," Political Science Quarterly, Volume 122, Number 4, Winter, Available Online to Subscribing Institutions via IngentaConnect, p. 633) Both logic and a preponderance of the evidence suggest that the current U.S AND the present, therefore, must outweigh the intangible interests of the future. The behavior of the United States is not driven by only tangible, material measures AND for both the extent of its acceptance and the depth of its flaws.
Third, this turns the case—the belief in credibility empirically causes war.
Tang 5 — Shiping Tang, Associate Research Fellow and Deputy Director of the Center for Regional Security Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, Co-director of the Sino-American Security Dialogue, 2005 ("Reputation, Cult of Reputation, and International Conflict," Security Studies, Volume 14, Number 1, January-March, p. 46) Decisionmakers’ persistent concern for losing reputation has brought unnecessary bloodiness to international politics: too AND which friend would trust us then?" (Type I-a).43
The alternative is to stop believing in credibility.
Basing decisions on perceptions of credibility makes serial policy failure inevitable—decades of scholarship are on our side.
Fettweis 9 — Christopher J. Fettweis, Assistant Professor of National Security Affairs in the National Security Decision Making Department at the U.S. Naval War College, holds a Ph.D. in International Relations and Comparative Politics from the University of Maryland-College Park, 2009 ("Madmen in Authority: Threats, Pathology and Grand Strategy," Paper Presented at the Annual Meeting of the International Society of Political Psychology, June, Available Online at http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p314364_index.html , p. 4-6) Many academic fields deal with pathology in one form or another. Individual and group AND that drive destructive state behavior. The United States suffers from a number. The "credibility imperative" is a clear example, one that continues to have AND at the negotiating table, and is worth protecting at almost any cost. This belief rests on a shaky foundation, to put it mildly. Decades of AND solid credibility was a national imperative, it would be far better off. This paper proceeds from this point forward with a value-based assumption: Strategic AND their own good and for that of the international system as a whole.
10/24/13
1NC Diplomatic Capital DA
Tournament: St Marks Sophomore Hoedown | Round: 3 | Opponent: Highland Park EZ | Judge: Jordan Gerard 1NC — Diplomatic Capital Disadvantage
First, the plan shifts the Obama administration’s diplomatic focus from the Middle East to Latin America — the link is unique.
Oppenheimer 9/28 — Andres Oppenheimer, Syndicated Columnist for the Miami Herald, was a member of the Miami Herald team that won the 1987 Pulitzer Prize, 2013 ("U.S. should avoid ’Latin America fatigue’," Miami Herald, September 28th, Available Online at http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/09/28/3655423/andres-oppenheimer-us-should-avoid.html~~23storylink=cpy, Accessed 09-30-2013) President Barack Obama’s state-of-the-world speech before the United Nations General Assembly last week did not mention any Latin American country, and virtually omitted the region as a whole. It was a major mistake, but it shouldn’t surprise us. Despite its flip-flops and occasional blunders, Obama’s foreign policy has been a great improvement over former President George W. Bush’s arrogant diplomacy but it won’t win any prize for its interest or commitment to Latin America. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry may just as well change his title to U.S. Secretary of the Middle East, because that’s where he’s virtually living these days. Kerry’s first seven foreign trips after taking office on Feb. 1 were to Europe and the Middle East, and only two of his 14 trips abroad so far have been to Latin America, according to the U.S. State Department’s website. (Cautionary note: if by some miracle Kerry pulls off a lasting Israeli-Palestinian accord, I’ll eat my words and pray that nobody remembers these lines.) Obama’s Tuesday speech at the U.N. General Assembly was entirely devoted to the Middle East and North Africa. He only mentioned Latin America tangentially when he said that "from Africa to the Americas" democracies have proven to be more successful than dictatorships, and that "the same will hold true for the Arab world." By contrast, several of Obama’s predecessors often referred to their grand plans for the region during their U.N. speeches. But Obama, unlike former Presidents George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, has not proposed regional trade or investment plans with Latin America.
Second, the U.S. must conserve diplomatic capital — key to international support and US national security.
Schaefer 2K — Brett D. Schaefer, Fellow in International Regulatory Affairs at the Heritage Foundation, former assistant for international criminal court policy at the Pentagon, M.A. in international development from the School of International Service at American University ("Green Creep: The Increasing Influence of Environmentalism in U.S. Foreign Policy," In The Greening of U.S. Foreign Policy, ed. Terry L. Anderson and Henry I. Miller, Stanford, CA: Hoover Press, p. 46. Available Online from Amazon Preview) Diplomacy is the first option in addressing potential threats to U.S. national interests and expressing U.S. concerns and priorities to foreign nations. The daily conduct of diplomacy through U.S. missions and representatives is essential in articulating U.S. interests and eliciting cooperation and support for those interests abroad. Because diplomacy currency is finite—clearly, foreign countries and officials cannot be expected to endlessly support and promote U.S. concerns—it is critically important that the United States focus its diplomatic efforts on issues of paramount importance to the nation. Traditionally, these priorities had been opposing hostile domination of key geographic regions, supporting our applies, securing vital resources, and ensuring access to foreign economies (Holmes and Moore 1996, xi-xvii).
Third, focused US engagement in the Middle East key to prevent regional instability.
Kahl 13 — Colin Kahl, Associate Professor at Georgetown’s Walsh School of Foreign Service, Senior Fellow at the Center for a New American Security, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Middle East ("Hard Choices for the New Middle East," Defense One, July 15, 2013, Available Online: http://www.defenseone.com/politics/2013/07/hard-choices-new-middle-east/66626/-http://www.defenseone.com/politics/2013/07/hard-choices-new-middle-east/66626/, Accessed: 08/09/2013) The Obama administration may want to "pivot" away from the Middle East toward Asia, but events are not cooperating. Millions take to the streets in Egypt, leading to a military takeover of a AND Palestinian peace process before the hope of two states for two peoples dies. In recent years, the pace of change in the region has been so overwhelming AND protecting Israel’s security, and promoting the reforms essential for the region’s stability.
Finally, Middle East war is probable and devastating — strong U.S. involvement is needed to prevent nuclear escalation.
London 10 — Herbert I. London, President of the Hudson Institute—a non-profit think tank, Professor Emeritus and former John M. Olin Professor of Humanities at New York University, holds a Ph.D. from New York University, 2010 ("The Coming Crisis In The Middle East," Gatestone Institute—a non-partisan, not-for-profit international policy council and think tank, June 28th, Available Online at http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/1387/coming-crisis-in-the-middle-east, Accessed 08-10-2013) The coming storm in the Middle East is gaining momentum; like conditions prior to World War I, all it takes for explosive action to commence is a trigger. Turkey’s provocative flotilla, often described in Orwellian terms as a humanitarian mission, has set in motion a gust of diplomatic activity: if the Iranians send escort vessels for the next round of Turkish ships, which they have apparently decided not to do in favor of land operations, it could have presented a casus belli. ~cause for war~ Syria, too, has been playing a dangerous game, with both missile deployment and rearming Hezbollah. According to most public accounts, Hezbollah is sitting on 40,000 long-, medium- and short-range missiles, and Syrian territory has been serving as a conduit for military materiel from Iran since the end of the 2006 Lebanon War. Should Syria move its own scuds to Lebanon or deploy its troops as reinforcement for Hezbollah, a wider regional war with Israel could not be contained. In the backdrop is an Iran, with sufficient fissionable material to produce a couple of nuclear weapons. It will take some time to weaponize the missiles, but the road to that goal is synchronized in green lights since neither diplomacy nor diluted sanctions can convince Iran to change course. From Qatar to Afghanistan all political eyes are on Iran, poised to be "the hegemon" in the Middle East; it is increasingly considered the "strong horse" as American forces incrementally retreat from the region. Even Iraq, ironically, may depend on Iranian ties in order to maintain internal stability. For Sunni nations like Egypt and Saudi Arabia, regional strategic vision is a combination AND stand on two legs: if one, falls, the tent collapses. Should this tent collapse, and should Iran take advantage of that calamity, it could incite a Sunni-Shia war. Or feeling empowered, and no longer dissuaded by an escalation scenario, Iran, with nuclear weapons in tow, might decide that a war against Israel is a distinct possibility.
However implausible it may seem at the moment, the possible annihilation of Israel and the prospect of a second holocaust could lead to a nuclear exchange. The only wild card that can change this slide into warfare is an active United States’ policy. Yet, curiously, the U.S. is engaged in both an emotional and physical retreat from the region. Despite rhetoric which suggests an Iran with nuclear weapons is intolerable, the U. AND a national security albatross that must be disposed of as soon as possible. As a consequence, the U.S. is perceived in the region as the "weak horse," the one dangerous to ride. In every Middle East capital the words "unreliable and United States" are linked. Those individuals seeking a moderate course of action are now in a distinct minority. A political vacuum is emerging, one that is not sustainable and one the Iranian leadership looks to with imperial exhilaration. It is no longer a question of whether war will occur, but rather when AND should war break out, what does the U.S. do? This is a description far more dire than any in the last century and, even if some believe that it is overly pessimistic, Arab and Jew, Persian and Egyptian, Muslim and Maronite tend to believe in its veracity — a truly bad sign.
10/24/13
1NC Immigration Reform DA - Barkley Forum
Tournament: Barkley Forum | Round: 2 | Opponent: Westminster HH | Judge: Scott Phillips 1NC — Immigration Reform Politics DA
First, Immigration reform is a top priority — Obama’s leadership is key to passage
Rubin 1/22 — ~Jennifer Rubin, writer for the Washington Post, 2014 ("Positive signs for immigration reform," January 22nd, Available Online at http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/wp/2014/01/22/positive-signs-for-immigration-reform/-http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/wp/2014/01/22/positive-signs-for-immigration-reform/, Accessed on January 22, 2014)~ Plenty of signs suggest immigration reform will move front and center in the next few weeks. House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio meets with reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 16, 2014. On Wednesday, the Republican-run House passed an immense 241.1 trillion spending package, a bipartisan compromise that all but banishes the likelihood of an election-year government shutdown. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio (J. Scott Applewhite/Associated Press) Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (Calif.), as The Hill reported, is sounding a positive note, saying he would supporting legalizing the 11 million or so illegal immigrants but not carving a special pathway to citizenship. He joins a number of conservative Republicans including Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) in suggesting that formula. (The devil is in the details: Does this mean they could eventually get citizenship?) This still will be too generous to satisfy immigration opponents, for whom the goalposts AND "rule of law" they claim to support doesn’t seem to register. The next critical step may come at the House GOP confab next week. Leadership can take the pulse of the conference and then see if there is a real chance for progress. Another indication of potential success is the staff brought on to try to bridge the gaps between Democrats and the Republicans who are at least open to the possibility of comprehensive reform. The speaker’s decision to hire Rebecca Tallent, a veteran of immigration reform battles, suggests his public comments are more than window dressing. If he really wants to find a bill that can pass, Tallent is the person to craft it. Politico today also suggests that states are creating impetus for federal immigration reform. ("The National Conference of State Legislatures report, released Tuesday, documents a 64 percent increase in state-level immigration legislation; in all, 2013 saw a total of 437 laws and resolutions passed on immigration, compared to 267 in 2012.") I wouldn’t overestimate the importance of these efforts, but it does give some Republicans cover to say federal action is needed for purposes of uniformity. But perhaps the biggest breakthrough is the grudging realization that aside from DREAMers, all AND who are needed and provide a shot in the arm to the economy. It isn’t perfect. It may falter in an election year. Nevertheless, a House-passed immigration bill that addresses a range of issues will help shift the perception of the GOP, give Obama something positive in his second year and maybe even rescue a Democratic senator or two. As with the recently passed budget, sometimes simply getting a deal that everyone can live with is a reason for celebration.
Second, No political support for engagement with Venezuela — Congress has Latin America fatigue.
Oppenheimer 9/28 — Andres Oppenheimer, Syndicated Columnist for the Miami Herald, was a member of the Miami Herald team that won the 1987 Pulitzer Prize, 2013 ("U.S. should avoid ’Latin America fatigue’," Miami Herald, September 28th, Available Online at http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/09/28/3655423/andres-oppenheimer-us-should-avoid.html~~23storylink=cpy, Accessed 09-30-2013) And it’s also true that Obama has had to deal with a particularly pitiful cast of characters in Latin America. Authoritarian populist leaders in Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador and Nicaragua, among others, have taken to new levels the old gimmick of blaming the United States for their economic shortcomings, even if many of them have enjoyed — and wasted — the biggest economic bonanza in recent memories. Hardly a week goes by in which Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, doesn’t blame the United States for his country’s economic collapse, or of some outlandish plot to kill him, without providing any evidence. As a result of these leaders’ notoriety, many in the U.S. Congress see Latin America as a region led by clowns in funny shirts. Brazil’s tensions with Washington over the U.S. electronic spying fiasco, and new projections that Latin America’s economic growth will slow down after a decade of rapid expansion, are not helping generate big hopes for U.S. ties with the region. While U.S. officials continue to say publicly that Latin America is the land of the future, many show a growing case of "Latin American fatigue."
Third, political capital is key to passage — yes top priority, no thumpers, and yes it will pass.
Associated Press 1/7 — ~Associated Press, 2014 ("Obama And Congress Give One More Push For Immigration Reform," Associated Press, January 7th, Available Online at http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/politics/2014/01/07/obama-and-congress-give-one-more-push-for-immigration-reform/-http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/politics/2014/01/07/obama-and-congress-give-one-more-push-for-immigration-reform/, Accessed on January 8, 2014)~ His agenda tattered by last year’s confrontations and missteps, President Barack Obama begins 2014 clinging to the hope of winning a lasting legislative achievement: an overhaul of immigration laws. SUMMARY It will require a deft and careful use of his powers, combining a public campaign in the face of protests over his administration’s record number of deportations with quiet, behind-the-scenes outreach to Congress, something seen by lawmakers and immigration advocates as a major White House weakness. In recent weeks, both Obama and House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, have sent signals that raised expectations among overhaul supporters that 2014 could still yield the first comprehensive change in immigration laws in nearly three decades. If successful, it would fulfill an Obama promise many Latinos say is overdue. The Senate last year passed a bipartisan bill that was comprehensive in scope that addressed border security, provided enforcement measures and offered a path to citizenship for 11 million immigrants in the United States illegally. House leaders, pressed by tea party conservatives, demanded a more limited and piecemeal approach. Indicating a possible opening, Obama has stopped insisting the House pass the Senate version. And two days after calling Boehner to wish him happy birthday in November, Obama made it clear he could accept the House’s bill-by-bill approach, with one caveat: In the end, "we’re going to have to do it all." Boehner, for his part, in December hired Rebecca Tallent, a former top aide to Sen. John McCain and most recently the director of a bipartisan think tank’s immigration task force. Even opponents of a broad immigration overhaul saw Tallent’s selection as a sign legislation had suddenly become more likely. Boehner also fed speculation he would ignore tea party pressure, bluntly brushing back their criticism of December’s modest budget agreement. "The question is what are the core things that Republicans can’t move away from, what are the core things that Democrats can’t walk away from," said Republican pollster David Winston, who regularly consults with the House leadership. "You may have preferences and then you may have core elements. That’s part of the process of going back and forth.
Fourth, Immigration reform is vital to sustain American hegemony — both hard and soft power.
Nye 12 — Joseph S. Nye, Jr., University Distinguished Service Professor and former Dean of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, 2012 ("Immigration and American Power," Project Syndicate, December 10th, Available Online at http://www.project-syndicate.org/print/obama-needs-immigration-reform-to-maintain-america-s-strength-by-joseph-s—nye-http://www.project-syndicate.org/print/obama-needs-immigration-reform-to-maintain-america-s-strength-by-joseph-s~-~-nye, Accessed 02-08-2013) The United States is a nation of immigrants. Except for a small number of Native Americans, everyone is originally from somewhere else, and even recent immigrants can rise to top economic and political roles. President Franklin Roosevelt once famously addressed the Daughters of the American Revolution – a group that prided itself on the early arrival of its ancestors – as "fellow immigrants." In recent years, however, US politics has had a strong anti-immigration slant, and the issue played an important role in the Republican Party’s presidential nomination battle in 2012. But Barack Obama’s re-election demonstrated the electoral power of Latino voters, who rejected Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney by a 3-1 majority, as did Asian-Americans. As a result, several prominent Republican politicians are now urging their party to reconsider its anti-immigration policies, and plans for immigration reform will be on the agenda at the beginning of Obama’s second term. Successful reform will be an important step in preventing the decline of American power. Fears about the impact of immigration on national values and on a coherent sense of American identity are not new. The nineteenth-century "Know Nothing" movement was built on opposition to immigrants, particularly the Irish. Chinese were singled out for exclusion from 1882 onward, and, with the more restrictive Immigration Act of 1924, immigration in general slowed for the next four decades. During the twentieth century, the US recorded its highest percentage of foreign-born AND US public favored allowing fewer immigrants, up from 39 in 2008. Both the number of immigrants and their origin have caused concerns about immigration’s effects on American culture. Demographers portray a country in 2050 in which non-Hispanic whites will be only a slim majority. Hispanics will comprise 25 of the population, with African- and Asian-Americans making up 14 and 8, respectively. But mass communications and market forces produce powerful incentives to master the English language and accept a degree of assimilation. Modern media help new immigrants to learn more about their new country beforehand than immigrants did a century ago. Indeed, most of the evidence suggests that the latest immigrants are assimilating at least as quickly as their predecessors. While too rapid a rate of immigration can cause social problems, over the long AND few that may avoid demographic decline and maintain its share of world population. For example, to maintain its current population size, Japan would have to accept 350,000 newcomers annually for the next 50 years, which is difficult for a culture that has historically been hostile to immigration. In contrast, the Census Bureau projects that the US population will grow by 49 over the next four decades. Today, the US is the world’s third most populous country; 50 years from now it is still likely to be third (after only China and India). This is highly relevant to economic power: whereas nearly all other developed countries will face a growing burden of providing for the older generation, immigration could help to attenuate the policy problem for the US. In addition, though studies suggest that the short-term economic benefits of immigration AND children of immigrants founded roughly 40 of the 2010 Fortune 500 companies. Equally important are immigration’s benefits for America’s soft power. The fact that people want AND friends back home help to convey accurate and positive information about the US. Likewise, because the presence of many cultures creates avenues of connection with other countries, it helps to broaden Americans’ attitudes and views of the world in an era of globalization. Rather than diluting hard and soft power, immigration enhances both. Singapore’s former leader, Lee Kwan Yew, an astute observer of both the US AND its Sino-centric culture will make it less creative than the US. That is a view that Americans should take to heart. If Obama succeeds in enacting immigration reform in his second term, he will have gone a long way toward fulfilling his promise to maintain the strength of the US.
U.S. leadership prevents global conflicts.
Felzenberg and Gray 11 — Alvin S. Felzenberg, Professorial Lecturer at The Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University, Presidential Historian and Adjunct Faculty Member at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, former Fellow at the Institute of Politics at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, served as Principal Spokesman for the 9/11 Commission, holds a Ph.D. in Politics from Princeton University, and Alexander B. Gray, Student at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University and the War Studies Department of King’s College, London, 2011 ("The New Isolationism," National Review, January 3rd, Available Online at http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/print/256150, Accessed 01-03-2011) A world in which the United States willingly ceded power and influence would both be AND American military presence on land, at sea, and in the air.
1/27/14
1NC Shunning DA
Tournament: St Marks Sophomore Hoedown | Round: 1 | Opponent: New Trier BK | Judge: Ranganathan Turoff 1NC- Shunning DA
First, Mexico is a flagrant, willful, and persistent violator of human rights — abuses are widespread.
Pachico 13 — Elyssa Pachico, Analyst at InSight Crime—a think tank about organized crime in the Americas, 2013 ("Amnesty International Critiques Human Rights Abuses of Mexico Drug War," InSight Crime, May 23rd, Available Online at In its annual report, Amnesty International criticized Mexico for human rights abuses committed during President Calderon’s militarized response to organized crime, a war which left more than 60,000 people dead and some 150,000 displaced. The report noted that while organized criminal groups are responsible for the majority of killings seen during Calderon’s six-year term, they often acted in collusion with public officials. An ongoing problem is abuses committed by the security forces, especially when carrying out anti-crime operations, the report stated. While Mexico’s National Humans Rights Commission registered 1,921 complaints against the military and 802 complaints against the Federal Police, only eight members of the military were convicted in military courts in 2012. There is no available information on the number of police prosecuted and/or convicted for human rights crimes, the report added. Arbitrary detention under the so-called "arraigo" law — which allows authorities to holds suspects for up to 80 days without charge — is routinely used by prosecutors at both the state and federal level, and represents a serious abuse of human rights, the report said. Torture is also regularly used to obtain confessions from suspects, with the National Human Rights Commission registering 1,662 complaints last year alone. The report also criticized Mexico for the security forces’ excessive use of force and extra-judicial killings in confrontations with criminal groups and for collusion between public officials and criminals in abusing migrants. InSight Crime Analysis Amnesty International’s assessment makes a strong case that Mexico is sorely lacking in its commitment to human rights. It also stated that the US could arguably have done more to push Mexico in the right direction. As noted by Amnesty, in 2011 the US State Department released some 2436 million in specific aid to Mexico, even though Mexico was not meant to receive these funds without meeting several human rights criteria. Amnesty International is not the only international human rights watchdog to level critiques against Mexico’s flawed justice system. Earlier this year, Human Rights Watch openly called for the arraigo law to be abolished, a move which, as InSight Crime has argued, would make sense both in terms of protecting human rights and fighting organized crime more effectively.
Second, reject engagement with human rights abusers — moral duty to shun.
Beversluis 89 — Eric H. Beversluis, Professor of Philosophy and Economics at Aquinas College, holds an A.B. in Philosophy and German from Calvin College, an M.A. in Philosophy from Northwestern University, an M.A. in Economics from Ohio State University, and a Ph.D. in the Philosophy of Education from Northwestern University, 1989 ("On Shunning Undesirable Regimes: Ethics and Economic Sanctions," Public Affairs Quarterly, Volume 3, Number 2, April, Available Online to Subscribing Institutions via JSTOR, p. 17-19) A fundamental task of morality is resolving conflicting interests. If we both want the AND rage. Thus ethics identifies the rights of individuals when their interests conflict. But how can a case for shunning be made on this view of morality? AND , on what grounds might it be a duty to impose such sanctions? We find the answer when we note that there is another "level" of AND rights of others with one’s actions but also to support that moral order.
Consider that the moral order itself contributes significantly to people’s rights being respected. It AND it indirectly affects people’s rights. And this is where shunning fits in. Certain types of behavior constitute a direct attack on the moral order. When the AND three conditions which turn immoral behavior into an attack on the moral order. An immoral action is flagrant if it is "extremely or deliberately conspicuous; notorious AND reaffirms the legitimacy of that moral order. How does shunning do this? First, by refusing publicly to have to do with such a person one announces support for the moral order and backs up the announcement with action. This action reinforces the commitment to the moral order both of the shunner and of the other members of the community. (Secretary of State Shultz in effect made this argument in his call for international sanctions on Libya in the early days of 1986.) Further, shunning may have a moral effect on the shunned person, even if the direct impact is not adequate to change the immoral behavior. If the shunned person thinks of herself as part of the moral community, shunning may well make clear to her that she is, in fact, removing herself from that community by the behavior in question. Thus shunning may achieve by moral suasion what cannot be achieved by "force." Finally, shunning may be a form of punishment, of moral sanction, whose appropriateness depends not on whether it will change the person’s behavior, but on whether he deserves the punishment for violating the moral order. Punishment then can be viewed as a way of maintaining the moral order, of "purifying the community" after it has been made "unclean," as ancient communities might have put it. Yet not every immoral action requires that we shun. As noted above, we AND on the moral order itself through flagrant, willful, and persistent wrongdoing. We can also now see why failure to shun can under certain circumstances suggest complicity. But it is not that we have a duty to shun because failure to do so suggests complicity. Rather, because we have an obligation to shun in certain circumstances, when we fail to do so others may interpret our failure as tacit complicity in the willful, persistent, and flagrant immorality.
Finally, any compromise sanctions evil — reject every instance regardless of consequences.
Gordon and Gordon 95 — Haim Gordon, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Education at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, and Rivca Gordon, general director of the Foundation for Democratic Education in Israel and chairperson of the Gaza Team for Human Rights, 1995 ("Introduction," Sartre and Evil: Guidelines for a Struggle, Published by Greenwood Press, ISBN 031327861X, p. xvi-xviii) Put differently, this book is also about us, a man and a woman AND mean knowing that we too have done Evil. ~end page xvi~ Like Sartre we do not need to be identified with a party or an organization AND us feel frustrated, impotent, stuck, irrelevant. But we continue. It is in this kind of struggle, we believe, that one can learn AND or from events in the world that these insights have helped to clarify. We firmly believe that Sartre would have preferred such a book to a strict scholarly AND only to be a topic of analysis and discussion among scholars and philosophers. We also believe that Sartre would have liked a book that at times reeks of the blood, sweat, and tears — and yes, the rage, the passion, the debilitating loneliness, and the ongoing fight against impotence — that characterize any worthy struggle for freedom today. In the first section of this book we deal with the problem of intuitively responding AND ? We sought significant answers to these questions in Sartre’s literature and drama.