Chompers, legionnaires, pops and snips

More regarding linguists (and H_Man): I suggest reading Pinker’s The Language Instinct. It’s not philosophy, it’s science. It may or may not be correct (he’s a Chomper, and there’s certainly controversy in Chomperism, and recent findings suggest that the core instinct thesis may be invalid) but at least it’s readable and it has all these things we’re not used to in debate: they’re called facts. Facts sit on the table looking so much more appetizing than semantics. I was brought up on facts (in my own short debating career which was pre-LD), which I guess is why I kinda like PF, which is reminiscent of policy back when I did it (it was the Olden Days, and there were fewer facts then, so we just used shoe boxes, not shipping tubs, to file them all). Arguing theories, especially epistemological theories in translation, is a mug’s game where everyone loses. If I can actually prove something empirically, whoa Nellie! (Although Lyotard would say that I’m merely legitimating the scientific process.) When was the last time anyone attempted to prove something empirically in an LD round? Ah, those were the days. Any wonder why all the dinosaurs are lumbering off to the graveyard?

Speaking of which, either the Legion of Doom is disbanded or the entire brigade of them is on vacation. I tried to ask what happened in Texas at their meeting on the listserver and was met with a resounding blast of silence. Their perceived antagonists never shut up, while they never open up. Curiouser and curiouser. If you detect growing ambivalence on my part about the whole operation, you’ve got the old detection apparatus working quite properly.

For the morbidly curious, I got my pop filter in the mail yesterday, and it does seem to work, reducing the effect of P and T sounds, which otherwise sound like, literally, pops in the recording. Witness this, for example. Those who feel that this blog should have more cats, on the other hand, might enjoy this. Poor, poor, pitiful Pip. The Demented One continues to harass him every time he makes a move. But there are plans afoot to nip The Demented One in the bud--so to speak. Yes, sports fans, the dreaded op is soon to happen. Watch this site for further details (if you dare)!