Summer is quickly passing by. The September 2010 will be released in one month (August 15).

Things at PFDebate.com may be a little wonky during the month of July as we update software and change the appearance of a few things. The PFDebate Forums will see the biggest changes. Our goal is to have everything ready by August 1, but we could still be messing with things until August 15. We apologize for any inconvenience.

The 2011 NFL National Tournament will be held in Dallas from June 13–18, 2011. A couple of interesting items to note:

• Competition for all events will be at one venue: The Dallas Sheraton.
• The National Journal Forensic League (NJFL) will be held at the end of the week at the same venue (June 16–18).

PFDebate is seriously considering its first appearance at an NFL National Tournament.

Expect some rules variations in Public Forum Debate at some of the college-hosted tournament this year. Chris Palmer has announced plans for experimentation including 4 minutes of prep time at Yale.

The 2010 IDEA/NJFL National Tournament was held this past weekend in Des Moines, IA. In Public Forum Debate, the teams of Ardash Battu & Arjun Kumar and Claudia Tischler & Shilpa Yarlgadda from Harker Middle School (CA) closed out the final round by defeating two teams from Sidney Lanier Middle School (TX): Gregory Ross & Dylan Dickens and Gabriel Levine & Daniel Morgan.

Complete tournament results are available from Joy of Tournaments.

Our friends at Georgia Forensics Daily have decided that they will no longer actively maintain their website. They will continue to keep PFDebate (Public Forum), Victory Briefs Daily (Lincoln Douglas), and The 3NR (Policy) updated on what is happening in Georgia. The George Forensics Daily will remain online for archival purposes.

Thanks to Jeffery Miller & Brandon Sheets for their contributions to the online debate community.

The first issue of the new forensics periodical, The Bulletin, is now available. The Bulletin, edited by Remington Robertson and published by Dynasty Debate is described as “…a tri-annual forensic magazine publication with news, articles and advertisements from and to those in the forensic world in the United States.”

The first issue does not contain any articles specific to Public Forum Debate, but they are actively seeking contributions. See the call for papers for details.

Each year, more than 900 schools qualify to compete in the largest academic competition in the world – the NFL National Speech and Debate Tournament.

Because of the difficult economic climate, many of our teams will face challenges fundraising for transportation, lodging, and other associated costs with this honor. For this reason, the NFL has created a secure portal, http://www.GiveYouthaVoice.org, to help our schools fundraise for the national tournament. Our goal is to help coaches raise money from the entire NFL community and draw from a national pool of support.

Can you help a team get to nationals? Visit http://www.GiveYouthaVoice.org and connect with a program that needs your support.

To Surveil, With Love
Last Sunday, The Simpsons had a a debate subplot with Lisa Simpson.
[via The 3NR]

2010 TOC Side Report
Chris Palmer has posted the TOC side report for Public Forum Debate. The results might be surprising.

Will Debate For $5.00
I have noticed a number of people are willing to debate you or help you with debate for $5 at a new site: Fiverr.com. Caveat emptor!

Which Is The Real Football?
Debate-Kansas City, an urban debate league program, is hosting an interesting fundraiser. Former and current members of the Kansas City Chiefs and the Kansas City Wizards will debate “Which is the Real Football” on May 20.

Two new debate-related publications have been announced and should be publishing their first issues soon.

First, Remington Robertson from Dynasty Debate has announced a tri-annual forensics magazine called The Bulletin. The goal is to:

…provide similar information like that in the monthly issues of Rostrum but as an alternative that seeks to further enhance the breadth, depth and importance of forensics in secondary and higher education.

Second, Scott Phillips from The 3NR has announced a new debate journal called The Last Word which appears to be directed at the high school policy debate community.

The idea behind this will be to publish articles that deal with current argument and theory innovations/trends in policy debate– for the first edition focusing on the upcoming high school topic.