And the evening and the morning were the fourth day of Botswana Worlds 2011. Participants in Gaborone had just registered when the motion of round four was announced: “This house believes that independent central banks should set limits on government spending.“ Is the org comm in better control of the schedule today?

Last night’s talent show must have been great – our correspondent Henrik Maedler seems to have liked it a lot: “Last night was ‘Recreation/Talent Night‘. Never thought I’d get to see Jamaican song, Jewish rap, and Botswanan dance in one evening … good fun!” And always an issue for Henrik – alcohol: “Free drinks were curiously absent, though.” Does he have an agenda to prove clichés about judges right?

Twitterer philipjbarker also liked the party: “For what it’s worth, despite negative concerns, the talent show was awesome.” However, Tim Mooney, just recently announced deputy chief adjudicator of next year’s Worlds in Manila, went to bed early: “Heading to bed after a big day at WUDC. Coach says we need to keep our zinc levels up.” Is zinc the secret which will make Sydney world champion again?

More important for spaekers are the results after the first day of debating. Moritz Kirchner (Wortgefechte Potsdam) is happy: “This is how we may well proceed. Being second in three rounds makes six out of nine points. Well, one may be defeated by Oxford or Vermont.” How are the other VDCH teams doing?

Some reflections about Worlds so far are mirrored on Stephen M. Llano’s blog Progymnasmata. He thinks it’s important to spread debating in developing countries to facilitate participation for debaters in these regions too. A slight decline in organization after brilliant Worlds in Turkey (2010) and Ireland (2009) is something he can easily live with. He adds:  “Plus there are a lot of good things going on – the volunteers are pretty amazing and friendly and helpful beyond belief. They are so excited to be involved that their only fault is going a bit overboard on being helpful – not a bad thing at all. I really enjoy talking to them and they were very helpful to me when I wanted to go find a doctor. They are doing an amazing job.” Stephen also liked the motions very much: “The Rounds have been really good – great motions, and really good performances even in rooms where people are inexperienced. I always feel that debate is improving in the Northeastern US with every tournament. It is also clear that WUDC is getting better with each year in quality of argumentation and delivery.” Is being more grateful for the diversity of Worlds in due place here?

apf / glx