A poetic battle of wits

Was what the reports said

Then he wished me well

Before he wished me dead!

Confident I remained

I refused to be intimidated or scared

"May the best poet win!"

Was what I declared!

This battle finally began

Starting on the Fourth-of-July

An appropriate date it seemed

I'm sure that you understand why

The poetic volley was started

As they both stood head-to-toes

A heated exchange of lines was heard

Reciting their cleverly aimed prose

A swipe from the left

A jab to the right

Poetic expressions

Showing their might

The verbal lashings were fierce

With fiery retorts in rhyme

As it seemed to each casual observer

That this battle could last a long time

For hours it seemed to endure

They raged throughout the night

Until the crack of dawn

Through the first glimpse of morning light

Still this poetic battle continued

Both voices hoarse now and sore

Until finally one poet seemed to stumble

Dropped to his knees on the floor

But even near defeat that poet

Refused to give in and concede

How long this would've continued

Before someone would intercede

Finally someone stepped in and said "Stop!"

"This verbal abuse must cease!"

The battling poets were silent

Exhausted, but finally at peace

This epoch battle of words was ended

But neither poet was truly disgraced

When the champion of poets was declared

The champion poet had been replaced!

(c) BAM

Exhaling this smoke makes my knees feeble,

The ache it creates can't be replaced,

A sad time again, slow and slippery I would slide,

Holding every stick like it's my last.

He said to me, be careful for something this much is bad,

I looked upon the confused old man and replied,

If I would fall to the ground then I would to do it with my stick,

The painful smile on his face told me all,

But my stick can't be left untouched for a day.

As a child I looked at those with it as though they knew nothing,

I said to myself it was meaningless,

I told others that it wasn't creative and won't bring wealth but take your time and money,

Then I knew in my heart that to teach I must have tried,

So here I am with the stick which I judged others for.

The tip feels light and every draw is magical,

It has created patterns which only I can understand,

I feel foolish and I must stop,

How can I?

I am just a little man which the brush of a painter,

Creating various strokes day and night,

My stick has become my addiction,

Here in front of the judge I plead guilty,

Today I am the difference between shades.

With my eyes gazing on the floor,

The judge has convicted me of been creative.

Call me the ADDICT

My mind was lost in an everlasting sea of darkness. My body was damaged, due to those who were thoughtless to my insecurities. I thought that I was in a place of which there was no return, I was in hell. Then it came. A journal my uncle bought for me; he told me it would be a good way for me to freely express myself, that it would be my  "therapy". I didn't pay much attention to his words that day, but now I realize how right he was. I wrote in that journal three times a week for fifty-two weeks and in six years, my life would change. You see, I was able to published my journal and it went on to be a New York Times best seller. My words reached the hearts of thousands of children. I still carry the pain, but now my mind is surrounded by a canyon of good thoughts and happiness. My body scared but healed thanks to the thoughtfulness of the many children who come up to me with the brightest smile to light up an entire room and words that made me cry. I say to all of you reading this. 

                Thank You.

I poked and I prodded

Looking for a battle to land

Then all too quickly

This fool raises his pale hand

Just another team member

To CROSS off my list

Should’ve hid like GhoulCircus

–Shit, even he gets the gist

So sorry Monsieur

I just couldn't resist

–Adding a twist

I mean –you’re a clown,

And clowns don't get pissed

Besides, dueling you

Wasn’t meant to be planned

So let us get back to

The battle at hand

I do have to admit, Cross

It was quite a surprise

You flying out of your cave

To meet your demise

You dare step to the empress

With clouded hopes of success?

Seems to me, this here battle

You best reassess

Thought you'd win against me?

What a foolish vampire

See, I'm a dhampir

And this is my fucking empire

Unlike you, Mr. Cross

–Or shall I call you “Lord Dread”

I didn't crawl out of a grave

’Cause I'm only half dead

I have all of your powers

And none of your weakness

–I can lay in the sun,

Or be blessed by a priestess

And compared to my fangs

–Well,

Yours are just pointless

I'm ruling this battle

Like a boss of the mafia

You’re counting marshmallows

Aren’t you, Count Chocula?

Your only tomb

Is a cardboard womb

Of cereal doom

Oh shit, you don't have a spoon

To eat your way out, I assume

Half vamp and half human

My hybrid's supreme

I'm triple X sex

–You’re just a wet dream

But don't worry bat boy

You might scare up a scream

If you get The Deadman

And The Ghoul on your team

Till then, run along Lord Dread

Go hide out in the dark

–Bury yourself in your grave

Like some fucking aardvark

I challenge you! And you don't get to choose,

I'll beat you in two seconds, then go home and listen to some blues 

Your skills are great, that I can't debate 

But let me show you my skills, that will pay the bills

I actually don't know what to say, only that my forte is in my words, you heard? 

This may not be my best rhyme but in time I will shine and have a beautiful Valentine and we will drink some wine 

I can't wait to hear your response!

Guess you read me wrong 

    when you thought 

          I'd take your shit

Guess you got me confused 

    with an ordinary twit

You can shoot your words at me 

    til you fall down 

         on your knee

I can take it, I don't fake it, 

    give it your best shot

But if you cross the line and 

    it's my family you've sought

You'll be shocked when I come at you 

    like a juggernaut

Spit your lies and falsifies 

    on innocents and passers-by 

You know the truth and so do I 

    but you continue on and try

To drag my image through your shit 

    tho what you say 

         doesn't mean spit

And when I show my teeth and claws, 

    giving you a little pause

You cringe and run away and hide 

    when you find out 

          I'm not a ride

How easy you are to defeat, 

    when just a mirror 

          brings you heat

I need no fables, myths or lies 

    to relieve you of 

          your thin disguise

The truth will do you in just fine 

    allowing me to take 

          back what's mine

I tell you what I know you are, 

    negating what you've claimed by far

So you call me a homophobe 

    when both of us 

          know that's a load

I love boys and girls alike, 

    gay or straight, 

          or black or white

Well take a bow oh prince of zero, 

    it's sad to see you're 

          a fake hero

I do mourn those you've 

    managed to snow

And it is surprising 

    you'd stoop so low

I once held you above the rest 

    but found out quick 

         you are a jest

I know you've come to see you erred 

    accusing me what you 

         thought I'd dared

I understood and shed some light 

    but you chose to continue 

         with your plight

Shunning me did hurt, it's true 

    but still I didn't 

          try to hurt you

Then you spun your fairy tale 

    to nearly cause my 

          love to bail

And that's when you invoked the fire, 

    my words came at you 

         something dire

So here's a gift, advice to you, 

    fuck with my family and 

         you'll become cat chew.

(This is purely fiction. No non existent fairies were harmed during the write of this fairy tale smack down)

She's a jester,

    she's a clown

She's quite worthy 

    of the crown

Ideal sidekick, 

    sexy joke

Giggles and wiggles so 

    she 

        won't 

               choke

Effervescent ghostly squeal

Center stage, 

    no need to steal

Silly assumptions 

    based on fluff

Her own conclusions 

    were more than enough

Queen as innocent 

    as 

       her 

            King

Little clown thought 

    a play she'd bring

Mistress was 

    misunderstood

Master may be 

    gone 

         for 

             good

Laughing while she 

    sheds a tear

Gracefully bows to 

    the joker dear.

Before I begin, I would like to thank everyone that has shown interest in this debate format so far.  This edition is dedicated to Harry_Situation, who chose to debate me on one of the oldest and most important issues of the modern era: which superhero universe is supreme.

     Since the dawn of the comic book, mankind has been locked in a dramatic struggle to determine whether or not DC comics, with heroes such as batman and superman are supreme, or if Marvel comics has dominated the imagination and hearts of children and fanatics.(myself included in the later section.)  With our new age of technology, cinema, and social media though, the battle is finally over and marvel can be declared the supreme leader of all things superheroes.

     Since 2008, the Marvel cinematic universe(MCU) has produced a total of 14 movies, with the latest instalment of Doctor Strange just earlier this month.  The nature of this project was, and still is revolutionary to cinematic history.  No other film studio in the world has been able to create a universe of interconnecting and vastly different movies the way marvel has.  The closest thing to it is Fox's "Wolverine Universe", which incorporates both Wolverine and the X-Men.  On one side note, Wolverine and the X-Men are also still a part of Marvel Comics.  Fox just own's the movie rights.  Now granted, DC is trying to catch up to Marvel with it's eighth or so attempt at a cinematic universe.  This cinematic universe though is well, a failure.  

     The worst movie that the MCU produced over its eight year history was the Incredible Hulk.  It yielded about $263.4 Million in box office sales worldwide, and only has a score of 67% on rotten tomatoes.  By comparison, DC's best success at a cinematic universe, Man of Steel, was able to yield $668 million in box office sale, but only scored a 55% on rotten tomatoes.  Batman v Superman and Suicide Squad received a 27% and 26% respectively.  In short, Marvel's biggest failure was able to top DC's greatest success.

     Also, according to thetoptens.com, a website that generates top ten lists based on viewer surveys, we can generate a rough idea of each character is viewed in the eyes of the public.  Now, not surprisingly, Batman was ranked number one.  Even I voted for Batman.  Batman is the coolest superhero in the history of the world, and I don't care what all haters say about him not having superpowers.  I just see it as a sign that you are upset that you could be batman, but instead of mastering all the forms of martial arts, you chose to eat a snickers.

     Now that I've let that out, let's look back at the rest of the top ten list.  Of the remaining nine, only 2 DC characters made it to the top ten: Superman at number 3, and the Flash at number 8.  As for the proportion of voters, only 29% of voters chose a  DC character over a Marvel character.  Among those who voter for a DC character, more than half of them chose Batman.  Thereby, we can conclude that while DC does own the single best superhero in the world,  Marvel has a much more solid and popular fan base.

     As for Batman, DC has either made or given licence for the production of 43 movies involving Batman.  41 of them have been made since 1992.  This means that DC is making nearly 2 batman movies a year.  Not to mention, there are ten different tv series that revolve around Batman.  Looking at this it's easy to see that Batman isn't DC's trump card against Marvel.  Batman is DC's only play against Marvel.

     Thanks to 21st century technology the battle between Marvel and DC is over.  Marvel has a cinematic universe, a host of well know and liked heroes, box office sales, and a bright future.  DC has Batman.  I imagine that it will be only a matter of time before DC is forced to sell or declares bankruptcy.  Though this wouldn't necessarily be such a bad thing.  It could be very entertaining to see a Batman v Wolverine movie if Fox bought DC.

Thanks for reading you guys.  Don't forget to read Harry_Situation's rebuttal.  We both will be looking for you to favorite our arguments as a way of voting for the winner.  We will be accepting votes until 11:59pm tomorrow. 

PS  Just so that I'm not accused of plagiarism, I got all of my statistics from Rotten Tomatoes, the-numbers.com, thetoptens.com, and imdb.

Tips: the ultimate way for a server to know about their job performance. It is through tips that many a college student, low income american, and teenage worker have been able to make ends meet.  The question on the table though is whether or not a server should always be tipped.  Naturally, those working as a server or hostess will feel a natural bias to this argument, seeing as how I will be arguing that tips should only be awarded for high quality service.  However, I hope that by the end of this challenge those of you who initially disagree with me will come to see my point of view or at least respect this train of thought.

     Firstly, I would like to invoke Darwin.  in his Book, The Origin of Species, we are informed that only the most adapted and well suited individuals will be able to survive within their given environment.  Inferior species, such as those that lacked adequate mobility, camouflage, or predatory instinct would naturally die off.  The same is true in a naturally competitive workplace.

     Servers that are incapable or unwilling to provide the standard quality of service expected of them should not be tipped.  This negative feedback mechanism of our society provides direct feedback to the server.  This allows the server to know that their performance needs to improve or not.  On the opposite side of the spectrum, patrons that receive exceptional service should be compelled to tip generously so as to use the same mechanism to provide positive feedback. 

    Naturally, the opposition will argue that without tips it is easy for a server to lose money each night. However, this is just the ugly part of natural selection. There will always be "bad" servers. But over time, as more and more inadequate servers are forced to seek new lines of employment, the overall quality of service from a consumer perspective will increase.