# Great Debates **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=108 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 109 --- ## [Amazon HQ incentives](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-hq-incentives/799229)
**Author:** [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Replies:** 31\ **Last updated:** [October 21, 2017, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-hq-incentives/799229 "2017-10-21T21:44:58Z")
In Chicago, the apparent competition to lure Amazon’s new HQ has been news for some time. (I imagine it has been in just about every town with a population of at least 5 figures!) Wondering if folk had any thoughts abo… --- ## [What would happen if we removed the charity tax?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-we-removed-the-charity-tax/799390)
**Author:** [@Barack\_Obama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barack_Obama)\ **Replies:** 13\ **Last updated:** [October 21, 2017, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-we-removed-the-charity-tax/799390 "2017-10-21T05:28:33Z")
How much more money would we take if the charity tax was removed? What’s the significance? --- ## [Is it possible to have a planetary leader without a planetary language?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-have-a-planetary-leader-without-a-planetary-language/799131)
**Author:** [@Gozu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gozu)\ **Replies:** 24\ **Last updated:** [October 20, 2017, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-have-a-planetary-leader-without-a-planetary-language/799131 "2017-10-20T21:33:27Z")
Simple question really. A planetary-wide leader can be defined as someone who holds the same kinds of executive powers as President Trump holds over the USA right now, except over the entire world. A planetary language… --- ## [Trump on Iran: what on earth can we do?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-on-iran-what-on-earth-can-we-do/798760)
**Author:** [@up\_the\_junction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/up_the_junction)\ **Replies:** 67\ **Last updated:** [October 18, 2017, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-on-iran-what-on-earth-can-we-do/798760 "2017-10-18T11:07:55Z")
The tv game show host seemed to lose all sense today in his speech: I’d like to pose questions like what on earth did his mother do to him as a child?’ but the debate is: a. Is this a working definition of a lea… --- ## [California drastically lowers penalty for knowingly exposing partners to HIV](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-drastically-lowers-penalty-for-knowingly-exposing-partners-to-hiv/798297)
**Author:** [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Replies:** 12\ **Last updated:** [October 18, 2017, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-drastically-lowers-penalty-for-knowingly-exposing-partners-to-hiv/798297 "2017-10-18T05:14:39Z")
Story The idea is to destigmatize HIV. I don’t want to judge this before I hear both sides but I confess my first impression is unfavorable. I’m quite willing to be convinced otherwise though. --- ## [Who cares to debate the events of 9/11/2001 based upon the laws of physics?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-cares-to-debate-the-events-of-9-11-2001-based-upon-the-laws-of-physics/798861)
**Author:** [@Jay\_Jay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jay_Jay)\ **Replies:** 1137\ **Last updated:** [October 18, 2017, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-cares-to-debate-the-events-of-9-11-2001-based-upon-the-laws-of-physics/798861 "2017-10-18T04:07:13Z")
That is various bits from the alleged airliner crashes to the fall of skyscrapers, constitute violations of the laws of physics if the official explanation is to be accepted. who whats to discuss this matter? --- ## [Apparently, we can now grow rice in salty water](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apparently-we-can-now-grow-rice-in-salty-water/799035)
**Author:** [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Replies:** 20\ **Last updated:** [October 17, 2017, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apparently-we-can-now-grow-rice-in-salty-water/799035 "2017-10-17T10:49:28Z")
So says this article in the South China Morning Post today. Despite the recent crop being heralded as a breakthrough this is clearly a project with still a way to go. For instance, the salt-tolerant crop cannot actually… --- ## [Gun control wouldn't have stopped what happened in Vegas...should we do it anyway?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gun-control-wouldnt-have-stopped-what-happened-in-vegas-should-we-do-it-anyway/797873)
**Author:** [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Replies:** 702\ **Last updated:** [October 17, 2017, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gun-control-wouldnt-have-stopped-what-happened-in-vegas-should-we-do-it-anyway/797873 "2017-10-17T03:22:05Z")
Even though it’s events like Vegas that get the news and get people riled up, gun control isn’t going to have any effect on something like that. Why? Well, at least of two weapons used in the shooting were bought legal… --- ## [Did Otto Warnbier Deserve this treatment by North Korea?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-otto-warnbier-deserve-this-treatment-by-north-korea/797412)
**Author:** [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Replies:** 78\ **Last updated:** [October 17, 2017, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-otto-warnbier-deserve-this-treatment-by-north-korea/797412 "2017-10-17T02:30:46Z")
I don’t know if you all remember but in 2015 an American college student was caught trying to take a poster in North Korea. He went to trial and got 15 years hard labor. Well later he was released by NK and came home in… --- ## [Arrest procedure questions using the arrested nurse as example](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrest-procedure-questions-using-the-arrested-nurse-as-example/795558)
**Author:** [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Replies:** 86\ **Last updated:** [October 17, 2017, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrest-procedure-questions-using-the-arrested-nurse-as-example/795558 "2017-10-17T02:17:47Z")
In case you haven’t heard, a Utah nurse was arrested for refusing to allow a police phlebotomist without a warrant to draw blood from an unconscious patient. Video shows her being placed under arrest and put into a po… --- ## [Boy Scouts USA to allow girls - Girl Scouts upset](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-scouts-usa-to-allow-girls-girl-scouts-upset/798592)
**Author:** [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Replies:** 112\ **Last updated:** [October 16, 2017, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-scouts-usa-to-allow-girls-girl-scouts-upset/798592 "2017-10-16T20:18:03Z")
THIS just came out. As a BSA leader I can tell you this has been strongly debated. Most feel we should keep the program just for boys thru the ages of 11-14 so they can grow as boys. OTOH most see the high number of gir… --- ## [At what point, if ever, will ignorance of the law become a valid excuse?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-if-ever-will-ignorance-of-the-law-become-a-valid-excuse/797602)
**Author:** [@CoastalMaineiac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CoastalMaineiac)\ **Replies:** 29\ **Last updated:** [October 16, 2017, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-if-ever-will-ignorance-of-the-law-become-a-valid-excuse/797602 "2017-10-16T16:25:38Z")
We have legislative sessions year after year, and more and more laws are added to the books as time passes. It’s been long held that ignorance of the law is no excuse for breaking the law, else every Tom, Dick, and Harry… --- ## [Does Obamacare tax health?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-obamacare-tax-health/798781)
**Author:** [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Replies:** 34\ **Last updated:** [October 16, 2017, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-obamacare-tax-health/798781 "2017-10-16T15:27:28Z")
Obamacare regulates health insurance markets such that the healthy subsidize the sick. It is a casual rule of economics that it is best to tax what we want less of and leave alone what we want more of. This rule seems … --- ## [Making Congress Do Stuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-congress-do-stuff/798789)
**Author:** [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [October 16, 2017, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-congress-do-stuff/798789 "2017-10-16T14:48:15Z")
I would agree with this Politico article that it seems to be that Trump’s new strategy of governance is to push the decision making back onto Congress, rather than use the traditional method of coming up with and leading… --- ## [What exactly does China get out of supporting North Korea](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-does-china-get-out-of-supporting-north-korea/796589)
**Author:** [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Replies:** 54\ **Last updated:** [October 16, 2017, 10:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-does-china-get-out-of-supporting-north-korea/796589 "2017-10-16T10:05:51Z")
China and South Korea do $300 billion a year in trade. China roughly the same value worth of trade with Japan. They do maybe $5 billion a year in trade with North Korea. I’ve heard they like having North Korea as a buff… --- ## [Associating bad hurricanes with climate change will backfire on Global Warming Alarmists](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/associating-bad-hurricanes-with-climate-change-will-backfire-on-global-warming-alarmists/796654)
**Author:** [@Chief\_Pedant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chief_Pedant)\ **Replies:** 74\ **Last updated:** [October 15, 2017, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/associating-bad-hurricanes-with-climate-change-will-backfire-on-global-warming-alarmists/796654 "2017-10-15T23:46:34Z")
The battle for current control of public opinion around the Great Cause of anthropogenic climate change is largely won, in my opinion, and the winner is the alarmist camp (those very concerned that climate change will ha… --- ## [Is it fair to say Jesus committed suicide?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-fair-to-say-jesus-committed-suicide/778184)
**Author:** [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Replies:** 110\ **Last updated:** [October 15, 2017, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-fair-to-say-jesus-committed-suicide/778184 "2017-10-15T22:11:10Z")
Here’s a previous thread (wow, over ten years ago!) that discusses the matter. The obvious point first - other people killed Jesus, so what we’re really talking about is something along the lines of suicide by willingly… --- ## [Why did Mao inflict the horrors of the Cultural Revolution on China?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-mao-inflict-the-horrors-of-the-cultural-revolution-on-china/798734)
**Author:** [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Replies:** 20\ **Last updated:** [October 15, 2017, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-mao-inflict-the-horrors-of-the-cultural-revolution-on-china/798734 "2017-10-15T18:46:27Z")
(Putting this is GD as I’m not sure whether this has a definitive answer. Please move to GQ if necessary.) He was secure in power, idolized by the masses, surrounded by his friends and comrades from the early days of th… --- ## [What is the health care landscape going to look like now?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-health-care-landscape-going-to-look-like-now/798775)
**Author:** [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [October 15, 2017, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-health-care-landscape-going-to-look-like-now/798775 "2017-10-15T13:13:04Z")
Sure, these are just EOs, and they’re being legally challenged, but if they inject enough uncertainty into the market, the exchanges are going to empty out anyway, or so some say. Will they? Regardless, what’s going to … --- ## [What justifies Japanese sense of cultural superiority?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-justifies-japanese-sense-of-cultural-superiority/220485)
**Author:** [@Brandus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brandus)\ **Replies:** 79\ **Last updated:** [October 15, 2017, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-justifies-japanese-sense-of-cultural-superiority/220485 "2017-10-15T02:09:42Z")
First, some examples of my biased, uneducated opinion on Japan; second, my responses to these opinions. Japan also has a very homogenous society, which refuses to grant lesser races, such as the koreans, Japanese citize… --- ## [NAFTA hypothetical](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nafta-hypothetical/798749)
**Author:** [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [October 14, 2017, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nafta-hypothetical/798749 "2017-10-14T03:25:54Z")
Trump is currently playing his usual silly bugger games with NAFTA. Basically, it seems that he thinks that he’s “negotiating”, by threatening to pull out, and generally being a dick. Plus, even US trade experts have s… --- ## [Balancing constitutional issues and human life..](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/balancing-constitutional-issues-and-human-life/798548)
**Author:** [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Replies:** 29\ **Last updated:** [October 14, 2017, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/balancing-constitutional-issues-and-human-life/798548 "2017-10-14T02:04:54Z")
In at least three major hot button issues I can think of (health care, guns, and free speech for white supremacists), there seems to me to be a side that basically says to the other, “I realize you feel your life is in d… --- ## [Medical privacy versus enormous political power](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-privacy-versus-enormous-political-power/798569)
**Author:** [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Replies:** 38\ **Last updated:** [October 13, 2017, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-privacy-versus-enormous-political-power/798569 "2017-10-13T20:40:41Z")
An article in STAT today talks about the way Capitol hill lawmakers get prescriptions filled while here in DC. This segment has a lot of tongues wagging: There have been rumors about some members of Congress for years,… --- ## [Should we crack down on psychiatric meds?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-crack-down-on-psychiatric-meds/798335)
**Author:** [@boffking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boffking)\ **Replies:** 38\ **Last updated:** [October 13, 2017, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-crack-down-on-psychiatric-meds/798335 "2017-10-13T17:34:27Z")
Almost every mass shooter had been taking some form of psychiatric medication shortly before their attack. Lower profile murders often have someone making the “he changed his meds” excuse for the killer as well. All th… --- ## [Fix my city for me](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fix-my-city-for-me/798581)
**Author:** [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Replies:** 69\ **Last updated:** [October 13, 2017, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fix-my-city-for-me/798581 "2017-10-13T15:57:36Z")
I live in San Francisco. You’ve all heard about the cost of housing here. The main reason, in my opinion, is that housing stock is very low compared to the demand - one regional government body estimated that the gap bet… --- ## [Bump stocks intended ban](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bump-stocks-intended-ban/798025)
**Author:** [@Okrahoma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Okrahoma)\ **Replies:** 135\ **Last updated:** [October 13, 2017, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bump-stocks-intended-ban/798025 "2017-10-13T15:42:34Z")
Do explain - how is banning bump stocks anything BUT a feel-good gesture, completely ineffective but I guess serving the cause of appeasing some angry people? As this video demonstrates, anyone can make a “bump-stock”-l… --- ## [Examples of natural phenomena being used as proof of religion](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-natural-phenomena-being-used-as-proof-of-religion/798108)
**Author:** [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Replies:** 71\ **Last updated:** [October 13, 2017, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-natural-phenomena-being-used-as-proof-of-religion/798108 "2017-10-13T01:04:49Z")
Before modern science, certain phenomena didn’t make sense and were used as proof of deities or supernatural phenomena. Examples: hallucinogenic drugs giving supernatural experiences. Columbus using an eclipse to scar… --- ## [Is Israel of Strategic Value to the U.S. and the West?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-israel-of-strategic-value-to-the-u-s-and-the-west/795822)
**Author:** [@JBGUSA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JBGUSA)\ **Replies:** 138\ **Last updated:** [October 13, 2017, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-israel-of-strategic-value-to-the-u-s-and-the-west/795822 "2017-10-13T00:27:28Z")
Many people have stated that our alliance with Israel is based upon the fact that they are Western and to some extent that they are “white.” Putting aside the fact that many Israelis are of Middle Eastern origin and s… --- ## [Univeristy of Wisconsin System: Disruptively Protest 3 Times, Get Expelled](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/univeristy-of-wisconsin-system-disruptively-protest-3-times-get-expelled/798446)
**Author:** [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Replies:** 79\ **Last updated:** [October 11, 2017, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/univeristy-of-wisconsin-system-disruptively-protest-3-times-get-expelled/798446 "2017-10-11T19:58:01Z")
The same day, however, the University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents passed a Republican-backed policy aimed at punishing students who disrupt campus speakers. Although the policy at the University of Wisconsin i… --- ## [The IRS targeting of tea party members](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-irs-targeting-of-tea-party-members/658243)
**Author:** [@Honesty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honesty)\ **Replies:** 450\ **Last updated:** [October 11, 2017, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-irs-targeting-of-tea-party-members/658243 "2017-10-11T02:49:59Z")
It has come to light that the IRS has been targeting tea party members. Can someone explain what the big deal is? When you have members who decry “Stop taxing us”, “Taxed enough already,”, “Zero taxes”, and “The IRS i… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=107) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=109)