# Great Debates **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=154 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 155 --- ## [Ban disposable cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ban-disposable-cups/758404)
**Author:** [@boffking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boffking)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [June 26, 2016, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ban-disposable-cups/758404 "2016-06-26T15:12:21Z")
I spent this weekend at an anime convention. I go to it every year. They always have free water stations. This year, they stopped providing cups and made you bring your own. It worked beautifully. It made me realise… --- ## [Referendum vote in the US on key issues](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/referendum-vote-in-the-us-on-key-issues/758177)
**Author:** [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Replies:** 37\ **Last updated:** [June 26, 2016, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/referendum-vote-in-the-us-on-key-issues/758177 "2016-06-26T03:59:00Z")
Kind of been watching what’s happening in the UK over whether they want to stay or leave the EU and it got me thinking…why don’t we do that here in the US? Seems to me that there are several hot button, key questions we… --- ## [What Would Reptillians Really Be Like?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-reptillians-really-be-like/758021)
**Author:** [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\ **Replies:** 25\ **Last updated:** [June 25, 2016, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-reptillians-really-be-like/758021 "2016-06-25T07:17:53Z")
People who tell of alleged encounters with aliens, often tell of “Reptillians”, Reptile-like advanced ET’s. Anyways, their claims are all nonsense. I assume we can all agree on that, on these boards at least. But this h… --- ## [Supreme Court Blocks Obama's Executive Actions on Illegal Immigration](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supreme-court-blocks-obamas-executive-actions-on-illegal-immigration/758175)
**Author:** [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Replies:** 33\ **Last updated:** [June 25, 2016, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supreme-court-blocks-obamas-executive-actions-on-illegal-immigration/758175 "2016-06-25T05:37:48Z")
From here Mr. Ryan is correct, IMO. Of course, this part is true as well - We need to replace the justice, so the un-Constitutional actions of this President are struck down, not merely blocked. Although I dislike … --- ## [Is racism preventing us from effectively addressing gun violence?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-racism-preventing-us-from-effectively-addressing-gun-violence/757899)
**Author:** [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Replies:** 108\ **Last updated:** [June 24, 2016, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-racism-preventing-us-from-effectively-addressing-gun-violence/757899 "2016-06-24T19:09:54Z")
America’s massive murder count is principally the result of handguns used in ordinary homicides–almost all of which occur in cities. As a result, despite a national conversation that focuses on other gun violence topics–… --- ## [SCOTUS rules States can ban race-based AA](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotus-rules-states-can-ban-race-based-aa/686760)
**Author:** [@Chief\_Pedant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chief_Pedant)\ **Replies:** 245\ **Last updated:** [June 24, 2016, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotus-rules-states-can-ban-race-based-aa/686760 "2016-06-24T15:47:49Z")
Link to document here. At least, I think that’s what this basically says. The practical result will be a shift to merit-based selection processes for schooling and jobs, with filtering (likely) still available for soci… --- ## [why no support for limiting access to information?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-support-for-limiting-access-to-information/758140)
**Author:** [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Replies:** 21\ **Last updated:** [June 24, 2016, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-support-for-limiting-access-to-information/758140 "2016-06-24T02:42:37Z")
Really, I’m not sure I want to Debate this so it might be better elsewhere. I’m just wondering why there hasn’t been much focus on banning words as a tool to protest against banning guns. It looks to me that some of the… --- ## [Why does the media focus on destruction?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-media-focus-on-destruction/757748)
**Author:** [@boffking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boffking)\ **Replies:** 17\ **Last updated:** [June 24, 2016, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-media-focus-on-destruction/757748 "2016-06-24T01:11:50Z")
The news is always full of war, disaster, and tragedy. Too many inventors go unknown, while murderers are rewarded with massive fame. We should make famous someone for fixing problems, not for causing them. Where is … --- ## [The President … shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-shall-take-care-that-the-laws-be-faithfully-executed/743910)
**Author:** [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Replies:** 88\ **Last updated:** [June 23, 2016, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-shall-take-care-that-the-laws-be-faithfully-executed/743910 "2016-06-23T15:37:41Z")
From the US Constitution, Article II, Section 3: In US v. Texas, SCOTUS has recently granted cert and what I think is not a common course of action, has added a question for review that was not originally presented by … --- ## [Getting Offended on Behalf of Other People (Redskins)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-offended-on-behalf-of-other-people-redskins/755167)
**Author:** [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Replies:** 335\ **Last updated:** [June 23, 2016, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-offended-on-behalf-of-other-people-redskins/755167 "2016-06-23T13:46:59Z")
According to a new poll out, the vast majority of Native Americans (90%) are not offended by the Washington NFL team being called “Redskins” and many actually like the name. Of note, the numbers are said to be consistent… --- ## [Legal question: Is this an appeal on a silver plater?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-question-is-this-an-appeal-on-a-silver-plater/757760)
**Author:** [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [June 23, 2016, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-question-is-this-an-appeal-on-a-silver-plater/757760 "2016-06-23T04:27:37Z")
Welcome back. hope you learned your lesson! I was not involved in any way with this specific case. However, I remember the statewide ATL when the victim first disappeared, and I was abreast on a professional level of th… --- ## [Which is more important to the economy, government or private sector?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-more-important-to-the-economy-government-or-private-sector/757724)
**Author:** [@boffking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boffking)\ **Replies:** 108\ **Last updated:** [June 23, 2016, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-more-important-to-the-economy-government-or-private-sector/757724 "2016-06-23T01:13:25Z")
People have been very hard on Obama about the economy. I am not asking if he or Congress did the right things. Those are topics for another thread. What I am asking is, is it really up to the government? The crash occ… --- ## [The no-fly and terrorist watch lists are full of garbage data and should be abandoned.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-no-fly-and-terrorist-watch-lists-are-full-of-garbage-data-and-should-be-abandoned/757561)
**Author:** [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Replies:** 67\ **Last updated:** [June 22, 2016, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-no-fly-and-terrorist-watch-lists-are-full-of-garbage-data-and-should-be-abandoned/757561 "2016-06-22T14:05:45Z")
Senate Democrats are pushing a bill to ban anyone on the no-fly list or terrorist watch list from being able to purchase a firearm. There is a lot of criticism of the proposal over due process and transparency concerns,… --- ## [Will Zika spread worldwide due to Rio Olympics?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-zika-spread-worldwide-due-to-rio-olympics/757984)
**Author:** [@bothanspy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bothanspy)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [June 21, 2016, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-zika-spread-worldwide-due-to-rio-olympics/757984 "2016-06-21T22:24:23Z")
I have been thinking about this a lot lately. I saw some older Zika threads postulating that the Olympics may get moved, but didn’t see one asking: As Rio becomes a melting pot for nearly all parts of the globe for sev… --- ## [State Department officials call for US military action against Assad](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-department-officials-call-for-us-military-action-against-assad/757620)
**Author:** [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Replies:** 52\ **Last updated:** [June 21, 2016, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-department-officials-call-for-us-military-action-against-assad/757620 "2016-06-21T14:02:21Z")
CNN reports that State Department officials are calling for U.S. military action against Assad regime Should Obama follow this advice or reject it? Personally I think the advice is foolhardy and dangerous, risking con… --- ## [Eye-blink ID - “Dying Declaration” Conviction](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eye-blink-id-dying-declaration-conviction/756865)
**Author:** [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Replies:** 43\ **Last updated:** [June 20, 2016, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eye-blink-id-dying-declaration-conviction/756865 "2016-06-20T02:20:07Z")
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/conviction-after-paralyzed-man-blinked-to-id-shooter/ar-AAgOa1s?li=BBnbfcL Jermaine Hailes was found guilty of 1st Degree Murder in the shooting death of Melvin Pate. Pate, who was … --- ## [Deep Brain Poison: treatment for the viral ideas that ruin our lives](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deep-brain-poison-treatment-for-the-viral-ideas-that-ruin-our-lives/757395)
**Author:** [@TipTapTwo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TipTapTwo)\ **Replies:** 28\ **Last updated:** [June 20, 2016, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deep-brain-poison-treatment-for-the-viral-ideas-that-ruin-our-lives/757395 "2016-06-20T01:53:03Z")
\*sorry in advance for using terms like: idea, concept, thought, meme, semiotics, etc… as interchangeable equals. I do not know/care enough to make those distinctions. Furthermore, sorry for trying to mash the concepts of… --- ## [Whether Mexico could even be coerced into paying for a wall or not](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whether-mexico-could-even-be-coerced-into-paying-for-a-wall-or-not/757115)
**Author:** [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Replies:** 125\ **Last updated:** [June 19, 2016, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whether-mexico-could-even-be-coerced-into-paying-for-a-wall-or-not/757115 "2016-06-19T15:29:34Z")
In this thread I would like to sidestep the political/social aspects of a border wall with Mexico and instead examine the issue as to whether a President Trump can even coerce Mexico into paying in the first place. The … --- ## [Should the US Lower Muslim Immigration?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-us-lower-muslim-immigration/757497)
**Author:** [@DerekMichaels00](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DerekMichaels00)\ **Replies:** 117\ **Last updated:** [June 19, 2016, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-us-lower-muslim-immigration/757497 "2016-06-19T13:41:11Z")
Should the US lower Muslim immigration until Islamist ideas and sentiments cool down in the region? Now that its out in the open, lets have a Great Debate! --- ## [How do we get natural gas service to anyone who wants it?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-get-natural-gas-service-to-anyone-who-wants-it/757723)
**Author:** [@boffking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boffking)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [June 19, 2016, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-get-natural-gas-service-to-anyone-who-wants-it/757723 "2016-06-19T12:35:32Z")
In Maine, there are some large pipeline installations going on, but there is still a lot of work to do. It is still fairly common for one street to have the option of cheap natural gas service (With zero installation fe… --- ## [Opioids not actually all that deadly?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opioids-not-actually-all-that-deadly/756688)
**Author:** [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Replies:** 52\ **Last updated:** [June 19, 2016, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opioids-not-actually-all-that-deadly/756688 "2016-06-19T00:40:36Z")
It’s a Reason article, and so it has a political motivation, but it also brings cites with it. Notably this one: It seems to me that we have a very real recreational opioid abuse problem, but that attacking the probl… --- ## [Ideas are zero-sum. There hasn't been anything new for a long time](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideas-are-zero-sum-there-hasnt-been-anything-new-for-a-long-time/757067)
**Author:** [@lubacet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lubacet)\ **Replies:** 13\ **Last updated:** [June 18, 2016, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideas-are-zero-sum-there-hasnt-been-anything-new-for-a-long-time/757067 "2016-06-18T18:10:03Z")
I’m aware that I’ve misused ‘zero-sum’ in the title, but it gets the point across much better than saying, ‘Ideas are limited’. A major recurring theme in Hong-Sang Soo’s movies is creative redundancy. ‘There hasn’t bee… --- ## [Fracking as alternative to war](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fracking-as-alternative-to-war/757391)
**Author:** [@boffking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boffking)\ **Replies:** 17\ **Last updated:** [June 18, 2016, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fracking-as-alternative-to-war/757391 "2016-06-18T15:46:58Z")
We have gone to war in the middle east several times, and oil was one of the motivations for this. The USA was a net exporter of oil for several years until the Saudis brought the price crashing down, and that capacity … --- ## [Why \[I\]do\[/I\] people commit mass murder?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-do-i-people-commit-mass-murder/757291)
**Author:** [@boffking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boffking)\ **Replies:** 33\ **Last updated:** [June 18, 2016, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-do-i-people-commit-mass-murder/757291 "2016-06-18T15:32:58Z")
I will start by saying that I am not looking for a debate on gun control. Timothy Mcveigh and Osama Bin Laden both proved that mass murder can happen without guns. What I am asking is, what brings people to commit thes… --- ## [How are these body mods medically ethical?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-these-body-mods-medically-ethical/756987)
**Author:** [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Replies:** 65\ **Last updated:** [June 18, 2016, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-these-body-mods-medically-ethical/756987 "2016-06-18T04:56:14Z")
Transgender female Eva Tiamat Baphomet Medusa (formerly Richard Hernandez) has gotten tattoos, eye dye, and body mods to transform herself into a “dragon.” This includes surgery to remove both auricles and drastically re… --- ## [The Fourteenth Amendment and 'Original Intent'?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-fourteenth-amendment-and-original-intent/755631)
**Author:** [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\ **Replies:** 78\ **Last updated:** [June 17, 2016, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-fourteenth-amendment-and-original-intent/755631 "2016-06-17T17:50:33Z")
Original intent, when it comes to the U.S. constitution, at least, does have a certain draw for some people. What better way could there be to interpret any document, including the U.S. Constitution, than the original w… --- ## [Was it racist for Zack and Trini to be the Black and Yellow Power Rangers?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-it-racist-for-zack-and-trini-to-be-the-black-and-yellow-power-rangers/757077)
**Author:** [@Nadnerb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nadnerb)\ **Replies:** 17\ **Last updated:** [June 17, 2016, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-it-racist-for-zack-and-trini-to-be-the-black-and-yellow-power-rangers/757077 "2016-06-17T17:24:05Z")
I didn’t think so. Because a) we did get another black Black Ranger, which was Will in Operation Overdrive, b) Walter Jones the actor who played Zack said it wasn’t, and c) it wouldn’t hurt to have another Asian Yellow R… --- ## [Stop rewarding mass murderers with fame](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-rewarding-mass-murderers-with-fame/757510)
**Author:** [@boffking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boffking)\ **Replies:** 16\ **Last updated:** [June 17, 2016, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-rewarding-mass-murderers-with-fame/757510 "2016-06-17T14:51:57Z")
50 people died in Orlando on Sunday. Now everyone in the world knows the perptrator’s name. Isn’t this just giving murderers what they want? I have often heard that this is part of why terrorists and shooters do what … --- ## [Ban on combat lifted = women registering for Selective Service?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ban-on-combat-lifted-women-registering-for-selective-service/729721)
**Author:** [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Replies:** 72\ **Last updated:** [June 16, 2016, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ban-on-combat-lifted-women-registering-for-selective-service/729721 "2016-06-16T10:51:14Z")
If I’m not mistaken, the reason women were not required to register for Selective Service was because there was a ban on women serving in front line combat, but if the ban has now been lifted, then what remaining reason … --- ## [Does Obama have an option regarding his SCOTUS nomination?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-obama-have-an-option-regarding-his-scotus-nomination/756948)
**Author:** [@jebert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jebert)\ **Replies:** 34\ **Last updated:** [June 15, 2016, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-obama-have-an-option-regarding-his-scotus-nomination/756948 "2016-06-15T23:06:58Z")
Obama has nominated Garland for the vacant Supreme Court position, but the Senate Republicans will not give him a vote, hoping that Trump will win in November and nominate someone more to their liking. Some have postula… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=153) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=155)