# Great Debates **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=211 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 212 --- ## [Are there any practical improvements that can be made to American policing?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-practical-improvements-that-can-be-made-to-american-policing/705698)
**Author:** [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Replies:** 86\ **Last updated:** [December 4, 2014, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-practical-improvements-that-can-be-made-to-american-policing/705698 "2014-12-04T19:43:56Z")
The Ferguson shooting has ignited a lot of criticism of our police officers. I’d like to discuss if there are any practical improvements that can be made. A few comments to get us started. Internal Affairs has steadi… --- ## [Why have Republicans forgotten the "unitary executive theory"?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-republicans-forgotten-the-unitary-executive-theory/705266)
**Author:** [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Replies:** 74\ **Last updated:** [December 4, 2014, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-republicans-forgotten-the-unitary-executive-theory/705266 "2014-12-04T16:29:29Z")
Remember the W years? Not all that long ago? When Republicans were arguing for maximum scope of presidential autonomy from Congress, maximum powers, maximum freedom of action, even to the point of attaching an unpreced… --- ## [Senators addressing domestic violence in professional sports](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senators-addressing-domestic-violence-in-professional-sports/706168)
**Author:** [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Replies:** 28\ **Last updated:** [December 4, 2014, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senators-addressing-domestic-violence-in-professional-sports/706168 "2014-12-04T01:38:47Z")
Article link. My question is, why is the senate getting involved in this? I am not a fan of the NFL, I don’t like professional football, and I think their players get paid waaaay too much. I am also not a fan of the t… --- ## ["our criminal justice system is largely fair and just"](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-criminal-justice-system-is-largely-fair-and-just/705577)
**Author:** [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Replies:** 64\ **Last updated:** [December 4, 2014, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-criminal-justice-system-is-largely-fair-and-just/705577 "2014-12-04T01:31:19Z")
That’s the argument Martin Hyde made in a Pit thread about the current, ah, controversy in Missouri: There are a few issues in play in this quote, but I’d like to focus on the primary assertion being made in the first … --- ## [Changes to Presidential/Congressional terms to decrease gridlock in the US Government.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changes-to-presidential-congressional-terms-to-decrease-gridlock-in-the-us-government/705275)
**Author:** [@tonyfop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tonyfop)\ **Replies:** 39\ **Last updated:** [December 3, 2014, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changes-to-presidential-congressional-terms-to-decrease-gridlock-in-the-us-government/705275 "2014-12-03T17:00:29Z")
Whereas the technological advancements over the last 225 years have sped up the pace at which society as a whole moves, and Whereas this speeded up society has necessitated members of the House of Representatives to be … --- ## [Does Religion heal psychological pain, (in true believers)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-religion-heal-psychological-pain-in-true-believers/705994)
**Author:** [@Robert163](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robert163)\ **Replies:** 18\ **Last updated:** [December 3, 2014, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-religion-heal-psychological-pain-in-true-believers/705994 "2014-12-03T03:15:05Z")
People who have been raped, had a family member murdered, things like that, do you think they can truly find relief if they truly believe in God? Will doubling their prayers reduce their pain by half? I ask this because … --- ## [Islam is taking over in the US](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/islam-is-taking-over-in-the-us/705732)
**Author:** [@rock\_party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rock_party)\ **Replies:** 51\ **Last updated:** [December 3, 2014, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/islam-is-taking-over-in-the-us/705732 "2014-12-03T01:00:46Z")
I get these links sent to me from some of my right wing friends that say Islam is taking over in the US (and western Europe). Things that talk of creeping Sharia law and that people are converting to Islam in droves. In … --- ## [GOP Strategy to Stop Obama's Executive Amnesty Emerging](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-strategy-to-stop-obamas-executive-amnesty-emerging/705016)
**Author:** [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Replies:** 128\ **Last updated:** [December 3, 2014, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-strategy-to-stop-obamas-executive-amnesty-emerging/705016 "2014-12-03T00:50:53Z")
If I understand this correctly, this actually sounds doable - if Republicans can get their stuff together to actually follow through on this strategy, and pass several (many?) funding bills for separate departments ins… --- ## [When, economically, will the Russians be forced to capitulate?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-economically-will-the-russians-be-forced-to-capitulate/706067)
**Author:** [@IMfez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IMfez)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [December 2, 2014, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-economically-will-the-russians-be-forced-to-capitulate/706067 "2014-12-02T05:02:53Z")
My understanding of macroeconomics is limited, and back in the summer I recall that the headlines on the Russia sanctions were mostly negative. They said that Russia, being as big and independent as it is, having the tru… --- ## [Girls that lie about their age to get sex](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-that-lie-about-their-age-to-get-sex/703918)
**Author:** [@blueskies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blueskies)\ **Replies:** 178\ **Last updated:** [December 2, 2014, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-that-lie-about-their-age-to-get-sex/703918 "2014-12-02T00:36:01Z")
I hope that I am posting in the right place, if not I am sorry… Lets say that you have a 12 year old girl who lies and lies and lies to numerous boys and teens about her age. She ends up having sex with 4+ different bo… --- ## [Should Pope Francis go to Iraq?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-pope-francis-go-to-iraq/695884)
**Author:** [@Namkcalb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Namkcalb)\ **Replies:** 18\ **Last updated:** [December 1, 2014, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-pope-francis-go-to-iraq/695884 "2014-12-01T22:04:25Z")
Pope Francis has said he is considering going to visit Catholic refugees in Iraq Would this be an appropriate and ethical thing to do? This is my first time posting in Great Debates so be nice. --- ## [An everything bagel \[and the nature of "nothing"\]](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-everything-bagel-and-the-nature-of-nothing/705815)
**Author:** [@Cardboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardboard)\ **Replies:** 25\ **Last updated:** [December 1, 2014, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-everything-bagel-and-the-nature-of-nothing/705815 "2014-12-01T21:24:33Z")
Is ‘nothing’ part of ‘everything,’ therefore an everything bagel could never possibly exist because it must contain nothing as well as everything? --- ## [Making threats online may not be covered by free speech protection](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-threats-online-may-not-be-covered-by-free-speech-protection/706065)
**Author:** [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [December 1, 2014, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-threats-online-may-not-be-covered-by-free-speech-protection/706065 "2014-12-01T21:23:32Z")
Today the SCOTUS heard arguments regarding the case Elonis v. United States in which a man is being accused of criminally threatening his estranged wife via posts to Facebook. At issue is whether the threats constituted… --- ## [Ferguson- the elephant in the room](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferguson-the-elephant-in-the-room/705655)
**Author:** [@Pjen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pjen)\ **Replies:** 248\ **Last updated:** [December 1, 2014, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferguson-the-elephant-in-the-room/705655 "2014-12-01T09:39:59Z")
Not race, but police culture. Each country chooses (usually unconsciously) many of their social outcomes. Looking at other countries can illuminate what choices have been made. The US has chosen to allow its police off… --- ## [Keep your fingers crossed Aereo customers. Today's our day in the SCOTUS.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keep-your-fingers-crossed-aereo-customers-todays-our-day-in-the-scotus/686664)
**Author:** [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Replies:** 156\ **Last updated:** [December 1, 2014, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keep-your-fingers-crossed-aereo-customers-todays-our-day-in-the-scotus/686664 "2014-12-01T03:23:50Z")
I really hope they win. I waited for these guys to come to my city before I cut the cable. I don’t know what I’ll do if they lose! --- ## [Why do we no longer fight fire with fire with Russia?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-no-longer-fight-fire-with-fire-with-russia/703527)
**Author:** [@IMfez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IMfez)\ **Replies:** 170\ **Last updated:** [November 28, 2014, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-no-longer-fight-fire-with-fire-with-russia/703527 "2014-11-28T23:44:37Z")
I never got to see any aspect of the Cold War firsthand, but I have read of numerous geopolitical battles done through proxy means. It reads like something right out of a historical fiction novel. And it seems to have wo… --- ## [Should the navy nurse who refused to force feed Guantanamo prisoners be discharged?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-navy-nurse-who-refused-to-force-feed-guantanamo-prisoners-be-discharged/705447)
**Author:** [@Happy\_Fun\_Ball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Fun_Ball)\ **Replies:** 98\ **Last updated:** [November 28, 2014, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-navy-nurse-who-refused-to-force-feed-guantanamo-prisoners-be-discharged/705447 "2014-11-28T21:12:55Z")
An unnamed navy nurse is currently in danger of being discharged by a formal board of inquiry for refusing to force feed Guantanamo prisoners, believing the practice to be in direct contradiction of his/her professional … --- ## [Private prisons and the three strikes rule - a replacement for Jim Crow or pure conspiracy?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/private-prisons-and-the-three-strikes-rule-a-replacement-for-jim-crow-or-pure-conspiracy/705558)
**Author:** [@Oedipus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oedipus)\ **Replies:** 87\ **Last updated:** [November 28, 2014, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/private-prisons-and-the-three-strikes-rule-a-replacement-for-jim-crow-or-pure-conspiracy/705558 "2014-11-28T15:07:58Z")
This has been stuck in my head for a while and I can’t shake it. As much as I want to sit here and say that the Reagan administration had no purpose to lock up black people in mass quantities to overtly oppress them, I f… --- ## [Victor Stenger's Cosmological Fine Tuning Counterarguments](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/victor-stengers-cosmological-fine-tuning-counterarguments/705131)
**Author:** [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Replies:** 44\ **Last updated:** [November 27, 2014, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/victor-stengers-cosmological-fine-tuning-counterarguments/705131 "2014-11-27T06:49:52Z")
I’m not sure where best to put it, so I’ll put it here. For some time I’ve been hearing about the idea that the universe is “fine-tuned” for life, as claimed by various forms of christian apologists - notably creationis… --- ## [President's Immigration Speech - Discussion](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/presidents-immigration-speech-discussion/705218)
**Author:** [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Replies:** 54\ **Last updated:** [November 26, 2014, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/presidents-immigration-speech-discussion/705218 "2014-11-26T23:08:38Z")
Starting any minute. Anyone else going to watch? I’m watching at NBCNEWS.COM --- ## [agent orange](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agent-orange/705307)
**Author:** [@glgehue69](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glgehue69)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [November 26, 2014, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agent-orange/705307 "2014-11-26T19:13:08Z")
why is the GOV of the USA not compensating the people of gagetown new brunswick for there role in the spraying of deadly chemicals on the children who lived there between 66 67 i am asking because this gov in canada sho… --- ## [Does consciousness exist outside a brain?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-consciousness-exist-outside-a-brain/705138)
**Author:** [@dopestraight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dopestraight)\ **Replies:** 45\ **Last updated:** [November 25, 2014, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-consciousness-exist-outside-a-brain/705138 "2014-11-25T02:09:42Z")
I would like to know your opinions. Do all lives always include some measure of consciousness? I mean to include plants, insects, animals and humans…rather all of everything considered to possess what constitutes life. Y… --- ## [How is the world doing?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-the-world-doing/705241)
**Author:** [@MrLee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrLee)\ **Replies:** 25\ **Last updated:** [November 24, 2014, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-the-world-doing/705241 "2014-11-24T23:02:05Z")
From an anthropological perspective (as opposed to, say, a geological one)…how would you say we’re doing as a species right now? This, I suppose, depends on the criteria we’re using… From a historical standpoint, we’re… --- ## [Should companies profit share with all employees?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-companies-profit-share-with-all-employees/705172)
**Author:** [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Replies:** 50\ **Last updated:** [November 24, 2014, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-companies-profit-share-with-all-employees/705172 "2014-11-24T22:57:33Z")
Should there be a profit sharing among all employees at a company, even to contractors? Facebook hires a private bus company to operate buses that transport some of its employees to/from work from various commuter lots.… --- ## [The lethal dose l.s.d.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lethal-dose-l-s-d/705359)
**Author:** [@bahttothefuture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bahttothefuture)\ **Replies:** 79\ **Last updated:** [November 24, 2014, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lethal-dose-l-s-d/705359 "2014-11-24T22:46:52Z")
This argument is in my opinion the most disturbing and upsetting. It is an ongoing debate on a subject that really has no hard evidence. My position on the subject is: Yes there is a lethal dose. My reason for this pos… --- ## [Is Obama's AG pick about to unravel?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-obamas-ag-pick-about-to-unravel/705199)
**Author:** [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Replies:** 11\ **Last updated:** [November 24, 2014, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-obamas-ag-pick-about-to-unravel/705199 "2014-11-24T16:01:34Z")
Here’s a story I just saw now. It seems that Obama’s nominee for Attorney General, Loretta Lynch, is a big fan of civil forfeiture. You’ve probably heard of civil forfeiture. It’s when, for example, a teenager gets ca… --- ## [Battle of Hastings](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battle-of-hastings/700006)
**Author:** [@Doyle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doyle)\ **Replies:** 82\ **Last updated:** [November 24, 2014, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battle-of-hastings/700006 "2014-11-24T15:38:15Z")
Seems like anytime you see a list of the most important battles in history, the Battle of Hastings most times is on the list. Sure, French became the language of royalty and Anglo-Saxon rule ended, but those didn’t seem… --- ## [Resolved: Contracts require at least two parties](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resolved-contracts-require-at-least-two-parties/705265)
**Author:** [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Replies:** 61\ **Last updated:** [November 24, 2014, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resolved-contracts-require-at-least-two-parties/705265 "2014-11-24T06:19:35Z")
In this thread, jtgain opines In my opinion, this is not the worst analogy in the history of analogies, and I feel comfortable saying so only because I recognize the splendorous bounty of the universe–surely somewhere,… --- ## [Advertising has trained us that lies and deceit are many-times-a-day phenomena. Has this changed us?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advertising-has-trained-us-that-lies-and-deceit-are-many-times-a-day-phenomena-has-this-changed-us/705440)
**Author:** [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [November 24, 2014, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advertising-has-trained-us-that-lies-and-deceit-are-many-times-a-day-phenomena-has-this-changed-us/705440 "2014-11-24T02:27:03Z")
Every day we get hit with many ads that are untruthful either in an outright sense or because they are designed to make us think something untrue. There are product claims, of course, but also all these subtle implied me… --- ## [Is it time to accept that we are alone in the universe?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-time-to-accept-that-we-are-alone-in-the-universe/704713)
**Author:** [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Replies:** 108\ **Last updated:** [November 22, 2014, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-time-to-accept-that-we-are-alone-in-the-universe/704713 "2014-11-22T20:57:01Z")
A search shows that it been a while since we did this (though I admit my search skills suck). This article has some compelling evidence that we might be. Still the universe is a big place. I’ve always been fairly convin… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=210) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=212)