# Great Debates **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=249 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 250 --- ## [Gold/Valuable Coins In Salvation Army Kettles](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gold-valuable-coins-in-salvation-army-kettles/676276)
**Author:** [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [December 17, 2013, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gold-valuable-coins-in-salvation-army-kettles/676276 "2013-12-17T01:49:19Z")
I put this in Great Debates, but I’m not sure if that is the right place. Anonymous placement of gold coins or otherwise valuable coins in the Salvation Army kettles is announced, like clockwork (calendarwork?), every y… --- ## [HHS to Issa: Take your healthcare website subpoena and shove it](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hhs-to-issa-take-your-healthcare-website-subpoena-and-shove-it/676255)
**Author:** [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Replies:** 17\ **Last updated:** [December 16, 2013, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hhs-to-issa-take-your-healthcare-website-subpoena-and-shove-it/676255 "2013-12-16T15:40:36Z")
Okay, maybe the phrasing in the title was a tad more colorfully phrased thanthe original wording in the story but nonetheless the facts of the story appear to be: Issa has issued a subpoena to MITRE, a government cont… --- ## [Where would South Africa be today if there'd been no Nelson Mandela?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-would-south-africa-be-today-if-thered-been-no-nelson-mandela/675613)
**Author:** [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Replies:** 82\ **Last updated:** [December 16, 2013, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-would-south-africa-be-today-if-thered-been-no-nelson-mandela/675613 "2013-12-16T13:50:07Z")
With the news of the man’s passing, I’m curious to hear thoughts on a counterfactual: suppose Nelson Mandela had never been born? Never led the ANC, never been imprisoned for so long, never became the first democratical… --- ## [Reunify the British Empire](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reunify-the-british-empire/676099)
**Author:** [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Replies:** 88\ **Last updated:** [December 16, 2013, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reunify-the-british-empire/676099 "2013-12-16T11:57:00Z")
Idea: All of the countries, realms, territories, Crown Dependencies, British Overseas Territories, Sovereign Base Areas, patches of nowhere, etc. of which HM Elizabeth II is Queen should unify as a single country. Membe… --- ## [Which country is more cruelly racist, US or SA?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-country-is-more-cruelly-racist-us-or-sa/676136)
**Author:** [@amorali](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amorali)\ **Replies:** 37\ **Last updated:** [December 16, 2013, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-country-is-more-cruelly-racist-us-or-sa/676136 "2013-12-16T08:23:57Z")
I was telling my stepson about Apartheid since they don’t learn about it in school and referred to South Africa as the most racist country. But in terms of the entire history of both nations, which county would you say … --- ## [The Echo Chamber...ber...ber...](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-echo-chamber-ber-ber/676298)
**Author:** [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Replies:** 33\ **Last updated:** [December 15, 2013, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-echo-chamber-ber-ber/676298 "2013-12-15T20:15:42Z")
So a few days ago an article came out saying that 70% of California’s doctors were boycotting insurance purchased on the Obamacare exchange. This was supposedly because of tying the exchange to lower reimbursement rates. … --- ## [What would happen if the USN sinks a Chinese ship or fleet](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-the-usn-sinks-a-chinese-ship-or-fleet/676349)
**Author:** [@Namkcalb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Namkcalb)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [December 15, 2013, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-the-usn-sinks-a-chinese-ship-or-fleet/676349 "2013-12-15T17:50:53Z")
Scenario. Both a Chinese and American fleet are doing a show of force near a small disputed island. The Americans send a small surveillance ship near the Chinese fleet, who ram it out of the water with a destroyer. The… --- ## [What are the most important medical issues to focus on in the 21st century](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-most-important-medical-issues-to-focus-on-in-the-21st-century/676257)
**Author:** [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Replies:** 25\ **Last updated:** [December 15, 2013, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-most-important-medical-issues-to-focus-on-in-the-21st-century/676257 "2013-12-15T00:45:55Z")
In the 20th century it seems we made a lot of medical progress in things like public health, pharmacology, surgery,nutrition (IDing and synthesizing all the vitamins, understanding the role of vitamins, minerals and phyt… --- ## [What "kind" of morality do you believe in and why?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-morality-do-you-believe-in-and-why/674165)
**Author:** [@Dostoyevsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dostoyevsky)\ **Replies:** 159\ **Last updated:** [December 14, 2013, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-morality-do-you-believe-in-and-why/674165 "2013-12-14T06:52:12Z")
I’m putting this thread here, since I assume a debate will happen. Here’s my take: I believe in a subjective morality because I only believe in subjectively held values, and my take on mind-dependent morality maps on ni… --- ## [Gibraltar, the UK and Spain](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gibraltar-the-uk-and-spain/675373)
**Author:** [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Replies:** 58\ **Last updated:** [December 14, 2013, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gibraltar-the-uk-and-spain/675373 "2013-12-14T00:21:38Z")
What should British policy be? What should Spanish policy be? I doubt it’ll ever become a shooting war, but this kind of dispute doesn’t always end well. --- ## [Effectiveness of the NSA's Social Engineering](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/effectiveness-of-the-nsas-social-engineering/675288)
**Author:** [@Farin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farin)\ **Replies:** 32\ **Last updated:** [December 13, 2013, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/effectiveness-of-the-nsas-social-engineering/675288 "2013-12-13T23:12:26Z")
When reading up on the latest ‘Evil, Evil NSA’ story, I came across a planned mechanism the NSA was/is going to use against terrorists: Expose their pornography viewing habits. Specifically: Looking at that, I immedia… --- ## [Satisfaction vs years of marriage diagram](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/satisfaction-vs-years-of-marriage-diagram/675243)
**Author:** [@JohnClay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnClay)\ **Replies:** 27\ **Last updated:** [December 13, 2013, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/satisfaction-vs-years-of-marriage-diagram/675243 "2013-12-13T21:22:20Z")
From “MarriageWorks” a video course for married couples 2001 page 166. Family Life Programs - a division of OAC Ministries. By Jim and Grace Vine. Basically it is saying that marriag… --- ## [Marriage: Be right or be happy?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marriage-be-right-or-be-happy/675943)
**Author:** [@JohnClay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnClay)\ **Replies:** 37\ **Last updated:** [December 13, 2013, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marriage-be-right-or-be-happy/675943 "2013-12-13T18:18:25Z")
What do people think about this advice? Is it partly true? --- ## [Should advocacy groups be required to have non-misleading names?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-advocacy-groups-be-required-to-have-non-misleading-names/648704)
**Author:** [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Replies:** 126\ **Last updated:** [December 13, 2013, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-advocacy-groups-be-required-to-have-non-misleading-names/648704 "2013-12-13T03:46:10Z")
Seems like a bizarre question - but there’s an ongoing case in the Australian state of New South Wales where a government agency has demanded that an anti-vaccination group change its name to reflect its true mission: \*… --- ## [Is the US Government Growing rapidly?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-us-government-growing-rapidly/676168)
**Author:** [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Replies:** 25\ **Last updated:** [December 12, 2013, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-us-government-growing-rapidly/676168 "2013-12-12T23:14:32Z")
One of the tenets of The Tea Party is that lately the size and reach of the government is growing rapidly. If I have this right, they feel both Democrats and Republicans alike are responsible for extending machinery tha… --- ## [It's official: Yasser Arafat's belongings were contaminated with polonium](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-yasser-arafats-belongings-were-contaminated-with-polonium/671373)
**Author:** [@Honesty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honesty)\ **Replies:** 362\ **Last updated:** [December 12, 2013, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-yasser-arafats-belongings-were-contaminated-with-polonium/671373 "2013-12-12T10:52:17Z")
A few days ago, the paper on Arafat’s belongings was published in the Lancet ishere, though the juiciest tidbits are in the supplemental appendix. If you’re new to the game, Yasser Arafat became sick on October 12, 20… --- ## [Argument for creationism?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/argument-for-creationism/675621)
**Author:** [@Astrid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astrid)\ **Replies:** 75\ **Last updated:** [December 11, 2013, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/argument-for-creationism/675621 "2013-12-11T23:31:58Z")
Believers in evolution, can someone explain this to me? The idea of evolution relies on advantageous mutations, right? Which makes sense in theory. But when I think of the mutations required to produce a single working … --- ## [Is this the problem with repealing Glass-Steagall?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-problem-with-repealing-glass-steagall/675989)
**Author:** [@sweeteviljesus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweeteviljesus)\ **Replies:** 21\ **Last updated:** [December 11, 2013, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-problem-with-repealing-glass-steagall/675989 "2013-12-11T23:23:25Z")
As I understand it, the problem with repealing the Glass-Steagall Act was that it enabled banks whose deposits are protected by the FDIC to engage in riskier investments that they otherwise would have.\* If that’s the ca… --- ## [Similiarities to Jesus - very misguided?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/similiarities-to-jesus-very-misguided/672533)
**Author:** [@JohnClay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnClay)\ **Replies:** 110\ **Last updated:** [December 11, 2013, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/similiarities-to-jesus-very-misguided/672533 "2013-12-11T22:42:30Z")
From the 2007 movie “Zeitgeist”: Transcript: http://truth11.com/2009/03/19/zeitgeist-movie-transcript/ The claims about Horus apparently originated from “self-educated Egyptologist” Gerald… --- ## [In which I agree with what the NRA says](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-agree-with-what-the-nra-says/675075)
**Author:** [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Replies:** 98\ **Last updated:** [December 11, 2013, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-agree-with-what-the-nra-says/675075 "2013-12-11T19:02:34Z")
Mind you, I probably don’t agree with the NRA. But I agree with what it says. In response to Mayor Bloomberg’s claim that Second Amendment supporters believe all gun laws are unconstitutional, the NRA says: “Second Am… --- ## [Firearms in the space age](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firearms-in-the-space-age/675329)
**Author:** [@nylaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nylaw)\ **Replies:** 48\ **Last updated:** [December 11, 2013, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firearms-in-the-space-age/675329 "2013-12-11T18:21:55Z")
If humanity ever truly expanded into space and private space travel would become common, such as with firefly or many other science fiction stories, do you think that firearms as we know them would still be used? Are the… --- ## [Sexual fetishes and treatment as a infant - related?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sexual-fetishes-and-treatment-as-a-infant-related/675673)
**Author:** [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Replies:** 22\ **Last updated:** [December 9, 2013, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sexual-fetishes-and-treatment-as-a-infant-related/675673 "2013-12-09T23:13:00Z")
Do things like bondage sexual play go back to the sense of security that a infant had from being secured in a car seat? Just one of many examples (discipline, tickling, scat play, even abuse and neglect and the expectat… --- ## [Optimal World Population](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/optimal-world-population/674837)
**Author:** [@AnthonyElite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnthonyElite)\ **Replies:** 25\ **Last updated:** [December 9, 2013, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/optimal-world-population/674837 "2013-12-09T20:01:44Z")
Assuming the world’s growth rate trickles off and we stagnate at a specific world population indefinitely, what would that optimal population level be? There has to be an upper limit because of resources. The enjoyable… --- ## [What to do about people who don't have much to offer the marketplace?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-about-people-who-dont-have-much-to-offer-the-marketplace/675616)
**Author:** [@sweeteviljesus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweeteviljesus)\ **Replies:** 59\ **Last updated:** [December 9, 2013, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-about-people-who-dont-have-much-to-offer-the-marketplace/675616 "2013-12-09T16:56:54Z")
I was just watching an interview with Warren Buffet on CNN Money (and now I can’t find the link) where he made said that as our economy specializes, more and more people will be left behind. I think he is saying that th… --- ## [What would be the reaction if Pope Francis won the Nobel peace prize?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-reaction-if-pope-francis-won-the-nobel-peace-prize/674976)
**Author:** [@Namkcalb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Namkcalb)\ **Replies:** 62\ **Last updated:** [December 9, 2013, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-reaction-if-pope-francis-won-the-nobel-peace-prize/674976 "2013-12-09T11:31:43Z")
What possible reason could he win it for? How big a controversy would it cause? --- ## [Which philosophers, both classical and modern, still speak to our times?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-philosophers-both-classical-and-modern-still-speak-to-our-times/674701)
**Author:** [@davidmich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidmich)\ **Replies:** 79\ **Last updated:** [December 8, 2013, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-philosophers-both-classical-and-modern-still-speak-to-our-times/674701 "2013-12-08T18:34:48Z")
Hi, Which philosophers, both classical and modern, still speak to our times? I look forward to your feedback. davidmich --- ## [What is racism?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-racism/673334)
**Author:** [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Replies:** 350\ **Last updated:** [December 8, 2013, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-racism/673334 "2013-12-08T15:10:33Z")
This is a continuation of a discussion I’ve been having with magellan01, among other places, in an ATMB thread. I’ll quote the last two bits of our discussion here: So what do you think? --- ## [FATCA- Gov't desperation, tyranny, or just standard business...](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fatca-govt-desperation-tyranny-or-just-standard-business/670933)
**Author:** [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Replies:** 44\ **Last updated:** [December 8, 2013, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fatca-govt-desperation-tyranny-or-just-standard-business/670933 "2013-12-08T07:27:18Z")
A friend is looking to move out of the country & was told about FATCA, which I had not heard of until she asked me about it. Basically, the US government takes 30% of money taken out of the US & up to 50% of US holdings … --- ## [Do artists ever really change the course of events outside the arts?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-artists-ever-really-change-the-course-of-events-outside-the-arts/674693)
**Author:** [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Replies:** 38\ **Last updated:** [December 7, 2013, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-artists-ever-really-change-the-course-of-events-outside-the-arts/674693 "2013-12-07T18:03:21Z")
It is often assumed so – as Lincoln said the Harriet Beecher Stowe, “So you’re the little woman who made the little book that made this great war!” – but I’m skeptical. E.g., would the course of non-musical history real… --- ## [Obamacare "Tech Surge"](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamacare-tech-surge/671838)
**Author:** [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Replies:** 364\ **Last updated:** [December 7, 2013, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamacare-tech-surge/671838 "2013-12-07T17:19:48Z")
So, Obama is calling for a tech surge to fix the Obamacare IT problems. Looks like someone hasn’t read “The Mythical Man Month”… Here’s the original press release: Doing Better: Making Improvements to HealthCare.gov … [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=248) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=250)