# Great Debates **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=275 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 276 --- ## [Is there a "White" culture?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-white-culture/660347)
**Author:** [@Tracijo67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tracijo67)\ **Replies:** 140\ **Last updated:** [June 11, 2013, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-white-culture/660347 "2013-06-11T16:14:21Z")
I have been attending an anti racism seminar for the past few days. Most of what is being said is a general rehash of what I’ve already learned from previous sessions. But today we talked a little bit about cultural raci… --- ## [Dualism vs. Another Way](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dualism-vs-another-way/652181)
**Author:** [@K.S.Masmacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K.S.Masmacho)\ **Replies:** 64\ **Last updated:** [June 11, 2013, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dualism-vs-another-way/652181 "2013-06-11T15:53:55Z")
It seems like we (at least in the U.S.) often settle for either A or B in questions that are important to us; Evolution OR Creation; Pro-Life OR Pro-Choice; Liberal OR Conservative, and so on. Why are there so few stron… --- ## [National Drone Weapon Protocol](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-drone-weapon-protocol/660383)
**Author:** [@David\_H\_Singanas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_H_Singanas)\ **Replies:** 28\ **Last updated:** [June 10, 2013, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-drone-weapon-protocol/660383 "2013-06-10T20:36:30Z")
Winged robotic weapons are the greatest change in warfare since the ICBM. Atomic weapon protocol after Hiroshima and Nagasaki was set not by the United States nor the U.N. but by world events. The six nations that de… --- ## [Money Talks, Bullshit Walks](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/money-talks-bullshit-walks/660307)
**Author:** [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Replies:** 75\ **Last updated:** [June 10, 2013, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/money-talks-bullshit-walks/660307 "2013-06-10T16:34:59Z")
A tidbit from Wonkblog’s Dylan Matthews: If you pay them money, partisans will tell you the truth: The experiment’s results basically reveal that when money is on the line, the bullshit factor decreases dramatically: p… --- ## [Who's your favorite US Supreme Court Justice, and why?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-us-supreme-court-justice-and-why/659869)
**Author:** [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Replies:** 77\ **Last updated:** [June 10, 2013, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-us-supreme-court-justice-and-why/659869 "2013-06-10T14:48:25Z")
… current or former, and have you actually met your favorite, or any others that you have interesting stories about? My favorite is Thomas, because whether I agree with him or not, his opinions usually have some amusing… --- ## [Narcissist vs. narcissist tendencies?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/narcissist-vs-narcissist-tendencies/660068)
**Author:** [@Whitney\_Harper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whitney_Harper)\ **Replies:** 8\ **Last updated:** [June 10, 2013, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/narcissist-vs-narcissist-tendencies/660068 "2013-06-10T02:00:29Z")
What is the difference between someone who is a narcissist and someone who has narcissist tendencies? How do you tell the difference? In addition, do narcissists mellow as they get older, in other words, are they easie… --- ## [PRISM: Is it for real? And what if it is?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prism-is-it-for-real-and-what-if-it-is/660346)
**Author:** [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Replies:** 19\ **Last updated:** [June 9, 2013, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prism-is-it-for-real-and-what-if-it-is/660346 "2013-06-09T18:40:36Z")
We currently have a thread about the NSA collecting phone call metadata for some years now, information about who is calling who and things of that nature. But we also have a story breaking about a program called “PRISM… --- ## [Is America really becoming an unaccountable police state or is that hyperbole](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-america-really-becoming-an-unaccountable-police-state-or-is-that-hyperbole/659765)
**Author:** [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Replies:** 65\ **Last updated:** [June 8, 2013, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-america-really-becoming-an-unaccountable-police-state-or-is-that-hyperbole/659765 "2013-06-08T23:45:36Z")
So, one thing I keep hearing online from various people is that the US is either currently or becoming a police state full of civil rights violations, violent/unaccountable law enforcement and a lack of accountability an… --- ## [Could Lincoln Have Used Drones to Fight the Rebellion?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-lincoln-have-used-drones-to-fight-the-rebellion/659113)
**Author:** [@6079smithW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/6079smithW)\ **Replies:** 64\ **Last updated:** [June 8, 2013, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-lincoln-have-used-drones-to-fight-the-rebellion/659113 "2013-06-08T04:06:22Z")
If it’s okay for Lincoln to send the armed forces to kill 260,000 American citizens, without trial, just because they put on the Confederate gray and pointed muskets at us, then what is all the whining about what Pres. O… --- ## ["Blacks are poor tippers"... racism?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blacks-are-poor-tippers-racism/375739)
**Author:** [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Replies:** 109\ **Last updated:** [June 7, 2013, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blacks-are-poor-tippers-racism/375739 "2013-06-07T18:29:54Z")
I know a guy who works as a pizza delivery guy. He has observed, and reports that his coworkers have also observed, that black people are generally much worse tippers than white people. Is this racism? What if some kin… --- ## [The Chinese alphabet: the evolutionary dynamics of a meme](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chinese-alphabet-the-evolutionary-dynamics-of-a-meme/660316)
**Author:** [@Desolation\_Island](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desolation_Island)\ **Replies:** 11\ **Last updated:** [June 7, 2013, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chinese-alphabet-the-evolutionary-dynamics-of-a-meme/660316 "2013-06-07T17:55:56Z")
I remember years ago, in taking a class on Chinese history, hearing this argument that the complexity of the Chinese alphabet, along with practices like the civil service examination, served (and perhaps were even intend… --- ## [Sentencing Reform in Louisiana Needed!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sentencing-reform-in-louisiana-needed/660381)
**Author:** [@Sadie1984](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sadie1984)\ **Replies:** 11\ **Last updated:** [June 7, 2013, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sentencing-reform-in-louisiana-needed/660381 "2013-06-07T17:22:40Z")
I’m working on behalf of Justin Granier who is currently incarcerated at the Louisiana State Penitentiary serving a life without parole sentence since the age of 19 for a murder that he did not commit. Everyone should be… --- ## [Why some nations are wealthier than others](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-some-nations-are-wealthier-than-others/660158)
**Author:** [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Replies:** 66\ **Last updated:** [June 7, 2013, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-some-nations-are-wealthier-than-others/660158 "2013-06-07T15:09:29Z")
237 years ago Adam Smith published a book called An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. Today there’s a great deal of debate about how to produce economic growth, jobs, income gains, and so fort… --- ## [Taxation is no different than extortion.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taxation-is-no-different-than-extortion/657704)
**Author:** [@WillFarnaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WillFarnaby)\ **Replies:** 566\ **Last updated:** [June 6, 2013, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taxation-is-no-different-than-extortion/657704 "2013-06-06T16:12:14Z")
Government’s taxation of individuals is backed up by the threat of imprisonment. That is the only reason it is successful. My question is: What makes this transaction different from extortion? (if you even make that dist… --- ## [Anti-TSA Activist claims she was groped during security search. What's the goal?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-tsa-activist-claims-she-was-groped-during-security-search-whats-the-goal/659553)
**Author:** [@Southern\_Yankee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southern_Yankee)\ **Replies:** 97\ **Last updated:** [June 6, 2013, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-tsa-activist-claims-she-was-groped-during-security-search-whats-the-goal/659553 "2013-06-06T06:27:31Z")
Story and video here on the NY Daily News website. Woman refuses body scan and films herself and another person going through the pat down security check. She questions the procedure and is obviously uncomfortable with … --- ## [Atheism and Agnosticism are not Mutually Exclusive.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheism-and-agnosticism-are-not-mutually-exclusive/528487)
**Author:** [@Strinka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strinka)\ **Replies:** 518\ **Last updated:** [June 5, 2013, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheism-and-agnosticism-are-not-mutually-exclusive/528487 "2013-06-05T18:03:11Z")
In these threads, an agnostic, Frank apisa is saying that atheists have faith and that atheism is basically a religion. That’s not what this thread is about; that’s being debated in the other threads. What I’m debating … --- ## [Some questions about the western world](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-questions-about-the-western-world/659958)
**Author:** [@General\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/General_Bean)\ **Replies:** 80\ **Last updated:** [June 5, 2013, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-questions-about-the-western-world/659958 "2013-06-05T17:46:34Z")
Is there any way I can refuse to accept all the society-related stuff? How can the government decide they have authority over me? Since I was born where I live, I never chose to live under their regime. Why can they us… --- ## [Pope Francis Says Atheists Who Do Good Are Redeemed, Not Just Catholics](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-francis-says-atheists-who-do-good-are-redeemed-not-just-catholics/659072)
**Author:** [@Palo\_Verde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palo_Verde)\ **Replies:** 187\ **Last updated:** [June 5, 2013, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-francis-says-atheists-who-do-good-are-redeemed-not-just-catholics/659072 "2013-06-05T17:25:17Z")
Wow, this pope is really radical, and not at all in the same conservative mold as the previous. How far do you think he is taking this? --- ## [Is Obamacare likely to help or hurt the local shortage of specialists?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-obamacare-likely-to-help-or-hurt-the-local-shortage-of-specialists/659039)
**Author:** [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Replies:** 56\ **Last updated:** [June 5, 2013, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-obamacare-likely-to-help-or-hurt-the-local-shortage-of-specialists/659039 "2013-06-05T10:18:55Z")
First off, to address the title: I call it that to give the man credit for making what I consider an improvement to the system. Doesn’t go near far enough IMHO, but it is at least a start if not a great one. So I need… --- ## [All-Male Fox Panel Freaks Out About Female Breadwinners](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-male-fox-panel-freaks-out-about-female-breadwinners/659744)
**Author:** [@Ca3799](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ca3799)\ **Replies:** 75\ **Last updated:** [June 4, 2013, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-male-fox-panel-freaks-out-about-female-breadwinners/659744 "2013-06-04T22:01:21Z")
Here is a story from HuffPo titled “All-Male Fox Panel Freaks Out About Female Breadwinners”, about a recent Pew study that showed that the female was the primary income earner in 4 out of 10 households with children. … --- ## [Florida continues to lead the way on public atheist monuments](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-continues-to-lead-the-way-on-public-atheist-monuments/659931)
**Author:** [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [June 4, 2013, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-continues-to-lead-the-way-on-public-atheist-monuments/659931 "2013-06-04T20:47:43Z")
\[sub\](Wasn’t sure where to put this, but since it involves religion, freedom of speech, and separation of church and state, I figured GD was a safe bet in case an argument breaks out…)\[/sub\] First, there was the Festivu… --- ## [Maybe Chik-Fil-A and Dan Cathy aren't bigots?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maybe-chik-fil-a-and-dan-cathy-arent-bigots/649361)
**Author:** [@Crime\_Scene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crime_Scene)\ **Replies:** 268\ **Last updated:** [June 4, 2013, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maybe-chik-fil-a-and-dan-cathy-arent-bigots/649361 "2013-06-04T20:42:21Z")
From this article: Gay activist Shane Windmeyer befriends Dan Cathy I think the citizens of this country as well as our representatives could learn something from these two. --- ## [Record low murder rate](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/record-low-murder-rate/658825)
**Author:** [@Palo\_Verde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palo_Verde)\ **Replies:** 60\ **Last updated:** [June 4, 2013, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/record-low-murder-rate/658825 "2013-06-04T16:24:06Z")
If 2013 keeps going the way it has BEEN going, crime-wise, we are about to experience the LOWEST MURDER RATE SINCE 1906. That’s according to Rick Nevin, an economic consultant and anti-lead activist. That’s not just low… --- ## [If a person was cryo-frozen and then reanimated...](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-person-was-cryo-frozen-and-then-reanimated/659592)
**Author:** [@donnie\_darko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/donnie_darko)\ **Replies:** 42\ **Last updated:** [June 3, 2013, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-person-was-cryo-frozen-and-then-reanimated/659592 "2013-06-03T20:13:48Z")
Let’s say their brain was turned to much, but they somehow created new circuitry in there … would it be the same person or a different person animated in their body? Also what about a person who’s become unconscious and… --- ## [Should animal cruelty and abuse be shown on TV](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-animal-cruelty-and-abuse-be-shown-on-tv/660015)
**Author:** [@contradancer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/contradancer)\ **Replies:** 11\ **Last updated:** [June 3, 2013, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-animal-cruelty-and-abuse-be-shown-on-tv/660015 "2013-06-03T19:02:34Z")
In The Following one scene showed a dog that had been tortured in the final throes of dying. Tonight in the premier of The Killing they showed dead and dying cattle that have been starved to death and the protagonist ta… --- ## [What does it mean to "have a life"?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-mean-to-have-a-life/339177)
**Author:** [@Illuminatiprimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuminatiprimus)\ **Replies:** 24\ **Last updated:** [June 3, 2013, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-mean-to-have-a-life/339177 "2013-06-03T17:54:07Z")
We hear and use the term frequently, and this thread was prompted by a thread in another section. I’m curious to know what other people would define as having “a life”. Taken literally then anyone who is alive has one, … --- ## [Income Inequality: Startlingly Bad!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/income-inequality-startlingly-bad/654029)
**Author:** [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Replies:** 109\ **Last updated:** [June 3, 2013, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/income-inequality-startlingly-bad/654029 "2013-06-03T15:58:33Z")
A recent study by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Cay Johnston for Tax Analysts has found that income for the bottom 90 percent of Americans rose by just $59.00 over the last four decades (1966 to 2011), when adj… --- ## [Enforce existing gun laws before making new ones!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enforce-existing-gun-laws-before-making-new-ones/658811)
**Author:** [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Replies:** 57\ **Last updated:** [June 3, 2013, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enforce-existing-gun-laws-before-making-new-ones/658811 "2013-06-03T15:47:35Z")
This post in the BBQ Microstamping\* thread brings up a common complaint from those opposed to new gun laws. My problem with these complaints is that they don’t come with suggestions of how to better enforce the existin… --- ## [Attorneys - please put this Scalia quote in context](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attorneys-please-put-this-scalia-quote-in-context/659668)
**Author:** [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Replies:** 51\ **Last updated:** [June 3, 2013, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attorneys-please-put-this-scalia-quote-in-context/659668 "2013-06-03T13:42:23Z")
I was reading this article on Slate about habeas claims and came upon this from Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia: “This court has never held that the Constitution forbids the execution of a convicted defendant who h… --- ## [Folks, gun owners do not have to wear yellow stars in public.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folks-gun-owners-do-not-have-to-wear-yellow-stars-in-public/658602)
**Author:** [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Replies:** 210\ **Last updated:** [June 3, 2013, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folks-gun-owners-do-not-have-to-wear-yellow-stars-in-public/658602 "2013-06-03T05:54:08Z")
I just saw a Facebook meme from someone implying that this kind of thing is about to happen. That it was posted by a highly educated person in a professional job who mostly associates with ex-convicts :confused: says a … [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=274) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=276)