# Great Debates **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=285 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 286 --- ## [Climate change: "You are among the last people that will ever walk the Earth."](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/climate-change-you-are-among-the-last-people-that-will-ever-walk-the-earth/651096)
**Author:** [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Replies:** 220\ **Last updated:** [March 20, 2013, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/climate-change-you-are-among-the-last-people-that-will-ever-walk-the-earth/651096 "2013-03-20T21:58:41Z")
That’s just one sentence of a rather… cheerful post on this blog made partly (IIRC) in response to reports that we’re apparently really close to unleashing a now-frozen carbon bomb in Russia. It argues that we’re less t… --- ## [CBO cuts Medicare projections - Should this affect deficit talks?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cbo-cuts-medicare-projections-should-this-affect-deficit-talks/653466)
**Author:** [@CJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CJJ)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [March 20, 2013, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cbo-cuts-medicare-projections-should-this-affect-deficit-talks/653466 "2013-03-20T17:02:06Z")
Recently the Congressional Budget Office released 10-year projections that reduced the projected amount of government spending on Medicare by ~$500 billion over similar numbers in 2010. Note that this reduction is over … --- ## [Distortion of the job market in the US due to linking healthcare to one's employer.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/distortion-of-the-job-market-in-the-us-due-to-linking-healthcare-to-ones-employer/653006)
**Author:** [@Molesworth\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Molesworth_2)\ **Replies:** 50\ **Last updated:** [March 20, 2013, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/distortion-of-the-job-market-in-the-us-due-to-linking-healthcare-to-ones-employer/653006 "2013-03-20T16:32:11Z")
I feel that the way that Americans generally get their healthcare insurance from their employer is a massive impediment to job mobility and the free market. As an Australian, I find it quite bizarre when I read about Am… --- ## [Are the French 'lazy'?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-french-lazy/652861)
**Author:** [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Replies:** 112\ **Last updated:** [March 20, 2013, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-french-lazy/652861 "2013-03-20T15:49:41Z")
Apologies in advance, but I’m on travel atm so might not be able to post that much to the thread. I’ll try and get back as often as I can, and certainly I’ll be reading and following what I hope is a discussion on the a… --- ## [Why aren't Progressives questioning the legality & morality of Obama's drone targeting policy?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-progressives-questioning-the-legality-morality-of-obamas-drone-targeting-policy/652659)
**Author:** [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Replies:** 95\ **Last updated:** [March 20, 2013, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-progressives-questioning-the-legality-morality-of-obamas-drone-targeting-policy/652659 "2013-03-20T14:43:35Z")
Oddly, it seems like the Libertarians might be on the right side of history and morality on this issue. Progressives seem almost supine re the moral and legal questions surrounding the targeting of Americans to be killed… --- ## [Whence religion?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-religion/652826)
**Author:** [@JohnnyMac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnnyMac)\ **Replies:** 88\ **Last updated:** [March 20, 2013, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-religion/652826 "2013-03-20T12:30:30Z")
I’ve been reading about religion recently, from several different sources. What I love, and find fascinating about religion, is how many stories essentially appear again and again, in culture after culture. Death and re… --- ## [Dispel a myth - banks borrow from the Fed at zero then buy high-yield Treasuries.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dispel-a-myth-banks-borrow-from-the-fed-at-zero-then-buy-high-yield-treasuries/653412)
**Author:** [@Linden\_Arden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Linden_Arden)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [March 20, 2013, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dispel-a-myth-banks-borrow-from-the-fed-at-zero-then-buy-high-yield-treasuries/653412 "2013-03-20T09:55:49Z")
With the same funds. This is a persistent conspiracy theory (CT) on progressive boards and is entirely untrue. Banks get their funding the same way all corporations do - raising capital. Progressives (and I am a liber… --- ## [Is gutter journalism the price of a free press?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-gutter-journalism-the-price-of-a-free-press/653345)
**Author:** [@Wallenstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallenstein)\ **Replies:** 30\ **Last updated:** [March 19, 2013, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-gutter-journalism-the-price-of-a-free-press/653345 "2013-03-19T18:43:40Z")
In the UK parliament have just agreed to expand regulation of the press, following recent scandals such as phone hacking at the News of the World. Many journalists, particularly those working for the tabloid end of the … --- ## [Did Dreadnought's destroy the RN?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-dreadnoughts-destroy-the-rn/652399)
**Author:** [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Replies:** 28\ **Last updated:** [March 19, 2013, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-dreadnoughts-destroy-the-rn/652399 "2013-03-19T08:00:47Z")
Think about it, the RN was heavily committed to Dreadnoughts, We want Eight and we won’t Wait!!!. Yet when it came time for war they could not be risked in a major fleet action. You saw just one major battle, Jutland. In… --- ## [Question for the advocates of "tough medicine"](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-the-advocates-of-tough-medicine/653094)
**Author:** [@desertmonk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/desertmonk)\ **Replies:** 30\ **Last updated:** [March 18, 2013, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-the-advocates-of-tough-medicine/653094 "2013-03-18T17:48:17Z")
Do any advocates of “tough medicine” ever suggest actions which hurt themselves or their own best interests? Like: #1 “We need to stop all these tax breaks for the oil companies!” #2 “what about your mortgage interest… --- ## [Why not roll British Overseas Territories into the UK proper?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-roll-british-overseas-territories-into-the-uk-proper/649959)
**Author:** [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Replies:** 20\ **Last updated:** [March 18, 2013, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-roll-british-overseas-territories-into-the-uk-proper/649959 "2013-03-18T15:13:34Z")
France has made various foreign dependencies full-on departments of metropolitan France. Why doesn’t the UK do the same with e.g. the Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Bermuda, and so forth, or at least offer the residents t… --- ## [Free Guns and Holsters for Poor People](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-guns-and-holsters-for-poor-people/652721)
**Author:** [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Replies:** 38\ **Last updated:** [March 17, 2013, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-guns-and-holsters-for-poor-people/652721 "2013-03-17T23:39:44Z")
Now bear with me because I’m not actually advocating this, but why shouldn’t it be constitutionally mandated: If a person can’t afford a gun, the state must provide him one. For example: \[QUOTE=6th amendment\] the acc… --- ## [Let the sequester cuts take place, and if I perish, I perish.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-the-sequester-cuts-take-place-and-if-i-perish-i-perish/651632)
**Author:** [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Replies:** 133\ **Last updated:** [March 17, 2013, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-the-sequester-cuts-take-place-and-if-i-perish-i-perish/651632 "2013-03-17T17:45:35Z")
Today is the day of the the sequester. If no deal is reached, then most federal programs have to take a budget cut totaling 44 billion dollars during this fiscal year. The federal budget, meanwhile, is over 3.5 trillio… --- ## [Acquitted conduct sentencing](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acquitted-conduct-sentencing/652731)
**Author:** [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Replies:** 76\ **Last updated:** [March 16, 2013, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acquitted-conduct-sentencing/652731 "2013-03-16T01:29:04Z")
There is a case here in Milwaukee that is bringing to light a sometimes used concept called “Acquitted Conduct sentencing”. Simply put, it allows a judge, and in some cases a jury, to consider the totality of the case, … --- ## [Ouija Boards - I used to think it was bull until......](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouija-boards-i-used-to-think-it-was-bull-until/486528)
**Author:** [@martin2588](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/martin2588)\ **Replies:** 800\ **Last updated:** [March 15, 2013, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ouija-boards-i-used-to-think-it-was-bull-until/486528 "2013-03-15T23:26:28Z")
I need your help, Please do not just say, they are fake etc, without providing fact as what has happended cannot be explained or can it? As a group of friends we were using a ouija board or talking board (I understand o… --- ## [Illusionists and "kayfabe" - where is the ethical line?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illusionists-and-kayfabe-where-is-the-ethical-line/652948)
**Author:** [@Nature\_s\_Call](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nature_s_Call)\ **Replies:** 22\ **Last updated:** [March 15, 2013, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illusionists-and-kayfabe-where-is-the-ethical-line/652948 "2013-03-15T19:36:25Z")
Inspired by the current Uri Geller thread (at least the discussion whether Geller’s claims of paranormal ability are just part of his act). I have derided Geller for so long I never stopped to consider this. When I rec… --- ## [Hitler dies in 1938. Is he the greatest stateman of the 20th century?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitler-dies-in-1938-is-he-the-greatest-stateman-of-the-20th-century/652954)
**Author:** [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [March 15, 2013, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitler-dies-in-1938-is-he-the-greatest-stateman-of-the-20th-century/652954 "2013-03-15T17:35:49Z")
It is November 9th, 1938. The Fuhrer is in Munich to commemorate the anniversary of the Beer Hall Putsch. Earlier in the year, Maurice Bavaud, a Swiss Roman Catholic, had purchased a semi-auto pistol intending to shoot A… --- ## [How do you solve a problem like North Korea?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-solve-a-problem-like-north-korea/652292)
**Author:** [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Replies:** 110\ **Last updated:** [March 15, 2013, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-solve-a-problem-like-north-korea/652292 "2013-03-15T15:08:05Z")
There’s already a pit thread about the latest developments, but I wanted something in GD territory. North Korea’s nuclear testing is becoming more successful, and then today this: \[QUOTE=NK foreign ministry spokesman\] … --- ## [Nukes and the end of the war in the Pacific](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nukes-and-the-end-of-the-war-in-the-pacific/652687)
**Author:** [@movingfinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/movingfinger)\ **Replies:** 32\ **Last updated:** [March 15, 2013, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nukes-and-the-end-of-the-war-in-the-pacific/652687 "2013-03-15T03:40:33Z")
As I understand it the US created three nuclear bombs in early 1945. One was expended at Alamagordo to see if these infernal gadgets actually work, and the other two were used on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Now if this is … --- ## [New Pope election.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-pope-election/649977)
**Author:** [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Replies:** 203\ **Last updated:** [March 14, 2013, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-pope-election/649977 "2013-03-14T19:03:09Z")
So, although discredited, some prophecies out there insisted that Pope Benedict was the penultimate Pope. Looking forward at those prophecies being just as faulty as all the ones before. As for the matter at hand, the … --- ## [How will the "death" of local reporting change (national) politics/life?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-will-the-death-of-local-reporting-change-national-politics-life/651648)
**Author:** [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Replies:** 28\ **Last updated:** [March 14, 2013, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-will-the-death-of-local-reporting-change-national-politics-life/651648 "2013-03-14T17:12:31Z")
A quote from the NYT opinion pages: Most of what I want to ask is encapsulated in this quote. Obviously, these local races, especially the House and Senate, really impact national politics, not to mention the huge obv… --- ## [Intra-state rebellion?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intra-state-rebellion/652735)
**Author:** [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [March 14, 2013, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intra-state-rebellion/652735 "2013-03-14T05:56:45Z")
I got to wondering about something the other day- what would happen if part of one of the US states rebelled against the rest of the state? Let’s say for discussion’s sake, that S. Texas (defined as everything south of … --- ## ["Cannibal Cop" faces life sentence over fantasy role-play](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cannibal-cop-faces-life-sentence-over-fantasy-role-play/652738)
**Author:** [@trabajabamos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/trabajabamos)\ **Replies:** 58\ **Last updated:** [March 13, 2013, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cannibal-cop-faces-life-sentence-over-fantasy-role-play/652738 "2013-03-13T21:23:54Z")
Article: http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/12/justice/new-york-cannibal-cop/index.html Summary: New York police officer Gilberto Valle has been convicted of conspiring to kill and eat women. He now faces a potential life se… --- ## [Do you believe in past lives?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-in-past-lives/648137)
**Author:** [@Steener122](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steener122)\ **Replies:** 493\ **Last updated:** [March 13, 2013, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-in-past-lives/648137 "2013-03-13T18:48:57Z")
I’ve got a crazy fire phobia, but I’ve never been hurt by fire. I’ve had people tell me maybe I got killed in a fire in a past life… So that got me thinking about past lives in general and if they exist. Do YOU think th… --- ## [Kunwar Khuldune Shahid: Don't blame the Taliban,](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kunwar-khuldune-shahid-dont-blame-the-taliban/652667)
**Author:** [@Hank\_Beecher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hank_Beecher)\ **Replies:** 21\ **Last updated:** [March 13, 2013, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kunwar-khuldune-shahid-dont-blame-the-taliban/652667 "2013-03-13T15:31:04Z")
Don’t blame the Taliban Don’t blame the Taliban II Don’t blame the Taliban III More articles: http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/author/shahidkhuldune/ --- ## [The Bible and the Trinity: The Trinity and the OT.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bible-and-the-trinity-the-trinity-and-the-ot/652501)
**Author:** [@raindog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raindog)\ **Replies:** 42\ **Last updated:** [March 13, 2013, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bible-and-the-trinity-the-trinity-and-the-ot/652501 "2013-03-13T15:22:12Z")
I assume it’s well understood that the Jews who met, and came to believe, that Jesus was the Messiah considered themselves Jews. The subsequent dispute was a growing dispute which ended in his death, and was a dispute w… --- ## [defend one man, one vote?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defend-one-man-one-vote/652185)
**Author:** [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Replies:** 129\ **Last updated:** [March 13, 2013, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defend-one-man-one-vote/652185 "2013-03-13T15:15:42Z")
Sometimes I get a little disheartened thinking about low-information voters, both on my side (I’m far to the left of the Democratic Party) and on the other side. It’s disspiriting to think of elections, not as a battle o… --- ## [Guns and National health](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guns-and-national-health/651756)
**Author:** [@NiceGuyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NiceGuyJack)\ **Replies:** 89\ **Last updated:** [March 13, 2013, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guns-and-national-health/651756 "2013-03-13T04:32:47Z")
Always thought that it was the lack gun control laws which caused so many gun deaths in the US. If you were to compare with most European nations, gun death is but a fraction. Then there is Canada, where guns are also r… --- ## [Should underage porn become legal with consent of models once they become of age?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-underage-porn-become-legal-with-consent-of-models-once-they-become-of-age/652542)
**Author:** [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Replies:** 29\ **Last updated:** [March 13, 2013, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-underage-porn-become-legal-with-consent-of-models-once-they-become-of-age/652542 "2013-03-13T02:16:35Z")
This question came up because of a rather famous gay actor known by his stage name of Brent Corrigan. He lied and provided false documentation to some porn producers and shot a film or two when he was 16 or 17, before hi… --- ## [Obama plans to raise the min. wage to $9 an hour.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-plans-to-raise-the-min-wage-to-9-an-hour/650366)
**Author:** [@panaccione](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panaccione)\ **Replies:** 319\ **Last updated:** [March 12, 2013, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-plans-to-raise-the-min-wage-to-9-an-hour/650366 "2013-03-12T22:14:15Z")
In the State of the Union address, Obama proposes the idea of raising the minimum wage to $9 an hour, and tying it to inflation to help middle class families. During the speech, he said the following: “Even with the ta… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=284) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=286)