# Great Debates **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=305 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 306 --- ## [What does Wiley v. Kirtsaeng mean for IP?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-wiley-v-kirtsaeng-mean-for-ip/639461)
**Author:** [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [October 31, 2012, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-wiley-v-kirtsaeng-mean-for-ip/639461 "2012-10-31T23:46:46Z")
Bloomberg story Summary: this Thai student in the US set up a grey-market channel for selling textbooks made in Thailand to students in the US. His family bought the books for him at retail and shipped them here where S… --- ## [Why is porn banned in American prisons?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-porn-banned-in-american-prisons/639185)
**Author:** [@Atakapa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atakapa)\ **Replies:** 68\ **Last updated:** [October 31, 2012, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-porn-banned-in-american-prisons/639185 "2012-10-31T20:43:56Z")
I’m unaware if this is the case in all US states and other countries, but from TV shows, books, and personal experience\* I’ve learned that porn is often illegal for an inmate to have. What’s the rationale behind this? I… --- ## [How ahead of his time was Columbus?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-ahead-of-his-time-was-columbus/638985)
**Author:** [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\ **Replies:** 41\ **Last updated:** [October 31, 2012, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-ahead-of-his-time-was-columbus/638985 "2012-10-31T19:51:16Z")
Within a decade of Columbus’s discovery of lands west of Europe, many other explorers (Cabot, Lavrador, the Real brothers, Cabral) set out to explore the New World Lands. But, if Columbus hadn’t made his voyage in 1492,… --- ## [What about this simple(simplistic?) argument against egalitarianism?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-about-this-simple-simplistic-argument-against-egalitarianism/639445)
**Author:** [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Replies:** 17\ **Last updated:** [October 31, 2012, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-about-this-simple-simplistic-argument-against-egalitarianism/639445 "2012-10-31T19:27:33Z")
I define gruntwork as the kind of work almost no one would prefer to do if they had a choice, but which a number of people greater than “almost no one” must perform if society’s stability is to be maintained. I assume g… --- ## [Single mother rejected by Air Force - claims they're encouraging abortion](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-mother-rejected-by-air-force-claims-theyre-encouraging-abortion/638834)
**Author:** [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Replies:** 49\ **Last updated:** [October 31, 2012, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-mother-rejected-by-air-force-claims-theyre-encouraging-abortion/638834 "2012-10-31T18:57:36Z")
Story here. Let’s set aside the delicious irony of such a devout Catholic getting knocked up from pre-marital sex and get to some background information. The Air Force allows single parents to serve. Any female who ge… --- ## [Why is belief in the Holy Spirit the most important belief of them all?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-belief-in-the-holy-spirit-the-most-important-belief-of-them-all/639328)
**Author:** [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Replies:** 19\ **Last updated:** [October 31, 2012, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-belief-in-the-holy-spirit-the-most-important-belief-of-them-all/639328 "2012-10-31T15:38:02Z")
Mark 3:28-30: “Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven all their sins and all the blasphemies they utter. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven, but is guilty of an eternal sin. He said … --- ## [Would this be illegal in the US due to no post facto laws?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-this-be-illegal-in-the-us-due-to-no-post-facto-laws/639258)
**Author:** [@Simple\_Linctus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simple_Linctus)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [October 30, 2012, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-this-be-illegal-in-the-us-due-to-no-post-facto-laws/639258 "2012-10-30T17:23:18Z")
FYI, “being sectioned” is involuntary confinement to a mental heath hospital, kind of our equivilant to your involuntary commitment (the mental health kind, not the “let’s lock up the sex offenders for life and pretend i… --- ## [The Constitution does not address abortion? Really?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-constitution-does-not-address-abortion-really/637570)
**Author:** [@Naive\_Evian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Naive_Evian)\ **Replies:** 134\ **Last updated:** [October 30, 2012, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-constitution-does-not-address-abortion-really/637570 "2012-10-30T12:31:38Z")
For the people who think the Constituion does address abortion, from your constitutional viewpoint, would it be constitutionally permissilbe for the state of New York to require all pregnancies be aborted? What if the fe… --- ## [Could the American Revolution have been avoided?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-the-american-revolution-have-been-avoided/638711)
**Author:** [@Malden\_Capell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malden_Capell)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [October 30, 2012, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-the-american-revolution-have-been-avoided/638711 "2012-10-30T03:07:40Z")
I’m reading a few books on the American Revolution right now. As a Brit, it’s interesting to see the perspectives of the colonies and the Imperial government. On the one hand, I sympathise with the colonies’ demand to se… --- ## [Why not declare Israel the 51st state?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-declare-israel-the-51st-state/638695)
**Author:** [@The\_Sheikh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Sheikh)\ **Replies:** 99\ **Last updated:** [October 30, 2012, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-declare-israel-the-51st-state/638695 "2012-10-30T03:05:57Z")
Being civilized and intelligent should have made it difficult for Americans to believe that America’s security is somehow dependent on Israel’s security. It would be much easier if the two countries decided to have a chu… --- ## [A question about Holocaust deniers](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-holocaust-deniers/636985)
**Author:** [@JohnnyMac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnnyMac)\ **Replies:** 86\ **Last updated:** [October 29, 2012, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-holocaust-deniers/636985 "2012-10-29T22:58:04Z")
I’m currently reading The Lampshade by Marc Jacobson (which seems quite pop and not entirely thoroughly researched, but entertaining all the same), and I’ve got up to the part where he interviews a Holocaust denier. Ther… --- ## [Democratic lottery election - Fair? Fairer?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democratic-lottery-election-fair-fairer/638848)
**Author:** [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [October 29, 2012, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democratic-lottery-election-fair-fairer/638848 "2012-10-29T16:59:42Z")
The current election system in a ‘democratic’ government with checks and balances can be arguably be defined as the majority ruling over the minority, and we can spiral down from there to a oppressive state with a democr… --- ## [Judge Roy Moore the next Jefferson Davis?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judge-roy-moore-the-next-jefferson-davis/232942)
**Author:** [@The\_Broken\_Column](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Broken_Column)\ **Replies:** 40\ **Last updated:** [October 29, 2012, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judge-roy-moore-the-next-jefferson-davis/232942 "2012-10-29T16:32:19Z")
A question that has always been boiling in my blood, is: What will the result of today’s being the first time America has ever been so polarized over so many hardcore issues since the Civil War going to do to us? There… --- ## [What is the secular purpose of DOMA](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-secular-purpose-of-doma/616983)
**Author:** [@rat\_avatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rat_avatar)\ **Replies:** 488\ **Last updated:** [October 28, 2012, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-secular-purpose-of-doma/616983 "2012-10-28T12:34:50Z")
hoopified claimes in another thread The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was not a religous based law. \[ \](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=14907339&postcount=86) He claimed it supported “traditional … --- ## [Mapping Watergate onto a modern political administration?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mapping-watergate-onto-a-modern-political-administration/638272)
**Author:** [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [October 28, 2012, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mapping-watergate-onto-a-modern-political-administration/638272 "2012-10-28T05:36:39Z")
I have a mildly functional understanding of the events leading up to and surrounding Watergate and recognize that it’s a long, sordid story (stealing files, meddling with the DoJ, hearings, tapes, etc.). I’m interested b… --- ## [Maryland Question 7 (Gaming Expansion Referendum): Help me decide.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maryland-question-7-gaming-expansion-referendum-help-me-decide/638732)
**Author:** [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)\ **Replies:** 11\ **Last updated:** [October 27, 2012, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maryland-question-7-gaming-expansion-referendum-help-me-decide/638732 "2012-10-27T23:24:08Z")
Maryland’s Question 7 has been the most hotly debated referendum on the ballot this election cycle. Its proponents and opponents both have deep pockets and have been campaigning their respective cases extremely hard with… --- ## [Pastors Will Challenge IRS Rules Prohibiting Political Endorsement](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pastors-will-challenge-irs-rules-prohibiting-political-endorsement/635603)
**Author:** [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Replies:** 185\ **Last updated:** [October 27, 2012, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pastors-will-challenge-irs-rules-prohibiting-political-endorsement/635603 "2012-10-27T17:55:34Z")
in an effort to force a court decision on the constitutionality of the IRS regulation prohibiting churches from directly endorsing candidates, hundreds – or perhaps thousands – of pastors intended to take to their pulpit… --- ## [Moral Dilemma: How Can We Eat Without Killing Anything For Food?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moral-dilemma-how-can-we-eat-without-killing-anything-for-food/638929)
**Author:** [@JellyBeanz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JellyBeanz)\ **Replies:** 141\ **Last updated:** [October 27, 2012, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moral-dilemma-how-can-we-eat-without-killing-anything-for-food/638929 "2012-10-27T17:51:06Z")
I am a vegetarian but recently I have come to realize that being vegetarian means I am supporting the murder of plants and the plant’s children which are harvested to be planted and killed at their prime. Every plant is … --- ## [The Silent Genocide of White People in South Africa!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-silent-genocide-of-white-people-in-south-africa/639037)
**Author:** [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Replies:** 23\ **Last updated:** [October 27, 2012, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-silent-genocide-of-white-people-in-south-africa/639037 "2012-10-27T17:50:46Z")
I ask you all to honesty think about what is going down in South Africa when it comes to white people. I am white South African and like many of my generation I have had to flee my homeland to the safety of other countr… --- ## [Transgender psychology question](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transgender-psychology-question/637855)
**Author:** [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Replies:** 24\ **Last updated:** [October 27, 2012, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transgender-psychology-question/637855 "2012-10-27T13:06:17Z")
I have a good online friend who’s pre-op male-to-female transgender. We’re just platonic friends and occasionally do online roleplay together in fantasy worlds and such. She’s relatively early in the pre-op process, an… --- ## [The blue dot: a moral dilemma.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-blue-dot-a-moral-dilemma/638924)
**Author:** [@gamerunknown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gamerunknown)\ **Replies:** 14\ **Last updated:** [October 27, 2012, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-blue-dot-a-moral-dilemma/638924 "2012-10-27T11:26:04Z")
I’m going to address this in the form of a hypothetical to remove some of the real world implications (and I mean no offence by reducing significant aspects of people’s personality to a blue dot that can be easily correc… --- ## [What would happen if the Fed bought the debt?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-the-fed-bought-the-debt/637287)
**Author:** [@LinusK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LinusK)\ **Replies:** 38\ **Last updated:** [October 27, 2012, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-the-fed-bought-the-debt/637287 "2012-10-27T11:16:24Z")
And by debt, I mean the national debt, all of it. (Or at least all that people were willing to part with, at reasonable prices…) I know you’re thinking “inflation!”, but consider a couple of data points: \[ul\] \[li\]The … --- ## [Time is money---or is it?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-is-money-or-is-it/638948)
**Author:** [@CoastalMaineiac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CoastalMaineiac)\ **Replies:** 15\ **Last updated:** [October 27, 2012, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-is-money-or-is-it/638948 "2012-10-27T11:06:59Z")
I’ve heard this a lot in life; I don’t know that I have ever believed it. To me, time is a lot more than just a chance to earn money. An hour of time is an hour of life. It has immeasurable value. To equate time with mo… --- ## [The Government and Marriage.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-government-and-marriage/638708)
**Author:** [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\ **Replies:** 47\ **Last updated:** [October 27, 2012, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-government-and-marriage/638708 "2012-10-27T03:16:09Z")
As many of you may already know, I support gay civil unions, reasonning they can have all the rights and privileges so-called married couples do. This has led some of you to believe that means I am against gay marriage. … --- ## [Are Mormons also "Christian?"](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-mormons-also-christian/638065)
**Author:** [@trabajabamos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/trabajabamos)\ **Replies:** 188\ **Last updated:** [October 26, 2012, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-mormons-also-christian/638065 "2012-10-26T01:31:18Z")
Mormons self-identify as Christians but many Christian denominations reject this claim to the label emphatically. The sentiment has been around for the while, but the candidacy of governor Romney has given it new life. … --- ## [If Fidel passes, whither Cuba?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-fidel-passes-whither-cuba/638363)
**Author:** [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Replies:** 54\ **Last updated:** [October 25, 2012, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-fidel-passes-whither-cuba/638363 "2012-10-25T19:13:59Z")
Rumors abound that Fidel Castro, who has not been seen in public since March, is dead or near death. The government considers the state of Fidel’s health a state secret and strongly discourages any reporting on it. Cou… --- ## [It is time to "rework" the Credit Rating System](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-time-to-rework-the-credit-rating-system/638532)
**Author:** [@chargerrich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chargerrich)\ **Replies:** 25\ **Last updated:** [October 25, 2012, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-time-to-rework-the-credit-rating-system/638532 "2012-10-25T15:56:12Z")
Forgetting for the moment that the current system has a wonky range ending at a top score of 850, the logic is outdated at best and actually seems somewhat counter intuitive. Case in point: I was preparing to do a refi… --- ## [The attack in Benghazi was war, not terror.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-attack-in-benghazi-was-war-not-terror/638694)
**Author:** [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Replies:** 29\ **Last updated:** [October 25, 2012, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-attack-in-benghazi-was-war-not-terror/638694 "2012-10-25T14:39:37Z")
The title says it all. If you squint your mind’s eye really, really hard and peer way, way back into the mists of time to Summer 2012, American warplanes were bombing Libya in acts of war. Then: American shit got blown … --- ## [What's American interest in alliance with Israel?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-american-interest-in-alliance-with-israel/638038)
**Author:** [@Qwertol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qwertol)\ **Replies:** 126\ **Last updated:** [October 25, 2012, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-american-interest-in-alliance-with-israel/638038 "2012-10-25T14:19:59Z")
Situation of Israel in Middle East is saying it lightly pretty problematic… Why USA is giving all that military support to Israel? What is it getting in return? --- ## [Is anarchy in international relations a problem?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anarchy-in-international-relations-a-problem/636036)
**Author:** [@Kozmik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kozmik)\ **Replies:** 225\ **Last updated:** [October 25, 2012, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anarchy-in-international-relations-a-problem/636036 "2012-10-25T13:03:09Z")
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