# Great Debates **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=343 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 344 --- ## [Congratulate me -- I Just Won the Lottery (A Tax Policy Debate)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congratulate-me-i-just-won-the-lottery-a-tax-policy-debate/610758)
**Author:** [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Replies:** 191\ **Last updated:** [February 2, 2012, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congratulate-me-i-just-won-the-lottery-a-tax-policy-debate/610758 "2012-02-02T18:54:16Z")
So, yeah, I was crusing by 7-11 and bought a ticket, and last night’s MegaBuxx drawing made me giddy: all my numbers hit! Yup, it’s a cool $150 million. After income taxes, state and federal, and funding a home for the … --- ## [When you google "Santorum"](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-google-santorum/609596)
**Author:** [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Replies:** 138\ **Last updated:** [February 2, 2012, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-google-santorum/609596 "2012-02-02T17:21:52Z")
This thread was closed rather than moved. Let’s debate some of the questions raised in it… Why are the conservatives so blissfully ignorant of the story behind it. If something comparable had been done to Obama ("Keny… --- ## [Will the United Kingdom break up?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-united-kingdom-break-up/610395)
**Author:** [@Malden\_Capell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malden_Capell)\ **Replies:** 61\ **Last updated:** [February 2, 2012, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-united-kingdom-break-up/610395 "2012-02-02T14:23:32Z")
Should be an interesting discussion :slight\_smile: I have put it here instead of Elections, as equally to do with issues aside from the upcoming Scottish independence referendum as with the referendum itself. The UK is … --- ## [Necessity vs. Ideology \[Gun ownership for felons\]](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/necessity-vs-ideology-gun-ownership-for-felons/610508)
**Author:** [@Camera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Camera)\ **Replies:** 53\ **Last updated:** [February 2, 2012, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/necessity-vs-ideology-gun-ownership-for-felons/610508 "2012-02-02T13:50:20Z")
Hi. I’ll keep this short. I realize this forum has a reputation for delivering good information, but I would request that people who have no idea what they’re talking about spare me their ‘theories’ and sending me off o… --- ## [Near death experiences](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/near-death-experiences/609591)
**Author:** [@pati12812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pati12812)\ **Replies:** 123\ **Last updated:** [February 2, 2012, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/near-death-experiences/609591 "2012-02-02T12:52:23Z")
We’ve all heard stories about people dying and then coming back. What is the truth about Near Death Experiences? Is there reason to think that although hundreds of thousands of people have had similar accounts of what ha… --- ## [How long before learning a foreign language is pointless?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-before-learning-a-foreign-language-is-pointless/611355)
**Author:** [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Replies:** 30\ **Last updated:** [February 2, 2012, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-before-learning-a-foreign-language-is-pointless/611355 "2012-02-02T05:56:39Z")
I’ve tried to raise my kids in an environment of learning foreign languages, since I’ve seen that (especially Spanish) as something that could be extremely helpful to them in the 21st century job market. But then it occ… --- ## [Should elections bar candidates that can't speak English?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-elections-bar-candidates-that-cant-speak-english/611169)
**Author:** [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Replies:** 97\ **Last updated:** [February 2, 2012, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-elections-bar-candidates-that-cant-speak-english/611169 "2012-02-02T02:20:08Z")
A candidate for Yuma, AZ city council, Alejandrina Cabrera, is being denied a spot on the ballot because she doesn’t speak English well enough, according to “an expert” and a judge. \[ \](http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/st… --- ## [Any long-term climate predictions?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-long-term-climate-predictions/611371)
**Author:** [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [February 2, 2012, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-long-term-climate-predictions/611371 "2012-02-02T02:06:25Z")
Many climate predictions focus on specifically 100 years in the future. What about 200 years from now? Or 1000 years, or 20,000 years? Part of the answer, I think, is that prediction becomes more and more problematic … --- ## [How would Space War work with today's technology?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-space-war-work-with-todays-technology/611006)
**Author:** [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Replies:** 64\ **Last updated:** [February 2, 2012, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-space-war-work-with-todays-technology/611006 "2012-02-02T01:13:23Z")
Let’s seriously assume, however preposterously, that there’s a new U.S. Space Force, it’s a military organization, and we’re in some kind of conflict with a rival space-power, and from now on we want all American spacesh… --- ## [Exoplanet with possible life discovered.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exoplanet-with-possible-life-discovered/611203)
**Author:** [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Replies:** 60\ **Last updated:** [February 1, 2012, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exoplanet-with-possible-life-discovered/611203 "2012-02-01T23:05:22Z")
Let’s say, in a few years, we’re 99% certain an exoplanet, 1.5x the mass of earth, rocky with liquid water, but 40 LYs away, harbors life due to some bio-signature we can detect from its light spectrum (let’s say convinc… --- ## ["Rate of abortion is highest in countries where practice is banned"](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rate-of-abortion-is-highest-in-countries-where-practice-is-banned/610224)
**Author:** [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Replies:** 128\ **Last updated:** [February 1, 2012, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rate-of-abortion-is-highest-in-countries-where-practice-is-banned/610224 "2012-02-01T22:58:43Z")
I read this article which cites a study that suggests places where abortions are illegal actually have more abortions performed (and those abortions are unsafe and dangerous). From the link above: So, for those here o… --- ## [What is a truly altruistic act? Does altruism really exist?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-truly-altruistic-act-does-altruism-really-exist/611237)
**Author:** [@Bozuit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bozuit)\ **Replies:** 32\ **Last updated:** [February 1, 2012, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-truly-altruistic-act-does-altruism-really-exist/611237 "2012-02-01T22:41:07Z")
You give a tramp some change. Help a mother with a pram up some stairs. Throw yourself in front of a bullet to save your child. When we do these things (the last not so often probably) are we really being nice? Or are w… --- ## [Compelling production of a password, revisited](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compelling-production-of-a-password-revisited/589450)
**Author:** [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Replies:** 89\ **Last updated:** [February 1, 2012, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compelling-production-of-a-password-revisited/589450 "2012-02-01T22:11:22Z")
In this GQ thread, among others, we discussed the question of the government requiring a person to provide the password to unencrypt a hard drive that contains (presumably) incriminating information about himself. There… --- ## [Is Wikipedia biased?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-wikipedia-biased/610955)
**Author:** [@SDMBKL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SDMBKL)\ **Replies:** 47\ **Last updated:** [February 1, 2012, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-wikipedia-biased/610955 "2012-02-01T16:32:52Z")
Is Wikipedia biased? If so, then what kind of bias? Political bias? Gender bias? Cultural bias? Have you ever spotted biased information, and if so, have you attempted to correct it with references? --- ## [Is multiple levels of citizenship in a democratic society workable and/or desirable](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-multiple-levels-of-citizenship-in-a-democratic-society-workable-and-or-desirable/610923)
**Author:** [@Illuminatiprimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuminatiprimus)\ **Replies:** 49\ **Last updated:** [February 1, 2012, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-multiple-levels-of-citizenship-in-a-democratic-society-workable-and-or-desirable/610923 "2012-02-01T14:58:54Z")
The prompt is two-fold: The extreme views thread (man has that baby been giving my brain a workout for the last week or so) Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein. Oh, and history is relevant too I guess… But Hein… --- ## [Why isn't convicted felon Tom DeLay in prison?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-convicted-felon-tom-delay-in-prison/611121)
**Author:** [@Linden\_Arden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Linden_Arden)\ **Replies:** 29\ **Last updated:** [February 1, 2012, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-convicted-felon-tom-delay-in-prison/611121 "2012-02-01T08:44:19Z")
I post this in great debates because I suspect he is free due to partisan reasons - the Good Ole Boy GOP Texas Redneck Club. “Appeal” is somewhat subjective. Who else could escape imprisonment for so long? His appeal … --- ## [Let another generation dream (space exploration)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-another-generation-dream-space-exploration/611048)
**Author:** [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Replies:** 111\ **Last updated:** [February 1, 2012, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-another-generation-dream-space-exploration/611048 "2012-02-01T00:50:28Z")
We have a few conversations bouncing around here about funding space exploration. Tied up in this is a lot of talk about America losing its vision, forgetting how to dream, etc. This is what I have to say- we have not f… --- ## [I Heard My Father's 'Ghost' Yesterday.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-heard-my-fathers-ghost-yesterday/610586)
**Author:** [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\ **Replies:** 198\ **Last updated:** [February 1, 2012, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-heard-my-fathers-ghost-yesterday/610586 "2012-02-01T00:38:36Z")
I was lying in bed yesterday. And since I had nothing to do that day, I didn’t realize how late it was getting. Then I heard coming from my father’s old bedroom a voice saying “Jamie?” (my family calls me “Jamie”). At fi… --- ## [Self-declared Wealth Tax](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-declared-wealth-tax/611244)
**Author:** [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Replies:** 8\ **Last updated:** [January 31, 2012, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-declared-wealth-tax/611244 "2012-01-31T22:00:10Z")
Over in the Congratulate me – I Just Won the Lottery (A Tax Policy Debate) thread, there is some discussion of the idea of a wealth tax. Several posters suggest that it’s unworkable. One example: I think this is going… --- ## [Abolition of the British Monarchy](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abolition-of-the-british-monarchy/610479)
**Author:** [@GeddyClaypoolBurton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GeddyClaypoolBurton)\ **Replies:** 103\ **Last updated:** [January 31, 2012, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abolition-of-the-british-monarchy/610479 "2012-01-31T19:50:25Z")
Last year I heard of many people who were angered at the amount of taxpayer pounds that were going to security measures and other aspects of the British Royal Wedding. I know of many more people that feel that the monarc… --- ## [Size-based discrimination in academia/the workforce](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/size-based-discrimination-in-academia-the-workforce/611285)
**Author:** [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [January 31, 2012, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/size-based-discrimination-in-academia-the-workforce/611285 "2012-01-31T15:46:32Z")
I’d like to discuss fields where intellect and savvy are supposed to be the primary consideration, but often aren’t. My inspiration for the thread is an interesting blog post at collegemisery.com. A new tenure-track c… --- ## [Why is prostitution illegal?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-prostitution-illegal/609275)
**Author:** [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Replies:** 116\ **Last updated:** [January 31, 2012, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-prostitution-illegal/609275 "2012-01-31T11:46:29Z")
To avoid a hijack in another thread I created this one to respond to this post: There are two primary reasons: Predominant social values reject behavior that threatens the family unit. This logic, of course, applies… --- ## [Political pardons - why?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-pardons-why/611156)
**Author:** [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Replies:** 11\ **Last updated:** [January 31, 2012, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-pardons-why/611156 "2012-01-31T07:45:20Z")
In the thread about Tom DeLay’s appeal, somebody suggested that a GOP judge would push out DeLay’s appeal until the end of Rick Perry’s term to make sure he was eligible for a pardon. I think that’s a bit silly, but thi… --- ## [What do you think of my answer to this "theist anthem"?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-my-answer-to-this-theist-anthem/611095)
**Author:** [@Valteron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valteron)\ **Replies:** 21\ **Last updated:** [January 31, 2012, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-my-answer-to-this-theist-anthem/611095 "2012-01-31T01:30:48Z")
Like everyone else on the web, I get endless inspiring and funny videos emailed to me by well-meaning friends. But when I received this one from a lady I know http://www.andiesisle.com/creation/magnificent.html I decided… --- ## [Would you support a war with Iran?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-support-a-war-with-iran/610795)
**Author:** [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Replies:** 142\ **Last updated:** [January 30, 2012, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-support-a-war-with-iran/610795 "2012-01-30T22:15:00Z")
A war with Iran is beginning to be talked about in a serious way as a preemption against it attaining nuclear weapons. Would you support such an action? What could be the implications of a war or Iran acquiring nuclear c… --- ## [What percentage does the average American pay in all taxes?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-percentage-does-the-average-american-pay-in-all-taxes/611151)
**Author:** [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Replies:** 14\ **Last updated:** [January 30, 2012, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-percentage-does-the-average-american-pay-in-all-taxes/611151 "2012-01-30T18:54:01Z")
A lively debate with my friends tonight involved this question. I won’t sully this OP with our conclusions (however pathetically cited they were). So involved are the likes of; Income tax, Sales tax, Liquor tax, import… --- ## [Can we establish a permanent lunar base by 2020?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-establish-a-permanent-lunar-base-by-2020/610753)
**Author:** [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Replies:** 78\ **Last updated:** [January 30, 2012, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-establish-a-permanent-lunar-base-by-2020/610753 "2012-01-30T15:38:23Z")
Newt Gingrich has promised that, if elected, we would have such a base by the end of his second term. This isn’t a 2012 election thread, but I’m curious: Is this claim anything other than pure lunacy? (And pun fodder?) C… --- ## [Question for Climate Skeptics](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-climate-skeptics/610727)
**Author:** [@Stelios](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stelios)\ **Replies:** 108\ **Last updated:** [January 30, 2012, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-climate-skeptics/610727 "2012-01-30T03:00:09Z")
The anthropogenic climate change theory is widely supported among the scientific establishment. The consensus is so strong, in fact, that it encompasses every creditable scientific body on the planet including (but not … --- ## [Science Shows Stupid Conservatives Likely To Be Prejudiced](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-shows-stupid-conservatives-likely-to-be-prejudiced/611094)
**Author:** [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Replies:** 31\ **Last updated:** [January 30, 2012, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-shows-stupid-conservatives-likely-to-be-prejudiced/611094 "2012-01-30T02:11:40Z")
It’s all true! So sweet! Before you start arguing, let me bask in the glory of being able to write that headline and have it be a simple statement of fact rather than inflammatory baiting. Ahhhh … so nice! Ok, here’s th… --- ## [Is "right to work" the opposite of "right to organize"?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-right-to-work-the-opposite-of-right-to-organize/610918)
**Author:** [@I\_Know\_Nothing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Know_Nothing)\ **Replies:** 36\ **Last updated:** [January 30, 2012, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-right-to-work-the-opposite-of-right-to-organize/610918 "2012-01-30T00:32:47Z")
I heard Jesse Jackson make this point once. I also recently went to a UU church service where the preacher was inveighing against proposed right to work legislation in other states. This sentence in the Chicago Tribune… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=342) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=344)