# Great Debates **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=346 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 347 --- ## [GOP's Trend Toward Right Is Not a Big Concern](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gops-trend-toward-right-is-not-a-big-concern/609473)
**Author:** [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Replies:** 86\ **Last updated:** [January 20, 2012, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gops-trend-toward-right-is-not-a-big-concern/609473 "2012-01-20T02:02:47Z")
It is true with the rise of the Tea Party that the Republican Party has been in many ways going extremely towards the right but in the end it is not a problem for the left and indeed a boon for them. It is the GOP and th… --- ## [Why not build a new HMY "Britannia"?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-build-a-new-hmy-britannia/310084)
**Author:** [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Replies:** 18\ **Last updated:** [January 20, 2012, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-build-a-new-hmy-britannia/310084 "2012-01-20T00:17:53Z")
For BritDopers and others… I love ships and naval history, and was sorry when the British decommissioned Her Majesty’s Yacht “Britannia” a few years ago but didn’t build a replacement. The ship was a classy and secure … --- ## [Making Work Pay Tax Credit](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-work-pay-tax-credit/609553)
**Author:** [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Replies:** 16\ **Last updated:** [January 19, 2012, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-work-pay-tax-credit/609553 "2012-01-19T21:37:02Z")
I’m doing my taxes for the year and I’m stunned that the Making Work Pay Credit and the offset for state and local taxes are gone this year. That costs even the poorest worker over a thousand dollars per year. I’m not … --- ## [Gingrich: I would ignore supreme court as president](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gingrich-i-would-ignore-supreme-court-as-president/610015)
**Author:** [@PrettyVacant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PrettyVacant)\ **Replies:** 32\ **Last updated:** [January 19, 2012, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gingrich-i-would-ignore-supreme-court-as-president/610015 "2012-01-19T20:00:58Z")
We’re a bit old fashioned in old Europe in so much we still have constitutional checks and balances and weird shit stuff like the Rule of Law. So, I kind of just checking this sort of comment is mainstream in the USA, t… --- ## [Am I a hypocrite for being anti-fur?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-a-hypocrite-for-being-anti-fur/477610)
**Author:** [@Running\_with\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Running_with_Scissors)\ **Replies:** 133\ **Last updated:** [December 27, 2008, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-a-hypocrite-for-being-anti-fur/477610 "2008-12-27T19:41:25Z")
I admit I haven’t looked too closely at the issue. I am totally against items made with fur from animals farmed or hunted specifically for that purpose. However, I have no problem wearing leather, using a down pillow, or… --- ## [Roberts, Scalia oppose the invisible hand of the market](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roberts-scalia-oppose-the-invisible-hand-of-the-market/609113)
**Author:** [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Replies:** 72\ **Last updated:** [January 18, 2012, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roberts-scalia-oppose-the-invisible-hand-of-the-market/609113 "2012-01-18T18:35:38Z")
The Supreme Court is considering a suit by broadcasters to relax the standards of decency imposed by the FCC on broadcast networks but not on cable networks. But conservatives on the high appear to be reluctant to ease… --- ## [Asexual? Or just projecting?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asexual-or-just-projecting/608627)
**Author:** [@Incubus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Incubus)\ **Replies:** 71\ **Last updated:** [January 18, 2012, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asexual-or-just-projecting/608627 "2012-01-18T13:52:48Z")
Lately I’ve been seeing a lot of people on the internet who describe themselves as “asexual”. While I am aware people are actually asexual, I feel its kind of overstated on the internet. I’m wondering if a lot of people… --- ## [Should reporters challenge “facts” that are asserted by newsmakers they write about?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-reporters-challenge-facts-that-are-asserted-by-newsmakers-they-write-about/609330)
**Author:** [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Replies:** 59\ **Last updated:** [January 17, 2012, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-reporters-challenge-facts-that-are-asserted-by-newsmakers-they-write-about/609330 "2012-01-17T14:56:56Z")
It seems the NYT’s public editor isn’t quite sure. http://publiceditor.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/12/should-the-times-be-a-truth-vigilante/ So, um…should reporters be determining the veracity of factual statements made … --- ## [Prejudices: Learned or hardwired?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prejudices-learned-or-hardwired/609349)
**Author:** [@Diamonds02](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diamonds02)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [January 17, 2012, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prejudices-learned-or-hardwired/609349 "2012-01-17T02:39:50Z")
People usually say that humans become prejudiced because they learned it from somewhere. The media, family, peers, etc. I’m not really sure about that. There’s a few groups who shall remain nameless, that I have very st… --- ## [Recess appointment of Consumer Agency head](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recess-appointment-of-consumer-agency-head/608510)
**Author:** [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Replies:** 255\ **Last updated:** [January 17, 2012, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recess-appointment-of-consumer-agency-head/608510 "2012-01-17T01:50:06Z")
I am very conflicted about the recess appointment that Obama made of Richard Cordray to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. On the one hand, I think recess appointments are generally a bad idea, since it’s a … --- ## [Revisiting: Mandatory Sunset Clauses](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/revisiting-mandatory-sunset-clauses/609387)
**Author:** [@erislover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erislover)\ **Replies:** 14\ **Last updated:** [January 16, 2012, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/revisiting-mandatory-sunset-clauses/609387 "2012-01-16T14:40:05Z")
So, in the “Why is Prostitution Illegal” thread, some dopers mentioned the stubborn inertia laws have, because though a law might be unpassable were it attempted to be put in force today, it is also politically difficult… --- ## [God's Tebow-bias](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gods-tebow-bias/609386)
**Author:** [@Dr.Colossus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Colossus)\ **Replies:** 100\ **Last updated:** [January 16, 2012, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gods-tebow-bias/609386 "2012-01-16T04:59:42Z")
An undoubtedly scientifically blind and rigorous recent nation-wide pollfound that 43% of all Americans believe Tebow is winning due to divine intervention. They think God wants Tebow to win so He comes and helps. What h… --- ## [The Future and Fate](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-future-and-fate/609494)
**Author:** [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [January 16, 2012, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-future-and-fate/609494 "2012-01-16T00:47:25Z")
Is the future set in stone, like the past? Or is there an infinite multitude of possible futures, determined by events in the present? --- ## [Resolved: Complementarianism is still Sexist](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resolved-complementarianism-is-still-sexist/609538)
**Author:** [@rat\_avatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rat_avatar)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [January 15, 2012, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resolved-complementarianism-is-still-sexist/609538 "2012-01-15T04:15:23Z")
It has become common for more conservitive relgions to claim a complementarianist dogma, which is basically “separate but equal” for the gender roles. With the exception that one party tends to be the absolute power, ty… --- ## [Romney is an ignoramus on health care...](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-is-an-ignoramus-on-health-care/609106)
**Author:** [@jshore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jshore)\ **Replies:** 42\ **Last updated:** [January 15, 2012, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-is-an-ignoramus-on-health-care/609106 "2012-01-15T01:29:29Z")
So, when I went to try to find this quote by Romney about firing insurance companies because I wanted to see if it was a dumb as it sounded, I found this Krugman blog piece (quoting an economist named Aaron Carroll) that… --- ## [Obama to propose structural reform of U.S. Government](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-to-propose-structural-reform-of-u-s-government/569015)
**Author:** [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Replies:** 58\ **Last updated:** [January 14, 2012, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-to-propose-structural-reform-of-u-s-government/569015 "2012-01-14T23:45:33Z")
From the State of the Union Address tonight: \*…We cannot win the future with a government of the past. We live and do business in the information age, but the last major reorganization of the government happened in the… --- ## [Premiss: "Atheism" is for people who can't handle "Religion".](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/premiss-atheism-is-for-people-who-cant-handle-religion/609199)
**Author:** [@mishagoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mishagoe)\ **Replies:** 319\ **Last updated:** [January 14, 2012, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/premiss-atheism-is-for-people-who-cant-handle-religion/609199 "2012-01-14T23:04:23Z")
Atheism is an escape hatch for those of us who are uncomfortable with the notion that the world we exist in is infinit and essentially un-fathomable by us puny humans. In Atheism we can hide our fears behind the belief … --- ## [Why was the US so nice in World War II?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-us-so-nice-in-world-war-ii/609220)
**Author:** [@HubZilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HubZilla)\ **Replies:** 104\ **Last updated:** [January 14, 2012, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-us-so-nice-in-world-war-ii/609220 "2012-01-14T22:10:50Z")
As World War II wound down, German soldiers were rushing to surrender to the Americans than the Soviets. Even the Okinawans, all but ordered to jump off cliffs by the Japanese, were suprised the US didn’t massacre them a… --- ## ["War Crime" Question I Dare Anyone to Answer](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-crime-question-i-dare-anyone-to-answer/609139)
**Author:** [@firstfalseNero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/firstfalseNero)\ **Replies:** 70\ **Last updated:** [January 14, 2012, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-crime-question-i-dare-anyone-to-answer/609139 "2012-01-14T07:58:01Z")
Apparently it is a war crime to drip water down a prisoner’s throat (in the case of a certain U.S. facility located on Castro’s island, before returning him to his soccer practice). But it was NOT a war crime to vaporiz… --- ## [Faith is not an admirable thing](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faith-is-not-an-admirable-thing/609241)
**Author:** [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Replies:** 62\ **Last updated:** [January 14, 2012, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faith-is-not-an-admirable-thing/609241 "2012-01-14T02:33:05Z")
“I wish I had his faith!” How often have you heard something equivalent to that? Much of Western Civ is based on the idea that faith – in something you can’t really know or prove to be true, but you believe it anyway b… --- ## [Strategically defaulting on a mortgage: Does the homeowner have a moral obligation to stay??](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strategically-defaulting-on-a-mortgage-does-the-homeowner-have-a-moral-obligation-to-stay/609432)
**Author:** [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [January 13, 2012, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strategically-defaulting-on-a-mortgage-does-the-homeowner-have-a-moral-obligation-to-stay/609432 "2012-01-13T22:18:02Z")
I came across this very interesting article a few weeks ago: How to Strategically Default On Your Home. Basically, the article argues that banks and mortgage companies have a double standard that obligates homeowners to… --- ## [Confederate sympathizers](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confederate-sympathizers/609010)
**Author:** [@GeddyClaypoolBurton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GeddyClaypoolBurton)\ **Replies:** 164\ **Last updated:** [January 13, 2012, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confederate-sympathizers/609010 "2012-01-13T17:46:01Z")
I came across a website called http://www.confederatestatesofamerica.org/. As one may guess, the site is dedicated to the 147-year-old lost cause of the southern Confederacy. On the site, there are very extensive explana… --- ## [Is guilt a productive force...](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-guilt-a-productive-force/609395)
**Author:** [@Bigshift](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bigshift)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [January 13, 2012, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-guilt-a-productive-force/609395 "2012-01-13T16:04:30Z")
in the individual and society? This could be morally speaking or economical. I believe that guilt is a waste of an emotion. It may stop us from become what we could have been or achieving what we could have achieved. Of… --- ## [Is It Time For the Senate to Go?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-time-for-the-senate-to-go/608354)
**Author:** [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\ **Replies:** 160\ **Last updated:** [January 13, 2012, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-time-for-the-senate-to-go/608354 "2012-01-13T15:04:15Z")
The US Senate was created by the The Great Compromise of 1787. It was originally created as so big states wouldn’t lord their power over little ones. The only problem? It is one of the least democratic institutions in th… --- ## [Correcting my understanding of Liberalism](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correcting-my-understanding-of-liberalism/602732)
**Author:** [@shakabroh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shakabroh)\ **Replies:** 151\ **Last updated:** [January 13, 2012, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correcting-my-understanding-of-liberalism/602732 "2012-01-13T12:13:55Z")
People have corrected my understanding of Liberalism before here. So I approach you again. My father, a Christian, always told me that liberalism is an over-reaction to imperfection. It is the idea that no one, especial… --- ## [In hindsight: was the US' Iraq invasion a positive thing?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-hindsight-was-the-us-iraq-invasion-a-positive-thing/608616)
**Author:** [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Replies:** 154\ **Last updated:** [January 13, 2012, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-hindsight-was-the-us-iraq-invasion-a-positive-thing/608616 "2012-01-13T12:05:38Z")
Now that the US is leaving Iraq, there are no doubt many people looking back and pondering this same question. I haven’t seen a thread, so I thought I would start one. When I say a positive thing, I mean that in lives l… --- ## [DHS Monitors Drudge, NYT, HuffPo, et al](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dhs-monitors-drudge-nyt-huffpo-et-al/609289)
**Author:** [@IntelliQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IntelliQ)\ **Replies:** 13\ **Last updated:** [January 13, 2012, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dhs-monitors-drudge-nyt-huffpo-et-al/609289 "2012-01-13T07:12:59Z")
Is this something to be concerned about? The recent headline at DrudgeReport is "‘HOMELAND SECURITY’ MONITORING DRUDGE ‘WILL RETAIN INFORMATION’ which links to the Atlantic Wire with a breakdown of who’s being monitore… --- ## [Santorum and the Slippery Slope](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/santorum-and-the-slippery-slope/608703)
**Author:** [@fumster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fumster)\ **Replies:** 89\ **Last updated:** [January 13, 2012, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/santorum-and-the-slippery-slope/608703 "2012-01-13T03:57:15Z")
Ignoring putting together “Santorum” and “slippery” for the moment, I was listening to Santorum use the slippery slope argument against gay marriage. If we allow gays to marry, then do we have to allow polygamous marriag… --- ## [Should the government become more fragmented and specialized?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-government-become-more-fragmented-and-specialized/609331)
**Author:** [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [January 13, 2012, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-government-become-more-fragmented-and-specialized/609331 "2012-01-13T01:32:54Z")
The recent ongoing stink over SOPA got me thinking (or rather, remembering), any individual member of Congress (or parliament, or whathaveyou) can only know so much. You really can’t expect that there can be a person in … --- ## [Anarchists: anyof you care to explain your philosophy to me? (Well, us.)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anarchists-anyof-you-care-to-explain-your-philosophy-to-me-well-us/606547)
**Author:** [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Replies:** 115\ **Last updated:** [January 12, 2012, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anarchists-anyof-you-care-to-explain-your-philosophy-to-me-well-us/606547 "2012-01-12T19:34:55Z")
I went back and forth between putting this thread here and in IMHO. The latter still feels more appropriate to me, because I have no thesis to defend or propound here; I’m interested in hearing what attraction the philos… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=345) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=347)