# Great Debates **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=364 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 365 --- ## [Giving money to panhandlers/beggars/homeless on the street](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-money-to-panhandlers-beggars-homeless-on-the-street/598001)
**Author:** [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Replies:** 178\ **Last updated:** [October 4, 2011, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-money-to-panhandlers-beggars-homeless-on-the-street/598001 "2011-10-04T07:19:19Z")
I don’t give money to anyone on the street. I do donate money to organizations that fight homelessness. My thinking is that if I give a handout to an individual, it’s not going to change his situation and the money would… --- ## [How do people end up so poor?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-people-end-up-so-poor/596398)
**Author:** [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Replies:** 343\ **Last updated:** [October 4, 2011, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-people-end-up-so-poor/596398 "2011-10-04T02:33:45Z")
I’m serious- I keep seeing numbers similar to 25% of the population lives on less than 25k per year. This seems astounding to me; making the equivalent of $12.50 per hour or less seems really low for a real job, not a … --- ## [Where is the EU heading?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-eu-heading/597546)
**Author:** [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Replies:** 55\ **Last updated:** [October 4, 2011, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-eu-heading/597546 "2011-10-04T01:05:32Z")
Where is the EU heading in the short to medium term? A good percentage of the EU countries are now tied to a currency that seems to be beset with fundamental problems (and arguably, was beset with these problems from th… --- ## [Why should I care about climate change/global warming/being green/the environment?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-care-about-climate-change-global-warming-being-green-the-environment/598121)
**Author:** [@nonentity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nonentity)\ **Replies:** 55\ **Last updated:** [October 3, 2011, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-care-about-climate-change-global-warming-being-green-the-environment/598121 "2011-10-03T22:02:26Z")
If I don’t have children why should I care? --- ## [Is President Obama a Mass Murderer?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-president-obama-a-mass-murderer/598346)
**Author:** [@CoolHandCox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CoolHandCox)\ **Replies:** 91\ **Last updated:** [October 3, 2011, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-president-obama-a-mass-murderer/598346 "2011-10-03T21:52:12Z")
In light of the debate regarding the “legality” of the President killing alleged terrorists outside a zone of conflict/battlefield (I’m not interested in debating battlefield, it’s not) - I’m interested in what crimes th… --- ## [What Was the Point of 9-11?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-point-of-9-11/597064)
**Author:** [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\ **Replies:** 91\ **Last updated:** [October 3, 2011, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-point-of-9-11/597064 "2011-10-03T20:30:07Z")
Forgive me for being blunt. But for the longest time I have wondered, what was Bin Laden’s point for 9-11? He brought the world’s biggest superpower to its feet. Also, people claim it was because he was against democracy… --- ## [Planned Parenthood right to discourage pro-choice picketing?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planned-parenthood-right-to-discourage-pro-choice-picketing/598208)
**Author:** [@ballardfam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ballardfam)\ **Replies:** 12\ **Last updated:** [October 3, 2011, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planned-parenthood-right-to-discourage-pro-choice-picketing/598208 "2011-10-03T18:04:40Z")
There’s a planned parenthood clinic which has had anti-abortion protestors demonstrating monthly for a couple of years. Recently pro-choice protestors have been showing up to counter demonstrate. Planned parenthood has… --- ## [Future of unregulated free-market genetic engineering](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/future-of-unregulated-free-market-genetic-engineering/598302)
**Author:** [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Replies:** 19\ **Last updated:** [October 3, 2011, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/future-of-unregulated-free-market-genetic-engineering/598302 "2011-10-03T17:53:16Z")
Assume that human genetic-engineering technology is perfected, but there’s no totalitarian state trying to mold the population into its vision of the master race. Instead, like in Gattaca, parents can simply go to the g… --- ## [L. Ron Hubbard](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/l-ron-hubbard/596193)
**Author:** [@obbn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obbn)\ **Replies:** 89\ **Last updated:** [October 3, 2011, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/l-ron-hubbard/596193 "2011-10-03T15:54:18Z")
My question about L. Ron Hubbard is not really a debate and might be more suited to GQ, however I think that it will eventually fall into a debate so that is why it is here. I don’t know much about Hubbard and only a li… --- ## [Jail or Jesus](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jail-or-jesus/597889)
**Author:** [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Replies:** 98\ **Last updated:** [October 3, 2011, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jail-or-jesus/597889 "2011-10-03T14:30:01Z")
See this story on CNN. The basic jist of it is, for non-violent misdemeanor convictions, the convictee is given a choice: Jail, Fine, or Church. You can do your 30 days (or whatever), or pony up your $500 (or whatever) … --- ## [Why, exactly, do I need to respect religious beliefs?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-exactly-do-i-need-to-respect-religious-beliefs/597803)
**Author:** [@Illuminatiprimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuminatiprimus)\ **Replies:** 166\ **Last updated:** [October 3, 2011, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-exactly-do-i-need-to-respect-religious-beliefs/597803 "2011-10-03T02:57:45Z")
I’m not intending for this OP to come across as controversial - the question is simply as asked. I don’t have any religious beliefs, and fortunately I live somewhere that the majority of people are of the same mindset (… --- ## [Wallace Kuralt, Charles Kuralt's father was a eugenicist.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wallace-kuralt-charles-kuralts-father-was-a-eugenicist/597761)
**Author:** [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Replies:** 36\ **Last updated:** [October 2, 2011, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wallace-kuralt-charles-kuralts-father-was-a-eugenicist/597761 "2011-10-02T23:55:58Z")
He ordered the sterilization of hundreds of people in Mecklenburg County, NC. This seems to have been something of an open secret, but it is getting a significant bit of new attention. The news story seems to struggle … --- ## [The socioeconomics of breastfeeding](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-socioeconomics-of-breastfeeding/597567)
**Author:** [@Gestalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gestalt)\ **Replies:** 135\ **Last updated:** [October 2, 2011, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-socioeconomics-of-breastfeeding/597567 "2011-10-02T21:09:06Z")
I just recently completed a rotation in a very poor part of rural America. Nearly all the moms of babies I saw were on public assistance, many were underemployed, and only one of them (out of maybe 80-100) was breastfeed… --- ## [Is Reddit (web site with a big corporate parent behind it) spreading child porn?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-reddit-web-site-with-a-big-corporate-parent-behind-it-spreading-child-porn/598122)
**Author:** [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Replies:** 24\ **Last updated:** [October 2, 2011, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-reddit-web-site-with-a-big-corporate-parent-behind-it-spreading-child-porn/598122 "2011-10-02T04:16:11Z")
Anderson Cooper explored the question of whether Reddit is engaging in spreading child porn (admittedly borderline child “porn”…air quotes in this case because that is the debate here). Note the above is a link to a You… --- ## [Why all the love for business figures who effectively won the lottery?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-all-the-love-for-business-figures-who-effectively-won-the-lottery/598167)
**Author:** [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Replies:** 38\ **Last updated:** [October 2, 2011, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-all-the-love-for-business-figures-who-effectively-won-the-lottery/598167 "2011-10-02T02:37:12Z")
By that, I mean guys like Mark Cuban and Mark Zuckerberg, both of which effectively won the lottery- Cuban literally got lucky and sold the moderately successful broadcast.com for a wildly inflated price during the heigh… --- ## [Were dead Confederates US citizens?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-dead-confederates-us-citizens/598213)
**Author:** [@Kilmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilmore)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [October 2, 2011, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-dead-confederates-us-citizens/598213 "2011-10-02T01:07:50Z")
Were the thousands of Confederates killed by direct military action during the American Civil War still considered citizens of the United States of America? And was the Union Army justified in killing them without due pr… --- ## [President Obama's Foreign Policy](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-obamas-foreign-policy/598231)
**Author:** [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [October 1, 2011, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-obamas-foreign-policy/598231 "2011-10-01T19:16:06Z")
Overall, in the last two and a half years how would you grade President Obama’s foreign policy? While I strongly disagree with him on many economic issues, I must admit he has been a fairly successful president in forei… --- ## [Morals/ethics and the Dachau Massacre](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morals-ethics-and-the-dachau-massacre/597660)
**Author:** [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Replies:** 84\ **Last updated:** [October 1, 2011, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morals-ethics-and-the-dachau-massacre/597660 "2011-10-01T18:45:11Z")
In brief, in the aftermath of the liberation of the Dachau concentration camp by the US Army, several dozen German POWs (camp guards) were killed by US troops and liberated inmates (who may have been given pistols and ba… --- ## [What is worse:- Underage girls who look/act much older - or girls who look underage?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-worse-underage-girls-who-look-act-much-older-or-girls-who-look-underage/265968)
**Author:** [@cryptic\_j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cryptic_j)\ **Replies:** 38\ **Last updated:** [October 1, 2011, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-worse-underage-girls-who-look-act-much-older-or-girls-who-look-underage/265968 "2011-10-01T17:47:36Z")
What I mean here - before I get accused of anything… If you find a girl attractive - at a club, or walking down the street - and maybe you chat her up - - is it worse if she IS underage but looked and acted older… or … --- ## [Was the Phlogiston Theory "Scientific?"](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-phlogiston-theory-scientific/596139)
**Author:** [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Replies:** 21\ **Last updated:** [October 1, 2011, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-phlogiston-theory-scientific/596139 "2011-10-01T01:30:15Z")
I’m having a (friendly!) debate with a pal over this. He says the theory was not scientific, as it made no testable nor falsifiable predictions. He acknowledges that it is a fairly good (if naive) explanation of the pr… --- ## [War. Give up, go all out, or something in between](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-give-up-go-all-out-or-something-in-between/597930)
**Author:** [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [September 30, 2011, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-give-up-go-all-out-or-something-in-between/597930 "2011-09-30T12:57:15Z")
Just pick up after this stuff fromthis thread: --- ## [The USPS closes. What will be the result?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-usps-closes-what-will-be-the-result/595295)
**Author:** [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Replies:** 152\ **Last updated:** [September 30, 2011, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-usps-closes-what-will-be-the-result/595295 "2011-09-30T02:41:07Z")
The latest news says the US Postal Service will, if trends continue and no action is taken, close down within a year. While I think that is unlikely, what would life be like if that did happen? \[Warning – the above lin… --- ## [Did Jesus ever get drunk?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-jesus-ever-get-drunk/596503)
**Author:** [@Pashnish\_Ewing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pashnish_Ewing)\ **Replies:** 93\ **Last updated:** [September 29, 2011, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-jesus-ever-get-drunk/596503 "2011-09-29T21:53:08Z")
Watching this video of Holy Rollers chastising college students at Vanderbilt with comments like “no drunkard will enter the kingdom of heaven” made me wonder…With all that wine drinking in the bible, did Jesus ever get … --- ## [Bush's Next War Thread: Ten Years Later](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-next-war-thread-ten-years-later/596784)
**Author:** [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Replies:** 11\ **Last updated:** [September 28, 2011, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-next-war-thread-ten-years-later/596784 "2011-09-28T17:20:24Z")
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=56005&highlight=Laden I’ve discovered this thread and in accordance with the rule banning bumps I will use this thread to make a few comments. First of all I find a … --- ## [What has Rick Perry done to alienate conservatives](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-rick-perry-done-to-alienate-conservatives/597009)
**Author:** [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Replies:** 89\ **Last updated:** [September 28, 2011, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-rick-perry-done-to-alienate-conservatives/597009 "2011-09-28T16:38:07Z")
He was built up as something big when he first came on the scene, but some of his background stuff seems to be working against him. He supported Al Gore for president in 1988, he wrote a letter to Hillary Clinton in 1993… --- ## [Banning Dangerous Sports](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banning-dangerous-sports/596736)
**Author:** [@Atomic\_Alex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atomic_Alex)\ **Replies:** 105\ **Last updated:** [September 28, 2011, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banning-dangerous-sports/596736 "2011-09-28T02:13:07Z")
After the incident during the Reno Air Races there have been calls to ban the sport because of the dangers involved. This is heard every time an accident occurs at any dangerous sporting event, questions are asked after … --- ## [Do Schools Teach Subversive Literature to Subvert Its Message?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-schools-teach-subversive-literature-to-subvert-its-message/529380)
**Author:** [@A.Selene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A.Selene)\ **Replies:** 57\ **Last updated:** [September 28, 2011, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-schools-teach-subversive-literature-to-subvert-its-message/529380 "2011-09-28T02:06:44Z")
Inspired by the recent thread on JD Salinger’s death, and in particular, cricetus’s post: I read Salinger and Orwell in high school, and probably enjoyed The Catcher in the Rye and 1984 more than any other work I was a… --- ## [The police lie, or the Deaths of Jean-Charles "Speedy" de Menezes, Mark Duggan, Mohammad Kahar, etc.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-police-lie-or-the-deaths-of-jean-charles-speedy-de-menezes-mark-duggan-mohammad-kahar-etc/596706)
**Author:** [@blindboyard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blindboyard)\ **Replies:** 8\ **Last updated:** [September 28, 2011, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-police-lie-or-the-deaths-of-jean-charles-speedy-de-menezes-mark-duggan-mohammad-kahar-etc/596706 "2011-09-28T01:40:54Z")
Now the riots following the shooting of Mark Duggan down London way are long-over, I’ve been thinking about the impunity of the police who murdered him. I could accept that in the heat of the moment an armed police offic… --- ## [Would a directly elected UN Organ be of any use](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-directly-elected-un-organ-be-of-any-use/597640)
**Author:** [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Replies:** 16\ **Last updated:** [September 27, 2011, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-directly-elected-un-organ-be-of-any-use/597640 "2011-09-27T17:54:29Z")
I believe that there has been a proposal in the past to have such an organ. So lets say a directly elected “Peoples Assembly” with each country getting a number of seats related to but not directly proportional to popu… --- ## [Keeping bank exec contracts while breaking union contracts](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keeping-bank-exec-contracts-while-breaking-union-contracts/597602)
**Author:** [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Replies:** 18\ **Last updated:** [September 27, 2011, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keeping-bank-exec-contracts-while-breaking-union-contracts/597602 "2011-09-27T12:58:48Z")
Although all I’d like for this to be a GQ thread, I know the nature would cause this to wind up in here in GD. Back when people were getting outraged over bank execs making big bonuses what I heard in the news was that … [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=363) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=365)