# Great Debates **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=408 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 409 --- ## [What person who died young would have changed history the most had they lived longer?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-person-who-died-young-would-have-changed-history-the-most-had-they-lived-longer/568485)
**Author:** [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Replies:** 80\ **Last updated:** [February 1, 2011, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-person-who-died-young-would-have-changed-history-the-most-had-they-lived-longer/568485 "2011-02-01T19:25:09Z")
Young can be interpreted liberally. For example I’ll open with an obvious one- Alexander the Great- he lived to be 32 and combined the Greek speaking lands with the Persian Empire, forever changing history by combining… --- ## [Help!! My cousin is retarted!!!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-cousin-is-retarted/569759)
**Author:** [@copperwindow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/copperwindow)\ **Replies:** 34\ **Last updated:** [February 1, 2011, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-cousin-is-retarted/569759 "2011-02-01T15:33:29Z")
I have a cousin who, I just found out, is mentally retarded. Can he go to heaven when he dies? --- ## [Schrodinger's Lottery](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schrodingers-lottery/569466)
**Author:** [@mcott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mcott)\ **Replies:** 23\ **Last updated:** [February 1, 2011, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schrodingers-lottery/569466 "2011-02-01T14:37:02Z")
If the act of observation affects the observed, how should one approach buying lottery tickets? If I buy a “quick pick”, ie: random numbers generated by the lottery machine, do I look at my numbers then and there, or wa… --- ## [Handicap the Egyptian outcome.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicap-the-egyptian-outcome/569753)
**Author:** [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [February 1, 2011, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicap-the-egyptian-outcome/569753 "2011-02-01T06:00:55Z")
You’re a Vegas bookie and you want to accept bets on the outcome of the Egyptian regimes result in two years (no one is interested in interim governments or other waffling bullshit). Based on what you know this minute w… --- ## [No, America does not need RW civility. America needs LW vitriol.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-america-does-not-need-rw-civility-america-needs-lw-vitriol/568474)
**Author:** [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Replies:** 192\ **Last updated:** [February 1, 2011, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-america-does-not-need-rw-civility-america-needs-lw-vitriol/568474 "2011-02-01T02:13:39Z")
Og, “Bob” and Allah, lefties! Quit bringing a casserole to a gunfight! “The Revolution is not a dinner party!” The only way to deal with an in-your-face evangelist is to denounce him right back, in moralistic terms, a… --- ## [Isn't the US snubbing China's prime minister on human rights grounds a bit rich?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-the-us-snubbing-chinas-prime-minister-on-human-rights-grounds-a-bit-rich/568484)
**Author:** [@Illuminatiprimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuminatiprimus)\ **Replies:** 40\ **Last updated:** [February 1, 2011, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-the-us-snubbing-chinas-prime-minister-on-human-rights-grounds-a-bit-rich/568484 "2011-02-01T01:20:19Z")
So this week Hu Jintao is visiting Washington as part of ongoing good will talks with the US and to discuss additional trade agreements. In an act of what I can only call blatant hypocrisy, the US congress makes it clear… --- ## [Cost-benefit analysis, applied to regulations, is a crock.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cost-benefit-analysis-applied-to-regulations-is-a-crock/568770)
**Author:** [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Replies:** 23\ **Last updated:** [January 31, 2011, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cost-benefit-analysis-applied-to-regulations-is-a-crock/568770 "2011-01-31T20:33:41Z")
Resolved: When it comes to regulation, cost-benefit analysis is arbitrary, & stupid if not disingenuous. If one is talking about government expenditure as such, then cost-benefit analysis might be meaningful, though it … --- ## [Should corporations that do business in and with dicatorships be boycotted?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-corporations-that-do-business-in-and-with-dicatorships-be-boycotted/569331)
**Author:** [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Replies:** 21\ **Last updated:** [January 31, 2011, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-corporations-that-do-business-in-and-with-dicatorships-be-boycotted/569331 "2011-01-31T16:40:56Z")
Reading the coverage of events in Egypt and how the government was able to instruct phone companies to shut down mobile phone networks brought the idea to my head. There’s probably the \*realpolitik \*thing that if you sta… --- ## [What caused the trouble in Egypt? (My bro says it was Wikileaks)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-caused-the-trouble-in-egypt-my-bro-says-it-was-wikileaks/569516)
**Author:** [@The\_Jay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Jay)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [January 31, 2011, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-caused-the-trouble-in-egypt-my-bro-says-it-was-wikileaks/569516 "2011-01-31T15:28:48Z")
Pardon my ignorance, but all this trouble in Egypt seemed to come out of nowhere. What caused it all? My brother says that Wikileaks is a base cause of it, and he says that recent trouble in Tunisia is no different. (i.… --- ## [Anti-death penalty and Christ.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-death-penalty-and-christ/568414)
**Author:** [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Replies:** 80\ **Last updated:** [January 31, 2011, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-death-penalty-and-christ/568414 "2011-01-31T14:27:54Z")
So most of my life I was staunchly in favor of the death penalty. Through mellowing with age, my reconnecting with my Catholic faith and the realization of my own hypocrisy in light of being pro-life I’m now against the … --- ## [What would REALLY happen if the 2nd Amendment were repealed?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-really-happen-if-the-2nd-amendment-were-repealed/569305)
**Author:** [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Replies:** 179\ **Last updated:** [January 31, 2011, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-really-happen-if-the-2nd-amendment-were-repealed/569305 "2011-01-31T13:54:17Z")
NRA-types, all of your worst nightmares just came true: the issue is no longer up for debate; the 2nd Amendment has been repealed and Federal agents are going house-to-house, door-to-door collecting ALL firearms, registe… --- ## [How would Lincoln have run Reconstruction?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-lincoln-have-run-reconstruction/569392)
**Author:** [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [January 30, 2011, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-lincoln-have-run-reconstruction/569392 "2011-01-30T21:30:53Z")
I read in What Lincoln Believed, by Michael Lind, that Lincoln remained a colonizationist almost to the end of his life – that is, like all white Americans of his time except the most radical wing of the Abolitionists, h… --- ## [The Woodsman - Deserving of Sympathy?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woodsman-deserving-of-sympathy/310247)
**Author:** [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Replies:** 32\ **Last updated:** [January 30, 2011, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woodsman-deserving-of-sympathy/310247 "2011-01-30T21:02:52Z")
I recently watched Kevin Bacon in “The Woodsman”. I thought it was a very good movie. Much to my surprise, I found myself feeling a lot of sympathy for his character, which made me wonder what the teeming millions feel a… --- ## [Why is Sarah Palin considered the de facto leader of the Republican party?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-sarah-palin-considered-the-de-facto-leader-of-the-republican-party/567525)
**Author:** [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Replies:** 129\ **Last updated:** [January 30, 2011, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-sarah-palin-considered-the-de-facto-leader-of-the-republican-party/567525 "2011-01-30T16:28:33Z")
I have found it interesting this week as the media reports on the political responses to the tragic shooting in Tuscon last Saturday, and the plethora of threads here in GD, IMHO, and the Pit, they all seem to position S… --- ## [Is social reform through the courts ever preferable to reform through the legislature?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-social-reform-through-the-courts-ever-preferable-to-reform-through-the-legislature/569169)
**Author:** [@Laudenum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laudenum)\ **Replies:** 49\ **Last updated:** [January 30, 2011, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-social-reform-through-the-courts-ever-preferable-to-reform-through-the-legislature/569169 "2011-01-30T07:53:18Z")
Once more I am in a debate, but this time the topic is: This puzzles me, because as far as I’m concerned it is ALWAYS better to seek reform through the legislature. Reforms forced by an unelected judiciary are undemocr… --- ## [Stuxnet Worm Used By Israel On Iranian Centrifuges](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuxnet-worm-used-by-israel-on-iranian-centrifuges/569047)
**Author:** [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Replies:** 69\ **Last updated:** [January 30, 2011, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuxnet-worm-used-by-israel-on-iranian-centrifuges/569047 "2011-01-30T02:02:08Z")
According to this NY Times article: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/16/world/middleeast/16stuxnet.html the Stuxnet worm was developed by a joint US and Israeli classified program to assume command of the controllers made … --- ## [Do we need GMO's to support the current world population?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-need-gmos-to-support-the-current-world-population/569338)
**Author:** [@silk1976](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silk1976)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [January 29, 2011, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-need-gmos-to-support-the-current-world-population/569338 "2011-01-29T20:30:43Z")
In the debate about organic vs GMO grown foods, one of the common arguments I hear in favor of GMO’s is that they are necessary to support the world population of 6 billion people. For a while I bought into this thinkin… --- ## [What does Olbermann leaving MSNBC say](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-olbermann-leaving-msnbc-say/569003)
**Author:** [@freemal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freemal2)\ **Replies:** 29\ **Last updated:** [January 29, 2011, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-olbermann-leaving-msnbc-say/569003 "2011-01-29T16:12:24Z")
Keith Olbermann recently left MSNBC. I have heard a few speculated reasons for this including the aquisition of NBC by Comcast and butting heads with NBC executives who wanted him to tone down the rhetoric. What I find… --- ## [Reforming the tax code](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reforming-the-tax-code/569110)
**Author:** [@sweeteviljesus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweeteviljesus)\ **Replies:** 41\ **Last updated:** [January 29, 2011, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reforming-the-tax-code/569110 "2011-01-29T04:31:57Z")
Apparently, many economists support the idea of reforming the U.S. tax code. What do they have in mind, how broad is the consensus and how sensible are the ideas? Bonus question: how likely is reform to happen? Thanks… --- ## [What to do with psychopaths?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-psychopaths/358373)
**Author:** [@MGorgon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MGorgon)\ **Replies:** 54\ **Last updated:** [January 29, 2011, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-psychopaths/358373 "2011-01-29T01:15:15Z")
A psychopath is a person literally without empathy, guilt, and no comprehension of consequence. They’re usually smart, but it isn’t in all of them. Now since there is no cure for this horrible condition, and is not lea… --- ## [Is Robert Fisk all he's cracked up to be?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-robert-fisk-all-hes-cracked-up-to-be/569039)
**Author:** [@Ryan\_Liam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ryan_Liam)\ **Replies:** 66\ **Last updated:** [January 28, 2011, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-robert-fisk-all-hes-cracked-up-to-be/569039 "2011-01-28T23:31:26Z")
I’ve read about the guy and I respect the fact he lived in the Middle East for 30 years (notably Lebanon) I respect the fact he was one of the first Western journalists in Afghanistan in 2001, and I respect the fact he h… --- ## [Earmarks question](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earmarks-question/569231)
**Author:** [@MikeF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeF)\ **Replies:** 33\ **Last updated:** [January 28, 2011, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earmarks-question/569231 "2011-01-28T21:49:23Z")
With the earmark debate seeming to bubble up again , how can any politician defend them? Enough of them do that no legislation banning then can get anywhere. Can someone tell me what is good about them and give me a cohe… --- ## [Did Lee Harvey Oswald have an escape plan?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-lee-harvey-oswald-have-an-escape-plan/540016)
**Author:** [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Replies:** 93\ **Last updated:** [January 28, 2011, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-lee-harvey-oswald-have-an-escape-plan/540016 "2011-01-28T17:46:17Z")
If you accept as a given (as I do) that the evidence is overwhelming that Lee Harvey Oswald killed JFK, and that there is no credible evidence that Oswald was operating as part of a conspiracy, then the question remains,… --- ## [What to do if your kid is a psychopath?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-if-your-kid-is-a-psychopath/366617)
**Author:** [@LeftFootRightFoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LeftFootRightFoot)\ **Replies:** 66\ **Last updated:** [January 28, 2011, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-if-your-kid-is-a-psychopath/366617 "2011-01-28T16:36:04Z")
Psychopaths being a person with a total lack of ethics, morality, guilt, remorse, empathy, all that good stuff that makes us who we are. They light kitten tails on fire and have very poor judgement skills. What would y… --- ## [Should credit card interest be tax deductable?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-credit-card-interest-be-tax-deductable/569041)
**Author:** [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Replies:** 30\ **Last updated:** [January 28, 2011, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-credit-card-interest-be-tax-deductable/569041 "2011-01-28T15:52:28Z")
Back in 1986 Ronald Regan signed the Tax Reform act of 1986 which stopped people from being able to deduct interest from their federal taxes for things like credit cards and car loans. Why was that a good idea then, and… --- ## [Did the USSR want to conquer the US?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-ussr-want-to-conquer-the-us/568954)
**Author:** [@HubZilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HubZilla)\ **Replies:** 61\ **Last updated:** [January 28, 2011, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-ussr-want-to-conquer-the-us/568954 "2011-01-28T09:16:21Z")
As a child of the 80s, I remember how we thought of the USSR as our enemy. Korean Airlines 007, arms race, political cartoons with the Eagle and Bear facing off, the 80 and 84 Olympic boycotts. Movies like Red Dawn, War … --- ## [There is no reason to obey traffic lights](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-no-reason-to-obey-traffic-lights/569173)
**Author:** [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Replies:** 49\ **Last updated:** [January 28, 2011, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-no-reason-to-obey-traffic-lights/569173 "2011-01-28T02:24:23Z")
On what authority was it decided that green should be “go” and red should be “stop?” Seems to me to be a completely arbitrary rule, decided by a minority of people in power with no input from those who might prefer it th… --- ## [5 most strongest countries.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-most-strongest-countries/568672)
**Author:** [@racna1305](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racna1305)\ **Replies:** 111\ **Last updated:** [January 27, 2011, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-most-strongest-countries/568672 "2011-01-27T19:49:11Z")
1.usa 2. China 3.Russia 4.UK 5.still debating China might be number 1 but america has more advanced technology. China I dont think would be able to supply their massive army. They would however would be a hell of a … --- ## [Times Omsbudsman: Possibly "Palin, Rush, Beck Responsible For Shooting!" Was Teeniest Bit Premature](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-omsbudsman-possibly-palin-rush-beck-responsible-for-shooting-was-teeniest-bit-premature/568336)
**Author:** [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Replies:** 175\ **Last updated:** [January 27, 2011, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-omsbudsman-possibly-palin-rush-beck-responsible-for-shooting-was-teeniest-bit-premature/568336 "2011-01-27T18:53:42Z")
From Times Ombudsman Arthur Brisbane’s critique of his paper’s coverage of the Tuscon shootings: Why? Because: But there were reasons. Good reasons. Genetic reasons. I imagine that’s as close as we’re going to get… --- ## [Santorum's abortion play. Why?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/santorums-abortion-play-why/568912)
**Author:** [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Replies:** 31\ **Last updated:** [January 27, 2011, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/santorums-abortion-play-why/568912 "2011-01-27T11:38:37Z")
Recently Santorum did a Godwin equivalent, and compared Obama to Stephen Douglas dismissing the Rights of slaves for his position of Reproductive Choice. The Religious Right has not really been a factor recently and whil… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=407) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=409)