# Great Debates **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=416 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 417 --- ## [What would real gender equality be like?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-real-gender-equality-be-like/564959)
**Author:** [@Acid\_Lamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acid_Lamp)\ **Replies:** 14\ **Last updated:** [December 23, 2010, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-real-gender-equality-be-like/564959 "2010-12-23T02:59:16Z")
A couple of recent threads have me thinking. Do we really want true equality of the sexes? Let’s use a fictional example to debate with: Welcome to Acidia, a socialist democracy based loosely on the United States. In A… --- ## [Is 'Simulation' possible?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-simulation-possible/565021)
**Author:** [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\ **Replies:** 19\ **Last updated:** [December 22, 2010, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-simulation-possible/565021 "2010-12-22T22:27:14Z")
I even heard Dawkins consider it, though I don’t have a site. I would hate to get all Matrix-like; But could we all just be experiencing a “false reality?” I don’t know where to put this thread, so I apologize if it’s … --- ## [What did McCains remarks mean re DADT-elites-sacrifice...](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-mccains-remarks-mean-re-dadt-elites-sacrifice/564693)
**Author:** [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Replies:** 64\ **Last updated:** [December 22, 2010, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-mccains-remarks-mean-re-dadt-elites-sacrifice/564693 "2010-12-22T21:59:21Z")
What is he saying, exactly? --- ## [Defend Senate Republicans denying 1st responders for the rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defend-senate-republicans-denying-1st-responders-for-the-rich/564489)
**Author:** [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Replies:** 63\ **Last updated:** [December 22, 2010, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defend-senate-republicans-denying-1st-responders-for-the-rich/564489 "2010-12-22T20:48:41Z")
Last straw. Last chance. All pretense to good faith, legitimate intention, sincere desire to serve the public good - gone. There is simply no excuse. I could spew all the things about the Senate Republicans that make t… --- ## [Moscow Newspaper Novaya Gazeta to release Russian materials supplied by Wikileaks.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moscow-newspaper-novaya-gazeta-to-release-russian-materials-supplied-by-wikileaks/565097)
**Author:** [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [December 22, 2010, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moscow-newspaper-novaya-gazeta-to-release-russian-materials-supplied-by-wikileaks/565097 "2010-12-22T20:40:32Z")
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-12-22/wikileaks-joins-forces-with-billionaire-lebedev-gorbachev.html Take note, those of you who said that Wikileaks was specifically targetting the U.S. --- ## [Biblical Question](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biblical-question/564928)
**Author:** [@copperwindow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/copperwindow)\ **Replies:** 26\ **Last updated:** [December 22, 2010, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biblical-question/564928 "2010-12-22T18:54:55Z")
Was God dead? After Jesus was died on the cross, and if so for how long? If Jesus was (and is, and still is) god, does that mean that God and Jesus were actually dead for some time? Is the word “life” really applicabl… --- ## [Lefties who are angry at Obama are misguided](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lefties-who-are-angry-at-obama-are-misguided/563820)
**Author:** [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Replies:** 165\ **Last updated:** [December 22, 2010, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lefties-who-are-angry-at-obama-are-misguided/563820 "2010-12-22T18:06:55Z")
The current anger and deep disappointment toward Obama from some on the Left comes from a misperception of what has been accomplished, and wishful thinking about what was possible. Obama has enacted more of his party’s … --- ## [Is Karma a really a myth, ...or is it real?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-karma-a-really-a-myth-or-is-it-real/564114)
**Author:** [@K-MAN](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K-MAN)\ **Replies:** 33\ **Last updated:** [December 22, 2010, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-karma-a-really-a-myth-or-is-it-real/564114 "2010-12-22T05:51:26Z")
Have any of you actually experienced something, where you found yourself saying, wow, that’s Karma (Good or Bad)? --- ## [Is liberalism dying worldwide?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-liberalism-dying-worldwide/564221)
**Author:** [@HRoark43](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HRoark43)\ **Replies:** 256\ **Last updated:** [December 22, 2010, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-liberalism-dying-worldwide/564221 "2010-12-22T02:13:49Z")
I never thought I’d see it in my lifetime. Europe is cutting back on its Government to make up for enormous budget shortfalls. Cuba has admitted communism is a failure. Patriotic Americans have staged a massive electoral… --- ## [Dopers in 12-step recovery: Would you break anonymity if you heard someone tell of a serious crime?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-in-12-step-recovery-would-you-break-anonymity-if-you-heard-someone-tell-of-a-serious-crime/564962)
**Author:** [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [December 21, 2010, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-in-12-step-recovery-would-you-break-anonymity-if-you-heard-someone-tell-of-a-serious-crime/564962 "2010-12-21T23:33:06Z")
Ok, let’s just get one issue out of the way right up front - this thread is NOT intended to debate the merits of A.A. (or similar programs) as a whole, or whether they work or not. If you have some grudge or hatred for … --- ## [Virgin Mary Apparitions](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/virgin-mary-apparitions/474309)
**Author:** [@pixelfreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pixelfreak)\ **Replies:** 145\ **Last updated:** [December 21, 2010, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/virgin-mary-apparitions/474309 "2010-12-21T21:47:19Z")
Can apparitions of the Virgin Mary be explained away? I think these two are among the hardest to dispute: She appeared to three kids in Fatima, Portugal and they announced a miracle would occur to make people believe a… --- ## [What qualifies someone as a Holocaust survivor?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-qualifies-someone-as-a-holocaust-survivor/560605)
**Author:** [@acetylene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/acetylene)\ **Replies:** 79\ **Last updated:** [December 21, 2010, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-qualifies-someone-as-a-holocaust-survivor/560605 "2010-12-21T20:26:55Z")
This article refers to George Soros as a Holocaust survivor. So does this one. Yet according to Wikipedia He didn’t suffer in a concentration camp, he handed out deportation notices for the Nazis. Not exactly the same … --- ## [Are people in the world starving? Can't we help?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-people-in-the-world-starving-cant-we-help/564218)
**Author:** [@Recliner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Recliner)\ **Replies:** 54\ **Last updated:** [December 21, 2010, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-people-in-the-world-starving-cant-we-help/564218 "2010-12-21T18:41:35Z")
So, I’m reading the (much-recommended) “Our Dumb World”, the Onion’s humorous world atlas. Humor aside, the “Africa” section has got me wondering about how bad things really are, both in Africa and elsewhere. While its… --- ## [How do the Tea Partiers feel about the Wikileaks issue?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-the-tea-partiers-feel-about-the-wikileaks-issue/563293)
**Author:** [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Replies:** 30\ **Last updated:** [December 21, 2010, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-the-tea-partiers-feel-about-the-wikileaks-issue/563293 "2010-12-21T17:49:14Z")
No, serious question. The Tea Party is apparently the most vigorous political movement of the moment – the TP’s take on anything not directly addressed in its various platform statements, such as the Contract from Ameri… --- ## [Dream Act fails.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dream-act-fails/564641)
**Author:** [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Replies:** 91\ **Last updated:** [December 21, 2010, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dream-act-fails/564641 "2010-12-21T15:12:53Z")
Five short. A real shame. But to keep this a GD thread, albeit a Pit would not be inappropriate for how I feel, what will be the ramifications of this vote? I posit that this will end up neutral and not really in the … --- ## [morality and the color blue](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morality-and-the-color-blue/564687)
**Author:** [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tao_s_Revenge)\ **Replies:** 24\ **Last updated:** [December 21, 2010, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morality-and-the-color-blue/564687 "2010-12-21T07:54:56Z")
In metaphysics there’s this thing calledQualia. It’s a fancy Latin word used to mean the essence, or quality of consciousness. In sight for example it’s the difference between the human mind that sees the picture and the… --- ## ["The Pedophile’s Guide to Love and Pleasure" and Amazon](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pedophile-s-guide-to-love-and-pleasure-and-amazon/560388)
**Author:** [@Pierrot\_Le\_Fou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pierrot_Le_Fou)\ **Replies:** 280\ **Last updated:** [December 21, 2010, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pedophile-s-guide-to-love-and-pleasure-and-amazon/560388 "2010-12-21T03:45:31Z")
Amazon recently came under scrutiny for selling The Pedophile’s Guide to Love and Pleasure. Amazon’s initial response was to continue selling it. (This settlement is somewhat odd considering that Amazon refuses to sell… --- ## [Countdown To Armageddon - Will North Korea Do It Just To Save Face?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countdown-to-armageddon-will-north-korea-do-it-just-to-save-face/564777)
**Author:** [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Replies:** 26\ **Last updated:** [December 21, 2010, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countdown-to-armageddon-will-north-korea-do-it-just-to-save-face/564777 "2010-12-21T03:07:03Z")
South Korea orders residents to take shelter in anticipation of drills - CNN.com A review of the news reports the last few days indicate North Korea will (not might) respond militarily if South Korea goes ahead with i… --- ## [Healthcare Reform Down In Flames?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/healthcare-reform-down-in-flames/564004)
**Author:** [@flickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flickster)\ **Replies:** 364\ **Last updated:** [December 21, 2010, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/healthcare-reform-down-in-flames/564004 "2010-12-21T01:59:29Z")
Ruling Now what, other than the expected appeal? --- ## [Will the end of DADT effect DOMA?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-end-of-dadt-effect-doma/564742)
**Author:** [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Replies:** 17\ **Last updated:** [December 21, 2010, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-end-of-dadt-effect-doma/564742 "2010-12-21T01:07:11Z")
Am I right to be optimistic that the end of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” will lead to overturning the Defense of Marriage Act? --- ## [Is there such thing as photographic evidence?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-such-thing-as-photographic-evidence/564747)
**Author:** [@Blut\_Aus\_Nord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blut_Aus_Nord)\ **Replies:** 13\ **Last updated:** [December 20, 2010, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-such-thing-as-photographic-evidence/564747 "2010-12-20T21:39:45Z")
In other words, considering how widespread and easily accessible photo manipulation technology has become, how can a professionally doctored photograph be distinguished from a legitimate one? And if there is no foolproof… --- ## [Would it have been (morally) murder if a slave killed his master?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-have-been-morally-murder-if-a-slave-killed-his-master/564546)
**Author:** [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Replies:** 94\ **Last updated:** [December 20, 2010, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-have-been-morally-murder-if-a-slave-killed-his-master/564546 "2010-12-20T19:01:40Z")
Please note that I’m not in any way talking about (or interested in) whether at the time (or even now) this action would be considered LEGALLY murder- I’m purely interested whether it would be considered morally/ethicall… --- ## [Gov't spending: austerity coming? Should it be run like a household budget?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govt-spending-austerity-coming-should-it-be-run-like-a-household-budget/564824)
**Author:** [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Replies:** 17\ **Last updated:** [December 20, 2010, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govt-spending-austerity-coming-should-it-be-run-like-a-household-budget/564824 "2010-12-20T17:25:00Z")
Some liberals/progressives I’ve come across opine that steep, drastic cuts in government spending (that of course, in their opinion, strike the middle and lower classes and don’t touch the rich) are a done deal, inevit… --- ## [GQ as GD: Facts vs. opinions re: the afterlife and other unprovable stuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gq-as-gd-facts-vs-opinions-re-the-afterlife-and-other-unprovable-stuff/562876)
**Author:** [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Replies:** 531\ **Last updated:** [December 20, 2010, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gq-as-gd-facts-vs-opinions-re-the-afterlife-and-other-unprovable-stuff/562876 "2010-12-20T16:52:51Z")
I am prepared to be shown that I am wrong about this, because it’s bound (or maybe it isn’t?, we shall see) to get all science-y, and I freely confess that my brain shrinks like testicles on ice when people start throwin… --- ## [Is the Biblical 'Nazareth' a mistranslation?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-biblical-nazareth-a-mistranslation/563922)
**Author:** [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Replies:** 22\ **Last updated:** [December 20, 2010, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-biblical-nazareth-a-mistranslation/563922 "2010-12-20T16:27:45Z")
You find the damnedest things in the fortune files: This is interesting and somewhat amusing, if true. However, I’ve never heard of anything like this before and that makes me skeptical. On the gripping hand, however, … --- ## [Is a constitution like an operating system?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-constitution-like-an-operating-system/564776)
**Author:** [@The\_Amazing\_Hanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Amazing_Hanna)\ **Replies:** 13\ **Last updated:** [December 20, 2010, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-constitution-like-an-operating-system/564776 "2010-12-20T06:17:08Z")
Imagine a constitution as an operating system. Like Windows or OS X. Imagine amendments as patches. Imagine social ills as viruses and other exploits. Imagine founding fathers as the Bill Gates and Steve Jobses who on… --- ## [Mandatory health insurance vs mandatory primary education](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mandatory-health-insurance-vs-mandatory-primary-education/564366)
**Author:** [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Replies:** 39\ **Last updated:** [December 20, 2010, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mandatory-health-insurance-vs-mandatory-primary-education/564366 "2010-12-20T03:25:08Z")
Seems like there may be a fundamental US constitutional firewall that will prevent the US from enjoying some form of UHC. The key seems to be that you can’t make an American do something he doesn’t want to do, exept pay … --- ## [China holding the world to ransom? (\*rare earth)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/china-holding-the-world-to-ransom-rare-earth/564210)
**Author:** [@Sablicious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sablicious)\ **Replies:** 27\ **Last updated:** [December 20, 2010, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/china-holding-the-world-to-ransom-rare-earth/564210 "2010-12-20T00:43:15Z")
It was announced today-ish that China are increasing tarrifs on their rare earth exports. This means everything from flat screen TVs to laser-guided missles will become more expensive to produce as the access to these m… --- ## [Come All Ye Secularists](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-all-ye-secularists/563861)
**Author:** [@Hold\_Fast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hold_Fast)\ **Replies:** 106\ **Last updated:** [December 19, 2010, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-all-ye-secularists/563861 "2010-12-19T22:48:51Z")
Alright. I’ve been trying to get something like this down for awhile, but due to schedule issues recently I knew I wouldn’t be able to maintain the OP very well. Now though, I should be able to keep it running as long … --- ## [European Far-Right](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/european-far-right/564083)
**Author:** [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Replies:** 52\ **Last updated:** [December 19, 2010, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/european-far-right/564083 "2010-12-19T04:51:36Z")
If Europe overall is more to the left than the United States in political orientation why is it that the Far Right there is far stronger? For instance Jean Marie Le-Pen won almost one-fifth of the vote in Presidential el… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=415) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=417)