# Great Debates **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=425 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 426 --- ## [Mod Dems: Do you want Nancy Pelosi to stick around?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mod-dems-do-you-want-nancy-pelosi-to-stick-around/559696)
**Author:** [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Replies:** 23\ **Last updated:** [November 8, 2010, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mod-dems-do-you-want-nancy-pelosi-to-stick-around/559696 "2010-11-08T00:42:32Z")
I’ll bet most liberals and conservatives do … but for different reasons. How about the moderates? --- ## [Have people that are self aligned with a political party, biased by their own allegiances?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-people-that-are-self-aligned-with-a-political-party-biased-by-their-own-allegiances/559620)
**Author:** [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Replies:** 8\ **Last updated:** [November 7, 2010, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-people-that-are-self-aligned-with-a-political-party-biased-by-their-own-allegiances/559620 "2010-11-07T20:37:18Z")
I believe that the manner in which people that align themselves with a particular party is very similar to sports fans that align themselves with a particular team. Just like sports fans that think their team is always … --- ## [How is a biological male feeling female different from me feeling like Napoleon?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-a-biological-male-feeling-female-different-from-me-feeling-like-napoleon/537608)
**Author:** [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Replies:** 109\ **Last updated:** [November 7, 2010, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-a-biological-male-feeling-female-different-from-me-feeling-like-napoleon/537608 "2010-11-07T18:02:57Z")
The title explains it all. I don’t understand why one is a psychological disorder and the other isn’t. Why shouldn’t we treat transgenders with psychological therapy instead of surgery and hormones? --- ## [Will there every be another US Presidential election decided in a landslide?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-every-be-another-us-presidential-election-decided-in-a-landslide/559796)
**Author:** [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [November 7, 2010, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-every-be-another-us-presidential-election-decided-in-a-landslide/559796 "2010-11-07T17:22:23Z")
Is it possible that the US will have a presidential election decided in a 1984, 1972, or 1964 type landslide election? I don’t think so. I think an election like 2008 is about as much of a landslide as the US is likely … --- ## [Judicial system.. why is stare decicis so sacred?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judicial-system-why-is-stare-decicis-so-sacred/559571)
**Author:** [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Replies:** 14\ **Last updated:** [November 7, 2010, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judicial-system-why-is-stare-decicis-so-sacred/559571 "2010-11-07T16:45:27Z")
I know that it is often difficult to understand and interpret the constitution…and then apply it to changing circumstances. It seems however, that once a judge or a few judges think they have it figured out then that’s … --- ## [Doctor refuses to give vasectomy w/o partner's consent](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-refuses-to-give-vasectomy-w-o-partners-consent/559383)
**Author:** [@Gestalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gestalt)\ **Replies:** 29\ **Last updated:** [November 7, 2010, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-refuses-to-give-vasectomy-w-o-partners-consent/559383 "2010-11-07T16:20:09Z")
This is a debate my friend and I were having, and I thought I’d move it over here to get a wider spectrum of opinions. We’re both very big on reproductive freedom for men and women, but I said that if I were a doctor wh… --- ## [Obama signs iPad; Palin (allegedly) signs flag](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-signs-ipad-palin-allegedly-signs-flag/559563)
**Author:** [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Replies:** 23\ **Last updated:** [November 7, 2010, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-signs-ipad-palin-allegedly-signs-flag/559563 "2010-11-07T12:13:52Z")
Famous people have been signing things this week. First in the barrel: Barack Obama signs someone’s iPad. And while I give him bonus points for being tech-savvy enough to do it without a fuss, I do wonder whether havin… --- ## [In politics, keeping something on the table = definitely gonna do it?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-politics-keeping-something-on-the-table-definitely-gonna-do-it/559467)
**Author:** [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Replies:** 12\ **Last updated:** [November 7, 2010, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-politics-keeping-something-on-the-table-definitely-gonna-do-it/559467 "2010-11-07T02:24:37Z")
That’s what many liberal commentators/posters I’ve read vis a vis Obama’s apparent press conference remark that he wouldn’t completely rule out extending all the Bush era tax cuts. I can see the logic a bit, but I’m not… --- ## [Shot while cuffed and prone - justification?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shot-while-cuffed-and-prone-justification/480234)
**Author:** [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Replies:** 318\ **Last updated:** [November 7, 2010, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shot-while-cuffed-and-prone-justification/480234 "2010-11-07T01:43:17Z")
I just ran across this video (warning - violence) of a man being shot while under restraint in Oakland, CA. The victim - Oscar Grant - had been detained as part of a response to a reported fight on BART, although as I un… --- ## [Lord James of Blackheath: unearthed Illuminati conspiracy or completely nuts?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-james-of-blackheath-unearthed-illuminati-conspiracy-or-completely-nuts/559361)
**Author:** [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Replies:** 45\ **Last updated:** [November 6, 2010, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-james-of-blackheath-unearthed-illuminati-conspiracy-or-completely-nuts/559361 "2010-11-06T18:48:41Z")
Two days ago Lord James of Blackheath (a Conservative life peer in the UK House of Lords) said the following in the house of Lords: Don’t believe it happened? Check Hansard, the official record of the Commons and Lo… --- ## [Health Care Lawsuits Survive Dismissal in FL, VA](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/health-care-lawsuits-survive-dismissal-in-fl-va/557244)
**Author:** [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Replies:** 129\ **Last updated:** [November 6, 2010, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/health-care-lawsuits-survive-dismissal-in-fl-va/557244 "2010-11-06T16:20:10Z")
Federal courts in Florida and Virginia have issued rulings that keep alive the lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of the health care mandate. I still contend that the law is constitutional, but I no longer regar… --- ## [Is the Humane Society a PETA front?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-humane-society-a-peta-front/559516)
**Author:** [@figure9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/figure9)\ **Replies:** 16\ **Last updated:** [November 6, 2010, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-humane-society-a-peta-front/559516 "2010-11-06T14:14:22Z")
I have been hearing people talk about how the humane society HSUS has turned the corner and become radicalized. What I have heard is that the HSUS has been taken over by PETA and is trying to end animal husbandry in all … --- ## [Would Most New Yorkers Vote Giuliani For POTUS](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-most-new-yorkers-vote-giuliani-for-potus/559287)
**Author:** [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Replies:** 22\ **Last updated:** [November 6, 2010, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-most-new-yorkers-vote-giuliani-for-potus/559287 "2010-11-06T06:44:08Z")
Assuming Rudy Giuliani runs in 2012 would most New Yorkers who voted him for mayor vote for him for President and thus allow Giuliani to carry NYC and New York State? --- ## [Repubs have biggest gain since before WWII...](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repubs-have-biggest-gain-since-before-wwii/559333)
**Author:** [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)\ **Replies:** 69\ **Last updated:** [November 6, 2010, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repubs-have-biggest-gain-since-before-wwii/559333 "2010-11-06T01:34:49Z")
…and the stock market is down. OBVIOUSLY the markets hate the idea of Republicans having such a gain. --- ## [Should Gawker have published the O'Donnell 'One night stand story"?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-gawker-have-published-the-odonnell-one-night-stand-story/558863)
**Author:** [@Sri\_Theo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sri_Theo)\ **Replies:** 99\ **Last updated:** [November 5, 2010, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-gawker-have-published-the-odonnell-one-night-stand-story/558863 "2010-11-05T16:31:48Z")
I have a slight interest in the crazier aspects of US politics and I ran across a story from a ‘tabloid’ website called Gawker. It’s about the senate candidate Christine O’Donnell who’s renowned for her rather puritan at… --- ## [Does the economy really do better under 'pro-life and pro-family" candidates?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-economy-really-do-better-under-pro-life-and-pro-family-candidates/558864)
**Author:** [@leftfield6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leftfield6)\ **Replies:** 22\ **Last updated:** [November 5, 2010, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-economy-really-do-better-under-pro-life-and-pro-family-candidates/558864 "2010-11-05T05:43:57Z")
My wife’s cousin has posted up a Facebook post encouraging everyone to get out and vote on Tuesday for “pro-life and pro-family” candidates. In her effort to sway undecideds, she states that “evidence shows the the econ… --- ## [Municipal earnings taxes: Yay or nay?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/municipal-earnings-taxes-yay-or-nay/559190)
**Author:** [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Replies:** 33\ **Last updated:** [November 4, 2010, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/municipal-earnings-taxes-yay-or-nay/559190 "2010-11-04T20:35:25Z")
An earnings tax, in this case, refers to a tax on personal earnings in a municipality, even if one’s residence is elsewhere; as in St Louis (1%), Cincinnati (2%), NYC (3.5%),\* et alia\*. (Note that these percentages are p… --- ## [Yemeni Connection](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yemeni-connection/559489)
**Author:** [@newcomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newcomer)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [November 4, 2010, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yemeni-connection/559489 "2010-11-04T20:24:34Z")
Just the other day I was compelled to start a discussion on the ever ridiculous plot originating in Yemen but thought to myself I’ll just appear as a nut that has nothing better to do. But reading today’s article http://… --- ## [It's 1969: the Soviets land on the moon. Now what?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-1969-the-soviets-land-on-the-moon-now-what/557328)
**Author:** [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Replies:** 33\ **Last updated:** [November 4, 2010, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-1969-the-soviets-land-on-the-moon-now-what/557328 "2010-11-04T20:11:20Z")
Late June, 1969, 03:55 GMT: Descending the steps of the LK lunar lander, Cosmonaut Alexsy Leonov sets foot on the Sea of Rains. The Soviet Union has landed a man on the moon. It’s been a hard effort, and despite the mir… --- ## [Ending the Culture Wars](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ending-the-culture-wars/559222)
**Author:** [@Cagey\_Drifter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cagey_Drifter)\ **Replies:** 60\ **Last updated:** [November 4, 2010, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ending-the-culture-wars/559222 "2010-11-04T20:09:19Z")
As I think more and more about the escalating tensions in the US, I sense that our battles are increasingly coming down to seemingly irresolvable philosophical differences between groups of people that posit very incompa… --- ## [Inappropriate relationship](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inappropriate-relationship/558995)
**Author:** [@smileybastard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smileybastard)\ **Replies:** 143\ **Last updated:** [November 4, 2010, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inappropriate-relationship/558995 "2010-11-04T19:14:31Z")
Why does almost everyone consider a relationship innately bad between an adult and a minor over the age of consent inappropriate? While I see it could be a bad relationship like any other I fail to see why it is inatly … --- ## [Al Masjid Al Aqsa](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-masjid-al-aqsa/558196)
**Author:** [@Abisafyan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abisafyan)\ **Replies:** 111\ **Last updated:** [November 4, 2010, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-masjid-al-aqsa/558196 "2010-11-04T18:28:34Z")
Al Masjid Al Aqsa Part I Islam being the Divine Religion it is Divine Oriented. So its name, its origin, its averments, its nitty gritty and all of its injunctions, mandatory or prohibitory and including the world t… --- ## [Any Citizens United effects/reverberations on elections, now and in the future?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-citizens-united-effects-reverberations-on-elections-now-and-in-the-future/559294)
**Author:** [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [November 4, 2010, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-citizens-united-effects-reverberations-on-elections-now-and-in-the-future/559294 "2010-11-04T12:52:13Z")
(Considered putting this in the '10 election forum, but I’m also concerned about the future too, so I decided to put it here.) Now that the results are coming in, we’re pretty close to having had our first round of elec… --- ## [Any Christians here not consider Catholics to be Christians?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-christians-here-not-consider-catholics-to-be-christians/558200)
**Author:** [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Replies:** 75\ **Last updated:** [November 4, 2010, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-christians-here-not-consider-catholics-to-be-christians/558200 "2010-11-04T12:50:53Z")
If so, why not? I’m an atheist, and was raised as a protestant Christian. I don’t recall anyone ever saying Catholics were not Christians. They were just different Christians. One of my guilty pleasures is to peruse … --- ## [Digital fabricators: what effect on the world?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/digital-fabricators-what-effect-on-the-world/559032)
**Author:** [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Replies:** 45\ **Last updated:** [November 4, 2010, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/digital-fabricators-what-effect-on-the-world/559032 "2010-11-04T12:13:24Z")
Digital fabricators (“fabbers”) are devices that can take a digital model of an object and “print” it as a real-world object – like the replicators in Star Trek. Current fabbers just produce simple plastic prototypes bu… --- ## [Why do I have to accept junk mail?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-have-to-accept-junk-mail/558936)
**Author:** [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Replies:** 71\ **Last updated:** [November 3, 2010, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-have-to-accept-junk-mail/558936 "2010-11-03T22:52:56Z")
Okay, this is a multi-part query; responses will graded on accuracy, pluck, and how good it looks in a bikini. :smiley: Srsly, I’ve long wondered why I can’t put a sign on my mailbox telling the mailman that I will not… --- ## [Apartments vs. Houses](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apartments-vs-houses/558642)
**Author:** [@Captain\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Midnight)\ **Replies:** 52\ **Last updated:** [November 3, 2010, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apartments-vs-houses/558642 "2010-11-03T22:36:56Z")
When I was growing up, I always lived in a house. My parents have always maintained that having your own home is a good investment, and they are probably right. However, I hated all the work involved in having a house, … --- ## [Dems lose the House in November. Who's to blame?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dems-lose-the-house-in-november-whos-to-blame/533792)
**Author:** [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Replies:** 53\ **Last updated:** [November 3, 2010, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dems-lose-the-house-in-november-whos-to-blame/533792 "2010-11-03T19:32:41Z")
So UHC has passed and the Republicans will do their best to make sure no one forgets it over the next 7 months. I know the Democrats love to blame W. for everything. It was his fault the housing bubble popped even thou… --- ## [Health care reform under Republican control](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/health-care-reform-under-republican-control/558539)
**Author:** [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Replies:** 46\ **Last updated:** [November 3, 2010, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/health-care-reform-under-republican-control/558539 "2010-11-03T18:26:45Z")
So if the Republicans get their wish and regain control of the House I believe one of the first things on their agenda is to repeal Obama’s healthcare reform bill. So then what happens? Are they really going to press f… --- ## [Surrogate mother with Down Syndrome fetus: abortion contractually mandatory?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surrogate-mother-with-down-syndrome-fetus-abortion-contractually-mandatory/558527)
**Author:** [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Replies:** 72\ **Last updated:** [November 3, 2010, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surrogate-mother-with-down-syndrome-fetus-abortion-contractually-mandatory/558527 "2010-11-03T16:32:52Z")
I heard about this story a few weeks ago and wanted to share it here. Didn’t see a current thread about it. Here’s the basic gist of the situation. A Canadian couple decides to have a baby through a surrogate mother. … [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=424) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=426)