# Great Debates **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=450 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 451 --- ## [Surprise: Consensus on Climate Change was a Lie](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprise-consensus-on-climate-change-was-a-lie/543423)
**Author:** [@nilum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nilum)\ **Replies:** 72\ **Last updated:** [June 16, 2010, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprise-consensus-on-climate-change-was-a-lie/543423 "2010-06-16T23:57:30Z")
http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2010/06/13/the-ipcc-consensus-on-climate-change-was-phoney-says-ipcc-insider/ “Without a careful explanation about what it means, this drive for consensus can leave the IPCC vulnerab… --- ## [Emir of Qatar to pay all fees to take Israeli's to court over flotilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emir-of-qatar-to-pay-all-fees-to-take-israelis-to-court-over-flotilla/543045)
**Author:** [@Marmite\_Lover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marmite_Lover)\ **Replies:** 29\ **Last updated:** [June 16, 2010, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emir-of-qatar-to-pay-all-fees-to-take-israelis-to-court-over-flotilla/543045 "2010-06-16T23:24:18Z")
Amr Moussa of the the Arab League has announced in Cairo and convening in Doha that the Emir of Qatar. One of the world’s richest men. His Excellency Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Jabor Al Thani With the full backing of t… --- ## [Physician licensure only if MD accepts Medicare patients/payments. Good idea or not?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/physician-licensure-only-if-md-accepts-medicare-patients-payments-good-idea-or-not/541685)
**Author:** [@pinkyvee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkyvee)\ **Replies:** 51\ **Last updated:** [June 16, 2010, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/physician-licensure-only-if-md-accepts-medicare-patients-payments-good-idea-or-not/541685 "2010-06-16T21:46:46Z")
Massachusetts is considering a new law. What would happen if this sort of requirement to accept a government decided pay scale were to include other professions requiring licensure? If you are a hairdresser who … --- ## [Mom Busts Dad For 15 Year Old Custodial "Kidnap" -- Now What?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-busts-dad-for-15-year-old-custodial-kidnap-now-what/542280)
**Author:** [@Huerta88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huerta88)\ **Replies:** 312\ **Last updated:** [June 16, 2010, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-busts-dad-for-15-year-old-custodial-kidnap-now-what/542280 "2010-06-16T21:26:36Z")
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37530102/ns/local\_news-san\_francisco\_bay\_area\_ca/ The media angle is of course on how Facebook was involved, but I don’t care about that idiocy. Here’s the question – having used the online … --- ## [Is there any meaning to life? or is it really just nothing?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-meaning-to-life-or-is-it-really-just-nothing/541051)
**Author:** [@Swarog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swarog)\ **Replies:** 101\ **Last updated:** [June 16, 2010, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-meaning-to-life-or-is-it-really-just-nothing/541051 "2010-06-16T02:40:38Z")
I can become fairly nihilistic every once in a while, and I’m wondering whether or not there’s a reason to feel that way. If you can grasp that there is no set morality except that which you’ve been taught, which itself … --- ## [Republicans: How would you reduce America's jobless rate?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-how-would-you-reduce-americas-jobless-rate/542352)
**Author:** [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Replies:** 246\ **Last updated:** [June 15, 2010, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-how-would-you-reduce-americas-jobless-rate/542352 "2010-06-15T20:54:26Z")
Inspired by this thread: What ideas, consistent with their politics, do Republicans have to tackle America’s unemployment problem, in the short run? The answer might be key to the GOP’s chances in the midterm elections… --- ## [Public Schools Seeking Corporate and Church Sponsorships](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-schools-seeking-corporate-and-church-sponsorships/543159)
**Author:** [@RhapsodyInBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RhapsodyInBlue)\ **Replies:** 12\ **Last updated:** [June 15, 2010, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-schools-seeking-corporate-and-church-sponsorships/543159 "2010-06-15T16:56:18Z")
Today’s Wall Street Journal features this article about financially troubled public schools seeking sponsorship from churches and corporations. It seems local school districts are seeking sponsorship for everything fro… --- ## [Religious types: what does your church, etc. teach that you don't believe, and why?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-types-what-does-your-church-etc-teach-that-you-dont-believe-and-why/542463)
**Author:** [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Replies:** 45\ **Last updated:** [June 15, 2010, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-types-what-does-your-church-etc-teach-that-you-dont-believe-and-why/542463 "2010-06-15T15:13:18Z")
Contrariwise, what do you believe that your church, synagogue, mosque, or other worship center does not teach? Note that, by religious types, I mean persons who regularly attend services of an organized religion. If yo… --- ## [Will this discovery \[of mineral deposits in Afghanistan\] mean the end of al Quaida?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-this-discovery-of-mineral-deposits-in-afghanistan-mean-the-end-of-al-quaida/543087)
**Author:** [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Replies:** 67\ **Last updated:** [June 15, 2010, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-this-discovery-of-mineral-deposits-in-afghanistan-mean-the-end-of-al-quaida/543087 "2010-06-15T14:58:05Z")
Could this discovery change the entire dynamic of the Middle East and possibly mean the end of Al Quaida? Why would Afghanistan need the poppy trade with bazillions in mineral wealth at their disposal? Why would they h… --- ## [Does God Love Everyone?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-god-love-everyone/542590)
**Author:** [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Replies:** 181\ **Last updated:** [June 15, 2010, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-god-love-everyone/542590 "2010-06-15T11:50:28Z")
In this shallow world, perhaps I am one of a small minority that ponders about God and his actions as captured in the Old Testament, esp. If God loves eveyone, why did he reject Cain’s sacrifices? Also, the “Jacob have… --- ## [BP liability](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bp-liability/543144)
**Author:** [@klsdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/klsdad)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [June 15, 2010, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bp-liability/543144 "2010-06-15T07:07:25Z")
Forgive me if this has been addressed in the other long BP threads… Seems like BP has been tried and found guilty and many want to move on to the penalty phase already. Certainly they are not innocent but I’d think the… --- ## [Is capital entropic or extropic?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-capital-entropic-or-extropic/542116)
**Author:** [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Replies:** 17\ **Last updated:** [June 14, 2010, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-capital-entropic-or-extropic/542116 "2010-06-14T22:22:48Z")
All others things being equal (the economist’s standard disclaimer) is capital fundamentally entropic or extropic? Is the fundamental direction of capital movement towards diffusion, where the theoretical endpoint is eve… --- ## [Belgium, be gone](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/belgium-be-gone/543071)
**Author:** [@Drew\_Kit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drew_Kit)\ **Replies:** 51\ **Last updated:** [June 14, 2010, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/belgium-be-gone/543071 "2010-06-14T20:02:09Z")
Belgium seems about to suicide itself. It’s likely it will be swallowed by it’s neighbours rather than pretend to be independent states. I’m a big Brel fan but I dislike modern Belgium and wouldn’t miss it. Anyone else … --- ## [Is teleportation just another version of "my grandfather's axe"?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-teleportation-just-another-version-of-my-grandfathers-axe/542327)
**Author:** [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Replies:** 101\ **Last updated:** [June 14, 2010, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-teleportation-just-another-version-of-my-grandfathers-axe/542327 "2010-06-14T17:05:58Z")
I don’t believe this is necessarily a “great” topic, but it’s definitely a debate. When asked if I would ever allow myself to be teleported, a la Star Trek, I find myself very much on the Dr. McCoy side of the equation.… --- ## [Etiquitte for conversing with a pedophile.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etiquitte-for-conversing-with-a-pedophile/542855)
**Author:** [@Dostoyevsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dostoyevsky)\ **Replies:** 50\ **Last updated:** [June 14, 2010, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etiquitte-for-conversing-with-a-pedophile/542855 "2010-06-14T16:10:47Z")
This is a true life scenario and I’d like some input. I have a friend, we’ll call him Dave, who confessed seven years ago to homosexual contact with a fourteen year old boy. (Dave was twenty at the time of the incident… --- ## [Male circumcision and penis sensitivity](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-circumcision-and-penis-sensitivity/541167)
**Author:** [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)\ **Replies:** 113\ **Last updated:** [June 14, 2010, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-circumcision-and-penis-sensitivity/541167 "2010-06-14T10:17:31Z")
Most men in America are circumcised at an early age. Most men in Europe aren’t. I personally think the foreskin has an important task of protecting the sensitive glans from abrasion and dryness. I’m uncircumcised. My pe… --- ## [Federal Acts Based on Necessary and Proper Clause?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/federal-acts-based-on-necessary-and-proper-clause/542357)
**Author:** [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [June 14, 2010, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/federal-acts-based-on-necessary-and-proper-clause/542357 "2010-06-14T03:49:01Z")
I’m really looking more for a GQ answer as to what Federal actions can be viewed as being allowed principally by the Necessary and Proper clause of the Constitution, rather than under the other enumerated powers of Artic… --- ## [Is Afghanistan really America's longest war?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-afghanistan-really-americas-longest-war/542269)
**Author:** [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Replies:** 20\ **Last updated:** [June 14, 2010, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-afghanistan-really-americas-longest-war/542269 "2010-06-14T00:32:55Z")
I saw a column this morning that mentioned this milestone. We’ve been there 8 years 8 months. I suppose if you count the amount we actually engaged in combat in Vietnam that would be the case. But the time from when th… --- ## [Would you live in a nation requiring atheism/agnosticism to hold public office?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-live-in-a-nation-requiring-atheism-agnosticism-to-hold-public-office/542831)
**Author:** [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Replies:** 67\ **Last updated:** [June 13, 2010, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-live-in-a-nation-requiring-atheism-agnosticism-to-hold-public-office/542831 "2010-06-13T17:35:32Z")
Let’s call this hypothetical state ScrewAslan. ScrewAslan is an island state similar in geography, area, population, and economy to Singapore, for those who inisist on knowing such things. Unlike Singapore, though, it h… --- ## [Turkish flagged vessel attack \[What if?--becomes What now?\]](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkish-flagged-vessel-attack-what-if-becomes-what-now/540765)
**Author:** [@Marmite\_Lover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marmite_Lover)\ **Replies:** 1262\ **Last updated:** [June 13, 2010, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkish-flagged-vessel-attack-what-if-becomes-what-now/540765 "2010-06-13T07:27:45Z")
John Ging the head of United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in the Gaza Strip asked for the world to send aid ships to the shores of Gaza earlier this year. Turkey is leading a flotilla. At each stage the cargo… --- ## [Did the Supreme Court just screw Arizona?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-supreme-court-just-screw-arizona/542506)
**Author:** [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Replies:** 11\ **Last updated:** [June 12, 2010, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-supreme-court-just-screw-arizona/542506 "2010-06-12T15:46:08Z")
Article here. Quote here: Now, I’m no fan of public financing of elections. In my opinion, the only fair and effective means of election reform is mandatory spending limits; that’s been knocked down as unconstitutiona… --- ## [When in human history should reasonable people find a "cut-off" of the right of title by conquering?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-in-human-history-should-reasonable-people-find-a-cut-off-of-the-right-of-title-by-conquering/542464)
**Author:** [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Replies:** 128\ **Last updated:** [June 12, 2010, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-in-human-history-should-reasonable-people-find-a-cut-off-of-the-right-of-title-by-conquering/542464 "2010-06-12T15:17:33Z")
Some time back, I asked a question that was perhaps a spirtual cousin of this one. This question’s immediate inspiration is the Palestine/Israel brouhaha ignited by Helen Thomas’ unfortunate ejaculation, but as that dis… --- ## [Destroying a Sudanese pharmaceutical plant -- priceless](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/destroying-a-sudanese-pharmaceutical-plant-priceless/542484)
**Author:** [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Replies:** 48\ **Last updated:** [June 12, 2010, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/destroying-a-sudanese-pharmaceutical-plant-priceless/542484 "2010-06-12T14:05:40Z")
Or maybe “uncompensatable.” In El-Shifa Pharmaceutical Industries Co. v. US, the owners of a pharmaceutical factory in Sudan sued the United States after the factory was destroyed an the President announced publicly tha… --- ## [Minimum Requirements for a Successful Military Coup in the USA?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minimum-requirements-for-a-successful-military-coup-in-the-usa/542056)
**Author:** [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Replies:** 33\ **Last updated:** [June 12, 2010, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minimum-requirements-for-a-successful-military-coup-in-the-usa/542056 "2010-06-12T12:03:35Z")
I have always wondered what it would take to stage a successful militaryt takeover of the government. First: you need the Army and the Air Force, plus the Marines. Not sure about the Navy, as they have no capacity to op… --- ## [Society in John Lennon's "Imagine": Utopia or Dystopia](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/society-in-john-lennons-imagine-utopia-or-dystopia/542370)
**Author:** [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Replies:** 63\ **Last updated:** [June 12, 2010, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/society-in-john-lennons-imagine-utopia-or-dystopia/542370 "2010-06-12T11:31:19Z")
John Lennon’s “Imagine” was a depiction of what he considered to be a utopia: But if analyzed closely it sounds quite dystopian in a way. This means that there being no afterlife and that people will die in one life … --- ## [What are effective means of pressuring world leaders to respect human rights](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-effective-means-of-pressuring-world-leaders-to-respect-human-rights/542851)
**Author:** [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [June 12, 2010, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-effective-means-of-pressuring-world-leaders-to-respect-human-rights/542851 "2010-06-12T04:12:16Z")
The international criminal court was created in 2002 with the goal of letting world leaders know that an independent organization with independent investigation and prosecution abilities was being developed to deal with … --- ## [Would You Drive a Car Without a Steering Wheel?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-drive-a-car-without-a-steering-wheel/542849)
**Author:** [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [June 12, 2010, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-drive-a-car-without-a-steering-wheel/542849 "2010-06-12T01:38:57Z")
Now that we have drive by wire systems, why do we need a clunky steering wheel in our cars? I would like to have a joystick like control-you could then control acceleration, braking and steering with one easy to use con… --- ## [Please help me rebut this anti-muslim Email.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-rebut-this-anti-muslim-email/542391)
**Author:** [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Replies:** 162\ **Last updated:** [June 11, 2010, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-rebut-this-anti-muslim-email/542391 "2010-06-11T22:53:29Z")
I got this email from an coworker of all people. The messege itself is bothersome but what really sticks in my craw is this person sent me this Email thinking I’m OK with this. I am not. I know some of you may suggest t… --- ## [You are Louis XVI in 1789: Can you keep your head?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-louis-xvi-in-1789-can-you-keep-your-head/542648)
**Author:** [@No\_Wikipedia\_Cites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/No_Wikipedia_Cites)\ **Replies:** 30\ **Last updated:** [June 11, 2010, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-louis-xvi-in-1789-can-you-keep-your-head/542648 "2010-06-11T22:28:51Z")
Imagine you are reincarnated back on January 1, 1789, as Louis in Versailles. What would you do to keep your crown, and as much power as possible? Or are you doomed under the wheels of history by this point? --- ## [Would you live in a nation requiring atheism/agnosticism to hold public office?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-live-in-a-nation-requiring-atheism-agnosticism-to-hold-public-office/542833)
**Author:** [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [June 11, 2010, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-live-in-a-nation-requiring-atheism-agnosticism-to-hold-public-office/542833 "2010-06-11T19:38:22Z")
This thread is a dupe. Please post in the other. I’ve asked that this one be closed. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=449) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=451)