# Great Debates **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=456 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 457 --- ## [Do violent TV shows cause aggression?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-violent-tv-shows-cause-aggression/540304)
**Author:** [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [May 21, 2010, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-violent-tv-shows-cause-aggression/540304 "2010-05-21T21:05:10Z")
Trying to update my lecture notes here, what’s the latest research, and who’s doing it? Thanks in advance. --- ## [If it weren't for religion, would the folks in the middle east still be fighting?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-it-werent-for-religion-would-the-folks-in-the-middle-east-still-be-fighting/539753)
**Author:** [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Replies:** 72\ **Last updated:** [May 21, 2010, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-it-werent-for-religion-would-the-folks-in-the-middle-east-still-be-fighting/539753 "2010-05-21T20:38:52Z")
This is something in my head that I’ve always believed to be true. But then again, I’m not exactly an expert when it comes to the Middle East. Just curious if there is an argument otherwise. Thanks. --- ## [Is there anything wrong with this girls dance performance?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-wrong-with-this-girls-dance-performance/539450)
**Author:** [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Replies:** 214\ **Last updated:** [May 21, 2010, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-wrong-with-this-girls-dance-performance/539450 "2010-05-21T18:47:24Z")
This young girls’ dance routine has been all over the intertubes lately, with a lot of people opining that these girls are much too young to be doing these moves, wearing these costumes, etc. Take a couple of minutes an… --- ## [Was Floyd Landis framed?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-floyd-landis-framed/367781)
**Author:** [@Chicken\_Biscuit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicken_Biscuit)\ **Replies:** 40\ **Last updated:** [May 21, 2010, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-floyd-landis-framed/367781 "2010-05-21T17:42:44Z")
Something doesn’t add up in the Floyd Landis doping allegation. Landis is tested numerous times during the Tour and the results were all negative. Then, once, after the 17th stage, he tests positive. Why, if the affec… --- ## [How Does A Lawyer (Blumenthal) "Misspeak"?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-a-lawyer-blumenthal-misspeak/540000)
**Author:** [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Replies:** 14\ **Last updated:** [May 21, 2010, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-a-lawyer-blumenthal-misspeak/540000 "2010-05-21T17:26:06Z")
I am puzzled by the recent revelations about Connecticut atty. general Richard Blumenthal. It seems that Blumenthal claimed service in Vietnam, when (in reality) he had never set foot in the country. For a lawyer (train… --- ## [Girl Outs Mother's Citizenship Status During First Lady's School Visit](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-outs-mothers-citizenship-status-during-first-ladys-school-visit/540197)
**Author:** [@Dante\_Fevah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dante_Fevah)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [May 21, 2010, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-outs-mothers-citizenship-status-during-first-ladys-school-visit/540197 "2010-05-21T14:51:40Z")
http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/politics/Girl-Outs-Mothers-Citizenship-Status-During-First-Ladys-School-Visit-94268584.html -there is a video of this on the site and at youtube I am confused over how I feel about this… --- ## [Thaksin et al are significantly more evil than Abhisit et al](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thaksin-et-al-are-significantly-more-evil-than-abhisit-et-al/540061)
**Author:** [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Replies:** 8\ **Last updated:** [May 21, 2010, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thaksin-et-al-are-significantly-more-evil-than-abhisit-et-al/540061 "2010-05-21T14:38:14Z")
There has been so much misinformation in the foreign press about Thai politics and the present crisis. Much reporting implied that the red-shirt terrorists were popular democrats fighting an authoritarian elite. I wond… --- ## [Big Government is Failing - Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-government-is-failing-again/539946)
**Author:** [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Replies:** 107\ **Last updated:** [May 20, 2010, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-government-is-failing-again/539946 "2010-05-20T22:39:26Z")
When the financial crisis hit, a lot of people on the left claimed that the crisis was an indictment of the capitalist system. They called for new levels of government involvement in the economy - more regulation, more … --- ## [The best candidate to challenge Barack Obama in 2012 is Ron Paul](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-candidate-to-challenge-barack-obama-in-2012-is-ron-paul/538114)
**Author:** [@jrodefeld](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jrodefeld)\ **Replies:** 786\ **Last updated:** [May 20, 2010, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-candidate-to-challenge-barack-obama-in-2012-is-ron-paul/538114 "2010-05-20T19:55:53Z")
As I see it, the Republic field of candidates is incredibly weak. Palin, Romney, Jindal, Gingrich, Huckabee probably have no chance of winning. They won’t do ANY good in office. I sense there is a growing backlash aga… --- ## [Supreme Court rules that sex offenders can be held indefinitely](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supreme-court-rules-that-sex-offenders-can-be-held-indefinitely/539794)
**Author:** [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Replies:** 67\ **Last updated:** [May 20, 2010, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supreme-court-rules-that-sex-offenders-can-be-held-indefinitely/539794 "2010-05-20T18:57:16Z")
I’m shocked at this recent U.S. Supreme Court decision: Sex offenders can be kept in prison, justices rule Inmates considered “sexually dangerous” can now be held indefinitely even after their prison terms are complete… --- ## [Pros and cons of "presumed consent" organ donating](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pros-and-cons-of-presumed-consent-organ-donating/539218)
**Author:** [@Gedd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gedd)\ **Replies:** 103\ **Last updated:** [May 20, 2010, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pros-and-cons-of-presumed-consent-organ-donating/539218 "2010-05-20T16:21:13Z")
I think it’s a great idea: everyone is considered an organ donor unless they opt not to be one, and (IIRC) what they decided is what goes despite what a spouse/guardian/bff says. I know someone who didn’t get a donor st… --- ## [Is a boycott really a boycott if you only stop buying non-essentials?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-boycott-really-a-boycott-if-you-only-stop-buying-non-essentials/540051)
**Author:** [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Replies:** 17\ **Last updated:** [May 20, 2010, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-boycott-really-a-boycott-if-you-only-stop-buying-non-essentials/540051 "2010-05-20T13:09:09Z")
So the City of Los Angeles issued a resolution for the City to boycott all things Arizona in response to Arizona’s recent immigration enforcment law. A member of the Arizona Corporation Commission, the Arizona state ene… --- ## [Is the drug war itself racist?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-drug-war-itself-racist/539919)
**Author:** [@kingbighair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kingbighair)\ **Replies:** 53\ **Last updated:** [May 20, 2010, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-drug-war-itself-racist/539919 "2010-05-20T06:00:14Z")
The Ron Paul thread touched on a pretty interesting topic. Some, like FinnAgain feel the laws themselves are not racist; rather, it is the disparate implementation of these laws combined with the realities of being huma… --- ## [Affirmed:Lenin really is the tits](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/affirmed-lenin-really-is-the-tits/538021)
**Author:** [@adhay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adhay)\ **Replies:** 262\ **Last updated:** [May 19, 2010, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/affirmed-lenin-really-is-the-tits/538021 "2010-05-19T23:20:00Z")
… no matter what you might say about his domestic heavy-handedness. Lenin, 40+ years before Ike and without the benefit of Ike’s hindsight on (and singular involvement in) WWII along with the obvious results of that wa… --- ## [Should I Fix This Washing Machine?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-fix-this-washing-machine/540003)
**Author:** [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Replies:** 11\ **Last updated:** [May 19, 2010, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-fix-this-washing-machine/540003 "2010-05-19T22:10:33Z")
Our 25 year old Whirlpool washer has a problem-the water level control switch is busted (shuts off the water level at too low a level). I took the sensor switch out and clean it up, and was able to adjust it-but it just … --- ## [ABC's 'What Would You Do?'](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abcs-what-would-you-do/540046)
**Author:** [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [May 19, 2010, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abcs-what-would-you-do/540046 "2010-05-19T20:36:56Z")
I caught a few of these shows last year and have been seeing promos for the most recent one airing Friday. If you haven’t seen them before the premise is to stage a situation ala candid camera where a person is in need … --- ## [Illegal people; illegal activities](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illegal-people-illegal-activities/539760)
**Author:** [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Replies:** 80\ **Last updated:** [May 19, 2010, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illegal-people-illegal-activities/539760 "2010-05-19T16:22:15Z")
For those who think it is ok for an illegal alien to be in the US … Is it OK for them to engage in illegal activities…like cockfighting? Why not? --- ## [Why didn't we bomb concentration camps?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-we-bomb-concentration-camps/539633)
**Author:** [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Replies:** 155\ **Last updated:** [May 19, 2010, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-we-bomb-concentration-camps/539633 "2010-05-19T15:47:27Z")
By ‘we’ I mean the Allied air forces in World War II. Apologies if this has been already debated to death, a search found nothing recent. Years and years ago a Jewish Holocaust survivor, who survived Auschwitz, gave a t… --- ## [If aliens became aware of us, would they conquer/enslave/exploit/displace/exterminate us?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-aliens-became-aware-of-us-would-they-conquer-enslave-exploit-displace-exterminate-us/539124)
**Author:** [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Replies:** 69\ **Last updated:** [May 18, 2010, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-aliens-became-aware-of-us-would-they-conquer-enslave-exploit-displace-exterminate-us/539124 "2010-05-18T21:13:03Z")
Stephen Hawking compares the hypothetical situation to Europeans discovering the New World and enslaving or brushing aside the Indians. But, the Europeans had uses for the New World; it was almost exactly like where the… --- ## [Russia, with Hamas and Syria today and Turkey tomorrow.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-with-hamas-and-syria-today-and-turkey-tomorrow/539076)
**Author:** [@Marmite\_Lover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marmite_Lover)\ **Replies:** 46\ **Last updated:** [May 18, 2010, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-with-hamas-and-syria-today-and-turkey-tomorrow/539076 "2010-05-18T19:41:16Z")
Well done Mod. http://world.globaltimes.cn/europe/2010-04/521770.html So will the Israeli pirates try anything with the Turkish ships in the Med? So far they have shot and damaged civilian aid ships carrying aid worke… --- ## [(deleted)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deleted/539876)
**Author:** [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [May 18, 2010, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deleted/539876 "2010-05-18T13:41:57Z")
… --- ## [Let's debate pro-choice people vs. anti-abortion people](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-debate-pro-choice-people-vs-anti-abortion-people/539421)
**Author:** [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Replies:** 58\ **Last updated:** [May 18, 2010, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-debate-pro-choice-people-vs-anti-abortion-people/539421 "2010-05-18T13:21:53Z")
I started this thread about my encounter with an anti-abortion protestor. Like most anti-abortion protest threads, it beame a debate about abortion. So I am stating this loud and clear: THIS IS NOT A THREAD ABOUT ABORTIO… --- ## [Resolved: The American Consumer exploits third-world workers.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resolved-the-american-consumer-exploits-third-world-workers/539345)
**Author:** [@emacknight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emacknight)\ **Replies:** 49\ **Last updated:** [May 18, 2010, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resolved-the-american-consumer-exploits-third-world-workers/539345 "2010-05-18T10:57:18Z")
Disclaimer: This isn’t meant as a dig on Americans or America, please do not take it as an insult. Canada is just as guilty, but hardly a world player in the global market. In my recent thread “Third-world workers wor… --- ## [Hell. Why is it described as, well, hell?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hell-why-is-it-described-as-well-hell/538107)
**Author:** [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Replies:** 68\ **Last updated:** [May 18, 2010, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hell-why-is-it-described-as-well-hell/538107 "2010-05-18T09:32:36Z")
I figured this would turn into a theology debate, and since there is no known answer, I thought this was the best forum for this. However, if not, mods please feel free to move. What is Hell? And, is it similar in all… --- ## [I propose we bring back corporal punishment](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-propose-we-bring-back-corporal-punishment/539339)
**Author:** [@carm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carm)\ **Replies:** 96\ **Last updated:** [May 18, 2010, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-propose-we-bring-back-corporal-punishment/539339 "2010-05-18T02:28:07Z")
How about it? This is not some “those criminals deserve to be beaten to within an inch of their lives” thread - I actually think prison is far, far crueler than corporal punishment, and has several really bad downsides. … --- ## [How many years would it take to go from nothing to 2010 technology?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-years-would-it-take-to-go-from-nothing-to-2010-technology/539149)
**Author:** [@Polerius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polerius)\ **Replies:** 81\ **Last updated:** [May 17, 2010, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-years-would-it-take-to-go-from-nothing-to-2010-technology/539149 "2010-05-17T22:55:29Z")
Assume that we transport as many humans and experts as we want to a planet that is identical to Earth, but has nothing built by anyone. That is, it is the earth before homo sapiens. How long would it take these people t… --- ## [How to respond to high-frequency trading?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-respond-to-high-frequency-trading/531411)
**Author:** [@adhay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adhay)\ **Replies:** 55\ **Last updated:** [May 17, 2010, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-respond-to-high-frequency-trading/531411 "2010-05-17T17:11:13Z")
An NYT article. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/24/business/24trading.html And here’s Scott Patterson Comedy Central The Daily Show Fan Page on the subject in a Jon Stewart interview. It’s obvious while the market is '… --- ## [Why does child molestation happen?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-child-molestation-happen/539091)
**Author:** [@Electric\_Warrior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electric_Warrior)\ **Replies:** 45\ **Last updated:** [May 17, 2010, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-child-molestation-happen/539091 "2010-05-17T16:13:55Z")
I was reading a discussion on another website about sexual assault, and I was floored by the prevalence of stories where people - especially women - had been molested as children, almost always by a stepfather or their m… --- ## [So what's really blocking nuclear power? Cost? Red tape? Fear of lawsuits? Bad P.R.? What?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-really-blocking-nuclear-power-cost-red-tape-fear-of-lawsuits-bad-p-r-what/539415)
**Author:** [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Replies:** 49\ **Last updated:** [May 17, 2010, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-really-blocking-nuclear-power-cost-red-tape-fear-of-lawsuits-bad-p-r-what/539415 "2010-05-17T14:43:29Z")
Inspired by the "Drill Baby Drill"ers: I Told You So!!! Pit thread, and this Washington Monthly piece. Here’s what T.A. Frank of the Washington Monthly reports about the notion that regulation is strangling nuclear powe… --- ## [Were the 3 major religions promoted by Gnostics, Sufis and Qabalists to distract the masses?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-the-3-major-religions-promoted-by-gnostics-sufis-and-qabalists-to-distract-the-masses/539654)
**Author:** [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Replies:** 11\ **Last updated:** [May 17, 2010, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-the-3-major-religions-promoted-by-gnostics-sufis-and-qabalists-to-distract-the-masses/539654 "2010-05-17T13:56:53Z")
Each of the 3 major religions has a subset devoted to its inner spiritual teachings. Islam has Sufiism; Judaism has Qabalistic teaching; and Christianity has Gnosticism (at least I think that’s the term - correct me if … [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=455) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=457)