# Great Debates **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=475 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 476 --- ## [Health care debate should be suspended until Brown is seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/health-care-debate-should-be-suspended-until-brown-is-seated/525684)
**Author:** [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Replies:** 198\ **Last updated:** [February 23, 2010, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/health-care-debate-should-be-suspended-until-brown-is-seated/525684 "2010-02-23T21:33:20Z")
Not my words, but I agree. The election was won by a candidiate who campaigned on defeating health care. Democracy is best served by respecting the election, not trying last-minute procedural manuevering to get somethin… --- ## [Government tracking via cellphone?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/government-tracking-via-cellphone/530022)
**Author:** [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [February 23, 2010, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/government-tracking-via-cellphone/530022 "2010-02-23T14:44:35Z")
Apologies if this has already been discussed, but my search did not turn anything up. I just recently heard of a case currently before the 3d circuit court of appeals, concerning the level of cause the gov’t need establ… --- ## [Global Warming Redux: Have they lost their credibility?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/global-warming-redux-have-they-lost-their-credibility/529090)
**Author:** [@Slypork](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slypork)\ **Replies:** 206\ **Last updated:** [February 23, 2010, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/global-warming-redux-have-they-lost-their-credibility/529090 "2010-02-23T13:55:42Z")
OK, this is 500th global warming thread here on the SDMB (give or take a few). According to Phil Jones, besides admitting to being sloppy with his record keeping, the world was possibly warmerduring medieval times than i… --- ## [Fiscal conservatives, what/how would you change the budget](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fiscal-conservatives-what-how-would-you-change-the-budget/528109)
**Author:** [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Replies:** 68\ **Last updated:** [February 23, 2010, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fiscal-conservatives-what-how-would-you-change-the-budget/528109 "2010-02-23T04:07:01Z")
Over 70% of government spending goes to a handful of programs. Social security, medicare, medicaid, public education & military. http://www2.ed.gov/about/overview/fed/10facts/index.html http://www.usatoday.com/news/… --- ## [So what are the anti-vaccination people saying now that their evidence has turned to fraudulent poo?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-are-the-anti-vaccination-people-saying-now-that-their-evidence-has-turned-to-fraudulent-poo/528541)
**Author:** [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Replies:** 71\ **Last updated:** [February 23, 2010, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-are-the-anti-vaccination-people-saying-now-that-their-evidence-has-turned-to-fraudulent-poo/528541 "2010-02-23T01:45:06Z")
Now that the man who started all this has been proven to be a fraud what are they saying? Are they recanting and apologizing or not? --- ## [If Iran builds a nuke, do they lose all credibility?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-iran-builds-a-nuke-do-they-lose-all-credibility/529527)
**Author:** [@Parthol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Parthol)\ **Replies:** 49\ **Last updated:** [February 22, 2010, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-iran-builds-a-nuke-do-they-lose-all-credibility/529527 "2010-02-22T23:48:24Z")
Assume for the moment that despite his hundreds of denials over a period of years, Ahmadinejad announces sometime in 2011 that, hey, look, Iran went ahead and built a nuke after all. How would Iran spin the announceme… --- ## [Is there an ideal level of discontentment/unhappiness](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-ideal-level-of-discontentment-unhappiness/529545)
**Author:** [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Replies:** 16\ **Last updated:** [February 22, 2010, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-ideal-level-of-discontentment-unhappiness/529545 "2010-02-22T22:45:31Z")
So it seems that w/o discontentment, fear, shame, unhappiness, pain, greed, etc a lot of things would not get done. If you eliminated all these negative emotions, our motive to do medical research, to grow the economy, … --- ## [Obama to announce support for nuclear power](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-to-announce-support-for-nuclear-power/529202)
**Author:** [@LonghornDave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonghornDave)\ **Replies:** 81\ **Last updated:** [February 22, 2010, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-to-announce-support-for-nuclear-power/529202 "2010-02-22T07:59:50Z")
Obama to Announce Loan Help For Nuclear Power \[QUOTE=Reuters\] The Obama administration, advancing nuclear power use to help cut greenhouse gas emissions, will announce on Tuesday an $8.3 billion loan guarantee to help … --- ## [Let's say that one ethnic group is proven stupider than the rest. What are our obligations?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-say-that-one-ethnic-group-is-proven-stupider-than-the-rest-what-are-our-obligations/527075)
**Author:** [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Replies:** 54\ **Last updated:** [February 22, 2010, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-say-that-one-ethnic-group-is-proven-stupider-than-the-rest-what-are-our-obligations/527075 "2010-02-22T05:01:50Z")
Let’s say that someone finds out that the book “The Bell Curve” is actually right, and that some ethnic groups are measurably stupider than others. What obligations do the groups have toward each other? In that situati… --- ## [Should banks have to repay the auto bailouts?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-banks-have-to-repay-the-auto-bailouts/529260)
**Author:** [@LonghornDave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonghornDave)\ **Replies:** 21\ **Last updated:** [February 21, 2010, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-banks-have-to-repay-the-auto-bailouts/529260 "2010-02-21T22:04:29Z")
Old news, but I find this type of populism scary. Back in January, Obama proposed a tax on banks with greater than $50 billion in assets in order to pay back any losses on the Troubled Asset Relief Program (“TARP”). The… --- ## [Help me draft a Proportional Representation system for my home state.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-draft-a-proportional-representation-system-for-my-home-state/529710)
**Author:** [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Replies:** 8\ **Last updated:** [February 21, 2010, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-draft-a-proportional-representation-system-for-my-home-state/529710 "2010-02-21T21:50:29Z")
Oh, I can do it myself, but I’d be interested in seeing others’ input. Here’s the basic pitch: A. Replace one chamber of a state legislature in the USA with a new body elected through Proportional Representation, which… --- ## [Should we be concerned about bringing astronauts back from Mars?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-be-concerned-about-bringing-astronauts-back-from-mars/528781)
**Author:** [@The\_Bith\_Shuffle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Bith_Shuffle)\ **Replies:** 73\ **Last updated:** [February 21, 2010, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-be-concerned-about-bringing-astronauts-back-from-mars/528781 "2010-02-21T20:47:39Z")
I am not assuming that we should be sending human beings to Mars. I am, however, posing a particular question about how a mission to Mars should be carried out if we choose to do so. The question is simple: if we send a… --- ## [Reforming the Senate (Would this Work?)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reforming-the-senate-would-this-work/529769)
**Author:** [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Replies:** 17\ **Last updated:** [February 21, 2010, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reforming-the-senate-would-this-work/529769 "2010-02-21T03:38:42Z")
He’s my plan. Get elected to the Senate. Put a “Personal hold” on all appointments from judges to second lieutenants. All of them. Continue until they change the rules making it impossible for a senator to put hold on … --- ## [Plane crash in Austin, TX](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plane-crash-in-austin-tx/529560)
**Author:** [@Yersenia\_Pestis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yersenia_Pestis)\ **Replies:** 56\ **Last updated:** [February 21, 2010, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plane-crash-in-austin-tx/529560 "2010-02-21T01:36:08Z")
So, is it too premature to assume that the “Suicide plane crasher” is probably a tea-bagger? From reading what has been out about his rants he sure does sound like he belongs to a fringe group of the right. It sounds li… --- ## [Obama to SCOTUS ???](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-to-scotus/529652)
**Author:** [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Replies:** 44\ **Last updated:** [February 20, 2010, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-to-scotus/529652 "2010-02-20T23:56:25Z")
I find this Washington Post story quite strange. Can it be serious? Obama might/could/should appoint himself? --- ## [So if Mossad used UK passports whats the correct response?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-if-mossad-used-uk-passports-whats-the-correct-response/529459)
**Author:** [@Sri\_Theo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sri_Theo)\ **Replies:** 260\ **Last updated:** [February 20, 2010, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-if-mossad-used-uk-passports-whats-the-correct-response/529459 "2010-02-20T23:43:14Z")
So over here the biggest story of the moment is that a Hamas commander was killed in Dubai. Apparently its been linked to the Israeli intelligence agency, and they’ve used British and other EU passports. Does anyone kno… --- ## [Deterring Iran from making nukes](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deterring-iran-from-making-nukes/529163)
**Author:** [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Replies:** 105\ **Last updated:** [February 20, 2010, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deterring-iran-from-making-nukes/529163 "2010-02-20T03:18:42Z")
OK, most countries making up the UN don’t want Iran to have the capability to make nuclear weapons but sanctions don’t seem to be working. There’s always the option of a military strike, but for lots of reasons that wou… --- ## [Did Tax reform act of 1986 cause this depression?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-tax-reform-act-of-1986-cause-this-depression/528865)
**Author:** [@figure9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/figure9)\ **Replies:** 45\ **Last updated:** [February 19, 2010, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-tax-reform-act-of-1986-cause-this-depression/528865 "2010-02-19T22:15:14Z")
Is the mortgage interest deduction, in the tax act of 1986, the root cause of the current recession? --- ## [Mileage Tax: Good idea or bad](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mileage-tax-good-idea-or-bad/528025)
**Author:** [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Replies:** 45\ **Last updated:** [February 19, 2010, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mileage-tax-good-idea-or-bad/528025 "2010-02-19T21:42:18Z")
I suppose it’s really a ‘usage fee’ or somesuch if implemented. Here’s an article from today’s edition of The Washington Post: Racking Up Miles? Not So Fast Now, I encourage you to read the article because it’s a lit… --- ## [Is religion just wish-fulfillment?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-religion-just-wish-fulfillment/527775)
**Author:** [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Replies:** 315\ **Last updated:** [February 19, 2010, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-religion-just-wish-fulfillment/527775 "2010-02-19T21:35:45Z")
Let’s simplify: if you were to invent a system by which people would be able to justifying positing the most blatant of wish-fulfillments, wouldn’t you have to invent something that looked an awful lot like religion? W… --- ## [Conspiracy Theorists, forget JFK, the moon and 9-11. What's the story on anthrax?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-theorists-forget-jfk-the-moon-and-9-11-whats-the-story-on-anthrax/504621)
**Author:** [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Replies:** 19\ **Last updated:** [February 19, 2010, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-theorists-forget-jfk-the-moon-and-9-11-whats-the-story-on-anthrax/504621 "2010-02-19T20:52:45Z")
It looks like the government is going to close the investigation into the anthrax murders. http://www.globalsecuritynewswire.org/gsn/nw\_20090728\_2929.php After 8 years and little to show for all the effort except a lot… --- ## [Dick Cheney Reconsidered](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-cheney-reconsidered/528574)
**Author:** [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Replies:** 62\ **Last updated:** [February 19, 2010, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-cheney-reconsidered/528574 "2010-02-19T17:22:53Z")
OK, here is a great debate. I am reading Write It When I’m Gone, by a reporter for Newsweek who became a buddy of Gerry Ford and who interviewed him many times after DF left office. Gerry seems like a real nice guy, muc… --- ## [South Africa, where to now?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-africa-where-to-now/528704)
**Author:** [@orcenio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/orcenio)\ **Replies:** 53\ **Last updated:** [February 19, 2010, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-africa-where-to-now/528704 "2010-02-19T15:50:06Z")
As South Africans are celebrating the 20th anniversary of Nelson Mandela’s release\* from prison. Al Jazeera seems to be running a bunch of articles criticizing the economic imbalance that continues in most of the country… --- ## [Do we need the lies of childhood?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-need-the-lies-of-childhood/528991)
**Author:** [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Replies:** 50\ **Last updated:** [February 19, 2010, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-need-the-lies-of-childhood/528991 "2010-02-19T14:42:26Z")
Tooth fairy, Santa Claus, etc. Do they add anything to a child’s experience? Would the world be a better place if we never told kids those stories? --- ## [The missionaries charged with kidnapping](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-missionaries-charged-with-kidnapping/528159)
**Author:** [@Palo\_Verde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palo_Verde)\ **Replies:** 55\ **Last updated:** [February 19, 2010, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-missionaries-charged-with-kidnapping/528159 "2010-02-19T06:38:22Z")
In case you haven’t heard the wide reporting on this story (here for one U.S. missionaries charged with kidnapping in Haiti - CNN.com) 10 American missionaries tried to take 33 Haitian children out of the country to set… --- ## [Fed raises discount window](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fed-raises-discount-window/529566)
**Author:** [@Happy\_Poster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Poster)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [February 19, 2010, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fed-raises-discount-window/529566 "2010-02-19T04:12:39Z")
Ok, so ECB finally starts signalling end of LTRO bullshit in what was it, November or December? (I remember how much I lost that day)… yesterday BOE minutes show disinterest (not exactly unanimous but more so than expect… --- ## [Should the U.S. be trying to destabilize the Iranian regime?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-u-s-be-trying-to-destabilize-the-iranian-regime/529439)
**Author:** [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Replies:** 20\ **Last updated:** [February 19, 2010, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-u-s-be-trying-to-destabilize-the-iranian-regime/529439 "2010-02-19T02:45:37Z")
I’m not talking about sanctions to deter development of nuclear weapons, I’m talking about regime change. Should that be an actual U.S. foreign-policy goal? Certainly the Iranian government is heavy and authoritarian. … --- ## [What is a legitimate government function?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-legitimate-government-function/528886)
**Author:** [@Blalron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blalron)\ **Replies:** 104\ **Last updated:** [February 19, 2010, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-legitimate-government-function/528886 "2010-02-19T01:51:45Z")
Throughout the countless threads on this board concerning health care, conservatives have repeatedly opined that our government just shouldn’t be in the business of universal health care (but even amongst conservatives, … --- ## [What is considered the most moderate form of mainstream Protestantism?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-considered-the-most-moderate-form-of-mainstream-protestantism/528737)
**Author:** [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Replies:** 40\ **Last updated:** [February 18, 2010, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-considered-the-most-moderate-form-of-mainstream-protestantism/528737 "2010-02-18T23:02:18Z")
I want to take my boys to church, but I am not terribly big on social conservatism. I am ruling out the Baptists. I was raised in that Church, and I am soured for life. I’ve tried Methodism, and it seemed all right fo… --- ## [The Latest Tech To Keep Tabs on Your Kids](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-latest-tech-to-keep-tabs-on-your-kids/529522)
**Author:** [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [February 18, 2010, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-latest-tech-to-keep-tabs-on-your-kids/529522 "2010-02-18T22:25:57Z")
http://www.edmunds.com/ownership/audio/articles/152146/article.html This came to mind in light of the school admin webcam spying and general parental spying in other threads. I heard an ad for this service on my morni… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=474) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=476)