# Great Debates **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=518 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 519 --- ## [Should we protect ex-criminals?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-protect-ex-criminals/506156)
**Author:** [@NineToTheSky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NineToTheSky)\ **Replies:** 54\ **Last updated:** [August 15, 2009, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-protect-ex-criminals/506156 "2009-08-15T22:48:54Z")
Three people are serving sentences for ‘allowing the death’ of a young child. They tore out his fingernails, cut off his finger tips, and broke his back amongst many other forms of general abuse. The mother’s partner has… --- ## [Is this evidence that Madeline Mccann was killed by her parents compelling?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-evidence-that-madeline-mccann-was-killed-by-her-parents-compelling/506516)
**Author:** [@Happy\_Poster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Poster)\ **Replies:** 16\ **Last updated:** [August 15, 2009, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-evidence-that-madeline-mccann-was-killed-by-her-parents-compelling/506516 "2009-08-15T19:46:36Z")
Please help me evaluate these claims @ http://madeleinefoundation.org/main/30-reasons/ On one hand many of their claims seem spurious; to take one example cadaverine is not only produced by decomposing humans, but by al… --- ## [Why does PBS still exist?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-pbs-still-exist/505762)
**Author:** [@the\_first\_supraliminal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_first_supraliminal)\ **Replies:** 91\ **Last updated:** [August 15, 2009, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-pbs-still-exist/505762 "2009-08-15T10:46:21Z")
In my youth, when TV channels stopped at 13, PBS provided a “fourth network” for things that couldn’t get sponsors, like two hour stage plays. They had the odd pledge format back then too, and my sister would sit there i… --- ## [Primer on signing statements?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/primer-on-signing-statements/506434)
**Author:** [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [August 15, 2009, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/primer-on-signing-statements/506434 "2009-08-15T05:39:02Z")
Bush caught a lot of flak from Democrats in Congress and probably others for using signing statements to, as far as I understand it, defy Congressional intentions when it came to enforcing laws. Obama criticized Bush fo… --- ## [The Nuclear Option](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nuclear-option/505850)
**Author:** [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Replies:** 31\ **Last updated:** [August 15, 2009, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nuclear-option/505850 "2009-08-15T05:36:13Z")
I understand the use of nuclear weapons as a deterrent, but is there any moral or practical justification for their use ? I assume that there are those who believe that a nuclear response to a nuclear attack is needed, … --- ## [Do you think the death of newspapers leads to more civic corruption?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-the-death-of-newspapers-leads-to-more-civic-corruption/506319)
**Author:** [@the\_first\_supraliminal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_first_supraliminal)\ **Replies:** 14\ **Last updated:** [August 15, 2009, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-the-death-of-newspapers-leads-to-more-civic-corruption/506319 "2009-08-15T03:29:13Z")
I’ve seen that argument many times from despairing newspaper columnists. They say that when there were three newspapers in every large city and one in every large suburb or small city, that there were people assigned to… --- ## [HuffPo says White House made a deal with Big Pharma](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huffpo-says-white-house-made-a-deal-with-big-pharma/506321)
**Author:** [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Replies:** 16\ **Last updated:** [August 14, 2009, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huffpo-says-white-house-made-a-deal-with-big-pharma/506321 "2009-08-14T21:13:27Z")
This is from HuffPo and says: Now, this is currently being denied, but if it’s true I have some major MAJOR issues with this deal including, but not limited to, the secret nature of it. Questions up for debate: First… --- ## [What's up with "The Family"?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-the-family/506284)
**Author:** [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Replies:** 38\ **Last updated:** [August 14, 2009, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-the-family/506284 "2009-08-14T18:55:30Z")
The Family is a secretive fundamentalist-Christian political organization established in 1934 to oppose the New Deal. Last year I posted a thread about a story that Hillary Clinton was connected to it. There wasn’t muc… --- ## [Religion has Never Bettered the World](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-has-never-bettered-the-world/505393)
**Author:** [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Replies:** 190\ **Last updated:** [August 14, 2009, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-has-never-bettered-the-world/505393 "2009-08-14T18:08:03Z")
The daily life of your 99th percentile human from the time of the earliest civilizations and up until the 19th century was one of rigorous, daily toil. If you were in the elite, then your life was better, but still the q… --- ## ["The U.S. Economy is an Ocean Liner that Turns Very Slowly"](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-u-s-economy-is-an-ocean-liner-that-turns-very-slowly/506384)
**Author:** [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [August 14, 2009, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-u-s-economy-is-an-ocean-liner-that-turns-very-slowly/506384 "2009-08-14T16:31:48Z")
Conservative economist Bruce Bartlett has written a recent column in which he states that GOP rage is misdirected at Obama; it properly should be directed differently. “The person they should be angry with left the Whit… --- ## [If Stephen Hawking was born in America,](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-stephen-hawking-was-born-in-america/506263)
**Author:** [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Replies:** 35\ **Last updated:** [August 14, 2009, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-stephen-hawking-was-born-in-america/506263 "2009-08-14T14:26:00Z")
would he have received sufficient health care to carry on as he has been ? I particularly wonder about the fact that he was diagnosed with motor neuron disease at the age of 21 while in school and hence would have had a… --- ## [STS-80 UFO Video](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sts-80-ufo-video/505841)
**Author:** [@Ryan\_Liam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ryan_Liam)\ **Replies:** 62\ **Last updated:** [August 14, 2009, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sts-80-ufo-video/505841 "2009-08-14T10:01:07Z")
I’ve been wanting to ask questions about UFO’s for ages but held back, I dunno why, maybe because of the contraversial nature of debating this, but I had to ask on here specifically and because people are skeptical, and … --- ## [Is "I know I am, but what are you?" a valid counterargument?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-i-know-i-am-but-what-are-you-a-valid-counterargument/505845)
**Author:** [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Replies:** 20\ **Last updated:** [August 14, 2009, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-i-know-i-am-but-what-are-you-a-valid-counterargument/505845 "2009-08-14T04:44:47Z")
I’ve seen this a lot in various fora and such lately, and it is increasingly starting to bug me. Someone (who could, say, be identified with group Y) will point out some henious behavior on the part of members of group … --- ## [Why is health care still tied to employers?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-health-care-still-tied-to-employers/505740)
**Author:** [@the\_first\_supraliminal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_first_supraliminal)\ **Replies:** 71\ **Last updated:** [August 14, 2009, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-health-care-still-tied-to-employers/505740 "2009-08-14T01:49:27Z")
Sure, I know how it started, with 18th century plantations and 19th century logging camps and company towns that had only one doctor, so the owner just paid him. Paternalism. The owner also supplied all the lodgings and … --- ## [Ezekiel Emmanuel says we need to ration care](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ezekiel-emmanuel-says-we-need-to-ration-care/506153)
**Author:** [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Replies:** 58\ **Last updated:** [August 14, 2009, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ezekiel-emmanuel-says-we-need-to-ration-care/506153 "2009-08-14T00:45:13Z")
http://www.nypost.com/seven/07242009/postopinion/opedcolumnists/deadly\_doctors\_180941.htm?&page=0 What do people make of this? We’ve been hearing that it’s absolutely ridiculous that care would be rationed, but how ca… --- ## [Fighting the hypothetical: when there's no right way](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fighting-the-hypothetical-when-theres-no-right-way/505994)
**Author:** [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Replies:** 50\ **Last updated:** [August 14, 2009, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fighting-the-hypothetical-when-theres-no-right-way/505994 "2009-08-14T00:02:09Z")
You are the top general in the country of Hypothistan. For years, your country has been at war with belligerent Theoretica. Set aside who started what; the issue is complicated and probably not binary. The Theoreticans … --- ## [Are we doing the right thing in the Congo? (Widespread rape by Western-supported troops)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-doing-the-right-thing-in-the-congo-widespread-rape-by-western-supported-troops/506143)
**Author:** [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [August 13, 2009, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-doing-the-right-thing-in-the-congo-widespread-rape-by-western-supported-troops/506143 "2009-08-13T20:17:18Z")
An article in the Washington Post describes the latest phase of the never-ending war in the Congo (formerly Zaire). The US and the UN have been funding and advising a force of Congolese soldiers to try to stabilize the … --- ## [Does the pope weigh in on every death penalty case?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-pope-weigh-in-on-every-death-penalty-case/506276)
**Author:** [@TheMadHun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheMadHun)\ **Replies:** 8\ **Last updated:** [August 13, 2009, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-pope-weigh-in-on-every-death-penalty-case/506276 "2009-08-13T19:29:55Z")
I recall Bush got a couple of comments from him when he was executing people as governor of Texas. But is it just automatic, pro forma, or does the pope review each case in the same way a governor reviews clemency reques… --- ## [President Obama's daughters get healthy school lunches. Why don't I?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-obamas-daughters-get-healthy-school-lunches-why-dont-i/506190)
**Author:** [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Replies:** 54\ **Last updated:** [August 13, 2009, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-obamas-daughters-get-healthy-school-lunches-why-dont-i/506190 "2009-08-13T17:11:15Z")
Well, not me, specifically. I don’t get healthy school lunches because I’m not even in school. But a poster ad placed by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (warning: PDF file) asks that question of passer… --- ## [Cash for Clunkers - Destroying Wealth](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cash-for-clunkers-destroying-wealth/504959)
**Author:** [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Replies:** 311\ **Last updated:** [August 13, 2009, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cash-for-clunkers-destroying-wealth/504959 "2009-08-13T14:51:04Z")
I was just looking over this list of cars on the ‘cash for clunkers’ list, and realized that this program is going to buy up large numbers of perfectly good vehicles, presumably to be destroyed. This is simply a massive… --- ## [Will the Middle East successfuly diversify their economy?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-middle-east-successfuly-diversify-their-economy/506095)
**Author:** [@Rumor\_Watkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rumor_Watkins)\ **Replies:** 12\ **Last updated:** [August 13, 2009, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-middle-east-successfuly-diversify-their-economy/506095 "2009-08-13T14:09:05Z")
Some ME nations have seen the writing on the wall - A few Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, etc. have undertaken a transformation from a strictly oil-based economy to a diversified service based economy, presumably because they … --- ## [Why are we alive?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-we-alive/504200)
**Author:** [@Nation](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nation)\ **Replies:** 124\ **Last updated:** [August 13, 2009, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-we-alive/504200 "2009-08-13T14:07:32Z")
Seriously, whats the point? If there is no life after death or consequences for our actions, then whats the point of life? I dont mean “oh my life is terrible why am i alive i wish i were dead” shit, but the actual point… --- ## [Smoking's Better Than Drinking](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smokings-better-than-drinking/505970)
**Author:** [@portiacarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/portiacarlisle)\ **Replies:** 23\ **Last updated:** [August 13, 2009, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smokings-better-than-drinking/505970 "2009-08-13T14:05:47Z")
“A controversial new movement promotes pot use instead of alcohol. These parents want to ban pot prohibition because they believe it will save lives.” My husband and I are openly pro-legalization, but that doesn’t sit … --- ## [Whose non-existance would save the most lives, directly or indirectly?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-non-existance-would-save-the-most-lives-directly-or-indirectly/505790)
**Author:** [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Replies:** 72\ **Last updated:** [August 13, 2009, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-non-existance-would-save-the-most-lives-directly-or-indirectly/505790 "2009-08-13T03:36:37Z")
The debate on Hitler and whether it would be ethical to blow him up at the expense of innocents got me thinking. Suppose you can erase any figure from history, with the aim of preserving the most life possible without t… --- ## [Consumer-driven health plans (quasi-free-market) work](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consumer-driven-health-plans-quasi-free-market-work/506185)
**Author:** [@athelas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/athelas)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [August 13, 2009, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consumer-driven-health-plans-quasi-free-market-work/506185 "2009-08-13T03:20:00Z")
Here: So under these plans you pay for most health expenditures out of pocket; the “insurance” is insurance by the original meaning of the term, and covers catastrophic care. Conservatives have long argued that the r… --- ## [What would you think of this jury system for the US?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-think-of-this-jury-system-for-the-us/505626)
**Author:** [@Never\_Say\_Dice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Never_Say_Dice)\ **Replies:** 12\ **Last updated:** [August 13, 2009, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-think-of-this-jury-system-for-the-us/505626 "2009-08-13T02:52:29Z")
"The ruling was the first under the new Japanese jury system, a major overhaul of the country’s legal framework aimed at speeding up trials and offering greater transparency. The system pairs six citizens with three pro… --- ## [USA Founded on Deism.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-founded-on-deism/504749)
**Author:** [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\ **Replies:** 90\ **Last updated:** [August 13, 2009, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-founded-on-deism/504749 "2009-08-13T01:16:48Z")
You hear it every day, I don’t need to provide a source. Conservative Christians in the USA say the US was founded as a Christian nation. But what does the evidence from that time show? Thomas Jefferson, who wrote the d… --- ## [Killing Hitler's Wife and Children](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killing-hitlers-wife-and-children/505766)
**Author:** [@emacknight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emacknight)\ **Replies:** 112\ **Last updated:** [August 12, 2009, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killing-hitlers-wife-and-children/505766 "2009-08-12T13:13:40Z")
What I really wanted to discuss was the recent death of Baitullah Mehsud, the leader of the Taliban in Pakistan. The attack also killed his second wife, farther-in-law, and four children. But I figured, why beat around … --- ## [Why should anyone take solipsism seriously?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-anyone-take-solipsism-seriously/505754)
**Author:** [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Replies:** 74\ **Last updated:** [August 12, 2009, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-anyone-take-solipsism-seriously/505754 "2009-08-12T08:24:01Z")
Suggested by this post in an otherwise irrelevant Pit thread. Solipsism, of course, is the philosophical–well, I don’t want to call it a theory– the philosophical proposition that one’s own mind is all that exists. It … --- ## [The administration goes Orwell.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-administration-goes-orwell/505938)
**Author:** [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Replies:** 88\ **Last updated:** [August 12, 2009, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-administration-goes-orwell/505938 "2009-08-12T02:03:30Z")
I just watched the clip of CNN’s Howard Kurtz interviewing Linda Douglass, the White House Communications Director for the Office of Health Reform. Kurtz is asking her about a video piece she put together. Here is the in… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=517) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=519)