# Great Debates **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=542 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 543 --- ## [Folks betting on an assault weapons ban are buying up guns to re-sell for big profits](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folks-betting-on-an-assault-weapons-ban-are-buying-up-guns-to-re-sell-for-big-profits/493499)
**Author:** [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Replies:** 28\ **Last updated:** [April 23, 2009, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folks-betting-on-an-assault-weapons-ban-are-buying-up-guns-to-re-sell-for-big-profits/493499 "2009-04-23T07:09:37Z")
In the Wall Street Journal this afternoon there was an article about how some gun fanciers are absolutely convinced that the Obama Administration will soon be banning the sale of new semi-auto weapons and are buying up w… --- ## [Metric time](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metric-time/493686)
**Author:** [@ginman999](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ginman999)\ **Replies:** 8\ **Last updated:** [April 23, 2009, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metric-time/493686 "2009-04-23T04:15:51Z")
Metric time, Was it ever considered? Would it be possible? I guess that the earth’s rotation around the sun takes 365 cycles of days and nights makes it pretty hard to make it work. --- ## [To torture or not to torture](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-torture-or-not-to-torture/493808)
**Author:** [@Cheesy\_goodness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesy_goodness)\ **Replies:** 92\ **Last updated:** [April 23, 2009, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-torture-or-not-to-torture/493808 "2009-04-23T00:24:46Z")
Reading some of the memos just released by the Obama DOJ got me thinking. There’s no doubt that Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and others held in Gitmo and Bagram committed horrible atrocities that led to the deaths of thousand… --- ## [Virulance, equilibrium and extinction](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/virulance-equilibrium-and-extinction/494036)
**Author:** [@Catchy\_Wins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catchy_Wins)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [April 23, 2009, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/virulance-equilibrium-and-extinction/494036 "2009-04-23T00:15:16Z")
A few thoughts. Evolution doesn’t optimize animals for the short term. It generally allows animals to exist at the lowest level of optimization where they successfully fulfill their niche and use their resources over t… --- ## [Was Hamilton right about the Bill of Rights?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-hamilton-right-about-the-bill-of-rights/493861)
**Author:** [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Replies:** 31\ **Last updated:** [April 22, 2009, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-hamilton-right-about-the-bill-of-rights/493861 "2009-04-22T23:58:32Z")
When the Constitution was being written, some delegates didn’t want to ratify it because there were a number of civil rights that they said should be included. To meet these concerns, the Bill of Rights was added as a gr… --- ## [Did Obama just reverse himself on prosecution of ex-Administration officials?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-obama-just-reverse-himself-on-prosecution-of-ex-administration-officials/493918)
**Author:** [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Replies:** 46\ **Last updated:** [April 22, 2009, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-obama-just-reverse-himself-on-prosecution-of-ex-administration-officials/493918 "2009-04-22T23:41:20Z")
Basically there in the thread title. Was watching ABC and they had one of their news break thingies and said something to the effect that Obama just reversed the position of the last couple of days wrt prosecution of ex… --- ## [The Sleeping Beauty paradox](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sleeping-beauty-paradox/492882)
**Author:** [@Tyrrell\_McAllister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tyrrell_McAllister)\ **Replies:** 181\ **Last updated:** [April 22, 2009, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sleeping-beauty-paradox/492882 "2009-04-22T23:04:07Z")
I’ve been spending some time lately thinking about the Sleeping Beauty paradox, which is one of the well-known paradoxes in epistemology and Bayesian probability theory. Here’s the description from Wikipedia: There ar… --- ## [On Fixing the Medical Helicopter Industry](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-fixing-the-medical-helicopter-industry/493850)
**Author:** [@Hentzau](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentzau)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [April 22, 2009, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-fixing-the-medical-helicopter-industry/493850 "2009-04-22T18:44:56Z")
Hello, This morning’s NPR story on the recent NTSB hearings regarding the upward trend in medical helicopter crashes and the resultant fatalities got me thinking. You see, I’ve logged over four years as a pilot of thos… --- ## [9th Circuit Holds 2nd Amendment Incorporated...](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/9th-circuit-holds-2nd-amendment-incorporated/493984)
**Author:** [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [April 22, 2009, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/9th-circuit-holds-2nd-amendment-incorporated/493984 "2009-04-22T18:32:32Z")
I’m very suprised. Relying on Heller, the 9th Circuit just held in Nordyke v. County of Alameda that: Their decision in the case - that banning gun shows from county property is justified under Heller isn’t one I neces… --- ## [If not Bush, then who?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-not-bush-then-who/493068)
**Author:** [@auburntiger11](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/auburntiger11)\ **Replies:** 125\ **Last updated:** [April 22, 2009, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-not-bush-then-who/493068 "2009-04-22T04:48:42Z")
Do you think things would have been different with anybody else in there democrat or republican for that past 8 years? or would it have been a bad time for anyone who would have been so unlucky to have had the office at … --- ## [A former regulator and his take on the financial crisis](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-former-regulator-and-his-take-on-the-financial-crisis/493944)
**Author:** [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [April 22, 2009, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-former-regulator-and-his-take-on-the-financial-crisis/493944 "2009-04-22T04:20:51Z")
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/04032009/watch.html Black was a former financial regulator who was in charge during the S & L crisis. This is his interview on Moyers discussing what should have and could have been don… --- ## [Media responsible for polarization and fear?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-responsible-for-polarization-and-fear/493623)
**Author:** [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Replies:** 17\ **Last updated:** [April 22, 2009, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-responsible-for-polarization-and-fear/493623 "2009-04-22T01:42:56Z")
This is something I’ve been wondering for a long time. How much of the political polarization and the social fear that we see these days is the media and the internet responsible for? By political polarization, I mean … --- ## [Pirates: Are "Q" Ships the Anwer?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pirates-are-q-ships-the-anwer/493473)
**Author:** [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Replies:** 27\ **Last updated:** [April 21, 2009, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pirates-are-q-ships-the-anwer/493473 "2009-04-21T23:15:44Z")
In WWI, the British Navy combatted submarine attacks on ships, using “Q Ships”. They were made to look like unarmed merchant ships, but were manned by Royal Navy crews, and had guns and weapons concealed on the decks. Wh… --- ## [Are there any good arguments for property qualifications for voting?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-good-arguments-for-property-qualifications-for-voting/493659)
**Author:** [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Replies:** 58\ **Last updated:** [April 21, 2009, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-good-arguments-for-property-qualifications-for-voting/493659 "2009-04-21T14:50:53Z")
I would have thought the idea would have been a dead letter for well over a century now, but, based on this recent post by Huerta88, apparently some conservatives still recent poor people voting. Seems to me we already … --- ## [Talent and Respect](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talent-and-respect/493210)
**Author:** [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Replies:** 18\ **Last updated:** [April 21, 2009, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talent-and-respect/493210 "2009-04-21T14:01:05Z")
With a big nod to Headbutler.com for pointing me toward these links. . . Watch this first: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY Then check this out: http://www.theherald.co.uk/features/featuresopinon/display.va… --- ## [NYT Twists Itself Into Knots -- Or, How Do Liberals Deal With Messy Democracy?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-twists-itself-into-knots-or-how-do-liberals-deal-with-messy-democracy/493208)
**Author:** [@Huerta88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huerta88)\ **Replies:** 89\ **Last updated:** [April 21, 2009, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-twists-itself-into-knots-or-how-do-liberals-deal-with-messy-democracy/493208 "2009-04-21T05:07:37Z")
Liberals (and neo-cons) (say they) like democracy. But then you go and install or support a couple of democracies in the wackier parts of the world, and it turns out – not so much. Turns out that what large parts of th… --- ## [Critique this alternative system: Involuntary political service](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critique-this-alternative-system-involuntary-political-service/493538)
**Author:** [@Happy\_Poster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Poster)\ **Replies:** 39\ **Last updated:** [April 20, 2009, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critique-this-alternative-system-involuntary-political-service/493538 "2009-04-20T23:17:55Z")
Brainstorming here, so positive criticism as well as negative criticism is welcome :slight\_smile: A huge number of problems with our systems are caused by the existence of the career politician - by this I mean both tho… --- ## [Is the Peter Principle a real phenomenon](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-peter-principle-a-real-phenomenon/493578)
**Author:** [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Replies:** 31\ **Last updated:** [April 20, 2009, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-peter-principle-a-real-phenomenon/493578 "2009-04-20T17:40:12Z")
The Peter Principle is a theory put forth by Dr. Laurence J. Peter and Raymond Hull that states “In a Hierarchy Every Employee Tends to Rise to His Level of Incompetence.” Basically the gist of the theory goes like this… --- ## [Why did Tony Blair go along with the invasion of Iraq?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-tony-blair-go-along-with-the-invasion-of-iraq/493112)
**Author:** [@sweeteviljesus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweeteviljesus)\ **Replies:** 35\ **Last updated:** [April 20, 2009, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-tony-blair-go-along-with-the-invasion-of-iraq/493112 "2009-04-20T16:27:41Z")
Subject says it all. Thanks, Rob --- ## [Vermont Legislature Overrides Gov's Veto On Same-Sex Marriage!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vermont-legislature-overrides-govs-veto-on-same-sex-marriage/492254)
**Author:** [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Replies:** 70\ **Last updated:** [April 20, 2009, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vermont-legislature-overrides-govs-veto-on-same-sex-marriage/492254 "2009-04-20T15:53:28Z")
This happened about 3 minutes ago! The Vermont legislature, Senate and House, has overridden Gov. Douglas’s veto on the same-sex marriage law! The vote in the House was 100-46. It was expected to be close to the margin,… --- ## [Are we too overprotective of the younglings today or have things changed?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-too-overprotective-of-the-younglings-today-or-have-things-changed/493318)
**Author:** [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Replies:** 22\ **Last updated:** [April 20, 2009, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-too-overprotective-of-the-younglings-today-or-have-things-changed/493318 "2009-04-20T06:14:43Z")
In this thread, Dopers recall things from our childhoods that just don’t occur today. Some things are gone because they were very bad and obviously should be (public smoking, racist teachers, generic beer, etc.), but on… --- ## [The Pirate's story](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pirates-story/492910)
**Author:** [@ChrisBooth12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChrisBooth12)\ **Replies:** 84\ **Last updated:** [April 20, 2009, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pirates-story/492910 "2009-04-20T04:24:40Z")
Just a little disclaimer this is not my opinion but an article I have just recently read that showed the pirates side of things. Thought it might be worth a read: http://www.sfbayview.com/2009/you-are-being-lied-to-abou… --- ## [Girls mature faster? Two words: Bull. Shit.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-mature-faster-two-words-bull-shit/493664)
**Author:** [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Replies:** 28\ **Last updated:** [April 20, 2009, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-mature-faster-two-words-bull-shit/493664 "2009-04-20T03:23:05Z")
What’s with the cliche that girls mature faster? How do they get this? In my retail experience, teenage girls are noisier, less polite, have narrower and shallower tastes, have fewer social skills, and are just all aroun… --- ## ["Pre-autism"](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-autism/493668)
**Author:** [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [April 20, 2009, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-autism/493668 "2009-04-20T00:50:26Z")
There is something I don’t understand in this whole autism debate. Has anyone done even a retrospective study of the social interactions of children who turn out to be autistic? Had they appeared entirely normal before… --- ## [What really caused the Global Recession?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-really-caused-the-global-recession/493579)
**Author:** [@Spin\_Master](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spin_Master)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [April 19, 2009, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-really-caused-the-global-recession/493579 "2009-04-19T21:38:03Z")
From what I grasp, the general consensus of what caused the Global Recession was the wide-spread issuance of sub-prime and adjustable rate-mortgages which resulted in unprecedented consumers in the housing market default… --- ## [Politically Correct Cancer](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politically-correct-cancer/482005)
**Author:** [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Replies:** 133\ **Last updated:** [April 19, 2009, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politically-correct-cancer/482005 "2009-04-19T21:14:51Z")
My wife has just begun a battle against lung cancer (I don’t want to turn this thread into our personal struggles – a topic for another thread). But we’ve spent much time in the past few weeks watching TV from her hospi… --- ## [Death Penalty and the Eighth Amendment](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-penalty-and-the-eighth-amendment/493253)
**Author:** [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Replies:** 21\ **Last updated:** [April 17, 2009, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-penalty-and-the-eighth-amendment/493253 "2009-04-17T21:43:06Z")
Many people who believe the death penalty to be constitutional under the Eighth Amendment note that the Fifth Amendment allows the state to take “life, liberty, or property” with sufficient due process. Therefore, the C… --- ## [Alternatives of Liability Insurance?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternatives-of-liability-insurance/493250)
**Author:** [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [April 17, 2009, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternatives-of-liability-insurance/493250 "2009-04-17T19:58:26Z")
It seems like if you can buy medical malpractice insurance that you should just as well be able to buy embezzlement insurance, murder insurance, vandalism insurance, etc. where you’re not insuring against someone doing s… --- ## [Sikhs sue to join U.S. military without cutting hair](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sikhs-sue-to-join-u-s-military-without-cutting-hair/493181)
**Author:** [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Replies:** 69\ **Last updated:** [April 17, 2009, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sikhs-sue-to-join-u-s-military-without-cutting-hair/493181 "2009-04-17T18:54:33Z")
Stories Here: Capt. Kamaljeet Kalsi, M.D., and 2nd Lt. Tejdeep Rattan (D.D.S. expected) (Hey, they’re not named Singh!) have sued to be allowed to keep their hair uncut and to wear their turbans while on active duty. W… --- ## [Who were the most incompetent generals of all time?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-were-the-most-incompetent-generals-of-all-time/492828)
**Author:** [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Replies:** 158\ **Last updated:** [April 17, 2009, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-were-the-most-incompetent-generals-of-all-time/492828 "2009-04-17T16:06:52Z")
I would suggest Aylmer Hunter-Westonhas to be right up there with them. His speciality was having his troops charge machine gun nests during daylight. He had no concern about casualties. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=541) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=543)