# Great Debates **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=673 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 674 --- ## [Let's fix the nominating process! Woot!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-fix-the-nominating-process-woot/428659)
**Author:** [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Replies:** 29\ **Last updated:** [December 17, 2007, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-fix-the-nominating-process-woot/428659 "2007-12-17T07:50:44Z")
As detailed in threads ad nauseum and in a million places around the media this year the nominating process for the major party presidential candidates has finally gone completely loopy. We’re at the point where, in an … --- ## [Let's talk political correctness.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-political-correctness/428577)
**Author:** [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Replies:** 128\ **Last updated:** [December 17, 2007, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-political-correctness/428577 "2007-12-17T04:23:53Z")
It’s pretty much an insult nowadays, or at least i’ve not seen someone write “political correctness” without adding “pointless”, “nonsensical” or the like. But I don’t think I get it. Political correctness seems to be t… --- ## [pro-war anti-draft US predicament](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pro-war-anti-draft-us-predicament/429972)
**Author:** [@petew83](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/petew83)\ **Replies:** 11\ **Last updated:** [December 16, 2007, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pro-war-anti-draft-us-predicament/429972 "2007-12-16T23:45:33Z")
Why is the Iraq war never shown from the perspective of the soldiers (other than youtube etc)? The gov desperately wants to avoid a draft, remembering how disastrous the Vietnam protests were. The only way to recruit e… --- ## [Christmas should be a uniter, not a divider](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-should-be-a-uniter-not-a-divider/429261)
**Author:** [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Replies:** 61\ **Last updated:** [December 16, 2007, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-should-be-a-uniter-not-a-divider/429261 "2007-12-16T19:41:26Z")
It’s the War on Christmas season once again. Conservative Christians complain that vast effort to destroy the holiday is being waged, while non-Christians complain that Christianity gets rammed down their throat every D… --- ## [Are a bunch of monkeys running our financial system?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-a-bunch-of-monkeys-running-our-financial-system/428888)
**Author:** [@Polerius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polerius)\ **Replies:** 118\ **Last updated:** [December 16, 2007, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-a-bunch-of-monkeys-running-our-financial-system/428888 "2007-12-16T18:19:09Z")
The sub-prime mortgage crisis, and its ever increasing negative effects on the markets and the economy, makes me wonder how this could have possibly happened. It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out that if yo… --- ## [Burkhard Heim, antigravity, and the Hyperdrive.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burkhard-heim-antigravity-and-the-hyperdrive/429913)
**Author:** [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Replies:** 15\ **Last updated:** [December 16, 2007, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burkhard-heim-antigravity-and-the-hyperdrive/429913 "2007-12-16T06:38:28Z")
I know this discussion is going to get beyond me quick, but I stumbled upon the article Prepare for Ludicrous Speed! and it’s associated cite from New Scientist during my travels around the internet today. Here’s an ex… --- ## [Should Romney do a Hillaire Belloc?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-romney-do-a-hillaire-belloc/429825)
**Author:** [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Replies:** 30\ **Last updated:** [December 15, 2007, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-romney-do-a-hillaire-belloc/429825 "2007-12-15T23:03:26Z")
I like Mitt Romney, but the recency of his social conservatism makes me a bit cautious. I like Mike Huckabee, but the rapist-parole, tax-policy Qs & a variety of thoughtless-to-prejudicial comments are troubling me. A… --- ## [Freemasonry: Threat or Menace?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freemasonry-threat-or-menace/429269)
**Author:** [@Bobotheoptimist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bobotheoptimist)\ **Replies:** 52\ **Last updated:** [December 15, 2007, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freemasonry-threat-or-menace/429269 "2007-12-15T16:41:50Z")
Rather than further annoy Czarcasm in this thread, I’m taking his suggestion and starting a new one here. Some believe that Christianity and Freemasonry are incompatible, the Catholic Church and the Church of England fo… --- ## [70 years since the Nanking Massacre - will Japan be in deep trouble in years to come?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/70-years-since-the-nanking-massacre-will-japan-be-in-deep-trouble-in-years-to-come/429737)
**Author:** [@Wildfire\_MM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wildfire_MM)\ **Replies:** 25\ **Last updated:** [December 15, 2007, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/70-years-since-the-nanking-massacre-will-japan-be-in-deep-trouble-in-years-to-come/429737 "2007-12-15T05:59:33Z")
I’ve just read some of the infamous Nankin Massacre and the incredible inhuman treatment that the japanese army gave Nankings citicents in 1937-38 The japenese government seams to deny that it happend and school childre… --- ## [If Hitler had been killed on July 20, 1944, who would have succeeded him?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-hitler-had-been-killed-on-july-20-1944-who-would-have-succeeded-him/429706)
**Author:** [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [December 15, 2007, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-hitler-had-been-killed-on-july-20-1944-who-would-have-succeeded-him/429706 "2007-12-15T01:45:00Z")
According to ‘legend’, sometime after Stauffenberg placed his bomb-containing briefcase close to Hitler, it was moved. Indeed, it was said to have been moved to a new position such that a heavy, solid oak table leg stood… --- ## [Isn't the most robust faith the kind which is honestly questioned?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-the-most-robust-faith-the-kind-which-is-honestly-questioned/429390)
**Author:** [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Replies:** 45\ **Last updated:** [December 14, 2007, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-the-most-robust-faith-the-kind-which-is-honestly-questioned/429390 "2007-12-14T16:32:02Z")
A spillover from the Golden Compass controversy thread. I usually steer clear of these debates (for various reasons I won’t go into here), but the thread reminded me of something which has bugged me for awhile, and I wa… --- ## [What is the financial cost of an automobile to the owner & to society?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-financial-cost-of-an-automobile-to-the-owner-to-society/428966)
**Author:** [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Replies:** 14\ **Last updated:** [December 14, 2007, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-financial-cost-of-an-automobile-to-the-owner-to-society/428966 "2007-12-14T06:10:17Z")
In her 1998 book Asphalt Nation: How the Automobile Took Over America and How We Can Take It Back, Jane Holtz Kay states the following – Chapter 6, “The Cost of the Car Culture,” pp. 120-121: Notes at the back of the b… --- ## [Theists: I am still alive: Valteron](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theists-i-am-still-alive-valteron/429176)
**Author:** [@Valteron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valteron)\ **Replies:** 125\ **Last updated:** [December 14, 2007, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theists-i-am-still-alive-valteron/429176 "2007-12-14T02:44:13Z")
Guess what, I am still alive. God did not tak me up on my challenge. But I would like to know by what justification the moderator closed down my thread? Surely we can now have a reasonable debate on what my failure to di… --- ## [What's the actual competence level of CIA or other agencies’ clandestine officers?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-actual-competence-level-of-cia-or-other-agencies-clandestine-officers/429263)
**Author:** [@threemae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/threemae)\ **Replies:** 15\ **Last updated:** [December 14, 2007, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-actual-competence-level-of-cia-or-other-agencies-clandestine-officers/429263 "2007-12-14T01:21:41Z")
In the popular media and popular opinion, the CIA and its various services including its clandestine service are typically portrayed in an almost mythically capable and competent fashion replete with lots of gee-whiz tec… --- ## [What if Israel had been founded elsewhere?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-israel-had-been-founded-elsewhere/429726)
**Author:** [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Replies:** 15\ **Last updated:** [December 14, 2007, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-israel-had-been-founded-elsewhere/429726 "2007-12-14T00:17:58Z")
I’ve been reading an interesting history of the first half of the 20th century (A.N. Wilson’s After the Victorians, if anyone’s looking for a good read), and it makes a brief mention of early attempts by Zionists to secu… --- ## [Peak oil and Islamic fundamentalism](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peak-oil-and-islamic-fundamentalism/429894)
**Author:** [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [December 13, 2007, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peak-oil-and-islamic-fundamentalism/429894 "2007-12-13T23:09:00Z")
Will the power of Islamic fundamentalism decline as the world’s oil production begins to decline? Fanaticism alone isn’t enough to advance a radical agenda. You have to have the capital to finance your fanaticism if yo… --- ## [Which major news outlets lean left, and which lean right?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-major-news-outlets-lean-left-and-which-lean-right/429718)
**Author:** [@ManiacMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ManiacMan)\ **Replies:** 65\ **Last updated:** [December 13, 2007, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-major-news-outlets-lean-left-and-which-lean-right/429718 "2007-12-13T21:21:44Z")
Obvious left leaning one is CNN…(duh!) Obvious right leaning one is Fox News…(duh!) What are other organizations that are for sure leaning one way or the other? Are there any objective, facts-based news organizations … --- ## [The Pope endorses science](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pope-endorses-science/429846)
**Author:** [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [December 13, 2007, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pope-endorses-science/429846 "2007-12-13T20:22:29Z")
From here - apparently the Pope is unaware of the irony of his current statement chastising global warming alarmists: --- ## [Are we going to see internationally enforced "Carbon Laws"?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-going-to-see-internationally-enforced-carbon-laws/429690)
**Author:** [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Replies:** 37\ **Last updated:** [December 13, 2007, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-going-to-see-internationally-enforced-carbon-laws/429690 "2007-12-13T17:16:07Z")
I believe that global warming is real and efforts to stop it are worthy. But I am starting to worry that in the name of preserving the environment, flat-out ceilings on economic activity are going to be mandated on the w… --- ## [Hillary is in serious trouble?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-is-in-serious-trouble/429103)
**Author:** [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Replies:** 62\ **Last updated:** [December 13, 2007, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-is-in-serious-trouble/429103 "2007-12-13T17:15:27Z")
That’s what this (admittedly biased) blogger claims, citing a 9 point overall drop (and reductions in lead against any Republican) and a fourteen point lead reduction in New Hampshire. Granted, it’s still very early in … --- ## [Do Cheap, Mediocre Products Drive out Good Products?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cheap-mediocre-products-drive-out-good-products/429396)
**Author:** [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Replies:** 64\ **Last updated:** [December 13, 2007, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cheap-mediocre-products-drive-out-good-products/429396 "2007-12-13T15:56:12Z")
The aguments about American “culture” (McDonalds fast food, music, etc.) displacing native cultures, made me think that perhaps the real question is:do mass-market products/services displace local products and services?… --- ## [Do we have the same God?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-have-the-same-god/429520)
**Author:** [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Replies:** 68\ **Last updated:** [December 13, 2007, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-have-the-same-god/429520 "2007-12-13T15:19:43Z")
It’s wierd to me when someone says that Christians and Muslims have the same God. The thread on “Evil due to religion” brought up another example of this same thinking. Why is it that people say “Some Muslims fly plane… --- ## [U.S. intelligence: Iran is not working on a bomb; but W says they're still a threat](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-intelligence-iran-is-not-working-on-a-bomb-but-w-says-theyre-still-a-threat/428795)
**Author:** [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Replies:** 334\ **Last updated:** [December 13, 2007, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-intelligence-iran-is-not-working-on-a-bomb-but-w-says-theyre-still-a-threat/428795 "2007-12-13T15:12:39Z")
According to a new assessment by American intelligence agencies, Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003 and has not restarted it. However, they are still working on uranium-enrichment technology. Bush’s respon… --- ## [When Will The Weak US Dollars REsult in Higher Prices?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-weak-us-dollars-result-in-higher-prices/429098)
**Author:** [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Replies:** 14\ **Last updated:** [December 13, 2007, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-weak-us-dollars-result-in-higher-prices/429098 "2007-12-13T15:01:27Z")
I don’t see the price of imported Chinese goods going up at all…in fact, cashmere sweaters (imported from China) cost less now that they did 4 years ago. Likewise for electronic goods-the price seems to keep going down. … --- ## [Religious Reasons for Evil](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-reasons-for-evil/427021)
**Author:** [@9thFloor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/9thFloor)\ **Replies:** 109\ **Last updated:** [December 13, 2007, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-reasons-for-evil/427021 "2007-12-13T03:35:27Z")
Assertion: There are some good acts (i.e. saving a life) that could conceivably be done for religious reasons or for secular reasons, but there are some bad acts (human sacrifice) that could only be conceivably done for … --- ## [Why does Christmas have to be inclusive?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-christmas-have-to-be-inclusive/429622)
**Author:** [@Dob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dob)\ **Replies:** 62\ **Last updated:** [December 13, 2007, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-christmas-have-to-be-inclusive/429622 "2007-12-13T03:00:26Z")
So why exactly is Christmas the only holiday that needs to be inclusive? Why must we worry about excluding others on this one holiday, when for the rest of the year we (and other countries) could care less? When we cel… --- ## [Mitt Romney: "Freedom requires religion"](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-romney-freedom-requires-religion/429190)
**Author:** [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Replies:** 179\ **Last updated:** [December 13, 2007, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-romney-freedom-requires-religion/429190 "2007-12-13T01:24:59Z")
Does anybody agree with this view and can defend it? As a freedom-loving atheist, I of course disagree. I can offer no argument, just as I cannot provide an argument against a statement like “a bicycle requires mash… --- ## [How bad would a recession be?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-would-a-recession-be/429625)
**Author:** [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [December 12, 2007, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-would-a-recession-be/429625 "2007-12-12T03:34:03Z")
I think I’ve firmly established my economic-ignorance in multiple earlier threads, but I was wondering if someone could explain to me why a recession is necessarily a bad thing? Here’s where I trot out my unrealistic, o… --- ## [Democracy? I think not!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democracy-i-think-not/429353)
**Author:** [@justanoldvet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justanoldvet)\ **Replies:** 69\ **Last updated:** [December 12, 2007, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democracy-i-think-not/429353 "2007-12-12T03:16:37Z")
I’m not sure if this belongs here or not… but here goes… This one drives me up a tree, especially since I find myself pondering it more and more, what with all the election foolishness. Why does everyone refer to the Un… --- ## [North American Union: Fact or fiction?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-american-union-fact-or-fiction/428718)
**Author:** [@Rixlan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rixlan)\ **Replies:** 59\ **Last updated:** [December 12, 2007, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-american-union-fact-or-fiction/428718 "2007-12-12T02:00:27Z")
My house recieves a lot of junk mail and begging letters from conserative groups. One of the most popular causes is preventing the “North American Union”. Supposedly this is the fusion of the U.S., Canada and Mexico in… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=672) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=674)