# Great Debates **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=681 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 682 --- ## [Criticize Ron Paul](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/criticize-ron-paul/422379)
**Author:** [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Replies:** 98\ **Last updated:** [November 1, 2007, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/criticize-ron-paul/422379 "2007-11-01T20:55:53Z")
The more I read/watch, the more I like Ron Paul. I think his ideas and positions are sensible and would help the USA get out of a lot of the messes it is in. However, I don’t read a lot of criticism of Ron Paul. What … --- ## [Any pro-gay ex-gays?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-pro-gay-ex-gays/424360)
**Author:** [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Replies:** 37\ **Last updated:** [November 1, 2007, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-pro-gay-ex-gays/424360 "2007-11-01T16:32:32Z")
I often see testimonials from individuals who say that they had earlier embraced the “gay lifestyle” but who are now in successful heterosexual relationships and are speaking on behalf of the conservative anti-gay moveme… --- ## [Is the human species screwed?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-human-species-screwed/424685)
**Author:** [@Chrismoody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chrismoody)\ **Replies:** 25\ **Last updated:** [November 1, 2007, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-human-species-screwed/424685 "2007-11-01T16:03:27Z")
I know that logically we are… should we just sit around and watch MTV and Survivor (I actually chose that at random before realizing its double meaning). Should the human species just sit around we’ll probably be hit by… --- ## [Is the USA the only country that even bothers with Intelligent Design bullshit?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-usa-the-only-country-that-even-bothers-with-intelligent-design-bullshit/424549)
**Author:** [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Replies:** 65\ **Last updated:** [November 1, 2007, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-usa-the-only-country-that-even-bothers-with-intelligent-design-bullshit/424549 "2007-11-01T15:50:26Z")
I didn’t know which forum to choose for this. It seems to fit in just about any SDMB category except maybe “About This Message Board” or “Cafe Society”. Since it seemed this topic might get a little heated, I figured G… --- ## [Comprehesive Campaign Reform - in 3 words](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comprehesive-campaign-reform-in-3-words/417249)
**Author:** [@Key\_Lime\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Key_Lime_Guy)\ **Replies:** 95\ **Last updated:** [November 1, 2007, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comprehesive-campaign-reform-in-3-words/417249 "2007-11-01T12:45:22Z")
No television ads. Up 'til now, campaign reform has focused on the supply of money to candidates. How about shriveling up the demand? Work with me here. Isn’t the essence of the problem that candidates need to raise … --- ## [An intelligent plan for dealing with potential terrorists?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-intelligent-plan-for-dealing-with-potential-terrorists/424552)
**Author:** [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [November 1, 2007, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-intelligent-plan-for-dealing-with-potential-terrorists/424552 "2007-11-01T04:26:35Z")
I was reading a Time article about an ongoing Saudi operation to deal with potential terrorists. They’ve set up a series of bases where they gather people who have been indoctrinated by radical Muslim groups and they ess… --- ## [Please help truth-check this (Bush v Clinton)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-truth-check-this-bush-v-clinton/424187)
**Author:** [@ambushed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ambushed)\ **Replies:** 172\ **Last updated:** [November 1, 2007, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-truth-check-this-bush-v-clinton/424187 "2007-11-01T02:08:55Z")
I’m looking for help with fact- and truth-checking and other responses, please. The following is a reply I received from something I wrote in an email criticizing what I termed “President Bush’s despicable leadership”, … --- ## [Spanish trial of March 11th terrorists concludes](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-trial-of-march-11th-terrorists-concludes/424787)
**Author:** [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [October 31, 2007, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-trial-of-march-11th-terrorists-concludes/424787 "2007-10-31T21:39:10Z")
I have a question and a debate about the recent trials in Spain of suspected terrorists in the March 11th bombings of commuter trains that killed 191 and injured 1,800. My question is this…what is the point of handing d… --- ## [Newcomb's Paradox](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newcombs-paradox/421594)
**Author:** [@Ermes\_Marana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ermes_Marana)\ **Replies:** 270\ **Last updated:** [October 31, 2007, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newcombs-paradox/421594 "2007-10-31T21:24:44Z")
The following is the Newcomb problem as stated by Martin Gardner and Robert Nozick. This problem is currently unresolved. Two closed boxes, B1 and B2, are on a table. B1 contains $1,000. B2 contains either nothing or $1… --- ## [Is Waxing (Removal of Hair) Dangerous?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-waxing-removal-of-hair-dangerous/424270)
**Author:** [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Replies:** 8\ **Last updated:** [October 31, 2007, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-waxing-removal-of-hair-dangerous/424270 "2007-10-31T20:13:06Z")
It seems to me that stripping hair by using wax would result in lots of little tears in the skin. With the emergence of drug-resistant staph, could this result in a dangerous infection? Should waxing be done in unclean c… --- ## [Evolution and Dinosaurs](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evolution-and-dinosaurs/423860)
**Author:** [@xxfireangel13xx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xxfireangel13xx)\ **Replies:** 59\ **Last updated:** [October 31, 2007, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evolution-and-dinosaurs/423860 "2007-10-31T09:29:07Z")
I believe in evolution and my boyfriend does not, he pointed out that there is a gap somewhere before the dinosaurs. Basically traditionally it is believed all life began as very small organisms that evolved into plants… --- ## [Who most influenced Western Civilization?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-most-influenced-western-civilization/424511)
**Author:** [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Replies:** 59\ **Last updated:** [October 31, 2007, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-most-influenced-western-civilization/424511 "2007-10-31T05:50:19Z")
Interesting, I’ve heard two claims the past couple of days about the person with the greatest influence on Western Civilization. Martin Luther. Alexander the Great I can see how an argument can be made for Luther. Lut… --- ## [Speeding fines and tickets](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speeding-fines-and-tickets/424224)
**Author:** [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Replies:** 50\ **Last updated:** [October 31, 2007, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speeding-fines-and-tickets/424224 "2007-10-31T05:32:31Z")
There’s been a lot of workup, rage, psuedo-rage, and irritation in the Pit recently (not links; it’s not worth reading, frankly) over that perennial fly in the soup of our nation’s driving habits, Speeding Tickets. There… --- ## [Has France's WWII performance been fairly judged or not?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-frances-wwii-performance-been-fairly-judged-or-not/424167)
**Author:** [@Valteron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valteron)\ **Replies:** 55\ **Last updated:** [October 31, 2007, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-frances-wwii-performance-been-fairly-judged-or-not/424167 "2007-10-31T01:36:12Z")
Just for starters, let me explain that I, as the OP, have no particular nationalistic axe to grind. I am a French-Canadian. That makes me a French-speaking North American. I am NOT a Frenchman any more than an English-sp… --- ## [Homeland Security Detain UK Government Minister- of course he is Muslim](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeland-security-detain-uk-government-minister-of-course-he-is-muslim/424377)
**Author:** [@Pjen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pjen)\ **Replies:** 52\ **Last updated:** [October 30, 2007, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeland-security-detain-uk-government-minister-of-course-he-is-muslim/424377 "2007-10-30T19:36:45Z")
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/pressass/20071028/tuk-muslim-minister-detained-at-airport-6323e80\_1.html Britain’s first Muslim minister said he was “deeply disappointed” after being detained at an American airport where his h… --- ## [Historians & doctors: your take on the Spanish flu, Wilson & the Treaty of Versailles](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historians-doctors-your-take-on-the-spanish-flu-wilson-the-treaty-of-versailles/424014)
**Author:** [@Fozzie\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fozzie_Bear)\ **Replies:** 31\ **Last updated:** [October 30, 2007, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historians-doctors-your-take-on-the-spanish-flu-wilson-the-treaty-of-versailles/424014 "2007-10-30T10:57:53Z")
I just finished reading an interesting book: The Great Influenza, by John M. Barry. The book is about the Spanish flu epidemic in 1918-1920 and the researchers that tried to understand what was happening (mostly from an … --- ## [Is this guy a Chicken Little, or is the global economy on the brink of a depression?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-guy-a-chicken-little-or-is-the-global-economy-on-the-brink-of-a-depression/424327)
**Author:** [@LonesomePolecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonesomePolecat)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [October 30, 2007, 10:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-guy-a-chicken-little-or-is-the-global-economy-on-the-brink-of-a-depression/424327 "2007-10-30T10:30:17Z")
I won’t try to recap everything in this blog by Ambrose Evans-Pritchard of the Guardian, but his basic point seems to be that Western governments have been getting away with a great big Ponzi scheme for decades and now … --- ## [Pls Help me to find the ones interested in this!: Are we controlled by secret forces?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pls-help-me-to-find-the-ones-interested-in-this-are-we-controlled-by-secret-forces/423682)
**Author:** [@oestert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oestert)\ **Replies:** 89\ **Last updated:** [October 30, 2007, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pls-help-me-to-find-the-ones-interested-in-this-are-we-controlled-by-secret-forces/423682 "2007-10-30T04:12:04Z")
This is very interesting and unique when there are still people which can resist all the manipulation in this world to keep them stupid in one way ore the others! I came up with my own theory and the article I found by … --- ## [Norman Borlaug and the Green Revolution](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norman-borlaug-and-the-green-revolution/423442)
**Author:** [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Replies:** 57\ **Last updated:** [October 30, 2007, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norman-borlaug-and-the-green-revolution/423442 "2007-10-30T01:31:36Z")
The Green Revolution, a transformation in agricultural production that allowed larger crop yields, is both hailed as a famine-averting life-saver and criticized as a poverty-inducing life-destroyer. What are the major a… --- ## [US gravity control research](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-gravity-control-research/424370)
**Author:** [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Replies:** 11\ **Last updated:** [October 30, 2007, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-gravity-control-research/424370 "2007-10-30T01:15:48Z")
From a Wiki article recently featured: United States gravity control propulsion research - Wikipedia Now I really doubt that the Men In Black are flying around in their reverse-engineered flying saucers. But is it possi… --- ## [The War on Terror is Over (in the UK at least)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-war-on-terror-is-over-in-the-uk-at-least/424320)
**Author:** [@Pjen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pjen)\ **Replies:** 62\ **Last updated:** [October 30, 2007, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-war-on-terror-is-over-in-the-uk-at-least/424320 "2007-10-30T01:14:37Z")
“The Prime Minister has also instructed his team – including new Home Secretary Jacqui Smith – that the phrase “war on terror” is to be dropped.” Sanity is slowly returning. Plans have also been leaked to withdraw al… --- ## [The Ethics of Spying on Your Nanny](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ethics-of-spying-on-your-nanny/423083)
**Author:** [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Replies:** 35\ **Last updated:** [October 29, 2007, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ethics-of-spying-on-your-nanny/423083 "2007-10-29T18:45:27Z")
Not sure if this goes here, exactly. Basically, what I’m asking is, is it ethical to spy on your nanny with a nannycam? Most people would see that as a bit dodgy. But what about setting up a blog to report on “bad” nanni… --- ## [Is it possible to quantify the aggregate sum of human knowledge?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-quantify-the-aggregate-sum-of-human-knowledge/424183)
**Author:** [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Replies:** 14\ **Last updated:** [October 29, 2007, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-quantify-the-aggregate-sum-of-human-knowledge/424183 "2007-10-29T18:04:34Z")
From Right Where You Are Sitting Now, by the late Pope St. \[(And/Or Press, 1982, pp. 30-32): Oh wow, far out. Only . . . what method did Anderla use to quantify knowledge? The Blessed Wilson does not say; neither doe… --- ## [What Iraq war?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-iraq-war/424012)
**Author:** [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Replies:** 39\ **Last updated:** [October 29, 2007, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-iraq-war/424012 "2007-10-29T16:02:05Z")
At first I thought it was just me. I noticed over the last few weeks that news coverage of the Iraq war seemed much lower than it had been. Sure, there was tension along the border with Turkey over the PKK rebels, bu… --- ## [Instead of socialized medicine...how about](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instead-of-socialized-medicine-how-about/422524)
**Author:** [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Replies:** 53\ **Last updated:** [October 29, 2007, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instead-of-socialized-medicine-how-about/422524 "2007-10-29T05:22:11Z")
taking a market approach? When I say this, people say, but health care is a NECESSITY. The government needs to control it. Well, food is a larger necessity, and while there are federal regs on food handling and the li… --- ## [Even if the Bush is Right About Iran and Nuclear Weapons](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/even-if-the-bush-is-right-about-iran-and-nuclear-weapons/424200)
**Author:** [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Replies:** 30\ **Last updated:** [October 28, 2007, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/even-if-the-bush-is-right-about-iran-and-nuclear-weapons/424200 "2007-10-28T23:08:08Z")
The US launching a pre-emptive strike is is the last thing we should do. Now, I’m still hashing all of this out in my mind, so forgive me if it’s a bit rough in spots, but this has been rumbling about in my head since … --- ## [I just met one of the fired U.S. Attorneys](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-met-one-of-the-fired-u-s-attorneys/423853)
**Author:** [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [October 28, 2007, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-met-one-of-the-fired-u-s-attorneys/423853 "2007-10-28T18:16:32Z")
I went to a very interesting CLE seminar at Cleveland-Marshall law school last night. The topic was “Politics and Justice - Politics at Justice?” John L. McKay, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Washington from… --- ## [Alternate History: Reagan Assassinated](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternate-history-reagan-assassinated/423082)
**Author:** [@Great\_Dave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Dave)\ **Replies:** 31\ **Last updated:** [October 28, 2007, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternate-history-reagan-assassinated/423082 "2007-10-28T10:26:54Z")
I love reading the what if? threads on alternate histories, but haven’t found one on this topic. So, what if Hinkley had better luck? Who would Bush have selected as VP? How would the Russians react? Would the collapse … --- ## [Bush is right about Turkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-is-right-about-turkey/422223)
**Author:** [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Replies:** 91\ **Last updated:** [October 28, 2007, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-is-right-about-turkey/422223 "2007-10-28T05:27:36Z")
Bush is right about a foreign policy position. What are the odds? Congress is on the verge of passing a resolution declaring that the Turkish massacre of Armenians was an act of genocide. Bush is saying he opposes this … --- ## [Why does Rudy Giuliani say he's pro-choice?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-rudy-giuliani-say-hes-pro-choice/424125)
**Author:** [@randwill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randwill)\ **Replies:** 32\ **Last updated:** [October 27, 2007, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-rudy-giuliani-say-hes-pro-choice/424125 "2007-10-27T20:50:48Z")
Rudy Giuliani wants to president of the U.S. But he has to become the Republican nominee to even have a chance. The Republican party is rather solidly against abortion. Yet Giuliani says he is pro-choice. Why is this… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=680) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=682)