# Great Debates **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=696 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 697 --- ## [Did ergotism cause werewolf scares?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-ergotism-cause-werewolf-scares/414653)
**Author:** [@neorxnawange](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neorxnawange)\ **Replies:** 29\ **Last updated:** [August 10, 2007, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-ergotism-cause-werewolf-scares/414653 "2007-08-10T16:03:31Z")
I’m naturally skeptical and I’ve hear this claim now and then and it sets off my BS a little. Here is why: I’m skeptical as to how much ergot would need to present in bread to cause hallucinatory visions. I’m skeptical… --- ## [Bush wants to cut taxes again -- on corporations](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-wants-to-cut-taxes-again-on-corporations/415019)
**Author:** [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Replies:** 47\ **Last updated:** [August 10, 2007, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-wants-to-cut-taxes-again-on-corporations/415019 "2007-08-10T14:56:32Z")
The idea is to make U.S. corporations more globally competitive. Story \[url=\]here: Across-the-board corporate tax cuts – good idea? --- ## [Has U.S. Interrogations Actually Saved Lives](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-u-s-interrogations-actually-saved-lives/414734)
**Author:** [@muttrox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muttrox)\ **Replies:** 34\ **Last updated:** [August 10, 2007, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-u-s-interrogations-actually-saved-lives/414734 "2007-08-10T06:24:44Z")
I’m doing my best to phrase this in a GQ manner, since it’s a very loaded question. Defenders of the interrogation techniques used by the USA have an argument that “You can save lives with the kind of information…” Tha… --- ## [You Say You Want A Revolution?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-say-you-want-a-revolution/415029)
**Author:** [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Replies:** 8\ **Last updated:** [August 10, 2007, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-say-you-want-a-revolution/415029 "2007-08-10T05:20:32Z")
Thomas Jefferson is quoted as saying “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.” Can you envision a situation or set of circumstances so bad in this country that an … --- ## [Whyfore ethanol?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whyfore-ethanol/410940)
**Author:** [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Replies:** 90\ **Last updated:** [August 10, 2007, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whyfore-ethanol/410940 "2007-08-10T01:55:21Z")
I have asked this in some past thread but I hope a thread of its own will provoke a better discussion. Why is our government so heavily promoting the use of corn-derived ethanol as a gas replacement? Ethanol production … --- ## [Please delete](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-delete/415087)
**Author:** [@Scylla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scylla)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [August 10, 2007, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-delete/415087 "2007-08-10T01:24:50Z")
Please delete this thread. Mispost --- ## [Hiroshima & Nagasaki](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiroshima-nagasaki/414603)
**Author:** [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Replies:** 226\ **Last updated:** [August 9, 2007, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiroshima-nagasaki/414603 "2007-08-09T18:56:11Z")
First I would like to make it perfectly clear that I neither condone nor condemn the USA for the dropping of the Atomic bombs on these cities. I am ambivelent on the matter. I am also well aware that had the Japanese had… --- ## [Should taxpayers pay for gender realignment surgery for prisoners?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-taxpayers-pay-for-gender-realignment-surgery-for-prisoners/409697)
**Author:** [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Replies:** 136\ **Last updated:** [August 9, 2007, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-taxpayers-pay-for-gender-realignment-surgery-for-prisoners/409697 "2007-08-09T17:24:20Z")
From this story. A man serving a life sentence in Massachusetts, for murder, is sueing the prison system, saying that not allowing a sex-change operation is cruel and unusual punishment. She (dang, which gender do I use… --- ## [Can babies communicate with hand movements earlier than vocalization?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-babies-communicate-with-hand-movements-earlier-than-vocalization/414450)
**Author:** [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Replies:** 50\ **Last updated:** [August 9, 2007, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-babies-communicate-with-hand-movements-earlier-than-vocalization/414450 "2007-08-09T15:52:04Z")
I’m putting this in GD rather than IMHO because I am interested in hard evidence, if any, not just a pile of anecdotes. Anecdotes I have aplenty. Yet there might be some debate here, too. I was just talking to a paren… --- ## [Zeitgeist](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zeitgeist/414913)
**Author:** [@ajb867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ajb867)\ **Replies:** 8\ **Last updated:** [August 9, 2007, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zeitgeist/414913 "2007-08-09T15:07:26Z")
I am not sure if this is the right forum to post this in. This movie was recently released on the internet only that I am aware of. It brings a one sided view of 3 controviersal topics. Religon, 911, and finally control … --- ## [Founding Fathers: Your Favorite/ Least Favorite](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/founding-fathers-your-favorite-least-favorite/410507)
**Author:** [@RetroVertigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RetroVertigo)\ **Replies:** 93\ **Last updated:** [August 9, 2007, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/founding-fathers-your-favorite-least-favorite/410507 "2007-08-09T14:28:22Z")
In honor of today being July Fourth, which of the founding fathers is your favorite/ least favorite. Feel free to expand on your answer. Favorite: Thomas Paine. In high school we each had to pick a founding father to w… --- ## [How will pleasing the base get GOP candidates in trouble with the general electorate?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-will-pleasing-the-base-get-gop-candidates-in-trouble-with-the-general-electorate/414510)
**Author:** [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Replies:** 11\ **Last updated:** [August 9, 2007, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-will-pleasing-the-base-get-gop-candidates-in-trouble-with-the-general-electorate/414510 "2007-08-09T01:51:50Z")
Since I started a similar thread for Dem candidates and their base, a GOP thread along the same lines seemed in order. The basic question is: what positions will GOP candidates feel compelled to take in order to placate… --- ## [Congress ethics bill - real change or more of the same?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congress-ethics-bill-real-change-or-more-of-the-same/414931)
**Author:** [@Galena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Galena)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [August 8, 2007, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congress-ethics-bill-real-change-or-more-of-the-same/414931 "2007-08-08T23:29:34Z")
Both houses of congress have recently passed a new ethics bill , and it looks like it’s on its way to the president. The text of the bill can be found here , for those of you who can manage to read these things (warning… --- ## [Sexism: discuss](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sexism-discuss/413348)
**Author:** [@RedRosesForMe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedRosesForMe)\ **Replies:** 196\ **Last updated:** [August 8, 2007, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sexism-discuss/413348 "2007-08-08T16:48:01Z")
I refuse to call myself a feminist, but I often find myself thinking of sexism\* and its prevalence in Western society. Usually when I am exposed to it. A few examples: my reluctance to get a job in HVAC, despite my exper… --- ## [What exactly will happen when we leave Iraq, and why is it not as bad as staying?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-will-happen-when-we-leave-iraq-and-why-is-it-not-as-bad-as-staying/413745)
**Author:** [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Replies:** 74\ **Last updated:** [August 8, 2007, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-will-happen-when-we-leave-iraq-and-why-is-it-not-as-bad-as-staying/413745 "2007-08-08T16:06:00Z")
This question was triggered by a quote from a conservative columnist: Now, I know from past arguments here that the idea is that we’ll do LESS damage by leaving than we will by staying, that either way, there’ll be sla… --- ## [Pullout results (non-pregnancy related)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pullout-results-non-pregnancy-related/414786)
**Author:** [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [August 8, 2007, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pullout-results-non-pregnancy-related/414786 "2007-08-08T12:53:18Z")
So we’ve beaten to death the ideas of “should stay/leave Iraq”, let’s just avoid that. In the beginning of the war, you have people for and people against it. Some have changed their minds. On this board, it’s been as… --- ## [Does unregulated capitalism look like China?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-unregulated-capitalism-look-like-china/414122)
**Author:** [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Replies:** 73\ **Last updated:** [August 7, 2007, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-unregulated-capitalism-look-like-china/414122 "2007-08-07T22:43:43Z")
I’m not firmly on either side of this, but I’d like to hear your positions. You’ve seen the trail of poisonous and/or adulterated products from China in the news. I don’t mean accidentally contaminated food. I mean inte… --- ## [The fall and rise of civilizations](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-fall-and-rise-of-civilizations/414716)
**Author:** [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Replies:** 14\ **Last updated:** [August 7, 2007, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-fall-and-rise-of-civilizations/414716 "2007-08-07T22:25:17Z")
If you accept the view that the fall of the Roman empire represented a watershed in European history- that organized states virtually vanished from western Europe and feudalism held sway for ~1000 years, then my question… --- ## [Oaxaca, Mexico, heating up again](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oaxaca-mexico-heating-up-again/412457)
**Author:** [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Replies:** 11\ **Last updated:** [August 7, 2007, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oaxaca-mexico-heating-up-again/412457 "2007-08-07T22:00:50Z")
Last year there was a series of civil disturbances in Oaxaca, Mexico, lasting seven months and resulting in at least 18 deaths, including an American journalist. It began as a teachers’ strike – an annual event in Oaxac… --- ## [The importance of falsifiability](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-importance-of-falsifiability/413788)
**Author:** [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Replies:** 30\ **Last updated:** [August 7, 2007, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-importance-of-falsifiability/413788 "2007-08-07T05:08:42Z")
OK, a painful question to ask, perhaps because the answer will probably be handed to me awfully quickly, but nonetheless, what is the importance of falsifiability? Its a term that’s turned up from time to time, but I’m … --- ## [How should movements deal with their lunatic fringe?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-movements-deal-with-their-lunatic-fringe/414179)
**Author:** [@athelas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/athelas)\ **Replies:** 23\ **Last updated:** [August 7, 2007, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-movements-deal-with-their-lunatic-fringe/414179 "2007-08-07T04:31:35Z")
In the recent sexism thread, there was a bit of a side-debate on whether people should call themselves “feminists” if they believe in equality of the sexes, but not in the man-hating vitriol that the term has come to con… --- ## [Republicans don't (or don't want to) "get" the internet](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-dont-or-dont-want-to-get-the-internet/414175)
**Author:** [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Replies:** 48\ **Last updated:** [August 7, 2007, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-dont-or-dont-want-to-get-the-internet/414175 "2007-08-07T03:52:58Z")
An interesting article from the New York Times (via the Denver Post so no registration required) - GOP squirms over YouTube debate as Dems thrive online The hesitance of some Republicans to join the CNN/YouTube debate … --- ## [FBI raids home of former DoJ lawyer suspected of leaking surveillance program](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-raids-home-of-former-doj-lawyer-suspected-of-leaking-surveillance-program/414627)
**Author:** [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [August 6, 2007, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-raids-home-of-former-doj-lawyer-suspected-of-leaking-surveillance-program/414627 "2007-08-06T22:14:48Z")
Under a classified search warrant, they seized Thomas Tamm’s desktop computer, two of his children’s laptops and a cache of personal files. :confused: Why, at a juncture when the Admin should be trying to look as nonth… --- ## [Encouraging regimen for Alzheimer's Disease?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/encouraging-regimen-for-alzheimers-disease/414673)
**Author:** [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [August 6, 2007, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/encouraging-regimen-for-alzheimers-disease/414673 "2007-08-06T21:41:06Z")
There a holes aplenty in this article… http://www.ocregister.com/healthfitness/sando-shankle-says-1790240-alzheimer-memory …but there might be something to the basic regimen: Exelon, an FDA-approved drug that stops th… --- ## [3 reasons I can't be truly happy](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3-reasons-i-cant-be-truly-happy/414274)
**Author:** [@xkcd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xkcd)\ **Replies:** 124\ **Last updated:** [August 6, 2007, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3-reasons-i-cant-be-truly-happy/414274 "2007-08-06T18:11:05Z")
Hey SDMB, I’m new here. I’m an atheist. How’re you? Anyways: the three reasons I can’t be happy are 1.) The Suffering of the Good (SOTG) 2.) the Prospering of the Bad (POTB) 3.) In the end, we all die forever Pardon… --- ## [Where are we going?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-we-going/406859)
**Author:** [@lightwait](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lightwait)\ **Replies:** 401\ **Last updated:** [August 6, 2007, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-we-going/406859 "2007-08-06T17:54:16Z")
The Kingdom of God/Heaven: The Christian community has a place for all of man to go—evolve into, if you must. Where does the secular community have for all of man to go? Please treat this as an honest question and not… --- ## [Warrantless surveillance program ruled illegal (secretly, several months ago)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warrantless-surveillance-program-ruled-illegal-secretly-several-months-ago/414144)
**Author:** [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Replies:** 21\ **Last updated:** [August 6, 2007, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warrantless-surveillance-program-ruled-illegal-secretly-several-months-ago/414144 "2007-08-06T16:02:43Z")
Story here: Should Congress approve the proposal? Isn’t this whole thing getting way too Kafkaesque?! Precedent-setting court rulings aren’t supposed to be secret! How are lawyers supposed to research them?! Ho… --- ## [Punitive damages should go to the state, not the plaintiff](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punitive-damages-should-go-to-the-state-not-the-plaintiff/414074)
**Author:** [@Randy\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randy_Seltzer)\ **Replies:** 53\ **Last updated:** [August 6, 2007, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punitive-damages-should-go-to-the-state-not-the-plaintiff/414074 "2007-08-06T14:52:04Z")
I considered putting this in GQ (“Why do punitive damages go to the plaintiff instead of the state?”) but thought I’d get more meaningful input by starting a debate and, hopefully, hearing a counterargument. Most tort r… --- ## [How will pleasing the base get Dem candidates in trouble with the general electorate?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-will-pleasing-the-base-get-dem-candidates-in-trouble-with-the-general-electorate/414435)
**Author:** [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Replies:** 29\ **Last updated:** [August 6, 2007, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-will-pleasing-the-base-get-dem-candidates-in-trouble-with-the-general-electorate/414435 "2007-08-06T14:16:34Z")
Conservatives on this board keep on saying how whacked-out the Dem base is, and that Dem candidates will be forced to take radical positions in order to please their base (and win the primaries) that will spell doom for … --- ## [Turkey's ruling Islamist party wins elections, keeps power](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkeys-ruling-islamist-party-wins-elections-keeps-power/412781)
**Author:** [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Replies:** 19\ **Last updated:** [August 6, 2007, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkeys-ruling-islamist-party-wins-elections-keeps-power/412781 "2007-08-06T00:31:45Z")
Stories here and here. At least, the stories describe the Justice and Development Party as “Islamic-based” and its main rivals, the Republican People’s Party and the \[Party\](\]Nationalist Movement \[or "Action) as “secula… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=695) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=697)