# Great Debates **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=761 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 762 --- ## [Harvard's Robert Putnam: Diversity destroys trust](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harvards-robert-putnam-diversity-destroys-trust/376127)
**Author:** [@LonesomePolecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonesomePolecat)\ **Replies:** 19\ **Last updated:** [October 15, 2006, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harvards-robert-putnam-diversity-destroys-trust/376127 "2006-10-15T20:40:48Z")
Robert Putnam, the Harvard political scientist who became an academic celebrity when his book \* Bowling Alone \* was published, has now published a study showing that cultural diversity destroys trust in communities. Amo… --- ## [Muslim taxi drivers in USA refuse to take passengers carrying wine bottle](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslim-taxi-drivers-in-usa-refuse-to-take-passengers-carrying-wine-bottle/374732)
**Author:** [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Replies:** 257\ **Last updated:** [October 15, 2006, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslim-taxi-drivers-in-usa-refuse-to-take-passengers-carrying-wine-bottle/374732 "2006-10-15T14:37:36Z")
this news article reports that in the airport at Minneapolis, some Muslim taxi drivers are refusing to accept any passenger who is carrying alcohol. Three quarters of the 900 drivers are from Somalia, most of whom are M… --- ## [WHY DID Disco Stop? (So Suddenly)?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-disco-stop-so-suddenly/376054)
**Author:** [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Replies:** 39\ **Last updated:** [October 15, 2006, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-disco-stop-so-suddenly/376054 "2006-10-15T05:58:30Z")
The (closed) thread (Whid Did Disco suck) made me wonder: why did it come to such a screeching halt? I lived through that era, and it seemed that just about as 1979 rolled in . the whole phenom was gone! All of a sudden,… --- ## [How can this be attempted murder and abortion is not?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-this-be-attempted-murder-and-abortion-is-not/376455)
**Author:** [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Replies:** 24\ **Last updated:** [October 15, 2006, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-this-be-attempted-murder-and-abortion-is-not/376455 "2006-10-15T03:33:27Z")
Story here. Now, I’m pro-choice, but I like consistency in things. If you read the story, this asshat found out his girlfriend was pregnant and tried to hire someone to kill the unborn child. The article linked is uncle… --- ## [Air America Declares Bankruptcy-True or False?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-america-declares-bankruptcy-true-or-false/372594)
**Author:** [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Replies:** 117\ **Last updated:** [October 15, 2006, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-america-declares-bankruptcy-true-or-false/372594 "2006-10-15T00:26:33Z")
Apparently thinkprogress.org has the “exclusive” on the story here. Not sure how that happened. thinkprogress.org has an optimistic take: Notwithstanding that optimistic view of the news… I have to say that when the l… --- ## [Must the Gay Rights Movement Include the Transgendered?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-the-gay-rights-movement-include-the-transgendered/376047)
**Author:** [@ambushed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ambushed)\ **Replies:** 31\ **Last updated:** [October 14, 2006, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-the-gay-rights-movement-include-the-transgendered/376047 "2006-10-14T21:32:08Z")
Inspired by one aspect of this Pit debate, I thought it would be useful to start this GD thread on this one specific sub-debate: How big should the gay rights tent actually be? (I use the term “gay” to refer to all homo… --- ## [Come on! Let's have some proof, already, that "false voters" really are a problem!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-on-lets-have-some-proof-already-that-false-voters-really-are-a-problem/374125)
**Author:** [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Replies:** 93\ **Last updated:** [October 14, 2006, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-on-lets-have-some-proof-already-that-false-voters-really-are-a-problem/374125 "2006-10-14T19:28:30Z")
I’ve brought this question up many times in threads on voter ID cards and in other threads on election-reform issues, and I’ve never yet gotten a straight answer backed up with cites. What evidence is there that voting … --- ## ["Man of the Year" - is this sceneario even possible?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-of-the-year-is-this-sceneario-even-possible/376073)
**Author:** [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Replies:** 28\ **Last updated:** [October 14, 2006, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-of-the-year-is-this-sceneario-even-possible/376073 "2006-10-14T17:48:50Z")
This could have been posted in Cafe Society I guess, or IMHO, but I think a denate about the U.S. political system will ensue so I will put it here. In his latest hamfest, “Man of the Year,” Robin Williams plays a comed… --- ## [Rep. Mark Foley resigns over e-mails to teenage boys -- repercussions?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rep-mark-foley-resigns-over-e-mails-to-teenage-boys-repercussions/374735)
**Author:** [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Replies:** 336\ **Last updated:** [October 14, 2006, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rep-mark-foley-resigns-over-e-mails-to-teenage-boys-repercussions/374735 "2006-10-14T03:42:58Z")
Rep. Mark Foley (R-FL) has resigned following disclosures of his sending intimate e-mails to teenage male pages. An astounding hypocrisy considering that: This might or might not throw that seat to the Dems, specifica… --- ## [Judicial elections/Cook County](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judicial-elections-cook-county/375432)
**Author:** [@Random](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Random)\ **Replies:** 17\ **Last updated:** [October 13, 2006, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judicial-elections-cook-county/375432 "2006-10-13T22:35:33Z")
I’m going to combine some election-related issues here. There’s a Cook County, Illinois theme, but I invite comment from anyone. One issue relateds to judges. The other relates to current race for Chairman of the Coun… --- ## [Pelosi's first 100 hours](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pelosis-first-100-hours/375517)
**Author:** [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Replies:** 85\ **Last updated:** [October 13, 2006, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pelosis-first-100-hours/375517 "2006-10-13T15:53:59Z")
Pelosi makes specific proposals for a Democratic House:Day One: Put new rules in place to “break the link between lobbyists and legislation.” Day Two: Enact all the recommendations made by the commission that investigat… --- ## [Can lying to the Red Cross be ethical?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-lying-to-the-red-cross-be-ethical/376126)
**Author:** [@Crazy\_Canuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazy_Canuck)\ **Replies:** 30\ **Last updated:** [October 12, 2006, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-lying-to-the-red-cross-be-ethical/376126 "2006-10-12T19:19:06Z")
Ok, it’s not really the red cross, it’s Canadian Blood Services. I have a friend, let’s just call him D. D is a married bisexual male. He’s been monogomous with his wife for nine years now. Before that he played the … --- ## [Border Fence approved](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/border-fence-approved/374779)
**Author:** [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Replies:** 70\ **Last updated:** [October 12, 2006, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/border-fence-approved/374779 "2006-10-12T17:06:12Z")
I searched - visually and with the engine - and the most recent thread I could find was from early June, so I apologize if I missed something. I thought this was a joke the first couple of times I heard it. A fence - a … --- ## [Are police car chases worth it?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-police-car-chases-worth-it/375254)
**Author:** [@diggleblop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/diggleblop)\ **Replies:** 29\ **Last updated:** [October 12, 2006, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-police-car-chases-worth-it/375254 "2006-10-12T16:00:33Z")
Some states are enacting laws that only allow officers to give chase for a certain period of time, then they have to pull off. I personally feel this is a safe and logical law. How do you feel about it? Also, what are… --- ## [Has the Bush foriegn policy failed, even by its own standards?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-bush-foriegn-policy-failed-even-by-its-own-standards/375873)
**Author:** [@Apos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apos)\ **Replies:** 71\ **Last updated:** [October 12, 2006, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-bush-foriegn-policy-failed-even-by-its-own-standards/375873 "2006-10-12T10:07:58Z")
http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ZmI3YzE4NmQ3ODgwNDgyYzI3N2Y4ODdmMDBkNzk2NmQ= This from Jonah Goldberg, not exactly well known for being a free minded measured critic of the Bush administration. In short, sinc… --- ## [Should we seed life in this Galaxy](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-seed-life-in-this-galaxy/375398)
**Author:** [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Replies:** 41\ **Last updated:** [October 11, 2006, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-seed-life-in-this-galaxy/375398 "2006-10-11T23:14:52Z")
It seems in recent news that there many be many planets in this galaxy with planets that are Earth like in size. It also seems to me that creating space vehicles capable of transporting anaerobic bacteria stored for the… --- ## [Prison is for punishing](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prison-is-for-punishing/374483)
**Author:** [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Replies:** 55\ **Last updated:** [October 11, 2006, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prison-is-for-punishing/374483 "2006-10-11T22:13:02Z")
In this thread: \[QUOTE=ivylass\] Prison is for punishing, not helping. \[/QUOTE\] Certainly this is true. However prisons are also called penitentiaries, correctional facilities, and sometimes reformatories. Do you th… --- ## [If North Korea had oil...](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-north-korea-had-oil/375521)
**Author:** [@The\_Controvert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Controvert)\ **Replies:** 36\ **Last updated:** [October 11, 2006, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-north-korea-had-oil/375521 "2006-10-11T22:06:57Z")
Would the US invade? --- ## [Adults Having Sex with Minors a NEW Boogie Man?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adults-having-sex-with-minors-a-new-boogie-man/375641)
**Author:** [@randwill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randwill)\ **Replies:** 17\ **Last updated:** [October 11, 2006, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adults-having-sex-with-minors-a-new-boogie-man/375641 "2006-10-11T21:46:44Z")
Why has our outrage over adults having sex (or sexual communication) with minors exploded in recent years? As has been much discussed this week in the wake of the Mark Foley scandal, in 1983 36 year-old Gerry Studds (D-… --- ## [No Free Will is preferable!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-free-will-is-preferable/375842)
**Author:** [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Replies:** 8\ **Last updated:** [October 11, 2006, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-free-will-is-preferable/375842 "2006-10-11T20:43:46Z")
Bear with me on this; I just thought of all this today, so it might be full of flaws; please point them all out and castigate me for being an idiot. :slight\_smile: Imagine a world where we do not have free will. Our de… --- ## [Do the Republicans actually want to win elections this year?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-republicans-actually-want-to-win-elections-this-year/375765)
**Author:** [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Replies:** 62\ **Last updated:** [October 11, 2006, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-republicans-actually-want-to-win-elections-this-year/375765 "2006-10-11T17:35:28Z")
I’ll make it short and sweet… I think the Republicans are intentionally sabotaging themselves this year so that they won’t have to share the full blame for Iraq and the economy having imploded by the 2008 elections. I … --- ## [Debate on Bricker's Moral Assertions \[ed. title\]](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debate-on-brickers-moral-assertions-ed-title/375533)
**Author:** [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Replies:** 64\ **Last updated:** [October 11, 2006, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debate-on-brickers-moral-assertions-ed-title/375533 "2006-10-11T17:07:47Z")
So over in this pit thread a mighty hijacking occurred in which our good friend Bricker started debating his general philosohpical/moral/political beliefs, but then hesitated to continue, reasonably, lest he be accused o… --- ## [Is a Western Civilization-Islam confrontation inevitable?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-western-civilization-islam-confrontation-inevitable/375389)
**Author:** [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Replies:** 107\ **Last updated:** [October 11, 2006, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-western-civilization-islam-confrontation-inevitable/375389 "2006-10-11T16:28:36Z")
Link to the latest outrage. I’m really beginning to think that Islam and Civilization cannot peacefully co-exist. The battle will be a bloody one, and make the Crusades look like a slap-fight between children. Is this f… --- ## [SCOTUS refuses to revisit landmark abortion case](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotus-refuses-to-revisit-landmark-abortion-case/376014)
**Author:** [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [October 11, 2006, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotus-refuses-to-revisit-landmark-abortion-case/376014 "2006-10-11T16:07:15Z")
Court won’t rethink ‘Mary Doe’ abortion case I hate posting something and then having little to say, but what else is there to say except that the Chicken Little pro-abortion people were dead wrong when they said that … --- ## [Have feminists and 'the left' finally opened their eyes?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-feminists-and-the-left-finally-opened-their-eyes/374270)
**Author:** [@gum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gum)\ **Replies:** 111\ **Last updated:** [October 11, 2006, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-feminists-and-the-left-finally-opened-their-eyes/374270 "2006-10-11T10:02:32Z")
Denmark’s Karen Jespersen and Ralf Pittelkow have written a book warning of the conquest by Islamic fundamentalists in Europe: “Islamists and Naivists” The book’s main argument is that Europeans who ignore the threat… --- ## [How moral are the Mainland Chinese in treating workers?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-moral-are-the-mainland-chinese-in-treating-workers/375847)
**Author:** [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [October 10, 2006, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-moral-are-the-mainland-chinese-in-treating-workers/375847 "2006-10-10T21:41:29Z")
Beyond the hazy notion of the probable existence of some sort of practical mercantile Confucianism, I really have no idea what informs the moral posture of the everyday person or businessman in China when dealing with ot… --- ## [Is Japan set to become the next nuclear power?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-japan-set-to-become-the-next-nuclear-power/375862)
**Author:** [@TheOnlySaneOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheOnlySaneOne)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [October 10, 2006, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-japan-set-to-become-the-next-nuclear-power/375862 "2006-10-10T14:19:45Z")
At the current point in world politics, I believe yes, Japan is set to become the next nuclear power. However, this would not be in anybody’s interest, to say the least. In dealing with the North Korean crisis, the Unite… --- ## [John Walsh/Foley/Gays & Gay Bashing](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-walsh-foley-gays-gay-bashing/375272)
**Author:** [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Replies:** 69\ **Last updated:** [October 10, 2006, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-walsh-foley-gays-gay-bashing/375272 "2006-10-10T12:29:44Z")
I was quite disturbed by watching John Walsh describe Foley as a pedophile. The youngest person Foley is known to hit upon was 15 years old. Lets look at what the pages think about Foley The first thing to take note o… --- ## [Should the dems impeach \[Pres. Bush if they get a majority?\]](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-dems-impeach-pres-bush-if-they-get-a-majority/375300)
**Author:** [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Replies:** 56\ **Last updated:** [October 9, 2006, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-dems-impeach-pres-bush-if-they-get-a-majority/375300 "2006-10-09T18:04:50Z")
If the Dems win the house should they impeach? If they win will they impeach? Impeaching might be seen as trying to get even for Clinton. But, new times and new crimes. Is there a legal basis.? What will the masses thi… --- ## [Is the BSA trying to bury the fact that Mark Foley was a boy scout leader?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-bsa-trying-to-bury-the-fact-that-mark-foley-was-a-boy-scout-leader/375625)
**Author:** [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [October 9, 2006, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-bsa-trying-to-bury-the-fact-that-mark-foley-was-a-boy-scout-leader/375625 "2006-10-09T17:53:38Z")
There is a fact sheet on the website of The National Council of the Boy Scouts of America which lists the members of the current Congress who have been involved in scouting in the past: http://www.scouting.org/factsheet… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=760) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=762)