# Great Debates **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=792 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 793 --- ## [What's so bad about living in a "Nanny State"?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-so-bad-about-living-in-a-nanny-state/355890)
**Author:** [@Balduran](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balduran)\ **Replies:** 38\ **Last updated:** [May 12, 2006, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-so-bad-about-living-in-a-nanny-state/355890 "2006-05-12T12:43:42Z")
In many political debates I’ve witnessed this often seems to be the ultimate trump card. But I don’t really see a whole lot of downsides to living in a nanny state. I don’t like having to worry about there being guns on… --- ## [Whats your thoughts on... Darfur?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-thoughts-on-darfur/354854)
**Author:** [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Replies:** 34\ **Last updated:** [May 12, 2006, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-thoughts-on-darfur/354854 "2006-05-12T10:56:23Z")
I was reading this article talking about various rallies by actors, politicians and such advocating…something…that the US and the World should do with respect to whats going on in Darfur. The question that immediately … --- ## [If Jesus had Kids, enlighten me about why this is heresy?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-jesus-had-kids-enlighten-me-about-why-this-is-heresy/355768)
**Author:** [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Replies:** 63\ **Last updated:** [May 12, 2006, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-jesus-had-kids-enlighten-me-about-why-this-is-heresy/355768 "2006-05-12T10:41:16Z")
I haven’t read the DaVinci Code and I have no plans to see the film, but from what I’ve gathered, the whole premise is that Opus Dei is trying to silence those who know the Heresy that “Jesus had sex with Mary Magladelen… --- ## [The response to a terrorist nuke?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-response-to-a-terrorist-nuke/355741)
**Author:** [@Uzi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uzi)\ **Replies:** 52\ **Last updated:** [May 12, 2006, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-response-to-a-terrorist-nuke/355741 "2006-05-12T09:37:38Z")
After reading this thread, If terrorists got and atomic bomb, what would they do with it?, it got me to thinking what the response would be if Islamic terrorists used a nuke on a city in the west, specifically the US. F… --- ## [Did Porter Goss Jump, Or Was he Pushed?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-porter-goss-jump-or-was-he-pushed/355589)
**Author:** [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Replies:** 21\ **Last updated:** [May 12, 2006, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-porter-goss-jump-or-was-he-pushed/355589 "2006-05-12T04:00:50Z")
Porter Goss resigns as CIA chief As surely as nature abhors a vacuum, the blogs are buzzing with possible connections between Goss and the allegations of hookers and hotel rooms swirling around convicted Congressman Ra… --- ## [Why do religions treat atheism as worse than heresy?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-religions-treat-atheism-as-worse-than-heresy/354637)
**Author:** [@Iris\_Rings](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iris_Rings)\ **Replies:** 104\ **Last updated:** [May 12, 2006, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-religions-treat-atheism-as-worse-than-heresy/354637 "2006-05-12T03:21:51Z")
I don’t get it. All the people I know of all religions are less accepting of atheists than of each other. Yet, the Hindus will freely state that they think all the Christian, Jewish, and Islamic texts are literary inven… --- ## [Is traveling to to future possible?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-traveling-to-to-future-possible/356293)
**Author:** [@Don\_t\_fight\_the\_hypothetical](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_fight_the_hypothetical)\ **Replies:** 20\ **Last updated:** [May 12, 2006, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-traveling-to-to-future-possible/356293 "2006-05-12T01:53:46Z")
Is traveling to to future possible? I understand that projects such as Project Orion and Project Daedalus propose a healthy %c travel. Would this allow you to take advantage of Einstein’s Time Dilation? In other words c… --- ## [Blu-ray vers. HD-DVD](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blu-ray-vers-hd-dvd/356038)
**Author:** [@Rune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rune)\ **Replies:** 36\ **Last updated:** [May 12, 2006, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blu-ray-vers-hd-dvd/356038 "2006-05-12T00:35:28Z")
The successor for the DVD format is up for grasps. And it’s shaping up to be a remake of the old VHS vers. Betamax match, with Sony’s Blu-ray and Toshiba’s HD-DVD being the contesters. The main difference from a user pe… --- ## [National/ Ethnic Stereotypes, humor, and whining](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-ethnic-stereotypes-humor-and-whining/356417)
**Author:** [@ScoobyTX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ScoobyTX)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [May 11, 2006, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-ethnic-stereotypes-humor-and-whining/356417 "2006-05-11T22:42:39Z")
Based on some ongoing threads in GD, CS & the Pit, I’ve become overly aware of national/ ethnic stereotypes used for humorous purposes, and the people who whine about them. On one hand, we have the French (stereotype: d… --- ## [Children and sex and pedophilia](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/children-and-sex-and-pedophilia/356136)
**Author:** [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [May 11, 2006, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/children-and-sex-and-pedophilia/356136 "2006-05-11T22:30:47Z")
This is a takeoff on the pedophilia thread. One theory there is pedophilia may be a sexual orientation, just as valid and natural; as homosexuality or heterosexuality. Children are excluded from sex in our society, an… --- ## [Are tax cuts and increases in the Fed rate antithetical?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-tax-cuts-and-increases-in-the-fed-rate-antithetical/356370)
**Author:** [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [May 11, 2006, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-tax-cuts-and-increases-in-the-fed-rate-antithetical/356370 "2006-05-11T15:17:30Z")
I am truly a bit confused by this, but it didn’t really seem like a GQ, so I’m posting here: On the same day that the Federal Reserve met and increased interest rates by 1/4 of one point, the President signed a bill to … --- ## [DA Nifong's using only team photos for the accuser to ID her alleged attackers](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/da-nifongs-using-only-team-photos-for-the-accuser-to-id-her-alleged-attackers/356247)
**Author:** [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [May 11, 2006, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/da-nifongs-using-only-team-photos-for-the-accuser-to-id-her-alleged-attackers/356247 "2006-05-11T11:36:22Z")
I have to admit I really didn’t think this through when I first heard it several weeks ago afterthe story broke, but after a lawyer commented on how bizarre it was and made the observation “No matter who she chose it wa… --- ## [How much debt can the American government rack up?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-debt-can-the-american-government-rack-up/355940)
**Author:** [@solkoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solkoe)\ **Replies:** 34\ **Last updated:** [May 11, 2006, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-debt-can-the-american-government-rack-up/355940 "2006-05-11T09:07:08Z")
Really, how much money can a government spend before someone says “stop”? What would have to happen for the American economy to collapse? Is there massive spending a tactic to reduce the value of the dollar so that imp… --- ## [Another Clinton for '08 question, except this time it's about Bill](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-clinton-for-08-question-except-this-time-its-about-bill/356277)
**Author:** [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Replies:** 11\ **Last updated:** [May 11, 2006, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-clinton-for-08-question-except-this-time-its-about-bill/356277 "2006-05-11T01:17:30Z")
OK, so we all know that Bill Clinton cannot ever be the President or the Veep again. That much is clear. But… that doesn’t mean that he can’t run again. In another thread it was asked who could win as an independent, and… --- ## [ABC's Bird Flu Movie (Implications)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abcs-bird-flu-movie-implications/356283)
**Author:** [@meara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/meara)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [May 10, 2006, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abcs-bird-flu-movie-implications/356283 "2006-05-10T22:21:04Z")
Did anyone else catch ABC’s Fatal Contact: Bird Flu in America? I love natural-disaster-type movies, so I TiVo’d it and watched it late last night. The cinematic aspects really aren’t worth discussing, but it did rais… --- ## [When would you become and insurgent or a terrorist?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-would-you-become-and-insurgent-or-a-terrorist/356079)
**Author:** [@Pjen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pjen)\ **Replies:** 41\ **Last updated:** [May 10, 2006, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-would-you-become-and-insurgent-or-a-terrorist/356079 "2006-05-10T22:19:26Z")
Given the prevalence of illegal acts for political causes in modern society, what are your personal limits about this. Animal Rights protestors, anti-abortion protestors, Christian fanatics, Iraqi insurgents, extreme Is… --- ## [Is Canada a Nuclear Power?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-canada-a-nuclear-power/355821)
**Author:** [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Replies:** 28\ **Last updated:** [May 10, 2006, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-canada-a-nuclear-power/355821 "2006-05-10T21:47:02Z")
I know we Canadians developed the Candu nuclear reactor, but can we be regarded as a nuclear power even if we don’t stockpile the weapons? How long would it take for us to develop a nuclear weapon of our own? Longer th… --- ## [why are there something called "neocons"](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-something-called-neocons/355895)
**Author:** [@Minotaurus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Minotaurus)\ **Replies:** 42\ **Last updated:** [May 10, 2006, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-something-called-neocons/355895 "2006-05-10T21:26:54Z")
and why are this Republican government called neocons the word neocon is something i associate with a some sort of secret underground organization that planes to take over the control of a nations and so --- ## [Will Iran ever break up the way the Soviet Union did?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-iran-ever-break-up-the-way-the-soviet-union-did/355690)
**Author:** [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Replies:** 17\ **Last updated:** [May 10, 2006, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-iran-ever-break-up-the-way-the-soviet-union-did/355690 "2006-05-10T16:49:37Z")
Inspired by this thread on China: Will China ever break up the way the Soviet Union did? - Great Debates - Straight Dope Message Board We think of Iran as a conventional nation-state, but this map – File:Iran ethnorelig… --- ## [Are people becoming more tolerant of tech mediocrity?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-people-becoming-more-tolerant-of-tech-mediocrity/355694)
**Author:** [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Replies:** 20\ **Last updated:** [May 9, 2006, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-people-becoming-more-tolerant-of-tech-mediocrity/355694 "2006-05-09T19:42:41Z")
(partially inspired by \[thread=370417\]this thread\[/thread\]) Are we, as a society, becoming more accepting of flaky and misbehaving equipment? I get the impression we are. A few examples: \[ul\] \[li\]I played my son’s new… --- ## [will the lack of water increase the conflict level i the Middle-East ?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-lack-of-water-increase-the-conflict-level-i-the-middle-east/356041)
**Author:** [@Minotaurus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Minotaurus)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [May 9, 2006, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-lack-of-water-increase-the-conflict-level-i-the-middle-east/356041 "2006-05-09T16:59:35Z")
It’s not just the Middle-East that the water level is sinking dramatically, but also places like USA, Mexico, North-Africa, India and China - but the danger of an increased conflict seams to be most imminent in the Middl… --- ## [Nazi Ratzi, McCarthyism and Picking Your Battles](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nazi-ratzi-mccarthyism-and-picking-your-battles/355803)
**Author:** [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Replies:** 48\ **Last updated:** [May 9, 2006, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nazi-ratzi-mccarthyism-and-picking-your-battles/355803 "2006-05-09T16:41:09Z")
There are a lot of conservatives out there who would say that it is unfair to bring up the current Pope’s former membership in the Hitler Youth as a point to be used against him. Many of these would also argue that McCar… --- ## [Once a Catholic always a Catholic - Leaving religions](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-a-catholic-always-a-catholic-leaving-religions/354340)
**Author:** [@Acqua\_Minerale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acqua_Minerale)\ **Replies:** 100\ **Last updated:** [May 9, 2006, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-a-catholic-always-a-catholic-leaving-religions/354340 "2006-05-09T13:08:18Z")
Is any way to leave the Catholic Church in the eyes of the Catholic Church? Or are you just a lost Catholic? Which religions regconize the ability of members to stop being a member of the religion? Can Buddist stop being… --- ## [Update on Progress in Iraq and The War On Terror](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/update-on-progress-in-iraq-and-the-war-on-terror/354742)
**Author:** [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Replies:** 18\ **Last updated:** [May 9, 2006, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/update-on-progress-in-iraq-and-the-war-on-terror/354742 "2006-05-09T04:58:18Z")
The stories from this morning’s Los Angeles Times. Ralph M. Parsons Co. messes up on Iraq construction projects. According to the story, Parsons has spend millions while completing less than a fifth of their contract p… --- ## [9/11 Conspiracy Theories!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/9-11-conspiracy-theories/349948)
**Author:** [@DontTreadOnMe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DontTreadOnMe)\ **Replies:** 497\ **Last updated:** [May 9, 2006, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/9-11-conspiracy-theories/349948 "2006-05-09T01:35:42Z")
I was quite shocked to find out today that there is apparently a large following to the idea that the the events of 9/11 were planned and intentional…by our own administration. Now this comes off to me as even more wack… --- ## [Are giant "hand cannon" revolvers practical guns or macho novelties?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-giant-hand-cannon-revolvers-practical-guns-or-macho-novelties/355667)
**Author:** [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Replies:** 101\ **Last updated:** [May 9, 2006, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-giant-hand-cannon-revolvers-practical-guns-or-macho-novelties/355667 "2006-05-09T01:16:46Z")
I was reading the linked article below in Slate, and short of being ambushed by an elephant in your pajamas, the gun seems more affection that practical defense weapon. Do these giant “hand cannons” have an essential de… --- ## [Sour Apples: Beatles vs. Jobs](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sour-apples-beatles-vs-jobs/350450)
**Author:** [@B.Serum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.Serum)\ **Replies:** 64\ **Last updated:** [May 9, 2006, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sour-apples-beatles-vs-jobs/350450 "2006-05-09T00:44:21Z")
So the Apple vs. Apple case just started in London. I just don’t get HOW the Beatles are incurring any loss by a computer manufacturer selling iPods and running a music store. Trademark dispute. Pfa! Trademark disputes … --- ## [is the trouble between USA and Iran just psyops?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-trouble-between-usa-and-iran-just-psyops/355799)
**Author:** [@Minotaurus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Minotaurus)\ **Replies:** 8\ **Last updated:** [May 8, 2006, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-trouble-between-usa-and-iran-just-psyops/355799 "2006-05-08T23:15:13Z")
much of it seams to be psyops to me. such things as nuclear strike aganist Iran, 40.000 suicide bomber in Iran etc what do you think? --- ## [Replacing Cheney as VP: Redux](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/replacing-cheney-as-vp-redux/355942)
**Author:** [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [May 8, 2006, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/replacing-cheney-as-vp-redux/355942 "2006-05-08T22:57:59Z")
Back in February, the poll:wo;; Cheney step down as veep before 2009 was hashed out in GD. Watching all of the changes that Bush’s administration has made recently, that thread came to mind, and I started wondering. Hav… --- ## [Why no talk about nukes?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-talk-about-nukes/354389)
**Author:** [@Acqua\_Minerale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acqua_Minerale)\ **Replies:** 29\ **Last updated:** [May 8, 2006, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-talk-about-nukes/354389 "2006-05-08T21:58:58Z")
In all the talk about energy independence there is a lot of talk about soy fuels, clean coal, etc., but I haven’t heard much talk about new nuclear power. Is it even possible for America to achieve energy independence? … [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=791) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=793)