# Great Debates **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=811 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 812 --- ## [God and physics.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-and-physics/343749)
**Author:** [@mrrealtime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrrealtime)\ **Replies:** 101\ **Last updated:** [February 17, 2006, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-and-physics/343749 "2006-02-17T13:21:26Z")
So, if God created the universe, one can only assume He (or She or whatever) is much larger than that which He created. If this is the case, the simple act of looking at it would require some light to hit it, then trave… --- ## [Education: Are concepts essential? (Warning: long)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/education-are-concepts-essential-warning-long/344779)
**Author:** [@Aankh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aankh)\ **Replies:** 13\ **Last updated:** [February 17, 2006, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/education-are-concepts-essential-warning-long/344779 "2006-02-17T01:26:42Z")
I completed my schooling in India (ages ago) before moving abroad for university. In my experience, education in India at that time could have been generalised to ‘drill and practice’ and ‘learn by rote’. There were cert… --- ## [Can the government tell me how to sign my name?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-government-tell-me-how-to-sign-my-name/343225)
**Author:** [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Replies:** 12\ **Last updated:** [February 16, 2006, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-government-tell-me-how-to-sign-my-name/343225 "2006-02-16T23:17:50Z")
Pennsylvania’s Department of Transportation thinks so: How is this legal, when a person can legally sign a document simply making an “X”? Many people’s signatures are so illegible anyway, they are little more than a s… --- ## [No Child Left Behind: Convince me that it's a good thing](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-child-left-behind-convince-me-that-its-a-good-thing/344571)
**Author:** [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Replies:** 53\ **Last updated:** [February 16, 2006, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-child-left-behind-convince-me-that-its-a-good-thing/344571 "2006-02-16T21:25:58Z")
I just read this article. Teachers don’t seem to like NCLB. I know this from lurking on education threads and from the bitching of teachers I know IRL. I fully admit that I have no informed opinion on this topic. I h… --- ## [Refute this endearingly loopy (Canadian) anti-tax argument](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/refute-this-endearingly-loopy-canadian-anti-tax-argument/342938)
**Author:** [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Replies:** 13\ **Last updated:** [February 16, 2006, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/refute-this-endearingly-loopy-canadian-anti-tax-argument/342938 "2006-02-16T21:19:22Z")
A fellow who may or may not be called James Clifford Hanna submitted an affidavit to a Yukon court to explain why he has not been paying any taxes recently. It amounts to the argument that the birth certificate issued u… --- ## [Are Canadians kinder than Americans?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-canadians-kinder-than-americans/342106)
**Author:** [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Replies:** 54\ **Last updated:** [February 16, 2006, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-canadians-kinder-than-americans/342106 "2006-02-16T20:35:32Z")
I just came across this editorial on the website of SF writer Spider Robinson – an American expatriate and naturalized Canuck (the editorial was posted just before the election, urging people to vote against the Conserva… --- ## [Rate your elected representatives](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rate-your-elected-representatives/342935)
**Author:** [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Replies:** 24\ **Last updated:** [February 16, 2006, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rate-your-elected-representatives/342935 "2006-02-16T20:28:22Z")
I’ll pick my two US Senators, US Representative and Govenor. I’m grading them on an A-F scale. Sen John Coryn Grade F For a Senator from a major state, Sen. Coryn has very little influence in the Senate. He is troubled… --- ## [Higher education leans left: why?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/higher-education-leans-left-why/340859)
**Author:** [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Replies:** 113\ **Last updated:** [February 16, 2006, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/higher-education-leans-left-why/340859 "2006-02-16T20:24:19Z")
It’s being asked of Hollywood, so now I ask it about that other supposed hotbed of liberals, higher education. We’re always hearing how leftist American colleges and universities are (or, perhaps more precisely put, the… --- ## [Is obeah supernatural? I really need to know](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-obeah-supernatural-i-really-need-to-know/343771)
**Author:** [@April](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/April)\ **Replies:** 21\ **Last updated:** [February 16, 2006, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-obeah-supernatural-i-really-need-to-know/343771 "2006-02-16T20:12:58Z")
I’m from the Caribbean, grew up in a village so I know a lot of people who blame or praise obeah for things that happened. I have neighbours who people claim deal in obeah yet I don’t know much about it because that is t… --- ## [10 years of Presidential Protection](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-years-of-presidential-protection/343728)
**Author:** [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Replies:** 15\ **Last updated:** [February 16, 2006, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-years-of-presidential-protection/343728 "2006-02-16T19:32:57Z")
Forgive the uncited OP, but I can’t do a search properly from my current location: I remember that during the Clinton Administration, Congress voted to reduce the Secret Service protection for former Presidents from lif… --- ## [What if it was the other way around, and Harry Whittington accidentally shot Cheney?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-it-was-the-other-way-around-and-harry-whittington-accidentally-shot-cheney/344636)
**Author:** [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [February 16, 2006, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-it-was-the-other-way-around-and-harry-whittington-accidentally-shot-cheney/344636 "2006-02-16T19:30:20Z")
I tried to search for the subject of my post on the SDMB, and came up with nothing. We all know that Vice President Cheney accidentally shot his hunting companion, Harry Whittington, last Sunday. What would have happen… --- ## [Europe and the furor over cartoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/europe-and-the-furor-over-cartoons/343265)
**Author:** [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Replies:** 47\ **Last updated:** [February 16, 2006, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/europe-and-the-furor-over-cartoons/343265 "2006-02-16T19:14:39Z")
I’ve been following the rising violence over some cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed. I’ve been wondering if there is more hate and rage against our Euro brothers and sisters by the Islamic community than previousl… --- ## [Jackson and Grant on U.S. Money.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jackson-and-grant-on-u-s-money/342439)
**Author:** [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\ **Replies:** 110\ **Last updated:** [February 16, 2006, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jackson-and-grant-on-u-s-money/342439 "2006-02-16T19:08:07Z")
This is something I have wondered about for some time now–the choices of U.S. presidents (and others) on U.S. currency. In particular Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill and Ulysses Grant on the $50 bill. Were these really th… --- ## [Jesus coming back ...](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-coming-back/344649)
**Author:** [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Replies:** 20\ **Last updated:** [February 16, 2006, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-coming-back/344649 "2006-02-16T18:20:36Z")
given the other “Jesus sent me a letter” msg, I came to think of the following … what do you think would be the catholic churches reaction if a guy would appear claiming that he is the “real” Jesus - just coming back t… --- ## [Would the Secret Service protect the President over the VP?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-the-secret-service-protect-the-president-over-the-vp/344725)
**Author:** [@Kozmik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kozmik)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [February 16, 2006, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-the-secret-service-protect-the-president-over-the-vp/344725 "2006-02-16T18:20:33Z")
Consider this scenario. Cheney and Bush go game hunting. Now there are Secret Service agents which have a duty to protect Bush and there are Secret Service agents which have a duty to protect Cheney. If Cheney aims th… --- ## ["Everything happens for a reason." True or false?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everything-happens-for-a-reason-true-or-false/344398)
**Author:** [@DaveRaver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaveRaver)\ **Replies:** 35\ **Last updated:** [February 16, 2006, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everything-happens-for-a-reason-true-or-false/344398 "2006-02-16T18:16:39Z")
I often hear it said that “everything happens for a reason.” Some people swear by this phrase but do you believe it? --- ## [To what extent do humans act on instinct?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-what-extent-do-humans-act-on-instinct/343688)
**Author:** [@Nature\_s\_Call](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nature_s_Call)\ **Replies:** 23\ **Last updated:** [February 16, 2006, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-what-extent-do-humans-act-on-instinct/343688 "2006-02-16T15:03:15Z")
Offshoot of this thread. I’m still not exactly sure what instinct is. How do we decide when to apply the word instinct to a behaviour? Clearly the key idea is behaviour not directly learned. Obviously simple behaviou… --- ## [Human Rights In Middle East](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-rights-in-middle-east/344785)
**Author:** [@mad\_og](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mad_og)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [February 16, 2006, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-rights-in-middle-east/344785 "2006-02-16T14:52:13Z")
The saudian channel alarabiya TV. has used mind control machine for years as a weapon against Egyptian target but it didn’t give information on electro-magnetic waves that directly affect the human brain and nervous syst… --- ## [French student protests: is it against a system more like the US's?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-student-protests-is-it-against-a-system-more-like-the-uss/344768)
**Author:** [@gitfiddle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gitfiddle)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [February 16, 2006, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-student-protests-is-it-against-a-system-more-like-the-uss/344768 "2006-02-16T14:23:32Z")
I’m just curious if the French student protests that have been going on recently are simply against a system that is more like the system in the US where an employer has the right to fire the employee much more easily? I… --- ## [Is world wealth infinite?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-world-wealth-infinite/344414)
**Author:** [@gooftroopag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gooftroopag)\ **Replies:** 34\ **Last updated:** [February 16, 2006, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-world-wealth-infinite/344414 "2006-02-16T03:27:13Z")
In The Socialist (1894), Ambrose Bierce claims that the socialist idea of a fixed world wealth is incorrect and that rather than feeding off the poor, the wealthy are feed on by the poor. He continues to say something al… --- ## [Handicapping the 2006 Congressional election](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicapping-the-2006-congressional-election/344327)
**Author:** [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Replies:** 65\ **Last updated:** [February 16, 2006, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicapping-the-2006-congressional-election/344327 "2006-02-16T02:47:00Z")
Perhaps this is a little premature since we’re not even into the primary season yet, but what the heck, we can always run another thread then. And we will, I’m sure, many several dozens of threads as November draws near… --- ## [Why do people bother protesting?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-bother-protesting/343985)
**Author:** [@Walter\_Windchill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walter_Windchill)\ **Replies:** 46\ **Last updated:** [February 16, 2006, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-bother-protesting/343985 "2006-02-16T01:28:47Z")
Has anyone ever changed their mind because of an organized protest? Did all of the organized protests against Bush make a difference in the last election? Has a single person watching the news decided to like Muslims mor… --- ## [Will English split into different languages?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-english-split-into-different-languages/343554)
**Author:** [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Replies:** 31\ **Last updated:** [February 16, 2006, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-english-split-into-different-languages/343554 "2006-02-16T00:51:21Z")
On the one hand, modern telecommunications breaks down the regional isolation from which languages evolve and separate. On the other hand, there are already decided differences in pronunciation and vocabulary around the… --- ## [How to dialogue with fundamentalists](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-dialogue-with-fundamentalists/343921)
**Author:** [@aurelian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurelian)\ **Replies:** 86\ **Last updated:** [February 15, 2006, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-dialogue-with-fundamentalists/343921 "2006-02-15T22:19:48Z")
Some defintions are in order, I suppose. Dialogue: in the kinda academic sense: converse, communicate, engage in active (figurative) conversation on culture, politics, state of humanity. Fundamentalist: A person who re… --- ## [War on Christmas - revisited](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-on-christmas-revisited/342205)
**Author:** [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Replies:** 667\ **Last updated:** [February 15, 2006, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-on-christmas-revisited/342205 "2006-02-15T19:24:55Z")
I’d like to have a serious discussion about the so-called “War on Christmas” that garnered some attention late last year. There were a number of derisive responses to the concept of a war on Christmas, and I’m not so sur… --- ## [Muslim riots over cartoons--is political correctness going overboard?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslim-riots-over-cartoons-is-political-correctness-going-overboard/342887)
**Author:** [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Replies:** 192\ **Last updated:** [February 15, 2006, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslim-riots-over-cartoons-is-political-correctness-going-overboard/342887 "2006-02-15T18:47:19Z")
We all know that there are fanatics out there. But is this attitude the right reaction? CNN report the final line of the site says (my bolding). Now I agree that it may be the smart thing to do. There are enough Isl… --- ## [Hoist by the mandatory reporting petard](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoist-by-the-mandatory-reporting-petard/344556)
**Author:** [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Replies:** 12\ **Last updated:** [February 15, 2006, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoist-by-the-mandatory-reporting-petard/344556 "2006-02-15T16:20:51Z")
Mandatory reporting: the general group of laws that requires that certain classes of people: typically medical, social work, teachers - must report instances of child sexual abuse when they encounter it. Is this a good … --- ## [Who are the American beneficiaries of our enormous Trade Deficit?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-american-beneficiaries-of-our-enormous-trade-deficit/343989)
**Author:** [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\ **Replies:** 37\ **Last updated:** [February 15, 2006, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-american-beneficiaries-of-our-enormous-trade-deficit/343989 "2006-02-15T14:04:00Z")
As if we need more cars imported into this country, China will soon be pouring them in. This is to the severe detriment of our own manufacturers. Yet, some people in our government are only too happy to establish trade a… --- ## [The Confederate Flag in public schools.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-confederate-flag-in-public-schools/342934)
**Author:** [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Replies:** 110\ **Last updated:** [February 15, 2006, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-confederate-flag-in-public-schools/342934 "2006-02-15T09:30:12Z")
What should a public school’s regulations regarding students’ (and teachers’, if you like) wearing, display or other use of the Confederate Flag be? I went to school in a small-ish Central Illinois town, and the symbol … --- ## [Let the hypocrisy begin, or Harper takes office](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-the-hypocrisy-begin-or-harper-takes-office/343320)
**Author:** [@Queuing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queuing)\ **Replies:** 63\ **Last updated:** [February 15, 2006, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-the-hypocrisy-begin-or-harper-takes-office/343320 "2006-02-15T00:29:01Z")
Well well well, one day in and the hypocrisy has already begun. After all the bitching and complaining the Conservative party did when Belinda Stronach crossed over and joined the Liberals, all the calls for electoral r… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=810) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=812)