# Great Debates **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=812 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 813 --- ## [Industrial/Service/??? Economic Predictions](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/industrial-service-economic-predictions/344518)
**Author:** [@Merkwurdigliebe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merkwurdigliebe)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [February 14, 2006, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/industrial-service-economic-predictions/344518 "2006-02-14T20:21:53Z")
So it appears that our economies have changed over the years. Previous paradigms have given way to new ones. For instance, Most modern countries aren’t really into manufacturing anymore. There is a definite shift in the … --- ## [Should states be free to set their own drinking age?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-states-be-free-to-set-their-own-drinking-age/344193)
**Author:** [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Replies:** 34\ **Last updated:** [February 14, 2006, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-states-be-free-to-set-their-own-drinking-age/344193 "2006-02-14T20:11:46Z")
Should the National Minimum Drinkin Act be repealed? This would allow individual states to have a drinking age under 21 without losing federal highway money. “Blood borders” would present a problem, but is that reason… --- ## [Free speach; freedom of the press](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-speach-freedom-of-the-press/344263)
**Author:** [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [February 14, 2006, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-speach-freedom-of-the-press/344263 "2006-02-14T19:54:11Z")
I’m sure this will end up as a debate but I’m starting by asking for information … What is the current status of the right to free speach? Originaly was it more than a reaction to the liklihood that one would be thrown… --- ## [Find the necessity for congressional elections inconvenient? Don't fret--you are Prez](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/find-the-necessity-for-congressional-elections-inconvenient-dont-fret-you-are-prez/343512)
**Author:** [@alaricthegoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alaricthegoth)\ **Replies:** 51\ **Last updated:** [February 14, 2006, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/find-the-necessity-for-congressional-elections-inconvenient-dont-fret-you-are-prez/343512 "2006-02-14T18:37:07Z")
Not for the first time, I voice my concerns for the peaceful performance of our biennial democratic rituals . By way of variation, however, on my prior posts in this vein which always postulated some sort of quasi-black… --- ## [How long will politicians be able to milk 9/11 for political capital?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-will-politicians-be-able-to-milk-9-11-for-political-capital/343309)
**Author:** [@Blalron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blalron)\ **Replies:** 69\ **Last updated:** [February 14, 2006, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-will-politicians-be-able-to-milk-9-11-for-political-capital/343309 "2006-02-14T17:28:00Z")
How much time will have to pass before it simply looks silly to bring up 9/11 as a reminder of why we need to protect the country? Obviously there will have to be a point in time where “Remember 9/11” will hold just as… --- ## [How did Bush win the 2004 election?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-bush-win-the-2004-election/343662)
**Author:** [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Replies:** 68\ **Last updated:** [February 14, 2006, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-bush-win-the-2004-election/343662 "2006-02-14T14:24:00Z")
Yes I know this is a dead horse. Still, as we are moving away from the ugly election of 2004, it might be easier to discuss it. OK, the results of 2004 were almost identical except for: New Hampshire: Went Bush 2000 an… --- ## [Gay Rights progress in Colorado.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gay-rights-progress-in-colorado/344347)
**Author:** [@Homebrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homebrew)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [February 14, 2006, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gay-rights-progress-in-colorado/344347 "2006-02-14T14:03:20Z")
An interestering development in Colorado shows, I believe, progress in the Gay Agenda. It wasn’t so long ago that the idea of gay people having equal rights to inheritance, dependent coverage and other benefits was presu… --- ## [What skills are purely inherent?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-skills-are-purely-inherent/344360)
**Author:** [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [February 14, 2006, 9:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-skills-are-purely-inherent/344360 "2006-02-14T09:49:13Z")
I’m talking about skills that you have to be “born with”, or an additional level of skill - skills that some people can have, that no amount of training or practice will bring anyone else up to the same level as. Do you … --- ## [Nations asking for it?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nations-asking-for-it/344107)
**Author:** [@Operation\_Ripper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Operation_Ripper)\ **Replies:** 8\ **Last updated:** [February 14, 2006, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nations-asking-for-it/344107 "2006-02-14T08:36:07Z")
What nations have historically asked for a pummeling, more so than Iran has, in the past? Maybe I’m off base here, but Ahmadinejad seems to be begging for a smack down, per NUKES. Any other contenders? Nazi Germany pe… --- ## [What is the constitutional answer to this (related to the wiretapping issue)?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-constitutional-answer-to-this-related-to-the-wiretapping-issue/344028)
**Author:** [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Replies:** 62\ **Last updated:** [February 14, 2006, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-constitutional-answer-to-this-related-to-the-wiretapping-issue/344028 "2006-02-14T03:26:47Z")
A foreign power bent on the overthrow of the US, before declaring war on us, has planted operatives inside our country, appearing to be conventional citizens. This process has been going on for decades. This foreign po… --- ## [If Monica Lewinsky had been really hot...](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-monica-lewinsky-had-been-really-hot/343894)
**Author:** [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Replies:** 66\ **Last updated:** [February 14, 2006, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-monica-lewinsky-had-been-really-hot/343894 "2006-02-14T02:31:54Z")
This writer (on Foxnew FWIW) argues that if Monica had looked more like Angelina, there never would have been an impeachment trial. Link Does anyone else believe that this is true? Would the electorate in general and… --- ## [Is polygamy inherently bad for women and children?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-polygamy-inherently-bad-for-women-and-children/344316)
**Author:** [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Replies:** 103\ **Last updated:** [February 13, 2006, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-polygamy-inherently-bad-for-women-and-children/344316 "2006-02-13T23:37:41Z")
From this thread, regarding a tv show about polygamy which is consented to by all parties: Maybe I’m being wooshed by that last paragraph, it seems awfully over the top. Nevertheless, it’s an interesting issue. Can p… --- ## [Is Bohemian Grove real?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bohemian-grove-real/343635)
**Author:** [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Replies:** 35\ **Last updated:** [February 13, 2006, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bohemian-grove-real/343635 "2006-02-13T22:13:03Z")
I was just directed to this wikipedia article on Bohemian Grove, something that seems to have every appearance of being a complete myth, but apparently has some evidence of legitimacy. What’s the straight dope on this? … --- ## [Abortion/drugs/etc.: Does making things illegal work?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abortion-drugs-etc-does-making-things-illegal-work/344171)
**Author:** [@gitfiddle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gitfiddle)\ **Replies:** 21\ **Last updated:** [February 13, 2006, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abortion-drugs-etc-does-making-things-illegal-work/344171 "2006-02-13T21:33:24Z")
I’m just curious if making things illegal works as a deterant. Would making abortion illegal change much of anything? It seems to me another approach is needed. I don’t know what, but making abortion illegal, it seems… --- ## [It's "Black History Month," not "Black Inventor Month"](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-black-history-month-not-black-inventor-month/343581)
**Author:** [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Replies:** 44\ **Last updated:** [February 13, 2006, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-black-history-month-not-black-inventor-month/343581 "2006-02-13T20:45:50Z")
Around here, and in other places I’ve lived, Black History Month seems to be celebrated only with insincere soundbites; little text blurbs before commercials on television newscasts, short public service announcements, a… --- ## [Another cartoon thread! Who is fanning the fire and why?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-cartoon-thread-who-is-fanning-the-fire-and-why/343328)
**Author:** [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Replies:** 29\ **Last updated:** [February 13, 2006, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-cartoon-thread-who-is-fanning-the-fire-and-why/343328 "2006-02-13T09:11:16Z")
Google news is a wonderful thing. It pops up all kinds of interesting perspectives, such as this Russian news analysis that answers that Iran is instigating this conflagration now, months after the offensive cartoons wer… --- ## [Free Speech vs. Being a Cop](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-speech-vs-being-a-cop/343847)
**Author:** [@brianjedi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brianjedi)\ **Replies:** 16\ **Last updated:** [February 12, 2006, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-speech-vs-being-a-cop/343847 "2006-02-12T23:42:54Z")
http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-2/1139472859103140.xml&coll=1 A NJ police officer named John Feder has been suspended pending an investigation into the stand-up routines he performs as “Club So… --- ## [Al Quaida Plot Foiled by, um, Somebody](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-quaida-plot-foiled-by-um-somebody/343812)
**Author:** [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)\ **Replies:** 51\ **Last updated:** [February 12, 2006, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-quaida-plot-foiled-by-um-somebody/343812 "2006-02-12T18:44:44Z")
According to the AP wire, Bush has given some details of a successful 2002 thwart of an al-Qaida plot to attack L.A. Probably you’re thinking that nothing but petty hatred of America and an inability to admit that Bush … --- ## [Should the federal government stop subsidizing highways?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-federal-government-stop-subsidizing-highways/344068)
**Author:** [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [February 12, 2006, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-federal-government-stop-subsidizing-highways/344068 "2006-02-12T12:46:21Z")
Road building and maintainence used to be up to the states. Then during the 1930s it became a way for the federal government to pump money into the depressed economy. In the 1950s the Interstate system was devised for a … --- ## [Why doesn't Denmark start World War III?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-denmark-start-world-war-iii/343676)
**Author:** [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Replies:** 56\ **Last updated:** [February 12, 2006, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-denmark-start-world-war-iii/343676 "2006-02-12T12:37:52Z")
Wasn’t burning down their embassy an attack on Danish soil, technically? I agree (for those who were planning on lecturing the OP about posting such a stupid, self-destructive question) that it’s in Denmark’s and the wo… --- ## [Why are only some luxuries stratospherically priced?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-only-some-luxuries-stratospherically-priced/344005)
**Author:** [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Replies:** 18\ **Last updated:** [February 12, 2006, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-only-some-luxuries-stratospherically-priced/344005 "2006-02-12T07:54:09Z")
A meal at one of the top restaurants in the world tops out at around $300 while wine regularly goes for over $10,000 and up to $160,000. You would be hard pressed to find a suit much over $15,000 yet womens dresses go fo… --- ## [Question about crime](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-crime/326339)
**Author:** [@copperwindow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/copperwindow)\ **Replies:** 26\ **Last updated:** [February 12, 2006, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-crime/326339 "2006-02-12T04:38:58Z")
If I go up to the first guy I see and shoot him because demons in my head are telling me to, I go to a mental hospital, but if I go up to the first guy I see and shoot him because I need five bucks for a pack of smokes, … --- ## [What is the greatest human cruelty?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-human-cruelty/343658)
**Author:** [@drmark2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drmark2000)\ **Replies:** 104\ **Last updated:** [February 12, 2006, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-human-cruelty/343658 "2006-02-12T03:02:41Z")
I say it’s contributing to the inflicting of a lifetime (however long) on another sentient being. In other words, being a part of the production of a human child. What do other people think? --- ## [Eeeeevil Gene Discovered - Death to the Evil Ones!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eeeeevil-gene-discovered-death-to-the-evil-ones/343532)
**Author:** [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Replies:** 19\ **Last updated:** [February 11, 2006, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eeeeevil-gene-discovered-death-to-the-evil-ones/343532 "2006-02-11T18:59:46Z")
Let’s say tomorrow, the “evil gene” is discovered. The “evil gene”, when present in humans, is correlated in psychiatric tests very highly with psychopathy, sadism, megalomania, ambition, and a desire to enter politics. … --- ## [spiritual bombs](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spiritual-bombs/343918)
**Author:** [@mrrealtime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrrealtime)\ **Replies:** 8\ **Last updated:** [February 11, 2006, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spiritual-bombs/343918 "2006-02-11T15:26:20Z")
OK, so if God is so powerful and existant…and gets offended by stuff like cartoons and voting against intelligent design in schools…doesnt it make more sense for the religious types to focus all their efforts on spiritua… --- ## [Iran sponsors Holocaust cartoon contest](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iran-sponsors-holocaust-cartoon-contest/343351)
**Author:** [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Replies:** 84\ **Last updated:** [February 11, 2006, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iran-sponsors-holocaust-cartoon-contest/343351 "2006-02-11T14:06:05Z")
Doesn’t look like these cartoon wars are going to end anytime soon. Will this be a fair test of the West’s ability to with and accept mockery of serious subjects or is this apples and Zebras re any comparison to the cart… --- ## [ID vs. Evolution... support and discuss](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-vs-evolution-support-and-discuss/343557)
**Author:** [@EEMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EEMan)\ **Replies:** 77\ **Last updated:** [February 11, 2006, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-vs-evolution-support-and-discuss/343557 "2006-02-11T14:03:04Z")
Sorry that this needs to be done… but I guess we have hijacked another thread long enough… To that end I shall continue the discussion here, if you would be so kind as to all that… That’s incorrect. These experiments … --- ## [Role playing (WoW type games) barters and the IRS](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/role-playing-wow-type-games-barters-and-the-irs/343851)
**Author:** [@beagledave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beagledave)\ **Replies:** 23\ **Last updated:** [February 11, 2006, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/role-playing-wow-type-games-barters-and-the-irs/343851 "2006-02-11T10:22:36Z")
Ripped from NPR. First, a confession: I don’t play online role playing games like WoW, so my knowledge comes from whatever I’ve read from others or heard in the above NPR story. Apparently in some of these games, it is… --- ## [Ex-CIA Official Faults Use of Data on Iraq, Does Anybody Care?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ex-cia-official-faults-use-of-data-on-iraq-does-anybody-care/343956)
**Author:** [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [February 11, 2006, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ex-cia-official-faults-use-of-data-on-iraq-does-anybody-care/343956 "2006-02-11T10:16:55Z")
In this article at the Washington Post website (note, requires registration), former national intelligence officer for the Near East and South Asia from 2000 to 2005 Robert R. Pillar has some pretty negative thigns to sa… --- ## [Israel and Apartheid SA- Similarities/Differences](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israel-and-apartheid-sa-similarities-differences/343209)
**Author:** [@Pjen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pjen)\ **Replies:** 58\ **Last updated:** [February 11, 2006, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israel-and-apartheid-sa-similarities-differences/343209 "2006-02-11T06:29:30Z")
Today’s Guardian has the first part of a two-part commentary on similarities between Israel and Apartheid South Africa. It starts with a description of the civil rights violations of one Arab person born in Jerusalem: "… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=811) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=813)