# Great Debates **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=826 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 827 --- ## [I am a better human being than Pres. Bush and Dick Cheney because I oppose torture](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-better-human-being-than-pres-bush-and-dick-cheney-because-i-oppose-torture/335917)
**Author:** [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Replies:** 123\ **Last updated:** [December 20, 2005, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-better-human-being-than-pres-bush-and-dick-cheney-because-i-oppose-torture/335917 "2005-12-20T15:29:50Z")
I am also a better human being than those who support Bush, Cheney and their minions in the use of torture. If you support torture, you’re a blight on the species, it’s virtually your civic duty to off yourself. I just … --- ## ["I hate those bra burning feminists"](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-those-bra-burning-feminists/334883)
**Author:** [@Martha\_Medea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martha_Medea)\ **Replies:** 155\ **Last updated:** [December 20, 2005, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-those-bra-burning-feminists/334883 "2005-12-20T15:22:56Z")
One of the things that annoy me most is when an independent, free-spirited young woman, doing her own thing, sexually liberated and uninhibited, etc. etc. turns round and says she ‘hates those bra burning feminists’. Ho… --- ## [Scenario:Congress repeals 9/11 use of force resolution; Bush soldiers on What then?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenario-congress-repeals-9-11-use-of-force-resolution-bush-soldiers-on-what-then/336408)
**Author:** [@alaricthegoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alaricthegoth)\ **Replies:** 8\ **Last updated:** [December 20, 2005, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenario-congress-repeals-9-11-use-of-force-resolution-bush-soldiers-on-what-then/336408 "2005-12-20T09:03:45Z")
http://www.prospect.org/weblog/archives/2005/12/index.html#008679 Bush justifies departures from the strictures of law by invoking: !. The constitutional declaration that the President is Commander in Chief. The post… --- ## [Hyopthetical: Victim or Offender?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hyopthetical-victim-or-offender/336097)
**Author:** [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Replies:** 14\ **Last updated:** [December 20, 2005, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hyopthetical-victim-or-offender/336097 "2005-12-20T05:14:13Z")
Ok, this is an actual hypothetical situation - i’m not going to spring a news story on you at any point here. Earlier this year, A was found guilty of the assault and rape of\*\* B\*\*. Let’s say for the purpose of this arg… --- ## [Prostitution is immoral and therefore should be outlawed](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prostitution-is-immoral-and-therefore-should-be-outlawed/336149)
**Author:** [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Replies:** 236\ **Last updated:** [December 20, 2005, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prostitution-is-immoral-and-therefore-should-be-outlawed/336149 "2005-12-20T02:01:33Z")
Legislators on the left and the right agree: Prostitution is immoral. I agree. I don’t think there can be any discussion. It’s immoral, and thus should be prohibited by law. When such diverse elements on the left and t… --- ## [Does the US need a new battle rifle now, and if so, what?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-us-need-a-new-battle-rifle-now-and-if-so-what/336013)
**Author:** [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Replies:** 40\ **Last updated:** [December 19, 2005, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-us-need-a-new-battle-rifle-now-and-if-so-what/336013 "2005-12-19T21:01:36Z")
I’m a little bit of a gun nut, and have an interest in things military, so I keep an eye on new weapons development as is reported in the news. For the past few years, the Army has been trying to develop at least one su… --- ## [Does anti-Americanism really exist?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anti-americanism-really-exist/334195)
**Author:** [@gitfiddle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gitfiddle)\ **Replies:** 134\ **Last updated:** [December 19, 2005, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anti-americanism-really-exist/334195 "2005-12-19T15:47:24Z")
Okay, this is going to take a lot of clarification, and I hope I don’t sound too naive or idiotic, but I don’t truly believe in the widespread, all-encompassing anti-Americanism that so many people talk about these days. … --- ## [Re: torture: Where is the religious "leadership"?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-torture-where-is-the-religious-leadership/335274)
**Author:** [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Replies:** 33\ **Last updated:** [December 19, 2005, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-torture-where-is-the-religious-leadership/335274 "2005-12-19T15:33:38Z")
One of the things that religious folks like to say in support of their churches/whatever is that they are a voice for morality. When the secular folks get too far “out there” the churches reel them back in with appeals t… --- ## [Corporal Punishment](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corporal-punishment/336136)
**Author:** [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Replies:** 36\ **Last updated:** [December 19, 2005, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corporal-punishment/336136 "2005-12-19T14:59:04Z")
I am 100% opposed to spanking. It is wrong to hit a child, regardless of the offense. Causing physical pain to a child is immoral. Taking away television, books, movies, or other activities is fine. Hitting, or removing… --- ## [Should all CIA leaks be investigated?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-all-cia-leaks-be-investigated/336133)
**Author:** [@Plan\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plan_B)\ **Replies:** 12\ **Last updated:** [December 18, 2005, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-all-cia-leaks-be-investigated/336133 "2005-12-18T18:57:39Z")
From Presdient Bush’s speech this AM: "In the weeks following the terrorist attacks on our nation, I authorized the National Security Agency, consistent with U.S. law and the Constitution, to intercept the international… --- ## [The Senate Blocked Renewal Of Patriot Act](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-senate-blocked-renewal-of-patriot-act/335972)
**Author:** [@Translucent\_Daydream](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Translucent_Daydream)\ **Replies:** 16\ **Last updated:** [December 18, 2005, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-senate-blocked-renewal-of-patriot-act/335972 "2005-12-18T16:17:21Z")
Check This Out - The Senate blocked the renewal of the Patriot Act Is this not a ray of hope for our country? It sure is in my opinion, although many people around me disagree. They say, “Well bubbah, I got nuthin’ to… --- ## [Was Hannibal Black?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-hannibal-black/142631)
**Author:** [@HubZilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HubZilla)\ **Replies:** 24\ **Last updated:** [December 18, 2005, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-hannibal-black/142631 "2005-12-18T15:47:54Z")
I read in a magazine that they’re going to do a Hannibal movie with Denzel Washington. Wasn’t Carthage more of a Mediterranean area than a black African area, no matter what continent Carthage was on? --- ## [What would happen if men were only as horny as women?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-men-were-only-as-horny-as-women/335817)
**Author:** [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Replies:** 28\ **Last updated:** [December 18, 2005, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-men-were-only-as-horny-as-women/335817 "2005-12-18T02:45:17Z")
Very obviously inspired by this thread, which was not only titled around the inverse situation but has remained focused around it (i.e., what would happen if women’s sexuality were more like men’s, why women are not as i… --- ## [Not rape when drunk.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-rape-when-drunk/333364)
**Author:** [@firespinner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/firespinner)\ **Replies:** 88\ **Last updated:** [December 17, 2005, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-rape-when-drunk/333364 "2005-12-17T18:17:04Z")
This thread is regarding the recent decision by a British judge that it is no rape if drunken consent is given (just google it). What do people think(please look at the case before replying). My personal opinion is that… --- ## [Sterilizing the retarded](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sterilizing-the-retarded/335693)
**Author:** [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Replies:** 26\ **Last updated:** [December 17, 2005, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sterilizing-the-retarded/335693 "2005-12-17T12:08:01Z")
I remember an episode of LA Law where a father of a retarded young woman is going to have her sterilized. He stated how his decision is reminiscent of Nazi Eugenics, but counters how she simply isn’t responsible enough … --- ## [w0gm](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/w0gm/336006)
**Author:** [@zhack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zhack)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [December 17, 2005, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/w0gm/336006 "2005-12-17T02:18:45Z")
guys check this out http://s14.invisionfree.com/Testaroonie/index.php?showtopic=2&st=0&#last herere !!! thats crazy putting away 500 million just to pay for potholes! click the test forum to see what i am talkign abou… --- ## [Do you think the End Of The World is preset?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-the-end-of-the-world-is-preset/336005)
**Author:** [@15\_noon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/15_noon)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [December 17, 2005, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-the-end-of-the-world-is-preset/336005 "2005-12-17T01:18:34Z")
Wouldn’t that be a denial of God’s own free will? --- ## [Are the bill of rights untouchable?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-bill-of-rights-untouchable/335999)
**Author:** [@girls\_shoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/girls_shoes)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [December 17, 2005, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-bill-of-rights-untouchable/335999 "2005-12-17T00:25:54Z")
On the one hand I’d like the 2nd amendment touched up with clarifying wording that said “This does not give rights for military weapons to self-proclaimed militias.” But on the other hand I’m afraid that the religious r… --- ## [Should there be a ban on "acceptable" torture?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-there-be-a-ban-on-acceptable-torture/335992)
**Author:** [@girls\_shoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/girls_shoes)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [December 16, 2005, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-there-be-a-ban-on-acceptable-torture/335992 "2005-12-16T23:37:41Z")
I’m thinking of the loud music and “mild” sleep deprivation and just the dumb stuff like shaving beards and shining lights in their eyes during questioning. They used that music thing at Waco and Ruby Ridge as well, and… --- ## [New Pentagon policy directive puts "nation building" front & center. Is this a wise?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-pentagon-policy-directive-puts-nation-building-front-center-is-this-a-wise/335948)
**Author:** [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [December 16, 2005, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-pentagon-policy-directive-puts-nation-building-front-center-is-this-a-wise/335948 "2005-12-16T23:02:48Z")
Is this simply an acceptance of the realities of waging regime changing war, or is it morphing the military into places we really shouldn’t be taking it? A lot of the Iraqi hostility toward us seems to stem from the fac… --- ## [Dems on WMD](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dems-on-wmd/331295)
**Author:** [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Replies:** 101\ **Last updated:** [December 16, 2005, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dems-on-wmd/331295 "2005-12-16T21:49:54Z")
Here is a link to a lengthy list of very forceful and seemingly authoritative statements that Democrat politicians made leading up to the the war: http://www.spectator.org/dsp\_article.asp?art\_id=9027 They argue now tha… --- ## [Is there any point, any more, in the U.S. having an embargo on Cuba?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-point-any-more-in-the-u-s-having-an-embargo-on-cuba/335173)
**Author:** [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Replies:** 90\ **Last updated:** [December 16, 2005, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-point-any-more-in-the-u-s-having-an-embargo-on-cuba/335173 "2005-12-16T20:29:30Z")
The U.S. trade embargo on Cuba has an estimated impact of $70 billion a year on the Cuban economy (and causes an estimated loss to U.S. exporters of $1.2 billion a year). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United\_States\_embar… --- ## [Man cleared in rape sues his accuser](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-cleared-in-rape-sues-his-accuser/335654)
**Author:** [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Replies:** 169\ **Last updated:** [December 16, 2005, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-cleared-in-rape-sues-his-accuser/335654 "2005-12-16T18:48:19Z")
Christopher Lynn Matthew, a Charlottesville barber, was arrested as he walked home one evening. As he was held in custody handcuffed at a police car, a 23-year-old sexual assault victim told police that he was the man th… --- ## [What does Chanukah teach us about Iraq?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-chanukah-teach-us-about-iraq/334690)
**Author:** [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Replies:** 38\ **Last updated:** [December 16, 2005, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-chanukah-teach-us-about-iraq/334690 "2005-12-16T18:47:13Z")
Every year around this time we Jews celebrate the fact that some of our ancestors participated in a sucessful insurgency. Israel had come under the control of a Western power (the Greeks through a Syrian puppet) and were… --- ## [Need help with holiday UL: Is there a town where wearing red and green are banned?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-holiday-ul-is-there-a-town-where-wearing-red-and-green-are-banned/335155)
**Author:** [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Replies:** 36\ **Last updated:** [December 16, 2005, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-holiday-ul-is-there-a-town-where-wearing-red-and-green-are-banned/335155 "2005-12-16T18:10:59Z")
My pastor, the GlurgeMeister, he of the excitedly repeated conservative talk-radio factoids and the congenital inattention to detail, gave us the following this morning, as an illustration of how the Secular Humanists ar… --- ## [Is capitalism different from free enterprise?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-capitalism-different-from-free-enterprise/335805)
**Author:** [@flintlock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flintlock)\ **Replies:** 8\ **Last updated:** [December 16, 2005, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-capitalism-different-from-free-enterprise/335805 "2005-12-16T17:28:27Z")
We hear that Russia is picking on capitalists, but it seems that’s only those who are like the robber barons that the US fought off when they created all the anti-trust laws. Can rigning in capitalists with monopolistic… --- ## [Forged Ballots Headed for Florida in 2000, and for Ohio in 2004?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forged-ballots-headed-for-florida-in-2000-and-for-ohio-in-2004/335542)
**Author:** [@Wake\_up\_call](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wake_up_call)\ **Replies:** 33\ **Last updated:** [December 16, 2005, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forged-ballots-headed-for-florida-in-2000-and-for-ohio-in-2004/335542 "2005-12-16T16:10:51Z")
Suppose, for a second, that Iran did not do what this articlesays, and let us replace a few words in the article. Now you be the judge: \*\*Forged Ballots Headed to Florida in 2000, and for Ohio in 2004 \*\* Washington DC… --- ## [Does Iran's bellicose rhetoric & justify a unilateral Israeli military response?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-irans-bellicose-rhetoric-justify-a-unilateral-israeli-military-response/335583)
**Author:** [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Replies:** 51\ **Last updated:** [December 16, 2005, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-irans-bellicose-rhetoric-justify-a-unilateral-israeli-military-response/335583 "2005-12-16T15:05:59Z")
Per the linked article below, Iran seems to be doing everything it can lately to provoke Israel and potentially justify Israeli options in considering a unilateral military response. Is Israel justiifed in considering hi… --- ## [Finally congress is doing something about illegal immigration](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-congress-is-doing-something-about-illegal-immigration/335469)
**Author:** [@suezeekay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suezeekay)\ **Replies:** 105\ **Last updated:** [December 16, 2005, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-congress-is-doing-something-about-illegal-immigration/335469 "2005-12-16T12:31:44Z")
When my grandaughter was in first grade her class was filled with non-English speaking students. When they moved and she went to a new school she was behind because the teacher had had to devote so much time to these ch… --- ## [Can there be purpose in life without an afterlife?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-there-be-purpose-in-life-without-an-afterlife/334189)
**Author:** [@FlyingRamenMonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingRamenMonster)\ **Replies:** 89\ **Last updated:** [December 16, 2005, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-there-be-purpose-in-life-without-an-afterlife/334189 "2005-12-16T08:26:48Z")
Plenty of atheists seem to think so. Some even go as far as to say that death is what gives life a purpose since it defines your time here on earth. So I ask everyone here who does not believe in the afterlife: what gi… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=825) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=827)