# Great Debates **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=868 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 869 --- ## [Fluorescent fixture not working right](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fluorescent-fixture-not-working-right/312695)
**Author:** [@Joe\_Mahma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joe_Mahma)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [July 15, 2005, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fluorescent-fixture-not-working-right/312695 "2005-07-15T19:31:46Z")
The fluorescent fixture (2 42" bulbs) has begun to light at about 205 of normal brightness (maybe less- it’s hard to estimate). Is ther any easy way to tell if the problem is bulbs or ballast? --- ## [Does "If you attack/sabotage us, we'll kill 10 hostages" ever work?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-if-you-attack-sabotage-us-well-kill-10-hostages-ever-work/312192)
**Author:** [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Replies:** 15\ **Last updated:** [July 15, 2005, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-if-you-attack-sabotage-us-well-kill-10-hostages-ever-work/312192 "2005-07-15T13:37:39Z")
The Nazis did this all the time, as I remember. Did it ever work, or did the Maquis/saboteurs/Jewish insurgents/Soviet partisans just shrug and do what they would have done anyway, damning the Nazis and writing off the … --- ## [For observant Jews: What say you about evolution?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-observant-jews-what-say-you-about-evolution/311793)
**Author:** [@rfgdxm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rfgdxm)\ **Replies:** 31\ **Last updated:** [July 15, 2005, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-observant-jews-what-say-you-about-evolution/311793 "2005-07-15T08:29:00Z")
This is inspired by a recent thread in this forum about the RCC possibly waffling on their stance about evolution. Since Genesis is part of the Hebrew scriptures, and any Christian argument about evolution must be based … --- ## [What If The Discovery Mission Fails?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-the-discovery-mission-fails/312335)
**Author:** [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Replies:** 24\ **Last updated:** [July 15, 2005, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-the-discovery-mission-fails/312335 "2005-07-15T06:30:24Z")
Well, here we are, about 5 hours from the first launch since the Columbia broke up. So what if there is a spectacular failure that can be directly traced to NASA? I mean something like the design failures that caused the… --- ## [Biblical question (Is racial separation ordered in bible?)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biblical-question-is-racial-separation-ordered-in-bible/311860)
**Author:** [@Fionn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fionn)\ **Replies:** 30\ **Last updated:** [July 14, 2005, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biblical-question-is-racial-separation-ordered-in-bible/311860 "2005-07-14T19:52:38Z")
This past weekend, on a visit to my parents, my mother and an old neighbor brought up the idea that everyone should marry within their race. (This conversation was spurred by the fact that my brother will soon marry a wo… --- ## [The wiccan rede? Workable? Practical?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-wiccan-rede-workable-practical/312185)
**Author:** [@Scott\_Plaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scott_Plaid)\ **Replies:** 40\ **Last updated:** [July 14, 2005, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-wiccan-rede-workable-practical/312185 "2005-07-14T08:14:31Z")
I was just reviewing Is using someone else’s wireless network illegal?, and I read the following: \[QUOTE=meI think I see the difficulty here. People see the words “The powers not delegated to the United States by the C… --- ## [When is risk of death acceptible?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-risk-of-death-acceptible/312168)
**Author:** [@Nature\_s\_Call](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nature_s_Call)\ **Replies:** 8\ **Last updated:** [July 14, 2005, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-risk-of-death-acceptible/312168 "2005-07-14T05:45:15Z")
We’ve all heard the argument in favour of some new measure or restriction, “If it saves just one life it’s worth it.” Look at the changes to a schoolbus: that outswinging stop sign, and that sweeping arm in front. The… --- ## [Intel vs. AMD: A monopoly? Worth busting?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intel-vs-amd-a-monopoly-worth-busting/312230)
**Author:** [@Jurph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jurph)\ **Replies:** 24\ **Last updated:** [July 13, 2005, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intel-vs-amd-a-monopoly-worth-busting/312230 "2005-07-13T19:44:47Z")
This complaint (PDF) alleges a whole host of monopolistic (or “anti-competitive”, or “unfairly competitive”) actions on Intel’s part. Some of the practices include: Retroactive pricing discounts for OEMs who meet Int… --- ## [London Hit By Terror Attacks (What is the appropriate response?)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/london-hit-by-terror-attacks-what-is-the-appropriate-response/311438)
**Author:** [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Replies:** 358\ **Last updated:** [July 13, 2005, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/london-hit-by-terror-attacks-what-is-the-appropriate-response/311438 "2005-07-13T17:17:00Z")
Bus and subway explosions. Obviously too soon to know for sure who might be responsible. It’s been more than ten years since a large-scale IRA attack. Of course, my thoughts naturally go to Al-Queda. And if it is, I t… --- ## [Terrorism A-Quadia and Iraq link?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terrorism-a-quadia-and-iraq-link/311658)
**Author:** [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Replies:** 81\ **Last updated:** [July 13, 2005, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terrorism-a-quadia-and-iraq-link/311658 "2005-07-13T13:30:56Z")
It appears the A-Q is blowing up trains and buses to get solders out of Iraq. What is the reason for this? Does A-Q have a vested interest in keeping Iraq under a dictatorship? Many like to point out that there was no… --- ## [What now? Re: London attacks.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-now-re-london-attacks/311467)
**Author:** [@RedFury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedFury)\ **Replies:** 106\ **Last updated:** [July 13, 2005, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-now-re-london-attacks/311467 "2005-07-13T12:47:05Z")
I’ve read any number of suggestions in the various threads dealing with this deplorable event as to what the British response should be – a subtopic that clearly warrants a thread of its own as it is at the very center o… --- ## [The U.S. gets the bomb...a year early](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-u-s-gets-the-bomb-a-year-early/311562)
**Author:** [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Replies:** 54\ **Last updated:** [July 13, 2005, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-u-s-gets-the-bomb-a-year-early/311562 "2005-07-13T12:05:09Z")
Here’s the scenario: 5:29 AM, the Alamogordo Bombing Range, New Mexico. The blinding flash of a 20 kt fission explosion pierces the desert night. The “Trinity” test is successful, America has The Bomb. The date is July… --- ## [How committed to recycling are YOU?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-committed-to-recycling-are-you/312004)
**Author:** [@Nature\_s\_Call](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nature_s_Call)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [July 13, 2005, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-committed-to-recycling-are-you/312004 "2005-07-13T03:03:48Z")
What would you be willing to accept in the name of resource conservation? How committed to recycling are you? Check this out. It’s an article describing how NASA researchers, in an effort to minimize the amount of wat… --- ## [Is using someone else's wireless network illegal?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-using-someone-elses-wireless-network-illegal/299218)
**Author:** [@mr.meman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr.meman)\ **Replies:** 214\ **Last updated:** [July 13, 2005, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-using-someone-elses-wireless-network-illegal/299218 "2005-07-13T02:43:56Z")
We just got a new laptop, but no Internet for it yet. Then when we tried searching for a wireless network, and it picked up a linksys router, obviously one of our neighbor’s. We don’t know who, but when we take the lapto… --- ## [Why "intelligent designers" can't grasp evolution](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-intelligent-designers-cant-grasp-evolution/312033)
**Author:** [@Ex\_Machina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ex_Machina)\ **Replies:** 72\ **Last updated:** [July 13, 2005, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-intelligent-designers-cant-grasp-evolution/312033 "2005-07-13T00:19:50Z")
The first problem ID’ers have is their inability to comprehend the immensity of time. They look at life around them in the small context of their existence. The human intellect and its introspective nature is a relative… --- ## [Question for Canadians: Karla Homolka, sadistic sexual psychopath](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-canadians-karla-homolka-sadistic-sexual-psychopath/311026)
**Author:** [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Replies:** 68\ **Last updated:** [July 13, 2005, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-canadians-karla-homolka-sadistic-sexual-psychopath/311026 "2005-07-13T00:08:40Z")
Karla Homolka goes free in Canada today. She’s the gal involved in multiple torture-rape-murder crimes of young girls, including her own 15 year old sister. At her trial, she pinned the blame on her spouse, saying she … --- ## [George Bush's stoopid "lesson" of Vietnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-bushs-stoopid-lesson-of-vietnam/311415)
**Author:** [@Soylent\_Gene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Gene)\ **Replies:** 32\ **Last updated:** [July 12, 2005, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-bushs-stoopid-lesson-of-vietnam/311415 "2005-07-12T19:08:07Z")
Dubya made a comment about Vietnam on Meet The Press back in early 2004 that still infuriates me and explains partly why Iraq is a mess. He said that the “lesson of Vietnam is that you should let the Generals fight the … --- ## [Scott Plaid, some clarification, please? On the evil and stupidity of business](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scott-plaid-some-clarification-please-on-the-evil-and-stupidity-of-business/310864)
**Author:** [@Genghis\_Bob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Genghis_Bob)\ **Replies:** 92\ **Last updated:** [July 12, 2005, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scott-plaid-some-clarification-please-on-the-evil-and-stupidity-of-business/310864 "2005-07-12T14:01:55Z")
In this post in the SDMB - Fair and Balanced? thread, you intimated that people who are “business friendly” are stupid or evil. A few people expressed surprise at this sweeping statement and you promised a clarificatio… --- ## [Canada will probably be next to be bombed](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-will-probably-be-next-to-be-bombed/311731)
**Author:** [@villain71](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villain71)\ **Replies:** 60\ **Last updated:** [July 12, 2005, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-will-probably-be-next-to-be-bombed/311731 "2005-07-12T13:40:19Z")
There was a newspaper article yesterday I think about how Canada will probably be the next target by Al Queda because Canada is on the list of the 5 Christian countries that Al Queda will target. Sure Canada isn’t part … --- ## [US Troops banned from visiting London](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-troops-banned-from-visiting-london/312145)
**Author:** [@Walker\_in\_Eternity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walker_in_Eternity)\ **Replies:** 18\ **Last updated:** [July 12, 2005, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-troops-banned-from-visiting-london/312145 "2005-07-12T13:22:11Z")
Further to this article in todays Times newspaper, all US service personnel in the UK are banned from visiting London. I understand the desire to keep your troops safe, but what kind of message does this send to the ter… --- ## [My best argument for the non-existence of God](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-best-argument-for-the-non-existence-of-god/311615)
**Author:** [@Ex\_Machina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ex_Machina)\ **Replies:** 153\ **Last updated:** [July 12, 2005, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-best-argument-for-the-non-existence-of-god/311615 "2005-07-12T12:37:02Z")
Imagine a world where there is no God. Where life forms, intelligence, and self-awareness are physical phenomena as inevitable and unplanned as a rainbow is the result of light through a mist. Now imagine the intelligen… --- ## [What are some concrete examples of europeans being radically more liberal?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-concrete-examples-of-europeans-being-radically-more-liberal/310441)
**Author:** [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Replies:** 52\ **Last updated:** [July 12, 2005, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-concrete-examples-of-europeans-being-radically-more-liberal/310441 "2005-07-12T09:11:19Z")
It’s commonly stated on the boards that europe is so far to the left of the US that conservative Europeans are more liberal than liberal Americans. But what exactly are some concrete examples of this? What policy decisi… --- ## [Where do "rights" come from?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-rights-come-from/312074)
**Author:** [@Ex\_Machina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ex_Machina)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [July 11, 2005, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-rights-come-from/312074 "2005-07-11T23:49:45Z")
Are rights innate or are they a possession of the intellect? Does an embryo or fetus have a right to life? Does a person in a permanent vegetative state? Does an adult’s right to the pursuit of happiness trump a fetus’… --- ## [Racial profiling, terrorism and liability](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racial-profiling-terrorism-and-liability/312073)
**Author:** [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [July 11, 2005, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racial-profiling-terrorism-and-liability/312073 "2005-07-11T22:57:01Z")
Assuming a terrorist act could have been prevented if racial profiling would have been used, could this be used successfully in a civil suit? --- ## [Gov. holds fund-raiser at all-white country club. Problem?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gov-holds-fund-raiser-at-all-white-country-club-problem/311985)
**Author:** [@UrbanChic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UrbanChic)\ **Replies:** 15\ **Last updated:** [July 11, 2005, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gov-holds-fund-raiser-at-all-white-country-club-problem/311985 "2005-07-11T20:39:40Z")
Gov. Ehrlich of Maryland recently held a fund-raiser at an all-white country club. The club, the Elkridge Club, has no minority members. Rather than submit their membership list to the state in the 70s, they gave up ga… --- ## [Are the Iranians hoping to control/influence post-occupation Iraq?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-iranians-hoping-to-control-influence-post-occupation-iraq/311666)
**Author:** [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Replies:** 11\ **Last updated:** [July 11, 2005, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-iranians-hoping-to-control-influence-post-occupation-iraq/311666 "2005-07-11T19:27:04Z")
According to this editorial from the St. Petersburg Times, 7/3/05 – http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/sptimes/862285741.html?MAC=d5f60557952afaf68d79f86a7bb8b077&did=862285741&FMT=FT&FMTS=FT&date=Jul+3%2C+2005&author=REESE+ERL… --- ## [Why the Difference Between America's Responses to Bombings In London, Madrid, Bali?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-difference-between-americas-responses-to-bombings-in-london-madrid-bali/311841)
**Author:** [@Siege](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siege)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [July 11, 2005, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-difference-between-americas-responses-to-bombings-in-london-madrid-bali/311841 "2005-07-11T14:06:26Z")
I know, I know. Another thread on the bombings in London. Still, after reading a recent fracas in the Pit, something occurred to me. In 2001, 2002, and 2004, there was a bombing which was later linked to Al Qaeda, as … --- ## [time travel question](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-travel-question/311831)
**Author:** [@silverneptune12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silverneptune12)\ **Replies:** 15\ **Last updated:** [July 11, 2005, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-travel-question/311831 "2005-07-11T05:46:42Z")
ok so we all know that as you approach the speed of light time around you slows down correct? so if i am running close to the speed of light and your are not i will age more slowly then you. ok here is where my question … --- ## [Canadian Politics: What a difference a month makes!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-politics-what-a-difference-a-month-makes/308738)
**Author:** [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Replies:** 58\ **Last updated:** [July 11, 2005, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-politics-what-a-difference-a-month-makes/308738 "2005-07-11T04:38:46Z")
When we last chatted about the ongoing soap opera that is Ottawa (Belinda and Peter are “taking a break”; Bizarro World of Canadian Politics), the Conservatives had just failed in their attempt to bring down the Liberal… --- ## [More important to Christianity: Paul of Tarsus or Constantine?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-important-to-christianity-paul-of-tarsus-or-constantine/138567)
**Author:** [@fishcrawford](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishcrawford)\ **Replies:** 17\ **Last updated:** [July 10, 2005, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-important-to-christianity-paul-of-tarsus-or-constantine/138567 "2005-07-10T16:29:21Z")
I’d say Paul. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=867) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=869)