# Great Debates **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=87 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 88 --- ## [What changed public opinion regarding marijuana legalization?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-changed-public-opinion-regarding-marijuana-legalization/819392)
**Author:** [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Replies:** 84\ **Last updated:** [August 23, 2018, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-changed-public-opinion-regarding-marijuana-legalization/819392 "2018-08-23T13:20:53Z")
Looking at chart like this: http://weedjournal.org/2015/04/14/new-pew-survey-shows-53-favor-legal-marijuana-44-oppose/ What factors changed people’s minds on the issue of marijuana decriminalization or legalization? It’… --- ## [Keynesians vs Austerians in the wake of the Great Recession:](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keynesians-vs-austerians-in-the-wake-of-the-great-recession/819827)
**Author:** [@survinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/survinga)\ **Replies:** 11\ **Last updated:** [August 22, 2018, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keynesians-vs-austerians-in-the-wake-of-the-great-recession/819827 "2018-08-22T04:24:18Z")
Looks like the Keynesians won that debate in a rout, if we compare results to previous predictions. \*Well going on 10 years later, the evidence is in: The anti-Keynesian forces have been proved conclusively mistaken o… --- ## [Should we offer amnesty for murder?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-offer-amnesty-for-murder/819914)
**Author:** [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Replies:** 27\ **Last updated:** [August 21, 2018, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-offer-amnesty-for-murder/819914 "2018-08-21T21:25:24Z")
I was watching “Crimewatch” and the case was where about 20 years ago this familys 14 year old daughter slipped out one night to attend a party and was never seen again. The blame quickly fell on this one man but the pol… --- ## [Is over population a dire problem or is it being blown out of proportion](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-over-population-a-dire-problem-or-is-it-being-blown-out-of-proportion/819735)
**Author:** [@a\_dudes\_thought\_s](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a_dudes_thought_s)\ **Replies:** 52\ **Last updated:** [August 21, 2018, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-over-population-a-dire-problem-or-is-it-being-blown-out-of-proportion/819735 "2018-08-21T13:38:45Z")
So I have been arguing with some people at another site about over population. We have all seen many films like Soylent Green,and many tv shows depicting over population. After doing some reaserch I feel that over popul… --- ## [Will services like Ancestry.com significantly change our society?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-services-like-ancestry-com-significantly-change-our-society/818846)
**Author:** [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Replies:** 31\ **Last updated:** [August 21, 2018, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-services-like-ancestry-com-significantly-change-our-society/818846 "2018-08-21T11:21:45Z")
Some of you may remember THIS thread I posted over a year ago. Long story short, after 50 years my sister-in-law discovered, via Ancestry. com, her dad is not her biological father. Her mother had an affair in the late … --- ## [Nazis win WWII; is there still a manned Moon landing?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nazis-win-wwii-is-there-still-a-manned-moon-landing/819645)
**Author:** [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Replies:** 25\ **Last updated:** [August 20, 2018, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nazis-win-wwii-is-there-still-a-manned-moon-landing/819645 "2018-08-20T13:06:59Z")
So for an oddly specific hypothetical - let’s say Nazi Germany won WWII (in the sense of conquering the European side of Russia, and the Brits and Yanks can never mount a successful D-Day. Hitler consolidates and solidif… --- ## [Freedom of speech with respect to social media outlets](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-of-speech-with-respect-to-social-media-outlets/819550)
**Author:** [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Replies:** 118\ **Last updated:** [August 18, 2018, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-of-speech-with-respect-to-social-media-outlets/819550 "2018-08-18T17:59:17Z")
Recently, several media outlets decided, together, to ban Infowars on their sites. There was a thread about this in fact. I heard some from several of my (actual) conservative friends and relatives this past weekend so… --- ## [Plea Bargaining Usurping the Role of the People in Criminal Justice](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plea-bargaining-usurping-the-role-of-the-people-in-criminal-justice/813230)
**Author:** [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Replies:** 140\ **Last updated:** [August 16, 2018, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plea-bargaining-usurping-the-role-of-the-people-in-criminal-justice/813230 "2018-08-16T03:09:44Z")
In US v. Stevenson, District Judge Goodwin wrote this opinion. In it, he makes the case that the prevalence of plea bargaining rather than going to trial transfers the function of criminal adjudication from the public a… --- ## [The (non-) role of restitution in modern justice](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-non-role-of-restitution-in-modern-justice/819674)
**Author:** [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [August 16, 2018, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-non-role-of-restitution-in-modern-justice/819674 "2018-08-16T02:51:40Z")
(Inspired by a recent thread where it was reported that a prosecutor who knowingly kept an innocent man in jail for 25 years was sentenced to ten days and $500.) Why does literal restitution (in which the meaning of the… --- ## [What Do Corporations Do With All That Money?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-corporations-do-with-all-that-money/819112)
**Author:** [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\ **Replies:** 57\ **Last updated:** [August 15, 2018, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-corporations-do-with-all-that-money/819112 "2018-08-15T20:36:31Z")
Partly inspired the recent news story that Apple is now worth a trillion dollars, I have to ask just one question. What on earth do they do with all that money? I am sure the spendable part of the fortune is only in th… --- ## [What realistically happens as health care becomes unaffordable for all but the rich (in the US)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-realistically-happens-as-health-care-becomes-unaffordable-for-all-but-the-rich-in-the-us/818997)
**Author:** [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Replies:** 116\ **Last updated:** [August 15, 2018, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-realistically-happens-as-health-care-becomes-unaffordable-for-all-but-the-rich-in-the-us/818997 "2018-08-15T16:56:15Z")
emphasis on realistically. I guess I don’t consider single payer realistic right now for a couple reasons. Neither political party wants to offend the rich and powerful, and single payer would offend them because it c… --- ## [American Christianity: taking control, or last gasp?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-christianity-taking-control-or-last-gasp/818131)
**Author:** [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Replies:** 149\ **Last updated:** [August 14, 2018, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-christianity-taking-control-or-last-gasp/818131 "2018-08-14T11:24:25Z")
In a current thread about dystopian stories, this exchange took place: What’s your opinion? Is theocracy imminent in the US? Or are things going the same secular direction as Europe, but with more bumps along the way? … --- ## [Pardon Power Amendment](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pardon-power-amendment/819129)
**Author:** [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Replies:** 51\ **Last updated:** [August 14, 2018, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pardon-power-amendment/819129 "2018-08-14T04:03:12Z")
Congress must create and at all times maintain laws which delegate the power of review of Presidential pardons to some deliberative party. This party is to ensure that a pardon does not pose any conflict of interest to t… --- ## [Edward the VIII - Abdication](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/edward-the-viii-abdication/693520)
**Author:** [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Replies:** 67\ **Last updated:** [August 13, 2018, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/edward-the-viii-abdication/693520 "2018-08-13T21:07:49Z")
Was this the best thing that could have happened for the UK? From my take of it, I don’t think he had the balls for the job. Whether or not he loved Simpson, he used her as a reason to escape the responsibility of being… --- ## [What is a Bernie Bro?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-bernie-bro/817143)
**Author:** [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Replies:** 81\ **Last updated:** [August 13, 2018, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-bernie-bro/817143 "2018-08-13T18:35:01Z")
In an Elections thread, Lamoral asks: I started to respond; and realized that my answer was angry and tendentious, so I am making it into its own thread. “Bernie Bro,” if I understand it correctly: It is meant to imp… --- ## [What the hell is going on in Chicago?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-going-on-in-chicago/819228)
**Author:** [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Replies:** 94\ **Last updated:** [August 13, 2018, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-going-on-in-chicago/819228 "2018-08-13T18:00:50Z")
As I am sure most of you have read or seen on the news, this past weekend in Chicago was an absolute bloodbath of shootings, with over five dozen people shot, at least twelve of them dead. I am honestly curious to to wh… --- ## [clone sex](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clone-sex/102091)
**Author:** [@transmothra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/transmothra)\ **Replies:** 16\ **Last updated:** [April 9, 2002, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clone-sex/102091 "2002-04-09T22:35:39Z")
i’ve been asking this to my friends for about two years now, in hopes of finding a culturally “accepted” answer. don’t pretend like you haven’t considered the notion, either. if you have sex with your own clone, is it i… --- ## [How might this super-paranoid Trump scenario play out?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-might-this-super-paranoid-trump-scenario-play-out/819354)
**Author:** [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Replies:** 29\ **Last updated:** [August 13, 2018, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-might-this-super-paranoid-trump-scenario-play-out/819354 "2018-08-13T01:08:30Z")
If you’re going to suffer from Trump Derangement Syndrome, might as well have some fun with it, right? Say it’s summer, 2020. The Dems won the House in 2018, the economy’s slumping, and Trump’s getting killed in the pol… --- ## [The "liberal case" for Kavanaugh is nonsensical](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-liberal-case-for-kavanaugh-is-nonsensical/819262)
**Author:** [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Replies:** 96\ **Last updated:** [August 11, 2018, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-liberal-case-for-kavanaugh-is-nonsensical/819262 "2018-08-11T16:28:20Z")
So Yale Law Professor Akhil Reed Amar wrote a lovely Op-Ed endorsing Kavanaugh from the liberal perspective. Here’s one example. Lisa Blatt, a “liberal feminist”, wrote a similar piece for Politico. A quite frankly embar… --- ## [Resolved: Fred Goldman is an asshole](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resolved-fred-goldman-is-an-asshole/419571)
**Author:** [@brickbacon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brickbacon)\ **Replies:** 63\ **Last updated:** [August 11, 2018, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resolved-fred-goldman-is-an-asshole/419571 "2018-08-11T02:36:12Z")
Typically, the father of a murder victim would have a hard time exhausting all the empathy I have for a person who finds themselves in such a situation, but I really I beginning to feel that Fred Goldman is a huge asshol… --- ## [Do the perceived problems of Millennials have to do with parenting today?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-perceived-problems-of-millennials-have-to-do-with-parenting-today/818942)
**Author:** [@Silver\_lining](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_lining)\ **Replies:** 74\ **Last updated:** [August 9, 2018, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-perceived-problems-of-millennials-have-to-do-with-parenting-today/818942 "2018-08-09T06:18:50Z")
Do the perceived problems of Millennials have to do with parenting today? I had a dinner with a few of my friends, who are also parents with children. The consensus is children just don’t seem to listen like they used t… --- ## [Is There Any Path To Legitimizing Centrist Politics/Party?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-path-to-legitimizing-centrist-politics-party/819144)
**Author:** [@chargerrich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chargerrich)\ **Replies:** 49\ **Last updated:** [August 9, 2018, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-path-to-legitimizing-centrist-politics-party/819144 "2018-08-09T04:55:24Z")
I think one of the worst things that has happened in modern times in the extremisim and “team” politics that are dominant today. You are either far left or right and anything near the middle just makes both parties not t… --- ## [So what's up with NIFLA v. Becerra?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-up-with-nifla-v-becerra/817704)
**Author:** [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [August 8, 2018, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-up-with-nifla-v-becerra/817704 "2018-08-08T05:01:27Z")
So I’ve been reading a bit about this case, and the more I read, the more it strikes me as fundamentally absurd. We’ve already broadly established in PP v. Casey in 1991 that there’s absolutely nothing wrong with the … --- ## [Mr Trump's retaliations](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-trumps-retaliations/819174)
**Author:** [@ohiomstr2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ohiomstr2)\ **Replies:** 30\ **Last updated:** [August 8, 2018, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-trumps-retaliations/819174 "2018-08-08T04:27:43Z")
Mr Trump seems to have a pattern of"retaliatory" behaviors that I find interesting. An example from this mornings news is still another statement regarding Maxine Water’s IQ,. (sorry, I don’t have a citation, it was on … --- ## [Should Austin Texas change it's name?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-austin-texas-change-its-name/818861)
**Author:** [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Replies:** 114\ **Last updated:** [August 7, 2018, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-austin-texas-change-its-name/818861 "2018-08-07T23:30:01Z")
Their is a movement in Austin Texas to change its name because the cities founder, Stephen Austin, was a slave supporter. Do you think this is a good idea or even possible? Your talking a major headache in changing all … --- ## [Suicide is a human right.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suicide-is-a-human-right/818780)
**Author:** [@Barack\_Obama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barack_Obama)\ **Replies:** 110\ **Last updated:** [August 7, 2018, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suicide-is-a-human-right/818780 "2018-08-07T18:21:46Z")
With recent news stories about people in Europe that are being assisted in suicide for mental health issues, Id like a bit of input from dopers. I personally have a bit of a libertarian position on this matter. The gover… --- ## [Judging people with unfortunate tattoo choices?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judging-people-with-unfortunate-tattoo-choices/816502)
**Author:** [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Replies:** 102\ **Last updated:** [August 7, 2018, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judging-people-with-unfortunate-tattoo-choices/816502 "2018-08-07T03:09:22Z")
I’m hoping this doesn’t turn into another “I hate all tattoos and don’t think anyone should get them at all” threads, but I just ran across this localish Mensa member and am thinking about the chances of his ever having … --- ## [Preposterous yet True: Kavanaugh should enforce supermajority vote](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/preposterous-yet-true-kavanaugh-should-enforce-supermajority-vote/819013)
**Author:** [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Replies:** 71\ **Last updated:** [August 7, 2018, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/preposterous-yet-true-kavanaugh-should-enforce-supermajority-vote/819013 "2018-08-07T02:44:34Z")
Everyone in the country is more into the sports of politics than the welfare of the nation. When someone suggests lowering the standards for Judicial nomination, the response is not, “That would be horrible, and harmful … --- ## [Nuclear deal with Iran](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuclear-deal-with-iran/725128)
**Author:** [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Replies:** 1376\ **Last updated:** [August 6, 2018, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuclear-deal-with-iran/725128 "2018-08-06T18:56:50Z")
Announced today – discuss it here. I’m pleased that it happened, based on the details that have been released so far. From what I understand military sites can be inspected but not with no warning – this is certainly f… --- ## [The Future of Education](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-future-of-education/709361)
**Author:** [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Replies:** 17\ **Last updated:** [January 12, 2015, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-future-of-education/709361 "2015-01-12T01:35:25Z")
The times, they are a changin’. Every day we read about companies, industries, and ways of life overturned by technology. Orbitz and other websites replace travel agencies. Uber makes taxi companies quake in their boo… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=86) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=88)