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1500 questions
42
votes
4 answers
What did Kerry mean with "Israel can either be Jewish or democratic – it cannot be both"?
What did the Secretary of State mean by this dichotomous ultimatum?
Israel can either be Jewish or democratic – it cannot be both.
Why should it be incompatible?
If England, Denmark and Greece can be Christian states and Morocco and Saudi Arabia…
El Shteiger
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42
votes
3 answers
What are the disadvantages of first-past-the-post electoral systems?
We all know the situation could arise in the U.S. where one candidate wins the popular vote but another one the electoral college. Given that the same could arise in the United Kingdom and other countries with a first-past-the-post or "winner takes…
Sven Clement
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41
votes
3 answers
Does Hamas have popular support at home?
Hamas took control of the Gaza strip in 2007, expelling the rival Fatah organization, and since then controlling the area. I couldn't find any evidence of anyone trying to hold elections since then. It seems there are elections in the PA.
Seeing…
For Shani Nicole Louk
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41
votes
8 answers
What's the point of issuing an arrest warrant for Putin given that the chances of him getting arrested are effectively zero?
As per recent news:
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued an arrest warrant
for Russian President Vladimir Putin over alleged war crimes in
Ukraine, a move dismissed by Moscow as meaningless.
The Hague-based court said in a statement on…
JonathanReez
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41
votes
2 answers
Why did The Bahamas vote against the UN resolution for Ukraine reparations?
The United Nations General Assembly voted on 2022-11-14 to hold Russia responsible for war reparations.
Tally
94
For
14
Against
73
Abstain
The "For" and "Abstain" votes are understandable (e.g. the abstainers didn't want to…
Ray Butterworth
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41
votes
2 answers
Have any of the "We the People" petitions ever resulted in policy changes?
I was looking at the U.S. White House's "We the People" petition website they had set up shortly after Obama took office, and noticed that most of the petitions are in the ridiculous or at least not feasible category.
I see there are responses to…
aceinthehole
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41
votes
4 answers
Why has 20 years of US occupation not removed the Taliban in Afghanistan?
With the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, a question one might ask is how is Taliban still in power, in fact gaining more control? It is known that the majority of the Taliban's income comes from opium, but if we formulate them as a…
user0193
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41
votes
3 answers
Has the Israeli supreme court ever come to a decision that can be seen as pro-Palestine or pro-Arab/anti-Israel/-Jew?
Has the Israeli supreme court ever come to a decision that can be seen as pro-Palestine or pro-Arab/anti-Israel/-Jew?
I have heard proponents of the Palestine/Arab side claim the Israeli supreme court is racist and always favour Jews/Israelis, but…
d-b
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41
votes
3 answers
Does the Japanese government not have the authority to cancel the Olympics?
An article talks about how Japan recently declared a third state of emergency due to the pandemic, most people in Japan don't want the 2020 Olympics to take place, and how their health care system is overloaded.
The Japanese Prime Minister suggested…
pacoverflow
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41
votes
4 answers
Why are US student loans nearly impossible to remove via bankruptcy?
In the United States it is very hard to get rid of student loans. They cannot be discharged in bankruptcy except for under extenuating circumstances. I find that bizarre given how people are encouraged to go to school but this law discourages lower…
Number File
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41
votes
5 answers
What authority does the Vice President have to mobilize the National Guard?
After the attack on the US Capitol by pro-Trump groups, the DC National Guard was eventually called in to restore order. Strangely, it is being reported that Vice President Mike Pence was the one who approved the orders, not President…
divibisan
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41
votes
5 answers
Trump was behind on November 5th. Why was he calling for vote counting to stop?
This CNN article, and others, reported that Trump asked for vote counting to stop, and threatening legal action to do so.
I can (sort of) understand calls for a recount, but, if he was behind, what did he hope to gain by stopping counting?
Mawg says reinstate Monica
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41
votes
1 answer
Is the creation of new states via partitioning really possible in the US? Are there any precedents to this?
Background: The Senate provides as much representation to Wyoming with a population of 580,000, as California with 39.5 million inhabitants. According to [1]
State
Rural
Exurban
Suburban
Urban
Population
25%
23%
27%
25%
Equivalent senate…
Sudharsan Madhavan
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41
votes
19 answers
Why are Republicans (unlike Democrats) heavily criticized for their flip-flopping regarding the 2016/2020 US supreme court justice nominations?
It's hard to be on the Internet currently without encountering heavy criticism of prominent Republican politicians over Trump nominating a Supreme Court justice so close to the 2020 US election. As per my understanding, criticism primarily…
Rebecca J. Stones
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41
votes
5 answers
Do governments deliberately time unpopular policies or announcements to when the population is distracted?
In a recent Economics Explained video "Emergency PSA - The End of YouTube in Australia" at 0:27 and 5:39, there was a claim that a specific Australian policy may have been timed to be announced while the general population was distracted by the…
Golden Cuy
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