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1500 questions
83
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9 answers
What is meant by the "left" and the "right"?
When discussing political issues and parties, I often hear mention of a party being "left", "centre-left", "right" or "extreme right". In broad terms, what do these designations mean?
Graham Wager
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83
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Why is consensus so controversial in Britain?
Years after the Brexit vote, long after losing her majority in the House of Commons, and days before the extended Brexit date, the Prime Minister (Theresa May) is now talking to the Leader of the Opposition. To me this seems like an obvious move…
gerrit
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82
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7 answers
Why is there a broad pattern of excessive force by police towards protestors in spite of international focus on this use of force?
Right now (June 2020), sparked by the murder of George Floyd, there have been a wave of protests against police brutality towards black Americans. In these very protests, there has also been a massive outbreak of police brutality towards protests,…
Davis
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How does Donald Trump Jr. benefit from releasing the e-mails he released?
Trump Jr. recently disclosed emails suggesting he welcomed Russian help against Clinton (see for instance here and here). To a considerable extent, this seems a damaging move to him and to much of the team he is working with. As far as I understand,…
user15413
81
votes
7 answers
What's the political reason that acknowledging genocide is such a 'big deal'?
Recently, Biden - despite a 'warning' by Erdogan - has acknowledged the Armenian genocide, which was immediately followed by sharp critique by Erdogan. AFAIK, he's the first American president to do so, and among only a small group of NATO countries…
PejoPhylo
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80
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12 answers
What is the meaning of "Cancel Culture"?
This expression has getting popular these days. Googling it led to the explanation from Wikipedia that says:
Cancel culture (or call-out culture) is a modern form of ostracism in which someone is thrust out of social or professional circles –…
r13
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80
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9 answers
What did Reagan mean when he said: "The nine most terrifying words in the English language are 'I'm from the government, and I'm here to help.' "?
Ronald Wilson Reagan, 40th President of the United States from 1981 to 1989, famously said:
The nine most terrifying words in the English language are "I'm from the government, and I'm here to help."
What did he mean by that? Terrifying to whom,…
gerrit
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79
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Why does the US President use a new pen for each order?
This photo shows President Biden at his desk in the Oval Office. He is holding a pen and signing an executive order. On his right is a pile of further executive orders. In front is a box with approximately 12 pens, apparently one for each…
gerrit
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79
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8 answers
Why do US police use handcuffs in otherwise calm, non-violent circumstances?
When the Atlanta police recently discovered that a driver, who was otherwise calm and cooperative was "over the alcohol limit" after a long and largely fruitless conversation (during which he failed a breath test) they suddenly, and without warning,…
WS2
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79
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10 answers
Why is the debate on the composition of the U.S. Supreme Court so politicised?
Why is the debate on the composition of the United States Supreme Court so politicised?
Many other countries, such as the United Kingdom, Germany, Netherlands, European Union, and others, have courts that are broadly comparable to the Supreme Court.…
gerrit
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79
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6 answers
How does North Korea prevent their ambassadors/diplomats living abroad from defecting?
There's an implicit assumption here which is that the more exposure you have to the truth about North Korea the more likely you are to defect.
With that assumption out in the open, my question is about the North Korean diplomats who live abroad…
thosphor
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78
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5 answers
Is there a push, in the United States, to use gender-neutral language and gender pronouns (when they are given)?
I have just read a tiny fraction of a huge amount of content generated by the apparent abusive dismissal of an important moderator from the Stack Exchange network.
An answer that tries to explain one of the main reasons behind all this includes…
Alexei
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78
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11 answers
We will never surrender! Why would a country have this policy?
Background
A few months ago the Swedish government sent a small booklet to all Swedish households titled "If crisis or war comes" which contains official information on how to prepare for and react to crisis or war. One part that stuck out to me was…
Diasiare
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77
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7 answers
Why is COVID-19 prompting such wide scale action versus other infectious diseases?
The COVID-19 outbreak has been dominating the news recently, with loads of headlines and efforts being made to stop it from spreading.
Why this disease? It's not one of the most lethal ones, or one of the deadliest. Compare:
COVID-19 - infected…
Allure
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6 answers
How much influence has Donald Trump had on current efforts to improve relations with North Korea?
Recently it has been reported that:
Kim Jong-un has pledged a "new history" in relations with his neighbour as he became the first North Korean leader to set foot in South Korea since the end of the Korean War in 1953.
In a lot of social media…
Tom Bowen
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