All Questions
15,707
questions
1
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0
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For the purpose of espionage on classified documents, is there a preference for paper forms versus its copies?
There are two similar questions here focusing on Trump keeping stockpiles of classified documents. I am not willing to discuss a single person's alleged crimes, focusing on the espionage itself ...
- 16.7k
4
votes
3
answers
44
views
What were the avoidable strategic mistakes that led to the Ukraine conflict?
It is said that conflicts can be avoided by dialogue or dissuasion, and I am deeply regretful of the severe and worsening conflict in Europe and I can't help to wonder what steps should have been ...
- 2,520
-2
votes
1
answer
35
views
Why do political parties sign "agreements" with other foreign political parties?
In this news article, it is mentioned that the Freedom Party of Austria has signed a "partnership agreement" with the United Russia Party of the Russian Federation:
The Freedom Party ... ...
- 3,379
3
votes
2
answers
140
views
How can Herbert Kickl be "the odds-on favorite" with a "personal approval rating.. among the lowest of any Austrian politician’s"?
Politico.eu's June 6 2023 Watch out Ukraine, here comes the Hungaro-Austrian Empire begins:
VIENNA — Austrian politician Herbert Kickl is a pro-Russian, anti-American conspiracy theorist who ...
- 15.5k
-4
votes
0
answers
97
views
Why do people still talk about the U.S.S Liberty incident? [closed]
Sometimes you encounter on social media people bringing up the U.S.S Liberty incident, usually in situations regarding relations with the US and Israel.
My question is, why is there an apparent ...
- 502
14
votes
3
answers
1k
views
Has any head of state/government or other politician in office performed their duties while legally imprisoned, arrested or paroled/on probation?
According to current political legal doctrine, there is no rule that states being in prison disqualifies a US politician from performing their legally required duties, and in fact there are even rules ...
- 1,124
7
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Are "pro-gun" states lax about enforcing "felon in possession" laws?
Gun control is a hotly debated topic in US politics. Both the federal government and every state makes it a felony for a convicted felon (even if non-violent) to possess firearms. For 47 states it is ...
- 363
4
votes
0
answers
243
views
What are the recently declassified documents about the destruction of Kakhovka dam?
On 06 June 2023, in its article about the destruction of Kakhovka HPP dam, NBC News said (highlight mine):
However, two U.S. officials and one Western official earlier told NBC News that the U.S. has ...
- 16.7k
20
votes
4
answers
8k
views
+500
Are there military arguments why Russia would blow up the Kakhovka dam?
There is a similar question here asking why Ukraine would blow up the dam. Russia, however, controlled the dam and could have blown it up to slowdown the Ukrainian counteroffensive, that was planned ...
- 13.3k
6
votes
0
answers
156
views
Is there a recent precedent of a Western government classifying previously public information as a secret?
According to this Romania Insider article, the costs for the president's transportation represent classified information:
The presidential administration stated in a response to Digi24 that securing ...
- 52.2k
11
votes
3
answers
2k
views
+100
Are there military arguments why Ukraine would blow up the Kakhovka dam?
Today the Dniepro river dam at Kakhovka was breached. It is not obvious which side is responsible. While the Ukrainina side blames the Russians, the Russian side, obviously, blames the Ukrainians. So ...
- 3,063
8
votes
1
answer
275
views
Turkish elections: How to explain the anomalous fingerprints
On 14th of May, millions of Turkish voters went to the polls to cast their votes in the parliamentary elections. Recently, the official results were published in the website of the Supreme Election ...
- 189
3
votes
1
answer
201
views
Indian Constitution - What is the Genesis of this statement? " 'Union of India' should be distinguished from the expression 'territory of India' "
While reading article 1 from Official Constitution Of India, I have not found any such sentence as 'Union of India' thought 'territory of India' word is there, but still in most of the books(like ...
- 68
5
votes
1
answer
112
views
Examples of planned rotation of power in the governing coalition within the European Union
According to the conditions agreed upon when the Liberals and the Social Democrats decided to govern together in the autumn of 2021, the current Romanian Prime Minister should have resigned and ...
- 52.2k
6
votes
1
answer
211
views
Which underground opposition parties exist in China?
In a Wikipedia article I read about a couple of banned parties operating in China in the underground.
Are there any more underground parties that don't get coverage in China?
- 502
6
votes
1
answer
116
views
Can someone explain the debt ceiling clearly? [duplicate]
Now that we've gotten past the debate over raising the debt ceiling, so the world economy isn't going to hell next week, could someone explain it clearly?
Most news sites describe it by analogy with a ...
- 8,943
6
votes
2
answers
168
views
Who are the so called officers in article 53 of the Indian constitution?
The executive power of the Union shall be vested in the President and shall be exercised by him either directly or through officers subordinate to him in accordance with this Constitution.
— ...
user45449
4
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Is there any evidence suggesting or refuting that Russian officials knowingly lied that Russia was not going to attack Ukraine?
Before the Russian full-scale attack on Ukraine, a number of Russian officials made statements to assuage fears of an imminent invasion:
Washington — Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly ...
- 3,485
7
votes
3
answers
2k
views
Is there a reason beyond protection from potential corruption to restrict a minister's ability to personally relieve and appoint civil servants?
In democracies like the UK, where ministers have considerable executive power, these ministers are still restricted (by law or convention) in their ability to get directly involved with the work of ...
- 173
5
votes
1
answer
383
views
How do "opposition parties" in the North Korean parliament get their seats?
When looking at Wikipedia, I noticed that the Parliament of North Korea has multiple parties in the Parliament besides the Workers' Party, united under one coalition.
From the question Is there ...
- 502
10
votes
8
answers
3k
views
Why are radicals so intolerant of slight deviations in doctrine?
As a follow-on to this question, I ask the question in the Subject line.
It seems more visible in tiny 1950s-1970s Socialist and Marxist factions (satirized in the conflict between the People's Front ...
- 622
3
votes
4
answers
219
views
In Marxist view: does liberal democracy increase alienation of workers?
In Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844 Marx writes:
First, that the work is external to the worker, that it is not part of
his nature; and that, consequently, he does not fulfill himself ...
- 10.2k
17
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Why did Democrats on the House Rules Committee vote against the debt ceiling bill?
Yesterday the House Rules Committee advanced a bill to raise the debt ceiling, but with no Democratic support. From the New York Post:
The GOP-controlled committee voted 7-6 to move the 99-page piece ...
- 330
2
votes
1
answer
63
views
Does the executive power of the union not extend to the laws made in the concurrent list (India)?
Article 73 of the Indian constitution states
Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, the executive power of the Union shall extend -
to the matters with respect to which Parliament has power ...
user45449
0
votes
2
answers
1k
views
What legal means exist for the German government to prevent Turks living in Germany from voting in the Turkish election?
Turkey recently had presidential elections and apart from around 62 million Turks living in Turkey people with Turkish nationality but permanent residency in some other country were eligible to vote. ...
- 4,887
7
votes
7
answers
6k
views
Why are American liberals more prone to in-fighting than conservatives? [closed]
In America at least, there tends to be far less unity within liberal factions when compared to conservative ones. One just has to point to the last few presidential elections.
2008:
There was a ...
- 251
-1
votes
1
answer
301
views
How would a neutral observer compare the presence of US nukes in Europe to the presence of Russian nukes in Belarus?
USA in Germany
Germany has no nuclear weapons of its own, but it stores 20 or fewer U.S. B-61 nuclear gravity bombs at Büchel air base, and maintains a fleet of aging Tornado fighter bombers to ...
4
votes
2
answers
179
views
Why did Alaska introduce ranked voting for the general election but not for the primary?
As explained in How did Alaska "change its primary system recently" and was it "to dilute the possibility of a conservative or Trump-inspired challenger"?:
Alaska Ballot Measure 2 ...
- 50.1k
6
votes
2
answers
372
views
When and why did US food prices surpass the ones in Western Europe?
I first visited the United States around 30 years ago and then a few times over the following couple of years. The last time was around 2005. One thing I remember is the low prices of food compared to ...
- 184
0
votes
4
answers
518
views
Political system fairer than democracy? [closed]
Let's say a country has 1,400,000 citizens. Elections are held about, for example, joining the EU. 1,000,000 people decide to do A, while 300,000 people decide to B, and 100,000 decide to do C. In a ...
- 1
13
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Are there any countries or states which have fully embraced price gouging during emergencies?
As taught by Thomas Sowell in his book "Basic Economics":
If the prices of hotel rooms remain what they have been in normal times,
those who happen to arrive at the hotels first will take ...
- 50.1k
29
votes
6
answers
7k
views
Why is deploying nuclear weapons in Belarus seen as a problem, and how would this help Russia?
Recently (May 2023) Russia decided to deploy nuclear weapons in Belarus. This has been reported in many sources. At least Russia represents this as a serious escalation, something that they were "...
- 13.3k
14
votes
3
answers
3k
views
Would it be constitutional in the US to have age limits for SCOTUS justices?
As DeSantis said, in Florida
“We have age limits for justices,” DeSantis said. “The minute I got elected to office, three of the four liberal justices were off the court, because of age. So, I was ...
- 131k
1
vote
3
answers
1k
views
Do the Geneva Conventions apply to terrorists or conflicts not of an international character?
Could terrorists and insurgents be considered unlawful combatants?
In such a case would the Geneva Conventions (even the third convention) not protect them?
user45449
3
votes
1
answer
205
views
Who are the 13 million migrants that the Victory Party wants to send back?
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-65708268
The Victory Party leader said this week Mr Kilicdaroglu had agreed to send back "13 million migrants" within a year "in line with ...
- 131k
14
votes
2
answers
3k
views
DeSantis' "US Constitution’s 'leverage points'... to exercise the 'true scope' of presidential power"; something new or based on existing theories?
CNN's May 26 2023 DeSantis is going after Trump like never before includes the following:
Now, DeSantis is making the case that he is better suited to deliver on the promises that Trump himself ...
- 15.5k
12
votes
3
answers
1k
views
How can the US deny access to G7 markets?
Source
In a bid to further isolate Russia, Washington has warned countries, including the UAE and Turkey, they could lose access to G7 markets if they do business with entities subject to U.S. ...
- 30.8k
1
vote
0
answers
379
views
Why are reports of LGBT hate crimes rising in the west?
Sources BBC, Security.Org. This rise seems to happen in US, France, and also Germany. Could an explanation be given for what the reason behind this rise is?
- 2,871
6
votes
1
answer
370
views
Does the government of South Korea have any plans to address their fertility rate, which is currently the lowest in the world?
South Korea currently has a fertility rate of 0.84, which is the lowest in the world and significantly below the minimum required to sustain their population. Given this strong reduction, does their ...
- 50.1k
0
votes
1
answer
220
views
social security vs debt ceiling [duplicate]
If social security funds are held in a trust fund, why would not raising the debt ceiling impact social security payments? Wouldn't the trust fund be paying the beneficiaries from its reserves? At ...
- 234
12
votes
2
answers
3k
views
Democratic countries that limit the ability of foreign governments to influence their politics
Are there any clearly democratic countries that limit the ability of foreign governments, to openly influence their internal politics?
What about implementing special laws for that purpose?
Examples ...
- 2,322
4
votes
3
answers
373
views
How effective are lawyers and NGOs (like Soldiers Mothers, Peaceplea and Conscript's School) in securing the rights of the mobilized in Russia?
After the start of the first mobilizations in Russia, a couple of organisations were created to help mobilized people to either escape military service or acquire them non-combat roles:
https://...
- 502
10
votes
8
answers
4k
views
How does social inequality differ from wealth inequality? (In a society with capitalism-esque ideals)
Other than the trivial fact that caste is baked into religion, I can't come up with the difference of it to class divide/inequality due to capitalism.
In the book "Caste: The origin of our ...
- 2,871
-3
votes
1
answer
113
views
Which pro-Assad forces use crypto as funding? [closed]
Are there any Pro-Assad forces or militias that use cryptocurrencies to finance their battles?
- 502
16
votes
4
answers
3k
views
Why does Australia export so much raw materials instead of steel and other value added products?
According to the chart in this report although exports from Australia of iron ore and metallurgical coal are declining they are still quite high. On the other hand I see that Australia imports a lot ...
- 393
-4
votes
1
answer
514
views
Which communist parties use crypto for donations? [closed]
Being aware of the political scene in Russia I noticed that some Communist organisations (specifically Anarcho-Communist) use cryptocurrencies for donations.
https://avtonom.org/pages/donate
What I ...
- 502
12
votes
2
answers
3k
views
NAACP Florida travel advisory really about traveling to/in Florida, or about moving/living there? How often to they issue political travel advisories?
In the May 20, 2023 NAACP press statement NAACP Issues Travel Advisory in Florida the actual text of the travel advisory can be found, titled "NAACP Travel Advisory for the State of Florida"....
- 15.5k
-3
votes
3
answers
168
views
Is it possible to predict the impact and consequences of a policy or executive order without applying it?
Are public policies by nature unpredictable with certainty? Is it possible to predict with a likelihood that can be trusted, the effects of various proposed legislation and policies and executive ...
user45449
13
votes
3
answers
3k
views
How many Ukrainian language schools were still open in Crimea in 2021 compared to 2013?
Russia often complains about the treatment of Russian minorities abroad, especially in Ukraine. But how did they treat the Ukrainian minority themselves?
E.g. how many Ukrainian language schools are ...
- 131k
-4
votes
5
answers
1k
views
What was the cause of the MAGAcommunism movement?
I know what I am saying sounds nonsensical at first. But I am referring to a group of Communists who unironically support Trump.
This movement and way of thought was established by the YouTuber Haz ...
- 502