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Questions tagged [government]

Use this tag for questions regarding "government" as a concept. DO NOT USE in lieu of "United States".

Government is the system by which a nation, state, or community is governed. Use this for question discussing how to govern a country or a community, not for any particular government.

In particular use the country name as a tag if the question applies to the government of a particular country.

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Do secret societies that wish to bring about a new world order still exist?

Do secret societies that wish to bring about a new world order still exist? Who are they, what evidence points to their existence today, and what are their overall goals? Also, who are the foremost experts on secret societies? This question…
Eric Sokolsky
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Was there a large, illegal CIA project called "MKULTRA"?

Was there an illegal CIA project called MKULTRA, and if-so what did it involve and when did it end? Did it involve, as suggested in a quote from Ted Kennedy, a massive conspiracy involving dozens of universities and institutions to perform tests…
Brian M. Hunt
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Was there a Soviet anti-motorcycle-helmet campaign in the late 1950s and early 1960s?

Lessig (1995, pp. 964–965) writes: Before the 1960s, motorcyclists in Soviet Russia did not wear helmets. In part this was because of a lack of any perceived need to wear helmets; in part it was because the Soviet economy failed to produce any…
user17967
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Does Texas have the right to secede from the United States?

There's a common folklore among Texans that Texas was the only state to specifically have it written that Texas may secede, although I've heard that other states have that right as well. In 2009, Gov Rick Perry of Texas also made that threat at a…
Chad Harrison
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Are generic drugs equivalent to the "name-brand" alternatives?

I can buy 300 10-mg tablets of Loratadine for about $15, and 90 10-mg tablets of Claritin™ costs about $35. These days my health insurance charges me $50 for the name-brand, and as little as $2.91 (yeah, really) for the generic equivalent. Now, I am…
Robusto
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Do lower speed limits reduce gasoline usage?

There are three parts to this question: Does speed have an effect on miles-per-gallon? Is there a more accurate causal effect than speed that would also cause a connection at varying speeds? (perhaps RPM; weather; tire pressure) Are speed limits…
MrHen
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Does the UK government have only 300 staff investigating tax evasion of £70bn+ vs 3250 staff investigating benefits (welfare) fraud of £1.2bn?

The following graphic is doing the rounds on Facebook: Is it true? Does the graphic give an accurate representation of the comparative headcount/effort/resources that the UK government (as a whole) puts into investigating these two things? To what…
A E
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Did the US government spend millions of dollars to train Chinese prostitutes to drink responsibly?

According to this site, "Washington is spending $2.6 million training Chinese prostitutes to drink more responsibly on the job." Is this true, and, if so, what program are they referencing?
jrdioko
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Are big corporations the biggest beneficiaries from farming subsidies?

I've heard that big companies are the biggest beneficiaries of agricultural subsidies (in the US and other western countries). This would to me seem to be the opposite of the intention of those policies, and I'd like to know how true this statistic…
Brian M. Hunt
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Has any government been farming human organs?

Is there any solid evidence that any country's government has been engaged in and has been proven to have farmed human organs for sale on the black market?
going
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Has there been a dramatic expansion of the U.S. federal workforce in recent years?

This claim was used by the White House to justify an executive action that can affect the operations of a wide range of federal government agencies. In his first official White House press briefing on January 23, 2017, U.S. Press Secretary Sean…
ff524
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Did the FBI not require assistance from Apple to unlock the San Bernadino terrorist's phone?

Edward Snowden's official Twitter account posted the following tweet: The first 4 points are not in contention, but the 5th point states that the FBI does not require Apple's assistance to unlock the phone, implying that the FBI is using this case…
March Ho
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Does the Australian government spend more on welfare than on defense?

Is it true that the Australian people spend more on welfare than they do on defense? This was claimed by Joe Hockey: Each year, the Government spends more on welfare than we spend on the education of our children, the health of our people or the…
Andy Beattie
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Was the U.S. government responsible for Popeye's dependance on spinach?

Whenever the cartoon sailor is on the verge of a fight, he squeezes open a can of spinach, pours the greens down his throat, and uses his muscles to pummel his opponent. Some sources claim that this positive depiction of spinach as a source of…
istepaniuk
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Do the "Presidential Alerts" give the government full access to all phone functionality?

John McAfee, libertarian politician and former computer programmer, tweeted this: The "Presidential alerts": they are capable of accessing the E911 chip in your phones - giving them full access to your location, microphone, camera and every…
James G.
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