In this column I pose questions and raise issues. I don't always agree with the conclusion, implied or stated. The purpose is to put a slightly different spin on each item and to promote discussion.

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• As ours is a land of immigrants, when the world hates America, they are really hating themselves.
• My heart tells me to support our president, but my mind reminds me George the Senior was director of the CIA right at the time when America began sponsoring the network of terrorists we now fear, that the timing of the attack is awfully convenient for the Bush family, coming as it does both on the eve of a recession and hard on the heels of reports that with one more day's delay Gore would have won the election, and that, under the circumstances, it would be very easy for George Jr. to leverage this into the means by which he can create a global government. Like most Americans, I will support my president with all my heart, but at the same time I will remain mindful of the risks to our freedom posed not by terrorists, but by our own government.
• Following the September 11th attacks, Americans now have somebody they can criticize and denounce (shadowy terrorist groups led by Osama Bin Laden) without too much fear of crossing some imaginary line of political correctness imposed by the cultural elite.
• Conservatism is the politics of how things are, Liberalism, the politics of how things can be. The former most often finds root in religious fundamentalism, the latter in philosophical utopianism. In their purest forms, Conservatism is static and Liberalism is dynamic, and both are authoritarian. In the muck and mire of reality, however, they are the Yin and Yang without which life can neither take root nor grow. In truth, both are necessary to optimum survival in balanced measure.
• A sad fact is that all the horror of September 11, 2001, could have been prevented with one simple measure: a secure cockpit door.
• In the wake of the attack on America, therapists have seized this as an opportunity to make money counseling young people whom, they say, are candidates for post-traumatic stress disorder following the attack and our declaration of war. We should not wonder why so many take these mostly female counselors seriously - although American men through the mid-seventies faced the prospect of being drafted and sent to war, and every American man is required to register for the opportunity to be turned into cannon fodder whether he wants to or not, no American woman since World War II has faced the prospect of being forced into war. So, now the war is coming to us, although most American women have what it takes to face this threat with courage, the coddled protégés of the new rage women, having been taught to believe the world owes them a good life, face a fear which can be neither legislated away nor used in court to gain political advantage, but which must be confronted with the knowledge they may die a prolonged and horrible death.
• When a Christian liberal acts from religious conviction, he's "smug," but when a Christian conservative acts from religious conviction, he's "humble."
• Most of America's involvement in the middle east has to do with oil. Oil makes gas, gas fuels cars and boys buy cars. So, pop feminists can (and probably will) blame this on "boys and their toys." But the rest of us know girls prefer boys with toys to men with principles, which allows only one conclusion: both sexes share equal responsibility.
• On CNN Kate O'Beirne, Washington Editor of the National Review, noted that Microsoft and other corporations have contributed hundreds of millions of dollars to the American Red Cross following the Attack on America. Then she scowled and complained about those who criticize American big businesses. Now, I like Ms. O'Beirne, and the National Review is one of my favorite publications, but while she and others laud Microsoft for its generosity during this hard time, we might do well to ask how many other big businesses there would be, and how much richer the American economy might have been, had Microsoft not used illegal tactics to drive so many of their competitors out of business. It's one thing to defend the right of people to create large, successful business enterprises, but quite another to blindly oppose all criticism of a company because it is a "big business." (And Ms. O'Beirne, you would be mistaken to dismiss me as someone ignorant of what really happened at Microsoft - I was there, I administered and questioned the legality of the contracts which first got Microsoft into trouble, and I witnessed what happened to Bill from the inside.)
• Colleges and universities are supposed to advance our knowledge by discovering what is true. Instead, today it advances causes by dictating what is true. Just like in communist China, the former Soviet Union, and Hitler's Nazi Germany.
• History will eventually remember President Jimmy Carter as a man who made some tough decisions and did some things right. And history will eventually remember that President Ronald Reagan, who also did some things right, effectively took the 1980 election away from Carter by negotiating to delay the release of the hostages in Iran until after the election. But when those who learn about those times as history read what history remembers, what may not be remembered is that at that time confidence in Carter's ability to lead was so weak that, even though he may have been (as I believe) the most moral president we had in the 20th Century, had he been elected to another term the economy would have almost certainly collapsed. Reagan, for all his faults, had what it took to restore American's confidence in America at a time when it was needed most.
• Bureau of Justice statistics indicate alcohol plays a part in criminal activity more often than illegal drugs. Maybe the "war on drugs" is aimed at the wrong drug.
• Liberals, who understanding that life exists in a deeply variegated jungle of bright light, dark shadows, and many shades of gray, embrace the ambiguity of the human condition. Conservatives, who understand that life exists in a do-or-die jungle of predators and their prey, embrace the simplicity of the human condition. Most of what matters, however, falls somewhere in between.
• Much has been made of the "cowards" who hijacked the planes in September. But it takes courage to embark on a suicide mission. The mission, not the men who carried it out, was cowardly, as the state behind the deed not only struck at civilians without warning, but hides in anonymity.
• On the September 16, 2001, segment of This Week with Cokie Roberts, Sam Donaldson, George Will and George Stephanopoulos, they mentioned that although Osama bin Laden may have trained and masterminded the attack on America, Saddam Hussein was likely involved, as well. If this is the case, it would be very ironic given that, following Desert Storm, President George Bush Sr. was prepared to give American support to Hussein's opposition in Iraq. At the last minute, however, he withdrew support and as a result not only were many of Hussein's opponents in Iraq slaughtered, but Saddam remained in power. Had Bush Sr. not withdrawn his support, Saddam would be dead and Iraq would be an ally rather than a mortal enemy.
• Ultimately, George W. Bush's administration will benefit enormously from September 11, 2001, attacks. Not only has this crisis diverted our attention from the fact that he actually lost the election, but no matter what he does about the impending recession, history will remember him as the president who led America during this crisis.
• Reason why a libertarian might have supported the Clinton's efforts to nationalize health care: Because the American Medical Association uses its immense wealth and political clout to prevent employees participating in employer-provided health insurance plans from choosing any other health care professional, such as an Osteopathic Physician, as their primary care provider.
• Conservative pundits have made much of the possible security leaks posed by the Democrats' penchant for pillow talk. And they're right. Throughout history, many state secrets have spilled through languid lips upon the pillow of an "undercover" agent. But what about Joan Quigley, Nancy Reagan's astrologer? How many state's secrets was she privy to?
• In pre pop feminist days, women had problems which men solved in order to become fathers. Now, as we approach the post pop feminist apocalypse, women see men less as fathers but increasingly as a problem which they expect us to solve on a case-by-case basis. Problem is, the only way we can solve the "man problem," is to eradicate men, but if we did that, then women would have only themselves to blame for their problems!
• If pop feminist programs included massive efforts to exterminate men in the way Hitler's programs included massive efforts to exterminate Jews, there would be no question of a world wide resistance against it. But because the pop feminist programs, such as double standards in the criminal justice system, lead to discrimination against individual men scattered throughout the population, it's harder to see and elicits far less resistance. (For specific information on programmed discrimination, see Novak and Singh,)
• The funniest thing about Beautiful, the most recent transparently thin paean to pop feminism's view on single motherhood, is that it presumes American women are so dimwitted that they need to have the underlying messages of the story spelled out to them, which is precisely what several characters do at the climax when Minnie Driver's character wins the beauty pageant.
• According to Breann Parriott, winner of the 2001 Miss Washington Pageant, there is nothing sexual in nature about the Miss America Pageant swimsuit competition. If that is true, then why have women successfully charged male coworkers with sexual harassment for having tasteful family photos of spouses in bathing suits?
• In the not too distant past our world was ruled by aristocrats whose monarchies evolved out of feudalism, a system of government in which vassals were subject to lords. The modern fiefdoms are corporations, which hold special dispensation from the government much as lords did under monarchs.
• I was watching Mixing Nia when it struck me that a black character who was addressing black students about how whites might shut them up could have as easily been a man addressing other men about how pop feminists might shut them up.
• Periodically it's appropriate to remind ourselves that, by strict interpretation of the definition of hostile environment sexual harassment, and strict application of the division of "reasonable woman" and "reasonable man" standards as set in precedent by the Ellison v. Brady decision, a woman wearing a tight sweater, low cut blouse or short skirt can be found guilty of sexual harassment.
• According to Chart No. 713 of the Statistical Abstract of the United States, Labor Force, Employment, and Earnings, 17.4% of men but only 13.0% of women are represented by a union. Generally, union workers make more money and have better benefits. So if pop feminists are sincere in their desire to raise women's wages relative to men's, then they should be encouraging women to join unions.
• Despite their otherwise liberal inclinations and their general support of unions, pop feminists seem loath to publicly announce that unionization would virtually eradicate most income disparities due to sexist policies. Perhaps this is because most of the feminazis are elitist snobs who look down on working class people.
• There's nothing communist, as some would have us believe, in asking for an honest day's pay for an honest day's work.
• Ideology gets in the way of truth.
• I didn't start out a pro-union critic of corporations. When I graduated from the University of Washington in 1981, I was a full-blown Randian Libertarian full of admiration for American corporations and contempt for unions. It took corporate America less than 10 years to change my mind.