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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• Our political leaders have us arguing over taxes when the real issue should be wages.
• Honesty is not an attack, deceit is not a compliment.
• Sometime within the next 500 years or so, a tsunami ranging in height from 30 feet (MSNBC) to 150 feet (National Weather Service) will slam into the east coast of the United States, sweeping inland as far as 12 miles. During this same period, an earthquake between magnitude 7.0 and 8.0 will devastate the west coast of the United States. (University of Washington) Although there are things we can do to mitigate the damage, there's little if anything we can do to prevent these events. They will happen. It's only a matter of time. Knowing this, there are some things we can certainly do, not the least of which is to build for the future while living each moment as though it were our last, leaving nothing unsaid, being true to ourselves no matter what, and missing no opportunity to show and give our love.
• Home "ownership" may be at an all-time high in America, but so is debt.
• Tailgating causes congestion.
• Coming hot on the heels of the Enron debacle, the Chapter 11 bankruptcy of Global Crossing could foster a political white wash. Reason: Republicans appear set to question whether DNC Chairman Terry McAuliffe is guilty of improprieties in the Global Crossing case similar to accusations Democrats have leveled against President Bush in the Enron case. What to expect: In Washington, D.C., two wrongs make a right. So we should not be surprised if the Republicans and Democrats agree to a white wash that benefits them at our expense.
• All Americans have better things to do than complain about the past.
• Ever notice how the swagger affected by some African Americans makes it look like they dropped a load in their shorts?
• Few things are funnier than a souped-up Honda Civic. Unless it's a dinky little Toyota truck with monster wheels.
• Recently Bill Maher, one of my favorite talk show hosts, grumbled that the "Y" in "Y Generation" stands for "why bother to work hard"? The reason for that should be obvious: Why should they bother to work hard when they can see that, even though Americans are working harder than ever before, they are earning significantly less than Americans did 20 years ago?
• The next terrorist attack may have already struck: Men and women infected with deadly, highly contagious but slow acting viruses may have already come to America, where they are planting the seeds of a deadly pandemic.
• People who habitually attack and tear down others expect the same from others.
• If all western men threatened to go on strike, how would women respond? With a celebration because a male strike would create a labor shortage women would love to fill. So, in March 2002 when pop feminists call for an International Women's Strike, why do they expect men's response to be different from women's?
• Passive-aggressive tactics leverage fear. Bullying feeds on fear. If we refuse to fear, neither will have power over us.
• Pop feminists' idea of equality is women taking over.
• In the U.S., Democrats and Republicans think running for office is and ought to be about politics. They're half right - it is about politics, but it ought to be about America.
• In The Ethics of Liberty, libertarian economist and philosopher Murray N. Rothbard explained how in a Libertarian society individuals and businesses would be liable for so-called "externalities." An externality is the byproduct of doing something. Air pollution, for example, is an externality of driving a car. In a Libertarian society, you could be sued for that. Cigarette smokers, too.
• Because externalities would be actionable in a Libertarian court of law, a Libertarian society could end up being more oppressively restrictive than its polar opposite, the socialist state.
• Generally, backlashes produce extremists. The French revolution led to a dictatorship, the women's liberation movement led to discrimination against men, the black civil rights movement created a cadre of politically active black bigots, some men's rights organizations demand a return to the patriarchy characteristic of third world nations, and now in response to over zealous law makers passing extreme measures against smoking we have pro-smoking extremists who demand the right to force non-smokers to share their drug addiction.
• When a pedestrian walks out into traffic, drivers must yield. That is the law of the land. But pedestrians who do that are often hit and killed. That is the law of the jungle. Teach your children not to walk out into traffic.
• Just as every privilege carries a responsibility, so every responsibility should proffer a privilege. Hence, what pop feminists see as "male privilege," men see as "male responsibility." Because they are blind to men's responsibilities, pop feminists demand and get only men's privileges for women. Thus, to some extent the growing backlash against pop feminism is fueled by the burgeoning imbalance between women's privileges and men's responsibilities.
• Sometimes the truth may hurt, but we should never fear what is true.
• One reason support for pop feminist policies continues to erode is that women see how unjustly their fathers, brothers and sons are harmed.
• One of my college jobs was working in a warehouse where, in 1979, I made $9.32/hour. According to the Inflation Calculator on the Bureau of Labor Statistics site, that wage, which while good for a college student was not, at the time, considered impressive, is the equivalent of $22.74/hour today, which throughout most of the U.S. is considered very decent. Corporate America has certainly waged an effective campaign to lower our expectations.
• Refusing to enable socially or personally destructive behavior is neither judgmental nor placing blame.
• American taxpayers foot the bill for foreign aid. The aid often benefits American multinational corporations either directly, by subsidizing the education of foreign workers whom they can then employ, or indirectly through market forces within the beneficiary countries. Many of these corporations pay little or no taxes. The justification is that they provide jobs to American workers. Yet these same corporations export jobs to the very countries aided by our taxes. Foreign aid is a good thing. Fleecing American workers to pay for their employers to export jobs is not.
• Conservative or liberal, the arrogance of the extremists is often matched only by their intentional ignorance of the truths which inform their opposition.
• Political correctness is institutionalization of passive-aggressive behaviors.
• Tom Brokaw's Greatest Generation has been retired for several years. Many live off retirement funds comprised of stocks. So it should be no surprise they support corporations which bust unions and squeeze working families. Why? Because, although squeezing the wages and benefits of current employees may harm the children and grandchildren of the "greatest generation," it also increases the value of their funds and makes their retirement more comfortable. That generation may have been great, but where is all their greatness now?