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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• President Bush is counting on American's apathy to allow him to attack unprofitable nations.
• Pro-Microsoft apologists assert the government is punishing Microsoft's success, not protecting competition. But this ignores that Microsoft "succeeded" largely by strong-arming retailers into carrying Windows-only products, and by penalizing computer makers who sold non-Windows products. These are anticompetitive practices. The practices of a monopolist, not a successful entrepreneur.
• Could the rising incidence of depression and anxiety in our society result from the plethora of penalties for expressing our feelings?
• In our society, the male equivalent of a "slut" is a "loser."
• Popular wisdom holds that children who were abused and/or bullied grow up to be abusive or, worse, a public menace. Like Carrie or Norman Bates in Psycho. Talk about blaming the victim - numerous studies during the 1990s indicate the vast majority of abused and bullied children do not become abusive, but to the contrary often experience mild to extreme forms of posttraumatic stress disorder. Yet, in many ways, our society insists on stigmatizing and penalizing them.
• Obsessed with controlling inflation, the FED has dragged us into a deflationary spiral that is now all but unstoppable. This is a bad thing, as will become apparent when the number of personal bankruptcies soars.
• The firmer my grip on reality, the looser my grip on normality.
• The National Organization for Women notes that "sexually active women of child-bearing age pay about 68 percent more out of their own pocket for health care than men pay." (NOW Action Alert) This is a very good point. Perhaps it is one of the reasons why American women outlive American men by such a wide margin.
• If you get caught accidentally carrying fingernail clippers onto an airplane, just tell them you thought it was a butane lighter.
• According to President Bush, "Should (Saddam Hussein's) regime acquire fissile material, it would be able to build a nuclear weapon within a year." (George W. Bush, September 14, 2002) This is very odd, considering that just about any American engineer could, with appropriate instructions and fissile material, construct a nuclear weapon in their garage in less than 2 weeks.
• Cuban-Americans oppose lifting the trade embargo against Cuba because they revile Castro. But the only ones really hurt by the embargo are the loved-ones Cuban-Americans left behind.
• According to an October 2, 2002, article at the WorldNetDaily, "Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida terrorist network purchased 20 suitcase nuclear weapons from former KGB agents in 1998 for $30 million." If true, Boy George will lose one of his strongest arguments for preemptively invading Iraq.
• Many "antiglobalists," myself included, favor fair trade policies and expect corporations to act like patriots instead of profiteering expatriates. But rather than forthrightly attacking such American virtues, globalists, like syndicated columnist Bruce Bartlett dismiss proponents of fair trade and patriotism as "nihilists, who would destroy the institutions of civilization simply for the fun of it." (Washington Times, October 2, 2002) Mudslinging, after all, is so much easier than defending the indefensible.
• Aspies are beginning to wonder if intuitions are to people with Asperger's Disorder as instincts are to normal people.
• Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle declared that the Senate "stands united with the president in the ongoing effort to destroy al Qaeda." So, naturally President Bush questioned the Democrats patriotism.
• During the 1960s and 70s, civil disobedience was aimed at authorities to protest government and corporate policies. Now, much of it is aimed at ordinary citizens, apparently for the sole purpose of pretending to protest.
• Have rudeness and self-entitlement replaced meaningful civil disobedience?
• The reason commonly given for why George the Elder did not take out Saddam Hussein during Desert Storm is that he did not have UN backing to do so. This is a half-truth. Following Desert Storm, the Bush Administration enticed several Iraqi factions with promises of arms and aid to depose Hussein. With a long history of interfering in the affairs of foreign nations with arms and aid, the US government did not need the UN's support for this. But at the last minute, Bush pulled the plug, leaving Saddam's opposition to be slaughtered.
• Nobody cares about the tears of a man in despair, unless he's crying for somebody else.