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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• One of the fastest ways to expose racist attitudes in an African-American, is to compare blacks to whites. Too many African-Americans respond with racist rancor.
• To what extent is domestic violence caused by perfumes that are designed to create feelings of aggression?
• Given that Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, not during his efforts to bridge the racial divide, but after he expanded his focus to include economic justice, we might well wonder if it was racism that led to his untimely demise, or an operation executed on behalf of corporate interests.
• It's ironic how often young feminists sniff, "Well, now you know how it feels," when I tell them of experiences I had before they were born.
• I was puzzling over how a president who went AWOL during his dubious military service, and slid through college on a silver spoon with a "Gentleman's C," and is selling American jobs down the river while dispatching America's military to serve Corporate interests as he blatantly panders to the voters with budget-killing tax cuts, could possibly enjoy such popularity as President Bush does, today. Then I realized, if Slick Willy could be popular, then why not Spurious George?
• What do feminists call men who defend themselves against an abusive woman? "Batterer."
• There are basically two ways to motivate employees: the carrot and the stick. These days, employers seem to believe that the poor economy gives them license to abandon the carrot in favor of the stick. Obvious ethics questions aside, the problem is that, at some point, employees won't take it anymore but will backlash.
• Frequent incentives and infrequent penalties generally motivate more effectively than pervasive penalties.
• It has been said that people will tolerate almost anything if they have a reason to hope for something better. Employing this principle, despots, dictators and even the American government have managed to control huge populations. But for how long?
• During the 19th century and first half of the 20th century, many Euro-Americans based their sense of self-esteem on a false sense of racial superiority. Now, many minorities do.
• Like most states, Washington state is facing a budgetary crisis, necessitating cut-backs in social programs, park and school closures, and wage reductions in the form of higher health care costs for state employees. Happily, however, citizens have cause for celebration as there is room in the budget to give the Republican-dominated legislature a raise.
• A man needs a replacement heart, so he goes to the used heart store, where he finds only women's hearts. When he asks about this, the clerk explains that men's hearts are hard to come by, because so many of them have been broken.
• The series finale of Buffy the Vampire Slayer had what, I'm sure, many will claim was a twisty-knife-in-the-saggy-paunch of the patriarchy ending. Ironically, however, as Susan B. Anthony noted near the end of her life, most support for women's liberation comes from men. So, in truth, the finale was a nice equalitarian end to a message that, in large part, will be lost until the majority of women embrace it.
• Feminists march for women's rights, but never for women's responsibilities.
• We rightly rage and retaliate for 9-11, but wrongly ignore the heinous crimes against humanity committed by "American" corporations in other countries.
• The feminist answer to abusive women: be a stronger man.
• Too many American multinational corporations are, for lack of a better word, un-American.
• It has come to our attention that several leading icons of western culture are guilty of extreme sexism, barring women from advancement and, in many cases, working at all. Yes, from the Rolling Stones to Van Halen, rock bands everywhere are at the epicenter of exclusionary practices that prevent women from heading or playing in the band.
• One warped element of American culture is the pervasive belief that all Puritan values are also Christian.
• When you stop to think about it, if any bodily function is truly disgusting, mastication would rank near the top of the list.
• I am puzzled by Christians who think nothing of committing fornication, but think even PG-rated depictions of it are disgusting.
• Perhaps due to feminist efforts, many Americans no longer differentiate between degrees of sexual content: Either something is all about sex, or it isn't, there's nothing in between.
• Sad how, in an apparent female backlash to the responsibilities imposed on women by women's liberation, many female pop stars, beginning with Jewel, have integrated infantile noises into their singing style.
• Does technology create prosperity, as socialists now contend, or the people who invent and apply the technology?
• One contradiction at the core of socialism is that it requires war (revolution) to end war.
• A misconception of socialism is that competition between capitalists leads to war. This ignores both that socialist regimes are among the most oppressive and aggressive, and that war existed long before capitalism did.
• Socialists assume the world is ruled by a few wealthy capitalists, when oligarchy rather than capitalism more accurately describes the ruling elites, who, throughout history, have emerged in virtually every society, from socialist to capitalist.
• A sad fact in Indian Country is that, as a result of blood quantum requirements, Native American tribes are inbreeding, disintegrating, and driving their children to seek refuge in distantly related tribes.
• Interesting how diversity regulations protect all but politically incorrect views and practices.
• By and large, American corporations support international free trade. But American drug companies oppose any aspect of international free trade that threatens to end their monopolistic stranglehold on American consumers.
• I think every man would like to know which century of "women's oppression" feminists blame on him.