There's no simple cure for loneliness, but there is a simple answer to the #2 question, "Why are men such couch potatoes?" What does a man want more of that he could have more of if he were in better shape?

Will there be unity in Iraq? Saddam proved that fear can unite Iraqis enough to get them to stop killing each other, but it's not clear that anything less will do the job.

There aren't any really poor people in America.

If we're going to talk about "nation building," it would be extremely helpful to define the word "nation."

A great deal of the disunity between Bin Laden and America is based on differing perceptions of how men and women ought to get along. It's difficult to reconcile his view of women with American customs.

The only common purpose powerful enough to build a nation is greed.

Few people argue that it's OK for a woman, even an abused woman, to shoot a man in cold blood when she's not in danger at the time. There are shelters for battered women, and the staff know not to tell who's there. So why can't women just leave?

The Romans understood nation building, an art we and the British have forgotten.