Is the Pope Catholic?

Is the Pope Catholic?

Does a bear relieve itself in the woods?

Do Netflix and Google know Ecurb Snave better than he knows himself?

Would Ecurb still be a golf course hacker even if he had observed Malcolm Gladwell's 10,000 hours of practice rule?

Has kale gone from obscurity to ubiquity?

Is eating kale regarded as an act of virtue by the Whole Foods "community"?

Is Ecurb a member of that "community"?

Does a study by the National Institute of Health reveal that sports fans gain weight when their favorite teams win consistently and lose weight when their favorites lose consistently?

Are the Seattle Mariners consistently below .500?

Is that why Ecurb weighs 148 pounds?

If there were two options for economy-class airline tickets from LA to NYC purchased 15 days in advance--$400 prix-fixe, offering choice of seats, no baggage fees, free movies, free Wi-Fi, free meals, and free non-alcoholic beverages; and $300 a la carte, with $25 fees for checked bags, $25 for use of the overhead bin, $25 for choice of seat, $10 for movies, $10 for Wi-Fi, $10 for sandwiches, and $5 for non-alcoholic drinks--would Ecurb choose the a la carte ticket?

If there were two prices for gas--one for self-service and one costing 10 cents more per gallon for a fillup, with an attendant to pump the gas and clean the windshield--would Ecurb pay the extra 10 cents only if his windshield was plastered with grime and bird crap?

Does being liked on Facebook give one a jolt of dopamine?

When it comes to medical insurance, must the healthiest pay for the sickest?

Are the opponents of Obamacare more worried about how much the program will increase their personal medical costs than they are about an increased intrusion of big government into their lives?

If the U.S. does not respond to Syria's crossing of Obama's "red line," does it look weak?

If the U.S. responds by launching a few Cruise missiles and then calling it a day, does it look weak?

If the U.S. makes a strong response--enforcing a no-fly zone and putting boots on the ground--does it actually make itself weaker by diverting resources from other American needs and by losing support from most Mid-East countries not named Israel?

Should the international "community" stand aside and let the Syrians fight among themselves until either one side wins or they agree to divide the country into three parts?

Do Obama's critics on both the left and the right want him to stop dithering and deferring, to be a leader, to act boldly and decisively--but only when his action is one that they agree with?

Did the Egyptian army under General Sisi carry out a coup against the democratically elected government headed by Morsi?

Is it better for the U.S. that Egypt be headed by Sisi rather than by Morsi?

Does the Gang of 8's immigration bill in effect grant amnesty to illegal immigrants?

Is that OK?

Is the Gang of 8's plan for immigration reform about as innocuous as it can be without making any change at all?

Does New York City's "stop and frisk" policy lead to racial stereotyping?

Does NYC's "stop and frisk" policy reduce crime?

Are North Carolina's new restrictive voter I.D. requirements a matter of reducing the number of Democratic voters rather than an expression of racial intolerance?

Would North Carolina's Republican-dominated legislature have ignored voter I.D. requirements if surveys showed that minorities tended to vote Republican?

Should hunger-striking prisoners be allowed to starve themselves to death?

Is the aging process, not punishment or rehabilitation, the key factor in reducing prisoner recidivism?

Would the punishment better suit the crime if Major Nidal Hassan were forced to serve a life sentence rather than have his death wish accomodated?

Is governmental, diplomatic, corporate, and institutional transparency more honored in the breach than in the practice?

Are we all in favor of transparency except when we ourselves need to keep something private?

Is keeping something private the same as keeping something secret?

Should Edward Snowden by tried and, if found guilty, imprisoned for leaking classified information?

Do the American people benefit from information leaked by whistle-blowers like Snowden?

Is NSA's surveillance a threat to American citizens' fundamental liberties?

Is NSA surveillance necessary?

Are there such things as necessary evils?

Is it sometimes the case that the best we can do is to choose the lesser of two evils?

Is the 1% more important to the economy than the other 99%?

Should the 99% nevertheless criticize and contest the 1% whenever possible?

Does Paul Krugman lust for increased national debt?

Does John McCain lust to find some place to bomb or invade?

Are there only three ways--reduce the number of employees, settle for less profit, or raise prices--for companies to make an increased minimum wage workable?

Is there zero percent likelihood that, if required by law to increase the minimum wage, management would settle for less profit?

Is drone warfare more "humane" than conventional warfare because it enables the U.S. to make surgical strikes that cause less collateral damage and does not risk the lives of American military personnel?

Will other countries eventually become capable of waging drone warfare and attack the U.S.?

Will the U.S. consider that warfare to be abominable?

Does the philosophy underlying the "No Child Left Behind" program express a belief that can never come true?

Did the "No Child Left Behind" program nevertheless make us feel better about taking on the intractable problems of public education?

Will American education forever seesaw between the belief in narrowing the curriculum and drilling on fundamentals and the belief in teaching creativity in an expanded curriculum that includes a wide array of options?

Are MOOCS the wave of the future in higher education?

Will the advantages of MOOCS outweigh the disadvantages?

Should school lunches provide what students want--calories in carbs that appeal to the taste of the masses--rather than try to steer students to "healthful" eating?

Should school health classes require an extensive education in nutrition?

Should schools include nutritional information about each food item they offer to students?

In general, are women more reliable, conscientious, and industrious than men when doing the same jobs in the workplace?

Should scientists devote less attention to diverting climate change and more attention to averting bee colony collapse disorder?

Is it fair to say that a majority of the media--in small part by opinions expressed but largely because of the kinds of stories they choose to present--leans to the left?

Are the left-leaning media the major reason that America has become more aware of the unecessary evils of racial and gender discrimination?

Is Eleanor Clift consistently the main voice of fact and reason on "The McLaughlin Report"?

Is Rachel Maddow's ideological purity frightening?

Is Sean Hannity's ideological purity frightening?

Will it take several boatloads of additional mass shootings before any new limitations are placed on the right to bear arms in America?

Will Elon Musk's plan for a hyperloop high-speed train go down the tube?

Is it pointless to boycott Stoli as a way of protesting homophobia in Russia?

Is Stoli actually produced in Latvia?

Are roundabouts a great boon to traffic flow--and fun to navigate as well?

Are speed bumps an abomination--quite possibly a terrorist plot designed to enrage American drivers by slowing them down?

Should we welcome all research and development having anything to do with genes, such as gene-sequencing and genetic modification of plants?

Will we one day wonder how we could ever have lived without Google glasses?

Are we already wearying of the increasingly frequent practice of transgressing athletes, politicians, and other celebrities "taking responsibility" for their actions as a way of absolving themselves of responsibility for their actions?

Would A-Rod have been an All-Star without the use of PEDs?

Is an increase in strikeouts rather than a decrease in muscle mass the primary reason for the drop in homers and slugging percentages since Major League Baseball started testing for PEDs?

Will myostatins be the next PED?

Is the Heisman Trophy a meaningless award?

Does awarding an MVP trophy to a star player on a championship team rather than to a star player on a less successful team merely confirm that the awardee has better teammates than the other nominees?

Is Johnny Manziel an immature jerk?

If Johnny Manziel plays well in 2013, should he be awarded the Heisman Trophy again?

Do sports talk radio shows gnaw endlessly on bones that never had much meat or marrow to begin with?

Is Colin Cowherd the most insightful sports commentator on radio or TV today?

Is Keith Olbermann also pretty good?

Does the lust for money drive NCAA sports scheduling?

Do ESPN-created made-for-TV games please the college sports consumer?

Are critics' expressions of concern over lost class time and study time due to mid-week games examples of crocodiles shedding tears?

Is the grating, full-of-himself Novak Djokovic more fun to watch than the elegant Roger Federer and the somber workhorse Rafa Nadal?

Does the use of the read-option offense make NFL games fun to watch again?

Will NFL defenses eventually learn how to combat the read-option and take our fun away?

From this point forward, given the negative publicity the NFL has received and modifications it has made in rules and equipment, do pro football players have only themselves to blame if they choose to continue playing the game and become seriously injured?

Will there be, eventually, a suit charging that, because of the changes it has made in rules and equipment, the NFL is guilty of duping players into believing that the game is safe?

Given the pre-occupation of big-time university football and men's basketball programs with making money, and given the fact that many student-athletes are students only in the sense that they are registered for some sort of classes, should interscholastic college sports be abolished, to be replaced by expanded professional leagues and/or by community recreational programs?

Given the proliferation of club sports teams with their emphasis on travel and year-round play, and given the number of players who transfer--with their parents' blessings or even at their parents' insistence--from their neighborhood school to other schools that have also probably been recruiting them, should interscholastic high school sports be abolished, to be replaced by community recreational programs?

Is "The Big Bang Theory" the most literate sit-com ever?

Is it the case that in most TV on-the-spot interviews the interviewer has no interest in following up on the interviewees' answers but is just trying to remember his/her previously scripted question?

When it comes to health, isn't kicking the can down the road the best that a senior citizen can hope for?

Should we let the dead bury the dead?

Is the evil thereof sufficient unto the day?

Will we always have the poor with us?

Can Jesus sometimes harsh your mellow?