We had great faith that with patience, understanding, and education, that my family and I could be helpful in changing their minds and attitudes around.

A lot of my time was spent searching, thinking and planning my life.

Most recently my battle has been against AIDS and the discrimination surrounding it.

Mayor Koch, of New York, was the first public figure to give me support.

Disasters redistribute money from taxpayers to construction workers, from insurance companies to homeowners, and even from those who once lived in the destroyed city to those who replace them. It's remarkable that this redistribution can happen so smoothly and quickly, with devastated regions reinventing themselves in a matter of months.

Rather than improving the wealth of their own nation, the Mexican government encourages its poor to come to the U.S. and send money home.

Marketers are out there trying to figure out how to get your money out of your child.

But only 'rich' people by definition have the 'extra' money to buy things and invest to create economic growth. Do we really want to tax that 'extra' money away - and give it to the government to spend? Does that make any economic sense outside of politics and our emotional desire to make everyone suffer equally through these tough times?