You asked: What is predatory lending? — Tom, Pottstown, Pa. Marshall Answered: At the most basic level, predatory lending is lending that takes advantage of people because of their circumstances or their ignorance/inexperience. It could be argued that a good bit of the subprime mortgage crisis is the result of predatory lending practices in one [...]

You asked: How is liquor made? — Chris, Yorktown, N.Y. Marshall Answered: “Liquor” is the generic name for things like whiskey, vodka, and rum. All of these are “distilled spirits”. You start with a beer or a wine. You heat it up to cause the alcohol to vaporize. Then you condense this alcohol steam. It [...]

You asked: How can you save money at the grocery store? — Debra, Orrington, Maine Marshall Answered: Leigh and I are pretty frugal, and we also have four kids, so here are a few of the money-saving ideas we use at the grocery store… 1) Use coupons. It’s basically free money. We get a lot [...]

You asked: How does a water tower work? — John, Fishkill, N.Y. Marshall Answered: Think about the way human beings operate and you will understand that there are different demands on the water system at different times. For example, at 3AM people are not using much water in their homes. But at 7AM there is [...]

You asked: Can you help me figure out how women work? — Jessy, Jerusalem, Israel Marshall Answered: Here is one way to think about it: women are human beings, and human beings all like certain things. For example, any human being prefers to be treated respectfully rather than disrespectfully. Most human beings prefer to be [...]