Donald Taylor comments

When Russian targets civilians in Ukraine no one raises their voice but when Hamas says Israel killed some civilians everyone jumps up and down. What hypocrites. This is war and civilians will die. Get over it. Israel is not targeting civilians, Hamas is using them as shields. There is no one over voting age in Palestine who is innocent of war crimes. They voted Hamas into power and supported them in their atrocities and now they are reaping the price of their atrocities and they whine about receiving their just desserts. It is like as if the Nazis had complained that the allies bombing their cities was unfair. Israel has shown a lot more restraint than I would if I were in their position. Every structure over a tunnel in Palestine should have been targeted with a bunker buster bomb.

Glory to Ukraine! Glory to the Heros! Putin is evil and must be brought to justice.

Russia started this war, and Ukraine, with the help of the free world, will finish it. Remember, all it takes for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing. We cannot sit back and do nothing while Putin tries to repeat Stalin's genocide against the Ukrainian people.

Knowing people in Ukraine, I can tell you that Putin needs to be tried for war crimes.

He does not speak for all Americans and should not represent himself as the voice of America.

Burning Bush, if you believe that, you should go live there. I know people who have just escaped from Afghanistan. They left, not because the Taliban were fair and just and wonderful, but because they knew the truth about the Taliban. They are brutal murders.

The Democrats have abused their power for pure political gain. They have tossed the dignity and honor of America in the trash and placed politics ahead of the American people and the good of the Country. They are promoting a socialist agenda that failed in the USSR and will destroy the United States, but then, that is their goal. I think everyone of them should be brought up on charges of treason.

gogogo wrote: "Wow... how about they spend this money on victims of the tyhpoon?"

I tell you, they did.

There will always be storms and victims of storms but for life to go on, for a people to survive, there needs to be a sense that their people will go on no matter what happens to them, that there is a national hope. Rebuilding a few houses is nice, it gives a few people hope but traditions like this connect a people to their past and lets them see that their culture, their spirit, will stretch into the future no matter how bleak the present. It gives hope to an entire people that no matter how terrible life is for them, their people will survive, their people will go forward into the future.

This was 40 years ago. And people change. I applaud him for having the courage to tell about this episode in his life. All those self-righteous ignorant people who object to something someone thought 40 years ago need to get over themselves.

Did anyone put a tourniquet on? A thigh wound can hit a major artery but if it is below the groin a tourniquet should stop blood loss. Surely the police would have known this simple first aid step? He might have bled out before they got there but then he should not have died 2 hours later in the hospital, he would have died on the scene.

The Israelis have shown a lot more restraint than I would have.

I love Japan but we should not apologize for ending a war they started. There are NO innocents in war. The enemy is the enemy. Dropping the atomic bombs was the right thing to do if you were not Japanese. Hitler was trying to develop the atomic bomb, think he would not have dropped it on us? The Japanese would have cheered him on. Have they apologized for Bataan? War is hell and we unleashed hell on our enemies. That is the way war is. Get over it. Ironic, recently I introduced one of my good friends, a native Japanese who was visiting the US, to a WWII vet who fought against the Japanese. They enjoyed meeting each other and had the vet had no hard feelings. I have seen similar reactions with many WWII vets who hold no hard feelings towards their old enemies. The past is the past. Let the dead bury themselves. As for me, I won't apologize for dropping "the bomb"; but, I won't hold a grudge either. Japan is a wonderful country and the Japanese are a great people. There is absolutely no reason that America and Japan should not be good friends. But neither need to apologize for what previous generations did. Pearl Harbor and Bataan were then, Nagasaki and Hiroshima were then, we are now. The past is the past. Neither side should forget the lesson the past teaches. But no one can apologize for what they did not do.

Why is this child still with these parents?

What insanity. If these Japanese or asians or whoever are ashamed of their heritage, then they have a problem not the people who are trying to point out the artistry of the Kimono. The museum should have told these protesters to stick their protest where the sun doesn't shine and continued their Kimono Wednesdays, which were about as far from being racists and imperialist as the east is from the west. Kimonos are beautiful works of art in cloth. To call a western person racists because they don one is about the stupidest thing I have ever heard of. These people need to get a life.

Saw them a few years back. Amazing. Already bought my tickets for this years tour. I agree: Keep on rocking: Ganbatte kudasai!!

Good use of tax dollars. Pakistan needs to deal with the terrorist or expect us to. As long as Pakistan acts as a safe haven for terrorist, it has no sovereign rights. And if ControlFreek wants to see cowardly he should watch the videos of the taliban terrorist sawing through the necks of screaming civilians until their heads fall off. These people don't deserve any respect of humane treatment. Although, I would argue that death by missile attack is much more humane than the deaths this Hakimullah Mehsud orchestrated. Live by the sword, die by the sword. He got much better than he deserved.

My last 3 laptops have been Macs, currently my family has 2 MacPros, 1 MacBook Air, 3 iPads, 4 iPhones, and one PC computer. I spend more time keeping the PC running than I do on all the Mac products put together. That is a little unfair to the Macs/iPhones/iPads because they have required ZERO maintenance while the PC requires at least weekly maintenance to keep it running smoothly. My first Mac Book Pro, bought about 15 years ago was another story. It crashed all the time but the current models seem to be excellent. I don't know about innovative but I must say that I sincerely doubt if I go back to PCs. Looks like the PC world just keeps spiraling down, with Windows 8 being the latest crash and burn operating system. Macs are more expensive than PCs but in my personal experience they remain functional about 2 to 4 times as long as their PC counterparts with much less work spent keeping them updated and running smoothly. I am not a computer geek, so I don't like working on my computer, I would rather work with it. From that perspective, Apple seems to deliver much better than any PC maker. Indeed, if you are are going to use a PC, you are better off building your own PC or having one built for you than you are buying one if performance and reliability are issues for you. Just speaking from my personal experience.

It is about individual privacy. If they read your face book account, the next thing they will want to do is read your mail, both email and snail mail. Then they will want you to carry around a recorder that records your conversations 24 hours a day. If they are that paranoid, DO NOT WORK FOR THEM! Employers have zero rights to access your private life. This is one of those issues where some body at these companies needs to file a class action suite on behalf of every employee of that company in the world. Having said this, you should only access your Facebook account, personal email, etc. from your own (not your company) laptop/iPad/etc. while you are not on the companies dime. If you are at lunch and they are not paying you during your lunch break then you can use your smart phone, etc. to access your email. Remember, only sexual predators will ask for access to your Facebook account, they want to stalk you. Never, friend anyone you don't trust to be a friend. I guess this means that all these companies are run by sexual predators. Why aren't they in jail?

The more one studies science, the more clearly one sees the fingerprints of God. There is no conflict between science and religion. Science just describes the world God created. As a man of science and a Christian, I see no problem with going to Church on Sunday and to the lab on Monday.

The Taliban can publish videos of Americans being beheaded with a kitchen knife while the poor bastard screams (until his windpipe was sawed into) and the muslim brothers don't condemn that but let an American urinate on a dead Taliban and it is the worst evil they have ever seen. When the muslims condemn the murder of unarmed civilians I will condemn pissing on the dead bodies of terrorists until then I won't lose much sleep worrying about offending the muslim community. Did anyone see the bodies of the Americans who were drug through the streets in Iran and then hung from a bridge and set on fire by muslim terrorist? I guess that's not offensive to anyone because they were Americans. I think we should give these soldiers a medal. At least I can be sure that those terrorist will not be killing Americans or anyone else. BTW, urine is sterile and is sometimes used to clean wounds in combat situations. Some Hindus will wash in cow urine for health. I think they were being way too kind in using urine.

Yea! In the US anyone who comes into your house without an invitation is considered an intruder and can be shot on sight. She saved the police a lot of work investigating her murder, not to mention she saved her own life as well. In the US the message is: break into someones home at the risk of your life. The efficacy of this is reflected in the city of Kennesaw, GA which experienced a decline in crime when they passed a law that required all home owners within city limits to own guns.

al qaida is humane, they just strap a bomb on their elders and send them off to meet allah

Every one has faith. Atheist believe in nothing. Agnostics believe that there may be something to believe in but are not sure and all others believe that they are not the center of the universe, that there is something mystic beyond themselves. I for one do not have enough faith to be an atheist. But it is interesting that all peoples of all times, countries and races have felt the call of something greater than themselves. They may call it nirvana, god, spirit or community. But it would sadden me greatly to think that this world is all there is. Will we be kami or guardian angels? Will we just fade away into nothingness? No one knows but many believe.... I would add, that religion is never the problem, people are the problem. Many like to blame religion for what people do in the name of religion. Selfish people will always find an excuse to accomplish their goals. Stalin and Hitler advanced the religion of the state and were antiChristian, anti other gods but themselves, Christians and Muslims have long histories of cruelty and killing too. If you put yourself first, it is easy to use religion or to make up any excuse to impose your will upon others, even to kill them. The Japanese have their history of cruelty, killing, wars, torture and continue to have problems with home grown terrorist, rapist, murders and the like because like all of us they are a society of humans, of people.

The Beatles said it best "all you need is love". By the way Jesus said: "I give you a new commandment - to love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another" (John 13:34) and Everyone will know by this that you are my disciples - if you have love for one another." (John 13:35) and "No one has greater love than this - that one lays down his life for his friends." (Which he did.) And: Luke 6: 27 “But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29 If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. 30 Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you." For those who think religion is the opiate for masses, try living up to this, it is not easy. In deed it is easier to deny religion and hate your enemy, and ignore the man in need of food and clothing. Far easier, to put yourself first rather than striving to be last as Jesus taught.

Do not confuse religion with what people do. I am sure that one could find sayings similar to those above attributable to Buddha or Krishna or others but as a Christian, these were easier for me to find. The problem with people is that as Nietzsche said, they are "Human all too Human". So those of you who decry religion, think a little deeper. Those of you who say I don't have a religion because I am atheist, think a little deeper because you are worshiping your self, your own concept of what is right and wrong. Perhaps you have achieved your world view after much study and internal debate but in the end it is still your own creation. Some like Nietzsche took great pride (comfort?) in having created their own morality. I prefer to have the what Feuerbach (an atheist) longed for, the joy of belief. For the agnostic, you should read about Blaise Pascals wager (he was a mathematician and one of the early developers of probability theory amongst other things, you may remember Pascal's law from physics--- my first graduate degree was in Physics so I embrace science as well as religion and find them completely compatible).

These are just some random thoughts on the comments that have been posted. As for me I will seek justice, show mercy and walk humbly with the Lord (Micah 6: 8).

What does Fukushima have to do with sport: nothing. When people of low intelligence can't think of anything intelligent to say they chant meaningless things... Grow up!

To all those who think this girl was dumb: All 19 year olds do dumb things. When you are 50 you will look back and wonder how could i have been so foolish to think otherwise and so callous to not think of the parents pain at their loss.

Why 12 generals? An interesting number.

Well put "islandview". If any of you have never been to Arlington and seen the changing of the guard, you should go. If someone thinks you can march post in freezing weather without head and ear protection, let them try it for a few hours, they will need their ears removed for frost bite. This duty, The Old Guard, is one of the most prestigious in the US military. These guys take their duty seriously. The Tombs of the Unknowns have never went without guards since the duty was established. They are there 24/7, not just when the tourist are around. These men have marched through snow, hail rain, and storm. A few years ago Washington was struck by a storm with hurricane force winds and rain. The Guard was offered the option of standing down, not maintaining their vigil, during the storm, to a man they choose to keep watch over the honored dead. The uniforms are historic. Much like the Beefeaters uniforms at Buckingham Palace or the Pope's Swiss Guards.

Some of you may want to consider Sir Walter Scotts's poem:

The Lay of the Last Minstrel (excerpt) Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832)

Breathes there the man with soul so dead Who never to himself hath said, This is my own, my native land! Whose heart hath ne’er within him burned, As home his footsteps he hath turned From wandering on a foreign strand! If such there breathe, go, mark him well; For him no minstrel raptures swell; High though his titles, proud his name, Boundless his wealth as wish can claim Despite those titles, power, and pelf, The wretch, concentred all in self, Living, shall forfeit fair renown, And, doubly dying, shall go down To the vile dust from whence he sprung, Unwept, unhonored , and unsung.

The Old Guard will not let our Honored Dead go down unwept, unhonored and unsung. I doubt that they much care that after almost 75 years their uniforms look a little unfashionable.

As an addiction treatment physician I am disturbed at the lack of understanding about the disease of addiction that some of the previous posts reflect. This poor woman faces a much more difficult path in life than most of us will experience. If she has simply abused stimulants a few times (not likely from what I have read) she may just be "saving face" and placating the legal establishment but if she has truly become addicted to stimulants she has developed an incurable disease that she will struggle with the rest of her life. If she can stay "sober" and set an example for other addicts who struggle in anonymity it does not matter if she is genuine or not. Her story can give others hope. Her enrollment in this school could benefit the school, it could benefit her and it could benefit others who are fighting this disease in the shadows. Addiction is a disease of relapse. I do not think that Japan has a very developed concept of addiction treatment and I hope that Noriko Sakai has had good medical care and will do well. I also hope that she will become the Betty Ford of addiction for Japan.