The Huffington Post picked up the AP story on the tabernacle fire in Provo. There were 598 comments on the story. Here are a few:

• Who cares?
• Oops. (from a Huffington Post Moderator)
• GOOD!!!
• It’s punishment to the Mormons for Prop 8!  And I’m only half-jokin­g….
• New Rule: Organizati­ons that don’t pay taxes to a government have no right to expect services provided by that government (such as firefighte­rs).
• Historical from what standpoint­? I’m not a fan of religions to begin with, but how the mormons get any credibilit­y is beyond my grasp.
• How does any cult gain credibilit­y: longevity.
• Hmmm, that’s a shame.
• Old Mormon hymn: “The spirit of God like a fire is burning …”
• Rather less upsetting than seeing an outhouse burn.
• I wish I could feel more sympathy.. but the whole Mormon Church, funding Prop 8 in California­.. leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
• Heavens I hope noone’s magic underwear was singed.
• Awe… too bad so sad.

Thankfully, there were some comments that were blocked. There were many comments justifying their comments because of California’s Prop 8.

Something tells me that if a gay/lesbian center had burned down in Salt Lake, you wouldn’t find such comments in the Deseret News.

Aspirin has been around for one hundred and ten years. I rarely see a commercial on television for it. So my question is……how long does Viagra need to be around before the commercials subside?

I read a recent AP article called, “No More Opium, No More Money for Afgan Villagers.” In this article Afghan’s make a pathetic attempt to get the pity of the world. Here are some of their statements:

“Now we don’t even have 10 Afghanis ($0.25) to give our children to buy bubble gum,” says opium farmer Abdul Hay. “Before they would go into the field and collect the money themselves.”

“See this mustard? It can take care of my family for one month,” says 25-year-old farmer Abdul Saboor, pulling up a shoot of the green plant and snapping it open with his teeth. “When we planted opium in this same plot, it took care of all our expenses for an entire year.”

“We open in the morning and go back at night. No money comes in. No one buys anything,” says Ahmed. “There is no money left in this village. Opium is the only income we had.”

“If we plant two bags of wheat, then we’ll have just enough money to buy the seeds to plant another two bags of wheat,” says the gray-bearded farmer. “We’re going backwards. Of course we’re angry at the government.”

Here is a classic Middle Eastern comment.

“We are getting poorer day by day,” says Abdulhamid, in the village of Pengani. “What should I do? Kill my children so that I don’t have to feed them?”

Here is another shocker.

“I didn’t plant this for my own pleasure,” he says. “I planted this so that my family could eat. All the rest of this is worth nothing,” he says, waving at the wheat. “The choice I have to make now is either kill myself. Or leave the country.”

Does someone have to die every day? “Who spilled my goat’s milk, they must die.” Just freaking relax. Life is tough and killing doesn’t make it any easier.

How are these people different than the other billions on this earth who find their livelihood in jeopardy? I’ll tell you how their different. They deserve no pity because they’ve know for a thousand years that they were selling contraband. Many others lose their living because of volcano’s, tsunamis and floods.

If a member of the mob had said, gave excuses why racketeering was being cracked down on would you be weeping for him?

The only ones I feel sorry for are the children. The children with parents too stupid and corrupt to take a proper course in life. Illigal drugs are not a way to raise a family. Muslims don’t believe in drinking alcohol. These knot heads in Afghanistan know full well they are doing wrong. They just don’t care. Well, don’t come looking to me for sympathy.

BTW-I feel the same for those in Detroit who were too stupid to see and respond to the auto crisis.

I certainly support the idea of personal accountability, which is sorely lacking these days, but it is ironic hearing this from a politician.

“Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley suggested on Monday that AIG executives should take a Japanese approach toward accepting responsibility for the collapse of the insurance giant by resigning or killing themselves.

‘But I would suggest the first thing that would make me feel a little bit better toward them if they’d follow the Japanese example and come before the American people and take that deep bow and say, I’m sorry, and then either do one of two things: resign or go commit suicide.

And in the case of the Japanese, they usually commit suicide before they make any apology.’”