I agree with Tracy Clark-Flory but then the woman should move to a country where wearing a veil is the normal thing to do. If people feel uncomfortable at a nude beach then they stay away. The same applies here.

The expectation to someday make the grade in professional football has caused countless youngsters to bulk up at a very tender age. Pro football linesmen now tend to be as big as Sumo wrestlers. In both cases this size can be reached only by force feeding and by the use of drugs. Somebody should do a study (and publish it) on the life expectancy of men who played professional football as a lines man. Methinks the result would shock people.Opening up would also improve the game. It puzzles me how Americans, who pride themselves to be so individualistic, could go ape over such an overly regimented game. All other major sports leave room for improvisation. If a play doesn't go as directed by the coach, it is dismissed as a "broken play", even if it results in a touchdown. But why would the professional leagues outlaw this system? Could it be that it would cut down on the sales of bulk-up food and doping substances?

This says it all: America has a frontier mentality and people think everything is possible.

Get real: The frontier days were over almost 100 years ago and we have been mining irreplacable commodities ever since. That goes for minerals, oil, water, and the soil on which we grow our food. Wake up, Americans! Future generations will thank us for not burning up the last drops of oil. Yes, some day Alaska and off-shore oil will be pumped to be used by the chemical industry but it is much too valuable to be burned in oversized vehicles now.

It is a sad testimony to the immaturity of the majority of Americans that they fall for the lies perpetrated by special interest groups that cannot think beyond the end of their nose. Or the quarterly profit reort

The same people who are driving the USA into one military conflict after another also seem to drive Israel into military confrontation with its neighbors. Over time this may tend to reinforce old anti-Semitic prejudices which claim that Jews are at the root of all problems in the world. Hitler played that card with great success. Of course this is not true, as shown by many Israelis and moderate American Jews who are aghast about current belligerent Israeli policies. In addition, it is not only Jews who are pushing current Israeli policies.

I am visiting from Europe and had the misfortune of having to watch the Olympics on NBC.

What a miserable experience.

Not only was coverage for the most part limited to performances by American athletes, but it was furthermore chopped up by excessive commercials. Perhaps it was only my perception, but it seemed that commercials made up 50% of sending time. Commercial breaks invariably started when there was a highlight coming up.

The pregnancy of Palin's daughter IS a big deal. Were she the daughter of a (much maligned) Liberal, it would be no big deal. But Palin is so strongly pro life that she is said to even be opposed to abortions in the case of rape or incest. Her solution to avoidance of STD and teenage pregancy is a vow of abstinence.

Girls that young, especially if they belong to the upper classes of society tend to seek refuge in early sex primarily because of parental neglect. It takes little imagination to assume that Mrs. Palin as Governor of Alaska did not enough time for her five children. How much time will she have should she become Vice President?

Sarah Palin is indeed to be congratulated for her courageous choice. Every woman should have a choice when confronted with such a situation.

It is indeed puzzling that Americans who correctly pride themselves to be the inventors of "liberty and freedom for all" would deny women freedom of choice in such a private matter. Abortion is an awful thing and certainly not a good way of birth control. But there are worse things than an abortion in the early stages of a pregnancy. Like unwanted and abused children. How many of those who are willing to prevent a woman from electing to have an abortion are then willing to help her with the consequences? One could get the impression that people believe "unwanted pregnancy is just punishment for fornication." If human life starts with conception and abortion is a criminal act, then all women who suffer miscarriages need to be put on trial to determine whether they did something to cause the miscarriage. After all, 1/3 of all pregnancies end in a miscarriage.

It boggles my mind that for many voters a candidate's stand on abortion is THE defining issue. Don't we have bigger problems?

The last thing we need is a theocracy in the USA. There is little risk of that with a President McCain. After all, Palin was picked to assuage the reservations of the Fundamentalists who didn't fully trust McCain's dedication to their cause. But Palin would be one heartbeat away from being President, should the Republicans win. Then what, USA?