All of us have hidden secrets, some more than others. We hide behind facades that are carefully constructed to present an image to the world of an elegant, intelligent, politically saavy person. It's a mask we begin to construct from childhood when our parents told us to stand straighter, to brush our hair, to wear clean underwear in case you get in an accident. It's something we learned: that inside the home, we can be slouches, but outside we have to present ourselves in a way that won't disgrace the family.

Unfortunately, we are not perfect. We are human beings in formation. We are driven not just by intellect but by emotion and by more primitive instincts. Thus, we say and do things from time to time that make us cringe when we think about it later. Rather than learning from those tiny episodes, some of us create even more elaborate images to hide those embarrassments. We want to appear perfect, but we aren't and we will never be perfect. We are human and we are defined by our strivings.

So how do we overcome those embarrassing moments? One way is to write your own epitaph. How do you want to be remembered? Look back on the totality of your life and review what you've done, what you've learned, how you turned out. When you do that, those little moments you want to forget will be forgotten and the highlights you want to remember will make you smile. You'll find that the good things far outweigh the not-so-good things.

As an evangelical minister, I cannot understand the disconnect among my fellow evangelicals. So many are rabidly anti-Democrat because of issues such as abortion and homosexuality but do not have any problem supporting the Iraq war which has been more than proven to be both unnecessary and unjust. It is true that power is seductive and those leading ministers on the far right are willing to overlook some sins in an effort to maintain their positions at the head table. Jesus had much to say about those who rush to take the best seats in the house. Christian conscience demands consistency of belief and action. Pro-life must include the already born as well as the unborn. Preemptive war is not pro-life. Torture is not pro-life. To see a truly Christian perspective, search out Jim Wallis and his Sojourners website. Mr. Kuo would do well to align with him.

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By her own admission, Torn has limited experience with these kinds of relationships. Her behavior reflects an adolescent view of love: She likes how she feels when she is with each man. It isn't about love, it's about her. Torn doesn't need to choose between the two men. She needs to continue dating and to explore relationships until she grows into an adult love of focusing on the other person and wanting the best for the other.

The mistake most readers make is in believing that the conservative think tanks are not concerned with global catastrophe. The opposite is true: not only are they concerned about the issue, they realistically believe it is inevitable. What they are discussing is how they can best survive the cataclysm and become the dominant player in the post-apocalyptic world.

I am a product of the 60s, having attended UCLA during the turbulent Vietnam years and watching the growing protest movement. Tuition then was very low because the state still believed in subsidizing public university education. I served first in the Air Force for four and a half years then joined the Peace Corps as a teacher. The rest of my career was spent in non-profits, either teaching or in international humanitarian work. Today, my health having eroded from years of exposure to third world diseases, I am on Medicare, and drawing a tiny pension from my humanitarian work.

Those years of service were full of meaning and fulfilled the values I held deeply. I never had to compromise my efforts to make ends meet, although some years were much leaner than others. I took JFK's words to heart and asked what I could do for my country and did it. The sacrifices I made were deliberate and I consciously declined generous corporate offers in New York because I had to believe in what I was doing.

Today, no one is asked to make sacrifices for anything. Thomas Jefferson believed that an enlightened and educated society was necessary to the preservation of a free republic, yet taxpayer revolts have decreased funding for public education. The draft has been eliminated in favor of an all-volunteer military so young people today do not have to face the prospect of compulsory military service. Being an American is far less costly than it was in the past.

What we have engendered is an American hedonism, exemplified by the current administration in its lucrative contracts to favored corporations and unchecked spending. We aren't even asked to pay for those contracts. GWB declared war and the Congress is funding it on credit cards.

Why would young Americans want to challenge the futility of this corrupt system? It's a time of get yours while the getting is good.

The pendulum will swing back one day, hopefully sooner than later.

The issue that Lloyd poses is a serious one. To what degree must the employer protect the employee versus the children in its care?

Violent spousal batterers have psychological problems that need to be addressed. They are not constrained by behavioral norms. They have, in the past, intruded into the spouse's workplace to effect their violence, sometimes with deadly collateral damage. A day care center must be careful to prevent such intrusions, lest their charges be witness to or the victims of violence.

As a parent, I would be very concerned with day care staff who exhibited signs of being violently abused. My concern would be for my child, not with the employee's rights.