The year of the blog

A quote from Japan Times:

Merriam-Webster, the U.S.dictionary, recently declared the "blog" the most looked-up term on its Internet site this year. Blog, now happily free of quotation marks, denotes "a Web site that contains an online personal journal."
According to a blog-watching dot-com named Technorati, the number of blogs in existence is 5 million. The wonder is how lively, informative and influential many of those blogs are. ... A tool that gives so many private people a public voice is not likely to disappear soon.
(Cited from 27 Dec. 04 issue of Int'l Herald Tribune.)

Testimony of a "comfort woman" (Ianfu)

On the 4th of December, I attended a meeting to listen to testimonial remarks by a Korean old lady who was once a "comfort woman" or forced prostitute. The meeting was held at Hiroshima University. It was a very heart-rending occasion. Should we hold the view that humans are inherently evil? I hope not.

A Poem (translation)

My poems are my tears,
as my eyes are moistened at once
in joy and in sorrow.

Toshiko Yanagida
A 2nd generation Christian
woman in Japan

Translator: Jiro Numano

A Sign of Disappointment

I stopped going to meetings of LDS Church since G.W.Bush was reelected as I felt strong disappointment. Why? Because the Church is closely tied to America and particularly
seems to endorse the Republican Party. In addition, the statement by the Church President regarding the Iraqi War is far less than that of Pope.