whatmins,

I would kill every single whale on this planet to save one human being. There is a special place in hell for people like you.

Whatmins, too bad you're not a whale.

Stories like this show the true nature of our humanity. This little four year old girl has lost her family and people on this board squable. This is a time to focus our combined efforts to assist those in Japan as they struggle to rebuild their homes and lives. Instead of feeding the trolls of the internet with your spiteful replies take a dollar out of your pocket and donate it to a good cause. That dollar will help Manami and others like her as they move forward in their lives.

A tear falls as I write, heartbroken over the tragedy and what these people have to endure , and the special class they show as they make the best of what life can offer at the moment. All can learn life lessons from them.

As for the insensitive comment from whatmins, just an attempt to rile the masses so they may have their 5 minutes of supposed fame. I would prefer he/she would come unto me - I would gladly assist them in understanding the errors of their ways.

Peace for all you beautiful Japanese people !

Hey Sweetheart,

This is for you and you alone (i apologize that we can't seem to focus on the topic at hand and usually end up hurting others in process when what we need to be doing is healing others):

You are an amazingly strong young lady. I know life can seem bleak at times, and i know this experience is going to mold who you will forever be. but please do not let it taint you, i can see you have a strong and beautiful soul (just look at that smile!), and i know you will live an amazingly wonderful life if you don't let your past tragedies taint your day to day world. Your strength has touched me! you and your grandma will be okay sweetie, you will. Let this help create a drive to succeed, but most importantly to be happy. Strive to be happy; Seek it out, demand its presence in your life.

When life is hard i always try repeating words of inspiration. For you i keep thinking "this too shall pass" and "keep in the sunlight"

keep in the sunlight sweetie, and never lose that beautiful smile of yours.

my heart goes out to the 4 year old quake survivor. The picture with her grandmum resonates in my heart because she has a relation she can connect with, in the face of this deafening loss. To the japanese nation my thoughts are with you . You have risen from the ashes of 1945 to become an econmic giant, and i believe you will again rise to the occasion. To the young japenese who have lost parents, siblings, homes and in some cases the future, be rest asured, that the japanese nation will not gamble with its future. You will find homes, siblings and parents albeit not the ones you are used to. The nations of the developing will never abadon japan at this moment of loss and deep sorrow. Ineed we are with you in spirit and in our prayers.

This is incredibly sad. My heart aches for this little child.

The little letter was so cute but sad. I, too, hope Manami Kon's parents and younger sister are still alive and okay. She hasn't seen her entire immediate family since the quake and tsunami. She's just 4 years old. My, my. What a thing for her to go through.

I see she has her grandmother, though. At least she's not totally alone and without close family. Yet, it would be truly wonderful if Manami Kon's entire family appeared one day, soon.

This is just.....just, so sad. What a cute little thing. I'm sure there are many stories like this in Japan right now. These people seem to have a great resolve. I wish them well and hope that they can get their island back to normal quickly. Nobody deserves what happened to them. Nobody. I wish I could go over there and, somehow, help.

So heart-wrenching to see Manami-chan. Much more agonizing knowing that there are many children in Japan in the very same situation. Manami is lucky to have her grandmother, but I do hope that the parents and sister are alive somewhere. We are parents, too, and Manami-chan's plight just breaks our heart.

How truly sad. I feel for the little girl and will have her and her missing family in my prayers. A loss of this kind is hard as there is no opportunity for closure. You simply feel like the missing has left and will eventually return and the time apart wondering hurts. Lord, be with everyone touched by this situation.

I'll repost this since it was a few pages back.

jhoop56 wrote the following:

If there is a God in any of this, one would have to say he/she/it needs to treat her better. I suggest thanking such a brute is so much self-debasing tripe and speaks to a fairly twisted and repressed psyche.

No "persecution". Just not a lot of tolerance for inanity -- and not a great inclination to extend a waiver for responsible and sympathetic behavior to those who would leverage tragedy to promote a religious agenda.

I'm confused. You say you are not trying to persecute the faithful or those that believe in God, yet you turn right around call it inanity? While I am not super religious myself, I don't think it is very productive to bad mouth or dismiss the feelings and beliefs of others. Despite what you may think, there are those that DO find comfort in their faith when faced with immense tragedy. Why are you so against anyone suggesting that this child look to her faith for comfort, if it was something that worked for them? Is it not in our nature to try to make suggestions to those in need based on what worked for ourselves? Granted looking toward a higher being for some sort of comfort and understanding may not be possible for this little girl. But, don't call the effort or mere suggestion inane or supporting a fairytale just because that is what you think it is. Why not let this little girl and others like her try whatever they need to, to move past this tragic event? And if that means praying to God, then so be it. To many, their faith is very powerful and very real. Just because you can't see it or understand it doesn't mean that it is a pointless act. Nor does the mentioning of a higher power necessarily a push to convert someone or further a religious agenda. I find it very interesting that you seem to automatically draw the conclusion that the religious have to be up to something when they dare mention the existence of a God. You may believe that those that are religious are short sighted, but you sound like you are too.

I pray not only for all of those affected by this tragedy but for those insensitive and non-believers who use their personal agendas to attack others. Give it a rest!

No one can prove the "GOD" thing or disprove it until we die and then it's too late to pass on the truth. So let us believe as we will with no hard feelings for those who are of differant opinions.

I think most of us can feel for the loss of life and tremendous sorrow that the people of Japan are suffering. Help, not talk is what they need.

i'm sitting here looking at my 4 1/2 year old granddaughter and i

could never see her without her parents or me as i have her 2/3 of the time.

this little girl in japan doesn't even know what is going on right now and is scared.

This is heartbreaking. I hope her pain diminishes with time.

Well, if that lead picture doesn't bring a tear to your eye nothing will.  -s

I had to close my door while I cried for this little girl this morning in my office. As a father of a little girl, that picture of Manami sitting alone and looking out to the sea perhaps looking for glimpse of her parents with that innocent hope of finding her parents....it breaks my heart. On a human level, whatever agendas people have, seeing this tragedy through this child's eyes has to inspire us to be better than we really are. It puts me to shame for all the discontent that I can muster up in my own life when I see this innocent child simply hoping to see her mother again. From every parent, we sincerely hope she finds her family.

From Korea, our deepest prayers

I think I have something in my eye.

The heroes in this story are grandma and the little girl, and the rescuers out there working to save lives.

The religious trolls and the PETAs are not heroes in any sense of the word...

What a sweet child. My prayers go with this poem. Feel free to share for Manami's sake, so long as it is not used for profit.

Tears Rim the Pacific
For Manami Kon

"Dear Mommy, I hope you’re still alive,"
She writes, and tears rim the Pacific in her eyes.
At times, tremors still ripple the child's frame.
"Are you okay?"

Her grandma and her pink sweater
Keep her warm
And hold her close when she
Takes refuge in their arms.

She can still laugh,
And scrunch her nose and eyes,
And shake the short black hair that frames her face
As she and grandma grin and clasp hands.

Her baby-fat fingers grip the pencil
And, with the patience of a child,
Scrawl lines of hopeful life where older bones
Would labor in despair.

Her grandma and her pink sweater
Keep her warm
And hold her close when she
Takes refuge in her arm,

Hiding the tears that pour
From the tear in her heart—
From the tears at the Pacific’s rim:
"Dear Mommy, I hope you’re still alive."

No article ever touched me as much as this. This little girl is facing the worst challenge any child should ever go through. I wish there was some way to comfort her or help to understand this tragedy, but lets face it I do not even fully understand it my self. I wish her luck and it is with the greatest compassion that I wish her strength to face the reality that seems to be her fate. I trust that someday because of this event she will overcome it and become a beacon of strength to all those who have or will suffer as she did. And to those of you who have taken issue with the comment left by the misguided PETA supporter please do not take any more time to comment on that post. It only detracts from the real story and validates the posts aim at getting your attention. Also, to the writer of the post Whatmins you would not condemn a wolf for killing an elk to feed her hungry pups. You would not condemn a cat for eating a mouse to survive a harsh winter. But for some reason you would condemn a person or a entire country of people for surviving as they were tought many generations ago. Are we so advanced as a people that we no longer require animals to survive? And if so then how do you think we got that way? To deny our ability or legitimacy to kill and consume is to deny our place in the food web and to do that is denying that we ever survived by killing and consuming just like others creatchers on this planet. It was not that long ago when the skills that these people still practice were the very things that allows us to sit back and be comfortable enough to have supper markets where we can make better choices as to what we eat. However in a tragedy like the one their facing I hope their are enough people there who still remember how to survive of the land the way we used to, because the food may run out soon and the only ones to survive may be the ones who still remember how to get food from the whales. If that is the case I wish them good hunting so that they can survive to teach the next generation how to survive if the stores are out of edable food, the water is contanimated, your shelter is destroyed and your cut off from help. Those people you hate may be the ones you celebrate for keeping you alive with the skills you strive to forget.

This poor child could be the poster child for HOPE in such a devastatingly sad situation.

Sorry to stray off topic; apparently I've missed some really inappropriate comments made earlier, judging from the reactions of many commenters. All I can say is these attention whores will only get as much of a rise from us as we give them, and also, I'm saddened enough just from the disasters themselves, I'm glad I wasn't online earlier to see what coldhearted emptiness these fools left for others to see. Karma remembers...

My heart aches to comfort this child, and despite the ever lengthening odds, I hope that a miracle could happen.

If it can't and her mother is lost, as I must resignedly fear, I would her support from loving relatives.

If they all perished, then I hope that the Japanese government can see to her education.

I have not been able to stop crying for this little girl...I wish I had the power to stop sadness and pain in all the children in the world. They don't deserve to suffer!! I can't even imagine what these people are going through. My grandson is half korean and he has the most wonderful smile..so I see him in this little girl and feel so sad if he were the one going through her pain. I pray that God give her a happy life with her grandmother and that her grandmother lives a long time until she grows up to be an adult..it would se sad if she was left an orphan twice in her life! I will keep you in my prayers and as I am sure thousands will too. Take care little one. God knows your needs and he will provide for you!