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"I have enjoyed the occasional well-crafted submission, but they are usually drowned in a fetid soup of blather equivalent to standing in the middle of a room as a dozen boorish people shout inanities at one another."

That's one talk show host's view of unmoderated online comments. He says it would be like him going on the radio, "sharing a news story and then allowing the first 20 random callers to rant for 30 seconds each, without the slightest filter for coherence or civility"

His solution: "Comments sections deserve to survive only in an atmosphere of accommodating, responsible supervision."

I don't think we've ever reached the "fetid soup of blather" level on our comment section, though we do some have some level of moderation. What do you think would make online comments better, or do you think they're fine the way they are?

Monday, we'll have an editorial urging the National Park Service to look into taking over management of the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford County.

Here's one of those great stupid crook stories: Guy robs a bank, posts a message to his MySpace page boasting about it, then gets busted.

The twist that makes it just a little bit more interesting? The guy's from Roanoke. Well, he was. Joseph Northington is going to have a different address for a while, now that he has pleaded guilty to robbing a South Carolina Bank back in January.

After he robbed the bank, he posted a message to MySpace that said, "On tha run for robbin a bank Love all of yall.” According to a CNET blog, his MySpace page was still up as late as this week. The status update said: "Wanted."

Some people never learn.

A majority on Roanoke City Council appears ready to part ways with long-time City Manager Darlene Burcham. They need to give the public their reasons for dissatisfaction with Burcham. For a Monday editorial, we'll cite our reasons.

Cut the toll of addictions

An extensive study of the true costs of substance abuse argues for a shift to more prevention, treatment efforts.

Police officer did his job

Rick Clark
Clark is chief of the Galax Police Department.

The role of police in American society is sometimes misunderstood; it's accepted that our role is to enforce laws and ordinances, uphold the constitutions of the Unites States and the commonwealth of Virginia. We are also charged with maintaining a safe and attractive environment in the communities we serve while working within the parameters of the law. I readily admit that having been a police officer for 33 years and a police chief for the past seven has affected the way I view things. I have followed the news after the arrest of the young lady on the Roanoke City Market for impeding a sidewalk with interest because I am familiar with the reputation that the Roanoke City Police Department and Chief Joe Gaskins enjoy with police professionals across Virginia.
Read more.

Read Friday's letters to the editor.

"Mr. President, we are rapidly approaching a moment of truth both for ourselves as human beings and for the life of our nation. Now, truth is not always a pleasant thing. But it is necessary now to make a choice, to choose between two admittedly regrettable, but nevertheless distinguishable, postwar environments: one where you got twenty million people killed, and the other where you got a hundred and fifty million people killed."

"You're talking about mass murder, General, not war!"

" Mr. President, I'm not saying we wouldn't get our hair mussed. But I do say no more than ten to twenty million killed, tops. Uh, depending on the breaks"

What are you talking about today?

Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, have genetically engineered a mouse with a human gene for language, swapping out the mouse version of the gene with a human one. And danged if it hasn't changed the way the mouse and its similarly altered rodent buddies speak.

A New York Times report explains that the experiment involves a gene, known as FOXP2, "identified in 1998 as the cause of a subtle speech defect in a large London family, half of whose members have difficulties with articulation and grammar."

The mice aren't speaking English, but the human gene has changed the sounds they make to communicate with each other - squeaking with a slight defect, perhaps?

Ok, before this becomes a new birth certificate imbroglio, let's nip the latest conspiracy theory in the bud: President Obama is not ordering Chrysler to sever relationships with dealerships owned by big Republican donors.

The Washington Examiner's editorial page editor examines the "growing furor" in a column that begins: "Evidence appears to be mounting that the Obama administration has systematically targeted for closing Chrysler dealers who contributed to Repubicans. What started earlier this week as mainly a rumbling on the Right side of the Blogosphere has gathered some steam today with revelations that among the dealers being shut down are a GOP congressman and closing of competitors to a dealership chain partly owned by former Clinton White House chief of staff Mack McLarty."

The ever-reliable numbers wonk Nate Silver puts the furor in appropriate context: Of course most of the dealerships being shutdown belong to Republican donors: "It turns out that all car dealers are, in fact, overwhelmingly more likely to donate to Republicans than to Democrats -- not just those who are having their doors closed."

Silver goes on to sum up data from donors lists showing that 88 percent of donations from those identified as car dealers went to Republicans. Only 12 percent went to Democrats. Bloggers flogging the conspiracy theory found about 92 percent of the donations from closed dealers had gone to Republicans. Damning out of context, but in light of Silver's numbers, absolutely predictable.

As Silver says, "There's no conspiracy here, folks -- just some bad math."

An upcoming editorial: The state Board of Education today accepted for review a proposal to eliminate the third-grade history SOL. Those unfamilar with the exam most likely aren't aware that Virginia's 8-year-olds must recall facts about ancient civilizations that they learned from kindergarten through third grade.

We are all for history lessons but, at that age, pupils should be sharpening their reading and comprehension skills. The other subjects will benefit.