Last week Sgt. Gary Stein of the United States Marine Corp was given an "other than honorable" discharge for a comment he posted on Facebook about President Obama. Stein's message on Facebook read, "Screw Obama. I will not follow all orders from him." He later remarked that he meant that he would not follow unlawful orders from the president. Stein served the country for nine years and said he no one could take the title of "Marine" away from him. Stein seemed most troubled by how just a few words ended his military career as well as affected his military benefits. His lawyer is now trying to appeal the judgment.
When one serves for the armed forces of the United States they take an oath stating that they will follow as well as respect all given orders by the Commander in Chief. However, this situation really has issues with Stein's First Amendment rights. Stein should be allowed to say whatever he wants about the president as long as it isn't life threatening. I think the major problem and why Stein was discharged was because he did not make these comments among a group of friends but instead posted it on a social media site for the entire world to see.
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
New Orlean Saints: An Unethical NFL Team
Recently the New Orleans Saints were charged by the NFL Commission of giving bounties to defensive players that hurt other opposing players. The bounties were given in different amounts of bonuses with the biggest bonuses coming from taking out opposing team quarterbacks. Some allegations date back 5 years and include playoff games against quarterbacks Kurt Warner of the Arizona Cardinals and Peyton Manning of the Indianapolis Colts. The Saints head coach has been fined $500,000 and the defensive coordinator has been fired.
It would seem that hitting players as hard as you can would be okay in the professional sports like the NFL but it's not like the "old days." Today retired players are fighting injuries (concussions and broken bones) that in some cases have been life threatening. It's one thing to tackle a player as best as possible but not with the intent to seriously injure. The Saints have disgraced the NFL for doing what was done. In all, the organization is very unethical and it will be a long road to recovery after what they have done.
It would seem that hitting players as hard as you can would be okay in the professional sports like the NFL but it's not like the "old days." Today retired players are fighting injuries (concussions and broken bones) that in some cases have been life threatening. It's one thing to tackle a player as best as possible but not with the intent to seriously injure. The Saints have disgraced the NFL for doing what was done. In all, the organization is very unethical and it will be a long road to recovery after what they have done.
Monday, April 23, 2012
Dallas Cowboys Stabbing: Harmony Over Truth
An issue that occurred 10 years ago is re-emerging back into the public eye, but now with a new story. In 2002, at a training camp in Wichita Falls, Texas, for the Dallas Cowboys a player received a large gash in his neck and was said to have occurred because of horseplay. According to local sources and those involved in the event Offensive Lineman Everett McIver was stabbed by teammate Michael Irvin, leaving a "blood-shooting" two-inch gash in his neck. The original story given by the Dallas Cowboys and Owner Jerry Jones was, "No comment. It was an internal issue and was solved internally."
After recently hearing the truth now rising to the surface, one would ask why it wasn’t given a decade ago. Harmony over truth is the answer to this question. Irvin was a starting player and was already on probation for drug possession. If the truth would have emerged, Irvin would have been suspended for the season and could have faced serious jail time. Knowing this, Jones thought it would be a better idea to keep the issue quiet and pay off McIver rather than lose a starting player and receive bad press over the issue.
Was the issue handled correctly? No, not morally but ethically it was for the Dallas Cowboys. Although the organization covered up an actual violent crime, they were doing what was best to keep the harmony among the organization which in some cases was better than the truth.
After recently hearing the truth now rising to the surface, one would ask why it wasn’t given a decade ago. Harmony over truth is the answer to this question. Irvin was a starting player and was already on probation for drug possession. If the truth would have emerged, Irvin would have been suspended for the season and could have faced serious jail time. Knowing this, Jones thought it would be a better idea to keep the issue quiet and pay off McIver rather than lose a starting player and receive bad press over the issue.
Was the issue handled correctly? No, not morally but ethically it was for the Dallas Cowboys. Although the organization covered up an actual violent crime, they were doing what was best to keep the harmony among the organization which in some cases was better than the truth.
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Eat Meat: Save the Animals
In today's society, there has been an ongoing issue over whether eating meat is the ethical thing to do. Although there are good points from both sides of the argument, eating meat is truly the best thing to do for the wildlife.
The way that society is advancing and developing in such as fast rate, it is leaving less and less available land for wildlife to live on. When land becomes scarce, so does the food that these animals eat. Now growing and managing livestock is a totally different story, but hunting and fishing for wildlife is really actually helping keep the animal wildlife population at high numbers. You see, when hunters do not hunt these animals, the populations grows but at too high of rate for the current environment to support them. With less land space and more animals, the competition for food becomes a literal life or death situation. The animals fight for the food sources so much but still receive so little because of the high numbers of competition eating the same sources. In the end, the animals become emancipated and eventually die during the winter months or of starvation and disease. Keep animals alive; eat meat!
The way that society is advancing and developing in such as fast rate, it is leaving less and less available land for wildlife to live on. When land becomes scarce, so does the food that these animals eat. Now growing and managing livestock is a totally different story, but hunting and fishing for wildlife is really actually helping keep the animal wildlife population at high numbers. You see, when hunters do not hunt these animals, the populations grows but at too high of rate for the current environment to support them. With less land space and more animals, the competition for food becomes a literal life or death situation. The animals fight for the food sources so much but still receive so little because of the high numbers of competition eating the same sources. In the end, the animals become emancipated and eventually die during the winter months or of starvation and disease. Keep animals alive; eat meat!
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