Photo Credit: Thomson200 Talented linebacker Brian Banks spent more than five years behind bars for a crime he didn’t commit. Not only was his freedom gone, but his chances at a pro-football contract evaporated after a woman claimed that Banks had raped her. In a story from KCBS-TV (May 24, 2012), “Banks was 16 years old when he was arrested...

In war, no one’s hands are clean. Whether by “boots on the ground,” or a bomb dropped by a MQ-9 Reaper drone, the innocent always become casualties. Nonetheless, before I start to unwind my ethical opinion about the use of military drones, I want to begin with a few basic facts. According to a breakdown in The Washington Post by...

Do attacks by armed drones do more harm than good? That’s the question posed in Room for Debate (Sept. 25, 2012), a regular column in The New York Times. “A new study,”Debate writes, “found that because of the many unintended civilian casualties, U.S. drone attacks against terrorist targets in Pakistan have been an effective recruiting tool for extremists, but have not been effective in...

Drones – unmanned aerial vehicles – seem to be everywhere in the news these days. Attending a recent fireworks show, I spotted something with blinking lights sitting in the same position in the sky. After watching it for more than twenty minutes, the blinking object descended into the hands of a waiting operator. It was a drone. In order to...

“Journalists should be honest, fair and courageous in gathering, reporting and interpreting information.” – Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics Robert “Alex” Green, reporter and editor of the Bryan College newspaper, The Triangle, said that his teachers taught him to tell the truth, and that’s what he did. After the Christian school officials killed his story detailing that one of...

Kiss rocker Gene Simmons may be master of his hard-rock domain, but when it comes to off-the-cuff remarks about the U.S. tax system, he’s, well… you decide. In an interview with the San Diego Union-Tribune (July 4), Simmons, boasting of his wealth, said, ” ‘I have been part of the 1 percent for the past 30 years.’… “What’s it like being part...

This caught my attention on several levels: 1) Having known a few researchers, I always had a high opinion for the level of integrity. They are focused on results, yes, but the right results; 2) Once again we have another example where money – a lot of money – is available, so is the possibility of fraud; 3) The shocking...

September 19, 1968: Detroit Tigers vs. New York Yankees. The Tigers had already sowed-up the American League pennant and were leading the Yanks 6-1 in the top of the eighth inning when Mickey Mantle comes to the plate. Mantle had not homered for several weeks. He was tied with fellow Yank Jimmie Foxx for third on the list for most...

The stories in this month’s Take could make a zany Mel Brooks comedy if they weren’t, sadly, true. Donald Sterling Redux – The dichotomy that is Donald Sterling – the embattled owner of the Los Angeles Clippers with an intolerant mouth – just gets worse. During one court appearance, Sterling and (estranged/not estranged?) wife Shelly “had a poignant exchange,” The New York Times writes...

Washington politics has become a bad opera – tedious, score-settling bad opera where each side reacts like a soccer player who falls to the ground, grabs a body part and moans loudly so the official will call a foul. On June 16, the New York Times writes that “The Ways and Means chairman, Representative Dave Camp… wrote a letter to President Obama...