Why does McMackin tolerate bad behavior?

Football is the one sport that is viewed, appreciated and participated by many in our communities. To have watched the Cincinnati-University of Hawaii game and witness the blatant unsportsmanlike conduct of the UH Warriors was deplorable.

For Coach Greg McMackin and his staff to allow these players to remain in the game instead of benching them was most disturbing.

Consider the message that is being projected to the up-and-coming athletes of all ages - that unsportsmanlike conduct and behavior are acceptable on the playing field.

Coach McMackin, let's make the adjustment. Imua!

Poor moral principles create economic crisis

Most of the analysis about the economic crisis tries to help us understand how and why it happened. There is, however, a perspective that needs a lot more attention; looking at the entire situation through the lens of moral principles.

Perhaps it's easier to examine the ways in which individuals and institutions become financially bankrupt than it is to identify or describe the nature of moral bankruptcy. However, if we want to engage the actual causes of our economic problems rather than simply exchange opinions about the symptoms, we need to consider character and morality.

Just a few of the many examples where morality is lacking:

» the inordinate greed that drove the collapse of the housing bubble and financial institutions;

» the unfathomable greed that justified the huge salaries and golden parachutes of corporate CEOs while the salaries and pensions of employees disintegrated;

» the misdirected greed that caused the overdevelopment of the Ewa plain without the infrastructure to support it;

» the bad decision-making that created the moral dilemma of needing to bail out car manufacturers in order to save their employees' livelihood;

» the lack of character on the part of Mesa Airlines as it tries to buy the name “;Aloha.”;

Where were and are the moral guidelines?

Car makers lost money because of regulations

Should we bail out the auto industry? Probably, because we are partially to blame for the problems it is having.

We, through our representatives in Congress, set standards and regulations that increased the cost of automobiles and forced the automakers to produce autos that Americans wouldn't buy.

It is the law of unintended consequences. The “;gas guzzler”; regulations forced the auto companies to produce small, efficient cars that few people wanted. And so the auto companies lost money. And now the auto companies are being forced to produce “;green”; cars that few people want, more lost money.

So because we are partially responsible for the problem, we have to pay to help solve it.

Big Oil should pay for bailout, not taxpayers

As a taxpayer I am surprised that none of the members of Congress had the guts to send the three automakers to Exxon and Co. to beg for a bailout. Aren't they connected?

The three guys are making gas-guzzler SUVs getting 8 miles a gallon and Exxon's harvesting a profit of $1,500 dollars per second during the last quarter. Exxon and Co. have been pretty quiet during the auto bailout. Might not be interested in sharing anything so valuable as cash.

Treating pigs poorly also can hurt people

I support the actions of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals in filing a complaint with the U.S. Department of Agriculture requesting an investigation into the deaths of 13 pigs last summer en route to Hawaii from Oakland, Calif., on Matson cargo ships (Star-Bulletin, Dec. 11). If pigs are going to be shipped from the mainland to Hawaii then they should be given the proper care en route to make sure the animals do not suffer and have the basic requirements of fresh air, food, water and veterinary care.

I wonder how many pigs arrive in Hawaii exhausted from the trip and who end up not even being able to walk off the boat. Are these “;downer”; pigs dragged to slaughter to enter the food chain? Are some of these pigs sick and diseased? If so, then this poor treatment of pigs threatens the island's food supply and can end up polluting the meat industry just like the downer cows from California last year that went into the island's school lunch program.

PETA's actions are ensuring that pigs coming to Hawaii are treated humanely. This will benefit the pigs and people who consume them.

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