How do you restore a society gone so far wrong?

A story in the LA Times tells of a 'hit' on the members of a Mexican Marine's family after the Marine was involved in the take down of Mexico's most notorious drug lord. The marine was killed in the same battle that took down the drug lord. At his funeral, the marine's mother was presented the Mexican flag. Hours later, she was dead along with 2 other relatives. This is assumed to be a 'hit' on the family members.

What I don't understand is the kind of people who become 'drug lords'. Did these guys (I believe they are almost all men) grow up in poverty, get caught up in the money and then throw away all sense of humanity? My understanding is that these guys are ruthless and have no rules other than 'the strong survive'.

How do you stop people from growing up to be drug dealers or worse?

How do you stop drug lords from becoming so powerful and corrupting the society in which they live?

How do you stop the entire society from going turning into total anarchy?

I have no answers for this huge problem. I know the US "War on Drugs' has nothing to help as drug use is up and is even more pervasive. The only people making money from the war on drugs are the 'for profit' prisons in the US.

Performance enhancing drugs in sport - who uses and who doesn't?

Who uses Performance Enhancing Drugs (PEDs) in professional sports? Anyone who can get away with it, that's who.

There is too much money on the line for athletes NOT to be using PEDs. Gone are the days of Mickey Mantle making $40k per year. A-Rod is making around $25M per year.

From the advantages of recovery, to increased power, to leaner body mass and increased endurance, how can you blame the athletes for taking the drugs and getting all the money?

The concern lies with:

1. creating an uneven playing field
   
2. decreased life span (25 year olds dying of heart attacks)
3. decreased health (kidney failure)
4. decreased morality (don't use drugs say the star athletes, yet many are using themselves)
   
5. distorted body image concerns (an 18 year old boy spends hours in the gym lifting weights with minimal gain, yet his friends on juice spend less time and get better gains)

If you look at athletes from the pre-1970's era, they weren't behemoths, yet they competed at the highest levels. Sure training has come light years from the 1970's, but do they atheletes need the additional boost of PEDs?

What would you tell your young athlete to do? What would you do?

What would you do? Let the goal stand or call out the handball?

On November 18th, France’s national soccer team ties the Irish national team 1-1 on a goal that the player, Thierry Henry, after the game, stated he had directed the ball into the net with his hand. This tie enabled the French team to qualify for next year’s World Cup. A huge tournament, if you're not aware of soccer.

Closer to home, in the all-Ontario high school field hockey championships, a team was awarded a goal that proved to be the winner. The young lady who scored the goal admitted, after the game, that her foot directed the ball into the net. In field hockey, goals cannot be scored if the ball is kicked, or directed by the foot into the net.

In both cases, the referees did not catch the infraction and the ‘goals’ stood.

Some say that the calls even out and to let the referee’s decision stand.

But what if you are the player and you know the ball was directed into the net illegally? Do you have a personal obligation to tell the referee? Do you have an obligation as a team member to not say anything and let the referee decide?

Does your position change if the referee comes up and directly asks you if the goal should count?

Does it matter if it is a team sport or a individual sport?

Does it matter if the sport is being played at the professional level? An organized level (ie high school or league)? Or if it is a pick-up game, where the players referee themselves?

What would you do?

About this Tiger Woods fellow...

Tiger Woods is going to pay $5M to a woman (not his wife!) that he slept with in order to keep her quiet? Everyone is already thinking the worst. What can she say to undermine what the world is unfortunately thinking about his actions?

If I was in his shoes, I would not pay the gold digger a penny. I would put the $5M in trust for my kids or buy my wife something really sweet. Such as a small ski chalet in British Columbia or a sweet summer cottage in the Muskokas. Or better yet, ask her what she wants. Be a man and put up or get out.

Woods' agent needs to review his strategy to give Tiger some breathing room.