Falling — Amount of pajamas allowed at Quantico Marine Base
In a move that has either drawn the ire or the chuckles of the majority of the world following politics and news, Bradley Manning, the soldier charged with leaking cables containing sensitive international data to Wikileaks, is now being forced to sleep naked while he is being held in solitary confinement at the Quantico Marine Base in Quantico, Va.
Manning, who was picked up in Baghdad and has been held at the base since July, is being kept in solitary confinement while he awaits trial for allegedly downloading classified documents and handing them over to "the enemy" (Julian Assange, in this particular case) as he worked as a military intelligent officer. Manning is being kept under a POI order, which is a less severe version of a suicide watch. The order requires that Manning be kept in his cell 23 hours each day, wear just underpants and flip flops and must be visually checked on every five minutes.
The problem here seems to be, according to Manning's attorney David Coombs, that Manning allegedly made a smart remark to those detaining him, saying sarcastically that if he wanted to kill himself, he could do it with the elastic of his underpants or using his flip flops.
Now, post-comment, Manning is being forced to strip and sleep naked every night and stand naked at attention every morning for roll call. Spokesmen for the prison say that they are not attempting to humiliate or embarrass Manning, but that these procedures are to protect him and preserve his safety. Coombs counters that this is simply a tactic being used to degrade Manning.
Not to make political commentary or judgment either way, but to Manning we must simply ask — if you're facing charges of treason, is it really the best time for sarcasm?
Rising — Followers of "Team Winning"
Charlie Sheen, apparently on a personal quest to win some sort of trophy for general lunacy, while still managing to avoid any type of medical/legal intervention, has become the central point of media focus this past week.
Sheen, who was essentially fired from his starring role on "Two and a Half Men" after he mouthed off about his bosses, has gone on a one-man media campaign to tell his side of the story — and has raised every possible media ethics question known to man.
What seems to be the trouble with Sheen is that the media at large is happy to capitalize on his rants for profits, ratings and attention. The lines of journalism ethics are becoming more and more blurred with each interview Sheen does, and no one seems to be willing to put down a foot and say, "This man is unwell and clearly needs help."
Sheen, who shares a California home with two women he refers to as his "goddesses" — a porn star and a pinup girl for a marijuana magazine — has lost privileges with his children, is unemployed, seems to have a barely functional understanding of the reality of his life, is possibly suffering from mental illness, admits to using all sorts of drugs, has allegedly threatened his ex-wives, possibly made anti-Semitic remarks against former show runners and has lost representation of a publicist, among other things ...
Now, all of the above things are alleged — there is a possibility the allegations could be false and unfounded, and that Sheen comes away smelling like a rose. That isn't the problem. The problem is the seeming adoration of a man who is possibly very unwell and no one's willingness to call him on it.