Skipping Lines: Cogent And Fallacious #4

Recently I have been looking into planning a trip to Disneyland. I love to go to Disneyland, The food is great, the atmosphere is awesome, and just the over-all feeling you get just being in the park is nearly un-matched anywhere else i've ever been. While browsing online to see which rides are open and see what days are black out days, etc, I came across a article with NBC, that says Disneyland will no longer accept disability passes in their theme parks because people are abusing them. In the past Disneyland has made available passes for people with disability's to basically by pass the entire line and go right on to the ride with out waiting, sometimes being able to skip over multiple hour wait times. Well now, Disney has decided to stop doing that.

The article talks a lot about why the company has decided to do this, it gave a brief over view of the previous pass and how you had to show basically no proof to get the pass, and that people were starting to abuse it, by either hiring people with disability's to accompany them to the park that day, or they were faking disability's to get the pass, all because they did not want to wait in line. It talks about how a few people have ruined it for everyone else. As is usually the case in the world, when certain rules or regulations have to be made all because of a handful of people. 

I have read further into this and researched some other articles, and have even called Disneyland resort to get their exact response when I ask them about the handicap pass being no longer available, and have even spoke with neighbors, who recently went to the theme park and have a disabled child. Though this article I have read does have a lot a Cogent pieces to it, I was able to discover that really, the article is full of fallacious information and simply not enough information to really be able to write a piece and put it out there for people to read as truth.

The Cogent part of this article was actually very slim. The main thing that i could even find in this article that ended up being true once I researched other things, was simply the fact that Disney is altering its policy on Disability passes. But that's where the truth stops. Yes Disney is changing the way they do things in their parks, that part of the article is true. But NO they are not doing away with the passes all together as stated in the article. Oh, and the other Cogent part of this article was the date that this new policy would be in affect. Haha. That panned out to be the correct date for this new policy that the company is implementing. 

For the Fallacious part of the article, I was able to find from multiple sources as well, that Disney has in fact changed their policy and will alter how they handle disabled people who come to their parks. The articles I have read have said that in the past, they have not required any proof of disability, but from now on will (as I was told on the phone by the resort as well). The article claims that Disney planned to just do away with the pass all together and not have any options no matter the circumstances.  They will all have a limit for how many rides you can ride, where as in the past, it was basically an unlimited fast pass. Again, in the article, they simply said there is no limit, because there is no pass.  The article made Disney out to be the villain here, and made it seem as if they were trying intentionally to target handicaps, when really all they were doing is trying to fix a much needed fixing problem. People heard Disney was doing away with the pass, and rumors started and one person said this, the other said that, and next thing you know, Disney was the villain. 

In closing, I am on Disneyland's side. What people dont understand is that Disneyland is a business. People skipping lines, paying people to take them around with a handicap pass, lying to get one of their own, that's bad for business. Disney saw this and wanted to do something about it, because it was making their company and their brand look bad. That is not what Disney is about. Disney is about as family oriented of a company that you are going to be able to find, and to have dirt bags trying to scam them out and making lines even longer for people, is not doing anyone (save the person with the pass) any favors. It's putting a bad taste in the mouths of people who have been waiting in line for 2 hours all the sudden see someone who they know is perfectly able to wait in line, walk straight to the front, show a pass, and hop on the ride before they do. Then those people who have been waiting who have witnessed this, start talking to the people they are with, and then they spread it to their family and friends on the trip, then they go home and tell people at work, or other friends and family who weren't on the trip, and then those people will tell their friends and family, and soon everyone is talking about how crappy of a place Disneyland is because they allow people to get these passes and do this and that when they are perfectly capable of waiting in line, and soon people stop wanting to go to Disneyland, which then in turn obviously makes Disneyland lose money. Its simply a never ending cycle, and its too bad because its not one Disney created on it's own, they didnt do anything to anyone or put something out there that caused backlash, it is a handful of people that took advantage of a helpful thing, but Disney is the one who pays the price, they are the ones that are affected, and because of that, they have to make new policy's and be more fair to everyone, No matter what the cost ends up being. 

Hope Solo - Freedom (Counter Argument)

It is a very interesting time in the sporting world right now. It appears that more athletes are getting in trouble, more media sources are coming out with stories, and more people are throwing each other under the bus to get the attention off of themselves. Hope Solo of the Womens National Soccer team has been involved recently in a light domestic violence dispute, in NO way should she have to be punished as severely as one like Ray Rice of the NFL has. Her case is completely different then his, or anyone elses that has been in the news recently.

Hope Solo is perhaps one of the greatest womens soccer players of all time. She is the Goal keeper for the United States, and does a fine job. As the article states, she is on the verge of breaking many records, and showing to the world just how good she is. So now that were all caught up on who Hope Solo is, let me give you a run down of the situation she has found her self in. Back in June Hope was arrested for what they are saying is a domestic violence abuse towards her sister and her nephew. The incident occurred at 4:15 am when she got into a confrontation with her sister where she alledgedly beat her and her 17 year old nephew.

Several people have spoken out against this saying that she isn't being punished, that the "system" is going too light on her and will eventually let her off the hook with this. I think they should! There is no sound evidence yet, there are so many different stories going on around it right now, like this one from the New York Post, saying there was a party at her house and she was the one being beaten. Then you read this article from USA Today and they say the police were called to her sisters house.
There are reports from her lawyer that said he isn't worried about this because she is actually the victim and once they go to court and can present the facts, this will all be blown away because all she was doing is defending her self.  People are calling for her to be suspended and banished, and fined all for something they know nothing about. Yeah the police were called, and yeah there were attacks, but the only reason this is in the spot light is because its Hope Solo, of course the media is going to put a negative spin on it, because she is famous. Because she is known, because she is rich, all of which are great ingredients for a good story. Where at on the news do you see anyone reporting that she is innocent, that her sister was just as much involved as she is, NO WHERE. You have to dig like I did to find articles which have been written that show the other side of the story.

In no way do I condone violence of any kind, I fully agree that when people do something like this, they should be punished. I  don't agree however with how athletes or famous people, when they make mistakes, everyone calls for their joba, to fine them millions of dollars, to have them kicked off teams. Why? Hope Solo who is the face of the United States Women's Soccer team, should absolutely not be kicked off the women's team because of a scuffle with her sister. Yes it was escalated to a higher level then many would have liked, but to kick her off? Can any of you even name another person on the Womens Soccer team?  She brings in millions, the fans love her, and she wins ball games for team USA. So for people to say that her image is tarnished, or to throw her off the team, is just ridiculous. She made a mistake, and she will pay for it when she goes to her court hearing in November. But to say that she needs a similar punishment as the one Ray Rice got for his domestic abuse charges is just simply ridiculous.  What Ray Rice did was knock his wife out cold, and then drag her out of the elevator. Hope Solo did not even come close to that. His incident was caught on tape and shown to the world. Her incident was seen by three people and was arguably self defense as her lawyer said.

Yes I do believe all sports, whether its the NBA, NFL, MLB, or women's Soccer, all should be on the same page when it comes to off field issues like this. They all need to set standards, and be examples because they are in the public eye, they are being watched by millions of people. So they need to be ready be in the spot light and be able to be on their best behavior at all times,  BUT they are human too. They are going to make mistakes, and slip up, and leave it to the good old puplic fan base who know nothing about the situation to call for their heads. Ridiculous! Can the sporting world hold up higher standards and make sure their stars are held accountable? Absolutely. But each incident is going to be different. You cant draw a line and say okay, if you did this and this, than your punishment is this, if you do this and this, then your punishment will be this. You just cant do that. It has to be done on a case by case basis. And a prime reason for that is because if everyone got the same punishment for the same crime in sports, then what your saying is Hope Solo deserves to be fired, released, fined, and put to jail, just like how they have done with Ray Rice. The two had completely different incidents, and are being handled as such. So for one to claim they are similar and deserve the same punishment is so off base. The only thing the two incidents have in common is they can both be considered domestic assault cases and that's it.

Until we know the facts, and until we know the story. People need to stop casting opinions and making claims on things they don't know about. The reason Hope Solo's case is being handled different then Ray Rice, is because it is different. They don't deserve the same punishment, they don't deserve to be put in the same category and they shouldn't ever be compared to each other because they so different on so many levels. Kicking Hope Solo off the team will do more harm then good. For her, her family, and the United States. No one in the sporting world seems to care she made a mistake, or they might care but not enough to call for her job, so why should we, who know no details, who don't know Hope Solo, and know nothing about the situation, sit back and decide she shouldn't be allowed to play Soccer anymore? If the people running the Womens Soccer team felt they needed to punish her the way the NFL punished Ray Rice, then they would have. Obviously they are also of the thinking that the two incidents are very different and should be handled as such.

The Perfect Resume... Does it Exist? Google thinks so... Cogent Falacious #3

We have all had to create one at some point or another. Some have very good ones, some have very bad ones. Some have them with lots of experience, others have very little. What am I talking about? Resumes! How many of us have spent hours and hours working to "perfect" our resume? I got an email from my cousin the other day who always helps me update my resume and make it look good, he sent me a link from an HR boss at google, who outlined what he considers a perfect resume, and what he looks for on them with applicants. You can read the article here.

The article talks about how for a person to have a perfect resume, they need to do A, B, C, and D. It goes over what people are looking for on the resume, why some people get call backs and others do not, it offers reasons as to why some people who think their resume is either really good, or really bad, feel this way. Its a different view on the resume, and one that interested me because I am often having to update my resume, and add and remove things, and make this change or that change to make sure that it is up to date and how I would like it to be.

Laszeo Bock, who is the former Senior Vice President of People at google, mentioned a few things that he looked for in Resume's. It's hard to argue with what he says, simply because it is Google, one of the biggest company's in the world, so surely this man knows what he is talking about right? There was a lot of different Cogent information in this article. He mentioned that if your resume has typo's, it will likely quickly get disregarded. If it is too long, they wont waste their time going through it, if it is not formatted simply enough, they will trash it, and if as their going through it, and they are finding that you are mentioning personal information about the company you previously worked for, they will think you are un loyal and dishonest, whether your intent was to slander the previous company or not, that is how they will view it. You can see all his reasons for those comments here.

All of these are good points and great tips and for the most part are very beneficial. However, what I didn't like in the article is the way he painted it to be that this is the only way a resume should be made, if you do any of these things wrong or different, you don't stand a chance at getting a job. Though that might be true at Google, it is not always going to be the case. There are more companies out there than just Google, there are different people who look at resumes, who look for different things and are more open to things and less open to things, it is always going to depend on the company and will always depend on the person who is reading the resume and making that decision.

For the most part, the article didn't have a lot of Falacious stuff in it, other then it kind of generalized all companies and like I said above, made it seem like there is only one way to do it and one way only. I personally know that is not the case. I have worked several jobs, and my resume has been different each time. I have turned in long ones, short ones, good looking ones, very plain ones. To me, it really depended on the job I was going for, and what I felt I needed to cater my resume to, and I feel that's what this article left out, was it doesn't all have to be one way, and really, isn't that the case for all things? There isn't hardly ever just one way. Everyone has a way, a view, a opinion, etc. In the case of resume's, I don't think its a bad thing to take Bock's suggestions considering who he works for and what he's been able to accomplish professionally, but I also don't think he know what every single company in the world looks for in a resume.

The media will turn anything on anything. - Cogent Falacious #2

I love sports, I love controversy in sports, this story that I have come across while going through my facebook feed was very interesting and contained both sports and controversy. This blog will be different then my previous ones, and if you are sensitive, I don't suggest continuing to read unless you can continue with out taking any personal offense to this. As I am no expert on this matter at, just a man simply reading an article and writing about it, probably very similarly to what the person who wrote the article did.

As most of us are aware there has been some "terrorist" type incidents going on lately involving our country. A recent one occurred in Oklahoma where a man who they say is Islamic and practicing that religion came into a work place and be-headed his co worker. You can read the article about that here. It is a truly tragic story of a lady who's life was taken to quickly by a senseless act from a man with something to prove. This man who's name is Alton Nolen claims to only of been doing that which his god had asked him to do, he was making a sacrifice to his god to show his loyalty. Whatever the reason he claims, something like that is not going to go over easy in our country, and shouldn't go over easy anywhere in the world.

So how does this connect with sports? In a game last sunday there is a player that plays for the Kanas City Chiefs of the NFL. His name is Husain Abdullah. The controversy started when he caught a touchdown pass, and immediately dropped to the ground in Islamic prayer. The article can be found here. When he did this, the ref's of the game immediately through a penalty flag. Citing un sportsman like conduct. After the game, all the speculation begins. Some say he was penalized because it was an Islamic prayer, some say it was because of his name, some say because it was religion in general. Speculation ran wild with it for days until the NFL came out with a statement saying that he should not have been penalized for the prayer, that he was with in his celebration rights to do that and they apologized.

The problem people saw with this, was that just 4 days prior, a man was beheaded by the Islamic man in Oklahoma, who practiced the same thing this football player did. And now this man on the chiefs performs this prayer and the people lose it and start trying to make all kinds of ties to this man and the man who beheaded the lady. Click here for more on how they are trying to relate the two incidents.

The article points out a lot of things that make you wonder, things such as Alton and Husain, both practiced the same religion, they both worshiped the same god, they both attended a retreat type thing in Boston near the time of the Boston Bombing, they both were big followers of the same Islamic leader, they both supported a lot of the same beliefs. All of which are Cogent, and accurate bits of information. What this article does and what the media has done with this article is make them seem like they are more connected then needs be.

The timing of this mans prayer on the football field was obviously poor, but just because he does that, does not mean him and this man from Oklahoma knew each other. Like the article insinuates. There is so many bits of Falacious information in this article that it really has opened my eyes to what they media will do to create a story. I in no way at all support the man who beheaded the women in Oklahoma, but I also have no problem with the man playing for the Chiefs offers up a prayer to his god. Many athletes do that all the time, people just blew it in the wrong direction because of what happened recently in Oklahoma and because they believe in a different god, so he must be intentionally trying to bring harm to people right? Contrary to what the article makes you believe, and don't get me wrong there are some truths and some eerie similarities to the two people. But that's just it, they are similarities. They have not met, like the article suggests, they don't talk, they haven't run into each other, they don't have a history together. All of which the article suggests, and what that suggestion has done is create buzz around the nation and even the world about a story that shouldn't even be. All because a man offered a prayer, he is all the sudden related to a terrorist.

I found this article and this whole situation very interesting. Its finally showing me that the world really will do what ever it takes to create news and to cause drama instead of letting people just live their lives. This story has been interesting to follow to see what the NFL has said about it, to see what other media outlets have said, what the player for the Chiefs has said, and just to see everyones take on it. Everyone seems to be on the same side of the table (that they have no ties to each other, simply that they have the same religion), but then this article comes up and people act like they forgot how to use their brains.

A Heated Rivalry - Cogent and Falacious #1

I was catching up on my sports articles for the day, and I came across this story on  KSL.com, and it just said "mendanhal takes another jab at utes". Me, knowing who mendanhal is {BYU'S coach), was naturally interested in the article because, as you would have guessed it, do not like the utes. So I clicked on the article to see exactly what it meant by "takes another jab". What I found was kind of comical but also a ring of truth, but a lot of speculation as well.

BYU and Utah have played each other once a year in football for decades. One of the greatest rivalry games in the nation, that most people that live in Utah, are into for one reason or another. This is the first time in decades that the two teams wont be playing each other in a season. Many fans are very up set by this, because its become such a fun and important game to the fans of these two teams. Many want to know why. Let the speculation begin...

The article talks about the upcoming BYU vs Utah State game, and they ask Bronco how important the game is and his response was "Considering only one in-state team will play us this year, it's a huge game," said Mendenhall. "It's probably the featured game in-state. It means a lot. The two teams honor tradition. This particular game matters a lot to both teams". So what this article did now was take that comment and turn it into Bronco calling out the University of Utah for choosing to not play the coug's this year and choosing to avoid a possible loss to BYU in order to pad down their schedule and secure an easy win. All from that comment is what these people are saying.

There are many opinions as to why this game was not played. It is funny to look at the comments from people on all different kinds of articles about this game not being played this year. People choose to say and do and think so many different things and reasons as to why this game isn't played. BYU fans say its because they utes are afraid and don't want to risk a possible loss, where as ute fans will say that BYU is too easy of a game and they want to schedule a team that will be more meaningful if they win.

I found the article to be pretty cut and dry when it comes to Cogent and Falacious, I do think there were things that were valid in this debate that was supposed to be a question about a Utah State game that turned into apparently insulting the U. I do think its funny the U decides just one day they don't want to play BYU anymore and gives a terrible reason for it. Which the article makes mention of. I do think that Bronco was slightly taking a jab at the utes football team and program for copping out of playing them this year. I do think that the person who wrote this, and the people who comment don't know the full story. Yes all these little things probably play a little part, but the fallacious parts of this article to me, is the fact that we simply don't know the full story on this. Im sure there are business reasons behind the decision to not play the game as well, its not just a "we don't like BYU so we're not going to play them this year" type of thing like many BYU fans are making it to be, but I also don't think its as easy as "we want a more meaningful win than one from BYU". Like I said there are more truths to the story and the situation then the people, the fans and the writers want to admit or even care to consider for that matter.

Did the article have truth to it? Did Bronco call out the Utes? Or was he simply making a comment about the up coming game this weekend? What do you think? Whether you like either team, or like football, it's actually kind of an interesting read considering the drama behind it that the media is set on causing for one reason or another. There were definitely some truth's, but definitely some fabricated thoughts and opinions on the issue. As there usually always is...

Every Penny

Kobe Bryant earns 26 million dollars per year, and he deserves every penny.    Every year athletes get paid more and more money, and every year, more and more people start to complain that they're paid too much. According to a New York times study and survey, in the 1980's, the average sports star was paid 90,000, with the highest salary belonging to an NFL quarterback who made 160,000. Salaries rose from there in 90's according to a report from the Sun the average salary was 422,000 dollars, which is an 18% raise from what it was in the 80's. Fast forward to today's time and the average athlete is paid 4 million dollars.
                      Why shouldn't they be paid that much money? Also keeping in mind, that is just  the average. Superstars like Kobe Bryant and LeBron James are making over 20 million dollars per year. They deserve it! Take Kobe Bryant for example, he has a shoe company, he has merchandise, he has a clothing line, he brings in hundreds of millions of dollars to the Los Angeles Laker franchise, why shouldn't he be paid hansomly for it?  He is the reason people go see the Lakers play, people are buying that particular shoe because its Kobe endorsed.
                        Kobe and LeBron are not the only ones making this much money, there are dozens of athletes from each sport that are making millions of dollars per year. What doesn't make sense, is why so many people have a problem with how much they are getting paid. A good handful of these athletes do a lot of good with their money, they have charity's, they help fun programs, they make donations. All with their own personal money. It's not Kobe's fault that he is in a profession that is able to pay him that much money. It is not Kobe's fault that people want to buy his shoe. On Kobe's shoe alone last year, Nike was able to profit 50 Million dollars according to Forbes annual listings.
                        Understanding that people like police officers and firemen, and school teachers, many would argue and agree that they are underpaid, and rightfully so. They are underpaid, but just because they are underpaid, does not mean someone who makes more than them is over paid, even if that over pay is in the millions of dollars range. Most people who choose their profession know what they are getting paid, they know what the average salary is. Yes, not many people can just wake up and decide they are going to be in the NFL or NBA, or that that is going to be their career, but they do decide if they want to be a police officer, or a store manager, or a janitor, or work for the city, you get the point that is being made, people choose their profession, and have no right to get up set with someone who chooses or is able to do something different and is paid more for it.
                  There is a price that comes with fame though and a price that comes with money. Take the current scandal going on right now with Ray Rice who is an NFL superstar, bringing in millions of dollars per year. How many people do things like this every day with no consequence? People like Ray Rice who are in the news every day, have to put on an image to the public. Ray Rice along with many other stars with a lot of money, have made mistakes that have been highlighted in the media and all over the news for things they have done that are more common then people think. Ray Rice was charged with hitting his wife. He has been fined, released from his team and has been indefinitely suspended by the NFL. How many cases of this do you know of personally where a guy you knew hit his wife? Did that person lose his job, have to go to jail? Pay a fine? Maybe in some cases yeah, but how many have gone un-attended to? They have to live their lives a certain way and act in a certain manner, because when things like what happened happen, it becomes a national story line, where as you wont hear a single word on the news about it when it happens to your neighbor down the street. So yeah, they get a lot of money, but it comes with a very steep price, and very high consequences when things go wrong. It's not all just fun and games.
            Athletes put in a lot of work, they sign contracts, and in those contracts there are certain stipulations, so many promotional appearances are required, so many games played are required, autograph signings for fans, interviews after each game, and so on, all seem little prices to pay for the million dollar pay checks they are getting, These people have lives too, they have family's, they have hobbies, they have needs and wants just like anyone else, but they are held to a much higher standard then most because of the position they are in.
               If you had a job, and every person that ever came to see the company, or paid the company, was there paying to see you, and you were the reason that company was doing so well, dont you think that you would want to be paid for that? And not just paid,  but paid well. If you were the main reason your company maid 100 million dollars that year, wouldn't you want a good chunk of that? And rightfully so, you deserve it, you are what the people are paying for so why not get a piece of the pie at the end of the day?
                Athletes get paid a lot of money, their is no debate about that. They do get a hard rap for it, and many choose to not recognize the good that comes from these sports stars money. They make them all out to be selfish, greedy, jerks who only want money, and though that might be the case for a lot of them, it does not encompass all of them, and it certainly doesn't determine whether an athlete or any person for that matter should make 1 million or 20 million dollars. We the people, the fans, the merchandise purchasers, the game attenders, we are the ones giving them that much money. We have absolutely nothing to complain about.