New York City-- A New York City police officer made news around the world recently. Not for solving a crime or showing courage in the line of fire. He simply showed a warm side that most of us don't associate with a police officer.
Larry DePrimo is a 25 year old police officer with two years experience. A tourist from Arizona, who is also in law enforcement, witnessed DePrimo providing a homeless man with a pair of boots and socks.
The tourist then posted the story on the NYC Police Department's Facebook page. The story went viral after that.
It's amazing how social media can spread a story so fast and to so many places. There have been comments from around the world on the Facebook page. Media entities around the country have covered this story to some degree.
It's great PR for the NYCPD. Something that they don't always enjoy.
Most of the comments have been positive, although there are a few negative comments out there. Some people suggest that the homeless man is running a scam, and that he has done this before.
Even if he is running a scam, I don't think that changes the story. The point is that the cop took it upon himself to do a kind act without anything in return. I think that is remarkable and makes for a great story. And in perfect time for the Holiday Season!
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Thursday, November 15, 2012
B.P. to Award Billions in Fines and Restitution
The oil giant B.P. plead guilty to felonies that will cost the company billions stemming from the 2010 oil spill in the gulf of Mexico.
The penalties are the biggest ever levied by the U.S. Justice Department. But this is not the end of the road for B.P. The company still faces pollution charges from the government.
In addition to fines, B.P. was ordered to pay $4.5 billion in restitution to the families of the 11 workers that were killed ,and businesses that suffered losses from the spill.
If found negligent, the company is facing an estimated $20 billion dollars in fines for violating the Clean Water Act. B.P. believes that they weren't negligent in causing the spill and plan to fight the case in court.
Personally, I think that it's about time that the federal government took action against giant companies such as B.P. It's not that I'm against big companies that are making big profits. I feel that companies such as this become so large that the think they are untouchable. And maybe they are.
It's nothing for B.P. to write a check for $4.5 billion. We all know how gas prices are. They have become so large that they take risks that lead to disasters such as this. It's all part of the operation. Unfortunately, it ruins our environment, and in this case, people were killed in the process.
What are your thoughts on the decision? What would you like to see happen in the case for violating the Clean Water Act?
B.P. is the largest oil company in the Gulf which makes me wonder how future decisions in this case will affect oil prices. Let me guess....They'll go up. It's always something that causes the oil prices to exceed $4 dollars a gallon.
The penalties are the biggest ever levied by the U.S. Justice Department. But this is not the end of the road for B.P. The company still faces pollution charges from the government.
In addition to fines, B.P. was ordered to pay $4.5 billion in restitution to the families of the 11 workers that were killed ,and businesses that suffered losses from the spill.
If found negligent, the company is facing an estimated $20 billion dollars in fines for violating the Clean Water Act. B.P. believes that they weren't negligent in causing the spill and plan to fight the case in court.
Personally, I think that it's about time that the federal government took action against giant companies such as B.P. It's not that I'm against big companies that are making big profits. I feel that companies such as this become so large that the think they are untouchable. And maybe they are.
It's nothing for B.P. to write a check for $4.5 billion. We all know how gas prices are. They have become so large that they take risks that lead to disasters such as this. It's all part of the operation. Unfortunately, it ruins our environment, and in this case, people were killed in the process.
What are your thoughts on the decision? What would you like to see happen in the case for violating the Clean Water Act?
B.P. is the largest oil company in the Gulf which makes me wonder how future decisions in this case will affect oil prices. Let me guess....They'll go up. It's always something that causes the oil prices to exceed $4 dollars a gallon.
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Berg Concedes Senate Spot to Heitkamp After Brutal Campaign
Democrat Heidi Heitkamp won the tight Senate race against republican Rick Berg, who conceded on Wednesday. Many believed that Berg was going to win the election with little contest.
The final tally has Heitkamp defeating Berg by less than 3,000 votes. The win was crucial for the democrats to gain control of the U.S. Senate where they now hold 53 seats to the 45 the republicans have.
I wasn't surprised by how close this race was. Both candidates were campaigning hard for the last three months. It was impossible for a North Dakota resident to go through a day without hearing an advertisement from these two candidates.
It became one of the worst campaigns I have witnessed in terms of slander. I'm not sure exactly who started the war, but I'm glad that it ended yesterday.
I find it to be depressing the way politicians are running their campaigns today. Sure, using the opponents faults to gain votes isn't a new strategy, but with social media the candidates are reaching more people, and more often.
Was anyone else as annoyed with this race as I was? Did you notice that the presidential election became this way?
I thought that the presidential election was tame compared to the North Dakota Senate race.
All the arguing and negative campaigning had no influence on my decision. Nothing that either candidate said or reported swayed my decision in the vote. I voted based on the issues that are facing the state, and I considered it choosing the lesser of two evils.
Why do we as voters have to be continually subjected to the democrat/republican fight? I know that if I don't like it, I can vote for an independent. But is that really doing anything? The independent isn't going to win the race in most cases.
I think that voters deserve something better than what we just saw from Heitkamp and Berg. I'd love to ask that question to Berg and Heitkamp. But they would probably argue about who started it.
The money that was used to display the negative ads throughout the state could have been put to use with a number of deserving charities. I guess that not everyone's parents taught them to play nice.
The final tally has Heitkamp defeating Berg by less than 3,000 votes. The win was crucial for the democrats to gain control of the U.S. Senate where they now hold 53 seats to the 45 the republicans have.
I wasn't surprised by how close this race was. Both candidates were campaigning hard for the last three months. It was impossible for a North Dakota resident to go through a day without hearing an advertisement from these two candidates.
It became one of the worst campaigns I have witnessed in terms of slander. I'm not sure exactly who started the war, but I'm glad that it ended yesterday.
I find it to be depressing the way politicians are running their campaigns today. Sure, using the opponents faults to gain votes isn't a new strategy, but with social media the candidates are reaching more people, and more often.
Was anyone else as annoyed with this race as I was? Did you notice that the presidential election became this way?
I thought that the presidential election was tame compared to the North Dakota Senate race.
All the arguing and negative campaigning had no influence on my decision. Nothing that either candidate said or reported swayed my decision in the vote. I voted based on the issues that are facing the state, and I considered it choosing the lesser of two evils.
Why do we as voters have to be continually subjected to the democrat/republican fight? I know that if I don't like it, I can vote for an independent. But is that really doing anything? The independent isn't going to win the race in most cases.
I think that voters deserve something better than what we just saw from Heitkamp and Berg. I'd love to ask that question to Berg and Heitkamp. But they would probably argue about who started it.
The money that was used to display the negative ads throughout the state could have been put to use with a number of deserving charities. I guess that not everyone's parents taught them to play nice.
Thursday, November 1, 2012
4,000 BC Unearthed
A prehistoric town has officially been unearthed in Eastern Bulgaria. "Vasil Nikolov, a professor from Bulgaria's National Institute of
Archaeology, said the stone walls excavated by his team near the town of
Provadia are estimated to date between 4,700 and 4,200 B.C. He said the
walls, which are 6 feet high and 4 ½ feet thick, are believed to be the
earliest and most massive fortifications from Europe's prehistory."
Previously it was widely accepted that Damascus was the worlds oldest city, however since the excavation which, started in 2005, on the town in Bulgaria, remains have confirmed that this is now the oldest recorded town in the world.
There were many buildings and depth to this unearthed town, two story homes, fortified wall enclosing the buildings, pottery copper needles, etc all suggest that the town was lucrative and may have produced salt from the sea as a major commodity. They boiled brine from salt springs in kilns, baked it into bricks,
which were then exchanged for other commodities with neighboring
tribes.
This information makes one think, what else are we going to continue to learn and find from our past, seeing that there is something this amazing unearthed in this era is astounding. I think that there is a lot to be found, and that we are just at the tip of the ice berg, and only after we continue to dig will we really come to understand where and who we came from.
I also find it interesting how times change and how what we truly value changes dramatically. In this day and age we want money, the more money that we have the more power we appear to have. However, back in 4,000 BC salt, which this town appears to be a big producer of, was in high demand and was seen at that time as the most valuable commodity on the market.
Hopefully Vasil Nikolov and his team of excavators are able to get the funding needed to continue their project, and will keep finding new artifacts and learn as much as they can about our ancestors.
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