POLICE LIFE: Death of the New York Police Officers

I was a police officer for four years where I worked as a patrolman. Later, I would serve as a United Nations Peace Keeper.  In that capacity, I served as a civilian police officer in Haiti. I trained Haitian police officers out in the field. It was similar to the work I performed in the U.S.

A while back, I met a U.S. Marine Veteran. Upon leaving the armed forces, he joined the D.E.A. We struck up a conversation while we were standing and waiting at a Sears register. He was there with his wife and he told me that he was now retired from the U.S. Marines and the Department of Drug Enforcement (D.E.A.). I told him that I had once been a police officer. We joked about the job and some of the daily turmoils. He said something that has always stuck with me. He said, "The thing with law enforcement is that; It's 90% boring, filled with paperwork and 10% sheer terror." He said, "The 10% is what causes the stress, the danger and quite possibly your life." I told him that I agreed with everything he said. I thanked him for the service to our country. We shook hands and parted company.

The police officers recently killed in New York because a mentally ill person was out for vengeance reminds me of that conversation with the veteran. The man wanted vengeance for Ferguson, among other things. Those two officers were like any other officers at work. They wanted to make it home that day, like every other day. But sometimes, the 10% sheer terror finds you as a police officer and becomes your end. Try to imagine what was going on in their minds as the man fired into their vehicle. It is not an end that anyone should have claim their lives.

As a society, there is a small percent of the population that is bad to the bone. The same comparison could be made of law enforcement. There is a small percent in law enforcement that is corrupt and lawless. One has to remember that the overwhelming numbers of people in our society are good and try to do the right thing whenever possible. The same could be and should be said of law enforcement. The fact of the matter is; if they were all bad, we'd all be in dire circumstances or in jail. It is my opinion that two good men died in the line of duty in New York. I don't know them but that is the feeling that I get from first impressions. If I'm wrong, being shot to death is not the way to deal with it. It should be handled through the justice system, even if the outcome is undesirable sometimes. The only thing that I hope for is that there are no "copy cats" to what happened in New York.

Big Oil's Panic Mode

The price of oil is down significantly. The reason is obvious enough. The supply outweighs the demand. With the U.S., Canada and others generating oil output, it is no wonder that the price of oil is down. But when this has happened in the past, the powers that be (Big Oil, OPEC) have simply reduced supply and artificially forced the price of oil to go up.

Now, here is the problem for Big Oil. With the price of oil so high which also translate into high gasoline cost, it makes sense to look for alternatives. The electric car is coming and there is no doubt to that. The use of electric powered engines is inevitable. And, it won't be for just vehicles. Big Oil knows this or at least can see the writing on the wall.

In an effort to slow this down and/or bring it to a halt, Big Oil has decided to let the price of oil remain at all time lows. It's been said that OPEC would be o.k. with $50- $60 dollar barrel of oil. Remember, the price use to be over $100 dollars. By making oil cheap and there by it's byproducts (gas), Big Oil is extending the life of it's product. It is attempting to make us more dependent as before on it's product. The question is will it work. With the majority of vehicles throughout the globe powered by gas, It will probably work. The infrastructure for electric vehicles is not here yet and if Big Oil has it's way, it won't be feasible. When the Model-T was first made, there were electric vehicles then also. One could say, Big Oil won the fight over what form of energy would be used to run vehicles then. The same situation exist today and Big Oil is employing the same tactics as then to win this 21st century fight. The question is will they win or will electric power be the winner this time around. Who knows, it may end up being a tie and both forms of energy co-exist. We'll have to wait and see.