Bill Howe Family of Companies Named Finalist in Better Business Bureau Torch Awards for Marketplace Ethics for Second Year in a Row

Esteemed San Diego plumber, Bill Howe, and his wife Tina Howe, proudly accept recognition of their continued efforts towards ethical marketplace practices

San Diego, CA (PRWEB) December 18, 2012
For the second consecutive year, the Bill Howe Family of Companies has been named a finalist of the Better Business Bureau’s Torch Award for Marketplace Ethics. The award winners were announced during an award ceremony on December 4, 2012 at the Town & Country Resort in Mission Valley in San Diego. Plumber and businessman Bill Howe and his wife, Tina Howe, accepted the award for 2nd place finalist in the “100-249 employees” category.
In its 15th year, the BBB Torch Awards honor companies that have made a commitment to ethical excellence, integrity and support of the San Diego marketplace, despite any adversities. To be considered for the award, companies must compile a nomination that outlines and proves their commitment to ethics in categories including management practices, community and stakeholder relations, communications and marketing practices, and industry reputation. A panel of judges reviews the submissions and grades each category on a scale of 1-10. While many of the businesses that are nominated for the award are in the San Diego heating and air conditioning or plumbing business, the award is open to businesses in any industry.
“We are here to honor companies that epitomize ethics and integrity, and present them with a coveted Torch Award. But today’s gathering is about much more than that,” said Sheryl Bilbrey, San Diego BBB President and CEO, during the ceremony’s opening remarks. “Today, we honor one another for our steadfast commitment to doing the right thing for consumers in a time when so many others struggle to remain accountable.”
The Bill Howe Family of Companies started with Bill Howe Plumbing, Inc. in 1980 and now offers services in San Diego heating and air conditioning, as well as restoration and flood services. Since its inception, the company upholds their philosophy that to be successful they focus on ensuring the happiness of their employees, their customers and their community. Recently, the Bill Howe Family of Companies proved their philosophy has been a success when they moved to an office more than twice the size of the previous office, to accommodate their growing workforce.
“The Torch Award nomination process has been an incredibly rewarding experience as we looked at every aspect of our company and put all of our efforts on paper,” said Tina Howe, Vice President of the Bill Howe Family of Companies. “When you are doing business, it is not always easy to know the most ethical decision to make; sometimes it means more money, or sometimes it means we need to seek outside counsel. Whatever it takes, we strive to build our company on honest and ethical practices.

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Vatican says pope beats Justin Bieber on re-tweets

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict, white-haired, 85, and a neophyte to social media site Twitter, has beaten out 18-year old heartthrob Justin Bieber to set a percentage record for re-tweeting by his followers, the Vatican said on Thursday. The Vatican newspaper said that as of noon Italian time on Thursday the pope had 2.1 million followers on Twitter, eight days after his first tweet was sent. While Canadian singer-songwriter Bieber has roughly 15 times as many followers - 31.7 million - the Vatican newspaper said Benedict had beaten Bieber on re-tweets. It said about 50 percent of the pope's followers had re-tweeted his first tweet on December 12 while only 0.7 percent of Bieber's followers had re-tweeted one of the singer's most popular tweets on September 26, when he commented on the death by cancer of a six-year-old fan. The Vatican said this was part of a wider trend in which people were looking for more spiritual content. The pope already tweets in English, German, Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Polish and Arabic. The newspaper said he will start tweeting in Latin and Chinese soon.

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Saudi website editor could face death for apostasy-rights group

The editor of a Saudi Arabian website could be sentenced to death after a judge cited him for apostasy and moved his case to a higher court, the monitoring group Human Rights Watch said on Saturday. Raif Badawi, who started the Free Saudi Liberals website to discuss the role of religion in Saudi Arabia, was arrested in June, Human Rights Watch said. Badawi had initially been charged with the less serious offence of insulting Islam through electronic channels, but at a December 17 hearing a judge referred him to a more senior court and recommended he be tried for apostasy, the monitoring group said. Apostasy, the act of changing religious affiliation, carries an automatic death sentence in Saudi Arabia, along with crimes including blasphemy. Badawi's website included articles that were critical of senior religious figures, the monitoring group said. A spokesman for Saudi Arabia's Justice Ministry was not available to comment. The world's top oil exporter follows the strict Wahhabi school of Islam and applies Islamic law, or sharia. Judges base their decisions on their own interpretation of religious law rather than on a written legal code or on precedent. King Abdullah, Saudi Arabia's ruler, has pushed for reforms to the legal system, including improved training for judges and the introduction of precedent to standardize verdicts and make courts more transparent.

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Sri Lanka arrests 100 Chinese for cyber fraud, police say

Sri Lanka on Saturday arrested at least 100 Chinese nationals accused of an internet fraud scheme targeting people in their home country, a police spokesman said. The accused, all in Sri Lanka on tourist visas, are suspected of hacking into computers in China and then demanding their owners transfer them money, police spokesman Prishantha Jayakodi told Reuters. Chinese police requested help from Sri Lanka, he said. Officials at the Chinese embassy in Colombo were not available for comment. China has been the top lender to Sri Lanka since the end of a 25-year war in May 2009 and thousands of Chinese are working in the country on Chinese-funded infrastructure projects.

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British retailers start online sales early

British retailers have brought forward their Christmas clearance sales online in the hope that shoppers will log on to buy bargains and offset lackluster spending in stores. Marks & Spencer launched its sale online at midday on Monday, it said on its website, while department store John Lewis said it would cut online prices when its stores close at 1700 GMT. Debenhams has already started its online sale. Retailers in recent years have started sales online on Christmas Day, ahead of the clearances in stores from Boxing Day, but are increasingly launching their online offers before Christmas after delivery deadlines for the day have passed. Hard-pressed shoppers have been leaving it later to buy presents in the hope that retailers would slash prices, the British Retail Consortium said. It was forecasting that 5 billion pounds ($8.1 billion) would be spent in the shops on Saturday and Sunday combined, the last weekend before Christmas. Richard Dodd, the BRC's head of Media and Campaigns, said weekend trading had met expectations. "Christmas, ultimately once all the final sums are done, will turn out to be acceptable but not exceptional," he said. He said the sector expected a modest increase in cash spending against a year go, but not necessarily any significant increase in real terms once inflation was stripped out. Many British families' budgets are stretched, according to a survey from Markit that showed the biggest deterioration in household finances for seven months. Analyst Howard Archer at IHS Global Insight said the weakening in household finances could not come at a worse time for retailers, and it highlighted why many people appeared to have been careful in their Christmas shopping this year. "The suspicion has to be that consumers will be especially keen to take advantage of genuine major bargains in the sales to acquire items that they cannot otherwise afford or are reluctant to make at the moment," he said. "However, we suspect that people will likely to be more careful in buying - or reluctant to buy - items that they don't really want or need in the sales."

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China may require real name registration for internet access

China may require internet users to register with their real names when signing up to network providers, state media said on Tuesday, extending a policy already in force with microblogs in a bid to curb what officials call rumors and vulgarity. A law being discussed this week would mean people would have to present their government-issued identity cards when signing contracts for fixed line and mobile internet access, state-run newspapers said. "The law should escort the development of the internet to protect people's interest," Communist Party mouthpiece the People's Daily said in a front page commentary, echoing similar calls carried in state media over the past week. "Only that way can our internet be healthier, more cultured and safer." Many users say the restrictions are clearly aimed at further muzzling the often scathing, raucous - and perhaps most significantly, anonymous - online chatter in a country where the Internet offers a rare opportunity for open debate. It could also prevent people from exposing corruption online if they fear retribution from officials, said some users. It was unclear how the rules would be different from existing regulations as state media has provided only vague details and in practice customers have long had to present identity papers when signing contracts with internet providers. Earlier this year, the government began forcing users of Sina Corp's wildly successful Weibo microblogging platform to register their real names. The government says such a system is needed to prevent people making malicious and anonymous accusations online and that many other countries already have such rules. "It would also be the biggest step backwards since 1989," wrote one indignant Weibo user, in apparent reference to the 1989 pro-democracy protests bloodily suppressed by the army. Chinese internet users have long had to cope with extensive censorship, especially over politically sensitive topics like human rights, and popular foreign sites Facebook, Twitter and Google-owned YouTube are blocked. Despite periodic calls for political reform, the ruling Communist Party has shown no sign of loosening its grip on power and brooks no dissent to its authority.

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FACTBOX-NFL-Reaction to deaths of Chiefs' Belcher, girlfriend

Dec 1 (Reuters) - Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher committed suicide after murdering his girlfriend in Kansas City on Saturday, police said.

Following are reactions to the deaths:

* Kansas City Chiefs CEO Clark Hunt:

"The entire Chiefs family is deeply saddened by today's events, and our collective hearts are heavy with sympathy, thoughts and prayers for the families and friends affected by this unthinkable tragedy.

"We sincerely appreciate the expressions of sympathy and support we have received from so many in the Kansas City and NFL communities, and ask for continued prayers for the loved ones of those impacted."

* NFL Players Association assistant executive George Atallah on Twitter:

"There is nothing profound or comforting to say that can help us understand or explain a situation like this."

* NFL spokesman Greg Aiello:

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the Chiefs and the families and friends of those who lost their lives in this terrible tragedy."

* Kansas City Mayor Sly James:

"We're talking about kids that are 25, 26, 24 years old, playing in circumstances that most of us never dream of and living lives in fish bowls and sometimes that becomes unbearable but beyond all that there are a lot of people that (are)hurting."

* Chiefs tight end Tony Moeaki on Twitter:

"Devastated. One of everyone's favorite team mates including one of mine. Great great great team mate. We will miss him forever."

*Statement by Carolina Panthers, the Chiefs' opponent on Sunday:

"The Carolina Panthers are very saddened by the tragic events that have transpired today and send their thoughts and prayers to the entire Kansas City Chiefs organization and to the family of the victim at this most difficult time."

*Chiefs defensive back Kendrick Lewis on Twitter:

"Forever in our heart! Love you bro ... May God be with both families!"

*New York Giants defensive end Justin Tuck on Twitter:

"Man, prayers go out to the KC Chiefs community and families after this morning's tragic incident."

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"Guardians of the Galaxy" director sorry for blog post seen as sexist, homophobic

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - James Gunn, the man entrusted with steering Marvel's "Guardians of the Galaxy" to the big screen, apologized publicly for a 2011 blog post that was criticized as sexist and homophobic.

Gunn, who is best known for directing the 2006 horror-comedy "Slither," found himself under fire this week after reports about a blog post titled "The 50 Superheroes You Most Want to Have Sex With." In it, he called the superhero Gambit a "Cajun fruit" and suggested that Iron Man could "turn" the lesbian Batwoman into a straight woman. He went on to joke that Batgirl, a masked avenger who happens to be a teen mother, was "easy." The list was voted on by Twitter and Facebook users, but has since been removed from his site.

In a statement to the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), Gunn said his attempt at irreverence was misguided and stressed that he is a proponent of gay rights and women's rights.

"A couple of years ago I wrote a blog that was meant to be satirical and funny," Gunn said. "In rereading it over the past day I don't think it's funny. The attempted humor in the blog does not represent my actual feelings. However, I can see where statements were poorly worded and offensive to many. I'm sorry and regret making them at all."

The post is an unwanted distraction from his efforts to give Marvel and its corporate owner the Walt Disney Company another hit. He plans to co-write the script for "Guardians of the Galaxy" in addition to directing. The film will be released in 2014.

"It kills me that some other outsider like myself, despite his or her gender or sexuality, might feel hurt or attacked by something I said," he added in his apology. "We're all in the same camp, and I want to do my best to make this world a better place for all of us. I'm learning all the time. I promise to be more careful with my words in the future. And I will do my best to be funnier as well. Much love to all."

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Act of kindness turns New York cop into media darling

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. national media just got the perfect holiday gift: a feel-good tale about a young police officer who dug into his own pocket to put boots on a barefoot panhandler on a freezing city sidewalk.

Even better was the way the story of New York City Police Officer Larry DePrimo's kindness unfolded.

Thanks to a blurry Facebook photo snapped on a cell phone by a tourist who happened the incident in Times Square, DePrimo, 25, went from anonymous Good Samaritan to national media celebrity in less than 72 hours.

The photo of the officer crouching with the new pair of boots next to the bedraggled man was featured on the front pages of New York's two popular tabloids, the New York Post and the New York Daily News, on Friday. An article describing the good deed was the most viewed story of The New York Times's website on Friday morning.

DePrimo told and retold the story of his labor of love in interviews Friday on a half dozen national TV morning shows, including NBC's "Today" show, ABC's "Good Morning America," CBS's "Morning Show," CNN's "Starting Point" and Fox News's "Fox & Friends."

"We've been speaking a lot the last couple of days about who should be the 'Time' person of the year -- Time magazine. I'd like to nominate you," "Fox & Friends" host Gretchen Carlson told DePrimo.

Little was known about the man to whom DePrimo gave the boots. He is said to be a veteran who was at one time homeless and was placed in veterans' housing sometime in the past year, according to NBC 4 New York.

DePrimo's story has been particularly appealing because most pictures and video civilians take of police officers expose cruelty, not generosity, said Roy Peter Clark, a senior scholar at the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Florida.

In contrast, "everything about this feels good and right and worthy," Clark said, adding that the way the story came to the media's attention contributed to its poignancy.

Squeezed into the spotlight was Jennifer Foster, the tourist who quietly snapped the photo of DePrimo that was posted to the New York Police Department's Facebook page on Tuesday afternoon. She was flown to New York from Arizona for a Friday morning appearance on "Today" with DePrimo - meeting him for the first time.

"We decided that we were best friends now," Foster said on the program.

Back in Times Square, television trucks and their crews swarmed the Skechers store where DePrimo bought the boots with the help of a worker who rang up the purchase with his employee discount. Even the small kindness of the discount triggered a wave of thank you calls and emails to the store, including from a retired detective from Arizona, said assistant manager Holli Barton.

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Korean pop rides "Gangnam Style" into U.S. music scene

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - "Gangnam Style," the catchy Korean song by rapper Psy, may have danced its way into the American charts but the Korean pop industry isn't horsing around when it comes to capitalizing on the singer's phenomenal U.S. success.

With "Gangnam Style" topping the current Billboard Digital Songs chart and becoming the most-watched video on YouTube ever with more than 800 million views, fellow Korean pop, or K-pop, artists are positioning themselves for similar U.S. breakthroughs.

Korea's pop music industry is thriving. Over the past two years, a handful of K-pop acts including girl group 2NE1, boy band Super Junior and nine-piece band Girls Generation have embarked on mini-promotional tours around the United States to build their audience.

"Psy has opened doors and is shining a spotlight on K-pop. People are paying attention to what's being done there," Alina Moffat, general manager at YG Entertainment group, which manages Psy, told a recent entertainment industry conference in Los Angeles.

Psy's vibrant music video, featuring his invisible pony-riding dance, also featured K-pop artists Kim Hyun-a of girl band 4Minute, and Deasung and Seungri of boy band Big Bang, all of whom are attempting to crack the U.S. market.

"YouTube has really changed the awareness of K-pop. Both American kids and second-generation Korean American kids are discovering it," Kye Kyoungbon Koo, director of the Korea Creative Content Agency, told a panel at a Billboard and Hollywood Reporter conference in Los Angeles in October.

MARKETING THE NEXT BIG THING

For U.S. companies looking to invest, K-pop is being marketed as the next big thing, boasting young, stylish and influential artists who command devoted fan followings.

Moffat said car companies and mobile phone brands were among those being courted at KCON, a convention held in October in Irvine in Southern California that showcased K-pop artists.

"Kids are coming, they're engaged, they want to spend money and sponsors saw that," Moffat said.

Whether Psy or other K-pop artists can command a global following to rival Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber or Rihanna remains to be seen, but John Shim, senior producer at MTV World, believes it is the right genre to compete with pop music's biggest names.

"K-pop admittedly is a very niche genre but I also think it's the best equipped of Asian pop to cater to the U.S. audience," Shim told Reuters.

Psy has helped to break down language barriers, keeping "Gangnam Style" in its original Korean form instead of adapting it to English when it became an international hit.

The singer told Reuters he was persuaded to keep it that way by his manager Scooter Braun, the talent scout responsible for Justin Bieber's success, who signed Psy to his record label.

"I thought, 'Should I translate this or not?' because (the fans) have got to know what I'm talking about, and lyrics are a huge part," Psy said.

CHATTING IN ENGLISH

But industry executives say at least one member of each K-Pop group is usually taught to be fluent in conversational English.

"The investment in language is costly, but effective," said Ted Kim, president of South Korean music television channel Mnet. "It really matters that Psy can go on the Ellen DeGeneres TV show and have a conversation."

Psy said he was proud his song succeeded in Korean, but he now wants to branch out into English.

"'Gangnam Style' is not the sort of thing that's going to happen twice. I've definitely got to make something in English so I can communicate with my fans right now," the singer said.

In Korea, bands such as SM Entertainment's Super Junior and Girls Generation have became branding powerhouses, scoring endorsements ranging from cosmetics, fashion, video games, electronics and beverages.

In the United States, companies such as Samsung have already jumped on the K-pop train, sponsoring Korean boy band Big Bang's U.S. tour.

But while the genre is gaining steam in the charts, it has yet to spill into ticket sales for tours, according to Gary Bongiovanni, editor in chief at Pollstar.com, which tracks concert sales.

"Psy may be able to sell out arenas in Asia, but not yet here. For the American audience, he has to prove that he's more than a novelty act," Bongiovanni said.

"K-pop has to prove itself before large companies spend money on it," he added.

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Senator Shelby seeks hearing on SEC's cybersecurity lapse

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A leading Senate Republican is seeking a hearing to explore the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's failure to encrypt some computers containing highly sensitive stock exchange data.

Staff for Senator Richard Shelby this week told Senate Banking Chairman Tim Johnson's staff that they believe a hearing is in order, after they were briefed by SEC officials about the security lapse, a senior Senate Republican aide told Reuters.

The security lapses were detailed in a non-public August 30 report by Interim Inspector General Jon Rymer that has been reviewed by Reuters.

Only the chairman of a congressional panel has the authority to call a hearing. A Democratic aide for the Senate Banking Committee said, "The Committee has begun its bipartisan due diligence, including a briefing with the SEC and the Interim Inspector General, and will continue to examine the situation."

The August report found that a group of people in the SEC's Trading and Markets Division did not encrypt computers, iPads and other devices containing confidential data from the exchanges and clearing agencies they were overseeing.

Those employees were responsible for reviewing the cyber security policies and practices at the exchanges, and urged exchanges to tighten up their cyber protections at the same time they were using unprotected computers themselves.

They also brought the devices to a Black Hat convention, where cyber experts convene to discuss hacking and other trends.

An outside firm hired by the SEC found no evidence that any of the data was compromised. The SEC has said that two of the employees involved have left the agency, and the SEC has tightened up its policies since the incident.

On Thursday, the SEC announced that Todd Scharf, the agency's chief information security officer, would take on an expanded role of helping to coordinate on security issues with regulated entities such as exchanges. The SEC did not mention the security lapse in its statement.

But exchanges and clearing agencies are not comforted, partly because the inspector general's report says only "several select laptops" of 28 were tested for potential breaches.

They are pushing the SEC for more details about what kind of data was on the computers, how extensive the testing was, and whether they might need to make changes to their systems.

The New York Stock Exchange has gone so far as to hire former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff to help look into the matter.

Options Clearing Corp is working with the SEC to strengthen procedures for the future, said OCC Chief Security Officer Dan DeWaal in an e-mailed statement. "With respect to data that may have been exposed, the SEC is working with the (self-regulatory organizations) impacted."

Exchanges are hoping for details of an analysis conducted by Stroz Friedberg, the firm hired by the SEC to do the testing.

Exchanges are particularly annoyed that the SEC waited until October of this year to inform them of the incident, even though the inspector general's office had been investigating the matter since early 2011.

Earlier this week, staffers from the Senate Banking and Homeland Security and Government Affairs committees were briefed by SEC officials about the inspector general's report. Staff for Republican Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa are also expected to meet with SEC officials.

Representative Randy Neugebauer, the Republican chairman of the House Financial Services oversight subcommittee, said in a statement on Friday that he was disappointed by the security problems at the SEC.

"It appears no information was compromised, which is fortunate," said Neugebauer of Texas. "But leaving sensitive market information unprotected shows a frightening lapse of judgment by the SEC."

There are only a few weeks left in the current session of Congress, which is focused on trying to reach agreement to avoid automatic spending cuts and tax increases set to go into effect early next year unless it acts. In addition, SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro has announced she will step down from her post in two weeks.

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