Doc

Have you ever met somebody and talked to them, and came away from the conversation thinking, "This guy/gal should be in Congress or run for president?" Have you ever noticed the disparity between who DOES run and who SHOULD run? Personally, I've seen it play out in everything from local elections to national elections - at the fire house, at my job and even in my home. The people most interested in leading, and most willing to lead seem to be the ones least fit, from a mental and personality standpoint, to lead. Those who are the best inherent leaders, will not lead unless compelled by concensus. It comes down to audacity and self-interest. What makes people seek out power? Sure, you can say "The desire to change the world." WHAT AUDACITY! What makes them think they're better or have the right idea? I guarantee that NOBODY will run for office unless they really want it and if they really want it, what lengths will they go to to get it? Well, let's consider the matter of corruption and undue influences in politics. It's clear enough to see who bankrolls the campaigns of these people -and it's beyond any political contribution that is official or documented. Why is it, you think, that THE BEST we could do is McCain and Obama? Is that REALLY the best we can do? Do those TWO out of the 300 million people in this country really represent the best leadership minds our great nation has to offer? How did the potential thousands who could have been viable contenders disappear? Well, let's be fair and recognize that there are ACTUALLY SIX registered candidates for the presidency in 2008... Charles Baldwin - Constitution Party Bob Barr - Libertarian Party John McCain - Republican Party Cynthia McKinney - Green Party Ralph Nader - Independent Party Barack Obama - Democrat Party Now, let's look at their campaign fund-raising... Charles Baldwin - Constitution Party - $96,000 Bob Barr - Libertarian Party - $885,000 John McCain - Republican Party - $250,000,000 Cynthia McKinney - Green Party - $0 Ralph Nader - Independent Party - $3,000,000 Barack Obama - Democrat Party -$454,000,000 Am I the only one who sees that two candidates are far ahead of the pack. Well, sure, they have much larger party structures rallying behind them. The bigger machine will win in terms of brute force fund-raising. But where is this money coming from? Who bankrolls the candidates campaigns and what makes a campaign so fiscally successful? The records are there to be reviewed and it's interesting to see who and what is paying the bills of the candidates. It's amazing how many corporate CEO's are also members of controlling boards of other companies, charitable trusts, social organizations, activist groups, think tanks, and associations and how their many affiliations are united in their financial support of a particular candidate. My contention is that it all has to do with the back-channels of power. On the local level, I see it at the Chamber of Commerce events, United Way events, local Bar Association meetings and other, seemingly non-political events that do, in fact carry political power. It's not the money - the money follows the influence. The influence comes from who's ears you are chatting up at the club and "what they will do for you". Where are you scheduled to speak, and to whom and will dinner be served, and who will you be talking to after dinner? There exists as a persistent fabric of our society within the culture of established power that only does what is expected - to maintain power. It's entered through the exclusivity of where you went to college. Princeton, Harvard, Annapolis, West Point; it's the connections made at the Law Review, Bar Associations, and other exclusive "clubs" where Ma and Pa Kettle can't attend. It's simply those with wealth and power associating with those with wealth and power. We, the middle-class get swept along and coddled. We are humored into believing that our interests are at heart - and they are - but only to the extent that our fortunes coincide with theirs. If creating an enormous dependent welfare class benefits them, then they will sell us on the charity of welfare programs and social services - show us a bleeding heart. If they want a nation of uneducated, unskilled minimum wage earners to take advantage of to make their businesses more profitable, then they'll roll back worker protections, cut education funding and throw off the shackles of regulation - champions of smaller government. In theory any of these six could be our next president, however I know that the odds of winning diminish GREATLY for certain candidates. And why is that? Do we REALLY elect these people? Yes, we are a representative democracy. The members of the Electoral College votes for the president based upon the popular vote he or she represents. But I submit to you that the presidency has long been decided before that operation. Hey if I gave you a choice - A or B - and let you chose, did you really have a choice? Or did my offer simply limit you to two options that weren't really the best ones? The presidential election has already been reduced to effectively two choices that are acceptable to those with wealth and power. NOW we get to choose after the giant pool of candidates has been reduced to two "approved outcomes". The other fringe candidates have no chance - and why is that? I know, personally, I am not in the least bit satisfied with ANY of these people. The agenda's they promote, the interests they truly represent do not, in my opinion, coincide with what is good for me, my family or this nation in the long term. Yes, their agendas will have a splash effect that may or may not improve the situation of the average working schlub, but that won't be the real intention. So, how do I help elect the president? The guy I supported, didn't make the cut because he didn't cater to the right people, and this Wall Street Payout just proved it. So, did we REALLY chose these candidates or did we merely point to one of the options provided for us by the REAL ruling powers in this country. I'm gonna stop being cynical now. I'm not saying it's wrong. It's more egalitarian than any other nation, but to say we are land of gold paved roads and true freedom is a laugh. The golden rule still applies and until you have the gold, you best play by the rules.

LOL! I'd be throwing stuff in... like anything by Akon or any copy of ANY version of The Umbrella Song. Ella ella ella ella aye aye aye.

It's a sad statement on the condition of government when you hear things like this in the news and your second thought is, "If they keep pointing out the corruption in other levels of government, hopefully, they'll ignore the corruption in theirs." Any major acquisition by ANY level of government is rife with suspicious behavior. Just look at the Air Force Tanker contract, Diebold voting machines, etc... VOTE THEM ALL OUT EVERY ELECTION. No elected official deserves stability.

This is Hillarious. EVERY community has at least one nut. Here in Fishkill, we have our resident nuts plus the ones that walk up RT 52 from Hedgewood every day. A city the size of NYC probably has a million - maybe 1 per floor per apartment building in some cases. Years ago, before the liberals closed the asylums back in the 1970's, these people could be housed together and protected from themselves and others under constant and direct medical care. Thanks to the caring, bleeding hearts, these people can now run free to aggravate the general population, harm themselves by indulging in destructive behaviors, unmedicated, and degrade the quality of life in their surroundings, all while falling into homelessness, destitution, and freezing to death on the streets without constant handouts from various social services agencies, none of which are responsible for the whole picture. As long as this wackjob doesn't start retaliating against his imaginary fireman stalkers, I guess we can just leave good enough alone. If this is the best that the 9-11 conspiracy theorists can offer as supporters, I'm fine with it too. Let the crazies believe the crazy stuff all they want, and the nuttier they are the better. Just keep them away from me.

Anybody who believes politicians have ANYTHING at heart other than their own PERSONAL situation and how to best improve that has allowed their idealism to overstep the bounds of reality. I don't think politicians start off this way. I think the system does it to them. I think it starts when some wealthy / influential somebody bumps into you "quite accidentally" and chats you up, telling you how he/she admires your "answer to the call of public service", pats you on the back, throws some important names around with chummy familiarity and tells you about his/her "unfortunate situation" or " special concern that needs your valuable and expensive attention", NOT in ANY WAY asking you to vote a certain way or propose a certain law or support a position, but, you know, just to tell you "how it really is for, you know, your esteemed peers...". The first time you act on that "reasonable suggestion" and suddenly find yourself, as a result, invited to gala events and parties and are invited to speak to the Chamber of Commerce at their annual dinner, and get introduced to the "big movers and shakers" by that "wealthy / influential somebody"... and the "big movers and shakers" have their own "unfortunate situations" and "special concerns". You're hooked. The system is broken. It rewards corruption with opportunities for more corruption and bigger returns. It doesn't matter. Rebublicrat or Democan. It's the same corporations holding the fund raisers, and sponsoring the projects and shaking the hands. It's the charitable trusts, their corporate benefactors, hiding behind the pretense of community service. It's beyond payoffs or actual bribes. It's rewards of membership, status and peer acknowledgement - which lead to payoffs and bribes, or, at least, a pension and benefits package unmatched in all the world. Look at the sort of people who get in politics and the track records they rack up. It starts off small, but just grows as their influence grows. I'm just sickened by it. The only thing we can do is make incumbency impossible. Vote them all out EVERY TIME. No careers in politics. Don't let the weeds grow.

Thermal imagers might get you a good idea of the plume of a burning leak. Or, you can go the low-tech way... Get a broom with a long handle and sweep it ahead of you as you move toward the suspected fire. If the broom head bursts into flames... step away. Get another broom.

I don't think anybody's going to leap that conclusion. Riding unsecured on the tailboard of a moving vehicle isn't quite the same level. I think the issue here is that on a construction site, you have guys working on relatively stable ground, in daylight and controlled conditions using an appropriate level of protective gear for the job - in that case, safety glasses. On a fire scene, at night, in incliment weather, under uncontrolled conditions, including possibly poor visibility, I think a higher level of protective equipment is called for and should be worn... and NOBODY should ever be operating on a fireground in anything less thant their issued PPE. Conditions play a part as does a realistic consideration of the circumstances, time when rational risk assessment comes into play. I have NEVER seen anybody insist that FF's working a port-a-tank operation wear personal flotation vests and safety lines, despite dozens of people drowning in less thant two feet of water every year. I think given the fact that this picture was in a controlled training environment, an appropriate level of PPE for the instructor would have been safety glasses and gloves. Since FF's should always train as they work, full-structural PPE would be the way to go.

Does anybody know how much they're looking to get for it?

All of our chiefs now have fully marked Ford Expeditions. The White F150 pickup that used to be car 3 is also fully marked. My guess is that this was a chief from another department responding from out of district.

I noticed that also. I can't quite read the department on the back except that it is "FDXX" with the FD first. That should be distinctive since most departments would be, for example, ATFD (Any Town Fire Department) and not FDAT (Fire Department, Any Town). He also, at one point, threatens retaliation to any assault by an O'towner with a halligan bar which just happened to be there! Sorry. I usually avoid the term, but in my book, I feel it fits: Any clown who wears a turnout coat while not in the process of responding to or returning from a fire call, enguaged in some official department business, and just seemingly for driving around town in the cold and carries a halligan bar within the front footwell of their car for easy access at all times and instinctively grabs it for defense is, in my book... a pure and true wacker. I certainly hope that the older, more mature members of whatever department these clowns were from have taken these boys asside and explained to them the errors of their foolish ways.

Going back to Seth's probable intention with this post, I feel that contributing to the community is a big part of being an American. There are a lot of currrent events and social issues that I feel are exacerbated by the lack of community and people not looking out for each other. That episode in New Haven with the guy hit by a car.... people standing around, gawking, nodding their thick skulls but doing NOTHING. Neighborhoods where people can't trust their neighbors because they never tried to talk to them. ' There are also some interesting examples of people taking this concept to heart. That guy last year who used his privately owned pumper to protect his and a half dozen or more houses from a fast moving wildfire in Calibornia... then the people making their own fire break just a few weeks ago... ANY other country and they'd be standing around shaking their heads, saying, "When's THE GOVERNMENT going to save me?" Yes, they saved their own property, but they didn't stop there. They went on to help those around them. It should be in the nature of all Americans to lend a hand in a time of need. Also, during and after the flooding in the midwest... what did we see on the news? Neighbors helping neighbors. Sure the FEMA folks and National Guard was there, but prior to those agencies accessing the worst hit areas, it was volunteers sand-bagging and using their Bassmaster Boats to help their neighbors out. They could have just stayed home or drove to their Aunt's house on higher ground. It goes for Little League and Pop Warner coaches, Community activity programs, soup kitchens, the united way, food pantries, and all manner of community volunteerism. Heck, I'd even say it goes beyond volunteerism and just to community involvment in general. There are plenty of crappy jobs out there (poorly paid, no benefits, poor staffing, bad working conditions, any combination of those) that benefit the community and those people deserve the credit for taking the hit for the rest of us. If you care about your community you work in it or interact with it in a positve way. Otherwise, you're just there. I know it's a lot harder now, with the taxes and costs of living skyrocketing. There are so many demands on our time and energy and so many things competing for it. It's easy to just drive down the parkways and back every day, hide in your climate controlled McMansion, only leaving on the weekends to get the kids to soccer and ballet, or to storm through the mall pissing and griping about all the bumpkins in your way and how the dry cleaner only opens at 9:00 AM making it so damned difficult to get the caviar stains off your $300.00 dress pants before that important meeting in midtown. But a lot of why people say they moved up here was the "quality of life". That means a lot of different things to a lot of people. For some it just means the taxes were low enough that they could finally afford a home. But for a lot of people it meant more than that. It meant good schools with after-school programs - dependent on volunteers and involved parents, community recreation - with volunteer coaches, umpires and business sponsors, and good neighborhoods full of people who actually give a damn that the place is safe and not a dump. Any level of involvment improves things for the rest of us. Here's something I've noticed about the role of community involvment in our country. The recent ruling by the Supreme Court on the 2nd Amendment relates to this in a big way. What other country in the world preseves the right of the people to undo their own government by force if neccessary? The second amendment isn't just a right. it specifically spells out a responsibility... run it right or be prepared to gun it down yourself. It's a responsibility and a very clear indication of what "For the People and by The People" really means. It means if the very government we have formed screws up, it could be up to THE PEOPLE to fix it for the people. We don't have to wait for the U.N. to show up and save us from our nasty monarchy or tyrant. We don't have to wait for the French Foreign Legion to show up and be our heroes. It's our duty as Americans to fix it ourselves. That militia that our founding fathers were talking about wasn't the National Guard or Army Reserves as we know it today or any other military organization under the command of a chief executive. It was farmers, store owners, laborers, teachers and businessmen armed and taught the rudaments of combat using the guidelines of Von Steuben's Drill. It was the non-professional capability to protect the community that didn't rely on executive orders or acts of congress. It's that level of responsibility to ones community that Thomas Jefferson spoke of when he said, "We in America do not have government by the majority. We have government by the majority who participate. " it was based in participation and not just in voting and serving in times of war. It meant that if this nation was going to work, it was going to be because everybody did their part, especially in times of need. The basic component then was the community - the bucket brigade and the deputized constablary, the night watchman. Now it's a lot bigger, but still the same in many ways. You're either somebody or some body. I know that within the Town of Fishkill, population 20,000+ there is a community, and then there is THE community. THE community are the people who make my trips to the bank an hour's conversation, or a quick stop at the Sportman's Deli a lunch hour. Anywhere you go, you're bumping into people you need to talk to. It's the fact that I can't drive down main street without waving at somebody or being waved at. It's not about dropping names or popularity contests - it's about the shared sleepless nights on standby, the hours spent up to our hips in water pulling portapumps around, sitting in the EOC trying to figure out where that requested county bus went; the unique experiences that community involvement beyond participating in rush hour traffic provides. It's the shared understanding that when the S*&t hits the fan, we'll be there, AGAIN, watching out for each other and even the ones who only care that they make the 6:15 to Grand Central in the morning. When people stop giving a damn about their community you get... Northeast DC, Compton, you get Newark: places where a scream in the alley or the sounds of shots fired means somebody better call the cops, but not me cuz I don't wanna get involved. Sorry. Rant over.

I don't know any of these details. You'd probably want to talk to somebody from Endicott FD (IAFF Local 1280). They are listed as participants in Engine 98.

I had mentioned this a few times in previous threads but it never seems to ellicit much interest. The Engine 99 thing seems like a great idea and I understand that there is/was an Engine 98 and Engine 97 in the works. This cross-staffed engine concept is a great way to make automatic mutual aid more efficient. A lot of the departments in central Broome (and the rest of the county outside of the paid cities) have problems getting units out during the weekdays. Instead of getting a half-dozen understaffed rigs from a half-dozen departments on the road, under some sort of automatic mutual aid scheme, they put the people on one rig. I think Engine 99 involves 8 or 9 departments. They rotate which engine is used (and which station) from the participating departments and the shift staff mans that Engine, ready to respond to any of the participating departments calls. I've heard that they still have days where nobody's signed up, but that it's improved things a bit.

This is the best prank yet! Every year our standby for the county parade pulls something like this. Wish I could have seen it in person. Regarding the funny color of the trucks; there are plenty of stories about why 1947 Cadillac Lotus Cream was chosen. Some are hilarious. But it really came down to the company founders wanted to do something different. As JFmuller explained above, we had a few members who liked the Village of Colonie's color. They were fixtures at the Hudson Valley conventions at the time. So they brought the idea back to the membership and they voted to use that color. Our first rig was a 1957 American LaFrance 800 series pumper bought used in 1971 from the Mt. Hope Fire Company #2 in Rockaway Township, NJ, which they had been operating since purchased new. It was not a Boonton rig as many have believed. It was most definitely red until we got it. It was repainted to its present colors by our members, who did the painting on the dirt floor of our first station. I guess Andy L. now has the engine over in the Circleville warehouse.

Lots of good things in this post. I agree, shift staffing is a great idea for busy departments. It makes a lot of sense. And I agree, that the costs of these perks should only be the local jurisdictions responsibility. Sure, you won't hear me complain about it if this law passes, but I think that money is going to find its way from my pocket back to the state through some other tax increase, be it sales tax or income tax. The state is a financial disaster waiting to implode - they'll get their money no matter what.

I have mixed feelings on this situation also. Slayer61 makes a good comparison with the neighbors or non-responders going in burning houses to save people. It could end very badly. However, in this case the scale of the potential consequences is very significant - entire communities and fire crews could be endangered if the backfire spread out of control. Any response that seems to condone it is begging for trouble as other people, not so lucky (or competent), start setting fire to their own back yards. Still, the praise from the firefighters on the scene tells the real story. This is a lot like that guy last year who had his own pumper and protected his neighborhood during another one of these fires - or even all those people in the midwest helping out with the flood rescues and levy repairs.

The 1.5 hour ride to Troy, 22 hours in train rides followed by 2 hours on a bus would probably be fine if there weren't any babies involved. My brother's got a 1-year-old and a 4-year-old. The 4-year-old would LOVE it. However, I think we'll just find a flight departing from Albany. It would STILL be cheaper and still much less of a hassle than flying out of JFK.

I have a wedding to go to in Florida in October. As was usually the case, I booked a flight well ahead of time. I booked with Skybus - they had incredibly cheap tickets and the flights were direct to Tampa. The key word is HAD. Yeah, they went out of business. Then I booked with AirTran. I still managed to get a direct flight to a close airport - I'd rent a car and have a drive ahead of me to get into Punta Gorda. Of course, they stopped flying to Florida from SWF. Oh well. So last week I booked a flight with JetBlue. Yep. That flight's gone. The only flight left has TWO stop-overs for a total travel time of SEVEN and a HALF hours... to florida for $400.00 each and there are six of us going. Not any more. RIGHT. I could drive - EXCEPT that the price of gas is absurd. Now put THIS in the equation... America's Airline System at Risk of Collapse So, it looks like my wedding gift will be making the trip via Fed Ex and I'll await the wedding pictures when they get posted on Flickr... All further vacations will be in the back yard - check that - the mosquito's are a bumper crop... in the airconditioned house... with electric bills rising... er, um... in the basement next to the freezer chest full of beer... uh.. BEER PRICES RISING ... er... cold water. Ah screw it. I'll just take all the O.T. I can get and hope my "go git-em attitude" doesn't make them promote me to manager... oh... Then I'd be salaried... no longer eligible for paid O.T. for a lousy 5% pay raise. Screw it.

WELL! I would certainly hope that no taxpayer funds were used in support of this dangerous and counterproductive horseplay. How can they respect us if we act like children? What if someone was hurt doing this? WHERE IS THE EMS standby and safety harnasses? It's unbelievable. Almost as bad as parading. They should be TRAINING ON THAT TAJ MAHAL PARADE RIG!!!! It's a disgrace to the modern fire service. etc. :removes pike pole from a**: Figured I'd get THAT out of the way. Remember, wear your swim trunks under your turnouts!!!

It's been two years since I've been to Montreal, but the one thing I remember regarding the police... MINIVANS! Tons of them.

YES. Freakish weather seems to be getting worse in general. The "one day winter, next day summer" temperature shifts of 30 degrees is getting old too. I don't recall such quick and drastic temperature shifts in the past either. It's so random - and any forecast past three days is basically worthless. I'm hoping this is all selective perception at work, but looking at events in the mid-west among other larger unusual weather events, I think we're seeing a trend to greater unpredictability.

Just killing him is EXACTLY what he wants. He knows that word of his death will feed into the holy warrior / ultimate sacrifice myth that Jihad movements feed off of. Mark my words; the minute word of his execution hits the news, there will be videos of hordes of ignorant kids in sheets screaming "Admiral Akbar!!!!" hollaring about wanting to join their hero in heavenly paradise with their 70 virgins, piles of grapes and pools of olive oil and honey. Providing these extremist wack-jobs the martyr's deaths they wish for will only make them role models for the next batch of stupid young jihadis to throw their explosive wrapped bodies at our troops or transport WMD's through our domestic borders. All the physical torture in the world won't break the spirit of a person who believes it's part of his holy mission for god - it just proves how much holier he is. What he needs is some good old fashioned embarassment and disgrace. He needs to be put away at, say, Rikers Island, with the general population. I'm sure NYC prison skum would have a real Hero's Welcome for him. While he might not "rot" he certainly might find himself on the recieving end of some loving attention from some of the prison population. Seeing how the Mighty Prophet feels about THAT, I doubt he'll feel honorable and ready to face Allah's judgement. Maybe we could add insult to injury by putting him on the talk show circuit - or maybe bring back the Jerry Springer Show (Episode title: I'm a Woman Trapped in an Imam's Body) - just to integrate him into the numerous "indignities of evil western culture". Nothing horrifies these Islamist nuts like the thought of dying old, disgraced, and incontinent.

It helps by providing personnel to perform specific staffing duties in auxillary or support roles. You'd agree that filing training records, working up grant applications and updating the web site probably doesn't require 229 hours of fire suppression training? Does a non-responding station janitor who comes in a couple hours a week to dust and wash windows need to have the same training as the department chief? Fire scene traffic control and security might also not require as comprehensive a set of training as a firefighter. By having varying levels of expected capacity, the volunteer fire service is ensuring that it is getting it's ENTIRE JOB done without exhausting training funds on irrational levels of training for those who perform neccessary support roles. HOWEVER I don't agree with calling these support level people firefighters and mixing them into the ranks to inflate the suppression personnel counts. Agreed. The bottom line is putting fully qualified and capable people on the fireground. However running a county sized fire agency requires a number of non-firefighting personnel in payroll, purchasing, maintenance and assorted office support roles, OR the dedication and waste of utility of using the fire suppression personnel for these duties. By reducing the costs for these administration jobs by supplimenting with qualified volunteers, less money is sucked away from the suppression side of business and the valuable time of qualified firefighters doesn't have to be wasted doing clerical work. The firefighters can focus on skills training and prevention work. Now, why a person would volunteer to push paper, I have no idea, but some are so inclined. I don't complain when we have a highly experienced professional grant writer walk through the door and volunteer to help us with that stuff.

Out of the $3200.00 I pay in property taxes per year, approximately $85.00 goes for the fire district. Honestly, I blow more per month on Drunkin' Dognuts coffee. The fact that we remain the 11th lowest tax rate district in the county with no lack of equipment or training is fine with me. (corrected numbers)

There isn't a county certification for FAST training. The county fire training center just administers the state fire training program which includes the FAST class. However I know that on occasion, the county might have issued a certificate for a certain class or series of classes, possibly FAST, much as I have a "county certificate" for ice/water rescue. The certificate actually says "Dutchess County" on it and was issued following completion of a course instructed by a Dutchess County fire instructor. In the end, home rule wins the day (AHJ)... again.