jack10562

This video is making the rounds on Facebook, and I'm posting it here in case anyone missed it or does not use FB.
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?filter=lf#!/video/video.php?v=1834379662196&oid=155360057819436&comments

There was no doubt that a shameful liberal like yourself would take the opportunity to bash a great man like Reagan when all this thread was about was wishing him a Happy Birthday. Judging by your age status 18-21 you weren't even alive during the Reagan Presidency so anything you know was taught to you in whatever bastion of liberalism ( sorry i meant college) that you hide from the real world in.
You speak of Iran Contra .. first things first junior, no concrete evidence has ever been uncovered that directly linked Reagan to Iran Contra with that being said, the sale of weapons was devised to secure the safe release of 6 American Hostages that were being held in Iran. Some money was then funneled to the Anti Communist fighters but funding and arming anti communist groups is nothing new for the US.
Were the other presidents that you mentioned good presidents ? Yes they were but they weren't the leaders that Reagan was. The rest of the world respected and feared him which ultimatly kept us safe... but thats something that rose colored glasses wearing liberals like yourself know nothing about.
You have proven yourself time and time again on this site to be liberal, anti cop , anti government, and sometimes anti everything. You're obviously a young know nothing kid that thinks that your corner of the world is everything and the rest of us known nothing.
You post your stupidity on here like you know what's going on when in reality you couldn't shine the shoes of the senior men and women who are on this site.
I'm sorry about the rant guys and i know this will get pulled down real quick but you can only read this s*** from this guy so many times

They put the batteries in the fridge to slow the chemical reaction which is exactly whats occurring when your batteries fail in the cold...........The cold suspends the chemical reaction.......
I suspect that a big part of the problem you are having with your batteries failing is that they are not fully charged when you go to use them....The rate of self discharge for any battery depends on the temperature at which it's stored. Stored at 70 degrees F (20 C) NiMH batteries will lose up to 40% of their charge within a month. If they are stored at a higher temperature, they will self discharge at an even higher rate. Stored at a lower temperature they self discharge at a lower rate..... In other words if you don't use your camera for a month your only at 60% charge and if you go two months, your only at 20% ..... Both of these figures are if your batteries are in good shape and haven't been used heavily...... Most people are not aware of this........
There are many types of batteries such as Nicad (Nickle Cadmium - old chemistry which is becoming uncommon) NiMH (Nickle Metal Hydride) LiO(Lithium Ion) Li Po(Lithium Polymer) Lithium, etc...... Each has their trade offs and advantages...... For photography usage, the best AA/AAA batteries for cold weather use are ENERGIZER ULTIMATE Lithium's. They are non rechargeable but they work at temperatures from -40°F to +140 °F (-40°C to +60°C) and they also have a shelf life of 15 years and have a very high energy density compared to NiMh cells - IOW, they will power your camera/flash longer...... I have used these but they are expensive..... IMO,they make good back up batteries in the event your normal batteries fail...... The next best bet is the SANYO ENELOOP..... These are rechargeable but come precharged and have a very low self-discharge rate.....They supposedly will lose less than 15% of their capacity in 12 months which is not bad at all..... These are only rated at 2000 mAh compared to some NIMH batteries that are rated up to 2700 mAh but have a better discharge curve which in the end will mean they will probably deliver just as much energy as a higher rated NiMH battery.... The ENELOOP are also relabeled and sold by SONY under the CYCLE ENERGY label (Apparently SONY has other batteries using the same name that aren't the ENLOOPS - The Batteries you want the label is mostly white) Here's a link to info on the ENLOOP Batteries One of their selling features is their low temperature performance.....
There are plenty of new developments in battery technology and most of this is centered around Lithium Polymer technology...... The most interesting is what is called carbon nano tube technology...... Making the cells electrodes out of carbon nano tubes will increase the batteries capacity ten-fold, increase the life of the battery substantially (Number of discharge - recharge cycles) and also improve its cold weather performance...... Here's a link to and article about carbo nanotube batteries Carbon nano tube batteries
In the meantime, I suggest that everybody keep their batteries charged regularly......

Interesting question
OSHA has never answered this question. Except by applying the definition of a permit required confined space:
1910.146(b)Definitions.
"Confined space" means a space that:
(1) Is large enough and so configured that an employee can bodily enter and perform assigned work; and
(2) Has limited or restricted means for entry or exit (for example, tanks, vessels, silos, storage bins, hoppers, vaults, and pits are spaces that may have limited means of entry.); and
(3) Is not designed for continuous employee occupancy.
"Permit-required confined space (permit space)" means a confined space that has one or more of the following characteristics:
(1) Contains or has a potential to contain a hazardous atmosphere;
(2) Contains a material that has the potential for engulfing an entrant;
(3) Has an internal configuration such that an entrant could be trapped or asphyxiated by inwardly converging walls or by a floor which slopes downward and tapers to a smaller cross-section; or
(4) Contains any other recognized serious safety or health hazard.
So in affect, attic's (with out a normal stairs to walk in) and crawl spaces are confined spaces by definition. And if there is a fire or IDLH atmosphere it can be classified as permit required. Generally, I do not believe that anyone would actually classify a confined space as a permit required one during a fire (including OSHA/PESH). But technically it is and our members should be trained to understand the hazards.

Here are a couple of instructor quotes from actual pump operator courses. One is the New York version, the other is the Virginia Beach version. They are quite similar. I would like to hear the Califoirnia version.
FROM THE SOUTH:
What should you flow that nozzle at? 40psi, right? Sure you could flow it at 50 or 80. Can you hold on to it? I don't know. What's the worst that could happen? Slide around on your back on the floor for a bit 'til you hit a wall and that's where you fight fire from...it's just that simple yall
FROM THE NORTH"
To determine correct Pump Pressure, simply throttle up slowly until the nozzleman just leaves the ground. Then throttle back 1/2 turn (on digitals, quickly tap the "Decrease" button twice).
If the nozzleman is in the building or otherwise out of sight, this can also be done audibly.

The rhetoric that is coming out from the lawyers and this guys family is ridiculous. The DA says that bonita zelman who is the attorney for the other players who were arrested that night called the lead detectives and said that unless the charges against her clients were dropped they wouldn't speak to investigators about the shooting. Zelman now denies this but i firmly believe this happened and the reason i believe this is that she is a low ball lawyer who saw dollar signs at the outset of this thing and figured that she could get her mug in front of the cameras and shame the DA's office into dropping the charges which isn't going to happen so now she is in way over her head and she is panicing and trying to make threats to get her clients out of trouble. If it can be proven that she made this statement then that is a matter for the NYS bar association to deal with as a possible misconduct issue.
The next topic is henry sr. who was on news 12 saying that the charges against the other players should be dropped because they were only trying to help his son ..... help his son how by breaking the window of a store ?? I don't remember ever reading about breaking a window out of anger as being a recognized part of first aid. The rest of the people were arrested for dis con/resisting, and I ask again, how was that trying to help dj henry. After the shooting dj henry was a prisoner of the police on scene which means that nobody should have been going near him except PD/EMS/FD.
Then we have michael sussman who proved himself to be a huge opportunist during the Yonkers desegragation case and now he is proving to be nothing more than that now. He is alledging that the ME's office fabricated the tox results because it contradicts witness statements from that night ... this fool would try to have us believe alcohol / marijuana and God knows what else fueled college students instead of a highly educated team of doctors and scientists... sorry mr sussman but NO.
The bottom line is that everyone involved on the henry side is grasping at straws becuause they know that they don't have a leg to stand on anymore. Any public opinion they had on their side is now gone - and shame on anyone who took their side to begin with.
During this whole thing we must keep the most important thing in mind and that is the officers involved. I have said it before in this thread and I will say it again, these cops were forced to respond the way they did because of dj henrys actions, the fault with this entire situation is on dj henry.

It's their site, they make the rules. Number 2, if it was not in the context of the discussion, they had every right to move it and branch out into another thread. I have been on this site for something like 6 years and I have had my issues with the people that run it. I don't agree with a lot of stuff that goes on here, but this one they got right. You got beef?? Bring it up in private.

Well, BNechis referred to a 24 hour schedules, so I was simply providing the calculations of 8 vs. 24 hour tours, which I stand by. Not even necessarily talking about YFD, as much as 24 tours in general. (There are other FD's out there you know. Not to mention PD's and EMS who work alternative schedules.)

By the way, we work 10 hr. days and 14 hr. nights. 9 days is 90 hrs. This is just another attempt for the mayor to justify the cuts that he has made and wants to make in the future. Let me guess, the mayor is going to complain in january that the FD went over our overtime budget. He has created this problem by demoting and laying off FF's. Now he is paying time and a half to fill the vacancies he created. Not too smart is he?

While I have nothing to do with Yorktown (except driving thru it every now and again), there are a few points to be made.
As mentioned, it would be fairly libelous to call this action a larceny, as, has been pointed out, the declination of the original bond proposal are non-binding on the Commissioners ultimate decision to pursue the project.
And has also been pointed out, there is a remedy for unhappy constituents. Vote out incumbent Commissioners. But, as has also already been pointed out. No one is interested in participating in elections for Commissioners. Voter apathy is frequently a problem, especially in Fire District races.
On on a separate note, many of the items list as being passed by Congress where not "passed", they are merely expiring with sunset provisions. A subtle, but distinct difference.

I am increasingly disgusted with the way the media is portraying this guy as the victim in this case. The victims are the cops who were involved, end of story.
As for these so called " minority law enforcement groups" who are so concerned with this case, the majority of them are corrections officers who have no clue what it's like to be a street cop. They should be embarassed to have held that press conference and said the anti cop things that they said. It's funny how they come out of the wood work when a cop shoots someone but when gang members are killing each other and people are getting robbed, beaten, raped, burglarized and shot each and every day, they say nothing. These jerks are opportunists and nothing more. Everyone ran to back up this guys family and his friends version of what happened and now that his BAC is back at a .13 everyone is quieting down a bit. It kind of reminds me of the tawana brawley case all those years ago... everyone ran to her defense and just like the witnesses in this case, she was a LIAR.
I pray that our brothers are doing well as they try to come to terms with the actions that they were forced to take. These cops made the right decisions and did an outstanding job given the circumstances. Just think, you have a large crowd and an out of control drunk driver, if the officer didn't take the action he did, imagine what the outcome could have been if the car sped into the crowd. This cop not only did the right thing, he is a hero in my book.

I'm proud to be Blessed to serve my country and to donate to a site like this, Thanks again for letting me help!

Facebook has many redeeming qualities, people can reconnect with each other after a long absence, or stay in touch with status updates, or organize class reunions, post photos and such. Depends on your preferences.
Facebook can also get you into serious trouble with your bosses, as a Bourne, MA. Firefighter is finding out:
This guy is about to be disciplined, maybe even canned over remarks he made online.
http://www.capecodon...6/NEWS/10160343
It turns out you can't just post whatever you feel like, and blindly expect the first amendment to protect you. Same goes for joining online hate groups and other seemingly innocuous individual behaviors. What you may think is only a joke, could have unwanted ramifications.
Depending on your employer's expectations of you, your responsibilities, including character, be it on or off the job, everything you do can reflect either positively or negatively and could have an impact on your work relationship.
If you post it, it will be read, and it could get you in hot water!

Facebook has many redeeming qualities, people can reconnect with each other after a long absence, or stay in touch with status updates, or organize class reunions, post photos and such. Depends on your preferences.
Facebook can also get you into serious trouble with your bosses, as a Bourne, MA. Firefighter is finding out:
This guy is about to be disciplined, maybe even canned over remarks he made online.
http://www.capecodon...6/NEWS/10160343
It turns out you can't just post whatever you feel like, and blindly expect the first amendment to protect you. Same goes for joining online hate groups and other seemingly innocuous individual behaviors. What you may think is only a joke, could have unwanted ramifications.
Depending on your employer's expectations of you, your responsibilities, including character, be it on or off the job, everything you do can reflect either positively or negatively and could have an impact on your work relationship.
If you post it, it will be read, and it could get you in hot water!

Nice turnout from the Westchester Volunteers, and I would share some of the apparatus that was in today's parade.

Confined Space entry training is not optional.
In my experience while working for a large Gas and Electric utility company, anyone who's job entails entry into a confined space is REQUIRED to have documented employer-provided OSHA training and refreshers, be supplied with proper atmospheric testing equipment and necessary PPE.
OSHA standards 29CFR 1910.146
In a nutshell:
Once testing determines the confined space atmosphere is hazardous per the standards,it becomes a permit-required confined space, with enhanced entry supervision and rescue/retrieval requirements for entrants.
Otherwise you just don't go in.

YOU ARE KIDDING ME WITH THIS NONSENSE RIGHT?????
I'm going to reply to this post point by point.
1. This punk is not underage as you say.. In NY, 16 and over go to the county jail and 15 and under go to woodfield cottage so he is in the county jail and will serve his time in New York State Prison...he is very much of age and will answer for his crimes as an adult.
2. Just because this kid tells as story about being afraid for his life, you believe it right away? Did it ever occur to you that he needed a story to cover or try to explain his actions and that is the tall tale he came up with ? You make a bold statement that he was clearly not of sound judgement or mind when the event occured... HOW DO YOU KNOW ?? Are you his shrink, social worker, parent or friend ? No, so it seems that you aren't qualified or able to make that statement. You coming to this kids defense is sickening !!!
3. This is a very strong case, he made statements, they saw him in the stolen car and he was pulled from the stolen car after he struck Officer Osso's vehicle... what more evidence do you need ?? I've been a cop for 12 years and have dealt with the DA's office nonsense many times.... they will give a plea to anyone just to save money and get an easy conviction to keep the conviction rate up.
4. This seems like a fair trade to who ??? Maybe to you but not the rest of us... I don't know what world you live in but in my world, when a cops gets hurt there are no fair trades ... the lives of my brothers and sisters aren't available for fair trades ... when a cops gets hurt or killed there should be swift judgements and harsh penalties, NOTHING LESS !!! The example you gave of a DWI sentence with a fatality doesn't apply because the laws are different when it comes to crimes against on duty police officers, a little fact I guess you over looked.
5. You say that maybe complete justice isn't in everyone's best interest ?? THE ONLY JUSTICE SHOULD BE FOR P.O. OSSO, HE IS THE VICTIM HERE - END OF STORY - there doesnt need to be any second chances for this punk kid, he made his choices and he made his bed and now he goes to jail. My Hope is that this kid rejects the deal and is found guilty at trial and is sentenced to the maximum for his crimes.

If I'm not mistaken, civilian dispatchers for DPS and 60 Control are all represented by CSEA and are given the same County entrance exam. Where they work when hired is based on the available position openings.
There should be no reason why these employees could not be cross-trained to handle either function, if anything, that way open shifts might be filled more easily from a larger pool of operators.
In my opinion there would be little gained by merging these dispatch operations other than perhaps eliminating administrative/supervisory positions of those that do not sit in "the room" and perform daily dispatch duties.
The savings from that alone simply does not justify building a joint communications facility.

First of 5 parts of the proposal
8-10-10ConsolidationProposalDPSDES 1-5.pdf
Part 2 pages 6-10
8-10-10ConsolidationProposalDPSDES 6-10.pdf
Part 3 pages 11-15
8-10-10ConsolidationProposalDPSDES 11-15.pdf
Part 4 pages 16-20
8-10-10ConsolidationProposalDPSDES 16-20.pdf
Final part. page 21-23
8-10-10ConsolidationProposalDPSDES 21-23.pdf
Sorry its so big, but there is a lot of "info" (feel free to read "info" in other words).
Special thanks to ChiefHAC for bringing this to our attention. As he pointed out, if you have issues with this, make a stink. They have one shot to get this correct or we will be stuck with it for 20 years.

To: Members of the Westchester County Fire Service
From: Henry A. Campbell
I urge you to be informed about the proposed Consolidation of the Westchester County Department of Public Safety and Department of Emergency Services.
Read the Proposal, see attachment, and make your decision as to whether this will be a positive undertaking for the fire service, or detrimental to what you presently have.
A few questions to ask yourself:
Is it a consolidation, a merger, or a take over?
How will it make emergency services better and at what cost?
How will the broader chain of command impact overall operations? Who is in charge?
Think about overtime and call back expenses that may not be figured into the proposal.
How will grant monies and equipment be disbursed?
Is the information provided in the report adequate, accurate or misleading?
Where will the most positions be eliminated?
Don't be afraid to discuss this with other members of your department, other departments, and Westchester Fire Organizations.
Move slowly, ask questions, get answers, then make an informed decision as to whether the fire service should support, or not support the proposed consolidation.
Read the attached report and share it and this e-mail with others.

My apologies to the female firefighters for the choice of words. I was by no means being derrogatory towards you. When I used the word "balls," I was not referring to the male anatomy. There is officially no part of the male anatomy named balls and that part of the male anatomy with the nickname has nothing to do with a man's courage. I was referring to a set of traits...very hard to list, impossible to describe, but when an old timer like me is talking about a fellow Firefighter, male or female, and I say he or she has "balls," I have just told you that I truly respect your courage in the face of danger, among other traits. I am not Politically Correct nor do I ever intend to be. Political correctness often softens reality.
Capt Benz gave a good description of a "good firefighter." In the old days of only males on the job, if you asked "do you know John Doe?" and the answer came back "yeah, Good Man," it was like a secret code that says John Doe is well respected. We just haven't come up with that secret code for female firefighters. Good woman or Good Girl doesn't do it. Good Firefighter doesn't covey the full meaning as Good Man does. We are too entrenched in political correctness to come up with the right words. I do know that to get that distinction, you've gotta have "Balls."

That was a totally uncalled for statement. There are still many volunteers out there who are extremely dedicated. Unfortunately, due to larger call volumes, those "handfuls" of volunteers who are willing to drop anything and run to a call cannot do it all themselves. Whether you are a volunteer or not, you still have work, family, and personal committments.
Yes, a true volunteer does it from the heart and does not expect anything in return. You totally missed the point here and just used it as a chance to criticize volunteers.

Forget the buzzers, bells, lights, whistles,,,Nothing beats a pre-flight visual check: the driver walks around the rig before putting it in gear.
No more crunched doors.

I feel for the firefighters in Lawrence, but the City is in a bind and from what I can determine, the situation will continue to get worse, not better.
The City is in such bad financial shape that its finances have been taken over by the State of MA, similar to what happened to Waterbury, CT and other poor cities in the past.
Lawrence, MA is a WELFARE City.....it has a population that is decidedly younger than the MA average and an average family income that is half that for the State of MA.
The City's Grand List, the total value of all real property, continues to decline as abandoned buildings burn down or are torn down or are taken over by the City because the owners have not paid taxes for years.
Residential properties make up 78 percent of the City's taxpaying properties!!!!! And no wonder,who would want to locate a business in a City where the tax rate on commercial property is twice that of residential. The real problem there is the forgotten rule of economics ---NO BUSINESS CAN PAY TAXES. IN THE HISTORY OF MANKIND NO BUSINESS HAS EVER PAID A PENNY OF TAXES AND NO BUSINESS EVER WILL. Taxing business is a scam by government to hide the amount of taxes you are paying. As an Economist by Education, I can tell you that every penny of tax levied on a business is paid by the customers of that business in the form of higher prices for goods and services. So the plan is Lawrence is self defeating. A business located in Lawrence, which is a tiny place of less than 7 square miles, is at an economic disadvantage to a business located in an adjacent town, because it must charge more to account for the higher taxes.
It looks like the Mutual Aid system is broken in that it has become strictly one way. The other towns around Lawrence, need to protect their own taxpayers. While I do not advocate that they stop aiding Lawrence firefighters, the other towns should set a limit on how many mutual aid calls they will do in a year for free (based on the number of mutual aids they expect to receive from Lawrence). After that, there should be an hourly rate, per truck, sent to Lawrence to cover the cost of providing the service. Or at some point, officials in the surrounding towns could face lawsuits from their own taxpayers angry over paying for services to Lawrence that Lawrence should be providing but simply can not.

Time to take a closer look at Public Safety Systems that use cross trained FF/LEO's.
The number one reason stated for them is cost savings (also we can't afford a career FD).
"You get what you pay for". How many small FD's or PD's run ambulances with personnel that the take from one assignment (patrol or suppression) because they do not have enough personnel? So when there is an EMS call, do not expect a timely response for a burglar alarm or a pot on the stove.
How many FF's are needed? How many LEO's? Most of the public safety cross trained are getting away with fewer of both. If you need 20 FF's and 25 cops on duty per shift they tend to have 30 combined, which saves in the budget and is fine if you do not have calls that require both activities at the same time.
Now does it really save money for the property owners? Well the budget is less. But does that mean other things like code enforcement are not being done or is the building dept bigger to perform that function or does an outside company charge buisnesses to perform this and report it to the city? What about parking and other enforcment s which often pays for itself?
Whats the ISO rating? If you are not on the fire apparatus ISO wants 36 responders and an IC? In the station its 12 and an IC. So for a dual role system to have the same rating with say 2 engines, 1 ladder & 1 rescue they need 36 LEO's & FF's that can be released to fire duty. if they were seperate with the same rating you would need 13 in the FD leaving 23 LEO's. So we are short changing the FD since we all know thats the side thats not getting the manning.
What does this cost? In NR we determined that if we drop the onduty force from 29 down to 25 the property insurance premiums would go up $8 - $12 million per year. So saving $1m in taxes costs $8-$12m.
If its still coming out of your pocket is this a good deal?
The number one question is what level of service does this provide.
Can responders handle the training requirements and maintain effectiveness (generally thru actual working incidents and drills)to more than one discipline? Yes. what about more than two, three or four?
Can a good LEO also be a good FF? Yes
But what other roles are required of these members?
Do they provide EMS? ALS or BLS?
Hazmat? Ops or Tech Level?
Basic Rescue?
Technical Rescue?
Who does fire prevention training?
Who provides for prevention inspections/code enforcement?
What about speed enforcement (radar)?
Tactical or SWAT?
Other law enforcment specialties?
We have found that with 40 hours per week and you take out time for minimum training requirements, maintenance/cleaning of equipment/station, fire inspections and incident responses there are not enough hours left in the week to do all the specialties. Therefor we have each station specialize (hazmat, tech rescue, etc.)so not everyone has to maintain all the training. If you add patrol to the responsabilities something has to give.
Can you maintain certification in all areas and be good at all of them or are you trully a jack of all trades, master of none?
The final issue brought out in this thread is the actual response by the dept. in this thread. Any dept. (career, combo, vol or public safety) can have the same issues as brought out here; training, PPE, policies, command etc. I do not think that because this involved a Public Safty Dept. it means that all Public Safety Depts. are the same. But I do think that maintianing the training levels and more importantly the drilling and experience levels in this type of dept are very difficult.