ny10570

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/26/nyregion/2013-nyc-budget-has-few-layoffs-and-no-tax-rise.html

...and once again firehouses are spared. No way is Christine Quinn going into this election with her number 1 supporter pissing off unions or the working class. Bloomberg for the past few years always said he wouldn't gamble his budget on uncertain finances. This year all of a sudden he's not averse to rolling the dice with the livery cab medallions and the economy.

points are all good and well, just a few things you mentioned I'll be brief about

-the government forcing the population of this country to buy a product really constitutional?

- I'd like for you to show in detail how the economy has improved because I certainly don't see it and neither do millions of unemployed Americans

- Bush wasn't the greatest president but he wasn't the worst....funny how liberals always like to blame him though

-Where's the "amazing" things Barack Hussein Obama promised us ?

-Yea I mention his name because it bothers me that there is a man in the white house as our president named Barack Hussein Obama and what bothers me even more is that it doesn't bother a majority of other people

- Do you really think Obamantioncare, if passed (hopefully not) will improve the quality of our current healthcare that we have today?

Firemedic beat me to the punch, but I gotta spout off.

I was initially very uncomfortable with the mandate that people buy product. Ignoring the FACTS that this mandate was initially a republican alternative to the single payer universal healthcare system championed by Clinton and was successfully implemented in Mass by Romney is just silly, but somehow the right and its blowhards have pulled it off. I say successfully in reference to Mass because it has lowered the per capita cost of healthcare for the entire state and has begun to shift spending from treatment to prevention. By all estimates the program is going to save the state money. The left and right just can't agree on how much.

I am no longer uncomfortable with the mandate because there are enough precedents of congress having the power to regulate our lives. If you want to go old school George Washington along with several original framers of the constitution passed legislation mandating health insurance for mariners and another bill requiring all able bodied men purchase and maintain a rifle and other necessary equipment in case they were to be called upon to serve in the militia. More recently congress can even tell you how much wheat you can grow on your property for personal use.

You're absolutely right, there has been little improvement in the home of the average american. That is going to be Obama's biggest hurdle to re-election. What numbers do you want? How about GDP?? From the first quarter 2008 through till the end of 2009 our economy shrunk in every quarter except 1 where we posted 1.3% growth. Since then, we've been positive every quarter and managed an average growth of 2.4%. Not the historical average of 3.25% but on par with the rest of the world. More specific to the average joe, lets see unemployment rates. Here, we hit a high of 10% back in 2009 and have slowly cranked that down to 8.2%. Almost every indicator of economic health took a massive dump in 2008 and they have all improved since then.

Some like to argue that any idiot could have managed the same gains because things were so bad they could only go up. No one can honestly say Obama's policies and theories have been given a fair and unhindered shot at righting the economy. He has been hindered at every turn by an obstinate congress that picks arbitrary fights (ie: debt ceiling) just to fight them. Things absolutely could have been worse. Who we can thank for that we won't really know until long after this election when all these moves have fully played out.

Hopefully through reading my posts you've recognized I'm more than willing to give credit to Republicans and criticize Democrats. In this case, Bush is very much responsible for much of the conditions that enabled the collapse. Clinton had his hand in there too, but Bush compounded problems and failed to act on earlier signs of trouble. Bush also set the tone for solution with his bank bailouts. I believe he had the right idea, but a very poor implementation that turned a lifeline into a windfall. Liberals are still blaming him because we are still crawling out of the hole generated by an economic meltdown and two unfunded wars.

Obama absolutely promised a lot more than he delivered. But as I and firemedic have pointed to before, Obama cannot do it on his own. Congress has to help. At the same time Obama burned a lot of opportunities to get other things done by sticking to healthcare reform. He also was forced to bail on some promises when the realities of the job met his hopes and dreams. A perfect example being Guantanamo. Rather than force through a campaign promise because he promised it, he took the hit and left the base in operation.

Its always depressing finding more people ignorant enough to hate someone because of a name or religion. I've seen first hand death in the name of many religions perpetrated by people from every variety of nation. Look at human history and none can escape a vile and murderous past. Yet you're so superior that you can pass judgement upon a person simply based upon their name? It is truly disgusting.

I have no doubt that obamacare if upheld by the supreme court will have a positive impact. I have seen what happens to people with no or insufficient insurance. I see the way the system waits until someone is completely crippled and removed from productive society before stepping in. Preventing health problems and treating them early is far more cost effective than managing all of the complications that lie down the road. It is not only cheaper but it maintains their ability to contribute to society. To continue to earn money and pay into the system. Health insurance only hurts when you don't need it.

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/off-duty-nypd-wounded-bronx-shootout-article-1.1101509

Now here is a great story. Returning from work the officer is confronted by a group throwing bottles. A 3rd party showed up and opened fire on the group and officer. During the ensuing exchange the officer was struck twice. Once in the back and once in the leg. Despite his injuries, for which he was admitted to hospital, the officer shot the shooter and collared the initial instigator. Way to go officer.

LoHud is reporting that:

Authorities say they now believe two skydivers plunged to their deaths in upstate New York last week after the helmet worn by a first-time jumper struck his instructor in the throat, incapacitating him.

http://www.lohud.com/article/20120621/NEWS02/306210023/Helmet-hit-eyed-cause-skydive-deaths-Chappaqua-man-instructor?odyssey=mod|mostview

Sad that a piece of equipment that is intended to save lives may have done the opposite!

The helmets don't have brims. Without the helmet it would have been his skull.

This isn't justice. This was a man who lost control over himself and has to live with killing someone. No matter how vile the perp was and how much you love your child you still have to reconcile with yourself taking a life. I feel for the father. No one should be put in that position. I've seen what it does to someone and it's ugly.

How do these Departments keep track of who is paid and who is not? Is it marked on the run card? Are they looking up if that address is in a database? Seems that this should be included in everyones taxes. I think that it would not be to much to ask that people can feel safe in their own homes. Also $75 a year doesn't seem enough to cover a FD's expensece. If every household paid $75 it would be $81,075 total.

When you're using second hand POS trucks held together with spit and duct tape you'd pray for 80k a year. People outside the north east are not exactly fans of "big" government. They don't pay for what they see as non-essential. A year ago maybe people could say they didn't know. The homeowner in that case knew, rolled the dice, and lost. Now after all the publicity how can you defend people that still don't pay?

While 30 patients sounds overwhelming there is a big difference between 30 walking wounded and a much smaller incident with 10 critical. Severely injured patients tax your medical and firefighting resources. Triage and rapid trsnsport of your critical patients is vital to efficiently managing your scene. Even if you cant get 20 ambulances on the road there's a lot you can do on scene and FDs should not just bd relying on EMS to bail thfm out here. Unless you're assigning EMS on all of your structural alatms odds are you'll be waiting with the initial patients for EMS to arrive.

They are not firefighters! No one with a conscience would stand by and do nothing because of dollars and cents! Paid or volunteer! When there time of judgement comes and asked why you didn't help when you could of? really! are you going to say because they didn't pay! what a disgrace!

We're going to really do this thread again? The dept responds to ensure there is no life threat. If everyone is out of the structure and the fire will not spread it is allowed to burn. The homeowner knew the risk when they chose to not participate in funding the FD.

If they offer their full services regardless of whether or not they paid, why would anyone pay until they needed help. You're now punishing everyone that was responsible and paid their fair share.

What would it take to charter a new company? One dedicated to firefighting.

That's horrific. Its pretty common for a chute to not deploy 100%. Collapsed cells or a tangled line are easily fixed by a few tugs on your controls. Unadressed they could easily lead to an accelerated descent.

MTA tried this in NYC. When reminded the real cost of PD, Fire, and EMS responses they decided it was worth the free tolls.

The overwhelming majority of my jumps were at the Ranch. Top notch staff and very professional. Have a great time.

Nothing like this surprises me with the PA.

Break cleaner is just to blow out the sand from the coupling. If you gave a filthy storz coupling you need to clean, the break cleaner would work but make sure you lube it again very well after.

Grumpy, that is if you are abke to move out if the way. If you are entangled with the driver would you expect to be fully exonerated? There was an officer in the Bronx a few years ago I believe with the auto task force that killled a suspect. The perp pinned the officer or their partner between parked cars. If i'm remembering this correctly was that officer at least exonerated?

What would it take to establish a new company?

https://news.google.com/news/story?q=nypd+shooting&hl=en&safe=off&rlz=1C1CHFA_enUS486US487&prmd=imvnsu&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.r_qf.,cf.osb&biw=1223&bih=577&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ncl=dWdbFP_PnBuZp6M8Lqw1SB7QAEgFM&sa=X&ei=THvdT5HuDZPm6gGXz5GVCw&ved=0CC4QqgIwAA

Here you go. Are any of these stories pro cop?

All shootings are thoroughly investigated and when warranted go before a grand jury. In the February shooting of a teenager in the Bronx they came back with an indictment. We'll see what actually happened in court and justice will hopefully be served. Just as the family is forever scarred by the loss the officer even if completely exonerated still had be to dragged through the press, arrested, and put through a murder trial. If he's guilty the family still lost their child and now the officers family loses theirs and the NYPD catches another black eye. No matter what your perspective, best case scenario everyone loses all because the officer was doing his job. A job for which he makes less than 60k per year and takes home less than 40k.

Perhaps they would, perhaps they won't. I live in Dutchess County and can only speak for the area that I live in and most people here are content with the way things are and have no desire to see anything change on that magnitude.

Maybe Dutchess wouldn't benefit from countywide consolidation. Has anyone sat down and looked at what, if any savings or improvements could be made? Are there any villages or hamlets that are struggling to cover an area that they could better cover together? I know very little about Dutchess, but I'm willing to bet this hasn't been tackled yet and if it has, I guarantee the public doesn't know.

He filed the complaint and bailed out at the same meeting? Why not follow through? If the dept ignored this issues or didn't follow through with remedying the situation the state would absolutely intervene. EEO is a hot issue and there is plenty of precedent establishing volunteer depts are subject to the same laws as regular employers unless specifically exempted.

The public doesn't vote because they don't care/don't know. If you gave them a reason they would turn out.

You must have never worked in less than desirable neighborhood where the good guys (police/fire/ems) are looked upon as doing something wrong

Woah, do not lump EMS in there with you guys (you've seen our uniforms. FDNY EMT/Paramedic couldn't be any more clearly displayed without being in lights). They like us waaaay more than they like you.

In all seriousness; scum bags of all degrees and varieties frequently help us, hold doors, offer to carry equipment etc because we are there to help. We don't judge, arrest, or break things. We just solve problems. People not in their right mind (psychotic break or intoxicated) are a whole different animal and can't be included here as they're irrational and will even attack friends and family. No cop is getting a helping hand from the dealers outside the projects. Hell, they can't even get help solving the crimes they're accused of ignoring.

Every cop in every neighborhood wears body armor because people want to do them harm. Every year there are stories of officers being attacked out of nowhere simply because they're wearing a badge. FDNY EMS is issued ballistic/stab rated vests because one member several years ago was stabbed by a patient and his personally purchased vest was credited with saving his life. We are not required to wear them and in more then 40 years not a single EMT or Medic working for the city has been shot. Firefighters get some flack for "trashing" homes during overhaul, but are generally seen as heros and welcomed when they're responding to a call. Police officers are tasked with enforcing the written laws. By simply performing their job they are going to piss off everyone. The people who call them will never get help fast enough and the people they pursue will too often value their own freedom over the lives of those around them.

Now we all have locations and individuals that no matter who we are will be under attack. Airmail sounds cute and the onion that exploded next to us was kind of funny. The mini fridge that landed as we were fleeing was neither cute nor funny. Guess what, as we were fleeing an army of cops were charging in.

Anyone willing to take a car at gunpoint and then recklessly flee the police putting dozens of innocent civilian lives at risk is a piece of garbage and doesn't deserve to share this earth with the rest of us. There are plenty of cases where normal people wind up in bad situations that get them shot. Diallo and Henry are two cases that come to mind. She was not the victim of tragic circumstances, but a predator willing to put her selfish needs above the safety of those around her. We are better off without her. I only hope the involved officers can be as at peace with this as I am.

You don't need a constitutional change. You need each municipality to sign on to the county fd. Now that citizens can fairly easily start a referendum to dissolve a fire district all it takes is the will of the people to push this change forward.

Six ambulance corps for one town? How big is Ramapo?

Ramapo is a town made up of several smaller villages and hamlets. Like Greenburgh or Mt. Pleasant in Westchester, except larger. In 2010 Ramapo had 125,000 residents and I'm sure has only grown since.

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/woman-clinging-life-shot-cops-brooklyn-article-1.1095976

Any idea why only 1 manufacturer bid?