INIT915

I agree with Albert Snyder, father of a soldier killed in action, at which the funeral of his son was protested by Westboro.
Quote from: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Supreme_Court/westboro-baptist-church-quadruple-military-funeral-protests-supreme/story?id=13039045
At least Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito agreed with the dad:
And one of his daughters had this to say about the West Webster Firefighters who were shot and killed:
The KKK even hates them! That, in itself, says a lot!
Westboro has been banned from Britain. Too bad we can't do the same.
And here's the Wikipedia article describing these wonderful people peacefully abiding by their First Amendment rights. Those defending them solely because of First Amendment rights or using the "if we silenced them then...." need to read up.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westboro_Baptist_Church
Thanks to the petition, the number one petition currently on the White House website, and the awareness it created, the citizens of this country are starting to stand up to them more and more

But it doesn't have to be, and they would be perfect to make an example of.
Also, numerous neo-nazi and skinhead groups are labled as a hate groups. Just because this group is after the GLBT community makes it no different then going after an ethnic minority. I don't put violence out of the picture for Westboro, as I feel they will do whatevever is neccesary to gain attention, especially with the current generation of hate-mongers they are breeding.
Here's some information on hate groups the I hope is interesting to everyone:
http://splcenter.org/Southern Poverty Law Center (Hate Groups)
I agree with many of your points in your post. However, don't underestimate the power of social media. If anything, this petition at least got some attention in the media, and mobilized people against them and their actions. The USA didn't become as great as it is with complacent citizens.

Well, luckily we have some pretty knowledgable fire folks on this forum who have a lot of insight, and I hope they don't feel dissuaded from joining the conversation solely because they might not live there. I for one, encourage their contributions (past and future) and hope they continue!

No, that wouldn't have been unlawful, as quod est necessarium est licitum, for what is necessary is lawful under the law. Landing that plane in that spot, at that moment, was most necessary, and by extension, most lawful. He would be free of UTT's!

These Church's are free to spew their hate, whether it be celebrating at soldiers' funerals or protesting the funeral of murdered first-graders or whatever they come up with next. Just as those who oppose them are free to criticize them. The First Amendment works both ways.
I've never seen these petitions, but I doubt anyone in their right mind thinks that they are going anywhere. Feel free not to sign them, that's your right. Or, if you agree with them, feel free to sign them, that's your right as well.

The USCG does not restrict commercial activity on a navigatable water way
Unless, maybe splitting hairs between a commercial vehicle and commercial vessel.

Ambulances are not in the restricted vehicle category. They also have ambulance plates, not commercial, and the fly-cars now have regular passenger plates so no foul there either. The "commercial" ambulance designation is more of an industry term than a DMV term. There's no distinction between commercial ambulance, volunteer ambulance, etc. as far as the vehicle goes.
From the NYS CRR Section 182.31

They are not a church, just a bunch of nutjobs. They use the church to gain tax-exempt status, so they aren't even paying any taxes. They make their money with their own in house law firm, run by the head nutjobs daughter, and they files numerous BS lawsuits claiming just about everyone is violating their civil rights.
If anyone has Netflix On Demand, there is a documentary on them entitled "Fall From Grace". It's sickening to watch, but I encourage you to watch it to see what a cancer they are on society. All of their kids are being brought up with these disturbing views. They are literally inbreeding the next generation to spew this crap and continue the legacy of hate.
Where do we draw the line between free speech and harrasment? What if they were protesting outside the White House threatening the President? I'm sure that would come to an end real fast.
The only reason they have free speech is because of the soliders who died for it, the same soliders that they descrate and funerals they protest at. Kinda ironic.
And they are a hate group because I hate them.

Well, luckily we have some pretty knowledgable fire folks on this forum who have a lot of insight, and I hope they don't feel dissuaded from joining the conversation solely because they might not live there. I for one, encourage their contributions (past and future) and hope they continue!

Well, luckily we have some pretty knowledgable fire folks on this forum who have a lot of insight, and I hope they don't feel dissuaded from joining the conversation solely because they might not live there. I for one, encourage their contributions (past and future) and hope they continue!

While members frequently suggest that contributions should be limited to those with the proverbial horse in the race, there is no such requirement to do so and EMTBravo encourages all members to contribute positively to the discussion. Note the emphasis on contribute and positively. It's OK to disagree but mudslinging and bashing should be relegated to other venues.
There are plenty of knowledgeable people with a wealth of information that cross jurisdictional and disciplinary "boundaries".
Don't be dissuaded by emotional tirades or venting by other members.
Carry on!

Well, luckily we have some pretty knowledgable fire folks on this forum who have a lot of insight, and I hope they don't feel dissuaded from joining the conversation solely because they might not live there. I for one, encourage their contributions (past and future) and hope they continue!

Well, luckily we have some pretty knowledgable fire folks on this forum who have a lot of insight, and I hope they don't feel dissuaded from joining the conversation solely because they might not live there. I for one, encourage their contributions (past and future) and hope they continue!

I don't think that commercial vehicles are allowed in the Hudson river ?

Wow, two whole Republicans? If that's true, I think that's means basically "the entire Republican party" is accurate.

Two ways to fix this.
Give The President line item veto power.
Or
Bills need to be singular in nature ( no more pork, the Sandy Relief bill would about sandy relief, not Alaska fisheries)

If is wasn't for rampant (and patently incorrect) speculation, we wouldn't have half the posts we have as it is! :-)

Bring back the 70's style Blue and Gold
lol

"braker braker" northbound Sunoco special 80.0 mm in the hammer lane. This post is brought to you by 1978!

Just a couple of things to toss into the ring:
When the YFD began the CFR program, I did see a memo posted on YFD letterhead that said they would stop sending folks on EMS runs when 6 or more companies were being used elsewhere. That was 20 years ago and may have changed. Since I think YFD sends 4 engines, two ladders and a rescue, (4+2+1=....7!) that would mean that any time there was a fire call going on that no one had freed up from, EMS ops would stop. I beleive that for some fire calls in SFR's they send less. As a guy on the street, whether FD comes or not is a total mystery. I can do two identical calls back to back, one gets FD the other not.
Sometimes the local engines are on runs or the call is near a posted ambulance, and the ambulance is way ahead of the engine. Some calls are walk-ins to firehouses and the amulance is coming from a distance. With (I think) 10 fixed engine stations, engines tend to be closer, just since there are a lot of them.
PLEASE don't frame this as a union fight. I am a steward in the IAEP Local 20. We have no dog in this fight. My guys jobs are not in danger, as EMS cal volume is always climbing and will continue to do so for the forseeable future. Additional trends- like taking pt's to thier hospital of origin, even if it is far away, working arrests on scene for longer and such means lots of work for us.
Regarding the poster c/o bad numbers from Empress: can you tell us what numbers and what they were, and what you think the real numbers are? Are we talking abut call numbers, units available, times? Maybe I can help.
About the poster c/o single responder: That is life in EMS. It is done in Eastchester, Cortlandt, Greenburgh, Yonkers, Pelham and Yorktown and many others. The FD in some of those areas sends a BLS truck with one FF on it. Many PD sectors in East Yonkers run 1 man cars, BTW.
For the guy that asked about a YFD EMS: Always possible. It would take a while to get the papers done- like a year I figure. But if you staffed it with Firemen, they cost about $150,00/year each after pay, pensions, medical etc are figured in. It takes 5 guys to have 1 guy on 24X7. So one ambulance = 10 guys. so $1.5 million/year for staffing a single ambulance. I think Yonkers would need 4-5. Then you have to send the guys to medic class, which has about 30% drop-out rate. It takes a year, and they would not be doing many fire OR ambulance calls during that time. And they guys would want more $$ for being medics. YFD I believe pays their guys who become EMT's a $3000/year stipend (corrections welcome). So figure a FF who becomes a medic would get about $10,000 more? THEN you have lawsuits. Empress indemnifies Yonkers (covers) for those. You would have to budget for lawyers and the occasional loss of a suit or a high priced settlement. Oh- and 5 $40,000 cardiac monitors and 1/2 dozen ambulances and a mechanic. THEN since you are only doing 911 calls, there would be many hours that every one of those guys and trucks would be doing nothing but soaking up payroll. AND since the NYS legislature has not moved on allowing FD's to bill since George Pataki introduced it 20 years ago, there is no way to off-set this new $10 million annual cost that by the way, will not put out a single fire- just answer EMS calls.

Very sad.....people just doing their jobs or volunteering their time and already doing something dangerous.
Hey, maybe the NRA will blame this on the media too and suggest armed guards at all fire scenes

I would pay twice what we pay now per year for a career firefighter/paramedic staffed department, and triple that to add in a uniformed policeman in each public school in my township. Happily.
I asked not to play the vollie card because we preach until we are blue in the face that we are no different than a career fireman,,(not true BTW), then we ask for special perks because we are "volunteer"....sorry - you cant have your cake, and eat it too..

Here's the deal...... If you are that upset about a chief's or any other department vehicle being someplace where you think it shouldn't be, then go to that commission meeting and make a formal complaint.
Complaining about "XXX" department's truck was located "here" is not going to solve anything. You want answers go an ask the department, board of commissioners or the chief him / her self why the truck is there instead of here.
This has been talked about so many times once again here it's beating a dead horse.

As was already noted by Jack, there are many other threads on this topic (the search feature will lead you to them). If, after reviewing the prior exhaustive (and exhausting) discussions, you have something new and productive to add, then return and post it.

If this thread just becomes a repeat of the prior discussions and emotional tirades on both sides of the issue, the thread will be closed.

Maybe he had some business to tend to with a Dept. nearby, and ran in to do some shopping on the way home.
We've beaten this horse to death in the past a number of times, already. I honestly don't believe we'll cover any new ground here.