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The Red Line of Right

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Walking Obama Back

Yesterday’s New York Times had one of those “Washington Insider” stories wherein presidential advisers express dismay of pants-peeing proportion that the guy in charge actually said what he felt about a morally troubling issue.  Time to get him back in the box.

Here’s the President’s quote  from an earlier NYT article:

Syria and Chemical Weapons

“We cannot have a situation in which chemical or biological weapons are falling into the hands of the wrong people,” Mr. Obama said in response to questions at an impromptu news conference at the White House. “We have been very clear to the Assad regime but also to other players on the ground that a red line for us is, we start seeing a whole bunch of weapons moving around or being utilized.”

Our foreign policy uber wonks would have Obama apparently follow  Bill Clinton’s example (and crushingly poor judgement) in refusing to acknowledge that what was happening in Rawanda was genocide.  Clinton administration officials  declined to even use the word “genocide” as they might have to actually do something if they did.

Obama said what he thought and felt but here is how a “senior official” spins it now, “Mr. Obama was thinking of a chemical attack that would cause mass fatalities, not relatively small-scale episodes like those now being investigated, except the “nuance got completely dropped.”

Now we get it.  The occasional use of nerve gas where a dozen or so are killed and injured:  not a big deal.  By that calculus the Boston bombing was not even front page news. But, of course, we apply a different formula for non-US terror casualties.

It must be admitted that this is all muddled by the memory of George W. Bush engaging in a ground war in Iraq over specious claims of weapons of mass destruction.

But if American strategic interests demand our constant involvement in the Middle East to protect our 51st state (Israel) and our dependence on oil, the President should at least feel free to be morally indignant about the actual use of a chemical weapon without his staff swooning in confusion and fear.

After all, a president being honest is a nice thing–every once in a while.

 

 

Posted by on May 6, 2013 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, Command & Leadership, History, War and Peace, Words

Tsarnaev and McVeigh: The Price We Pay?

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Doctrine, Disaffection and Violence

The news is full of stories of the FBI and others “scrambling” for clues to understand the motivation of Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the chief Boston Bomber.  So far we know that he was unsuccessful as a boxer, married, a father, unemployed and a follower of “radical Islam.”

Timothy McVeigh

Patriot Gone Awry

Tsarnaev’s trajectory has been charted before in the form of Timothy McVeigh.  Some details are different but the essentials remain the same.  McVeigh, too, ultimately failed in his goals as a soldier, becoming both unemployed and a wanderer.  He also embraced an ultra radical doctrine of gun rights and the “Patriot Movement” that included a strong anti-federal government component.  McVeigh quit the NRA because it was not sufficiently radical.  He was very intelligent, with an IQ well above average.

Of course, the normal recourse to a professional setback or personal failure is to try again or select another path.  Tsarnaev and McVeigh instead opted for rigid apocalyptic doctrines that oddly channeled failures as mundane as  perceived sexual or relationship inadequacy or employment problems into scenarios involving the federal government.

McVeigh was in Waco during the seige, traveling there to express his outrage and support.  He also went to Area 51 in New Mexico and to Gulfport, Mississippi, to investigate “government conspiracies.”

Tamerlan Tsarnaev

Grounded in Grozny?

Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s earlier path is  both obscured and partially explained by his Chechen origins and his exposure to a terrorist culture grounded there in their “no holds barred” fight with the Russians in Grozny, the capital of the Chechen Republic.  Chechens were heavily involved in the 2004 Beslan, North Ossetia, hostage taking at a school where 380 people, many of them young children, were killed.

Tsarnaev went to Chechnya and Dagestan last year and it was there that his full embrace of Anti-US and radical Islamic doctrine apparently began.

In the case of both McVeigh and Tsarnaev, personal failures resulted in terminal disaffection and the subsequent decision to cast their fate with violent radicals.  It must have been seductive and empowering to once again have both purpose and a clear path.  In fact, committing to a moral ideology, with or without a religious component, is in part how most people chart their lives.  But, in their case, the operative component was violence.

Personal failure and disaffection are part of the human condition.  And, being a radical is neither negative nor criminal.  It is the descent into violence and terror that sets them apart.

The Role of Foriegn Policy and War

McVeigh and Tsarnaev both refer to wars as at least partial explanations for their violence.  McVeigh to the First Gulf War where he served and Tsarnaev to Iraq and Afghanistan.  Some writers have suggested that Tsarnaev’s war reference is really hatred at the Russians for their Chechen adventures so that anti-Russian sentiment morphs into anti-American sentiment, surely an irony of some proportion.

McVeigh taunted the US in his writings suggesting that they had done much more than he:  ”Remember Dresden? How about Hanoi? Tripoli? Baghdad? What about the big ones — Hiroshima and Nagasaki?”  His characterization of US military actions as essentially state-sponsored terrorism against civilians speaks for itself.

Is American foreign policy and the  wars which result at least the partial pretense for terrorism here?  The answer would seem to be a resounding yes, at least according to the perpetrators  of Oklahoma City, 9/11 and Boston.

Westboro Baptist

Democracy and Terror

What sets McVeigh and Tsarnaev apart from Bin Laden is their grounding in American culture and democratic institutions, as fallible as they can be.  And, youthful disaffection which descends into terror is deeply disconcerting.

Doctrines of violence and hate  (KKK, Westboro, skinheads, etc.) will be with us always but when they serve as a beacon calling the young and disaffected, perhaps it is time to pause and ponder.

 

 

Posted by on April 30, 2013 • Filed under: History, Religion and Spirituality, Values and Ethics, War and Peace, Words

A Vietnam Rememberance

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Hue City, 3 Purple Hearts and a Full Metal Jacket

Springtime

The last several days were certain evidence of a vibrant Spring here in the Nation’s Capital: crystal clear and cool, the trees in bloom, the birds singing and nesting, life all around.  I spent them with a group of Vietnam Veterans and those that love them, touring the city.  Marines, Army, Navy and Air Force, we saw the sights, including the World War II Memorial and the Korean War Memorial.

I got to know them, if just a bit, and was honored to be tagging along.  They are a class act.  Mostly in their sixties and seventies they are living full lives.  Some of them were teenagers or just barely in their twenties when off to war they went.

The Battle of Hue 

The “highlight” or culmination of the trip would be visiting the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the laying of a wreath of flowers there.

We walked up to the Lincoln Memorial first and then it was time.  They gathered before the Wall as other visitors respectfully looked on.

Afterwards, they brought their flowers up to the sculpture, The Soldiers, by Frederick Hart.

I re-joined them at that point as it seemed appropriate.  To be honest, I was a bit nervous, awed even, at the prospect of talking about the Memorial to such a group.  Of course, I needn’t have been.   I decided to tell them what I tell youngsters when I bring them there and then I asked what they thought I should be saying.  I was glad I asked.

Among this group were several women, seemingly unattached.  I stood there with them on that pristine afternoon and heard a reason why. Her husband was 19 and he  enlisted, as she said, “to save the world.”  During his time “in country” he received three Purple Hearts and fought in the grueling, bitter, house-by-house fight for Hue City in 1968.  His platoon would be in the “bush” for up to three weeks straight, sharing a single toothbrush among 30 men.

The Purple Heart

He came home from Vietnam, but not really.  The next forty years were filled with severe depression and crushing pain that neither therapy nor medications could touch.  He constantly searched the “perimeter” of his house.  He refused to eat, his weight falling to 115 pounds.  He would cut himself and then sew the wound up.

Last year, days after his 40th wedding anniversary and at age 60, he shot himself in the head.

They took the body away but she and the kids were left to clean up the aftermath and thus the horror of Hue and young men at war came home again.

She wanted me to say to those seeing the Wall how terrible it was, and is, for men and women to come home from war and to be scorned for their service, heroism and bravery. And, she asked that I talk about the lasting and unseen wounds of war.

Her husband’s name belongs on that wall as surely as any other.

 

Posted by on April 23, 2013 • Filed under: Command & Leadership, In the Line of Duty, Safety and Health, Values and Ethics, War and Peace, Words

Baghdad in Boston

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For a Moment the World is Smaller

Baghdad Bombing

Yesterday in Iraq there were explosions in Baghdad, Fallujah, Tikrit, Samarra, and Hilla.  The BBC reports that 20 car and roadside bombs were employed.  Thirty-one people were killed and over 200 injured.  Such bombings are commonplace in Iraq and elsewhere.

A bit of Baghdad came to Boston yesterday.

It was Patriot’s Day when the famous opening skirmishes at Lexington and Concord signaled the beginning of the American Revolutionary War.

Lexington and Concord

The British were preempting the colonists, out to relieve them of their powder and cannon.  The initial fighting may have been “accidental” and the rest of it was confused but at least it was out in the open.

The timing and place of yesterday’s horror is deeply suspect and freighted with suggestions of liberty and revolution.  If so, it is a bestial attempt to appropriate symbols of the birth of America.

Boston

Our pluralistic and democratic society is remarkably free from the concussions of violent anarchy.  Still, we are prey to those who wish to de-stabilize society, be they from within or without.

Our diversity as a country is the best protection against those that would seek to destroy it.  Allowing people the space to have and express a wide a variety of views and opinions is the bedrock of American Democracy.

If America is a bit like Baghdad this morning, we can for a moment understand their struggle but we can also commit ourselves to unifying around the primary principle that makes us a free and diverse land: mutual respect for others.

Posted by on April 16, 2013 • Filed under: History, Religion and Spirituality, Values and Ethics, War and Peace

Queer as an NBA Point Guard

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 A Man in Uniform?

Chris Culliver
Player

Former NBA coach Phil Jackson made news of a sort this week when he asserted that he had “never run into” a gay professional basketball player.

And, according to Huff Post, San Francisco 49ers player Chris Culliver told Artie Lange that he would not welcome gay players in the NFL or on his team. “I don’t do the gay guys, man,” Culliver is quoted as saying in a pre-Super Bowl interview. “I don’t do that. No, we don’t got no gay people on the team, they gotta get up out of here if they do.”

Finally, the week ended with ESPN leaking tapes of Rutger’s basketball coach Mike Rice physically abusing players while calling them faggots and worse.

Sports in America may be the last bastion of the homophobe, a place where it is till OK, cool even, to deny that gays and lesbians are part of the game–indeed, that they even exist.

Randy Phillips
Soldier

A Real Man in Uniform

Steven Randy Phillips is, serendipitously, from Eclectic, Alabama.

He is an Airman in the United States Air Force and has served his country in the Persian Gulf and elsewhere.

Phillips is gay and used social media to proclaim his sexuality in 2011.

It is beyond ironic, even bizarre, that gay and lesbian men and women risk their lives to protect our country, police our cities, fight our fires and rescue us generally yet we condone and even idolize athletes and coaches who blatantly discriminate based on human sexuality.

The truth is that Phil Jackson, Chris Culver, and Mike Rice aren’t fit to shine Randy Phillips’s boots or for that matter, the boots of any of the thousands of other gay and lesbian soldiers, sailors, police officers, paramedics or firefighters who keep America safe.

Posted by on April 7, 2013 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, Command & Leadership, Sex, Values and Ethics, War and Peace

One Ringy Dingy

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When Going Back to Bed seems like a Good Idea

I am at that point in life where consolidation seems like a good idea: finances, possessions, you name it.

It was for that reason that I decided to make Verizon my single stop for home phone, internet and cell service.

Months ago I made the arrangements and even ordered a new cell phone from Verizon.  Like many “good” ideas I never got around to actually porting the number over from Virgin Mobile, until yesterday.

And yesterday was to be ambitious:  port the phone, have my taxes done and renew the registration on my vehicle on the last day possible.

So much for that plan.

Having ported the number over the night before, I expected to awake to my new Verizon service.  Not only did the old phone not work, the new one advised me that my service had been disconnected for non-payment.

I was able to call Verizon customer service to explain that I showed a $114 payment on March 15 but they could not hear me on the new phone.  That advised me to fax in proof of payment and promptly hung up.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t have a fax machine.  I located the proof online and went to print it, only to find that my virtually new Canon printer wouldn’t even turn on.

Coincidentally, renewing my vehicle registration online requires a printer for the temporary permit so that idea was also dead in the water.

So, it was off to the tax man, fairly brimming with confidence that last year’s changes, including the payment of estimated taxes would make this an easy task with perhaps, a rebate to recalibrate my day.

I shuffled out of the tax office at noon, $3600 poorer and I hadn’t even bought my lunch.

At least I wasn’t bothered by any phone calls.

My afternoon recovery plan included a Best Buy expedition for a new printer to jump start the other tasks.

$140 later I was home with a new printer.  Having disconnected the “old” one, I decided that nothing would be lost by trying the old “give it a good whack” technique before recycling it.  I dropped it about a foot onto a concrete floor, plugged it in and it now works fine.

Now I have two printers and a broken phone.

Maybe I’ll try that with the phone.

Tomorrow.

 

Posted by on April 4, 2013 • Filed under: A Life, Different

History and Race: March 18, 1942

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The War Relocation Act

Seventy-one years ago today Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed an executive order requiring 120,000 mostly Japanese-Americans to report for forced relocation.

In the wake of the December 1941 Pearl Harbor attack, politicians, leaders and many others concluded that all Americans exhibiting the features of Japanese ancestry were potential spies, soldiers or saboteurs.

Relocation Centers

Round-Up

While Asians and Asian-Americans were no doubt used to a degree of  racism, this detention based solely on physical characteristics was unprecedented.

The mass round-up devastated families and communities as businesses were sold and careers ended.

There were ten re-location centers, mostly in the west.  They were chosen partly because of their remote location and ironically were mostly on Native America Lands.  Native Americans, of course, were similarly “relocated” though more forcibly and permanently.

Arriving at a Center

A Bleak Life

Life at a center was minimalist, spare and institutional.  Living arrangements were barracks style, meals were taken in a common mess hall and space was strictly limited.  At the Topaz Center each person was allocated about 114 square feet.

Some internees were able to obtain jobs, mostly in agriculture.  Others concentrated on education, hobbies and “Americanization.”

 

“Gaman” Art

Gaman

Gaman is “a Japanese word that means to bear the seemingly unbearable with dignity and patience.”  Internees confined in a harsh environment bereft of personal possessions and objects turned to making art out of available materials such as wood, beads, and other found materials.  This art is now known as Gaman art and is amazing for its ingenuity and beauty.

Freedom and Memory

Memorial

As the war drew to a close, July 1945 spelled the end of all of the camps but one.  Internees were expected to move on with their lives though irreparable damage had been done in the cause of a false sense of security based on racial profiling and animus.

In 1992 Congress passed legislation to allow for the construction in Washington, DC, of  the “Memorial to Japanese-American Patriotism in World War II.”

The completed memorial now stands at Louisiana Ave and D St., Northwest.  It recognizes both the hardship of the internees as well as the profound courage and patriotism of the Japanese-Americans who served in the armed forces.  The accomplishments of the 100th Infantry Battalion/442nd Regimental Combat Team are legendary.  Twenty-one members were awarded the Congressional medal of Honor for their heroism and bravery.

Not bad for a bunch of “traitors.”

 

Sources: SI.edu, Wiki

Posted by on March 18, 2013 • Filed under: (Almost) Hidden DC, Administration & Leadership, Art, Command & Leadership, Different, History, Sculpture, Statuary, Outdoor Art, Values and Ethics, War and Peace, What We Call "Race", Words

EMS Delivery and Leadership: Officer Down!

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On Waiting 

The DC press was all over a recent incident where a Metropolitan police motor officer was struck and injured by an auto while stopped in far southeast DC, close to the border with Prince George’s (PG) County, Maryland.  No DC ambulances were available and the officer was eventually transported by a PG unit after one was requested.

You would think that no one ever had to wait for an EMS transport unit before.

While this appears to be about “wait times” it is also about how DC works with neighboring jurisdictions.  For example, PG, Montgomery, Arlington, Fairfax, Alexandria, etc. have essentially integrated their dispatching protocols at the 911 level so that the closest unit is often dispatched based on their availability.  It matters not where they are from.

 Automatic Aid

The fact that a PG ambulance treated and transported the officer should not be an issue, the wait should be.  DC Fire and EMS (DCFEMS) or DCFD, whatever you want to call it, should be working to integrate as fully as possible with the other Washington area Council of Government fire departments.  (The fact that they are not is amusing, in at least one aspect, since so many DC firefighters volunteer in PG and neighboring Montgomery County, Maryland.  They integrated in their own special way.)

The “wait time” issue is thorny, complex and longstanding.  This is just one example.  DCFEMS Chief Ellerbe seems to want to run the department as if it were a business:  staff to meet the demand.  If you ran a clothing store and 90% of the customers came in from 5PM to 9PM, you wouldn’t have 90% of your employees working in the morning.  They would show up at 5PM.  This is hardly rocket science but it is a big change for the department.  And, there will be times when an ambulance is not readily available, that’s why we have fire companies with EMS (including Advanced Life Support) capability.  That’s also why automatic mutual aid is essential.

 Leadership

And another major issue is leadership:  Ellerbe as fire chief and IAFF local 36, the union that represents the members.  Has Ellerbe really tried to get labor buy-in for this and other changes?  Is labor basically “thumbing their nose” at any healthy and effective change?  (It’s easy for labor to be mired in the status quo as leaders are likely to be tenured and not especially fond of rocking the boat.)

Who can argue against a rational model that deploys the resources in such a way that they are likely to be available when most needed? If Ellerbe’s ideas fall within the parameters of a professionally acceptable approach to deployment of fire and EMS resources, the council (and the Mayor) should give them a chance to work.

Agendas

At the end of the day, the Department (and the union) is made up of a variety of folks with their competing agendas.  It would be nice if it were a sure thing that Local 36 was interested in the welfare of the citizens but I am not sure that is the case.  As an example, this past New Year’s Eve, 100 folks called in sick resulting in 12 ambulances being placed out-of-service.  According to a local media outlet, “one man died from cardiac arrest while waiting for an ambulance on New Year’s Eve.”  Some ascribe this to firefighters being pissed off about not receiving holiday pay on Christmas Eve.

Finally, regarding  unfilled paramedic positions, it is a widespread problem across the US.  Paramedics do a large majority of the work and are often treated like third-class citizens by firefighter co-workers.  No wonder people won’t take the jobs or become burned out.  Returning to the business aspect for a moment, would Microsoft treat their most productive employees the same way?  (We know the answer to that question.)

 

Posted by on March 16, 2013 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, Command & Leadership, EMS Dispatch, EMS Topics, Funding & Staffing, Safety and Health, Vehicle Operation & Ambulances

Words: “She Read Me The Riot Act”

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Origins of an “Ass-Chewing”

Nothing makes the sting go away quicker than sharing it with others.  The term often employed, as short hand for the experience is “being read the riot act.”  It roles off our tongues and fits the occasion perfectly.  But what does it really mean?

While  Riot Act

It turns out that for an awfully long time that one could literally be read the Act.  Roy Porter, writing in, London: A Social History, points out that Londoners were, “used to expressing there loyalties on the streets…to stifle street politics, the Riot Act was passed in 1715.”

While it has its origins in 18th-century England, a similar act was used in America, as well.  Police forces in both countries are 19th-century inventions.  Prior to that, public safety was often the responsibility of parish officials and night watchman who may have been good at giving warning but were totally unequipped to stop a single criminal, much less a mob.

In fact, in London, New York and other cities, mobs ruled.  They may have been lightly under the control of this or that faction, but once they grew to a large enough size, they took on a life of their own.  They pulled down houses, started fires and murdered innocent people.  The Gordon riots in London and the NYC 1863 Draft riots are examples and of course, revolutionary Boston was infamous for its “patriotic” mobs.

With no police force, officials often relied on an elected sheriff and a militia to enforce order.  The Act, passed by Parliament, was literally read to the crowd, demanding they disburse.  They had an hour to do so, lot’s of time to cause mayhem before breaking up.  As was the case with many 18th-century laws, the punishment for defying the order was death, though it was rarely applied.

The last known reading of the Riot Act in England was in the 1920′s.

It has since been repealed though it still has its purpose today.

 

Posted by on March 11, 2013 • Filed under: Different, History, Words

Red Cross Get’s a Make-Over

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Martha at the Helm

As some folks know, I am a DC city guide.  The 2013 guiding season is underway despite the see-saw weather.

The newest memorial, honoring Martin Luther King, Jr,  is proving to be a big hit.  It may be the most well lit memorial for night time viewing in the city.  King’s words are crucial to the space.  The quotes have been superbly lighted from below.  (Since you asked, WWII is the worst lit, with many inscriptions disappearing when the sun sets.)

I had a delightful group of students this past Saturday.  We saw the sights for 11 hours, metro-ing our way around the City.  During the visit to the Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial we were at the part honoring women who served. The role of  nurses and war came up.  I asked them who started the American Red Cross and was instrumental in helping soldiers and families during the Civil War.

A hand shot up.

Martha Stewart

“Martha Stewart”, was the firm reply.

This easily makes my list of best Clara Barton stand-ins, bumping the previous reply of Betty Crocker from the number one position.

Of course, no one is immune from the occasional gaffe.  Last year I told 55 adults staying in Crystal City that they could  visit the Pentagon 9/11 Memorial by taking the hotel’s space shuttle over and the metro back.

I heard about that for the rest of the trip.

Houston, we have a problem.

 

 

 

Posted by on March 7, 2013 • Filed under: (Almost) Hidden DC, Different, History, Words

License to Die

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“License and Registration, Please”

First, thanks to everyone who read (and commented) yesterday about the “no-CPR” incident.   This update from the press:  ”Lorraine Bayless had chosen to live in a facility without medical staff and wanted to pass away without life-prolonging intervention, her family said Tuesday.”

Most, but not all,  commenters were somehow related to the health field.  But,  several folks shared their own experiences with a loved one which was quite valuable.

Common words were legality, professional, Do Not Resuscitate(DNR), duty, and licensing.  Even writers that were quite concerned about the ramifications of not acting expressed the need for people to die with dignity and freedom.

It’s hard not to conclude that in our litigious and buttoned-down society that the DNR order has become a license to die.  Without it, you risk ignominy or worse.  According to the Pasadena News, “City fire officials say Bayless did not have a “do not resuscitate” order on file at the home.”  Conservatives worth their salt and any libertarian should be aghast to know that you now need the city’s permission to die.

A Pioneer Death

She’s in the Parlor

Many of us are fortunate to have people in our lives who can recall a death at home where the corpse never left the house until the burial.  They were washed and dressed and placed in the parlor for folks to come and pay their respects.

Such a thing is probably illegal now but it illustrates how the process of death these days routinely includes transfer to a hospital, which should seem a little odd.

In one sense, this “we die at the hospital” mentality has now been walked back to the point that you are not allowed to die outside the hospital unless you have your DNR passport.

The emergency response system, including EMS, fire and 911 call takers are now part of the “you must die at the hospital” culture we live in.  In fact, Bakersfield became a story over a call taker’s “heroic” efforts to recruit a CPR provider.

The Last Trip

As a society we have created an environment where the universal last, great trip is being robbed of its ambiguity, grace and freedom.  In fact, the current system, especially for those content to go, argues in favor of a solitary death where the risk of interference is minimized.  We are all ultimately alone at the end, but that is a high price to pay.

I have several people in my life who “are ready.”  And, I have known others.  I hope that when their time comes that they make their transition free of pain, but with grace and dignity.

Thanks, again.

 

Posted by on March 6, 2013 • Filed under: Different, History, Religion and Spirituality, Values and Ethics, Words

Let’s Live…FOREVER!

28 comments

 

“Harrowing” and “Horrifying”

The Associated Press reported yesterday that an 87-year-old Bakersfield, CA, woman collapsed at the dining hall of her assisted living facility and that staff refused to perform cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR).  She died.

Now, all hell is breaking loose.

Never-mind that the “residents of the facility are informed of the policy (no CPR) and agree to it when they move in.”

A nurse is being vilified by the ignorant media, politicians and others needing to score points as she was simply doing her job and adhering to policy.  The policy is not a “do not resuscitate” but rather a “will not resuscitate.”  No difference, just they are telling you instead of the other way around.

This situation highlights the fact that apparently healthy people, especially the elderly,  can die of natural causes and not need or want resuscitation.  This potential eventuality had been explicitly addressed without the need for the “DNR” order.  There are many ways to skin the cat.

We westerners think we will live forever and that every sentient being should go to the great Walmart in the sky with four broken ribs, a lacerated liver and a tube jammed down our throat.

From California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform: “Independent living facilities should not have a policy that says you can stand there and watch somebody die…How a nurse can do that is beyond comprehension.”

From the California Board of Registered Nursing: “The consensus is if they are a nurse and if they are at work as a nurse, then they should be offering the appropriate medical care.”

And this bon mot from Assemblywoman Mariko Yamada, chair of the California Assembly Aging and Long-term Care Committee, “This is a wake-up call.”  (Not so much.)

This is shaping up as another example of the “Hot McDonald’s coffee/I’m stupid so i’ll sue you”  world we inhabit.  Frankly, it’s 2013, if you are in any facility and they lack one or more Automatic External Defibrillators (AEDs), they aren’t serious about “sudden death” lifesaving regardless of what they say or who knows or will administer CPR.

If I defy the odds and live to be eighty-seven and am in the dining hall and go into cardiac arrest, I’ll sue all right.

I’ll sue whoever dares to touch me.

 

 

Posted by on March 5, 2013 • Filed under: Dispatch & Communications, EMS Dispatch, EMS Topics, Values and Ethics

March 4, 1908: Catastrophe in Collinwood

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Are Our Children Safer?

Lake View School
Collinwood, Ohio

One hundred and five years ago this morning, disaster struck Lake View School in Collinwood, Ohio.

Fritz Hirter, school custodian, had arrived near dawn on a late winter’s day,  to fire up the school’s coal burning furnace.  The children were let into the building around 8AM and the fire was reported by a student at about 9:30.

The next minutes were a panicked blur as fire ascended the open 3-floor staircase trapping students and causing a blinding rush for the few exits.

Bodies piled up at the doorway to the point where pulling the children out was impossible.

 

Collinwood Memorial

172 students and two adults were killed in minutes, some as they were forced to jump from upper floors.  Bodies were so badly burned they were unidentifiable and were buried in a mass grave at Lake View Cemetery.

Where fire is concerned, today’s schools are some of the safest buildings in America but our children are not much safer.

A Collinwood parent, circa 1908, would doubtlessly be astonished to learn that in 2013, the number one threat to children is murder by gun fire, often in mass killings and frequently at the hands of fellow students or young adults.

What would they say from their vantage point afar?  No doubt they would marvel at both our schools and our unwillingness to keep our children safe in them.

As, indeed they should.

 

 

 

Posted by on March 4, 2013 • Filed under: History, Major Incidents, Mass Casualty Incident, Sculpture, Statuary, Outdoor Art, Values and Ethics

Joan, the Holocaust and Hot Heidi

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Can Tragedy Be Funny For a Reason?

Joan Rivers

Joan Rivers, the nearly octogenarian, outrageous comedian, recently observed regarding Heidi Klum that, “The last time a German looked this hot was when they were pushing Jews into the ovens.”

The response has been predictable, including from the (Jewish) Anti-Defamation League, who said, “This remark is so vulgar and offensive to Jews and Holocaust survivors, and indeed to all Americans, that we cannot believe it made it to the airwaves…”

Rivers is Jewish and is refusing to apologize for the comment.   Does her tribal heritage provide a license to shock?  Rivers has said in part, “I can assure you that I have always made it a point to remind people of the Holocaust through humor.”

Indeed, when I read what she said I 1) laughed out loud, 2) felt guilty for doing so and then 3) thought about the Holocaust.

In the very near future holocaust survivors will be a thing of the past.  The power of a living connection with such a horrible event will be gone forever.   Anyone who has ever met and spoken to a Holocaust survivor can attest to the power of being in the presence of such a person.

The Holocaust will no longer exist as a memory but only as a historical fact.  The problem with these facts is that they seldom elicit an emotional response.  Something more is needed.

Rivers with her irreverence creates an emotional chain reaction that can result in some people connecting with the Holocaust  in a manner that is both unconventional and personal.  My own started with a laugh and resulted in a reflection.

Don’t forget, as Mrs. Lincoln once said, “Other than that, the play was great.”

 

 

Posted by on March 3, 2013 • Filed under: Different, History, Religion and Spirituality, Values and Ethics, War and Peace, What We Call "Race", Words

Fire Politics: Hagel’s Squeaker

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You Can Call Me Mr. (Barely) Secretary.

Chuck Hagel
24th Defense Secretary

In the last 35 years all but one nominee for Defense Secretary has been easily confirmed.  The exception, John Tower, US Senator from Texas, was rejected in 1989 by a vote of 47 to 53 because of his drinking and carrying on.  The other ten were confirmed with unanimous or nearly unanimous votes.

As an example, in 1997, Bill Clinton nominated another Republican Senator, William Cohen of Maine to be Defense Secretary.  Cohen, a Republican working for a Democrat was confirmed 99 to 0.

A swing of nine votes would have spelled defeat for Chuck Hagel as he faced a withering barrage of opposition to his nomination, including a filibuster.  In fact, he received the smallest margin of any secretary since the position was created in 1947, according to the NYT.

Those Democrats must have been REALLY pissed off to go after Republican and Vietnam Veteran Chuck Hagel.

Wrong.

It was Senate Republicans who used all in their power to discredit and defeat their former colleague.

Hagel’s in the conservative dog house for taking an independent position on the war in Iraq and for having the temerity to suggest that the US can have a foreign policy independent of Israel’s.  (By the way, this just in: the war in Iraq is not over, we just left.  The country is still racked by sectarian murder and non-stop bombings where hundreds are killed.)

Senate Republicans and conservatives should have welcomed Hagel at Defense.  He has the experience and he is his own man.  He was a Deputy Administrator at the VA in 1982 when he resigned because he felt that Vets were being dis-respected.  He isn’t afraid to walk away which gives him freedom and power. Likely as not, and if history is a guide, he will wind up giving Obama a fit, to boot.

Got a question for you: Would that same crowd have vetoed Hagel joining the US Army Infantry to serve in Vietnam?  (“Lindsay Graham, R-SC, was describing himself on his website as an Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm veteran. In reality, he never left South Carolina.”)

If Hagel’s defense agenda isn’t the Republican’s, just what is their agenda?  If Hagel isn’t their guy, who is?

By the way, isn’t Chuck Hagel just the kind of politician that all Washington politicians say they are (or want to be):  independent-minded, tough, willing to take a stand?  And yet, when confronted with the opportunity to support one for an essential post, they resort to trying to ruin him.

This crowd is so low that they will eagerly impair our ability to wage war, for we are at war, in order to destroy the guy in the White House and our country, along the way.

Now, that’s leadership.

 

Credits: Wiki, NYT, 538, Wapo

 

 

Posted by on March 1, 2013 • Filed under: Command & Leadership, Firefighter Politics, Values and Ethics, War and Peace

Responder Safety: When Attention is “Tunnelled”

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American Airlines 2253

Does what we expect to happen influence our awareness?

Why is constant monitoring essential?

AA 757-200 Over-run
(AP)

Snowy Day

2253 was a Chicago to Jackson Hole, Wyoming (JAC), flight with experienced pilots flying in challenging but typical winter conditions.  (The Captain had extensive experience flying into JAC.) JAC is located at an altitude of 6,400 feet and the active runway was 6,300 feet long.

Weather conditions were better than forecast with light snow and winds though the aircraft would be close to maximum landing weight.  The flight crew conducted a very thorough en-route briefing evaluating runway conditions, weather and aircraft capabilities.

Runway conditions deteriorated during the final third of the length so the plan was to touchdown in the first 1,000 feet and come to a stop quickly.  The aircraft slows and stops using a combination of main gear hydraulic brakes, engine thrust reversers and “speed brakes” or “spoilers.”  These speed brakes cancel wing lift and allow the weight of the aircraft to settle on the main gear so the hydraulic brakes will be fully effective.

Deployed Thrust Reverser

Approach

Engine thrust reversers are manually deployed by the flying pilot after touchdown and the speed brakes can be “armed” for automatic deployment or manually activated at any time.  In addition, the aircraft has a system that automatically confirms that it is on the ground so that deployment is appropriate.

The aircraft was configured for landing, the first officer was the flying pilot and the captain was tasked with monitoring pertinent systems.  He would confirm and call out successful deployment of reversers and speed brakes, a common procedure.

 

Looking Aft

“Two in Reverse”

The aircraft touched down exactly as planned and the Captain called out “deployed” and “two in reverse” suggesting that the speed brakes and thrust reversers were operating.  In the split second after touchdown the “on the ground” sensing system cycled from ground to air to ground again at the exact moment that the flying pilot was manually deploying the thrust reversers.  They froze in mid-deploy position.  In addition, because of an undetected fault in the speed brake system, they also failed to activate.  The aircraft was barreling down the runway, unable to stop and heading for a sketchy runway surface.

Two things were wrong but the pilots noticed and focused only on one–the thrust reversers.  The National transportation Safety Board (NTSB) referred to this as “tunnelled attention” since the pilot responsible for monitoring the “big picture” allowed his focus to be drawn to one area.  The problem with the speed brakes could have been instantly resolved by manually moving the lever to the deployed position.  Activating speed brakes even with late deployment of the thrust reversers would have stopped 2253 on the runway.

“Big Picture”

The NTSB discussed the inability for either pilot to pull back to focus on the “big picture” even though both commented that they were not slowing down.  One of the aspects touched upon is our tendency to expect automated and highly reliable systems to always function correctly.  (The Captain saw the speed brake handle start to move and assumed the rest.)  Our analogous examples could include SCBA, fire pumps or patient monitoring systems.)

Luckily, 2253 rolled to a stop in heavy snow about 500 feet past the end of the runway.  Their ski trip started early.  We can profit by training ourselves to keep the big picture and by not falling into the trap of expecting systems to always function flawlessly.

 

Posted by on February 27, 2013 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, Command & Leadership, EMS Health & Safety, EMS Topics, Fire Rescue Topics, Firefighter Safety & Health, Firefighting Operations, HazMat, Safety and Health, Technology & Communications, Training, Vehicle Operations & Apparatus

Who We Are: Pickles, NO Dark Chocolate and that 3/5 Thing

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Pass the Midgets

Pickles, Small

A mother from the “midget” state, literally, has taken taken great offense at the calling of pickles “midgets”.  Rhode Island’s Chelley Martinka has a no doubt lovely daughter Adelaide, born with dwarfism.  This fact apparently underlies her crusade to stop purveyors of small pickles from referring to them as, well, you know.

It seems that Ms Martinka has here-to-for led a life of cucumborial bliss ignorant of the crushing degradation meted out to innocent gherkins and dills.  Her new found situation affords her the platform from which to make war on words she finds offensive.  She actually caused one weak-kneed vendor to drop the word “midget” which, the last time I checked, meant something “much smaller than usual.”

Next up in this linguistic campaign of fascist terror: “half-pint”, “itsy-bitsy” and “teeny-weeny”.

 

 

Will that be black or white?

Hitler’s Health Care

Meanwhile, over in Flint, Michigan, Hurley Medical Center seems to have “honored the wishes” of a “swastika-tattooed” man to not have black nurses care for his child.  Hospital staff posted a note in the chart saying,’No African American nurse to take care of baby.’

In Flint, the hospital operates much like a confectionery where you pick your chocolate from the many varieties available.  We hear that where chocolate is concerned, some whites pass for black and vice-versa.

Who can seriously claim that we live in a post-racial environment when an admirer of Herr Hitler dictates the color of his nurse, and gets away with it?

 

Scene at the Signing
Howard Chandler Christy

Emory’s Wagner Invokes the 3/5 Clause

Emory University’s President James Wagner wrote a column last week lauding the constitutional clause counting 3/5 of the slave population for purposes of apportioning congressional representation.  He was using it as an example of compromise.

Wagner has spent the rest of the week at a Georgia “wood shed” as he wrestles with being defined as a racist.  He has referred to his writing as, “a clumsy and regrettable mistake.”

Wagner, to the best of my knowledge, does not advocate slavery.  According to the New York Times, students and faculty have labeled the article as “insensitive.”  (They should hang out at the Hurley Medical Center for awhile.)

The truth is that Wagner cited the kind of “hold your nose” compromise necessary to create America.  Being called out on it makes about as much sense as dropping “midgets” from that jar of gherkins.

Forest for the Trees

Sensitivity around human dignity seems to be about as sloppy as making our Constitution.  The “midgets” and “Wagner” stories give rise to the thought that correctness, in its many idiotic shades, will win out over the once adult requirement to view and think about things in context.  It is not a political correctness because it lacks a clear political definition.

Do we now live in a society where anyone, courtesy of technology, can cry foul at a word or a thought and demand change or retraction?  It seems so.

“You Tube Culture”, Facebook, and the “Walk and Text” world now facilitate information at the expense of wisdom as the actual evils of racism, discrimination and hate march steadily along.

 

 

 

 

Posted by on February 24, 2013 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, Command & Leadership, History, Values and Ethics, What We Call "Race", Words

Irony: Alive and Well at the Holocaust Museum

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The Rules Will Be Followed

United States Holocaust
Memorial Museum

I have been working these past few years as a Washington, DC, city guide.  It’s a bit like working for the fire department.  Every day is different, nothing ever goes quite as planned, and you meet a lot of people along the way.

In addition to “interpreting” the city and its history, part of the job is acting as escort to help out-of-town folks negotiate unfamiliar territory as they visit the sites and the museums.  Whether it’s the White House, Capitol, Supreme Court, Mount Vernon or any of the other dozens of locations they all have their way of dealing with visitors.

Some require a security screening that may be largely cursory all the way up to the “no non-sense” operation at the Capitol.  Most balance the need for order and security with the idea that visitors should have the best experience possible as part of the objective of learning and civic engagement.

The United States Memorial Holocaust Museum (USMHM), federally supported with the mission of  teaching the history of the Holocaust and keeping us ever vigilant to the occurrence of genocide, takes an unusual approach to the visitor experience.  Students of history or even those who have seen a film such Sophie’s Choice, based on the best-selling novel by William Styron, will be familiar with the officious, unforgiving, bullying nature of death camp guards towards those arriving there.

I very recently took a group of young folks to the USMHM during a cold snap for a pre-arranged appointment.  We were right on time and had 90 minutes to spend there.  It was a blustery day with temperatures in the 30′s.  I had the kids stand in the sun as I went to make contact with the visitor representative.

He was dressed in a parka fit for the South Pole complete with the hood up.  I identified our group and our number(56)  and he studied his clip board only to announce that I could not enter until a second group of some 56 more arrived on another bus.  We knew not where the other bus was nor exactly when it might arrive.

As the kids shivered in the cold I pointed out that we had to go through security anyway so why not allow us to do so to speed up the process, save time and get them warm.  ”No” was the answer.

I tried speaking with other personnel.  When my unyielding “guard” was finally told to allow us to enter by a supervisor, he turned to me and said, “If your group goes in you will be forfeiting the reservation for the other 56.”   For those who have in fact seen Sophie’s Choice, I was in a similar situation.  In allowing my group to enter, I would prevent the others from doing so.  Of course, I declined and we cooled our heels (literally) until the others arrived.

All 112 of us now made our way through security before being allowed to queue up for the elevator that would take us up to the exhibition level.  We originally arrived with 90 minutes to experience the museum and 34 minutes had now ticked by as we waited to start.  I pointed out to a colleague that earlier that day we had toured the Washington National Cathedral in less time than it was taking us to enter the USMHM.

It’s hard to imagine that the USMHM can believe that it is fulfilling its mission by treating visitors in such a way.

But, rest assured–the rules were followed.

And, at long last, the elevator finally arrived.

 

Posted by on February 20, 2013 • Filed under: (Almost) Hidden DC, Books, Different, History, Travel, Values and Ethics, War and Peace

Of Villainy and Religion

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To Apologize for Kindness

Christ Falling on the Way to Calvary
Raphael

You may recall that after the Newtown massacre where 20 children and six adults were murdered, an inter-faith memorial service was held.

Reverend Rob Morris, a Newtown Lutheran Minister, one of whose young parishioners was among the dead, gave the benediction at the service.

Reverend Morris was subsequently forced to apologize to his church leadership for participating in the service since mingling with different denominational ministers violated their prohibition against joint worship with people of other faiths.

The man who demanded the apology, Lutheran President and Reverend Matthew Harrison eventually apologized for his original demand offering up a contorted rationale.

 A Civil Society?

The Church and the State form two of the most important institutions underpinning modern or civilized life.  Both are associated to varying degrees with compassion.  Many citizens, religious or not, would see the role of the pious as teaching, modeling or extolling the virtues of compassion, kindness and comity as a key tenet of earthly life.  Faith relies on the future while kindness exists in the moment before us.  And, few acts of kindness are more powerful than comforting the bereaved.

How jarring then, in the midst of such a devastating catastrophe as Newtown, to have God’s minister rebuked and forced to apologize for an act of healing and kindness.  What aspect of that reinforces the concept of mercy or the sanctity of human life?

Villainy

It’s fancy for “wicked” which is a powerful word.  It basically connotes an evil willfulness.  Demanding what would effectively be a public apology from Reverend Morris for his kindness was an act of villainy.  He was forced to betray his personal sense of kindness and sense of community in order to satisfy the peculiar tenet of a religious doctrine.

God created “man” and we have created an endless series of sects and divisions jostling and preening for first place in the eyes of the great one.  Though it has long since been proven that we are all essentially the same, the role of much religion is to somehow convince us that we are actually different, and damned because of it.

Power

The synonyms for power are better than the word itself:  might – force – strength – potency – authority.  In the world we inhabit, it seems that no institution, of God or man, can long exist without some combination of strength and authority.  Institutions of power are characterized by hierarchy, status and the ability to punish.  Punishing human compassion is an exquisite abuse of power normally associated with the cruelest of regimes.

Tragically, the cost of power-based organized religion is the requirement to subordinate the inclination to be kind or merciful in order to reinforce  a sense of difference or specialness.

Christ En-route  to Calvary

Look, or look again, at Raphael’s masterwork but see the faltering Christ as the grieving people of Newtown.  See the beseeching Mary on the right as those who would offer compassion including Rob Morris.  Lastly, see the towering and unmerciful guards, centurions who willingly inflict pain to protect their power as the kings of religion.

Thus has the message of mercy and kindness been subverted by religious dogma and the lust for power and control.

 

Posted by on February 14, 2013 • Filed under: Art, History, Religion and Spirituality, Sculpture, Statuary, Outdoor Art, Values and Ethics, What We Call "Race"

Words: Your Horse is Gay

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Warning: May Offend Gays, Police Officers, Horses or Those Who Love or Hate Them

Possibly Gay Horse

Brit Sam Brown, a student at Oxford, was arrested a few years ago during a night out, when he ask a mounted police officer “Excuse me, do you realize your horse is gay?”

He was charged under Section Five of Britain’s Public Order Act for uttering in this case, a “homophobic insult.”

Apparently the unsolicited observation of the horse’s sexuality was deemed an insult as if it is automatically insulting to be gay.

 

 

Enter Mr. Bean

Mr. Bean

Rowan Atkinson, a.k.a., Mr. Bean, has been in the vanguard of encouraging a change to the public law that would result in the word “insulting” being removed.

Bean, incurably silly, is the perfect person to lead a crusade on the absurd.

But the real issue is not the notion of an “insult” but rather, how police officers misuse laws to punish petty or boorish behavior they seem not to like.

In Britain, at least, laws are being amended to protect the citizens from the police.

 

 

Posted by on February 12, 2013 • Filed under: Uncategorized

FF Pensions: Over the Cliff in Illinois

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The Big Squeeze 

Gov. Quinn

The current unfunded pension liability of five of Illinois’s state run pension systems is $96 billion.  The amount is so large that Standard and Poor, the credit rating agency, downgraded the state to A minus, making it more difficult for the them to borrow money in the form of bonds.

Governor Pat Quinn used this week’s State of the State address to once again make a plea for reform but to also point out the effects of the huge unfunded amount.  In 2014, just about 20 cents of every state dollar will be spent on servicing the funds.  Quinn likens this requirement to costing local government services such as public safety, “$17 million dollars a day.”

In Illinois, as in other places, it pays to pay attention to unfunded pension balances.  Your’s may be fine but if enough others are not, the negative effects are pervasive, as Quinn suggests.  And, fixing the problems in not easy or painless as it often involves labor contracts, state constitutions and current and former employees.  Those in the know cannot even agree on how to value current plan assets.

In December 2012, a bipartisan pension reform bill, HB6258, was introduced in an attempt to make progress.  It would effect virtually anyone receiving or expecting to receive a state pension by limiting  annual increases, phasing in an increased retirement age and a pensionable salary cap.

A 2012 Harvard/Kennedy School report estimated the total US unfunded pension liability to be several trillion dollars, a not insignificant portion of annual GDP.

The states with the largest unfunded pension liabilities in percent:

California 32%

Illinois 57%

Ohio 39%

New Jersey 51%

Texas 30%

The cities with the largest unfunded pension liabilities in percent:

Chicago 53%

New York 41%

San Francisco 27%

Boston 51%

Detroit 43%

Predictably, The Kennedy School report listed pension padding and DROP programs as being among the biggest sources of ruinous expenditure.  The current situation also emphasizes the point that giving municipalities a pass on making “required” pension system payments is never a good idea.

Finally, just about everyone seems to agree that allowing pension systems to claim an 8% return when forecasting worth is an absurd idea.

 

Credits:  NYT, Kennedy School, the Civic Federation

 

 

 

 

Posted by on February 8, 2013 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, Command & Leadership, Firefighter Pensions, Funding & Staffing, Values and Ethics

FF Politics: Governor Andrew “Hitler” Cuomo

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Political Correctness Strikes Albany

Gov. Cuomo

My gun frenzied friends no doubt know that New York recently passed a measure designed to inhibit the use of fire arms to commit crimes.  Its effectiveness will be long debated.

The measure passed in the middle of the night, Albany style, because Governor Cuomo wanted his law, now.

Yesterday, Republican state assemblyman Steven F. McLaughlin, said of the “jam job” vote, “Hitler would be proud.  Mussolini would be proud of what we did here…”

Then, the feathers flew.

By Tuesday afternoon, Mr. McLaughlin had issued a video apology and had called the Guv to apologize.

The question is, for what?

The last time I checked Hitler, and Mussolini, too, were dictators of the first magnitude.  Many of their actions were successful as a result of either threatening or simply ignoring legislative institutions.  Stalin (and Pinochet) could, of course, be added to the list.

Declaring Hitler and Mussolini out-of-bounds as comparisons for dictatorial actions is both wrong-headed and absurd censorship.  McLaughlin properly steered clear of the Holocaust, atrocities and Hitler’s hate for various groups.   He was, rather, referring to the manner in which these leaders interacted (or ignored) citizen representatives.

Reporters, democrats and even his fellow republicans deserted the concept of free and robust speech over fake and ultra sensitive political correctness.

If Governor Cuomo is channeling Adolph or the Duce, he won an important round yesterday.

Long live Caesar.

Posted by on February 6, 2013 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, Command & Leadership, Firefighter Politics, History, Values and Ethics, War and Peace, Words

London Fire Brigade: Boris Knows Best

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Mayor Overrules Brigade Leaders

Boris at the Wheel?

London’s Mayor Boris Johnson is pressing ahead with cuts to the London Fire Brigade (LFB) which would result in a decrease of 520 firefighters.  A dozen stations and some 18 engines would be closed or placed out-of-service.

The LFB is one of the world’s largest fire services, deploying about 5,800 firefighters at 122 stations across the 600 square mile city.

A few days ago the  London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority declined to press ahead with the measures citing a threat to public safety.  The Mayor was apparently unconvinced.

American born and conservative politician Boris Johnson is gaffe prone, absurd and re-electable.  A bit of Johnsonian political philosophy: “if you vote for the Conservatives, your wife will get bigger breasts, and your chances of driving a BMW M3 will increase.”

The Fire Brigade’s Union (FBU) regional secretary for London, Paul Embery, said, in part: “These cuts are reckless and wrong, and it is an outrage that the mayor is going against the democratic decision of his own fire authority and the wishes of most Londoners. The mayor makes the absurd claim that these cuts would somehow improve public safety. But the London Fire Brigade’s own figures reveal that the cuts would result in increased response times for nearly five million Londoners, with only a fifth of the capital’s population seeing an improvement.”

One wonders if the FBU would have a stronger hand if they engaged in the integrated delivery of both basic and advanced medical care?

 

Posted by on February 3, 2013 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, Command & Leadership, EMS Topics, Firefighter Politics, Funding & Staffing

Firefighter Safety: The Columbia Disaster

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Tolerating and Ignoring Risk

107
Lifts Off

Ten years ago today, the Columbia space shuttle, operating as STS-107, disintegrated over Texas killing all aboard.  Columbia had completed a 16-day mission and was returning to Kennedy Space Center.

The shuttle’s huge main fuel tank was covered with insulating foam designed to prevent ice formation.  The shuttle at lift-off was comprised of the orbiter, the fuel tank and two solid rocket boosters.  These elements were connected together and the tank attachment point, covered with insulating foam, had become notorious for “shedding” foam debris on climb out.

Previous shuttle missions had clearly identified other shedding events.  Indeed, STS-112, several months before, had shed a chunk of foam that created a dent in the solid rocket booster/external tank attach point which measured 4″ wide by 3″ deep.

Foam shedding had become such a regular event that upper level NASA leaders continued the launches as scheduled.  Put another way, an event which clearly had the capacity to cripple the shuttle (and kill the crew)  had become routine and normalized till it was no longer considered to be a threat.

About 82 seconds into the launch at an altitude of around 66,000 feet, a suitcase sized piece of foam separated from the attach point.  The shuttle was traveling at 1,870 miles per hour and accelerating and the impact likely caused a 6 to 10 inch diameter hole in the leading edge of the left wing.

Some NASA officials on the ground ignored requests by engineers to attempt to characterize the damage using DOD assets, suggesting it would be better for the crew to die happy and ignorant.

Re-entry
Left Wing Damage Visible

As Columbia streaked across the pre-dawn sky, those on the ground observed a fiery trial: the orbiter was breaking up.

The first indication in Mission Control was four left wing hydraulic sensors dropping off line probably as a result of heat damage.

The rest is history though the lessons are widely applicable to firefighting and should not be lost:

1.  If you are operating on the incident scene and you have not been medically evaluated or if you have a cardiac condition you are ignoring the number one risk factor leading to firefighter deaths.

2.  If you are riding or driving fire/rescue apparatus and you are not seated and belted you are ignoring or tolerating risk that has repeatedly been shown to result in firefighter deaths.

3.  If you are operating on the fire ground in forward or exposed positions such as in front of or above the hoseline, your reason should be both compelling and borne from a conscious risk assessment.

We honor the Columbia crew on this and every day by re-dedicating ourselves to safe operations.

 

Posted by on February 1, 2013 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, Command & Leadership, Firefighter Safety & Health, Firefighting Operations, In the Line of Duty, Safety and Health, Training & Development, Values and Ethics

Remembering: Free At Last? January 31, 1865

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The 13th Amendment Passes Congress 148 Years Ago Today

Lincoln
(Gardner)

The current box office success Lincoln explores how the 16th President navigated the US Congress and his own Cabinet towards an enduring measure that would abolish slavery in America.

In Daniel Day Lewis’s portrayal of  Abraham Lincoln we see a side of the rail-splitter previously in the shadows.  In the film at least, Lincoln descends from his memorial throne chair and is portrayed as profane, direct and purposeful.

He is also depicted as a “great White savior”.

It is wonderful to see Lewis as Lincoln spinning one of his famous yarns as War Secretary Edwin Stanton looks on, obviously exasperated.  Lincoln employed jokes and stories to sometimes make a point but just as often as a tactic to change the subject and to avoid making a decision.  He curses and laughs and because of it comes alive as a real person.  The Kunhardt’s, chroniclers of Lincoln, once said, in part, that Lincoln “sounded like a backwoodsman, even in high hat.”

Eric Foner, in his Pulitizer prize winning book The Fiery Trail points out that Lincoln’s position on slavery as he reentered politics in the late 1850′s was one even a racist could love.  Lincoln wished only to keep slavery out of new territories.  For Lincoln, it was OK where it existed; keeping it from new territories would mean that Blacks would effectively be corralled in the east and south away from whites pushing westward.

For a long time Lincoln was committed to the “colony” movement where freed Blacks would be exiled to Central or South America or back to Africa.  He could envisage Blacks as free but not as US citizens enjoying the rights of man.

To the extent that the film further morphs Lincoln into even a pseudo-abolitionist, it is an error.  It has been fashionable to trash his Secretaries William Seward and Salmon Chase as being presidential wannabees, too big for their britches and scheming to weaken him.  Whatever that truth may be, Seward and Chase were dedicated abolitionists who represented fugitive slaves for free and in Seward’s case, he and his wife Francis gave them money and safe haven in their home.  Lincoln as Illinois lawyer represented a slave-owner to help him get his “property” back.

Still, on this day, the greatness of Lincoln endures perhaps because of the consistent scholarly view that despite his sometimes tepid actions he was inwardly moving ever forward, willing to question–ponder–learn–change.  We seem to wish to “over credit” Lincoln perhaps because of his undisputed compassion and kindness.  Worse things could happen.

Douglass

Where greatness is concerned, Lincoln had a contemporary partner and it is fitting that he should have the last word.  Frederick Douglass, slave, writer, intellectual, leader, and abolitionist had a complicated relationship with Lincoln as he pushed him to do more sooner.  Douglass may linger in the shadows but his moral legacy now resides in the very house that Lincoln also occupied.

 

“Mr. Lincoln”, said Mr. Douglas, “was not only a great president, but a great man.”

 

Posted by on January 31, 2013 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, Command & Leadership, History, Values and Ethics, War and Peace, What We Call "Race", Words