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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

Firehouses: History Versus Safety

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There was an article in the New York Times recently reporting that the US Coast Guard has increased the average body weight calculation for passengers where commercial boating is concerned.  The old weight was 160 and the new one is 185.  Surprise:  people are getting bigger, fast.

It seems that fire trucks  and ambulances are following this same trend. Are firefighters also getting bigger or do we just need more stuff?  Or, maybe it is a little bit of both.

Whatever the cause, bigger fire rigs are creating tension (and problems) in older areas where the existing firehouses may have both historical value and be subject to preservation restrictions where any changes to the structure are subject to approval.

Such is the case here in Washington, D.C., where a host of firehouses built in the 19th or early 20th centuries have apparatus doors and other features that make them ill-suited to the 21st.

The facades on many of these buildings are constructed of limestone or are intricate and of a “character-defining” nature. Thus, they cannot be easily changed.  In addition, the buildings may have landmark status because of their cultural value.

According to the Georgetown Current, a community newspaper, Tim Dennee, a city preservation architect, says, “It’s kind of a quiet disaster”, referring to the number of fire stations, up to ten, that may require alteration.

One community preservationist suggested that the station housing Engine 28/ Truck 14, which has more EMS than fire runs, simply have ambulances rather than fire companies, which would presumably mean that the neighborhood would stop having fire emergencies,  surely a great relief to citizens.  Following this logic, it would make more sense to simply close the station altogether, vanquishing fire/EMS emergencies with one fell swoop.

Meanwhile, the DCFD is predictability antsy, as some renovation projects are seven years old and the condition of firehouses, E28/T14 being one of them, have necessitated their closure with the companies moved elsewhere.

It’s a fascinating issue because so many beautiful fire stations have been torn down and it would be unfortunate to have more destroyed for any reason.  Hopefully, sanity will prevail and these treasures will be carefully re-constructed to allow for the delivery of modern fire/EMS services.  DCFD personnel make a key point:  the narrow entrances are currently being damaged as rigs with as little as three inches of clearance try to “thread the needle.”

 

Posted by on January 10, 2012 • Filed under: Firefighter Safety & Health, Safety and Health, Sculpture, Statuary, Outdoor Art, Uncategorized

Cops: L.I. ATF Agent Killed; Brits with Records

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Friendly Fire?

ATF Agent John Capano was shot and killed in Seaford, Long island, on New Year’s Eve when he intervened in a robbery at a pharmacy.

Agent Capano was in the pharmacy picking up a prescription when the assailant, who has a record of prior robberies, demanded money and medication.

He followed the robber, apparently wounding him, outside into a parking lot where a struggle ensued.

In the seconds that followed, at least two off-duty or retired police officers arrived and both the robber and the ATF agent were shot to death.  The New York Post says sources indicate the gunman had a pellet gun, decreasing, but not eliminating entirely, the chances that he was the shooter.

If Capano was killed by friendly fire it will be yet another New York police death at the hands of fellow officers. Just last March and only miles from this shooting, a Nassau County Officer, Geoffrey Breitkopf,  was shot and killed by an MTA officer.

With homicides at record lows across the nation, Long Island is becoming a dangerous place for police officers from a very unexpected quarter.

Book’em

Yesterday’s (UK) Guardian reported that at least 944 police officers in England and Wales have criminal conviction records.

Included are convictions for keeping a dangerous dog, the old “420″, various dangerous driving offenses (some with fatalities) and drunk driving.

This (again) raises the question of whether or not perfection is required in order to be a police officer,  firefighter or paramedic.  The earlier these offenses are committed, the less impact they should have in determining suitability for employment.  Punishing someone for youthful indiscretion or a brush with stupidity isn’t in the best interest of employers or the public.  Of course, if the brush becomes a habit, then there is a problem.

Interestingly, there are also officers with convictions for forgery, robbery, theft and assault.  These seem to fall outside the realm of human indiscretion and more into the orbit of potential ne’er-do-well but I’m sure that each story has an interesting twist.

One thing’s for sure, being arrested by a convicted cop should guarantee one some empathy, at least.

 

Sources:  NYT, NYP, Guardian

Posted by on January 3, 2012 • Filed under: Command & Leadership, In the Line of Duty, Safety and Health, Uncategorized

HO, HO, HO: The Crucified, Death’s Head Santa

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Christmas will never be the same again.

Loudoun County, Virginia, residents, some of them anyway, are up in arms over the appearance of a “Claustumed” skeleton with his arm casually draped over a wooden cross on the grounds of their County Courthouse.

There’s been “hell to pay” with charges that it is an attack on Christianity and spirituality, generally.  In fact, this rather grisly icon of Christmas Past has been the subject of repeated attempts to deface or remove it.

Amidst all the indignation about a skull, a cross and some bones, Claus himself has reacted with his legendary aplomb to the suggestion of  his early demise.

An elf speaking off-the-record cautiously revealed that Claus had got quite a ho, ho, ho out of the notion that he would ever be that svelte, even in death.

As to the purported rationale for the work, that it was a visual representation of the over-commercialization of Christmas, Claus mused that he “…Had seen it all before…  You folks want your gods but you also want your gifts–now, which is it?”

And of the use of the cross and the implications thereof, he said, with that priceless twinkle in his eye,  that he would have much preferred a manger as it would have offered a place to rest.

Then, shushing the chattering elves, he ambled back to work.

 

Sources: Washington Post, off-the-record elf and the Big Guy, himself.

Posted by on December 14, 2011 • Filed under: Different, Religion and Spirituality, Sculpture, Statuary, Outdoor Art, Uncategorized, Values and Ethics

Obama: Cheeky-In-Chief

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I admit it.

I’m one of those guys who talks about how smart and deft the President is.

But you have to wonder.

Was it a moment of fatigue, weakness or just plain idiocy that caused him to ask for his drone back?

I mean, really.

Who went into the Oval Office with that bright idea?

“Yes, we are spying on you, and yes, you got our drone, now would you please just give it back?”

On top of being incompetent we now look like sniveling twits.

By the way, if the drone were on the other foot would we be “giving it back?”  (Perhaps, but only after we documented the ENTIRE aircraft, and it would be in a million pieces.)

And, doesn’t violating another country’s sovereign rights come with some sanction when you get caught?  Again, what would happen if we downed their drone over say, Manhattan?

Time to suck it up: we got busted–admit it and move on.

Maybe we can bid for it on E-Bay.

Posted by on December 13, 2011 • Filed under: Firefighter Politics, Uncategorized, Values and Ethics

Welcome to Turn Out.

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First, a hearty thanks to Bill Schumm, a.k.a. Firegeezer, and Mike Ward, Fossil Medic, for their support and nearly infinite patience over the past year as I learned the “blogging ropes.”

Turn Out: It’s a phrase we are familiar with.  It conjures up images of a dash for the rigs or a turning on to the street.  The masthead graphic calls up the rich history of firefighters turning out over the centuries well before steam, combustion engines or horses, even.  For us, it has come to mean both the act of responding as well as the gear we wear.

Of course, it means other things too: how many people voted (what was the turnout?), and being tossed out of the bar on your ear (We turned’em out.)  It also refers to a wide place in a highway where a vehicle can turn left or right.

So, in keeping with the various definitions, I will endeavor to provide some variety here, too.  We might even talk about an election along the way, and possibly even veer to the left (or the right.)  Being predictably unpredictable is much under-rated.

If you are joining me for the first time, I suppose the briefest of bios is necessary.  I became a volunteer in 1971 by employing the dubious tactic of lying about my age. (15) Later, I served as a career firefighter for 22 years and retired in 1998.  I also worked at the IAFF beginning in 1999.  I retired from there in 2010.

I have now blogged enough to figure out that generally speaking there is an accepted range of thought and views in our community and that if you get too far outside that range you will be called out.  I have on occasion been called a contrarian (a person with a preference for taking a position opposed to that of the majority)  There may be something to that.  (I have also been called just plain contrary.)

But, I also think the contrarian label is pinned on people who may be inclined to take a second or closer look at some of the ideas or positions we hold sacred, as in sacred cows.  The lack of tolerance for alternative views does not necessarily bode well for a profession where mistakes can be fatal, literally.  I guess being stodgy is the price we pay for protecting our grand tradition.

As I write these words I am  struck by the fact that out of all the images I could have chosen to illustrate the blog I went for the oldest, and by extension the most traditional, that I could find.  Perhaps that means I want things to be progressive except when it suits me to have them traditional.  If so, I am in good company with most of the firefighters I know.

Till next time.

Posted by on October 12, 2011 • Filed under: Uncategorized • Tagged: ,