Am I cold and heartless? ie Jerk?

Haven't read the whole thread, but thought I would chime in: flags in Pittsburgh are at half mast today for a fallen policeman dog. They gave the dog a full funeral ceremony with honors and kept it alive in ICU in the hospital for 2days after it was stabbed in an assault. A little nuts if you ask me...
 
Puzzled......in Baltimore when a fireman dies in the line of duty, or a policeman, the funeral procession is remarkable. Miles long , blocks traffic, police from many county's surrounding baltimore participate, 200 , 300 cars, fire trucks, police cars, etc. snarling traffic sometimes for hours. . I've never seen this for a combat vet killed in Iraq or Afghanistan. In fact I've never seen any procession for a vet killed in combat. I wonder why. Answers?
 
Jimmy cooper said:
Puzzled......in Baltimore when a fireman dies in the line of duty, or a policeman, the funeral procession is remarkable. Miles long , blocks traffic, police from many county's surrounding baltimore participate, 200 , 300 cars, fire trucks, police cars, etc. snarling traffic sometimes for hours. . I've never seen this for a combat vet killed in Iraq or Afghanistan. In fact I've never seen any procession for a vet killed in combat. I wonder why. Answers?
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The vets are non-connected kids, to get a cop/ff job in bloated cities you have to be related to the bloated gov't so when one goes down might as well throw a party(w/ OPM) to remind you of your worth(created with stolen OPM.)
 
Sac Arrow said:
Yeah I regularly have to travel through a certain city where the City police are nothing more than revenue collectors. All they do is stop people for running red lights. That's it. .
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What's wrong with stopping vehicles for disregarding a traffic control device? If the city and county divided the mission of LE, and you say one runs traffic and the other calls for service, what's the problem?
 
Sleepingsquirrel said:
Fearless Tower said:
I did not dispute that. I simply added to it. Cancer doesn't typically kill you on the job, it kills you years after the particular job that exposed you.

To that point ,for $1.41 /hour I have a 7 REM whole body lifetime dose of ionizing radiation..
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3.5 years times the maximum annual dose allowed at the shipyard where I worked in the mid 1970s. And that 2 REM max was to allow some headroom in case there was a need for a worker to pick up a few more bugs for an urgent need when he/she was close to the limit. IIRC the actual annual limit was more like 5 REM per year. So, your 7 REM isn't much of a threat to your health. At least not as I recall being taught as a qualified radiation worker at Mare Island NS "back in the day".
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Corpsmaide said:
What's wrong with stopping vehicles for disregarding a traffic control device? If the city and county divided the mission of LE, and you say one runs traffic and the other calls for service, what's the problem?
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They aren't there for public safety. They are there solely to generate revenue for the city. You don't have a problem with that. That's fine. I do.
 
Sac Arrow said:
They aren't there for public safety. They are there solely to generate revenue for the city. You don't have a problem with that. That's fine. I do.
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You've been to Vietnam, so you've seen the alternative.

It's a problem if the traffic lights are put there and designed to make people screw up.

I do think that it's a conflict of interest for government to benefit from enforcement fines, but to assert enforcement shouldn't happen at all is a bit too much.

If you want an example of excessive "enforcement," while I was living in DC, we had several incidents of vehicles being ticketed inside the District while legally parked. That's a shakedown.
 
South East Asian traffic is cultural. No amount of traffic lights or enforcement can fix that.
MAKG1 said:
You've been to Vietnam, so you've seen the alternative.

It's a problem if the traffic lights are put there and designed to make people screw up.

I do think that it's a conflict of interest for government to benefit from enforcement fines, but to assert enforcement shouldn't happen at all is a bit too much.

If you want an example of excessive "enforcement," while I was living in DC, we had several incidents of vehicles being ticketed inside the District while legally parked. That's a shakedown.
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Jimmy cooper said:
Puzzled......in Baltimore when a fireman dies in the line of duty, or a policeman, the funeral procession is remarkable. Miles long , blocks traffic, police from many county's surrounding baltimore participate, 200 , 300 cars, fire trucks, police cars, etc. snarling traffic sometimes for hours. . I've never seen this for a combat vet killed in Iraq or Afghanistan. In fact I've never seen any procession for a vet killed in combat. I wonder why. Answers?
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Firefighters are a very close knit brotherhood. It is not uncommon when they are killed in the line of duty for fellow firefighters across the country to travel in order to pay their respects.

I'll never forget driving cross country after getting back from my first Third Mate job in '99 and passing through Worcester, MA a few days after some firefighters were killed in an abandoned warehouse collapse. They went in only because someone told them there was a homeless guy living there (the one who likely caused the fire and fled). Building collapsed and killed several. It was still smoldering a few days later when I drive by on the highway. Firefighters flew in from all over the country for that one....it was a huge service.

It's just...different. Firefighters take honor and respect for each other to a different level.
 
Since 9/11 the media has learned that making everyone a victim elicits great ratings. Great ratings elicits more advertising revenue. And there you have it.
 
Ghery said:
Sleepingsquirrel said:
3.5 years times the maximum annual dose allowed at the shipyard where I worked in the mid 1970s. And that 2 REM max was to allow some headroom in case there was a need for a worker to pick up a few more bugs for an urgent need when he/she was close to the limit. IIRC the actual annual limit was more like 5 REM per year. So, your 7 REM isn't much of a threat to your health. At least not as I recall being taught as a qualified radiation worker at Mare Island NS "back in the day".
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Thanks, Never really worried me and hadn't thought of it until this thread. Overhaul D1G NPTU WestMilton was most of this. I wasn't allowed to stand some watches in the fleet. My urine still glows in the dark:yikes:
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Fearless Tower said:
Firefighters are a very close knit brotherhood. It is not uncommon when they are killed in the line of duty for fellow firefighters across the country to travel in order to pay their respects.

I'll never forget driving cross country after getting back from my first Third Mate job in '99 and passing through Worcester, MA a few days after some firefighters were killed in an abandoned warehouse collapse. They went in only because someone told them there was a homeless guy living there (the one who likely caused the fire and fled). Building collapsed and killed several. It was still smoldering a few days later when I drive by on the highway. Firefighters flew in from all over the country for that one....it was a huge service.

It's just...different. Firefighters take honor and respect for each other to a different level.
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That's interesting. I always thought soldiers in combat, under fire , were a pretty close knit group, helio pilots coming into intense fire to pick up wounded, recent Medal of Honor winner, under heavy fire, carried severely wounded comrades to safety, etc etc.
 
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Jimmy cooper said:
That's interesting. I always thought soldiers in combat, under fire , were a pretty close knit group, helio pilots coming into intense fire to pick up wounded, recent Medal of Honor winner, under heavy fire, carried severely wounded comrades to safety, etc etc.
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It's just different. Yes, you get tight knit groups in the military, but it is usually confined to the specific groups of people who went through a traumatic event together, whereas with firefighters, they show up without ever personally knowing the individuals killed. It's like firefighters show up at more funerals for others while in the military, you see more 'reunions' of survivors.

Not sure I can really explain it completely and I've done both. I was a volunteer firefighter for over 3 years while going to college and have been active Navy for the last 14.
 
I was stunned when several firefighters showed up from thousands of miles away at my father-in-law's funeral. He wasn't even a firefighter. Two of his kids are. Those firefighters didn't know anyone in the room; they were just there to support. Apparently word went around the two relevant departments and spread.

And if you've ever seen a firefighter wedding….
 
After reading some of the comments in this thread I have come to realize that there are a lot of people like the OP who just don't get it. I have never served in the military or been a police officer or fire fighter, but at least I have respect for those who do those jobs. To those of you who have served in any of the three, I thank you for your service.
 
So now you are equating firefighters and cops with soldiers?
 
I respect them for what they do. I guess this is the first 2 people that died in the line of duty in 50 years. Turns out the house was an arson and they captured the guy who set fire to the apartment and charging him with murder and arson.

To ebkowsky - I heard about the K9 that died. I almost asked one of my friends in Pgh if they did anything for the dog and figured I'd get a "What are you crazy?"
 
ClimbnSink said:
So now you are equating firefighters and cops with soldiers?
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Please take time to read the entire post before commenting with an idiotic response. That is in no way what I said. All three are very different jobs, but all three deserve YOUR respect. :mad2:

If you don't respect our soldiers then you don't deserve the the freedoms that you have.

If you don't respect a police officer then you shouldn't ever call them for help if someone breaks into your home, robs you at gun point, your kid goes missing, spouse is murdered, or any other horrible situation. Just let the meth heads run wild and steal your stuff so that they can score their next fix. Just let the guy next door keep beating his wife until one day he kills her. Just let the next drunk driver crash and kill someone you love.

If you don't respect a fire fighter then put your own home out when someone sets a field on fire be accident during a burn ban. And while your putting the fire out, go ahead and get your family out of the house because they are trapped upstairs.
 
When was the last time a US soldier died increasing our freedom? Cops don't stop any of those things they just show up afterwards and hassle the victims. Paid firefighters are mostly a joke, vollies do just as well. We didn't have these armies of public servants for our first couple hundred years and got by fine.
 
ClimbnSink said:
In the Northeast the pay does not stink. They make more then most white collar professionals. Boston has a funny detail if you end your career while filling in for someone with a higher rank you get a higher pension. Over 80% of Boston FFs end their careers by 'injury' on a day they just happen to filling in for their boss. Oh well just another sign of a bloated prefail empire.
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Not to mention the very gernerous pensions they receive after, what, 20 years???
 
ClimbnSink said:
When was the last time a US soldier died increasing our freedom? Cops don't stop any of those things they just show up afterwards and hassle the victims. Paid firefighters are mostly a joke, vollies do just as well. We didn't have these armies of public servants for our first couple hundred years and got by fine.
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I never understood why someone would put someone on an ignore list on a message board untill now. Sometimes it's best to just block idiots than try to reason with them.
 
jdennis1989 said:
I never understood why someone would put someone on an ignore list on a message board untill now. Sometimes it's best to just block idiots than try to reason with them.
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Yeah, he's the ONLY POA member on my ignore list. Pure troll and never contributes anything if value.
 
ClimbnSink said:
When was the last time a US soldier died increasing our freedom? Cops don't stop any of those things they just show up afterwards and hassle the victims. Paid firefighters are mostly a joke, vollies do just as well. We didn't have these armies of public servants for our first couple hundred years and got by fine.
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I've stopped several
 
Corpsmaide said:
I've stopped several
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No doubt.

I was convinced in college when two housemates had a "domestic disturbance." Had the cops not shown up and defused the situation, there were only two possible outcomes, neither of them good. It would have ended in either a rape or several injuries (had we tried to deal with it ourselves). A couple of well trained cops reduced it to dirty looks and ruined paint in my room (that's what I was doing at the time -- I can live with that).

And believe me, Berkeley cops get NO respect.
 
jdennis1989 said:
If you don't respect a police officer then you shouldn't ever call them for help if someone breaks into your home, robs you at gun point, your kid goes missing, spouse is murdered, or any other horrible situation.
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Works for me. I take care of myself pretty well. Never dialed 911, never intend to.
 
Volunteers are the norm, full-time salary are the exception, and that is the far exception when you add up the number of volunteer departments vs full-time career departments in the country.

The volunteers really are that...non-compensated. I know guys on two departments because they care, and there aren't enough firefighters to go around. They care that those are their neighbors who's houses burn, get into accidents, and have life threatening health issues. And for their service they are lucky to get $100 at the end of the year which doesn't come close to returning what they've given out of their pocket in their own time, fuel, materials, etc.

I was recently at a volunteer fire station in northwest Ohio where the Chief made some comments that really stuck with me. He said he'd love to get some new equipment that works and helps them to get things done, but he couldn't submit a working budget because there was no city council...nobody ran. And when that happens, who puts fuel in the trucks? Who buys the tools and equipment? Who heats the fire station? Who pays the insurance, which can cost a single, small volunteer department $250k per year?

And what happens when the local volunteer station closes because it wasn't funded? The risk, response time, and insurance all increases for you and all of your neighbors who are now serviced by a department farther away, which is now taking more calls and is spread even thinner.

Fighting fires has become a rare activity. The largest amount of calls taken are, by far, medical. Stubbed toes to highway accidents, these are the guys who will get out of bed at 2am, rush to the scene of an accident, and attempt to save your friends and/or family after a drunk driver has plowed into them at an intersection, or go running out into a field after that plane goes down. And they don't do it for the money, because there is none.

Career firefighters with good pay do exist, but it's rare in the US for a municipal department. On the industrial side with their private industrial departments it's standard. The guys at Saudi Aramco are well compensated, but more than half of that is just for having to live out there as an expat. At home in the US it would be the guys at the refineries who make the $.

I don't think there is anything wrong with the OP for his original post or his opinion, but I saw a few piling on here with some misconceptions about what it is these guys do and what they receive. I'd say you can pick on the industrial guys if you want, but it's probably best to leave the volunteer municipal guys out of it.
 
I lived in a small country town and the volunteer FD was able to upgrade their truck to a much newer one. They did it by selling their current truck to a vintage fire truck collector.:) The truck they had in daily service was that old. Funny how the age value thing can work.
 
TheTraveler said:
The volunteers really are that...non-compensated.
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Be careful about saying non-compensated. It varies between departments, but when I was a volunteer in Maine, we were paid for calls. Can't remember if it was an hourly rate for the time on the call or a flat rate per call, but we did receive some 'compensation'. Obviously nothing like what the full time departments get in the big cities (and we had no benefits) but it was something.
 
Fearless Tower said:
Be careful about saying non-compensated. It varies between departments, but when I was a volunteer in Maine, we were paid for calls. Can't remember if it was an hourly rate for the time on the call or a flat rate per call, but we did receive some 'compensation'. Obviously nothing like what the full time departments get in the big cities (and we had no benefits) but it was something.
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It varies from state to state, county to county, municipality to municipality, but being compensated for coming to calls is still not a widespread practice. It's more common than being full-time with benefits, but still rare, and not the norm. This topic came up in conversation at the FEMSA/FAMA meeting a few months ago.
 
Paid, volunteer, doesn't matter. Professionalism matters. When the Blue Line starts tossing out the unprofessionals in their midst, let me know. There's a Denver PD cop who's cost the city $3.5M defending his violent behavior and he still has a job.
 
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