That “bully” union that you deride has offered hundreds of thousands of dollars in contract concessions to maintain their already understaffed situation, yet the mayor and fire manager have done nothing but reject reject reject, even when the union offered more than the city wanted.
Tag: featured
LETTER: Connecticut to be 14th state to decriminalize marijuana
Two weeks ago we got the death notice for the decriminalization of marijuana bill from the largest newspaper in the state, The Hartford Courant. And while it was definitely disappointing news, it motivated our entire chapter and other chapters in our state to take action.
LETTER: City gambling with an understaffed fire department
Firefighters on duty are an insurance policy. We all know that it is ridiculous to not carry adequate insurance on our homes and automobiles. We spend hundreds of dollars on insurance year after year after year from which we receive no benefit – until disaster strikes.
Will every ‘kinky’ person please stand up!
Headlines across the nation are similar to the Huffington Posts / AOL: “Anthony Weiner Press Conference: Admits Sending Racy Pictures, Refuses To Resign.” The Watchdog first heard about the matter on PBS News Hour this evening. So he wondered: Had Congressman Weiner murdered someone?
Ten Signs The Double-Dip Recession Has Begun
There is almost nothing that damages consumer confidence as badly as a rapid rise in prices. Starbucks recently increased the price of a bag of coffee by 17% because wholesale prices have risen by almost twice that rate in the last year. Cotton prices nearly doubled in 2010 but has fallen this year. But, apparel is made months in advance of when they reach store shelves.
LETTER: Decision leaves only three firefighting apparatus in service in city
Without explanation, and contrary to the hallowed Management Partners “study,” Fire Manager Tim Gregg has decided to remove Lancaster City’s Ladder Truck 1 from service permanently. This decision, coupled with the ongoing policy to brown out Engine 1 leaves only three firefighting apparatus in service in Lancaster City.
More concerning “The Social Animal”
David Brook’s “The Social Animal” is an exploration of how the human brain works with emphasis on the vast quantity of thinking and emotions that takes place below our leve of cognition, which is to say our awareness.
This Springs’ disappointments, and living “Forever”
It’s been hard to find a couple of decent movies to write about from the first part of this year, especially after the bumper crop of Oscar contenders that played through the early months of 2011.
Are all sex offenders “The lowest of the low”?
In an otherwise commendable editorial entitled “A proper ruling”, the Intelligencer Journal editors say “Sex offenders are the lowest of the low, and residents, particularly the parents of children, have reason to fear.” What we deduce they really meant is the sexual offender subset: “Sex offenders of children are the lowest of the low.”
U.S. Only Added 54,000 Workers In May As Jobless Rate Rises
From HUFFPOST / REUTERS: Employment rose far less than expected in May to record its weakest reading since September, while the jobless rate rose to 9.1 percent as high energy prices and the effects of Japan’s earthquake bogged down the economy.
Industry proposes shale fee, Pileggi proposes shale/property tax swap
HARRISBURG (June 3) – As Marcellus Shale industry insiders, Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi and others joined the ranks of those proposing natural gas extraction taxes or fees, House Majority Leader Mike Turzai, R-Allegheny, said no such plan will pass by June 30.
An American abroad
A current visit to Hungary and Croatia makes the Watchdog all the more aware of the decline of the United States. He drove a new super highway linking Budapest to Zegrab (funded by the European Union and private enterprise.) He stopped at a service plaza that makes the latest Turnpike renovation appear two decade behind the time.
House sends Obama message, rejects debt increase (Have they no sense of shame?)
From USA TODAY: The U.S. House today rejected a GOP bid to increase the debt limit without any spending cuts to go along with it, in an effort designed by Republicans to put President Obama and Democrats on the political hot seat. The bill was set up to fail by House Speaker John Boehner and his leadership team to show the need for deep spending cuts and budget changes to go along with any increase in the nation’s $14.3 trillion borrowing authority.
LETTER: The white boy who wanted to sit in the back of the bus
The story of a little white boy who wanted to sit in the back of the bus, and a bus driver who could not let that happen. I particularly like his concluding paragraphs, which can be said of every movement for change: