Yeah! Let's look to the United Nations to end terrorism.

Let's get the brainless malarkey out of the way right off the bat.

Contradiction -- Contradict, 22:06:57 06/17/04 Thu [1]

Send the horses to the glue factory? No way. Send Barrook packing? How dare we think that? Get rid of a few council members? My God we must be insane? Risk the general public's lives and homes? Hey ,that's the bottom line! Here's a good question, Why the f$ck do we need seven council members when all they could do is tell us their hands were tied when MCG was running amok? Can someone please tell me what the hell is the role of these people already except for giving high fives and patting each other on the backs at election time? And yes, What the F$ck kind of management wizards are they when every last one of them except for one was on council and let MCG do what he did. Let see what the explantion will be on this one , it ought to be interesting. LOFL

They... "let McG do what he did?" You know better than that. It's all too obvious that our strong mayoral form of government doesn't exactly have enough checks and balances built into it. Then introduce a mayor into that environment who does what he wants and pulls no-shows when he's not obeyed completely. LOFL on this one goofball. It became obvious to this observer that the wheels were coming off as early as 2000. Hence the web site. It didn't become obvious to the rest of ya'll until late 2001. And if we remember correctly, it was at that point that council tried to reign in our out of control mayor. He responded by never attending another council meeting unless he needed another Tax Anticipation Note. There came a point where they did what they could to minimize the still undetermined financial damage he had done while doing what they had to do to make sure his second disasterous term was his very last term in office. If you or I had sat on that council during that period of deadlock, I seriously doubt that either of us could have produced a silver bullet, or a smoking gun to quickly remove him from office.

What's more important at this point? Affixing blame for past errors, or taking care of the tasks at hand?

And if you've got it in for council now, please, by all means, have at it. It's no skin off of my back. Vote 'em all out. You have that power. There are plenty of goofs out there that need some extra cash and think they have all of the easy answers for our multitute of complex problems.

Misinformed -- Inform me, 17:38:42 06/17/04 Thu [1]

This is regarding tonight's post, whoever gave you your info forgot to tell you that the reason the firemen were all standing in the back of the room was because they gave up their seats to the 10 or so senior citizens that came in for the 6pm meeting. Oh and by the way, the nazi comment was right on mark considering they were standing before someone who pretty much is acting like he's Hitler. Truth hurts doesn't it?

Don't presume to know anything about where I get my info from. Granted, maybe "Nazi Stormtroopers" was a very poor choice of words, but when I saw ya'll on WNEP it looked as if you were trying to intimidate someone. I've been in the middle of bar fights where the folks involved looked less menacing than your group did in the video. It was just an observation, so don't beat the cat or anything.

And now we're comparing Leighton to Hitler??? That's grossly unfair and anyone who knows the man one iota would vehemently disagree with your assessment. As far as the truth hurting is concerned, I guess I'll find out when I run across some truths.

This one is f**king hilarious:

tirade -- what gives?, 10:11:20 06/18/04 Fri [1]

Has everyone else noticed how a certain webdude is unable to take criticism these days.Starting to remind of a certain ex little dictator when he used to go off on people when they questioned him. The more things change,the more they stay the same

Criticism??? You hysterical girls out there should take a step back and think about things. What's the latest tally? Leighton is Hitleresque. Mark is now Hitleresque. Anyone else we need to know about? How about Kathy Kane? Hitleresque, or an obvious Mussolini wannabe? Jim McCarthy? Any KGB leanings we should know about? Shirley Super-vita-nova? Did she introduce a resolution calling for a death march? Some, mark that, some of you boys have lost your cool and are also losing respect as you continue to meltdown in public.

Dudes! This superfluous jabberwocky is counterproductive.

From the e-mail inbox:

*******Mark,

Saw the post about Knoebels Park(sp)....all I know is starts with K. It seemed as though you had a great day. My wife took my nephew and his cousin there today for some fun and they actually got some in before the thunderstorms. I would love to go back to age seven and experience all that again for the first time. Wish I could have gone along, but working days this week.

Anyhow, as far as the council meeting the other night, things did go as I pretty much expected. I really didn't expect any change. Hell, it just had to be said. It was about making our city leaders accountable for their actions. It was about publicly informing them about our displeasure about the current situation. People are mad and frustrated, but that is to be expected with all things considered. Change is always difficult. At least now they know our concerns to this entire situation.

We understood the financial situation. The concessions were made. The services we offer have been cut. The contract language is clear. The firefighters don't run the department....that is the administration and fire chief's responsibility. We are the employees. Everyone has their job. We get paid every two weeks, and it has become safer for the fire fighters on the job with the change to the three man engine companies. I guess after considering the big picture it is simple. You make the best of a terrible situation, and you point out the deficiencies where and when they occur. As far as I am concerned we don't run the city....the mayor and council do. If they feel this is the route they have to go until the financial situation gets better, which I believe will happen someday, but will never quite be enough to allow for more people on the job.....it never happens that you get more after it is already gone..... then so be it. Live and learn. We tried and I'm sure we will continue to try and make them see the light. But I'm not holding my breath. We have our contract and that we will follow. I have accepted the fact that I had better get used to being down to a minimum shift level of 14. I can rest easier knowing that I have done my best for all involved. It doesn't mean that I will stop voicing my concerns for something that I don't feel is right. It doesn't mean that I won't stand up and give credit where credit is due when deserved. We voiced our concerns. They must live with their decisions now. I will still do my best to make it work at whatever number happens to be working that day or night. And when it does fail, I guess we will have to remind them and just accept the fact it is beyond our control.

XXXX (I deleted his name)*******

I wholeheartedly agree with your position at this point. And yes, you guys stated your position clearly and professionally. That's all that you could do under the frustrating circumstances. I suspect that some of the folks currently jawin' away at me on the forum page actually believe that I have somehow overlooked the obvious safety concerns at the current staffing levels. Make no mistake about it, I have not. If something unspeakable comes about as a result of the staffing cuts, we need to at that point realize that the blame will lie elsewhere. Let's just hope we can get through the remainder of this year without some sort of controversial incident taking place.

And then there's this. I was asked not to post a rather lengthy e-mail which shed some serious light on the current goings-on, and as always, I will honor that request. But...I will post the tail-end of the aforementioned e-mail:

*******PS I see that it looks like some of the guys are taking it out on you. I think they feel betrayed and unfortunately your website is a place to vent. As I tell the Fire Chief, "You cannot fix this problem. It is beyond your control. Other people have greater influence. Until something happens they will not see the problem. Unfortunately it will happen."*******

I hear ya. But I'm not so sure that "venting" accurately describes what some of your brothers have been doing. In fact, it's your boys that seem McGroartyesque right about now. They are the ones lashing out at nearly everyone within sight. They are the ones now reduced to name-calling. They are they ones burning lots of bridges without even realizing it. They are the ones who don't seem capable of exhibiting a bit of self-control when it might be in their best interests to do so. They are the ones who now see their long-time allies as foes when things don't go their way. I have no qualms about de-bunking their daily bullspit, but I wish I was not put in that position in the first place.

I did cut them a major break by not posting any of the e-mails I received from the hoi polloi that are very put-off by their recent freak out session. And it should be noted that the members of the fire department that e-mail me directly sound intelligent, while the members that choose to post anonymous ad hoc attacks rarely do. The forum may have run it's course, but we shouldn't ought to censor anyone. Heyna?

Whatever. I was going to dare to enter the wonderful world of Steve Flood when I first turned this puter thingie on, but I've suddenly lost all interest.

I have to meet up with my S.S. friends and further conspire against everything pure and good in this world.

Achtung! Das Feuerlöschfahrzeug!!!