Interesting
Sometimes I think I don't have any visitors on this site. I look at the fact that I don't have any comments on my recent posts and think, I guess nobody cares. But then I take a look at the stats and I'm very surprised.
I run this website as well as all the websites for the company I work for (Sponsor Hounds). While looking at the stats for the Virginia Outdoor Sportsmen's Classic website, Kisforkat.com is the highest referrer. Which means that out of all the websites that link to vaoutdoorsportsmensclassic.com, Kisforkat.com is the one that has sent the most people there (and trust me, there are a lot of websites that link there). Thanks to everyone who checks this website often. I also owe Roanoke.com some thanks. They send me a lot of readers as well.
posted by Elliot @ 3:57 PM
3 Comments:
Ok, here's my first comment...I support Rudy too! Maybe we could get him down here for a visit...
Or maybe he's not that great after all.This is an interesting artical I found.
On March 14, 2007, the IAFF will host the first bi-partisan
Presidential Forum of the 2008 election cycle. No other union --
and very few organizations -- has the credibility and respect to
attract top-tier candidates from both political parties. The
lineup of speakers who have agreed to participate in our Forum
is truly a testament to our great union and the reputation we
have built as a powerful political force and a coveted
endorsement.
John Edwards, John McCain, Barack Obama, Chuck Hagel, Hillary
Clinton, Jim Gilmore, Chris Dodd, Joe Biden, Duncan Hunter and
Bill Richardson all will make their case before the 1,000
delegates who will be attending the Forum and to our entire
membership via same-day broadcast on our web site (Mitt Romney,
Sam Brownback, George Pataki, Mike Huckabee and Tommy Thompson
declined our invitation).
The IAFF made a decision early on to invite all major candidates
from both political parties, even those with whom we have
substantial disagreement on policy issues.
However, beginning last November, I had discussions with our New
York City affiliate presidents of Locals 94 and 854 about
whether to invite former Mayor Rudy Giuliani based on his
egregious treatment of our 343 fallen on 9/11, their families
and our members following that horrific day.
After many discussions among the local presidents and me, we
initially decided to not invite Giuliani. To make sure we
explained clearly to our affiliates and members why he wasn't
going to be invited, we prepared a DRAFT letter that would have
only been distributed internally if the decision became final
not to invite him.
Then, after additional discussions, including at our recent
Executive Board meeting, we made a final decision to extend an
invitation to Mayor Giuliani. And the DRAFT letter was never
distributed.
Ultimately, Giuliani was invited because we decided we should
remain true to our principles and invite all major candidates,
regardless of party, even those with whom we have disagreed on
issues in the past.
A call was placed by the IAFF Governmental Affairs Division to
the Giuliani campaign, inviting the candidate to our Forum. A
high-ranking official in Giuliani's campaign, Tim Brown,
returned our call on Friday, March 2 and requested that we
accommodate the Mayor in the early part of the day. After
considerable work to get other speakers to agree to change their
times, we opened up 9:30 a.m. for Giuliani, and let the campaign
know. Mr. Brown called on Monday, March 5 and confirmed the
Mayor's attendance.
Then late on Wednesday, March 7, Mr. Brown called once again and
informed us that Giuliani had decided to cancel his
participation in our Forum.
Since the former Mayor decided not to participate in our event,
and because the media has become aware of the DRAFT letter that
was designed to inform our members why we were not inviting
former Mayor Giuliani, we wanted you to hear of this situation
straight from us, so you know the whole story.
We did not intend for that DRAFT to become public, it was solely
for internal discussion amongst a very few.
But it's out there now, so here are the facts. This is just an
initial correspondence about Giuliani and what we believe to be
an account that reveals his true character.
There is another entire story concerning his unfriendly
relationship with our New York City affiliates prior to 9/11,
which we will document and explain in additional communications
later on during the campaign, just as we will discuss the
records of all of the major candidates -- positive and negative
-- in the race for president at a later time.
The story I want to relay is of the events that occurred in
November 2001, while our members were continuing the painful,
but necessary, task of searching Ground Zero for the remains of
our fallen brothers and the thousands of innocent citizens who
were killed, because precious few of those who died in the
terrorist attacks had been recovered at that point.
Prior to November 2001, 101 bodies or remains of fire fighters
had been recovered. And those on the pile at Ground Zero
believed they had just found a spot in the rubble where they
would find countless more who could be given proper burial.
Nevertheless, Giuliani, with the full support of his Fire
Commissioner Thomas Von Essen, decided on November 2, 2001, to
sharply reduce the number of those who could search for remains
at any one time. There had been as many as 300 fire fighters at
a time involved in search and recovery, but Giuliani cut that
number to no more than 25 who could be there at once.
In conjunction with the cut in fire fighters allowed to search,
Giuliani also made a conscious decision to institute a
"scoop-and-dump" operation to expedite the clean-up of Ground
Zero in lieu of the more time-consuming, but respectful, process
of carefully removing debris in hope of uncovering more remains.
Mayor Giuliani's actions meant that fire fighters and citizens
who perished would either remain buried at Ground Zero forever,
with no closure for families, or be removed like so much garbage
and deposited at the Fresh Kills Landfill.
Our local presidents at the time attempted to meet with the
Mayor to stop this disrespectful treatment of those who
perished, but he refused to see them face-to-face.
The scoop-and-dump continued. And when hundreds of family
members of the fallen joined with our affiliate leadership and
FDNY members to protest Giuliani's decision, he ordered senior
officers of the New York Police Department to arrest 15 of our
FDNY brothers, including a number of local elected IAFF leaders.
Giuliani modified his policy after the protest because public
opinion was so strongly with our members. Ultimately, he was
forced to put the fire fighters back on the pile. Our protests
were later proven justified as more bodies were recovered and
those families given a chance for some closure and a decent
burial.
Giuliani argued that he took our members off the pile for their
own safety, but his argument was empty and without substance.
Fire fighters had been on that pile since minutes after the twin
towers fell -- why all of a sudden, after nearly two months
working on the most dangerous incident site in our country's
history, was Giuliani concerned about fire fighter safety?
In our view, he wasn't really concerned. The fact is that the
Mayor's switch to a scoop-and-dump coincided with the final
removal of tens of millions of dollars of gold, silver and other
assets of the Bank of Nova Scotia that were buried beneath what
was once the towers. Once that money was out, Giuliani sided
with the developers that opposed a lengthy recovery effort, and
ordered the scoop-and-dump operation so they could proceed with
redevelopment.
Giuliani crucified fire fighters after our protest and publicly
stated that our members were essentially acting like babies,
that they didn't have the market cornered on grief. His
insensitive statements demonstrated his inability to grasp what
members of the FDNY were experiencing.
What Giuliani showed is a disgraceful lack of respect for the
fallen and those brothers still searching for them. He exposed
our members and leaders to arrest. He valued the money and gold
and wanted the site cleared before he left office at the end of
2001 more than he valued the lives and memories of those lost.
Our members deserved the right to continue with a full search
for their lost brothers and other innocent victims. Proudly, as
you know, the fire service has a code similar to the military,
where we leave no one behind. Recovering even a piece of a
turnout coat or helmet gave our FDNY brothers and sisters and
the families of the fallen some small semblance of peace,
something to honor. But hundreds remained entombed in Ground
Zero when Giuliani gave up on them.
The fundamental lack of respect that Giuliani showed is
unforgivable. Our disdain for him is not about issues or a
disputed contract, it is about a visceral, personal affront to
the fallen, to our union and, indeed, to every one of us who has
ever risked our lives by going into a burning building to save
lives and property.
We have heard from some affiliates that Giuliani's campaign is
beginning to reach out to our locals, looking to build support.
If you are contacted by Giuliani, Von Essen or a representative
of the Giuliani campaign, we hope you will not just say, "No,"
but, "Hell no."
Please share this correspondence with your membership. Thank
you.
Fraternally and Sincerely,
Harold A. Schaitberger
IAFF General President
Most of the information about Giuliani in the video and text from the union is false. And BTW...they're an organization that ALWAYS supports Democrats. It's a shame they have to lie to get a Dem elected.
Below is part of an article from "The Economist", an NY magazine...
"Thus far, the video has not had the impact the union was hoping for. Mr Giuliani's camp was quick to dismiss the allegations as half-truths and described the union as a partisan organisation that endorses Democrats. They insist that he actually increased the fire department's funding and upgraded its equipment.
Fred Siegel, of the Manhattan Institute, says the video lost some of its impact because it was over the top. Some of its messages were decidedly far-fetched, like the union's assertion that Mr Giuliani scaled back recovery efforts after $200m in gold was recovered from bank vaults at Ground Zero in November 2001."
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