Update: Detroit Fire Department

LeDuff: The Big D is Burning (Video):
"You don't get rid of a negative image by making movies. You get rid of a negative image by fixing the problems."


Detroit, MI - The Detroit Fire Department has moved forward with its so-called "firefighter tourism" program where firefighters from outside of Detroit can pay to ride on the rigs and fight fire Detroit style. Ten firefighters from Belgium have reportedly paid $2,000 each to do just that. Unfortunately, one of the Belgians fell through a roof of a burning building. Fortunately he survived to tell the tale. Unfortunately the City of Detroit doesn't have any insurance.

On a related note, film makers have made yet another documentary about the Detroit Fire Department. The City of Detroit is a disaster and the epitome of how not to run a municipality. The U.S. debut of the movie premiered in Detroit last night. Check out the trailer:

Nobody Ever Said Cooks Were Smart, Part Deux

Is it just me or are his eyes red?
Picture courtesy of The Montana Standard 

Butte, Montana - A "medical marijuana" shop was burglarized and 14 jars of the magically healing hash were taken. The case was at a standstill until weeks later two high school students were fingered for posting and boasting about the high heist on Twitter.

The two students were subsequently charged with burglary, possession, and distribution among other charges.

Picture courtesy of The Montana Standard

• Students Face Felonies In Pot Theft

And on a separate but related tangent...

These medical marijuana shops are little more than head shops. I don't understand how or why the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), which is under the Department of Justice, will bust people for sharing their prescription drugs but allow businesses to operate with impunity when they clearly are breaking Federal drug laws. 


And before you start with the sob story about grandma smoke'n for her glaucoma, let me ask you this: what other drug do you "smoke"? As harsh as the Surgeon General and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are about regulating smoking tobacco, why are they so lax about smoking marijuana? Smoking marijuana doesn't cause lung cancer? Sure it does.

If cannabis is such a great wonder drug, why haven't the pharmaceutical companies developed a pill form? Don't you think they'd want in on that market? 

The whole thing is a sham! OK, I'm off my soap box now.

Nobody Ever Said Cooks Were Smart

Drug user posts picture of self doing drugs.
picture - CBC News

Australia - Aussie cops are using the internet to locate drug users who are stupid enough to post photos of themselves doing drugs. Not only are they posting pictures of themselves, they are proudly displaying their stash of hash and agricultural skills.

Using hashtags (pardon the pun) like #weed, #marijuana, #420, #weedstagram, #globalganjagirls, and my personal favorite, #girlsgoneweed, Australian police are tracking down these law-breakers and prosecuting them. 

Some of the #potheads are so #stoned that they forget to turn off the automatic geo-location feature making it even easier for the vice squad.

• Instagram Hashtags Help Aussie Police Crack Down On Marijuana

Ah, another fine crop for the cops to confiscate.
picture - CBC News.

National 'Thank You' Day For Police Officers

National Tell A Police Officer "Thank You" Day
picture - PoliceOne.com

United States of America - Today is National Tell A Police Officer "Thank You!" Day. 

Go out of your way to thank a cop, because they do a job that I don't want to do. God bless them.

• National 'Thank You' Day For Police Officers

Is The Future of HazMat & USAR A Cockroach?

Cockroach first responder.
picture - foxnews.com

Raleigh, NC – Scientists at North Carolina State University (NCSU) have successfully created a cyborg, remote-controlled Madagascar Hissing Cockroach. What’s the advantage to this you ask? These roach controlled hissers can (theoretically) be outfitted with sensors that can collect and transmit information from inside a “hot zone” such a hazardous materials incident or a collapsed building. A company of cockroaches could even create a network of smart sensors. 

• Cyborg Cockroaches To Be Future Emergency Responders 

Tourist Paying To Help Fight Detroit's Fires

picture - tunein.com

Detroit, MI – I don’t know how many of you have been keeping up with the goings ons with the Detroit Fire Department, but this beats all. 

Last month the City of Detroit laid off 27 more firefighters, demoted almost 150, and enacted a 10% pay cut across the board. Now DFD is considering charging volunteer firefighters who want to ride on their rigs and fight some real Detroit-style fires to help make up the shortfall in their budget. They call it “firefighter tourism!” 

• Tourist Paying To Help Fight Detroit's Fires

Dancing Cops Direct Traffic At DNC

Mecklenburg County, NC – Law enforcement officers in town this week for the National Democratic Convention had an impromptu dancing contest as they directed traffic in uptown Charlotte. Moves included the mandatory pea whistle and the optional construction flags. 

Should traffic directing dancing become an Olympic event? For now I think it should stay a DNC event…

TX TERT Deploys to Isaac-Ravaged LA

St. John the Baptist Parish, Louisiana
- picture courtesy of Wikipedia.com 

St. John the Baptist Parish , LA – Hurricane Isaac officially made landfall on Tuesday, August 28th in Louisiana near the mouth of the Mississippi River after churning off the coast for almost 24 hours with a forward momentum of just 5 miles per hour. Isaac produced an 11-foot storm surge, sustained winds of almost 70 mph, produced substantial flooding, and left over 600,000 customers without electrical service just in Louisiana. Over 13,000 homes were damaged and at least five people died in the storm in Louisiana.

On Thursday, August 30th, the St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s Office PSAP (Public Safety Answering Point) requested assistance for its telecommunicators who had been on-duty in their 9-1-1 center for 40 hours without relief. Most of the telecommunicators were also victims of Hurricane Isaac’s damage but they had been unable to leave to check on family or their property.

Eight members from the Texas TERT (Telecommunicator Emergency Response Taskforce) were deployed to assist St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s Office PSAP. 

Telecommunicator Emergency
Response Taskforce
- picture courtesy of NENA

TERT is 9-1-1’s version of mutual aid. It was created to provide assistance when a local PSAP or its personnel are severely affected or overwhelmed during times of catastrophe or disaster. It was first conceived after the 9/11 attacks. Six North Carolina PSAPs came together, and with the approval of the North Carolina Chapter of the National Emergency Number Association (NC NENA), NC TERT was formed and officially adopted by late-September 2001.

NC TERT’s first out-of-state deployment was September 2005 when it deployed for ten days to St. Tammany Parrish, Louisiana for Hurricane Katrina. The successes of this deployment lead to the National TERT Initiative and later the National Joint TERT Initiative which had the support of both NENA and APCO (Association of Public-Safety Communications Officers). Within a year, over half of the States had developed and adopted TERT programs based on the NC TERT model.

• TERT Team Provides Support To Isaac-Affected Louisiana PSAP