7th Anniversary Remembrance for 9/11

The Tolling of Firehouse Bells


The bells in firehouses throughout New York
Echoed in harmony that morn
Calling our brothers to the fight of their lives
Fulfilling the duty they’d sworn

All those who responded carry the scars
Some physical, and some not
Three-hundred-forty-three of whom never returned
More broken, yet all but forgot

So today as we gather in solemn remembrance
For those brothers who gave all
We also remember those men who returned
Who too, answered the call

Some brothers are wracked by survivor’s guilt
Some continue to ask why
Why they were spared the horror of that fate
Why they weren’t destined to die

In the midst of vast despair and destruction
Beyond comprehension in its scope
It was a picture of three firefighters raising a flag
That gave America hope

Firemen everywhere walked a little taller
Though hearts heavy with pain
This country leaned on the strength of these heroes
To help it stand tall once again

Neither firefighter nor civilian should ever forget
How helpless we felt that day
I fear if we succeed in softening these horrors
Our determination will fade away

As firefighters we could never be the same
Changed forever that morning
It’s our duty to keep these memories alive
So that others heed the warning

They echo still, those firehouse bells
Every day in our great nation
Calling firemen to the scene of yet another tragedy
Which depends on our dedication

Basic Healthcare:

The Right of Every "Working" American



I was once a Yuppie – or at least I thought I was. I was young, I had a good job with good benefits, my wife had a good job (at the Providence Journal) with good benefits, and we had a single child - a beautiful daughter. Life was good and getting better! I had every reason to believe that I, along with my new family, would have a better life that my father and mother had – at least materialistically and by virtue of increasingly better opportunities.

Here I am thirty years later wondering what the heck happened. Life happened…

Two more beautiful kids (one more girl and a little boy), and private school tuitions for all of them. I lived in Providence and had no choice but to send them to private school. Divorce. Inflation. College tuition. More inflation.

Hey, I’m not complaining – it’s been a wonderful ride. I just have to laugh at those of us regular people who think we’ve got it made. Working class people aren’t meant to “have it all”. It’s meant to be a struggle for us. Some victories and rewards, but few life-altering or generational-changing increases in our upward assault on the social class ladder.

It’s with this in mind that I’d like to call your attention to one of the tactics employed by our upper-class to keep us lower-to-middle-class imposters in our rightful places – self destruction. They set us up to turn on each other and fight from within our own ranks. Divide and conquer.
The upper-class is the richest 1% of the population who control most of our country’s wealth. You know, the ones that were taken care of by Bush on the federal level and Carcieri on the state level. These are the people (and companies) with all the power.

Consider our health care system...

I’ve been in many heated debates over the last few years with many different people of all(not) most income levels and all political and ethnic backgrounds defending my position on employer-paid healthcare. I’ve debated in the workplace, on the streets, in coffeehouses, on talk radio and in many different political blogs and forums. There are many people who are ready to resort to a physical confrontation because of their belief that anyone who has a smaller burden due to healthcare premiums than they do, are stealing from the rest of the hard working people who are paying larger amounts.

I’ve never, however, been in any debate, in any of these places with a single member of the 1% elitist club. Of course not. They are quite happy that some of us are demanding that other lower-to-middle-class workers pay a heftier share. This never ending debate, along with the extremely hard feelings it creates in the ranks of workers, keeps us (the true majority) from demanding that those who control, and profit from, the health insurance companies and drug companies to cut back on their record setting earnings.

CEO’s, Corporate Board Members and the majority share-holders are all among the 1%. Upper & middle management are not, but they are usually generously compensated by the 1% to dole out the company rhetoric. That is really their only function – a buffer zone between the 1% and the workers. This is part of the reason that middle management positions are the first to go when profits are down. They are expendable. So ask yourself, if middle management (and even much of upper management) are expendable, of what value is the line worker?

The 1% are a crafty bunch. They, and their ancestors, have perfected the manipulation of the system to the point that we, as working class people, can’t even think of reaching or affecting them. The real problem with the 1%, however, is that this latest generation of power players have gotten too greedy. They’ve pushed the envelope to the point of absurdity. Can you even imagine one of their grandfathers stating to a reporter that $4.00 plus p/gallon gasoline is beyond the company’s control the day after their company had posted a world-record quarterly profit?

It’s time for a working man’s revolt. Instead of angrily complaining that I receive relatively inexpensive health care benefits; angrily complain that you are being fleeced by the healthcare companies, the drug companies and your employer. Take your anger to your U.S. Senator and demand action and regulation on this absurdity. Take your anger to your U.S. Representative. Take it to your Governor. It’s time for all workers to demand affordable healthcare as a basic part of employment conditions.

It’s a true shame when “working” people are dying due to delayed diagnosis of serious disease because they can’t afford to see a doctor unless it’s an emergency. The political blogs were full of people up in arms recently over the death of a detainee for a similar type of delay. Is it any less an outrage when hard-working people are facing the same fate??

The Providence Fire Department:

Already Stretched to the Limit



For the past few years the Providence Fire Department has been fortunate in that there have been very few 4-Alarm (or higher) fires in the city. There have also been very few occurrences of two or more serious fires burning simultaneously in the city. We (the Providence Fire Department) and the citizens of Providence have indeed been very fortunate.

All that changed at the end of May 2006. There was a serious fire in an old commercial building on Weybosset Street which was connected by a common wall to the buildings on the rest of the block. The fire was a stubborn blaze that snaked its way through the building via voids and spaces left after numerous renovations. Try as they may, the 1st Alarm assignment of firefighters were unable to expose all of the fire and extinguish it before it became unstoppable. That’s what happens sometimes – especially when you don’t have enough manpower on the scene in the early stages of a fire.

Eventually this fire grew to greater than 4 Alarms. With the additional manpower the firefighters were ultimately successful at keeping the fire from spreading beyond the original fire building. That in itself was no small accomplishment and required multiple companies to remain on the scene for days after the original alarm was sounded. This is not an unusual occurrence when a large building has been destroyed by fire and is rendered structurally unstable. Firefighters, unable to enter the building due to the unsafe conditions must continue to pour water on the rubble until demolition crews remove enough debris to expose the hidden pockets of fire.

Less than a week later there was a serious fire on the upper floor of a building under construction at the Manchester Street power plant. There was also a worker injured on the fire floor who needed to be rescued. A fire 7 stories above the ground of an unfinished building required firefighters to carry all of their equipment to the scene. Carrying 100 lbs. of equipment (including their turnout gear) up seven flights of stairs on a hot summer day would be beyond the endurance level of most people. Unfortunately for these firefighters, that’s when the real job began. It’s easy to see that this fire required more than a 4-Alarm assignment to provide the needed manpower to allow the Chief in charge of the operation to alternate fresh crews in order to prevent heat related exhaustion to cripple the attack. Don’t forget that these firefighters were wearing heavy turnout pants, coat, bulky boots, helmets and air pacs.

Once again the Providence Firefighters were up to the task. The fire was extinguished, the worker rescued, and the building sustained minimal damage. Both these fires, however, required virtually every working member of the department to be utilized in order to gain control of the emergency. Luckily for the city, these fires did not grow any larger or advance so quickly that the members of the Providence Fire Department could not get ahead of them and bring them under control.

In these instances we were all fortunate in that another dwelling fire did not erupt during the many hours the entire working shift was tied up. What if a 3-story, 6-unit occupied apartment building – and there are many throughout the city – caught fire and people were trapped in the upper floors? Many areas were completely without fire protection. Other areas were covered by fire companies from other cities and towns via our Mutual Aid agreement with other communities. The members of these companies don’t, however, have a working knowledge of the streets and the neighborhoods – causing a major delay in getting to the scene. Many of the companies sent here to cover our city are woefully undermanned – many with just 2 firefighters! Many of these companies don’t have the proper equipment to quickly hook up to our hydrants or our buildings’ sprinkler systems. Some are manned by firefighters who have never fought a fire in a three-decker!

This is a formula for disaster. Once again, on these two occasions, we dodged a bullet. No other fires occurred during this time frame. I am, however, not sure of how many Rescue calls were victims of delayed responses due to out-of-town companies covering them. I’m also not privy to any information regarding serious consequences resulting from these delays.

Again, on the night of July 18th, there was a serious fire which required the entire Providence Fire Department to bring it under control. The fire at the Port of Providence on the dock of Motiva Enterprises’ terminal was potentially a disaster which could have easily grown beyond our capabilities to contain it. It required the fast action and professionalism of the workers at Motiva and those of the Danish tanker, Nordeuropa, as well as those of the Providence firefighters to avert a major disaster that evening - not to mention to incredible conditions they were forced to work under due to the storm. This left much of the remainder of the city unprotected. There were some Mutual Aid companies at our stations, but most of our neighbors were busy themselves and couldn’t spare too many resources. Once again, despite so much potential for additional disaster, we were fortunate that the storm didn’t cause more life threatening situations to which we would have been unable to respond.

Again Providence dodges a bullet. A question for all you gamblers out there – how many more times do you think we’ll be able to dodge the bullet before we pay a hefty price in destruction?

Mayor Cicilline remains committed to gaining “staffing prerogatives” from the Providence firefighters. Enough with the political double talk. I think every citizen understands that the mayor means staffing cuts. He is determined to be able to either cut the number of fire apparatus on duty at any given time in the city or to cut the number of personnel on many of the trucks – period. Either way he saves money on the fire department’s budget, therefore he’ll take either option. He wants to cut the fire department in a city that’s been called one of the fastest growing cities in the Northeast! Just look around at all of the new construction going on in the city. Look at all of the new luxury condos that the mayor himself has boasted about. Look at the incredible resurgence in the city that he so proudly points out has taken place under his administration. The number of people in the city at any given point is growing at an alarming rate, yet the mayor is determined to cut back the fire department resources that are already being forced to stretch to the brink of disaster time and time again.

I think it’s time for Mayor Cicilline to find another place to balance his budget other than on the backs of the City’s firefighters. I believe that we’ve been fortunate up to this point but I am not willing to leave the safety of the citizens of this great city to chance. It would take but one time for a secondary disaster to strike while the majority of our fire department is tied up to wreak upon us a hefty price for his short-sightedness – very possibly a price measured in human lives.

Haves & Have-Nots (and the Unions)

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The Haves and Have-Nots
(and the Unions)


The present administrations (federal, state and local) are adamant about lumping people in two categories – the Haves and the Have-Nots. The middle class, particularly the upper middle class, is a dying class. Many of those people who were among this group are still trying to live the good life – at the expense of burying themselves in debt.

When the economy is booming it’s OK for those in control – the lawmakers, who are almost exclusively part of the Haves – to share the wealth. If a bill is introduced to increase the minimum wage…why not? Another to extend unemployment benefits…sure. Then there’s another vote – on the funding of the free school lunch program…passed. Tax breaks and incentives are routinely doled out to big businesses and universities as they expand their operations and threaten to move to a more tax-friendly location. When the country’s economy is flourishing (and therefore there is less urgency to these programs) the votes are always there to push them through – even in a Republican controlled body.

When the economy slows down, however, support for social programs and bills designed at aiding the Have-Nots suddenly disappears. It’s now down to an “us against them” mentality for our lawmakers. Bills are introduced which are designed to allow the Haves to hold onto their wealth – tax cuts for the wealthy or reduction of the capital-gains tax are the orders of the day. When discussions turn to social programs the attitude is generally, “We took care of them is the last session, now is the time to be tightening our belts, not the time to be digging ourselves a deeper hole”. This, despite the fact there is a much greater need for these types of programs in a tough economic climate. The first ones to feel the effects of this belt-tightening are the Have-Nots. The next ones to feel the pinch are the state and municipal unions.

When the politicians are ‘circling the wagons’ to desperately keep their budgets in the black, the first thing they do is turn to their Tough Times Playbook. Right there on the front page, between ‘No increases in programs that don’t generate income’ and ‘Increase incentives to big business to stimulate the economy’ is ‘Demand give-backs from unions’. Listed in this section, under the heading ‘Strategies’, are suggestions on how to make the union workers seem over compensated. Suggestions such as, ‘Compare their salaries with the lower income manufacturing and jewelry industry workers’. ‘Point out that the citizens are paying for the union member’s pension’.

There are also sub-sections on topics to avoid. ‘Don’t allow the unions to compare their compensation with decent-paying companies such as the public utility workers – gas company, electric company, telephone company, etc.’. These companies pay better wages than the state and municipal workers receive and have generous benefit packages. ‘Don’t allow the unions to compare their salaries to successful private employers in the area. Companies such as the Providence Journal, Textron, Blue Cross, etc.’. These non-public companies have good compensation packages and incentives for their employees – far and away more generous than those of state and municipal workers.

Above all else, the number one subject to avoid is wage, benefit and perks packages for CEO’s and upper management of large corporations that have benefited from tax breaks and incentives. Even when these figures are estimated by reporters or others, the only defense (there is no reasonable defense) is to ignore the questions until media and public attention can be successfully diverted in another direction. These people are, after all, the constituents who finance the campaigns that will keep them in office. They will also be the corporations that will employ these politicians after they leave “public service”.

This is the point we find ourselves in at this time. Until a Democrat takes the White House I fear we’re in for more of the same.

Democrats Don't Have All the Answers...

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Democrats Don’t Have All the Answers


Democrats seem to be losing credibility with the middle-ground Independent voters in this country. This is evident in the fact that after 8 years of Bush disasters in the White House – especially in light of gas prices, a failing economy, a complete failure of the housing and mortgage industries, AND the disastrous war in Iraq – voters are even considering voting Republican again!

I realize that my opinions are not indicative of the Democratic Party (many of my opinions are in contradiction to the apparent Democratic platform), but I am a staunch believer and supporter of many of the Democratic base-line principles. These principles include (but are not limited to) support of pro-labor initiatives which protect American workers in safety in the workplace, fair compensation and fair taxes. I also support and defend the pro-choice side of the abortion issue, and continuation (with modifications – see below) of the welfare system – we can’t simply turn our backs on those families who are currently in no position to provide for themselves.
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I support the Democratic view of stimulating the economy as opposed to the Republican view, which is too focused on providing overly generous incentives and rewards to big business.

One of the biggest problem areas for the Democratic Party in this Novembers elections, both federal and local, is the proposed policies on illegal immigration. The people see clearly that illegal immigrants are costing this country an incredible amount of tax revenue – in uncollected taxes for wages earned AND in tax revenue being spent on social, educational and health related programs. Democratic politicians and candidates throw the political double talk at the voters and attempt to place our economic problems elsewhere. While the areas they point to are certainly big contributors to our economic woes, so to are illegal aliens.

It is often stated that these illegal workers are doing the jobs that Americans will not. This is absurd. Many Americans may not do these jobs for the same wages or under the unsafe working conditions as the illegals, but pay American workers a fair wage and give them safe and healthy working conditions and they will. Some jobs (ones that are vital to our economy) can even be assumed by Welfare recipients as compensation for their cash benefits, food stamps and health care (see below).

I believe that as long as Democrats are associated with the extreme left-wing fringes of the party (giving away the store to everyone with a sob story without the need to earn their keep), those independent swing voters will be tempted to vote Republican.

I say these things as a person who firmly believes in most of the Democratic core principles and is in stark opposition to most Republican principles. I reserve the right to love my city, my state and my country while complaining about those issues where I disagree with policy. I also reserve the right to call myself a Democrat and complain about what I consider its weaknesses or flaws, so if you disagree with this post state your views without resorting to name calling or labeling me as a fair-weather Democrat or traitor or…


WELFARE:


“A society is ultimately judged by the way it treats its least fortunate members.”

I believe that we, as a people, have the obligation to take care of those members of our society that have to struggle to survive. The burden of this care would, rightfully, fall on those citizens who work and pay taxes. It is more important to protect the welfare of individuals unable to provide for themselves than to maximize profits for businesses or safeguard earnings of those who are living a comfortable lifestyle.

That being said, business profits and safeguarding hard-working individual’s earnings are also important. This is why I believe that we should be searching for ways to maximize the impact of every dollar that we spend on government assistance programs, not seeking to eliminate these programs altogether.



Welfare benefits should only be given to people who work a minimum of 20 hours for their state or local government, or for governmentally approved agencies – the number of hours required would depend on the amount of benefits they are receiving. Those with newborn children would be exempt for 6 months after the birth of the child. Those with severely handicapped children would be exempt for as long as they are the primary caregiver to that child. Handicapped individuals who are unable to provide for their own care would be exempt, also.

The state or city or town would provide free day care centers staffed primarily by welfare recipients. These day care centers would also provide reduced fee service for families who were not on government assistance.

Emergency medical treatment would be denied to no one. Free preventive medical treatment would be available via neighborhood clinics to all children under the age of 18 as long as the parents could provide documentation of the child’s citizenship or legal residency status.

Public schools would provide free education to all citizens or legal resident aliens. School lunch programs would provide a free lunch (lunch only) to all students. Welfare recipients would be utilized as school lunch workers and monitors. Teachers’ aides jobs would be filled by welfare recipients. School bus monitors would be welfare recipient, as would be crossing guards.

Other able-bodied individuals should be put to work repairing, improving and cleaning our infrastructure. In farming areas welfare recipients can be utilized in picking fruits and vegetables – those jobs that utilize illegal aliens to work at slave wages. The farmers can pay the government the equivalent of slave wages in order to keep food costs down.

At any time a person applies for governmental assistance of any kind they would be required to show proof of citizenship or immigration status. Anyone not able to provide such proof should be immediately referred to ICE.

Federal, state and municipal workers would be required to check citizenship or immigration status of any person they encounter in the course of their duties who appear (for whatever reason) to be suspect. Hospital and medical clinic workers would be required to do the same.

There will be no government money spent on illegal aliens – with the exception of emergency medical care. In the case of emergency medical care being provided to an undocumented or illegal alien, ICE shall be notified immediately.

Any government money spent on medical care involving intervention of a substance abuse problem of any kind shall be limited to 1 time only.

No affirmative action or quotas of any kind – for any reason. If this is truly to be a land of equal opportunity it is time to do away with any such advantages and truly treat everyone as equals.

Require all non-English speaking people in the U.S. to be registered in a English as a 2nd language course.

Reinstate, at least in some degree, the federal windfall profit tax for big business and corporations.



These are but a few of the things we could do to provide care for those despondent individuals in our midst while safeguarding the tax dollars paid by those who work hard for their money. After an initial adjustment period I believe this system would be far more fiscally efficient and responsible. It would also encourage people to get off the welfare system at their earliest opportunity.

People before profits. However, I am a firm believer that if you give someone a fish today, you’ll feed them today. If you teach them to fish, you’ll feed them for a lifetime. There should be no multi-generational welfare recipients in this country. Those who are truly in need should be taken care of, but those who are able to work for their benefits should do just that.

"Pointing My Finger at Cicilline"

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Pointing My Finger at Cicilline


An opinion written by a ProJo “Editorial columnist” on July 16th caught my eye – David N. Cicilline: Stop pointing fingers at illegals.

First of all, when did ProJo hire Cicilline as an “Editorial columnist”? I have known this for quite a while now but it’s nice to see you finally acknowledge the fact.

What a shameless piece of political side-stepping on the “illegals” situation and shameless political maneuvering on behalf of his on again, off again run for the governor’s job in 2010. Apparently his run is “on” this week.

I’d like to state that I am no supporter of Governor Carcieri – not in any stretch of the imagination. His Executive Order concerning illegal aliens in the State of Rhode Island is the very first action (or proposed action) he’s taken to which I am in agreement – at least in theory.

David N. Cicilline takes advantage of his opportunity to address the entire state via ProJo by stating in his headline that he is defending “illegals”. What follows is a half-hearted, untruthful (or at the very least, misleading) defense of the public and documented positions on this issue taken by himself and his “best police chief in America”.

Cicilline writes eleven (11) paragraphs, but devotes nine (9) paragraphs to attacking the Governor and beginning his political campaign to win his seat. While I agree that RI is in a recession, and I agree with some of the statements he makes regarding the Governor’s anti-taxpayer policies, these are not in keeping with the intended (going by the headline) subject. These are purely out-and-out campaign issues. This was nothing more than an attempt to divert attention away from the “illegals” problem and position himself as a candidate for Governor.

He continually refuses to give direct answers on this issue. Is it any wonder he refused the invitation to appear on O’Reilly’s show? He will never appear with someone if he knows they will not let him dodge the issue with his quick political foot work.

As for his assertion that “Providence has always reported and will continue to report “all” arrests to immigration authorities”, this is a total misrepresentation of the facts. While it is technically true, the number of names sent were far more than needed to be sent. The PPD sent the names of “all” individuals arraigned that day. Also, in most cases, these names were forwarded after the case had already been disposed and the individual had been set free.

As for Cicilline’s assertion that Providence is not considered a “sanctuary city” is completely untruthful. Just ask any illegal on the street’s of Providence. I deal with many people of all types on the streets of Providence. The “illegals” are not limited to people of Hispanic roots by any means – Asians, Europeans, Africans and Middle East immigrants can be just as likely illegal. One of the predominant characteristics of the illegals in Providence (as well as many other locations, I’m sure) is that they drive unregistered and uninsured vehicles, with no operator’s license. This is an everyday occurance at motor vehicle accidents in Providence. Ask the people who break the law in this manner and are only given tickets to pay a fine if Providence is a sanctuary city.

Cicilline goes on to attempt to shift blame for Marco Riz’s release from Providence’s custody to ICE. Not surprising – he found scapegoats for the snowstorm debacle and the failure of the Providence school system as well!!

UNTIL......

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Until…


I watched on TV the firemen rushing to the scene of the WTC
I watched as the tower fell and knew we had just lost several brothers
But it wasn’t until I saw the firemen running away from the building that I felt the fear

I watched as thousands of firefighters from all over the world gathered in Worcester, MA
I watched as thousands of Worcester citizens silently gazed at us as we marched
But it wasn’t until it was all over that I silently cried and understood

I watched as the smoke and flames engulfed the entire front of the building
I watched as my friends, my brothers, crawled along the hot, smoky floor
But it wasn’t until we recovered the infant’s charred remains that my heart began to break

I looked down in horror at the lifeless and faceless baby lying before me on the floor
I watched as the Medics worked feverishly in an attempt to breathe life back into her lungs
But it wasn’t until the doctor “called it”, that the finality of the moment struck me

I’ve watched from my front row seat as so many tragedies unfold right before my eyes
I’ve seen so many people’s lives irreversibly shattered without any prior warning
But it’s not until the moment has passed, that the pain imbeds itself forever in my soul


Tom Kenney - 2008