Over the Christmas holiday, a drive-by gunman shot and wounded a Jacksonville, FL firefighter. With the recent law enforcement killings and given the hate that has been fueled in the past weeks, it doesn’t come as a surprise to me. All of the incidents in recent years toward firefighters are going to start becoming more commonplace […]

It wasn’t long before a few of the crazy ones took instruction from the hate being spewed by the ignorant. While there are others, in just this weekend, three police officers (two NYPD, one in Florida who ironically, was originally NYPD) have been executed for just being police officers.  Not because of their viewpoints.  Not because they posed […]

The sign in front of one of the churches was advertising that “Prophet John Doe” [name changed for obvious reasons] was going to be holding a revival.  I wondered: “What are the job requirements for being a prophet? ” I kind of liked the idea of having the title “Prophet” in front of my name.  I […]

Lately I have been considering the sad affairs of our world in regard to our tendency to create scapegoats for the things that go badly in our lives. I have thought a lot about diversity in any number of angles and again, it is tragic to me that today there are still those who lump […]

You simply can’t plan for everything.  We do try to make our scenes safer, but conditions change, or situations are presented where we can’t even imagine how they came to be.  How many people considered that individuals would try to bring down the World Trade Center, not once, but twice, succeeding in the end and […]

I got back from some opportunities I had taken and began to reflect on what I had learned.  Over a beer or two, I happened to have a conversation with a fire service leader about my blog and we were talking about different approaches and the like.  One of the things he said to me was […]

Recently I have undergone Lasik surgery to “enhance” my vision.  I’m very happy with the result, although there were some adjustments that had to be made.  Sight has always been an important sense to me.  As someone who trained as an graphic artist and photographer, as a writer, and in the things I enjoy doing, my […]

One group hails it as proof of the science.  The other, the “pussification” of the fire service.  There are those who say, “This isn’t new stuff, we were taught this years ago.”  Others say, “This is cutting edge knowledge.”  It seems that there are as many who want to assail the tactic of exterior streams […]

While at the eye doctor in Savannah the other day, I had an interesting experience.  I had to leave from work to go to my appointment, so I was in uniform.  While standing at the desk to check out, a woman almost directly behind me became faint.  She slumped into a chair as I turned […]

We see it in the lack of leadership exhibited in some departments and it is prevalent in the business world as well. In today’s marketplace, the difference between effective managers and those who become sidelined before hitting their peak has a lot to do with the way in which they motivate and inspire their followers.  Traditional […]