Posted by Jim on January 16, 2019
DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. CELEBRATION
On Thursday, January 24, 2019, from 1200 to 1400 hours, a celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy will be held in the Auditorium at 9 Metrotech hosted by the Office of Diversity and Inclusion. This will be the first event of our 10-Talks series. The event will feature TED-style talks about Dr. King’s six principles of nonviolence. All are welcome to attend. Come celebrate with your fellow employees and enjoy great food. To RSVP, please email diversity.inclusion@fdny.nyc.gov by Friday, January 18, 2019.
ANNUAL FDNY SKI RACES
The 46th Annual FDNY Firefighters Ski Races at Hunter Mountain will take place on Tuesday, January 29, 2019. Proceeds will be donated to the NY Firefighters Burn Center Foundation. There will be a plaque dedication honoring Lt. Michael Davidson, E-69, Lt. Christopher Raguso, E-302 and FM Christopher Zanetis, BFI. Trophies for each 1st, 2nd, 3rd place Ski teams and Snowboard teams will be awarded along with many lottery prizes. “Let’s keep the tradition going.” Register your team online at www.Huntermtn.com ASAP to get the discounted fee. For additional information, contact Joe Jove at 518-263-4023.
GARY SINISE’S FIREHOUSE DINNER AND BOOK LAUNCH
On Sunday, February 10, 2019, award-winning film and TV actor/humanitarian Gary Sinise and Friends of Firefighters invite you to a special firefighter-prepared dinner and book presentation at Friends of Firefighters’ historic Red Hook firehouse (199 Van Brunt Street, Brooklyn NY, 11231) to celebrate Gary Sinise’s newly published book, Grateful American: A Journey from Self to Service. A VIP Dinner with Gary Sinise (limited to first 30 people) will be from 5:00 – 6:30 PM, followed by a Book Presentation, Q&A, and Signing from 7:15 – 8:15 PM. Tickets can be purchased at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/gary-sinises-firehouse-dinner-and-book-launch-for-grateful-american-tickets-54421378809.
FDNY PHOENIX SOCIETY ANNUAL LUNAR NEW YEAR CELEBRATION
Permission is granted for off-duty members to participate in the FDNY Phoenix Society Annual Lunar New Year Celebration Parade. The parade will begin at 1200 hours on Sunday, February 17, 2019. The FDNY Phoenix Society requests participating members to assemble at the auditorium of PS 130, 143 Baxter Street, New York, NY for breakfast prior to the parade. Participating members are requested to attend in dress uniform. Family and friends of Department personnel are invited. For more information, contact Society President David Lin or Vice President Ben Chou at FDNYPhoenixSociety@gmail.com.
Posted by Jim on January 15, 2019
Deduct Your Union Dues at Tax Time:
A Message from New York State AFL-CIO
As a result of the legislation passed and signed into law in April 2017, union members in the state of New York will have the opportunity to deduct their union dues from their state income taxes.
Two years ago, the New York State AFL-CIO, with support from unions across the state, successfully led the charge for this legislation.
Beginning this year, union members will be able to deduct their union dues from their state taxes if they itemize deductions on their state taxes. It is important to point out that tax payers can now itemize deductions on their state taxes even if they don’t itemize on their federal taxes.
These deductions will put an estimated $35 million back into the pockets of union members like you throughout our state.
Stay tuned to the New York State AFL-CIO for more opportunities to support legislative issues that will benefit working men and women in New York.
Visit the New York State AFL-CIO Facebook Page at https://www.facebook.com/NYAFLCIO or click here to watch their video.
Learn more at nysaflcio.org/news/deductmydues.
Posted by Jim on January 13, 2019
Former senior British Army General Frank Kitson is one of several high
profile British establishment figures facing legal action brought by two
members of the group known as the Hooded Men.
Liam Shannon and Jim Auld recently launched proceedings against Kitson
and other former British political figures, including the estate of
former British Prime Minister Edward Heath.
The men were subjected to torture at a now defunct British Army barracks
in County Derry.
A total of fourteen men have said they were subjected to ‘five
techniques’ including being hooded, made to stand in stress positions,
forced to listen to loud static noise and being deprived of sleep, food
and water.
In some cases they were also thrown from helicopters they were told were
hundreds of feet in the air despite being just feet off the ground.
Earlier this year the European Court of Human Rights rejected an appeal
by the 26 County government against a ruling that they were not
tortured. In 1978 the court held their treatment was inhuman and
degrading, but fell short of torture.
Hundreds of nationalists were held without charge during internment,
which ran from 1971 to 1975.
Kitson directed British military actons in the North at the time. He was
a key strategist behind Britain’s historical “dirty war” in Ireland.
The London-born officer rose to one of the highest British military
ranks, serving as the Commander-in-Chief of Land Forces, with a fistful
of ‘Empire’ titles to his name.
In Ireland he is best known as the man behind such notorious groups as
the MRF (Military Reaction Force), the SRU (Special Reconnaissance Unit)
and the FRU (Force Research Unit), acronyms for a number of related
British state death squads.
Author of a military manual on “Low Intensity Operations”, his murderous
plans were used for British colonial suppression in Malaya and Kenya
before being deployed in the north of Ireland.
Kitson has so far escaped legal censure in Ireland, the authorities in
Britain going to extraordinary lengths to keep him out of harms way —
or the witness box.
Also included in the legal actions are the estates of former British
Defence Minister Peter Carrington and Home Secretary Reginald Maudling,
who were both in office when internment was introduced.
Darragh Mackin of Phoenix Law said new documents had come to light.
“In light of the further documents uncovered, we have identified a
number of those ministers who were intimately involved in both the
preparation and execution of the torture techniques on the hooded men,”
he said.
“As a result, we have now served each minister and their respective
estates and heirs with the basis on which our clients will now seek
damages.”
Kevin Winters of KRW Law added: “It is now time for our clients to
receive an admission of liability by the British government, full
disclosure of all material that has been denied to them regarding the
authorisation of interrogation techniques involving torture by the
British army and the RUC, and compensation for their suffering – then
and now.”
Posted by Jim on January 9, 2019
“Key political analyst John Manley, of the Irish News in Belfast, provides important insight into the stalemate in Northern Ireland. Among other points, he states: ‘In the period the institutions have been dormant, we have come a long way politically. Unionism has lost his its majority in the Assembly and Brexit has fueled a new dynamism in the desire for a united Ireland.’ Members of Congress should take careful note of this article.”—Fr. Sean McManus
New political reality has emerged since Stormont closed its doors
John Manley. Irish News. Belfast. Wednesday, January 9, 2019
Two years on from Martin McGuinness’s resignation it is apparent that RHI was the catalyst rather than the cause of the institutions’ collapse. Thanks to Sir Patrick Coghlin’s inquiry we have learned the degree to which Arlene Foster and her special adviser Andrew Crawford were key players in Stormont’s biggest ever scandal. However, while Sinn Féin was unaware of the level of ministerial disengagement in the development and roll out of the scheme, alongside its apparent manipulation and exploitation, months before the late deputy first minister tendered his resignation, the financial magnitude of the RHI’s mismanagement was public knowledge, courtesy of a July 2016 audit office report.
If one single thing precipitated Stormont’s demise, it was that trust and respect had been exhausted. Almost a decade of power-sharing, punctuated by several rounds of negotiations and regular crises had drained every drop of goodwill. Martin McGuinness had been at the fore in efforts to reconcile Nationalism and Unionism yet there were still those within the DUP’s ranks who continued to blank [acknowledge] him. Peter Robinson kept his MLAs’ disdain in check but his successor was unable to exercise the same degree of control and appeared reluctant to allow herself to get too close to the former IRA commander.
The term preceding Stormont’s collapse, its first with an official opposition, proved uncomfortable for the DUP and Sinn Féin and despite the best efforts to present a united front, the big two’s political aspirations rarely, if ever, coalesced. Issues like the past, same sex marriage, women’s rights and the Irish language continued to cause friction, and usually the only thing the two parties could agree on was to defer difficult decisions.
And then there was Brexit.
Much is made of the joint letter to the British government signed in summer 2016 by the First and Deputy First Minister, and while it contrasts greatly with the uncompromising tone of today’s DUP, the correspondence was largely superficial – more a heads of agreement than a clear road map.
In the political turbulence created by the outcry around RHI, coupled with Martin McGuinness’s deteriorating health, republicans saw an opportunity to pull the plug on Stormont without causing backlash and recrimination in their own community.
Subsequently, Stormont’s collapse led to higher expectations of any new power-sharing arrangements, an attitude that prevails today among Republicans and to a degree among Nationalist and the other non-Unionist parties.
Even if the entire population of Fermanagh followed the well-meaning if rather naive Dylan Quinn on his protest walk to Stormont, it wouldn’t make the appetite for a restored Assembly on the previous terms any greater, as such an arrangement would likely flounder in the short term.
In the period the institutions have been dormant, we have come a long way politically. Unionism has lost his its majority in the Assembly and Brexit has fueled a new dynamism in the desire for a united Ireland.
Any institutions that emerge from fresh negotiations in the future must reflect the north’s new political reality.
Posted by Jim on
5-5-5-5 LODD
Steven H. Pollard
Ladder Company 170
Family Request
And Wake Transportation Arrangements
The FDNY IMT and NYPD have requested that due to extremely limited parking in the area surrounding Marine Park Funeral Home, parking has been established at Aviator Sports & Events Center, located at 3159 Flatbush Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11234.
Shuttles will be provided to transport members to and from the funeral home, running continuously from 1800 until 2200 on Wednesday, January 9th and 1300 to 2200 on Thursday, January 10th.
The Pollard family has requested that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the UFA Thomas Elsasser Fund (https://www.ufanyc.org/funds/elsasser.php). More information about the Fund and donations can be found in the Donate section of the UFA website (www.ufanyc.org).