my husband is a first responder. so is my son. many people’s husbands, wives, sons, daughters, and family are first responders. this may mean they are a police officer, a firefighter, an ems technician, an ambulance driver, in the military, or even one of many, many support services that keep all these occupations [and many others] operating. whoever the first responder is, they put a lot on the line and there’s generally no argument about that. they have made commitments to put the safety and welfare of others ahead of themselves. they are, no doubt, the everyday hero’s of our world.
yet…. i never realized what exactly the families of some of these first responders go through.
i understand everyday what it is like to kiss a husband in law enforcement goodbye never knowing what the day will bring. however, this past fall, i understood what it was like to watch your military son leave to serve his country in iraq. and this past month, when hurricane ike hit houston, i understood the burden of responsibilities that fall upon the families of these first responders when they are away on extended shifts taking care of everyone else’s families.
for almost 3 weeks, my husband worked 12 hour plus shifts, often bunking at his station because there was no time to make the 45 minute turned 3 hour commute home and return back again on time [due to debris, flooding, and road closures]. i was left with a damaged house to clean up, kids to take care of, and a numerous host of things that in ordinary circumstances, would be difficult enough with him at home. we had no power and we were told the drinking water was not safe. we had to try to find food as we had been advised to stock up for only 72 hours. well, 72 hours turned into weeks. i have a daughter with diabetes who must have her insulin and whose insulin must be kept cold. i have rheumatoid arthritis but had to pick up, in some cases, whole trees, and move them to a safer place as designated by our community association. my children and i raked the yard for 3 days only to redo it all over again each morning thereafter as nightly winds scattered more debis across the neighborhood. we ate cold canned food, went to bed at sundown and got up at sunrise.
please don’t take this the wrong way, i am not complaining! i am thankful that we were not injured, the damage to our home and neighbors was not worse, and we all came out of it ok [which many, unbeknown as a result of the almost absent media coverage, did not] . complaining isn’t what this blog is about. i am simply relaying one story, my story, as an example of what millions of first responders families go though.
to break it down a little, let’s take just one institution of first response: hpd. the houston police department employees over 5,000 officers. that is 5,000 families who were without a family member during this [and many other] crises. multiply this by all the differing professions that first responders occupy, taking into account all of the crisis interventionists, per se, in all the world and you have a whole bunch of families that end up in need themselves. families that for the most part, never complain, never ask for special assistance, and in fact, forgo much help in order to allow their first responder to do his or her duty. and, might i add, this, in addition, to the fear such families often face regarding the fate of their responder during the crisis itself, is an issue that needs some attention.
i heard a really sad story during hurricane ike [and there were and continue to be many], but this one was about a first responder, a police officer and his family nonetheless. no, he wasn’t injured physically but you could say he was injured financially, socially, and i’m sure, motivationally. this police officer, who shall go unnamed, called his station to report that a huge tree had fallen though the roof of his house and that he needed to attend to it to ensure the safety of his family. his supervisor’s response was that he must “come in” or suffer the consequences. well… he chose to make sure that his family and kids were safe, their belongings protected from the elements, and that they had somewhere to sleep. as a result, he was suspended.suspended, i am sure, without pay and his record blemished for the rest of his career.
in the ‘duty to put others first”, do these families not count?
something is wrong here.
somewhere, somehow, we need to learn to take care of each other and in doing so, not forget the caretakers themselves.
although i am trying to keep this blog a bit lighter than some posts i have published in other places around the blogosphere, i feel both a need and a responsibility to share what i have discovered about the voting records relating to a possible one-world government and our two presidential candidates.
a bit of history… i have a very close friend who hails from a conservative christian background and leans so much to the right that i often joke with her that she might have scoliosis. i tend to be a bit more liberal, independent and open to alternative ways of thinking. so, when she was at my house last week we decided to do a bit of objective research on the voting records of mccain and obama regarding a few issues that have been linked to the possibility of a one-world government. i fully expected obama to have voted for the new national id [which will take the place of state id’s] and free trade with mexico and canada which some think will lead to a unification of the 3 [three] countries, similar to the UK. various theorists predict that we will end up with 4 [four] of these unions which will then combine to one, resulting in the one-world government.
now, on the issue of a one-world government i am going to stay neutral. in fact, this blog is meant to be informative, not persuavive to one candidate or the other. i must say, however; that historically most conservatives [including christians] have looked to the coming of a one-world government as a sign of the “end times” and have therefore pronounced it as bad and as a “work of the devil”. Others see the concept as a good thing where resources are combined and barriers eliminated resulting in a more peaceful and cooperative world.
so, like i said, we looked up the voting record of each candidate on several of these issues and i, for one, [and i think my friend as well] was surprised at which candidate appears to come down on the side of the one-world system.
voting records and other information [this is all over the net, i have just inserted one example from each position here]:
Senator John McCain’s Amendment 3807
Sen. John McCain’s amendment 3807 to the 9/11 Commission bill S 2845 was quietly passed late Friday afternoon by “unanimous consent” after much of the Senate had already left for the weekend. This despite a promised debate on the amendment.
Call Sen. Collins’ office and demand she open McCain’s amendment 3807 for further amendments. The US Senate switchboard number is 202-224-3121 . Collins’ number is (202) 224-2523. FAX is (202) 224-2693 .
The 9/11 police state bill S 2845 could pass as early as tonight. If not then, a final vote is expected tomorrow.
The version of 3807 passed is very similar to Title VI of the McCain Lieberman bill S 2774, with slight changes that may (or may not) hamper the ability of the Homeland Secretary to throw up checkpoints on highways. The process for standardizing state driver’s licenses into a de facto National ID card is still in place; with additional provisions for a rulemaking process.
evidently, mccain is not only a supporter of the national ID program, it is one of his bills. now onto NATO and opening the us/canda/mexico trade corridor….
May 19, 2008, 11:45 am
McCain Rails Against Farm Subsidies, Nafta Opponents
Elizabeth Holmes reports from Chicago on the presidential race.
Sen. John McCainis continuing to rail against subsidies and opponents of the North American Free Trade Agreement Monday during a speech to the National Restaurant Association in Chicago.
While visiting an agriculture-laden state, the unofficial Republican nominee plans to blast Congress for farm subsidies and pledge to strengthen trade agreements around the globe if elected president.
“The biggest obstacle” to opening American farmers up to global trade is “in the Congress of the United States, in the billions of dollars in subsidies served up every five years to corporate farmers,” McCain said in remarks prepared for delivery. He will accuse Congress of doling out money in the form of subsidies to some of the “biggest and richest agribusiness corporations in America.”
McCain said in the prepared remarks that the subsidies have far-reaching effects, including distorting the price of food globally. As a result, “we hurt the world’s poorest farmers in Africa and elsewhere,” McCain said. Along with exercising the presidential veto, McCain vowed to end all agricultural tariffs and farm subsidies “not based on clear need.”
McCain also took his attacks on Barack Obama to the Illinois senator’s doorstep. “Many Democratic voters in Illinois are especially proud of their junior senator,” McCain said. “I couldn’t agree more and I promise to do everything in my power to help him finish his first term in the United States Senate.”
On at least one occasion, he referred to Obama as his “opponent” rather than “opponents” – signaling a change in his rhetoric as Obama looks to lock up the Democratic nomination fight with Sen. Hillary Clinton.
“I am absolutely opposed to a nationalID card. This is a total contradiction of what a free society is all about. The purpose of government is to protect the secrecy and the privacy of all individuals, not the secrecy of government. We don’t need a nationalID card.”
and Obama on the free trade agreement (NAFTA, specifically the us/canada/mexico agreement)
Since Barack Obama joined the Senate in January 2005, he and Hillary Clinton have an identical voting record on significant trade-related issues. Both voted for free trade agreements with Bahrain and Oman, and both voted against CAFTA — the Central American Free Trade Agreement. Both voted to prohibit Mexican trucks from operating in the U.S. (as provided for in NAFTA). And on Dec. 4, 2007, both failed to vote at all on a free trade agreement with Peru.
ok, so you see my point. here we have a democratic nominee that appears to be for world peace, non-violent negotiations with other countries yet he has voted [at least in the past] against the national ID and CAFTA. on the other hand, we have a republican candidate that appears to be ready to use force to defend and separate the u.s from other countries and exercise his power to enforce his definition of democracy yet has voted for the national ID and CAFTA. seems kind of backwards, but is it?
it is definitely something to think about and perhaps research for yourself before you vote.
[with a z] ... 