In Defense of Ethnic Discrimination

 

We’ve got all the wrong people in charge in this country.  Thankfully, I don’t live in Los Angeles, but if I did, I would not want a lesbian named Kristin Crowley in charge of the fire department. The LA Fire Department website boasts, “Chief Crowley took the oath of office on March 25, 2022 – becoming the first female and LGBTQ Fire Chief in the LAFD. Chief Crowley leads a diverse department.” That’s not gonna save my house or life in an emergency.

The Irish have run American fire departments for a century or more. I want a tough Irishman named Murphy in charge of the fire department. Someone who looks like he could drink all night with the boys and still haul you out of a flaming building the next day. Someone who might have engaged in a few fisticuffs in his day. Someone who would run toward the fire and not toward a TV camera.

Who should run the water department? Do you want Janisse Quinones in charge of the LA Department of Water and Power? She was born in Puerto Rico, after all, so she has three DEI credits – female, Hispanic, and Puerto Rican. Maybe four if she is a lesbian. She has a master’s degree in international relations! She was responsible for the disastrous reconstruction in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria. That should have been an automatic disqualifier. Maybe that’s why the 117-million-gallon Santa Ynez reservoir had been drained, which meant that the fire department in Pacific Palisades had to rely on three 1-million-gallon tanks to fight the worst wildfire in decades.

I’d rather have an engineer of Dutch descent running my water system. After all, the Dutch have been managing water for centuries. Maybe they have a little experience at it.

Let’s get the right people of the right ethnic background in the jobs.

Published in General, Humor
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  1. Tex929rr Coolidge
    Tex929rr
    @Tex929rr

    Firefighters should not be judged by their ethnicity but rather by their:

    • #1
  2. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    Steve Fast: Someone who would run toward the fire and not toward a TV camera.

    Amen and amen!

    • #2
  3. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    • #3
  4. Some Call Me ...Tim Coolidge
    Some Call Me ...Tim
    @SomeCallMeTim

    Tex929rr (View Comment):

    Firefighters should not be judged by their ethnicity but rather by their:

    Aren’t those a fire hazard?

    • #4
  5. Old Bathos Member
    Old Bathos
    @OldBathos

    The French Foreign Legion had fixed notions about ethnicity. Spaniards make the best scouts. In defense you want Germans but for a charge, it’s the Irish.

    In my neighborhood there are several Asian families deeply committed to preserving the stereotype about Asian drivers. An old buddie from Boston has a network of hard-drinking Irish friends right out of central casting.  

    The bizarre LAPD goal of having a fireman “that looks like me” when I am in need of rescue does not work for me. Why would I want some pudgy elderly guy arriving. I would prefer an array of guys who look more like NFL prospects than me and they do not need to be Nordics.

    • #5
  6. Steve Fast Member
    Steve Fast
    @SteveFast

    Some Call Me …Tim (View Comment):
    Flag

    I am in awe.

    • #6
  7. EDISONPARKS Member
    EDISONPARKS
    @user_54742

    I’m sure we would all be fine with these civic leaders just having some level of competency (hopefully a lot of it) with zero concern about DEI credentials … in fact, even if someone “checks a box” just shut up about it and do the job …. competently.

    • #7
  8. randallg Member
    randallg
    @randallg

    The Dutch have no experience with water that isn’t at sea level!
    Just kidding they are the world’s best hydrological engineers.

    • #8
  9. randallg Member
    randallg
    @randallg

    randallg (View Comment):

    The Dutch have no experience with water that isn’t at sea level!
    Just kidding they are the world’s best hydrological engineers.

    Reminds me of when I was in Amersfoort (near Utrecht) and walked along the canals around the old city.
    I *think* this is just decorative:

    • #9
  10. JoelB Member
    JoelB
    @JoelB

    My wife has been watching a  series ,”Deadliest Catch” about the fishermen in the Bering Sea. I noticed there are no women or trans-men among them.  I would be surprised if there are any lining up to be a greenhorn on the next boat out.

    • #10
  11. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

    There is no way in hell that gay men can control who they are attracted to. I don’t see why anybody’s making a great big public deal out of it though, either way. That’s the problem. The household they form with the blessing of the state is not a “marriage”. The state calling  it a “marriage” is stupid. 

    A lot of gay men are good at commerce. This is just a fact. 

    If you think you are a lesbian, fine, just don’t make a great big public deal out of it.

    The Los Angeles government is full of idiots.

    • #11
  12. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    Steve Fast: We’ve got all the wrong people in charge in this country.  Thankfully, I don’t live in Los Angeles, but if I did, I would not want a lesbian named Kristin Crowley in charge of the fire department. The LA Fire Department website boasts, “Chief Crowley took the oath of office on March 25, 2022 – becoming the first female and LGBTQ Fire Chief in the LAFD. Chief Crowley leads a diverse department.” That’s not gonna save my house or life in an emergency.

    Based on what I know of the lesbians I have worked with, there is nothing here that would make me wish Kristin Crowley was not in charge of my fire department or any other.  I’d probably want to know a little more about the kind of diversity she’s talking about and how it was achieved, but there is nothing in the above paragraph that is disqualifying.  And, yes, I’d by default think of it more as a job for a man and I might be biased in that direction (no HR department can hurt me for saying that now) but I’ve often enough been surprised by what the best people can do.   

    • #12
  13. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    randallg (View Comment):

    randallg (View Comment):

    The Dutch have no experience with water that isn’t at sea level!
    Just kidding they are the world’s best hydrological engineers.

    Reminds me of when I was in Amersfoort (near Utrecht) and walked along the canals around the old city.
    I *think* this is just decorative:

    Looks like the plumbing in our basement when we bought our old farmhouse 45 years ago. I had to do repairs after some pipes froze.   I took out the bad parts, took out some black pipe that should never have been used for plumbing, had some of the other galvanized pipe cut and threaded at the local hardware store, put it all back together, and had plenty of pipe lengths left over.   

    • #13
  14. Henry Castaigne Member
    Henry Castaigne
    @HenryCastaigne

    Where I was in China, the best restaurants were always owned by Sichuan people.

    • #14
  15. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    randallg (View Comment):

    randallg (View Comment):

    The Dutch have no experience with water that isn’t at sea level!
    Just kidding they are the world’s best hydrological engineers.

    Reminds me of when I was in Amersfoort (near Utrecht) and walked along the canals around the old city.
    I *think* this is just decorative:

     

    Which end do you blow into?

    • #15
  16. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    JoelB (View Comment):

    My wife has been watching a series ,”Deadliest Catch” about the fishermen in the Bering Sea. I noticed there are no women or trans-men among them. I would be surprised if there are any lining up to be a greenhorn on the next boat out.

     

    • #16
  17. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    The Reticulator (View Comment):

    Steve Fast: We’ve got all the wrong people in charge in this country. Thankfully, I don’t live in Los Angeles, but if I did, I would not want a lesbian named Kristin Crowley in charge of the fire department. The LA Fire Department website boasts, “Chief Crowley took the oath of office on March 25, 2022 – becoming the first female and LGBTQ Fire Chief in the LAFD. Chief Crowley leads a diverse department.” That’s not gonna save my house or life in an emergency.

    Based on what I know of the lesbians I have worked with, there is nothing here that would make me wish Kristin Crowley was not in charge of my fire department or any other. I’d probably want to know a little more about the kind of diversity she’s talking about and how it was achieved, but there is nothing in the above paragraph that is disqualifying. And, yes, I’d by default think of it more as a job for a man and I might be biased in that direction (no HR department can hurt me for saying that now) but I’ve often enough been surprised by what the best people can do.

    The thing is, a fire chief would be best to come up through the ranks.  And lesbian or not, the qualifications for women are intentionally lower than for men.

    • #17
  18. Tex929rr Coolidge
    Tex929rr
    @Tex929rr

    kedavis (View Comment):

    The thing is, a fire chief would be best to come up through the ranks. And lesbian or not, the qualifications for women are intentionally lower than for men.

    Remember that something like 80 percent of firefighter nationwide are volunteers.  So our qualifications are going to be different than a big city fire department.  In any specific area there is no difference, though.  All my female firefighters who are wildland qualified passed the same tests as the guys.  All my female engineers can do all the same tasks on the engine or water tender; likewise the EMT’s and paramedics.  I’ve been reading lots of complaining on line about the female chief in LA who said if she had to carry someone’s husband out of a fire that he put himself in that situation, as if it wasn’t her problem.  Now, she was completely unprofessional but I have some advice for some of you.  The odds of you being dragged out of a fire (as opposed to carried) are close to 100 percent.  The number of active firefighters who can literally pick up a large person while already wearing 80 pounds of gear is pretty small.  And picking someone up puts everyone in the smoke, which is very bad for multiple reasons.

    I did emergency management as an Air Force civil engineer 40 years ago, and I can say that operating a small fire department is an order of magnitude harder.  A generalist can’t do it; the technical knowledge necessary to make good decisions at an expanding fire scene is complex and far ranging.  Yes, a good chief needs to come up through the ranks but there is another whole skill set that you don’t get on the fire ground.  That LA chief probably spends 80 percent of her time worrying about stuff ancillarry to fighting fires and providing medical care.

    For all the bad stuff we have heard about the LA fires, the chief not knowing the details of the hydrant system is the most surprising.  I also suspect that she was failed by multiple subordinate layers beneath her.

    • #18
  19. Sisyphus Member
    Sisyphus
    @Sisyphus

    Tex929rr (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):

    The thing is, a fire chief would be best to come up through the ranks. And lesbian or not, the qualifications for women are intentionally lower than for men.

    Remember that something like 80 percent of firefighter nationwide are volunteers. So our qualifications are going to be different than a big city fire department. In any specific area there is no difference, though. All my female firefighters who are wildland qualified passed the same tests as the guys. All my female engineers can do all the same tasks on the engine or water tender; likewise the EMT’s and paramedics. I’ve been reading lots of complaining on line about the female chief in LA who said if she had to carry someone’s husband out of a fire that he put himself in that situation, as if it wasn’t her problem. Now, she was completely unprofessional but I have some advice for some of you. The odds of you being dragged out of a fire (as opposed to carried) are close to 100 percent. The number of active firefighters who can literally pick up a large person while already wearing 80 pounds of gear is pretty small. And picking someone up puts everyone in the smoke, which is very bad for multiple reasons.

    I did emergency management as an Air Force civil engineer 40 years ago, and I can say that operating a small fire department is an order of magnitude harder. A generalist can’t do it; the technical knowledge necessary to make good decisions at an expanding fire scene is complex and far ranging. Yes, a good chief needs to come up through the ranks but there is another whole skill set that you don’t get on the fire ground. That LA chief probably spends 80 percent of her time worrying about stuff ancillarry to fighting fires and providing medical care.

    For all the bad stuff we have heard about the LA fires, the chief not knowing the details of the hydrant system is the most surprising. I also suspect that she was failed by multiple subordinate layers beneath her.

    Thanks for the splash of reality.

    • #19
  20. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    Tex929rr (View Comment):
    I also suspect that she was failed by multiple subordinate layers beneath her.

    Who may very well have also been women.

    Remember, the two people immediately below the L.A. chief, are also lesbians.

    Meanwhile, it isn’t necessarily that women are specifically tested differently than men; one of the clever ways they avoid warnings of “quotas” etc is to lower the standards for EVERYONE, so that women can pass them too, not just men.  Which also means that previously-unfit/unsuitable men can also pass.

    There are other tricks too.  They can control a lot simply by managing who gets in the door.

     

    • #20
  21. Steve Fast Member
    Steve Fast
    @SteveFast

    The Reticulator (View Comment):

    Steve Fast: We’ve got all the wrong people in charge in this country. Thankfully, I don’t live in Los Angeles, but if I did, I would not want a lesbian named Kristin Crowley in charge of the fire department. The LA Fire Department website boasts, “Chief Crowley took the oath of office on March 25, 2022 – becoming the first female and LGBTQ Fire Chief in the LAFD. Chief Crowley leads a diverse department.” That’s not gonna save my house or life in an emergency.

    Based on what I know of the lesbians I have worked with, there is nothing here that would make me wish Kristin Crowley was not in charge of my fire department or any other. I’d probably want to know a little more about the kind of diversity she’s talking about and how it was achieved, but there is nothing in the above paragraph that is disqualifying. And, yes, I’d by default think of it more as a job for a man and I might be biased in that direction (no HR department can hurt me for saying that now) but I’ve often enough been surprised by what the best people can do.

    Just what I quoted is disqualifying. If your main goal as fire chief is to lead a diverse department, leading a competent department is by default in second place. That’s not the kind of fire chief I want protecting my house or my life.

    If you go to the web page I linked, it’s full of DEI crap. Nothing about making sure that 117 million-gallon fire water reservoirs are full, fire hydrants are not stolen for scrap, and replacing the firemen who were idiotically fired because they wouldn’t take the covid jab.

    You can’t have two goals that are top priority. When DEI is top priority, competence is not.

    • #21
  22. Steve Fast Member
    Steve Fast
    @SteveFast

    Tex929rr (View Comment):
    I also suspect that she was failed by multiple subordinate layers beneath her.

    She was failed by multiple subordinate layers beneath her because she promoted them based on their gender, skin color, or sexual perversion. Not based on competence. You can’t have it both ways.

    • #22
  23. Steve Fast Member
    Steve Fast
    @SteveFast

    RufusRJones (View Comment):
    There is no way in hell that gay men can control who they are attracted to.

    Somehow we’ve gotten this idea since the 1960s that human beings are just a bunch of rabbits who go around screwing whomever and whatever we please. If you like men, boys, prepubescent girls, married women, your boss’s daughter, whatever your preference is, just go for it. We do have self-control and need to exercise it.

    • #23
  24. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

    Steve Fast (View Comment):

    RufusRJones (View Comment):
    There is no way in hell that gay men can control who they are attracted to.

    Somehow we’ve gotten this idea since the 1960s that human beings are just a bunch of rabbits who go around screwing whomever and whatever we please. If you like men, boys, prepubescent girls, married women, your boss’s daughter, whatever your preference is, just go for it. We do have self-control and need to exercise it.

    You are reading way more into what I wrote than what I wrote. 

    Steve Fast (View Comment):
    boys, prepubescent girls

    I’m not an expert, but I don’t think they are doing ever did enough research on this. I am just baffled that they haven’t figured this out and figured out a solution. 

    • #24
  25. Steve Fast Member
    Steve Fast
    @SteveFast

    RufusRJones (View Comment):

    Steve Fast (View Comment):

    RufusRJones (View Comment):
    There is no way in hell that gay men can control who they are attracted to.

    Somehow we’ve gotten this idea since the 1960s that human beings are just a bunch of rabbits who go around screwing whomever and whatever we please. If you like men, boys, prepubescent girls, married women, your boss’s daughter, whatever your preference is, just go for it. We do have self-control and need to exercise it.

    You are reading way more into what I wrote than what I wrote.

    Steve Fast (View Comment):
    boys, prepubescent girls

    I’m not an expert, but I don’t think they are doing ever did enough research on this. I am just baffled that they haven’t figured this out and figured out a solution.

    Maybe I misunderstood what you were saying.

    • #25
  26. DaveSchmidt Coolidge
    DaveSchmidt
    @DaveSchmidt

    Some Call Me …Tim (View Comment):

    Tex929rr (View Comment):

    Firefighters should not be judged by their ethnicity but rather by their:

    Aren’t those a fire hazard?

    As long as the mustache doesn’t interfere with the SCBA, all is good.

    • #26
  27. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    Steve Fast (View Comment):
    Just what I quoted is disqualifying. If your main goal as fire chief is to lead a diverse department, leading a competent department is by default in second place. That’s not the kind of fire chief I want protecting my house or my life.

    What you quoted didn’t say that the main goal was to lead a diverse department.  I double checked to make sure. I was responding only to the part that you found worth quoting.  

    I hadn’t looked at the linked web site.  The last paragraph there does say that’s the main goal.  That is disqualifying whether or not she is a lesbian. 

    • #27
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