THOUSAND POINTS OF RIGHT

DEPENDENT HEALTH COVERAGE UP-TO AGE 29... IT's THE LAW !

Former Active Firefighters waiting to hear, from our UNIONS or NYC, about the Health Care Bill signed by Gov. Paterson... Don't hold your breath ! Listen-up ! I called the City today and those affected by the bill will be able to include their dependents, up to 29 years of age, on their insurance... effective JULY 1, 2010. No word on the details, but this is IMPORTANT information and we had to find-out about it ourselves ! How shameful !

Since there are not many, if any, Active Firefighters with children over 19 or 23 (if attending college), then Former Active Firefighters can be assured that they will not hear a whisper about this bill's passage... from either the Unions OR The City !!! jg

UFA - RSBF - MEDICARE - SILVERSCRIPT

THOUSAND POINTS OF RIGHT

RSBF or Silverscript Medicare Part D Rx Plan ?

Brothers !,

Two letters were sent-out by the UFA, and it would have taken only another 1/2 page to explain why the RSBF is no longer CREDITABLE. Have the numbers been fudged ???

What happened in less than a year, especially since the RSBF has seen a marked improvement due to retirees absorbing DEDUCTIBLES & CO-PAYS, and having turned to the VA, asked for sample Rx's from their doctors, switched to generic Rx's, etc, etc... and this is OUR reward ??? Is the UFA using a scare tactic against the elderly, by stating that Medicare Eligible FDNY Retirees MUST send in a copy of their Medicare Card NOW... OR they will not have Rx coverage on January 1, 2010 ??? What kind of skulduggery is this ?? Why such a rush, when this COULD be accomplished next year, after Former Active Firefighters (FAF) have received the proper information, in a timely manner and without threats???

Is it possible that the Silverscript Medicare Part D Rx Plan is better than the RSBF... Maybe... but even if it is, will it be as good as the RSBF next year or years to come ??? Over $1,500 is given by the City, each year, to both Active (SBF) and Retiree Funds (RSBF). Additionally, the UFA receives Medicare Incentive Moneys for all Medicare Eligible Retirees. That reimbursement money is then placed into the RSBF for ALL Former Active Firefighters. Therefore, it is clear that each Medicare Eligible Retiree has well over $2,000 placed in the RSBF, each year, by the City & Fed. Will the Fed continue to pay incentive moneys? In which of the 3 Silverscript Plans will Retirees be placed and what will be the cost ? Have they somehow manipulated these moneys in order to make a Creditable Plan... Non-Creditable?? The UFA has conspicuously avoided these queries and any input whatsoever from the URFA.

Whenever the unions foist something on Former Active Firefighters... YOU can be sure it is good for the UNION ! Period !
Whenever the union can splinter Former Active Firefighters... they will ! For the union's sake!
Whenever the union can foresee that Former Active Firefighters moneys can be manipulated into Active Raises, will they try? It could ensure votes!

If the UFA is not willing to share this simple info about OUR formerly CREDITABLE fund, then I'm still calling for an INJUNCTION by the URFA Health Benefit Protection and Enhancement Committee and/or an IMMEDIATE meeting with the UFA for an explanation... that's the least WE DESERVE !

Has every FAF contributed to the Health Protection & Enhancement Committee of the URFA, or will the few always have to Protect the Many ??? The Keystone-FDNY-FAF proudly has a 100% contribution rate! Keystone members sent their contributions to The URFA (United Retired Firefighters Association) - 40 Holden Blvd., Staten Island, NY 10314. Keystone firmly believes that representation in the URFA and protection of FAF benefits is essential now more than ever before.

In Friendship & Brotherhood,
Stay well !

John Gilleeny, Pres.
Keystone-FDNY-FAF

NOTE:

CREDITABLE: Prescription drug coverage is creditable if the actuarial value of the coverage equals or exceeds the actuarial value of standard prescription drug coverage under Medicare Part D, as demonstrated through the use of generally accepted actuarial principles and in accordance with Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) actuarial guidelines. In general, the actuarial equivalence test measures whether the expected amount of paid claims under the employer's prescription drug coverage is at least as much as the expected amount of paid claims under the standard Part D benefit.

SILVERSCRIPT: There are 3 different Plans... which one is it ??? Why do we have to wait weeks for a simple explanation especially when Retiree Leaders could have been able to LOOK-IT-UP ON-LINE... Why didn't UFA simply provided FAF with the LINK, in their 2 letters, instead of having to wait a few weeks for a booklet ? Evidently, they did not want to give FAF the time to RESEARCH this.

REMARKS: I have already received an email from a Former Active Firefighter - Officer:

John,

In January 2009, the ufoa put my spouse and myself into Medicare Part D involuntarily.
Had no inkling of this fact until my spouse was refused a prescription by scripts.
I had all to do to undo this fiasco.
As a result, we had to drop out of the ufoa plan. Fortunately, we have other more extensive drug coverage than is offered by the ufoa (city).
I know a few other ufoa members who experienced the same problem with the ufoa managed drug plan.

(Name omitted to protect the innocent)

9/11 RESCUE WORKERS

9/11 Rescue Workers Twice as Likely to Have Asthma
(Click Here for Entire Article)

Up to 8% of Ground Zero responders, restoration workers and clean-up crew members have reported post-9/11 asthma, whereas only 4% of the population-at-large has the lung ailment. What's more, about 3% of first responders said they had asthma before 9/11, but up to 16% were diagnosed from 2005 to 2007. The research is based on the federally-funded World Trade Center Medical Monitoring and Treatment Program, which monitors 20,843 workers.

COAAP-UFA-UFOA-NYC

THOUSAND POINTS OF RIGHT

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

The Thousand Points of Right will add the words which were conspicuously omitted from this picture!

The photo appeared in the last “Firelines”, issue #2 of 2009 (rec’d 9/09), and it depicts three firefighters donating $69,000 to the honorable UFA - Elsasser Fund. They are pictured with representatives of the UFA and UFOA. This Unholy Alliance was not explained in the caption below the photo, so if the UFA and COAPP are ashamed to clarify this despicable association, then someone should finally explain how two groups of gutter dwellers, melded into a cadre of jealous thieves, viscous Anti-LOD hypocrites and solely pro-active firefighters (for votes).

The COAPP-VSF group’s SOLE reason for existence was/is to ensure the exclusion of Disability Retirees from obtaining rightful pension monies. These union pawns actually donated moneys to stop others from obtaining the VSF benefit and they have the cojones to continue to parade around like they have accomplished something good. What they have accomplished is to scar the meaning of Brotherhood, in retirement, forever.

To think that some Service Retirees can continue to take pictures with the UFA & UFOA and make philanthropic donations to a charity, with tainted moneys, is deplorable! If it isn’t deplorable, then COAPP and the Unions should share the names of those Service Retirees who contributed to COAPP and send that list out to ALL Firehouses and ALL retirees? C’mon, we’d all like to know the names of these honorable retirees, who donate their pension monies to worthy charities! After all, COAAP Members are a history making group, as they are the first and only group of FDNY firefighters to take a legal action against their own brothers (BMA).

When did this unholy alliance begin? Well, quite simply, after years of battling for legislation (VSF Inquiry Bill), LODD and NLOD retirees were finally given but ONE CHOICE… take steps in court, in order to obtain a so called pension benefit (VSF), which was rightfully theirs. Why was it necessary to go to court? C’mon, we all know that the City, UFA and UFOA finally had to go public and oppose the Inquiry Bill. Why? The bill had the support of too many legislators interested in finding out if they had actually altered a CBA, back in 1970 - 72. The Inquiry bill had passed unanimously in the Assembly in two legislative years but was tied-up in committee in the Senate. Tied-up? lol ! The legislators told the unions… hey, take a stand on this issue… or we’re going to be forced into voting for the Inquiry!

So, while the UFA told firefighters, in the Firelines, that their attorneys advised them to remain neutral and not take sides over a retiree issue, the UFA issued (clandestinely) a “Letter of Opposition” (to the VSF Inquiry Bill) to all N.Y. State legislators. It wasn’t until 3 weeks after the letter was distributed, that disability retirees got a hold of a copy. Retirees then called-for and had a meeting with the UFA to discuss the VSF and Inquiry Bill. The UFA was unaware that those disability members, in attendance, had a copy of their “Letter of Opposition”. Still, the UFA lied to their faces, at the meeting, until they were presented with their own letter. They (UFA) left the board-room and came back 15 minutes later and shamefully Confessed that the UFA Board had changed its mind and were now opposing the Inquiry Bill. What a joke! Disability retirees had been led down a path wrought with lies and deception. Not much different than the lies and deception foisted on Service Retirees, who were told that their VSF benefit MIGHT be diminished if Disability Retirees were not kept excluded. What a despicable tactic… and, of course, Service retirees fell for it… hook-line and sinker. COAPP obtained their 30 pieces of silver and the unions had moneys that could be made available to them through contract negotiations, and the City (their Silent Partner) would be able to keep all the excess VSF (Defined Benefit) moneys… so far, more than $6 BILLION !

Who would be against an INQUIRY ? (City-Unions-COAAP) And for what reason? Money is always the reason, but It was never about if there was enough moneys for ALL retirees. There was plenty! It was all about who could clip some of those pension moneys for their own use. The City had grandiose dreams and the unions knew they could get a piece of the action for their active members (votes), if they let the City abscond with retirees’ pension moneys. As for COAAP members; they were just an envious flock of fools. What a trio! The City, Unions and COAAP Service Retirees… all on the same team! Wow !

The following is taken from COAPP’s letter to Service Retirees; “THIS IS A VERY, VERY SERIOUS SITUATION!! THEY ARE OUT TO GET YOUR MONEY BY ANY MEANS POSSIBLE!! They have nothing to lose and everything to gain. We on the other hand have the V.S.F. to lose, which would be CATASTROPHIC!!.” “If anyone, active or retired tells you they do not have an opinion on this matter, or say they are neutral, then, they are either a disability retiree, are scheming to become a disability retiree or a contract is in.” by... BC Carlo (I'm not a Crook) Andersen, Dan De Rosso, John Delaney, Charles O'Donnell, Jim McHugh, Sal Lomonaco, Bill Senk, Joe Morrison, Stan Nielson, Bill Connolly, Robert Koeth, Tony Loguercio, Frank Fleming, Bill Raymond, Joe Palumbo, Frank Perry, Vinnie Slizewski, Tim Harrigan, et al ! Will the others please stand-up and take a bow ! How outrageous! How shameful ! On the brighter side, most Service Retirees welcomed an inquiry, in order to put the issue to rest.

Remember, the VSF Inquiry was not an ad-on bill, it was simply an Inquiry! No amount of rhetoric or innuendo can change that fact! It did not have the power to expand the VSF nor could it award any moneys to anyone. It was empowered solely with the duty to review the original CBA and legislative history and decide who the eligible beneficiaries of the Fund were. Period! If the Inquiry concluded that the contract, and legislative history, specifically stipulated that the VSF benefit was for Service Retirees only, that would have ended the Inquiry. But NO, the unions forced Fire Disability Retirees into court and the courts continually fell-back on the Police VSF action, which concluded that their CBA was silent as to who the beneficiaries of the fund {VSF} were, and it was the legislation that made the exclusion. Fire Disability Retirees have been forever trapped by a perfect Catch-22, while the City, Unions and COAAP continue to oppose any form of inquiry. So, as many times as this issue has been brought to the courts and for the many avenues that were approached in order to get into court… drum roll, please… LOD and NLOD retirees have never been able to present evidence or have Discovery. Never!

COAPP Service Retirees should have retired, enjoyed their pension, family and friends, but no, they were too obsessed with unwarranted jealousy, and evidently enjoyed some vicarious thrill of being herded around like sheep by the unions. Well, their job is done and if COAAP has finally unloaded its War Chest, they can only take this to the bank… The unions and city are finished with you now, so don’t call them… they’ll call you. Oh… and keep the 30 pieces of silver! Trick or Treat !!!??? jg

9/11 FAMILY MEMBERS OUTRAGED

9/11 Family Members Outraged at Exclusion of Ranks at 9/11 Memorial Museum
(Click Here - Your Help is Desperately Needed - Please Write and Call the List of Representatives)

... the most critically time-sensitive issue discussed is how the names of the victims will be listed on the 9/11 Memorial. We again stated our position that the ranks of first responders and military personnel must be listed preceding their names. Additionally, we reiterated our request that the age of each victim be listed, and for non-uniformed victims, the company and the floor where they worked. Unfortunately, our request for this deserved recognition was again denied.

FORMER ACTIVE FIREFIGHTERS - WAKE UP !

Retired Public Employees Association
(Click Here for Entire Article)

... A closer comparison might be the New York City systems. If you remember, two of the problems we needed to overcome on our way to COLA were the aforementioned NYCOM and the under-funded NYC systems. NYC opposed the COLA because of the additional amount they would have to contribute to their systems to pay for COLA whereas our Retirement System and the State Teachers Retirement System already had adequate funds in their possession. The reason the NYC systems were short is that they are run by a Board of Trustees that include city represen­tatives and employee representatives. These representatives acted to short-change the funding of the City Retirement Systems in exchange for raises for current employees that the city otherwise could not afford. ... (RPEA)

THOUSAND POINTS OF RIGHT

Former Active Firefighters who received the recent (Sept. 2009) COLA adjustment of 1% (on $18,500) can now thank the UNIONS for opposing an increase to this shameful adjustment, for the past 8 years. As for the original COLA 2000, you can re-assure yourselves that the City was not the only one to oppose it ! As a matter of fact, the UNIONS fought to have the original proposed COLA 2000 reduced to its current level... and then they took the usual photo-ops... as if they had supported it. jg

PATERSON SIGNS HEALTH BILL

GOVERNOR PATERSON SIGNS LEGISLATION TO MAKE HEALTH INSURANCE MORE AFFORDABLE AND IMPROVE ACCESS TO HEALTH CARE
(Click Here for Entire Article)

Insure Dependents through Age 29:

This law, outlined by the Governor in his State of the State address, requires insurers to allow unmarried children through age 29 regardless of financial dependence to be covered under a parents group health insurance policy. Young adults ages 19 to 29 represent 31 percent of uninsured New Yorkers. They often become ineligible for coverage under their parents policies at age 19 or upon high school or college graduation, find themselves in entry-level jobs that do not provide employer-based health insurance, and cannot afford to pay premiums for individual insurance policies which are much more expensive than group policies. Under the new law, premiums will be paid for by families, not employers, and would cost less because coverage is under group policies rather than individual policies. The law also requires insurers to offer employers an option to purchase coverage that includes young adults as dependents in family policies through age 29.

THOUSAND POINTS OF RIGHT

NOT A WHISPER

Former Active Firefighters are waiting for some information about the passage of the aforementioned bill signed by Gov. Paterson. Does it affect NYC employees and retirees??? The change-over period is right now and this would be the time to make any changes in health plan coverage. If it is for ALL NY State and City employees and retirees, what is the cost ??? Would it be similar to the widow's coverage, which is 100% of the City's cost plus a 2% administration fee??? Since there are not many, if any, Active Firefighters with children over 19 or 23 (if attending college), then Former Active Firefighters can be assured that they will not hear a whisper about this bill's passage... from either the Unions OR The City !!! jg

9-11 COURT FILINGS EXTENDED

NY Opens Window for State Court Filings of 9-11 Injury Lawsuits
(Click Here for Entire Article)

People who were injured by exposure to asbestos and other toxic materials during rescue and clean-up efforts following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on New York City, but failed to meet lawsuit filing deadlines, have been given a new chance to seek compensation for their injuries.

Gov. David A. Paterson recently signed into law a bill that opens a one-year window in state courts for the filing of cases which would otherwise be barred by statutes of limitation.

IS VULCAN ATTORNEY BLACK ?

Mayor Bloomberg Never Thought FDNY Exams Were 'Biased'
(Click Here for Entire Article)

Richard Levy, the attorney for the Vulcan Society, a fraternal organization of black firefighters, noted that the fire commissioner and chief of department were white.

"Appears to be," Bloomberg replied. "I have never asked his {their} ethnicity."

9-11 TOLL STILL CLIMBING

Toll Still Climbing for Heroes
(Click Here for Entire Article)

More than 800 World Trade Center rescue and recovery workers have died since 9/11 -- and cancer has killed at least 270 of those heroes, new data show.

The figures also show that 33 WTC responders committed suicide.

State researchers have tallied 817 deaths of workers and volunteers who toiled at toxic Ground Zero or the Fresh Kills landfill, where rubble was sifted.

Thousand Points of Right

KEYSTONE: WAY AHEAD OF IT'S TIME !
(Click Here)

SHARITA SUES FDNY

Widow Sues FDNY, Claims Racist Training Killed Husband
(Click Here for Entire Article)

The widow of a probationary firefighter who died last November during training says racism killed her husband, and she's suing the New York City Fire Department for $10 million.

According to Ken Thompson, lawyer for Sharita Sears, her husband, Jamal Sears, died because new FDNY training policies called for more strenuous physical training than in the past, claiming that the new rules were specifically put in place to weed out minority trainees. His wife Sharita is a New York City police officer.

CBA & HEALTH INSURANCE

State Senator Defends Appointment as Chair of Pensions Committee
(Click Here for Entire Article)

While some critics have said opposition to a proposed fiscally friendly Tier 5 pension ranking is obstructionist, State Sen.Savino said changes in retirement and compensation packages for New Employees must be done through Collective Bargaining (Agreement), and by law are not a matter for the state Legislature.

"The New York state constitution prevents us from diminishing benefits," said Ms. Savino. "It is not appropriate for the Legislature to insert itself into the Collective Bargaining process."

Gov. David Paterson contends that, along with salary adjustments like workers making bigger contributions to their health insurance, such modifications could save the state millions in the coming years.

But Ms. Savino took issue with the cost-savings analysis, saying, "We will see no immediate change." "To expect the Legislature to do something that is essentially an end-run around collective bargaining cannot happen," said Ms. Savino.

MONEY & GREED ? GUILTY ?

Prosecution Pins Fire on 'Money and Greed' in Black Sunday Trial

(Click Here for Entire Article)

A prosecutor in the Black Sunday fire trial Monday accused two Bronx tenants of causing the deaths of two firefighters by chopping up their apartments to make a few extra bucks.

Summing up the case, the prosecutor branded the tenants as greedy and negligent for turning their flats into a warren of rented rooms that trapped the doomed FDNY heroes.

"Caridad Coste and Rafael Castillo were motivated by money and greed," Assistant District Attorney Jeffrey Glucksman said. "The firefighters were motivated by devotion to duty."

Coste's lawyer said the firefighters should have left when they started running out of air and would never have been in danger if broken fire hydrants had been working.

"The City of New York and the Fire Department should be sitting here," Knipping said, "not these poor defendants who have nothing to do with the fire."

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Thousand Points of Right

Another question, which begs to be answered, is why Bloomy insists on a policy of “Don’t Ask-Don’t Tell”, when it comes to Illegal Aliens residing and working in New York City ? This policy may entice thoughtless NYC residents to “chop-up” their apartments, so their Illegal relatives and friends can reside in those so aptly named… “Warren of Rented Rooms.” Is it possible that Bloomy’s policy is all about "Money and Greed", with an unwitting consequence of sacrificing Firefighters’ safety and lives?

Additionally, more than a million Illegal Aliens wreak havoc on the City and State’s Health Care costs. Let’s eradicate that cost to the City before we dare ask our Hero Firefighters and Police to pay a red cent for Health Coverage or question the dangers of their job. Period. jg

BLOOMY'S BUDGET PLAN

Mayor Mike Bloomberg Lays Out Plan for New York City Budget

(Click Here for Entire Article)

As health care costs have exploded, as the range of health care services offered to employees has expanded, and as we have made public sector salaries more competitive with the private sector , city government can no longer afford to foot the entire bill.

We will honor pension obligations to all current workers and retirees. But for future hires, it is time to begin bringing the system in line with reality. Our proposal, which Gov. Paterson included in his executive budget, would require employees to make contributions to their retirement fund throughout their careers, which we would set at age 50 for uniformed workers.

Over the past two years, we've cut $2 billion from planned spending. This year we'll cut another $1 billion.

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RETIREE ALLOCATED FUND BAILS-OUT NYC !

Thousand Points of Right

What about the $1.1 Billion Bloomy scoffed from the "Lock Box" for "Retiree's Future Health Care Costs"?? That money was used to balance "The City's" 2009 budget ! Hmmm, Where's the Headline... "Retiree Allocated Fund Bails-Out NYC" ? There's $1.4 Billion left in that fund. Will Bloomy confiscate the rest for the 2010 budget? The City is also in line to receive $3 to $4 Billion from the Stimulus package but Bloomy ain't sayin' nothin' 'bout that ! jg

LITTLE-KNOWN VETERANS' BENEFIT

Little-Known Benefit Aids Veterans of Wars
(Click Here for Entire Article)

A little-known veterans’ benefit for long-term care expenses is available to wartime veterans and their spouses. But the benefit is being overlooked by thousands of families, industry observers say.

The Special Pension for Veterans’ Aid and Attendance pays up to $1,644 a month, $19,736 annually, toward assisted living, nursing homes or in-home care for veterans 65 and older who served at least 90 days and one day during wartime — stateside or overseas. Veterans and their spouses can receive up to $23,396 annually and spouses of deceased veterans, $12,681.

RAGING PENSION FIRE

Raging Pension Fire
(Click Here for Entire NY Post Article)

More than 70 percent of firefighters who retired in the past five years did so on disabilities - hiking the cost of taxpayer-funded FDNY pensions to nearly $1 billion a year, a Post analysis shows.

"We are not embarrassed by this," said Jack McDonnell, president of the Uniformed Fire Officers Association. Danger, injury and illness go along with the job, he said.

Pensions are funded with firefighter contributions of about 2 to 5 percent, the city contributions, and earnings from investments.

If a pension fund earns less than 8 percent a year, the city must make up the difference with more cash. City Comptroller Bill Thompson revealed Friday the city's five pension funds plunged a total 20% in the last six months of 2008 - from $101.9 billion to $82.5 billion. Taxpayers will be forced to plug the gap for years to come.

9/11 FAMILIES PLEASED AFTER OBAMA VISIT

9/11, Cole Victims' Families Pleased After Visit With President Obama Over Gitmo
(Click Here for Entire Article)

Kleinberg and Van Auken were half of the outspoken team of New Jersey widows known as the "Jersey Girls," who pressed Congress to create the 9/11 Commission. "This gave us hope we can one day trust our government again," they said. . "His goal is swift justice," they stated.

Most of the terrorists at Gitmo's Camp Delta will land in prisons inside the U.S. and be tried in civilian courts, the President said. Obama explained that the military trials were "flawed" and Gitmo has "tarnished America's image."

Most at Friday's meeting never got an audience with ex-President Bush. "We didn't have that opportunity with President Bush." "I feel okay - I'm gonna give him a chance," said retired FDNY Deputy Chief Jim Riches, who has been wary of Gitmo closing.

The Cole attack was "swept under the rug ... and it created a big monster," said Mona Gunn. "Bush tried to sweep 9/11 under the rug, too," she said.

N.Y. A BIG WINNER ?

N.Y. Could Emerge a Big Winner from Stimulus Bill
(Click Here for Entire Article)

Although nothing is finalized, Sen. Schumer said, the stimulus bill is expected to funnel some $13 billion to the cash-strapped Empire State, with roughly half of that going to New York City.

Items under consideration include more cops and teachers, a gleaming new subway hub downtown, 20 new city schools, upgrades of 30 community health clinics and billions in additional infrastructure projects.

GROUND ZERO LINK TO LUNG AILMENTS

Study Shows Ground Zero Link to Lung Ailments
(Click Here for Entire Article)

Many Sept. 11 first responders - most of them cops, firemen and construction workers who took ill after working at Ground Zero - suffered lung problems more than five years later, according to a new study.

Experts say findings by Mount Sinai Medical Center's medical monitoring program prove those exposed to toxic dust in the twin towers' collapse suffer persistent illnesses, ranging from asthma to reactive airway disease and shortness of breath. The most reasonable explanation is that there's a subset of people who, for whatever reason, were more sensitive to the stuff that was inhaled.

The study could help experts who have long been struggling to set standards for defining a post-Sept. 11 illness and how long it takes to develop.

"LOOK FOR THE UNION LIABLE"

Gilt-Edged Pensions
(Click Here for Entire Article)

NYC socked away $20,000 per employee last year for pension benefits. Since 2000 its pension funding bill has risen ninefold, from $615 million to $5.6 billion in 2008.

Despite its huge contributions, New York City's five pension plans had only 74% of what actuaries said a year ago they need to pay future benefits. The recent financial meltdown lopped another 30% off the funds' value. If markets fail to roar back, taxpayers will have to save the day. After all, public pension benefits are enshrined in law. Don't you wish your 401(k) was?

The recent market meltdown erased $1 trillion from municipal pension funds. That has left the average public plan 35% underfunded. With benefits inexorably rising, the shortfall will balloon to 41% by 2013 if stocks and bonds stay at current levels, representing an unfunded liability of roughly $1.7 trillion.

That's a lot less than Social Security's $11 trillion unfunded liability. But the feds have lots of wiggle room to lessen their burden by, say, raising the age at which you become eligible to draw benefits. Most public employees' benefits, by contrast, are set in stone.

Cops and firemen initially were granted early retirement because their work was physically demanding and they tended to die young. These days they live as long as everyone else, but early retirement lives on for an ever expanding pool of public workers. So do liberal disability rules.

The medical reality, says the American Heart Association, is that a fireman gets heart disease from diet, lack of exercise or genes, not from dashing into burning buildings.

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THOUSAND POINTS OF RIGHT

Fire Unions had 8 long years to take advantage of their cozy relationship with Bloomy and Protect Firefighters' Futures, but they refused to listen to Former Active Firefighters, who knew what was really necessary for the future of Active Members and their families... COLA ENHANCEMENT ! Period ! jg

BLOOMY, UNION BUSTER

Bloomberg Budget Plan Calls for Benefits Cuts
(Click Here for Entire Article)

Ever since he stormed to re-election in 2005 with surprising union support, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has enjoyed unusually warm relations with organized labor, negotiating contracts that critics have called overly generous.

On Friday, though, Mr. Bloomberg began to push in the other direction, if gently, declaring in his budget address that if the city’s pension and health benefits systems were not reformed, “we’ll fundamentally bankrupt big municipalities like us.” Mr. Bloomberg proposed that city employees begin paying 10 percent of their health care premiums.

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The mayor's budget counts on city workers paying 10% toward the cost of their health benefits, raising $350 million, as well as $200 million more from reining in health costs. (NY Daily News 1-30-09)

MAYOR'S FDNY BUDGET CUTS

M E M O R A N D U M

Today the Mayor unveiled his preliminary budget for FY2010 designed to deal with the fall out from the fiscal crisis that now grips the country in a recession.

The news for the Fire Department is not good:

• 4 fire company night closings will become full time closings effective 7-1-09.

• 7 additional fire companies will be disbanded effective 7-1-09.

• 5 additional fire companies will be disbanded effective 1-1-10.

• 30 BLS ambulance tours and 9 supervisory lines in conditions cars will be eliminated effective 7-1-09.

• 27 Fire Marshal lines and 5 Supervising Fire Marshal lines will be eliminated based on attrition.

• 32 EMS administrative lines in units through out the Department will be eliminated, which will require those members on full duty in the designated units to return to ambulance duty and those members with Reasonable Accommodations to seek other accommodations if available, otherwise they will need to retire.

• All civilian vacancies that have not been approved by OMB have now been eliminated.

• There is a complete freeze on all new civilian attrition that occurs until June 30, 2010. This does not include Fire Prevention, Dispatchers, Grant funded positions, Deutsche Bank Task Force positions or ECTP related lines. The Bureau of Personnel Resources will be issuing new civilian guidelines to address critical vacancies.

• Security Services for Randall’s Island, Fort Totten and Maspeth will be discontinued by March 1, 2009.

BARACK BASHES BONUSES

Be Careful What You Wish For
(Click Here for Entire Article)

While President Barack Hussein Obama (D) huffed and puffed about unseemly Wall Street bonuses given to financial executives of institutions receiving federal bailout funds as "shameful" and "the height of irresponsibility," New York City and New York State government officials had a different point of view. Lack of Wall Street bonuses will hit both the city and the state very hard in lost income tax revenues, increasing by gallons their flow of red ink.

New York state will lose a whopping $1 billion in tax revenues this year because cash bonuses to Wall Street employees plummeted 44 percent in 2008, according to a bombshell new report. In an analysis released this morning by State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, he estimates that the securities industry paid its New York City employees $18.4 billion in bonuses last year compared to $33 billion in 2007 -- a drop in bonuses that will also cost the city $275 million.

FROM HERE TO FRATERNITY

From Here to Retirement
(Click Here for Entire Article)

If you have a 401(k) retirement plan at work, you don’t need us to tell you that you’ve taken a hit in the past year. The really bad news is that the damage to your retirement security is likely worse than what the numbers say on your statement.

People close to retirement don’t have time for a do-over. Even for those still far from retirement, there’s no telling how stocks will perform in the future.

The last 25 years was a time of low inflation rates and low interest rates, which boosted stock prices. Going forward, inflation and interest rates have nowhere to go but up, which would be bad for stocks.

So far, the cumulative wipe-out of household retirement savings totals about $2 trillion, and no one believes that the downturn is anywhere near over. As a result, participants in 401(k)’s are in greater danger than ever of coming up short in retirement.

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Thousand Points of Right

Since when, do Former Active Firefighters (FAF) have to protect Active Firefighters’ futures? It's called "Brotherhood"... It's Fraternal ! Maybe it's time for Active Firefighters to see through the ‘smoke screen’ provided, during the past 8 years of Union "Fiduciary Irresponsibility"!

(Pay no attention to those ‘Retirees’, hiding behind their graying hair. They're only dreaming of the past, when Unions protected retiree benefits and retirees' futures.) hmmm?

Well, thank goodness for those graying FAF who were part of the movement in 2000, which engineered the ONLY protection and GUARANTEE against the ravages of inflation and stock market collapses. A COLA… “C…O…L…A”… COLA.

Sadly, FAF have been pounding on the “Union’s Doors” for 7-8 years, informing the “Brain Trust” that they must support a COLA enhancement but, alas, retirees were always met by the same old “Elected Faces”. It’s “High Noon” and the time has passed for any possibile COLA enhancement. Support from the Unions, now, is USELESS, and they know it ! The Active Firefighter should “Rethink” what’s best for their financial future and run those, who have stubbornly opposed COLA enhancements,… “out of town”. jg

GITMO' THAN YA WISH FO'

9-11 Families Upset Over Obama Gitmo Decision

(Click Here for Entire Article)

Three families of firefighters killed at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, want to meet with President Barack Obama to urge him to reverse his decision to suspend the trial of five detainees in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, who admit roles in the terror attacks.

In a meeting with reporters at their attorney's office on Sunday, the families deplored what they called "delays and confusion'' in the former Bush administration's effort to prosecute suspects in the 2001 attacks, which killed about 3,000 people, saying they want "a firm commitment'' that the same process won't continue under Obama.

NYC IN LINE FOR $3.4 B BOOST

New York in Line for $3.4B Boost Under Obama Stimulus Package
(Click Here for Entire Article)

According to Sen. Chuck Schumer, the funds - part of the $10 billion to $15 billion in federal stimulus money the state is expected to receive - should help the city offset its budget deficit and aid shortfalls in education funding. The package includes about $1.8 billion in budget aid for New York and $1.6 billion for education.

JOE HINES & THE CSU

Blind Firefighter Elected to LaGrange Board of Fire Commissioners
(Click Here for a Wonderful Story)

He's lived in the Dutchess County area for his whole life, and has worked as a New York City fireman for much of his career. Joe Hines has been blind since 1967.

It wasn't until the tragedy of September 11 that Hines returned to the city as a fireman. "Like every other ex-fireman, I went down to the city that night," he said. It was about 11 p.m. by the time he got to ground zero. "I met a chief. I told him who I was and I asked him if I could be of any assistance." He went with a triage doing emotional assistance work and was swept into the intensity for days.

"You had an unprecedented situation," said Hines, 343 firemen were killed on 9/11, and "thousands were scarred emotionally. The ripple effect upon their families was unbelievable."

Hines is now a field supervisor for New York's Counseling Services Unit (CSU), which was formalized in the 1960s. On 9/11, the CSU had fewer than ten employees. CSU services are available to New York City firemen, their families, and extended families. They've seen over 20,000 firefighters and family members since 9/11.

"The impact of 9/11 is still there. It will always be there," said Hines. "These guys are going to carry that until their lives are ended."

A "NEW" UNION LEGACY ?

Robert Reich: Keep Stimulus Money Away from Skilled Workers and “White Male Construction Workers”
(By Michelle Malkin - January 22, 2009 - Click Here)

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President Obama, Joe Biden(ouch) & his economic advisor(?) Robert Reich have been foisted upon Patriotic Americans(that's "Right") by the so called DEMOCRAT UNIONS, who suppoted this entire Obamanation. The saddest part has yet to come, as President Obama will soon nominate 2-3 jurists for the U.S. Supreme Court. The short-sighted UNIONS will then be able to take credit for removing any and all references to God in our country, murder all the unborn they want and leave a legacy for their children and grandchildren to endure. Unfortunately, the UNIONS will have left their legacy for your families, too ! Dear God, (I pray in silence, so as not to get caught) please tell me this was not what the UNIONS really wanted. AMEN(oops) jg

COMPUTER WORM

Worm Infects Millions of Computers Worldwide
(Click Here for Entire Article)

Worms like Conficker or Downadup not only ricochet around the Internet at lightning speed, they harness infected computers into unified systems called botnets, which can then accept programming instructions from their clandestine masters. “If you’re looking for a digital Pearl Harbor, we now have the Japanese ships steaming toward us on the horizon,” said Rick Wesson, chief executive of Support Intelligence.

PEABODY DANCES AROUND 9/11

Peabody, MA Council OKs Cops' 9/11 Pay
(Click Here)

Officers will be paid time-and-a-quarter on the anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks in New York City.

The police & fire union raises will be partly offset by unions agreeing to pay 15 percent of their health insurance premiums, up from 10 percent, and contributing more for doctor's office visits, emergency room visits and prescription drugs. The police union will also have to submit to random, hair follicle drug testing.

WTC TOLL - 2,752 (FDNY-343??)

NYC Adds Man's Cancer Death to 9/11 Victims' Toll
(Click Here for Entire Article)

A man who died of lymphoma and lung disease more than seven years after he was exposed to toxic dust from the World Trade Center collapse was added to the Sept. 11 death toll. Chief medical examiner Charles Hirsch listed the death as a homicide. Hirsch cited research that showed a link between sarcoidosis and ground zero dust exposure.

In 2007, however, Hirsch reversed a New Jersey medical examiner's decision that a retired city police detective's death was caused by exposure to toxic dust. Hirsch ruled that James Zadroga's improper use of prescription drugs exacerbated his lung disease. The 34-year-old Zadroga's name was later added to the New York Police Department's memorial wall as an official Sept. 11 victim.

The death toll from the trade center attacks now stands at 2,752.

SMART CUTS ??

NYC Fire Fighters Save Lives in Hudson River Crash

The crash comes on the heels of a proposal by some New York fire chiefs to cut their water rescue teams as a way to save money. The chiefs claim that the cuts would be smart because the teams do not get a lot of calls.

Meanwhile, members of Local 854 and 94 are at New York City Hall today trying to keep five FDNY units in lower Manhattan, Brooklyn and Staten Island from shutting down between the hours of 6:00 p.m. and 9:00 a.m., beginning January 17.

The closures are an effort by New York’s fire commissioner to save $8.9 million per year. Hearings were being held in front of the City Council’s Fire and Criminal Justice Services Committee January 16 to determine whether or not to implement the commissioner’s plan.

Povolny & McLaughlin

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When you're "in-bed" with the Mayor... It's the Fire Commissioner's Fault. jg

NAT'L BONE MARROW REGISTRY

Retired NYC Firefighter Loses 2nd Stem-Cell Donor

By Matt King - Times Herald Record
January 16, 2009

WARWICK — Roy Chelsen, a retired New York City firefighter with multiple myeloma, a blood cancer, lost a donor for the second time earlier this month, days before he was scheduled to undergo a life-saving bone marrow stem-cell transplant.

The identity of a donor is kept secret from patients for a year, so the family does not know why the woman had to pull out at the last moment. Chelsen, 49, was diagnosed in 2005.

To learn about signing up for the national blood marrow registry, visit
www.marrow.org

LADDER 53 REPRIEVE

City Island Gets Reprieve for Fire Unit Facing Cuts
(Click Here for Entire Article)

When darkness falls on City Island on Saturday, residents may see something unexpected on the big, red fire truck that is Ladder Company 53: firefighters.

The ladder company was one of four companies citywide scheduled to be closed at night from 6 p.m. to 9 a.m., a cost-cutting measure expected to save about $8.9 million a year.

For the last few years, the Fire Department has been operating with more than the minimum number of firefighters and officers required for the night tour, and as long as that remains the case, Ladder 53 will be staffed at night

BUDGET OUTLOOK - BAD TO WORSE

The Budget Outlook Goes from Bad to Worse
(Click Here for Entire Article)

In recent years, the big surpluses, for the most part, have been carried over to cover expenses for subsequent years, making each year's budget balancing that much easier. In addition, the mayor placed $2.5 billion of the 2006 and 2007 surpluses in a new reserve fund, the Retiree Health Benefits Trust Fund, to be used to meet future liabilities for retirees' health expenses.

The $1.8 billion surplus in 2009 that the mayor hoped to use to fill gaps in the 2010 budget has shrunk to $568 million, according to the IBO.

Furthermore, Bloomberg proposes to use more than $1.1 billion of the retiree health fund to make up for the anticipated growth in pension expenses caused by losses in pension fund investments. The IBO says the new use of the retiree trust fund "undermines the city's goal of beginning to fund its enormous liability for future retiree healthcare expenses."

THOUSAND POINTS OF RIGHT

Thousand Points of Right

Well, if you read VP "Slippery Slevin's" report in the 4th isuue (2008) "Fire Lines", you will learn that he does not mention his steadfast opposition, for 8 long years, to any form of COLA enhancement. His "FAILURE" to support or help produce COLA legislation for 8 years might be considered criminal in a 'forward-looking','fiduciary-responsible' union.

Any union legislative representative knows that you must ALWAYS support future COLA enhancements, ESPECIALLY during good economic times. 401k's, etc are not pension protections and are always subject to market fluctuations. The only SURE way to protect our pensions is through COLA enhancements and the unions failed ALL their members by OPPOSING it ! Period !

Former Active Firefighters and Prospective Retirees (Active Firefighters) have literally lost thousands upon thousands of dollars because of this failure and will continue to do so, ad infinitum! Oh, and standing right along side "Slippery" is "Hopalong Cassidy" who also "OPPOSED" COLA legislation for 8 years. WHAT, or rather WHO, were they thinking about, or rather, NOT thinking about ??? Maybe they will support it now, as the UFOA finally did... but we all know, any support for COLA legislation, is simply fruitless now and for years to come. Former Active Firefighters are not fooled by this type of support. Duh!

Slippery's report goes on to state that the union will fight the New Tier legislation and states that the elimination of the VSF for new hires is unacceptable because it was a hard won 'pension benefit'. I strongly believe there will be a New Tier and I strongly disagree with his assessment that the VSF is a pension benefit. If it were, it would be NY State and City... TAX FREE and ergo a 2nd Pension. A 2nd Pension would be constitutionally illegal. On the other hand, if the VSF IS a Pension Benefit, there is NO WAY that it could be taken-away. Hmmm? We'll soon find out. jg

PARKING AT HYDRANT

Conflict of Interest Board Fines Bravest $1,000 for Parking at Hydrant
(Click Here if Necessary)

The Bronx fireman who parked his Cadillac SUV in front of a hydrant - and then scrawled a note begging traffic agents not to ticket him - was fined $1,000 by the city's Conflict of Interest Board Monday. The 4 year firefighter, whose license plate is BRAVEST1, admitted he tried to use his position as a fireman to avoid the ticket when exposed by the Daily News.

THE NEXT CATASTROPHE

Think Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were a politicized financial disaster? Just wait until pension funds implode.

(Click Here for Entire Opinion)

Many union funds and larger state pension plans screen stocks and investment opportunities based on what are known as “socially responsible investing,” or SRI, principles. Instead of focusing solely on maximizing value, fund managers have used the economic clout of concentrated stock holdings to make a statement by divesting from companies that don’t make it through certain “sin screens.”

Socially responsible investing now claims a market of more than $2 trillion. Activist treasurers and pension fund managers in numerous states and municipalities, most notably in California, New York, and Connecticut, have incorporated social screens into their investment strategies.

If the goals of pension managers and retirees are not the same—as is often the case—then pension plans should not engage in social investing. In many instances, SRI amounts to union leaders or politicians gambling with other people’s money in support of ideological vanity.

FDNY - IBM DATABASE

NYC Fire Dept., IBM Partner on Safety Database
(Click Here for Entire Article)

The New York City Fire Department has partnered with IBM to create a central databank for all building inspection and safety information in the wake of a fatal blaze at a ground zero skyscraper.

The project, which will cost the department around $22.8 million, will be ready in October. The aim is to collect and share data in real time so firefighters can better inspect buildings and know exactly what to expect when they go into burning buildings. Eventually, the data will be linked with information from the Buildings Department and other agencies that also inspect buildings.

NY STATE MAY DROP RADIO PROJECT

State Close to Dropping Police Radio Project
(Click Here for Entire Article)

State officials are close to canceling a $2 billion contract to build a statewide wireless network for emergency agencies after critical tests on the network failed late last year.

The original plan, conceived after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, was designed to link emergency agencies from the tip of Long Island to Niagara Falls via a series of radio towers.

The Office for Technology is looking at other methods, including Internet-based communications and cellphone technology, that are said to be more cost-effective and could provide more reliable and cheaper service than the radio technology called for in the original contract.

REVERSE DISCRIMINATION ?

Court Will Hear Reverse Discrimination Case
(Click Here for Entire Article)

The Supreme Court on Friday stepped into a reverse discrimination lawsuit over a city's decision to scrap a promotion exam for firefighters because too few minorities scored high enough to move up in rank.

Nineteen white firefighters and one Hispanic firefighter sued New Haven, Conn., in 2004. They said they would have been promoted if the city hadn't thrown out the results of two tests for lieutenant and captain because minorities generally did poorly on the exams.

EMPLOYEE FREE CHOICE(?) ACT

Preparing for Change at Top of Labor Dept

(Click Here for Entire Article)

Many Republicans oppose the bill, which would enable unions to add millions of workers and would largely eliminate use of the secret ballot to determine whether workers want a union.

Senator Isakson, Republican of Georgia, asked Ms. Solis why she supported a bill that would bypass secret ballots when she had, as a California legislator, backed a bill that called for using secret ballots to determine whether a company’s employees favored flextime arrangements.

Ms. Solis declined to discuss the apparent contradiction and her views of the free choice measure, which could face a filibuster in the Senate. She said her position as nominee “doesn’t, in my opinion, afford me the ability to provide you with an opinion at this time.”
WHAT ??? jg

HEALTHY COMP FOR NYC FIREFIGHTERS

Cost of City Workers’ Pensions Has Soared
(Click Here for Entire Article)

From fiscal years 2000 to 2008, health insurance costs doubled and other non-pension fringe benefit costs grew by almost 50 percent; however, the growth in the cost of pension contributions dwarfed these increases. In that period, the city’s average contribution for pension benefits grew by 704 percent — from $2,530 per full-time employee to $20,333.

Total compensation costs nationally increased by 31 percent for private employers and by 34 percent for state and local governments — compared to 63 percent for New York City.

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Healthy Compensation for NYC Civil Servants

(Click Here for Entire Article)

NEW YORK, NY January 08, 2009 —A new study finds civil servants with six-figure compensation packages are the norm in New York City with firefighters making, on average, $186,000 a year, and police officers, $164,000. The study, by the Citizens Budget Commission, says the average city worker's salary and benefits has ballooned 63 percent since fiscal year 2000. CBC president Carol Kellermann.

The Patrolmen's Benevolent Association declined comment, while the firefighter's union did not return a call for comment.

OBAMA TO REIN-IN RETIREE SPENDING

Obama Promises Bid to Overhaul Retiree Spending

(Click Here for Entire Article)

President-elect Barack Obama said Wednesday that overhauling Social Security and Medicare would be “a central part” of his administration’s efforts to contain federal spending, signaling for the first time that he would wade into the thorny politics of entitlement programs.

Should he follow through with a serious effort to cut back the rates of growth of the two programs, he would be opening up a potentially risky battle that neither party has shown much stomach for. The programs have proved almost sacrosanct in political terms, even as they threaten to grow so large as to be unsustainable in the long run. President Bush failed in his effort to overhaul Social Security, and Medicare only grew larger during his administration with the addition of prescription drug coverage for retirees.

STOP THE FAIRNESS DOCTRINE

I have just taken action to stop the attacks on our Free Speech Rights, and I'm asking that you join with me by clicking here:

Don't Allow The Fairness Doctrine Silence The Conservative Voice

Take a moment of your time and Be Counted.

GOTHAM'S PROBLEMS - CAMELOT PROOF

Gotham’s Problems Are Camelot-Proof
(Clich Here for Most Informative Article)

As the last fumes dissipate from Wall Street’s manic era, it’s become painfully clear that New York City’s budget has been in dangerous imbalance for years. But the real drop-dead time for New York comes 18 months from now. By then, New York could face a cash deficit of $8 billion, amounting to 13 percent of total spending and 18 percent of city revenues. This figure is particularly chilling because at the peak of New York’s 1970s fiscal crisis, the city’s deficit, as a percentage of the city’s own revenue, stood at 14 percent.

Worse, this projection already includes the extra cash influx from the recently enacted $1.3 billion property-tax increase, estimates of $1 billion–plus in projected budget cuts, and a cash extraction out of what was supposed to be a long-term “benefits trust” for future retiree health-care costs.

2005 BRONX HOMICIDE CASE

Homicide Case in Firefighters' Deaths Begins in Bronx (Click Here for Entire Article)

Bronx Assistant District Attorney placed the blame for the fire and the resulting fatalities on tenants, who he said illegally subdivided their apartments to squeeze in more people. Glucksman said they put a wall up in place of an entrance to a living room. They created what the DA called "a death trap."

Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta has said the firefighters jumped from the window without knowing there was a fire escape - because one of the added walls blocked their view of it.

NEW YORK POST
BLACK SUNDAY FDNY RADIO TRANSMISSIONS

(Click Here)

JAIL FOR DEUTSCHE BANK FIRE

Bovis Safety Manager Faces Jail for New York Fire
(Click Here for Entire Article)

Despite concluding that “everybody failed” to prevent the fire at New York’s Deutsche Bank building that killed two firefighters in August 2007, prosecutors have indicted only the site safety manager of construction manager Bovis Lend Lease, two men from the demolition subcontractor and the subcontractor itself, John Galt Corporation, for manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and reckless endangerment.

However the District Attorney also levelled blame against the fire department. The FDNY’s own “15-Day Rule” requires that firefighters inspect buildings undergoing construction and demolition at least every 15 days and to focus on 18 conditions, including standpipe systems. The investigation also found that the FDNY failed to develop a special firefighting operations plan for the Deutsche Bank building, despite numerous recommendations that it do so. The District Attorney also blamed the city’s Department of Buildings (DOB), whose inspectors were charged with ensuring the contractor complied with regulations regarding the standpipe and access between floors.

TERM LIMITS IN COURT

Term Limits Get Reprise, This Time in Court
(Click Here for Entire Article)

A decisive round in the battle over who can run for re-election in New York City in November played out on Monday in a packed courtroom in Brooklyn, where lawyers for the city and for a group challenging an extension of term limits argued their cases before a federal district judge Charles P. Sifton.

Mayor Bloomberg signed the law allowing him and most other elected city officials to seek third terms, circumventing two plebiscites that set two consecutive four-year terms in public office as the limit for all of them. One primary issue in the lawsuit filed by the challengers is whether the law extending term limits violated the voters’ constitutional rights to free speech.

(More than two months after signing the controversial law allowing him to seek a third term, Mayor Bloomberg still has not sought the required federal approval for it.”)

PELOSI TO ERASE FAIRNESS RULES

Pelosi Erases Gingrich's Fairness Rules
(Click Here for Entire Article)

After decades of Democrat control of the House of Representatives, gross abuses to the legislative process and several high-profile scandals contributed to an overwhelming Republican House Congressional landslide victory in 1994. Reforms to the House Rules as part of the Contract with America were designed to open up to public scrutiny what had become under this decades-long Democrat majority a dangerously secretive House legislative process.

Pelosi’s proposed repeal of decades-long House accountability reforms exposes a tyrannical Democrat leadership poised to assemble legislation in secret, then goose-step it through Congress by the elimination of debate and amendment procedures as part of America’s governing legislative process.

STANDPIPE INSPECTION RULES

New Standpipe Inspection Rules Take Effect
(Click Here for Entire Article)

Site safety professionals are now required to conduct a weekly "tracing" examination of the standpipe on each floor to verify that no breach exists throughout the building, according to a release from the Department of Buildings. The new requirements also increase the frequency of standpipe inspections, including daily inspections of the water and Siamese connections and the valves at each story below the construction floor. Previously, such inspections were conducted on a periodic basis or as appropriate, according to DOB.

SEPT. 11 CONDOM-NATION

September 11, Condom-Nation
(Click Here for Entire Article)

A German entrepreneur has taken bad taste to new heights - applying for a federal trademark to use the Freedom Tower to market a line of condoms. The Munich-based marketer has an application to use the slogan "Freedom Tower Make Love Not War" on condom packaging.

"It boggles my mind as to how someone could use the name 'Freedom Tower' on a package of condoms," fumed Jack Lynch, whose firefighter son, Michael, died at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.

STRESS AND THE CITY

Are we headed back to the bad old days of the 1970s?
(Click Here For Entire Article)

The state comptroller predicts that when the dust settles, Wall Street bonuses in 2008 will be about half of what they were in 2007, when they totaled $33.2 billion. The axing of jobs and bonuses will contribute to an estimated 4.3% drop in New York City tax revenues in fiscal 2009.

During the height of New York's financial crisis in 1976 and 1977, Stephen Berger supervised the city's budget and was instrumental in designing a financial plan that enabled New York to re-enter the credit markets. Now Mr. Berger thinks the city is actually worse off today than it was then.

Today, it's going to take more than better bookkeeping. Wall Street accounts for 5% of employment in the city, and 23% of revenues. But the city won't be able to lean as heavily on Wall Street for a long time. Already, the city has had to return $800 million to companies that overestimated prepaid taxes. Some of the largest financial institutions may not pay taxes for years because of massive losses.

9/11'S FIRED HEROES

DRUG TESTING AXES ANGUISHED BRAVEST
(Click Here for Entire Article)

John Schroeder lost everything on 9/11 - and now it's cost him his job as well. He was one of the first firefighters to respond to both the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, reaching the 23rd floor of the north tower during the latter catastrophe.

Now Schroeder, 49, is one of several scarred firefighters fighting to keep their pensions because of failed drug tests, caught between the sympathy of their colleagues and the zero-tolerance policy of the Fire Department.

JOBLESS OR RETIRED

Obama Considers Major Expansion in Jobless Aid
(Click Here for Entire Article)

While the fiscally conservative Democrats support deficit spending to jump-start the economy, “these are debts that will have to be paid,” said Rep.Jim Cooper, Democrat of Tennessee. “We have to combine short-term stimulus with a focus on the long term.”

Among their ideas are a bipartisan commission to propose limits on future benefits for Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, the entitlement programs whose projected future costs would squeeze out all other spending.

Other policy changes would subsidize employers’ expenses for temporarily continuing health insurance coverage to laid-off and retired workers and their dependents, as mandated under a 22-year-old federal law known as Cobra.

REMAINS OF THE DAY

Where Shall They Rest ?
(Click Here for Newsweek Article)

None of the families of the 9/11 hijackers, and no foreign governments, have come forward to request that their remains be handed over, and it is not clear what the official response would be if they did. The U.S. government has not said what, if anything, it plans to do with them. "No determination has yet been made. For now, they are being held as evidence in the still-open 9/11 investigation. Yet at some point, the investigation will be closed. The remains of the identified victims have been returned to their families; but what is to be done with the remnants of their killers?

PROTECTING AMERICA

Effects of a Missile Attack on New York City
(Click Here for Entire Article)

The terrorist strikes on New York City on September 11, 2001, were the most horrific attacks on America by a foreign enemy since Pearl Harbor. In the aftermath, 2,819 people from 115 nations were dead. The heart of the greatest city in the world was crippled. The Stock Exchange closed for six days. Over 400,000 New Yorkers suffered post-traumatic stress disorder. The cleanup of Ground Zero alone cost over $600 million. The city lost over 146,000 jobs and suffered an economic loss of over $105 billion.

But if Ground Zero in New York had been the site of a low-altitude nuclear detonation of a bomb delivered by a ballistic missile rather than an attack by two commercial airliners striking two buildings, the results would have been very, very different.

CITY PENSION NIGHTMARE

NY City Pension Nightmare
(Click Here for Entire Article)

The city's five pension funds have lost close to 30 percent in the Wall Street crisis this year - threatening to hit taxpayers like an economic tsunami for years to come.

An estimated $30 billion in recent pension investment losses would have to be covered by the city's operating budget starting in 2010. Total assets (for the NYC-5) are down $30 billion from more than $100 billion a year ago.

By law, the city must make up the difference when the pension funds earn less than 8 percent a year. The city can spread the cost of plugging that gap over the following six years.

END OF NY BUILDING BOOM

Downturn Ends Building Boom in New York
(Click Here for Entire Article)

Nearly $5 billion in development projects in New York City have been delayed or canceled because of the economic crisis, an extraordinary body blow to an industry that last year provided 130,000 unionized jobs.

The long-term impact is potentially immense, experts said. Construction generated more than $30 billion in economic activity in New York last year, said Louis J. Coletti, the chief executive of the Building Trades Employers’ Association.

Not surprisingly, unemployment in the construction industry is soaring: in October, it was up by more than 50 percent from the same period last year.

SPIRIT OF GIVING AT GROUND ZERO

Long Islander's Spirit of Giving at Ground Zero
(Click Here for Entire Article)

The Tribute Center is across Liberty Street from Ground Zero, now a construction site where preparations for the Freedom Tower are ongoing. The Sept. 11 Families' Association operates Tribute Center, a collection of artifacts and histories of the terrorist attack, and offers the tours to the public.

The Tribute Center averages about 1,700 daily visitors in the last three months. That's up from an average of about 1,500 visitors, said Lee Ielpi, Tribute Center co-founder. Tribute Center's goal is to educate the public with "person-to-person" stories told by those most affected by Sept. 11, said Ielpi, 64.

His son Jonathan, 29, a city firefighter, died at Ground Zero. "I cry every time I talk about my son," said Ielpi, of Great Neck, who said he conducts two tours each week.

BLOOMBERG NOT BLUE ENOUGH

Bloomberg Not Blue Enough For New York
(Click Here for Entire Opinion)

Beyond the confines of his tireless propaganda machine, there is one salient fact: the Bloomberg Administration cannot point to one major success and credibly claim it as its own.

Indeed, the crime rate in New York City has been at historic lows throughout Bloomberg's administration. But there's little evidence that anything Bloomberg has done is responsible. Criminologist Franklin Zimring, in his book The Great American Crime Decline, argues that Rudy Giuliani's crime prevention measures during the 1990's were responsible for the historic drop in crime that Bloomberg merely inherited.

As for the economy, whatever success Bloomberg has enjoyed can be attributed to others--and the success is overshadowed by failure. The city's economy, as measured by overall growth, boomed between 2001 and 2007 because the financial services sector boomed. And of course, Ground Zero has sat dormant throughout Bloomberg's entire administration.

What about education? Diane Ravitch, the eminent education historian, has been especially vitriolic, arguing that the testing gains Bloomberg claims as his actually occurred under Giuliani's term.

REDUCE/CUT PENSION BENEFIT ?

PBA Criticizes Effort to Reduce a Pension Benefit
(Click Here for Entire Article)

Gov. David A. Paterson’s proposal to extend the length of service to 25 years for new hires was met with sharp criticism on Wednesday by the union representing police officers. The city portion of the proposal was developed by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, and is estimated to save the city $5.4 billion over the next 20 years.

The proposal also includes creating a minimum retirement age of 50 before a full pension can be received. The rule of “20 and out” would effectively become “29 and out” for a 21-year-old recruit.

After 20 years on the force, the average New York City police officer earns roughly $90,000 annually, including overtime pay and other salary enhancements, said Charles M. Brecher, research director at the Citizens Budget Commission.

With a pension worth half of the final year’s annual salary, plus a $12,000 annual lump sum payment called a variable supplement, a retired officer can receive roughly $57,000 a year, which is not subject to state or city income taxes, he said.

Under the proposal, the $12,000 annual payment would also be eliminated, and the pension would be calculated using an average of salaries for the final three years of employment, not the last year.

The changes, which would also affect the pensions of firefighters, would require City Council approval as well as passage in Albany.

FDNY PLAYS RUSSIAN ROULETTE

FIRE DEPT PLAYS RUSSIAN ROULETTE WITH THE LIVES OF STATEN ISLANDERS

(Click Here for Entire Article)

With firefighters busier than ever responding to a growing number of emergency calls, now is certainly not the time to simply abandon nighttime protection for the people in these communities.

The Uniformed Firefighters Association recently sent a letter to Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta requesting a meeting to discuss alternative cost savings within the department that will not take firefighters out of the communities they serve.

While it is clear that the city is facing difficult financial times, there must be other options that will not imperil the lives and property of New Yorkers.

Unless we all stand up together, we will never be counted.

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Thousand Points of Right

"Hopalong Cassidy" is finally right ! Listen carefully to him ! "UNLESS WE ALL STAND UP TOGETHER, WE WILL NEVER BE COUNTED." If "Former Active Firefighters" and "Prospective Retirees" don't finally stand-up to the failed leadership(?) of "Hopalong" and "Slippery", and tell them what we have lost over the past 7 years and what we didn't gain... WE WILL NEVER BE COUNTED ! Period ! jg

TIER 5 PENSION ?

Bloomberg Looks to Save $$ With New Pension Tier
(Click Here for Entire Article)

Michael Bloomberg sent a letter to legislative leaders asking them to create a new tier for pension benefits. For recipients, the new tier would allow retirees to draw benefits at age 62. It would also exclude overtime earned in the final years of service from the calculation used to determine pension allowances.

Bloomberg may run into difficulty with the City Council, which will have to issue a home rule message. Though the speaker, and members, often support the mayor's initiatives, they may be skittish if unions make a fuss.

STATE OF THE CITY'S FINANCES

Thompson’s Blueprint for Saving NYC

(Click Here for Entire Article)

City comptroller William Thompson released his regular “State of the City’s Finances” report today. It’s not necessary to go into the gory details, since it’s past time for everyone simply to stipulate that things are ugly so that we can get on with life. The good news, though, is that the solution, too, is found in the ugly parts.

According to Thompson’s projections, the city’s spending, adjusted for various gimmicks, will grow by 11.1 percent over the next three years. But pensions will grow by 21.8 percent, health insurance for city workers by 18.9 percent, and debt service by 29.5 percent.

It is a mathematical fact that New York cannot close its deficits without the unionized labor force giving something back in terms of pension and health benefits, in the form of higher contributions, lower future benefits, or, likely, a combination of both.

FDNY CUTS LOOM

FDNY Recruits Graduate As Cuts Loom
(Click Here for Entire Article)

Mayor Bloomberg welcomed a new class of firefighters Monday morning. But sharp cuts within the FDNY may make it the last new class headed to city firehouses for awhile.

Two hundred and eighty-six probationary firefighters achieved their goal of being part of the FDNY. The graduation ceremony was held aboard the Intrepid. But they join a department facing some of the steepest budget cuts in years. Roughly $95 million must be sliced from the budget. Already, the FDNY has canceled next month's academy class of 110 new trainees, shut down a firehouse on Governor's Island and cut night staffing at four firehouses.

ONE CITY EXPENSE IS SAFE

As City Goes Broke, One Expense Is Safe

(Click Here for Entire Article)

The value of city pensions is protected under the State Constitution, a trust between employer and worker; once employees enter the system, their benefits cannot be reduced. In 2000, city taxpayers contributed $615 million. By June 2008, the amount had climbed to $5.6 billion. With investment losses over the last year or so, the public costs are sure to rise again.

When the city began investing pension funds in the stock market, the police and fire unions argued that in exchange for the risk, their members should get a share of the earnings. The city agreed, and the size of the benefit — which was in addition to the regular pension payments — initially was tied to the earnings of the funds, and fluctuated. But soon both sides saw an advantage in making it a fixed amount.

So what began as a reward for taking a risk has become a guaranteed payment. On Monday, in the second year of a stock market slide, checks for about $12,000 will be put in the mail to thousands of retirees — many of whom have long since left New York for states with warmer climates and lower taxes.

CARE FOR 9/11 WORKERS ??

Bush Plans to Put 9/11 Workers Care in Hands of Company Based Outside NY; Sick Would Pay Upfront
(Click Here for Entire Article)

In a letter obtained first by the Daily News, Reps. Carolyn Maloney and Jerry Nadler (D-Manhattan) accuse the Department of Health and Human Services of drawing up plans to put Sept.11-related programs under one contractor, likely based outside of the tri-state area.

About 50,000 people in the metropolitan area are enrolled in 9/11 programs, and 16,000 get care through the FDNY, Mount Sinai and five area hospitals. Among the rumored provisions is a change requiring ill 9/11 responders to pay for services upfront, and get reimbursed. Now the costs are covered.

WTC LAWSUITS TO BEGIN

Ground Zero Lawsuits Are to Begin in 2010
(Click Here for Entire Article)

After years of wrangling, lawyers for New York City and for the thousands of ground zero workers suing the city have agreed to begin trials in the spring of 2010. The lawsuits claim that workers suffered illnesses as a result of their exposure to dust at the site, and most of the first cases to be heard will involve people with the most severe health claims.

Nearly 10,000 firefighters, police officers, construction workers and others have sued the city and its contractors, saying they suffered respiratory and other illnesses because they were not given breathing masks during the nine-month rescue and recovery operation after the 2001 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center.

The defendants face a liability that could reach $1 billion or more if they are found to have been negligent.

WTC BRIDGE TO BEDROCK

Dismantling Ground Zero’s Bridge to Bedrock
(Click Here for Entire Article)

Something about the ramp — its gentle angle, its tough utilitarianism, its indispensability and its durability — inspired gravity in those who walked slowly down its length to the heart of ground zero: a spot within the outline of the north tower, which was the first to be struck on 9/11.

Not long after the ramp was installed, more than a dozen remains were found on the site, including a number of firefighters from Ladder Company 4 in mid-Manhattan, and it was quickly pressed into service as a kind of funerary pathway. The final ceremonial removal, in May 2002, was that of the last World Trade Center column still standing. Its solemn trip up the ramp marked the formal end to the recovery.

DEUTSCHE FIRE FAMILIES OUTRAGED

Deutsche Fire Families Outraged As Government Agencies Not Charged
(Click Here for Entire Article)

The families of two firefighters killed in the Deutsche Bank blaze blasted Manhattan prosecutors Tuesday for deciding not to indict government agencies responsible for keeping the building safe.

Instead, prosecutors plan to bring manslaughter charges against a mob-tied subcontractor, John Galt Corp., and corruption charges against 14 individuals hired to demolish the toxic tower, the sources said.

'Let's make a deal?'" asked an incredulous Joseph Graffagnino Sr. "Why did you waste a year and a half on this sham of an investigation and not do anything?"

Questioned by reporters, Mayor Bloomberg confirmed that "we're negotiating with the district attorney" but declined to offer specifics.

FIDUCIARY IRRESPONSIBILITY ?

Should the 401k Be Killed?
(Click Here for Entire Article)

Unlike pensions, 401(k)s are voluntary, and many workers either don't participate or don't set aside enough money to give them a shot at a comfortable retirement. Those who do save enough often bungle their investment choices. Those who choose well pay higher investment fees generally than pension funds do. Even participants in the best-run, lowest-cost retirement funds face the risk that the market will tank — as it has done this year — when they're close to retirement. At retirement comes another issue: pensions insure against the risk that you'll outlive your money, because they pay until you die; 401(k)s don't. And finally, the tax breaks built into the 401(k) fall mostly in the laps of high earners.

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THOUSAND POINTS OF RIGHT jg

FIDUCIARY IRRESPONSIBILITY ??

For over 7 years Former Active Firefighters have been hammering away at the "Brain Trusts" of the UNIONS to support a COLA Enhancement Bill. For 7 long years the Unions have OPPOSED any COLA Enhancement !

For over 7 years Former Active Firefighters have tried to explain to Active Firefighters that the ONLY SURE MONETARY PROTECTION in a Firefighters retirement years, is to enhance their NY State Constitutionally guaranteed FDNY Pension. PERIOD !

Rather than support a COLA Enhancement Bill, which the Unions THOUGHT would only benefit Former Active Firefighters (who couldn't vote), did the Unions irresponsibly forget that ALL Active Firefighters are PROSPECTIVE RETIREES and all the 401K's in the world are nothing but supplemental gambles ??

Have ALL Firefighters been missrepresented by this 7 year failure to PROTECT Pensions against the ravages of inflation and Economic Downturns ??

Retirees across New York State, along with Comptroller Carl McCall, were responsible for the 2000 COLA. That original COLA was based on a Maximum $18,000 Pension and 1/2 the CPI (Max.3%), which the Unions DID NOT support. Were the Unions, along with the City, actually responsible for cutting that COLA and "Catch-up" in half before they were willing to signed on ??

Finally, in what year will the 1st COLA Enhancement be possible, now that the Wall Street Boom years are over ? Many firefighters will be dead by then ! So maybe it's time for ALL Active and Former Active Firefighters to thank the Unions for their continuing and successful efforts of NOT PLANNING AHEAD !

9-11 FAMILY MEMBERS GO TO GITMO

Families of 9/11 Victims Seek Answers at Gitmo
(Click Here for Entire Article)

The mothers of two men killed on 9-11 will be among those present next week as Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the attacks' self-professed mastermind, and four co-defendants appear in one of the final sessions of war-crimes tribunals under outgoing President George W. Bush at the U.S. Navy base in Cuba.

"I hope they stare us in the face and we stare back," said Maureen Santora, whose firefighter son Christopher was killed at the World Trade Center. The two mothers, separated from the al-Qaida chieftain by only a glass partition, want to size up an unrepentant defendant prone to anti-U.S. outbursts in the courtroom. Mrs. Santora is traveling to Gitmo with her husband, Alexander, a retired FDNY Deputy Chief.

Military prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Mohammed on charges that he organized the attacks that killed 2,973 people in New York and Washington.

The election of Barack Obama has raised doubt over whether any more trials will be held at Gitmo. President Elect Obama has pledged to close the military prison.

FIRE UNIT NIGHT CLOSINGS

FC Scoppetta Announces Fire Unit Night Closings to Begin January 17
(Click Here for More Details)

Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta today announced the Department will cease operating a fire unit on Governor’s Island and will eliminate night tours at four other firefighting units beginning January 17 to meet an $8.9 million agency budget cut announced last month due to the city’s financial crisis.

BELL OF HOPE

'Bell of Hope' Rung for Mumbai Terrorist Attack Victims

(Click Here for Entire Article)

A "Bell of Hope" near the World Trade Center site has been put into service once again - tolling in honor of the terrorism victims in India. This afternoon, prayers of peace are being offered as the bell at St. Paul's Chapel in lower Manhattan is rung by clergy members and Indian Deputy Consul General Dr. A.M. Gondane. The bell is rung 20 times in four sets of five based on a New York City firefighters' salute to fallen comrades (5-5-5-5). The city of London presented the bell to New York City a year after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. It also has rung following the bombings in London and Madrid, for Virginia Tech victims and on 9/11 anniversaries.

AUGUSTUS A. BEEKMAN

5-5-5-5

Augustus A. Beekman

FDNY Firefighter
Chief of Department - Fire Commissioner

Augustus A. Beekman died at Wayne Woodlands Manor in Waymart, Pennsylvania on Saturday, November 29th 2009. He was born on March 28, 1923 in Harlem Hospital in New York, and was raised from the age of 5 by the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament at Little Flower in Wading River, Long Island. At the age of 14, he returned to live with his mother, Charlotte, in the Bronx in order to attend Morris High School, where he was a track star.

He served with distinction as a Sergeant in the United States Army, where he served in the European campaign during WWII and received the American Campaign medal and others for his service. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from City College of the City University of New York, where he received his Bachelors degree in History. He received his Masters Degree in Political Science from Queens College.

He was the second African-American Fire Commissioner of the City of New York, having begun his career as a fireman on January 1st, 1947, in Harlem. He was married to Muriel Estelle (née Gittens) Beekman on October 9, 1948, who survives him.

Expressions of sympathy may be made in memory of Augustus A. Beekman to Little Flower Children and Family Services of New York at 2450 North Wading River Road; Wading River, New York 11792-1402. www.littleflowerny.org.

Services will be held on Wednesday December 3 at 10:30 o’clock in the morning at St. Rose’s Church, 6 North Church Street in Carbondale. The family plans a memorial service to be held in Toms River, New Jersey, after the holidays.

For details, please contact Bernadette Beekman (daughter) at BTBeekman@aol.com

CHILDREN'S EDUCATIONAL FUND

Firefighters ask donations be directed to Robert Ryan Children's Educational Fund and sent to: FDNY Foundation, 9 Metrotech Center, Brooklyn NY 11201

FDNY FIREFIGHTER DIES

FDNY Firefighter Dies Following Ceiling Collapse
(Click Here for Entire Story)

5-5-5-5

Lt. Robert J. Ryan Jr., 46, died after sustaining injures from a ceiling collapse while he was working in the attic of a two-story dwelling on Van Buren Street in Staten Island.

An FDNY spokesman said that the collapse knocked off his SCBA face piece and he became unconscious. "The firefighters got to him quickly, got him right out and started CPR on him right away."

Lt. Ryan, a 17-year veteran of the department, had been assigned to Engine 155 for over two years. Since his appointment to the FDNY on April 14, 1991, he previously worked at Engines 228, 280 and 282 in Brooklyn, Engine 6 in Manhattan, Battalion 4 in Manhattan. and the 22nd Battalion in Staten Island. He was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant in March 2001.

"CITIZEN HUSSEIN"

Obama Camp: Lawsuits by Citizens are 'Garbage'
(Click Here for Entire Article)

More than a half-dozen legal challenges have been filed in federal and state courts demanding President-elect Barack Obama's decertification from ballots or seeking to halt elector meetings, claiming he has failed to prove his U.S. citizenship status.

PENNSYLVANIA:
Berg filed a writ of certiorari in the U.S. Supreme Court on Oct.30, to force Obama to produce his birth certificate. Justice David Souter rejected an emergency appeal on Nov. 3, for the court to halt the tabulation of the 2008 presidential election results until Obama documented his eligibility to run for office. However, Souter set a schedule for a response from Obama, the DNC and all co-defendants on or before Dec. 1.

BUSINESS AS USUAL

I want to point-out to The Thousand Points of Right, a shameless display of disrespect for a fallen brother by the FDNY. Today we had a LODD funeral for FF. Jamal Sears. Sadly, FDNY units still conducted BISP (Building Inspection) all day. I have 27 years with the department and I have seen many changes but to act as if it is "business as usual" on a day, when we bury one of our own, is a change that is unacceptable. BISP, the new AFID, was also conducted on Memorial Day. The longer these events are allowed to continue the more they will seem commonplace and a new generation of FDNY won't know the difference.

A Concerned Company Officer

HEALTH CARE COSTS SOAR

This is Sick: Health Care Costs Soar

(Click Here for Entire Article)

The cost of health care premiums in New York has gone up seven times faster than salaries since 2000, an advocacy group says - but the higher payments often produced thinner coverage. Workers often face deductibles and higher prescription costs and co-pays.

More Americans are cutting back on medical care because of the rising outlay. In April, before the Wall Street downturn, 42% of people said they delayed treatment, prescriptions or tests for financial reasons. By October, it was 47%.

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One Mo' Time: How much of an increase did Former Active Firefighters receive to their RSBF or RFPP, in the Contract Re-Opener, in order to keep-up with the rising costs of Prescriptions, Dental work, Eye exams and Glasses?? Did Former Active Firefighters receive the same (One-Time) $400 increase to their Funds that the PBA negotiated for their members?? Besides the well deserved Pay Increases for the Active Firefighter, how was the 1.59% in Discretionary Monies used?? If Former Active Firefighters do not monitor the Unions, Medicare Eligible Retirees may find themselves in the Medicare Part D Program. These funds must remain "Creditable" and Former Active Firefighters must insist that Both Unions "Negotiate" for the required amount of monies in order to keeps the Wefare Funds more than Creditable, while decreasing some of the Expenses Incurred and Sacrifices Made by Former Active Members, over the past 6 years, in order to keep the Funds Solvent ! Thousand Points of Right - jg

THE DENOMINATOR EFFECT

Where the 'Denominator Effect' Lurks
(Click Here for Entire Article)

The "Denominator Effect" looms as the next force that could pressure the slumping real-estate market. Falling stock prices are leaving institutional investors overexposed to real estate, which could trigger further declines in property values.

Now that stock values are beaten down, and because real estate is typically appraised only once a year, the relative size of the real-estate portfolio has grown and in many cases is now higher than the funds' guidelines. This is known as the Denominator Effect. Real-estate demand "has been destroyed effectively by the unintended consequence of the Total Pie Shrinking.

As institutions cast a wary eye to their real-estate exposure as their overall portfolio shrinks, an outflow of capital may spell more bad news for a commercial real-estate market already being hit by a frozen credit market and sagging demand for retail and office space.

PROTECT HEALTH BENEFITS !

("Former Active Firefighters" Asleep At The Watch)

No Avoiding Michael Bloomberg's Jobs Ax
(Click Here for Entire Article)

The city's largest unions are up to date, and almost everyone agreed the next round of bargaining may not be as easy or as generous. Bloomberg once again said he wanted to take a look at two sacred (and costly) cows in the Civil Service system - health insurance and pensions. "We look forward to working with District Council 37 and the entire Municipal Labor Committee to identify potential savings in such areas as the city's health insurance program and pension systems," the mayor said.

PROBY DIES AFTER DRILL

NY Firefighter Trainee, 33, Dies After Drill
11/12/2008, 12:57 p.m. EST

5-5-5-5

FF JAMAL SEARS

NEW YORK (AP) — The Fire Department of New York says a 33-year-old probationary firefighter collapsed and died following an 18-minute training exercise while wearing about 100 pounds of gear.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Wednesday that Jamel Sears, a Bronx resident, also had served overseas in the Navy. Survivors include his wife, Sherita Sears, who's a police officer, their two children, and his mother. Bloomberg asked New Yorkers to pray for the family.

The Fire Department said Sears' colleagues tried to revive him, but he died at the hospital on Tuesday.

TRUCK COMPANY OPERATIONS

Fire in Seattle, Washington

Capitol Hill Apartment Building.

One person reported to have died.

Raw Video - Chopper 7 - KIROTV.

FIRE VIDEO - TRUCK COMPANY VENTING
(Click Here)

NYC HEADED FOR DARK DAYS

New York Is Headed for Dark Days Unless Bloomberg Changes Course
(Click Here for Entire Article)

One place Mr. Bloomberg could start is by asking public employees to contribute 10% to their own health-care premiums, and working with the state to wring 10% savings from the city's bloated, patronage-rich Medicaid program. Such savings, together, would net $1 billion annually, a significant help for future deficits. The city and state can also work with unions to rein in future pension benefits.

ABOLISH 401(k) TAX BREAKS ??

Democrats Contemplate Abolishing 401(k) Tax Breaks

(Click Here)

Powerful House Democrats are eyeing proposals to overhaul the nation's $3 trillion 401(k) system, including the elimination of most of the $80 billion in annual tax breaks that 401(k) investors receive. Under the plan, all workers would receive a $600 annual inflation-adjusted subsidy from the U.S. government but would be required to invest 5% of their pay into a guaranteed retirement account administered by the Social Security Administration. The money in turn would be invested in special government bonds that would pay 3% a year, adjusted for inflation. The current system of providing tax breaks on 401(k) contributions and earnings would be eliminated.

NYC'S RETIREE HEALTH TRUST FUND

NYC Mayor: Can't Afford $400 Property Tax Rebates
(Click Here for Entire Story)

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said on Wednesday he has instructed the finance commissioner not to send out $400 property tax rebates to homeowners.

The mayor also will make up for the pension fund's losses by taking $1.1 billion from a trust he created to pay for retired workers' health care. The fund totals $2.5billion.

The mayor estimates New York Stock Exchange member firms will have to earn a combined $10 billion a year for several years before the city can resume collecting taxes from them.

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BLOOMY THE WIZARD is a shrewed SHELL GAME Master and knew that he had to hide money from the Unions, so he placed $2.5 Billion in a TRUST fund for future RETIREE Health Care Costs. The Unions, of course, still found a way to passively turn their backs on "Former Active Members" in current contract agreements.

With this plan, the mayor has balanced the budget for FY 2009, and has reduced the budget gap the City faces in FY 2010 to ($1.3 billion). Where will the Financial Wizard(?) find this $1.3 Billion for FY 2010 ? Voila ! There it is ($1.4 Billion) still hiding under the "SHELL TRUST", and majically Bloomy the Wizard will prove once again that "The Hand Is Quicker Than The Eye", as he makes $1.3 Billion disappear in order to balance the 2010 budget.

Where does that leave the needed funds for Retiree Health Care, you might ask ? Well, there is a theoretical $100 Million still hiding under one of those elusive shells but, alas, that won't be enough to save your life ! The Wizard has "Pulled the Plug" on Retiree Health Care ! And guess what ?! Whether the Unions are shills in this game or not... they have, once again, left "Former Active Members" as the losers in a game they weren't even allowed to play !
Thousand Points of Right - jg

FDNY & NYPD BUDGET PINCH

NYC Police and FireFighters to Feel Budget Pinch
(Click Here)

With Wall Street revenue dropping and no easy alternatives at hand New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg tomorrow is expected to announce that in order to close a $4 billion budget gap the city is cancelling the police academy January 2009 class, cutting 500 jobs in parks and education, cutting back nighttime operations at five firehouses and reducing firefighter training. In all, the city will reduce its workforce by about 3,000 jobs through attrition and through layoffs in an effort to close a widening budget gap.

NYC DEFICIT - $4 BILLION

NYC Deficit Rises to $4B as Wall Street Slides
(Click Here for Entire Article)

New York City's budget gap will climb to $4 billion in fiscal 2009 and 2010, an administration official said on Tuesday, underscoring the damage inflicted by Wall Street's financial crisis. The mayor, an independent, has repeatedly warned he will not repeat the mistakes of the 1970s, when a budget crunch caused thousands of city workers to be laid off, and soaring crime and failing schools forced residents to flee. But one Police Academy class will be canceled, the firefighting academy will cut 5 weeks from training programs and night-time operational hours will be reduced at five engine companies.

THANKS TO THE UNIONS !!

Schumer Compares Talk Radio to 'Pornography'
(Click Here for Entire Article)

The Fairness Doctrine, repealed during the Ronald Reagan administration, would require radio stations to balance conservative talk hosts with liberal ones.
In a Fox interview Tuesday morning, the Senator from New York was asked if he supported telling radio station what their content should be. "The very same people who don't want the Fairness Doctrine want the FCC [Federal Communications Commission] to limit pornography on the air," Schumer said. "I am for that . But you can't say government hands off in one area to a commercial enterprise but you are allowed to intervene in another. That's not consistent."

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This Scumbag Demoncrat is now the unofficial spokesperson for the Unions, who placed Party over Country !
Thousand Points of Right - jg

SHARING BUDGET MISERY

Mayor Bloomberg and Gov. Paterson Must Spread Budget Pain
(Click Here for Entire Article)

New Yorkers are about to face the cold, hard realities of living in a state and city that are going broke. Mayor Bloomberg is expected this week to order agency heads to plan for cutting their budgets significantly over the next year and a half or so and to recommend rescinding the 7% property tax cut that homeowners got in the boom times. Worse, with the city projecting its own major deficits in coming years, the great threat is that Albany will pull the plug on state aid, forcing City Hall to make disastrous cuts in education, police and other vital services.

NYC PENSION GAMBLE

City Pensions' $1B Long-Shot Gamble
(Click Here for Entire Article)

The city is rolling the dice with its pension funds - tossing up to $1.1 billion into risky hedge funds in the middle of a Wall Street crisis. "It's the crap shoot of all crap shoots," said a former top city official familiar with the pension systems. NYCERS' timing could not be worse, critics say. New York is "going in at a time when many people are going out. NYCERS is the largest of the city's five employee pension funds, which totaled $104.7billion as of June 30. They plunged in value a total 8.5 percent, to $95.9 million, in the third quarter this year.

A HERO FROM GOTHAM ??

A Hero from Gotham Comes to Cayman

(Click Here for Entire Article)

It was during the hellish terrorist attacks of 9/11, and in the weeks afterwards that mr von essen became an American symbol for the heroism of firefighters everywhere, and in particular the brotherhood of New York’s firefighters including 343 who died while trying to save the lives of others. He personally wrote letters to each of the families who lost firefighters and eventually met many of them.

In the months after the attacks, mr von essen told the New York Times: “I’ve done the best I can - trying to take care of the families, take care of the department. To let the city and nation feel that the department is wounded, but ready to take care of the city and serve the people.

mr von essen was acclaimed by most New Yorkers for the calm and professional way that he led his department. In 2002, in an exceptionally rare honour for an American, mr von essen was even made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II.

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Whoa ! Is this the same tom von assen that NYC Firefighters know ??? jg

BLOOMBERG ON PENSIONS

Bloomberg: Stock Up On Macy's
(Clich here for Entire Article)

Bloomberg did acknowledge that municipal finance concerns wore heavy in the current economic straits. Although he maintained that New York City and State pensions are among the country’s “best funded,” he later bemoaned how little flexibility either jurisdiction has in curbing benefits even in fiscal emergencies.

His city, he said, soon will have to “raise taxes, cut services or both.” Still, if he gets his way -- he'll be the mayor when that well dries up.

UNIONS FLUNK FIDUCIARY-101

How NOT to Protect Active Union Members

Elected union officials are duty bound to faithfully negotiate and protect the wages, fringe and health benefits of their active membership through CBA’s and/or Legislation.

Every active member, over the years, has been lulled into a “what’s in it for me, now” kind of attitude and are never cautioned that they are “Prospective Retirees”, as soon as they put on their uniform. Active members have to be reminded that there is no more “going back to the well”, at contract time, once they retire.

We have all seen the havoc that the stock market can wreak on 401k’s, annuities and even pension funds. (The only difference being… pensions are guaranteed and protected by the NY State Constitution.) If pension funds have losses, the City has to find a way to fund them. If 401k’s or annuities have losses…chalk it up, and hope for the best.

In 2000, NYC’s former active members joined with state retirees, and then NY State Comptroller Carl McCall, to fight for a Permanent COLA in lieu of pleading with politicians (who wanted their vote) to get a small pension supplementation every 5-10years. Retirees were more than 500,000 strong and with Carl McCall’s leadership, they were able to get the first permanent COLA, which included “catch-up” monies for those former active members, whose pensions were eroded, by years of inflation and cost of living increases. Retirees expected the unions to help but they were no-where to be found in this historical legislative accomplishment. The unions’ only involvement was to successfully halve the original COLA amount. Former active members, in fact, fought for and won the COLA, not only for themselves, but for their Active Brothers… ”Prospective Retirees”.

Not only were the unions absent from the fight for the 2000 COLA, they have for the past 7 years, opposed any increases to the original COLA, which is based on an $18,000.00 salary and a halved CPI, that has an elusive 3% maximum. What is worse, NYC was enjoying Wall Street’s boom and the City’s coffers were overflowing with money. Have the unions passively failed in their fiduciary responsibility to their Active Membership (Prospective Retirees) by not protecting their pensions against the ravages of inflation? To think that there will be a chance, in the near future, to increase an already antiquated COLA formula is NOW a “pie in the sky” dream.

On another note, it will be more than interesting to learn what happens, in the current contract settlement, to the 1.59% discretionary(?) monies, presumably to go toward assisting Welfare Funds and the $400.00, one time, increase to Welfare Funds which the Police union (association) received.

Thousand Points of Right - jg

OBAMA SPEECHWRITER SWITCHES

Obama Speechwriter Switches to McCain
(Click Here for Entire Article)

Imagine if a speechwriter for John McCain had switched sides and announced she was going to vote for Barack Obama. Would she not be featured bigtime in the mainstream media complete with new thrills running up Chris Matthews leg? Well, this did happen except that it was an Obama speechwriter, Wendy Button, who became disillusioned with The One and switched to supporting McCain.

Wendy Button stated; "Since I started writing speeches more than ten years ago, I have always believed in the Democratic Party. Not anymore. Not after the election of 2008. This transformation has been swift and complete and since I’m a woman writing in the election of 2008, very emotional."

NYC PENSION FUND DOWN 8.5%

New York City pension fund down 8.5 percent in Q3

NEW YORK, Oct 28 (Reuters) - The value of New York City's five pension funds fell about 8.5 percent in the quarter ended in September, Comptroller William Thompson said Tuesday. The total value of the funds fell to $95.9 billion from $104.7 billion, outperforming other public pension funds, the Democratic comptroller said in a statement. Earlier, state comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said the value of the New York State pension fund has fallen more than 20 percent since April 1.

BE CAREFUL FOR WHAT YOU ASK

HOW SOON WE FORGET jg

We Don’t Need Another War on Poverty

(Click Here for Entire Article)

The mayors, joined by many newspaper editorial pages, have echoed Obama in calling for vast new federal spending on cities. All of this has helped rejuvenate the old argument that America’s urban areas are victims of Washington’s neglect and that it’s up to the rest of the country to bail them out.

Nothing could be more misguided than to renew this “tin-cup urbanism”. Starting in the late 1960s, mayors in struggling cities extended their palms for hundreds of billions of federal dollars that accomplished little good and often worsened the problems that they sought to fix. Beginning in the early nineties, however, a small group of reform-minded mayors—with New York’s Rudy Giuliani and Milwaukee’s John Norquist in the vanguard—jettisoned tin-cup urbanism and began developing their own bottom-up solutions to city problems. Their innovations made cities safer, put welfare recipients to work, and offered kids in failing school systems new choices, bringing about an incomplete, but very real, urban revival.

NYC BUDGET - 500M GAP

New York City Budget Has $500 Million Gap
(Click Here for Entire Article)

"The Bloomberg administration projected a decline in tax revenues this year, but did not anticipate -- nor did we -- the kind of restructuring that has hit Wall Street," said Doug Turetsky, spokesman for the Independent Budget Office.

"We're going to have some very tough times, and I think the state is going to have some very tough times," the mayor said, referring to the state's projected $12 billion gap over the next two years. "I'm worried about the state trying to balance its budget on the backs of us."

The impact of Wall Street's turmoil and the national recession will probably be a 12 percent decrease in economically sensitive taxes on personal and business income and retail sales, Bloomberg has said. State law requires the city to balance its budget, and if not, a state Financial Control Board has the power to take over operations.

BLOOMY SQUANDERS NEW YORKER'S MONEY

Mayor Bloomberg Has Squandered Our Money
(Click Here for Entire Article)

Between 2000 and 2007, New York's tax receipts grew by 41% after inflation. "That's something that's never happened or come close to happening in the city's modern history," says Nicole Gelinas, who follows municipal finance at the Manhattan Institute. This windfall had everything to do with the Wall Street bull market.

Since 1990, debt per person in New York is up by 185%, exceeding inflation by 118 percentage points and exceeding tax revenue growth by 27 percentage points. By most measures, New York has higher per-capita debt (about $7,000) than any other city in the nation. Mr. Bloomberg's 2008 budget is nearly 50% larger than the one he inherited from Mr. Giuliani in 2001. That far outpaces inflation, which rose 21% over the same period.

Citing the financial crisis, twice-elected New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg wants to scrap the city's term-limit law. It's true that the city could do worse than Michael Bloomberg. But it's also true that mayoral term limits were approved by New Yorkers twice in referendums in the 1990s, and not by small margins. There is something deeply undemocratic about legislatively overturning the will of the people without giving voters a say in the matter.

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Note: That's right ! Between 2000 and 2007, New York City's tax receipts grew by 41% after inflation and the Braintrust of the PBA, UFA and UFOA chose NOT to support any COLA enhancement legislation for "Former Active Members" and "Prospective Retirees", curiously ignoring the ONLY "Fail Safe" protection against yearly inflation rates. The unions were cautioned by "Former Active Members" that 401K's and annuities were important but not nearly important as PROTECTING PENSIONS against inflation. The Unions IGNORED the many appeals from those who know best... "FORMER ACTIVE MEMBERS" ! Are the Lawyers still running the UNINFORMED UNIONS ??

Thousand Points of Right - jg

NYC FIREFIGHTERS CONTRACT

Firefighters in Contract Accord
(Click Here for Entire Article)

The union representing 8,900 New York City firefighters announced on Wednesday that it had reached a tentative two-year contract with the Bloomberg administration that provides raises of 4 percent a year.

The union, the Uniformed Firefighters Association, said that because of a requirement in a so-called reopener clause, it had also renegotiated part of a contract with the city that gives its members a 3.5 percent retroactive wage increase for a contract that ran from 2004 to 2006.

The settlement, which runs to July 31, 2010, contains few surprises and follows a pattern that the city set in a contract with the police sergeants’ union. The settlement includes a 1.59 percent one-time increase for the union to spend on improving benefits.

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Note: Let's hope the 1.59% does not include the $400 "one time" increase The PBA received for their Welfare Fund/per member. Maybe the SBF will now pick-up or help "Lighten-the-Line" in paying for "Former Active Firefighters" widows/widower's first year of Health Coverage.

When a "Former Active Firefighter" dies, it is very possible that he/she is only retired for a short time, often only 5-10 years after leaving the job. (The NYC Firefighter's job has never lent itself to as many years of retirement as other City Retirees). Notably, whenever you go to a wake and see many "Active Firefighters", some in their FDNY uniforms, one would think that the deceased member was still active. Why? Because the deceased firefighter crawled down the same hallways, together, with all those "Active Firefighters", now attending his/her wake. They spent years with each other in the firehouse, and with their families at FDNY and Company functions. Now the "Active Firefighters" pay their last respects to their brother and express their sincere condolences to the family and tell them... if there’s anything we can do, just give us a call.

Well, there is something that the "Active Firefighter" can do, and I’m sure if it was brought to their attention, they would answer the call in a UFA second. I am certain not one of those truly saddened "Active Firefighters", attending their friends wake, has any idea that they are unwittingly turning their back on his/her family in their time of need. i.e. Their first year of health coverage.
The UFOA's FPP or RFPP does not provide this coverage to widows/widowers.
Thousand Points of Right - jg

PENSION CONTRIBUTIONS-NEW HIRES

Pension contributions for New Hires Must be Reinstated
(Click Here for Entire Article)

Bowing to union pressure in flush times, Pataki and lawmakers wiped out the 3% contribution from workers with more than 10 years' service.

They claimed state and city pension funds, could absorb the added costs. Then the dot-com bubble burst, and 9/11 rocked Wall Street. Taxpayers took it on the chin.

The pension tab for the city alone zoomed from $1.1 billion in 2001 to $6.3 billion this year. And now the Wall Street crash is decimating the pension funds, which will force the city to pour money into the accounts to keep them sound at a time when government will be scraping for pennies to deliver services.

Gov. Paterson and the Legislature must contain the damage by, reinstituting the contribution requirement for new hires and bring future benefits more closely in line with those available to ordinary New Yorkers.

7 YEARS OF UNION FAILURE

"Former Active Firefighters" COLA Enhancement and Health Protection

If "Hopalong Cassidy" thinks that he can convince "Former Active Firefighters", that the reason he has been hostile to them is because of ONE retiree out of 12,000, then I say... What competent leader would sacrifice the welfare of his "Active and Former Active Members" by neglecting and jeopardizing their futures due to a vindictive hatred of a single watchdog? If that's the case, "Hoppy" and his partner "Slippery" are personally responsible for willfully ignoring, for years, the only SURE WAY to protect the Retirement years of ALL FIREFIGHTERS... and that's through COLA Enhancements! Period !

Cassidy, you're a fool and the worst leader to fill the shoes of the presidency of the UFA since tve called Kevin Gallagher the worst leader in UFA history. Well, I disagree with tve as usual. The worst leader, excluding tve himself, is "Hopalong Cassidy". We don't need history to prove this... the present is Proof Enough !

"Hopalong and Slippery" were informed by me, in person, with witnesses, in Florida that they were both fools and were not only neglecting "Former Active Firefighters", but more importantly (vote wise), they were screwing their "Active Members" by focusing on 401k's, Annuities, etc., instead of enhancing the ONLY SURE monetary protection in retirement... COLA Enhancement! Period ! Neither had a clue, nor were they concerned about telling me that they would not support any COLA enhancement for "Former Active Firefighters", and they took great pleasure in saying so. What Schmucks !

While the CITY was enjoying years of an economic upturn and excess Wall Street monies after 9-11, the unions "REFUSED" to support legislation that would raise the COLA base salary of $18,000.00 and the CPI Formula. For 7 years, they have effectively screwed their "Active Members" and those who retired since 9-11... OUT OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS, EACH YEAR, IN COLA ENHANCED PENSION MONIES, simply by opposing COLA legislation.

Retirees, since 9-11, earn a well deserved pension of more than the $18,000.00, upon which the annual COLA is based. That base and the CPI formula are antiquated ! I informed Active members that they should not depend on their 401k's, Annuities, etc and that pension growth, through COLA increases, was far more important for their retiree years. Unfortunately, when you talk COLA to "Active Firefighters", they automatically think... Retirees.

It is a FACT that both the UFA and UFOA opposed any COLA enhancement, since the COLA 2000. It is also a FACT that neither union supported the COLA 2000 and it was NEVER on their Legislative agenda. It is also a FACT that when the 2000 COLA was becoming a reality, due to "Former Active City and State Workers" & State Comptroller-Carl McCall, that the unions fought against the original amount and finally came on board when it was effectively halved. Then and only then were the pictures taken in order to take credit for its passage.

Thankfully there has been a recent change in direction of the, former Pete Gorman led, UFOA. The current president, Jack McDonnell and the UFOA Board members, have now signed on to both the Cola Enhancement (too late in this economic crisis) and the Health protection Bill. (S8463). "Former Active Members" appreciate the UFOA's forward looking concern for Retiree's and Prospective Retirees' futures.
Thousand points of Right
jg - (Possibly) The "Curt Flood" of The Catastrophic Ins. Monthly Payroll Deduction.

HEALTH INSURANCE PROTECTION

Special Panel on NYPD/FDNY Retiree Health Insurance Protection Proposed
(Excerpts From September - CSREA Civil Service Sentinel)

A task force on the NYC Police and Fire Pension Fund "Retiree" Health Insurance Protection would be created by legislation introduced by Senator Martin J. Golden (R/C-Kings) The task force would be required, by the bill to report no later than June 1, 2009 to the Governor, the Majority Leader of the Senate and Speaker of the Assembly.

The 12 Member Task Force would include 4 Ex-officio members and 8 appointed members. Of these, one would be President of the Retired Police Association-NY State, one the President of the Alliance of Public Retiree Organizations-NY State, and a representative of the National NYCPD 10-13 Organizations.

"There have been long-standing inconsistencies in the treatment of Health Insurance coverage for VARIOUS groups of Public Sector Retirees", said Golden. "SOME groups have NEGOTIATED UNION CONTRACTS, which provide VARYING levels of Protection for Retirees. For nearly 15 years, RETIRED TEACHERS have been protected by an annually extended statutory moratorium on unilateral changes to their Health Insurance coverage and COSTS."

"IN MOST CASES, HOWEVER, RETIREES ARE AT RISK OF LOSING THEIR HEALTH INSURANCE COVERAGE, AND LACK ANY EFFECTIVE MEANS OF PROTECTING THEMSELVES."

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It should be noted that the PBA, UFA and UFOA have opposed this legislation for years. One of the UFA's published excuses was... The Bill would have to be approved EVERY YEAR. Duh, "Active" and Former Active Firefighters" WOULD NOT have HEART or LUNG bills if the Unions took that kind of attidude. "Former Active Firefighters & Police" should DEMAND better answers, even if State Legislation is a Duplicate (Fail Safe) coverage ! The UFOA no longer has a problem with the State Health Protection and will support the bill this year.
Thousand Points of Right - jg

FDNY MEMORIAL DAY

Wall Street Greed vs. FDNY Heart
(Click Here for Entire Article)

As they have every year for more than a century, be it a record boom time or the Great Depression or perhaps the advent of a Greater Depression, the city's firefighters gathered by the thousands to honor their dead.

The lone line-of-duty death this year was Lt. John Martinson. His wife took her son up in her arms as row after row after row of firefighters in dress uniform passed by in review; thousands of seemingly ordinary people who need only hear an alarm to become selfless souls ready to race into harm's way for complete strangers.

Down on Wall Street, where honor, courage and sacrifice are little known, people were talking about the financial crisis with words like debt and loss and risk and fear. But up at the FDNY memorial, among those who risk all dashing in while others flee in fear, there was no doubt New York will still be New York no matter how Wall Street goes.

WTC'S WALL OF SHAME

World Trade Center's 300G-a-Day Wall of Shame Hampers Plans
(Click Here for Entire Article)

The 40-foot-tall retaining wall runs north-south for 400 ft through the southeast corner of Ground Zero, where Silverstein is supposed to construct the 64 story Tower 4.

Silverstein says the 7-foot-wide steel-and-timber barrier makes it impossible for him to dig the skyscraper's foundation and impedes his access to the site.

(RELATED ARTICLE) PA: 9/11 MEMORIAL AT GROUND ZERO WON'T BE OPEN UNTIL 2012

GOLD-PLATED PENSIONS

Don't Buy City Unions' Cries

(Click Here for Entire Article)

Under the state Constitution, pensions can't be "diminished or impaired" for any current member of a public-retirement system in New York. As a result, only future employees would be covered in any new retirement "tier" offering reduced pensions or 401(k) style savings plan.

The average non-disability pension for New York City police officers, who typically retire in their early 40s, topped $32,000, according to the most recent report from their pension funds. And that doesn't include a $12,000-a-year supplement known as the "Christmas bonus," which is also available to city firefighters.

The city's contribution to its five different employee-pension funds has risen from $1.1 billion in fiscal 2001 to $6.3 billion in fiscal 2009. Needless to say, it's time to recognize the easy-money days are over - and not just for investment bankers.

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"Former Active Firefighters" must be vigilant as to the public and political attitudes concerning their well deserved pensions. The poisonous rhetoric, which is displayed above, can only lead to pressures on politicians and how they view City Employee Benefits. "Former Active Firefighters" and Police Officers must become more active and vocal in demanding State protection of their Health Benefits; a watchful eye on any movement concerning Medicare Part B Reimbursement and benefits casually referred to as the "Christmas Bonus."
Thousand Points of Right - jg

UNIONS AND PENSION FIGHT

Unions Warn of a Fight if Pensions Are Trimmed

(Click Here for Entire Article)

Some fiscal watchdog groups are pressing Mr. Bloomberg to move quickly to take deficit-cutting actions that could infuriate municipal unions, including requiring many city employees to start paying health care premiums and creating a new, less generous, fifth tier of pensions for all future city employees.

City agencies will soon make recommendations about how they hope to meet the mayor’s goal of cutting agency budgets across the board by 2.5 percent this year and 5 percent next year. That means cuts of $500 million this year and $1 billion next year. And some budget experts warn that there might be more, deeper rounds of cuts.

The mayor favors legislation to create a fifth pension tier. Under state law, the city is prohibited from reducing the pensions promised to current employees. Mr. Bloomberg’s relations with the city’s unions have improved since he stopped demanding that raises be financed by productivity-increasing concessions, most notably the teachers’ union and the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association.

City officials are bargaining intensely with the Uniformed Firefighters Association and District Council 37. That, union leaders acknowledge, has discouraged them from protesting any feared budget cuts.

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Let's hope that the PBA, UFA and UFOA's successful opposition to a State Health Protection Bill (which would have provided additional protection for "Former Active Members" by tying their Health Benefits to "Active Member's" Benefits) was in "Retirees" best interest. "Former Active Members" must trust that the unions will not place any retiree benefits on the bargaining table. If "Former Active Memnber's" Health Benefits are altered, in any way, from Active Member's" Benefits, will "Retirees" have been used as pawns, again ?

Additionally, please remember that the NY State Legislature maintains the right to Amend, Modify or Repeal the Defined Benefit (VSF) scheme. Of course, this would only be possible if the City petitioned the legislature, because the City found itself in some extreme financial position. Hmmm??
Thousand Points of Right - jg

NYC PENSIONS TO COMPANIES

NYC Pensions to Companies: Reveal Political Payouts
(Click Here for Entire Article)

Acting on behalf of New York City's Pension Funds, William C. Thompson, Jr., the city's comptroller, is asking ten of America’s biggest companies to disclose their political contributions in a report submitted to their audit committees.

The Pension Funds are asking the companies to reveal all political contributions and outlays made directly or indirectly with corporate funds to political candidates, parties, committees, and other political entities.

Thompson filed the request on behalf of the New York City Employees Retirement System; the Teacher’s Retirement System for the City of New York; the New York City Police Pension Fund; the New York City Fire Department Fund; and the New York City Board of Education Retirement System.

Patrick Doherty, director of corporate social responsibility in the comptroller's office, denied that the funds had a partisan purpose in taking the action. (Thompson is a Democrat - Bloomberg n Independent)

BLACK SUNDAY TRIAL DELAYED

Trial Over Black Sunday Blaze Delayed Again

(Click Here for Entire Article)

"Our lives changed on Jan. 23, 2005," said Cool, referring to Black Sunday. "You want to close this chapter, but it can't close until this case is finished. Every day, I look in the mirror and see the scars. I want to see justice."

Cool, Stolowski and the other two firefighters who survived the plunge, Joseph DiBernardo and Brendan Cawley, have attended the court appearances since manslaughter indictments were handed up in March 2006. So have relatives of the deceased, John Bellew and Lt. Curtis Meyran.

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BLAME FOR NO ROPES:
The following paragraph is taken from a letter sent to Chief Killen, then President of the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC), who invited the former NYC Fire Commissioner (von assen) to speak at their conference.
Thousand Points of Right - jg

"Former Deputy Commissioner Fitzpatrick was joined at the hip with Von Essen and firmly believed in Von Essen’s tactics. He was intimately involved in the withdrawal of the “Personal Harnesses and Ropes” because he believed that FDNY members did not use them frequently enough to warrant re-issuing them when their shelf life (10 years) ran out. This was in spite of the insistence of his Safety Command and Division Commanders that the harnesses and ropes were essential safety equipment. That foolish decision reared its deadly head when two members were forced to jump to their deaths in January 2005. The only qualification that warranted the elevation of Fitzpatrick from Captain to Deputy Commissioner was his unalterable loyalty to the Fire Commissioner."

Sincerely

Deputy Chief Nicholas Visconti, Division 14 Chief’s Representative (UFOA)
Battalion Chief John McDonnell Battalion 11 Chief’s Representative (UFOA)
Battalion Chief George Belanvis Battalion 1 Chief’s Representative (UFOA)

Utterly Chilling Video of Obama Freikorps

<-- <-- <-- LEFT COLUMN - BARAKTRINATION

American Thinker - Thomas Lifson

First came the disturbing video of very young children singing the praises of Obama, in the style of North Korean children hailing the transformative powers of the Dear Leader.

Now comes equally or more disturbing video of older children, this time in uniforms, marching and proclaiming that "because of Obama" they will achieve various accomplishments.

Note the chant "Alpha, Omega" with which these youths march. That reference apparently means that Obama is their god, drawing on the Book of Revelation 1: 8 in the King James Version which reads “I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last.”

NY EXEMPT INCOME PROTECTION

Paterson Signs Landmark Legislation that Protects Elderly, Disabled, Veteran, and Lower Income New Yorkers From Abusive Debt Collection
(Click Here for Entire Article)

The new law closes a loophole that has allowed debt collectors and credit card companies to use "restraining notices" to freeze the bank accounts of New Yorkers who receive income that is exempt from debt collection under federal and state law, such as Social Security, veterans benefits, disability, and pension. The law ensures the first $2,500 in an account which contains directly deposited exempt income cannot be restrained.

"This law is a victory for older New Yorkers, veterans, and all low-income consumers who are experiencing difficult times in our sagging economy." "Governor Paterson, Senator Volker, and Assemblywoman Weinstein are to be commended for their work to help those New Yorkers most in need." Effective date: 01/01/09.

EXPECTATIONS AT GROUND ZERO

WTC Owners Rewriting Expectations at Ground Zero
(Click Here for Entire Article)

The trade center site has had evolving deadlines for most of its projects. Former Gov. George E. Pataki once predicted construction of the signature Freedom Tower skyscraper would be nearly complete by 2006, two years after groundbreaking. The latest plans call for the redesigned tower to open in 2012.

Since Ward issued his initial report, the financial crisis that shut down Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch — once a candidate to move into a tower at ground zero — has imperiled the city's real estate market. Experts have said the 10 million square feet of office space destroyed on Sept. 11 will likely have to be introduced more slowly into the downtown market.

A TRUE MYCHAL MOMENT

Mychal Judge Would Have Appreciated the Surprise of Sarah Palin's Visit
(Click Here for Entire Article)

When Sarah Palin arrived in the midst of my book signing, I could hear the subject of "The Book of Mychal" laughing from on high. "My God is the God of Surprises," Fire Chaplain Mychal Judge had so often said. Those of us who loved the fallen chaplain were sure the visit had been the God of Surprises at work, a true Mychal moment. Mychal was always one for a bit of mischief.

Palin had come to see "Tribute". Her guide was Lee Ielpi, a retired firefighter of distinction who lost his firefighter son, Jonathan, on 9/11. Ielpi is also one of those who took it upon themselves to create "Tribute" while the big shots squabbled and stalled over a memorial.

Ielpi always carries a holy card bearing his son's photo and he presented it to Palin. My hosts suggested it would be fitting for me to give her a book and there I was, a liberal puke of a columnist, faced with writing an inscription for Sarah Palin.

NYC's FATE DEPENDS ON BAILOUT

New York City's Fate Depends on the Bailout Plan
(Click Here For a Very Interesting Article)

Beyond the obvious contests, there's a less-discussed duel affected by the latest news. It is one between two capitals: New York and Washington. And this time, New York may well go down, with consequences for the nation that are even broader than those caused by, say, the death of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.

A budget trap also endangeres New York's future. That trap was laid more than half a century ago. At a 1938 constitutional convention for the state, New York progressives determined that public-pension promises should never be "diminished'" -- the government couldn't renege on pensions it promised at the time of hiring.

The Crash is like a second body blow after the one on Sept. 11. The offices will empty: Lehman alone represents 4 million square feet of space: 3 million occupied and 1 million in shadow or unleased offices. The top 10 investment companies are holding 6 million square feet of underused space. The shadow number, especially, was a meter of predicted growth that wasn't happening.

In a subtle way, it is the bailout package that is the greatest threat to New York City. The Treasury plan to purchase troubled assets would effectively relocate financial-industry jobs, both clerical and management, to Washington.

HOUSE OKs $700B RESCUE BILL

The House today approved a $700 billion financial rescue bill by a 263-171 vote. The bill now goes to President Bush for final approval.

Along with provisions of the bailout that were rejected by the House on Monday, new add-ons — including a series of popular tax breaks and a provision that would raise the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. insurance for bank deposits to $250,000 from $100,000 — were credited by lawmakers and the White House for breathing new life into the measure’s prospects.

MUNICIPAL BONDS FREEZE-UP

Interest Payments Soar for Cities
(Click Here for Entire Article)

Like other credit markets, municipal bonds are nearly frozen. During the week of Sept. 22, three significant bond deals were done. Normally the tally would be about 100. Those that are getting done—like New York City's Sept. 29 deal—are high-priced. What's worse, untold dangers may lurk just beneath the forbidding surface of the muni market.

Even before the tumultuous past few weeks, many municipalities were facing fundamental problems: quickly rising pension costs, aging roads, and large drop-offs in income and real estate tax revenue. A lot of governments had moved away from safer, fixed-rate bond issues, leaving them vulnerable to a sharp rise in those rates over the past two weeks.

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE

Greenwich Time

(Click Herefor Entire Article)

The Masters of the Universe is a phrase from the book, "Bonfire of the Vanities", referring to ambitious young men who, starting with the 1980s, began racking up millions every year in performance bonuses at investment banks. American investment banking, the entire industry, sank without a trace in the last few days.

The hottest, brightest, most ambitious young men began abandoning investment banking in favor of hedge funds six years ago. Their biggest producers and future leaders were walking out on them. By last year, one member came up to another and informed him that he, like so many others recently, was leaving the Exchange for good.

Q) “What will you be doing?”
A) “I’m joining the Fire Department.”

Q) “The Fire Department? In what capacity?”
A) “I’ll be a firefighter. The pension plan is awesome.”

BLOOMY OPOSED 9/11 HEALTH BILL

9/11 Health Bill Opposed by NY Mayor is Shelved

(Click Here for Entire Article)

Congress has shelved a $10.9 billion bill to provide health care for ground zero workers, partly due to opposition from New York City officials. Mayor Michael Bloomberg objected to a provision in the bill that would have required the city to pay 10 percent of the cost of a long-term program providing health care to those sick from working amid the toxic World Trade Center debris in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks. The total cost of the 10-year health program was to be $5.1 billion. The city's share was to be $500 million. The bill also would have reopened the Sept. 11 victim compensation fund with an estimated $6 billion for those who became sick after working amid the debris.

WILL DEMS RE-SEED ANOTHER CRISIS

Re-Seeding the Housing Mess

(Click Here to Learn the Truth)

What we have here essentially are a pair of government slush funds created in July as part of the Economic Recovery Act that pump tax dollars into the coffers of low-income housing advocacy groups, such as Acorn.

Acorn, one of America's most militant left-wing "community activist groups," is spending $16 million this year to register Democrats to vote in November. In the past several years, Acorn's voter registration programs have come under investigation in Ohio, Colorado, Michigan, Missouri and Washington, while several of their employees were convicted of voter fraud. Thus, we'd be funneling more cash to the groups that helped create the lending mess in the first place.

This isn't the first time this year that Democrats have tried to route money for fixing the housing crisis into the bank accounts of these community activist groups. The housing bill passed by Congress in July also included a tax on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to raise an estimated $600 million annually in grants for these lobbying groups. When Fannie and Freddie went under, the Democrats had to find a new way to fill the pipeline flowing tax dollars into the groups' coffers. This is a crude power grab in a time of economic crisis.

DEMS GAVE AWAY MORTGAGES

They Gave Your Mortgage to a Less Qualified Minority

(Click Here for Entire Story)

Before the Democrats’ affirmative action lending policies became an embarrassment, the Los Angeles Times reported that, starting in 1992, a majority-Democratic Congress “mandated that Fannie and Freddie increase their purchases of mortgages for low-income and medium-income borrowers. Operating under that requirement, Fannie Mae, in particular, has been aggressive and creative in stimulating minority gains."

Under Clinton, the entire federal government put massive pressure on banks to grant more mortgages to the poor and minorities. Clinton's secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Andrew Cuomo, investigated Fannie Mae for racial discrimination and proposed that 50 percent of Fannie Mae's and Freddie Mac's portfolio be made up of loans to low- to moderate-income borrowers by the year 2001.

Threatening lawsuits, Clinton's Federal Reserve demanded that banks treat welfare payments and unemployment benefits as valid income sources to qualify for a mortgage. That isn't a joke -- it's a fact.

ROY HAS A MATCH !

9-11 Firefighter Roy Chelsen Has Found a Match !

Hello Everyone,

We received great news!!!!! ROY HAS A MATCH!!!! We are elated:) !!!!!! We want to thank everyone who worked so hard to make this moment a reality. Roy is presently in the hospital receiving another round of heavy duty chemo to bring his IGM numbers (cancer load) down to a more managable level in preparation for the transplant. We do not know anything about the donor, only that he/she is a 100% match and was given 3 dates in October to choose to donate the stem cells. And most importantly, he/she is WILLING and ABLE!!! What an extraordinary person... to give the gift of life. Roy is fighting hard to work through this Kick your Butt Chemo.... He does NOT like to lose.... thank GOD for that. Keep those prayers a comin'....
Take good care, Luv Trish

PALIN'S PARENTS HELPED 9/11 RECOVERY

Palin’s Parents Helped With 9/11 Recovery Effort
(Click Here for Entire Article)

Gov. Sarah Palin visited ground zero today, and said that her parents had come to New York after 9/11 to help with the recovery effort. Her parents, Chuck and Sally Heath, worked at Fresh Kills landfill in Staten Island to keep sea gulls and rats from scavenging. “A lot of people just didn’t like the job, it was kind of a morbid thing,” he said of the work at the Staten Island landfill. “But I thought it was part of history.” He said they worked alongside detectives and firefighters and enjoyed “rubbing elbows” with them and hearing their stories.

FDNY FF REMEMBERS 9/11

FDNY Firefighter Bobby Senn Remembers 9-11 From Ground Zero
(Click Here for Entire Article)

Within minutes, the names started circulating of who was missing. Radios were calling for help. Some of the toughest guys I’ve ever met in the world were crying in the street. We were all looking for an answer, an answer to the question of what just happened. Quickly the questions became, ‘Who is in there?’ And ‘Let’s go back in there and get them.’

SCRANTON: KEY TO ELECTION

Hot Topic: What do they think in Scranton?
(Click Here for Entire Article)

The crowd had gathered to see the candidate, but Lester Holt, a reporter for NBC's "Today," was in Scranton on Monday morning to see the crowd. After reporting live from the sidewalk in front of the Scranton Cultural Center, he rolled a segment about the city's voters that noted "Scranton, population 75,000, is suddenly the center of the political universe" and that its residents "might also decide who's best to lead the free world."

9/11 MEMORIAL TO OPEN 2011

New Plan Sees 9/11 Memorial Open by 2011
(Click Here for Entire Article)

The officials now say that the authority, which is overseeing the rebuilding effort, can have most elements of the memorial — a broad landscaped plaza, waterfalls that flow into two underground chambers where the twin towers stood, and parapet walls lined with the names of those killed in the attacks in 2001 and in 1993 — completed by August 2011. This is possible in part because of a new, simplified design for a vast transit mezzanine that would sit beneath the northeast corner of the memorial plaza.

CITY ELEVATOR FAILURE RATES

High Failure Rates Found in City Elevator Inspections

(Click Here for Entire Article)

The study found that hundreds of elevators at the city’s 343 public housing complexes have failed thousands of inspections since January 2004. One of the worst failure rates was at the Polo Grounds Towers in Manhattan, where elevators failed all of the 75 inspections in that period, the study found.

Elevators at two complexes in East Harlem — the Clinton Houses and the Wagner Houses — passed almost none of their inspections. The Clinton Houses failed 73 of 74 inspections, and the Wagner Houses failed 144 of 148.

The study, which will be released Friday, is based on data from the city Buildings Department’s Web site, nyc.gov/html/dob/, which provides details about elevator inspections at Housing Authority buildings. It looked only at routine inspections, which are performed by Housing Authority inspectors and occasionally by private contractors. It did not look at more thorough two-year and five-year inspections, and not those done by the Buildings Department.

PENSION FUNDS & GLOBAL WARMING POLITICS

Public Employee Pensions Endangered by State Officials Playing Global Warming Politics, New Report Says

(Click Here for Entire Article)

A substantial minority of state and pension fund administrators (15 states and local governments managing about $1.21 Trillion in assets or 45% of all actuarial assets of state and local pension funds) are actively promoting regulation that is likely to adversely impact their portfolios and beneficiaries. These states and local governments include: California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York City, New York State, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.

NY CITY PENSION FUNDS LOSE

NYC Pension Funds Lose on Lehman, AIG
(Click Here for Entire Article)

The burden of covering any losses will ultimately fall to taxpayers, since the government is obligated to make up for shortfalls in pension earnings in order to protect retirees. The pension system thus risks becoming a liability just when the city is expecting decreased revenues as a result of the financial crisis. Experts and city officials said that if investment returns do not improve in the coming year budget planners will have to make some tough choices.

New York's last financial plan, which was released in May, projected a 0% rate of return for the pension funds in the 2008 fiscal year. Since the pension system instead shrank by 5.4%, the city will have to make several billion dollars in unexpected contributions to the funds. The payments will spread out over six years to minimize immediate shock to the budget.

The city is also falling victim to retiree benefit sweeteners that were signed into law several years ago, when the economy was strong. Irrespective of the performance last year, the city's annual contribution to the pension system will have nearly doubled between fiscal years 2005-09, when it will owe about $6.1B.

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If "Former Active Firefighters", Police and other Former NY City Workers don't act now and become UNITED in OUR DUTY to protect OUR benefits, WE may see Medicare Part B Reimbursement and Health Benefits, which WE worked so hard to secure, go the way of the EMU. Please don't think that ANYONE ELSE is going to fight for YOU !
Thousand Points of Right jg

ISLANDERS HOLD BONE MARROW DRIVE

Staten Islanders Hold Bone Marrow Drive For Ill Firefighter
(Click Here for Entire Article)

Working out of Engine Company 28 in Manhattan, firefighter Roy Chelsen was one of the first people on scene at the World Trade Center on September 11th, 2001. Now he's fighting to save his own life.

Three years ago, Chelsen was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, an aggressive bone marrow cancer. His family says he needs a transplant to survive.

Those who were not able to make it out to the drive are still encouraged to join the bone marrow registry, as the odds of finding an exact match for anyone in need of bone marrow are slim. For more information about the bone marrow donor registry, call 1-718-797-7850, extension 2.

OBAMA AD HITS RUSH LIMBAUGH

Obama Ad Hits Rush Limbaugh
(Click Here for Entire Article)

<- <- <- <- See "THE GUY FROM BOSTON" - Left Column

The ads, airing in Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico, also suggest McCain has "dos caras" — "two faces" — when it comes to his relations with Latino voters.

"They want us to forget the insults we've put up with, the intolerance," the television ad's announcer says in Spanish as a picture of Rush Limbaugh appears onscreen with quotes of him saying, "Mexicans are stupid and unqualified" and "Shut your mouth or get out."

"They made us feel marginalized in a country we love so much," the ad continues in a translation provided by The Washington Post. "John McCain and his Republican friends have two faces. One that says lies just to get our vote and another, even worse, that continues the failed policies of George Bush that put special interests ahead of working families."

"Don't forget that John McCain abandoned us rather than confront the leaders of the Republican Party. Many of us were born here, and others came to work and achieve a better life for their families — not to commit crimes or drain the system like many of John McCain's friends claim. Let's not be fooled by political tricks from John McCain and the Republicans. Vote so they respect us. Vote for a change."

OBAMA'S STEALTH SOCIALISM

Barack Obama's Stealth Socialism
(Click Here for Entire IBD Article)

Election '08: Before friendly audiences, Barack Obama speaks passionately about something called "economic justice." He uses the term obliquely, though, speaking in code - socialist code.

During his NAACP speech, Sen. Obama repeated the term at least four times. "I've been working my entire adult life to help build an America where economic justice is being served." And as president, "we'll ensure that economic justice is served," he asserted. "That's what this election is about."

In his latest memoir he shares that he'd like to "recast" the welfare net that FDR and LBJ cast while rolling back what he derisively calls the "winner-take-all" market economy that Ronald Reagan reignited (with record gains in living standards for all).

A careful reading of Obama's first memoir, "Dreams From My Father," reveals that his childhood mentor up to age 18 — a man he cryptically refers to as "Frank" — was none other than the late communist Frank Marshall Davis, who fled Chicago after the FBI and Congress opened investigations into his "subversive," "un-American activities."

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The above Investor's Business Daily Article is a Must Read, if you truly want to know who Barack Hussein Obama realy is ! jg

SERVING NEW YORK CITY'S FINEST

Serving The Finest
(Click Here for NYPD Pension Information)

Welcome to the New York City Police Pension Fund Web site, our continuing effort to provide superior service to our 36,000 active members and 43,000 retired members of New York’s Finest. Since being established in 1857 as the "Police Life and Health Insurance Fund" the Police Pension Fund continues to provide the highest professional standard of service to our members. Our Web site provides this standard with easy access to information concerning all your pension needs. A host of general information can be found on this site regarding benefits, recent pension legislation, agency contacts, and a frequently asked questions section. We hope that you find the information and services provided on this site to be useful and we are proud to be "Serving the Finest."

NYC RUNNING ON EMPTY

Running on Empty
(Click Here for Entire Article)

The city budget is now essentially running on surplus fumes from the 2003-07 boom. The projected fiscal 2010 budget gap of $2.3 billion may be manageable - if it doesn't grow bigger. But after that, the gap more than doubles.

As Bloomberg noted yesterday, "city expenses, once ratcheted up, are very, very difficult to bring down," because most of the money is committed to city employees under long-term contracts.

Thanks to the recent round of labor settlements between the mayor and municipal unions, wages and salaries for city employees are set to rise by nearly 12 percent, or about $2.5 billion, over the next two years. Pension costs will grow 13 percent, or nearly $1 billion. (When Bloomberg took office, the city's pension contribution was $1.1 billion; by 2012, it's projected to hit $8.2 billion.)

CITY PENSION FUNDS SAFE

City Comptroller Insists Pension Funds Safe
(Click Here for Entire Article)

During a joint appearance this afternoon with Mayor Bloomberg, city Comptroller Bill Thompson echoed the mayor's "don't panic" approach, assuring New Yorkers that Lehman Brothers' bankruptcy has not put a significant dent in the city's pension fund.

While calling this a "sad and stunning day," Thompson stressed that pensions of some 640,000 city retirees, beneficiaries and employees is "safe and secure."

The pension owns a number of Lehman Brothers securities - 2 million shares of common stock worth about $15 million, to be exact. But that's a "very small" and "miniscule" percentage of the $104 billion fund.

"New York City funds are healthy and ready for the trying times that are no doubt ahead," Thompson said.

PUBLIC EMPLOYEE RETIREE BENEFITS

Taxpayers Are Being Hosed on Retiree Benefits for Public Employees
(Click Here for Entire Article)

Sure, labor fights every attempt to reduce benefits, whether straight pension payouts or ancillary items, such as health care. What's troubling is that legislators covet the campaign contributions the unions dangle more than they do saving money for taxpayers.

And it's big money, too. Retiree health benefits are the fastest-growing component of state and local governments' annual budgets for health care. The bill for retirees is now 40 percent of the total. Unfunded liabilities for state and local retiree health care could be as high as $125 billion.

But state lawmakers continue to cave. This year, the unions pushed through a moratorium on any change to retiree health benefits without a union sign-off. That's not negotiation. That's hardball politics, and the taxpayer lost.

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Of Course, The UFA & UFOA Have Refused to Support This Legislation. Stating That "Former Active Members" are Protected by The NYC Administrative Code. The Question Remains... Why Would Both Unions Be Against the additonal NYS Legislative Protection ?? Hmmm??

Thousand Points of Right jg

ALL ROADS LEAD TO HOPE...ARKANSAS

Andrew Cuomo and Fannie and Freddie
(Click Here for Entire Article)

Andrew Cuomo, the youngest Housing and Urban Development secretary in history, made a series of decisions between 1997 and 2001 that gave birth to the country's current crisis. He took actions that—in combination with many other factors—helped plunge Fannie and Freddie into the subprime markets without putting in place the means to monitor their increasingly risky investments. He turned the Federal Housing Administration mortgage program into a sweetheart lender with sky-high loan ceilings and no money down, and he legalized what a federal judge has branded "kickbacks" to brokers that have fueled the sale of overpriced and unsupportable loans.

ORGANIZER IN CHIEF

Barack's Controversial "Roots"
(Click Here for Entire Article... A Must Read)

Barack Obama represents the first appearance in a presidential race of a rela tively new political type: the community organizer. What the heck is a community organizer, where do these folks get their money - and why are they so controversial?

The roots of community organizing stretch back to the 1930s and the efforts of organizer Saul Alinsky to organize people in low-income areas into a political force to combat the political machine that ran Chicago. Alinsky won many admirers on the Left, but it took President Lyndon Johnson's War On Poverty to supercharge community organizing by directing billions of federal dollars to neighborhood groups with the naive and ambiguous goal of "empowering" communities.

Thousands of groups - eventually, 3,000 in New York City alone - arose to snatch government money. One startling sign of the growth: Today, New York now has more jobs at social-service agencies, most funded with government money, than on Wall Street.

SCUMBAG LIBERAL BILL MAHER

Maher Mocks Palin's Down Syndrome Child

(Click Here for Article)

Comedian Bill Maher cracked a tasteless “joke” involving Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s Down syndrome child — and referred to the Alaska governor as a “stewardess.”

In the monologue of his most recent HBO show, Maher noted that Palin has five children including an infant “that has Down syndrome. She had it when she was 43 years old. And it looks a lot like John Edwards.”

He also said: “McCain has been running this campaign based on ‘we’re at war. I, John McCain, am the only one standing between the bloodthirsty al-Qaidas and you. But if I die, the stewardess can handle it.’”

THE CHRISTIAN REGENHARD CENTER

NYC Research Center Named After 9/11 Firefighter
(Click Here for Entire Article)

The Christian Regenhard Center for Emergency Response Studies officially launches Sept. 4th at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. It is named for a 28-year-old probationary firefighter who perished in the attacks.

"For the Regenhard family, this center will carry on Christian's legacy," said his mother, Sally Regenhard, founder and chairwoman of the Skyscraper Safety Campaign. "Through the work of its dedicated faculty, this center will honor all first responders who lost their lives as a result of 9/11 and can help to ensure the safety of all responders in the future."

Studies at the center will not only dissect large-scale responses to past disasters, but also research any possible future threats, such as a major earthquake on the West Coast.

FITCH RATES NYC'S BONDS

Fitch Rates NYC's $790MM GOs 'AA-'; Outlook Stable
(Click Here for Entire Article)

The city's credit strength is based on the breadth of the economy, high income levels, and exceptional budget management and controls, including a consistently demonstrated ability and resolve to close budget gaps.

Pensions are well funded. The city has created a trust to begin to offset its $57.8 billion retiree health care benefits (OPEB) liability (as of June 30, 2007). Deposits to the trust are irrevocable. Essentially all pay-as-you-go (PAYGO) funding of retiree health care flows through the trust. In addition to the PAYGO amount, the city deposited $1 billion into the trust in fiscal 2006 and an additional $1.5 billion in fiscal 2007.

LASTING EFFECTS OF 9/11

Lasting Effects of 9/11
(Click Here for Entire Article)

Those who lead the support of this legislation are Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney, Congressman Jerrold Nadler, and Congressman Vito Fossella. They introduced the 9/11 Health & Compensation Act to the US Congress (H.R. 3543; updated version H.R. 6594). If passed, this act would ensure:

•That every person exposed to the toxins of Ground Zero has a right to be medically monitored.

•That every person who is sick as a result of exposure has a right to treatment.

•That care is expanded to the entire exposed community, including residents, area workers, students, and the thousands of people who came from across the country in response to the 9/11 attacks.

•That the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund would be reopened and expanded to provide further compensation for economic loss and damages.

•Continued funding and support of the ‘Centers of Excellence’ (the FDNY, Mt. Sinai Hospital, Belleview Hospital, Queens College, SUNY Stony Brook and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey) which currently provide monitoring, support and care to First Responders.

•The establishment of a Research and Support program by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services for the diagnosis and treatment of WTC-related conditions and diseases. Maloney and supporters hope that this passes by the seventh anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

SOUND FAMILIAR ?

SEIU- Pledge Gives 85 Million to DNC

The SEIU has pledged $85 million to Democratic campaigns this year.

In 2006, the SEIU National Industry Pension Plan, a plan for the rank-and-file members, covering 100,787 workers, was 75% funded.

In contrast, a separate fund for the union's own employees, numbering 1,305, participants was 91% funded. Even better, the pension fund for SEIU officers and employees, which had 6,595 members, was 103% funded.

They do not take sufficient care in negotiating adequate employer contributions for the rank-and-file plan, with the result that these plans are underfunded.

The SEIU trumpets its efforts to secure health and retirement benefits for service workers. Unfortunately, it is becoming clear that the SEIU is not truly securing these benefits.

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NOTE: With 2 million members, the SEIU is the fastest-growing union in North America and the second largest public employee union. jg

FDNY "CAN-DO ATTITUDE"

Within Harsh Report on Fatal Fire, a Nod to Firefighters’ ‘Can-Do Attitude’
(Click Here for Entire Article)

The report said the firefighters’ risky actions embodied a culture of positive thinking. “The ‘can-do attitude’ has enabled the F.D.N.Y. to protect life and property at a superior level of excellence since the Fire Department’s inception,” it states.

Glenn P. Corbett, an associate professor of fire science at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, said city firefighters were known for fearlessness and innovation. Each fire is unique, he said. Conditions can change in a heartbeat. But a question remains: When is it appropriate to deviate from standard operating procedures?

“There is a balance between advocating unsafe or inappropriate actions under normal circumstances versus a situation where extraordinary effort, experience, creativity, innovation, taking higher risks and pushing equipment beyond its limits is necessary,” said Professor Corbett.

“When someone is dying, firefighters are going to push themselves to the limit,” he said. Sometimes that can get firefighters into trouble. But they invariably show up.

URGES FULL HOMELAND SECURITY $$

Candidate Urges City Get Full Homeland Security $$
(Click Here for Entire Article)

Former state Assemblyman Bob Straniere, the conservative Republican candidate for the 13th District, said he would sponsor legislation, if necessary, to provide direct funding of federal Homeland Security dollars to New York City, "based on a threat-based formula with no pass-through to the state." Straniere also lauded a new contract with the city that substantially boosts pay and benefits for the NYPD, but believes the city could do even more with additional federal dollars.

"This will undoubtedly bring more resources to the New York Police and Fire departments and will help ensure the safety of our citizens."

Based on a formula created by state and federal lawmakers, Washington, D.C., sends Homeland Security grants to the state, which takes a 20 percent cut and gives the remaining 80 percent to the city.

Straniere also said he would continue to fight for money for Sept. 11 health initiatives, including long-term care for those who worked in and around Ground Zero.

WTC 7 - NO EXPLOSIVES

World Trade Centre Bldg 7 Not Destroyed By Explosives: US Study

(Click Here for Entire Article)

After the World Trade Centre's North Tower fell at 10.29am, debris sparked fires at building seven, which was 370 feet (112.8 metres) south of the fallen tower.

Heat from uncontrolled fires caused thermal expansion of steel beams, according to the report. When the beams expanded, they pushed supportive beams and damaged flooring surrounding columns.

Finally, a support column identified as No 79 buckled, triggering an "upward progression of floor system failure," according to the report.

The federal government allotted $16m to investigate the fall of the Twin Towers and building seven.

TAPES CAPTURE DEUTSCHE CONFUSION

Fire Dept. Tapes Capture Confusion of ’07 Bank Fire
(Click Here for Entire Article)

Graffagnino’s father stated, “There was so many maydays that they could not differentiate one mayday from another,” he said. He said that several systems “fell apart,” and that he hoped the Manhattan district attorney’s office, which is conducting a criminal inquiry, would eventually apportion blame.

One former city fire official, who did not want to be identified because of the sensitivity of the situation, said the details of much of what went wrong at the fire indicated that lessons from Sept. 11, 2001, had not been fully learned.

On that day when 343 members of the department died, radios had failed and discipline had broken down.

“Are firefighters and civilians safer now than they were then?” the former official asked. “My gut feeling is, I don’t think so, and they should be.”

TO PBA DELEGATES & MEMBERS

To All Delegates & Members

(Click Here for for Specific Provisions of Contract)

I am pleased to inform you that we have a tentative agreement for the contract covering August 1, 2006 to July 31, 2010.

We have achieved a package of benefits valued by the PBA at well in excess of 20%. Salary will increase at every step of the schedule by a compounded 16.98% bringing our total basic maximum pay in the contract’s last year to $76,488. Considering other forms of pay (including longevity, holiday pay, night differential and uniform allowance) our average monetary compensation after 20 years will rise to over $94,000.

As part of this agreement, we have negotiated a historic provision that links longevity pay and the city’s contribution to the health and welfare fund to all future general wage increases. For the first time in this great union’s history, your longevity pay and the city’s contribution to the health and welfare fund will automatically increase by the same percentage as the general wage increase. As a result, your longevity pay will grow exponentially while providing for the fiscal stability of our welfare benefits package for active and retired officers for years to come. Prior to this agreement, longevity pay and the city’s contribution to the welfare fund did not increase along with general wage increases and had to be negotiated separately in each round often remaining static.

Fraternally,
Patrick J. LynchPresident

UFA'S SBF RSBF UFOA'S FPP RFPP

Let's Keep a Close Watch on Any UFA/UFOA Contract Re-Negotiations

In the proposed PBA contract a lump sum of $400 is awarded from 8/01/06 - 7/31/08. If I recall correctly, the PBA elected to forgo, in a past contract, an increase to their Active & Former Active Welfare Funds, in order to increase Active Members salaries or other contract enhancements. If so, that should mean the PBA was receiving less, yearly, into their funds.

If so, let's make sure that the UFA, in renegotiating their current contract, exponentially increases Firefighter's Security Benefit Fund payments, in order to maintain any previous contract ratio differences between the PBA's Welfare Fund and the UFA's SBF & RSBF.

I cannot speak to the UFOA's totals, or ratio to the UFA's RSBF, as the UFOA "USED" $100 from their Retiree's Family Protection Plan (RFPP), in a past contract, to fund Active Lt's. pay or longevity increases. The UFOA used some different calculations to explain away the Active Lt's increase but the fact remained that the RFPP lost a $100 increase to their welfare plans. I don't know if they ever contracted to undue that injustice, but it reflected a $600,000 per/year loss to the RFPP.

Thousand Points of Right - jg

MAYOR SATISFIED W/FDNY MGMT

Mayor Says He's 'Satisfied' With Fire Management

(Click Here for Entire Article)

There were problems with the firefighters' radio communications. A number of maydays were made before previous ones had been responded to, in violation of guidelines, which added to the confusion. The report also found that some firefighters' walkie-talkies malfunctioned; it recommended that firefighters receive training in emergency radio communication.

FDNY: RADIO TRAINING NEEDED

FDNY: Radio Training Needed After Deadly WTC Fire

(Click Here for AP Article)

WNBC.COM

A 176 page report says New York City firefighters made more than 30 distress calls from inside a burning ground zero skyscraper where two firefighters lost their lives, but not all of them were heard.

The Fire Department of New York recommends training in radio communication and the use of firefighters' air tanks in a report on the Aug. 18, 2007, blaze at the former Deutsche Bank tower across from the World Trade Center.

A department official says the 14 maydays and 19 urgent distress signals were sent from firefighters climbing stairs in a maze of hazards such as blocked stairwells and negative air pressure.

The report is to be released Thursday. It doesn't explain why the fire department hadn't inspected the partially dismantled building in over a year.

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FDNY Probe Finds Series of Big Failures Led to Deutsche Horror
(Click Here for Daily News Article & Photos)

14 "Maydays" and 19 "Urgents" - a distress call considered slightly less grave than a "Mayday" - were issued at the blaze. It was unclear how much time elapsed before officers were able to make out where the firefighters were located. Some walkie-talkies failed, forcing one firefighter to crawl to the building's edge to call for help. He survived.

Beddia's air tank had about five minutes of oxygen remaining when he was located on the building's 14th floor. Graffagnino's was empty.

The fire raged for more than an hour before firefighters were able to get water on the blaze; construction workers waited nearly 13 minutes before reporting the fire - believed to have been started by a discarded cigarette. It took FDNY units 67 minutes to get access to water because of a severed standpipe in the basement.

The FDNY's failure to do inspections every 15 days meant firefighters were unaware of the broken standpipe and other safety hazards like sealed stairwells and busted sprinklers.

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Because there was a tremendous amount more radio traffic on 9/11/01, is it safe to assume, 8 years later, that these new radios would have been even less effective at Ground Zero than they were at the Deutsche Bank catastrophe ??? jg

GRIM ANNIVERSARY... DEUTSCHE

On a Grim Anniversary, Firefighters Are Honored
(Click Here for Entire Article)

Sweat beaded on the foreheads of men in dress blue uniforms, some in blue hats and others in white ones. Sniffles were heard as a clergyman spoke.

People stood shoulder to shoulder in a musty room where firefighters’ coats and helmets were arrayed on hooks in one corner. All around them in the SoHo firehouse, the faces of the dead looked back from the cinder-block walls.

There were photos of three men from the firehouse who were lost after they became trapped in a burning apartment on Watts Street in March 1994. There were 11 photos marking the firehouse’s toll on Sept. 11, 2001.

The newest photos on the wall were of Firefighters Joseph Graffagnino, 33, and Robert Beddia, 53, both of whom died on Aug. 18, 2007, in a fire at the former Deutsche Bank buil