United States News
See other United States News Articles
Title: Budget Cuts Force Calif. Police And Firemen To Watch Man Drown
Source:
RAWSTORY
URL Source: http://www.rawstory.com/rawreplay/2 ... -man-drown-due-to-budget-cuts/
Published: Jun 1, 2011
Author: Stephen C. Webster
Post Date: 2011-06-01 15:54:24 by Brian S
Keywords: None
Views: 150544
Comments: 179
Police and firemen in Alameda, California watched a man drown on Monday after realizing they did not have proper certifications for water rescue, leaving them open to possible lawsuits if they attempted to save him. The drowning victim, 53-year-old Raymond Zack, was apparently suicidal, according to a report from the scene. He waded out about 150 yards into cold waters off Crown Beach in Alameda and took about an hour to drown himself. A crowd of about 75 gathered to watch the bizarre scene, which saw police and firemen just standing at shoreline watching helplessly. After the man had drowned, authorities couldn’t even go into the surf to retrieve the body. They instead recruited a passer-by for the job. City officials reportedly blamed the incident on budget cuts and said they would have a discussion about why Alameda, an island city, does not have proper authorization to rescue people from the waters surrounding it. This video is from ABC 7 in San Francisco, Calif., broadcast May 30, 2011.
Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
Comments (1-3) not displayed.
.
.
.
#4. To: Godwinson (#2)
You are an extraordinarily unimaginative person -- the kind of Soviet citizen who couldn't comprehend how cars would exist if government didn't build them.
I am an American who comprehends the govt built the modern roads/highway system allowing me to drive everywhere thanks to taxing the rich at 90% to do it in the 1950s under Eisenhower and his Republicans.
"Keep Your Goddamn Government Hands Off My Medicare!" - Various Tea Party signs.
There isn't a single person in America who has ever paid 90% of their income in taxes. The average amount of taxes paid by Americans after WWII was 18% of their income. The average amount of taxes paid by the wealthiest 400 people was 26% of their income. The 90% rate came with plenty of deductions to lower the actual tax burden to 26%, but you aren't smart enough to understand this.
Sort of like the private hospitals that were dumping their patients on skid row.
It is our responsibility to protect that child once that child’s born too. When we start debating a budget, let’s make sure we don’t cut 100,000 vaccines. Let’s make sure we’ve got health insurance. We seem to worship what we cannot see, but as soon as that baby’s born, oh no, we don’t want to be intrusive. Texas is going to shrink government until it fits inside a women’s uterus. Senator Leticia Van de Putte
That's a Bowery Boys movie, right? From the 1930s. LOL. When I was in high school in Michigan in 1976 I had to do a speech in social studies class. Mine was on why we should privatize trash collection. Everyone, especially the teacher, went berserk. NO ONE will PAY... TRASH will PILE UP in the streets... RATS WILL BE EVERYWHERE!!!!! Today, I live in Washington State where I have to directly pay a private company to pick up my trash. People DO pay. Trash is NOT piling up in the streets. Rats are NOT everywhere. In fact, private trash companies are 6 times more efficient than their government counterparts. 6 times. The people in my high school class were such unimaginative people that they simply didn't have the mental bandwidth to understand how something could be both different and better. You are one of those people.
who cares - if someone can't afford to save themselves then they should die, right?
"Thats because your basically and idiot." Right, and folks should have to pay if they want service. Remember that house that was allowed to burn down because the guy hadn't paid his dues? That's the kind of country we should strive to live in. Collapse in the street, haven't paid your fire/rescue dues, tough luck. Just carry the leeches out to the trash. Show up at an emergency room. Aren't insured? Too bad, go out on the street. Elderly and can't afford you care? Life sucks, and it's time for you to die. Have a child with severe birth defects that you can't afford to care for? Sucks to be you, put them out in the trash. That, my friends is the conservative vision for america.
"Thats because your basically and idiot." What a rant. Were huge numbers of old people dying in the streets before Medicare and Medicaid? No they weren't. Were people's houses just allowed to burn down when virtually all fire departments were voluntary fire departments? No they weren't. Your version of America is akin to an incompetent version of the SOVIET Union where... 15 government bureacrats get to make life and death decisions for all 310 million of us. Government bureacrats get to keep lifelong jobs even though they are destroying our kid's futures in the government monopoly schools. On and on... No thanks. In a free society, the overwhelming majority of people will take responsibility for themselves and their family members. Government has destroyed that. It has to be restored -- not by government force and not by government incentive programs. Rather by eliminating most of the government and allowing people to regain their sense of humanity.
It shouldn't take proper certification to pull someone out of the water, lame-o. Only someone with no contact with reality will see this as the fault of limited government, Destro.
war has to do something for entertainment. The voices in his head aren't speaking to him and his imaginary friends have found reasons not to come over anymore.
Why should govt taxes be spent on that? In your ideal world of the kook right there is no govt rescuing people.
"Keep Your Goddamn Government Hands Off My Medicare!" - Various Tea Party signs.
Really? USSR and not Finland? Germany? I guess your ideal version of the USA is Somalia - no govt and no gun control.
"Keep Your Goddamn Government Hands Off My Medicare!" - Various Tea Party signs.
Its not the government's job to save people, comrade. The role of government in this country is to provide for defense, establish trade and maintain infrastructure. Go back to Havana, Raoul.
war has to do something for entertainment. The voices in his head aren't speaking to him and his imaginary friends have found reasons not to come over anymore.
Does this rule have any basis in reality or are you just making it up? Note that I'm not saying that government does a better job than private industry; I just wonder where you get your figures from.
No, Destro, that's your idea of an ideal country. That's why you and your communist cell support the Kenyan illegal immigrant.
war has to do something for entertainment. The voices in his head aren't speaking to him and his imaginary friends have found reasons not to come over anymore.
Then what is your problem, retard? That is exactly what I said. The man died in accordance to small govt ideology. In the ideal world of the right wing kook the govt is not saving people. rud, you walked right into that.
"Keep Your Goddamn Government Hands Off My Medicare!" - Various Tea Party signs.
Rudy walks into so many things he must have permanent black eyes.
I guess your ideal version of the USA is Somalia No, Destro, that's your idea of an ideal country. That's why you and your communist cell support the Kenyan illegal immigrant. Where the white women at?
"Keep Your Goddamn Government Hands Off My Medicare!" - Various Tea Party signs.
I love how Rudgear got upset when I said small govt ideology means the govt does not rescue people then on his next post said its not the govt's job to rescue people. I mean you can't nail a fool better than with his own words. Thanks, stupid rud.
"Keep Your Goddamn Government Hands Off My Medicare!" - Various Tea Party signs.
Stop arguing both sides of the street, puke. You are a sickening excuse for a human being, Destro. Why don't you disappear along with your friends you have to call in to help you not lose so huge.
war has to do something for entertainment. The voices in his head aren't speaking to him and his imaginary friends have found reasons not to come over anymore.
Playing the race card doesn't work with me, commie. It's the last resort for losers like you. Fuck off, Destro.
war has to do something for entertainment. The voices in his head aren't speaking to him and his imaginary friends have found reasons not to come over anymore.
You are such a liar, Destro. You are for complete government control.
war has to do something for entertainment. The voices in his head aren't speaking to him and his imaginary friends have found reasons not to come over anymore.
LOL! You mean stop making you look stupid with your own words? Too funny.
"Keep Your Goddamn Government Hands Off My Medicare!" - Various Tea Party signs.
You have nothing left but the ultimate fall back position of a losing commie: accuse others of doing what you do. Destro, you are such a pathetic loser.
war has to do something for entertainment. The voices in his head aren't speaking to him and his imaginary friends have found reasons not to come over anymore.
You are the losers that let a Kenyan become president....LOL!
"Keep Your Goddamn Government Hands Off My Medicare!" - Various Tea Party signs.
Limited govt means you are on your own when drowining. Republican values 101. Deny it. I dare you.
"Keep Your Goddamn Government Hands Off My Medicare!" - Various Tea Party signs.
Would you have to show proof of purchase first? Of all the Kook ideas you have this one is tops. Police, Fire and Rescue are all legitimate government functions and the Framers thought so as well.
America...My Kind Of Place... "I truly am not that concerned about [bin Laden]..." That's known as the Sarah Palin defense.
Still assuming, dummy? I'm not surprised you follow Destro, no questions asked. Good little 'Independent' dummy, aren't you?
war has to do something for entertainment. The voices in his head aren't speaking to him and his imaginary friends have found reasons not to come over anymore.
Assuming what Rudy? That you're an idiot? You prove that every time you post.
More nonsense from you. What a surprise. My area has both private ambulance services and private trash collection. Other areas have private fire departments. The vast majority provide better services at lower costs than government monopolies. Sure, you can find an exception, but I can sit here and post horror stories all day long about how the government monopoly schools are destroying our kid's future. These are not exceptions. This is the norm. Which is the problem.
Ok, 'Independent'. Whatever you say, free thinker who pukes the DNC line, post after post.
war has to do something for entertainment. The voices in his head aren't speaking to him and his imaginary friends have found reasons not to come over anymore.
There are endless studies going back decades, plus people's personal experiences including mine. No matter what I post, you are too narrow minded to believe it, so go do your own research or shut up.
I'm asking you to back up your "research". Sorry that you can't do it, but I'm not surprised.
Are there no private schools where you live?
It is our responsibility to protect that child once that child’s born too. When we start debating a budget, let’s make sure we don’t cut 100,000 vaccines. Let’s make sure we’ve got health insurance. We seem to worship what we cannot see, but as soon as that baby’s born, oh no, we don’t want to be intrusive. Texas is going to shrink government until it fits inside a women’s uterus. Senator Leticia Van de Putte
You're just being polite.
It is our responsibility to protect that child once that child’s born too. When we start debating a budget, let’s make sure we don’t cut 100,000 vaccines. Let’s make sure we’ve got health insurance. We seem to worship what we cannot see, but as soon as that baby’s born, oh no, we don’t want to be intrusive. Texas is going to shrink government until it fits inside a women’s uterus. Senator Leticia Van de Putte
Here's what privatized firefighting looked like: In 1736 young Benjamin Franklin, already one of the most influential men in Pennsylvania, began urging readers of his "Pennsylvanian Gazette" to establish fire-fighting companies. Soon, six volunteer corps were established in Philadelphia. In 1752, insurance companies in the colonies began issuing plaques, or "fire marks," to be prominently displayed on building fronts as an incentive for volunteer fire fighters to save their insured buildings. These fire marks are extremely rare these days as most of them were made of lead and were melted to make ammunition for the Revolutionary War. With bonuses offered as incentives, rivalries ensued between groups. Marked homes and businesses were brawled over, while residences on the same street, with no fire mark, often burned to the ground. http://www.afirepro.com/history.html
It is our responsibility to protect that child once that child’s born too. When we start debating a budget, let’s make sure we don’t cut 100,000 vaccines. Let’s make sure we’ve got health insurance. We seem to worship what we cannot see, but as soon as that baby’s born, oh no, we don’t want to be intrusive. Texas is going to shrink government until it fits inside a women’s uterus. Senator Leticia Van de Putte
right, we're all much better off when private companies make life and death decisions. We're all better off say when insurance companies get to rescind policies or deny coverage for those who become unprofitable.
"Thats because your basically and idiot." You seem to be completely oblivious to the 'reason' why Medicare was created. It was created because families routinely went broke, seniors routinely lived in poverty, and died as a result of the costs of healthcare.
"Thats because your basically and idiot." I guess your ideal version of the USA is Somalia - no govt and no gun control. Jwpegler seems to get confused a lot, a few weeks ago he touted the superiority of Germany's approach to dealing with the economy and he's often touted Singapore's universal healthcare program as one the U.S. should emulate. He also praises countries who spend lots of government money on mass transit.
"Thats because your basically and idiot." Sounds like his account has been hacked just like yukons.
Budget cuts didn't cause this.
Comments (45 - 179) not displayed.
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/LatestKook Eric
"Everything that can be invented has been invented."-- Charles Duell, Commissioner of US Patent Office, 1899
#5. To: jwpegler (#4)
the kind of Soviet citizen who couldn't comprehend how cars would exist if government didn't build them.
#6. To: Godwinson (#5)
(Edited)
taxing the rich at 90%
"Everything that can be invented has been invented."-- Charles Duell, Commissioner of US Patent Office, 1899
#7. To: jwpegler (#3)
Here's the real headline: Government bureaucrats allow their customer to die.
#8. To: lucysmom (#7)
(Edited)
skid row
"Everything that can be invented has been invented."-- Charles Duell, Commissioner of US Patent Office, 1899
#9. To: Brian S (#0)
Badeye posted on 2011-04-29 10:30:22 ET
#10. To: jwpegler (#3)
Fire and rescue services can and should be privatized. There are many private rescue / ambulance services in the country and even some private fire services.
Badeye posted on 2011-04-29 10:30:22 ET
#11. To: go65, capitalist eric (#10)
(Edited)
yada, yada, yada....
"Everything that can be invented has been invented."-- Charles Duell, Commissioner of US Patent Office, 1899
#12. To: Godwinson (#2)
#13. To: Rudgear (#12)
It shouldn't take proper certification to pull someone out of the water, lame-o.
#14. To: jwpegler, go65, capitalist eric (#11)
Your version of America is akin to an incompetent version of the SOVIET Union where...
#15. To: Godwinson (#13)
#16. To: jwpegler (#3)
As a general rule, they do twice as good a job (using very measurable statistics) at half the cost of government services.
#17. To: Godwinson (#14)
I guess your ideal version of the USA is Somalia
#18. To: Rudgear, Skip Intro, go65 (#15)
Its not the government's job to save people, comrade.
#19. To: Godwinson (#18)
rud, you walked right into that.
#20. To: Rudgear (#17)
#21. To: Skip Intro, Rudgear (#19)
(Edited)
#22. To: Godwinson (#18)
#23. To: Godwinson (#20)
#24. To: Godwinson (#21)
#25. To: Rudgear (#22)
Stop arguing both sides of the street, puke
#26. To: Godwinson (#25)
#27. To: Rudgear (#23)
Playing the race card doesn't work with me, commie. It's the last resort for losers like you. Fuck off, Destro.
#28. To: Rudgear (#26)
#29. To: jwpegler (#3)
Fire and rescue services can and should be privatized.
--GW Bush
#30. To: Godwinson (#25)
LOL! You mean stop making you look stupid with your own words? Too funny.
#31. To: Skip Intro (#30)
#32. To: Rudgear (#31)
Still assuming, dummy?
#33. To: war (#29)
(Edited)
"Everything that can be invented has been invented."-- Charles Duell, Commissioner of US Patent Office, 1899
#34. To: Skip Intro (#32)
#35. To: Skip Intro (#16)
"Everything that can be invented has been invented."-- Charles Duell, Commissioner of US Patent Office, 1899
#36. To: jwpegler (#35)
No matter what I post, you are too narrow minded to believe it, so go do your own research or shut up.
#37. To: jwpegler (#11)
Government bureacrats get to keep lifelong jobs even though they are destroying our kid's futures in the government monopoly schools.
#38. To: Skip Intro (#16)
I just wonder where you get your figures from.
#39. To: jwpegler (#3)
As a general rule, they do twice as good a job (using very measurable statistics) at half the cost of government services. In other words, they are 4 times better. Same with trash collection.
#40. To: jwpegler (#11)
15 government bureacrats get to make life and death decisions for all 310 million of us.
Badeye posted on 2011-04-29 10:30:22 ET
#41. To: jwpegler (#11)
Were huge numbers of old people dying in the streets before Medicare and Medicaid? No they weren't.
Badeye posted on 2011-04-29 10:30:22 ET
#42. To: Godwinson (#14)
Really? USSR and not Finland? Germany?
Badeye posted on 2011-04-29 10:30:22 ET
#43. To: go65 (#42)
Jwpegler seems to get confused a lot, a few weeks ago he touted the superiority of Germany's approach to dealing with the economy and he's often touted Singapore's universal healthcare program as one the U.S. should emulate. He also praises countries who spend lots of government money on mass transit.
#44. To: Brian S (#0)
.
.
.
[Home] [Headlines] [Latest Articles] [Latest Comments] [Post] [Mail] [Sign-in] [Setup] [Help] [Register]