you know there is one forgotten firefighter

in the new haven firefighter's lawsuit. i didn't know about lt. vargas until i just read this. either way or any way you look at it, he has one wicked tough road to follow. it appears he is following his heart and mind which is all fine by me (my position on the lawsuit, which of course i've stated before is, GO FOR IT. i would fight discrimination, racial or ANY kind with all i have. however, i also want those that deserve the job to GET the job. if a test is stilted one way, it certainly would be unfair and should be tossed out. if a test is fair and only a few pass, well then they should indeed get the rewards. i haven't seen the test, i don't know what it contains. )



For Hispanic Firefighter in New Haven Bias Suit, Awkward Position but Firm Resolve
By A. G. SULZBERGER
NEW HAVEN — The two dozen firefighters who packed into Humphrey’s East Restaurant were celebrating a coming marriage, drinking and jawboning in the boisterous style of large men with risky jobs, but Lt. Ben Vargas spent the evening trying to escape the tension surrounding his presence.

During a trip to the bathroom, he found himself facing another man. Without warning, the first punch landed. When Lieutenant Vargas awoke, bloodied and splayed on the grimy floor, he was taken to the hospital.

Lieutenant Vargas believes the attack, five years ago, was orchestrated by a black firefighter in retaliation for his having joined a racial discrimination lawsuit against the city over its tossing out of an exam for promotion that few minority firefighters passed. (No arrests were made in the attack, and the black firefighter vigorously denies having been involved.)..............

pic: Christopher Capozziello for The New York Times

Lt. Ben Vargas, with 17 white firefighters, won a case before the Supreme Court contending that New Haven had shown discrimination by throwing out a test for promotion.

well on the one hand

unlike (allegedly) what the neighbors didn't do for kitty genovese these teens actually DID something. unfortunately it was NOT a woman getting beaten up. the good news is it appears the man who was beaten was released from the hospital the same day

i'm torn here. people ABSOLUTELY MUST be aware of what is going on around them. if someone, ANYONE, a woman, a child, an elderly person or even a grown man is getting slammed, CALL THE POLICE IMMEDIATELY. don't wait. DO SOMETHING

note: if it's noisy sex, BUT OUT (so to speak)


Police: Noisy Sex Leads To Beating, Arrests
Associated Press
TORRINGTON - Police in Connecticut say they arrested four teenagers who misunderstood a woman's screams and beat a 25-year-old man who was having sex with her in her bedroom.

The teens were arraigned Wednesday in Bantam Superior Court on assault and conspiracy charges in the June 6 beating in Torrington. They were arrested Tuesday.

Police say a 16-year-old girl who lives in the home overheard the man and the 34-year-old woman, and got four friends to stop what she thought was an attack............

congratulations to john phillips who will be the new

west hartford director of public works. i DO have an ulterior motive for saying that though. i have been (as well as a few others i know of) calling the town of west hartford to get a burned out street light replaced on asylum avenue. i have personally been calling for well over two years. YES OVER TWO YEARS (more like 3 or 4 i think). why is it bothering me so much? well i'll tell you. the burned out light in question is right near one of those effing stupid and effing dangerous and effing ridiculous lovely traffic islands on asylum. they should be lit up as much as possible to avoid MORE accidents than they've already caused. soooooooooooooooooooooooo mr phillips how about fixing that burned out light on asylum?

years is way too long to wait to replace a light. and tell whoever answers the phone when we call to stop lying. they always say it's on the list and they'll get to it. must be an awfully big effing list if that light has been on it for over 2 years.

(p.s. seriously though, i'm happy mr phillips got the job. i am glad they promoted from within)

U.S. Navy Veteran Named West Hartford Director Of Public Works

By BILL LEUKHARDT
WEST HARTFORD — - John Phillips, a U.S. Navy veteran hired in 1996 as a public works laborer, will be the new director of public works.

Phillips, the public works department's municipal parking manager since 2004, will replace Dana Hallenbeck, who will retire July 18 to start a new career as an ordained Lutheran minister.

"It was a difficult decision, because we had excellent applicants," interim Town Manager Ron Van Winkle said Monday. "John is an incredible hard-working person and has done a great job as parking operations manager."

The town recruited from within and had seven applicants. The pay range for the director's job is $65,000 to $119,000 a year. Van Winkle said Monday that he has not yet met with Phillips to set a salary.

Phillips, 38, said Monday that he looks forward to the challenge of running the department that maintains roads, supervises trash collection, cuts grass and, in Van Winkle's words, "basically [are] the ones who take care of the town."..........

here is my take on things

and i've said it countless times. i do NOT care what gender you are. i do NOT care what color you are. i do NOT care who you sleep with (a willing adult of course). i only care if you can DO THE JOB. you can be a 4'11" 1/4 mongolian, 1/4 black, 1/8 white, 1/8 hispanic, 1/4 native american lesbian who is a practicing jain. i don't care. if you're capable of saving me from a fire, you got the job baby! i don't think one group of people should be shunned at the expense of another group of people. if there is a way to make things equal, they should be equal.

i have not seen the firefighters test that is in question here. i have no idea if it is geared toward one race or not. i do know it seems like one group of people WERE in fact discriminated against here. those are the ones that scored well on the exam.

oh and in case you can't tell. i am IN NO WAY CONSERVATIVE and i sort of agree with the outcome here.

Court Rules For White New Haven Firefighters Over Promotions

Supreme Court Firefighter Opinion reverses a decision that U.S. Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor endorsed

By EDMUND H. MAHONY The Hartford Courant
The U.S. Supreme Court today ruled in favor of 20 New Haven firefighters who claim in a reverse discrimination case that they were denied promotion for racial reasons.

The 5-4 opinion reverses a decision that high court nominee Sonia Sotomayor endorsed as an appeals court judge.

It could alter employment practices across the country, limiting the circumstances in which employers can be held liable for personnel decisions that touch upon race when there is no evidence of intentional discrimination.

Representatives of both the firefighters and the city are expected to address the decision this afternoon.

The suit, Ricci v DeStefano, turned on an apparent contradiction in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which concerns employment discrimination. The law flatly prohibits race-based discrimination. But it also requires employers to scrap tests that produce "disparate" results among test-takers of different races – unless the employer can prove the test is necessary.

It was apparent from questions by the justices during oral argument on April 22 that philosophical disagreement about racial preference in hiring magnified the divide between the court's conservative and liberal blocs........