Two Firefighters Murdered in Idaho

the last thing I worry about when we roll up to a scene is getting ambushed.

I have my SCBA and bunker gear on, Halligan bar in hand. ready to go,

The AR and body armor/kevlar helmet are still at home. For a different scene.
Reminds me of when CHP escorted firefighters in LA during the Rodney King riots.
 
There is no doubt that in many cases, the old system of mental asylums was terrible.
But we don't have to repeat those horrors. Returning to that system isn't the only alternative.
We could - and should - implement a much better system to care for these folks whose mental illness makes them incapable of caring for themselves.
The current approach of turning them out on the street to fend for themselves isn't the answer.
We're seeing the fallout of that approach day in and day out in our urban and suburban areas all across the country. IMO, the results are equally horrifying.
BUT, it doesn't have to be an either-or-proposition. We can do better than either extreme end of that spectrum. In a country as rich as ours, we have the means to provide compassionate care for the mentally ill.
We don't have to choose between leaving them to fend for themselves OR putting them into a hellish gulag environment.
We can do better. It just requires that we the people muster the collective will to put the pressure on those in power to do it.
At least that is the way I see it.
Agree 100% with what I have highlighted, but there is a bijou snag. Who pays for it? America is not financially or culturally prepared to pay for other people's healthcare, mental or otherwise. Recall the attitude of most US employers: getting sick is YOUR fault. The idea that being sick occasionally is just a normal part of life doesn't fit the control culture here.
 
I have never heard a single employer say anything even close to that. Where did you hear that?
I see that you are in the upper-midwest. Yes, to be fair, I know from wife#1's extended family in Iowa that the employer/worker relationship is more relaxed than what we often see out West. It can get VERY hard-nosed corporate in a heartbeat out here, with Vegas employers being some of the worst.

What I described re getting sick I witnessed with a defense contractor, and it's not an uncommon comment in the hospitality industry here.

Then there are the ways the employers here can get stupid about your days off. First was a casino worker buddy who went up to Brian Head, Utah, for some snowboarding on an off day. About mid-morning his cellphone rings. Boss says, "Somebody has called out, I need you to come in and cover his shift."

My buddy, "I'd love to, but I'm in Brian Head at the moment, so even if I set off now, the shift will be half done before I get there."

Boss, "And who said you could leave town? We'll discuss this when next you're here."

My buddy thought his boss was joking. He wasn't.

Then there was my coworker's wife who had a part-time job at Pandora. They had scheduled her for four days off, so the couple decided to drive over to the Santa Barbara area to visit their son for a couple of days. Somewhere west of Bakersfield (about 300 miles from Vegas) her boss calls.

Boss, "Hi, _______ decided to quit, so I need you to come in."

My friend, "Sorry, no can do. We are past Bakersfield to stay with our son, and we have made other arrangements for the next couple of days."

Boss, clearly through clenched teeth, "But I need you to come to work."

Friend, "Sorry, no can do."

She got written up for being uncooperative and "insubordinate". Absolutely ridiculous, especially the "insubordinate" bit. This was a jewelry store, My friend was not required to cover a screen at NORAD and she certainly wasn't in the military. Throwing "insubordinate" at someone in a civilian job is a power trip that gets all the lols it deserves.
 
So; contracting is a hardball world. Depending on the type of contractor you are in your contract, no work means no pay.

An example: a CT investigator training foreign nationals in a place where you cannot go to your post without a protective services detail and in a B6 (armored) vehicle gets overheated working outside in 95 degree heat with 70% humidity. He passes out, and can't be medically cleared to go back to work (because there are no US-licensed or trained doctors in the entire country) until he can travel to a neighboring country at his expense, seek out and get cleared by a US-certified physician. This means tests where health insurance doesn't exist, then paying a return flight once the physician issues a clearance, corporate agrees, and the customer agrees.

There are no sick leave days and there is no employer-provided workman's comp. You either work and invoice or you aren't working and not invoicing.

Never think large employers everywhere wouldn't prefer this system.
 
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I have never heard a single employer say anything even close to that. Where did you hear that?
Are…are you new to America?

Bro, our entire country is literally designed so that misfortune is the primary fault of whoever it’s happening to. We literally make a national sport out of refusing to pay for basic healthcare or food for everyone. Right now, our government is actively trying to find more ways to cut what efforts we do have to help people avoid misery.
 
Are…are you new to America?

Bro, our entire country is literally designed so that misfortune is the primary fault of whoever it’s happening to. We literally make a national sport out of refusing to pay for basic healthcare or food for everyone. Right now, our government is actively trying to find more ways to cut what efforts we do have to help people avoid misery.

NO.

America is a nation founded on personal liberty and private property, and with that goes personal responsibility. YOU are responsible for your own well being. Characterizing misfortune as someone's "fault" is absurd. And there is no such thing as right to "basic healthcare". I am in no way indebted to you in such a way that it's moral to take money from me by force (taxes) to pay for services that you want or need. No doctor/medical professional is a slave such that they should be forced to provide their labor for free.

We are, however, a charitable culture and have enacted laws to provide public funds for "general welfare". Many would argue that the very existence of 'public payment' and private insurance are the reason our medical system is completely broken. And the scale of waste and theft of those funds are just starting to be known. Because once you start to give anything away, the takers are going to line up to demand ever more of it.
 
I knew a slew of people who either went to the beach, were too hungover to come to work, who had tee times, etc etc.

Best one was two guys I knew who called in sick and went to a Mets playoff game. Unfortunately for them they wound up on the back page of The NY Post jumping into the air with beers in hand.What were the odds of that?

I retired with well over 200 sick days.

Those evil employers ya know.
 
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After spending almost 10 years in the Public Defenders office in Cincinnati Ohio, I learned more than I ever. wanted to know about the weak spots in the public health system. Shutting down confined mental health facilities was not the best way to cure the horrible problems of dealing with severe mental illness.
Much of what really goes on today involves the kindness of law enforcement officers who bring these lost souls into emergency hospital receiving or sometimes into the overnight lock up to get them out of immediate danger due to their health, bad weather, or being in a bad place. And this activity is not at a low risk to officers themselves. These victims of their own minds smell bad and behave worse, and if they are self medicating on alcohol, the police cruiser is going to need a cleaning.
Cops often do more than we think they do. Thanks!
 
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