Never-Ending Afghanistan We may have gone to war in Afghanistan in 2001 to destroy Bin Laden and al Qaeda, but yesterday’s deadly attack on a military hospital in Kabul which killed 30 and wounded 50, was staged by ISIS, our newest enemy there. Our actual “enemy of note” isn’t even ISIS but rather the Taliban, who […]

Camelot’s Court: Inside the Kennedy White House “He can’t do that to me.” Such was JFK’s response when he was told at 8am, while still in bed in pajamas, reading the morning papers, about the missiles in Castro’s Cuba. He, of course, was Nikita Khrushchev, Soviet Premier and Kennedy’s chief antagonist. Kennedy’s exclamation underscores how […]

From Tom Brewer, IAFF Local 660 President   I am the president of Local 660 in Charlotte, NC. At our July Business Meeting the membership of our local voted unanimously to support Resolution 10. If it takes a floor fight to get this resolution we will stand with those who stand for what is right. […]

Facebook Debates If my local is any indicator the two hot topics of discussion these days are Resolution 10 on ethics and the vice president’s very hefty pay raise. The comments are fast and furious. The other night a fellow said, in part, “I don’t care what size house the boss lives in, I’m thankful […]

Something to Hide? Many will know that a special committee of the IAFF executive board met recently in closed session along with an ethics attorney to review some of General President Harold Schaitberger’s ethical conflicts. The special committee apparently developed a written report that was then discussed by the full executive board also in a […]

Lion Apparel and the IAFF’s Nicholas Del Re Three months ago I wrote of the IAFF’s fatal mistake of engaging in a financial relationship with health and safety product manufacturers. Harold Schaitberger’s decision to take their money for advertising, including from Lion Apparel,  was not only proof of his manic deal making, it also destroyed […]

The Cover-up Continues, But With a Twist The IAFF executive board met a few weeks ago here in Washington, DC. The Sunday evening they arrived, a “special committee” met in closed session with Larry Gold, an outside ethics attorney retained to probe General President Harold Schaitberger’s conflict-of-interest deals. Alas, it was a thinly veiled cover-up […]

The Comments Over the past few months I have posted a number of articles on the anemic ethics of IAFF leaders.  Along the way, a number of people have written their own views.  Below is a sample. Darren Bates: Bates was denied his union rights, and both betrayed and humiliated by IAFF General President Harold […]

$56,000 in One Year at Just Five Restaurants The median salary for a North American firefighter is about $45,000 a year.  Tack on some overtime if you are lucky and then add on a second job and with some luck you might push that income up to $56,000. That’s the amount IAFF leaders spent at […]

Over 1,000 Signal Approval of Convention Resolution General President Schaitberger purchased a million dollar second home from a principal at SF&C Insurance Associates, a firm that does substantial business with the IAFF. Such a purchase is a text book example of conflict of interest where someone’s judgement can be clouded by their private interests or […]