Department of Justice "Supporting" dead police and fire fighters!

A recent article spoke of a law designed to give fire fighters and police "federal death benefits" if they died of heart attacks or stroks in the line of duty. There was a clause in the law about "strenuous activity". It seems our Precious Department of (iin)Justice (DOJ) is going out of their way to find ways to deny these claims.

I copied part of the article and present it here in the spirit of fair usage (also, I couldn't find the article after I copied this portion...)

In Kansas, 44-year-old volunteer firefighter Cordell "Cory" French died of a heart attack on Aug. 28, 2004, in the small town of Towanda, east of Wichita. His wife, Kelly, said he had been carrying hoses during a training exercise in the high school parking lot that morning, then collapsed at home that afternoon. She said the Justice Department told her last week that her claim was denied, because his work was "non-strenuous activity."

Here is a draft of a letter I wrote the DOJ spokesman:

21 March 2007

Sandra Gunn
c/o Justice Department
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530-0001

Dear Ms. Gunn,

An internet article called "Safety officers denied on-duty death benefits" discussed how a Kansas firefighter (Cordell "Cory" French) died of a heart attack after carrying fire hoses ("hose drills") one morning. The DOJ adjudicators said "his work was 'non-strenuous activity'" when they rejected his widow's claim.

I found "hose drills" to be strenuous when I was a 19 year old Navy Recruit in November 1970. I am curious if those people who turned down Mrs. French's claim would still feel the same about "hose drills" if they spent an hour or two actually doing "hose drills"?

I strongly recommend you have these "decision makers" do those "hose drills" for an hour or two. How can you judge if an activity is "non-strenuous" if you don't have personal experience of that activity?

Sincerely,

me name

I left the following out for the simple reason I din't want to give the DOJ overt reason to fart off me request; they will anyway...

I realize it is a waste of time to challenge those adjudicators to partake in a "hose drill" as they will probably regard it as illrevelant and probably aren't in good enough shape for the drill.

First Anniversary of My Mother's Death...

It is just sinking in that this is the first anniversary of my Mother's Death. It really feels sad and wierd; I'd better check my email to see if my brothers have written me.

Ann Coulter and "faggot"

"I was going to have a few comments about John Edwards, but these days you have to go into rehab if you say the word 'faggot'."

-- Ann Coulter, speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference

Doesn't she realize that for a lot of men simply accusing a man of being gay is enough to damn a politician as being gay and that is an absolute career killer for a politician.

"'Faggot' isn't offensive to gays; it has nothing to do with gays."

-- Ann Coulter ("Doonsbury" on Slate 8 March 2007)

I've lived in several "sections" of the US of A and served in the US Navy with men and women from a number of places in the US of A. Contrary to what dear, Dear, DEAR Ann may say, "foggot doesn't just mean "a burning stick", it means homosexual. Here is a definition:

From "TheFreeDictionary", the definition of "faggot" is:

fag·got 2 (fgt), n. Offensive Slang
Used as a disparaging term for a homosexual man.

You'd think a lawyer would know this!

If a Democrat tried tap dancing his/her way out of a faux fax like this then dear, Dear, DEAR Ann or Oxycontin Rush would tear them new assholes!

Relions of the World...

                   Religions of the World

            TAOISM:  "Shit happens."
          HINDUISM:  "This shit has happened before."
      CONFUCIANISM:  Confucius say, "Shit happens."
          BUDDHISM:  "If shit happens, it isn't really shit."
               ZEN:  "What is the sound of shit happening."
 JEHOVAH'S WITNESS:  Knock, Knock. "Shit happens."
           ATHEISM:  "There is no shit."
       AGNOSTICISM:  "I don't know whether shit happens."
     PROTESTANTISM:  "Shit won't happen if I work harder."
       CATHOLICISM:  "If shit happens, I deserved it."
           JUDAISM:  "Why does shit always happen to us?"