seko the Virgin spake, and sayeth

LOL .. beautiful article

November 11th, 2006

john mcdonald the Virgin hunt n' pecked this

Chris, hate to bring you down with some facts on the settlement. Below is a reply I sent to another enlightened blogger:

Jennifer,

Just read your Tennie Pierce posting. Such insight for someone only twenty!

Now for some ?context? on the settlement not covered in TV blurbs or on KFI. We?ll start with the press release from Mr. Pierce?s lawyers. You were probably too busy scanning Alpo photos onto your blog to actually do some ?reporting,? so here goes:

It turns out a few months prior to the dog-food incident, one of the ?participants? directed some particularly nasty language towards another black firefighter. Use your imagination here. As a Latina, Jennifer, I?m sure you?ve had a few racist words thrown your way. Make you feel all gooey inside? Here?s where the whole ?context? thing starts to take shape. Maybe that firefighter with the big vocabulary didn?t like black folks to start with.

So one day Tennie Pierce comes in from a long shift, he sits down to eat, and suddenly all his co-workers are laughing at him. Oh, and at the time, Pierce just happens to be the only black working at the station.

Jump back to 1994.

Ring a bell, Jennifer? Granted, you were eight at the time and there were Beanie Babies to consider, but that was the year the LA City Council released an audit citing ? among other things - racism and sexism running rampant on the LAFD. Pretty much you name the ?ism? and the Department had it covered.

There was outrage, a call for reform, promises of swift and thorough changes by the Department. And then something like eleven years passed.

This past January yet another audit report was released on the LAFD. In it, City Controller Laura Chick basically said nothing had changed and all those pesky little ?isms? still remained. Boring stuff, really, unless of course you?re a fireman. Also included in the report was the statistic that 87% of African-American respondents had either ?experienced or had direct knowledge of racial discrimination on the job.? Now sure, Jennifer, that number sounds high. But the other way to look at it, I suppose, is that 13% of blacks didn?t have an issue, and we?ve got to start somewhere, right?

Point three: the LAFD found that the participants and supervisors engaged in a ?collective attempt? to cover-up the dog-food incident. Kind of a biggie, that one, so I?ll say it once more with feeling: the LA Fire Department came to that conclusion, Jennifer, not the LA City Council. Notice the distinction? City Council, elected by the taxpayers, merely acted on the facts that were presented to them.

Lastly, there?s the notion of the incident?s long-term effects on Mr. Pierce - and its aftermath - and the pattern of destructive behavior within the LAFD that fostered them.

Dennis Zine, the Council?s lone dissenter, states that there is no visible damage to Tennie Pierce, no physical harm we can see. I?ll admit a lost limb or lazy eye is much easier to quantify in terms of dollars and cents than, say, psychological damage. But does Zine have a point here? He did serve thirty-plus years on the LAPD, an institution long-noted for its sensitivity and valor. There are hours of video footage to prove it.

Instead, let?s consult someone in the medical field. I know, I know, that darn ?context? word again.

Sure, we could cite the UCSC professor?s testimony on the ?prank?s? long-term psychological harm. We could delve into the history of racism, bring up slavery, and how really really inconvenient the idea of integration was ? and still is ? to some people in this country.

Seriously, though. Yaaaaawn! Why not ask you, Jennifer? You?re the one studying Developmental Psychology. Surely you?ve heard of PTSD. Wait, you?re not a Tom Cruise fan, are you? Anyway, experts like you apply it to all sorts of charming situations: women mistaken for punching bags, ungrateful war vets, whiners toiling under touchy-feely bosses.

And so assuming a person is blessed enough to fit into one of these or maybe a few hundred other categories, how exactly would that toxicity manifest itself? Internally, I mean. Forget the easy-out of a limp or stuttering or a wheelchair.

Would it keep you up at night? When you do sleep, would it give you nightmares? Make you short with people? Less trusting? Someone who grew up here in LA and dreamed of becoming a firefighter so he could actually make a difference in the world and suddenly now that same man ? all six-foot-five of him, the former football star ? he hates to leave the house?

Imagine for a moment co-workers barking at you. Over and over again, day after day. To your face, behind you back, in front of supervisors, even. Supervisors that play along with the ?joke? and prefer to sweep the whole thing under the rug. It?s all there in the testimony, Jennifer.

This is all fun and games, right? Get a sense of humor. So you find the occasional can of dog-food in the back of your truck. So what if people bring the incident up in front of your twelve-year-old daughter and she wonders why they call you ?Dog-food Boy.? Can?t you take a joke? You?re a firefighter, you?re a hero. Relax. Trust these guys, they?re your brothers.

It?s not like your life is in their hands.

John McDonald

November 13th, 2006

Reuben Quezada the Virgin scribbled

McDonald….What medication are are taking? The Big Dog was a self assigned nick name….he himself engaged in degrading pranks against whites and there is photo evidence to support this. These firefighters pull pranks on each other and Tennie has pulled them himself over the past 20 years…..where’s the boohoo from these big toddlers? Check the photos yourself on johnandkenshow.com - PULEEZ! Nearly 3M for this! Someone quick, feed me some Alpo!

November 13th, 2006

Trouble the Pirate mentioned

I’m more interested in seeing pic’s of Christine in a skimpy squaw costume… Complete with war-paint, bow & arrow…

November 14th, 2006

john mcdonald the Virgin remarked

first, to the people who actually post their real names (both of you), thanks. says just a little bit more when you’re willing to take a stand on something.

and reuben - assuming that’s your real name and not your favorite deli sandwich - to answer your question: no, i’m not on medication.

apparently we’ve got a lot of tom crusie fans out there. no way we can bring up PTSD and all that messy stuff. i like the pics, too. they’re roughly 16-18 years old. and at 38 now, i can tell you i definitely had a lot more play in me 18 years ago.

i wonder, though, if people are allowed to change their views on things?

i’m white, and let me tell, you this world is a great place for a white guy.

i wonder, though, if i were black or female or asian or gay - reuben, believe it or not, i’m straight, too - i wonder if i’d see things a little bit differently than a white person. like maybe subtle racism in what would otherwise be everyday behavior. do people treat me differently because i have an accent?

and what if - after 20 years on the job - what i thought was funny and harmless isn’t quite so today. for the sake of argument, gang.

and reuben: go easy on “john and ken.” not exactly, genuises.

November 14th, 2006

Trouble the Pirate commented

john, it took me a little time [I?m not working with the sharpest tool here? :-?] to deduce that your opening statement kinda appears to be some sort of unwarranted ?high brow? attack upon my person? However, since you do post your ?real name? [albeit sans hyperlink], and you were able to effectively correlate Ruben?s name with the sandwich of the same moniker, I am convinced you are a real intelligent person and hence I will have to defer to your opinion?

Momma always said, ?It?s real hard to balance whilst perched on a tall soapbox??

Therefore, I?m going to stay out of this one [my vertigo is acting up anyways?] and simply state for the record:

1) Trouble IS my real name, least that?s what ?they? tell me?
2) I most DEFINATELY take a stand on my statement about Christine [?if that is her real name?] in a squaw costume? Christine…

November 14th, 2006

Trouble the Pirate up'n wrote this

Sorry Reuben… I just realised I mizpelted your name in my last comment.

Christine… You just officially ruined my day… But I’m sure you’ll think of a way to make it up to me… Does this also mean you can’t open your own casino? o

November 14th, 2006

FLOWERS the Virgin up'n wrote this

MYSELF AND MY CHILDREN ARE BEING HAZED AND HARRASSED DAILY BY LAFD FOR MORE THAN TWO YEARS AND IT,S BECOME A DEADLY GAME . I WANT OUT !

December 22nd, 2006

Reuben Quezada the Virgin scribbled

Hmmmm, Christine the Lioness speaks with straight tonque. Re: Adult men hazing and pranking…..it’s a guy thing, like hunting, fishing or fixing things. We are “hard wired” for this frivolous activity. Trying to eliminate this trait from men would be like asking a guy to go shopping for shoes with you and until evolution deems it fit to eliminate this trait, we are stuck with it for another 10,000 years or so.

I think that “racism” is a “created” abberation in society. I think it started long ago by those vested in the slave trade. You have to make a race “inferior” to justify casting them into a slave role. What a crime! Want proof? Put two little kids, one black and one white, say age 5. Let em play. Let em grow up as friends and you know what? They won’t look at each other as black or white but just friends. They will play and play and never even mention the ugly words associated with white or black people…..No, racism is created and society will eliminate it eventually but my main point is this: If a person has the desire and drive to succeed (Oprah? Cosby? Ice-T, et al) they make it. I once met a young black investment banker, 33 years old, his income was 33K/month! Yes, per month. I know, I did the loan for him when he bought his 2.1M home near Brentwood, Calif. How many people can say that they earn that much? Oprah - $55M annual income….Hmmm.

That’s my vent and I still disagree with the Tennie award for eating a bit of dog food.

February 18th, 2008

Reuben Quezada the Virgin remarked

Ok, I confess, I’m a die hard romantic with a strong streak of waxing philosophic! I guess I am an idealist. Wishing things were better while knowing they are not! I guess every improvement in our society begins with us, as individuals (see, here I go again) taking steps towards and for an ideal society.

February 19th, 2008