Get Off My Lawn! - The Mad Ramblings of a Gen X-er
"This is the true story of a Gen X-er picked to do a podcast and give his personal views on Pop Culture, Politics, Sports, News and more, So find out what happens when people stop being polite and start getting real. - ‘Get Of My Lawn’ As we grow into an ever changing world and new Generations are born, only one stays the same with their distain for all others - ‘Gen X’. We survived riding bikes without helmets, No cell phones, understanding you go home when the street lights go on. We lived through Hair Metal and watched the birth of Grunge. We witnessed ‘Two’ Bush’s become President (That’s what she said.) and the First African American take office. We watched in horror as the Towers fell and rejoiced at the Socialize Digital Age. (‘The Internet’ - Sorry Al you didn’t invent it.)But all in all, We lived our lives with the understanding that playing it safe is not the way to go through your existence. As the world is facing more turmoil than we have every seen before and as we witness a clear division of our Society a voice of ‘reason’ and ‘sanity’ needs to be heard. To bad that ain’t me … Hear me ramble daily about everything from Pop Culture, Politics, Sports, News and more and get the clear as ‘Mud’ perspective of this Rambling Gen X-er. Enjoy!
Get Off My Lawn! - The Mad Ramblings of a Gen X-er
Did DEI Finally Turn Deadly? The Crash of American Airlines Flight 5342.
Can increased diversity, equity, and inclusion policies compromise public safety? We dive into this complex and controversial issue by examining the impact of DEI guidelines on hiring practices in critical sectors like aviation and firefighting. With a focus on a tragic incident involving American Airlines and a Black Hawk helicopter near Washington, we question whether the FAA's commitment to inclusivity, including hiring individuals with disabilities, might compromise safety. Through a personal recounting of the demanding physical tests required for aspiring firefighters, we highlight potential risks that may arise if standards are lowered in the name of diversity. Our discussion also touches on media biases and political shifts, scrutinizing how national security concerns are addressed by different administrations, and reflecting on former President Trump's remarks about DEI.
Explore with us as we tackle the pressures faced by air traffic controllers at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, questioning if the FAA’s diversity-focused hiring practices are setting us up for failure in high-stress environments. We also consider parallels with initiatives from New York City's fire department, contemplating whether such policies truly prioritize competence. The episode navigates through the political landscape, contrasting past and present leadership while emphasizing the importance of truth and transparency in media narratives. We aim to foster a candid dialogue on these critical issues, ensuring that the safety and effectiveness of vital public services are never compromised.
#DEI #Flight5342 #News
What you just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to. It is now dumber for having listened to it. You don't know what that ought is, mr Trash, I'd show you, but I'm too old, I'm too tired, I'm too fucking blind. If I were the man I was five years ago.
Speaker 2:I'd take a flamethrower to this place. Do you understand the words that are coming out of my mouth? You want answers. I think I'm entitled. You want answers. I want the truth. You can't handle the truth. Sometimes the truth is a very inconvenient thing, but, as always, the truth can always be free. This is Tim. It's going to find law.
Speaker 2:In the background, we need to talk about that tragedy over Washington. Over Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, an American Airlines flight 53-43, colliding with the Black Hawk helicopter. President Trump got in trouble a little bit or raised the ire of the left because of the fact that he pontificated the fact that maybe DEI had something to do with this crash. And if you take a look at the entirety of the situation, and I do think one thing needs to be clear. And I do think I think one thing needs to be clear when, when, when, people hear DEI, the first thing they think about is the fact that when Trump speaks about, that is the fact that he's talking about race, he's talking about gender, but it's so much more. And the FAA literally went through a spectrum of of hiring or potential hirings to fill, to fill DEI policies. But it wasn't just about race and gender. It was about hiring people with disabilities, hiring people with drug issues, hiring people that are handicapped. They were even potentially hiring people that were paralyzed, and this was all pontificated by the director of the FAA former director of the FAA in one of his training videos or one of his recruitment videos. So it wasn't just about going out and finding, you know, the best candidate available, because finding the best candidate available usually is the best way to hire. And it's one of those things that I go back to what happened years ago in New York City. New York City had a DEI policy put into place where they needed to hire more female minority firefighters and there was a big push for this. But the problem was the candidates that they had in-house could not pass the physical exam to actually become a firefighter. They physically could not do the job.
Speaker 2:A friend of mine is a former fire chief in New Jersey. I'm not going to say for what station, but he was a former fire chief in New Jersey and he worked his way up through the ranks. And when I was in my mid-20s he started as a volunteer. And he was a former fire chief in New Jersey and he worked his way up through the ranks and when I was in my mid twenties, um, he started as a volunteer and he was like, well, do you want to volunteer to become a firefighter? You know, you do this, you go through training, you do this, you do that, you do these exercises, you do this, then you pass it, you pass this test and then you become a volunteer fireman. So I was like, all right, you know, uh, I was like maybe two or three years removed from playing college athletics, playing college football. So I was like, of course I could do this.
Speaker 2:And they had a training facility. It used to be in Trenton, new Jersey I don't know if it's there anymore where it's basically a three-story. It's a replica of a three-story building which they put on fire all the time and they have these metal steps. And what they make you do at one point in time to pass the physical test is you put on all the gear which weighs anywhere between 70 and a hundred pounds, and then you carry a hose and then you're supposed to run up these steps in full gear, full mass, carrying the hose, within a certain period of time I can't remember the collection. This was 25, 30 years ago. You have to run up these stairs and reach the top within an allotted time, and if you cannot do this, you don't pass the part of the physical exam.
Speaker 2:Now, at that point in time, I was pretty much in shape, I thought it was going to be no big deal and I strapped on the gear, I grabbed the hose. They said go and I, I mean I took the fuck up off the building and I ran up the steps and I'll tell you this, I got to the. I got to maybe the third step, going up to the third level, and I was out of gas. I mean I was, I was freaking winded and I did make it up and I barely made it under the requirements to be pat to pass that portion of the physical test. And I remember coming back down with the gear and coming to drop and everything. And I remember at that point in time the chief uh, the fire, the fire chief for that department saying to me it's not as easy as it looks. I said no, it's not Now. He says now, imagine doing this while you're running into a building that is on fire trying to save lives. You need to have the understanding of what you, of the having the physicality to do these certain things just to become a firefighter.
Speaker 2:So a few years back, like I said, they had these women uh, minority women that New York city that they wanted to hire but they couldn't pass the physical examination. They couldn't pass the physical testing. So what they did is they lowered the standards for the physical testing. They still couldn't pass. So what does New York do? In their infinite wisdom, they decide well, you know what we're going to do anyways, we're just going to pass them. That's not a way to save lives. That's not a way to do, you know, because some jobs are just not meant for some people. It shouldn't be about the color of your skin, it shouldn't be about your gender, it shouldn't be about your race, it shouldn't be about anything. It should only be about can you physically do the job or are you mentally able to do the job?
Speaker 2:Now, airline traffic controllers is considered probably one of the most stressful jobs there is because you have lives, thousands of people's lives, in your hands every moment of every day. One critical mistake could cause a crash. So you need to have the best people humanly possible in these roles. Now, we had a two-year gap of training of air traffic controllers because of COVID, which I still don't understand, why we had that two-year gap of training of air traffic controllers because of COVID, which I still don't understand, why we had that two-year gap. But they did not train under the Biden administration. They did not train any air traffic controllers for a two-year period of time and then their hiring practices were then laid out to hire females, minorities, people with handicaps. Oh, I love it.
Speaker 2:One of the other portions of the memo was we were hiring dwarves. Why does it matter if you're a dwarf? I don't care if you're a dwarf. If you are physically, mentally able and capable of doing the job, you should be hired. But you should not specifically lower standards because of the fact that you want to hire people with handicaps. Lower standards because of the fact that you want to hire people with handicaps, people that are paralyzed, people with drug addictions, dwarves. I mean this is the seriousness of the lunacy that we had under the Biden administration for four years.
Speaker 2:It was for them. It's never on merit. It was just because of the fact that you, you are a different race, you are a woman, you, you think you're, you think you're a unicorn, so you're being discriminated against. You need to get this job because you are being discriminated against. Maybe you're just not capable of doing the job. Maybe you're just not capable of doing the job.
Speaker 2:And I know that's insane. I know that's insane to think that, and I'm not sitting there, I'm not. You know, like I said, people blasted Trump because Trump was saying well, you know, this was the reason. I don't know if it was the reason. I don't know if it was mechanical failure, I don't know. I doubt it was mechanical failure because you was a mistake by, I believe, air traffic controllers, because if you actually listen to the minute-by-minute breakdown of the crash, you take a listen to the instructions by the air traffic controller. There was I mean, literally there was no instructions given, and I think that's kind of where we're at. Let's listen to, let's see. I have I think I believe I have the audio here.
Speaker 1:Let's pull up the audio for this incident.
Speaker 2:Okay, that is the helicopter seeing an aircraft requesting separation. That is the helicopter itself. And that long pause that you heard was not me having a problem with the video that was between the helicopter looking for visual separation from the aircraft till when the accident happened. The problem is, when the pilot of the Black Hawk asked for visual separation, the controller never mentioned what flight, what direction, what aircraft, nothing. So you have to remember Ronald Reagan Airport is a very busy airport. So at this point in time, you probably you have lights everywhere, you have planes coming in everywhere. Now you have a Blackhawk which is traveling south on a training flight and then, like I said, you have the airliner coming in approximately about 400 feet, going on to runway 33. And at that point in time, when he asked for visual separation, the, the, the helicopter pilot, there is no indication from the tower. Okay, you need to, you need to separate from this, you need to separate from that. You, you, you have flight, you, you. No one say you have flight five, four, flight 543 or whatever, or I would rephrase that, which would be you have flight CRJ 700, you know, 400 feet descending to your left. Visual separation correction vis-a-vis this. No, he asks for it, he gets it, but at no point in time is the tower itself instructing him where to go, where the flight is coming from or even which aircraft is visible. That's kind of an issue Because normally, like I said, if you are an air traffic controller and I actually talked to my friend who used to be one he will tell you that you need to give some type of direction. You need to tell him where the aircraft is coming. You will tell the aircraft where the aircraft is coming from, what is the altitude, you will say something like I mean, he was telling me you'll say something like American Flight 543 at such and such height and altitude of 400 feet, you know, and then give you the direction of where you're supposed to go. No, there was no direction from the tower I love.
Speaker 2:The New York Post called it a grave lapse in miscommunications in one of the most crowded and complex patches of the sky that the US has. That's what they have. That's what they were saying, and they were saying, and they were saying the air traffic controllers on duty that day, or the air traffic controller on duty that day was doing the job of two staff members at the time of the crash, because we are so woefully understaffed at the FAA, even with their DEI guidelines about hiring everyone, that these guys are burning out. There's staffing shortages, they're burning out and, like I said, this is one of the most highly stressful jobs that you can have.
Speaker 2:Now some experts believe that the helicopter pilots basically maneuvered to avoid the wrong plane, but that's the thing. If you are the air traffic controller and you tell them that flight such and such is on, you know, flight CJ 700 is on flight path blank at 400 feet and descending, please turn to whatever, whatever the grid coordinate is, then you're fine, okay, then you can avoid it. But when you give zero direction and you are relying on the pilot's visuals at night, there's a big pause for concern. Now, there were three crew members on the Black Hawk. The military is basically saying that the Black Hawk may have been flying too high at 400 feet when it collided with the airliner, but it's one of those things that what people don't want to address and people don't want to talk about was the night before there was another almost near collision at the same airport. Almost near collision at the same airport.
Speaker 2:Now listen, if you know DC, the Ronald Reagan airport is literally right in the middle of DC. Ronald Reagan, washington National Airport has for years they've talked about closing it down because of the flight patterns over the city, because of the congestion, because everything you got coming out of Dulles, because of everything else. But there's always, there was always that talk into consideration to getting rid of it or or just closing the airport, you know, entirely, just just for safe, just for safety reasons. But this was an accident, like I said, that was on. This accident was on a I mean was I don't want to, you don't want to say collision course because of what happened, but this accident was I don't think if you talk to some of the people in the FAA and I know if you don't talk, if you talk to some people over in Ronald Reagan Airport this was an accident in the making Because of the fact that you are so woefully understaffed. You have an air traffic controller that night doing the job of two people which is manning the entire sky. There was a movie called Pushing Tin with Billy Bob Thornton and John Cusack and I think Angelina Jolie was in that movie as well and it was basically about air traffic controllers and everything that they had to do and they said that it was a pretty fair representation. I believe it was in the mid-90s. They said it was a pretty fair representation of what air traffic controllers go through within the building, within the tower not the extracurricular activities because it was a movie, but they said it was a pretty fair assessment and how this was.
Speaker 2:This is one of the most difficult and demanding careers in the world because of the fact that it's so high stress and when you sit there and when you eliminate your best candidates because of your DEI policy, because of the fact that you need to hire lesbians, you need to hire dwarves, you need to hire people with handicaps, people with drug problems. These are things that came. I'm not saying this to be funny. This is the shit that came from the FAA, the leader of the FAA. This is from them. This isn't from me making this shit up and for people to blast the president because of the fact that he wants to hire the best people capable for their roles and not hire based on your physical appearance, your sexual orientation, if you're a dwarf, if you're a former drug addict, if you are someone that has a handicap, if you're paralyzed. These are roles that you need to put the best person available.
Speaker 3:So when Trump says something like this my administration will set the highest possible bar for aviation safety. We have to have our smartest people. It doesn't matter what they look like, how they speak, who they are. It matters intellect, talent, the word talent. I do want to point out that various articles that appeared prior to my entering office and here's one the FAA's diversity push includes focus on hiring people with severe intellectual and psychiatric disabilities.
Speaker 2:That's the people that I want working in the tower. I want people with severe intellect and psychiatric disabilities, because that's the best money can buy.
Speaker 3:That is amazing. And then it says FAA says people with severe disabilities are most underrepresented.
Speaker 2:So they are one of the most underrepresented people in the FAA workforce, that's, people with severe disabilities.
Speaker 3:Underrepresented segment of the workforce and they want them in and they want them.
Speaker 2:They can be air traffic controllers. So people with severe disabilities. Now, like I said, we're not just talking whatever. Like I said, people hear dei, they automatically think race and gender. No, there's a lot more encompassing. So, if you have psychiatric issues, if you have severe disabilities, if you say they want, they want you, you, the FAA wants you, and I believe, I think it's crap that people are blasting the president for this where, honestly, he's just speaking the truth. He's just bringing up the fact that, listen, he's just bringing up the fact that, listen, this is what, this is what I've, this is what I've come into.
Speaker 2:I love the one reporter with um, with JD Vance, j and all of a sudden, you know JD Vance does an interview and and the reporter is like uh, well, you know, you said you're going to lower prices. I could be having lowered prices yet and I love it, because JD Vance is like we've been here for a fucking week. We literally been here for a week. Let's get. I have some of that interview. I'm going to play a little bit of that every year. Hold on, let me see.
Speaker 1:You're going to love this bed.
Speaker 2:Are you going to love the bed? Hold on, let me find. Let me find this interview. I know I know I have the interview, but it just kills me that you didn't ask Biden any of these questions. But you know what they're like. Well, you know what. You've been here a week. How come the price of, how come the price of eggs are down. Wait, let's see if I have some who are not properly vetted. And because I don't want it for my kids, I'm not going to force any other American citizens, kids, to do that either.
Speaker 3:No, and that was a very particular case. It wasn't clear if he was radicalized when he got here or while he was living here.
Speaker 2:I don't really care, margaret. I don't want that person in my country, and I think most Americans agree with me. I love that when he goes after people. You know. I mean, the left is just in total fucking meltdown. They are literally in total fucking meltdown and there's literally nothing they can do about it, and all they do is go after JD Vance and Donald Trump. But the problem is the adults are back in the room. The adults are. The adults have finally returned and he's not wearing a diaper. It's time for a return to sanity, and if you don't like truth and you don't like honesty, you're going to hate this administration, because for the last week in change, that's what you've gotten. So you know what left. If you want to meltdown, meltdown, but fucking deal with it. Oh, we're going to keep doing some episodes at least two a week here and, as always, the truth will always set you free. This is Tim, this is Cut Off my Lawn, the Mad Ramblings of a Gen Xer, and I'm out of here.