John Edwards, Psychic

Over the weekend, thousands of Clevelander's filled an auditorium at Cleveland State University to hear John Edwards speak. I wanted to be one of them. I had found out about the event several days earlier from my boss. As we discussed the event, a coworker who happens to be a professional in the communications field, walked in. Having joined mid-discussion, she was unclear who or what we were talking about.

It soon became evident that she understood us when she said, "Ohh, I never watch his TV show. I think talking to dead people is freaky."

Well, she had hit the nail on the head. While she thought we were talking about John Edwards, psychic, she was unable to put two and two together to understand that in fact, John Edwards, Democratic presidential hopeful was the subject of our conversation.

A blank stare confirmed my fears when we corrected her. We may as well have been talking about a junior Senator from South Carolina that no one has ever heard about... ohh wait, it appears we were.

I recovered from the episode, but it would not be the last. The next morning, while at a seminar on ethics, a friend had the same reaction... John Edwards, psychic.

Well, it appears that a politician having the same name as a morbid psychic is perhaps not the best thing one can do. I question two things here, neither of which is the ability of the presidential candidate's parents to chose a name for their child (after all, how could they know?). I question the political understanding of the college educated. After all, both of the people confused by my statements had college degrees or were five months from attaining theirs. Secondly, I question how in America today, with the 24-hour news cycle and the constant bombardment from television, radio, newspaper, and the internet (of which this blog is a product), can allow for the uninformed to exist.

And yet millions upon millions are clueless about politics. It's not just American's either. Roughly 1/3 of Europeans have no idea that the European Union is about to admit ten new member states on May 1. We have a generation of young people who are as uninformed as people two hundred years ago, when snail mail and newspapers were the only form of media, and even that could take weeks to travel from one end of this country to the other.

People need to understand that this country is about being informed. Its roots are based upon the fact that people can make the decision to change it. Without having a political understanding behind it, we are soon to be lost. It won't be too long until we turn on our TV and John Edwards is holding a seance.

Check out www.rockthevote.com for more information on how to vote, the issues, and ways you can get involved.

The Loss of one of the Bravest

Yesterday probably began as a normal day for Ed Conricote. He was coming off of a weekend visiting friends who were fellow fire buffs, so called because of their affinity of following and paying tribute to the world of firefighters. A Road Department employee of Liberty Township, Ohio, he may have been at work, fixing potholes created by the massive amounts of snow and salt deposited on township roadways.

At 4:11, the Liberty Fire Department was dispatched to a fire at 2790 Barth. Ed would have heard about the call as it was dispatched. It would have come over his fire department-issued pager. As a volunteer firefighter for the Liberty Fire Department, he responded to this blaze just like the paid firefighters who staffed the stations 24/7. It appeared nothing serious; just a car on fire inside a garage. Firefighters, however, learn to not take anything for granted. The smallest ember can create the largest conflagration, which is why all the front-line engines as well as the ambulance in the two-station department responded.

At this fire, Ed and his fellow firefighters were not taking any chances. The officer on scene determined that the water in the engine’s booster tank would not be enough to contain the blaze, so hooking up to a hydrant would be necessary. Ed, like the great firefighter he was, got into the thick of it, pulling hose off of Liberty FD Engine 35. What happened next has yet to be determined.

As he pulled the hose, he suddenly fell, striking his head on the ground. At the time, no one knew just how bad it was. The shock of the accident, worry for a friend, and the strain of putting out the fire kept crews silent, but minutes later, crews learned that Conricote's fall had been fatal.

Ed Conricote has been a firefighter for 15 years. He had been a fire buff all of his life. He lived the profession, and when he wasn’t on a fire scene, he still couldn’t escape it. I can remember him from about 15 years ago when I was only 6, yelling at me but not being mean, when my cousin’s and I would play in his parent’s backyard. I can remember him always showing up after work at their home to check in – like clockwork. Ed never married, but was not without those who loved him. His friends are countless. Those I know mostly are in the profession of fighting fire, or are fellow buffs. Below are just some of the thoughts others had on Ed:

Ed always greeted you with a smile and a good word. Ed loved the fire service and especially the YFD; I was looking forward to seeing Ed up at the Cleveland show in a few weeks. I could not agree with Greg more when he said Ed went out doing what he loved, I will miss my old friend, but I will never forget him.
- Bob, Youngstown

Shocked. What else can we feel at this time of disbelief along with a rude awakening that, yes, even the war horses of fire buffing are in fact mortals. Thanks to Greg Ricker for getting to know Ed – a gentle giant/teddy bear type and harmless soul. Very grieved
- Steve, Warren

Greg Ricker wrote the following obit about our friend:
Good Friend and Fellow Fire Buff, Ed Conricote, Passes Away

On February 23, 2004 at 16:11, the Liberty Fire Department was dispatched to 2790 Barth for a reported car on fire in the garage. Ed Conricote, a 15 year veteran, responded and began helping pull hose. Details are sketchy but it appears that Ed took a hard fall on the fireground. Despite numerous attempts to revive him, Ed was rushed to Saint Elizabeth's hospital and was pronounced dead a short time later. An autopsy is being performed to determine the exact cause of death but it appears that he died of a massive trauma to the head.

Since Ed was a child, he had always dreamed of becoming a firefighter. He grew up on the North side of Youngstown and later could often be found visiting neighborhood friends at Youngstown's Station 7. Ed was always glad to lend a hand. He went to seminary school to become a priest but left before completing the requirements. He then was a drug salesman in the Cleveland area. Ed moved to Liberty and worked for the Liberty Street Department and was a Volunteer for the Liberty Fire Department (http://www.libertytwp.com/fire.html) at the time of his passing.

He was a founding member of FirePage Ohio (FPO/D323) and he was an avid fire and train buff. He was a good friend to many and always greeted you with a friendly smile. Any discussion you had with Ed was bound to elicit his catch phrase "very good" which was as contagious as his friendship. Ed passed away doing what he loved best, helping others. He will be deeply missed.

Ed was never married and is survived by his mother and brother who also resides in the Youngstown area and a sister in Canton. Ed was 55 years old.

Ed was a great friend and we logged many hours talking about firefighting and about the Youngstown Fire Department. He was a wealth of knowledge and was just an all around great guy.

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5-5-5-5
We'll miss you, Ed

Dean Scream Fever... Catch It!

There has been so much talk over the last few weeks about the "Scream Heard Round the World." Ever since an impassioned speech the night he finished third in the Iowa Democratic Caucus, Howard Dean has been on the defensive, not truly been able to talk to his supporters through the media without that speech coming up.

Since that moment, Dean has shot right back at the media, who in turn, have been cutting him little slack (as they shouldn't, but it has gotten extreme. Well it appears that some journalists think there is more to this. In an interview with Dianne Sawyer, Dean was played the tape once more (for the 778 time that week... or something like that). Sawyers response to this story is incredible.

"After my interview with Dean and his wife in which I played the tape again -- in fact played it to them -- I noticed that on that tape he's holding a hand-held microphone. One designed to filter out the background noise. It isolates your voice, just like it does to Charlie Gibson and me when we have big crowds in the morning. The crowds are deafening to us standing there, but the viewer at home hears only our voice.

Dean's boisterous countdown of the upcoming primaries as we all heard it on TV was isolated, when in fact he was shouting over the roaring crowd.

And what about the scream as we all heard it? In the room, the so-called scream couldn't really be heard at all. Again, he was yelling along with the crowd."

Check out the whole story, and see the decision making processes of some of the news media leaders, including CNN and CBS, to see thier reaction to this unfrotunate portryal of Dean.

Related Links: http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/news/wabc_2004vote_012904dean.html

We Cannot Continue to Deny

Time after time, in these uncertain and dangerous years, we have reaped the consequences of neglect and delay, of misery and disease and hunger left too long to fester unremedied…. As President Kennedy said, “If we cannot help the many who are poor, we cannot save the few who are rich.”

We cannot continue to deny and postpone the demands of our own people while spending billions in the name of the freedom of others. No nation can exert greater power of influence in the world than it can exercise over the streets of its own capital. A nation town by injustice and violence, its streets patrolled by army units – if this is to be out country, we can doubt how long others will look to us for leadership, or seek to participate on their common ventures. America was a great force in world, with immense prestige, long before we because a great military power. That power has come to us and we cannot renounce it, but neither can we afford to forget that the real constructive force in the world comes not from bombs but from imaginative ideas, worm sympathies, and generous spirit. These are qualities that cannot be manufactures by specialists in public relations. They are the natural qualities of a people pursuing decency and human dignity in its own undertakings without arrogance of hostility or delusions of superiority towards others, a people whose ideals for others are firmly rooted in the realties of the society we have built for ourselves.

We should give no more assistance to a government against any internal threat that that government is capable of using itself, through its agencies and instruments. We can help them but we cannot again try to do their jobs for them.

- Robert F. Kennedy

From: Kennedy, Maxwell Taylor. Make Gentle the Life of this World: The Vision of Robert F. Kennedy. New York City: Broadway Press, 1998. p 152-153.