Confederate Flag Over NC Fire Department: ‘We’re Not Going To Take Down The Flag’

The Uwharrie Volunteer Fire Department is standing firm, and will not be taking down the Confederate flag that flies below Old Glory above their fire station. Even though they stand to lose funding over it, the fire department is holding their ground.

Unfortunately, the fire department, which is located in North Carolina, stands to lose at least $19,000 because of its refusal to remove a Confederate flag from its property. But the firefighters still won’t take it down.

The debate over the Uwharrie Volunteer Fire Department’s flag has simmered for months but complaints about it go back years, according to several news accounts. “The flag is not hurting a thing,” Lee Hudson, with the Uwharrie Volunteer Fire Department, told WFMY. “We are not a racist department. We are not in any way. Members or the department as a whole.”

The Montgomery County Commissioners want the flag to come down and are set on financially punishing the fire department should they continue to fly the Confederate flag. “The Board of Commissioners stated their position, that they did think the flag was inappropriate and requested for the fire department to take it down,” Montgomery County Manager Matthew Woodard told WFMY. 

The commissioners have even set a letter to the fire department demanding the removal of the flag, and stating the funding will be withheld until that is accomplished. The county will only be paying only for fuel and maintenance of the two county-owned trucks that firefighters operate until the flag is down. The county will also replace the Uwharrie name on the trucks with new graphics “in support of the county’s stance on equal rights and freedom of speech.” Do they mean the freedom of speech to display any flag that the fire department wants? Or no? Confederate flags must not be the right kind of speech.

The Charlotte Observer reported that the Uwharrie Volunteer Fire Department receives $19,000 a year from Montgomery County, plus $400,000 annually for fire trucks. The department was organized as a non-profit corporation in 1983.

But even with the threat of decreased funding, the fire department says the flag will stay. “We would love to work with the county and for them to support us,” said Hudson. “But, we’re not going to move on the issue of taking down the flag.”

Free speech means free speech. It means the right to offend. And if you’re offending the government, you’re probably doing something right.

People Who Chose To Not Evacuate For Hurricane Told To Put SSN On Arms

Tens of thousands of Texans have evacuated their homes fearing Hurricane Harvey. Now, one local leader in a coastal Texas community had told residents who chose to stay home during the hurricane, to write their names and Social Security numbers on their arms.

Rockport Mayor Pro Tem Patrick Rios said at a news conference, “We’re suggesting if people are going to stay here, mark their arm with a Sharpie pen with their name and Social Security number.”  He went on to say, “We hate to talk about things like that. It’s not something we like to do but it’s the reality, people don’t listen.” But if people don’t listen to evacuation orders, what makes the mayor assume people will willingly mark themselves?

Rios wants people marked to make things easier for the government in the event of deaths. He also claims that that grim step is necessary to prepare for the worst in case scenario of numerous deaths among the people who freely chose to remain in the area.  If you think this sounds a little bit like Nazis forcing the Jews to wear yellow stars on their clothing for a quick government identification, you aren’t the only one.

According to ABC News, seven counties and five cities, including Rockport, had issued mandatory evacuations, while several other areas have issued voluntary evacuations. For those evacuating or staying, certain steps can be taken ahead of the storm’s expected landfall early Saturday morning to protect your home and property from damage.

Hurricane Harvey’s destruction has already begun with 20 inches of rain and catastrophic winds reported.

Tropical Storm Harvey has stalled over Texas where extreme rainfall has occurred in the Houston metro area, leading to record-breaking, catastrophic flooding. Days of drenching downpours are ahead along with the potential for tornadoes and lingering coastal flooding.

Localized rain amounts of 40-50 inches are not out of the question once Harvey’s rain is finished later this week. This may end up being one of the worst flood disasters in U.S. history.

 In the 24 hours through Sunday 4 a.m. CDT, parts of the southeast Houston metro area had received more than 20 inches of rain. One location in far southeast Harris County near Webster logged 23.72 inches of rain in 24 hours and 25.92 inches in 48 hours. –The Weather Channel

So far, two deaths have been reported due to the hurricane and it isn’t clear if those deceased took the Mayor of Rockport’s advice and wrote their names and social security numbers on their arms, but it seems unlikely.

 A person was found dead in a vehicle in Houston on Saturday night in a possible drowning amid flooding in the city, a Houston fire department spokesperson said. A man died in a house fire in Aransas County after rescuers could not get to him late Friday or early Saturday, the county judge said. –NBC News

Harvey is expected to dump even more rain over Texas in the next few days, potentially triggering catastrophic flooding. “A lot of the damage is yet to come,” FEMA Administrator Brock Long told MSNBC. “Rainfall is going to be tremendous inland.”

Click here to subscribe: Join over one million monthly readers and receive breaking news, strategies, ideas and commentary.

Please Spread The Word And Share This Post

Author: Mac Slavo
Views: Read by 220 people
Date: August 27th, 2017
Website: www.SHTFplan.com

Copyright Information: Copyright SHTFplan and Mac Slavo. This content may be freely reproduced in full or in part in digital form with full attribution to the author and a link to www.shtfplan.com. Please contact us for permission to reproduce this content in other media formats.