We finally got a glimpse into the minds of two men who’ve dominated the headlines most of the summer. Alleged kidnapper Clark Rockefeller and bodybuilding firefighter Albert Arroyo both gave interviews this weekend.

But which was the most insightful, and which left us more curious than when we started? After the jump, we break it down.

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Firefighters, you’re making it really hard for us average citizens to support you.

Not that we don’t appreciate the danger of your chosen profession, but lots of jobs are risky. Alaskan crab fisherman, coal miner, pilot—they’re all dangerous careers. But we didn’t see three damning stories about them in the newspaper today.

That’s more than we can say for you.

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It seems that everyone has had a hard time comprehending the meaning of the word “disabled” lately. Since Boston Daily hopes to better the world, we’d like to play a little game we just invented. We call it Disabled, Not Disabled, and we hope it will foster a greater meaning of the word.

Disabled: Judge Ernest Murphy
Finally, the judge who wrote threatening letters to Herald owner Pat Purcell admits he’s not OK. In an order released today, Murphy admits his post-traumatic stress disorder has “totally disabled” him, and that will resign from the bench. Presumably, he’ll be spending more time in Saratoga Springs.

Not Disabled: Albert Arroyo
First he was. Now he isn’t. He looked fine sauntering into his hearing yesterday. We say get back to work.

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Dear Albert Arroyo,

Hello there, sir. Boston Daily here. As you know, we’ve been reading the nonstop coverage of your employment status. After you created news by appearing at a hearing yesterday, the Globe has now mentioned you in 19 columns or stories, and the Herald dropped your name in 11 recent stories.

It’s a spotlight even brighter than the one aimed at you during a bodybuilding competition, and we imagine you’re tempted to just throw up your hands and be done with the Boston Fire Department. But where else could you go?

We think you should look in to the Newton Fire Department. Under a new contract, that city’s firefighters aren’t required to submit a doctor’s note when they call out sick.

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Everybody loves a story about corruption, especially when the man at the center of the controversy comes clad in a thong. But since the Globe learned that Boston firefighter Albert Arroyo was competing in bodybuilding contests while collecting a tax-free disability pension, we feel like we’ve been reading a lot of damaging pieces about the embattled department.

So we decided to count the number of stories the paper of record has dedicated to the saga.

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When we last left Albert Arroyo, officials said the bodybuilding firefighter had “voluntarily separated” himself from the Boston Fire Department by not showing up for work, despite an order to do so.

To borrow a phrase from Terry Bradshaw, Arroyo might be dumb, but he ain’t stupid. The firefighter wants his job back.

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Yesterday we pointed out that a press release about the most recent firefighter scandal issued by city councilor Mike Flaherty echoed some of the requests the Local 718 has made of the city. In that same communique, Flaherty gave Mayor Tom Menino a coded “I told you so.”

Had CitiStat been implemented three years ago when I first called upon the city to adopt it, the city could have tracked absenteeism, disability claims and the very doctors treating reported injuries.

But as a City Hall insider points out to us, the city has tracked two of those three criteria since 2006.

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Boston Daily just received a press release from city councilor Michael Flaherty’s office that stands in stark contrast to Mayor Tom Menino’s reaction to “disabled” firefighter, and competitive bodybuilder, Albert Arroyo.

Instead of calling for an investigation into the doctors who grant disability claims, the rumored mayoral hopeful wants to prevent injuries from happening in the first place.

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If it take an apple a day to keep the doctor away, what exactly do you need to keep Mayor Tom Menino at a safe distance?

Bodybuilding firefighter Albert Arroyo may soon find out.  He decided to defy Menino and Fire Commissioner Roderick Fraser’s orders yesterday and did not show up for work. As a result, the city has not only taken away his tax-free disability salary, but they’ve stopped paying him entirely.

Today we learn why Arroyo hasn’t returned to the station. He’s waiting for his physician to write him a note.

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The Monday after a nice summer weekend is always the worst. You crawl to your desk, chugging cup after cup of lukewarm communal office coffee, swearing that you’re going to take Friday off to give yourself a precious midsummer long weekend. Maybe you’ll even be so bold as to call out sick.

And, hey, why not? It’s not like the local media is going to cover whether you show up or not. Unless you’re bodybuilding firefighter Albert Arroyo.

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