bloggie

This article mentions that the driver refused to help. In another article, according to the victims, the driver said he would "get in trouble if he sought help".

Yeah, way to accept responsibility for your fellow man, jackass.

In no way is his refusal to do what is right excused by the fact that pro-active behavior is in fact discouraged by cities and other government entities who do not want to be sued by anyone. So, they prefer the "Lalalalalala I can't see you" approach.

But sometimes people have to do what is right no matter what the consequences are. This dude FAILED the basic Humanity 101 test.

oh, and I seem to say "yeah" a lot.

and "like". I've totally got to work on that.

Yeah. Like, totally.

The ironic thing is that the driver seems to be in trouble for not helping.

MTA officials said the driver of the bus is currently not operating a vehicle while the incident is being investigated.

At last, some sanity.

True story: The last time I was in Baltimore was to take my son Simon, then age 4, to an Orioles game, in Summer 2004. I was with my father-in-law. We took the train from DC to Baltimore, then switched to a light rail line that would take us near Camden Yards. As soon as I arrived in Baltimore, my spidey-sense (earned in Oakland, Emeryville and Richmond, California) was tingling like mad.

As we got on the light rail, my father-in-law took a seat with Simon and I stood in front of them, holding on to a railing overhead. About two stops later, a middle-aged, very large Black man gets on. He's doing that thing where he is staring at everyone who is White on the train to intimidate them. I've seen this a thousand times, so I just ignore him and keep talking to FIL and son.

The next thing I know, the guy is a quarter inch from me and an eighth of an inch from Simon and he is towering over my four year old son and looking at him with a look of intense, insane, sheer hatred. When I say "looking at him" I mean his head is looking almost straight down and he is staring right into the face of my son. My FIL, who, interestingly (and I would not have guessed this beforehand), turns out to be a bit of a coward, does the "shrink within myself.this is not happening.lalalala" thing that White people do so well.

So, he's glowering at Simon and the threat of immediate violence is in the air, palpably. I have to do something and, given the craven and frankly embarrassing reaction to this madman of my fellow European-Americans on the train--a truly pathetic sight, I figure from experience that this clown isn't used to White folks standing up to this act.

That, plus the fact that he's treatening my son, all the worst because he's sitting there all innocent, blond hair, blue eyes, new Orioles cap and completely unaware of the severity of the situation (though he is confused as to why this large man is staring down at him), all add up to one conclusion: Jourdan, do something...now.

So, I pull the guy aside and before he can recover from the shock of my touching him, I tell him that if he doesn't step away from my son and back to where he was before I will kill him, immediately, no questions asked. It's now my turn to look intense and slightly crazy.

He backs off, I move to be in between him and my son, and then he starts the staring bit, though now he's staring at me. Now, some Black "yoots" have caught wind of what is going on and they start tossing off comments back and forth and to the man, who is responding. I literally cannot understand what is being said, though it's obvious it's mocking. He does a few "I'm moving over here" moves to see if I would continue to interpose myself between him and my son, and, sure enough, crazy White guy does so.
I'm not letting this madman anywhere near my son.

At the next stop, the man gets off. He stands on the little street station and glares at us through the window. As the train pulls out, he starts cussing at me loudly. The Black kids laugh.

The tension subsides and my FIL tells me "you could have got us killed."

Isn't your FIL Colombian?

Nope. Oregonian.

But isn't your wife Colombian?

No, she's Oregonian as well. We lived in Colombia from 2004-2005, but, sadly, I misseed my opportunity as a colombiana mistress as well.

(Just kidding honey!)

Ees true, eef I eber caught Don Kebin weeth a meestress, I would ha'e keeled him!

Oh... thanks, Kevin. Apparently I got a little confused about your Colombian connnection.

Did you see these things in Colombia, Kevin?

Don Kebin..lol. I'm thinking of taking that for a new nick.

Frank, no I haven't seen one like that, but if that is a shower head of some kind, let me tell you that the shower in our Bogota apartment was *amazing*, best i've ever had, so it wouldn't surprise me to learn that this is a Colombia "thing"...what is that thing? Looks vaguely dangerous.

Auster:

Well, yes, avoidance is the only thing whites can do, given the current liberal racial orthodoxy which whites are doing nothing to challenge. But if whites, who are still the majority people in this country, and who are also far more intelligent and capable than blacks, began to speak frankly about the black racist violence against whites, began to speak about the reality of black savagery (which is obviously not to say that all blacks are savages but that savagery by blacks is a fact of life), began to resist the liberal belief that all people are morally equal, and began to act once again as the standards-setting cultural majority of this country, then black racist violence against whites could be suppressed, along with black violence and disorder generally.

began to speak about the reality of black savagery (which is obviously not to say that all blacks are savages but that savagery by blacks is a fact of life)

The people who beat up the Jewish kids on a bus were white too.

Kevin -

That's a shower head with an integral on-demand hot water heater. Very common in South America.

Charm City has lost its charm.

We've assumed that the "trouble" that the driver feared was from the transit authority. Perhaps he feared retribution from the thugs.

Good point, Frank.

Statistics is hard. Why you make me do statistics?

I just think that savagery knows no skin colour. And imnsho, the bus driver should be fired for not calling the police.

Dang near scalded myself with one of those in Barranquia

Yep - there is a switch on the unit that has three settings - off, slightly too hot, and way too hot.

They don't lack for power. Really the only way to make fine temperature adjustments is to adjust the flow of water - stronger flow = cooler, weaker flow = warmer.

Some have complained about getting shocks in the water, but I never had this problem.

Oh, and did you have a nice commute this morning, Papijoe?

One of Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth books is based on that premise, ev.

Do you remember what it's called, afw? Maybe I'll check it out...

Hold on, I'll look it up.

The Sword of Truth series is a fantasy series based on Goodkind's Randian beliefs.

I actually find it a fun (EASY) read, although the books are long.

Be right back...

It's called Soul of the Fire.

Interestingly enough, the entire series deals with (in addition to what happens in each individual story)an invading army that is horrific and murderous, but says that they are really all about benefitting society and peaceful. They are kind of a cross between the Soviet Union, and the current Islamofascists.

Thank you, airforcewife! That was really nice of you to get up and go look it up for me :-)

Randian beliefs

Let's say, Atlas Shrugged, only talented.

He also thinks Tom Wolfe may be a man for the job.

The novel or the blogger?

The problem with the political stuff being written these days is that for some reason, there seem to be a lot of angry white guys blowing shit up to get Muslims in trouble.

I say, stick to Hagberg and (my literary crush) Brad Thor. Both easy reads that don't have any of those, "Oh, we thought it was Muslim Terrorism, but it was really angry white racists!" moments.

Auster was wondering the other day when will this generation's Atlas Shrugged -- a critique of the advanced liberalism -- be written.

This, of course, is my master plan. God help me find the strength to actually write it.

Randian beliefs

The thing that is funny about Randians is, well...you know how sometimes you hear people say "people are so stupid!" or some variation of that? Well, here's the thing: everyone says that. Everyone.

It's the same thing with Rand. All these people smart enough to read a book read Rand and think "yes! Finally WE SMART PEOPLE will just go on strike and you dummies can starve..har, har har!"

It's the same deal, with literary pretentions.