Day: July 20, 2008

Millions to march against FARC and kidnappings

Millions of folks are on the move around the world to protest against Colombia’s FARC rebels and their policy of hostage taking and drug dealing. Ingrid Betancourt, the French-Colombian hostage freed in a daring military rescue earlier this month, will lead protests in Paris. Protests are planned in over 40 cities.

Of course it may fall on deaf ears. So many groups and organizations hear only what they want to hear, and continue to receive support from those of an ideological bent or with a financial interest (drug dealers). These enablers are the ones that need to be ferreted out if FARC is to ever be disbanded and peace return.

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What it is like to run over a man with a subway train

Kind of eerie story about a Tube driver who hit a suicidal person lying on the tracks. The driver is still a bit messed up by the whole incident, though that wasn’t the case with one of the people standing on the platform.

By the time we were stationary, four of my eight cars were in the platform and I was on autopilot. I told the passengers there would be a delay in opening the doors due to an “incident”, and was calling the line controller for assistance when I heard a tap on my cab door. A smart man inquired, “Do you know there’s a person under your train?” I looked at the blood on the windscreen momentarily before assuring him that, yes, I was aware.

He paused for a heartbeat, looked at his watch and said, “So, how long before we get on the move again?”

I was to look back on this exchange with amusement and also, strangely, comfort: in the midst of the horror, normality was briefly restored by a commuter asking for alternative travel arrangements.

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