Art-For-Art’s-Sake Theatre: “Would you give your jacket to Johannes?”

Time once again for our usual midday Wednesday feature.

When an eleven-year-old boy named Johannes sat at a bus stop without a jacket in Oslo, Norway, hidden cameras captured a series of very special moments. The experiment was filmed by the Norwegian branch of the SOS Children’s Villages International charity, as part of a campaign to provide warm clothing for displaced children in Syria.

(H/T to ConservativeVideos.com.)
.

#T2SDA

In response to certain measures taken by the federal government in response to the shutdown, the bikers are returning to DC, as are various veterans groups. But the first big one to hit town were the truckers. A group called “Truckers Ride For The Constitution” (formerly "Truckers to Shut Down America" and found on Facebook if the website crashes again) began by meeting at two rendezvous points both north and south of the DC area, and then proceeded to get on the Capital Beltway and take up two lanes (leaving one for emergency vehicles), holding the speed limit at 55 miles per hour. The plan is to do this throughout the weekend.

It is absolutely not true that the President will federalize the National Guard and block all entrance ramps to the Beltway. Since the eastern half is part of I-95, the major artery of transportation for the entire East Coast, it would be an overplaying of the hand currently held by the White House with respect to its current disagreement with some Republicans in Congress, and the least we would expect in the wake of such a decision, is that governors of several mid-Atlantic states would be on the phone protesting interference with the lines of commerce. What is true, is that the truckers are cooperating with the State Police in both Maryland and Virginia, and expect no trouble.

Other drivers are called upon to show support by having the Twitter hashtag visible from their vehicle: #T2SDA

Oh, one more thing ...

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

... as long as this is still America. HOO-rah!

(H/T to ABC affiliate WJLA-TV, for giving this much attention to something this obvious.)
 

The View From Boston

I could show you some great footage here, but I won't. But I will tell you what Mister Rogers would have said.

When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, "Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping."

So I looked for them. They weren't on YouTube. Not yet, at least. But Business Insider found plenty of heroes who came from out of nowhere, even citing a Google Doc that listed people opening up their homes or helping those who were stranded.

We have room two double beds available and a twin bed in my son's room. We are on the #39 bus line. Pick it up on the back side of the Prudential Center.

Google even has a "people finder." If you want to find someone, or want to be found, look here.

If this story were to be accompanied by a video, it would have been tonight's interview on ABC News with former Homeland Security chief Tom Ridge, who urged people to do two things; be aware of your surroundings when in a public place, especially a crowd, and ... go on about your business.

In other words, like those signs at the Battle of Britain.

We also have to learn not to take people like Wolf Blitzer too seriously. Ed Morrissey explains why.