A tourist from the United States has scandalized Brazil by abusing an infant while flying to that country.
SAO PAULO, Brazil (Reuters) - Poor Ronald Duffy. First he couldn't get into Brazil. Now he can't get out.
The 35-year-old Pennsylvania native was barred entry in the South American country after he threw water on a baby whose crying annoyed him on the long flight from Miami, police said on Thursday.
Duffy, who had been planning to spend Carnival with his Brazilian girlfriend in the city of Salvador, was arrested by federal police at Sao Paulo international airport when the flight landed on Wednesday.
"I think I overreacted a little," Duffy told Estado de Sao Paulo newspaper.
Police said Duffy appeared to be drunk on the flight. When the baby began to cry, he complained he could not sleep. He then asked for a glass of water and doused the toddler with it as the shocked parents watched.
The other passengers "nearly lynched him" and applauded when police boarded the aircraft to arrest him, the newspaper said.
Duffy, who said he had been taking medicine to sleep, was supposed to fly back to the United States on Thursday morning. But the Varig flight he boarded brought him back to the gate before take-off after he "acted up" again, police said.
The blogosphere is largely a haven for Right Wingers. So many bloggers express contempt for other peoples and cultures that one gets used to it. Some, such as Little Green Footballs, build their readership largely on fueling hatred. Because ugly Americanism is the norm, it usually goes unremarked. But, here, we are talking about words on a computer screen. Much more direct harm occurs when such people act on their beliefs in the real world. The Ronald Duffy story epitomizes the attitude in action. It takes an ugly American to believe he deserves to get his way to the extent that he would abuse a baby in a public venue.
Note: This item is from a news column at Mac-a-ro-nies.
Article comments
1 - ugly american
Ugly American??? If it were not for us ugly Americans you people in these third world countires would starve. You pick one jackass on a flight that threw water on a baby to represent us all? Please, don't the police shoot the kids that you people throw out of your homes that live on the streets? Take a look at your whore houses, your poverty, and the way most of the people live in your country, before you bad mouth the ugly Americans. Most of the world, like yourself, is jealous because we live well and prosper. People that live in glass houses should not throw stones.