Horsetrading up the Tower of Babel
As aghast as I remain at all of the explosive events of the last week, I don’t exactly have many opinions about them. Actually, this week started out with yet another [accidental] explosion in the nearby town of Dexter, 10 miles (or less?) to the west of The Landfill. One dead, one critical. I doubt that this explosion will make the national news. But we’re all weary and wondering when life will get “boring” again?
The news coverage of the Boston Marathon explosions? Can I just say it made my poor old tired old systems analyst’s brain hurt? Last Thursday(?) for example? As I pulled the Ninja out of the driveway NPR was reporting that the bombing suspects were 10 and *20* year old brothers. By the time I got to work, the older brother was 26. Absolutely *no* explanation from NPR on the change in age. Does it matter how old the bombers were/are? Not really and it’s just a simple example for the many other gaffes the news sources made in their rush to be first. Reminds me of *those* mornings. You know the ones — when you are breaking your neck trying to get out the damn door… It’s just that it was one more detail that news agencies got wrong in the rush to be first to report something-anything, whether it was accurate or not. The devil is in the details. Get it right or don’t post it.
Actually, I do have an opinion about all of these explosions. It’s that shit happens. Does that mean I don’t care? Of course not! I care very much. If somebody plants bombs at the Boston Marathon finish line, I think we need to get ’em. I also think we need to *try* to be prepared for events like this. Except that they can’t necessarily be predicted. Pressure cooker bombs? (Airliners into the World Trade Center.) What? Yeah, I know there are instructions for pressure cooker bombs on the internet… What is next? What kind of bomb / gun / whatever implement of destruction will be used? What religion (or not) will the next nut be involved with? How will “we” handle it?
The photooo is from Michaywe ten days or so ago. A day when I was walking in the snow with boots and YakTrax (in April…) and life was good (except for somebody’s damn unattended *big* dog) and there were no explosions.
April 22nd, 2013 at 9:02 pm
Life is completely unpredictable in many ways. If we take the great surprises, we have to also take the unexpected tragedies. So many other places in the world deal with this on a weekly, if not daily basis. It doesn’t justify it, it’s just what is the reality of our world. 🙁