Thank Goodness for the "All Clear".

I doubt I'd have normally been drawn into media coverage of events later in the week, following bombings at the Boston Marathon. I went off TV news presentation and talking heads some time ago. On Thursday night, though, we went to bed 15 after midnight, but I was unable to sleep - it happens occasionally. At around 2.30 AM, I got up. On such occasions I switch on either the computer or the TV, to make my eyes so tired they can't stay open a moment longer. This time, for no particular reason, I chose the TV. A random choice of channel brought up scenes of all hell breaking loose on city streets somewhere. Information appeared on screen about a manhunt taking place in the outskirts of Boston, and a female presenter doing her best to get a grip on the situation. So....three and a half hours later I was still wide awake, Watertown and other surrounding areas were in complete lock-down, the place looked like a war zone with SWAT teams, hundreds/thousands of police, sniffer dogs and goodness knows what else. I flicked channels regularly and found that most commentators were not at all sure what was what. Conflicting reporting and opinion added to the fascination. I eventually fell asleep on the sofa for a couple of hours. When I woke, things on the muted TV screen were much the same. City still in lock-down, house to house searches being carried out by teams of police. Now I was hooked on what would happen next, even though suspecting all the while that what was unfolding seemed like so much overkill when just one single 19-year-old guy was either hiding, possibly wounded, maybe even dead, or maybe had escaped altogether out of the area. Hours of searching every house threw up not a single clue. One 19-year old guy could cause all of this? Lock-down was eventually lifted sometime after 5 PM.

We went to the flicks Friday evening to see "42" - good movie by the way - and a pleasant release from TV and internet coverage of "events" in Watertown upon which I'd become fixated by their utter hysteria and media saturation. When we got home around 9.30PM - relief - second suspect was in custody, in hospital, after being found, bloodied, just outside the lock-down area hiding in a boat in somebody's yard. The "all clear" had sounded! A reporter was extolling how brave "we" had been, how calm in the face of danger and terrorism. Ahem! If that was calm I'd hate to see it when "we're" frenzied!

Now will come the wait for clarity, which might ensue if second suspect lives. First the "whys?" Answers to such questions as why did they target the Boston Marathon? Were they connected to some terrorist group? Is this about Chechnya or Islam or some personal issue? What had turned the brothers, who had been in the USA for around 10 years, from reasonably normal-seeming guys into terrorists?

Friday's drama blocked out virtually all other news for almost 48 hours, even drowning most reporting of the explosion near Waco, Texas which had killed many more people. I hope they'll be doing some catch-up on that matter soon.