OMG, explosions near finish line of Boston Marathon :((

[missy]

News conference from Watertown-town of Boston and surrounding areas are not on lockdown anymore. The police think the 19 yo suspect is still in Massachusetts but they don't seem to know where he is.

ETA: Might have been a strategy on the part of the police to draw him out because something is going on now...shots have been fired in Watertown but so far no more details.

 

[NewEnglandLady]

I've been listening to the boston police scanner most of the night and they announced that suspect is in custody, but the scene is still hot. A few minutes later the news is saying the 19-year-old is captured.

 

[lizzardxoxo]

What an emotionally exhausting week. So glad it's finally over and hope the jerk lives long enough so we can gather the answers we need to help make some sense of this craziness. Born and raised in Boston, most of us personally know someone who has been affected by the bombings and events that followed. It's really sad. I'm especially sad for my children having to grow up in this crazy world.

The one thing about "us" Bostonians: we're fiercely proud of our home "town", our roots and our ability to band together when times get tough. We'll get through this, and come out even stronger in the end.

 

[monarch64]

Well, the likes of Cronkite earned their laurels over decades of balanced reporting (being balanced on complex issues takes effort, integrity, and a special kind of intelligence) and yes while the other kind of journalist has always existed, they had less opportunity to be irresponsible before the internet. With the immediacy of the internet, the less trustworthy news sources can disseminate rumour and innuendo across the world so fast that rumour becomes fact which becomes urban legend, in the twinkling of an eye. And I didn't just mean journalists: Since everyone is a journalist these days (everyone can have a blog or a Twitter account, including some celebs who have lots of influence and a big platform but no real substance) all manner of people with all manner of agendas are able to spread stories, true, half-true, or fiction. The internet gives them lots of power but very little accountability.

Journalists/the journaling public write things online they would never say to anyone's faces, and things they would never say if their face and name was in a national print column, and their livelihood at the newspaper depended on their accuracy and integrity. The net takes all those controls away. So I read the Wall Street Journal only, and not even that thoroughly since they are not entirely devoid of hysteria themselves. When standards are so low anyway (in the general media) the median standard is dragged down.

So there are many factors as to why the media, in its many varieties, is such a bunfight these days and there are very few balanced, reliable sources. Notes of hysteria sound way too often, compared to the good 'ole days. Trial by media is undemocratic and can be very cruel. What about that poor young Saudi national who was pictured in the media, complete with his full name, in connection with being arrested as a suspect for the bombings. But he was just an injured victim. His name and image were everywhere as a suspect, the poor, poor kid.

These are the reasons why I'm not taking too much notice of the coverage at the moment. It will take time for the real facts to come out.

It almost makes you long for the Fifties and the soothing voice of a Clonkite on the wireless with a family gathered round after their 5pm evening meal! Not for nothing was he called "the most trusted man in America". He can't have been perfect - he was human, after all - but next to the sheer cacophony of today's internet, he seems like Dumbledore!

Smith, I'd love to continue a discussion in another thread about the concept people have of an era gone by, the idea that things were better in the good old days. Because reading things like the bolded from people of a certain age does nothing but make those of us who didn't have the apparent pleasure of living then feel kind of bad about our current circumstances, and frankly, less than hopeful, to speak for myself, anyway.

My apologies for the threadjack. Carry on.

 

[Smith1942]

Monarch, I'm only in my thirties so I didn't live then, either. I had never even heard of Cronkite until he died, as I grew up on another continent, in the UK. My husband explained all about him.

I said "almost makes you want to" because I don't believe most of us would really want to return to those times, when women had no freedoms, etc.

 

[monarch64]

Monarch, I'm only in my thirties so I didn't live then, either. I had never even heard of Cronkite until he died, as I grew up on another continent, in the UK. My husband explained all about him.

I said "almost makes you want to" because I don't believe most of us would really want to return to those times, when women had no freedoms, etc.

Smith, I'm so sorry, my mistake. I made an assumption based on your screen name, that you were born in 1942!!!

You and I are likely right around the same age.

I think I misread your post tonight, which will teach me (again) not to skim and post, especially within such an emotional topic. My husband emailed me a picture of an intersection in Boston today where he lived during the 1990's, that was totally devoid of activity, and he could not believe it.

I really enjoy reading your posts, please forgive me for my impoliteness and abrupt post.

Edited twice for clarity and stupidity!

 

[lizzyann]

So relieved they caught the second suspect! I am from the Western part of the state, but knowing that he was still at large had me worried that he had fled. Glad there will be justice for those killed and injured.

 

[missy]

I'm relieved as well. And I'm glad that he is alive and I hope he survives so authorities can find out why and so that he can be brought to justice.One of my concerns is we still don't know if the 2 brothers were acting alone or part of a bigger network of terrorists.

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Missy, I feel the same way. I think there is something bigger going on here. Quite frankly I'm annoyed with the blood lust in the city since there are so many gaping holes in this story. I'm glad he's alive to give us some answers.