The news is that protests against an event that never actually happened have turned deadly. This is the Arab Street, or so it seems. It is my presumption that this excellent photo from the NYT will be accompanied by an editorial chorus of "now look what you've done", but really. Who is responsible? Nobody is responsible, and nobody really wants to be. That's the point of protest.
Tangentially, there was an explosion in San Bruno, California last night. A gas main broke and turned a neighborhood into a blowtorch. As I watched video footage (gotta see a fire) I noticed something typical. The mayor of San Bruno was given several seconds of airtime to say "I've never seen anything like it." And then one of the residents were given a few seconds to say "I thought it was Judgment Day." The NTSB will be on the scene today and then as the story trails off into the mediasphere we will hear about "ongoing investigations" and "preliminary findings".
What we don't get on the news the day of the event somebody who says with authority, "I know exactly what this kind of thing is, I've dealt with it many times before." That person would be wise, unemotional and undramatic. But we info-consumers want something to put a little zip into our heartbeats.
And then it gets out of hand. And nobody is responsible.
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