Saturday

  Good morning. It is 43 degrees and overcast here in Upstate NY. The temperature hit 70 yesterday and that has spurred on a lot of early Spring plant growth. The forsythias are out, magnolias, dogwoods, all sorts of early spring flowers, and the tree buds are swollen. It will be good to see leaves on trees and the bareness covered.

  What a week it's been. Recapping is not necessary as we are all too aware of the various messes and tragedies. We presume that the police have apprehended the remaining person responsible for the Boston Marathon bombing. I found myself somewhat taken aback by the medias intense coverage of the pursuit. It's all so very tragic in many directions and ways as we sit back and cheer on law enforcement from our remote homes throughout the world. It's a media phenomena that we might want to examine and reflect upon and this has nothing to do with the presumptions of guilt or the intensity of the violent act along with its many victims. It's a little creepy, a little bit verging on a type of mass hysteria and we play right along. I am reminded of Reagan's planned attack on Libya which occurred right after the nightly news TV programming. It was a made for TV viewing war. We are now used to this type of programming so to speak and with gains there are always losses. I'm not sure we know what we have lost as participants, I'm not sure what we have gained either.