A Very Strange Week in America

It has been an extraordinary week for the nation that has just concluded.

Think about it. How often do we get such huge and memorable events so tightly packed into one week?

At first, it seemed that the stalemate on the Korean peninsula was the big news maker. But that changed rather quickly.

On Monday, April 15th, the day that most Americans already know is most famous as the deadline to file taxes, there were multiple bombings at the Boston Marathon, through the use of pressure cookers, filled with makeshift shrapnel, killing three people and seriously injuring many others. It was the first major act of terrorism to gain huge publicity since September 11th.

Then, the very next day, a huge explosion so strong that it registered on the Richter scale in West, Texas, at a fertilizer plant. Now, I will admit that my first thought was that this was some kind of act of terrorism, along the lines of what had just happened at Boston.

Evidently, however, this was not an act of terrorism, but some freak and tragic accident. But the size of the blast was certainly shocking to see. It reminded me of what a mushroom cloud for a nuclear explosion is supposed to look like.

Yet, as huge as that news was, by later in the week, it was already in the backburner, as the search for those responsible for the Boston bombings intensified.

Then, of course, on Thursday night/Friday morning, there was the shootout near Boston (not far from the scene of the crime, actually).

The two suspects were identified - Tamerian Tsarnaev and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. Two brothers who had roots in Kyrgyzstan, and more recently, in the Russian republic of Chechnya. Both governments quickly distanced themselves from the two brothers. Then, there was the attempted robbery, and the famous shootout. At some point, Tamerian was gunned down, and his younger brother, Dzhokhar, ran him over, and dragged his body around thirty feet, before fleeing the scene and hiding out.

What transpired next was highly unusual. In effect, the entire city of Boston shut down. It was virtual Marshall law. The search lasted a long time. Almost the entire day passed before Dzhokhar was finally spotted on a boat, already seriously wounded. He put up a gunfight against the police, but obviously, he lost the fight, and was taken to the hospital in serious condition. Latest that I heard is that he is still fighting for his life and, at least for now, unable to communicate.

That means that we are still awaiting word on the motive for the crime. Some are suggesting that, because the two brothers were Muslim, that this was another episode of Islamic terrorism. There have been some xenophobic sentiments expressed since the incident.

Also, many people are surprised (myself included) that the two brothers were still in Boston, and had not even tried to flee the area and go into hiding.

Everything there just seems to mysterious, although everyone is still waiting for Dzhokhar to finally be able to communicate. Then, maybe, we can find out more about what happened - and in particular, the motive that has proved so elusive thus far. As I was writing this, a report came out on the news that one of the most serious wounds may have been self-inflicted - that he may have shot himself.

Yet, despite all of this, even this was not all of the major news that hit the nation and set fears flying.

Of course, the gun debate raged on as well, with the huge defeat for gun control advocates last week serving as a backdrop for the events this week.

Also, Congress quietly passed the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA), which has remained in the background right up to the present moment. But it shouldn't, because the ramifications of this act are huge, and rather invasive.  President Obama may still veto it. But then again, he might not. Would either scenario be all that surprising, really? We can hope that he vetoes it, but let's see what happens. It's another step towards the not so gradual erosion of our privacy and our rights.

Perhaps adding to how startling the week was, it concluded yesterday with a mass demonstration in Colorado in favor of the newly legalized status of marijuana. Yet, even though this itself was unique, there was a shooting there, as well, injuring two. Read the link below for the article "Shooting at Colorado pot holiday gathering injures two", by the Associated Press:

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/national_world&id=9073359

Here's the article on the events in Boston, here is the article " For bombing suspects, question may be who led whom" by  ALLEN G. BREED, ERIC TUCKER and JEFF DONN, of the Associated Press:

http://news.yahoo.com/bombing-suspects-may-led-whom-001538013--spt.html