Linguist, lexicographer, radio host, public speaker

“Even in these times of terror, don’t panic,” by Deborah Orr from

;Would they have reacted with less hysteria had they not been told so forcibly the week before to be on the alert for “chemical, biological or nuclear attack”? Is it possible that a partial contribution to this tragedy was made by sheer fear of terror among a gathering of people trying and failing to forget the horrors that had been hinted at all week by a Homeland Security Department seemingly bent on concentrating American minds on possible scenarios of upcoming attack?

author avatar
Grant Barrett