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August 14, 2003 BLACKOUTS....Wow. Massive blackouts along the Eastern seaboard from Toronto to Maryland, and as far west as Detroit. UPDATE: More from Instapundit. Posted by Kevin Drum at August 14, 2003 02:25 PM | TrackBackComments
It's Clinton's fault.
Sitting here in Brooklyn in the middle of it. Everybody's mellow so far. Tradition of stoop-sitting has grown to include stoop-sitting while listening to car radio. Am wishing I had an old phone. All phones with electric handsets are useless and my cell phone battery isn't charged. But my laptop battery is, so I can access the internet. Posted by: renska at August 14, 2003 02:30 PM | PERMALINKFrom a Californian, [Nelson Muntz]Ha ha![/Nelson Muntz] Posted by: Adam at August 14, 2003 02:31 PM | PERMALINKIf Clinton hadn't seriously neglected the infrastructure of our electric utilities, gutted it in fact, with his socilaist policies... Of COURSE it's Clinton's fault. Posted by: Rick at August 14, 2003 02:32 PM | PERMALINKWhatever caused this: I sure hope they don't just throw money at the problem. As I heard it, when the blackout hit, two entire divisions of electric company repair people had to report "not ready for duty, sir". Posted by: Rick at August 14, 2003 02:35 PM | PERMALINKActually, coming from someone who used to work in the industry, it's more the fault of privatization, under which the reserve capacity required by the former regulatory regime has been diverted to profits, and the system has become ever more fragile. Homeland security mavens take note! You want a fat, easy target for terrorism against the US, which would have gigantic economic AND political effects, you couldn't do much better than our electrical T&D system. (How long 'til people deprived of air conditioning, lights, TV, gas pumps, and refrigeration -- not to mention blogs -- start exercising their Second Amendment rights at the local grocery store?) Ahh, never mind. We've got "flypaper" to paste, and shoes to be removed in airports. Posted by: bleh at August 14, 2003 02:36 PM | PERMALINKBleh is right and this outage (bad as it is) might be a blessing in disguise if it causes people to take notice. I recommend reading Thomas Fraser Homer-Dixon's article 'The Rise of Complex Terrorism' in the Jan/Feb 2002 Foreign Policy. "It's 4 a.m. on a sweltering summer night in July 2003. Across much of the United States, power plants are working full tilt to generate electricity for millions of air conditioners that are keeping a ferocious heat wave at bay. The electricity grid in California has repeatedly buckled under the strain, with rotating blackouts from San Diego to Santa Rosa. "In different parts of the state, half a dozen small groups of men and women gather. Each travels in a rented minivan to its prearranged destination--for some, a location outside one of the hundreds of electrical substations dotting the state; for others, a spot upwind from key, high-voltage transmission lines. The groups unload their equipment from the vans. Those outside the substations put together simple mortars made from materials bought at local hardware stores, while those near the transmission lines use helium to inflate weather balloons with long silvery tails. At a precisely coordinated moment, the homemade mortars are fired, sending showers of aluminum chaff over the substations. The balloons are released and drift into the transmission lines. "Simultaneously, other groups are doing the same thing along the Eastern Seaboard and in the South and Southwest. A national electrical system already under immense strain is massively short-circuited, causing a cascade of power failures across the country. Traffic lights shut off. Water and sewage systems are disabled. Communications systems break down. The financial system and national economy come screeching to a halt. "Sound far-fetched? Perhaps it would have before September 11, 2001, but certainly not now. We've realized, belatedly, that our societies are wide-open targets for terrorists. We're easy prey because of two key trends: First, the growing technological capacity of small groups and individuals to destroy things and people; and, second, the increasing vulnerability of our economic and technological systems to carefully aimed attacks. While commentators have devoted considerable ink and airtime to the first of these trends, they've paid far less attention to the second, and they've virtually ignored their combined effect. Together, these two trends facilitate a new and sinister kind of mass violence--a 'complex terrorism' that threatens modern, high-tech societies in the world's most developed nations." Posted by: Neil Dhingra at August 14, 2003 02:46 PM | PERMALINKA few brief blinks here in Cheshire, CT, a north suburb of New Haven on I-84. Outage numbers for CT available at Not to sound alarmist, but cyberterrorism is a (slim) possibility. The ramifications of someone hacking into computer networks controlling electrical grids or other physical devices is something that has been taken seriously by a lot of people. It's likely that todays events are not caused by anything like this, but when it's so widespread you have to wonder. On the other hand it could all be Clinton's fault. Posted by: Gunther at August 14, 2003 02:50 PM | PERMALINKsome time ago CalPundit said that the California is the leading of the USA. Yesterday in CA, today in other states. Posted by: GB at August 14, 2003 03:10 PM | PERMALINK"Of COURSE it's Clinton's fault." No it is not. No one critisized him for his policies in the energy, so now in the worst for Clinton verdict, it is shared fault. (-: Ooh, yes: it is his fault, that given the compromised elections of 2000, he did not keep the presidential powers to himself, and this way prevent USA from the bad stuff now. :-) Posted by: GB at August 14, 2003 03:20 PM | PERMALINKIt's Gray Davis trying to take over NY! Although...it could be Clinton's fault. Posted by: spc67 at August 14, 2003 03:25 PM | PERMALINKOne more argument for solar energy: The disadvantage of it is that you need lots of accumulators to store it for "dark moments". But in cases of sabotage or just failure of the central system you need most what? - handy accumulators. Posted by: GB at August 14, 2003 03:27 PM | PERMALINKbleh: (How long 'til people deprived of air conditioning, lights, TV, gas pumps, and refrigeration -- not to mention blogs -- start exercising their Second Amendment rights at the local grocery store?) CA managed fine a few years ago when the state was having electricity problems. Sure, it was annoying, but civil disorder didn't break out. More to the point: IIRC, when CA was having its power difficulties a few years ago, one part of the state was unaffected, and was, in fact, selling excess power: Los Angeles. Screw privitization. Municipal power all the way, baby! Less to the point: will all the warbloggers who are cheering the heat-related deaths of elderly Frenchmen turn to cheering the heat-related deaths of elderly northeasterners, if this becomes a regular problem? I would not be surprised. Posted by: YT at August 14, 2003 03:36 PM | PERMALINKLess to the point: will all the warbloggers who are cheering the heat-related deaths of elderly Frenchmen May I ask who's doing this so I can go chastise them? Posted by: spc67 at August 14, 2003 03:38 PM | PERMALINKAnyone who cheers death of any kind is not worthy of others' attention. Posted by: Mev at August 14, 2003 03:43 PM | PERMALINKI live in Maryland and there are no power outages here. From what I've hear on the national news, there are no power outages in most of PA (except the Erie area). Posted by: Lavoisier1794 at August 14, 2003 03:46 PM | PERMALINKHere in Northern N.J. we were out for about two hours. I got out of work an hour early. I can't complain. Posted by: miles at August 14, 2003 04:04 PM | PERMALINKSince I don't live in NorCal, maybe I just didn't experience the full extent of California's power crisis, but, it seems to me, that the current black out in the Northeast is far worse than anything we experienced in California. Certainly, there were rolling black outs, but they only affected small areas at a time. On the other hand, California's energy crisis led to higher energy bills and contributed to the state budget mess that has riled up the Davis recallers. Posted by: Sean at August 14, 2003 04:05 PM | PERMALINKspc, dead french, i think he's referring to: this: http://www.instapundit.com/archives/010919.php and this: -c Posted by: ChrisL at August 14, 2003 04:10 PM | PERMALINKWait. Instapundit and dailypundit are different people? Whatta country! --Dr. Nick ("Inflammable means flammable?") Posted by: squiddy at August 14, 2003 04:13 PM | PERMALINKWhat's interesting is watching the American networks. Pataki was just on and basically suggested it was a fault in the Canadian system, just after Bloomberg did the same. The Canadian networks are also report with some bemusement calls coming from US reporters asking where the problem is up here. The apparent cause was a lightning strike on a power station on the US side of the border. No doubt we'll get blamed because the storm came from here or something. Posted by: Keith at August 14, 2003 04:30 PM | PERMALINKSean-- Keith: It was God's wrath over the Gay marriage thing, but he was so pissed off he missed by a few miles... Posted by: TomF at August 14, 2003 04:47 PM | PERMALINKIt was God's wrath over the Gay marriage thing, but he was so pissed off he missed by a few miles... I'll say. I mean, hitting upstate New York when aiming for DC (or even worse, Texas) is just terrible aim. Posted by: Keith at August 14, 2003 05:35 PM | PERMALINKWait. Instapundit and dailypundit are different people? maybe, maybe not. life is a mystery. everyone must stand alone. Posted by: ChrisL at August 14, 2003 05:38 PM | PERMALINKFortunately, the administration has already spoken on why blackouts happen. Dick Cheney and Spencer Abrham both pointed out it was the environmental extremism that prevented new power plants from being built when California experienced blackouts and crisis. This also lead to high prices in California and meetings with Ken Lay. The fault with this blackout lays with extreme environmental restrictions on new power plants in N.Y., Md., and all throse states across to Mi. Just being fair and balanced. You decide. Posted by: MacMan at August 14, 2003 05:56 PM | PERMALINKThe apparent cause was a lightning strike on a power station on the US side of the border. Of course, they're disputing any such strike in New York. Posted by: Rick at August 14, 2003 06:07 PM | PERMALINKThis is all a plot to disrupt Hillary's appearance on Jon Stewart tonight. We'll see at 11 if the studio has a backup generator. Posted by: DonBoy at August 14, 2003 06:25 PM | PERMALINKI recently watched Bowling for Columbine for the first time and maybe I'm being oversensitive, but I happened upon NBC's live coverage of BLACKOUT 2003, during a segment where the announcer turned to his guy in Harlem. "Gee, it looks calm there, any signs of looting?" I was appalled. Did they ask that question when they went to Times Square or 5th Ave? It just hit me wrong. Posted by: Laura at August 14, 2003 06:27 PM | PERMALINKHonestly, now, I understand that New York's the largest population center effected, but you'd think (by watching the news) that it was the only area effected. Memo to CNN: There are actually PEOPLE that live between Chicago and New York, believe it or not. And my head might explode if I hear "It's not terrorism" one more time. Get the word out about what it was to calm the public, and move on. Posted by: kormal at August 14, 2003 06:28 PM | PERMALINKOK, the voices in my head have been replaying this all day: Kent Brockman: "Without knowing exactly what the danger is would you say it's time to crack each others heads open and feast on the goo inside?" Yes, I would, Kent. Posted by: squiddy at August 14, 2003 06:31 PM | PERMALINKanyone else catch W's press conference, calling this "rolling blackouts" ? WTF is he talking about? Posted by: ChrisL at August 14, 2003 06:34 PM | PERMALINKChrisL, he never seems to know what he's talking about. They had Bill Richardson on CNN. He was Energy Secretary during part of the Clinton administration. He suggested that it was the Congress who was to blame for not appropriating funding for infrastructure improvements. He said the USA now resembles a third world country when it comes to our ability to deliver electricity reliably. Posted by: Gabriel at August 14, 2003 07:20 PM | PERMALINKChrisL, A rolling blackouts are when areas are schdules to be out because there isn't enough power to meet all demand. This is not a rolling blackout. It is a cascade failure where system after system crashes and goes black in an uncontrolled manner. Rolling blackouts are what happened in the west in 2000. This is more similar to the great eastern blackoot of the 1960's. If W called this a rolling blackout he is factually wrong. Unfortunately, that isn't news. Fair and balanced. You decide. Posted by: MacMan at August 14, 2003 07:27 PM | PERMALINKDamn! Daily Show clip show...no Hillary. Obvious Republican plot. Posted by: DonBoy at August 14, 2003 08:05 PM | PERMALINKYou really want to know what happened? Remember, Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling of Enron have not yet been charged with anything. They are free, wealthy, experienced in setting up electrical blackouts, and available. Where were they yesterday and the last week or so? What have they been doing over the last year? They did their job in California, took some time off to determine their next target, then turned that state over to Daryl Issa after last Fall's election. What have they been up to since then? If they were in Toronto or Buffalo in the last week or so, then it is clear what happened. More Enron-style terrorism. Posted by: Rick B at August 15, 2003 01:16 AM | PERMALINKI'm in Michigan. Power has been off since 4:10 PM yesterday. I'm posting from a campus computer (the university has it's own generators, which power parts of campus). Last night was the front porch picnic spectacular in the 'student ghetto'. Everybody cooked up the food which would probably spoil and sat on their front porches eating. The night was cool enough for sleeping; there was a very light rain starting. Posted by: Barry at August 15, 2003 04:22 AM | PERMALINKFYI: Greg Palast's article: "POWER OUTAGE TRACED TO DIM BULB IN WHITE HOUSE --- The Tale of The Brits Who Swiped 800 Jobs From New York, Carted Off $90 Million, Then Tonight, Turned Off Our Lights" at http://www.gregpalast.com/detail.cfm?artid=257&row=0 Posted by: ELowe at August 15, 2003 06:42 AM | PERMALINKYesterday evening while listening to news on my radio, I heard that President Bush was preparing a taped speech addressing the blackouts. You can bet that Clinton would have addressed the nation without having to tape anything. Of course, Clinton can think on his feet. "Rolling blackouts" indeed. Good grief... Posted by: David W. at August 15, 2003 06:44 AM | PERMALINKOne of the networks, somewhere in the early (between 5-7 p.m.)hours of blathering to fill airtime, mentioned there were computer programs put into place to prevent cascading blackouts. It was also said that there were earlier threats by hackers that they would subvert this software in the near future to show it can be done. Did anyone else hear that? It was only said once that I heard and sandwiched between a cascade of "It was not an act of terrorism." Posted by: chris at August 15, 2003 06:47 AM | PERMALINKKevin, I'll have to buy you a map. Toronto is hardly on the eastern seaboard. Unless Orange County is in on the Gulf Coast. Posted by: bmo at August 15, 2003 07:24 AM | PERMALINKI've excerpted some good comments from today's press as well as analysis on the blackout. When the Enrons of the world were speculating on the newly deregulated utility system in the 1990s, they poured money into places where a quick buck could be turned -- energy trading, as it turned out. Don't forget the booming stock market either, which drained capital away from boring things like electricity transmission lines and fed it into exciting ventures like eToys and Pets.com instead. When you leave the essentials up to capital, prepare to either get taken to the cleaners or burned. Posted by: General Glut at August 15, 2003 08:14 AM | PERMALINKMSNBC Breaking News: The failure of three transmission lines in northern Ohio was the likely trigger of the nation's biggest power blackout, a leading investigator says. 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