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| -Short Attention Span Theater- |
| Major power failure across Northeast |
| 2003-08-14 |
| Toronto, Detroit also affected by unexplained blackout BREAKING NEWS MSNBC AND NBC NEWS Aug. 14 — A major power blackout hit several major cities in the Northeast, the Midwest and Canada late Thursday afternoon, knocking out electricity to millions of people in New York, Toronto, Detroit, Cleveland and elsewhere. THE BLACKOUT, which sent thousands of New Yorkers streaming into the streets and briefly knocked television networks off the air, could not be immediately explained. Most of the cities are linked on the same regional power grid, however. MSNBC TV showed aerial pictures of fires in the Bronx and Brooklyn. CNN reported that a fire had been reported at the Consolidated Edison plant in New York. The evening rush hour was just beginning, and NBC correspondents described scenes of pandemonium. Officials of the Homeland Security Department said they had no immediate information on the blackout, which struck cities stretching from Hartford, Conn., and Syracuse, N.Y., west to Detroit and Cleveland and north to northwest Ontario. The entire city of Toronto was affected, MSNBC television reported. Much of New England, however, including all of Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New Hampshire, southern Vermont and eastern Connecticut, were unaffected. For you unfortunate Rantbugers affected, I only want to add, when you finally get back online and read this, that we had a porn-fest in your absence. Sorry, but Fred deleted all the links as soon as he heard power was being restored. Cap’n Bringdown. ;-> |
| Posted by:.com |
| #8 "I think our dependence on electricity for nearly everything we do is our most obvious Achilles Heel." Agreed, but life would suck the biggun' without it. I like Tom Clancy's response in that Newsweak interview yesterday - the gist was that we should hang onto our freedoms and vulnerabilites and fight back against anyone who |
| Posted by: .com 2003-8-14 10:27:32 PM |
| #7 I have to add that, like many of you, my first thought was terrorism. I can't help but think that a dozen teams of two in vans, one driving and one sniping, driving out in different directions from NYC and sniping at transformers along the way wouldn't be any less effective. Actually, probably more so since the damage would not be localized but would require more personnel and more equipment to fix. I think our dependence on electricity for nearly everything we do is our most obvious Achilles Heel. |
| Posted by: Dar 2003-8-14 9:47:02 PM |
| #6 This is bizarre. It didn't affect us in Pittsburgh, but it did north of us in Erie and west out to Cleveland. What I can't figure is why an isolated county like Adams (Gettysburg) is affected, when Philly and none of the other counties around it are affected. All I can say is, if you live in NYC and posess an evil, naughty, illegal firearm, now is the time to pull it out, sit by the door, and make sure your family and posessions stay safe tonight! Or you can rest securely in the knowledge that the authorities will guarantee your safety. After all, there's enough cops to protect all 10 million of you simultaneously in this crisis, right? That system works perfectly in Britain! |
| Posted by: Dar 2003-8-14 9:25:57 PM |
| #5 Frank G - Agreed - my ATM is a lifeline and I do everything online - for the last 7 yrs, in fact. This would really hurt! Angie - The pizza and beer thing was a great! I just used pr0n to get their attention... your know how we myns are wired - we can't help ourselves! That's my excuse, anyway, and I'm sticking to it! ;-> john - "Canadian Beef" So, uh, does that mean it's born frozen? "so where are the links huh?" Well I've been AmeriTrade (http://www.ameritrade.com/) TD Waterhouse (http://www.tdwaterhouse.com/) I hope this helps with your pool-side uh, um, research! |
| Posted by: .com 2003-8-14 7:37:59 PM |
| #4 some of us east of Toronto are still on line; my laptop is good for a couple of hours and then I'll switch to my corporate laptop. damn. so where are the links huh? I'm sitting by the pool, had a steak(Canadian Beef)on the barbie, and enjoy the last of the cold beer. |
| Posted by: john 2003-8-14 6:27:21 PM |
| #3 ...we had a porn-fest in your absence. And Fred figured out a way to email us pizza and beer! (I'd much rather have a cartoon fest than a porn fest. Let's do that next time Fred. Or a Humphrey Bogart film festival, if you'd rather.) |
| Posted by: Angie Schultz 2003-8-14 5:47:43 PM |
| #2 Bummer for those stuck, especially with ATM's not working... |
| Posted by: Frank G 2003-8-14 5:26:44 PM |
| #1 There's a related link in the story: http://www.msnbc.com/news/297115.asp which explains the power system (from about 90,000 feet) and even has a cute little Flash app - you might show this to your kids when they ask "Why?" - inevitable if you were among the affected. |
| Posted by: .com 2003-8-14 5:06:33 PM |