posted 08-14-2003 04:05 PM               

A huge power blackout hit U.S. cities spreading from New York to Cleveland and Detroit and north into Canada Thursday afternoon. In New York City, the blackout affected subways, elevators and airports, including John F. Kennedy and LaGuardia airports. People streamed into the streets of lower Manhattan in 90-degree heat. In Toronto, Ontario, too, workers left their offices after the blackout hit shortly after 4 p.m. EDT. Traffic lights were out throughout downtown Cleveland, creating havoc at the beginning of rush hour. There were reports of outages in New Jersey and Connecticut as well. Every prison in New York state reported a loss of power and had switched to backup generators, said James Flateau, a spokesman for the state Department of Corrections.

posted 08-14-2003 04:20 PM            

'The outage was caused by an outage at a Manhattan power plant which destabilized the power grid as far as Canada, FERC spokesman Bryan Lee said. ' http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A59083-2003Aug14.html

'State officials said the Niagara-Mohawk power grid was overloaded. The grid provides power for New York and stretches into Canada. The officials said the outage is a natural occurrence and not related to terrorism. '
http://edition.cnn.com/2003/US/08/14/power.outage/

'There's no clear explanation why the power is out. One report says the Niagara-Mohawk power grid is overloaded, and that could be the explanation for the power outage. The U.S. government says it is not an act of terrorism.

However it appears unlikely an overload of the Niagara Mohawk power grid could cause such widespread damage on its own. The company Web site says serves 1.5 million customers in upstate New York.

So far it isn't clear just how extensive the outage is - but reports of power cuts have been reported all the way from Chicago to New York and from Ottawa to Washington.

posted 08-14-2003 04:38 PM            

Thursday, August 14, 2003
Power Outage
Instapundit is providing fast-updated coverage of the power blackouts in the northeastern U.S. and nearby regions of Canada. I suspect we'll all be blogging about the fragility of the power grid over the next few days, if, as it appears, a fire at Con-Ed plant in New York is rsponsible for taking down the power grid in places as far-flung as New York City, Toronto, Ottawa, Toledo, Cleveland and Detroit. And if the fire isn't the result of terrorism, I suspect al Qaeda is already "going to school" on how one fire in the right spot can cause such widespread blackouts.

UPDATE: Unsure of the role of the Con-Ed fire in the blackouts; CNN says Niagara Mohawk, the power grid that serves New York, the New England states, and all of eastern Canada, overloaded and went down. Cause to be determined, though NYC officials say terrorism isn't the likely cause. Great. But not great - because today's events are merely advertising the fragility of the power grid.

Remember the grad student whose dissertation the feds wanted to classify as top-secret because he created a very detailed map of all of the infrastructure networks that connect American society? (I wrote about it here back on July 8 and again on July 10.) The power grids were part of his maps. Turns out the feds started creating similar ultra-detailed maps of power grids, the Internet and other infrastructure shortly after the September 11 attacks. Maps are one thing. Engineering the system to harden it against cascading failures due to terror attacks, sabotage or even fires and other accidental causes is another.

posted 08-14-2003 05:08 PM            

Nor was the recent computer virus that effected millions of computer systems worldwide.

It's the illuminatis last death throes before the big WAKE UP.

They are getting desperate so they are disrupting the system.

But they will be exposed very shortly.

Coming this month.

posted 08-14-2003 05:46 PM            

I'm sure it was a accident and not a terrorism deal...

posted 08-14-2003 05:52 PM            

80% of the worlds population according to their own numbers.

The remaining ones in serfdom of course.

Islamic terrorism was bred and encouraged by the CIA.Does their dirtywork very well I might add.

posted 08-14-2003 06:23 PM            

you won't believe it til they dump a nuke on israel will ya...and they will if they get the chance...

looting is a given...especially in those cities yep...

posted 08-14-2003 06:31 PM            

Uhhh yeah...The Shah(our guy) was so BRUTAL towards the Iranian people...the people got RID OF HIM and settled for Iahtollah.

Another American sponsored dictatorship job gone wrong.

posted 08-14-2003 06:37 PM            

quote:

---

Well the commentary I've heard describes the possibility of a software attack by computer hackers

---

posted 08-14-2003 06:46 PM            

"........Did you know that on FoxNews they have experts warning that Islamic fundamentalist "CyberTerrorists" could hack into train stations and divert the tracks with only a few strokes of the keys causing a major head on train collision?
Did you know that they could also Hack into the Hoover Dam and open the flood gates "remotely" and cause a major flood that would kill hundreds of thousands?
Did you know that it is possible to Hack into a satellite in outer space and change it's orbit so that it would come crashing down to earth like a flaming meteor?
Did you know that the best Hackers on earth work for the United States Government and are the very first ones to attack through cyberspace during a war even before the first Navy Seal or Marines even touch the ground?
The possibilities of Hacking are endless.With all that power that you could potentially possess if you are serious.I mean really serious about becoming an elite Hacker.Then you must learn about Hacker ethics.Don't worry,I'am not going to bore you with a long lecture on ethics.It can all be summed up with the words of Jesus Christ from the bible which says,"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you".
I will show you some of the essential basics on this website,but if you are REALLY serious about becoming a Hacker.Click on "Hacker Software:Secrets of the CyberWarrior" to the upper left for more details,or click on one of the graphics below to be taken to that page.
Your search is over.You have finally found the portal to Hacker greatness!......."

ApocalypseKnight
*WARNING*!!!
"The Software and this Website are solely for educational purposes only.What you do with the knowledge you aquire here is totally your responsibility!Don't come crying to me if men in black or FBI come knocking on your door and take you away to a federal prison!"

I won't provide a link for this nonsense!

posted 08-14-2003 07:28 PM            

Curfue is in effect in Orange county.

Gotta love that liberty huh.

Mabye they are using this "crisis" as a test case?

Anyway you slice it...you best BE PREPARED for this eventual announcement.....

http://clients.loudeye.com/imc/mayday/jellomartiallaw.mp3

...and don't think it won't happen in Bush's new "Homeland" America. If they post a Terror Alert Red...you can bet martial law will be in place in less than an hour. That's all the time you will have before all the roads are shut down and checkpoints are up.

posted 08-14-2003 07:50 PM            

Another American sponsored dictatorship job gone wrong.

unfortunately, it is in our best interest to solicite allies around the world and some are notso nice characters...

posted 08-14-2003 09:10 PM            

One spot in particular that catches my interest is in western Canada along the rockies where there is usually a strong red indication (almost permanently) and the last map at 21:16:52 it has disappeared, along with most other radar blotches present only 5 hours previous.

posted 08-14-2003 09:12 PM            

canada seems to be waffling on the cause of the outage...and geeze mech wasn't we talking about the lack of power plants and such just a few days ago

all bases covered here...

posted 08-14-2003 09:17 PM            

I'll bet it will be a different story tomorrow.

This should be a WAKE UP CALL to all THINKING people not to be dependent on government infastructure.

Realize that your food in the fridge will go bad in 2days after you electricity fails.

Get portable wter filters, camp stoves, at LEAST 2 months of storable food, ammunition,
and a list of other things.

Learn SURVIVAL SKILLS.

You don't want to be at the mercy of this CORRUPT government in an emergency "crisis" staged or otherwise.

posted 08-14-2003 11:50 PM            

one things for sure...have not seen riots or looting here in the U.S yet...and reports of "serious" looting and mayhem are being reported in canada...

that says a lot too...

btw, recently I invested in a generator...get roughly about 16 hours to the tank...and plenty of sources for fuel...