Back from the Blackout in Detroit

[Az]

Can't keep a good Dem down. 5:20 est Detroit is coming back online. Whats been happening. We need a summary. 24 hours of no data stream is too much for any technogeek.

[UrbScotty]

1. New York, Cleveland, and Toronto were also out

It was the biggest blackout in North American history; about 50 million Americans lost power.

Why it happened, they don't know.

[Ripley]

2. A little Kerry bashing, a little Dean bashing, a little south bashing,

you know the usual stuff.

[Jacobin]

3. (taking deep breath)

Being reported that Smirkco and GOPers in congress in 2001 shot down a $350 million loan guarantee on party line vote to upgrade the grid which bill was introduced by dems based on a report this blackout thing was likely.

tinfoilers saying Smirk did it for some reason I don't follow.

Most saying not terrisshts, but some holding fire.

Arguing about where the problem started.

Iraqis are giving tips on how to live in heat without electricity....pretty good one there. :-)

Smirk bumbled around in a taped and heavily edited press conf last night that made absolutely no fucking sense whatsoever.

Energy czar is out of the country. Cheney nowhere to be seen. Smirk fundraising in the middle of the blackout.

typical clusterfuck courtesy of BushCo.

[xxqqqzme]

5. Xcellent wrap-up

squatter 'n unca dick will use this as the Xcuse for more coal fired & new-ku-lar power plants. I have decided the reason squatter was 'competent' (rather than the more commonly used 'confident') it wasn't a terrawrist attack is cuz he didn't ok it!

[jus_the_facts]

8. ..and...THAT'S a wrap.....

.....excellently condensed LOL! :D

[HFishbine]

12. Wow

I think we need a daily Jacobin summary. Would save a lot of time.

[Droopy]

4. Hey, Az

Glad you made it back. I live in the Dayton, Ohio area in the southwestern part of the state. We weren't affected by the blackout, but I run up to Cleveland every day for my job (I'm a trucker) and they were. Yesterday, I took off like usual. The blackout occurred while I was in route. When I got up there all the traffic lights were out. They had cops directing traffic at the major intersections. Except for one station, all the radio stations were off the air. I got to where I usually pick up my load and found out that they had sent everybody home, so the trip was wasted.

So, how were you affected? Did everybody up there in Detroit treat each other alright?

[Pegmumm]

6. Could the blackout have been caused by MSblast worm?

I have a nasty thought... what if the new worm, msblaster, got into the system controlling bits of the power grid? It shuts down computers randomly with little warning... I know that because I debugged a friends computer yesterday. Winblows 98 isnt effected but XP and 2000 are.

Anyway, what do you think?

[Az]

10. Was fighting the worm when we went down

I really really hope that the power grid is not run on Windows boxes. That would be insanity.

[FlaGranny]

16. Randi Rhodes

was reading parts of a report from last year about many computer hacking attempts last year against 911 systems, power systems, etc. The author, forget who it was, warned about these attempts, coming from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, etc., and worried that they were trying to find vulnerabilities in those systems. The hacks originating from those countries is suspicious to say the least.

[UrbScotty]

17. Hi Pegmumm! Welcome to DU!

Yes, that is a theory going around.

[Pegmumm]

18. Yep, am a newbie.

I usually hang out at Smirking Chimp, am heavily into researching media strings from outside the US. But since the SC got hit by the power blackouts.. I needed my sanity fix and came here.

Thanks for the welcome.
Hope I can add to the forum on occasion.:hi:

[Az]

7. Everywhere I went people were descent

Radio kept trying to find flare ups and conflicts but in general it wasn't bad. People stuck together when it mattered.

When the power went out I was just finishing tracking down the virus in our company and that set off some speculation that it was the worm that crashed the grid. At first we thought it was local so I was a bit shocked whent I got in my car and turned on the radio and got silence. Red Dawn flashbacks brrrrr. It was freaky for a while but being technogeeks our dept got some info flowing pretty quick. Were able to find out how large an area was affected and we even started trying to map it out locally. Fun fun fun.

[Generic Other]

15. They are still looking for the source, Az

You say you pushed "delete" just before the power went out?

Glad to hear you are back in the light.

[SpiralHawk]

9. Once again, the Chimp-in-Chief* aquitted himself ignobly.

Appeared to be totally blitzed when he gave a "taped" TV "presentation" on the crisis.

Was he drunk? Was he stoned? Was he overmedicated? Or was he just plain freaked out because he is in so far over his head? Inquiring minds want to know.

The pResident* steadied the nation by reassuring all Jebus-fearing Americans that it was safe for him to go back to his barbeque, his parchesi, his meds, and his Segway scooting at the deluxe Pig Farm in Crawford, TX.

"The refigerator is working just fine out at the First Swinery," he said, "and the tax-payer-paid chef makes sure it is stocked with lots of fabulously expensive food. So I promise you, not one American need worry for an instant. I am safe, fully powered, and generously fed. There's absolutely nothing to worry about, so please SIT DOWN AND SHUT UP."


* Clearly rejected by a majority of patriotic and discerning American voters in the 2000 election; appointed to office by the so-called supreme court.

[Az]

11. Yeah but

Is the Segway actually turned on this time. Used to be leaders needed food testers. Shrub needs a freaking Nanny.

[tjdee]

13. Then he went fundraising and didn't mention us once.

After making that brilliant statement, he proceeded to talk to GOP Republicans about how great he was--and didn't mention one word about the blackout that affected 5 states and had millions without power.
I got to see that right after getting my power back.

Compassionate conservative, that guy!

[realFedUp]

14. lol

enjoyed that. thanks.