Major Power Outage Strikes US / Canada

[that is interesting]

Isnt Rick merely an anagram for Allah?

[CFF]

Guest-that said:

Isnt Rick merely an anagram for Allah?

How it is you could possibly even consider that the name RICK is an anagram for ALLAH is beyond me ~that is interesting~. Perhaps you should visit the online WEBSTERS and ponder the definition of anagram?

:-XCFF

PS - While it really makes no difference as to what started the cascade failure and more specifically, where the cause was, it does seem to make those who suggest it was someplace that it wasn't look rather foolish when the final facts are released. Either way, there are no political boundries on power grids in N America, and if one or either side (Canada / USA) have deficiencies in their collective part of the system, they need to be addressed ASAP.

[daSilva]

Apparantly there were three failures in Ohio on the Lake Erie loop section of the grid which triggered the cascade failure. It was believed that a cascade failure of this magnitude could not occur, however usage has grown at a faster rate than the grid has been upgraded in no small part due to the number of large appliances in homes such as computers and televisions. Since the resumption of power I have been astonished at the selfishness of people in their usage of the hydro that is being supplied. Typical summer Saturday usage in Toronto is 19000MW with peaks of 25000MW, we are currently receiving about 17000MW of power and most people don't realise that if we don't conserve now we could be in trouble again very quickly. The one nice thing was that on Thursday evening everyone was well behaved, friendy and helpful and the starry sky was beautiful, something we can't usually see in the city. Needless to say though a lot of food has been spoiled and wasted in this situation not only personally but for all of the grocery stores as well, they are looking at millions in losses. This has not been a good year for Toronto.

[Justin]

daSilva said:

After 41 hours without power I just got electricity back!

I hope you don't live in a highrise, no joke. I have a friend who lives in the 20's in TO and that was pretty rough on her.

On the positive side speaking for myself I actually had to have extended conversations with people. Made for a nice change.

[julio_montoya]

Yeah, after seing all those stars, i think we should have once a month no power from midnight to 5 am, to save up power and to see the beautiful stars. A rare sight in a city like ours or even rarer in New York. And i have to admit it was fun to see everyone outside having fun, one of the funnest nights this year in my view.

[guest]

How it is you could possibly even consider that the name RICK is an anagram for ALLAH is beyond me ~that

ever heard of a joke?

[rick1776]

Im glad some of you think of me as a god of some description. But alas Im just a common househusband and part time PhD student.

Now if you piss me off again Ill take the power off AGAIN!! Got it?

cheers
rick1776

[El Sid]

Yep, you tell them Rick

Oh well, at least Robert Mugabe was quite happy about the blackouts in the US. He reckons that they can no longer refer to our continent as Darkest Africa without being hippocrates.

My advice, however, is not to take Mugabe seriously.

in the streets? That's great!

[Srrh]

That's because you guys use electricity.
Here in Québec, we use électricité instead, and it works just fine

Distinct power !!!

S.

[who won]

It seems that it was a terrorist attack after all, or so Al Qaeda would like us to believe.

Al-Qa'ida's Abu Hafs Brigades has claimed responsibility for "Operation Quick Lightning in the Land of the Tyrant of this Generation," referring to the blackout last week in the Northeast and Midwest United States. A communiqué by the Abu Hafs Brigades was published at groups.yahoo.com/group/abubanan2/message/330. This is the third communiqué by the "Brigades" that is being published by the same web-group; in the first, they accepted responsibility for the downing of an airplane in Kenya. The second accepted responsibility for the Jakarta bombing of the Marriott hotel on August 5, 2003.

The new communiqué says that in compliance with the orders of Osama bin Laden to strike at the American economy, the Brigades struck two important electricity supply targets on the East coast. The Brigades say that they cannot reveal how they did it, because they will probably have to use the same method again soon. The communiqué also claimed that the operation was meant as a present for the Iraqi people.

The following are excerpts from a report by the London-based Arabic daily Al-Hayat about the communiqué: [1]


The Blackout was 'a Realization of bin Laden's Promise to Offer the Iraqi People a Present'

"A communiqué attributed to Al Qaeda claimed responsibility for the power blackout that happened in the U.S. last Thursday, saying that the brigades of Abu Fahes Al Masri had hit two main power plants supplying the East of the U.S., as well as major industrial cities in the U.S. and Canada, 'its ally in the war against Islam (New York and Toronto) and their neighbors.'

"The communiqué assured that the operation 'was carried out on the orders of Osama bin Laden to hit the pillars of the U.S. economy,' as 'a realization of bin Laden's promise to offer the Iraqi people a present.'

'The Americans Lived a Black Day they will Never Forget'

"The statement, which Al-Hayat obtained from the website of the International Islamic Media Center, didn't specify the way the alleged sabotage was carried out. The communiqué read: 'let the criminal Bush and his gang know that the punishment is the result of the action, the soldiers of God cut the power on these cities, they darkened the lives of the Americans as these criminals blackened the lives of the Muslim people in Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine. The Americans lived a black day they will never forget. They lived a day of terror and fear… a state of chaos and confusion where looting and pillaging rampaged the cities, just like the capital of the caliphate Baghdad, and Afghanistan and Palestine were. Let the American people take a sip from the same glass.'

'The U.S. will not Live in Peace until Our Conditions are Met'

"It added: 'we heard amazing statements made by the American and Canadian enemies which have nuclear physics universities and space agencies, that lightning hit and destroyed the two plants. And we are supposed to believe this nonsense. If the blackout occurred in one or two cities, their lie would have been credible. But the fact is that the blackout hit the entire East and part of Canada.'

"The communiqué continued: 'one of the benefits of this strike is that the U.S. will not live in peace until our conditions are met, such as releasing all the detainees including Sheikh Omar Abdulrahman, and getting out of the land of the Muslims, including Jerusalem and Kashmir.'

"The authors of the communiqué said that the strikes aimed at 'hitting the major pillar of the U.S. economy (the Stock Exchange)… [and] the UN, which is opposed to Islam, and is based in New York. It is a message to all the investors that the U.S. is no longer a safe country for their money, knowing that the U.S. economy greatly relies on the trust of the investor…'

'The Gift of Sheikh Osama bin Laden is on Its Way to the White House'

"The communiqué mentioned that some economists said the blackout in the U.S. and Canada would cost the U.S. Treasury no less than ten billion U.S. dollars and in order to 'break the hearts of U.S. officials, just know that the cost paid by the Moujahideen to sabotage the power plants was a mere seven thousand dollars. Die of sorrow!'

"The communiqué ended with: 'we tell the Muslims that this is not the awaited strike, but it is called the war of skirmishes (to drain the enemy), and that the American snakes are enormous and need to be consumed and weakened to be destroyed. We tell the people of Afghanistan and Kashmir that the gift of Sheikh Osama bin Laden is on its way to the White House; then the gift of Al Aqsa, and do we know what is the gift of Al Aqsa, where and when? The answer is what you are seeing!'

so, there you have the answer to the mystery.