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The East Coast blackout of 2003 - five years later; its effects on two college stu...
Five years ago today the eastern seaboard was struck by a massive blackout originating from Buffalo, New York. Cutting off millions from this vital energy source.
The video, titled "Red, White, and Blackout" chronicles the experience of Justin, Becky and Jared, 3 college students trapped in the fray that sunny August day. They explore the services no longer available to them due to the lack of electricity, how they survived the cold of night, and the chaos that surrounds them and their neighborhood. Five years ago today the eastern seaboard was struck by a massive blackout originating from Buffalo, New York. Cutting off millions fr... more -
US Navy drops $7.5 million on electromagnetic pulse generator
As anyone who has seen the Matrix will tell you, an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) can wreak havoc on electronics. You may also know that an EMP is a byproduct of a nuclear blast—which is why the Navy has handed over $7.5 million to L-3 Services, Inc. to build an EMP generator. The device is not going to be used as a weapon, instead it will be used to test the resistance of military systems to specific EMP levels as a preventative measure in the event that a nuclear weapon is detonated in US airspace.
The fear is that a king-sized EMP generated from a nuclear blast detonated in the sky could send this country back to the stone age. Even if the possibility of such a scenario occurring is remote, the Navy doesn't want to take chances. If all goes well, the generator is expected to be completed sometime in 2010. As anyone who has seen the Matrix will tell you, an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) can wreak havoc on electronics. You may also know that... more -
Electromagnetic pulse could send us back to the dark ages
Imagine you're a terrorist with a single nuclear weapon. You could wipe out the U.S. city of your choice, or you could decide to destroy the infrastructure of the entire U.S. economy and leave millions of Americans to die of starvation or want of medical care.
The latter scenario is the one envisioned by a long-running commission to assess the threat from electromagnetic pulse, or EMP. The subject of its latest, and little discussed, report to Congress is the effect an EMP attack could have on civilian infrastructure. If you're prone to nightmares, don't read it before bedtime.
An EMP attack occurs when a nuclear bomb explodes high in the Earth's atmosphere. The electromagnetic pulse generated by the blast destroys all the electronics in its line of sight. For a bomb detonated over the Midwest, that includes most of the continental U.S. Few, if any, people die in the blast. It's what comes next that has the potential to be catastrophic. Since an EMP surge wipes out electronics, virtually every aspect of modern American life would come to a standstill.
The commission's list of horribles is 181 pages long. The chapter on food, for instance, catalogs the disruptions up and down the production chain as food spoils or has no way to get to market. Many families have food supplies of several days or more. But after that, and without refrigeration, what? The U.S. also has 75,000 dams and reservoirs, 168,000 drinking water-treatment facilities, and 19,000 wastewater treatment centers -- all with pumps, valves and filters run by electricity.
Getting everything up and running again is not merely a matter of flipping a switch, and the commission estimates that many systems could be out of service for months or a year or more -- far longer than emergency stockpiles or batteries could cover. The large transformers used in electrical transmission are no longer built in the U.S. and delivery time is typically three years. "Lack of high voltage equipment manufacturing capacity represents a glaring weakness in our survival and recovery," the commission notes.
Many industries rely on automated control systems maintained by small work forces. In emergencies -- say, during a blackout -- companies often have arrangements in place to borrow workers from outside the affected area to augment the locals and help with manual repairs. After an EMP attack, those workers would be busy in their home regions -- or foraging for food and water for their families.
The commission offers extensive recommendations for how industry and government can protect against the effects of an EMP attack and ensure a quicker recovery. They include "hardening" more equipment to withstand an electromagnetic pulse; making sure replacement equipment is on hand; training recovery personnel; increasing federal food stockpiles; and many others.
If not, our vulnerability "can both invite and reward attack," the commission's chairman, William Graham, told Congress last month. Iran's military writings "explicitly discuss a nuclear EMP attack that would gravely harm the United States," he said. James Shinn, an assistant secretary of defense, has said that China is developing EMP weapons. The commission calls an EMP attack "one of a small number of threats that can hold our society at risk of catastrophic consequences." The threat is real. It's past time to address it. Imagine you're a terrorist with a single nuclear weapon. You could wipe out the U.S. city of your choice, or you could decide to ... more -
McCain Campaign Restricts Press Access
By Michael D. ShearPITTSBURGH -- Welcome to the new John McCain press strategy.Avoid them.McCain today held a 10-minute press conference, complete with podium, microphones for the questioners, network-quality audio and a camera for a local television station, which allowed CNN to carry it live.And where was the national press corps?Sitting on the runway 27 miles away, having been ferried to McCain's charter plane, totally unaware that a press availability was about to take place until one of the handful of "pool reporters" sent an e-mail alert.The reporters frantically fired up their cellular modems and logged on to CNN.com to catch the end of the press conference, unable to ask any questions. The handful of reporters there asked about the FISA terrorism bill, Iran and about McCain's pledge to balance the budget.McCain's schedule for Wednesday included a note about a "gaggle" with the pool reporters, but nothing indicated a live press conference. The tactic was a first for the McCain campaign, which basically shrugged when asked about it."He took a couple of questions at the end of the tour from the pool. This will happen occasionally," responded Jill Hazelbaker, the communications director for the campaign.The Republican presidential nominee has built a reputation for his access to the press, famously inviting the national press corps to gab sessions on the back of his "Straight Talk" bus during the 2000 and 2008 primary campaigns.National reporters still get some access; in fact, the campaign promises some time with the candidate later today as the campaign bus rambles from West Virginia to Portsmouth, Ohio.McCain gathered several reporters at the front of the plane while traveling in South America last week.But that access has been whittled away as McCain became the nominee. The Straight Talk is reserved now as a carrot for local reporters, leaving the national press corps on a charter bus trailing behind.The new approach may reflect the growing influence of the newly-powerful Steve Schmidt, a top adviser and protege of Bush political guru Karl Rove, who was famous for his desire to control the press's access to his candidate.Schmidt now has operational control of the day-to-day activities of the campaign and is no doubt responding to criticism about a lack of message discipline by the McCain campaign. By Michael D. ShearPITTSBURGH -- Welcome to the new John McCain press strategy.Avoid them.McCain today held a 10-minute press conferen... more
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Cat and mouse black out city
A cat chasing a mouse in Tirana's main power station caused a 72-hour blackout across parts of the Albanian capital. The two animals ran into the high-voltge cables and got electrocuted.
Albanians complain bitterly about the power cuts that have plagued them for decades, and are mostly blamed on drought and the dilapidation of the communist-era grid. A cat chasing a mouse in Tirana's main power station caused a 72-hour blackout across parts of the Albanian capital. The two anim... more -
Newsblast! 02.27.08
Clinton vs. Obama. Microsoft vs. Europe. And a mayor's racy photos vs. the town embarrassed by its mayor's racy photos.
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Ice Storm Causes Blackouts and 15 Deaths
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- A wintry storm caked the center of the nation with a thick layer of ice Monday, blacking out more than 600,000 homes and businesses, and more icy weather was on the way. At least 15 deaths in Oklahoma and Missouri were blamed on the conditions, with 13 of them killed on slick highways.
A state of emergency was declared for the entire state of Oklahoma, where the sound of branches snapping under the weight of the ice echoed through Oklahoma City.
''You can hear them falling everywhere,'' Lonnie Compton said Monday as he shoveled ice off his driveway. OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- A wintry storm caked the center of the nation with a thick layer of ice Monday, blacking out more than 600,000 h... more -
"Lights Out" Protest to cause a blackout at 7pm GMT?
A protest run in Germany, Switzerland and Austria is set to have millions of people to all turn their lights out at 8pm to make a point about energy conservation and global warming.
Experts however are concerned that millions of people turning all their lights out and then back on again at the same time may cause a power surge and knock out all of Europes power. I think this is probably scare mongering to make people not do it so they can get a bigger check at the end of the month.
One things for certain, if the power isn't back on for the fight tonight, then World War 3 might start with an English invasion of Germany.... A protest run in Germany, Switzerland and Austria is set to have millions of people to all turn their lights out at 8pm to make a poin... more
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