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September 28, 2003
Sunday
 
 
And now Italy...
Dale Amon (Belfast, Northern Ireland)  European affairs

Italy has just had a major blackout.

Let's see now... USA, UK, Italy... I wonder if Spain has had one yet? Each blackout has a prosaic explanation, but taken all at once this rash of failures flags these blackouts unusual in a statistical sense if nought else.

Comments

Don't forget Denmark.

Nothing rotten there, one hopes.


Posted by Crosbie at September 28, 2003 10:41 AM

I'm not sure it's fair to describe the UK incident as a "major blackout". OK, so we lost the tube for a short period. OK, so it's unusual to lose so much power. But no ripple effects outwards to other regions, no cascade effects onto other systems, all in all, the power system was proven reasonably robust.


Posted by Malcolm at September 28, 2003 10:49 AM

Crosbie: I completely forgot about Denmark.

Malcolm: I think I stated it correctly. Italy had a major blackout; when I stated the collective list I just "each blackout". I think it was correct to say London had "a blackout". :-)


Posted by Dale Amon at September 28, 2003 10:55 AM

Don't forget the Netherlands


Posted by Berdt at September 28, 2003 11:04 AM

Southern Sweden and Denmark had a major one just last week...


Posted by Xipe at September 28, 2003 02:03 PM

I think you are right, Dale, its spooky! There is more to it all then meets the eye. No doubt the 'powers that be' which to keep us all in the dark.


Posted by Maggie at September 28, 2003 02:12 PM

As it happens, my parent were flying out from Heathrow to Catania (Sicily), via Rome, this morning, and they heard the news as they were getting ready to go to the airport. Flights don't seem to be affected, at least. Fingers crossed!


Posted by Alan Ralph at September 28, 2003 03:58 PM

tersting...testing...testing 123,123 in the event we have to have an actual emengency please tur....


Posted by bob in the hills at September 28, 2003 04:19 PM

My bit of London SW1 had a power outage from about 2pm to about 4pm, last Thursday afternoon, I think it was. I rang Perry in Chelsea to see if he had one as well, but he didn't.

Luckily I'd just done a save of what I was writing.


Posted by Brian Micklethwait at September 28, 2003 06:38 PM

Obviously this is the handiwork of the CIA together with Mossad acting under orders from the Arik Sharon who is merely a puppet for the Cheney-Bush-Rumsfeld-Haliburton-Neoconservative secret oil cabal.


Posted by David Carr at September 28, 2003 07:11 PM

Don't forget
Canada
...


Posted by Victor at September 28, 2003 08:22 PM

i think its the commies in league with the masons, the jews, the jesuits, the illuminati, al-qaeda, and the boston red sox...its all THEIR fault!


Posted by akaky at September 28, 2003 09:01 PM

But...but... but... I thought that these things only happen in the US due to the to the rotten state of our antediluvian power grid; EU countries have all those new, shiny, superior power stations, no?


Posted by Katherine at September 28, 2003 10:09 PM

Efficiency is the enemy of reliability, and modern power grids are VERY efficient.


Posted by David Mercer at September 29, 2003 12:04 AM

A little voice from above told me it's Satan in person who punished the Axis of Good...

Spaniards, 99% of whom were anti Bush's war, must indeed be regretting their inability to topple Aznar in due time.


Posted by Kodiak at September 29, 2003 08:37 AM

So the countries who supported the military removal of Saddam Hussein are experiencing power failures?

Then I'm suprised nobody has mentioned this, yet.

Don't forget Iraq.



Posted by Jon Henke at September 29, 2003 07:44 PM

I suffered a blackout on my street last night. As a supporter of the invasion of Iraq, I feel certain that we have the final proof that Jacques & Gerhard are to blame for all this.


Posted by Jonathan L at September 30, 2003 06:36 AM

In the words of JFK, "Let me make myself perfectly clear". I don't really believe there is any evidence the events are tied together, nor do I believe they were sabotage.

My point is only that if there is indeed a change in the statistical level of infrastructure failures, it might be wise to look for a "swarm" model of economic warfare against the West. It is perhaps the only truly effective tactic available to the enemy. How robust are our economies? How many holes can be punched in our systems before they crash? Are we vulnerable to this sort of dispersed, uncoordinated and secretive attack? I am pretty sure there are very top secret groups gaming this very scenario.

It's not a war-winning move, but attacking the economic/industrial capacity of the enemy certainly weakens the front lines.

So take what I wrote as a what-if, not a This-was.


Posted by Dale Amon at September 30, 2003 10:26 AM

AND NOW PORTUGAL !

HA HA HA HA HA !!!

Next time the Portuguese will think twice before greeting the Texan calamity with his British poodle in the Azores...

The Axis of Outage.

HA HA HA HA HA !!!


Posted by Kodiak at October 3, 2003 06:01 AM
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