THE BLACKOUT
The first thought was terrorism, especially since we have arrested suspects who were planning to take down power grids. Happy that it wasn't sabotage, but the fact that it happened outside the country and affected so many things means the terror makers have spotted a weakness. We'll have to put a lot of effort forward to protect these places while finding a way to make them less dependent on one another.
The situation also reminds you of how many things that have to go right to make Manhattan function, and yet it functions everyday. My first thoughts were to Cathy and Rob who had to get back to Hoboken from New York. The Ariel shots of the ferry landing reminded one of ants swarming the picnic. Cathy said on September 11th she walked to 33rd street to catch the ferry, but the line extended 20 blocks north. Yesterday didn't look any better. Seeing Time Square without lights and video probably gave me the best feel for what was going on. It would have seemed much more distant without that picture.
In the Midwest, Steve and Kristen are supposed to be in Detroit tonight to see KISS, but with their airport not even servicing passengers, I bet there is a good chance it won't come off either. Businesses in Detroit are telling people to stay home according to NPR. Luckily he is driving.
This is just the sort of the thing everyone was expecting from the Millennium bug. Companies spent millions of dollars and there wasn't even a report of traffic light going fritz. It gives a lot of credence to the philosophy that most worry is imagined and needless. The real catastrophes and dangers come swift and by surprise. We spend our time locking the barn after the horse gets out. Terrorists blow up the twin towers and our response is to strip search old Irish ladies getting on planes.
I don't know what Amtrak is doing here, but there was absolutely no security on any Eurail Train when we were over there. You walk into the station with all of your bags and enter any train of your choosing. Some terrorist will no doubt take advantage of this and try something. The reaction will be a crackdown too far the other way. It would make sense if they implemented reasonable security measures now, but the world has few leaders who lead. Most politicians are just managers that react.
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