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Martin Armstrong Asks: "Is There Something Behind The Power Outage In Washington DC?"

Tyler Durden's picture




 

Submitted by Martin Armstrong via Armstrong Economics,

Power-Grid

The April 7th, 2015 power outage in Washington DC is curious to say the least. Virtually instantaneously, the government declare it was not a terrorist attack. After all, how could that possibly be when the NSA guards the country. If there was an attack on the power-grid, then the NSA would have to answer for their failure. So clearly, if it was an attack, they would never admit it.

Instead, this has been attributed to a piece of metal breaking loose from a power line 43 miles southeast of the District of Columbia, which knocked out electricity to the White House, State Department and wide area including parts of Maryland. Can a simple piece of metal break and shut down that much power of a strategic area as DC? That seems to be an excuse like some drunk driver knocked over a power pole.

Only six days before Obama had to switch to emergency power was on April 1st in Rome where the power supply was out for hours effecting the Lazio region. That included the major Roman airport of Fiumicino. The cause of that event somehow remains unknown.

Just the day before in Turkey there was another power failure. That was the worst blackout since the devastating Marmara earthquake of 1999. Chaos in the capital and much of the country drew more than 70 million Turks into chaos. Public transport was paralyzed, traffic lights were dark, conveyor belts continued. Elevators halted and mobile phones were silent. Even hospitals switched to emergency mode and the NSA style surveillance cameras in the capital Ankara went black.

There, left-wing extremists broke into the Palace of Justice and kidnapped a prosecutor during the massive power outage. The prosecutor had worked on the case of a protester who had been shot in Gezi Park. Even Prime Minister Davutoglu suspected spontaneous “sabotage”.

Are we dealing with a series of unfortunate events, enriched with a touch of typical government mismanagement? According to the Turkish newspaper Hürryiet , the national energy grid in Turkey was quite sophisticated and mismanagement was not enough to explain the massive power failure. Many in Turkey suspect a cyber attack. The Turkish Internet is full of speculations and theories, including the allegation to the Government, the blackout was staged to make propaganda for the development of nuclear energy.

Then there was Amsterdam.  In the Netherlands, on March 27th a series of questionable blackouts took place is a very dubious chain of events. Large parts of the Northern Netherlands with nearly three million people experienced a devastating power failure. Thousands were stuck on trains, trams and elevators. The official statement was that a high-voltage switch-gear in the Amsterdam suburb Diemen failed due to the power overloading. Was Europe’s fourth largest airport and the entire rail network in the north of the country simply a victim of an accident or perhaps the target of a cyber-attack?

UK-Nazi-20pounds

The technology age is highly vulnerable and the movement to electronic money is interesting for if the power-grid goes down for any prolonged period, what new risk factors will the economy absorb?  During war, it is common for the other side to counterfeit their opponent’s currency. The way to accomplish this today is to take out the power-grid.

 

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Fri, 04/10/2015 - 13:07 | 5979322 cro_maat
cro_maat's picture

Where do I start.... No I'll pass on the naming because I don't have time to transcribe all of the countries listed on the globe (including the U.S.)

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 15:34 | 5979972 Kirk2NCC1701
Kirk2NCC1701's picture

Hypothesis testing seems easy to do here... If it was a Terra rist attack and they want to get credit for it, they simply have to do a repeat in DC or another major city.

If it was a retaliation/warning from Russia (e.g. if the submarine fire was done by US-backed agents), then no one will take credit and TPTB will handle it quietly -- having received the message "Don't fuck with us!"

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 12:32 | 5979148 Miles Plastic
Miles Plastic's picture

The irony is that, in a socially and infrascturcurally decadent society, it will become increasingly difficult to the tell the difference between terrorism and senescence.

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 12:38 | 5979178 Hobo Sapien
Hobo Sapien's picture

+100

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 12:46 | 5979211 InjectTheVenom
InjectTheVenom's picture

i upvoted 'ya 'cuz your statement seems very accurate , although i have no clue what the last word means !  

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 17:50 | 5980530 Alvin Fernald
Alvin Fernald's picture

 It means to grow old. Thanks for the new vocab Plastic. I feel sad now because I have a new word to explain the human condition.

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 13:11 | 5979342 JuliaS
JuliaS's picture

I maintain servers and infrastructure networks and the level incompetence and negligence I find in those areas is truly astounding. By now computers run everything. They maintain the quality of life and life itself.

I remember crawling into a machine room once that was set up, probably, in 80's and never opened. A communication hub for phone networks and other automated building systems, aircon, water pumps and so on. There was an old monochromatic display hooked up to an 8086 computer that I'm guessing was never turned off, so the last picture it hand on screen decades back was permanently etched into the phosphorus.

And the boss just points at things and expects to have'em fixed by lunch.

I feel like Indiana Jones when called to investigate breakdowns like that. Imagine going into an Egyptian pyramid and actually finding things running below layers of dust and dirt.

Computers built in 80's were robust. Didn't give off much heat, so you could technically lock them in a room and leave them on autopilot. Modern infrastructure requires constant maintenance. Fans die, hard drives go bad. 4-5 years is enough to completely ruin a decent server... but I'm not so worried about those. I'm worried about those 30+ year old control boxes people don't even know exist, eventually wearing out and taking entire cities down with them.

In my book negligence is the real terrorism.

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 13:28 | 5979423 Skateboarder
Skateboarder's picture

JuliaS, appreciate your post. Negligence borne out of blind faith in the perpetuity of electronic systems, or any system at all...

It's the blind faith [in everything] that kills us.

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 14:31 | 5979726 Almost Solvent
Almost Solvent's picture

Your post gave me a flashback to LOST

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 20:46 | 5980908 Parrotile
Parrotile's picture

Even the lightest - loaded moving parts WILL wear, and that wear is cumulative (out-of-spec. end-throw / backlash movement will have a cumulative effect on similarly - worn downstream connected components).

Accumulated dust / contamination / moisture can (so does) lead to tracking / leakage, even at low voltages, and this in turn can affect the performance, or "electrical appearance" of such things as capacitors, especially capacitors where low leakage may be critical for normal operation.

Even "modest" HV has an added electrostatic attraction problem (remember the days of the old Colour CRT sets - with the HV / LOPT boards being usually covered in accumulated dust - which in turn led to problems (such as failure of valves / transistors)).

Even modest (but repetitive) thermal cycling can result in the development of high-resistance joints, especially in old systems where the ICs were still of the socketed DIP profile.

Colleague's dad was an Electrician for London Underground "back in the Day". He used to regale us with tales of ancient, but critical, HV switches / connections that were not in the "current distribution schematic" - i.e. things that had been installed ages back, and had simply been missed when the final drawings were prepared, or were installed as a "work-around" for an earlier problem, but whose installation had failed to be recorded for some (usually Human) reason. This is always why they used to check terminal status VERY carefully - there had been "occasions" when a supposedly disconnected sector was still very "live", as a result of an unrecorded modification performed in the past . . . . . .

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 20:55 | 5980985 JuliaS
JuliaS's picture

Single sided through-hole circuit boards that were common pre 90's had good longevity. Thick traces, solid solder work. Early computers built in such fashion used robust microchips (manufactued by local electronics giants), no moving parts, no active heat dispersion. Aluminum foil capacitors instead of electrolytics.

In many malfunction cases all that happens is that chips slide out of their sockets over time. You "crack" them - push everythinig back into place and the system's as good as new.

Modern computers have moving parts, and even those with highest grade ball bearings typically grind away in 5-8 years if the system runs 24/7. Flash memory has a read/write cycle limit. Electrolytic caps dry out in about 10 years, depending on build quality voltage margins and ambient temperature. I've recapped many ancient boards as it was impossible to find full replacements. Any manager will go for few bucks of caps and a day of labor cost instead of having to completely modernize equipment for hundreds of thousands of dollars. The problem is that they assume cheap fixes are going to keep cutting it. When microcontrollers go bad - and ones from the 70's and 80's are starting to expire right around now - there is no way to get them running again. I've done one job that was straight out of Back To The Future 3. One chip rebuilt with a huge box worth of electronics, by using original processor schematics. Never want to do it again. Emulation can sometimes be done with FPGA's, but one has to have blueprints to begin with. That ain't always the case.

Also, most repairs have to be certified and insured. Many jobs that I offer to do are turned down for the reason that insurance ain't gonna cover modifications. Then fork over the big money, over literally 10 cents worth of obsolete micros. Not my problem!

 

Sat, 04/11/2015 - 00:05 | 5981346 Parrotile
Parrotile's picture

At least in the bygone era of discrete componentry, such repairs may have been practicable. Now with SMT being the accepted standard (along with very high track density double sided boards), repair is difficult if not impossible. SMDs can be replaced, but for even simple passive elements it's difficult. For 128-lead Gullwing devices it is getting well-nigh impossible for even the professional, and completely beyond us amateurs, who have been in effect forced into a "replace rather than repair" situation.

This is one reason why I hang on to my old (but working) Hitachi storage scope - 100MHz performance is fine for me, AND the discrete components are still visible, so "field replaceable", at least in theory . . . . .

Sat, 04/11/2015 - 01:56 | 5981447 JuliaS
JuliaS's picture

I used to play with my father's analogue scope when I was little. Still nostalgic for that era. Nowdays I carry a cheap Chinese Rigol to most jobs and a pocket DSO for logic level testing. I don't get to do any high spectrum work, and I'm a low end worker in engineering terms. Half the time I get to do repairs, the other half I simply provide estimates and leave fixing to somebody else. I offer 3 options - nearly free (aka "Flight of the Phoenix"), cheap or proper. Let's just say, it always ends up being #1 or #2.

Taking apart bankrupt firms and auctioning off assets is also fun. Very often, the highly valued assets end up worthless. Things go obsolete quickly and even quicker with no maintenance.

Pulled apart a state of the art fiberoptic hub - 500-port 10Gbit distribution rack. Thought - oh, it's gonna be worth a lot. The moment I pulled the first module out and shook it, I realized something was loose on the inside. Then I pulled a few more. Exact same thing. Side fans fried and stuck, but that's no biggie, I thought. Unscrewed one of the boxes and it turned out that with no ventilation the plastic rivets that held heatsinks in place completely melted off and the only thing keeping them in place was their own weight and the fact nobody ever touched the hub. You sneeze at it and the whole effing company's network goes down - all 500 links. Most filer caps bulged - in other words, everything totally worthless.

I also examine power systems - that's another reason to laugh. 2000 amp cabinets with no proper grounding, no RF isolation, wooden dowels propping UPS modules - I've seen it all. Google and Amazon have their fancy data centers with liquid cooled shipping containers and hipster techs leaping from place to place on motorized scooters. Well, most of the IT world is nothing like that. It's completely improvised and put in place with scotch tape an plasticine, violating every imaginable specification. And those places will take your personal data, store your credit card info and tell you it's all safe.

Hell. Working with phones I don't even feel like mentioning anything personal ever - even if the person on the other end is an intended recipient. I'm a tech but I'm a total technophobe due to everything I've witnessed.

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 14:10 | 5979607 mt paul
mt paul's picture

senescence.

had to look that up

 

thanx for the new word

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 15:40 | 5980007 Kirk2NCC1701
Kirk2NCC1701's picture

Senescence = Entropy + Greed (deferred maintenance) = Real Biatch

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 12:35 | 5979164 Ness.
Ness.'s picture

You guys are looking at this all wrong.  Stocks are up again today.  Enjoy the weekend.

 

Sincerely,

 

Mr. Yellen

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 12:39 | 5979181 Edge.case
Edge.case's picture

Why would you think a simple piece of metal break couldn't shut down that much power? This is CENTRAL planning after all. Economies of scale and all that. Never mind risk of failure. 

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 12:40 | 5979187 holdbuysell
holdbuysell's picture

When the whole country goes dark, they'll say no one saw it coming.

No really, the MSM's propaganda will have no power to propagate the BS.

LOL

Hey Tylers, how're your short wave radio and backup solar generator systems looking?

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 16:59 | 5980334 ebear
ebear's picture

"When the whole country goes dark, they'll say no one saw it coming."

Texas will still have power.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_Interconnection

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 12:41 | 5979189 raywolf
raywolf's picture

the power grid in an antiquated nonsense put together using 19th Century technology.... even then it was known that there were ways to carry electricity wirelessly and certainly, these huge monster powerstations are nothing more than giant furnaces, creating incredible wastage... if there are really terrorists, a band of 10-15 guys could probably cut down the entire electrical grid with a few low key, low tech attacks in the middle of the night at the right switching stations....

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 12:42 | 5979197 Dragon HAwk
Dragon HAwk's picture

I actually enjoy the panic on everybody's face, when their gadgets stop working.

Sat, 04/11/2015 - 02:13 | 5981462 fel.temp.reparatio
fel.temp.reparatio's picture

Last time there was a power outage here, there was nothing to do but sit in the dark with the wife and just chat... she seems nice.

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 12:44 | 5979203 silverserfer
silverserfer's picture

It was Kim Jong Un.  he was quoted before the attack at a dinner party,

"Oh, this ril be most incronvrienent. try to pray golf in the dark presadent o-ba-maa." 

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 12:45 | 5979205 silentboom
silentboom's picture

Hmm, there was an attack on my plumbing around the same time.  I believe the cause was beans.

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 15:00 | 5979843 Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill's picture

Iranian suicide turd ?

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 12:46 | 5979209 Mike Masr
Mike Masr's picture

CNN will soon come out with "Breaking News" that Putin did it!

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 12:47 | 5979223 InjectTheVenom
InjectTheVenom's picture

no , they're still going 24/7 on the most recent cop shooting...the power outage will have to wait a few days or so...

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 12:52 | 5979248 Seek_Truth
Seek_Truth's picture

I’m blaming the Germans. After all, they’ve done it before.

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 12:53 | 5979252 dsty
dsty's picture

I think Putin would if he could.

But that is for later.

Just waitn for more screw ups by you know who.

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 15:10 | 5979884 Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill's picture

Putin just needs to hack the EBT system.The FSA will destroy the USA in a week,

without the Russians firing a shot.

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 20:22 | 5980916 Parrotile
Parrotile's picture

Time it right (Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, major Public holidays / sporting events), and you could be assured of States-wide internecine warfare in a LOT less than 7 days . . . . . . :0)

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 12:50 | 5979232 gadflew
gadflew's picture

Something about Martin Armstrong's both speaking AND writing/spelling/grammar styles doesnt quite mesh with his supposed "genius" for me

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 17:25 | 5980435 ebear
ebear's picture

A friend and former business partner was diagnosed with dyslexia. He can't spell worth shit, his grammar and syntax are equally bad, and yet he's one of the smartest people I know.

The question I have for Armstrong is, why don't you just hire an editor?

I suspect the answer is that the bad spelling and grammar are part of his "don't give a shit" style.  Look at the way he dresses, like he just stepped out of the prison machine shop. All part of the presentation, I'm sure.

Now that I think of it, a guy my wife used to work for did the same thing.  CEO of a Japanese property developer (his own company) he always dressed like Yakuza right down to the signature hairstyle.  The guy could have worn pyjamas to a business meeting and no one would question it.  Was he real Yakuza?  Probably not, but why take the chance?

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 12:49 | 5979236 rejected
rejected's picture

The problem in DC is too much power, not too little.

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 12:54 | 5979259 Surveyor4Pres
Surveyor4Pres's picture

Nicely done.  Kudos.

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 12:52 | 5979250 Surveyor4Pres
Surveyor4Pres's picture

Within 3 seconds of the power failure in DC, I surmised that this was another trial run like those in CA.

Further, I knew that the WH, State Dept, and Pentagon would all unanimously agree that this was NOT an act of "terror".

Nope, just another potential False Flag setup event to divert our attention from Jade Helm.

If you haven't watched it yet, be sure to see Thomas Meade's presentation of Jade Helm to the Big Springs, TX city council, here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLM4-aImMkY&app=desktop

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 13:11 | 5979323 Dr. Engali
Dr. Engali's picture

Thanks for the link. We know they are preparing for martial law. The question is when and what is the catalyst? Most stoopid ass sheeple are okay with this because we must support our troops.

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 12:54 | 5979260 NuYawkFrankie
NuYawkFrankie's picture

The Magic Metal Theory

 

"After knocking out power to Wash DC, the Magic Piece Of Metal went on to knock out Harry Reid - repeatedly hitting him about the head..."

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 13:04 | 5979305 Surveyor4Pres
Surveyor4Pres's picture

That bullet is still traveling the Earth, causing all sorts of chaos, since 1963.

TPTB coated it with a time-travel capable substance, and Teflon.

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 12:57 | 5979271 Surveyor4Pres
Surveyor4Pres's picture

Is it too far fetched that a massive EMP event triggers a stock market crash

right around the same time that Jade Helm kicks off on July 15th, 2015?

Can you say massive roundup of dissidents?

But, seriously, a "downed power line"?  Who would've thunk that you could take out the WH and the DC power grid with one single downed line?

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 13:11 | 5979286 NuYawkFrankie
NuYawkFrankie's picture

re Who would've thunk that you could take out the WH and the DC power grid with one single downed line?

 

Yeah - and this same  District Of Criminals wants to start a war with Russia!

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 12:59 | 5979281 Surveyor4Pres
Surveyor4Pres's picture

Marie Harf at the State Department, knew that it was going to happen, IMHO.

That's why she barely skipped a beat.

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 13:02 | 5979292 billybobtx
billybobtx's picture

When I lived in Mexico the power went out almost daily...who knew it was tururrists!

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 17:29 | 5980457 ebear
ebear's picture

Surely you mean tourists, no?  Those hair dryers can be a real bitch.

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 13:02 | 5979296 Hannibal
Hannibal's picture

Blame it on the Russians, case closed.

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 13:12 | 5979345 libertysghost
libertysghost's picture

Couldn't even get out of the first paragraph without being wrong, Martin:

"If there was an attack on the power-grid, then the NSA would have to answer for their failure. So clearly, if it was an attack, they would never admit it."

 

Why?  No they wouldn't, they would just claim to need more funding and more power.  There is no reason to believe anyone/anywhere in government would/will ever have to answer for failure.  Assuming the official narrative, wasn't 9-11 the largest defense/security failure in US history?  Who answered for that?  Who was ever held responsible for the "failure"?

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 13:14 | 5979358 yellowsub
yellowsub's picture

DC fell behind on last payment?

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 13:16 | 5979367 acrabbe
acrabbe's picture

it wasn't a regular power outage. Different parts of the city were going dark at different times. If it was a central fault then the whole area would have gone dark. Basically, someone was SHOWING someone else that they had hacked into the DC power grid and could control power on a neighborhood by neighborhood basis. Give the exact details, locations and duration of the outages to anyone who understands how large area power systems are designed and they will confirm it for you. Israel? Russia? Rogue NSA? Take your pick...

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 13:59 | 5979554 Ralph Spoilsport
Ralph Spoilsport's picture

I thought it sounded like a "demo" was being run also. One caller to a talk station said his side of the street in Georgetown was dark but the other side had power. While he was still on the line, the situation reversed. Other callers later described similar weirdness.

Sat, 04/11/2015 - 02:09 | 5981459 flyingcaveman
flyingcaveman's picture

That would be a cool way to fuck with someone.  Just have blackouts follow them around like a dark cloud wherever they go.

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 13:17 | 5979369 TheGreatRecovery
TheGreatRecovery's picture

After my last power outage the City had to send a sewer crew.  :-)

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 13:19 | 5979376 newsoutlet
newsoutlet's picture

putin regime has lost it's mind and ready to use nuclear weapons against EU countries.

North Korea idiots are closer as we thought.

http://www.interpretermag.com/to-counter-nato-in-baltic-moscow-ready-to-...

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 14:20 | 5979668 Berspankme
Berspankme's picture

#newsdoucheisback

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 13:25 | 5979411 talisman
talisman's picture

It must be a real bitch not to be able to instantly blame Putin
because it would be admitting that Russia could get to the Washington grid.

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 13:28 | 5979425 SmittyinLA
SmittyinLA's picture

America's power grid is and has always been a strategic target of the USSR and opposition. 

 

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 13:32 | 5979442 Rock On Roger
Rock On Roger's picture

What is the USSR?

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 13:49 | 5979518 Oldrepublic
Oldrepublic's picture

The first evil empire!

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 13:36 | 5979428 williambanzai7
williambanzai7's picture

Well, if one had to construct a theory to start with how about this: the US's Stuxnet partner decides to send a gentle reminder that it is unhappy with the Framework and the US defense establishment is electronically helpless without its cooperation.

 

 

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 13:57 | 5979547 dsty
dsty's picture

hmm, that's a good one.

I think you might be right.

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 13:34 | 5979452 taketheredpill
taketheredpill's picture

 

 

The Government need Terrorist attacks to justify bombing and killing brown people on the other side of the world.  Also to justify military spending and heavy police presence.  They need it so bad that they work very hard to create it (any terrorist "plot" in the US will often feature an "informant" who found the suspects, recruited them, paid for supplies including inorperable explosives etc.).

 

So if it was a terrorist attack on the grid the Government would be ALL over it, massive media coverage. etc.

 

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 13:35 | 5979453 22winmag
22winmag's picture

Wrong.

 

The power grid has changed more than the political grid in the last century.

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 13:41 | 5979477 roadhazard
roadhazard's picture

Probably Another one of those daily false flag deals.

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 13:44 | 5979492 False Capital
False Capital's picture

lol. Martin has clearly never had PEPCO as an electricity supplier.

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 14:09 | 5979603 Ralph Spoilsport
Ralph Spoilsport's picture

Haha! As a fellow PEPCO victim, I had to laugh at that. They bought up Delaware Power and Light and surprised the hell out of us. We were convinced nobody could be as bad as DP&L but they showed everyone that they could actually surpass that level of mismanagement and incompetence.

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 13:59 | 5979557 SolarSystem1932
SolarSystem1932's picture

And I do quoteth such:

"Public transport was paralyzed, traffic lights were dark, conveyor belts continued."

Hamster driven is the new GREEN.

 

 

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 14:09 | 5979574 bid the soldier...
bid the soldiers shoot's picture

Clearly 'Tit for Tatery'

Washington (CNN)Widespread power outages hit across Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, (April 7, 2015) affecting government and privately-owned buildings and the city's public transit rail system intermittently early in the afternoon.

Earlier that same day at a shipyard on Russia's Pacific coast.

SEVERODVINSK (Sputnik) — A fire on board a nuclear attack submarine at the Zvezdochka shipyard in northwestern Russia has been completely extinguished, a spokesman for the shipyard said on Tuesday.

 

 http://sputniknews.com/russia/20150407/1020591233.html#ixzz3WvWF657t

So early on Tuesday in a shipyard on Russia's Pacific Coast a fire in a nuclear submarine in dry dock.  Several hours later the power in Washington D.C. goes out and the headquarters of the US Military's Commander-in-Chief is on a generator for back up power.

 Maybe tit-for-tatery; maybe coincidence.  Remember this in September 2013?

Fire breaks out on Russian nuclear submarine
Reuters –September 16, 2013

VLADIVOSTOK, Russia (Reuters) - A fire burned for five hours on an atomic-powered submarine undergoing repairs near Russia's eastern port of Vladivostok on Monday, but naval and shipyard officials said there was no risk of a radiation leak and nobody was hurt.

 Followed the next day by this.

The Washington Navy Yard shooting occurred on September 16, 2013, when lone gunman Aaron Alexis fatally shot twelve people and injured three others in amass shooting at the headquarters of the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) inside the Washington Navy Yard in Southeast Washington, D.C.[6][7][8] The attack, which took place in the Navy Yard's Building 197, began around 8:20 a.m. EDT and ended when Alexis was killed by police around 9:20 a.m. EDT.

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 14:15 | 5979645 bid the soldier...
bid the soldiers shoot's picture

From RIA Novosti today

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – At least one person was killed and four injured in a blast at an oil refinery in the southeastern Siberian city of Angarsk Friday (April 10,2015) a spokesperson for the plant told RIA Novosti.

 http://sputniknews.com/russia/20150410/1020702952.html#ixzz3WvnvPcTE

 

We'll just have to wait and see if there's any weekend retaliation

Sat, 04/11/2015 - 02:31 | 5981484 bid the soldier...
bid the soldiers shoot's picture

 

This could be a stretch.  Or not.

South Carolina Train Derails, Spills Ammonium Nitrate

 

Authorities say 30 people have been evacuated within a 1.5-mile radius of a train derailment in rural South Carolina.

Derrick Becker, public information officer for the South Carolina Emergency Management Division, said no one was injured following the crash, which occurred 8:30 p.m. Friday local time in Trenton, but precautionary evacuations were made after officials confirmed one of the Norfolk Southern tankers was carrying anhydrous ammonia and one was carrying ammonium nitrate, according to Becker.

In total, 15 cars derailed and ammonium nitrate has spilled

8;30 pm Friday definitely puts it in the 'tit for tat' runnng.  But it looks like Russia didn't do as well as it should have.  What's an ammonium nitrate spill from 15 derailed tanker cars compared to a refinery explosion with one dead Russian?

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 15:05 | 5979866 gezley
gezley's picture

good detective work there

Sat, 04/11/2015 - 01:28 | 5981418 bid the soldier...
bid the soldiers shoot's picture

By the way, when two nations are antipathetic toward one another as are Russia and the US, they never admit sniping at the other OR BEING SNIPED AT.

It stands to reason that when a country's submarines burst into flame in drydock or a nation has a series of derailments of oil tanker trains, they will never admit that it was the action of the other side. To do so would look weak and unable to protect their assets.

The exception to this rule is when the sabotaged nation wants to battle with the country that caused the destruction and needs to whip up public sentiment against them. 

Here you might even see a 'false flag' to get things started.

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 14:22 | 5979670 mt paul
mt paul's picture

power goes out no big deal

check fuel and oil in the generator

throw a couple of breakers

fire up the beast, life goes on ..

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 14:28 | 5979675 Monetas
Monetas's picture

Hack the grid .... no golf .... no tele-prompter .... let him leave a wake .... of power outages !

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 14:24 | 5979695 Monetas
Monetas's picture

Muck it up .... precision hacking .... arm both sides in Arab Spring .... make them suffer what they wish to do to Israel .... poetic justice .... make them hate their puky Islam .... make them beg for peace .... allow non-Muslim refugees into Israel .... until we can get rid of Obama .... be righteous .... we are on the right side !  I think the "Grid Hackers" .... are stalking Obama .... clever little fucks !

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 14:31 | 5979725 anonymice
anonymice's picture

The electricity companies used to be public utilities, now they're cash cows. And after years of being milked, they're rather lean. 

 

Energy: America relies on an aging electrical grid and pipeline distribution systems, some of which originated in the 1880s. Investment in power transmission has increased since 2005, but ongoing permitting issues, weather events, and limited maintenance have contributed to an increasing number of failures and power interruptions. While demand for electricity has remained level, the availability of energy in the form of electricity, natural gas, and oil will become a greater challenge after 2020 as the population increases. Although about 17,000 miles of additional high-voltage transmission lines and significant oil and gas pipelines are planned over the next five years, permitting and siting issues threaten their completion. Thus, the grade for energy remained a D+.

 

(From http://www.infrastructurereportcard.org/ )

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 20:33 | 5980944 Parrotile
Parrotile's picture

Maybe a little unwise to be provoking Russia when all this information is readily available via the public domain.

There are a LOT of Russians in the US of A, and some of them may have "other paymasters", if you get my drift . . . . . .

http://www.ameredia.com/resources/demographics/russian.html

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 14:44 | 5979780 ekm1
ekm1's picture

White House hacking occurred almost at the same time as the DC blackout.

Just saying

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 15:52 | 5980042 pipes
pipes's picture

Yeah...if the same decade is "almost the same time".

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 15:03 | 5979855 PermaBug
PermaBug's picture

So if they say it's a simple power outage that means it was a terrorist attack, and if they say it's a terrorist attack that means it's a false flag.

So what these boys who cry wolf (over and over and over) are saying is that every piece of information is the opposite of what it seems, you can't trust any source of info, probably not even your own eyes.

What a truly pathetic state of mind, and exhausting for rational people to listen to over and over again. We get it already. Governments lie, some people are bad, powerful people exert their influence whenever they can.

 

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 15:03 | 5979857 hibou-Owl
hibou-Owl's picture

I was the head of reliability for a major corporation and we reduced our electrical issues by regular targeted predictive and preventative maintenance.
Failures occur from poor knowledge and accountants cutting costs.

I am battling EDF France to fix some basic electrical safety issues at our farm, it's like pulling teeth.
There are some easy basic tests that can be done to identify problems, prioritise and reduce risk. The overall costs reduce and productivity improves.

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 15:06 | 5979868 mototard
mototard's picture

The giant power outage of August 2014 was a cascading failure caused by a tree falling on a powerl line.

Also, correlation is not causation.

This article is mostly hype and supposition with little to no evidence of anything but coroding infrastructure cause by years of under investment.

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 17:21 | 5980423 DrNybble
DrNybble's picture

All that is true but it does point out the fragile nature of our power grid.  All major interruptions have been caused by very minor incidents like falling branches or small pieces of metal. heat causing power line sagging, a defective relay.  Doesn't it make one think of what might happen if there were several such coordinated  "minor" incidents?

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 15:08 | 5979874 Mister Delicious
Mister Delicious's picture

if a downed power transmission line in southern Maryland can do all that, imagine what a handful of ex-SF - say USAF Combat Control or Delta - could do if sufficiently irked?

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 15:14 | 5979893 PoasterToaster
PoasterToaster's picture

Does anyone really still believe that the NSA guards the country?

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 16:24 | 5980196 Mister Delicious
Mister Delicious's picture

if you mean Israel....

yes.

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 17:15 | 5980398 DrNybble
DrNybble's picture

The NSA only guard the government from the people.  Citizens who are now often considered potential domestic terrorists and must be monitored and controlled.

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 15:18 | 5979913 f16hoser
f16hoser's picture

Government Cock Roaches needed some Darkness to move/take care of something. What it was will soon come to light. Pun intended.

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 15:23 | 5979927 gcjohns1971
gcjohns1971's picture

During war, it is common for the other side to counterfeit their opponent’s currency. The way to accomplish this today is to take out the power-grid."

 

A power-outage is not a counterfeiting operation.  It does not devalue the opponent's currency by way of dillution.

It does the opposite.

It makes the physical currency more valuable by eliminating, for a time, the electronic version.

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 17:11 | 5980385 DrNybble
DrNybble's picture

After such an event, that nation's currency will have a loss of confidence around the globe.  This is especially true of the dollar as it is (still) the world's reserve currency.
The amount of physical currency is very small and requires "physical" transfer for any transaction.  It is useless in other than local transactions.

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 15:28 | 5979941 Petrodollar Sys...
Petrodollar System Beneficiary's picture

I work for the DC power company, and the cause was a broken insulator on a transmission line at a substation, causing the transmission line to break and fall.

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 16:27 | 5980215 Dude-dude
Dude-dude's picture

I'm shocked      

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 18:01 | 5980566 JohninMK
JohninMK's picture

Spoilsport.

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 15:28 | 5979946 gcjohns1971
gcjohns1971's picture

Why can a piece of falling metal cause huge outages?

Because in 1973 the US was at half its power generation capacity.  No new powerplants have been allowed to be constructed during that time.  And many have closed.

So...if you can't produce more power where you need it...you move it from where you need it less to where you need it more.

But that is a an exercise in fragility, where infrastructure is more and more taxed, less and less available, and more and more vulnerable to smaller and smaller shocks.

Like California, the rest of the US must either produce more where needed, or centralize people where the power is (or where you'd like it to be).    

We all know which one the 'authorities' desire.   Dependent slaves are reliable and obedient slaves.

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 15:34 | 5979975 Petrodollar Sys...
Petrodollar System Beneficiary's picture

It is not uncommon for idiots with .22s to shoot at transmission insulators for target practice. A portion of the insulator breaks, causing a current jump and a pretty light show. Seeing how it occurred in southern Maryland, I wouldn't be surprised if this was the case.

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 15:37 | 5979985 Petrodollar Sys...
Petrodollar System Beneficiary's picture

In fact, even greater damage can occur to the power grid using just a rifle. Some asshole out in California sometime in the last 2 years shot the bottom of a substation transformer, causing the oil to leak out and the transformer to overheat and burnout. This led to a significant outage that lasted for quite a while. 

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 16:00 | 5980076 ThanksChump
ThanksChump's picture

The obvious solution: use steel insulators. No, no. No thanks needed, I'm just doing my civic duty. The transformer thing was actually a coordinated attack, or so I heard here on ZH. A strategic test to measure the outage duration of a single major failure at one of the handful of really important sub-stations. Given the ego of some, I'm surprised they didn't publish a white paper or a blog entry about it on Hack-A-Day.

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 16:52 | 5980306 Latitude25
Latitude25's picture

Is steel considered an insulating material?  You're a fuckin genious.

 

Sat, 04/11/2015 - 00:36 | 5981380 tarabel
tarabel's picture

 

 

I appreciate the fact that he spurns the use of sarc tags for the clueless. You either get the joke or you don't, "genious".

Sat, 04/11/2015 - 00:35 | 5981379 tarabel
tarabel's picture

 

 

Much of what you say is true in theory but not in actuality. Many power plants have been constructed since 1973. I know this since I worked on one myself-- Gerald Gentleman #2 in Sutherland, NE.

But yes, we are using more power and strangling new supplies. Personally, I got the solar panels mounted on the barn in March and hope to have the system operational soon.

We are being warned. And warned. And warned.

I hear the call and am doing something about it.

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 15:48 | 5980034 ThanksChump
ThanksChump's picture

I saw this chubby guy in a long coat flying a kite near a high-tension line that day and thought "Who wears powdered wigs these days?" I scratched my head and looked again, but POOF, he was gone. Probably unrelated, but See Something, Report Something...

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 17:04 | 5980358 DrNybble
DrNybble's picture

Was there a glass jar containing a metal key suspended on the string?
If so, disregard.  It's just Ben screwing with time again.

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 15:58 | 5980068 Dude-dude
Dude-dude's picture

Highly compartmentalized DoD psyop like the inexplicable and ambigious Emergency Alert broadcast precisely a week prior on Tuesday Mar 31.  Expect the third installment on Tuesday April 14?  

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 15:59 | 5980073 Arbeit_Macht_Frei
Arbeit_Macht_Frei's picture

Martin Armstrong is a rambling old jail bird, and he doesn't eat pussy.

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 16:07 | 5980102 Eagle Keeper
Eagle Keeper's picture

Happened while they were restoring Hollary's email server. Now even the backups are corrupted. 

Sat, 04/11/2015 - 01:44 | 5981437 dexter_morgan
dexter_morgan's picture

Backups? LOL

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 16:12 | 5980128 me or you
me or you's picture

From Turkey with love. 

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 19:14 | 5980132 atthelake
atthelake's picture

As all American infrastructure deteriorates, this will happen more often. The terrorists, meaning the terrorists who are allowing America to disintegrate, are closer to home than this article implies.

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 16:20 | 5980164 firewolfsblog
firewolfsblog's picture

I = V/R

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 17:00 | 5980337 DrNybble
DrNybble's picture

E = IR
P = IE

Next? :-)

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 16:23 | 5980185 atthelake
atthelake's picture

The next American project will be solar and wind power. Poor people cannot afford to install either. Americans are expendable, starting with the poor who have nothing left to give to the banksters. Next will be those on welfare and Social Security because they're receiving money that the banksters view as theirs.

Years ago, I asked my power company rep why they were not repairing and building their infrastructure. The answer was "Because the politicians won't let us".

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 16:23 | 5980191 OutaTime43
OutaTime43's picture

Must have been Putin.

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 16:25 | 5980202 Mister Delicious
Mister Delicious's picture

off topic, but something like this will be coming here soonish:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/11/technology/china-is-said-to-use-powerf...

for the childrens and to prevent 'hate speech' {criticism of Israel and/or disproportionate Jewish power and influence}

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 23:20 | 5981297 dsty
dsty's picture

Hey genius

your avitar looks alot like the German Iron Cross

Just a coincidence, right?

http://www.unionmilitaria.com/ww2-german-iron-cross-set-p285.html

Hitler boy

teach me about hate speech.

Sat, 04/11/2015 - 00:30 | 5981376 tarabel
tarabel's picture

 

 

I think that is a Maltese Cross due to its red color. The Cross Patee was very widespread in use across Europe.

 

Doesn't mean he's not a nazi just that this particular fact doesn't prove it.

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 16:34 | 5980244 loveyajimbo
loveyajimbo's picture

Farty Marty had his own "power outage" years ago... he went full retard after the constant attention of his 350lb inmate "pals".  Now he walks like John Wayne but talks like PeeWee Herman.

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 17:03 | 5980357 Shitgum Suicide
Fri, 04/10/2015 - 18:14 | 5980596 ebear
ebear's picture

Slightly OT:

Seems a fairly nasty polemic has sprung up between Armstrong and Denninger.

The guy who can't spell vs. the guy who's afraid to.

F****** hilarious!

 

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 18:37 | 5980660 Buster Cherry
Buster Cherry's picture

Jade Helm 15

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 19:18 | 5980765 bid the soldier...
bid the soldiers shoot's picture

"We're just friends," said Josh Earnest

President Barack Obama wasn’t affected, and the effect on White House staff was “minimal,” Earnest said. He said he and Obama were in the Oval Office during the outage.

Not far from the spot where Clinton ejagulated on Lewinsky's blue dress.

 

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 20:05 | 5980869 q99x2
q99x2's picture

I think it was a piece of metal. That's what is like when you have bankster scum as landlords. They pawned to whole of slumville NYC off on the Chinese and now look at it. Every other week another structure implodes.

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 20:17 | 5980904 cornflakesdisease
cornflakesdisease's picture

Martin "There is no manipulation" Fartstrong.

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 20:24 | 5980920 Oldwood
Oldwood's picture

Like there would be any point to this whole thing if it wasn't manipulated.

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 23:55 | 5981337 TeraByte
TeraByte's picture

What is real or conspiracy is hard for anybody to tell, because we have been systematically manipulated by World history, a heroic saga written by noble conquerors, who entered all neighbouring countries with altruistic intentions to bring peace, enlightenment and civilisation to lower human beings. Lenin too is presumed to have said, give me a child for eight years and he will be a communist forever. Beware of all your puppet masters.

Sat, 04/11/2015 - 03:25 | 5981508 Equalizer
Equalizer's picture

I dont mind Martin but it gets a bit weird IMO when he asks himself stupid questions on his own blog pretending to be some folk asking a naive question.

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