Sorry to hear of looting--but Human nature is what it was -- THE WAR ROOM WARRIOR'S BAR & GRILL

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Subject: Sorry to hear of looting--but Human nature is what it was

Author:
Xpltivdletd

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Date Posted: 00:51:36 08/17/03 Sun
In reply to: Kathyrn 's message, "Major Blackout of Electricity in 2 Countries!" on 23:11:31 08/14/03 Thu

...even before recorded history was widely available. Civilization is a collective attempt--either to overcome it by denial and regulation or by self-discipline.

I'll abstain from any finger-pointing; if one failure *anywhere* can put this many people in the dark, all of them (engineers and not) have a problem to solve. I'm just enough of a household- and automotive- electrician to grasp how it could spread and how fast it might have gotten a lot worse.

If fingers are to be pointed, a MAJOR contribution to the problem is the Defendant-pays tort-law system in the U.S.A. Sue-ers don't have to show up with a case worthy of the name--just with a lawyer. So, building a better electrical mousetrap tends to make one sue-able for having (previously) a "defective" product, and then it gets really unpleasant. Building a better mousetrap in Ohio or in WV will also get you sued by ambulance-chasers in Public office in New York, either because youe old model was "harmful-to-thaa-environment" or because until you prove (at great expense, at least TWICE-over) that your new model isn't, it "must" be. There isn't a lot of positive incentive to keep building better in anticipation of demand.

I fear this is just a gentle "wake-up-call" on both sides of the border. What we can get away with doing about it remains to be seen; there's a lot more Empowerment� in blaming than there is in putting things right. But it would serve us all best if we get involved in this one, or we'd better stock-up on alternatives to the stuff that magically comes from the wall-outlet. RKBA! Regards, all.

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