NY City Blackout -- A Political Science lesson for American Socialists.

[Polishprince]

Was watching a bit of the coverage of the black-out tonight, and I noticed on completely dark streets just north of Times Square, that most all of the power was out, but the iconic Advertising billboards? Most of them seemed to be working fine..

Blackout extends way south to MSGarden and some of the shots I could not place, but in MOST of them showing a very darkened Manhattan -- the TRAFFIC LIGHTS were OUT, but the jeans and vacation ads were still lit...

How can there be a need to call-in every cop in the boroughs to direct traffic in Manhattan, but the sales pitches go on? It's called "incentive" and "accountability"... Those billboards are only valuable, when they are working. The revenue is based on "up-time" and exposure.. So either they were designed with battery backup or generators.

If the windmills and the solar generation can be battery backed up as a NATIONAL grid design ( I actually doubt this, but for arguments' sake) why can't the Manhattan traffic lights be also?

Why is it that critical infrastructure that the city owns that provide safety and security are not designed with worst case scenarios in mind? There's no INCENTIVE or really VISIBILITY for spending money on stuff in govt that only makes you a hero "once in a long while"..


Seems to me this Socialist Fancy that's spreading obviously means "single payer" for a LARGE SECTION of the US economy.. And what's the MOTIVATION and INCENTIVE to stay ahead of the problems and produce reliable, well designed systems? Do you really want the GOVT to inspect your elevators or a private company whose existence and reputation is on the line every day?

HHHMMMM????

Yes, I want the government to do it. A private company will find things to fix that don’t need fixing just to pad the bill. Corporations are thieves. The bigger they are, the more corrupt.

Private companies exist I make a profit, first and foremost. Everything else is secondary. If corporations always gave good service and cared about their reputations, products wouldn’t constantly have to be recalled and we wouldn’t be awash in class action law suits.

That's exactly why it still astounds me that there is such a thing as "for-profit" hospitals.

Why would you be "astounded"? There is a lot of money in providing medical treatments

 

[OldLady]

Was watching a bit of the coverage of the black-out tonight, and I noticed on completely dark streets just north of Times Square, that most all of the power was out, but the iconic Advertising billboards? Most of them seemed to be working fine..

Blackout extends way south to MSGarden and some of the shots I could not place, but in MOST of them showing a very darkened Manhattan -- the TRAFFIC LIGHTS were OUT, but the jeans and vacation ads were still lit...

How can there be a need to call-in every cop in the boroughs to direct traffic in Manhattan, but the sales pitches go on? It's called "incentive" and "accountability"... Those billboards are only valuable, when they are working. The revenue is based on "up-time" and exposure.. So they were designed with either battery backup or generators.

If the windmills and the solar generation can be battery backed up as a NATIONAL grid design ( I actually doubt this, but for arguments' sake) why can't the Manhattan traffic lights be also?

Why is it that critical infrastructure that the city owns that provide safety and security are not designed with worst case scenarios in mind? There's no INCENTIVE or really VISIBILITY for spending money on stuff in govt that only makes you a hero "once in a long while"..


Seems to me this Socialist Fancy that's spreading obviously means "single payer" for a LARGE SECTION of the US economy.. And what's the MOTIVATION and INCENTIVE to stay ahead of the problems and produce reliable, well designed systems? Do you really want the GOVT to inspect your elevators or a private company whose existence and reputation is on the line every day?

HHHMMMM????

What I didn't understand is why this was "news" for anyone outside the town of New York itself.

Last summer, a large portion of Hermitage PA had a blackout for twice as long as this one, and not a peep on the national media. The vast majority of Americans have never been to NY, and a large proportion are conservatives who have been told by the governor of the state to stay the hell out.


Shit happens, whether this was a lightning strike, a truck accident or something else, they can fix it.

What's more important are the regular blackouts in liberal utopias like Caracas, caused by Liberal incompetence

When you think of how little was left functioning for that short time in just a sliver of the city of New York, with huge crowds being evacuated onto the streets, the subways not running, the traffic jammed up for lack of lights (we won't even think about the people caught in elevators), and of course no one's computer working....this should make us ALL give some thought to what would happen if we had a real, massive blackout. We are too reliant on electricity, and considering how we can barely function without it, we should be a damned sight more careful about keeping it up and running--or have redundant systems ready to come on line immediately.

I'm happy to note that when we get a blackout here, which is not unusual, it doesn't knock me off this site Ya gotta be prepared here in the sticks.

Makes no discernible difference in the outside world but I always appreciated it when I lived in the city for the way it would immediately silence all the cacophony of blaring televsions, etc and reveal the sky we never got to see. One night I went to sit out on the porch in the serenity and strummed a guitar. I could hear another instrument (a dulcimer) off in the distance answering back. Later found out it was my brother.

Now that is a good blackout story.

 

[Pogo]

Was watching a bit of the coverage of the black-out tonight, and I noticed on completely dark streets just north of Times Square, that most all of the power was out, but the iconic Advertising billboards? Most of them seemed to be working fine..

Blackout extends way south to MSGarden and some of the shots I could not place, but in MOST of them showing a very darkened Manhattan -- the TRAFFIC LIGHTS were OUT, but the jeans and vacation ads were still lit...

How can there be a need to call-in every cop in the boroughs to direct traffic in Manhattan, but the sales pitches go on? It's called "incentive" and "accountability"... Those billboards are only valuable, when they are working. The revenue is based on "up-time" and exposure.. So either they were designed with battery backup or generators.

If the windmills and the solar generation can be battery backed up as a NATIONAL grid design ( I actually doubt this, but for arguments' sake) why can't the Manhattan traffic lights be also?

Why is it that critical infrastructure that the city owns that provide safety and security are not designed with worst case scenarios in mind? There's no INCENTIVE or really VISIBILITY for spending money on stuff in govt that only makes you a hero "once in a long while"..


Seems to me this Socialist Fancy that's spreading obviously means "single payer" for a LARGE SECTION of the US economy.. And what's the MOTIVATION and INCENTIVE to stay ahead of the problems and produce reliable, well designed systems? Do you really want the GOVT to inspect your elevators or a private company whose existence and reputation is on the line every day?

HHHMMMM????

Yes, I want the government to do it. A private company will find things to fix that don’t need fixing just to pad the bill. Corporations are thieves. The bigger they are, the more corrupt.

Private companies exist I make a profit, first and foremost. Everything else is secondary. If corporations always gave good service and cared about their reputations, products wouldn’t constantly have to be recalled and we wouldn’t be awash in class action law suits.

That's exactly why it still astounds me that there is such a thing as "for-profit" hospitals.

Why would you be "astounded"? There is a lot of money in providing medical treatments

You REALLY need Captain Obvious here??

When you run a business for profit, that's your goal --- profit. To that end you do whatever it takes to make more profit. If you're selling cars, you buy up the local public transit systems so you can shut them down, thereby creating more need for cars.

If you're running a hospital, then your incentive is to create treatments and stays where none need exist, because an occupied bed makes more profit than an empty one. So you can make shit up using your patents as the victim whose life savings you suck out for the noble purpose of enriching Numero Uno.

DUH!!

As Monty Python put it, "patient, there's nothing wrong with you that an expensive operation can't prolong".

 

[beautress]

Was watching a bit of the coverage of the black-out tonight, and I noticed on completely dark streets just north of Times Square, that most all of the power was out, but the iconic Advertising billboards? Most of them seemed to be working fine..

Blackout extends way south to MSGarden and some of the shots I could not place, but in MOST of them showing a very darkened Manhattan -- the TRAFFIC LIGHTS were OUT, but the jeans and vacation ads were still lit...

How can there be a need to call-in every cop in the boroughs to direct traffic in Manhattan, but the sales pitches go on? It's called "incentive" and "accountability"... Those billboards are only valuable, when they are working. The revenue is based on "up-time" and exposure.. So they were designed with either battery backup or generators.

If the windmills and the solar generation can be battery backed up as a NATIONAL grid design ( I actually doubt this, but for arguments' sake) why can't the Manhattan traffic lights be also?

Why is it that critical infrastructure that the city owns that provide safety and security are not designed with worst case scenarios in mind? There's no INCENTIVE or really VISIBILITY for spending money on stuff in govt that only makes you a hero "once in a long while"..


Seems to me this Socialist Fancy that's spreading obviously means "single payer" for a LARGE SECTION of the US economy.. And what's the MOTIVATION and INCENTIVE to stay ahead of the problems and produce reliable, well designed systems? Do you really want the GOVT to inspect your elevators or a private company whose existence and reputation is on the line every day?

HHHMMMM????

Thanks for a thought-provoking post. It would seem power distribution does not favor the idea of "of the people, by the people, and for the people," unless they are protected by the giants of wealth. Oh, well, at least people below the rich people's advertising lights could figure out where they were and get home using flashlights and a good pair of walking shoes.

 

[Polishprince]

If you're running a hospital, then your incentive is to create treatments and stays where none need exist, because an occupied bed makes more profit than an empty one. So you can make shit up using your patents as the victim whose life savings you suck out for the noble purpose of enriching Numero Uno.

DUH!!

As Monty Python put it, "patient, there's nothing wrong with you that an expensive operation can't prolong".

Sure, you can do that, but if you do you can end up in prison for life like Dr. Farid Fata in Michigan.

And a less than scrupulous physician like Dr. Fata can work in a Not for Profit hospital just as easily as he can for corporate facility. Doctors get paid by the operation and procedure, regardless of where they ply their trade.

 

[flacaltenn]

When you run a business for profit, that's your goal --- profit. To that end you do whatever it takes to make more profit. If you're selling cars, you buy up the local public transit systems so you can shut them down, thereby creating more need for cars.

How do you "buy up" a local public transit system???

If you're referring to the death of street car lines, that's a conspiracy theory.. Those lines were failing in the Depression and came under the Public Utility Holding Co.. act in around 1936.. And the RESULT was the current preference for buses.. Which can be expanded to RUN around more of the UNDERSERVED parts of city... Thus IMPROVING access to the general population...

If you're running a hospital, then your incentive is to create treatments and stays where none need exist, because an occupied bed makes more profit than an empty one. So you can make shit up using your patents as the victim whose life savings you suck out for the noble purpose of enriching Numero Uno.

Because of the massive improvements in surgery and treatment, the MAJORITY of surgeries are now "outpatient" visits.. The bed occupation NEED is way down.. And the insurance companies do a cracker jack job on making SURE you're released ASAP.....

It's the ER section that is abused today by the PATIENTS....

 

[flacaltenn]

Was watching a bit of the coverage of the black-out tonight, and I noticed on completely dark streets just north of Times Square, that most all of the power was out, but the iconic Advertising billboards? Most of them seemed to be working fine..

Blackout extends way south to MSGarden and some of the shots I could not place, but in MOST of them showing a very darkened Manhattan -- the TRAFFIC LIGHTS were OUT, but the jeans and vacation ads were still lit...

How can there be a need to call-in every cop in the boroughs to direct traffic in Manhattan, but the sales pitches go on? It's called "incentive" and "accountability"... Those billboards are only valuable, when they are working. The revenue is based on "up-time" and exposure.. So they were designed with either battery backup or generators.

If the windmills and the solar generation can be battery backed up as a NATIONAL grid design ( I actually doubt this, but for arguments' sake) why can't the Manhattan traffic lights be also?

Why is it that critical infrastructure that the city owns that provide safety and security are not designed with worst case scenarios in mind? There's no INCENTIVE or really VISIBILITY for spending money on stuff in govt that only makes you a hero "once in a long while"..


Seems to me this Socialist Fancy that's spreading obviously means "single payer" for a LARGE SECTION of the US economy.. And what's the MOTIVATION and INCENTIVE to stay ahead of the problems and produce reliable, well designed systems? Do you really want the GOVT to inspect your elevators or a private company whose existence and reputation is on the line every day?

HHHMMMM????

Thanks for a thought-provoking post. It would seem power distribution does not favor the idea of "of the people, by the people, and for the people," unless they are protected by the giants of wealth. Oh, well, at least people below the rich people's advertising lights could figure out where they were and get home using flashlights and a good pair of walking shoes.

I chuckled about the news correspondents glowing over cell phones being "a flashlight" nowadays.. That only works for about an hour before you're phone is dead....

And a couple mile escape from Madison Square Gardens is gonna outlast your charge...

 

[Picaro]

Back in 'The Good Old Days' most f the larger buildings had their own powerplants in the basements. Don't know when they started obsoleting them. These days generators are fairly cheap even for middling home owners so there is no excuse for such problems. Nearly all my neighbors have at least a 600 Watter out in the barn or garage, ane we only need them for a few hours when a storm blows through and knocks down a few lines. They're easy to hook up and operate. Guy down the street who tinkers with hot rods has a tractor motor on a trailer he uses out in the field. He used to light up a whole pasture for his Labor Day BBQ and keg parties, complete with a live band.

 

[Picaro]

When you run a business for profit, that's your goal --- profit. To that end you do whatever it takes to make more profit. If you're selling cars, you buy up the local public transit systems so you can shut them down, thereby creating more need for cars.

How do you "buy up" a local public transit system???

If you're referring to the death of street car lines, that's a conspiracy theory.. Those lines were failing in the Depression and came under the Public Utility Holding Co.. act in around 1936.. And the RESULT was the current preference for buses.. Which can be expanded to RUN around more of the UNDERSERVED parts of city... Thus IMPROVING access to the general population...

If you're running a hospital, then your incentive is to create treatments and stays where none need exist, because an occupied bed makes more profit than an empty one. So you can make shit up using your patents as the victim whose life savings you suck out for the noble purpose of enriching Numero Uno.

Because of the massive improvements in surgery and treatment, the MAJORITY of surgeries are now "outpatient" visits.. The bed occupation NEED is way down.. And the insurance companies do a cracker jack job on making SURE you're released ASAP.....

It's the ER section that is abused today by the PATIENTS....

If he's talking about all the traction companies that covered the country, they suffered the same fate as most of the railroads, i.e. bad management bankrupting them with huge piles of debt while playing monopoly, which made them financially weak when the automobile came along, another debt bubble, and people started screaming for better roads. They taxed railroads and streetcar companies to pay for the subsidies to those auto companies, the new kids on the block crying for freebies from the govts., local, state, and Federal.

 

[JoeMoma]

"A Springfield"?

This is a Springfield M1A that can be handed to someone...

Well that figures. Power goes out and the first thing some wag thinks is "hey! I can go shoot somebody and not lose votes!"

Me, I'd be more inclined to look up to the stars I couldn't usually see, or marvel at how the usual sounds had changed. This guy goes "me go kill". Astounding.

I've been through many power outages over the years. What I don't see is why this one is considered so much more newsworthy that other outages in Deplorable areas?

Most likely because many of the homes of the major network news and cable news stations are in NYC. Thus it seemed like major news to them because that is where they are.