Thursday, November 12, 2009

Power Outages

 We lost our power two nights ago. We have been having electrical problems here in the house due to some faulty wiring and I at first assumed that was the cause for the power outage. I went outside and noticed that all our neighbors, and for as far as I could see, were also without lights. Then I worried that perhaps our problem had caused a local outage by blowing the transformer or something.  No, it was not caused by little ol' me!

Later we learned that the entire country of Paraguay had lost power, as well as much of Brazil, and all of Rio de Janeiro, one of the largest cities on earth. Estimates are that 60 million people were without power. The cause of the outage was a fail safe of the Itiapu Dam, the world's largest power plant, equivalent to 10 nuclear power plants. Itiapu is here in Paraguay and provides most of Paraguay's and Brazil's  electrical supply.

In Paraguay, our power was restored in under an hour but Rio was in the dark for 3 - 4 hours Good thing this did not happen during the upcoming Olympics, huh?.

All this brought to my mind the situation many Venezuelans are living with. Due to the Chavez Bolivarian regime's ineptness, the country is experiencing power and water problems. This has led the government to ration electricity and there are planned outages lasting 48 hours on a weekly basis. This also causes water outages as most water arrives via electric pumps. People are storing water in barrels in their Caracas homes and having to take the 'Bolivarian Bath'.


 What is the Bolivarian Bath ??? The President himself informed the populace, on national television, of their patriotic duty to limit their showers to only 3 minutes. He explained that one minute was for soaping up, one for scrubbing and hair, and one for rinsing! OH! And it must be with cold water!

 A few days later, the President also informed the comrades that the patriot must  not use lights in the home at night while visiting the bathroom but should keep a flashlight handy for such times. And then, the warning was issued that window unit Air Conditioners were  to become illegal to use! Not that they do much good without power anyway...

And there you have it folks! Beautiful socialism revolution! In only 12 years, an oil rich country has progressed to such heights of equality! Now, just as the President had promised, the indians living in the jungle are truly equal to their fellow citizens in the capital city! Both live without power and running water! Socialism  has brought about equality, everyone has become equally poor.

Its a beautiful   thing to behold... well, when the lights are on so that you can see it, that is!

11 comments:

Gringo said...

Here are Brazil blackout photos. Link courtesy Fausta’s blog.

Daniel has an excellent essay today on the deterioration of infrastructure and services in Venezuela, and of people gradually accustoming themselves to that. “Post war,” he calls it.

Betty W said...

So sad, yet so true!
We (meaning the Mennonites in the Chaco) had to "make" our own power for a long time (with steam engines). So when we finally got power from Itaipu, it was a luxury to use as much power as we wanted. We knew of the many power outages that Itaipu experiences, so our colony has diesel motors, that they start when Itaipu goes out. We´re lucky!

Debbie said...

And I'm not so sure we're that far behind here in the USA with our current administration and their 'global warming' fears.
Of course Chavez is best described as a 'few french fries short of a happy meal' by some. But socialism can mimic mental illness in any liberal leadership:)Debbie

Anonymous said...

I heard about the blackout on television here. Sounds like things are getting pretty third world with a vengeance down there. On the other hand, they are here too!

The Local Malcontent said...

While I already knew your political stance(s), friend, I still am kind of amazed to see a politically based post from you.

And of course, you are correct-
Chavez' dreams of widespread misery in Venezuela are coming true, just as his idol's have in Cuba, and just as America will become- it's only a matter of time.

What's so very very sad, is that by the time the populace of a crippled country finally discovers that the charming, suave speaker/leader is in truth a brutal, egomaniac with total power,

it is too late.
All which can be done by then, is another bloody revolution; this time against a far better armed army of supporters.

Hatless in Hattiesburg said...

this event made it into wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Brazil_and_Paraguay_blackout

but for some odd reason it doesn't happen to mention any of the root causes that you did... ;)

Brenda said...

I want to know if anyone has timed Chavez showers? Or checked on his flashlight?

Steve Harkonnen said...

You know, I have a friend in Brazil right now on vacation there. Wow, I never knew those falls had that much power output!

Thursday's Child said...

Ha! Good point, JM!

Kathy said...

My mother-in-law was sure the outage was hours long! (It seemed like to her!) My friend here from Venezuela is so sad about what's happening there and we're praying for her family. But I'm SURE Chavez has every convenience known to man and every thing he wants to eat. How can we get a picture of him watching HBO on his big screen TV with all the bells and whistles (and food!)???

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