Foo - My suspicions confirmed.

People freak out when something happens in New York, but couldn't give a **** when something happens elsewhere even within their own country.

NEW YORK (CNN) -- A transformer exploded Wednesday afternoon near Manhattan's Grand Central train station, possibly a result of steam underground, New York Police Department told CNN.

No injuries were reported, according to New York Office of Emergency Management.

Subway lines near the explosion have been rerouted to alternate lines bypassing the Grand Central station stop, according to Metropolitan Transit Authority

The fact of the matter is this - It happened in NYC therefore people are going to sp*** out and think the worst.

It's not that impressive. There was no building collapse as was reported earlier. The hype continues. Nevermind the Japanese earthquake :rolleyes:

Update: Its a 20" steam line. That's not a small amount of power by any stretch, but in the grand scheme of things it's not the WTC part 2 despite what Wolf Blitzer is trying to hype. This happened back in 1989 in Grammercy (sp) Park as well. The biggest issue is possible contamination from the asbestos the pipes were typically lined with. Cafferty just shut Blitzer down with a "this **** happens" style comment

On a hunch I searched the site for "Dallas explosion" and didn't find a single post. (article here (http://www.kcentv.com/news/c-article.php?cid=1&nid=13586) ) Even though it was a much more spectacular catastrophe in terms of the visual (thankfully nobody was seriously hurt despite initial reports) and it was situated in the downtown area of a major US metropolitan city nobody batted an eyelash here. I guess an 83 year old steam pipe is much more exciting than a company that handles oxygen, acetylene, and other chemical supplies blowing up. Or was it just that the pipe was in NYC and subconsciously we're all fixated on them being the victims of tragedy? Or is it that we narrow-mindedly expect the next act of terrorism to strike there?

I don't mean to diminish the tragedies that have taken place, both recently and in the past. My only point was to illustrate how people panic to extremes over "this **** happens" type events when they happen in NYC, but pay them no mind when they happen in Downtown Dallas.

Think of it this way - they are attracting all the nut cases who want to make a name for themselves.

Go to the Texas forum, there is a thread there.

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=325050

Go to the Texas forum, there is a thread there.

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=325050

<shrug> Didn't show up on the search. The steam pipe rated a thread in Foo and several hours of prime CNN real estate. Not to mention 27 (out of 35) posts in that thread compared to 6 total in your thread and minimal coverage on CNN.

Don't feel bad - most people think Costa Rica is a Caribbean island, and that is after they visit here!

i actually only saw the thread that jsharr created. i didn't see it on the news or anywhere else. so, yeah, you're correct...nobody really thought much of it. which is a shame.

It's entertainment. More people will find entertainment in disaster in the crown jewel city of America than a large midwest city that most people in the country have never been to, except as an AA hub. Of course news agencies are going to give that more coverage. You really think they report about rich, coked-out skanks because they think it's ground breaking news that everyone needs to know about?

Well apparently over in the P&R gulag there's a thread about it. You're complaining in Foo after all, what do you expect? You seem to have your panties in a bunch. Welcome to what it feels like to be pretty much any country outside the USA.

Welcome to what it feels like to be pretty much any country outside the USA.
Oops (http://www.sptimes.ru/index.php?action_id=2&story_id=22464)

Here's another (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=325525). :D

It was all over the CNN page.....

It certianly wouldn't be terrorists in Dallet. Terrorist are too chicken**** to mess with rednecks. :D

Oops (http://www.sptimes.ru/index.php?action_id=2&story_id=22464)

I will give Raiyn credit on this issue. It has much more merit than his rants on using brake clean on bicycle rotors!!:D

Oops (http://www.sptimes.ru/index.php?action_id=2&story_id=22464)
Wrong St. Petersburg Times, comrade. Here's mine http://www.sptimes.com/home.shtml

Here's another (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=325525). :D
I don't go into P&R and like I said, I did search before I posted.

It was all over the CNN page.....
It still didn't get the attention that the NYC incident rated

I will give Raiyn credit on this issue. It has much more merit than his rants on using brake clean on bicycle rotors!!:D
<offtopic>I will say it again denatured alcohol is what you should use on rotors. You never know what you're going to get with automotive products and bike rotors don't generate enough heat to burn of the residue if you use the wrong **** </offtopic>

It certianly wouldn't be terrorists in Dallet. Terrorist are too chicken**** to mess with rednecks. :D

Rednecks aren't worth it. New yorkers are where the money's at.

I reported it originally out of concern (yes, even though I don't play well with others it turns out I'm a caring sharing sap). The only reason I knew about it was a "this just in" report in between the floods, terrorists, shootings, congestion reports, etc on the news here.

Anyway, what I'm trying to say that unless journo's suddenly become honest and objective then we can only react to what they report and their own prejudice and bias. What sounds worse "poor maintenance schedule causes accident" or "New York on terror alert after massive explosion" and which one are people likely to read/visit/watch and help keep advertisers happy.

no, not cynical really.

I reported it originally out of concern (yes, even though I don't play well with others it turns out I'm a caring sharing sap). The only reason I knew about it was a "this just in" report in between the floods, terrorists, shootings, congestion reports, etc on the news here.

Anyway, what I'm trying to say that unless journo's suddenly become honest and objective then we can only react to what they report and their own prejudice and bias. What sounds worse "poor maintenance schedule causes accident" or "New York on terror alert after massive explosion" and which one are people likely to read/visit/watch and help keep advertisers happy.

no, not cynical really.I'm not faulting you in the slightest, far from it. I'm merely making an observation of posters here and Americans in general.

I would have thought that a big flashy fiery explosion in Downtown Dallas would rate at least as much interest as a steam pipe in NYC, but apparently it's just like real estate. Location LOCATION LOCATION

I just want to take this moment to say Hello to my buddies with the Feds . Hi Guys!

To be fair, the area where the fire and explosion occurred is not in the center of Dallas, but on the outskirts of town in an industrial area. It did snarl traffic and got tons of coverage locally. Had their been loss of life or thoughts of terrorism, I am sure it would have gotten more coverage. CNN did list it on their breaking news header and did have live video from WFAA.

My boss and I watched coverage non stop for a few hours. I posted in the Texas forum to make sure all my fellow Texicans were safe, or to see if they could see it, as a few of them commute to downtown Dallas. As it turns out, it was just a large fire at a small welding gas operation, that burned three people and caused a traffic jam. Dramatic yes, world news, no.

i still find it amazing that we're fine with having 40,000 people killed every year in auto collisions... while we go nuts over 2700 people and a couple towers being destroyed. strange huh?

News here said three died IIRC

i still find it amazing that we're fine with having 40,000 people killed every year in auto collisions... while we go nuts over 2700 people and a couple towers being destroyed. strange huh?

if it's not immediate, it doesn't stir a reaction. TIME magazine did a story on this very issue.

heart disease, killing some 500,000 people a year, is something that most people don't really think about too much. however, terrorism, air plane crashes, bird flu, etc. get people in a frenzy but they kill relatively small numbers annually.

Keep 'em scared, keep 'em controled. ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82iQeHCabJU

Reports I heard listed the owner and one employee of the gas company burned on face neck and hands and transported to Parkland and a third victim, not an employee and not on the grounds of the gas company burned and taken to Baylor I believe. One or all may have died of their injuries, but I have not heard about it.

Link to injury update:

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/072607dnmethoseguys.37b02c3.html

As it turns out, it was just a large fire at a small welding gas operation, that burned three people and caused a traffic jam. Dramatic yes, world news, no.

Therein lies the rub jsharr. How is it that a blown steam pipe in NYC is dramatic world news and the incident in Dallas is third page stuff? Both were big booms, both were "this **** happens" events but only the steam pipe happened in NYC. Nevermind the earthquake in Japan.....

Excuse me looks like a catastrophic rocket accident happened on a pad in California. That got a full couple minutes on CNN

I think more people were affected by the steam pipe incident, same with the earthquake. More injuries, the time of day it occurred, etc.

I think more people were affected by the steam pipe incident, same with the earthquake. More injuries, the time of day it occurred, etc.

You miss my point. If you were to say swap incidents folks (regardless of where they were) would think Ol Sammy B was fire bombing NYC personally (even if you were to put it in an "outlying area") while folks in Texas or elsewhere would take the steam pipe incident for what it was - a failure of a decaying infrastructure.

What?! ...Where?! ......Who cares!!! *wanders off grumbling*

:D

I'm not faulting you in the slightest, far from it. I'm merely making an observation of posters here and Americans in general.

I would have thought that a big flashy fiery explosion in Downtown Dallas would rate at least as much interest as a steam pipe in NYC, but apparently it's just like real estate. Location LOCATION LOCATION

I just want to take this moment to say Hello to my buddies with the Feds . Hi Guys!

Sorry dude - it wasn't about you. My bad if it came across that way.

i still find it amazing that we're fine with having 40,000 people killed every year in auto collisions... while we go nuts over 2700 people and a couple towers being destroyed. strange huh?

+1

Some people act like 9/11 was the Worst Disaster Ever.:rolleyes:

And here in Colorado we still regularly hear about Columbine HS. I know that was a horrible tragedy, but is that the only school shooting that ever happened? They just spent $1.something million to put up a memorial for it. If it was in an inner city (read: poor) school would it still be treated the same way?

Sorry dude - it wasn't about you. My bad if it came across that way.
Not at all. We're cool.


Some people act like 9/11 was the Worst Disaster Ever.:rolleyes:

I'm not touching that one. Suffice it to say that the attack does bear a lot of the blame for the paranoia, but it also has a fixating effect to the extent that anything severe in NYC is hot copy while if a similar incident happened elsewhere it wouldn't rate as much attention from the public and the media.

I thought about this while taking the family out to dinner (Joe's Crab Shack! so bad, but so good) and I think you have brought me around to your POV Raiyn. As a Texan and a Dallasite, I was hammered by this by the local media. Live coverage all morning on all the networks. The sportstalk radio staion, again local, was all over it, etc. so to me it did seem to get good coverage. I was being a bit myopic. Strange that as spectacular as the images were, that all the networks nationwide did not devote a fair amount of coverage to it. Terrorism was brought up here by the local media, but that angle was immediately quashed by the authorities, including agents of the Dallas branch of the FBI and the EPA, who ruled it an industrial accident and not terrorist attack.

Texas, Texas - Dang it, where is Texas. Isn't that part of Mexico... ;)

Texas, Texas - Dang it, where is Texas. Isn't that part of Mexico... ;)

Not anymore. Remember the Alamo!

Not anymore. Remember the Alamo!

wasn't there a pocket knife involved? :D

http://www.charliefox.co.uk/Swiss%20Army%20Knife.jpg

Oops (http://www.sptimes.ru/index.php?action_id=2&story_id=22464)

wrong way round

I think this thread needs to pack up and move to P&R...it's getting too political for the likes of Foo!

I think this thread needs to pack up and move to P&R...it's getting too political for the likes of Foo!

P&R is like exile for threads, hey?

http://haxxors.org/~monger/Controversy.mp3

I thought about this while taking the family out to dinner (Joe's Crab Shack! so bad, but so good) and I think you have brought me around to your POV Raiyn. As a Texan and a Dallasite, I was hammered by this by the local media. Live coverage all morning on all the networks. The sportstalk radio staion, again local, was all over it, etc. so to me it did seem to get good coverage. I was being a bit myopic. Strange that as spectacular as the images were, that all the networks nationwide did not devote a fair amount of coverage to it. Terrorism was brought up here by the local media, but that angle was immediately quashed by the authorities, including agents of the Dallas branch of the FBI and the EPA, who ruled it an industrial accident and not terrorist attack.I figured if you thought about it long enough you'd understand. :D

I think this thread needs to pack up and move to P&R...it's getting too political for the likes of Foo!There's nothing of the sort here. Reread the thread.

I figured if you thought about it long enough you'd understand. :D
There's nothing of the sort here. Reread the thread.

Hey, I am be slow, but I am fat too!:beer:

Hey, I am be slow, but I am fat too!:beer:

I figured that being local to the incident would color your view of it, so I just gave you enough to think about and let you come around on your own. Not slow, just too close to the incident to be completely objective at first.

+1

Some people act like 9/11 was the Worst Disaster Ever.:rolleyes:

And here in Colorado we still regularly hear about Columbine HS. I know that was a horrible tragedy, but is that the only school shooting that ever happened? They just spent $1.something million to put up a memorial for it. If it was in an inner city (read: poor) school would it still be treated the same way?

A kid in my high school got stabbed to death, and all that happened media wise was an obituary in the city newspapers, and a three paragraph blurb in the school paper.

The only thing that makes school shootings news is that the word spreads faster....honestly that stabbing made me never use the school restrooms anymore (some gang member did it, from what I remember it was a robbery gone wrong).

I made it a point to slip out of the building and pee in the bushes....it's safer out there.

It's all just a matter of perspective as to how big an event is...2000 people die every day in car accidents... you dont hear about it because it's not a "tradgedy" until 2000 people die all at once. I'm not talking about any specific events here. some of them touched me as much as they touched anyone else.

You guys are going off on a tangent here.

I thought I was being sort of general actually ;)

You guys are going off on a tangent here.

no way

http://www.mathwarehouse.com/geometry/circle/images/tangent_to_circle/identify-tangent/tangent-id_2gry.jpg

lol - just realised that Gu is not a tangent

http://www.runningunlimited.com/images/GU/GU.jpg

You're talking about some basic fundamentals there. We get worked up as hell over Paris Hiltons short lived but much hyped jail visit, and meanwhile, good people from this country are dying in droves at the hands of people sick of being ****ed over and slaughtered. Whatever can keep people happy, and their eyes away from the truth, that's what the news focuses on.

One day many years ago my old friends uncle was murdered by a gang, probably as an initiation ritual. On the news that night, there was a story on how a lady rescued a kitten from a freeway underpass that she saw while drivng by. Sickening ain't it?

...Sickening ain't it?

yup...but until/when/if we get an honest and objective press corps then maybe we'll get the news that matters and affects us all.

yup...but until/when/if we get an honest and objective press corps then maybe we'll get the news that matters and affects us all.

BBC is often full of ****, but they are as close to honest and objective as it gets.

BBC is often full of ****, but they are as close to honest and objective as it gets.

I've experienced first hand their "spin" on stories - don't believe everything you read - even Ben Brown, whom I thought was fairly honest and accurate, writes what he is told by a single source and not what happened (head banging on wall yellow face thing) and, unfortunately, he's not the only example :(

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/40519000/jpg/_40519465_benbrown203.jpg

I find that if I read any 5 from Reuters, UPI, AP, Times, Guardian (only while wearing an haz-mat suit), IHT, BBC, and a couple of others' web-sites then, on average, you get the details of the story. Only once you've filtered out the editor's noise/style/spin though.