MetaFilter posts tagged with panic

Has There Ever Been a Good Air Force One Photo Op?

stagewhisper — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 18:09:05 -0800

A Presidential Boeing 747 along with two fighter planes continuously circled jarringly close to the tops of buildings in Lower Manhattan and Jersey City this morning. From the ground it looked as though a plane had been hijacked again, and the Air Force was attempting to force it down. Panic ensued. Another terrorist attack? No, just a top secret photo op. The White House apologizes .

Staring into the abyss

up in the old hotel — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 17:24:41 -0800

$550 Billion Disappeared in "Electronic Run On the Banks" (SLYT) At 2:20, Rep. Paul Kanjorski of Pennsylvania, chair of the Capital Markets Subcommittee, discusses a "tremendous draw-down of money market accounts in the United States, to the tune of $550 billion dollars" that occurred in the matter of an hour or two in September 2008.

"The Treasury opened its window to help. They pumped a hundred and five billion dollars into the system and quickly realized that they could not stem the tide. We were having an electronic run on the banks. They decided to close the operation, close down the money accounts, and announce a guarantee of $250,000 per account so there wouldn't be further panic and there. And that's what actually happened. If they had not done that their estimation was that by two o'clock that afternoon, five-and-a-half trillion dollars would have been drawn out of the money market system of the United States, would have collapsed the entire economy of the United States, and within 24 hours the world economy would have collapsed." "It would have been the end of our political system and our economic systems as we know it."

Via Boing Boing

If you're going to panic, panic constructively.

Doktor Zed — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 09:51:51 -0800

Bruce Sterling, fresh from his online State of the World 2008 discussion (previously), delivers his succinct prognosis for the new year: 2009 Will Be a Year of Panic. At least it's an opportunity to say good-bye to the 20th century at last. (via)

What's going on at Circuit City?

hypersloth — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 23:39:06 -0800

Circuit City: Founded in 1949 as the Wards Company, Circuit City is headquartered in Richmond, Virginia. At the time of the liquidation announcement (January 16, 2009), the company operated 567 stores in 153 media. Ok bai.

Vault of McCarthite Terror

Artw — Thu, 08 May 2008 16:34:05 -0800

The pictures that horrified America - how comic books tipped 50s America into a moral panic. Comiclopedia on Fredric Wertham David Hajdu, author of The Ten Cent Plague, on censorship, race, and sex

21st century financial panic

storybored — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 15:02:23 -0800

A New Kind of Bank Run. ...a new financial architecture has emerged that relied more on securities and less on banks as intermediaries. With the worth of [these new] securities now being questioned — and no equivalent of deposit insurance — some who financed the securities want their money out, a fact that has created the 21st-century equivalent of a run on a bank. . It's no wonder these securities are being questioned, when some are based on Ninja mortgages and foreclosures are up 58% from last year.

Strange afflictions.

nickyskye — Mon, 08 May 2006 20:07:08 -0800

Penis panic, is a type of body dysmorphia, among other strange afflictions. Also known as koro, it may be induced by cannabis, superstition or fear.

Time to Panic

pmbuko — Fri, 05 May 2006 08:37:16 -0800

Panic -- makers of "Shockingly Good Mac Software" and visually appealing marketing collateral (including their website) -- have documented the various places their branding has been ~~honored~~ ~~flatteringly borrowed~~ ripped-off on the internets. My favorite is the site selling one of their original icons for $199, promising "exclusive ownership." Is imitation really the sincerest form of flattery?

.

jfuller — Mon, 27 Mar 2006 05:57:48 -0800

Peak oil? Yesterday's news. Global warming? You won't live to see it. Today's end-of-the-world-as-you-know-it message is mad cow disease in the human blood supply.

Failing Gracefully

warbaby — Thu, 07 Jul 2005 11:35:48 -0800

People don't panic in disasters Here's what Lee Clarke has to say about Panic: Myth or Reality. And he has some things to say about terrorism as well.

Hey you kids, get off my lawn!

Capn — Fri, 27 May 2005 10:40:34 -0800

Today is my 30th birthday.

Visit us! We're safer than New York City (NEW YORK CITY!)

m@ — Fri, 15 Aug 2003 14:58:11 -0800

Visit Madison, Indiana. Why? We're not New York City! Sure you can be opportunistic about selling gas masks if you're an internet entrepreneur, but what if you're a small town in Indiana and you want to cash in on fear of terrorism. Why, tout what you don't have, of course. "A safe place to visit...When you visit Madison you will discover that we have no tall buildings to fear, no nuclear power plants, airports or anything anyone would want to blow up."

shagoth — Tue, 12 Mar 2002 08:41:32 -0800

White house announces more silly and vague schema for defining terrorist threat. Ok, so how does going from the total unclear status of "everybody lookout, it's coming" to Yellow Alert which means "a significant risk of terrorist attacks" make things more clear? For that matter what's the point of Red Alert anyhow? Is that for when the Pentagon is already on fire?

murray_kester — Sat, 31 Mar 2001 05:04:24 -0800

Just two months after the Sydney teenager Jessica Michalik was crushed to death in the mosh pit at a Limp Bizkit concert, the American rock/rap band is promoting an Internet game in which concert-goers try to avoid a violent death. More

ewagoner — Tue, 13 Mar 2001 08:08:02 -0800

Mir spotted in skies over India, millions panic? While the fall of Mir has been getting plenty of press coverage, this is the first blatantly alarmist piece I've seen, and it's from CNN/Reuters. Does this kind of "reporting" border on criminal?

holloway — Sun, 17 Dec 2000 17:25:12 -0800

Council bans anyone recording school children ...due to possible paedophilia. AHAHAHAaaa hahahahaahaaa haa. Oh where was I? Oh that's right [more inside]