The August 14 Edition of Newsweek Magazine shows a dark New York skyline, with the dual headlines of "What Went Wrong" and "How America Coped." I'll tell you how I coped: I went to my refrigerator, popped the top off of another Bayern Amber, and went back to watching television. Yes, New York City is a symbol of America in general. Yes, the blackout happened across the Northeast and parts of Canada. No, that doesn't make it a national event. More than 225 million Americans coped with the big blackout by doing: absolutely nothing. We didn't need to, because we weren't part of the blackout. So is Newsweek overhyping, or are just being egocentric by assuming things that happen to their NYC staffers happened to everyone? Put it this way: I've yet to see a Newsweek cover story talking about "How America Copes" with the wildfires burning across the Western US. This is a problem more serious, costly and ongoing than the isolated instance of the blackout, but is Newsweek willing to claim it as an "American" event? Nah, that's regional--it happens to those folks out West. I'm not trying to diminish the problems caused by the blackout, but come on. Let's save the national emergencies for, well, national emergencies.