Karma. Schadenfreude. Come-Uppance. Irony.

Call it what you want, but the massive blackouts in the Northeast happened a mere hours after that repulsive Washington Post editorial essentially calling the French a bunch of wussies for not being able to handle the heatwave they're experiencing. That editorial - attributed to no particular writer - said in part:

...maybe they will now at least stop turning up their noses at those American summer inventions they've long loved to mock: The office window that doesn't open, the air conditioner that produces sub-arctic temperatures and the tall glass of water, served in a restaurant, filled to the brim with ice.

By the way, lest you think the editorial was satirical, read it. There's not a scintilla of humor in it...especially in the context of 3000 people dying from it.