... then you put your hands over your ears and start humming loudly.

From today's Mope and Wail, we have the touching, heartwarming, true-life story of how terrorists can attack Hydro-Quebec power installations without breaking a sweat:

The French service of the CBC aired a report exposing apparent security flaws at two major Hydro-Québec power installations yesterday, minutes after the utility failed in a legal bid to block the broadcast.

A Superior Court judge rejected Hydro-Québec's request for a temporary injunction to stop the CBC from airing a television item on security at two hydroelectric plants, one of which provides electricity to the United States.

In the item, a camera crew wanders unfettered into the heart of the huge Manic 5 and LG-2 installations in Northern Quebec. There is no sign of a security guard or surveillance camera, and doors are not locked; at one point, the crew walks right up to a control panel.

The Radio-Canada reporter, Christian Latreille, said in an interview that he wanted to explore security measures put in place after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. He says in his report that he encountered only a single Hydro-Québec employee over the course of two days.

Hydro-Québec sought an injunction late Monday to block the broadcast, originally scheduled for that day. In its arguments yesterday, the utility said the broadcast posed a national-security risk and could incite someone to target Hydro-Québec's power stations.

And you thought shooting the messenger was an exclusively American tradition.