* 2008 February - Masopher’s Mind

Pakistan and You Tube

It was reported early the week of 25th February that Pakistan had managed to “accidentally remove You Tube from the web”. Geek gibberish ensues as to how a select few ISPs can affect the entire world. I’m not one of those geeks so I accept that it is possible, though the conspiracy theorist inside wants to waggle an eyebrow. Pakistan does know a whole lot about information warfare, having been trained by the best but it is possible that they are being (as before) used by the best for some purpose that alas Masopher and Joe Blogs will never know about.

The other three points that come up in my look at this event is the consideration of:

1. Has Pakistan religious leaders only now just realized how blasphemous You Tube is?

You Tube has lambasted religion, politics and human decency ever since its inception. That’s what “smart” people with too much time (and a video camera) on their hands do. It took 2 years for the politicians and priests of Pakistan to find out that they too are targets. Everyone uses it, from American Politicians to Iraqi insurgents and of course everyone in-between and beyond.

2. Doesn’t Pakistan have bigger problems on its plate?

One would think that with Al Qaeda scurrying about, a far more deserving Taliban regime roaring in the desert, politicians being killed and an arsenal of Nuclear missiles, not to mention the death and poverty, you tube might be lower down on the agenda. I agree that “Im F&#@ing matt damon/Ben Affleck” and “two girls one cup” is depravity that should be banned by totalitarian regimes or fundamentalist religious states. However since Pakistan barely qualifies as a working state whether fundamentalist or totalitarian, how it has time to debate the niceties of youtube is beyond me.

3. How many Pakistanis in Pakistan actually have access to the internet much less youtube?
Now this is no slight to the rich boy Pakistani’s in Oxford and Cambridge, immigrants and second generation asylum seekers. If any of you go back to Pakistan perhaps to train for something in particular or assume your dynastic heritage memories of Britney Paris and Amy go along with you. But let’s be honest, how many homes in Pakistan actually have access to You Tube? Not enough to warrant an infatada on online videos I warrant.

Posted in Politics-Middle East at February 27th, 2008. No Comments / Email This Post Email This Post .

The Women of the World

It is purely coincidence but Britain-y, Amy-rica and Paris- France are the most troubled celebrity women and also the three western countries which crave the most attention.

However it is in interesting set of analogies and just because I don’t want to mull over it any more I found it worth writing.
Amy Winehouse, the songstress who came from nowhere had so much potential. Still trying to capitalize on her one victory so long ago, the vastly talented lady early in her career became addicted to a substance and is currently seen falling from one tragic attempt at a comeback to another.
After World War Two, America was said to have potential as well. It kept Soviet Russia at Bay, promoted democracy and would have been the world leader well into the next century. This fixation on oil and armament which devolved into hedgemonic attempts throughout Asia and South America lead to too many losses and too many enemies.
Britney a long time starlet on whom the sun might have never set, who gets caught up with some riff raff gave birth to a lot of problems and now is a hopeless case of tabloid trash. Everyone wants a piece of her she croons but she fails to realize the world has left her behind.
Britain has endured a long time before and after the Victorian Summit. What the commonwealth and former colonies have become has been lambasted by everyone inside and out. What’s aggravating for both Britney Spears and Great Britain is that everyone keeps wanting to give them a chance to make a comeback, to take a hold of the reins but they both keep messing it up with some cruddy dealings with some really shady characters.
Paris the aloof but whored debutant who is at the same time a symbol of prestige and a talentless nobody hoping to make it through name only. Unlike Amy and Britney Paris only has fashion, sex, being drunk and time in the slammer on her resume.
Paris is a glamorous place, the ile de France (Island of France) it is called. But talent for administering over even its own people, I doubt they can ever claim that. It spent a few centuries being “the bad guy”, infecting Indians, really messing up its own colonies and doing dastardly stuff all the way up until German tanks began roaring up the Champs Elysee. Even after that De Gaulle was a pain in the British and American backside. Mismanagment of their assets turned Vietnam, Timor, and Congo into debacles, sinking green peace ships so they could join the nuclear “club”, supplying Argentina with planes missiles and (perhaps) intelligence. So aside from being inept at global politics and being glamorous Paris, just like the Hilton contributes little except its particular “charm”.

Even after typing I realize how much of a stretch it is. Fun to think about though.

Posted in People, Philosophy at February 20th, 2008. No Comments / Email This Post Email This Post .

Middle eastern/Asian undersea cables.

In the January and early February 2008 as American elections and budget, tottering economies, Britney Spears, Amy Whinehouse and Nicolas Sarkozy dominated the news the Arab, Persian and  Asian world experienced something particularly strange. Ships were crashing into their internet/telephone lines![1][2]

A couple million people in the region went without telephony or had all their calls and data routed through Saudi Arabia and other places. Havok ensued as both stockmarkets and Warcraft raids was disrupted.

In five incidents which were reported to be unrelated, the fiberoptic link to and from middle eastern and Asian countries such as Egypt, Dubai, Iran, India, The United Arab Emirates and Quatar appear to have broken.[3]

The cables noted were: SEA-ME-WE 4, FLAG, FALCON, SEA-ME-WE.

At present speculators observably do not know what to make of this.
The West will blame China or Terrorists, Muslims will blame Zionists and crusaders, Africans will suspect colonialists, communists will suspect capitalists, capitalists will suspect underground economists or communists. Paranoid delusionists will suspect everyone from the NSA to the illuminati, officials will suspect undersea quakes and dragging anchors. The companies who laid them might suspect the rivals who are about to lay in their own cables, or even the satellite companies who were shafted by the cheapness of undersea wiring. [4] Even godzilla and sponge bob were implicated.

The truth is…if this isn’t a jihadist endgame strategy, we probably will never know. News like this is not reported because worse than the independent bloggers and conspiracy theorist the news corporations just would not know what to say. There is no fancy graphic or $200 an hour expert to drag infront of the camera to toe a political line.

The internet lines are private property belonging to large British and Asian national and multinational companies with no previous agenda or black marks against thier name.

As mentioned before while NSA subs have been suspect from as far back as 2001, this is unprecedented.

A jihadist end game strategy, operating out of Yemen Somalia and/or Pakistan could be a Nuclear bomb waiting for any investigators or simply a wish to isolate middle Asia from the evils of internet and telephone, bringing those countries crashing back into early 19th century communication methods. After watching 2 girls one cup I would want to swim down and gnaw the cables myself. One can only laugh at this amazing coincidence, misinformation or suspicious plot.
My 2 coins

Sources:
1. http://www.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUSBOM8160120080205
2. http://callcenterinfo.tmcnet.com/analysis/articles/20044-damage-fourth-undersea-cable-sparks-conspiracy-theories.htm
3. http://gizmodo.com/353284/five-undersea-cables-cut-so-far
4. http://callcenterinfo.tmcnet.com/analysis/articles/20044-damage-fourth-undersea-cable-sparks-conspiracy-theories.htm
5. http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/theuae/2008/February/theuae_February155.xml&section=theuae

Posted in Uncategorized at February 6th, 2008. 1 Comment / Email This Post Email This Post .

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