The Bigsibling Blog

When I lived in the Last Frontier, up in the frozen north (that’s Alaska for those of you in Parma, OH), our main Internet connection to the “outside” was a fibre-optic cable running under the ocean between Washington state and Alaska. Now, keep in mind that this was before the emergence of broadband. This was when 33.3K modems were all the rage. And when the 56K modems came about, it was like a great opening of the floodgates of the Internet for that frozen land.

At any rate, every once in a while that cable would be severed. Usually by a fishing boat dragging whatever fishing boats drag along the ocean floor. Sometimes on purpose by the fishermen on those boats, if their stuff got tangled in the cable. It was simply easier to cut the cable than it was to try and untangle the net - and way cheaper (for them anyway) than cutting their nets. But his kind of thing happened maybe twice a year. And even then, with only dial-up access (for you kids out there, imagine a web page taking 10 times longer to load than it does now - and that’s what we played games on - so quitcher whining about lag) it would considerably slow down Internet traffic in and out of the state. The ISP help desk I was working for at the time would be flooded with calls because Granny couldn’t download the pictures of her grandkids (back then, very, very few businesses did any real business over the Internet - and folks, it wasn’t all that long ago).

Knowing what it actually takes for one of these cables to go  belly up, and knowing that the accidents aren’t really all that common, this story comes with some ominous overtones:

CAIRO - Damage to undersea Internet cables in the Mediterranean that hit business across the Middle East and South Asia was not caused by ships, Egypt’s communications ministry said on Sunday, ruling out earlier reports.

The transport ministry added that footage recorded by onshore video cameras of the location of the cables showed no maritime traffic in the area when the cables were damaged.

‘The ministry’s maritime transport committee reviewed footage covering the period of 12 hours before and 12 hours after the cables were cut and no ships sailed the area,’ a statement said.

‘The area is also marked on maps as a no-go zone and it is therefore ruled out that the damage to the cables was caused by ships,’ the statement added.

Two cables were damaged earlier this week in the Mediterranean sea and another off the coast of Dubai, causing widespread disruption to Internet and international telephone services in Egypt, Gulf Arab states and South Asia.

A fourth cable linking Qatar to the United Arab Emirates was damaged on Sunday causing yet more disruptions, telecommunication provider Qtel said.

Earlier reports said that the damage had been caused by ships that had been diverted off their usual route because of bad weather.

Egypt’s communication and information technology ministry said it would report its findings to the owners of the two damaged Mediterranean cables, FLAG Telecom and SEA-ME-WE4.

A repair ship was expected to begin work to fix the two Mediterranean cables on Tuesday.

Now, if an undersea cable that rests on the ocean floor in a traffic area gets cut or broken maybe twice a year; what are the odds that four undersea cables are cut - by accident, in a no-go zone, in such a close timeframe? I’m going to venture that the odds are almost-but-not-quite exactly the same odds that John Edwards has of winning the Presidency this year.

Something to be on the lookout for are any major attacks in the next month or so. Sure, it could be nothing, but disrupting communications is usually a portend of something to come. Of course, they didn’t completely cut off communications. In this day and age there are so many avenues of communications that it would be night impossible to completely cut off communications, but with so many business relying on the Internet for their busines dealings, disrupting that does cause a massive disruption and could potentially cost business millions or even billions in damages.

I first learned of this story via ZDNet blogs, where Threat Chaos blogger Richard Steinnon reported on it. What I found completely amusing, and somewhat worrisome were the comments left by readers of this blog. Here are some excerpts:

US installing interception equipment.

Now it comes out. There were no ships around that area, but the cables were mysteriously cut because of ship’s anchors? Anyone with even a 2-digit IQ would realise this is the US getting their hands on it to install surveillance gear. (kraterz)

RE: Fourth cable cut in Mideast

Is it coincidence this happens a few days after the U.S government announce “Afcyber” or just bad luck on their part? You decide. (jim_56K)

Absolutely.

Absolutely possible. The US and Israel work very closely together on many defense aspects, you can’t rule out these two countries working together on this even, given the nature of the operation. (kraterz)

It’s the GOP old tactic.

They try to fear the annoyed American. They did that in the last election and Bush won. They’re doing it again to stop people from favoring the Democrat. (ThBird)

See these peoples thinking process? The scary part is that I imagine (and dreadfully hope I am wrong) that these nimcompoops are actually going to cast a vote for our next POTUS *shudders*.

Technorati Tags: Fibre-Optic, Middle East, United States, Internet, Nefarious, Terrorism

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I’m shocked! Shocked I tell you! How is it that a country like America, who made a guest of one Khalid Sheikh Mohammed could have treated him in such a fashion as to have him feel humiliated? Humiliated! I am beside myself with grief that we actually made this 9/11 mastermind terrorist Islamofacist piece of dung feel humiliated.

source

Technorati Tags: Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Water Boarding, Humiliation, Terrorist, 9/11

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Britney and Madonna to be beheaded unless they convert to Islam. That is currently the word on the street. Now, don’t ge me wrong, it won’t be much of a loss. Of course, in typical ‘bottom of the barrel’ statement, one Muhammad Abdel-Al of the Popular Resistance Committee states:

“If I meet these whores I will have the honor – I repeat, I will have the honor – to be the first one to cut the heads off Madonna and Britney Spears if they will keep spreading their satanic culture against Islam”

The emphasis is mine, and this statement begs, nay, it screams the question, who will be the second one to cut the heads off these two? Which leads to just how many heads do these people think the (once hot) singers have?

source

Technorati Tags: Islam, Terrorism, Madonna, Britney Spears, Religion of Peace

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In a move that rings of the American spirit and enforces and validates American’s first amendment rights, the 2nd Circuit US Court of Appeals has made it clear that Americans are not subject to foreign jurisdictions in their speech and writings. Their conclusion of Ehrenfeld v. Mahrouz (06-2228-cv) further solidifies our freedoms, and our sovereignty.

Quick back story here. Rachel Ehrenfeld is an author. She wrote a book titled Funding Evil: How Terrorism is Financed and How to Stop It. In the book, she discusses and details how several wealthy Saudi’s funnel money to Hamas and al Qaida. She writes about Khalid Salim a bin Mahfouz. Mahfouz, of course, it livid about the whole idea. So he does what any good terrorist funder would do, he sues her for libel. Did I mention that Ehrenfeld is American? She lives in New York. Her book was published in New York. So one would reason that this terrorist enabler would sue our intrepid author in American right? WRONG!

Knowing that in America her book is covered (very well, I might add) by the first amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America, and also that in America, it is very difficult to prove libel, he decides to sue her in the courts in Great Britain. For those not in the know, it seems that the British courts are much more strict as far as limiting one’s speech than American courts are. It seems that British libel laws make the defendant prove they are not libelous, instead of the other way around. In other words, in Britain, one is libelous until they can prove otherwise. This is completely antithetical to the American system, where one is innocent until proven guilty. The terrorist loving Mahfouz knew this, so he chose to sue her in Britain because some of her books were sold in Britain.

Of course, Ehrenfeld lost the case in Britain (otherwise we wouldn’t be talking about this). She then appealed to the United States Court of Appeals because as an American, she didn’t feel she should be held accountable to the laws of other countries. After all, what good is having the right to free speech, if anyone can squash it from a foreign country? By caving in to this type of legal terrorism, we lose our national sovereignty, and start allowing foreign countries to dictate our laws and interpret our Constitution.

Their decision was that the right to free speech of Americans trumps libelous laws in foreign countries. Here are some excerpts from their conclusion:

“New York should be the last stop on Sheik Mahfouz’s “libel tour.” A contrary decision will not only erode the fundamental free speech rights that this nation has strived to ensure from its founding but also jeopardizes New York’s status as a leading publishing and media center that has deliberately chosen to offer enhanced protection for free expression.”

“…this Court should recognize the ability of Dr. Ehrenfeld and other New York authors and journalists to seek meaningful relief in their home forum from the chilling effect of foreign libel judgments and the continued threat of New York enforcement. The Peter Zenger case, which helped establish the freedom of the press in the United States, was decided in 1735 in a courtroom only a few blocks from here. It would therefore be doubly ironic if this case gave foreign libel plaintiffs a blueprint for evading the free speech protections of this country under the guise of state jurisdictional statutes designed to protect due process and discourage forum-shopping in defamation actions.”

(although, I have to admit, I am kinda glad she was in the jurisdiction of the 2nd circuit, and not the 9th circuit)

Technorati Tags: Ehrenfeld, Mahfouz, Terrorisim, First Amendment, Free Speech

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The Gathering Storm blog has a great ‘what if’ regarding Bush’s 9/11 speech to the nation.  Check it out, it is well worth a read!

Winds of War: What If This Was Bush’s 9-11 Speech to the Nation

And as always, thanks for stopping by!

Technorati Tags: Bush, 9-11, speech, what-if, terrorism, islamofacists, ideology

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I got this from Jihad Watch, who got it from Say Anything who got it from Gates of Vienna - I don’t know any farther back than that - but I gotta give creds where creds are due man!

Technorati Tags: free speech, islam, terrorism, censorship

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Islamic charities are experiencing low self-esteem. They say they are being unfairly targeted for extra scrutiny since 9/11.

“Any charity that decides to provide aid to Palestine is either shut
down or intensely scrutinized,” said Meek, who is also president of the
Muslim Legal Fund of America.

Well no duh. Let’s see, Palestine is run by Hamas, which President Clinton declared to be a terrorist group in 1995. That declaration makes it illegal to give them money or other types of aid (medicine, books, bullets, inter-continental-ballistic-missiles). In addition to Hamas, we also have Hizzbolah running around stirring things up, shooting people, kidnapping people, generally causing terror and mayhem (so not only are they terrorists, they are also mayhemists and doublely dastardly combination).

I’m not a complainer. I take things in stride. And when this beaner goes on an airplane, especially to anywhere west of Arkansas, this beaner knows exactly what is going to happen. It has happened each and every time he has boarded a plane in…oh… the last 20 years or so. His luggage gets opened. He is ‘randomly’ picked (each and every time) for extra scrutiny. The airline security folks rub that white cloth thing over the handles and zippers of his carry on luggage. I expect this, why? Because I know that these people are looking for drug runners and/or dealers. I know that these people know what drug runners look like. Add to all that I know that my appearance is consistent with that of the appearance of those that run drugs. Does this bother me? Hell no, I welcome it. Because I know that if they check everyone that looks like me, they will catch many of the drug runners out there.

So yeah, charities that send money back to countries that harbor islamofacists are going to be scrutinized a little more than…say…charities that send money to Canada. Get over it. It is a fact of life now.

source

Technorati Tags: islam, islamofacist, charities, hamas

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Please, please tell me again how Islamofascists don’t want to destroy American. Tell me more about how this whole war on terror is wrong and misguided. Tell me again how these people just want to live in peace.

Drug dealer turned informant was key to undoing of JFK plot; such informants play large role

Tell me now everything we’ve done since 9/11 is just the government trying to remove our freedoms. Tell me how Bush & Co. are power-hungry-freedom-grabbing-nazi-like barbarians.

When will the far left ‘get it’? I don’t think they ever will. Some people operate under the delusion that they will ‘get it’ when the Islamofascists come to their doorstep. I don’t think they will even then. I think they won’t ‘get it’ until they are dead. Too little, too late.

Technorati Tags: Islamofascists, Terrorism, Muslims, FBI, JFK Airport

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It seems a majority of the Iraqi Parliament has signed onto draft legislation demanding a cease of the troop surge, and setting a timetable for withdrawal of US troops.

Does this mean that the Iraqi people don’t want us there? No, not really. As I see it, that Sadr fellow (who recently fled to Iran when the troop surge started) has his little army, and quite a few politicians in the parliament. He sees that the troop surge is working, and knows that, if it continues unabated, his power will be greatly diminished. So this guy pulls the proper strings, and gets his people in the parliament to try and get the US troops out.

We’ll just have to wait to see what happens on this. If it goes through, I don’t see that we have much choice than to leave. We setup the government, and have been saying for several years now that Iraq is a sovereign nation. If they ask us to leave, we’ll have to oblige.

Oh, and contrary to popular rumors, I don’t think Pelosi and Reid are heading to Baghdad to argue in favor of the bill (but I’ll bet they wish they could).

source

Technorati Tags: War on Terror, Iraq, Troop Withdrawal, Troop Surge

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Australia and America have a somewhat similar history. We were both colonies of the United Kingdom, and we both gained our independence just over 200 years ago. From the few Aussies I have met, both people have a similar view of their freedoms and the world.

Australia has committed troops to Afghanistan and Iraq. So it comes as no surprise to me when Aussie PM John Howard lambastes the US Congress for passing a bill that mandates the withdrawal of troops from the war on terror.

Howard, a staunch Bush supporter who has also committed troops to Iraq and Afghanistan, said the vote by the US Congress was “probably not helpful to the general situation in Iraq.”"I think it is wrong, and I don’t think it is doing anything other than giving great comfort and encouragement to Al-Qaeda and the insurgency in Iraq,” Howard said.

“They are looking at all this, they read newspapers, they see it on television and they say, ‘The American domestic resolve is weakening, therefore we should maintain our resolve.’

“If there is a perception of an America defeat in Iraq, that will leave the whole of the Middle East in great turmoil and will be an enormous victory for terrorism.”

When are the Dems going to realize that pulling out is giving up? When they go on TV - and there is no ‘national’ TV anymore, it is all global these days - when they go on global TV and announce that the US has lost the war in Iraq. What do they think that does to the enemy? Do they think that Al-Qaida is going to be energized because of statements such as these? Do they think that our own military will say ‘hoorah! We lost, we ROCK!’.

source

Technorati Tags: Australia, John Howard, Iraq, Terrorism, War on Terror

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