OmegaMom

Or should I?

Last Wednesday, two cables that provide a large part of the internet pipeline for the Middle East and Asia were cut in the Mediterranean, resulting in huge internet outages for India, Pakistan, Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Bahrain.  The initial assumption was that it was some ships in stormy seas tossing out their anchors, with the anchors getting snagged in the cables and cutting them.  But people checked log books and shipping records, and found no ships in the area at the time.  (At least, on record.)

Then, on Friday, a third cable was cut off the coast of Dubai.

Then, on Sunday, yet another cable, linking the U.A.E. to Qatar, went down.  (Not sure if it was cut or just gave a last gasp under the re-routed load.)

Now.  I am quite aware that humans find patterns in natural coincidences all the time.  I am also (unfortunately) quite aware that cables get cut all the time–people doing construction forget to have utilities staked before they dig, and in areas such as Small Mountain University Town, where there is one main cable connecting the entire town to the rest of the world, such a lapse in judgment can cause a mountain of heartache for the folks who live and work there.  Anyway, all it takes, usually, is a bit of forgetfulness on the part of a human, or an Act of Gawd such as an earthquake or ice storm, to cause pieces of the world to drop off the ‘net temporarily.

And then there’s the fact that the media will become "interested" (obsessed?) with a particular issue, and suddenly news of that particular issue pops up with distressing frequency.

But really.  Four cables cut or breaking right around the Middle East, all within days?!  It seems to be stretching the concept of coincidence.

Of course, tinfoil hattiness is breaking out all over.  Two ideas previal:  It’s Israel, or it’s the U.S. preparing to attack Iran.

My personal (not-so-serious) take, a hat-toss into the tinfoil ring:  It’s an attempt by multiple governments to disrupt world markets so that the almost-inevitable market meltdown hits roadblocks and slows down, rather than crashing a la Black Tuesday–the start of the Depression.  Given the way the markets follow each other and provide positive and negative feedback loops, and given the nicely conspiratorial nature of the idea of Big Banks and gummints joining forces in a panic move to Stop The Madness!, this one really appeals to me.

Another spiffy idea:  Since India is hit hard by this outage, and the U.S. outsources so much technical stuff to India, it’s an attempt by Our Enemies to disrupt our technical base.

Seriously, though:  Something like this is enough to set the least sensitive of antennae to twitching.

In other world news, China is suffering from its coldest winter in a century.  Particularly hard hit are the southern areas, which are simply not accustomed to cold and snow.  Half The Sky is in contact with orphanages across China, and some of the orphanages are having very serious difficulties; you might want to check into HTS’s journal to see what the current status is and maybe contribute to their Little Mouse Emergency Fund.

Speaking of cold, it was -26F this morning.