The new nature of war

I have discovered an absolutely fascinating article on STRATFOR.  Over the past few weeks, Anonymous has begun conducting operations against the state of Veracruz in Mexico in relation for supporting the Los Zetas drug trafficking cartel.  The cartels are used to dealing with typical forms of opposition, such as that from federal governments of various nations, and there is even evidence of Los Zetas being able to track online opposition, but the aggression from Anonymous introduces an entirely different dimension to this war.  Anonymous is, by nature, an amorphous collective which does not have any classical hierarchical structure.  This nature, combined with Anonymous near-legendary skills in cyber-hacking and internet security, fuse to ensure that this will be a conflict worth tracking.  It will be most curious to see how the Anonymous campaign fares, and if it does actually yield damaging information about Los Zetas or even directly interfere or hamper Los Zetas' operations in Mexico.  This may very well be the dawning of a new era in using online warfare to execute and affect real world conflicts.  If the Anonymous operation proves successful, this will be a critical lesson in all conflict to come.  The information age is truly here.

I, for one, hope that they are successful, as it will forever change the face of conflict in the 21st century.

I have posted below the full text of the article for people who have trouble accessing STRATFOR articles.

Tempo of life and language

Being in Spain is a curious experience.  Being my first time outside of the borders of my home country, it is a peculiar feeling to be in a country where the native tongue is not one of yours.  However, the most fascinating part of the Spanish language is not the blatant foreign attribute, but the sheer speed at which Spanish is spoken by most people.  I imagine that the average word per minute rate of spoken Spanish is very likely one and a half to two times that of the average rate of spoken English.  But a very distinctive property of Spain, is the tempo of the Spanish day and life.  Despite the rapidity and fluidity with which the Spanish speak, their lives exhibit a diametrically opposed tempo.  It seems that the Spanish people truly value strolling, rather than hurrying through the average day.  It is a property which I very highly respect, which I often do not exhibit myself.  The other striking element of Spanish culture is the sheer politeness of Spanish people, and particularly the men.  At the dinner table, they all wait until everyone has their supper before anyone takes a bite.  I feel like a boorish brute at the table, when I am beginning to wait on them like one pig waits on another.

But alas, my Irish friend has come to chat, so I must end for now.

Warp 1.002

Researchers at the CERN released results today that indicate that the abstract particle called the neutrino can, in fact, travel faster than the speed of light.  If this is proven true, it will be a momentous discovery, and quite possibly the beginning of a new era.  Faster-than-light travel has thus far been only extent in science fiction, but it appears that fiction is about to become reality.  Perhaps one day, we will fly across the galaxy in faster-than-light spacecraft that will make the Enterprise look like an artifact of bygone days, and it began today.

Roll over Einstein: Pillar of physics challenged

Remembering 9/11

I imagine that each of us who is old enough to remember this time, remembers exactly what we were doing when we heard the horrifying news of the 9/11 attacks.

I was in high school, home sick when a family member called and told me to turn on the television.  I was greeted with an image of the world trade center with one tower smoking from the impact of the first aircraft.  I sat transfixed by this curious image, wondering what it could possibly mean.  They said that a commercial airplane had struck the first tower, and that it was likely to be a terrorist attack.  No one mentioned that a second aircraft was en route, until it was too late.  The shock and horror seeped thickly in the reporters voice.  I continued to watch as both towers now burned and people streamed out of the base.. and fire-fighters and rescue workers streamed into it.  To say that confusion reigned supreme on that day is surely an understatement.   Chaos, confusion, grief, horror, disbelief, infuriation, selflessness, courage and these mixed emotions reigned the day.  It was a cocktail of emotions that no one can forget.  I continued to watch the television, now horrified at the thought of terrorists attacking our country.  How could this happen?  We are separated by oceans from the rest of the world.  It was absurd.  This was a day of unanticipated horrors though, and they simply continued piling up.  To lose one life is a tragedy, but to lose many thousands in the span of several minutes is an unfathomable tragedy.  That it was an act of pure malice made the whole ordeal all the more vile.  I watched the first tower fall, imploding on itself, floor-by-floor.  Then several minutes later, the second tower followed suit.  I do not typically cry, but that day was an exception.  I imagined the many people dying that day, and my heart simply broke.  I prayed that God would be merciful to those who were there, that somehow he would save some, and He did to my relief.  Yet many others died, and it was terrible.

To say that this was a day of pure evil is not accurate.  Many people died to save others, died selflessly, and without thought for their own life.  They truly exemplified Christ in this, "there is no greater love than this, that a man should lay down his life for his friends."  Heroic and selfless deeds abounded on that day as well, and hope was borne out of tragedy.   Hope that our amoral slide into a godless existence would be stemmed.  Hope that people would truly wake-up, and many did.  And above the wreckage stood a cross, wrought by violence and death, shining as a beacon of hope.  Such an image yields hope to all who look at it, for unto all is given a savior who died for them, in order to redeem them from an eternal destruction.  It is this hope that we as humans need to cling to, as this life is short and eternity is but an unfathomable dream right now.  We have to believe that life is not meaningless and that God has a good and lovely end for us.  I hope that I will be able to communicate this to all of the people whom I interact with in the coming weeks.  Hope is here!  It is real, and there is a good future for us!  We will cling to this, even if we lose everything else, for nothing else matters aside from this hope and the love that we hold for one another.

I have transcribed below an article written by the Associated Press that details some of the events of that day and memorials of today.

An unpleasant but necessary task

I found a nice article today describing the US Army's effort to re-organize the Arlington National Cemetery.  I imagine this is a chilling and hallowed task, especially since they have to do their work at night; but I am glad that the Army is taking the time and resources to upkeep this piece of our history.

Troops photograph every Arlington grave

Unintended Consequences

Unintended consequences seem to be the paramount of politics, but sadly Barack Obama is about to see the true unfolding consequences of his crusade for health care.  It seems that the age of employer-sponsored health care is coming to a close.  We will hope that this health care fair will actually reduce health care costs, but that is far from likely.  The source of high health care costs is very heavily tied into legal costs associated with medical malpractice, etc.  I don't think only addressing one of many of the aspects of health care costs are going to solve the health care cost problem.  I doubt that we will ever see a politician put limits on a lawyer, as they all come from the same virulent breed.

Survey: Overhaul may push employee benefits shift

Autumnus Pax Microsoft

I found a delightfully written and absolutely stunning outlook on the future of the computer and software industry.  I am afraid that I agree with the author of this article, that the age of the PC as a dominant workhorse of business is at an end.  However, it will always remain the workhorse of PC gamers worldwide, of which camp I am firmly and eternally entrenched.  Twenty years from now they will say, "What?! You own a PC, you must be a child of the 80's!" and I will proudly declare, "Yes, I own a PC!"

Google Buys Motorola Mobility...And So Begins The Dark Ages

Clever Science

I found an absolutely fascinating article today.  Researchers at Stanford determined a fairly straightforward method of predicting solar sunspots and thereby solar flares and mass ejections.  Why is this important, you ask?  Well, solar flares are a key factor in a lot of electronic interference and can cause problems with cell phones, computers, etc.  Being able to predict them, though a minor move forward in knowledge of the universe is both a fascinating scientific discovery and a bit of knowledge with some very practical (and potentially profitable) applications.

Scientists Can Predict Sunspots by Listening to Sound Waves

Justice and mercy

There is a curious article regarding the war on Libya and the actions and repercussions surrounding it.  On one hand, you have the Western nations involved in NATO claiming humanitarian crisis to justify a war to stop a tyrant who is harming large portions of his population in order to retain power, while on the other, you have an international judicial system that is offering this justification and ensuring that justice be dealt to this man.

These two realities are preventing justice from occurring easily or cheaply, and instead costing the lives of many people on both sides of the conflict.  The quote that I find most fascinating within this article is related to justice and pragmatism: "a judiciary that is impervious to political realities can create catastrophes in the name of justice."


It seems that sometimes it is better to offer the assurance of mercy in order to be most merciful to those who are enduring the situations that we are attempting to end.


You can read the full article below:

Gaming Violence and Sex, Part 2

I found this article related to my previous post on the Supreme Court case on violent video games.  It seems that the court decided to overturn California's law banning the sale of violent video games.  Something else happened here though, that I think is important and potentially momentous for the the gaming community: games were listed along side other forms of idea communication such as books, music, and other communicative forms of entertainment.

Although, I am glad that the court decided to limit the ban on sales, I do hope that state governments continue to uphold severe penalties for not marking these types of games appropriately.  It is the right and responsibility of parents to monitor their children's behavior, and that should never be taken away from them by any government.

America's corroded economic system

There is a curious, and terribly disturbing article about the greed of Wall Street people and the lengths to which they are willing to go to make a buck, even if it means the downfall of capitalism.

America's dodgy financial plumbing

A page out of the NATO book on Libya

I found an article on Yahoo about the NATO's involvement in the Libya conflict, and I thought that a specific quote in here applied to the US conflict in Iraq.

French Defense Minister Gerard Longuet said: "NATO has a military vocation and rebuilding Libya is a civilian issue. So really simply, in order to rebuild Libya, if the Libyan people ask for it, because it is first of all an issue for the Libyan people, it is the job for civilian international institutions — and not military — to bring a response"

Our military needs to take this stance in Iraq.  It is not our job to rebuild Iraq, nor should it require American tax dollars.