These kids are ridiculous. Parkour soccer? What does that even mean, I thought. Then I watched the video. Wow.

So that's was the light bit of today's post. What I'm really interested in is the situation developing in the cold waters down at the bottom of the ocean in and around the Persian Gulf. Undersea Internet cables are going down, one after the other. So far 5 cables have been cut or damaged, two today and the first one on January 23rd. A map is above, via I Love Bonnie.net. There are links there you can follow for more details.

A source that I found especially interesting was this one, about the warship the USS Carter. There's something so insidious and evil about naming a spy submarine after President Carter that it has to be a cruel joke on that elder diplomat.

Here's a Metafilter thread on the cut/damaged cables with far more insight than I have to offer. Tons of great links in there. And make sure to have a look at Bruce Sterling's blog on Wired. He's more of the opinion that this could all just be an odd coincidence. And it might be. In fact I'd be surprised if we ever hear much more about this.

If you have the time and like reading, let Neal Stephenson take you on the path of one of these vital cables, but back in 1996. And because you've come this far, I gotta deliver.