Isolated Incident or "Terror" Probe? Fiber Optics Lines Cut in San Jose

In the information technology capitol of the Untied States, Silicon Valley, ten fiber optics cables were cut in four locations on April 9th - effectively eliminating the ability for phones or Internet connectivity to hundreds of thousands of area residents, as well as hi-tech corporations. This was an act of sabotage, either by one or many individuals, which was well coordinated and precisely executed.

The question is, then, was this a mere isolated act of vandalism, or was this a probe measuring the response and impact of an attack on the cyber-infrastructure?

I have often speculated that the beginning phase of an attack would commence with an attack on communication lines... effectively eliminating the ability of individuals to receive information or share information with authorities. Was someone watching the impact of these line cuts to determine emergency service impact?

AT&T has offered a $250,000 bounty for information leading to the conviction of the culprits of this attack - much more than the usual $15,000 for infrastructure vandalism... indicating that this attack was something more.

If nothing else, it clearly highlighted the complete absence of security of the fiber optics network - as these culprits merely lowered themselves into a number of manholes and attacked the lines. There are no sensors, no alarms, nothing - other than intersection cameras...

In an age when even televisions will not be able to broadcast the emergency broadcast over the analog airwaves after June 15th, such reliance on a network of unsecured infrastructure is beyond troubling.

If you can effectively eliminate the transfer of information within a community while striking fear - such as some highly visible attack right before or right after, you can create chaos on a disastrous scale... Whether this was an intended "terror" probe or some isolated act of sabotage, it works in conjunction with other probes measuring how high of an effect there was on the community and how well the response was prepared and coordinated.

Ultimately, this type of attack underlines the most dangerous element - the "lone wolf"... the lack of leadership and the lack of ability for cells to organize and be infiltrated in this country have given rise, from time to time, to the most dangerous type of extremist - rogues. Home Grown extremism, in the last 20-30 years, has largely come from rogues... Ted Kaczynski, Timothy McVeigh, Clayton Waagner, Eric Rudolph, Jeffrey Dahmer, just to name a few...

I echo my concern - reliance on these services for survival is personal destruction. Every responsible individual should have the ability to communicate - even by Citizen Band radio, which has an emergency channel. You should be able to field dress wounds, provide some sort of immediate triage type care, feed and hydrate yourself for a number of days, and posses certain amount of survival information and self defense ability. The first line of defense is the self... If you are actively prepared, such attacks may impact the community, but your survival is first and foremost.

Be it an act of vandalism, or the warning signs for an upcoming attack, the message is clear - we live in a time of increased unrest, of the individual mind, of the community, and of the world...

Millenials No Match for Greatest Generation?

The Greatest Generation... the builders of modern history. They constructed the cities that, today, are the center of our world. They constructed the entire infrastructure that makes up the United States, from unimaginably large dams, to epic sky ways bridging treacherously shark infested waters... They were even responsible for dreaming up what brought America together like nothing else... the Interstate Highway System.

The greatest generation, indeed. With no money in their pocketbooks, no roof over their heads, they took on tasks that were larger than life, under conditions that would always put your life in question.

The generation of my ancestors... breaking their back's so that their children, and grandchildren, even great grandchildren could reap the benefits of a unified society and a country ripe with opportunity.

Flash forward to the Millenial Generation (1988 - 2001). The eldest of this creed is the current college generation, entering their early twenties... faced with a world foreign to all generations that have come before it.

And unknowingly faced with challenges in excess of the Greatest Generation.

Those born 100 years ago would grow to face two world wars, a great depression, the advent of the automobile, the first flight of man, and the expansion of power and telephone throughout the country. In times of hardship, they understood community... they were willing to do what was necessary to put food on the dinner table.

Those born into the Millennial Generation have missed the cold war, been witness to economic expansion and the growth of the middle class, and little actual reality involving physical hardships (as a generation). Theirs is a psychological hardship. A generation not being allowed to grow up, not allowed to claim responsibility... a generation filled with distraction and inaction. Theirs is a generation who has been taught that government is the answer, and they are unable to see that government has actually become the problem. They are a generation raised in defiance of nationalism, instead as citizens of the world.

But what they do not see is that theirs is the generation that is going to be faced with the greatest challenge with the least amount of preparation.

While they are plagued with diabetes, weight issues, and the lack of self respect and control... and while they are more interested in the latest release of Grand Theft Auto than the Grand Unification Theory... while they are distracted from society by iPods and Wii, they do not realize that the gift given to them by the Greatest Generation is reaching Warranty.

Bridges are crumbling, sewer systems and steam pipes are exploding, urban zones are wastelands, power plants are nearing critical age... the capacity to manufacture has been shipped overseas (and that includes the ability to manufacture material necessary to repair infrastructure)

The infrastructure that has afforded the ease of life that the Millennials are blessed with is dangerously close to collapsing.

Instead of taking action, the Millennials are trained for inaction. Instead of planning for reconstruction, they demand that the government bail them out. Instead of doing something, they do nothing. Many of them will not need to hold a job before graduation from college... many will live with their parents or stay dependant on them through their mid to late twenties.

It is a generation of blame instead of responsibility... for now.

Their generation can be summed up by a song speaking to their generation:



I pose this question: Can the Millennial Generation improve on what was given to them by the Greatest Generation (and subsequent generations in between)? Do they have the resolve to ensure that the United States and our way of life is sustainable for another hundred years.

Or in the hands of this generation, are we left with a generation waiting for their opportunity instead of ceasing the opportunities at hand and making a change?

I am increasingly frustrated with the sentiment in this song, and the mentality of "instant gratification" that goes with the "have everything" Millennials.

Anything worth doing cannot be completed overnight.

Can the mentality of a generation change to embrace the challenges that are truly ahead?

Or has this entire generation befallen to the distractions that are in abundance around them?