The WTF headline of the day

coverup? Obama?

Let's see...according to Wired, VileRat posted a goodbye on his fellow gamers at 12:54 PM (?what time zone? EVE Universe has many offices, but their US office in Eastern Standard time). because of a "guard" taking photos (interpreted as helping plan an attack), and predicted he might die. and the article said the attack started 2 hours later, which would make it 2 pm EST.. Today's Wall Street Journal said Obama's phone call was 5 pm (EST)

update; Belmont club says the White House learned about the attack 90 minutes after it started.

The White House knew the consulate was under seige 90 minutes after it started. The WSJ says the administration then made the decision to ask the Libyans for help.

So I figure VileRat's gaming friends knew of the problem before the White House.

And an early Reuters report said that a lot more Americans were at the safe house to be evacuated than expected, i.e. over 20 when they expected less than ten, and that the Libyan rescuers were coordinating with US military who flew in in helicopters.

Later articles all seem to be ignoring these early stories, and I wonder if it is to the fact the early stories were false, or a coverup of a major attack on a CIA intelligence gathering group that was ignored by the administration. Just wondering.

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Mittani has a post on  Sean Smith, the person behind the persona Vile rat: 

If you play this stupid game, you may not realize it, but you play in a galaxy created in large part by Vile Rat’s talent as a diplomat. No one focused as relentlessly on using diplomacy as a strategic tool as VR. Mercenary Coalition flipped sides in the Great War in large part because of Vile Rat’s influence, and if that hadn’t happened GSF probably would have never taken out BoB. Jabberlon5? VR made it. You may not even know what Jabberlon5 is, but it’s the smoke-filled jabber room where every nullsec personage of note hangs out and makes deals. Goonswarm has succeeded over the years in large part because of VR’s emphasis on diplomacy, to the point of creating an entire section with a staff of 10+ called Corps Diplomatique, something no other alliance has. He had the vision and the understanding to see three steps ahead of everyone else - in the game, on the CSM, and when giving real-world advice.

Since gamers will run the world of the future, his influence might be more than the talking heads of the present...



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How cellphones change things:

the Taliban is hostile to education and cell phones (especially the ones that can access the Internet, and most can). Any Afghan who becomes literate and gets a cell phone soon discovers there is a huge world out there, and it is different. 

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a successful CIA fight against the Pakistanis selling the bomb

but one doubts that Hollywood will make a film of it...although I wonder if Tom Clancy has written or will write about it in a novelized form.