Slashdot Mirror
Virtual Earth Exposes Nuclear Sub's Secret
NewsCloud alerts us to a story a few months old that has been getting a lot of play recently. A Seattle blogger, Dan Twohig, was browsing in Microsoft's Virtual Earth when he accidentally came across a photo of a nuclear sub in dry-dock. Its propeller is clearly visible — this was a major no-no on the part of someone at the Bangor Sub Base. The designs of such stealth propellers have been secret for decades. Twohig blogged about the find and linked to the Virtual Earth photo on July 2. The debate about security vs. Net-accessible aerial photography has been building ever since. The story was picked up on military.china.com on Aug. 17 — poetic justice for the Chinese sub photo that had embarrassed them a month before. On Aug. 20 the Navy Times published the article that most mainstream media have picked up in their more recent coverage. Twohig's blog is the best source to follow the ongoing debate. No one has asked Microsoft, Google, or anyone else to blur the photo in question. Kind of late now.
Your proliferation of this information, shameless and most likely premeditated, cannot but argue for an immediate and thorough dismantling of this abomination that is the Internet.
Clearly, the citizenry's desire to be on equal terms with its rightfully appointed overseers is misguided.
What could compare to the danger of such leaks? Only, perhaps, ability of the governed to guide the acts of the governors. (But, thank God and all that is holy, we need not contend with such a possibility.)
The proper solution to this satellite photo disaster is to establish government and international bodies, whose responsibility will be to oversee the propagation of information in its early stages. Press organizations, and other legitimately licensed speaking entities, could submit all reports and articles for government approval before publication, and thus dangerous knowledge would be stopped in its tracks. All information emanating from government bodies would be confidential by default, enforced by penalties befitting treason.
It is indeed a distant dream -- such a beautiful system of bureaucratic power and unquestionable hierarchy -- yet we must do what we can to stop out-of-control communication amongst the proletariat from further endangering the established, and righteous, distribution of power.
I have a friend who has a habit of repeating what was just said using slightly different language. Tell me, do you smoke way too much pot and work at Pizza Hut?
I suppose the Russians will now go for eight fucking blades and an aloe lubrastrip?
AT&ROFLMAO
I wonder if Microsoft Visual Earth has been getting their data from Setec Astronomy??