- Sep 22, 2013
- 4,956
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The modern world is gauged by tech-assisted and government-endorsed networking (e.g., European Union, NATO, eTrade, NASDAQ, Facebook, etc.).
Intellectual property is the new hotbed among lawyers, and commerce-driven social leaders are well-raised (and well-praised).
America's bigger concern than Communism now is forging profitable economic ties with communist nations (i.e., China).
Since the modern world is therefore gauged more by networking 'savvy' than muscle or propaganda, the new terror is the traffic/network destabilizer, which is why arguably the Taliban attacked the World Trade Center in NYC on 9/11.
Hollywood (USA) meanwhile has responded with making info-intrigue films such as Network, Videodrome, WarGames, The Social Network, and Sneakers.
If the new terrorist is the Internet hacker, then the new arena of real warfare is more psychological than physical.
Movie stars (merchants of pedestrian daydreams) are considered 'role models,' software geniuses (merchants of the new fashion) are considered 'pioneers,' and intelligence officers of the CIA, NSA, and Mossad are considered 'neo-knights.'
It is therefore imaginable that a new age dictator (say in North Korea or Cuba) would be interested in capturing the will and hearts of the people through media and broadcasting (rather than in public street rallies).
Perhaps TV is the new Colosseum, in which case a hypothetical World War 3 (WWIII) would involve the right 'civilians' becoming 'christened soldiers' in a war over 'dreams.'
Maybe an American movie star such as Tom Cruise, who has made very relevant culture-symbolic films such as Minority Report, Edge of Tomorrow, and Rain Man, would be the leader of a pro-democracy 'unit' in this hypothetical WWIII. Perhaps a computer-geek with a flair for sociology would be the ultimate 'assassin' in this pro-democracy unit.
Maybe an airline stewardess (named Elsa) involved in an international narcotics-smuggling ring with fingers dipped into continental commerce/traffic intrigue (i.e., Tijuana, Mexico) would be a 'female Devil's Advocate' in this hypothetical WWIII, and her allies may include a Wall Street tycoon or a South American crimelord with lucrative ties to corrupt American politicians.
Let's imagine that Tom Cruise and his allies are called 'patriotic G.I. Joes,' while Elsa and her allies are considered the contending 'terrorism-minded drones' comprising a super-stealthy network aliased 'Cobra'.
I'm a big fan of the American paramilitary fantasy-adventure comic book franchise G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero (Hasbro), which presents stories of patriotic crusaders called G.I. Joes vying with a diabolical terrorist organization called Cobra (which is from where I am borrowing these 'team names' for our hypothetical WWIII).
Would we be interested as a civilization in coordinating new 'think tanks' with 'pedestrian culture'?
This is why Hackers is one of my favorite films!
====
Shiva, the Hindu god of destruction, was discussing the current state of affairs on Earth with his friend and mentor Vishnu, the Hindu god of protection. Shiva believed the 'new world' was characterized by intellectual property battles and networking competitiveness, while Vishnu insisted on enhancing this theory with the notion that the 'new world' was also characterized by a focus on traffic density (e.g., Hong Kong, Tijuana, etc.). Shiva suggested that a hypothetical WWIII may be waged on American soil between role models who represent information/media culture and network 'serpents' who represent fascism schemes in this new age of psychological warfare. Vishnu agreed, so the two decided to watch over 'likely candidates' for a WWIII.
SHIVA: It's almost like a WWIII would resemble a G.I. Joe (Hasbro) comic book!
VISHNU: Right, but who is the G.I. Joe leader (and his/her agents), and who is Cobra's leader (and drones)?
SHIVA: I think Tom Cruise (American celebrity) would be like the G.I. Joe leader 'Duke.'
VISHNU: Yes, and I think an Internet hacker (perhaps working for ISIS) would be 'Cobra Commander.'
SHIVA: Let's see if such developments arise.
VISHNU: I say we monitor everything from Washington, D.C.
As Shiva and Vishnu set up their observation tower, their prophecies were coming true. Tom Cruise gained media attention for his controversial views that the Church of Scientology must be defended for the sake of America's respect for religious pluralism even when his wife/girlfriend publicly denounced such an organization as 'counter-intuitive' or 'anti-Christian.' Cruise decided to become a new age 'media diplomat' of religious freedom, and he kept urging his fans not to get discouraged when they read tabloid gossip about his wives/girlfriends denouncing him for his strange religious beliefs.
Meanwhile, an Internet hacker from Afghanistan named Dan, a computer science student at M.I.T., began devising a complicated algorithm which would destabilize all layered algorithms used to run the globally-popular social networking website Facebook. Dan wanted his 'Facebook-virus' to substitute randomly extracted photos from Google caches for the uploaded photos of Facebook members. Shiva and Vishnu noted that Dan must indeed be Cobra Commander (since Facebook had become an integral part of the new world 'media-armchair' culture).
As Tom Cruise denounced the legitimacy and right of the mysterious 'Facebook hacker' on TV and in media interviews, an aspiring young law student at Yale University (named Ajay) was studying the sociological profitability of airline stewardesses becoming members of international narcotics-smuggling rings. Ajay titled his senior thesis: "Network & Nightshade." It earned him an A, and Shiva and Vishnu conjectured that Ajay must be like the G.I. Joe super-soldier 'Snake Eyes,' but wondered if Ajay's thesis would get the dangerous attention of the wrong parties --- those who benefited from airline traffic corruption.
When Ajay was almost assassinated in his apartment by a mysterious woman who fled before being detected, Shiva and Vishnu conjectured that this woman must be a 'Cobra agent.' When Shiva and Vishnu discovered that this (masked) woman was actually a narcotics ring-immersed corrupt airline stewardess named Elsa, they conjectured that Elsa must be like the diabolical Cobra female terrorism-consultant 'the Baroness.' Shiva and Vishnu wondered what Tom Cruise (aka, 'Duke') and Ajay (aka, 'Snake Eyes') would do to thwart the schemes of Elsa (aka, 'the Baroness), Dan (aka, 'Cobra Commander'), and those who were 'allied' with them.
The attempt on Ajay's life received national attention (since Yale is such as prestigious Ivy League school in America), and Tom Cruise noticed the report and decided to contact Ajay after discovering the subject of his thesis, which was very relevant to Cruise's own media-waged religious pluralism crusade. Tom and Ajay became fast friends and decided to form an undercover 'civilian-vigilante' unit called G.I. Joe. Their new mission was to track any unusual postings on Facebook (possibly by anti-democracy 'agents' part of a 'traffic-subversion network' which Cruise and Ajay called 'Cobra'). WWIII was about to begin.
SHIVA: This 'Facebook war' seems hackneyed.
VISHNU: The Internet is the new Colosseum.
SHIVA: Will the 'G.I. Joes' prevail over 'Cobra'?
VISHNU: It depends on if Americans actually care about 'espionage.'
SHIVA: Well, let's relax and watch some James Bond films!
VISHNU: Maybe psychological-warfare is deadlier than gun-play.
====
Intellectual property is the new hotbed among lawyers, and commerce-driven social leaders are well-raised (and well-praised).
America's bigger concern than Communism now is forging profitable economic ties with communist nations (i.e., China).
Since the modern world is therefore gauged more by networking 'savvy' than muscle or propaganda, the new terror is the traffic/network destabilizer, which is why arguably the Taliban attacked the World Trade Center in NYC on 9/11.
Hollywood (USA) meanwhile has responded with making info-intrigue films such as Network, Videodrome, WarGames, The Social Network, and Sneakers.
If the new terrorist is the Internet hacker, then the new arena of real warfare is more psychological than physical.
Movie stars (merchants of pedestrian daydreams) are considered 'role models,' software geniuses (merchants of the new fashion) are considered 'pioneers,' and intelligence officers of the CIA, NSA, and Mossad are considered 'neo-knights.'
It is therefore imaginable that a new age dictator (say in North Korea or Cuba) would be interested in capturing the will and hearts of the people through media and broadcasting (rather than in public street rallies).
Perhaps TV is the new Colosseum, in which case a hypothetical World War 3 (WWIII) would involve the right 'civilians' becoming 'christened soldiers' in a war over 'dreams.'
Maybe an American movie star such as Tom Cruise, who has made very relevant culture-symbolic films such as Minority Report, Edge of Tomorrow, and Rain Man, would be the leader of a pro-democracy 'unit' in this hypothetical WWIII. Perhaps a computer-geek with a flair for sociology would be the ultimate 'assassin' in this pro-democracy unit.
Maybe an airline stewardess (named Elsa) involved in an international narcotics-smuggling ring with fingers dipped into continental commerce/traffic intrigue (i.e., Tijuana, Mexico) would be a 'female Devil's Advocate' in this hypothetical WWIII, and her allies may include a Wall Street tycoon or a South American crimelord with lucrative ties to corrupt American politicians.
Let's imagine that Tom Cruise and his allies are called 'patriotic G.I. Joes,' while Elsa and her allies are considered the contending 'terrorism-minded drones' comprising a super-stealthy network aliased 'Cobra'.
I'm a big fan of the American paramilitary fantasy-adventure comic book franchise G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero (Hasbro), which presents stories of patriotic crusaders called G.I. Joes vying with a diabolical terrorist organization called Cobra (which is from where I am borrowing these 'team names' for our hypothetical WWIII).
Would we be interested as a civilization in coordinating new 'think tanks' with 'pedestrian culture'?
This is why Hackers is one of my favorite films!
====
Shiva, the Hindu god of destruction, was discussing the current state of affairs on Earth with his friend and mentor Vishnu, the Hindu god of protection. Shiva believed the 'new world' was characterized by intellectual property battles and networking competitiveness, while Vishnu insisted on enhancing this theory with the notion that the 'new world' was also characterized by a focus on traffic density (e.g., Hong Kong, Tijuana, etc.). Shiva suggested that a hypothetical WWIII may be waged on American soil between role models who represent information/media culture and network 'serpents' who represent fascism schemes in this new age of psychological warfare. Vishnu agreed, so the two decided to watch over 'likely candidates' for a WWIII.
SHIVA: It's almost like a WWIII would resemble a G.I. Joe (Hasbro) comic book!
VISHNU: Right, but who is the G.I. Joe leader (and his/her agents), and who is Cobra's leader (and drones)?
SHIVA: I think Tom Cruise (American celebrity) would be like the G.I. Joe leader 'Duke.'
VISHNU: Yes, and I think an Internet hacker (perhaps working for ISIS) would be 'Cobra Commander.'
SHIVA: Let's see if such developments arise.
VISHNU: I say we monitor everything from Washington, D.C.
As Shiva and Vishnu set up their observation tower, their prophecies were coming true. Tom Cruise gained media attention for his controversial views that the Church of Scientology must be defended for the sake of America's respect for religious pluralism even when his wife/girlfriend publicly denounced such an organization as 'counter-intuitive' or 'anti-Christian.' Cruise decided to become a new age 'media diplomat' of religious freedom, and he kept urging his fans not to get discouraged when they read tabloid gossip about his wives/girlfriends denouncing him for his strange religious beliefs.
Meanwhile, an Internet hacker from Afghanistan named Dan, a computer science student at M.I.T., began devising a complicated algorithm which would destabilize all layered algorithms used to run the globally-popular social networking website Facebook. Dan wanted his 'Facebook-virus' to substitute randomly extracted photos from Google caches for the uploaded photos of Facebook members. Shiva and Vishnu noted that Dan must indeed be Cobra Commander (since Facebook had become an integral part of the new world 'media-armchair' culture).
As Tom Cruise denounced the legitimacy and right of the mysterious 'Facebook hacker' on TV and in media interviews, an aspiring young law student at Yale University (named Ajay) was studying the sociological profitability of airline stewardesses becoming members of international narcotics-smuggling rings. Ajay titled his senior thesis: "Network & Nightshade." It earned him an A, and Shiva and Vishnu conjectured that Ajay must be like the G.I. Joe super-soldier 'Snake Eyes,' but wondered if Ajay's thesis would get the dangerous attention of the wrong parties --- those who benefited from airline traffic corruption.
When Ajay was almost assassinated in his apartment by a mysterious woman who fled before being detected, Shiva and Vishnu conjectured that this woman must be a 'Cobra agent.' When Shiva and Vishnu discovered that this (masked) woman was actually a narcotics ring-immersed corrupt airline stewardess named Elsa, they conjectured that Elsa must be like the diabolical Cobra female terrorism-consultant 'the Baroness.' Shiva and Vishnu wondered what Tom Cruise (aka, 'Duke') and Ajay (aka, 'Snake Eyes') would do to thwart the schemes of Elsa (aka, 'the Baroness), Dan (aka, 'Cobra Commander'), and those who were 'allied' with them.
The attempt on Ajay's life received national attention (since Yale is such as prestigious Ivy League school in America), and Tom Cruise noticed the report and decided to contact Ajay after discovering the subject of his thesis, which was very relevant to Cruise's own media-waged religious pluralism crusade. Tom and Ajay became fast friends and decided to form an undercover 'civilian-vigilante' unit called G.I. Joe. Their new mission was to track any unusual postings on Facebook (possibly by anti-democracy 'agents' part of a 'traffic-subversion network' which Cruise and Ajay called 'Cobra'). WWIII was about to begin.
SHIVA: This 'Facebook war' seems hackneyed.
VISHNU: The Internet is the new Colosseum.
SHIVA: Will the 'G.I. Joes' prevail over 'Cobra'?
VISHNU: It depends on if Americans actually care about 'espionage.'
SHIVA: Well, let's relax and watch some James Bond films!
VISHNU: Maybe psychological-warfare is deadlier than gun-play.
====
