South by Southwest: Small world

Sunday, August 06, 2006

Small world

The Internet is magic. It cuts the distance from place to place into milliseconds. Because I came to blogworld rather late in life, I am still amazed by this almost unlimited capacity of technology, both in volume and speed. A magic carpet brings readers a screen full of my work or I read others' work as easily.

Blogworld residents are curious souls. And we are interested in understanding the "community" in which we live. Thus I have a SiteMeter button at this blog. It is to ascertain the level of traffic reading this blog, as well as to understand how folks find their way to my work.

It is a small world. That cliche really is useful to describe the following little story: Using SiteMeter I discovered that I was easily able to make a long distance link that might be useful to others, including people at the computers housed at the National Security Administration. But I was I was thinking more in particular of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, U.N. Ambassador Bolton or President Bush.

Dateline Damascus - I cheerfully offer the following links to the above named officials, so that they can make a connection if they wish to bring peace in the region: The entry page of one of the 16 readers of my August 4, 2006 "Middle East Tapestry" post was an Arabic translation of South by Southwest. The domain was called the Syrian Telecommunications Establishment, which was "last updated December 13, 2003," according to the site.

How was the Syrian connection made? Either the post's title or the posts tags ( Middle East Bush Iraq Terrorism War Pentagon military Rumsfeld) were probably what drew my site visitor from so far away. The title word "tapestry" might have signified a possible item of commerical/trade interest. Or perhaps a search picked up key words in my two opening paragraphs:

A changed pattern - Unlike the Cold War period, when the United States and her allies focused on the dangers posed by the former Soviet Union, the focus is now on multiple dangers in the Middle East.
A rich tapestry - As with Russia, it has been very easy to lose sight of the truth about the people and places ther region. In reality the Middle East is a very special area of the world, with a rich blending of culture, history, varied faiths, beautiful lands and intriguing styles.

For the NSA readers: The post did contain some links to DailyKos stuff that was critical to the current administration. I do not need to apologize for those links, so that any black vans headed for my street can move on to someone more useful. And I want to explain that my closing paragraph in the post is not anti-American. It was about my longing for peace:

The final thread- is yet to be woven completing the current mid-eastern news tapestry. Many of us are ready for the pattern to return to its more natural one - of classic and intricate beauty, and of warmth that will block out the cold winds of war.

For Secretary Rumsfeld - (You guys at NSA can pass this along to him for me, please):

Sir,
With all due respect, I assure you that I am not disloyal or seditious. I am a mere little blogger, saying what I believe, including things that are already in the public domain. And I do not categorize certain countries or entities as "evil."I suggest that the U.S. get into converstaion with them. This does not make me a traitor. I remain a loyal U.S. citizen exercising my Constitutional right to free speech and free association; even if that association is a casual interest in my blog by someone in Syria.
Respectfully yours, Carol Gee.