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Why are there so few submarine cables between Africa and South America?

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Map of transatlantic submarine cable lines as of 2014, courtesy of SubmarineCableMap.com.
Map of transatlantic submarine cable lines as of 2014, courtesy of SubmarineCableMap.com.

I think looking at the map on the right shows how stratified the layout of communication technology is for the Atlantic Ocean region. So much up top and spilling vertically down (on both sides), but so little between the bottom.

Why are there so few submarine cables between Africa and South America? Between Nigeria/South Africa/Angola and Brazil/Argentina/Venezuela?

Surely there would be lots of historical links to share between the two continents, such as post-colonial, post-slavery histories? Or especially the large portion of slaves from West Africa heading to the Portuguese colony of Brazil? Or the histories of exploitation of labor and natural resources? Or musical and artistic commonalities?

I mean, Brazil literally faces several African countries along the same set of latitudinal lines (more so than a good portion of North America faces Europe), but yet there are maybe one or two submarine cable lines between these countries.

Why is that? Is it neglect? Is it money? Is it racial anxiety (which would be weird gives how many Europe-to-Africa lines there are)? Is it linguistics?

And what would be gained if this were changed with the building of new lines between the two regions?

I think that more equitable trade, cultural ties, freedom of expression, and all institutions which depend upon these developments would only gain in strength and viability – while shrinking only in cost barriers and administrative burdens. It would also reduce the cost of communication between other regions which go through these regions (especially South Asia, which has several cables running to East Africa).

So I’m glad to read that there are two lines currently being built between the two regions: SACS (South Atlantic Cable System) between Fortaleza/Fernando de Noronha (Brazil) and Sangano (Angola) in 2016, and SAEx (South Atlantic Express) between Fortaleza and Windhoek (Namibia)/Mtunzini/Yzerfontein (South Africa)/St. Helena in 2017.

These lines will be the first to connect the two continents directly. I hope that they will help bridge the gap between these two superactors in the Global South.

BullShnit: Egyptian homophobia’s Swiss defenders

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In which a Swiss film festival bullshits its Twitter audience to defend a bigoted Egyptian hatemonger with a camera.

scottlong1980's avatara paper bird

Mona Iraqi, in an Egyptian Internet meme Mona Iraqi, in an Egyptian Internet meme

ACTION: Please write to Shnit and Olivier van der Hoeven in protest at the film festival’s decision to support homophobic informer Mona Iraqi: 

The International Short Film Festival is based, along with its director, Olivier van der Hoeven, in the placid Swiss capital of Bern. The festival has branches or “playgrounds” in Argentina, El Salvador, Japan, Russia, South Africa, and Thailand. Oh, and Cairo, Egypt. The festival goes by “Shnit” for short, a semi-acronym ugly but calculated to grab attention. As director of its Cairo playground, Shnit chose someone also skilled at doing ugly things that grab attention. Shnit’s Egypt representative is the infamous TV presenter, gay hunter, homophobe, and police informer Mona Iraqi.

Pink in some places, not in others: Olivier de Hoeven, director of Shnit Pink in some places, not in others: Olivier de Hoeven, director of Shnit

A splendid French blogger discovered this four days ago. But let’s be fair: Shnit chose Mona Iraqi before her full penchant for depredations was known. She only…

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I got my e-Residency!

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A guy who has been applying for “e-residency” in Estonia has finally gotten it. A brave new world for residency and citizenship.

hamidtahsildoost's avatarHamid Reza Tahsildoost

I got an email this morning telling me my e-Residency card was ready for pickup! It was written in Estonian on top and English below. I had a tip from an insider that this would be happening, so I’d already made plans to pick it up at lunch. My good friend and former Skyper (he’s now at Teleport) Karim Heredia offered me a lift and brought his fancy camera to snap some pics.

I walked in to the building, but this time it was lunch, so there was no woman standing by the machine. I pushed some buttons (English -> Documents / Pin Codes). A ticket was printed, and again I just had to wait. In less than 5 miutes, my number was on the display. Seriously, I don’t get why any Estonian would complain about this office. It’s heaven. Anyone who thinks this place has lines should drive in San…

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#disclaimer Again, the craven bootlickers will say “FALSE NARRATIVE” and “OBEY THE LAW LIKE WE DO” and “DON’T RESIST”, just to derail this train heading off a cliff. Just know that I don’t care for your derailing or concern-trolling at this time. I really don’t.

You may be human and an American, but you still lick the boots of people who are trained to see their jurisdiction’s community, and often people who look like me, as a mortal threat worthy of death. It’s nicer to see that in #BDSM fantasies, not in real life. Please stop licking police boots for a few seconds and think about more than yourself or your personal resentments. Otherwise, law enforcement will continue to dehumanize every last one of us, including you. Yes, YOU.

Milo Yiannopoulos and the Kernel

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Interesting story on the manic life of a Breitbart.com contributor and avowed anti-feminist dudebro:

maxdunbar's avatarMax Dunbar

I don’t know a great deal about online magazine The Kernel, apart from that they did a truly dismal hatchet job on Laurie Penny, and that the magazine is currently involved in complex industrial disputes with former employees claiming to be owed thousands for unpaid work. Then, a good source asked if I would consider publishing the following piece. I found the article compelling, and credible, so have shared it below. I cannot name either the author of the article or the person who recommended it to me. Apparently Mr Yiannopoulous is a man you don’t want to cross. But unpaid labour is a red light for me.

The other day, Guido scored a memorable scoop in exposing leading left-wing blogs who were relying on the labour of unpaid interns. The principle that the labourer is worthy of his hire is a good one, which all people of good will should be…

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