Conspiracy Dangers: Multiple US Platoons to Egypt

This story is certainly going to raise conspiracy concerns:

Senior US Marine Says "Multiple Platoons" Are Headed To Egypt
On Friday, the Pentagon announced it would move "U.S. warships and other military assets to make sure it is prepared in case evacuation of U.S. citizens from Egypt becomes necessary," according the the LA Times.

I know the US does not have a good track record in the region but it is very difficult to imagine the Obama administration doing anything ridiculous. I would imagine the thought is to be ready for a couple of contingencies -- such as evacuating the embassy.

A couple of platoons really has no ability to have a serious influence in any capacity. In particular, the photo of a beach landing is incredibly and needlessly provocative!

Conspiracy Dangers: Deep Packet Inspection

I think we need to be careful not to look for conspiracies where there are none. For example, the following tweet could be taken to imply US involvement.

waelabbas Wael Abbas
AJE confirms, Egypt uses - US technology - Deep Packet Inspection - to spy on activists on the Internet

Firewall technologies have become very advanced and have legitimate uses in the commercial arena. I'd put the blame on the Mubarak regime for using technology for inappropriate use.

See Wikipedia concerning deep packet inspection...

On the other hand, what is important is to understand how much information can be tracked and what that means to your personal security.