1. Bush can't get wiretapping renewed.
2. America is attacked with a suitcase nuke.
3. In the political fallout the lack of wiretapping is used to blame dems and delay the election:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3885663.stm
4. The process of the closing of an open society is rapily accelerated:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0LvtQAQ6sc
5. Civil war ensues, world war comes after this.
6. Because everything happens in quantum physics, as the other TED talk claims:
http://www.boingboing.net/2008/02/28/ted-2008-garrett-lis.html
an individual comes back from the survivors of this world to warn us of the impending future. His name is John Titor. His warning is ignored. The worldline is different each time. We are already saved by Titor, and we are already dead. He always knew he could only save some worldlines that listened to him. Do we listen in this one?

Find out next year, same worldline, same worldchannel.

I can has sci-fi book contract for my trouble?

Possible Causes listed in order of probability:

1. Accidents, there are tons of repairs a year, in a random distribution sooner or later 5 will "clump" closer.

2. IPv6 updates gone wrong (little bit of 1 and a little bit of 2 even more likely)

3. Anti-western action (co-ordinated simultaneous attacks is an AlQaeda trademark isn't it?)

4. I would have said US tapping (damage one place, tap another while it's down) but you can split live fibre can't you? re: AT&T NSA splitting

5. Industrial sabotage US destablisation of new Iranian Oil Bourse opening in a couple of days. US spied on Airbus to help Boeing, and against a hostile nation/economic order it's not that dramatic. It's clear a change to euros will hit the US hard, and it's coming at the worst possible time when the currency needs confidence. Also comes on the back of Bin Laden speaking about bankrupting the US last week.

6. Cutting communications before an attack, the rest will be hit via air strikes. Bush has no "political capital" to do this, but he doesn't have an impeachment or a re-election to face, so why not?

7. Dolphins.

8. Sea Monsters other than Dolphins.

My "NASA: What's up" submission at Wired is getting pwned with 3 for and 22 against at the moment. It's a total troll-fest with the rest of the submissions too.