Interesting News, Articles & Stuff

[florduh]

Neo-Nazi leader among 2 arrested in plot to attack Baltimore's power grid, feds say

The suspects, Brandon Russell and Sarah Clendaniel, took steps to shoot multiple electrical substations in the Baltimore area to “completely destroy this whole city,” prosecutors said.

www.nbcnews.com

The alleged plot was first flagged in June of last year after an FBI informant claimed to have been contacted by Russell, who wanted "to attack electrical substations and has provided guidance on how to cause maximum damage," according to the criminal complaint filed against the pair.

I cannot stress this enough: if you are planning your terrorism attacks ONLINE, you are talking to a Fed. Same thing with hiring a hitman over the internet. That's not a real thing. You're not talking to Agent47. You're talking to a Fed.

I forgot about this, but Far Right terror groups have had a hardon for attacking power stations for a while now.

Authorities Fear Extremists Are Targeting U.S. Power Grid

'Is there something more sinister going on?'

time.com

In August 2021, four neo-Nazis in North Carolina were charged with a conspiracy in which they intended to take down a critical substation with firearms and explosives, according to prosecutors. The group, which met on a neo-Nazi accelerationist forum and included two former U.S. Marines, “discussed their plans to take out the power grid” and assembled a list of a dozen targets. They discussed targeting energy infrastructure “for the purpose of creating general chaos and to provide cover and ease of escape in those areas in which they planned to undertake assassinations and other desired operations to further their goal of creating a white ethno-state,” according to the government. Two of the men have pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with the government while others await trial.

 

[Babylon Drifter]

Neo-Nazi leader among 2 arrested in plot to attack Baltimore's power grid, feds say

The suspects, Brandon Russell and Sarah Clendaniel, took steps to shoot multiple electrical substations in the Baltimore area to “completely destroy this whole city,” prosecutors said.

www.nbcnews.com

I cannot stress this enough: if you are planning your terrorism attacks ONLINE, you are talking to a Fed. Same thing with hiring a hitman over the internet. That's not a real thing. You're not talking to Agent47. You're talking to a Fed.

I forgot about this, but Far Right terror groups have had a hardon for attacking power stations for a while now.

Authorities Fear Extremists Are Targeting U.S. Power Grid

'Is there something more sinister going on?'

time.com

No matter your political affiliation how stupid do you have to be to participate in an organization that is associated with being a Nazi?
If you consider yourself on the right and you're a Nazi, you're a special kind of stupid. The foundation of the Nazi party was an anti-capitalist, nationalist-imperialist, anti-Semitic movement that put forth a call to break the shackles of finance capital. If you have ever read the history of the people who founded the Nazi party thier goal and belief was that government control of production and ownership of banking and transportation was a means of preventing the spread of full-fledged communism. That certainly isn't a right wing thought process. Fritz Thyssen covers this extremely well in his book about why he was the guy who paid Hitler. His book is titled I Paid Hitler. Read it for free here: https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.239690

Maybe pick up a book, do a little research, discover Nazi literally means National Socialist German Workers Party. (possibly the most left wing sounding name ever). Socialism isn't exactly a favored ideology among anyone on the right I have ever met. At the end of the day, anyone stupid enough to support the National Socialists workers party while claiming to be a conservative is stupid enough to believe the plot they're involved in on the internet isn't actually an FBI operation. For once The FBI is making the world a better place.

 

[Abele Rizieri Ferrari]

The foundation of the Nazi party was an anti-capitalist

No, it was capitalist and privatization was a part of third reich policy.

Not very right wing.

Fascism is right wing.

Maybe pick up a book, do a little research

Please do.

Nazi literally means National Socialist German Workers Party

North Korea calls itself a democratic people's republic, doesn't make it democratic.

At the end of the day, anyone stupid enough to support the National Socialists workers party while claiming to be a conservative is stupid enough to believe the plot they're involved in on the internet isn't actually an FBI operation. For once The FBI is making the world a better place.

Favoring conservatism and tradition over freedom is an element of fascism.

 

[florduh]

The foundation of the Nazi party was an anti-capitalist, nationalist-imperialist, anti-Semitic movement that put forth a call to break the shackles of finance capital. If you have ever read the history of the people who founded the Nazi party thier goal and belief was that government control of production and ownership of banking and transportation was a means of preventing the spread of full-fledged communism. That certainly isn't a right wing thought process.

I dunno. Supporting fascists to avoid a communist revolution seems like a pretty Right Wing thought process.

Some interesting excerpts from the Wikipedia entry on the Nazi Economy.

The Nazi government took the stance that enterprises should be in private hands wherever possible.[45] State ownership was to be avoided unless it was absolutely necessary for rearmament or the war effort, and even in those cases "the Reich often insisted on the inclusion in the contract of an option clause according to which the private firm operating the plant was entitled to purchase it."[45]

The Nazis were hostile to the idea of social welfare in principle, upholding instead the Social Darwinist concept that the weak and feeble should perish.[77] They condemned the welfare system of the Weimar Republic as well as private charity, accusing them of supporting people regarded as racially inferior and weak, who should have been weeded out in the process of natural selection.[78]

Yep. It's like Carl Marks himself was the Nazi Treasury Secretary. But capitalist countries nationalizing some industries during war doesn't make them socialist. Oscar Schindler was a private business owner. And let's just say he wasn't exactly running his factories with Union Labor.

I think you're confusing being Right Wing with Free Market Fundamentalism, a much newer concept. All that bullshit didn't take off until Milton Friedman started running his mouth. Conservatism, being Right Wing/Reactionary... goes back to at least the French Revolution. Those who wanted to preserve the monarchy/nobility sat on the right side of the French Estates General.

What ties every Right Wing flavor together is respect for social hierarchies. Those hierarchies can be determined by The Divine Right of Kings, or The Infallible Free Market, or the Gestapo. And every flavor has lore describing why their totally unnatural hierarchies are good, and just, and right and must be enforced with violence.

In any case, modern Neo-Nazis sure don't view themselves as Left Wing. They view themselves, unironically, as fascists who want to genocide non-whites and gays. Here's who the guy the Feds nabbed was associated with:

Atomwaffen Division

Atomwaffen Division (AWD) is a terroristic neo-Nazi organization that formed out of Iron March, an influential fascist forum that went offline in fall 2017.

www.splcenter.org

I do agree that they are very stupid people though.

 

[Babylon Drifter]

I dunno. Supporting fascists to avoid a communist revolution seems like a pretty Right Wing thought process.

Some interesting excerpts from the Wikipedia entry on the Nazi Economy.





Yep. It's like Carl Marks himself was the Nazi Treasury Secretary. But capitalist countries nationalizing some industries during war doesn't make them socialist. Oscar Schindler was a private business owner. And let's just say he wasn't exactly running his factories with Union Labor.

I think you're confusing being Right Wing with Free Market Fundamentalism, a much newer concept. All that bullshit didn't take off until Milton Friedman started running his mouth. Conservatism, being Right Wing/Reactionary... goes back to at least the French Revolution. Those who wanted to preserve the monarchy/nobility sat on the right side of the French Estates General.

What ties every Right Wing flavor together is respect for social hierarchies. Those hierarchies can be determined by The Divine Right of Kings, or The Infallible Free Market, or the Gestapo. And every flavor has lore describing why their totally unnatural hierarchies are good, and just, and right and must be enforced with violence.

In any case, modern Neo-Nazis sure don't view themselves as Left Wing. They view themselves, unironically, as fascists who want to genocide non-whites and gays. Here's who the guy the Feds nabbed was associated with:

Atomwaffen Division

Atomwaffen Division (AWD) is a terroristic neo-Nazi organization that formed out of Iron March, an influential fascist forum that went offline in fall 2017.

www.splcenter.org

I do agree that they are very stupid people though.

There is no doubt how the Nazi party started or what their supporters believed. Read Fritz Thyssen's memoirs and the history of his actions. When the war started he freaked out and ran from the party he essentially funded.

Fritz Thyssen's first contribution was indirect -about 100,000 gold marks to Ludendorff for a Hitler-Ludendorff coup against the Communist Government of Saxony. (It did not come off, but turned into the Beer Hall Putsch of 1923.) In 1928 Rudolf Hess went to Thyssen and told him the Nazis were hard put to pay for the Brown House they had bought in Munich. Thyssen arranged a loan through the banks.

Fritz Thyssen joined the Nazi party in December 1931 and in his autobiography, "I Paid Hitler", admitted backing Hitler when the National Socialists were still a radical fringe party. In the 1933 election, in which the Nazis finally won, he contributed some 3,000,000 marks ($1,200,000) toward the Hitler campaign fund. Like countless others, Herr Thyssen saw clearly enough a dangerous revolution in Soviet Russia (he financed the Nazis as a bulwark against Communism).

In 1923, Thyssen met former general Erich Ludendorff, who advised him to attend a speech given by Adolf Hitler, leader of the Nazi Party. Thyssen was impressed by Hitler and his bitter opposition to the Treaty of Versailles, and began to make large donations to the party, including 100,000 gold marks ($25,000) in 1923 to Ludendorff. Thyssen's principal motive in supporting the Nazis was his great fear of communism; he had little confidence that the various German anti-communist factions would prevent a Soviet-style revolution in Germany unless the popular appeal of communism among the lower classes was co-opted by an anticommunist alternative.


In November, 1932, Thyssen and Hjalmar Schacht were the main organisers of a letter to President Paul von Hindenburg urging him to appoint Hitler as Chancellor. Thyssen also persuaded the Association of German Industrialists to donate three million Reichsmarks to the Nazi Party for the March, 1933 Reichstag election. As a reward, he was selected to run as a Nazi candidate in the election, and was elected to the Reichstag and appointed to the Council of State of Prussia, the largest German state.

It amazes me to see people deny the Nazis and thier politics /policies were unacceptable. Nothing about the Nazi party was good, and arguing that a movement that called itself the National Socialist Workers Party weren't socialist is absurd.

I've got another class starting Wednesday so I'm off to FLETC for another week, catch you later.

 

[florduh]

that a movement that called itself the National Socialist Workers Party weren't socialist is absurd.

I know. People who say the Democratic People's Republic of Korea isn't really a Democratic Republic are absurd. They're just losers and haters who can't stand the fact Kim Jong Un always gets 100% of the vote!

I mean a government can't put a word in its name and then actually govern in a totally opposite manner, right?

Whatever bullshit the Nazis peddled to the masses on their way to power, once in power they governed like fascists. Far Right Wingers. Like the textbook definition of fascism. I don't for the life of me know why anyone would take Nazis at their word. Nazis lie a lot.

Also, you know you can't actually munch on urinal cakes just cuz the word "cake" is in the name, right?

 

[vapviking]

Seriously, a few guys arguing anonymously about history, sociology and shit is boring as hell and sadly comical in a vaporizing forum. And some thick bullshit to slog through while looking for an interesting news story of the day or two.

I found this really remarkable,

Bonnie Raitt Is As Shocked As The Rest Of The Internet Upon Receiving Grammy

Bonnie Raitt Is As Shocked As The Rest Of The Internet Upon Receiving Her Grammy

Raitt beat out Taylor Swift, Harry Styles, Beyoncé and Adele to win in the Song of the Year category.

www.huffpost.com

So I went and listened to the song, sat there crying by the end of it. Bonnie was inspired by an interesting news article and stuff...

 

[pakalolo]

Seriously, a few guys arguing anonymously about history, sociology and shit is boring as hell and sadly comical in a vaporizing forum. And some thick bullshit to slog through while looking for an interesting news story of the day or two.

You don't have to read it.

As I've had to explain a lot lately, we strongly discourage this sort of discourse. If a thread drifts into certain areas (like politics) we will shut it down or delete posts as soon as it gets heated. In some cases, like gun control or abortion, we simply don't allow it. On the other hand, it is not always easy to decide when such a topic is breached. A mention of gun control might be left as long as it doesn't draw an inflammatory response or turn into a longer discussion. Politics is the worst because it is quite difficult to judge, and even harder to avoid since reasonable people will disagree on what is political.

 

[florduh]

Sorry @vapviking I shouldn't have taken the bait.

Why the Earthquake in Turkey Was So Damaging and Deadly

A magnitude 7.8 earthquake that struck Turkey is a rare occurrence and underscores the importance of setting and enforcing building codes

www.scientificamerican.com

Obviously a 7.8 magnitude earthquake is a major earthquake. But it doesn't necessarily need to be a major disaster. The determining factor is building codes.

Here's how the Japanese do it.

 

[FlyingLow]

You don't have to read it.

As I've had to explain a lot lately, we strongly discourage this sort of discourse. If a thread drifts into certain areas (like politics) we will shut it down or delete posts as soon as it gets heated. In some cases, like gun control or abortion, we simply don't allow it. On the other hand, it is not always easy to decide when such a topic is breached. A mention of gun control might be left as long as it doesn't draw an inflammatory response or turn into a longer discussion. Politics is the worst because it is quite difficult to judge, and even harder to avoid since reasonable people will disagree on what is political.

It does not feel "interesting articles" are posted with any regularity.
This is not like the picture thread where if you don't post a picture, your post is deleted.


Perhaps, if the discourse is only between two/three members, it may be more productive to discuss in messages versus posting in the thread... it would surely take a HUGE load off of the moderators who are constantly having to clean up posts. And persons would be able to speak freely without moderation.

 

[macbill]

You're Not in the U.S. Anymore

NASCAR star Kyle Busch sentenced to 3 years in Mexican prison for trying to take .380 pistol and hollow point shells on private plane leaving Cancún​

 

[macbill]

 

[macbill]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1623524970532839424

 

[AssistedLiving]

Iranian drones appear to contain modified explosives designed for maximum damage to Ukrainian infrastructure​

The group’s analysts believe the warheads, which measure just under two-feet long, were hastily modified with poorly fitted layers of dozens of small metal fragments that on impact scatter across a large radius. In addition to the fragments, there are also 18 smaller “charges” around the circumference of the warhead that, when melted by the blast, can pierce armor and create a kind of “360-degree” explosive effect.

The accumulation of those elements essentially maximize the warhead’s ability to shred targets such as power stations, distribution grids, transmission lines and large, high-power transformers. They also make repair efforts substantially harder.

“It’s as though they looked at the finished warhead and said, ‘How can we make this even more destructive?’” said Damien Spleeters, one of the investigators who examined the warhead.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/09/poli...-explosives-ukraine-infrastructure/index.html

 

[florduh]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1623524970532839424

School is lame. The children yearn for the mines.

Iowa bill relaxing back child labor laws sparks outrage: "Just crazy"

Labor advocates have condemned proposed legislation allowing teens to do previously forbidden jobs.

www.newsweek.com

 

[Haze Mister]

Not new but it still goes on...

 

[florduh]

My impression is, this story isn't getting the coverage it deserves.

Why the toxins from the Ohio train derailment could have posed deadly threats for residents nearby

The toxins that burned in the wreckage of the train derailment in Ohio had the potential to be deadly if officials did not order evacuations in the region.

abcnews.go.com

Keep in mind that the Federal Government JUST stepped in to bust a railway worker strike. The central ask from workers was: give us sick time and don't penalize workers for needing to take time off for illness. The subtext of this ask was: hire more workers so there's enough coverage to give sick workers time off.

These guys work 100+ hours a week and cannot get sick without losing pay and being punished by the bosses. Is there any shock shit like this happens?

Besides refusing to hire enough workers to safely operate the railways, these corporations also refuse to spend money on improving failing infrastructure. They'd rather spend their money on this:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1600307910591991808

Sure, they basically dropped chemical weapons on this poor rural town. And yes, a bunch of little kids are probably gonna get cancer now. But the shareholders were well taken care of, and that's the most important thing.

 

[macbill]

'Super Sick Monday': 18.8 million staff set to miss work after Super Bowl

How many employees will 'ghost' employers instead of requesting time off?

www.hcamag.com

 

[macbill]

 

[florduh]

The NFL Still Isn't Done Exploiting Pat Tillman | Defector

You go into any Super Bowl pregame ceremony knowing that you’re going to have to choke down a near-lethal dose of patriotism and military propaganda before being allowed to finally watch some damn football, because that’s just the way things work. But even that hard-earned knowledge can’t...

defector.com

Pat Tillman left the NFL to join the army after 9/11. He then figured out that Bush's invasion of Iraq was complete bullshit and wasn't quiet about it. So the Army executed him and concocted a fairytale about how he heroically died in combat.

Really gross that the NFL continues to use the memory of this man as part of their hour of pre-game military industrial complex propaganda.

 

[Babylon Drifter]

My impression is, this story isn't getting the coverage it deserves.

Why the toxins from the Ohio train derailment could have posed deadly threats for residents nearby

The toxins that burned in the wreckage of the train derailment in Ohio had the potential to be deadly if officials did not order evacuations in the region.

abcnews.go.com

Keep in mind that the Federal Government JUST stepped in to bust a railway worker strike. The central ask from workers was: give us sick time and don't penalize workers for needing to take time off for illness. The subtext of this ask was: hire more workers so there's enough coverage to give sick workers time off.

These guys work 100+ hours a week and cannot get sick without losing pay and being punished by the bosses. Is there any shock shit like this happens?

Besides refusing to hire enough workers to safely operate the railways, these corporations also refuse to spend money on improving failing infrastructure. They'd rather spend their money on this:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1600307910591991808

Sure, they basically dropped chemical weapons on this poor rural town. And yes, a bunch of little kids are probably gonna get cancer now. But the shareholders were well taken care of, and that's the most important thing.

Saying it isn't getting the attention it deserves is quite the understatement. It's going to be one of the most damaging accidents in our nation's history, the air, the water and the ground are being poisoned, it's amazing we don't have any of the activist groups who normally keep an eye on stuff screaming bloody murder. It's rather quiet for such a disasterous accident that is going to wreck mother nature for decades or longer. I can't imagine why they're not interested.

3 derailed trains this week, one things for sure, you can't make the trains run on time if you can't keep them on the tracks.

 

[florduh]

I can't imagine why they're not interested.

Because none of this is "news". It's just neoliberal capitalism working as intended. Shareholder value is the only thing that matters.

Rail Companies Blocked Safety Rules Before Ohio Derailment

Norfolk Southern helped convince government officials to repeal brake rules — and corporate lobbyists watered down hazmat safety regs.

www.levernews.com

Amid the lobbying blitz against stronger transportation safety regulations, Norfolk Southern paid executives millions and spent billions on stock buybacks — all while the company shed thousands of employees despite warnings that understaffing is intensifying safety risks. Norfolk Southern officials also fought off a shareholder initiative that could have required company executives to “assess, review, and mitigate risks of hazardous material transportation.”

The last three Presidential Administrations are all directly culpable as well. After a series of high profile derailments a decade ago, The O'Bungler Administration proposed a series of regulations on transporting hazardous materials. Unfortunately, they allowed railroad lobbyists to water down those regs to only cover petroleum, not other hazardous chems. Like the chemical in this disaster.

Ooops!

Then came 2017: After rail industry donors delivered more than $6 million to GOP campaigns, the Trump administration — backed by rail lobbyists and Senate Republicans — rescinded part of that rule aimed at making better braking systems widespread on the nation’s rails.

Ooooops!

The Brandon Administration refused to reinstitute the braking system rules. Then they, along with most of Congress, stepped in to break a strike "for the good of the country" (Saint Reagan would be so proud!)

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1625295841769431046

I'm not shocked the corporate news media isn't covering this. Basically for the same reason USSR State Media didn't cover Chernobyl

 

[Babylon Drifter]

Because none of this is "news". It's just neoliberal capitalism working as intended. Shareholder value is the only thing that matters.

Rail Companies Blocked Safety Rules Before Ohio Derailment

Norfolk Southern helped convince government officials to repeal brake rules — and corporate lobbyists watered down hazmat safety regs.

www.levernews.com

The last three Presidential Administrations are all directly culpable as well. After a series of high profile derailments a decade ago, The O'Bungler Administration proposed a series of regulations on transporting hazardous materials. Unfortunately, they allowed railroad lobbyists to water down those regs to only cover petroleum, not other hazardous chems. Like the chemical in this disaster.

Ooops!



Ooooops!

The Brandon Administration refused to reinstitute the braking system rules. Then they, along with most of Congress, stepped in to break a strike "for the good of the country" (Saint Reagan would be so proud!)

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1625295841769431046

I'm not shocked the corporate news media isn't covering this. Basically for the same reason USSR State Media didn't cover Chernobyl

Huh, so you're saying all of the people worried about the planet, pollution and climate change don't care unless the media tells them to care? They don't have a will/brain of thier own? They need the media to tell them its time to be upset and protest? Your explanation makes it sound an awful lot like all those activist are simply pawns/tools of the billionaires who own the media.

 

[florduh]

Microsoft CEO Pretty Sure He Can Keep AI From Escaping Human Control

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella took time to address concerns over AI safety in an interview with CBS News, and he seems confident about keeping AIs reined in.

futurism.com

I'll take, "Things You Overhear Right Before Clippy-Skynet Goes Live" for $500, Alex.

 

[Babylon Drifter]

DE839734-DE15-4416-BDC5-6-F29043-ED858 hosted at ImgBB

Image DE839734-DE15-4416-BDC5-6-F29043-ED858 hosted in ImgBB

ibb.co

Photo of Ohio taken from a commercial flight today. Nothing to worry about though folks you can trust the government and the media, it's safe to go home. Where the hell is the outrage?