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ATT services down due to bombing in Nashville

tennessean.com

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Re: ATT services down due to bombing in Nashville

#231
post #129
post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your definition is not quite accurate. Some forms of violence performed to promote an ideology are called war. In fact, war is by far the most common, and the most destructive form of 'violence used to promote an ideology'.

Why do you think war is not terrorizing/terrorism?

Generally speaking the definitions of terrorism preclude state actors from being included (kind of a cop out, but they literally have carve-outs for the state).

See the US legal definition of terrorism:

    premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets by subnational groups or clandestine agents
Title 22 Chapter 38 U.S. Code § 2656f

Generally speaking, wartime actions by one state against another don't seem to be included in this group. That being said, there's not exactly an agreed upon definition of terrorism, the best I can come up with is "acts of political violence that don't fall into the category of war"

A good place to start for more reading on the differences between the legal definitions of terrorism in different countries is here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Definition_of_terrorism#In_nat...

It's not just the US, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Definition_of_terrorism

Re: ATT services down due to bombing in Nashville

#232

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess. I'm just sad I lived to see a second legit terrorist attack on American soil. I remember being in 8th grade when sept11 happened.

I think there have been several attacks of this magnitude or worse since September 11. e.g. The Boston Marathon bombing or the anthrax attacks, or Christopher Dorner (though maybe that's less terrorist and more revenge). There have been lots. I think, so long as this wasn't a test run for a coordinated attack on the telecoms, then this is not a very bad terrorist attack.

Yeah, that’s a good point. I forgot entirely about the Boston marathon bombing. And in comparison, that one was indeed much worse... my Airbnb host at the time was participating in the race, and almost got caught in the explosion.

Hmm. Well, it will be interesting to see whatever motivated this bombing.

Re: ATT services down due to bombing in Nashville

#234
post #90

I am overcome with curiosity about who did this and why. The fact that nobody has claimed responsibility makes no sense. If this were a politically motivated attack, domestic or otherwise, it would almost defeat the point to have the name of your cause omitted from those initial headlines. And sparing the lives of the bystanders also doesn’t make sense for a political attack. I heard the NRA gave warnings but the rea…

> The fact that nobody has claimed responsibility makes no sense.

It could be an enemy country probing for weakness. The goal would simply be intel / seeing what will happen.

Re: ATT services down due to bombing in Nashville

#235

Considering the FBI recently foiled a plot by a group who was planning to "take out" parts of the energy grid, it seems likely from my experience that this is another set of people executing a similar plan targeting telecoms. I imagine there is a high probability of more incidents like this happening between now and the inauguration, meant to target various infrastructure and "big government" components throughout th…

If anything, this attack reminded me of the Weather Underground bombings in the 70s, which were often prefaced by evacuation warnings and targeted infrastructure rather than people. If I had to take a guess though, I'd go with a genuinely mentally ill person attempting to take out the 5G "mind control rays" or whatever, particularly given the potential presence of human remains found at the scene. I read that story y…

Yea when I first saw the coverage my immediate assumption was a crazy anti-5g person. But reading accounts of the events leading up to the explosion made it sound too well executed for that in my mind. Obviously anyone who does this, regardless of motive, is mentally ill in some capacity.

Re: ATT services down due to bombing in Nashville

#236

Reports that most of Tennessee is without 9-1-1 service right now: https://www.dslreports.com/forum/r32982150-AT-T-Suffers-outa... And AT&T mobile is down across Kentucky: https://www.dslreports.com/forum/r32981927-Services-Suspicio... Also reports above that calls into Tennessee aren't working.

It is pretty nuts that a single physical location can bring down a state's worth of 911, and cellular. It is either institutional incompetence, or malice, or laziness.

It also perfectly explains why this specific building at this specific location was chosen out of all of the other possibilities. Someone knew about this weakness.

Re: ATT services down due to bombing in Nashville

#237

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree, the heist angle was something that came to my mind, it would work if they somehow knew that the blast would take out the generator back up and if they knew that that C.O. only had one entrance facility or some vulnerability like that, which would mean some inside knowledge. Often C.O.'s have dual entrance vaults which it would make sense for bank alarms to be redundant, but if they got the generator or somet…

Jewelry stores are also likely targets.

yup, and when you think about it, a blast would be a great distraction. You could hit multiple places and the cops would attribute all the alarms going off to the blast at the AT&T building. And if you had to blow open a safe or multiple safes at a bunch of banks and jewelry places, the calls from people hearing other blasts the cops and 911 would be all jammed up and even if someone gets through they would figure it was the one at the AT&T building and probably not check into it for a long time, too busy with the first one.

Re: ATT services down due to bombing in Nashville

#238

Reports that most of Tennessee is without 9-1-1 service right now: https://www.dslreports.com/forum/r32982150-AT-T-Suffers-outa... And AT&T mobile is down across Kentucky: https://www.dslreports.com/forum/r32981927-Services-Suspicio... Also reports above that calls into Tennessee aren't working.

It is pretty nuts that a single physical location can bring down a state's worth of 911, and cellular. It is either institutional incompetence, or malice, or laziness.

Whoever designed the system didn't know about the Paxos protocol.

Re: ATT services down due to bombing in Nashville

#239

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well playing a warning and picking a time and place to minimize casualties is some kind of redeeming. It would certainly be worse if they tried to kill people, picking a crowded place and time.

I guess. I'm just sad I lived to see a second legit terrorist attack on American soil. I remember being in 8th grade when sept11 happened.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrorism_in_the_United_States...

Re: ATT services down due to bombing in Nashville

#240
post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What we're seeing is a "stochastic insurgency" where loosely affiliated groups and individuals conceive, plan and execute infrastructure attacks and targeted assassinations. Relatively little operational coordination; but lots of online showing support and post-crime support. I hope all congressional representatives and local government officials are reviewing their safety plans.

I wonder what other crimes have stochastic forms... could violent video games be stochastic murder, if among the thousands of players there is one disturbed person who might be inspired by depictions of violence to act violently? Could songs glorifying violent lifestyles also be called stochastic crime? Folk songs glorifying cartels come to mind. If an unrealistic war movie inspires teenagers to join the army, might…

I dob't think the word "stochastic" means what you seem to think it means.
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