Earlier quoted context omitted.
Just spitballing here - turning it into an “event” might will spur copy-cat attacks around the country. The slow-play around reporting of possible attackers and motives is trying to stop the social contagion.
These groups are already organized and coordinated. They mobbed/brigaded school board meetings in a coordinated fashion. They know who their allies are, and are now starting to act out in more violent fashion. Sunlight is the best disinfectant.
Emergency declared and curfew imposed following North Carolina power grid attack
191–200 of 292 posts
Re: Emergency declared and curfew imposed following North Carolina power grid attack
#192Earlier quoted context omitted.
Seems like the tape would get burnt up before too much damage was done though.
Yes, but across sufficiently high voltage lines the initial arc would create a plasma channel which would act like a thick wire for the short to continue
Here is a short video showing someone doing almost exactly this: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=X_2lZqyCmls
Re: Emergency declared and curfew imposed following North Carolina power grid attack
#193NZ had a version of this recently too: https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/479858/graham-philip-rec...
Like beating up the America's Cup, or chopping down the tree on One-Tree Hill (which we still haven't renamed).
Re: Emergency declared and curfew imposed following North Carolina power grid attack
#194Civilization will end because it is so much easier to break things than build them.
Re: Emergency declared and curfew imposed following North Carolina power grid attack
#195This isn't the first time something like this had happened. What is DHS for if not preventing attacks like this? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metcalf_sniper_attack
- Guys selling silencers or full-auto gun parts make easy money and get overconfident
- angry guy who's had enough goes around shooting his mouth off about it being time to 'Do something' and makes a new friend who wants to help but turns out to be an FBI agent
- wannabe guerrilla gets tired of never doing anything besides plinking in the woods and goes on a shooting spree instead (not being flippant; I know of one guy who picked a date, planned for months to shoot up a school, then said 'fuck it' a week early and shot up a supermarket instead because he was too excited to wait)
In some countries people get hit with severe charges for incitement or distributing extremist propaganda or possessing instructional materials (the UK in particular, because they have given their police vast powers to deal with terrorism going back to the 1970s). In the US distributing such material is protected by the first amendment but is a good way to get put on a list and maybe have men in suits show up at your home for some friendly conversation about who much you wouldn't like federal prison.
But although many hotheads signal their intentions loudly enough to get caught in advance, there's not that much you can do about determined actors who are smart enough to think about keeping their digital footprint small and their mouths shut.
Re: Emergency declared and curfew imposed following North Carolina power grid attack
#196Re: Emergency declared and curfew imposed following North Carolina power grid attack
#197Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, but across sufficiently high voltage lines the initial arc would create a plasma channel which would act like a thick wire for the short to continue
I guess it's probably not enough to sustain a long time and there are probably protections in place to prevent that. Here is a short video showing someone doing almost exactly this: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=X_2lZqyCmls
Point being the initial path creates a plasma channel that then bridges the gap and lets current flow.
Re: Emergency declared and curfew imposed following North Carolina power grid attack
#198Re: Emergency declared and curfew imposed following North Carolina power grid attack
#199DVEs have been talking about ways to target power substations for a while now. This is the first instance that I've seen of someone actually acting on that information. Background: https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/591331-dhs-warn... https://www.cbsnews.com/news/domestic-violent-extremists-plo...
Someone did it back in 2013, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metcalf_sniper_attack
Re: Emergency declared and curfew imposed following North Carolina power grid attack
#200Earlier quoted context omitted.
I suppose most of it is that terrorism and just any ideological violence is more about sending a message than being effective. This isn't total war. The point isn't really to outage a random town/county from power or internet. You want to be flashy and obvious. It's why suicide missions are the common method. Being a martyr is more ideologically powerful than causing massive damage. If you're subtle but effective, yo…
I mean you have the Russians waging total war on Ukraine with much better than improvised weapons and they can only keep the power off sometimes. That sends a very clear signal to me.