Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Israeli firm BlackCore suspected of meddling in New York and Scotland votes

reuters.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

491–500 of 641 posts

Re: Israeli firm BlackCore suspected of meddling in New York and Scotland votes

#491

Post by viking123 »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #435
nixon_why69 wrote: post #425

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not like it's a swastika, it was a skull and crossbones that turns out to have been used by the SS (I think?). I had no idea that particular image was nazi-related and I don't think most other people would have either. As far as "mistakes made by marines on shore leave" go it's pretty mild. Honestly his more recent scandals are more concerning as far as character. Platner's upside is being a senator that's not f…

> no idea that particular image was nazi-related and I don't think most other people would have either He knew what it was [1]. That doesn't mean he's unelectable in 2026. [1] https://www.cnn.com/2026/06/05/politics/graham-platner-cant-...

I think people are really past the point of caring. The limousine liberals of course make a fuss but sitting on the high horse has not really served democrats that well, just taking L after L. And the sitting president is Epstein-Mossad pedofile and huge number still stand behind him without any shame.

Re: Israeli firm BlackCore suspected of meddling in New York and Scotland votes

#492

Post by g8oz »

tptacek wrote: post #389
nixon_why69 wrote: post #388

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you're underrating how much you've bought the framing from US/neoliberal media, though. Try to put yourselves in Hezbollah or the Houthis' shoes, you wouldn't think of yourself as a pawn, you'd think of yourself as full-agency humans with interests and allies. Sunni power is against you so you ally with the Shia power. For example, Iran never directly intervened in Yemen, they limited themselves to sending we…

The Houthis are literally Nazis. They run a race cult. They use child soldiers. As with Hezbollah in Lebanon, they're a religious minority that nonetheless exercises de facto control over security in their country. Iran trained and armed them; the Houthis are explicitly Khomeinists.

Characterizing the Houthis as a race cult is bizarre. They are a Zaydi Shia group which Iran has cultivated over the years. But they were around before that relationship and would not disappear if that relationship was severed.

Also it's dishonest not to include the actions of the Saudis and the UAE when discussing the Yemen conflict. As well as the sustained U.S targeting support in bombing the hell out of that country.

Re: Israeli firm BlackCore suspected of meddling in New York and Scotland votes

#493

Post by utdoctor »

nixon_why69 wrote: post #489
utdoctor wrote: post #486

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If I had wheels I’d be a bicycle. I don’t see your point? It’s very obvious what it is and just because you can alter an icon to make it look like something else doesn’t change what it is. Ignorance of something doesn’t change what it is. “Oops I accidentally had a Nazi for nearly 20 years and only had it covered up 9 months ago when it became a political liability” isn’t a good look to say the least.

My point is that it's not very obvious what it is unless you are super studied in Nazi symbology. I thought I was clear but there it is in case I wasn't. If this were a swastika, the SS lightning bolts or even the Iron Cross, yeah, that looks pretty Nazi. Instead it's a skull and crossbones just like every other one used all over the place, including the very cool jolly roger, except this one happens to be Nazi. I di…

“My point is that it's not very obvious what it is unless you are super studied in Nazi symbology”

Or if you ever played a WWII themed video game (Wolfenstein, Call of Duty), or if you’ve ever watched a WWII show like Band of Brothers or watched a major WWII movie like Schindlers List or Saving Private Ryan. I could go on, it’s prominent in nearly any WWII media.

Honestly, I don’t know if people toting the line saying it’s “obscure” are intentionally lying because he aligns with their political agenda or are completely oblivious to any level of detail in any media.

It’s really astonishing.

Re: Israeli firm BlackCore suspected of meddling in New York and Scotland votes

#494

Post by tptacek »

g8oz wrote: post #492
tptacek wrote: post #389

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Houthis are literally Nazis. They run a race cult. They use child soldiers. As with Hezbollah in Lebanon, they're a religious minority that nonetheless exercises de facto control over security in their country. Iran trained and armed them; the Houthis are explicitly Khomeinists.

Characterizing the Houthis as a race cult is bizarre. They are a Zaydi Shia group which Iran has cultivated over the years. But they were around before that relationship and would not disappear if that relationship was severed. Also it's dishonest not to include the actions of the Saudis and the UAE when discussing the Yemen conflict. As well as the sustained U.S targeting support in bombing the hell out of that coun…

I don't know what's complicated about this. Yemen is neither a religious nor an ethnic monoculture. Ansar Allah operates a caste system inside of it. Not all Zaydiyya align with Ansar Allah. More than half of Yemen is Sunni. There are ethnic underclasses in Yemen that are literally kept as chattel slaves.

You have never, ever seen me on this site stick up for Saudi Arabia. I feel like this is a big way people get themselves into trouble thinking about MENA. In most of these conflicts, there isn't a protagonist.

Re: Israeli firm BlackCore suspected of meddling in New York and Scotland votes

#495

Post by nixon_why69 »

utdoctor wrote: post #493
nixon_why69 wrote: post #489

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My point is that it's not very obvious what it is unless you are super studied in Nazi symbology. I thought I was clear but there it is in case I wasn't. If this were a swastika, the SS lightning bolts or even the Iron Cross, yeah, that looks pretty Nazi. Instead it's a skull and crossbones just like every other one used all over the place, including the very cool jolly roger, except this one happens to be Nazi. I di…

“My point is that it's not very obvious what it is unless you are super studied in Nazi symbology” Or if you ever played a WWII themed video game (Wolfenstein, Call of Duty), or if you’ve ever watched a WWII show like Band of Brothers or watched a major WWII movie like Schindlers List or Saving Private Ryan. I could go on, it’s prominent in nearly any WWII media. Honestly, I don’t know if people toting the line sayin…

Bro, I am not lying, there are skulls and crossbones from so many sources. I saw all those movies, I knew some Nazi units used skulls just like units of many militaries, pirates, motorcycle gangs etc. It's a cross-cultural symbol for "we fuck shit up".

If you examined so much Nazi symbology that you would immediately flag this as a particularly Nazi skull based on the angle and bone length, you are the unusual one. It's cool to have interests but understand that the rest of us just see a skull and don't have nearly the response we would to a swastika.

Re: Israeli firm BlackCore suspected of meddling in New York and Scotland votes

#496

Post by thisislife2 »

WickyNilliams wrote: post #455
nixon_why69 wrote: post #425

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not like it's a swastika, it was a skull and crossbones that turns out to have been used by the SS (I think?). I had no idea that particular image was nazi-related and I don't think most other people would have either. As far as "mistakes made by marines on shore leave" go it's pretty mild. Honestly his more recent scandals are more concerning as far as character. Platner's upside is being a senator that's not f…

It's an extremely well known nazi symbol. Probably second behind the swastika itself. There's even that famous "are we the baddies" meme, which uses that symbol as a central pillar of the gag.

Not an American here, but I too never knew the skull and bones symbol is somehow associated with the Nazis. So I would disagree that it is "extremely well known".

Re: Israeli firm BlackCore suspected of meddling in New York and Scotland votes

#497

Post by xhkkffbf »

pjc50 wrote: post #460
JumpCrisscross wrote: post #434

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> what is Platner for? Not being MAGA. I have some respect for Susan Collins. But this nonsense where a tattoo and infidelity should be disqualifying on one side while the President, popularly elected this time, sleeps with porn stars and endorses anti-Semites and KKK adjacents, is unsustainable. If we need a dude with a Nazi tattoo to win Maine, I guess I prefer to be pissed off and winning.

> Not being MAGA Yes, but that should be baseline for the Democrat candidate? Are there really no better candidates in Maine? This sort of thing would be regarded as disqualifiing in the UK even for local councilors from the far right. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/may/27/calls-barns...

It was rather disappointing to listen to Jodi Kantor of the New York Times come up with reasons why, well, it's different this time.

Re: Israeli firm BlackCore suspected of meddling in New York and Scotland votes

#498

Post by [deleted] »

breppp wrote: post #278
ImPostingOnHN wrote: post #268

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Iran is not strictly "an obstacle" to Israeli hegemony. Its ideology since the 1970s clearly states the destruction of Israel as its goal. you say that as if israel doesn't have the exact same ideology against iran (it does)

> you say that as if israel doesn't have the exact same ideology against iran (it does) What are the parallels in Israeli society for Iranian school systems morning chants of "Death to Israel" and a public countdown clock to the destruction of Israel?

[deleted]

Re: Israeli firm BlackCore suspected of meddling in New York and Scotland votes

#499

Post by thisislife2 »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #424
ardit33 wrote: post #419

Earlier quoted context omitted.

French foreign services said they discovered this, but they haven't made all material they know public. They say the contacted the NY/US authorities with what they know. Do you think they are lying just for kicks?

> they haven't made all material they know public I want more than this! There is a lot of room between lying and fucking up. And if you're going to present a half-baked case on first impression, it's going to be a lot harder to regain everyone's attention when you get your shit together. Maybe I'm just annoyed with this issue. But I came into this thread looking for anything actionable. I'm not finding it. Just the…

Russia Today has some details on the operations of these firms:

- Wired for War: Why is the EU ignoring the Israeli cyber threat? - https://www.rt.com/news/639159-israel-spies-eu-pegasus/

- Wired for war: The Israeli spy-tech machine strikes again - https://swentr.site/news/640352-israel-interference-france-b...

- EU state lifts arms embargo on Israel after spy scandal - https://www.rt.com/news/641456-slovenia-arms-ban-israel/

(The whole Wired for war series on RT is interesting - https://www.rt.com/trends/wired-for-war/ - as it also describes AI techs evolving role in politics and the military).

Re: Israeli firm BlackCore suspected of meddling in New York and Scotland votes

#500

Post by upcoming-sesame »

lostlogin wrote: post #276
armchairhacker wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not to be confused with Blackrock or Blackstone, both large American investment companies with their own shady operations.

And don’t forget Blackwater.

What about Blackstool
Post reply on HN